Fantastic Friday #434 - Ebbing

Ebbing

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
    to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
    will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” Jonah 2:7-9

Do you ever feel like your life is ebbing away?  To ebb is to flow backward or away; decline or decay.  Now I ask you again, do you feel like your life is full of decay, so much that you see your life ebbing away.  The times when we feel this are probably those times when God is quiet and you are far away from Him.  We also might feel like there is no way we can be renewed or begin flowing in the right direction that God wants us to.  As always, we tend to look at these things from the wrong viewpoint.  We need to remember as Jonah did in this verse that our salvation comes from the Lord and He loves us.  We need to turn to Him even more when that undercurrent of our life starts dragging us away which only leads to decay.  Remember salvation can only be found in our Lord and not the worthless idols of our day.  Turn to him as your anchor so you aren't caught in the ebb of this world.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #433 - COG

COG

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3
If you think of a Cog, it is a minor part in a large organization or more commonly a part of a wheel that makes a gear move which is something small that helps make a large impact.  Is it any wonder that a COG can also be an abbreviation for Children of God.  Now let's sit and think about it for a second.  While God is all-powerful and amazing, He still has us as His children to spread His gospel and share His Word. We, as His Children, are an extension of Him and therefore a minor part in His major machine.  We as Christians can help His gears move forward.  So, as Children of God, we are not just a person among many, we are COG in the wheel of life where we can help make God's message be moved forward with just a little effort.  Don't just be a follower of Christ, but be a Child of God to help spread His message.
Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #432 - Rend

Rend

¹² “Even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
    with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³ Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
    and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:12-13
 
Rend, a very interesting word.  Now be honest, how many of you looked at that word and had to Google it or look it up in a dictionary.  Maybe if you were an English major or a Bible scholar you recognized the word right off, but if you didn't this definition I found quite humbling, "to tear (one's garments or hair) in grief, rage, etc." Keep the jokes coming, but truly this one hits more to home, "to harrow or distress (the heart) with painful feelings." Do you know those times when you find yourself distant from God, and do you ever cry out to Him asking for Him to show up with an almighty miracle?  Do you ever find yourself expressing rage or grief in physical ways?  God doesn't want us to act out physically or create an over-emotional response.  He wants us, and He wants our hearts to be in the right place.  He wants us to return to Him away from a life of sin, anger and frustration.  He wants us to lean into Him so He can help us see where we should be.  He is gracious and compassionate.  So, no more ripping up our clothes(acting out in rage), but let's be more cognizant of where God wants us in our life.  He is slow to anger, and very compassionate and full of love.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #431 - Attentive

Attentive


¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” Nehemiah 1:11


How attentive are you during the day? Do you pay attention to the right things? Do you find yourself paying half attention to people and things because you always think something else is more important?  We can find ourselves hearing only half the conversation and sometimes missing the main point completely depending on how engaged we are in the relationship. Relationships are where we develop attentiveness in our lives.  How engaged we are with others will reflect how attentive we are to those same people when they engage you. How attentive to you do you think God is to our needs?  How attentive to God are you?  It all depends on how engaged you are with God.  He is always there to listen attentively to us, but we have to be attentive to Him and His teachings.  We have to be attentive to Him when He speaks.  I know in my life, my attentiveness waivers with the flow of the day, but I know in my heart I should always be ready to hear Him speak.  Be more attentive or you might miss something important.


Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #430 - Changes

Changes

²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Daniel 3:28-29
 

What does it take to make a life change?  Is it a friend who tells you that you need to make changes in your lifestyle to improve yourself, or is it a family member encouraging you to change a habit that impacts you and your family.  Or better yet, is it a miracle that you experience that changes your perspective on how you should live. We might have things in our life that we might find more important than God, and those things end up becoming idols.  Everyone can identify an idol that has been or is a part of their life. In this scripture Nebuchadnezzar changed his view on his idols and his gods when he saw the one and only true God perform a miracle of saving these three young men who wouldn't worship his gods.  It shouldn't take a miracle to make changes in our life but a simple step of faith in God and His plan for our life.  Make changes to put down those idols in your life that are so distracting and live a life in faith. 

Have a great weekend.