Tag: Maturity

Love Is…

02/11/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , , , , , 11 Comments

ValentineTomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I love it. I always have. I’ve enjoyed it ever since I made my first poster-board Valentine card holder in grade school. I loved being courted by Brian and showered with Valentines in college. And, as a mom, I loved helping Dan and Bob write their names on preschool super-hero Valentines.

Is it a fake holiday? Am I a romantic? Probably “yes” to both. But, I’ve purchased cards and gifts, and I’ll enjoy distributing them. And, I’ll save the ones I receive.

However, the best Valentine I can give to the people I love is to look inward and have a “spiritual EKG”. I need to take a moment and determine if my day to day demonstration of love aligns with God’s definition of love.

In 1 Corinthians 13, God tells us what love should look like:

Love is…

Patient: Love bears with other’s shortcomings, weaknesses, and failures. Love waits for the right moment, it stays calm and perseveres.

Kind: Love is friendly, careful, and meets other’s needs without having to be asked. Love bends over backward to be nice, it is courteous.

Love is not…

Self-seeking: selfishly pursuing what is gratifying to me, or putting my personal desires, focus and needs above others.

Easily angered: becoming intensely displeasured or exasperated without much difficulty; it doesn’t have a short fuse and lean toward a lit match.

Proud: haughty or arrogant, with an exaggerated self-esteem or feeling of superiority.

Love does not…

Envy: discontent with what I have, resenting what another has, wanting what I don’t have.

Boast: focus on my achievements or possessions, lift myself up even at the expense of putting someone else down.

Dishonor others: bring shame or disgrace upon others through disrespect, slander, or maligning their reputation.

Delight in evil: enjoy my own wickedness or find great pleasure when others fall victim to wickedness.

Keep a record of wrongs: maintain a list of unjust treatment, collected and preserved, so as not to be forgotten, refuse to forgive, and continue to recall mistakes, errors, hurts, inequalities and injustices.

Love always…

Rejoices with the truth: Love fills the heart with joy, and is ready to celebrate facts, reality, sincerity, fidelity, integrity and honesty. Love celebrates what is right.

Protects: Love guards or keeps from harm. Love never deliberately hurts another but shields them from hurt.

Trusts: Love believes, has faith and confidence in others. Love gives the benefit of the doubt.

Hopes: Love is not wishful thinking, but confidence. Loves look forward with confidence to the fulfillment of God’s Word.

Perseveres: Love persists, it never gives up, ever.

Love never fails: no way, not at all, not ever, on no occasion will love prove deficient or inadequate. Love will always succeed.

God tells us in 1 John 4:16 that He is love. Because God is love, He can define love, and He can command that we love one another in the way that He defines it. Sometimes I love well. Other times, I don’t. God always does.

Is your heart prepared for Valentine’s Day? Are you? Are those you love? Will you be showering those you love with true Godly love this Valentine’s Day?

Taggies, Blankies and Bed-Buddies: It’s a Sleep-Over!

02/07/2014Prayer, Spiritual Walk, , , , 4 Comments

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Jake and Matt are sleeping over tonight! As excited as they are, about 8pm their joy will turn to sorrow, and perhaps a few tears, if their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies aren’t here.

As soon as a sleepover is mentioned, Matty grabs his taggies and stuffs them in his back pack. He’s ready to go if his tags are packed, but he won’t leave home without them. The tags are precious to Matthew.

When Matty wakes up, he looks for his tags. When he gets out of bed, the tags are in his hand. He plays with them. He puts them in his trucks. He shares them – sometimes – for a moment. He carries them every place he goes. We often search for them. He definitely won’t go to sleep without his taggies.

Moses was a bit like that. He wasn’t worried about taggies, blankies and bed-buddies, but he wouldn’t go anywhere without God! When God told Moses to lead the Israelites into the wilderness, Moses said:

“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here… What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” – Exodus 33:15-16 NIV

Moses knew God must be with them every step of the way. God must lead. God must be present. God was Moses’ security, comfort and protection. God made a difference in Moses’ life and the lives of the Israelites.

Without God’s presence, the Israelites were no different than any other group of travelers in the desert. Only the Israelites had a God who led them, spoke to them, and protected them. Nothing distinguishes our lives from the millions of other lives on the planet if God is not with us. If God isn’t leading us, we are lost. If God isn’t protecting us, we’re doomed.

As a believer, God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, lives within you and is with you everywhere you go:

“For this is what the high and exalted One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit.’” – Isaiah 57:15 NIV

Yet, how often are we willing to leave home without a thought of God? How often do we run off to work, school, the grocery, the neighbors, church, or even to Bible study, without asking Him to lead? God is with us, but do we allow His presence to mark us and distinguish us from the world?

Is God your comfort, guide, protection and security? Would you think of getting out of bed without first being comforted by God’s abiding presence? Do you consciously hold on to Him throughout the day? Do you talk about Him? Do you talk with Him? Do you share Him? Do you take Him every place you go? Does your relationship cause others to want to seek God?

One day the boys will give up their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies. Our prayer is that they will always hold tight to the God who loves them.

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?

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.

Eating Peas

11/12/2013Prayer, Spiritual Growth, , , , , 11 Comments

This is a picture of our grandson Jake when he first started eating solid food. He’s about to get a bite of peas.

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He quickly learned that he doesn’t like peas!

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However, he opened his mouth again! He trusted the person feeding him. He knew we loved him, and we would never ever hurt him.

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Today, Jake is four. If I were to put peas on his plate for dinner, the conversation would probably go something like this:

Jake: Yaya, I don’t want peas.
Yaya (me): Jake, you have to eat them, they are good for you.
Jake: No, I don’t like them.
Yaya: Don’t you want to grow up to be big and strong like your daddy?
Jake: Yes, but I can do that if I eat cookies!
Yaya: No you can’t Jake, you need your peas.
Jake: Yaya, I’m not hungry!

We give our children healthy food, even if they only want candy, because we know that candy won’t produce a strong, healthy body.

We are a lot like Jake when it comes to eating our ‘spiritual peas’. What are spiritual peas? That would be the hard things in life that the Lord puts on our plate. I don’t have to imagine what that conversation would sound like, I’ve had it…

God: Marcia, you have to go through this difficult thing.
Marcia: God, I don’t want to.
God: You have to, it is good for you.
Marcia: No. I don’t like this.
God: Don’t you want to grow up to be like Jesus?
Marcia: Yes, but I can do that without having to endure this.|
God: No, you can’t, Marcia, you need to walk this path.
Marcia: God, I’m ok where I am.

God knows the future. He knows what I need to experience now in order to be prepared for what the future holds. He knows where I will need to be strong. He knows where the Evil One is going to come against me. He knows where I need to grow. Therefore, God very carefully prepares my plate with just the right amount of peas.

Romans 5:3-5 because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame…”

God will not overload me with suffering. I know that there will also be sweet desserts – times of celebration and rejoicing. And, there will be some really nice steaks because he knows how much I love to study the meat of doctrine.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Just as Jake’s peas produce a healthy body, so our suffering produces a healthy spirit: a spirit that hopes, even when things appear hopeless.

What difficult thing has God put on your plate? Do you believe that He has your best interest at heart, because he knows what you will need in the future?