Lilies of the Field

1John 2:15-16; Matt 6:24-24-34

Remember the movie called lilies of the Field? It was made years ago, like maybe even 40 or 50 years ago. I thought of that movie as I read the verses above. The movie shined a light on how God supplies our needs in a way that warms my heart and caused me ask these questions again.

• Do we trust God to supply our needs?
• What needs does He supply?
• Do we just sit back and do nothing?
• Does He take care of both spiritual and physical needs?

We've all asked these questions and we all need to confront ourselves in the light of God's word, personally, to get the answers.

These are a few absolutes:

• Stop loving this world and all it has to offers. The world offers lust for physical pleasure, lust for everything we see and the pride of possessions.
• God offers to take care of us as He cares for the lilies of the field. For some people in the world, who in our minds live in constant trial, His care appears like one miracle after another. People, for instance, who are persecuted, people who live in poverty, people imprisoned, children abused and an endless list of others, would witness a definite miracle. But then is not everything God enacts a miracle?
• He promised to bring peace, love and joy, to heal the brokenhearted, to set the captive free.
• He promised eternal life, an eternal home (which He provides in heaven) abundant life and much more than listed here.

So where's the stumbling blocks and how do we reach this level of trust? The necessity to develop an intimate, personal, relationship with this Living God is the answer.

Each of us comes from a unique background and each of us has our own list of specific trials to endure. Each of us need that touch from God to live as the lilies of the field. No one can tell you how it will sound, look, or feel. No one can truly share the sorrows or joys.

That special touch of His hand on each life will differ but the answer is always the same:

• He is God. He loves and cares for us.
• He has provide a path and will lead us safely home. When we get real with Him, believe in Him, submit our life to him, a miracle takes place. His hand moves and we become like the lilies of the field.

I urge you. Come to the master, creator, the lover of your soul and let His hand move in your life.

Wars

Matt 24: 6; Matt 22:37-40; Mark 13:35

Jesus said we would hear of wars and rumors of wars till the end of time. That when we saw an increase of these and other specifics, as we see today, He was on His way back.

But what do we do in the meantime while living in these treacherous days. The twin towers of 911, tidal waves, devastating storms, volcanoes, earthquakes (natural disasters) and at present, the Iraq conflict.

He also said to maintain till he comes back. What does that mean? It means to do what we know to be right. He asked us to continue in faith & trust toward Him, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and to Love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt 22:37-40 ) Who is the neighbor? Like never before, our neighbor is every one in the world around us. We see a lot of 'love your neighbor' when natural disasters come. Samaritans Purse, just to name one, is always available 24-7 to help those in need, the New York firemen when 911 happened and now soldiers in Iraq - soldiers who volunteer.

How does war help our neighbor or even more direct, when is war (which involves killing) ever an act of love. Lets relate it this way. If some one comes into your home, puts a knife to the throat of a member of your family and you have an opportunity to act first, would you? That is when war is an act of Love. That is when killing saves life.

We are to occupy, keep watch, continue, maintain till he comes; to keep the faith, to protect the innocent, to help your neighbor to do as God asks. The Old Testament is full of war at God's request. He told them to take the land, eliminate the false gods and to establish His way of life. Even though I do not believe that war is a good thing, I do believe that when a threat comes - a threat that comes against the freedom God has established for us because of an invasion, we must defend ourselves from that aggression.

The only good thing I can say about wars and rumors of wars is that it is a sign. Jesus said we would hear of them and that the times would produce more of them as His due date to return came closer. Until then, lets pray that our country need not go to war.

Daniel

Daniel 3

My women's Bible study group this semester is studying the book of Daniel. You would think, after awhile, all these Bible stories would be old hat. Not so. God's word is living and new each day. He lives in us and lives in His word. No matter how many times we visit a passage it reveals to us what we need for our lives each day. So today I will leave you with a few nuggets from Daniel.

Main Points:

• The world then and today still wants us to bow down and worship idols.
• We are to stand tall as Daniel did and not bow down and worship.
• Do not conform to the world.
• We do not need to defend God. He is God and can take care of Himself.
• God never loses. Things will be done His way.
• Do not fear or compromise when trials or troubles comes.
• God delivers us in a variety of ways:
  - He will deliver us from the trial.
  - He will pull us out of the middle of a trial.
  - He goes through the trial with us and provides protection.
  - He may deliver through death. (Heb 11:35)
  - Other examples of delivery (Prov 22:4-5; 2Tim 4:18)

Consider Daniel sometime and look into the history of this man of dreams. A future blog entry will be dedicated to this study. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

No greater Love

John 15:13; Matt 24:6; Tutus 2:14

Christian television aired a heart warming story the other day I wanted to share with you. It stuck with me and made me think of the verses above.

A man from Dallas, Texas, decided to encourage men coming home from war. He went to the airport when troops were due back. He shook their hands and thanked them for their service. Soon others joined him and the national news picked up the story.

He, a Vietnam vet, remembered how no one welcomed them home from another controversial war; and did not want that to take place again. The service men were pleased and surprised at the cheers, handshakes, hugs and appreciative words. Tears came to their eyes and hearts were encouraged.

They see and hear the division at home about their work. This well televised division works at their soul and makes their job harder. The welcome moment gave them and their families heart. It also gave me heart and made me aware of how we need to each day appreciate those in our lives. Parents who give their time, husbands and wives who support thier families, servants who give their talent and in this case our service men who give their lives. (John 15:13)

This story has given me the new job of shaking the hand of any one in uniform and saying 'thank you'. But also, to appreciate my husband and family more, to look for ways to enact random acts of kindness and encourage each one who reads this to do the same.

Birds of a feather

1 Cor. 15:33; Jer. 15:17; Prov 13:20; 18:24; 24:1 28:7; 29:13

My mom use to say 'Birds of a Feather Flock Together'. In other words, we have a tendency to collect around those who think, act, talk and feel as we do about life.

Sometimes because of loneliness, or interest or habit we keep loyalties with individuals who no longer leave a good wake in our lives. Are the tendencies and attributes of those we spend time with something we admire? Do we want to be like those we call soul mates or friends? We can not choose our families but we can draw boundaries; and we can choose our friends. What do we look for in our associations? No one looks for liars, cheaters, prideful, boastful, immoral, manipulative, fearful, individuals. We look for integrity, honesty, wisdom and prudence. We ask our children to hang out with the right crowd. But do we?

There were times in my life when boredom, loneliness and foolishness caused me brush up against and hang around wrong influences. I paid the price more than once for that lack of wisdom. What attributes do we want to see in our lives? Those are the influences we need to seek out.

It is true that we are in the world and it is true that we are to go to all the world. Jesus ate with sinners and spent much time with those with very distasteful traits. But He influence them; not visa verse. He specifically taught us to be in the world not of the world. Now how can we do that? Boundaries, that's how. We are the salt of the earth. If the salt looses it's saltiness then it is no longer used as salt. If we become like the world around us we loose our ability to influence the world for Christ, just as salt looses it's ability to influence the flavor of food.

Do not be deceived. Those we spend time with will influence our life. ( 1Cor 15:33). If we want to be more like Christ we need to open our heart to Him and those like Him; and we need to use wisdom and place healthy boundaries toward those not like Him.

The Call

2 Peter 1:3-9
His divine power has given us all we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

When I read this this morning I had to write it out to you. There is so much promise in these verse.

• His divine power lives in us
• We live in life and godliness ( done deal)
• We have the necessary knowledge of him in us.
• He called us through the glory and goodness He placed in us.
• Through these promises we escape the decay of the world
• Through these promises we experience His divine nature

We simply apply what lives in us: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. These characteristics are not from our natural self, they are from the Spirit of God that lives in us as He expresses Himself through us when we surrender. So this is not a work of our own but a work of God living in us. (my book Teach Me, Lord explains this in detail.)

In other words, responding to the changes He makes inside our soul and spirit causes us to walk in these characteristics which leaves a wake behind of effective productive living.

I write this to all of you today to help you, children of God, understand that your past is over, your sins are forgiven and you are effective and productive simply because He lives in you. If you feel this is not true for you, then as verse nine says, you have forgotten that God has cleansed you of your past and forgiven your sin.

Enjoy, walk in freedom and leave a good wake behind you.

Sovereignty

Psm 78:41-42; Titus1:1-3,16; Romans 7; 1 John 4:19; Prov 3:9-10

Sin is denial of God's Sovereignty. That statement appeared in my devotional today. So let's think a minute. Sovereignty means power, all power, supreme power. Denial means not to accept or believe in that sovereignty. When we sin we are saying "God we do not accept your supreme power, your supreme position as God?" But... the moment we a accepted the forgiveness and life of Christ (God) into our lives we bowed before Him and acknowledged Him as Lord. Correct?

My biggest question before accepting Christ as Lord and savior was not His Sovereignty. The stumbling block question of "is there a God" plagued me. Logic told me that God, if he existed, required worship, respect, submission and honor as the supreme power. Since my step dad, an atheist, continued firm on his conviction, my question remained. Obviously, I answered the question and today I seek to lead others into an intimate relationship with Christ that can connect them to His heart, His voice, His freedom and His love; a love that sets captives free and delivers us all from anything this life can throw our direction.

God is so kind, so patient, so in love with us that he forgives our sins , mistakes, and waits through the unwise decisions because of what Christ has already done for us. My goal today is to point a light on the actions of or heart. Is God sovereign to day in your life and mine? Have we given him the honor and respect He deserves?

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, written by John Newton, talks of sins forgiven by the grace of God. In his case, horrendous sins that caused restless nights for years. He called those restless nights "20,000 ghosts from the past", African faces on his slave trade ship. The story of Newton's life is well documented and now in a movie called Amazing Grace. Newton found Christ, repented, and became a preacher who wrote many songs, sermons, and papers. Among these accomplishments is Amazing Grace.

John Newton's conversion deeply impressed him and influenced a young man name William Wilberforce. Wilberforce, an influence in Parliament, a man of passion and purpose, captured the dream to abolish the slave trade. He lived to see this happen.

I notice similarities between the inability to pass laws abolishing slavery in England and our inability to pass laws abolishing abortion in America. Both causes try to save lives. And both causes are stopped by the special interests of the countries, to pad pocketbooks and provide a specific lifestyle to the participants. The bottom line in both situations is money and selfish ambition.

In Newton's day, the African native was not considered a human being but a piece of property. They were thought to be less valuable than some of their farm animals. Wilberforce had to prove and make people see that these human beings needed to be treated as God's creation.

Today I hear the same thing. I hear that the unborn baby is not a life, it's a fetus, it's just a piece of tissue that cannot feel, cannot think, cannot breathe, and that it's not a living human being. Thus it is not treated as God's creation. Abortion takes place, the baby dies. The similarities loom at me.

Do I believe that all slavery has ended? No, just look around the world, it still exists. Do I believe that all abortion will end? No, people will still find a way to kill the innocent. But I do believe that when the law to abolish slavery passed many lives were saved. When the law to abolish abortion is passed, many lives will be saved.

All this because a man named John Newton experienced Amazing Grace from Jesus Christ and influenced William Wilberforce, a man who abolished slavery. Where is the Wilberforce who will abolish abortion?

Riches in Glory

Phil 4:19

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory.

This verse is always given out when someone is in distress or suffering and it covers a myriad of problems. I have given it out often in an effort to encourage. But when you are the one in stress and the phrase 'according to His riches in Glory ' comes; it sometimes, to me, seems like an 'apple pie in the sky' thing. Like... where are the riches, and what does in 'His glory' mean?

Look up the glory of God. Notice how often we are involved in that glory. We do not produce the glory we show the glory and we are mentioned often in relationship to the Glory of God. Is it possible that we, in response to the Spirit of God, deliver the riches of His glory to meet the need in someones life? That we become an answer to prayer.

I do believe that miracles happen and that God supernaturally supplies. I remember in church one year a Chinese couple related their plight to flee from communism. During their travels on foot, he asked God to supply food for them(she was pregnant). He fashioned a fish hook from a safety pin and each day caught the same fish from different places. God supplied their need through his riches in Glory. In this case the world around them.

Yes, I do believe that God will supply by any means He chooses. But what a blessing to be that means, to be 'the riches according to God's glory'. Even a cup of cold water will not go unnoticed if that is your opportunity.

My this day bring the 'Riches of God's Glory' to meet your need and may you be the 'Riches of his Glory' to meet another need.