Long Look…

     Brave comes when words are controlled.

Brave is often defined as bold actions, but perhaps its more that fruit of the Spirit: self-control. More harm has come to weary hearts from sharp tongues than from actual punches.

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24 NIV)

Jesus always looked long into the eyes and heart of those He encountered. He made that connection before He spoke. What if in this world we looked long enough to see the soul before we judged? This will not happen much on this side of eternity, but maybe if it happened a little more often brave would come without fear. Courage would be found in en-courage-ment. Words meant to give courage instead of cause division.

Palm Sunday is a few days away – it commemorates Jesus riding into Jerusalem receiving the praise of the people along the way. But those with the power to help or harass wanted praise only for themselves. Words were used for lies and treachery and the One who came to redeem and heal, was betrayed.

As we prepare to celebrate Easter we must remember His story is: Come, See and Go, Tell. Take a long look into the life of the One whose words healed hearts and beckoned us to go tell all about the good news.

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT) Oh we are a work in progress but with each triumph blessing will come not only to the hearer but to our weary hearts as well.

Come, see, look long – go, tell; your Savior reigns and He will return for you…

If you stopped by because you read my devotion today over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME!   So glad you are here!

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Unfailing…

     His love endures f o r e v e r……… This morning a few months old kitten showed up at our back door. His little bell and collar told me he belonged to someone, but right then he wanted to belong to me.

Purring and stretching he worked his way into my being in less than thirty seconds. BUT I already have a kitty and I do not need another one. So I shall have to put up pictures of him and try to reunite him with whoever loves him already.

Voices want to tell us daily that we are alone, that we are not wanted, that we don’t matter. Unlike this sweet kitty, when we wander off, we don’t leave the presence of the One who is in us and promises to always be with us. Even when we shut out the sound of His calling, even when we can’t seem to find our way.

“In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free.” (Psalm 118:5 NIV) Who else can we call out to in whatever our need and be answered with freedom? Freedom from? “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 NIV) Freedom from being afraid…

Though fear may surround me – being afraid is not my captor. I am captured and free in the answers of the voice that calls my name, ‘Dear one’, ‘Beloved’. He calls and I breathe in and rest in the embrace of His promises: ‘I am with you’ ‘I will never leave you’ ‘I hear you when you call’ ‘You will search for me and You will find me’. “May Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant.” (Psalm 119:76 NIV)

“He’s in us & with us & for us & He is enough, … and His absolute perfect love for us kicks all you …Lying Fears right to the curb.” Ann Voskamp

Let’s comfort those who wander our way and sing together: “God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to You; unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours.” (Psalm 62:11-12 NLT)

Hearing is…

     The old saying ‘seeing is believing’ is no longer true in our day – with computer generated everything, models transformed from their already lovely selves into unreal works someone believes beauty to be, and with deceit the ‘go to’ marketing ploy – seeing is not believing.

But hearing is blessing “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3 NIV)

In our noisy world we hear a lot these days. So many voices convincing us that we ‘deserve’ this, or that tolerance of evil is compassion, or that outright lies are truth. It’s like the wizard in Oz: ‘Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain’ – pay no attention to truth that sets you free.

Only in hearing Him can we find what we need. We think we have many needs, but we have only One – His blessing. With that, whether good things happen or grief things happen, we can be sure He holds us through it all. He tells us He blesses us: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3 NIV)

Catch that? Not that He will bless us, that He has and does. I can Live Brave if I can grasp: day in and day out my Father withholds no good thing from me – because someday, forever will be where I am and eternity has no bad things. This is a truth I need to hear and I need to share.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” (Psalm 84:11 NIV) I’m not blameless, I blow it everyday, but when my Father sees me, He sees the blameless One who shed His blood for me so that my walk can be blameless…

Without His blessing we have nothing but what the world has to offer, what we can grab. Looking around I don’t think that’s working out too well. Hearing is blessing, take it to heart…

If you stopped by because you read my devotion over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME!   So glad you are here!

October 18, 2014 No Regrets…

     A boy just on the verge of manhood was taken away by strangers one day – many of his older brothers watching and not trying to help. He was taken to a far away country and sold as a slave. The master of the home he worked in was a shrewd business man and quite wealthy, yet he treated his servants fairly. The master took notice of the boy right away and after a few years when he had proved himself to be the most trustworthy of  the servants, the master put him in charge of all his affairs. Now the young man had become quite handsome and well built during his years of labor –  the master’s wife wanted him to notice her. She tried to make him her lover, but he was a man of integrity and refused. Spite-filled she lied to her husband and the young man was carted off to jail for supposedly taking advantage of his master’s wife…

Sometimes we can do everything right and still wind up not smelling like roses – this world has a way of twisting truths so that the lies are what is believed and truth is buried. Living Braver requires us to refuse the offers of temporary gratification so we don’t live with regrets – which fuels our fears. Regrets for the times we were less than honest, for falling for the ‘everybody else is doing it’ jingle, for putting self before others… and being found out.

If we are Living Braver not in our own strength but in His, then we can believe that this living we do is not about our happiness but about our holiness. ‘ Wait, you say, me holy? Not even close.’  You’re right, not even close on our own but we are not on our own. “…We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10 NIV) Happiness living leads to regret living which leads to fear living.

Living Braver is finding joy even in the absence of happiness so that we can walk in integrity straight into the arms of our loving Father. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12 NIV) Clothed in those attributes is the opposite of what the world wants to clothe us in, come out of the world…