Monthly Archives: March 2014

Three Little Words

Posted on by Lynda Stringer

There are times when, although we know God is with us, but we don’t feel Him in our lives. We’re confused about His plans for us and we doubt His presence and His great love for us. But, He is there when you’re at your lowest or at your highest. He’s there in the valleys and on the mountain tops. Sometimes, we have to strip away all the chaos, the distractions of life, call out to him and then be still and listen for his voice. It’s in the stillness that we feel His comforting hand.

If you feel alone or like you’re being swept up in the waves of life, reaching out for a life preserver, hold onto this eternal truth:

“God loves you.”

godlovesyouheartAnd, never underestimate the power of those three words! I first heard them from my childhood friend, Lisa, when I was just 7 years old. I believe the Holy Spirit used her to breathe them into my young heart and mind long before I ever found Him.

I have never forgotten my friend, who loved Jesus with her whole heart. I have carried her words with me all these years. They had such a profound impact on me; the first step in my journey toward a personal relationship with Christ. I didn’t understand what was missing in my life and spent 20 more years taking wrong turns and following dead end – at times destructive – paths in my search for things to fill the void in my heart. But, I always knew with certainty that there was a God and that he loved me.

Say those words to someone who needs to hear them. And, carry them with you along your journey through the valley and to the mountain top.

 

 

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10 

God’s Not Dead – No Compromise!

Posted on by Lynda Stringer

gods-not-dead-posterI got a chance to see the movie God’s Not Dead during its opening weekend. It was powerful, poignant and convicting.

The movie centers on an atheist philosophy professor who tells his students if they write “God is Dead” on a piece of paper and sign their name, they will pass the first portion of his class – 30 percent of their grade.

One freshman student, Josh Wheaton, who is a Christian, can’t bring himself to write the words…to deny his God. The professor gives him an alternative assignment. He must present evidence to the class that proves the existence of God. Josh takes the challenge as long as the students serve as the jury.

What struck me was how the other students so nonchalantly signed that declaration. It was just an easy grade.

But what affected me the most was Josh’s longtime girlfriend who didn’t want him to do it because he could fail the class and that would alter their perfectly ordered life plan. In fact, no one in his family wanted him to do it.

How many of us don’t want to step out of our comfortable Christian “bubbles” to do the hard work of witnessing? We don’t speak up in the name of keeping the peace and being “tolerant.” But, in failing to do so, we compromise our faith.

As believers in God and followers of Christ, we MUST defend our faith and stand up for God and Jesus Christ no matter the cost! Compromise leads others astray.

Here’s the most convicting part:

Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33, “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Driving the Speed Limit

Posted on by Lynda Stringer

Drive 60 pic I was driving to work the other day – I drive  70 miles one way – and I noted a milestone  on my speedometer. It rolled to 130,000  miles. Seven thousand miles since  November. I’ve gotten good at the drive.  God has taught me patience. Over and over.  After four months of driving through small  East Texas towns on my way to Tyler, I call  them “worship miles.” That’s how I get  through the frustrations of the commute. I  make it my time with God. My time to  worship him and let him speak to me  through the music.

Well, I took a picture of that 130,000 mile  rollover – safely from a parking lot – and  posted it to Facebook, of course. But on my  way again, Satan sure tested all the things I’d learned about patience and showing Christ to others. I started to get annoyed at the slow drivers ahead of me on a two-lane no passing zone and the fast drivers behind me riding my bumper. I yelled aloud to myself, “I just want to drive 60!!!” That’s the speed limit most of the way until you get into the towns and have to remember to slow down to 55, then 50, then 45, then 35 and remember when it’s 60 and when its 70 so you don’t get pulled over….again! Apparently “I was worshipping God” does not get you out of a ticket for going 70 in the 55. Then there’s the bipolar gas station at the edge of one town whose gas price changes will give you whiplash. It’s $3.15 one morning, $3.09 that afternoon, and $3.29 the very next morning. What is up with that?????

Well, my plea to just be able to go the speed limit got me thinking about what speed God wants me to go. He certainly doesn’t want me to speed and get another ticket. He also doesn’t want me to ride someone’s bumper, impatiently nudging them to get out of the way.  But, does he want me to “just go the speed limit” in my spiritual life?

I don’t think so.

I think there are times of urgency when he wants me speed down the road and make a difference for the kingdom. Shift into high gear and race down the open road. He tells us in Hebrews 12:1-2 to run with endurance.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.…”

He also wants me to slow down sometimes to notice the people around me. To really see the ones he loves who are hurting. He wants me to see them how he sees them, whether they are driving 40 in a 60 or tapping my tailgate to get around me in order to drive 80 in the same 60 mph stretch of highway.

What has their day been like? What are they going through? What are they racing toward or slowly dreading?

If I just see them as I see them, as one of my commuter frustrations, how can I be a blessing or show Christ to them? Am I worshipping God at the same time I’m shaking my fist at their driving habits? If I am, I fear I am just going through the motions of the Christian life, letting the world crowd in instead applying His word to my everyday circumstances. I want them to be able to unmistakenly see Christ in me…to live in such a way that they will come to know Christ in a personal way. I want to shine his light brighter than my high beams on that narrow stretch of tree-lined country road that leads me home.

Lord, I pray that you will be my GPS, my cruise control, my speedometer and that you would post angels on my gas pedal. I pray that my actions match the Jesus fish on my car and speak your Word to my fellow commuters along life’s highway.