Choose and Refuse

He will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. Isaiah 7:15

Go into a grocery store and choices abound. Although we may have our reasons for purchasing certain items one thing cannot be denied. Buying something implies that I refused other things. Eating abounds with choices as well. Whether my selections of food are good for me or not I still refuse some foods as I choose others. The list could go on and on ~ houses, cars, friends, clothes. My life is full of choices I make daily. Refusing and choosing is an on going process.

The Lord points out an important feature for me to be aware of...refuse evil and choose good. What a concept to instill in our children and to embrace for ourselves. If truly lived out, think of the ramifications that would follow. How different our actions and attitudes would be if we simply applied this principle of refusing evil and choosing good to the choices we make each day.
I must ask myself how it would affect my conversations, my treatment of people, my television viewing, my job performance, my driving, my family life....the list is endless. I would venture to say the change would be noticeable. Think of what it would do to gossip, impatient responses to loved ones, treatment of enemies, desires for revenge, and response when things do not go my way.

People who know me well know that I love to look words up in the dictionary. It's like shining a light in a darkened room. So once again I have decided to get a better understanding of these two words. In light of what I've written so far, meanings become even more precious.

Refuse means "unwillingness to accept, do or comply with. Deny, give up, renounce." And my favorite is "to withhold acceptance, compliance, or permission." All are good ways to respond to evil.

Choose is also rich with meaning. It means "to select freely, to decide on, to have a preference for, to take an alternative." That should be my desire for good. And Scripture is full of verses that start with the word choose. May I choose and refuse wisely today.

Today, Father, I want Your principle of refusing and choosing to guide my steps, decisions, and activities. May the results astound me! Amen.

Just Ask

Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven. Isaiah 7:11

We have a God who loves to lavish us with Himself! In Isaiah 7, God has just finished telling Ahaz not to be afraid because He is going to bring down his enemies. God was aware of the threats on His people and He was aware of the fear His people walked in. I love His answer! Basically He says, "I know your situation. Don't be afraid. I will handle this for you." Then instead of a message on trust He opens the door for Ahaz to request a sign for himself and lets him know there is no limit to the invitation.

God understands our weaknesses and frailties. He is not offended when we are in need of assurance. Gideon was a man who knew how to ask God for evidence of His direction. We too can ask God to confirm things for us. I have a dear friend who is teaching me the wisdom of asking God to confirm whether or not she is making wise choices in matters. She says He often does this in threes. It helps me to see God as a meeter of individual needs. Right in today's verse He says, "Ask a sign for yourself." I think of all the miracles in Scripture that were performed for an audience of one. God does not need a large number of people before He shows up. He delights in one on one meetings. How rare that is in great leaders or popular people.

I also love the fact that God does not limit what can be asked of Him ~ deep as Sheol and high as heaven. It is like asking for a drink of water and being given an artisan well. He is willing to go to great lengths to bring assurance to His children.

There are times that assurance may come as I stand on the promises made in His Word. But there are also times God graciously shows me visible signs and confirmation of His direction. Many times He'll even choose people to guide my steps.

Today may be a day I get extravagant in my requests of Him. How precious to know my requests are not met with a Scrooge mentality. I take comfort in the instances where people in the Bible were granted extraordinary answers. May I join them!

Father, may my view of You continue to be enlarged. For decades I missed seeing Your kind heart, willing interventions, and abundant availability. I lived in spiritual poverty and blindness. Thank you for riches and eyesight that leave me speechless. Amen.

Rich Conversations

Hear the word of the LORD.....give ear unto the law of our God. Isaiah 1:10

Isn't it remarkable how we can be in a room full of people and we only hear what we are tuned in to listen to? If I am involved in a conversation I am not really interested in, my ears will begin to search out other voices in the room. Although I may still be talking with the same person, I am straining to hear the other conversations. My relationship to and feelings for the person I am talking with have a lot to do with how receptive I am to what they are saying.

In the same way, my desire to hear what God has to tell me is a measure of my relationship with Him and my feelings toward Him. But many times His words fall on deaf ears as I strain to hear other people in my life. He knows whether or not He has my undivided attention. His heart is grieved when His conversation with me does not take priority.

He longs for communion with His children. He has much to say to us through His word and in prayer. Am I tuned in to Him? Am I hanging on every word and walking away savoring the time we spent together?

He not only wants me to hear what He is saying, He wants me to take it in, mull it over, digest it thoroughly , and live off the feast all day long. Each time I meet with Him is meant to be a feast I freely partake in. His words are meant to be health to my very bones.

I often reference my friendships as ways to measure my connection with God. I have several close friends who literally speak life into me. Conversations with them leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Their words play over and over again in my mind long after our conversation has ended or their email has been read. I find myself anticipating the next time we can sit down together indulge in rich fellowship.

THAT is the way I want it to be with God. THAT is God's desire as well. Jesus said if I ask anything according to my Father's will He will do it for me. This is a guarantee concerning having conversations with God being better than even those with my closest friends.

God, I want that!!!! Amen!

Touching God's Heart

Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Haggai 1:8

God derives pleasure and glory when we obey. What a thought! And the opposite has to be true as well, disobedience brings displeasure and robs Him of glory. The Bible is full of commands for us to obey. Practical daily principles are ours to embrace and follow. Each act of obedience no matter how small brings God both pleasure and glory. Others may not notice it but God never misses an act of kindness, mercy, love, sacrifice or compassion.

It reminds me of times I have been in a crowd of people looking for one familiar face. There is instant joy and delight when my eyes finally lock with the person I am searching for. God too is looking for the moments of obedience and easily spots each one. Like a miner panning for gold, they stand out to God as precious treasures.

It use to be so easy to see Him as a God who took more notice of my sin than my sterling moments. I was blind to the fact that I could even bring God pleasure. I now rejoice in the thought that while He casts my sin behind His back and discards it in the depths of the sea, He remembers the times I have actually obeyed Him and joined His heart. In eternity He will reveal the things He took notice of and I will marvel at what things in my life brought Him pleasure and glory.

Within the next 24 hours how many opportunities await me to bring Him delight? So often we forget it is not about waiting for eternal rewards ~ though they certainly await us. But rather it is in knowing that right here and now I can touch the heart of God as surely as He touches mine.

Father, the fact that You are affected by my actions astounds me! May I bring You much pleasure today! Amen.

Futile Living

You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts, Consider you ways. Haggai 1:6,7

It is easy to pour our energies into something only to have the results come up insufficient for what we hoped for. People are capable of doing the right things without gaining the full benefits.
My younger brother, Timmy, was born with Cystic Fibrosis in 1970. He died at the tender age of 9. His physical condition pictured this verse so well. Before he was diagnosed with CF he was literally starving to death. Although we fed him, his body could not properly digest the food. He ate but received no nutritional value from the food. Upon being properly diagnosed he was put on medication that compensated for his physical weakness.

In the spiritual realm we must come to the place of realizing we too are malnourished and in need of God's compensation. When I spent decades living my Christian life out of fear, duty, and performance the emptiness and frustration were waiting to envelope me. God had to teach me to take an honest look at my way of living the Christian life. There were several reasons for my unsatisfactory results.

I had a wrong view of God for one. I saw Him as a harsh judge with love that was dependent on what I did for him. I cannot tell you the freedom that engulfed me when I realized His love was unconditional. My actions would not diminish or increase His love for me.

I depended on other Christians to define my Christian life for me. I felt better if my standards came from them. My Christian life had been reduced to the external rather than the internal world. God always desires that our hearts would affect our actions....not the other way around. The denominational walls were built, versions of the Bible were suspect, and music was VERY limited. It had become a recipe for disaster.

Father, You wanted me to know there was abundant freedom if I would just open my hands to receive all You had for me. I do so with joy! Amen.

My True Source

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;Your nobles are lying down.Your people are scattered on the mountains and there is no one to regather them. Nahum 3:18 (New American Standard Bible)

I read a verse like this and I am filled with such security that it does not describe my heavenly Father. Ever have someone you were counting on who could not or would not come through for you? How tragic when that happens to be a parent, spouse, or best friend.

But the truth of the matter is people are human and they will fail. Yet my heavenly Father is eternal and cannot fail. He is a strong hold in the day of trouble, He gathers us in His arms like a shepherd, He does not slumber or sleep, He never leaves me or forsakes me, I am held secure in His hands.

For years I longed for a human source to be all of that for me. And when they were not able to be that for me I was left with feelings of loneliness, despair, and frustration. There are still times I see myself repeating the pattern.

But now I am leaning how much God wants me to seek Him to meet those needs of my heart. He shelters, sustains, comforts, and strengthens me in so many ways.

Any time I look to people I must realize at best they are a mere shadow of the real thing. God uses people in my life ~ most definitely! But He continues to remind me He is the source of living water and they are the faucets.

Father, may I continually go to You and find You more than enough! Amen.

Being Set Free

Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. Ezekiel 34:27

Bondage and enslavement for God’s chosen people usually came in two distinct areas for them….idolatry and captivity from other nations. It is imperative that I see the places of bondage and enslavement in my own life so that I am able to bring those issues to the Lord for His deliverance.

I use to look at any problems in my life as personality flaws and sinful habits. God wants me to go deeper and see the problems for what they are. What is it He is breaking and delivering me from? Idolatry, strongholds, and spiritual oppression. Over the years, each one has robbed me of the ability to live in the freedom He desired for me.

Idolatry for me is looking to others to be for me what only God can be. It is looking to another person to meet my internal needs, give me my identity, and fix all the broken areas in my life. No matter how deeply I ache for such things I must realize they are not equipped to be that for me and only God is! As I learn to bring the needs to Him and receive His work in my life I marvel at what He accomplishes.

Strongholds are the things in my life that control and consume me. Although they abide in my thoughts they are chains around my life. God is not only willing to show me what my personal strongholds are but to set me free from every one of them. I do not have to be a prisoner to addictions of any kind. There is hope and freedom available.

Spiritual oppression has been the hardest area for me to identify in myself. It manifests itself in me through dark moods and dark thoughts. I look back now and I can see the patterns but for years I lived as a victim to the attacks. I believed if the thoughts were in my head they must be mine. How wrong I have been! What starts out as a negative thought quickly deteriorates into a mental battle that takes me to a pit of despair. The only remedy is to come against the attacks in prayer. Rebuking the work of the enemy, placing myself under the protective blood of Christ, and asking God to infuse me with His peace and safety bring instantaneous results that I have only recently begun to experience in my own life.

Father, first You had to show me where I was imprisoned. Then you had to give me hope that You would set me free. I revel in Your work! Amen.