Complaining is Contagious

Numbers 14:26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me.” It is easy to condemn these stiff-necked Israelis. They were so ungrateful. The Lord has provided everything they needed for this journey through the desert. Yet it was never enough. They complained constantly, and their obedience to God often fell short. They doubted Him when they crossed the Red Sea. They complained about bitter water. And the food, Yuk! They collected more manna than their daily quota, and they collected it on the Sabbath. More than once, they engaged in idolatry. Through all of this, God gave them chance after chance. God finally had it. He sent a fire and destroyed some of the people on the outskirts of the camp. In frustration, He asked Moses, “How long must I put up with these people?” Why is it so easy to see others' faults but not your own? How often do I complain about what I have or don’t have? I must admit that negative words and thoughts enter my mind and soon find their way out of my mouth. When I complain about things, I deny that God is working in my life. He knows what and when I need it and always comes through. In my complaining, my words infect not only me, but can poison those around me. A bad attitude is very contagious. Lord, how long will You put up with me? I am sorry for my complaining and the effect it has on others. – Michele

One CD at Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel. Reminiscent of an old general store with sweet tea, home cooked meals, grits and biscuits any time of the day, and a delightful gift shop replete with the old and the new, edible, wear it, or decorate your home. Although its chain of stores goes beyond southern borders, to me, it represents the South, and I enjoy its casual family atmosphere as well as knowing I may be able to find a Christian theme somewhere in the gift shop. Browsing one afternoon to spend the gift card in my pocket, I suddenly realized they were selling CD’s with twelve favorites from the Gaithers. Cracker Barrel itself can stir some memories for me, but the Gaithers – and I know it reflects my age – the Gaithers have always impacted me with music and lyrics that have spoken to my inner person, stirring not only memories, but reminders too of life changing truth, truth that doesn’t change no matter how old I am. The foundation for life changing truth was shaped by my mom, especially as she sang the old hymns to us each night before we closed our eyes in sleep. Sleeping two to a bed, and four beds in the double room that opened one room to the other, she sat on one of the beds as the room began to darken. On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suff'ring and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best, for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Mom sang, and my own faith found a foundation, although it would be years before I fully understood. Today, when I hear the Gaithers sing the words, the tears flow as I remember. Growing through a difficult childhood, and still struggling to understand the faith my mom sang of, I ultimately married, and in time, a new life was forming within me, and we waited as new parents do, with anticipation and with plans for the future already seeing our little one playing, learning, growing, and loving. Our dreams shattered and our hearts were broken when we heard the words, “Your baby will not live.” The empty nursery screamed at us, and the darkness of unfulfilled dreams imprisoned us. And it was the Gaithers I first heard sing the powerful, encouraging words of God’s promises, God sent His Son, they called Him, Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone; because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because He lives! I cannot recount how many times I have rehearsed those words, not just in my head, but in my heart, and faced another day, just because, my Savior lives!! I call it Tonia’s song because the words ministered so much when she left Earth to live within the perfections of Heaven, but the truth of God’s unfailing presence has upheld me over and over and over again. And it was at the funeral of my husband’s mom that I caught the passion of the Gaithers singing, I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory. And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea; about the angels singing, and the old redemption story, and some sweet day I'll sing up there the song of victory. O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever. He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood. Polly was a woman who loved her God and her life was a living letter of testimony. As we sang at her funeral, the truth of her eternal destiny was so very, very real. It is the destiny of every believer, the certain, unshakeable hope of every child of God. I bought the CD, went home, listened with all of my heart, and once again, the tears came. Thank You, thank You, precious, precious Jesus................................ – Bev (Related Bible reading: Galatians 4:4-7)

Fix Our Eyes on Jesus

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Have you ever come to a place in your life where you are standing at a crossroad, or perhaps teetering on the edge of a precipice, where there is nowhere to go and nothing you can do? When you’ve run out of options and you realize that in your own strength there is absolutely no human answer for the difficulty at hand; it is in this very moment that you may realize you need something more, something beyond human comprehension, an intervention, if you will, of something greater than us in our finite limited capabilities. Abraham Lincoln said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” I have always considered myself an overcomer; I am a survivor and there has always been something deep within me that causes me to persevere and rise above the overwhelming odds that have been the story of my life. It has not been very often that I find myself in this very place, because after all, I am a believer, a follower of Christ, and my faithfulness to Him should be sufficient for the day, right? But the day came when personal tragedy struck and I was unable to connect the dots of my personal faithfulness to a God who is supposed to be the tenderhearted, benevolent, compassionate lover of my soul, and that is when doubt set in. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.” How do you move past the crippling doubt when the popular influences of the day tell people that our God wants us to have good health, wealth and prosperity? When my child died, I couldn’t help but ask my Father in Heaven, what did I do wrong? After all, I truly thought that I had based my whole life on believing His promises. Oh sure, I never believed in the prosperity gospel, but I did believe that my God was a good, good Father, and that He wanted good things for His children. In the days and months following my child’s death, my pain overshadowed His promises. I was bone weary; I was tired of running the race, and I had lost track of the prize. I hit a brick wall. I could not bring myself to believe that God could use the ugliness of my pain and overwhelming grief that came as a result of his death. The question that I asked God over and over again was, “God, where are You in this?” The truth is, His promises are that of peace, joy, love, goodness, forgiveness, salvation, sanctification, fellowship, hope, glorification and Heaven, which are all made possible and are being fulfilled in this very moment in Jesus Christ, yes, in Christ alone. Philippians 4:19 says, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.” We cannot run this race in isolation, we need the people of the Living God, encouraging us and cheering us on. Perseverance is built on the promises of God. Perseverance is born out of my pain, but it is not built on my own strength. I have always looked at what my pain is taking from me, not what my pain is doing for me. The enemy of my soul is constantly telling me I am alone, that God’s promises are not true, but I know now that God is using this, all of this, and that the God of peace is with me, but my misplaced expectations of my circumstances were based upon incomplete information. And so I will throw off the illusion that all should be what I think is called good, the misguided notion that what is occurring in my life is not a part of His divine plan, and I will put into practice all that I have learned, all that I have received from Him, and boldly run the race fixing my eyes on my Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. – Melody

The God Who Cares

There is much that delighted Charlie’s heart as a young child, but the Christmas season brought for him, the anticipation of riding the Christmas train. An annual event that is repeated for several weeks, it allows the child in all of us to travel to the North Pole (uhh, temporarily relocated in Southern California), take pictures with Santa and share Christmas wish-lists, listen to Mrs. Claus tell a Christmas story and maybe even get a warm hug after being a good listener. The train takes us to Santa and lets us enjoy lights and decorations too, even climb up in Santa’s big sleigh. Charlie’s delight though could be shut down if a steady rain threatened to drench everything that was part of his special event. And with pre-paid tickets for a set time, it is very difficult to re-schedule. Charlie has known that disappointment, and this particular year, rain was already in the forecast. He knew he could pray and ask for God’s help, but for Charlie, his prayer was innocently centered on the child he was. Charlie, God may have others wanting and needing rain, and God will do what God in His wisdom knows is best. It’s still okay though to ask God for His help, and then we just wait and see. So, Charlie prayed, and so did I, and so did others. The forecast didn’t change, and the morning hours of Charlie’s day had us all wondering, but still we prayed. Charlie rode the Christmas train that day, and I knew God had decided that the best for that day was to let a young boy know his God cared – closely, personally, up close. Hagar had faced the consequences of her own choices and the choices of others, but she knew the God who watched her was the God who cares. She wandered aimlessly in the wilderness, alone with her young son, and soon believed they would probably both die there. God’s care overflowed as He provided for both of them. Hannah was heavy with the grief of barrenness, and God responded to her desperate pleas, giving her the baby she named Samuel. Jesus compassionately walked over to the coffin of a young man who was the only son of his widowed mother. In recognition of not only the widow’s immediate loss, but also its long term consequences, Jesus told the dead boy to sit up, and the boy went home with his mother. Both the scorned Samaritan woman who seemed to randomly flit from relationship to relationship and the accused woman caught in the act of adultery, crouched beneath the angry, demanding cries of her accusers – both women met the caring compassion of Jesus. The Psalms frequently reference God’s care and provision. The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you. In my own week, I am walking another year without my daughter who died at birth. But my heart is drawn too to others I love who are also walking through anniversaries this week – the husband who died prematurely, the wife who passed and left behind a husband who had given himself so fully to assisting with the outreach she was having, the infant who tasted so briefly of life in the family who loved her. And there is the young wife who testifies so vibrantly of the God who cares, even while her husband struggles with cancer. And all in one week, amidst the busyness, there is the cough and flu and ear ache, a brother with surgery, questions about relationships, young people making life choices, and this year, my own sister who gives her tears to God, while she desperately cries out for the healing of her husband’s body. O God, I lean desperately into Your care, for there are no other options. You love, You give, You stay right beside me. You bend down and listen, and You respond with an intensity that reminds me so clearly, You care. – Bev (Related Bible reading: Psalm 9:9.10; Psalm 23:1-6; Psalm 40:1-3; Psalm 63:1-8; Psalm 116:1,2)

Finding the Unchangeable

It is that time of year as we open up our containers of Christmas decorations, we also open up a treasure chest full of memories. Memories of children excited as they unwrap each ornament that has not seen the light of day for a year. The joy that came on Christmas morning as we watched our little ones, eyes barely open, dashing with excitement to see what goodies the man in the red suit had left them. One of my favorite memories I have with my daughters were the days we spent baking cookies for their friends and the happiness that was on their faces when they delivered them. I remember the days with immense pleasure and in my memory, a time that was perfect. In my memory those times seemed perfect, but yet, I do recall it was also a time when I was in a frantic time of busyness. A working mom with two kids, spinning my wheels, trying to accomplish all I felt needed to be done, to make the holidays just right. Traditions that became a must-have and really had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus. As time has gone on I have let go of some of these traditions. Some because my surviving daughter has moved on to do her own family traditions, and some I found have just not brought me the sense of joy they once did. Some traditions I have found to be just too painful. I have kept the traditions of a tree and the manger because they still have great meaning to me. Years of decorating the tree and placing just the right Christmas ornament in exactly the right place brings a smile to my face. My manger scene reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas, a Savior who became a man and died on the cross for my sins. These same memories that bring a smile to my face also bring a feeling of an undeniable hole that has been left in the absence of my daughter. That is never more evident to me than when I receive those family Christmas cards. It is wonderful to see families intact, but the sending of Christmas cards with my family’s picture on it came to a sudden halt after the death of my daughter. I cannot bear to send out a family picture that is missing someone we all held so dear. We always need to be kind to ourselves and that is never more important than on those days that hold special memories for us. Sometimes traditions need to be set aside because they can become a minefield we know will break us apart. When we look at our traditions to be the thing that brings us our joy, we will always be disappointed. Things change in life and with that our traditions must follow. Life will go on. December 25 will march forward if we decide we just cannot do things the way we used to. Who knows, you might find a simpler and more meaningful way to celebrate. We might find it is more about the being of Christmas than the doing of Christmas. Lord, two things we know; life never stays the same, but Lord, Your love for us never changes. – Michele

Rejoice Always!

1 Peter 1:6 “In all this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” There comes a turning point at each time of the year, it occurs right around the time of my youngest son’s birthday; it’s the middle of October and the fall leaves are beginning to gather up on the driveway. You know the time of year I’m talking about, where you walk in to Costco and they’ve got all the Christmas decorations out, fake trees, wrapping paper, ornaments, European cookies, chocolate and toys, lots of magnificent toys. A sprit of heaviness comes over me as I consider the holidays, another Thanksgiving, another Christmas without my precious Elisha. It’s almost as if I resent the fact that the holidays are staring me in the face yet again, time goes by so quickly, doesn’t it? It’s only been nine years since the death of my child and yet there is a fear in the pit of my stomach that I’ve already forgotten him. Significant dates have come and gone and even though it seems so wrong to celebrate these milestones without him, and soon we will be, enjoying my youngest son’s 28th birthday, but it is overshadowed by the fact that Elisha is not here to celebrate with us. We do little quirky things that he used to do; we say funny little words that he used to say, and we each honor his memory in our own little ways, but the truth is, our joy has been diminished by our grief. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Rejoice always. The theme of these scriptures, tells us we are to be exceedingly glad, exuberantly jubilant, and to possess the kind of joy that is not based on changing, temporary circumstances, but is a joy that comes from the unchanging, eternal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Pray continually. This does not mean to throw up a prayer when the going gets tough, or to pray repetitiously as if reciting a poem, but to pray persistently, just like breathing; it should come naturally; you don’t even have to think about it; you are in constant communication with our Lord and uninterrupted communion with the Holy Spirit. And finally, we are to give thanks in all circumstances, to offer up a sacrifice of praise even when we are deep in the valley of the shadow of death, where we can fall on Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, the Living God, who gives us hope even when there is none. Nancy Leigh DeMoss in her book, “Choosing Gratitude,” says, “And in my heart I waved the white flag and said, ‘Yes Lord. I am willing to go with You all the way on this journey of choosing gratitude. I don’t want to be just ‘grateful enough’ to keep up appearances. By Your grace I want to put the axe to the root of every vestige of complaining, and become a radically thankful woman.’” In our verse today, Peter teaches us several important principles about “various trials” and “troubles.” 1) Trouble does not last (“little while”), 2) trouble serves a purpose (“if necessary”), 3) trouble brings turmoil (“grieved”), 4) trouble comes in various forms (“trials”) and 5) trouble should not diminish the Christian’s joy (“rejoice”). Oh how I want to praise and worship our Lord, even in the midst of difficulty, even when facing the holidays, and especially when I don’t feel like it. Rejoicing is a choice, thankfulness is a choice and considering Jesus above all else, above all of the sorrows, above all of the brokenness, above all of the grief, above all of the busyness of the season, looking to Him is a moment-by-moment choice. And so today, I will be committed to this process of sanctification with all of my heart set on this journey of gratitude and I am willing to go beyond my circumstances and say, worthy are you, Lord, my Savior, my King, my Rock, my Strength, my Peace, the Hope of my salvation. – Melody

God Loves Me

In the middle of thousands upon thousands still picking up from a hurricane, we were having our own “hurricane.” On top of the weather and the news, we had an unexpected death at an unexpected time, that threatened more loss. And in those lengthening moments, I read Dr.E.V. Hill’s words in GriefShare’s devotional book entitled, “Through a Season of Grief.” Dr. Hill said, “Get solidly in your mind who God is. He is not a smart man somewhere who finished from Yale or Harvard who is trying to figure out day-to-day problems for people ..... He is the eternal I AM. He is the eternal last word. And He is love.” My emotions pulsated, and my heart wept tears of gratitude. He is love. Those were the words, and more importantly, the truth, I needed to be reminded of. Dr. Hill also said, “God is the answer to every question and every need.” In the hurricane. In the tragedy that invades your life. In the turmoil and discord that fragments relationships. In every need. Why does He meet us in every need??? Because He is love, and me, and all who are His children are foremost the recipients of that love. We have a Father-child relationship with Him, that loves and cares and gives. And yet, He longs to share that love with all of the peoples of the world. John 3:16 says it so clearly. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God gives in response to our needs, because, God loves. And He loved us before we ever thought to love Him. We love Him in response to His love for us, but in creating us, He made us creatures who NEED to be loved. Again, why??? Because He wanted our need for love to draw us to HIM. We look all too frequently for others to love us in ways that fully satisfy, but people cannot love us perfectly. Only God can. And we sense the protective shield of His love, its encouragement, its provision, its satisfaction, when He wraps us in it in the midst of the questions and needs. Somebody... please love me. That was once the cry of my own heart. Others spoke of a God who loved. But their words seemed so distant, so unapproachable, so very much for someone else. But it was God Himself who opened my closed heart. He drew the child who so desperately wanted love to Himself, and He said, “My child, you have looked in all the wrong places. You have asked family and friends to give what they cannot give. They can only love in part. They too long to be loved. My love is perfect. My love is complete. My love alone can fully satisfy your longing. Let Me love you.” Yes, sometimes overwhelming need can seem to separate me from His love, but my God has not left me – or, you. He is there with us, even in the darkness, and His love will permeate the darkness and draw me to Himself. Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. – (Author, unknown) – Bev (Related Bible reading: Romans 8:31-39)