November 6

“God does not tell us we are the workmen, who are to use and manage the instruments, but that we are the instruments to be used and managed by the Divine Master Workman who made us, and who alone, therefore, understands for what work we are best fitted.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 10/15

I’ve been in churches that have put an emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit to the point of giving people tests to help them discover which gifts they have.  While this may be helpful in the secular world, I believe it sends the wrong message to Christians.  It puts us in the position of the workman who uses his talents to serve God when, as Hannah points out, we are the gifts--the instruments.  I’ve never thought of myself as a gift, but that is what I am if I am a pliable instrument in God’s Hand.  As an instrument I am freed from the outcome and instead can enjoy the process.  I believe that if we could get this one thing straight we wouldn’t suffer regrets in our old age.  How often do we look back on our lives and measure its success by results.  Very few of us probably ever live out our dreams to their fullest.  If, however, we lived our lives enjoying each day’s process without regard to it’s outcome, we could look back and feel a satisfaction beyond our dreams.  Dreams are great, but they are overrated.  Real life happens without any planning. Real life is in the details of each day--from sunrise to sunset.  Those are the moments we should be able to look back on and see God’s Hand in our lives.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’”  Matthew 25:21

May 21

“ As you walk with Jesus daily, let the witness of the changes taking place in you come from others and not from you.  If you have to prove to someone that God has really changed you, He has not.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 5/21

This is another argument against self-reflection.  We could quite easily become consumed with our appearances and start making adjustments as necessary to “prove to someone” that God has really changed us if what we see doesn’t match our idea of what a Christian should look like.  Instead, we must rely on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to bring those unholy things in our lives to our attention.  It is in being convicted by the Holy Spirit that we are then able to change.  Any attempt at changing in the flesh will be temporary.  As soon as we forget about them our old habits of the way we always were will take control.  But if the Holy Spirit convicts us of our transgressions and we humbly repent, then the Holy Spirit can transform us in an instant.  This is why you hear stories of people instantly losing their desire for something that had controlled their lives before.  But this also means we must maintain this attitude of submission to the Holy Spirit.  The moment we allow our flesh the upper hand even the things that were instantly taken away can reappear.  This is why Blackaby says, “As you walk with Jesus daily...”  We were made to respond to God, so we must remain humble in order to respond.

“For thus say the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:  ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite.’”  Isaiah 57:15

May 20

“Years ago I came across this sentence in an old book:  ‘Never indulge, at the close of an action, in any self-reflective acts of any kind, whether of self-congratulations or of self-despair.  Forget the things that are behind, the moment they are past, leaving them with God.’”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough,  5/20

Several scriptures come to mind as I think about this quote:  from Paul's “forgetting what lies behind” (Philippians 3:13) to living one day at a time as Jesus’ prayer suggests when He said to pray for our bread daily.  The only time in my life that I truly lived this way was when I was caring for my ill mother in my home.  As her life hung in the balance I could not even begin to project what the next day held for me nor did I have the energy or time to reflect on the day before.  I could only look to that day.  I thought that by the end of that year I would be so practiced in that way of living that I would continue it, but I didn’t.  So it would seem that it is strictly a matter of the will that we must exercise moment by moment.  We must choose to leave all things in God’s Hands--not only the things that are past but also the things that are yet to come because as soon as we lay our hands on anything it already belongs to the past in that very next moment.  Each breath we draw in is replaced by one leaving.  The rhythm of our lives is the same.  If we can understand that each breath we take is from God, then we can grasp that each exhale is in His hands as well.  It is forever gone as far as we are concerned, but God is still using it in ways we may never comprehend in this life.

“Let everything that breathes praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!  Psalm 150:6

March 2

“Any time we are fully present in the moment we are meditating.”  Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance, 3/2

Sarah writes, “There are compelling physiological, psychological, and spiritual reasons why we should engage in regular meditation.  It is the mortar that holds mind, body, and Spirit together.”  Meditation is “intentional concentration on one thing.”  By intentionally concentrating on what is happening at this very moment I will be fully present.  Therefore, “to live every day” is really an attempt to be fully present in every moment of my life.  When my last child was born I thought if I just stared at him enough I could somehow slow down the present and he wouldn’t grow up as fast as his brothers had.  But his babyhood went by just as fast.  Instead, I need to give my full attention to what is happening at any given moment.  I mustn’t mourn its ending before it’s even over, wish it away, or be thinking about the next thing.  What I should be doing is enjoying it.  And if it’s not something pleasant, I should be focusing on what God has for me in it.  In other words, if I will concentrate on God, my Father, Savior, and Shepherd, and all that means, I can be fully present in all the moments of life--whether enjoyable or uncomfortable.  My life will make sense to me and therefore have a purpose.  I can look back over the days, months, and years and see where God has taken me and know that where I’m going is in His Hands.  What I am seeing is that to be fully present means to be fully accepting of whatever my life is at this moment.  This is a good place to start.

“My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips, when I think of thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night; for thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of thy wings I sing for joy.  My soul clings to thee; thy right hand upholds me.”  Psalm 63:5-8

 

January 6

“We need to ‘come to’ ourselves.  To see us as we are.  We cannot begin to explore the deep places until we have allowed the Light of Calvary to shine into the shallow corners first.”  Eugenia Price, Share My Pleasant Stones, 1/7

I came to the realization last night that the only thing we can truly learn from our experiences is more about ourselves or more about God.  I used to look for lessons that would enable me to control my environment better. Years ago after losing my wallet because I’d set it on top of the car while I put the groceries in the car taught me to never put my wallet on top of the car again, which I haven’t.  But that won’t prevent me from losing my wallet in some other absent-minded way.  Instead I should have examined what it was about ME that led to my placing my wallet on top of the car.  Looking back these many years later--and a lifetime of lessons learned--I can see clearly now that it was my constant state of hurry and not living in the present that caused me to forget about my wallet.  It wasn’t the placing it on the top of the car that lost it.  It was my forgetting about it because my mind was already onto the next thing, not fully living in that moment.  I can see now how that behavior has exhibited itself in so many different ways and how it finally exhausted me to the point that now I’m finally being forced to live in the present.  I no longer have the energy to deal with the side-effects of mentally going on to the next thing before I’ve finished what I’m actually living!

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” Exodus 16:4

January 1

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards:  they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. Margaret Young (as quoted in Simple Abundance)

Why has it taken me 52 years to understand this?!  This morning as I opened my brand new journal and began recording my first entry for the New Year I found myself writing these words:  “I truly want to begin this New Year--2003--in a new way which is to begin each day as though it were a new year--to live every  day.  I want to get to the end of this year and feel as though I’ve lived 365 years.  This may sound strange to an outsider, but not to me who feels as though I’ve only lived 52 days--not years.”  It would seem that Charlie Brown expresses best the way I’ve been used to living when he responded to Linus’s admonition to think only about today by declaring, “No, that’s giving up.  I’m still hoping yesterday will get better.”  When one “backs into” one’s life as I have it’s understandable why I would feel as though a whole year’s worth of living was merely a day’s worth.  My whole life stretches behind me!  I am never fully in the present.  Therefore, tomorrow is always about yesterday.  Today gets lost somewhere in between.  But no more!  From now on I’m going To Live Every Day!

“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24