How Does Your Character Stack Up?

Ever been in a situation where you knew you were supposed to do something, but you could lie your way out of it? Where it would be more convenient and just plain easier for you, if you got out of it? Recently, a friend of mine showed real character and integrity when she was traveling for work and someone who was with her tested positive for COVID. She was masking while on travel, but was in close contact with the person. She wasn’t symptomatic, but she wasn’t boosted. Everyone on the trip was advised that if you were in close contact with a COVID positive person and weren’t vaccinated and boosted, you should quarantine and remain at the travel location for 5 days. 

Now this friend was fully vaccinated and could have lied about being boosted. There was no way anyone would have known different unless she revealed it to them. She could have put on a more protective face covering and faked it for the rest of the trip. She may have been tempted to lie and continue on with her trip. But, she didn’t. She stood on who she is in Christ and did the right thing (Jam 4:17)…..even though she wouldn’t be able to go home on time and even though there were no signs she was sick. She understood that God would know, because He knows everything (Psa 139:1-3). She was more concerned with pleasing Him than her own comfort. 

What about you? What would you do in that situation? Would you have just lied and gone home? Would you be honest and transparent? I ask myself that question and while I’d like to think I would do the right thing, until you’re in the situation you just don’t know. She set a great example for me to follow as she follows Christ (1 Cor 11:1). Can you say that you’ve set a good example for following Christ to those around you? 

Someone said something recently to me and it’s true – people are watching you. No matter who you are, people are watching. They are taking note of who you say you are compared to who you really are. What lessons are you teaching them (Matt 18:6)? Do you do what you say you will do? Do you lie? Do you cheat? Do you steal? Are you really a person of integrity or are you just a talker? 

My friend showed me who she was by admitting the anger at self for not having found time to take a booster but still standing on what she knew to be the right thing. I’m so proud to call her my friend and even more ecstatic to call her my sibling in Christ (Prov 31:10). What about you? How does your character stack up?

Jesus? Yes or No?

Have you ever decided you don't like a particular food without trying it? I have a couple of people in my life who've done just that. It's so frustrating to me. They will just decide they don't like something and they don't even know what's in it. I will explain or cajole and still nothing - "I just don't like it." They have no idea what they are missing out on, but I can almost convince them to try it for themselves and then they will back off - almost convinced. But they are still not convinced. They still miss out. 

That is the way a lot of people are about Jesus. They may be almost convinced to accept and still not choose to have freedom in Him. I believe that's either out of fear of the unknown, the belief that they aren't good enough for Him or the belief they are somehow giving something up. In their minds, they have time to get it right later. But as my aunt said in Family Bible Study this week, time is not in our hands. As Ecc 9:11 states, "....time and chance happen to them all." We don't control time. We can not control all that happens to us, we can only choose right this moment what we will do or say. 

So the question is Jesus? Yes or No? Are we convinced or not? There is no in between. Either we're convinced He's the son of God and our Savior or we aren't. Either we believe  and  have asked Him for forgiveness or  we haven't. Either we've stepped from death into live or we haven't. Either we've sons and daughters of the Most High God through our belief in the redemptive power of Jesus death, burial and resurrection or we aren't. There is no middle ground. To be almost convinced or persuaded is to be not convinced or persuaded. It's to be without the benefits of being God's child. 

Yes, we are all His creation and created in His image (Gen 1:27), but we decide where we spend eternity - God gave us free will and we choose. I've heard people ask, if God is so  good, He wouldn't send anyone to hell. They are correct. He doesn't send His creation there.  We were headed there due to the original sin in the garden and some never changed their mind or made a different choice. They could have chosen Him but didn't - almost convinced  or not - those who don't  choose Jesus are choosing the devil. Choosing to wait is choosing the devil. All we have is right now. We can't depend on later because it is not  promised to  any of us. We may take time for granted and we may be wrong. Don't wait - choose Jesus today. He will never let you down. Your prayers may not be answered in the way you want, but He is always working things out for your good if you love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). 

Where are You Investing?

Lately, there has been lots of talk about how the stock market is doing and whether we’re in a recession? How long will a recession last? How soon will we recover? What will be the lasting impact on families and investors? It’s creating anxiety and worry among those who are dependent on money as their source. Don’t get me wrong, we all need some money to buy the things we need and to support ministry and all the other important things money can help us achieve. But at the end of the day, those of us in Christ know that money is a resource, it is not The Source (Rom 11:36). 

Not only do we invest the money God has given us stewardship over, we also invest our time in different things – school, work, activities, family, TV, music, reading, etc. We give our time and money to the things that are important to us. So the question is, where are you investing your time, energy and money these days? It’s a question we all have to answer, because it tells us where our heart is. The bible says where our treasure is, there is our heart also (Matt 6:21).  For some of us treasure is money, for others it’s time. I know for me, my time is more valuable to me than money. 

This is something for us to consider. Where are we investing? Investing suggests you will get a return. So if you invest time and effort in something, you expect a positive result. If you invest money in something, you expect to get a return on that investment. God says in Mal 3:10, that if we bring 10% of our increase (the whole tithe) into His storehouse, He will pour out a blessing that we won’t have room to receive it. Sounds like a good exchange to me. 

I’ve said before that everything we do, say, and think matters. If that’s the case, where are we spending the majority of our time and money and energy? I’m sad to say that work takes up a lot of my time and energy. I probably spend more time working than anything. That said, I take the Lord with me to work. I talk to Him about the things going on there and ask for wisdom and guidance when situations could be overwhelming. I seek His guidance with how I interact with my staff and others, especially when they are in need of an encouraging word or act. I want to make sure He is reflected in the best light. I want people to see Him in me. I don’t seek Him enough mind you, but I take Him with me wherever I go. And I want to be clear about something, He is everywhere all the time. He sees and He knows (Psa 139:1-4). What I mean is that I acknowledge Him there; I don’t pretend He’s not there and sees all I do and say. I mess up but I know He already knows, so it affords me a freedom when I talk to Him about it. 

Back to the original question, where are you investing? Are you using your time, energy and money to further God’s kingdom or are you behaving like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) by using the resources God has given you just for a good time? I beg you to consider your choices in this. God will bless you, but think of all you could be missing out on by investing in the wrong things. God is Good and His gifts are, too (James 1:17). Put your treasures into someone sure and not something temporary that will pass away. You won’t be disappointed.

How Well Do You Know Yourself?

I recently started taking classes and every time I study a subject I learn something new about myself. I learn my likes and dislikes. I get more in tune with who I am. Sometimes it’s hard to hear with all the noise (distractions, literal noise, my own fears, etc.), but if I quiet down, I get to know myself a little bit better. And the better I get to know myself, the more I realize I have to lean on Jesus. The more I realize how much I need Him. 

When I think back over my life, I realize how much God has blessed me and opened doors I never could have opened on my own. He has constantly been there just as He promised He would and my life has taken twists and turns and I still question how I ended up where I am. I can see the hand of God on my life and He has expanded my territory. Even in ways I didn’t ask. 

I recently took a spiritual gifts assessment (Romans 12) and it confirmed some things I knew and surprised me with others. It opened my thinking to other ways God can use me. Do you know your spiritual gifts? If not, I suggest you find out.  Here’s one test – www.giftstest.com, but there are many. Knowing what they are, the vulnerabilities associated with them and some of their traits, may help you better serve the Father.  Whatever they are, we just have to be submitted to Him so we’re doing things His way and not our own (1 Pet 4:10-11). It’s sometimes easy to get caught up and thinking your gifting makes you more important than someone with another gift. It’s not true (1 Cor 12:12-18).  Spiritual gifts from God may be different but not of more value. That’s why it’s so important to be honest with God and ourselves.

The more intimately I know Jesus, the more I hear Him and His direction (Prov 3:5-7). Also, the more I know Him, the more He reveals to me about myself. It is so important to know who we are with all the built in God given gifts and talents. God made you to be you, not someone else. The more we know ourselves, the better we can serve Him and worship Him with our lives. That is why we were redeemed – to worship Him. 

God wants us to bring ourselves to Him with all our talents and gifts and with all our flaws.  His Power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9). When we know ourselves and are honest with ourselves, we will give God glory because we can’t possibly take it for ourselves. He is worthy of our submission to His will and He is deserving of all our praise and worship (Rev 4:11). 

Do you know yourself well enough to give Him all the worship He deserves from you? If not, spend some alone time with Him. You never know what He’ll reveal, but you’ll be better off in the knowing.

A Good Father

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures who have contributed to others’ lives. You are loved and appreciated more than you know. 

As I was reflecting on Father’s Day, I was thinking about my own dad. He worked hard most of his life to provide for his immediate family and to help those in our neighborhood. He never shied away from hard work or letting me know that he loved me, even when I wasn’t at my best. He was always there if I needed him. He never turned me away because he didn’t have time or if he was in the middle of something, he always made time later to deal with my “crisis.” He is a good dad and I thank God for blessing me with him.

But, how much better is God the Father? He is immeasurable. Let’s look back and think about all God has done for us. I'm only going to list a few things here. When we sinned against Him and were separated, He sent His only Son to die for us as a sacrifice to save us and buy us back (John 3:16). He also disciplines us when we are going down the wrong path for correction (Prov 3:11-12, 15:5).  He provides for us (Matt 6:26). He directs us in the right path to go so we will have great success (Prov 3:5-6) and when we don’t follow His directions, He’s still there to guide us back when we turn to Him. He gives us grace and mercy when we have done nothing to deserve them (Jam 1:17). Even when we reject Him, He stays right there waiting on us – look at Israel throughout the Old Testament. God loves us so much and we take that for granted (1 John 3:1). 

God is a Good Father, but He is not a pushover. He will not push Himself on us. If we decide not to follow Him and not to have faith in Jesus, He will not force us. I hear the question, if God is so Good why does He let bad things happen? God is sovereign – He doesn’t answer to us. He created the world with a certain order to things and He gave us free will (we are made in His likeness). We get to reason and decide what we will do and what we won’t. When Adam and Eve decided to sin in the Garden, the sin nature was born in all of us (Gen 3; Rom 3:23). That’s why God sent Jesus so that we would have a way to be redeemed. But God does not act contrary to His nature (Num 23:19). He gives us a choice every day to follow Him or not (Rom 11:22). People do evil things. When evil is done, consequences follow – we may never see them, but they are coming (Deut 24:16). Reaping and sowing is a principle or law of nature – it will occur no matter how long it takes (Gal 6:7-9). 

We all have a choice to make whether to accept Jesus and have God be our Good Father or not. I choose the former. God has been so good to me my whole life, not because I’ve been so good (I haven’t), but because that is His nature.  Yes, I’ve done wrong and been chastised. I’ve also seen so much favor in my life. I hope you get to know Him for yourself. If you’re like me, you’ll be surprised at how much He loves us even when we’re so far from perfect it’s sad. There is nothing like a real relationship with the Father. There is nothing more worth it.

How do you identify?

How we think of ourselves is caught up in how we identify and who we identify with. I know when asked by someone who I am, I think I’m my parents child, I’m an engineer, I’m a homeowner, I’m God’s child, and many other things and not necessarily in that order. However, the longer I live I realize that I, just like you, are the sum total of my experiences. We are who we are because God made us in His image and then we experienced situations that framed our outlook and our perspective. Those experiences made us who we are. But, did they really? 

As God’s children, He defines us. Yes, we’ve had experiences that inform how we do certain things, but who are we? We are more than what we do. Ephesians 1:2-14 give a clue as to who we are in Christ and I highly recommend you read it for yourself. But a brief summary is that we are chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, saved, marked, sealed, and God’s possession. When you read the scriptures you may find more attributes, but these are the ones that jump out to me. 

If God has made me all these things, then it must be for a reason.  I often talk about purpose. That is because if we are not walking in our purpose, we’re wasting time. That doesn’t mean time shouldn’t be spent with family or friends or doing something you love, but we were created to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it and to rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Gen 1:28). And to love Him first, then our brothers as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). If we love Him first, we will worship and praise Him with everything we have. 

Yes, we are constantly developing and growing into who He created us to be. Yes, He can use anything to fulfill His will. Yes, He tells us who we are in His word, but the question is do we believe it? If we have a relationship with the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ, it’s time to realize that we are adopted and chosen and sealed and forgiven. It is done. You can rest in that (John 5:24). You can’t do anything to deserve it – it’s been given to you. 

Know that God loves you so much (John 3:16) and that will not change. For those who have not chosen Him, He still loves them, but He will not force Himself on anyone and if they chose not to accept Him, they are making their own decision to not have eternal life. They cannot identify as his children even if they’ve gone to church their whole lives. How do you identify? I hope it’s as God’s child. If not, you can change it right now. Accept Jesus as personal savior – He will forgive you and accept you as His own (Rom 10:9-10). Don’t let the moment pass – the next one is not promised. Be blessed.

Are you too busy?

Can you believe it’s June? I can, but it’s hard. It feels like the year just started and there are so many things I haven’t done that I planned to do this year. Stay on track with my reading through the bible – I hate to admit that I’ve let some of it slip. Between planning and studying for family bible study and doing my devotionals, I haven’t read my pages every day and I’m behind. I haven’t cleaned out my closets, which is well overdue. Let’s not forget about work and work travel. There are several other things that I still need to get taken care of and my life is not making it easy. 

I don’t know about you but busyness has become a way of life and I struggle with doing what God has called and not just being busy. I try to take time away and it is amazing to do so, but it’s hard to set the time aside. This past week, I spent time with some of the people who are important to me. Not nearly enough time and definitely not enough of the important people, but it was good to do some things that just brought them and me some joy. 

While time is not promised (Prov. 27:1) and we need to do today what we can, we also need to find balance. Sometimes I believe I need to cut somethings out of my life so I have more time to rest. Rest is restorative and necessary to function well and I find that in my busyness, I take time from sleep and not other unnecessary endeavors (Psalm 127:2). What about you? Do you get enough sleep and relaxation so you can function at your best? If not, we both need to do better. 

Take a few minutes and evaluate where you are and make sure you’re taking time to rejuvenate. We have to be about the Father’s business, but we have to be healthy to do it (Gen 2:3; John 4:6). Do what you need to do to be at your best. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1) – He doesn’t want a broken down present, just like we don’t. Our living sacrifice should be well taken care of as we live holy lives for God following the directions Jesus left for us. If you’re not taking the best care of yourself, join me as I work to do better.