Laced With Grace

There is a young man who lives around the corner from us. He use to live with his father in his fathers house, but ever since his father passed away, this young man has been living in the house alone and in the dark…

Literally.

Because of choices of a certain lifestyle, this young man spends all of his money on drinking and drugs and chooses to live in the house with no electricity. He has lived like this for years. It is a lifestyle, that quite honestly, I cannot even comprehend. With the climate that we live in here in the south, how can one be without air conditioning in the heat of the summer or be without a working furnace on the brisk cool nights of the winter?

Driving by his house the other day, I wondered to myself, “what would it take to get the lights turned on?” The simple resolve would be for someone to just pay his electricity bill each month, but the logical and most important resolve would be for this young man to leave behind those things that keep him in the dark.

We live in a world not so far fetched from this young man. I am quite certain that most of you reading this post have electricity in your home with plenty of light illuminating and plenty of heat to keep you warm on a cold winters night. But I wonder how many of you go into places that are not so brightly lit, the darkness over-weighs the light and it is difficult to see the power at work at all. I am talking about living in a world that is void of the light and power of Christ!

What a difference a small glimpse of light can make in a darkened room. Late at night when I enter my bedroom, in order to not disturb my sleeping husband, I use the light of my cell phone to lighten my path so I don’t stumble or stub my toe. Its just a small light, but its enough to show me the way. However, if I were to turn on the main light, oh how brightly it would shine, it would not only help me to find my way but it would erase all of the darkness that once was present.

When I go into my world, at my workplace, or at the grocery store or visiting with my unsaved family members, I have to ask myself the same question that I asked about my neighbor…”What would it take to get the lights turned on?” How far would I be willing to go to remove the darkness that so many of these that I rub shoulders with are in?

“Then Jesus spoke again saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” -John 8:12

For many people, it is only a matter of turning the power switch on. But… we have to be willing to share Gods love and light with them. Instead of wondering why they continue to live in the dark, isn’t it time that we reach our hand out and walk them into the light?

There is so much power in His light…our footsteps become more steady, our attitudes change, and our love grows deeply for others. There is someone, maybe a neighbor, maybe a friend, a co-worker or maybe a loved one just waiting to have alittle light illuminated in front of them so they can find their way.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for lighting my world. Because of You, I no longer walk in darkness, help me now to show your light to others so that all can see. In Your name, I pray. AMEN

Now … go and let your Light shine!

Visit my blog for more devotionals… www.womentakingastand.blogspot.com

Last week we came across an interesting documentary on the LIFETIME channel that followed the story of an overweight woman. Now, when I say overweight, I am not meaning by 10 or 20 pounds. This particular woman weighed in at 650 pounds! For most of us we think an additional 10-20 pounds weighs us down, but can you imagine what life would be like for such a person weighing over 600 pounds?

This woman was just like most of us. She made her home with her husband. She had dreams. She had plans. She had God-given abilities. But unlike you and me, she was a prisoner in her own home. She was completely and totally dependent on her husband and others to be her caretaker. She could not get up out of the bed by herself. She could not go outside. She could not bear children. She could not get a job.  She was totally incapacitated by her excess weight.

Her story unraveled as we continued to watch this program. The first step to her weight reduction was  having a gastric bypass which was followed by a couple more surgeries, as she shed weight, to remove excess skin. In one surgery, removing the excess skin took off over 60 pounds! We were able to follow her story for a period of over 6 years and were absolutely amazed that in the end she got down to 190 pounds!

Shedding 460 pounds is amazing by itself. But what truly amazed me was the difference the weight loss made in this woman’s life. No longer did she need help in daily activities, and one of the greatest thrills for her was stepping outside for the first time by herself. She finally could make some of her dreams come true. She not only could walk outside now, but she could mow the yard. She finally had a baby. And she got a job, working for the same surgeon who helped her. She now was helping and motivating others that were just like she once was.

Truly a remarkable story.

Some of you may ask the same question that many of us would ask…how does a person get that overweight in the first place? I don’t know the answer to that but I would guess it has something to do with slow fade. After the first couple hundred of pounds, it doesn’t get noticeable until one day it is just too much!

I don’t really see much difference in her story and the story of the one who refuses to unload their burdens to the Lord. I hear so many Christians talk about how stressed they are or how they worry about everything. All you have to do is scroll down your news feed on your facebook account to see that Christians and unbelievers alike carry so much excess weight on their shoulders.

Job security. Finances. Relationship problems. Sickness. Death. Unemployment. Divorce. Loneliness. Depression. Anxiety.

It almost seems like one leads to another. If each burden weighed in at 100 pounds, can you see how easily it would be to gain an excess 400 pounds?

If you struggle with holding onto your burdens, you may be experiencing some problems that go along with weight gain. When we carry too much weight on our shoulders, we become isolated, imprisoned and not able to do all that God has called us to do. But like the woman in the documentary, we need to do whatever it takes to shed some weight …

” …lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.” HEBREWS 12:1

Think about what the writer of Hebrews is saying…”lay aside” or in other words, “put down” or “get rid of”. If only we I could learn that when I pick my burdens back up, it is only weighing me down. Today is a good day to allow God to take control of our weight issues…

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the promise that You would never leave me nor forsake me. Help me to trust You in everything. In good times and bad. In difficulty, I pray that I would turn my burdens over to You. I am weak but You are strong. You can carry the weight easier than me, I ask You now to remove this excess weight that binds me. In Your name, AMEN.

PSALM 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

You can visit my blog for more daily devotions … http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com

We have vacationed at the beach many times in the past ten years. I just love the sound of the waves rushing in. Something about it just soothes me. Any frustrations, problems or stress that I may have just seems to wash out with each wave.

The thing about the ocean is that the same calming water can quickly turn into a raging storm. If your not careful and if you don’t watch for the signs, you can easily get caught right in the middle of it. Have you ever considered what your plan of action would be if you were in the middle of the ocean on your boat and suddenly it capsized…what would you do?

Most of us would probably panic. While others who are calm and organized would look for the life jackets or an emergency flare. But what if when the boat capsized, all of the emergency equipment got dumped into the deep waters and were out of your reach, what then?

I am not an award winning Olympic swimmer, so what I would do is probably stay with the capsized boat. Hold on for dear life and ride out the waves until help came. I know it wouldn’t be easy, with each wave slapping me hard, I would probably get tired of hanging on and eventually I might want to just give up, taking the risk of drowning.

If such a situation came up for real in our lives, I have to ask, why could we hang on for dear life and fight to the end but yet when the same scenario plays out in our spiritual life, we are not as eager to stay afloat or fight the raging winds?

MARK 4:39,40 39 “And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And He said unto them, ‘Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?’ “

WHY are we so fearful? Jesus Himself asked the question. When financial difficulties, or physical ailments or relationship issues strike us, why do we become scared and unsure? The bank or a doctor may be able to help you for a time, but when you feel like you are all alone like Job was, when you are about to sink, where does your strength and resource come from?

Prior to going sailing, it is important to know where the anchor is….but more importantly, when you are sailing thru life it is even more important to know WHO your Anchor is! I know it is early in 2012 and most of us have had clear sailing so far, but as the days, weeks and months roll by, some of us are bound to come up against some mighty winds and roaring waves that just may knock us off of our sailing vessel. It is important to be prepared for such a time. Make sure that your faith, and endurance is anchored in the One Who can calm any storm.

Do you know the Master of the wind?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, in days ahead I know that trials and tribulations are bound to hit. I pray today that You will give me the strength, the power and the wisdom to hold on during these times. May I have Job-like faith and give you praise no matter what my circumstances may be. When life throws me a mighty big wave that seems to want to pull me under, may I hold on tight to Your anchor as you calm my storm. AMEN