Friday, July 28, 2017

What Does a Pedicure Have to Do with a Desire for God?

I'd told myself I would eat healthy food while on a recent trip out of town. That commitment didn't last very long. I didn't eat sweets or eat too much at mealtime (sorta) but I didn't eat a salad or much that would be part of a salad.

Why is it so easy to say one thing then do another? Does that happen to you? It does. I know it. It's a universal problem and you aren't exempt from it.

If I began to tell you all the times I've resolved to do something better only to neglect the resolution almost before the words drift away into the clouds… I guess my head is in the clouds for thinking I could really do it.

Here's what I know about desires, temptations, and the struggles we all face.

Everyone has desires. We all want something. Sometimes the desires are selfish; sometimes they are noble. Desires can reveal a need for something good. Or desires can reveal the sinful nature within all of us. I think we all have both kinds of desires: those that reveal a need for something good and those that reveal our sinful nature.

Nothing is further from God's desire for you than for you to follow the bad desires of your heart. Yes, the Bible says to "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart," but the key is delighting in the Lord. Only when we delight in the Lord are we assured of gaining the desires of our hearts. Why? Because our desires are of the good variety when we delight in the Lord.

Satan would love to help you fall for the bad desires. He would rejoice to see you take the bait of temptation to follow a path that leads to harm and destruction. If the angels in heaven rejoice when a person is saved then the demons of hell must be ecstatic when a person falls into sin through temptations aimed at fleshly desires.

Desire is real. So is temptation. The struggle is real. Even Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) said he struggled wanting to do one thing but doing another. What can you do?

Delight yourself in the Lord. But what does that mean? Think about an experience that so pleased or fulfilled you that you could hardly stand it. Has your wife ever tried to convince you to get a pedicure? She explains how relaxing and rejuvenating it is. As she talks more about it she begins to melt into the chair just like she does when she is getting the pedi. Although I don't want anyone playing with my feet, that seems to be the ultimate in satisfying activities. To delight yourself in the Lord means to be completely satisfied with him and by him. You need nothing else.

Do you delight in the Lord? Do you delight in the Lord like that? When the Lord so pleases and fulfills and excites you that you can hardly stand it, he will give you the desires of your heart because your desires will be centered around him.

The next time you commit to something - which is an expression of your desires - remember to first delight in the Lord. Your desires (and commitments to them) may change; that's OK! The desires that come from delighting in the Lord will be better anyway.

photo cred: godswordimages.com

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Mount Magazine

I left the house about 9:00 this morning with a long list of things to do. Drove almost 300 miles getting them done. Enjoyed the whole day. I need more days like this.
After the business part of the day was over, I went to Mount Magazine. I was already in that neck of the woods anyway. In Paris the temperature was 97 (on my truck readout). It was 91 at Cove Lake and 84 at the lodge on top. Mount Magazine is the tallest mountain in Arkansas at 2,753 feet.
My parents are both from Paris so we spent some time at the lake and on the mountain when I was a kid but it's been YEARS and YEARS since I've been up there. I'll have to take Deana and Riley.
I remember riding (literally) on my uncle Dwight as he floated in the lake. I learned to ski on Cove Lake. My cousin and I (I had little to do with it) pretty much sank my uncle's boat one day. Those are just a few of the great memories I have of this place.
Memories can be wonderful things. And memories can be horrible things. I decided today that I will cherish the wonderful memories and unhook myself from the horrible ones. By nature I tend to do just the opposite. The long drive down the back roads from Mount Magazine to Little Rock gave me plenty of time to talk to God about this. Let me share how that conversation went in case you also need to cherish some memories and unhook from others.
I thanked God for the good memories. I asked him for more things to make new memories of. Do you realize just how good God is? He wants to fill your life with the stuff the makes great memories. If you are like me you have a hard time seeing the good. It's not that there isn't a lot of good; it's just that the bad is so much easier to see. Today I asked God to help me recognize the good things he does for me that make the great memories like I experienced today.
Then I confessed my sin that was tied to the horrible memories and I repented. To confess means to agree with God that whatever it is is a sin. God already knows what I've done so I'm not telling him anything new. But I am agreeing with what he already knows. To repent is to turn away from the sinful thing and turn toward Jesus and his plan for that part of your life. The neat thing is that God will help you once you agree with him about the sin and turn from it toward Jesus' plan. How awesome is that!
There were a couple of things that I'm not sure I had ever honestly confessed and repented of. I'm glad God got my attention today so I could do that. Now I'm ready to unhook from all of that. Like a train engine pulling too many cars overloaded with cargo, I've been dragging stuff around for a long, long time. Sometimes you just have to unhook from the excessive and unnecessary stuff. Some have said you just need to put down all that excess baggage you've been carrying around. I won't forget the lessons I learned through those times but I won't let them drag me down anymore.
That frees us up for so much more than we've been experiencing. Does that sound good to you? Do you have some things in your past that you haven't gotten past? I did, too. I'll pray that you can know the freedom that only God can give.
If you want to see what Mount Magazine and Cove Lake looked like today, check out my photos in this Facebook album.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Working on a Hot Day

Yesterday and today have been hot and humid where I live. I watched the weather last night and the reporter warned about working outside between the hours of 10:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. It was too late; I had already spent almost 4 hours mowing the lawn. I have the tan lines to prove it! I should post a picture. That would definitely break the internet.

But I'll use better judgement, otherwise you wouldn't be able to continue reading my wonderful posts!

The reporter was right. It's too hot to be outside for very long, especially if you are working. I have friends who have no choice because their jobs demand it. Their weariness by the end of the week is understandable. My weariness at the end of a few hours mowing the lawn is probably due to laziness.

So with all the wisdom gained from last night's news, what did I do today? I worked outside right after lunch. That's between 10:00 and 5:00, right? What was I thinking? But I didn't have to be out very long. Still my shirt is soaked and my mouth is dry.

Have I told you about the time I worked in a warehouse? An older fellow worked there, too. He was retired from IBM so he should have been smarter than to do what I'm about to tell you he did.

We would unload trucks and put orders together. One particularly hot summer day when break time came along, he pulled up a box and sat down. Then he reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a cigarette. And lit it! It was hot enough to burn down the gates of you-know-where and he lit a cigarette! And chased it with a cup of coffee.

He wasn't the kind of guy to drink iced coffee. Hot, black, strong. He would often offer me "a slice of coffee" with a grin on his face. It was thick. So he's drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette.

I love coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. But never outside on a hot day. Never in a steamy warehouse on a hot summer day.

Another person once told me that the most refreshing drink for him during a break from hauling hay was…wait for it…coffee.

I don't get it. I want iced tea or gatorade or plain old water.

I guess coffee has water in it.

When your life is dry and parched and barren, don't forget the refreshment of God's Word and God's people. The Bible and believers can help you through some tough times. I just got off the phone with a Christian friend who helped me think through some things. Yesterday I was texting encouragement to a Christian friend.

God has given us the Bible and other believers to help us through whatever we're facing today.


clipart from tinyclipart.com
photo from lovethispic.com