Routines

Give us each day our daily bread. Luke 11:3 

  

  My grandmother had daily routines that she enjoyed doing. They seemed to give her life balance. I drew comfort from the summers I spent with her waking up each day and knowing for example that Monday we would mop the floors, Tuesday carry fresh water from the spring, Wednesday do the laundry, Thursday buy groceries, etc.  

  Routines can be comforting. Like an old pair of shoes that fit our feet perfectly, daily routines can feel just right as we move from one familiar activity to another. Having our favorite breakfast each day, getting lunch at our favorite restaurant, actions and activities we can perform without even thinking about them, routines are comforting. 

  Routines and habits can be good things and we should both enjoy and practice them. For instance, Bible reading and prayer are beneficial daily activities. Yet we need to be willing to try new things, meet new people, give a new restaurant a chance, perhaps read that part of the Bible we seldom visit. Changes and breaking routines on occasion can bring unforeseen blessings. Even new difficulties can bring opportunities we could not have imagined. 

  Breaking out of old routines can be beneficial because it challenges us, stretches us, and opens our eyes to new abilities and opportunities.  

  If, like me, you dislike being jarred out of your everyday routines, perhaps by being positive and open we can experience blessings that would not have come otherwise. And even new challenges, if experienced in the power and grace of God, can give us new victories. 

  Enjoy the positive routines in your life, yet be willing to break out of them for something fresh and new and the blessings they bring. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the blessings of routines in our daily life, and thank You for breaking us out of them when needed for new opportunities and experiences. Amen. 

  

Back From Death

I am counted among those going down to the Pit. 

I am like a man without strength, 

abandoned among the dead. 

I am like the slain lying in the grave, 

whom you no longer remember, 

and who are cut off from your care. Psalm 88:4-5 

  

  By the winter of 2011 I had all but given myself up for dead. I could see no way forward. I was out of ideas, and the heavens seemed made of iron as far as my prayers were concerned. Anemic, wasting away, enduring fevers, exhausted beyond belief. I grew worse and worse and thought I was at the end of my life. 

  Crohn’s Disease nearly destroyed my life. There was serious concern whether I could survive the major surgery that was my only hope for a recovery and life. Months after my surgery, as I began to recover, hope grew inside of me that perhaps I would live. God gave me a new lease on life after being so close to death. 

  Your thinking becomes very clear after being on the downward spiral toward death. Nothing ever quite seems the same after such an experience. You have seen firsthand just how fragile life can be, and how mortal we all are when it comes to death. 

  What a relief it is for the dying to know there is more than this insubstantial life. Our Lord Jesus lived and died and lives forevermore, and every believer will reign with Him in heaven! That is not just a nice sounding platitude, that is a fact you can base your life upon, and bet your death on. 

  My experience of nearly dying and being restored to life must be similar to what we will feel when our life on this earth ends. Seeing our immanent end before us, then finding ourselves alive again. Death ushers us into the eternal life given to us by our Lord on the other side of death. 

  Frequently after my near-death-experience I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still alive. I was surprised to wake up after my surgery in a recovery room and see the faces of friends and family all around me. How happy we will be to wake up in that eternal recovery room and see the face of Jesus and those who have gone before us smiling at our joyful arrival. One day we will truly be back from death and into a glorious resurrection and reunion! 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, we rejoice in the hope of heaven and spending an eternity in Your presence. Thank You not only for the hope, but the fact of an eternal life with You where there is no more death. Amen.  

Pray Before Making Big Decisions

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Luke 6:12 

  

  Praying before big decisions is always a good idea. When you realize even Jesus took the time to pray to the Father before choosing His disciples, you begin to comprehend how much more we need to pray before making critical choices. 

  Getting good advice, listening to those who care about you, seeking professional advice from the best counselors can help greatly in making excellent decisions. But no one knows you or your situation better than God. When you seek His advice, you are getting the very best counsel. 

  God may not speak to you out of a cloud or a burning bush. Indeed, He is most likely to speak to you through gentle nudging, a strong impression, or directly from scripture. He may place you into circumstances or bring events that sway your decisions. The important thing is to be open to Him and listening and watching for His direction. 

  Jesus had an open and direct line to heaven, and so do we. Jesus paved the way for us, and now we can also speak directly to God. In addition, Jesus speaks to God on our behalf. What a blessing that is for every believer. 

   

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Tim. 2:5 

  

  We can boldly go before God in prayer, bringing our needs, concerns, desires, and requests for wisdom and guidance. We all need help, and how glorious it is that we are to be able to go to God in prayer knowing that He both hears us and will answer our prayers. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for hearing and answering prayer. Thank You Jesus for opening the door of heaven for us and giving us so many blessings, especially the privilege of prayer. Amen. 

Unmerited Grace

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 1 Thessalonians 5:28 

  

  I have been unable to break my dog of the habit of barking his head off when the mailman comes to our home to drop off mail. Our dog knows the approximate time the mail will come, and he sits quietly on the back of the sofa watching and waiting by the window. Then he leaps at the window and barks like mad when the mailman arrives.  

  The mailman is a great guy, and on the occasions when my dog is outside the mailman gives the dog a biscuit and my dog acts like they are old friends. Yet back indoors the next day the dog is barking crazily again. I told my mailman recently that he should not give the dog a biscuit as he doesn’t deserve it. Yet our mailman continues to be kind to the dog anyway. 

  We do not deserve the grace and kindness of our heavenly Father. Too often we “bark” about life and “snap” at others made in the image of God. We gripe about our condition, look for excuses to complain, and yet God continues to be kind to us day after day, year after year. 

  Grace is a wonderful word. By its power there is given to us riches beyond our just desserts. We cling to grace because we know we need it. We ask for grace because we know it is the only way we can be saved from our sins. For try as we might, we can never earn God’s favor. 

  Like my little dog, who cannot cease to bark at the mailman, our human nature is so flawed that we continue to fall short and sin. We never fully behave as we ought. Such sinners need God’s mercy and grace.  

  Rely upon the Grace of Jesus Christ day after day. Remember that grace, and show mercy and kindness to others for God has given unmerited grace to us.  

  Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have given us grace, help us to never take it for granted, and help us to offer that grace to others. Amen.