I wish I had a better camera when I took this picture. It was a nice spring day. The sun was shinning. White clouds were scattered across a light blue sky. Then I saw it – a sideways white robed cloud with a rainbow hem. The red was faded. The yellow was bright. The blue tried to sneak out while a bluish-purple was visible only at different angels.
Keep in mind it was a beautiful day. It had not recently rained nor were the clouds stormy looking. The Lord brought to mind that we often rely on His promises during the storms of life; and yet, how often do we forget them on life’s sunny days? Do we only rely on Him when life gets rough or can we enjoy Him on life’s sunny days as well?
Yes our God’s promises are good during life’s storms. It’s equally true, though, that He’s good for His word the rest of the time as well. This picture is a reminder to remember that your God is Savior and Faithful yesterday, today and tomorrow…no matter what the outside weather is.
S“E”t Free Nowww
Yearly Archives: 2016
He’s On Guard
I face all kinds of situations walking the hills. I’ve given plenty of space to snakes and coyotes. Kept moving past beehives And, I expect to see dogs roaming free. I am, however, relieved when their owners are on the lookout. Only they know how their animal will react. Once, I made eye contact with an owner who was on top of things. Soon their animal was on a leach. Let’s just say this owner knew their dog…well.
As believers, we can be like that dog having a good ol’ time loving and becoming more like Jesus. And like that dog owner, Jesus knows us well. He knows our weaknesses and faith level at any point in life. He understands how our day is going and where our mind is focused at any given moment.
Jesus can see down the road and can protect us from situations He knows we’re not ready to handle yet. The question is, “Will we let Him?” Keep practicing listening to and following Jesus in the mundane things of life. As we do, we’ll be protected from the harmful things of life too. Every little decision made in His power today is preparation for the more harmful situations we face tomorrow.
Set Free Now“W”w
Hummingbird Lessons
While walking the other day a hummingbird zipped across my path. I’m continually amazed at the amount of energy it expends just to stay in place. I’m sure it’s looking at or for something while it hangs in midair, but its wings are still humming along at quite a rapid pace.
Couple of thoughts here. One, if you’re standing still it should be to rest while restoring your energy sources not depleting them. Yet, how often do we spend needless energy on worry, anger and stress while standing in place? Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Life on this planet is temporary; and thus, so are our challenges. Life can deplete us. Let Jesus refill by standing firm on the truths He gives so your mind can rest.
Two, when you start walking with the Author of life learn to relax. If you’re going to expend energy, spend the Spirit’s power, not your own. Letting go of I and me can be difficult, but learning to Him is less exhausting than living in your power.
Both standing and going forward mean rest for the secure child of God. The more He takes over, the more we can rest in place or while humming along.
“S”et Free Nowww
Broken Hallelujahs
“May those who love Your salvation always say, ‘The LORD be exalted.'” (Psalm 40:16) To get the full impact of this verse, you must understand its context. David writes before it that people are hunting him down to destroy his life. After it, he writes that he is needy and poor.
He is not writing from life’s mountain top, but from its valley. He realizes that he’s broken; but he’s also reminding himself to praise God for his salvation in the midst of that brokenness.
Jesus is in the process of making us whole, which He will finish the day we see Him. Until then, we still have something to praise God for – we are and will be saved/made whole! This is worthy of praise or what a friend of mine calls “broken hallelujahs.”
We can praise God despite our imperfections, our brokenness, because He who began a good work in you will finish it (Phil. 1:6)! There truly is hope in the midst of life’s valleys
S“E”t Free Nowww
Not Afraid to Think
The following is an excerpt from Rosaria Champagne Butterfield’s My Train Wreck Conversion article. “As a university professor, I tired of students who seemed to believe that ‘knowing Jesus’ meant knowing little else. Stupid. Pointless. Menacing. That’s what I thought of Christians and their god Jesus, who in paintings looked as powerful as a Breck Shampoo commercial model. After my tenure book was published, I used my post to advance the understandable allegiances of a leftist lesbian professor.”
“As a postmodern intellectual, I operated from a historical materialist worldview, but Christianity is a supernatural worldview. I started reading the Bible. I read the way a glutton devours [when a good friend warned that] “This Bible reading is changing you, Rosaria.” I continued reading the Bible, all the while fighting the idea that it was inspired. But the Bible got to be bigger inside me than I. It overflowed into my world. I fought against it with all my might.”
Eventually she surrendered to and is now a strong follower of Jesus who changed her life from the inside out. Rosaria is what 1 Peter 3:15 talks about. “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
Do you believe that Jesus and His Word can change your life? Then don’t be afraid to go where no man or woman has gone before. Let Jesus and His word scrub those lies that cling onto the sides of your brain, answer those cantankerous doubts that bother your soul, or drive your surface level faith deeper.
Have a modern Jesus story to tell, one from a changed life that is not afraid to know Jesus on a daily basis, even if it means challenging long held patterns of thinking.
“S”et Free Nowww