Month: March 2021

24
Mar
2021
Grumbling and Mumbling

Grumbling and Mumbling

I have come to the conclusion that I am a grumbler. In other words, I am not a thankful person. I also am always finding something to complain about.

I am cold.

I am tired.

I am hungry. (I say this a lot)

I am not happy about my job.

That costs so much money.

There is too much to do.

Can you relate to any of these things? My poor husband must cringe every time I open my mouth. What is she going to complain and whine about now?

I am reading through the book of Numbers right now, and God smacked me right in the middle of the forehead with Number 21:5.

“For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

So the Israelites were wandering around in the dessert because they did not trust God to take care of them when they went into the Promised Land, and “they grumbled against the Lord.” (Numbers 14:1). After the report of the spies, 10 spies had a bad report and 2 spies had a “I trust in God report,” The Israelites grumbled against the Lord and God said that’s fine you grumble against Me, you can wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

Apparently, they didn’t get the message.

God supplied for them manna and quail every day, and what did they say about the provisions of God?

“There is no food and not water, and we loathe this worthless food.” (Numbers 21:5)

The food that they have, that has been sustaining them, is not what they want; so they consider it that they have no food. The food that God has been miraculously supplying them they call “worthless.”

How worthless is something that keeps you alive?

As I have read through the book of Numbers, the Israelites are characterized as being grumblers. It seems that with each event that happens in their lives they grumble about it.

As I considered this scenario, I thought about Daniel.

“He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before God” (Daniel 6:10)

Isn’t that quite the contrast to the Israelites who are ungrateful for the life sustaining food that God provides for them? How self-centered they were because they did not have the Egyptian food that they had had as captives. Not only that, but God had told them that the Promised Land was a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet, when they referred to Egypt they said, “You have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness.” (Numbers 16:13).

Not too many days earlier “the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery.” (Ex. 2:23).

They want freedom on their own terms. They don’t want to follow God and the path that He has for them. They don’t want to be thankful for what they have. They just want to whine, grumble, complain, and be ungrateful for what God has done for them.

So let me ask you, do you grumble and complain about what God has given to you?   I do. I am no different than those Israelites. I started praying as I went through my house for the many wonderful things that God has given to me.

What on earth do I have to grumble about?

Jesus paid my sin debt that I could never pay. He gave me His righteousness that I could never earn (justification). He loves me with a love that I can never repay.

Tell me what I have to grumble about? Tell me what you have to grumble about?

Let us as Christians make a pact together to be viewed by those who don’t know our Savior as the most thankful of all people. Let no word of grumbling come out of your mouth, but only that of praise and thanksgiving. Wouldn’t that change our world?

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
17
Mar
2021
Journey with the Lord as my Shepherd

Journey with the Lord as my Shepherd

I love to travel. I love going to different places and staying at hotels and eating at different restaurants and meeting different people. I love to be at airports and see all the different people hustling to get to their next destination. I love an adventure. I love a journey.

I know that I probably like these things because I don’t have to travel for work, and if I did than I wouldn’t want to travel anymore. I love to be at home too.

I love the journey, not just the destination. What about you? Do you enjoy the journey or do you just want to get to the destination?

I have been on a journey this week, but not a physical journey. I have been on a spiritual journey, and it has been so amazing for my walk with the Lord. I just wanted to share with whoever wants to read this.

In Sunday school, we began a study on prayer. Prayer has been something I have been trying to focus on in my walk with the Lord. I am actually reading a book right now called Draw the Circle. It is about praying circles around the things you are praying for. It is taken from the idea of the Israelites walking around the wall of Jericho for seven days before God brought the walls down. Imagine the Israelites walking around a wall with their enemies towering above them. That would produce some major fear in anyone’s heart, but the Israelites followed God’s direction and did just as He commanded. Imagine how much prayer was going in the hearts and minds of these people as they walked.

Our Sunday school teacher challenged us to pray through Psalm 23 throughout the week. I was so excited to follow his direction. I have Psalm 23 memorized so it was easy for me to review and pray through this Psalm when I was driving or folding laundry or making dinner. But I also spent time on my knees with my Bible open to Psalm 23.

The things I began to see in this passage that I have missed in the past, and the beauty of using Psalm 23 as a guide to my prayers was transformational. This journey I have been on this past week has transformed my prayers.

As I considered each of the verses and used them to guide my prayers, I realized how I was praying God’s will for my life and for those that I was praying for. Don’t you sometimes wonder when you are praying if you are praying God’s will? I do. When I pray God’s word, though, I am praying His will back to him.

Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

So often when I have thought about this verse, I thought about “wanting” as my “needs.” I have needs and since God is my Shepherd He will provide for my needs. How many times have you prayed for God to supply your needs, but what you thought was a need was not a need but a desire for things to go the way you wanted them to go?

I have written in the past about idols of our hearts. An idol of our heart is anything that we want that we do not have, and many times we are willing to sin to get that want satisfied.

If I am looking to the Lord to be my Shepherd, if I am worshipping Him for who He is, I won’t be wanting. If the Lord as my Shepherd is sufficient enough to meet my needs and I am worshipping Him as the Lord of my life, than I will not be wanting. If I am always looking to God to meet my needs, then I won’t be wanting.

If I am looking to anything other than God to meet my needs, than I will be wanting.

As I have prayed this verse for myself and others, I have realized how selfishly I pray for myself and quite honestly for others.

Psalm 23:3 “…He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

The goal of our lives is to honor God in all we do. All we do needs to be for His name’s sake, not for our name’s sake. If the Lord is truly our Shepherd and we allow Him to lead us in paths of righteousness, not only will we not want we will also be living our lives for His name’s sake, not ours.

We will be living life for His glory. This may seem like we won’t get our needs met, but the contrary is true. I have found that the more I seek after my Shepherd and trust in His plan, not only will my needs be met but I will have an abundance that will be overflowing into the lives of others.

I want to challenge to get on your knees and open your Bible to Psalm 23 and begin to pray it through for yourself and all those on your prayer list. Then watch what God will do. You never know where this journey will take you.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
10
Mar
2021
Who are you Following?

Who are you Following?

Following. Watching. Being prepared.

I am now reading through the book of Numbers for my daily devotions. This morning I read, “Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time that the cloud continued over the tabernacle abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out. They kept the change of the LORD at the command of the LORD by Moses.” (Numbers 9:22, 23)

You are probably familiar with this passage and knew that this was how the Israelites knew that it was time to pack up camp and move to their next destination.

Let me ask you to ponder with me what they needed to do?

  1. Always be watching. They had to always be watching for the cloud to see if it started to move. When the cloud began to move, there must have been an uproar in the camp as everyone began to spread the word, “The cloud is moving. The Lord is moving.”
  2. Always be prepared. There was no need to hang the pictures on the tent walls. No need to unpack the boxes. They might move in 2 days or a month. Hanging the pictures on the walls is always the last thing we have done when we have moved. It always has that feeling of being settled. There is some excitement in moving, but it is also nice to be settled. The Israelites were nomads for 40 years. The excitement had to have worn off and the unsettled feeling lingered for a long time. Imagine when they finally arrived in Israel. Hanging that first picture must have seemed unreal.
  3. They were always following God’s presence in the cloud. Whether a cloud of fire by night or a cloud by day. Imagine the thrill of knowing that God’s presence was watching over you as you slept and was leading you as you went. God was in a visible form for the Israelites to follow.

 

As I was reading this passage I thought about how applicable to our life it is. These 3 things the Israelites had to do are also the 3 things we need to do.

  1. Always be watching. God is always at work. “He never sleeps or slumbers.” (Psa. 121:3, 4). Too often we think that God isn’t doing anything. We don’t see Him working or moving or doing great miracles in front of us like sending manna or quail or moving as a cloud of fire in the night. God moves in different ways, and uses different means today. He also wants to use us to perform amazing things if we are willing to do it for His honor and glory, but we need to always be watching. One of my favorite books is called The Noticer by Andy Andrews. The character does not rush through life but notices things about people and then lets them know what he notices. These things help to change their lives. God wants us to be noticers. He wants us to be watching. He is always working, but are we watching how we can be working alongside of Him or are we not paying attention and working against Him. There are so many people in the world that need a Savior. There are so many people in the world that need a word of encouragement. I for one get so wrapped up on my own agenda and my own “duties” that I forget to be a noticer. I forget to watch and see where God is working so I can work alongside of Him, so I can be His hands and feet. (Mt. 28:19, 20).

Are you watching?

  1. Always be prepared. This doesn’t mean to always have your suitcase packed and all your earthly belongings in a box and ready to go. In order to be prepared we must be daily spending time with God. Spending time reading our Bibles. Spending time in prayer. Not just in the morning after we get done with our Bible reading. Not just before we eat our meals. No, all the time. We are talking about prayer in our Sunday school class. The teacher challenged us to pray through Psalm 23. I have been doing this throughout my day. It then occurred to me to pray Psalm 23 for those on my prayer list throughout my day. How is this preparing me? It is keeping my focus on God. When my focus is on God, it is not on me. When my focus is not on myself, I can better help others. See how all this ties together. Being prepared is daily meeting with the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of the World and with eager anticipation being ready for whatever comes up in my day to notice about others. Another thing that I have added to my walk with the Lord is Scripture memory. This is another way that I can be preparing.

Are you daily preparing?

  1. This is the most important part of the whole equation. Who or what are you following? The Israelites had a cloud that they followed. It was a visible representation of the Lord. They could see it. Do we struggle with following the Lord because we cannot see Him? So we find it easier to follow something we can see, or we follow what our hearts want and desire. This most often is what we end up following: our own selfish desires, or as I have talked about in previous blogs, the idols of our heart. The problem with following the idols of our hearts is that they never satisfy. We are always looking for more. As Jeremiah says the idols of our hearts are “broken cisterns that hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13). So before you think about watching and being prepared, you must first consider who you are following. If we make the decision to follow the Lord, we will be following and be satisfied by “the fountain of Living Water.” (Jer. 2:13)

Who or what are you following?

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
03
Mar
2021
The Truth of God for a Lie

The Truth of God for a Lie

I am sure you have heard someone say, “This is my truth.” Our culture has become a company of people who think that their truth is the right truth and the only truth. What does the word truth actually mean? Facts. The opposite of truth is a lie.

We can look at truth in a very simple way. The opposite of truth is a lie. So if someone steals a candy bar, what is the truth? They stole the candy bar. What is “their truth?” They didn’t steal the candy bar but rather they were hungry and had to have something to eat and the candy bar was right there so they took it and ate it without paying for it. The truth is the stolen candy bar. The lie is they didn’t steal the candy bar, they satisfied their hunger.

Bethany Christian Services came out and said that they would allow LGBTQ people to adopt children.

I have had two thoughts about this and these thoughts have been about so much that is happening in our culture today.

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:25).

The truth of God can be found in the Bible. This is the only truth that does not change based on our whims and passing fancies. God is faithful and His truth is unchangeable.

Why is living our lives based on truth rather than on changing truth (lies) so important?

IT IS STABLE!

As I consider these children that grow up in homes that have 2 mommies or 2 daddies or a mom and a dad that are one day a mom and another day a dad, I felt such strong compassion for these children that are going to grow up in a home that is fraught with confusion.

Kids need and want stability.

I remember when our girls were young and I would be gone and their dad would be taking care of them. If he gave them the wrong sippy cup, their world fell apart. That was just a sippy cup.

God created the world and designed it to have a man and a women get married and have children. That was God’s design. So when we as creatures change the design there will be only confusion on the part of these children.

What happens when the truth is exchanged? Confusion.

My second thought that we as believers need to remember is that we are in a battle. I forget this most days. Most days I want life to be easy and I don’t want to be in a battle. Am I not worshipping my idol of comfort and ease of life? (See my last blog post)

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. …Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth…” (Eph. 6:12-14).

The families that came to this country wanted to be able to teach their children the truth of God’s Word. As we trace through our country’s history we see that so often God’s truth has been mixed with man’s truth. When we do this we are “…serving the creature not the Creator…” (Rom. 1:25).

So what must we do? Stand up for God’s truth.

Bethany Christian Services is trying to mix God’s truth – “Care for the orphans” (James 1:27) with man’s truth – a family is any 2 people who profess love for each other.

When we mix truths there is confusion.

We are in a battle, and we must with kindness and gentleness fight for the truth, God’s truth.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments