It's a Growth Process~

Salutations~

 

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message version)

 

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

Yesterday we learned that there is a better way of doing things, and it's God's way. Doing things His way--no matter how difficult and frustrating--leads to gifts. And these gifts appear the same way fruit does in an orchard--little by little.

 

It's a growth process. You don't plant an apple seed and then see a million apples the next day.

 

The good news, however, is that eventually there's a harvest.

 

So my shout out to you today is to give yourselves a break. When you momentarily lose your mind and overreact at something--rein it in next time. Love more, be kinder, be gentler, be good, do good, have joy, promote peace, and before you know it your orchard will be the most fragrant and fruitful of all. So much so, in fact, that others will take notice.

 

Your spouse, kids, relatives, friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers will marvel at how you can be so jolly all the time. Keep in mind that this takes a dedicated effort. None of us starts off perfectly lovely all of the time. Practice really does make perfect.

 

Start thinking of all the challenges in life as an oppotunity to bear fruit.

 

Tomorrow we will look at one of the number one causes of being unhappy and what all this talk about fruit has to do with it.

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We want to do things Your way but we get in the way of it ourselves with our very human limitations. Strengthen us to do the right thing because we all need and desire the gifts You bring when we do. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

God's Way~

Good afternoon all you lovely saints. This past weekend one of you celebrated one of the greatest highs of life—your child got married! Your exact words to me were, “It is a tremendous blessing that my daughter married such a godly young man from such a fine Christian family!”

 

Amen to that!

 

Maybe getting from point A to point B wasn’t perfect or problem free, but a final assessment of how it all went down reminds me of a great Bible passage.

 

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message version)

 

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

 

What is “God’s way?”

 

God’s way is primarily about seeking Him and loving one another. It means we include Him in all our decisions and then exercise patience and forgiveness with others. It means we put Him and others first and put ourselves second. It means we pour out our troubles and complaints to Him and keep our traps shut in front of others for the greater blessing of keeping the peace. It means we practice simple kindness. It means we make sacrifices. You all know exactly what I mean.

 

Our efforts are rewarded with gifts. Go back to the verse and look at all the things we receive when we get on board with His way. Exuberance about life? Sounds awesome! Serenity? I sure could use more of that! Able to marshal and direct our energies wisely? You mean there are unwise ways in which we direct our energies?

 

All this week we will dissect this passage, but today let’s thank God that He is a giver of gifts to all those who are willing to live His way.

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We all desire to receive the gifts You are willing to bring into our lives. Help us to embrace Your way of living. We all desire to have orchards filled with delicious and satisfying fruit. In Jesus name, AMEN~

Run!!!

TGIF Greetings:)

 

Proverbs 18:10

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower. A righteous person runs to it and is safe."

 

Twice this week I have gone running, and not around the track or thru the neighborhood, but to the name of the Lord.

 

Sometimes things are urgent. We can't walk or stroll or skip to the Lord--we have to RUN!

 

Running conveys a sense of urgency--an "I need help right this very second!" There's no time to waste!

 

First it was with a friend who needs God in her marriage, and then it was with another pal whose child is starting new meds. In both cases we were looking for safety from adverse reactions.

 

Isn't it great that our Lord's name is a strong tower? It's not a flimsy ant hill. Who would want to run to that?

 

It's tall and fortified and able to withstand a billion of us or more running toward it at the same time. What an awesome and mighty God we have!

 

Notice, however, that first we run, and then we are safe. We have to pickup our feet and go toward the Lord. Sometimes we get upset, angry, or confused and rather than run toward Him we run away.

 

But today I want to encourage us all to take a step of faith and start running. When we do we will be safe!

 

PRAYER:
Dear Lord,

We run to You right now because we need safety. Thank You that You provide all the shelter we need. You are mighty and strong; bring that might and strength into our lives right now. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Timing is Key~

Greetings:)

 

Proverbs 25:11 "A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples on a silver tray."

 

OK--Today I need to clarify because one of you lovely and precious children of God wrote back to me to say that you have tried repeatedly to "impress" God into the heart of your teenager, but all you have gotten are hostile stares, and one time, you swear you were almost physically attacked.

 

After a little more digging, you and I discovered that your timing might be off--just a tad. Maybe right when they wake up and are in a hurry to get to school on time and can't find matching socks is not the best moment to declare, "Jesus is your friend; don't disappoint Him!"

 

When I said yesterday that if I were to have waited until my children were receptive before speaking..., it was meant largely as a joke in order to make a point. The point being that there will be times when you have to speak up no matter what.

 

But in the grand scheme, we all instinctively know when our kids or husbands or friends or relatives are in the right frame of mind to hear what we have to say.

 

When Rayray was in 10th grade her very best friend in the whole wide world was diagnosed with a brain tumor. (Breathe a sigh of relief right now because it turned out to be benign, and she is perfectly healthy today).

 

It was a mega scary time for everyone, and Rayray camped out by her friend's side--at one point even sleeping on the waiting room floor--for two weeks until she was released from the hospital. She would not leave her friend's side, and I remember thinking at the time that Rayray is going to take good care of me when I am geriatric.

 

To say that Rayray was exhausted is an understatement. She was emotionally and physically spent, and I reigned in the Jesus talk.

 

"Mom is praying for you and your buddy"...is about all I said. And even when Rayray came to me one night and was crying her eyes out and wondering whether her friend would be OK, I did not, I repeat, I did not sermonize the moment and rant on and on about getting a grip--Jesus heals--He's in control...

 

In other words, sometimes we impress our kids and others the most when we just hug it out instead of talking it over.

 

A few weeks after everything happened, when Rayray was relieved and happy to have her buddy back, we went over everything that happened and concluded that God deserves the highest of praise, or as the young folk might say, the highest of props.

 

We thanked Him so very very much for the postivive outcome, and Rayray came away with a little treasure impressed on her heart that God hears the heartfelt, desperate prayers of two teenaged gal pals. Glory and Hallelujah!

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Give us wisdom. Help us to speak at the right moment. There is so much we want to say sometimes, but we must be wise not to overdo it. Help us to remember that saying the right thing is only valuable when said at the right time; it's a beautiful and lovely thing. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

It's OK to Nag~

I hope you are all sitting down for this because you will be shocked: My children complain about me!!!!

Their number one complaint? "Stop preaching!"

When Hormone got married he and Rayray had a brief meeting about how she would now bear the brunt of all my sermonizing by her lonesome.  Boo hoo!

You know what I say? "It's my job!"

More than once I have said that if someone has an issue with my "turning everything into a life lesson," then they should file a complaint with God Almighty.

Deuteronomy 6:5-8 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

Not only are we to keep God front and center in our own lives, but we have the awesome and amazing responsibility to "impress" God's ways on our kids.  I like to think of it as God's permission to nag.

If He is saying to talk about it at home, on the road, when you go to bed and when you get up...then it's a daily responsibility.

Why every day? Because all the other junk out there doesn't take a break, so we should not either.  

There is so much garbage out there competing for our kids' attention, and the majority of it will hurt their souls.  We fight that constant barrage with a barrage of our own.  Sometimes--OK--a lot of the times--our kids are going to get annoyed by it.  But notice how these verses do not say to only talk about God if the children are receptive.  Please! If I had to wait for my kids to be receptive I might have forgotten how to talk altogether.

Let us not shy away from engaging our kids in the types of conversations that matter.  No one else has a problem strutting their point of view.  

Back in 1992 I was taking a class, and someone I made friends with brought in a very popular book by a very popular singer that dealt with the topic of sex.

Everyone in the room gathered around her desk to look at the provocative pictures except me--the nerd.

Here I was a 27-year-old mother of two and all I could think about was a song my mother sang to me a million times, "Cuidadito tus ojitos lo que ven..."

"Be careful little eyes what you see..."

You never know when something you have taught your kids will pop up and have a positive impact.  It might not have been a big deal that I didn't look at the book except that, for whatever reason, it kind of made an impression on the girl who brought it in.  She and I became friends after that and were able to pray together a few times for some struggles in her marriage. Glory:)

Let us ask God for the strength and perseverance we need to engage our families every single day.

PRAYER: Dear Lord,  Sometimes we get tired.  Tired of all the bad stuff out there and tired of having to shield ourselves and our families from it.  Strengthen us today for the struggles of this day, and thank You that we are promised the blessings of peace and joy when we do the hard work of "nagging."  In Jesus' name, AMEN~  

Write it Down~

Good morning, all you beautiful and blessed creatures of God. How do I know you are blessed? Because you have all tasted and seen for yourselves that God is good :)

 

At the end of this DEVO is a picture I took of a note we received from Denny's. A couple of weeks ago Jorge and I went in for an early breakfast, and we were in a hurry. Jorge had a meeting he needed to get to, and I went along for the ride. Our waitress was perfectly lovely, but as Jorge proceeded to order his I-am-on-a-healthy-lifestyle-eggwhite-concoction, he noticed that she was not writing anything down. As soon as she left he said, "Bibi, she didn't write it down; they're going to get the order wrong." Poor Jorge--he started to sweat.

 

Of course, he was right. And when you're in a hurry to begin with...well...let's just say that I give Jorge a lot of credit for keeping his Christian cool. How can we go around all the time talking about Jesus and then being nasty in a restaurant? We can't, so we weren't.

 

We barely made it out of there on time to get to the meeting, and in the grand scheme of life, being a little late would not have been the worst thing in the world. But we both certainly had a renewed appreciation for the importance of writing down stuff.

 

The Bible agrees.

 

Deuteronomy 6:5-8 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

These are powerful verses, and later this week we will look at why God says it's OK to nag your kids and why it's important. But today's principle is all about how forgetful we tend to be and how we can fix it. We fix it by writing it down. Did God mean to literally write stuff down? And if so, what stuff?

 

I have three different Bible verses up on the walls of my house. Two are wall appliques, and one is a wooden sign. Plus, I have several crosses, and some clippings/magnets on the fridge. I also have a bunch of prayer books all over the place and of course, the high and holy Word of God in every single room.

 

In other words, it is hard to forget Whom I love, Whom I trust, Whom I pray to, Whom I have faith in, and Whom is my Protector and Guide.

 

There are constant reminders everywhere, and it calms my soul. What God is really saying is to do whatever you have to do to keep me front and center in your life.

 

After our experience at Denny's, we wrote a very nice note with some friendly suggestions and in response Denny's sent us a card with two free Grand Slams! SCORE!!!!

 

As nice as that is, when we "write" down God's Word in our lives, we are promised that we and our descendants will live a long and blessed life. BETTER SCORE!

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Good things happen when we write things down. It helps us to remember that Your way is the best way, and it keeps You as the primary focus in our lives. And when we focus on You, every problem is life becomes teeny tiny by comparison. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

An Open Invitation~

Monday greetings:)

 

Remember last week when God was invited to hover over a special gal going in for surgery? Well, praise His High and Holy name! Everything went incredibly well! God is good and it's worth inviting Him into your life, into your problem, into your situation--no matter what it is. In fact, there is a standing and open invite for all of us in God's Holy Word.

 

Psalm 34:8

"Taste and see that the LORD is good! How blessed is the person who trusts in him!"

 

In other words, see for yourself. Don't take anyone's word for it. Don't live it through anyone else's experience. Get in on the action. Take God at His Word.

 

I love it when the Bible uses an exclamation point in a verse. But if it uses two--WATCH OUT!!! This must be worth a try.

 

Where, dear child, do you need a heaping helping of God's goodness right now?

 

Taste and see...First you try it...you pray for it...you RSVP to God and expect Him to do His thing...

 

AND THEN

 

You will see it....with your own eyes...His goodness, His provision, His blessings, His protection, His guidance, His healing, His peace, His joy, HIs hope, His wisdom...HIS ALL--all for you.

 

Glory , Hallelujah, and Praises :)

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We accept Your invitation. We want to see for ourselves Your goodness running rampant in our lives. Especially in this area (fill in the blank). Thank You that because we trust in You , we are blessed. In Jesus' name, AMEN~