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“I Know I’m Right!!!”

I’m Right!

Have you ever felt like you are right about something?  You even feel that you are so right you may even argue about it.  You might even feel a little ticked off at someone who tries to tell you that you are wrong.  I have been there!  And it can be so embarrassing when I discover that I was wrong.  I thought I knew the facts but I didn’t.

My husband and I just went to MN where most of his family lives to attend a memorial service for his dad who passed away in July.  One of his aunts invited us to stay at her house.  And since we were flying her granddaughter loaned us her van.  It was so wonderful of them to be so giving.  It helped us save money.

Parking

Our aunt and her husband drove 2 hours to the airport to bring us the van.  They had to drive separate vehicles because we were not going to their house right away.  We had another family that lived south of them about 2 hours that we were going to visit first.

Our aunt met us at the luggage area and walked us to where she parked the van they were loaning us.  She had written down on a piece of paper the location of the van in the parking garage plus the license plate.  She emphasized to us the importance of not losing the key.  It is one of those new kinds of keys that don’t even look like a key.  The only way to get into the car is by pushing a button.

We finally found the aisle where it was parked and then she walked right to the van.  She gave the key to my husband and he went pushed the button to unlock it but it did not work.  She told him he needed to be pretty close to get it to work.  So he got closer but it still would not work.  She could not understand why it was not working.  I asked her if she was sure this was the correct van.  She told me yes and eventually pulled out the paper that she had written the license plate number on.  And sure enough, it was the right van.

She finally took the key and tried herself then called her husband, she told him she could not get the key to work.  She was looking for other ideas.  Then she decided to try the lock button and when she did she heard a beep.  The embarrassing part is that the beep was coming from a van a few cars over.  So we were at the wrong van.  Now the question is how did she get the wrong license plate written down.  She thought about writing down the license plate after she was already part way down the row.  She went back to write it down and chose the wrong van.  They were very similar.  One way she knew it was the wrong van also was the fact when she looked in the window she didn’t see familiar things, like her can of almonds.

Another story

This reminds me of another time I was at a grocery store.  I was with my son and we had just gotten out of our vehicle and headed for the store.  There was a lady walking from the cars parked on the right of us to go to the other side on the left.  She stopped us and said, “I just have to tell someone.”  She had come out of the grocery store and went to her car and loaded her groceries into her trunk.  She went to get into the vehicle and realized it was not her car.  In her case, her keys worked for another car.  I don’t believe it was an electronic lock but just the key.  When she talked to us she was headed to the cars parked on the left where her car really was.  An amazing story!  She did it without knowledge until the evidence presented itself.

Christians

This makes me think about the way the devil works.  He makes his ways look similar to God’s ways, especially from the outside.  It looks like it is safe and won’t harm us in any way.  He likes to catch us off guard.  And he wins almost every time when our guard is not up.  The outside of “the car” looks so similar that if we don’t pay close attention we may not pick God’s ways.  We cannot go through life lazily.  We have to be a diligent Christian.  As it says in Matthew 7:13, 14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  We have to be alert.

This verse may be discouraging to some.  But I know God wants us to know how serious it is to be alert.  It is meant to help us realize how easy it is to be lost if we are not alert.  But God is the one that does the work in us if we so allow it.  Now, this doesn’t mean if I am alert that I will never make a mistake because it is a growing process.  But I will be on the correct road journeying with Christ.

Alert

So what can I do to stay alert to the wiles of the devil so that I am not pulled in to his sophistries?  He is so good at what he does and we cannot combat him.  We cannot battle with him.  But we can allow God to battle him for us.  Here are some crucial steps for us.

  1.  Prayer.  We need to stay in communion with God.  We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 to pray without ceasing.  This is not meaning to be on our knees every hour of the day. It means that our minds need to be so in tune with God that our minds turn to prayer throughout the day as we encounter every circumstance.  I have found that if I am intentional about spending time with Christ each morning in prayer, the study of His Word, and memorizing scripture it becomes more of a habit to turn to God in prayer throughout the day.
  2. Study God’s Word.  There is such a need to spend time in God’s Word each day.  It is more about quality than quantity.  The bottom line, It is not about how many chapters you have read but how much you understand what you have read and can apply it to your life.  It is best to take a few verses and walk away with knowledge for the day than read a lot and walk away not even knowing what you read but you did your quota.
  3. Memorize Scripture.  We need to hide God’s Word in our hearts.  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11).  When we are tempted throughout the day we can draw from the scripture that we have placed in our hearts to combat Satan.

It is a heart work and Jesus will do it for us if we give Him consent.  He will identify Himself with our thoughts and aims and bring our hearts and minds in line with His will so that when obeying Him we will be carrying out our own impulses.  This will only happen as we draw closer to Him and allow Him to work.  And we can only get to know Him by spending much time in prayer and study of His Word and hiding it in our hearts.

Dear Father,

I want to recommit my time to You.  There is a time and season for everything and I am not good at regulating my time.  I can get so distracted and forget what the priorities of life are.  Continue to guide me in my journey of drawing closer to You and getting to know You better. I want to be lead by You and to surrender all my ways to You.  Thank You for Your love and compassion for me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Him today and commit to spending time with Him.

Love you all.

Do you have a memory of being forgetful?  I would love to hear your story.  And what lesson can you draw from it?

 

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“I Blew It Again!!”

Explosion!

I am sure we have all had a blowout at some time in our lives.  I personally have never had a blow out while driving.  But I do remember driving one time and all of the sudden I heard an explosion.  I had no idea what it was but my first response was to break and go over to the side of the road.  It turned out that it was a semi truck in front of me that had the blowout.  If I had not responded the way that I had I could have been hit by a tire.

The tire that you see in the picture above was actually my son’s tire.  He is traveling all over the United States doing deliveries.  My son does what is referred to as Hotshot hauling or Hotshot trucking.  He does not drive a semi truck but hauls a trailer with a pickup.  It seems with all the heat and putting a lot of hours on the road has an effect on tires.  He has had more than one blowout.  It amazes me how shredded the tire was.

Christians

It reminded me of life as a Christian.  As we surrender our lives to Jesus each day and allow Him to have full control, life can get “hot”.  The devil does not like it when we allow Jesus to have full control of our lives.  So he turns up the heat.  The trials come.  And how we deal with the “heat” will determine whether we have a “blowout”.

When you are driving in the heat it is really important to keep the pressure of your tires where it needs to be.  You need to be sure to check them often because the heat causes them to expand and therefore can cause a blowout due to too much pressure.

In the same way in our Christian walk, we have to make sure that we are maintaining our connection with Christ through the study of His Word and prayer.  If we don’t have enough “air pressure” (God’s Spirit) filling our lives we will not handle the “heat”.  Although we can’t get too much of God’s Word or prayer like a tire can have too much air, it is true that we can spend so much time that we do not take care of the responsibilities God has given us to do.  We can use spending time with God as an excuse for laziness, which is just as detrimental.

We need to have balance in our lives.  Just like with a tire on your car, too much or too little air can cause a blowout, so spending too much time or too little time with God can cause us to spiritually have a blowout.  If we are just filling our lives with God and not sharing it we are going to have a “blowout”, just like too much air in a tire.

Trust

What it really boils down to is trust.  When my son is traveling he could be worrying all the time if he is going to have a blowout or he can trust that he has done what he can to keep it from happening and go on without worry.  Does not worrying about it mean he will never have a blowout?  No, but it does make life a lot more pleasant.  And in the event, he does have a blowout he just needs to fix it and get on with life.

It is the same in our Christian walk.  We know the devil is going to pour on the heat.  But if we are doing everything to keep our lives connected to Jesus we don’t need to worry or fret.  We just need to stay surrendered to Him.  We don’t need to worry about whether we are going to have a “blowout”.  And in the event we do, instead of wallowing in the “mud” get up and confess.  Do whatever it takes to make things right.  Fix the “tire” and keep going.  A lot of times we can start saying, “I blew it again”, “I am never going to get this”, “I’ll never make it”, etc.  But that is just where the devil wants us.  He is the one whispering those things into our minds.  Let’s just fix the “blowout” by getting back in connection with Jesus and keep going.

Leak

When we are in the heat of a trial we feel more of a need for Christ.  But the real danger is when we have a slow “leak”.  On our cars when a blowout happens it is like a major trial but there are times that we just have a slow leak and we don’t even notice until we hear or feel something not quite right.  It is the same with the Christian walk.  We can be slowly getting away from that time with God.  We spend less and less time each day, slowly allowing the “air” (power) out of our lives.  And before we know it we have a “flat tire” (discouragement, depression, anger feelings, etc.)

Keep Connected

The key to success is keeping connected with Jesus.  He is the One with the “air” (power) to keep us filled so that we can come through each trial with the victory, no blowouts.  It is when we start to focus on the “heat” of the trial that the friction gets to us and we end up with a “blowout”.

When we have little trials each day they can also draw us away from spending time with God because we are so busy putting out the “fires” that we don’t take the time we need.   I have found that as I spend time with God, no matter how much I need to accomplish in the day that I always have plenty of time with even time left over.  But when I don’t spend that time the day is chaos and I don’t get as much accomplished.  That is the miracle of God.  We work on addition and He works on multiplication.

Dear Father,

Help us to not forget the need to spend time with You, in study and prayer.  I want to recommit my time to You.  Thank You for Your patience and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit to spending time with Jesus today in prayer and study of His Word.

Love you all.

Have you ever experienced a blowout like this one?  If so, how did it turn out and what spiritual lesson could you share?  Share below.

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“Pushy Peers!!”

What is the age limit for peer pressure?

Peer pressure touches all of us no matter how old we are.  If someone wants to say that they are older and have gotten over that problem they probably are blind to it.  Subconsciously we can respond to the pressure of others and then afterward realize what we did or we may even catch ourselves right in the middle of it.  No matter what your age I challenge you to take another look at peer pressure.

Driving

This really hit home a few days ago when I was driving.  On my way to work there was this truck that started following me not long after I had left home.  I live in the country so there were a couple of roads that we were on before hitting the main highway.  This truck was not allowing me my space, he/she was following me really close.  I think that you can all relate to that.  It is very nerve racking to have someone right on your tail.

After about 3 miles we entered the highway.  I got up to speed (55) and this person was still right behind me riding my tail.  On my way to work, I often sing so I was singing and I thought I was ignoring the truck.  I always check my speedometer now and then when I don’t have it on cruise control to make sure I am still on track.  When I looked down I was amazed to find that I was up to 65 and he/she was still riding my tail.  At that point, I slowed and put my cruise on.  What amazes me the most is how the peer pressure was affecting me even though I didn’t even realize it.

As I slowed and put my cruise on I noticed that there was another truck behind the one following me.  He/she in that truck was also in a hurry and passed me first and then the one behind me passed.  After they passed they were going so fast that the distance between us was quite a distance in seconds.  It is true that they didn’t make it far before there were more people going the speed limit.  I am old enough to be a grandma now but I have never been pulled over and I don’t plan on starting now.  But here’s the question, is that a good reason to go the speed limit?

Following the crowd

What came to my mind is how easy it is to follow the crowd; the truck behind me without even realizing it was pushing me.  He/she was so close that it made me automatically speed up without any thought.

It made me think about how it is as a Christian.  We are in a group at work, school, or even church and they may be doing something we know is displeasing to God but we don’t want to be different.  Sometimes we just don’t even think about it.  The next thing we know we are involved with some gossip, bad mouthing someone, or just listening in to an ungodly conversation.

When we start to feel the pressure we feel uneasy and we don’t like that uneasy feeling.  We are afraid about what others are going to think.  But we suddenly forget about what God thinks.  The question is why does it matter so much what others think?

Sin

My son is away at school and he called me the other day and asked, “What is sin?”  I replied, “Separation from God.”  He said, “It is the absence of Love.”  I agreed.  This is so true.  Who do we love?  Do we even have true love?

Without love, it is impossible to please God.  I was thinking after those trucks passed me how many try to avoid the law.  We can be Christians that believe that we are following God.  I mean we go to church, don’t kill, steal, etc.  But are we Christians.  I know people who claim to be Christians that have Fuzz Busters so that they can speed and not get a ticket.  There are many examples that could be cited here but this is just one.  Are we truly a Christian if we try to avoid the laws of the land?  And when we avoid the laws of the land does that affect our relationship with God?

I believe that as a Christian we need to obey the laws of the land or any law that we may be under, at our school, work etc.  “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,” Titus 3:1-4.

Some people may be asking how can that be, we can’t obey every law because it may be going against God.  And yes that is true.  We need to obey every law unless it goes against the laws of God.  “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” Acts 5:29-32.

A lot of times we make excuses for not obeying laws that do not seem to go specifically against God’s law.  But the reality is if we disobey authority over us, whoever they may be, and what they are asking us to do does not go against God’s Law we are disobeying God.  We are not being a Godly witness.

Love

The thing that is amazing is it still goes back to love.  Our human love is full of frailties.  But God’s love is not and He will give us His love as we surrender our lives to Him.  No matter what choices we make, even if it seems that we are doing some wrong to others, we are really doing wrong to God.  It reminds me of Joseph in Genesis 39:7-9, “And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”  Every sin that we commit no matter who it is against is actually a sin against God.

Everything that we do goes back to whether we love.  And it is whether or not we love God supremely.  If we love God supremely we will love others.  If we try to love others without supreme love for God it is a selfish love.  We can only love selfishly.  But thank the Lord He will give us His love.

Here is a quote from one of my favorite authors.  It really sums it up perfectly.  “All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us” {DA 668.3}. The bottom line, fall in love with Jesus.

The question is how?  Spend time to get to know Him.  Read about what He has done for you.  And then ask Him for that love.  And if we give all to Him He will make it happen.  Prayer is such a key, I am realizing this more and more.  And it is not just talking but also listening.  “Lord, what wilt thou have me do today?  Who can I serve today?”  We need to get our minds off of self.  If we can reach out to others it will change our perspective.  We may think life is tough but when we ask God for someone we can help or serve He will bring us to people and we will realize how great we really have it.  When we focus on self, our failures, people who have done us wrong, or anything that is of self, we become discouraged and depressed.  We need to keep our eyes on the One that loves us with so much love that He gave up His life so that we can live eternally with Him.  Now that is love.  That is the kind of love that He can give us.

Dear Father,

I want this love.  I want to surrender daily my life to You and be of service to others.  Give me Your love because my love is so full of self.  Show me today who I can serve and share Your love with.  Thank You for Your love and what You have done for me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Him today, asking Him for His love.

Love you all!

Do you have a story about peer pressure?  A story where you stood your ground and did not give in to peer pressure or a story where you gave in to peer pressure and the results of it?  Share below I would love to hear your stories.