Are you Password-Protected?

 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do for it is the wellspring of life."

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

    Forgetting the password that protects a computer can cause a mountain of problems, but that's exactly what I did. How in the world could I have forgotten? I log on to it every single day because I am a writer, and that’s where I work. I don’t give my password a second thought because it’s second-nature to me. Almost like a section in my brain that silently speaks the unspoken to my fingers; I type, almost without thinking, and I am “in.” But I had forgotten.

    At first, I was sure the answer would come to me. “How hard can it be?”  I asked myself as I tried one password after another and was immediately informed that what I had entered was wrong. I tried again . . . and again . . . and again. Finally, frustrated, I made a cup of hot tea and pouted on my sofa.   

    I suddenly remembered that, as little kids, we would have our bedrooms “password-protected” and would not let anyone else in unless they knew what it was. And why a password to get in? Because we had priceless items hidden there: a diary, coins dug out from under the sofa cushions after  “company” had left, notes from a girlfriend or boyfriend.   It was simple: you don’t know the password, you are not coming into my room.

    Our world is drowning in passwords for almost everything we have: cell phones, garage doors, cars, laptops, email accounts, online banking, online shopping, security systems, and social media - just to mention a few. And the answer to the question “Why protect them all with a password is simple: to keep OUT whatever is not supposed to come in and destroy.

    Then I realized that we have something else that must absolutely be password-protected 24/7: our hearts. From what? How about the “viruses” of gossip, porn, hate, pride, greed, and envy, just to name a few. The password to protect your heart from all these “viruses” is only one word, but it’s the only word you need: Jesus. 

   You might think you are completely safe with that password, and you are, as long as you use it. But when you allow the world around you to replace Him, viruses immediately sneak in. How is that possible? Let me explain. Jesus protects you from un-Godly things in this world. He offers peace, patience, self-control, love and kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and grace.  

    Your job is to stay focused on Him, no matter where you are or what you are doing. But if you allow the eyes of your heart to ignore or look away from Him, or to replace His presence, you invite the viruses I mentioned earlier to come in.  And once they have dug a place in your heart, it will be harder to remove them. 

    The most important thing in our lives that must have a password is our hearts, and there is only one password to protect us for eternity. Speak the password of your heart with confidence. You will never forget it: One Word. One Message. One Savior. One Password. Jesus. 

    Father, thank you for your gift of Jesus, the Savior of my life and all that I need. Help me to focus on Him every single day. In Jesus’  Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• When you face tough decisions, where do you turn first? To the protector of your heart or to someone who shares an opinion or advice?

• Can you think of a time that you pushed aside your Password and let “viruses” into your heart? 

Apply

• Write “Password Protected” at the top of the first page in your Bible.

• Praise Him for His protection of your heart. Share this with your family. 

Power

• Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

• I Peter 5:8 (NIV) “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

• Matthew 6:21 (NIV) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

   

No Fine Print

 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

   When my oldest daughter became engaged, she immediately attended every wedding fair and bridal show within a 200-mile radius. Part of the attraction of many of the booths?  Free drawings for everything from a honeymoon to wedding photos to cakes.

   The only requirement for each one was to sign your name, address, and phone number on entry tickets. So, she signed up for literally hundreds of “free” offers. There was only one problem – but it ended up being a big one.

   A free signup for a wedding dress had a very small sentence with an even smaller font at the end of the form that stated, “The signer agrees to switch his/her phone service to Rainbow Phone Exchange.”

   My daughter had not read the fine print of that sentence and had signed her name along with my home phone number. Imagine my surprise when, a month later, I received my phone bill from a new company with double the rate of the previous one.

   It occurred to me that Ephesians 2:8-9 does not contain any hidden fine print, but I often act as if it is there when it comes to God’s gift of grace to me.

   My human thinking says that somewhere in the Word there must be tiny letters at the end of a chapter that says “Come to me after you have taught a Bible study and fed the poor and not missed a day of church and not sinned for an entire day, and I will accept you.” In other words, after you have done a certain number of good deeds, you will have earned your salvation from God.

   Nowhere in the Bible are there hidden conditions to God’s gift of grace. When you become the “signer” and hand your life over to the Lord in faith, you do not have to fear the hidden fine print with a list of “must be good enough first” items. Grace cannot be earned and is not deserved. But it IS a gift of love given to us, through faith, from our Father.

   It took several days of long phone conversations for me to get my phone returned to the original company and the form with the fine print to be deleted. But it only takes an act of faith to receive the gift of grace from God.

   Father, I do not understand your love gift of grace, but I accept it now and thank you with all my heart. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

•  Have you ever felt like you needed to “do” something to earn grace from the Lord?

• Does Scripture say anywhere that grace must be earned?

Apply

• Journal Ephesians 2:8-9 and underline the word “grace.”

• Thank the Lord that salvation does not depend on you but rather on God’s desire to save you by His grace.

Power

• Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

• II Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”

• Romans 11:6 (NIV) “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” 

Let Go!

 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” 

Luke 9:25 (NIV)

   Trying to capture a monkey is not at the top of my bucket list, but I could not put down an article detailing a unique way to catch monkeys alive and unharmed in the jungle so they could be delivered to zoos. Trappers had tried several different devices, including nets. But they were concerned that the small animals could be hurt if they became entangled in the webbing, so they devised a clever solution.

    The trappers built several small boxes and placed a banana inside each one. Each box was then nailed shut, but not before a hole was drilled on one side, just large enough for a monkey to reach in with its hand. The boxes were then placed on the ground around trees and left there.

   Once the trappers left, the monkeys quickly converged to examine the boxes. Finding a banana in each one, they immediately reached in to pull it out. They tugged and pulled on the banana, but it wouldn’t budge. The opening was just big enough for a little hand to reach in, but not for a little hand clinging tightly to a banana to come out.

   As soon as the trappers returned, the monkeys immediately tried to flee, but they could not. The reason? They would not let go of the bananas! They would scream and screech and twist and pull as they attempted to escape. Every monkey simply had to do one thing: let go of the banana . . . but they refused to do so and were captured.

    I see myself in that article. That box represents this world that we live in. And it’s not a banana that I want to hold on to with all my strength. It’s being in physical shape, or being wealthy, or owning a bigger home, or a newer car, or a more important career. It is power, and prestige, and prominence in the community.

    And all the while, Jesus is calling to me, “Let go. It is nothing compared to what I have to offer you. It’s a trap!” but I keep holding on and pulling and tugging as I convince myself that happiness exists when I have a firm grip on all those earthly things.

   Consider this: if the trappers did not come back and the monkey continued to hold on to the banana, he would soon find that it would begin to spoil and rot, and would not be anything that he would even consider eating. That is, unless he is eaten first by the wild animals around him as he holds on to nothing. So it is with me and my grip on all the empty promises of this world. 

    Holding on to what is temporary and worthless compared to that which is eternal and priceless will never have a good outcome. Just as there is a part of us that wants to yell, “Let go of the banana!” after reading the article, even more so, the Lord is prompting us to let go of the fake possessions here on earth and focus on the precious treasures He has prepared for us in heaven.

    Father, forgive me for focusing on the temporary things of this world instead of what you are offering me: life for eternity with you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• What are you holding on to in your life because you consider it to be important?

• How does it compare to what Jesus is offering you?

Apply

• Make a list of everything in this world that you consider most important in your life.

• Next to each entry, journal what Jesus offers you instead, and a Scripture that speaks to His offer.

Power

• Luke 9:25 (NIV) “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

• I John 2:15 (NIV) “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

• Colossians 3:2 (NIV) “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

 

In the Morning, Lord? But It's Too Early!

 “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

   When my children were small, I had absolutely no time to myself. From the moment they woke up until they fell asleep at night, I heard “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom” from three kids ages 5, 3, and almost 1. There is an old saying that having children is like being pecked to death by a chicken. I am convinced that whoever said that had three kids like mine. 

    I could not even take a soaking bubble bath without three little ones watching me and asking for a sandwich, a puppy, a drink of water, or another brother. I would give up on the bubble bath and pray “Lord give me strength – and patience – and more of both!” as I made sandwiches, got each one a drink, and explained - again - why they were not getting another brother or a puppy. There did not seem to be one minute, much less 30, that I could spend reading my Bible and in prayer.

   That is. until one day, when I was whining to the Lord that I just couldn’t fit time with Him into my “busy” schedule, and He suggested to my heart the unthinkable: get up at 5 a.m. every morning for quiet time with Him. What?! Are you kidding me?

   At first, my mind and body refused to consider such a radical idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized He was right. If I truly wanted to have any time alone with the Lord, it would have to be early in the morning, before anyone was awake.

   Can I be honest with you? The first week, I got up with an attitude. “This had better be good,” I would mumble to the Lord. Then I would make a cup of hot tea, grab my Bible, an ink pen, and paper, and curl up in our oversized recliner in the living room. And wait on the Lord. And wait. And wait. Then something happened.

   I began to sense that the Lord was waiting on me. I was physically up early each morning to be with Him, but spiritually I was still asleep. So I flipped my Bible open to Psalms, and it fell on chapter 5, verse 3: “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

   Not only was the Lord waiting to hear my voice, but He wanted to hear what my day was all about! Just as David had done countless times, I, too, should have been starting my day by sharing with God everything going on in my life and then quietly waiting on His answers. I was too busy grouching about getting up early to meet the Creator of the Universe! Shame on me.

   Now I truly know that we can’t all get up at 5 a.m. to spend time with the Lord. Different jobs and hours can make that almost impossible. But I would encourage you to begin your day – whether it’s at 11 p.m. or 3 a.m. or 5 a.m. – by talking with the King of Kings. Praise Him for his love and mercy. Share what is on your mind. Lay your requests before Him, and allow Him to speak to your heart. Quietly listen for His nudging. He will never disappoint.

   The problems you face before your prayer time may still be there after you talk with the Lord. But you will gain strength and courage to face each one just by knowing He listens and answers – even early in the morning.

    Father, forgive me for making excuses for not seeking you before my day begins. May I never forget to begin my day with you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• What are some of the excuses you have made for not spending time with the Lord before your day begins?

• Are any of those excuses more important than a few minutes of prayer?

Apply

• For one week, set your alarm and get up 30 minutes early to meet with the Lord. Make a list of activities and possible problems for each day and lay them down at the Cross.

• Ask God to speak to your heart. Journal His answers and thank Him for His faithfulness.

            Consider setting aside time for the Lord as your #1 priority.

Power

• Psalm 5:3 (NIV) “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

• Mark 1:35 (NIV) “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

• Psalm 63:1 (NIV) “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

 

The Voice of the Father

 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27 (NIV) 

    The high school tennis match was intense and fierce. Both girls were obviously competitors, but I noticed that one appeared to slowly but firmly begin to dominate the other. Encouragement from the large crowd was all around, the voices loud and strong. Emotions were being offered up with each serve, each return, each miss. And then I heard his voice.

   It had a deep, rich sound - but I noticed something else. The owner of the voice was confident, calming, and quietly encouraging in what he was saying. “You are doing fine. You are strong. She is good, but wait until she sees your backhand and your serve. Take a deep breath. You are going to be okay.” That’s when I saw the owner of the voice.

    Words spoken softly by a father, meant only for the girl who was struggling on the court to hear:  his daughter. And hear she did. I watched her do exactly what he said. She paused, took a deep breath, and nodded ever so slightly as if to say, “I heard you. Thank you.” 

   I couldn’t help but watch the father. He was sitting in a lawn chair a few feet away from his daughter, but he was not leaning forward, stressing at her every move on the tennis court. Instead, he was relaxed, calm, and confident in what she could do. 

    He knew that his daughter had panicked and was struggling to focus on her skills, training, and ability. And he was right. As the girl listened to her father’s voice, she regained her composure and her confidence and ended up beating the other girl to win that set, the next ones,  the match, and the tournament. She knew her father’s voice. She had heard it before. She knew he spoke the truth and that he could always be trusted to lead her in the right way. 

    My heart instantly focused on God’s voice. He is never panicked, never worried, never afraid, and never rushed. Never once has God spoken to my heart to “hurry this second and do what I say or something bad will happen!” He is never wrong and has had to correct His directions for me on the journey He has me on. Not once. 

    The world, on the other hand, is full of opinions and worries and fears and bad advice.  People - sometimes even friends - will steer you toward the opposite of God’s plan for you.  And the only way you will know 100% what you should do is to listen to the voice of the Father. How will you recognize His voice in the loud craziness of this world? By being in His Word daily. By talking to Him in prayer. By asking Christian prayer warriors to hold you accountable. By ignoring the advice of the world that you can do whatever you want to do.

    The voices all around us are loud and compete for our attention. They are full of opinions and advice and worry and fear and lies. As for me, the only one I need to listen to is the Voice of the Father. 

   Father, help me to stay in your word and in your presence daily so the only voice I will listen to is your voice of truth. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you ever had a situation with several opinions and voices and you struggled to decide what to do?

• Did you pray and ask the Lord to speak truth to your heart, or did you listen to the world?

Apply

• Pray daily for guidance with each decision you have to make. Be patient. 

• Remember that God never panics or makes mistakes; wait on His answer.

Power

• John 10:27 (NIV) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

• John 10:14-15 (NIV) “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.” 

• Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”

Watermelons and Me: Things That Need Pruning

 “I am the true vine,  and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” 

John 15:1-2 (NIV) 

   Years ago, I helped my father-in-law plant acres and acres of watermelons. Five seeds to a hill . . . hill after hill after hill. My back was sore from bending, and my hands had blisters from hoeing, but before I knew it, tiny plants were peeking out of the mounds of warm soil and showered by just the right amount of rain.  Each stem was dark green and healthy, and I envisioned watermelons by the thousands, ready to be picked and eaten!

   As we looked over the fields, my father-in-law made an odd request: “Now that we have our plants growing in each mound, you need to go to each hill and thin it down to just two. Leave the two strongest healthy plants and pull up the other ones.” I was dumbfounded! Prune all the work I did by pulling up all but two of the healthy plants? After I worked so hard to get them to grow?

   That request made no sense to me. After all, I reasoned, the more plants you have, the more watermelons you will harvest. I just couldn’t do it. I decided on my own to pull up only one plant from each hill and leave the rest.  I was working long and hard when I looked up and saw my father-in-law watching me with a “she needs a lesson on watermelons” smile on his face.

   “Child,” he said, “there is a good reason to pull up all but two plants. If you leave all the plants in the watermelon hill, they will crowd each other out. You will have several vines, but none will be strong and healthy enough to produce really good watermelons.”

   He continued, “They will compete for the moisture, for the sunshine. All your work will be for nothing.” So, head bowed, I retraced all my steps and followed his directions exactly as he had instructed me.

   What a great application in life and a perfect visual example of John 15:1-2.  As Christians living in a world that is not our home, we must stay connected to Christ if we want to grow in our faith. And if we truly want to produce “fruit,” we must be “pruned” to remove those things that may keep us from growing spiritually. 

   Sometimes, too many really “good things” are competing for our attention. Maybe it’s leading music at church, teaching a Sunday school class, and writing for the church paper. - all at the same time. 

     Other times, it could be “not so good things” that compete:  late-night card games every Saturday that keep you from attending church on Sunday, or choosing to scroll through your phone for hours when your daughter has asked you to play volleyball with her.     

    In order to have a healthy relationship with Jesus, which carries over to a healthy relationship with our family and friends, we have to allow pruning. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Removing whatever crowds out our focus on Jesus has to occur for our lives to be productive and an example of Him to the world around us.  Can it hurt? Yes, but it must happen to make sure our relationship with the Lord is grounded in Him, our foundation that will never fail or fall apart.  

    My encouragement is to ask the Lord to show you any area or habit in your life that needs pruning. He will do exactly that. Then, just like pruning the watermelons, remove anything that competes with your relationship with  Jesus. The result is worth the pruning.

     Lord, I want to be your servant. Show me everything in my life that needs to be pruned so I can truly live for you.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Do you find yourself exhausted and drained at the end of the week because of all the activities you have been involved in every day?

• How many of those activities honor God, and how many need to be pruned?

Apply

• Journal everything you do for 5 days. Make two columns: Keep and Prune.

• How many of your activities point to the life of a Christian, and how many should be pruned to help you grow in your walk with Jesus? Let the pruning begin!

Power

• John 15:1-2 (NIV) “I am the true vine,  and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” 

• Psalm 119:36-37 (NIV) “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”

• Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

No More Rooftops or Deserts for Me

“Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.” 

Proverbs 21:9 (NIV)

   I wasn’t the only person in the long checkout line who tried to casually peek around to see the owner of the woman’s voice. At any given time, hundreds of people are shopping and talking in this department store. But the one-sided conversation began to feel like an annoying bee that keeps trying to nest in your hair on a hot summer day as you balance on a tall ladder with a paintbrush. You just want it to stop. Immediately.

   The longer this woman spoke, the higher the pitch of her voice. The higher the pitch, the harsher the comments. These were some of her nicer comments to her husband: “You never take me anywhere. All you do is work in the yard or play golf with your buddies. But THIS woman has needs, too. I need to go shopping. I need to see MY friends. I need to have a social life. Why can’t you understand that?” His response was a mumbled “yes” or “okay” or an occasional nodding of his head. 

   While I admit I had no idea what caused this woman’s observations, I did have a few of my own. First, he HAD taken her somewhere – shopping – which covered two of the  “needs” on her list. Secondly, I silently wondered if she even HAD any friends or social life, if she spoke as negatively around them as she did her husband. 

   I glanced one last time at him: shoulders drawn together and hunched over the cart, eyes glancing at her with a silent pleading to at least stop the negative talking until they could be out of the store, teeth clenched together so tightly that water could not get between them. His body language was more deafening than his wife’s shrill voice.

   Solomon must have been married to a woman just like the one I listened to in the checkout line. Not once but four times in Proverbs, he wrote about a woman who made him long for solitude in a desert or on the corner of a roof rather than living with her. He even wrote that she reminded him of a constant dripping that wouldn’t stop.

   But Solomon also wrote about a precious woman in chapter 31 of Proverbs. He described her as being like a rare and priceless jewel. She was a woman who worked hard in her home and her community and loved her family, but what he admired most about her was her love and reverence for the Lord.

   I wonder . . . if  Proverbs were written about me, what might it say? Would my neighbors look out the window and exclaim, “Oops. There’s LeRoy on the corner of the roof of the house again. Must be another crabby, nagging day for Nancy!” Or would they see my love for the Lord and how I am doing everything I can to honor my husband and respect him as Scripture teaches? 

   My prayer for each of you is that, in your marriages, there would be no references to corners of roofs or deserts or constant drips, but instead, it would be spoken: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but (insert your name) is a woman who fears the Lord and is to be praised.”

   Father, forgive me for the times I have spoken to my husband in such a way that would make him want to be on a roof or desert alone. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.  

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you ever listened to conversations around you that were like the one described in the devotion?

• Did you consider that you have had similar conversations with your husband without realizing how they sounded?

 Apply

• Memorize Proverbs 21:9. Write it on note cards and place it around your home.

• When you are tempted to speak like the quarrelsome wife in that Scripture, picture your husband sitting on a roof corner rather than with you. Then ask the Lord to help you become a Proverbs 31 woman and wife to your husband.

 Power 

• Proverbs 21:9 (NIV) “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”

• Proverbs 31:30 (NIV) “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

• Proverbs 21:19 (NIV) “Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.”