Unwrap the Gift~

"I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).

Jorge and I have a will.  It’s simple, really.  Every single thing we have is to be split 50/50 between our kids, and we trust them and their spouses to move forward in a spirit of unity and fairness.  Jesus had a last will and testament as well.  His was verbal, and it’s the verse above.  He spoke it to disciples as He was preparing for death. 

He is not leaving them a house, jewelry, or money.  But He is leaving them, and by association us, the one thing that seems to evade so many people nowadays: PEACE.

We all want it, and some of us pop pills, smoke substances, eat food, guzzle alcohol, or spend money trying to get it. Yet, peace is nowhere near.   

What we learn from this verse, however, is that any road to peace that excludes Jesus is temporary and therefore frightening.  When the buzz wears off, the food is digested, or the novelty of the new toy fizzles away, we are often back at square one and back to having that horrible sinking feeling in our gut.  Jesus is speaking strongly here and reminding us that nothing and no one can compare to the eternal peace He gives, which is abiding, steadfast, and everlasting.

The day Jorge and I fly off to Jesus, my children will take the steps to execute our will.  Hopefully, that will be a long way away.  Jesus, on the other hand, already left us the gift of peace; it’s already ours and like all gifts, we have to unwrap it.  We unwrap it by doing what the verses from Tuesday’s DEVO encourage us to do. We must make requests of God, cast our cares on Him, trust in Him, lean on Him, come to Him, learn from Him, and see the Kingdom.

Every single time we do this, we are opening up ourselves to a life filled with true peace!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, As we pray now, we seek You so you can fill us with this beautiful, powerful, and necessary gift Jesus left for us.  We want our hearts and minds inundated with peace.  We will not look to cheap substitutes.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Become Proactive!

Greetings in the powerful name of the Lord!

This past week we all watched with horror as the tragic events unfolded in Paris.  I was shocked, as I am sure you all were too.  And all that is happening brings me back to the DEVO I published a week ago today.  The verse for that DEVO was Proverbs 12:25 “Worry weighs down the heart…”

It is easy to worry when watching the news.  In fact, it’s always easier to worry then to have peace unless we become proactive.

I invite you to check out this website, which has over 20 Bible verses about worry: 

http://www.openbible.info/topics/worry_and_stress

A running theme throughout those verses is that we have to take an active stance or worry will overtake us.  These verses encourage us to make requests of God, cast our cares on Him, trust in Him, lean on Him, come to Him, learn from Him, and seek the Kingdom.

When we want to lose weight in our physical bodies, we have to make wise choices, like clean out the pantry of all junk food.  The same applies to losing the weight of worry in our lives.  We have to be wise and crowd out the junk that seeks to crush us by filling up on Him!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We come to You now in obedience to Your word and seek You and the peace that only You can give.  Remove all worry and anxiety from us and fill us with Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen! 

Hershey~

Good afternoon, all you blessed children of God,

This past Tuesday afternoon we welcomed another member to our family. His name is Hershey, and he is a lab-mix puppy my husband found in the middle of the street.  By the time I met him he had already been to the groomers where he was washed, dipped, de-ticked, and perfumed.  My reaction upon seeing those soulful green eyes for the first time was, “This dog does not yet know how lucky he is to have Jorge for a daddy.”

Jorge has, in fact, been very attentive.  Hershey’s food and water bowls are constantly filled, his little bottom has been dutifully wiped every time he goes potty, he sleeps on the bed with us – but mostly snuggled close to Jorge – and I have not heard one complaint about vet bills, heart pill costs, and follow up visit expenses.  And this morning, before I left for work, Jorge had already called twice for updates on Hershey, followed by, “He’s so cute,” and “he’s so sweet…”

So much attention for such a small little animal!  I wonder, though, if we realize just how much more blessed we are because God is our Daddy?

Psalm 103 provides a peek at a few of the benefits of being God’s child.

·       He forgives our sins

·       Saves our life

·       Crowns us with love and mercy

·       Wraps us in goodness and eternal beauty

·       He renews our youth

·       He does not treat as our sins deserve

·       He knows us inside and out

·       God makes everything right for us and our children

Another powerful passage from scripture promises us that “God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).”

God generously fills us from His inexhaustible supply until we are full of everything we need to live a blessed life; He is the best Daddy of all!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for being the best Dad we could ever hope for.  We take You at Your word and open our lives today to receive all that You have to offer.  We need it today and every day. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Pray it Off~

Tuesday greetings,

A few months ago my husband played a mean joke on my daughter-in-law, Lis.  She was weighing herself on the scale, and Jorge moved in stealthily behind her and also stepped on the scale.  It increased her weight by 20 lbs, and sheer panic set in for a few horrifying moments.  We all got a good laugh out of it, but man o man, I would have killed him.  Truth is I have never met a single person who would welcome extra weight.

Some of us carry it physically, but way too many of us carry it in our hearts.

Proverbs 12:25 “Worry weighs down the heart…”

Anxiety, heaviness, grief, sorrow, call it what you will, but all the aforementioned are part of life, and they weigh us down, bring us low, depress us, and trouble our hearts.

What can we do? The second part of Proverbs 12:25 says, “…but a kind word cheers a person up.”

Other versions of the Bible say “a good word”, an “encouraging word”, or an “appropriate word” brings joy.

The anecdote for heaviness of heart is found in the quality of the words we receive, and it’s instant.  Most importantly, we should be reading the Holy Bible every day because it is the kindest, most encouraging Word on the face of the earth.  I know that when I have those times that I feel the pressures of life, reading scripture provides a powerful lift.  Praying with a buddy also infuses my soul with hope.   And of course, over the course of my life, there have been so many life-giving words shared with me that I treasure to this day.

There is no need to carry around that extra weight today; let's pray it off right now!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for knowing that worry weighs us down.  You never ignore us or pretend our feelings aren’t real.  But we also thank You for providing a way to lift our spirits. Remind us to fill ourselves with Your Word everyday so we can soar above the problems of life.  Also, remind us that the words we speak can affect the quality of someone else’s life.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN. 

Refresh Signal~

Acts 3:19 “Now it’s time to change your ways!  Turn to face God so He can wipe away your sins, and pour out showers of blessing to refresh you…”

Last week our internet went down and our phones, which provide HD VoIP, or voice over the internet, went down as well.  When I lobbied for this state-of-the art phone system, I assured my boss that I would take the precautionary measure of having a back up internet router installed so our phones would stay online in case the primary internet went down.

Well, when the primary went down, the back-up kicked into gear, except that the main switch wasn’t receiving the signal, so our phones went kaput!

I called our tech guy right away and the solution was simple: Unplug and then replug the router in order to send a “refresh” signal to the switch. 

In our modern, high-tech world, filled with electronics, Wi-Fi, and wireless thingamajiggies, these glitches are bound to happen.  All the technology kind of overwhelms itself and bogs itself down and things stop working.  

And in our hectic, running around all day, not getting enough sleep, too much on our plates, the kids are misbehaving , and the dog has poop on his feet – don’t let him in the house existences, we too might find ourselves going kaput.

We know how to pray, we know what we need to do, we know where the “Main Switch” is, but He is not receiving the signal. It’s time to settle down and send a refresh signal to our Lord.

And the time is now! When we turn to Him He pours out showers of blessings and refreshes us right back.  A shower is an abundance of something.  God does not send a trickle, mist, squirt, dribble, or spray.  He sends a deluge of whatever we need to get back up and running with joy, peace, strength, hope, faith, and love.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We come to You now and face You because sometimes we get bogged down with our lives and there’s a failure to connect.  We know You are there waiting for us to turn to You so You can flood our lives with Your goodness.  Flood us now, dear Lord.  We need it.  And thank You that You are always ready to refresh us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Ready and Waiting

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”

Isaiah 30:18 “So the LORD must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God.”

Greetings all you precious children of the Most-high God!

Take a look at this picture:

No one wants to see the temperature gauge nearing the "H" when they are driving their car. But that is exactly what Jorge and I saw three weeks ago on the way home from my in-laws’ house.  We were able to pull over safely, and my father-in-law, the beloved Chini, traded cars with us so he could drop off the car at the mechanic in the morning and I could have transportation for work.  Exactly one week later the car over heated again.  Back to the mechanic it went. And then this past Friday, yes, you guessed it, it happened for the third time.  So this time we took the car to another mechanic – one with a greater degree of knowledge for our type of car.

Lots of folks specialize in different areas.  I would never go to a podiatrist for a headache, nor would I have my house painted by the guy who mows the lawn.  I also wouldn’t have my nails done by my math teacher son, nor would I call in my sister to fix my dishwasher, which is currently on the fritz.

In other words, there are certain things that only certain people are qualified to handle.

Our mighty Lord is in a category all His own.

Only He can heal the broken hearted. Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Only He can take our fear and turn it into faith. Psalm 34:4 “I prayed to the LORD, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears.”

Only He can replace our mourning for joy. Psalm 30:11 “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”

Only He can crush anxiety and drown us in peace. John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.”

Only He can _________________________...fill in the blank, dear one.  

What is happening right now that you have no control over?  God is waiting for you to turn to Him.

When my car broke down, I had to take action.  I just didn’t leave it there by the side of the road praying it would fix itself.  Likewise, there is no need to just sit by and hope everything works out with the messes of life.  Take action and go the One Who specializes in meeting all your needs; He is ready and waiting for you!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You are ready to help. Thank You that You are our refuge and strength. Thank You that You are faithful and compassionate. Thank You that You can handle anything and everything we bring Your way. You are always ready and waiting! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!   

This is the Moment

Thursday greetings,

When Jorge and I were first married we happily moved into our little condo with all the joy that comes from being newlyweds.  Our first washer/dryer was a small stackable combo unit, and I remember how nicely it fit in the small utility room.  One day the dryer started making a funny noise, and Jorge, Mr. Fix-it that he is, removed the back panel, tinkered with it for a while, and reassembled it.  It worked perfectly fine, except there were 16 tiny screws left over that Jorge did not know where they were supposed to go, so off to the surplus screw jar they went.  Jorge, of course, was proud of himself nonetheless.

He and I have something in common: Jorge enjoys taking things apart, rebuilding them, and feeling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.  I also enjoy breaking down scripture, examining every bit of a verse, extracting as much truth as I can so I can build myself up – encourage myself, bring joy to myself, and bring peace to myself.

Take Esther 4:14, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?" 

I have known this verse since forever.  But yesterday I read another translation that says, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”

Suddenly, I wanted to break this verse down.  I wanted to examine and extract any inspiration God had for me. 

Let’s think about it.  Why were we born when we were born?  Why wasn’t I born in 1865?  Why weren’t you born 20 years ago or 20 years from now?

Could it be that right now, at this very moment, you are to use your life, and the season of your personal existence in the continuum of history, to do something AMAZING?

Esther had to be born at just the right time to just the right family to be just the right age when God called her through her bravery and courage to literally marry the one person who could save the Jews, her own race,  from annihilation.   It’s an incredible story that we will dive into one day, but for now, each and every one of us can be sure that this – our life, our families, our friends, our communities, our churches – is the moment for which we have been created.

In the absence of history-altering scenarios like saving an entire race of people, is there still something grand that we can be a part of?

Sometimes I think I was born because I would be the only one praying for certain folks I know.  Maybe that doesn’t sound exciting, but prayer changes lives and circumstances.  We should never ever underestimate its power. 

And as I think about the upcoming Presidential election, I thank God for a few of those candidates who came along at just the right time in history because they are willing to fight to take back the reins of our nation’s leadership and hopefully lead us back to our Founding Father.

No matter what the reason why we are here, not one of us is alive on October 29, 2015 by accident.  God has us here for a GREAT PURPOSE!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that we are important and matter to You.  We are living right now because You have a purpose for us that only we can fulfill.  Make it clear to us what You want us to do. We are willing to step in and change the course of history.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.