us that if we believe God can grant us what we’ve asked Him for, then we will receive that answer to prayer. The caveat to that statement is that our prayer has to be something that God can answer and stay true to His character. When we pray, we need not say, “Lord, if you can help me out with this one I’d appreciate it.” Of course, He can help us out with what we need! He has access to all the resources in the world. There’s no “if” about it. As issues pop up in our lives, we can confidently go to the Lord and ask for what we need. Believing that He will answer that prayer honors Him. Then when we talk to others about the need, we need to speak with the same confidence that we had when we asked God to intervene. By doing this, problems that would have thrown us in a tail spin no longer can derail us. Hope will rush in to replace discouragement and trust will erase doubt. So here’s to keeping our focus on the One who can take care of us and all our needs.
10…Looking Up
Good morning! Have you ever traveled in a motor home? If not, could I suggest you put that one on your Bucket List? It’s cool to be able to get up and fix a drink or get a snack while you are still going down the road, or even use the restroom. Besides the comfort of traveling in one, you sit up so high when you ride in a motor home that you see things from a whole new perspective.
As I was noticing things I wouldn’t have been able to see if I was traveling in a car, I thought about how God sees things. When He looks down on all His creations, He sees things from a unique vantage point that we will never have. He can look above all our circumstances because He sees the bigger picture.
God encourages us to see things the way He does. He wants us to let the light of His presence fill us so that we view the world through His eyes. Jesus said in John 8:12:
“I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
It wouldn’t be practical for us to ride around town in a motor home to run our errands, but we can still keep that same perspective by simply looking up. Looking down or at our challenges doesn’t produce a good fix to our problems. It’s only when we look up to our Heavenly Father that we can maintain the right perspective. So, here’s to keeping our eyes fixed on the One who sits higher than all!
11…Tightening Our Belts
Good morning! Are you the type of person that can laugh at yourself? I am and I not only provided laughter for myself but gave my friends last week quite a chuckle, too. OK, so when you fly fish, you wear waders to keep you dry as you stand in waist or chest deep water to fish. Sometimes it is difficult to change positions in moving water. The last day of fishing, I was standing in waist high water when I needed to take a step backwards. When I did, I fell in a hole causing water to rush inside my waders. Oh boy, that’ll get your attention in a hurry! Did I mention that this water is extremely cold??!! Until that happened, I did not know the purpose of the belt I was wearing. You wear a safety belt so if you would accidentally get any water inside your waders, you can still get out of the water safely because they won’t fill up completely with water. But the belt needed to be pulled much tighter than I had it pulled to work correctly. My friends tried not to laugh but it was pretty funny watching me pour water out of my waders, wring the water out of my socks … you get the picture. Later, I was comforted by the fact that if you’ve been trout fishing very long, you’ll know that this happens to the best of them.
Having equipment but not using it correctly doesn’t help you. Having a Bible prominently displayed in your home but never opening it won’t help you either. God’s word brings life to our soul. It’s a love story like no other. It’s also our guide for life. God’s word helps us learn how to live a life pleasing to Him. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” So, my prayer for us today, is that we’d stay safe as we encounter the pitfalls in life by tightening our belts through God’s word.
12…Can Do!
Good morning! As I was reading in Galatians last night, God showed me something new. Don’t you just love how He does that? You can read the same passage over and over again and then the next time you read it, God shows you something you hadn’t seen before. I shouldn’t be surprised because the Bible is the Living Word of God. Anyway, here are the verses I read in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
It’s the fruit of self-control that got my attention this time. I’ve always associated the things that we shouldn’t do as the self-control things. You know, like having enough self-control so you don’t lash out in anger, or push away from the table so you don’t eat too much, or keep your mouth in check so you don’t have to apologize later for your words spoken in haste.
But last night I started looking at self-control as things I should be doing. Things like having enough self-control to put down that TV remote, and pick up the Bible to read or to call a friend to focus on their issues instead of our own. In life, aren’t we more apt to do the things on the “can do” list over the “don’t do” list? So, as I go through today, I’m going to focus on the “can do” of self-control and see how many things I can add to that list. Hope you’ll join me.
13…Consider the Source
Good morning! When I was little and someone would say something unkind to me, usually a mean comment about my speech problems, my dad would always say, “Consider the source.” As a kid, I never totally understood the point he was trying to make, but I get it now. If you’ve lived any years at all, you know that everyone has an opinion about everything. Some people believe that everyone they come in contact with needs to hear their opinion. I think the important thing we need to consider is what we do with our opinions. The negative opinions of others can sidetrack us in an instant, if we value what they say more than what we know is true through the Lord. We don’t need to consider any source that doesn’t line up with God’s word. Opinions that try to sway us away from what God has instructed us to do are not opinions we need to listen to.
You can normally tell within minutes of talking with someone if they are a positive or a negative person. I think what my dad was trying to tell me was the same thing we read about in Matthew 7:13-29. In these verses, Jesus was explaining how you could tell if people were His followers. He said you would know by the fruits of their lives. Both my Heavenly Father and my earthly father were telling me to stick with those people bearing good fruit and steer clear of the rotten ones. So, what sources are you listening to? May I suggest that you carefully select the people in your life that you go to for advice. We need people that will encourage us with good, positive, and Godly wisdom. We need to surround ourselves with those fellow Believers that bear good fruit. My prayer for us is that we will be one of those people who lift others up!
14…Keeping Your Eyes Wide Open
Good morning! Have you ever wanted to put up a huge “DO NOT ENTER” sign? Where I live, there is a Highway 61-Yard Sale the week before Labor Day, which stretches out for miles in Southeast Missouri. This annual event creates havoc for those living near Highway 61. The entrance to my private lane has an open area where there is a row of mailboxes. This area became a parking lot for many of the shoppers. After a trip to town, I was trying to turn in my lane but it was blocked by cars. Thankfully, one of the cars had a driver in it and he moved his car so I could pull in off the highway. All you can do about this extra traffic is just try to avoid it.
I was thinking about the things in life we try to avoid. When God closes a door of opportunity for us, we often try to avoid where He wants to take us and instead go ahead and park where we want to go. It’s true that God usually doesn’t put up a huge “Do Not Enter” sign in front of us, but if we are watching, His signs are just as clear.
