God's Promise

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Action Plan

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Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

What is the thing you most want to do today? Do it. 

Who in your life is hurting that you can help? Find them and reach out. 

How can you add to your spiritual knowledge base so when called upon you are fitted with the armor of faith? Take time for study and discernment. 

When in your day will you make time for renewal and reflection? Make it as important as any appointment on your calendar and stick with it. 

At what time and where will you be when trouble hits? Anywhere and anytime. Trouble is a surprise that happens at the least convenient moment.

God’s promise? To be with you wherever you go.

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Reach Out

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To understand is to grow

Psalm 119:34: Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

In our desire to be self-sufficient, we forget that on our own we are alive but lifeless. We have no purpose except to please ourselves. When we turn to God and ask for the only help that matters, we begin to grow and look outside our own little world and look for ways to help those God puts into our paths. When we reach out we grow inside. When we look up our horizons expand. When we bow our heads in prayer we know we’ve made a connection, the most important connection of all. God loves us through the transitions in our lives, the good ones and the life lessons that can be wrenchingly painful. When we isolate ourselves with people who are just like we are, we never learn and grow. Only when we look to our neighbor and try to understand them can we see God’s plan at work, not just in us, and the people who are like us, but in all people everywhere

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God's Promise

10 Deciding Factors

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Trying to impress someone? Think you need to have the approval of your peers? Believe you can’t get by without a pat on the head? If you’re seeking the approval of other people you’ll be marginally successful, but to what end? How many times in your life have you been on the “right” side of an issue only to find your team had moved to the opposite position leaving you all alone? When we live by the Ten Commandments we find decision-making pretty clearly defined:

• I am the Lord your God; you will have no other gods before me. Seems pretty simple. If you’re worrying about the approval of others perhaps your focus is in the wrong place.

• Make no graven image to worship. Even I don’t want to go there, but I will. What idols do you worship? A new car? Designer clothing? Power? More money in the bank than you or your family can use in a lifetime? Me time? Another person? The list can be uncomfortably long. What is the decision here? Not putting your hope in the things and people of this world.

• Do not take the Lord’s name in vain. Let me ask this. If you have a choice between profane disrespect for the Lord’s name and honoring Him through word and deed, which is most likely to bring about the result you want? Negativity breeds negativity. Disrespect breeds disrespect.

• Remember the time-honored day of rest, for most that is Sunday. God needed a day off and I would imagine you and I do too. It is a time to give praise and thanks to the One to whom you belong.

• Honor your parents. An old fashioned concept? Perhaps, but it is the first step in creating and perpetuating a civil society.

• Don’t kill. Really not one that has to be discussed at length. Killing another human being is a no-no.

• Adultery. This one gets overlooked with a nod and sly grin. Given the number of crashed marriages and busted relationships attributed to ignoring marriage or relationship vows you’d think we would all be paying a little more attention. Adultery, like murder, is a no-no.

• Don’t steal. It is a burden you carry with you the rest of your life. The more you steal, the bigger the burden.

• Don’t lie about other people. Sometimes this is innocent (?) in that you are repeating something said about someone else. So maybe “don’t lie” about another person also means, don’t gossip about them either.

• Don’t covet that which belongs to someone else. When you want what someone else has, you’ve gotten off the track of your own life and where it can lead you.

The thing about the Ten Commandments is that even in this so-called modern world they still apply. You know what is even more astounding? When we break them – and we do – there is a promise that reminds us of God’s mercy, love and forgiveness: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

God is with us, even when we mess up.

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Hope

On Wings Like Eagles

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

The image conjured by Isaiah 40:31 is of one rising always rising, caught in the wind of the Holy Spirit, fearless, courageous and trusting. When I see the people of Newtown, Conn. standing firmly with their sisters and brothers as they heal day-by-day, moment-by-moment I see God at work. When I walk into a store and see collection boxes giving me the opportunity to help out in some way with the recovery efforts in Oklahoma following the brutal forces of nature, I am lifted up. When I hear tolerance spoken in word and deed I am changed. I read somewhere that scary events do happen, that is a fact of life. Fear is a choice. We can let circumstances defeat us or make us stronger. I choose this day to soar like an eagle, to run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint lifted and sustained by the Holy Spirit, God with us.

Faith

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Life's little surprises

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trying to make sense of life is a waste of time. Really. Who knows when a sinkhole will open up and swallow you? That is not a defeatist outlook; it’s a realistic view of life. You do not know from one minute to the next when that crest of success, power and self-satisfaction will drop right out from under you. Maybe you’ll survive it; probably you will, but not without a few bruises along the way. That’s when faith comes in. You no longer have what you had before, but you have something new, different, unexpected and sometimes in your mind unmanageable. That’s when God does his best work. It’s not like you can make a list of what you want God to do. He has his own list and it’s way better than yours. Trust. Have faith, not that you will get your way, but that God has a way ahead.

Lord, in all ways help me to be steadfast in faith. I trust you because I know I cannot trust myself to always do the right thing for the right reasons. Amen