Month: June 2017

“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” Jeremiah 33:3
One of my favorite stories…
George Carver Washington, a renowned botanist started his mornings with prayer and Bible reading. He took this verse very seriously. One day he asked the Lord to reveal to him the secrets of the universe. The Lord said he couldn’t handle knowing all of those secrets. George then asked him, “Tell me the secrets of the peanut.” Over the course of the next several years God revealed to him the secrets of the peanut, over 300 uses. When he asked the same thing of the sweet potato, God revealed to him over a 115 uses for it.
Do you have the courage to do what George Carver Washington did?  Do you have the courage to ask God for some of His secrets?
When George did this, it revolutionized his life.  He went from being the son of a slave to a great American scientist.  He served on the faculty of Tuskegee University teaching sustainable farming.  World Leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin sought his advice.  Thomas Edison told him “Together, we can remake the world.” Henry Ford, as well as Edison offered him state of the art facilities and resources to do his work.
He preferred is laboratory which he called “God’s little workshop.”
He was bold and courageous and he sought God’s secrets.  God answered and as a result, George changed the world and left a heck of a legacy.
What about you?  What secrets do you want God to share with you?  What are your motives?
George’s motives were to grow more intimate with his Creator and to help his fellow man and his nation.
As I prayed over this verse this morning, I wanted to know only one thing.  I wanted to know that a friend of mine that is going through a very difficult time would be ok.  That’s all I wanted God to tell me this morning.
He hasn’t told me what the future holds for her.  He has given me peace that He loves her more than I ever could. He told me He’s got this.
He answered my prayer.
That’s enough for me to know today.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll ask Him to tell me something else.
What do you want to know today?  He’s waiting to answer.

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.” Psalm 118:8
This is one of my favorite verses, it comes to mind often when dealing with people.  There are many different translations.  KJV says, “It is better to trust in the Lord…”.  It is so true, it is in God we must trust, not man.
I played a golf tournament yesterday with a lovely group of ladies.  One of them was a retired banker.  We were joking at one point about the motto of her old softball team:
“In God we trust, all others we audit.”
I think it’s a great paraphrase of Psalm 118:8, which by the way is the center verse of the Bible.  I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  In the very heart of God’s word, He tells us to trust Him.  That seems about right.
The truth is, we do need to audit people.  We can’t put all of our trust in humans.  For one thing, it’s not fair to put that much pressure on a person.  Secondly, no one can live up to that expectation, not even me.  Only God can be completely trusted.
Trust is such a fragile thing and can be so easily fractured.  Sadly, once broken, it is hard to repair.  When someone lies to me, it breaks my heart in ways that nothing else is capable of doing.
I wonder why they felt the need to lie?  What is it about me that makes them not feel comfortable telling me the truth?  It makes me feel that I have failed them as a friend.  It’s something I don’t understand.
Ironically, often times we lie because we think we’re protecting the person.  Inevitably though, it hurts worse than if the truth had been told in the first place.
Thankfully, we aren’t called to trust people.  We are called to love them.  You can love people you don’t trust.  They may not be your closest confidante, but you can still love them.
Jesus knew better than to trust people:
“But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature.”  John 2:24
But He does love us, and we’re to love others:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
It’s true, it’s hard to have a close relationship with someone you can’t trust.  Even truer is the statement, we’re to love them anyway.
I’m grateful that Jesus has set the example.  He’s a hard act to follow, but it is definitely worth the effort!

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”  Proverbs 16:9
I’m reading through “The Power of a Praying Wife” by Stormie Omartian with a friend.  When I was reading today, this sentence struck me:
“History tends to repeat itself without the intervention of God.”
Wow!
Stop!
Think about that!
Think about your past.  What are things that keep repeating themselves in your life?  As you answer that question, you probably have just been given a clue to the areas of your life where you are not letting God intervene.  Mind blowing!
I always have defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  I think I may just change that definition a bit for my life.  Insanity in my life is doing the same things over and over again and not letting God into the mix.
When I was single, my relationships didn’t start to change until I started letting God into them.  When I started to apply His principles I started having healthy relationships.  Because I consult Him now, I maintain healthy relationships.
When I was in debt, nothing changed until I decided to let God into my finances.  I wrote my first tithe check when I was on unemployment with over $40,000 in credit card debt, student loan debt and a car loan.  Hard to make the minimum payments on unemployment.  I was receiving $250 a week and I started writing that $25 check.  It was actually easier because it wasn’t a large amount at that time.
God honored that obedience.  Five months later I found a job that was more than double what I had been making previously.  Ironically, it became much harder to write the tithe check because the amount was much larger.  Yet I did.  That was almost 20 years ago and one thing I learned, God honors the tithe, always.
I didn’t become debt free immediately.  It took years.  During that time I struggled with the thought, “God, you have all the money in the world, why don’t you just cut me a check so I can be done with this?”  I asked myself that quite a bit.  It took me awhile to realize the answer.
God wouldn’t of been doing me any favors if He’d paid off my debt because I wouldn’t of learned the lesson.  I wouldn’t of learned self-control.  I wouldn’t of learned how to budget.  I wouldn’t of learned the root cause of my overspending, which had a lot to do with insecurity. I wouldn’t of learned any of that if God had wiped out my debt.  Odds are, history would of tended to repeat itself if God hand’t intervened.
Now I live debt free.  When I married my husband, I was debt free.  On our honeymoon we created our first budget.  We live within our means because the Lord intervened in my finances all those years ago.  One quarrel my husband and I don’t have is about money.  Who knew, that in teaching me how to handle money the Lord was actually helping my future marriage?
Thank God the Lord intervened.

• Where do you need God to intervene in your life?  The answer to the question, “What history keeps repeating itself in your life?” is probably a good place to start.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1
I have an amazing group of women that I meet with every two weeks.  It’s a new group. Today was only our fourth meeting.  The connection we have made in this brief period of time can only be described as a God thing.  They are why I love groups.  They are why I know everyone needs a group.  They are why I give my time away so other people can experience and share what we experience and share together.
Today’s topic was on seasons of life.  My favorite quote was “Sometimes good seasons have to end so great seasons can begin.”  All of us, in our group, are in different seasons of life. Sharon inspired this blog, as we talked about the different seasons of our lives.
As I pulled on my reading glasses in the midst of describing this season of my life, she astutely pointed out that “they” are an indication of the season I am in today.
I am in mid-life.  Mid-life comes with indicators.  My eyesight isn’t what it was five years ago.  My body takes longer to recover from a work out.  I have a hard time guessing someone’s age under 25.  They all look young to me.
Our study this morning challenged us to love the seasons that we are currently experiencing.   The question becomes, “How do we do that?”
How do we do that?
I think first we have to recognize that there are seasons.  That things don’t last forever.  In fact, you can bank on the fact that whatever you’re going through right now, it’s not going to last forever.  It will change.   It will end.  It will become a new season.
I struggle with identifying seasons sometimes.  It is why I am so grateful for women like those I shared time with this morning who help me identify my seasons.  You can’t love something if you don’t even know it exists.
Learning to identify seasons isn’t as apparent as the changing of seasons in Mother Nature.  If we pay attention, we will see the identifiers.  The day you become a teenager.  The day you get your driver’s license.  The day you graduate high school or college.  The day you get married.  The day you have your first child, then your second.  The day you put on your first pair of reading glasses.  These are just a few, but they all identify a new season.  Just like the cooler temperatures in September indicate Fall.
Once we recognize that our lives are divided into seasons, we can start appreciating them.  When it is Summer, I appreciate the warmth.  When I received my driver’s license I appreciated the new found freedom.  When the leaves change in the Fall I appreciate their beautful colors.  As I place my readers on my nose I appreciate the clarity they give me.
The seasons of life vary from person to person.  From Mom’s to women who never had children, there are still seasons.   Whether single or married, there are still seasons.
I’m grateful for my current season.  It isn’t all a big bowl of cherries.  Even in the struggles, I am grateful.  I am grateful because I have a God that is bigger than any struggle I will ever face.  I am grateful because there is nothing new on earth.  I am grateful for the people God gives me to help me through whatever season I am in at the time.  I am grateful because I have a God who will never leave me nor forsake me, no matter what circumstance I face.
I am grateful, because I know, that He does the same for you.  I know He loves you more than I ever could.  I know He has a plan for you.  I know it’s a good plan, one that will prosper you and not harm you.  Do you know how I know?  Because His word says so:
“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
And:
“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
If I can count on it, so can you!
 
 

 ^“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Matthew 5:44
One of the most common conversations I’ve had with people is about praying for your enemies.  People are very resistant to praying for those they have categorized as their opponent. My pat answer has always been because it changes you.  It changes your heart.  It changes your perspective.
I’m currently reading through “The Power of a Praying Wife” by Stormie  Omartian.  I love how she describes it:
“The safeguard you have with prayer is that you have to go through God to do it.  This means you can’t get away with bad attitude, wrong thinking, or incorrect motives.  When you pray, God reveals anything in your personality that is resistant to His order of things.”
I love this new way of thinking about this verse, about praying for your enemies.  When you enter into prayer with God, in sincerity, you can let it all hang out.  You can rant and rave and give it all to Him.  He can handle it.  What He does with it will amaze you.
He doesn’t hit you over the head with a hammer.  He doesn’t berate you or call you names.  He loves you.  He loves the person with whom you are mad.
He will gently remind you that you have your flaws.  He will help you recognize that you have a part in the disagreement or conflict.  He will show you where you need to change.  He will do it all cushioned in such unconditional love you will be grateful.
He safeguards you from yourself as you go through Him to process your anger.  He will calm the seas of your heart.  He will give you direction.  He will help you gain perspective.
First though, you have to go to Him.