Well today will be as originally promised…short and sweet <3

As we move along through John 17 and come to what our modern Bibles label as verse 4, we read Jesus’ words to His Father:

I have glorified You on earth, I have finished the work You have given me to do. NKJV

The Contemporary English Version words this passage:

I have brought glory to you on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. 

And finally, I love the way Eugene Peterson translates this passage:

I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do.

Don’t we list makers get that???

The feeling of completion for all the items on our To Do list…but this is Jesus saying…

I completed all the items…

perfectly…

down to the very tiniest and last detail…

on Your eternal To Do List, Abba <3

When we were providing care for my three elderly family members in three different care facilities AND continuing to raise three very active and involved young teens and tweens…I would often pray a simple prayer. 

It varied in form but basically sounded like this…

Lord, I cannot be but in one place today. Where is the one place only I can be? Give me wisdom to know that one place and one thing that I am supposed to be. Help me surrender where I want to be and give me obedience to be where I am supposed to be. Give my loved ones grace to understand and be with those who can fulfill the role in their lives that was not meant for me today. 

Dear ones…take a good look at your list today.

Look at all the places where you think your presence is required…and lift that list to the only One who can be everywhere all at once.

Acknowledge your humanity and release to Him the crazy desire to be all the things for all your people. 

Let Him guide you into your one place…and ask Him to give you the strength and diligence to complete down to the last detail all that He has assigned for you today. 

May you find rest in obedience to your assignments and grace to cheer on those who get to do the thing you wanted to do more than obey….

blessings my friends as you bring Him glory through the long hours and tasks of your day <3

Whenever I update my phone with a new IOS, I find some kind of unexpected addition and this time Apple apparently decided to monitor my screen time and send me a little report every Sunday evening. 

Courtesy of some invasive surveillance system that I shudder to even ponder, a typed message appears across my screen informing me that I spent so many hours on the average day using my phone. 

The first time this popped up I was horrified not only because somewhere, someone or someone’s are keeping track of my screen time…but good grief, the amount was shocking when I realized that wasn’t my week total but my average per day. 

I was also mildly alarmed at the dual response in my head that arose. Part of me wanted to really restrict using my phone so I could get a better report and part of me wondered if I could beat my record the following week. 

Yes, I can relate to the old cartoon figures where the character had a tiny angel on one shoulder and a tiny devil on the other offering conflicting encouragement to the victim…but that is for another day…

Back to my phone. 

I actually even entertained the passing thought that maybe I should use my computer for more of my email checking and social media following/posting so that the time wasn’t logged into this odious app that was clocking my screen time. 

I was a bit shame-filled for the amount of time I was spending on my phone when I often complain I don’t have enough time to get important things done. And I was angry with Apple for telling me…

the truth. 

Why couldn’t they just mind their own business and leave me in the dark about it?

And then slowly God did that whisper thing He does with me. 

Because isn’t this so applicable (I tried to do an “apple” pun there but couldn’t bring myself to follow through…but am stooping to let you know it entered my mind) to our approach to God’s Word. 

I read in Galatians this morning how Paul wrote that the Scriptures declare that the whole world is a prisoner of sin and I think if I were to send that out as a message on every single phone today, the reaction would most likely be similar to mine when I found out I had spent a ridiculous amount of time, on average, every day on my phone. 

We don’t like to hear the truth. 

Because it calls for a response from us. 

We don’t like truth because it exposes our most vulnerable places. Truth does not allow for excuses or cover ups. 

The message on my phone was not judging me. 

It was informing me of a habit that has gotten out of control and is eating away at valuable time that I complain I don’t have enough of. 

The Scriptures point out God’s heart and His wisdom and His teachings and they highlight the places in me and my ways that do not line up with His. 

If I say I follow Christ, I need to look at my actions, attitudes, beliefs…and measure how they are lining up with His Word. 

His Word is truth. 

Whether I like it or not. 

When I am faced with Truth, I will also always face the temptation to both justify myself and consider ways of working around the truth so that I can continue to do what I want to do, the way I want to do it. 

But the Truth is….I am only justified by the One who took my place, paid my debt and it is only by surrender to Him through obedience to His teachings that I can live a life worthy of His gift to me. 

The season of Advent is such an important time for us to consider the condition of our hearts as we end another year. Will we use this time to look into the Scriptures and face truth? The choice is ours each day. 

I am working on doing some digging in to Scripture to prepare some writings to countdown to Christmas. 

Of course there will be a mix of things as I write daily but I look forward to sharing the Journey through Advent with you in a fresh way this year <3