Raining love?: Devotions from the Road of Life

“The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.” Deuteronomy 28: 12, King James Version

The rain pours right now, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling in a full-out Southern thunderstorm. The results of the rain will be growth and blossoming for the plants, nourishment for livestock and replenishment for rivers, streams and reservoirs. The temperature drops a few degrees, a pleasant change on a hot August day.

As heaven pours out its gift of life-giving water, I can’t help but wonder what I pour out on those around me. Am I covering others in God’s love, refreshing them with a reminder of his ever-present care? Or am I spilling out anger and vitriol, doing more of Satan’s work than the Lord’s?

How easily I find myself falling into that particular ugly puddle of wickedness! If I take my eyes off the King, how quickly the world jumps up to fill my vision. He has promised His nourishing rain, but too often I put up an umbrella and divert His love. I must make a concentrated effort to focus on His will and His work if I am to spread His love.

What are you spreading to those around you? Do you rain love or anger, encouragement or destruction? 

Father, I thank You for the blessing of rain to replenish, refresh and nourish the world. Help me to be Your rain to others, spreading Your love to all I encounter. Amen.

Thunder and Lightning - Devotions from the Road of Life

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thessalonians 5: 1-18, KJV

Thunder rattled the house, and the little girl shrieked. Her ear-piercing yell sounded for long seconds after the thunder faded, but her panicked look remained. 

“Why are you yelling?” I asked. “The thunder won’t hurt you.” We had tried the “angels bowling in heaven and one of them got a strike” routine in the past, to no avail. She still emitted a shrill scream whenever she heard thunder.

“But it’s so loud,” she explained. “It scares me because it’s so loud.”

I sent a quick prayer for guidance heavenward. At five years of age, she was impressionable and I didn’t want to cause any problems or needless fear for her. An intelligent child, she is very curious and with a bent toward science. 

“What do you know about what causes thunder?” I asked.

“Lightning flashes and makes the thunder boom.”

“That’s right. So if you hear the thunder, you know that the lightning bolt is past. The lightning is what can hurt you. The thunder can’t. So how about when you hear the thunder, you say ‘Thank you, Lord’ to let Jesus know you appreciate him keeping you safe?”

She thought about the situation for a moment.

“I’ll try,” she agreed. Sure enough, although she jumped with the next big boom, she gave thanks instead of screaming. Then she turned to me with a big smile.

“I like that better,” she said. 

Too often, we let the noise of the world drown out the love that God sends us. We react to the situation, not the Creator. When that happens, we miss the opportunity to praise Him for bringing us through the situation. Maybe we should stop yelling and start thanking.

Months later, she is still thanking Him instead of shrieking.

I’ll bet Jesus likes that better, too.

Father, thank You for Your love. Thank You for the natural phenomena you’ve set into place. Help us to remember to praise You in everything and give thanks for Your goodness in all circumstances. You are sovereign. You are righteous. You are our loving Father. Amen.

Washed in His Mercy - Devotions from the Road of Life

“It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:22-26 (King James Version)



 

The waves roll in at Waveland, MS

A recent visit to the beach reminded me of the everlasting faithfulness of God. I watched as wave after wave came to shore, and I couldn’t help but think that those waves were a lot like the way God comes to us.

With wave after wave of love, He beckons us. He sends wave after wave of forgiveness to wash over us. And like the never-ending song of the waves against the sand, He calls us to come home to Him.

Just as I would never be able to drink the all the water of the ocean, I can never use up all of God’s goodness. As the writer of Lamentations says, His compassions fail not and are new every morning. Like the inexorable turning of the tide, His mercies are unstoppable. 

We have a choice: Do we run away from the inbound waves or do we plunge into the refreshing waters of His love? The water is there, whether we go to it or stay away. His love is there, too. All we have to do is wade out into its depths to enjoy the refreshment and renewal awaiting us there.

Father, we thank You for the unending love You send to us. Remind us to plunge into Your loving care, that we may be buoyed by Your love at all times. The world cannot sink us if we rest on Your waves of salvation.

Author Denise Hildreth Jones shares a guest post to encourage you: The Performing Heart

Please welcome Denise Hildreth Jones, with another guest post related to her new book, "Reclaiming Your Heart."

I slipped the dress on one item at a time. The group of women who had gathered for our annual VBS for Women event sat staring wide eyed. As I slipped on the skirt I described how the legalistic environment I had grown up in had been a piece in shutting down my heart.

As I slipped on the blouse, (all over the clothing I already had on), I shared how losing my dream of becoming a Christian singer shut down another piece of my heart. As I slipped on the matching hat, (Oh
yeah, sister had it going on) I shared how I had lost even more of my heart in my thirteen year marriage.

As I stood up there in an outfit ready for high-tea with the queen, I let them know that this was a picture of the performer I had become. With my shut-down heart I had created a persona that only let people see what I wanted them to see. The bad and grizzly and sad, well I kept all of that to myself.
 
The performing heart believes the lie that God hasn’t made us enough. Our story isn’t pretty enough. Our story isn’t fancy enough. Our story well…isn’t enough. And so we put on our shiny shoes and snazzy hat and write our own story. I didn’t want people to know my pain. I didn’t want people to see my tears. I just wanted them to think that I had it altogether. And oh the sadness in that lie.

 God has never needed us to have it altogether. But He requires us to accept the story He has written and continues to write for us. Why? Because He is the ultimate Author. He is even called “The Author and Finisher.”

The prophet Isaiah wrote “Does a book say to its author, ‘He didn’t write a word of me’? Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it, ‘She had nothing to do with this’”? And yet that is what the performing heart does every day. And it is a sin. Yes, sad to say but it is a sin.

And in order for our hearts to be reclaimed we have to own that sin. Repent of it. And then go on the quest to reclaim our heart. Reclaiming the performing heart starts by owning our story. So, I encourage you today to do two things in these next few weeks. Write down your story. All of it. Even the parts that you wish weren’t a part of it. And then tell your story to a person you trust with your heart. All of it.

There is such freedom when we own truth and bring those things in the dark into the light.

Remember, no one chapter is the whole of your story. It is and always will be simply a piece…there is much left to write.

And you can trust The Author…

Watch Denise's video here.

Devotions from the Road of Life: I'm Dirt!

"In the parable of the sowers, Jesus talks about the different kinds of soil and how sown seed responds to it. I've come to realize that at one time or another, I've been all of the kinds of dirt Jesus describes.

Sometimes, I'm the rocky soil that doesn't provide a deep enough medium for the Word to thrive. I hear the lesson, I agree with the lesson but I don't do anything to nurture the Word in my life. It sprouts, then fails--a victim of my neglect."

Read more of this devotion and view the slideshow  here.

Guest post from Denise Hildreth Jones: The Weary Heart

Please welcome my guest blogger Denise Hildreth Jones, author of "Reclaiming Your Heart."

Running beneath a rain of birdseed, my husband opened the passenger door for me to climb inside as we started our life together. I grabbed the hem of my hand crocheted wedding dress that was over twenty years old and nestled myself into the seat. Laughter bounced through the air and love was almost touchable. My new groom climbed in beside me and in a moment a question came from the back seat. I looked back into the faces of five kiddos, who in one moment had all landed me in the new role of bonus-mom.

At the age of forty, having never had children of my own, I’d quickly come to discover that I had just entered a world as breathtaking as trying to drink water from a fire-hydrant. I quickly delved into my new role of wife and bonus-mom. We didn’t have the kids all the time, so I still had time for ministry and writing responsibilities, but the new schedule of five kids all with activities, couponing (one trip to the
grocery store gave me that revelation!), car-pooling and top chef, and it wasn’t long before I was weary. Bone weary.

A few years before I had found myself on the other side of a heartbreaking divorce. My heart was painfully shut down. I had shut down my voice. I had shut down my desires. I had shut down my dreams. I had shut down in fear, in anger, in disappointment, in performance. I had handed my heart over to a lie. And in the process, that beautiful, God-designed heart that had been created inside of me was a shut-down shell of the “abundant life” God had offered.

After that divorce I went on a desperate search for my heart. I reclaimed it in its deepest places. And then came my new family. The stress of navigating five hurting hearts. The new schedule. The old pains being pricked with the new intimacy that marriage inevitably brings. And a year and a half into bonus-momdom I had realized that I was on the verge of shutting down again in weariness if I didn’t grab a hold and do something different.

I was believing the lie of the weary heart that says, “God needs me.” God needs me to car pool these children. God needs me to coupon to save money, because to do anything else would be irresponsible. God needs me…and the list goes on.

And in that lie, I realized I was about to shut down all over again. But I heard God remind me, “Take my yoke upon you. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” It was His yoke. He didn’t need me. He desired to use me, but He did not need me. And in that revelation I began to let go of a few things in order to give my kids the best of me. Something that might seem selfish actually ended up being selfless.

We can all shut down our hearts. In fact, some of us haven’t seen our real hearts in so long we wouldn’t even know what they looked like. Remember, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.” But there is more to that Scripture, “But, I have come that you might have life and have it to the full!”

Friends, take heart. Yours. And do a heart check. Are you living life to the full? Or has living shut your heart down? Goddoesn’t need you. But oh how He desires to use you…

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxeN5BU-TxE