Praises Go UP!! Hallelujah! These past few weeks have been packed with challenges for me. When I wrote about patience or faith a couple of weeks ago they both looked very much alike to me. My last blog about my zip line experience was a reminder of how much in a panic we can be just before relief and unspeakable HAPPINESS overtakes us.

I was willing to be patient, waiting until God saw fit to release me from my self-imposed limitations. He has offered me freedom on every level. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. (See John 10:10). Yet there was something that I needed to do. Some action I needed to take. I had to go to the word, renew my mind and sit with my friend – Jesus. I had to go back to the word. My shortcomings were brought to light for me and I acted upon what I saw.

We have been instructed to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right). We are also told in the word we were given the keys to the kingdom. (See Matthew 16:19) Likewise we are told to seek and we shall find. (See Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9) Look at these statements, if we do something God has promised to do something for us. These are if then statements if we do something then something will happen.

My faith is engaged when I see a comfy chair and I move over to it and take a seat. I do not inquire about the standards by which the chair was assembled. I don’t ask how many times before has someone sat in that spot without a negative outcome. I don’t reflect on how many times I have tried to rest my bottom on the cushions of a chair and it fails to hold me. I simply am confident that when I move into position, the chair will support me. If I sit then it will hold me.

Likewise if I put the correct key into the ignition of my car when I turn said key the car will start. I do not need to be familiar with the process of how the engine works, what the catalytic converter does or the operation of the carburetor.

These manmade articles were conceived in the brain of a human being. The handbook created by the car manufacturer describes how we are to best operate the equipment as it was designed. Every car I have held the title to, each and every one have come outfitted with an owner’s manual. I have read each manual from cover to cover. I knew that in order to operate the vehicle properly I would need to read the manual prepared by its maker. When I operate the vehicle according to the instructions in that important book, I will get the best outcome. If I do something then something will happen.

Each of us has been provided with access to our maker’s instructions. Do we read the instruction manual to see how we are to properly use our wonderfully made bodies? Do we look to see how we are to treat our sons, our daughters, or parents, our spouses or brothers, our neighbors or ourselves? Do we look for what kind of company we are to keep, or what our conversation is to be?  Do we look to see what we are to think about? Do we know what we are made of or what kind of fruit we are to rightfully bear? Do we check to see if we are nurturing ourselves or in a state of starvation?

Our maker has provided us access to that manual. According to the Guinness World Records almanac The Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. Between 1815 and 1975 two point five billion Bibles were printed. More recent estimates put that number closer to five billion by 1975. It has been translated into 349 languages in its entirety and at least one of the sixty-six books in the volume has been translated into 2,123 languages. (See www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-1/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction/)

Clearly we have access to the book. Are we seeking and following direction from this book. Not an occasional glance or a one-time review. We are to refer to it consistently. Not because it changes and we may see something different, but because as we change we will see something different. As we examine ourselves we will move closer to becoming a perfect copy of our maker. As the distractions and deceptions are removed from our line of sight we will be able to be and do more of what our maker has designed us to be and do.

Over these past few weeks I spent some good time reading through the faith, prayer and patience portion of the book. As I practiced its contents I was reminded and moved closer to the, if then statements in the book. I am now in the praise section and looking forward to gaining more insight.

Everything in the manual was placed there for our benefit, in The Message in the book of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we find, “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.” Or in the King James Version, “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

I fully understand that sometimes we do not want to have our mistakes brought to light (through reproof) however in Proverbs 17:10 we read in the King James rendering, “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.”  Since I do have a choice, as do you, I’d rather be wise. Therefore I endeavor to be more than simply a hearer of the word but a doer also. (See James 1:23)

I thank God for His word! I thank Him for His promises! I am thankful that even when I get lost He is there waiting to help me to get back on the path again! If I do what He has instructed me to do then He will do what He has promised. He is faithful! Let’s continue to Take Inventory and Take Action to become more like our maker.

Love,

Deborah

“Lighting the path to loving your neighbor as yourself”.