1.  Promises Promises

   When I lived in New York, my Mom flew up  for a visit.  and I took her to the Broadway Play, Promises, Promises.  I’m sure you remember back in the day Dionne Warwich belting out the song on the radio about the guy who never kept them. 

   Thankfully, there are promises in the Bible which we can be assured that God Himself is ‘faithful to perform’ on our behalf (I Thess. 5:24).  Always.  But as we grow older, we can remember lots of promises kept and some that were broken by others.  The used car salesman, our teen children begging to use the car, marriage vows and on and on.  Yet with our age, hopefully comes some degree of wisdom and being able to discern who is and who is not trustworthy a little better than when we were first starting out in life. 

   Yes, we may feel new places seemingly daily that our arthritis has kicked in, or higher and higher orthopedic bills.  We may fondly recall the days of boundless energy and non-stop activity.  But these later years have a quiet peace that surpasses all those things.  For He has told us, In this world, you WILL have trouble (needing to up the blood thinner, deaths of friends and loved ones, wrinkles and thinning hair), but be of good cheer.  I have overcome the world (with all its troubles, cares and concerns).   John 16:33.

   So the next time we hear the sales spiel for a new washer, or the voice on the phone insisting they really are with AT&T, let’s just remember that we have God’s promise to give us ‘the mind of Christ’ (I Cor. 2:16) as well as asound mind (2 Tim 1:7).   His love is boundless and His mercies are new every morning.  Great is His faithfulness! (Lam. 3:23).

   (era)  (NKJ used in all passages

2.  MEMORIES

   It seems the older I get, the more I find myself remembering events from my childhood.  The people I knew, not only family, but teachers, neighbors, church friends.  Things I did, like beach trips, marching band, church camp.  Good fun memories and some that are not so great. 

   Scripture tells us what things we are to think on in Phil. 4:8.  We actually have 8 different kinds of things to choose from.  They are the things that are:  true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good reports, virtues, and praises.  God didn’t want our days to be depressing thinking of all the wrongs we’ve suffered—we can do that easily without God’s help.  But He wants us to remember all the blessings we’ve enjoyed along our way.  It may take effort on our part, but with practice it surely makes life more inspiring!

   Yes, we could all compare notes on how long our labor lasted, how we were served divorce papers, our children’s rebellion and the list is endless.  Afterward we would likely be depressed and nothing has changed. 

     Instead, the Lord has given us these eight choices to dwell on of all the times He has blessed us and blessed our families…happy times of celebration, fun on the beach, new babies being born, and so many other things He has accomplished on our behalf.

   So the next time you’re complaining in your thoughts, take a moment, forgive the people involved and choose one thing from your list of 8 choices.  You’ll be singing along with Barbara Streisand, “Memories, light the corners of my mind.”  (era)

3.  Speak Up!

A book I read many years ago contained a profound truth.  One whole page was dedicated to a single sentence in large, bold print.  It said, “THOSE WHO WILL GOSSIP TO YOU WILL GOSSIP ABOUT YOU.”  At the time, I knew I needed to examine my own heart.  You see, I was not courageous enough to stop a person who would tell me something negative about another person.  I didn’t want to be seen as being rude or unfriendly…that mattered to me more than doing what my heart was convicting me to do – walk away.  Instead, I stupidly smiled and would say, “Well, ok.”  Not exactly representing the Lord, our God. 

   As Christians, many times we don’t like to be confrontational.  It’s just easier to go along and not address many things in our society that would have shocked us twenty years ago.  Things that were hidden from polite society such as abortion and homosexuality.  That’s not to say we should be rude or accusatory—we’re all sinners.  We should do this with humility and with kindness.  Yet today, the pattern is to not even acknowledge that the sin we see is even sin fearing we’ll be seen as hateful. 

   Think of the woman caught in adultery (John 8).  Jesus called it what it was:  sin and yes, it was even deserving of death according to the laws at that time.  Yet, he was gentle and caring.  He restored her. 

   Now we just accept the sin and perhaps pray.  Is it enough?  Like the bracelet says, “What would Jesus do?”  He’s shown us exactly throughout scripture what He’d do.  Let’s commit to being brave enough to simply follow His example with His love.

(era)

4. Safe Place

As a substitute teacher, I have the privilege of seeing what goes on in many classrooms in our area.  Recently, I was in a second grade classroom in Hoover.  There were colorful signs on the wall which were rules to follow for the students.  One said, ‘We pledge to apologize and forgive’.  As I read down the list I thought, ‘Wow, what a safe place to come every day.  The more I read that list, the more I realized what a safe place we have when we come to our church…the list of that class was much the same that we find here at Metro.  Loving people doing their part to be sure everyone feels loved, accepted and included.  Some of the other pledges said: 

   We treat each other with respect.

   We stick up for one another

   We listen to one another

   We include everyone

   We help each other

   We use kind words

   We never give up on one another.

How blessed it is to have a place where these attributes are kept along with many others.  Where not only are we loved and included, but cherished by the Lord God Himself.  Let’s praise Him for this blessing!

(era)

                          5.  The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned In Life

   We know about Romans 8:28, how all things work together for our good as Christians.  In the hard times we just have to trust in this truth and in God’s goodness to accept this.  But one thing I know:  God does not allow anything that He cannot heal.  In our lives we sometimes see terrible things that happen daily around the world.  We may ask the Lord how He could allow this devastation to happen.  We’ve had friends who’ve had abusive childhoods, maybe know someone who’s been a victim of a horrific crime.  We’ve watched tsunamis violently wash away property and people.  Yet while we don’t understand, we know there is a purpose. 

   So, how marvelous, when we are in Heaven that Jesus may very well show us the story of each person that was affected in the storms of life, then take us through that story to its end.  He’ll show us the final beautiful page of how He has worked it out for that person’s best.  Or how the tragedy caused the lost soul to look up and receive something far more valuable than what they suffered on that day of trials.  God is trustworthy…and He is good.  Good in the good times—good in the hard times.  He allows nothing that He cannot and will not heal if we allow Him to do so. 

   So, when the unexpected comes into your life, rest in knowing that God your Father really does know exactly what He’s doing.  Some day in Heaven, we’ll be so delighted to see that those things were the best thing, maybe the only thing, that could have blessed us in ways beyond our current understanding.  He loves us enough to see us through, to grow us, and to change us into His likeness.  Let’s give thanks in all things.

                                                6.   The Butterfly

   When my daughter, Elizabeth Anne, was 3, she once ran into the house showing me a beautiful butterfly she’d caught…and whose wing she’d accidently torn almost completely off.  I told her it was ok but now it could no longer fly.  I said we’ll leave it in the living room for now and that God would take His beautiful creature to Heaven to be with Him. 

   Later that day as I passed by the living room, I saw a baseball shaped wad of something black on the sofa.  I carefully peeled back the electrical tape to see the dead butterfly.  Elizabeth Anne had felt so badly that she wanted to fix it by taping the wing back on.

   Isn’t that like us?  Sometimes we want to help God and we begin to fix things.  Think of Sarah trying to fix her barrenness by loaning her handmaid to her husband (Gen 21:8-21).  Peter tried to fix the tense situation in the garden by cutting off the priest’s ear (John 18:10).  We can all look back and see times when we didn’t wait on God or trust in His faithfulness.

   Like I said yesterday, God never allows something HE cannot heal, or fix.  And the even better news is He Wants To!  Even more than us!  Our Father knows precisely what He is doing and why.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He has our best interests at His very heart.  Jesus is worthy of our trust. 

   When something goes wrong, we need to ask:  Is the Lord wanting me to step in?  Or does He want me to wait and see what He will do.  Chances are He’s handled this same situation before, and He knows where we are if He needs our help.  He knows how to call our name.  And we, as His sheep, hear His voice. 

   The old saying is we have two ears and one mouth.  Let’s spend time listening for His voice before we begin our fixing. 

7.  Let It Go!

   I have tons of funny stories about my kids when they were very small.  Elizabeth Anne doesn’t mind my telling them. 

   Elizabeth Anne loved her food.  One day, as a one-year old, she was enjoying breakfast.  She had a piece of Vienna sausage in one hand and part of a biscuit in the other.  Then, I placed a piece of cheese on her high-chair tray. She looked from one hand to the other over and over.  She wanted that cheese but didn’t have a third hand to pick it up with.  No way was she letting go of her other food.  She breathed a large sigh, opened her mouth wide and dove into the tray to retrieve it with her mouth!

   Well, it was pretty funny, but sometimes I see people unwilling to let go of hard things in their past so they can move on and enjoy God’s freedom and blessings—we want the blessings, just don’t make us face the reality of our part in the disagreement.  Don’t require that we forgive unjust things that happened to us.  Don’t ask us to forget any of the details or stop dwelling on it over and over.  Don’t make us, like the song says in Frozen, Let It Go.

   I once knew a woman whose divorce had been finalized over 30 years previously.  Never once, out of all the conversations we had, did she ever not mention how awful her husband was!  I said one morning before church, “These donuts they’re serving today are so good!”  She replied, “Any time I’d eat a donut, my husband blah blah blah.”  I’d stopped listening.  My enjoyment of the donut was over.  Let It Go.

   I know another woman who has made a living in the telling and retelling of her sad childhood.  She uses it as her Get Out Of Jail Free card when she makes a mess of her life.

   How much more would we enjoy life if we could, like God, forgive and forget a little bit better.

   Yesterday and the day before I said in these devotionals that God never allows anything He cannot heal.  He never allows anything He doesn’t desire to heal.  Today, I’ll add, “Anything, no matter how brutal, when we allow Him to heal it, can be used for His glory!” 

   He, really, really, for sure, no doubt about it, knows what He’s doing!  In all things.  He’s good all the time and all the time He is SO SO good!

(era)  For more stories see my blog:  www.erajodevotions.wordpress.com