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Rindy's Devotional Tidbits
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​
​Rindy Homer is a retired educator who has felt the call to share her daily inspirational thoughts through the Social Medial



​​The Spiritual Cafe is pleased to share her daily facebook thoughts. It is our hope that her reflections will be a service to you on your spiritual growth journey.
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Week Twelve Archives
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Year 5; Day 78                                                                 His Unfailing Love
 
The theme of this week's lessons in our Beth Moore "Breaking Free" Bible study is God's unfailing love. One of the key points is how God uses discipline to bring wayward children back to Him. When dealing with us, always, always His motivation is His unfailing love and restoration. Psalm 107 is a wonderful example of that love. The writer starts out by saying that the redeemed should give thanks to the Lord---those He redeemed from their enemies and those He redeemed from far and near. Then there are a series of examples of others who should give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love. Some wandered in desert wastelands lost, hungry, and thirsty. "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle...for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." (verses 6,7,9) Some of God's children rebelled against His words and despised His counsel. They became like prisoners and God subjected them to bitter labor. He allowed them to stumble and there was no one to help. Why did God do this? As punishment to make them pay or as discipline to bring them back? "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron." (verses 13-16) The Psalm goes on to give example after example of people going their own way, doing their own thing, ignoring God, and getting into great difficulties that they can't get out of. They paint themselves into a corner, they have no choices left, they have done everything they know to do. It is only then, when all else has failed, that they cry out to God. He is the last resort...never the first. And when they finally do cry out to the Lord, what does He do? He saves them from their distress. He rescues them from their troubles. He leads them to a good place. He stills the storm and heals with His Word. Why? Because of His unfailing love. Times haven't changed much. We still ignore God until we find ourselves with no more alternatives, boxed in, helpless. And He allows it because for some of us, it is the only way to get our attention. And when we finally remember Him, He responds, not with a lecture or spite, but with His unfailing love. Today is Sunday. How much better if we cried out to Him first.

 Year 5; Day 79                                                                 Higher and Better
 
Beth Moore made an observation that I have been thinking about. She said that too often we try to humanize God. We think of Him in terms of common human characteristics and often human limitations. How many times have we made the assumption that if we can't come up with a solution, there probably isn't one? And one that I do consistently, although I am starting to change, is to pray about something and give God a whole list of possible solutions...kind of a multiple choice answer to my request. As if He needed help in finding an answer or needed some suggestions to choose from. I find it hard to just bring my need or request to God and leave the resolution to Him...to trust Him to deal with it in the best possible way. There seems to be this compulsion to help, to contribute, to suggest. Sometimes the best prayers may be the ones made in desperation because we have no solution and can't think of one either. We come to God because we have no place else to go. He is our last resort when He so much wants to be our first call for help. Years ago our son needed a new violin. Not new as in brand new but new as in different and better sounding. We didn't have the money and I didn't know how it was going to happen. We did pray about it but I don't think I was really expecting an answer. And then I received a call from my mother. A virtually unknown aunt of hers had died with no children. All the nieces and nephews were getting some thousands of dollars and the first thing my mother wanted to do is give us money toward a violin. Between that, a music festival scholarship, and the owners of the violin we were interested in buying matching the scholarship amount, the violin cost us less than $200. That was not one of my possible answers to God when I prayed. I couldn't even have thought it up. I didn't need to. God doesn't need to "brainstorm" with anyone to come up with ideas. He has thoughts and ideas and ways and solutions that aren't on our radars or even in our minds. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8) Sometimes we find that hard to remember and accept in this self-centered world. God is not limited by a human brain or human thought processes. Today is Monday. His resources are limitless. Trust Him and you will see.

Year 5; Day 80                                                       Higher and Better, Pt. 2
 
So often we limit God to human dimensions. We just tend to think if we can't come up with an answer somewhere, somehow, then there isn't one. We also tend to limit God to what we can see. To the visible. How many times have I said, "I just don't see how this is going to work out." Because I couldn't enumerate the steps, I figured there weren't any. Yet Scripture teaches that there are the visible and the invisible. In speaking about Christ, Paul says, "He is the image of the invisible God...For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:15-17) What an all encompassing, all powerful verse. Our God is invisible to us but He reveals Himself through creation and Christ. God uses the visible and the invisible. He can read thoughts and motives. We can only guess and surmise. He commands an invisible army of angels. When David was fighting the Philistines, he inquired of the Lord as to how to attack. The Lord answered, "As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." (2 Samuel 5:24) Who marches in the tops of trees?? Not an earthly army. Not a visible army. David heard but he never saw. But he trusted and obeyed and the Philistines were defeated. While much is unseen to us, absolutely nothing is unseen to God...including the future. David says in Psalm 139, "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (verses 15,16) We are so often caught off guard. We don't see something coming. We can't imagine or make happen the things we would like. And so we tend to put God in the same category. We can't and so He can't. Except He can. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) Not a very small analogy. Today is Tuesday. What a mighty God we serve. Nothing---no thing---is too difficult or complex or beyond His capabilities. Visible or invisible.
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 Year 5; Day 81                                                                                         Yes
 
I find that this Bible study (Breaking Free by Beth Moore) is full of one liners that kind of lodge in the heart and mind. Beth made a comment that God is not a "Yes" and "No" God. I say "Yes" and "No" all the time. "Yes, I will do this." "No, I won't." Sometimes I say "Yes" and then change my mind or say "No" and then reverse it. Sometimes I need to change my mind because I made the wrong choice to begin with. Maybe I made a quick decision or I didn't weigh all the info or I didn't have all the facts. Sometimes I have needed to change my mind and didn't or wouldn't because of stubbornness or pride or just plain contrariness. Paul said to the Corinthian church, "But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,...was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.". (2 Corinthians 1:18-20) John 3:16 says that God loved the world and sent His Son so that none would perish. What if He suddenly decided to change that? What if He said "No" to the world and narrowed it down to only certain ethnic lines? Maybe used some racial profiling. Imagine if He took His "Yes" to forgiving a repentant heart and decided to follow the three strikes and you're out rule. What if He started closing up shop, going on vacation, started taking "Me" time? What if sometimes He heard our prayers and sometimes the earbuds were in? What if His promises of "Yes, my love is unfailing," Yes, I will lead and guide you," Yes, I will forgive you," Yes, I always see you," "Yes, I know the plans I have for you," "Yes, I am forever faithful and just and loving and good,"....what if they became "No" or sometimes "Yes" and sometimes "No"? What if God's words depended on His mood or the weather or who was asking? The list of "what-ifs" is endless...and not necessary. "What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." (Isaiah 46:11). Today is Wednesday. We can count on Him. Yes, we can!

​​Year 5; Day 82                                                                           Unlimited
 
I have continued to think about how we tend to humanize God. We are so limited that it is difficult not to imagine God is the same. How many times have we used or heard the word "limited" in daily living? The government has "limited" resources and is cutting back on services or pay raises or road paving. Political promises cannot be kept because the resources are not "available". Companies may use the term "Limited" or "Ltd" in their name to limit their financial responsibilities. Most of us who are parents have probably warned our children at one time or another that our patience was "almost out", "used up", or "worn thin". Who hasn't admonished someone that "money doesn't grow on trees" or our pockets aren't "bottomless"? Many of us may have gone through a season of "scraping the bottom of the barrel" or "making do" because there was no more. Environmental awareness has increased as an ever-growing population continues to take more than it returns. In one way or another it is difficult not to be reminded of our limitations. And it is difficult to imagine being unlimited in what we give. Take forgiveness. Some things are easier to forgive than others. And some things you can imagine forgiving once or twice. But unlimited forgiveness? Seventy times seven? Or loving someone who betrays you or doesn't love you back? Things like mercy and kindness and encouragement...there is only so much anyone can expect from one person, right? One person cannot meet "all" the needs of another one. We run dry. Get used up. Wear out. Maybe not right away but eventually. And so we tend to put God in the same box...think of Him with the same attributes as us. "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) He is not us. "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me...What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." (Isaiah 46:9,11) We can't really imagine "unlimited" because there is nothing in the human experience that demonstrates it. No one has unlimited power or knowledge or wealth or access. "The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;...Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty --- he is the King of glory." (Psalm 24:1,10) Today is Thursday. He is the Lord Almighty, Unlimited!

Year 5; Day 83                                             Acquitted or Condemned Pt. 1
 
While I wouldn't say I think of Matthew 12:37 every day, it comes to the front several times each week and seems to always be just below the surface. Jesus said, "For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." That's it. Two outcomes. Acquitted or condemned. No miscellaneous category. No harmless, useless, or neutral box. No excused or dismissed words. Just acquitted or condemned. The King James Version uses justified instead of acquitted. It means "to show or regard as innocent; free". What words would acquit me? What words condemn me? I think it is important because Jesus said in the verse before it that we would have to give an account on judgement day for every careless word spoken. Who hasn't spoken carelessly? Who hasn't said words they regret, wish they could rewind, wish they could unspeak? What words can I say that will set me free? That will regard me as innocent? The first thing that comes to mind is a sincere, "I'm sorry." It shows the other person we recognize that we have said something we shouldn't or in the wrong way or with the wrong tone. "I'm sorry," acknowledges the other person's worth and that they deserved better. An apology is humbling because it not only says to the other person but also to ourselves that we have spoken wrongly and it needs to be corrected. Humbleness pleases God. I think that forgiveness is partnered with apology. Whether we are giving or receiving an apology, we also choose to accept or reject, forgive or not, the apology for the words spoken Jesus had some strong words about forgiveness. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14,15) I don't see a third option. Just forgive and be forgiven or don't forgive and don't be forgiven. Our words can ask for or give forgiveness. We acquit or condemn ourselves. Today is Friday. I am thankful God is forgiving and patient...very, very patient!
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 Year 5; Day 84                                             Acquitted or Condemned Pt. 2
 
Jesus said, "By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:37) That makes words very powerful and not to be spoken carelessly or lightly. Yesterday I pondered on "I'm sorry, " and " Will you forgive me?" I am also thinking that words of belief and unbelief are very important. The apostle Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9,10) The words of my mouth are to bear out the life changing belief in my heart. Sometimes our hearts and our mouths match perfectly...either for good or for bad. If we think bad and speak bad, well, we should know we have a problem and we need to come before God with a repentant heart. But Scripture also has something to say when we combine the good and the bad. "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" (James 3:9:10) Obviously not. And if it does, then I am not acquitting myself with my words. We may be able to fool others, at least for a while, but we don't ever fool God. "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me..." (Isaiah 29:13) If there is a disconnect between the words spoken in the heart or mind, and the words spoken with the mouth, God knows it. If I believe I can think one thing and speak another, I am condemning myself. You know what I think when it comes to God? There is no accommodating...no halfway, partway, kinda, sorta. You are all in...or not. Mind and thoughts. Mouth and words. Today is Saturday. We cannot afford to be careless over our words. They can acquit or condemn.

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