#HeartForTheWord

We often beat ourselves up because we make foolish decisions. It’s true that we ought not be proud of the stupid stuff we decide to do; however, the Bible helps us gain some perspective regarding those times when we blow it.

Judges chapter 11 relates the story of Jephthah. Although he was “a mighty man of valor,” his parentage caused him to be looked down upon. He was the son of a harlot, and the sons of his father’s wife “drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman” Judges 11:2 (NKJ). Being well aware that his well-being was in danger, Jephthah packed up and got out of Dodge. When he settled into his new digs in the land of Tob, he started using his might for evil, and “worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him” Judges 11:3.

As usual, what goes around comes around, and in the process of time, Jephthah’s brothers found themselves facing some folks who wanted to war against them. They needed the help of a mighty man of valor and happened to know one: Jephthah. When they approached him, Jephthah said, “Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” The elders answered, “That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead” Judges 11:7-8. Jephthah accepted their rather weak apology and went on to lead them to victory.

Several foolish decisions were made in this story. First, Jephthah’s brothers never should have kicked him out in the first place. All children are gifts from God and it’s not our place to punish a child because of how that child came into the world. Second, when he moved away, Jephthah’s choice of vocation and friends was foolish. Scripture clearly states that he was a mighty man of valor, yet he chose for a time to misuse his strength by raiding instead of aiding in his new land. Our strengths are gifts to us from God and ought only to be used for His glory.

Regardless of the foolish decisions that were made by both parties, the smart and gracious decision to reconcile led to victory. Jephthah returned to his home and “the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah” Judges 11:11. Then after negotiations failed with the enemy, “Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim,[a] with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel” Judges 11:32-33.

God can and will still bless us after we’ve made foolish decisions when we turn back to Him. This knowledge, however, should not make us careless. Every foolish decision has its consequences that could result in severe physical, emotional, and psychological harm. Still know that as imperfect people, we will mess up, but we can be thankful that all our foolish decisions are neither fatal nor final. Worship God today for being the Redeemer, not only of our souls, but also of our stupidity.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

#HeartForTheWord

Luke chapter 16 records an interesting story that Jesus told His disciples about a money manager who was about to get fired from his job. The guy’s boss had been told that this particular employee was wasting his goods. When the guy found out, he went about shrewdly handling his boss’s business so that by the time the boss got ready to fire him, the guy had gotten his act together. Still being considered an “unjust steward,” his boss still commended him for being slick. Jesus ends that part of the story, not telling us we should be sly and cagey, but by making the point that we do have to keep our eyes open when dealing with a world that doesn’t honor God. “For the sons of this world,” He says, “are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” Luke 16:8 (NKJ).

Jesus moves on from this story to teach about how we ought to view and handle money and responsibility. We are to be “faithful in what is least,” and then we can be trusted to be “faithful also in much” Luke 16:10. He also says that we cannot “serve two masters,” because we’ll love one and despise the other. We cannot serve both God and money (Luke 16:13).

Listening in on this conversation were the Pharisees who loved money. Of course, this discussion rubbed them the wrong way so they took Jesus to task. As always, Jesus had a comeback ready for them. He said, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” Luke 16:15. The religious leaders, the ones who were expected to put God first and all else second, were guilty of loving money more than they loved God. They were in error in their thinking because they justified their rush for the dollar (or denarii or shekels in their case) as something spiritual.

Jesus is not saying that we don’t need money. He is warning us, though, to keep our hearts right about money. We are to see money—and indeed everything else in life—as God sees it. “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

The society in which we live sees lots of things differently than God sees them. Do we have the guts to stand on and defend God’s views when confronted by the opposite view on any subject? Do we even know what God’s views are on contemporary topics such as the use of money, how to spend our time, sex and sexuality, health issues, the environment, child rearing, etc.? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” James 1:5 (NKJ). Worship God today for being the Wisdom-giver who can and will let us know how to see things His way.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release, Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387), at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk (Preview)

Also still available: Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

#HeartForTheWord

One of my best girlfriends had to say her final goodbye to her sweet mother, Mrs. Helen Pittman, at the memorial service. This beautiful lady had lived for almost 83 years and had touched many lives in a positive way. It just so happened that her service was scheduled to take place on Good Friday. Preparing to attend that service, I wondered, “This year, what’s so good about Good Friday?”

Good Friday is the name that Christians have given to the day on which we remember the crucifixion of our Savior. Jesus was mercilessly assassinated by the Roman power structure at the urging of the religious leaders who felt threatened by His influence. What those leaders and the Romans didn’t realize was that they were playing right into God’s hands. Jesus was born to die for the sin of the world. So the good part about that awful Friday was the fact that Jesus fulfilled His purpose by satisfying God’s wrath and thus opening the way for mankind to get to Heaven.

That still left us with the question of why it was a good Friday for us to be spending the day memorializing my friend’s mother. The answer was simple: the story of Good Friday didn’t end when Jesus hung His head and died. Without Good Friday, there would have been no Easter Sunday morning. Jesus Christ rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, becoming “the first born among many brethren” (see Romans 8:29).

And it’s because of Jesus’ resurrection that we could celebrate the passing of Mrs. Pittman. She had trusted Christ as her Savior. Even the Psalmist, the author of Psalm 49, knew of the coming redemption when he wrote, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me” (Psalm 49:15).

From our perspective, Mrs. Pittman died, but God had received her. In reality, she only went through a series of exchanges. She exchanged the body that was wearing out for a new body like Jesus’ glorious, resurrected one. She exchanged her brain that was frustratingly forgetting the people and things she loved for an acute mind that is well aware of her new surroundings. Most of all, she exchanged life on this decaying, sinful earth for eternal life forever in God’s presence. Worship God today as the Redeemer who has in His hands the power over death.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

041714: Hate Myself and Bear My Cross?

While Jesus walked the earth, He said some things His own disciples couldn’t understand. The most notable example of their misunderstanding had to be when He told them He would die and rise again. No matter how often He said it, they didn’t get it until they actually went through the experience. We’re not much different from those twelve. We read the same passages of Scripture over and over but don’t get it until we actually have the experience. So as we read Luke 14:26-27, we may be stumped by what Jesus means when He says one should “hate… his own life” and “bear his [own] cross” or one “cannot be My disciple.”

Here’s the lowdown. If we start with the basic understanding that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the risen Savior, our comprehension of the Luke passage becomes clear. The God of the universe has the right to run said universe as He pleases. Therefore, He can also tell us how to best operate in His created space as His created beings.

Our role in responding to God in Christ starts with a two-fold reaction. First, hating ourselves has nothing to do with operating in low self-esteem. Jesus is talking about giving deference to His wants and desires over our own. We will only qualify as disciples if we will do what He wants us to do even if that clashes with and cancels out what we want to do.

The second reaction is to bear our own cross. It’s not enough to simply give mental assent to Jesus’ words; we have to actually obey them. That means taking a hard look in the mirror and seeing who we really are. Bearing one’s own cross is to say, “Yes, I’m a liar, an adulterer, an idolater, a fill-in-the-blank; and God, You hate my sin. I’m willing to come to You with it so You can deliver me from it, heal me of it, reveal it completely to me, and/or show me how to overcome it.”

It will cost us our crosses to be disciples of Christ. Maybe that’s why more of us don’t break through to that title. We’re just not really willing to give it all up, even to the point of giving up all we think we were born to be.

God can be trusted with our lives and crosses. Worship God today for having a better plan for us than we could ever have for ourselves.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

Is God’s Word worth listening to? I wonder about that when those of us who claim to be Christians agree with things the Bible disagrees with, or we do things the Bible says is wrong. How can we justify persisting in performing actions, making decisions, and holding beliefs that contradict the inspired Word of God? It seems as though we’re becoming callous because we don’t see disastrous results immediately. Ecclesiastes 8:11 warns, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (NKJ).

I think maybe we don’t fully understand the extent to which our lives are not our own. Or maybe the disconnect happens because we don’t really grasp the enormity of the fact that we are children of the ultimate Master of the universe. If we indeed knew who we were—saints of the most high God—lining our lives up with our identity would be no problem. We wouldn’t be perfect all the time, but when we did fall and fail, we would be quick to get up and get right rather than wallow in the mud of our defeat. As soon as God’s word was brought to mind related to a sin in our lives, we’d immediately line ourselves up to it with no hesitation. Neither personal feelings, nor cultural norms, nor societal pressures should be able to obstruct our instantaneous passage back to obedience.

Be encouraged and emboldened today to take the Word of God seriously. Realize the blessing of Proverbs 13:13. “Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded” (ESV). It’s time we stop taking so long to get things right. Worship God for both His warning about the self-destruction of ignoring the Word, and His promise of reward based upon obedience to it.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

March 19: The Fountain of Youth

For eons, people have been trying to find the legendary Fountain of Youth, the secret to long life. It is rumored that Juan Ponce de León, the Spanish explorer, was searching for it when he stumbled upon Florida. He must not have found it or else he’d be here today to tell us about it, probably joining his voice to the multi-billion dollar industry that hawks beauty products to us from the margins of our Internet pages.

Honestly, though, there’s no need to worry our graying heads about staying young forever. Aging will happen to each of us just as sure as the sun rises and sets. However, God has provided us with His own brand of the Fountain of Youth. He has had the Psalmist tell us, “Who is the man who desires life,
and loves many days, that he may see good?Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.Depart from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it”Psalm 34:12-14 (NKJ).

Yes, just three little doses of the above prescription, and good life with many days is ours: pronounce, practice, and peace.

First, to have a good life with many days, we must watch what we pronounce. The scripture calls upon us to keep our tongue from evil, and keep our lips from speaking deceit. Evil speech is that which is bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant and spoken to give pain to another person. Deceitful speech carries this idea further and involves words spoken with the specific purpose of harming someone who trusts us. In other words, when someone speaks evil, deceitful words, your incredulous reaction is to say, “I never thought so-and-so would have said such a thing about me!” A person who speaks of others in such a way opens herself to arguments, and maybe even blows, and because of her tongue, could very well shorten her life. God is telling us that if we intend to see many days, we need to be about the business of only pronouncing words about others that bless them. Or as Thumper so eloquently stated in the classic movie Bambi, “If you can’t say somthing nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

The second way to enjoy a good life with many days is to watch what we practice. The scripture says to “depart from evil and do good.” It’s Barney simple. Stop doing bad stuff; start doing good stuff. (By the way, the “good stuff” we’re supposed to be doing is listed out for us in the Bible. Check it out.)

Finally, we will experience good life and many days as we live in peace. The scripture tells us to “seek peace and pursue it.” Peace is something we often have to go after; it’s not simply a product of the atmosphere. In fact, quite to the contrary, the atmosphere in which we find ourselves may be turbulent and even hostile, fostering anything but a peaceful existence. That’s why God had to tell us to seek it and pursue it. We are to be adamant about making peace our reality. Romans 12:18 even says, “ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (NIV).

So there we have it. If we are careful about what we pronounce, conscious about our practice, and constant in our search for peace, we will have found the Fountain of Youth God has provided for all His children. Let’s worship our God today for supplying a way for us to experience a good life with many days.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

Hello Friends,

Dr. Harold Arnold contacted me on Facebook and said he’d just finished reading my newest book, Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children. He said he had posted a review on his site. Here’s the link: http://haroldarnold.com/books/boomerangstoarrows/

Thanks, Dr. Arnold! Please read the review! If you’ve read the book, please post a comment here or at Dr. Arnold’s site. (Of course, I pray you enjoy the book as well!) It would be great to hear your stories about how you have launched your adult children.

Love, Sharon

#HeartForTheWord

The first time God says, “Fear not,” in the Bible, He says it to Abram. Abram must have felt some discomfort about being taken care of because God’s calming comments were threefold. “Do not be afraid…”, “I am your shield,” and “[I am] your exceedingly great reward” Genesis 15:1 (NKJ). In those three remarks, God covers, for Abram and for us, the most central issues with which we as His children deal every day. We question our plans, our protection, and our payment.

“Do not be afraid.” I heard that there are 365 times when the Bible says, “Fear not;” that’s a “fear not” for every day of the year. As I started to investigate this claim, I read God’s utterances of this phrase in the rest of the book of Genesis. He says:

• Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. (21:17)
• Fear not, for I am with thee (26:24)
• Fear not; thou shalt have this son also (35:17)
• Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation (46:3)
• Fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones (50:21)

When our plans are at stake—be they dealing with His presence, our children, our care, our future, or our understanding of what to do with a vision He’s given us—He speaks a  “fear not” that accompanies His plan to take care us our situation.

“I am your shield.” Sometimes we wonder whether or not we’ll be okay when we face opposition. Whenever we need protection, God is there for us. God goes before us, He’s our rearguard, a shield about us, the Rock on which we can stand, and our covering.

“[I am] your exceedingly great reward.” We don’t live for money, but it takes money to live. We don’t serve God to gain His favor, but He showers us with His favor as we serve Him. When it comes to our payment in any area of our lives, God lets us know that He Himself is our payment: our reward.

So as we face the day, know that God continually assuages all our concerns. Worship Him for being the Fear Destroyer.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

#HeartForTheWord

Aside from the occasion of blatant disrespect and belittling by an employer, there’s nothing worse than an employee who continually insists on repeating, “That’s not in my job description.” Nowadays, it’s a tremendous blessing just to have a job in the first place, so reaching beyond our written contract and helping out for the good of the company or for the relief of a colleague doesn’t have to be an instance for complaint. In fact, common sense and common decency dictate that some things are just expected of our position and don’t need to be expressly written out before we’ll submit to performing them.

So it is with prayer and our Christian lives. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus approached it as a foregone conclusion that we pray (“And when you pray…” v. 5), but realized we needed instruction on how to get prayer right.

First, pray on your own. Jesus tells us not to pray like the hypocrites do, all loud and with the intention of being seen. Instead, He says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place…” Matthew 6:6a (NKJ). God actually desires alone time with us, without distractions, and in a place where we can focus on Him (He is already constantly focused on us).

Second, be original. Jesus says, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do…” Matthew 6:7a (NKJ). We shouldn’t plagiarize in prayer. We’re to talk to God about our personal issues, concerns, and desires rather than simply repeating what we’ve heard others say. God’s concerned about what’s really on our hearts. We can be honest with Him when we pray.

Third, be organized. Even though we’re not to use vain repetitions, in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gives us a model on which to hang our prayer thoughts so that we approach it in the right way.

• He says, “In this manner, therefore, pray…” In other words, we follow this pattern as we elaborate with our own heart’s cries. How can we be organized and original at the same time? Here are some suggestions using the prayer Jesus taught.
• “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” Take time to express adoration of God. Speak to Him of who He is. Bless Him for His attributes.
• “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Ask for understanding of what God’s will is concerning the different things about which you are praying. Find Scriptures that relate to those issues.
• “Give us this day our daily bread.” Talk to God about your specific needs for the day you are facing and express your trust in Him to meet those needs.
• “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Speak with God about areas of sinfulness in your life. Ask for His forgiveness and for His instruction and help in turning from those sinful ways. Also speak to God about those to whom you need to extend forgiveness.
• “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Be honest with God about the things that tempt you. Ask Him how to avoid those temptations and pray for deliverance from the enemy of your soul who ever seeks to bring you down.
• “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Close your prayer times reiterating your trust in God and your reliance on His power in and through your life.

Well, what are you waiting for – go somewhere and pray! Worship God for being the Prayer Teacher.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)