His Word, My Reality

My reality today is: though I dearly love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I get distracted and busy. Life right now is committed more than I like to a job. I go months at a time working 7 days a week and many times 12 hours a day with almost an hour commute each way. It is not something I enjoy but this is where I find myself. Thus I find myself unable to go to church as much as I would like or need. One of my daughters live over 7 hours away, with my sweet grandbaby. My son has joined the Marines and my other daughter and numerous nieces and nephews have chosen to not serve my Jesus. My brother has been sick for several years. These are just a few things that make up my reality today. But today's reality is not a predictor of tomorrow's reality when we allow God to be in control of tommorrow. Though our reality may cause us to think that it is impossible for our tomorrow to be different, with God all things are possible. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37 "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27

Regardless of my reality today, I believe that my tomorrow will be different. Tommorrow I believe that God will minister to my children and pour a love in their hearts for Him and His Word. Tomorrow God will open doors for employment that will provide for my financial, mental and emotional needs, while allowing me to worship with other believers. Tomorrow God will mend what is broken and make it anew. Tomorrow God will heal my brother. Tomorrow God will touch my nieces and nephews that have walked away from Him. Tomorrow God will give me direction and purpose. Each of these things (and many other things) look impossible and I have no ability to change any of them but with God tomorrow will hold a different realtiy.

What does your reality look like today? Are there things with which you struggle? Sickness? Unemployment? Loneliness? Depression? Today's reality may be grim but, with God, tomorrow will be different. "And he said, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Luke 18:27

His Word, My Resignation

Have you or a loved one become resigned with your health, with your situation, with your job, with your relationship? You feel perhaps that it is your thorn in your flesh and you will just have to live with it. Perhaps your spouse is leaving and you realize that there is nothing that you can do about it so you become resigned to the inevitable. It could be that sickness or pain has taken over your body and as it isn't a sickness to death, you just resign yourself to a lifetime of pain. Perhaps you need deliverance from an addiction or habit and no amount of will-power or rehab has helped. Regardless of your situation, you do not have to be resigned to the natural inevitable because when God is in it, IT IS NOT OVER!!!

Do you need deliverance? "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee." Psalm 50:15 and "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6


Do you need healing? "O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou has healed me." Psalm 30:2 and "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

I know there are times when I KNOW that God has made a promise to me but it seems so impossibly ridiculous that I believe yet become resigned to my situation. It isn't as if I quit believing what God said, but rather I become comfortable with how the situation will be if God doesn't come through. My daughter has a way of calling me out on my lack of faith or becoming resigned to what in the natural seems inevitable. Yesterday as we spent the day together she reminded me of the times that I had prepared for the promise of God even when the situation looked completely impossible. She asked me why God's promises would be any different this time. If God is in your situation, and it is up to you to bring him into it, it is not over. You do not have to be resigned, "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." James 1:6a "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findethh; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

His Word, My Trouble

"Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 50:15

Today we had our family reunion which was decades in waiting. Of course all this family togetherness made me miss my grandmother. I do have a few momentos from her house but there are a few things that meant a lot to me that went to other children or grandchildren so I have replaced it with duplicates. One of the items that reminds me so strongly of my grandmothers is the Daily Bread Promise cards. I found one at the Family Christian Store and just had to buy it. Tonight after being with the family, I pulled a card and it was a promise of God delivering me in the day of trouble.

I don't know about you but I have had my share of "days of trouble." Whether it is a rough day a work, a friend being injured or sick, a broken relationship, children causing stress or financial stuggles, I have had those days of trouble. It seems that just when things get a bit comfortable and I feel that I can let down my guard is when those troubles hit me. I hate to admit this but I seem to be at my best when I am beseiged with troubles on all sides. When my back is against the wall and I can't see how anything can be made anew is when my faith and trust in God is at the peak. It seems that during times of great duress is when He floods my heart and mind with peace, joy and a faith that puts me in awe. When control is ripped out of your hands and your only hope for spiritual survival is through God, it is at that time that you need to call on Jesus and, as he promised in Psalm 50:15, he will deliver you. My promise card ended at that point - "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee" - but there is a bit more to that verse. That verse ends with a commmand - "And thou shalt glorify me." A command isn't something to take lightly, when that promised deliverance comes (or even before it comes) we should glorify the God of our salvation. I think that is the key to our deliverance. Thoughout the Bible we see many examples of the teaching people to praise God even when trials come, even when storms blow. When we cannot see our way for the darkness and storms, we still must trust God and glorify him for his mighty works. We cannot stand idle, even when we can just stand. We MUST glorify God.

His Word, My Secret

For several months there was a song on my mind that I could not remember the name or even the words, though I knew that it spoke directly about my spiritual and heart condition. One day at work I remembered it and it was the song written by Lanny Wolfe called, Jesus be the Lord of All.

Jesus Be Lord of All
In my heart are kingdoms of a world that's all my own
Kingdoms that are only seen by muself and God alone
In the past when I tried to ruler my world
It just seemed to fall apart
So Jesus be the Lord of all the kingdoms of my heart

Jesus be the Lord of all, Jesus be Lord of all
Jesus be the Lord of all the kingdoms of my heart

I guess I only fooled myself for I said I'd yielded all
But in a secret corner of my heart was a kingdom that did not fall
I surrender now, make my heart Your throne
Lord rule its kingdoms, great and small
For if You're not Lord of everything then You're not Lord at all

There are/were things in my life and heart that I just pretended weren't there or that they weren't really problems. I tried to work on being the better person that I knew God was calling me to be but pretended that I wasn't holding on to the ugliness that I hid in my heart. I acted like I didn't have a problem with intolerance because I would just avoid people that I knew were going to annoy me. Do I have a problem with forgiveness? I would say no and use the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I would tell you that I wasn't unforgiving but rather self-preserving. The secret kingdoms weren't just heart issues. There were kingdoms in the physical that I just could not bring myself to surrender. Even as I would know that God sees and knows everything about us, I couldn't truly surrender and say, "God, I need your help to overcome this. I know that this not pleasing to you and does not display your character. Please show me how to be the person that you need me to be - in word and in deed." These kingdoms weren't so much secret as a thing that just wasn't talked about. That night as God poured the words of this song into my heart and mind, I knew without a doubt that God was telling me that I had to surrender all of me. Not just the good parts and not just the bad parts but everything - even the secret parts.

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14

"Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart." Psalm 44:21

It isn't an easy process exposing those secret places to the Holy God but He knew already and simply desired I be open and honest with Him. It is in that surrendering of those hidden kingdoms that he has helped me to start the overcoming process. My prayer today is: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from my secret faults." Psalm 19:21

His Word, My Newness

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new, and he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Revelation 21:5

Have you ever gone through a trial, or perhaps you are in one right now, in which it looks like all hope is lost? There is just no way that restoration, redemption or healing can happen in your situation. Even if God does the healing or the restoration, it looks impossible that the scars (physical or emotional) will ever fade and things be as good as they were before.

One thing that I have learned about God is that he does all things well. He doesn't rush through the process and leave things to chance. When he created the heavens and the earth, he didn't just throw them out there but had a precise plan for distance, gravitational pull, heat, coolness, light and darkness. With his understanding and wisdom, the right amount of water, land, minerals and plants were perfectly created to sustain the life he was preparing. Thousands of years later, we are still drinking the same water and breathing the same air. God's creation is awesome but even more wonderful is the love and care God put into creation.

If God cares enough to create a new beginning for a big ball of dirt (the earth), how much more does he care about your new beginning? I was speaking with someone tonight and they were telling me about a married couple who had split up and the wife moved in someone else. It appeared that all was lost but God had other plans. After many months/years the couple did get back together. Today they are more in love than before. Today they have God at the center of the relationship, rather than as an afterthought. God did not just restore that marriage but He made it new. God specializes in creating new beginnings. What new beginning do you need? A renewed walk with Him? A renewed marriage? Renewed health? A new career? Whatever new beginning you need you must trust what God said, "Behold I make all things new."

His Word, My Temptations

"Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

Today a friend shared a video with me of a very young child quoting the 23rd Psalm. It brought to my mind the above verse. It is so important that we take the time to read and know the Word of God. Through the knowledge and understanding of His Word, we are made over-comers. When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, for every temptation thrown at him Jesus used the written Word in response. As we read Luke 4, we see that even the devil used the Word of God during the temptations. "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) When we, through daily devotion, hide God's Word in our heart we will have the faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked because "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17) Anything the devil can throw at you can be overcome by the word of God.

Let me encourage you to take time each day to hide the Word of God in your heart. Whether reading a whole chapter or meditating on one verse, consistent studying will strengthen your faith and help you ward off temptation.

His Word, My Change

"The word which came to Jeremmiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." Jeremiah 18:1-4

A few weeks ago while at work, I was praying and telling God my troubles and desires. As I expressed my love, I heard him say to me, "but do you love enough?" I responded with, "of course, I just told you." He again asked if I loved ENOUGH. Since I could see our conversation going no where fast, I just stopped and asked God what he meant by ENOUGH. His response was clear, tender and compassionate when he said, "do you love enough to change?" That set me up straight and I thought about my love and my desires and knew without a doubt that my love was strong enough. As I said, "Yes God, it is strong enough but I can't change without your help, as I don't know how to be different." He let me know he is always with me and we are in this together. Each day, he has guided me through the sometimes traumatic experience of change. There are times he has put a chastising word in my mind or a encourager/motivator in my path. Over the last three weeks God, the master potter, has been molding me... re-molding me rather... into what He needs me to be. He is taking the lump of clay that is me and shaping me into a vessel of honor that he can use in his kingdom. Though being on the potter's wheel is at times quite uncomfortable (and in my case a lot of work) I know that if the change is to be complete, I must submit to him.

Sometimes we pray and ask God for this or that but we do not see how in order for Him to answer our petition, we must change. In order to win our harvest field, we must seek His face and allow him to mold us (our attitude and actions) into the person he needs us to be. Do we have ugliness on the inside while our outside shows we are a Christian? Perhaps our outside (actions and appearance) needs to be shined up a bit to truly let Jesus shine through us. All of that requires the hard work and uncomfortableness of change. Do you love God enough to change? Do you desire the answer to your prayer enough to change?

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6