Desert Road~

Happy New Year's Eve!

We are about to usher in a New Year, and I am excited!  Fresh starts, new resolutions, hope on the horizon - that's what a new year brings.  And my prayer for us all as we move in to 2016 is that we will, as it says in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. See the new thing God is doing.  He is making a road through the desert..."

What was your "desert" road this past year?  Did you travel through a dry, hard, unforgiving place that has left you craving cooling streams?  Are you parched and exhausted? Tired of the same ole' same ole'?

If so, then clap your hands and start thanking God because He is doing something new right now in your life. He is paving the way for you to get out of that mess. 

These verses are loaded with promise and hope, but before we can be alert and present, we have to let go of the past.  We must F-O-R-G-E-T.  Let's take a step of united faith and believe that if God is telling us to stop hashing and rehashing our history, it’s because it’s possible.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I take You at Your Word and pray that You would help me forget all the junk that brings me down. Help me focus on You and the new and glorious thing You are doing in my life..  I thank You for watching over me and my family this past year, and I look to You for every single thing we need this new year.  In particular, I desire deeply to be able to let go of ________________________;it’s a joy killer, it constantly crushes my hope, it consumes my mind, and it sometimes helps the fear creep in.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

Let "it" Go!

Happy New Year!

2015 is in full swing, and I have, for the first time in my life, already gotten used to the new date when writing checks!

It feels weird that it’s 2015; saying time flies is an understatement.  But it is precisely because time goes by so quickly that we should all optimize however much of it we have.  It is pointless and draining to hold onto stuff that is bringing us down, and yesterday I read a headline that actually inspired today’s DEVO. 

“Shake it Off” narrowly beats “Let it Go” in sales.

These are two completely different songs with different lyrics and different tempos, and apparently they were neck in neck with sales until “Shake it Off” won, but they have “it” in common, and they are both 100% spot on in what we should all do with “it”.

But before we can get rid of “it” we have to identify what “it” is.  That’s the easy part. “It” is anything that drains us mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Anything that has us tired, exhausted, discouraged, and/or down.

Sometimes this means attitudes, worries, grudges, and injustices.  But sometimes it means people or our jobs.  And whether it’s a mental thing or an actual person who is our “it” both can feel seemingly impossible to let go of.  

However, and praise His holy name, God encourages us because He wants us to make room for something better.

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

These verses are loaded with promise and hope, and the first step to inviting that “new thing” is “forgetting the former things.”  We must all now form a figurative Kumbaya circle, hold hands, and take a step of united faith and believe that if God is telling us to forget, shake it off, and let it go, it’s because it’s possible.

Take a moment to identify your “it” before you pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for another year of life.  I look to You this year for every single thing I and my family need to live a blessed life.  In particular, I desire deeply to be able to let go of ________________________, because it’s a joy killer, it constantly crushes my hope, it consumes my mind, and it sometimes helps the fear creep in.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

For Your Mental Health's Sake~

New Year’s Eve already? Shocking, but true.

This morning I was listening to a jazz version of “Auld Lang Syne,” and I realized that even though I have mumbled the words to that song for ever, I don’t really know what they mean. I looked it up, and the first line in this song is basically asking, “Is it right that old times be forgotten?” The implication is that friendships should always be treasured and remembered.

The Bible has an answer.

Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 “…hold onto that which is good.”

Take just one more moment to think about 2013. What was good, beautiful, and memorable about it? Whatever was good—hold onto it. Treasure it in your heart. Keep it nearby when you hit a rough spell because it will bring a smile to your face. Like when my handsome son-in-law held my infant nephew for the first time and the baby vomited a half gallon of milk all over his guayabera. It was so funny, and the rotten suntan lotion aftersmell was even better.

What about the rough parts? The heartbreaking parts? The scary parts? The embarrassing parts? FORGET THEM! Don’t dwell on them. Leave them filed away forever in a folder labeled, “DO NOT OPEN.”Since I am practicing what I preach, I will not share any of the negative stuff.

By the way, I am not being bossy; I am passing along some really smart advice from God.

Why would the Lord go through all the trouble of telling us these things? He cares about our mental health.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is his.”

We become what we think about. If we constantly engage in depressing “what if” scenarios, we become depressed. If we always meditate on the things that scare us, we start to live in constant fear.

Conversely, if we forget the junk and embrace the lovely, we become lovely, happy, delightful people.

So tonight, when we mouth the words to “Auld Lang Syne,” (cause we all know we don’t know the lyrics), let’s make having good mental health a priority in 2014.

Happy New Year!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We choose to think straight and think right. We choose to forget the bad stuff from the past and treasure the good beautiful moments of life. Thank You for helping us each step of the way. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~