Saying No Means Saying Yes

 

But as for you,

the LORD your God

has not allowed you

            to do this.

      Deuteronomy 18. 14

(Don't go there.

When God says no,

   He means exactly that.

There are profound

      and intensely personal

      reasons for it.

God knows what enslaves us.

God knows what trips us up

       and rips us apart.

But as for you.....

         Not for me.

Choosing to be faithful to God,

  by saying no to something,

means having the opportunity,

    awareness, strength and heart

                       to say yes

  to something eternally better.

We can justify just about anything

   or choose to follow God in this.

And what we opt to do

  directly influences generations

  after us.

 Faithfulness sticks.)

O LORD,

Grant us the strength and courage

to turn away from anything

that pulls us away from You.

Help us not to play with fire,

  wade into the rip-tide,

  or gaze at the greenness

     on the other side of the fence.

But empower us to be energized

   by faithfulness to You.

And be greatly aware and amazed

   by what You urge us to pursue.

Don't Calculate Without Him

 

Nevertheless,

I am continually with You.

You hold my right hand...

My flesh and my heart

                may fail,

but God is the strength

         of my heart

and my portion forever.

              Psalm 73. 23, 26

(God is holding me through this.

        He never lets me go.

Nothing more reassuring than that.

God does not hand out

   an impersonal print-out

                of instructions.

He walks with us, talks with us,

guides, provides, sustains,

and lifts us up,

  even out of potholes

              of our own making.

But God....

His Presence changes everything.

Don't calculate without Him.)

O LORD,

Thank You for being

       right here with us.

Help us to not just

   see another way through

or even just to get through,

     but to see You

and recognize Your wonders

          all around us.

Help us not just to feel Your hand

          holding ours,

but to know You more.

Align our steps

    and our hearts with Yours.

We are not alone.

And this place is not random

  but stock-full of Your

  eternal purposes

               and strength.

But What If We Don't?

 

Now it happened

that as He was praying alone....

           Luke 9. 18

(Something monumental

always happens when we pray,

  sometimes the visible,

  more often the profound,

working its way to the surface

    and into our very being.

What if

   we prayed about this dire situation?

What if 

   we prayed about this impossible person?

What if

    we prayed our way through

        outrageous circumstances?

But what if

              we don't?

What does praying about this

                    make possible?

What is praying saying YES to?

Prayer makes us aware.

God opens our hearts to His.

And that changes everything.)

O LORD,

Please help us to not take

     prayer lightly.

May we come to You

   as our first response,

   not our last resort.

Align our hearts with Yours.

Help us to know

   that You are the God

of the visible and invisible.

And we can come to You.

It is not about an answer.

     It is all about You.

You help us to see differently.

You empower us to

       live differently

in the strange

    and in the ordinary.

In All We Undertake

 

And you shall rejoice

before the LORD your God

in all that you undertake.

              Deuteronomy 12. 18

(Rejoicing is not just tied to a

        favorable outcome

     or grand accomplishment,

but rejoicing before God

            in the doing.

The ancient Hebrew word all,

means exactly that:  all,

the whole, each and everything,

       all that we undertake,

even the difficult and confusing.

And through our doing,

God forms something new

      in us, training, equipping,

preparing us for the now and next.

When we come before Him

              in all that we do,

every good endeavor,

and every faithful deed,

   God transforms our hearts.

Do we see this task differently

      by worshiping God in this?)

O LORD,

Help us to go differently

             into this day

by rejoicing in You,

  instead of grumbling.

Increase our vocabulary

    to speak with a new heart.

   and to bring You glory in it.

Use our work profoundly,

      in all we undertake,

even what is beyond understanding,

    out of sight, 

    or on the far side of words.

Grant us the deeper joy

      not just in the doing,

but in being faithful to You.

Frightful Things and All Their Cousins

 

...and those who love His name

   shall dwell in it.

               Psalm 69. 36

(We all struggle with something,

    both real and imagined,

    irrational and overwhelming.

God never ignores a cry of

                   "Help me!"

He always hears us,

        but are we listening?

I asked the LORD to help me

   by taking away

        what was troubling me.

Over the course of days,

I walked and talked with Him

             through it.

He answered me unexpectedly,

       as He most often does,

"What are you dwelling on?

 Why are you dwelling on it?"

So many frightful things

       --with all their cousins--

    come knocking on our doors.

But we need not invite them in.

         Dwell with Me.)

O LORD,

Grant us the courage

     to dwell with You

  in this broken world.

Settle in, abide,

make our hearts

   Your permanent address.

Empower us to say to our fears,

   "No vacancy."

Dwell with us, Almighty One.

Fill every room.

The Power of First Responders Is Not Their Own

 

And I prayed for Aaron

also at the same time.

              Deuteronomy 9.20

(Even in his anger and despair

over what Aaron had done,

Moses responded

              by praying.

Praying defused his anger

and gave him the wisdom

   and courage to

   set the situation rightside up.

By praying not just about it,

    but through it,

 allowed Moses

         to love his brother

     back from his sin

and bring God's supernatural

          power to sink in.

Do we even consider praying

          as our comeback

   when someone messes up?

Praying is the way

       of loving other people,

       forgiving them,

   and doing something

            restorative about it.

Prayer exhibits the

  Newton's Third Law of Motion:

Every action has an equal

    and opposite reaction.

What if we responded

     by bringing prayer

     instead of ammunition to it?

The triggers may remain the same,

  but what if we trained our hearts

      to pray as our default?

Prayer is neither a natural

    nor equal reaction.

Prayer changes everything,

         deeper still

even ourselves.)

O LORD,

We confess that praying

  is not the first thing we do

when we have been wronged,

when someone messes up,

when we are angry with

        those around us.

Fill us with Your love

   to overflowing.

Grant us Your heart in this,

    even Your words to pray,

and another way through.

Guide our hearts

      to pray to You.

Fill us with Your Spirit

   in volatile circumstances

for Your unexpected glory.

May Your love prevail

  over our words and actions.

Help us to respond

   and not just react.

Even in this.

             Even today.

  

It's Not Easy Being Green

 

...but the righteous will flourish

      like a green leaf.

              Proverbs 11.28

(We are no ordinary plants,

but changed

    to bring God glory

    in impossible situations.

In the desert,

  a green tree is spotted

                miles away.

     It cannot be overlooked.

Our lives too should appear

             very different,

even in the harshest conditions,

  not to put on a cheery, cheesy face,

  but reveal a transformed heart.

We are strategically placed

to bud, sprout,

   burst forth with blooms and fruit,

and flourish on so many levels.

Especially in a drought,

it's not easy being green,

but God gives the strength

    to grow deep roots,

bear fruit,

and provide His beauty

   and nourishment for others.

We are not just here for a reason,

      but for His glory.

Flourishing never comes

  in single serving containers,

but to be shared

           and multiplied.)

O LORD,

Fill us with Your life-giving strength

   not just to endure,

   but to flourish

     in unexpected places.

May we recognize

       that we are Yours.

May others see the same.

Not that we are just different,

   but changed and used

   and loved by You.

Grant us the courage

        to be green.

 

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