Secondhand Smoke

Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one’s clothes? (Proverbs 6:27 NRSV)

I think I just now realized that the expression “hot under the collar” came from this verse of Proverbs! Oh the challenges we face in the Twenty-First Century Church, with our 24/7 news and social media. We have become absolutely saturated with information until it’s coming out our ears. The Word said it would be this way in the end times…Daniel’s age-old prophecy declared that knowledge would increase. Interesting, isn’t it, that only knowledge seems to have increased. Our world is just as unwise as it ever was; in fact, we’ve gotten pretty stupid to have become so smart.

As believers, we must guard our souls from toxic overload, truly. At the time Ecclesiastes was penned, the only sources of information were books (well, scrolls and tablets to be more precise) and direct word of mouth. Yet this totally relevant-to-our-day word was given to us all those centuries ago: The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. (Ecclesiastes 12:11-12 NIV) Imagine the author’s awe had he a glimpse into the age of technology! Now, it can be fittingly added, “of being bombarded with information true and false, there is no end…and overexposure is exhausting and unhealthy!”

A couple of decades back, I remember Nettie Neace teaching in Sunday School how that the Lord had delivered her from an addiction to watching the news. Just a young adult at the time, I couldn’t really grasp the idea of keeping news channels on all day long; but that was before the Internet! Now all we have to do is click open our social media just to say hello to friends and family, and it’s on! Why, we can rabbit-trail all day long, following links to a million different opinions about our world’s debauched condition. We can shake our heads in disapproval, rant a while, and then click “share!” It goes on and on and on, and to what end? At the end of the day, we probably haven’t actually prayed about the people and conditions who’ve shocked us so…but we sure have been drawn in by the stories and pictures!

God spoke the words “secondhand smoke” into my spirit this morning as I pondered these things. Just as you can become sick from breathing someone else’s cigarette smoke, you can also become physically and spiritually sick from taking in the sinful, appalling stories about others’ lifestyles. Are you absorbing the toxins just because you won’t distance yourself from what’s polluting your soul? Many times we don’t even realize we’re doing it…if you’ve lived with a smoker or worked in a place where you have to breathe it all day, you can begin to tune it out to where you don’t even notice it anymore. Your lungs do, however. When we make it a daily routine to tune in to the next episode of “As the World Churns,” we are drawing fire into our bosom; we are filling our lungs with the fumes of sin. Proverbs warns that it will burn us! In our own covert ways, the world’s reveling can even become a form of entertainment as we take it all in. It may not have immediate effects, but when you allow yourself to become glued to screen, letting commentary anger you and raise your blood pressure, it is going to do cumulative damage. I made a comparison yesterday on my Facebook status that all of this is like poking your finger in your eye, yelling “ouch!” and then poking your finger right back in your eye again! We can make ourselves victims of these whether our views lean to the left or lean to the right–there are plenty of ploys to anger us by “the other side” or to, as my grandma would say, “get our goat!” And there are people who sure know how to push our buttons. We can walk right into the smoke and hang out there, or we can recognize what it’s doing to us and walk away.

Does this mean we are to be like ostriches with our heads in the sand? No, not at all. We need to advocate and practice balance. Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray, lest they enter into temptation. We should limit our time around tv, newspapers, and social media to reasonable amounts. What you read, stop and pray about it before just going on to another and another. The true litmus test of whether it’s worthy of your attention is this: 1. Does it move you to pray and intercede, or does it instead cause you to rant and rave? 2. Does it have the ability to enrich your life in any way, or is it just more “fluff?” 3. Does it rob you of peace, or does it instead give you peace? 4. Do you read it because you are seeking answers, or do you read it because you are addicted to the rush of another shock? 5. Does knowing about it in any way stand to benefit you? 6. Would Jesus post it to His status if He had a social media account? Would He share, forward, bookmark, comment on, or consider it to be worth sacrificing time spent doing good? 7. Can you actually do anything about what you’re watching, or are you just another spectator with an opinion?

I need work, too. I’m not that into television, but I can easily get drawn into news stories online. I have a big heart, I can come pretty unglued by all the sinful, unjust, hateful things going on. Most of them don’t put me in a prayerful state, I must confess. They depress me, discourage me, disillusion me. If that’s all I fill my soul with all day long, how can I do anything more than wallow in misery? I have to apply the Word to what I see, and pray for the people who are so full of hurt and deception; but I also have to know when I’ve ventured beyond praying and now I’m just loitering. The Apostle Paul gave us a great guideline to follow about what we breathe in, and there’s nothing smoggy, smoky, fumey, stinky, or dirty in a bit of it: “Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” (Philippians 4:8 NCV) If ever there were a time we need to apply some First Century godly wisdom, it’s now.

Owning Our Words

I know that there are a few folks in this world who are chronically offended about anything and everything, but we can never use that as an excuse to just be reckless with our words. Part of the last days’ trend will be increasing offenses. Some of it we will just have to deal with…especially in matters of truth; but I caution us as believers to weigh out our words–right down to our motives for speaking them–before we let them fly. That goes double for me!

The Word tells us that we will give account of every idle word. That’s not just telling us to clean up our language…it’s telling us to weed out whatever doesn’t bear good fruit. We can go about business as usual, and say, “Well, so-and-so just needs to grow up,” or we can choose to be better stewards of our communication. Corrupt ‪#‎communication‬ isn’t just dirty words and cursing; it’s anything that breeds confusion and opens the door for the devil to make a mess of things. We don’t have to go around fearful and reluctant to speak to people; but I’m just saying, give no place to the devil! Why should I have to qualify what I say? you may ask. Well, you can wound people and determine to just let them be wounded–that’s their problem–or you can take just a little more care in the area of reconciliation and consideration.

It’s not just a matter of being better communicators to a lost world, but it’s also a matter of being better communicators among our brothers and sisters in Christ. Leaders to leaders, leaders to followers, followers to other followers, and all of us to the world–our speech will either be fruitful or it will be like spraying Round Up on everything we work to produce. Know when tough love is needed, but know also when you just need to stake up the weak branches and pour in the oil and wine. Be honest with people if you have a problem with them; but do it in love and humility. Don’t show partiality, be clannish, or ignore the feelings of those who look up to you. If you do, you will lose them.

The Lord spoke to my heart in prayer a few months back and He told me that we are to beware of reckless offenses in the Body of Christ. The enemy is going to try to erode our unity not by big church splits, but by little offenses. Little day-to-day misunderstandings, lack of proper communication, suspicions, distrust, hurts, unforgiveness, disrespect, ignoring one another, backbiting, gossip, incorrect assumptions, “digging” at one another (does your kidding around with others ever go just a little too far?), and failure to prefer our brothers and sisters over ourselves. Even as a local body, my own church has maintained a great strength in unity over the years, and I would say, “turn up the dial even higher to safeguard against the devil’s schemes! Be ready to extinguish any spark of disunity you see trying to ignite!” Yes, Satan will even try that strategy in the strongest of churches.

Listen to the Holy Spirit like you’ve never listened before. I believe that if we will remain humble and open to His voice, He will caution us when we are about to make a blunder. Don’t override His urging when He’s saying to you, ‘That’s not your business.’ ‘Nope, don’t go there.’ ‘You don’t know that to be a fact at all.’ ‘This is where you need to end the discussion.’ ‘Don’t be part of that conversation.’ ‘Walk away.’ ‘Apologize…I don’t care if you’re right or wrong…I am telling you to be the one to reconcile.’ ‘I don’t care if you do think it’s funny, you are giving the devil a chance to cause someone else to get hurt.’

Another reason to show sensitivity and meekness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ is this: in doing so, you are discerning the Lord’s Body. I wonder how many times, in ignorance, we have taken the Holy Communion after mistreating or holding a grudge against someone right in our congregation. I don’t want to be weak or sickly…or asleep (whether it is spiritually or just plain dead!) over failing to discern the Body of Christ. Only recently did I gain a deeper understanding of that Scripture. I’d always assumed that it meant just not to partake of the Sacrament without repenting for our sins, asking for forgiveness if we’d wronged someone, or granting forgiveness in kind. What if we simply have secret contempt toward another in the Body, and we nurse that contempt and allow it to take root? Is our God not also offended by those things we mutter under our breath about others whom He created? How important it is to Him that we love others as He does, and that we speak to them in a way that reflects His goodness!

Proverbs 18 tells us that a brother offended is harder to win than a strong city. Jesus, however, goes even farther to say that the Father doesn’t want our gifts if we bring them covered with the filth of offenses! “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matt 5:23-24 ESV). He doesn’t say for us to go make it right only if it was our fault, He says to go and be reconciled, period! Choke down that pride and take the high road! It may take some work to break down that wall, but you do your part and with a right heart attitude…and then come back and finish your offering to God. He will receive it gladly if it’s tied with the ribbon of reconciliation!

I have a long way to go on the highway of holiness, but one thing I never ever want to do is to cause someone else to reject Jesus because of a flaw he or she sees in my attitude. We have heard that phrase that we are “the only Bible some people will ever read” until we no longer grasp the depth of its meaning. Don’t lose your ability to be salt and light just so that you can “be yourself.” Speak as if the whole world is listening…because it is.

Skilled Laborers for Delicate Harvests

And this has a real advantage: I am not bound to obey anyone just because he pays my salary; yet I have freely and happily become a servant of any and all so that I can win them to Christ. When I am with the Jews I seem as one of them so that they will listen to the Gospel and I can win them to Christ. When I am with Gentiles who follow Jewish customs and ceremonies I don’t argue, even though I don’t agree, because I want to help them. When with the heathen I agree with them as much as I can, except of course that I must always do what is right as a Christian. And so, by agreeing, I can win their confidence and help them too. When I am with those whose consciences bother them easily, I don’t act as though I know it all and don’t say they are foolish; the result is that they are willing to let me help them. Yes, whatever a person is like, I try to find common ground with him so that he will let me tell him about Christ and let Christ save him. I do this to get the Gospel to them and also for the blessing I myself receive when I see them come to Christ. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 NLT)

Instead of just sitting in Heaven and disapproving of our fallen condition, our Lord did something remarkable: He came here to walk with us, experience our suffering, and show us how to rise above our sinfulness. He paid the complete price for us to be able to reconcile with the Father, even in our brokenness and flawed Adamic nature! Just as God sent a representative into the human race to save all, He continues to do this on a different level today: He uses US to walk among and impact others with whom we share similar struggles or questions. That’s why we aren’t to just go around vexed and speaking with disdain about our fellow man’s wretched conditions. We are to pray that God assigns the right persons to each group of people who are walking in a particular pocket of darkness.

The Word tells us that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20). There is no segment of our society so wicked, so blind, or so hopeless that God cannot send a messenger capable of reaching them! Perhaps you’re not as socially-versatile a person as the Apostle Paul; after all, his wide circle of influence came because he had a mighty wide background before coming to Christ. If you are limited in those whom you can reach, or if frustration causes you to be ineffective in your witness, this message is for you–and it’s a message of GREAT HOPE.

Don’t make it your business to just stand back and curse others for their sinful behavior. Speak the truth, yes. Never compromise. But don’t use your words as weapons to just rip to shreds people who desperately need Jesus. It may not be YOUR voice that reaches them with convicting impact. If your voice isn’t capable of bearing that fruit, use it for prayer instead of for pounding! God’s already told us to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send laborers. God intends to give all men and women a way of escape from the clutches of sin, if they’ll take it. He has already created and called special laborers to these seemingly impossible segments of the field of souls.

The ear who’s closed to most other voices? It will open when the right messenger delivers that same uncompromised truth. God will anoint that messenger with the ability to be heard . That harvest will feel connected to, loved by, and understood by the person sent to engage them. They will take seriously from him the same message that they may have scorned out of the lips of others.

God didn’t call us to be the voice of disapproval…He called us to be the light of the world! Disapproval? Oh yes, that’s totally what the lost expect of us…and we have sure given them a whopping dose of it. But…have we sprung the message on them that God loves them and that so do we? Have we demonstrated to them that Jesus died for all, and that no one is beyond His reach? Zacchaeus could climb out of the scorn of the crowd and watch Jesus from a safe distance in that sycamore tree…but WOW…when Jesus saw him and announced (in front of the others who despised this money-grubbing little tax collector) He was going home with him! He could handle rejection all day long, and had. Jesus’ approval, however, totally disarmed him!

It’s OK if you have no gifting to reach every single personality type, societal group, or area of sin bondage. If you feel no compassion for, or patience, or common ground with a particular group of people who embrace something you feel strongly against, then do this: step back enough to where you can see objectively and begin to just pray for them. Don’t shun them, just don’t try to engage in a verbal dispute over the lifestyles they’re living. Show the love of God and only speak what will actually bear fruit. At that same time, begin to pray IN EARNEST for someone to come into their paths who has that gifting, and keep praying until God sends His chosen laborer into that particular harvest field.

Let me explain. Having dealt with loved ones who were in deep bondage to addiction from the early days of my childhood, I am not the best person to engage someone wrestling with a drug or alcohol problem. When I encounter a person who’s high or drunk, I still get that feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach from old memories I’d just as soon not resurrect. So, instead of being gifted at reaching that person on a genuine level ground, I am too preoccupied with fighting my own bad memories to really be the most effective witness–one whose message will be received. Probably the person himself/herself even feels the vibes coming from me of someone who’d like to just escape this situation as soon as possible! Someone else can step into that role, however, and completely dominate the spirit of addiction. A peace can settle in and a common ground be established where the addicted person feels understood and loved, rather than dreaded. In that setting, God has great leeway to build a bridge to rescue the perishing! In my element, there are others I can more effectively reach…and as I remain faithful in doing what I CAN, God will increase my areas of influence.

Sometimes God will even send someone into that harvest area who isn’t so close to the problem. If the really-bound person is your family member, your frustration about the situation may be too strong to allow you objectivity. That person may be completely unreceptive to your pleas. Trust God to send the perfect influence into that person’s path. It’s ok if the right messenger isn’t YOU! Your obligation is to continue in love and intercession…and God can sometimes do His most effective rescue blitzes through a third-party intervention. There’ll be time for reconciliation between you and your loved one later, once Christ reigns in his or her life, too. Let go and let God.

Instead of me just spewing disapproval of the lifestyles of those in bondage (and causing them to completely shutdown from any chance to receive what I have to say about the love of God), I need to intercede for ones I don’t positively impact, and let God put the perfect spokesperson into their paths. He will. And He will hold me accountable to touch others…those with whom I have a particular rapport! There’s a special group of people for whom God will grace me with reachability; and I am to work in that area of the field with my whole heart. So are you.

In short, that old saying does ring true: Don’t curse the darkness, but instead light a candle. If your testimony of hope and the love of God can’t come across as just that (instead of a closed fist), then you might not be called to that person in the area of “getting down to the nitty gritty.” What you might not be able to with interaction on a horizontal level, you can do on a vertical level! Be careful not to wound the lost sheep…they still need rescued!

Prayer Over Christian Intercessors

Ever watch a movie featuring scenes of ancient methods of battlefield engagement? You can see the soldiers march forward x number of steps, kneel, lift their rifles on command, fire at one another, and repeat; as unprotected soldiers on both sides of the battle fall dead or injured with every command to fire weapons. It’s kind of horrifying to imagine that this is the way wars were fought even on our native soil. There’s no protection, little hope of escaping a bullet or a a musket ball or a bayonet…and no resolve to the battle except total annihilation of one side or the other, or surrender. Even with some of the horrors we see in modern-day warfare, that “last one standing” type of fighting seems like an almost certain waste of lives!

I see us, as the Body of Christ, allowing our intercessors to march into battle unprotected very often; and we must change our rules of engagement immediately! Spiritual warfare is heating up, and we can’t allow those who are on the front line praying to go without a prayer covering. Even if you don’t consider yourself a “prayer warrior,” may I challenge you today to pray protection over those who are praying for you? Pray with me:

“Father, there are people who have responded to Your call to prayer on another level. These are our intercessors. Surround them with a bloodline of protection–an encircling by the powerful Blood of Jesus–as they stand in the gap for me, for Your church, and for this fallen world. Protect them and their families from disabling attacks by the enemy. Keep them healthy. Keep their minds clear of unnecessary distractions. Help them to be strengthened anew so that they might remain on the front line. When they need to take a furlow from active duty, awaken the desire to pray in other people. I pray today you would refresh them. Bless them. Bind up their wounds and enable them to return to the front line. I pray that you will protect them in every kind of engagement: hand-to-hand combat, ambush, air attacks, ground attacks, guerrilla soldiers, suicide bombers; protect them from betrayal by loved ones. Cause them to remain hidden in Christ, and shielded from every fiery dart of wickedness. Encase them with stealth and camouflage. If the enemy comes at them in one direction, cause the enemy to flee in seven directions! Cause their prayers to have a synergistic effect when combined with the prayers of others. And Father, help me to remember to pray for those who are praying for me! I declare the blessing of Isaiah 58:8 over those who are operating on all levels of intercessory prayer: ‘Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.’ Thank You for those precious people who are hard-core intercessors! May the lamp of prayer never go out in the house of the Lord! In Jesus’ name…”

MAY THIS PRAYER AND OTHERS LIKE IT DISBURSE THROUGHOUT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH ALL OVER THE WORLD! RAISE A SHIELD AROUND OUR INTERCESSORS…IT IS CRITICAL THAT WE PRAY FOR OUR PRAYER WARRIORS!

The Grace Feeder

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name— John 1:12 (AMP)

I’m fairly sure that this past year hasn’t brought more species of birds to my area than what were already here, but it seems as if it has. The difference between then and now is my personal interest in them.

Back in the winter, I bought a window-mount bird feeder and suet basket. I’d already been feeding hummingbirds for a couple years in the summer; but the cold weather and relentless snow caused me to feel pity for the non-migrating birds and early arrivals whose meager food was far beneath the white ground. The tree limbs and bushes were looking alarmingly bare, too. It took a few days for them to discover this little feeding station; but once they did, they became daily regulars.

And so began my keen awareness of each kind. Before long, there were more than the familiar robins, blue jays, cardinals, and sparrows. Now there were cowbirds, blue-crested titmice, chickadees, finches, meadowlarks, swallows, and many others. It wasn’t enough for me to know they were coming; I wanted to know what they were, what they liked to eat. I took responsibility for keeping that feeder full of what is good for them. I Google-searched their descriptions so that when one came to the feeder, I would know it by name! Even the family of gray doves who’ve lived here in the woods behind our house for the past several years began to drop by. They of course didn’t light on the bird feeder, but politely waited for the others to knock seeds out and down to them.

And as I mused these things this morning, I thought of how blessed we are when, after accepting Jesus as our Savior, we become adopted into God’s family as real sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Christ. We are all God’s creation; but until we accept relationship with Him, we are not yet all His children. The same gift of eternal life is out there, made equally available to all who will receive it; but we must make the choice to do so.

While God cares for all of His creation, and longs for relationship with all of us, there are so many more blessings in store for those of us who respond to His calling. Even those who do not accept Him are blessed daily. He gives all of us sunshine, rain, food, life. He gives those things anyway, out of His sheer goodness, knowing that many of those whom He blesses will still reject Him.

To those who do receive Him, however, we receive the privileges afforded with sonship even beyond eternal life. He becomes fully vested in our lives. He knows what we like, what our secret longings are, how to bring out the very best of the potential He birthed in us. He begins to work all things toward our good. He burns the dross out of our lives and makes us pure. He prunes our branches so that we can be even more fruitful. He makes Himself readily available to walk with us, not just in the cool of the day, but in the heat, the storms, the long nights as well. He reminds us that, no matter what, He is with us and will never leave! Like those birds who have chosen to come to my feeder, we come to God through pure grace. Those birds have nothing in particular to offer me in return. They can’t help me with my housework or pay my bills. If anything, they cost me. I’ll be buying more feed and cleaning away messes they make; but it is my joy to bless those who will come and eat. There’s nothing we humans could ever do to merit God’s grace. We just have to accept it freely and know that it’s His goodness rather than what we have done. He delights in His ability to give us what we cannot earn!

I don’t know about you, friend, but I want to know Him…and Him to know me! I don’t want to just catch the incidental blessings He makes generally available to all of creation; I want to be treated with the distinction of being a cherished daughter. He has agreed to be responsible for me; to always be with me both now and throughout eternity. I want that, and through Jesus, I have that. You can, too!

Pray with me: “Jesus, I don’t enjoy being alone in this life. I know that I have been blessed even though I don’t yet call myself a Christian…but my life is still empty and not the best it can be. I’m told that relationship with You will be the element that completes what is missing. I need that void to be filled, not with the destructive or vain things I’ve pursued which have left me disappointed; but evidently, I need for You to fill that empty part of me. Please forgive me of the wrong things I’ve done. I have sinned, and even my best attempts at being good haven’t made me worthy of God’s gift of eternal life. The Bible says that You are the way, the truth, and the life, and that I must come to God through You. I receive You now as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for enduring the suffering of the cross, for being the sacrifice for my sins, and for raising from the dead to be my advocate before God. I don’t yet fully understand what it means to have you as that go-between, that mediator, but I am so glad that You plead my case before Your Father. Make me Your adopted sibling. Wash away my sins and clean up my heart and life. May Your Father also be my Father, too, now and forever more. I receive eternal life through You, and I receive the favor that Your grace has bought for me. I will not go by my feelings, but I will always take You at Your Word! Teach me, surround me with those who will help me, and please make me someone who makes a difference in the lives of others. I am Yours to transform, and I thank You for the promise to never leave me! I am no longer alone!”

The Tares of This Life

A word for us to contemplate today: tares. The Bible refers to a specific “weed” as a tare; it is identical to wheat,only at harvest time, there is no head of wheat. Fruitless. Jesus mentions an enemy tossing weed seeds in among the farmer’s crop, causing mixture: tares growing among wheat. The result is, the farmer has to endure a season of pesky weeds stealing the nourishment from the real thing, unable to pull them up without risking damage to the entire crop. Those roots are so intertwined that if the farmer were to pull one, it would uproot the others. In the parable of the sower, some of the seed scattered fell among “thorns” …and those seeds could not produce because they were outnumbered before they even had a chance. Their root system was choked out by what? Tares. Why, even in our modern English, tare is a term used to describe “empty container;” specifically, the weight of that container before something is added, so that the weight of the filling might be calculated accurately. A big box with nothing in it…ever find disappointment in that? Sure you have! Pop the lid on that pizza box left on the table to find that it got emptied before you got any! I pondered these things last night after Pastor Mitch shared a powerful message on unity in the Body of Christ, in which he referenced the parable of the sower. However, my thoughts drifted to a tare, and the whole concept of something enticing which proves eventually to be fruitless: that counterfeit pursuit which looks legit all the way to harvest time, only to produce a big, fat nothing. It convicted me as I thought of the tares in my own life. So I go before my Father today and ask Him to set my affections on right things; to know the difference between a fruit-bearing seed and a vain distraction. Oh, they’re everywhere. And while we need relaxation, leisure, and even a little entertainment at times, how many tares do I nurture which will produce absolutely NO fruit? Your entire life will be wrapped around the choices you make. We all have an equal amount of seconds, minutes, hours in a day…even if the number of our years vary from one individual to another. Approach this day as if you must get a return on your investment, because today is all you really have this side of eternity. You might get another day tomorrow, but you might not; it’s a stark reality of our human existence. Confess 120 years, but live as if you could be gone tomorrow! Evaluate the gazillion little things that eat up your day, and stop feeding those activities and interests that have no true value. Don’t let your complicated, hurried, fruitlessness be a self-inflicted curse! Pray with me: Father, I am a spirit with a soul, dwelling in flesh. My soul (mind, will, emotions) is in a constant tug-of-war between my flesh and my spirit. You have such wonderful opportunities prepared for me, if only I will tune out the distractions and search You out! Whenever I am guilty of wasting time, send a way of escape from that temptation…bring to mind something worthy of that moment given to what won’t bear lasting fruit. I’m just as saved as I’ll ever be, and I know that my salvation can never be about my works; but Father, I want to produce because I love You! I don’t want to be an empty container. Fill me with Your love, Your favor, Your heart, Your desires, and may I go forth and sow, sow, sow! I am determined that I will not stand before You at the Bema Judgment with nothing more than an account of wasted opportunities. Purge my branches of dead things, trim off those ‘sucker sprouts” which steal nourishment from the fruit. I submit myself to You today willingly, and I say, “Make me a bumper crop fruit-bearer for Your Kingdom!” In Jesus name, Amen.

The Cheerfulness of Obedient, Smart Giving

We have an abundance of “smart” electronics these days, don’t we? Smart phones. Smart cars. They weren’t designed to keep us from having to actually be smart, though! I’m talking today about giving, and how we can give intelligently by giving OBEDIENTLY.

There’s really a difference, you know. The difference is the fruit that is borne from the seed we sow. Generosity is a noble and wonderful trait (the Bible says for us to be givers!) when it works in tandem with obedience to God. We should indeed be cheerful and liberal givers; but it’s doubly important that we listen for God’s instructions, because foolish generosity is, well, FOOLISH. The whole of that text says this (I love the Voice Translation of 2 Cor. 9:7): Giving grows out of the heart—otherwise, you’ve reluctantly grumbled “yes” because you felt you had to or because you couldn’t say “no,” but this isn’t the way God wants it. For we know that “God loves a cheerful giver.” When our giving is God-directed, it is smart giving; obedient giving which isn’t given for ulterior motives, or given out of guilt or compulsion or a need to just feel good!

A generous parent, for instance, can harm his or her child through excessive giving not tempered by wisdom. Would you give your child candy for breakfast just because he or she wants it? Of course not! But would you breed a materialistic appetite in your child by enabling him or her to get every single thing the child wants, just for the asking? Do you operate in fear of not being your child’s friend, when in reality, your child needs you to set boundaries, to say no once in a while? Following God’s direction will keep perfect balance instead of making the child entitled, spoiled, selfish, wasteful. You can actually TEACH your child by anointed example as you give wisely. This applies in every area of our lives, not just parenting! Sometimes we have to say no to ourselves! I know I sure do! Read on.

Remember the song, “What a Friend We Have In Jesus?” Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer…

That familiar verse perfectly sums up our lives when we don’t listen for His voice! Yes, it’s true. We’ve gotten used to just asking for things…perhaps we need to return to asking for Him to reveal His will in decisions we are facing. It even applies to our giving of our time, talent, and treasure. I know all too well what it’s like to give just because it feels good. The importance however goes beyond my flesh feeling good, and therefore, my motivation must have a higher purpose than gratifying my flesh!

How can one be a selfish giver, you might ask…sounds like an oxymoron! It’s taken and is still taking time and experience, and also a deeper knowledge of my Lord through intimate relationship, to know that responsibility accompanies our ability to say yes. My ability to say NO has in times past gotten me into trouble. Hey Lisa, can you join this club? Can you go here and do that and can you be available at all hours for anything anyone asks? Oh yeah…I’ve been so bogged down with to-do’s which I agreed to in order to be a people pleaser. Then, exhausted, I would find myself bitter at having no downtime, or nothing at all left. Often, I’ve had not one piece of fruit to show for it, because I didn’t have the courage to say, “I’ll get back to you…I really need to talk to God before I commit to this!”

Well, go back to the passage in the Bible where Saul took the spoils of war after God had specifically told him not to…and then he tried to appease God by sacrificing some of the livestock on altars to justify his disobedience of a direct order! Talk about insulting God’s omniscience! The Scriptures tell us that obedience is better than sacrifice. Saul’s disobedience would eventually cost him his kingdom…even his descendants would suffer consequences because of his foolishness. We ourselves can undo all the good of our generosity whenever we sidestep what God has already instructed. Why would we not take the counsel of the One Who actually KNOWS the outcome? When we have His voice, we already have the inside track to what is going to be a blessing, be blessed, and bear fruit!

Bear in mind, He will sometimes direct us to give when it DOESN’T have that euphoric, how-wonderful-it-feels effect! Can we respond when there’s a need in our own life? Can we be as the widow who cooks her last meal for the prophet before there’s evidence we will have enough for ourselves? Don’t stop being generous, for heaven’s sake…but lay your heart and your feelings on the altar and allow Him to direct you to good ground. Even good ground can’t produce its best yield if you cram the seeds too closely together! Give your acts of kindness the best chance for a harvest by being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Instead of it just being said that you’d give someone the shirt off your back, let it be said that you heard from God and responded with the right thing at the right time!

“In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” Proverbs 3:6 (AMP)

The Full Armor of God–in Camo Print

Ok, you already know I’m a bona-fide hillbilly…so I’m allowing God’s voice to work through me today to share an interesting perspective with you. Tough country girls will automatically feel a kindred-ness, and you guys will appreciate a teaching moment geared up in manly camo print that opens up the Scripture to another level. Isn’t He awesome? He brings the Word to where we are, and like the parables of Jesus, the Word always is relevant.

Here in the rural hills of West Virginia where I live, you don’t have very many straight lines of vision. The hills are nestled close together and they often hide entire communities from one another. A destination which is only a mile or two by the way the crow flies may translate into 15 or 20 miles of winding travel; or if on foot, a heart-pounding hike to climb over that mountain. That’s so like life, isn’t it?

Sometimes there are no roads to your destiny. Very often, I forget that there’s anything beyond that hill which closely faces my office window, when in fact a whole world is out there past my line of sight. In my spirit life, I often have to put effort into seeing beyond the obstructions of the moment as well. Did you know that you have an awesome destiny, even though you may not see it at the moment? It’s there…in the dark, behind the curtain, around the corner, over the hill, across the swamp, through the tangled vines of present hindrances. And I want to remind you that God is timing it all to intersect with the precise opening of that portal to your life’s purpose. You have permission, then, even an obligation, to occupy until He comes! Not just occupying until He returns to get us; but occupying while you wait for Him to swoosh away the busy-ness of your present circumstances to reveal what you’ve waited your whole life to come into.

I’m occupying, too. In other seasons, I occupied as a caregiver to a sick or injured loved one. I’ve occupied while dealing with large-scale personal problems; and I’ve occupied (sometimes bravely, others, not so much) in the place of lack, illness, uncertainty, depression, even despair. I’ve occupied in the place of giving so much to benefit other people that I had nothing at all left for myself, my dreams, or my revelation of God’s life plan for me. I’ve even occupied while reaping the tares of poor choices and deliberate sin. And then there’s the present–the pesky tyranny of the urgent. Those nagging unfinished tasks which are piled up in stacks all around me, which threaten to swallow up any time I might have to come into God’s true purpose for my life.

Honestly, even now, I can go days at a time without even considering that there is more to life than my present circumstances–a life with a view. And I know I’m losing my foothold when those circumstances cause me to become sullen, ungrateful, and shallow. I need to climb higher. I need to turn down the volume of the world so that I can listen for His voice. I need to draw from His Word strength and faith…that substance of things hoped for, that evidence of what I can’t yet see in the natural.

Perhaps you, too, are facing your own obstruction. There’s a tree across the path. A swollen river raging between you and God’s best for you. The enemy has built a spite fence which makes the real estate of your life seem devalued and undesirable. You can’t see any farther than the exhaustion of today’s schedule. The forecast for tomorrow and next week still calls for fog, fog, and more fog. And I’m urging you, just as I urge myself–DON’T GIVE UP! Your destiny is STILL THERE!

I further encourage you to understand that (God’s just teaching me this as I write these words) there is a difference between OCCUPYING and being OCCUPIED. One involves being deliberate, with a goal. The other suggests surrender to “the inevitable,” and a sense of futility toward hope and the season of new beginnings beyond our view. Occupying requires faith. Being occupied, conversely, requires nothing. Occupying says, “Yes, Lord, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even this wilderness place in my life will lead toward a season of blessing and abundance.” Being occupied just causes us to sigh with frustration and say, “What a waste. This is not the life I hoped for. I guess whatever will be, will be. I’m such a loser.”

THERE IS HOPE, but it’s going to involve some forward thinking and action on your part! We usually think of the whole armor of God as merely the implements of hand to hand combat; but I challenge you to put it on as WILDERNESS GEAR today!

Put on that Kevlar vest of righteousness to protect you from sharp protrusions as you cut your way through the dense forest. Proverbs says we are to guard our hearts with all diligence, because out of the heart flows the issues of life. That heart can’t pump life through the body if it has been pierced. So we pray, “Father, keep my heart pure, whole, and free from injury as I put on Your righteousness. The sharpness of my circumstances will not cause the life to leak out of me, for your righteousness guards my vulnerabilities.”

Next, don those Rocky boots (smile) of the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Peace will protect our feet wherever we go, no matter how rough the terrain. We don’t go hiking in flip-flops, but we choose sturdy protection for our foundation. “Father, I prepare myself for traveling through this world in which I don’t belong! I put on the rugged footwear of peace. Peace will not allow my surroundings to cripple me. Peace will allow me to tread on the enemy’s head without getting bitten. Peace will tromp down the weeds and even leave a path for others to follow.”

Grab up the shield of faith! And though a shield is typically a full-body implement, I’m going to specify an area we need to protect while moving, and that is the eyes. “Father, we don’t gauge our lives by what is seen, but what is unseen. We put on the goggles of FAITH. Faith will keep us from being blinded. It will allow us to traverse through dark places, storms of life, and it guard our vision from sudden and unexpected projectiles. We will see through the lens of YOUR WORD and not the vulnerable sight of our flesh.” Another aspect of a shield, in certain settings, is camouflage. We are hidden in Christ…so our faith can serve as a shelter not obvious to the enemy. Faith is our stealth covering. We can see out, but the enemy can’t see in! Faith that comes out through our confession hides from Satan when we feel afraid.

Put on the helmet of salvation…or in the case of a wilderness traveler, your HAT. Headgear accomplishes a lot. It protects the head from falling objects, insects, it protects us from the burning rays of the sun, and it even helps us to see better in many situations. Salvation is the best thing you can do for your head–specifically your brain. Since you need your head for the rest of your body to work correctly, know that a God-controlled life will set you up for right decisions. The devil doesn’t just attack you from underneath. He likes to ambush you from a higher elevation, too. But your helmet of salvation will deflect all the debris he tries to rain down on you! “Father, I put on Your helmet of salvation. My relationship with You keeps my head straight. Salvation is my thinking cap, my hard hat, my visor, and my protector. My soul will not have dominion over my spirit man because Your salvation allows my thoughts to align with what Your Word says. It keeps the devil from getting into my head. Thank you that not only is my heart protected, but my head, too!”

Don’t set out on your trek without the sword of the Spirit. Outdoor outfitters know that a blade is essential survival gear. Whether you’re using it to cut through the thick brush, or to chop down branches to make a shelter, in self defense from a predator, or your to kill, clean, dress, and cut up your food, it’s unimaginable to be stuck out in the elements without one. The Word of God and His Holy Spirit accomplishes this in your life–so don’t be caught without Him! He enables you to move forward, to build, to be not just on the defense but also the offensive. His Holy Spirit is your comforter, and prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies! His Word demolishes thoughts contrary to His will. When you have it in your heart, it will keep you from sin. “Father, I receive Your Holy Spirit and I purpose to digest and be nourished by Your Word. Your Spirit, revealed through Your Word, is my weapon against the onslaught of evil; and as blades go, You are my “Swiss Army Knife” of tools for survival all in one. Whatever I need in the moment, You are to me; and right now, I need the compass of Your Word to lead me in the right direction. Thank You that all these things are part of Your provision. You empower me not only to survive, but to be effective and to help others make it through as well. I am bold. I am strong in the Lord and the power of Your Might because I allow Your Holy Spirit to reign in me now. I allow Your Word to govern my thought life and to be the final authority on all my life decisions. Even death itself has no place to rob me of hope, because I am clothed in and armed with Your gear!’

You are not alone today, friend, and you are not defenseless as you forge through the circumstances you’re facing. Perhaps you’re like me–more of a “redneck hillbilly” instead of a medieval knight of war–but our need is the same. We need protection and we need to keep moving forward. What you cannot see today, “the forest for the trees,” you will see clearly a little farther on the journey; but you’ve got to move. Rest, regain your strength, but never lose awareness that a journey involves continual movement and change. And since you are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), He is orchestrating ultimate good for you in spite of the mud, the weeds, the thick brush, the sharp rocks, and the walls you may be encountering. Know that this journey ends well! Be strengthened today as you meditate on His goodness…

A New Lease on Life…Eternal Life

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” Romans 8:32

Imagine how grateful you would be toward the parent who, upon his or her child’s death, has agreed to donate that child’s organs to those in need of life-saving transplants. You are on a waiting list and suddenly the very thing you need in order to live is made available to you. It’s a sobering moment when you think that your suffering is eased because someone else’s has commenced; but because that person has willed this transfer of life freely to you, you receive it with gratitude. You have a second lease on life, and the grieving parent has the solace that part of his or her child lives on in each person whose life has been saved.

So it is with the gift of Jesus to us on earth. Eternal life—God’s saving grace—came at a terrible cost. In order for you to have eternal life, someone had to die. But now, because of the sacrifice of God’s only Son, royal blood flows through your veins and you have a new heart.

A songwriter named Ellis J. Crum (no relation…smile) once penned a song, “He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.” All of us were destitute and on spiritual death row for the sins set in order by the first man Adam. The disease of damnation was set in order by disobedience; and yet, the “second Adam” came to deliver us from that sentence through His own obedience. A wound was made on the Vine so that a branch could be grafted in. A branch that would otherwise die unattached to a life source was suddenly given a chance to become part of the Tree of Life, but only a cutting into that precious Life Source made this transplant possible.

Just as you would feel lifelong indebtedness to a benefactor who saved you from untimely demise in the natural realm, so should you also realize the weighty gift that’s been made available to you by your Heavenly Benefactor. If you haven’t yet received this gift of life, please…don’t neglect so great a salvation! Time is of essence for you to be saved…now is that moment when your life can be extended into eternity. A way is made. His wounds pay for your transgressions. His chastisement pays for your peace. His back was beaten mercilessly so that His blood might bring your healing. Receive what He suffered to make possible for YOU. Choose LIFE.

“He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit that leads to eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” John 4:36 (MEV)

Displaced Horsepower

“But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.” (Matthew 6:33 AMP)

My devotional today is about timing, right priorities, and obedience. How many times do we get ourselves into trouble by short-cutting the process of our various aspects of living? I could list some of mine, but you’d get tired of reading about ¼ of the way through. I’d venture to say that a huge proportion of the troubles in our world have to do with lack of balance, impatience, and rebellion! The speeding ticket. The unsurmountable credit card debt. The impulse buy. The whirlwind relationship. Keeping up with the Joneses. The need for power. The addiction for material things. The uncontrolled temper. Selfishness. Am I coming anywhere close to your challenges?

We will never be put to shame if we follow God’s recipe for living. With Him at the top of our priorities pyramid, we will live within the healthy parameters of our bodies, souls, and spirits. His Scriptural instructions to us aren’t meant just to keep us under His thumbnail; as the Master Designer of all things, God already knows the boundaries of each created being. He has seen every scenario before it has had time to play out. He knows the point of failure, but He also knows the point of profound success! He knows exactly how to get you to the place of joy, peace, and overflowing blessing…and He is thrilled to share that information with you if you will hear Him and obey. Are you listening and following; or, have you crowded Him out and turned the volume up on other affections so that His voice is lost in all the drama and disarray you’ve allowed into your personal space?

Kids love “cheat instructions” on video games, but we are not kids. God’s plan isn’t to cheat us around the pathway to becoming the best version of ourselves; however, obedience to His will and His Word will feel like a shortcut compared to the harrowing, long detour we have to take when we follow our own inclinations and inevitably fail. Think of various places in the Bible where it was said a variation of, “And everyone did whatever he or she wanted.” Instead of us becoming more successful, more healthy, more benevolent, humankind becomes increasingly depraved. That expression, “follow your heart?” Don’t trust your heart! It will LIE to you! Rebellion against God’s proper order and timing can even cause something which is not created to be a sin to become a sin, such as sex outside the right boundaries of marriage.

I challenge you to sit and take an honest assessment of your life, as I am doing of mine. Are you piled high with regrettable decisions and utter chaos? It’s a good indicator that you’ve followed any and everything your flesh has suggested to you. King Solomon, so full of wisdom and yet so full of fleshly longings, ran the gamut of every pleasure and every pursuit. He denied himself nothing because he had the means to acquire whatever he wanted. Gushing with excess and finding nothing but emptiness after each new toy, trinket, project, investment, and relationship, he finally concluded in hindsight—as an older man—that to fear God and to keep His commandments is our entire reason for existence. In Ecclesiastes we see that the wise man gave himself over to backslidings in the “middle” of his life and, only after enduring sin’s consequence, concluded that the right way IS the right way. Imagine what he could have achieved if he’d chosen to remain obedient to God? How much peace and prosperity would his nation have enjoyed had he not compromised what he knew to be true? Instead of co-existing with utter darkness, he could’ve spared generations and generations of his posterity from the curse of idolatry. I don’t doubt that old man Solomon looked back with regret for the wasted years…

What causes us to feel so entitled about “having it all?” We can’t do it! We just can’t. If we GET it all, we may find ourselves emptier than ever; and like a horse pushing a buggy, realize that we have been doing everything the hard way. We want so badly to be recognized for all our hard work, our ambitions, our success, our education, our wealth, that we forget it really isn’t ours at all! Not in the sense of eternity. All that labor, that striving to get what we want in life, left behind as our spirit departs either to an eternal reward or eternal suffering. And yes, even believers in Christ can have very, very out-of-balance lives. We can still make it to heaven when we die, but what goes with us? Are there others we’ve helped to follow God and to have rich relationship with Him, or will we cross over the threshold having never influenced the lost or shared the good news?

Remember this: when you put your life in its proper priority, you share in God’s perfect alignment of circumstances. You carry His favor into your everyday life. You exhibit His nature, and your relationships will thrive. You will rest from your labor and He will bring to pass whatever you couldn’t achieve through years and years of chasing your own rainbows. If you are all about others knowing how hard you worked to get where you are, that will be your only real reward: bragging rights. If you freely acknowledge that God has enabled you to become that champion, you will see a miraculous change in proportion to your obedience to Him! You will gain recognition or promotion or talent that you did not earn! I’ve seen it time and again in my own life…underachiever by many folks’ standards, but God has given me abilities that I didn’t have to practice to gain, didn’t go to school to learn, didn’t run in the “right circles” of influence to receive. And yes, I am still having to choose daily to follow His lead instead of my own thing.

Put Him first today. Whatever you have to set aside in order to begin and end your day in His presence, do it. Talking to Him will set the course for the rest of those upcoming moments of your life. Listening to Him will keep you from wasted efforts, failed relationships, and forfeited opportunities. Obeying Him will put the cart where it’s logically designed to be positioned—BEHIND the horse!

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3 AMP)