Category: Content - Jane Hinrichs

Wishing for something else is thievery

12/20/2019

Have you noticed the obsession our society has with being famous? Sure, it could be fun for a short time (if you're famous for a good reason) but it could get really annoying. It has become the goal in life for many. And then there are those of us (and I am pretty sure we've all fallen into this category at some time in our lives) who wish for a different life or a different set of circumstances.

If we wish for something else than the life we have we are robbing ourselves.

Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life and might have it abundantly."

Wishing for a different life is a tactic from the enemy and our flesh. That wishing takes away the life and the blessings in our lives that are already there. If we are looking at something we want we don't see what we do have. We can't enjoy the life we have if we want something else.

That doesn't mean you can't look forward to something or hope for something. But we can hope and look forward to and plan for while we are content in the life we presently have. And yes, we can even be content while we are dealing with awful circumstances.

Throughout life we have to relearn contentment when we are in a new stage of life. That is okay. Contentment is a process. It is real spiritual strength that we can develop and practice.

It took me years to learn how to be content as a full-time caregiver. Once I finally got there it was such a relief and such a joy. I know I've talked about this many times, but I think it bears repeating because the world we live in seeks to make us discontent so we will go after things we are told we "need." All that stuff does not give us life. It sucks the life out of us.

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." 1 John 2:16

That verse explains it all about what the world is trying to get us to go after. None of that adds any real benefit to our lives. Maybe those things add fleeting pleasures, but in the end they don't do anything for us but take life away.

Another help to contentment

12/6/2017

I don't know anyone who doesn't want to be content. When we aren't content we aren't happy. When we aren't content we might fall into a lousy mood or depression or another negative state of mind. Who wants that? When we aren't content we might turn to food or drink or shopping or wrong relationships or waste our time in filling hours and hours with social media or other forms of entertainment. None of these things are wrong in themselves but they will not make us content. They won't make us happy.

So what is this next help to contentment?

It isn't that profound, but then again, it is. Here it is:

Live in the moment. Live right where you're at without wishing for something different or longing for a different life. Be present where you find yourself. Live it the best way you know how. Know that where you're at is where God wants you because He has something to teach you in that situation.

I know I talked about my caregiving life in my last post (Read it here if you missed it), but I'm going to use it again as an example. If I fail to live in the moment and instead think about being a caregiver the rest of my life (which is very likely going to be decades of life left -- I'm 49) I can get overwhelmed with this thought. I'm not meant to live in the past or the future. God doesn't give us grace to live that way. We are given grace for this day. Jesus tells us to Seek The Kingdom of God and not to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself (this is found in Matthew 6).

So how do we seek the Kingdom of God in our daily lives?

First, live in the present. Experience life fully right now in this moment.

Second, love those God brings into your life today. Every interaction is orchestrated by God. Give a smile. Tell someone Merry Christmas (every time I tell someone Merry Christmas I get a smile -- often I get a surprised kind of smile -- saying Merry Christmas with a big smile takes no effort). Tell someone you're praying for them (and then pray for them). If possible tell someone Jesus loves them.

Third, love God in all you do. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God."

Fourth, if you have worries that are making it difficult for you to live in the present, pray about them. If there's something you can do in the situation do it. And then leave it all in our Father's hands. And if it comes back into your mind, pray again. Every single time those worries enter your mind, pray. Things we are concerned about are not supposed to cripple us with worry. We instead are supposed to bring them to God. He will give peace.

Well, if you do those four things you will learn to be content. There are very likely more things I could list but nothing else comes to mind.

What if it never changed?

10/18/2016

Here's a question for you:

What if that one situation in your life never changes? What if God told you today that it's going to be part of your life until you leave this earth? How would you react? And then, after thinking about it, how would you respond?

If that situation is a huge weight on you those questions are overwhelming, but they're important.

Why?

First, because all we have is today. Living in the moment is how to live with an eternal mindset. It is how we can be content in all circumstances. You might just have today. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in stress and worry and fear?

Second, we must learn to be content even if we are facing the worst thing we can think of.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:11 that "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."

That doesn't mean you have to like the circumstance. But you can be content even in an awful situation because you know Father God is in charge and taking care of you and will get you through. If you learn contentment in this way nothing this life throws at you will be able to shake that inner peace God offers to us.

A few verses before the one I already quoted, Paul writes, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I don't know what the future holds for any of us. A future on this earth can be cut short quickly. A future on this earth can take a downward turn rapidly. We all will face death of someone we love (unless we are that someone who dies). We all will face disappointment. We all will face crushing weights of impossible problems. What a testimony to this world it is when we can face all of this while living in Christ!

Very likely one of the two main-party candidates in our current presidental election will win the November election. No matter who wins I believe our country is in for major changes.

2 Timothy 3:12 says, "And indeed, all who desire to lively godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

We must learn to be content in all situations. We must become rooted in the Word of God to withstand the worst this world can throw our way. The thing about spiritual warfare (and that is what persecution is) is that it always feels very personal. We often don't recognize it at first because it feels like an attack on us personally -- nothing to do with our faith. if we have done nothing wrong and there is nothing we need to rectify, very likely it is spiritual warfare. We haven't faced real persecution in this country. But it is coming.

That is a bit of a tangent but it all relates. Learn to be content in all situations and Jesus will shine out of you so brightly people won't be able to ignore Him."

Stephen, the first one killed for Christ, was shining like this before his death. Acts 6:15 says, "And fixing their gaze on Him (Stephen), all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel."

How to do it

7/20/2016

There is probably not one person in the world today or ever has been who doesn't want to be content. Being content can be learned (even Paul says that here). Actually I would argue it has to be learned. We see discontent easily in children at certain times of the year. No matter how close Christmas is they aren't happy with waiting. And if their sibling has something they want they aren't happy until they have it too. Children, though, also illustrate contentment quite easily when they are enjoying life. They live and play in the moment. They immerse themselves in what is right before them and find all sorts of lovely things about it. They see the beauty in whatever the task is -- they don't think like that of course, but that is what they are unconsciously doing. They kind of fall into contentment because of their age -- but as mentioned above, they can easily fall out of it.

We are to be childlike to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is within us. He tells us to pray for God's kingdom to come "on earth as it is in heaven." When a learned teacher comes to Jesus at night, Jesus tells him that "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

When Paul was converted he was struck blind. And when he regained his sight, Luke writes that "there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptised."

The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12 that "since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance . . . fixing our eyes on Jesus"

Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a dragnet, a owner of a vineyard.

When we believe in Jesus we become citizens of heaven and we can begin living eternally immediately. If we don't choose to live this way (and it deals with contentment and living in the moment) we will feel very frustrated. But there is power to learn to live in the moment and to be content (same thing really -- also go ahead and search benefits of living in the moment - -you'll find all sorts of entries).

So this morning I took some pictures of ordinary things just to show you the beauty in them. It took me about three minutes to take these pictures. I didn't seek out anything spectacular. I just took pictures of what I saw. If we focus on the beauty of everything in God's world we will stay grateful. And gratefulness will help us be content.

Barbed wire

bubbles created by water coming out of the hose while I filled the horse tank

fence post

grass by the old outhouse

part of a horse's mane

sun shining off of horse hair

Mr. Porcupine saying Good morning!

A glimpse into a quiet life

4/29/2016

Pictured above is my son Hawken's bed. The black on his wall is blackboard contact paper. Every few days I write different words on his t-shaped blackboard. I write whatever comes to mind. Not sure if you can read the words that are there in the picture. They are: mattress (which I spelled wrong on his board); teddy bear, green grass; brownies, semester tests; graduation, banana and mathematics. Mathematics is blurred because he was rubbing it out with his foot (I know because there is blue chalk on his sock).

(And for those who want to know that round thing is a moon light. It's really cool. It goes through the phases of the moon for several minutes when I turn it on using its remote. It can also stay in a phase of your choice. Coolest nightlight ever.)

I don't know why I started doing the word thing. I wanted something on his wall that I could change. I drew some pictures but they didn't mean much. So I started with the words. I love words. If I ever got tattoos I'd get words (but I'm not going to get any tattoos -- my husband has enough for both of us). And random words can get a person thinking (try it if you dare -- just write five random words down. Now make a silly poem or story with them. You probably haven't written a silly poem for years).

Our days here at home go pretty fast usually. We read. We eat. I do laundry. Hawk rocks on the ground. I do dishes. Today I mopped. Yesterday I cleaned the bathroom. Hawk rolled around while I did that. We watch a show. Presently our show is Enterprise. We are reading the Bible straight through this year together. We are in Job. That's how we start our reading. Then we normally read a science or history book. We just got done with one called Lab Girl. It's written by Scientist and Author Hope Jahren. It's part memoir, part science -- anyone who loves plant science or trees or just a really good true story would like it. I don't know her spiritual beliefs but a lot of the stuff she writes about plants and trees is so applicable to our own growth. Hawk liked that book.

Hawk is happy. When it's nice out we sit outside and get some sun. We listen to the birds. We look at the grass. We talk to the horses. We take walks. We read outside.

When I bake Hawk gets to be my taste tester. He likes it when I bake cookies!

Then of course there is the daily maintenance of taking care of Hawk that now includes shaving and acne control.

Every once in a while I wonder why. I wonder why Hawk was created the way He was. I think if he was a 16 year old boy who was typical he'd be a sophomore in high school. Probably have a crush on a girl. Maybe play a sport. Be a bit rebellious. Would have a driver's license. Would be telling the world what he plans to do for his future. Instead, he's home with me rolling around and making noises; listening to me read and dealing with seizures daily.

He's a mystery to me. I know God's in control. And I know He created Hawk as He did for a purpose.

One big purpose is that He is a living illustration for anyone who takes the time to hang out with him. He could be an angry teenager. He could lash out and be violent. But he doesn't. He's content. He's content just the way He is. He sees his siblings come and go. I don't know what he thinks but when he wants something he makes his wishes known through noises and a whole lot of patience. I know God talks to him and I know God listens.

When a person is content, there is power in contentment. We can learn how to be content (Paul writes that he learned to be content in all circumstances --in poverty and in wealth, etc, etc). When we are content we are thankful. When we are content we are protecting ourselves from temptation of all sorts. When we are content we are remembering this is our Father's world and He's got it under control. When we are content we remember we aren't the ones who rule the universe and if things go our way it is probably not going our way but the way God intended it to go (we just happen to agree with God on what should happen). When we are content we remember the world doesn't revolve around us (thank Jesus for that) and we can step back and let God run the show.

My husband preached on commitment last Sunday -- carrying our crosses daily whatever those crosses may be. He mentioned that it isn't commitment unless we give it all to Jesus -- even that one thing we normally hold back.

Maybe that one thing we want to control is the very thing God wants us to give up -- it probably is. It is what is standing between Him and us hindering us from following Him wholly. As my husband mentioned -- when a woman marries a man she wouldn't tolerate him keeping his girlfriend. That isn't commitment.

Have a lovely weekend. I'm going to see Alice in Wonderland tonight at the Dupree School. My son Pete is the Mad Hatter and my daughter Megan is the Queen of Hearts. It's put on by Missoula Children's Theatre.

A cloud message and a drunk dude

11/14/2015

This was the sky last night while I was boiling potatoes for supper. No photo editing was done. This is just the fabulous skies where I live.

Yet, I would have edited a bit if I thought I could help you see what I saw. In the cloud where that streak of color is right of center is a full-fledged rainbow. It just looks pink in the picture, but it was way more than that last night.

Do you know what clouds are made of? Probably you do, but I'll remind you -- they're made of drops of water or ice crystals that settle on dust in the atmosphere. When the light from the setting sun hits these water drops we get a bunch of color. There wouldn't have been a rainbow without the cloud. And there wouldn't have been a cloud without the dust.

The dust is what intrigues me.

My life, at least my inner life, is pretty dusty these days. I love where we're living. I love the church we are part of (the picture of the church is in the margin on the right). My kids are doing great in school -- all of them! My marriage is solid. God is getting us through financially even though our former house has yet to sell and my two kids in college needed extra help with tuition payments. I have so much to be thankful for.

And I am. I am so thankful.

But when I went out to take the picture of the sky, I was asking God to get through to me. See, the dust in my soul is leaving its marks on me and it's kind of hard to get past those dusty fingerprints to just focus on Jesus. I've been saying (and praying) all week, "Not my will, but Your Will, Lord." And I mean it. I truly do. But there's a little Jane inside (or maybe it's the dusty prints) that is wreaking havoc with my contentment state. Because even though I truly want God's will, I still want the house to sell, like NOW or YESTERDAY. It would make life a whole lot easier financially. God's in charge and He obviously didn't want it to sell yesterday or it would have. And He doesn't plan on it selling while I'm writing this so I need to be content in that. And I kinda am.

But I'm also conflicted.

Apostle Paul was content in life even in prison but this was a learned response. In Philippians 4:11, he writes, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."

If he can learn it we all can learn it.

Maybe when there's a whole of lot of dust in our lives we can just let the water of the Spirit settle on those dusty places. The dust is still there but God's colors are coming through. What's the message? The same one God gave Noah way back when. He's connected Himself to us in covenant. In Genesis 9 He goes onto say that this covenant means He won't ever flood the entire earth again. I'm not sure why I needed to be reminded of not to be concerned that the earth won't be flooded again while dealing with soul dust, but hey, we don't always know what we need to know.

It's funny. Right after Noah gets this cool sign from God and has a conversation with the LORD Above, he gets drunk and lays around naked. Maybe God told the Genesis writer to include this little bit to remind us how human Noah was. Yeah, he was chosen to be the one to save the animals and humans from the flood, but he still messed up.

Why do I do these things?

6/23/2015

Do you have anything you do every day knowing it is a waste of time? Like wishing on fairy droppings or reading your horoscope?

There are two things I do daily knowing they are pointless, but I do them anyway (and if I have already shared these -- sorry...I am pretty sure my brain has holes in it. Things fall through them sometimes).

First, I check the want ads for an ad that says something like this: WANTED: A mom who stays home with her kids. I will pay a huge salary for you to continue doing what you're doing.

And the second thing I do is check my bank accounts several times a day. One reason for doing this is a good one -- to keep current on the balance and make sure all is good. But the other reason is the pointless one -- hoping some money magically appeared from some unknown source.

Why do I do these things? Is it a lack of faith? Is it just a pointless exercise to waste time? Is it my feeble attempt to control my destiny? Is it me showing discontent in where we are at right now?

Bingo -- that last thought rings true to me.

I am usually quite content. I love my life. I love the job I have of staying at home and managing our household and all that goes into that. But there are times a speck of discontent enters my soul -- I know this isn't what Jesus was talking about when he said to beware of the leaven of the pharisees, but it seems to apply here too (at least to me).

That discontent speck, if allowed to fester, can really mess a person up inside. Suddenly, a colorful, vibrant lovely life will look gray and dismal.

I'm not going to let this happen. I hope you don't either.

Don't wait. Do this!

2/18/2014

Be kind to yourself.

That's what I'm doing today.

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

If you aren't loving yourself well you sure won't be able to love others well.

Just be kind and gentle and courageous.

And rest within.

Thankful, thankful, thankful

9/2/2013

This was my morning view today east of my house. I sat under one of my favorite trees while birds sang and crickets chirped. One of my cats, my two chickens and one of my dogs hung out with me for a while.

In typical situations, cats, chickens and dogs aren't friends. Often, they prey on each other.

On my place, they all coexist. I don't know how it happened, but my cats who often take down birds know to stay away from my hens. And my dogs know to not chase my cats or my hens. They have an understanding.

And if hens and cats and dogs can coexist peacefully, how much more so can we humans with those who we disagree?

Romans 5:1b says, "we have peace with God thorugh our Lord Jesus Christ."

In the book The World Jesus Knew: Beliefs & customs from the time of Jesus Author Anne Punton writes, "Unity of purpose, agreement of principle, differences reconciled and common direction bring wholeness to relationships and to the inner being. This is peace. It is not dependent on everything being in order or to one's liking. It functions in spite of adversity and, from its own unimpaired base of security, can confront and change circumstances."

I'm blessed, so very blessed.

You're blessed too.

This doesn't mean everything in our lives is hunky-dory. This doesn't mean we don't have problems. It just means we know God is bigger than those problems and we find our strength in Christ. We don't let our problems, our situations (good or bad) define us.

We are defined by Christ Jesus.

And we can rest in Him enjoying the blessings of today.

Good Golly, You're Loved!

6/26/2013

I love the picture above. The little girl looks happy and content and confident she is loved.

This look, this confidence in knowing you are loved is what God wants for you and for me.

I'm reading a book by Andrew Murray called Teach Me To Pray. I want to share some of what I read today. It's from Chapters 5 and 6.

Murray writes, "it is the will of God. . . that every childlike believing petition is granted.

"If no answer comes, we are not to sit down in resignation and suppose that it is not God's will to give an answer. Something in the prayer must not be as God would have it: childlike and believing. It is far easier for the flesh to submit without the answer then to yield itself to be searched and purified by the Spirit until it has learned to pray the prayer of faith.

"One of the marks of the weakened state of the Christian life these days is that there are so many who rest content without specific answers to prayer. They pray daily, they ask many things, and trust that some of them will be heard, but know little of direct, definite answers to prayer as the rule of daily life. But this is what the Father wills.

"Sometimes the answer is a refusal because the request is not according to God's word . . . Our Father lets His child know when He will not give him what he asks.

"Live as a child of God, and you may pray as a child with complete certainty of an answer . . . father-like giving is the divine response to childlike living.

"Lord, show us that only our unchildlike distance from the Father hinders the answer to our prayer, and lead us on to the true life of God's children."

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:9-11

Do What You Love

4/17/2013

Life is too short, too tragic, too unpredictable to live it doing something you dread or hate.

Do what you love.

God made you to love life -- not hate it or dread it or fear it.

God made you to live it and love it and be dynamically and incredibly alive!

See the little animals on the left? These are Littlest Pet Shop animals. My almost 12 year old Maggie loved playing with them.

Other girls her age are often into clothes and nail polish and crushes and silly girl romances.

But not Maggie.

She loved sitting at the table for hours and playing with these little creatures. She didn't care that no one played with her or even liked what she liked. She'd make up long running scenarios with them (to tell you the truth I think she preferred playing alone because then it went the way she wanted it too).

And if there was a salt shaker or hot sauce bottle around -- anything she could hold easily in her hand or move around the table -- would become a character in her table drama.

You know what she wanted for her birthday?

More LPS animals (as she called them).

I tell you this story because though Maggie died three weeks before her 12th birthday, she loved life. She enjoyed herself. She did what made her happy.

And in the process she delighted her parents and others. I loved watching her play and create her little stories. It was so much fun.

Don't you think God loves watching His kids enjoying life? Having fun? Feeling alive?

"Love never fails . . . But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:8a, 13

Those verses are talking about how we treat other people, how we live our lives. But I also think it could be applied to our choices in life, what drives us, why we choose to do what we do.

Go With The Flow

2/11/2013

There on the left are two characters from my middle-grade chapter book, Ruthie and Marcie: Best Friends.

The one on the far left, named Mustache, was not my idea. He just happened while I was writing the story. And he is pretty darn cool!

Life is like this but we don't always usher surprises in with grace or joy or gratitude. We often get angry or frightened when things don't look like we want them too.

As I was writing my book I'd begin in a certain place but as I wrote and let the characters lead things would happen I had no idea about before. I could have squashed these surprises but it would taken the life out of the book (there is one chapter I am not sure about -- it is odd -- but I'll wait and see what my future literary agent and editor think .....I'm believing for this one).

This is what we do with our lives too when we don't go with God's Spirit's Flow; when we fight His Leading; when we rail against what is going on in our lives. All of this deadens us. We want control, but even when we think we have it we don't.

We will fall into a pit of despair if we are living the Faith life in order to get certain results. Sometimes it "works" out the way we think it should. Sometimes it doesn't. There are all sorts of formulas in the "Christian" world that are not of God. Some of them, maybe even most of them, are based on God's principals, but when our focus becomes the formula or results we are off. If we stay in that off place we will travel further and further from the truth.

Even if we have more faith than anyone ever has or will have, bad things will happen in our lives. We will be hurt. We will get sick. Loved ones will die. We may lose all our fortune. We may lose homes and vehicles and animals and children.

There are no guarantees in life when it comes to earthly things.

The only guarantee we have is the one we must rest on, live on, live out of -- the guarantee of Jesus Christ. If He is our source we will have peace. If we rest in Him, we can trust Father God with our lives and know He will work things out in such a way that even if it was a "Bad" thing that happened, we will end up being thankful for that very thing we are struggling with.

If you are a Believer and don't have peace, stop and look to God. Your focus is off.

Whenever we don't have peace or joy or contentment our focus is off, not right. God will put it right if you let Him. We can learn to be content in all things like Paul did (Philippians 4:11).

"that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." Luke 16:15c

"By your endurance you will gain your lives." Luke 21:19

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth . . . lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven . . . for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21

It takes true courage to live a life of faith. But it is the best kind of life to live. God will give you the kind of courage you need. He knows what you are made of.

"You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." James 4: 14b

But that little vapor is dearly loved! God has such plans for

The Tick Of A Clock

12/28/2012

It's early morning, and I am again the only one (who walks on two legs) up. I hear noises I don't notice during the day: the kitchen clock ticking, the furnace blowing, the laptop humming, the house creaking.

There's something about being all alone in a silence -- it strips you of anything you might try to hide behind. Many of us fill silences with conversation, TV noise or music.

Silence makes them many of us uncomfortable.

My youngest child is like this. She talks just to fill the emptiness. I've told her that it's okay when no one is talking, that quiet can be good.

It's in the silence we'll hear Him.

"a sound of a gentle blowing" (1 Kings 19:12c)

If we want to hear from God we gotta give Him time to get through to us.

We need to give Him opportunity to speak.

He will.

Most definitely, He will.

Do you want to hear what He has to say though?

I heard a great true-life story this month about a missionary who lives and ministers in South Africa. He and his wife were ready to go to Africa when he was diagnosed with cancer. For the next two years he went through treatments. Sometime in there he asked God if they were still supposed to go to Africa. God told him, "When I change my mind I'll let you know."

I probably got that wrong, but the gist of the story was that God's call was still there even though "common sense" told the missionary couple they should not go due to health reasons.

We can get caught up in stuff around us: media's talking heads; the opinions of friends and family; the numbers in our bank accounts; our own skewed perspectives. If something or someone doesn't agree with God and His Word, it is not our friend and it (or he or she) won't give us good advice.

Why do you do what you do?

Illustrator David Catrow says such a profound statement on a video that was made of him illustrating in front of a bunch of kids at a public library. I'll link the video here if you want to hear him say it firsthand. But it was something like he feels if everyone did what they loved to do this would be a much better world.

On the left is one of Catrow's many illustrations.

What has this to do with hearing God in the quiet?

Well, here it is: God created each of us. He knows what makes our hearts beat faster. He knows what delights us. And He also knows if we operating in our gifts and in things that delight us, we are becoming what we were created to be.

Have you ever felt that?

I know you have. I know there has to be a moment somewhere in your life when you were in that God zone -- the place where you were content and happy and productive and loving what you were doing.

It might not be practical. It might not be glamorous. It might not make you lots of money. It might not make sense to others.

But it is where you need to be.

God wants to take you there. He wants to use you there. When you're there you shine for Him -- man, you shine. And when you're there you aren't going to care about things that don't matter (well, you might a little but you can let them go quite easily).
Catrow's illustration is entitled "Balancing Act" and what I'm talking about is a balancing act -- especially if you have a family and responsibilities to others.

Don't worry -- all of that is in God's plan too. He doesn't want you to neglect others --just put Him first. There, you will find Him and you will find yourself.

"seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

Ouch! This is Me!

8/27/2012

"So the name of the place was called Kibroth-haHaavah, because they buried the people who had been greedy." Numbers 12:34

This is the end of a very unpleasant story. The Israelites were in the wilderness with Moses and God was raining down manna daily to feed them. They were tired of it. They were crying (all 600,000 of them) for meat. They were complaining and saying how good it had been in Egypt because their diets were so much varied (of course they conveniently forgot they were slaves and quite abused). God heard them and rained down quail. He wasn't happy about it though.

When all was said and done the instigators of this discontent were killed and buried. And they were called "greedy."

I read this and I see myself. Ouch!. I am not one who craves lots of stuff so I could say I'm not greedy, but I do find myself discontent sometimes when I can't pay our bills, when our cupboards are pretty empty, when life is hard. I can find myself struggling with myself trying to be content but sometimes losing that battle.

People seem to be meat-eaters or non-meat eaters. I eat meat but I can go for days without meat and be content. My husband is one who needs to eat meat or his diet is lacking. On the flip side if we don't have any carbs around: no fruit, no bread/crackers, no fresh veggies, no fiber kind of stuff and only meat I am not happy. I'd rather not eat than just eat meat. So, I can see how these people were discontent. Would I have been one of the ones struck with the plague? I don't know.

Greed=excessive desire

Greedy=craving.

"And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD." Psalm 10:3b

"And (Jesus) said to them, 'Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his lief consist of his possessions.'" Luke 12:15

be "content with what you have" Hebrews 13:5b

Are we content? Paul in Philippians 4 writes, "I have learned to secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need."

We can learn it. We can learn to be content ALWAYS!

This is where He wants us to live

6/10/2011

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you. Mark 11:24

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7

Jesus means what He says. What He says He means.

We are to take these two verses and live in them. And man, this is hard!

For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways . . . Do not be deceived, my beloved brethen. James 1:7-8, 16

It isn't "Name it, Claim it" like Jesus is some Big Eternal Santa Claus or Sugar Daddy. It is Him wanting us to believe no matter what and hold on even when everything we see is contradicting what we are believing for.

Now, we can't believe for things that are anti-God (well, we can but God isn't going to honor those requests). We shouldn't waste time believing for things that will satisfy our greed and lust.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3

Last week we were sent a new payment book for our mortgage. When I received it I was speechless. For months we've been trying to work with our mortgage company to get the loan modified, but nothing appeared to be happening. I've been believing God would work it out though because I know He isn't done with us here yet. There is more work to do for Him. I have no problem moving but I didn't believe and still don't believe we are supposed to go.

So the payment book arrived with no "we have approved your loan modification" official letter or nay explanation whatsoever. Just the book and a bunch of envelopes. And the payment is lower than it was -- by about $50.

I should have been happy. And I was but not wholly (I am really showing my pathetic faith here). For we were told when we started this process that our lawyer could get the payment down by like $200. That sounded good to us, very doable. But it didn't happen and I said, Oh Lord, you want me to keep believing. You want me to be content not knowing how things will be paid, to believe for Him to provide month by month.

He's got a plan. But I just wanted to coast. I wanted to just be able to pay my bills mindlessly. I don't know what God has in store, but He isn't done yet. He wants us all to live big faith lives, to believe for Him to work miracles, to partner with Him to seek His Kingdom come in hearts all around us.

Oh Lord, help me be content