Who Do You Cry To?

Hosea 7:14a "They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds."

Wow, I was reading from Hosea this morning and I stopped when I read this verse. Listen to what it says. I will paraphrase…
When I am crying out in pain or confusion or suffering…I sometimes do not even cry to the right source. God is accusing Israel of wailing upon their bed because of their captivity, but they do not cry out to him from their hearts.
What a revealing statement! You know what you turn to first and it is not always your heavenly Father.
The prophets call this what it is…idols! Israel turned to idols that they had made to solve their worries. Idols are what you worship. My first response to a problem that causes me to “wail” is often to turn to others or mind numbing entertainment or shopping or whatever. Those are my idols.
Think of the last time you were going through a bad time in your life. Maybe it involved finances, a broken relationship, health issues, you name it. To "wail upon our bed" could be a literal wailing or just experiencing a pain with no hope, no end in sight. God is asking us "How long will you wait until you cry out from your heart to me?" How long will it take for us to completely turn to the one who has the solution?
When we pray to God, do we think of him as human, like us? We need to realize, deep in our being, that we are asking help from someone who is NOTHING like us. Can't you just imagine that God is watching us with utter amazement, thinking "Why are you turning to some wooden idol to solve your problem, when you could be turning to me?"
Notice that he said to cry from our hearts and not our mind. Our minds may rationalize that just because we can't see a solution in sight, it must be hopeless. Learn to pray for the unseen, not the seen. Our minds can't grasp the unseen...a heart that trusts in a mighty God can see the future through his eyes. He will keep us in that perfect peace if our heart is stayed on him.

Third Alternative Thinking

I  am not sure who coined the phrase "third alternative thinking." I want to explain what it means, if case you have never heard of it before. It is a very powerful concept.
I am going to explain it using dieting terms because that is the way I am most familiar. If you don't like the size that you are, you have one choice. You can eat less calories and exercise more. You will either choose this alternative and be successful or you will not change a thing and not lose weight. Only two alternatives exist...change your habits and lose weight or don't change a thing and do not lose weight. Some people decide that there is a "third alternative." They can eat the same way and lose weight. This possibility DOES NOT EXIST. However, people pretend that it does.
I tell my students the same thing. If you want to improve your grades, you must make changes in your study habits. If you do not want to change, your grade will not change. Many of my students want to improve their grades, but they do not want to study more. That is third alternative thinking, which does not exist. The only two alternatives are to change your study habits(and your grade will improve) or do not change a thing(and your grade will not improve).
Do you find yourself using "third alternative thinking" sometimes? I do it all the time. I want to lose 10 pounds but I eat a slice of Friendship Bread. I say,"Oh,it won't matter." I want to save money but I buy some new clothes. I rationalize that I will just save next month. This is third alternative thinking. Unless I actively change a behaviour, nothing will change.
The dangerous thing is that we apply this principal to our spiritual life. We want to be closer to the LORD, but we do not want to make any changes. We want to become prayer warriors, but we don't really want to spend any more time in prayer. We want to know what God is like, but we don't want to get up early and spend time reading the Bible. We want to live abundant, changed, joy filled lives...but we do not want to trust God with all of our trials. We want to conquer areas of sin in our lives, but we do not want to wake up everyday and put on the "full armour" of God. What are we thinking? We have got to quit living in la-la land. We need to confront what we are doing. There is no third alternative.
So choose ...is it the easy way that cost us nothing and we gain nothing or the more difficult way that cost us something?
Jesus puts it plainly, "Deny yourself or don't claim to be following after me!" Choose life or choose death. Choose trust or choose fear. Choose to lose your life and gain the whole world or gain the whole world and lose your life. Quit making up third options that do not exist.
Keep this in mind...the painful, difficult, risky options are not chosen very much because the reward comes much later. I can't see it right away. It is not instant. When I choose eat a brownie, I get an instant reward. The painful consequence does not hit me until later when I check the scales to see if I lost a pound. If I decide not to eat the brownie, I get the painful consequence immediately. The reward will be much later.
Same with the Christian walk. If I choose to wake up early and spend time in God's word, I will suffer at that time by being very sleepy. But over time, I will get the beautiful reward of really knowing who God is. Payday is slower when you make the right choice. But the rewards are out of this world!

A Sweet Story

I hope everyone loves a sweet story. I want to tell you about my mother-in-law, Betty. She was widowed at about age 50. I had seen Mark's father a couple of times before he died of a sudden heart attack. We were dating at the time and not engaged yet. Most of my married life, Mark's mom was a widow.
Almost 11 years ago, she attended her 50th high school reunion. A high school friend, named O.W. Miller, was also attending. You may be interested in the fact that O.W. had asked Betty to her high school prom but she had already accepted a date. Both had gone their separate ways. O.W.had been a widower for many years following the death of his wife.
Well, O.W. drove three hours to see Betty following that reunion. At the time, she had a male salesman at her home. O.W. mistakenly thought the salesman was a current boyfriend. He turned around and drove home without stopping to see Betty.
Fast forward to the 51st high school reunion the following year. Betty made it clear that she was NOT dating anyone. She and O.W. began calling each other nightly and talking for hours. O.W. would take Betty to Mississippi State baseball games. My mother-in-law going to a college baseball game???
After a whirlwind courtship, they were married. They have recently celebrated their 10th anniversary. Last weekend, we drove to Memphis to help celebrate Betty's 80th birthday. I am including a few pictures from that precious event. Betty is recovering from a year of chemotherapy and radiation after being diagnosed with breast cancer. God is so good and His plans can make you smile!
This is a picture of Mark and I, my sons, their wives and Betty.

Mark and I, standing with Betty.

President Bush and Luara Bush sent her a birthday card!

Some of O.W.'s family and most of Betty's family were able to attend.

What Do I Boast In?

In Jeremiah 9:23-24, it dismantles some popular thinking about where to find our value. "The LORD says: Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might,nor the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone. That they truly know me, and understand that I am the LORD of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way." Just sit in a group of people telling stories and you will quickly observe that everyone wants to boast about something. Even though I talk a lot in a group setting, I am by far the quietest one in my school lunch group. I eat lunch with a group of people that love to tell stories about their lives and try to "better" every one's story. I love these folks but they definitely can top my story any day.
What is interesting is what we all tend to boast in. I am thinking that God carefully chose his examples. This passage specifically mentioned wisdom, might and riches. The world highly values wisdom, might and riches! The world does not value the thoughts of a child(not wise enough), a weak person or a poor person. These categories of people need to depend on others. They are considered needy. They need someone to take care of them. Get the picture? I think I understand why God is pleading with the rich, wise or mighty people to not consider that something to find their value in. Those are the very things that cause them to not depend on Him.
So what does God want me to boast in? "That they truly know me." I have mentioned this so many times in my blog but it bears repeating. You can never truly know God without spending hours in His word. There is no substitute. You do not truly know God through hearsay or listening to a pastor or listening to your parents talk about God. If you are not disciplining yourself to spend time in the word, you are vulnerable to Satan's attacks. You will not know when he is lying to you.You will not know how mighty to save that our God is. God says boast or find value that "you truly know him."
Jeremiah also states that we need to "understand that I am the LORD of justice and righteousness." Sit on that fact for a minute. The world thinks erroneously that God will send everyone to heaven. In the newspaper a few days ago, I read an article concerning evangelical Christians, The author was pleased to report that many Christians now believe that they are not the only ones going to heaven.Trusting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is no longer the way,the truth and the light, according to the writer.
But God is not that way. God brings judgement on sin with an iron fist. When you read the Bible from cover to cover,your perception of God as non-judgemental will be shattered. Society preaches to our kids to be accepting of all sin and all beliefs. God is not like that at all. He brings judgement! However, remember he is the all-knowing judge who judges with fairness. He loves righteousness. We must know this about God. He does not ignore sin. He loves when I do the right thing and make right decisions.
The best is last..."his love is steadfast and he loves to be that way!" I cannot think of a thing to add. That is something to boast in...that God loves to be loving towards me.

What Do You Boast In?

I believe that we all have something about ourselves that we "boast" in. If we do not, then we are desperately searching for that item. It is human nature to cling to the one area that we can truly "boast" about. Child psychologists strongly recommend that you get your child involved in things that they can be confident about. This will help them weather the adolescent years when their self esteem is under fierce attack.
We say to ourselves, "I am not as beautiful as I would like to be, but at least I am athletic or smart or rich, etc." Human nature seems to compel us to find our value by what we have to offer to society. We place greater value on those who have more to offer. Is this wrong?
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, "The LORD says: Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, not the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: That they truly know me, and understand that I am the Lord of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way." God always surprises us with His perspective. That is why, deep down, I always say, "If the world thinks this way, God thinks the opposite."
This is hard to take. When we spend our whole lives carefully building our self-esteem to the point where we finally feel good about ourselves 99% of the time...and God throws a curve ball. I hate that sometimes. I like to get my life together and feel good about it for the next ten or twenty years. I want to boast about myself. It took a lot of work to find something to boast about. I do not naturally have anything that the world would look at and admire...no beauty, riches, power, etc.
But there is good news. In fact, it is fantastic news! When God dismantles a false idea, he replaces it with an out-of-this world truth. I do NOT have to find my value in beauty or riches or the world's wisdom! What a relief! Probably not good news for the beauty queens or Bill Gates. That concept would not resonate very well with them if you told them this nugget of truth. But truth is truth. You can't change it just because you don't agree with it.
So why is this so exciting? Because there is something very precious to boast about. Everyone can boast about it...not just a select few. Verse 24 says, "Let them boast in me alone!" God is enough to boast about! Again, you must look at this with spiritual eyes and not the deceiving colored glasses of society. Picture a rich and powerful man who does not know the LORD. Next to him place a financially struggling young man who has decided that Jesus Christ alone is LORD of his life and is passionate in his pursuit of him. Society will find no value in the poor man, but will quote the rich man and will desire to know his "secrets to success." But who has actually has something to boast about? The man who has access to the creator of the universe! He can "walk boldly before the throne of grace" anytime he wants. God has invited him to "ask for wisdom" anytime he needs it. God has reminded the poor man that he owns the "cattle on a thousand hills." I would rather be hooked up with the poor man anyday. He has more to boast about.
I haven't done a cliff-hanger in a few weeks. My next blog will continue with the way to find our value.

Ode to My Daughter-in-Laws

I was reading Proverbs 31 the other day for the millionth time. Usually I try to squeeze out any little morsel of wisdom that I want to apply to my life. However, this time, I read it through different eyes. I thought about my sweet daughter-in-laws and was amazed at the resemblance.
Mark and I prayed for godly wives for our sons for years! By the way, we also asked for our sons to be in love with the Bible and live by its wisdom as if their life depended on it. We cared more about their hearts than we cared about their grades, their athletic successes, their popularity, etc. God answered a huge prayer request. Both of our sons got married this past year!
I want to devote a blog to telling you about the precious girls that they married.
Luke is married to Cherish.


Ben is married to Lynn.

Are they adorable or what?

Proverbs 31 says that if "you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems." Both of our sons found a truly good wife.

"Her husband can trust her and she will richly satisfy his needs."
Wow! Ben and Luke trust their wives and know that they will be faithful to them and will delight them through the years with their adorable personalities.

"She will not hinder him, but will help him all of her life." Understatement!!! Lynn and Cherish are more devoted to my sons'success than they are their own.

"She buys wool and flax and busily spins it." I realize that they do not buy much wool or flax, but I love the way these amazing women have taken care of their homes and made it a nice place to come home to.

"She is energetic and a hard worker." Both Lynn and Cherish work 40 hours a week, are very active in their ministries at church and manage to cook, do laundry and keep their home clean. Wow!

"She sews for the poor and generously helps those in need." Lynn was recently involved in The Houston Project. She went out every night for a week and shared the gospel to those in need. Read all about it on her blog. Cherish provided peanut butter cookies and drinks to the men who stand on Cooper Street waiting on a daily job. Both of these godly women have a compassionate heart for the poor.They live it on a daily basis.

"She is a woman of strength and dignity." I love the way my sweet daughter-in-laws dress and conduct themselves with dignity. They have an inner strength that comes from the LORD.

"When she speaks, her words are wise and kindness is the rule for everything she says." I love to hear what Lynn and Cherish have to say. Because they study the Bible on a daily basis, they speak truth and wisdom. I know that there are many girls that would not pass the next test...being kind. Girls can be downright mean at times. I have NEVER heard Lynn or Cherish gossip or make hateful comments about others. People that know them would characterize them as incredibly sweet natured.

"Her children stand and bless her and so does her husband, He praises her with these words.There are many fine women in the world, but you are the best of them all."
I am anxious to say that my future grandchildren will stand and bless their moms! However, I know that my sons feel that they have been given a gift from God.
Their In-laws think that they are beautiful, clever, and wise beyond their years. They have brought joy and happiness to our sons. I am so thankful that God wisely chose these girls to marry our sons.

Empty Stables

I have always loved this verse from Proverbs 14. "An empty stable stays clean...but there is no income from an empty stable." It is such a simple concept and yet it speaks to each of us in different ways.
For example, my empty stable could be my home. I have always thought that God is interested in the place that we chose to live. We prayed much over the choice of buying a home when we moved to Texas and know that this particular house was the right choice for us. We have made many changes but one thing has not changed, it is a home for God's use and not ours. If we did not open our home to guests, our carpet would not be stained, our furniture would not sag in the middle, and there would be no scratches on our wood floor. In other words, our empty stable would be clean. But we would miss the harvest that follows. We would miss the opportunity to invest. The whole point of a stable is to provide housing for animals. The whole point of our possessions is to provide things that God can use. How foolish to long for an empty, clean stable that no one has "messed up" or "used up."
For some folks the empty stable could be our calendar. It is a thrill to see more free time in our busy lives. I am not saying that we do not need a time to relax and replenish. I am saying that it is tempting to look at a calendar and want to hoard the time for our own pursuits...our own amusements.
I heard a speaker say that we need to invest our days and not spend our days. I am guilty of spending my day recklessly and not investing my day into things that will count for eternity. Our churches are filled with people that spend their time on themselves and do not invest their time in service. The empty stable to them is a clean calendar, but when there is no messy acts of service(and service does get messy) there is also no eternal rewards. The point of our time is investing in eternal things and not an empty calendar to spend on our time on ourselves. "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."
The saddest empty stable is the empty heart. Many people do not take the risk of giving away our heart. It seems safer to keep our distance. We throw ourselves into our jobs, our recreation, or our next meal. We go to great lengths to shield ourselves from pain. But an empty heart yields no income. I realize that getting my heart filled up will be messy and scary. But the income will be worth the mess that is created.
The next time you are tempted to take the safe way of an empty stable, reconsider. An empty stable yields no income, no rewards.