On a roll

Another good day yesterday, thank the Lord.

This devotion is something else and well worth your time. I especially like the part where the author makes the comment that there are not group rates getting into heaven. Wouldn't that be nice if there were? We could pick and choose who to take. We could pick and choose our dearest friends and family, purchase "heaven tickets" as a gift? But someone already did this for us...Jesus. When we die, we are physically alone. No earthly being is going to be there with us to guide us or to hold our hands. That is what we're here and able to do right now. When we die we are alone, except for God. He is there.
Love,
Becca

July 16, 2009
Will Somebody Please Pick Me?
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
Psalm 139:14-16 "I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well. You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother's body. When I was put together there, you saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old" (NCV).

Friend To Friend
I can still remember the terror I felt each time my elementary teacher announced, "Today, we will play softball at recess." My stomach clenched in dread as I contemplated the tortuous hour stretching out before me. I hated playing softball because I was a terrible athlete! Overweight, I huffed and puffed around the bases...if I ever got lucky enough to hit the elusive softball. I had no idea how to wear a softball glove, so the thought of actually trying to catch the ball was terrifying. I was always assigned to the outfield where few balls came and where I had the least chance of doing any damage.

The most horrible part of the whole experience was the dreaded team selection process. It was always the same. Two captains were chosen, usually Sarah and Tim because they were slender, attractive and popular - everything I was not. Sarah and Tim would step to the pitcher's mound and begin the process of choosing their teams. I can still remember trying to look as if I didn't care that everyone around me was defecting to the other side while I waited, praying that I would hear my name called by somebody ... anybody. I was usually one of three or four children left standing, staring at the preferred ones already taking their positions on the field. Sarah usually took pity on me and picked me before Jeff and Alicia. At least I wasn't the last one chosen.

We tend to find our identity and worth in the fact that we are chosen by someone. Take sheep for example. Every shepherd chose his sheep - one by one - with great deliberation, thought and care. A choice implies ownership, pursuit and a deliberate action on the part of the one doing the choosing.

Over the years, I have spent a great deal of my life energy and priceless time in an ongoing attempt to validate my identity. Much of the pain, frustration and stress I experienced could have been avoided by simply remembering whose I am - a chosen child, a daughter of the King, and an indispensable part of God's heart. That's right! I am indispensable to no one but God. No one can take my place in my Father's heart.

The knowledge that I am chosen frees me to serve Him whole-heartedly and boldly without bowing to the unrealistic expectations imposed by others and by my own fragile heart. The knowledge that He created me allows me to embrace the gifts He has given me and encourages me to strain every choice, every decision through the filter of God's perfect plan for my life. Knowing whose I am draws my attention away from both the critics and the cheerleaders in life and fixes my gaze on the only one I have to please ... God.

God is an up-close and personal God. He met Nicodemus at night; He met the woman at the well of Samaria; He met the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda and He touched the blind man, giving him sight. As He walked through Jericho, Jesus saw a little man perched in a tree and called to him, "Zacchaeus, come down. We have a lunch appointment." He met Matthew at the customs' table and told him, "Rise, and follow me." We come to Jesus alone. There are no "group rates" when it comes to knowing God. It's always one-on-one and very personal. What you believe about Him in the silence and stillness of your own heart is what makes the difference in your life journey. The heart is where all spiritual transactions are made and the transformation process begins.

Knowing whose we are settles our souls and directs our steps toward the path God intended when He shaped us. You and I were created as a living, fleshed out depiction of God's love. Just think of it! God Himself supervised our formation. We were created in love -- for love -- with a specific and holy purpose in mind. We can rejoice with the Psalmist who wrote, "Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep he tends" (Psalm 100:3 NCV).

Let's Pray
Father, I praise You simply because You made me. Thank You for loving me unconditionally. Help me to remember that love with every breath and every step. When others reject me, draw my heart back to the fact that Your acceptance and love cancels out that pain.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.