I'M HOPELESS!

I’m hopeless!

The more I read; the more I study; the more I experience; the more I move closer toward God, the more hopeless I realize I am - - - - - - without God!

It’s really hard to be kind and courteous to the lady and her unruly child sitting next to you. It’s really hard to reach out and speak kind words to the person with bad breath sitting next to you. (And it’s REALLY, REALLY hard when you’re stuck between them both on the airplane!) It’s really hard to show love to those that choose a life style that is opposed to scripture and your basic beliefs. It’s really hard not to begrudge those who rattle on, seemingly just to be heard, causing you delay.

Last week, I encountered all of these situations and more. Alone, I am hopeless. I am short (not just in height), rude and judgmental. With God, I’m still not there, but am getting better (the last one really tripped me up though) and, I now realize that I can actually be where God wants me to be if I always remember to turn everything over to Him at the outset --- and not in hindsight.

What I am learning is if Christ truly dwells within, then doing the loving thing isn’t all that hard. It’s when I try to do the good thing on my own that things go amuck. Without God, I can do nothing. With Him, I can do all things.

“…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given to us.” Romans 5:15

My prayer:
God, fill me with your loving Spirit. Let your presence overtake my entire being so there is nothing left but you! Let your thoughts be mine, that I may love as I have never dared before and see others in the loving light in which you created them. Amen.

Why is it so hard?

A few days ago, a friend of mine said to me, “Relationships are so hard!” My immediate response shocked me. “Not really”, I retorted. What? Did I just hear myself? - Not really? Where did that come from? Haven’t I thought that very thing a hundred times? As my words continued, I knew they weren’t from me. Something much greater was at work in that room.

I went on to explain to her, the only relationship that really matters is this one. I picked up a piece of paper and wrote two names, hers and God’s. Then I drew a two way arrow between the names. It looked like this:
GOD
↕
KATHY

It was so clear to me at that moment; the only relationship that really matters is the one between you (me) and God. That is the basis for all other relationships. We always hear people telling us, “you need to work on your marriage”, or “you need to work on your relationship with your children”. But the truth is we need to work on our relationship with God. It is only through a strong relationship with God that any other relationship can be strong. How obvious, yet I had never realized it before that moment; as my relationship with God has deepened, so have my other relationships. As my love for God has deepened, so has my love for others. As my joy in God has deepened, so has my joy in life. As my relationship with God has grown, my other relationships have grown and become “easier”.

Then I added one more thing to my drawing. I encircled the names with a heart, symbolizing the deep love that God has for her, and for you, and for me. You see, my relationship with God is the only one that is certain – that is forever. All other relationships are temporary and can be gone in a minute – but God is always there. He will never leave you or forsake you. (Joshua 1:5)

The relationship I have to work on is my relationship with God, and I have to work on it everyday. If I can get that relationship right, then the world becomes a much easier place.

“I am the first and the last.” Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 48:12, Revelation 1:17
(If he said it 3 times, he must really mean it!)

My Prayer: Lord, help me to remember to always put you first; to remember that my relationship with you is an ongoing, never ending process. Help me to focus on you and your love, so that your love flows through to everyone I encounter. Amen.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! What a great day! Fireworks – parades – friends – family - a day of celebration honoring our country’s independence. I love Independence Day! It’s the basis of our country, our celebration of freedom.

We are taught from an early age to be independent – to learn to feed ourselves; dress ourselves; do it ourselves. We cherish the first time we can walk to our friend’s house alone or ride our bike around the block without Mom or Dad. We can’t wait to drive ourselves to school; to move out of our parent’s house; to be on our own. With all of the talk and striving to become independent, no wonder the Christian life seems so hard – the Christian life where we are taught we should be totally dependent (not independent) on God. How can that be? That is exactly the opposite of what we’ve been taught and strived for all of our lives. No wonder it seems so difficult.

But, when you really think about it, maybe it’s not all that complicated. (Right, you say!) When we truly turn our focus on God and become totally dependent on him, aren’t we really just declaring our independence from other things? Our independence from worldly wants and desires. Our independence from greed. Our independence from worry. Our independence from self reliance. Our independence from anger and hatred. So today as you celebrate our country’s independence, remember what our forefathers were fighting for in their fight for independence – the freedom of religion – freedom to choose how they (and we) could serve and worship God – not freedom from God. They declared their independence in order that they could be dependent on God!

As you celebrate our country’s independence, don’t forget to celebrate your dependence on a God who loves you and will never forsake you. Happy Independence Day!