I WANT TO BE OLDER OR PRETTIER OR ............

Our cottage at Higgins Lake in Northern Michigan is such a peaceful place, usually, but this week the peacefulness was interrupted by squeals and peals of laughter and children’s voices; it was Grandkid’s Camp 2013.  I was sitting at the picnic table enjoying a cup of coffee, when 4-year old Nathan walked up, looking sad and forlorn.  “Grandma,” he said, “I want to be older.  I’ll never get to be older.”  Putting my arms around him, I asked, “How old would you like to be, Nathan?”  Without hesitation, Nathan replied, “10, I want to be 10.”  Now when you consider that his oldest cousin, Mackenzie, will be 9 years old in a few days, of course he wants to be 10; he wants to be “older.”  Pulling him on my lap, I explained to Nathan that God and Grandma thinks he is perfect exactly as he is now and that God needs him to be 4 years old so that he can learn and grow.  After a few more minutes of cuddling, he climbed off my lap and happily ran off to join a lively game of make-believe.

How many minutes, days and years of my life have been spent wishing I was something other than the person God wanted me to be?  As a 4 year old, I wanted to be 10, until I reached the age of 10, then it was 12, 16, 18, or 21.  From the age of 2, I loved to sing and perform for anyone who would listen.  At 12, I was so excited to sing solo for the Camp Choir in front of about 500 people.  Oh, I had dreams and my greatest joy was being asked to “perform” a song in church.  Finally, I realized that God hadn’t created me to “perform” but to worship and worship didn’t involve being in front singing at the top of my lungs but it involved standing in a pew, lifting my hands to Heaven, allowing the tears to flow as my voice directed the praise to Him.  I had other aspirations, I wanted to be the soft-spoken, sweet lady that everyone loved, confided in and admired.  Unfortunately, I saw things a little too clearly, had solutions instead of patience and could be a little intimidating; so I moved on.  Over the years, there have been so many things I wanted to be different in my life; I wanted to be thinner, prettier, live on the ocean, be creative, and the list goes on and on and on.

The beauty of “being older,” Nathan, is that I finally accepted that I am the “ME” that God created and loves with an everlasting love.  He created me for a special purpose and endowed me with the gifts and talents to be used to fulfill that purpose.  I may not sit and cry with you for hours but if we talk long enough, we may find a solution for your problem.  I won’t be the soloist with the microphone but if you listen closely, you will hear my voice lifted in worship to my God.  I won’t be the fashionista and my shoes won’t be the latest designer style but if you are barefoot, I’ll give them to you.  I won’t have a national ministry and be asked to travel the country speaking at Ladies Conferences but you might find me hosting a group of ladies in my home or leading devotions at the Rescue Mission.  I probably won’t write a “Best Seller” but I can send an email of encouragement, post a scripture on face book or write an inspirational blog.

Before we were born, God had a purpose and a plan in mind for each one of us.  We can only be complete in Him when we embrace and surrender our will to His plan.  Rest in His arms, cuddle for a while and accept that in Him you are perfect, then get up, shout for joy and go join in the game; enjoy being “FOUR.”

IT'S NOT THE MENU; IT'S THE HUNGER

Have you ever searched the pantry, looked in the refrigerator, and rummaged through the kitchen cabinets before concluding you had “nothing to eat?”  REALLY????  NOTHING?????  What about a can of soup, a box of cereal, toast and jelly or scrambled eggs?  Yes, there was plenty of food but nothing that appealed to you at the moment.  The problem wasn’t with the selection of food; the problem was you were not hungry enough.

A few years ago, Steve and I decided to stop at a highly recommended restaurant on our way to Knoxville, TN.  The interior of the restaurant was beautifully decorated and offered a cool, serene atmosphere away from the glare of a Tennessee summer sun.  We were seated and handed leather-bound menus.  I read through the menu several times searching for something among the large selection of soups, sandwiches, salads, and entrees to order, but nothing appealed to me.  I’m sure everything would have been prepared to perfection and served in an appetizing, inviting presentation, but not one thing on the menu made my “mouth water.”  When the waitress came to our table, we apologized, told her we had changed our mind and left the restaurant. It wasn’t the menu, it was our hunger!

Having been in ministry for several years, I have witnessed this phenomenon and even experienced it myself many times.  You may attend a church that offers a variety of music, classes, ministry opportunities, worship services, accomplished speakers, preaching, teaching, and Bible study on the menu. Perhaps you sample them all and leave filled service after service until one day……….  One Sunday or one Wednesday, you enter the sanctuary and peruse the menu.  The music is not the right genre and just doesn’t soothe your soul.  The pastor drones on teaching the same old lesson with a few new stories and as for prayer time; “Come on, get what you need from God and let’s go home.”  Finally, the dismissal prayer is prayed and you leave, unsatisfied.  You just aren’t “being fed.”   Hmmmmm!!!  Are you sure?  There was a full menu offered, an appetizer of worship, singing praise and giving glory to God, an entrée of well-prepared “meat” of the Word and even a lovely dessert of God’s presence around the altar.  Nothing to eat?  Not being fed?  It’s Not The Menu; It’s The Hunger!

Before you apologize and leave the “restaurant” because there is “nothing to eat,” check your hunger and thirst.  Have you been stuffing yourself with so much “junk food” that there is no room to feast on the Word?  Has your thirst been slaked by “flavored water” from the world’s wells until there is no longer a thirst for the Presence of God?  Perhaps it is time to empty yourself of all the unhealthy food you’ve been ingesting and become HUNGRY once again.  IT’S NOT THE MENU, IT’S THE HUNGER!

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

SO MUCH MORE THAN A TRASH PICKER

A few days at the cottage is always so peaceful and relaxing.  But, during this time, I was determined to clear out things that had collected over the past 10+ years.  One day, we took every item out of the garage, swept out the accumulated dirt, threw away broken, useless items, empty boxes and containers and put back those things that were still useful in a neat, orderly fashion.  The pile of discarded items sat at the curb, patiently waiting for Monday’s garbage pickup when a truck driving slowly down the road, stopped.   A “trash picker” had spied something in the pile of rubbish that he wanted.  I watched from the window as an older gentleman walked to my pile of garbage and picked up a rusty old lawn chair, threw it in the back of his truck and drove away.

My heart was stirred and my brain began to whrrr, have I become a “Spiritual Trash Picker?”  Do I sometimes just wander slowly down the road, hoping that someone has cast aside a blessing that will still have a little value?  WHY?  Perhaps I feel unworthy to receive my own personal blessings from God or maybe it is just too much effort to press past the obstacles and into the Glory.  I can pick up a discarded nugget of truth here or there, wait to worship in an atmosphere created by another’s fervent praise and even fill my vessel with the spill-over from my neighbor’s overflowing blessing.  WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!  I don’t want to become just another TRASH PICKER; I want “FIRST-HAND” blessings from God.

It may take a little more effort than just riding down the Road of Life.  Sure there will be obstacles in the way that I will have to go around or stop and remove, it may require some “sweat and tears” and involve asking, searching, praying and  waiting to receive, but the results will be my personal “Daily Benefits”, my own “New Mercies,” the “Abundant Blessings” God has reserved just for me. 

You have been called to be so much more than a “Spiritual Trash Picker.”  You are His precious child, one of the Redeemed; He knows you by name and has blessings handpicked for you, straight from the Father’s heart. 

Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

ENEMIES BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC

Today is July 4^th, a wonderful holiday in the United States.  Most people will celebrate it with cookouts and fireworks, watermelon and ice cream.  It’s Independence Day!!!!  

As Americans, we fiercely defend our freedoms.  We fence our yards, defend our rights in the highest courts and shed blood on foreign soil to preserve the freedom given to us by God and established by our forefathers.  

We have a signed and sealed document called the Constitution complete with an attachment called the Bill of Rights which the President and every member of Congress swear to “Protect and defend from enemies both foreign and domestic.”  We are serious about our RIGHTS but sometimes lax when it comes to preserving the FREEDOM that allows us to enjoy those rights.

We have been purchased and set free by the precious Blood of Jesus.  We have a signed and sealed document explaining our freedom and listing our rights as Citizens of Heaven.  Are we as willing to defend our freedom from sin as we are our civil liberties?  We have to be vigilant and on guard every minute to our foreign enemy, Satan. 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”  

Satan is always lurking around the corner, waiting for an opportunity to snatch another God-given right until link by link we are once again enslaved by sin.

But what about the Domestic Enemies?  Domestic threats are actually more dangerous than those from foreign sources. 

In the United States we have a strong military and a code of law to protect our borders from alien forces that would seek to destroy us.  It is easier to identify and resist foreign enemies.  Not so with “home-grown” terrorists.  They live with us, look like us, speak our language and share our rights.

In our Christian Walk we must deal with domestic enemies, as well.  The Bible tells us that we are not ignorant of the Devil’s devices but are we aware of the devices of those who seek to enslave us from within.  One of the first “plots” we encounter is those who try to replace Old Testament Law with New Testament Law.

Galatians 3:3 “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”  

We must resist the mindset that says anything we can do or not do contributes to our salvation. 

A second “plot” is the philosophy that because we are free in Christ and under grace, we have been given a license to satisfy any desire our flesh lusts after.  

Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”  

Just as American Citizens cannot yell fire in a crowded building, steal any little trinket that catches their eye, or take the life of the neighbor with the barking dog, Heavenly Citizens must adhere to the Spiritual Law that allows us to preserve our freedom in Christ.

I have read stories of men that were imprisoned when young and then released 20 or 30 years later.  They have become so accustomed to their chains that they have no idea how to handle the freedom they have been given.  They are so terrified that they will immediately commit another crime so they will be incarcerated again where there is no freedom but life is familiar.  

Let us not become so comfortable with Satan’s tyranny that we retreat after being set free from sin.  Let us also be careful not to trade Satan’s Tyranny for Spiritual Tyranny because we are scared of our freedom in Christ or because it is easier to follow the Law of Man rather than the Law of the Spirit.

Whether you are still bound by Satan or have once again become entangled in spiritual slavery, DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE, today.