Where You Lead

Giving Back

Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

Deuteronomy 16:17

Why is this so hard? Why do I resist? I have no problem giving praise and thanks to God. I’ve gotten in the habit of giving God credit for the good things in my life. I give to my family. So why do I resist giving a percentage of my blessings to God?

So many times I’ve worried about finances and prayed for God’s blessings to see me through. And God does just that. I have no problem “giving” those blessings to utility companies, grocery stores or even a book store or the girl at the makeup counter. And yet, I delay giving back to God who gives me so much. I delay until I have nothing left to give Him, and I must pray again for Him to bless me.

I’ve heard that when you receive a paycheck, you should pay yourself first. I disagree. First, we should pay God, who makes it all possible. God blesses us with ability and work and way to provide for ourselves and our families. We should give back to Him first. And from now on, I will.

Who’s Number Two?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

When I was in grade school, maybe 6th or 7th grade, I read the book “I Am Third” by Gayle Sayers autobiography focusing on his friendship with Brian Piccolo, both professional football players. Not only did the story of these two wonderful men stay with me, but the thought that God is first, my brother is second and I am third left a huge impact on me.

I work very hard every day to make God first in my life. I pray when I wake up and I pray at night before I fall asleep. I pray throughout the day. I make a point of remember God in just about everything I do. And yet I am selfish. Yes, I am.

I have every intention of putting others first and often I do. I’m a mother, after all, and our nature is to tend to our families. The thing is, I hear a lot about “take care of yourself” or no one else will. Or that there’s nothing wrong with a little “me time.” And I buy into that. Why not? It feels good to take care of myself. It’s wonderful when I spend the time and money on special pampering.

I guess the question is, Does it feel as wonderful as when God takes care of me? Is a pedicure as relaxing as God’s love and comfort? No matter what I do for myself, is any of it better than when God does for me? The answer, of course, is no.

I don’t need to put myself or my needs ahead of my family’s or anyone else’s. God tells me to put Him first, to put others second. God tells me that I am third. I know from experience that when I put myself last, He will take care of me better than I can take care of myself.

I must recommit myself to my family, friends and community. I must remember that the only pampering I need is the loving comfort of God.

Choose Well

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

Proverbs 16:16

Seems there’s a theme going on this week, doesn’t it? I think God might be really drilling this lesson into my head. Once again, He reminds us that gold, silver, financial wealth is not the goal. Today He tells us that wisdom and understanding are more important.

Wisdom has nothing to do with intelligence, of course. I tend to see wisdom as something that comes from mistakes or observations of other people’s mistakes. Wisdom, perhaps, goes hand-in-hand with understanding. I remember a quote, not sure who said it, that states “To understand all is to forgive all.”

Naturally, only God understands all, which is why God will forgive all. Yet, we can and should strive to understand and to forgive. To be one who understands God’s word and is open to His wisdom, we open ourselves to forgiveness. In the grand scheme of things, wisdom and understanding will impact who we are so much more than the amount of money we have.

The kind of person we are will remain long after we’ve passed on to eternal life with God. The legacy we leave will be more powerful if it is based on who we are rather than how much wealth we accumulated while here. We can each choose our legacy. I’d rather work to leave a legacy of wisdom and understanding than one of gold and silver. How about you?

Contentment

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

I didn’t go to my 30th class reunion this year. Why? Because I hadn’t lost enough weight and I didn’t want anyone to see me fat. I was not content with myself.

I think many women place value on themselves in a similar way. We care entirely too much about how well we’ve kept our figure and how few lines mark our faces. I imagine that for men, the measure of success is the accumulation of money and power. As I mentioned a few days ago, it’s the big house, the flashy car, all the symbols of financial wealth that we believe the rest of the world will use to assess our value.

No matter how the world measures success, we should never lose site of God’s measurement - our devotion to Him. God does not care about our bank account, what car we drive or how many extra pounds we’ve put on in the last 30 years. God cares about us so much that he promises to never leave us.

As I strive to focus on God by honoring and adoring Him, I must remember that contentment is not having everything I want, but wanting everything I have. As long as I have God in my life and spend time with Him everyday, as long as God is my top priority, He will bring true contentment to life.

Well Placed Hope

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

It seems that every day, I’m feeling the stress and burden of daily life. Financial woes, troubles with kids and other family members, fears about health and safety all occupy my mind. I find myself hoping for a solution, someone to lead me to the answer or make everything right. I’ve even bought a lottery ticket now and then, hoping that a huge windfall would be the answer to all my problems.

My hope, though, is God. He is my strength and He has the answers to my prayers. No one is going to knock on my door with a check for millions of dollars of prize money; no one is going to swoop up my problems and make them all right. I have to put every bit of my hope in God and rely on his power to pull me through. When I’m down, He will lift me up and when I am too tired to go on He will carry me.

God is my strength and my hope must remain only in Him.

Focused On God

Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

It seems we all hang on to this life, grasping at ways to make it last longer and working to acquire as much as we can while we’re here. We desire more stuff, more fame, more financial success. And yet, none of this matters. Nothing on this earth matters.

It is only God that matters. Satan plants the seed in our minds that we need a bigger house, a flashier car, nicer clothes or even a better body. We find ourselves desiring these things, but we must resist the temptation of pursuing the things that really don’t matter. The only one we need to impress is God and He is not impressed by these things. He is impressed by our hearts and by our devotion to Him.

From this day forth I am going to make a real effort to turn away from those desires that do not bring me closer to God. I will remain focused on God.

Seed Planting

A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:7-8

Such a simple concept and yet it slips my mind almost daily. In order to reap the gifts of the Spirit, eternal life with God, I must sow seed of goodness. I must follow the Lord’s commandments and His way.

When I choose my own selfish desires at the expense of my family, friends or God, I’m sowing seeds that will ultimately destroy my chance at eternal happiness. No matter how much I pray for God’s blessings, I must do my part to bring them about. I must make the choices in my life that God has directed me to make. I can’t just pray and expect God to hand me what I want; I must follow his word as well.

I know that my most challenging issue to overcome is my sharp, biting tongue. Also a problem is my tendency to “disappear” into my own thoughts and not want to associate with people. Both of these affect my children and husband. I must make a great attempt to give of myself, to speak with love and sow the seeds that will grow into eternal life.

Hidden Life

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:2-3

Take a breath. Relax. Oh, if only I could. Life is swirling around me and my head is spinning trying to keep up with all the schedules and appointments and things-to-do. I can’t just walk away; my family depends on me.

I need to focus, though, on my spiritual life. I must keep my eyes and my mind on God. My true purpose in life is God’s plan, not my own. My true mission is the one that God has set out for me. While life comes at me in all directions, I need only keep my thoughts focused on Jesus Christ and my path will become evident. God will reveal my true purpose, my hidden life, in His time.

Foundational Trust

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

Jeremiah 17:7

One of my biggest challenges is trust. I have a tendency, as do many of us, to want to control situations and outcomes. I want to step in and do something to make things work out right. At the same time, or at alternating times, I find myself longing for someone to take care of me as if I were I child. I just get tired of being a grown up. I want someone I can trust.

I know I need to let go of control and turn everything over to God. God is the only one deserving of my trust. I’ve learned through the years that you can’t trust a job or career, that drugs and alcohol are not reliable, that other people are only human and will likely let you down. Only God is there for me always and only God will never let me down. I must trust God for the big things and the little things in my life.

Today, I will trust my Lord.

Looking Forward

One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

There is much to be learned from the past, no doubt. Once we learn that lesson, though, we need to walk away from the experience and not dwell on it. We need to move on.

In my own life I have been guilty of getting stuck on a mistake or sin, being unable to move on. I beat myself up over it and regret my wrong choice. I forget that God has forgiven me and that I need to forgive myself. By forgiving myself, I can look ahead and continue on the path toward my goal of a life in God’s kingdom.

I’m going to make an extra effort to forgive myself and to start each day anew, working toward my goal.