Commited?

Commitment:

1. responsibility: something that takes up time or energy, especially an obligation

2. loyalty: devotion or dedication, e.g. to a cause, person, or relationship

I made a commitment on Wednesday night. It was a commitment to God. While kneeling at the altar and discussing with the Lord the things He had stirred up within my heart during the preaching, I made a commitment to Him. He told me if I was serious about this commitment, I ought to mark it. Write it down so it can be a reminder.

Isn't that what we do with most commitments these days? If you decide to go to college and put forth the time and effort and money, the end result of that commitment is reflected and remembered with a diploma? When two people decide to get married and commit themselves to one another, don't they also sign a marriage certificate? When you purchase a cell phone, a car, or a house, you sign a contract, which documents your commitment, right?

Yeah, God gave me some pretty convincing reasons on why I should document this commitment. He had good foresight (as always) too, because today, I needed a reminder of not just the commitment I made with Him the night before, but also a reminder of how I felt when I made that commitment.

I have had trouble sleeping lately (and by lately I mean for the past few months...) but last night was glorious! I slept like a log. All night. I don't remember when or if my alarm even went off this morning. If it did, I managed to turn it off...and continued to sleep. Until 7:27 am. (I usually leave for work at 7:30.) So I woke up and went into panic/frenzy mode all morning - got to work (just in the nick of time). Whew. Spent all day answering questions and taking on everybody else's problems. The day seemed to drag by slower and slower.

The last thing I wanted to do was rush home, change clothes and go street preaching.

But I made a commitment. A commitment to stand in the gap. A commitment to tell them. A commitment to not be ashamed...to not be afraid. A commitment to really, fully , whole-heartedly do what I can to fulfill my responsibility of the great commission.

But I had a headache. Actually, my whole head was throbbing.

But I made a commitment.

Could I really not hold up my commitment for 24 hours?

Shameful.

That's why I am glad I wrote down my commitment. I didn't have a choice. Headache or no headache. Comfortable or not. No matter if I was tired or energized, worn out and drained or pumped and ready to go...I made a commitment.

I opened this post with the definition of commitment and I want to be sure to address my purpose for doing so. Many these days do not hold up their commitments (take divorce rates for one example). People back out of their commitments all the time.

People including Christians. I am sure I am not the only one who has ever gone forward during an invitation and have knelt down and prayed with God and committed something to Him only to let some time pass and before you know it, that commitment is broken.

My commitment to go street preaching tonight fit into the first definition of responsibility. I made a commitment to those in charge of it that I was going to be there (obligation) and it took my time and energy to go. I am glad I did. It was worth every moment of my time.

But the main reason I went tonight, in spite of the throbbing headache and empty stomach that growled, was definition #2: loyalty: devotion or dedication, e.g. to a cause, person, or relationship

I desire to be loyal....to Him. to be devoted....to Him. to be dedicated.....to Him.

His cause becomes my cause. He is the one person I did it for. We often do things to be an example to others, which is great and needful, but first and foremost HE needs to be the person we do anything and everything for. Thirdly, I have a relationship with Him and by serving Him tonight by standing on a street corner holding a sign with His words on it, well, that was time I got to spend with Him. It was time that offered an opportunity for growth in our relationship. That opportunity would have been lost had I decided to not go and run my errands instead.

His cause is worthy. He is worthy. My relationship with Him is worthy.

"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5

I want to be committed.

A good word

The other day I was encouraged when someone gave me a good word. It wasn't much. It didn't take much effort on their part. They simply were walking by, saw me, said a little sentence of encouragement and they went on their way.

But that one sentence meant something to me.

It meant they said something, when they didn't have to. They could have kept on walking and never said a word. It means that they meant what they said. They noticed something about me or something I had done and they remarked on it. They went out of their way, for just a moment.

That person may not even recall what they said to me, but I have thought about it numerous times in the past few days. It reminded me of a verse from Proverbs
"Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad." Proverbs 12:25

We have the opportunity to take a heavy heart and make it glad...all it takes is a good word.

Who can you give a good word to this week? Do you know someone with heaviness in their heart?

My heart wasn't heavy at the moment of the conversation but I know it will be heavy at some point. It is at those moments when our "good words" come to mind. Good words that have been spoken to us and you know what, my heart does become glad when I think on and remember those good words.

Driver's Seat

You remember, being a kid and when you were going on a ride with your parents, one of your siblings always shouted out, "I call shotgun!"

I usually wasn't the quickest one. (It took me awhile to catch on to the rules of Shotgun.)

But as I was reading my Bible the other day, I came across this verse: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

It is a common verse, I know. But this verse is one of my favorites and as I meditated on it throughout the day, I decided to put it into my new category of verses that I am going to call Shotgun Verses. These are verses that remind me that through this life, I want shotgun!

I understand this thought goes contrary to what the world and what society teaches but I want God in the driver's seat....not me. I want Him to be in control. When storms come down the road, I'd rather be able to trust in Him to get me through safely (and He does...every. single. time.) I know that if I were in the driver's seat of my own life, if I were the one calling all the shots, setting the speed and deciding which turns to take, I would mess it up and who knows where I'd end up. I know I would for sure be lost and would probably be too proud to ask for directions.

But when God is behind the wheel, I can relax. First of all, it reminds me that I am not alone.
"Let your conversation be without covetousness: and be ye content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5

That's right. He promises in His word that He is and always will be there. I don't have to travel this road alone. I can be content and know that He is always there, right beside me.

Secondly, I can trust that we are going in the right direction.
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12
As humans, we think we know what is best for us, we think we know which way is right, which road to take and which direction to follow after but those ways only seem right to us. We ought to trust the navigation to the One who hold tomorrow and can see the road ahead, filled with obstacles, pot holes, pain, despair, joys and triumphs.
"He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness and honour." Proverbs 21:21
Follow His ways, and indescribable blessings will abound.

Thirdly, I can trust that when He is driving, all of life's major milestones will come to pass when He knows I am ready for them. "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him..." Psalm 37:7
Along the road, there are intersections, red lights, stop signs and dead ends but I can put my trust in Him to guide and direct me in the way He would have me to go. I can hop in the passenger seat and just go along for the ride. I can let Him worry about the weather conditions, I can let Him worry about the other drivers on the road, I can let Him choose the directions and the stops along the road.

"In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in thy righteousness." Psalm 31:1

He is good driver. A great driver. The best driver I know. He protects me, loves me and guides me. I call shotgun and when I get to Heaven, I know that with Him as my driver, He will "deliver me in thy righteouesness."

Fail

I haven't posted a new entry on here for too long.

They are written. Typed. Ready to go...well somewhat ready. They just haven't quite reach that point of completion or my satisfaction yet to be "publish worthy".

So, my lack of blog posts...fail.

Tonight, I experienced another fail.

I had to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get a few things. Shockingly, the check out line was really short. As I unloaded my 20 items or less, Sandra, the cashier greeted me with a very friendly "Hello!" (also shocking considering I am usually greeted with a grunt, if anything). I smiled and said, "Hello. How are you?"

4 simple words. That's all it took.

She seemed somewhat surprised at my response but she welcomed it and before I knew it we were having a pleasant chit chat. She commented on a movie I was buying, saying she hasn't seen it yet, I told her it was a a good watch. We continued chatting as she seemed to have a comment for each of my purchases and then it popped in my head, "Oh what a perfect opportunity to give her a tract and witness to her."

I scrounged around in my purse for a tract - nothing.

FAIL.

I hate when that happens. The Lord set up a perfect opportunity and I messed it up.

I am not the type of person who is really out-going and can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, just about anywhere. Nope. I am the type of person who, when there is dead silence on the car shop and I am waiting in the little room to have my name called, I pull out my phone and check Facebook or email or something.

So for this wide open opportunity to fall into my lap due to no effort of my own, rare yet ideal opportunity....blown.

*sigh*

So as I walked out of the store and meandered my way to my car 2 thoughts came to mind:

First was a memory of going with a group from church for lunch after a Sunday morning services just a few weeks ago. Okay, do you have the setting: it's a group of young people, in a restuarant, after a Sunday morning service. We had good interaction with the waiter and left a decent tip and yet as everyone got up from the table, I notice something was missing - no tract. Everyone checked - nope - not a single one of us had a tract on us.

Fail.

The second thought that came to mind : "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Peter 3:15

So, from now on, I am keeping a close eye on my supply of tracts. I need to ready at all times.

I do not want to experience this kind of fail again. I do not want to be empty-handed.

Peace

Being without peace is a miserable place.

You toss and turn at night. You have unrest. Dissatisfaction consumes you. You hear good news but are quick to find the inevitable bad that comes with it. Your world feels filled with gloom and you can't find the door to release it all.

Being without peace is a miserable place.

Luckily, there is always a door, always a window that can be opened to let the gloom out and peace come in.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:15

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3

I had been without peace lately. Honestly, there are many little reasons, many little things that I allowed to rob me of God's perfect peace. It's a dangerous place to be. I was miserable. I couldn't sleep. I would let the things get to me, roll around over and over in my mind and I couldn't shut it off. I was frustrated.

Isaiah 26:3 perfectly describes how I got to the miserable state of no peace - I got my mind off of Him. I took my mind off Christ, His will, His Word, His desires and I focused my mind on me - my problems - the things I do have that I don't want or the tings I want but don't have. It gave root to discontentment and resentment.

Just when I thought I was stuck in the rut though, His Word still penetrated my hardening heart.

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165

Through the preaching of His Word, I was reminded that He gives peace that passeth all understanding and I can claim that peace. I can grab it, hold onto it, trust it, rely on it and keep it. The verse from Psalms 119 reminds me of where I can always find it when I feel God's perfect peace begin to slip away or when I begin to let my mind and focus fall away from Him. Keep your mind on Him - keep His perfect peace.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:15

I am so thankful I can obtain God's perfect peace and let it rule me, my heart and my life. Are you experiencing God's perfect peace today?

Throwing out your fleece

I hate making decisions.

I am not good at decision-making. I toss and turn the possibilities around in my mind until the last possible minute. If I could, I would hire someone to make all my decisions for me. Then I realized, I already have a professional decision maker...

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Yep, I can trust in the Lord and lean on Him to guide an direct me in ALL ways of life.

This is one set of verses that are memorized quite often and for good reason. We need the constant reminder to not trust our own understanding, we have a tendency to make a mess of things (or I know I do at least) and need the reminder to trust Him will all things. It can be be easily memorized but not always so easily put to practice.

When considering this idea of decision making I thought of the story of Gideon. God wanted him to lead the army against the Midianites and Gideon thought that was a little hard to believe at first. So what does he do? He wanted to double check and make sure it was really God's will before he led hundreds of men into battle.

"Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water." - Judges 6:37-38

Pretty amazing, huh? Gideon, wanting to make sure God's direction was true, requested that God make the fleece wet over night an keep all the ground around it dry and the next morning, when Gideon woke up, that fleece was so soaked it filled a whole bowl full of water and the ground around it...bone dry!!

Well, it doesn't stop there.

"And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground." Judges 6:39-40

I love how God proves His will to Gideon through this simple fleece and through Gideon's simple requests. He is always there, we can take all our cares and decisions to Him and He has every answer that we need. And if we question it, like Gideon, even twice...He is patient and long suffering and willing to prove His direction for us.

God's will isn't a mystery that we must figure out like a jigsaw puzzle, nor do we have to search for it like hidden treasure. God will guide and direct us, as long as we are willing to trust Him and ask Him. And just to make sure, we can always through out our fleece...just to make sure!

Tolerance

The Bible tells us that in the last days, men will call good evil and evil good. I believe we are living in that time right now. We live in a time when sin is tolerated too much. It is now considered "normal" to live together before marriage, lying and cheating are no longer frowned but practically required in the business world. Sinful lifestyles are to be "accepted" nowadays and if you don't you are quickly labeled "intolerant".

Well, I am sick and tired of it and so is God.

But I can't change the world. I will let God take care of that (and He will). But one thing I can change is me.

As I thought about the word "tolerance" this week, I asked God to show me what He wanted me to learn about it. I have to admit, I don't quite think I was prepared for His answer.

Christian, before we get our bony, pointy finger of judgment in position and ready to aim it at the wicked and sinful world, we must get up and stand in front of a mirror and wave that bony finger at ourselves first.

That is what God told me about tolerance this week. What am I allowing or tolerating to permeate my life that God would not allow? The words I speak, would He tolerate them? The thoughts I think, would He tolerate them? The shows I watch, the music I listen to...would God tolerate any of it?

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written. Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 13-16

That is the highest standard imaginable, one of which I am always short of obtaining, however I must continually strive for.

God pinpointed something in my life this week though about this subject of tolerance. He highlighted the selection of music found on my iPod. Now, I have plenty of good music on there but there are some songs on there that don't need to be...songs that He would not tolerate and therefore, I should not tolerate. So this week, I am going through my iTunes and doing some much needed cleaning. After the iPod, I am know there are more areas of my life God will highlight and have me examine, but this blog is a devotional, not a confessional. :)

But I do ask you, Christian, take some time this week, or better yet, take some time today and ask God to help you examine your life. What are you tolerating? Would God tolerate it, too?