Stressed to the Max

I have been watching people lately.  I have been noticing the busy-ness of their lives and the stress on their faces and in their voices.  They are all stressed to the max.  I am even more amazed that the adults are causing this situation for their children, as well.  The children are mimicking the adults in every way.  They are involved in too many activities, stressed about schedules, homework, and friends.  The children are over eating, yelling, crying, unhappy and in poor health.  I have been there myself on many an occasion.  I am a terrible one for saying “No” and taking on too many projects while working full-time.  It harmed my health, my emotions and my spiritual life.  It is no way to live.  I don’t think God intended for us to live this way at all, but I think God knows we are humans and has given us the answer in His word.

Matthew 11:28

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.

There is a lot of good common sense in these scriptures.  First of all, if we are stressed we need to go to God with our problem.  Yet, so many times we put him last or maybe even not at all in our lives, because we have no time.  We have chosen the busy things of life over God.  We need to go to God and ask Him to prioritize our lives and have him tells us what we should be involved in and not involved in.  If we are stressed about a situation, then go to God.  He is full of wisdom and can guide us through anything.  If we stressed to the point of being depressed we need to get around some other Christians and share encouraging words with one another.  Most importantly we need to depend on God and not on ourselves.  We need to not be trying to accomplish everything on our own.  We need to be focused on God and trust Him.  The more we are in His Word or in prayer we will see God’s Will and see His provision and learn to trust Him.  We will gain His peace.  Our stress will disappear.

So if you are stressed, then now is the time to stop and bow your head in prayer and open up your Bible and read.  The other stuff can wait.

Who Are You Asking For?

Sometimes we can look at something, like artwork for example, and see something totally different than what someone else would see when they look at it.  Our cultural heritage, our upbringing, our value system, our religion, our economic status and our political views can all play a part in what we see when we evaluate the artwork.  Whether we like a particular piece of art or not is based on our personal preference and interpretation.  Even when we look at optical illusion art, we can see different things.  Some will quickly come to focus or un-focus in on what is hidden the picture.

We each tend to do the same thing when we look at the people around us.  We judge their heart, their ability or inability to change, their goals, their reasons and motives, etc.  Sometimes we don’t even give them a chance before we have gotten to know them or understand them.  We haven’t learned what makes them who they are.  We don’t know what pressures they face.  We don’t know what hurts they have experienced.  We don’t know what their past was like.  We don’t know what potential lies inside them.  We don’t know their hopes or their dreams.  Even when driving down the road, we sometimes judge why another person is driving the way they are driving.  We think they are just driving radically because they are a hot head or think they are better than everyone else and deserve the road.  Maybe the person that is driving erratically is under pressure to get to the hospital for an emergency or to a job interview that could mean their future livelihood.  We need to not be so quick to judge others and look at people as God would look at them.  God loves everyone and wants all to love Him.  God wants everyone to come to know Him as Savior.  He understands our sinful nature and is patient with us.  He gives us every opportunity to accept His solution to our impending judgment for our sin.  We can gain some instructions from Abraham and the Lord in Genesis 18: 22 –

22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? 25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

The pre-incarnate Jesus came to Abraham to share several pieces of information that He had for him.  One was that He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the wickedness of the people that lived there.  Abraham knew that Lot, his nephew, and family were there.  He no doubt hoped that the wickedness of the city had not so influenced Lot and his family that they would be completely without hope and lost in wickedness too.  No doubt Abraham hoped that there were others in those cities who were not wicked.  He began asking God to be merciful and spare the cities if there were just 50 righteous there.  He was courageous enough to keep asking God right down to if there were only 10 there.  Abraham instructs to look for the good in people and to give hope that there is good in them.  The Lord instructs us through this account to remember that He is merciful and that He wants us to be merciful too.  The Lord was no doubt pleased with Abraham’s care and concern for others.  The Lord was pleased with what Abraham asked for and answered with mercy on the people He could find in those cities.

Who are we asking the Lord for?  Do we see people as God sees people?  Do we give the benefit of the doubt?  Do we hope for the best in people?  Do we believe that God can change anyone for the better?  Do we love all people as God loves all people?  Do we grant mercy as the Lord did?

Feet to Be Sat At

One time when we were singing praise songs at our church, I accidentally changed out one preposition for another preposition in a particular line of a chorus.  Amazingly, an incorrect preposition can make a difference.  I started laughing and couldn’t stop when I realized what I had just sung.  The line was supposed to be “sitting at Jesus’ feet”.  Instead, I sang “sitting on Jesus’ feet”.  Now if “sitting at the feet of Jesus” is a symbol of wanting to spend time learning from God, “sitting on Jesus’ feet” must mean a person really wants to be close to God and learn all they can learn.

Most Christians have heard the Biblical account of Martha’s disapproval of her sister Mary in Luke 10: 38 – 42.

38 While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” 41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I am so thankful that Luke was led by the Holy Spirit to include this in his account of Jesus’ time on earth.  We learn some valuable points from Jesus’ own words.  He teaches us what really should come first in our lives.  Jesus tells us that Mary has made the right choice.  Her choice to sit at His feet would not be taken away from her.  Mary had chosen to spend time with Jesus while she could.  She had chosen to learn and to worship.  Martha had let herself become distracted from the great opportunity she had to learn from the Master, Himself.  Yes, we are to serve others, but we are to put Jesus first.  He will then lead us to the right place of service and the right amount of time to put in to serving.

It is just common sense to realize that time spent with Jesus will increase our faith, grow us in to spiritual maturity, help us to stand in times of difficulty and give us wisdom to help and serve others.  If we spend all our time serving, we will grow weary and weak.  We need to be taught and refreshed regularly to be able to serve God in a way that pleases Him.  So remember there are feet to be sat at.

A Better Season

For some of us winter has come to an end, but for others the winter storms continue.  CNN reported that at the end of February, “A massive winter storm spanning 20 states dumped more than a foot of snow in some places Thursday and brought life to a standstill in parts of the central United States. About 60 million people — 20% of the U.S. population — were under winter weather warnings, watches and advisories in the 750,000 square miles affected.”  Then just this last weekend in March another large storm hit.  People lose power, can’t drive, and run out of food when these storms hit.  There is no way to escape the storm when you wait past a certain time.  Hesitation will get you every time.  You really have to listen to those weathermen, if you want to not be trapped in a bad situation.

Jesus played weatherman, when he gave the forecast for the end times.  He warned the Jewish people to flee the minute they saw the abomination that causes desolation in the temple.  The Anti-Christ is going to set up something very abominable to God in the Holy of Holies.  As soon as that happens, everyone needs to forget packing and run for their lives.  If they don’t they will be stranded, trapped and probably killed.

Mark 13: 14 – 19

14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. 14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.

Jesus also gives us some important instructions in verse 18.  We are to pray that this event doesn’t happen in winter.  Otherwise even fewer people, especially pregnant women and nursing mothers, will have a difficult time leaving.  Whether we are Jewish or not, we should care what happens to God’s chosen people.  Just like we don’t like being stranded in a snowstorm, we shouldn’t want the Jewish people to be at risk.  The Jewish people and Christians both need to be praying that God is merciful and that this doesn’t let this happen in winter, but in a better season.  Add this one to your regular prayer list, the time is getting closer.

Stressed to the Max

I have been watching people lately.  I have been noticing the busy-ness of their lives and the stress on their faces and in their voices.  They are all stressed to the max.  I am even more amazed that the adults are causing this situation for their children, as well.  The children are mimicking the adults in every way.  They are involved in too many activities, stressed about schedules, homework, and friends.  The children are over eating, yelling, crying, unhappy and in poor health.  I have been there myself on many an occasion.  I am a terrible one for saying “No” and taking on too many projects while working full-time.  It harmed my health, my emotions and my spiritual life.  It is no way to live.  I don’t think God intended for us to live this way at all, but I think God knows we are humans and has given us the answer in His word.

Matthew 11:28

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.

There is a lot of good common sense in these scriptures.  First of all, if we are stressed we need to go to God with our problem.  Yet, so many times we put him last or maybe even not at all in our lives, because we have no time.  We have chosen the busy things of life over God.  We need to go to God and ask Him to prioritize our lives and have him tells us what we should be involved in and not involved in.  If we are stressed about a situation, then go to God.  He is full of wisdom and can guide us through anything.  If we stressed to the point of being depressed we need to get around some other Christians and share encouraging words with one another.  Most importantly we need to depend on God and not on ourselves.  We need to not be trying to accomplish everything on our own.  We need to be focused on God and trust Him.  The more we are in His Word or in prayer we will see God’s Will and see His provision and learn to trust Him.  We will gain His peace.  Our stress will disappear.

So if you are stressed, then now is the time to stop and bow your head in prayer and open up your Bible and read.  The other stuff can wait.

Start a Revolution!

The Merriam-Websters Dictionary defines “Revolution” as:

a: a sudden, radical, or complete change

b: a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed

c: activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation

d: a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm <the Copernican revolution>

Our Forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence and led the American Revolution, because they felt that men should be free and not have to live under tyrannical dictators. They wanted their government and way of life to change.  Our Founding Fathers felt strongly about setting up a government that would be founded on the principles found in the Bible.  They would hold prayer sessions, study their Bibles and discuss God’s ideas as they laid down the foundations of our government.  When they came to disagreements, they wouldn’t just vote and decide by majority what the founding documents would set in order.  Instead they would stop and pray.  In 1787 when the Constitutional Convention was in progress differences would arise and tempers would flare over the differences.  Benjamin Franklin stepped forward and stated:

I will suggest, Mr. President, that propriety of nominating and appointing, before we separate, a chaplain to this Convention, whose duty it shall be uniformly to assemble with us, and introduce the business of each day by and address to the Creator of the universe, and the Governor of all nations, beseeching Him to preside in our council, enlighten our minds with a portion of heavenly wisdom, influence our hearts with a love of truth and justice, and crown our labors with complete and abundant success!

Benjamin Franklin had a lot of God-given common sense.  He knew that success for the new government would only come when God was put first.  He knew God, our Creator, must be the one consulted before decisions were made.  He knew prayer to the one and only God would bring wisdom and truth.  Prayer is where everything begins and  it is what brings about great change for the better.  A man-made revolution is not what brings about betterment, but a God-made revolution.  God gave us this knowledge in answer to King Solomon’s prayer in II Chronicles 7:14.

“…and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

Our country is definitely in need of healing.  We are hurting economically, socially, morally, environmentally, emotionally, physically, governmentally and religiously.  We are no longer a successful and powerful country, but a declining one.  We have not stood up for God and His Ways.  We have settled for comfort, ease, and the World’s ways.  We no longer consult God for our country’s direction or its protection and blessing.  Our leaders are ungodly and we put them there.  Our leaders no longer understand why they have a Congressional Chaplain and our Judges no longer understand the Constitution, support it, or understand its Christian principles.  It is time to put Benjamin Franklin’s common sense (which came from God) back in to action.  We need to humble ourselves. We need to pray. We need to pray fervently for our country and its leaders.  Our leaders need to pray and seek out God and His wisdom.  We are God’s people and we have been told if we would but pray and turn back to Him our land will be healed.  It starts with us.  We can bring change to our government, country and its people.  We can start the Revolution.  We can start the God-made Revolution!

Can You Imagine?

How many books or movies when you were a kid opened up your imagination?  I use to feel like I was right there in the book.  I somehow became one or the characters or was in whatever place they were describing.  Sometimes I might imagine I had some kind of special power or ability.  Sometimes I would imagine that a series a doors were in front of me and each one could take me to some place different.  Sometimes I would imagine I could wish for whatever I wanted and it would appear.   Can you imagine how great as adults  it would be if we could do that now? As Christians, the good news is, that we do have the ability to ask for things from our Heavenly Father who loves us.  He never yells at us when we ask for something outside of His Will, instead He lovingly gives us what is best for us.  How could you not want what is best for you?  To actually receive the best answer to our question, is far better most of the time than what we could have ever asked for. Read Matthew 7:7 -8.

 ⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

As we learned in previous devotions the key is persistence.  Keep asking, seeking and knocking.  We also learned that it is 100% guaranteed that we will get an answer.  We could write the President of the U.S. and ask him a question and there is no guarantee we would even get an answer.  So that is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father will guarantee to answer us.  He will open the door when we knock.  He won’t hide out in the dark behind closed drapes and wait for us to give up and leave.  He will come to the door and open it.  He will help us find what we are looking for.  He will give to those who ask.  I find these verses very encouraging.  I can depend on God.  I know He will answer my prayers in the best possible way.  These verses encourage me to be persistent and encourage me to wait for the best answer from God.  I will remember that my requests might not be the best for me and that they are merely suggestions to God.  I will let His genius figure out what is best for me. 

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

When we buy products we tend to look for a product with the best guarantee.  That way when something goes wrong, we have some where to turn and maybe a way to fix the problem without costing us any money.  Sometimes, we even buy an extra warranty policy on a product.  We love a guaranteed answer to our problem or need.  I am pretty sure we would all love that with our prayer life too.  Well, we actually do have a 100% guarantee that our prayers and needs will be answered and taken care of.  Read Matthew 7: 7-8.

⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

These verses are in the present imperative verb tense.  Meaning that they are a command to keep doing the actions listed.  Persistence is expected.  Following those commands is a guaranteed response from God.  God is 100% guaranteed to answer our prayers.  What a relief to know that God will answer.  This means that we don’t have to worry.  God will take care of things.  The questions are, “Will I be patient and wait?”, “Will I accept the answer?” or “Will I not wait for God’s answer and take things in my own hands?”  Many of us are not strong enough to wait or listen.  Many of us are weak in our faith and cannot accept the answer God gives.  Many of us doubt and take things in to our own hands.  If we would but remember that God loves us, is all knowledgeable and all powerful and would give us the best answer, we would be able to wait for or accept the answer.  It just makes common sense to wait for God’s guaranteed answer.  It’s the best way to get satisfaction.

Keep On Keeping On

It’s interesting to read different translations of the Bible.  Reading different translations can help you gain different perspectives or insights in to a verse.  However, you have to be careful , because there are translations that are inaccurate.  To really get an accurate translation and deeper insight in to the Word it is always better to go back to the Greek or Hebrew and do a word study.  Some translations are accurate, but they may only get across a concept or basic meaning.  Other translations may pull out more of the correct tense and definition of the words.  For example, take a look at the verse we looked at yesterday, Matthew 7: 7-8.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 2011)

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (New King James)

⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 1984)

 ⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 All four versions are basically ok, but two, NIV 2011 and New King James, give us the concept and two, NIV 1984 and Holman, give us the original intended tense.  The original Greek wording and tense deepens the instruction being taught in this verse.  We aren’t just to ask, we are to keep asking.  We aren’t just to seek/search, we are to keep seeking/searching.  We aren’t just to knock once, we are to keep knocking.  As the old saying goes, we are to “Keep on keeping on”.  Be persistent.  Be like the persistent widow in the parable in Luke 18: 1-8.

It Couldn’t Hurt to Ask

I grew up with the old idiom “It couldn’t hurt to ask” or “It never hurts to ask”.  You see an object at the store that you would really like to get, but it looks too pricey so you walk away.  Perhaps that was a missed opportunity to apply the old idiom.  I know it has worked in my life a few times.  I asked for something for a reasonable price and it was given to me.  In this economy you might find that it will work more often than you think.  How many times as a kid were you not afraid to ask you parents or grandparents over and over again for that ice cream cone as the ice cream truck passed?  How many times did it work?  I know if I didn’t ask I didn’t have a chance at all at getting the ice cream.  That same wisdom was passed on to us by God.  Read Matthew 7: 7-8.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

 We need to ask God questions.  We need to ask God for what we need.  We need ask even if we aren’t sure it is something we should even ask for.  Like a child asking for an ice cream on a hot summer day.  An ice cream really might not be the best thing for the child.  Maybe it’s right before dinner.  Maybe a glass of water would really be healthy for the child and quench their thirst and cool them down.  God also tells us that we need to seek or search and we need to knock at the door.  All of these are active steps on our part.  We need to take time to communicate with God.  Just like I use to look for those Chocolate Chip cookies my mom hid from us kids, I need to look for what God has for me.  I need to seek or search out what He has.  I use to knock on my Mom and Dad’s bedroom door and ask them for things.  We need to knock on God’s door and ask.  If Jesus himself told us to ask, seek and knock, don’t you think it would be the wise thing to do?  After all it couldn’t hurt to ask, what is the worst He is going to do to us for asking?  Out of love He is going to give us the best answer, even if that means “No” or “Wait”.