The Rosebud

"All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions: 1 Cor. 7:35 (MSG)

It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I
GOD opens this flower so easily
But in my hands they die

If I cannot unfold a rosebud
This flower of God's design
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine

So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way

The path that lies before me
Only my Lord and Savoir knows
I'll trust God to unfold the moments

Just as He unfolds the rose.

What a great lesson for you and me. If I were to give you a rosebud and ask you to open it without tearing off any petals, could you do it? It is an impossible task. But the importance in knowing that we cannot possibly open a rosebud by our own human effort, helps us to understand the will of God for us. What I learned was to WAIT on God and watch HIS power develop in our lives.

Question: Are you trying to open the rosebud of life by your own efforts? What have you learned from this illustration?

Answered Prayer, God's Way

"The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. "When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, "The Lord your god decreed this disaster for this place. And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you, but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the Whole country lies before you; go wherever you please." However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, "Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please." Jeremiah 40:1-5

My devotions today led me to Jeremiah 40 and God's Word really spoke to me. I found this to be an interesting chapter for it all begins with Jeremiah in chains and headed to a foreign land. Jeremiah was restricted by chains which translate to me to be like the things of this world. But look who rescued him. It was the commander of the imperial guard! I may be wrong, but God used this unlikely person to give Jeremiah his freedom. But what gets me is the possible motives of Nebuzaradan. I don't think he really got it, but he did the right thing. Why do I say that he didn't get it? He was boastful to Jeremiah that HE was the one saving him, He was the one that was to bring the rescue. Look at verse 4, "But today, I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists." He takes the credit, but not only that, he says at the end of the verse that HE would look after Jeremiah. I catch a little bit of pride in him. Although it seems that he is caught up in his own pride, he does see that the Lord did bring judgement upon the people and his actions of releasing Jeremiah was honorable. Whatever the true motives of the imperial guard was, Jeremiah was freed from chains. I think that we all have some chains on us that come from the world, chains that may impeded our freedom to live a good life for God. Those chains can come in many forms. Those chains can be pride, fear, worthlessness, lust, discouragement, depression and the list goes on. God wants to free us from those oppressions and He may do it in many ways. In this case, he used the commander of the imperial guard. I remember I was reading the book, "Experiencing God" and it mentioned that when we pray to God, we can hear from Him in many different ways. We can get answers from: God's Word, circumstances, people and even nature. There is no one way that God answers prayer and when we begin to look for God to answer it one way, He is so amazing, He always seems to bring it to us in a different way that we had expected. God wants us to just depend on Him and not see how the answer is delivered, or in what form it comes. This is part of releasing everything to Him and to wait patiently for His answer, in His way. God WILL answer prayer. He will answer in three ways: He will answer "yes", "no" or "not now". How He expresses His answers is again, up to Him. When I ask, I just need to rest in Him and see what He does. Just like Jeremiah, I think he waited and then saw the mighty hand of God use the commander of the imperial to give him freedom. God is amazing, it is wonderful to see how many different ways He will use to answer our prayers.

Question: Are you currently in chains? Are you willing to ask Him and just wait for God to answer? Believe that God will answer you, so wait and see how He will speak to you, for it may not be in the way you expect.

Good Figs Vs. Bad Figs

"Then the Lord gave me this message: 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them." Jeremiah 24:4-7

This morning I was reading my devotions in Jeremiah. This was an interesting chapter for me, because all through Jeremiah, the Lord would speak to Jeremiah and use concrete examples. Previously, God used the potter and clay to represent the relationship between God and His people. Then God used the example of the shattered jar. Now, God is using just one more concrete example so we can better understand what He is saying, and this time he uses the example of good figs vs. bad figs.  The bad figs represented the King and those that did not follow God in obedience. The good figs were the godly people that were exiled and their hearts were for God. God promised them that He would watch over and care for them, as well as bring them back. I understood something very special about God's visual of the figs. You see, last Christmas, we received fruit from family members in the mail. It was sent UPS in a one day delivery from Harry and David. Most of the other fruit was in excellent condition, with exception of the pears. When we looked into the box, there was one pear that was partially rotted and it seemed to have "spread" to the other pears. It was interesting that one fruit can infect and spoil the others. I think about this situation in Jeremiah and how God had to remove His people from Judah and Jerusalem, even though it was through captivity by the Babylonians. God had to purposely separate His people from the bad. the concept is quite interesting to me, because God can see and know how to get the good ones away from the spoiled ones, just like the figs, in order to keep them from getting contaminated. I think about them being uprooted from Judah and Jerusalem and planted in a foreign land and under captivity of their enemies. What would life have been like? What I think happened, was that God's people banded together, worshiped, prayed and in the middle of this difficult time, they held on to God's promise that was delivered by Jeremiah and they ended up digging deeper in their faith because of their circumstances. They just had to wait and God was going to complete His plan. God wanted to make their hearts recognize Him as Lord and their hearts would be with Him "wholeheartedly". The verse, "all things work together for good" can be used here, for what the people thought of as a disaster, really was for their own good. They needed to be removed, away from the bad figs, in order to be protected from contamination. I think of a lady at my church that just got laid off from her job. She is thinking that this is a disaster. Yes, it is a financial hardship for her right now, but she is being sustained by her family and eventually unemployment checks. I just know, from the bottom of my heart, that she is being removed from her previous job and is now being "planted" just as scripture said and that she will find herself closer to God than she ever was. God will provide a better job for her, for one of God's names is "Jehovah-Jireh" (God will provide).  It is like God is moving the furniture around in her life, to the very position God wants it to be. She needs to embrace the uprooting, the moving of her furniture, and to know that it is that greater plan that God has for her! I learned today that God may need to move people,  for His greater purpose. I also learned that even though things may not seem to go my way in life, I trust God that He is moving me for His reason, even thought I may not understand the why.

Question: Are you being moved to a new location in your life right now? Is God moving the furniture around in your life? Can you trust that God has a greater purpose for you that you may not see right now? Trust in Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He will never let you down.

Jehovah-Rophe, "The Lord Who Heals"

"As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought, then say to them, 'This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair." Jeremiah 19:10-11

This vision of a shattered jar is an important image to me. It represents to me, how our lives can be shattered. Oh yes, our lives can be pulled apart and broken into pieces. My own life was a shattered jar, and the God of Healing as put me back together again. One of the names of God is Jehovah-Rophe, "The Lord Who Heals". Rophe means to heal which implies spiritual, emotional as well as physical healing. God heals body, soul and spirit; all levels of man's being. Now think about about it, a jar that lays shattered on the ground can be restored. God can pick up all the broken pieces and can take one piece at a time, and glue each piece to make the jar whole again. Just as this picture shows, the jar has been restored, but not to the same condition as it was before it was broken. Notice, something has been added. God adds the glue and each piece can now be mended. The restored jar still has the small cracks that are still visable to the eye, but the cracks are now mended. This is just like us. We are mended by God and God has added something to us, for God has added character to us. We will never be the same again, but we are now new creations in Christ. We are whole again, but different, for God has added something very special to us. God has added His grace and mercy to our seams. Think about it, God can heal and restore us like the loving Father He is. He can pick up each and every piece, glue us back together, and through this process, God will add something to us! We will never be the same again, but we will be now seen as a new creation because of the great Jehovah-Rophe, "The Lord Who Heals".

Question: What stage are you in right now? Being broken? Being mended? Being a restored broken jar? Wherever you are in this process, know that our God is a God that heals.

Lessons From the Eagle

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
I have always been fascinated with the eagle. There are so many amazing facts about the eagles. Let me share a few with you.
1. The eagle nests in high places that are inaccessible . There, in a nest which the eagle makes larger each year.
2. An eagle has keen eyesight. He can spot his prey while soaring hundreds of feet in the air. 3. A mother eagle carries her eaglet on her back until it masters the art of flying. 4. An eagle renews its strength and youthful appearance after shedding its feathers.

We have a God that, no matter what circumstances that may surround us, will renew our strength like an eagle. The interesting thing about the molting of the eagle, the bird needs to rid itself of the old to get ready for the new. As I remember this process with my pet lovebird, Millie. Molting season was a difficult time, for it is painful when the new "pin feathers" come up. It is like little needles on the skin of the bird, any kind of pressure is painful. But what occurs is the final process of new feathers and it does renew the bird.  We too go through the molting process in life. God will take us to heights that we have never been before, and they may be quite challenging. We may be asked to step out of our comfort zones to do things that we had never done before, and just like the little eaglet, God will hold us up on His back like the mother eagle. We are not in this growth process alone. He gives us vision, strength in the midst of our season of molting. Molting is the season of growth and we can look forward to where God is taking us. Let us take great comfort in His Word, that our God will renew us and allow us to soar. Did you know that eagles do not flap their wings, but they wait for the updraft from the heights and when the wind is just right, they set off into flight. We too can just lean into the wind that God provides and know that He will lift us up, just as the updraft for the eagle. We need not flap our wings, but we can soar with His Spirit under our wings.

Question: Are you in a season of molting? What lessons can you learn from the eagle? Are you ready to soar? Want to live like the eagle in nests that are inaccessible to the world and safe in the heights with God? Do you want to grow your nest larger every year? Are you willing to molt for God to take you to the heights with Him?

Self vs. Selflessness

"You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly Stay away from people like that!"  2 Timothy 3:1-4

In the last days, Paul describes what some people will be like. When I looked at the description of who they love, it is not about loving God but it is about loving SELF.

I have recently been in a profound journey in search of "selflessness" and have been trying to understand my selfish ways. Scripture defines it as our "flesh". I have realized that there are many areas that I focus on self and honestly, when I focus on self it is defined as sin. What can I do? I need to be broken daily, to realize that I am nothing and that the only thing that really matters is God. I read recently that we are to "be a worm and not a snake" and I need to look at the qualities of the quiet humbleness of the worm vs. the aggressive and venamous snake. Last night I reviewed a book by Cindy Jacobs, "Posessing the Gates of the Enemy". I was amazed, because it also hit upon the topic of self in terms of when you do spiritual warfare. She states that we need to get out of the way and allow the Spirit to work in us. This is what Cindy Jacobs writes:

Another stronghold on a personal level is that of SELF. Any right that we try to hold onto will be played upon by the enemy of our souls in time of battle. Some of the rights we have to give up in order to tear down strongholds are:

• the right to be offended
  
• the right to our time
  
• the right to do what we want with our posessions
  
• the right to self-pity
  
• the right to self-justification
  
• the right to be understood
  
• the right to criticize
  

Dealing with these issues will "shut the door and keep out the devil." These strongholds are not all going to be overcome overnight, but just because you are in the process does not mean you cannot go to war. The Holy Spirit will convict you of any issues in your life He is not pleased with."

Wow, did that hit home! I want to slide the scale in my life from SELF to SELFLESSNESS. I am committed to prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to show me those areas that I am still holding onto as my rights! I now know, that sin=self and that I need to be working on this area in my life. How about you?

Question: How are you doing on the "self scale"? What rights are you holding onto? What goals can you set to achieve selflessness in your life today?

Wait on the Lord

You must be wondering, why a fly swatter? It is one of those amazing stories that I love to share with others. It all started one day in my kitchen. I see a fly that somehow got indoors and he is right in my sight. "It is time", I tell myself, "to get rid of this pesky fly!". So I immediately get out the fly swatter and start going after him. I see him land then I swat and he flies away. Again I see him land and I swat and he flies away. This goes on and on. I am literally chasing this guy around my kitchen. Then I sense the Lord telling me, "stand still and wait". "Okay, God I can just stand here." I am obedient and just as I think that this has been long enough, I see the fly land right in front of me on the counter. I then sense the Lord telling me, "Now!". I swat and got the fly. I am so excited and as I go to clean up the dead fly off the counter, I sense the Lord teaching me a valuable lesson. He tells me, "That is what I want you to do in life. I want you wait and when I tell you to move, then you move." I was dumbfounded! It made so much sense to me. I had been chasing flies in my life and not allowing God to lead me. I was so humbled by this experience and realized that all God wants me to do is wait for Him and He will tell me when he wants me to take action. Just like in Psalm 27:14 "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." What a wonderful life lesson that God showed me through the fly swatter.

Question: Have you swatted flies in your spiritual journey? What lesson can you apply to your life from this story.

Shipwrecked

"Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked." 1 Timothy 1:19

Paul writes that there are some people that are no longer walking in faith, and he called it being "shipwrecked". This made me think about the conditions that happen when being shipwrecked. The first condition that would be necessary for a shipwreck,  is a storm or conditions in life that we would consider challenging. Just like the "Perfect Storm" when three major weather conditions collide over the Atlantic. The second condition that would need to happen is to have the weather overcome the ship and it lose control. Now, all sense of safety is now gone and one would need to face the elements and try to find safety elsewhere.  To have my faith be shipwrecked is to be out of safety and be lost. Faith is my ship that keeps me safe on the waters of life. Sometimes the waters are calm and sailing is smooth. But it is certain  that the storms will eventually come. During those storm conditions, it is important to stay in the ship of faith. When we try to do things our way, and we take things under our own hands, then you face the elements by yourself and may find yourself shipwrecked. How can we stay in our ship? We need to use the compass of our own conscience. We know right from wrong and the Holy Spirit that is within us, will give us those warning signals that tells us that we need to be careful, that we are drifting off course and there may be a dangerous reef ahead. Let us all watch ourselves and listen to our conscience and keep the faith under all circumstances. But if we do drift off God's course, we may find ourselves stranded and so far away from truth and God.

Question: Are you currently in storm conditions right now? How can you handle the next perfect storm in your life? Are you in need of a course correction today? How does this apply to you right now?

Spiritual Training

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. " 1 Timothy 4:8

As I got up this morning and did my devotions in 1 Timothy, I was shown this passage. I meditated on the phrase "physical training and thought about how much effort goes into the PT in the military. The men and women get up early in the morning before their day starts and they begin to exercise. It doesn't matter how they feel, they just do it because it is part of their training. It is like the Nike phrase, "Just Do It!". These soldiers go for endurance, strength and self discipline. Physical training does not happen in one day or when ever the soldiers feel like doing it, but it occurs day after day in commitment to the effort of training. What one does in the military for physical training is what we need to be doing to train ourselves in "godliness". I think about getting up in the morning for devotions and sometimes, I just don't feel like it. Sometimes I want to sleep in and I am just plain tired. But what could happen is that I could get complacent and skip a day or two. But training takes commitment day after day. It means that I need the self discipline to do my devotions and pray, even thought I don't really feel like it. I think it is like going to the gym. I have a hard time getting from my home to the fitness center, but once I get there and work out, I feel great afterwards and with a sense of accomplishment. I cannot base my relationship to God on how I feel, for all I need to do is to go to Him in study and prayer and God will do the rest. What is important, is that I have to do my part by seeking Him and God will do the rest. So, I think about physical training and know that I do the same for my spiritual training. I need commitment, I need to be consistent and I need to put out a lot of energy to run this race. Sometimes I think it that spiritual training is hard work and I struggle with it, but I know that is is just what the Lord wants me to do. When I study and pray in my devotion time and find myself in the presence of the Living God, I never want to leave! I love being in His presence and He fills me so much with His love. It is about the relationship with Him and the process I have to go through to get there may be tough, like physical training in the military, but it is so worth it.

Question: Are you struggling with your spiritual training and trying to stay on course? What can you do better, to help you be more disciplined that will help you run this race? Are you willing to do your part, so God can do His part?

Fourth of July

May God Bless America! I am so grateful on the Fourth of July, for the men and women that are serving or have served in the Armed Forces. I am grateful that so many have served our country to  give us the freedom that I enjoy today. I am grateful to those brave men and women whom gave their lives for freedom, and those that suffered some type of physical or mental disabilities due to their serving their country. May the Lord comfort and support all those in the military, those that are retired military and all the families that have given so much of their family time to give to our great nation. We are truly blessed to live in a country where we have religious freedom and so many that are living in foreign countries,  are being persecuted because of their faith. We are truly blessed to live in the United States of America and I thank God for the freedom that we have.