Did I Say That Out Loud?

What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often? For you examine us every morning and test us every moment. Job 7:17-18 (NLT)

Have you ever had something come out of your mouth and realize (almost immediately) that you should have not said it? We joke around and say "Did I say that out loud?" and we laugh. But seriously. I do this more than I would like.

I can make all kinds of excuses about how my brain is going too fast or my schedule is too full or I need a break and all those may be true but in reality, excuses aside, I am responsible for my tongue.

One of the disciplines I have been learning and practicing is the discipline of talking to God while I am talking to someone else. While I am having a conversation with them, I ask God "Is there something you want me to say?" or "How can I help them? How can I comfort them?" Interestingly, the answer is sometimes to not say anything. Sometimes, the answer is to just be there and listen.

I have found that when I practice this, I regret less and less the things I say. I have less instances of beating myself up and having to ask forgiveness of God and the people I love. I also have more instances of joy because I was more helpful and able to listen well. I especially find great satisfaction in knowing that God was in control of that conversation.

I am still learning this discipline. I still forget to engage God when I'm going too fast. I'm praying about it and God is teaching me. I love that he pays attention to even our smallest conversations and is involved with what we do.

Father God, Examine me. Examine me every morning and every evening and every moment in between.  Teach me to be more like Jesus. Amen.

What Makes You Blessed?

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:3 (NLT)

Thank you. I am blessed.

How many times have you heard that? And maybe we are blessed but, somehow I don't think God's definition of blessed is the same as ours.

When someone says "I like your ____________(fill in the blank)." and we reply "Thank you, I am blessed.", is that really what God meant when he said "Blessed are ..........?

God says we are blessed when we are poor in spirit (broken) not when we have stuff. God says we are blessed when we realize all this stuff doesn't matter. We are blessed when we know that without him we are nothing.

So let me ask you. Why is it you think you are blessed? And more importantly, are you willing to be broken to be blessed God's way?

Worshipping No Matter What

“Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshiped:” ‭‭Job‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Can you imagine? There was Job. He was having a normal kind of day, minding his own business - being very faithful to God - and all of a sudden in the blink of an eye, he lost everything. He lost his children, all of his workers and his livelihood. Everything he owned that made him happy and wealthy was gone.

When one after the other Job was given the bad news the Bible says he fell to the ground and worshiped. I have to tell you, I can see falling to the ground because he collapsed from grief or falling to the ground because he passed out; but the Bible is pretty clear. He fell down and worshiped. In verse 21 he follows up with "Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

What is it that allowed Job to bless the Lord's name even in the midst of calamity? What in his life did he possess that caused him to say "It's God's to do with what he will" instead of "God, why are you doing this to me?" The Bible says Job was devoted to God. When you read the first few verses of Job, it sounds like it was his heart's desire to please God and that he actively pursued this life-style. 

When disaster struck, Job didn't think first about the bad things that were happening, he thought first about his relationship with God. He went there first. He looked at and leaned in to what he knew and what he trusted.

Maybe, this is why God - even though he knew Satan's character - said "Look, look at my friend Job." God knew Job's heart. He knew Job just like Job knew Him.

I want to be more like Job. 

Spiritual Conversations

“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7 (NLT)

I walked into the grocery store and headed straight to the bakery. I knew what I wanted and I had limited time. I stood there and looked around for someone to help me. Nada. I looked for a bell to ring...perhaps by the big sign that said "We are always here to help you. We'll be happy to write anything you want on your cake." I looked from the sign back to empty bakery area.

I finally opted to go down to the deli counter and ask them if they could call someone. As I walked back to the bakery counter I heard the loud speaker announcement that a customer needed help in the bakery.

The lady appeared from the back and asked what I needed. I explained that I wanted to buy one of the cakes and have something written on it. She responded "I'd be happy to do that for you but it's not going to look good, I have terrible hand-writing." I said "Excuse me?" She repeated herself. And as she was taking the lid off of the cake she followed up with "And I'm sick." 

Now, I am a pretty expressive person so a lot of thoughts were going through my head about how to handle this and what to say. I started with "Stop (I didn't want her germs all over my cake.)" I told her it was OK, I would write on the cake myself meanwhile thinking that my writing was certainly worse than hers and why was she 1) working in a bakery offering to write on my cake if her handwriting was terrible and 2) why was she even at work if she was sick!

So she starts to hand me the cake, without the cover, across the counter. "What are you doing?" I asked. "I'm giving it to you so you can write on it." Now, my mind is racing with more not nice thoughts wondering how I was supposed to stand there, hold it with one hand and write on it with the other? I bit my tongue.  I explained to her that is would do it at home.  All this time, I resolved to go complain to the manager.

Needless to say, there was more unproductive conversation but just as I was about to open my mouth to tell her my opinion I heard "Ask her why she's sick." The thought was so overwhelming, I did it. She told me. Then, I heard "Tell her it's OK and that you'll take it home and take care of it." So I did. As she handed me the cake over the counter (this time with the lid on it), I heard "Tell her you hope she feels better." I obeyed.

As I walked away resolving to just go home and not tell the manager, I knew God had intervened. If I had told her what I thought, I would have felt terrible and so would she. I am so very thankful that God spoke up and turned off the "This is not how I am supposed to be treated" speakerphone that was going off in my head and replaced it with "Do you see the woman behind the counter?" voice.

I got home and my son (who has much better cake decorating skills than I do) wrote on the cake for me.  All was right with the world and more importantly, all was right with my soul. Thank you, God!

I Want A Double Portion Please

When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.”
And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”
As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. 2 Kings 2:9-11 (NLT)

Elisha did get to see Elijah being carried away. And he went on to inherit a double portion of Elijah's spirit. But there is a part to this story that I didn't pick up on in the past.

As they were walking along, three times Elijah stopped in different towns and three times told Elisha to stay. Elisha said "No, thank you. I am in this til the end." And he kept on walking. Imagine if Elisha had stopped at any of those towns. He wouldn't have received the gift of God's Spirit that was waiting for him.

There were prophets at every town. None of them followed. They were content to stay where they were and do what they were doing. Elisha was not. Elisha wanted all of what God was offering to him. He wanted to experience all of his calling so he pressed on. He kept moving forward.

How many times do we stop before what God wants for us is realized? How many times to we wait for something huge to happen instead of following what we already know we should do?

What is God calling you to do today? Have you stopped short of the final destination?

Time to Breathe

Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
    on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:10 (NLT)

I look at the balls I juggle and sometimes step back and wonder "What is it I could not be doing?" Actually, a better question would be "Lord, what is it that isn't important to you?"

In the circle of people I talk to regularly, we all have too many things on our plate. And the thoughts about managing it all go round and round. Am I ready for the meeting I have today? What should we have for dinner? When was the last time I cleaned the Living Room? What are my duties at church this weekend? Did I remember to pay that bill? When was the last time my husband and I had date night? Did the kids get their homework done? Did they turn it in? I need to schedule time to ______________.

There are so many more. In the buzzing and whirling of what seems to be our lives, it's really hard to lose focus on what God is asking us to do. How do you do that? How do you sort through the million thoughts to find that one that is the most important? How do you identify it and then put it at the top of the priority list so it gets done?

I am seriously asking. I want to know how to do this. I want to make sure that what God is asking of me is not getting drowned out in a list too long of things that are not so important.

The only place I know to start is on my knees. When I stop and pray, sometimes the chaos stops long enough for me to hear Him (this is directly proportional to how long I linger). Sometimes if I wait, I calm down enough to relax and focus.

I know I don't have the answer to everything but I know who does.  All I have to do is slow down, talk to him and take some time to breathe.

A Minute In It - Can You Just Imagine?

A minute in God's word will change your life. Take a minute to read the passage below. Then, ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

The Bible says God can do more than you can imagine so what is the BIGGEST thing you can imagine? Take a piece of paper and write down your wildest dreams.

Now, do you believe God can do that? Do you believe God can do that using you? If you don't believe it, why not?

Your answer says more about what you believe about God than what you believe about yourself.

Won't Give That Up

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.  Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

I grew up a Christian. When I turned 18 I decided that I didn't want to live the Christian life-style any more. So, I didn't. I went my own way and did what I wanted. I did that for about 10 years.

One day, I was sitting and pondering God and I heard him say "I want you to come back." My response was not the "Yes, Lord." kind of response. It was a "No, thank you." I did explain to him that I didn't want to follow a bunch of rules that didn't seem to be helping anyone. He said, "Don't worry about the rules. Just come get to know me."

That was an intriguing request and honestly, what did I have to lose? I entered into this agreement with a list of things I would never give up. I was going to be who I was and I was going to do what I wanted. God, in his infinite wisdom didn't try to change that.

What he did do was show up in our relationship. He gently showed me who he is and changed my thinking about him. He didn't push me or try to force me to be who he wanted me to be. He gently loved me and in return, I fell in love with him.

And now, now I sit here all these years later and marvel at all those things I gave up to be closer to him. There isn't anything I wouldn't consider changing so he could do what he wanted with my life. I guess the thing I marvel at the most is that he did it by loving who I was where I was at the time.

I want to be more like God was when he called me. I want to accept and love people where they are and then maybe, just maybe they'll see Jesus in my actions and fall in love with him too. I sit here and know there are lots of things I still have to give up. Pride, judgemental thoughts, well.....if I typed out the list we'd be here all day. Lucky for me (and all of us), God's is still showing up and loving me right where I am.