The Path to Blessing

I loved today's Streams devotional. Thought I'd share...

"To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord" (Deut. 1:36).

Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing.

Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master's shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path.

Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength.  --J. R. Miller

Staying Far-Sighted

I think we've all heard this song 100 times but I needed to re-direct my focus on eternity tonight. The "temporary things" in our individual worlds can keep us very short-sighted if we allow them. So here's a reminder of what lasts forever.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18

A Simple Day at the Inferno

"God sets the solitary in families..."

Psalm 68:6a

I don't know how I graduated from college. I actually thought it would be a great idea to take my daughter to a huge outdoor park after I had seen the weather forecast for full sun, spray paint humidity and 90 something degree heat. Being the planner that I am, I believed a few bottles of water, sunscreen and a great snack was all that any child would need to have fun.

I was right...it was all she needed. Me on the other hand...

About 30 minutes into this Sahara Desert excursion, I started to get a headache and felt a bit nauseous. Then I realized I was surrounded by a giant flock of mothers...my son's age. Not a one of them looked like they used hair coloring for the same reason I did. They each wore stylish shoes or fashionista sandals, while I donned my best pair of sneakers. I needed help climbing around the jungle and scaling walls without being an insurance risk. I rubbed my arthritic shoulder while I pushed M. on the swing, then leaned over to someone behind Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and said, "Is this a special Mom's Club hangout or something?"

"Oh no," she replied. "But if you come here long enough, you get to know us regulars and now we're all friends."

To be honest, I began to slip into a mild dose of adolescent insecurity as they all laughed and shared the latest news and updates with each other. So I started to pray. It's not just a principle I learned in Sunday School-my God never leaves me. He is a Friend above all friends. Maybe I'd have some opportunity to reach out to someone despite feeling as out of place as our President would be at a Tea Party rally.

As time passed and the rubber on my Nike's melted into the wood chips, I listened to conversations about TV shows, movies, purses and kids toys that I have never heard of. There wasn't one occasion I could have jumped in and added my own superficiality nor directed the conversation spiritually. I just continued to smile while periodically catching my daughter when she'd fall off things.

Then, I didn't catch her. Screaming is an instant magnet on a playground. As I lifted her up and pulled wood from her hair and mouth, I saw an ocean of eyes glaring over the tops of sunglasses. I wiped M's tears, kissed her dirty nose and set her right back up on the elevated catwalk so she could face her fear. It was an important battle...

As lunch approached, M. and I packed up our gear and headed for the car. The other mom's had everything from portable refrigerators to coolers with fans attached. I'll learn. I turned the van key on and looked into the pavilion where everyone was sitting. I felt miserable physically but sad at the thought I couldn't connect with one life. Then a woman caught my eye with 2 little boys in tow.

She had worn out tennis shoes, ankle socks, frumpy shorts and rebellious curly hair. Her expression looked like she needed more than V-8 juice. Another one like me from the land of misfits. Just when I thought I should warn her of what lie ahead, her T-shirt told me she'd already been here and conquered this land of make believe. It read "Today is SO tomorrow."

Instant smile. Next time I come, I'll make sure my vanity is left at home while my cooler is packed with lunch. I'll also be lookin' for this lady.

Coffee Thoughts

The air was thick, hot and made your skin feel like the sticky side of tape, but it didn't stop us from having fun last night. Daddy played the guitar and sang songs, ranging from country knee-slappers to worship music, while our 3 year old danced with moves that have never been created by another human being. It must be my husband's side...

By the time we tucked her in bed, I was convinced that all three of us would fall asleep once we closed our eyes to pray. Nevertheless, we made it half-way through when my daughter stopped us and said, "I can't pray."

"Why can't you pray?" I asked.

"I can't work anymore. I'm done working" she answered.

Once she learns the scriptures, I bet there's going to be some interesting conversations in our future. But I was thinking about prayer this morning. Prayer is definitely work. Yet, it's to be motivated by love. When you take any act of service or duty or responsibility and add sincere love to it, then it's transformed into delight, rather than drudgery. It causes joy rather than resentment. It blesses the heart of God.

Whether it be prayer, going to church, cleaning floors, doing laundry, or working in a Godless environment in the world, may our hearts be motivated by love for Jesus. Enjoy your day!

Lesson From History

I'm going to post something out of the ordinary. I felt a strong nudge from the Lord to brush up on "prophecy" issues about a month ago and snatched a few books out of my honey's office. One of them had a quote attributed to A. F. Tytler and I'd like to share it.

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.

Civilizations are made up of individuals. Individuals don't need 200 years to walk through this cycle on a personal, spiritual level. Just a thought.

Weeds and Seeds

Taken from Matt.13: 24-30 "Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away... The owner's servants came to him and said..."Where did the weeds come from?'" "'An enemy did this,' he replied."

I've never had a garden before. I can make silk flowers wilt and cactus cry. But leaner times call for courageous creativity and practicality. So I decided...I must garden. It's the right thing to do.

My education came from one conversation last fall with a master gardener who seemed to speak about vegetables using their Latin names. By the time spring rolled around, it was all Greek to me. I tossed the notes.

I channeled my education from YouTube, gardening magazines and an old copy of the Farmer's almanac. I think I'd be doing better if I'd studied "Gardening for Dummies." Nevertheless, there is food outside. Some of it looks happy...some abused. Torrential rains, bugs with big appetites, and lettuce loving slugs are a few of the enemies in my garden. Then there are those wicked weeds.

Why is it that weeds grow better than food? Feast or famine; floods or drought; hot or cold-they thrive. As I was pulling them near my pepper plants yesterday, I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Poison ivy popped up everywhere! I shouted out to my husband, "I can't believe it's emerging now after 3 months of constant weeding!" He calmly replied, "Poison roots grow deep."

Poison roots grow deep. He didn't mean to sound that profound, but I did the "loving-wife-admiring-her-husband" smile and listened to those words echo in my mind.  In Jesus' parable, the weeds were sown while everyone was sleeping. Unaware that an enemy was close by. Unaware that harmful seeds were being sown right next to good seeds. Unaware of the long-term intention of damage and destruction of the crop.

In Luke 8 (Matt.13), we know that the "seed" Jesus spoke of is the Word of God. We also read how the "soil" is likened to our heart. We see that our enemy sows "weeds" right next to the seeds in order to harm whatever type of crop is growing for the Lord. We also read that it was done while those who are tending the garden were sleeping. Interesting...

Romans 13:11 "...knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." 

Psalm 199:148 "My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word."

1 Cor.15:34 "Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God."

Prov. 4:23 NIV"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

These are the days we can't "sleep." There is one goal of our enemy...to harm, damage, or destroy anything that is grown of eternal value for the Lord. He's relentless and will thrive in any condition...if allowed to grow.