Honest Reflections

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: Song of Solomon 7-8 GW; Ecclesiastes 1-4 GW

Wisdom brings heartache.

Not knowing isn’t the worst thing in the world. We think we want to know everything God is up to, but we don’t. None of us wants to know all that God knows; if we did, we would become overwhelmed with the amount of pain in this world.

Everyone is suffering in some way.

When I see a traffic accident on the road, my first question is, “What happened?” Immediately, I think, “I don’t want to know.” Why? Because for me to honestly “know,” I would have to experience the accident. I don’t need to know. I need to pray for whoever is involved, asking God to help them in whatever way they need.

Wisdom is lovely; we all need it. But we want God’s wisdom, not worldly wisdom. We don’t have to know every detail of someone’s car accident to minister to them. We can love them in their pain with God’s wisdom.

Weep forward.

“Ruth” by Kelly Minter is the current Bible study I am doing.  From her I learned the concept of “Weeping forward.”  Ruth left her homeland to follow God.  She wept as she followed Naomi back to Bethlehem.  But she wept forward, not backward or stagnant.  To gain the wisdom of God, she had to leave her past life behind.  Ruth wept forward.

Following God does mean leaving our past behind.  Like Ruth, we enter the promised land when we place our faith in Jesus.  Sometimes, moving forward is painful, but we must keep moving forward, even in our tears.  We can do that by remembering this life is temporary; one day, God will wipe away our tears, He’ll make the former things pass away (Revelation 21:4 GW).

Weep forward today.  Whatever pain you’re experiencing, let God wipe your tears.  Trust that God’s plan is best, even if you don’t know what it is.  Not knowing isn’t always bad.

Lord, thank You for Your wisdom and for helping us deal with our pain.  Forgive us for taking our pain out on others.  Help us today, give our pain to You, trusting Your plan truly is best.  As we gain Your wisdom, let us not chase worldly wisdom.  Help us become comfortable not knowing everything.  Show us only the things You want us to know.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What kind of wisdom are you chasing?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: Psalms 45 GW; Song of Solomon 1-6 GW

Foxes nibble.

Song of Solomon is the steamiest book in the Bible.  Solomon is writing a love poem to his betrothed, Shulamite.  When we find this gem of a verse hidden in chapter two, it’s an acknowledgment that relationships have enemies.  Little foxes like to nibble at the vines, killing them.  In the same way, couples must become vigilant of the little things that can destroy their relationship.

In marriage, lots of things try to nibble the vines.  Setting up “fences” to keep the foxes out will preserve your relationship.  My husband and I don’t spend time with someone of the opposite sex alone.  We are intentional about church attendance, small group participation and couples devotions.  On the way home from our honeymoon, we created a budget which we still use today.  My husband and I rarely argue about money.  All of these things are fences we’ve put in place that keep the foxes from nibbling our vines.

The problem with nibblers is that the bites are small.  At first, you don’t realize the damage is being done to the vine.  Often, by the time you realize you have a fox nibbling, it’s too late.  The damage is done, sometimes beyond repair.

Creating fences protects the vine.

Planting a flourishing vineyard means keeping the predators out.  Knowing what your foxes are will help you construct protective fences.  If you make your fence with too many gaps in it, the tiny foxes will find a way through.  

Take time to discover what potential foxes you have in your relationships.  Foxes nibble on all types of vines, not just romantic ones.  Understanding the threat helps you construct the proper defenses.  

Become vigilant to the foxes in your relationships and eliminate them. Watch your relationships thrive.

Lord, thank You for our relationships with You and others.  Forgive us for letting the foxes nibble at the vines, trying to destroy our relationships.  Show us today the foxes that are attacking our vineyards.  Help us to construct suitable fences to keep them out.  Lord, bless our relationships as we strive to put You first in all of them.  As we grow closer to You, help us become more receptive to the love You have for us, then help us share it with others.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What are the foxes in your relationship?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: Psalms 101 GW; 2 Kings 23-25 GW

Practice integrity, build character.

Integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”   In other words, tell the truth and do what you say you’re going to do.  Unfortunately, in today’s world, integrity isn’t valued. 

People value narrative over integrity; their story versus the actual story.  

Having integrity is difficult.  Admitting your wrongdoings isn’t fun for anyone. 

Last week I made an expensive, unreturnable impulse purchase without consulting my husband.  We have a rule in our marriage we won’t spend above a certain amount without talking to the other person.  Knowing I was breaking a rule we had set, I bought an “as is” shark robot vacuum cleaner without talking to him.

Growing pains come with integrity.

Immediately after the clerk handed me the receipt I felt guilty.  My husband works hard, I had just spent money we really didn’t need to spend.  I felt horrible and immediately wanted to return the vacuum.  But I couldn’t.

Instead, I told the truth. 

My impulse buy tested my integrity with my husband.  I had a choice of whether I tried to hide the truth from him or not.  Telling the truth is always the right way to go, even if it means you may suffer consequences.  My husband could have been mad at me; thankfully, he wasn’t.

When faced with the decision to cover up your sin, bite the bullet.  Don’t waste time trying to hide something that won’t stay hidden.  Your character grows as you become more comfortable with who you are, a child of God.

Children of God recognize life is a journey.  They understand, each opportunity to practice integrity grows them closer to God and His children.  Our imperfections are made perfect in Christ.  

Experience growth today as you practice integrity.

Lord, thank You for Jesus.  No matter how many times we thank You, it’s not enough.  Forgive us for the times in our lives when we’ve been dishonest.  Help us today to practice integrity.  Whatever situations we find ourselves in today, let us tell the truth.  Help us accept the love You have for us and honestly believe it in our souls.  As we become more comfortable receiving Your love for us, help us share it with everyone, we meet.  All glory is Yours.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who do you need to tell the truth to today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 20-21 GW; Psalms 82 GW; 2 Kings 22 GW

God knows how to make a point.

Hezekiah was a prominent king of Judah.   In today’s chapters, we learn he was about to die.  Hezekiah desperately cries out to God:

“Please, Lord, remember how I’ve lived faithfully and sincerely in your presence. I’ve done what you consider right.” (2 Kings 20:3 GW)

God hears his prayer; He sends Isaiah with a message.  God is going to heal Hezekiah.  But Hezekiah wants proof that what Isaiah says is true.  To which Isaiah responds:

“This is your sign from the Lord that he will do what he promises. Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or come back ten steps?” (2 Kings 20:9 GW)

Hezekiah, a wise man, chose for the shadow to go back ten steps.  Isaiah called on the Lord; God moved the shade backward.  Hezekiah then believed God was going to heal him.

Doubt is normal.

Not only is doubting normal, but it’s also protective.  We shouldn’t believe everything we hear.  Lots of people use “messages from God” as a way to manipulate people.  However, the proof is in the pudding.  Only with time is the truth revealed.  

If you’re unsure of whether or not you’re hearing from God, do what Hezekiah did.  Ask for a sign.   God understands your need for reassurance; He also knows false prophets exist.   By giving us a specific signal, as He did for Hezekiah, we believe the message is from the one true God.

On the night my nephew passed away, his father asked God for a sign.  Three stars shot across the sky.  My brother knew at that moment, Cody was with our parents in heaven.  God gave my sibling the sign he sought.

Ask God for a specific sign.  Then wait for His answer.  Watch how God strengthens your belief.

Lord, thank You for giving us signs. Thank You for helping us discern Your truth from ours.  Forgive us, Lord, for not trusting You.  As we move through our day, help us remember that You are available to us.  If we need help, we can ask You for a sign to show us the way.  Lead us today, one step at a time.  IJNIP. Amen 

Question for reflection

What sign has God given you recently?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 19 GW; Psalms 76 GW; Nahum 1-3 GW

Thieves are seductive.

Nahum is speaking to Nineveh in today’s text.  Let’s just say the Ninevites pushed God to His limits.   As a result, Nahum from Elkosh had a vision.  Today’s verse is part of the vision.  The businessmen he’s referring to are tradesmen drawn to Ninevah from Assyria’s international trade and commerce.  These traders were the snake oil salesman of their day—people who would say or do anything to sell their wares and take advantage of their clients.  

Today, slick salesman come in the way of fishing emails.  Carefully worded advertisements that draw you into whatever the person is selling.  In our world, recognizing truth is more complex than ever because of technology.  Fake news, videos, and pictures fill the internet, deceiving us all at some point or another.

Step number one is realizing; people exist who are trying to deceive you.

You simply can’t trust everyone you meet.  Not everyone believes in Jesus.  Most people only know God’s Son by how people who follow Him treat them.  God knows, professed Christians have hurt me more profoundly than any non-believer.  Unfortunately, our imperfect humanity doesn’t always represent Jesus well.

Trust the gut.

As a Christ-follower with God’s Spirit living within you, trust the nudges. When someone says or does something that doesn’t sit right with you, trust the gut.  If you feel apprehensive, take time to investigate why?  Don’t just believe everything you hear, read or see.

Nahum was warning the Ninevites to change their ways.  We can learn from their mistakes.  Instead of being taken by the next snake oil salesman to come along, stay on your toes.  Trust your instincts.  If something seems too good of a deal, it probably is.  

Lord, thank You for Nahum and his vision.  Forgive us for acting like the Ninevites.  Thank You for Your grace that covers our sin.  Today, we pray for those who actively seek to deceive us.  God, whoever they are, draw them closer to You today.  Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the truth, today and always.  As we move through our day, help us represent You well.  In all things, let us produce good fruit.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who is the snake oil salesman in your life?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 18 GW; Mark 16 GW

Heavy lifting is God’s job.

Mary and Mary are heading to the tomb where Jesus lay in today’s verse. We’re listening to their conversation as they walk. On the way, they were trying to decide who would roll the stone away for them.  But to their surprise, when they arrived, the tomb was already open.  They spent their morning walk trying to solve a problem that wasn’t theirs to remedy.

How many times do we find ourselves trying to solve problems that aren’t ours to solve?  God never intended for us to solve the problems of the world, yet we try to anyway.  Pretty sure God doesn’t need our help.  What He does want is our obedience. 

Even though the Marys can’t move the rock, they can walk the walk.  Just because they didn’t know how they would get into the tomb, they went anyway.  Not knowing didn’t stop them from doing.

Faith moves forward.

Even though we don’t know the divine solution for our circumstances, we must keep moving forward.  What if the two Marys decided not to go to the tomb because they couldn’t roll the stone?  They would have missed the most significant event to happen in history, Jesus’s resurrection. Because of their faith, they were the first ones to spread the Good News!

Divine solutions come when we walk by faith:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV)

You don’t have to have all the answers to take steps of faith.  Walking the walk means loving God and people.  God doesn’t ask you to fix people’s problems; He’s got a plan for them.  What God does ask us to do, love others as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31 GW).

Today, walk the walk.  Spread love wherever you go.  Don’t worry about moving the boulders.  Breather easier knowing God will do the heavy lifting.

Lord, thank You for rolling the stone for the Marys and for resurrecting Jesus for us.  Forgive us for trying to solve problems that aren’t ours to solve.  Lord, help us embrace our realities today, whatever they are.  Then give us a hint at Your divine solution for our problems.  Help us to breathe easier today as we rely more heavily on You.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What boulder are you trying to move?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 17 GW; Mark 15 GW

God’s rules trump ours.

Since I spent most of my twenties making my own rules, living life my way, I learned this lesson first hand.  Growing up, the church was the center of our lives.  God’s way was the only way I knew.  But after my Dad died, I decided I didn’t like God’s way of doing things.  Instead, I thought I’d make my own rules, follow my desires.  God gave me what I wanted:

“So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”  (Romans 1:24-25 NLT)

Trading the truth about God for a lie will leave you miserable.  When I believed the lie, I ended up alone and broke.  My way didn’t work.

God’s way gives life.

When I turned back to Jesus, He embraced me with open arms.  Just like the father in the prodigal son, Jesus rejoices when we decide to believe His truth, leaving the lies behind.  I knew, from personal experience, making up my own rules didn’t work.

Implementing God’s rules into your life is a choice you won’t regret.  God doesn’t tell us how to live to bring us down; He does so to give us life to the full.

When I stopped abusing my body and treating it like God’s temple, life changed.  My heart healed from the many breaks it endured.  Over time, I became whole again, forgiving myself of my past mistakes, becoming a new creation in Christ.

God’s way is the best.  Put His commands into practice.  Find life to the fullest in Christ.

Lord, thank You for loving us, even when we don’t obey.  Forgive us for trying to live life on our terms.  Help us today follow Your commands.  When tempted to fall back into our ways, protect us from ourselves.  Help us make good decisions today, putting You first in all things.  Let us represent You well as we move through the next 24 hours.  Let us find life to the fullest in You.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Whose rules are you following these days?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 15 GW; Mark 13 GW

God’s clear we’re not to know some things.

When Jesus will return, is one thing only God knows.  Therefore, the topic isn’t debatable in my book.  When I was a little girl, I remember listening to adults have the same conversations that I hear today.  They compared the happenings of that time to the writings in the Bible, looking for signs of the end times.  Just like the disciples thought they were in the end times, people believe we are in the end times now.  At any given point in time, Biblical prophecy and world events seem to come together.  Jesus tells us, we should live prepared:

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” (Matthew 24:42-43 NIV)

Live ready.

May 21, 2011, is the day the Christian network and Family Radio named Judgment Day.  The organization predicted Christ’s second coming would occur on that date, thus ending the world.  I remember the controversy in the media over the event.  And I’ll never forget what happened.

My friend, Pastor Bruce West, died at the age of 41.  Serving our country as a chaplain in the military, his station was Japan.  Getting up early that Saturday morning, he kissed his wife goodbye and went for a bike ride.  While descending a steep incline, his bike went off the road and he hit a tree; dying instantly. 

Bruce’s life on earth did end that day, but the world didn’t.  God taught me a valuable lesson through my friend Bruce.

Don’t waste time debating things for which only God knows the answer.  Instead, love the people God gives you.  You never know how long you will have them to love.

Lord, thank You for being in control of the big stuff.  Forgive us for trying to figure out things that are beyond our comprehension.  Help us today love the people You have given us to love.  Don’t let us waste time debating things that don’t have answers.  Instead, let us use that time to love You and others.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who is God giving you to love today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 13-14 GW; Mark 12 GW

Loving causes maturity.

Nothing on earth will grow you more than trying to love God and people.  When God doesn’t do what you think He should do, love isn’t the first thought that comes to mind.  Because God’s ways are different from ours, understanding Him is impossible.  Over and over again, God asks us to trust Him when nothing in our physical surroundings makes sense.  Yet, the beginning of the Great Commandment is to love God wholly and completely.

And the second part of Jesus’s command is for us to love others as ourselves.  Others have no exclusions.  God gives us no excuse for not loving the people He places in our lives.  The family member whose life mission is to drive you crazy, the office mate who constantly annoys you, and the friend who betrayed you, all people God requires you to love.

Love God, love others.

2021 is the twentieth anniversary of me adopting today’s scriptures as my life verses.  Shortly after my sister passed away from cancer, I began attending JCCC in Williamsburg, where I lived at the time.  The pastor, Sam Goins, introduced me to this concept.  He changed my life when he taught me this concept.

Through the past two decades, applying this mantra to my life has grown me more than anything else.  The problematic people God brings into my life are the ones who grow me the most.  

Hard to love people draw me to God because the only way I can love them is through Him.  In my humanity, loving others as myself is impossible.  But with Him, God always shows me a way.  

Sometimes, the best way to love is from afar, with prayer.  Other times, sitting with a mourning mother in silence is the best way to love.  No two people are the same; therefore, we shouldn’t love them the same.

Love God first; as you do, He’ll fill you with His love.  Then, love others with what God gives you.  Not on your own strength, but His. Without a doubt, you will grow.

Lord, You are amazing.  Your command is simple to say yet hard to live.  Forgive us for not loving You completely or our neighbors as ourselves.  Today, our prayer is simple.  Help us love better today than we did yesterday.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who do you need God’s help loving today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 11-12 GW; Mark 11 GW

Scripture puzzles.

All my life, I’ve struggled with understanding today’s scripture.  As the words came up in today’s reading, I decided to take on the challenge.  

Why kill the tree?  

According to Charles Stanley, this is what is happening:

“This is the only destructive miracle reported in the Gospels. Jesus meant it to picture His displeasure with the people who appeared religious but whose lives remained barren of the fruit of godliness” (Gal. 5:22, 23).

Wow!  The fig tree in question was green, full of leaves, looking fruitful, but wasn’t.  In other words, people look like they’re holier than thou, but in reality, they aren’t.  People who are talking the talk but not walking the walk aren’t producing fruit.

Walk the walk.

Hubby and I visited a church in South Carolina recently.  The pastor gave one of the best calls to action I have ever heard.  During the service, one enthusiastic attendee would say “Boom” about every two minutes.  I believe this was to show he was tracking with the pastor, but it was highly annoying in reality.  Listening to the pastor was difficult with this man’s loud “Boom’s.”  

So the pastor gets to the meat of his message.  He begins talking about the people in this world that go around talking the talk.  At which point, the guy at the end of the row says, “Boom!”  But then the pastor finished his point.  “But they aren’t walking the walk.”  Mr. Boom didn’t say another word for the rest of the service.

What was the pastor’s call to action?  Go out and love better, because as Christ-followers, we do not love well.  If we were, church’s would overflow with people; instead, they’re closing.  We need to love better.

Don’t just talk the talk.  Walk the walk.  Love someone for Jesus.  Share with them the love He’s given you.

Lord, thank You for helping me understand this scripture a little better.  I do understand why Jesus is mad. Forgive us, Lord, for just talking the talk. Help us today walk the walk, Lord.  When we meet people today, help us love them as we love ourselves.  And let us love You with all our mind, heart, body, and soul—more of You, less of us.  Help us do better.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Are you a talker or a walker?