They Have Stunkers

“Oh!! Mrs. Tracey, we are talking about bees.” And with a bit of pride three year old Marion says, “But don’t touch them, they have stunkers. If you touch them you could get stunk.”

While this childlike blooper brought a moment of comic relief, it did not interfere with our continued conversation about bees. I knew exactly what she meant.

And so it is with God. We don’t have to be perfect, and our conversations with God don’t have to be flawless. He isn’t looking for perfection and correctness. As a matter of fact, we learn from Mathew 18:3 that He wants us to come to Him like a child.

Before children learn to speak, they babble with confidence. They do so boldly; and frankly they are uninhibited by their circumstances or the adults around them. We’ve all heard a baby verbalize during the quietest moments of a church service; much to the chagrin of their mortified parents. Babies don’t care what they sound like. They don’t care when or where they sound off; and they certainly aren’t concerned if anyone around them even comprehends their unintelligible communication. But what they do know; what they are certain of; is that their loving mom or dad WILL respond. They will know what their child needs.

You may feel like your prayers don’t make sense, or that they’re hard to understand. You may not know big words, or have a fancy praying voice. You may even think it’s pointless for you to talk to God. Rest assured, our blunders will not hinder Him from knowing our hearts.

Let us be confident like these little babies and cry out with boldness to our loving Father! No matter what your level of communication is with God: He is listening, and He knows exactly what you mean. More importantly, He will respond!

Related Scriptures:
I Samuel 16:7
Hebrews 4:16
Psalm 17:6, 18:6, 66:19

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Your Daily Bread-They Have Stunkers

Don’t Reject What God Has Chosen

We are chosen by God before our life begins. We are chosen by God before we’ve lived long enough to make bad choices and battle regrets. We are chosen by God before others have sized us up, and passed judgment. We are chosen by God before WE assess ourselves, and determine that we are unworthy. He makes us worthy, yet we can live life rejecting His plan, His blessings and His grace for us because we feel undeserving and inadequate.

God chose Moses at his birth to deliver His people out of captivity. God ensured his safety during a time when he should have been killed at birth. God prepared Moses in the ways of Egyptian culture, and later equipped him as a shepherd. Decades of preparation left Moses with the perfect resume. God chose him, prepared him and called him when it was time: yet Moses rejected himself for the job. Moses even tried to talk God out of His own plans with a long list of excuses. I’m not putting Moses down: many of us are guilty of the same thing.

We too are chosen by God. And just like Moses, God began equipping and preparing us. God chose us fully aware of our human/sinful nature, and provided a way of escape so that we can fully walk in His plan. We aren’t chosen based on merit, we are chosen based on His love for us.

Meet David. He was chosen by God to be King over Israel, but was rejected by everyone else: even his own family. This is why we must not doubt that we have been chosen by God: man will not always approve of our Christianity. And sadly, fellow Christians may reject the calling you have on your life. But God is equipping us!! He is empowering us!!

Jeremiah 29:11 has been quoted to a point that people tend to gloss over this scripture, listening half-heartedly. It seems too good to be true that the Creator of this universe would call ME; would choose ME; would know MY name and the number of hairs on MY head; and would actually plan my life to be full of joy and good things!! But it’s true; all of it. He is able to fulfill His Word, and His Word says that you and I are chosen, and He has good plans for us.

I Peter 2:9 NIRV “But God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

We are His treasure; His created ones; His chosen ones. Just like Moses and David, we must accept His plan for our lives, and trust that He is fully capable to complete that which He has started in us. Accept that He wants to use us in spite of our faults; our shortcomings; our continued spiritual struggles; and our imperfections. Accept that we are chosen by Him even if others reject us.

Do not limit God by rejecting what HE has chosen. He has chosen YOU.

Related Scripture:
I Peter 2:9
Jeremiah 29:11
Luke 12:7
Exodus 3, 4

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Your Daily Bread-Don’t Reject What God Has Chosen 

What Hope Looks Like

My son was expressing to me how it bothers him when people shop on the internet for things they know they can’t afford. “It gets on my nerves!” he says. And then he offers, “I mean, how can you shop for something that costs $5,000 when you can’t even put $300 together?” We moved on from this conversation, and I really didn’t give it much more thought.

A few weeks later the memory of this conversation interrupted my thoughts the way a bright light pierces the darkness, and with it was this phrase: “that’s what hope looks like.”

I was instantly catapulted back in time to my own past; to a time in my life when a two dollar bargain was out of the question: literally. I was so strapped financially that over time, I stopped walking in shops because I knew there was no way I could even afford the clearance racks. At some point I stopped shopping all together. Now that’s what hopelessness looks like.

At that time in my life I had my son’s views: why shop around or look at things I knew I couldn’t purchase? I knew I would walk out empty handed, and so disappointed that I couldn’t replace worn clothing, restock my family with socks or supply them with the basics.There is a scripture that tells me, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12 NIV). I admit, I had no joy because I had lost hope.

Praise God, my situation turned around a long time ago. And while I am practical minded, I now dream one day of possessing what seems unattainable to me now. This is keeping hope alive!! “If we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25 NIV). I’ve learned to trust God to meet my needs; and I’ve learned to trust Him with the desires of my heart, my hopes and my dreams. He wants us to “hope for what we do not have.”

Hope is always looking forward to a desired outcome that has not yet occurred. Hope is looking for what seems impossible now, to later become reality. We can do this when we know “with God everything is possible” (Mark 10:27 TLB).

 

Related Scriptures:
(New International Version)
Romans 8:25
Romans 12:12
Job 11:18
2 Corinthians 3:12
Psalm 71:14
Psalm 65:2

 

Rooted Dreams

Recently I found a list I had written about eight years ago. This list laid out the desires of my heart to God, and much to my surprise the list was very “need” based. But then again, that time in my life was defined by very difficult hardships, which took its toll financially, emotionally and spiritually.

A few months ago, I signed up for the “The Ultimate Prayer Warrior” Small Groups class being held at my church. I’m so glad I did because something awakened in me, and I began to hear God speak to me like I hadn’t heard in a long while. During this time, God begin to deal with me about my ability, or should I just be honest and say it: my inability to dream.

As I reflected a bit, I realized I’ve always been realistic, practical, logical and afraid. I was afraid to hope and dream for things outside of what “I” thought was achievable or possible. I was more afraid to dream beyond the needs that had not been met yet in my life at that time. I thought I was keeping it real. I was just keeping it safe, and I was denying myself the joy that is found in dreaming.

One night during the prayer portion of Small Groups class, God began speaking to me. He told me that HE was opening the door to my dreams again. He told me that while I had faith, my fear was preventing me from taking the risk to dream.

It was a few weeks after this that I found my old list of “desires.” I began to wonder: if I write a list now, will it be different? The answer is YES! Over time, I embraced the open door, and found the joy in venturing outside the bounds of my practical mindset. I am still learning not to cap my dreams with reality. And as I dream, I am cautious not to list one need: not one!!

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19 ESV.

I know that whatever I need, God will supply. No questions asked. But my dreams and desires: what does God say about that?

“Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” Ephesians 3:20 TLB

During that challenging time in my life years ago, I was living in survival mode, and I wasn’t daring to ask beyond my needs. Dreaming was a luxury I couldn’t afford. But I’ve learned all these years later to trust that WHILE I’m dreaming, God is faithful to fulfill His promise to meet my needs. This sets me free to soar beyond the limitations of a need based mentality. In other words, dreaming should not be rooted in our circumstances. Our dreams shouldn’t be rooted at all. God is challenging me to dream again, and I’m going for it.

Don’t let reasoning and fear down size your dreams. Release your needs to God, and trust that He is true to His word: and then, open your heart and soul to the limitless dreams that God has in store for you.

Dream past your needs! Dream often! Dream Big! Dream Bigger!

Related Scriptures:
Philippians 4:13
Psalms 37:4
Ephesians 3:20
Mark 9:23 NLT

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Your Daily Bread-Rooted Dreams

Texting God

“Tell Me your ‘everyday’ kind of talk. I want to have THAT kind of conversation from you too! I want to be included,” the Lord spoke gently to my spirit immediately after I texted a friend. I had been texting back and forth with a friend, and the content of our communications was light and jovial: silly even. I smiled and chuckled out loud a time or two when reading my friend’s responses.

God wants that? I thought about that for a moment. I text people daily and often, as most of us do these days. Yet, do I reach out to God that often? And would I tell him the happy, silly moments, or do I just save the serious, heavy topics for Him?

God is interested in every aspect of our lives, and He is interested all the time.

The scripture tells us that God never leaves us or forsakes us, and to draw near unto God and He will draw near to us. This sounds like a God that is just waiting for the opportunity to engage with us as often as we desire to connect with Him. He’s all ears when it comes to us.

Some song lyrics come to mind by song writer and Worship Leader Zach Neese, “The more I seek You, the more I find You. The more I find You, the more I love You.” The more we reach out to God, the more we expand our communications with Him, the more we will love Him.

David understood this all too well because he said in Psalm 116:2, “Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” So let’s purpose to ‘text’ God daily and often, and fall more in love with our Lord: He’s ready to listen.

CLICK this link to worship to  The More I Seek You

Related Scriptures:
Psalms145:18
Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT
Hebrews 13:5
Isaiah 55:6-7
James 4:8

 

Learning My Value

We’ve all had moments at church, in ministry,  or at work where we felt our absence wouldn’t be missed. I admit that I’ve felt that way before. Maybe we felt that way because we weren’t “doing” anything anyway.  Ever thought: the show will go on because I’m not a contributor; I’m not needed; or I’m just there. Well, let me burst your bubble!!

“Your value isn’t in the doing-it’s in the learning!”

You aren’t valuable because of what you DO- You’re valuable because you are LEARNING to do what God has called you to do.

Never feel like your presence at a practice, a meeting, at work, or church is unimportant. You are learning something. You are learning from your leader, your Pastor, your boss. You are learning from the process. Learn all you can so that when the time comes, you will be seasoned and ready to DO the thing God had planned for you all along.

You’re time is coming!! Learn, prepare and be ready!! “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV

Anointing the Talent

Greater anointing is not found in increasing talents and skills, or by getting a degree to serve in ministry. These things are good, but alone they are useless and empty without the anointing.

Time in God’s Presence anoints the talent.

I’ve seen many crazy talented people use their gifts in ministry.  But it doesn’t amount to much without God’s anointing. To illustrate, think of the account in scripture when Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 with just FIVE loaves of bread and TWO fish.

WITHOUT the anointing, I’m guessing that perhaps a small group of 5-7 people could have been fed by this good meal. A meal that had been prepared for just such a purpose: to feed and nourish. But it would only go so far.

WITH the anointing, not only were more than 5,000 fed as much as they wanted, but there was enough left over to fill twelve baskets using the five loaves of bread and two fish. How did this happen?

The simple answer: time in the presence of Jesus changes everything. The complicated answer: time in the presence of Jesus changes everything.

Let me encourage you to never think what you have to offer is too small or insignificant. Whatever you do have know this: spending more time with God can amplify, multiply and intensify your skills and talents.

Related scriptures:
Mathew 14:13-21

 

Pots, Pans & Baking Dishes

When serving in any church ministry, one can feel the pressure: we want to do our best and stay on our “A” game. But how is such a thing measured? As the saying goes, we can be our own worst critic. In my opinion, this results in some harsh and potentially unreasonable expectations. A by-product of this is a little too much self-focus, and a lot less God focus. John 3:30 tells us that we must decrease so that God can increase. God gives us gifts and talents to use in His service; and practice & preparation are necessary ingredients that WE provide. But there are crucial ingredients that God must provide.

Once when I was feeling that anxious pressure in ministry, God interrupted my thoughts & asked me this question, “When you cook, do you cook all of the same meals? No, I don’t, I thought. Then He asked, “And when you cook meals, do they all taste the same?” No, they don’t. Then God made a puzzling statement to me, “Yet you continue to use the same pots, pans & baking dishes over and over and over.”

I couldn’t wait to see where God was going with this. He began to reveal that I am the pot, pan or baking dish. I am a vessel that He is using. But there is criteria for using the same pots, pans & dishes. They must be available, clean & in good repair. I thought of the thousands of meals I’ve prepared over the years in those same pots, pans and baking dishes. Now imagine various meals and variety of tastes and all came from the same vessels.

The dish does not determine the quality of the meal, but the meal cannot be created without the dish. God knew this would move my focus away from me and onto the master Chef.

Related Scriptures:
2 Timothy 2:21
Philippians 2:13

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Your Daily Bread-Pot, Pans & Baking Dishes

Praying God’s Word

Praying is essential for our daily lives. But sometimes we may find ourselves at a loss for words. Let me reassure you that our prayers do not have to fit inside a box, or be fashioned after some great prayer warrior. God already knows our hearts, so why do we try to pray in a manner  we THINK we should pray rather than just being ourselves?

The worlds were created by the Words from God’s mouth. When God speaks, things happen; things are created; situations change. All scripture is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The conclusion, when I pray scriptures from the Bible I am speaking the Word of God over my life and over my situation. That’s powerful friends.

In my reading I’ve come across a prayer in scripture that I want to share with you. It’s one I’ve been praying in recent days. I’ve paraphrased and personalized this prayer from Colossians 1:9-11 from the amplified version. I invite you to pray this prayer, and let God speak into your life today.

I pray oh Lord that You fill me with the knowledge of Your will, spiritual discernment and wisdom. I pray that I live my life in a way that is pleasing to You, and that I will continue to grow in the knowledge of God: knowing You in a deeper way. I pray to be strengthened with all power, and to live out my life with joy.

Come As a Child

I’m an analyzer and critical thinker. That can be a powerful asset, but it can also complicate things. Sometimes it can backfire, and I can think myself right out of a good thing.

I was re-reading Psalm 91, and this statement really popped out to me, “His faithful promises are our armor.” This put a new spin on putting on the armor of God: I can put on the armor of God by simply believing His promises. This thought hadn’t even landed in my mind good when another thought invaded my mind like a bull in a China shop. Immediately, I began over-thinking what God was trying to teach me. Could I reason myself right out of God’s promises too? Yes, I could. In my spirit I heard God gently say, “So, come to me as a little child.”

What exactly does this mean? It means to simply believe without thinking about it. I teach three year old children. Imagine that I tell the children I’m planning a trip to outer space to visit the moon, and I’m taking them with me. These children will not concern themselves with HOW or WHY or reconsider my offer because they don’t feel deserving. Not only would they believe me, but they would expect me to deliver the goods. Believe and expect. This is the approach we should have with God’s promises: believe & expect.

It is that simplicity of uncomplicated belief that I believe Jesus was referencing in Mathew 18:3. Children just accept what you say at face value without questioning. Yet we can rip something into shreds in two point five seconds with reasoning and doubt. Do you ever think this promise is for her but not me; or surely God doesn’t mean I can be completely healed; or I’m trying to believe but it doesn’t look like my circumstances are changing?

Well, let me tell you something else about children. They would remind me only about a billion times that I promised to take them to outer space. Jesus used a parable in Luke 11 that teaches us how to keep knocking at the door. He wants us to remind Him of His promises. Have you ever wondered why? God doesn’t forget, but it keeps our eyes focused on the prize.

God’s promises are more than a possibility. They are reality, and we can armor ourselves with His promises; believing and expecting every single one when we come to Him as a little child.
Related Scriptures:
Psalm 91 NLT
Luke 18:16-17 TLB
Luke 11:5-13 TLB
Mathew 7:7 TLB
Mathew 18:2-4

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Your Daily Bread-Come As a Child