Jonah, The Reluctant Prophet

"True spirituality is not in hearing from God, but in doing what He says. Jonah was discerning enough to know that he heard from God, but not discerning enough to obey." - Curt Dalaba

Tags: Quote, Jonah, Obey, Christianity

Tired for God

I enjoyed two weeks of vacation this summer. During those two weeks, I didn’t have to plan meals, work at my job, do housework, go to appointments, etc. I had a blissful two weeks that gave me a break from my normal routine. When the two weeks ended, I found myself back at my job, working on my computer, and having flashbacks of the various places we visited. I wished I were still there. Then I came across the Bible verse in Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” As I meditated on this verse, I realized how much the people around me benefit by the things I do. Rather than just seeing my routine as work and duty, I began to see it as a way to bless others. In addition, how much of the work others are involved in benefits me? Each of us has a cross to pick up and carry daily for the good of others and the Kingdom of God. Am I carrying my cross?

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to the children of Israel and said, “Yet you have not called upon me, O Judah, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.” (Isaiah 43:22 NIV) The next time you feel like groaning about a particular job or task you have to do, start to think about the people who will benefit from it. Think about how much joy you will give them or how much easier their lives will be because you are doing your part. At the end of the day, may we be weary from the work we did to benefit others and not just ourselves. Remember what’s written in Matthew 25:40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity

"What Does It Mean to Fall in Love With God?

A young teenage girl wrote to me recently and asked, "What exactly does it mean to fall in love with God? Do you get a tingly feeling like you would when you fall in love with a guy?" I was impressed with her question. While many young girls her age are more interested in fashion and being a part of the "in" crowd, this young girl wanted a better understanding of her relationship with God. Following is what I answered her:

I suppose people react differently when they fall in love depending on their personalities. Some may cry when they're told they are loved. Others feel a deep certainty that there will never be anyone as special as this person, while others giggle and become effusive with joy. There are all sorts of emotions. However, falling in love must go hand-in-hand with commitment. You can love someone emotionally and then fall out of love with them emotionally on a trying day or week or year. Emotions come and go. Commitment is forever. You choose to stay in love. You choose to be faithful. You choose to look for ways to keep falling in love with this person again and again. That's what true love.

It's similar with God. There are times when I'm so emotionally in love with God that I just weep. Other times I'm overwhelmed by His love for me and I find myself joyfully laughing. Yet most of the time I just feel a deep contentment in knowing that He is with me. I feel secure in His love. But I must also be committed to love Him. There are times in our lives when we are distracted by life and we may even begin to question our faith. It's those times we must decide to stay committed and faithful no matter what we feel at the moment. Feelings can be wonderful. Emotions can be great. But feelings and emotions are changeable. We must be committed and faithful to God no matter what we feel at the moment.

Tags: Women, Religion, Teenagers, Christianity

A Really Difficult Morning

This mornining started out like any other morning for my daughter. She got up and got herself ready for her classes at MSU. Everything moved along as it normally does, until she walked out of the door of the house. That's when her morning changed from routine to the unexpected.

She realized we had frost in the night and her car needed cleaning. She tried to open the trunk of her car for the ice scraper, but the trunk was frozen shut. So she ran to the house and asked if we had an ice scraper. After checking in my husband's car and not finding one, I ran upstairs and asked my husband if he knew where it was. He did and we found it. At this point, Amanda was running late.

She finally got her car clean enough to drive and took off. After a 15-minute commute, she parked the car in the commuter lot and was running towards the bus that would take her to the building where her class was, when it took off. She felt certain the bus driver had seen her running, but took off anyway. The next bus wouldn't be there for another ten minutes, which would really make her late for class, so she got back in the car and began driving to the meter parking ramp. As she got closer to the ramp, she got behind a bus that was moving at a snail's pace. There was such heavy traffic that she couldn't get around the bus. At this point, she called me to tell me she can't believe how bad her morning has gone. No sooner did she tell me that when her trunk that wouldn't open at home suddenly popped open in the middle of traffic.

What else could possibly go wrong?! I suggested she look for a place to move over and put the trunk down again. Amanda said, "I can't! I'm in the middle of traffic and there is no place to pull over." She kept crawling along in traffic with an open trunk, feeling like every eye was watching her. This is one of those moments when you wish the earth would open up and just swallow you (or perhaps a good time for the rapture). As she kept moving along at a snail's pace, someone who must have assessed Amanda's predicament correctly walked behind her car and put her trunk down. She had no idea who this person was, be it angel or human; she was just so glad they had reached out their hand to help her. By the time she got in front of the parking ramp, Amanda was so late for class that she felt too embarrassed show up.

Have you ever complained about the routine of your life? Everything is the same day in and day out. Well, after the morning Amanda had, I imagine she is longing for a routine morning tomorrow.

Tags: Difficulties, College, Routine, Christianity

Can You See Him in the Crowd?

When I first fell in love with Curt, I loved to think about him all the time. I wondered if the next phone call would be from him. When we had a date planned, I spent much time deciding what I would wear. When I walked into a crowded room where I knew he would be, I searched through the crowd until my eyes fell on him. Everyone else was a blur; my eyes were searching for the one I loved most.

Are you really in love with God? This world is so crowded with things that would distract us from God, but are you searching for Him in the midst of the crowd? The tendency of our flesh is to do the opposite. Instead of the world being a blur to us until we lay our eyes on Jesus, in actuality God is a blur to us because there are so many other things to take our minds off of Him. God knows how vulnerable we are. God knows that most of the world does not follow Him, so most of the influence around us tends to distract us away from Him. No wonder God inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the church "pray continually" (1 Thes. 5:17). That means we should always be talking to God and making Him a part of our entire day, i.e. while your driving or working or shopping, etc. When other thoughts want to distract you, turn your thoughts back on Jesus. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Mat. 22:37)

Love doesn’t stay strong on it’s own. It needs to be nurtured. You must nurture the love you have for God or the flame will die down and eventually be extinguished completely. God’s love for you will never die, but His love means nothing to you unless you love Him too. If I loved Curt, but he didn’t love me, our marriage would fall apart. We could still share a house, but there would not be a real marriage. In the same way, you can still attend church, but only you and God know if you are really in love with Him or if the love is just one-sided. "Come near to God and He will come near to you." (James 4:8)

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity

I'm an Alien

I’m sure many of you know what it’s like to have to start at a new school. It’s especially scary when you can’t even understand what people are saying. My family had immigrated to this country in April, 1969. By September, I understood some English, but I still had a lot to learn. I'll never forget my 2nd grade teacher that year, Mrs. Dix. She took me on as her special project. While the rest of the class worked on an assignment, she put her arms around my shoulders and led me to the back of the class and taught me how to read English. She never allowed me to feel inferior to the rest of the class. When I had read through my first book of "Dick and Jane," she had me stand and read a portion of the book to the class. As I finished reading the last line, the entire class of about 25 students stood and gave me a standing ovation. I smiled at my classmates and my heart just about burst with joy, not so much because of my accomplishment, but because I felt like I belonged.

When I'm around nonbelievers or when I watch T.V., it doesn’t take long before I feel like I’m a foreigner in this world. Their views about life are contrary to God’s Word. The Bible says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:19)

Christians are citizens of God’s Kingdom (Eph. 2:19) and not the kingdom of this World. I’m most at home when I fellowship with other believers and worship God with them or when I enter my prayer closet to spend time alone with God. Like Mrs. Dix, the Holy Spirit wraps His arms around me and leads me to the altar for some one-on-one time with Him. I’m God’s special project that He’s working on. Yes, we have to remain foreigners in this World until God comes to take us home. But spending time alone with God and fellowshipping with other believers gives us a place where we belong. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity, Foreigners

Healing Is A Gift

I absolutely believe that Jesus still heals today. Yet I am still waiting for my healing. I have tried all sorts of things, i.e. fasting, fervently praying, pleading, demanding. Maybe if I say it just right, in a way that might please God, He will heal me. I prayed in the midst of the worse of this ailment and I have prayed when I was feeling really well. Yet, I am still waiting.

In the middle of my devotions one day, a verse popped out at me that finally set me free of this desperation I felt to find the right words that would induce God to heal me. In Acts 3:16 I read, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see." I finally understood that I cannot create this faith to grow in me by saying just the right words or speaking loud enough or whatever. Faith comes from God. I just need to ask and keep seeking Him.

The Bible clearly states in 1 Corithians 12 that healing is a gift. Jesus said in Matthew 7, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Therefore, I have determined to keep asking of my Father in heaven for complete healing. He also told us, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." He said "everyone." That means you and me too.

If you need healing, don't become discouraged. Keep seeking your Father. Don't look at others who have not been healed. Their testimony is not your Bible. Look in the Word of God and allow God to build faith in you for your healing. Romans 10:17 says, "Consequently, faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Go to a Bible-believing and Bible-preaching church and get saturated in the Word of God. Read your Bible at home and spend time getting to know God. This is a walk of faith that God has taken us on. Submit to Him and let him build faith in your life. When your healing comes, shout it from the roof top. Let eveyone know what a great and mighty God we serve.

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity, Healing

What?! No Boyfriend?

Teenage girls are under such pressure to have a boyfriend. They are made to feel that they have not achieved success until they have a boyfriend. When my daughter was 12 or 13 years old, an adult asked me if my daughter has a boyfriend yet. Why in the world does a 12 or 13 year old need a boyfriend? Does it make her more beautiful if she has a boyfriend? Is she more talented or a better student if she has a boyfriend? Of course not. What is this terrible pressure that society puts on teenage girls?!

Being a teenage girl can be a wonderful time in a girl's life. It's her chance to connect with other girls and develop close friendships. It's a time for her to develop her talents and read books she won't have time to read when she's older. This is her time to laugh and giggle and socialize with all her girlfriends. She should have a pajama party with her friends and she should go shopping with her them and try on clothes she would never dream of buying. She should try skiing or snowboarding with her girlfriends. She should refuse to allow the pressure of having to have a boyfriend rob her of this time of building friendships with girls.

One of the funnest weekends I had as a single girl was when a bunch of us rented a room for a weekend at the beach. There were about four or five of my closest girlfriends. We were all in our early twenties. None of us had a boyfriend at that time. A couple of us had just broken up with a boyfriend. The others just could not find the right guy. However, we decided that we would forget about guys for one weekend and have fun just being girls. We rented this room at the beach, we went out to a fancy restaurant, we got tan in the sun, and we had a great time simply being together.

These times with our girlfriends won't last forever. Not much after this weekend, one by one we all had a boyfriend and are now all married. I never see most of these girls anymore. If we had moped around the house because we didn't have a boyfriend, we would have missed out on such a great weekend together.

If you are single and without a boyfriend, please don't allow others to put needless pressure on you. Just keep praying and asking God to bring that right man into your life. But while you are waiting for that to happen, don't put your life on hold. Take a vacation with one of your girlfriends. Go to Disney with a bunch of girls. Go skiing in the Rocky Mountains with your girlfriends. Go eat at a fancy restaurant. Get a new hairdo and makeover, but take a girlfriend with you and enjoy the experience together. Pay off your college and even buy a house. Remember, if you can be a happy single person, then you will be a happy married person. If you are a grumpy and depressed single person, you will most likely be a grumpy and depressed married person.

"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11

Tags: Women, Religion, Parenting, Christianity, Boyfriends, Teenagers, Singles