Thoughtful Thursday: Influential Influence

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Our battle is not fleshly, but spiritual.

Scriptures of the Day:

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Romans 12:12

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

2 Timothy 3:1-6

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,

Ephesians 2:1-2

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

One verse my children know well as it was a mantra repeated continuously in their childhood was 1 Corinthians 15:33.  It was challenging to strike a balance between warning them about being influenced by ungodly people around them and not judging them, either.

Much like the Israelites had to be reminded to write God’s word down and keep it before them, we need reminders to be aware of the influences all around us.

Most of us do not pause to perceive why we are feeling a certain way about another person or circumstance.  We casually give in to the emotions, unchecked unless we ask God for discernment to see the spiritual influence all around us.

The prince of the spirit of the air is busy.  So are our minds, with over 2100-3000 thoughts per hour going through them.  Keeping track and being accountable for all of those thoughts is overwhelming.

But when we study God’s Word and surround ourselves with godly influences, the sorting of wicked and godly influences becomes easier.  God has made a way out and He will show us what is pleasing to Him and what is not.  The choice is ours.  There is no middle ground. Life or death. Righteousness or wickedness.

Apathy is not the answer, self-righteousness is not the answer.  There are absolute standards that God has set.  We are accountable.

Choosing to abstain from bad influences is not enough, though.  Keeping oneself unsoiled is not the same as becoming a source of godly influences for those around us.  We are a light not because we have anything inherently good in us, but because we have the light of the world within us and He is good and able to use us for righteousness.

Lord, help us to be an influence on those around us that draws people nearer to You.  Help us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world and to live for Your glory.

Worshipful Wednesday: The God Who Gives Rest

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Rest is necessary to be productive.

Scriptures of the Day:

Psalm 23:1-3

1 “A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He takes me to lush pastures, he leads me to refreshing water. 3 He restores my strength. He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation.”

Psalm 127:2

“It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food. Yes, he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep.”

Those who suffer with autoimmune diseases know the drill well.  Awoken by sharp pain in the back of both sides of my head, my eyes hurt to open.  Carefully, I tried to ease into the day the best I can.  Trying to move through the suffering to a place of functioning, I contemplate how grateful I am for the times when I do not feel this bad.  But for now, I rest.

Rest.  That word that should be so welcoming, but not when there is work to do.  Until I realize that there is always work to do. Inconvenient interruption of suffering!   And yet, perhaps God brings pockets of rest when we need them most.

Today it was a stubborn migraine that would not dissipate, no matter what I tried.  I continued to work despite it, but the throbbing reminder was almost too much to bear.  It is in this place of pain that I cry out to my Abba Father and ask Him to grant me strength. He does me one better.  He offers me peace and makes me to lie down, basking in His love.

This is one of those weeks where there was too much on my plate, anyway.  I rose earlier to make sure I would get it all done, but today God canceled most of my commitments.  Kind of like a snow day when all of the obligations suddenly are postponed – only today it was the threat of tornadoes nearby.

As my children and I all huddled in the basement, I found myself in awe of God’s power and protection.  With a breath or a thought He can affect our world.  We have limits and our flesh speaks loudly when our frail bodies have reached them.  In humility, recognizing that I cannot do it all makes me rely on God and recognize my need for rest.

God is so good to help us momentarily step out of our busy little boxes and see our world the way God does.  Instead of seeing rest as inconvenient, we can create moments of rest as a priority and recognize the necessity of refueling to be able to finish the race he has marked out for us.

Lord, thank You for making me to lie down – even when I would not choose to.  You are not a God Who ruthlessly works us – You want to fellowship with us and give us a rest that restores our weary souls.

 

 

Truthful Tuesday: Show and Tell

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Sharing Christ is not a once and done proposition; living for Christ is to demonstrate and testify to our sphere of influence.

Scriptures:

Matthew 8:4

Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Mark.16:15

“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel.”

Acts 1:8

“Ye shall be witnesses…unto uttermost part of earth”

A popular saying today is to “share the Gospel; use words if necessary”.  The verse in Matthew would seem to agree with that thought, but taking all verses together, we get a more complete picture of how we are to share the hope we have with others.

Sometimes words are needed, other times it might be a meal, a card, or sharing a testimony.  The Holy Spirit leads us into what each person needs.

Showing Christ’s love is just as important as telling others His truth.  One without the other is not a complete picture.  Good works are filthy rags, yet faith without works is dead.  The balance is found in the motivation for both.

If I am trying to earn favor by good works, the fruit born will bring me glory.  But seeking to serve others what they need glorified God.

It is a privilege to share with others what God has done for us.  In that moment, we are fulfilling what we were made to do.  Our testimony is really Christ in us, portrayed for people to understand and know Him more.

Lord, thank You for each testimony you have given to us.  May we glorify You in every aspect of our lives.

 

Mundane Monday: Waiting for God’s Best

Genesis 24:7

“The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.”

She was merely serving a stranger by watering his camels.  He was simply asking God to lead him to find a wife for his Master’s son.  God was faithfully leading and fulfilling His promise to Abraham.

But Abraham had a choice.  He could try to get the blessings his own way, or seek the blessing of God and His will.  He chose the latter.

The faithfulness of God to lead and provide a godly wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac, is precious.  God wants to lead us all to His best, to provide a spouse who will draw us nearer to Himself and to complete us.

We all want the fairy tale love story, but often don’t want the discipline, waiting and trust to get there.  A new relationship is exciting, but even more precious is a relationship that has stood the test of time and trials with a person of character that grows more into the image of Christ with each passing year.

Finding a life partner whose love for the LORD surpasses anything the world has to offer, including ourselves, is paramount.  Although we want someone to really know us and cherish us, the motivation for a romantic relationship should first and foremost be the glory of God.

God knows our need and longs to comfort us.  Sometimes He brings someone into our lives to complete us – not a perfect person, but a co-laborer and the delight of our heart – to walk beside us in this adventure called life.  That’s what He did for Isaac. His relationship with his wife meant far more than just the happiness he had with her.  A simple trusting in God gave Isaac his son, Jacob – who would become the beginning of the nation of Israel.

Lord, thank You for the gift of marriage.  To be able to encourage one another in Christ and share agape love is beyond words.  Help us to see our spouses as the tremendous gift they are and our children as a legacy of that gift.

Flourishing Friday: Bloom Where You are Planted

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Bloom where you are planted – others around you need to see you thrive.

Scriptures of the Day:

Isaiah 32:15

“This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. Then the desert will become an orchard and the orchard will be considered a forest.”

Isaiah 35:1

“Let the desert and dry region be happy; let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily! 2 Let it richly bloom; let it rejoice and shout with delight! It is given the grandeur of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the grandeur of the LORD, the splendor of our God.”

Ok, I know.  I can be corny sometimes, but I like alliteration and every Friday has a different theme in my mind.  Today is the beautiful imagery found in the book of Isaiah.

There in the middle of the desert, where there is seemingly no nourishment around, a blossom forms and a lily thrives.  Stubbornly it stands, defying all odds.  Alone it is a witness that the harsh realities surrounding it have not snuffed out its life.

I enjoy gardening (well, sort of), and truly feel sad when one of my seeds becomes a seedling then fails to survive.  Next to another seedling that grew into a might plant, I wonder what the difference was.

Now plants can’t feel, but the analogy to me is beautiful.  The word, “Let” strikes me in the above scriptural passage, almost signifying a request or a choice.

When a plant is not thriving, sometimes we can try to transplant it to a more fertile area. The root system can be easily damaged in this procedure and the weak seedling withers. But maybe the answer was to remain.  To stay where there is seemingly no support or life and choose to add things to our environment that produce life.

Such a decision requires a choice.  Not to depend on those around us for life, but to find it within.  Not to allow toxic substances nearby to poison or embitter us, but to choose to feast on God’s truth found in His Word and let that life flow through us, instead.

Sometimes it hardly seems worth the fight.  So many around us can want us to fail, but perhaps what they need more than anything is to see us succeed; to see that God is enough.

It is not easy to choose joy and life when faced with the opposite and we can feel foolish to hope, but it is the seed of hope that becomes a reality of a longing fulfilled for those who wait on the LORD.

Lord, thank You for the grace to live an abundant life not dependent on circumstances or provision, but on You alone.  Help us to thrive for Your glory.

Thoughtful Thursday: Seize the Day!

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Seize the moments God gives and use them for eternity, for they vanish like the wind.

Scripture:

Job 14:1-2, 5

“Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble. 2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. 5 Since man’s days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.”

Job paints a rather sober view of our existence, one colored by the turmoil he was encountering at the time.  I appreciate his honesty.  It is also helpful to know that our expectations should not be for a perfectly rosy life.  Such an expectation can lead to assured disillusionment.

This passage is just a snapshot, though, into the process God was guiding Job through. Job learned to appreciate his position before an Omnipotent God, but he had not yet learned that he was unworthy of any kindness from His Creator.

A lot of grappling with how a good God could allow suffering had to take place before Job would realize in the presence of God that He was unworthy.  Complaining about the deficient conditions he was in would not produce the righteous life God desired, but walking through trouble would change him into a grateful man of God who no longer took for granted the blessings God gave.

Although Job’s suffering is hard to hear, the lessons “caught” are precious.  Since we have a short life, we ought to live it well.  Climbing ladders for our own selfish gain or expecting a perfect trouble-free life will not be investing in eternity.  God help us to not waste the moments we have been given.

Although we live in a fallen world, the expectation of blessing is ours in Christ, but it is often veiled and hidden from our eyes.  We see blessings where God might see the blessings as stumbling blocks.  We see burdens where God sees a thing of beauty in the making.

Lord, You are all-knowing and know what is best.  Help us to live our lives down here in holy fear, grateful for every blessing and not straying from the mission you have given us – to know You and make You known.

Worshipful Wednesday: Our Security

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Security is not found in what we think we own or deserve, but in Christ alone.

Sctiptures:

Psalm 16:1-2 (NIV)

1 “A miktam of David. Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” 

Psalm 16:5 (Net bible)

5 “LORD, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure. 7 I will praise the LORD who guides me; yes, during the night I reflect and learn. 8 I constantly trust in the LORD; because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended. 9 So my heart rejoices and I am happy; My life is safe. 10 You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit. 11 You lead me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.”

Security.  Something everyone wants deep in their soul, yet something not found on this earth.  We live in an insecure world that alters at a frantic pace.  We cannot count on anything or anyone around us fully, for everything is temporal and subject to change.  But in all the confusion of constant metamorphoses around us and a high influx of ever-increasing knowledge, we can be still, know our God and be confident in Him.

It is not until we are in a place of having nearly lost everything that we recognize all that He had given to us.  In that place of sorrow over losing what we thought was ours, we gain a new perspective.  The temporary gifts were not meant to be owned, but to be cherished and shared, praising and thanking God for the time we had them.

Any position, status, relation – all are not something we have a right to.  Humbly, we are the recipients of His grace and gifts for His glory.  We get off track when we are in pursuit of comfort and security or getting back what was ours before, instead of pursuing God.

We are each born with different circumstances we think we own or wish we didn’t.  Yet all, whether born privileged or underprivileged, can have this seemingly evasive security – in Christ.

God has good plans for us – but our hope is not in those good plans, but in Him – our living hope and security.

Oh Lord, You are my fortress, my refuge and place of joy!  I do not want to run to anything or anyone before You!  Thank you for the security You have provided in Your Word and in knowing You.  When the world screams insecurity, You hold us and speak Your promises.  I love you, Lord!

Worshipful Wednesday: Ash Wednesday: What Is Ash Wednesday? How Do We Observe It? Why Should We?

Source: Ash Wednesday: What Is Ash Wednesday? How Do We Observe It? Why Should We?

Truthful Tuesday: Sacrificial Worship

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Real worship is not consumerism, but being consumed by God’s greatness.

Scripture:

Genesis 22:7

“Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?””

Romans 12:1

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.”

As a worship leader, I am constantly seeking ways to provoke myself to sincere, passionate worship.  This morning I was reading “Face Down” by Matt Redman and read his perspective on the discussion between Abraham and Isaac when they went to the region of Moria to sacrifice to God.  This same place is said to have been the place where Christ was ultimately crucified.  What a foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s provision.

Abraham and Isaac were going to worship God.  Everything that was necessary for their act of worship was there, except for one thing – the sacrifice.  The son noticed the need and willingly provided himself.  God provided the Lamb.

When we come to worship God, whether it is in our homes or at church, where is our sacrifice?  The music is there, the stage is set, and we need to respond.

In an entertainment-saturated society, it can be easy to approach worship in a consumer-like fashion, but worship is not worship if it does not cost us something.

What does this sacrifice look like?  It will be different for everyone, but it begins with a contrite heart, provoked to in Holy fear to be in awe of the sacrifice that God made for us. Complacency is not on the altar, nor distracted sheep going through the motions.  No, just grateful hearts, spared death, alive in Christ, laying down their burdens and overcome with God’s amazing love.  Basking in His Word, afresh with new revelation, we lie prostrate before the King of kings.

Lord, we worship YOU!  You are Holy, perfect and beyond our comprehension.  Help us to worship You in spirit and truth.  Be glorified in our worship services and provoke our hearts to sincere worship. 

Mundane Monday: Enigmatic Salvation

Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Salvation is given not just to those who don’t deserve it, but to those who did not want it in the first place.

Scripture:

Romans 11:7, 26-27

7 “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'”

How is it that God’s people could seek Him and not find Him?  It seems futile or unfair. And yet their temporary blindness resulted in salvation for all.  God’s wisdom and ways are not ours.  The election of gentiles ultimately provokes a jealousy in the Israelites to receive this same salvation.

This covenant with God’s people demonstrates His kindness and faithfulness to finish the work of salvation for those He has chosen.  A perfect, Holy God with a righteous standard violated by His creation chose to pardon those who broke that standard.  Wow.

The law awakens our need for salvation and reveals our sinful condition, yet this Almighty God chooses to pay that sin debt and remove sin’s stain permanently – to those who did not even seek Him.

This grace of God is befuddling, completely undeserved.  Surely no one can boast.  What a beautiful promise that our Deliverer will remove ungodliness from us!  Although we might not appreciate the sanctification process by which God makes us into His image, taking a step back we see His faithfulness to complete the work He began in us and the miracle of His opening our eyes to understand so great a salvation.

Lord, thank You for Your mercy.  I cannot comprehend fully how I came to know You, but I thank You and pray that all reading this post will also see their need of You and accept the free gift of salvation you have given.