No Baby, I Like Mine Hot!

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of My mouth"- Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV).

There is a scene in the movie "War Room," where an elderly woman asks a younger woman about her church attendance and her prayer life. The younger woman smiles and says she attends church often, that she doesn't pray all the time, but she assured the older woman she knows the Lord. The elderly woman ended up serving the younger woman room-temperature coffee, because that was the condition of the younger woman's spiritual life. The older, wiser, woman told her a person's spiritual condition was either hot or cold, no one likes lukewarm. Today's Scripture confirms that lukewarm is unacceptable to God; a lukewarm spiritual life ends up being spit out of God's mouth. We don't want lukewarm coffee, lukewarm love, lukewarm service, or lukewarm comfort; we wouldn't tolerate such in our life. Should God be happy, then, with lukewarm spirituality from His children? Occasional church attendance, sporadic Bible reading, skimpy prayer life, and the absence of Jesus in our day-to-day life are examples of being lukewarm. The younger woman, after the first sip of her coffee, raised her eyebrows and asked the elderly woman if she liked her coffee lukewarm. The older woman said, "No Baby, I like mine hot!" Examine your spiritual life. Is it hot? Because, God likes it hot!

Intentional Listening

"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put My trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life"- Psalm 143:8 (NIV).

Sometimes, my prayers, are completely one-sided. I do all the talking. As a young girl, my Girl Scout leader used to plan team building activities for us girls. Trying to build trust, we would rearrange a room of furniture, add a few obstacles, blindfold a girl, who hadn't been part of the stage setup, and then have a fellow scout lead her through the obstacle course using only her voice. The blindfolded scout had to intently listen, little talking, and move slowly. It wasn't designed to see who could get through the obstacle course the fastest, it was all about relational building and strengthening. We learned to listen and trust the voice, did only what the voice said, and we made it across the room. Our lives sometimes feel like that rearranged room. We have to cross unknown terrain and we're just not equipped for the journey. We can't be one-sided in our prayers, or impatient; because, hurrying is not wise, nor the most pain free course of action. We need guidance, which only comes through praying and listening intently for God's voice, then applying His directions. We overcome obstacles when we trust His unfailing love and entrust Him with our lives. It is at our most challenging moments that we need to make a choice: intentional listening or turning a deaf ear. 

Careless In His Care

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you"- 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV).

Do you know how you should live in God's care? Careless; you should live careless in His care. I don't mean dangerously, I mean care-less. I watched an episode of Friends where Phoebe went to run with Rachel. Their running styles were very much different. Rachel ran with visible control of her direction, body, breathing, and appearance. She did not look like she was having fun. She looked like she was laboring. Phoebe, well, Phoebe ran like a child runs. Arms were flailing around, strides were not mechanical, and she was smiling and laughing. She made it look fun, because she was having fun. She didn't fit in with the other runners, which embarrassed Rachel, but Rachel eventually tried Phoebe's approach to running and was excited to find out how much more fun running was when she ran carelessly... all anxiety abandoned. Paul compared our lives to finishing a race: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). We should run our race, as Phoebe ran, careless. Run your race careless in His care. Others will perceive your running, try it, and find out careless is the answer.   

Bugs Anyone?

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus"- Philippians 4:19 (NIV).

Motion, yesterday, caught my attention. It turned out that the Mockingbird fledglings had left their nest in the shrub outside my office window; all three of them were relentlessly chasing down a parent bird begging to be fed. He didn't feed any of them, no matter how loud they cried or how hard they wiggled. Instead, he kept leading them to bugs and then fly off. At first, I felt sorry for the youngsters, but I eventually caught on: The parent bird was feeding them. How many times have I prayed, thinking God was not answering my prayers; regardless of my crying and wiggling. Here's an example: Our house was robbed in 1986. I can't begin to tell you the emotional prayers that crossed my lips. Then, our adoption came through unexpectedly and a baby daughter was placed in my arms. Amazingly, we had the money for the legal fees: the insurance money from the robbery. Faith boils down to trust: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). Keep praying; even when it's crying and wiggling. Our Heavenly Father, loves us and provides all our needs...even if it's bugs. 

Pressing On

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze"- Isaiah 43:2 (NIV).

The clouds were the blackest clouds my husband and I had ever seen. We were driving home from North Carolina, having celebrated my birthday, when we ran into torrential rainfall. Cars, transfer trucks, and other vehicles were either pulling off to the side or driving 5-10 miles per hour, emergency flashers going, when it all came to a complete stop. Our phone alarms went off saying I-26 was shut down due to 3' of flooding over the highway. Worry, no fear, began to creep in, but we prayed for God's help. Headlights started coming toward us, as a few cars struggled to get turned around and began driving back up using the emergency lane. They had to move to the side when emergency vehicles came from the other direction, one with a huge rubber raft. Lanes were shifting to accommodate the extra cars, because of the risk of getting stuck in the mud off the shoulder of the road. We couldn't remain there, so we joined in with those trying to backtrack from the flooding and made it to another route, though longer, toward home. The next off-ramp was blocked off due to mudslides. We pressed on, but another ten miles down the road found us at another complete stop; this time for a traffic accident. An hour later we passed the upside down car resting in the right-hand lane. We made it home safely around 1:00 am. The one-hour trip took four hours, but we were safely home. Praise the Lord! Today's verse came to mind. There may be storms, turmoils of all kinds, threatening you right now, but God will be with you. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). Press on courageously, trusting in God's strength.