Dust Bunnies

As I was cleaning the house this morning and restoring it to order, I came across some hidden dust bunnies behind one of the stereo speakers. Now, I work each week to keep dust bunnies off of visible surfaces, but when it comes to those hidden...well, I am not so good. There is a delicate balance between obsessive compulsive tendencies and balance. As I moved the speaker to get those dust bunnies, the Lord brought to mind "guard your heart, for out of it come the issues of life" Proverbs 4:23. On heels of that thought came the remembrance of a conversation I had with a friend just this morning about our lack of desire for superficial conversation.
I like deep conversations. I want to know what the Lord has been teaching you. I want to share how He is stretching me and growing me. I want to hear about His miraculous wonders in the lives of His people HERE and NOW. I want to encourage and to be encouraged to persevere in His name. Ok, I'll get off that soap box...
What He shared with me this morning regarding those dust bunnies is how we can spend so much time keeping our surfaces clean, much like the Pharisees and their ritualistic cleaning, but if we don't let the Lord deal with the issues of our hearts and purify them, our walk with Him will remain where it is at, superficial and shallow and wanting more.
No one said that Him dealing with our hearts would be painless or comfortable. Growth occurs outside of our comfort zones. He chastises those whom He loves, much as father disciplines his child. What I can say about that chastisement is that it is rewarding to feel His love. One reward I have experienced is His peace and that is priceless.
I long to go deeper with Him every day, but life gets in my way and throws me curve balls. What I do know, is that I do not get hung up on my failures. He has shown Himself to me and I am encouraged to keep picking myself up by the bootstraps and keep moving forward after Him. "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting that which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead". Philippians 3:12-13
P.S.
Oh, did I get those dust bunnies behind that other speaker? No, that is my, maybe the Lord's way, of keeping those obsessive compulsive behaviors in check.
Have a blessed day in HIS name.

Daily Light January 30

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.* Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.* Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness.

Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus; not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.* Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.* Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.

Heb 12:1-2; Luke 9:23; Luke 14:33; Rom 13:12; I Cor 9:25-27; Phil 3:13-14; Hos 6:3

Encouragement from Daily Light by Anne Graham Lotz

I Choose

I Choose.....
I desire to live this way. May it speak to your heart as well......

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose......

I CHOOSE LOVE...No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY...I will invite my God to be the God of circumstances. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE...I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE .....I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS...I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS...I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS...Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS...Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will not, rule the eternal. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF CONTROL Gal.5:22,23

To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest with the peace that passes all understanding.

-- Author Unknown

Happy New Year!

If you haven't read any good devotions on New Years Resolutions, I encourage you to go visit At the Well.
Meanwhile, when it comes to New Years Resolutions, does it simply come done to priorities not obsessions? For example, our church has embarked on a journey 90 Days Through the Bible. Twelve pages a day! That is Genesis to Revelation in 90 days! As I started my reading, I realized what a challenge this was going to be. Well, it's priority now. Not that I let my other God given priorities, ie. husband, children, meals, and laundry, get put on the back burner, but I will now reconsider how I spend my time (phone, email, surfing the net, dawdling from one menial task to another, etc) to ensure I allocate sufficient time to read.
Read on!

Making a List and Checking it Twice

Proverbs 31 Ministries Daily Devotion

Rest in the Midst of Life

I find life can be sapping sometimes. Just the normal everyday run of the mill callings...husband, kids, laundry, grocery shopping, carpooling, cooking, cleaning, ...the list goes on. Then there are other commitments that call and add to the chaos,...work, illnesses, extended family obligations, extra curricular activities, and that list goes on as well. And then there are the holidays with more shopping, more social engagements, and more and more. For two years now I have found my morning commitment to my Lord is critical for recharging my spiritual battery, if you will. Five years later, running has proven to be critical to recharge the emotional battery. What about the physical body? Food and rest. Our society has groomed our generation to always be on the move. I feel guilty for sitting, much less, taking a power nap. Sitting is not productivity. I am list driven.
My devotion this morning reminded me that is ok, to sit and rest.

I Kings 19:4-5
"...he himself...came and sat under a broom tree...he lay and slept..."
Verse seven says that the angel told him to arise and eat for the journey has been too great for him.
Even Elijah who knew no death and was taken up by the Lord needed basic life necessities food and rest. As we do, also.

I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said I, as my overtaxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought that my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.

Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,
Without questioning if I may,
Without even trying to trust and pray?

Will God forgive you? Think back, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did your mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?

Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she give her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?

Oh, how quickly a mother's love can see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you've grown too tired to trust and pray,
When overworked nature has quite given way:

Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on mother's breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes;

Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges no solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.

He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor, weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,

When He told them, "Sleep and take your rest,"
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-
You have trusted your life to Him to keep,
Then don't be afraid to go right to sleep.
-----Ella Conrad Cowherd

The Rules

This morning proved to be frustrating in more ways that I could really go into detail in fear of losing your attention, as well as mine. In summation, the littlest dog and newest addition to the family decided he couldn't wait for me to get out of the shower to do his business. Frustration number one. Followed by thick soupy fog for complicated weather conditions. Frustration number two. Topped off with distracting conversation with my 5 year old about her dog and our plan of 'attack' to break a poor habit of messing in the house that led to a near wreck in the fog. Frustration number three. Where this brings us is my 7 year old, nearly 8, reaching up from behind my car seat, rubbing my shoulders and says its 'its ok mom, its not your fault'. Unfortunately, I had to correct her and inform her that it was my fault. Driving rules exist for our safety and I failed to heed to one in particular that came close to really frustrating and complicating the morning beyond recognition.
Isn't that the purpose of God's rules and our submission to Him? To protect us and keep us safe from oncoming harm that we can't always see?
Psalm 91:1-16