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It occurred to me last night that I should post something for Mother’s Day and so this morning I set about looking for a previous post that I may have used in a former blog and to my surprise there was none. I have not written a Mother’s Day post before. Why is this? At the depth of my soul, all I can think of is shame. Motherhood is one of the greatest calls by God. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward,” (Ps. 127:3). We are called to be stewards over these little people and raise them up to follow the Lord (Prov. 22:6). But they do not come with manuals or directions, they are all different in personality, strengths, and needs. We cannot protect them from the cruelties of the world, which breaks our hearts. We love our children fiercely and unwaveringly, but we do not always receive that love in return. For some of us, this is not a happy day, but a day of grief. Even as toddlers they can say the meanest things. Of course, what comes out of the mouths of babes can be overlooked and even found somewhat comical. But as they get older their words and actions tend to cut deeper. Today my heart is with the mothers of prodigals. Four children I have raised and four prodigals I love. They don’t all look the same, as in the story of the prodigal son, there were two sons, they were both prodigals, one left and the other stayed. A prodigal child is not a new concept, it is not an American concept, or a consequence of Western culture, though culture does have an influence. Prodigals go back as far as the garden when Eve took the fruit. Oh, how God must have grieved as He watched the fall of His children. Mothers of prodigal children, you are not alone. The God of the universe feels your pain every day. But there is hope! Whether you raised your children in church or not, regardless of the mistakes you have made there is always hope in Christ and shame holds know place with Him. Today as we grieve those children who have pushed us away, those who keep us at arm’s length, and those who go through the motions but do not have their lives right with Christ, be encouraged. We are in this together, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them,” (Matt. 18:20). And in Joshua 23 we read, “One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you,” (v. 10). This is something I feel deeply right now and would like to explore more as I pray for my own children. If this is you, please reach out. Let’s pray together and fight together, the battle is the Lords. Abba, Today as You fill our hearts with hope and love we lift our lost children to You. They were Yours before they were ever ours, only on loan for a little while. Lord, we ask that you start a move on their hearts that turns them back to You. We ask for unity in our relationships with our children, help us to be Your light where there is darkness, and strengthen our resolve. In Jesus name, Amen!   Have a blessed Mother’s Day!

Read: Psalm 119:1-16   Key Verse: I have stored up your word in my heart,    that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11   Devotion:   As I return to the message this blog started with, our acrostic BALM, I am reminded how fast time flies and how easily we get off track. We have talked about being consistent, attaining accountability, and living intentionally. But we have not gotten to the M – memorizing scripture. This may have been put off somewhat intentionally as I feel like I still have a long way to go with this, but what better word to start off with than our key verse.   My daughter and I are both working on memorizing this verse as it has been the highlighted verse in our family devotions. We have been reading it together and repeating it. I have encouraged her to write it down as I do this myself. If you look online there are several different tools to help with memorizing scripture. While I have not identified what method works best for me, one thing I know for sure is that I must be intentional with this.   In the recommended reading from Psalm 119 we are reminded that it is through God’s word that we can withstand sin. His word guides and protects us, it blesses us, it helps us to stay righteous and keep His commandments. In verse 9 we read, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” But if we do not have the word in our heart, then we have no defenses.   Reflection:   How has the word of God helped you? What tools are you using to memorize scripture?   Prayer:   Abba, Help me to “delight in your statutes” and remember your word in my heart (v. 16). Bless my path that I will be righteous before you, guided by scripture. Help me to meditate on your words and fix my eyes on You (v. 15, 6). Thank you, Jesus! Amen!

Reading: 1 Peter 4:1 – 19   Key Verse:   Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  (1 Peter 4:8)   Devotion:   As a teenager, I smoked, drank, snuck out, and continuously disrespected my mom, causing her great pain.  Despite this, I never felt unloved by her. In this same way, God shows us unconditional love.  We don’t deserve it, but He loves us anyway as He calls us to a hard love and challenges us to rise above our pain, to love others even through their messes. This includes our friends, family, children, and spouses. Right now, I feel this especially for my adult children. Hard love is comparable to the prickly pear able to survive harsh climates while maintaining tender fruit and seeds of love.  As this plant is susceptible to disease, we are susceptible to struggle, but when we recognize that love is a commitment not a feeling, we can stand firm. Along with the pain that accompanies hard love, we need to be prepared to suffer for Christ.  If you came to Christianity thinking it would make life easier, you were misguided. “Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so but the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies,” (2 Corinthians 4:10).  In some ways life has even more challenges when we choose to serve God as we began to face persecution.  The prince of this world is not happy with our decision to serve God; he is determined to change our minds, but we cannot let him. Life may come with more challenges, but without Jesus we have no one to carry our burdens and we have no hope.  Remember your reward in heaven, as Paul shares in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”   Even if life is a constant struggle as it has often felt like to me, there is an awesome reward waiting for us on the other side.    Prayer:   Father God, Please help me to love with a hard love as I learn to accept my suffering as a gift. Thank You for carrying me when life is tough. In Jesus name! Amen!

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13 ~ As we continue toward intentional living over Easter weekend, I want to talk about the life of Jesus. Jesus is our perfect example of how to live intentionally; everything He did and said had a reason. Even as a child Jesus understood His purpose and lived with intention. We read in Luke 2:52, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man,” (NIV). At the age of twelve following the Passover feast and unbeknownst to His parents, Jesus stayed behind in the temple to discuss scripture with the teachers and priests. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”  He asked his parents when they anxiously asked why He had not gone with them (Luke 2:49, NASB). Jesus was not being disobedient or disrespectful; He was being intentional. His parents did not account for Him when they left and assumed that he would be with the other children most likely. Who was lacking intention in this event? In Mathew 3:13 – 17 we read about the baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist at first resisted, feeling that he was unworthy and that it should be the other way around, but Jesus knew that by being baptized he was fulfilling God’s righteous plan and identifying himself with man so that He, the perfect lamb of God could take all of our sin and failure on Himself.  And as He arose from the water the Spirit of God came on Him like a dove and spoke, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased,” (Matthew 3:17, NASB). Jesus spent His entire ministry teaching love, compassion, and purpose. He commissioned us from the beginning. In Matthew 5:13 – 14 He tells us that we are the salt and light of the world, in other words we are to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world as disciples of Christ. The bible is our instruction manual on how to do this. He tells us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemies, going as far as turning the other cheek when someone has wronged us. Jesus was not teaching us to be pushovers, but to choose our battles wisely. Do you ever scroll through an argument on social media? When conversations get heated, it can go on and on. Everybody wants to get the last word. “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him, (Proverbs 26:4, NKJV). Jesus understood this and He did not answer the leading priests nor Pilot when later interrogated. Jesus promoted justice and righteousness; He was frequently heard calling out the Pharisees and the Scribes for their hypocrisy. Warning them cared a their desire for honor and dignity came before love; they placed heavy burdens on their followers that they did not keep (Matthew 23). He flipped over the money tables in Matthew 21 and rebuked the people, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves, (Matthew 21:13, NKJV).’”  Jesus was not throwing a tantrum, but exemplifying reverence for God Almighty. By doing this, He demonstrated how anger has a place when utilized appropriately. Jesus promoted lovingkindness and mercy. When He met the woman at the well, He did not discriminate against her, even though she was a Samaritan (despised by Jews) and a woman of ill repute. He asked for a drink of water and offered her forgiveness for her sins. Not only did she receive Jesus as Lord that day, but she followed the great commission and brought the other people of the village to Jesus as well (John 4). Later in John 8, attempting to trap Jesus the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before Him. His answer about stoning her gave them no option but to walk away, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first (John 8:7, NKJV).” For forty days in the wilderness, Jesus not only modeled the importance of fasting and prayer, but He taught us how to resist temptation. Three times the devil tried to tempt Jesus, twisting scripture, but Jesus rebuked him with the word of God. Jesus was armed and ready for Satan, are you? Ephesians 6:10 – 18 tells us to put on our armor of God. In verse 12 we read, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” (NIV).  Jesus understood this and followed the commands of God in word and action. He hung out with outcasts; In Luke 7:36 – 50, Jesus is anointed by an immoral woman (possibly a prostitute or adulteress) with her tears and expensive perfume, she wiped his feet with her hair; this offended the Pharisee who had invited Jesus over, but He pointed out that the Pharisee did not offer water for cleansing, greet Him with a kiss, or anoint Him in anyway.  The immoral woman arrived to do just this, and her sins were forgiven. We read in Luke 19:1 – 10 the story of Zacchaeus, a corrupt tax collector, who was so excited to see Jesus that he climbed a sycamore tree to see Him past the crowd. Jesus called Zacchaeus down and went to stay at his house, when the people grumbled His reply was a revelation of His purpose on earth. “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost,” (Luke 6:10, NLT). When the soldiers arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, He did not resist, in fact, he healed the soldier whose ear Peter cut off. He did not try to stop His execution, in fact, Jesus tells Pilot in John

Key Verse:  Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4:5-6, NKJV) Devotion: As a child I dreamed of becoming a writer, but words can serve as a double-edged sword. They can take a dream to the next level, or they can crush a dreamer’s heart. We have all experienced it and we have all been guilty in some way. We should be encouraging one another, but sometimes we get caught up in our own negativity like the teacher I spoke about a couple weeks ago, who did not see the relevance in having her students experience a filibuster in action. There were other dreams I had as a child, dreams that I would do big things someday, dreams of having my own family, of breaking the cycle of poverty over my life, of affecting change. Some dreams have come to fruition, but not in the way I imagined; some are a work in progress, some have been released with acceptance, some have been forgotten or stifled by the world’s cruelty. The perspective of a child is often innocent and full of wonder, but disappointment and pain can imprint scars not easily undone. “Parents, don’t provoke your children in a way that ends up discouraging them,” (Colossians 3:21, CEB). The Word tells us to treat others as we want to be treated, to be gentle and kind and gracious toward one another for a simple word can crush a dream (Eph 4:32, Luke 6:31). But we also must be careful not to feed a dream that does not come from the Lord. We live in a divisive world with much confusion; not every desire comes from God. “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God,” (Ecclesiastes 5:7, NKJV). Often these fleshly desires crush God-given dreams. In both Matthew 6 and Luke 16 we read that we cannot serve two masters. James admonishes his listeners, “You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy,” (4:4, CEB). Engage: So, what then? We must walk in the wisdom of God in the Spirit of love and truth. If you have God-given dreams being crushed by someone’s worldly desires, know that you are not alone. Pray: Abba, Thank you that you are not a dream crusher, but the Giver of dreams. Guide me into discernment and help me to be an encourager to others. Let all I do and say bring You praise; bring comfort and encouragement for those dreams that feel crushed and stifled. In Jesus name! Amen!

Innocent and serene, is how the dream began A butterfly spreads its wings, a dance that too soon ends Beguiled or foolish, not sure of which Taunting so ruthless, the bait and switch Crimson dreams that slowly die From naive gestures, a log in their eye The noise and clamor of slow decay A busy distractor, emotive Bengay Bound up and silenced, but still alive The dance can never truly die Shine a light, and wings may shudder There’s still a fight inside this gutter Bruises may take time to heal A forgotten dream lives here still