My Word for 2019

I’ve heard several people speak about the word they've chosen in making faith declarations for this new year Following suit, I selected my word and I really do intend to embrace it this year. My word is “content”.

I watch my children’s pets and all those critters seem to be so content. Just feed them, give them a little rub around their ears or tummies and they’ll love you for a lifetime. Being content isn’t so easy for us humans. Even St. Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11). He LEARNED to be content. That sure gives me hope and it also gives me the desire to get in on the “learning curve” of contentment. So if Paul says he “learned” to be content (from a Roman prison cell) then, apparently, contentment isn’t naturally born inside us but it’s something we have to practice and be sure it’s our “condition” -- whatever circumstance we are in.

I’ve practiced and acquired a good measure of contentment. Once the word was foreign to me. I was so used to striving, worrying and being stress-filled that I lived in anxiety and fear. Then I started understanding the beauty of contentment and now, more than ever, I want my feet planted on “contentment” ground, and my eyes open to what’s around me. I want to understand more of the mystery of contentment.

When I look at the definition of contentment I can tell being content means being satisfied with what we have and who we are. It’s not settling or passivity; it’s about life and growth. It is these words from the Psalmist: “I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content” (Psalm 131:2). These words are beautiful to me because they are about closeness that comes from love and not from want. Paul learned to be content in all conditions. It didn’t come naturally to him, and it wasn’t an instantaneous transformation. It is a process, something that we learn from walking with God each day. Key to this process is understanding that everything, major and minor, is under God’s sovereignty. He uses all our circumstances to train us in godliness if we submit to Him and trust Him. Our attitude in trials and our deliberate submission to His sovereignty in the trial is crucial. This is what I long for between me and God.

In practical terms, this is what “contentment” means to me:
✔️It's being thankful I woke up and God started me on my way.
✔️It's nestling down in my comfy chair, reading the post I wrote yesterday with a fresh perspective, editing where needed, and then hitting the “Share” button, while praying God guides eyes to fall on it by those who need those words the most.
✔️ It’s writing a quick, simple, thanksgiving entry into my journal every morning about the day before.
✔️It’s my morning “love” text messages that I send to my four children (my two and their spouses) and know they heard a positive word from their mama at the start of their day.
✔️It's intentionally spending time with people who are encouraging to me and me intentionally encouraging others.
✔️It's being able to say "It is well with my soul."

My word could have been a wow, bold, audacious, adventurous, explosive word of great and notable expectations. But maybe in this chaotic, busy and get-to-the-top-mindset world, contentment is a big, bold word. It seems daring and brave to look at what’s in our hands and our lives and say, “This is enough.”

Back to those easy going, non-complaining, satisfied and CONTENTED animals who express “It is well” most all the time. I raise my water glass to them in a silent toast and an unspoken "Amen" to my Maker Who makes it so for them and "It is well" for me. It is shouldering up to my "apostle" friend, St. Paul, and declaring “I, too, have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Satisfy Me, Oh Lord

Satisfy Me, Oh Lord
Satisfy: meet the expectations, needs or desires of someone; gratify, fulfill

I've returned home to Frisco, after a packed-full week in Tulsa, and before that, many trips there and back to get Mom's estate sale all ready to go and completed. Our customer, Mom, was completely SATISFIED with the sale that brought in wonderful opportunities to bless a lot of folks with her lifetime of treasures and with the proceeds that came from the sales that will definitely help with her care and budget. Now, her grandson and family can close on the home, get the house ready to move in to make new memories in that wonderful home. All around satisfaction!

As customers shopping and buying in the marketplace, we shop until we drop and we get home and find that important item we purchased to be defective. We have to return to the store and we get less than great customer service. We wait and wait for a service technician to come and repair something in our home, and when they get there, they don't have the part or don't know how to repair it. We just want to be SATISFIED.

We drink a protein shake as a meal to help with weight loss but within minutes, we’ll say “That meal sure didn’t SATISFY me!”

As employers who are responsible for the products or services they represent, they want and must have respectful, efficient, and trustworthy employees. They want to be SATISFIED.

Let’s be real -- from the Moms whose day-to-day activities are mind-boggling -- feeding kids, running errands, wiping faces and bottoms, checking homework, driving carpool, scrubbing toilets -- to the Dads that work from sun-up to sun-down on a J.O.B. to make ends meet for their growing family -- they want to be SATISFIED with their accomplishments.

In the midst of all of that -- we ALL want and need the Lord to SATISFY us, feed us and make us full before life empties us.
The Psalmist David wrote "Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. SATISFY us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:13-14. That's a paraphrase of Moses’ words when he was pleading with the Lord for relief from those demanding, whiny, difficult people.

Moses gives us valuable insight for how to pray those desperate prayers: "Satisfy us in the morning." He knew about the Lord’s daily satisfaction. Each morning, the Israelites would gather enough manna for the day. They were fed, filled and satisfied by the Lord’s supernatural provision of food in their desert wanderings.

Moses knew the Word of the Lord would give him hope for the day’s struggles with those complaining people. God’s Word would give him patience as he waited. God’s Word would turn his eyes from his day’s circumstances and fix them instead on the character of his Lord.

God's Word is the answer for our SATISFACTION, too. It is powerful – so powerful, in fact -- just reading a small portion of the Bible every day will be like the Israelites receiving the Lord's satisfying care every day, and that's what we need, too. We don't have to read chapters and chapters to sustain us for the week. We just need our daily portion. And just like the Lord was faithful to the Israelites, He is faithful today to all who turn to Him.

Oh Lord, we feel like we are running on empty. We need to be filled, but sometimes we try to fill ourselves with rest, television, social media or food. Nothing fills and prepares us for today’s demands like Your Word. Help us feast daily on Your Word so that we are SATISFIED. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

In Only You May My Soul Be SATISFIED

Satisfaction: fulfillment, gratification, contentment, comfort

Remember that old Rolling Stones song: “I can't get no satisfaction”? What is it that causes us to be completely satisfied? A great meal, a good night’s sleep, a day’s good wages for a day’s good work, receiving a pat on the back for a job well done, having a spouse that meets all our needs, having a family, a college education?

My post today is about how to be satisfied, really satisfied – SATISFACTION guaranteed. People all over this world are looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow or winning the lottery or getting that “dream” job and then they’ll KNOW, they’ll be satisfied.

The Psalmist wrote: “O SATISFY us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)

Every good gift that God gives can only be truly and ultimately enjoyed if we start by allowing Him to SATISFY us. Riches, wealth, and honor don’t automatically bring SATISFACTION or contentment. In fact, sometimes they can bring unhappiness, and grief. A perfect example of this was Howard Hughes, who at age 45, was one of the wealthiest men in America. He dated actresses, piloted test aircraft, and worked on top-secret CIA contracts. He owned a string of hotels around the world, and even TWA airlines to carry him on global outings. Twenty years later, at age 65, Howard Hughes still had plenty of money—$2.3 billion to be exact. But the world’s richest man had become one of its most pathetic. He lived in small dark rooms atop his hotels, without sun and without joy. He had a scraggly waist-length beard, his hair fell down his back, and his fingernails were two inches long. His once powerful 6’4” frame had shrunk to about 100 pounds. Life held no meaning for him. Finally, wasting away and hooked on drugs, he died at age 67.

The lesson of Howard Hughes is this: “When God is left out of the equation, all that this world has to offer can be incredibly empty and unsatisfying.

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be SATISFIED.” That is 100 percent guaranteed SATISFACTION. No matter what we face – sickness or health; riches or poverty; a multitude of friends or few friends; single or married; children or childless – the promise of “they shall be filled (SATISFIED) is true, because God fills. “Filled” is a verb in the past tense which is not something that can be achieved, but rather it is something to be received. Christ alone gives genuine SATISFACTION.

Satan will try to deceive us into believing we make our own satisfaction. The world will try to persuade us that they have found true satisfaction. Even religion will try to show us how to achieve a divine satisfaction. And our brain will try to convince us it can be done! But, God, alone, can fill us. He alone has the power to bring genuine satisfaction!

Have you ever seen a truly satisfied person? One who is genuinely content in his lot in life? Jesus describes that kind of person—he is one who "hungers and thirsts after righteousness, for he shall be filled (literally: "continually satisfied"). I pray that your SATISFACTION includes a joy-filled life, family, a great job, friends, things that bring you pleasure, but more than all the intangibles and tangibles, I pray your greatest SATISFACTION comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ and when He is the SATISFIER, everything else in your life will be SATISFIED.

Enjoy this beautiful song, SATISFIED, that describes true SATISFACTION in God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfvFRFLD1RE

Worry Less; Smile More Often

Worry Less; Smile More Often
I've posted this photo before, but it is such a powerful reminder of the childlike faith and trust that we all need so much. I just had to share it again for you AND me.

Don't you just love watching a baby sleeping? His/Her adorable little smiles that just indicate their satisfied, care-free existence. Life was worry-free when we were kids and when we had parents who were bigger and stronger than us and were the answer to all our needs and wants.

But for us -- all grown up with lots of responsibilities, cares and concerns, there's certainly plenty for us to worry about. Income tax returns (just started getting my records together), identity theft (some pranksters put fraudulent charges in my bank account), too much month left and too little funds to make it through, who our next president will be (Dear Lord, help us!), or a medical report that wasn't so positive (Had those, too!)

But, even more loving and caring than our parents when we were kids, is our loving and caring Heavenly Father who wants to help us "worry less and smile more often". As God's children, should we worry and fret? Would He teach us to walk, to watch us fall? Would He give us life, to watch us fail? Would He be nailed to the cross and then disregard our prayers?

Philippians 4:6-7 says "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and part of that plan includes taking care of us -- so let's purpose to WORRY LESS and, by the way....SMILE MORE OFTEN! Smile a while and give your face a rest. Let the world know, you know Who's got all the stuff in your life and in the world under control. Smiling could just possibly be the magnet that attracts the people, circumstances, and things you need to succeed and overcome all that is trying to pull you down. I think that's exactly how our DAD wants us to live -- complete trust in His wise and sovereign ways that ensure we are in His loving care.