Not Alone

In my morning devotion time this morning, I read 1 Kings 19. Elijah was feeling very depressed. He thought that he was the only one that was still loyal to God. He felt that he was working very hard to do all the right things, but was giving up trying anymore.

I have felt that way. Have you?  God sent an angel to encourage him and strengthen him. Then he reminded Elijah that there were 7,000 other people that were loyal and faithful, just as he was. Elijah was not alone.

Not only that, but God let Elijah feel his presence when Elijah allowed himself to wait for God’s presence to show up.

Sometimes we need to take a step back and wait for God’s presence to show up for us, too. We can’t hear him or know his thoughts and plans for us when we are rushing around in a hurry to do all our good works. And we are never really alone!

Knowing Where We Came From

Last week I taught first graders at my church.   It was one of my favorite topics:  creation.   As I was preparing my lesson, I heard the news about the Chinese mission of landing a spacecraft on the back side of the moon. I incorporated this news event into my lesson plan.

I brought out a globe. I showed the kids where we are. I also explained the moon’s relationship with the earth, using a small orange to represent the moon. I showed that one side of the moon , when looking at the dark areas against the white background often looks like a face.  I showed the kids how the face side of the moon is always facing earth, while we never see the back side.

Then I explained to the class about the Chinese landing on the back side of the moon and asked the kids why they thought the scientists did that. All the kids thought it was exciting and that the scientists did it for the adventure or to explore. Then I revealed that the news report said they did it to “find out where we came from!”  

Even a first-grader is smart enough to know that you can’t learn where you came from by landing a spacecraft on the moon. That can teach us a lot of things, but none of them are related to our origins. So, I asked the kids, “How CAN we know where we came from?”  There are millions of people in our world who do not know the answer.  That is why they are searching in such peculiar places as the moon. 

I popped out my Bible. I explained to them that “BIBLE” means “book”.  Our Bible is actually comprised of 66 books, but the first one is called Genesis. That means “beginnings “. If we read the first sentence in Genesis, we find that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  We just saved billions of dollars in space travel— it is right there in black and white, for all the world to see!

God Knows You

I have had some amazing answers to prayer recently. Not just the big things, mind you, but the little things that God answers that just tell me that he loves me!

I have some friends that say they believe in God, or at least in a higher power, but they think that God just put the universe into motion and kind of sat back and let things play out on their own.

That is not the God I know. My God knows me, personally. He knows when I am happy, when I am sad, and when I am anxious and unsure. He lets me know in subtle ways every single day that He is looking out for me and that he cares. One might think that the things I am attributing to God's divine intervention are nothing more than coincidence, and that I am deluding myself. But I know that coincidences don't happen every single time I pray!

It is my prayer, dear reader, that you can know that God loves you too! He knows you by name, and you are his!

Isaiah 43:1, 2, NIV:

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

hacking elections

I am not one to be public about my political views, but this is crazy stuff right now.  All this talk of hacking seems to boil down to influencing public opinion. Is it just me, or doesn't everything about an election have to do with influencing public opinion?

security

When people look at me, they must think I'm living the American Dream.  I have a steady job, a new care, 2.5 kids, and a house in the suburbs (kind of).  I have it made, and I am safe and secure.


But am I...?


I live near a volcano.  Global warming is causing drought conditions where I live and flooding elsewhere.  There is a surge in gang-related crime in the city, fatal car accidents every week on the highway.  the health care system and the economy are on the verge of collapse.


Are any of us really secure?


In this world, we spend all our time and resources trying to provide for our own security, but we are only keeping up an illusion.  Our only real hope is in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 91:1

^"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

That is where I want my security to lie.

In Matthew 6:19 - 21, Jesus tells us:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."


I want that to be the focus of my life.  Knowing my treasure is eternal life with Jesus Christ is my security.

Speaking the Truth in Love

Last weekend, I went to a conference on creation.  It was supposed to focus on teaching a literal 6 day creation of the world, as taught in the Bible.  I was excited to learn new evidence that I can use to not only support my own faith, but to help me defend my beliefs with others that may have questions.

I was very disappointed to see that the speaker spent so much of his time denouncing certain groups of people and practices that had nothing to do with the topic, all in the name of Christianity.  I was upset, ashamed, and embarrassed.  He even went as far as to group Seventh Day Adventists in with those whom he believed did not believe in Jesus and would burn in hell.  Obviously, he has never met a Seventh Day Adventist, nor did he have an accurate understanding of hell.  In any case, his mean-spirited statements completely took away from any good information that he may have had to share.

This made me think about my own actions.  The Bible admonishes us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  I wonder how often my actions focus on the "truth" as I see it, leaving out the more important part, love.  No one will listen to the "truth" if they don't at first feel the love and trust what I have to say.  We won't believe Jesus until we understand first that he loves us.  The love must prevail before the truth can be heard.

I must always be willing to show truth through love.  I must act in love, in order to share truth.

I always here, as an argument to this, that the Bible also teaches that Jesus' word is a stumbling block to others, that the truth must offend, and other such things.  It is true that God's word is a challenge to us.  The straight and narrow road is usually not the easy way, and it does cause us to stumble over ourselves, but none of this says that WE need to be stumbling blocks or that WE need to be offensive to support God's word.  God is love.  WE need to act and speak in love.

This is what I am thinking about on the day that everyone is thinking about love.

Busy-ness

I can't believe it has been almost a year since my most recent regular post!

Life, as I'm sure you know, can get so busy, that things just tend to go by the wayside without our even noticing sometimes.  Right now, I am working long, long days, then by the weekend, I am exhausted.  I have grandchildren now, and new puppies at home, so my free time on the weekends is spent trying to make up to them for the time I lose during the week working such long hours.  Can you relate?

Even at work, where I am a nurse, I get caught up in trying to get so many things done, meetings met, notes charted, assessments done, that I get annoyed when I have to stop "working" to take care of my patients.  And taking care of patients is my real job.  Since when did the people I am called to care for become annoyances?

I know where this really comes from.  Is it surprising to find that we are in the middle of a great cosmic conflict, a battle between good and evil, in which each and every one of us is fighting for our lives and for the kingdom?  It is so easy to get so caught up in the busyness that we forget what is really going on.  Satan knows that if he can't take us out directly, that he has a much better chance at taking us down if we are simply too tired or too distracted to fight!

I need to stop each time I feel tired, each time I feel overwhelmed, each time I feel distracted or annoyed, and remember why I am really here, what I am fighting for, and Who is fighting right beside me, (and in front and behind me-- see Psalm 125:2).  Who is willing to stand up and fight today?