Imagine for a moment that you reach for a sponge in your kitchen to clean up a spill. You’d been drinking a glass of orange juice and it got knocked over and spilled out all over the counter. The sponge soaked up most of the juice and you brought the sponge back to the sink to wring it out. What a surprise it would be if apple juice came dripping out?! Not only would it be a surprise….it would be miraculous! Why? Because we know we soaked up orange juice in that sponge. There is NO WAY that apple juice can come out instead.

The principle of this equation is this: what goes in will come out. Aside from being a law in chemistry, it’s also a direct summation of how we think, believe and behave. It’s exactly why Paul told the believers at Philippi in Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT), “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Because, like that sponge, we will be squeezed. Maybe not today or maybe multiple times today…something or someone is going to wring us out. What will come out of us? How will we respond? What we have taken in, in our thoughts, in our choices on television and other electronics, what we’ve read….that’s what will come out when we are squeezed.

What are we soaking up today?

There’s a funny thing about growth. We don’t often recognize it while it’s happening. Growth happens at such a slow pace that many times we just don’t notice it. We may notice the effects of growth sooner. Maybe our kiddos pants are getting shorter. Perhaps our pants are getting tighter. Our grocery budget doesn’t bring home as much as it used to.

Some growth is what we long for in life. We want to grow closer to our spouse and other family members. Deepening our friendships with others is a reflection of growth in our lives. Growing in the knowledge of what we do for a living or the hobby we’ve taken up is admirable and helps us feel more accomplished. And all of those take time.

There is always a catalyst for growth. Something happened that stimulated change. The greatest change agent I know is the Holy Spirit. Something happens when we meet Him that alters our life forever. And the more we get to know Him, spending time with Him, the more we grow.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV) says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? God’s Spirit lives in you.” …I really want to repeat that. GOD’S SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU….and in me! Look for the change! We cannot help but be changed by the Spirit of Almighty God living inside of us. The more we are aware of and give honor to His Spirit taking up residence inside – the more growth we will see. And so will those around us!

You know that uncomfortable feeling of being in a room with someone with whom you’ve had a disagreement? That awkward silence. The tension. You know you should apologize. Whether you were right or wrong… The way back to restoration begins with ‘I’m sorry’. Why are those two words so hard to say?!! Two pieces of advice always ring in my ear….my mama saying, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right!’ and Pastor Bill asking, ‘do you want to be right? Or do you want to be reconciled?’

Just as the argument brought tension being reconciled to one another brings peace. And what a beautiful sense of calm that brings to our heart. Restoration takes work. Honesty. Communication. Forgiveness. Sometimes we wrestle in our relationships to keep the peace, die to self, preferring one another to live in harmony.

Romans 5:1 (NLT) speaks of a peace that is beyond our ability to create ourselves because it is a gift that we receive from our Heavenly Father when we believe. “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” The Passion Translation tells it this way: “Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us.”

No guesswork or working to ‘keep the peace’ needed. Because when we put our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and through His resurrection…we have peace with God…and oh the peace that floods our soul!

I am the daughter of great parents. Anyone who has known or worked with Charlie and Cathel Tanner are, no doubt, fond of them and love them too! Over the years they both have exhibited great work ethic, strong leadership skills, a deep and personal faith in God and the capacity to love well….really well.

The benefits and blessings of being their daughter are endless. Their love and care and confidence in me helped to shape who I am, how I behave and what I believe. I have so much to be grateful for in being their child.

It is possible to take who we belong to for granted. In our search to discover who we are as individuals …we can forget whose we are. And that is a huge mistake. Forgetting who we belong to opens the door to doubt. When we live with mistaken identity we make poor choices. We pick up wrong behavior patterns and honestly….we live beneath our means.

I’m not talking about our financial status. I am talking about our inheritance from the King of the universe! John 1:12 (ESV) tells us “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” When we begin to breathe in – I am a child of God – it changes our perspective on everything. When we believe and receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord, He gives us the right, the privilege, the benefits and the blessings of belonging, as His children, to God.

We must never forget to whom we belong!

Every Easter Sunday when I was growing up, my brothers and I could count on three things: a new outfit to wear to church, an Easter basket full of goodies and an…easter egg hunt. So when my husband, Ken, and I started our family we decided to carry on those traditions. What I soon discovered was that I had as much fun, if not more, watching my little ones run around looking for hidden easter eggs as they did in finding them! I watched them getting closer and closer to a hidden treasure and if they missed it I did everything I could to get them to come back and ‘look a little bit closer’!

Some eggs would have little tokens inside. Some had candy that rattled around when they picked them up. And some eggs…had money tucked inside them. Just watching my kids’ eyes light up when they discovered what was inside brought such joy to my heart. I didn’t hide the eggs to keep them from finding them. I hid them so that together we could discover new things.

One day I realized the concept of hidden treasures didn’t begin with us! It began with God! Listen to what Isaiah 45:3 says. “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” What??!! The God of the universe has hidden treasures for us to find…riches that He has stored in secret places…so that WE can know that HE is The LORD…and even sweeter…that He has called us…by name. Can’t you just imagine God the Father watching over us…calling us lovingly…nudging us in the direction of something He’s hidden for us to discover?! Imagine His delight when we find them & enjoy His gifts. Another sweet opportunity to discover something together!

My friend has a twin sister…an identical twin sister. I have an idea they have had fun with that all their lives. The first time I saw them together I couldn’t figure out who was who. Until I got to know their personalities…each beautiful in her own way. I have spent enough time with them that I can actually see their personality shine through on their faces.

Here’s what I found even more intriguing about these two beautiful girls. When they were born…no one…not even the doctor suspected there were TWO. Every time the doctor listened to the baby’s heartbeat…they only heard ONE. It wasn’t until the mom was giving birth to the first that the doctor realized there was a second! Their heartbeats were so in sync with each other…they only ever heard one!

Oh that my heart would be so in sync with the heart of Jesus that I would only be able to recognize one rhythm. Ezekiel 36:26 (MSG) tells us, “I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed.” There is no doubt that God has made each of us unique but oh how much more beautiful we become when our hearts begin to beat like His for each other.

Those pesky double lines on a roadway come along at the most inconvenient time. Always when I am crunched for time…and always when I get stuck behind someone driving too slow. Or maybe they are just driving…slower than me! Whether its a double line or a dotted line with a solid line on my side it is aggravating to say the least when I am trying to get somewhere and I cannot pass the vehicle ahead of me.

The other morning on my way to work there was no vehicle in front of me and as I took notice of those double lines I also glanced ahead…down the road. The roadway curved to the left around a group of trees. It was impossible to see what was ahead. My view was obstructed by the curve in the road… and those trees. I considered how often we encounter the solid line while we’re driving and how seldom we think about the warning for what might be ahead because we are consumed with thinking about what …or who…we believe is in our way right in front of us.

Someone took that road ahead of us. They carefully took into consideration the obstructed view and planned out the warning signals that we would need for potential danger ahead. Those solid lines on the road are meant to protect us from what we cannot see. If that is what you do for a living – thank you for saving my life – on more than one occasion!

Obstructed views are God’s specialty! There are a number of Scriptures that tell us of how God goes before us. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” God knows the obstructions in our way. He’s already gone before us. If we spend time with Him, He will lead us on the wide open roads and the narrow paths that encounter slow movers and obstructed views. God is teaching us to not be in such a hurry. Take a deep breath. Be kind to the ones moving slower than we are. Enjoy the view. I believe its the one He wants us to slow down enough to see!

“Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.” That’s what James said in the first chapter of his book in the New Testament. He went on to tell them. “You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James says in verse one that he is writing to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. I’ll bet that they were facing more than a few trials at the time.

Think about the last time you found yourself facing a difficult thing. I’m guessing that pure joy was not the emotion you were feeling at the time. How odd to think we should receive hard things with joy. But that’s what the Bible tells us will yield the best outcome. Know that when our faith is tested it produces a perseverance that keeps us hanging in there…growing us into maturity and into a place of lacking nothing.

I love how The Message tells us James 1:2-4. “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

That really is a gift!

At the end of my street is a very big pond. It’s where ducks show up in the early Spring each year. The occasional rowboat or kayak appears when summer approaches. And on any given day of the year it’s where guys love to meet up to hang out and dangle a line in the water for hours at a time.

It can be hot, cold, humid, breezy or a chill in the air. The sun may be shining or it could be raining and they still show up. Consistent. Patient. Persistent. I don’t know how much fish they catch. I’ll bet some days more than others. But they keep coming back. Perhaps it’s as much about the company they keep as it is the fish that they take home.

When Jesus approached two fisherman named Peter and Andrew on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, His invitation to them was, “follow Me and I will make you fishers of men”. I’m guessing it was an odd statement to them…to fish for men. And it may be even more odd to those of us who don’t fish! But the principle of fishing…the act of fishing….to really successfully pull in a good catch?…is to be… consistent, patient and persistent. Sound familiar?

Jesus’ call wasn’t just to Peter and Andrew to be fishers of men. Matthew 4:19-20 (MSG) Jesus said, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.”

He wants us to keep showing up, hanging out and living our lives as God-followers. Consistently. Patiently. Persistently. Jesus will do the rest.

I was sitting across from a financial advisor whose office was inside an old train station. When he said, “brace yourself!” I wasn’t sure what he meant. Within seconds a train came barreling past the building making it impossible to continue our conversation. The furniture nearly buzzed from the vibration of the thunderous machine moving on the rails just feet away from where we were sitting.

As the train was about to pass the crossing, it blew its horn several times, alerting drivers in vehicles that it was coming through. Once the train had cleared the area, vehicles proceeded across the tracks. And inside the office we continued our discussion. It was as if potential danger had never been present.

How often is it that very real danger passes right alongside of us? Sometimes we may be aware of its pending arrival…and often we have no idea what is headed our way. All the more reason that we must stay in touch with God. The Holy Spirit can alert us to danger and even divert our travel when necessary to fulfill His plan.

Psalm 121:8 (MSG) tells us, “God guards you from every evil. He guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, He guards you now. He guards you always.” What an assuring promise He gives us to rest in today. He guards us always!