God's Word for Today

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Laying out the fleece……

One of the things I have learned in my walk with Christ is this, when I am in need of an answer or a solution or even a light bulb moment the best resource I have at hand is God’s Holy word.

It never fails, when I find myself at a place in my life where I am in conflict or have a dilemma and I do not know what to do the best way to approach these situations is to ask God to confirm my course of action with His Holy word. God’s word is living and active (HEW 4:12) and it can and will meet our every need, we only have to ask.

When I am faithful to place my life and the outcome of whatever is going on in God’s faithful hands He will show up with a resounding answer, whether it be in the affirmative or in the negative, God’s word never fails to be the beacon from which we can all set our plumb line (ISA 28:17).

I know that nothing is impossible for God (LK 1:37), I also know that His desire is for everyone to come to know Him (2PE 3:9), but that did not stop my skepticism from blossoming in this particular situation.

You see, in the days after my brother-in-law’s passing I learned that he had been visited in a dream by someone. My Brother-in-law had shared with his wife that in these dreams God had come to him and told him not to be afraid. He also shared that the images he saw were beautiful and peaceful and that he was certain that God had met him in his dreams and that he was no longer afraid to die.

My husbands and sister-in-law had a very real sense of peace. They were certain that God had come to Mark in the days before his death to bring a message of peace and to give assurance that there was nothing to fear.

I however, had some very definite seeds of doubt. I had been praying that God would show up in my brother-in-laws life in powerful way and that a relationship would be initiated.

I saw the peace on their faces, they had no doubt in their minds that in the weeks prior to my brother-in-law’s death God had in fact reached out to him in his dreams.

So what did I doubt? Was it God? No! I felt very certain that God can and will use anything He choose to reach those that He loves, even while we sleep.

I pondered on my skepticism and my doubt. I wanted the assurance I saw in the heart of my husband and sister-in-law.

When I learned of the dreams and then felt my subsequent doubt seeping in I closed my eyes and asked God to give me that same assurance. I had no doubt that my husband believed that his brother had an encounter with God, I also knew that my sister-in-law felt that same peace as well.

I wanted that same peace and assurance.

Now I need to back up a bit and lay a small bit of framework. I had just the week before began an in-depth bible study, it is a 32 week study of a comparative of the gospels. I had also been in the final preparations for an upcoming Women’s Day of Excellence that the United Methodist Women hold at our church every year.

I was scheduled to lead several workshops. In preparation for these workshops I had put my daily reading for my weekly bible study to the side. I knew that I would have to do some catch up at some point but knowing that you can only accomplish just so much in a twenty four hour period I set my daily reading aside in favor of workshop perpetrations.

On Sunday, the day after my husband shared with me about the dreams his brother had, as we drove out to the visitation I had brought my bible study along on the hour plus car ride out to the funeral home. This was my only window to do the required catch up reading time.

The selected text for that day was Acts chapter two. I began to read and my eyes passed over these words:

AC 2:17 " `In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.

I stopped and looked at the words. Old men will dream dreams, now my brother-in-in law was far from an old man, he had succumbed to cancer at the young age of 51, but it was very clear to me that in these six small words God had been faithful to bring me the word I needed to feel that same assurance. Here before me was God’s Holy word, it was an example of God’s ability to use a dream to communicate.

I felt like Gideon must have felt after he laid out the fleece (JDG 6). Do you suppose that as he woke up in the morning and went outside, did he have any seeds of doubt? Did he reach down and pick up the fleece with expectation that he would be able to wring out a full bowl of morning dew, or did he doubt?

Well as I re-read the words before me my doubt washed away. God had been faithful to provide for me His Holy word. I now had the same assurance that my husband and sister-in-law had.

It was a perfect example of Matthew 21:22:

MT 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I believed completely that God would provide for me the confirmation either positively or negatively in response to my request.

I was satisfied, however God in His mysterious and gracious abundance would not be contained with my human limitations.

In the days that followed, one of the assigned scripture reading for the next week were Matthew chapters 1 and 2.

Let’s count them shall we:

One

MT 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

Joseph has a dream and receives instruction not to divorce Mary

Two

MT 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The wise men are warned regarding Herod

Three

MT 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

Again Joseph has a dream and is prompted to take action

Four

MT 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

Joseph has another dream, and again is prompted to action

And Five

MT 2:22 …Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Joseph again has a dream (the man was a dreaming fool) and the stage is set for the salvation of the world.

I closed my eyes and thankd God for His aundant message. My seeds of doubt had been satisfied with one small passage of scripture, however God in His faithful abundance wanted to shower down His message and His absolute confirmation.

There are many times throughout scripture where God uses dreams to communicate many things to His people. Well let me assure you He defiantly captured my full attention as I read about encounter after encounter in the land of dreams.

The word dream is mentioned in the bible 65 times (NIV version) and specifically referring to God coming to someone in a dream several times. My doubt is gone, God confirmed it six separate times, but God being God, well He had one final word for me.

After Gideon gathers up all his fleece and is in preparation for the upcoming battle with the Midianite's look what happens next:

JDG 7:13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," ……

And then…..

JDG 7:15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God.

Is God cool or what!

Copyright © August 2008 R. Lambright

Friday, August 22, 2008

I'm still here!

No I have not dropped off the face of the earth, I have been preparing for several workshops that I will be leading at our 2008 Women’s Day of Excellence. Most of my time over that past several weeks has been spent in preparation and pulling together all my resources, making handouts, copies and restructuring all my various continuing education stuff into something that vaguely resemble something cohesive.

I will be leading a workshop on prayer and on one developing a personal prayer retreat and leading a workshop on exploring different forms of prayer. Needless to say have been covered up for some time.

I have been enjoying everyones blog entries but have not had the time to make many comments. You all have fed me when I was overwhelmed with the detail of preparation, thank you all for your wise insights and daily gems of how God works in your lives.

As well as preparing for theses workshops we have also has some very sad and unexpected news. I would greatly appreciate you prayers for my family and my husband’s family as well.

My husband’s brother passed away on Thursday (8-21) he had been struggling with Colon Cancer for several years, but we were all take by surprise by this as he seemed o be doing very well at out last family gathering. The funeral will be in a few days.

My hope is that once thing settle back down I can put a few thought down for a post. I have seen God at work in so many different aspect of the process of putting these workshops together as well as the unfolding of the Beth Moore Simulcast I attended a few weeks ago ands well as a new Bible study I have just begun, (follow this link to My Hands His Glory) with skoots1mom which I am sure will be wonderful as well as started working part again.

Oh my stars, but God is wonderful at re-ordering my time when I will ask him to.


God is good, and I wait with expectation for things to settle back down.

Don’t forget me, I am still here!

Monday, August 11, 2008

I will be joyful in God my Savior

I opened my bible this morning and began to read the passage selected for the day. There are times when scriptures fall into my lap and I want to just brush them off and look for an easier or more warm and fuzzy lesson.

God, however has a way of knowing exactly when to place the comfort and the warm fuzzes in your path and when not to as well.

When I am faced with a somewhat less than happy faced scripture, well it at time feels like a bitter pill to swallow, especially when I am in the mood for a warm fuzzy moment.

I woke this morning not quite myself. My physical body was less than cooperative and I wanted comfort. I sought something……..



God’s word met me very quietly and said:

HAB 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

HAB 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

My human translation is this,

Though I wake not feeling myself,
my physical body is ill at ease,
my mind wanders to my discomfort,
yet I continue to pray,
the words that I find bring a message.

Habakkuk, man of faith that he was,
had no crop in his field,
or livestock in his pen,
yet he rejoiced in the Lord.

“Though I have lost every earthly thing,” he said
“I will be joyful in God my savior.”

As my mind wandered this morning during my prayer time, I was distracted by my physical issues. As I read about how steadfast Habakkuk was, he never waivered no matter what. He had no crops, no way to sustain his family, things were dire and yet he looked past his physical condition and found the faith to praise God.

My few minor physical issues were nothing my comparison. This small piece of scripture really clarified how I am to praise God in all circumstances (even if I don’t really feel like it) because He deserves it.

He, the Lord God Almighty…..deserves our praise!

Today I have to look past the minor physical discomfort and see that God has purpose in every moment of life.

This morning God gently spoke and said “Child I know you don’t feel well, yet look at Me, see Me and I will teach you again how great I am.

I closed my bible and thanked God for again showing me how wise He truly is in knowing my need before I even began to draw breath.

Copyright © Aug 2008 R. Lambright

Friday, August 8, 2008

Common Denominator

Being the math impaired individual that I am I was surprised by the comparison that kept washing over me.

It was a perfect example of exactly what a common denominator is.

I had to do a Google search for the words “common denominator” to get a refresher on exactly what this mathematical term meant.

common denominator (plural common denominators)
1. (mathematics) Any integer that is a common multiple of the denominators of two or more fractions

2. (by extension) A trait or attribute that is shared by all members of some category
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/common_denominator"


For this purpose I will focus on the second definition of a common denominator as being a shared attribute by a group or category.

In the mathematical world there is usually either a correct answer on an incorrect answer, however in life there are so many shades of gray that it can at times make it very difficult to make the appropriate or correct choice.

However if you are fortunate to have a common denominator in your life then things have a way of getting whittled down to the very basics concepts, the foundation from which all strong things are built. The common denominator.

When you are faced with difficult things in your life it is amazing how simple they can become. It is the presence of the common denominator that can either make or break the eventual outcome of any situation.

Do I want to receive the news of a cancer reoccurrence, no I do not. However if that should ever happen I have the common denominator, my relationship with Christ that will sustain me if that should ever happen.

Do I willingly seek tragedy, no one ever does, but if the worst should happen then I have that foundation beneath the shaking ground that my be under me when a difficult situation turns up in my life.

The thing is that when you find yourself in a situation when you are faced with something difficult, something of the world that you have to find a way through things become very clear. In looking back once the storm has calmed you recognize that the reason the situation got out of control was because there was no common denominator present. Jesus was no where to be found in that situation. That is what happens when you deal with the people of the world. There is no common denominator. If they, the people who worship worldly things, can not see it or buy it then it is worth nothing to them. If it does not enhance their appearance then it is not important.

Sadly we as Christians have to live in the world along side of the worldly people. We have to find a way to look past the worldliness and to love as Christ loves.

This at times can be very difficult. There are countless times when I want to scream and shout and say can’t you see, you can’t buy happiness. You can’t purchase eternal salvation at the Best Buy.

The reality is that making things look good on the outside is easy if you are willing to go into debt to attain it. Having status is easy if you are willing to live beyond your means. Being up to date is attainable if you are willing to invest your time and energy (and some more money) to make sure that all your gadgets are the latest model and state of the art.

These worldly thing only cloud the issue of what, in my opinion, is missing from so many lives.

The presence of the common denominator of Jesus Christ, but isn’t that what the father of lies is trying to achieve. He wants all of us to be so distracted by the world that we never stop to consider the alternative and better common denominator, Jesus s Christ.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that you should not enjoy living in a new house or driving a new car. I have been enjoying my new house for two years now.

It is the common denominator that makes the difference in the perspective. I know that my existence and my happiness does not hinge on the location or market value of my house.

It is our faith in Jesus that has allowed us to be able to provide a safe and sound home to raise our family in. It is our faith in Jesus that continues to provide that common denominator that gives us the perspective to see past so many worldly things and be able to whittle it down to what is really important.

Remember the movie “City Slickers” and Curly’s (character played by Jack Palance) philosophy on life.

Curly: You know what the secret of life is?

Mitch: No, what?

Curly: This.

Mitch: Your finger?

Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean ****.
(I didn’t think we needed the colorful expletive)

Mitch: That's great, but what's the one thing?

Curly: That's what you've got to figure out.

It is that one thing that we all have to come to realize for ourselves.

We all seek happiness from worldly things in the beginning. Then when we come to our senses (LK 15:17) we realize that worldly things will rust (MT 6:19-21) and deteriorate.

It is only when we place our faith and trust in Jesus that we have something eternal and never failing.

Thank You Jesus for that eternal common denominator.


MT 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Copyright © Aug 2008 R. Lambright

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Exciting News from the Dacula Ornithology Research Center

After waffling between frustration, puzzlement and down right disappointment the D.O.R.C. is proud to announce the first sitting of an open (and might I say rather loud and impatient) awaiting baby mouth poking out of the birdhouse located at the institutes main base of operations (A.K.A. my backyard).

The researchers (A.K.A. as myself and my daughter) will endeavor to obtain the scientific footage in order to document this auspicious occasion A.S.A.P.

The D.O.R.C. will continue to strive to maintain the highest standards of scientific research (which means that I will be pulling the dark blue sheet back out of my linen closet) so that it can provide it’s readers with the most current and up to date information possible.

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As soon (or if) I can get a picture of the sweet little things I will post it. Mamma Bluebird is not to cooperative and a bit camera shy. I was so excited to see the tiny head poking out of the house I had to dash off a post.

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