God Box

Monday, October 22, 2012

A friend recently loaned me the book The God Box by Mary Lou Quinlan, and said she thought I would enjoy it. She added, "It will remind you of your mother." That was all I needed to hear. I knew that anything that would remind me of my mother would be a good read. My mother (we affectionately call her St. Mary) is a saint above saints, a prayer warrior, a model mother, and my dear friend. Quinlan shares the beautiful story of her own prayer warrior mother in the book.

In the midst of grieving for the loss of her beloved mother, Quinlan finds her mother's "God Box," a private collection of notes to God. Mary Finlayson (note: our moms share the same first name) had jotted down prayer requests to God on behalf of family, friends, and strangers and stuffed them into boxes. These petitions spanned twenty years of Mary's life. Imagine the emotional journey that Mary Lou and her family took as they uncovered request after request, the joys and the sorrows of the last two decades that Mary had given to God.

Mary Lou writes, "Mom's faith never flagged. She never stopped hoping for a cure or a miracle." Isn't that a tag line we would all be honored to have after our name - "His faith never flagged." "Her faith never flagged." Instead of grousing and giving up, what if we all kept our faith strong and gave our petitions up to God! This unfailing faith and prayer perseverance is what I see in my own mother.

Instead of a God Box, Mom writes her petitions in her devotional books and in her journals. Dozens of journals are stacked in corners of her bedroom, each containing the accounts of the lives of her family, the blessings of each day, and the petitions for each member of her brood. In her prayers she is bold and specific, recounting to God the trials and triumphs of each family  member. Her ultimate plea to God is for all of us to "walk humbly with our God" and to live in God's plan for our lives.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Mom is living her legacy, one filled with undying faith, abiding love, and persevering prayer. What a blessing! What a legacy! Thank you, God, for the power of a praying mother!

Forgiveness

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Pencils come in all shapes, sizes, designs, and colors. One end is used to write; the other to erase our mistakes. I make lots of mistakes, so the eraser end of my pencils have worn thin.  People are a lot like pencils. We come in all shapes, sizes, designs, and colors, and we all make mistakes. Fortunately, God sent his son to die for us and erase our mistakes. He wants to forgive us and he will over and over.  But he wants us to ask for his forgiveness.

Then he expects us to forgive others ---over and over and over. When Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive, Jesus said seven times seventy. I believe Jesus used that huge number because he knew that we would eventually lose count and keep forgiving people over and over.\

But, what does it mean to forgive others?

When you forgive another person, you no longer allow their behavior to cause you anger, pain, bitterness, or resentment. When you choose not to forgive, you make the choice to hold on to your feelings of resentment, anger, and pain.


Forgiving another does not mean you will never again feel the pain or remember the thing that hurt you. The hurtful experience will be in your memory forever. By forgiving, you are not pretending the hurtful behavior never happened. It did happen. The important thing is to learn from it while letting go of the painful feelings.

Forgiveness is not about right or wrong. It doesn’t mean that the person’s behavior was okay. You are not excusing their behavior or giving permission for the behavior to be repeated or continued.

When you forgive another, it does not mean you wish to continue your relationship with them. This is a separate decision. You can forgive a person and live your life apart from them.

Let us accept God's forgiveness and then extend that to others - over and over again.

Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Sorry!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

I used to love the game Sorry! when I was a kid.  The game title comes from the many ways in which a player can prevent the progress of another player, while issuing an apologetic "Sorry!"

"Sorry!" Oh, how easily that word sometimes rolls off the tongue with no sincerity or depth of meaning. Often people think that saying the "sorry" word gets them off the hook for any sort of indiscretion.  True repentance though involves more than a token "sorry."

"Love means never having to say you're sorry." Remember that line from the popular 70s movie Love Story? I never did buy into that idea. Relationships involve all kinds of opportunities to apologize and to forgive.

Dr. Gary Chapman and Dr. Jennifer Thomas have identified five "languages" of an apology that when applied, can greatly enhance our relationships.

Expressing Regret

"I am sorry."

Accepting Responsibility

"I was wrong."

Making Restitution

"What can I do to make it right?"

Genuinely Repenting

"I'll try not to do that again."

Requesting Forgiveness

"Will you please forgive me?"

Usually, we don't get past step one when it comes to expressing a regret. We mumble a confession and then offer excuses and explanantions. The "language of apology" provides steps to lead us to be sincere and to make amends for our wrongdoings.

I wonder how many marriages could be saved by couples practicing persuasive apologies. How many children could grow up taking ownership of their wrongdoings or careless behavior by being taught how to apologize? How many work relationships could be strengthened by people offering sincere apologies?

The most important relationship that requires repentance is the one we have with Jesus Christ. Repentance is an essential element of the Christian faith.

"...repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)

"Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

Let's use the "language of apology" in not only our relationships on earth but in the one that will give us eternal rewards - the one with our Heavenly Father.

Grace

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How does the Holy Spirit fit into our lives? John Wesley describes grace as having 3 components:

1. Prevenient grace

From birth God's grace prepares us for new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit goes before us (prevenient) preparing us in order to bring us to faith. Consider the image of a path that leads to our spiritual house. It is on the path where God pursues us. The Holy Spirit goes before us, pursuing us in gentle and love ways. How might that look and feel?

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32

2. Justifying grace

We accept this grace offered to us and come into new life in Christ. Justifying or Accepting Grace describes the way we receive forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life when we repent and ask forgiveness. Consider the image of a porch at the end of the path where God has been pursuing us. At the porch of our spiriutal house we receive God’s forgiveness of sin and accept Christ as Lord. This is the grace that brings us to faith and salvation. This comes to people at various times – some are young, some are not.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not form ourselves, it is the gift of God --not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

3. Sanctifying grace

After accepting God's grace, we move into God's sanctyifying or sustaining grace. This is the beginning of our new life in Christ. Day to day we are being made perfect in love and motives. In our image we've moved from the path and from the porch to the inside the house where we open every room of our lives to the Holy Spirit. This grace accepts us for who we are but wants to make us better. Our goal is to open all the rooms of our spiritual house so that God can heal the broken places and motivate us to leave the places where we are stuck.

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

When we are willing to open all of our rooms for Christ, we will have transformed lives. The key to real peace and happiness is inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and walk with us every day.

What Are You Sowing?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

In the Parable of the Sower Jesus (Luke 8:5-15) tells of a farmer who set out to sow seeds. Some seeds feel along the path, some fell on rocky ground, some fell among thorns, and some fell on good soil. He goes on to tell his disciples that the seed represents the word of God. Jesus is actually describing four kinds of Christ-followers and how they "sow" the word of God into their lives.

 

The parable begs the question, "What are you doing with your seeds?" In other words, what are you doing with the Word of God in your life?

 

Have your seeds fallen along the path? You hear the word yet you allow someone else to remove it from your heart. Have the seeds fallen along the path of your busyness and are left lying dormant waiting to be picked up again and re-planted?

 

Are your seeds on rocky ground? Maybe you’re joyful about God’s word and work for a while but it’s all a bit superficial. It doesn’t last long because the seeds haven’t really taken root.

 

Are your seeds among the thorns? You hear the word of God. You’ve heard  it and you've read it. You've even studied in it how to cope with life and how to develop a strong relationship with God, but you give in to your weaknesses – your worries, materialism, worldy pleasures.

 

Or have they fallen on good soil? If so, Jesus says you have a noble and good heart. You hear God’s word, retain it and produce a crop. You internalize what you read and hear. You move forward in your relationship in faith and as a result you are producing good works.

 

When I taught high school students, I found many of them had a misunderstanding of how to prepare for tests. They thought if they glanced over the material and memorized some facts, they would be prepared. I told them good preparation means you internalize the information. You make it a part of you. The same principle applies for living out the Word of God.
We can read it and we can memorize some verses, but we need to internalize it and make it a part of us. When we do so, we'll have seed that's "fallen on good soil."  Oh, what a crop it will produce!

 

What is the next step for you to consider in order to plant your seed in good soil?  

• Taking time to meditate on God’s Word?
• Spending intentional time in prayer?
• Acting on God's promptings?
• Journaling?
• Writing your prayers?
• Spending more time in service – doing the Word?
• Walking in the Word?
• Listening?

 It's planting time!

Unleash God's Power

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Have you ever experienced a real connection between prayer and the release of God’s power? I have learned through many life experiences that there is a direction connection between my prayer life and my life responses. The more I count on God through fervent prayers, the more I notice that my attitude becomes brighter or I develop a courage I didn’t realize I had or I had an idea about how to effect change.

When my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer years ago, I couldn’t have been the supportive helpmate to him if it weren’t for the power of prayer. I gained God’s strength through prayer. As long as I focused on God and not the mountain of cancer, I knew I would have the strength to be a loving caregiver. Looking back, I don’t know how I was able to keep on keeping on. The truth is I was not able to keep on keeping on, but God’s power energized me to carry out the many responsibilities of caring for my very sick husband, for working a full-time job, and doing the myriad of tasks each day brought. Yes, prayer unleashed God’s power in me.

The Israelites learned the connection of and God’s power through Moses’ example. When the Amalekites attacked the Israelites, Moses told Joshua to gather his men to fight. Moses promised to stand on top of the hill and pray with the staff of God in his hands lifted toward heaven. So Joshua obeyed the command and fought the Amalekites. Moses, Aaron, and Hur stayed on the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, he sat. Aaron and Hur even helped hold up his hands. Joshua’s army overcame the Amalekites. (Based on Exodus 17:8-13)

God’s power was released when Moses prayed. God’s power is released when we pray too. In the case of the Israelites, the power to win the battle was released. The power released when we pray looks different depending on what we pray for. In times of weakness, we may pray and receive courage. When we feel insecure about a situation, the power that’s released may be in the form of confidence.

Power can be released as…

 

• Wisdom
• An idea
• Courage
• Confidence
• Perseverance
• Staying power
• A changed attitude
• Altered circumstances
• Miracles
• Or many other forms

It's awesome to note how powerful it is for others, like Aaron and Hur, to come along beside us to lift us up and support us in our prayers. 

When your facing your Amalekites, remember the power of prayer. Prayer is the way to unlocking God’s power in your life. There is a connection between prayer and God’s power! Unleash his power!

Robin Roberts - Inspiration

Friday, August 31, 2012

What an inspiration Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts is as she faces MDS, a blood and bone marrow disease! As she began her leave of absence to start her treatment, she shared with viewers what she says are “gifts” she’s experiencing on this journey.

• The Gift of Life – Her sister has donated the bone marrow for her transplant.
• The Gift of Family – With every step of this experience, she feels the love, kindness, and support of her family.
• The Gift of Laughter – Family members make her laugh even during the darkest times.
• The Gift of Knowledge – Her medical team teaches her about her disease and treatment for there is more comfort in knowing than not.
• The Gift of Giving – She raises awareness of her illness and has encouraged others to become donors.
• The Gift of Friendship – “Team Robin” cheer her on in the fight.

Roberts shares that her faith is what sustains her and it’s obvious that the power of prayer strengthens her resolve. Her sister and donor, Sally Ann, prays three things for Robin’s life: strength, wisdom, and favor. What a blessed prayer to pray into anyone’s life - strength to fight on, wisdom through the myriad of decisions ahead, and God’s blessings and unmerited favor even through the struggle.

As a visible reminder of her faith, Robin created a prayer bracelet denoting the Prayer for Protection that her mother taught the Roberts children. 

The Light of God surrounds me. 

The Love of God enfolds me. 

The Power of God protects me. 

The Presence of God watches over me. 

Wherever I am, God is.

 
Knowing the journey will not be easy, Robin Roberts chooses to focus on the gifts. Let’s be inspired to count our own gifts during the good times and the challenging ones