Wednesday Matters

Everyday Questions

I remember the season in life when I had four sons under the age of 7 years old and it was constantly busy and constant questions. I love my boys, don’t get me wrong but some days I thought I might explode if they asked me one more question with the sentence beginning with the word, “MOM……. I remind young moms now, “The days are long, but the years are short.”

But no matter how many questions they asked I always wanted them to be sure that they knew one important answer and that is, I would never stop loving them. The same is true with the love of Christ. There isn't anything about us, with our past or present or our questions that would cause Him to withdraw from us. He welcomes our questions and He’s okay with where we’re at. But never forget the life changing answer He gives us in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday God View

Have you ever found yourself reading the Bible entirely through the lens of what you want and what you feel? That is likely a trap and danger we've all faced. The statement, "I'm living own truth," is one I hear often and for me it translates as, "I'm doing what I feel is right regardless of what anyone else thinks, especially God."

St Augustine said, "If you believe in the Gospel what you like, and leave out what you don’t like, it’s not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

Living truthfully, for me, means to trust that God is good even when my circumstances and I are not. Do I trust that God is a Redeemer and that all things that happen to me will work into the good because He loves me and has called me for a purpose? (Romans 8:28) Honestly, it’s hard to wrap my mind around the truth that God doesn't love me because I'm good, but He loves me because He is good…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Need Grace

Okay there’s this kind of Christians who is “stuck” outside the tension between law and grace – and specifically I’m talking about those who don’t know they need grace. I have been that girl at various times myself.

When you don’t know you need grace you come to the counseling room in righteous indignation. You come with your “rights” and “it’s not fair because there’s a sinner worse than you. This may include the spouse who drags their partner along to get fixed, the partner who doesn’t think they need fixing, the person angry with God for failing to fulfill their dreams and the one who simply cannot forgive. Accepting Christ means acknowledging our sin with the only cure being His grace. Jesus desires to confront the blackness of our hearts and change us. PRAY for yourself and others who need to KNOW and SEE how much we need His grace, because without it we can’t really love others…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Red Sea

The same God that parted the Red Sea for Moses is the same God for you and me. He never changes. He can make a way when there seems to be no way. His Word is comforting but when life’s hard it sometimes doesn’t seem as living and active as we’d like it to be. Because we can’t always “see” God working we sometimes question; “Is He doing anything?” When we’re feeling bruised and beat up and all we can see are more “Egyptians” coming it’s then that the, “We of little faith” rears its head. But God’s Word is living and active. And as Psalm 18: 30 says, “His way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.”

When life is hard it’s especially important to lean into God in faith, to trust in a never changing God who can make a way through all the Red Seas of our lives. Giving up control to God and living in His grace of love and kindness will see you through…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Kissing

“Debbie, do you think God is okay with a couple just kissing without anything physical going on? I need to know the difference between something being culturally prohibited, and something that God is angered by? This was asked by a young woman in another country. I thought of what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6; "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. Everything that God asks us to do, or not to do, is because He wants what’s best for us.

Unfortunately, the “world” leads us to believe that if two people mutually agree to be physically imitate then it’s fine, and the only caution is, “to be safe.” But there’s no such thing as “safe sin.” God calls us to dedicate ourselves to the most thorough purity. As far as kissing goes well that’s something between you and God. Some people wait and some don’t. Sometimes the danger in kissing is that it can lead to other activities that aren’t honoring to God. God is not a killjoy. He’s a “give-joy” and it’s out of His great love for you. He knows best…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Buzz Cut

It's not my husband’s fault. I should have taken our long-haired teen Joey to get a haircut before swimming practice, myself. My instructions were "Tell them long bangs and number three clippers on back and sides. Dan repeated several times; "Long bangs, number three clippers" in a singing voice so that it was practically a song.

Joey came home right before practice looking like he was headed to military boot camp. I lost it. And who knows what was going on with me personally, but I called Dan yelled at him and then the hair salon. This is so silly to me now. But I think what I was projecting about how I looked and felt onto how my son looked. What was the point of getting upset and making phone calls? The heart is what counts and hair grows. My best days are when I make it about loving and serving others with encouragement and kindness. God very clearly tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is kind.” Kindness is the most attractive quality you can have…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Out of Bed

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning (again) so I pulled the covers over my head, like I often do when life seems so heavy. I've tried to make it a habit to go to "The Throne" before "The Phone," which means I take my big hard copy Bible and open it up and read.

I came Psalm 18:6,” In my distress, when seemingly closed in, I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple and my cry came before Him, into His very ears.” Isn’t that comforting? God sees, knows and understands us. He is not surprised by what we're going through or what has happened, and He is always on the move with a plan of redemption. The relationship we can have with God, can be so personal and so intimate.

God's never condemning of our feelings or heartaches. He understands all of who we are, spiritually, mentally and physically. He understands and cares about everything we care about and hears our every cry and complaint. It all "comes to His very ears…. everyday."

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Love Journey

I am Debbie with a slight curve of scoliosis made less noticeable with the surgery I had as an adult. I am Debbie who needs to look everyday in the mirror and wonder what else I can do to my hair that will change my life. I don’t want to care about it so much and there are times I don’t, and I walk out in my pajamas to get groceries or record my radio feature at the station. Everyday, I have to remember the way He sees me despite my moral failings and missteps and bad hair days.

In life’s journey we all want to be known and loved, and Jesus knows us better than anyone and still loves us. He knows me, my pain. HE IS here, waiting to make creative, redemptive use of what has happened. He is always on the move. He isn’t wasting time thinking about all the trouble He has with us or how awful we feel about where we are with ourselves and our troubles. God loves us unconditionally. Walk forward knowing how much God loves you…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Blood of Christ

We’ve all made mistakes because we’re all sinners. Our sins hurt us and others on some level. God loves us and will use our messes to help ministry to others, but Satan will always try and condemn us, and he also works in others with his lies. You may have someone trying to convince you that your past can’t be forgiven unless you follow their rules of forgiveness. Or maybe it’s you are thinking, God couldn’t possible forgive “that” sin. Listen to 1 John 1:9; “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” Okay so think about how our kidneys work in our bodies, continuously cleansing us from impurities.

Well, there IS POWER IN THE BLOOD of Jesus Christ which cleanses us, not just in the body, but in the spirit, continuously. Our responsibility is to admit we’ve sinned and CONFESS. We don’t ever want a sin blockage so our prayer life is polluted, and we can’t hear His voice of truth and healing…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday God Bless Work

Jan wrote, “I try to be compassionate and kind with a sense of humor but today I was feeling small-minded, hurt and mean spirited. Jan had commented on my Facebook post about loving others, “When people are less than kind it’s then that I have a hard time 'loving' them.... mostly at work. The office can bring out the worst in people…including me.” Oh my, I so get it. Sooooo, when someone hurts me I try and pretend their “nasty” aimed at me was only a sneeze and I respond (mostly under my breath) with “Bless you!” and guess what? It works!

Because God tells us in Luke 6:28 to bless those who curse us. Because if Satan works through a person to hurt us and we end up hating that person back because we’re hurt than the enemy’s job has been accomplished two times over. But if we respond to another’s curse with a blessing then we’ve gotten Satan back and he’ll wish he never laid a finger on us. God bless you…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Sacrifice

How do you know when you’ve given enough to get to God? You don’t. Yet many people believe that there are many roads to God and that true spirituality is just to love your neighbor and help the poor. What about the people that have been taught to hate? Are the poor just virtuous? That sounds right, but it is not what Jesus said.

Jesus said you cannot earn salvation by taking the executioner's cross yourself. We instinctively know this. If a soldier drapes his body over a grenade to save his friends, we recognize it as a sacrifice. Something we honor, but not something we can pay him back for. In fact to suggest we could pay Him back is an insult to His sacrifice. The same is true with Jesus. He loves us for who we are and not for what we do. The good things we do, like soup kitchens for the poor, are out of our love for Him but no matter what He loves right where we’re at by His grace…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Life Changing

When I’m travelling alone at a hotel, I often surf the channels on TV. Inevitably I will come upon a shopping network or paid product advertisement where I sit mesmerized and convinced that if I order in the next ten minutes this product will change my life.

One of our sons walked into the room when I was using this wand laser thing and zapping my face to get rid of the wrinkles. He tried it on his face but couldn’t stand the sting. “Mom, you’re crazy. Why do this?” “I feel it’s working,” I said. Honestly, my attitude was better because I believed this wand was making a difference by erasing years off my face. (Did I mention the whole commercial was in Spanish?). After my son left, I thought; “What really transforms me is renewing my mind from what God has to say about me. If I approach others with the love and grace God gives me, that truly is a game changer. There’s nothing wrong with primping and prep so we feel and look our best but, God sees the heart and that’s what I want Him to work on…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Billy Poetry

I’ve never met Billy, but he subscribes to the email of Everyday Matters and often sends poems from the verses I share. He is confined to a wheelchair and has a head injury. There are things he can’t do but he sure can write a poem to make you smile and reflect. Billy wrote, “This poem is dedicated to all my friends who love me without seeing me.”

When men look at us

Immediately they judge.

From the color of our skin

To the sweet taste of our fudge

And seldom do they ever

Make judgments right and pure!

For in their hearts is not

The reason or its cure

But Our Father up in Heaven

Judges all His children well

For He knows what’s in their hearts

What else is there to tell

And when He looks, He knows.

If Jesus lives in there

And He can see if love is home.

In your heart beyond compare

So please, just open up.

Your heart to God’s own Son

And then you’ll have everything

For then the victory’s won.

Thanks Billy…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Susan Prayer

Susan was the coordinator of speakers for a conference in New York City. I was one of them. We developed a friendship of email praying, and this was way back in the day, in 2006, before texting and the smart phone took over our lives. I’m glad this memory is written down. I sensed God wanted me to pray for her husband, so I wrote, “I’m praying for a husband for you.” I then proceeded to pray for a godly and good man to enter Susan’s life. Susan was very thankful for my emails but with my husband prayer she wrote, “Actually I’ve been married for 17 years but since my husband is a pastor and he’s preparing a message for this Sunday, I know he’ll appreciate your prayer.” Embarrassing.

God did ask me to pray for her husband but not for a husband. God wants my obedience not my analysis or theories as to why He asks me to pray. It’s like the classic joke; “What’s the difference between you and God? Answer: God never thinks He’s you….” everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Substitute Teacher

I still remember the day of substitute teaching 11th graders with 15 minutes of free chat time before the bell rang and literally, out of the blue, Ryan shouts out; “I want to know if God’s real?” He looks at me and asks; “Can you tell me if God is real?” The next thing I know I have six boys around my desk as I share what it means to have a relationship with God.

Kinda nervously I said, "Oh, definitely, God is real. It’s not about how good we are but about how good God is. He paid the debt for our sin by His death on the cross and His resurrection power. We can either accept His gift or reject it.” Intently they listened and then Brandon declared; “I don’t believe it.” “I know it’s pretty hard to believe,” I said. “But this kind of unconditional love is real and true, and I know because I have a relationship with God.” The bell rang and they scrambled out. And I thought, “Wow, God is love and He wants all of us to know Him no matter who or where we are…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Oh God

We hear it all the time, the phrase “Oh, my God!” to express a thought or idea that is incredible or unbelievable. But as we grow in a relationship with Christ, we need to realize that when we say, “Oh, my God” we’re, in fact, violating one of God’s Ten Commandments; “You shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) It’s often who you hand out with that determines a lot of how you speak or what you watch on the screen. That’s something I am praying about too.

My husband tells the story, when as a new believer returning to play cards with his buddies, he very intently asked them not to swear using God’s name; if they did, he wouldn’t be able to play. There was a stunned silence until one of his friends spoke and said, “Okay, we’ll respect that.” Another guy said, “But can we still say, ‘blankity-blank and blank?’” My husband said, “Sure, that’s fine, just don’t use the name of the Lord in vain.” There’s such power in God’s name. He is Holy. He is Love. He and His name should always be respected and honored…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Ark of Love

The Old Testament Bible story of Noah and the Ark which many of us know is where God told Noah and his family to build and come into the ark to be saved from the flood. Those who didn’t enter into the ark died for their unwillingness to know the one true God. Okay so think about this, Christ is the “New Ark”; the "Ark of Salvation.” Choosing Christ is also choosing to follow Him and choosing to follow Him means choosing to love those who are difficult, the ones who didn’t want to get on board.

Okay, so in the New Testament 2 Peter says: The person who lacks genuine love is blind and has forgotten they were cleansed from all their old sins. While we were yet sinners Christ loved us and then He erased our sins by paying with His blood. Once we’ve received grace, we don’t deserve, we can give grace. NOW, the question is, “HOW in the world can we ever really love difficult people?” Our job is to love. Christ’s job is to judge…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday False Christian

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 His character, promises and the Good News. And now I realize that not everyone who agrees Jesus is love understands that He is holy and what that means.

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 through Him dying in our place to cover our dept of sin are we free. It’s respecting His holiness and Love to understand why He came and how deeply He loves us…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Pride

I was stinky. Oh, I had taken a shower, but I had pride and pride stinks. Pride is difficult to deal with because we don’t think we have it. I notice my stink most when I have zero patience with someone who’s hurt me. In the Bible in James 4:10 I read to ask God to humble me so I can see the other as He does. He then promises to lift me in hope. The signs of pride include an unwillingness to admit fault or take responsibility for our actions.

Pride wants to do all the talking and none of the listening. Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking of someone who needs to hear this, but perhaps it’s you! God gets you. He sees the hurt. I get you because I’ve been there. Are you still screaming? Maybe it’s time to stop and listen.” Humility and your surrender to God will set you free and you’ll be a sweet fragrance for everyone to be around…everyday.

Wednesday Matters

Everyday Oxygen

When I first heard the flight attendants say, “In the event of an emergency, where an oxygen mask is needed, please first secure the mask to your own mouth before placing it on any of your children,” I thought it seemed selfish. Hey this is Debbie Griffith with Everyday Matters. I’d risk my life for my children so shouldn’t I help them first? But here’s the point; if I really want to help my children survive then I first better get my own mask on so I can think more clearly to save both our lives.

Raising kids is not for wimps. I’m not a wimp. If you’re a parent, you aren’t either. We need to dive into the Bible and follow God first before expecting our kids to do the same. Proverbs 6:20 works; “Children don’t forsake the teaching of your mother,” and with that comes the jingle, “More is caught then taught.” The most effective way for our kids to trust and follow God is for them to see us following Him no matter what’s going on…everyday.