Be a Job

“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” – Job 42:12-15

I heard this passage the other day when I was listening to my through the Bible in a year. I have not been able to get this out of my head. So, I have been pondering why in the world would God lay these particular verses and this particular instance on my mind day after day?

It’s a rather obscure concept to have stuck in your head. Yes, we have all heard the story of Job probably more times than we can count. We have all pondered Job and his reactions to his circumstances and questioned why in the world would he tolerate such unsupportive “friends”. Yet, not too often do we consider Job’s daughters.

We know that the first 3 daughters were killed in a tragic accident with their 7 brothers. And that’s about all we know about them. However, after Job perseveres through all his struggles and strife, we are told that he was blessed more at the end than at the beginning. He was blessed with 7 more sons and 3 more daughters. We are told that Job lived 140 more years after his trial. It’s not listed at how old he was when he died.

But let’s take a closer look at what we are told about his daughters. 1) We know their names. We have no clue what the names of the sons were, just the daughters. This is interesting to me because normally the sons are the ones listed. Daughters were usually considered a byword, in those days. However, the writer of Job, which many consider to be Moses, was led to identify these women specifically. 2) We are told of their unsurpassed beauty. Now, why is this important? I have no clue. I’m guessing that with great beauty came great respect and admiration. Maybe this beauty was a reflection of the high regard that God had for Job? I’m just guessing here. But for whatever reason, the writer of the book felt it was very important to speak of their beauty. 3) They received an inheritance when Job died. Now, this is HUGE! We have to remember context of time here. Women, in these days, were rarely given an inheritance by their father. They had a dowry and that was about it. They were not educated and were often thought of as second class citizens. These women were respected and perceived as worthy of obtaining and managing an inheritance.

So what does this have to do with me, you might ask.

Why do you think that these women were so blessed? Is it something that they did? Is it because they were considered beautiful by everyone?

I think it is because of the faithfulness of their father. Job was a righteous man. He lived his life boldly and above reproach. He wasn’t afraid to go through the trials with God because he knew that one day he would see his Redeemer victorious over all his current and future problems. He wasn’t afraid to be frank and honest with God. He knew when he messed up and went too far and was wise enough to ask for forgiveness.

You may think that your life effects no one else but yourself. You are wrong. Your life reaches beyond your fingertips and extends past your line of sight. Your actions, your words, your choices reach way beyond you. It touches generations after you. Just as you are shaped by the ones who came before you – by their experiences, by their choices, by their decisions – so you effect those that come after you.

What message are you sending to future generations? Are you making your mark on those around you for a positive change or are you infusing negativity into your future?

Be a Job.

Ain’t God Good!

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Neither have entered into the heart of man, The things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-12

As a little girl, I loved to sing at church. One of the songs that I vividly remember singing is the old song – “Ain’t God Good”. The chorus, that I sang, goes like this –

Ain’t God Good To give us so many blessings. Undeserving that’s what we are. We ought to, thank Him, love and praise Him A little more today, A whole lot more tomorrow.

I haven’t been very good about reading my Bible lately. That’s a me problem but they say confession is good for the soul – so there it is. And obviously, I haven’t been very good about writing my blog (see above).

But here I am, after reading my verses for today, I had to write. God was just like – Here you go. Make it happen.

Oh my, the blessings in my life. I cannot begin to count or describe them. We are getting close to the closing on our house (can I get a hallelujah!!). And as I go day by day, I see His hand more and more. And truthfully, it isn’t necessarily seen in the completion of items on my house to-do list. No, it’s more in me. I am seeing a level of peace that truly passes understanding and reasoning. God has given me this “trust in Him” peace that, boy, I don’t know, looks crazy.

When I read these Scriptures, a few things come to mind. 1) We can’t possibly imagine the things that God has in store for those who trust Him. 2) There is no way we could identify blessings in our life without the aide of the Holy Spirit because… 3) The Holy Spirit is the One that acts as our conduit to God. He is the One that relays the things of God to us.

You know, I don’t know why God would want to bless me. As I mentioned earlier, I have failed Him and neglected Him to the point where, if it was me, I would have given up on me. But He doesn’t. He forgives me when I ask for it. He restores me. And then I start seeing Him at work in my life because my heart is finally in the place where I can see and acknowledge it.

Ain’t God good, I ask you?

Use your words

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:5,6

It’s always good when the Holy Spirit brings something across your line of sight that makes you stop, take a look at yourself, and see changes that need to be made.

I came across these verses in my study this morning. My focus, lately, has been on wisdom. And as I have moved through these verses, I am reminded of what wisdom looks like and acts like. Here, I see an aspect of wisdom that makes me stop and think about my every day words.

Have you ever asked God to give you the words that you need to say to each and every person that you meet on that day? Oh, I’ve heard a multitude of sermons on it, but I can honestly say that I rarely put it into practice. I know – it’s shameful. This is something that we, as followers of Christ, should be doing on a daily basis. But if I am honest, I am often too caught up in my own selfish wants and desires to bother praying that I would be what someone else might need that day.

One of the characteristics of wisdom is knowing what to say to people at just the right time. It’s having an awareness of what another person might need at that moment. It may be simply listening for that “still small voice” to urge the words out of your mouth. Or it might be the ability to be sensitive to their body language and expressions that show you that they need a word of encouragement. Or it could easily be that you need to smile more to those people you meet on the street or in the grocery aisle.

You never know what the wisdom of kindness can do in the life of someone you don’t know.

And this is not wasted or useless time spent. No. Paul says that by speaking or showing kindness to others is a way of “redeeming the time”. For me, that means you are giving them an opportunity to talk and ask questions. You are providing an opportunity for you to share the love of God with them. Maybe they need salvation and you taking the time to ask them about their day leads you down that path. Maybe they are planning to go home and hurt themselves or someone they live with and your smile or your demonstration of concern stops them from going down that path. Maybe their day just stinks and they are blaming God for it. Your concern, your smile, your willingness to make time for them makes them see that there is something else causing the problem.

When I read these verses this morning, I was reminded that my words and actions hold great power and great responsibility. It’s not just my world and everyone else is living in it. No, it’s God’s world and it is my responsibility to live out His love and do my very best to fulfill His will each and every day with each and every person I come into contact with.

Saddle up!

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” – James 1:22-25 

Saddle up, friends. It’s going to be another bumpy ride today.

I’ve been doing a new study lately. I have taken on the word fasting. Boy, oh boy, is that word filled up! When I get through the study and digest it, so to speak, I’ll let you know what God has laid on my heart. But for now, these verses came across my line of sight.

It’s a standard group of verses, right? We have all probably heard sermon upon sermon centered around these verses. But have you ever stopped to consider what they truly mean? In doing so, I became convicted. I mean, “oh my, what am I doing” kind of convicted.

We all have mirrors in our home, right? I know I spend a considerable amount of time on any given day looking to see if what I am seeing lines up with what I have in my mind for myself to look like. My hair is one that gives me a lot of grief. Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit of a Medusa sometimes and other times, I am so put together… it is astounding. But mostly – Medusa. I can leave my bathroom mirror with one hairstyle and by the time I reach the end of the stairs, I have a whole new look. It’s truly a talent. Same goes with makeup. Me and eyeliner don’t always get along.

But enough of that. The point is I spend a considerable amount of time working on what I want the world to see about me. I have to remember that I can’t rub my eyes when I have makeup on. I have to remember that I can’t twirl my hair when I have spent so much time straightening it. I have to remember.

I have to apply what I know.

And when I rub my eye after putting on makeup, there are raccoon consequences. And sometimes, you just gotta go with the raccoon because sometimes you just have to accept the consequences of forgetting.

So, I know that you did not start reading the blog for makeup tutorials and tricks of the trade. No. You want spiritual food.

Okay, here it is – you are responsible to remember and apply what you know.

Profound, right? Yes and no.

This is not earth shattering news. You know this if you look hard enough at yourself. The thing is, do you apply it? Do you really take all that you have learned in Bible study, in reading the Word on your own, in going through those daily devotions, in praying – do you apply that stuff?

If you have heard it, if you have studied it, if you have ingested it in any way, shape or form – you are responsible to make it so in your life. You see, If Jesus said it and you know that Jesus said it, you are expected to do it. Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Yep, you read that right – “reasonable service”. It is the rational or logical thing to do.

Reasonable or rational or logical can be a tough concept to grasp sometimes. This world is anything but reasonable, rational or logical. Yet, Paul reminds the church in Rome that because God does not give us what we deserve, we should be willing and ready to be a living sacrifice. That means, when we read, when we study, when we learn, we need to apply. It’s the logical thing to do.

My mind goes to Mr. Spock from Star Trek when I read the word “logical”. He was one that based everything and every decision on logic. Most people didn’t agree with his logic which caused lots of problems. Don’t we see that in the world today? Most people don’t agree with the logic of a follower of Christ. It goes against the grain. It rubs the wrong way. Things can get dicey when we strictly adhere to the “logic” of Truth.

To sum this all up, we have a “reasonable” responsibility to remember and apply what we have learned from God’s Word. It is not always going to be easy. It is not always going to be popular. It is not always going to go the way we want it to go. However, it is what is expected. God expects His children to want to be more and more like Him. We can’t do that if we forget what we have learned.

That’s why Luke reminds us in Luke 9:23 – “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This is a daily thing that we have to do. Truly, you could even say this is a moment by moment thing that we have to do. We have to chose to follow God each and every day and each and every moment.

Don’t forget what you saw in the mirror this morning….

Desires of today

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” – I Peter 4:17

Public Service Announcement – This isn’t going to be an easy one because it hits a little too close to home.

The time has come for renovation. The time has come to decide what we keep and what needs to be removed. The time has come to be brave enough to let go and willing enough to accept the new. The time has come to allow God to clean house – so to speak.

I was asking God and searching for what He wanted me to write about this week. I haven’t written in a while…well, for a number of reasons. This verse was the last verse that I could bring myself to research today. And it stuck. It stuck big time.

I have a bad habit of putting things off, sometimes. Usually, if it is vitally important in my book, I will get up immediately and tend to the task. But if my brain and heart do not hold it in high necessity, well, it gets put off until the last minute. Take for instance house cleaning. I like to have my house tidy when my husband comes home. I can power clean with the best of them. If I know he will be home in 15 minutes, I can get more done in that 15 minutes than the last 4 hours of the day. But I put it off until the last minute. That’s not always the best way to do things.

I was reviewing some of my old sermon notes. I came across one that was on Romans 10:1-14. Let’s look at that first verse – “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” Okay. Now, we all know that it was Paul’s singular desire that all people might accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, despite being sent to the Gentiles to preach salvation, He desired for his fellow Jews to accept Jesus as their Savior as well. We all long for the entirety of the ones that we care the most about to come alongside of us into Eternity. But what about everyone else?

Let me ask you this question – What was your desire last week? Or how about this – What was your desire yesterday?

One of the phrases that I have highlighted from this message is this – The desires of our heart is what we do daily. Ouch. That hurts.

If the time has come for renovation – for judgment to begin at the house of God – what does the desires of your yesterday say about what you need done on your foundation today?

I don’t know about you, but that sentence alone brings conviction.

For most days, my desire is for me. What do I want to do today? How do I want to spend my moments? I don’t think about others so much. I think about me. How is this effecting me?

I’m sad to say that far too often my desire for my day only briefly focuses on God and His will for my life. I need more of His Word in my life. I need more of my time focused on communicating with Him. I need more of my activities to focus on things that others need from me and not always what I want my time to be focused on. I need to make improvements. I need to get rid of activities that overtake my thoughts. I need to become more of what He would have me to be. I need to stop putting things off.

I know this has been a tough one. Maybe for you, your desires from yesterday are full of His will. But maybe you’re rowing in a boat right next to me. My prayer is that we can renovate our life starting today to better reflect Him tomorrow.

3 ways to lose

Luke 15:1-32

Buckle up! These blog takes the entire chapter. However, this is something that the Holy Spirit brought across my radar and I feel that it is important.

Today, we are going to look at losing things. Yep. Losing things.

I strongly detest losing things. In fact, at my house, it isn’t really lost until Mom can’t find it. That is true for my husband as well. I like to know where every thing is at any given moment. When we moved, the moving company thought I was weird by wanting to know where my household goods were going to be stored. I’m a bit neurotic in that way.

When I was going through one of my Bible studies, the author looked at this chapter in Luke 15 and discussed the 3 different ways things were lost here and how they were found and what it meant to each person involved.

Losing a sheep (vs. 1-7)

So this shepherd had 100 sheep and lost one. He left the 99 to go and find the one sheep that had munched his way away from the fold. Yep, that poor little sheep got so caught up with the yummy grass that he kept munching and chewing and following that green, green grass until he was all alone. The shepherd left everything and everyone to find this sweet little lamb. And when it was found, party time! Invite everyone you know! Time to celebrate! You see, the loss here was because the sheep turned aside to distractions. It let the yumminess of the tender grass carry him away from what was best for him. How many times are we like that today? We let things in the world carry us away from the One person who truly has our best in mind. But, here is the great part – He (Jesus) comes looking for us. He knows we have a tendency to get lost in our own selfish desires. He knows that all it takes is one tender and green clump of grass to lead us away from the safety of the group. And when we let Him find us, all of Heaven rejoices because we have come back home – home to His loving arms.

Losing a coin (vs. 8-10)

And then there is the lady that loses a coin. Now, how many pennies or coins have you lost or your couch eats? How many of you rejoice when you finish a tube of lip balm just because that means you didn’t lose it? You know who you are! Well, this lady had carelessly lost something important to her. However, she didn’t stop until she found it. Then, she called everyone she knew to let them know that what was lost has been found. Once again, rejoice! Who reading this has not called your closest friend to let them know when you found something that was bugging the snot out of you because you could not find it? Yes, I said snot. You know it happens! We all sometimes get careless. We all can be careless when it comes to our time with the Lord. We keep putting it off and putting it off until it feels like a distant memory that we may sometimes remember. Oh friend, this ought not be. We need to find that closeness that we all know that we need and want deep, deep down inside and rejoice with other believers when we make the choice to find it!

Losing a son (vs. 11-32)

We all know the story of the prodigal son. We know how he wanted something that he thought he deserved and when he got it, he squandered it away. When things got tough, he decided to go home and beg for his father’s forgiveness. He didn’t even make it to the door when his father ran to him and embraced him as his son. The father knew that one day his son would return. He watched for him every day. He anticipated his actions. He wanted to forgive his son. He just needed the opportunity. And then when the day finally arrived, he forgave and through a party. (Are you seeing a theme yet?) However, not everyone was ready and willing to celebrate. The older brother was more than a little upset. My, oh my – there are so many applications here! Let’s look at the younger son, the one who left. He was the one that lost and was lost. He was the one that intentionally walked away. He was the one who let his foolish pride get in the way, and he was the one that made the decision to walk down that road. He was the one that lost every thing he had been given. He was the one that had to end up, literally, in the mud before he realized how deep he really was. Yet, he was also the one that was humbled and recognized HIS mistake. He was the one that had to repent. His father was the gracious and merciful one. Do I need to parallel this to a life you may know or live in? Sometimes, we are the ones that have to wake up in the mud of life and repent and run back to the Savior. Being lost in the world is terrible especially when there is Someone waiting for you to come home.

You know, you can lose your relationship with Jesus in any of these 3 ways. You can turn aside to distractions that lead you away from Him. You can be careless with your relationship and misplace it for a terrible time. Or, you can intentionally walk away from Him. But what I do want you to know and understand, He keeps looking for you no matter what. No matter what caused you to walk away or be lost or distracted, He keeps looking. And when you let Him find you, He rejoices! He is so elated that you are back! You! You, the one that thinks that you mean nothing. You, the one that believes that you are not good enough. You, the one that just can’t do this right now. You are the one that He is looking for.

Go home. Go back to Him. Don’t wait for the mud and muck to get you in up to your nose before you make a change. Even little things can drag you away quicker than you think. Keep it close. Keep it open. Keep it.

A Lesson from Lucy

John 10:27 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”

About a year and a half ago, we got a dog. She is awesome. Her name is Lucy. She is a mini Bernedoodle. Her mom was a Bernese mountain dog (62 pounds) and her dad was a mini poodle (12 pounds). I’ll give you a minute to figure that one out.

We have been trying to train Lucy, on and off, to walk without a leash. Let me tell you this, that is the most terrifying thing to do. My heart is pounding in my chest the whole time. She has her good girl collar on, which helps us to keep her from darting out in the street, but still. I prefer to walk her on her leash. That way, I can keep her close and make sure she doesn’t eat anything that I will regret later. It also keeps her from darting away from me to chase after squirrels and cats and rabbits. It also helps me to keep her on track, that way I don’t have to stand for 10 minutes while she sniffs a blade of grass.

As I was walking her the other day, I got to thinking about my walk with Jesus. Sometimes, I wish that He had me on a leash to keep me from things that He knows can hurt me. He could just give me a gentle tug and get me away from something that I will regret later. He could keep me from chasing something that looks fun. He would also be able to keep me on track easier and keep me from lingering too long at something useless.

But Jesus doesn’t keep us on a harness. He lets us roam free and make our own choices. There is a great big world out there full of distractions and places to linger at and stuff that looks really fun to chase. Yet, it is our choice to stay walking right beside Him.

The great thing about our walk is Him calling out to us. Now, I don’t hear Him audibly but I hear Him in my heart. I hear Him call out to me – “Hey, that’s not something you need to linger at.” or “Melissa, come on. You don’t need to chase that right now.” or “Come on, that thing over there is not worth your time.” But sometimes I don’t listen. That thing is just too shiny or too interesting or I think I just have to go check it out. And off I go. Wandering away.

One of my son’s most favorite sayings is – “Not all who wander are lost.”

And that is so very true of me. I am not lost. I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and I am a child of the King. He always knows where I am at. But I do have a tendency to wander. And sometimes, wandering can get me in a heap of trouble.

But thanks be to God, for that still, small voice that calls out to me to come home. Come back to His loving arms of protection. Come back to the place where I am loved and cared for. Come back to the place where I can walk with Him.

In the way

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethern, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26

Harsh words, aren’t they? How could Jesus, the One who loves everyone, say that we have to “hate” all the people in our life and even our own self?

Hate is a vicious word. I don’t like for my children to use this word because of the strength behind it. Good old Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “hate”, in it’s first definition, as “To dislike greatly; to have a great aversion to. It expresses less than abhor, detest, and abominate, unless pronounced with peculiar emphasis.” The second definition refers to Scripture – “it signifies to love less.” Matthew 10:37 describes what “hate” is referring to in this passage – “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (By the way, these references were pointed out to me during a sermon we had at church a couple of weeks ago – need to give credit where credit is due!)

So what is Jesus trying to get us to understand here?

Things get in the way. People get in the way. Jobs get in the way. Life can get in the way. We allow things to come between us and Jesus all the time. I am agent #1 when it comes to finding excuses and reasons why I can’t serve or be a part of something that would be a blessing to me and honor God. That is nothing to be proud of, I assure you.

I think if we are honest with ourself, we all have a hard time, from time to time, pointing others to Christ. And part of the reason for that problem, I propose, is that we let too many things come between us and Christ.

Have you ever stood in a forest packed with trees and tried to get someone else to see a bird on a branch in a tree about 10 yards away from you? You try explaining and pointing and repositioning them in front of you but they never really see exactly what you are seeing. It is really quite the circus to watch – this dancing around and pointing and jibbering about the cool bird. But because of all the trees and all the leaves and all the other things to look at, the one you want to share the beautiful bird with really can’t see it.

Same thing in our life when we have activities and jobs and family and friends and the desire to have the finest things that get in the way of us showing Christ to other people. We stand there pointing and explaining and repositioning them in front of us but they rarely see Christ because of all the other stuff that seems more important to us than Jesus. That hurts.

Ok, fine, I’m wounded now. I’m guilty. Now what?

I don’t have the answers. All I know is that we are encouraged to daily follow Jesus.  Hebrews 12:1 – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us”. Lay off that weight and run. You see, the sin – the stuff that comes between us and Jesus – needs to be laid off. We, I, need to get those things out from between me and Jesus. I need to walk closer to Him. I need to have Him so visible in my life that I shouldn’t even have to point Him out. Other people should just see Him working in my life.

I may not have all the answers, but I can do my best to point you to the One who does – Jesus.

In the way

Haggai 1:2-5 – “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?’Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.”

This was our message on Sunday night. And my, oh my, did it hit home.

Let me set this situation up here. The children of Israel had been released from captivity to come home and rebuild the Temple. They had remade the Alter, but that is as far as they had gotten. They had been too focused on building their homes and all the other stuff that comes along with a home in that time that they had neglected to build the Temple. And in walks Haggai. Being used by God, he reminds the people of what they had neglected – Him. And it was time to check themselves.

I don’t know about you, but I am abundantly blessed. I have a warm, safe home to live in. I have a family that dearly loves me regardless of the mood I am in. I have a good job that pays well and allows me flexibility in my schedule. I have food in my fridge and the ability to cook it whenever and however I want. I have a car that looks good and drives well. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I am blessed.

But how often do I allow these blessings to get in the way of doing what God wants me to do? Too often, I tell you, too often. I have been thinking about writing this blog for 3 days now and every time I decide I am going to do it, one of my blessings steps in and needs attention.

Oh, I can’t do it this morning because I have to get laundry done and the lunches ready. Then I have to come home and get the floors swept and the sheets changed before I head off to work.

Oh, I can’t do it this morning because I have to go here and do that before I head off to work. Otherwise, I will have no time to do it.

Sound familiar? It is so very easy to get caught up in our blessings that we neglect to do what God has laid on our hearts to do. Hey, I get it. These things needed to be done for one reason or another. But how much more important is it to be obedient to the God of Heaven who sent His One and Only Son to die on the cross for my sins so that I could have the opportunity to have a home with Him in Heaven? Yep, that’s been in my head for 3 whole days!

God has given us so much. He loves us so much that He wants to give us good things and to love us with His love that passes all understanding. But He also expects us to follow Him and do His will. We can’t neglect His work to tend to our blessings. You notice that I said “neglect”. I think this is a purposeful decision that we make to be disobedient. I know in my own life that too often it is because I’m not listening that I don’t do what He is telling me to do. But I rarely neglect my blessings.

So today, I want to encourage you to appreciate your blessings but not to the point of neglecting God’s work that He has just for you. Blessings are sweet but they are so much more sweet when we experience them after a hard day’s work in the Lord.

Seeing the Super

Ephesians 3:14-19 – “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Do you enjoy superhero movies? I do. I love watching movies about people who can do extraordinary things yet are able to completely blend into a crowded street.

Why do followers of Christ act any different?

Have you ever thought for a moment about the fact that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of God in every day life? Seriously, think about it.

Now, how often do we engage our “super power”?

When Paul was writing this to the Ephesians, there were no movie theaters down the street showing the latest film about someone who could fly or lift semi trucks with one hand. No, these were every day salesmen and women, farmers, weavers, moms, and young people who were doing their best just to survive. Yet, here is Paul asking God to strengthen them in His Spirit and to know and comprehend His love that is seemingly unthinkable. He was asking God to show these people God’s super power.

When times like a career change or big move comes up in our life, we are quick to look for God to move and work. We know that He has control of our future and we quickly desire to see Him at work. We are 100% confident that He will provide the strength and wisdom to do what He wants us to do.

But what about the every day stuff like paying for someone else’s drink in the drive-thru or letting that person who waited until the last minute to merge in or dealing with the animal that loves to gnaw on your pillows outside – how do handle those situations? Do we engage our super power then? Do we ask God how to handle those situations? Do we trust Him to give us what we need not to honk at that person?

You see, Love is a super power. It has the ability to conquer a multitude of issues and problems – 1 Peter 4:8 – “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (If you aren’t aware, “charity” is the Old English word for love.) Love has the ability to go out there and pay for someone else’s drink without them knowing who did it. Love has the ability to calmly allow someone in front of you in traffic. Love has the ability to not get mad at the crazy animal that chewed up your pillows and to be grateful that it only chewed up 2 of them. Love has the ability to allow God to work in the biggest and most life changing issues you face because you know in the deepest part of your heart that He can do all things.

So what I want to encourage you to do today is to engage your super power of Love. Let God have His way and to show you His love. Look for it like you would look for that last dime you need to get coffee at the gas station. Search for it diligently. And ask God to strengthen you in His love and guide you in His wisdom. He is just there waiting for you to ask Him to engage your super power.