John 1:8
God sent John the Baptist as a witness to
the fact that Jesus Christ is the true Light. John himself was not the
Light; he was only a witness to identify it.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
I
saw a meme online that said, “I am not a control freak…but can I show
you the right way to do that?” This pretty much sums up some of us and
our Christian discipleship. We are not Jesus…but we pretend that we are
anyway! Let us tell you how things should be…let us decide what is
right and wrong in every situation – and declare it loudly.
Let
us tell you how you ought to act and what you should believe. And
while we are at it…allow us to ride in on our white horse and save your
day! While you are at it, be sure to remind us how wonderful we are…how
wise and “spiritual” we are…how we must have a direct line to God,
because we are just.that.good!
Here’s the thing…John the Baptist
was “all that and a bag of chips” in the world of Christian
discipleship. And yet, he was humble…honorable…and respectful of his
position. John the Baptist was not Jesus…and he not only knew this – he
made it abundantly clear to others. John even tried to refuse to
baptize Jesus, because he knew that He was unworthy of such an
experience.
John the Baptist knew his place as a Christian disciple. He knew the blessings and glory of serving
Jesus…and he also knew that the spotlight was never to be on him. I am
afraid in too many areas of our own lives, we have put ourselves on
pedestals. We have declared that WE can fix things…that OUR opinions
are the ones that matter…that we are so far superior to the other guy in
every way that matters – and a few that don’t. And we have pretty well
obliterated our Christian witness in the process.
Make this the
day that you humbly return to center…that you shift your focus away from
yourself - and onto Jesus. Do whatever it takes to get back into
perfect alignment with God and find your rightful place as Christ’s
disciple. Identify His light…and allow it to shine brightly for the
world to see.
Recognize that of all the things that you may control, the Light of Christ is not one of them. Step aside and truly serve.
Let others see Christ's glory…not yours…so that they might receive His
precious gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit for themselves. Never
ever say or do anything that might be a hindrance to God’s Kingdom. The
time to begin is now. Are you ready to relinquish control?
©2016 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label giving God room to work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giving God room to work. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for May 10, 2013
2 Peter 1:5-9
Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
On a recent episode of “Duck Dynasty,” the Robertson family discovered that Uncle Si was having vision problems. One of the daughters-in-law set out to drive him to the eye doctor, but Si couldn’t read the road signs to get there. He grew impatient and said, “Let’s just go home.” Jessica Robertson took matters into her own hands and drove Uncle Si to her eye doctor’s clinic, where the doctor declared Si “legally blind.” One new set of corrective lenses later, Si’s vision was restored, and “all was well, Jack!” (This is a show reference, for those of you who don’t watch!)
We all know that there are a lot of things we cannot do – or do well – when our vision is impaired. And like Si Robertson, many of us are impatient and don’t want to work through whatever efforts are necessary to make improvements. We don’t want to take the time to go see an optometrist and get our eyes checked… we don’t want to wait on new eyeglasses to be made… and like Si, we certainly do not want to undergo corrective laser surgery! When we encounter roadblocks or challenges in our Spiritual life, many of us are just like Si… ready to call it a day and go to the house.
If we will practice these exercises to improve our faith… goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love… we will be amazed at how much we grow – and how much more frequently God seems to show up in our lives. It may seem that He is putting obstacles in our way… road signs we cannot read and more – and even a little corrective “surgery” once in a while. God may very well be testing us and tossing challenges our way to see what we are made of – and to show us just how strong we are when we depend completely upon Him! But if we will stay patient and diligent… if we will hang in there and trust Him, we will have victory. God has promised to restore to us anything that is “taken” from us 100 times over (Mark 10:30)… so why are we so afraid and impatient when He brings us “bumps in the road?”
Spiritually speaking, most of us need new glasses! We need to do whatever is necessary to restore our vision – and our faith. We need to exercise more of the qualities outlined in this passage… and to wait on the LORD and trust Him in all things. I know I have a lot of work to do on to grow and improve my faith… what about you? Let’s start working on improving our “Spiritual vision.” Let’s give God room – and His time – to work in our lives. Let’s remember how He has forgiven our sins and sacrificed everything for rotten, blind, impatient, unloving, ungrateful souls such as we often are. Let’s show God - and others - just how useful and meaningful He has made our lives. Are you with me?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
On a recent episode of “Duck Dynasty,” the Robertson family discovered that Uncle Si was having vision problems. One of the daughters-in-law set out to drive him to the eye doctor, but Si couldn’t read the road signs to get there. He grew impatient and said, “Let’s just go home.” Jessica Robertson took matters into her own hands and drove Uncle Si to her eye doctor’s clinic, where the doctor declared Si “legally blind.” One new set of corrective lenses later, Si’s vision was restored, and “all was well, Jack!” (This is a show reference, for those of you who don’t watch!)
We all know that there are a lot of things we cannot do – or do well – when our vision is impaired. And like Si Robertson, many of us are impatient and don’t want to work through whatever efforts are necessary to make improvements. We don’t want to take the time to go see an optometrist and get our eyes checked… we don’t want to wait on new eyeglasses to be made… and like Si, we certainly do not want to undergo corrective laser surgery! When we encounter roadblocks or challenges in our Spiritual life, many of us are just like Si… ready to call it a day and go to the house.
If we will practice these exercises to improve our faith… goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love… we will be amazed at how much we grow – and how much more frequently God seems to show up in our lives. It may seem that He is putting obstacles in our way… road signs we cannot read and more – and even a little corrective “surgery” once in a while. God may very well be testing us and tossing challenges our way to see what we are made of – and to show us just how strong we are when we depend completely upon Him! But if we will stay patient and diligent… if we will hang in there and trust Him, we will have victory. God has promised to restore to us anything that is “taken” from us 100 times over (Mark 10:30)… so why are we so afraid and impatient when He brings us “bumps in the road?”
Spiritually speaking, most of us need new glasses! We need to do whatever is necessary to restore our vision – and our faith. We need to exercise more of the qualities outlined in this passage… and to wait on the LORD and trust Him in all things. I know I have a lot of work to do on to grow and improve my faith… what about you? Let’s start working on improving our “Spiritual vision.” Let’s give God room – and His time – to work in our lives. Let’s remember how He has forgiven our sins and sacrificed everything for rotten, blind, impatient, unloving, ungrateful souls such as we often are. Let’s show God - and others - just how useful and meaningful He has made our lives. Are you with me?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for April 19, 2013
John 5:1-9
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
I did my weekly shopping today, and as I put away the groceries, toiletries, and household cleaners, I collected the plastic bags and set them aside for recycling. I had purchased some fabric and a spool of thread, and when I got everything put away, the thread was nowhere to be found. I knew that I had gotten home with it. I was pretty sure I had seen it in one of the grocery sacks, and a check of the receipt said that I had purchased and paid for a spool of thread. So I went to the closet to look through some items still in the bags… perhaps it fell to the bottom of one of these sacks. I checked all four bags… three times! I looked at least that many times in my laundry/sewing room. (I’ll admit… it would be easy to lose something there!)
I considered checking the emptied shopping bags, but I was pretty sure that the thread wasn’t there. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to spend the time to go back through each of those plastic bags. But I finally realized that I needed to do this… and sure enough – the thread was in one of them. There is an old adage that says that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” I thought of this as I went through the bags in the closet for the third time! And I thought of this adage as I read today’s scripture verses.
Until a few years ago, I had studied this passage and thought, “How wonderful that Jesus healed this poor man who could not get to the pool to be healed.” Then I heard someone point out that the man had lain virtually right beside the pool for THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS! Surely to goodness in that length of time, he could have persuaded someone to push him over into the healing waters! Since I wasn’t there to see exactly how close he lay, I will not judge this man any further. But it appears that Jesus offered him amazing grace and mercy in healing him… that his excuse was fairly weak…that perhaps he was content to wallow in self-pity rather than make the effort to become well.
Don’t we all do this much of the time? Don’t we often find it more comfortable to stay where we are and dredge up excuses or blame someone or something else for our troubles? Call it laziness, self-pity, ignorance, or just plain lack of ambition or desire to do better – or even a lack of faith… we all “lie by the pool” from time to time rather than make the effort to roll on over, fall in, and make a change! That Jesus pulls many of us up by the bootstraps and takes care of us anyway is astounding and incredible to me! For the life of me, the only way I can explain it is that He loves us far more than we can comprehend… and much more than we will ever deserve.
So where are you “going in circles” these days? Where are you repeating the same things… and hoping for different results? Where have you made excuses, rather than get up and get going? Let’s face it… if you haven’t “fallen in the pool” under your own power by now – and nobody’s pushed you in – it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s not happening anytime soon. Where do you need to implement this challenge in your own life? Where do you need to call on Jesus to heal you and set you on a new course? Isn’t it time you trusted Him, picked up your mat and began walking? Or are you content to lie at the water’s edge and make excuses?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
I did my weekly shopping today, and as I put away the groceries, toiletries, and household cleaners, I collected the plastic bags and set them aside for recycling. I had purchased some fabric and a spool of thread, and when I got everything put away, the thread was nowhere to be found. I knew that I had gotten home with it. I was pretty sure I had seen it in one of the grocery sacks, and a check of the receipt said that I had purchased and paid for a spool of thread. So I went to the closet to look through some items still in the bags… perhaps it fell to the bottom of one of these sacks. I checked all four bags… three times! I looked at least that many times in my laundry/sewing room. (I’ll admit… it would be easy to lose something there!)
I considered checking the emptied shopping bags, but I was pretty sure that the thread wasn’t there. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to spend the time to go back through each of those plastic bags. But I finally realized that I needed to do this… and sure enough – the thread was in one of them. There is an old adage that says that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” I thought of this as I went through the bags in the closet for the third time! And I thought of this adage as I read today’s scripture verses.
Until a few years ago, I had studied this passage and thought, “How wonderful that Jesus healed this poor man who could not get to the pool to be healed.” Then I heard someone point out that the man had lain virtually right beside the pool for THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS! Surely to goodness in that length of time, he could have persuaded someone to push him over into the healing waters! Since I wasn’t there to see exactly how close he lay, I will not judge this man any further. But it appears that Jesus offered him amazing grace and mercy in healing him… that his excuse was fairly weak…that perhaps he was content to wallow in self-pity rather than make the effort to become well.
Don’t we all do this much of the time? Don’t we often find it more comfortable to stay where we are and dredge up excuses or blame someone or something else for our troubles? Call it laziness, self-pity, ignorance, or just plain lack of ambition or desire to do better – or even a lack of faith… we all “lie by the pool” from time to time rather than make the effort to roll on over, fall in, and make a change! That Jesus pulls many of us up by the bootstraps and takes care of us anyway is astounding and incredible to me! For the life of me, the only way I can explain it is that He loves us far more than we can comprehend… and much more than we will ever deserve.
So where are you “going in circles” these days? Where are you repeating the same things… and hoping for different results? Where have you made excuses, rather than get up and get going? Let’s face it… if you haven’t “fallen in the pool” under your own power by now – and nobody’s pushed you in – it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s not happening anytime soon. Where do you need to implement this challenge in your own life? Where do you need to call on Jesus to heal you and set you on a new course? Isn’t it time you trusted Him, picked up your mat and began walking? Or are you content to lie at the water’s edge and make excuses?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for April 7, 2013
April 7 ~ 2 Peter 3:9The Lord isn’t slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Learning to wait is one of the hardest lessons for small children. And as adults, we often succumb to their whims. Our excuses seem plausible and justified… “It’s just not worth the hassle”…”It’s only this one time”…”I pick and choose my battles.” In truth, we are not any more patient than the child. We are not willing to withstand a few minutes of a meltdown from an overly tired child in order to avoid spoiling his/her dinner with cookies or candy. We let them open gifts early… then end up breaking the budget to buy something else for them to open on Christmas Day, at the birthday party, or for whatever occasion is being celebrated. We tell them they have to clean their room, sit quietly, or perform other tasks in order to receive a “reward”… then we quickly fold and say, “Okay, that’s good enough… you can have it now.”
So is it any wonder that we turn around and expect our Heavenly Father to treat us like we treat our little ones? After all, isn’t that what we think “good parents” do? Aren’t we often more worried about whether our children – or our friends, family members, co-workers – like us than whether we are doing the right thing?
This scripture reminds all of us that God’s ways are not our ways… but His ways are perfect – and so is His timing! So when we want to rush in and orchestrate things to suit our needs and desires, we need to stop and take a look at the bigger picture. We may beg and plead with God for this result or that one. We may push and prod someone to do something we want them to do. And all the while, God may be working things out in a subtle - yet more effective – manner… and we may be totally screwing up the works!
The time has come to give God room to operate. We need to grow up and learn to close our mouths and sit on our hands in many instances. We must ask God to lead us… to work on our behalf… to show us how to proceed. And then we need to be patient and give Him space… to trust His timing… to watch and learn from the Master.
Believe me, I know this is hard. I am a “jump-in-and-do” person… a “fixer.” As a result – I make some pretty big messes of things! I don’t know very many truly patient people. But I know that God can help more of us to develop this trait – if only we will call on Him and trust Him for the outcomes. God has amazing, incredible, perfect plans for all of us. He needs our patience and our help in making them happen… not our excuses for jumping the gun. Are you willing to take a step back and wait on the LORD? He is so patient with us… will you be patient with Him?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Learning to wait is one of the hardest lessons for small children. And as adults, we often succumb to their whims. Our excuses seem plausible and justified… “It’s just not worth the hassle”…”It’s only this one time”…”I pick and choose my battles.” In truth, we are not any more patient than the child. We are not willing to withstand a few minutes of a meltdown from an overly tired child in order to avoid spoiling his/her dinner with cookies or candy. We let them open gifts early… then end up breaking the budget to buy something else for them to open on Christmas Day, at the birthday party, or for whatever occasion is being celebrated. We tell them they have to clean their room, sit quietly, or perform other tasks in order to receive a “reward”… then we quickly fold and say, “Okay, that’s good enough… you can have it now.”
So is it any wonder that we turn around and expect our Heavenly Father to treat us like we treat our little ones? After all, isn’t that what we think “good parents” do? Aren’t we often more worried about whether our children – or our friends, family members, co-workers – like us than whether we are doing the right thing?
This scripture reminds all of us that God’s ways are not our ways… but His ways are perfect – and so is His timing! So when we want to rush in and orchestrate things to suit our needs and desires, we need to stop and take a look at the bigger picture. We may beg and plead with God for this result or that one. We may push and prod someone to do something we want them to do. And all the while, God may be working things out in a subtle - yet more effective – manner… and we may be totally screwing up the works!
The time has come to give God room to operate. We need to grow up and learn to close our mouths and sit on our hands in many instances. We must ask God to lead us… to work on our behalf… to show us how to proceed. And then we need to be patient and give Him space… to trust His timing… to watch and learn from the Master.
Believe me, I know this is hard. I am a “jump-in-and-do” person… a “fixer.” As a result – I make some pretty big messes of things! I don’t know very many truly patient people. But I know that God can help more of us to develop this trait – if only we will call on Him and trust Him for the outcomes. God has amazing, incredible, perfect plans for all of us. He needs our patience and our help in making them happen… not our excuses for jumping the gun. Are you willing to take a step back and wait on the LORD? He is so patient with us… will you be patient with Him?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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