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Talk To Yourself

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It is so easy for me to let my thoughts run ahead of myself and the situation I’m in and begin to think unbiblical thoughts. I think this must be a pretty common thing because I’m seeing this over and over as I read through the book of Genesis. Just this morning I read about Jacob being told by the Lord to return to the land of his fathers and then God gives Jacob this promise in Genesis 31:3 “I will be with thee.” You’d think that would comfort Jacob and relieve his worries. Now granted, Jacob had dealt a dirty blow to his brother Esau twenty years before, and Esau had wanted to kill his brother at that time, but Jacob had God’s promise! However, as Jacob and all his entourage near home, Jacob separates his family into two groups so that if Esau killed the first band of travelers, the second company of people could make an escape. (If you want to know who meant the most to Jacob, read Genesis 34:2 – those were the ones in the second group!)

As you continue to read chapter 34 things get intense as you see these two brothers getting closer and closer to each other. A person reading this for the first time would be filled with intensity to finish the story! Let’s stop the caravan here though, and think about Jacob letting his thoughts run ahead of his camels. Did he really need to do all this scheming? Wouldn’t knowing that God was with him be good enough reason not to be afraid? When Jacob had the first thought about “what might happen” when Esau saw his family, he should have talked himself back to reality! He should have reminded himself of the truth. His thoughts should have run to God’s presence with him, the command from God to return home, and the truth that God loved him and would protect him.

It’s easy for me to see what Jacob should have done, and not so easy to remind myself to do the very same thing. Sometimes my thoughts begin taking me down a road I shouldn’t travel. I begin thinking things I don’t know to be true. I could be thinking about something that hasn’t happened yet, something that is possible, but uncertain, or something that I have totally dreamed up! My thoughts then march straightaway to my emotions. I may tear up. I may cry. I may get angry. When I realize that I’m not thinking about things that are actually true my thoughts should be brought to a stop quicker than a train whose emergency pull is employed. It’s then that I need to start talking to myself… “You don’t know that to be true. What does Philippians 4:8 say? Why are you worrying about things that haven’t happened yet? Matthew 6 says that God will take care of you. God loves you!” It’s a one-sided conversation that needs to get my thoughts back on the track of Biblical thinking. Without that talk to myself I would be headed for disaster!

We all have to know the Truth so we can talk ourselves back to reality – what we really know to be true. Where are your thoughts taking you today? Are you thinking the Truth about your life and your situation, or are you scheming, worrying, and jumping ahead of God? Stop the caravan and have a good talk with yourself. Talk yourself back to the Truth!
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Leading a Lamb

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I recently heard the testimony of a young father whose son was supposed to be in bed sleeping. However the father heard movement in the child’s room and went to investigate. The little boy was sitting up in bed with a book in his lap. Seeing his daddy at the door the child knew he needed to explain and exclaimed, “I’m having my ‘botions’ (devotions) Daddy!” The father’s frustration at the child quickly dissipated!

Where did this three year-old learn to have “botions?” Yes, from his parents. His mommy works had each day to find time to spend in God’s Word and shares with her son that he needs to play quietly nearby so she can have her devotions.

Children are imitators of what they see. This can be a blessing; it can also be a rebuke as we hear them repeat things we’ve said, or behave the way they’ve seen us behave. An unknown source had this to say about the leading of a child – a lamb:

‘Twas a sheep, not a lamb that strayed away in the parable Jesus told.
A grown-up sheep that had gone astray from the ninety and nine in the fold.
Out on the hillside, out in the cold, ’twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought;
And back to the flock, safe into the fold, ’twas a sheep the Good Shepherd brought.
And why for the sheep should we earnestly long and as earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger, if they go wrong, they will lead the lambs astray.
For the lambs will follow the sheep, you know, wherever the sheep may stray;
When the sheep go wrong, it will not be long till the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead, for the sake of the lambs today;
If the sheep are lost, what terrible cost some of the lambs will have to pay!

What a reminder that we must guard our own hearts, because without doing so we will lead our little lambs astray as well. Do we love God, His Word, His house, His people? Then our lambs will learn to love these too. Your little ones are watching and will do whatever you do. Walk the path you want them to walk – their eyes are on your every step.

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Keep On Milking!

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When you got up this morning one of the first thoughts on your mind about the day was probably the work that needed to be done. Whether you were heading out to the workforce, or are a homemaker staying home today, you have work to do. No matter how hard you worked yesterday, there is more to do today. Perhaps you can relate to the farmer that said, “The hardest thing about milking cows, is that they never stay milked.” Furniture doesn’t stay dusted, dishes don’t stay clean, floors don’t remain washed, emails don’t stay answered, classrooms don’t stay taught… In other words, there is always work to do.

As I was reading in Genesis 24 this week I read the story of Abraham’s servant going to find a wife for Isaac. We read the servant’s prayer that begins in verse 13, “Behold I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water.” Isn’t it interesting that when seeking a wife for his servant’s son, he didn’t go to the park and look for some sweet soft female leisurely relaxing on a swing? He went to the well where the women came to get the water they needed for their families. This was hard work! He must have realized that the woman that married Isaac would be a crown (Proverbs 12:4) to him partly by being a hard worker.

We are exhorted in Ecclesiastes 9:10, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with all thy might. In verse 67 of Genesis 24 we read that “Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah and she became his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” Do you think she could have been a comfort to him if she grumbled while she swept the tent or fussed over having to grind the wheat again? I believe because of what we’ve already learned of Rebekah, she probably did her work with creativity and a right attitude. She brought joy to her husband.

How are you going after the work you’ve been called to do today? It is your called placed, so even if you’re out there “milking the cows again,” you are doing the will of God as much as any missionary or pastor working in their ministry because God loves hard work! Your work is not insignificant. Be creative and industrious! You are honoring the One who created work when you do it with all your might! Be a blessing to those who benefit from your work. Keep on milking!
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Love Letters

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I have boxes in my basement full of letters that I received from my husband while we were engaged. We were separated by 150 miles. Phone calls were the long distance calls we made in the 80’s that added up quicker than the dings on a gas pump. Therefore, calls were limited to one night a week. Our relationship had to thrive on the written communication of cards and letters, and oh, how precious those letters were to me!

At this time I was teaching first grade in the Christian school in Sumter, South Carolina and I lived on the church property in a trailer they provided for me. Hence, my mailbox was at the end of the schools’ driveway. The mailman came rather early in the day, so when I took my class outside to the playground I would allow one of my students to get the mail when we went outside (they eagerly awaited “their turn” for this special privilege!). I usually had a letter from Dale each day, and while the children came inside and got a drink at the water fountain, I would open my letter and begin to read. One day one of my students said, “Miss Ray, how come you always smile when you read your mail?” I explained to her it was because the letter was from someone very special. You can believe that when I read that letter there in the hallway, it wasn’t the only time I read it. I’d reread it at lunch, then again when I returned to my home in the late afternoon. It was a special message written to me and I didn’t want to miss a word.

When we read the Bible in our devotions, it’s easy to take a glance at the Scriptures rather than reading slowly and carefully. Many of the passages may be very familiar to us, causing us to scan the chapter instead of studying it. Just because I’d already heard that Dale loved me, do you think I scanned over those words each day? Not on your life! Even more so, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the precious things God wants us to hear from His Word. It would be better to read only a small portion of Scripture and come away with a single Truth that we can cling to and rejoice in than to read several chapters and only have an intellectual knowledge of the Bible. Take it to heart, because that’s how it came from God – from His heart!

Have you read His love letter to you today? What did He tell you? Smile and share it with someone else!

But these are written that ye might believe; and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 20;31