Category: Christian Life

Christian Life · Speech · worry

Praise More!

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Recently while my husband was out running, he received a phone call that he had to take.  Slowing his pace to a walk, he hit the “answer” button, then proceeded to explain to the caller the reason for his hard breathing.  The caller said, “I knew you were running the second you answered; I heard it in your breath!”

As he relayed that story to me, I wondered, “what do people hear when I speak?”

Psalm 150:6 says,

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”

When I pick up the phone and talk to my husband, does he hear praise to the Lord coming from my lips?

When I talk to my children, are they hearing praise?

What does the cashier,

the waitress, or

my neighbor hear when I speak?

Is my breath consistently praising the Lord?

No, not always.  Sometimes those I speak to hear criticism, worry, fear or complaint instead.  I was convicted.

The God Who created you and me gives us every breath we breathe.  Why do we not use that breath to praise Him? I’ve come to this conclusion –

I need to praise more and criticize less.
I must bless the Lord more and complain less.
I have to praise more and worry less.

How would you fill in this blank?

I need to praise more and _______________ less.

Now, turn that phrase into a prayer.

“Lord, thank you for every breath you give me.  Help me to praise you more and _______ less!”

What could you praise the Lord for today?

With praise to my God,
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Christian Life

My Schedule for Today is to be Unscheduled

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Last month when I had the blessing of speaking to a group of pastor’s wives, my subject was on REST.  I encouraged them from the life of Jesus who told His disciples in Mark 6:31, where He said,

Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

We can all push ourselves so hard for so long that we find that we, like the disciples, scarcely have time to sit down for supper!  We eat on the run.  We try to play catch up with the laundry on Saturday as the mountain of clothes in the hamper resembles that of Mt Everest.  We feel deprived of time with our spouse.  We haven’t had a whole paragraph of conversation with our kids – only phrases like, “Where’s your homework?  “Did you brush your teeth?” and “What time is your game tonight?”  Our spiritual life is shallow and leaves only guilt instead of joy and peace.

Something has to give.

The suggestion I’m going to share is one I learned this summer during our sabbatical.  It’s one that is harder to do than say, but it’s needed, and may I also add, it’s necessary if we’re to live out fruitful lives for God’s glory.

Schedule unscheduled time.

Sit down with your calendar, a red pen (and your spouse, if you’re married) and find regular times you can be “unscheduled.” I would recommend that you spend these times as a family or just as a couple.  It doesn’t have to be a whole week or weekend – it could be just one whole day.  But take that red pen and put a big red “X” over at least one day every couple of weeks where you are

unreachable,

uncommitted,

and

unscheduled.

  • Try to stay unconnected while you’re away, meaning don’t plug into the Internet. Don’t text with friends.  Don’t send emails.  Instead, try to:
  • Rest – Sleep in. Take a nap.  Go to bed early
  • Play – Have fun! Play games.  Go to a concert.  Enjoy a snack.  Take a drive.
  • Read God’s Word
  • Write in your journal
  • Spend time in prayer
  • Make meals easy if you’re at home or staying somewhere where you still need to prepare meals.
  • Work on a project that is different from your normal tasks; work on a hobby you enjoy, for example.

Even just a day away from your normally hectic routine will energize you and help you to be ready to return to the demands that await you.  After Jesus and His disciples returned from their rest, Jesus was immediately moved with compassion on the crowd that met Him because they were as sheep having no shepherd.  We, too, will have a renewed love to minister to those in our lives after we’ve taken time to schedule being unscheduled.

Do you need to mark out a day in red ink?  Ask the Lord how, where and when, then do it!

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Christian Life

Be Wise To Satan’s Devices

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During the early fall it’s common to see many spider webs as I walk in the morning.  From bushes, doorways, and fence posts, the spiders have worked hard laying traps for their suspects.  I always feel sorry for the bugs that are lured into the web, knowing that a certain doom that awaits them.

Recently as I walked and spotted so many webs, a verse of Scripture came to mind –

 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
II Cor. 2:11

This passage is speaking of giving forgiveness to others who have wronged us. Paul is telling the Corinthians to let go of anything that others have done to them.  If they were offended or hurt, or if he hurt any of them, he reminds them to forgive.  Paul wisely knew about the snares, the traps or the webs that Satan lays for believers – things like hurt feelings and unforgiving hearts!   The hurts lure you in, then doom comes!

Do you know Satan’s tricks?

Are you aware of how he tries to ensnare you and keep you from moving forward for Christ?  One of his tools is to get us offended, hurt and wounded so that we cannot possibly forgive.  Bitterness sets in.  Anger flows from our hearts.  Justice is our demand. And he has us.  Trapped.  Fallen captive because we aren’t wise to his devices.

Women from our church – and all over the world have begun a five-week prayer vigil for revival.  We are crying out to see God move in mighty ways – advancing the Gospel, souls saved, hearts revived.  We need to be reminded that the devil is not going to sit idly by while we pray!  We had better be wise to his devices!  We need to be on the alert for him to set a snare for us!!

  • If he can cause a strife in your marriage so that cold shoulders and pursed lips trump the Gospel kind of forgiveness, then he has ensnared another home and kept us from evangelizing the lost.
  • If he can get us hurt at church, so that we throw our hands up with a heart that says, “It’s not worth it!” then he has laid the web perfectly to silence our voices and keep us from praying for revival in that place!
  • If he can make us think that we are deserving of more than we have been given – more material blessings, more health, more recognition, more love from our God, then we have been lulled into the stickiness of the web of bitterness, spun by the deceiver, liar and hater of our soul, that will bring about a certain spiritual death.

BUT,

if we, like Paul, can be wise to his devices, instead of ignorant, we will see each of these scenarios as Satan’s ploy and we will wisely steer clear of them.  We will humble ourselves on bended knee, and forgive as we were forgiven, and pray, and love others because without it, we will be caught in his web.

It’s our choice.  Wisdom or ignorance – that’s how Paul put it.  Which will we choose today?

Let’s stay right so we can keep praying for revival!

img_8101P.S. For today’s reminder about how to make your home a haven, if you cover it with prayer Every.Single.Day. it will be noticeable.  Your family will feel it.  The enemy will be stopped by it.  A watching world will take notice.  Guests will recognize it.  Prayer is the greatest gift we can give our home.  Have you PRAYED for your home and each member of your family today?

 

 

 

Christian Life

One Requirement

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So you served at your church yesterday?  How did you do it?  I’m not asking at what skill level you played the piano, or taught the children’s church lesson – I mean, how was your attitude and your mindset about your service?

Paul tells us in I Corinthians 4:2 that the only requirement is FAITHFULNESS. That rules out the need to be perfect, flawless, captivating or awesome.  Those are characteristics of our God – not ourselves.

What are we to do?  Just be faithful.

  • Show up
  • Be there on time
  • Be prepared
  • Be enthusiastic

Faithfulness also rules out being

  • Hesitant
  • Half-hearted
  • Obligatory
  • Cynical

When we realize how much we have been given from our Savior, we realize that we have so much to give in return.  It’s our blessing to GET to serve God in any small way – just out of the gratitude of our hearts.  If you serve, yet…

  • no one sees when you miss hearing the preaching because you’re in the nursery again, cradling a crying baby so his mommy can hear the Gospel.
  • You try to convey to the junior age class that God wants them to stand firm like Daniel in this next school year and you wonder if they heard a word you spoke.
  • you sat alone in the service again becuase your husband was serving on security in the church parking lot on this 90+ degree day.
  • no one else saw all the work you did to you prepared a meal for any visitors that might come to church so you could invite them to join your family afterwards.
  • you practiced that offeratory 100 times, and still messed up on that hard part in the middle, but you had to play it because of how that song ministered to your heart during the week.

Be comforted that God sees and knows of your faithfulness – the one characteristic that he requires of us when we serve Him.  He will reward you for it, and it will be worth any small sacrifice we may have made!

Keep on serving faithfully.

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accessories · Christian Life · Praise

That Looks Good On You!

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You put on your new blue blouse, which happens to accentuate your blue eyes, and all day long you hear, “That color looks so good on you!”  Or you find a dress that fits you perfectly and step out from the dressing room and your teen daughter says, “Oh Mom! That dress looks like it was made for you; that looks so good on you!”

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We love it when we find that “just-right look,” don’t we?  I have something for you to wear that will look perfect on you – as a matter of fact, I have God’s Word on it!

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Psalm 33:1

To be “comely” means attractive.  This verse is telling us that praise looks good on a believer of Jesus Christ!  I’ve made plenty of bad fashion choices in my lifetime, but when I use my mouth to praise the Lord, I’ve put on a perfectly beautiful accessory that will always look good!

How have you used your words today?  Are they negative, complaints, whining or sarcastic?  That doesn’t suit you, if you know Christ.  Run to the dressing room of prayer, ask for forgiveness, then use your mouth to praise the Lord for Who He is and what He is doing in your life.  That will look really good on you!

With praise to our God,