Browse published articles attributed to Frances Lucas, with full-archive search.
There are times when our daily routines seem to drag us down. We get sidetracked and then feel guilty we didn’t get something completed like we always do. We get too focused on the process or the routine trying to make sure we don’t leave anything out. Then we are distracted by our conce of doing it right.
Most of us were taught as children to share. We were taught to share our toys or whatever we had when others were in need. We were taught to share with our friends and with those less fortunate than we were. Often we were rewarded if we shared. Many times when we shared we felt good about what we did and would run to tell our parents so we would receive praise and recognition.
When things happen to others everyone seems to want to reach out to help. When countries are hit with devastations, when families lose a loved one, or when people are in need for whatever reason, we all want to pitch in and do what we can. It is great we are people who care but why do some of us need a crisis to occur before we decide to help someone?
When other people do wrong or act in a way that is not pleasing to us, sometimes we feel hurt and want to retaliate or we feel if they can do these things, why can’t we. How many times have we wondered why some people get away with things they do and we don’t? How many times have we tried to do things other people do and we found it didn’t make us happy?
We all have forgotten something at some point in our lives. Some of us need reminders about most everything. We get so caught up in life, we tend to forget what is important. We tend to forget the big picture. Yet God continues to remind us. He watches us as we listen to His word in church, as we have good ideas and intentions to do things for Him and then He gently reminds us again and again to stay on track for Him. 1 Samuel 12:7 “Now stand here quietly before the Lord as I remind you of all the great things the Lord has done for you and your ancestors.”
Psalm 119:4-5 “You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!” When we wake up in the morning, we possibly think that we would like to do something we don’t have to do. We may wish we could stay in bed another hour or so. We may wish we didn’t have to go to work or to school. We may want to take time to do something fun or spontaneous. But then we realize that we have to get up and get ready for another day.
2 Corinthians 13:3-4 “I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you. Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power.”
Have you ever looked back on a day, week or period of time and think about the time wasted? Not necessarily the time waiting in line or in meetings but gaps of time where we spent time doing something or nothing of particular importance. If we added up those hours we spend daily watching television, surfing the internet, chatting or playing games online, we would see how quickly they add up.
How many times in life, or even in one day, do we miss out on what we should be doing? How many times do we avoid the things we are supposed to do for God? How many times do we remain stagnant when we should be moving forward? Looking back on yesterday, what things did we avoid just because we didn’t feel like doing them? What things are we dreading today and trying to figure out if we can put them off until tomorrow?
So many times we allow ourselves to give in. Not necessarily to others but to ourselves. We make a decision to do something we know may not be the best decision but we do it because we are tired, we are looking for an easy way out or we are looking for something better. It is so important to be aware of all decisions we make and not give in to self but give it to God.
When we go through the days in our lives we quickly learn things are never the same. We have changes in our jobs, our home life and our other regular routines. We may get up one morning expecting to do certain things but that doesn’t happen. We need to understand and be flexible in our daily routines to know there will be bumps along the way. We need to be able to handle the changes and recognize things may never be the same.
We all have things that we really don't want to do or things that we are just not looking forward to. Rather than dreading them and thinking about how we can get out of them, we need to look at the bigger picture of how we can use them as opportunities to serve God and others. Missing out on something because we don't think we are going to be happy about doing it is no excuse for not doing it.
We all have had to live with someone at some point in our lives. Some of us grew up with two parents. Some of us only had one. Many of us had brothers or sisters, then perhaps roommates or spouses. We all know after the newness wears off of relationships, issues begin to come out. There are issues about different opinions, ideas and lifestyles. When these issues, begin to surface, it is time to begin working things out.
News from all over the world is shown on television and the Internet all day long. We can’t possibly listen to it all. There are things going on all over the world we will never hear about. There are people who are making changes in the world, good and bad, and we may never hear about them. There are things going on in our country, in our community and even on our street and we may never know about them.
Many times when we hear a message, read a book or see a movie that really makes us think about life, how short it is and what more we should do, we have a good feeling for a while and then we get back into our every day routine. Other times we hear something and we think it would be really good for someone else to hear that same message or read that same book so they can apply the lessons learned to their lives.
We all have moved something around in our house or cleaned out an area of our home just to make things a little different. We may have wanted to get rid of something. We may have wanted to add something to the room so we had to shift some other things around. Or we may have wanted to get a new and fresh look. For whatever reason, after we do this, we feel a little better about the new look and enjoy the fruits of our good labor.
Everyone gets busy with their own things to do. We all have priorities and spend time doing what we feel is important throughout the day. We make our own decisions whether we are going to work, if we are going to exercise, if we are going to have a good attitude about things and if we are going to spend time with God each day. Matthew 6:21 “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
When opportunities present themselves for us to make a difference, we may not realize it until the time has come and gone. We may be so wrapped up in the events or the conversations with the people we don’t realize God is presenting a moment for us to share. We can share by openly saying how great He is that He has brought us together. We can share by encouraging others about God and what He can do for them.
Many times we feel like we are bombarded with things to do. We have responsibilities at home, at work, at school. We have obligations to God, to others and to ourselves. We want a balanced life with a clean home, great relationships and good health. We want to have enough money to tithe and pay the bills. However, we soon find out that we aren’t able to get all of these things accomplished.
Many of us have some type of social network we connect to online for various reasons. Some of us may be out there just to check on others we know and see what they are doing. Some of us may be out there to find that special someone in our lives we can spend some time with. Some of us may be out there to get away from our own lives and loves as an escape from the real word.
We are all guilty of not doing the right thing at certain times in our lives. As children, we may cheat on a test at school, take a little money from our mom’s purse without asking or lie about where we were so we wouldn’t get in trouble. However, as we grow older we learn doing the right thing is not only the right thing to do but it is what God requires us to do. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
Nothing good in life is easy. There are times when we are trying to do something and we get stopped along the way for whatever reason. We may have struggles with our health, our families, our finances or our career. Things continue to come up time and time again which try to beat us down when we are trying to do the right things. Obedience requires persistence, even through the suffering. Hebrews 5:8 "Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered."
The First Move How many times have we been in a situation where we were waiting on someone else to make the first move? We may have been in a disagreement with a friend and felt like he or she should approach us first. We may have wanted to help in the church or another organization and were waiting to be asked. We may have been looking at a new position or wanting more pay at work and were waiting on the manager to just call us in and give it to us.
We can all say we have been obedient at some point in our lives to our parents, in our jobs, in certain situations or in our spiritual lives; however, obedience never stops. We don’t just obey once a day by reading God’s word and then go about doing whatever we please. We don’t just do one thing at work that we are supposed to do and then decide the rest is not really important. If we did, we wouldn’t have a job for very long.
When we have to let others down easy, it is usually because of something that happened they weren’t expecting. Something that happened out of our control and we have to tell them what they were hoping for didn’t come through. It is not easy to let other people down and give bad news to them; however, there are times when we have to tell people things they don’t want to hear.
It is so common to think about what we need or what we don’t have. We may spend more time dwelling on things we think we have to have in life rather than being happy and satisfied with what we do have. The same is true with what is going wrong in our lives. We hear other people ask us what is wrong more than we hear them ask us what is right in our lives.
How can we be serious about doing God’s will when we aren’t willing to change? We think every day or once a week at church about getting serious for God and making a difference. We have a revelation that we are going to do better and we are going to be better for God. However, we get caught up in life with the things going on around us and we soon forget we made a commitment to God. Psalm 51:12-13 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.”
There are days where we have plans to do things but by the end of the day nothing we planned to do was accomplished. It could have been due to distractions, other people’s situations or something even greater than what we could have ever imagined. Plans don’t always go as we would like for them to go so we have to plan ahead understanding what we want to do may not always be what God wants us to be doing.
When we start something new and are all excited about it, we think about it day and night. We talk to others about it and we want to work on it all the time. If it is someone we just met, we may want to be them all the time and we enjoy their company. If it is a project we are working on, a new school, job or a hobby, we want to absorb as much as we can and do our very best.
Poverty and scarcity can happen while we are sleeping. Not only poverty for ourselves but for others. When we choose to sleep and rest, we are allowing poverty and scarcity to happen to others as well. Sleeping and resting is not just about laying or sitting down, it is about continuing in our own routines and doing nothing to help others. When we choose to rest because we think we lack in certain skills and abilities, we are simply looking for excuses not to help.
There are times in our lives where we don’t think we can do something but we go ahead and do it because we have to or we really want to. We step out in blind faith and attempt whatever it is and find out it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. We had been putting it off thinking it was going to be too hard or we didn’t have all we needed to complete the task; however, after we started we found out it wasn’t as hard as we thought.
There are so many times in life where we disagree with what someone says or does. We believe they are doing things that will hurt themselves or hurt others. We believe they are making bad decisions and are going down the wrong direction in life. We believe they are taking wrong turns and heading down a path of bad choices and mistakes which could lead to regrets later on in their lives. Proverbs 11:12-13 “It is foolish to belittle one’s neighbor; a sensible person keeps quiet. A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.”
It is not always easy to understand what others are saying. This is especially true with the new ways we communicate over emails and texts. Even when they are speaking to us, we get easily distracted by other things going on around us. We get frustrated when we don’t understand their message or when others don’t understand us. It is so important that we take time to be good communicators.
We all go through times in our lives where we feel like things are just not going the way we had hoped. We have financial problems, relationship issues, career changes or health challenges. We know, however, these things will pass and they are only temporary. But as we go through them, we have to wonder why things happen to us like they do.
2 Corinthians 1:6-7 “Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.”
1 Peter 2:21 “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.” Everyone goes through troubling times where we are having issues with our health, relationships, money, or work. Many times, we wonder why we have to suffer when others appear to be doing well and enjoying life. Sometimes we may want to take action in our own hands and do what we feel is best to give us temporary enjoyment; however, God calls us to do good in all things, even if it means suffering.
We sometimes wonder why things keep happening to us. We wonder why we continually have issues to deal with and problems on our minds. We think about and get overwhelmed at times in many areas of our lives and can't seem to understand why things aren't getting any easier. The answer is life isn't easy. We will be faced with problems and struggles, but it is all about how we prepare for and handle them.
We don’t really know other people’s situation or how God has prepared their heart to respond or react to what we do or say. Just as God hardened Pharaoh’s heart when Moses wanted him to let the people go, he prepares hearts to be softened to allow us to witness to them. God knows who will accept Him and reject Him. Exodus 10:27 “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart once more, and he would not let them go.”
We know others watch us and learn by the actions we take and the things we say as well as what we don’t do or say. Our responsibility to do the right thing is not only for ourselves but for others who are looking to us to make the right decision. When we do the right thing we are setting an example for others to follow.
How often do we feel alone? How many times when there is no one around to talk to do we feel like no one cares? When we try to reach out to others whether we have good news to share or bad news to share and can’t find anyone who has time to listen, why is it we feel so down? God tells us to live a quiet life. He wants us to be accustomed to working and minding our own business. He wants us to get use to keep things to ourselves and depend only on Him in good things and in bad. Why is that? Isn’t our first inclination to share something with other people?
There are hundreds and thousands of quotes and clips which we have passed down through the ages. We have words of wisdom from men and women who have been through trials and struggles who share their experiences with us through short, yet thought provoking, words. Many of them are similar in meaning but said differently. Some of them are in line with God’s word; however some are not.
If there was a book today written similar to the Bible containing life stories of people in our generations, who do we believe would be in that book? Who do we know who has lived for God and made a difference? Whose lives have been examples to many because they let God lead their lives? Have we done the things God has asked us to do? Psalm 71:7 “My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.”
There are things we do out of habit and routine that if we didn’t do them we wouldn’t feel right all day. We brush our get out of bed, brush our teeth, eat about three meals a day, etc. and skipping any part of our routine would not seem natural. These habits are just a part of life which we have created by repeating them daily.
Many times we feel like we are bombarded with things to do. We have responsibilities at home, at work, at school. We have obligations to God, to others and to ourselves. We want a balanced life with a clean home, great relationships and good health. We want to have enough money to tithe and pay the bills. However, we soon find out that we aren’t able to get all of these things accomplished.
There are many things in life we wish we could change. We may not like the job we have. We may be upset about a relationship that has gone bad. We may have health issues we would like to improve. We may be so far in debt, we don’t know how it happened and can’t seem to figure out how to get out of it so we just continue to borrow money.
It’s funny how we run around every day working for what we believe we need, when God clearly tells us to seek Him first and He will give us everything we need. Why do we continue to look everywhere for the things we think we need when all we have to do is go to Him? Do we really believe we can live for God when we put other things before Him? Matthew 6:33 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
It’s funny how we run around every day working for what we believe we need, when God clearly tells us to seek Him first and He will give us everything we need. Why do we continue to look everywhere for the things we think we need when all we have to do is go to Him? Do we really believe we can live for God when we put other things before Him? Matthew 6:33 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
When I was younger and couldn’t go to sleep at night, my dad told me when he couldn’t sleep he would close his eyes and imagine a big black chalk board. And every time something was written or drawn on that chalk board, he would quickly get his eraser and erase it so he could focus on nothing. By doing that, his mind would remain blank and free from worry or thoughts that would keep him awake. I used that little trick in the past and it has helped me to forget about things that are going on in my life so I can rest better at night.
Acts 17:27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.” When we get overwhelmed with all there is to do, we can easily give up and shut down. When we are rushing to finish something last minute, everything else seems to happen as well. Stress takes over and we look for an escape route. Emotions kick in and we begin to feel guilty or angry or sad.