All-Writey-Then

DEFRAG ME, OH GOD

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. KJV. Psalm 51:10

“It’s that time again!” I said to myself in frustration, “Time to defrag the computer.”

Everyone who uses a computer on a regular basis knows exactly what I am talking about. It takes awhile for it to happen, yet it seems to happen suddenly. I can be be-boppin’ along doing just fine when all of a sudden my computer slows down. Impatiently, I find myself jamming on the buttons forcefully attempting to get the poor machine to respond.

“Argh! Now it’s frozen!” I quickly look around to make sure my husband isn’t aware of my plight. He tends to get more frustrated about it than I do.

Why does this happen to computers? In layman’s terms, it is full of unnecessary junk. Somewhere, somehow, the computer likes to store junk. The computer nerds of our day call it cookies, isn’t that a cute name?

“Cute? My big toe!” Did I just say that out loud?

“Mom,” my son interrupts my key pounding furry, “it needs defragged. Do you want me to do it for you?”

I reluctantly give in and hand the laptop over to my teen son who proudly wears his Geek Squad T-shirt he found at a thrift store.

As he sets about, quickly getting things started on the defrag process, I can’t help but put this whole thing into spiritual perspective. How often do we pick up unwanted files that attach themselves into our hardware, or should I say heartware? Words we hear, images we see, thoughts that we have no idea where they came from? Sometimes we don’t realize how much we have stored away until we feel suddenly spiritually slow.

I wonder if that’s what happened to King David before he committed adultery with Bathsheba? It seems as if his prayer in Psalm 51 is the perfect defrag prayer. Many times when I have felt slow spiritually I have returned to this Psalm. More times than I want to admit, God has showed me where I stored something that has slowed me down.

As my son works on the computer’s hardware, I slip away to my room to work on my heartware.

Defrag me, O God, and renew a right spirit in me. Amen.

WHERE’S GOD?

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
NKJV. Jeremiah 29:13

Where's Waldo? is a series of children's books created by the British illustrator Martin Handford. The goal is to find Waldo, in a busy picture full of people. Waldo dresses in a red and white striped shirt and bobble hat, carries a wooden walking stick, and wears glasses. The books consist of a series of complex full-page illustrated pictures of hundreds of tiny people doing various amusing things. The purpose is to find Waldo among the group.

When my kids were young, they would intently study the various pictures in search of the ever hidden Waldo. My daughter, in particular, has a very meticulous personality. As she scanned the page, she seemed to have a system, scanning back and forth, concentrating on anything in red. She was very determined to find Waldo.

Often, our lives get congested with so much stuff that we can’t seem to find God. It reminds me of the Where’s Waldo? pictures. At first glance, it seems confusing and complicated to sort out all the commotion in the picture. Yet, when we zero in on something we know about Waldo, his red and white striped shirt, it helps us to focus.

Are you struggling to “find God”? At first attempt, do things seem too chaotic and overwhelming? Take a minute to focus. No, you aren’t looking for a red and white striped shirt in a crowded picture. You are searching for God Almighty. You can see God in what He has created; you can see Him when you read His Word; you can see Him in the person and character of Jesus Christ.

My daughter never gave up. She would search for Waldo until she found him. I urge you to never give up. Search for God until you truly find Him. He promises that “you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”. (NKJV. Deuteronomy 4:29. www.blueletterbible.org.)

Dear God, I know it is your desire for us to earnestly seek You. Help us to avoid getting caught up in the confusion and chaos of daily life that we fail to focus, and truly find You. Amen.

Bigger or Better

A few years ago, as the youth pastor at our former church, I did a scavenger hunt called Bigger or Better. Each carload of youth started out with a small item such as a straw. Their instructions were to go to people’s houses and ask for something Bigger or Better than the straw.

Then they were to go to another home and so forth for an allotted amount of time. The goal was to see which team returned with the biggest or best item of the night. Silly, nonsense fun, but a good analogy can be extracted from this fun scavenger hunt. No matter how hard we search in our life, we will never find anything bigger or better than God.

Currently, I teach a Middler-age Sunday School class (4-6 grade) and this week’s lesson specifically addressed the greatness of God. I used the illustration of math in school when you learn greater than (>) and less than (<). I pointed out that nothing is greater than God. I also talked about an artist that creates a magnificent masterpiece. Michelangelo created remarkable paintings in the Sistine Chapel. (Michael who? Too young to understand this one…oh well. )I asked; who/what is greater, the master or the masterpiece?

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

What a masterpiece indeed. God is the Master of all creation, but never will His creation be greater than the Master of all things.

So, as I ponder this week’s Monday Manna verse…I can’t help but answer the question of verse four.

Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?

Why is He mindful of us? Or as the Message Bible puts it, why does He take a second look our way? For the same reason an artist like Michelangelo probably stood and admired his work in the Sistine Chapel. He is proud of His creation and no matter how beautiful his starry skies are it is the creation of man that finalized his masterpiece.

When I look at the awesomeness of creation and consider my insignificance, I have to remind myself of two things:

1) No-one or nothing will ever be bigger or better than my God.
2) God is the ultimate master creator and he is proud of his masterpiece.

Next time you admire the night skies, try to absorb the fact that the God that created the macro-skies, loves the micro-you more than all of his creation…and take time to worship Him for He is the God of Wonders. Amen?

GO TO THE CODE

Ahh…Philippians 4:8, the code to live by. For any of you who are familiar with the Assembly of God Girl’s Ministry program, a.k.a. Missionettes, you may also be aware that this is a verse that is called the Missionette code. I have memorized Phil 4:8 many times and have taught it to probably over 200 girls in three different states. (ID, CA, and WA).

A code is something we live by, a set of “rules” to remind us of acceptable behavior or standard to live up to. This passage is a good “moral code”.

Most of my life, I have been a pretty black & white person. I don’t like a lot of grey areas in my life. I prefer to make a decision and push things to the right or wrong…black or white. I even bordered on the edge of legalism a few years back. (gasp & ugh)

Over the years I have learned; what might be wrong for me isn’t necessarily wrong for someone else. Each Christian is on a personal journey towards sanctification and a journey it is. No matter where we are on the road to righteousness, if we honestly take this scripture and make it the code to which we live by, it will be easier to push things in our life into the black or the white. This will help eliminate some of the grayness in our spirits.

Is your spirit is sort of dull and blah? Do you long for that fresh, crisp, clean feeling you may have felt when you were a baby Christian? I encourage you to go to the code. Maybe it is time to take a look at the gray areas in your life and compare them to Philippians 4:8.

I hope and pray that we won’t look at the gray areas in our lives and say…oh whatever. Instead we should be saying… OH! Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy…these things can be pushed to the white and the rest needs to go.

Go to the code, you can’t go wrong.

For more thoughts on Philippians 4:8 visit Jo's blog at Open Book and scroll down to see the links to more blogs on Monday Manna.

You Need Only...

God speaks to me. I’m sure he speaks to you, too. And despite all the writing advice I have gleaned from the ever so popular Jan Ackerson on faithwriters.com, I believe God can speak a cliché.

What did God speak to me? “I never promised you a rose garden.” Is He being sarcastic? Or maybe He is just disappointed in my fretting and worrying over something that I should be fully aware that He is in control. Not only in control, but maybe even orchestrating.

Joanne posted a verse from Exodus 14 on Monday Mana and Vonnie directed me to it via facebook. Today I received a few verses from this very chapter in an email from a ministry acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in three or four years until last weekend. That verse dropped into my heart and has settled in there rather comfortably, thank you.

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

I have meditated on this word knowing the story behind it. The children of Israel have their backs to the Red Sea and Pharaoh is a-comin’ after them with a bitter vengeance. Moses speaks with bold confidence:

"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Let me tell you why Moses is so confident. God had previously spoken to him and assured Moses that He was the One orchestrating everything. Why? So they can be scared spitless? So they can be made an example of? So they will be scared into obedience? No, nope and no way.
Let’s back up a few verses and have a quick look-see:

V.4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."

Need I remind you that Pharaoh and the Egyptians are the villains in this story? The bad guys. I always thought God parted the Red Sea to prove Himself to the whining Israelites. To cause them to understand that He is the one that protects them and that is why they need only to be still.

So, my husband and I have a Red Sea moment happening in our life. Our backs are against the Sea with no apparent escape. Fear has overwhelmed us and the bad guys are pursuing us with a bitter vengeance. And like Moses, we have previous words from the Lord that say we are right where we are suppose to be, even if it is with our backs to the sea.

So why are we going through this? So we can know fear? So we can be made an example of? So we will be feared into being better pastors? No, nope, and no way. He is doing this so that : the Egyptians (enemy) will know that I am the Lord.

The word of the Lord to me today is: I never promised you a rose garden. You need only…to be still.