God's Resources

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  It’s not uncommon for me to say several times a week, that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done! Of course, that totally depends on the day and the list created in front of me.  Still, it seems every day, there is something on my list (even if it’s ‘an I’d like to do') that doesn’t get accomplished.  

That’s pretty much okay, given I’m currently reading a book on how to ‘un-hurry’!  Part of that process it realizing I can’t get everything done in one day, nor can I be everything to everyone, and some days I just have to say ‘no’.  That’s hard for me.

Recently I was reading about being a steward of our time.  I thought this was interesting, in that it applies to a truck driver, carpenter, dish washer, momma, and everything—note everything — in between!  There are 24 hours in our day, 168 hours in the week, and 535,600 minutes in a year.  (I didn’t do the math, but I suspect it’s accurate!)  But the point is, ALL those numbers applies to every living being.  It’s what we do with those minutes that matter!

Some people are very good at time management, and seem to accomplish so much.  Very often, these same people have found what they are good at and use the gifts God gave them to move forward and be productive.  Other people use those same minutes to focus on relationships, or make plans or dream of what they might like to do —some day.  While other people choose to use their moments watching TV or using precious moments playing video games, or scrolling on their electronic device.

Understand, watching TV, scrolling or playing games in themselves is not wrong.  But when time is wasted on these activities instead of choosing to use the gifts and talents God has given us, aren’t we cheating God of HIS time?  Everything is his after all.  He’s given it to us to see how we use it; yes even our time.  

Remember the Parable of the Talents?  Each was given s specific amount of talents, but one chose to do nothing with his and bury it.  He didn’t have the energy or interest to make any good use of it.  The Master promised to come back and he did.  And the Master was not pleased with the one who did nothing.

Are we ‘doing nothing’ with our time when we bury our talents?  Are we being faithful with the blessings we’ve been given?  We’re all accountable for what we do, as well as, for what we don’t, when it comes to using God’s gifts.  He has a designed plan and a purpose--- and has seen to it that each of us has something to offer; something that will move the Kingdom forward.  Are we doing that or are we not taking the Lord serious?   

We are given amazing possibilities every day.  It’s up to us to look for them and then respond as God directs us.  It’s a brand new week!  Let’s do our best to be alert to the Holy Spirit’s nudging and use our God given resources ---including our time--responsibly!  

Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/search/clock/ 

Preparing To Serve

 

You may think me crazy but one of my favorite things to do is study!  I went to college when my youngest son started and I was diligent about doing homework and studying for tests.  The idea of being a ‘perpetual student’ absolutely applies to me.  I’m in my happy place when I can open a book about something which interests me, but of which I know only limited information.   There were times when my adult kids literally removed my book from my lap and said, “Mom, it’s the weekend!  Take. A. Break!

When I read about Daniel, I’m intrigued.  When our children leave home for college, they usually attend a college of their choice and often have a course of study in mind.  

When Daniel left home, it wasn’t to attend college in the sense we know it, but there are similarities.  He didn’t get to choose the college of his choice, he was taken by the Babylonians from his home.  He and others were taken to new surroundings, in a new land, away from everything they’d grown up and known.

He and the other ‘new’ students, were expected to learn a new language, culture, the literature of the area, different curriculum than he would have chosen and thus a new educational major and/or minor over the next three years!  He and others were even given new names!  These ‘students’ were expected to completely transform from what they were accustomed to and accept their new station in life.

Daniel, who was considered a quick learner, did well.  He didn’t, however, forget where he came from or about the God he believed in!  Regardless of the struggles facing him, he was dedicated to a positive attitude and considered this event to be an opportunity to gain insight in ways he could use the new found information, to serve  his Lord.  He believed God had a plan; a good plan!

His belief and faith in God drove him to set personal goals and resist those temptations Satan would hurl at him in this new environment.  He gently made a case for eating the correct food rather than being coerced into eating foods he believed would defile him before God.  He made commitments and decisions that were hard and went against the grain, yet kept the ‘powers that be’ at bay. 

There were those, however, who set out to ‘bring Daniel down’!  They convinced the king to make a decree that everyone would only bow before him (the king) and to no other God.  Daniel, prayed about this, and decided he wouldn’t change a thing regarding his devotion to the one and only Living God.  

Ultimately he was thrown into the lion’s den, but the lions mouths were shut and did not harm him.  Daniel knew the consequences of disobedience to the king.  He had studied the culture and understood that hearts were not turned to his God, but knew God would take care of the matter.

In the years before this, what I would have considered a 'harrowing event’, Daniel prepared to serve his God regardless of the circumstances.  His preparation and confidence in God, got him through because God had a plan.  He used this event to show us ‘nothing is impossible with God’.  Realistically Daniel should have immediately been viciously devoured by the lions, but wasn’t.

Do we study God’s Word so intently that we know it and have faith like Daniel had; that God is all powerful?  It’s so much easier to cower under the pressure.  Our world is upside down and inside out with evil lurking in every corner!  I want faith like Daniel had! 

To have this kind of faith, however, I need to be dedicated to study—- to the study of God’s word!  I heard a pastor say once we aren’t only accountable for what we know in the Bible——but also for what we don’t know!  I want to be prepared for whatever comes my way.  Will you join me in study, as we prepare to serve?

https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/daniel-lions-den.html 

Challenges To Our Faith

        I’ve always been in awe of hot air balloons.  As much as I’d like to ride, my husband, who is afraid of heights says, ‘absolutely not’!  So I watch from ground level as these beautifully heated balloons float above me.  We were in Arizona years ago during one of their 'hot air balloon' festivals and watched as they were heated and drifted up into the sky.  The sight of hundreds of balloons floating above us was stunning!

I guess it would take a lot of faith to ride in a balloon basket navigated by heat and directed by human hand.  My one son and his family rode in one a few months ago and he said it was amazing.  Still, just this morning my husband read on the news recently about a hot air balloon that crashed in Arizona.  Tragically, there were four people killed.  

   You can ask almost anyone and they could share some tragedy that has come to their family.  It might be a death of a child or parent.  A tornado might have come through and leveled their home and destroyed all their belongings or even have a fire which devoured everything they owned; an accident happened with children in the car and both were killed; or the driver was now a quadriplegic.  The negative possibilities are endless.

The point is, we all have struggles.  We live in a sinful world and satan rules this realm.  As believers, however, we have Christ who will protect us, and comfort us when challenges become to great to bear.

It’s hard to keep in perspective that God is in control when we are down in the valley of despair.  But when we think of Job who lost everything he had, who still clung to the Lord and even said we have to accept the good with the bad in life; that God is Sovereign and regardless of circumstances He is still a good God!

We are created for the glory of God.  When we trudge through the struggle and reach the other side, even if battered but not destroyed, we can often see how God kept us safe and stayed with us throughout; and ultimately later on, can use the event for his glory.

Even with God’s provision, there are those who would insist that if God allows horrible stuff to happen, He is a selfish God.  But God works through the bad circumstances we have. God uses these struggles to 'grow' us and enable us to help others.  

When we look at our current government, I can’t say I understand it.  There is so much adversity, and morality seems to have become a thing of the past.  Still there must be a reason and plan which only God can know, to further move His kingdom along.  

I do know, according to Revelation, we are to experience these situations.  We can see it all around us.  How will God use it? I haven’t a clue.  But it’s comforting knowing that God is in control and will one day return.  He is all powerful and has promised that Satan will have his due.      

Sadly the folks in the hot air balloon ride lost their lives, even though they had faith in the mechanics (and heating system) of the balloon and the person guiding it.  But it failed.  God’s not like that.  God does not fail.  

We do have struggles, but He is always with us, regardless of the circumstance.  The hot air balloon incident may cause their family members and perhaps even friends to question their faith and wonder how God could allow such a thing to happen.  

      ‘Stuff’ happens to both the good and bad in the world; saved and unsaved.  If we are a Believer in Christ, we may incur difficulties which may challenge our faith, but we know we are never alone.  This enables us to walk the hard road and come out the other side!

https://www.pexels.com/search/hot%20air%20balloon/ 

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

  There’s been so much going on in the world today, it’s hard to keep up!  Our world has been hit by weather extremes, a COVID  pandemic only a few years past that still has people on edge, there's a war raging in Israel and political discontent here in the U.S. with upheavals all over the country from people trying wreak havoc on all that is traditional, and even good.  Given the terror threats in some areas, the military have been called in, extra police officers and other protection protocols to maintain civility!

I don’t have the answers to any of this, but the one thing that is clear to me is how Satan is manipulating our world, to the point of no return.  He and his minions have put into place people who choose to do his will, spreading hate and division, violence and destruction everywhere!  

The battle lines have been drawn.  Satan is trying to convince the world that everything is okay.  It’s perfectly fine to hate your neighbor; or have disdain for the good and right in the world.  He’s convinced ‘the powers that be,’ that to be immoral is the right thing to do; what was once wrong is now right, and to live life with total abandon with only our own wants and desires to be met, being the perfect way to live.  And of course, there are no repercussions for bad behavior.  It’s a game to see who can outwit who!

Recently my daughter shared with me several commercials she and her family have seen on TV, where Satan has a girlfriend.  In the commercials Satan is grinning and he and his girl are having the times of their lives.  While he is totally red with satanic horns, his friendly smile with perfect white teeth and pleasant voice belie the wickedness this evil has.  

But one thing I know.  I’ve read the ‘back of the Book’ and I know how it ends! Satan is real.  He’s not a comic hero or commercial icon that should be taken lightly and accepted as ‘the norm’ in our homes as families, with children looking on.  Satan is evil!  He is false and destructive and wants nothing more than to destroy the workings of the Lord.  And he thinks he’s going to win. —-  Well, in theory, because he’s read the back of the Book, too, and he knows —-and he fears God.  But his pride shoves him on into oblivion with a purpose:  to take as many people with him as he can.

Our world has walked over the edge.  We live in a realm of extreme depravity and this is a sure sign Jesus will return soon.  Obviously ‘soon’ is subjective and it’s still our responsibility to pray for God’s guidance and even a revival!  But it’s also up us as Believers, to recognize God’s impact in our world and not walk the slippery slope of acceptance to Satan’s plan.  He’s the chief fooler; master deceiver!  He’s causing even devout Christians to not fall on their knees in repentance, as he continues to worm his way into hearts and minds.

We need to pray for our young people as their world is filled with so many wrongs  as defined by the Bible, that have come to be commonplace in our lives.  When we as adults don’t recognize the evil behind what we see or hear, how can we teach our young ones?  It’s certainly something to think about.

Photo Credit:  https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/end-times 

Celebrate An Epiphany

     To “have an epiphany,” by definition, is to “have a manifestation” --  or striking indication of something dramatic.  I heard a the story of a doctor who describes his career as a “series of epiphanies.”  These striking indicators caused him to make specific changes in his life and career.

    

    The Bible tells of the Wise Men who had an epiphany about the Infant Jesus.  The Shepherd’s in the fields, did as well.  These dramatic indicators led them to change their set pattern of their normal routine, and ultimately the way they looked at life.

As a quilter, I’m often amazed at how different a quilt can look when you change one shape, change colors or rearrange the pieces in a block.  With each change, there is the potential to make a whole new quilt!  The possibilities are endless—when you see it, it’s kind of like having an “epiphany!”

This same principle can be applied to our lives.  When we change a bad habit for a good one, we’ve changed a “shape.”   When we change a sinful lifestyle to a Christian lifestyle, we’ve changed a “color.”  When we fellowship with Christians instead of those who would lead us down a sinful road, we have “rearranged the pieces” in the block.  The sum total of all these changes creates a “new person” in Christ.

We are told not to conform to the patterns of the world but to be transformed.  This transformation may take time.  With the “renewing of our minds” through reading God’s word, the transformation comes in each of us, just as the quilt changes when we change colors and rearrange pieces of the block.  Our potential for possibilities becomes endless!  

As the new year dawns, many of us create “New Year’s Resolutions.” Often, however, our goals are so dramatic we learn almost instantly (sometimes it takes a whole week!)  it’s not going to happen.  We immediately reach for the leftover snacks from the holidays, (waste not, want not. Right?) or we realize getting up an hour earlier is impossible given our hectic schedule or even in our very specific business worlds huge, dynamic changes (like promising myself I’ll write 1,000 words on any specific project every day) are just impossible to find follow through. 

The best way to make changes is a little at a time.  It’s like eating a slice (or bite) of pie rather than eating the whole thing in one sitting!  By creating a plan of “pieces” instead of “entirety” our goals are much easier to accomplish!  Instead of dieting through starvation or eliminating all snacks we know we’re going to eat, choose to eat half.  Instead of rising an hour early to exercise, arise only ten minutes early.  Rather than promising to write 1,000 words on any given project every day, choose to reach 500 words.  Each of these goals are much more manageable.  We can then increase the increments as we adjust to our now “new normal.”

As you reflect on the changes you might want to make in 2024, I encourage you to include an “Epiphany” in your spiritual life, recognizing God as the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe and ultimately your life.  Choose to read three to five verses of scripture every morning.  Choose to stop and pray for three to five minutes, and increase these (and others you choose) by a small increments over a period of time and allow your faith to grow.   

Happy New Year, Everyone!