The Hunt for Truth - Lynne Phipps

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 NIV

Easter morning is always an exciting and bustling time within our household as my granddaughters search for Easter eggs. These goodies have been cleverly hidden by their parents, and the girls must search diligently to find them. What happiness ensues when all have been discovered, and their Easter baskets are overflowing with yummy treats. But the hunt for truth should bring even more excitement. 

Searching for Easter eggs brought to mind the treats of truth and wisdom God has hidden for us within his Word. The Scriptures hold the secrets of life. They reveal who God is and how we may come into a relationship with him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. They teach us how to deal with any situation life can throw at us. We learn how to praise God and the best way to treat our enemies. 

God’s Word has the power to correct our behavior and convict us of wrong thoughts and actions. It can restore us spiritually and emotionally. The Scripture makes the simple wise and promotes hope and joy. It prepares us for the future and relieves us of the burdens of our past. Indeed, within God’s Word are found treasures beyond compare.

Like hunting for hidden Easter eggs, however, we too must be prepared to hunt for these gems of truth within the Scriptures. We must be willing to ask God for a hunger in our hearts for his Word as well as guidance as we read it. We must be persistent in searching the Word for new truths that we may have missed. Some, we may not have been mature enough to see or understand at a previous time. We must also be tenacious in seeking enlightenment regarding how to apply these precious truths to our everyday lives.

When the girls hunt for their eggs, they are rewarded for finding them. They gather them and eventually pop them into their mouths to enjoy the tasty morsels. Likewise, when we seek, ask, and knock to discover the truths in God’s Word, we too are blessed as we discover, embrace, and taste their goodness by putting them into practice and seeing that they are good.

Make sure your hunt for truth takes you to God’s Word daily. 

Father God, thank you for your precious Word. Encourage and motivate me to hunger for its truths.  Strengthen me to be tenacious when asking, seeking, and knocking. Grant me enlightenment, wisdom, correction, and teaching through them, so that I might live a good and productive life. Help my life to be a witness of your lovingkindness and mercy to all those around me. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Lynne Phipps and her family live on a small hobby farm in the heart of Alberta, Canada’s farming country. She has been writing devotions for forty years and never tires of the spiritual correlation the Holy Spirit blesses her with. He uses normal everyday events and the behaviors of the multitude of glorious creatures He has brought across her path to point her to the truths of God. Lynne is a devotion writer for VineWords: Devotions and More, Christian Devotions, and Love Lines from God.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

 

 

How to Stop Chickening Out - Martin Wiles

So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.” Numbers 13:32 NLT

I was young when I learned chicken wasn’t necessarily a chicken. Chickens ran around my grandmother’s yard during the day and were locked up in the coop at night. But if my cousin asked me to do something I was scared to do and I didn’t do it, he labeled me a chicken. And since I was somewhat afraid of adventure, I often wore the label.

“I bet you won’t jump off the tractor shed,” he might say.

“Are you crazy?” I’d respond.

“Chicken. Bak, bak, bak.”

Or if it was something I initially said I’d do but then changed my mind about at the last minute, I would be accused of chickening out. Either way, I was a chicken.

Of the twelve spies Moses sent into the Promised Land, ten chickened out. Four hundred years of Egyptian slavery was behind the Israelites. Now, they stood on the border of the land God had promised their ancestors. Out of fear—or good sense—Moses sent twelve men to peruse the land. It was promising all right, but was also guarded by giants and walled cities. Only Joshua and Caleb maintained they could take the land. The majority’s disobedience cost the Israelites forty years of wilderness wandering.

It sounds reassuring to tell people God won’t ask them to do anything they can’t do—but most of the time that’s not true. God often asks us to do things we can’t do. If we can do it, we don’t need him. If we can’t do it—but He helps us do it—then the spotlight shines on him, and he gets the glory for what’s accomplished.

What God asks of us, he enables us to do. He would have enabled the people to conquer the land—and he did for another generation forty years later. The walled cities and giants were no problem for them when God was their guide.

I wonder how many things we’ve missed doing for God because we chickened out and never started. Living the Christian life involves faith and trust, and sometimes the faith must be blind faith—the kind children have.

Don’t chicken out on what God asks of you. He’ll always supply the strength, the way, and the courage.

Father, help me to trust you for the wisdom and power to do everything you ask. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Banana Nut Muffins

 

 

Ingredients

1 BOX SPICE CAKE MIX

2 EGGS

1 CUP MILK

1/3 CUP CHOPPED PECANS

1/3 CUP OIL

1 BANANA (MASHED)

Directions

MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER.

POUR INTO GREASED MUFFIN PANS.

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 15-20 MINUTES.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Thinking Thoughts about God - Martin Wiles

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. Psalm23:1 NLT

I turn God into whatever I think of Him.

Dad was a tough disciplinarian—at least when I was young. I’m not sure where his ideas about discipline came from, because he didn’t follow the pattern of his parents or grandparents. Dad went by the book. Severe consequences followed broken rules. His parents were more understanding and lenient.

Dad was also a little strict in his view of God. God had rules and regulations that must be adhered to. When they weren’t, discipline followed. God was also a God of love, but he was quick to punish when someone broke his laws—not lenient or understanding.

While growing up, I noticed Dad’s view of God bled into how he conducted his household. Perhaps his idea of God explains why I had a framed set of rules hung on my bedroom wall—a list of dos and don’ts, accompanied by a set of consequences for breaking each don’t.

Dad was right in one sense. God does have rules he expects us to abide by, and when we choose to break them, consequences follow. I suppose it was the way Dad carried out the process that colored my view of God as a harsh deity instead of a loving Savior—although I’m sure Dad didn’t intend for it to happen that way.

David knew God had rules, too, but he also pictured him as his shepherd, which paints a different portrait. God disciplined him when he went astray—and he did quite a few times, but he also lovingly guided his life journey.

If I think of God as a harsh disciplinarian, sitting in heaven waiting for me to make a mistake, I might still love him, but my relationship with him will be somewhat distant, not close up and personal. On the other hand, if I see him as a grandfatherly type, I might assume he’ll let me get away with anything without consequence, which he won’t.

Jesus showed us the loving characteristics of God that the religious leaders’ rules had almost covered. But he also reminded us that God has standards he expects us to obey. When our view of God is balanced, we’ll obey him because we love him and because of what he’s done for us, not simply because we’re afraid he’ll punish us if we don’t.

Think correct thoughts about God so you will love him deeply and serve him intently.

Father, may the thoughts I think of you cause me to have an accurate picture of who you are. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Seeking Refuge in Uncertain Times - Martin Wiles

Protect me! Rescue my life from them! Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge. Psalm 25:20 NLT

The day appeared calm enough, but Mother Nature soon released her hidden fury. I would soon be seeking refuge in uncertain times.

My brother, daughter, and I set out early for a ten-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. At the five-mile point, we planned to set up camp and walk the remainder of the way without our packs.

But after reaching our destination, we were greeted by the sound of thunder. Mountain storms were familiar to us, so we quickly set up camp. Within minutes of driving the last tent stake, we felt the first drops of rain. Then came a torrential downpour with lightning to match. We huddled on our rubber sleeping mats, hoping lightning wouldn’t strike the tall pines above us.

After sitting for what seemed like hours, we braved pouring rain, intermittent lightning, and puddled water, making it to an AT shelter a few hundred yards away. Here we remained for the next several hours, listening as storm after storm marched through the mountains. Though our refuge was only a three-sided shelter, we felt secure.

David’s enemies were numerous—among them lions, bears, Philistines, giants, and even a jealous king. Regardless of who or what they were, David found refuge in a big God whom he trusted to protect him.

I’ve sought refuge in healthy and unhealthy things. At the end of a stressful day, I love taking refuge in a good book. I cherish the times when my wife and I can go to a restaurant alone, without friends or grandsons. Sitting in our old glider on our back patio in the spring or fall is also nice.

But I’ve also sought refuge in unhealthy things during stressful times. Instead of running to God, I ran to addictions or unhealthy relationships. They brought only temporary satisfaction, along with a foreboding sense of guilt that I was looking in the wrong place.

Where David found refuge is where we should. A healthy relationship with a loving Savior is the only thing that brings satisfaction, contentment, and peace. All other things and people will disappoint. He always loves unconditionally and protects faithfully. Friendships and family can be the icing on the cake, but they can never take God’s place.

Run to God for refuge when times are uncertain.

Father, thank you for being a trustworthy place of refuge when life is stormy—a place that will never disappoint us.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

The Hidden Power of Taking a Break - Martin Wiles

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Mark1:35 NLT

I’ve never been one to sit and twiddle my thumbs. Sitting and doing nothing makes me feel lazy. Since I only have so much time in life, I want to make the best use of every minute. Having this tendency leaves me open to overcommitment and burnout. Thus, I needed to understand the hidden power of taking a break.

What others ask of me, I usually agree to do—often not pausing long enough to pray first. I love seeing how much I can accomplish in twenty-four hours. Not that I crave recognition or do things for that reason—well, sometimes, I do, until after I’ve prayed and asked forgiveness—but like most people, I enjoy being appreciated. Sitting for hours watching a movie or relaxing in conversation with company is difficult. My mind races with all the things I could be doing that seem more productive.

Jesus was a busy man, too. Knowledge of his ability to heal spread like a California wildfire. Crowds crowded him. Everyone wanted healing for themselves, a friend, or a family member. Had he taken advantage of every opportunity, he would never have gotten any rest or sleep.

After a long day and evening of healing, Jesus rose the next morning, went to an isolated place, and prayed. When some of the disciples found him and told him everyone was looking for him, he told them he had other places to go. He couldn’t stay in this one place forever.

Breaks from the daily grind of life are essential for good health—mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. We can’t do everything everyone might ask of us. There’s not enough time in the day, nor does God expect that of us. Jesus knew he needed rejuvenation, and it came through a quiet time with the Father.

Quiet times—whether in the early morning, late morning, or evening—are crucial in our service for God. Jesus’ Spirit received refreshing, and He received instructions from the Father about his next move. Ironically, it wasn’t where he was—even though many there needed His help. Rather, the Father told him to move to a different area.

Enjoying life and making sure we’re on God’s track only happen when we take a break long enough to discover God’s will. So go ahead, take a break—and don’t feel guilty about it.

Father, remind me that I need a break to refresh my spirit so I can do my best for you.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops

 

Ingredients

6 one-inch pork chops

Salt, pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Bacon

BBQ sauce

Directions

Season each pork chop and wrap with two pieces of bacon.

Bake in a glass dish at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Brush with BBQ sauce.

Return to oven for 5 to 7 minutes. 

(Photo courtesy of asmalllife.com.)

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.