Thursday Matters

Everyday Pride

Pride is a difficult problem for us to deal with because it hides. Obadiah 1:3 says Pride deceives us and causes us to think we don’t have it. The only way I can have the patience with someone who’s difficult or who hurt me is when I’m able to ask God to let me see the person as He sees them. That’s humbling. I know pride is the poison behind many broken relationships.

The signs of pride include an unwillingness to admit fault or a reluctance to take responsibility for one’s actions. Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking of someone who needs to hear this, but that person maybe you! Pride wants to do all the talking and none of the listening. And pride doesn’t want to make peace because it’s so stubborn and doesn’t want to be instructed. It only wants to instruct others. Remember we are all of equal value in God’s eyes so let’s not esteem ourselves above the value of another but really LOVE one another…. everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Purposeful Suffering

How about the truth of Romans 5:3 saying you should exult and glory in tribulation. The Greek word for tribulation means “difficult suffering!” I know…right? But it’s important to understand that suffering isn’t always a consequence for sin. Suffering is allowed by God for you to develop perseverance. I don't really want to suffer. But listen, if we can endure trials and especially long and weary trials, this is proof that God is in us because this is His character of preserving in trails and suffering. Therefore, being able to endure a trial with grace and stamina is one of the great assurances that we are His! This assurance fortifies our hope and makes it so that we can boldly profess the Holy Spirit that lives in us. Often before God brings you a new opportunity in ministry you will go through a deep valley or trial.

But no matter what He brings you though He is loving, strengthening and preparing you for a purpose. Look to Him and You will see this truth…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Religious

I hate hypocrisy and I also think it would be fair to say, “I hate religion.” We recognize religious people who go to church but aren’t really interested in “being the church” or we see that they behave a certain way inside the church but outside the church building we see their hypocrisy. Religious people are quick to point out; “You’re not doing it right. You should and should not be doing ‘THIS.’” These are people who busy themselves with “being right” rather than “doing right” and they can’t confess their own sins because they’re too busy confessing yours!

Throughout the Bible Jesus shows His anger MOST when He’s dealing with the RELIGIOUS! If we’re honest, all of us have had a Pharisee attitude and completely ignored Matthew 7:5, “Remove the plank out of your own eye first so you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” PRAY God’s mercy and grace over others and yourself and let Him guide you in dealing with the issues you have and you’ll have greater grace to give to others …everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Refrigerator Peace

Isaiah 26:3 was a magnet on my refrigerator that I looked at everyday when I was raising our four young sons and it says, “Jesus keeps in perfect peace all who trust in Him, all whose thoughts are fixed on Him.” I tried to be purposeful and ask myself; “What am I thinking about?” We choose what we think on. Many times, I’m worrying and thinking, “But what if…?” I know “more is caught than taught” so I wanted the words out of my mouth to be positive even if I needed them to be firm too.

A great responsibility as a parent is helping our kids fix their thoughts on what God says and not on their feelings or circumstances. I saw a poster which read; “It’s easier to build up a child than it is to repair an adult…choose your words wisely.” Of course, there are the times were negative thoughts lead to me speaking negatively but I hope that what was also observed was that God’s grace covered me. He cares, calms and carries us through…. everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Love Forgives

"How do we love and accept difficult people?” Someone asked me that question. I know…right? God loves us ALL and we are all created in His image. The ONLY way to love others genuinely is by the love God gives to us. 2 Peter 1:9 really made me think, “For whoever lacks the genuine quality of love is blind to what they have been given from accepting Christ. Jesus has wiped off, erased from the books, our own sinful lives.” He’s cleared us. We’re free.

I KNOW it’s hard. You’re hurt. It’s unfair. The “other person” has the problem and not you. BUT love covers. God covers you; He sees and knows all the stuff you shouldn’t have done and the things you should’ve done and He still loves you. He wants you to show love to others even though you may need to set a boundary with them. Forgive others just like He loves and forgive you. You can do it with Him; the power of the Holy Spirit…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Pride

Pride is a difficult problem for us to deal with because it hides. Obadiah 1:3 says Pride deceives us and causes us to think we don’t have it. The only way I can have the patience with someone who’s difficult or who hurt me is when I’m able to ask God to let me see the person as He sees them. That’s humbling. I know pride is the poison behind many broken relationships.

The signs of pride include an unwillingness to admit fault or a reluctance to take responsibility for one’s actions. Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking of someone who needs to hear this, but that person maybe you! Pride wants to do all the talking and none of the listening. And pride doesn’t want to make peace because it’s so stubborn and doesn’t want to be instructed. It only wants to instruct others. Remember we are all of equal value in God’s eyes so let’s not esteem ourselves above the value of another but really LOVE one another…. everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday God is Holy

Okay so you’re talking to a person who says they know and love Jesus. Great. But the more you talk the more you realize that you’re kinda saying the same thing but you’re not. I love to talk about Jesus and how He is love but He is holy too. And now I realize that not everyone who agrees Jesus is love understands that He is holy.

I’m on the same page as pastor and theologian Warren Wiersbe. “False teachers deny the inspiration of the Bible, the sinfulness of man, the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross, salvation by faith alone, and even the reality of eternal judgment. They deny the deity of Jesus Christ, for they know that if they do away with His deity, they can ignore the entire body of Christian truth. Christianity is Christ, and if He is not who He claims to be, there is no Christian faith.” Christ is our Savior and only through faith in Him can we have eternal life…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Texting

“Are you serious you just sent me this text?” wrote my friend Kelly. “My husband and I were having a discussion, okay an argument, and I’m sitting on the couch because I need a clear mind to hear from God. It is 1:00 a.m. and “bzzzz-bzzzzz” you send THAT scripture?” I live in Minnesota. Kelly lives in Colorado. We’ve met once. I sent her a text message at 2:00 a.m. my time but it was at the moment God knew she needed it.

And this is what I shared from Luke 21:15; “Kelly, Jesus will give you a mouth and such utterance and wisdom that all of your foes combined will be unable to stand against or refute.” We need to wait on God for His wisdom which will not come from the mind but from our inner being. Jesus helps us against our natural inclination to manipulate things to work the way we want them to work. We believe in You and wait on You. AMEN.” God promises to give us wisdom if we ask. Let’s ask Him…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Lazarus Life

Lazarus was dead; that was a fact but when Jesus, who is the Truth, walked up to the tomb and spoke; that truth changed the facts. Throughout the Gospels we repeatedly read of people who were sick and demon possessed. But when they went Jesus, and He spoke, their facts changed. They were healed, delivered, and set free. We must never magnify the facts of our circumstances above God and the power of His Word. When God speaks things change.

In Isiah 55:11 we see that God’s Word does not return to Him empty but always accomplish its purpose. When we learn to speak God’s Word instead of rehearsing how we’re feeling or our opinions, we are also releasing God’s power. The Word of God spoken in faith, from a believer’s mouth, can change circumstances. WE experience negative facts in our lives, but God’s truth is more powerful than facts. It helps if you say the truth aloud, “I am loved, as I am, right now because I am God’s child”…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Umpire of Peace

I always thought that having peace was a feeling and so I thought if I prayed God would give me a feeling about how to proceed. Years later, through prayer and understanding, I realize God’s gives peace in the way of “knowing” rather than just a feeling. This comes by way of the Holy Spirit.

Think how an umpire in a ball game decides if a player is “in” or “out” and in Colossians 3:15 there’s the Umpire of Peace, “Let the peace from Christ act as umpire in your hearts deciding and settling all questions that come into your mind.” We are able to ask God a question and trust the Holy Spirit on how to proceed. I remember my young friend, Rhonda, asking me if she should take an additional job because finances were tough but then again, the long hours would affect her family too. At first, my feelings were, “Take the job.” But after we prayed together neither of us had peace. So Rhonda refused the job and almost immediately help came in a different way. Pray with and for peace the “Umpire of Peace” …everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Sins Forgotten

When we’ve been hurt AND the person who’s hurt us isn’t even sorry, our flesh wants nothing to do with this person but to reject them. But what does Jesus do?” Jesus never rejects us but He does reject our sinful behavior.

The two greatest commandments tell us to love God passionately and then to LOVE OTHERS as He does. So when someone has sinned against us, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we must actively choose to forgive them and then choose NOT to remember their sins against us. Actively choosing not to remember is different than forgetting. In Jeremiah 31:34 God says He will “remember no more” the sins of His people. This is not memory failure. This is God’s choice to no longer hold our sins against us. God will vindicate us as He promises. I know it’s hard but follow and obey God rather than what you FEEL is fair because He understands and will take care of you and the other person…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Trust God

We can say we trust in God to avenge or defend us, but when we take matters into our own hands, we aren’t putting a lot of trust in God taking care of our hurt. A big challenge is not to pick up the offense of a friend or family member who’s been hurt. I’m guilty there. But when we take on someone else’s offense, we’re sucking the poison of their sin, and we become bitter along with them.

I’ve seen this happen when a parent’s anger towards someone passes on to their children. Remember if only one side of the story is presented you don’t have the whole truth and may have a cocktail of lies. It’s the enemy’s plan to ruin relationships. God’s plan is to restore. Follow Deuteronomy 30:19 which tells us to make the choices which bring life so that we and generations to come may live meaningful lives. More is caught than taught and the way your children trust God will have a lot to do with the way you trusted God in relationship conflicts…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Elijah

In the Bible, Elijah was a prophet and miracle worker who lived during the reign of King Ahab in the northern kingdom of Israel. He is known for pursuing God’s people to worship God alone, no other gods, no other idols and Elijah continually admonished Israel to not be corrupted by Baal. His struggle was real and exhausting because Israel seemed to be in continued rebellion against God and yet God never leaves them.

Nevertheless, Elijah becomes exhausted and “over it” with the evil people of his time and so much so that he runs away and ask God to take his life but Elijah’s story takes a turn when He hears God speak in a still small voice and not through the earthquake, wind and fire that passes by him on Mount Sinai. Turns out Elijah needed a rest, a meal which God provided. We often look to the spectacular of God’s work but look to Him in the simple way He speaks His love to you through the scripture. His word of grace and provision in a difficult season is what Elijah needed and what we all need which is to rest in God…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Loving Father

Do you picture God as a loving Father or a disciplinarian Father? To know God as a loving Father is to know that He isn't looking at you for all the good and right deeds you’re doing while as the same time trying to live a good, moral, and productive life. That’s not why He loves you. He loves you right where you are with all your messy mistakes and sin. It’s out of love for you that He came to cover and forgive you, so you don’t have to hide who you are. You can expose all of who you are, and God forgives with His love and grace, perfectly.

His death on the cross and resurrection give us hope to keep on keeping on. We don’t have to earn His love or be “good enough” because we never could. It will never be about what we sacrifice for God but what He sacrificed for us. We can look forward to a place where there's no more pain or tears, a place to reunite with loved ones, who've passed from this life, and together we can celebrate and live joyfully…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Guitar

Relationships that rock your world in the worst way are ones we want ejected from our memory and our playlist of heartache. But the pain of the past doesn’t have to define your future. Janet shared; “It’s been ten years since my abusive ex-fiancé sold my favorite guitar. He sold it on the day I left him. When I went to claim my belongings, he was proud that he had sold my guitar to a pawn shop. Luckily, I managed to track down the guy who bought it from the pawn shop. He was sweet, and gave it back to me for free, on condition that I joined him on his front porch to play guitar with him. We ended up sitting there on his porch for the rest of the afternoon playing music and talking.” He’s been Janet’s husband for nine years now.

With Jesus there’s redemption in all things. I know it might feel like you’re in control when you’re the one in control but surrendering control of your heart to God is where healing and redemption will bring freedom and hope…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday The Heart

Take comfort in knowing only God knows your heart yet I know it stings when someone judges you harshly because they can’t see your heart. The human heart is arrogant, and often cares for itself above all, prone to judge others, prone to make demands of others. The heart is also needy and incomplete with holes that can only be repaired by love, by God perfect love.

Where’s the healing for it all? Jesus. He is it, His Word which is both justice and mercy. First, we must deeply understand and truly own our brokenness. 1 John 1:8 people, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” When you seriously humble yourself and see your own depravity you won’t have time to judge your neighbor. Whatever righteousness we possess was given to us by the victory of Christ’s death and resurrection. Humble yourself. Receive the grace God gives and though Him you’ll be able to give grace to another fellow sinner…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Confident Love

Our whole family was stunned when many years ago, at age seven, our youngest member, David decided to walk down the aisle to read a verse after the pastor requested some children come forward to read from Proverbs. As David left the pew he turned saying, “I’m a really good reader.” The truth is most of 1st grade he had a tutor for reading but progressed so much by the end of the year that the tutor was dropped. Plus, we as a family had David read out loud to us a lot and each time he’d read, we’d say, “David, you’re a really good reader” and then we’d hug him. David was so confident when he read his verse even though he pronounced a few words wrong.

And I thought, “Think of all the things we could do if we believed the things God told us about ourselves and we walked confidently in the love He as for us?” God has great plans for us, He’ll work all things for the good, He’ll avenge us and from Jeremiah 31:3, He loves us with an everlasting love…everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Surgery Class

Twenty-three years ago, when I was recovering from scoliosis back surgery, I was in such pain; emotionally, spiritually and physically that I didn't think I'd ever recover. I felt out of control, and I hated that. I simply wanted Jesus to remove all my pain, “Make it go away,” I cried to Him. My main mentor, Aunt Ginger, encouraged me to take my trial as a class. This changed everything. Because instead of praying for God to remove me from my class of pain and circumstances I asked Him to bless and teach me the lessons I needed to learn. And the main lesson was to receive the grace He had for me, to rest in Him being in control.

During this time, I received a postcard from Aunt Ginger which said; “How’s class going? I know you’re being a good student." Well, not always. But how true Hebrews 12:11 was and is; "No training is enjoyable while it’s happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a harvest of right living and peace for those who are trained in this way...everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Family Values

I still remember about 15 years ago wandering around this grandpa and grandma’s home, admiring all the old pictures and furnishings of a couple in their late 70’s who have now passed away. On a door near the kitchen leading to a loft upstairs were taped several comics and newspaper clippings. One cut-out quote really touched me by S. D. Gordan; “A father and mother living together with their children, tender in their love, pure in their lives, strong in their convictions, simple and orderly in their habits, do definitely more than presidents, governors, legislators and clergymen can do in making a strong nation.”

How cool is that? It reminded me of the Mother’s Day Card my oldest son had given me as a twelve-year-old. It used the acronym MOM. “M is for Married,” he wrote, “I’m thankful you’re married and with our dad.” Pretty powerful. Yes, love is a choice and not just a feeling. Joshua 24:15 says it well, “But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” …everyday.

Thursday Matters

Everyday Walk of Faith

The walk of faith really comes down to releasing our attempts to control our life because the opposite of faith isn't doubt but control. Do I trust God to direct my life when my feelings and my circumstances are messy and I'm on the verge of madness? Faith is really trusting that God is good when everything around me is not, including myself, and then letting Him take the wheel.

BUT what if I work hard enough or believe in myself strong enough can I control the outcome can a drive on my own without Him? The answer I've found is, "no." God’s grace is born out of the abandonment of control.

My surrender to God is hopeful because where human control ends, faith in God begins. God’s grace forgives messy me and He redeems me, not because I deserve or earn it but because He loves me. Surrendering to God's grace is feeling loved when I don't deserve it. Grace is unreasonable and it's not fair, but God's love compels Him it to give it because we are His beloved creation…everyday.