Honest Reflections

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 18-19 GW; 1 Corinthians 16 GW

Actions of love require thinking.

Love is a verb that requires intention.  You have to decide to love God and people.  Putting others before yourself isn’t natural.  Part of the human condition is innate selfishness.  If you think you’re not selfish, you’re kidding yourself.  God created us with free will and the right to choose how we live our lives.  We can follow Him or not; God doesn’t force us to love Him.  However, God’s desire for us is to do everything in love.

Before we do something, we have to think about doing it.  Therefore, if we pre-decide we’re going to do everything in love, we’ll ponder our motives.  We’ll ask ourselves tough questions:

• What is my intention with this statement?  
• Am I trying to build up or tear down?
• Will what I’m doing hurt this person?

Just taking the time to ask yourself these questions will help you become known for your love more than anything else.  

Love is the end goal.

One day, your life will end.  God is clear; He has numbered our days.  The mortality rate is 100%, we all die.  When that day comes, what do you want people to say about you?

I want people to know I loved the Lord, and I did the best I could to love people.  Each day, I try to do better than the day before.  Some days are easier than others.  But I know one truth, without God, I can’t love at all.

God does everything in love.  Even if we don’t understand His actions here on earth, we can ask Him all the questions that don’t make sense to us when we move into eternity with Him.  But until that day, we have to trust God’s motives are ones of love.

Decide today to do everything in love.  Pre-decision will help you stay the course.  God’s love for you will help you succeed.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your love.  Forgive us for the times we don’t love.  Help us today do everything in love.  When tempted to tear down, remind us we’re to build up.  Let us become known for our love.  In all things, the glory is Yours.  Through You, we can succeed at loving others.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

How can you do everything in love today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 17 GW; 1 Corinthians 15 GW

Kindness breeds kindness.

Divine moments come with kindness. The randomness of the action at the perfect time tells you it’s from God.   No earthly explanations exist; credit can only go to God.  When these moments happen, they soften our hearts and make us want to share the gift with others.  Our kindest actions begin with God’s kindness towards us.

One of the kindest people I ever met was a divine appointment.  My husband and I were camping and needed propane.  We stopped at TAC RV on the border of North Carolina and Virginia.  While my husband was filling the tanks, I went inside the store, where I met Crystal. Ironically, we attended the same church in Virginia but had never met.  She had on a t-shirt from the church, which started our conversation.  I will never forget her taking out her phone and friending me on Facebook right there and then.  Her kindness touched my heart that day and has never stopped.

Share your heart.

Crystal’s kindness stems from her heart devoted to the Lord.  God gifted her with an extra measure of grace.  Every conversation I have with her, I walk away amazed at the kindness that naturally flows from her.  She helps me become more graceful, which in turn, helps me become kinder.  Crystal donated a kidney to a stranger; she doesn’t limit her kindness.  God’s presence in her life overflows to all.

Let God’s kindness in your life flow to those around you.  Don’t let fear stop you from sharing your heart with others.  Just like Crystal shares her heart willing with those God places in her life, share yours too.  You never know how kindness to a stranger will impact their lives.  One day in heaven, you may find out.  But until then, relish in God’s compassion for your life.  Let God’s love for you soften your heart, then share it with others.

Lord, in all things, You go first.  Your most extraordinary kindness is Jesus.  Thank You for sending Him for us.  Forgive us for not always choosing kindness.  Soften our hearts for the day ahead, let Your love lead the way in our lives.  As we interact with people today, let kindness define our conversations.  In all things, let us represent You well, especially Your kindness.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who has impacted your life with their kindness?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 16 GW; 1 Corinthians 14 GW

God doesn’t confuse.

Disorder is a “state of confusion.”  God brings peace.  Anytime life is racing out of control and chaos is reigning, the devil is in its midst. 

“Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV)

Satan wants to steal the joy God gives you.  Peace that surpasses all understanding is from God.  The devil will do anything to steal God’s serenity from you.  God will never bring you confusion; He gives you calm.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  (James 4:7 NIV)

Years ago, I was working on a church production for Easter.  As part of the stage crew, we were producing the Resurrection story.  One particular night, everything was going wrong.  Amid the chaos, a friend realized we hadn’t prayed.  We were doing the work on our might, not asking God to help us.  I will never forget the peace that ensued as soon as we asked God into the mix.

Don’t forget God.

In the busyness of life, we often leave God behind.  Before your feet hit the floor, the day is already hectic.  Raising kids, caring for spouses, working all have a way of pushing God to the side.  Before you know it, you’re at the end of the day, not once thinking about God.  

Just a few minutes can change the tone of the day.

Seeking God isn’t complicated.  He hears all prayers, knows all hearts.  And God wants His peace to reign in your life.  God doesn’t want you living in confusion.  God’s purpose for your life is to have life and have it to the full.  

Live life to the fullest today by including God in your day.  Let His peace lead the way.

Lord, thank You for creating order in a disorderly world.  Forgive us for trying to manage the chaos without including You.  Help us remember You today when the world gets crazy.  If life is confusing, remind us, that’s not You.  Let Your peace reign in our lives today and always.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

When have you experienced God’s peace in chaos?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 14-15 GW; 1 Corinthians 13 GW

Words spoken in love aren’t offensive.

When we use harsh words, it’s like clashing cymbals to the hearer.   Speaking with love means thinking about the other person first.  Instead of saying whatever is on your mind, you stop and think about how it will sound to the other person. 

“When someone repeatedly uses words to demean, frighten, or control someone, it’s considered verbal abuse.”  Ann Pietrangelo, Healthline

Words do matter.  What you say affects people, whether you believe it does or not.  One of the first statistics I learned in my coaching career involved words.  When I speak to a child, they retain 80% of what I say.  However, I only remember 20% of the words I use.  Learning this information made me more aware of the words I use.  Instead of focusing on the negative, I highlight the positive.  If my words aren’t encouraging and uplifting, I don’t say them.

Check your language.

Before a word leaves your lips, ask yourself a question.  “Is what I’m about to say uplifting and encouraging?”  If the answer is no, don’t say the words.

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT)

For Lent this year, I gave up swearing.  For every slip, I paid $1 to the swear jar.  At the end of the 40 days, I had accumulated $161, which I donated.  As much as I watch my language, I still have work to do.

We all do.  Only Jesus mastered the language of love.  Each day, we have an opportunity to try again. To the best of your ability, speak all things in love.

Lord, thank You for giving us guidelines of how we are to speak.  Forgive us for using harsh words that demean and criticize others.  Help us today to monitor our comments.  If what we’re going to say isn’t uplifting and encouraging, don’t let us say it.  Let the Holy Spirit prompt us from within when we’re about to say something verbally abusive.  Close our mouths when our words are like clashing cymbals to the hearer.  Let us today speak all things in love.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Is your language uplifting and encouraging?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 12-13 GW; 1 Corinthians 12 GW

Different is good.

Praise Jesus; we’re not created the same. Every single one of us has a purpose; God equips us for whatever it is. None of us serve God the same way, nor should we try to. Our missions fields are as individual as each one of us. People you meet in your lifetime, I will never meet and vice versa. Therefore, God made us unique.

At this point in my life, I’m serving God with my writing.  He gave me a passion for writing, birthed from my daily meetings with Him that started decades ago.  What began as a five-minute quick read of the Bible has now blossomed into a life I never dreamed I would live.  As I continue to seek Him daily, God continues to change and grow me.  The process never ends, not until we relocate to eternity.

Find your passion.

Finding your passion and using it as a way to serve God is worth discovering.  When what you love combines with God’s mission for you, words can’t express the feeling.  At that point, you’re living life to the fullest as Jesus came for us to do.

One easy way to identify your passion is by thinking about the things you love to do.  Typically, it’s something you are naturally talented at doing.  Whatever the activity is, you’re happiest when you are doing it.  Maybe you love working with children or helping the elderly.  Maybe you love painting and fixing things around the house.  Or perhaps you love walking dogs—anyone of these gifts God can use for serving others.

Find what you love to do.  Then find a way to serve others with your passion.  Remember, we each serve God differently, but we serve the same God.

Praise God; you are unchanging.  Thank You for reminding us; we each serve You differently.  Forgive us for expecting others to serve You the same we do.  Help us encourage others to serve You in their way, not ours.  Give us insight into our passions, help us find what we love most so that we can use it to serve You.  All good things come from You.  Let us all serve with love today.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What passion can you use to serve God today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 11 GW; 1 Corinthians 11 GW

Jesus led by example.

During Jesus’s earthly ministry, he set the bar for us.  Jesus went first in all things.  He loved us, forgave us, and died for us.  We are to imitate Jesus’s actions so that others may know Him. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul clarifies: we are to become imitators of Christ.

As a lifelong Christ-follower, I feel like I live in a fishbowl sometimes.  Friends and family watch my actions, looking for ways I falter in following Jesus.  And I do, every day in a million different ways.  But I don’t stop trying.  Instead, I trust even in my imperfections; God will use them for His glory:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)

Embrace the fishbowl.

Actions speak louder than words.  People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say.

One of my favorite things to do is pay for someone’s meal/drink at a drive-through window.  I love blessing someone I don’t know and who doesn’t know me.  At Starbucks a few years ago, I paid the bill for the car behind me.  The cute barista’s face broke into a smile when I told her my plan.  She said, “I love when people do this because it begins a chain reaction.”  What happens is the next car pays for the next person, etc.  The beaming teenager told me her favorite part is counting how many vehicles keep it going.

People watch what you do.  Make your actions have eternal consequences.  Imitate Jesus in your response to the world around you.  See how it changes not only you but those you influence.

Lord, how thankful we are You went first in all things.  Thank You for the example Jesus set for us to follow.  Forgive our faltering as we try to imitate Jesus.  Help us embrace the fishbowl we live in today.  Let us become imitators in Christ as we lead with love and forgiveness, not only for others but ourselves as well.  Our imperfections will never match Christ’s perfection, but we trust that You will use our fumblings for Your good.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

How are you imitating Christ today?

2 minute read.

1 Kings 9-10 GW; 1 Corinthians 10 GW

Everything is God’s.

We live under this false assumption that what we have is ours, but none of it is.  All of the material things you possess are gifts from God.  The earth and everything in it is His: clothes, cars, homes, all things God is allowing you to use while here on earth.  Unfortunately, we are more attached to “stuff” than we are God.

“Consumerism is the theory that individuals who consume goods and services in large quantities will be better off.”

More things do not bring happiness.   We find joy in our relationship with God.  When we place more value on connecting with God than Amazon, we’ll find the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Unfortunately, we don’t give God credit for the things we have.  Often, I hear the words, “I deserve it, I work hard.”  True, you may work hard, but none of us “deserve” anything.  Christ took our sin upon Himself on the cross, freeing us.  We owe everything to Jesus; He didn’t have to do what He did.  The least we could do is appreciate the gifts He gives us.

Keep perspective.

Your car will rust out.  Clothes will get holes in them.  Homes require constant repair.  But the relationship with God lasts forever.   U-hauls full of stuff is not part of the funeral procession.  Life everlasting is the gift that never ends.

Instead of worshipping the things of this earth that won’t last, worship the God who does.  If material things are consuming your attention, purge.  Get rid of the things that are controlling your life.  Find a way to break the hold of consumerism.  

Keep stuff in its place.  Appreciate God’s gifts.  Recognize, the material things of this world are temporary, but life with God never ends.

Lord, thank You for providing the material things of this world for us.  Forgive us for worshipping stuff more than You.  Thank You for reminding us Who is in control of everything.  Help us detach ourselves from possessions and attach ourselves to You.  Today, through the blessings You gave us, help us bless others.  Let us keep our hearts and minds focused on You.  In You, we have all we will ever need.  IJNIP.  Amen

Question for reflection

How attached to your stuff are you?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 8 GW; 1 Corinthians 9 GW

Love always wins.

Being a slave to others for Christ means loving them as He did.  My husband makes this point often:  “If we truly loved others like Jesus, noone would say no to being loved.”  The problem is, we don’t love like Jesus; we do it the way we want to.

Rick Warren said it best in his NY Times best-selling book, Purpose Driven Life, What on Earth Am I Here For, “Life’s not about you.”  We weren’t placed on earth to serve ourselves; God wants us to serve others.  The universe doesn’t revolve around us, no matter how much we think it does.  

Our number one purpose on earth, as Christ-followers, is to love God, love others (Mark 12:30-31 NIV).  If you want to find meaning in your life, start doing what God commands.  Each day, seek God, some way, somehow.  Build a relationship with Him using scripture to guide you.  Then take what God gives you during the time you spend with Him and use it to serve those around you with love.

God gives so we can give.

God calls us to serve others.  But as we all know, some people are more complex than others to love.  And as much as I love my husband, some days require more work than others to keep our relationship in good standing.  No matter how much you love them, to truly love them like Jesus, you need His help.

When you spend time with God, receiving His love, you can’t help but want to share it.  Accepting God’s grace for your sins enables you to extend it to others.  Jesus tells us, the more you’re forgiven, the more you forgive.  God has forgiven us all of much.  We can do the same for others.

Become a slave to others, win people to Christ with love.

Dear Heavenly Father, how we love You!  In our brokenness, You gave us Jesus.  Before we loved You, You loved us.  Forgive us for thinking the world revolved around us; we’re all guilty of it at some point.  Thank You for the reminder; the world revolves because of You.  Help us today become a slave to others.  Help us see those around us through Your eyes, not ours.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

Who can you serve lovingly today?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 7 GW; 1 Corinthians 8 GW

Learning doesn’t end.

Know-it-alls are people who know everything about everything, including the future. They can’t admit they don’t have all the answers.  Pride rears its ugly head when someone can’t utter the words, “I don’t know.”

“But if they love God, they are known by God.” (1 Corinthians 8:3 GW)

God knows the know-it-alls in your life and whether they love Him or not.  Sometimes, we’re guilty of thinking we have all the answers.  The truth is, God is the only one who is privy to all the details of life.  We won’t get answers to some questions until we see the pearly gates.  Nowhere in scripture does God say we are to know everything. 

Becoming comfortable not knowing opens the door for a lifetime of learning.  When I first started following Christ, I was afraid to get into conversations with people about my faith.  The reason, because I don’t have all the answers.  My fear of incorrectly responding kept me from talking about Jesus.  But then I realized, God isn’t asking me to know everything. He just wants me to trust that He does.

Only God knows

Instead of answering, “I don’t know,” my response is, “Only God knows the answer to that question.”  In time, God reveals answers to us, but not all at once.  Searching for meaning gives us purpose in life.  

No matter who in your life acts like a know-it-all, they don’t.  Unless they carry the title “Creator of the World,” they do not have all the facts.  When you search for meaning in your life, go to the one who knows, God.

Become comfortable in the unknown.  Enjoy the lifelong learning journey God has you on today.  Each day, learn something new.

Lord, thank You for having all the answers to this life we lead.  Forgive us for acting like we know more than You do.  Help us become comfortable in the unknown.  Let us change our language from “I don’t know” to “Only God knows the answer,” in so doing, reminding ourselves of who is truly in control.  Lord, help us live this day to the fullest.  Let us learn what You have for us to learn today.  Never let us stop learning.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What has God taught you lately?

2 minute read.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 6 GW; 1 Corinthians 7 GW

Start where you are.

Wherever you are at in life when you meet Jesus is where God wants you.  God doesn’t expect you to change your lifestyle overnight.  Some people do, without a doubt, but most don’t.  Following God is a journey that occurs over a lifetime, not in an instant.  Each day we are growing and becoming more like Christ, but you still have to go through the steps.

I met Jesus when I was a child, but I turned from Him for ten years of my life.  Hurt after the death of my father; I blamed God for taking dad from me.  So I decided to live life the way I wanted.  At the end of that decade, I was alone, up to my eyeballs in debt without much hope.  Jesus met me in the pit.  I spent the subsequent decade healing from the hurt I caused myself in my 20’s.  Now, in my 50’s, I’ve overcome those obstacles, but God is still growing me and changing me in ways I never imagined.

Enjoy the journey.

Give yourself grace for the trip.  Understand, as you begin to follow Jesus, applying His principles to your life will change you over time.  Not all at once, but gradually, we become who God designed us to become.

Teaching tennis is a challenging sport because of the different strokes.  The serve is one of the most complex techniques to learn.  When people first begin, some can’t even hit the ball.  But the more they practice, the better they become.  One day, they find themselves playing matches and enjoying the game.

Following Jesus takes effort.  Our first attempts may cause us to fall.  But each time we persevere, we become stronger.  As our steps of faith become more anchored in Christ, our walk will become more confident.   God keeps us moving forward as we continue to seek Him.

Lord, thank You for helping us to continue to move forward in the journey of life.  Forgive us for trying to rush ahead of what You are doing in our lives.  Help us to enjoy the trip You have designed for us.  Let us walk confidently, knowing You have a plan and it is good.  In You, we find life, one day at a time.  IJNIP. Amen

Question for reflection

What steps of faith do you need to take today?