He Is Not Finished

May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NASB

I find that my personal struggles center more in my thoughts and mindsets than in any other area of my life. No wonder Jesus so clearly stated, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” I have spent a life time gathering information and yet the bottom line still comes down to what I believe in the very depths of my heart. I have come to the place where I can now divide my thought patterns into three categories….what I believe about God, what I believe about myself, and what I believe about other people. For some people they would have other categories but these are mine.

Three years ago God began to help me see where my thoughts were untrue about Himself. He has led me on a progressive journey with Himself to help me come to know Him, His character, His heart, and His ways in a manner that is encouraging and precious. I do not view Him in the same way as I did for decades. Along with that journey He has begun to help me clear up some thinking pertaining to myself. This involves finding the root causes for self-condemnation, shame, and self-loathing. It has never been His intent that I would see myself any differently than He sees me. Although I don’t fully have these two areas transformed, He has also begun to help me examine my view of others.

This part is difficult because I am so use to interpreting other people’s words, actions, and absence through the grid of my own perceptions. The more significant the person the more condemning my thoughts seem to be. Again, He will begin to reveal to me the root causes for these mindsets. Relational issues can have us in as strong a bondage as any drug. Am I free yet? No. Will I be? Absolutely! Because He has promised to finish what He starts in my life.
I do not have to succumb to the thoughts that things will never change, life will never look different. Our God is interested in my progress, freedom, and change. He is my biggest cheerleader and source of transformation. And He is most certainly the One directing my heart toward Himself.

Father, You know where I still need freedom. If it were left up to me I wouldn’t have the strength or ability to free myself. I once again look to You to do Your work in me. Amen.

Exchanging the Garments

I rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10

I look at this verse and it is a wonderful reminder to me of what takes place the moment we accept Christ as our Savior and are born into God’s family. Instantaneously, we receive all the luxuries of being God’s child. The day I trusted Christ, He changed my identity, my destiny, and my relationship to Himself. That was completed and unalterable. Yet I have learned He still has much to do in my internal world.

He has spent the past three decades helping me to see the areas in my life that need His healing touch. The longer I know Him the deeper He goes, the more profound His measures, and the more radical the freedom. What many times may start out as steps of fear and timidity eventually become the places in which I learn to dance! While I may cringe at the process I come to cherish the transformation.

This is exactly what took place for me this past weekend while visiting some friends in Wisconsin. God had been bringing me to a place of opening up an area embedded in my memory from early childhood. It wasn’t a repressed memory by any means. It was something I was totally aware of for the last 44 years. The incident left me frozen and unable to voice its existence. God had let me know that when this event had taken place a robe of innocence was taken from me and it was replaced by a garment of shame. In order to exchange the garments I had to expose the secret. Over the course of a three day visit I found myself in a safe haven. Safe enough to finally open up and verbalize to my friend what had taken place. She listened without condemnation and then voiced the words I needed to hear, “That shouldn’t have happened to you. It wasn’t right!” We had a precious time of prayer and then took a piece of paper with the perpetrator’s name on it over to a paper shredder to finalize the closure. Finally, that little child in me was able to exchange the garment of shame for God’s intended garment of innocence. Thus ended a 44 year internal world of turmoil. I now embrace a freedom of great proportion!

Father, You saw the first exchange when I was just four years old. You then wept for me as I wore the wrong garments for all these years. It is with joy I now don the robe You have given back to me. Amen.

*****I share this with you in order to help someone who might also be haunted by memories of shame in their own life. For some people they can simply take it to God and come away whole. For me, I needed to get the secret out. If that is you, ask God to lead you to a person equipped to listen and handle what is to be exposed. Preferably someone who has had some training. This person’s role is to allow you to speak what has been painful. Then they can tell you what you need to hear….it was wrong for someone to do that to you. Please don’t continue to wear garments that were never intended for you.

Tracing My Roots

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them. 2 Timothy 3:14

Paul knew that the roots of Timothy’s faith could be traced back to his mother and grandmother. What a godly heritage this young man had! Have you ever taken the time to review your own history of faith? If you did, from where would your roots extend?

I was not brought up in a Christian home. My early religious training of any kind came from my mother who was a Jehovah’s Witness for the first ten years of my life…..not counting my infant baptism in a Methodist church. It was from her I learned that God created the world and Adam and Eve were the first two people He created. That was the extent of my Bible knowledge but I am thankful today for those tiny seeds.

At the age of fourteen, I came to know Christ as my personal savior and God began to bring into my life a long line of individuals who had a tremendous influence on me and helped me to develop a walk with God that continues into my late 40’s. I can never review this precious list of individuals without seeing the faces of Bob and Martha Robinson…my first pastor and wife as well as youth directors. God allowed me to sit under their ministry for 9 months until He called them to the mission field of Guatemala. They not only taught me the beginning building blocks of my faith, they lived out the Christian life in front of me and served as an example I desired to follow. They were the first of many to take me under their wings and nurture my young faith.

Over the course of the next 30 some years the list grew to include Sharon, Barb, Mary Lou, Nancy, Velda, and Christine. God’s intent was that I not only learn from them but that I would one day enjoy a rich life with Him as my Mentor and Guide. Having made that transition, He is now calling and equipping me to invest myself in the lives of others. What I have been taught and what I am learning is meant to be passed on to others. What a joy and delight! Whether it is through email devotionals or one on one ministry, I take my role seriously and always under the watchful eye of my Father.

Father, You had this planned all along. Although I do not know the full extent of Your call I revel in what You are doing so far. Amen.

Finding the Least Among You

Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40

In a Sunday School class I attend, the question was asked, “Have you ever been an enemy of God?” Instantly, people’s minds went to individuals who opposed the Bible, hated God, and persecuted Christians. With that image in their mind the answer to the question was, “No.” I too was thinking along the same line until God nudged me and brought this verse to mind. God wanted me to realize that my treatment toward others IS my treatment toward Him. If I have ever treated someone as my enemy then I have treated God as my enemy. In light of that, I would have to say there have been times when I was an enemy of God. Ouch!!!! I shared the thought with the class and you could see the light bulbs coming on for them.

Jesus is wanting each of us to realize the way we interact with Him and the way we interact with the people in our life cannot be separated. They are so closely tied together that He says when you do one you do the other…automatically. This point is driven home even deeper in I John 4:20 when it says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” There is no mistake. What I do for others and how I treat them is noticed by God, important to God, and directed toward God.

As I begin to digest this truth a phrase from the verse stands out as well…..”even the least of these.” I find it easy to treat well the ones I love, admire, and respect. But today’s passage (Matthew 25:35-40) gives me a list of people to consider that I might otherwise not see. The hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned. In other words, the ones who have very little in the way of this life’s goods. They stand among us but are not seen by us. Am I willing to ask God to open my eyes to the ones in the most need of my attention and help? Jesus invites me to love Him by showing love to them.

Father, help me to see ‘the least among us’ today. What I say to them I will be saying to You. What I give to them I will be giving to You. What I think of them I will be thinking of You. May I never again separate those You created in Your image from You as their Creator. Amen.

My Power Source

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1

It often amazes me that while I entered the Christian life fully aware that I could do nothing to save myself, I so quickly began living the Christian life out of a mindset that said I need to muster up my own strength to live in victory and bring pleasure to God. The Christian life for me became a chore of changing my outward behavior hoping it would somehow work its way into a changed heart. Although I knew Christ as my savior, I spent the first three decades embracing the religion of Christianity rather than developing a close, personal relationship with Christ. I was more comfortable conforming to the expectations of others than being conformed to the image of God.

The result? I was living my Christian life out of duty instead of delight. I was daily weighed down with self condemnation, worthlessness, negative thinking, and failure. I had resigned myself to the belief that it probably would not get any better. I was in a hopeless cycle of trying to do something I was not capable of doing. I struggled to admit any of this to myself let alone other individuals.

This morning I look at Paul’s words to Timothy in a different light. To be strong in the grace of God means I live dependent on God and cooperate with God. I realize that there is no strength in myself to do anything God calls me to do. He is not expecting me to perform for Him apart from His presence, His power, and His provision. He enables me to do what He causes me to desire to do. It is no longer on my shoulders to do it all!

So what is it He empowers me to do? Get into His Word each morning and apply the truths He shows me. Look to Him as my Source for EVERYTHING. Cultivate a deep, intimate walk with Him. Live my life out of the benefits that come from being in relationship with Him. Know that lasting change will only come as I link my mind with His and move forward arm in arm with the Creator of the universe.

Father, You never meant for me to live independent of You. I did not know that. How much better it is to find my strength in You. Amen.

Seeing a Soul Set Free

Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7

Have you ever known someone who is in bondage of one form or another? Maybe it is a habit, a mindset, a stronghold, an addiction, or a generational bent. Internally, they are held captive to forces that seem to work against them. They rise each day under a cloud of oppression, suspicion, and hopelessness. They long for freedom from the thoughts, feelings, and emotions. What a beautiful picture the psalmist gives us as to what is possible in Christ.

I have recently watched a special person in my life experience the freedom from such entrapment by the enemy. His world had become dark in the midst of trying circumstances. Feeling like his life was under the control of anyone but himself, the enemy took advantage of his situation and entrapped him with bitterness, negativity, hopelessness, and fear. His mindset was such that it darkened his world to the point that he was unable to see God’s hand in his life, any good things that were happening, and any reason to joy in life. It affected every area of his life and there did not seem to be an end in sight for even the slightest deliverance. His circular reasoning always seemed to send him spiraling down into a pit of despair.

What a joy it has been in the last couple of days to see his soul set free! His freedom from entrapment came as he saw that his problems did not lie in his circumstances but rather in his thought patterns. He had become so use to believing the lies of the enemy that he was missing the key to freedom. What is the key? Truth! Truth about God, truth about himself, and truth about his life. It has been in grabbing hold of Scripture and biblical principles that he has been able to wield a sword against the lies. He discovered he has a choice as to what he will fix his mind on.

He is learning the power of simply saying, “I am not going there” when wrong thinking comes his way. He is testing his thoughts through the grid of truth. And the result is astounding. Although his circumstances have not changed, his eyes now dance with life, his voice reflects truth and peace, and his entire demeanor has been transformed. I delight in the privilege of seeing this miracle unfold right in front of my eyes!

Father, the Truth really does set us free! May others discover life outside the entrapments and snares of the enemy. Amen.

Rethinking What It Means to Serve

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Psalm 100:2

Many will look at Psalm 100:2 and instantly think of their role in the local church. I often have! But when I stop to realize my time spent in church constitutes a mere six hours in a week (at most) I must conclude that most of my service to the Lord will be done outside the walls of my church. How will I view and occupy the other 163 hours in my week? Some will be spent in my home, at my place of employment, at stores, traveling in my vehicle, etc… How am I doing at the tasks God gives me each day?

It changes my perspective greatly when I realize that everything I do can be done for God. It helps when I am doing something to envision Jesus Himself standing by me and saying, “Will you do this for Me?” Often times, my whole attitude and enthusiasm is changed depending on who is making the request. If it is someone I love, admire, and enjoy I am thrilled to be at their every beck and call. If it is someone I have little regard for I may respond less enthusiastically. I might even perform the task half heartedly, hesitantly, or with a bothered spirit.

Recently God has been showing me the value of doing something with the same attitude and willingness that I would have if He were the one requesting it or a dear friend were requesting it. That becomes the standard by which He interprets my service. Anything less is not pleasing to Him…..it is not serving Him with gladness.

So I head into today asking myself how I will do throughout my day. How will I view the jobs I am asked to do that don’t appeal to me or that no one else wants to do? How will I serve the person I hesitate to fully love? How will I respond at times when doing something interferes or interrupts my task at hand? May I desire to serve the Lord with gladness! When done for Him, no job can be called mundane, menial, or meaningless.

May the people I come into contact with today be the recipients of service done out of love and empowered by the Spirit of God. Former students of mine use to enthusiastically raise their hands when asked if someone would like to do ___________. May I be THAT willing, THAT excited, and THAT desirous to accept God’s assignments.

Father, empower me to not only serve You today but to serve You with gladness. Amen.