When I was asked to write for Rays of Sunshine, I spent a good amount of time praying and thinking about the mission of this great organization and how they bless many students, teachers, and administrators in Southeast Texas schools. The items these students and teachers receive are usually small, but the difference they make in people’s lives is oh, so BIG!
Many mornings, my heart is encouraged when I stop the scrollthrough the mindless words on social media and read the uplifting words of Daisy or one of the many guest writers. A few words. A little scripture. It’s a small thing. Yet it blesses those who read them in a BIG way!
These thoughts got me thinking about the small acts of kindness that have been extended to me in recent memory and the impact that they have had on me. We can so easily get caught up in the self-focused ways of the world that tell us we are “Made for More” or we need to “Dream Big”.
Yes, sometimes God calls us to take BIG steps for His Kingdom, like Daisy did in starting Rays of Sunshine. But let’s not allow our pursuit of the next big step to cause us to miss out on the many little ways that God is calling us to bless others in our lives along the way.
There is a big difference in the feel of a spotlight and the feel of sunshine on your shoulders. One is all about us, the other comes from something much bigger!
As many students prepare to return to classrooms this week, there are some who will feel the sun shine upon them a little more brightly thanks to Rays of Sunshine! Let’s all commit to finding small ways that we can bless those around us. Those small acts of service that God is calling you to do could make the biggest difference in the lives of others.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12
“But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” Luke 6:46-49
I remember my grandparents house very vividly. Perhaps it reminds me of the Miranda Lambert song, “The House That Built Me”. I remember being a young girl into my teen years walking through the home and whether it was the morning or night I walked carefully with every sound being heard. The house was a country home a good ways off the highway. Quiet and peaceful. You could hear every move though due to the home being on blocks. It didn’t have a solid foundation. Every creak, loud step, motion, was heard or felt. Just on the outside. The inside was completed with love, strength, and faithfulness.
As I think back I realize what a beautiful illustration the Lord left me with those memories. As a youth director I teach on a strong foundation in Christ many times a year. The importance of having a sturdy foundation and not just shakeable blocks – not relying on the outside world. The foundation the world gives us will be shaken, unsteady, and not secure. But the inside, it can change things. It can change our perspective, attitude, and strength. If we are strong on the inside nothing in this world can dig and ruin our foundation. Give your heart to Jesus and build the right foundation and your mind, soul, and ears will follow. Jesus defeated the cross because he knew his foundation was solid. He knew his purpose, and his love. You can too.
“For no one can lay down any foundation other than the one we already have, Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:11 NLT
There’s no foundation like the foundation we find in Jesus. Strong, sturdy, and unshakeable. Build that today.
It’s super easy for me to get caught up in all the things. New supplies, Meet the Teacher, new clothes, and Friday Night Lights no doubt.
With all the hustle and bustle and excitement of a new year it’s easy to become “busy”. And don’t you know the devil loves busy. Because when we are “busy” our focus shifts from the main thing to everything else.
The main thing being our mission field because as educators we’ve been called to love, to teach, and to serve. It’s who we are.
The devil has strategically been chipping away at the family structure for generations now. Unfortunately, I see a shift in who he is targeting and it’s us. It’s educators. With so many broken families students are coming to school unloved, undernourished, and emotionally drained. We are their hope. We are on the frontlines.
Educators, remember the following when things get hard – your bad day shouldn’t define theirs. The devil knows when students don’t get loved at home. He knows they need our love and compassion and kindness and hope. So don’t you know he loves it when we mess that up. Don’t you know he loves it when we get aggravated. Don’t you know he loves it when our goat is got.
This mission is so much bigger than us. It’s bigger than our lesson plans. This mission is about showing love and exuding grace. This mission is about making Heaven bigger.
Y’all, we’ve got work to do. Hard work. But man will it be worth it. This year I challenge you (and me) not to get caught up in the busyness. Not to lose focus on what’s really important. And to keep the main thing the main thing.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” Hebrews 12:1
Several weeks ago as I sat in a Wednesday night Bible study, the statement was made, “The way to maintain grace is to be a channel of grace.” As I’ve pondered this, I’ve been challenged to look at grace a bit more in depth. I know we say that grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”. While that is true, how do we maintain God’s riches? When I say maintain, I am using the definition of “continuing in or persevering in”. How do we continue in grace? According to the statement made by my husband that Wednesday night, it is by being a channel of grace.
First, we must realize our need for grace. Why do we need it? We are radically lost. We are sick. We are basically dead. The cure for that is Jesus. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift.”——Ephesians 2:4-8 God’s grace allows us to be found, healed, and brought to life.
In that new life we are to continue living in that grace. That does not mean we just do whatever we want and expect God’s forgiveness. That new life means that we continue to develop into what He wants our lives to be. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”—Ephesians 2:10 We were created to work for God. Because of His grace, He gifted us with various gifts which are to be used for His glory. “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” —1 Peter 4:10 When we are good stewards of grace, we persevere in grace.
Grace is a lifestyle we live in once we accept that initial gift of grace. Grace flows through us as we use our gifts for His service. We were meant to share the blessings, not hoard the blessings. Living in grace requires that we are constantly aware of God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense and then allow our lives to be channels of those Riches.
When I served in the Army, we used to be tested regularly on our physical fitness/wellbeing, and part of the test was to be able to complete two miles within a predetermined frame of time.
The track/route wasn’t always the same, and the weather wasn’t always perfect, but we still had to be able to finish under our given time or fail. There were two rules that would nullify our run time, one of which was that our feet could never leave the path we were given. “Don’t touch the grass.” If your feet left the track, it was taken as a signal that you had given up and would not be finishing. They didn’t have compassion if a runner became ill and needed to vomit either. That runner had better brace themselves and lean over the track to puke on the grass, but their feet better never cross that boundary.
Within Christianity, we are raised from little children to understand that we are part of an army that is entrenched in a war against evil, but when it comes time for rubber to meet the road, most of us are comfortable only wearing the armor of God but never actually putting it to use. The Lord isn’t looking for us to be knights in shining armor. It has been said that a knight whose armor is shining is one who has never fought in a battle. God has called us to war, and war is bloody. And war is beyond frightening to even the bravest of souls. Here’s what we fail to truly understand: we never fight alone. We hear it over and over without ever really getting it into every fiber of our being. If we did, we’d never lay down our sword.
The other day my twelve year old daughter was wrestling with her seventeen year old brother. He is obviously bigger and stronger than her and can easily outlast her body in endurance. Did she let that stop her? Absolutely not. He wanted her to confess something, and she would not give in at all. She cried out for relief over and over, and he kept repeating that all she had to do was give in, submit to what he wanted of her. It didn’t matter to her that she was experiencing some pain and was seemingly never going to break free, but she refused to give in to what her enemy wanted.
Why? Because she knew her enemy could only go so far. She knew that even though he was bigger and stronger on all counts and that she couldn’t break free from him on her own that he had a boundary he couldn’t cross. See, beyond the power of her enemy, there is her Father who would rip her brother in half if he were to actually hurt his little girl. She knew she could hold on and endure, because if the battle went farther than what she really truly could endure that her Father would step in and put a halt to it immediately. While she didn’t “whoop” her brother that day, she definitely beat him.
So many I know are being put to the test, and I would say to you, “Toe the line!” Finish this race. It may seem like relief will never come, but your Father has His eyes on you. The enemy cannot cross where He has not been given permission. Stand fast. Ephesians tells us that after we have put on our armor to stand. STAND. If you cannot do anything else in this fight, just stand, and don’t you dare let your feet leave the path. “You were born for such a time as this.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” At first glance, this verse can be a relief. We may think, Oh thank the Lord! Everything happens for a reason! These thoughts are as comforting as they are true, but what is also true is that some of those seasons that occur under heaven are dark and heavy.
I can guarantee you that there have been years in my life where I wondered, Lord, Why is this happening? Why isn’t anything working out right? Why does this hurt so much? Why is this taking so long? Why? Why? Why?
I can also guarantee you that at 42 years old, I still don’t have the answers to all of these burning questions. The Lord has revealed some of his reasons to me over time, but I also have to realize, as we all do, that I may never know the “why” of some things this side of heaven. That thought can nearly drive me into a panic attack at times, however, one of the things the Lord has revealed to me is this—a hard life can equal a great testimony.
Who would know better about a hard life than Job? And, wouldn’t you know it, my promise from the Lord is straight out of Job. So, guess what else that means? I can fully relate to Job because I have gone through overwhelming and painful trials myself. At times, we all feel like we have endured the trials of Job. They aren’t pleasant but, if we keep in mind how it all ended for Job, then we know that they are worth it.
Job received magnificent blessing after all his suffering. He refused to “curse God and die” and the Lord rewarded him for it. Our trials are not wasted if we keep our focus on the Lord. It’s tough. It’s rough. There will be plenty of times we want to give up, give in, and just quit, but we can’t because we ALL have the promises of the Lord. They are YES and AMEN. God is not a liar, so He has to keep the promise He made to you.
Job suffered greatly. He lost his children, his possessions, and even his health, only to be left with a nagging wife and crappy “friends.”
But, God!
The Lord didn’t leave Job in the ash heap, and He won’t leave me there. He won’t leave you there. He won’t leave anyone there!
“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first …” (Job 42:12) In the long run, all that Job lost, all the trials that he endured, brought him to the greatest blessing of his life, simply because he endured and clung to the Lord like superglue.
At the beginning of his life, if the Lord had given Job a choice, I doubt he would have chosen loss, sadness, loneliness, and disease but, in the end, all of the heartache made the blessing all the more greater! If we could talk to Job right now, I bet he would tell us that when the “latter part” of his life began, he reveled in every, single, tiny and massive ounce of blessing God poured over him. He appreciated it like no other because he knew what it was like to have his heart ripped out of his chest and still have to live and breathe and make it from one day to the next.
If the Lord had given me a checklist at the beginning of my life, I would have chosen all the happy occasions that I could. I definitely NEVER would have checked off all the shortcomings, struggles, and anxieties that life has brought me. Who would? But, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am going to revel in EVERY glorious, magnificent, and splendid ounce of blessing the Lord has coming my way!
I am still waiting on much of what I have always prayed for in my life, however I am currently living at least some of the prayers that I used to pray, and I am learning to be grateful for what has been answered while I am hopeful and thankful for what the Lord is bringing me in the rest of this “latter part” of my life.
The last two verses of Job should be a beacon of light to us all. It is my specific promise from the Lord, but is also a promise to everyone that the Lord can bring the ABSOLUTE BEST to fruition, even after the trials of Job. “After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years: he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.” (Job 42:16-17)
“you rule over the surging sea; when it’s waves mount up, you still them.”
Personally, I love the beach.I love the water, and I love the waves. The waves remind me of life, in a crazy way. You have to keep your eyes above the waves so you don’t go under. Just like you have to keep your eyes above all the stress, worry, anxiety, and all the other things of life. We have to keep our eyes on God.
We have to stay afloat.
God will put people in our lives to keep us floating. God will keep us floating. Without God we’re just going to sink.
To understand this crazy thing I’m trying to explain, think of the waves and the water as the stressful things in life. Worry, anxiety, stress, loss, pain, etc.. We have to keep our eyes above it all. It’s almost like the saying “keep your eyes on the prize” except we didn’t earn the prize, it was given.
To stay floating in the water of craziness, we have to remember that God will be there to keep us floating. He will give us people to help us.
Those people are the ones that helped make me into who I am today. One of those people is my Aunt Day-Day, Daisy Marino. She inspires me daily, and she keeps me floating. The day this is being posted is actually her birthday. So happy birthday Day-Day, love ya.
All of this to say, don’t let yourself sink.
Remember those people who help you. Remember that God is always with you. The hard things we have to go through are just temporary – we have a prize ahead of us.
Just keep your eyes above the waves.
Dear Lord, thank you for today. I pray that you will be with everyone as they go about their days today. I pray that you will help them to keep floating, and I pray for the people that you send to keep them floating. I also pray for the people who are sinking, that you would help them in their hard times, and that they would remember that they aren’t going to drown with you by their side. Thank you for Day-Day and the impact she has made on so many lives. I pray that she will keep on helping people stay floating. In your name I pray, Amen.
Last week, as my family and I were watching a movie called “Braveheart” together, I noticed that the main character, William Wallace, displayed many characteristics found in Christ.
Wallace was bold, passionate, caring and loving (well, sometimes… because other times wrathful and murderous, but that’s besides the point). He was not afraid of what other men could do to him, rather he stood up for himself and his people by going to war against England.
Later, after he defeated several large armies in battle, he was captured, tortured, and executed in front of a large crowd all because he refused to swear allegiance to King Edward. In the end, he forced one last word out of his mouth: “FREEDOM!”
I bring the story of William Wallace up because a) it’s awesome and b) because I think Wallace displayed Christlike actions that Christians should emulate.
Look at this verse: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13).
As Christians, we have a greater freedom than the freedom found in any nation because we were once in bondage to something far worse than any country or government. We were in bondage to sin. But because of Christ’s great sacrifice, we have the chance to truly be free. Free from our past. Free from our doubts. Free from ourselves.
With that freedom comes a choice, which is why it’s called, well, freedom, to either use for our own “flesh” or for the glory of God.
Today, as you go about and do whatever it is that you do, I hope and pray that you decide to use your freedom for the Kingdom of God and not the Kingdom of You because “Whom the son sets free is free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Here recently I got back from church camp. Church camp is always the highlight of my summer. I get so much out of it, including what I’m here to talk about today.
Our pastor hit on being lost but then found. This really hit for me because as a teenager, I often find myself struggling to stay in the word or just do a simple Bible study at night.
I get so caught up in what the world has to offer that I lose sight of God. I then start to feel lost and lose my sense of direction. In these times, it’s important to remember that no matter how far from God you feel, you are never too lost to be found.
In Luke 15:4, Jesus talks about when shepherds lose their sheep. If a Shepard were to lose one sheep out of one hundred, he would then leave the ninety-nine to find that one sheep.
This is the same way with God. We tend to run from our problems instead of turning to God for help. At that point we’re at our lowest and feel like one in a million. We feel like we’re just someone that has no value and is useless.
God’s still holding on to you, and He never once left you. Our value to God is incalculable. The love He has for us never fails. No matter how much wrong we do, or how lost we may feel, He always finds us.
I’ve been in Hebrews this summer, which means I’ve learned a lot about the Old Testament and the New Testament – highly recommend.
This morning as I reflect on what I’ve learned so far through studying Hebrews I feel the need to say the following:
If you’re in a rough patch, season, or just a one time pickle that’s just about to do you in – don’t forget what God has already done in your life.
I’m not saying to dwell on the past, but I am saying to determine that God can take care of whatever “this” is too.
He can.
He will.
He has.
Look at what He’s already done. Look at what He’s already brought you through.
He’s not done doing His thing, and to that promise I shout Amen. Well, I’m gonna whisper it right now because I have a 12 year old sound asleep next to me on the couch.
Y’all, don’t you dare throw in the towel, because God certainly isn’t.
And He never will.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
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