Heart Hum

Do you remember seeing a Hummer for the first time?  I do!  The closest I had seen to such was what soldiers drive, and I couldn’t imagine why I was seeing it on the road.  Now, my baby sister drives a Hummer and I’ve seen her park that thing ‘bout anywhere she pleases.  Once when I was with her, she didn’t even park it inside the lines and [being the big sister] I promptly mentioned to her.  Her response was, “nobody’s gonna hit this thing unless they want to tear up their car!”  I’m not sure that response was Hummer-talk or baby-sister talk!

What do you do when you lose your joy?  Often it escapes us and we are not sure why, how, or when; we just know it’s missing!  Those without Christ cannot know the Joy to which I am referring, but Believers know it and know when it’s gone. David asked God to “restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12), and what followed the restoration was David’s declaration: “O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise.” (Verse 15)  Those who know me, know I’m a “hummer.” I’ve discovered humming keeps a song in my heart and on my lips.  Yeah, if the heart is humming, most likely the soul and the lips are involved.  Do you have a heart hum?  If not, get one and keep hummin’!

Invincible

Tarzan adventures were a childhood favorite of mine.  I remember wishing I could swing from tree-to-tree but never figured out how to do that in Georgia pines.

Our God is invincible!  I am evermore amazed how my circumstances can convince me otherwise.  A change in anticipated plans quickly breeds anger-resentment-bitterness-cynicism then joy is swallowed up in disappointment.  I find myself crying with the psalmist, “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” (Psalm 69:1-2)  The why’s of this life don’t always have an answer, and truthfully, they need none.  Imagine the bitter disappointment of King David, driven from his kingdom by Abimelech, yet he wrote, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” (Psalm 34:1-2)  I remember watching Tarzan fall into quick sand and one of his trusty animals toss him a vine, which he used to pull himself to safety.  Jesus described Himself as the True Vine and spoke how we live unshakable in this life: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (15:5)  We may never swing from tree-to-tree but when we choose to abide (remain, live) in Christ, we face everything in the invincible power of Almighty God.  Live invincible!

Change Someone's Day

Peanut butter isn't the only thing that spreads easily -- joy also is easily spread!  I recall a birthday several years ago when my heart was so heavy at daybreak I didn't feel I could drag it out of bed.  But the sun came up, birds began to sing, and friends did what friends do:  phone calls, cards, hugs, visits, gifts, smiles, e-cards, e-mails.  Before long I couldn't remember why my heart was so heavy.

The Children of Israel used perfume and incense to worship God.  The aroma was so pleasing to the Father that He gave specific instructions on its use during worship.  Proverbs 27:9 says, "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart ..."  I just can't think of anything more pleasing to my heart and spirit than the ministries of friends.  The fragrance of loving friends changes everything.  God has given me many and they bless me in many ways; He expects me in turn to befriend and bless others. Are you using your gifts in ministry to bring joy to others?  If not, think back to when you opened your mailbox to find a note of encouragement & joy, or when someone called when your heart needed a sound of love & care.  Those otherwise small touches minister in big ways.  God uses people just like you and me to change the hearts and spirits of others.  Make your moments count for Him and for eternity.  Change someone's day .. today.

Magnificent

The trampoline in our backyard was multifunctional.  It wasn’t just a springboard to the sky for little boys or an outdoor wrestling arena or an above-ground table for an afternoon picnic.  When turned on its side, it was a great baseball pitch-back!  Whether the boys were hitting into it or just throwing at the target drawn on the mat, the return was magnificent!

What springs from your heart?  Trust me, “magnificent” is not a word that describes mine!  Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"  That doesn’t support the familiar "follow your heart" advice!  When I follow my heart, I am filled with pride, self-centered, selfish, and want to be king of my life!  God says in V.10, "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins ..."  Mercy! Yes, mercy is what I need when I think that God searches my heart. You see, my heart becomes a springboard to whatever I feed it.  The old saying, "you are what you eat," also applies to the heart.  Oh, how I want the right stuff to come out when life squeezes.  Christ on the heart-throne is the only way a heart pours forth Living Water of Beauty and Righteousness.  That, now, can be described as truly Magnificent!

Whithersoever

Worms do not interest me particularly, and most I find rather disgusting. The inch worm caterpillar, however, I think is kinda cute and less repugnant than most.  I especially like that they are harmless!  Did you know they are also called "measuring worms?"  Most importantly in the circle of life, inch worms turn into Geometer moths!

What advice would the inch worm have given Joshua before he led Israel into the Promised Land?  Joshua, Israel’s new leader, faced a land filled with mysterious inhabitants and fortified cities and God said to him, "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)  Consider the inch worm: he’s not very big and moves its slender body in a looping motion, covering mere inches of ground at a time.  Why is it we sight in distant mountains & rivers wondering how we’ll manage them?  An inch-by-inch (moment-by-moment) attitude will serve us so much better; trusting each inch/moment to The Father.  Now, I don’t know where “whithersoever” is on the map but God promises to be there and His promises are true … whithersoever!

By Thine unerring Spirit led, we shall not in the desert stray;

We shall not full direction need, nor miss our providential way;

As far from danger as from fear, while love, almighty love, is near.  -- Charles Wesley

Integrity Matters

Counting one to ten is one of the first things children learn. Danny learned to count from one to ten in English, then in Spanish.  A few of his cousins taught him to count from one to ten in German.  Unfortunately, they also taught him some German words which had nothing to do with counting!

Have you seriously considered how much integrity matters to God?  Unfortunately, we’re note born with integrity – it’s something we’re taught and practice.  And, by the way, one cannot be described as having a little bit of integrity – it’s all or nothing with integrity!  It’s serious to God so it must be serious to Believers.  In the Old Testament, God said Job's integrity restrained & established him.  Psalm 25:21 says integrity preserves us, Proverbs 7:3 says integrity guides us, Proverbs 19:1 says it's better to be poor yet walk in integrity, and Proverbs 20:7 says the just man walks in integrity.  How can we not agree [with God] that integrity matters. If integrity doesn’t matter, why do we care who fixes our car, who cooks our food, who sells us insurance, where we invest our money, who teaches our children, who leads our country?  Of course, integrity is a serious matter and God calls us to live every area of life with serious integrity.

A Little Practice

Although I know lots of otherwise useless hunting information, I do not hunt.  Just ask me about deer tags, salt licks, food plots, and wobbling decoys.  Any notion of being Mr. Bill’s hunting buddy was quickly squashed when he took me for shooting practice and I almost shot his hunting dog.  Gee, for a moment there, Mr. Bill lost all sense of humor!

 

God wants us to live free of the restraint of sin.  A commonly notorious thief of that freedom is unforgiveness.  Probably not a day passes we aren’t faced with the choice to forgive or not.  What about that driver that doesn’t obey the Yield sign, or that shopper that cuts in line, or the co-worker that talks behind your back?  Grrrrrrr!  Even worse are relationships which suffer because we decide we can “never forgive.”  When I was young I put out a rabbit box to catch a rabbit.  Imagine my horror the next morning when I found a possum instead!  Sure, we feel somewhat justified, even comfortable with our unforgiveness until roots of bitterness spring up, then nursing that grudge begins to feel like finding a mean-nasty possum instead of a soft-cuddly rabbit. Those born-again have already experienced God’s forgiveness and live in Its freedom (Ephesians 2:4).  The Prophet Isaiah wrote of our merciful Father,  “I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”  (Isaiah 43:25)  See, our sin offended Holy God yet He offered forgiveness; thus, we must forgive others who offend us.  Now, unlike some “otherwise useless” information, this is The Truth of God’s Word as plain and simple as it gets.  My shooting practice lasted only a few hours; Mr. Bill felt it was just too risky.  Tough as it is, Christians are commanded to forgive and forgive, and it grows easier with time … it just takes a little practice!

Full House

If playing cards is a sport, I'll never be a MVP.  As best I can recall, the first card game I learned to play was "Old Maid," and can only name two other games I know how to play ... Rummy and UNO.  Dad was raised in a home where playing cards was taboo so I didn't play much growing up.  Over the years, I've been lured into a few games only to prove what a real chump at cards I am.

God is a rich and generous Father.  Proverbs 15:6 says, "In the house of the righteous is much treasure ... "  Born-again children of God have more treasure than they can count, and wise saints know it! Oh, it’s easy to say, "Thank you, God" for all our stuff but how grateful are we for the priceless spiritual riches that are ours in Christ: joy in the middle of sorrow, victory in times of battle, refuge during the storm, hope that overshadows despair?  I know I’ve been told, but I don't remember what a "full house" is. I do know, however, there abundant supply of riches that are mine because I’m a child of The King ... I live in full house of His Treasure!

Pure Freedom

Chicken mull.  In these parts, we look forward to chicken-mull weather -- cold, rainy nights tailor-made for it.  Mr. Gene’s chicken mull was famous; folks came from miles around for the annual chicken mull event.  I’m amazed when I hear someone say they’ve never heard of it, tried it, or worse – they don’t like it!  Goodness gracious!

Do you ever find yourself “mulling” over your sin?  The cause is usually pride that squarely stands in the way, breaking our fellowship with The Father.  It’s just nuts!  We end up with spirits cast down in some muck and mire of distress and discouragement.  We’ll even go to others to complain and whine when all required is to expose our sin to God, confess-repent then know spiritual release.  Absolutely no mulling is necessary!  David wrote, “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” (Psalm 142:7)  Our souls were not made to be imprisoned by sin – Christ died so we can live freely in His bountiful mercy and grace.  What made Mr. Gene’s chicken mull so delicious [besides the countless hours of laughter and fellowship around those cast iron pots] were quality ingredients and a perfect combination of seasonings.  That process produced powerful results and was powerfully good!  Believer, do not mull over the sin in your life – confess it, repent of it, find restored fellowship with The Father, and live the abundant life in Christ, Lover and Redeemer of your soul!  Experience … pure freedom!

Soul Songs

Popping in a music CD is just old-school, isn’t it?  Maybe so, but the stress involved in choosing from  thousands of tunes on an mp3 player is anything but  relaxing to me. Old-school isn’t so bad!

 

The heart of man must sing: the birth of a baby, the beauty of a sunset, safe passage home, a body healed. There’s a time for rejoicing and the soul of God's greatest creation must rejoice. "Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul." (Psalm 146:1) "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy Name." (Psalm 103:1) When the joy is so great, so intense, so urgent -- there is never enough music, never enough lips, never enough words, never enough songs, never enough tongues, never enough hands to raise. The soul grapples for enough of whatever available to praise and worship Father, Creator, Savior, Great Physician. Yes, the soul must sing!

Enjoy the Feast!

Drive-through windows are good especially on cold & rainy days.  Unfortunately, however, it’s sometimes hard to get anything really healthy at a drive-through.  Those mouthwatering pictures on the drive-through menu certainly don’t entice anyone to order healthy either!

A spiritually healthy heart doesn’t happen on the drive-by!  Sure, we can order products online and have them express shipped to our front door or call ahead to have prescriptions refilled for quick pickup, but there’s just no shortcuts hearts ruled by The King.  Charles Spurgeon describes the process like fruit upon the vine, “if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times.”  Just like our bodies digest food to be nourished, so must we turn over in our minds the satisfying Truths of God’s Word.  The Prophet Jeremiah said this: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your Name, O LORD, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)  I’ve had to eat my own words many times and they weren’t very “tasty,” but the eternal words of God are delicacies to the soul of man: “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10)  What a way to start every day, feasting at the LORD’s table – tasting and seeing His Goodness (Psalm 34:8) and lingering in meditation on His precepts (Psalm 119:15)  Oh, forget the drive-through … park, go in, and dine on the riches of His Presence.  Enjoy the feast!

Perfect Love

Have you ever worked so hard to make something, and you just couldn't get it right?  You change this, change that, start over, but the results are all the same -- not what you imagined.  You just want to throw up your hands and say, "I quit."  But ... you can't quit.  Therein lies the dilemma.

God's Love is a perfect love.  It's unlike anything we know as human.  His Love needs no design or special order -- It is all we need ... ever need! Of course, I am grateful for love as I know its many forms here, but it cannot compare to God's Perfect Love.  In this life, love is often mistaken for something else in relationships which actually cause pain and grief. Sometimes imperfect human love disappoints us and we become discouraged. His Perfect Love, however, defines love and serves as the foundation for all love(s) we know.  What a glorious promise in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  There it is!  Perfect Love with nothing to separate, tarnish, or dilute ... Perfect Indeed!

Trouble with Junk

You know the trouble with junk?  It attracts more junk!  Everyone has a junk drawer -- go ahead, admit it!  It doesn't matter how often you  clean it out, it junks up again.  The drawer is a treasure chest of otherwise useful ... junk -- paper clips, birthday candles, thread, earrings, pencils, pens, clippers, nail polish, scissors, nails, etc. Eventually, you can barely close the drawer and it's become pretty useless.  It's not even good for junk!

God was not careless in His creation of man.  He looked at what His creation and " ... saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good; male and female He created them." Genesis 2:27 & 31.  Yes, we ruined God's perfect image in us, and that's why we now struggle just to stay in fellowship with him.  It is our apathy and carelessness about how we guard our hearts that causes junk (sin) to creep into our lives.  The principle to holy living is very simple: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."  (Proverbs 4:23)  We are commanded to discern (identify) what is acceptable, honorable, and obedient behavior, then choose to behave accordingly. Do you long for holiness and honor in your life? Recognize and acknowledge ... the trouble with junk!

No Guesswork

You know those little peep holes in hotel doors?  I don’t like looking through those!  Once when I looked through, there was an eyeball looking right back at me – scared me to death!  You shouldn’t have to guess WHO it was!

God often chooses unexpected ways to reveal Himself to Believers.  Oh, how we love to see Him in the serenely peaceful moments of life but, in reality, that’s not always how it happens.  Oddly enough, only a short time after His death the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water and Scripture says, “they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.” (Mark 6:49-50)  No one really knows, but perhaps what frightened them was the unusual way Jesus appeared to them.  So it is with us sometimes: in desperation, we seem to wait and wait and not see or hear from the Lord.  We fail to understand He is in every providence but doesn’t always come in the form of sunshine.  No, sometimes it’s in the dark of night that He draws near.  Oh, that we will see Christ in event of life – joy and sorrow, calm and storm, sunshine and rain.  In whatever form He chooses to reveal Himself, make no mistake – “Christ is all and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11)  I am committed to do my level best to avoid looking through peep holes, but take great comfort and peace in knowing with confidence Who is near in every moment of life.  No guesswork!

Perfect Light

Several years ago on a trip to Mexico, Mr. Bill and I went tubing on a lazy river which emptied into a beautiful lagoon.  I was much less-than-graceful getting onto the tube, consequently losing my prescription sunglasses into the cold fifteen foot waters.  As usual, Mr. Bill was the moment’s hero – diving to retrieve my glasses.  That lazy river trip proved to be much less-than-lazy!

What are you holding on to?  In John 11:7, Jesus set His face toward Judea where the people had threatened to stone Him, and His disciples were quite confused why He planned a return trip!  Jesus' response is profound: "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is not light in him." (v.9-10)  How many times do we stumble, trip, falter, even crash because we walk in and by the world's light?  To rely on such faulty lighting is just … well, dumb!  The true Light of Christ casts no shadows and hosts no darkness.  Rather, Christ gives Perfect Light to His Way that leads to Life Abundant.  I’ve heard it said, "If we choose to hold on to what the world has to offer, we will be run ragged." There is no glory in run-ragged or stumbling Believers!  I didn’t expect to flip backwards from that tube or else I would have been tightly holding my glasses.  Let us lean not on our own wisdom to see our way clearly in this life but rather hold securely to God’s Truth for Perfect Light!

Grow Downward

I love sunflowers!  Knowing this, Mr. Bill planted some sunflowers for me and they were so pretty.  The drought, of course, was not kind to them and their lives were short-lived but they really did make me smile!

We have no humility by nature!  Certainly, there are moments where we soften and yield to others, but do not mistake this for true humility.  The great Puritan preacher, James Smith, described a distinguishing mark of the Christian as one who “grows downward in humility before God.”  What a radical idea – after all, what grows downward!  Bill and I were intrigued how the sunflowers grew in the direction of the sunshine, like they were stretching themselves to lap up every ray.  What a picture for Believers to stretch, clothing themselves with humility toward one another knowing that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  (1 Peter 5:5)  Our greatest example in downward growth is in Jesus Christ, The Son, Who humbled Himself as obedient servant to suffer the wrath of The Father and satisfy our sin debt (Hebrews 5:8).  Like those beautiful sunflowers that grew toward the sun, let us keep a diligent bend toward Christ ever increasing in humility and grace.  Grow downward!

One Heart at a Time

"Good Morning.  How are you?"   "Fine, how about you?"  “I'm fine, thank you."  Is that conversation familiar?  Did either of you even stop walking as the conversation took place?

I cannot imagine Jesus' conversations being "on the move." He had a genuine concern for people, and asked deep and respectful questions. He seemed to focus on one-heart-at-a-time as He listened and spoke.  John 1:14 says, the "Word became flesh and lived for a while among us."  As we live among people, we are allowed glimpses of their hearts and Jesus didn't miss one glimpse.  He was sensitive, helpful, kind, and caring.  More importantly, He is our example.  He was the living example for all of us how we should see others -- those whom we love and admire, as well as those whom we'd like to avoid.  Lynn Anderson writes, "One godlike, people-sensitive quality is the art of gentle, well-chosen questions."  When we care enough to ask, we may get a glimpse of a heart that is torn and needs comfort, broken and needs healing, discouraged and needs lifting, grieved and needs prayer.  Jesus doesn't walk the earth any more, but we do -- His Followers, called to touch one-heart-at-a-time.