“Are we there, yet?”

We think of this as the quintessential question whiny kids always ask in the car. The truth, though, is that many of us spend our lives with this question rattling around in our brains:

Am I there, yet? 

Where, exactly, is there? It’s a mythical place somewhere in the future when the Next Big Thing will make me feel good. I’ll be happy when Friday comes … when I can go on vacation … when Christmas gets here … when the holidays are over, and the kids go back to school.

The problem lies in always expecting to be happy — sometime in the future.  We steal the joy from the present, by constantly looking ahead. Anticipation is great, but

It’s a soul-sucking mistake when we think only epic (and usually expensive) moments can refresh our spirits.

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The key to preventing (or fighting) “I’ll Be Happy When Syndrome” is a simple change of attitude.

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” I saw this message on a card, and bought it as a reminder to myself, struck by how it illustrates the substance of Philippians 4:11b. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. So how do we learn this skill?

There is a new catchword in our culture — mindfulness — that means “the state of being conscious of something; focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.” A good concept. I think of mindfulness as a 30-second vacation because it doesn’t have to take any longer than that.

How does a 30-second vacation work? By sinking into the experience.

I have a favorite mug that one of my daughters gave me. I love my mug!  Every time I use it, I feel loved because my daughter chose a celadon green glaze she knew would please my eye. It’s heavy pottery; I enjoy it’s weight in my hands and its smooth texture. Its heat warms me. I enjoy the taste and smell of my drink.  Then I rinse my mug, put it in the dishwasher, and go on with my day.

The hospital where I work has a beautiful campus. On my way in from the parking lot, I pass plants that change with the seasons.  In the spring, I pause under a pear tree, look at the blossoms and inhale the fragrance, then head into the lab to work. This morning, the heather was in bloom.  In the autumn, I stop for a close look at a burning bush. Winter comes, and I notice that the frost on the drain cover looks like a spider web.

And the list goes on.

I soak in a spectacular sunset. Peruse the stalls at my local farmers market. Read the Sunday funny papers on my front porch. Savor a Fannie May milk chocolate vanilla butter cream melting on my tongue. Sit entranced by the sizzle and flash of lightning during a thunderstorm. Afterward, I stand in my yard inhaling the freshness, trying not to step on the worms.

Living in the moment takes nothing away from the big events of life. They will still be yours to enjoy. But instead of packing all of your fun into a few limited experiences, look for the 30-second vacations God puts in your path on a regular basis. You’ll be more refreshed, and when you do take an extended vacation, you won’t be so desperate for everything to go perfectly, or so devastated when it doesn’t.

Where to start?

The next time you find yourself enjoying something, stop and give yourself fully to it for 30 seconds. Then, start actively looking around you for things to relish. Concerned that people will think you are crazy? Just tell them that you are “practicing mindfulness,” and you will impress the socks off of them!

God’s ideal for us includes joy, both now, and in the future. Psalm 23 reminds us that God not only walks with us through the shadows, but that he restores our souls on a daily basis. “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life.”

Have you taken a 30-second vacation yet? I can’t wait to hear what it is. Please share below, and know that you finally have an answer to the question:

Are we there, yet? Yes! 

Guest poster Laura Hulce ( sister to Mary and Jane) lives in Western Michigan, a few miles from “The Big Lake” (aka Lake Michigan) which is the scene of many of her 30-second vacations. She and her  husband Andy have three grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and one grand-dog — all currently living  in the U.S., which was not the case for a number of years!  Laura works full-time as a clinical laboratory scientist, a profession which a co-worker once described as hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror when a patient goes south. Actually, Laura likes her job very much — most days.

Leading a discipleship group is Laura’s primary ministry. She is convinced that she learns as much from the terrific and wise women in her group as they learn from her. Free time? Reading, hiking, bike-riding, resale shopping, and geocaching.

Day 2

Since we started our series with God’s Greatest Commandment: Love God, it is fitting that we move on to His second greatest commandment: to love others as we love ourselves. Ouch! That is a tall order. In my opinion, it is easier to love God than to love other people. Other people can be annoying. They can let us down. And quite often they don’t love us back. How can we love somebody who does not love us? How can we love others?

Fortunately, loving others is a choice we make, which does not depend on their attitude towards us.

Loving is a choice, not a feeling.

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Identifying others.

Today’s verse uses the word neighbors. Love my neighbors … I don’t even know some of my neighbors. In the Greek, others/neighbors transliterates as plesion, which means “neighbor, friend, any member of the Hebrew nation and commonwealth; according to Christ, any other man irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet.” Did you notice the spatial/geographical progression of the definition? Neighbor … friends … Americans … any person in the world. So others refers to everybody in the whole world. Wow! While it is impossible for me to tangibly love everyone, I can love others whom I chance to meet.

Loving others as you love yourself.

How do I love me, let me count the ways. Start by thinking about how you treat yourself. You take the best piece of cake for yourself (the one with the frosting flower). You sit in the chair, which affords the best view of the TV screen. You order first (always) at Panera. You ride in the front seat of the car. When with your friends, everyone eats at your favorite restaurant and shops at your preferred stores. Loving others calls for a 180 attitude adjustment.

Do you want others to pray for you? Pray for them. Do you desire mercy? Show mercy. Do you like encouragement? Encourage others. Do you want others to love you? Love others.

Love others as you love yourself.

For Today:

Before you start your planning for today, take a moment to pray for God’s guidance and power as you seek to love others. Today, as situations arise which involve others, think of how you’d wish to be treated and treat them accordingly. Be especially aware of people who:

• cut you off in traffic (you and I have NEVER done this).
• are slow in the checkout lane.
• bring you food you did not order (or forgot to leave off the onions-again).
• are late for an appointment, meeting, or dinner.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

• To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF The study guide is very essential to your learning!
  
• Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

For ideas on how to love others, please check the resources below.

• Love Like Jesus
• Love By Faith

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below. Have a blessed day. Remember to love others!

In case you missed day 1, click on the link below:

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

By Mary Kane

all rights reserved.

copyright 2015

To Do-ers List

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25

Welcome to To Do-ers List Bible study series. I pray you find this short series beneficial and life changing.

I am a list maker. Most days I start my morning by making my to-do list. My to-do list keeps me focused and helps me make valuable use of my time. God is a doer as well; creating is one of His specialties. We can be listeners, hearers, watchers, thinkers, and gatherers of His word, but there must be a point in time when we become doers.

It is important to note while other Greek words for hearing translate as  “understanding, perceiving, and obeying,” the word used for hearer in the verse above means simply one who passively hears. No action. No engagement. Classic in one ear and out the other. But, God calls us to be doers of His word.

The Bible lists many benefits of being do-ers of the Word.

1. Correction, instruction, and training (2 Timothy 3:16)
2. Wisdom (Psalm 19:7)
3. Freedom (John 8:32)
4. Life (John 6:68)
5. Strength (Joel 2:11)
6. Greater faith (Romans 10:17)
7. Comfort, revival, and peace (Psalm 119:7-16)
8. Plus many, many other benefits.

God has not given us His Word for information, but for transformation. Therefore, the mission of this Bible study series is to change hearers into doers. Each day we will focus on one command from Scripture and apply it to our lives. Every nook and cranny, every chore, errand, and encounter of our lives will be covered in the Word of God.

Starting July 27^th, check our website every morning at 5:00 a.m. to get your To Do-ers List for the day.

From hearers to doers. Are you up for the challenge?

Study Guides:

To help you organize your daily study and record your experiences, please download and print the following PDF, or download the journal app to your favorite Apple device.

• To Do-ers List Study Guide PDF
• Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

Please add your name to the comment section below if you are up for the challenge. Don’t forget to comment on your experience in the comment section below!

**If you are starting late, please access the first six days of the study on the links below!**

To Do-ers List Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List, Day 4: Walk by Faith

To Do-ers List, Day 5: Word in Me

To Do-ers List: Day 6: Always Do Good

Be a doer of the word.

by Mary Kane

All rights reserved. Copyright 2015.

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

She Heard

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” …“The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 12:38-39, 42

Jesus is speaking to the crowds. While teaching from His Word, He heals a demon-possessed man of his many afflictions. The Pharisees are not happy. Like the rest of the crowd, they’ve been listening to Jesus preach. However, the teachers of the Law want a sign: a miracle on demand. Would they see with their eyes when they would not hear with their ears? What greater sign did they need than an exorcism? Jesus calls them out by mentioning the queen of the South.

The queen of the South? She heard. She heard all the way from Sheba. What the Pharisees would not hear from across the temple courtyard, she heard from across the continent. 1,200 miles. And she came to hear more.  Imagine being mentioned in the Bible, not because you won a great battle or conquered a terrible foe, but because you heard.

I Kings 10:2 gives us little more information: She spoke to Solomon about all that was in her heart.  That’s the difference between the Pharisees and the Queen of Sheba. She heard with her heart. The Pharisees, deafened by pride,  could only hear with their ears. (To learn more about the connection between the heart and the ears, look up the following verses: Deuteronomy 29:4, Proverbs 23:12, Isaiah 6:10, and Ezekiel 3:10.)

God has an antidote for deaf ears. Acts 7:51: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Ask God to circumcise your ears to hear His Word.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord and open the ears of my heart.

In the Greek and Hebrew, to hear means not only to sense with the ears, but to understand, consider, comprehend, and OBEY.

Hearing God’s word requires change.

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Let’s follow the example of the Queen of Sheba, and do what it takes to hear from God.

She heard.

Action Points:

1. How can you put yourself in a position to hear from God?
2. What noise is blocking the Word of God in your life?
3. What action can you take to hear from God today?

Life is sweet.

 Take 5!

Fear and Faith

Please Take 5! minutes and go before God in prayer. Confess to Him any sin and ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Please read John 20:18-22.

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message. 19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Prior to this portion of Scripture, Jesus had just risen from the dead. Early resurrection morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to be with her Lord. Finding the tomb empty, Mary stood outside the tomb and wept. Suddenly, Jesus appeared to Mary and spoke to her.

What did Jesus tell Mary to do?

He sent her on her first missionary journey—to tell the disciples He had risen! Jesus gives us the same instructions—tell others we have seen the Lord and He has spoken great things to us.

Name something God has spoken to your heart.

Later that day, the disciples gathered together (because of fear and because of faith), perhaps to pray and to discuss the earthshaking, stone-rolling events that had recently occurred.

Read verse 19 and record the word used to describe the doors.

Why were the doors locked?

They were locked because of fear. All the disciples were gathered in one small room. Locked in. Locked down.

That’s what fear does; it entraps us and keeps us small.

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Faith frees.

What does Jesus tell the disciples (verse 21)?

Draw close to Jesus and receive a fresh breathe of the Spirit and go. He is sending you.

Antidote for fear …

1. Remember Jesus is with you in your fear, amid the flames, and among the waters; bringing down walls and  giants.
2. Meet with Jesus. It will turn your fear to joy.
3. Receive the spirit. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, sound mind and love.
4. Continue to do God’s work. Do it afraid.

Remember, 

fear traps, faith frees.

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Have a blessed day.

Mary Kane

copyright 2015

all rights reserved.

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

1 Samuel 25:2-3

Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a beautiful woman and her evil husband. Now, the husband was a fool, but Abigail understood.

The account of Nabal and Abigail rivals any fairy tale of long ago, complete with a beautiful woman, a wicked husband, a valiant king upon a steed and an intriguing plot.

To summarize, David and his men protect Nabal’s flocks from raiders and predators until the time of shearing. When payday arrives, instead of wages, David’s men receive insults. Justly so, David orders his men to saddle-up and ride for Nabal’s house.  Enter our hero, actually a she-ro … Abigail.

She understood.

She understood whom? …  she understood what?

She understood her husband’s harsh evil ways.

She understood her God’s righteous holy ways.

Abigail learns of her husband’s foolish behavior from one of her servants. Without a moment to spare, she quickly orders a gift for David, loads the donkeys, and saves the day (and her husband’s neck). Why did Abigail chooses to act on behalf of her cruel harsh husband? She could have easily been rid of him that day … let him reap the consequences for his actions. Who would have blamed her? Instead, she acts on his behalf. Why? Because she understood.

Abigail understood …

… she must trust God’s Word over her own feelings.

… she must do the right thing no matter the cost.

… she must protect others from themselves.

… she must do right for those who do her wrong.

Because she understood, Abigail saves the lives of her husband and the male servants of her house. Her quick thinking also protects David’s reputation and his relationship with God. She does the right thing, the hard thing, the wise thing, and leaves her life (and husband) in the hands of God. And because she understood, God has a wonderful happily ever after for Abigail (and a not so happily ever after for Nabal). You can read the rest of the story in 1 Samuel 25.

And the beautiful woman received a message, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife … and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.” So the beautiful woman and the king lived happily ever after.

Action Points

1. Wisdom does not depend in IQ, but on the Word of God; the more Word we have, the wiser we become. How can you get more of God’s Word in your heart? (Hint:  Joyce Meyer Ministries  oneplace.com, Living Proof Ministries)
2. Think of a current situation are you facing. What do you feel like doing about it? What does God’s Word say you should do about it?
3. What parts of your situation need you to take godly action? What parts do you need to leave in the hands of God?

Life is sweet.