God has treasures in store for His children. Not earthly treasures that don't last, but the real treasure that comes from knowing God. The treasures of peace, joy and nearness to Him. The treasure of being satisfied and content. The treasure of God revealing truths from His Word. The treasure of growing in a personal relationship with the Creator and feeling His love.
But those treasures are often found in the hard times and in the secret place of our quiet time alone with God.
Do you ever get overwhelmed with how much there is to do and know? The only way mountains get climbed is by taking little steps forward. The way to get where God wants you is to keep taking the next step. The way to know God more is to keep taking steps by reading His Word, meditating on it, and putting it into practice in your life. Don't stop taking little steps.
I was reading my children a devotional story (Keys for Kids) at breakfast time. It was about having wings as eagles.
"The eagle is a unique bird... When there's a storm, other birds try to avoid it, but the eagle flies straight into it and uses the storm's own winds to lift him above the clouds."
"With God's strength, you can be like an eagle and fly straight into the storms of life, instead of running away from them. Then you can use those hurts or troubles...to grow as a Christian."
These words struck me. I don't know about you, but it is in my nature to run from anything hard or uncomfortable. There are MANY times I would have escaped my problems/challenges if it had of been possible. I thank God that I couldn't! Because those problems forced me to depend on God and His strength. As a result, I was able to rise above and fly like an eagle.
What about you? Do you run from anything that is outside your comfort zone or difficult?
You can run from those things or you can let those difficult things push you up to God. You can learn to soar!
If your life was summed up in one sentence, what would it be?
There is a man in the Bible whose life is summed up with the words "Enoch walked with God."
If you put your name in Enoch's place, would it be true? Do you walk with God? What does it even mean to walk with God?
Here are some thoughts to think about. Let's compare walking with God to going for a walk with a person.
Who do you go for walks with? A friend or a stranger? Usually we only go for walks with someone we love and know--a friend or family member. If you walked up to a random person on the street and asked them to go for a walk with you, they would think you were strange! Walking with God means you know and love Him.
Since God is light, then walking with God means walking in the light. Confessing and forsaking sin, not hiding your sin or putting the blame on others.
Imagine walking with a friend in complete silence! When you go for a walk, you also talk. But you don't chatter none stop and give your friend no chance to talk. Walking with a friend requires both talking and listening. Walking with God involves both talking to God (prayer) and listening to Him (reading the Bible).
Imagine asking a friend to go for a walk with you, but you are in one town and they are in another town. Would that work? No, you have to be in the same place to walk together. You have to be close! Walking with God means being close to God.
Walking with a friend means that you are not walking with others. So that might mean being different. People may laugh or mock you. But it's better to walk with God and be laughed at than be the ones who are not walking with God.
If your friend invites you to go for a walk with them, you need to go where they are going. And so walking with God means that we must obey Him and go where He leads.
Would you go for a walk with someone you don't trust? I sure wouldn't! And walking with God requires trust and faith in Him.
Would you walk with a friend while worrying how to please someone that you are not with? Walking with God means living to please God, not other people.
Walking with a friend also involves keeping in step with, not lagging behind or running ahead.
Enoch never died, God just took him to heaven (Heb 11:5) While those who walk with God will still have to die, they have no need to fear death. They will finally see in person the one they have been walking with on earth!
Two people went on a hike. They both had backpacks. The girl had a small backpack with essentials. The boy had a large backpack with everything they might possibly need. Talk about being prepared! The only problem was he could hardly lift his! Having to lug this heavy pack around slowed them down. The girl told him to leave it, but there was no way he would. Later on there was an accident and he fell off a cliff into the lake below. The girl looked down and all she could see was a big backpack floating in the water. The heavy weight was keeping the boy under. She dove in, pack and all, and was able to get his head above water and pull him to land. In the end, he finally let go of all those things they might need!
I heard this story recently, and while I doubt it's true, I think it's a perfect object lesson. I can't get the picture of that heavy backpack out of my mind---slowing them down on the track and holding the boy under the water.
There are many
lessons we can learn from this story. But here are two.
Hebrews 12:1-2 says,...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus...
The Christian life is like a race or a hike. We need to travel light! There are many things that can weigh us down and make our growth much more slow than necessary.
Faithful Is He Who Has Promised
On Sunday afternoon my husband was leading a church service in a rest home. One of the hymns he chose to sing was "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." I was playing the piano and one sentence really jumped out at me. "We should never be discouraged." It was a gentle rebuke to me because I often get discouraged! I get discouraged way too easily. It's one thing to know that we shouldn't be discouraged, but how? These are the tips I have come up with.
When the light on my vacuum cleaner comes on, it means that the filter needs a clean. Lately it has been coming on all the time. We have been doing renovations, which has meant a lot more dust and dirt in the vacuum cleaner. But even when I had just cleaned out the filter the light would come on again. It was starting to frustrate me, so I told my husband. He said, "I think there's another filter inside." So he had a look and found a second filter out of sight that I hadn't known about. He took it out and it was packed with dust and dirt! That was the problem. So I gave it a thorough clean and let it dry for 24 hours. After that it worked good as new again with much more suction.
That inner filter is a picture of our hearts! It's something you can't see from the outside and yet it affects everything. Our hearts can become blocked up with sin. Working to clean up our actions doesn't help, because it's the inside where the problem is. The inside affects the outside. It affects how effective we are as a Christian. We need to stay close to God by prayer and reading His Word to become aware of our sin. Then we need to confess it and forsake it.
David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
Psalm 139:23-24 says "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
My husband has just started to renovate a part of our house. To do this he took out a wall. Breaking it down made an awful lot of noise! Lydia, our youngest with Down Syndrome, was terrified. As soon as the noise would start she would put her arms across her chest, as if trying to keep herself safe. Her eyes would fill with tears, and as soon as the noise would stop she would clap and exclaim, "Yay, yay, yay, yay! Finished." As a mum, it was pretty heartbreaking to see how scared she was when she wasn't in danger and know that she didn't understand what was happening. No amount of explaining on my part would help her understand, so instead I stayed close and gave her lots of hugs in the loud moments.
I also felt a small amount of fear as I saw my husband take out that wall. Unlike Lydia, I understood what he was doing. But still there was a little bit of concern. "He's not a builder. Does he know what he's doing? What if it doesn't turn out well." I had to remind myself that he renovated the rest of the house years ago and did a great job--not to mention The Little Haven! I had to trust him to do a good job again.
Renovation means change. It means lots of noise, mess to clean up and disorder for a while. It means adjustments. It also means something new and good which is why we do it in the first place!
Our lives also need renovating by God. We may need a new perspective, new love for Him and others, a new skill, a new ministry etc. For Him to do that, there will be pain, tears, and fears. We need to trust that He knows what He's doing, that He is making something beautiful and remind ourselves of the good things He's done in the past. When we don't understand, like Lydia, we need to stay close to Him and trust our Heavenly Father. He will give us comfort just like I comforted Lydia.
"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you;..". Isaiah 66:13
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
I wasn't sure what to talk about today, but as I watched my children I got some inspiration!
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Last night I was reading my children a bedtime story about Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. They both wanted some money and were trying to come up with a way to get some. Brer Fox didn't want to work for it, so he suggested taking things from other animal's houses and selling them. Brer Rabbit was shocked. "But that's stealing!" Brer Fox disagreed. So Brer Rabbit agreed to it. Brer Rabbit would do the taking and Brer Fox would do the selling. Brer Fox said it didn't matter whose house the stuff came from and he kept insisting that it wasn't stealing. So Brer Rabbit went to Brer Fox's own house and took stuff to sell. Unknowingly, Brer Fox sold his own stuff at the market! When he got home, he was horrified to find his stuff missing. Of course he cried, "I've been robbed. Someone's stolen my things!" His mean plan had backfired.
When Brer Fox was the thief, he said it wasn't stealing. But when he was the victim, it was stealing indeed!
The Bible says in Matthew 7:12 that we should treat others how we would like to be treated.
Just like Brer Fox, when we're the one doing the treating or the 'taking', it doesn't seem so bad. But when we're the victim, it's bad indeed!
When we're the one doing the gossiping, it seems harmless. But when others gossip about us, It's very painful! When we're the one laughing, it's funny. But when we're the one laughed at, it's suddenly very serious!
Keep this story of Brer Fox in mind and remember that stealing is stealing, whether you're the thief or the victim! Gossip is gossip. Lies are lies and so on. We need to treat others how we would like to be treated if we were in their shoes.
He's Helping Me Now
He's helping me now--this moment,
