Category: Spiritual Walk

Wake Up! What’s That I Hear?

01/17/2014Spiritual Walk, 15 Comments

AlarmClock2

1:15 a.m. – Outside the wind howls and the temperature is below freezing. Inside I am sleeping soundly in my warm and toasty bed.

1:17 a.m. – Brian awakens me, “Marcia! I think something’s going on in the basement! It sounds like the water softener might be acting up.”

PANIC! We spent hours on Saturday at Dan and Nikki’s bailing water out of their flooded basement.

PRAYER! Please, God, don’t let the basement be flooded.

1:18 a.m. – I hear it. It could be the water softener, but it doesn’t really sound like it. We need to investigate.

Neither of us moves. Silence.

1:19 a.m. – There it is again! Drat!

We get out of bed, dreading what the rest of the night might hold, and walk toward the basement. As I walk past the utility room, I hear the sound. It’s coming from the utility room! This time, it doesn’t stop. I walk toward the garage door, is it a car alarm?

I call to Brian and he walks into the utility room. We realize the noise is not coming from the garage, but from his briefcase which is sitting in its regular place by the garage door! What?!

The alarm on his new Blackberry is going off because it is set for 1:15 a.m.!

1:20ish a.m. – I am back in bed!

Being awakened in the middle of the night, out of a sound sleep, is usually not a good thing, but sometimes, unlike last night, it is the Lord who wakes us up:

“One night… Samuel was lying down… Then the Lord called Samuel.” –1 Samuel 3:2-4 NLT

Three times the Lord called Samuel, but Samuel had not yet learned to recognize the voice of God. The fourth time God called to him, Samuel responded:

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 2:10 NLT

When God calls you and me, it probably won’t be an audible voice (I’ve never heard an audible voice). And, it may not be in the middle of the night (although He has awakened me a few times for a much needed conversation). However like Samuel, when God calls, it’s important that we listen. If the God of the universe is calling, is there ever a reason not to listen?

“…the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” – John 10:3-5 NLT

If we belong to Jesus, we learn to recognize His voice. When we recognize His voice, we won’t be afraid when He calls us. If we’re not afraid, we’ll follow Him wherever He leads.

Has God called you? The first call is to salvation. If you’ve responded to that call you can expect more calls as God gives you opportunities to learn His voice.

Is God sounding an alarm to wake you up? Might God be calling you out of the warm bed of your comfort zone to follow Him? Will you turn the alarm off and go back to bed, or will you get up, listen and follow Him?

Walking Back Home

01/14/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , , 9 Comments

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Walking is my exercise of choice. I can walk alone, but I prefer to walk with a friend. I walk at the mall in winter, and I walk outside in summer.

Fortunately, there is a great subdivision across the street from my house with miles of walking paths that meander around a lake, pond, community garden, horse stable, school, park and beautiful homes. But, because I don’t have a map of the paths, and because there are so many of them, by the time my heart is in a good place (both physically and spiritually), I’m usually lost.

But, that’s OK; I know I won’t be lost for long, because wherever I am on those paths, I can see this water tower which is right across from my house. I know that if I can find my way to the tower, I can find my way home. As soon as I spot the tower, I know which way to walk to get home and find rest.

The other day I was chatting with a friend who had lost her way home spiritually. She started out walking with God, but then made a few turns here and there without paying much attention and then before she knew it, she had wandered away. It had been over a year since she’d gone to church, and she was homesick, alone, lonely, afraid of what the future might hold, and even more, of what it might not hold.

She needed a water tower! No, she needed a friend to point her to God because God is always there pointing the way home!

“This is what the Lord says, ‘Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.’”– Jeremiah 6:16 NLT

Sometimes the old, godly way is simply returning to church. But, it’s hard to walk in alone, so my friend phoned a friend who lived near her and they went to church together last Sunday. Afterward, she told me, “I feel a lot more at ease today… like I have more direction… like comfort with the unknown.” She had returned home and found rest.

Going to church won’t make anyone a Christian, but Christians need to go to church. We need to worship with other believers. We need the spiritual communion and encouragement that comes from singing praises alongside others, and hearing God’s Word preached in community with others. This is not new.

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”  – Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT

Is there an area of your life where you’ve taking baby steps away from the Lord? Away from rest? Look up! The Lord is waiting to show you the way back home.

Is there a friend whom you might lovingly invite to go to church with you?

Loving and Leaving

01/07/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , 23 Comments

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The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1 – NLT

When Abram/Abraham was 75 years old, God called him to leave all that was familiar and go. God didn’t give him directions; He basically said, “Follow me, I’ll show you where to go, and I’ll let you know when you get there.” Trust me, and walk with me.

Because Abraham loved and trusted God, he left the familiar, his family, his home, his job, everything! He left because God was more important than anything.

This is my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ralph. On December 23, 1965, they left their families of origin and promised to walk with God through good times or bad, sickness or health, riches or poverty until death parted them. They walked with God as they started their own family and weathered the storms of life. They are continuing to walk with God as everything familiar fades into the rear view mirror and they become strangers.

You see, Uncle Ralph has Alzheimer’s, and Aunt Rachel is losing him a little bit each day. The familiar is gone. The unknown lies ahead.

No one said that following God would be easy, but no one expected the path to lead through Alzheimer’s. Because Aunt Rachel loves Uncle Ralph, and God, she walks where God leads.

People say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle!” Unfortunately, that isn’t true. God won’t allow temptations to overwhelm us, but he does allow difficulties that do.

The truth is that God does allow more heartache and hardship than we can bear. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t need to trust Him and we would assume that we could take care of everything the evil one throws at us. We would spend our days trudging through life trying to endure in our own strength.

Even the Apostle Paul was overwhelmed by difficulty…

“We do not want you to be uninformed …about the troubles we experienced… We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.”

But, Paul doesn’t stop there…

“But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.” – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NLT

It is not easy to follow God. It wasn’t easy for Abraham – his failures are recorded in the Bible! It’s not easy for Aunt Rachel. And it won’t be easy for you.

However, if God is calling you away from the familiar, you can be sure He is with you. He is all-powerful and he wants you to rely on Him. He will never leave you nor forsake you. And, you can rest assured that nothing is too difficult for God!

What is God calling you to leave behind as you begin a new year? What is He calling you toward? Do you love and trust him enough to follow Him wherever he leads, even if the path leads away from the familiar and into the unknown?

Decorating the Whole Tree

12/17/2013Gospel, Holidays, Sharing the Gospel, Spiritual Walk, , , , , 5 Comments

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 When our grandsons, Jacob and Matthew, decorated their Christmas tree all the ornaments were hung on the bottom. When they decorated our tree, with help from their taller cousins, Abby and Emmy, they reached a bit higher, but the top third was still bare.

After everyone went home, Brian and I moved the ornaments over the entire tree so that it was balanced and perhaps more pleasant to look at.

Christians don’t just decorate trees; we have ornaments with which to decorate our personalities. God calls us to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love.

Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

We enjoy putting these virtues on, and like ornaments they are nice to observe; but are they balanced? Do they cover every bit of our lives?

Sometimes, like Matty’s ornaments (all on one branch in the back of the tree), we reserve kindness and compassion only for those who are the closest to us.

And, like Jake’s ornaments: Our gentleness and patience abound, but we only interact with people directly in front of and close to us and we don’t consider those who are out of sight.

Occasionally, we’re like Abby and Emmy’s ornaments, we are humble, loving and forgiving for the most part, but there are some situations and people just beyond our reach and we don’t really want to go out of our way to touch them.

In the grocery store, at church, at the mall, on the phone with customer service, in the morning before coffee, at the end of a very long day, in the hospital room, in the office, in the classroom, or on the road, would you say you reveal these virtues all the time? Are they spread throughout your life evenly and consistently?

Acting Godly in every situation is difficult and exhausting. And some might even say it’s hypocritical or fake. It surely isn’t natural.

And that’s true, it isn’t natural; but when we trust God for salvation, by believing that God came down at Christmas, died on Good Friday, and rose on Easter morning to save us from our sins, he begins the process of changing us from the inside out. He changes us from who we were to who He created us to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Is this Christmas season the time to believe, to be born again, and let God change you from top to bottom and enable you to live a life that displays his Godly virtues throughout your entire life? You can’t do it on your own, but with God, all things are possible.

Thanksgiving Overloaded!!!

11/19/2013Spiritual Walk 10 Comments

Turkey 13Nine more days!!! Does this sound familiar…

“Don’t forget to buy the turkey. When should it start thawing? I’ve got to finalize the menu. Who should bring which side dish? How many pies do we need? Will anyone notice if I go to Baker’s Square? What time is half time? Are the beds changed? Where’s the tablecloth? Are there enough folding chairs? What time is everyone arriving? What time will they leave? Who’s gonna clean the bathroom? When I have time, I’m going to make a to-do list.”

Thanksgiving?!?! Not quite!

Why is it that no matter how much we want to do, and need to do, it just seems like we’re often flying by the seat of our pants, and running out of time? There are too few hours to get everything accomplished. There isn’t even time to organize.

This is not new, consider the Israelites… Haggai 1:5-6 “Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes.”

The harder they worked, the less they had. The more they tried to get ahead, the further behind they got. Two steps forward and three steps back. There was never enough. Their lives were a lot like ours today.

The Bible tells us that the reason the Israelites couldn’t get ahead was because they put their personal desires ahead of the Lord’s. They were supposed to be rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, but there wasn’t time because they were too busy building their own houses. First things first, right?

Isn’t that part of our problem today? We are supposed to be building the Kingdom, but we’re too busy building our own lives. First things first, right?

I wonder if we gave to God the first portion of our day, or any portion of our day, if we’d have more of the day to do the other things we need to do. Could it be that we run out of time and are always scrounging because we’ve failed to define what the first things should be?
When you think of spending time with the Lord does your mind automatically start rattling off all of the things you need to do first? Do you start worrying about how you’re going to fit it all in?

We don’t have time for prayer, or Bible study, or quiet time, because we’re too busy with our careers, our families, or even our ministries. We can’t add time, but maybe we can prioritize better.

Psalm 5:3 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”

Perhaps the first thing we should do this Thanksgiving is overload the Lord with thanks-giving.