I Am Soooo Embarrassed!

 

 

Have you ever wished that the earth would open up and swallow you?  Or have you ever longed for a rock to hide beneath?  Have you experienced a time when you dreaded having to face another person?

 

Well, I am there!  I look so terrible!  People are laughingly asking if I was run over by a Mac truck!  It is true that I do look like I have been in a street fight.  Both my eyes are dark (they are not quite black), my cheek is bruised, my nose is broken, my arm, leg, and foot are scraped and bruised, and I have butterfly bandages covering a gash between my nose and lip.  I just look pitiful, and besides that my whole body aches.

 

The embarrassment comes though not because I look so awful, but when I have to explain what happened.  I thought about telling everyone I was in a car wreck or a skiing accident, but that would be a lie.  So I reluctantly admit that I just was not paying attention and fell flat on my face.   It really becomes embarrassing when they ask where and how I fell.  Unwillingly, I confess that I was walking up our back steps into the kitchen.  This is a feat I have literally accomplished a million times.  You just have to put one foot in front of the other, step up one concrete step at a time, open the door, and enter the house.  No big deal.  Our two-year-old granddaughters do it all the time.  You simply have to watch where you are going.  You have to pay attention.

 

As I sat nursing my wounds and painfully struggling to eat and talk, I wondered what God could possibly teach me through this experience.  Humility?  Definitely!  Empathy and understanding? Yes.   But could He also be telling me to slow down?   Lord, I was not rushing that morning … I was just not paying attention.  I was distracted because I was thinking about something else.   I had entered the house by those kitchen steps so many times, I guess I thought I could do it blindfolded.   I had become careless and lazy.  The result was a terrible fall, painful recovery, and many embarrassing moments.

 

The Lord seemed to tell me that it is often like that in our Christian lives.  Even though we are in the habit of having a Quiet Time each morning, we can become easily distracted.  The enemy takes our focus from the Lord and causes it to be placed on things around us.   We are busy teaching Sunday School and children’s choir, are involved in a challenging weekly Bible study, our children are enjoying a great school year, our husbands are blessed with satisfying jobs, and things seem to be going along quite smoothly.  Our lives seem to be on automatic pilot.  We have preformed our daily tasks so often we believe we can handle them blindfolded. We attend church; but instead of worshiping, we concentrate on where we shall go for lunch or arranging food for Susie’s family while she is in the hospital.  Or, our bodies sit at our child’s soccer game while our minds are occupied with our Bible study lesson.  We are comfortable in our little corner of the world; and we become careless, lazy, and easily distracted.

 

Most of all, we fail to pay attention to the reason we were created.  We neglect to give credit where credit is due.  We fail to praise His name and express our gratitude to Him for all of His gracious provisions.   We take satisfying jobs, buy homes and cars, and take health for granted.  We rarely acknowledge that by His grace we have air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat.  We overlook His gifts of refrigerators, air conditioners, beds, vacuum cleaners, and microwave ovens.  We are oblivious to hummingbirds, butterflies, caterpillars, sunrises and sunsets, daffodils and roses, and raindrops.  We expect Him to bless us and fail to recognize it when He does!   Our carelessness and laziness break His heart.  God will not be robbed of His glory (Numbers 20:10-12).  When we neglect to acknowledge and praise Him, the results are often terrible falls, painful recoveries, and many embarrassing moments.  It is far more embarrassing to have to admit to focusing on self ego (Editing God Out), neglecting to give credit where credit is due, and failing to praise Him than it is to confess to falling down.

 

Although we were created to praise Him, praise does not flow from our lips automatically.   We often live as though we are self-sufficient.   Has your spiritual awareness been dulled because you have carelessly taken God’s presence for granted?  Praise flows naturally from a grateful heart.  When is the last time you stopped your hectic schedule and paused to admire a rainbow, bluejay, or geranium?  Did you thank Him for creating them?  When is the last time you praised Him for the cool breeze refreshing your body as you sat in the hot bleachers at a ball game?  How long has it been since you expressed your gratefulness for His love, mercy, and forgiveness?  Have you taken a moment lately to think about the cross and how much it cost Him?  Have you thanked Him for His precious gift?

 

Because praise is ascribing value or gratitude and appreciation of who God is and what He does, it results in genuine worship.  We pay attention to His guidance and protection in our lives and gratefully acknowledge Who is in control, regardless of the circumstances.  (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Remember Paul and Silas, though they were beaten and imprisoned, they still praised God (Acts 16:25).  It is not hypocrisy to praise God in difficult situations, it is obedience!

 

How many times have you fallen flat on your face spiritually?  Determine that you will not be embarrassed when God humbles you.  Protect yourself from falls and injuries in your Christian walk by choosing to focus on the Lord and His attributes.  Pay attention to His gracious provisions in your daily life, and acknowledge that they are gifts from Him. According to Revelation 5, we will spend an eternity praising God.   Why not start now?

 

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart.  I will glorify Your name forevermore.  Great is Your mercy toward me.  You have delivered my soul from the lowest hell.  You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, gracious, and long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.  You, Lord, help and comfort me.

            I will sing of Your mercies forever.  With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.  Mercy shall be built up forever.  Your faithfulness shall You establish in the very heavens.  The heavens shall praise Your wonders, O Lord.  Your faithfulness also praises You in the congregation of the saints.  For who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord?  Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?  God, You are greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be held in reverence of all them that are about You.

Every day will I bless You.  I will praise Your name forever and ever.  You are great, Lord, and greatly to be praised.  Your greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.  I praise You for the glorious honor of Your majesty and of Your wondrous works.  I declare Your greatness.  I shall abundantly utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.  (Praise Praying from the Psalms, pages 16-17, 37-38).

 

 

 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

The Power of Praise …Since praise is the offering of grateful reverence to God in words or songs, it becomes an act of worship.  We pause in our daily lives and focus for a moment on our Creator and Provider, our Almighty God.  Throughout the Bible we are told to praise God, and that praise gives God pleasure.

 

Read Isaiah 61:3 to discover what we are to put on instead of a spirit of despair?  Praising God invites His presence into our lives.  His presence comes to transform our circumstances and us.

 

Read 2 Peter 1:3-4.  From these verses, what are some reasons we should praise God?  Does He provide everything we need to live the Christian life?  Of course He does – first life itself through the new birth, then the power to live that life through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-4; Ephesians 1:3; 1 John 5:11-12).

 

Should we thank God for the commonplace blessings in life such as food and shelter?  Do we need to acknowledge His provision of friends and families?  1Thessalonians 5:18 will give you insight into His expectations of praise.  Praise causes us to focus on the riches of God.

 

How many times in Psalm 150 are we instructed, “everything that hath breath” praise the Lord”?

 

What are the benefits of praise?   Read Psalm 22:3.  Praise surrounds us with God’s presence.  You will see in Psalm 91 and 2 Chronicles 20:12,22 that praise offers us protection.  By focusing on God and praising Him, we can have victory over Satan.  The enemy hates praise more than anything.  Why?  Because praise enthrones God in our lives and releases His power in us.

 

Not only do our lives benefit from praising God, but praise encourages all those around us to focus on the Lord.  Learn to take advantage of every opportunity to praise His name.  Recognize Who holds the stars in the sky; makes the flowers to grow; protects us as we travel; gives us eyes to behold the beauty around us, food to nourish our bodies, laughter to warm hearts, and love to surround our souls.  Then as your life becomes a continual praise offering to Him, those precious lives around you will notice and begin to change.

 

Take a moment to glance through the Psalms.  They are full of praises to the Father.  I wonder … if someone glanced at your life, would they find it full of praises to Him?  Even when you fall flat on your face?

 

I’m praying for you!

Edwina

The Gift of Prayer

Sweet is the precious gift of prayer,

To bow before a throne of grace;

To leave our every burden there,

And gain new strength to run our race;

To gird our heavenly armor on,

Depending on the Lord alone.

                                                     —Author Unknown

 

Gifts come in all sizes and shapes and for many different occasions. Some gifts may be very elaborate and expensive while others are simple offerings from a child’s hand. Usually presents are given to encourage, express love and appreciation, and to bring joy to the recipient’s heart.  But when a gift is given out of a sense of responsibility or duty, there is little joy for either the giver or the recipient.

 

One of the greatest gifts to mankind is the gift of prayer.  It was an expensive gift, for it cost God the life of His own dear Son to have a relationship with us.  And that’s what prayer is—a relationship between God’s heart and our hearts.

 

Relationships don’t automatically evolve. They take time, energy, and effort. Someone initiates the relationship and then both parties must participate for the relationship to grow.

 

One of the primary ingredients in any successful relationship is time spent together sharing your hearts—your goals, dreams, and heartaches.  Fellowship fosters a bonding of lives and enhances the relationship.  The more time you spend together the stronger the relationship becomes.

 

God desires a relationship with believers.  He wants to encourage and equip us to live power-filled lives and bring peace and joy to our hearts. God initiated the relationship in the Garden of Eden and proved it on Calvary. He took the first step.  Now it’s up to us to respond.

 

Prayer is one of the ways we respond to God’s wooing and is a vital ingredient to a satisfying relationship with Him. Prayer is also a gift we give to the Lord.  It’s putting our to-do lists aside, blocking out the world, and thinking about His majesty, glory, faithfulness, power, and holiness.  This relationship isn’t determined by eloquent phrases or vast Bible knowledge. It’s built upon time—fellowshipping together and sharing our heart’s desires, fears, concerns, pain, and then listening for His responses. It’s from our hearts to God’s heart.

 

Our lives are fast paced and often hectic. Regardless of our schedules, busyness, or heartaches, God is not confused, stressed, or frustrated. He is in control.  Nothing takes Him by surprise. He knows the situations we face and He knows tomorrow.  He is the promise-keeping King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

If we think of prayer as a duty or an obligation, if we leave it tucked away in the recesses of our minds only to be used when it’s convenient, we miss the sweetness and blessings of fellowshipping with the Lord, we enter the world ill-equipped and powerless, … and we devalue His gift.

 

When we choose to spend time communing with Him, when we express our love and appreciation to Him, it brings joy to His heart.  It’s all about a love relationship! Prayer is truly a gift!

 

“Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise.  It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One…It is the very essence of true religion, the channel of all blessings, the secret of power and life.”   Andrew Murray

 

 

 

 

 

PRAYER SUPPORT

 

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,

and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”  1 Timothy 2:1

 

Each of us needs prayer support. Scripture tells us when the people prayed and Peter stood up to preach at Pentecost, three thousand hearts were changed. A similar situation occurred when the people prayed all night for John Livingstone before he preached the next day at Shotts. The result: five hundred souls made decisions for Christ.  Before Spurgeon stepped forward to proclaim God’s truth, he was surrounded by men who had spent a half hour in prayer asking God to glorify His name through the words from Spurgeon’s lips.  Even the apostle Paul, in his sense of insufficiency, said, “Pray for us.”

 

As you step out in faith presenting Christ, a team of prayer warriors is available to offer you prayer support.  Please email us at edwina@redeemingthetime.org and we will faithfully intercede for you.

 

 

 

School Already?

The grocery store was packed with mothers and children shopping for school supplies.  As skillfully as I could, I navigated through carts overflowing with school supplies and snacks.  I noticed how excited the children were and how weary their moms seemed to be.  I remember those days….

 

Three number 2 pencils, one container of glue, one jar of paste, six folders with pockets and brads.  Trying to remain calm and in control, I check off items on the school supply lists.  Tommy and Suzie (names changed to protect the innocent!) excitedly dash around grabbing everything in sight and immediately deposit them in our basket, which is already overflowing with lunch boxes and back packs.

 

It’s hard to believe that it’s time for school to begin again.  These last few days have been a whirlwind of activities as we try to accomplish everything we didn’t seem to find time to do during the summer.  Time flew by and now we’re in a countdown mode.  Last minute picnics, boating, and sleepovers along  with shopping for school supplies crowd our days and make my head dizzy.  I long to slow down and capture every moment.  My babies are growing up too quickly.  At least I still have one toddler at home.  Before I know it, they’ll be grown and away from home.  My mind even wonders to college graduations and weddings.

 

Crash!  The metal lunch box falling on the floor jerks my mind back to reality.  Oh, Lord, give me the strength to get through these next few days!  There’s so much to do and so little time.  The children sense my exasperation and fatigue … and it seems to feed their excitement.  I need help, Lord.  Fill me with Your peace today.  May Tommy and Suzie see a Mom who trusts You to be her strength and energy.  And fill me with a sense of humor as we prepare to begin the new school year.  I want them to remember my laughter and love while they are at school.  And Lord, help us to find everything that’s on these lists!

 

While driving home from our shopping adventure (challenge), I notice that although the children look forward to the first day of school, they seem to be anxious about new class rooms, teachers, and having a friend in their rooms this year.  My heart yearns to reassure them and put their minds at peace.   As we begin to unpack the car, I pause, gather the children into my arms and pray, “Dear Lord, these precious children that You’ve given to me are getting ready for a new school year.  I ask You to be their Guide during the year.  Help them to find their new rooms, their desks, the library, the bathrooms, and the cafeteria without any problems.

 

Help them to keep up with their books and school supplies.  May they each have a special friend in their rooms so they won’t feel so alone.  May they have friends to sit with at lunch and to play with at recess.   May their teachers be exactly the teachers that You intend for them to have.  May they be kind and understanding and have the ability to communicate the lessons to the children.  May my children respond with respect to their teachers and eagerly set about to do their assignments.  Give them a love for learning and show me how to help them.

 

 May they always remember that when they leave my arms each morning, Your arms are still around them for You’ve promised to never leave them. Thank You for loving and protecting them.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.      

 

…Oops! Remembering the past had almost caused me to have a head on collision with another cart!  I apologized to the mother and children and started to move on down the aisle, but something made me turn and smile at the mom and give her the thumbs up sign! Looking at my ‘food only’ cart, she took the pen from her mouth, set the pencil sharpener in the cart, and smiled back.

 

“Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him.’ Psalm 127: 3.

 

 

Edwina Patterson is a speaker and author of several books and Bible studies, including Redeeming the Time – Where Do I Begin? and Children Who Glorify God.  She is the founder of Redeeming the Time as well as host of her original devotionals heard daily on the radio.  Her greatest joys come from being married for over 50 years, the mother of three grown children, and the grandmother of seven.   For more information please check her web site www.redeemingthetime.org .

 

 

 

By Edwina Patterson

 

A gentle breeze softly blew, and it was unusually comfortable outside this July evening in Texas. The stars seemed to be brighter tonight.  I felt like I could just reach up and touch them. I leaned so far back stretching my neck trying to see all of them at once that I almost fell backwards.

I sat down on the steps on the back porch and marveled at the view–the peace that is so evident to all who visit here seemed to settle my heart from the busy day.  As I sat peacefully loving the smell of the wild flowers mixed with the scent from RJ’s rose garden, I praised God for the silence. No horns honking.  No cars rushing by.  No loud music.  No phones ringing. No interruptions. And for the moment, no responsibilities called me.  Just silence, beautiful quiet silence. The silence seemed to make the moment more dramatic, more valuable. And I loved it!

I found myself not only praising God for the beauty He had created, but also praying for this country we live in–one that gives us all the opportunity and privilege of sitting on our own back porch and praising God. I wondered aloud to God and asked Him how this country founded on principles from His Word had become this strange, weird, unbelievable, crazy, terrifying country that calls itself America. This isn’t the land I learned about in school. It isn’t the land of the free and home of the brave anymore. It’s a land of wickedness and evil, of blasphemy and foul language, of turmoil and anger, of lies and deceit, and of immoral behavior that goes beyond our imagination. This isn’t my land anymore.  It’s theirs–those who choose to carelessly throw God’s principles into the trash like unwanted advertisements.

But it doesn’t have to remain that way.  For God Himself says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land“(capitalization and italics mine). Could it be any plainer–any clearer? The challenges we face in America today are our fault.  “We the people” have ignored God’s principles and have accepted tolerance and compromise.  We’ve edited God’s Word to make our lives comfortable.  Fearing we might offend others, we’ve tried to “get along” with the evil in our land…and look where it’s gotten us.

It’s time for God’s people to get up from their comfortable couches and get down on their knees, confess and repent our sin, put on our work boots, and get to work reestablishing God’s principles in this land. It won’t be easy, but is anything worthwhile easy?! It wasn’t easy for Noah to build the ark, or Moses to lead the rebellious group of Israelites across the desert, or for David to face Goliath, or for Ester to plead for her people before the King, or for Debra to lead the Israeli army into combat, or for unwed Mary to carry the baby Jesus in her womb, or for Paul to be incarcerated for years, or for Jesus Christ to hang on that old rugged cross.  But, they all not only faced the difficulties in their lives, but they used them to grow their faith and they soared above the circumstances!

Do you love this land?  Do you love your freedom to eat what you crave, to say what you think is right, to go where you choose, to wear what you select, to read what you pick out, to marry whom you choose, to worship as you prefer, and regarding freedom the list goes on and on. If so, will you join me in praying for this great country that desperately needs to turn back to God?

Dear Heavenly Father, You who created all things, knows all things, and can do all things, and because there are no surprises to You, we bow our knees–no, we fall on our faces before You, recognizing–with shame and embarrassment–our sins. We have disregarded Your Truths. We have not valued Your Love Letter to us, the Bible.  We’ve not spent time reading it and applying it to our lives.  We have dishonored Your name and disgraced Your love for us.  Our heart attitudes and actions have discredited Your gift of grace. O Father, we acknowledge that we deserve Your judgment–Your wrath.  We have taken Your love and treated it abominably.  We’ve ignored Your nudges and Your warnings to shape up, to admit our wrong doings, and to change. 

We’ve become complacent in our relationship with You and taken Your holiness for granted. By our tolerant lifestyles, we have not pointed people to You, but away from You. In our “me first” culture, we have placed our desires above Your will.  You have every right to wipe us from the face of this earth. But, because of Your tender mercies, and because in the past (even though we are not now living like it) we have chosen to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we–in humility and confidence at the same time–claim 1 John 1:9.  With sincere repentance we confess our sins of disobedience to You, our prideful attitudes, our selfishness, our inattentiveness to You, our complacency, our sinful choices, and our sinful heart attitudes.  We ask You to take another look at us and see that we are covered with the blood of Your Son, Jesus.  Wash us, Lord, from our sins and make us clean. Put our sins away from us…as far as the East is from the West and remember them no more.

Fill us with a passion to bring You glory.  May we seek You early each morning and protect and cherish this fellowship with You.  May we–whatever comes our way–choose to make decisions that please You.  May our daily lives be different than those around us.  May they see Your peace residing in our lives in the midst of busyness and the chaos in today’s world.  Open our eyes to their needs and enable us to minister to their needs. Wrap Your arms of love around us and fill our lives with expressions of Your love.  May it spill over onto all we meet and point them to Jesus.

Lord, heal our land. Bring us back to a people that reverence Your name, to a land and a people who stand in awe of You, to a place where we can serve You with open passion and love. May the name of Jesus be one of deep respect, reverence, and awe. And it’s in His Name that we come to You and make these requests. Amen.

 

I’ll be praying for our country.  Will you?

 

Edwina

©Edwina Patterson