Trust and Adjust

If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?  What would it take to satisfy the desires of your heart?  Do you think the desires of your heart are God’s desires for you?  I have heard it said sometimes we have to “trust and adjust”.  There are times when the desires of our heart are things that would only harm us.  However, if we give those desires over to God and trust Him, somehow we will adjust our desires so they are in line with what God knows is best for our lives. We are on this earth to fulfil the plans God has for us.

 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 TLB  You notice in this verse, God says “the plans I have for you”, not “the plans YOU have for yourself”.

God has promised us if we look to Him for our happiness rather than things of this earth, He will give us our heart’s desire.  Because, only then will our desires be His desire for us.

“Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you.” Psalm 37-5 GNT

If we can bring ourselves to forgo that desire that is in our heart, and just allow God to take complete control of us, He will not only give us what He has promised but it will be something that will be far beyond what we could have imagined.

Sometimes we may feel that nothing is going as we planned.  We might feel  it’s because we aren’t in God’s will.  Sometimes, God is allowing those difficult times to happen to grow our faith and to bring about His purpose for us. These are the times that we just have to “trust and adjust” and continue to walk through those doors that you feel He is opening.

"Hold loosely to the things of this life, so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go." Corrie Ten Boom

Bro. Steve Rogers brought a message Sunday about following God’s plan and not ours.  He asked the question: “Am I working for the Lord or just working for a pay check?” Then he presented this acrostic:

Purpose

Love to do

Ability to do

Now

God has a Purpose for placing us on this earth. And, because He is a loving God, He will give us the desires of our heart; things we Love to do. God has given us the Ability to do things with our gifts and talents, and God desires that we do these things for Him Now.

 

 

Good Old Days

Today, I was thinking about all of the ungodly people in the world in the day in which we live.  There seems to be so many in power,  bent on destroying freedom.  There are those who walk our streets trolling for some mischievous thing to do. There are people who want nothing more than to see what it feels like to commit a heinous crime.  What has happened to our society?

When I read some of the postings on Facebook about the good old days, it took me back to that time when I was a child with not a worry in the world.  The kids on my block were free to come and go to each other’s homes.  We didn’t have to fear what darkness lay in the minds of our friend’s family. Our parents didn’t worry if we spent the night with our friends and our friend’s parents never worried when their offspring were in our home. Sometimes , in the summer, we would even be allowed to sleep outside under the stars with a few of our friends.

I remember coming home from school on a beautiful spring or fall day, eating a snack, changing into my play clothes, doing a few little chores that my mother might have and then out the front door I went , scurrying down the sidewalk until I was directly across the street from my best friend’s home. I would stand and holler “Naaaaaaun, Naaaaaaaaun”, as loudly as I could until Nan would come out her front door.  We would stand across the highway from one another and yell about what we wanted to do the rest of the evening.  Often, we would round up the other kids in the neighborhood and ride our bicycles until our mother’s called us in for supper. After supper, we would assume where we left off, riding our bicycles until the street lights came on.  We had no fear of being kidnapped by some stranger driving by or being shot by a drive by shooter.

Summertime was the best time of all.  No TV ’s ; no video games to occupy us while we vegged away on the couch.  We played hopscotch, anti-over, chase, jump rope, jacks and lots of other games that exercised our bodies and our minds. We spread quilts under the shade tree and had a picnic or we sold lemonade from a little stand in our front yard. Sometimes, we would walk together to the town square; walk around it and window shop. Or we’d sit in one of the park benches under the shade tree in the middle of the square.  If we had a nickel or dime, we might have an ice cream cone from the Berryville Drug. Sometimes, we would wonder into the bandstand where the high school band played on Saturday nights and pretend we were tooting those horns like the band members did.  We would talk about  the coming country fair; discuss all the rides that we might want to take; the snow cones or popcorn we would eat and the grandstand shows we might get to attend if we saved our money.

How wonderful it was not to have to think about the bad things that were happening in our world. Oh, I’m sure there were a lot of things we never heard about because we had no TV’s, cell phones or internet.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our kids could all be that carefree today?

Our children and grandchildren don’t know what they have missed by not growing up in the good old days.

“Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oak trees, Our daughters as shapely and bright as fields of wildflowers.

Fill our barns with great harvest, fill our fields with huge flocks;

Protect us from invasion and exile— eliminate the crime in our streets.” Psalm 144:12 The Message

Broken Shoelaces

I recently read a story written by John VandenOever.  He tells about giving his small daughter her first kite. He was so anxious to show her how to run with it until the wind caught it and carried it high.  The first attempts were thwarted because of her inability to understand what needed to happen. Finally, with her father running along with her, the kite soared upward.  Suddenly, his daughter looked down. She saw her shoelace was untied and began to cry.  As he puts it, “The triumph in the sky had been swallowed up by a loose shoe lace. Such is the life in Christ. Ours is a story written from before time, a promised inheritance hidden in Christ, a future where God ‘makes everything work out according to His plan’ (Eph. 1:11 NLT) and we let the spiritual equivalent of loose shoelaces be our undoing.”  As long as his daughter was keeping her eyes on the kite and allowing her father to run along beside her, everything was fine.  But, once her mind was taken off the things above, everything went wrong.

What is your undoing?  Do you let the things of this earth take your eyes off your Heavenly Father and the plans He has for your life?  Do you feel you can do things better your way and don’t need the Father to run along beside you? I’m reminded of the story in the bible of the children of Abraham being led from Egypt to the Promised Land.  This comparatively short journey that should have taken them only a few months ended up taking them 40 years. Why?  Because they took their eyes off of God and His promise and looked at their broken shoelaces. They grumbled and questioned why their journey was taking so long.  They wondered why they weren’t enjoying the journey; why there were hardships along the way.

“They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. “Numbers 21:4-6 NIV

They had taken their eyes off of the land that God had promised them and in the end, most of those who started out on that journey never got to see the Promised Land.

What might God do to get your attention when you take your eyes off of Him? What will you miss out on because you fail to keep your eyes on God?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

 

 

 

 

How Do You See Yourself?

How do you see yourself?  When I look in the mirror every morning I think “My goodness, can that really be me?”  Then, today as I viewed pictures from Christen and Malachi’s wedding shower posted on Facebook, I looked at pictures of myself and thought, “Why do I look this old?  Why didn’t someone tell me to straighten my sweater; uncock my head and quit leaning? Why didn’t I have lipstick on because I look so washed out?” I have to admit, I spent a lot of years behind a camera as a photographer.  I have always been more comfortable there than in front of the camera.  Most of the people I know feel the same way; very uncomfortable with any picture that is made.

It’s not the end of the world when unflattering pictures are posted for all to see.  We have to face the fact that we are not perfect.  We are not always made up and ready to be in front of a camera. And, we have to realize; at least a lot of us do, that we are old; we are wrinkled and we are not photogenic.

What really should matter is how God sees us.  God doesn’t see just our physical bodies but He sees what’s in our heart.

 “Men judge by outward appearance, but I look at a man’s thoughts and intentions.”1 Samuel 16:7B TLB

God loves us no matter the color of our skin or our hair; no matter now short or tall we are; no matter where we live; whether we are rich or poor.  God loves us because He made us in His image.

 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 NIV

If we are created in the image of God, then how can we be ashamed of the way we look?  God made us all unique. No two people are exactly alike yet, we are created in the image of our Heavenly Father.

“Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before him covered with his love.” Ephesians 1:4 TLB

Would God choose us to be His very own; to make us holy in His eyes without a single fault if He didn’t love us the way we are?

“In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.” 1 John 4:10 TLB

So, I hope when I look in the mirror or at my image in a photograph, I will remind myself that no matter how I look, in God’s eyes I am perfect. I am His child and He has plans for me that I cannot know but I trust.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 TLB

"If Only" Disease

When was the last time you met someone who was truly at peace with who they were and the circumstances they find themselves in? The majority of people suffer from If Only disease; If only I had more money.  If only I had a new car or new house.  If only I could find the right person and be married. What would it take to make you completely content?  Most of us tend to see the negative side of life and fail to count the blessings God has bestowed on us.  We all make choices; we can choose to be happy no matter the circumstances or we can be unhappy regardless of our situation.  I heard of a billionaire who was being interviewed. "You seem to have acquired a bountiful fortune.  Are you happy?"

"No", replied the billionaire.

"What would it take to make you happy?"

"Just a little bit more," was his reply.

Would all of us be happy if we had just a little bit more?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could be like Paul , probably writing from prison, when he said :

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

God Winks

For years man has been able in some way to harness the wind.  The sails on ships harness it, turbines harness it, windmills harness it and yet, the ships, turbines and windmills do not create the wind; only God can do that. What is the wind?  It’s moving air, of course.  But, can you see the wind? No one sees the wind, they only see the results. It can be the leaves moving as the breeze gently blows through them. Or it could be a mighty gale blowing destruction to anything in its path.

It’s the same with the Holy Spirit.  No one can see the Spirit but you can feel the Spirit within you. Or you can see the results of the Holy Spirit within a person by their changed life. Yet, like the wind, you do not see the Spirit.

I was very intrigued by the video on Facebook today. It shows a group of homeschooled students standing under a flag pole praying. The flag pole displays three flags; state flag, U.S. flag and the Christian flag. While the students are praying, the Christian flag begins to gently move. Then, with more force from the wind, it flares outward for a minute or so, showing the cross in the upper left hand corner of the flag. Meanwhile, the other two flags are only slightly moving or not moving at all. Was this the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit moving among these students as they lifted their voices to their Maker?  I like to think so. People often say “That was a God Wink” when something happens that appears to be only attributable to God.

That day in September, under the blue skies, while a group of young men and women were praying, did God send the wind of His Holy Spirit as a God Wink for those who were there? Have you ever experienced a God Wink in your life?

“So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.” John 3:7- 8 MSG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What About That Ice & Snow Storm?

I stood at the kitchen window last night at dusk pondering what would happen during the night. After a variety of weather from rain to snow and nearly everything in between, I wondered if the pipes would be frozen, although we would leave a slow drip as a preventive measure; would the snow be so high on the beauty bush in front of the window that we wouldn’t be able to see the road; would the electricity go off during the night necessitating digging in the hall closet for more blankets; would the wood pile on our porch be enough to keep the fireplaces going until all of this passed?

Like most others in our area, we had prepared the best way possible for the upcoming storm. We had drawn water in a big bucket for necessities; made a mad dash for groceries; spent most of one day in the kitchen cooking things that could be heated on our little propane camping stove in case we lost power. Our wood pile had been restocked; flashlight batteries checked and even insulated underwear had been located just in case.

Sometimes it takes a snowstorm and ice storm for us to “be still and know that I am God.” 

“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV

How many of us actually slow down long enough to evaluate our priorities, love on our kids, spend time in God’s word, visit with those within our walls and make future plans unless we are forced to when the weather reaches a point where we can’t leave the house and the electricity is off so there is no media?

“For He directs the snow, the showers, and storm to fall upon the earth.   Man’s work stops at such a time so that all men everywhere may recognize His power. Job 37:6-7 TLB

As I pondered all of the preparations we made for the coming storm, I wondered how much preparation have we made for the return of our Lord?  Oh, we know He has promised He would return for His children but are we prepared for that?

“And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 MSG