In His Word 8-23-10

"Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you?"


That is an old song from my high school days but it has been on my heart lately. I decided to think on it as it made me think about God and his people. Did they know where they were going? Even when David was anointed, he did not know where God was taking him. He did not know where he was going to. But God did.

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 1 Samuel 16:11-12

Samuel went to anoint the next king chosen by God. Jesse thought it would be a powerful man. Samuel probably thought so too, but God had other plans. He chose the smallest son, the one who thought he would be a shepherd of lambs was to be the shepherd of men!

Paul thought he was supposed to go and fight against the Christians but God had other plans. Paul became a leader of the very men and women he had planned to persecute! We rise up in the morning ready for the day, but do we really know where we are going if we do not ask God for guidance? We can’t know what He has planned for us unless we ask him.

Seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given to you. Knock and it will be opened to you. It does not say for us to walk along doing our own thing and taking what we want. God’s word gives us guidance and direction for each day, each year of our lives. Where are we going?

When I was a child I had a dream of having my own ranch. As I grew it became a horse camp for kids who could not afford it. As I grew even more it became a mixture of a horse camp, outreach/retreat center, and bed and breakfast. I do not even own land, nor do I have any relatives who would leave it to me. Yet the Lord has given me the dream and the promise that I will inherit the land. So what do I do? Do I wait around every day for Him to plop in on my lap? No! I go out and do whatever work the Father has put before me, while waiting for the day when His promise comes to life. I work in the field with the sheep waiting for the day when God is going to call me up.

One day while David was keeping the sheep King Saul called him up to play music for him. Then there was another time David did not know where he was going, not really. He walked into the camp bringing food to his brothers and suddenly he became a hero! God directed his path. In the same way, He will direct ours.

We may not know what we are walking into, but God does. Life is like a puzzle and only God has the picture on the top of the box. God wants us to know what His plans are for us and we need to be prepared to step up to His calling. But how can we do this if we do not first have a relationship with Him? I don’t just mean asking Him into our heart and life, but also let Him into our our days and our lives. We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. We need to look to God daily for direction. We need to ask Him to show us and to guide us on the way. Most important, we need to take the time, make the time, to talk with Him and read His word every day.

So what can we do to make sure that we are ready for whatever we have to walk through today?

• Get in the Word
• Get into Prayer
• Get to know God personally
• Walk in His Spirit.

When we are busy in prayer and the Word we can’t help but walk in the Spirit. When we are walking in the Spirit we can know that we are going the right way. When we go the wrong way our spirit gives us a little check and we feel not so good. Then we know to walk the right way. We have to listen for it though, to know where we are going today.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to listen to your heart's desire for us today. Show us in your Word what to watch for and who to listen to. Shelter us from harm's way. Help us to walk where you would want us to walk today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Suggested readings: Psalm 94:1-23;1 Samuel 16:1-23; Acts 9:1-43; Acts 26:1-32.

In His Word 8-16-10

Are you for real? Seriously though, are you honest with yourself about who you are in Christ? It does not really matter if you are honest with God because He knows the truth regardless of what you tell yourself.


While hiking over the mountain trail, I found it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I had been telling myself I could not do it all the way up the first part of the trail. I stopped more on that stretch to breath and acclimate myself to the altitude (and be a baby) than I did on the rest of the hike. After that it was up and down and level and slippery and, even though it was steeper than what we had just climbed, I stopped fussing and realized I could do it! I got real with myself and decided I could go further than I thought I could because I was stronger than I thought I was.

It is so funny how we see ourselves as one thing and yet we act like another. It works the opposite way as well. I have had pain in my body and said to others, “I am okay. I Just need to take a break,” when I really was suffering. So why do we lie to ourselves when it is something painful, or when others care what’s up in our lives? Why do we walk around acting as if all is well when we really know deep inside that we are having doubts, pain, sorrows and other problems?

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” Romans 11:33-35

It is because we don’t want people to see us broken. But what about God? We lie to Him and say we trust Him, then go and try to do everything on our own.

In the lessons at one of the camps this summer, the main character had to find out that her heart was the gem she was looking for. The heart of a servant came from within when she accepted Christ for real. She attended Church regularly with her parents. She went to her youth clean-up day and complained about how much hard work there was to do. You know - things like sweeping up papers and dust. Wow, such difficult things! She was ready to have her daddy hire someone to do it. She was acting like a Christian without really having that relationship built in Christ. I say built because we can start the relationship with an invitation, but we have to build upon the relationship with daily conversations with God. We won’t become real until we get to know Him for real.

Think about it. How many of your friends would you call upon for a real prayer request? How many people on your list of friends really are friends who would carry your dirty laundry to the washer no matter how stinky it is? That is what we do when we give our friends our real prayer needs. We give them our dirty laundry and they carry it up the mountain to God, the super colossal washing machine! He washes the tears, cleans up our act, and gives the answers to our needs. Those friends who we trust with our needs and desires can bring God closer when we can’t bring our needs to Him ourselves.

As I climbed the mountain, I came closer to God and I saw what He laid out before me to walk on. I knew I could trust Him. I learned my limitations and, though I could have faked it and gone further, I knew when to be truthful to God and stop. I sat against a big rock for a while, watching the people with real hiking equipment march by. One such man went back and forth on the trail as if he were going to find someone or something. He had all the right gear on and it reminded me of how prepared we need to be for our hikes through life. The most important thing we have to do is to be real with ourselves and know our limitations.

If we are not real with ourselves how can we be real with God? How can we be real with others? When we lie to ourselves and say we are fine, what good does it do? None. Claiming to be fine when we are not:

• Will not further the kingdom of God.
• Will not make us feel better.
• Will not get us to heaven.
• Will not make us look better to others (Be sure your sins will find you out. Numbers 32:23).
• Will not fool God into blessing us for being so brave and sacrificial in our pain.

Claiming to be fine will, however, bring us down in shame, pain, and sorrow when no one helps us back up. If they do not know we are hurting, how can they help us? Let go of the pride.

So does that mean we tell everyone about all our hangnails? Do we give everyone some dirty laundry to take to God? No. We get real with ourselves and admit to ourselves that we can be honest with God. He will bring us a friend to help us back up with our dirty laundry, our pains and sorrow, and even with our shame.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord. ” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Psalm 32: 5b.

Let us give God our best us, our worst us, and all of us. Let’s not hold back what we think he does not need to know. He knows us better than we know ourselves, after all. What can be hidden from a God who sees all things and knows all things? Nothing. It is a wonderful thing to have someone who cares enough to ask for help. It tells us that they trust us. Let's let God know the pain we are really in and allow Him to send us a comforter, whether in human form or the Holy Spirit Himself. Let us allow Him to help us today.

Let’s get real with ourselves and not hide our pain. Give it up!

Dear Heavenly Father, we give up! We give up our pain, our shame, our desires, our needs, our hopes and our dreams to You. You know about them, but we are letting go and allowing you to do something with them. Thank you for your help. In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested Readings: Psalm 19:1-14; Psalm 51:1-19; Matthew 8:1-33; 2 Corinthians 12:1-21 and Numbers 32:1-23.

In His Word 8-9-10

"Go," the LORD said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them." And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? Deuteronomy 10:11-13 (NIV)

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15

As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me. Psalm 55:16-18

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Luke 12:21-23

The Vacation Bible School (VBS) we did last month focused on treasures. We had beautiful gems to earn for memory work, and made treasure boxes and pouches to carry those things we deem precious to us. The children all loved them since all children love treasures.

Throughout the week our stage characters searched for the "heart of a servant." Though it was described as a physical treasure, by the end of the week the team revealed the fact that the true treasure is not physical but spiritual. The children cheered with the bad guy of the story as he accepted Christ. Some even prayed with him! The young lady who had desired to serve without serving found out that she could serve without working at it. When her heart was right, she had the motivation to do for others without second guessing what she would get out of it or how she could get out of it.

The true treasure comes in serving others. When we call upon the Lord and ask Him to reveal His will in our lives, one of the first things we will find is the heart of a servant. I truly do not think you can be a Christian without one. Don’t get me wrong, I did not always have the servant’s heart. Years ago when we did our first Personality Test and Spiritual Gifts Test, I recall I avoided anything that suggested Hospitality. I did not like to help anyone with cleaning or cooking. Somewhere along my walk with Christ, I found a dear friend who needed her house cleaned. Then I found another one or two who needed a meal. My heart desired to serve them, and so I did.

It is funny how God works sometimes. That which we think we do not want to do is often what He has chosen for us, but we do not yet hear the call. Once our ears are matured and we are ready to hear it, then we hear him call to us and we answer Him.

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

We often have to call to Him and ask Him to show us what to do. Then we have to be willing to go where He sends us. Had I not been seeking, I would not have heard the call to do VBS this summer. Had I not been willing to go where God sent me, I would not have driven to the small town of Burney. God sent me there. Where He goes, I will follow!

Sometimes God sends us to the most unusual places - the top of a mountain to look over all He has given us, the bottom of a valley to show us the bubbly goo he has been creating forever. We like to put God up on a cloud, looking down on His creation, holding a scepter in his hand and handing out judgments. Our God is so much more than we can imagine. He is a God who sees our hearts' desires. He cares to look into our damaged framework and see what nails or duct tape we need to hold us together long enough for us to seek Him and His direction.

When we begin to think our usefulness has been used up, and we wonder what we are here for, our God will supply the next step in our walk. He will supply another thing for us to do. God is so great like that! He knows that we are not done being shaped and molded. He knows how to stretch us so He can use us to serve.

When my friend asked me to come help with her VBS, she did not realize she was asking for so many people to invade her home. Or maybe she did, but either way she made us feel at home. God was there, and she followed His lead. We need to keep our ears and eyes open every day, that God may reveal to us what He has in store for us.
Dear Heavenly Father, open our eyes, that we may see the works you have for us to do for You. Open our ears, Lord, that we may hear Your heart’s cry. In Jesus name, amen.

Suggested reading: Jeremiah 33:1-25, Luke 12:1-59, Psalm 37:1-40, Psalm 50:1-23, Psalm 55:1-23.

In His Word 8-2-10

For the past two weeks I have been pushing myself further than I thought I could possibly go. Aside from the sore muscles from hiking a mountain top at 8900 feet, sleeping on an air mattress that went flat overnight, and swimming in a mountain lake, not to mention the worship and games of a Vacation Bible School, I feel pretty good! I feel refreshed and renewed in my spirit and full of things to write about God’s wonderful goodness and provision.

"So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Exodus 33:22

This scripture is what I was reminded of while climbing the rocky cliffs of Mt. Lassen this weekend. We hiked up a narrow path that, if you tripped and fell, you would fall to either extreme pain or death. There were no railings to hold on to, nothing to hold you back if you should fall. You just walked along beside a wall of rockiness and air. Every so often as we walked, I would catch my foot on a small stone and stumbled a little. At one point one of the teens with us thought I was going to fall for sure. She gasped and could not understand when I began laughing. You see, just before I tripped I had been talking about going back down the path to the bottom instead of continuing up the hill. There was no fear in the climb to me, which surprised even me, as normally I am afraid of such places. This is mostly because it is a well known fact that I am a klutz. Still, I gave very little thought to falling. I just thought about the fact it was going to be a long, hard hike back after we reached our destination.

As we hiked the path worn into the mountain by millions of visitors to the park, we met up with travelers from around the world. Russians, Chinese, and Indians were on the list of people we were at liberty to speak with. All of these people on the same path trying to get to the same location. This reminded me of our Christian walk. We continue on with the Rock on one side of us and unknown danger on the other. The path is rather narrow and we have to stay on it or meet with that danger. A few times people slipped and fell in ice or mud, and some turned back because it was just too difficult of a climb.

As we reached the summit of our hike, there was a marker and a beautiful view. I could have so easily stopped there. I really thought we had reached our destination because it was so beautiful. God’s creation was spread out before us for all to see. Mountain upon mountain, as far as you could see. It was truly glorious! To think that God created all that over and over so many times around the world astounded me. It was breathtaking. And as I said, I could have stayed there and rested. I chose to continue on. I hiked over the top to the other side - down the hills, up the crags and between rocks and snow. There were times I needed to rest as the air is a bit thinner up there. When I needed to rest I always found a rock to support my weary body. I would sit amongst other travelers and share experiences and stories. Then we would, each in his own time, continue on our journey.

As Christians, we walk along the narrow road expecting to find the destination of heaven at the end of our journey. We know that our God is with us when we are weary and find He is there to support us. We don’t always realize that He really is with us until we need that support, but He truly is there all along.

At one point there was a tight road and it was slick with slush of snow that was melting. I reached out to the rocks at the side in order not to fall or slip in the mush. I made it to the other end safely because I kept my hold on the rock. In our lives we are full up with slush and slime as we walk each day. Sometimes we need to reach out and hold on to the Rock, Jesus, to keep us on the path. Other times we just want to touch the Rock for support, to keep us upright as we travel on.

For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Psalm 31:3

In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Psalm 62:7

As I continued on the path, I would cry out to God from time to time to, "Help me make it," and to continue beyond where I thought I could go. As I walked, slipped, rested and walked some more, I reached a point that I was ready to rest. I did not finish the walk because I was walking on an injured knee that slowed my progress. I did make it within about 50 feet of the bottom. By this time the rest or my group was there taking pictures and waving to me. I took some photos and enjoyed what I saw. It did not matter if I made it to the bottom of the volcano, because I had gone beyond what I thought I could do, and God was with me.

When we step out with the Lord to achieve a goal, we need to stay on the path, cling to the Rock, and know when to quit. Know when it is time to head back to the place of rest. We need to know when to grab on and use Jesus to support us and help us through rough spots and slippery slopes.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to cling to You, our Rock, as we hike through our daily lives. Help us not to fall on the slippery slopes or wallow in the muck and slime. Continue to support us as the rocky climb makes us weary and guide us through the worn path to the place of rest. In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested reading: Psalm 62:1-12, Luke 6:1-49, 1 Peter 2:1-25, 1 Corinthians 10:1-33