My Way? Your Way? The Highway?

My Way?   Your Way?  The Highway?

I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

Psalm 32:8

If you are a teacher of any kind, you know the fact that some people do not want to be taught.  It is as if the student silently says, “Dear Teacher: Sorry, but no matter what your educational background is, or how much experience you have to back up your teaching, your opinion is not wanted.”

Several years ago, I attended a vocal Master Class at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where four collegiate singers had the opportunity to work with one of the world’s great sopranos.  One self-assured young man stepped up to stage front and sang his selected aria.  When he finished, the world-famous singer complimented his voice and technique, then pointed out that he was mispronouncing a word and told him how to sing it.  She asked him to sing that passage again.  He did – the exact same way he sang it the first time.  She rose from her seat, went over to him at the piano, pointed out the same word in her copy of the music score, and sang it for him this time, showing him how to pronounce it.  She then asked him to sing the passage again.  He sang it the exact same way he had twice before.  This time she asked him to sit down and moved on to another student who might be interested in the wisdom she had to share.

God’s Word is full of necessary information to guide our lives in the right paths, but we have our own way of doing things and are not always amenable to His guidance.  When I was in college, a good friend shared the quotation below, written by C. S. Lewis.  It is a wonderful reminder to me that, although God knows the path far better than we do, He will never force His guidance on us.  We can choose to go our own way.

There are two kinds of people:

Those who say to God, “Thy will be done,”

And those to whom God says,

“All right, then – have it your way.”

~C. S. Lewis

*

Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way.

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will.

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 382

Now Where Did I Put My Keys?

Now Where Did I Put My Keys?

Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. 

Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house,

looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? 

And when she finds it, you can be sure she’ll call all her friends and neighbors:

“Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!

Luke 15:8-9 [The Message]

If it is possible for me to lose my keys, you can count on me doing exactly that!  My children and coworkers are used to being called into action when I have misplaced my keys. If something is in my hand, I have a tendency to just lay it down. Somewhere.  Anywhere.  Sooner or later, something gets placed on top of it and Voila!  No keys. 

Women in Bible times often sewed the coins of their dowry into a headdress; that way they always knew where their money was, because it was worn on their person.  However, it would be easy for a stitch to slip, and one of the coins come lose and fall to the ground. Unfortunately, this was not an everyday mite; it was a silver coin, a part of the family’s fortune. No one knew better than the woman how quickly she needed to find it.

Keys and money are necessary components of everyday life.  The loss of either causes instant panic, the finding brings joyful celebration.  The kingdom of heaven does not deal in silver and gold, but in precious human lives.  When one is lost, God is determined to find.  When the lost returns home, there is great rejoicing.

*

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

Calling for you and for me.

See on the portals He’s waiting and watching,

Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,

You who are weary, come home.

Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling.

Calling, O Sinner, come home!

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 348

Hey, Good Looking!

Hey, Good Looking!

Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature,

for I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees,

for man looks at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7

With failure after failure by King Saul to follow God’s ways and direction, it was time for a new king.  God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to consecrate a king from the family of Jesse.  Samuel asked that each son be sent, one at a time, for a job interview.  When Samuel saw Eliab, the firstborn, he knew that this handsome young man was going to be the next king.  God, however, had other ideas.  “Yes, this is a nice looking fellow,” God told Samuel, “but I don’t care how good looking he is; what’s important to Me is what’s happening on the inside.”  

Seven brothers were sent to Samuel, and God rejected all seven.  Samuel was really confused – why in the world was he there?  Then the prophet thought to ask, “Is this all your kids?”  Ah – no.  There is an eighth, out in the fields with the sheep.  “Send for him,” Samuel commanded.  When young David entered the house, God said to Samuel, “Up on your feet!  Anoint him!  This is the one!”  [1 Samuel 16:12b The Message]

When I was growing up, my mother had a variety of sayings that sought to teach the same lesson:  Beauty is only skin-deep.  Pretty is as pretty does. It is not what you are but who you are that really counts.  You may be drop-dead gorgeous or ruggedly handsome, but that certainly does not guarantee that the mind won’t be empty or the heart stone cold.  God is not interested in our shell, but our core.  His eye looks at our integrity, our thought process, our character.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

*

Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.

Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.

You are the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.

Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.

Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.

The Faith We Sing, No. 2152

He Is There

He Is There

We set our eyes not on what we see,

but on what we cannot see,

What we see will last only a short time,

but what we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4::18

 On the wall of a concentration camp, a prisoner had carved the words,

 I believe in the sun, even though it doesn't shine, 

I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown, 

I believe in God, even when He doesn’t speak.

-Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones

I try to imagine the person who etched those words.  I try to envision his hand gripping the broken glass or stone that cut into the wall.  I try to see through his eyes, squinting in the darkness as he carved each letter.  What hand could have cut such a conviction?  What eyes could have seen good in such horror?  There is only one answer:  Eyes that chose to focus on the unseen.

Whatever your circumstances are today – good or bad – there is One who is unseen working in the background – working all things for your good in any and all circumstances.  There will be times in your life when that simple statement will be very hard to believe.  Trust Him.  Even in your darkest hour, He has promised to be with you.  And He who has promised is faithful.

*

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee.

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not.

As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!  Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 140

Lessons in a Weed

Lessons in a Weed

Above all else, guard your heart

for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

The gentleman who owned my home for many years before me was an avid gardener.  The lawn and landscaping was his pride and joy, and in his later years, he employed a professional lawn service..  I met the serviceman the summer that I purchased the house, and he gave me his card, assuring me that he would be delighted to continue providing great service and a spectacular lawn.

Suffice it to say that I did not have the money to pay a lawn service.  I reassured myself that it would be OK – that I was perfectly capable of maintaining the lawn myself.  I cannot begin to describe my surprise and dismay when Old Man Winter departed, Spring made her glorious entrance, and my lawn was a complete mass of weeds.  Between the nettle, the dandelions and their numerous cousins, there was hardly a patch of grass to be seen.  I was stunned!  Where in the world did they come from?

As human beings, we are not so very different from the grass – crazy as that sounds.  There are a million weeds out there, waiting to implant themselves into the lawn of your soul.  They come in all varieties – a little lie, an unkind act, a curse word, an inappropriate thought, a seemingly harmless addiction, a simple slander, a coveting glance, a little flirtation.  One little thing can’t be all that bad, right?

But it’s never just one, is it?  Weeds are one of the most persistent things on earth.  The minute one buries itself in the landscape, it works quickly to propagate into many, many more. The weeds of sin are exactly the same.  Let one submerge itself in your mind, and eventually it can consume your life from the inside out.   

*

I’m so glad Jesus lifted me!

 I’m so glad Jesus lifted me!

I’m so glad Jesus lift me,

Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus lifted me.

Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me!

Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me!

Satan Had me bound, Jesus lifted me,

Singing glory hallelujah, Jesus lifted me!

Favorite Song: God is in Control

God is In Control

This is no time for fear

This is a time for faith and determination.

Don't lose the vision here

Carried away by emotion.

Hold on to all that you hide in your heart.

There is one thing that has always been true -

It holds the world together:

God is in control.

We believe that His children will not be forsaken.

God is in control.

We will choose to remember and never be shaken.

There is no power above or beside Him, we know -

God is in control.

History marches on

There is a bottom line drawn across the ages.

Culture can make its plan

Oh, but the line never changes.

No matter how the deceptions may fly,

There is one thing that has always been true

It will be true forever

He has never let you down

Why start to worry now?

He is still the Lord of all we see

And He is still the loving Father

Watching over you and me.

God is in control.

We believe that His children will not be forsaken.

God is in control.

We will choose to remember and never be shaken.

There is no power above or beside Him, we know

God is in control.

~Twila Paris

Toast and Quiet

Toast and Quiet

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife.

Proverbs 17:1

Even back in ancient times, Solomon recognized the indisputable fact that the human body does not deal well with pressure.  I doubt if he was familiar with the word, “stress,”, but the core of truth was still there:  peace and quiet beats tension and strife hands down!

Too many of us get caught up in the rat race of daily living: 

Gotta work so I can have the cash to pay the bills. 

Gotta hurry because going slow will never get you anywhere.                     

Gotta climb, climb, climb as quickly as I can. 

Gotta make sure I have the best life has to offer. 

Then we go into retirement and we are still running around like the proverbial chickens without a head!  So much to do, so little time.  Solomon is calling for us to stop, look and listen.  What is important in life?  What is more important than our sanity and our health?  If we drive ourselves into the grave, who will have all our things then?  Is the strain of our high-octane society really worth it?  Or, like Solomon, is the better choice peace and tranquility.  

*

I cast all my cares upon You.

I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.

And anytime that I don’t know what to do,

I will cast all my cares upon You.

The Faith We Sing, No. 2215