The Small Branch

  When my youngest child was about two years old, she had a cute habit to get our attention.   She is the youngest of four kids, all within seven years of each other.   There was a lot of chaos in our home, as they were all with me all day, every day, so she didn’t get a lot of one on one attention at this point of her life.   When she wanted my attention, she would get me to pick her up and, while my head was on the swivel dealing with everyone else, she would take her little hands and put them on my cheeks to turn my face to her.   She would then look at me, eye to eye, and say something to the effect of, “Listen to me, Mommy.”   It was really cute and definitely got my attention.   Now my kids are older, teens and adults, and I am still feeling like a cat running to the latest shiny object.  Now though, it feels more like God is the One taking my face in His hands and saying, “Listen to me, little one.”  There are so many distractions...

 Have you ever felt pressure to witness in "just the right way" so that someone would come to know Christ?  Have you ever thought, "Oh no, I forgot to pray for that person's salvation today!  What will happen?"  I'll admit to thoughts like that.  For me, they come from a background of people teaching me that Jesus was necessary for salvation, but then I had better get to work to sanctify myself.  Of course, that isn't what the Bible teaches.  I have been studying Acts recently, and I came upon some verses I wanted to share with you. Acts 16:14 says, "A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 18:9 and 10 say, "And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you , and no man will attack you in order to h...

 Life is a struggle.  The past few days, I have not been feeling great physically.  It is amazing to me how much I still let physical struggles make me lazy about what goes into my mind.  It takes too much effort to think only on things that are pure, right, excellent, praiseworthy, lovely, admirable, noble, and true (Philippians 4:8) so I just make excuses and let my mind go.  It is never a good thing.  Then I deal with guilt for thinking unkind, bitter, just plain wrong things, not to mention watching them on tv or reading about them.  This is not the life the Holy Spirit wants for us.  But the struggle is real.  We have to listen to His warnings, no matter how we feel physically, no matter how much stress is going on around us or in us.  That is tough.  That's why we have the Holy Spirit in the first place.  We CANNOT do it on our own.  Even submitted to God, we often have trouble hearing the Holy Spirit over our flesh....

 Today, I am on the struggle bus.  For a few years now, I have struggled with some hurt and bitterness, much of which is probably caused by my own pride, against a particular group.  Every time I think I have totally turned this over to God and "gotten over it," something else happens and all the anger and bitterness flare to life in me.  I know this is totally wrong.  This attitude is sin and God doesn't like it.  It is ok to feel hurt.  But bitterness is not ok.  In the book of Hebrews, we are warned against allowing a root of bitterness to spring up.  Bitterness has to be torn out promptly or it just grows and grows.  Over and over in the Psalms, David (and others) talk about their hurt and difficulties when others are against them.  The hurt isn't the problem.  The bitterness is.  The pride is.  So, I am trying to be like David and turn my hurt into prayer and my upset into praise by taking my eyes off the situati...

 Have you ever been completely over it?  If you have toddlers and preschoolers, you know you have those days.  The days where you hide in the bathroom just for 30 seconds of "alone time" even though they are sticking their little finger under the door.  Sometimes, it just feels like people need too much from us.   Matthew 14:13-14 says " Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." What had He heard about John?  In the previous verses we are told about John's beheading.  Jesus had just heard that His cousin, the one preparing the way for Him, had been murdered.  So what does He do?  He withdraws to mourn.  Talk about needing some "alone time".  Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, so you know that...

The second half of this year's CBS study we have been working through the book of Hebrews.  Wow!  It is amazing to me how much God uses His Word to talk to us where we are at the moment.  The last few weeks we have been looking at the eleventh chapter - the "Hall of Faith".  We have talked a lot about faith and perseverance.  This is something I need right now. We seem to be stuck in Limboland.  We thought we would have been moved long ago, certainly by now, but we haven't even put our house on the market!  In fact, we aren't even sure where we are going.  All this with no more job here (construction project, not actual paycheck).  One job near for a few more months, but what next?  We thought we were going on to another job, but that job keeps getting pushed back.  This is truly one of those moments when we must put our hands in His and let Him lead us through the dark. This, for two type A personalities who need a plan for eve...

This week we are having VBS at our home (we don't have a church building). People keep asking me how I am handling the stress and I have to admit, I'm not the slightest bit stressed about it. Oh, I was, earlier in the summer, about a few things. But now, nope, not a bit. God gave me a great picture as to why that is, and I want to share it. In the first half of the last century and previous to that time, when a boy "liked" a girl, he would meet her at her house in the morning and carry her books to school for her. That is what Jesus does for us every day. He meets us at the doorway of our awakening and willingly takes all our "books" and carries them for us. We know He is going the right way, so we just gaze lovingly at Him and listen and walk along with Him. He is carrying our "books", so it is no big deal for us. He is leading the way, so we don't have to pay attention to anything but Him. We just have to choose to give Him our ...