A Shift in the Wind

Going to the beach on a holiday was one of our favorite things to do when our children were younger. To save alittle money, we would always go late in the season which meant "storm season".

One particular year, we enjoyed 2 weeks on the sandy shoreline but on our last day there, a shift in the wind happened. Storms were brewing up all around us and the dark clouds could be seen in our rear view mirror as we drove out of town. A day later, we heard the news. The storm we saw was no ordinary storm but remnants of a hurricane that swept in and took out many businesses along the beach, including the very condo that we had stayed. 

A shift in the wind brought about some sudden changes for that beach town. Likewise, when the wind shifts in our life, change is inescapable. Many fear change, but sometimes God must shift our wind to place us where He needs us to be. 

Perhaps your wind has shifted in a relationship, or a job, or a way of thinking. Whatever change you are encountering, recognize that your wind shift doesn't have to be turbulent. God often times changes our wind so that He can place us right where He needs us to be.

"For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea." (Psalm 107:25)

If you see dark clouds in your rear view mirror, leave it behind and trust the Wind of God.

BLESSINGS. Laurie

@copyright2018 laurieadams

Is There More?

Today's devotion can also be found over at lacedwithgrace.com:

After finishing the hearty dinner of all of his favorite things, my husband asked, “Is there more?” He wasn’t asking because he was still hungry and was thinking of a second plate. He asked because he wanted to come back for more tomorrow.

Isn’t it a great feeling when there is plenty to go around. There’s nothing but disappointment when you’ve thought about that last piece of pie in the refrigerator all day long, only to come home at 5:00 pm and find it is no longer there!

I have been asked more than once that same question, “Is there more?” Except many times it didn’t mean leftover food, often times, the question was asked about life choices. After serving a corporation or a church for several years, perhaps you’ve asked the same question, “is there more?” Or after graduating from high school or college…”is there more?” After you’ve buried a loved one, “is there more?”

Perhaps you have found yourself in a “is there more?” situation and you are contemplating what else is left for you to do. I’m actually in what I call a holding pattern right now in my ministry, coming out of one area and waiting for the next door to open. To be honest, I’ve asked God this very question…”Is there more?” What more could there possibly be, God?

I’m reminded that there is so much more to life than working at a job, getting married and having children. While this seemingly is every American’s dream, it doesn’t stop there. There IS so much more!

God wants our lives to be full of all of those things that I mentioned, but He also created us to be so much more. Having a family is the best, but God has more. Attending a good church is a good thing, but God has more. Having wealth, power and integrity is admirable, but you guessed it, God has more!

God’s blessings never cease to amaze me but yet I cease to be amazing for Him. I settle for the job I’m in, I walk past my hurting neighbor, I sit in the same pew week after week and don’t see the unchurched, I accept disappointment and despair as what I deserve. All the while not seeing, not realizing, that God has so much more for me to see, to do and to become.

“Is there more”, you ask? God wants more for us than we could ever hope for. Jesus said this…

“It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” (John 6:63)

The leftovers that the world throws at us will only last a short time, with God there is always plenty more!

BLESSINGS. Laurie

@copyright2018 laurieadams

Are You Ready to Answer the Call Yet?

TODAY'S DAILY...

How many times has your phone rang and instead of answering it, you hit mute or unavailable? 

There are tons of reasons why we don't take time to answer the call. Perhaps we are in the middle of something or perhaps we intentionally ignore the caller. 

When God calls me to do something, often times I find myself hitting the mute button. How about you?

I don't mean to ignore His voice but sometimes I find myself telling myself (and God) that "I can't" or "maybe later".

One thing I've learned over the years is that when God calls you, He will prepare and equip you and when the time is right, you will answer His call. 

The question is, what will we do during the incubation period? 

It may be a week or two, or a year or a decade before God opens the right door for which He has called you. A delay does not mean He called the wrong number, rather, it could be that the time has not come yet for you.

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2)

Paul was saying to the church members at Corinth that they were not ready YET! While they were still like infants and needing milk to feed upon, the implication here is that solid food would come at a later time. 

Whether it be to teach a Bible Study, start a new career, or go overseas - when God calls, don't be afraid to answer. He will be with you each step of the way, from milk to solids and beyond!

BLESSINGS. Laurie

@copyright2018 laurieadams

COME TO THE LIGHT

One of the darkest places I've ever been is down in a cave. A few years ago, we visited Mammoth Spring Caves. During the tour, once we were deep into the cave, our tour guide turned off his light so we could experience just how dark it was.

While the lights were out you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. I never thought that any other place could ever be so dark until the moment that isolation and discouragement showed up. 

We all experience moments, sometimes days or weeks, in which everything around us appears dark and desolate. Perhaps it is a dead end job, or the kids seem to have forgotten you or the stress of life just leaves you feeling defeated. Whatever the reason for the darkness in your life, let's remember what the miners in the cave had to do; when darkness fell upon them, they ignited their lights. 

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” – John 3:21    

The Light of Christ will illuminate those dark corners of our life and give us hope and an eternal love that will light up our world. 

With the Truth of God as our light, there's no reason to sit in the dark. 

BLESSINGS. Laurie

@copyright2018 laurieadams 

Letting Go and Letting God

TODAY'S DEVOTION..

Every mom's heart longs to cling to her children. Sometimes loosening our grip is the best choice that we can make.

I remember taking our son to college and how difficult it was to leave him there. I cried nearly the entire 7 hour drive home. The tears didn't end there either. For weeks I cried at the grocery store purchasing his favorite cereal; I cried every time I passed his bedroom; I cried every phone call he made to me. It was ridiculous how consumed I had become with his absence.

Finally, one day I was talking with a friend and she made a comment that changed my way of thinking. "He's not gone forever, he's just at college". Wow! She was right, I had become more emotional about his leaving and less trusting God for his well being.

I can only imagine how emotional it must have been for the mother of Moses (Jochebed) to leave him. It was after king Pharaoh decreed for all Hebrew male babies to be killed that this mother hid her baby son for 3 months. When it came evident that she could no longer keep Moses hidden, the Bible tells us she let go...

"She got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River." (Exodus 2:3b)

I cannot imagine how Jochebed felt that day. Somehow leaving my child at college seemed less frightening than this. While the stories of these two mothers seem different, two things remain the same. Both Jochebed and I trusted God and we both believed God had a plan and purpose for our child's life.

Whether you have sent your child off to kindergarten, high school, college or across seas; can I remind you that God is in control and because He has our children in the palm of His Hand, we don't always have to.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to not over stress about things that You already have in control. Give me peace, confidence and trust that whatever phase of life my child is in that You are always with them. AMEN

BLESSINGS TODAY. Laurie

@copyright2018 laurieadams

DAILY DEVO... don't be a slothful Christian.

TODAY'S DAILY...

No one likes to be called lazy, perhaps another word no one likes to hear is "slothfulness". I always thought the two words meant the same. But honestly, the hardest working person can actually become slothful. 

“Slothfulness” has nothing to do with energy or the lack of it, actually it speaks of our inward condition and the state of where we are headed. 

(Proverbs 19:15) "Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry."

Today's Scripture indicates that laziness will not lead us anywhere, not anywhere productive anyway. But even in the busiest of busy days, people can find themselves stuck in becoming slothful or living in a neutral state of mind. 

Like driving a car, the state of being neutral means you are not going anywhere, you are simply in idle mode. 

I never want God to find me being lazy, but I also don't want to be found slothful either. If you are feeling "stuck" in your ministry or perhaps in your life as a whole, maybe it's time to switch gears and get moving again. It's time we stop being so idle in our Christianity. 

BLESSINGS. Laurie

@copyright2017 laurieadams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Ezekiel 24-26, Hebrews 11:32-40, Proverbs 19:15-21 

DAILY DEVO...Are you washed and stuffed like a turkey?

TODAY'S DAILY...

Today is my last Thanksgiving post this week. I pray each of you have a blessed gathering at your table of thanks.
************************
"May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes and gravy
Have no lumps.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your
Thanksgiving Dinner
STAY OFF of your thighs!" (Unknown)

Today is Thanksgiving Eve and while that poem was meant to make you chuckle, it has a great spiritual lesson.

Today, tonight and tomorrow morning we will all be busy with the preparation work for our Thanksgiving meal. Cutting, mixing, blending, baking, roasting and cleaning.

Everyone who has ever hosted Thanksgiving in their home knows that it requires a lot of preparation work. It takes hard work to prepare all that our little poem describes. The turkey. The dressing. The potatoes. The yams. The desserts. And so much more.

Likewise, if we desire to have a heart of gratitude and serve God with a thankful heart; it takes preparation:

First; like a turkey we must be washed and cleansed. Before a turkey can be stuffed, it must be clean...

(Psalm 51:2) "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin."

Secondly, like a turkey, we should be stuffed with the good stuff...

(Galatians 5:22,23) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."

When we start with these two ingredients in life; washed by the Blood and pursuing the fruits of the Spirit, an attitude of gratitude will come more easy. Instead of wearing our food on the outside (like the poem says), our spiritual food will spill out from the inside - from our washed but stuffed heart. 🦃

Gobble Gobble. Happy Thanksgiving!

@copyright2017 laurieadams