God is Faithful!

Old Faithful is why most visitors go to Yellowstone National Park. It's an impressive geyser that fits into people's lives because it sticks to a schedule. People can count on Old Faithful.

Since its discovery in the late 1870s, Old Faithful has awed tens of millions with its impressive 100-180 ft. column of water and steam. It has become the most famous geyser in the world.

Hundreds of people line up to get a glimpse of Old Faithful every hour and a half. (varies from 30 mins to 1-1/2 hrs) They want to see Old Faithful show up for a one to five minute appearance.

For all these years, Old Faithful has gone off and has always shown up.

In Exodus, God's people were hungry, thirsty, lost and confused. They had been brought out of Egypt, a place of slavery, death and imprisonment, but now they worried whether the God who delivered them out of Egypt would be faithful in keeping them alive in the desert.

The people started crying out to their leader, Moses, "We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve."  Exodus 16:3 CEV

With over a million mouths to feed, you probably get the idea of why this was such a big concern. Bringing home the bacon and faithfully providing for God's chosen people was a big job. The Israelites knew God could do amazing things, turning water into blood, parting the Red Sea, but unlike those miracles, feeding them wouldn't be a one-time miracle. It would have to be a consistent and faithful miracle.

Was their God not just powerful but also faithful? Would He choose to show up time and time again?

Well, the good news is God had an answer for the people.

"I will send bread down from heaven like rain. Each day the people can go out and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me." Exodus 16:4 CEV

The Israelites were happy enough with that at first, but only bread? Could God be counted on to bring home meat, not just bread? I mean, even prisoners get bread and water. Were the Israelites prisoners in the desert?

God answers their questions and doubts about His faithfulness and provision by telling Moses this,

"I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God." Exodus 16:12 CEV

That night literally tons of quail showed up for the Israelites to eat, and in the morning, the bread-like flakes called manna covered the ground.

The coolest part of this story to me isn't just the miracle that happened. It is the blessing of bread, water and meat happened every day for 40 years!

While the Israelites needed food in the desert, God provided them with this miracle over and over - faithfully - every day!

In spite of our lack of faith, God shows up in our lives ... because He is faithful even when we aren't!

He is Faithful!!

God Always Answers

 God always answers prayer, just not always the way we think He should or when...

When the idea is not right, God says, "No."

No - when the idea is not the best;

No - when the idea is absolutely wrong;

No - when though it may help you, it could create problems for someone else. 

When the time is not right, God says, "Slow."

What a catastrophe it would be if God answered prayer at the snap of your fingers;

Do you know what would happen? God would become your servant, not your master.

Suddenly God would be working for you instead of you working for God.

Remember, God's delays are not God's denials. God's timing is perfect.

Patience is what we need in prayer.

 When you are not right, God says, "Grow."

The selfish person has to grow in unselfishness

The cautious person must grow in courage

The timid person must grow in confidence

The dominating person must grow in sensitivity

The critical person must grow in tolerance

The negative person must grow in positive attitudes.

The pleasure-seeking person must grow in compassion for suffering people.

When everything is all right, God says, "Go." Then miracles happen!

...A hopeless alcoholic is set free!

...A drug addict finds release!

...A doubter becomes as a child in his belief.

...Diseased tissue responds to treatment, and healing begins.

...The door to your life suddenly swings open and there stands God saying, "Go!"

"I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands." (1 Timothy 2:8 AMP)  

God's Timing

"I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work. For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think." (Isaiah 55:8-9 The Message)

I heard a story which illustrates how we often confuse God's timing with ours. A country newspaper had been running a series of articles on the value of church attendance.

One day a letter to the editor was received in the newspaper office. It read, "Print this if you dare. I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of corn which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating on Sunday. I gathered the harvest on Sunday and hauled it to my barn on Sunday. I find that my harvest this October is just as great as any of my neighbors who went to church on Sunday. So where was God all this time?"

The editor printed the letter, but added his reply at the bottom. "Your mistake was in thinking that God always settles His accounts in October."

That's often our mistake as well - thinking God should act when and how we want Him to tact, according to our timeline instead of His. The fact that our vision is limited, finite, unable to see the end from the beginning, somehow escapes our mind. So we complain; we get frustrated and we accuse God of being indifferent to us - of not hearing us.

That's when God gently reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

God's timing is always perfect. He will do exactly what is best for us - in His own time - according to His wonderful plans for us, because He loves us so much. Wait! Be patient! His clock may show a different time than our clock, but His is the right time every time!

Annoint my head with oil.

 I have to admit, I always wondered what this part of Psalm 23 meant. I thought “He anoints my head with oil” was figurative language for God keeping the Psalmist healthy. I never knew this parallel.

Anoint my head with oil

“Sheep can get their head caught in briers and die trying to get untangled. There are horrid little flies that like to torment sheep by laying eggs in their nostrils which turn into worms and drive the sheep to beat their head against a rock, sometimes to death. Their ears and eyes are also susceptible to tormenting insects. So the shepherd anoints their whole head with oil. Then there is peace. That oil forms a barrier of protection against the evil that tries to destroy the sheep. Do you have times of mental torment? Do the worrisome thoughts invade your mind over and over? Do you beat your head against a wall trying to stop them? Have you ever asked God to anoint your head with oil? He has an endless supply! His oil protects and makes it possible for you to fix your heart, mind, and eyes on Him today and always! There is peace in the valley! May our good good Father anoint your head with oil today so that your cup overflows with blessings! God is good and He is faithful!!”

The Key to Victory

Philippians 3:13-14

The key to victory in 2021 is Philippians 3:13-14. Paul was using the illustration of a race to describe his life. He was in the home stretch, but he was still running the race; the race wasn’t over. He said, “I have not apprehended it yet.” – NOT YET!

Right behind this conjunction is one of Paul’s secrets to living. THIS ONE THING I DO! It’s the only time this particular phrase is used in the New Testament. Single-minded concentration on the things of God is essential to running the race of Christianity. You cannot be dwelling on other things as an athlete and give your best performance. Therefore, Paul says “this ONE thing I do.”

What is "This One Thing I do"?
"Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That's the key to victory in the Christian life. That's the key to victory for this time, for this day.

What do we need to forget?
Paul had learned that we have to lock the door on yesterday and throw away the key. He discovered that looking back almost always ends up going back. Let me repeat that... Looking back almost always ends up going back. In the Old Testament, we find the wandering Israelites ready to return to their old ways rather than pressing on. In the New Testament Jesus clearly taught us in Luke 9:62 that "no man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God's Kingdom."

4 THINGS WE NEED TO FORGET:

1. YESTERDAY'S MISTAKES
In his book "ENCOURAGE ME", Chuck Swindoll wrote a chapter titled, "The Fine Art of Blowing It". It begins like this, "It happens to every one of us. Teachers as well as students, cops as well as criminals. Bosses as well as employees. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries. The same is true of well-meaning architects and hard-working builders and clear-thinking engineers... not to mention pro ball players, politicians, and preachers. What? Making mistakes, that's what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity.

Everyone messes up. Everyone does stupid things. God says forget it! Leave them behind you. There are 3 things we are to do about yesterday's blunders:

1. Learn from them

2. Determine with God's help you aren't going to make the same mistake again

3. Forget them.

The enemy always wants to remind you and make you feel guilty for past mistakes - but God says: "Forget them. I have"! 

2. YESTERDAY'S HURTS
Life is a battlefield. On any battleground, injuries will occur and soldiers are going to get hurt. Sooner or later, someone is going to

...hurt you
...lie about you
...verbally or physically harm you
...misrepresent you

...chop you up in little pieces (not literally, of course)

...slander you

It's going to happen -- so what do you do?

You have two choices:

1. Allow the resentment and hate to build

2. Forgive and forget

    

You might say, but Lyne - 
... You don't understand

... You don't know how badly I've been hurt

... I was innocent. I didn't do anything wrong, but they hurt me. They lied about me.

... They hurt my feeling and didn't care. They criticized me even though I did nothing wrong.

... They talked about me behind my back.

... They cheated me, they rejected me, they hurt me really bad.

Believe me. God understands. Jesus was innocent, but they beat him, they tortured him, they mocked him, they crucified him. He didn't deserve it, but they did it anyway. On the cross He forgave them. On the cross, He provided salvation even for those who beat him, mocked him and crucified him. In order to press on in the Christian life, we, too, have to lock the door on yesterday's hurts.

3. YESTERDAY'S POSSIBILITIES

How often do we see people unable to operate in today because they are still living a "what if" life of yesterday? They keep talking about "what could have been" --"if I had only..." And very often they blame someone else

...if only my spouse hadn't...

...if only my parents (children) hadn't...

...if only my business partner had...

They even blame God - "if God would have... or if God wouldn't have..."

Build a bridge, and get over it!

We cannot live on yesterday's promises or yesterday's dreams. Too many people are dissatisfied with life because they've had an expectation of something that hasn't worked out. Paul is telling us - forget your past hurts, forget your past mistakes, and forget living with what might have been and finally...

4. YESTERDAY'S SINS

Billy Graham once said that 60% of all the patients in mental hospitals could go home if they would accept the fact that they are not guilty or that they have been forgiven.

So many people are carrying a burden of guilt of:

...A past mistake

...A moral failure

...A painful cut to a friend

...A physical hurt to someone

...A stupid, hateful remake

...A poor decision

...A sin so horrible they believe either God will not forgive them or they will not forgive themselves

***There is no sin, no matter how great or small, once it has been confessed and forgiven, the memory of it should torment us anymore.

See this ... Paul didn't say, "I've forgotten those things which are behind. Paul said, forgetting those things. He had learned the secret. There are some things in our memory that we will never fully forget. We have to keep practicing forgetting...

Guilt can eat us alive. Every time the memory comes back, every time a song or word or a smell or a picture or a person reminds us, we continue to practice forgetting. So how long do we have to practice forgetting?

...until the memory doesn't hurt anymore

...until we allow God to forgive us

...until we allow God to forgive through us

...until the pain is no longer there

...until we can use our past to help us grow in the present

...until we can use our past to help others in the present

God says in Jeremiah 31:34 "I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more."

Psalm 103:12 "I will remove their sin as far as the east is from the west."

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

It's time to:

    Lock the door on the past!

    Throw away the key!

    Forget where you threw it!

You're Not Home Yet

 An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated and discouraged.  They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.

No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.

As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong.  Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."

"Dear, you shouldn't feel that way", his wife said.  He replied, "I can't help it; it doesn't seem right."

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President's arrival. No one noticed this missionary couple.  That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly". His wife replied, "Why don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"

A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"

"The Lord settled it with me", he said. "I told Him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and simply said;  "But you're not home yet."
 
"But our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:20)

Oh to be loved like that!!

Yesterday one of my very sweet friends dropped by my office to visit and came bearing my very favorite brew of coffee! (In case you're ever in Ball Ground, Georgia, you have to stop in and try the Barrell Aged Coffee House coffee! It's amazing!!) But back to what I wanted to share ...

During Ashley's visit, I reported that I had sold "Bertha" (my 2003 Suburban) and purchased "Sassy" (an Acadia Denali). She's "Sassy" because she gets sassy with me when I get too close to the road margins - she beeps at me! Right after I took ownership of her I knew she was going to be "Sassy". She's got all kinds of bells and whistles (most of which I still don't know what they're for), so there's a "ding" here and a "ding ding" there any time I don't do what she thinks I should! Seriously!

But that's not the point of this post. During our conversation yesterday (a colleague joined us in the viewing of Sassy), I noted that I had immediately applied my rear window decal "Proud USAF Mom". Ashley commented something to the effect of "like anyone who knows you would think you're not proud of that guy". I quickly pointed out it had been 54 days since I had hugged his neck. My colleague, Meredith, exclaimed, "Oh my, you actually know how many days it's been?!" "Of course, I said. I have a countdown app on my phone that can tell me to the minute how long it's been." And here's what got me ... Ashley said, "Oh! To be loved like that!"

All afternoon that resounded in my heart - my sweet friends, we ARE loved like that! God knows exactly how long it's been since you hugged HIM in prayer, in song, worship or any other way that you choose to love on Him. It matters to HIM! YOU matter to HIM!

With tears rolling down my face I loved on HIM, my God, my maker, my rescuer, all the way home last night. I just couldn't get over how much He loves us like that!! How long has it been since you thought about how much He loves you like that!?

Think about it.