Still Small Voice

The Good News Today Is...the Holy Spirit is the still small voice. As I was reading an article about how to hear from God when we are in a crisis, I came across this line; "When you look for the spectacular, you're liable to miss the supernatural that is right in front of you all along." Sometimes we want a dramatic response from God so that we know we are doing the right thing. We want a visible sign, an in your face event that will be so evident we can't miss is. A windstorm, thunderstorm, an accident, something that screams at us to stop or to go ahead when we are in a crisis. Sometimes that happens, but more often it is in the quiet, when we put aside the crisis and we start to listen, when we stop whining and we start praying. Then our minds and our lives settle down enough so we can hear that still small voice that is always there. That still small voice that is waiting patiently to guide us. That still small voice that is the Holy Spirit of God, who we often overlook because we need the spectacular. The still small voice, the supernatural Spirit who loves us. Quiet yourself, pray, listen.

Forgive our Debtors

The Good News Today Is...forgiveness is as easy as the sand blowing away in the wind. Thanks to the unknown author...

Two friends were walking through the desert.
During some point of the journey,
they had an argument; and one friend slapped the other in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything,
wrote in the sand: "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis,
where they decided to take a bath.

The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning he wrote on a stone:
"Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him;
"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone, why?"

The friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand,
where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does
something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, where no wind can ever
erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and carve your benefits in the stone.

The King - Do You Know Him?

The Good News Today Is...

Inside the Circle

The Good News Today Is...we are offered living water. The Samaritan women at the well was offered the living water by Jesus, even though the disciples would have excluded her. She was a Gentile, unclean, unbelieving - yet Jesus offered her the living water that would have her thirst no more. Where we would exclude Jesus would include.

"He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in."
(Edwin Markham)

We must learn to draw a bigger, more inclusive circle. The goal is that all should thirst no more, not just the ones inside our small circles.

You Can't Take it With You

The Good News Today Is...you can't take it with you. You can't take your money to the grave, which may make some people crazy, but for me that is freedom. That makes me not take money too seriously. I like to have enough money to pay for my necessities, and then if there is any leftover I do like a few treats now and then. I typically don't worry about money though. It doesn't do me any good sitting in the bank. I like to use my money to help others and so I guess I will never be "rich". However, I am very wealthy. I have a wealth of love, a wealth of great family, a wealth of happiness. I am so blessed.

Our God Saves

The Good News Today Is...Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. (Psalm 68:20) This is the word of God for the people of God. All of the people of God. We cannot choose who is saved. We cannot control who is saved. Our God is a God who saves - and the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. God sees the big picture and God sees our hearts. Our God is a God who Saves!

Good Habits

The Good News Today Is...we know the habits we should have to maintain a life of faith. They are praying, reading the word of God, having an accountability partner or group, and living a life of service. These are the things that will keep us living a life that is free of sin and full of righteousness. These are the things that will help us to live a life as Jesus did. If we take a misstep, then God's grace will cover us, so long as we are trying to live life in the ways we have been given. The alternative is to live in sin and die in sin, then we will end up in eternal judgment. If we end up in judgment there is no turning back, no "Back to the Future" to save us. We get only this one life to get it right. We don't have to be perfect, just practicing the good habits we have been instructed to with a good heart is all we need to do. This may seem like a mundane life, but I'm sure we won't like the alternative afterlife we are subject to if we choose to live a life of sin now.

Attitude of Servitude

The Good News Today Is...having a heart of service is as easy as opening your ears and your eyes to really listen to what those around you are in need of and then helping them out. OK - well maybe the easy part is opening your ears and eyes, the service part and helping them out might be a bit harder, but the rewards are awesome. Sometimes it is the person right in front of us that Jesus would have us help and serve. I believe everyone in our lives are there for a purpose. The best neighbors and the worst neighbors come into our lives and we should greet them both with an attitude befitting of Jesus. We are meant to be beacons of light for all of those we encounter. A heart of service may mean that we are to serve at a local food shelf or the like. It might also mean just being there for our friends, families and neighbors in their times of need. Whatever the Holy Spirit leads you to do in service do it gladly and do it with love. Today would be a good day to ask the Spirit for opportunities to practice having a serving heart,then open your eyes and ears and respond in love. It is the way we should live our lives and God will give us the grace we need to do it!

Affluenza

The Good News Today Is...I learned a new word while I was studying this weeks scripture. It is "Affluenza". It is probably not in anyone's dictionary but it is an apt and fitting word for one of our society's biggest problems today - "Keeping up with the Jones'". Always having to buy the biggest and the best toys, always thinking you are the smartest, or your kids are the greatest. It is every bit as viral as influenza, and every bit as harmful. The cure for affluenza is to become a person who has a heart of service and accepts the least of the affluent into their arms as part of the family of God. The disease of affluenza is immediately cured and one can return to living a rich and full life as they go about doing their work for the heavenly kingdom. The flip side is to be affected by affluenza and have no desire for the cure. The effects of this are the same as the worst cases of influenza, for the wages of sin is death.

Perspective is Ours

The Good News Today Is...when we need to get a new perspective - it's right there in front of us.

From the www.GoodPreacher.com/blog:

"Today, I realize that my heart is no more holy than the disciples’ hearts. Today, I realize that the problem isn’t in “welcoming” a child, it’s really in seeing the child as possessing the same God-given potential that you see so abundantly in yourself.

We strive and strive, trying to be, and do, and achieve. But by choosing to uplift someone who “contributes” so little to society (at least in the ways that society expects to be contributed to), Jesus reminds us that those pressures are ones we place on ourselves."

No One is Looking

The Good News Today Is..God knows us through and through. It is in the little things in life that we show our true colors. He knows the things we think and the things we do when no one is looking. Remember what Jesus teaches; "He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37) It is how we treat the least, the children, the homeless, the unimportant of the society, that marks how great we are in the eyes of God. A reminder from Barbara Brown Taylor: "work on [our] own greatness by understanding that it is what [we] do when [we] think no one is looking, with someone who does not count, for no reward, that ushers [us] into the presence of God." We need to show compassion and mercy and grace to others even when no one is watching. It is to become part of who we are. This is how we can draw closer to the God who knows us - because he knows what we do and what we think, even when no one else is looking.

It's Not Fair

The Good News Today Is...it isn't fair. As the disciples were walking down the road arguing among themselves who was the greatest, they could hardly have expected Jesus' answer. "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35) Then he took a small child into his arms and said,"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:37) Servants and small children shall be first in the kingdom of heaven. It hardly seems fair. We want so much to be rewarded for who we are and what we do, we work so hard at it, yet the last shall be first. Thank goodness we are not placed in line according to what we do, or think, or say. If it was based on fairness we would never deserve the gift of heaven, it can only be the free gift of the eternal savior. So be a child at heart,have a servant's attitude and accept your gift of salvation freely.

Just Say No

The Good News Today Is...we have the authority to say, "Get behind me Satan!" (Mark 8:33) This is what Jesus said to his own apostle Peter when Peter tempted him with becoming a king instead of dying on the cross. Jesus was fully man while fully God. He was subject to every temptation that any man could be subject to, and while the days were counting down for him to go to the cross, Peter was telling him he should be King. What a temptation that must have been. Jesus could have been King, he had enough followers and enough power. Yet without hesitation Jesus looked at Peter and yelled, "Get behind me Satan!" Today we might use the words, "Just say no!" We have the authority to not follow the tempting paths that we see in our lives, but to follow where God wants us to go, picking up our cross along the way. Jesus gave us this authority by going to the cross for us, it was costly, and we should use the gift he paid for!

Mommy or Daddy?

The Good News Today Is...we all have different purposes in life.

Robert Kopp tells about the woman who was walking with her young daughter. The little girl picked up something from the ground and started to put it in her mouth, but the mother told her to throw it away because it was dirty with germs.

"Mommy, how do you know so much?" the girl asked.

"Well, it's on the mommy test," her mother replied. "You have to know all about such things or you don't get to be a mommy."

The daughter thought about it a moment, then replied, "OK, I get it. So if you flunk the test you have to be a daddy."

So I admit I chuckled when I read this. What it brought to mind for me is that when we try to do or be something other than what God has planned for us we fail miserably, or we succeed but we are miserable. God has a perfect plan for our lives and we should be seeking it every day. Some are teachers, some are evangelists, others are prophets. God has a plan bigger than we can imagine.

Open Your Bible and Read

The Good News Today Is...you can still get some things for free. Today's Christian Women website which is an offshoot of Christianity Today, has several free down loadable bible studies. Just visit their website: Christian Bible Studies and check out your options. So many people I talk to think the bible is too complicated for them and they don't understand it. Sometimes you just need a little help to see the practical wisdoms within the good book. These free bible studies will help you get started, because as I have said before - you can't get there if you don't start. The bible is your best resource for expanding your faith and learning about God. Get started reading yours today!

Share the Good News

The Good News Today Is...we can minister anywhere we are. Sometimes we wonder how to share the Good News with people. I have found that the more I become immersed in my faith and the more I live out my faith, people come to me and ask about the Good News. So many people have questions, yet they want to ask them on their terms in their own time. It is a wonderful thing when you get to share the Good News with the one you least expected would want to hear it. People approach me at work, at family gatherings, and anywhere that I go - if I am sensitive and open to listening, eventually they get to the heart of their trouble and ask me to share the Good News with them. I don't have to always be the one to initiate the conversation - I just have to be willing to follow the leading of the Spirit. Be open minded and willing and the chances to share the Good News will come to you. Remember to add prayer for opportunities to share the Good News and then be alert to the Spirit. You will be surprised!

Glory Be

The Good News Today Is...



There are days when you read the news and you can't believe the world has come to such a place as it has. Disease, murder, and natural disasters are reported everywhere. Don't lose sight of the end goal but continue to pray, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!"

Happy Birthday

The Good News Today Is..."He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge" (Prov 14:6) Today is the birthday of my oldest child. Ever since my children were born I have prayed that they will be protected and blessed by God, and grow into godly and God loving adults. In so many ways have my prayers been answered. My oldest is what Dr. Dobson would call strong willed - in fact she could be the child he wrote the book about! Her life has been a mixture of heartache and happiness. I like to say she lives life passionately. God has used her to bring His message to a variety of people that I could never touch because they would not understand my message. Her lifestyle brings her into contact with people I could not connect with in any way. Yet when she or others she knows are faced with challenges, she reminds them that there is a God and He is faithful. God is her refuge. Thank you Father for bringing her to me and allowing me to be her mother.

God Will Make A Way

The Good News Today Is...God will make a way. Read the lyrics from this popular praise song and be reminded that nothing is impossible for God.

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today

Have a blessed day with God today!