Everyday Matters by Debbie Griffith

10/29/2021

Jesus Waits for You

Friday Matters-October 29, 2021
Everyday Come and Drink

“Where are you looking to satisfy your deepest desires and longings?” John 4 tells of the women at the well with whom Jesus spoke. She had been married five times and was living with a man who was not her husband, yet Jesus doesn't give her a lecture on immorality. He spoke to her about her thirst. Someone shared this quote referring to John 7; "Christ enters the ‘Tuckered Towns’ of the world, stands at the intersection of ‘Worn-Out Avenue’ and ‘Done-In Street’ and compels, ‘If you are thirsty, come to Me! If you believe in Me, come and drink!’ For the scriptures declare that rivers of living waters will flow out from within."

Only Jesus can satisfy that ache in your heart. If you're eating the junk food of the self-centered life, you'll never be satisfied. God is in the filling business, and He wants to satisfy your deepest desires. He can fill your emptiness. Look to Him. He will bring you fulfillment and hope…everyday.

10/28/2021

Hope in Dark Places

Thursday Matters- October 28, 2021
Everyday Through Deep Waters

“I honestly don’t think I can make it through another day. I just don’t.” Ever feel like that? So the storm in your life is of hurricane proportions because maybe its finances, or failed marriage. You FEEL overwhelmed, like you might drown. Perhaps you have a burning pain in your heart because your child is addicted to drugs or maybe it’s an aging parent who can’t remember who you are. You may FEEL consumed by these fiery trials. Your feelings are valid. BUT the truth is you'll come through. He sees. He knows. He cares.

He speaks a promise from Isaiah 43:2, "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." And perhaps what you’re going through is not about breaking you but about the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for. God often uses bad things for a later good…everyday.

10/27/2021

Faith is not a Feeling

Wednesday Matters- October 27, 2021
Everyday The Ark of Faith

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. Okay 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.

10/26/2021

Forward in Faith

Tuesday Matters- October 26, 2021
Everyday Step in Faith

It was flood season when Joshua told the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant and cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. And because of their faith they trusted God, stepped in and stood right in the middle of the river. We read in Joshua 3:17 that; “All Israel passed through until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

I know I would’ve first wanted to test the water with my big toe to see some evidence of God’s promise. I would’ve wanted to see the water go down before I stepped into the middle of the river. But often God provides no solution to my problems until I trust Him and move ahead with what I know I should do. Sometimes God wants me to step forward into the unknown because it’s an opportunity for me to know Him better and trust Him with my faith and not my feelings...everyday.

10/25/2021

Peace of God in LIFE

Monday Matters-October 25, 2021
Everyday Flood of Peace

Do you feel as if you’re drowning? Maybe it’s literal in the fact that the city you live in is flooding due to a storm. What do you do? You try and move to solid and higher ground to keep from drowning…right? And there you move with the love and help of God through others, so you’re not swept away by the water. Well, the same is true for holding unto the peace God gives us and promises in John 14:27, “Peace I give you. Don’t be afraid.” “But it’s flooding,” you cry out. He knows. He’s there.

God has peace to give no matter what difficult things flood your life. But we must choose to receive His peace and then practically speaking MOVE so He can move. Remember…He knows. He’s there. Sometimes I have to say aloud; “God I choose to receive the peace you give and not this fear I feel.” God is not surprised in what’s happening. He is always on the move. He is there for you…everyday.

10/22/2021

Jesus Waits for You

Friday Matters-October 22, 2021
Everyday Waiting at the Well

Are you waiting for your child to return, for the reconciliation of one has gone a wrong direction? It’s so hard. I heard from a woman who wrote, “It’s hard to see what the purpose is in my son being estranged from his loving Christian family and the many prayers for our reunion, but it never comes.”

THAT is so hard. Jesus often asks us to wait at the well for those we love just as He did with the Samaritan woman whose sin was adultery. Jesus didn’t tell the woman she was a sinner only that He knew. He let her eyes be opened as she knew Him more. Silence allows a person to reveal it to themselves and lets us still be accessible when their eyes are opened. He wants to meet us where we’re at and fill the void of thirst. Romans 8:1, “There’s no condemnation with Jesus” but we sure do a good job of it. Go to the well and wait Jesus is there too…everyday.

10/21/2021

Your Friend Jesus

Thursday Matters- October 21, 2021
Everyday Dead Body Friend

I have a dead body friend. You know… a friend you can call at 2:00am and say, “I’ve got a dead body at my house. Come help me.” And that person will come over and help you-no questions asked.

It’s great to have friends who encourage and help us carry our burdens through difficult times and it’s especially great to have at least one “dead body friend.” How interesting to understand the Greek translation when living out Galatians 6:2, “When someone is burdened by worries and difficult circumstances that are too much for one person to carry all alone, crawl up under that burden and help carry it.” The point Paul is making to the Galatians here is this; when someone is under a crushing weight and under pressure like they’re gonna break, reach out and help them. Help them carry it. They need your help not necessarily your words or another scripture verse. When we do help someone with their load, we’re actually following the rest of the verse by obeying the law of Christ…everyday.

10/20/2021

Jesus Love Me

Wednesday Matters- October 20, 2021
Everyday All of Us LOVED

Isn’t it easy to sit back and find the faults of everyone else and build excuses about our own junk that we need to clean up? But we are all sinners, and we all need help which is why our first step toward reconciliation is to confess our sins, receive God’s grace and walk forward in a restored relationship with our Creator.

We cannot do anything to merit grace, and yet we look at someone like Mother Teresa and think surely, she entered heaven because of what she did. If we emulate her sacrificial love in some small fashion, we are lulled into a false sense of security that persuades us that we have no need of repentance today. When the little saint humbly confessed her brokenness and her desperate need for God, either we were uncomprehending, or we secretly suspected her of false modesty. Yet she got it, and by the love she received, she gave in great amounts to others. Serve up love to the one God puts in front of you…everyday.

10/19/2021

Freedom in Christ

Tuesday Matters- October 19, 2021
Everyday Fun and Freedom

Do you wanna have fun? I think most of us do especially when the earth experience is hard. It’s not just the girls who wanna have fun. There are events or responsibilities that we all have that aren’t always pleasant so try to find the fun wherever you are. I kinda have this motto that works, “If it’s not fun, I’m done.” I mean this not as a two year old throwing a tantrum but as an adult who can try to find a person or moment to connect to and discover the lesson, the blessing, THE FUN. God hasn’t called us to hand out a rulebook or a list of “you should” and “you should nots.” God calls us to love others right where there’s at just as He does with us.

It’s only by God’s Holy Spirit in us that we can deny the flesh of our own way. Lean into God’s love. Love set us free and draws others to us. Aren’t you ready to be free and have fun?

10/18/2021

God Welcomes All

Monday Matters-October 18, 2021
Everyday Welcome at the Table

Come sit down. Let me hear your story, your heart. All of your feelings are valid and you are welcome at my table. We all too are welcome at God’s table because we’re all His children. He will never reject or withdraw His love from us, but He does reject sin. Sin is not welcome at the table. It’s taken me years to really grasp that God fully knows me and yet He fully loves me, completely, just as am. What God doesn’t love is sin because it’s a barrier to us having a relationship with Him. Sin wins unless pardoned.

Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross to pay the full price for our sin. His resurrection proves He succeeded. Come and sit, invite others to sit with you. Through God’s love He will show Himself with all we need to be filled…everyday.