"Don’t Lose Focus"

“Let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, looking away from all that will distract us and focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith.” –Hebrews 12:1-2 AMP

We are well into the year 2016, and sometimes it’s good to revisit and re-evaluate your goals and aspirations for the year.  At the onset of the year, I wrote a blog titled “Run YOUR Race in 2016”, which encouraged you to ‘stay in YOUR lane, and run YOUR race’.  It also explained what happens when you stray from what God has for YOU.  You can start out the year with good intentions, focused, and ready.  But as life happens, it’s easy to get distracted and get off track.  In our key scripture here, I want to zero in on one key phrase, “focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author”. 

The author of a book knows the beginning and the end.  So, if Jesus is the Author, we don’t have to worry because He has it all under control.  We need only focus our eyes on Him.  Identify the distractions that are pulling your focus away from Jesus.  Maybe it’s family issues, relationships and associations, the workplace, extra-curricular activities or hobbies.  Whatever it is, the beginning of verse one has the answer, “stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us”. 

We know the age old story of Peter walking on the water.  Jesus commanded him to “Come!”, and he did.  A mortal human being walking on water.  An amazing sight, I’m sure.  But when Peter took His eyes off of Jesus, and started to focus on what was going on around him (the strong wind and the waves –Matthew 14:30), --the distractions-- he began to sink.  So, don’t lose focus.  Revisit and re-evaluate, and let’s finish 2016 strong.

Margaret Slaughter

“The Best Laid Plans”

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.  Don’t assume that you know it all.” –Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG

In the book “To A Mouse”, there’s a line that says, ‘The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’  That statement is so true.  We set out with excitement to plan something.  Everything seems to be lined up and ready, and then disaster strikes.  Why?  Because we leave God out of the planning, and then expect Him to bless it.  Wrong order.  “Listen for God’s voice in everything you do”.  That means spending time in prayer and meditation before you move.  Think about it, seeking Him first can save you a lot of time, aggravation, and clean up.  God is concerned about every area of our lives.  He certainly knows what’s best for us.  And nothing catches Him by surprise.  So sit back and relax.  Let Him do the heavy lifting!

Margaret Slaughter

“Become Like Little Children”

“Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

–Matthew 18:2-4 NLT

When I read this scripture I thought, what does that mean, “become like little children”?  While thinking, I started to jot down words that I thought described little children:

ü Trusting – showing or tending to have a belief in a person’s honesty or sincerity; not suspicious.

ü Innocent – free from moral wrong; not corrupted; not intended to cause harm or offense; harmless.

ü Forgiving – ready and willing to forgive.

ü Resilient – able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching or being compressed.

ü Observant – quick to notice things.

ü Eager to learn – gain or acquire knowledge of or skill by study, experience, or being taught.

ü Loving – feeling or showing love or great care.

ü Non-judgmental – avoiding moral judgments

ü Humble –having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.

ü Repentant – expressing or felling sincere regret and remorse.

How many of these words describe you?  If your answer is very little, you’ve got some work to do.  It’s very easy to lose sight of your Christian walk when you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life.  It’s very important to ‘check in’ periodically, take inventory, and see where you are on the Christian barometer.

When you’re driving, the GPS system gives you step by step directions to help you get to your destination.  If you make a wrong turn, it recalculates when you get off course, and sets you back in the right direction.  In your Christian walk why not use the GOD system when you get off course.  He’s ready, willing, and able to help you recalculate and set you back in the right direction.

Margaret Slaughter

The Chicken vs. The Eagle

 

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” –1 Corinthians 15:33 AMP

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, ‘birds of a feather flock together’.  Meaning, people with same interests, goals, and behaviors stick together.  What do the people you spend time with say about you?

Psalm 1 reads, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.  But not the wicked!  They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.  They will be condemned at the time of judgment.  Sinners will have no place among the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”

Let’s look at the Chicken vs. the Eagle.  Both a species of bird, but vastly different.

Chickens are gregarious (fond of company) birds and live together in flocks.  They often scratch at the soil to search for seeds or insects, hardly looking up.  Chickens have wings, but are only capable of flying short distances.  They establish a ‘pecking order’, with dominant chickens having priority for food access and nesting locations. 

 An Eagle is a large bird of prey, renowned for its keen sight and powerful soaring flight.  Most eagles have short tails and broad long wings allowing them to soar high above open plains and water.  Eagles are admired the world over as living symbols of power, freedom, and transcendence.  The eagle is the symbol of mercy in Jewish culture.  Even though the eagle is a bird of prey and it needs to eat small animals to survive, it is kind at heart.  Naturalists are amazed by the delicate and gentle consideration an eagle will show to its children, or eaglets.  A pair of eagles are faithful to each other, staying together year after year, returning to the same nest each season.

Are you spending your time with chickens or eagles?  Chickens have a limited view of the world, only able to fly short distances, accustomed to looking down.  Eagles are powerful, loyal birds, kind and gentle, able to soar and explore.  So I ask you, do you want to cluck with the chickens, or soar with the eagles?

Margaret Slaughter

Let Go of the Back-Up Plan

 

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.  So Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from having children.  Go and sleep with my servant.  Perhaps I can have children through her.’  And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.” –Genesis 16:12

I’m sure we can all say the Lord has promised us some things.  However, if the promise doesn’t come to pass as quickly as we think it should, we feel the need to help the Lord out.  ‘Ok, Lord, I know you said you would do it, but . . .’  Stop messing in the Lord’s business, and get rid of the back-up plan.  If He said it, He will do it.

In Genesis Chapter 15, the Lord made Abram a promise: “But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?  Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.  You have given me no descendents of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.’  Then the Lord said to him, ‘No your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.’  Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can.  That’s how many descendants you will have!”   Nowhere in this promise did the Lord say, ‘if it doesn’t happen in a year or two, feel free to help me out’.   Just one chapter later, his wife Sarai decides to implement the back-up plan.  Abram knew what the Lord had promised, but he willingly participated in the back-up plan.  Whenever we meddle in the Lord’s business, we alter His blessings for us.  The back-up plan caused dissension in Abram’s household, forcing him to banish his first born child. 

How do we know the Lord’s promises will come to pass?  Because His Word says so.  “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.  Has He said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19)  So, let go of the back-up plan, and let the Lord complete what He has promised.

Margaret Slaughter