Quick to Listen

Tuesday:  James 1:19-20—My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Have you ever noticed that most conflicts arise because of miscommunication?  Miscommunication occurs when we misunderstand or fail to hear what another person is saying.  Often, we misunderstand or fail to hear because we are not listening.  Our emotions have a tendency of taking over, so in difficult conversations we usually spend more time thinking about what we want to say than listening to what the other person is saying.  If we can get our emotions under control enough to listen, though, we might find that the other person has a legitimate point.  And the reality is, everyone’s perspective and feelings are legitimate.  We may not feel the same way ourselves, but our reality is not everyone else’s reality.  God desires for us to see the basic human dignity in all those around us so that we hear them, listen to them, and find a way to be at peace, free from anger and judgment.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, consider any feelings of anger you have in your heart.  Pray that God would soften your heart and give you ears to hear.  Resolve to be a listener, not a talker. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and strengthen your resolve to listen and release all anger.

True Wisdom...

James 1:5—If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Have you ever been wrong about something?  Of course!  We all have been wrong about something at some time.  As humans, we are often so sure of what we “know,” but frequently we learn that we are wrong or mistaken.  The older we get, sometimes we learn that something we have believed our entire lives is “wrong.” The truth is, we all lack wisdom, and we all lack knowledge.  Socrates said that “true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”  And that’s where God comes in.  It’s not for us to know all the details.  It doesn’t matter if we have it all figured out.  That’s the whole point of faith.  But God can give us wisdom to know how to treat others, to be compassionate, to show respect.  Wisdom is knowing what the right thing is, even if you can’t really articulate why.  And God is desperate to fill us with His Wisdom – we need only ask.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His Wisdom.  Ask Him to flood your spirit with wisdom that you might further His Kingdom on Earth. Pray that He guide you in all your decisions and forgive all lack of wisdom inherent in your humanity.  Rejoice in the solace that His Wisdom is trustworthy beyond all human knowledge and comprehension.

These Things

Thursday:  James 5:1-6—Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.  You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Greed is not sustainable.  History has evidenced this truth repeatedly, yet greed perpetuates in western civilization.  Every day, we are confronted with the latest “thing” we need.  We all want something bigger and better.  We want to be comfortable.  We want to not have to worry about money and bills.  For those who have plenty, they tend to want more. There is a saying, “the more you have, the more you want.” When we seek the things of the Earth, we can never be satisfied because earthly treasures are not eternal.  There is no way that wealth and riches can feed a soul.  What feeds a soul is relationship with each other and with God.  When we treat others with respect, when we lend a helping hand, when we cultivate community – that is when we are fulfilled.  When we call on the Holy Spirit, when we pray to God, when we praise and worship Him – that is when we are fulfilled. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, honestly consider the earthly treasures you seek to hoard. Envision those things placed on the altar before the Lord and ask God to take them.  Praise Him for His enduring love, affection, mercy, and grace.  Worship Him as your Provider and Sustainer.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide you as you develop a more mature and intimate relationship with Him.

Reap What You Sow...

Galatians 6:7-8—Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Where do you invest your time?  When we stop to think about what it is we do on a daily basis, we are likely to find that the world starts to get in the way of our relationship with God.  Maybe we are hungry for wealth, stability of income, status in the community, or some other worldly god.  But these worldly treasures are not what sustains the human spirit.  Sure, for a time, we might feel satisfied and successful, but there is always a risk of losing these worldly treasures.  What is more, they come at a cost.  True peace and contentment come from seeking the kingdom of God.  Does that mean that we extricate ourselves from this world?  Absolutely not!  We bring the kingdom of heaven to earth when we love and serve others.  Our personal desires, wants, and agendas, must take a backseat to what God has in store for us.  When we start following God’s plan, we begin to see that it is so much greater than anything we could have imagined.  Our happiness is far greater and more sustainable than anything worldly riches could provide.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His steadfast love.  Thank Him for His desire to care for His Creation.  Rejoice in the heavenly treasures He has waiting on you.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide your every thought that you might never become distracted by the things of this Earth.  

Where is God?

Jeremiah 29:11-14—For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord.

When we hear on the news about all the violence and hate that fills our world, it might be easy to wonder “Where is God?”  When we suffer a great loss and feel great personal pain, it might be easy to wonder “Where is God?”  It is not enough to wonder where He is, though – the real question we ought to be asking is “Where am I in this?”  God has created each of us for a unique purpose.  When we see injustice, when we feel pain, when we disagree with what is happening in the world around us, that is a call for us to live into our purpose and initiate change.  God is not standing by with a magic wand ready to instantly convert the world. God moves much more subtly to empower us, as His Human Creation, to change the world and make it more like heaven. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, name aloud all the injustices that are resting on your heart.  Cry out to God and ask Him, “Lord, where am I in all of this? What is my purpose in all of this? Reveal to me your plan that I might fulfill your calling in this.” Pray for a willing and loving spirit that would reveal the love God has for all the world. Ask God for wisdom, peace, and patience as you say “yes” to His Call.

Walk in the Spirit

Galatians 5:16—So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

As Christians, walking in the Spirit means that we are consistently and constantly aware of God’s presence in our lives.  We see God’s hand in all we do.  We see His presence all around us.  We feel Him wherever we are and whatever we do.  We are not in tune with the Spirit if we ever find ourselves asking, “Where is God in this?” or “How could God let this happen?”  In those times when we see injustice and hate, we ought to ask ourselves, “Where are we?” or “How could we let this happen?”  When we begin to focus on the unifying power of the Holy Spirit, suddenly our worldly differences matter less and less and we can stop gratifying those desires of the flesh and seek first the Spirit.  That’s the time when hate and injustice can be overcome.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the Spirit of Life.  Rejoice in the renewal of your own Spirit through His Love and Care for you.  Pray that you would seek His Spirit always and embrace God in your life.  Let your life be a testimony of His Love.  In all things, seek the Spirit first.

Breathe God In

John 8:31-32—Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Freedom, at least by one definition, means “exemption from external control, interference, regulation.”  How does belief in Jesus free us from external control, interference, and regulation?  We know that God sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us and in us. We also know that the in the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God.  So, when we seek His Word, we ask the Holy Spirit to enter us and become one with us.  God wants to be that intimate with us – He wants to know us inside and out.  He wants to be an essential part of us.  When He is in us, when we abide in His Word and His Word in us, we are free because there is nothing external that can possibly matter anymore.  Everything of import, everything of substance, is within.  And that is true freedom.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, breathe in the Holy Spirit.  Pray for God to infuse you.  Call out to Him.  With every breath, take in more of God and release more of you.  

Just a Call Away

Jeremiah 33:3—Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Have you ever felt at a loss?  Perhaps you didn’t know the answer to a problem, or you were feeling frustrated with a situation, or you had a medical or family circumstance that worried you.  God says that when we call on Him, He will talk to us.  He has promised to reveal Himself to us if we just ask.  In the midst of turmoil and adversity, sometimes we forget to ask, though.  Sometimes we forget how to listen.  It’s amazing how our bodies and minds can run away from us when we are feeling stressed.  Just recently, I realized in yoga that I hold my breath anytime I do a difficult posture.  The more I pay attention to my breath, the more I realize that I tend to hold my breath anytime I’m facing any sort of challenge.  If I’m forgetting to even breathe, chances are that I’m forgetting to call on God, too.  It takes effort sometimes to remember that God is indeed there for us, and that He wants to take care of us.  He will provide a way, and He will reveal the answers we need.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the Breath of Life.  Pray that He would infuse you with His Breath so that His Wisdom might permeate every inch of your being.  Call on God to reveal Himself to you.  Whatever your questions, lay them at His Feet and ask Him to give you answers.  

Hopelessly Flawed

Matthew 7:3-5—“Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

Why is it so difficult for us to look inside ourselves and be honest about our flaws?  So many people I know walk around as if they are infinitely perfect in a world full of hopelessly flawed people.  To be sure, each of us is hopelessly flawed, and none of us is perfect.  So, why is it easy to ignore our own faults while we dwell on those of others?  When we become preoccupied with other people’s flaws, we breed negative emotions like hate, jealousy, envy, pride, and judgment.  Not only do we hurt ourselves by allowing these negative emotions to live within us, but we also fail to show the compassion we all desire.  Don’t we all want someone who is compassionate and merciful to overlook our own shortcomings?  Maybe that is why it is hard for us to be honest with ourselves – we are so used to being judged by others for our inadequacies that we need some compassion, even if it just comes from within.  If we start treating others with the compassion we wish to receive, soon, that compassion will overshadow any faults we possess.  Soon, that compassion will be the only thing that other people can see because it will speak to their most essential needs.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His Compassion.  Rejoice in His Love for us.  Pray that He would fill you with compassion for others so that all those around you would feel His Love through you.  Ask Him to remove all judgmental thoughts that push others away so that you can be truly intimate with your fellow man, and in turn grow ever more intimate with Him.

'Tis Better to Be Kind than Right

Colossians 3:12—As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Recently I heard someone say, “It is better to be kind than to be right.”  So often, we get caught up in what we want, in what we believe, in what we want to control.  And we lose the ability to empathize and understand another perspective.  We are all linked, we are all connected.  Throughout the New Testament, Jesus tells us to love others, and we demonstrate love through kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  The next time we feel the urge to insist on our own way, we should hearken to Christ’s message and remember that it is indeed better to be kind than to be right.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His kindness and love.  Rejoice in the compassion, mercy, and grace He shows for His Creation.  Pray that God would fill your heart with kindness.  Ask Him to fill you with patience so that you can let go of any desires to be right and replace those with the desire to be kind.

Got Wisdom?

1 Corinthians 3:18-21—Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours.

Back over the summer, one of my friends who is atheist arrogantly sneered, “I don’t need to believe in God – I get why some people might need that, but I’m not so insecure that I need to.”  This person is a very intelligent and accomplished person, and her words made me feel sad for her because she is allowing her mind to interfere with her heart.  This passage in Corinthians is speaking to just this type of worldly wisdom.  There are times when we are tempted to think we know best.  We might even believe that God is out of touch with modern society.  That God’s way could never work in our day and age.  But God is wiser than we could ever dream of being.  What we think we know is foolish compared to how God knows.  We must be ever diligent and take great care to avoid relying on our own understanding.  Instead, we must lean into God, trusting God, listening to God, and living the life God has laid out for us.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, ask God to reveal those areas of your life where you lean more toward worldly wisdom.  Ask Him to replace those thoughts with His Wisdom.  Pray that you would be flooded with the Holy Spirit and infused with spiritual understanding.  Rejoice that God abides in you and pray that your life is a testimony to His Love for you.

God Imitator

Ephesians 5:1-2—Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

What a challenge to be an imitator of God!  It’s hard to live in love sometimes.  It can be exhausting to put others first and love them, especially when you might not be feeling loved in return.  As humans, we tend to justify our acts of withholding love from others.  We might say they are undeserving.  Or that they have hurt us, so now we can hurt them.  We might make them a pariah because their behaviors don’t conform to our standards.  We might exclude others who do things we don’t like.  But if we think about Jesus’ example, he never ever did that.  Every single time the disciples tried to protect him by keeping others away, he rebuked them and said, “No!”  He wanted the people to come to Him.  The children, the prostitutes, the lame, the sick, the poor, the sinful.  He surrounded Himself with the outcasts of society, and He showed them love when no one else could or would.  That is what it means to be an imitator of God.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, worship God as the lover of all mankind.  Take a moment to listen to “Unlovable” by Plumb and let those words speak to your soul.  Declare your desire to imitate God and pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and lead your every action.  

Be Disciplined

1 Peter 1:13—Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.

Spiritual growth, like growth of any kind requires discipline.  For example, if want to grow our minds, we must be disciplined in our studies.  We must read, write, reflect, question, and ponder.  We must be diligent in setting aside time to learn.  If we want to grow healthy bodies, we must be disciplined about what we eat, how we exercise, and how much we sleep.  The same is true of spirituality.  We must set aside time to read God’s Word, meditate, and pray.  We must be disciplined and intentional about building loving relationships with others so that we can grow a loving relationship with Christ.  When we lead disciplined lives, we create room for miracles because we don’t have chaos fluttering about.  Discipline creates space for God to transform us into new creatures.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, commit to creating building in discipline to foster your spiritual growth this New Year.  Praise God for His grace and mercy.  Rejoice in the renewing of your spirit and open your heart to receive the Holy Spirit.

New Life in the New Year

Monday:  Isaiah 1:16-17—Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

The New Year is a time to set new goals and resolve to live better.  It’s a time for spiritual cleansing and resetting to begin anew.  It marks the time when the days are becoming longer once again and we are making our way toward Spring and a time of new life.  God does not call us to be perfect, but He does call us to connect with him through our handling of others.  We are to be good and kind, seeking justice for the oppressed.  We are supposed to help people who can’t help themselves, even when they might be behaving in ways we don’t like.  We might not agree with their ideologies.  We may not understand why they do what they do.  But our calling is not to understand them – our calling is to rescue, defend, and plead for them.  We are to love them through our actions.  Jesus came to reconcile us to Him, and He came for every single person on this Earth.  So, it’s never our place to shut anyone out for any reason.  Our only responsibility is to show love through our actions.

Today as you pray and meditate on God’s Word, praise Him as the God of inclusion.  Thank Him for including you in His great plan on this Earth.  Commit yourself in this New Year to be a beacon of light for Him.  Seek out justice actively and be good to everyone around you – especially those who are more challenging to love.  Rejoice in God’s unconditional love for you and share that love to all those around you.

3 Ways to Snuggle Up with God

Psalm 56:1-4—Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

A great paradox of life, is that as we grow in faith, the persecutions in our life often increase, too.  One of the many reasons for this is that the people around you, the world, your friends, and your family, often will not understand your transformation.  They are used to interacting with you in a certain way, but as a Christian you have been changed in a way that you can never completely go back to who you were.  Change is frightening for people – it rocks their world.  Even if they are happy for you, they may lash out when they don’t know how to relate to you anymore.  God offers us solace and peace when we are persecuted.  How does He do this?  There are at least 3 ways we can curl up in God’s arms.  1. Read His Word. He offers us comfort through His Word by revealing how many others throughout time have endured many of the same persecutions we endure even now.  God never left their sides, and He will never leave ours either.  2.  Relate to others who know Him.  I have found over the years that God always places exactly the right person in my path.  There are times when you might feel afraid or anxious, and God brings along an old friend or a new relationship that reveals the Holy Spirit to you in such a special way.  The Holy Spirit moves through all kinds of circumstances and uses others to ease our spirits.  We are really not alone, and we can feel surrounded in His Love by being open to the love He sends us through certain people.  3.  Pray.  Prayer is not just a time when we are talking to God.  Prayer is a conversation with God.  A conversation necessarily involves give and take, talking and listening.  God does speak to us during our prayers if we are silent and listen.  Finding a quiet place in our mind is essential to hearing God.  Sometimes, He will even talk to us in our sleep through dreams or in that half-awake place late at night or early in the morning.  As Christians, we should train ourselves to listen to God when we pray so that we might find comfort, peace, and illumination.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for His abiding comfort and peace.  Pray that He would reveal Himself to you through the Holy Spirit.  Thank Him for making you different through the blood of His Son, and praise Him for the persecutions that push you closer to Him.  Ask Him to make you fearless in His Power and to fill you with His Love.

Seeking Approval

2 Timothy 2:15—Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

What glory awaits us in this New Year?  Only time will tell as God reveals Himself perfectly to us in His own divine way.  Our task as Christians is to continually seek Him.  We have been blessed with a great gift of truth, but we must study His Word to know Him and understand His truth ever more clearly.  In all we do, we should ask if we are bringing glory to God and honoring Him with the choices that we make.  Will we always get it right?  Of course not – if we could always get it right, there would be no point to having a God.  We will always need his grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.  But the point is that we ought to try, and in trying we grow increasingly intertwined with His Divine Love.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, contemplate how well you know God.  Resolve to know Him better in this New Year.  Discover in yourself a person worthy of His approval, and pray for the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit the whole year through.  Give thanks to God for His steadfast love, and pray that He would continue to reveal His truth to you as you grow in your personal relationship with Him.