I Pinky Promise

I love having those intimate, one-on-one times with my grands. Many times they are unfiltered and they say what they think……and they say what they shouldn’t think! I’ll see their eyes pleading with me “Nana, please don’t tell anyone I told you that!” And I reply with action “I won’t. Pinky promise!”

The pinky promise (or pinky swear) is a custom often done by kids who interlink their pinkies as they exchange a promise. But it originated with Japanese mobsters as the highest form of all promises when a wronged party may sever the pinky of the promise breaker. YIKES! I remember saying “I cross my heart, hope to die, stick a thousand needles in my eyes….if I break my promise.” Other’s say “My lips are sealed!” Oh, the latter is so less harmful to our well-being. I think that’s the road I’ll travel!

But what if we didn’t even need any of those clichés or quotes? What if our word was so good that a contract wasn’t needed or any other agreement because our word could be taken to the bank? God’s Word has this to say about a promise or a pledge:
~ Numbers 30:2 “If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
~ Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

Simply put, those scriptures mean our word is sacred. I know this shows my age – back in the good old days, but when I was growing up, a promise and a hand-shake were all you needed. Contracts weren't really necessary and it was an insult to insist on one. Why? Because a man’s word was his bond. No one was willing to risk their reputation by breaking their word. But as a real estate broker for many years now, if there’s anything I know – contracts and agreements are essential to bind parties together – signed, sealed and delivered. Because not all men or women treat their “word” as sacred.

But in our desire to be a devoted follower of Christ, who set the example of honesty and truth, we want to emulate Him and be known as one who is as good as our word! Role models who show what character, integrity, and honor is -- is what our generation needs today. You see, what we tell others through our words is what they’ll come to believe about us. If we say we’re going to do something, then we’d best follow through as people will judge us not only on what we say, but on what we do. If we accomplish what we say we’re going to do, then our words hold power in the future… we gain the trust of others.

Words, in essence. become a perfect reflection of our character in a positive light -- our actions will even speak louder than our words. People will value what we say and do. Somebody once said “You are your word” and it is so true.

I’m purposing to be a Promise Keeper – pinky promise, cross-my-heart, lips are sealed – my word is good. How about you?

My Teachers Bribed Me

As a child, I remember memorizing many scripture verses. We were "bribed" by our Sunday School teachers to learn and quote them by heart. If we did, we'd receive prizes and rewards. Right or wrong, it worked for me, because I know those scriptures from memory and I live by them still today. For any crisis, concern or fear, one will pop to my mind and I will be comforted.

Years ago, I was asked to be a public “Reader”/“Lector” at my church. Joshua 1:8 says “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” I am speaking, meditating and living God’s holy words. I promise you – God’s words have valuable rewards for us. My Sunday School teachers really weren’t bribing us, though the candy and treats were awe-inspiring. They were teaching us Joshua 1:8 and its merits.

Today is Ascension Sunday -- the day we celebrate Jesus' ascension to heaven after He had risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples many times. I’ll be reading various scriptures from Hebrews 9 & 10 at my church. I take it seriously. I rehearse my readings many times. By the time I read publicly, I have become intimately familiar with the words. The more I've read them, the more I understood the message of the Apostle Paul. I was impressed to write this blog because of some of the scriptures I'll be reading today.

In Hebrews 9:24, because of His ascension to heaven, we hear that “Christ intercedes for us in the very presence of God.” How comforting to know that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father – interceding for us! Isn’t that reassuring? He takes our problems, our heartaches, and our everyday concerns to Dad.

And in Hebrews 9:26, we read about the high priests who used blood from an animal to make a sacrifice for our sins. But now, Christ’s one perfect sacrifice of Himself requires no repetition. Jesus paid the ultimate price. He paid a debt He didn’t owe – once and for all! “Whoever believes….will not perish but have everlasting life!” (John 3:16) Thanks be to God! You can tell I’m totally amped up about proclaiming these words today!

The last lines of the reading, Hebrews 10:23, shows us how to live it out: “Let us hold unwaveringly (I like that word) to our confession that gives us hope, for He Who made the promise is trustworthy.” The icing on the cake. I won't be timid as I read those words because they are words that have sustained me, given me hope for today and tomorrow. He is a promise-keeper and so am I. I promise to serve He Who gave His all for me and live my faith outside and in my heart all the days of my life.

I’ve made these scriptures my prayer for days. Now I pray the words I read from God’s Holy Word today will open the ears of those who will hear me reading. I pray for the strength to put aside my own ego and for the Spirit to speak through me. I pray that as you listen to your pastor, priest, lectors, and readers of God’s Holy Word that your ears and heart are wide open to receive what God is saying to you today, too!

Set Apart and Consecrated

The word, consecrate, stood out to me in my devotions yesterday. Consecrate: to make something or declare something sacred, blessed, sanctified, make holy, dedicated to God, devoted, reserved, anointed, set apart.

In Luke 2, we read that Jesus' parents took Him to the temple to be consecrated to God. We took that seriously as the template for consecrating our children to God when they were babies. We verbally, from our hearts, consecrated them to God and we prayed that they would be set apart by God, for God.

Often we attribute that word to only religious connotations when we're in church or to those "religious" people who are becoming pastors, priests, deacons, evangelists, nuns, etc. But Joshua told the Hebrews in Joshua 3:5 "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you." Israel needed to remember what kind of people God was calling them to be. They were moving into the Promised Land to establish a nation that would display God’s character and will that fulfilled God's promise to bless all nations through His people (Genesis 12:1-3). God was setting them apart as His holy people for His work that required holiness in their lives.

Yesterday morning as I read about "consecration", the words to this old hymn by Fannie Crosby, "Draw Me Nearer" came to me:
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

What if that were the prayer we prayed, not just for ourselves, but for our families, our marriages, our children, and our businesses? "Lord, I ask you to "consecrate" (set apart, make holy, bless, make sacred) my family, my children, my business, my marriage." That prayer means stepping away from things and actions that are outside of a "consecrated" life, like the way we manage our personal funds, the way we treat our husband or wife; the way we dress and the way we use our time and talents; what we watch like questionable internet sites, movies, literature and from the priorities we set for ourselves to the way we love and respect each other -- in our homes, business and the marketplace. Consecrating our families means building homes of integrity and honor that will build a legacy; giving God priority in decision making; making God CENTER of everything.

We live in a world when it's often difficult to distinguish whose side we're on, but when we take Joshua's words seriously from Joshua 24:14,15 "Choose you this day who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," then there's no question whose side we're on. We've been consecrated and we're on the Lord's side.