My First Relationship (Honor Thy Parents)

Along the way I’ve discovered that if I follow God’s 10 Love Laws they will assist me in cultivating eternal relationships and guide me on my quest for a more joyful life.

Recently I’ve discovered that having a good relationship with my parents assists me in my quest for joyful living.

The fifth commandment has always been a tough one for me to come to terms with. In this commandment, God addresses the first relationships we experience—our relationship with our parents. These two pivotal relationships set the tone for the rest of the relationships in our lives.

The relationship with my parents has been a lesson hard-learned for me. My relationship with them suffered for many years due to my disregard for this commandment. I did not respect my parents or the wisdom they shared. However, in recent years I have come to realize that my parents have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in their many years—a knowledge that I can still benefit from today.

I’ve learned that honoring my parents doesn’t mean that I will always agree with them or with what they do, but it does mean that I always give them the respect they deserve. And I’ve also learned that by simply changing my attitude, I can begin to heal these relationships that continue to shape who I am becoming.

I’ve found that my relationship with my parents truly is enhanced, and I avoid some serious life mistakes when I respect my parents, listening to their wise words; after all, they spent many years making mistakes, so I plan on taking advantage of those years of “research” by learning from their wisdom.

So join me as I embrace the flawless wisdom of God, changing my attitude toward my parents and showing them honest and sincere respect, healing the brokenness of these relationships that once shattered my life.

Final Thought: Building strong, solid relationships can be a lifelong challenge, but the payoff is eternal.

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Personal Epiphany: When my relationship with God flourishes, my eyes are opened and I can finally recognize the things that are truly important. This allows me to push aside the piles of trivial tasks that threaten to drowned me and focus on the eternal.

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Personal Challenge: I’m challenging myself to continue putting God first in my life by daily setting aside time to spend with Him—time that doesn’t get bumped, changed, squeezed, moved, or superseded; time that is set in stone (regardless of how crazy my life becomes); everything else in my life will be moved as necessary to accommodate my God time. Putting God first means making sure that the most important thing in my day is Him.

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Quick Quote: When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.... When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased. ~C.S. Lewis

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Question to Ponder: If the apostle Paul is right and the law doesn’t save us, then what role should it play in our Christian walk?

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Bible Blessings: Your laws make me grin from ear to ear; they are my greatest advisors—a constant source of wisdom and joy. ~Psalm 119:24 (Randy Reed Paraphrased Version)

Living the Law (Loving the Law)

Along the way I’ve discovered that if I follow God’s 10 Love Laws they will assist me in cultivating eternal relationships and guide me on my quest for a more joyful life.

Recently I’ve been contemplating love, the Law, service, and salvation, and I’ve discovered in my own life that the Law (the Ten Commandments) assists me in my quest for joyful living.

I’ve realized that following the first four Commandments is not about obeying the letter of the Law, it’s about keeping my focus on God and making time to cultivate that crucial relationship with Him. I’ve discovered that my life is better when I write God’s Law in my heart; when I live it, allowing it to saturate my every action.

When I follow the spirit of the first four Commandments, my relationship with God flourishes and my life is better, richer, fuller, and more joyful. Putting God at the center of my life—making it a priority to spend quality time with Him every day, allowing His name to only pass my lips in praise, worshiping only Him—is the most important piece of my Christian walk.

I am abundantly blessed by the wisdom of this godly lifestyle.

So join me as I continue to put God at the center of my life, insuring that this crucial relationship continues to grow.

Naked and Vulnerable (Thoughts from the Pot): God knows that our lives will be more joyful when we have a living, thriving relationship with Him.

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Personal Epiphany: Sometimes God’s answer is wait.

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Personal Challenge: I am often impatient with God, continually asking Him to show me what He wants me to do. I don’t want to wait; I want to know now. So, like a petulant child who says, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” wailing for attention, I persistently pester God for an immediate answer.

For me, waiting is the hardest part. So I’ve decided to challenge myself to not only wait patiently on the Lord, but also to enjoy the waiting. I’ve decided to allow God’s perfect peace to surround me, to allow the stillness to encompass me, to allow it to soak deep down into my soul—to find a quiet peace in the silence that often comes with waiting.

I am determined to wait patiently on the Lord, to allow the One Who knows the beginning from the end—and has promised good things to me—to reveal His will in His perfect time.

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Quick Quote: I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. ~Rabindranath Tagore.

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Question to Ponder: Are you using your spiritual gifts to the glory of God?

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Bible Blessings: Embrace God’s will until it becomes your will—now nothing can stop you! ~Proverbs 16:3 (Randy Reed Paraphrased Version)

Finding My Passion (Serving Selflessly)

Along the way I’ve discovered that in order to truly be successful in service I must first find a service outlet I am passionate about. I must find within me that passionate place overflowing with the creative energy of God, that creative place He carved out in my soul that effortlessly gushes out in a decadent display of selfless service.

 When I finally discover this God-given well of unending, creative energy, when I discover that thing I was created to do, then service will be a natural outlet for this creative reservoir. When I finally discover what God created me to do, service will invigorate me instead draining my energy, it will build me up instead of sapping my waning strength.

Sadly, too many times I give in to my desperate need to belong, rushing impetuously into a ministry God never intended for me, then I wonder why I’m so tired, worn-out, and depleted. I wondered why God doesn’t just give me the strength and mental toughness to push through the muck and mire of service. I wondered why He leads me to the cliff and then doesn’t provide a parachute.

The sad truth is I often jump off the wrong cliff and as I’m fall into the endless abyss I wonder why I’m not flying on the wings promised me. In my eagerness to serve God I often leave Him out of the equation, jumping at endless opportunities only to find myself depleted and desperate, looking for an escape. But God has a place for each of us, a place for me, a place filled with creative energy, a place that allows me to jump from the cliff and soar on His powerful wings of joy.

So join me as I throw out my doubts and put my trust fully in the One Who created me, the One Who knows my heart’s longings, the One Who longs to fulfill those deep, God-planted desires of my heart. Join me as I allow God to lead me into the rich, full life of service He always planned for me. Join me as I allow God to transform my daily drudgery into a joyful journey of fulfilling service.

Naked and Vulnerable (Thoughts from the Pot): Service should be a joyful sharing of our God-given talents rather than a series of toilsome tasks we trudge through out of a misguided sense of obligation.

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Personal Challenge (Update): This morning, I found a quiet spot under a tree that spread its thick arms over a weathered picnic table, holding off the piercing rays of the sun and the gentle rain that fell; a blanket of green lay like a leafy rug under the overhanging branches. Here I met with God.

At first the barking dogs, persistent ants, birds loudly chattering about my arrival, and periodically passing exercisers distracted me, but as I dove into The Word these distractions melted away and God and I began our hour-long conversation that included some reading, some quite time, much praying, some writing, and some more quite time.

As the hour wound down, I felt the whispers of the Holy Spirit in my soul saying, “I have a message for you this morning and now you are ready to hear it.”

I picked up my pen and this is the simple message God whispered to me this morning: I am enough.

I’m not sure if I can wait a whole week for our next appointment, perhaps only an hour a week is not enough. I’ll figure it all out, but my first intentional encounter was truly amazing—just like my God.

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Personal Epiphany: Trusting God to fulfill our deepest desires is the only path to true, sustainable happiness.

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Personal Challenge: My deepest desire is to continue to grow my personal relationship with God. Recently I’ve felt Him calling me into a deeper relationship, calling me to spend quality alone time with Him—quiet time when it’s just me and Him, minus all the world’s distractions. I’m not talking about quiet times on my bike or reading the Bible with my husband or even worshiping with my church family; I’m talking about spending personal time alone with God—time spent fully focused on my Creator, listening and just being in communion with The Lover of My Soul.

I am determined to build a strong, personal relationship with God, and I know to do so I must add some quality personal God-time to my schedule. So to begin, I am challenging myself to set aside one full hour a week to spend alone with God—to find a quiet place, a place I don’t normally go (perhaps in the woods near my home), that can be my place to spend honest, soul-searching time with God.

So, if the desire of your heart is to have an intimate relationship with The Lover of Your Soul, I challenge you to join me in making alone time with God a priority in your life—starting now.

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Quick Quote: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ~Mohandas Gandhi

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Question to Ponder: Are you listening to God? Are you paying close attention as He speaks to you concerning the deepest desire of your heart—the desire to be in intimate relationship with Him, the desire to serve Him in a specific and empowering way, the desire to serve Him in a way that will not only bring Him glory, but also fully satisfy your deepest unspoken desires?

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From the Word: As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching. Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!" The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her." ~Luke 10:38-42 GNT

Selfless Service (Following Christ’s Example)

Along the way I’ve been deceived by a false vision of service. In the past, the word “service” has conjured up a dark vision of a woman who’s been long taken advantage of; harried and exhausted, thinking of everyone except herself, she is no longer able to fully function.

I have since realized that a person who overcommits and is pounded into the ground by her own “selfless” acts is often a woman crying out for recognition. For her, the driving force behind her endless acts of service is the desire to be praised, rather than the selfless outpouring of unconditional love.

I recognize her because I’ve often seen her staring back at me from the bathroom mirror. I regularly find myself guilty of seeking recognition and praise for my acts of service. In fact, if I’m completely honest with myself, some of my most selfish moments are the moments when I’m “thinking of others.”

Christ personified the true spirit of service, so to find the beautiful, spirit-renewing truth of not just living but flourishing in an environment of unselfish and others-filled living, I must examine Christ’s perfect life.

Jesus, Who took service and others-centered living very seriously, often took private time away from the clamoring crowds to pray and meditate on God’s Word. He intentional sought quiet moments to commune with His Father because He knew that without a constant connection to His source of strength He would be unable to fully love others and live out that love in acts of selfless service.

Christ recognized that the persistent whispers of self could only be interrupted by a constant stream of love flowing from His Father. He knew that, like any relationship, a relationship with God is only cultivated by spending time with Him. So in the ultimate act of unselfish service Christ took time to insure that He was fully connected to His source wisdom and strength—God.

It was out of concern for others—to insure that the time spent with them was a time of full engagement—that Jesus took time to renew His connection with His Father.

Using Christ as my example, I acknowledge that the only way I can give every moment over to the loving service of others is to be fully connected with the ultimate source of wisdom, strength, and unfailing love—God. With God as my focus I will be filled with Him, and then and only then will the ever-present voice of “me, my, and mine” be silenced, allowing me to live a joyful, unselfish life of love and service.

So join me as I ask God to fill me with His unending love, transforming the drudgery of my life into a joyful journey of service.

Naked and Vulnerable (Thoughts from the Pot):  Service enriches our lives and draws others to Christ.

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Personal Epiphany: When I step out on my own, failure is my constant companion; but with God, “all things are possible.”

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Personal Challenge: I am determined to live a life that accurately reflects Christ’s unconditional love, but when I try to do this on my own the words that roll off my tongue are often heated and angry instead of kind and encouraging. I have come to recognize that I can’t do it on my own, so I am challenging myself to begin each day with an earnest and sincere prayer inviting God into my day, allowing His abundant love to permeate my every transaction—fully embracing His perfect peace, profound wisdom, and transforming love.

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Quick Quote: I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale

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Question to Ponder: Do others see Jesus when they look at you?

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Bible Blessings: The King will answer them, “I can guarantee this truth: Every time you helped someone in need, you helped Me.” ~Matthew 25:40 (Randy Reed Paraphrased Version)

Setting Aside Selfishness (Savoring the Joy of Service)

Along the way I’ve often viewed a life of service as a draining, unsustainable lifestyle—a lifestyle of self-sacrifices where I’m required to allow others to push me around and trample me under their selfish, little feet.

But this story is simply a lie I repeat to soothe my selfish desires. I allow this little lie to grow and replicate until, in an honest moment of deep self-examination, I am surprised to discover within me a heart of stone instead of the beautiful heart of flesh I desperately desire—the one God faithfully promised in Ezekiel 36:26.

One of the best kept secrets about helping others is beautifully described in this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

  

Living unselfishly does not require me to run myself ragged, to give up everything I enjoy, or to relinquish my personal desires; instead, it means putting my life fully in the hands of an ever-loving God and asking Him to exchange my heart of selfishness for a heart for service. Only when my will is fully aligned with God’s will can I truly begin to live—embracing His beautiful, joy-filled, service-filled plan for my life.

So join me as I ask God to redefine my view of service, allowing His love to shine through my actions, and finally fully embarking on my joyful journey of service.

Naked and Vulnerable (Thoughts from the Pot): The true spirit of service enlivens and invigorates, it does not drain or demoralize. 

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Personal Epiphany: When we embrace the fullness of God’s love our hearts are gloriously transformed; they overflow with His outlandish love—a love so abundant it can’t be contained; it spontaneously pours out onto everyone around us in an exuberant torrent of joy-filled service.