In the Time of the Lattereign

I used to believe that I would never be good enough, smart enough, or talented enough to fulfill God’s will in my life. The Lord would put dreams into my mind, and instead of embracing the dream, I would deliberate with God, and remind him of a bazillion reasons why I was inadequate to do what he was asking me to do. After hearing my rant, the Lord would remind me from his word, a scripture in Isaiah 43:1-2,

“I have called you by name–you are mine. When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you, your troubles will not overwhelm you.”

Then, all the excuses I had given for not being able to fulfill God’s will in my life, would crumble at his feet. Think about it; the Lord bought our salvation, and he offers us eternal life, and in the meantime as we move forward in his will, he promises to be with us.

If there ever was a time that we need to look to the hills for help, it is in this day. I can remember too many times when I charged ahead being my own independent self, with all good intentions of not ‘needing’ anyone to help, only to find that the situation was too complicated for me to handle. Before all was resolved, I usually ended up crying out to the only one who would possibly listen, Jesus Christ. After Jesus stepped in on the scene, mountains were moved on my behalf.

When I was a baby saint, I sure did get many bruises and skinned knees, because I made so many mistakes. It is a learning process. What separates a baby Christian from a mature Christian is the level of commitment. It matters how I conduct myself both inside of the church walls, and outside. We represent the name of Jesus Christ. God forbid, that something that I did caused someone new in their walk with the Lord, to question and possibly fall.

I’m not in this lifestyle just because I didn’t have anything else to do this weekend. I pray that I never base my worship on what the weather is doing outside, or whether I feel like it or not. I’m so thankful that the Lord never acquired that lackadaisical attitude when deciding whether or not to go to Calvary.

Why did he die for me? Because he loves me. Does he ask too much that I live for him?

I Will Lift up Mine Eyes Unto the Hills

I am thankful today because of freedom. It’s not to be taken lightly, rather it is to be cherished, because so many people sacrificed so much, even their lives, just so we could celebrate our independence. What is concerning to me are the ones who see this day just as a holiday. I wonder if they even know what their elders went through just to give them the opportunity to have this blissful ignorance, for the sake of “worshiping the sun god,” as if going to the beach can even compare to lives lost for their right to go.

We still live in a free country, as of today, but for how long will we have liberty to worship freely, without government intervention? So, maybe I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know the one true living God, and he is the one I can trust with my life.

The time is running short; however, Jesus holds time in his hand, and we still have time to do something of value. Granted there will come a day when it will be the last second before, but no one knows the time or the hour that the Lord will return, so we must pray until, we must give, until; we must praise him, until; we must worship him, until; we must not lose our focus and hope which is eternal life.

We could let fear dictate our choices in life, but the Lord says that we can have peace in him, he has overcome the world.

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

It is Well With My Soul

We can’t always be on call, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Even Jesus rested on the seventh day. When the crowds pressed in on him relentlessly, you got it, he checked out for a while and spent time in prayer. I used to have a Big Ben clock. It was the kind that you had to wind up ever so often in order for it to work. It was loud enough and obnoxious enough that I was never late for anything when I set it.

Apparently, I had set the alarm to go off out of habit, only on this particular day, I didn’t need to be anywhere. Everything was going well, until the alarm blared in my ear. Then, half asleep, I reached over, turned it off and threw it. Now, I’m not advocating that we should all throw our alarm clocks away, but sometimes, there are more pressing matters to attend to, and we would be wise to pay attention to the things that truly matter.

There’s nothing wrong with being punctual to all events, but in our punctuality, let’s don’t forget that sometimes you may need to push aside the alarm clocks that demand your attention, shut out all of the voices that try to infect you with confusion and doubt, and learn to just be quiet.

When was the last time that you took the time to breathe in fresh air? I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I have actually took a break from busyness to just sit on the back screened in porch and listen to the Lord trying to talk to me. Usually, I am so caught up in accomplishing this and that item on my to do or else face the consequences list, that I am just about as wound up as the Big Ben that I threw across the room, so many years ago.

Oh, and by the way, I didn’t destroy the clock, it gave me many more years of service, which reminds me, that even though I do need to take the time to regroup, I also need to remember that to win in this race, I do have to be committed to get back in the race and run. For this to be accomplished, I must trust in the Lord. I can have confidence in his promise to me, but it requires that I will have a measure of faith to believe God.

The world events may seem to spiral out of control, at times, but always remember that God has the ultimate control over our circumstances, and if we learn to keep temporal situations in perspective, then the Lord will step into our lives, and change our future to one filled with a peace that passes all understanding.

In Quietness and Confidence

Daddy

When I was eight, Daddy told me that one day I’d write a book about him, and be a teacher. I didn’t really pay much attention to his words of wisdom at the time, because he had a bottle of wine in his hand; but I never forgot those words, and over the years they sustained me as I found my way through the road called life.

Today, I want to remember Daddy for being a gentle, sensitive, man who did the best that he could, and who always kept his word. Thank you, Daddy, for planting a seed of the written word in me.

7 Life Lessons Daddy taught me:

1. Always be on time.

Being late was not an option at our house. Daddy used to tell us that if we couldn’t show up on time that we were being disrespectful. The last thing I wanted to do was to disrespect.

2. Make lemonade out of lemons.

I know it sounds cliche’, but there’s truth in his words. We can’t control our circumstances any more than we can control the weather; but we do have an option to sweeten the sour times in our lives with a little sugar; or to take out the umbrella in the downpour. If we don’t have an umbrella: dance in the rain, because there is always somebody else that has it worse than you do.

3. You are stronger than you think you are, and you must stand even when you feel like giving up.

Quitting is not an option. You can be a tired fighter, but never be a quitter. If you quit, you will regret your choices for the rest of your life. So, don’t quit. Regroup, and get back in the race.

4. Give more than you feel that you are able to give, of your time, talents, finances.

Little giving reaps little. If you are going to invest time and energy into doing something, do your best work. Not only will others feel that you care about their needs, but you will feel peace that you honor Christ by honoring others.

5. How to bait a fish hook.

For a long time, I felt so badly for the poor little worms who gave up their lives, unwillingly, so that I could eat fish. Sigh.I understand now that it was their purpose in life.

6. Find something to be passionate about, and pursue it.

For me, it was writing; but since writing was something I did for fun, life got in the way and kept me from it for decades. I remembered daddy had taught me #3, I kept coming back to writing; and it never left me, even when I was busy working at other careers. I always knew that what I was supposed to be doing was writing.

7. And finally, Daddy taught me to find happiness.

It didn’t matter what others might be doing or saying; if I could be honest with myself, I would live a good life, fulfilling my dreams. He used to tell me to always treat others the way I wanted to be treated. He said, “If you are honest, you won’t need to remember the truth, because it will be inside of you.”

I was blessed beyond measure to be in the family that God chose for me. This week’s Lattereign  gives guidance to the men in our lives, on how to live godly.

A Message to Men

Thank you Daddy  for the lessons that you taught me about living well.

Your Daughter,

Grace

(Reprinted because the lessons live on, although Daddy is just a vivid memory.)

But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40-31).

Let’s face it, we all get impatient when life seems to stand still. Think about the next time that you’re running late and at a stoplight. You mentally pace back and forth, looking at your watch and the bold red light that is glaring at you. As always seems to happen, every other direction of cars is allowed to move forward, so you wait, impatiently looking to see if there’s enough room between the curb and your next alley to beat the traffic light. You’ll go through every parking lot known to man if it will shave off even 10 seconds from your trip. But it never fails, by the time you have dodged all of the parking lot speeders, you meet yet another stop light with someone in front of you trying to turn left, instead of right, so, you guessed it, you wait.

After the original line of cars that you tried to get around, goes through, you are finally on your way, only to be stopped by a train, or a detour, or whatever else that stops you from making any progress, to reach your destination. Net gain in time, minus two minutes and an out of control stress level.

We spend so much time rushing to get to our future destination, that we don’t even realize what a wonderful place we are in at this moment in time. It’s time to slow down and enjoy the journey. The journey may not always be pleasant, and certainly not without tears shed; however, every journey if carefully considered will reap fresh insights into the direction that the Lord is leading us through in the next step we will take. Each time we focus on our present, we gain strength to face an uncertain future.

I wish to have no regrets at the end of my journey. You’ve heard the saying to “Stop and smell the roses,” well, I believe we need to stop more often than just to smell the roses; we need to also stop to recognize our family that we often take for granted that they’ll always be there. It doesn’t hurt to plan for the future, but let’s not get so tangled up in worrying over the future, that we fail to make provision for the present. We are living in the present tense. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, today.

Waiting on God is Always worth it

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble” (Psalm 9:10-12).  

Sometimes, I forget to lift my voice, my mouth filled with praise; Sometimes, I forget to worship, my hands to Him to raise. When others are troubled, I may keep silent, though I have the solution; Sometimes while others are searching, I hide in my temple.

I am weakened by the strain of despair that surrounds me. I am blinded by my own faults that hinder complete surrender to your will. I wait for something earth shattering before I feel a need to pray. I wait for Him, to move all the pain, tears, obstacles, thorns, hardships, mountains, doubts, and fears that consume my thoughts; I wait, never taking the time to pray, never asking Him.

When my spirit is broken, he promises to restore me How could I forget my neighbor who is lost and searching? Remind me to keep pressing towards the mark, to keep going. When all the walls reach above me, May your presence dwell within me. In the night, when darkness falls; don’t let me forget your name to call. May I never get too high, too holy, too busy, May I never reach a place of apathetic satisfaction. Help me, Lord, to continue on to find you; Don’t let me turn away from truth and don’t let me lose you.

Help me share with others your light. Teach me to carry truth even in the midst of night. Wake me up, Lord, to see your glory! On the day you rode through the city the palms were a blanket at your feet; As you passed by, did you see the palms, Lord, or the cross that you must meet?

Help me to remember your love for me, and the price you paid at Calvary.

Under the Shadow of the Almighty

The bible tells us that we do have a choice of whether we are going to serve the Lord, or not. Choices in our lives brings consequences, and when we do have to make decisions that will have an impact on our future, it is important to spend time in prayer before we decide the path the Lord would want us to take. With that in mind, why is it that people make choices that would cause them to have anxiety?

No one can make you have a bad day. You wake up in the morning and within that short time frame before you get up, you predict what kind of day you are going to have.

If you know that you have something unpleasant scheduled on your agenda, you might say that you are going to have a rough day; instead, wouldn’t it be easier to pray that you will see the good in every day?

It’s about changing a mindset on negative, and turning it into a positive. Take a good look at the blessings you have, rather than the ones that haven’t come to pass, yet. In all things give thanks. Granted, that is easier said than done.

It’s time for us to reflect on what is right in our lives. We have salvation; we trust a God who loves us unconditionally, and we have his promise, to never leave us nor forsake us.

What more can we ask?

 Today is a good Day to have a Good Day

I have been on a quest to reduce the physical clutter in my life so that I can focus on the more important things in my life. It’s easier said, than done. Why is it that as a society we get trapped in things? For most of my life, things have dominated; I’m afraid. It’s almost like it’s a security blanket to be surrounded by things. Yet, those very things cause anxiety, as we try to organize them into something manageable. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me, until recently, that I didn’t have to keep every item that I have collected for half a century. We all have those items that really aren’t thought about; they take up space that could be cleared so that we could have more room. It is a slow process to dig deeply into the recesses of our very existence, to release the past regrets and burdens, and feel confident that we can breathe new life into our present by learning to treasure a less complicated lifestyle. The only way that can be accomplished is through Jesus Christ. Sometimes we have to shut out the distractions of clutter, both mental and physical clutter, to allow the Lord to work and reign in our lives. It’s time that I remember to nurture the spiritual part if my life. My relationship with Jesus Christ should be at the top of my priority list.

Live With Simplicity

Today, we celebrate mothers. My mother was an amazing person, who had a gentle spirit. She was soft-spoken, unless someone dared go after one of her children, and everyone who knew her, always left her presence in a better way than when they came. When confronted with a decision, she always said that she would pray about it, first, instead of making a wrong choice.

When we were teenagers, making our own mistakes along the way, we could go to her and not be judged, yet, she always knew the best way to help us see the path that we were taking would lead to consequences that were undesirable. Everyone loved her. All of our ex boyfriends, or girlfriends, may have abandoned a relationship with us, but they never missed stopping by for a cup of coffee, and words of wisdom from our mother.

It was the simple joys of life that characterized my mother’s philosophy, to not miss the moments we are given by worrying about a future that should be placed firmly in the hands of the master. What was simple joy for my mother? Time spent with family.

One of my favorite pictures of Mama is the one where she is playing with one of her grandchildren sitting beside the house in the shade. She always wore an apron. For me, seeing this picture reminds me to not let the world pass me by, while I struggle to make a living, or a name for myself, professionally. She knew that the most important things are not things; they are precious moments. What could be more rewarding than hearing laughter?

I will always remember her faith through difficult seasons of life. I never heard her complain about her circumstances, but I did hear her speak words of faith in the midst of them. She carried her burdens to the Lord and left them there, because there’s no time for dealing with them when it wasn’t time for the Lord to intervene. She chose to focus on the present, and even though she had no control over her circumstances, you could depend on her ability to keep a song in her heart, until such time as the Lord chose to intervene.

I want to say, thank you mother, for being a godly example for us to learn how to live for the Lord.

Mother’s day