Remember When...?

“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

--Luke 22:19b-20

I just got done reading a devotional thought out of Beth Moore’s, “Believing God Day by Day” where she proposes that the Old Testament nation of Israel’s rebellion always stemmed from their lack of remembering what God had already done for them. What’s frightening to me is that I can pick out the same behavior in my own life. When I find myself doubting God’s ability or desire to fulfill a promise (on my timetable) it’s because I have forgotten what God has already done for me in the past. And so I start looking for ways to solve the situation on my own strength. And when this happens, I experience what my students would say, an epic failure.

But Jesus gives us a way to regularly remember all that was done for us at the Communion Table. And while the sacrifice of His life for the redemption of mine is a big chunk of what I meditate on during those quiet moments in a church service, I’d like to begin remembering more than that.

For when I begin worrying about my finances, I can remember when God supplied my needs in the past.

For when I begin worrying about my health, I can remember the good news report that the doctor gave me in the past.

For when I begin worrying about a relationship, I can remember the way that forgiveness and/or compromise mended things in the past. 

For when I begin worrying about some aspect of my job, I can remember how I was given insight to resolve the issue in the past.

For when I begin worrying about not having enough time to get everything done, I can remember how He has intervened so that the priorities didn’t get sacrificed for the less significant in the past.

For when I begin worrying about (fill in the blank), I can remember (fill in the blank) in the past.

Remembering what God has already done for me the past is a powerful way to keep myself under the umbrella of His blessing and continue to trust His authority in my life.

Do You Believe?

Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

--Romans 4:20-21

There is a line in the movie “Miracle on 34^th Street” that I find myself playing repeatedly in my thoughts whenever I become discouraged or tempted to completely forsake any number of particular dreams I have. Little Suzy had finally come to believe that Kris Kringle was indeed Santa Claus and she dared to ask him for the biggest thing she could imagine, a house for her and her mother to live in; complete with a big tree in the backyard from which a swing hung. Christmas day had come and was just about over, when she finds herself sitting in the back seat of the car with her mother and Mr. Gailey, Santa’s lawyer. As they drive through a quaint subdivision, little Suzy says over and over is, “I believe, I believe; it’s silly, but I believe”, with so little enthusiasm that the movie-goer can practically feel the hope drain out of her heart. With one last gigantic sigh, Suzy looks up and out the window to see the exact house that she had asked Santa for. All of a sudden her downtrodden countenance becomes full of life!

Now please don’t mistake my comparison of Santa Claus to the Almighty, but I do think that God instills in each one of us really big hopes and dreams that He alone can execute. In today’s scripture, the apostle Paul is encouraging the Roman believers by reminding them of how big God is and how there is nothing that will prevent God from fulfilling a promise that He makes to those who call Him Father. Abraham and Sarah’s situation was laughable when put next to the promise that God had made them – but the soon to be father of many nations “strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”.

How about you? Is there a call, purpose, dream, vision that you completely believe came from God and you have no idea how he’s going to get it done considering your present circumstances? I have several and I have my days when I look up to the sky and ask God, “Were you really serious about this because I don’t see it happening.”  The reasons for any delay are as varied as the number of hairs on your head, but that doesn’t mean that God has forgotten. He’s waiting for the perfect time to bring your dream into fruition.

In the meantime, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your hope alive and it starts with diving into His Word daily. The more you immerse yourself into what God has already done, the easier it will be for you to state, “I believe, I believe, God loves me, and I believe.”

Dear Friend, God sees you, He hears you, and He’s making something beautiful of your life! So be encouraged and remember to give Him Glory.

Decision Points

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

-- Hebrews 11:24-26.

I recently have begun to listen to books on CD on my drive to work as is another friend of mine. I had lent her a copy of one of my books and not so long ago she returned it along with one that she had finished listening to. The books I tend to select fall under the category of Christian Living/Self Help. The borrowed book was of the secular romance genre. Every morning as I popped that CD in the player the intensity of the content grew and yesterday morning it became down right risqué. Part of me wanted to keep listening to see if the storyline was really going where my mind had already been and back. The other part of me, knew that it really didn’t matter – I needed to turn it off. You see, I had, not 15 minutes earlier, been in my quiet time with God. To continue to listen would have completely torn down what God and I had just built up. Knowing the difference between bad, good, better, and best for this specific situation I pushed the power button to off, said a prayer asking for my mind to be cleansed of any remaining ungodly thoughts, and then tuned my radio to a Christian music station.

I tell you all of this because I recently came across a quote from none other, The Greatest himself, Muhammad Ali. “I hated every minute of the training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” And just moments after I read this quote, it reminded me of a saying that Dave Ramsey, a well respected financial guy, repeats over and over in his Financial Peace University: “Live like no one else, so that later, you can LIVE like no one else.” And then not moments after statement got processed in my brain, today’s scripture came washing over me. It’s a verse my dad had challenged me to memorize over twenty years ago and it has popped into my consciousness whenever I have a seemingly benign, but not so much, decision to make. You see, it’s not so easy to have just one misguided choice, because like a snowball, one poor decision leads to another, and before you know it, you’re right where you never intended on being.

If you are going to choose to live for God, then every decision counts. It doesn’t matter if the choice is about the media you absorb, or the food you eat, the money you spend, the words you speak. This is a hard line, I know it all too well. My days, heck, my hours, are far from perfect. I wish I could say that I lived a flawless day, just once! But I am human after all. Thank goodness for God’s grace that restores me moment by moment.

Dear Friend, you are also a recipient of God’s redeeming grace. Slow yourself down, think about your options and choose that which will allow you to experience the reward God has in store for you.

What's in a Name?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

--2 Corinthians 5:17

A few weeks ago, at the school where I teach, the fire alarm went off in the middle of passing periods. Now, for those of you who have forgotten about how school fire drills are done, they are usually scheduled about the same time (within a few days) every month and in the middle of any given class period. At least this is how it’s done on my campus. So to have the ear piercing blasts of the fire alarm begin blaring before students had reported to their assigned classroom, let us veterans of education know that this was not a drill. We managed to get all the students out of the buildings and the wait began. Thankfully, within 20 minutes we were given the all clear to re-enter the building. Later in the day, our principal sent out an email giving us some detail of what had happened. There had been a small fire in the cafeteria; no one was injured and no structural damage was done. Now the next detail I’m a little sketchy on, but somehow, a box of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos caught on fire. No joke! I think that this is absolutely hilarious!!! Don’t you? The best selling snack on our campus was really living up to its name!

But that got me thinking – am I living up to my name? In my case, I certainly hope not. A quick search of Biblical meanings of names reveals that the Hebrew meaning of Bethany is anything to be envious of. It can either mean “house of figs” or even less desirable, “house of misery”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I really do like my name. It’s not all that common, and I like to think that I’m well suited for it. My parents did well in choosing what to call me. However, I really hope that my life is anything but full of misery.

Considering a little bit further, Bethany is the name of the town in which Lazarus lived along with his sisters, Mary and Martha. The story of Lazarus’ resurrection is encouraging when it comes to thinking about living up to one’s name and the above scripture verse reaffirms that the old meaning of my name certainly doesn’t have to define who I am. I am who I am because of Christ alone. And so are you. We are promised that if we firmly believe in the saving grace of Christ that the old way of living no longer has a hold on our identities. Within the Old and New Testaments, people were given new names once they became servants of God: Abram to Abraham, Sarai, to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter.

While is wouldn’t be very convenient to legally change my name to something a little more uplifting, I can certainly visit with my Heavenly Father about who He wants me to be and then be committed to that identity.

And so I encourage you. If you haven’t had a little chat with God lately about the woman that he wants you to become, make it a priority to set aside some time within the next seven days. Ask Him what character qualities he wants to resurrect in you and then sit and be quiet and listen for that still small voice.

Let me know how it goes – I’d love to hear from you!

ABC's of Worship

My Bible study group has started to read Linda Dillow's "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul". In it she offers a creative way to worship God using the alphabet. Here's what I came up with. What adjectives describing God can you add?

A - Awesome, Adored, Almighty, Abba, All in All
B - Beloved, Beautiful
C - Caring, Creator, Calmer
D - Delightful
E - Everlasting, Eternal
F - Father, Forgiver, Faithful, Friend
G - God, Giver, Good, Generous, Gracious
H - Healer, Helper, Holy
I - Immortal
J - Jesus' father, Judge, Just
K - Kindhearted
L - Lord, Lover, Lovely, Light
M - Maker, Majestic
N - New
O - Open, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent
P - Patient, Peaceful, Provider, Present
Q - Quiet
R - Redeemer, Restorer, Relevant, Returning
S - Savior
T - Truth
U - Unfathomable
V - Victorious
W - the Way, Wise, Worthy
X - eXcellent, eXuberant (ok - I cheated on these..)
Y - Yahweh
Z - Zestful

So the next time you're trying to be quiet before God, or unloading the dishwasher, out on your morning or evening run/walk, putting the kids to bed, or on your drive to work, try it out and see what you can come up with. God will love the attention and you'll be blessed!

Whirlpool Buddies

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:12

Growing up my family had an above ground pool. One of the fun things that my friends and I would like to do is walk around the edge and try to get the water flowing in a circle. It didn’t take too long before the water seemed to be able to sweep us away with its current and we could take turns floating enjoying the free ride. Once we got bored moving in one direction, it would take all of our might to turn around and fight the force of the water and make it begin flowing in the opposite direction.

It seems that this principle isn’t unique to the pool games of kids, but a life or death strategy used as birds fly long distances. They take turns leading the flock so as to create a more aerodynamic formation. As the lead bird’s strength wears down, it drops to the back to conserve energy and another bird moves up to the front.

Both cyclists and NASCAR drivers use the same idea while drafting. Working together as a team proves to be more efficient than going alone.

The above scripture encourages us to build trusting relationships so that we are not overpowered, but lead powerful and effective lives. I believe that this is key in all areas of our spiritual journeys but most valuable in our prayer lives.

About 18 months ago, I was dealing with a particular issue that I could no longer carry the load on my own strength. While I could say that I enlisted the help of two friends, it was more like they just took over the reigns and began to diligently lift my needs up to our Father. As I reflect on the experience it reminds me of the times my childhood friends and I created whirlpools in the backyard. Together we would approach the throne of grace, but it was their efforts that carried me along when the reality of my situation seemed more than I could handle. When circumstances calmed down, I would join them again in prayer asking for a resolution. I am convinced that because my friends’ belief in prayer and their refusal to give up even when it sometimes interfered with their own struggles did I eventually come to a place of peace.

Are you dealing with an issue on your own? This is not the way God intended. He wants us to submit not just to His authority, but become vulnerable to a few individuals so that when the realities of this life are too great, we have the comfort of knowing we do not persist in our struggles alone.

No one likes to admit that they need help. It can be scary, intimidating, embarrassing, or shameful to make such a confession. But keeping our needs in the dark is not going to allow you to experience the peace that God desires for your life. Trust that God will guide you to one or two others who will love you regardless of what you are going through. Refuse to walk alone – instead, grab a few friends and go play in the Living Water! 

Building a Life

"By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures."
 -- Proverbs 24: 3,4

A relative of mine is so excited this Christmas season because this will be the first Christmas that she and her family will be in their new home. Now this home is not your ordinary run of the mill track home. This is a amazingly huge, custom built, with a lake in the back yard, and a quarter mile driveway from the road to the garages type of place. I have yet to see the finished product, but have had several opportunities to visit while it was under construction. What never ceased to amaze me was the attention to detail that my relative had for every nook and cranny. Everything from paint colors to the multiple types of stone and woods was carefully selected, with no expense spared. The best craftsmen were brought in to fashion a dream that started on paper to the rooms that can now be called home.

I believe that what makes this home so cherished is that it was truly a labor of love that lasted for more than four years. Plans were drawn, scratched, and redrawn. Schedules had to be organized and deadlines had to be met. One decision easily created a domino effect that could be drawn out for several weeks if not months. But the end product is exactly what my relative and her husband had wanted on the outset.

As I read this Proverb this morning, I couldn't help but make a parallel to my own life. I certainly don't have such magnificent living quarters, but I am attempting to design and live out a life that God wants for me. To accomplish this, my mentor has encouraged me to write out vision statements and action steps. This process has clarified my dreams and priorities. Each vision statement I have written represents hours of prayer and study and a hope that it aligns with God's plans for my life. The ultimate goal is that when I come to the end of my earthly life, I can look back and see God's handprint on each day and be confident that I experienced all of His abundant goodness.

But like my relative who experienced delays in the construction of her home, I too have experienced delays and set backs. While I accept that I have the rest of my life to be living out the fruition of these visions I have cast for myself, I sometimes become discouraged in the lack of even the smallest forward progress. And it is at these junctures that I make a decision: do I walk away and never realize the dream or do I press on knowing that if my vision honors God, God will honor my vision?

I must confess that it is sometimes tempting to throw in the towel. But when I stop and think about the alternative - of living a mediocre life - it no longer becomes an option. After all, I have time and tears invested into this; so surely, some day, I will be able to recognize the smallest step forward and know that God moved me.

I don't know where you might be with your thoughts of your future and the plans that God has for you. It can be scary dreaming big dreams for your life with God, especially when you allow Him to be responsible rather than attempting to take those dreams into your own hands. But His word promises us that through wisdom, understanding, and knowledge this life will be filled with rare and beautiful treasures. I am choosing to believe this today. Will you believe it too?