Frank’s Reflections

This week marks the change of seasons, leaving summer behind. Autumn quietly opens the door to change, making our days cooler. Nighttime becomes a little longer. Trees begin to change color; the green leaves turn yellow and shades of orange before falling. Animals also seek change, either by heading south or preparing to hibernate. Nature changes, and so do we. Whether we’re young or old, our clothing changes as autumn transitions into winter. Times are changing.

What about your spiritual life? Will it be the same as in years past? Or are you ready for a change also? Are you still delaying your opportunity to serve or deepen your spiritual roots? Some will hunker down and decide later, if at all.

Life’s seasons always present opportunities for spiritual growth. Your spiritual advancement may not be in an activity but in something deeper. Who are you spiritually? Have you ever asked yourself that question?

If you’re like Moses at the burning bush, you may answer God in a noncompliant way. But when God taps you on the shoulder and says, “I have a mission for you,” it’s always best to say yes. God doesn’t call His children to defeat. He is the Great Enabler. He will see you through to the end. That’s His word. The journey will have some rough patches. Maybe like a Red Sea staring you in the face. But God prepares the way. He did it for Moses, and He will do it for you.

So, do you turn and run, or do you put one foot in the water and watch God work? As a new season is staring you in the face, are you willing to trust our all-knowing God? If so, God invites you to trust Him and watch Him work.

Have you ever thought about what you will do in heaven? Can you imagine what it would be like to be there?

What will it be like to be in God’s presence? Psalm 16:11 describes being with God as the “fullness of joy” (NKJV). Other translations use the word abundant instead of fullness. My thought is: how full is full? To me, full means there is no more room. We will have the maximum capacity of joy when we are in the presence of God.

The second thought: I will be able to praise God to the maximum capacity of my heavenly body. The amount of praise coming from my lips will be beyond my present vocabulary and my earthly ability to understand. Saints will have the power and might to praise God forever.

Not only will we be in God’s presence, but we will also have the ability to praise God and be part of the heavenly choir to do so. Can you visualize millions of heavenly residents praising our Savior in unison? That’s beyond our human understanding. 

Lastly, multiply all our heavenly abilities to honor our God for all eternity —not for an hour or a year, but for millennia—endless years to come.

Maybe the words above will stir your heart with encouragement, with words and thoughts to stimulate and revitalize your spirit as you serve our Lord while still earthbound. 

Prayer time is a special time!

My special time is sometime in the middle of my sleep time. When I wake up, I know it’s time to talk with my Heavenly Father.

This night was different: I positioned myself in my sweet spot—kneeling in front of my recliner and placing a small pillow on the floor for my tender knees. I began to reflect that I’m in front of God while I’m still trying to wake myself up. Then bam! A thought: “If you can’t wake up, get up.”

Don’t disrespect God with a sleepy heart. So, I got up and wrote seven words on a piece of paper. Why? I know myself; if I don’t write it down, I’ll forget those words later. That was one of God’s teaching moments in my life. An important one. Hopefully, I will practice this one from now on.

What about you? Do you have a special time with the Lord? A day without it usually means my day is unproductive. That is, until I set aside time with Him. That’s how it works for me.

I learn more from illustrations and personal events. Mistakes, near misses, and God moments leave a memorable mark on me. Maybe they are reminders for you and me to show up and pray with a non-sleepy heart. Or maybe it’s a wow moment that God wants to spend time with you.

Prayer is a privilege—an opportunity to spend time with the Almighty, the Father of our Savior. Jesus thought prayer time was special and often spent many early morning hours in prayer during His short ministry. That’s one reason He accomplished so much. His example can guide us as we spend time with God.

There will come a day when the Son shines. No more nights of gloom. No more pain or disappointments. Our tears will become a thingof the past. Everything will be bright and filled with boundless joy. This future, just over the horizon of our earthly life, is not a distant dream but a reality we can bring closer now by spreading joy and hope. 

However, Jesus has given us moments here that reflect the promised land. We experience times of joy and moments without pain, tears, or disappointments. Our joy radiates in our smiles that beam from ear to ear. In these ticks of time, we catch a glimpse of the eternal joy that awaits us. Yet, as we enjoy these temporary times, we sometimes forget our spiritual purpose here. We can share our inner source of strength and joy. The earthly well of jubilance never runs dry. It’s always ready to replenish our cup of refreshment. If we neglect to replenish our bucket, our spiritual joy will disappear. 

While you delight in your surroundings, do you see family, neighbors, friends, or coworkers who could use a cup of encouragement and hope? You hold the ingredients that can show them joy and hope—like a kind word, a prayer, or a caring gesture. Your smile, your prayer, or your caring gesture can often do more for you than they do for the recipient. You have the power to be God’s hand at work by reaching out in small, meaningful ways to others every day. We all need encouragement at times. That’s one of the many wonders of Jesus in you that gives you a glimpse of glory, where everything is all smiles and the incredible joy of being in the presence of God.

Imagine a future without pain, only joy. A future without disappointment, only glory. What a day that will be—Jesus, our hope and eternity!

Omniscient is a big word not in our normal vocabulary. It simply means all-knowing. A term used to describe our all-knowing God. He knew 10,000 years ago that you would be reading this.

Our all-knowing Lord knew the day you were formed (Psalm 139:13). He knew your every childhood hurt. Every skinned knee, bump, and bruise long before they happened.

He knew your every thought, dream, and word that would come out of your mouth. He knew your first steps that left your parents in awe, and your every step since then. Nothing about you surprises Him. He even knows the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7).

He is with you beside the still waters (Psalm 23:2). He knows every detail of your life, even the day, hours, and minutes you will have till your last breath (Job 14:5). You see, He watches over you because He loves you.

It would be good to sit in a quiet place and reflect on God’s goodness in your life—His protecting hand, His timely provisions, and your prayers answered. All of this at a time of your need.

Somehow, we take the Lord’s daily provisions for granted. We underappreciate our health until it begins to fail.

If you’re still wondering about the big word omniscient, turn to Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. As you read these verses, you will be reminded that God knows everything about you, and He knew you before you were even born. 

Now ask yourself, why are you reading this? What is the Lord speaking to your heart about? I think He has a mission for you. He has arranged all the necessary things in place for you to accomplish this errand for Him—will you do it?

Life doesn’t seem fair at times. Bad things do happen to good people. We don’t understand why they are happening. Sometimes, we think God is punishing us for something. We even ask ourselves why but can’t find an answer.

There’s a lesson to learn in every circumstance. Things not to do, things to do better, and occasionally lessons to share with others. Patience is best learned through adverse circumstances.

God, in thinking about us, recorded experiences in the Bible for you and me. Below are several Bible experiences we can relate to in difficult times. 

Jeremiah, God’s messenger in difficult times of Israel’s history, was thrown into a pit of mud. His offense was warning Israel’s leaders about their future. But through God’s use of Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian, Jeremiah was rescued (Jeremiah 38:6-13).

You know Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for being true to God. And the Lord shut the mouths of the lions and used them as a pillow for Daniel. God intervened and kept him safe.

Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers. Ultimately, Joseph ended up in prison for being moral. Years later, he was released to provide for his dad and his scoundrel brothers. Joseph even told his brothers that they had meant it for evil, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20).

The widow in Zarephath was down to her last meal. She was asked to share it. In her obedience and generosity toward Elijah, God provided for her until the famine ended.

The hardships of life can be depressing, yet God uses adverse events to prepare a people for a future service to the Lord (Luke 1:17).

If you wait, look, and trust, you will find that He is always willing to intervene and prepare you for later events. Your immediate circumstances are difficult to understand, and you may not see God’s hand in them, but His unseen hand is supporting you. There is light at the end of your dark tunnel. The twists and turns of events may make you think God doesn’t care or that He has abandoned you, but He hasn’t.

Somehow, someway, sometime in the future, everything will be clear. God is at work in your life for His glory. And these events are God’s invitation for you to trust Him.

The longer I live, the more I see and experience. Two words make my brain spin. They’re all about character. 

The first word is honesty. Hopefully, you were taught at a young age to be honest. Lying is as natural as breathing. We learned to lie early in life. We think it will hide the truth and keep us out of trouble, but it doesn’t. Usually, we get into deeper trouble because of our dishonesty. It’s always better to tell the truth even if there are negative consequences.

Honesty pays positive dividends in the long run. Honesty is another word for truth-telling. Honesty reveals character. People trust you if they know that you are honest. Other honest people appreciate this human characteristic. Honesty is included in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:16). Do not tell lies about others (CEV).

The second word that I can’t get out of my mind is integrity. This word goes beyond honesty, which implies being truthful even when we are wrong. Integrity implies being dependable regardless of the circumstances.

A person of integrity is not only honest but also guided by deep-rooted principles. There is no wavering in his character. People know how a person of integrity will answer regardless of the surrounding events.

We were not born with an integrity gene; we developed that over time. Somewhere in our past, we realized honesty was the best policy. Later, when the winds of adversity blew in our face, we decided to stand on our moral principles regardless of the wind’s velocity. That’s when integrity became a foundational part of our lives. Then we realized some things are valuable to our world and, more importantly, to our Lord.

May you rightly decide to be a person of integrity above all else.

Saying I’m sorry isn’t always acceptable to the recipient. The receiver has the responsibility to accept or reject the words, “I’m sorry.” To accept brings forgiveness. Hopefully, the ill feelings will disappear. However, forgiveness doesn’t always disappear from one’s memory. That apology doesn’t always erase the hurt feelings. Sometimes the pain lasts for years, depending on the depth of the scars.

Forgiveness has a healing effect, and it’s vital to our personal lives. Without forgiveness, bitterness can creep in, poisoning a person’s mind and relationships, and even damaging one’s mindset forever.

On the spiritual side, forgiveness is liberating. When an individual comes to the Lord and experiences redemption, he’s free! The weight of his guilt is gone—removed and covered by the blood of Jesus. The amazing part of the Lord’s forgiveness is the erasure and eradication of it from His memory. That kind of forgiveness is beyond our human understanding because we still have a memory and we don’t have an erase button. But Jesus has the power to forgive, forget, and move on. We don’t have that ability. We can forgive, forget most of the time, and move on sometimes, but ever so slowly. The grace of our Savior encourages every believer to forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13). 

Our sins are gone, forgotten, and never to be remembered by the Lord. With that thought and promise of forgiveness, we too can move on with our lives and serve the Lord as long as we have breath.

Life has many twists and turns—some will come unexpectedly and challenge my mental well-being. After several recurring events, it is easy to become overly cautious. With that thought, I remembered the old Boy Scout motto: “Always be prepared.” The word always stuck in my mind. Consequently, the acronym below: 

A stands for attitude. If I can get myself in the right frame of mind, I can find a positive thought or behavior to share with those around me.

L reminds me to listen; listening is one of my fallacies. I’ve failed many times to listen to someone complete their thoughts before I interjected my line of thinking.

W is the nudge to be watchful. Some of life’s greatest lessons are learned from others rather than our own trials and errors. Being watchful is a better alternative than enduring unnecessary pain and heartache from our mistakes. 

A reminds me to adjust. Adjust to what people are saying and respond appropriately. My response should always be tactful, while sticking to my beliefs and convictions.

Y reminds me not to yell, but to yield respectfully. Yielding does not mean compromising my convictions but choosing my words wisely.

S stands for service. It’s our godly responsibility to serve others, especially before we serve ourselves. Putting others first is the biblical example for our behavior.

These six musings may be helpful in case you want to “always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope” (1 Peter 3:15 CEV).

Have you ever asked the question, “Why do you pray?” Here’s a thought to consider. Do I pray because someone taught me to or because it has become a habit? When you get into a bind and have nowhere else to turn but to God, what do you do? Turn to the Lord and be completely honest with Him about my thoughts—the ones I kept private, even the ones I didn’t want God to know.

I expressed my hurts to Him—those inflicted by others and those I inflicted on myself. When hurt by others, I’ve had thoughts of revenge. After all, they deserved to be hurt. It wasn’t long before I realized that revenge wasn’t my job; that’s God’s (Romans 12:19). But letting go and trusting the Lord to honor His Word was another lesson for me.

Personal desires have surfaced in many prayers; after all, the Lord did say that He would give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). God didn’t grant many of my requests. I’m thankful for His discernment. Some of my requests would hinder my service for Him. Many of them were not for the betterment of God’s kingdom.

Many of my prayers concern the healing of friends and acquaintances. Once again, our wonderful Lord intervened in the lives of many, but not in the lives of some. That caused me to question some of His decisions, but through prayer I learned to trust His resolve. Yes, He does what is best for His plan and purpose, not just personal desires.

Salvation for the unsaved is a major concern in the expansion of God’s kingdom. Self-discovery helped me realize that, in many cases, my pleading was short-lived. Consequently, I didn’t see my desired answer. Maybe someone else did. Sometimes we expect God to take care of us first, and to leave others to fend for themselves in the meantime.

The reality is that God hears and answers all our prayers. His answer is best, and ours isn’t. If we accept His answer, whatever His answer, it’s always best.

All our requests are in heavenly records. He did answer every request, even if not in the way we expected. Many of His answers were yes. Let’s be thankful for the privilege of making a request.

Lord, help me to ask in the proper way for Your glory.