I Don't Do Fancy

 by Glynnis Whitwer

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7 (NIV)

I'm not a spontaneous or particularly fancy person. Some people I know are, and their creativity amazes me. They whip up a gourmet dinner from leftovers in the fridge and what's in the cabinet. They create craft projects out of dried macaroni, spray paint and shoe boxes. They can think of birthday party games, favors and food that leave the celebrant feeling like a million bucks.

Not me. Ask my kids.

I'm thankful four out of five have summer birthdays and we have a pool! Cut up a watermelon, order pizza and voila!

It's not that I didn't care. Or that I didn't want to do more. But for so many years in my early parenting, I was overwhelmed with managing a job, home and very active children. Plus I believed my celebrations had to look a certain way. Since I didn't possess many creative skills, I always felt like a party-failure.

It was years later I realized most people don't really remember all the whoopla of a big party. There might be some shock-and-awe at first, but when the streamers fall and the balloons droop, people are more apt to remember moments inside those events. For example, at my 8th grade graduation, the only memory I have is of my older sister fixing my hair. Granted it was a long time ago, but her loving gesture meant the world to me.

People just want to feel loved. Remembered. Noticed. Valued.

That's how we were designed. God created us with a heart and soul to receive His love, so we could share it with others. In fact, loving God and each other is our highest calling. The Bible says it this way, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7).

Jesus said this, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12, NIV). The New Testament shows that Jesus loved His disciples by spending time with them, and caring about them deeply. He didn't need anything fancy to show His love.

Fancy's not wrong. Some people show their love through their creativity. And I applaud them. But for those of us who walk out of a craft store crying because we can't figure out which tie-die kit to buy, maybe a simpler option is more our style.

Maybe for some of us, we need to remove the self-imposed unrealistic expectations. Maybe we need to focus more on showing love rather than having our centerpieces match what we saw on Pinterest.

I've learned that it's often the little things that speak love to my friends and family. It's sitting outside at that summer pool party and watching the silly jumps off the diving board. It's abandoning the dishes to play a board game. It's an impromptu potluck dinner with friends on paper plates.

While I'll still try to make things pretty and creative, it's not my focus. My goal every day is to show love to my friends and family somehow. I may not always accomplish that goal with perfection, but I can come closer to it with God's help than I'll ever be able to pull off a spectacular birthday party.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I've gotten so worried about how my dinner or gathering looks that I've neglected what matters most to You. Open my eyes to ways I can show Your love to others, making them feel valued. In Jesus' Name, Amen.



Happy Wednesday,
Richard 

No More Guilt-Induced Doubt

  

by Renee Swope 

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

Mom said she'd be gone all day, and she encouraged me to come over and use her place to write. In a quiet house, hopefully, I could finalize my message outlines for our church women's retreat.

We arranged plans for my mom to be home at 5 p.m. Then my husband, J.J., would come over at 5:30 p.m. with our boys. The children could stay with Grandma while J.J. and I went to a surprise party.

Mom's quiet house was just what I needed to get into a good studying and writing zone. It was the perfect setting ... until she came home two hours early!

She brought cement pavers in and set them on the floor. She walked out and returned to plop bags of groceries in the kitchen ... right where I was studying.

Normally this would have been fine, but I wasn't done and I got the message that my time was up. Panic set in!

Then, to make matters worse, as I put my notes away I knocked a water bottle over onto my laptop. My chest tightened with anxiety, and my eyes stung with tears. My perfect day was turning into the perfect storm.

After mopping up the mess, I started getting ready for the party and waited for my husband to arrive. He didn't show up at 5:30, or 5:40. He wasn't answering his cell phone, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise party by being late. So, at 6:00, I decided to take Mom's car and have him meet me there.

Just as I was leaving, he drove up. Surprisingly, he didn't look a bit hurried. In fact, my then 6-year-old son got out of the car first, walked up to me and said, "Daddy told us you would be mad!"

That was an understatement! Frustrated and angry, I decided it was still a good idea for me to leave. But when I pulled out of the driveway, my husband waved for me to stop and asked, "Aren't you going to wait for me?"

"No," I snapped. "Because you're acting like a [beep]."

My 8-year-old son walked up and said, "Mommy! You just called Daddy a [beep]."

Suddenly guilt-induced doubt made me start questioning everything, including speaking at the retreat. I'm not cut out for this. I'm not godly enough. I must have heard God wrong. I have no business teaching a message I can't even live.

My husband and I ended up going to the party together, with our fake "everything is fine" smiles. But the next morning at church, I went straight to my women's ministry director, confessed what happened and told her I needed to step down from being the retreat speaker.

Her response shocked me: "Renee, if you don't need this message as much as the women attending, then you are not qualified to teach it. But because you need it as much as we do, you are. You've been appointed and you are anointed to do this."

I had never experienced such a demonstration of God's grace.

That response showed me what it looks like to "approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

It's hard to believe God could use us when we're such a mess, yet the Bible is filled with stories of men and women He used greatly — despite their downfalls.

I ended up speaking at the retreat and shared what had happened. Although I feared some women might judge me, they loved me, accepting that I'm not perfect.

Although guilt can make us give up on ourselves, God won't. Instead, He offers to take what feels like destruction and use it for reconstruction in our journey with Him.

When we confess our wrong thoughts, words, and actions and receive God's forgiveness, our hearts can be set free from guilt-induced doubt and filled with grace-infused confidence.

Lord, I come to You today to receive Your mercy and find Your grace to help me. Please replace my guilt-induced doubt with Your grace-infused confidence. In Jesus' Name, Amen


 

Am I On Camera?

by Chrystal Evans Hurst

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them ..." Matthew 6:1a (ESV)

My eldest son recently turned nine. Like most kids, he was excited to be officially "bigger." He walked around on his special day with his chest pushed out and his head held high.

After a full day of justifiably being the center of attention, my son told me that because he was nine, he was going to wash the dishes.

His dishes.

He proceeded to go to the sink, squeeze the dish detergent and squirt a generous amount of soap on a dirty plate. He then proceeded to rub and scrub with vigor.

I grabbed a glass of water and rested my hip on the side of the kitchen counter to watch my birthday boy work. He scrubbed on that dish for more than a minute.

That dish wasn't just clean, it was sterile, sanitized and thoroughly decontaminated.

Then my sweet boy turned to me, cocked his head slightly to one side, donned a puzzled face and asked, "Aren't you gonna take a picture of me and put it on Instagram?"

I almost spit my water in his face with laughter, shock and a bit of confusion.

My son was doing a good thing with the desire to broadcast his good thing to the world. Apparently, being "on camera" was an important part of his good works.

So I took a few minutes to explain the importance of doing things for the right reasons and not performing for the applause of others.

And then I was convicted.

Convicted because sometimes I do the same thing.

How many times have I served others, not just because it was the right thing to do, but because it also lent claim to a bit of self-righteousness as others watched me do it?

How many times have I put forth more effort to show kindness or compassion to people inside the walls of my church than to those living within the walls of my home?

How often do I aim for excellence when someone is watching but forget to aim consistently for excellence simply because my God is always watching?

And He's always most interested in my heart.

The Bible is clear. God doesn't want my good deeds to be aimed at gaining the applause of people. He wants me to have a pure heart and motives undergirded by a desire to live a life pleasing to Him.

Even if no one else is watching.

When my little boy got busy washing his dish, my heart was overjoyed because I thought he was showing growth and maturity by doing a good thing — simply because it was the right thing to do!

When his true motives were made clear, I realized there was still mothering work to be done. My precious son still has room to grow and mature. And that's OK.

In my Christian journey there will be times when I will need work. There will be times where my heart is not quite right or my motives are not necessarily pure. I still have room to grow and mature. And it's OK.

And that's OK if you do, too.

The good news I've learned as I grow in Christ is that my heart can change. God is a loving Father who is interested in my heart and willing to take the time to teach me. He's willing to go the distance, guiding me along the path to spiritual maturity.

The interaction with my son reminded me to do a "heart check."

Even if no one is watching, when I'm not "on camera," I should always be conscious of the story my actions tell about my heart.

Dear Lord, I desire to have a pure heart and pure motives, but if I'm honest, sometimes I miss the mark. Help me be aware that You are ever present and to live as though You are watching. Where I have developed the habit of keeping up appearances, teach me what it means to live for an audience of One. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Happy Monday,
Richard

TOO BUSY TO STUDY AND PRAY?

By Sheila Gosney 

 Does your schedule keep growing beyond control
Till you're just running around day after day?
And you know you need to, but you just can't see how
To take time to study and pray.

For you take kids to school five days a week
With appointments and deadlines to keep.
Then you have club activities and baseball practices
With barely enough time to sleep.

Most of the time, you feel like you are "running on empty"
Or on "fumes" from the last sermon you heard.
But the God who loves you wants to energize you each day
From the pages of His Holy Word.

And if you'd make time each day to seek Him and pray
He'd grant a peace when you're frazzled and sore.
For He wants you to grow in the midst of your busyness
And to hunger for Him even more.

So if your life is that hectic, you need to shift gears
And make time with Him a priority each day.
Then you'll be so blessed, convinced and refreshed
That you can't afford not to study and pray.

 
"I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy Word.”  Psalm 119:15-16

Today's Thought:
"Meditation on God's Word has given me the help and strength to pass peacefully through deep trials. What a difference there is when the soul is refreshed in fellowship with God early in the morning! Without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day can be overwhelming." - George Mueller
 
 

Remembering Our Spiritual and Political Heritage

Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” Psalm 78:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
On June 8, 1845, Andrew Jackson said, “The Bible is the rock upon which our Republic rests.” Just a few years prior, in 1820, another of our forefathers, Daniel Webster, said, “Let us not forget the religious character of our origin.” In the days of our founding fathers, people didn’t quibble about the Bible’s importance. Our forefathers brought hither their high veneration for the Christian religion, being journeyed in its light and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate, listen to, and infuse its influence through all their institutions: civil, political, and literary.

ACTION POINT:
American heritage is important, but so is your personal spiritual heritage as a believer and as a family. Why not take some time this week to write down the spiritual heritage of your family?

God's Independence Day

By Beth Patch

Most Americans have celebrated Independence Day in their lifetime. The smell of burgers and hotdogs sizzling on the grill outside and the bursting of fireworks in the sky become familiar on July 4th. We eat, maybe the Star Spangled Banner is played or the National Anthem, and then everyone watches fireworks and goes home. It’s become rather commonplace, another day for big sales events and flying an American flag.
However, an Independence Day celebration approaches that will include and impress the whole world! We don’t know the date and shouldn’t believe anyone who tells us they do. But, no one on earth or in heaven will miss its importance, and it will mark a day of freedom from the greatest oppressor ever – Satan.

It is the day of the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! It is the beginning of real freedom, like no one has ever had before (except Adam and Eve before they sinned). Those who have believed in Christ’s atoning blood for their sins and have trusted and believed in Him, might have what an old preacher of mine used to call "a Hallelujah breakdown!"

This Independence Day will release Christians from the many sins that keep them entangled. Imagine, no more sickness, no more addictions, no more gossip, no more unkindness, no more anything that does not reflect the positive attributes of the love of our Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Currently, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, to strengthen us, to comfort us, and to give us power through Christ’s death and resurrection. However, we are still tripped up by sin as long as we live in this fallen world. When Jesus comes, all our ungodliness along with our negative baggage goes away. I can’t think of a better freedom than that.

Actually, the whole scene of Jesus’ return sounds so incredible that I doubt there are words to describe the immense emotional, spiritual, and physical response people will have.

The Bible tells us that Jesus will return to earth just like He left, through the clouds (Acts 1:11b), with his angels (Matt 16:27), with the trumpet call of God and a loud command (1 Thess 4:16). Scripture says believers in Christ will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and Jesus will destroy all dominion, authority and power that stands in opposition to Almighty God (1 Cor 15:52, 1 Cor 15:24).

Our earthly minds are limited in their comprehension of this miraculous time. It’s a God thing, and try as we may, we can’t peg down the details on how God will accomplish the return of Jesus Christ and the destruction of evil.

Picture in your mind the sky filled with God’s mighty angels, the sound of God’s trumpet, which has to be the most beautiful and loudest sounding instrument, and our Lord Jesus shining radiantly as He leads His mighty angelic troop in the earth’s sky.

Envision getting to see the victory as Christ and his angels capture Satan and his demons and justice is completed. It will be more graphic and stirring than any riveting movie that Hollywood could ever think of producing.

Many theologians have studied the return of Christ and not all have agreed about the order of when things happen or exactly how they happen. These varied opinions on the return of Christ and the disappearance of believers from the earth have created divisions among believers who desperately want to cling to one decided order of the end times.

My response to such division is that it won’t matter how we interpret end times scriptures when God’s day of Independence comes. Everything will be revealed in God’s perfect timing. The Independence Day of our God will come when we least expect it and we are instructed to be ready as if it were the next moment. So, in case it happens to be today, Happy Independence Day!

Humor:


A minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building.

Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."

During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."

At that moment, the substitute organist played, "The Star Spangled Banner."

Have A Safe and Joyous 4th,
Richard