yes, the job of the offensive lineman is to cause offense to the opponent by blocking their way, by causing them to stumble and to fall, so the opposing team can’t do harm to the fellow teammates of the offending, offensive linemen, particularly – the quarterback.   The job of the offensive lineman is to be a stumbling block to the enemy but not to those on his own team.

Paul gave the same advice in his letter to the church in Rome.  He said, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.  Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.”  (Romans 14:13)  The offensive lineman is to be a stumbling block to the opponent and in doing so, clear the way for his teammates to advance and to succeed.  He is more of a bridge than a block for those on his own team.

so should we be in our daily lives for everyone we come into contact with;  we must be not a block but a bridge . . .

Lord make me a bridge, let others walk on me – may I never be a block, though You gave me liberty

free from the law, I’m a servant of grace; but a block prevents others from seeing Your face

a bridge lays down, making a way for all; a block causes others to stumble and to fall

may I never be a stumbling block by doing whatever I can; while my brother needs a bridge to walk according to Your plan

In You, Lord, I have freedom to do so many things; help me choose to be a bridge, though I desire wings

I may help my brothers more by laying down my liberty in this life, than by standing as a stumbling block, which can only lead to strife

in my liberty let me choose – what helps my brother not to loose

his faith, his way, nor cause him doubt – that’s not what liberty’s about

this liberty Lord, You’ve given me, not just for me alone;  may I use it only if it strengthens my brother on his long journey home.

so a stumbling block upon no man’s path, may I ever be  – let me be the bridge lying down in the gap, making clear the way to Thee.

sincerely,      Grace Day

prayer is cries in the dark, hallelujahs in the light, songs in the night

prayer is praise in the pain, gratitude without gain

prayer is remembering God’s goodness,  prayer is confession and repentance

prayer is – listening, resting, seeking, searching

prayer is – waiting, watching, abiding, persevering

prayer is pleading  –  Holy Spirit interceding

prayer is calling out to God – knees bended, arms extended, palms open, fists clenched, head bowed, eyes toward heaven

we pray for forgiveness and we are taught how to forgive

we pray for abundance and we receive our daily bread

we pray for understanding and we learn to walk by faith

we pray for revelation and are told to trust in Him

we pray for our enemies and find friends where foes had been

we pray out of our fear and feel His peace that passes understanding

we pray for what we want, God gives us what we need

we pray when God is silent, when we don’t think He hears  –  we pray without words, we pray with our tears

with only a mustard seed, we see our mountains moved, by the One on the cross, where divine love was proved

Jesus says, “go into your closet and there be still, go into your closet, there to seek My will;  go into your closet where no one sees, meet with Me there on bended knees, there I will hear your silent pleas.

what you’ve asked in the dark, I will answer in the light; hastening the day when your faith will be sight.”

and so we pray  . . .   we pray in obedience to God’s word, He tells us to pray

we pray out of our need, out of our desperation, out of our fears . . .

we pray in our belief, we pray in our unbelief;  we pray out of our faith and we pray out of our lack of faith

we pray for our circumstances to change and we are changed instead

we pray to receive the desires of our hearts – but in the praying our hearts’ desires are changed

we start out praying for our own agenda but end up praying God’s will be done

we pray knowing that God is able but not knowing if He will; and it is in that place that we must join with the three who faced the fiery furnace in saying, “the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not,  . . .   we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

we pray what seems good and right to us, yet remembering that His ways are higher than our ways

we pray knowing that God already knows what we need but He wants us to ask Him anyway  –  that we might grow in faith and that He might be honored and glorified in how He answers

we pray when God is silent, we have His promise that He hears – we pray when lost in darkness, in spite of all our fears

we pray when we are filled with joy, we pray when filled with pain;  we have to learn to praise Him in the sunshine and the rain

and so we pray . . .

we pray for the tangible and receive in return the intangible (joy, peace, comfort, mercy, hope, His gifts are infinite like He is)

we pray for the temporal and receive the eternal (His forgiveness, salvation, redemption, eternal life with Him)

we pray out of our worry and receive God’s peace

we pray with hearts broken over those we love, over a lost world, over the consequences of our own sin

we pray when nothing changes and the answers do not come – we pray knowing the answers may not come in our lifetime

we pray when the answer is “no”-we pray when the answer is “not yet or not now”

and still we pray . . .

We pray to the One Who knows our words before we speak them,  we pray to the One Who hears our hearts when words won’t come, we pray to the One Who knows our name and our every thought, the One Who never slumbers and always hears us

we are called to lives of prayer . . .

and so we pray  –  we pray in faith, with hope and perseverance; trusting our Heavenly Father with our prayers and with our lives

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

“Pray without ceasing.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

first I have to get out of bed.  I want to change the world but . . . first I have to turn off the TV.  I want to change the world but . . . first I have to get up off this couch.  I want to change the world but . . . that means I have to actually leave my house and go out there.

OK —  I’m up, it’s off, I’m off, I’m out   . . .     now what?

Oh world!  you need so much and all I have is a box of bandaides.  and that’s not nearly enough to cover all your wounds  . . .

BUT

I do know Someone who has what you need, who has everything you need and more!

I know the One who has the answers to your questions

the One who has food for your hunger, who has water for your thirst-

I know the One who has healing for your heart, the One who offers rest for your soul –

I know the One who will give you hope and take away your despair –

I know the One who will bring light into your darkness – the One whose forgiveness will wash away your guilt for good

I know the One who brings truth to replace your foolish, darkened thinking

I know the One who brings reconciliation to your broken relationships

I know the One who brings comfort in your pain

I know the One whose Presence brings joy and peace

I know the One whose Presence is life itself

Yes, all I have is a box of bandaides,  but I know  The One

so let me introduce you, oh poor, broken world that you are to The One . . .

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10)

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”  (John 3:17)

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10:45)

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus doesn’t offer you bandaides, oh you weary, wounded world.  Jesus offers Himself instead, then you won’t need the bandaides  because Jesus is the cure, the solution to every problem, the Healer of every heart.

sincerely,       Grace Day

 

 

maybe life is like mountain climbing, moving upward is slow, hard work and takes a long time.  Reaching the top is wonderful; a beautiful view and time to rest.  But you can’t live on the mountain top.  The air is too thin, there is no level ground on which to spread out and get comfortable – there is no place to set up camp and make a home.

which means after every journey of ascent there is a corresponding journey of descent which must follow, it is inevitable.  The journey of ascent is so long, the journey of descent so quick that we must take care not to fall too far.  Why do we climb the mountains in our lives at all?  Maybe because those we cannot move, we climb, as climbing them is another way to conquer them.

I am told God can move mountains, so why does He leave so many mountains in the path of my life for me to deal with?  Why can’t they just disappear?  Climbing them takes so much time and energy and intention.  I have to depend on God to help me conquer my current mountain, I can’t succeed in my own strength, so I draw closer to my Creator for the journey.  I become strong as I climb ever upward each day, learning new disciplines to sustain me in my journey.  Climbing requires my dedication and my perseverance.  God is my coach, teaching me, training me, preparing me for the next mountain in my path while enabling me to climb my current one.

My life has purpose and meaning as I push onward to my goal.  And by the time I summit, I have become a different person than I was when I began the ascent from my past position.  I have grown.  But I can’t stay there. The summit is not my final destination.  There will be other hills, other valleys, other peaks to enjoy, other pits to dig myself out of.

Yes, I said pits.  We all know about those pot holes in our road, some of which seem to catch us unawares, then grow and deepen around us, ultimately engulfing and entrapping us.  It is then we cry out for someone to rescue us.  King David knew all too well this experience of being in the pit.  “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”  (Psalm 40:1-2)  Isn’t that what we all want?  a firm foundation on which to stand.

We can’t stay on the mountain top, we don’t want to live in the pit – we need level ground.  “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  (Psalm 143:10)  And God does lead me just as Isaiah 45:2 says, “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.”

Isaiah 40:3-4 talks about the way of the Lord being prepared much like He goes before me, preparing my way.  “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.”  There’s that level ground again.  So sometimes God levels my mountain but other times He helps me to climb it.

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights.”  (Psalm 18:32-33)  “He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber.” (Psalm 121:3)  This is good to know and for me to remember when I am in the middle of climbing that mountain because I need that reassurance when the climb is steep and I want to quit.

“For You have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”  (Psalm 56:13)  So He helps me not to stumble to my death as I ascend and as I descend on my journey and search for level ground.  That is where most of life is lived, between the depths and the heights – on level ground.  “My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the Lord.”  (Psalm 26:12)

God doesn’t move all my mountains for me because He knows I need the exercise of the climb to grow strong and to stay in shape, prepared for whatever will come next.  Without the challenge difficulty brings, I would grow weak, lazy and complacent and much more easily fall into a pit just when I was least prepared to escape it.  (no wonder they are called pitfalls)

Sometimes I long for the view from the mountain top, but the life I live on the level ground, in between the mountains, the molehills, the pitfalls and the perils is full of miracles as well.  (hence blog name – miracles amid the mundane)  The fact that God shows up everyday in my everyday is miracle enough for me and far more than I deserve.  But He does.  And I’m so thankful.

It is in the ordinary of the everyday, the mundane, that I most experience His presence and His miracles.  “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,”  (Isaiah 30:15)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  (Psalm 46:10)

sincerely,       Grace Day

 

 

 

 

technology and I are at war again.  actually, we have never ceased.  there has been no truce, no cease fire, no negotiated peace.  We are like the Middle East, technology and I, continuously in conflict.  But this time she has gone too far; she has deceived me, she has outpaced me, she has injured me and she has caused me undue distress.  I have spent far too much time and energy engaging her in battle, leaving me wary, weary and wanting to return to a pre-technology existence.

But I don’t even remember my life before technology, do I?  Life without my best friend who is also my worst enemy?  How did I survive?  How did I communicate with others?  Snail mail?  I want to plead with technology, “slow down, take a break, wait for me to catch up!  Then we can talk about this reasonably.  But you don’t want me to catch up, do you?  You win by staying ahead of me so I can’t get to you.  (coward)

You continuously update, knowing I can’t keep up.  That is one of your favorite attacks.  You just want me to spend more money on things I don’t know how to operate, but when I do (and you win) you just update again.  You are never satisfied and you won’t let me be either.

I want to call a truce between us.  I need your help and you know it.  But beware, technology, perhaps a day is coming when we will all put down our phones, come out from behind our computers, turn off our TVs and deal with each other directly, face to face.  Body language will again be more important than an emoji.  Tone of voice more important than capital letters, face to face conversation more satisfying than Facebook, the sharing of real life experiences more satisfying than the sharing of cyberspace images we create for ourselves.

You heard me right, technology, you better be nicer to me or I will abandon you all together.  (talk about your idle threat)  I don’t trust you right now, but I want to be friends again.  so what do you say?  truce?  I need you to help me stay connected to others in this cyberspace world.  And right now no one’s emails are getting through to me and my emails are not being received by those with whom I am attempting to communicate.  Your tactics are those of a shrewd enemy, cut me off from all who could come to my aid, “isolate and destroy”, that is your game plan, isn’t it?

But thankfully I don’t depend on you, technology, to communicate with my Heavenly Father. That’s called prayer and I don’t need you for that, technology.  So keep running if you want, I will eventually catch you ’cause I’m not giving up. Consider yourself forewarned my best friend/worst enemy!

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.  From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears.”  (Psalm 18:6)

“I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy.  Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.”  (Psalm 116:1-2)

“This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it –  . . . ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ ”  (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

What if I told you that I’m on a diet of bread and water for the New Year?  Yes, that’s right – bread and water – by choice; and no, I’m not in a dark cell somewhere.  It all started with these words,  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6)

now that’s a diet I would like to be on, one that promises I will be filled; some translations say “satisfied”.  Psalm 34:8 challenges me to “Taste and see that the Lord is good;”  But I can’t do that if I am filling myself full of this world’s wisdom and ways, dulling my appetite for the Word of God.

The “diet” of social media, TV, books, magazines, music, radio etc. that I consume daily doesn’t fill me up or leave me satisfied for more than a moment.  Then I am again craving something to sustain me.  And if I were honest, I would admit that I don’t just want a “diet” that will sustain me (as in the bare minimum required to keep me alive) but I want a “diet” that enables me to grow and to flourish, to be healthy and to be productive.

So I am hungry and I am thirsty, but not for anything this world can give me.  I need to “taste and see” what God offers.  I find God’s answer to my need in John 6:48-51 where Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  . . .  I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Jesus also said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  (Matthew 4:4)  This makes perfect sense when I realize that Jesus is “the living Word of God”.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”  (John 1:1,14)  Just as bread nourishes my physical body, God’s Word nourishes my soul.

I am aware of Jesus as the living, all-sustaining bread of life every time I take communion or the Lord’s Supper.  It was on the occasion of Jesus’ last meal with His disciples that “He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ ”  Jesus truly is “the bread of life.”

Jesus also told the people, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  (John 7:37-38)  Jesus told the woman at the well who came to draw water every day, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:13-14)

I love God’s promise in Revelation 21:6, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”  I am like the deer in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God.  When can I go and meet with God?”

Who could imagine a diet of bread and water to be so fulfilling?  But when it’s living bread and living water that changes everything, including my life.  I am no longer lacking but am filled full.  God is able to provide.  “He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.”  (Psalm 78:15-16)

And as if that weren’t enough, God provides even more.  “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:5-6)  I will eat at the King’s table forever!

May I continue to hunger and thirst after God and His ways, because on God’s “diet” He has promised that not only will I not go hungry – but I will be filled.  I will be filled because His supplies are limitless and living.  Jesus is the living bread and the living water.  My cup really does run over!  Thank You, Heavenly Father.

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

yes, I’m still writing about New Year’s but it is New Year’s Day, after all, the day we make promises to ourselves that we call New Year’s resolutions.  Promises so easily made and just as easily broken, causing us to feel discouraged and defeated before the new year has even had time to grow old.

As I thought about this cycle of promises made, promises broken, I came across these words, “It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.  . . .  Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.  Therefore stand in awe of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:5-7)  Now the author is talking about vows made to God, but I feel the same way about vows I make to others and vows (promises, resolutions) I make to myself.  Better not to do so in the first place.  I just end up disappointed or disappointing someone I care about.  Better to just stand in awe of God.

But what exactly does that mean, to “stand in awe of God”?  The dictionary definition of awe is “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear and wonder”. Therefore the word awful should refer to something or someone full of or who fills us with that mystical mixture of respect, fear and wonder all at the same time. But we have flipped the meaning of awful, which we now use to describe anything or anyone as terrible, undesirable, horrible; a person, food or experience to be avoided at all costs because they are awful.  (although our word awesome now substitutes for awful or “full of awe”)

So since I have determined not to vow or to make resolutions, I think I need to learn to “stand in awe of God.”  Proverbs 9:10 tells me, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and Psalm 46:10 tells me to “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

I need to be still and to stand in awe of God.  The Romans refused to do this and it did not go well for them.  “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools . . .  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – ” (Romans 1:21-25)

In contrast, I want to stand in reverent fear of God and receive His promises. “Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?  He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.  He will spend his days in prosperity,   . . .   The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.  My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare.”  (Psalm 25:12-15) “Through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.”  (Proverbs 16:6)

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ”  (Psalm 14:1) but I know better.  “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1)  The angels testify, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.”  (Isaiah 6:3)  The shepherds saw God’s glory and experienced that awe that is God’s due.  “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”  The shepherds were standing in awe of the Creator of the universe as the angel of the Lord shared with them the news of Jesus’ birth.  They were filled with reverence, fear and wonder, which is the awe with which I am to view God.  Indeed, awe is the only possible response on my part when God reveals Himself.

Even Jesus’ enemies could not avoid the response of awe when they came face to face with the revelation of Jesus’ identity.  “When Jesus said, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”  (John 18:6)  The “they” in this scenario are the six hundred plus armed Roman soldiers who have come after Jesus to arrest Him. When Jesus answers their question as to His identity, we are told these soldiers fell instantly to the ground, all of them.  They may not have been standing  in awe of the Son of the Living God, but they were demonstrating proper reverential fear and wonder, for as they lay prostrate on the ground they were showing the awe they were experiencing in the presence of Jesus.

So no promises/resolutions for me because “It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.  . . .  Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.”    and that is precisely what I desire to do;  to stand, to kneel, to bow, to lay prostrate, to live – in awe of God.

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

“there is nothing new under the sun.”  King Solomon declared this in Ecclesiastes 1:9 as he was lamenting man’s existence here on earth.  He went on to say, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; . . .  Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look!  This is something new?’ ”

I don’t think we are much different than King Solomon.  We are always looking for the next new thing to entertain us, to make us happy, to improve our lives; we don’t exactly know what it is, but we are seeking after it nonetheless – that ever elusive new thing that will change our lives once and for all, forever.

We are encouraged in our search for the new by the messages our culture sends us every day. Just read the captions on the magazine covers while you wait in the check out line at the grocery.  “Change your life in 10 days”,  “a new you in just 5 minutes a day”, “the secret to your total transformation revealed on page 12”, “3 easy steps to achieving your dream”, and so on and so on.  We are desiring something new but have no clue as to what that would look like or how to find it.

We also have no power of our own to create something new, that is reserved for the Creator of the universe alone.  God spoke and it came into being.  Fortunately for us, God is still making things new.  We just may not be aware of it.  “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”  (Isaiah 43:19)

God is able to make us new and to give us new life in Him.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  God’s makeover is from the inside out.  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  (Ezekiel 36:26)  A heart transplant from the Maker of my heart is just the drastic thing that I need if I am to be a new person.

How do I experience this new life?  I must die to my old one.  “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4)  It’s an ongoing process, but fortunately God never gives up on me.  I am told to ” . . . put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your (my) mind; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

I can’t do this transformation thing in my own power but I have this promise to sustain me when I feel more like my old self than my new self, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you (me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 1:6)

Everyday is a new day as I walk by faith with Jesus as Lord.  He is the One who makes all things new.  “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ ”  (Revelation 21:5)  Allow God to make your New Year truly new.  He is the only One who can.

sincerely,      Grace Day

what is the one thing everyone says they want more of?  the one thing everyone says is in short supply?  we say we wish there were more hours in the day.  it’s something we can’t get back and we can’t make more of – time- that elusive, unstoppable, uncontainable, untouchable, unalterable commodity we call time. We bemoan our lack of it even as we long for more of it on a daily basis.

this is a gift of heaven to each of us – time – that’s what eternity is; unlimited, infinite time – we will never run out of time again.  This is something our finite minds cannot properly grasp, but it is something to look forward to, nonetheless, as we are always desiring more time with those we love, often feeling the brevity of the time we do spend with them, earnestly wishing it to be more than what we experience here. This gift of time without end or limit is ours in heaven.  (kind of like unlimited phone minutes but so much better)

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  How in keeping with His character that He should give us the gift of time, something we crave now, then we shall have in abundant, unlimited supply.  Time to know each person’s story, time to know our infinite Creator, will require an equally infinite amount of time – which is what eternity is – God’s gift of time to me and to you.

“For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.  He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.”  (Daniel 6:26-27)

“Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.  Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:21)

” . . .  And so we will be with the Lord forever.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  (Psalm 23:6)

“And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”  (Luke 1:33)

time without end – eternity – heaven’s gift

sincerely,         Grace Day

 

it’s that time again – we are getting ready to begin a new year.  now based on my past experience, the new year always seems pretty much like my old year, I am hard pressed to see any difference and I don’t feel any difference.  My present seems pretty much the same as my past.  Could that be because I bring my past, all of it, into my future?  No wonder each year my load becomes heavier, my step slower as I labor to live under the weight of all I carry with me.

Have I not learned the secret of traveling light through this life?  (my garage and basement would shout a resounding “NO”)  I love new beginnings, fresh starts, clean slates, second chances . . .  isn’t that what the new in New Years is all about? Is that why all those people stand in the cold in Time’s Square for hours, waiting for a ball to drop?  Are they waiting for and wanting a new beginning?  I wonder if they give to that glittering ball their hopes and dreams for the new year, all the while continuing to carry, even cling to, the bags from their past?

So what can I do to lighten my load on my life’s journey?  What would make this truly a new year?  First, I need to decide my purpose.  Moses asked the people to make a choice in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 when he said, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the Lord is your life . . .”

Later, Joshua would issue the same challenge to the people saying in Joshua 24:14-15, “Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.  . . . But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,  . . .  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”   Jesus would say essentially the same thing centuries later when He said “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)

So clearly I need to make a choice.  Trying to please too many people (masters) can be exhausting.  But how to choose?  Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened; and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)  I know I am often tired, but maybe it’s soul rest I’ve been seeking all along, soul rest that I need, not so much physical rest.

And a burden that is light?  Now that’s an oxymoron if ever there was one.  This I want to experience for myself.  And I can – the choice is mine!  I must first choose this day whom I will serve.  I have found living for or serving myself to be deeply unsatisfying, empty and purposeless.  Time to choose a new master!  Time to loose some old baggage.  Time to travel lighter in the new year.

How do I do this?  How do I travel light through this life?  Hebrews 12:1 has some good advice for me; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,  . . .  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Throw off everything that hinders?  Does that mean get rid of everything that holds me back?  This requires me to discern the difference between what hinders me and what helps me in my race to serve the master I have chosen.  I have chosen the Lord God, just as Joshua chose for his family so long ago.  Now I need to repack my bags.  what to throw out?  what to keep?  what to add new?  I need some guidance!

Fortunately, I found some good advice in Ephesians 4:31, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”  That will definitely lighten my load, those are heavy burdens to carry around.  And there’s more, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”  (1 Peter 2:1)  My bags are getting lighter by the minute as I throw off these things that have been weighing me down, hindering me in my race.  I am feeling so much lighter already!

Still, there is one bag that is especially heavy, one that I keep close and carry with me always.  Will I continue to ignore God’s command?  “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”  (1 Peter 5:7)  If I am going to travel light, I am going to have to let go and “throw off everything that hinders”, including this.

What to pack in my now empty bags?  ” . . .  clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.   . . .  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  (Colossians 3:12-14)  And there are even more things I can carry with me into the New Year as I run God’s race, namely the gifts God gives.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  (Galatians 5:22-23)  That’s a lot, but these things are a help not a hindrance to me in my race.  They are not a burden.

And there is something else I need to carry with me that is not a burden but a blessing.  “This is love for God:  to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”   (1 John 5:3-4)  So obedience to God and faith I keep as I also, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  (Ephesians 6:11)

What to keep?  What to add?  What do I bring into the New Year?  “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”  (Philippians 4:8)  A lot to carry, yet all of it is uplifting.  These things will help, not hinder.  His burden truly is light.

So maybe as I enter into this New Year I will not drag my old bags with me, but will exchange them for  “the easy yoke and the light burden” of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I will obediently throw off anything and everything that hinders and run the race in the strength that God provides.  I will  ” . . . not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. but be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Then I will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  (Romans 12:2)

This, then, is my calling for the New Year.  ”  . . . I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.   . . .  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:12-14)

Lord help me to travel light

sincerely,        Grace Day