Day 23 – Boomerang Words

Matthew 7:1 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults – unless, of course, you want the same treatment. 2 That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.

It’s just so easy to do. Without much effort, before you know just what you’re doing, you find yourself having a good laugh at the expense of someone else. I try to call it by different names. Truth is, it’s critical. I remember when it sank in just how messed up I was. In that moment, I understood… there is none righteous, no not one. I experienced a season of false accusation. Every time I turned around someone else was accusing me of some ridiculous thing, misjudging me and assuming the worst of me. I was hurt and confused. When that boomerang hit, it almost took me out. Be careful what words you throw out. They’ll be back.

Day 22 – Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Matthew 6:25 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.

6:30 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers – most of which are never even seen – don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

Years ago I read the book, Lilies of the Field, before I even knew there was a movie based on it. That book was my first exposure to this scripture, and even as a kid, I was immediately changed. All of a sudden, the fact that God cared about my circumstances became clear. He knew I didn’t have brand-name clothes. He knew it bothered me only because I got teased sometimes. And He cared!

And His call to me? Don’t worry! He takes care of all his creations, down to each individual flower that grows. He took the time to make such a wide variety of them, to add beauty to them, and to provide them with exactly what they need to grow. A little sunshine, a little rain, even a breeze to carry their little seeds away to grow in a new piece of dirt.

He spoke everything else into existence. You, He took his time and formed, carefully, lovingly, and deliberately. How much more will He take care of what concerns you, His greatest treasure?

Day 21 – Investment plan

Matt. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I recently had a conversation about money with one of the young men that I mentor. We talked about inheriting a lot of money and what we would do with it. I suggested that I would try to live off of ten percent and use the rest to serve others. He wasn’t seeing it. I wish I could say my comment was because of my nobility but it wasn’t. I read about men that choose to live life that way. Serving others seems to give them there greatest joy. All of them are highly successful business men and they understand investment very well.

As I read the portion of scripture surrounding this verse, I recognized just how wise they were and are. Invest in self indulgence and selfishness and you have no guarantee, you may lose it all. Invest in God’s will and taking care of His children and your investment has guaranteed returns eternally. Now that’s an investment plan I can’t turn down.

Day 20 – Fast! What’s that?

Matthew 6:16 “When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint.”

Fasting, like all other spiritual disciplines, can become a production used to get some attention. It can be announced to make the faster feel and appear to be more spiritual.

Fasts are not meant to be attention-getting devices. No spiritual discipline is meant to do that. Fasts are purposeful and intentional appetite-denial for the sake of focus and concentration on God.

Are there appetites in your life that distract or derail your concentration and focus on the Father? If you answered yes like me, it’s time to fast. Shhh

Day 19 – As we forgive those…

Matthew 6:14(niv) For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

It’s so hard to forgive an absent father or the predator who abused you as a child. It’s difficult to forgive the one you gave your heart to only to have them treat it like garbage. It’s hard to forgive the one who introduced you to the addiction and the one who kicked you when you were down. It was hard to forgive you. By hard I mean, it took alot and it required the life of God’s only begotten son. Yet outlandish, Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way and focuses on having forgiven others.

Forgiveness, letting go of all that you are entitled to or owed. If you do it for others, God will do it for you.