​This morning my daughter was working on one of her activity books, and from across the room she announces, “now we just need to tape it to the door”.   My response was one of confusion, followed by declaration of how we can’t go taping things to our doors, we are in a rental, might remove paint, etc.   I sensed some minor (understatement) disappointment, so I said, “well, let me see”. She appeared beside me with a bunny face that she had colored and cut out of the pages, and sure enough, right between his little ears was a square that said, “tape here”.  Then I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why they wanted the front taped to the door, and how you would still get to see the bunny that was colored in if it was flipped over and taped.  My next statement was this: “Let me see the book, I need a little context.”  
It struck me later that this is very similar to our behavior sometimes when we hear a prompting from the Holy Spirit.  Often it doesn’t make sense, we don’t understand why, and it seems like an inconvenient request.  
Jn 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
 
This is Jesus talking, explaining about his departure and the Holy Spirit the disciples will receive. This verse comes just before he says, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful.” (Jn 14:27)   Why? Because the disciples were in the habit of getting their context and explanation from Jesus.  If he’s gone, who will explain it all to them?  They didn’t want to mess it up, and they were unsettled about the weight of figuring it out all on their own, not to mention trying to lead others in explanation.  What a comfort he left them with… and us! They will not be alone, and they have someone who will call to mind all that he said and taught.  Not just that but will also give context so as to bring the full glory to God.  
 
They walked with Jesus, so those are the conversations and experiences that the Spirit called to mind. We walk with Jesus too, yet it is important that we read our bible to know what he said and is still saying to us today.  Sometimes the context doesn’t come until later, but in perfect timing completing something we were told (or read) at an earlier time. 
John 2:22
After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
John 12:16
At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.
 
It is a cycle, bringing us back to God’s word, bringing him glory, and encouraging our faith.  So today, read his Word, trust his Spirit, and look and pray for context for your actions.  It will bring encouragement to believers and Glory to our Lord! 
And about that bunny? Turns out it was a doorknocker to be taped to the front of the door on a page following the one she cut it out of… glad I didn’t just tape it to my front door.

““If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.” Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?” He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.” Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He told them, “No shakedowns, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.””
Luke 3:11-14 MSG
http://bible.com/97/luk.3.11-14.msg


John was the forerunner of Jesus, and his hearers clearly knew his message wasn’t just about intellectual assent but also practical action.


Just like these people, I heard the prophetic message and the immediately asked “what do I need to do?”, so also I should always hear God’s word and be sure to follow through with practical steps. Lord what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do now? What do you want me to do and how?


Father, help me constantly find that balance between believing in the natural outworking of my faith to action as opposed to performance Christianity which says I have to do in order to be accepted and loved. Show me today what to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

​Yum… Tis the season for cooking, baking, and candy-making!  It is fun to try a new recipe, or taste something that longs to become your new holiday favorite.  However, if you have ever tried cooking something new, or cooking anything at all really, a crucial step is to tasteit before you serveit.  Sometimes you got a bit more tomato paste in your sauce, and maybe need more herbs.  Perhaps you had some bitter basil, and now need some more sugar to balance out. There is always the opportunity to correct before serving, because after all, it is about the serving and those who are eating your creation.  
So it is with our faith. 
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can't you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you actually fail the test?
 
We are called to test ourselves, examine our faith, and to “work out our own salvation, with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).  It is important to note two things here before moving to the point: 
1.We are not called to work out someone else’s by causing them to fear (or “shaking some sense into them”). 
2.This is with the assumption that we are accepting the terms (God’s Word is true, Salvation comes through Jesus, etc.) …NOTthe same as arguing the terms of the transaction of our Salvation
 
If our call is to love God, and love people as he did, shouldn’t we make sure we know what we are serving up?  Can you imagine if you put everything into the pot, never stirred, never tasted, never time checked, and then blamed the failure of taste on the recipe, or even on those who were eating your dish?  Sounds absurd, right?  Well, examine yourself.  Take a taste of what is in that pot, and make sure it lines up with what you are trying to serve.  Don’t be scared to even lift the lid because you may have questions.  In fact, the whole point is that you will.  And we are told to take those to our Father, and through reading his Word, and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, taste it, test it, and get direction of where to go from there.  
 
Advice for this holiday season?  Look up, to know what you should serve up.  Cheesy but true, but just make sure you have tasted it first. 😊

​Isaiah 43:19 (CEB) Look! I'm doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don't you recognize it? I'm making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness.           
God is moving, making a new thing, something recognizably different.  If that is the promise, then why do we expect things to look the same? Should we not be joyfully expectant of something so new it touches all the senses as different?  Think about that “new car smell”.  Completely foreign from your previous vehicle, and yet in the excitement of a new experience is borderline uncomfortable?  The fit is good, the feel is right, but yet it just doesn’t seem like its yours?  So is the grace of our Lord.  He is good and faithful, and his kindness is undeserved.  But his promise is true, his grace is ours!   
Sometimes when we have something new happening, we have to leave something behind.  Sometimes it is something so good and comfortable that we just want to make it work in the new situation.  Or maybe we feel a responsibility to the old, and there is a sense of needing to see something to completion, or obligation to something’s usefulness.  Ever thought about nasty-lasties?  You are running out of a condiment and you purchase a new one, may be the same product, or may be something different that you are excited about.  Do you throw the old away without finishing it?  Or do you try to make use of what you still have, before opening the new? Sometimes if the new item is different, we open it in our anticipation to try it, but still hold on to the old because “there’s something left”.  If God tells you to leave it, do you listen?  Are you putting aside the new thing God is doing out of an obligation to the past?
Today, know that God is doing a new thing… he gives us grace and mercy for all that is past.  The requirement is that we walk by faith, even when it isn’t as comfortable as before, or if we have to leave something behind.  The gain is so much more!