The Spirit Of Christmas

 The Spirit Of Christmas

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

When most people talk about the spirit of Christmas I would contend that it is not truly The Spirit of Christmas. The generic spirit of Christmas has to do with a good feeling, happy emotions that might make one feel generous, more kindly, even jolly. Yet the true Spirit of Christmas has nothing to do with quick-changing emotions. It does not depend upon the right music and atmosphere, or lots of great food, and perhaps a party to go with it. 

Try to imagine Jesus, One of the Trinity of God. The Father explains that someone is needed to save the human race. For left to their own devices they are wicked and deceitful and make a mockery of the very godlike image given to them. Despite the ability to think and reason they are ultimately slaves to sin and destined for destruction.

Furthermore, it will take a sacrificial lamb, One who is willing to be born into a human body, placed within a womb, become a human creature from diapers to manhood suffering all the indignities of humanity. Not only that, but having to endure the animosity of the very beings He is going to Save. There is a great silence in heaven. Suddenly, Jesus steps forward and says: I will go!

Much is made about a baby and a manger. Stories about the shepherds, the wise men, the star–all fascinating stuff. But the gravity that we occasionally feel over Christ’s sacrifice at Easter, it all began with a birth at Christmas. 

I don’t propose that we become grim and morose at Christmastime, but rather that when we think about the Baby Jesus we do not lose sight of what a truly incredible sacrifice, what a gift, Jesus made and gave to us. It is out of that sacrifice that we find New Birth, the earthly body infilled with a heavenly Spirit. Jesus is born anew in ourselves when we receive Him as our Savior and Lord.

I love the music, enjoy the food, the Christmas stories and movies. Also the lights, the decorations, the generosity of giving, even Kris Kringle and his reindeer. I like it all. But the true Spirit of Christmas transcends gifts, lights, parades, and music. The trappings of the secular holiday do not embody the actual Spirit of Christ in Christmas.

I just visited a friend in a nursing home. It was silent, even eerie walking down the deserted corridors before finally seeing a staff member. I found my friend and the two of us began conversing about old times and recent events and the lives of family members. Some might argue that the two of us in the quiet nursing home conversing with each other had nothing to do with the spirit of Christmas. And as far as the holiday, I would agree. But regarding the Spirit of Christ–I think we had it figured out.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

The season of Christmas is upon us now. Family gatherings, giving presents, enjoying food and fellowship, all these things are great fun. But I encourage you in the midst of it all to find a way to partake of the Spirit of Christ. True Joy comes from fellowship with our Lord and other believers. Let Christ enter into your Christmas this year.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we get busy with a holiday and lose sight of You. Help us to make time for Your presence during a season that we say is about Your Birth. It’s Your birthday but somehow we get all the gifts, even the greatest Gift of all: Your Saving Presence through Your Spirit. Thank You Jesus for the True Christmas Spirit. Amen.

Loving Our Neighbors

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18

I was recently driving behind a vehicle with a large sign covering their back window which said: Loving Our Neighbors.

I couldn’t help but think to myself what a huge responsibility it was that they laid on themselves. Every time they accidentally cut someone off in traffic, or fail to let someone merge when a lane is closed, or run a red light, I can already hear other driver’s say: Sure, is that loving your neighbor? Just another hypocrite.

Jesus put an even bigger requirement upon us. When Jesus talked about our neighbor, and it being the second most important biblical principle to follow right next to loving God, our Lord was telling us to love everyone, not just our next door neighbor or the folks across the street.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 30-31

A few weeks ago my neighbor across the street moved out. I saw him one day driving a U-Haul and we waved at each other as we passed by. Over the years we would say a few words to each other when I was on the street getting into my car and he was outside. We would wave as we each took our trash out to the curb. And I remember when his son was younger and they would come by on Halloween for Trick-Or-Treat. Now that they are gone the street seems too quiet with their house being deserted. And it is strange to think about how little my neighbor and I knew about each other. 

We may not know much about our neighbors but Jesus thought enough of them that He made it the second most important commandment to love them. It may not always be easy to love our neighbors–or they to love us–but it is an important principle to practice and keep near our hearts.

Thankfully we don’t have to love anyone based upon our feeble and quickly changing emotions or circumstances, but we can do so through the Love that Christ has given and shown to us. For if Jesus can love us with our myriad of faults and foolishness, we can certainly carve out a bit of our heart with His help to love our neighbors.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for loving us when we are not so loveable, help us to show kindness and grace in loving our neighbors, not just those on our street, but throughout the world. Amen.

Diminished By Loss

We are brought down to the dust;

    our bodies cling to the ground.

Rise up and help us;

    rescue us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44:25-26

‘Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.’

‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;’

—John Donne

The above two separate quotes by John Donne were written by him while gravely ill and facing his own mortality. His point with these quotes was that we are part of a whole and that each and every death diminishes us all. These quotes and other sayings in his book of devotions continually revolve around the subject of sin and salvation. He was a Christian who understood the importance of every life in the great scheme of things.

Without becoming morbid, I believe it is healthy to think about our mortality and that of our loved ones from time to time. It not only moves our focus beyond this life to the one to come, but it reminds us that death does indeed diminish the whole. We are correct to mourn the impending death of us all. This world suffers loss at every death, even while heaven gains a new citizen.

While we may mourn death and the loss that comes with it, thanks to Jesus we need not live in fear of death.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

What a glorious day it will be when death itself is done away with.

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

For now, death and the loss it brings diminishes us, but we have hope. Not only will we once again see loved ones in heaven, but death itself will at some point in time cease to exist. One day indeed there will be no more suffering or tears or even death.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank You for the hope we have in You and in Your precious promises. Amen.

Going To Church

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

My first experience with church was not good. I was about five years old and the neighbor girl asked my mom if I could go to church with her and mom agreed. I was OK until we got to the part about praying, and everyone bowed their heads to pray and it got deathly quiet. I was horrified at this strange, and to me, very foreign experience. I went on a crying jag and refused to stop crying until they got me outside of the church.

I suppose for many people not very familiar with church the idea of going can feel a bit terrifying. Perhaps they think their sins will be like a scarlet letter written on them for everyone in church to see. Or that God is just waiting to get them into church so He can “let them have it”. Whatever the reason, too many people avoid church because of fear or preconceived ideas of what church is all about.

Others have been to church and felt unwelcome. Perhaps like me, when I was a young teenager in church and met my first Pharisee. Walking by two elderly men in the church hallway one of them made harsh comments about the length of my hair and the way I was dressed. That was the last day I stepped into church for many years.

So what is church all about? There is a saying that when you give a speech and you are afraid you should just picture everyone in the audience as naked. I guess the idea is that if you see everyone in your mind in that audience looking ridiculous then your fear will lessen. Perhaps we should take a slightly different approach in our thoughts when it comes to being fearful about others in church. If you understand the truth that in essence we are all naked before God, all that we are, our sins, our weaknesses, all of our faults are well known to Him. And that the only difference between someone who has never been to church, or rarely been, stepping inside the church doors, and regular members is that the newcomer is a sinner in need of God’s grace and forgiveness, and the Christian inside is just a sinner who has been given God’s grace and forgiveness. Neither is better than the other, but one has found God’s mercy and the other needs God’s mercy.

For the believer who has been saved by God’s grace, church is a privilege and blessing. It is an honor to be in God’s House. Fellow believers all over the world are forbidden going to church by ungodly governments. Christians are beaten, tortured, jailed and killed if they are found attending church services in many places. 

Attending Church does not earn us points with God, but I believe it does please Him. When we join together with other believers it strengthens us, empowers us, and it is a public witness to our profession of faith in Christ. Some believers are unable to go to church due to health or other reasons. Yet when we can go it is a tremendous blessing. Like the Psalmist above said: I rejoiced when they said let us go to the house of the Lord.

If you are an unbeliever I encourage you to step into God’s house. A church is not a place to fear and Christians are not people who have it all together and live a sinless existence that equips them to sit in judgment over you. They have problems just like you do, the difference is they know how and where to take those problems. 

Fellow believers, I know full well it is not always possible or easy to make it to church, but I would encourage you to take a new mindset toward church. Going to church is not a duty, though we owe Jesus everything, no, church is a blessing. Church is a place to rejoice, to enjoy the fellowship of other believers. Yes, you will feel good about going to church, not because you did God a favor, but because you are doing yourself one by the experience of being in the house of the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, how wonderful and what a blessing it is when we can go to Your house. Worshiping and praising you is our honor and privilege. Thank You for the opportunity to do so. Amen.

Time The Great Thief

He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ Luke 12:17-19

In the SYFY TV series “12 Monkeys” an Anti-Christ figure called “The Witness” wants to destroy time itself. Their idea is that time causes suffering and steals away loved ones so it needs to go.

In Psalm ninety it says that we are given–barring accident, injury, or disease–seventy years on this earth, and if we are in good health we have eighty years.

While recently exercising to control my blood sugar I was speaking with two people over eighty years old. One of them was talking about lately starting to feel themselves slowing down, feeling old. I jokingly reminded them that according to the Bible they are essentially past their expiration date, and that any time over eighty years old is a gift.

When you are young, eighty years old sounds like a long time away, when you are eighty years old you are shocked at how fast time passes by. Time indeed feels like a thief and every moment quickly passing seems stolen away.

We all have an expiration date. I hope if I live so long I am doing as well as some people I have met who are already in their eighties. But no matter how long each of us may live, we should continually take stock of what we are doing, and how we live our lives. Life is short. Time does feel like a thief as we look back over our lives. But God has given us every day to live to our fullest. Let’s make the most of our time.

Prayer: Dear Lord, time is precious, help us to make the most of every opportunity, and every day You give us. Amen.

Endless Worry

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

I don’t think there has been a time in history with so many opportunities to worry. Yes, there have been terrible wars, famines, epidemics, and other horrible events. Yet on a day by day hour by hour basis there has been nothing like the technology and information we now have to offer so many “worry opportunities”. If you are a worrier by nature–this is your golden age.

Today where you live the weather may be perfect. Above you is a bluebird sky, a gentle breeze blows across your face, and the grass could not be any greener. Yet, if you want to worry about the weather, just turn on The Weather Channel, or some other around the clock weather service, I guarantee you that somewhere, at someplace the weather is horrible, a catastrophe is taking place and you can watch and worry about it at your leisure despite the perfect weather outside your door.

If bad weather does not get your worry meter rising, turn on the news. 24 hours a day there is something horrific going on somewhere, and if not, they will invent something for you to worry about with half a dozen experts coming on next to say it is so.

Maybe you are a casual worrier. Turn on your computer or pick up your smartphone and the Internet is more than happy to feed your casual worry habit.

Worry has been a problem for a long time, Jesus addressed it long ago:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:22-26

But we all worry at some point. If not the external problems of the world, then the everyday issues in our lives, and at times truly large issues that seem dire to our friends and family or ourselves. 

Jesus was not telling us to be uncaring. Indeed, the Bible makes clear we are to care for one another and not bury our heads in the sand when others are hurting or in need.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:15-17

The problem is that too often we spend time feeding our fears and worries and no time feeding our faith through the Word of God. The answer to fear and worry is and will always be Faith. Faith is the antidote to worry. Yet how foolish is it to spend so much time in an endless cycle of worry and dread over things we have absolutely no control over.

When we hear about tragedies and people suffering hardship we should first of all pray for them, and if we are able in some way to meet their needs to do so. But to go looking for things to worry about, to constantly feed our minds on fear and doubt and worry is poor mental health practice at best. At worst it distracts us from focusing upon the One who can change circumstances not only in our life, but in the lives of others.

We act as if somehow our worrying about so many things is helpful. That we are merely staying informed. It reminds me of something someone recently said to me regarding starting their day by watching the news. They said: “It makes me want to go and get my gun…” As if having a firearm by their side would help matters at all.

Keep these things in mind particularly about the news, but also about much information today, even the commercials you hear or see. They want you to be worried, afraid, or upset and angry. By doing so they hope to keep you watching, interested, buying their product, or getting on their bandwagon. None of it is generally in your best interest. And most of it in one way or another keeps you endlessly worrying.

Christian, if someone is telling you the world is about to end for one reason or another you should not be worrying, but dancing in the streets. For this means Jesus is coming back that much sooner. These people act like, and perhaps even think, there is no God in heaven watching over this world. We know better. If the world ends–we are with Jesus. If some plague or horrible event kills us–we are with Jesus. And if we are living like we ought to in this world–we are with Jesus. So whether absent from or present in the body the believer is with Jesus.

Life brings cares and worries all on its own. We need not go looking for more to worry about. There is an endless supply of worry in this age we are living in. Remember what Jesus said:

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27

The obvious answer is no. But you can stop your fears and end your worries by focusing upon Jesus and stirring up your faith in Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, how foolish we are to worry over so many things we can do nothing about instead of trusting the outcome of everything to You. Help us to realign our vision so we can clearly see that we have a Father who cares and will provide for our needs no matter what they might be. The earth and all who are in it belong to You, help us to leave it and them in your capable Hands instead of taking endless worry with us everywhere we go. Amen.

Lagom

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:13

Lagom is a Swedish word that means: The principle of living a balanced, moderately paced, low-fuss life.

We all need more “Lagom”. So many of us are stressed from a variety of causes, some of our own making. We complicate the simple things and invite stress into situations that we could otherwise simplify.

I love the following verses.

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42

It was as if Jesus was telling Martha just to throw together some sandwiches and join Mary in listening to what really mattered. Yet we all can sympathize with Martha as we have been just like her at some point in our lives, missing out on the essential due to focusing intently on the non-essential.  We stress and worry over things that just don't matter much in the big picture.

Sitting down and getting quiet before the Lord would do us all a great deal of good as he has much to teach us. Too often in prayer we go to the Lord with a barrage of worries and a load of cares that leave us unbalanced and robbed of peace.

Slowing down, simplifying our lives, would not only put our lives back into balance, it would restore our peace of mind and restore our perspective. We need Lagom.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to be more like Mary and less like Martha with the priorities in our life. Teach us and give us peace as we refocus upon You. Amen.

This Is My Story

Even though I walk

    through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

    for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me. Psalm 23

It was early in the year 2011 and I was dying. I weighed 143 pounds, was anemic, malnourished, and did not have long to live without a major operation. I had a very tiny seed of faith and only a little hope. I was too weak for the surgery but it was my only option. I hoped I would be there after the surgery, but committed my soul into God’s Hands in case I didn’t wake up this side of heaven.

God doesn’t need tons of faith or mountains of hope from us, just a willingness to trust our fate to Him.

My mom had three children under five years old. She told me that when we were little, once in utter frustration, she cried out to God: “Help me with these kids!” My mom was not religious. Indeed, I preached to her more about Jesus over the years with little to show for it than any other person in my life. Yet not only did God hear her plea of frustration and Save her three Children, my mom late in life was also Saved. God is good. Not because of us, but because it’s who He is.

You, or someone you care about, may be in a dire situation. It may not be health related, but a dangerous predicament, serious money issues, or other troubles. It is best to have a relationship with God before you find yourself in troubled waters, but if you are willing to reach out with just a bit of hope and a seed of faith to God no matter your relationship with Him, He can change your dire circumstances and bring blessings instead of tragedy.

Your circumstances in life may be more than you can handle. We have all been at that place, or are about to be there. God does not give us a problem free life, but He does give us Himself, and that’s enough.

Give your life to Jesus and He will give you back more in return than you could have ever imagined.

Prayer: Life often appears hopeless and we frequently feel helpless in the face of it. But help us Jesus not to become so focused upon our problems that we forget to call upon the Problem Solver. You are always there, and we know You always will be. Thank You Lord! Amen.

Pillars

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22

When I think of pillars it is not usually columns in architecture, but rather people. There were not many older men left alive on my mother's side of the family so our grandmother was both the elder person in the family and the pillar to my thinking. She was to me, a very smart person with great common sense and a frank way of putting things that I miss more than I could have imagined when she passed away years ago.

My biological dad was something of a pillar in my mind as well. Though I didn’t know him for long, he brought my siblings and I together. I never got to know him as well or spend as much time with him as my grandmother, yet something important was missing when he died.

But to my thinking one of the biggest human pillars not only in stature, but in fact, has been the loss of my father in law. Both the elder and the male figure in the family on my wife’s side he was a stable influence for many years not only to his children but grandchildren as well. His loss is profound.

However, no matter how important these human pillars are to us we must not forget the One True Pillar and Foundation for every family of Believers: Jesus Christ our Lord. Human losses are tragic, but more tragic still would be the absence or loss of focus upon the True Foundation of every family. We will survive the loss of family members, as hard as that may be, but without the Savior at the heart of a family that is a tragedy beyond comprehension.

As with wise and beloved family elders we can go to God for advice, opinion, and guidance. When we need comfort or a shoulder to cry on we can go to our Heavenly Father. When in need of any sort we can reach out to God for whatever we require. Just as God was a Pillar to the children of Israel leaving Egypt, God is our Pillar leading through life into our Promised Land.

Whether you are facing loss, are in pain, or suffering any difficulty, I implore you to reach out to a Pillar which will never leave you. God is the Pillar of all believers, and can become a Pillar for any willing to believe. Allow the Lord to lead you on your way by day and to light your way through the darkness of night.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank You for the elders in our life who have blessed us so much with their presence. Yet help us to never lose sight of the fact that You are The Pillar who stays with us throughout the day and into the night. Be with us in our suffering and loss on this earth, and see us safely into the Promised Land where we will once more meet those other pillars in our life. Amen.

Have You Bet Your Life On Jesus?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7




It was a very bumpy ride. The medic next to me apologized for the awful suspension on the hospital transport van. The suspension was shot and that would have been bad enough of a ride except the words used by the hospital staff said it best: I was bleeding like a stuck pig. The van ride led to forty minutes of wondering how long it took before the bouncing around would make a critical amount of blood pour out of me.

That was one near miss when I was glad I had bet my eternal life on Jesus. There would be other times such as when I was going into surgery and the surgeon was praying over me. Anemic, malnourished, weighing only one hundred and forty-three pounds and being as weak as a newborn kitten—my survival of the surgery was in doubt. I also prayed, asking the Lord to receive me into heaven if I never awakened from the surgery. I had bet my life on Jesus.

I was introduced to Jesus as a boy and became born again as a young teenager. Relying upon Jesus has been second nature through much of my life in good times and bad. Ever grateful that He Saved and continues to care for a sinner like me, I have often wondered how people can live their lives without knowing Jesus. Such a situation is unthinkable to me.

It is certain that we will all die one day. And it is often the case that death comes quickly, unannounced. It takes people by surprise, leaving loved ones in shock. Occasionally, as in my case, years of ill health are a warning shot to be prepared for the inevitable. Yet too many people live under the unjustified assumption that death will not come for them, at least not until some far off date in a very distant future.

Death comes for us all. I say that not to be grim but as a wake up call. You are placing a bet on something that is evident at the final curtain call of your life. You either gamble that you don’t need a Savior, a God you never bothered to get acquainted with, or you squarely place your fate into His Hands.

My hope and prayer for you is that you have bet your life on Jesus. If you have not, please do so before it is too late. Without Jesus you are left with nothing but a losing hand.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, nothing is this life matters more than our relationship with You. Help us never to lose sight of that truth, and may others awaken to that fact. Amen.

Listen To Your Intuition

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:13

Years ago James Robison the Evangelist shared how we should not always ignore or push aside our desires or cravings. He was craving chocolate milk and decided to find a place that sold it and came across a convenience store. He stopped and as he got out of the car he noticed a group of tenagers crying and upset in the parking lot. He went over to them and asked what was wrong. One of their friends had just died and they were grieving. James was able to comfort them and witness to the teenagers about Jesus. All because of a desire for chocolate milk.

At times the Holy Spirit will try to get our attention. We may have a sudden desire or craving and though sometimes we should push it aside. At other times we should take a moment to examine and discern if the prompting is not from our flesh but something the Holy Spirit is trying to get our attention with. 

Then there are times the Holy Spirit will bring someone to mind that we should visit or pray for. Examine the promptings, desires, and ideas that come into your mind. While frequently we should rid our mind of them, we do not want to fail to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Occasionally the Holy Spirit just wants to bring a blessing your way. I’ve followed promptings that have brought me blessings I would not have otherwise received. Perhaps you can say the same thing. God might also be trying to keep you out of danger by directing you down a different path than the one you are traveling.

As we grow in faith and learn to listen to and recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit we will not only receive more blessings in our own life, but will be a greater blessing to others as well.

Too often in prayer we do all the talking and none of the listening. And yet, God is the One who has all the answers to our prayers. Usually at the end of my prayers I will ask the Lord if there is anything He wants me to know, and sometimes there is. If you are concerned that what you are hearing or sensing is not from God, be sure to measure everything you sense or every impression by the Bible. God would never guide you in a way that is outside of His revealed will as found in the Bible. And as you grow in your faith and walk with God you will better recognize His guidance and voice.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Pray and listen. And do not quickly set aside every impression or idea. God could be trying to guide or get your attention with it.

Dear Lord, help us to discern the things that come into our heart and mind and learn to recognize Your will and guidance. Amen.

Be Good To Your Soul

“My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?” Psalm 6:3

    When you are at your worst physically or mentally, when your mood is dark, when illness is ravaging your body, these things take a toll on your soul.

    Constant wear and tear, ongoing stress on your body or mind can wear you down. Too often I find myself in the midst of such times. The Lord has cautioned me to take care of my soul and spirit. We need to feed good things into our life when everything else in our life is going wrong.

    Of course the most important positive item in restoring your soul is the word of God. Reading the Bible, and good preaching and teaching is essential. If you are too tired to read the Word, then lie down and listen to it being read on youtube, or a Bible app. There are many means to do so now.

    If you are too ill to attend church, there is good preaching and teaching on the internet, radio, and available to stream online. Start refreshing your soul with the Word of God.

    Beyond the Word there is good music. Music is a great tool to stir your soul and lift your spirit. Then there are good books about faith and religion, as well as uplifting novels. And if you are very selective, you can find good things on television that lifts your soul.

    What you can’t afford to do during times of great physical and mental stress is to feed depressing, negative, critical, unfruitful things into your soul.

    Be good to your soul! Bless your own soul, and you will be in better shape to bless others. You neglect your soul to your own peril. Recall the things that blessed you in the past and revisit them. Bless your soul!

    Prayer: Dear Lord, when we are at our lowest, we need You to lift us higher. And help us to bless our own soul. Amen.

Has The Season Of Your Glory Passed?

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1

    The flowering trees are peaking right now. Beautiful white and pink blossoms show trees at the height of their glory. While other seasons show the trees lush with green foliage, or bursting with various colors in autumn before the trees begin to fade with winter, it is spring when trees flower with the promise of life and the fullness of their glory.

    When we are weighed down by pain and illness, when disease robs us of the strength and stamina of our youth, we can feel that the spring of our glory is long past. We think the best days are behind us and the future looks as bleak as those black and gray trees robbed of leaves in a chill winter. Our hopes can fade and our zest for life can wane.

     Yet just as those trees will bloom again next spring, we realize the Lord working within us by His Spirit can bring about His glory and bear fruit in our lives.

    Trees don’t have to think about blooming. They don’t have to strain to burst forth with lovely flowers. It is natural and cyclical. We also have cycles in our lives, sometimes we are lovely and fruitful, and sometimes we seem to fade and lose our color. Yet the Holy Spirit is not limited by our age or our illnesses. He can manifest His presence in our lives without any effort on our part. We just need to allow Him to blossom in us, and pour forth the glory of God in our lives.

    Do not despair that your best days are behind you. The Lord may yet have great plans for your life. Call upon the Lord to fill You with His Spirit, and allow him to bring forth the glory of God in your life.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, we often get discouraged and frustrated and disappointed by life, help us to remember that the seasons of our life may change, but You never do, and with You all things are indeed possible. Amen.

Getting Any Bites?

Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. John 21:2-3

From my boyhood I have loved fishing. Few things get me as excited or are as enjoyable as a fish on the end of my line. It was no accident that Jesus’s first disciples were fishermen, nor an accident that the leader among the disciples was a fisherman.

You must have faith to catch fish. You have to believe the fish are there to catch, and that you are presenting the right bait, and ultimately that it is not a complete waste of time. People who fish must have some initiative, and also hope mixed with faith. And when they catch nothing, they must not be easily discouraged but keep on fishing believing eventually it will pay off.

To catch a fish you do not get the biggest lure you can find and throw it into the water hoping to knock the fish out and catch it that way. No, sometimes a movement of the bait is required, other times a subtle approach, barely moving the bait at all. And yes, there will be times the fish do not bite and you move on to another fishing spot or try again another day.

When the stars align with my health issues and I get to go fishing it is a huge blessing to me. Two fishing trips come to mind. First I must say I am not someone who wears his religion on his sleeve. I do not go around saying: Amen Brother and Amen Sister! all day long. Indeed, I do not mention my religion much at all unless I see an opportunity or sense the Holy Spirit leading me.

So the first of these two fishing trips the fish weren't biting, not even a nibble. But I was out in God’s glorious creation and saw a woodpecker, a hawk, a turtle, the birds were singing and the bullfrogs croaking and I heard a crash on my left side in the trees. Not an animal, but a nature photographer. We talked about several things, mostly about different kinds of birds and the beauty of nature. At one point I decided to see if I could get a nibble, after all, this guy was knee deep in the evidence of God all around him and through the eye of the camera lens. So I said something about God’s beautiful creation. No bite, no nibble. No comment from him. No bites at all that day.

On another fishing trip a guy, who looked quite haggard and worn out, started fishing beside me. He volunteered that he had some health issues, had been married a number of years, and I mentioned that by God’s grace my wife and I had been married about the same number of years. Once I mentioned God he said he had better watch his language around me. I told him not to worry. I had grown up around plenty of “cussers” and needed to repent of the bad habit myself on occasion. 

We continued to talk and though I decided that this guy might not be what you would call “God friendly” I wanted to share a concise version of my testimony about how I had survived horrible health issues over the years and that calling upon God to help him through his own serious health issues could really help him. He was not interested. But we kept talking about other things, and he mentioned that he had forgotten his main lure at home. I had one and gave it to him, and prayed the Lord would help him catch lots of fish on it and that he would remember me and the message I gave him about God that day.

Being guilted into witnessing about Jesus is a useless endeavor. You will make a bad job of it every time. Often what we do is plant “seeds” of testimony, kindness, friendliness, and while not wearing our faith on our sleeve we are open to bringing God into the conversation when the other person will receive it. We never debate or argue about God. That will not only kill any chance you have to witness it can make them more “God resistant”.

The “water we fish in” has been polluted by the terrible witness of those who say they are Christians and either are not, or are terrible representatives of Christ. Too often TV and Radio and Internet Preaching seems as much geared to turn people away as win them over to Salvation in the Name of Jesus. It may be that America is the hardest place in the world to win others to Christ because of what unbelievers have seen or witnessed from those who claim to be Christians.

Yet like the persistent fisherman/woman we cast our lures, hope for a bite, or at least a nibble. In truth we are not presenting ourselves, that would be useless. We have no power to save anyone. Yet we cast our line, presenting God in such a way as not to scare away the fish. What we are doing is planting seeds, seeing if the person has any interest in God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us as we share the truth about Jesus. No matter where you are, beside a lake, on an assembly line, at the grocery counter, on a bus or in a plane, anywhere and everywhere you go be sensitive to God’s leading and the chance to point others in His direction.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Few people in America have gone their entire lives without hearing the gospel. And they may have heard it from someone more skilled than yourself. Yet, they have not heard Your Testimony before. They have not heard you share how God turned things around for you, or a family member, or a friend. They don’t know that you would never have survived your illness, your divorce, your loss of a loved one if not for the goodness of God. 

We fish in a public pond where the bite is often tough. There is a lot of fishing pressure. But by faith I hope you will keep on fishing, trying “new lures”, and various presentations. And just as a person fishing needs luck, even more so you will need the aid of the Holy Spirit. At times He may lead you to be quiet. Other times He may nudge you to present your testimony even when the “fishing” is not promising. You may be planting a seed that the person will one day recall in a moment of need. Or perhaps, another person will plant more seed as the ground improves, or will water that ground with God’s word and then faith will sprout. Our job as Christians is not to land the biggest fish in the lake, or to catch them all, but frequently to soften the resistance others have toward Christianity and Jesus by simply presenting our own testimony about how good God has been to us. Or how we survived the tragedies and hardships that befell us only because of God’s mercy.

I will end with the first thing those who are fishing are usually asked by people walking or stopping by: are you getting any bites?

Prayer: Dear Lord, Help us to be faithful witnesses about You and what You have done for us. Guide us by Your Spirit, and show us how to ‘fish for people’ with the Gospel. Amen.

No News Is Good News

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

I was a natural born pessimist and worrier. I believed you should expect the worst so that when it happened you would not be surprised by it. But then I realized I wanted to be a salesman and my old way of thinking would never work for me in that profession.

I began reading positive thinking books, listening to positive preachers on cassette tapes, and watching them on TV. I began to positively charge my mind and it removed my negative thinking.

 

That change in thinking has served me very well over the years. Suffering many horrible illnesses and afflictions I don’t see how I would have survived those challenges and trials with a negative, pessimistic attitude. 

After the 2020 U.S. election I went on a “news fast”. Tired of the endless barrage of negativity I found the old idea that it was important to stay informed was not serving me well. I ended my news fast after a while, but then restarted it, and then ended it again. A few months ago I came to the conclusion that I had completely had enough. I surmised that whether the news was on the right or left (there is no middle ground anymore) the job of journalists today is to keep their watchers, readers, and listeners: Angry, Upset, and Afraid. They generally have nothing good to say. Even when they have an important point to make they have to beat it to death and get endless opinions from people just like them to drive around a circle of cynicism and vitriol. 

I wonder what might happen if people would turn from the unending mocking and cynicism of today’s news and instead turn to the Good News of Jesus Christ for a mind and soul cleansing?

I haven’t returned to watching the news beyond the weather on my local news channel, nor do I miss it. I find that I hear enough news from people around me without ever seeking out any of the “important pressing opinions” of the newsroom talking heads. My mental and emotional health has improved, as has my blood pressure. 

If instead of beginning the day with the news, what effect might it have if you began the day by reading the Bible? Or listening to Christian music? Or simply finding a way to enjoy the beauty of God’s Creation? Sometimes the best news you can hear is no news. But greater than avoiding endless bad news and negative reports, if instead you would focus on the Author of the Good News, Jesus Christ our Savior, you would not just become a more hopeful and positive person but a work of God transformed into a child of the Kingdom of God!

Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive us the time we waste ranting and raging against the things we cannot change. Help us to change the things we can, and help us leave the rest up to you. Not only will we then find serenity, but a peace from You that surpasses all understanding and sets us free to think in a new and better way. Let it be so Lord. Amen.