The Breaking Point

Devotional for Tuesday, 6/18/13
 

While working in an engineering department library I learned a fascinating term that has helped me recognize when I am allowing myself to be stretched too thin. It is called ultimate tensile strength.

 Tensile strength refers to the amount of stretching or pulling a material can take before breaking or failing. This useful information, how far can something be stressed, helps engineers to know both the amount of strength and the limit of that strength. God quickly showed me that each of us has tensile strength, and learning to recognize and understand it in ourselves and others can help us stay within our limits.  

I have said, and heard others say, that we are being “pulled tighter than a drum”, “stretched to the limit”, “carrying too heavy a load”, or “over-extended.” The strain most common to many of us is too little time and too much workload. The stress piles up as we deal with children, husbands, coworkers, financial difficulties, health issues, and a hectic life as we try to do and be there for everyone. The resulting fear, anxiety, misunderstandings, demands, and expectations weigh us down and bring us closer to our breaking point.   

One thing I realized I don’t have time for is – me.  Lord, I am desperate for more time and less workload!  I’m afraid the stress will prove to be my breaking point, instead of proving my ability to withstand the test. 

God could have created the universe in a blink of an eye, or whatever time frame He wanted, but He created things one day at a time. Even in His process of creating the earth for us He was setting an example of how we should live.  We are to do a day’s work, no more and no less. Then we should rest.

That seems to be the hardest part of resting in Him: is waiting for Him to act. But we can resist overloading our souls with stress by trying to figure out how to make things happen. We can speak words of thanksgiving, hope, and courage. We can choose to trust that He has given us the strength we need for each day (see Deuteronomy 33:25).  This process is hard work - but oh the result!

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:1-2 NIV

 

No test or temptation that comes your way

 is beyond the course of what others have had to face.

All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;

 he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit;

he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

 1 Corinthians 10:13 MSG

 

Written by Sandy Schott

A Little More Time

Devotional for Monday, 6/17/13

White fluffy clouds drift slowly across an intensely blue sky. My brother and I look for animals, trees, and houses as the clouds morph from one shape into another as they cruise across the horizon. At our age, we think nothing of laying on our backs in the grass as we play our lazy gazing game. I have not yet learned to imagine tiny bugs crawling all around me.  My mind is full of wonder of the creation God has placed around me. I am certain I will always know this kind of peace and stillness.

That is the last time I can remember when the busyness and crush of life was not pressing on me. Routines and expectations began to fill my life soon after that time of freedom. Even as I finished one season, another season would start. I began to wish for an 'end'. I wanted to take a break - but I needed to finish 'this' first, then the next thing and the next.

Life has been a mix of blue skies and dark and stormy nights. In the midst of them, I have often wished, and even prayed, for a little more time. Sometimes my desire is so I can get more done - as I operate under the illusion that the satisfaction I will experience from accomplishing it all will be fantastic! Or I am just trying to get 'everything' done that I have decided is important. Often I am telling myself I would pray more, go to church more, reach out to the hurting more, IF I just had a little more time.

It turns out that I can't make time, I can't borrow time, I can't even steal time. When I stop everything, and take a good hard look at myself and my life, and the things I am busy doing, I see that there is only one way to get done those 'other' things I say I wish to do. I must take time. Take time with the people who are important to me. Take time to care for my body and my health. Take time to rest, have fun, and enjoy this moment in time. Take time for God.

So, instead of falling into bed night after night exhausted from trying to squeeze extra time out of a day, I must take responsibility for how I am choosing to use the time I am given each day. Since it has taken me years to create this crazy pattern I live in - I know I need His wisdom to unravel my way out of it with kindness and consideration for others. 

Here’s what I want you to do:

Find a quiet, secluded place

so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God.

Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.

The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.

Matthew 6:6 MSG

Thank You, Lord, that You patiently wait for us to discover that our way doesn't work. Then You gently teach us as soon as we are paying attention. Please give me ears to hear and a heart that understands. May my words be kind and my actions be good. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

HEAVENLY FATHER

Sunday devotional... 6/16/13

Father's Day - a time to celebrate fathers.  For some this is a lovely day spent with family, or sending a meaningful card and gift and making a personal phone call, remembering what our fathers have done to protect and provide for us.  There are also those who no longer have a father here on earth, some having been separated for a very long time, others being raw with recent loss.  For others this may be a difficult time, remembering a not-so-loving relationship, or abandonment, or abuse at the hands of the one that is normally expected to do the opposite. Father's Day brings up many varied emotions for people.  

The best part of this special day is that we all have a perfect Heavenly Father, who gathers us in his arms, gives us refuge, helps us to grow, protects us from evil - giving us the most precious gift of all, eternal life with him in heaven!  May we all remember the greatest Dad of all, see him with the awe and trust of a young child, and approach him with much intimacy as our own daddy. 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!...  1 John 3:1 NIV

written by Jan Andersen

When Life Has Painful Surprises

Saturday Devotional...6/13/12

Last Saturday my husband did our usual ritual of going to Starbucks which we usually do after we have gone to the gym. It was rodeo weekend in our town that weekend, and cowboyness was everywhere. The cowboys were soon to arrive, and the whole town was revving up to be consummate westerners.

There were two children sitting at a table and their mom was nearby. They were about three and four. The oldest one was a girl and she was all decked out. She had a pink cowgirl hat on and a pink vest with fringe on the chest and at the bottom of it. Her boots were also pink and she had a denim skirt on to complete her ensemble. The younger child was a boy. He also was wearing western garb…a bit less fancy than his sister. She was a professional. The boy  had on a straw cowboy hat. He had on blue jeans and a plaid shirt.

Mom had bought each of them one of those frosted cake lollypops that Starbucks carries and a carton of chocolate milk. They shone with a happiness to be alive. Two other little girls were out in the patio, and though separated by the window, they were making friends and laughing and playing together. I just could take my eyes off them. They were adorable.

I had walked down to wait for my coffee when all of a sudden I heard a shrill shriek from up in front where the children’s table was. When I looked I saw the little boy had fallen off his chair and was on the floor. His lollypop was mashed into crumbs and his carton of milk had spilled all over the floor. As I listened to his loud crying I realized that it was filled with hurt that was not only physical. It was sounding like the cry of a broken heart. It was as if he was lamenting the surprise and disastrous end to his perfect morning. Something terrible and unexpected had happened, and the little tyke was beyond sad. He just did not seem to understand how such a thing could have happened.

 His mother picked him up and tried to comfort him. She held him for a long time kissing his wet face and rubbing his head. Finally he calmed down a bit. Then she put him back on his chair where he sat hiccuping from the cry. Then Mom started to clean up the mess. I watched the scene with sympathy for the family that this had happened to tarnish their perfect outing. By then we had finished our coffee and left the store. I never did see if she bought him a new snack. However, even though you can salvage jaunt it may be impossible to restore the original bliss of it.

Sometimes things like this happen to us adults as well. We may not end up down on the floor in the middle of a mess. I often think of it as a moment in time that you could go backwards to minutes before the tragedy happened. In one of the Superman movies there is a terrible earthquake and Lois Lane’s car is swallowed into a crack in the earth. In this accident Lois Lane died. Superman was flying above the earth, and he saw what had happened to his friend Lois. He loved Lois, and he started to cry. Then he went towards the earth and made it spin backwards in the opposite direction until it was to a point in time before the earthquake. Lois had not died yet. He grabbed her out of her car, and flew up in the sky.

The horrible happening had been avoided by this time reversal. It would be really great if this could happen.

In real life we cannot go back in time to change things that have happened that in an adult could compare to the heartbreaking thing that had happened to the little boy. Your husband decides to leave. You hear of fires that not only destroy a forest but also burn down lots of houses. You make and investment that does not bring the financial results that you expected and you are basically ruined. As you look back you see how innocent you had been about the possibilities of such a thing happening. It feels as if this incident is life

changing and that we are aware of how great things were before in in the days of ignorance of such pitfalls.

The good news we have our divine Superman who comes down to comfort us. He is able to turn bad experiences to good. He works to help us gain new wisdom and understanding. Sometimes he sends something into our lives that will help us to get over our heartbreak. In all of it He is holding us in the palm of His mighty hand. His love and attention is what we have throughout our lives. We need to remember this beautiful scripture when we are overwhelmed by challenges.

                                                        “For I know the plans I have for you." 

                                   declares the Lord.plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 
                                                        plans to give you hope and a future.
                                                                         Jeremiah 29:11

Dear Lord… 

Thank you that you will not leave us or forsake us. This means that in good times or bad times we know that we have a Comforter who never lets go of us no matter what. What a great and amazing God you are. You are our Jehovah Jirah forever.

 Amen.

Written by

Corinne Mustafa 

GRACE

 “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” 

– Hebrews 4:16

     I am not sure that people today, even many Christians, really recognize and appreciate what “grace” is.  Restoration and forgiving one another is not a recognized virtue in today’s society.  We hear much more about retribution, revenge, and looking out for number one – ourselves.

     So what is “grace”?  Grace is what God holds out to each of us every day.  No matter what our past mistakes or failures, no matter what problems our rebellion has caused – God is willing to give us His unmerited favor if we turn to Him in repentance with faith.  Jesus made us one with the Father by His willingness to go to the cross for our sins.  By accepting this free gift of grace a person can live life “through” with God, no matter what has to be faced, and know that God’s grace is sufficient.

     So the person living under God’s grace finds mercy instead of condemnation, help instead of criticism, success instead of failure, power instead of weakness, joy instead of despair, and life instead of death.  What a great privilege to come before the throne of God and know that Hi supply of grace is unlimited in Jesus – for this life and the next.

Written by 

Carol Lynn Steficek

Love Revealed...Part Two

This is the second lesson in a series that are being featured on Thursdays in WFM. If you did not read the first installment you can click on the link below to read the previous lesson before you read this week's lesson.

http://paintgodintoyourday.blogspot.com/2013/06/love-revealedpart-one.html
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“Love Revealed”

Lesson 2

"For God so Greatly Loved"

"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.  For God did not send the son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him."  John 3:16 Amp

Your God bestowed, He gave forth of Himself His only begotten Son, pertaining to the only one of its kind.  I cannot imagine giving up my son or my daughters for this world.  But your God did this because He greatly loved and prized you.  He desires an intimate relationship with you, His beloved.

Why did He do this? Why did He send His son?  So that whoever believes in, trust in, relies on His Son Jesus shall live and not die, shall have everlasting life. He came so that you would not be destroyed or ruined. He came to bring peace between you and the Father.  Oh what manner of love is this?  It is a personal love for you.  Not only that but He did not send Jesus to judge, condemn or reject you.  He sent Him so that you might be saved from this world.  My beloved there is NO condemnation in Jesus.  Only a Father's love for His child, and you are His child.  Thank you my Father.

When I first said yes to Jesus I did it to get people off of my back.  I had no idea what it truly meant to say yes to the King of kings, to the Son of God.  I played the game of Christianity.  Read my Bible, went to church, tried to be a good little Christian.  It really was all about works not about relationship, not about a personal love for me.  After a while I stopped going to church, I stopped trying to read my Bible, most of what I read did not make a whole lot of sense to me any way.  What I usually read brought condemnation on me. And when I tried reading the Old Testament it brought fear to me, an unhealthy fear, because I could only see a God of wrath in it. I felt there was no way to win with this God.  Then one day several years later I remember kneeling down in my sister’s house and asking our precious Jesus into my life.  I will say that it was still a process for me, a long process.  I still had the same ideas about who this God was and wondered did Jesus really love me?  For me my life did not change much other than I knew I was saved and was going to heaven, isn't that what saying yes to Jesus was really all about anyway getting into heaven, being good, doing all the right things.  Whatever you believe all the right things are. As far as I could tell that is what it meant.  But I am here to tell you it is not just about getting into heaven and has nothing to do with being good or doing all the right things.

God gave life while you were a sinner, if you received life through His favor as a sinner, then you have received much more life (favor) through His Son as a saint. Glory to God!  All who have said yes to our Jesus are in right standing, YOU ARE IN RIGHT STANDING MY BELOVED, YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS and because of that the favor of God surrounds you!  Hallelujah!!!!

God gave life while you were a sinner, think about this for a moment.  God gave life to YOU while YOU WERE a sinner.  God gave life to me while I was a sinner.  It had nothing to do with what a good girl I was or wasn't.  It did not matter what I did or did not do.  The only do I had to do was say YES to Jesus, that I believed He was the Son of God that He came to set me free from myself.  There is no performance needed to be accepted into the kingdom of God.  I truly believe that if I sat down from this point on and did nothing more I would spend eternity in heaven with the Father.  But why would I want to just sit down?  Oh beloved just knowing how he loves ME, knowing what He has done for me makes me want to work for His kingdom.  But I tell you this is not work as the world sees it, it is not drudgery, it is a joy and hard to contain what the Father has done for us.  I had to renew my mind to the truth that I had the favor of God all over  me, that I was His beloved, that I was in right standing, that I was righteous.  It is not my own righteousness that I wear, but it is my Jesus' righteousness that I wear. My beloved it is Jesus’ righteousness that You wear.

Glory to God!!!

Written by

Kathryn Hanson

"God Will Make A Way"

                                                Where There Is No Other Way

 Wednesday Devotional...6/12/13

 

There have been countless times I have been in situations that I felt there was just no way I could see an out. I would feel I was in a dark tunnel and unable to see the light at the end of it. Desperation, hopelessness, fear and doubt would set in. That certainly is not a fun place I want to be, and I am certain we can all agree on that as well.

                          The good news is that God tells us
                                                in His word in Isaiah 43:19....

        "Do not remember the former things, 

nor consider the things of old.  

Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?
 I will even make a road in the wilderness, 

and rivers in the desert."

Our all powerful God will always make a way. When the world says there is no possible way, the Lord will make that way happen according to His plans. He will plow through and make that road in the wilderness and His rivers of living water will flow freely in the desert.

No matter how bleak the world or even us may see our situation as, God will see to it that a way will be made! We as His people can always count on that!

Written by

Sandy Billingham

In His service