Summer Vacation!

Oh, the excitement, the thrill, the laughter, the anticipation! They are running up and down the halls, hugging everyone in sight! They are about to bubble-over with happiness! And that is just the teachers...imagine how excited the students are! Summer vacation is just 2 days away. Do you remember the excitement you used to feel when you were in school? This is my 16th year as a teacher, and I am just as excited about summer vacation right now as I was when I was a student. Knowing that vacation is close-by gives everyone a boost of adrenaline. We are friendlier to each other. We smile more. It is an awesome feeling!

Why can't we all feel this excited everyday, knowing that Heaven is awaiting each one of us? Why can't we run around hugging everyone and bragging about what all our Jesus has done for us? He has truly blessed every single one of us, and He is preparing a perfect place for us to spend Eternity. The Bible tells us that there are no words available to describe how wonderful heaven will be. There could only be a few more days left here before He calls us to our perfect home. I am so ready to leave this world behind and be with my Jesus! That will be the best "Summer Vacation" ever!

Jesus said in revelation 22:7, "Look, I am coming soon!"

Father, we long to be with You in heaven. Help us to spread the Good News about Your coming. In Jesus name, Amen.

Death By Chocolate

A friend of mine was telling me about a recent lunching she and a few coworkers went on. They had a nice meal and some friendly conversation. One of them decided to get dessert. After looking over the choices, she decided on a nice piece of chocolate cake. After a bit, the cake arrived. My friend said it was the biggest, thickest, and richest piece of chocolate cake she had ever seen. Every body's mouth started watering. She asked if any of her friends would like a bite. All at once, each woman picked up a fork and took a swipe at the chocolate heaven. As soon as my friend got a fork-sized piece of cake to her lips, it was apparent that something was wrong. Her big piece of chocolate heaven quickly turned to a piece of stale hell. Between the 5 of them, they could not stomach that one piece of cake.

Some of us are like that piece of cake. On the outside, we look awesome, like we got everything under control. But on the inside, we are not doing so well. We can mask our hurt from a lot of people, maybe even our closest friends. But God has X-ray vision, and He can see what is on the inside. It may be alright to try to hide our inner most feelings from people, but why would we try to hide those feelings from God? He wants to restore our inside. He wants to transform our inside to be even better than our outside appears. If you feel like that piece of chocolate cake, take your cares to the Lord. He is willing and able to fix the inside. He will mend our broken hearts and spirits and restore our "happy". Won't you let Him work on your inside today?

Psalm 30:2 says, "O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."

Father, please taken my broken heart and spirit and mend it. My hope and faith is totally in Your hands. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Mayonnaise Jar

Well, it's 3:30 Sunday Night/Monday morning, and my severe case of insomnia continues. So instead of just tossing and turning in bed, I decided to write a devotion. I found this one on the Internet. It seems to be from an unknown writer. Since we all know that every good thing comes from heaven, and this one is very good, I will credit Jesus for writing it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things- your God, your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with God. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Heart And Soul

Back in the 50's, the Doo-Wop group Cleftones had a hit with the song Heart and Soul. How many times have we heard those two words used together? One of my favorite phrases is to say that I believe something with "all my heart and soul". In our society today, I think these two words have become synonymous. But I don't believe they mean the same thing when used in the Bible. Consider John 14:1 where Jesus tells us to not let our hearts be troubled. But in Mark 14:34, He admits that His soul has become deeply troubled. Is this contradictory? I did a little research and found something interesting. The word heart derives from the Greek word Kardia, while the word soul derives from Psu-khe. In Greek, not only do the words heart and soul derive from different words, they also mean two different things. Psu-khe(soul) has to do with our feelings or emotions, and kardia(heart) has to do with our intellect or focus.

I believe what Jesus is teaching us is that it is ok to feel sorrow when bad things happen. But we should not allow that sorrow to derail us from following His will. In other words, it is ok to slow down and cry sometimes, but don't completely stop. There is no way around trials and storms in our lives. As humans, we can't help but to feel sadness and despair when these things happen. But we can't let those feelings rule our mind. We need to stay focused on Jesus! We will prevail! This too shall pass! There is a mountain on the other side of the valley! Daylight always follows darkness!

Psalm 51:10 says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Father, help us to keep our hearts separate from our souls. I ask you to bless all those who are hurting at this hour. Please don't allow that hurt to last too long. In Jesus name, Amen.

Energy Shot

Have you ever had one of those days in which you just couldn't seem to get going? From the time my alarm went off this morning at 6 until I arrived at work nearly 2 hours later, I could barely keep my eyes open. And then once I got to work, my lack of energy made climbing stairs almost impossible. So I decided to do something drastic. I walked across the street to Rite Aid and got a Red Bull Energy Drink. Just to make sure it worked, I also chased that down with one of those small, 5-hour energy drinks. It is now 11, and I am bouncing off the walls more than my checks bounce down at the bank. But one thing is for sure. I am definitely awake now!

Today's energy rush reminds me of the energy I feel after hearing a dynamic preacher or reading a powerful verse in the Bible. Spiritually speaking, we all suffer from "down" moments. We can find ourselves just barely making it through Church or through our daily Bible devotions. When this happens, we need a powerful jolt from the Holy Spirit! God can quickly transform us from 0 to 100 in a flash! He can "wake" us up spiritually and get us bursting with energy for Him. When we are just barely going through the motions, it is hard to convince a non-believer that the Christian life is a happy one. But when we are absolutely on fire for Jesus, it becomes contagious. And with God's help, we can set everybody else around us on fire for Him too! Have you asked Jesus for your "Red Bull" today?

John 15:11 says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

Father, please set me on fire for You. Help me to spread that fire to everybody around me. In Jesus name, Amen.

We Are Being Watched

The State Department of Education was at Dothan High School today observing various teachers. None of us knew just which teachers would be observed so we all had to be prepared. It is always a little unnerving when the "big bosses" come in for a visit. Most of us become a little more serious, pay a lot more attention, and double check to make sure we have all the i's dotted and all the t's crossed. It is kind of like when you are driving your car and a police officer gets behind you. All of a sudden, you become the world's best driver in an instant! Sometimes I wonder how many of us feel this same type of "pressure" on Sundays when we go to church. We get on our best clothes and our best behaviors. We become "Super Christian" on Sunday, but what do we do on Monday?

We know we can hide certain behaviors from some people, but we can never hide those from God. He is not only watching us 24/7, He is also right here walking along beside us. Judas the betrayer found that out very quickly. He managed to hide what was truly in his heart from everybody else, but he had no chance in trying to hide it from the Lord. Our hearts are completely transparent to the eyes of the Lord. He even knows the things that lurk in our hearts of which we may be totally unaware. Peter was a great example of this. Peter told Jesus that he loved Him so much that he was ready to "die for Him". But Jesus knew that in only a few, short hours, Peter would deny that he even knew the Lord...not once, but three times! I personally believe that Peter did not even know he was capable of denying Christ. But Christ knew everything that was in Peter's heart, and He knows everything that is in our hearts as well. If we can be a better driver every time we are being followed by a police officer, shouldn't we also become a "better" Christian by just knowing that God is with us?

Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives."

Father, forgive me for my wicked heart. Teach me to rely totally on You and less on my own heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.