Trace His Hand

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also

in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

     Psalm 37:5 (NKJV)

This is one of my favorite Psalms and I come back to it again and again.  But as many times as I’ve read this verse, something new struck me this time.  By exhorting us to commit our way to the Lord, the psalmist implies that this is a process---i.e., that we should keep growing and doing new things for and unto the Lord, which requires us to again commit our ways to Him.  It’s been said that our faith should not be stagnant and that if we’re not going forward, we’re in danger of backsliding.  There’s no neutral gear in the Christian walk and we shouldn’t be idling for any length of time.  What new things are you starting or planning?  Have you felt any prompting to branch into a new area of ministry or service?  Is there anyone new you should be praying for or witnessing to? If you’re not sure what to do, pray and seek God’s guidance and commit yourself to do His will.

“Commit everything into God’s hands. . .and then you will see God’s hand in everything.”  I read that recently and was so encouraged by it.  I love looking back and seeing God at work in the circumstances of my life, and in the hearts and lives of others (especially those I’ve been praying for).  When we experience God’s faithfulness, that helps us to trust God even more and in situations that might otherwise cause us to be nervous or fearful.  If God has helped in the past, surely He will help us again.  He promises never to leave us nor forsake us.  Even when we don’t at the time experience His presence at work, we can trust that He knows of the situation and will work for good in it.  He’s done it before, He will do it again.  Take a moment to trace the hand of His faithfulness and be strengthened. 

Thursday Devotional - A Kid's Prayer

We got to drive to Connecticut to visit my youngest sister and her family to celebrate Easter this past weekend! My sister, Mary, took this picture of us on Easter.

James and Sarah really enjoyed playing with their younger cousins. In fact, James cried off and on and complained about having to leave for at least the first hour of our drive home. ☹ He wished we lived next door to them. 😊

James wasn’t always the best role model as the oldest kid for the weekend, but he easily spotted when another kid wasn’t doing the right thing. In fact, when James, Sarah and Jack (almost 3) were playing under their deck, Jack picked up a big stone. James recounted this story to me later and said he didn’t think that was a good idea. I think James may have told Jack to put it down and he didn’t. A parent wasn’t right there and James said he wasn’t sure what to do so he asked God what to do. Right after he prayed, Jack put the stone down! James said it was a miracle! Yes, God had answered his prayer!!!

I was thrilled to hear James is learning he can pray about anything at anytime! We’ve been studying Solomon together in Bible Study Fellowship, all the wisdom God gave him and all the wisdom we have access to today through the Holy Spirit, prayer and God’s Word. Praying for wisdom is one of the best things we can pray about, especially when it isn’t for selfish motives.

In fact, on our way to CT, we had read James chapter 4 together as a family the night we spent in a hotel. The first part talks about praying with the wrong motives.

James 4:1-3 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What are most of your and my prayers about? Are they for wisdom or selfish desires? God wants to answer our prayers and desires that they be in line with His purposes and for His glory!

Alice

The Best Wingman

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?  We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:39-43

The wingman.  One of my favorite movies was ‘Top Gun,’ which is a movie about fighter planes.  In the movie, there is a reference to the expression called ‘the wingman.’  The role of the wingman is quite important.  They were there to help or intercede in case the other person was engaged in fighting with one plane and an enemy plane would come in.  The wingman could thus either prevent trouble that might erupt or ensure success if it was in jeopardy.  That person was on your side, and when you went into a situation where danger lurked or something required you to have a backup, they were with you.  Now if you’re someone on the dating scene, the term ‘wingman’ may mean something different, but it amounts to a similar role.  In thinking about this spiritually, I asked myself, “Could one say that Jesus might very well be a wingman?”  Maybe.  In fact, might He be the greatest wingman ever?  Then answer is quite simply … yes!

Jesus is the best wingman we can ever have.  In today’s verses, let’s focus on the plight of the man on the cross accepting guilt.  Here he is.  Humbled.  Admitting of guilt.  Rightfully punished.  Understanding that, he could very well have been like the other man scoffing at Jesus and looked to blame someone else for the things he ultimately was responsible for.  But instead, he accepted responsibility for his crimes, and only asked that Jesus remember him when His Kingdom would come.  The reason why these verses are such a favorite of mine is because it should be very easy to see whose story this is.  It is mine, and for many of you, it’s yours too.  Broken.  Saddled with guilt.  Feeling unworthy.  That is where I was when I looked and said, “I am not deserving of such grace, but maybe what I have learned can be of use to someone so that they may learn how wonderful God is.”  And Jesus answered much like He did to the humbled man on the cross.  “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise,” He said.  Here is the thing.  This is not just a story about coming to Christ.  It’s about having the assurance that the one true living God is always there.  Watching.  Protecting.  Providing.  Loving.  There is no danger we can’t go into, and He is there to intercede when trouble is present.  That’s ‘wingman’ type stuff!

It is so good to know God is ours and we are His.  The first time I ever spoke on these verses, I spoke of the man being Jesus’ right hand man.  Well I was right, and I was wrong.  I was right that he understood Christ was the leader and he was the supporting cast looking to do right by Him.  Where I was wrong was that in our lives, Jesus is our right-hand man.  He makes all things possible, and though we are not perfect, we are made perfect through Him.  You might argue that Jesus is the leader of your life, and you would be right.  But God can’t lead unless we allow Him to.  We must want that, and while God has the script, the book of our lives is … well … ours.  Even Mercutio had a story in Romeo and Juliet.  Let us own our story being God’s humble servants and trusting He will be there for us.  How can you change your scoffing toward being more accountable for your life?  How can you better humble yourself before God in your confessions?  I pray we lead a life as Jesus would want us to knowing He is always there as our ‘wingman.’  Amen.

Forgiven

I’m sure each of us can honestly say that we have judged something or someone on an outward appearance at one point or another.  It may not even have been intentional.    The Pharisees were no different.  In Luke 7 we see this happening.  Jesus on the other hand, did not judge this sinful woman that washed his feet with her tears.

Luke 7:44-47

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

The Pharisees were had judged the woman and felt that she was not worthy of being in the presence of Jesus.  Yet Jesus put them in their place, telling them that she had been forgiven. 

Each of us have been forgiven in a big way, therefore we should also show love to others in a big way.