Be Prepared~

Yesterday was quite an eventful day for Rayray, who has requested that I not show her lovely face.

She went in for her physical and fainted when they gave her a tetanus booster.

Now now--before y'all accuse me of being a negligent mom--keep in mind that Rayray is a full-fledged adult who insisted she could go to the appointment by herself. Besides, it's not like she hasn't fainted before. Four other times that I am personally aware of and maybe a couple where she blacked out but no one was around to document it.

One time she was in Sunday school and she stabbed her finger with a pair of scissors, and I kid you not--the teacher said Rachel fell asleep for a few moments and then woke up.

I suppose that's a delicate way of putting it.

On the bright side, Rayray was prepared this time around. She had an inkling that she might get queasy, so she was lying down when she "fell asleep."

Today's DEVO is about being prepared.

Prepared for what?

Proverbs 21:31 "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD."

Back in the Bible times the horse was the symbol of power and might--only to be used in times of battle. And a wise army always had their horses ready to take off at a moment's notice. A hungry horse with worn out shoes wouldn't be much use in an emergency.

Kind of like a half-hearted Christian who never prays or reads an inspiring scripture; when the crisis arrises they crumble rather than rise up to meet the challenge.

Not less than five minutes ago I had a conversation with a gal pal who said that a couple of years ago she was ill-prepared for a sudden situation in her family. And not that she would want to go through anything like that again, but if something ever comes up again she knows her first reaction will be to pray.

Happy dance time!

What are we going to do then? I say we prepare every single day--we strengthen our foundation. But we always always always keep in mind that even though we do our part, God still has the ultimate and best role--the victory! Nevertheless, people, let's give Him something to work with!

PRAYER:
Dear Lord, Thank You that the victory belongs to You. Help us be prepared. Inspire us and draw us close to You. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Choose Faith~

I am sitting here all cozy, keeping an eye out for the neighborhood fox, which comes by regularly to visit.  Rayray wants to trap it, inject it for rabies, train it, and keep it as an exotic pet.  She shall name it Nispero--an ode to the loquat tree that grows in the back yard.  I personally feel it's not worth the trouble.

"What is worth the trouble?" you ask.

Cultivating and practicing the one thing the Bible says that makes life worth living.

Hebrews 11:1 (Message Version) "The fundamental fact of existence is that trust in God, faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see."

Maybe if some of us are feeling a little discouraged or blue we need to redirect our efforts and strengthen our foundation.  If our faith foundation is weak, everything else will wobble.     

Consider these two scenarios:

So and so's husband loses his job and suddenly money is tight.  Day after day after day brings new worries, new fears, and less and less enjoyment of life. 

So and so's husband loses his job and suddenly money is tight.  Day after day after day brings new opportunities to trust God through prayer that He will provide everything that is necessary.  And in the middle of this economic uncertainty, there is actually joy and plenty of laughter.

I have seen both those scenarios play out, and taking the time to fortify the foundation through daily prayer is the way to go.  It's not just about making life bearable, but making life worth living.

Not everyone feels like life is worth living; take a look at the recent headlines.  

We have a decision to make.  Crumble right along with our problems, or make life worth living by choosing faith.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We choose faith.  We choose to trust You even when we can't see the outcome.  We trust that everything is in Your capable hands.  And by faith we believe that even today's prayer has helped make our foundation stronger.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Shake it Up~

Haggai 2:21 "...I am about to shake the heavens and the earth."

 

This was God's promise to His people that He was about to cause a commotion--stir things up--deal with some of their enemies, and those changes would eventually result in the comfort and happiness of His children.

 

Most of us could use a good and holy shaking somewhere in our lives.

 

Where would you like to see God cause a commotion? Where could you use a break today? Where have you had enough?

 

Is there something that has been on your prayer list for a long time that you desire to see answered?

 

There is a beautiful young lady whom I speak with regularly, and back in February of this year she and I began a prayer adventure. Our request? "Shake up my seemingly stalled love life. I desire to be in a relationship with a nice and godly young man."

 

And then the shaking began. First, she lost her job.

 

What? Remember, things are going to get stirred up but eventually it will be a blessing.

 

So she lost her job, but this forced her to rethink her future. She enrolled in college, and begins classes in August. She has also applied for three different positions.

 

Here's the best part. In the middle of all the shaking, she has learned to trust God. She is thankful that her future is in His capable hands. She knows that all this will work out to be a great blessing in her life, and even though Mr. Right has yet to appear, seeing the Lord take care of her on a daily basis has reignited her faith.

 

Consider this recent prayer:

 

Dear Lord, I have been asking You to help me meet a nice young man, but I lost my job in the process. It makes no sense to me, but I trust You. My life is in Your hands, and I know that somehow someway this will all work out. Thank You that I was able to enroll in college. I am excited about the new opportunities in my life. Most of all I am excited that one day soon You are going to shake my future husband loose right into the middle of my life!

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I have been asking for ________________. It makes no sense that I have not received my answer, but I trust You. My life is in Your hands, and I know that somehow someway this will all work out. Thank You that my future is always bright and beautiful because of You. Most of all I am excited that one day soon You are going to shake my answer loose--at the moment I need it most! In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Bright and Beautiful~

Monday greetings:)

 

Friday's DEVO included this verse. Revelation 21:23 "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."

 

The city this verse refers to is heaven, and God's glory is so resplendent that electricity is not needed.

 

God is so bright and beautiful that He can bring illumination to you right now.

 

Where, dear one, could you use some clarification?

 

I recall one time that little Rayray came home from school very upset by an incident with one of her teachers. Her teacher had put a big red "X" over a drawing that Rachel had made, and it hurt her feelings deeply. She was horrified at the notion that her teacher thought she was not a very good artist.

 

"Why, dear Lord, would a teacher do that?" I was all prepared to talk to the teacher the next afternoon to see what the problem was, and I asked God for guidance. It's never a good idea to overreact or accuse your kid's teacher--especially when at a small school and with seven months left until the summer.

 

I spent the better part of the day struggling with feelings of ill will toward the teacher and feeling sad for Rayray interspersed with quick little shout outs to God for help. And then, in a moment of clarity, I looked at the drawing again.

 

The teacher did not mark the drawing because she didn't like it. She marked it because it was a random depiction of something that had nothing to do with the assignment. "Please draw a scene from the above paragraph," which was about a family on an island. And Rayray drew butterflies.

 

It was with relief and joy that I was able to explain to Rayray later that day that her drawing, while lovely, was wrong.

 

This is a simple example of how God cares for us--even in the little things. And it's precisely in these moments where our faith is strengthened for the bigger stuff.

 

Here are some requests from last week followed by a short and direct invitation to God

 

"I need the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right course of treatment."

"Lord, shine some insight into that doc's brain so he makes the right decisions!"

 

"I need some insight into the dark place my spouse has retreated into."

"Lord, bring light and joy to my spouse and fill us with so much brightness that when we are together the darkness will have no choice but to leave."

 

"I need some understanding as to how to better communicate with my teen. I feel like there is a wall between us."

"Lord, fill my child and me with your glory. I want our relationship to be sunny not gloomy."

 

"I need a break at work. My boss is a dictator and my colleagues are always gossiping."

"Lord, it sometimes feels hopeless, but if You can light up heaven just by Your presence than You can bring warmth and peace to my office as well."

 

The common thread is that no matter what it is, every single scenario benefits from God's glory. It's bright and comforting and powerful. And, there is nothing that any of us will ever face that can dim or diminish it.

 

With that said, I leave you with this encouragement: "Arise! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you." Isaiah 60:1

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that Your glory rises to shine on us. That's important because we, our families, and our communities benefit when You shine on us and we spread it around bringing joy and peace in the process. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

The Lamb's Book of Life~

TGIF Greetings~

My driver's license expired July 4, and for the first time in 15 years I was advised that I had to renew it in person. I dutifully made my appointment three weeks before the expiration only to discover I could not renew because--shockingly--I have inadvertently been using two names for the past 26 and 1/2 years. Or as they called it, "An Alias."

 

Sounds so C.I.A.ish, and that's probably as close as I will ever get to doing "undercover work."

 

But in this day and age of heightened security the government will not permit me to call myself Yenise Alvarez Fernandez, when by their records, I am only Yenise Alvarez.

 

So much confusion, and now I have to go to the local Social Security office and make the line and fix the issue. Rubber ducks and mallets!

 

Nevertheless, while the good government of America needs clarification as to what my real name is, there is Someone Who knows exactly who I am.

 

Luke 11:20 "...rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

 

More specifically, they are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

 

You mean to tell me that Jesus has a Book with my name written in it?

 

Well, that depends. Have you asked Him to pull out His celestial fountain pen and enter your name?

 

This is more important than you may realize because having your name written there guarantees your citizenship in, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light." In other words, heaven is splendid, more glorious than our finite minds could ever imagine, and the only thing needed is for our name to be in the Book.

 

The moment you take a step of faith and tell Jesus to enter your heart and forgive you of your sins and reinvigorate your life and bless you and guide you, your name goes in the book. It's that simple.

 

Shall we?

 

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, We all take a step of faith today and invite Jesus to take residence in our heart. We need His love to guide and protect us, and we need forgiveness for all the mistakes we have made. Thank You that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

We rejoice! In His name we pray, AMEN~

 

Tandem Tales cont...

And just when you thought I didn't have anything else to say about the tandem...

 

I have been known--especially before I took up Crossfit--to pick up my feet and rest while riding bike. And for a while I got away with it. At first, when the rude people in my community would yell obscenities at me like, "Gorda, baja las patas!" (which loosely translated means fatso lower your animal paws) sometimes accompanied by an obscene gesture, Jorge would take all kinds of umbrage, but he never really considered the fact that I was indeed coasting. For the record, I have never been offended and have found this highly amusing.

 

Then one day we went riding at night, and the illumination from the street lights cast the horrible truth: My feet were up on the bar, and the evidence was in the form of a shadow that Jorge could see in, of all places, right in front of him.

 

We both laughed so hard, and as Jorge explains it everything suddenly made sense. No! He wasn't prone to bouts of sudden onset weakness and muscle atrophy as much as I was prone to resting whenever I felt like it leaving him to pick up the slack.

 

Is it fair for one person to do all the work? Is it fair to just sit back, relax, and let God handle it all. You know--bless us, provide for us, protect us, heal us, infuse us with joy and peace, and then never so much as say a little thank You?

 

Not only is it not fair, it's also not biblical.

 

God invites us over and over again to invite Him into our lives on a daily basis (ever heard of the daily bread?) so that we all can live our life to the full. When we fail to maintain a relationship with Him, we lose out on so much, and God loses too because He desires to spend time with His kids.

 

Acts 17:24-28 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.'"

 

Don't flatter yourself. There not much you can offer to God because He does not need anything, but He does want us because we are His children.

 

Much the same way that tandem bike riding is a lot easier when we both pedal, so is life more of a blessing when we reach out to our heavenly Dad.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Lord,

You give us life and breath and everything else. Thank You. We reach out to You today because you are near and can be found. When we find You through prayer You bless us immeasurably more than if we never spent time with You. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Tandem Tales cont...

I have a sculpture that sits on a shelf in my little bedroom office that I love love love.  Only problem is that it does not quite accurately reflect the truth.

It's a guy and a girl on a bike, but the girl is sitting in the front.

One time Jorge went through all the trouble of lowering the seat so I could take the lead.  I did--for about three minutes.  It was so much harder than sitting in the back because of the harsh March winds out on the open trails of the Everglades in Shark Valley.

Jorge was able to handle the turbulence way better because he has a broader back and horse muscles in his legs.

When we are facing adverse conditions in life it is also best to allow God to take the lead.

Deuteronomy 31:8 "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you."

God Himself will go ahead of me? Little ole me? How special must I be.  How special you must be.  And He won't fail me? Or abandon me?

How can we be sure God is taking the lead?

Proverbs 3: 5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do,
and He will show you which path to take."

We trust and seek Him first--through prayer--then He shows us which path to take.

Nice how this concept of "tandem" runs throughout the Bible.  We have a role and God has a role.  He waits for an invitation.  It's time for many of us to switch to the backseat.  For far too long we wake up and go about our day as though God is just waiting there for us in times of emergency, and He is.  But how sweet to know that the One Who's seen what's up ahead, can help us avoid certain paths that aren't good for us.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You will never fail us and You personally direct our paths when we seek You.  Amen!  We seek You now so that You will guide us and those we love down safe paths.  Lead us into Your perfect purpose for our lives.  In Jesus' name we pray, AMEN~