Romans 8:5-8
Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
In the interest of fairness, I will talk about our other cat, Lucy, today. Lucy is a “tuxedo” (black and white) who is pretty much attached to me (while her sister, Mabel, prefers to hang with Greg 99% of the time). To say that Lucy is self-absorbed would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, we love and adore both of our cats – and spoil them rotten! Both are the most vocal cats we have ever known… but “No!” is not in Lucy’s vocabulary! When she wants my attention, she will squawk and squall like she is dying. Or if I am trying to sleep and she wants my attention, she will either paw at me incessantly (front paws declawed, thankfully!) or she will lie down next to me and thump her tail so loudly it echoes in the bed springs!
Granted, Lucy is a cat. And I guess a cat is entitled to be self-centered… it’s kinda their job! But when it comes to our own lives, we are often so much like Lucy – or worse – and God is not pleased. We are either kicking, screaming and insisting that He do something for us… that He give us every one of our heart’s desires (which are not necessarily the same as His desires for us)… or we completely ignore Him and strike out on our own to do things our way. OR… we figure out another way to get what we want. Like Lucy, if God doesn’t answer as quickly as we wish – or in the manner we prefer – we have ways of making our requirements known!
Often, end result is not pretty. We end up miserable, defeated and disappointed… and feeling anything but peaceful. If only we had sense enough to trust God… to seek Him in all things and to desire what He desires. If only we thought of God first…and second… and third…and put our ego on the back burner. We can’t even begin to imagine what God would do for us if we would do this for Him. But as my Mam-ma Polly would say, “I tell you what”… I’m willing to try. Are you?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Proverbs 17:1
Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting—and conflict.
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.
The older I get, the less I like crowds. And I’ll be honest, there a lots of times when I return home from an event or a gathering and collapse into a chair with a heavy sigh of relief that I am back in the quiet and stillness of our home… just me, my husband, and our two cats! A friend posted a quote on Pinterest that essentially said, “I asked God to protect me from my enemies… and I started losing friends.” As I read this scripture verse, I thought about this quote and some of the situations in which I have placed myself over the years… groups where gossip and backbiting was the rule of the day… events where there was a lot of controversial and disingenuous conversation… and “friendships” where really all we did was enable each other in some way – wallowing in grief, misery, self-pity, or negativity.
I knew these relationships robbed me of a feeling of peace. In fact, some of them left me feeling downright lousy afterward. It’s no fun to spend what is supposed to be a festive evening with friends… only to come home feeling depressed and unsettled! It took me longer than it should have to figure out that I needed to bite the bullet and distance myself from some of these people and circumstances… or maybe I finally “let go and let God” – and as He protected me from my “enemies” I lost a few “friends” in the bargain!
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not telling you to start ending relationships with friends or family members who don’t always agree with you or occasionally make you feel uncomfortable in some way. God places difficult people and challenging circumstances in our midst for a reason. But if you feel that your associations and participations in certain circles and/or activities is causing you to continually feel unsettled, maybe you need to ask God to show you if this is something you should rethink. If you are feeling uncomfortable, discouraged, or disgusted more often than you feel a sense of peace, perhaps you need to ask God to show you whether your involvement in a particular activity or relationship is right for you.
Sometimes, in order to find God’s peace, we have to lose whatever is blocking it. This doesn’t mean we can be unkind or unloving toward those who drag us down. This is not a license to criticize other people or activities. But we have to know when to say, “This is not right for me. This is not bringing me a sense of peace.” If we listen to God and truly seek His peace in our lives, He will show us when to step aside. We may have to redefine our relationship with others… or we may have to take an extended breather. And there may be a few activities and acquaintances that have to go… permanently!
If we really want God’s peace, we have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get it. Sometimes that means “dining at home alone” rather than “going out with the crew.” What about you… do you have God’s peace and quiet in your everyday life? Are you ready to do what it takes to get it?
©2013 Debbie Robus
June 16 ~ John 5:5-9
Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
The man answered, “Lord, I don’t have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”
Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Can you imagine being sick or injured for 38 years and doing the exact same thing every day to try to change this… with no success? Many of you have not even been on this earth for 38 years, so this is probably beyond comprehension to you! And even for those of us who have lived beyond this time frame, the concept is daunting!
I’ve seen several commentaries on this passage. Some suggest that the man could surely have found some way to roll over into the pool in the course of almost four decades. They maintain that he managed to get there every day, so he could surely have fought and clawed his way to the front of the line!
I like the analogy given by Rev. Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, in her book… Just Give Me Jesus. Lotz suggests that the man made peace with being a cripple. She further maintains that much of the time, we are just like that man! We grow complacent… tired… frustrated… and we settle for our life as it is. We make peace with our sins. We realize that we don’t honor God with our whole heart… we don’t really trust Him to handle our worries and cares… we don’t fully serve God in everything and represent Him to the best of our abilities in our everyday living. And we become okay with this.
We have a ton of excuses… we’re too tired, too busy, too sick. There was that time when we felt God really let us down because things didn’t go as we had planned. He allowed a loved one to die… we lost our job/home/health/family. Somebody said something to us that really hurt our feelings. We just didn’t have the talent or the energy for whatever God called us to do… and we felt justified in doing nothing. An old habit was too hard to kick… we liked our old friends and unruly lifestyle. We were “good enough”… and we settled.
Lotz maintains that what we and the man at the pool of Bethesda lack is right in front of us… and His name is Jesus. All we have to do is call on Him… wholeheartedly trust Him… and He will give us whatever we lack. He’ll push us over into the pool – and we will be healed. Jesus will give us the courage to do what we thought was impossible… to face the insurmountable tasks and challenges… to change who and what we have become. Jesus will give us a peace like we only dreamed of experiencing…a satisfaction, security, and contentment we would never have believed was achievable. And He is ready to start today.
We have a choice. We can lie down with the man beside the pool and remain stuck there. We can make peace with our sins… or we can choose Jesus. We can live more fully than we ever imagined… with more joy, confidence and serenity than we ever envisioned… or we can wallow and wait for someone to move aside and make room – or to push us over into the “pool.” Neither of these is likely to happen. So what are you waiting for? Aren’t you ready to make peace with Jesus instead of your sins? Will this be the day that you “pick up your mat and walk?”
©2013 Debbie Robus
In the interest of fairness, I will talk about our other cat, Lucy, today. Lucy is a “tuxedo” (black and white) who is pretty much attached to me (while her sister, Mabel, prefers to hang with Greg 99% of the time). To say that Lucy is self-absorbed would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, we love and adore both of our cats – and spoil them rotten! Both are the most vocal cats we have ever known… but “No!” is not in Lucy’s vocabulary! When she wants my attention, she will squawk and squall like she is dying. Or if I am trying to sleep and she wants my attention, she will either paw at me incessantly (front paws declawed, thankfully!) or she will lie down next to me and thump her tail so loudly it echoes in the bed springs!
