I Have Rights! Right?
Oh, the beauty of Your creation, Father! Absolutely nothing man has ever done or ever will do can equal the blessing of snow coming down and covering the earth! The detail, the diversity, the enormity of it all causes me to lift Your name in praise, Almighty God!
Philemon 8-25 (<<click here)
Lord, even good people – devout followers of You – sometimes have to be encouraged to stop…and think… about doing what is right. Philemon had every “right” to deal with Onesimus, after all he was his property, he had run away, it’s implied that he may even have taken something that was not his to take. Everyone would have backed him in whatever action he chose to take – everyone that is except Paul.
Paul’s testimony was that Onesimus was a new man – Christ had changed him to the core. Philemon had lost out on many fronts but had gained on so many more!
It is easy for me to feel put out – someone doesn’t drive (or park!) the way I think they should, I can’t take my break when I want to, my fries are cold, someone questions my “authority”, etc. ad nauseam. I could become angry, I could demand my own way. I could seek revenge. I could refuse to forgive…
Wait a minute! Am I innocent? Am I perfect? Just on a human to human level I fail miserably! That’s bad enough, Lord, but what about my relationship with You? Talk about ad nauseam. I’m sorry for my self-righteous attitude. Jesus, we both know there is absolutely no room for that whatsoever.
I don’t really know what Philemon did but I hope that he looked at his own life and all God had done for him and then embraced Onesimus as a treasure that was lost that was now found. Lord, may I have Your mindset in how I respond in every situation today and every day!
Feb 10th, Wed, 7:49 am
Bleed Love
Once more, Father, I give this day over to You. Thank You for being at the helm of my life. Yesterday, I know You were with me. You guided my thoughts, enabling me to live out Your will in my life. You enabled me to be kind when I wanted to be short. You helped me side step temptations. You granted my strength when I was weary. I am truly blessed…
Philemon 1-7 (<<click here)
Before Paul brings up the reason for this piece of correspondence with Philemon, he affirms who Philemon is. He is a good guy. He has a reputation of living out Christ’s love. He’s not just a talker – he’s a doer.
Lord, many of us can talk a good talk but when it comes to living it out…it’s not so easy. There are times in even good people’s lives when our goodness seems to wear thin and it would be so much easier to lash out. And what’s crazy is that it doesn’t have to be some major altercation that tempts us to snap.
Just yesterday, a customer was looking for a silver chain and she said something, that for whatever reason, I took exception to. In my heart and mind anger flared up. In reality it was trivial – so trivial that I can’t even bring what she said to mind less than 24 hours after it was said. But Lord, thanks to You, I quickly doused the fire checked my attitude and served her as she deserved, with love and respect.
In this situation goodness prevailed but I’m sorry to say that although this is the norm, that it is not always my response. If I am weary or if my toes get stepped on enough times in a row or for that matter if certain “buttons” get pushed, I can snap and lash out. I can say things that don’t need said. I do things that don’t need done! And once things are said and done they cannot be unsaid and undone.
Lord, I pray that more and more Your love will prevail in my life. Fill me so full of Your love that if I do get poked or prodded that though it may draw blood that all I will bleed is love… being more like You each and every day.
Feb 9th, Tues, 5:52 am
A Man After God’s Own Heart
Father, I am trusting that it was You that got me up an hour earlier than the usual. I went back to bed at first but the more I lied there the more I felt You were calling me to join You. I knew it wasn’t the enemy waking me – he surely doesn’t want us spending time together! So here we are. What would You say to me today, for I am here to listen.
As I sit here rocking in the recliner, Lord, I just can’t stop thinking about where I found myself last night. Karen and I both love our family very much, so we went to support Karen’s cousin’s family at a memorial service for a brother-in-law… Rob is his name. He was just a few months younger than me and he had lost a hard fought battle with cancer.
I had met him and knew who he was but I didn’t really know him. But last night’s service sure opened my eyes. Beyond any doubt, Rob was a brother in Christ. Many shared of his devotion to You, Lord – of his determination to proclaim You to a world who so desperately needed to know. He held nothing back in his investment in the kingdom – wonderful stories of changed lives. He lived out Your call on his life.
But one thing that must be stressed is that Rob was, by no means, a cookie cutter Christian. From a distance “typical” Christians would have had no idea that he lived his life for You – not because he didn’t live out his love for You but because he was not your “stereotypical” Christian. He was a biker through and through, long hair pulled back in a ponytail, mechanic, leather wearing, hard as nails kind of guy. The kind of guy some would have been scared to death to run into in a dark alley…until they got to know him. Rob wasn’t perfect – none of us are. But many years ago God broke though and found a “man after my own heart…” and most importantly Rob fleshed out the rest of Acts 13:22, too, “he will do everything I want him to do.”
He may have been unconventional but he was the real deal. There was no pretense – no façade – what You saw was what you got. One (of several) pastors that shared last night said something to the effect that in living out his life for Christ Rob didn’t strive to be like other Christians – his hard pressed goal was to be like Christ. And even beyond what family and friends closest to him knew, those whose lives touched Rob Barclay’s knew the love and devotion of a man after God’s own heart. May we all have no less of a goal.
Feb 8th, Mon, 5:21 am
Called to Share
Good morning, Father! I’m ready to hear what You have to say. Help me to take it all in and to live it out, too!
Titus 3:12-15 (<<click here)
Paul’s letter to Titus concludes with some transitional instruction – a pastoral change with a call for Titus to winter with Paul. Also, Paul asks for the Crete’s to help Apollos and Zenas in their travels for ministry. And in that regard he writes, “Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent need of others; then they will not be unproductive.” v14
Lord, when we are called to share it can be a challenge – it goes against our self-preservation mentality. If I have two apples and I give you one apple… that leaves me with just one apple. Things we own, including money, are at times, difficult to part with…but for that matter so is our time. In fact sometimes it is easier to throw money at a need than to invest time into it. Quite often time is a much more valuable commodity.
Jesus, when You came to live amongst us – You sacrificed everything. We had nothing in comparison but You came to give us Your all. You held nothing back.
For the most part we are not asked to give everything we cherish away. (Though a devout follower realizes all we own – all we are – is from Your bounteous hand.) But how many times when we are asked to give we respond like a toddler whose toy is given to another.
Lord, help me to be wise in my giving. May I give to those who are truly in need. May I do so with the utmost of love and compassion. May I not be hesitant, on occasion, to give until it hurts. May I be Your hands and Your heart to a world in need – not just material need but sometimes I need to give time and a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.
Feb 7th, Sun, 6:28 am
I Am a Cup
It’s hard to believe that what caused me to wake up several times this morning for fear I would miss is something I wasn’t even thinking of doing a year ago! But Father I do not want to miss our special time together. Granted at this point the compulsive part of my personality may be making a contribution but it’s all good! Father, You made me and whatever it takes to get me up and at it with You is fine by me! Bless our time together; speak to me for I am listening…
I’m not exactly sure what he said, but a radio preacher got my mind going down a certain track. Then end result was – I am a cup. (Profound, huh?) At the beginning of each day, I get to fill it with whatever I want. It is a choice but it is also possible to relinquish that choice and to just let the day fill it with whatever it will. A big problem, though with going that route is that all kinds of junk can be dumped in my cup – anger…apathy…bitterness…envy…lust…revenge…need I go on? And more often than not these things will leave a residue in my cup.
In the past when I’ve made chocolate milk, sometimes the chocolate syrup sticks to the side of my cup even with lots of stirring and scraping. Now what was in my cup was very good but if it is not cleaned properly the residue that was left will still be there the next day when I go to use my cup again. So unless I take care to clean my cup, each day’s residue will continue to accumulate and before too long things begin to taste funny. If I’m not careful it can even begin to affect my health.
That’s one way I can go about being a cup but is not the only way. I am a cup who knows its Maker! Those individuals who make things usually know a great deal about their care. God made me and who better to help me care for myself?
Each morning now, I start off clean – no accumulating residue to mess things up. And each day God fills me. He fills me with himself and all the good things that make Him who He is…love….patience…forgiveness…purity…devotion…joy…and boy, could I go on! And He doesn’t just fill me a little, His fill is to overflowing! It is clean and pure and whole and it fills my every need. And my overflow can’t help but splash those around me – some get a little sprinkle but if they get close enough they might just get drenched! What could be better than that!?
There’s a song that comes to mind that communicates these thoughts so clearly – “Fill My Cup, Lord.”
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasures earthly things afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
So my brother if the things that this world gave you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray—
Words & Music by Richard Blanchard
Lord, fill me this day. Use me as You will. Help me drench those around me with all that You are! Amen!
Feb 6th, Sat, 5:11 am