UP NOT IN

Have you ever noticed a little baby when someone other than their mother or father are holding them? When the parent comes near, the babies arms just fly upward signaling the parent to ”take me, hold me, give me what I need”. They know instinctively where their help and comfort comes from. 

God is not dead, he does not sleep. God does not even get tired so we need to rest and relax in knowing he's got everything in his care. 

Gods strength will always provide us with just what we need for today's problems, burdens and issues. We should never try to take tomorrows problems, burdens and issues and work through them today because God has not yet equipped you for tomorrow. He equips us for coping today with today's realities. He will always be at your side, ready to bear you up and tomorrow He will do the same. He will give us the strength that we need for that day.

When our minds tend to wander over the border into tomorrows realities, the worlds response that we've heard echo in our heads a million times will sweep in to try and take over. It will tell us to ”reach deep down inside yourself and you will find the strength you need within your own self to get through”. Or it may say, ”you can do this because you are great and strong and amazing”. Now, while our heavenly Father may think all of His children are amazing, I’m here to tell you that according to Romans 7:18, we’re not. It says, ”For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

God assures us though in Isaiah 40 that even when the youngest and strongest have the strength to keep going or overcoming their obstacles that He (The Lord) will give us the strength we need for that day to get through. We can do nothing in our own strength that will yield victorious results like what God can do in us. He never gets tired. We may even feel our outward bodies wasting away but inwardly God is renewing us day by day. He comes to us through His Word in answer to our pleas or our outstretched arms. He bears us up on ’eagles wings’ the Word says. 

The World may tell us to ’reach down deep inside ourselves for reserves of strength and energy’ but the Word straight from the one who created us and knows us best invites us to ”reach up to the Lord for His supply of strength”. He has plenty to spare and he's only too happy to share because He loves us so. . . . . 

His mercies for us are new every morning and looking to ourselves or someone else to receive will never yield lasting results. They may give us momentary gratification but at some point they will fail. Why not lift our arms up to call the only one who can ever rescue us. Reach up not in!

Grandmas Succulent Wall

I have a very very vivid memory as a child visiting my grandmothers house in the country in Virginia. She was the A-typical grandmother that wore the apron always and her house smelled of wonderful cooking or baking things and she always greeted you with the biggest hugs. That farmhouse was filled with love and extraordinary memories in every corner. One thing that stood out to me for some reason was the stone wall that was outside of her backdoor. It was a pretty ordinary stone wall but grandma had it covered with succulents. They grew out of every nook and cranny that they could find and as a small child I found it a wonderment! Grandma called those succulents her ”hens and chicks” and I never knew why until I was grown that it was the country term of sorts for succulents. At any rate, this wall was covered and I used to go out and sit on the old swing and stare at that wall. How could anything grow out of rock? I didn't see any dirt so my little mind didn't comprehend the ability of a tiny root to find cracks to meander into and latch onto any soil or organic medium in order to thrive. Those ”hens and chicks” you see hold quite a bit of water in their fleshy tissues so it enables them to survive in what appears to be rock or very dry places. It's their built in secret weapon so to speak. Store up water and in the dry times you can thrive! Hmmm sounds like a brilliant design, right! 

You probably know where I’m going here, so, just keep walking with me and I won't disappoint. Gods perfect design with those succulents and how they can survive hard, tough and dry times is built into us as well. For instance, we know that if you go to school or  college, that you will gain more knowledge to hopefully sustain you for future challenges. We also know that if you work a 9 - 5 job and bring home a paycheck that the money will hopefully sustain you through the week until your next paycheck. But what we as followers of Christ seem to miss a lot is that you can't eat once a week and expect that to sustain you all week. We can't just go to church on Sunday and expect to get enough biblical sustenance to carry us through the trials, hardships and challenges that life throws at us on a daily basis. We will wither and die for sure. You see the Bible says in II Timothy 2:15  ”Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We need to fill ourselves with the Word of God on a daily basis just like those succulents need to store water for those dry days. It also says in  Isaiah 58:11 ”The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Drawing from the well and wealth of knowledge that we have from God Word on a consistent basis will enable us to be like those succulents, survivors! I believe that as a small child the Lord God was imprinting that succulent wall on my mind and heart so today I could understand the beauty of his ways and plans for my life. Lord, make me always aware of my need for you and in that need may I always be extending the roots of my life to search for more sustenance and watering that only you and your Word can give. I pray that I will always stay watered and prepared for the dry spells of life and flourish, giving you glory in the well watered seasons as well as the dry ones. 

Insight Insert: The challenge here would be to make a plan and get yourself into a routine of reading or listening to the Word on audio. There’s a quote that says, “we should treat our bibles like we do our cellphones”. Isn’t it true though that we pick up our cell phones first thing in the morning and they stay close by our side all day! Oh the wealth of knowledge, insight and communication strategies that the Word holds for us instead. It’s hard but technology itself has made it easier for us. Turn the audio on your Bible app and water your spirit on your drive to work. I promise, your roots will latch on to the sustenance it gives!

Word Of Truth: Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

Crying “Whose” Name?

You know children are always interesting and ever changing little creations. Recently while holding my youngest grandson on my hip, I asked him to " give Gammie a kiss"! Well, my requests are almost always met with sweet compliance and a hug to go along with it, however, not on this occasion. For whatever reason, when the question was posed he began to reach for my daughter and cried out, "momma" as if he needed to be rescued from me! I didnt know quite what to make of it but gave him over to the arms of his mother so he would be quieted. For whatever reason at that point he just wanted the comfort and safety of the one that he knew always gave it! Don't get me wrong, he allows me to have kisses and hugs all the time but just at some particular times (maybe having a rough or needy day) he choses the familiar safety of his mothers arms. His cry for "momma" brought him just what he had need of at that moment.

This little scene brought a story to mind that has always been hard to imagine for me of how the following incident could ever have happened. The story is that of the day of Jesus' crucifixion and specifically the incident of Pilate. When Pilate decided to give the choice of who would be crucified, Jesus or someone else of the crowds choosing, the crowd chose another prisoner named Barabbas. We've seen in the making of many great movies of the Life of Christ, that scene with multitudes of people watching as Jesus stood before Pilate and the crowd and we heard the question, "who should be released Jesus or Barabbas?" and without hesitation you then saw the multitudes cry out, "Barabbas, Barabbas. . . . " . I always watched in amazement at those sad, misguided people who would choose Barabbas, a convicted prisoner, over the sinless, blameless and loving Christ! What had the people of the world become? What were they thinking? Why couldn't they see the "not guilty" banner over my Lords head? What kind of a choice was that anyway? But, nonetheless, the choice for Barabbas was made! Isn't it true too, that many times in our lives when faced with making a right or a wrong choice that we sometimes choose "unwisely" and it changes everything! Today, as you sit here reading this story are you on a diet and are you following it to the letter or have you said, "what the heck, this one little cookie won't hurt me"? Or, do you have important work to finish and you are surfing the Internet instead? Or, well, I could go on but I won't, because you get the picture I'm sure! You see, whose name you cry out WILL make a difference! It could be the name "desire" instead of "discipline" or it could be the name "procrastination"  instead of "work". Whatever name you cry out will be the chosen course for your life at that moment. But here's the good news. . . . . Courses can be corrected! You can decide to choose "peace" over "anger" and you can decide to choose "discipline" over "self" and you can decide to cry out the name of "Jesus" instead of "Me"! It's the name that we cry out that dictates the courses of our lives. It's the name that we cry out that could change everything either from good to bad or from bad to good. Whose name is on your lips today? Is it a cry to others around you to pull you to safety from the pit you are currently in or is it a cry to Jesus to save you and your life from future pits? Is the name that you cry out one of safety and comfort in loving familiar arms like my little grandsons cry? Or, is the name you cry out one of "money", "fame" or fortune that you believe will change everything for the good in your life? Now, back to Barabbas. . . . .you see that day, as I look back, the name that was cried out (Barabbas) was the name that was meant to be spoken. You see, if Jesus' name was the cry at that time then we wouldn't have the hope for the future that we have now. So, NOW is the time to cry out his name because his name holds far more than we will ever know or realize that we have need of. And like my little grandson, the safety and constant love and care will always be felt in those arms.

Insight Insert: You know that saying " you'll know them by their fruit?", well that means you will be able to recognize who and what a person is by the things that are growing out of their lives. Whose name is on your lips continually will be someone who is probably the most influential in your life. Stop and take stock this week of the things that you seem to talk about the most and the subjects that most consume your conversations. That will say a lot about your "fruit" and give you pause to make the judgement to whether it is fresh healthy fruit or rotten fruit. If you need to make a course correction then make it but make sure that whose name you cry out to change things in your life is the one who made the ultimate change for us! 

Scripture:  Psalm 57:2.  I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.  NIV

Living in Splendor

What does it actually mean to live in splendor? Webster’s define ’Splendor’ as magnificence or grandeur. When I think of grandeur it evokes visions of mansions on high cliffs overlooking the sea or castles perched on rolling hills in places like England, Scotland or Ireland. Magnificent homes that possibly kings and queens would dwell in. To use the adjective ”Breathtaking” would probably be an understatement.

As I spoke to some good friends yesterday I was recounting some of the places that I have been blessed to live in. While they were not castles of splendor perched on green cliffs overlooking the ocean they each held a beauty in their own right or at least many beautiful memories. I never looked at my dwellings as places of splendor but they were. You see, it wasn't what the outside of the homes looked like but it was the things that were inside that were grand and magnificent. It was the family, the laughter, the late night movies, baking Christmas cookies  and decorating the tree and the dinners around the Thanksgiving table. These all contributed to our dwellings being grand and magnificent. It's always what's on the inside that counts more you know. It's never about the facade but about the heart. 

Recently I was listening to an old hymn written by Fanny Crosby in 1873. She was blind but she had a magnificence on the inside of peace and contentment even though she couldn't see. In 1873 she penned the lyrics to the old hymn ”Blessed Assurance”. Her words captured the essence of joy, hope and contentment as we look forward to our home in heaven. It looked bad for her on the outside because she could not see in the physical but oh, how she could see on the inside in the spiritual realm. Her words just penetrate my spirit: ”blessed assurance Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine”! The chorus of that beautiful hymn though is what strikes me so hard when it says, ”this is my story this is is my song, praising my Savior all the day long”. When that chorus is sung my mind flashes back to a little girl of 5 or 6 years and she is sitting on the church pew behind her grandmother as she plays that song on the church organ. I used to love hearing her play and I would sing that chorus all the time because it was my favorite. At 5 or 6 I believed! I believed in all the things that I was being taught and held them even then, very close inside my heart. My story, my song started back then. My dwelling place of splendor was built the day I believed. The building started the day the door of my heart swung open and I allowed the one who holds the book of life to come in and dwell with me. My house is a house of ”splendor” and it's grand and magnificent because of who dwells there. So, you see, a king does live at my address and it's absolutely splendid. 

Psalm 96:6

Majesty and splendor are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

”I See You”

I am super happy every morning to be able to get up and usually straight away go out on my back deck and fill my bird feeders. The birds here in East Tennessee are hungry, let me just say, and have voracious appetites but they are also beautiful. Ive seen multitudes of blue jays, cardinals, red headed woodpeckers and finches. They're all so beautiful in their brightly colored suits and they are all vying for position at my feeders. The blue jays are the bully's of sorts as they are the largest so they make sure all the others wait their turns until they are quite full. When the jays leave the others then feel safe to come and eat. But the ones that melt my heart every time are the patient, sitting on the sidelines, little brown sparrows. They wait patiently until all the others have eaten and then get their fill and fly off to their next adventure. 

Sometimes in my life, if I can be honest here, it has felt like I am living out the brown sparrows life. The big guys, the ones with wealth and power just swoop in and rule the day so to speak. They get the best things, and have the pick of whatever they choose. The others are right there behind them to get or attain what the power players haven't gotten. And then, here I am, the brown sparrow, patiently waiting on the sidelines to get whats left over. 

In truth, as the Lord reveals to my heart, even though the other birds are bigger, more beautiful with their colorful suits, I "see" the brown sparrow and I make sure she has what she needs. She patiently waits, so I wait and watch and I make sure always that she receives what she has need of. 

So, God "sees" me! He "sees" you in whatever place or suit you find yourself in. The truth is that God sees us all and takes care of us accordingly. But if you are feeling a bit like I have at times, like a little brown sparrow, just know that God will also provide for you what you need when you need it. Sit back patiently on the sidelines if you must but you will have what you need when the time is right.

It says in Luke 12:7  "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."

There are days when you may feel like a "plain Jane" or in this case, a brown sparrow, but take it from me and the Word of God, "He sees you"!