First Things First

November 13, 2009 By cyndi 3 Comments
I was reading a little devotional the other day and it made this statement: The things that are urgent are rarely important, and the things that important are rarely urgent. As I write these very words, I open up my calendar and place another task on my list that I just remembered needed to be done–today. So many things pile up on my list of “things to do,” and, unfortunately, I find my devotional time getting squeezed out and more pressing matters taking its place.

Urgent matters tend to scream louder, I think: wash the dishes, balance the checkbook, walk the dog, put the car in the shop, pick up the kids, mow the yard, write the bills off, call the plumber, and so on. We all have our lists and many of these things are quite important; however, what is the One thing that will enable us to do all these other things better? Phil. 4:13–I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

If I walk into a dark room and God is my only source of light, then it would be best to put the “Light” on before trying to navigate around the room. I could do it without Him, but it would probably take longer and I may stub a toe or two as I felt my way through. Bible 2

My prayer is that I see the urgency and necessity of having a “Light” to guide me through all the particulars on my “to do” list. Many things are critical to me, my family, our ministry, but with the Lord strengthening me, I can get them all done. Taking the time to acknowledge Father, listening to His words of love over me, seeing His promises in the scriptures, and connecting heart to heart with Him is putting first things first.

Filed Under: Christianity, Father's Love

Open Your Toolbox

November 7, 2009 By cyndi 5 Comments

By Cyndi

Last week we had a wonderful night of worship. We sang some encouraging songs and some uplifting prophetic words came forth. In the midst of it God was speaking to me and I kept hearing the verse that says He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Then I heard, “You have everything in your toolbox.” My toolbox? What is that supposed to mean?toolboxred

In a flash the Holy Spirit revealed to me a picture of a toolbox behind me with everything I needed. It is like this: if I come upon something that needs to be cut, I get a saw out of my toolbox. If I have a plumbing problem, I pull out the wrenches and PVC pipes that I need. Other problems might just need to be hammered down or screwed in tight with the appropriate apparatus. Now, of course, I am not referring to actual problems in the natural, but in the spiritual realm.

In the days that we are living in, we are all facing challenges from many directions, but what the Lord was encouraging me with is the fact that we already have all that we need to face them. We already have every “tool” necessary to overcome, He has given them to us—His divine power has given them to us, the verse says. It is our job to unpack them, to open up our toolboxes and take them out. This may take some discernment as we do not want to bring a sledgehammer to work on a computer virus; or a needle and thread for cutting a tree down. But this is our part, taking the time to listen and find out what resource we need to accomplish the task and get the job done.

These tools may be used as weapons against the enemy, or ways we can stay encouraged, or even ways we can find a solution to the problem—look for a strategy and find a gadget tool for it. In addition, do not forget that the Word is one of the best devices we have. Jesus says in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It is no surprise that we have troubles. However, He has given us everything we need to overcome. Therefore, open up your toolbox and see what you have.

Filed Under: Christianity, faith

My Father’s Workshop

October 3, 2009 By cyndi 6 Comments

By Cyndi

When I was a little girl, I used to love to go out back into my father’s workshop. It was a separate building behind our house where he had a big table saw, a long place to work on and tools hanging on nails all along the walls. Sheets of plywood of all different sizes from various projects were leaning on one side of the room, and a cabinet with multiple boxes of nails, screws, washers and other things was mounted on the far corner.  Underneath the table my dad kept a bucket of scrap wood just for me.  I could use anything in it to pound nails into or create and build whatever I wanted. Sawdust was everywhere so I got a bit dusty at times, but I liked the smell of it.

I loved hanging out with my father “out back,” as we would say, because he was always working on something and I just liked being around him. It was fun. We built all kinds of things, everything from shelves for the hall closet to a deck around our above-ground pool. My job was usually the holder, you know, the one who holds the end of the board while it’s being sawed so it doesn’t break off and fall.  But for me it wasn’t so much about working on a project necessarily, it was about spending time together.

He would explain how all the different tools were used for different reasons, how sometimes it’s better to use screws instead of nails, how particle board is different from masonite, how sometimes you use fine sandpaper instead of rough, all that kind of stuff. One of my favorite things was using his chisel set to chisel out my name or some design in a piece of wood. He would show me how to gently tap it to make smaller dents or to use a thick one and hit it hard if I was taking a whole section out. It was a time of impartation, of communion. It was a time of sharing.

I often picture myself with Father God “out back” in a workshop. It’s not so much about what we’re working on—I have plenty of things in my life to work on, for sure—but it’s about having communion with Him. Sometimes I just read one or two scriptures and let Him explain it to me, like my dad did with the tools. Sometimes I pull thoughts or dreams from my “scrap bucket” and want to just create—thinking, talking, singing, joking—no real agenda. But that’s it—no real agenda. Simply fellowship. Much is imparted to me simply by being in His presence. We’re spending time together, and there are even moments when I think I smell sawdust.

Filed Under: Christianity, Father's Love Tagged With: acceptance, Chrisitianity, Father's Love, love

Beauty Has Entered the Room

August 30, 2009 By cyndi 3 Comments

By Cyndi

     Several of us ladies have gotten together and started a book club. We’ve been reading Captivated by John and Stasi Eldredge. John is known for writing Wild at Heart for men, and he and his wife wrote Captivated for women. I highly recommend every woman read this book; it reveals the heart of Father God and His value of the feminine side.

      Women reflect a part of God to this world. There are aspects about us that express the nature of God to others. One of those aspects is beauty. “Nature is not primarily functional. It is primarily beautiful.” (pg 34)  Now read that again and think about it for a minute. God did not have to create thousands of different kinds of flowers, but He did. One or two could have sufficed for the whole cross-pollination thing, but He went beyond the functional, to the beautiful.

      Yet how many of us women feel that we are seen more as functional rather than beautiful? As we discussed this topic in our club, we brought up how we are mostly known by what we do-mother, wife, student, cashier, waitress, etc. Our jobs define us. When we meet someone, what is usually the first questions we ask them-”What do you do?”  Our function tends to override our beauty. But what if we were known for our beauty? Every woman is beautiful. We may not have the outer beauty that some have, (or as the media may portray we should have), but we are all, by the essence that was put into us by Father God, beautiful.

      As we laughed and talked about knowing each other by our beauty, we thought about ways to recognize it in ourselves as well as each other. I had been pondering this whole beauty thing as I’ve been reading the book, and God’s been telling me that when I walk into a room I should think to myself, “Beauty has entered the room.” That I, being a reflection of Him, should think of myself as bringing the beauty of God with my presence. I reveal His beauty, so when I walk in, He walks in too. Jokingly we said we should call forth beauty out of one another. When we see each other, we should say as a name to them, “Magnificent!” or “Radiant!” Getting into the spirit of the moment, one woman slung her arms wide and sung out in her soprano voice, “Glorious!” It’s that feeling of, “I’m here-beauty has arrived!”  How much self-worth and value could be poured into others by doing this.

      So that’s our homework, ladies-calling forth the beauty of God in each other this week.  We girls have agreed to do this and you’re welcome to join us. You men might also earn some extra points by doing this with the women in your lives!

Filed Under: women

Getting Your Shoes Wet

August 21, 2009 By cyndi 2 Comments

                As the end of summer closes in, I was reflecting back on some of the events that happened, one of which, was the trip to the Dominican Republic. One of my favorite parts of this trip was hiking up the mountain.

                Knowing the hike consisted of about 2 ½ hours up and the same amount to come down, we all were trying very hard to not get our shoes wet crossing the river (more of a stream), especially since it was higher than normal from all the recent rain. We knew if we got them wet going up, we’d be more uncomfortable, they’d be dirtier, and there’d be a possibility of getting blisters on our feet. Well, as it just so happened, it rained while we were up there and everything got wet anyway, including our shoes. This actually made it much easier and faster to hike down the mountain because with our shoes already wet, we weren’t concerned about hopping over rocks to try to keep them dry. We just plunged right into the shin-to-knee-deep water, shoes and all, and kept walking.

                There are certain things in our lives that we try to avoid–things we don’t want to “get wet.” We hop over many rocks and try to figure out the best way to hide or not deal with those issues. We don’t want to talk about them or even recognize them in any way, shape or form. This is what shame does. It wants us to hide things about us so no one sees who we really are. Why? Because people can hurt us, reject us, and abandon us. It’s about fear. Shame survives because fear keeps things hidden in the dark.

                If we truly understood Father God’s cleansing “rain” over us, washing us of our guilt and shame, we would be willing to just plunge into the river of life, shoes and all. We would not worry about how it feels (comfort), how it looks (appearances), or what might possibly happen if we do “get our shoes wet.” Just knowing God loves us unconditionally and forgives us eternally lets us walk through life unhindered and unashamed–a faster and easier trip.

               We pray that His love rain down upon you and soak you thoroughly this week. Now go traipse through the water and enjoy the freedom!

Filed Under: Christianity, Father's Love

Sitting With Jesus

August 6, 2009 By cyndi 3 Comments

Just the other day I was reading in Matt. 13:1 where is says, “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.” The chapter goes on to say how the crowds gathered to hear Him teach, so He got in a boat and began speaking to them. I would presume Jesus got in the boat to make some sort of a “platform” to speak from to the people on the shore. It’s also a known fact that voices carry well over water. So in this manner He begins to tell the parable of the sower sowing seeds, but I got stuck on the very first verse. 

Jesus came out of the house and sat down on the seashore. Interesting—I like to go down and sit on the seashore. Hmm…Jesus likes to do some of the same things I like to do. Here’s the neat thing about the simplicity of the gospel—He is with me—Immanuel, God with us. It’s just He and I sitting on the beach. There has been many times where I have walked along the beach and could feel almost a tangible presence of the Lord. Hebrews 13:5 tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. This has always been one of my favorite verses ever since I was a young girl. It was very comforting to me knowing that He was with me at all times. Maybe that’s why I really liked the verse about Jesus sitting beside the sea. On the surface, it’s nothing profound, yet it speaks to me that whatever I’m doing and wherever I am, He’s there with me. I don’t have to feel alone in this world.

So on those mornings when I get up early and go watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, I know that He is watching it with me. I also have a feeling that He likes to sit in those tall lifeguard chairs too, just like me.

Filed Under: Christianity, Father's Love, Rest

What We Believe

July 18, 2009 By cyndi Leave a Comment

By Cyndi

       When my son was 4 years old we took him to the Spring Fair our church was having. There were lots of things for the kids to do—rides, a petting zoo, cotton candy, games to play, all the usual activities that are at a normal fair. My son was having a wonderful time until he saw a clown walking toward him, then he began clinging to me in complete terror as it approached us. “It’s just Ms. Shelly dressed in a clown suit,” I said to him, trying my best to comfort and console him. “You know her.” But there was no way he believed me; in his little 4 year old mind, that was NOT Ms. Shelly, it was a clown—something unknown and probably evil! His crying continued no matter what I said, he simply acted on what he believed to be true.

       This episode is a bit of a joke in our family now, but the principle is profoundly true. We all act on what we believe. Now this is great when it is based on faith in God. When we truly believe something in the scriptures, we will act on it, and we know that all scripture is truth. But what about the times when our actions do not match our beliefs? I’m not talking about these big theological beliefs, but the little ones that affect our daily lives.

       Whatever we believe to be true is true to us. It may not be the truth, but it’s still true to us. How many times have we heard reports of beauty queens that think they are ugly? Or those struggling with anorexia who are convinced that they are fat? We may say, “God is my healer,”—which is the truth—but our actions may convey that what we really believe is, “God is trying to punish me for something I did wrong.” Our actions reveal what the belief really is. And if the belief is not truth, then it is a lie.

       No matter what I told my son that day at the fair, he perceived it differently in his mind. He believed a lie—that that clown was not Ms. Shelly, it was someone else. I revealed truth to him, but he chose not to believe it. Father God reveals truths to us—we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we are the apple of His eye, He loves us with an everlasting love—and we may even say we believe it, but do our actions show it? We act on whatever we believe—truth, or a lie that we perceive to be true.

Filed Under: Father's Love, faith

Harmony

May 9, 2009 By cyndi 1 Comment

Harmony

 By Cyndi

Psalm 133:1-”Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” 

                As a musician, when I think of unity, I think of harmony. One person alone cannot sing harmony; there has to at least be two people. By definition, harmony is any simultaneous combination of tones. Ever hear a barbershop quartet sing? What about the groups singing on American Idol? Surely you’ve heard a jazz or rock band? If you’ve listened to any music at all, unless it’s only Gregorian chants, you’ve heard harmony-more than one note being played or sung at the same time.

                This verse in the Psalms reminds me of my college days when I played in the orchestra. I was a percussionist, one of the musicians who stand behind everyone else and gets to hit things-fun things-like drums, chimes, cymbals, xylophones, timpani, and a multitude of miscellaneous sound effects. I loved playing in a large group of people because so many different instruments would work together to create such beautiful music. Each instrument would have its own unique part to play. The violins didn’t play what the trumpets did; neither did the oboes play the same notes as the cello. Some instruments didn’t play much at all, like the crash cymbals (we counted lots of rests), but it all came together in unity for a magnificent performance.

                I often think about God being like a conductor of this enormous orchestra. Before He comes onstage, the tuning note is sounded and everyone tunes up. There’s no set beat, no specific rhythm, just everyone checking their instruments to make sure they’re in tune to the same standard. Once tuned, the Conductor steps up on the platform, raises His baton, and the music starts. He keeps the wand steady in His right hand, with everyone following at exactly the same tempo watching Him diligently. Only He has the score to everyone’s part, so He knows when to cue an entrance or to close an exit for each person. He controls the volume and intensity of this entire group with His mere hands-such power!

                Are you getting the picture of how we, as Christians, are similar to this orchestra? We all are tuned to Jesus, our Standard-each of us on our own journey, guided by the Word of God. We’re following the lead of our Conductor, alert and attentive for His cues, letting Him draw the music out of us-sometimes to a loud crescendo, and other times to a soft, gentle passage. He is the Maestro, we are the musicians. What incredible music can be made-good and pleasant-when we dwell together in unity.

Filed Under: Christianity

Have You Been Dissed Lately?

April 26, 2009 By cyndi 1 Comment

By Cyndi

                Have you been “dissed” lately? You know-disappointed, disillusioned, discouraged, or disheartened? These days there are many reasons to be described by such large vocabulary words; but for me, on a personal level, I’ve gotten discouraged with my running.

                In March, I ran a great 15K race. I ran great, felt great, finished great, everything was great. I rested for a week, and then went back to running again. I knew better than to keep the same pace and level of running that I had been at, so I tried to ease back in slowly. But after just a few weeks, I hit this wall of pain. It seemed like my legs were sore all over. At night, they’d be hurting when I went to bed. In the morning, they were hurting when I woke up. All day, every muscle seemed to be in some sort of pain.

                I tried running through the achiness, thinking, once I got warmed up, the pain would go away. This worked for several runs, but finally the day came where I ran for only two miles and the agony was too much. My running form was suffering badly and I had to completely stop. I had been in anguish when I’d started, and I almost collapsed when I had finished. It was time to cease from running for a while and rest my body. How discouraging! I’d gotten bit by the running bug and almost felt addicted. (You runners understand, don’t you?) And now I had to stop. I was so disappointed.

                So the Lord brought me to the verses about the children of Israel going in to their promised land. When the Israelites left Egypt to go to the land God had promised them, they ran into one obstacle after another during their travels-the Red Sea, no water, multiple enemies in the land they would have to expel out, just to name a few. It was a long journey and scriptures record that “the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way” (Numbers 21:4).

                This was how I felt about running. In some ways, we all can get discouraged or dismayed by things that happen in our lives. Jesus even warned us that this was a normal part of living. “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows,” He said (John 16:33); but later, in this same verse, He states that He has overcome the world, and all the disappointment it brings.  

                And not only has He prevailed over those “disses”, but He has made us winners and conquerors too. Paul wrote, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ” (Romans 8:37). Now we’re talking some encouragement here! No matter what obstacles I’m faced with-a job loss, a health problem, a financial crisis-God has promised to bring me to success. Sometimes that may mean I need to stop and rest for a while-to convalesce in His love and be strengthened-before I can “hit the pavement” again, but victory is attainable.   

                I know this is true because I started running again this week. I’m taking it slow and not very far, but at least I’m running. Over this last week I’ve gotten rested, rejuvenated, revived, and reinvigorated. It is so much better than being “dissed.”

Filed Under: Christianity, Rest

GPS–God’s Positioning System

April 18, 2009 By cyndi 2 Comments

By Cyndi  

              Last week, as Robert and I were returning from a minister’s fellowship meeting in Georgia, I looked up at our GPS and saw that it read, “East I-10 to I-95 North.” That got me thinking-wouldn’t it be nice if there was one of these systems for my life? I could punch the Where To button and put in a certain time period, like, age 20 till age 50, then it would calculate everything that was going to happen during that part of my life. Envisioning this, I could hear it say, “Take job on the right, go 4.8 years then turn into marriage.” Touching the Map tab it would continue-”In 3.2 years, have baby,” then, “After 5 more years, move to mission field, then move back after 4.6.”  Finding this humorous, if only to myself, I glanced at the screen again and imagined it speaking to me in a lovely computerized woman’s voice, “In 2.7 years, pay for son’s college.” Now that one wasn’t too funny.

                Wouldn’t this kind of a device be so cool? I could know what’s ahead in my life and be prepared for it. Pondering this ideal, I sensed the Lord saying to me, “But Cyndi, you do have a navigational system-the best. It’s My word. I have given you scriptures that reveal the course for your life.” Interesting, I thought-the Bible is God’s Positioning System. At once, a multitude of verses flooded my mind: Jeremiah 29:11-”‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’”; Proverbs 3:6-”Seek His will in all you do and He will direct your paths”; John 13:17-”You know these things, now do them! That is the path of blessing.”

                These were just a few guidelines from the Bible that could be used to direct me, and there are many more. I believe that, since He made me, He knows the best route for me to follow in my life. Some people have said that the scriptures are God’s instruction manual for mankind. In today’s world lingo, I would say they are His GPS.  Isaiah 30:21 reads, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’.” Put those words into a computerized voice and it’s better than a Garmin.

Filed Under: Christianity
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