While searching for a job, one of the areas I want to consider is benefits. I’ve lived without health insurance before and hope I never have to again. Scary! But this week, I considered another type of benefits, those described in Psalm 103.
He forgives all our sins. Sometimes I think we forget to thank God for sending Jesus. As we live from day to day as busy people, we tend to take our salvation for granted. Then one covetous thought or one gluttonous meal or one word of gossip reminds us we need to be forgiven again. We benefit greatly from God’s grace.
He heals our diseases. Certainly, I can testify to the healing of my son’s disease. Check out carnival4caleb.blogspot.com, and God has allowed me to be the recipient of several healings. Although we don’t always think about it, God is still the Healer even when we don’t see the healing in this lifetime or in the timing we pray for. He ultimately heals the diseases of our souls and then wipes out every disease in the hallways of heaven.
He redeems our lives from the pit. From the pit of hell, from the pit of destructive strongholds, from the pit of addictive behaviors, from the pit of discouragement, from the pit of all the craziness in our world, from all the pits we can fall into.
He crowns us with love and compassion. When I’m discouraged here at the house, I put on my tiara. It reminds me I am a princess, a daughter of the King, greatly valued and loved with all the compassion of the gentle Savior’s heart.
He satisfies our desires with good things. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and here I am – tapping out words for this blog. This morning, I wondered how we would buy groceries next week. I reached into the mailbox and pulled out a HyVee gift card from a friend. Last week, I needed copy paper. A friend’s husband used his coupon at Office Depot for a box of paper – for me – to satisfy that desire when he didn’t even know it was a need.
These are only some of the benefits we enjoy because we are God’s children – benefits that expand far beyond the puny benefits of a job.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Heavenly UPS
As God called me this morning to fast and pray for an upcoming interview, I opened my Bible to Psalm 57. Several verses there gave me hope and fodder for my prayers.
“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.”
The job I need is not only one that utilizes my skills and experience, but especially – the one that fulfills God’s purpose for me. He has called me to be His servant, to glorify Him with my writing and to further His kingdom on this earth. But most job descriptions aren’t written in biblical language or with a Christian worldview. I must continue to seek God’s purpose and direction.
“He will send from heaven to save me…my God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.”
Like a heavenly UPS, God continues to send me packages of love and faithfulness. Direction for how to pray, courage for interviews, financial assistance for those constant bills and peace to replace the fear. I depend on Him to meet every practical and emotional need, to keep me in faith and to surround me with his love.
That is the faithfulness of God – meeting every need, even the deepest ones we can barely discern and pouring out His grace each moment. I need His package today and depend on His ability to deliver.
“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.”
The job I need is not only one that utilizes my skills and experience, but especially – the one that fulfills God’s purpose for me. He has called me to be His servant, to glorify Him with my writing and to further His kingdom on this earth. But most job descriptions aren’t written in biblical language or with a Christian worldview. I must continue to seek God’s purpose and direction.
“He will send from heaven to save me…my God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.”
Like a heavenly UPS, God continues to send me packages of love and faithfulness. Direction for how to pray, courage for interviews, financial assistance for those constant bills and peace to replace the fear. I depend on Him to meet every practical and emotional need, to keep me in faith and to surround me with his love.
That is the faithfulness of God – meeting every need, even the deepest ones we can barely discern and pouring out His grace each moment. I need His package today and depend on His ability to deliver.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
My 2011 Verse
Every new year, I ask God to give me a Bible verse to focus on throughout the next 12 months. Many years, the verse has included something about growing in my faith or being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, the verses include something about trusting in God, about not giving in to fear.
Usually, I start praying about the new verse at the end of the previous year and after several weeks, God points me toward His selected passage. But this year was different.
During the worship service at my church, the week before Christmas, I casually asked God, “Oh, yeah – it’s almost time for the new year’s verse. Please let me know, Lord, which verse to focus on in 2011.”
Immediately, the divine whisper settled in my soul, “Jeremiah 29:11.” I gasped with the intensity of the answer and the promise I knew lived in that passage. At home, I read the verse in every version I had and settled on the English Standard Version.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
I like the idea of God planning my wholeness, as well as his promise for hope and a future. My verse for 2011 is a memo sent by my loving Father, to keep me in hope and remind me that his plans are always for the best. So I march into this new year, holding the hand of my Savior and believing that the things I have learned in 2010 will be a springboard for wholeness in 2011.
Usually, I start praying about the new verse at the end of the previous year and after several weeks, God points me toward His selected passage. But this year was different.
During the worship service at my church, the week before Christmas, I casually asked God, “Oh, yeah – it’s almost time for the new year’s verse. Please let me know, Lord, which verse to focus on in 2011.”
Immediately, the divine whisper settled in my soul, “Jeremiah 29:11.” I gasped with the intensity of the answer and the promise I knew lived in that passage. At home, I read the verse in every version I had and settled on the English Standard Version.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
I like the idea of God planning my wholeness, as well as his promise for hope and a future. My verse for 2011 is a memo sent by my loving Father, to keep me in hope and remind me that his plans are always for the best. So I march into this new year, holding the hand of my Savior and believing that the things I have learned in 2010 will be a springboard for wholeness in 2011.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Gift of 2010
During this Christmas season, my son and I received so many beautiful cards and well-wishes. We also received financial gifts, a new set of tires, gift cards and a new website (www.rjthesman.net). It was a blessing to receive, because we knew God placed those gifts on the hearts of our friends and family. Someday, we will again be able to give back and the cycle will continue.
When I think back over the year 2010, my first thought is Whew ! Glad that year is over! But as difficult as it has been to go through unemployment smack in the middle of the Great Recession, it has been a year of growing closer to God, learning to trust more and watching how the Almighty took care of us.
Month after month, God provided – either in some sort of temp job or in a miraculous gift. We still have a roof over our heads and food in the fridge. We are still healthy and able to work. We are still looking forward to each new day and asking, “How can we bless someone today?”
The Gift of 2010 is that God allowed us to depend solely on Him. He taught us again, that He is a faithful God who cares about His children. He became, once again, the Creative One who devised a variety of miracles and used numerous people to make those miracles happen. He stretched our food, our laundry soap and even our dog treats so that we could wait a little longer before we had to buy more. He gently led us into new arenas of service and work, teaching us once again, not to put Him in a box.
I am glad this year is over, because the calendar places us one year closer to the day we meet Jesus. And who knows what 2011 will bring in the form of jobs, published books or speaking opportunities. The only constant I know is that the God of 2010 will be the same faithful God of 2011 and what a gift it is to belong to Him.
When I think back over the year 2010, my first thought is Whew ! Glad that year is over! But as difficult as it has been to go through unemployment smack in the middle of the Great Recession, it has been a year of growing closer to God, learning to trust more and watching how the Almighty took care of us.
Month after month, God provided – either in some sort of temp job or in a miraculous gift. We still have a roof over our heads and food in the fridge. We are still healthy and able to work. We are still looking forward to each new day and asking, “How can we bless someone today?”
The Gift of 2010 is that God allowed us to depend solely on Him. He taught us again, that He is a faithful God who cares about His children. He became, once again, the Creative One who devised a variety of miracles and used numerous people to make those miracles happen. He stretched our food, our laundry soap and even our dog treats so that we could wait a little longer before we had to buy more. He gently led us into new arenas of service and work, teaching us once again, not to put Him in a box.
I am glad this year is over, because the calendar places us one year closer to the day we meet Jesus. And who knows what 2011 will bring in the form of jobs, published books or speaking opportunities. The only constant I know is that the God of 2010 will be the same faithful God of 2011 and what a gift it is to belong to Him.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Becoming Fruitful
In Exodus 1:12, Moses records a history lesson for the children of Israel. They lived in slavery in Egypt, but continued to bear many children. Pharaoh was worried about this, so he increased the oppression and the work for the Israelite people. But his plan didn’t work. They continued to bear more children, to be more fruitful, to increase and grow. The oppression actually triggered more fruitfulness.
“The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread” (Ex. 1:12).
During this year of unemployment, God has been creative and mysterious in causing fruitfulness. Many people have told me how much this blog has meant to them – how it has reminded them to trust God for everything – how they have praised God for all the ways He has helped them. I’m so glad, so grateful that something good is coming out of this.
I also see God’s hand in my own life, to refine those places that might have become attracted to earthly comforts, to teach me more about trust and His faithfulness. When we have jobs and money in the bank, it’s easy to buy those extra things that comfort us – the pretty shoes, the colorful scarf, the chocolate sundae. But none of those temporary treats really satisfy. The shoes wear out, the scarf fades, the sundae leaves behind a sugar fog.
The only thing that matters is to find our satisfaction in the love of Christ and to let Him make us fruitful. If that includes some type of oppression, some hard place that is uncomfortable, then so be it. The more we are oppressed – if we let the Holy Spirit work through that oppression – the more we will multiply in godly traits and spread the good news of Jesus.
We can never become so focused on getting the job, making the money or doing the work that we forget the real reason we inhabit planet earth – to glorify God, to make disciples and to enjoy our faith walk forever.
“The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread” (Ex. 1:12).
During this year of unemployment, God has been creative and mysterious in causing fruitfulness. Many people have told me how much this blog has meant to them – how it has reminded them to trust God for everything – how they have praised God for all the ways He has helped them. I’m so glad, so grateful that something good is coming out of this.
I also see God’s hand in my own life, to refine those places that might have become attracted to earthly comforts, to teach me more about trust and His faithfulness. When we have jobs and money in the bank, it’s easy to buy those extra things that comfort us – the pretty shoes, the colorful scarf, the chocolate sundae. But none of those temporary treats really satisfy. The shoes wear out, the scarf fades, the sundae leaves behind a sugar fog.
The only thing that matters is to find our satisfaction in the love of Christ and to let Him make us fruitful. If that includes some type of oppression, some hard place that is uncomfortable, then so be it. The more we are oppressed – if we let the Holy Spirit work through that oppression – the more we will multiply in godly traits and spread the good news of Jesus.
We can never become so focused on getting the job, making the money or doing the work that we forget the real reason we inhabit planet earth – to glorify God, to make disciples and to enjoy our faith walk forever.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Those Who Uphold
As I’ve been working on my latest book proposal, I’ve thought about the page for Acknowledgments. Usually, I don’t read those pages in other books. I don’t know the people listed there, and it’s really a thank you page for the author.
But as I’ve thought about my own acknowledgments, I’m listing all the people who have prayed for us this past year. Some of them I see every week at church or in cell groups. Some of them respond to me via e-mail: “I’m praying for you, asking God to give you a job.” Still others, I won’t see or even know about until I meet them in heaven.
God knows each of these prayer warriors and calls them by name. He even knows the number of hairs on their heads and the brown spots on their hands.
In the darkest moments of this year-long wait, I’ve often asked God to tell somebody to pray for me. I’m certain he has done that, because we’ve made it through almost a year of living by faith and trusting God to take care of us. When discouragement hits, inevitably, someone is enlisted to pray, because the depression lifts and we make it to another day.
The Amplified Bible expresses an important sentiment about those who pray, “Behold, God is my helper and ally; the Lord is my upholder and is with them who uphold my life” (Ps. 54:4).
God is with those who uphold me. Emanuel lives in them and with them. He triggers the times they need to lift up my son and me. God helps me, and he helps them.
In my list of acknowledgments, I hold those praying people as a special corps of dedicated folks and pray that God will bless them even as they have blessed me.
But as I’ve thought about my own acknowledgments, I’m listing all the people who have prayed for us this past year. Some of them I see every week at church or in cell groups. Some of them respond to me via e-mail: “I’m praying for you, asking God to give you a job.” Still others, I won’t see or even know about until I meet them in heaven.
God knows each of these prayer warriors and calls them by name. He even knows the number of hairs on their heads and the brown spots on their hands.
In the darkest moments of this year-long wait, I’ve often asked God to tell somebody to pray for me. I’m certain he has done that, because we’ve made it through almost a year of living by faith and trusting God to take care of us. When discouragement hits, inevitably, someone is enlisted to pray, because the depression lifts and we make it to another day.
The Amplified Bible expresses an important sentiment about those who pray, “Behold, God is my helper and ally; the Lord is my upholder and is with them who uphold my life” (Ps. 54:4).
God is with those who uphold me. Emanuel lives in them and with them. He triggers the times they need to lift up my son and me. God helps me, and he helps them.
In my list of acknowledgments, I hold those praying people as a special corps of dedicated folks and pray that God will bless them even as they have blessed me.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Advance Warning
God is so good to warn us in advance. Monday night, he sent me to Psalm 34, one of my favorite of David’s songs. It reminded me to not give in to fear. Several of the verses spoke specifically against fear and assured me that God is taking care of us.
“I sought the Lord and He heard me. He delivered me from all my fears.” Vs 4
“This poor man called and the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles.” Vs 6
“Those who fear the Lord lack nothing.” Vs 9
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. His ears are attentive to their cry.” Vs 15
“The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Vs 17
The next morning, I received word that my email account had been hijacked and my contact list compromised. Although I’ve blocked everything and checked all my accounts, I don’t know how much of my identity has been stolen. But I do know that I don’t need to be afraid.
I am praying for those who have done this to me. They have the address of this blog. Maybe they will read it and learn about Christ who can set them free. I hope so. He is the only one who can deliver us, keep us from fear and restore our losses into something good. He is the only one who knows how to warn us in advance.
“I sought the Lord and He heard me. He delivered me from all my fears.” Vs 4
“This poor man called and the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles.” Vs 6
“Those who fear the Lord lack nothing.” Vs 9
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. His ears are attentive to their cry.” Vs 15
“The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Vs 17
The next morning, I received word that my email account had been hijacked and my contact list compromised. Although I’ve blocked everything and checked all my accounts, I don’t know how much of my identity has been stolen. But I do know that I don’t need to be afraid.
I am praying for those who have done this to me. They have the address of this blog. Maybe they will read it and learn about Christ who can set them free. I hope so. He is the only one who can deliver us, keep us from fear and restore our losses into something good. He is the only one who knows how to warn us in advance.
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