California

Right after I graduated this spring, I spent 5 weeks in California with a group of students from Bob Jones University ministering to/with several churches—mostly newer church plants but a few older, established churches as well. It was an amazing time personally as well as seeing what God is doing in California.

Because “He who is mighty has done great things for me,” in the spirit of “go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you,” I plan to share some of the things I learned during my time out west over the next few weeks. Stay tuned. :)

(Verses are Luke 1:49 and Mark 5:19, ESV)

Good Shepherd

Shepherd, go before me, wise and loving Guide;
I have seen Your goodness proven sure when tried.
Shepherd go before me.

Shepherd, choose the pathway You deem best for me.
Plan and pace the journey, swift or slow to be.

Shepherd, place the fences, closing in my way.
Safe behind the Shepherd I would ever stay.
~Eileen Berry~

Love Is...

Love. That is a tall command, only I never used to realize exactly how hard loving people is. The closer Jesus has drawn me to Himself, the more He has asked me to love—and it’s not been easy.

Why is it so hard to love? Because, as I read somewhere, you can’t love without giving. Love requires sacrifice. Love requires putting others before ourselves. Love requires unselfishness, because love has no room for itself. For the first few years after my high school graduation, the theme of what God was teaching me was to love. Love when it’s easy, love when it’s hard. Love the fun people, love the not-so-fun people.

In my job (I work at a fast food restaurant), I run into all kinds of people. I work with all kinds of people, I meet all kinds of people, I serve all kinds of people. People who are fun, enjoyable, those whom I look forward to seeing—but also people who are grumpy, annoying, rude, and hard to get along with.

I am required to be nice, as part of my job description—to smile, to welcome people cheerfully, to wish them a good day when they leave. This is done to everybody, whether we hope they come back soon…or not.

When I first started working five years ago, I was surprised at how easy it is to take things personally. While we have a lot of regulars, most people come in and we don’t recognize them or they us. At times I doubt they even see us as people—and when the guests are rude and mean, that is when loving is tough. I am supposed to cheerfully serve those people, too. Love is not complaining about the situation later. Love is praying for that person: “Lord, bless their day. Draw them to Yourself!” Love is truly meaning that smile I give them.

Love is still wishing the lady who laughed at my mistake “a good day.” Love is cheerfully taking an order and conversing with the guest who, on his last visit, was very rude. Love is being nice to the people who get labeled as “weird.” Love is, I have to admit to myself, not seeing those people as weird! Love is loving those people who seemingly do not “deserve” it, but it was Jesus Himself who said, “if you only love those who love you, what credit is that?” Love is seeing every person—guests, fellow employees, my family, individuals at church, the people walking down the street—as somebody who needs a smile, the love of Jesus, and someone to be kind to them. No matter what…because that is what love really is.

Psalm 1

"Blessed is the man who walks not

in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper."
Psalm 1:1-3

The Lesson of the Potter

"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.' So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.' " Jeremiah 18:1-6, ESV

God is working on me; He is conforming me into the image of Jesus Christ for my good and His glory. That process requires that I be broken down again and again. My plans, my dreams, my desires, my life—everything must be broken so that I can be built up again as God wants me to be.

“You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” Isaiah 29:16, ESV. God knows what He’s doing. God builds; my responsibility is to be submissive. God is working for my good and His glory: I will know Jesus more intimately and God will be glorified in His work!

God's Gifts

“Every good gift and

every perfect gift

is from above,
and comes down from

the Father of lights,
with whom there is no

variation or shadow of turning.”
(James 1:17, NKJV)

This verse comes after the passage on the growth of sin (vv. 13-15). We are willing to trade in good gifts from God Himself for the wilting pleasure of sin that will eventually bring death. God has abundant life! Look for His gifts and let go of what the world (and self) offers.

Matthew 7:11 says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” God desires to give us good things—we who fail Him so often. Praise God for His grace and love, and may that compel us to live for Him!

Trusting God

Oh, Lord, I trust Your Word;

it gives me hope and light to see.
The path ahead, though now obscured,

will open wide for me.

Oh, Lord, I trust Your love;

I feel its warm and changeless glow;
My life or death shall only prove

its everlasting flow.

Oh, trust in God, my soul,

and look into His face.
Oh, trust in God, my soul;

His holy will embrace.
Then I shall stand complete and whole,

a trophy of His grace
As I trust God.

(Francis Havergal and David Burke)