Nobody Likes Me

Devotional for 9/1/11

When I was a young teen I read a book where a troublesome main character responds to being rebuffed with this lyrical poem:

Nobody likes me,

Everybody hates me,

Guess I’ll go eat worms.

As an awkward 7th grader I instantly related to those words. Yes, I had some friends. Yes, I had family who cared for me. But in the midst of rejection or embarrassment I felt desperately alone convinced that no one was as wretched as me.


Years later, I have friends who love me and family who cares. But when I am feeling like a failure I still feel alone. The funny thing about being a grown-up is that experience and education should be on my side. My brain knows I am loved and accepted by God. But in an emotional crisis, my heart will resist letting my brain have a say in the matter.


While having breakfast, a friend and I were discussing how nice it is to just be able to talk with each other once a month. Not so often that we get bogged down with daily frustrations, but often enough that we are up to date on each other’s life.


Then she observed, “When we don’t share what’s going on at a personal level - we keep ourselves from connecting. Then the other people in our lives feel alone - like they’re the only ones going through whatever and feeling a certain way.”


It’s so true! When I think I am the only one going through something, I think I must be failing. I am the only one struggling to forgive, be content, ask God for all things and trust Him. Then the enemy uses my isolation to convince me something is wrong with me.


We are not alone!


Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

We are loved!

But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact

 that while we were still sinners,

Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.

Romans 5:8 (AMP)

We don’t even need to eat worms.


Dear Lord, Thank You for the love and support You pour out to me through friends. Please purify my heart that I may be a loving and faithful friend. Thank You for Your overflowing love. Thank You forYour promise that You will never leave me or let me go. (see John 10:29). In Jesus name, amen.


Written by Mary M. Wilkins

"He Is Forever With Us"

Devotional for August 31, 2011


God never intended for us to walk this life out on our own. He didn't just create us and throw us on the planet to fend for ourselves. In fact, that is quite the opposite of our loving Father. He tells us He will never leave us or forsake us. He also tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

That passage tells us that we can come to Jesus any time. We can find rest in Him. We can learn from Him. Jesus tells us that He is there for us, especially when the going gets tough! Just knowing His yoke is easy and His burden is light gives me great comfort.






When I meditate on those passages I sense all my problems and burdens being carried by Christ. I can learn of Him knowing He will guide me safely to the other side. That is where I want to be. Resting in the arms of Jesus with peace of mind and free of the cares of this world.



I will continuously come to Jesus because He has my best in mind!



Sandy Billingham

Relationship

Philippians 4:1

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.

**************************************************************

Be aware, be warned, and be exhorted that, if we have any desire to overcome faults, if we sincerely desire to be in God's Kingdom, if we desire to be like God and glorify Him, we need to protect our relationship with Him. He is the Source of the power to do all things, even to grow while also enduring these intense times. Paul is saying that he knows how to discipline himself and thus keep on track in every circumstance of life. By this time in Paul's life, he had the skills required for making the best of every situation.

submitted by : Annie

HURRICANE!

Devotional for Sunday, 8/28/11

HURRICANE!

The verses below describe when Paul was a prisoner on a ship sailing for Italy. He had warned them that there was going to be great loss if they continued on their course, but they did not listen to him:

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along...

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” Acts 27:13-15, 20-26 NIV

Our East coast is experiencing a huge hurricane this weekend. Some have listened to the advice to board up and evacuate, but others have not. There even have been injuries to people foolish enough to stand out on a pier who were knocked around by some massive waves before the storm fully hit. There has been loss of life and property as well as torrential rains and flooding causing major shut downs of public transportation. In spite of plenty of warning ahead of time and tons of preparation in response, there are still going to be destructive storm results.

This is much like our own lives. We have God's instruction book for life, the Bible. But we don't always follow the instructions He gives us. We may think we know a better way, or are enticed by something that appears to be what it is not, or believe that certain things no longer apply in the world today. That is all a part of this sinful world and can lead us right into the middle of the storms of life. But if we "keep up our courage" and have faith in God in the midst of our storms, He will guard and guide us on our way and see us through. We will survive these storms and can do so without fear, as if forever in the eye of the storm. God is always with us!

written by Jan Andersen, in the eye of the storm of life

The Woman

Devotional for Saturday, August 28, 2011

                     Repost from October, 2010

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

It was 5:45 am, and my husband had just left for work. I knew I needed to get up though I was so tired, so I kept turning this way and that way in my bed thinking maybe I could wake up better at different positions…yeah right! I finally forced myself out of bed stomping to put on some sweats, stomping to go downstairs to do my Bible Study. I had the worst attitude. I felt like he made me look bad getting up with ease when it’s usually I who goes through the work of nagging him to wake up or else I’m blamed for letting him sleep in. This time, I felt guilty that I was sleeping in. It’s amazing the kind of garbage I allow to go through my mind. None of this was true or necessary. It was my anger, jealousy, suspicion, rebellious heart soaring off into the land of make-believe causing me to get off focus of what’s real. The next thing I know, before I even had the chance to get comfortable and open my notebook to see where I left off, there was a woman in my house. I know this seems odd, and believe me I was very confused, concerned and shocked. At first I only saw her from behind, then I noticed the front door was wide open, though I couldn’t remember hearing it open, or the chime that tells me it’s open. My heart was pounding and my blood was rushing as I jumped up to take charge of my home and question this intruder. She looked different when she turned around; in fact she looked like a different person at every angle. Then my husband came in through the front door looking panicky. He was stumbling over his words and making no sense. It seemed like he was trying to tell me that he had everything under control, but he was only raising more and more suspicion in me and causing my anger to blaze out of control. The woman, however, was calm, cool and collected, and kept walking around my house (thankfully downstairs, for all the kids were upstairs). It looked as if she was checking out her new territory. Between the yelling, cussing, and questioning coming from me, there would be responses from her of “I own a piece of this family…”, “I have a thousand dollars invested here…”, “a good portion of this household is mine…”, and “I have every right to be here.” She never said anything other than these types of phrases. I was furious! All I could think was “What does that even mean?!?” Nothing was making any sense, and the more confused I became, the angrier I got. My husband never explained any of it, even though he looked like he knew what was happening and why. Even more surprising…he never yelled back at me. It felt like a one-sided fight. It’s not an every day thing for me to yell at my husband –my kids maybe, but not my husband. He’s kind of an intimidating man, and would not put up with me acting out in anger even if he deserved it. By now, I was getting out of breath from my rage, and I was beginning to feel helpless. 

That’s when I woke up. I had never gone downstairs at all. He did leave at about 5:45 am, and I did toss and turn thinking I would eventually wake up, but I didn’t. I drifted off and that’s what I dreamed. In my awakened state of mind, however, I was still furious. I was still out of breath, and my heart was still pounding. I kept thinking about it over and over again getting angrier each time. Now I was crying, but I wasn’t sure why I was still upset…after all, it was just a dream, right? No! It felt more like an attack. I partly knew what was going on, yet was still so caught up in the emotion of it, that I felt paralyzed. Still lying in bed asking God what it all means, it took much longer than it should have for me to finally listen to Him. The answer was so obvious that it was screaming at me in my head. “Get up, get rid of your attitude, and pray for your husband. He needs you to pray for him!” I did, I read what I had written for him a couple of weeks before, and prayed what God put on my heart just as I had been doing every morning since I wrote it, but still it would be a couple of hours before I could stop thinking about the dream. The day ended up being one of those days where I was doing so much and completely wearing myself out, yet feeling like nothing was getting done. It was 7pm before my husband was finally home that night, and I couldn’t believe all that he told me about his day. Of course, I won’t get into the details, but it was obvious that he was under attack at work in a number of different ways. The dream was coming back to me as I listened. Even the way the woman looked different at every angle. How many forms of her were there? How many problems was he facing at work? I listened as long as he needed me to, served him his dinner, then I asked if he minded if I went on a walk…to which he didn’t, and off I went. I called a good friend, and shared some of this with her, and we talked a bit about dreams and how the enemy will sneak in and torment. As we talked, one thing I realized that I never said to the woman…I never said, “Get Out!” I knew that nothing she said made any sense, nor was true…she didn’t own any piece of us, she had not invested anything of value in us, there was no portion that belonged to her, and she did not have any right to be in my house, let alone my dream! Why did I not take charge and tell her what to do? I don’t and never will have the authority to do such a thing with my husband, but I do have the authority invested in me by my Lord and Savior to tell the enemy what to do and where to go. How could I be so blind to forget such a thing? My anger, that’s how. My anger only causes more confusion. Well, I think it’s about time I started denouncing the enemy even in my sub-conscience! For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12. Dear God, make me alert and wise to the tactics of the enemy even in my sleep, and snuff out the fire of my anger so that it does not get in the way of Your work...Amen.

Written by Amie Spruiell

Over and Above Anything We Could Ever Hope For

Devotional for Friday August 26, 2011

Reposted from October 29, 2010

BOBO...

I have been personally blessed to have had a godly Grandmother in my life. Until I was thirteen years of age, I was blessed to have a godly Great Grandmother in my life as well. She is who I want to talk about this morning.

Her name was Dorothy, but we all called her “Bobo”. Somehow my brother had begun calling her that when he was very little, and the name stuck. Bobo had a live in caregiver that used to care for her needs, but every once in awhile this lady would leave for a weekend to go and visit her own relatives.



These became some of my very favorite times, as I was able to “stand in” for her while she was gone. I would go and stay with Bobo for the weekend. Since she wasn’t able to walk very well, a hospital bed had been placed in the living room for her. All day long we would watch television together, and read, talk and share. That was so much fun and I loved it. My very favorite time though, was bedtime.



I used to sleep beside Bobo on a little loveseat that was positioned next to her hospital bed, and each night we would say our prayers together. Mine, of course, were not very long and no matter how hard I tried to think of everything that I should be praying for, they were over quite quickly. This was when Bobo would begin her prayers. I used to lay there in the “dark” and listen to her. She would first pray for one person, and then she would move on to the next. All I knew was that for being in the “dark”, that place became one of the very “brightest” places in my young life.


I would listen, and wonder at the love that I could sense and feel, as it began to permeate and fill that tiny little room. I would snuggle myself down under the warmth of the blankets, and the comfort of my great Grandmother’s prayers would fill my heart. Any worry or concern of mine would soon be forgotten in the comforting sense of love that Bobo’s prayers would bring. I listened as long as I could, but I know that not even once was I ever able to stay awake until she ended. The peace and comfort in that room was just too great, and it would “lull” me to sleep even when I fought it.



It has been a long time since my great Grandmother went on to be with the Lord, and over the years I have forgotten things. I have never forgotten that room, or her prayers though, or the sense of peace that I had come to be familiar with at that young age. What took me time was to realize and understand is that what I had been feeling in that room was the love of Christ and the peace of the Holy Spirit.



As women in general, and for some of us as mothers, a lot of us are probably very familiar with pulling the covers up over our children, or loved ones, as they settle in for sleep. It is something we do quite naturally, and most likely one of the very last things we do at night before allowing ourselves to retire. We must first “tuck” everyone else in. That, in a very real sense, is what Bobo was doing for me through her prayers. She was “tucking” me into and under the “covering” of the Lord. What a beautiful picture that brings to my heart. Although it may not have been possible for her to tuck me in physically, she perhaps, was doing it in a way that would cause me to never become “untucked”, even when, as I grew, I began to “toss” and to “turn” in so many different directions.



Bobo, in her great wisdom and through her simple act of love, was doing something for me that could never be undone. She was lifting me, and my life to the Lord. She was taking the time to ask Him to care for me, to lead me, to guide me, to keep me in each and every area of my life. She was asking Him to do what she knew that she, herself, would never be able to do. My great Grandmother’s years in my life were limited and I did go on to have a lot of “twists” and “turns” in my life. However, over the years and through the circumstances, I did turn my life over to the Lord. Bobo never lived to see how I turned out, or to see the result of her prayers in my life, but nevertheless, the results are there. They are there for others to see, and for the Lord to see.



As I look back over my life, I know that I desire to be like Bobo. I want to do the same for my grandchildren, and someday great grandchildren, as she did for me. I want to “tuck” them into the Lord’s love, as one of the last things I do, before I “retire” to my place in Heaven. I can only marvel at all the Lord has done through one woman’s prayers. I pray that each one of you will be inspired deeply, just as I have been, to pray for those whom the Lord has entrusted to you. You know who they are, and you know what to do.



Today I pray that you will be encouraged, just as I am now, to continue on in the legacy that has been “built” before us, the legacy of love and of prayer. Perhaps you didn’t know your great Grandma, or maybe she wasn’t a praying one, like Bobo was. That is the one of the greatest gifts in all of this, is that it truly doesn’t matter. Now that I have shared Bobo with all of you, you are able to “see” the example that she has set, not only for me, but for all of us. All of this is only one of the ways that the Lord causes us to bear good fruit, and to cause the good fruit that we have labored for to multiply, and to touch others and to use it for good in their lives.



There is no way that Bobo could have ever known that one day I would be sharing all of this. Again, that is the beauty of what the Lord does and will continue to do in our own lives, if we are faithful to do what He has called us to do. He will always remain true to Himself, and to do whatever it is that He has promised.



In ending, I would like to leave you with these verses from Ephesians 3: 20 and 21 from the Amplified Bible: “Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the (action of His ) power that is at work within us, is able to (carry out His purpose and) do superabundantly, far over and above all that we (dare) ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams). V.21 To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).



Written by Beverley A. Napier

What is True Freedom?

What is True Freedom?

Devotional for Thursday, August 25, 2011

The pain and humiliation of being falsely accused, and my words misused, feeds my insecurity and fear that I am somehow less or not worthy of consideration. Even as my heart protests at the unfair treatment His words, “Vengeance is mine,” (see Romans 12:18-20) remind me what I need to do. Even though I am so grateful for all God has forgiven me of and know I do not deserve so much mercy, it is still hard to lay down my right to be understood and hopefully justified. I must forgive. How can I forgive and set others free when I do not feel free myself?

 Interrupting a teaching session at the Temple, a group of men confront Jesus. Dragging a woman through the crowd they demand that Jesus tell them what should be done about her.

⁴ “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

The men are trying to trap Jesus into saying something they can use against him. Instead of answering them Jesus bends down and starts writing in the dust of the ground with his finger. 

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

 

What is Jesus scribbling in the dirt? Whatever it is (perhaps names, places, dates, amounts of money?) something causes every one of those men who are accusing her to turn and walk away. Now the guilty woman is left with Jesus.

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

What is this woman thinking and feeling? Is she holding her breath in fear? As she hears Jesus speak to her, is her heart in her throat, knowing she deserves condemnation for her sin? She answers him.

“No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Wow. God does not accuse or condemn us. His love for us (see Romans 8:31-39) and His desire for our freedom (see John 8:32 & 36) is throughout scripture.

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Have you believed He died for your sins? Have you admitted your sins to Him and asked Him to forgive you? Then we are both free in Christ. When a past sin comes to my mind, I thank God for His forgiveness and try to dwell on it no more. When it keeps coming to my mind, which happens more than I like, I ask God if there’s something I still need to do about it. Otherwise, I say to my mind, Be Quiet, God has forgiven me! Then I fight my tendency to dwell on the past. I am not my sins. You are not your sins. We can let our own pasts, and God’s kindness to forgive our sins, be a reminder not to be hard on others (no matter how loud our feelings may scream). Our true freedom comes from forgiving others whether or not they ask for it or deserve it.

Dear Lord, thank You for all You have done for us. Thank You that we can ask You for Your strength to forgive when we find ourselves unable to do it on our own. In Jesus name, amen.

You can read the story in John 8:1-11, these words are from the New Living Translation.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Turn Your Eyes

Devotional for Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Repost from Occtober, 2011

There is a beautiful song we used to sing which goes as follows:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things on earth, will grow strangely dim;
In the light of His glory and grace.


I have found in my life as I walk through trials and turbulent times, that when I focus on my problem, I am in big trouble.Discouragement and hopelessness can set in very quickly. The more I focus on the situation the deeper I sink into a pit of despair.


The good news is that when I fix my eyes on Jesus and rejoice in Him, hope begins to well up. I have a whole different focus when I trust in Him and in His promises. I am strengthened in Him and confident the the Lord will see me through the situation. He will take care of me and give me a way out. He is so much bigger than any mountain in my life. I can rejoice in Him and cling to Him with victory on the horizon!


I choose to "turn my eyes upon Jesus" for He is the author and finisher of my faith.


Blessings,


Written by Sandy

1 Peter 5:1-5

Reprint from 10/19/11

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,

and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

Feed the flock of God which is among you,
taking the oversight thereof, not by

constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre,
but of a ready mind Neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being ensamples to the flock

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, y
e shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

1 Peter 5:1-5

Humility has its basis in an honest and realistic comparison of us with God. To compare ourselves with other people always allows us a great deal of wiggle room because we can always find flaws in other people's character. But these rationalizations are not really honest because our goal is not to be in the image of other people or them to be in our image. Our goal is to be in the image of God, and therefore the comparison must be with Him.



When we do that—and we do it honestly—we always come out on the short end of the stick. We are woefully poor (poor of spirit) of any value, any quality or characteristic one might even begin to imagine. We fall so far short of His holiness that it knocks the props right out from under any idea we might have to take pride in what we are.



If we are striving to be like Him, to walk in His steps, to be in His image, this comparison gives us a much more realistic foundation to work from in relating both to Him and to fellow man. It is a wonderful attitude adjuster and regulator of relationships.



Humility tends to be the flipside of faith, because where the confident—the faithful, the trusting—will push themselves forward, the humble has a tendency to hesitate. It is a matter of restraint.



In the humble, there is a consciousness of emptiness, of potential weakness, of helplessness, of worthlessness. However, we should never get the idea that the humble are weak. Paradoxically, they are among the strongest of all people on earth! It all depends on one's perspective. In God's perspective, these people are strong, while from a human perspective, it depends on whom they want to impress.



Humility is so important that God gave Paul some help to make sure that he would stay humble (II Corinthians 12:6-10). Yet, if we would evaluate that, from the time of Jesus on, no one was more spiritually powerful than Paul. It all depends on one's perspective. Who is the humble person being compared with? In comparison with other men, Paul did not appear very strong, but when God looked at him, He liked what He saw—a powerful, effective servant of God.


This is so important because humility's dominant thrust is its willingness to submit to God and to what is right and true. Some, of course, would submit willingly to death if it would glorify God. Our level of humility, therefore, pretty much sets the tone of our relationship with Him and with others. In both cases, that is, with God and man, the humble esteem the other better than themselves. This quality will guard the unity of the spirit (Ephesians 4:3).



Humility or lowliness goes hand-in-glove with meekness. Meekness is a rather complex subject requiring many items to describe it accurately. However, it contains an evident element of restraint. The meek are kind, gentle, and sensitive to others needs. They are thoughtful, agreeable people. They are not aggressive, assertive, insistent, or argumentative. They are easily approached and easy to get along with. Again, we should not be mistaken: The meek are not weak. Certainly, we would not classify Jesus and Moses as being weak, but meek they were. They were firm and uncompromising regarding following truth, but they did not feel constrained to overwhelm those who were aligned against them.

submitted by Annie M. Allen

Devotional for 8/22/11

Repost from Monday, December 13, 2010

I happened to peek out the living room window yesterday at about 5:00 P.M. What I saw in the sky drew me out into the front yard. A magnificent sunset displayed itself in the firmament above me. Layers and layers of thick clouds stretched out in long rows. They were lit up in a golden pink hue which seemed to grow more brilliant as I gazed upon this wonder. The sky provided a crisp blue backdrop and peered through the rows of clouds.


As I stood in awe of God's magnificent handiwork, scriptures welled up from within my soul.

"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God." 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NLT)

"Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see Him - even those who pierced Him." Revelation 1:7 (NLT)

"Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure." 1 John 3:2-3 (NLT)

Anxious thoughts of external preparations for the holiday season suddenly fell into perspective. I thanked the Lord for sharing His glorious sunset with me that day, and whispered a prayer. "Please show me what you would have me do in readiness for this Christmas celebration. Help me to see what is important to you and those things which would simply deplete my time, energy, and resources. Let me heed the admonition of the UNKNOWN AUTHOR who wrote:

"Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life's busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last."

Written by C.F.

ACTING LIKE A CHILD

devotional for Sunday 8/21/11

ACTING LIKE A CHILD

How would you feel if someone said to you that you are acting like a child? That phrase is often used when an adult is seen as whining, pouting or throwing a tantrum. Sometimes, when a child starts acting up in public with those behaviors, surrounding people may not take it well. They may look down their noses at the apparent lack of parenting skills of the adult, think that they could do a better job disciplining the child, and wonder what that child will grow up to be like if they don't learn how to behave better at their young age. Onlookers may also subscribe to the old adage, "children are to be seen and not heard."

The disciples may have had some opinions about children that were similar. They didn't want Jesus to be bothered by parents wanting their children to be touched by him. But Jesus had a different perspective. He even wants us to be childlike in our faith, fully and easily trusting, and accepting that we are undeserving and helpless to save ourselves:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:13-15 NIV

The phrase is often put together with these other admonitions, "be and adult, shoulder your responsibilities, stop acting like a child." While Jesus wants our faith to be childlike, trusting fully and with great abandon, he does NOT want us to be childish in what we believe, swayed by every shift in the wind:

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:14-16

Like a perfectly loving father holds his children close to his heart, our Heavenly Father calls us his children and guards and protects us. The Jews are called the children of God in the Old Testament because God chose them and set them apart, and the Gentiles (non-Jews) are called children of God in the New Testament if they are faithful believers. In a family, children usually receive an inheritance from their parents. That means that as children of God we receive the inheritance of eternal life with him!

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:16-17 NIV

May you be childlike in your faith, not childish or foolish, and may you cherish and appreciate the magnitude of your inheritance!

Written by Jan Andersen, child of God

After God’s Own Heart...AS

David has always had this wonderful reputation as a man after God’s own heart, King David that is…you know the shepherd boy…friend of Jonathon, enemy of Saul…the one who killed a giant threat to Israel and then much later in his life one of his own men so that a dirty secret could be kept hidden.  Anyway, he was obviously no perfect man.  People have strong opinions of him, and for good reason.  He made mistakes, sinful mistakes…mistakes that not only affected him, but all those around him and especially those he ruled over.  Yet, he was still called a man after God’s own heart.  Even at one point during his reign, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel as a nation.  How is it that he was held in such high esteem?

One of the most beautiful examples of David’s heart was when he pleaded with God to bring punishment on him alone instead of the people.  Taking into account his own sin and that he was their king, David was determined to take the fall.  The truth is, he was responsible to take the fall, but how many people are willing to admit that?  To show even further that he was willing to carry the burden, he refused a free gift from one of his own people of land and animals for use as a sacrifice.   His own words were,

“I will not offer burnt offerings

to the Lord my God

which costs me nothing.”

This story takes place in the last chapter of 2 Samuel.  The anger of the Lord burned against Israel.  Does it specifically say why?  No, but that is beside the point.  Apparently, when God removed His hand from Israel, David was vulnerable to pride and listened to the voice of Satan.  Out of this pride, he chose to number the people in a census when God had not ordered it.  His guilt overcame him and he cried out to God.  Then when the punishment came over all of Israel costing the lives of 70,000 men, David could not take it anymore, and so here is where we truly see his heart…his heart that said that it was his own fault, and that the people were innocent. 

When God told David what he must do to stop the punishment, the king hurried off to accomplish the deed, a sacrifice.  Now, a sacrifice is not a sacrifice if it costs nothing, so when one man offered to David a free gift to use as a sacrifice, the broken shepherd king said the beautiful words quoted above,

“I will not offer burnt offerings

to the Lord my God

which costs me nothing.”

I understand this.  But for us, our offerings are those of praise.  I often feel broken over my sinfulness and I desire to give to God in a way that will cost me.  But what could I possibly give that would cost enough?  After all, He’s given me so much. 

I’ve always felt a burning desire to give back to God for what He’s done for me…to pay Him back so to speak.  It’s a silly notion because who could actually pay the debt to begin with, let alone pay back the person who cancelled it as if it’s still owed.  But at least it keeps me in the right frame of mind in a society where people have the “me” attitude believing that life truly is all about themselves and all of heaven and earth owes them. 

Interesting that in only a couple of chapters earlier in 2 Samuel, chapter 22, we read a psalm written by David.  The same song is found in the book of Psalms in chapter 18.  A portion of this speaks of David’s righteousness.  I read those verses and wondered how anyone could speak of their own righteousness when we’re all sinful people.  Could he be lying to himself?  David certainly knew of his own sins, yet here he was calling himself blameless, righteous, clean, and obedient and even using absolutes when describing these words of perfection.  Yet it was during David’s reign that the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, just as it did during the reign of other kings…quite evil kings.  So, what made David so different?  It was his remorse.  It was his repentant heart.  It was his burning desire to give back to God what God gave to him…love. 

The love that God gives us did not cost him nothing.  It’s not a love that He owes to us.  What He does owe to us is punishment, yet He offers us forgiveness.  David did know of his own sinfulness.  He knew he was no example of perfection, yet he knew his God, his personal Creator and Savior, so well he even knew that because of his repentant heart, God remembered his sin no more.  God’s great mercy erased the sins of David from God’s own eyes, so that when God looked at David, He only saw a clean, righteous, and blameless heart.  He only saw the things of David that were good.  That’s why it says, “…according to my cleanness before His eyes.” 

David was no different than me, a fallen creature, but yes, because of his repentance he was a man after God’s own heart.  I suppose that is our costly offering…our repentance.  It costs us our pride, our arrogance, and our fleshly desires.  That’s what makes us after God’s own heart.

Amie Spruiell 8-12-2011

Wisdom From Above (BN)

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled);

then it is peace loving, courteous (considerate, gentle).  It is willing to yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits: it is wholehearted and straight forward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).  

James Chapter 3 Verse 17

in the Amplified Bible  

I went to a wonderful Women’s Retreat this past weekend.  The weather was great, my room mate was even greater, and the Speaker gave one of the best messages I’ve ever heard.  What has stuck with me the deepest however, is the lesson that I learned through watching the Lord work out a situation that truly had the potential to ruin everything.   

The Retreat was being held in a local Hotel.  The place in which our group of women met was a big room separated by partitions.  We met there Friday evening, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, all without incidence.  Saturday evening however, was different.  The service started out the same, with announcements and then worship.  After that our Speaker would come up and begin teaching. 

Well, somewhere between the end of our worship time and the beginning of our teaching time, everything in our room began to be “drowned out.”  Without warning, we were overtaken by a very loud DJ playing very loud music in the room on the other side of the folding partition.  At first we all tried to ignore it.  We very quickly figured out that wasn’t going to work.  It wasn’t only that we could hear each and every beat of the music, but it was so loud that we could “feel” every beat of it also.  

I was sitting in the back of the room as this all began to take place, so I was farthest from our Speaker and closest to the music.  I watched as the women in our room reacted with a variety of responses.  Some of them came to the back of the room and began to “lay hands” on the partition and pray towards the room where the music was coming from.  One of the women stood up and “stormed” out and a few others followed.  I could hear as some of the women complained out loud.  Our Speaker began to speak louder in an effort to be heard.  I found myself leaning forward in my seat, straining very hard to hear what she was saying.  

Three thoughts went through my head.  The first one was that the people on the other side of the partition had just as much right to be there doing what they were doing as we did to be there doing what we were doing.  My second thought was that it was pretty poor planning on the part of the Hotel Management, to place a Christian Women’s Retreat and an  eighteenth Birthday Party next to each other.  That made absolutely no sense to me.  My third thought was that no matter how many hands were being laid on that partition, I was pretty darned certain that the music was not going to stop.  So, I just sat there quietly and watched.   

All of this went on for a good ten to fifteen minutes without any change.  Then I saw a woman go up to the woman who was in charge over the whole event, and pull her quietly aside.  After that several women began to direct the women who were sitting, to stand and to move their row of chairs forward. I soon understood what they were doing.  Our whole group was being moved towards the upper half of the room.  The “lower” half of our room was being closed off by a sliding partition.  That additional partition had been there inside of our room the whole time. It was just that nobody had really noticed it before any of this had taken place.  

We simply closed the partition and put another whole “room” space between us and the room holding the Birthday Celebration. It was wonderful.  All of a sudden we could again hear everything that was being said.  Not only that, but there was an added sense of intimacy which began to develop as we pulled in closer together.  There was a deep sense of celebration and victory that could be felt as we once again began to surrender our hearts, minds and bodies in worship and praise to the Lord. 

As I sat there and pondered at what had just taken place, I could feel my spirit being stirred.  I realized that the Lord had answered the prayers of those women who had been praying. Even though I had thought it a bit “silly” to see those women lay hands on a partition, I found out that the Lord had not.  He had answered their prayers.  He had answered their prayers by giving them wisdom. You see, the “answer” to our problem had been there all along in the form of that second partition, but none of us had seen it.  It only became “visible” to us in answer to those prayers.  

What a tremendous lesson I learned that evening.  I began to think of how many times I had been just like those women in their variety of responses that evening.  At times I have been caught “off guard” or completely surprised by something that has taken place in my life.  There have been times in my own life in which I too, have been known to suddenly stand up and “storm” out… in an effort to change something by reacting in some type of “old” behavior pattern.  Other times I have simply sat and complained.  Sometimes I have done exactly what I did that night.  I have quietly sat by and watched as others took the initiative to pray, and then even doubted as they did.  Still other times I have tried to become “louder” than that which was bothering me, whether it happened to be a situation that I was dealing with at the time… or a person.   

I suddenly realized how very much I still have to learn.  I could only be thankful that the Lord had not given up on me long before.  I felt humbled… and reassured at the same time.  Humbled by my lack of faith and discernment, and reassured by the measure of Jesus’ love for me.  I knew that if He was still teaching me that He wasn’t done with me.  How grateful I am for the Lord’s patience and grace. 

I have once again been reminded to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and to lean not on my own understanding.  So many times the Lord will rescue us by giving us the wisdom that we need in a given situation.  Sometimes there is wisdom in staying quiet.  In the situation that I spoke of above, there was action required on our part.  Other times wisdom means taking no action at all… even when (or perhaps especially when) we want to take it.  Only the Lord knows exactly what we need in each and every situation that takes place in our lives.  Only He can give us the wisdom that can “turn” a situation around.  Only He can give us the wisdom and direction of how to handle something without hurting or offending others.  He is our Savior… and on many occasions it is ourselves and our own actions from which He saves us. I’d like to close with this verse:

“If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (Who gives)

 to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding,

and it will be given to him.  Only it must be in faith that he asks

with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea

that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.”  

James 1:5 and 6 

Written by Beverley A Napier on August 9, 2011