e-devotional

My favorite role on this earth that God has given me is being a mommy. I stay at home with my kids not because I have to, but because I want to. I love spending time with them and being there for each milestone. Although I delight in this role, it is very demanding! My kids are high energy and taking care of them is not an easy responsibility. Yesterday I decided to leave the kids with Daddy so I could go shopping with a friend. (Yes, shopping is relaxing to me. I know I am strange). I realize that if I don’t take time out to rest and step away from that role, I start to lose my ability to be effective in that role. I lose patience, gentleness and I get weary. Yet if I have even a small break, I am renewed. I start to miss them and can’t wait to get back to play with them again.

Hebrews 4 talks about the importance of entering His rest. Hebrews 4:9-11 " There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

It is interesting that the scripture notes that His rest is vital lest we don’t fall! I will never forget when John Bevere came and spoke at one of our conferences a few years back. It was right around the time when a great man of God had fallen into sin. John mentioned that there was one thing he noticed about great men that fall, and that is that they seem to lack rest. The lack that time of refreshment and renewal. Time where they take a step back from their roles and responsibilities to do something they enjoy...a date with their wife, golfing, surfing, a day at the spa (the spa is wonderful rest!). How underrated rest is for our growth and sustainment in the grace of God!

The scripture also mentions that we should be diligent to enter his rest. Doesn’t that seem like a contradiction? Usually when I think of diligence I think of someone who is working hard! The NIV translation says to "make every effort..." It is as if he is saying, "set it on your calander, make it a priority, make a concerted effort to make sure you enter this rest!" One thing I have had to remind myself is that rest is an investment in myself. Rest is like the oil change for my car, I can run without it for a while but pretty soon it will just lead to a breakdown.

Just as we are called to rest physically we are also called to rest our souls. We rest our souls by resisting that urge to worry, but instead taking those burdens to Him.

Matthew 11:27-29 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

I know I need to be more diligent in seeking rest, what about you? Are you resting physically? Are you resting your soul? Are you functioning at your best or is it time for that oil change? Make an investment in yourself today and enter His rest.

Thanks for reading,
Mel

Have you ever thought to yourself "If one rich person gave me $10,000 - think of all that I could accomplish with that money!" Whenever I think a thought like that I am reminded that I pass by homeless individuals every day who probably think to themselves, "If one of those people passing by gave me $10 - think of all that I could do with that money." I am quickly reminded of all the times I have failed to give to someone in more need than myself.

One thing I know that is contrary to our flesh is to give. Selfishness is in our human nature, you can see it in children at a very young age. My daughter quickly learned the words "It’s mine!" before she learned many other things! Teaching children about sharing is always a battle because it is contrary to our flesh to give up something that we want ourselves.

As I have grown, I have realized that the more I give the more joy I experience. That it is truly more blessed to give than to receive! As a parent who has experienced the freedom and fulfillment there is in giving, it is my responsibility not to teach her that she "has to" give but teach her that she WANTS TO! It is a pleasure, delight and a blessing to give and leads to a journey of fulfillment.

The first year of my marriage the economy was thriving and we made more money that year than we have since. That year we had the time of our lives giving. Giving was an adventure, it was exciting and we also watched God bless us in awesome ways that year. After we had our first child and the economy slowed down, we began to slowly loose our fervor in giving. We allowed fear to creep into our hearts and every time we thought about giving, another thought of bills, mortgage payments and hospital payments quickly overruled.

My husband and I have been challenged lately to restore our joy in giving. It wasn’t getting back to a certain amount or percentage of our income that needed to change, it was our hearts. As we asked God to change our hearts, the giving came naturally. It was never about an amount to God, but it was about our hearts thinking of others before ourselves. Writing a bigger check was not the solution. The solution was a heart change that resulted in thinking about a single mother who might need a ride somewhere, bringing a pair of shoes to a child with holes in her own or taking out our disabled neighbor’s garbage. Sometimes it may be a check that needs to be written, but many times it was gestures of love that came from our changed hearts.

God has been blessing us in unexpected ways. The funny thing is, it has become hard to keep those blessings. The adventure of giving is so much fun that we can’t help but let those blessings pass through our hands.

1 Timothy 6:17-18 says, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that the be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

I always thought this scripture was for millionaires, but not for little old me. I read an article that said if you make $45k per year you are in the top 3% of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Even if you make half that amount, you are still most likely in the top 5%. This scripture applies to us! We are to be rich in good works...ready to give....willing to share...and most of all trusting not in riches, but in the living God! Those things come from a heart that is yielded to the Holy Spirit. A heart that desires to hand over fleshly selfishness for fulfilling selflessness.

Thanks for reading,
Mel Miller

Tonight we went to help feed the homeless students (of Monarch school) and their families Thanksgiving dinner. There were about 300 people who were living in shelters, on the streets or in low-income apartments. I was assigned to a table with a mother, Judith and her four children. Her husband has been sent back to Mexico due to a visa mistake and they cannot afford to appeal it right now. She has no job and is struggling to make it each month.

As I got to talking to Judith, I started to ask about any needs she currently had. I could tell it was hard for her to talk about it, but she began to tell me about the apartment they live in and how they have no furniture. I could tell she felt ashamed.

I once heard that most people can relate to your failures more than your successes. Most of us don’t like sharing those because we are also ashamed. I knew in this moment that I had the opportunity to share with Judith a failure of mine. With tears in my eyes I looked at Judith and said, "I have lived in an empty apartment once too. As an adult, we can handle it and make it through. But as a mom, I know what it feels like to have your child look you in the eyes and ask "Mommy, is this our home? Why don’t we have any furniture?" (Granted we still had our stuff in Las Vegas, we just couldn’t afford to transport it to Oregon at the time. My husband still had a job--our situation was not nearly as dire as Judith’s, but for about 6 months time, we did experience a small dose of her current reality)

Judith broke down in tears and began to explain how they once had a home in Sacramento. They weren’t rich but their children were blessed with toys, beds and most things they could ask for. They have been through so much loss and transition that one of her children has had to see a counselor because he isn’t adjusting well.

In that moment of one mother speaking to another, I understood why I went through that difficult season of my life. So that I could relate to people like Judith. So that I could look her in the eyes and tell her that I know what it feels like to lose your home, have your husband lose his job, move in with family, live in an empty apartment or to feel like you’ve failed as a parent. Through that entire season, I asked God, "WHY?" and my time with Judith was a moment when I finally had an answer to that question. So I can help. So I can reach. So I can relate. Offering Judith a story of any success of mine would be useless, but it was my story of failure that gave her comfort and hope.

In this economy the face of homelessness and lack has changed. People in need are all around us, and they certainly can’t relate to our promotions at work, our amazing talents, or our latest splurge at Nordstroms. Be real. Be transparent. Talk more about your failures than your successes and you just might find yourself a lot more relevant when you do.

Thanks for reading,
Mel

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
　
　
Make a donation to Monarch School here. They provide education for about 100 homeless children from preschool through high school in the San Diego area. Contact me at millers.sd@gmail.com if you would like to donate directly to Judith and her family. 　

"Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap in mercy;
break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12
　
Before a farmer can successfully plant crops he has to first break up all the unplowed ground. If he doesn’t do this, planting seeds would be strenuous and unfruitful. Have you ever tried planting a seed in hard, stiff soil? It is nearly impossible. Did you know you have a choice whether or not you receive from God? God wants to plant something in your life but He is unable to if your ground is fallow (unplowed).

We can easily close ourselves off to hearing his voice or direction by hardening our hearts. Most of the time our hearts aren’t completely hardened...just hardened in some areas. We see fruit bearing in one area of our life, but then in another we remain hardened and therefore stagnant.

If we really want to produce fruit (ie, see RESULTS) we have to be willing to let God work on those hard spots. The plowing will not be comfortable, but you have to want to see the fruit more than you want to avoid the discomfort or pain.

I have had some hard spots in my heart in the past. Before God could plant a blessing in those spots I had to first allow him to break up my insecurity, fear, worry, and unforgiveness. There were painful moments of confession with God, but it felt liberating to trade my heart dirt for His abounding grace.

I love the last part of this verse; For it is time to seek the Lord. You have settled for unfruitfulness for far too long. Are you ready to seek the Lord and let Him break up that unplowed ground?

Thanks for reading,
Mel

　

I applied to 5 different colleges. I wasn’t one of those people who knew exactly where I wanted to go, so I decided to lay my options out on the table (adding up the application fees, it turned out to be a dumb idea!) I got accepted into four of those and laid all of the informational folders out in front of me. One was in Washington because that is where all my friends were going. Two were in San Diego, because...it’s San Diego! The last one was in a small town in Oregon and it would probably be the first one I would toss out of the mix.

It wasn’t the most rational way of choosing, but over the process of time I realized there was only one that felt right. I desperately wanted to be in sunny San Diego, or with my friends in a new place...but that little folder with the simple tree on it with the word "Linfield"written in purple kept my attention. There was something about that folder that felt right, and something about that campus that felt right. I couldn’t put my finger on it...but even as someone who wasn’t following Christ at the time, I still felt a divine leading.

Linfield College in rainy McMinnville, Oregon would capture four years of my life. Four of the most vital, life-changing and monumental years of my life. It was there that I came to truly know Christ and begin to follow him wholeheartedly. It was there that I met the most amazing man whom I married right after college. We now have two of the most precious kids and are still serving God and enjoying life more and more each day. I often wonder when I look back at how differently my life would have been if I had chosen another place.

Acts 17: 26-28 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

The scripture says that there is a time and a place for our dwelling and it is so that we will come to seek him and find him. Linfield College in rainy McMinnville, Oregon was my time and place. It was in finding Him that I found life (and a super hot, Godly husband)...and ironically, God did eventually call me to San Diego...bummer! :)

I hope that you chose to follow the peace in your heart and that still small voice. It is amazing in that small obedience the large blessings that can come from simply being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there. Trust that if you are following His plan, it is the right place at the right time.

Thanks for reading!
Mel Miller

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2: 42-47

My husband asked for the "Planet Earth" DVD set for Christmas a few years back. The images are all beautiful images from remote regions around the world including everything from rare animals to unique caves. When we put it on, we have to be watchful during many of the animal scenes (the predator-prey relationship is a little too graphic for my 3 year old!). The same thing seems to happen every time. The predator stays a distance away but keeps his eyes on the herd. Then when one wanders slightly away from the herd, it becomes lunch.

The predator doesn’t dare attack one that is staying snugly within the herd, of course he realizes that he would be the one in danger if that were the case. He only attacks the one that isolates itself. The one that decides he can do it on his own.

The scriptures about the early church in Acts remind me of the vital community we are called to have with one another as believers. They were a herd - All the believers were together, they had all things in common, they met daily and ate together regularly. The scripture doesn’t say any of them were related (although some of them may have been), but it describes a family. When someone was in need they started selling their possessions to provide for that person! Meeting together daily, eating together and meeting each other’s needs...that sounds like a family to me!

My husband and I have been praying a lot for God’s blessings and provision lately. The other day someone from our church offered to pay for Brandon’s shoes he had to get for work. We thanked them but said no. As I laid in bed that night the Holy Spirit convicted me and said, "Don’t pray for my blessings if you are going to refuse them when offered to you."

The root of the issue is pride. When we begin to have the attitude of, "I got this. I can do it on my own," we become like the animal who strays from it’s pack. A community is offered to us, a family, a support system, friends and confidants. Yet, for prideful reasons we can choose to isolate ourselves or simply reject the benefits within the community. We are all prone to wandering in one area or another. There is friendship within the herd, but those who still stray because of fear of rejection. There is spiritual strength within a herd, but those who still wander from reluctance of what they will have to give up or confess. There is confidants within the pack, but those who will stray because they have trust issues. Hopefully it doesn’t take us getting nipped in the butt by the enemy for us to realize how vulnerable we are in our isolation!
　
Some may not understand the importance of church, or why our family packed up and moved to San Diego to be a part of this community of believers, but we have learned the importance of staying in the herd. The only herd that me, myself and I form is one that looks like a tasty piece of lunch to the enemy!

1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
　
Thanks for reading and responding,
Melissa Miller