Stupid Car

250460_126543917494105_1708293533_aThere is nothing like driving a car where you must hold your head just right,  tap on the door twice and kick the tire once to be sure the door will open.    That’s what I felt like I went through recently.  Recently another driver hit my vehicle making my car undriveable.  The door was wrecked leaving a gap where rain and other things could enter.  I had to drive Gaylon’s car to North Carolina and then two more weeks until my car was fixed.

Gaylon has an older Lexus but it drives great. The door lock system is enough to make a woman speak in tongues of which the Spirit is not in control!  The remote won’t open all doors.  The key will not open all doors.  The back passenger side must be manually done.   Gaylon even told me if I ran into a problem to manually unlock the passenger’s side and climb over to the driver’s side.    It’s just all messed up.  I was afraid  to drive Tucker anywhere for fear I couldn’t get him in or out of the car.    Finally, I just did everything manually so I wouldn’t have to remember when to kick what!

I was so glad to get my car back, but I ended up laughing at myself.  In three weeks I had developed a habit of doing things manually and for a few days, I found myself doing that with my car.  I had a perfectly good remote and lock system, but what I practiced for three weeks became a habit in my life.

I listen to people who seem to never grow spiritually.  They remain angry, unfulfilled, lukewarm and a host of other things.  All too often I have found that they have quit spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible reading,  worship attendance, praise and just being faithful to practice what the Word teaches.

I am beyond convinced that the lack in one’s spiritual life is frequently due to letting habits of the faith go by the wayside.   I am now using my remote again because I retrained myself to do it, and I am much happier with my driving experience.    In your spiritual journey, if you are slapping the door, kicking the tire and just plain frustrated, maybe it’s time to develop some healthy spiritual habits. You might be surprised how quickly they become ingrained in your life.

“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.”  I Peter 1:5-9 (MSG)

It Might Be Time For A RE-MINDER

166730_182789265202903_1206918220_nI love dividing words to really grasp their meaning.  Words like nothing, NO THING.  Nothing is impossible with God – and NO THING is impossible with God.  Today I am focused on remind, RE-MIND.  Our thoughts lives can wreak havoc on so many levels.   As a child of God, when our minds are bombarded by thoughts that do not line up with the Word of God, we must RE-MIND.

When someone or the devil puts the thought in your mind that, you are nobody, it’s time to RE-MIND with what God says. God says you are His child and none of His children are nobodies.   1 John 3:1 (NIV) “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

When you are tormented with the thought that you are not going to make it, it’s time to RE-MIND:   Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

When your head is saying you have sinned so badly, God is finished with you, it’s time for a RE-MIND-er:  Psalm 103:  “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities…”

When your mind is saying, the doctor can’t do anything else, RE-MIND with Psalm 103:”Bless the LORD, O my soul,  And forget none of His benefits; Who heals all your diseases.”When your thoughts are filled with, “God does not hear my prayers.”  Let’s do a RE-MIND:  Jeremiah 29:12: (NIV) “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

What is your mind saying to you today?  The Word is filled with RE-MIND-ers.  It might be time to get the Word of God out and RE-MIND yourself who God is and who you are!

EN-couragement

 

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I recently spent three nights in a motel in Columbus, OH.  My schedule made it necessary to arise and shine early each morning!  I would go down to the breakfast room at 5:30 to get my anointed cup of coffee and read over my message.  There were two women who stocked the breakfast area, and they told me their day started at 4:30.   As I watched hotel guests eating breakfast, very little thought seemed to be given to these women.  It was not a “limelight” job.  God spoke to me to bless them daily with words of thanksgiving and praise and I did.  The last morning I felt God leading me to bring them a gift of thanksgiving.  As I placed it in their hands, I thanked them for a job well done.  I thanked them that I had fresh coffee so early in the morning.  They begin to grin and you could almost see their shoulders lift up.  I could see them in the back room, and as we say in the south, “they were tickled pink!”   I honestly think I was more blessed than they were.

We often think of great ministries or ministers as those who stand up front, those in the limelight.  I have certainly known great men and women of God who have gifts requiring them to stand in the limelight.  But, there is a ministry that is so needed in life today, and it’s a great ministry that all of us can do.  Don’t even take a spiritual gift test to see if you have it!  It is the ministry of EN-couragement!

Everyone, from babes to senior citizens, needs EN-couragement. To EN-courage is to put courage into someone. To DIS-courage is to take courage out of them.   You don’t have to go to seminary to have a great ministry!  Be an EN-courager!  Today speak a kind word; tell someone you appreciate them; say thank you to your boss; tell that nurse how much you appreciate her care;  tell a child how glad you are God made them; post on someone’s Facebook  complimenting them.  If you will look around today, you will have many opportunities to have a great ministry – the ministry of EN-couragement.

Show the love of God by being an EN-courager.  Make a point of putting courage into your spouse, your children, your friends, the clerk checking you out at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, the single parent and countless others.  Be a blessing today through .  Go out of your way to do it, and one wonderful thing that happens, is that in blessing others you will be blessed yourself.

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life …”  Proverbs 10:11