Tag: Christian

Emissions Test!

I live in a county that requires a yearly emissions test to renew my car’s license plate. If your vehicle fails this test, the county will not issue the yearly sticker that deters the police from pulling you over.

The emissions test searches for a level of fumes deemed unacceptable that escape the vehicle while the engine is running. If the car is putting too much carbon monoxide or other pollutants into the air it doesn’t pass. The vehicle must then be repaired so it no longer pollutes the atmosphere.

I said something yesterday that I regret. It wasn’t hurtful to anyone (other than myself), but I regret saying it anyway. Not that long ago, I would have been more careful with my words. It makes me think I could benefit from an emissions test as well. I certainly don’t want to give off anything toxic to my environment!

Sometimes we think we are running along just fine but we really aren’t. We are not always mindful of the pollutants we release when a comment we make or opinion we voice is hurtful to others. Things that are said casually can be devastating, even more so when we are unaware of situations people may be facing.

Our words mirror what is in our heart. They can either be sweet, fragrant and pleasing or noxious and deadly.  We don’t often take time enough to examine our speech unless we are challenged by someone else to do so.  Or, we often put more thought into our words when they come back to bite us, and we find they are to our own detriment.

“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:37 NKJV

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19 NKJV

“He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.” Proverbs 17:27 NKJV

“Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Proverbs 29:20 NKJV

“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” James 1:26 KNJV 

I have to renew my license this month, lest I get a ticket for driving unlawfully.  I will take this opportunity to not only check my car but myself as well.  I am blessed. But I also want to be a blessing!

“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24 NKJV

When is the last time you had an emissions test? What are you putting into the atmosphere?

Flourishing Finish

As I look out at what is left of my summer garden, it is more than evident that this year is quickly coming to an end. Yet, the pictured summer plant is still standing and going strong, having withstood storms, drought and even my neglect while everything around it quickly fades away.

Unlike the plant, I am guilty of faltering when forced to endure my own storms, droughts and neglect. My coleus ran its designated course and continues to thrive. I refuse to be outdone by a plant!

It is my declaration to run my course and finish 2013 well. I commit to no longer allow imperfect conditions to deter me. I have concluded that when I choose to climb higher, strive for better, and act better, the larger the obstacles I am forced to overcome. Sometimes impediments are beyond my control. However, my largest obstacle is often…me.

Temporary disappointments can linger far longer in our minds well after a problem is gone. It can be hard to reprogram our thinking even after we overcome a hardship. It is human nature to look back on old hurts and offensives focusing on what we’ve endured instead of looking ahead to the promise of a better tomorrow. To the inability to “get over” a setback often thwarts the best intentions to move forward and into God’s promises.

“But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,”
Philippians 3:13-14. NKJV

I challenge you to push forward toward your prize!  We all have a God-given purpose, goals to meet, and blessings to give not just receive…the work God has imparted each of us to do while we are here on this earth.

Recommit yourself to finish well. If necessary, begin those things God placed in you. God is infinite in His ability to restore and accelerate. Timing is not a concern for Him; His timing can put you years ahead when you were once decades behind.

Trust God. Have faith in what He can do in you and through you! Ignite your hope! Cast aside your fears! Don’t focus on how you started or even where your race began. God is with you every step of the way. Allow God to finish the good work He began in you!

“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God,” Acts 20:24 NKJV

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope,” Jeremiah 29:11

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ,” Philippians 1:6 NKJV

The Root of the Matter (excerpted from God and The Garden)

 

“But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away,” Matthew 13:6 NKJV

No matter how beautiful the plant, no matter what its leaves look like or its fruit that shines, if the roots are rotten it is as good as dead.

The same also holds true for us as well. No matter how we appear to others, it is truly what is unseen that determines our character.

Most people want to look good but fail to nurture what really counts, their roots or the foundation that is vital for growth and sustenance.

Psalms 80: 8-9 states, “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; you have cast out the nations, and planted it. You have prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root and it filled the land.” NKJV

Deep roots are necessary for significant growth. The acorn cannot become a mighty oak with shallow roots at surface level that leave the tree vulnerable to disease, a lack of nutrients, and physical destruction. It is necessary that the roots grow deep if the tree is to grow to up.

Our roots must grow deep if we are to grow up!

“And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward,” 2 Kings 19:30 NKJV.

This theme is found repeatedly in the Bible. Deep roots are crucial. Jesus’ parable as explained in Matthew teaches if we have shallow roots the heat of life will surely scorch us! We won’t survive. We will wither and die. This fate is not what Jesus died for.  He died that we may live and do so abundantly.  So, how do we develop deep roots and thrive as God intended?

In nature a lack of water at the surface forces plant roots downward. Our personal droughts can do the same for us when we don’t give up, but instead dig in. When we are in hot situations we must root ourselves in God’s Word that we may not just survive but thrive in spite of our test. Our trials are to push us closer to God, not drive us away. Plants survive by doing this even though they may look parched at the surface.  Certain trials leave us looking fried as well but digging into the Word strengthens us and leaves us better off long after the test has passed.

Our roots need fertilizer. Nothing will develop you into the person God intended like the real “Miracle Grow” of God’s Word. His Word establishes the righteous. “But the root of the righteous yields fruit,” Proverbs 12:12 NKJV.

Turning to God when the heat is on, establishing yourself in His Word, constantly reading and meditating on it allows your roots to push downward so you can bear fruit upward. The taller the tree, the deeper the roots.

We can’t grow up unless we dig in!

Rooting ourselves in God’s Word provides stability that keeps us from being blown over and plucked up by hard winds (hardships). Sure we may lose a few leaves and have a branch or two broken through our trials but most importantly we can remain rooted where God would have us.

Some plants, once established in the ground are incredibly hard to pull out. Shovels and picks won’t do the job. Their roots expand outward and downward embedding themselves through the earth and around rocks. The longer the plant is established in the ground the stronger it becomes. The more we establish and root ourselves in God’s Word the stronger we too become.

Who we become in life is often dictated by what is unseen by other people. What we do when no one is watching, the thoughts we have toward others, the things we say when no one can hear are extensions of what exists below the surface.  These inner things dictate what is produced outwardly.

“And if the root is holy, so are the branches,” Romans 11:16.  If you want good branches start below the surface. Kill anything below the surface that will hinder your growth. Bad habits, bad thoughts, ill influences and addictions will do nothing but promote root rot. People who are negative influences are often “weeds” that can rob you of nutrients you need to grow.

Replace whatever has the potential to kill you with the Miracle Grow of God’s Word, inspirational influences, positive acquaintances, prayer, devotion and whatever it takes to push you up toward God’s very best for you!

If you feel unproductive or at a loss don’t focus on the surface but instead investigate those deeper things that may hinder your desired outcome.

If there is anything that needs to be gone, toss it! Change habits. Change direction. Make different choices. Think different thoughts. Turn toward God who “establishes” you so that you can thrive, not just survive.

If you want to bloom and be fruitful, living the abundant life Christ died for… tend to your roots!

Thank you Heavenly Father for enabling me to root myself in You. Allow me to take root and grow strong into the person you have ordained me to become. May I focus on what lies beneath the surface and find nourishment in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

B is for Better Late than Never!

Oftentimes, life’s challenges and unexpected circumstances cause us to defer a dream. A dream that has been placed in our hearts by God can often become buried by responsibilities, poor choices and even circumstances beyond our control. Yet God’s grace and mercy affords us those second chances we don’t deserve. God can restore time and opportunity when we allow ourselves to be open to what to what He can do instead of focusing on what is impossible for us to do under our own power.

Abraham had a promise of a son. This promise came to him when both he and his wife were well beyond child-bearing years. While waiting, Sarah became impatient. She hastily took it upon herself to “accelerate” God’s plan which resulted in later turmoil and strife.

We often make the same mistake when we work outside of God’s timing and end up with a mess! In our microwave ready world, the notion of waiting on anything seems futile and frustrating when we are constantly bombarded to “do it now and get it now before it is too late.” That may be the way of the world but it is not the way of the Word.

Abraham received his blessing after he obeyed God. And many years after, at that. Then, his obedience was tested yet again, when he offered up the very child God promised as a sacrifice. (Genesis 22)

We often want the blessing but are remiss to be obedient, especially in areas that are “comfortable,” even when we are well aware those same habits and comforts distance us from God’s very best.

God desires to bless us but we need to want to be blessed enough to change.

We must renew our minds not to pursue what we want, but to be willing to pursue God’s will in our lives. Anything else would be less than God’s best anyway. Who wants that?  You can struggle outside of God’s will and even when you are in it! But when you are in the will of God you can have peace that you will overcome your trial and not be overcome by it.

A willingness to do new things (like obey), meet new people and change attitudes and habits often manifest a different result. These changes often take time but thankfully, God holds time in His hands. His timing is always perfect.

Joshua and Caleb had faith that they could inherit the Promised Land even though it took decades to see their dream fulfilled. They were the few spies who lived to see the promise fulfilled. Joshua knew that they were well able to take the land with God on their side and said so! God rewarded them for their faith.  (Numbers 14)

If you don’t have faith enough to speak life with your words, what good can manifest under those circumstances? You have to expect God’s goodness if you want to see it. Allow your mouth to align with your spirit. Allow what you know to supersede what you think!

Sometimes we lose sight that we are well able because we are trying to accomplish things under our own power and not through God’s power. The great things we are blessed with and desire to achieve are often done not through our own ability but God’s power in us enabling us to endure to the end.

We all seek the blessing but few are willing to endure the test that puts you in position to be blessed. When we trust God enough to walk out His plan for our life then can we embrace joy and peace even in the midst of what we perceive as trials. The bigger the blessing, the longer the test. The longer the test, the greater the testimony.

Joseph suffered many trials and many years before he became ruler. He kept his faith even after he was sold into slavery, lied on, and imprisoned. He continued to hold on to the dream God placed in his heart. His faith allowed him the confidence to expect better.  Joseph expected deliverance, telling the chief cupbearer to “remember him” while imprisoned. The cupbearer did remember Joseph but not until years later. (Genesis 41)

Joseph’s blessing came by way of preparation. Joseph allowed his God-given gift to interpret dreams to provide way for his eventual promotion. How many of us would have been too concerned with our own plight to help the cupbearer while in dire circumstances?

Expect the best and prepare for your blessing, realizing that preparation will probably require patience with a good attitude. Whatever dreams you allow to die within you, God our Father, can resurrect. He is the absolute Master of bringing dead things to life. He can even resurrect you into the person you were destined to become instead of someone currently content with what is comfortable.

Our feelings can convince us that nothing good will happen because we can’t see God working or we can’t see our circumstances changing. Instead, we must act on what we know God is capable of doing and the plans He has for each of us. God gives us a dream.  Rarely will He reveal how it will manifest. If we knew, that wouldn’t require faith, patience or maturity on our part. The journey to deliverance is just as important as the manifestation.

It is never too late. There are eighty year olds competing in triathlons. Octogenarians are earning college degrees. People are pursuing second and third careers to fulfill dreams they deferred decades before.

I know a ninety year old man who recently was able to purchase his dream car, a red Mustang convertible! He never gave up hope and decades later God allowed his dream to come true!

Whatever your dream, God can make a way. He can do the impossible if you will stretch your faith and allow Him to be your Lord of your life!

Pray that God aligns your will with His will. Don’t give up on your dreams. Don’t give in to disappointment or despair. Never doubt God’s plans for you. God’s timing may be later than you’d like but if you have faith and keep it…God can make later the best ever!

What are you believing for? Are you willing to wait patiently in faith for God’s perfect timing?

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14 NKJV

Clean cuts

“And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell,” Matthew 5:30 NKJV

I know a gentleman who suffered over a year with an infection in his lower leg. He was on all kinds of oral medications, IV medications and various wound treatments in an effort to get well. During this treatment, side effects from his medications made him ill. He never felt well and complained often about how his entire body and not just his leg suffered. His blood was monitored often to make sure the medications that were used to treat the infection did not harm his vital organs. His doctors were constantly on alert to make sure his infection had not spread. The entire ordeal left him weak and miserable daily.

Finally, his doctors decided the treatment he was receiving was not enough to kill the infection or keep it from spreading. In fact, his medical team was forced to amputate his lower leg. If his infected leg remained, the bacteria would spread throughout his body and kill him.

About a month after his surgery, I asked him how he was feeling. He declared, “I haven’t felt this good in years.” He was no longer relegated to taking an arsenal of medications that left him feeling poorly. His infected lower leg had been removed but he was now very mobile with his new prosthesis.  He was actually moving around better than he had before the amputation.

He now felt healthy, was happy and had a positive outlook on life.

Likewise, it is necessary that we make certain “cuts” in our own lives that would leave us better. Instead of making a clean break from anger, guilt, regret, disappointment and un-forgiveness we sometimes “nurse” these things instead. We often try to repair our feelings and emotions instead of cutting them off all together. Some people are haunted years later by mistakes God has forgiven decades earlier.  They allow guilt or bitterness to remain, infecting them and robbing them of a better quality of life. There is no freedom in “forgiveness” when you insist on making your offender acknowledge the offense time and time again. An unforgiving spirit does very little to the offending person in comparison to the damage it wrecks on the person who refuses to forgive.

Forgiveness is often hard. However living with unforgiveness is much harder.

Anger, bitterness, guilt, and spite can be deadly. They often cause both mental anguish and physical decay. Worse of all is those suffering under these afflictions don’t recognize the toil these toxic characteristics take on themselves and the people around them!

Bitterness drains. Peace sustains.

Is there anything you need to cut away today?

 

Follow Through!

“Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” James 2:22 NKJV 

We often begin a task full of optimism and confident that God can see us through our challenges. It may be something such as starting a diet, a budget or a changing careers.

However, our good intentions are often derailed as soon as the path we have chosen gets a little bumpy, muddy, broken or narrow. Sometimes when we make a concerted effort to break specific strongholds, the more things seemingly come against us.

Good intentions are often interrupted by family obligations, emergencies, or other events.  A number of things can just “appear” right when we decide to make some serious changes.  This is the time  when you must press forward with “follow through faith.”

This faith is different from the initial confidence that you can “do all things through Christ.” We often know what is possible, yet still fail to push through to that next level.

This faith allows you to pass the cookie aisle when you need to lose weight. It forces you to sign up for classes even though you seemingly don’t have the time. It pushes you to apply for another job, open a savings account or put into action those things that will promote the changes you desire.

We often pray to God for change but fail to do our part to produce the change. The first day or even week we often start out strong but then as time wears on and the task becomes harder we often fall back into comfortable habits that don’t push us to become all that we can become.

Follow through faith prompts us to do the things we don’t feel like doing. It pushes through fatigue and pessimism. It does not yield to complacency It sees beyond the pain that will yield the eventual gains.

Follow through faith differentiates the believers from achievers. Achievers continue down the narrow path even as the pain sets in. Achievers are not afraid of failure as they pursue their goals. They simply learn from their mistakes and move on.

Follow through faith will push you forward when everything and everyone around you is a deterrent.

You can believe all things are possible, but are you willing to obey God and push yourself to turn the possibility into a reality?

What is God asking you to follow through?

 

Pruning

B Is for Blessed!

“I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit,” John 15:1-2 NKJV

Jesus’ teaching about the vine and the branches is one of the most readily quoted. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15: 5 NKJV

Without Him we can do nothing. However, the scripture prior to that, John 15:2 is often skimmed over. It is easy to realize how dependent we are on Christ, yet most of us are remiss and become ill at the notion that to become fruitful we must be pruned.

Without pruning, even the best specimens in any garden will eventually lose the ability to…

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B is for Bent not Broken

B Is for Blessed!

 

Everyone in life is guaranteed some form of hardship, storm or distress/duress that is necessary to forge us into the people God would have us to be. Though not pleasurable experiences, our problems are necessary for our promotion from one stage in life to another. The way we deal with these experiences really determines how we will come out of them. Some people seem to make it through, scraped up a bit but they come out in one piece. Others, instead, succumb to situations and trials never to come out and are overcome and swallowed up by their circumstances. So what is the difference between making it through a bad situation and getting stuck in a particular circumstance? The answer is simple.

Bent not broken.

We all at some point have the best laid plans. However, the plans for our life and God’s plans are not necessarily one and the same. Our expectations don’t always transform into…

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P is for Protection

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield” Psalm 5:11-12 NIV

 

There are times in life when we all are in need of protection. Little kids tend to run to their parents when they are afraid, confident that a parent can spare them from harm. We too, should have this same attitude even as adults, running to our Father who is a refuge from what at times can be a cold and cruel world.

Instead, we often try to solve problems ourselves. When a situation is more than we can bear, we shrink back in fear. God does not want us to fearful. If there is anything we can’t bear or undertake He is willing to offer His shelter. The psalmist wrote that God spreads His protection over those who love Him. He surrounds the righteous with His favor as a shield.

Thankfully, by grace, we are made righteous through the sacrifice of  Jesus Christ and not by our own works. We are provided the luxury that we may run to our Father when we are in need of protection with the same confidence of a young child. God’s favor isn’t “fair,” thankfully. He grants His grace and mercy in spite of our flaws and failures. He sheds His mercy even though we do not deserve it because we love Him and have faith enough to run to Him and lean not on our own understanding.

Bankruptcy is an example of a process that protects the debtor from his creditors. It is a lawful process that grants the debtor protection against harassment when the debtor has fallen short, unable to repay the debt. God is also a refuge for His children when we make mistakes and are subject to persecution. We can run to God for a similar kind of protection. God’s favor protects us even though we don’t deserve it. God protects us from complete downfall even as we suffer the consequences of our actions. The legal system affords the debtor relief from creditors but consequently the debtor will face limited financial opportunities. God’s protection prevents us from becoming completely broken even though we may suffer a few bumps and bruises along the way.

God, our Father, is the ultimate source of protection. We can ask for it before we need it. Our faith in God’s ability to protect us (even from ourselves) can keep us on the path He would have for us.

God’s protection doesn’t save us from every hardship, lest we learn nothing from life’s journey. But God is faithful to those who seek Him, have faith in His ability and know that He is in control. God can allow the winds of life to merely bend you instead of break you!

P is for Protection.

Thank you, God, for your faithfulness and your protection.

Heavenly Father, thank you for grace and unmerited protection. Thank you for Your future favor and protection, saving me from dangers seen and unseen. I know it only through You that I have made it thus far. I ask Your protection through my life’s journey. Please cover me and those with whom I have covenant relationships. In Jesus’ name we have confidence in your protection.  Amen.

P is for Potential

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23

Potential – that can come into being; possible; latent, Webster’s Dictionary

 

God created everyone with a latent potential. Each of us was predestined from the beginning, no one an “accident” that just happened upon the earth. Each of us has a purpose waiting to be fulfilled. But to rise up to what we can become we must first unlock the seeds within before we can ever reap a harvest.

A farmer works his land and finally gets that seed into the ground where it is irrigated and warmed by the sun from above. After the farmer gets the seed in the ground, his work is not done, he can’t just leave the land to fend for itself. He doesn’t just wait for the harvest to come in. And neither can we.

Farmers watch aggressively for parasites and diseases that would destroy the harvest. He protects it from predators and pestilence. Farmers aren’t idle. They work and plan consistently. This takes lots of time, planning and patience.

We must work diligently if we are going to unleash the potential that lies within us. God gives us gifts but we must unlock the potential. Each talent and gift requires that we first acknowledge the gifts we are given. Some people have no clue of the talents within because they believe what others have said about them. Yet it is our duty to nurture our gits as seedlings, protect them from predators and develop them over time. Learning from our experiences, seeking God’s knowledge and remaining open to new and people and opportunities that will allow us to flourish.

Only God knows our true potential. Often our lack of achievement stems from a lack of vision. What odds we can overcome if we would recognize what God can do with us and through us! Instead of thinking about our limitations we should reflect on His power.

Consider the potential within each of us as a small flame. You can smother the flame and cause it to die. Or you can fan your flame, add fuel to it and be on fire for whatever purpose God has placed in your heart.

If you sincerely doubt you have a purpose, ask God to reveal it to you.

The activities you enjoy may hold the key to your talents. Pay attention to the things you do that make people smile or are helpful. Often the things we do best hold the key to God’s plan for us. Many times our frustration stems from working outside of those areas God has called us to.

Never doubt your significance. Never doubt God’s love for you. If you are alive you are part of His plan!

Even if you feel you have messed up so badly there is no hope for you, our God of mercy can ignite a new flame within you! With God there is always hope to fulfill the purpose He has assigned to you!