Month: June 2024

Supply

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“The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry…” 1 Kings 17:14

God tells Elijah to travel to a specific town saying that He has given instructions to a widow to care for him. As Elijah arrives the woman seems to have missed God’s instructions for she’s happy to give him water, but as for anything more she tells Elijah “I only have a morsel of flour and oil and was about to bake a loaf of bread that my son and I can eat before we die”. Truly she’s beyond poor, but she is also about to realize that

God’s Supply Is Limitless!

Elijah says to her, “If you share the bread with me, your flour and oil jars will never go empty.” Indeed, this is exactly what transpires. God could have chosen all manner of ways to provide for Elijah’s next meal, but He chose this widow as she was really the one that needed the blessing. All she had to do was open her hand and share to receive it. God’s supply for us is truly limitless.

The Master’s Touch

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“For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” Ephesians 2:10

You and I are a work in progress. Some days we just need a touch up, other days a complete make over. Never fear,

God Is Up To The Task.

He created you to begin with. The real question is, are you willing to trust the Masters decorating touches in your life? Why not turn to God in prayer and have a little chat about your hopes and dreams today. Simply look around at the wonder and beauty of all God created. I’m convinced you have a whole new world of wonder awaiting you when you allow God as the master artist to have the last word. It will be good! 

The Best Is Yet To Come

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“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” Romans 8:28

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the worst things we experience in life turning out for the best. Yet I’m continually amazed at how gracefully and gently God changes our seasons for us. Heartache soon turns to contentment, and contentment to joy when we

Let The Father Take Our Hand And Lead.

Paul says in Romans 8 that all things work together for good for those who love God. Yet it is completely our choice on whether we accept this incredible gift. We are welcome to take a random walk through life, letting life happen as it will, or we can live with God’s tender hand guiding and leading us along the way. Having lived in both worlds I can highly recommend accepting God’s gracious gift.

Walls

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“The LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor” Joshua 6:2

As a teenager music seemed to speak truths that no other medium could really touch. I don’t think much has changed in the decades since. I remember wearing out Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” driving to and from high school. On some level at that age I believed, as the lyrics said, that I was “just another brick in the wall” of life. What difference can I really make? The system is what it is. After all, walls are unscalable, aren’t they? I’ve faced plenty of them in life. Walls that appears to have no end to the right or the left. Then there’s the book of Joshua, and a great story about

Tearing Down Walls.

In the story, the children of Israel are facing the walls of Jericho. We are talking about one massive insurmountable wall. And yet, what does God have to say about this particular wall? “The LORD said to Joshua, ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, and its king, and the mighty men of valor.’“ Notice how God does not acknowledge the insurmountable wall that Joshua is facing. To God, the wall is inconvenient at best. To God, the battle has already been won! And what’s even more interesting, Joshua does not argue with God. So, does the wall fall? Of course the wall falls, for that’s what God does. He tears down our walls for us. I’ve watched Him do it over and over and over again in my own life. Give it a try. Simply give God your praise today and watch your walls come tumbling down.

Special Delivery

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“Behold I stand at the door and knock.” Revelation 3:20

We have come to love home delivery. Amazon made items shipped to your door ubiquitous in our society. Now everyone seems to deliver, and all manner of items can dropped at your doorstep with the simple click of the mouse or press of the key on your smart phone.

Customer Service At It’s Finest.

Jesus paints a vivid image for us in Revelation 3:20 as he describes himself. For He said, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and lets me in, I will come in and sup with them.” So many go in search of God. There’s no need for He standing right in front of you, knocking. Your response should be, “Welcome, come on in!”

At Peace

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

Are you feeling fear in your life today? Take a deep breath. Calm your spirit. Now take one more breath and repeat these words: “Fear not”. The Lord is your light and your salvation; whom shall you fear? The Lord is the strength of your life, of whom shall you be afraid? These are not just words to say, they are the very essence of faith in God’s very real presence in your life. God is with you wherever you go, whatever you are going through. Therefore, repeat the line, “the Lord is my light and my salvation” until your fear subsides and is replaced by a lightness of God’s peace! Call upon the Lord in faith and

Peace Will Replace Your Fear.

God is ever present in our lives. I don’t know what you are going through today but God is still God. He is your light and your salvation, of whom shall you fear? Call upon Him. Lift your eyes to Him. The Lord is your strength, of whom shall you be afraid! 

Chains

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“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Ephesians 4:1

I’ve always found it fascinating that Paul would chose these words to describe himself, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord.” Then I began to think about how we live, both in Paul’s time and in ours. We as human beings love to fight for, expound, and celebrate our freedom to be whoever we want to be, and do whatever we want to do. The reality is that no matter how free we may feel, we have all become prisoners to something in life. We have all on some level chained ourselves to romance or money or television or entertainment or sports or shopping or food or travel to the point that they have become a burden in our lives. We live for sports and tune out family. We live to shop and drive ourselves to the verge of bankruptcy. We live to eat and our health suffers. We live for entertainment and become disillusioned when our hero’s stumble and fall. 

Break The Chain.

You can truly enjoy what life has to offer. You can enjoy shopping when it is not your master, and food when you are not its slave, and sports when they do not rule every waking thought, or work when money is not your driving force. The true secret to happiness in life is to be “a prisoner of the Lord”, for in Christ you are truly free. Today can be your liberation day. Put God first in all you think, say and do.   

Me? Really?

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“Lord God, Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6

Has anyone among us not uttered the words, who me? You are called to a seemingly impossible task, picked to join a work team or recreation team far outside your comfort zone. You may even feel that God is calling you to step up to the plate and do something you never dreamed of yourself doing. In this task you feel doomed to ridicule or outright failure. Rest assured you are in good company. Jeremiah was called to an impossible task directly by God. Jeremiah’s assignment? To warn an entire nation of their coming destruction if they did not turn back to God. And the Lord God was not subtle in handing out the task. The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations”. God is saying, not only did I pick you for this job,

I Tailor Made You For This Job! 

The problem was that Jeremiah wasn’t so sure. In his humanness, Jeremiah felt inadequate. I can see his knees shaking and hear is voice trembling in response as he said, “Lord God, behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth”. In short, Jeremiah responded exactly as you and I have responded so many times; who me? Are you sure you’re talking to me? I love God’s response in the next verse; “Do not say ‘I am a youth’, for you shall go to all whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces for I am with you to deliver you!” The lesson for us today is that when you are not enough, He is! There is no challenge to great to overcome and no dream too impossible to reach when you trust God and place yourself in His loving hands. 

The Optimist

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“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

We all know that in this world there are optimists and pessimists. The late President Ronald Reagan once told a story of optimists and pessimists. He said, there were parents who had two children. One child was always optimistic, the other pessimistic. One Christmas the parents decided to see if it was possible to change each one’s outlook, so they filled the pessimists room with all kinds of wonderful toys. In the optimists room they filled it with horse manure. An hour later they went to the pessimist child’s room and found them sulking in the middle of the floor. They asked what was wrong and the child said, “this toy will break, this one the battery will eventually die, this one will get stolen….” The child a negative thing to say about every single toy. Then they went to the optimist child’s room, and the child was having a ball, laughing and throwing horse manure everywhere. The parents asked him what he was doing and the boy said, “I’m looking for my pony! He’s got to be in here somewhere!” Reagan then said, “I’m always looking for the pony!”

You Can Choose To Be An Optimist

In Psalm 27 David says he lives his life with confidence that he will see the goodness of the Lord in his life. David was an optimist, even though as we know from the story of David’s life that there were many times he was dealing with horse manure. David chose to be an optimist, anyway. So can we. Faith moves mountains!

Time Flies

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“He (God) makes everything beautiful in its time” Ecclesiastes 3:11

My dearly beloved brother-in-law (also named Jim) and I were having a conversation the other day about how the years seem to just fly by. That’s when he hit me with a quote that I will never forget: “Life is like a roll of toilet paper…the closer you get to the end the faster it goes!” Once you stop laughing you’ll see the truth in this statement.

Our Lives Go By Quickly

The beautiful sentiment in our scripture verse today is that no matter what age you find yourself, God can do beautiful and wonderful things for you, and through you. There are no wasted days, not with God, not when we place our faith and trust in Him. Indeed, He makes everything beautiful in its time.