A Place at God’s Table

God gives hope!  So what if someone was born thinner or stronger? Why count diplomas or compare resumes? What does it matter if they have a place at the head table?  You have a place at God’s table—and He’s filling your cup to overflowing!

The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in the days of David. As long as the host kept the cup full, the guest knew he was welcome. When the cup sat empty, the host was hinting that the hour was late. On those occasions when the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled the cup to overflowing; he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down on the table.

Have you noticed how wet your table is? God wants you to stay. Your cup overflows with joy. Overflows with grace. Shouldn’t your heart overflow with gratitude?

from Traveling Light

Overflowing with Grace

Do you ever worry that the cup of God’s mercy will run empty?  Are you afraid his grace will run out?   That your warranty will expire?  Are you afraid your mistakes are too great for God’s forgiveness?  I wonder if the apostle Paul had the same fear. Before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the murderer. Before he encouraged Christians, he murdered Christians. What would it be like to live with that kind of past?

Did Paul ever ask, “Can God forgive a man like me?” The answer is found in a letter Paul wrote to Timothy:  “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 1:14)

God is not a miser with His grace. Your cup may be low on cash or clout, but it’s overflowing with mercy. Your cup overflows with grace!

from Traveling Light

He Cares About You

Maybe you don’t want to trouble God with your hurts.  After all, “He’s got famines and pestilence and wars. He won’t care about my little struggles,” you think.  Why don’t you let Him decide that?

Jesus cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers.  1 Peter 5:7 says, “He cares about you.”

Your first step is to go to the right person.  Go to God.  Your second step is to assume the right posture.  Bow before God.  Luke 18:7 reminds us, “God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow to answer them.”

Listen to the prayer in Psalm 25:1-2: “Lord, I give myself to You, my God.  I trust You.”  So, go…bow…and trust.  It’s worth a try, don’t you think?

from Traveling Light

When What He Hoped Didn’t

A disappointment reminds us what we hoped would happen, didn’t.  We wanted health; we got disease.  Divorce instead of family.  Dismissal instead of promotion.

Now what?  We could do what Miss Haversham did.  Remember her in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations?  She closed all the blinds, stopped every clock, left the wedding cake on the table, and continued to wear her wedding dress until it hung in yellow decay around her.  Her wounded heart consumed her life.

Jesus is our healer!  He touched the eyes of the blind man.  He touched the disease of the leper; the searching heart of Nicodemus; the broken heart of Mary Magdalene.  And He will tend to you if you will let Him.

Psalm 147:3 says, God “heals the brokenhearted.”  Have you taken your disappointments to Him?  You’ve shared them with your relatives, your friends.  But have you taken them to God?  Go to Him!

from Traveling Light

You Are Not Alone

Have you ever gone to the grocery on an empty stomach?  You’re a sitting duck.  You buy everything you don’t need.  Doesn’t matter if it’s good for you—you just want to fill your tummy!  When you’re lonely, you do the same in life, pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you’re hungry for love.

Why do we do it?  Because we fear facing life alone.  For fear of not fitting in, we take the drugs.  For fear of standing out, we wear the clothes.  For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house.  For fear of sleeping alone, we sleep with anyone.  For fear of not being loved, we search for love in all the wrong places.

But all that changes when we discover God’s perfect love. 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”  You are not alone!

from Traveling Light

Put Your Trust in Him

How did Jesus endure the terror of the crucifixion? He went first to the Father with His fears. He modeled the words of Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Do the same with your fears. Enter them—just don’t enter them alone.  And while there, be honest. Pounding the ground is permitted.  Tears are allowed.

“Take this cup,” Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene. Give God your fears. Give God the number of the flight. Share the details of the job transfer. He has plenty of time. He also has plenty of compassion. He won’t tell you to “buck up” or “get tough.” He knows how you feel. That’s why we punctuate our prayers as Jesus did: “Father, if you’re willing. . .”  Was God willing?  Yes and no. He didn’t take away the cross of Christ, but He took away the fear. Who’s to say He won’t do the same for you?

from Traveling Light

God Loves Humility

God loves humility!  Could that be the reason He offers so many tips on cultivating it?

May I (ahem) humbly articulate a few? Do you want to be humble?  Assess yourself honestly.  Don’t take success too seriously. Celebrate the significance of others. Don’t demand your own parking place. Never announce your success before it occurs. Speak humbly. One last thought to foster humility. Live at the foot of the cross.

Paul said in Galatians 6:14:  “The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging.” Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self-esteem need attention? You don’t need to drop names or show off. You need only to pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this:  The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that’s a fact.  So if you need to brag, brag about that!

from Traveling Light

God Hates Arrogance

Proverbs 16:18 reminds us as humility goes before honor, “pride goes before a fall.”

Ever wonder why churches are powerful in one generation but empty the next? The Bible says, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud. God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven’t done anything to be arrogant about. Is there a Pulitzer for ink? Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant?  Of course not. They are only tools.  So are we. We may be the canvas, the paper, or the scalpel, but we are not the one who deserve the applause.

David declares who does in Psalm 23, “He makes me, He leads me, He restores my soul…for His name’s sake.”  For His name’s sake!  No other name.  This is all done for God’s glory.  He takes the credit, not because He needs it, but because He knows we cannot handle it!

From Traveling Light

Suitcases of Guilt

Do you carry a load of guilt?  So many do. If our spiritual baggage were visible, you know what you’d see? Suitcases of guilt, bulging with binges, blowups, and compromises. The kid with the baggy jeans and nose ring? He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother. But he can’t. So he tows them along. The woman in the business suit that looks like she could run for Senator?  She can’t run at all. Not hauling that carpet bag wherever she goes. So what do we do?

In Psalm 23:3 David said it like this, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill.  At the top is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags, countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt.  Would you like to leave yours there as well?

From Traveling Light

Where Does My Help Come From?

David said in Psalm 121, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?”  And David answers his own question, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, He who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord watches over you. The Lord will keep you from all harm, He will watch over your life.”

God—your rescuer, has the right vision.  He also has the right direction. He made the boldest claim in the history of man when He declared, “I am the way.”  People wondered if the claim was accurate. He answered their question by forging a path through the underbrush of sin and death—escaping alive.

Maybe you need your hope restored.  If so, lift up your eyes.  Like David said, look unto the hills…look unto the One who made you and He will give you help.

From Traveling Light

You Have Hope

For many, hope is in short supply. Hopelessness is an odd bag. Unlike others, it isn’t full. It’s empty, and its emptiness creates the burden. Unzip the top and examine all the pockets. Turn it upside down and shake it hard. The bag of hopelessness is painfully empty! Not a very pretty picture, is it?  What would it take to restore your hope? One comes quickly to mind…a person.  Not just any person. You need someone to look you in the face and say, “This isn’t the end.  Don’t give up.  There’s a better place than this.  And I’ll lead you there.”

David, in Psalm 23, used these words, “He restores my soul.”  God majors in restoring hope to the soul. Please note that you always have hope!  Psalm 121:7 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life.” He’s the perfect one to do so!

From Traveling Light

One Step is Enough

Arthur Hays Sulzberger was the publisher of the New York Times during the Second World War. Because of all the world conflict, he found it almost impossible to sleep.  He was never able to set aside worries from his mind—until he adopted as his motto these five words, “one step enough for me.” He took it from the old hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”

Lead, kindly light. . .
Keep Thou my feet;  I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene either. So you might as well quit looking for it. God does promise a lamp for our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We don’t need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know that Hebrews 4:16 promises  “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

 From Traveling Light

He Leads

Worrying is one job you can’t farm out, but you can overcome it. There’s no better place to begin than in Psalm 23:2. “He leads me beside the still waters,” David declares. “He leads me.”  God isn’t behind me, yelling, “Go!”  He’s ahead of me bidding, “Come!”  He’s in front, clearing the path, cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks, He warns, “Watch your step there.”

Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day. But He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

God is leading you! Leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow!

From Traveling Light

Managing Our Thoughts

You’ve got to admit—anger shows up, and we let him in. Revenge needs a place to stay, so we have him pull up a chair. Pity wants a party, we show him the kitchen.

Don’t we know how to say no?  For most of us, thought management is, well, un-thought of.  Shouldn’t we be as concerned about managing our thoughts as we are managing anything else?

Jesus stubbornly guarded the gateway of his heart. On one occasion the people determined to make Jesus their king. Most of us would delight in the notion. Not Jesus.  When He saw they were about to grab him and make him king,  John 6:15 tells us, “Jesus slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.”

Proverbs says, be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life!  (Proverbs 4:23).  Jesus did, shouldn’t we do the same?  Most certainly!

from: Just Like Jesus

You Harvest What You Plant

Pretend you’ve come to visit me.  I’m working in my greenhouse.  (Neither my house nor my thumb is green, but let’s pretend.) It’s the perfect spot for flowers and fruit.  You’ve always thought I was a bit crazy, but what I do next removes all doubt. I strip seeds off weeds—crab grass, grass burrs. You can’t believe what you’ve just seen.

“I thought you wanted a greenhouse full of flowers and fruit!” you say.

“I do,” I answer.

You ask, “Then don’t you think you ought to plant flower seeds and fruit seeds?”

My foolish response, “Do you have any idea how much those seeds cost?  No thanks, I’m taking the cheap and easy route.”

Think for a moment of your heart as a greenhouse. Consider your thoughts as seed. Some become flowers.  Others weeds.  Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism. Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity.

Galatians 6:7 says, “People harvest only what they plant.”

from: Just Like Jesus

Face the Music

Many years ago a man conned his way into an orchestra although he could not play a note.  He would hold his flute against his lips, pretend to play but not make a sound.  Then one day the leader requested a solo from each musician. The man was panic stricken. On the day of his solo performance, he took poison and killed himself. The explanation of his suicide led to a phrase that found its way into the English language:  “He refused to face the music.”

Face the music! Some of us have buried a marriage, parts of a conscience, and even parts of our faith—all because we won’t face the music…we won’t tell the truth. Ask yourself, am I honest in my dealings? Am I a trustworthy student?  An honest taxpayer? Do you tell the truth—always?

Proverbs says, “The Lord hates a lying tongue.” (12:19)

Just tell the truth.

from: Just Like Jesus

Tell the Truth

Some of us could state our credo as, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you squirm.”

Our dislike for the truth began at age three when mom walked in our rooms and asked, “Did you hit your little brother?” We knew then and there that honesty had its consequences.  “Did I hit baby brother?  Well, that all depends on how you interpret the word hit.”

We want our bosses to like us, so we flatter. God calls it a lie. We want people to admire us, so we exaggerate.  God calls it a lie.  We want people to respect us, so we live in houses we can’t afford and charge bills we can’t pay.  God calls it living a lie.

The cure for deceit is simply this: face the music. The ripple of today’s lie is tomorrow’s wave and next year’s flood.

Be just like Jesus.  Tell the truth!

from: Just Like Jesus

Deception is Never an Option

For the Christian, deception is never an option. It wasn’t an option for Jesus.

Isaiah 53:9 says, “He had done nothing wrong, and he had never lied.”  His every sentence true.  No cheating on tests. No altering the accounts.  Not once did Jesus stretch the truth.  He simply told the truth. No deceit was found in His mouth.  And if God has His way with us, none will be found in ours. He longs for us to be just like Jesus.

Proverbs 12:22 says, “The Lord hates those who tell lies but is pleased with those who keep their promises.”  Why the hard line?  Why the tough stance?  One reason is that dishonesty is absolutely contrary to the character of God.  God always speaks truth.  When He makes a covenant, He keeps it. When He proclaims the truth, we can believe it!  Because He cannot be false to Himself.

from: Just Like Jesus

Nothing But the Truth

A woman stands before judge and jury, places one hand on the Bible and the other in the air, and makes a pledge.       

For the next few minutes, with God as her helper, she will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”  She is a witness.  Her job is to tell the truth. Leave it to legal counsel to interpret. Leave it to the jury to resolve. Leave it to the judge to apply.  But the witness? The witness speaks the truth.

The Christian, too, is a witness.  We are called to tell the truth. The Bible is present, the watching world is the jury, and we are the primary witnesses. We are called to testify; to tell what we have seen and heard. Our task is not to whitewash or bloat the truth. Our task is to tell the truth.  Period.

From: Just Like Jesus

Call Home

Years ago, our youngest daughter had a sleepover.  When it came time for bed her guest wanted, more than anything, to go home! I can’t blame her.  When I travel, the hardest part of the trip is going to sleep.  When it comes to resting, there’s no house like your own.

It’s what David asked. He longed to live in the house of God. He asked for his own room—permanently. He longed to retire there in a life-long residence. When David says in Psalm 23:  “I will live in the house of the Lord forever,” he’s saying simply that he never wants to step away from God.

Make it your aim never to leave God’s house. And when you find yourself in another house, do what my daughter’s friend did—call home! He won’t mind—in fact, He’ll be waiting.

from: The Great House of God