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Thoughts – Pleasing Thoughts

It was windy last night and there was something popping outside. I thought that we had possibly left a storage door open or something of that nature, so I ventured outside to see if I could figure it out.

Everything was buttoned up tight. I came back in, it was 2:30 am and I knew there was no going back to sleep. It was time to pray. I began to meditate on God’s goodness…what a wonderful, comforting and strengthening thing that is to do.

A verse from my childhood Sunday School memorization came to mind.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 KJV

I will be honest with you – my thoughts at 2 am were “this is going to be a long day” and if I would have continued to think on that I know by mid-day I would be worn out and somewhat grumpy. Not an acceptable meditation.

So, I opened my Bible to read the entire chapter of Psalm 19. When we ask the Lord to redirect our thoughts, He will.

“The Law of the Lord is perfect, giving new strength to the soul. The Law He has made known is sure, making the child-like wise. 8 The Laws of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The Word of the Lord is pure, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The Lord is always true and right in how He judges. 10 The Word of the Lord is worth more than gold, even more than much fine gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey straight from the comb. 11 And by them Your servant is told to be careful. In obeying them there is great reward.

12 Who can see his own mistakes? Forgive my sins that I do not see. 13 And keep Your servant from sinning by going my own way. Do not let these sins rule over me. Then I will be without blame. And I will not be found guilty of big sins. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in Your eyes, O Lord, my Rock and the One Who saves me.” Psalm 19:7-14 NLV

I have a choice today – so do you. We can meditate (think on continually) how tired we are, how little sleep we’ve had, how little strength and joy we have, how we are misunderstood and mistreated, or we can choose to make the thoughts of our heart centered on God’s Word.

His word will give us strength and make us wise. His word will give us joy and understanding. His word will never fail but instead will last forever. His word is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey.

If we insist on going our own way and following our own thinking we can be led astray and possibly into sin – the sin of worry, self-pity, anxiousness and frustration.

We have a choice! I choose to make my thoughts and my words pleasing to the Lord!

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Listen Well

Just yesterday we had two interesting situations occur. Both circumstances involved attentive listening.

First thing in the morning I received a call from a friend. She asked me to speak at a special service. She had originally asked someone else and now they were unable to make it. She told me “I knew I should have asked you from the beginning”. There was no problem, the Lord had already prepared my heart with what to share.

Then later in the morning Dave and I had a situation where we were going to make a major purchase. I stayed home while he went to meet the man who was selling the item we were interested in.

We always want to be good stewards of the money the Lord blesses us with so when Dave left I prayed, “Lord, if this isn’t right let Dave know it in his heart. Keep us from making a mistake.” About ten minutes later Dave called and said he was coming home. The man had called him and said there was an issue he needed to take care of, and Dave would have to come another time. When Dave got home, I told him about my prayer and I felt this was God answer. He did too.

“Jesus said: I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3 But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.

4 When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5 The sheep will not follow strangers. They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away. 6 Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.” John 10:1-6 CEV

If we have ears willing to listen, we will hear the Lord’s voice. He wants to lead us; He wants us to follow Him. He will lead us to “good pastures” and He will protect us from things that could cause us harm.

Do we hear an audible voice? Rarely. But we do have that intuition in our hearts. You know what I’m talking about. How many times have you done something, it’s gone wrong and then you said I knew I shouldn’t have done that? Yes, that intuition can also be called being led by the Spirit.

The Father sent the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us, to remind us of His word. He is our teacher and our counsellor.

“Jesus said to his disciples: If you love me, you will do as I command. 16 Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. 17 The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.” John 14:15-17 CEV

Will we always get it right? No. Will we make mistakes? Most assuredly.

The important thing is to learn from those mistakes and listen better. When we listen for His voice and follow His lead, we’ll never go astray.

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King of All

As I read through the verses in Ephesians 1 again this morning, I had this memory. It was from a scene in the movie, “Titanic”. Maybe you remember it too. Leonardo DeCaprio stood on the bow and yelled out “I am king of the world”.

That’s how I feel when I read verses throughout the New Testament like our final verses today.

“I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. 18 I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God’s call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. 19 I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. 20 It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This same power put Christ at God’s right side in heaven. 21 This place was given to Christ. It is much greater than any king or leader can have. No one else can have this place of honor and power. No one in this world or in the world to come can have such honor and power. 22 God has put all things under Christ’s power and has made Him to be the head leader over all things of the church. 23 The church is the body of Christ. It is filled by Him Who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” Ephesians 1:17-23 NLV

The power of God that we were discussing yesterday is the authority that Christ has in heaven – authority over ALL things. Nothing or no one has preeminence over Christ. He is ruler of this world and the world to come.

Now here’s what Paul wants us to understand. This authority and power that Christ has makes Him the head of the church, not a religious organization, but the church, those who believe in Christ. We become a collective body with Christ as our head.

As His body, He fills us with Himself – with His power and authority!

“I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. 10 And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.” Colossians 2:9-10 ERV

We have everything we need because we are complete in Christ!

“May kindness and peace be yours from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Jesus was the first to conquer death, and he is the ruler of all earthly kings. Christ loves us, and by his blood he set us free from our sins.6 He lets us rule as kings and serve God his Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6 CEV

The power and authority we have as believers in Christ is not of our own making. It is given to us by God Almighty. Jesus is our example of kingly authority. He never did anything for selfish gain; He never retaliated in anger; He never showed prejudice or favoritism.

He is a just and loving King. “I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him”. I pray that you will know this too; that we all will know by experience the great authority and power that God has for us.

He is King of All!

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Learning How To

We watch a lot of YouTube “How To” videos. When Dave needed to know something about the boat motor, replacing the filters on the truck, etc. he would find a video. I watch instruction on cooking something new, tutorials on my new camera and computer and travelogues on places we want to visit.

The thing is we don’t watch them just once. No, we sit down, watch, take in as much information we can and then start our project with cell phone in hand, video queued up, so we always have instruction at our fingertips.

That’s what I feel this prayer of the Apostle Paul’s does for us. Step by step it gives us instruction on “how to” know the power and blessings God has for us in Christ. It’s something we need to read again and again. Words we need to digest for life enriching, life changing growth. I hope you took the time to read it through again yesterday.

“I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. 18 I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God’s call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. 19 I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. 20 It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This same power put Christ at God’s right side in heaven. 21 This place was given to Christ. It is much greater than any king or leader can have. No one else can have this place of honor and power. No one in this world or in the world to come can have such honor and power. 22 God has put all things under Christ’s power and has made Him to be the head leader over all things of the church. 23 The church is the body of Christ. It is filled by Him Who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” Ephesians 1:17-23 NLV

We’re going to look at a couple items of major importance in this prayer:

  • promised great things to His children
  • know His great power

The Father has promised us great things; joy, peace, forgiveness, healing, salvation, strength, wisdom, protection, provision – great things! One translation records verse 18 this way, “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people),”. The Father gives us these things, great things, as our inheritance. We are His children and as such He has an inheritance for us.

The next thing Paul prays for us is that we will “know His great power”. Now, this is something that amazes me – the Father’s power is working for me and not against me.

This is the power that He put into practice when He raised Christ from the dead! It’s the same power which transported Jesus from earth back to heaven while His disciples watched his ascension.

This power, this great power of God, is for us who put our trust in Him!!

When we feel powerless in life’s situations His power is available to us, that same power which He used on Christ’s behalf.

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Romans 8:11 NLT

Paul prayed this prayer so that we, those of us in Christ, will learn how to know our Father’s great promises and great power. Amen and amen!!

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Building Relationship

Years ago, there was a television game show that I used to watch called “The Newly Wed Game”. Four couples were asked questions while their new spouses were off stage, their answers were written on cards and then the spouses were brought out and asked the same question. If the answers matched, they got points and the ones with the most points won. Simple premise, simple game but some of the answers were hilarious and the couples, interaction wasn’t always congenial.

The point was, and is, it takes time to get to know someone. That’s how it is in our relationship with Christ.

You might not know this about me but one of my favorite subjects in school was English. I particularly liked sentence structure, the development of ideas, and I excelled at diagraming sentences. This is particularly helpful when reading some of the Apostle Paul’s letters. This morning we will look at one of those from Ephesians.

“I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. 18 I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God’s call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. 19 I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. 20 It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This same power put Christ at God’s right side in heaven. 21 This place was given to Christ. It is much greater than any king or leader can have. No one else can have this place of honor and power. No one in this world or in the world to come can have such honor and power. 22 God has put all things under Christ’s power and has made Him to be the head leader over all things of the church. 23 The church is the body of Christ. It is filled by Him Who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” Ephesians 1:17-23 NLV

We won’t get all of this covered this morning. I will take the next couple of days to break it all down. I have been reading and praying this prayer for myself for over 30 years now and I am still discovering greater depth of meaning.

It all starts by asking for wisdom, wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit. Solomon says in Proverbs to gain wisdom because it’s the principal thing. Wisdom has greater value than silver or gold. With this wisdom we will be able to understand secrets about Christ and we will be able to know Him better.

There’s an intimacy implied in that word “know”. There are some people we are acquainted with, others we have a working relationship with, still with others we have a developing friendship. Then there are those who know us well, our friendships are deep and established, developed through time and experience but the one who seems to know us best is the one we live and love on a daily basis.

How well do you know Christ? How much do you want to know Him better? I encourage you to reread the verses above several times throughout the day and over the next several days. Pray and ask the Lord to help you know Him better. I can guarantee that’s a prayer He will answer.

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Casa de Esperanza

The last few homes Dave and I have lived in we have named. The atmosphere of our homes has been a testimony to the Lord. We had people tell us that our home in Montana was so peaceful and it was. Nothing but prairie and mountain vistas as far as the eye could see.

When we came to Southern Arizona and moved into our Spanish style home, we named it Casa de Paz, or house of peace. When we poured the patio slab, we inscribed it with the words, Casa de Paz. Visitors told us of how well they slept; they were able to relax and just let the stress of everyday living go. It was a joy to hear – we felt God’s presence and it was good to know that others sensed that peace as well.

Now, we have a new home. And although there is no fresh concrete to write a name in, we have agreed that this should be Casa de Esperanza, house of hope. For truly, we hoped for a home like this – it was the desire of our heart – and without God it wouldn’t have been possible.

“I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 ERV

There are so many today who are lacking both hope and peace. They struggle to find purpose and once they find it there is a struggle to see it fulfilled. Without our confidence and trust in the Lord, we would be living that way too.

“So, brothers and sisters, stand strong and continue to believe the teachings we gave you when we were there and by letter. 16-17 We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father will comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us and gave us through his grace a wonderful hope and comfort that has no end.” II Thessalonians 2:15-17 ERV

One of God’s gifts to us is hope. His grace, blessing us when we are undeserving, is the conduit through which hope flows. Many lack hope because they feel God is mad at them and is looking for an opportunity to punish them. Quite the opposite is true – He loves us and is looking for opportunity to bless us and give us hope.

“ Do not give me over to the desire of those who hate me. For people who tell lies about me rise against me, and breathe a desire to hurt me. 13 I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:12-14 NLV

We have no idea where the Lord will take us in this journey but we are excited about the trip. We look forward to bringing hope to those who are hurting as we travel down the road in our Casa de Esperanza.

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Continue to Focus

There hasn’t been a day since I was in the fifth grade that I didn’t realize the importance of being able to focus.

That’s when it became obvious that I wasn’t seeing correctly. Things were blurry, very blurry. As I sat on the piano bench, I would lean in so the notes on the page would come into focus. My teacher told Mom that she thought I was having a hard time seeing what was written on the black board. I found myself sitting closer to the TV to see my favorite shows.

Mom took me to the optometrist, and I was assessed with myopia; I was near-sighted, and it was pretty bad. I remember the first day I went to school wearing glasses – it was horrible. I thought they were pretty, but they were thick and heavy and made me look awkward. It was bad enough that I was a band geek but now I had glasses to boot. I remember being so self-conscious.

But I could see and eventually that outweighed the negatives. One of the first things I do each morning is put on my glasses (if I’m not wearing my contacts). I never take seeing clearly for granted.

I guess that’s why I start each morning with prayer time and reading my Bible, I like having things focused properly. It’s not a one-time event, focus once and forget it – no, it’s a daily practice. I need to keep focused on what the Lord says about me and to me.

I have several places in my Bible that I read each morning. They set the tone for the day. I hope you will focus on one of them with me this morning.

“With all my heart I praise the Lord, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! 2 With all my heart I praise the Lord! I will never forget how kind he has been. 3 The Lord forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, 4 and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads. 5 Each day that we live, he provides for our needs and gives us the strength of a young eagle. 6 For all who are mistreated, the Lord brings justice…The Lord is merciful! He is kind and patient, and his love never fails. 9 The Lord won’t always be angry and point out our sins; 10 he doesn’t punish us as our sins deserve. 11 How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth!” Psalm 103:1-6, 8-11 CEV

You may be spiritually near-sighted, only seeing what’s closest to you and not able to get the whole picture clearly or you may be spiritually far-sighted, only seeing heaven in the sweet by and by and missing the Lord’s love and provision for each day.

Get your eyes checked and your vision corrected; continue to focus on God’s amazing love and the power of His word.

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Let’s Talk

Dave and I spend a lot of time talking. Good talking.

When we were making the plan to sell the house and move into an RV full-time, we did a lot of talking. So much to consider and it was going to be a life-changing move, we better have all the cards on the table and not hold anything back.

Apprehensions, reluctance, details, hopes and aspirations, everything had to be talked through.

Even before the house sold, we talked about what to keep and what needed to go. Family heirlooms, pictures, my wedding dress, special mementos. How much wall space did we have, how much artwork could we take? Everything had to be considered – his tools, my crafts, dishes, fishing poles, etc.

Neither one of us like clutter, really, neat and tidy is how things should be! Lived in and comfortable is good but not messy or unkept. Lots of discussion on this will go there, this will go where?

Yesterday we were having another one of those organization conversations. This time we were in the truck headed to Lowe’s to find a light-weight storage cabinet for cleaning supplies, the mop, broom and vacuum. We didn’t like anything we had seen on-line and hoped to find something locally. We talked the whole way and from the talking we decided we needed a gym locker – perfect!

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, talking is good. Sometimes it can seem ominous – those words “let’s talk”. Yikes! What does that mean? It simply means that communication is needed, and communication is healthy.

Did you know that God likes to talk?

He came and talked to Adam and Eve in the garden. He talked to Noah and told him how to build the ark. When he talked with Moses, He gave the Ten Commandments and the pattern for the tabernacle. He talked with the prophets and gave them hundreds of prophecies on the coming of Jesus.

Of course, we know He talked with Jesus but also with Peter, Philip, Paul and John. He desires to talk with us. Yes, you and I. We’re His children and He desires to be part of our lives. He wants to be included in our decision making. He wants to hear about our joys and our sorrows.

“I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool. 19 If you willingly obey me, the best crops in the land will be yours.” Isaiah 1:18-19 CEV

He wants us to know that we are forgiven. He chooses to cleanse us from our wrong doings, from our sins. He plans good things for us, not just good but the best things.

“Don’t keep worrying about having something to eat or drink. 30 Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father knows what you need. 31 But put God’s work first, and these things will be yours as well. 32 My little group of disciples, don’t be afraid! Your Father wants to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:29-31 CEV

I would like to encourage you to open up an honest line of communication with the Father. Talk to Him each day while you do the dishes or work on the car, driving to work or sitting quietly with a cup of coffee.

Take time. He loves it when we say “Let’s Talk”!

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Love in Practice

Oh my! When I opened my Bible this morning the words literally jumped off the page!

Love in Practice! Amazing thought, godly teaching.

“If you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost, take the animal back to its owner. 2 If the owner lives too far away, or if you don’t know who the owner is, take the animal home with you and take care of it. The owner will come looking for the animal, and then you can give it back. 3 That’s what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else. Do whatever you can to help, whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing.” Deuteronomy 22:1-3 CEV

Now granted, in our day and age we don’t see too many cows or sheep wandering around lost so before you say these verses really don’t apply to me let’s look at the concept. The instruction that Moses was giving to the nation of Israel was to look out for one another, even if you don’t know that person.

God desires that we would act like Him, remember?

“Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. Let love be your guide.” Ephesians 5:1 CEV

Living rurally as we have there have been a number of times, we would come down the road to find a cow or a calf on the wrong side of the fence. A time or two we would wrangle them back through the gate that had been left open and secure it. But at others we would stop at the ranch house we would simply alert them that the cattle were out so they could get them penned up again. Not something you normally find in the city.

However, I have to tell a story on us. We had a neighbor who never took care of her yard. When we got ready to sell the house it concerned us that this would be a detriment to any potential buyers. We griped and complained to each other, alot, and even voiced our complaint to a few neighbors and family members. Then one day we were convicted about our complaining and when we listened to the Lord’s heart, we knew that we had to do. Dave went and talked to the neighbor and said he wanted to hire someone to clean up her yards.

He found a local handy man and sent him over to look at the job. We were through complaining and ready to put Love In Practice.

While we were in the mountains this summer it was common practice to ask the other campground workers if there was anything they needed when we headed to town. Most of the time there wasn’t but occasionally we would be asked to bring back a couple bags of ice, milk, coffee, fresh veggies and even a bag of birdseed.

We could switch this morning’s title around to say “Practice Love”. We don’t always get it right the first time, so we need to keep practicing.

Do the neighbors need a helping hand, a babysitter, a lawn mowed or groceries delivered? Do they need someone to take in their trash cans when their gone or water their plants? Practice love!

So, the next time you see a cow or a sheep walking down the road, (or someone in need) take the time to stop and put Love in Practice!

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True Value

Have you ever noticed the way the advertisers work to create low self-esteem at the beginning of each year? They add on to the notation that many have already adopted – I’m not good enough, I weigh too much, I need to join a gym…eat better, join a weight loss program…need a new hair style or different clothes.

It’s out there to convince us that we need to make a change and then we will be happier, more beautiful, healthier, more successful.

Our real value isn’t always recognized. It doesn’t come from how we look, what we eat, what we drive or any of those other things. Our acceptance, our status, comes from who we are in Christ. We have been given the ultimate make-over.

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.” II Corinthians 5:17 CEV

The most rewarding thing to me about our “belonging” to Christ is that it doesn’t depend upon our social status, our belonging to a certain club or church, our financial standing isn’t taken into consideration nor is our beauty. It all depends on Christ and not on us. What brings us in to right standing with the Father is our acceptance of the sacrifice of the Son.

“My children, I am writing this so that you won’t sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us. 2 Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people.” I John 2:1-2 CEV

All the world’s people…everyone, yes, everyone! No one is left outside of God’s love and His provision for new life. Our part is to accept that free gift; the Lord won’t force us to take it, but He wants everyone to benefit from it. When we accept what Christ has done for us there is no one or no thing that can separate us from God’s love.

“ If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?… 

37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—…Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:33-39 CEV

Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from God’s love! The sentiment of the world may be that we aren’t acceptable or that we have no value but that’s not how God sees us. To Him, we are precious – priceless.

“And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Malachi 3:17 AMPC

So, as you come into this New Year focus on what is truly life affirming, life changing. Spend time with the Father and let Him confirm your true value.

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