UpLIFT Minute

Did you ever watch the TV show, “Mr. Ed” about a talking horse? While it was a fun show to watch, we all know horses can’t talk. However, there is an incident in the Bible in Numbers 22 when God used a donkey to get through to a man who was going in a direction God had forbidden. Yes, a man named Balaam was riding his donkey when suddenly the donkey stopped and refused to budge. What the donkey saw that the man didn’t see was an angel of the Lord with a drawn sword blocking the path. It begs us to consider if we are like the man, ignoring God’s warnings, or like the donkey, paying attention. If we want to be smarter than a donkey, or at least as smart and our eyes open to God’s will, it’s important for us to stay close to God. One way we do that is through prayer. Deepen your prayer life. Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion will help you.

Listen Are We Smarter Than a Donkey?

One Sunday during the sermon, my pastor referred to a missing verse – Mark 15:28  – that some Bible versions don’t include. As he talked about the missing verse, I began thinking about how many people have a Bible but it is missing from their daily lives. In other words, they have a Bible but don’t read it every day. If you’re not in the habit of reading your Bible every day or you don’t really know what the Bible says, I’d like to encourage you to begin including Bible verses in your daily routine. It can be as easy as signing up for my daily devotional, “365 Days of Praise. ” I’ll send you a free, 60 second devotional so you will have a Bible verse included in each day of your year. Visit me at debbietaylorwilliams.com and include, rather than exclude, Bible verses from your life. 

Listen The Missing Verse in Your Bible

Reading the health benefits of seasonings, I began adding more of them to my recipes.  Turmeric, ginger, and garlic  – the list goes on and on. Interestingly, God has a recipe for the words we speak. Yes, a heavenly seasoning with proven benefits. What is it? Grace. Colossians 4:6 says,

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

Yes, the flavor of our food is improved with seasoning and the flavor of our relations is improved when we add grace to our words. The next time you say pass the salt, let it be a reminder to pass God’s grace to others. If you want to better understand God’s grace, get a copy of my study of 1 Peter – Grace and Peace.

Good days. Blah days.  I’d been “off” for several days. You know. Not feeling the joy only God can give. No spring in my step. Not motivated. If you can relate and it’s been a while since you’ve had ear to ear grinning joy that causes you to race to God’s throne room to thank Him, I get it. How did I get back my joy? While I was praying, God nudged me to do something. I did what He said and joy. Do you remember the account of Peter fishing all night and not catching anything? Then Jesus told him to cast his net on the other side of the boat? Peter obey and caught a huge net of fish. No doubt, Peter had grinning joy as he hauled in his catch. In what way has God recently prompted you to do something? Have you obeyed? To learn more about grinning joy that comes as a result of obedience, read Matthew 25:21. You can also learn more with my teaching sessions, Listen UP.

Flying home from speaking, the gate for my connecting flight was announced: D34. Waiting at D34, I wondered why so few people were there. Checking the flight board, I discovered the departure had changed to C19. Dashing to the gate, I asked if I could get on the plane. “No. The doors are closed. We called for you.”  “I didn’t hear you,” I replied.  “We called.” My heart sank. There was nothing I could do. It was too bad, but I was too late.  So it is with God’s call to heaven. We may think we’re in the right place. Or, we may not be paying attention. But Jesus calls us to enter heaven through Him. Matthew 7:13 says, “Enter through the narrow gate.” Have you heard His call? Have you entered into saving faith through Jesus? He is calling you now. Meet Jesus here.

Years ago our grandson asked if I’d take him on a ride on our Polaris. Soon he was seated beside me and we headed to the pond. After throwing food to the fish, he looked up at me and said three words that grabbed my heart. “I so happy.”  Looking at that sweet boy’s face, I realized how it must please our Heavenly Father when we’re happy. Understandably we aren’t happy when faced with problems. However, are there factors that affect our happiness? Does God care if we’re happy? Yes. In John 16:24 Jesus said we can ask in His name so our joy is full. If you’re struggling with your emotions, start writing your prayers and recording God’s answers in the journal, Prayers of My Heart. You’ll discover prayers are being answered and there are things for which you can be so happy.

If there was something you could do to have a better attitude and increase your happiness would you do it? I imagine you are thinking, “Bring it on, baby!” Okay. Here it is. Write down what you’re thankful for every day. Bam! That simple. But will you do it? It literally won’t take you more than five minutes…if that much time. Research proves it’s a game-changer in our attitude. A simple click on my journal, Prayers of My Heart  and you’ll have a journal with three sections from which you can choose as a landing place for you to write, “Thank you, Lord, for…..” Will you do it? How important is your innermost heart? How about your mindset? What about your attitude and how it affects others? Take the step with this game-changer today.

While picking blackberries in my backyard I had quite a scare. As I reached for a berry, my hand came inches from a snake. Jumping away, I had a good laugh. It was a fake snake that I’d placed in the garden to scare the birds away. I’m not sure if it worked with them, but it certainly scared me. You may not have had a scare with a fake snake, but have you ever been frightened by something you heard? Have you wondered if something you were told was true or false? In Ephesians 5:6 God tells us, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.” How can we know if what we’re hearing is false? By knowing the truth. Where do we find the truth? In the Bible. How do we have good discernment about those things that are not specifically addressed in the Bible? By listening closely to the Holy Spirit, our Helper and Guide. Grow in truth and discernment by understanding who the Holy Spirit is and how to better discern His voice.  Listen UP.

I’d never looked at the pew before…really looked. However, a few days ago, I found myself studying an antique pew my husband and I’d bought years ago. I wondered if the craftsman had been a Christian who lovingly carved the pew or a hired hand who begrudgingly completed his day’s work? And, what about us? What is our story about our day’s work? Is it that we go about our day mindful of our calling by God? Or do we forget that Christ who saved us as Ephesians 2:10 tells us has placed us on earth to accomplish good works He’s prepared for us to do? To the degree we are mindful of our calling we are able to maintain a peaceful heart and persevering spirit. Learn “How to Live by the Divine Nature” of God so the story of your life will be one of a Christian who walked mindful of their upward calling.

Unable to go to the gym during the pandemic, I began working out at home. Although I’d worked out with weights before, I wanted refresher tips so googled recommendations for the number of repetitions. Soon, I became engrossed with exercise tips and found myself thinking more and more about them. Then, one morning as I knelt to pray, I noticed my weights a few inches from my Bible. God quickened me to the fact my newfound interest had been a distraction from my time with Him. Is working out with weights wrong? No. It’s great. The believer’s body is God’s temple and we’re to take care of it. But God is to have first place in everything. Has anything become a preoccupation with you and taken away from your time with God? If so, return to giving Him first place. Get your copy of Prayers of My Heart Journal to help rekindle your intimacy with God.