No More Excuses

I have made every excuse known to man when it comes to memorizing scripture!

"I don't have a good memory."
"I'm getting old."
"It was so much easier when I was younger."
"My children are better at this than me."
"I can usually summarize the passage, but can't memorize it word for word."
"Writing it down doesn't help me."

Blah, blah, blah. Excuse after excuse after excuse after excuse!

My friends challenge me to memorize scripture. Joanne does it over here. Leah does it over here. Beth is always doing it over here.

And still I make excuses.

But not today.

Today is the day!

My mind has got to be renewed. In any given day, I have doubts arise, burdens that weigh me down, fears that threaten to overtake me, and choices to follow God or follow man. I know of no other way to make it through a day like that than to put the Words of God into my life by reading them, meditating on them and memorizing them. I need to constantly be reminded of Who God is, who I am in Him, what He thinks of me, what His plans are for me, and what He has promised to do with one who will look for Him with all their heart.

So I've got my spiral ready today and I'm filling that thing up! I'm writing scriptures on my fridge. Every white board in my home is going to have scripture on it. I have little inexpensive plastic frames that are going to be holding 4 x 6 index cards with scripture. Post-it notes sitting in the desk drawers are going to be put to good use today! Screensavers - check!

I love the translation of Romans 12:1-2 by Phillips:

"With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity."

"With eyes wide open to the mercies of God..." I want to see what He wants me to see. I want to feel what He wants me to feel. I want to walk where He wants me to walk. If I don't fill up my mind with His Word, then I'm going to be tempted to go my own way, see only what I want to see and will be ruled and reigned by a whole slate of improper motives and emotions. I want to break that mold and let Him remold me as only He can!

I need my mind reshaped by God from within doing exactly what Psalm 119 says -- hiding His Word in every corner and crevice of my heart so that when the temptations come, when doubts arise and when life's questions seem to have no answers I can recall what He says -- His final Word over every situation!

I'm starting with Psalm 145. There are a couple of reasons for this.

One is that this Psalm reminds me over and over of God's sovereignty, His supremacy, and His goodness.

Two is that it is 21 verses. I've heard it said that a habit is formed when you repeatedly do the same thing everyday for 21 days. So I'm taking this Psalm a verse at a time, a day at a time. At the end of the 21 days I will not only have hidden 21 verses of scripture in my heart, soul and mind, but I will also have formed a habit of memorizing God's Word.

Join me if you want! And if you are, let me hear from you. (I laugh when I say that because the only person I really ever hear from is Leah! Love her!)

Here is Psalm 145 in the NIV version. I have intentionally left the verse by verse scripture notations so we can see it broken down in 21 easy to swallow bites. Even if you are not going to memorize it with me, take a moment to slowly read this! You will be blessed.

Psalm 145
A Psalm of Praise. Of David.

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:1)

Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:2)

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. (Psalm 145:3)

One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4)

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. (Psalm 145:5)

They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. (Psalm 145:6)

They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:7)

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. (Psalm 145:8)

The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. (Psalm 145:9)

All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. (Psalm 145:10)

They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, (Psalm 145:11)

so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. (Psalm 145:12)

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. (Psalm 145:13)

The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. (Psalm 145:14)

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. (Psalm 145:15)

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (Psalm 145:16)

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. (Psalm 145:17)

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalm 145:18)

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. (Psalm 145:19)

The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. (Psalm 145:20)

My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:21)

Blessings,
Dori

Intentional Looking on the Heart

I was spending time this morning just thinking about the blessings of life.  I began to thank God that me, my husband and my two children are reading a chapter of John every night. To hear my children read familiar passages is precious and to hear God speak something new to my own heart through the familiar is even more precious.

But I began to ask God how we could step it up a notch. Don't get me wrong. I believe the Word simply read and never discussed is powerful enough that over time it will begin to change a heart, a life, and even a family. Generations to come can be changed by the Word of the Lord sown in the hearts that are just willing enough to crack open its pages and read. However, I wanted to do something intentional tonight to encourage my children to start serving one another -- because the book of John has so much to say about loving God, loving others -- doing something to minister to others.

Spoken blessings over the life of another person can be so powerful. Simply recognizing something in their life that is visible through God's power at work in their life is encouraging and empowering.

So the thought came to me that tonight I wanted my family to have homework after our Bible reading and prayer time. I want to give them a piece of paper and ask them to list each person of our immediate family. Beside each person's name list 2 or 3 things about that person that they love. But the catch is that it needs to be something that God highly esteems.

Let me see if I can demonstrate what I'm talking about.

For instance, I happen to think that my Lindsey is a beautiful girl. She has gorgeous blue eyes and natural blonde highlights that others might pay $100 for at the salon.

And while God made her beautiful, His Word tells us that He doesn't necessarily look at the outward. He is gazing into her heart. And what He sees there is what I see -- compassion towards those who might struggle, whether with their health or a disability or maybe like her new friend Abby who just moved her from out of state. He loves that about Lindsey and so do I.

My son Taylor is so intelligent! But Taylor is also humble about his giftedness. God has given Taylor a mind that can learn anything. But God is well-pleased when Taylor uses his intelligence to help others and not to flaunt his own ability, but he reaches out to help others along the way. I love that about Taylor -- that he is for others and not against them. His kindness is Christ-like. God honors that.

My husband can take $100 and turn it into $1000 -- legally, that is -- like no one I have ever seen. He has a gift for being financially savvy. But my husband is wise and generous, willing to give to anyone in need. God has much to say about being a wise steward and I believe He sees that in my husband. I certainly do.

So you see. It isn't things like our appearance or our intelligence that God necessarily adores about us. But when we take what He has given us and use it for His Kingdom, for His purposes; well, He is nuts about that. That's what He highly esteems.

So I will challenge them to have the eyes of Christ for a few minutes and look on the hearts of their family members and see what God might be looking for as usable for His Kingdom work.

"...The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 6:7b

Blessings,
Dori

Replacing Worry with Vision

In her devotional today over at Proverbs 31 Ministries, Glynnis Whitwer made this statement that interrupted my day and made me stop and pray:

It didn't take a detailed self-assessment to realize I'd reduced my prayers to the common denominator of safety. While that is critically important, I realized I had replaced my vision for their futures with worry about their presents.

My children are at critical places in their lives.

I have a high school boy who will be faced with choices that could have lasting consequences for the rest of his life. He will see things in the world that I have protected him from his entire life. His heart, deceitful above all things, will try to lead him astray. The Holy Spirit will be more important now to him than ever before.

I have a daughter who is making day to day decisions not as one who is wise, but one full of folly. Proverbs has much to say about this direction of person -- especially that of a woman child. Will she choose contention or will she choose to be a builder? Will she wreak destruction and havoc or will she choose to have a servant's heart, live to build another up and not tear them down?

God can handle their safety, their security, in any given day. He can handle all of the rest, too. But my prayers for the vision that God placed in my heart for them on the day they were born can't fall by the wayside in order for me to fight fires that perhaps are created by my own lack of trust and worry.

So I'm asking God to renew in me a sense of His presence in the lives of my children. I'm asking Him to show me again the vision that He gave me for their lives and draw me to fall to my knees and ask Him for THAT.

I can certainly trust God to guard my children, protect them and to guide their footsteps perhaps even if I forget to ask on any given day. But let my prayerful ferver everyday be well spent on asking God for the things that have eternal meaning in their lives -- that He will develop godly character in them, replace folly with wisdom in their hearts, make them hardworking as unto the Lord, give them spiritual discernment so that they will know what the will of God is and do it, give them practical discernment so they will see the wrong path before them and choose another way, and that He will make them people who listen for the voice of God and obey it.

Replacing worry for today with vision for their entire journey.

Blessings,
Dori

He Whispered to Me

First day of school! First day of school! First day of school!

I love that little scene from Finding Nemo when the little clown fish goes to wake up his sleepy dad because he is ready for his first day of school.

That's the way I felt when I woke up this morning at 4:50...yes, I said 4:50!

I started the coffee pot. I put a load of clothes in the washer. I made ham and biscuits for the family. I got my shower at 5:05.

And at 5:30 I started waking my high school boy.

MY HIGH SCHOOL BOY!!!

I cannot believe that my firstborn is off to high school today. It seems like only yesterday that I was rocking him in the wee hours of the morning whispering my hopes and dreams into his tiny little ears. I remember vividly one morning I looked at his little blue eyes and wondered what he would be like on his first day of Kindergarten. I never wondered beyond Kindergarten...my mind couldn't fathom letting go of my priceless gift into the mean old world.

And here we are in high school.

But this morning I remembered what God whispered into my ears that morning in late November of 1995.

"Dori, this child is more Mine than he is yours. I love Him infinitely more than you could ever imagine. I have his days planned out from beginning to end. Not one single hair on his head has not been numbered personally by Me. Wonder all you want about the days ahead, but take them one at a time and know that nothing will come this child's way that hasn't first passed through My very strong right hand. This child is yours but for a moment. He is Mine for eternity."

Praying for all of our children today as they run the race set out for them and do the work that God had planned for them when time began. And praying the same for the rest of us!

"It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." Ephesians 1:11-12 The Message

Blessings,
Dori