In the state of Alabama, where no pro sports are located, college football is king.   My guys love  University of Alabama football.  Now that we have resided in the state for nine years, I admit that I keep up with the team pretty closely.

When the University of Alabama recruits a high school player, and he accepts that offer, he has just committed to some of the hardest work of his life.   Quite a few of these young men have the potential to play pro ball and that becomes their goal.  When they arrive on campus, they are a long way from reaching the goal.  Many of the players come in undersized and not as well-developed as they need to be to play college ball.   The student athletes arrive on campus and immediately begin a regimen of training.   Then, they must practice, practice, practice, whether it’s hot or cold, whether they feel like it or not.   It is painful, repetitive, hard work.   Some get lazy and never reach the potential laid before them.    Some do the hard work and four years later, they don’t even look like the same person.  They have matured, and have become strong and disciplined.  They were willing to put the work in to reach the goal.

Our walk with God is the most important journey of life.  I counsel and pray with a lot of people.   It is sad to me how many people want God to just pour blessings out of heaven with little or no involvement from them.    I have always found it interesting that God showed the Israelites the land He was “giving” them, and then told THEM to go possess it.

Too often, people want ministry position, breakthrough in their families, better jobs, greater sense of God’s presence … and on and on.  Yet, they don’t want to put in the effort required to see the goal reached.  For example, when I have to speak somewhere, it would be so nice if God wrote the sermon and did the research!  He gives me the seed and then I must pray, study, research, write, edit, pray more, travel, pray more, speak the message, pray more,  and then trust Him to bring forth fruit.  Another example – people want God to heal their marriages, but they want to continue treating their spouses in ways that are detrimental to the relationship.

“Faith without works is dead!”

The truth of the matter is that I must cooperate with the Spirit of God and practice the Word of God.   There is a lot of confession, but far too little possession of the promises of God.   I can confess being a size six all day long, but if day-in and day-out I feed a size sixteen, I will remain size sixteen.  (Don’t ask how I know this!)

Let us arise.  Let us shake off spiritual laziness and apathy.   Let us do the hard work.    Like those Alabama football players, we won’t look the same and will be much stronger.   Let’s possess what God has given us.   We must move from confession to possession.  God simply is not going to do it all for us.

The Benton men do love their college football.  It was fun to have part of the family over for a big game last Saturday.   There was fun, laughter, chatter, food, excitement and nail-biting, but their beloved Tide won!

While the game was being watched, my eyes were opened concerning my 18 month-old grandson Joseph.  I was in the kitchen and everyone else was in the living room.   I heard my daughter-in-law Kelly say, “Oh my!  Joseph just opened the front door.  Get him!”  (Kelly has a broken foot so moving rapidly was not a possibility.)  Someone scooped Joseph up quickly before he got out the door.  The door has a lever handle,  and he simply pulled down on the handle, and was about to walk through a door that he was not mature enough handle.  I learned that day that the front door must be locked at all times to keep Joseph from walking into situations for which he is not ready.

In Joseph’s mind, the open door was just what he wanted.  He loves the outdoors, but Joseph did not understand, that the timing was totally wrong for him to walk through the door.  Joseph would have been in a dangerous situation.  Joseph would have wandered with no direction.   The day will come when he will be ready for what is beyond the door, but not at this time in his life.

Open doors in life can mean opportunity, progress and promotion.  But, there are times when open doors close, or sometimes the door just doesn’t open at all.  Often we cry out, “God, where are you? Is it all over for me?   Why don’t you open the door, God?!”

This cry comes from disappointment or even desperation.  As God’s children we need to walk in greater trust concerning the doors that are before us.   Closed doors do not mean that it is the end of the road.  They do not mean that God has stopped caring about our lives.  It is actually quite the opposite.

The key to every door is in His hand.  If you are a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, and you desire His will in all things, you can be certain that He will open the right doors at the right time.  You can also be certain that He will close doors.  There are times that He does use open and closed doors of circumstances, finances, relationships and many other things to help guide us.

Will you be bold enough to ask God to close all doors except the ones that He wants you to go through? We should never force doors to open, or pull strings to make things work out.  Try not to dwell on the disappointment of a closed door, for like Joseph, we might find ourselves walking through a door that looked so inviting, only to find it was a wrong place for us.

“I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.”  Revelation 3:8

“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?” –  Psalm 13:1,2

Those of us who live in the southern part of the United States know what hot weather is!   The heat and humidity can be brutal!  Much of the chatter during the summer is about how hot it is.  One will find no shortage of complaints about the season, and wishes for the next season to hurry its arrival.  No matter how much we try to wish it away or long for the next season, we must learn to live victoriously in the present, until the new season arrives.

God has been reminding me that life has seasons, and that at some point, one season must give way to the next.  Think of how summer becomes fall.  It’s still very hot and then “suddenly” there will be cool crisp air one morning, then back to hot, repeat and repeat.   In time the hot is gone and the cool is present every day. There has been a change of season.

As David wrote Psalm 13, he was on the run from King Saul and found himself in a hard place of losing hope. He was in dire need of encouragement and strength.  Words of anguish filled his heart and then came forth as words from his mouth, as he cried out to the God, “How long?”

Are you living in the unbearable days of “How long?”  How long will I be unemployed? How long will my marriage be like this? How long must I continue to pray to have a child?  How long will my child be a prodigal?  How long will I live with this life-threatening diagnosis? How long will I be lonely? How long will my family continue to hurt me?  Our stay in “How long?” can seem “very long.”

You might be in a season that is difficult.  I call it the winter of life.  May I be honest enough to tell you that I have never experienced the winter of life like I have for the past year and a half.  While I will not enumerate everything, it has been a cold winter season for my family.   It has been the season of “How long, Lord?”  in so many ways.  How thankful I am that the words of David can become my words to God.  I can bring my pain to Him.  It strengthens my faith to know that He will bring me through the season of “How long?”

Don’t give up, child of God.  He knows where you are and what the cry of your heart is!  A change of season will come!

Thursday is usually Joseph day at the Benton house.   Each Thursday our grandson Joseph comes over to spend a significant part of the day with us.  It’s our time to play with Joseph, love on Joseph, laugh with Joseph and spoil Joseph.

Recently we went to the park on a Thursday morning, and Joseph loved it.  He was fascinated with the huge ducks and laughed at them when they “honked” at him, and at times he wanted to follow them right into the water.   The playground area brought many giggles as we pushed him high in the swing.  It was a fun day.

Joseph loves toys with wheels on them.  He likes to sit down and spin them over and over and over and over, yes and over. On our visit to the park,  Joseph walked over to our car, which sat by the playground, and tried to spin the wheels, but to no avail.  He finally gave up, but when we picked him up to go home, his hands were black.   Though he had not meant to, he had picked up dirt and filth, just because of where life took him that day.   By now he was tired and thirsty. Before we could even put him in the car seat, or quench his thirst, his hands had to be thoroughly cleaned.   We knew that if he kept the dirty hands, it would affect his well-being, and leave dirt everywhere he walked.   Joseph was not a happy camper!  He wanted his milk, yet the dirty hands were preventing him from having it.   All he needed to do was to surrender to a cleaning, and he would receive far more than he imagined.   Joseph did not know that not only did I have milk awaiting him, but goldfish crackers also.  His favorite!

Often in our walk in life, we get a little dirty.   Perhaps it is not intentional, but we are simply exposed to things that are ungodly – words, attitudes, coarse talk, wrong mindsets.  It happens because life exposes us to things.  I have found in my walk with God, that pulling aside for a cleansing on a daily basis is a wonderful thing.

As I sit with God and ask if there is anything in me that needs cleansing, it’s amazing what the Spirit of God brings to my remembrance.  There are times I am a bit resistant.  I want the power, prosperity and presence of God, without dealing with the things that need cleansing.  I want God to leave my attitude alone!  I want God to leave my angry spirit alone!  I don’t want God talking about my self-pity!  I just want what I want!   God has far more in store for my life than I can imagine, but there are times I miss some of what He has, because I need a cleansing.    The cleansing opens channels through which His fullness will flow.   He has more than milk awaiting us.

As Simon Peter said, “Lord, do not wash my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”

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

This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” – Isaiah 66:1

Most of us have that special place we sit in our homes.  We often call it “my” chair.   In my home, “my” chair is a nice comfortable arm chair with a matching ottoman.  As a matter of fact, the picture accompanying this article is almost my exact chair.  It is so relaxing to plop down in my chair, and put up my feet.  It’s a fact that I have been known to fall asleep in my chair a time or two, or three, or … okay a lot!   It has become a place of rest for me … rest from the tiredness that life can sometimes bring.

The scripture tells us that God has a chair and ottoman.  His throne is in heaven, and his footstool is here on earth! That is a big God who can stretch his legs all the way from His throne in heaven and rest his feet upon the earth!   That tells us that everything – the mountains, the rivers, the oceans, our homes are under His feet…but, more than that, our problems, our worries, our fears, our anxieties – they are all under His feet!

God invites you to sit in the chair with Him and experience rest, wonderful rest!  In the chair with God is a place of release – no longer worrying, fretting, or straining, but resting upon One who is wholly adequate in your life.

Relax, put your feet up – give those problems over to God.  Kick up your feet, and rest in Him, realizing that every issue you’re dealing with is under His feet, and that He never slumbers or sleeps!  He is always watching over His children.  Always!

As “Lillian” approached me after a prayer meeting, I was excited by her question.  “I am an officer in an organization, and we were wondering if we could schedule you to speak for us next month.”  I was so ecstatic.  It was early in my days of travel ministry and each invitation thrilled my soul!  Then Lillian followed her question with explanation.  She said that they were disappointed that the speaker they wanted could not come and now they were desperate, and they thought of me.  I was their “desperation” choice!  I was their “second” choice!

After the conversation, I asked Lillian to give me that day to pray about it, and I would get back with her.  The truth is I wanted the day to seethe about being their desperation choice.  How dare they!  I wanted the day to beautifully craft my words to tell them, “NO!”   I was about to let my pride make my decision.  Ego had stepped up to be my walking partner that day.

As I complained to God, I mean prayed to God, He spoke these words to me, “Have you ever thought that you were my first choice to be there?  Have you given thought that I orchestrated it for you to be the speaker rather than their “first” choice?”  I was about to let pride make my decision.  Ego was quickly becoming my best friend.

How often does God have a plan, and we miss it, because we let pride and ego stand in the way?    Maybe it’s a speaking engagement.  Maybe it’s marriage enrichment.  Maybe it’s a relationship thing.  Maybe it’s … you fill in the blank.

I did speak at the event. God did move at the event.  Thank God that I did not let pride make the decision.  Ego and I parted ways that day.

Pride and ego are not my friend, and they are not your friend either!

“O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8

A couple of years ago, I switched from a bank to a credit union.  I like everything about the credit union, except that they are very slow.  My branch is small and slimly staffed, so a healthy wait is not unusual.

I have learned that the drive-thru definitely takes longer, so I decided to go inside one day, rather than wait in the long line of cars.  As I approached the window and handed the teller my deposit, she said a couple of times, “Hmmm.”  She finally said, “This account has been inactive for over a year.”  I assured her that the account was used weekly. She summoned her supervisor to come take a look, and she agreed it was an inactive account.  This was taking long and I was getting aggravated by “their” incompetence.  In my head, I was already formulating my statements to them.  I would be letting them know that I was tired of the long waits and now this, so I would be withdrawing my money and putting it back in the bank.

But … thank God, I held my tongue!  Thank God I did not open mouth and insert foot! Details would tell another story.

Gaylon and I have two accounts at the institution, one of which is rarely, if ever, used.  I had put that account number on my deposit slip!  I was the problem, not the bank!  On top of that, these women know that I am in full-time ministry.  How awful would it have been for me to cop an attitude, and possibly put a bad taste in their mouths for Christianity!

How often do we want to give an opinion or spout off about situations rather than wait until we have the facts!  How often do we give God bad representation because we are quick to judge without knowing the whole story?  And, who knows, the problem might even be “me.”

SELAH

^“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”  James 1:19-20 

“A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.”  Proverbs 17:27

Long ago I gave up the notion, that to serve God and have “great” faith, means I can pray/believe every negative away from my life. That is just not the case.  Storms will come, some will be hurricane proportion, but if I can’t believe my way out of it, I will trust God all the way through it.   Normally I write my own blogs, and I shall continue to do that.  Today I would like to repost something a friend wrote.  This is from my friend Linda Pearson who lives in Waycross, GA.

 BELIEVING MY WAY OUT OF IT (OR) TRUSTING MY WAY THROUGH IT

(I wrote this for a friend who suffered a devastating loss several weeks ago.  I modified it so I could share it today as a devotion.)

Not praying enough. Not believing enough. Not speaking words of faith enough.

I use to think that if troubles came into my life that I could attribute the troubles to one of the reasons listed above.

At one time (spiritual immaturity) I believed that difficult and painful circumstances were never God’s will for me.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10  (DON’T GET ME WRONG…I BELIEVE THIS 100%) But, when I would find myself in the middle of a bad circumstance, I felt I needed to do something to get back in the “abundant” column with God.  I wore myself out trying to perform my way into God’s good grace.  I think back now, and I wonder how I understood and processed all the stories I read in the Bible. You know, stories like Stephen being killed because of his faith.  And, Joseph’s years of wrongful imprisonment.  And, Paul’s beatings and jail time.  And, John the Baptist’s head being chopped off.  And, what about Job?

All those stories clearly defy the theory that God never wants you to face painful and difficult circumstances. 

The reality is this:  I can’t believe my way out of the death of a loved one, or a tree on my house, or a negative checking account, or a flat tire, or a rebellious child, or a mean spouse.  There are many things in life that I simply can’t believe my way out of. HOWEVER, I can TRUST my way THROUGH everything! Bad things happen to God-fearing people. Sometimes, life isn’t fair. And life is much harder than we ever thought it would be. BUT, the GOOD NEWS is — God’s GRACE is sufficient. God’s grace will sustain us and empower us to walk through the most difficult situations in life.

God’s GRACE says, I am good even when your life is anything but.  I am sufficient even in your lack.  I am strong even in your weakness…even when the pain gets worse instead of better…even when the husband leaves…even when you lose everything…even when your child has addictions…even when the car dies.

Joseph, who is my one-year-old grandson, is quite an eater.  The boy enjoys his food.  While keeping Joseph at my house one day, meal time approached.  As soon as he was seated in the high chair, he started smiling and waving his hands.  Bring it on, Grammy!   The meal of the day was Italian, and he ate it all, and I do mean ALL.  However, in the process, he had sauce on his hands, his arms, his face and his hair. What a sight to see those big blue eyes surrounded by red sauce!   At least I put a bib on him, but Grammy wasn’t thinking – the bib had a white background, and it was covered in red stains.  What a mess!  The bib was ruined and might as well be thrown away.

My husband is the best “stain-getter-outer” in the world!  So, I asked him to see if there was any way to save the bib.  About ten minutes later he presented me with a perfectly clean bib.  It looked like it was brand new.

I’ve had a lot messes that left terrible stains.   After trying many times on my own to remove stains and reverse messes, I’ve turned them over to Gaylon.  I’ve had many garments that I thought were ruined, only to have Gaylon remove the stains.  He has been able to change a lot of messes when all my efforts were futile.

I’ve made a lot of messes in life.  My life has been stained by sin, bad decisions and painful circumstances.  I am thankful to know the GREAT “stain-getter-outer” – Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

“No amount of soap or lye can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” Jeremiah 2:22.   The fact is God saw my guilt, but an even greater fact is that He saw my guilt and gave his life to remove it.   No matter how much I tried to clean myself, it was impossible.   I am so thankful that even though He saw my stain, he also said, “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

No matter how stained our lives are, Jesus is the great stain-remover.  He is the life-changer.  He does not throw us away, but makes us new creations.  Our stains can only be removed through the cleansing power of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  It’s not what I can do to get myself clean, but it’s what He has already done!

“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

Madison Benton will be nine years old in July.  Her birth brought much joy and ushered in a great era for us.  Being grandparents is something we enjoy beyond description.

After Madison was born, we bought a high chair to use during her visits.  Because Madison matured and grew, the chair eventually found its way to the attic.  It was almost eight years before other grandchildren began to arrive, so the chair has now moved from the attic back to the kitchen.  Our young, immature grandsons require a  high chair.

It’s funny to watch those boys as they sit in the high chair.  It’s actually more like an “I” chair.  When our grandsons are in the “I” chair, they are very demanding.  I was recently feeding Joseph, and he was sitting in the chair crying, mouth wide open, demanding his food immediately!  If he liked what I gave him, all was pleasant.  If he did not like what I was giving him, he would try to swat it away.  He demanded that he have what he wanted, when he wanted it.   If he did not have his way, he let everyone know it.  I’ve had the same experience when feeding Tucker – the identical same experience!   Their behavior is understandable because they are just babies; however, the day must come when the boys mature beyond the “I” chair.

The most dangerous spiritual chair a person can sit in is the “I” chair.  It is the chair that negates the will and Word of God.  It is the chair that says I will serve and obey God when I choose.  It will be on my terms.  If I don’t like part of His Word, I’ll swat it away.  If God or the church crosses me, I will scream unless I get my way.  I have a right to do whatever!  Yet, nothing could be farther from the truth of the Gospel.

There must come a point that we outgrow the “I” chair.  We are not our own. We were bought with a price. We belong to Jesus. We are His purchased possession.  When a person yields to the lordship of Jesus Christ, he or she acknowledges His ownership and gives up personal rights.

It’s time to put the “I” chair in the attic. 

“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”  Luke 9:23