A Hope Journal

In 2Chron 2:5-12. Jehoshaphat is still focused on the Lord which ought to be our first response to fear of any kind. Yet pay attention to what he does in this prayer. He is not looking forward, stating his fears of what might happen. Instead, he is looking back at the past, recounting the times in Israel's history when God stepped in and helped them pull through very similar circumstances that were no less hopeless.

How many times in our pasts has God stepped in and done a mighty work on our behalf when everything appeared hopeless? He is just as actively involved in our lives today. Shamefully, too, we often thank Him in the moment but then forget what He's done for us. So then later, when we've faced challenges we've found it hard to remember that He has already proved Himself to us. This is one reason every believer should keep a journal ... a written record of God's faithfulness to us in our daily lives. During times when we feel hopeless, we can look back and gain encouragement from our personal histories. We can review times when He has intervened and worked in our own lives.

It may take some time and effort to establish the discipline of journaling, but the rewards will be great. We may think we don't have time to journal. Are we kidding? Have we no time to make a record of God's goodness in our lives? Well, if this is so, then we need to make time!

When we record blessings, we begin to view God's work from a new perspective. Then we'll be able to perceive how He's weaving the individual "threads" of our lives to create a beautiful tapestry for His glory.

********

I can see it has been a while since I wrote this devotion. Back when I was journaling everyday and loving it, feeling blessed at every turn. Now I'm doing all I can to work in a journaling session every couple days. Not so much because I don't have the time but mostly I don't have anything to journal about; or I think I don't! I haven't been doing as much reading lately (I used to write about what I was reading) because I've gone back to keeping the house clean enough to be presentable if anyone were to stop by for a few minutes. (This post is going to deal with that issue and since it's a weekend I'm not going to worry about it running long. You can read it in two sessions or whatever.) But it took me less than an hour to get all my Friday chores done. Except for the laundry and it's in the dryer. I made up the bed before I remembered that it was the day to change the bedding so I'll do that tomorrow. Cleaning my range was on my schedule today being as how it's an odd Friday. And that wasn't a lot of work because I have the oven scheduled for another day and I do down under the burners just once a month, or is it every two weeks. I can't remember. So really it was just a matter of cleaning the range top and the overhead hood, the front of the oven and there where all the knobs go. I let the knobs soak in hot sudsy water while I got the range cleaned and polished. Then I scoured all the knobs and replaced them. So really, that wasn't a lot of work and didn't result in using up a lot of time. I got the floors vacuumed and the kitchen counters wiped down. Did my PU/PA (Pick Up/Put Away) for the day and presto! the house is still clean. I have one chore out in the garage that needs to be taken care of and maybe I'll just go out there now and get that taken care of before it gets any hotter. There, that didn't take long. I have bowls of dry cat food on a large piece of carpeting out in the garage and they had succeeded in creating a very big mess out there. When they push in from one side to get a bite they end up pushing cat food off the back of the bowls and that area was just a mess out there. So I got that all cleaned up, the carpet vacuumed, my vacuum cleaner taken apart to unwrap the beater bar that had been put out of commission by some nylon threads from the carpeting edges. I changed the size and style of the bowls to hold the kibble and I'll see if that solves the problem. That and that I put that area down for cleaning every even Saturday from here on out. This cleaning system allows me to keep up with chores. I know that area will stay tidy from here on out because at the very least I will tend to it every two weeks. Otherwise it's just a chore to put off or completely forget about until it gets totally out of control. And if every two weeks doesn't work, I'll just change it to a weekly chore. This cleaning system is great!

So here I sit with my chores done just waiting for it to get hot. Did I say "waiting?" It's already hot. When I had to take apart my vacuum cleaner I had sweat dripping from my face down onto the vacuum cleaner. I stopped and took a paper towel to my face and then went back to work. Last week I already had the bed make up like this week but I went ahead and tore it apart to put down the clean linens. Today I've just decided to let it ride until tomorrow. Occasionally, in months that have 31 days, the every other week format (the evens and odds) will need to be adjusted. On those weeks I will make a decision to do them two weeks in a row or to skip them again that week. Some things might go three weeks just fine while others might need to be done for two weeks in a row to stay caught up. I know I've made this system seem so hard but really, it's the easiest way to keep a house presentable. I have certain chores I do every day, some weekly, and then some monthly, or even every other month. I decide the cleaning schedule so everything is tailored to suit me and my moods and my house. I sing it's praises! And if I'm sick for a few days or a week, I just pick up where I left off. Short, simple and sweet.

I got my Decision magazine in yesterday's mail and I managed to read the entire thing before putting it down. There were two or three articles about stewardship. Whenever anyone hears the term "stewardship" they immediately think of their gifts on the altar (as these articles talked about) and it certainly does mean that, but it truly means so much more. If we stop and think about it, everything we do is a type of stewardship. I think of our tithes, there's the stewardship we most often think of. Do you tithe out of your gross or your net? Do you tithe weekly or monthly or annually? You know all the debatable points. But I really want to talk about another type of stewardship today. Every single thing we have really belongs to God. Our house: God's. Our car: God's. Our yards... and the list goes on and on. It is important for us to understand who really owns everything we have, use, or come in contact with in any other way. These are the areas where we need to recognize ownership. If we think of it as God's house, we'll keep it clean. I mean if Jesus just suddenly dropped in for a cup of tea, would we need to leave Him standing on the doorstep while we hurry and take the basket of laundry out to the other room? Would we need to pick up the morning's paper and fold it neatly in the chair? These are just two things but I think you get the point.

Our homes are Christ's homes and we are to take care of them for Him. We must remember that, as Christians, we are put on display and everything about us is under scrutiny by the unbelieving world. "Well, she may be a Christian, but have you seen the inside of her house?" "Have you taken a glance at her yard?" "She calls herself a Christian, but just look at that car!" Now, don't get me wrong. None of these things have anything to do with our salvation whatsoever. We can live in a pigpen and still be saved. But whether we like it or not, we are put on display for our entire world. We represent Christ to this world. And the way we look reflects on our risen Lord. Do you have one of those little fish on your car? The ones that tell the world you're a Christian? If you do, you best keep it looking clean. And notice I said "keep it looking clean." Maybe all we can afford to drive is an old, beat up, relic (like my car). That's fine but let's keep it clean. Anyone can do that. You can have no more than a penny in your pocket and keep your car clean. Do you ever offer someone a ride and then have to clean up all the food wrappers and drink cups out of the way before they can even sit down?

We need to remember, we represent Christ whether we like it or not and there is a responsibility that comes with that fact. We can't all drive brand new Cadillacs or BMWs but we can keep whatever we drive neat, clean, and orderly. What about our yards? Are they clean and presentable, or are they eyesores on the block? If you knew Jesus was about five minutes out, would you feel comfortable with Him seeing the way you have kept His lawn? Or would you lament and really wish you had time to mow that grass? All this is so superficial when it comes down to the bare basics of our relationships with the Lord, but they still matter to me because how I live my life reflects on my Lord. Another thing, if you have one of those little fishes on your car, or a WWJD license plate holder, you best realize that that person you just cut off is going to notice that little fish or that license plate holder.

Anytime we put something out to advertise our relationship with the Lord we must do our best to be courteous at all times. See, the thing is, we should be courteous at all times day and night whether we have fish on our cars or neon whales because that's just how Christians are supposed to live. But when we take that extra effort to call attention to ourselves and advertise that we are Christians we must be extra mindful of how we reflect our relationship with the Lord. The point to all this is that while none of this has anything at all to do with our salvation, it does reflect His image in other people's minds. And we need to ask just how we want to carry that image. So while we tend to think of monetary donations when stewardship is mentioned, it's good sometimes to look even closer than our casual glance. This morning I added a chore to my list (the cat bowls in the garage). How many people are really going to notice that that area is a mess in my garage? Chances are only one out of a hundred people will ever come into our garage and see how I keep that area. But, God sees it. He sees it every day. It's His garage. I added another chore to my list the other day. On every Sunday now I have the front deck and doorway listed to be cleaned and swept. Are there a million little fingerprints on your front door? How many pairs of old shoes are piled up there at the door? It's just little things but they say this is who we are. It's realizing that everything we own or use reflects on Christ as our Lord. Chances are no one cares about shoes and toys piled up there in a corner by the door, but God's going to see it and we're going to see it. We can never be encouraged enough to represent our Lord as He deserves to be represented. So many things we do and don't do are just between us and God. But understanding to whom everything belongs, will help keep us neat and presentable at all times. Now, I'm not saying that every little things has to stay perfect. But I am saying that we need to understand that we are Christ's face to our neighbors.

Are we really to care what we look like, how we present ourselves to the world? Is that really all that important. Maybe not, and I'm not saying in anyway that someone with a messed up house isn't as good a Christian as someone that keeps a clean house. That's not what I'm saying at all, but I am saying that we are to care about how we take charge of Christ's things. If He were to come back tonight, would we feel ashamed at how the house and yard and car look? I would hope not. This is all part of the Christian character we are building up in our relationship with the Lord. Part of our sanctification. It's all about our attitude toward God's things. This is a measure of how sincerely we carry these tasks forward, how sincerely we handle His belongings. My hands are Christ's hands in this world. When I am cleaning the toilet bowl, these are still Christ's hands and they are cleaning Christ's toilet too! It's all an attitude . It's all about respect. These are all God's things and as long as I am in charge, they are going to be properly taken care of. I don't have to have every thing spit-shined but I do want to be able to open the door and invite Jesus in, should He come to call tonight. Now I realize there are a lot of people who will want to argue with me on these points and that's fine. I come to these beliefs on my own, for myself. God is not going to cancel your ticket to heaven if your entryway is cluttered with old shoes and broken children's toys. Jesus isn't going to say, "Sorry, you can't come in; your car isn't washed." And I'm not trying to say that all these things are any more or less important than anything else. I'm just saying that for me, these things ring true and therefore I will do my best to live up to these beliefs. Am I still going to care so much a year from now? six months? next week? tomorrow? I don't know. I just know that right now, at this moment in my walk, He has led me to believe these things. So to that end, every Saturday I will wash the car and every Sunday I will clean the front entry way and every two weeks I will clean up the spilled cat food in the garage. I will do these things because they are a small way for me to serve my Lord. Because, they reflect to everyone around me (and to my Lord especially) that I am different. I am vastly different from the world around me. I have Christ! And while we all know that it's what's going on in the inside that matters, that's what is most important, we still need to think about the impression we leave behind with every step we take.

I used to have a fish on my car and I drove my car around town with a good kind of pride. I believed in Jesus; I had a fish on my car to prove it. "I'm a Christian," my little fish shouted, "stop me and ask for my testimony." I was prepared. Then came the day when I realized that I'm not the only person who drives that car around town. And because I can't know how someone else is going to react when they get cut off, or someone takes their parking space, I decided it would be best to not advertise my standing with the Lord in that way. Someone else who drives my car has been known to shake a fist or two at other discourteous drivers. And then, of course, until just a week ago, none of these things mattered much in my brain. No, they always mattered, they mattered a lot; I just chose to disregard them. But now God has brought them up front and center and this is my new reality. This is who I am in Christ today.

I have been called to a life of poverty but that doesn't mean that my old car can't be clean. It doesn't mean that I can let my housework go (remember, it's not my house). And it doesn't mean that I am terrified because my salvation is at stake here. That's not it at all. It's just a matter of being good stewards of God's possessions. It's recognizing that everything I have belongs to the Lord and He has left them in my care. When He comes back suddenly, I don't want Him to catch His floors unmopped and while He may find the usual clutter in His house, He won't find that it's been thoroughly neglected. And I can take justifiable pride in these areas.

Last time I looked it was 116.2 outside and about 83 inside. (The inside temperature reading on my thermometer does not show the tenths of each degree.) That's pretty uncomfortable. I'm sure glad I got everything done this morning and didn't put it off until later. And, can you believe it, I'm sitting here drinking a mug of hot, hot coffee? Where is my brain?? It's just that my thermos only holds so much. See my hubby drinks regular coffee while I drink nothing but flavored coffee, which right now happens to be Hazelnut. We have only one coffee maker so I pour his coffee out into a large container and then I'll make myself a pot of my coffee. When that's done I pour myself a cup and the rest fits perfectly in my thermos. Then I carefully rinse the pot and the maker parts, reassemble it, and put his regular coffee back on the heating plate. I am seriously considering buying another coffee maker but that would mean giving up more of my limited counter space so I think we'll go with the thermos routine for awhile longer. But I would like to have another coffee maker. Not only would it give me fresh, hot coffee anytime I wanted it but it would put less wear and tear on this one coffee maker. And this is a wonderful coffee maker we have. Very expensive. Hubby got it as a Christmas present a couple years ago and it makes absolutely delicious coffee! I really hope making that extra pot a day won't wear out the maker too soon. But besides limiting my already limited counter, we can't afford for me to buy a good coffee maker anyway. So I will just stop worrying about it. But a pot of coffee in this maker fills up one mug and my thermos. I store the thermos and drink the mug. And there is no better coffee than that first mugful out of a fresh pot of coffee. So I sweat, but I don't waste that first cup of coffee! Well this, I'm sure, has been just a wonderful post with lots of insight and encouragement. Right? Wrong! It's Friday! And sorry it's a long post but I gave you a little warning. Guess what? I'll see you on Monday unless I decide to post over the weekend, which I probably won't.