One Slide at a Time

Christmas is a time for celebrating with family and friends. The joy on children's faces as they open their gifts contagiously spreads through the room. The food served once a year and the traditions are heart warming and satisfying. Reminders of God's love have perfect timing after growing tired and rundown from preparing for all the lasting memories. Despite the abundant amount of time, thoughtfulness and preparation toward these joyous occasions, the joy of Christmas can be stolen and destroyed by pain and grief in an instant.

Pain and sadness from divorce, accidents, death, violent storms and fatal diagnosis can make us all wonder why? Why at a time when we celebrate our Savor's birth? The day after Christmas in Texas, all of the Christmas joy shared on social media was so quickly transformed to the devastation of the deadly tornados. Things like this need to be understood as distractions of the evil one as he will do anything to attempt to tear us away from our Heavenly Father. Although we do not understand it all or have the ability to see the big picture, we need to remain faithful and not allow the evil one control.

One Slide at a Time

I remember playing with an odd looking toy when I was young. The View Master was this red, weird looking thing with what appeared to be eyes in the front. It had a slide push down button on the side and a place to look through the back. It wasn't anything spectacular until you added the circular film card and looked through the back. The slides came to life and told a story with each push of the button.

I think when we get to Heaven we will each be given a View Master and have our own personal filmcards labeled like our parent's old videos of us when we were growing up. We will be able to see all of the missing pieces we never see on this earth and have caused us to question God. We will see the complete and beautiful story God wrote in our lives as opposed to a few selections of film we see now.

The Bible makes it clear God will only do what is right and good for us. How we decide to live each of our days will determine the outcome of our stories. It is not up to God. It is up to us. We have so much control over our own stories without realizing. Our heart drives our decisions. Whether we realize it or not, we decide what to do with each moment and God documents it all.

There is no doubt the enemy will come to kill, steal and destroy. There is no doubt the free will of man and the fall of the world will make for some unsettling times. Think for a moment. Will you look at your own individual slides in the light of Jesus' presence with disappointment, regret and shame? Or will you pull for the next slide with accomplished anticipation of joy, love and happiness?

Imagine how beautiful our stories can be! All the seasons we feel no one accepts or understands us. All the pain and times we feel alone. All the times we wonder if we are going in the right direction and perhaps feel incomplete. God does not stop loving. He sees and loves you as the child He created. He does not see and judge you as the world does. Sometimes we are very harmfully in tune with what we think others think of us and very far from the truth of what God knows of us. Focusing on God's truths will allow us to focus on making each slide beautiful no matter what is thrown in our direction. God won't be concerned with anyone but us when we are face to face. We have the choice to follow God now and the option to live out His ways daily as best we can with improvement, forgiveness and grace. The ugly can be made beautiful if we allow God's transforming hand to change our lives.

Lord, give us the desire to create beautiful stories rather than dark and sad stories filled with worry, lies and deceit. May your perfect love pour into our lives after we seek and find You to create true joy within us. Amen.

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father -- and I lay down my life for the sheep. -John 10:10-15 NIV

12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. -Romans 6:12-14 NLT

Spirits Join

"His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm we are God's children"

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. - Romans 8:15-17

I think growing up I wrongfully grew to understand shame and fear of mistakes instead of experiencing grace. I grew fearful of making mistakes because I did not want to be forgotten, unloved or unwanted. I missed the relationship part of following Christ. Verse 15 makes it clear this is not what we are intended to feel with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Slaves don't have a choice in how they spend their time. Slaves do not have the room to make their own choices. Christianity is not about being a slave to a religion or of God. As children of God, we are not designed to be held captive by our fears. Fear is of our human nature, but joined with the Spirit, we become more comfortable and peace filled. We have the choice to walk with God. We have the choice to allow Him into our lives and welcome transformation.

God is perfect love. God is understanding. God is strength. God is grace. God is mercy. God is wisdom. God is acceptance. God is redeeming. When we receive God's Spirit, we receive these characteristics of God. As a wealthy father leaves his children with his riches so does our Heavenly Father leave us with all of His. Along the way, he teaches us how to properly inherit and practice them so we do not waste or take them for granted. He prepares us for eternity with Him.

I like how the NLT uses the word affirm in verse 16. In the scary, fast passed, confusing and lost world affirmation from the Spirit is comforting to me. Not just for me, but also family and friends. It is comforting to know people like my grandparents are children of God through health scares. It is comforting to know friends I lose touch with are children of God. It is comfort to know my children are God's children in the moments they are away from me. Despite my capabilities to control health or dangers in the world, I know they have accepted God's gift of Jesus Christ. No matter what happens here on this earth, they are going to live in God's presence. Forever! This is a comfort no person on this earth can give any of us.

When things seem to be going well, we tend to skim over the word suffering when we read the Bible. When we are in the midst of suffering the word seems to be bold and ALL CAPS. It hits us right in the gut immediately felt in the heart. I think to better understand this verse, we need to think about our earthly relationships. We also need to understand God does not bring suffering into our lives. God and suffering are not a package deal. Suffering is however the result of our broken world and free will. We live in a world full of suffering because Satan is in control. 1 John 5:19 says, "We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one." When we stop playing the blame game and pointing our finger of suffering to God, we can grow a deeper relationship with Christ and better understand our suffering to not be frozen in the pain in brings.

Relating our relationship with God to our closest and most healthy relationship on earth can help us understand verses of scripture like verse 17. Think about your very best person. The person does not create suffering in your life. Your person probably does what they can to prevent it in your life. But the suffering still comes. Your person does everything in their power to love you through it. To hold your hand, dry your tears, build you up and help in any way they can, but we have to be intentional to pick up the phone and talk with God about our suffering just as we would with our person. And let's not confuse suffering with struggle. Our person can create struggle in our life because of the human nature living inside us all. Walking with Christ can even bring struggle as our spirit becomes one with His Spirit because it makes us step out of our comfort zone and seems foreign to us. No suffering or struggle changes the love and acceptance God has for us. We are the ones who put up walls and barriers to not fully accept Him. Or perhaps our pain controls our emotions and we grow comfortable in our fear preventing joy from coming in. No matter the reason, this scripture reminds us we are children of God. We will indeed endure suffering. Despite the pain and anguish the suffering brings as children of God, we will be heirs to His Kingdom. We can't even begin to imagine what lies ahead in our inheritance. Things we have not even thought of because our minds are too simple to fully understand all He has to offer us.

It is not even close to easy sometimes. We have to be intentional to take verses like Ephesians 6:11 and Proverbs 3:5-6 to live the very best Christian life possible. Always loving with joy and thanksgiving to share in His glory.

Lord, we thank you for always walking before us and never forsaking us. We pray, Father that you would help us to stay more level headed and clear on your path to walk confidently as your child. And may we talk about you so richly that others would want to be your child as well. We pray we would not turn our back on you through our suffering. We thank you for your son Jesus and we pray these things in His great name. Amen.

Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
-Ephesians 6:11

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

Prayer - Simply Complicated

As a bible study and small group leader, I have seen many people squirm in their chairs when the question, "would anyone like to pray?" is asked. Women, young girls and even men have so much to say and love to talk, but in general quickly grow nervous when asked to pray. Leading a group in prayer is something I am comfortable with now. However, I used to be the squirmer who miraculously had a note that needed to be jotted down with the question was asked. I used to think no one would want to hear my prayers because they sounded nothing like the man on stage with a microphone and focused on the many reasons (lies) I should remain silent.

Doubt, fear, sorrow and lack of self confidence sprinkled with anxiety can stop us dead in our tracks. Prayer is not about us. No part of walking with Christ is. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we are released from the burden of being perfect.

The Bible makes it clear we are to have our own personal time with God. Matthew 6:6 says, "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."

What does your alone time look like?

Spending just a small amount of alone time communicating with God is key. Notice I didn't say talking to God. Talking means you aren't listening or reading His Word. Talking is very one sided and will not get you very far. We have to grow a personal confidence in the Christ we stand with. This cannot happen without closed door, private time with God. Just going to church on Sunday is not going to cut it.

I'm big on starting small. Small seems less intimidating and God is so awesome He takes our smalls and makes them big and meaningful. God smiles with each little step of faithfulness. Let's start small by reading and understanding scripture because studying scripture is key to enriching your prayer routine.

To be completely honest with you, I have been known to drift off in my own little world and even doze off when I am listening to really long prayers. Whose idea was it to turn down the lights, play soft music and talk for a really long time in the most soothing voice possible? It is an environment for sleep. Am I the only one? This used to intimidate me and made me think I had to create this kind of environment for my prayers to work or something was wrong with me because I fell asleep during what was meant to be a Holy Spirit moment. When I took a more practical approach on prayer because of scripture like these, I found a better understanding to how my prayer life should operate.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Skip over the always be joyful part - who really is? (We will come back to it). NEVER STOP PRAYING. This does not say to create the perfect ambiance every time you pray like you are in church. This says to never stop praying. In the car, when something is completely annoying, when you are wanting to leave work and the clock is not moving, before a big presentation or test, in the very moment you are about to go into a toddler fit of frustration, when you are over joyed, while cooking...NEVER STOP PRAYING. Just little phrases will do. It lets God know He is invited into your every moment of your every day.

BE THANKFUL IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. Sometimes the Bible seems to say and ask of us what is near impossible. The Bible never ever tells us to be perfect in all we do. At least I have never come across that part. Remember those baby steps we talked about? Here is a perfect place for a small baby step.
Prayer example: Okay God. That totally drained me and seems to have no good result, but I am going to trust you know what you are doing and be thankful you love me and will see me through this.

Then comes the joy part we skipped over. I think it would have been better suited at the end of the verse, but who am I to correct the Bible! Let's just move it around a bit to help us better understand how it works. We don't have to be joyful all the time, but God is our joy. Period. If we fixate on Him with constant prayer and thanksgiving described in the verse, we are left with joy. It just kind of happens - even in the hard times. Like a skunk leaves his smell for miles, God leaves His joy in our path when we are engaged.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7

Another verse telling us to PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING. The part that used to make no sense to me was the DON'T WORRY part. This was seriously foreign to me. I did not know how to function in a day without worry. It was when I was taught to take every worry thought I had and transform it into a prayer when I experienced the peace this verse is talking about. My little step of faith EXCEEDED ANYTHING I COULD UNDERSTAND. I was living proof of this verse. My BROKEN MIND and HEART was GUARDED and I had a PEACE. If you are like me and suffer from the worry sin, try this.
Worry Example: There is no way on earth we are going to be able to afford the tutor for our struggling child. Where is the money going to come from? What if we don't get a tutor? Will this child have a future?
Worry Transformed to Prayer Example: God, you know the unsettling fear I have for money. If this is what is best for her, please provide a way and make it clear so that we will stay in your will.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. -Colossians 4:2

We can't thank God for what He has done if we don't have our mind open to see God working. I can't help but pair this verse up with 1 John 5:14-15. It says, "And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for." We can't ask God to work in our lives if we want to hold the reigns and control everything. We have to practice our faith and allow time for our prayers to be responded to. Notice I didn't say answered. If all our prayers were answered, we wouldn't need God. A genie in a bottle would do and our world would be more chaotic than we could ever image. If we DEVOTE OURSELVES TO PRAYER, trust that God will be God and WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT HE HEARS US, we will experience a transformation that brings us closer
to Christ.

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. -Psalm 55:22

Lord we thank you that a simple complicated thing like prayer is taught in the Bible. We pray these verses would seep into us to cultivate a more productive prayer life. Please guide our thoughts, actions and words. May we more and more represent you and the majesty you so richly bring to our life. Amen.

Toothfairy

My daughter found a little box that rattled as we were cleaning through an old bookshelf one day before a move. She shook it with curiosity as she asked me what was inside. When I told her to open it, she gasped at the sight of tiny baby teeth and quickly changed her reaction when she realized they were her baby teeth.

"You kept these...all this time...and you still have them," she said through a smile.

I think of this story when I read Psalm 56:8.

"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book."

At first our children might think the Tooth Fairy is real and she carries each tooth away to add to her collection. As they mature they learn the truth and probably think we throw them away. Imagine how special and accepted children feel when they are presented with these tokens of love and acceptance.

"You have collected all
my tears in your bottle."

Consider for a moment how incredible it will be to walk with God into His office to see shelf after shelf of bottles. Each bottle is its own size. Think about it. Some cry many tears. Others hardly cry. For this reason, the bottles must be different sizes. Each bottle is perfectly labeled. (I have been told label makers are in heaven so perhaps for this purpose).

I am thankful God cherishes me so genuinely to not only keep each tear, but also record each one. Each and every tear we think falls to the ground, each tear that wets our pillow and even those that slide down our face when laughter squeezes them out. Each and every tear God keeps because He adores each of His children and practices a devoted watchfulness for us. Now think for a moment what God did with the tears Jesus shed. I think they are the most dramatic display in heaven treasured in the most ornate bottle as a constant reminder of the perfect sacrifice.

I sometimes reflect on a tearful Jesus when I feel I can't go on. Stories in the Bible describe Jesus crying when his grief distressed Him, agony afflicted Him and the pain was too much to manage. Despite the pain, difficulty and grief Jesus carried on. I am sincerely overwhelmed with gratitude for this illustration of Jesus' human form because it reminds me He persevered. He never gave up. He fought the most impressive fight so we are able to see beautiful scripture like this come to life one day. He created hope for us.

Lord, during this Thanksgiving time of year I thank you for your unfailing love. I pray today you would help the unloved, the struggling and the tired feel loved. Help us to be reminded of Jesus' tears as motivation to pick ourselves up and heal with the help of prayer and the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the beauty and hope you bring to our lives. May our thankfulness flood within us to share your great name with others so they too may be richly blessed. Amen.

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:37-39