Hope for when you get tripped up...

"Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good." -- Psalm 25:7

Even though we continue to mess up and do the wrong things when we are adults, there is something different about the mistakes of our youth. Having a teenager right now at home causes me to think back to my own teenage years quite often. When I see my daughter striving for independence from her parents, looking for her path in this world and making mistakes in the process, I look back and find I made many of the same mistakes.

I often go to the Message translation of the Bible because it usually puts things in words that make understanding the verses easier. Psalm 25 is full of wise advice.

"Forget that I sowed wild oats; Mark me with your sign of love. Plan only the best for me, God! God is fair and just; He corrects the misdirected, sends them in the right direction. He gives the rejects his hand and leads them step-by-step. From now on every road you travel will take you to God. Follow the Covenant signs: Read the charted directions. Keep up your reputation God; Forgive my bad life: It's been a very bad life. My question: What are God-worshipers like? Your answer: Arrows aimed at God's bull's eye. They settle down in a promising place: Their kids inherit a prosperous farm. God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones he confides in. If I keep my eyes on God, I won't trip over my own feet." -- Psalm 25:7-15 The message translation

So much wisdom and insight into God and our relationship with him are contained in those verses! I want a God-friendship with my creator! I want to be a God-worshiper who God confides in! I want him to forget my sins, and they have been many!

How many of us feel like rejects? We feel like we have messed up so bad that others will look down on us and God will turn us away. But that isn't the case! God gives his hand to the rejects and leads them step-by-step! I am an arrow aimed at God...he is my path. When I trip over my own feet and lose my path, if I turn my eyes back to God, he will put me back on the right path!

Mistakes are not just made in our youth. All of us, at all ages, need to be reminded frequently of God's grace and forgiving nature. When we mess up, and we will, we can put our eyes back on God and he will direct us. But, isn't that easier said than done? How can I find God when I am so far off the right path?

Dig into the Bible. It seems so simple, and yet that, along with prayer, is the answer. In His word, God speaks to us. He speaks to me through his words every morning. When I thought I was too busy or too depressed for the Bible to make any difference in my life and I stayed away from it, my heart suffered...I felt lost. When I reached for those Bible verses again, and really thought about what they were trying to say to me, I was revived again. It is as simple as one verse a day...I get a daily Bible verse on my phone every day. It is that verse that inspires these blog posts. God speaks to me in one simple verse a day...it's THAT simple!

Are you feeling like a reject today? Are you feeling like your mistakes have messed up your life and it is beyond repair? Open your Bible and read one simple verse and open your heart to God's whispered message to you. You too can be revived! If you keep your eyes on God, he will keep you from tripping over your own feet and your own mistakes!

Flipping the switch...

"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin." -- 1 John 1:7

You know if a Bible verse starts with "But" there must be important stuff before that verse. Verse 6 of 1 John 1 says, "If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."

I don't know about you, but that verse stings a little. All of us have walked in darkness at times in our lives. All of us have made mistakes and lived in ways that are not right. There is not one of us human beings that is perfect and does the right thing ALL the time...not one. But, how many of us want to be called liars? How many of us want to think about not living out the truth? We want to think we are good, we do good, we want to be good. But the real truth is...we are stumbling around in the darkness most of the time. Most of the time, we just can't seem to find the light...the switch seems to be out of our reach.

The Message translation puts those two verses this way, "If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we are not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacraficed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin."

If most of the time we are stumbling around in the dark, looking for the switch...knowing it's there, we can't find it, and we know that if we find in the light and walk in it we will be safe from our own sin...HOW DO WE FIND THE LIGHT SWITCH?

Verse 7 says that once we find the light, we will live a shared life with one another. I think that in order to FIND THE LIGHT SWITCH, we need to be living a shared life with others first. Sometimes, you just need someone else to guide you to the switch...someone who has been in that dark room before and knows where to find it. Of course, we need to put God first, and when we cry out to Him, he answers...He IS the light switch. But, this life is too hard to find God on our own, especially when we have been stumbling around in the dark for a long time.

I believe that is why it is so important to have a loving church family, or at the very least, some trusted friends around you. When you go through life WITH someone else...life is much easier, or at least it is easier to handle. As I said before, we ALL mess up...we ALL sin. The blood of Jesus covers that sin and purifies us. But, if you are stumbling around, alone in the dark, you don't see God's light shining through Jesus. Most of the time, the light switch is very near, but we need a friend to guide us there. And in turn, sometimes our friends are the ones looking for the switch, and we can guide them to it as well.

Since God is all powerful, all knowing and is everywhere all the time...don't you think that the light is ALWAYS on...we just have to find the switch inside ourselves to let the light shine through us? The switch is INSIDE us...in our hearts...so we need to touch each other's hearts, right? Don't claim to have the light already on when it's not...people will know because it won't be shining through you. You don't have to lie...God wants you to be living in His truth and light. It's as easy as...flipping a switch!

Reach out and touch someone's heart today...help them to turn on the light inside their heart so they don't have to stumble in the darkness anymore. And, if it's you that is stumbling...reach out...find a trusted friend who is already in the light and allow them to touch your heart. They can help you find the switch inside yourself and turn it on!

Lessons learned from the Hatfields and McCoys

"But the lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3

I am a Hatfield by marriage, and I am a history buff, so the History Channel's mini-series, "The Hatfields and McCoys" was of great interest to me. I have read about the feud before, and my father-in-law actually went to a huge family reunion once. And, who doesn't love Kevin Costner! So, I have watched two nights of it and will probably watch the last episode tonight, but it has saddened me in a way that this is the legacy of my husband's name...violence, arrogance, and twisted faith. So many deaths and broken lives...all becasue of misunderstandings and family loyalty.

But then I think that there was more going on here than just family loyalty. Some of the things that happened in those two families and the people around them was just pure evil...killing just to kill.

I have said this before, but I don't like to think about the devil and about evil forces at work in our world. It is easier to have faith in a God I can't see but know is there, than to believe in evil forces that I can't see. But, look around...there are a LOT of bad things happening everywhere. It makes sense that there is an unholy leader at work in our world...our enemy...who wants to see us fall, to get so discouraged we walk away from God and what is holy.

Thinking again about the Hatfields and McCoys, in the beginning, there was a friendship. The two patriarcs of the families grew up together and went to war together. They both saved each other in battle. But the war took it's toll and caused a fight between the two that sparked the most famous, or infamous really, family feud in history. Don't you think that the Devil might have had a part in this whole thing? Taking a friendship and encouraging each to rip it to shreds...something good became something ugly. I know as humans, God gave us free will...we make our own decisions and live with the consequences, good and bad. But, just as the serpent tempted and led Eve astray, don't you think it is more than possible that the Devil plays a part in tempting us and leading us astray too? Instead of just letting go of it, the Devil nagged at the McCoy to make a big deal and sue the Hatfields over that stolen pig. Instead of just letting two young people who fell in love get married as they wished the two fathers forbid the marriage between the two feuding families and started an avalanche of consequences. Doesn't it make sense that the Devil was involved in that?

In the verse right before the Thessalonians verse above, it says, "And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith." There is evil in this world...not everyone has faith in the God who saves...when you don't have that faith, it is easier to be led astray by the evil one who is prowling around, looking for people to destroy.

Faith in God can save you. Faith that God is more powerful than the evil one will protect you. Anse Hatfield's nickname was Devil Anse, which seems rather appropriate. The Devil was involved in the whole thing. Later in his life, after many murders and much sadness, Anse Hatfield went to a revival and was saved. He was baptized and became a follower of Jesus. It has been written that Anse Hatfield spent the last years of his life knowing that his sins were forgiven and the Hatfield McCoy feud lost the fire behind it and finally stopped.

This famous feud is just an example of the evil at work in our world. God knows there is evil. If we ask for his protection from that evil, he is faithful and will protect us. That doesn't mean that bad things won't happen to us. But it does mean that God will protect our hearts from the evil one. We don't have to listen to the serpent whispering lies to us. When we ask him, God will strengthen us and give us a way out. We don't have to be part of the evil.

There are lessons to be learned from the Hatfields and McCoys. That is why I like history...we can look back at bad things that have happened in the past and figure out why they happened and then try to not let them happen again. I pray that our faithful God will strengthen you today and protect you from the evil one. So, Today, when someone insults you ar tries to steal your pig, just smile and walk away. I'm a Hatfield, and that's what I'm gonna do! ;-)

The gift of empathy...

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses; but he have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin." -- Hebrews 4:15

Empathy is the identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. To empathize with someone, you don't have to agree with them or feel what they are doing is right, you just understand how they are feeling and why they are feeling that way.

The verse above is saying that Jesus DOES empathize with us -- understand us -- because he himself was tempted in every way. He knows our weaknesses and understands why we can't seem to do what we want to do or be the people we want to be. He knows what we go through. He knows why we do the wrong things...he knows why we sin and how that sin makes us feel.

I Don't think we realize what a gift that is. We all know "religious" people who are so caught up in the laws, rules and legalizsm of religion that they judge everything and everyone. Certainly, if you read in the Bible about the Pharisees, Saducees and other religious leaders of Jesus' day, you see that those men never understood WHY people sinned, they just punished those who did. And we know that is also the case today. I see "Christian" judgement every day. There is not much empathy there.

God gave us Jesus, a gift in many ways. Not only did he take our sin to save us, but he experienced our temptations and became our high priest -- a high priest who does not judge us, but encourages us to be better. While on earth, Jesus hung out with sinners of all types. He didn't shoo them away because of the the things they did, he was drawn to them. He was kind to them and encouraged them to sin no more. He empathized with their situations, taught them about God's kingdom and made them WANT to be better people so they too could experience the glory of that kingdom.

If you read the next verse in Hebrews, you see what the empathy of Jesus can give us.

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." -- Hebrews 4:16

I love the Message translation - "So, let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help."

Grace, mercy and help. All things we can receive from God through Jesus.

Let Jesus be your example today. Find some empathy in your heart for those around you. Follow Jesus example and show some understanding to those you think are wrong. Show them Jesus so they too can find Jesus for themselves and experience the grace, mercy and help that He so freely gives.

Oh Lord, it's REALLY hard to be humble...

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." -- James 4:10

The word humble or humbled is used 56 times in the Bible. I have found that when a word or idea is repeated in the Bible, it has certain significance. The verse above says if we humble ourselves, the Lord will lift us up. First of all, what does it mean to HUMBLE yourself?

The definition of the word humble is:
* adjective - not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive
* reflecting expressing or offered in a spirit of deference or submission
* ranking low in hierarchy or scale; insignificant
* not costly or luxurious
* verb - to make someone humble in spirit or manner; to destroy the independece or prestige of

That's a lot submissive words, and pretty couter-cultural! In our world, we are taught to be proud, to NOT submit, we love luxury, we love having significance and we certainly love independence. So, if we are to humble ourselves, how do we do that when we are taught from birth to be proud?

I think the key is to look at that important phrase "...before the Lord..." God is all knowing, always present and all powerful. When we know this in our hearts and learn to give HIM the glory for all we have, for all we do, for all we want to have and do, then we are taking the first steps of humbline ourselves. More importantly, when we give up control of our lives and learn to rely on God for everything, THEN he will lift us up.

But, I can't see, hear or touch God. How can I give him control of my life when I can't tell if He is there or not? Oh, he's there, alright! Giving up control means that you go to God about EVERYTHING you do. It is NOT easy! I have a friend who has lost over 140 pounds. When I ask her how she has done it, she says she has learned to pray to God about everything that goes into her mouth, and she has found that by doing that, not as much junk goes in her mouth now. I thought, what a great idea...I will try that! Well...it is NOT that easy. We forget how automatically we do things, especially eating. We just do it without thinking. Remembering to say a little word of prayer before stuffing those chips in your mouth is a lot easier said than done. But, as my friend has proved, it IS possible. It takes practice, and intention, and faith that it will work.

God has proven to me over and over that when I REMEMBER to put HIM first and me second, he does help me and he does lift me up. I dont' know why I forget that from time to time and go back to my old independent and arrogant self, thinking I can handle things on my own, but I do, over and over again.

Over and over again...God is always faithful. It is us who forgets. He reminds us 56 times in the Bible that we should humble ourselves. It's hard...really hard...to be counter-cultural and put God before everything else...but I know it's worth the effort!

Sing to the Lord!

"But I will sing of your strength in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble," -- Psalm 59:16

It's funny that today's verse talks about singing. I am up early on a Sunday morning, before I get ready to go to church and sing in the choir. It's 5:30 in the morning and as the sun begins to brighten the night sky, the birds are singing all around me. I love this time of day, because there is not much traffic on the road in front of my house to drown on out the beautiful symphony of birds. I had a brief thought that they were singing to me, welcoming me into this wonderful day...but I don't think it's me they are singing to...I believe they are singing to their creator, thanking and praising him for their lives, and for this world they live in.

My daughter shared with me a Youtube video that she heard at Youth Group last week where a pastor made a "mash-up" mix of the noises that scientists have discovered that some stars make along with the haunting songs of whales. It seemed a little far fetched to me at first...stars singing??? Stars paising God??? Whales singing praises to God??? But I have listened to it several times now and read the verses: "Praise him, sun and moon: praise him, all you shining stars." -- Psalm 148:3 and "Praise the Lord Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths." Hmmmm...It makes you think! Check this video out for yourself! It's a 15 minute video, but make sure you listen all the way to the end...I bet it will make you have goose bumps!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zWKm-LZWm4

If birds, and stars and whales can sing praises to God...shouldn't it be even more important for me to praise God? But God doesn't NEED my praises because he has a symphony of his creation singing to him...creatures that don't have the "human mess" to cloud their thoughts...worry, fear, doubt, pride, vanity....WE have those things that make us think less of God.

But, our God knows how we are, he knows us because he created us. Our God is great! If we know that, if we believe that...

"The lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)

"Whenever I am afraid I will trust in you." (Psalm 56:3)

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."(Deuteronomy 33:27)

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." (Hebrews 6:19)

I am going to sing praises to God today! Sing with me and the birds, stars and whales today! "How great is our God!"

What do you want?

"A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart." -- Proverbs 21:2

Do you know what you want? I mean, do you really know what you want from life? We want to be happy, don't we? But do we really know WHY we want to be happy or WHAT would make us happy ? We are always searching for things to make us happy, and we never seem to find it, so we obviously don't have a clue. We think we find things that make us happy...marrying the person of our dreams...kids...good jobs...fun times with friends...traveling to new exciting places...we are always searching for something to make us happier. We think we know ourselves so well that the way we live our lives is just right for us. We don't want the government telling us what to do or how to live. We don't want our parents telling us what to do when we are children or when we are grown adults either. We have problems with authority and feel like "management" is always out to get us and we know we could do a better job than they do. If everyone would just do things MY way, then EVERYONE would be happier, right?

The problem is, we really DON'T know! We are always searching, because we don't know what we are looking for. We know it's out there somewhere, but we don't know what IT is! We are blinded by our our ambitition to be happy. I say blinded because it is right in front of us, but we can't see it. We think we know what we want, we think we know what to do in our lives to get it and we live our lives in a way that is always trying to get it. BUT...God DOES see it and he knows our heart. God weighs our heart. He sees the IT that we can't see. When we open our hearts to the power of God, he opens our eyes to the IT as well.

Jesus is famous for making the blind see. In Matthew 20:29-34, Jesus has an encounter with two blind men sitting on the side of the road. Apparently, they knew that this man has healed the blind before and they ask for his mercy on them. Jesus stopped and asked them, "What do you want me to do for you." They answered, "We want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them, touched their eyes. Immediately, they received their sight and followed him.

What do you want? Their basic need was to be able to see. If they could see, then they wouldn't need to be begging on the side of the road. What do you want? I want to see! I want my eyes to be opened so I can see the world through God's eyes and not my own. I want to see beauty in the ugly. I want to see that by seeing the world in this way, I CAN be happy! If I see everything in my life through God's eyes, seeing blessings in the tragedies, seeing opportunities in the challenges, seeing peace in the chaos. I don't want to be begging on the side of the road any more! I want to see! When you ask for sight, it will be granted to you. Maybe not exactly how you thought it would come, but you will see! God loves us enough not to give us lesser things.

But, do you think God allows us to see for a while and we are happy in the moment, and then because of our own apathy, our sight grows dim and we lose sight again of the IT that will make us happy?

If you have ever had to get new glasses, you have experienced how bright and clear things appear after you put on those new glasses for the first time. It's almost hard to walk because you had gotten used to things being fuzzy...that was your "normal." When your focus was restored, your "normal" was made better and clearer and things seem very strange at first.

When my sight grows dim, when things around me get fuzzy, I notice it. At that moment, I have a choice. I know going to the eye doctor will help me to see clearer again, so I need to make an appointment. But, time is short, money is tight, and I put it off. I get used to things being fuzzy. It depends on how strong my desire is to see clear again. If my desire is strong enough, I make that appointment and get new glasses. The eye doctor doesn't come to me, I have to go to him. God is like the eye doctor...he knows what my eyes need to see clear, and if I go to him for adjustments, he well help me see again!

What do I want? I want to see! I want to be happy! God weighs my heart. He knows what I need and what will make me happy. He asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" I answer, I want to see! But, learning from the blind men Jesus made see...when they recieved their sight...they followed him! Perhaps THAT is the IT we are looking for!!!