Effort = Reward

Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Recently, a friend and I were talking about doing the right thing even when you don’t see immediate results. It can be difficult to love someone and do everything you feel you are supposed to do and see no response. It can be exhausting to teach your child over and over that they shouldn’t be selfish, but realize how blessed they are, only to have them prove over and over that they still “don’t get it.” It can be frustrating to talk to someone about doing the right thing and getting right with the Lord, only to have them reject what you say. Galatians 6:9 reminds us that we are to persevere. We rely on God to help us keep on keeping on. Life can be hard, but any good thing takes effort.

• A good marriage takes effort and the effort reaps a lasting love and a deep, rich connection that can overcome anything together.
• Godly parenting is unending and sometimes painful, but the results are eternal, children who are lead to Christ, who learn to love and respect God and are a blessing to others.
• Going to church and Sunday school takes effort and sacrifice. We may be tired from a long week or have other things we need to do. But the result is growing in God, developing relationships with other Christians and being a part of something that is bigger than ourselves.
• Being diligent in service to God takes a commitment. It takes time, effort and sometimes tears. But the result is God’s blessing and a feeling of peace, knowing that you are being obedient. And it could mean eternity to someone else.
• Spending time in God’s word and in prayer takes sacrifice. We sacrifice our own fleshly desires in order to draw closer to God. The result is a close, personal relationship with God and a fulfilled life of joy and peace.

Proverbs 13:1 says, “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” We may not always see immediate results, but we should never give up!

What a Day That Will Be

This past Sunday was Homecoming at our church.  Ty Ty Baptist Church celebrated one hundred and twenty eight years.  Wow!  What an accomplishment!  God has truly blessed our church through the years.  I love Homecoming: all the people, the joyful atmosphere, the singing, and the food.  Our congregation sounded beautiful singing together with the church house full.  Of course, part of our celebration included several hymns.  One of which I cannot sing without getting misty eyed.  (Ok, sometimes downright weepy)

“What a Day That Will Be” reminds me what my whole life is about, what my faith is all about.   The chorus goes like this:

                        “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,

                          when I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace.  

                          When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised

                          land, what a day, glorious day that will be.”

I’m getting choked up right now.  It reminds me that all the chaos of this world and the struggles and pain that we face won’t matter anymore on that day when we look into Jesus’ eyes.  We scurry about this life so much, running here and there.  I think sometimes we lose sight of the prize.  My entire belief system, my faith in Jesus, will come to completion on the day when I step into his physical presence.  That’s what it’s all about!

I saw others in church wiping their eyes during that song as well.  Honestly, I don’t see how a born-again believer can sing those lyrics without a tugging at their heart.  That’s what we are living for!  Jesus is who we are living for!  And the day that we see his glorious face is a day that will be unlike any other, a glorious day beyond our comprehension. 

                                    

If you are not ready to see his face, GET READY.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved." Acts 16:31 Amplified Bible

Who's Watching?

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17 NLT

Have you ever wondered how you would feel if you found out that your conversations were being recorded? What if your actions were being secretly video taped? I have thought about it. It made me cringe. Would I be pleased if I had to play back the way I sounded when dealing with my children? What about a disagreement with my husband? Did I sound respectful or like a nagging wife? What about the attitude I had in Wal-Mart with two children in tow and a crowd of people around? It’s quite possible someone was watching. What about those secret conversations where we are being vindictive or making cutting remarks about someone, gossiping or complaining? Even if no-one else is watching or listening, God is.
This verse reminds us that as children of God, we are representing Christ. Always. At home with our spouse and children, at the grocery store, at a ball game, at work, on social networks…always. Our actions and our words (including how we say them) are to glorify God. I don’t know about you, but I know I have failed at this more than I would like to admit. So how do we go about achieving this instruction? We have to deliberately do it. We have to make a quality decision and a conscious effort to control our tongues and behave in a way that is pleasing to our Father. We know what pleases Him by reading His word. The New Testament, especially Ephesians, James and 1 Corinthians, is rich with scripture about how we should conduct ourselves and relate to other people. But it's not enough to read it, we have to do it. (James 1:22,23) We should dwell on developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and ask the Holy Spirit to work in us to do so. The Spirit's fruit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Galatians 5:22-23
We can’t control what other people do or what they say, but we can be good representatives of the Lord when we seek to please Him in our words and actions.  By doing so, we are being obedient to God. The second part of the verse says to give thanks to God through Jesus. Being a representative of Christ is not a burden but a privilege and an honor. Let’s make sure to thank him for that blessing.

Whatever we meditate on becomes our words and actions, so let this be our prayer:  "May the meditation of my heart and the words of my mouth be pleasing to you, oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14

For further study, see Ephesians 4:17-32.

To Die For

Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am not ready only to be bound but also to die for the name of Jesus." Acts: 21:13

There is a very slim chance that any of us reading this will ever have to die for the name of Jesus. We may be made fun of, talked about, ridiculed, fired or rejected by “friends”, but we probably won’t lose our lives. Although, there are people all over the world who are dying for their belief in Jesus.  I admire and pray them.
Look at the passion and devotion that Paul had in the passage above. What are we willing to do for the name of Jesus? How much do we love him? Are we willing to sacrifice our time? Our resources? Our attitudes and selfish desires? Are we willing to face rejection? Are we willing to let go of pride and humble ourselves before him so that he can use us? Are we ready and willing to say “yes” to whatever it is that God wants us to do? How much is too much?
Jesus left nothing undone when he finished his work here on earth. He made the ultimate sacrifice, a brutally painful and agonizing sacrifice. Do we love him enough to follow him whole-heartily like Paul did? No, we haven’t been blinded by a bright light and heard the audible voice of Jesus, but if we have accepted Jesus as Lord of our lives, we still have the same salvation that Paul does. We are no less saved than he was. God may not be calling us to carry the cross of being an international missionary like Paul. However, He still deserves everything we have and all that we are. Whatever mission field he has placed us in, we should give him our all.

3 Simple Requirements

No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
 
The Israelites wanted to know what kind of sacrifices they should make to the Lord to make up for the way they had neglected him. They suggested sacrificing thousands of goats and even their firstborn children to pay for their sins. (vs.7) However what God required of them really wasn’t a difficult thing: do what is right, love mercy and walk humbly with God. That’s a far cry from sacrificing thousands of goats or your firstborn.

Do What is Right. 
That doesn’t sound too hard right? I think most believers know what the right thing to do is. In most cases, it’s pretty cut and dry. In the instances when it isn’t so clear, we always have the Bible as our guide and the peace of God that comes through prayer. Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Colossians 3:15

Love Mercy
 Mercy is defined as compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy or another person in one’s power. The disposition to be compassionate. An act of kindness, compassion or favor. God’s mercies are new every morning. He has shown mercy toward us by giving us His son, Jesus, and through countless other ways. He requires that we show mercy to other people as well. That’s not always easy when someone has offended us or our children have disobeyed. Yet God requires it.

Walk Humbly With Your God.
There are two parts to this simple phrase. ‘Walk humbly’ and ‘with your God’. We are to allow God to be God and realize our place compared to Him. He is wiser, more powerful and completely holy all on His own. We are also to walk with him, not lagging behind, trying to get ahead of him or going our own way. Walk WITH Him, obediently, on a daily, lifelong basis.
 
These 3 simple things are what God wanted the Israelites to do. This is what he wants us to do too. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do it. Let’s put it into practice to follow these 3 simple guidelines.

Stop Complaining and Start Praising

My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Psalm 71:8

Have you ever noticed that you can’t say two things at once? Come on, try it. You can’t speak two different words or sentences simultaneously. Neither can you think two different thoughts simultaneously. You can go back and forth between different thoughts or words, but you can only think and speak one at the time.
It can be easy to complain. We can do that about pretty much anything. The reason is because we are ungrateful for the blessings we have and/or that we are spoiled and think everything has to go our own way. My kids often complain about the food I put before them. And of course, I tell them that there are many hungry children around the world who would love to eat what they are complaining about. I tell them they should be thankful for the food, even if it isn’t something that they absolutely love.

Now it isn’t just kids who complain. I’ve seen many adults who find fault with just about anything. I admit, I complain sometimes too. But if our mouths are filled with praise, as in the verse above, it can’t be filled with complaining. If we declare the Lord’s splendor all day, we have little room for grumbling and complaining. If we have a grateful heart, then praise will be on our lips, not complaints. We can choose to be thankful for God’s blessings or we can choose to complain.
I highly recommend reading, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, were captured and sentenced to work at Ravensbrook concentration camp during the horrible reign of Hitler. Even to Corrie’s surprise, her sister Betsie could find something to be thankful for in any situation. They were forced to sleep in a building far too small for the many women housed there. They slept on cots filled with straw that was contaminated with flees. Because of the flees, the guards would not go into the sleeping quarters. Betsie thanked God for the flees because it gave her a chance to share the gospel of Jesus with her roommates without fear of the guards overhearing. (If they had caught her, she and possibly all who were listening would have been killed.) Wow, that is a thankful heart! That is a mouth filled with praise!
Now, if Betsie could be thankful for flees, surely, we have something we can be thankful for. So, let’s make a decision to have a mouth filled with praise, and declare the Lord’s splendor all day long.

Trust Me

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Sometimes life can be hard to understand. There are inconveniences and then there are real problems. It’s when the real problems occur that our faith in God and our obedience to his Word are put to the test. Problems like the loss of a job with a family to feed, a marriage that is falling apart or a sickness to which medical science says there is no cure. It’s at those times, when we sometimes panic and frantically try to find solutions to our problems and how we can fix them. We pray, but we don’t always trust God to take care of it, at least not the way we want him to.

I’ve discovered that I have felt this way lately. I would probably never have admitted that I didn’t trust God, but I realize I haven’t fully put my trust in him concerning my dad. My dad has been sick with ALS for about a year and half. Over the past few months, the progression has happened rather quickly. To tell the truth, it’s scary. To see him go from a healthy, active man to being confined to a wheelchair not able to do anything for himself has been heartbreaking. My family and I along with countless others have prayed so much for him, but he has only gotten worse.

I’ve questioned God’s faithfulness. I’ve always believed God’s word is true, yet I couldn’t understand if he was faithful, why my dad was suffering so much. Why my mom, who has always loved and trusted God, has to be physically, mentally and emotionally burdened with this tremendous job of caring for my dad. I have tried to figure out where I was failing. As if it all depends on me. Was I praying wrong? Was I not praying enough? Was my faith not strong enough? Was there doubt in my prayers that God would heal him? What else could I do?

Then God spoke to my spirit, “trust me.” You see, I didn’t quite understand God’s faithfulness. His faithfulness doesn’t mean he will always come through exactly the way we want Him to. Does every disappointment we face mean that God is less faithful? Absolutely not! God will be true to his plan and his promises and he will continue to work in our lives. Now, I don’t believe for a minute that this suffering is God’s perfect plan for my dad. Even so, I felt God telling me to place my dad in his hands and stop trying to figure everything out. He reminded me that he loves my dad and my mom more than I do. Although I don’t understand, that is what faith is all about. It’s about trusting God and his word even when we don’t understand. Things don’t always make since to us, but God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Isaiah 55:9.

Even when God allows trials that seem unbearable, he remains the same, and we can still trust him. We have to make that choice. “All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.” Psalm 111:7-8.

We always need to remember that this world is not our home. God is an eternal God and his thoughts are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.”

Our troubles may not seem light to us. Sometimes they are more than we can bear. But if we put our trust in Jesus, they will pale in comparison to our final reward: a home in heaven with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Keep the Peace

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. Mathew 5:9

I am the youngest of five. My role in our family was often the role of peacekeeper. My brother and sister who are just older than I am laugh about it now. Growing up, they fought all the time. I couldn’t stand it. I always tried to get them to stop fighting and make up. It would upset me when they fought. Steve is able to ignore it when Nathan and Sophie fuss, but it drives me nuts!
I crave peace. I don’t like confrontations, and I don’t like fighting. I know some people who love to stir up trouble and only seem to be happy when they are. To me that’s so sad. It’s also against what the word of God teaches. Proverbs 6: 15-19 says that the Lord detests “a person who sows discord among brethren.” Other translations read “a person who stirs up conflict in a community or family.”
On the other hand, Psalm 34:14 says “Turn from evil and do good: seek peace and pursue it.” It is not enough just to want peace. There are two action verbs in this verse: seek and pursue. This leaves the ball in our court. We are to strive for peace. What does that look like? Don’t initiate an argument with accusations or fault finding. We should be careful with words and actions so that we don’t cause strife and anger. When we do have an argument with someone, be the first to apologize. Always be willing to talk things out. If the strife is between people you love, don't’ take sides. Use wisdom and help them find a peaceful way to resolve the conflict. If you can’t or shouldn’t get involved, (again use wisdom) pray for them. We should also ask God regularly to check our hearts and confess any sin. This will help us have inner peace as well.
Sometimes peace with a certain person may not be easy to accomplish. We can’t control the actions of another person. God knows that too. Romans 12:18 says “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” See God knows that we are going to encounter difficult people. He does not expect us to change them. That is His job. He does expect us to do our best to live at peace. That doesn’t mean that we are to sweep things under the rug or ignore sin. It means that we are to act and speak with wisdom and in love so that peace remains present in our hearts and in our relationships.
We all want peace...don't we? Be an instrument of peace. Pursue it!

Control Yourself!

So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.  1 Peter 1:13

If you have ever been in a moment of sheer frustration or emotional distress (and haven't we all), you know it can sometimes be hard to think clearly. Whether it is an argument with a spouse, a child who is disobeying or an injustice by a stranger, our emotions can get the best of us. This verse is a very wise verse. 
Think clearly. When we feel the emotions getting too intense, we need to take a moment to clear our mind. Emotions like anger, jealousy, extreme sadness or even moments of excitement can cause us to jump to conclusions, make wrong decisions and get us in a mess. When we find ourselves in situations that challenge our rational thought pattern, we must override the emotion and think clearly. Use our heads. Obey God. Our hearts can be misleading when ruled by our emotions.
Sometimes, we don’t think clearly when we have been entertaining thoughts or actions that are not godly. We allow Satan to skew the truth, and we must not entertain thoughts that are harmful to our spirits, our families and our lives. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” In other words, if it doesn’t line up with God’s Word, don’t think it.
Exercise self-control. This part of the verse is much easier to obey if we have done the first part.  When we think clearly, we are more likely to have self-control. Self control keeps us from saying and doing things we will regret. “Running off at the mouth” and saying hurtful things don’t happen when we practice self-control. Giving in to temptation and falling prey to sin doesn’t happen when we think clearly and exercise self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. If we have been saved, then we have self-control. We just have to learn to use it. This verse is all about using wisdom. Proverbs 12:16 says, “A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.” 12:18 says, “Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.” 13:16 “Wise people think before they act; fools don’t.” 14:16 “The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.” There are many other verses that connect this verse with wisdom. So let’s use wisdom. Let’s think clearly and exercise self-control.

It's a Daily Walk, Not a Sunday Talk

My Aunt Bertha was my hero of the faith.  She exuded joy and had an evident love for her savior, Jesus Christ.  She never tired of encouraging others with the word of God.  One of the statements I remember her saying often has stuck with me through the years. Speaking of the Christian life and the faith and commitment it takes to follow Jesus Christ, she would say, "It's a daily walk, not a Sunday talk."  Thus, the title of this blog.  ("A Daily Walk" was taken!)  The last time we carried on a normal conversation was on Thanksgiving a month before she died.  Although she was not well, she was the one encouraging me.  This time it was about writing.  She had just read an article I had written, and she wanted to make sure I would continue writing.  She wanted me to write a book, but for now, maybe this blog will do.