September 11, 2024

                          Where Were You?

And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

As the Alan Jackson song asks: Where were you when the world stopped turning? Most of us remember September 11, 2001 so well. Shock. Disbelief. Sorrow. Anger. Did you hit your knees in prayer?

And what about the day after? Were you kinder, more helpful to strangers? Did you let go of pettiness? Did you remember that we are One Nation, Under God?

Today is a beautiful, if sorrowful, reminder of what really matters. That’s the message Paul was trying to teach the Corinthians. This letter was to address a church in disarray. There was much finger pointing and arrogance. But accolades and bank accounts disappear. Disputes over who’s in charge and exactly how we should worship don’t really matter in the end.

Why do we hate each other simply because we have different views? Why do we use the Bible as a weapon, pulling verses out of context and spewing them at those who have a different point of view? When did we forget that we are ALL created in the image of God?

As I read my Bible today, I once again thanked Him for always telling the truth. God keeps His promises. God never leaves us – even when we leave Him. He loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine.

We are so quick to tell everyone to pray for revival and a return to God. What we really mean is that other people should become like us. We rarely understand that the journey to revival begins with the person we see in the mirror each day.

Where do we start? We begin by loving other people. Really loving them. Praying for eyes to see them as Jesus sees them. We cling to faith and hope in the middle of the turmoil that has seemed to engulf our great nation. We take each step forward with love in our hearts as we follow Jesus on our journey home.

February 9, 2018

Be Jesus To The Least Of Them

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. – James 2:10

He is a good man. He loves Jesus. He volunteers with his church. He volunteers with a men’s ministry. Sometimes he helps friends and neighbors.

One might say he is overly ambitious in his love for the Lord. His service is spotty. He makes many promises but he only keeps some. He doesn’t mean to do that. It’s just that he makes too many commitments and fails to remember most of them.

His heart intends to do good. His actions say dishonest and undependable. I have found him to be wonderful in an emergency. He is present and good and helpful. Just don’t count on him during the long run. He won’t show up.

Another friend once ran a ministry. He was great at the speaking events. He was a hard worker during the fundraiser and a passionate advocate for checks to good causes. But when it came to changing a light bulb for an elderly church member, well, he couldn’t be bothered. He was awesome in the prominent, glorifying arena. But he didn’t care much for service that would never be noticed by anyone but the recipient.

I don’t mean to pick on the men of faith. Women can and are just as bad. They are careful to run meetings and write checks. Please don’t ask them to wash dishes or take food to someone who is poor. It just won’t happen. They’re just too busy.

They are us. It clearly violates Jesus’ teaching but we turn a blind eye to that. We may say it’s all about Him but, really, we want it to be all about us.

We are the do-gooders. We want to do good. We mean to do good. We just get so busy, so distracted, so focused on what looks good and feels good that we miss the poor, the elderly, the sick. Because helping isn’t about offering up a prayer or a check, no matter how wonderful those things are.

Being Jesus means showing up during the hard times. It means getting dirty when the situation calls for manual labor. It means buying groceries and doing the laundry and sitting with someone in a hospital so the family member can actually go outside for a break.

When the day is done, it isn’t the lofty promises that people remember. It isn’t the checks that they recall. What matters most is the gift of time. It is the helping hand that remembered to show up. It is the smile and hug that lifted a worn spirit. It is the gracious kindness of walking a worn path with someone who was tired, hurting, alone.

Don’t make promises you won’t keep. And don’t write a check and call yourself good. Show up. It matters. Be Jesus to the least of them on this earth. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

Believe God

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." -- Romans 4:20-21

I want to have faith like Abraham. I want to believe God in all things. I want to trust that He not only can do the impossible but that He will. I get so angry at myself when I doubt. I know better. How about you?

God told Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. Abraham didn't focus on his advancing age or that his wife was well beyond childbearing years. He didn't see all the obstacles. He just believed God. And you know what? God did just what He said He would do.

Beth Moore wrote a Bible study a few years ago titled "Believing God." Awesome study. What do I remember most about it? "I'm believing God." It was the last phrase of  a bit she taught us to help us remember who God is and who we are in Him. It's a constant reminder to me that all those promises in the Bible are intended for me too. How awesome is that!

That's the problem most of us have. We believe God. We really do. And we trust Him. Totally. So long as it involves someone else. Is it that we don't think we're worthy of His love and help, forgetting that we are His child? Is it because we are like a toddler determined to do the task by ourselves? Pride is a horrible thing, especially when it keeps us from receiving blessings God would gladly give us.

Blind trust is such a difficult thing. We don't always seek the big picture. Actually, we rarely see it. We're so focused on what is right in front of us, of the obstacles we see as insurmountable, that we can't see the possibilities. God can do anything. Just ask Abraham. Believe that you are important enough, valuable enough to Him, that He'll do anything for you. Trust Him. H won't let you down.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Animals Teach Us About God

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you." -- Job 12:7-8

Animals are awesome teachers. Dogs teach kids responsibility. They protect us, guide us, play with us. They love and forgive us, freely give kisses and tale wags. They wait patiently for us. Well, sometimes anyway.

I've learned a lot about patience the last couple of days. It seems like a lifetime has gone by since Tuesday afternoon. Not even a week. How can that be when life has turned upside down? It now revolves around a very traumatized little dog learning that he can no longer get up and run. I am mama, nurse and caretaker. I am tired.

I believe one day we will look back on this journey and cherish the small steps. Friday night I thought I saw his tail move. Today I'm fairly certain he has some feeling in his paralized legs. I believe God will heal him. I know. I have heard all the doctors comments. It's just that I believe God. He promised.

In the meantime, I am learning how difficult it is for a little fellow who really doesn't understand what's going on. He wants to go outside -- by himself. He growls when I carry him because he can't understand. It breaks my heart. But I see his ears perk up and his eyes brighten when I sit him on the grass and he hears the birds. I stood him up, bracing his back legs, and he was amazed. And I was reminded of what was and what will be.

Job certainly wasn't referring to a small, paralized dog when he spoke these words. But I've always remembered them. I believe we can learn how to be better people if we pay attention to the animals around us. We can learn alot about facing life and scooting across the floor toward the solution, which is always God and His promises.

Friday, January 29, 2010

God Keeps His Promises

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." -- Genesis 9:13

The rain is here again. This has been a year of over-abundance for us when it comes to rain. And it's still January. Sometimes it seems as though it will never end. Yet it will. We know this because God promised Noah that He would never again send flood waters throughout the earth to destroy all life. God always keeps His promises.

We need the rain. It brings us water to drink and grow crops. It replenishes the earth for the future. It's difficult to remember that only a short time ago we were begging God for rain. Our crops were dying and the ponds were drying up because we didn't have any rain. Yeah, forgot about that didn't you?

Now, people have lost homes and businesses because of flooding. Roads have washed out. It's the opposite of the drought we weathered. And still we complain.

Sometimes I wonder if God is up there just shaking His head at us. We complain when we don't get enough rain and we complain when we do. That must be our sinful nature -- to complain about everything. And yet He loves us and puts up with us and stands near to us.

I am so grateful that He is a forgiving God. I am grateful that Jesus sacrificied Himself on the cross for me. I am grateful for this cleansing rain and the rainbows that remind me that God is faithful and true. He keeps His promises. It's something we can count on no matter what the weather.

...God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:5

How quickly life and circumstances can change. My friend began her week as she usually did. She taught Sunday school. She laughed with friends. She cared for her children and grandchildren. Two days later she kept vigil at the hospital as her daughter began her journey toward death.

People ask why. How could she, they demanded to know. Two children. A mother and sisters who adored her. Yet she chose to end her life, distraught in the very real belief that all those who loved her so desperately would be better off without her presence.

I kept my silence. How can anyone who has not suffered deep depression understand the darkness that invades the mind of the sufferer? It isn't something you can shrug off. It isn't something you can toughen up and face. It is an agony beyond explanation. It is an inability to see the light of Jesus and the hope He offers to us all. It is failure to grasp the promise that as His children He will give us strength and healing.

Her illness momentarily separated her from her heavenly father. But she is no doubt singing in the heavenly choir praising Him just as she did in the bright days of her life. As those she left behind struggle to move forward, they draw comfort from that even as they struggle to understand.

Peace In Trying Circumstances

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phillippians 4:6-7

The theme of worry and anxiety runs rampant in my world right now. I am reminded again and again of how little we control about our lives. I am so thankful that God is in control of everything. That He has a plan. That all will be okay.

My uncle is having his third cancer surgery Friday. My friend will have his second cancer surgery in the next week or so. Another friend is nearing the end of his earthly life. It is frightening to realize that we have no control over death. Then I remember that Jesus defeated death. I am so grateful for his sacrifice. But I am scared nonetheless.

I cry out for strength and it comes. He promised to be with me no matter what. We are His children and He cares for us. So I reach blindly through my tears and grasp at His solid rock. He pulls me up and I am surrounded by His peace.

I do not know what the coming days and weeks will bring. But I will continue to pray to the one who hears me, the one who controls the outcome of all our days and nights. I will ask Him to surround those I care about with His love and His strength and His peace. God never said we wouldn't have difficult journeys. I do know that. I also know that His plan is perfect and it is in His will that I and those I love will find peace to handle whatever happens.