There is not an easy way to acknowledge this, so I will just blurt it out. (so to speak) It’s my middle name, one I am not proud to carry.  But perhaps the time has come to reveal the truth I can no longer deny —  my middle name is — Procrastination. There I have said it.  And it only took me how many years to admit to this?  (I’m seeing some irony in how long I put off coming clean about this little known fact)

Although, in retrospect, maybe this fact isn’t as “little known” as I would like to believe that it is.  Perhaps a name like Procrastination makes no secret of its’ presence or its’ claim on the person who bears it.  So for those who know me, this is no big revelation, just a long overdue admission.

Now I like to think my first name is Persistence, an admirable attribute to be sure. But in my case, living up to my name simply means that I am very persistent in my procrastinations, meaning that I persistently procrastinate at every opportunity. The result?  paralysis — which of course leads to yet more procrastination.

I am definitely on the hamster’s wheel, trapped in this non-productive cycle.  If only my first name were Prudence!  Or would that simply result in my being wise and discerning in how I procrastinate?  Or Patience, that would be a good first name, wouldn’t it?  Well, maybe not if my middle name is Procrastination.  I would just be a very patient procrastinator; patiently, persistently, prudently procrastinating day after day.

So many good attributes, so many good names – all brought down by the misfortune of my middle name – Procrastination.  Seems like the remedy is the removal of my middle name.  People often received name changes in the Bible, why not me?  Although, I’m thinking this name change idea might require more of me than just changing my name.  I might have to change my behavior to match my new name.  I might even be more productive!  I should definitely take some time to think about this.  After all, that would be the prudent thing to do.

So, dear readers, I leave you now in order to ponder this possibility; I must give it its’ due.  So I will prudently, patiently, persistently, productively ponder the possibility of changing my middle name from Procrastination to –  ? ? ? .   The possibilities for a new name are endless . . .  and the ramifications far reaching.

This changing of my middle name will take some time . . . I’ll get back to y’all.

Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.”  (John 9:4)

“Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”  (Hebrews 3:15)

” . . . I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”  (2 Corinthians 6:2)

sincerely,        Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”  (Matthew 6:24)

” . . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

So there it is, I do have to choose.  I can only belong to and serve one master.  Paul understood this and explained it in his letter to the church at Rome.  Slavery was common at that time, so Paul’s readers understood well the concept of belonging to and serving only one master.  Their quality of life depended totally on what sort of a person their master was.  They were completely at the mercy of the one who owned them; the one they served.

Their only hope for a better life would be to be purchased by another master who might perhaps be more benevolent and generous than their previous one.  But a price would have to be paid in order to change their situation.  And a slave had no way to pay any kind of a price to free themselves from their current master.  A slave was wholly dependent on the mercy of his master, if his situation was ever going to change.

Paul reminds his readers that they were slaves to sin but they now have a choice whom they serve because someone has paid their price.  “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, . . . You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”  (Romans 6:17-18)  How did this happen?

I was born belonging to one master.  I was a slave to sin, self and Satan’s lies, courtesy of Adam and Eve’s decision in the Garden.  My situation was hopeless-But God- God had a plan- a plan to buy me back, a plan to pay my price, a plan to set me free from sin’s bondage.  ” . . . You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  I was bought with a price, I have a new master.  But just what was that price?

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  (1 Peter 1:18-19)

“You are worthy (Jesus) to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  (Revelation 5:9)

Satan doesn’t want me to know that my price has been paid in full.  He no longer owns me, sin is no longer my master.  “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’ ” (John 8:34-36)

Paul told his readers, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, . . . You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:17-18)

There it is again, the truth that I now belong to a new master.  My old master was delivering me over to death, my new Master wants to give me eternal life.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

I am free to choose and to serve a new master.  My old master, sin, does not own me anymore because Jesus paid that debt and bought my freedom.  So why would I stay, continuing to serve my old master, now that I am free to leave?  Do I not know my debt is paid?  Do I not believe it?  Do I not know that I am now free? Satan wants me to continue to believe the lie that I am his and powerless to leave. But John 8:32 tells me, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Satan doesn’t want me to know the truth.  The truth that Jesus paid my debt with His blood and I am free from sin’s bondage.  I do have a new master.  (with much better benefits)  In fact, Romans 8:15-17 tells me, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”

From slave to son to heir!  This is wonderful news to me, to someone who was working for wages that led to death to instead receive the gift of eternal life.  This is nothing short of a miracle!  It was changing masters that made all the difference.  Who I serve determines my destiny.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”  (Proverbs 16:25)

But I was not able to leave my first master until someone paid my price, purchased me from the master that held me in bondage while paying me death wages.  Jesus paid my debt on the cross when He “purchased me for God.”  That is the truth that sets me free.  I don’t have to stay with my old master anymore, he no longer owns me.  I can serve a new master who wants me to call Him  “Father”,  One who knows my name and has engraved it on the palms of His hands, One who knows every hair on my head; One who sees every tear that falls from my eyes, One who hears me when I cry out to Him; a master who rejoices over me with singing; a master who knows every word on my tongue before I speak it; a master who loves me with an everlasting love!

This is a no-brainer!  Having been set free, why would I ever return to my old master?  Those who received Paul’s letter understood the reality of being enslaved to a master all too well.  They knew that they were not free to leave their master, that their situation was hopeless unless someone came along and bought them from their master by paying their debt.  And then — the good news:  “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  . . . God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:6-8)  And with His death, Jesus Christ paid our debt!

I rejoice in being a slave to righteousness because there is great freedom in serving this new master.  “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”  (Romans 8:2)

thank you, Heavenly Father, for paying the price that set me free to serve You and You alone, because I cannot serve two masters.

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

I saw her pass by as I sat at my computer.  She was moving at her usual pace, a familiar figure making her way through the neighborhood on her daily walk.  It was then that it hit me; I am a fair weather walker.  I know this because I am watching her walk from inside my home when normally I would be out there walking at this time.  But today is rainy, windy and cold; not optimal conditions in my view.  I may think of myself as a walker, but now I have to face the facts – I walk only if the conditions are right.  I am a fair weather walker.

My friend made me realize this about myself because she is NOT a fair weather walker; she is a walker for all weathers just as she is a friend for all seasons.  (she would make a great mail carrier, seeing as how that’s their motto and all, neither rain nor snow nor ??? shall keep me from my appointed rounds)

We have all had them – fair weather friends (not to be confused with our feathered friends)  And much to our shame we have probably all been those kind of friends at one time or another in our lives as well.  There is certainly no shortage of fair weather sports fans out there, just ask the Colts or the Cubs, or any sports team for that matter.  Their fans seem to disappear when they are losing games, only to mysteriously reappear when they are winning again.

During the down times, the losing seasons –  the true fans, the faithful fans are revealed.  It is that way with friendship too.  In the tough times our fair weather friends are no where to be found, while our faithful friends walk with us closer than ever, sometimes even carrying us.  Proverbs 17:17 says it best, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Jesus experienced the fair weather friend phenomenon during His time here on earth. Jesus had plenty of friends. Large crowds followed Him wherever He went, as long as He was healing the sick, raising the dead and feeding the five-thousand. But the cries of the crowd turned from hosanna to “crucify Him” in an instant. Even the disciples of Jesus scattered when Jesus was arrested.  Peter famously denied that he knew Jesus three times.  The faithful followers of Jesus had all become fair weather friends.  The climate had changed and they no longer walked with Jesus. Indeed they deserted Him and denied their friendship with Him.

Fortunately for me and for you, dear readers, God doesn’t desert us when we go through tough times.  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:4)

“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Yes, God is not a fair weather kind of Heavenly Father.  Quite the opposite is true! He sticks by me even when I turn away from Him.  “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”  (2 Timothy 2:13)

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”  (Deuteronomy 7:9)

I may be a fair weather walker but my Heavenly Father is not a fair weather kind of a father at all.  He is with me through every season, every storm, every hurdle and every heartache.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:20)

sincerely,                  Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do my archenemy, technology, and my favorite friend, fashion, have in common?  “Nothing!”,  would be my immediate answer to this question.  But then I got to thinking,  . . .  they are actually a lot alike.  Perish the thought, but it is all too true.  Both continually change.  Fashion claims this is necessary due to the changing of the seasons and the changing of the “new trends” it continually creates.  (hem lines go up and down, straight legs, bell bottoms, poofy sleeves, no sleeves, high collar, no collar, low waist, empire waist, full skirt, straight skirt, wide lapel, narrow lapel; the list is endless, ongoing and everchanging)

Technology calls its’ changes “updates”.  These updates continually outdate any and all devices such as phones, computers etc. that I might currently own and know how to operate.  I constantly receive alerts that my devices need updating or something very bad will happen.  What this “very bad thing” is, the alert does not make clear.  It is just vaguely threatening enough to cause me concern without clearly delineating what will happen if . . .  if what?  My devices are so old they can’t even be updated!  And technology continues to bully me.  (doesn’t technology know that bullying is against the law now?)

But then I realized that fashion bullies me too.  How?  My friend fashion makes me feel outdated if I’m not wearing her latest designs.  She is never satisfied with my “current look”  but always insists I need to buy more to keep up with her and those around me.  Technology does this same thing, always telling me I need to upgrade to devices that do more, so I won’t be left behind.

Both technology and fashion have me running a race I don’t want to run just to keep up with them.  They will not let me rest.  They constantly remind me that I am not current with my clothes or with my electronic devices.  Neither last longer than it takes to purchase them and get them home.

Technology and fashion are both sneaky.  They get me to compare what I have to what others have, because they know this will make me want to buy more clothes and more electronics.  They know I will want to buy what my friends already have.  They know that my culture tells me that my identity is in what I have and in how I dress.  But I do not believe their lies because I have been told the truth, God’s truth.

My identity is in who I belong to and I belong to my Heavenly Father.  I am a child of God.  God gives me what I need and God never changes (like technology and fashion do)  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – ”   (John 1:12)

Well, my archenemy and my favorite friend will continue to change it up on me at every possible opportunity.  But I have an unchanging advocate in Jesus.  He is my Rock, my firm foundation.  And I am thankful for that.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)

“He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”  (Psalm 62:2)

sincerely,        Grace Day

 

 

 

I heard it again today, as I have so many times before; someone giving voice to this belief so pervasive, that I hear it almost daily; “if God does exist, then He is most certainly silent, mysterious, impersonal and unknowable.”  While this has not been my experience personally, this way of thinking about God seems pretty prevalent right now and actually has been the way many people have perceived God almost from the beginning of time.  This surprises me because of all the evidence to the contrary. The God I know speaks continuously, is very personal and desires that those He has created come to know Him.  Can you believe that? (apparently most people don’t)  God wants us to know Him and He has gone to great lengths throughout human history to accomplish just that end.  God has been speaking, perhaps we have not been listening?

God is not a silent God.  He spoke the universe into existence (“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ . . . And God said, . . . And God said, . . . Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness’ . . .” (Genesis 1:3-26)) and God has been speaking into the lives of humankind ever since.  God spoke with Adam and Eve in the garden, He told Noah to build an ark and told him exactly how He wanted it done.  God spoke to Abraham, calling him to move to a new, promised land and to become the father of many descendants.  God spoke to Moses from the burning bush and on many other occasions as Moses led God’s people through the desert to their promised land.

God spoke to His prophet, Samuel, calling him by name as he lay on his bed in the temple.  God spoke to Joshua, He spoke to Gideon; God spoke to His judges and to His prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jonah and so many more, throughout the history of the Old Testament.  God gave His law to Moses at Mt. Sinai in written form.  And indeed, the books of the Bible were then and are now, the written record of God’s words to us, the people He created in His own image. The bible is a record of God’s participation in the daily lives of our ancestors.  It is a record of God’s participation in human history and it is a reminder of God’s ever-present participation in our daily lives even now.

God has not been silent.  Through both His spoken and His written word, God has made Himself known and continues to make Himself known today.  Even creation has from the beginning spoken loudly and continuously of the Creator.  “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”  (Psalm 19:1-4)

God is speaking.  Am I listening?  God is speaking to me personally because He is a personal God.  He is the God of all and of each one.  “He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.  Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”  (Isaiah 40:26)

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”  (Matthew 10:29-31)

“O Lord, You have searched me and You know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.”  (Psalm 139:1-3)

“the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”  (Psalm 121:8)   “But He knows the way that I take; . . . ”  (Job 23:10)

These words from the Bible describe God as knowing me better than I know myself.  And indeed He does!  Psalm 139, verses 4 & 5 says, “Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord.  You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.”

It couldn’t get any more personal than that!  The God of creation didn’t just bring us into being and then remove His presence from us forever.  Just the opposite is true!  It is God’s life-giving, all sustaining presence that fills all of His creation and sustains it.  “for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.”  (Revelation 4:11b)

“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  (Colossians 1:17)  This is an infinitely personal God.  So much so that in His word to us, He says we can call Him our Heavenly Father when we pray to Him.  God cares for all He has created. He knows when each sparrow falls. He calls every star by name.  God calls me by name as well and He knows my every thought.

“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.”  (Psalm 145:9)  I experience His goodness and His mercy every day along with His promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me.  God designed you and me to desire a personal relationship with Him because He is a personal God.

Because God desires us to know Him, He reveals Himself to us.  He is not unknowable as some would say.  In Jeremiah 33:3 He tells us, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  God also tells us in Jeremiah 29:13-14, ” ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, . . . “.

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”  (Psalm 34:4)  Peter tells us in 1Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him (God) because He cares for you.”   God knows us and wants us to know Him.

So much so that, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”  Who was this Word?  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”  (John 1:14, 1-5)

Jesus had come to earth.  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us.’ ”  (Matthew 1:23)

The God who had been speaking to His people for centuries, now took on human form and came to live with us here on earth for a time.  That’s how determined God was to reveal Himself to us so that we could know Him personally.  The ultimate revelation of Himself to mankind, He walked in our shoes so to speak and then died in our place so that we could be reconciled to Him for eternity.  Our sin had separated us from our Creator, but Jesus’s death and resurrection now made reconciliation with God possible for anyone who would believe and accept Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf.

Furthermore, God so desires a relationship with each one of us, that He makes available His Holy Spirit to live in each of us who would believe in Jesus and accept this gift of God.  “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”  (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)  This is as personal as it can get.  ” . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  (Colossians 1:27)

Jan Van Ruysbroeck, a 14th century Augustinian said that, “God is immeasurable and incomprehensible, unattainable and unfathomable.”  Because God is infinite and immortal in His being, He certainly can’t be measured or completely comprehended by me (or by anyone else) from our position as finite, mortal human beings.  We can never fathom all the facets of God’s being or attain to the knowledge of all that He is or of all that He has done.

But Romans 1:20 tells us, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

God is not silent.  He speaks through His creation, through His Word, through His Holy Spirit, through His Living word who walked among us for a while.  God is personal.  He knows everything about each one of us and calls us each by name.   God wants us to know Him.  God revealed Himself to us yet again when Jesus died on the cross, showing us His love and making a way for us to know God and be in relationship with Him for eternity through His resurrection.

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – ”  (John 1:12)

“For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now we know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12)

sincerely,           Grace Day

 

 

 

 

if Mondays are the morning of the week, then are morning people also Monday people by definition?  it makes sense, doesn’t it?  there are fifty-two Mondays in a year, a lot of time for Monday people to do their thing, to stand out, to make their mark, to get things done while the rest of the world wakes up or waits – waits for what? for Tuesday? (or does everyone else just start the week waiting for Friday?)

so . . .  Monday morning people must be the rarest of all people groups, getting more done on a Monday morning than the rest of us do in a week.  MM people like beginnings, whether it’s the beginning of a new day or the beginning of a new week.  each and every Monday morning provides these individuals with both of these beginnings simultaneously.  Does it get any better?

Somehow Mondays have gotten a bad reputation in our culture, one that is possibly undeserved – just ask a true Monday morning person (if you can find one that is)  let’s give Mondays a little more respect – we don’t want to discard fully one-seventh of our year, now do we?

” . . .  for His mercies never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:12)

sincerely,         Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

If this is the road You have chosen for me,  then let me walk it joyfully —

other roads look fairer by far, but they don’t lead to where You are.

this is Your road,  You have chosen my way, You walk it with me day by day.

this is not the road that I would choose, to travel here I must learn to lose–

my grip on things I would hold dear; to make this journey, let go of fear

to follow this road You have chosen for me, You alone secure my destiny.

though I can’t see the road when darkness grows, it’s Your hand that guides me til daylight shows

my path again, the road You chose; so full of sorrows, full of woes– still-

if this is the road You have chosen for me,  I will walk it gladly with no complaint-

You give strength to the weary, I will walk and not faint.

if this be my road, then let me rejoice; let me listen always to hear Your voice-

this road is full of twists and turns,  I have to trust, I can’t discern-

but at its end Your face I’ll see, because this is the road You chose for me.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”  (Proverbs 14:12)

“in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:6)

” . . . For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  (Matthew 7:13-14)

sincerely,        Grace Day