I'm quite glad for God's plan.
The way He stayed off
the technologies of today
until long after the Bible
was written out in long hand.

For the many beautiful phrases
of poetry and letters from long ago
would never have survived
the 140 character limit
were these prophets confined to tweet
holy inspirations of the Spirit.

But look here, in this summary
of a letter from Paul to the
Corinthians, as he uses a short form
I had not noticed before...

Watch, stand fast in the faith,
be brave, be strong.
Let all that you do be done with love.
​1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NKJV

The first verse almost reads
like a tweet of today.

Short, bullet points, as if
they were military commands given...
Watch
stand fast,
be brave,
be strong.

And the second verse,
a softer, kinder, more loving note;
that of a father, an older brother...
Let all that you do be done with love.

It's certainly wrapping up and
reminding us of all the pieces
and parts of the letter he had written.
But these being the most important
themes which he wanted remembered.

Watch: stay awake,
be vigilant and responsible
Do not be deceived:
“Evil company corrupts good habits.”
Awake to righteousness, and do not sin;
for some do not have the
knowledge of God.
1 Corinthians 15:33-34

So do we remain watchful,
keeping right company,
guarding our hearts and minds?

What relationship, that I know
is dragging me away from God
will I politely step away from today?

Stand fast: persevere, stand firm.
Therefore let him who thinks
he stands take heed lest he fall.
No temptation has overtaken you
except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will also
make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13

So are we steadfast to persevere
even in the trial, knowing
that God is faithful,
near us, and making our way out?

What thought, which has been
defeating me, will I replace today
with encouragement and replace
with God's word?

Be Brave: responsible, courageous,
taking initiatives God reveals
through faith
that in every way you were enriched
in him in all speech and all knowledge...
even as the testimony about Christ
was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any gift,
as you wait for the revealing
of our Lord Jesus Christ...
1 Corinthians 1:5-7 ESV

So are we brave enough
to walk in the gifts He's given,
believing they are enough to
fulfill that burning passion within?

What do I know God has asked me
to do, that I have continued to
put off until tomorrow?
What one right action can
I take toward it today?

Be Strong: to prevail
through God's persuasion
Now you have every spiritual gift
you need as you eagerly wait for
the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you strong to the end
so that you will be free from all blame
on the day when our Lord
Jesus Christ returns.
1 Corinthians 1:7-8 NLT

So are we strong in our faith,
in our belief that what God has given
will carry us through to the end?

What talent or gift do I envy
in others that so distracts me
from trusting God in myself?
Am I willing to compliment that
person to let go of my jealousy
so that I can remove what blinds me
from my God given gifts?

And what of our LOVE?
For no matter if we survive the trial,
alert, awake, and watchful;
no matter if we take initiative with gifts
God has given through faith, or
step forward in God's strength...
if what we do is not executed in LOVE
it is a noisy gong or clanging symbol.

And who wants to be annoying,
irritating, and distracting others?

For any gift, act, or effort done
in the absence of love,
does not represent God.
For God is love.

Let all that you do be done with love.

Word of God
train me today...
To be watchful, steadfast,
​brave and strong.

To let all that I do be done with love.

What gets you up
in the morning?

I don't mean an alarm clock,
or a phone app that rings.

I mean, what drives you?
What makes you tick?
What is the passion deep inside
that burns and must be fulfilled?

Are you chasing after it?
Or does it lie dormant, only a wish,
a hope that one day may come to pass?

​Because whatever it is
that causes you to wake,
what ever it is that burns down deep,
is something that God placed inside.

It's part of a purpose for which
He fashioned you.
He has given you gifts and talents,
desires and drives that are meant
to serve and be given.
And only you,
in your circle of influence
can fulfill this purpose with His power
and inspiration behind you.

I think we all sense it.
I think we all feel it burn within.
I just don't think we are all willing
to go deep down and acknowledge it.

Because we think we will have
to give up some part of our life...
something we have, or
want to achieve that's
not somehow
godly enough for God.

But the silly thing is...
God put it there,
that burning desire.
And the only way to really
find satisfaction in life,
is to get it worked from
from the inside of us... out.

The book of 1 Corinthians is filled
with chapters on spiritual gifts and
how we are to use them in conjunction
with love and the church.
But it also speaks much about
our passion, talents and gifts.

I think it's fair to say
that some of us, maybe many,
have reasoned that some of these gifts
don't exist anymore...
like healing, prophecy and
speaking in tongues.

Probably because we are personally
too uncomfortable with them.

But could it be that we dismiss them
because we haven't experienced them
in the right way?
Could it be that we may not be given,
or open to the right measure
of faith in that area?

But God is God.
He hasn't changed since the creation
of the earth, so why should the gifts
He gives change?

I believe He can move mountains.
Even though I've never seen it happen.
I think that's simply because my faith
is not strong enough in that area.

So could it be that things I struggle
with considering to be, or not be,
to exist, or not exist...
the spiritual gifts I am unsure are
still of God, could be things
that I haven't seen, simply because
I don't have the faith for them?

Personally, I don't speak in tongues.
But do I believe other people do...
Yes.

Tongues are simply another language
spoken by the Spirit of God
through people,

Paul encourages us within the church
to desire to have such spiritual gifts,
along with teaching, and healing.
And the gifts he most encourages
are the ones that edify and encourage
others...

Therefore, brethren,
desire earnestly to prophesy, and
do not forbid to speak with tongues.
Let all things be done decently
and in order.
1 Corinthians 14:39-40

Now what Paul is speaking of here
does not simply reference
the telling of the future,

That's what most people think of
when they hear the word prophecy.

But the true definition to prophesy,
means to speak forth and to reveal
the mind and message of God.
In some cases it may be predicting
the future, if God reveals it.

But even speaking the Word of God,
which is the Bible, is revealing
His mind and His message.

And here Paul encourages us to...
desire earnestly to prophesy.
This figuratively means
we should be so eager
to share His word that we
bubble over as the sound of
water heated to boiling.

This is truly a zeal for the Lord!

But then he literally tells us not to
forbid or hinder others from speaking
in languages inspired by God.

It doesn't sound as strange
when we put it like that,
does it?

I just don't see why
we get so bent out of shape
over something we don't understand?

Why is it that, if we are unable
to do something, we must shame it
or make it unacceptable to
our standard of "normal?"

Isn't that just childish behavior?

Let us rather embrace all things
gifted by the Holy Spirit,
that we may be encouraged more.

Who knows, maybe one day
our faith will grow into understanding.
Or perhaps, gifting and participation
of the same.

Now eagerly desire..,
(find your ZEAL for)
the greater gifts.
And yet I will show you
the most excellent way.
1 Corinthians 12:31

Word of God
train me today...
To embrace all the gifting of Your Spirit.

To grow in faith as I lean into You,
earnestly desiring to prophesy, always.

You may not be old enough
to remember a little book,
or a series of cartoon that
all began with the phrase,
Happiness is...

They were drawn by artist,
Charles Schultz, and had
some of my favorite childhood
characters on them... Peanuts.

There was this boy named
Charlie Brown who had
the cutest dog, Snoopy.

Seems Snoopy was a bit brighter
than good ol' Charlie Brown, but
it was all ok with me.
Then Charlie had his friends,
Linus, Lucy and Pig Pen.

Linus was the one with the blanket.
Lucy was mean as heck, but 
once in a while we'd see her soft side.
And then poor little Pig Pen...
did that kid ever take a bath?

We never saw their parents,
only heard them, and I truly hope
that I never sounded like that
to my kids, but fear we all do
at some point.

​But I had this little book called...
Happiness is a Warm Puppy.

It wasn't a book about puppies.
Rather, each page just had
one simple sentiment which
likened happiness to something
a child might understand.

Like...
Happiness is
sleeping in your own bed.
Or...
Happiness is
knowing how to tie your shoes.

All of them leading up to...
Happiness is
a warm puppy.

And it was such a nice message
to remind us, even as children,
that the simplest things in life
could bring us happiness.

And while I believe God is
certainly ok with us keeping life simple
and seeking happiness,
I don't know that happiness is the
highest thing on His priority list for us.

Simply because I don't find
Jesus teaching a whole lot about
seeking happiness in life.

Rather, He seemed more concerned
with teaching us love and
how to love one another.

And He came to show us,
and to demonstrate that love for us,

But He really couldn't have shown
or expressed Himself any other way,
because 1 John 4:8 tells us...
God is love.

Jesus didn't know how else
to live, other than through love.
He loved us first, so that we
could know what love is, and
pass it on to others in our life.

But so many times in life
I've gotten overwhelmed with verses
about love, as if it's this "To Do List,"
that I will NEVER accomplish.

I mean, when I read 1 Corinthians 13,
I can't seem to get past, Love is patient.

If I'm meant to master any of these
"To Do's" of love,
I'm in a heap-o-trouble.

But something clicked with me
one day, and this book on happiness
kind of reminds me...
keep it simple.

This list of attributes on love is
not a To Do list meant
to overwhelm me.
Or you, for that matter.

None of us could ever master it
in this lifetime, if that were true.
We are fragile, frail and flawed humans
incapable of perfect love.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't
understand and recognize
what love is.

Jesus came teaching it.
And since He IS love,
we can literally substitute
HIS name into each description
of love given us in the love chapter,
to better understand Him
and how He can help us in life.

God is patient;
God is kind.
God isn’t envious,
God doesn’t boast,
God doesn't brag,
God doesn't strut about.

There’s no arrogance in God's love;
God is never rude,
God is never crude,
God is never indecent,
God is not self-absorbed.

God isn’t easily upset.
God doesn’t tally wrongs
God doesn't celebrate injustice;
but God celebrates truth... yes,
truth, is God’s delight!

God puts up with anything and
everything that comes along;
God trusts,
God hopes, and
God endures no matter what.

God will never become obsolete.
God never fails
Adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I love that list when I read it
describing my God!
It gives me so much hope.

When I read it as a To Do list,
I get overwhelmed.
But when I realize that it's a
description of Him and His perfection...
of how He loves us and all He wants
to do in, and through us, then
my spirit is completely lifted
rather than crushed.

Read it again... slowly, line by line.
It's breathtaking!

Or rather...
It's life giving!

Happiness may be, for some,
a warm puppy.

But our God is LOVE!
And that means so very much to me.
He is a good GOD who wisely
gives good gifts to His children.

Let us receive them
living in the abundance of His love;
learning to love others
because He first loved us.

Word of God
train me today...
To realize the boundless way You love me.

To be open to let You love others through me,
a vessel wholly give to serve and to give.

When I was little,
I loved watching magic.
No matter the magician,
I was fascinated by
the slight of hand and was
always looking for
how it was done.

Somehow I knew there
had to be a trick to it.
For I never fully believed
that it was mystical.

I guess I always assumed
that it was just another person
trying to get away with tricking
me into believing a lie.

But this illusion of magic
a most pretty lie.

That, I guess might be
a good description of
sin, or temptation...
a pretty lie.

Because it seems to be
a great idea, dangled just right,
that my eyes should tell my soul
to lean in a little closer.

But then there's the slight of hand
that whisks away the reward
I somehow conjured up in my mind.
Some sort of satisfaction,
some kind of contentment,
some distant dream
I envision behind the curtain.

And POOF!
It vanishes in a flash and
I'm left standing alone,
holding the loser's card
which I don't even remember
drawing from the deck.

No prize,
no flashy fireworks,
no pretty magician's assistant
waving her arms about...
not even a bunny,
nor a hat to pull him from.

So I've grown weary
of the beautiful lie,
the magic slight of hand
that baits me and leaves me
less than.

But I hate those days spent in
the heavy pit of thought that
I'm stuck living my life
skeptical and cautious.
Which sadly, leaves me lonely
sensing that I can't trust anyone.

Until I read this...
Therefore let him
who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall.

No temptation has overtaken you
except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation
will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NKJV

Now this sounds like a magic act
I'd like, not just to watch,
but to be participating in.

You see, I totally get that first part.
I thought I was standing
until the pretty lie
knocked me off my feet.

Temptation...
it's not what it seems.
You think you can handle it.

Because it's light and pretty.
But truthfully, it's bait...
a trial, a testing to see if you're ready
for the next level of experience.

But if it overtakes you...
lays hold of you, rather than
you understanding it's borders
and boundaries, then you
become the victim of it's consequences.

And you'll just have to take
that test again and again until
you pass it.

But God is reassuring us
that we are not alone in this.
That is comforting to me because
so often, I hear the voice inside
telling me that I'm the only one
with this temptation, this trial,
this weakness to fall for, and fail.

God says that every temptation
is common to mankind and we
won't experience one that is unique.
It may be specific to our life, but
other people will be able to relate
to us and help us get through it
if we let them.

But for me, even better than that,
was finding out that I won't have to
bear up under anything that is
too hard for me and there
WILL BE an escape route waiting
for me... I just have to realize it.

As far as magic goes,
that makes me think of Houdini.
He seemed to always found a way out.

And knowing that God is in control,
I am relieved that He is measuring
what we can and cannot handle,
keeping an eye on that balance,
not letting it tip out of our favor.

And He has His hand on us as well,
with a ready escape, if we will only
call upon Him to rescue us.

And this escape is forward,
a new destination,
successful and desirable;
a way planned by the Lord.

But let me tie this together
with no slight of hand
by saying that just reading this,
just saying it, just considering it
is truly not enough.

When the verse says, literally...
but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation
will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.

It means that we can be empowered,
dunamai, (doo-nam-ahee),
thats the Greek word for power given
by God... capable and strong to
walk through the temptations of life
and make it to a new destination in life
as a better, stronger, more purposed person.

His long arm
reaching down to lift us out;
His strong hand
guiding us forward
​on a right path to a better way.

But we must call upon
the name of Jesus,
and believe that He will help.

Want to believe again?
Want to escape?
Me too!

Jesus asked us to come to Him
as little children, so let us believe...
Call upon the name that is above
all other names... Jesus!

Word of God
train me today...
To thank You, Lord that You will not
let us be tempted beyond
what we are able.

To call upon His name to rescue us and
deliver us to a new destination on the
​other side of temptation and trial.

Ask the wrong question
in the just right situation
and you can silence a room
in a hot second.

Fortunately, I was with
some new friends
who were willing to open up
and give in to the spirit
of the ice breaker question.

"What is your guilty pleasure?"

The prompt was given us
to get us warmed up and talking
before we dove deeper into
the current week's study
about finding freedom in our
relationship with God and
discovering our purpose in life.

But who comes to church
to lay something out before others
that's a guilty pleasure...
especially people
we don't yet know very well?

I'm sure they were all thinking...
I don't know if I can share that?
What will they think of me?
Will they even understand?

So to get them on the right track
I had to define the term
guilty pleasure
as an activity that you do, or
participate in which you know
may not be best for you, or which
you may be embarrassed to admit,
but which you continue for
some secret sense of pleasure.

I held my breath a moment...
I sure wasn't looking for anyone
to give themselves up with a
confession that would cause me
to have to call the cops,
or become a therapist.

So I offered myself up to tell them
about a TV show that I began to watch
on Netflix which was so addictive
I had a hard time not binging on it.

And soon the circle was filled
with discussion and laughter
over what we shared and confessed.

And I think we were all a bit
relieved and surprised that
what caused one person guilt
was completely benign to another.
And there was no judgement or
condemnation in the room...
only laughter at our own limitations.

And I was brought to thinking on
something Paul wrote in one of
his letters to the church at Corinth...

All things are lawful for me,
but all things are not helpful.

All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under
the power of any.
1 Corinthians 6:12 NJV

As much as I kid about hoping
none of them confessed a crime,
nothing anyone said was illegal.

So we certainly passed the first part.
All things were lawful...

But we also knew, that for each of us,
at least personally, we were
doing something that was not
in our best interest.

We struggled with realizing that
all things are not helpful.

And we were allowing a behavior
or action to interfere with becoming
the best version of us we could be.

All simply because we sought
some short burst of pleasure.

For me, it was that silly TV show.
But I just love a good mystery
and seldom do I find something that
holds my attention and actually
surprises me as to "who done it,"
holding my attention to the end.

But I honestly had this
gnawing inside
each time I watched it, knowing
I was wasting my time.
(not helpful)

It not only kept me from my work,
but there was simply no redeeming
quality about the show.

I mean it was a great mystery,
with twist and turns that kept me intrigued.
But it was also filled with violence and
wrong relationships that I know
serve no purpose to me.
They only crowd my heart and mind,
keeping the better things that
God has for me from entering.

It was believed when Paul wrote this,
that this phrase...
"All things are lawful for me"
had become a common saying of the day.

And he used their words, repeated,
to make his point.

And this his second point...
All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under
the power of any.

Some versions say...
I will not become slave to anything.

That is how serious Paul was being.
Some of these little things
in our lives that we consider
as our guilty pleasures
may certainly be lawful, and
we do not consider them as
harming anyone around us.

But if they are keeping us
from being the best version of ourself
then we are giving into the power of them...
we have become slave to them.
Even if they are something so small
as a TV show.

When I realized my guilty pleasure,
I honestly had to delete my avatar
on Netflix to stop watching it.

And I kept the TV set that way for
at least six months so I wouldn't
be tempted to watch it.

Sounds silly, I'm sure to some.
But I did't want something so
unimportant in the scope of my life
stealing from me or controlling me.

I didn't want to become a slave
to anything, except for a
willing servant to my Lord, Jesus Christ.

And if binge watching a TV show,
or eating a whole pint
of Ben and Jerry's ice cream,
or sleeping in until noon on Saturday,
or late night shopping on Amazon
gives you more pleasure than it does guilt,
then more power to you.

None of those are against the law!

But if you feel the slightest twinge
somewhere inside that says, maybe,
just maybe this isn't the best for me...
ask yourself if you could stop it.

And if you can't...
then maybe it has too much power
over you.

And then you know...
it may be lawful
but it's not helpful.
it may be lawful,
but it has too much power.

So confess it to God.
Ask Him to release you from it.
He is more than able.

And come up with
a simple way to overcome it.
Don't worry about what
other people may say or think.
It honestly doesn't matter.

Other people can't possibly
know what causes that gnawing
inside of you.
And they can't decide for you
what is helpful and what controls.

This is a decision only
between you and God.

Offer it up to Him..
Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.
Proverbs 16:3 NKJV

Word of God
train me today...
To have right discernment as to what
is helpful and what may control me.

To commit my ways to You, Lord and
trust that You will help me let go of
​anything that keeps me from my purpose.