The Ultimate Insurance Policy

 

By Andrea Merrell

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6 NKJV

Insurance policies can be tricky. Most companies are legit but not all. Sometimes things change that no one can control, but the policy holder is always the one who suffers.

Upon early retirement, my husband’s employer guaranteed our coverage (both life and health) would continue as long as he lived. Not so. Soon after retirement, our medical premiums began to go up each year. They finally went up so high we couldn’t afford them at all. Sometime later, we got a letter stating we no longer had life insurance. At our age, we could only afford a very modest policy.

With our home and auto insurance, every time we made a claim, either our premium went up or they threatened to cancel.

It seems insurance is a necessary evil that is supposed to cover you through accidents, sickness, natural disasters, and even death. But as one writer puts it, the only policy that you can depend on—the one that extends even beyond death—is the one God offers, paid in full by the blood of Jesus. It can’t be canceled, and there is never any fine print.

If you’re a child of God, your future is secure. You are covered for all eternity.

That’s the ultimate insurance policy.

Photo by Vlad Deep on Unsplash

 

White Noise

 

By Andrea Merrell

Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 AMP

 

I sat there going back and forth between my Bible and my devotionals, struggling to concentrate as I tried to block out the noise—dogs barking, doors slamming, children yelling.

Some people love background noise. It doesn’t bother them at all. In fact they thrive better will all sorts of white noise. It might be a TV with the volume turned low or a noisy fan. Many love using a sound machine.

I’ve noticed that the older I get, the more I enjoy—and have to have—peace and quiet. A lot of noise and chaos rattles me way more than it ever did before. After a while, my attention gets diverted and I find it difficult to complete my tasks. That’s especially true in my quiet time with the Lord.

God admonishes us to “be still.” Why? So we can know Him. So we can recognize and understand that He is God. That requires focus and concentration. It’s a matter of blocking out all the white noise in our mind caused by worry, anxious thoughts, and excessive planning—not to mention the cacophony of the world around us.

We’re also told to be transformed by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2). This happens as we spend time in prayer and in the Word.

Are you tired of the white noise? Find a quiet place, be still, and get to know your God ... really know Him.

 Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash

The Tyranny of the Urgent

 

By Andrea Merrell

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this:

‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,

all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

No other commandment is greater than these.”

Mark 12:29-31 NLT

 

It was one of those weeks when my to-do list seemed three miles long. After being quite ill, I was behind in my household tasks and all other normal routines.

Voices screamed at me. Dust me. Clean me. Fix me. Pay that bill. Run that errand. Do it now! In an effort to quiet those voices, I neglected important matters that needed to take priority—especially my time with the Lord.

Some call it the tyranny of the urgent, much like the proverbial squeaky wheel that always gets the attention above all else. It’s a self-generated expectation that puts us under unnecessary pressure. It steals our peace and joy and keeps us from being led by the Spirit of God.

Jesus said, “The most important commandment is this … you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength … and your neighbor as yourself.”

We can get so caught up in trivial matters that we forget, ignore, or neglect what God is calling us to do. Even in the church, we can get so busy serving Him that we neglect loving Him—and others.

Solomon sums it up quite well in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commandments, for this is everyone’s duty” (NLT).

Our relationship with the Lord comes first. Everything else can wait.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

One-Stop Shopping

 

By Andrea Merrell

 

My God shall supply all your need 

according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 NKJV

 

“Where do you shop for groceries?” my friend asked.

“Several different places,” I responded. "Mostly at Walmart, Ingles, and Lidl. But I also love Food Lion and Publix.”

She frowned. “Why so many different places? Why not settle on one store? Or even two. Sounds too complicated and time-consuming.”

My response was immediate. “Because I can’t get everything I want in one place, even online. Each store has certain items that I can't get anywhere else. For me there is no such thing as one-stop shopping when it comes to material items. I’m willing to go out of my way to get what I want or need."

The good news is I don’t have to go out of my way when it comes to mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. As the song says, “where could I go but to the Lord?”

God has many names including El Shaddai (the all-sufficient One) and Jehovah Jireh (my provider). He is my creator and sustainer. My healer and my strength. My wisdom. My counselor. My protector. My peace and my joy. He is everything I could ever want or need. The total package. I need not look anywhere else.

That’s one-stop shopping at its best.

 

 Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Salvation and Transformation

By Andrea Merrell

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

old things have passed away;

behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

The story is told of a group of friends attending their twenty-year high school reunion. They spent the entire evening comparing notes about their life. After much discussion, one of the men was asked, “Hey, dude, what happened to you? You’re nothing like the rowdy, mischievous guy you used to be. What changed?”

“Everything,” the man answered. "I met the Lord, and everything changed.”

The Bible tells us that when we are “in Christ” we become a new creation. A new person, shedding our old way of life and embracing a new life in Him. But how often do we encounter someone who has been saved yet there is no change?

I had a family member who told me she had her “ticket to heaven,” but I never saw any difference in her. Her worldly lifestyle remained the same until she passed away.

The bottom line is this: salvation should equal transformation. How does that happen? We find the answer in Romans 12:1-2. We are to present ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord and to be transformed by renewing our minds. The MSG puts it very plainly:

So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

One writer says that the same One who saved us longs to remake us. That only happens when we seek Him with all our heart.

Does your salvation equal transformation? 

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash