Trusting my Pilot

I love to travel. I enjoy seeing new places and experiencing new things. I am currently looking forward to visiting friends in both England and New Zealand next year. I also travel a lot for my job. In fact, I am on the road these days more than I am at home.

I think nothing  of hopping on a plane and placing my faith in the skill of the pilots and ground crew to bring me down safely. I have flown in all kinds of planes, from a huge double decker plane to a tiny 6 seat Island Hopper, and never have I entertained the thought that the Pilot would not land me safe and sound on the ground.

We all give our lives over to total strangers on planes, buses, boats and ferries every day, so why is it so difficult for us to place our faith in our our Heavenly Father, who created us and gave his Son for us,  to pilot our lives?

Paul wrote " I know the One in whom I have put my trust and I am sure that Christ is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to Him." 2 Timothy 1:12

I think we all should strive to be like Paul, and and put our trust in Jesus. don't you?

Dear Lord in Heaven, thank you for for loving me though  I am stubborn and not always very lovable.
Help me to trust you in everything in my life. I place my faith in you as my Pilot.
Amen

Belonging

Good Morning!
 I woke up this morning @ 4:00 am. I am so not a morning person! After tossing and turning for about 45 minutes, I finally decided to get up and go spend sometime with my Heavenly father. I may be tired today, but I feel so refreshed!
So pour a cup of freshly ground coffee and pull up a chair and lets chat a bit before we head out to start our days.. shall we?

I was thinking this morning how everyone yearns to belong. To belong to a family or a team or a group of friends.
Remember the old TV show Cheers? How when Norm came into the bar, everyone yelled NORM! He belonged. They might have been a group of mis-fits, but Norm belonged. I remember we used to call different places our " Cheers" we all wanted to walk in to a place where everyone knew our name.

I believe we have that desire to belong comes from our yearning to be a part of the Family of God. We want and need that fellowship with Him.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1)

God will lavish you with His love, if you will only let him. I can't count many times I have felt Lavished with love from any human in my life, but when i think about all God has done for me, I realize, God has truly lavished His love on me. After all, He gave His only son Jesus, to die for my sins that I  would have life everlasting. now that is some kind of great love!

A friend once told me she stopped going to church when the ladies in her Sunday School class tried to explain to her that she should put God first, before even her children.  While I understand my friends feelings,  I get what they were trying to tell her, though they may not have communicated it well. Jesus gave his life for us, shouldn't we put him foremost in our lives? We can best love our children and family members by putting God first in our lives. the rest all works out to His plan.

But I digress............

Finally, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11, RSV)

The Greek word "adelphoi" the word translated in the New Testament to mean " brethren" actually means "siblings" brothers and sisters of a common parent.

I find it sad that so many are seeking what God gives so freely. Love, Salvation, Belonging.
Don't you? God can heal the broken heart, He can fill the empty spaces in our souls, and all we have to do is ask him. I am so glad we are a family and I belong!

Dear Father, thank you for loving me so lavishly. Help me to feel your love in my day to day walk. Please help me to be able to see farther than my own little life so I can feel your awesome presence. Please help others to see your love through me
Thank you,  Amen

Are you focusing on what you are fighting or Who you are fighting for?

I could feel the Holy Spirit today @ Hillcrest Baptist Church Austin, from the first song to the last prayer.

Pastor Tom started teaching on David today, but what got me was this;  little teen David was facing a giant. A giant that an entire army was terrified of!  Yet without fear, and even more, with absolute conviction, David stepped forward and said to Goliath .......1 Samuel 17: 45 " You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord All Mighty" 

wow! David was confident. David knew he had God on his side and you know why? Because David didn't lose sight of Who he was fighting for.  David wasn't fighting for his ego, or for his own petty desires, David knew without a doubt he was fighting with God and for God.

David then went so far as to tell Goliath he was going to kill him. I can see it now, this little teen boy informs a ginat who has been terrorizong an army of seasoned fighters that he, David will kill him? i just bet Goliath was sneering and laughing at this kid who dared to oppose him, but 1 Samuel 17:46b, 47... David says " and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. all those gathered here will know that it is NOT by sword or spear, that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lords"

When is the last time you faced something difficult with this much confidence and faith in God ?

I saw a cartoon my friend Tony Viby, posted on Facebook today. It showed a man who prayed for Gods protection then  was hit by one rock and he began with an angry face asking " Why me God, Why didn't you protect me?"
Then the cartoon showed Jesus standing large in front of the man blocking a rain of rocks and Jesus turns to the man saying " Did I miss one, I am sorry, are you all right? "

How many times have we done the same? We expect nothing bad to ever happen to us as Christians yet we don't reply on Jesus  or thank Him for the love and protection He gives us. we take over and then wonder why things don't go according to our plan.

I have been fretting over my job. I am having to travel more than was agreed to in my interview and am now gone more than I am home.  I fear I will soon be asked to re-locate to S. California and leave my home in Texas. I don't want to. I have been sick with fear and anger.  Today Pastor Tom said many of us have become so focused on what we are fighting that we have lost sight of Who we are fighting for.

Think about that a minute. Have you become so focused on fighting job loss, or financial struggles, or illness or family problems, that you have lost sight of Who you are supposed to be fighting for?

Hebrews 13:5. Jesus promises " I will never leave you nor forsake you" . so if you feel far from God, who is the one who moved?

I know in this struggle I have been going through, I have felt further and further from Him, and it was all me. I was trying to control my life instead of trusting God.  I can't begin to describe the weight that left my shoulders when I gave that worry to God today with tears running down my cheeks and a smile on my face.

And you know what is absolutely awesome about it all? God doesn't expect us to be big and strong. He can use us as we are. David didn't fight Goliath with armor and a sword. He went out armed with a shepherds slingshot and it was enough. God gives us the tools we need if we only trust Him.

Hillsong  - Mighty to Save
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave


So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender 


I love that song! don't you?

Patience is necessary to Christians

In this world of hurry, we have forgotten patience. In fact, we are proud of not having any. I know when asked in job interviews what my weakness is, i allow that lacking patience is my weakness and spin it into a strength.


But in this day of impatient commitment phobes,  I am telling you that patience as a Christian is necessary.

James 1:4  Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Can you truly study Gods Word if you are in a hurry? How many mornings do you grab a devotional book, or read a blog such as this and say a quick prayer for a friend and having spent maybe 10 minutes with our Lord, run out of the house patting yourself on the back for having done your daily duty to God?

I know in this day of I want it now, we are more rushed than ever before. We think a 2 year commitment to our smart phone plan is a life sentence for goodness sake! But God wants our attention. He wants us to Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;  Psalm 37:7a

When is the last time you spent some quality time with your Lord and Savior?  When was the last time you had a long conversation with Him, and thanked Him for all the blessings in your life?
Romans 12:12 tells us we are to Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

And once we learn that patience,  Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

I think as a culture we have forgotten patience,  and as a result we have lost something important in our lives and in our fellowship with Christ.
Lets all work on slowing down and being still every day so we can hear the Holy Spirit teaching us, so we can commune with our Savior. What do you say?

Dear Lord, please help me to learn to wait on you. Please teach me patience, in times of trouble and times of happiness. Please help me to remember that You are always with me and  if I am patient you will hear my cry and will renew my strength. I do want to be still and hear you. Thank you Holy Spirit for teaching me this lesson today. In Jesus name I pray, Amen

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry

The Potter and the Clay

Isaiah64:8 - Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 29:16 - You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

God likens us many times in scripture to clay and talks about how He is molding us. 

As Christians, God wants us to live a life that glorifies Him. God has a job for us to do while we are here on this earth. God is the master of our lives and He has a plan for us. God will constantly mold us and change us so that we can be better used in His service. 

This "vessel making" can be painful sometimes. We don't always understand what God is doing, but we do know why..  He is forming us into the stronger vessel we need to be for Him 

THE CLAY AND THE POTTER
Yes, I wasn’t like this
Then, I was just a cold
Hard lump of clay
But one day a change i tasted

Then, I was just a cold
Hard lump of clay
But one day a change I tasted

Then, I was far noticed
By men of great expenditure
But he picked me up and he said
“I could do something with this”
In me was pressure prevailing
To change my rag of shape
It was too much to bear
I said, “It hurts, stop!!”

Furious I was when he said,
“Not yet”
I was laid to rest for several hours
Thinking it is over
But he said,
On a wheel I was kept
Around and around and around
He spanned me and I said
“Let me off”
Very stubborn he really was
And he replied,
“Not yet”
Suddenly, I noticed
I was a cup
And kept in a hot oven
Too painful, it really was
I shouted,
“Let me be”
As stubborn as a goat
He said,
“Not yet”


I couldn’t bear it any longer
I screamed
“I’m suffocating, I’m in hell”
But at me he stirred and said,
“Not yet”
I felt a sparkle of joy
When he loose on me
It is finished, I thought
But I was bathed with rainbow

Too often to weep again
I’m back to the hell”
And I said,
“I can’t stand it any longer’
As before as he always being
He said,
“Not yet”

At last,
I was placed on the shelf
Held up before the mirror
Waooh!
I’m now a beautiful tea cup
That everyone wants for treasure.

Author:

Prince Adeyemi Johnson, Nigeria

I came across this poem by Prince Adeyemi Johnson and had to chuckle. Isn't that just like us? We would rather be a lump of mud on the ground than to go through the shaping, the pulling and twisting God puts us through while He is forming us into a useful vessel for His service. And just when we think we are through the worst.. it is time for the kiln. We cry and rail and beg to be an old lump of clay again.  

I don't know about you, as much as I cry and beg. I think i will hold out and go through the twisting and pulling shaping and molding and the fire.. so I can be a beautiful " teacup" for our Lords use. 

Have Thine Own Way, Lord
(Adelaide Pollard & George Stebbins)
Have Thine own way, Lord , have Thine own way
Thou are the potter, I am the clay
Mold me & make me after Thy will
While I am waiting, yielded & still
Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way
Search me & try me , Savior today
Whiter than snow Lord, wash me just now
As in Thy presence humbly I bow
Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way
Wounded & weary , help me I pray
Power , all power, surely is Thine
Touch me & heal me , Savior divine
Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way
Hold o’er my being absolute sway
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me







Dear Lord, Please help me to remember during the tough times to keep my eyes on you. I am merely the clay but You are the Divine Potter and while being molded into a vessel for your service can be difficult at times, I do want to be who and what You want me to be.   I am sorry for the whining about the twisting and pulling my life seems to be lately and I thank you for the care you show me in molding me. Please give me strength to come out the other side of the kiln a vessel useful for your service. 
In Jesus name I pray..amen
 

My Hero

Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

now go back and read that verse again. savor it. When life gets you down, say this verse to yourself. Print it and put it on your fridge. Put it on the visor of your car.  Memorize it.

When life gets you down, remember.. God is for us. When you think about it, the rest just doesn't matter much 

Worries

Matthew 6:34  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Easier said than done isn't it? But so true. there is enough going on today to worry about, why borrow trouble by worrying about things that haven't happened yet and may not happen? 

We know one truth for sure. god will provide. Genesis 22:14. He promises to provide our daily needs. He didn't say He would only give us bread for the day. He said our needs. This could be food, emotional needs, love. Whatever it is, God knows and He will provide it if we allow Him to.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. Psalm 27:10

In the 23rd Psalm we are promised:
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."


Thank you Lord for your promise to care for me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for lending me your strength when I feel I am too weak to continue. Help me to focus on your grace instead of my fear of the unknown tomorrow. Amen