Forgive Others

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

― C.S. Lewis

Lord, it’s far easier to accept forgiveness for my inexcusable acts. Teach me to easily forgive others.

A Matter of Focus

A Matter of Focus

The lazy waters take a right angled turn.  Branches of white ash bend gracefully toward the water.  A flash of brilliant red—a male cardinal flies, lighting on branches across the water.  He perches 15 feet above the water, secure on his leafy bench, trilling to attract his mate.  I sit on a stone bench nestled between the trees.  The natural beauty of the arboretum wraps me in a cocoon of peace.

To my right, I see the fence at the edge of the arboretum and hear the roar of cars as they rush past.  I return my focus to the still waters, the deep browns and greens of the forest.  I observe evidence of man at this place:  a small white gazebo with shake shingles, a garden of pink, purple and white tulips, their double blooms resembling peonies.

Across the park a mower drones, keeping the grass trim.   Between my stone bench and the water, 12 feet or so, the ground rushes down to meet the pond.  Soft with over 100 years of leaves, bark and pine needles, the ground supports the green ground cover and provides a soft walkway. 

Greedily, I drink in the beauty and serenity of this place and ignore the traffic outside.  I choose to slow down for a few moments and ignore the calls of the world beckoning to me.  The more I drink in this beauty, the more I can recall and take home with me. When my world rushes around me, I can choose to look at God’s beauty all around and within me and focus on it, for it is all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?  I choose my focus.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Father, thank you for the beauty of Your creation.  Keep my mind focused on that beauty and on You.

Pray Every Day

“Don’t forget to pray today because God did not forget to wake you up this morning.”

― Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest Journal

Help me to keep communication open with you, Lord, during both the good times and the bad.

Helping Others

“If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. ”
― Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Ouch! Lord, this quote makes me question how I chose to help others. You know I want to help them, Lord. Hold me close to you and keep me listening to the ways YOU want me to help others–in ways that will glorify you.

God’s Sanctuary

How often I ignore you, even though you dwell in me. Teach me to keep this sanctuary pure for you. Slow me down and teach me to be more aware of your presence, to listen to your voice and follow your will.

The Banquet

The Banquet

You enter a banquet hall; before you is a long, beautifully carved wooden table set with fine china, crystal goblets, polished silverware, and linen napkins.  You may eat whatever you desire.  Perhaps your first choice is a juicy steak, cooked to perfection.  With it you may desire a baked potato, loaded with butter and sour cream, and topped with bacon and green onion.  A tossed salad, chock full of vegetables and topped with your favorite dressing, rounds out the meal.  Perhaps instead of steak, you prefer a different dish?  A crispy taco, filled with flavorful meat, shredded lettuce, tomato, and two kinds of cheese.  Guacamole, chips, and salsa come with the dinner. Whatever your favorite meal, you may eat to your heart’s content.  Next, of course, is dessert.  Would you care for a melt-in-your mouth piece of chocolate cream pie?  Or perhaps a bowl of juicy, ripe red strawberries with a dollop of whipped cream?

Would the opportunity to eat your fill of your favorite dishes make you glad?    Just looking at this food and inhaling its wonderful aromas would make most of us quite happy.  Unfortunately for our waistlines and our pocketbooks, we cannot indulge in a feast like this, at least not very often.

It is easy to imagine joy in a feast of delicious food, but what about “joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16) from eating God’s word?  Do we desire the word of God as much as we desire delicious food?  Is reading God’s word something we eagerly anticipate?  Probably not, but this is a feast in which we can indulge.  We need not fear gaining weight and depleting our wealth; we only fear gaining knowledge of God’s wisdom and love and depleting our sinfulness.

Oh God, creator of the entire universe, I desire delicious food more than I desire Your word.  How infrequently I desire Your words as a sumptuous banquet for my soul.  Forgive me.  Change my heart, O God.  Create in me a create in me a hunger to feast at the banquet of Your word.

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJ) “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

Sharing Our Faith

Lord, sometimes we forget that others don’t always want to hear your story, especially if we act as if we know it all. Keep us humbly living our faith Lord, so that others will ask us why we live with love and hope in our hearts. I pray that my actions will make others want to ask and their ears will be open to your truth. Thank you, Jesus.