Invitation to Surrender

                                                  

 

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11: 28-30 NKJV

 

“You are surrounded! Come out with your hands up! Surrender now!” The police officer speaks with a stern voice. Multiple officers stand with guns pointed. The man opens the door. He is handcuffed and taken to jail. A common ending to many popular crime shows.

 

Jesus calls us to surrender our lives to Him. So often we resist. I wonder if we imagine God to be like the police officer in the tv show, stern and angry, eager to take us away to a life of misery.

 

Yes, God is asking us to surrender, but that is where the similarity ends. The One who calls us is the Holy God, the Creator, the King, the Lord. He has the authority to call us. He has the right to rule our lives.  He also is the God who loves us more than we could possibly imagine. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

 

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus invites the weary and the heavy laden to come to Him. He describes Himself as “gentle and lowly in heart”. With a kind, gentle voice, He calls us to surrender our lives to Him. His intention is not to give us a life of misery. Instead, He offers a life of peace and joy and “rest for your souls”. What do we do with an invitation like that? We come to Jesus. We simply come.

 

 

 

 

New Every Morning

                                                          New Every Morning

 

Psalm 113:3 “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”

 

The air is still. The sky is dark. Light emerges. Pinks and purples and blues. A beautiful painting in the sky. Different every day. Breathtaking always. Uniquely designed by a magnificent Creator.

 

The sunrise ushers in a new day. A new beginning. A fresh start. A reminder of God’s love. Of His faithfulness and His majesty. A reminder that our God is still on His throne.

 

A sunrise is God’s gift to everyone. The sun rises in the city as well as in the country. The woman in the tiny apartment watches the sun rise from her window. The millionaire watches it from his mansion. The athlete training for a marathon sees the sun rise during his morning run. The patient in the hospital room looks out the window at the brilliant colors. The sun rises for the youngest child and for the oldest man. God’s sunrise is a reminder of God’s love for every person everywhere.

 

Life is uncertain. None of us knows what a new day holds. Or a new week or a new year. Circumstances can change in a heartbeat. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes for the worse. Change is inevitable.  But God never changes. He is always faithful. He always keeps His promises. He is always good. Always wise. Always in control. His love never fails. 

 

Wherever life takes us, the sun will rise every morning. Every sunrise will bring a new beginning. A fresh start. A reminder of God’s love. As the sun rises each morning, may we our hearts sing praises to our God.

 

 

 

Cry Out

                                                                 

 

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.” Psalm 107: 6,13,19,18

 

“Shh! Did you hear something?” The rescuers leaned forward and heard the quiet cry.  They  began to remove the rubble a little at a time. Finally, the small boy was pulled out and carried away on a stretcher.  Shouts of joy erupted! With all the devastation which followed the Turkey earthquake, it was good to have a reason to rejoice.

 

While the boy was under the rubble, he could not move. There was only one thing he could do. He cried out. And that helpless cry was the very thing that led to his rescue. 

 

Hopefully, none of us will ever experience a severe earthquake. But life does include problems, both big and small. Sometimes we feel stuck and cannot get out from under our problems. What do we do? There’s only one thing we can do. We cry out! 

 

In Psalm 107, the psalmist describes events of hunger, thirst, darkness, affliction, deadly storms. All hopeless situations. What did the people do?  “They cried out to the Lord in their trouble.”  And what did the Lord do? “He delivered them out of their distresses.”  The same verse is written word for word in 4 places in the psalm.  The 4 situations varied, but the solution was the same. They cried out to the Lord, and He rescued them.

 

For most of us, crying out to the Lord is not our first response. Instead, we struggle to handle problems on our own. We struggle and struggle and struggle some more. Finally, we are at our wits’ end. Then, we cry out to the Lord. God always hears our cry. He always delivers us. He never fails us. He never forsakes us. It is never too late to cry out to the Lord. But wouldn’t life be easier if we just cried out to Him in the beginning?

 

 

2023 Word of the Year

 

                                                             

 

“Do not fear, for I am with you.” Isaiah 41:10a (NKJV)

 

What does it mean to be “with” someone? According to the dictionary, “with” means  “accompanied by another person or thing.” In Isaiah, the Lord tells us not to fear. Fear is not necessary because the Lord Himself promises to go with us every moment of every day. 

 

As someone who is naturally fearful, I notice Scriptures which say “fear not”. These words are generally followed by the phrase “for I am with you”.

 

For the past few years, I have chosen a word of the year and a Bible verse of the year. I have  placed a copy of the word and the verse on my bathroom mirror so that I read them several times a day. This practice has been spiritually enriching.

 

For 2023, “With” is my word of the year. My verse is Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you.” As a new year begins, I want to remember each day that God is with me. I pray that my walk with the Lord will grow deeper throughout the year 2023. 

 

Let me challenge you, my readers, to also choose a word and a verse for 2023.  If you do, I would love for you to tell me what your word and verse are.  May God richly bless you in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

Lights

                                                                      

 

The calendar turns to December. Days are shorter. Darkness is longer. Suddenly, lights fill the darkness! White lights, colorful lights, blinking lights!  Beautiful lights transform dark December evenings. Christmas is approaching.  Lights play a prominent role in our Christmas celebration.

 

But, what do Christmas lights have to do with the Nativity, the birth of Christ? Quite a lot, actually. It was the bright star in the east that led the wise men to find the newborn King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2,9). After the baby was circumcised, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to be presented to the Lord.  At the Temple, Simeon looked at the Baby and declared Him to be: “A light to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”(Luke 2:32). When this Baby grew into a Man, He proclaimed: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

 

What is the purpose of “light”? Light shows us where danger is, so that we don’t stumble and fall. Light gives us direction, so that we don’t wander aimlessly. Light reveals hidden dirt and cobwebs in a dark room.

 

 When Jesus shines His light into our hearts, the dirt and cobwebs of our lives are exposed. Seeing sin in our hearts would bring despair except for one amazing fact. This same Baby in the manger grew up to become a Man who died on the cross in our place. When we turn to Him, we receive forgiveness. As we live our lives, His light shines on our pathway. Joy comes as we follow Him step by step though life.

 

So, every time we see Christmas lights this year, let us remember the Babe in the manger who grew up to be the Savior on the cross. May His light shine upon us and lead us step by step. Christmas Blessings to all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who’s Following Me?

                                                            

 

“I think someone is following me.” The woman speaks these words into her cell phone. Scary music begins. Footsteps are heard. The murder takes place. The remainder of the show focuses on the detectives solving the crime.

 

I love watching fictional detective shows. But the idea of having someone actually follow me is frightening!

 

Did you know that the Bible says that we are being followed today? And not only today but  every day.  Psalm 23:16 states: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”.

 

God is with us every day. God is good, and He is merciful.  His goodness and mercy always follow us.

 

In many of the detective shows, work is done in pairs. When one detective is about to enter a  dangerous situation, the other says “I’ve got your back.” The second partner is alert and ready to step in at any moment.

 

As we walk through life, we face uncertain situations. When we face the unknown, we have a Partner who whispers “I’ve got your back”.  God is with us. He is alert and ready to help at any moment. 

 

Thank you, Lord, that that You always “have my back”. Thank You that Your goodness and your mercy are following me today and every day.

 

 

Broken People

                                                                   

 

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. But rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”  Romans 12: 3 (NIV)

 

“Oh no! Oh no! What happened?” The cashier at Aldi’s sounded alarmed as she shouted in a voice loud enough to attract the attention of all the shoppers in the front of the store. And she was looking directly at me!  Did I make a mistake loading my groceries on the conveyor belt? Did I knock something over?  For a brief moment I forgot that I had a black eye. And that my black eye was colorful enough to rival that of a prize fighter!

 

No, I had not gotten into a fight. My story is less dramatic. I wasn’t paying attention,

stubbed my toe on a tiny curb, and fell forward. By God’s grace, I was not seriously injured. The worst of my injuries was a bump on my forehead which quickly became bruised. Since I have bangs, the bruise wasn’t  noticeable. It is a little embarrassing to trip and fall. I considered not telling anyone about it. That plan was doomed for failure! A few days later, the bruising on my forehead traveled downward, leaving me with a black eye that was impossible to hide. With my fair skin, I knew that my black eye would remain for weeks and weeks. At that moment, I had two choices: I could hide in my house and shut the door for 4 or 5 weeks…or I could swallow my pride and tell everyone about my fall.

 

And so began a season of my life where I (an introvert who doesn’t like to call attention to herself) became the center of attention everywhere I went. The people who asked about my eye, friends and strangers alike, were compassionate and genuinely concerned about me. And I heard story after story after story about how that person or a family members fell. Falling flat on your face appears to be much more common than I had previously thought! Indeed, as humans, we are all prone to stumble.

 

Stumbling and falling is true spiritually as well as physically. A popular contemporary Christian song by Danny Gokey and Koran Hawthorne says: “We’re all broken people. We all need Jesus.” That is true for salvation, and it is also true for our day to day struggles. No one is perfect.  So, why do we so often pretend to “have our act together”? 

 

After the black eye emerged, I was forced to swallow my pride and tell people about my fall. I was met with kind, encouraging words. It was good to commiserate with others who had similar experiences.

 

Likewise, whenever I have humbled myself and shared an inner struggle with a trusted friend, I have been met with kindness and encouragement. Frequently, that person had a similar experience to share. Most importantly, my friend now knew how to pray for me.  

 

As Romans 12:3 says, we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Indeed, we are all “broken people.” We all need Jesus, and we all need one another.