Gratefulness in the home and heart: Lessons your children will learn from your example.

By Corallie Buchanan

How do you act in times of crisis? I know not all of us are perfect at the super-mum routine of having our lives all together. In fact, most of us don’t. We look at those who seem to have life all together, and wish we were like them.

I know as a mother of a 9 month old girl, I often fall into the same trap. When life turns sour, sometimes I allow myself the freedom to just let my mouth fly and say whatever I like. Then I regret it afterwards, because I realise that I should be more careful. My daughter’s ears are very keen, and whether I realise it or not, she is picking up on every wrong word and attitude that comes out of my mouth.

Mathew 15:18 says that what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. I have learned a very recent poignant lesson from watching other people. If you are not grateful and praising God for your blessings – no matter how miniscule they may seem – those things which you refuse to be grateful for will eventually be taken away from you. What lies in your heart will eventually work its way through your mouth. This is dangerous ground, because then it begins to poison your life to the point where there isn’t a shred of goodness left.

There are times in our lives when we wish everything was going our way. It is how we act in those times that determine who we really are, rather than what we claim to be. Whether we like it or not, our children will pick up on our behaviour – both good and bad -  during times of trial. What kind of example do we want to be for our children? The question posed is a serious one, for the lessons a child learns in their formative years will provide the foundation for their morals and their behaviour as adults. We need to be verbally an openly thankful for our blessings, in order that our children learn healthy normal attitudes of thankfulness to God. This will become the important foundation of their future lives.

Corallie

Lip service and selfishness

How often do we say that we 'fear God', but in actual fact we are still serving our own selfish needs? I was reminded this morning when I read about the children of Israel who lived in the region of Samaria. There was a particular time in Israel's history where God was so fed up with His people that He decided to remove them from their land, allowing them to be captured and deported by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17). The Assyrian king then decided to repopulate the deposed land with people from another region. These new people experienced God's judgment in the form of lions killing their people. They put it down to the fact that they did not know the rituals of 'the God of the land' (as they called it). So the king of Assyria sent an Israelite priest to teach them the ways of this 'God of the land'. The people then feared 'this God', but still served their own pagan gods by carrying out their own traditions and rituals. They employed priests to sacrifice to God for them, but would not serve him themselves, nor get rid of their pagan practices.

They knew about God and feared Him, but still chose to serve their own gods.

This made me think: how many times do we do the same thing? We know who God is and what He does, yet we still choose to serve ourselves. We are in fact our own gods. We have reverential fear of God (meaning we realise the fullness of His power, and know that what He says, He also has the power to do), yet we still go our own way.

There is a great danger in this, and unfortunately most of us don't even realise we are doing it. Stop serving yourself and your own wants and needs and start serving God!

Corallie

 

Breaking the cycle of negativity in your life

Lately I have been asking God for something that has been on my heart for a long time. I have struggled for a long time to be happy for other people who have this particular blessing that I have been asking God for. But recently, God challenged me to begin to believe good things for myself as well.


I am a recovering negativity addict. I will admit it. I struggle often with negative thought patterns. They have been trained into me from birth as a product of my circumstances.


You know, those of us who have had hard backgrounds are not used to expecting good things to happen to us. So when there is something that we really truly desire with all our hearts, something that we are asking God to do for us, why is it that we automatically expect the worst? Why should I have an inferior mentality? God is still paying me back for the years the locust has eaten, so why should He stop now? Joel 2:24-26 says,


²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
      And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
       ²⁵ “ So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
      The crawling locust,
      The consuming locust,
      And the chewing locust,
      My great army which I sent among you.
       ²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
      And praise the name of the LORD your God,
      Who has dealt wondrously with you;
      And My people shall never be put to shame. 


God is still fulfilling this promise to me, so why would this stop now? I'm believing for good things for me. 


But to break the cycle of negativity is extremely difficult. Its like overcoming an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Negativity is a learned pattern of behaviour, just like drug or alcohol addictions, and they need to be overcome in the same way. That is persistence.


Do we believe that we don't deserve the best? I am reminded of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, grandson of King Saul. David had made a covenant with Jonathan many years prior. When his father Jonathan was killed, Mephibosheth's nurse took him and ran for their lives. In the haste, she dropped him and he became a cripple. This was when he was five years old. For the rest of his life, he lived on the edges of society (even though he was by birth a royal son).


When David finally consolidated his kingdom, he looked for someone who might be remaining in Saul's household to whom he could show kindness and honour his covenant with Jonathan. The story goes as follows:

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9     Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

^2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

^3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”

^4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

^5 Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

^6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

^7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

^8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”

^9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. ^10 You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

^11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.” ^12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. ^13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

The New King James Version. 1982 (2 Sa 9:1-13).

Now I could imagine someone like this having an inferiority complex. Some of us do also. I was challenged both yesterday and even more so this morning that just because I had a bad life growing up, this doesn't mean I should always expect bad things to happen to me. I should be expecting good things to happen to me.


Mephibosheth's story is similar to all of our stories. We grow up with bad things, so we expect bad things. We (including me, definitely) often struggle to believe that God has good things for us because we may feel that we don't deserve anything good.


You know what I said this morning to God? Why not? Why not me? 


When those thoughts of "This good thing I'm wanting to happen in my life is not going to happen", my answer is why not?


Why can't good things happen to me to? Why not now? Why think that I am automatically just going to be one of those people who has everything go wrong for them. Why can't I expect something to go right?


Its okay to believe that God has good for you. Its not a sin to believe the best. I have found that I have made myself miserable by believing the worst. So why not get happy and just believe that maybe, just maybe, that good thing I have been waiting for could be right on my very doorstep.


Why not?

Little sticks, big logs

^           For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ^But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ^and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ^that no flesh should glory in His presence.

                                        1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NKJV

Imagine you are camping, and attempting to start a fire. I've never done it myself. My husband is normally the fire junkie who loves to start our campfire. And we normally use matches (cheaters...I know!). I have always found it interesting to watch the process of how you gather the sticks and arrange them just so, in order to create the easiest platform for creating a campfire. I have noticed that most people go and find a whole heap of little twigs and sticks first. 

When God wants to start a fire, He doesn't always use big logs to start it. Quite often, it will take ages before these big logs catch on fire. So He gathers all those little twigs and sticks that may seem insignificant to many people; those twigs which most people would normally crush under their feet and forget about it. But when you are creating a fire, it is the little insignificant twigs that catch fire the quickest. Without these little twigs, you will have difficulty in creating a large fire.

It is the same with God's people. You may feel as insignificant and useless as a small twig, but it is that very position that God will use to create a big fire. Remember the feeding of the 5000? Do you know how they were fed? They were fed by small child with a big heart, who brought his five loaves of bread and two fish. He was what we would consider a small twig, but look what God used him to do?

So always remember, you may think you are an insignificant twig. But small twigs often start big fires.

Doing things for the wrong motives

Photo courtesy of PDPhoto.org

I have been reading about Baalam and Balak in my time with God the last few days. I have found it quite interesting, and there was one particular point which I just couldn't understand, and kept 'chewing on', trying to figure it out. Basically the story goes, there was a king named Balak, who lived in a country called Moab. He saw how the people of Israel had conquered nearby nations. When the Israelites wanted to pass through a neighbouring province on their way to somewhere else, the king of that province refused them entry, even though the people had promised not to use their water, food, or fields, but would stick only to the king's road. Still he refused, and set out to attack the Israelites. The king and all his men were killed, and nobody was left. The Israelites then took over the land and lived there for awhile (Numbers 21:21-35).

So the king of Moab saw this and was very scared of the Israelites. Then he decided to call on Baalam, the diviner, to curse the people of Israel. A diviner is like a sooth-sayer, or a false prophet. Nobody really knows a lot about Baalam. Some say he is a non-Israelite prophet. Whatever he is, he features quite strongly in this story.

So Balak sends men to Baalam, asking him to come and curse the Israelites so they will leave the land. When the men arrive, they bring what was considered a traditional fee/payment for a diviner. Baalam asks them to stay the night, at which time he would enquire of the Lord as to whether he could go with them. God comes to him later and asks him who the men are. Baalam replies, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ^‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ” (Numbers 22:10-11) God then says, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” So he's not allowed to go, and tells his visitors.


Not long after this, the king sends more important men to try and convice Baalam to come. Knowing full well what God has already said, a great big NO!, Baalam still asks these men to stay the night, and he would enquire of the Lord. Now this is the point we come to. Baalam, knowing very clearly what God's will is, seeks to see if there has been any change of mind. So God concedes and allows Baalam to go, but only to say what God tells him to say. What follows shortly after is what confused me for awhile. The Bible says that God became angry at Baalam for going (Numbers 22:22).


Until this morning, that verse had me very confused. I thought, if God told Baalam to go, then why was he getting angry at Baalam for going? Wasn't Baalam just doing what he was told? My husband and I mulled over this last night as we were getting ready for bed, and neither of us could come up with a probable answer. So this morning when I sat down, I naturally turned to this passage again and discovered something interesting. 


Yes, Baalam did go. Yes, God did give permission. But what God was really angry at was Baalam's attitude. He should never have questioned God in the first place. What God said is what God said. 2 Peter 2:15-16 outlines Baalam's true motive, They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ^but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. Baalam's true motive for wanting to go was greed. He wanted the money and prestige for the job. He wanted an excuse to gain benefits for himself. Yes, he was initially doing what God told him, but I don't believe that when he went, he intended to say what God wanted him to say. He was going to say whatever he wanted to please the 'highest bidder'. His motives were totally wrong.

So what does God do to make sure he obeys? He uses a donkey to speak to Baalam. As Baalam journeys toward Moab, his donkey decides to keep turning off the path and go another way. His donkey just refuses to take him to Moab. What Baalam cannot see is that an Angel of the Lord is preventing Baalam and his donkey from continuing on in their journey by standing in the donkey's way. Baalam keeps whipping the donkey in order to get it to move. Finally, the donkey has enough, and God opens the donkey's mouth to speak to Baalam.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

^And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”

^So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”

And he said, “No.”

Numbers 22:28-30

God was making it clear to Baalam that since he insisted on going to Moab, things were going to be done God's way, and only God's way. If Baalam was going there to pronounce a curse on the Israelites, then God would not allow his donkey to go on any further.

This story shows the importance of doing things with the right motives. It is so easy to get caught up in wanting to get things for ourselves that we forget what life is really all about. It is about following God, and doing things God's way. We need to be so careful that we don't do things for the wrong motive. We need to also be careful that we do not question God when he tells us a reason for doing or not doing something. If someone said to you, don't touch the fire, its hot, then we need to trust that they know what they are talking about. Two lessons can be drawn from this passage: don't question God, and don't do things with the wrong motive. It just isn't worth it.

P.S. A short 'LOL' for you. After posting this, I had an attack of, am I doing the right thing? Did I really hear from God? What am I doing here? I am 25, nearly 26 (in 7 days time), and writing full time. Shouldn't I be out there in full time paid work like so many other people my age? BIG LOL!!!! Why didn't I just take my own medicine and remember Baalam, not question God and just do what He told me to do?

You know, this takes sacrifice. Its not just something you do on the spur of the moment. Financial sacrifices are a biggie. We don't have as much as we would like. But that's okay. Contrary to popular belief, IT'S NOT ABOUT MONEY! I would rather be in the will of God than have all the money in the world. If the reason I went to Bible College was to go out and earn lots of money, I would have doing it with the wrong motives, just like Baalam. I went there to serve God, period. If God chooses to bless me with money for it, then great. But until then, I'll keep writing. If I make a few enemies, so what? I'm in God's will, and that's all that matters.

Why does God allow pain and suffering?

You know, sometimes we have pain in our lives that we just can't explain, and we cant reason away. Today I came across this story just randomly, and it really encouraged me, so I wanted to share it all with you. I don't know where it originates from or who wrote it, but it is a beautiful story.


A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut, and his bread trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a conversation about many things, and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said, "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist."

"Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barber shop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair, and an untrimmed beard. The customer then turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber, " You know what? Barber's don't exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here and I am a barber, and I just worked on you."

"No," the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty, long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist. That's what happens when people do not come to me."

"Exactly," affirmed the customer. "That's the point. God, too, DOES exist. That's what happens when people do not go to HIM, and do not look to HIM for help."

"That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world"


When you have pain, you need to turn to God, because He's the only one who can help you. It's just the plain truth of it.

Do you see Jesus in your cloud?

            Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. 

                                      Revelation 1:7

Quite often in the Bible, clouds are always associated with God. In our lives, clouds can represent sorrows or frustrations, and even confusing times where we are not really sure of our life direction. It is in these times we can sometimes wonder whether God is actually there at all. We don't feel Him, we can't see Him, and our circumstances seem to betray something other than His constant presence. It feels as if He is completely absent, and doesn't even care about what we are going through. Yet it is through these very circumstances (or clouds) that God is teaching us to walk by faith. If we had no hard times, why would we need faith? We would become self sufficient, and wouldn't need God at all.

Today in my devotion time, I was reminded of a simple truth. When we have those times in our lives where we are not quite sure where God is taking us, and when we feel completely lost, God is still there. There are times when we feel as if our head is in a fog, and we can't really see or think clearly. I know recently, I have been asking God what He is doing, and where is He taking me. I have felt a little lost, and wondering why God is taking me the way He is. There are things in my life at the moment, that I have been continually asking God for direction about, and yet I seem to hear no answer. I have been wondering why God is so silent. So what do you do in those times? I guess you just keep walking.

Do you know that God is there in those cloudy times, when you are unsure of anything? Do you feel lost? God is there. Do you feel confused and dazed? God is there. 

The Bible says that the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3). Clouds are evident that God has been walking there. There is nothing that happens in your life which God does not already know about. Take comfort that you are in a cloud, because you know that God is in there with you. Depend upon it.

My inspiration this morning came from God first, but through this devotion by Oswald Chambers: http://utmost.org/do-you-see-jesus-in-your-clouds/

Generous provision for a foreigner

(14) So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. (15) And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. (16) Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. (17) And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. (18) Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” (19) Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. (20) So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (21) He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:14-21 NKJV

When I was reading in my devotional time this morning before getting into a days writing, I came across this passage. One thing that struck me which hadn't before was the circumstances surrounding Hagar's provision. May I pose to you the question that was posed to me this morning? What was it exactly that Hagar ran out of? Then afterwards, what did God replace it with?

God showed me that He can provide for even those who consider themselves unworthy of Him, or even those who think themselves alienated from Him. You see, Hagar ran out of a mere skin of water, and God gave her a well. Not only did He provide for the thirst of herself and her son, but provided them with water to live upon for a long time. God not only provided for their immediate needs, but also their long term needs. And this was someone who was considered an alien among God's people! Hagar was born an Egyptian, not an Israelite. God was providing for a foreigner, when in the future God would be considered by His people to be exclusively devoted to the Israelite nation. Of course, this event  happened before the nation was formed, but the lessons are here nonetheless. God not only provided the minimal amount required for Hagar, He provided over and above what she needed for herself and her son.

People say they find it hard to see a God of grace in the Old Testament. If only they would look a little deeper, they would find occasions like this where the grace of God is visible, even before the beginning of the new covenant.

What about those people now, who consider themselves too far gone to ever be considered as a friend by God again? What about those who feel they are too far from God to ever make a comeback? What about those who feel unworthy of God's love and care? This picture shows us that the same God of love who appears in the Old and New Testaments, the same God who created the entire universe and yet notices this insignificant little Egyptian servant, it is this God who notices us. He sees our situations, those ones which to us seem insignificant to even mention to Him, and He cares about them. If God cares about a foreigner, why wouldn't He care about you? Talk to Him about it; share your deepest concerns and worries. He can take care of you, just as He did the foreigner. Depend upon it.


© Corallie Buchanan 2010

Genesis 1:1-7 - Could man have lived forever if they had not sinned?

I was reading in my Bible this morning from Genesis 1:1-7, which says:

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

^2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ^3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ^5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

^6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ^7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

When I saw that, I saw the words "You will not surely die" (verse 4) and thought, 'Well, straight away we know that he was lying, because they did die...spiritually.' But then the thought crossed my mind, 'Well, they also died physically, but not straight away. I wonder if sin had not entered the world, would Adam and Eve have lived forever?'

That thought really caught my attention. Then I was reminded of the verse sin Romans 5:12, 18-21:

(12) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned...

^18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ^19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

^20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ^21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I realised that had Adam and Eve not done wrong by God, everyone would have lived forever without death or suffering. It was our mistake that brought death into the world, not God's.

 People might ask, 'Why does God allow pain and suffering?' Well, we were the ones who brought it here in the first place. By placing that tree in the garden, God was giving us a choice from the very beginning. He loved Adam and Eve so much that he couldn't bear the thought of a relationship that was anything but choice. Don't we know that when you choose to love someone is far better, rather than being forced to love someone because you have no other option? It is the difference between a dictatorship rule where allegiance and obedience is forced out of you, and a loving rule where you are not obligated to love, but only encouraged. If you believe God to be the former, then you are SORELY MISTAKEN. God is not a dictator. He could not dictate to Adam and Eve that they WOULD love Him because they had no other option. God gave them the way to opt out of a relationship with Him if they so wished. And opt out they did.

So if you want somebody to blame for all the pain and suffering in the world, look no further than humanity. We cannot blame God for something He did not create. If everybody just showed a little more love to the people around them, those people would be making a difference in that there would be less suffering and pain in their little corner of the world. Think about it: human beings are the creators of pain, but they can also be the creators of love. God gave us that capacity. What are you going to do about it?