1 John 3:1

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!"

One of the devotionals that I read today was regarding 1 John 3:1. And the devotional talked about God not giving us everything we want when we ask for it, because no father wants spoiled children.

And I find this to be very true. As a parent it's hard not to give into your child's every want, especially when they give you "that look". However, you don't want to give your child everything they want because you don't want to raise a spoiled kid either. And to me that's a hard boundary. I want my kids to be happy and I hate to see them cry and I can't stand the whining!! :-) What I need to realize is that they don't NEED everything they want obviously. As long as I provide them food and clothing that is all they NEEd. Everything else is a gift and they need to be thankful and appreciative when they get all the "extras". And as a parent I am the one that needs to make the decision not my kids.

Parenting is hard, but just think how hard it must be for God to have to make the hard decisions of what is "needed" vs. "wanted" and knowing what is best for everyone. I can only imagine!

Today's Truth

I am really enjoying my daily devotional readings. This one today just really hit home for me. I hope you enjoy it!

Today’s Truth
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).

Friend to Friend
Most of us live in a world of performance-based acceptance. We make good grades and mommy is proud. We look pretty and daddy smiles. We do a good job at work and the boss is pleased. We serve at church and congregation thinks we are “good Christians.”
Unfortunately that same sense of having to perform well to be accepted by people can easily roll over into our relationship with God. We falsely believe that we must perform well to be loved and accepted by Him, when nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, we strive to obtain something that we already have…God’s unconditional love.
Anabel Gillham was a woman who loved God, but had trouble accepting that God could love her. Sure, she knew the Bible verses that talked of God’s unconditional love for her. And yet she knew herself and doubted a God who knew her innermost thoughts would approve of her.
Then God used a very special person to help Annabel understand the depths of His love for her – her second child, Mason David Gilham, who was profoundly retarded. Let’s let Anabel tell you her story.
I never doubted for a moment that Jesus loved that profoundly retarded little boy. It didn’t matter that he would never sit with the kids in the back of the church and on a certain special night walk down the aisle, take the pastor by the hand, and invite Jesus into his heart. It was entirely irrelevant that he could not quote a single verse of Scripture, that he would never go to high school, or that he would never be a dad. I knew that Jesus loved Mason.
What I could not comprehend, what I could not accept, was that Jesus could love Mason’s mother, Anabel. You see, I believed that in order for a person to accept me, to love me, I had to perform for him. My standard for getting love was performance-based, so I “performed” constantly, perfectly. In fact, I did not allow anyone to see me when I was not performing perfectly. I never had any close friends because I was convinced that if a person ever really got to know me, he wouldn’t like me.
Mace could never have performed for his parent’s love, or for anyone’s love, but oh, how they loved him. His condition deteriorated to such a degree-and so rapidly-that they had to place him in an institution when he was very young. His parents enrolled him in the Enid State School for Mentally Handicapped Children. They drove regularly 120 miles to see him but occasionally also brought him home for a visit.
On one particular visit, Mace had been with them since Thursday evening. On the following Saturday afternoon God painted a vivid picture of His great love for Anabel through Mason. She was standing at the kitchen sink, dreading what lay ahead. In just a few moments, she would be gathering Mace’s things together and taking him back to “his house.” She had done this many times before-and it was never easy-but today God had something in mind that would change her life forever.
“I stood up to the sink again,” she continued. “More dishes, more washing, more crying – and thoughts, foreign to my way of thinking, began filtering into my conscious awareness. I believe God spoke to me that day, and this is what He said: “Anabel, you don’t look at your son and turn away in disgust because he’s sitting there with saliva drooling out of mouth; you don’t shake your head, repulsed because he has dinner all over his shirt or because he’s sitting in a dirty, smelly diaper when he ought to be able to take care of himself. Anabel, you don’t reject Mason because all of the dreams you had for him have been destroyed. You don’t reject him because he doesn’t perform for you. You love him, Anabel, just because he is yours. Mason doesn’t willfully reject your love, but you willfully reject Mine. I love you, Anabel, not because you’re neat or attractive, or because you do things well, not because you perform for Me but just because you’re Mine.”
And friend, that’s exactly how God feels about you. He loves you just because you’re His

Obstacles to Prayer

So far you haven't asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so that you can be completely happy.

~ John 16:24

Luther notes that we have two obstacles to prayer.

1. The devil prompts us to think that we are not prepared to pray, and we should wait. Then we become distracted by our daily tasks, and we might not get around to it. We could also become distracted by useless thoughts, losing concentration while in prayer.
2. We feel that we are not worthy to pray, and should wait until we have confessed our sin and taken the Lord's supper to feel closer to God while in prayer.

We must know that we can "freely approach God and call on Him", as Luther says.

- becky

Christian radio and Generosity!

Hey everybody! So you do you listen to Christian Radio? I mean 91.9 or 90.9? Well, tonight on the way home from Ryan's. I had on WEMI the Whitehorse Inn. Guess what they were talking about Becky? They were talking about what we talked about for our Bible Study, and what the message at church was (I think that is right my mind just went blank). I thought "Wow! That is cool! Then I heard the song after "Hallelujah." Not the one by K.D. Lang, which I like. It is "Hallelujah" by Heather Williams . Man, listen to this song. It is one powerful song.

Okay, my point! I was starting off on a not so good week last week. I was getting frustrated all to easily. So I got sick of listening to 101.1 or 105.7. I would switch between the two. Well, at times I would flip it to Christian radio. Then I would get bored with it, and turn it back to 101.1. So Monday I made the change. I listened to Christian radio all week long when I was in my car. I would flip to 101.1. Then switch it back. I am now bored with 101.1. And I really don't like the message that they are portraying.

It is amazing to me that once you turn on Christian radio, a certain topic or song pops us. That fits that moment. Or they talk about people or things that are going on in people today. This week I heard this on the radio. I may not repeat it properly, and I probably botched it when I told it to Ryan. He doesn't agree with it. I do. The person on the radio said "have you ever noticed that people who are generous, are believers in God? That generosity comes from those that believe in God because he has a tremendous amount of generosity." They based this on Luke 16. This is also a video series I think.

Ryan said with what I just told you, that there are people out there that don't believe who are the most generous people in the world. I will read the chapter and try to figure it out. You go ahead and do that also. Now when reading Luke 16. Read the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. I was reading and the generosity quote I typed, didn't fit until I went to the very last parable. It makes much more sense.

Tell me what you think about what I heard: "have you ever noticed that people who are generous, are believers in God? That generosity comes from those that believe in God because he has a tremendous amount of generosity."

What are your thoughts on this?

Do you agree with it or disagree? If you agree or disagree, please tell me why.

I truly believe in what was said, but I also believe what Ryan said. So I guess I am undecided. Let's start a discussion on this.

Jodie

The Underdog

Read 1 Samuel 17:32-51.

Why do you think God used a shepherd boy rather than an entire army to bring down Goliath?

I think God used only a shepherd boy because that's all he needed. God didn't need an entire army for the task.

How does it encourage you to see how God empowers ordinary people to accomplish his purpose?

It reminds me that all things are possible WITH GOD.

In which of your battles do you particularly need God's strength? Take the time to ask him to arm you head to toe. Ask him to transform your tiny pebble of faith into a powerful missile.

I definitely need God's strength when it comes to Isaiah's developmental delays.

- becky

But, Lord!

Read 1 Samuel 15:1-23.

This devotion makes me think of "cafeteria style religion" - where people pick and choose what they want to/don't want to believe and what parts of God's word they will/will not listen to and obey.

How is "but, Lord" a phrase that creeps into your vocabulary?
This happens often, unfortunately. I must remember that God is not there to make a deal with me. He's there to guide me down the right path. The power that I have is the power to make the choice to follow His commands. Life will be so much better that way...

In what ways have you tweaked God's instructions to suit your convenience.
I think in some ways I just ignore the nagging voice in the back of my head that haunts me later after I have sinned. I need to listen to that guardian angel sitting on my shoulder more...and not the nasty little devil whispering into my other ear!

What are some practical ways you can turn from a temptation in your life? Make a commitment today to take whatever steps you must to obey God with no ifs, ands, or buts.

- becky

Are You Listening?

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-21.

What are some things that drown out God's voice for you? What makes it difficult for you to be still in God's presence?

In a word - life. My everyday responsibilities seem so pressing and important at times that it is so easy to lose perspective. God must always remain my top priority in life. It takes a lot of work to do this, yet the rewards of putting God first are truly amazing.

Are personal sins blocking you from hearing God's voice? Take time to confess any wrongs you've committed and ask God to cleanse you.

Personal response...

Read Psalm 84 to prepare you to spend time in God's presence.

- becky