The Broken Wheel

I was watching a very interesting program the other day showing the incredible scientific information and photography that has been sent back to earth from the two rovers that we sent to Mars.  The two rovers are named, “Opportunity” and “Spirit”.  There was one segment of the program that especially caught my attention.  The rover named “Spirit” had been doing an incredible job on it’s mission when suddenly one of it’s wheels locked up and refused to roll.  This created quite a consternation at NASA because they were monitoring it’s movement by computers here on earth.  With the broken wheel, “Spirit” could not move as easily as it had been and NASA found it more difficult to move the rover to new areas for research. 

At one point “Spirit” refused to go forward because the broken wheel, which refused to turn, was gathering a thick pile of dirt around the wheel, thus impeding it’s progress.  Frustrated over the ability of “Spirit” to move forward, one of the NASA engineers decided to send a computer message to the rover calling for it to run in reverse, thus freeing it from the pile of dirt which was impeding it’s progress.  As the scientists looked at the photographic images which “Spirit” began sending back to NASA they were amazed to see a color change in the dirt.  As they looked closer at the images in front of them, they saw dirt samples that they were very interested in retrieving.  It appeared that “Spirit’s” broken wheel had unknowingly uncovered chemical properties in the soil beneath the surface that they would never have seen if the wheel were not broken!

Enthusiastically, they sent a signal to “Spirit” to retrieve samples of the soil which it had turned over.  What an amazing discovery had come about–all because of a broken wheel!

You may be going through a time of brokenness today.  Maybe you have been hurt by someone else, or are suffering from mistakes, or failures that you are responsible for.  Maybe your dreams have been shattered and you are trying to make it through some very disappointing circumstantces.  It may seem as if your life is wobbling along on a broken wheel.  You feel discouraged and frustrated.  Don’t give up!  Don’t give in to despair!  Don’t lose hope!  It may be that the broken wheel in your life will lead you to your biggest discovery!  It may be that the broken wheel in your life will bring about the biggest blessing that you have ever experienced!  There is something we are to learn in life when we experience brokenness.  Your life is very valuable.  Your best days are ahead.  Keep the faith!  Stay positive!  Your time of break through is on it’s way!  What may seem impossible with us, is never impossible with God!

God can use everything to accomplish His purposes…even broken lives!  Trust Him to see you through whatever it is you are presently facing.  He is able!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today has been a wonderful day to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with our family.  The weather has been beautiful–56 degrees and mostly sunny!  It has been relaxing as we’ve watched sports, visited with one another, and enjoyed a scrumptuous meal together.  A day like this helps you reflect on the goodness of God and His wonderful love in our lives.  I hope that today has been as meaningful for your family.

We never know what a year will bring, so it’s always good to express our love and appreciation for one another.  Let’s challenge ourselves that Thanksgiving will not be just ONE day for us–but, we will seek to live each day with gratitude in our hearts.  There is so much to be thankful for!  Let’s also remember those who are going through hard times this year–job loss, failing health, financial struggles, loss of a loved one, a difficult divorce.  Holiday times are always happy times for everyone.  Pray for those that you work with, go to school with, or live close by.  You may not be aware of all the things going on in their lives, but God does!  And, He can bring grace and healing and strength to see them through!

Try to bring a smile and a word of encouragement to those you meet this week!

Be Sure To Give Thanks!

I know that this past year has been really tough for a lot of people.  You may be one of them!  I hope that in the next couple of days you will find time to express your gratitude to God for His many blessings, His strength, His mercy, and His goodness in your life.  I think it’s important that we not only “thank” God for the good things that come our way, but also for the difficult things.  You say, “Why should we do that?”  If we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that much of our maturity, character development, and breadth of empathy for others has come through our difficulties and disappointments.  We may not always find it easy to give thanks for the tough times–but we do benefit from them, if we perservere through them with faith and trust.

What do you have to give thanks for this Thanksgiving season? 

Be sure to let those that you love dearly know how thankful you are for them!

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”        Psalm 34:1-3 

Learning From the Palm Tree

When disappointments come in life we must learn to “shake them off”, “get back up on our feet”, and keep moving!  We must not let the troubles and the hardships we face in life pound us into the ground and break our spirit.  It is important that we stay resiliant through life’s storms.  Let me illustrate.  In the last several years we have seen tremendous, devastating storms hit the southern states.  As we watched video footage of the areas that were strongest hit by these hurricanes, we were appalled to see thousands of huge trees uprooted, toppled, and shattered by the fierce winds.  The problem–these trees were not flexible enough to withstand the storms!  Because of their inflexibility, they were shattered and blown away.

Here’s where we can learn a valuable lesson from the palm tree.  God created palm trees in such a way that they bend very easily.  When strong winds come, the palm tree will give in to the wind and bend.  In fact, depending on the strength of the winds, the palm tree may bend almost all the way to the ground.  It is this flexibility that allows it to withstand the storms when they come!  What you and I need to ask ourselves is this, “Is my life flexible enough to withstand the storms, the hardships, and the disappointments that come my way?”  Some people “break”, some may “give up”, and others may “find themselves shattered beyond repair” by the storms that come against them and their inability to deal with them in a positive, confident way. 

God tells us in His Word, Psalm 92:12, “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree…”.  God wants us to be people of faith when life’s storms hit us.  Storms are difficult to go through, especially when we do not know how long they will last.  But, despite how tough times can get, God wants us to survive the storm and come out standing!  This is why I believe God wants to build flexibility into our lives, so that we can have a resiliant spirit and come forth with greater courage, determination, and love in our lives. 

If you’re going through storms right now and your soul is being stretched through tough times, don’t be so inflexible in your spirit that you become broken, or bitter, or negative at everything going on in your life.  No, instead, let God be your strength and let Him bring flexibility to your heart and your attitudes, so that you can withstand the storm and come through victorious in spirit.  This means that we must be open to change.  We must let “old mindsets” go that have prevented us from growing and developing as we should.  We need to pray daily that God will keep our attitudes fresh and positive.  Don’t look back…keep looking forward.  Your best days are ahead!

Detox Your Mind!

I often hear of people who ‘change their diets’ and ‘go through periods of fasting’ in order to detox their bodies from impurities that have built up through the intake of certain foods and beverages.  They believe that this helps cleanse their bodies and makes them healthier.  I am sure that it does.

So, if we will take such measures occasionally to detox our bodies, why not employ similar measures to detox our minds?  I think we would all agree that our minds, from time to time, get a build up of junk within them!  They get filled with ‘bad thoughts’, ‘critical attitudes’, ‘pessimism’, ‘bitter feelings’, ’self-demeaning thoughts’, ’sour feelings about everything’, and ‘negative thinking’.  Sometimes our minds need a mental cleansing!  We need to take measures to detox our mind from stinkin’ thinkin’!

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my mind gets on a roll and a find myself just sinking deeper and deeper into attitudes and feelings that are just “crud” (I think that’s a word)!  If that word doesn’t ring a bell with you, how about “garbage”, “putrid thoughts”, “attitudes that stink”!  Am I being too strong?  How many of us become guilty of constantly dwelling on (and entertaining) thoughts about our mistakes, our failures, who hurt us, disappointments from the past, stupid decisions that we made, on and on….  Why do we dwell on such things?  Do we feel that thinking about these things all of the time will somehow make things better for us?  Or, soothe our hurts?  Or, make our frustrations go away?  I’m afraid they don’t!  They only poison our thinking and create a lot of junk in our mind that needs to go!  Are you with me?

Just as we need to be eating a healthy diet of good foods to keep our bodies healthy and strong, so we need to be filling our minds with thoughts and attitudes that build our confidence, give us a positive outlook on life, and create an optimistic future for us!  When we want to be healthy, we leave ‘junk food’ alone–so why should we allow so much ‘junk food’ into our minds?  Get rid of it!  Detox your mind!  Let God fill your mind with His presence, His strength, His truth, and His blessing.  God says, “I love you, I value you, I believe in you, I have the best for you, I am working in your behalf.”  Don’t get caught up in the negative things that others may be saying about you, or the adverse circumstances that you may be going through right now, or the disappointments that have left you wondering about your future!  God says, “Your best days are ahead!  You are a blessing to others.  Others need what you have to offer.  Others need your gifts and talents, your wisdom and experience.  Trust Me to guide your life!”  You are NOT what other people say you are…you are what God says you are!  Who are you going to agree with, anyway!

Every day we need to be sure that we are feeding our minds faith food!  We need to be nourishing our minds and our hearts on God’s Words, so that our minds will be renewed, cleansed, and fortified with clear, positive, confident thinking!  This means that I must set aside time every day to read the Bible and reflect on it’s meaning for my life.  And, after reflection, make some personal application of that spiritual truth that God showed me in His Word to my everyday life.  Jesus told His followers in John 15:3, “…that they were clean because of the word that He had spoken to them.”  Being in the Word cleanses and renews our mind!

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”     Psalm 1:1-2

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”     Romans 12:2

What steps will you take today to detox your mind?  What ‘junk’ do you need to say NO to?  What attitudes will you say, ‘Goodbye’, to?  What critical and bitter feelings can you ‘let go’ of NOW?  And, what specific measures will you take to make sure that you are daily feeding your mind with faith food?  If we will do these things on a consistent basis, I believe we will see amazing results in our lives!

The Beautiful Rose

There was a famous surgeon who always wore a beautiful rose in the lapel of his coat.  His associates were constantly commenting on how fresh, vibrant, and rich in color these roses were which he would wear every week.  They wondered what was the secret of these roses remaining so fresh and beautiful?  One day the surgeon flipped over his lapel and on the back side there was a small vial of water into which the stem of the rose was inserted.  Every day there was a rich supply of resources that the rose could draw upon to keep it fresh and vibrant!  It was this vial of water which kept the rose looking beautiful, vibrant and rich in color. 

As followers of Jesus Christ, who is the Water of Life, we too can draw from the rich resources that are available to us in Him.  Each and every day we can draw upon the life of Christ within us to give us the strength, wisdom, courage, and faith to meet the demands and challenges we face.  He promised that He would never leave us, or fail us.  With Jesus in our lives, we can stay fresh and beautiful!  Even when things are going crazy all around us, we can have spiritual resources that are refreshing us, and invigorating us with new confidence and faith.  

There may be people around you who will constantly wonder what is the secret to your strength and contentment, your courage and steadfastness.  What a joy it will be to tell them that your life is submerged into Jesus Christ, the Water of Life, who keeps your heart and your mind in perfect peace.  As the apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3:3, “…your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  That’s the secret to staying fresh and beautiful!

Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life (i.e.–have you given Him first place in your life)?  Are you devoted to following Him no matter what?  Are you rooted in the Son of God who can refresh you and give you His power to deal with life’s demands?  Like that beautiful rose in the coat lapel, you too, can stay fresh and vibrant at work, and at home, as you trust Jesus to be your all-in-all.  He will never fail you!  Are you facing difficult struggles today?  Then take a dive….dive into Jesus…and drink deeply of His grace!

Jesus said, “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst–not ever.  The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.  I am the Bread of Life.  The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more.  Whoever believes in Me has real life, eternal life.”    John 4:14, 6:35, 47

Autographing Your Work

Johann Sebastian Bach is considered by many to be the father of most major developments in Western music.  It is said that he approached his work of writing & composing music with great passion.  He worked with great diligence and said that his stated goal and purpose in life “was to compose music for the glory of God and the recreation of the mind.”  Working with the Bible in one hand, and his writing pen in the other, Bach composed thousands of pieces of music many of which are ‘classics’ today.  He said that he wrote “as if God was scrutinizing every word, every note, and every phrase.”  Bach made it a practice to begin his manuscripts with the abbreviation JJ (“Jesus helps”) and ended with the notation SDG–Soli Deo Gloria (“to God alone the glory”).  This was the autograph he placed on his work!  He wanted everyone who viewed his music to realize that he was composing for the glory of God!

How are you autographing your work?  You may not be using initials like Bach did, but you can autograph your work each day with excellence!  When you are striving to be excellent in all you do, you are telling the world a lot about your values, your beliefs, and your heart.  Are you signing your work every day with excellence?  Don’t give in to sloppiness, laziness, or a half-hearted attitude.  Don’t let yourself slip into mediocrity, or ’just enough to get by’.  Your work needs to reflect the BEST that you can give!  We, too, need to do our work each day as if “God is scrutinizing everything that we do”.  This will help bring focus, diligence, creativity, and passion to our work. 

Our work can not only be a testimony to our passion and enthusiasm for what we do–but it can also be a great testimony to our desire to be excellent in all we do, so that God may be glorified in our lives! 

“…do everything heartily and freely for the glory of God.”     1 Corinthians 10:31

The Tale of the Lion and the Mouse

Do you remember The Tale of the Lion and the Mouse?  One day a mouse ran over the head of a lion as he lay sleeping in the jungle.  As the mouse was about to scamper off, the lion slammed his big paw down and caught the mouse by his tail.  As the lion thought about eating the mouse right there, the mouse pleaded for mercy and said to the lion, “Great King, you never know, a day may come when I can help you, if you let me go.”  The lion laughed at such a thought!  “How can you, a little, weak creature ever be of any help to me?”

The lion decided to be gracious and let the mouse go.  Several days after this incident, the lion was roaming through the jungle when there was a loud ‘crack’ and before he knew it he was entangled in a large rope net.  The lion began roaring in anger and disgust at being caught by hunters that had laid a trap for him.  As he roared, the tiny mouse heard his cries and came to his aid.  The mighty lion was unable to free himself from the large, heavy rope net.  As the little mouse looked at the lion, he realized that this was the lion who had let him free several days earlier.

Without hesitation the little mouse began gnawing on the ropes until the mighty lion was free!  The eyes of both momentarily met and then they went their separate ways.  Each had proved to be a friend to the other!  We never know when a good deed done to someone else will come back and be a blessing to us!

Learn to be a friend to others…show kindness and mercy when you can.  You may be “strong” now and feel that you do not need anyone’s help, but the time will come when you’re “weak” and will welcome a friend to come to your aid.  Remember, the Bible says, “You reap what you sow.”  If you sow love, you will receive love in return.  If you sow faith, you will find your faith growing stronger.  If you sow peace, you will find peace in your life.  If you sow anger and bitterness, you will receive heartache and pain in return.  If you are critical of others, you will find others critical of you.  If you are generous with others, you will find others being generous to you.  Are you looking for good friends in your life….then be a good friend to others!

Historic Election!

Two days ago one of the most historic presidential elections took place in America.  Barack Obama, the first African-American to run for the office of President, was elected by a 52% majority.  He has already received many congratulations from leaders all over the world.  Although I personally do not agree with many of his political positions and policies, as a follower of Jesus Christ I will lift him and his administration up in prayer daily.  Our country desparately needs God’s wisdom for these challenging times!