An old Danish proverbs says, "If you have no money, be polite." Hmmmm......... sounds reasonable, but shouldn't you be polite even when you DO have money?

When my little girl, Abby was getting ready to start Kindergarten, she got some advice from her cousin, Adam who is three years older. He said, and I quote, "keep your hands to yourself!" Any teacher will tell you this is excellent advice!

I typed in "good advice" and did a Google search. WOW! Good advice abounds! There is even some good advice which says, "The best advice is this; don’t take advice, and don’t give advice"! But Agatha Christie said, "Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it."

We are all seeking answers to life’s problems. Many people cannot seem to make a decision without consulting one or two places for advice. They read their horoscope, call the Psychic Friends, open a fortune cookie, have their palm read, ask their best friends – you name it, they will listen to it. Since a lot of "good advice" conflicts with other "good advice" all this consulting can get pretty confusing.

God made us. He loves us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. His word, the Bible is full of the best advice and He is not a fan of confusion. He tells us to get wisdom, and His book is full of it. For those of us who know Him personally, He has also given us His precious Holy Spirit to live in us and guide is into all truth. We have no need to turn to any other source for advice.

Proverbs 4:7 "Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And whatever else you do, get good judgement."

James 3:17 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere."

If you need some good advice today, my advice is to go to the source of all wisdom. Go to God.

The Cowbird kind of reminds me of people who, instead of taking responsibility for problems and situations they have created, prefer to dump the the mess in someone else’s lap. There is just something about human nature that makes some people try for a “free ride.”

I know too many grandmas who are raising their grandchildren, because their daughters don’t want the responsibility. Society is dealing with the terrible behavior of children whose parents never took the time to parent and discipline. Businesses are struggling because their employees have a terrible work ethic. (It's not my job, man!)

Any time we refuse to face our own responsibilities we pass up an opportunity to learn and grow. Unfortunately, there seem to be a whole lot of people who don’t care to grow and choose not to deal with the consequences of their own behavior. Why bother if you can pass it off on someone else? We seem to have a lot of “cowbirds” in society! 

When we run away, we miss out on the chance to do something good for ourselves. It is in the hard times that we grow, but only if we stay with it and work through the problem instead of giving up when things get tough.

Sometimes, we need to admit we are facing a problem that is of our own making. We may contemplate running instead of facing issues that need to be faced, but this will not really fix anything. It may look pretty tempting to just “lay the egg” in another person’s nest and fly ...er.....walk away, but  if we do that, we will just keep facing this problem again and again in other ways and scenarios. Taking responsibility is the only way it will ever change.

If we have made mistakes, God can give us help and strength to admit them and deal with them. Sure, it will be hard. But it is the responsible thing to do. When we decide to do what is right, we can count on God to be there for us.

My husband does pre-marriage counseling, and he often cautions the couples to be aware that they are bringing two distinctly different ways of thinking and acting into their new relationship. Once he had a young couple that was experiencing some difficulty. The husband-to-be was from a German background. In his family, if you were angry or upset about something, you internalized it. You quietly worked it through; keeping your frustrations to yourself. His wife-to-be was from a big Italian family. In this family, if you were upset or angry, it was totally acceptable to yell, slam doors, and be very verbal and emotionally demonstrative about the whole thing. Now, is there a "right" way and a "wrong" way here? Not really. You are just seeing two different styles of working through a problem. But if those two styles are going to marry each other---- wow!

If you want to enjoy a movie which deals wonderfully with the frustrating and often humorous things that happen when cultures collide, try renting My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding. I appreciate that movie for how it shows two different cultures blending.

The nice thing about our church here in Denmark is that no matter if your culture is Asian, African, Indian, Scandinavian, American or whatever – in Christ we share one culture, and that is the culture of the Kingdom of God. No matter where we came from, our focus now is on where we are going. We can join together with a common goal, and this makes us family. We are a very diverse family, and sometimes there is some friction, but we just keep applying the word of God to every situation, and this makes all the difference.

There are some things we do in church which are not "American." I had to get used to this. I was really challenged. I found that many of the things I took for granted as being how "church" is supposed to be, were really just a style I was comfortable with. Sometimes when myself or my husband preaches, we stretch the faith and thinking of our Danish brothers in Christ, because we take them outside their comfort zone. Sometimes the way others in the church from other cultures handle problems and make decisions is not the way I would handle them. But the question here is not about what I think they should do, but about what GOD says is right.

Often I have to put my "Americaness" aside and ask God what the KINGDOM way is. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33 KJVR)

Are you seeking the Kingdom of God?

Then there were some years, as a young person when I was a bit uncomfortable with the knowledge that anyone -- especially God -- was watching me. I knew I was not living right, and I knew that He was saddened by my behavior. I was also aware that I was hurting my mom and dad and playing a dangerous game, because I knew what was right, and I wasn’t doing it.

"For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil [to oppose them, to frustrate, and defeat them]." (1 Peter 3:12 AMP)

I’m glad those years of ducking, dodging and trying to hide from God didn’t last too long. As an adult, I have been in some tough places and felt, at times, like I was all alone. I have felt a bit panicky, but then I am reminded of these wonderful verses about how God watches over His kids. I feel comforted. I feel safe -- like a little kid in a sandbox with their mommy nearby.

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him...." (2 Chronicles 16:9 AMP)

Mountains encircle Jerusalem, and GOD encircles his people-- always has and always will. (Psalms 125:2 MSG)

Remember that little song we used to sing in Sunday School?

Oh, be careful little hands what you do.
Be careful little hands what you do.
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So be careful little hands what you do.

So, there were two reports. The “grasshopper report” and the “they're bread to us report.” The “It’s impossible report” and the “God is with us we can do it report.” The “scary giants report” and the “The bigger they are the harder they fall report.”

We face situations like this, too. Impossible looking. Scary. Sometimes, we forget that God has promised He will see us through them. We forget He is with us in the valleys. Sometimes, we feel like tiny grasshoppers cowering under an ugly giant’s foot, expecting to be squashed.

But wait! — we can choose NOT to be victims! We can choose to lift our eyes higher. We can choose NOT to focus on the giants and problems, but on the One Who has promised He will never forsake us.

(Heb 13:5b AMP) “... for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

I wonder what would happen if instead of freaking out every time we faced something difficult and seemingly impossible, we would rise up and say, “ALL RIIIIGHT! ANOTHER WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR GOD TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG AND MIGHTY FOR ME!”

I see many, many people who start things with flourish and fanfare. Political candidates make their high and lofty promises when they begin their term, folks declare their resolutions in the new year, and the repentant sinner fervently vows to change. How many of these promises, declarations, resolutions and vows to change actually happen? We are so good at "getting off to a grand start," aren’t we?

However, as I know you will agree, how we FINISH the race is a whole lot more important than all those promises we made when we started! We may start with wonderful intentions, but often along the way, we get bogged down, tired, or distracted and before you know it, we have lost the race.

 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]. (1Corinthians 15:58 AMP)

I blush to tell you of the unfinished craft projects I have in a big trunk somewhere. I think I have three unfinished quilt tops, a couple of half-finished afghans and several cross stitch projects. I would bet that many of you also have things like that stashed away someplace! These are just small failures, but they still represent the fact that we were not steadfast in finishing what we started.

God probably won’t mind too much if I ever finish those quilts, but I know He would not like to see me exercise that behavior in the areas of life that really matter. I want to be steadfast in all that God has given me to do, don’t you? I don’t want to be a quitter. We need to be tough on ourselves. We need to be determined. We need to keep our eyes on the prize and keep running.

"You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win." (1 Corinthians 9:24 MSG)

Be steadfast!

Many of us find it easy to worship God when everything is going right, but it becomes much harder to lift our hands in praise when troubles come. In the scripture above, Job had just been told he had lost EVERYTHING! Even his children had been killed in an accident.

It is easy to worship when it costs us little. Ah, but how sweet — how pure is worship that comes at great personal cost! How awesome when the hardships which would cause some to curse God and shake a fist of blame and anger toward Heaven, instead compel us to run into His arms. For He is still worthy. He is still good. Life is often unfair. Life can be painful. But, HE IS STILL GOOD! His love is steadfast.

Have you watched how people respond to crisis? Some lose their faith because when it is put to the test, they cannot endure. Others are refined by hardships, and the joy and peace flowing from their lives is a wonder. They learned the truth. They understand. They know that God is a refuge in times of trouble. They run to Him and worship. It is in those costly times of worship that the load is lightened and the hurt becomes easier to bear. It doesn’t go away. No, it is shared. He is our burden bearer.

When one of my daughters died at the age of 20, at first all I could do is ask WHY? My grief was so deep it was hard to breathe --- like there was an elephant sitting on my chest. Some people get stuck in the why, and if you do that, you will get bitter and angry. Sometimes there are just no answers, and even if you knew the answer, it would not make it better. You can only fall down and worship. Sometimes you just have to say, “God, I do not understand this, but I choose to trust You in spite of that. I choose to hold on tight to You. Your mercy never comes to an end. It’s OK if I never understand. I don’t need to know everything to worship You. I know You are worthy, and I choose to worship You.