“I’m Greaaatttt!”

“I’ve got sweet hair!” he said moving his hand in front of his head in a swooping motion in order to draw attention to the obvious amazingness that is his ‘do’.

“I’m Greaaattt!” Little Robert reiterated his palpable pleasure with himself.

However, you do not get the sense that he is being prideful or boastful really… just sincere. (And that, in my opinion, is Greaaattt!)  Robert calls it positive self-affirmation (yea, I know, big word for a 5-year old, huh!).

It’s as though he’s simply ‘stating the facts’!

…with a Grin that falls somewhere between magical and mischievous.

The Robert I’m referring to is Robert Timothy Smith from the Netflix 2018 series “A Little Help”, starring Carol Burnett. He’s cute as a button with his grown-up wire-rimmed glasses, not to mention a grin that falls somewhere between magical and mischievous. And yes, that hair, it is definitely nothing short of ‘sweeet’ (and as I say that I’m doing the same hand-in-front-of-the-head swooping motion that Robert used).

Right from the start, you can see that Robert has an agenda – to steal the show! And it’s Mission Accomplished in my opinion. I could not help myself…I binge watched the entire season in one sitting…hoping to see more of Robert.

His charisma was captivating!

Okay, okay…let me say this before I incur the wrath of the World Wide Web – ALL of the children were cute, sweet and wise beyond their years, but for some reason, Robert stood out to me.

And you know…as I began to analyze my reaction, I really think it was because Robert is totally convinced that he’s Greaaattt!

There is something about genuine self-confidence that is so attractive that we are naturally drawn toward it. And I can’t help but think that the reason we are captivated by it is because so few of us truly possess it.

I am not talking about pride. You can be prideful and not be self-confident (actually, I believe pride is just the opposite and can stem from insecurity).

The way I see it, pride is trying to convince others how great you are, but self-confidence is believing that you are great (to use Robert’s description) and you don’t need anyone else to know it.

As Christians, we are mortified of the word pride, because it’s number one on the Big Seven list (of things that God hates ~ Prov. 6:16-19). And pride is a sin that should be avoided, but self-confidence is NOT pride.

Why are we so afraid to actually like or dare I say it… eeeek… LOVE ourselves.

I can see you out there in cyberspace with a scowl on your face and your index finger on the mouse getting ready to click off of my blasphemous blog!!  But, please hear me out!

I was so unsure about how to feel about this that last week, I googled “Does God want Christians to have self-confidence?” Is it a coincidence that the same day I googled it, I just happened to run across this show featuring 5-year-old Robert who is just oozing self-confidence?…oh, I don’t think so.

You see, God thinks that Robert is Greaaattt too! After all, He’s the One that GAVE him that ‘sweet’ hair in the first place.

Psalm 139:13-14 (A Psalm of David)  You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous…

Was David prideful in saying that God had made him and that he (God’s workmanship) was marvelous?  Not at all!

(So, now we have Marvelous David as well as Great Robert… Oh my, I can just feel it…my cyber senses are tingling, there goes that scowl and the finger on the mouse again ready to blast my blog back out into cyberspace with a single click.)

We ARE God’s workmanship…

Somehow, I don’t think I could ever get comfortable referring to myself as ‘Sensational Sandra’, but we are God’s workmanship and it is actually an insult to Him when we think less of ourselves than He does.

Should we not at least think as much of ourselves as the One Who carefully and lovingly crafted us?

God wants us to love ourselves in a right and balanced way. How will we know if we are loving others as we love ourselves the way Jesus commanded us to in Mark 12:31 if we don’t first know HOW to love ourselves?

Negative self-talk is very harmful (that is NOT humility) and it does not please or glorify God. Yes, we are supposed to be humble, but humility is not putting ourselves down; on the contrary, it can be quite liberating. Let me expand on that a little.

One description of humility is simply depending on God rather than ourselves.

The world may think that to live and believe that way is self-limiting and that it takes all our power away as a person. Even the word ‘humble’ just sort of makes us cringe (admit it, doesn’t just saying it make you slump down in your seat a little?)

Do you remember that sound the old PacMan machines used to make when your ghost was chased down and eaten…yea, that’s what the word ‘humility’ sounds like to most of us.

However, if it truly means depending on God rather than ourselves, then I think that it is one of the most liberating words in the English language…because that means we no longer have to judge ourselves (our worth, our value). We simply go with God’s estimation of us.

We no longer have to scrutinize our faults; we no longer have to compare ourselves to anyone else; we are no longer judge and jury of our lives, our abilities, our personalities, or our hair (I stuck that hair thing in there for Robert).

We are now free to let all that self-critiquing, self-criticizing, and self-analyzing go. God says we are good (marvelously made by Him). So we are no longer waiting for our self-appointed jury to come back with a verdict – it’s already been settled in Heaven… You are Greaaattt!

It’s not pride…it’s agreeing with God. (Who are we to say otherwise?)

On the count of three…let’s all say with Robert…

”I’m Greaaattt!”

Alright, alright for all the Doubting Thomas’s that are still out there, repeat after me… “I’m Greaaattt… because ‘GOD’ says so!”  (Okay, with that said, I guess I should add this disclaimer…if you think you are great for any other reason, then repent you ole prideful Christian.)

As always…I would love to hear your comments, your opinions, and your thoughts.

I immediately felt nauseous. I knew at any moment I was about to take a trip to ‘Euuurope’…to visit my uncle ‘Hurl’ and cousin ‘Rallllph’.

I had practiced for two solid weeks or more. I had played Dad’s Roger Miller album over and over…until I was sure I’d exorcised every last note from the vinyl.

As I was walking down the road to catch the bus on the morning of the talent contest, I was sure I heard the birds whistling the tune to “King of the Road’’…snapping their tiny bird fingers to the beat!

“Trailer for sale for rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain’t got no cigarettes…”

I knew that song like Bill Gates knows cybernetics, I had it down pat. And in keeping to the character of the song, I had gone all out to look the part of a hobo (oh wait!…is hobo a politically correct term these days? …okay, better change that to urban outdoorsman). I rolled-up the legs of my coveralls and wore a ratty flannel shirt. I’d even made a knapsack out of a red bandana.

I was seriously bringin’ it!

I was so excited. I couldn’t wait for lunch period to end. Beaming with confidence…I knew I was going to nail it. I think I was 4^th in the lineup. I was wound tighter than Aunt Lucy’s muffin top in spandex… I just wanted everyone else to hurry and finish so I could have my five minutes of fame.

Finally, my much-anticipated moment had arrived. I was only seconds from greatness. I took a deep breath as I stood on stage behind those two burgundy red velveteen curtains… “Was I ready for this?” I asked myself. “Yes, I am ready for this,” came my inflated ego’s reply.

I was only seconds from greatness!

Then, the curtains began to slowly open. And suddenly all I could see was an ocean of them…EYES… it seemed like there was a gazillion of them and they were all staring at ME!  Glaring, penetrating, intense, big ones, small ones, blue ones, brown ones all piercing bullet holes in my self-confidence.

And immediately, like air being expelled from a million balloons all at once…spizzzzitttt…my ego deflated and flew off into the sunset leaving me standing there, speechless, songless and well…mortified might sum it up nicely.

Yep, the ‘King of the Road’ without prior warning had left town, lyrics and all. (Elvis, or in this case The King had left the building)…or at least my mind anyway. It was a total blank, for the life of me, I could not remember the first word of the song.

It seemed like centuries passed…

It seemed like centuries that I stood there…google-eyed, mouth open…total silence! To say it was getting uncomfortable would be an understatement of massive proportions. Finally, I was able to move two fingers, then with some degree of difficulty, I was able to pry my hand loose from my coveralls pocket (white knuckles and all).

My body was so stiff I could barely move – finally, the two brain cells that were still working (howbeit they were sputtering) kicked in and I managed to make hand gestures to the teacher in charge of working those burgundy red velveteen curtains. I’m pretty sure I prayed, “Please God, make the curtains close… You rescued David from Goliath; You delivered Daniel from the lion’s den…I’m not asking for a ‘Red Sea split’ or anything like that, but if You could see fit to make these here red curtains ‘un-split’, ‘de-split’, uh, ‘close’, I’d be much obliged.”  

Finally, the curtains swoosh shut!  (Whew! Thank You, Lord!)

After the show, I can recall, as though it were yesterday, that torturous walk back to the classroom – every step echoing louder and louder down that long hallway of shame. I reached up to turn the doorknob and I could hear the teacher talking. I paused to listen. “Now students, remember…don’t say anything when she comes in. Don’t tease her or say a word about it.”

Okay, that just confirmed my suspicions… yepper, everyone HAD noticed that I stood there mid-stage dumbfounded with a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face without uttering (or singing) nary a word.

Those unfortunate few moments…

I guess in my naïve eleven-year-old mind I’d hoped…I’d prayed…wished (and even lied to myself) that maybe, possibly, could it be that time and space had simply stood still for those unfortunate few moments and once the time lapse was over everyone’s memories would mysteriously have been erased.

Uh…well, nope! That didn’t happen!

I slithered in underneath the door and slinked to my desk without making eye contact with anyone. Lord, knows I’d already made enough eye contact that day! (One more favor Lord, “Can this day be over now!”)

That may sound like a funny story NOW…but to an eleven-year-old grade schooler who had thoroughly and completely embarrassed herself in front of God and everybody, it was no laughing matter.

It was traumatic – which brings me to the reason for my post. And for my point, I want to cite the last part of 1 Samuel 30:6…

…but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

He was in a very serious situation…he had lost everything; his two wives and children were kidnapped by the Amalekites. Not only that, but all his men had lost theirs too and blamed David – they spoke of stoning him.

Talk about having a bad day! Dag-gum!!!

(I saw that word…Dag-gum… somewhere and decided I kind of liked it, so I’ve adopted it into my non-cussing, ‘alternative word’ repertoire. Sound a little too redneckish?…yea, I may have to rethink that.)

The last phrase in verse 6 of 1 Samuel, chapter 30, tells how he handled the situation. It simply says that he encouraged himself in the Lord.

So, whether you are an eleven-year-old grade schooler having self-confidence issues or the ruler of a kingdom with fairly more serious problems, go to God with it!

Seriously, this can make all the difference. Just the other day, I was so low, I was lower than a wagon wheel rut in rainy season… Okay, twentieth century alert…(let me rephrase that) I was so low, I was lower than a pair of Levi’s jeans in the Bronx.

‘Sagging’!

I just found out that that fashion faux pas (wearin’ your pants at half-mast of the moon) actually has a name, it is called ‘sagging’!

Hey, if ‘sagging’ is the happenin’ thing these days…some of you (okay… ‘us’) over let’s say 59 ….have really got it goin’ on, no matter WHAT we wear. Just sayin’.

Anyway, I was so low and dejected. The thoughts going through my mind were simply torture (I thought…if I could just escape my own mind for just a little while that would be heaven.)

I sat at the kitchen table and just poured my heart out to Jesus. I said, “I need Your help…You are the only One who can help me. I am hopeless and helpless without You. Please help me.” (That was pretty much it…we don’t have to beg; He’s glad for us to come to Him. And most of all, He delights to help us.)

Psalm 91:15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

I can’t tell you how or exactly when it happened, but it was like those tormenting thoughts just went “poof” and they were gone! (I could almost hear the negative thought bubbles in my mind bursting, ‘pop’, ‘pop’, ‘pop’ one by one into thin air.) Praise the LORD!

Later, when I tried to remember what I had been so upset about, it was as if my mind simply would NOT go there. It was like a ‘Holy Spirit firewall’ or something, shielding my mind from all those undesirable thought viruses.

Call on Jesus today; I promise you will be glad you did.

As always…I would love to hear your comments, your opinions, and your thoughts.

I sat, eyes glued to the television today watching breaking news on yet another school shooting.

A bit of history… The earliest recorded school shooting according to Wikipedia dated back to 1764 in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. However, this one was a little different; it was called the Enoch Brown school massacre and was carried out by four Delaware (Lenape) American Indians. They shot and killed the schoolmaster Enoch Brown and then attacked the children with hand-to-hand style weapons (close body combat style killings). Only two children survived the attack, but then, there were only nine children in the schoolhouse at the time.

Here is a breakdown of the number of school shootings per century as reported by Wikipedia in the US alone:

One school shooting in the 1700’s (the Enoch Brown incident)

37 incidents in the 1800’s

234 in the 1900’s

223 so far in the 20th century (consider that we are only 18 years into this century – that’s an average of more than 12 per year so far)

Even if we do not take into consideration the previously trended growth, we could reach 1,240 by the end of this century…compare that to the one school shooting in the 1700’s.

The first school shooting that I remember was at Columbine High School in 1999; it is the first one that I recall being covered so extensively by the media. This brings me to my main point…I honestly think that if the media did not cover these tragedies as extensively as they do, perhaps they would not happen quite so often.

Here are my thoughts… when something like this happens the media are like hungry wolves chasing after Bambie. You can almost see the drool dripping from their mouths as they scarf up every bloody detail. It reminds me of the lyrics from Don Henley’s song ‘Dirty Laundry’…

”We got the bubble-headed bleach-blonde who comes on at five; 

She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye.”

One thing that really gets under my skin is when reporters interview the victims or the victim’s families, they always ask the question, “And how did that make you feel?”  How do they think it felt???

I’ve always secretly wished, just one time, someone would say (with all the sarcasm they can muster, and eyes rolling)…, “Well, uh (so and so) how the (*blank*) do you think I felt!” (They are like, “tell me your horror, your pain, and just how bad was it for you”… they are total drama junkies. It’s utterly pathetic!)

But the worst part, in my opinion, is that they plaster the picture of the perpetrator in all their pixeled glory on television for the entire world to see. Seems to me, this is possibly the very reason such sicko’s do it in the first place.

So often, they are suicidal and want to take out as many people as possible when they go. They feel that life has handed them a raw deal and revenge is tempting when the media offers them an opportunity to go out in a blaze of glory…in their errored estimation that is.

Suddenly, they are notoriously known to the world. And whether they are acknowledged in a good way or a bad way matters very little as long as they are known. This satisfies their need for attention, for validation, for recognition. They can’t be ignored – and they no longer feel little or insignificant, they feel empowered!

And like it or not, they have, in fact, changed the world (howbeit for the worst).

I believe if the media would refuse to display their pictures or even reveal the names of the perpetrators, perhaps these crimes of passion would not be as prevalent…as least for the ones driven by a desire to have their fifty minutes of fame.

Honestly, when these tragedies happen, you hear way more about the criminal than their victims. Wouldn’t it be better to downplay the perpetrator and dedicate the airwaves to the victims for a change?

I realize that there is something in all of us that “wants to know” – we have a natural curiosity and drive to know who, what, when, where and how. But, in cases like this, we must ask ourselves, are we paying much too high a price in our quest for knowledge?

I know I can live without knowing a few details if it means that television will no longer be used as a tool for disturbed delinquents to gratify themselves at the expense of the innocents.

What do you think? I would love to hear your comments, your opinions, and your ideas.

This morning in my prayer time, I asked God to show me what He wanted me to do today. Then a thought came to me, “Does God really care how I spend my time today?”

Afterward, I was doing the dishes and working around the house listening to TBN on television. I finished up and was getting ready to shower. I knew I would not be able to hear the television in the bathroom so I usually schedule my shower around programs that I don’t mind missing. As I grabbed my towel I heard Pastor Robert Morris’s voice and realized The Blessed Life was about to start, so I put off my shower for another half hour and sat down to listen. Robert’s topic was on ‘Hearing God ‘ – how could I pass that up?

After that, I picked up my towel again and headed for the bathroom only to hear the unmistakable music that I knew only too well to be the intro to “Restoring the Shack” with William Paul Young. “Well, what’s another thirty minutes,” I reasoned.

At the end of Paul’s program, I realized exactly what God wanted me to do today (share Robert’s and Paul’s subject matter on my blog). It instantly came to me when Paul said…”Are coincidences really coincidences…or God?” And his subject matter had been about finding God in the details of our lives…more specifically, he asked the question, “Is God interested in/involved in the details of our ordinary, everyday lives?”

There is a verse in the Bible that I’ve always tried live by (but, at the same time, I was not sure how far to take it); here it is in the Amplified Bible version:

Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

I realized that God ‘had’ just intervened in my day – He had impressed on me to listen to Robert and to Paul. And because I acknowledged those promptings as potentially being Him speaking to me and obeyed them, He had made clear His direction for what He wanted me to accomplish today.

As thrilling as that is, it’s not that hard to believe that when we seek Him in kingdom matters that He will answer. But, let’s dig a little deeper.  What about the ordinary?…the ordinary, every day, even carnal things that don’t really amount to a hill of beans where the kingdom is concerned, but matter only to us?

I want to share an encounter with God I had a few years ago that I have never forgotten. I had stopped at CVS on my way home from work. As I reached to open the car door the Holy Spirit began to speak to me. Here is how that conversation between me and the Holy Spirit went:

Holy Spirit: “Wait… turn on the radio.”

Me: I’m thinking, “what…was that You Lord?”

Holy Spirit: …”turn the radio on, they are playing a song by Third Day.”

NOTE: Third Day is my absolute favorite Contemporary Christian group.

Me (nonchalantly): “Yes, I know…Third Day has a new song out and they play it all the time.”

Holy Spirit: “It’s not the new song.”

Me: “OK…(is that really You Lord?)”

Hesitantly, I reached up and turned the radio on.

To my surprise, one of the first Third Day songs that I had ever heard was playing (the very song that had earned them the unchallenged status of becoming my favorite band) – the chilling lyrics of “Show me Your glory” flooded my car as I sat there, open-mouthed and dumbfounded. I had not heard them play that song in years.

Holy Spirit: “See, I told you it was not the new song.”

This was the first and only time that I’ve actually experienced an ongoing conversation with the Holy Spirit. The whole conversation took place in my spirit – no audible voices… only thoughts and counter-thoughts in the quiet recesses of my own heart. But, this encounter was completely abrupt – I had not had any special or exceptional communion with the Lord that day (I had not prayed for hours on end; I had not done anything unusual to warrant such favor)…it was just a day like any other – nothing special… ordinary!

The reason I tell this story is to make the point that God delights to be involved in the details of our lives. What made this day different was that I had not ‘invited’ Him to speak to me (my mind was focused on what I needed to pick up at CVS; It had been a busy day and I had not been particularly attentive to Him).

So, if God will do that, then…’how much more’ willing will He be to speak to us when we ask and invite Him into our ordinary days (even about things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the kingdom)?

Lately, I have been focused on ‘asking and inviting’ Him into everything. Just the other day, I went to Hobby Lobby in an attempt to find a small table that would fit in an odd space in the corner of my bedroom. It had to be specific in size (width and height) and I wanted a particular color of wood.

As I was driving to Kingsport, I prayed for the Lord to bless my efforts. I continued to pray as I wandered around the store –I checked the furniture in the corner of the store and found a few promising options; I checked the furniture in the front of the store which resulted in one potential possibility. As I searched, I continued to pray and tell the Lord what I thought about each one. Finally, it was time to make a decision.

I said, “Lord, I need to make a decision. I have looked at several tables that might work, but I’m not especially impressed with any of them – is there is another option in this store that I have missed?”

I continued, “I know that many times I tend to ‘settle’ for something less than what I really want, but I know that when You bless something, it will be just right.”

Well, just then, I remembered that there is a section toward the back of the store in the center where they also keep a furniture display. I had completely forgotten about that section. I made my way to that area, thinking, “…was that You Lord?”  Then, I saw it… it was exactly the right size (height and width), the right color, and for an added bonus it actually matched in design to another piece of furniture that I had bought there previously. It was perfect…it was God!!!

So, the point of my message is this: If God wants me to hear my favorite song on the radio…if God cares about helping me find just the right corner table, then He cares and wants to be involved and invited into every area of my life.

To press on a little further, if He cares about the little things that don’t matter much in the vast scope of eternity, how much more does He want to lead us and help us find our way through the crooked places, the valleys and the winding paths we face each day in our journey to Him.

On Christmas morning my granddaughter, Annie (Annabel), called our house early. I was in the shower, but when I got out, I could hear her talking to her Papaw on speakerphone. He asked her how her how her day was going. She said, “I’m not feeling too good” (she was disappointed because she could not get her new Nintendo Switch to connect to the Internet). But, what she said next is what I want to focus on – she said, “But I will feel better when I get to see you and Ninnie!”

Oh, how grandchildren can brighten our days – it’s their openness, their readiness to say just what they feel and their childlike unrestraint to offer spontaneous hugs and kisses.

Why can’t we as adults be more like that? What happens between childhood and adulthood that causes us to shut down and become so guarded with our feelings? It is obviously a learned response because from what I’ve observed, most children show their feelings much more easily than we do.

I think that somewhere along the path we get hurt and we learn to bind up our wounds with caution, with restraint, and we become experts at avoiding and taking the risk of being hurt again. So, up go the shields and the walls of protection.

But let’s think about that for a moment…just what are we protecting?

Well, first of all, we don’t want to be hurt again because to put it simply, it’s just not a good feeling…  But, then what happens? The result of closing ourselves off and shutting our feelings down is isolation (and we learn very quickly that this is no fun). Love is risky, but it’s worth the possibility of being hurt once in a while. And the truth is… isolating ourselves does NOT protect us from being hurt – we still hurt, but we endure it alone!

To dig a little deeper, what exactly is it inside of us that gets wounded and hurt? When you really think about it, I believe it is all rooted in one common problem – pride!

The problem is not other people (well sometimes it is, but for the most part I don’t think that people set out to intentionally hurt us). More often than not, if you are anything like me, you assign negative feelings to other people. So many times I have assigned negative thoughts or feelings to someone (believing that they feel or think negatively of me) only to find out later that it was my own insecurity working overtime and I was completely wrong about them. And you may find this surprising, but insecurity is related to pride. I know that sounds strange because it seems the opposite, but pride is simply an over concern and focus on self – and if we weren’t so focused on ourselves we would not feel so insecure.

The Bible says in Proverbs 13:10 “Only by pride cometh contention…”

This verse says that PRIDE is only (or always) the cause of contention and strife. When our pride is wounded we get into strife and hard feelings toward others (it may never be voiced, but this war is certainly going on in our hearts) – and according to Proverbs, pride is always at the root.

We perceive that someone has done us wrong. So now, we are mad at them and they don’t even KNOW it – they are going on happily about their lives…none the wiser and we are locked in a prison of unforgiveness and misery.

If someone has done some obvious harm to you, you should confront them about it, but most of the time, we are simply assigning wrongs inflicted upon ourselves by others.

The first and greatest commandment is that we first love God unconditionally and then that we love one another that way too. Pride gets in the way of that, so pride needs to go.

When we let pride go, then unconditional love can flow. Unconditional love means that WE love them, no matter how they may have slighted us (whether the wrong was real or imagined).

But, how do I do that you ask?

Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good… (You will be surprised how ‘doing good’ to someone will release you from the anger and bitterness.)

Let the wrong go (give it to God – 1 Peter 5:7); trust Him to bring good things into your life (HE is the giver of all good things – James 1:17); then purposefully seek peace and pursue avenues to do good to the person who has wronged you (whether real or imagined). Notice how ALL the verses above tell us that ‘doing good’ overcomes the evil done to us.

And of course, we can do nothing without His help, so PRAY for God to give you unconditional love for that person and to reveal some practical ways to show it.

Lastly, the greatest hindrance to good relationships (besides pride) is a lack of openness!  Let’s all take a lesson from Annie and not be afraid to say, “You make my day!”

God bless you!

I am sure that most people have heard the story about the donkey who was stuck in a well and how he overcame his dilemma in a most interesting way. Whether it is true or not, this story has such a powerful message.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well.

The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it  just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey didn’t realize what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down into the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel ­of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.

He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off..!!!

If we want to be a success at living a happy life, we are going to have to learn what valuable lessons the donkey can teach us. His message is pretty obvious…life is hard and people are not always going to lift us up or see our value and worth. As a matter of fact, they will throw a little dirt on us occasionally – maybe often!

Let me tell you today that you ARE valuable! You are so valuable that God gave His only Son to die in order to save you.

(AMP) Romans 8:32 He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?

One thing that I thought was interesting about this story was the very last line where it says that the donkey happily trotted off. He didn’t walk away from his ordeal sad and feeling downtrodden because the farmer and his neighbors had the nerve to try and do away with him. No, when he shook off the dirt, he also shook off the offense. He might have come out of that well alive, but broken (in his spirit) because of what he had gone through at the hands of others.

Let me encourage you today, to shake off the offenses the world lays at your feet. We cannot help or change what people do. It does absolutely no good to try and reason it out saying, “Why did this happen to me?” We may never know the answer to that question. Trying to figure that out only results in you standing still, letting life pass you by, and allowing more dirt to pile on top of you. Let it go, shake it off, it doesn’t really matter why – the important thing is not to get mired down in self-pity. Don’t let one bad experience (or even a lifetime of them) dictate your worth. God has a great life planned for you! Get up, shake off the world’s dirt, and say, “Here I am Lord, I’ll take it!”

This reminds me of a song by Dolly Parton, “Better get to Livin”! I love this song, it has a great message. You gotta love Dolly!

(I shared a Youtube link after the lyrics so you can listen to it too. ENJOY)

Better Get to Livin’

A girlfriend came to my house
Started cryin’ on my shoulder Sunday evening
She was spinnin’ such a sad tale
I could not believe the yarn that she was weavin’
So negative the words she had to say
I said if I had a violin I’d play.

I said you’d better get to livin’, givin’
Be willing and forgivin’
Cause all healing has to start with you
You better stop whining, pining
Get your dreams in line
And then just shine, design, refine
Until they come true

And you better get to livin’.

Your life’s a wreck, your house is mess
And your wardrobe way outdated
All your plans just keep on falling through
Overweight and underpaid, under appreciated
I’m no guru, but I’ll tell you
This I know is true.

You better get to livin’, givin’
A little more thought about bein’
A little more willin’ to make a better way
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Keep your chin up
Just hang tough
And if it gets too rough
Fall on your knees and pray
And do that every day
Then you’ll get to livin’.

The day we’re born we start to die
Don’t waste one minute of this life
Get to livin’
Share your dreams and share your laughter
Make some points for the great hereafter.

Better start carin’
Better start sharin’
Better start tryin’
Better start smiling
And you better get to livin’…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKeulwZ3sGE

God bless you!

We don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving Day to be thankful. The Amplified Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:20 “At all times and for everything give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus to God the Father.”

Being thankful should be a way of life for us as Christians.

I read a story once about a woman who lived in a third world country. She became very sick and she lived in an area where medical resources were severely lacking. She continued to grow worse and worse until finally she was bedridden and she knew that her illness could easily lead to the worst possible scenario. One day when once again no promise of medical help came, she laid in her bed staring hopelessly out the window. She began to pray, asking the Lord to send the help she needed.

Before long as she watched the white clouds scrolling by, she heard the Lord speak, “Give thanks before you receive!”  That seemed like a strange request to her, but she obeyed the voice she felt certain was the Lord’s.

All that day and throughout most of the night, she laid there thanking God for everything that came to mind. As she began to thank Him, more and more things seemed to come to mind – thanking Him for one thing lead to another and another and a task that she was sure would be a difficult one became effortless and easy.

The next morning, she woke up to the sunshine streaming in her window; without thinking, she jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. She did not even realize what she had done until she went to the sink to wash her face. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she suddenly realized she was no longer sick. As a matter of fact, she felt strong as an ox. She rejoiced in the Lord’s miraculous answer to her prayer.

The day before, she had prayed for the Lord to send her the medical help she needed, and He gave her an assignment, “Give thanks before you receive!”

Would she have received her healing if she had not obliged? Possibly… maybe her prayer would have been answered and medical help would have arrived. But, as she began to thank the Lord for everything she could think of, He answered her prayer supernaturally.

Now, I don’t know if God reacts the same way in every situation. He’s a very creative Father and cannot be confined to our limited imaginations. But, I do know that the assignment is the same in every person’s life – God wants us to be thankful, whether the situation we are in is good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant.

I believe there is much to be gleaned from this story. As we learn to live a life of gratitude (even before we feel that we have anything to be grateful for) God will bless your thankful attitude in ways you cannot imagine. The lady in our story only asked for medical assistance, God brought her complete healing.

Learn the habit of being thankful for everything every day. I believe if you do this, God will send amazing, unimaginable blessings your way!  And the practice of being thankful blesses your heart with joy in ways nothing else can.

If we read on in the Old Testament’s account of the Israelites, we learn that God tried to lead them into the Promised Land. But, they were not allowed in because of their unbelief. Moses had sent twelve spies (one for each tribe of Israel) into Canaan in order to bring back a report about the land and the people who lived there. Here is an excerpt from the conversation in the Israelite camp after the spies returned:

Numbers 13:30-33 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

³¹ But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

³² And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

³³ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

In order for the Israelites to enter the land, they would have to fight for it and take it from the current residents – who were actual giants (the sons of Anak were a people who were much larger in stature than most – for instance, Goliath was a son of Anak). The Israelites were afraid and refused to fight. Below is God’s reaction:

Numbers 14:26-32 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²⁷ How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

²⁸ Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

²⁹ Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.

³⁰ Doubtless, ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

³¹ But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

³² But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.

They never lived the life that God had planned for them because they feared the giants. Notice what they said in Numbers 13:33 – “we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”.

That is a very revealing statement. Not only were they like grasshoppers in the sight of the giants, but, more significantly, they were in their own sight as grasshoppers.

If we are to fulfill the will of God for our lives, it is vital that we have confidence – not as much in ourselves as in God! When we look at ourselves in comparison to our own personal giants (the problems or issues we are struggling to overcome), we may look and feel a lot like a tiny grasshopper. The problem with this point of view is that, as Christians, we should not be comparing ourselves to the giants in our lives; but rather, imagining how minuscule they are in God’s sight. And every time that grasshopper mentality kicks in and your giant comes to torment your mind, imagine yourself AND God fighting together to defeat it. God is on your side…you are not on that battlefield alone. He is standing with you.

We have an enemy who is daily trying to convince us to get discouraged, to live in fear, that life is not worth living, that it’s just no use, that we are no good, that God could never really love us, and on and on – his list of lies is endless.

The place God wanted for His people was called the Promised Land for a reason – it must be taken and conquered through the promises. God had vowed to take the Israelites into the land. If they had only believed His Words, they could have lived the life of abundance that He wanted for them.

The giants did not even have to pick up a spear or sword; they did not defeat the Israelites…their own fears did.

Our emotions are the BEST and the WORST of life. They can be a source of torment when we are listening to Satan, but when we learn to view life with God on our side, our days can be filled with the courage to try the impossible and to conquer the improbable.

Let’s develop a Caleb/Joshua mentality.

Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it (the Promised Land); for we are well able to overcome it.

Numbers 14:6-9 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

⁷ And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

⁸ If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

⁹ Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

Notice how Joshua and Caleb said, “the people of the land are bread for us – their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us.”  They didn’t even call them giants; we need to choose our words carefully in speaking about our problems – don’t magnify them with words, magnify God instead.

What did he mean when he said that the people of the land (the giants) were ‘bread’ for them? What does bread do for our bodies? It nourishes and makes us strong. I think he meant that adversity can be beneficial, because once the swords are sheathed, the spears stashed away and the battle has been won, the lessons learned on the battlefield would prove invaluable. How do we learn for ourselves that God is faithful until we have a problem that only He can help us with? How does our faith grow if it’s never tested?

We will never truly gain confidence and trust in God until we go through the tough times with Him by our side – we will never know how faithful He is until we have been there on the battleground and witnessed firsthand what David said so poignantly, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me…” (Psalm 23:4).

We never learn how present He is until we are presented with a seemingly insurmountable problem. And we will find once the noise of battle is silent and the enemy has retreated that God truly IS faithful. We can then face the next one, and the next with increasingly more trust in Him – this is a confidence that we can never gain without that battlefield experience.

Joshua and Caleb also said, “their defense is departed from them” (Numbers 13:9). We (by faith) have already won before we ever reach the battleground. Satan has already lost. Jesus defeated him for us. Joshua claimed the victory before he fought the fight. Rather than looking at your problems from a grasshopper’s point of view, look at Who is on your side. And He has already won the battle. Let’s claim the victory before (and during) the fight.

In the words of Caleb, let’s go up at once (by faith in God’s Word) and take what has been given to us by Jesus. Satan has no right to keep OUR possession – let’s lay claim to ALL the promises of God (peace, provision, joy, victory, etc.).

Lord, please help us not to see ourselves as grasshoppers, but as groundbreakers and territory takers.

Copyright © 2017 (Sandra J. Briggs) All rights reserved.