True Happiness

“Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord!
Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation!”
Psalms 95:1 The Living Bible

We all want to be happy.  We search for ways to feel significant as we look for fulfillment. And we do feel satisfied and content and even fulfilled to an extent as we build up our self esteem and climb our ladder in life.  Yet these things never completely make us happy.  Eventually we look deeper than in ourselves.  Hopefully we look to God.

God made us to find our joy in Him.  We don’t lose ourselves and our identity when we look for fulfillment in Him.  Instead we find completeness.  We become one with Him. We find our deep fulfillment as we submit to Him because that is what He has made us for.

When we are feeling down nothing uplifts us like a song of praise to God.  It isn’t just that we forget about ourselves and our problems as we focus on God.  We take ourselves, including our challenges, with us into God’s presence and give them to Him knowing He will make us competent to handle them His way.

Real joy, which is a fruit of the Spirit, comes in worshipping God.  It’s joy that stays with us.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

What could I do for you to make you happy? Would you say one thing or would you have to give me a long list before you could really say you would be happy?

Maybe you are longing for a pet and you think, if only I had that cute little puppy I would be so happy.  Or maybe your best friend just moved away and you are thinking, if only I could be with my best friend again I would be so happy.  It’s true.  You would be happy but only for awhile then you would want more good things to happen.

God says to delight ourselves in Him and He will give us the desires of our heart.  Part of to delight in Him means to worship Him.  Singing praise songs to God is a way to worship Him.  Singing songs about God lifts our spirit because we are inviting God to come close to us when we worship Him.

We will still feel sad because our best friend moved away and we will still want a puppy. At the same time we will feel life is OK because God is taking care of this all and helping us deal with it. After all, God is with us and He is the most important part of our life.

Portraying Love: A Fruit of the Spirit

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”  1Corinthians 13:1 NKJV

If we have the gift of tongues, that is being able to speak in other languages without learning them, or if we can speak all the languages in the world but don’t love others, it’s all for nothing. We aren’t serving God from our heart.  As far as God is concerned, it’s just  a lot of noise and show. In our relationship with God it’s our heart, our motive that counts.

This thirteenth chapter in Corinthians has a lot to say about love.  Love is patient and kind. 

It has a whole lot to say about what love isn’t also. Love doesn’t foster envy, or pride, nor a haughty attitude, rudeness or selfishness. If we love we don’t demand to have our way.  And love hardly notices when others offend us.

The last part of love’s description in this chapter of love really warms my heart.  When you love someone you are loyal to him, and believe in him, and even stand your ground defending him.

Don’t you want to experience that kind of love from others?  I do.  And I certainly want to portray that kind of love to others too.  But how can we?  Is anyone really ever so full of love?

Our society and technology today actually gets in the way of close relationships.  Recorded voices inform us to leave a message at the beep. Instead of going inside at the gas station and chat we pay at the pumps. Most of us no longer go into the bank and start up a conversation with the teller. Instead we stop at the ATM.  We even shop on line and miss out on the smiles of friendly staff.  We have traded human contacts for electronic ones. It is easy to live in isolation.

Fortunately there are still many ways to connect with people and show love to them.  Sometimes we may need to structure connections into our life.  We need to plan on spending time with family, keeping up with friends, reading to our children, visiting grandpa and grandma, or visiting the sick.

There are many ways to show love at the office or your place of work.  Just exchanging a few words with your co-workers at the water cooler showing interest in their lives, like asking where they went on vacation. Everything seems to be on a competition level.  Instead we need to generously give of our time, expertise, or just attention to help some one out.  What you give always comes back, multiplied.
Remembering that love is a fruit of the Spirit we know we don’t have to worry about conjuring up a ton of love when we walk into a place that makes us uncomfortable.  It’s as we connect with God and let His love fill us that it overflows to the people around us.  And the best part is that love begets love.  When you smile at someone they smile back.

 

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”  1Corinthians 13:1 NKJV

If you play in a band or even just enjoy your favorite music on CD’s or the radio or the internet you know how loud brass instruments and cymbals can be.  God says that’s all we are, a loud noise, if we try to save the world just to look good and have people honor us.

We admire clever people who know several languages.  We stand in awe of people who understand and teach prophecy.  If we knew anyone who had enough faith to move a mountain we would almost worship him, although that would be wrong.  We  honor someone like Mother Theresa who gave everything she had to help the poor.  And then we   humbly admire the martyrs who were burnt at the stake for teaching the Gospel. 
 
These are all worthy, Christ like actions to be commended.  Yet God says if we do any of these things or even all of them they are of no value to us spiritually at all unless we do them out of love; unless we do them to please God because we love Him or out of love for our fellow human being. 

God wants us to show love to the people in our lives everyday.  He nudges us to show kindness as we wait in line for the bus in the morning to let the girl with cerebral palsy get on first instead of bowling her over as we elbow our way in.  He coaxes us to treat that kid to lunch who forgot his lunch or came without.  He reminds us to respect and honor our teacher when the class gets unruly and causes a crisis.

These things may sound hard to do.  We get so wrapped up in ourselves. But God wants us to love and to show love.  Again, if we do these things to impress God or people we have it all wrong.  And, yes, we can’t do these on our own strength.  As we spend time with God He takes over in our desires and feelings and these things come naturally. And if we do them out of love for God then we please Him.

The Fruit of the Spirit

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control;” Galatians 5: 22

Because we live close to the Rocky Mountain foothills and the altitude is so high in Calgary, we have to adapt our gardening habits. Backyard green houses are very common or garden frames. I can get a head start on my gardening if I start my plants in the house in early spring or buy young plants at the end of May.

This last March I was very impatient.  I wanted spring to come and decided to help it along by starting my plants, in the house, way too early.  By the end of April the dahlias were already two feet tall and my oriental lilies were already blooming on my kitchen table.  When I finally set my dahlias out they blossomed beautifully all summer and even now are displaying huge saucer size colorful blooms. But my oriental lilies died off within a week leaving the green stems to remind me of my impatience.

One spring I was fascinated by the scarlet flowered beans that grow to the top of the fence.  I started some on my window sill. They sprouted so quickly and their tendrils curled all over my chairs and TV trays in the dining room window.  By May the snow was gone and the sun was shining brightly. When I got up in the morning it was at least 10 degrees centigrade. The bean tendrils were already three feet long and I knew I was trying my husband’s patience with my inside garden.

Then and there I decided I too had had enough of these plants evading on my dinner plate so next morning out they went.  I knew better.  I know you’re supposed to harden your plants off before you plant them outdoors but it’s such a tedious procedure.  First you set the plant out on the patio in the sun for a very short time and then take it in.  The next day you put it out longer and every day a little longer until it gets used to the outdoor coolness and atmosphere. Then you can finally plant it. Even then you may have to cover it on cool nights and cooler days. I had lots of writing to do and decided to just plant them against the fence.  For a couple of days I had beautiful green bean plants running up my poles but slowly most of them just shriveled up and slowly died. 

This hard, time consuming work of tending vegetables and flowers makes me think of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We try different tactics to sprout and grow them ourselves in our lives. We even have some success.

 Just like my plants that did so well in my warm sunny kitchen we can display symptoms of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as long as we practice them in a controlled environment. It’s easy to show love to others and be patient with people as long as everything is peaceful and we are in control.  But then things start going wrong. We get super busy and run out of time. We get frustrated and go back to our old habits of blaming others for my problems.

 Sometimes we try so hard and it seems no matter how many different tactics we try, no fruit appears.  That reminds me of the Lily of the Valley roots I purchased and not one of them grew.  Even my young Peony plant was stunted in its growth.  This time I knew I wasn’t too blame for failure.  I had to look further and realized I had bought these roots on sale at a hardware store.  They just weren’t healthy roots. I promised my self to buy all of my roots and bulbs at the renowned garden centre next year.

At times we too forget the source of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We even attempt to grow these fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control relying on our own strength. Or just like my young tender plants that I set out too early and a touch of frost kills them; outside influences overcome our good inclinations.

Only the Holy Spirit can grow the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to be close to God, spending time with Him in prayer and reading His Word and obeying Him as He leads us. It’s only yielding to Him that brings godly fruit into our lives.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

In the Bible we read about fruits of the Holy Spirit that God wants to grow in our lives.  These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Probably most kids, even you, would like to have these characteristics.  We all try to live these values.  But it’s hard to always love, or be good or self-controlled when things aren’t going our way or we are tired or some one is giving us a hard time.

Well, I have news for you.  God doesn’t even want you to try to be these things all by yourself in your own strength.  He wants to grow these characteristics in you.  He does that when you spend time with Him.

 Just like you are influenced by other kids when you spend time with them and become kind of like them, you are influenced by God when you spend time with Him and become like Him.

  You can spend time with God by reading the Bible and listening to what He wants to say to you.  You also spend time with Him when you pray to Him or when you go to a Bible Study or Prayer time at church with your friends. The more time you spend with God the more fruit the Holy Spirit produces in your life if you let Him. 

Jesus says He is like a vine to us and we are like the branches of that vine. The branches get life from the vine so we bear fruit that the vine bears. We are blessed to be chosen by the God of the universe to be in such a close relationship with Him.

When Jesus Chooses You

“One day as he was walking along the beach beside the Lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers – Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew – out in a boat fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.
Jesus called out, ‘Come along with me and I will show you how to fish for the souls of men!’  And they left their nets at once and went with him.
A little farther up the beach he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and he called to them to come too.  At once they stopped their work and, leaving their father behind, went with him.” Matthew 4:18 -22 The Living Bible

How honored these four fishermen must have felt to be chosen by Jesus to further His Kingdom. But God had prepared them.  They were introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist and were there when Jesus was baptized. God always prepares us before He call us.  If He calls we can be assured that he also enables us or gifts us to do the work He asks of us. These four men were fishermen but Jesus called them to be fishers of men.

 Are you hearing God’s call too but hanging back, not quite sure that you want to or can do what He asks of you?  A few years ago I really believed that God was calling me to write for Him.  I always wanted to be a teacher but since my husband was a builder it made sense to me to run the office for him, do the bookwork and all that it entails.  But the time came when it became feasible for him to sell the business and at middle age I went back to college for my credentials to teach preschool.  And what fun I had.  I loved teaching. Preschoolers are so impressionable and I fell in love with them as they fell in love with me. 

So I taught a few years but I never forgot about my dream.  Ever since I was an adolescent I dreamed of being a writer.  I had taken some courses in writing years ago, did some writing but decided to leave it for some profitable job instead. 

When we moved to Calgary I took advantage of all the employment opportunities and worked in an office.  I liked it but there was always that ache to be write.  I chided myself that I was too busy and I didn’t want to spend all that time writing my book and then maybe not having it published.  Office work was my safer choice.

I knew God was calling me to write, especially this specific book that was forming in my mind.  Through some wonderful people’s encouragement I finally quit my job and wrote while I helped my daughter home school my grandkids. And God has been faithful in guiding me and bringing me to have my book The Lion Tree published and much more in my writer’s world.
I also have a children’s picture book, A Christmas Present for Goliath that my granddaughter illustrated, ready to go to the printers.  My next book, Battle in the Lion Tree, is in the making.

You too can trust God in His call in your life. God is faithful. If He calls you He will do it.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

Do you ever wonder why you’re here on earth?  What God make you for?  You’re busy all day enjoying your activities: school, sports, friends, family and your hobbies.  But sometimes you might wonder, how does this all come together?

God has given you those interests and talents and abilities. Maybe you’re great in music, or in sports.  Maybe you’re a real leader.  Your friends and even your teacher look to you to initiate things.  Maybe you’re very socialable and just love being with kids and interacting.  Maybe you’re quiet but your mind is always analyzing what’s going on around you.  God has given you these individual gifts and is already developing them in your life to fit in with the plans He has for your life that He will reveal in His time.  He has chosen you to serve Him in these ways. He is already using them in your life to be a blessing to others.

Just as Jesus called these four fishermen to come follow Him Jesus is calling you to use your talents and abilities to bring glory to Him.  I hope you have big dreams of how you can use these specific gifts to please Him more and more as you mature.  God promises that He is faithful; He will be there for you making sure you can accomplish what He calls you do to for Him.

Desiring God

“Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely look for Him.”  Hebrews 11:6 The Living Bible

A few months ago I found myself backing away from God.  It wasn’t that I didn’t love Him and didn’t want to follow Him.  It was because a few doubts arose in my mind.  I wondered if I really worshipped the true God of the Bible or did I serve my own version of God; making God who I wanted Him to be to do my bidding.

I think we all sometimes conjure up faulty thoughts about God.  Our misconceptions of God result from our misunderstanding of who God is. Perfectionists in our lives expect our lives to be perfect and judge us when we make a mistake or fail.  So we think God must criticize us too instead of understand and forgive us and grow us.  We pray for healing but we don’t get better so we conclude we didn’t pray hard enough or we didn’t have enough faith.  The issue is to maintain our faith in God’s goodness. Another faulty thought we often carry around is that if God blesses our neighbor with the exact blessing we have been praying for but He doesn’t bless us then God must not like us very much.  But He has a different plan for each one of us, all of them good.

I think of the two disciples, Peter and John.  Jesus chose Peter to build His church.  Peter was persecuted and finally crucified.  John is called Jesus’ disciple that He loved.  He was exiled to the Island of Patmos where God gave him the revelation of the end times.  John is the only disciple that died a natural death.  Did God favor John more that Peter?  No; He only had a different agenda for each one.

Our questioning is a good thing.  It leads to a deeper understanding of who God is.  In His patience God didn’t leave me waiting on the sidelines wondering where He was in my life but He came Himself and led me out of my doubts.  God accepts us just where we are with Him and then grows us deeper in our relationship with Him.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

Do you know that God is just waiting to be your best friend?  He wants you to desire Him. He wants you to think about Him and talk to Him about everything in your life.  He wants you to adore Him; to make Him your hero.

That doesn’t mean you go around all day with your head in the clouds ignoring everyone and pretending to be a supernatural holy person.  Look at Jesus.  He desired God above everything else and He was always mingling with the people in whatever they were doing. 

How did He show His desire for God? He worshipped God His Father at the temple, He spent time with God alone on a regular basis, He cared about people, and He put God’s will above His own.

Jesus said it all in a couple of sentences:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” And He added, “Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” [Matthew 23: 37 and 39 The Living Bible]

Integrity in Action

“As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And set me before Your face forever.”  Psalm 41:12 NKJV

Do you ever struggle with the meaning of integrity?  What is it really?  The World Book dictionary defines integrity as honesty or sincerity; uprightness. Throughout the Bible I see it as righteousness.

How far does God want us to go with integrity?  Is it acceptable to compromise at times? Can I set my standards of integrity too high so they become legalistic? If I spend an hour with God each day instead of half an hour during my devotion time am I more righteous than I was yesterday when I spent only half an hour. If I fast one day a week does that make me a person of greater integrity?  Do I judge people’s integrity by their works?

The Pharisees focused on deeds to be seen by men as their righteousness. They prayed long prayers in public places to be seen by men but their motives were wrong.  They focused on the act instead of the heart of the matter.  They lacked mercy. They didn’t care about people’s needs.

Jesus warned the multitudes about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  Their righteousness consisted of works to make themselves look good. Jesus said that God demands more than that.  The meticulous righteous deeds of the church leaders in Jesus’ day were highly regarded by the ordinary Jew.  But washing of hands was more important to them than helping the poor or giving mercy or justice to the downcast.

 I discovered only one way to be righteous and one way to stop judging others in their place of integrity.  We become righteous when we accept Jesus’ atonement for our sins. Our integrity comes wrapped up in Jesus’ answer to what is the greatest commandment of all. He answered that we are to love God with all our heart, our soul and our mind and love our neighbor as ourselves.  The only righteousness that satisfies God’s standard is faith in Jesus Christ.

Bible Truths for your kids:

The Bible is all about integrity.  If you are a person of integrity that means you do the right thing even if it makes you look bad. 

When I was a kid in grade two I was not always a person of integrity.  Our teacher gave us some health rules to follow. I don’t remember them all but I know they included brushing our teeth in the morning, cleaning our fingernails and taking cod liver oil.  I hated cod liver oil.  In those days no one had invented vitamins so we were stuck with drinking a tablespoon of fish oil instead.

I grew up in a big family of fourteen kids so when we lined up for our cod liver oil my mom didn’t always notice who had taken some and who she had missed.  It was easy to cheat.  Sometimes I didn’t line up. But at school I placed a big check mark on my chart beside ‘cod liver oil’.  I wanted to look good and I also wanted a prize for good health at the end of the term.  What I did was wrong. My teacher couldn’t tell if I was telling the truth or lying, but God knew. 

There are many ways to practice integrity or honesty. One is to follow the rules even when no one is around to check up on you; another is to hand that ten dollar bill you found on the floor to your teacher so he can find out who it belongs to instead of just stuffing it into your backpack; and still another is keeping your word like keeping a fun date with your friend even when a better offer comes along.

Practicing integrity means you not only talk the talk but you walk the walk.  Jesus said we not only need to hear His Word but we need to do it.  It’s easy to run off a list of things you know will put others first and bless them but it’s harder to do it

 You need to match what you do with what you say or what you believe. This is hard to do sometimes because our group of friends will not always think we are cool when we choose to do right. On the other hand God and the people who really matter, especially later in life, will eventually honor you for being honest and you will develop confidence in yourself because you are being who you know you should be and not a clone of your friends. 

“Assign me Godliness and Integrity as my bodyguards…” Psalm25:21[The Living Bible]