People Who Inspire Us To Be Better

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 

  

  She was telling a joke and generally trying to engage those around her. It was early in the day and I was just wanting to be left alone and have peace and quiet. She was cheerful. I was grumpy. Though she was younger than I, she needed to use a walker because of a disability. Yet I could easily stand on my own two feet. I had no reason to feel grouchy, and she had no reason to be cheerful, but she was happy and upbeat. 

  Often, we are convicted of our failure of attitude by those less fortunate around us. We gripe and complain about a little rain, and they laugh and play in the thunderstorm. We believe that we are succeeding, while those who appear to be failing pass us by. 

   

  

“Sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy.” 

― Epictetus  

  

  The philosopher Epictetus outlined the ideal person as being someone who could be in all sorts of difficulties and yet remain cheerful. I must admit I continually struggle with that. Most of the time my wife can tell something is bothering me at a glance. Yet I long to be that person described by Epictetus, and when I meet such a person they always leave me feeling that I have a long way to go in my walk to be Christlike. 

  Jesus engaged many people that society around Him disregarded. Children were given little thought, yet Jesus told His disciples not to forbid them coming to Him. Jesus touched the untouchable, and loved the unlovable. When we can love such people, and when we can come through adversity with a smile on our face and cheer in our hearts we will be like Jesus. 

  Prayer, Dear Lord, forgive us for being less like You than we ought to. Help us to keep joy in our hearts and a smile upon our faces for we are Your children and heirs of an eternity in Your Presence. Amen. 

Being Made New Again

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 

  

Many years ago, I took an auto body repair class in a vocational school. People would bring in the most rusted, beat up, ugly cars you had ever seen, hoping we would make them look like new again. And after much work, applying hammers, torches, sanders, every tool at our disposal, we made those ugly old cars beautiful once more. 

  

I wish people were as easy to fix. I wish I could be made new again as those old cars were. We are wearing out and wearing down day by day due to age and disability. As much as we might like to be “new” again we are not, and we will not be in this life. 

  

Nevertheless, we will be made new again one day, and it is that hope in the future than can get us past the mirror today. Knowing that Jesus has something far greater in store for us than our very best here on earth is an encouraging thought.  

  

It was amazing to see those old cars drive into the shop, covered with more rust than paint, looking hopeless, and then see those same cars made beautiful. After being painted and polished, to see them looking as good or better than they ever had, that was a great experience. Yet a far greater experience is coming when we go back out the door of that heavenly garage, looking better than we ever did in this life. 

  

You may have lost your looks, your shape, your youth to life and its wear and tear upon our lives. What life has robbed you of, or perhaps never gave you to begin with, Jesus has waiting for you on the other side of the door. We must be patient, perhaps deal with some rust and flaking paint, but better things are coming for those who wait patiently upon the Lord. 

  

Prayer: Dear Lord, these bodies drag us down, humiliate, and frustrate us. Help us to be patient for that new body awaiting us in heaven. Amen. 

  

Open Their Eyes

to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:18 

  

  Recently I got my new prescription glasses. I had not realized that my distant vision had decreased so much. With my new glasses I notice details and see things much more clearly than I have in a long time. 

  The Bible makes mention of “opening our eyes”. What God’s word often means by this is to open our heart, our “inner eye” to truths about God and ourselves that are not visible when we refuse to acknowledge the truth. Just like a person who cannot see well without their glasses, the person who refuses God’s prescription from His word is going through life with blurred vision, never quite seeing anything clearly. 

  

  In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, 

  and out of gloom and darkness 

  the eyes of the blind will see. Isaiah 29:18 

  

  The Bible is our prescription for opening the eyes of our heart. The word of God is active and alive, teaching and guiding, healing and restoring us to health. He does this as we allow the Holy Spirit to heal our inner sight, removing the blinders from our heart. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, many people go through life blind to the truth and wisdom You brought. Help us to first have clear vision ourselves, and then help others to also see clearly. Amen. 

  

God Is Alive And Well

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1 

  

  Today many people believe there is no God. There are those who mock and scorn the idea of God, especially in colleges and among the elite. 

  We travel through Amish country when we go to visit our daughter, and it is not unusual for us to see the Amish out working on their farms or riding in their horse and buggies. 

  Recently we were on such a trip to see our daughter and as we came upon a horse and buggy with an Amish family the two little children in the back turned to look at us as we were going by. The little girl in the buggy waved at us. I waved back. In the car we had been listening to a Newsboy’s song playing: God’s Not Dead. I could not help but think how true that song was. Here we were in our 21st century car, using blue tooth and a smart phone to listen to digital music, all the while praising God on a glorious sunny day under an azure sky. It was not hard to imagine that the beautiful Amish family were also praising God in their own way while living a lifestyle that went back to the 19th century. 

  God is not dead. His people worship and praise Him in a variety of ways and circumstances, both new and old. Time does not change faith in a living God, for God does not change. Salvation in the Name of Jesus is the same today as it was centuries ago and as it will be centuries from now if the Lord does not come back to earth first. 

  Since the founding of Christianity believers have called upon God in pain and suffering, believing and trusting that He cares and is there to help us in our time of need. We praise God now as the first Christians and did, knowing He is worthy of our cares and praises. Jesus is the only way to salvation. 

  When you are surrounded by doubters, remember that there have always been doubters and always will be. Likewise, there have always been believers and always will be. Which camp are you in? Do you praise Him or doubt Him? 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, keep us by Your power and Spirit in the camp of believers, and not outside with doubters. Thank You for being the God who is always with us, alive forevermore. Amen.