Do You Have Enough Salt?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Mathew 5:13 (NIV)

When I was in the hospital with pneumonia what surprised me the most was that the doctors were less interested in the pneumonia than the fact my blood was so low on salt. At one point a doctor came into my room with two handfuls of salt packets like you see in restaurants and piled them on a table beside my bed. That was how much she stressed that I needed to get more salt into my system as it was dangerously low.

Salt is a preservative. It also gives flavor to food. Jesus illustrated how important it was that we have a “life of flavor” that impacts those around us for good. Having Him in our lives makes us essentially “taste good to those around us”. We should have a positive impact on this world and people due to having Christ in our lives.

Have you ever been in a place or around people who you knew were having a bad influence on you? Contrast that with being in a place, or around people where there was a good influence, you then understand what Jesus was talking about. 

I can think of many people who have had a good impact on my life. God often uses people to help us and bless us in many ways and likewise we should bless others and help them when we can.

As Christians we are here to make the world better, not worse. People will be impacted positively because of the presence of Jesus in our lives as we allow Him to be salt in us and flavor the atmosphere around us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, It is easy to get aligned with the pessimism and darkness in this world, but help us to shine Your light and allow You to add flavor to our lives so we can bless those we come into contact with. Amen.

When Dealing With The Tough Stuff

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, Psalm 46:1-2 (NIV)

Despite having gone to Urgent Care about a week earlier and getting medication for my bronchitis I had gotten worse. I awoke with difficulty breathing, a fever, and the Oximeter on my finger making beeping sounds as the alarm told me my oxygen was low. I groaned as I knew it meant a trip to the emergency room. 

I hoped they would give me a stronger antibiotic, perhaps a big dose of steroids to open my lungs, and send me on my way. The physician came in and told me they were admitting me to the hospital. I tried to debate her and see if I could not just be treated at home as I knew I would get no sleep and not much rest in a hospital, but she won the debate. A little while later the doctor was back to tell me that my sodium on my blood work was at a dangerously low level and they had no specialist to treat me for it so I must be transported to a larger hospital facility miles away that could deal with it. I was aware that my sodium levels always ran low on my blood work, but she assured me they had never been this dangerously low. 

At this point I was ready to go home. The idea of being stuck in a hospital many miles from my house and the stress of it all felt too much. I debated again with the doctor and asked what would happen if I just went home. The doc assured me they would not even release me to go home because I was septic from the infection in my lung and it was not safe for me to leave.

We all face things in life that we would rather avoid. Too often these challenges hit us when least expected. We feel unprepared. We feel powerless to deal with hardships that assail us. Yet, after doing all we can to try and avoid such difficulties, in the end we do what we know we should do as Christians–we pray and surrender ourselves and the situation to God.

Only God can help you deal with the tough stuff in your life. Only He can take your weakness and give you His strength. And only Jesus can turn around what feels like an impossible situation to you.

No matter what tough stuff you are facing, take it to God in prayer, surrender yourself and the situation to His will, and you will see Him bring you through it all.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we hate the tough stuff that comes along in life, but it comes whether we want it to or not. When such times arrive, turn our eyes to You, for You alone can bring us through it all. Thank You Jesus! Amen.

The Bible Is A Treasure Chest

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

The Bible is an endless supply of wisdom, guidance, encouragement, and continued blessings. Through it we have a revelation of who God is, how He made the heavens and earth. In it we discover Jesus and His teachings and sacrifice for us. And we are given guidance and knowledge of how to live as Christians and please God.

I have read the Bible since I was a boy, and from then until now the Holy Spirit has brought passages of scripture to me in my time of need. Whether I was sick, hurting, confused, angry and frustrated, or simply needed wisdom on some particular subject, the Bible has helped me time and again.

As a young man I was caught in the throes of a deep depression and Satan was whispering in my ear that I was a dead man. I went to the Word of God as I had the habit of doing, especially in times of crisis, and this is the verse the Holy Spread led me to:

I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done. Psalm 118:17 (NIV)

I latched on to that promise from God’s Word.

Once when I made a trip from Ohio to Tennessee I was in a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome flareup. I was completely exhausted when I arrived at the hotel in Tennessee. I opened a Gideon’s Bible sitting on the table by my bed and read this:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

Yet at another time my Chron’s Disease had created a skin ulcer on my stomach as big as a half dollar, and the surface skin was completely missing from it. It was terribly painful and disturbing to look at. I remember being at the wound clinic and the doctor bringing in about eight medical students to exhibit my wound to them–it was that bad. The Lord led me to the following verse and I clung to it over nearly a year before my wound was healed:

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:4 (NIV)

Then there was the time I was wrestling with terrible fear and anxiety:

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, I will also help you,

I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

I could go on, and on, but you get the point. The Bible is an endless resource of help, encouragement, strength, and revelation of God’s love and care for us. When trouble comes, and it will come, if we open the treasure chest that is God’s Word we will find help. As we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us through reading the Bible He will reveal to us the verses that can help us in our time of need.

The Bible is a treasure chest available to us all. We only need to let God’s Spirit guide and teach us from this Holy Book. Open your Bible today and discover a treasure greater than gold.

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Luke 11:9 (KJV)

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the treasure chest that is Your Word. Guide us to the scriptures that will open our hearts and minds to Your precious promises. May we never neglect such a priceless Gift. Amen.

Give It All To Jesus

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

Throughout my life when serious problems have arisen my knee-jerk reaction has been to grab the bull by the horns and deal with the situation in my own strength, to reason it out, to solve it myself. Yet over the years I have come to realize that most big problems are unsolvable in my own strength and power. My best abilities fall far short of resolving difficult situations.

Though my first reaction is to take action when troubles arise, experience has taught me that I simply don’t have that ability in most situations. But thankfully, I know the One who does have the ability to deal with any great challenge or problem that arises.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

I have learned that when I am being crushed under the weight of some terrible problem that it is time to hand it over to Jesus. In my mind I imagine as I pray holding the weight of the problem in my hands and then handing the trouble over into the capable Hands of Jesus. As I pray and visualize this I can feel the weight leaving me and find the peace in knowing Jesus is in control of the situation.

I love the Serenity Prayer. It is filled with so much truth.

“The Serenity Prayer” 

God, Grant me the Serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things that I can

And Wisdom to know the difference. —Reinhold Niebuhr

Experience over many years has proven to me the wisdom of giving our cares and burdens to Jesus. Of course He may have us take action regarding certain things, and we should do our part when we can, but the mountain sized problems we all face in life are generally beyond our pitiful strength to solve most of the time. What we can do is pray, believe, give our major challenges to God, and trust Him for the outcome.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we all have mountains we must face in life, but thank You that we do not face them alone and need not solve them in our inadequate strength but can rely upon Your mighty power Lord. Amen.

Showing Kindness To Everyone

 Showing Kindness To Everyone

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

There is a story about a man who grew up in the old American West. He was asked why everyone in his generation were so nice. The answer he gave: “Because everyone carried a gun.”

I suppose niceness would come easier to some people if they thought not being so could get their head blown off. But that seems a terrible motivation for kindness.

As Christians, kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Kindness is a part of who we are and what we are supposed to show to an often unkind world.

I remember once when I was an appliance and furniture salesman, a car salesman came in as a customer. I don’t know what sort of salesman he was when doing his job, but he was very hostile to me, acting as if my number one job was to rip him off in some way. I decided to “kill him with kindness” and show him that not all salesmen were like him, or his worst image of a salesman. So I was nice to him the entire time he was acting like a fool and being unkind. At the end of my showing him different products and not pushing anything on him, but just giving him information as was my habit, he cooled down and seemed to realize how obnoxious he had been for no good reason.

There are unkind people in the world. And it is hard to deal with such people. Sadly, I think the Internet and certain social web sites have made people more sarcastic and cynical to the point that it feels like a computer disease or virus spreading among those who get online. I have felt its subtle influence myself and have had to catch myself before making a typical sarcastic unkind comment.

Kindness is not always easy, even for the Christian. Another spiritual fruit is self-control, which as we know takes work and effort, the same with patience. Like these fruits, it may take some effort to show kindness, especially in an often unkind world.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to be kind to everyone, especially when we are not on the receiving end of it. Amen.

Worriers Or Prayer Warriors?

 

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. Luke 12:22

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."

—Corrie ten Boom

God does not want us to live in fear and worry. Yet all around us, every day we hear about tragedies, problems, and future threats. There is much to trouble our souls about. Fear and worry can become our constant companions. But that is not God’s best for us.

The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Proverbs 8:1

Worrying is a very hard habit to break. It causes endless stress, drains energy, can cause loss of sleep, and in the end you will find that most of the things you worried about never happened or were nowhere near as bad as you imagined.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3 

How much better things would go if we followed the advice in that verse about putting our trust in God when we are afraid. Instead we start looking for solutions to our fear, trying to solve things with our own strength. We generally end up back where we began with no solution. And eventually turn to God for help. How much better to start with God at the beginning of our fear and worry?

Let’s face it, most of the things that bring on serious worry and fear are not troubles or events we can solve on our own anyway. Yet God can directly help us by giving us insights, or He can bring people our way who have the answers. Often we simply need to be patient and wait upon God to bring about a solution. God guides and helps us in many ways with the big problems of life.

But what about the small stuff? Those little foxes of worry that nag at us and redirect our attention? This kind of worry is a terrible habit that a little bit of reasoning and perspective and continual prayer can help us to move past.

Whether your fears and worries are large or small, prayer is the beginning of the end of the fear and worry that plagues our lives. Prayer brings God into the picture. And with Him the solution to worry and fear. When faith kicks in–we recall that God is in control of our lives.

Prayer: Dear Lord, so often our fears and worries must seem laughable to You because You know and see all things, including the fact that most of our fears never come to pass. But even for those fears that do come to pass, help us never to forget that You are our Advocate and You will see us through it. Amen.

Have You Spent Time With Jesus?

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (NIV)

There is something different about people who spend time with Jesus. What was it that made disciples unique? They were fishermen. Not from the highest class of society. Others were despised, like Matthew the Tax Collector. These were not guys you would pick to be on the board of fortune 500 companies.

What made them unique was that they were taught by Jesus. They witnessed His interaction with people. He not only taught them, He showed them how to behave, how to act and react to the hurting and suffering people around them.

We can try and say: “But they had Jesus, you would expect them to stand out.”

Yet, Jesus told His disciples that after He was risen and His physical body left the earth He would still be with them, and us, and even more–He was sending The Holy Spirit to be within us.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:15-20 (NIV)

First, when we become believers in Jesus, He sends His Holy Spirit to live within us. The Holy Spirit teaches, guides, comforts, and helps us to become more like Jesus. The Bible is The Holy Spirit breathed Word of God. And one way The Holy Spirit does these things is directly when we read His Word. We know what He wants us to do. We read words that exhort, comfort, encourage, and teach us. He also teaches us how to pray. We know that when we ask for things according to God’s will we are in alignment with God’s will on this earth. When we pray we draw close to the Lord and are in His presence. So just like those early disciples, we today should also be recognized as people who have been with Jesus.

While we too often fall short of that goal, it should always be our desire to reflect Jesus upon the earth. Not so we will get accolades, but so we can present our Lord to others without hypocrisy or worse, so we do not bring shame to His name as His followers.

The world certainly needs people who have been with Jesus. How wonderful it would be to see people everywhere reflecting the love of God.

One day I was in Walmart. One of the workers walked by me singing a hymn and beaming from ear to ear–filled with the joy of the Lord. I smiled thinking how nice that was and how it made me feel better just having a minor encounter with such a person. 

I know we have lots of challenges and troubles in this world. Too often it is far easier to complain and bewail our lot in life when in the midst of pain and struggles. But what if we could find reason to rejoice despite our pain and suffering? What if we could praise God despite our difficult situations? And what if no matter our circumstances, others could recognize we have been with Jesus?

Prayer: Dear Lord, Forgive the times we complain instead of praise. As we spend time with You in Your Word and Prayer fill us with joy. Turn our sorrows into praise. And help us to allow You to shine through us and to bless those around us. Amen.

Dead Zones

But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself. Psalm 49:15 (NIV)

In rural parts of America there are Dead Zones. These are areas where no cell service is available. Wish and try as you might you will not be able to contact or communicate with anyone by phone.

If you are not careful, you can find yourself in a “Spiritual Dead Zone”. This can be caused by turning your focus away from God. Getting so caught up in your own interests that you neglect time in prayer, reading God’s Word, or attending Church Service.

You can also find yourself in one of these dead zones if you have let unrepentant sin run rampant in your life. It is not as if God were not wanting close companionship with you, but by refusing to confess your sins, becoming proud or stubborn about them, you have weakened your reception with God.

People can also lead you away from God. Over the years I have heard people say we should go into very “spiritually dangerous” areas to find sinners and reach out to them. And while I love that idea, and truly believe there are Christians given the gift of evangelism who can do that, I worry that too many Christians are much weaker than they are willing to admit and that rather than convert sinners, they could become the converted instead to a sinful lifestyle.

There are less dangerous situations that can also slowly diminish your connection to God. Unhealthy friendships, spending too much time in places or at events that are not in themselves harmful, yet become so as they take over the focus of our lives.

I usually have themes or words that I begin each year with. Often God brings a certain word to mind. But this year I had already chosen the word I knew I needed to focus on. That word was “Balance”. I wanted a healthy balance of activities, experiences, hobbies, and especially to give plenty of time to Jesus so that He would not get crowded out of my life by my interests in other things.

We all need balance. We all need plenty of time with the Lord. If you find your reception getting weak or that you have entered a Dead Zone I would encourage you to move back to a place of Good Reception right away. Get your Signal back, don’t get stuck in a Spiritual Dead Zone. All it takes is a humble prayer of confession of your need for Jesus and a willingness to give time to Him and His word. Call upon him, stay close to Jesus and keep the lines of communication open.

Prayer: Dear Lord, it is not always the big things that draw us away from you, but the constant drip and slow steps that build up isolation between us. Forgive us our spiritual deafness and please help us to keep the airwaves strong and clear so we are continually in your presence. Amen.

Miracles

 

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 1 Corinthians 2:4

Thomas Jefferson is one of the least impressive American Presidents in my view. He had personal failings, such as his hypocrisy on the subject of slavery. But one thing that disappoints me with him is how he removed the power and miracles of Jesus from his 84 page booklet of “The Gospel Without Miracles” selection of scripture he put together. Like many foolish people before and after him, Jefferson wanted to merely make Jesus appear as a great moral teacher and nothing more. Devoid of His power and the miracles that proved who He was–Jesus is just another good guy and nothing else. How blind and short-sighted and false is that view of our Lord.

A while back I was talking to a guy who proclaimed that he had never seen a miracle. I went on to tell him many instances when I had seen God’s miracles in my own life and the lives of others.

If you have had Jesus in your life as long as myself and have never seen a miracle, you have either not been paying attention or need to ask the Lord why.

I have seen explicit miracles, indirect miracles, and have seen the Lord use me to work a miracle for others.

When I was a young man I wanted to do something special for the Lord. He showed me what I could do. I had a dream that at the Berea onramp in Kentucky I could pick up a black man who was waiting there hitchhiking. I was taking my sister to college in the mid 1980s and would be getting back onto the Interstate at that exit. I remember saying to the Lord that if the man was there I would indeed pick up the hitchhiker and give him a ride.

I could only laugh when I was getting onto the onramp in Berea Kentucky and not one, but two young black men were hitchhiking at the onramp. I picked them up and took them quite a way up the Interstate before letting them off at their exit. That day I was their miracle by the grace of God.

I could go on to explain how God healed me of a terrible skin ulcer. An area without surface skin on my stomach that was as big as a half dollar and so strange to doctors that they shuffled in 8-10 medical students to see it. Talk about feeling like an animal in a zoo. It took awhile, but God helped me find the right doctor to bring healing of that awful wound. Then there was the birth of our daughter. The doctors were wringing their hands not sure what to do as our daughter was too far down for a C-Section and not coming out. My wife was in agony. I stepped into the restroom for a quick, desperate prayer to God, and a few minutes later our daughter was coming out so fast they had to rush my wife into the delivery room. Then there was the arthritis God healed me of very quickly. I had been to the family physician, and he was setting me up to go to a specialist. I hurt so bad in my joints I could hardly get off of the couch. My fingers had swollen knots on them. I prayed to the Lord and reminded Him that He said He would not let more come upon us than we could bear, and this was the one thing too much for me on top of my other health issues. The arthritis disappeared before my visit to the specialist.

I know God does not always work miracles in every situation. Sometimes He takes people home to be with Him–which is better than any miracle. At other times we struggle through life with challenges and illnesses. But there are times when Jesus works miracles and we should not only be open to them and ask for them, but allow Him to use us to be someone else’s miracle when we can do so.

How about you, have you ever seen or experienced a miracle?

Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank You for giving us the grace to endure so many things in life. But Thank You as well for Your miracle working power that is still evident on this earth. Amen.

The Most Important Question

 

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 (NIV)

There is one thing that you can bet your life on. That one thing is your death. Unless the Lord returns first, there is a 100% chance of your death. We are all mortal and just as we were born on this earth, we will one day leave it.

So what is the most important question? It is what will happen to you when you die. 

For the unbeliever, the best hope they have is that they will cease to exist. Any other outcome is unthinkable to them. Some might hope in reincarnation, or that maybe they will “go on to a better place”, but the general atheist consensus is that when you die there is nothing left of you.

What a sad lack of hope and depressing theory to live by. All of the pain, suffering, and endless tragedy that occurs on this earth leaves unbelievers nothing but a nihilistic attitude. And you can find that attitude infecting many areas of life today coming from those with no hope in God. Why be good, or kind, or generous, or ever have any hope or belief in anything if you think there is no future after your short life is over?

Thankfully, for those who have put their trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives we are not hopeless, but have every reason to hope. All the pain, misery, and suffering in the here and now will have meaning over there. There will be recompense for those who have trusted in Jesus and endured so much pain and suffering on this earth. 

Even if your life has not been filled with pain and misery, having hope in Christ adds meaning and purpose to a life that could otherwise be filled with self-centeredness and dangerous behaviors that rob the human soul of its worth.

At the end of his life Edgar Allan Poe was in a wretched state. A physician at his bedside reported that his final words were: “Lord help my poor soul”. While no one knows Mr. Poe’s exact religious beliefs at the time of his death, he had a background of being taught religion in his youth and had some religious sentiments in his writing. Yet it is sad to think of a life ending in misery and only then calling upon the Lord for help, yet better late than never.

If you are willing to put your hope in Jesus as your Savior, you need never go through this life alone and without hope. Through good times and bad, when you put your soul into the hands of Jesus He will walk at your side, blessing you and aiding you whatever your circumstances. We are people filled with hope. That hope is firmly placed in the sacrifice and Person Jesus Christ.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)

Put your eternity into the hands of Jesus. Set that hope firmly before you and live it out day by day. You have an answer for what will happen to you when you die, about where you will go.

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV)

Prayer: Dear Lord, at the end of life we will be shocked at how quickly it all passed by, the shortness of life is a reality we will all one day feel. Thank You that we have a confident hope that when our days are through we will have a home in heaven with You Lord. Amen.

Spiritual Searchers

 

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

The Rock Band Kansas was a favorite of mine when I was a teenager and I still enjoy listening to them today.

Terry Livgren was a founding member, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band. I heard his testimony about when he was a boy and three family members died one after the other. It profoundly affected him. He later delved into philosophy and religion, but he was not a fan of Christianity. He tried to find every way to God except the Christian faith, but finally he said he wanted the truth even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. A Christian musician from another band debated Terry about who Jesus was and finally was able, using the Bible, to convince Terry Livgren to become a Christian.

The early Kansas albums very much reflect the longing of a spiritual searcher. I think that is what makes the band’s music relatable. We have all been spiritual searchers like Terry. Thankfully, Mr. Livgren found his way to Jesus and discovered peace and spiritual satisfaction by doing so.

It is the same with us. Nothing else on this earth can satisfy us spiritually. Only a relationship with Jesus can fill the longings of our soul and spirit.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for revealing Yourself to us spiritual searchers. Open the eyes of those seeking, but who have not yet discovered You so that they too can find the only true spiritual path. Amen. 

Be Still And Wait For The Lord

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 (ESV)

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)

Some of the hardest times of my life have involved waiting. Particularly waiting to recover from a flareup of an illness, but also any problem that created fear or worry. Waiting for difficult situations to be resolved isn’t easy. Very often I find myself in a holding pattern waiting for God to work things out. Occasionally a problem is resolved quickly, and that is such a blessing. But not infrequently a problem takes much longer than I would like for it to be resolved.

Too often waiting is not the only challenge, but “being still”. I become like my youngest grandchild who is two years old and can’t sit still for any length of time but has to be moving and doing something. I often feel like I must be “doing something” to fix the problem even after saying to the Lord that I’m trusting Him with the outcome. Having to sit still and wait for the Lord is often a struggle.

How many times have we asked the Lord to solve something for us, only to immediately take the situation into our own hands and try to solve it ourselves? Too often we waste lots of effort trying to solve issues that are beyond us and that can only be worked out by Jesus. Our futile attempts to fix problems bigger than us leave us worn and exhausted and even more worried about the situation.

There are times when God will direct us to take certain actions. But even then, we need to trust the outcome to Him. Yet, more often than not, God wants us to be still and wait upon Him. He always has a plan and solution that is much better than anything we could have imagined.

Trust the Lord with the problems and difficulties that come your way. And with His help: Be Still and Wait for the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Forgive our futile efforts to fix problems bigger than we are instead of trusting them to You. Sitting still and waiting for You to work things out is difficult for us, but often it is the very thing required for a problem to be solved. Thank You Lord for working out all of our problems in Your own timing and in Your own way. Amen.

Strength In Numbers

Though one may be overpowered,

    two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV)

We had a nice dinner and conversation at my favorite local restaurant. My brother from Tennessee and his friend Tony had stopped by to visit with me on their way back from Canada. After the meal Tony said he wanted to pray for me as we stood outside of the restaurant before getting into our cars to leave. Tony took my right hand and had his other hand on my arm. My brother had his hand on my right shoulder. As we prayed I suddenly felt a hand on my left shoulder. The prayer continued and as it ended I looked to my left and saw a young man standing there. He had been on his way into the restaurant with a group of people and stopped to join in the prayer. He said he noticed something was going on and joined in. I thanked him and told him I appreciated it.

There is power in numbers. 

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

Thinking back on that experience and the courage the young man had shown in being willing to join in a prayer for a stranger it encourages me to be bolder in joining in to help and encourage others who may be strangers. We need courage and boldness and a willingness to step out in faith to meet the needs of others.

I also could not help thinking about that experience regarding a fourth man joining us in prayer, of the book of Daniel where the three men were joined in the fire by a fourth man who showed up out of nowhere in the flames with them. God is with us when we join together giving us great strength in numbers.

Christians were never meant to “go it alone”. We come together in church and in small groups and with just a few friends, and with the talk and focus turning to Jesus He joins the group whether just two or more. What a blessing that is and a revelation we should keep in mind. We are never just a few in number, but a majority when Jesus takes center stage.

I encourage you to reach out to other Christians for strength and support, and be willing to be reached by other Christians who may need your strength and support. At some time in our life we will be the one in need, and the one who can reach those in need. And when our numbers grow, strength, power, and answered prayer by the Lord is sure to follow.

Gather together this week with other Christians, whether at your local church or simply to share a meal with one another. And invite the Lord to join you.

Prayer: Dear Lord, be with us in our gatherings whether large or small. And help us to help others who need You in their midst. Bless You and Thank You for being our Savior, Friend, and Ever Present Help in all of our needs. Amen.

Tendency Toward Anxiety

 

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, I will also help you,

I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 NASB

We can become anxious about all sorts of things. We worry about future events, we fear dreadful outcomes, and anxiety grows like weeds in our hearts and minds choking out hope, faith, courage, and trust in a future that is in God’s hands.

There is the run of the mill anxiety described above, then there is a chemical, biological anxiety that is driven from something within us. This latter type of anxiety runs in my family. I have one relative whose doctor told them that they were the most nervous person the doctor had ever met in his life. I’ve noticed that depending upon the state of my physical health my anxiety increases or decreases. The type of anxiety I experience is not tied to anything in particular, but is “free-floating”. It is anxiety looking for a place to land, something to latch onto. This generalized anxiety is a constant challenge. I have to guard against it and recognize it for what it is and not let it carry me away when circumstances are ideal for it to thrive in my thinking.

But we all experience anxiety. And we all can face it with courage with God’s help and guidance.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NASB

I wish that I had a list of all the things that I have been anxious about throughout my life. I guarantee you that 99% of the things I have been anxious about either never came to fruition, or worked out ultimately to my benefit. I’m sure you could say the same thing. In the end, anxiety producing events in our life work to our good as we overcome obstacles and watch again and again how God takes our anxious events and turns them to our good.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB

Everyday brings opportunities for good along with challenges our way. We can give in to fear and anxiety when problems and difficulties arise, or we can trust that God will bring us through with victory over our hardships and leave blessings in the wake of all our worry. 

We live with one thing always within our power: choice. We can choose to believe and trust God, or we can allow anxiety to have its way with us and make us miserable. Let’s choose faith and trust over fear and anxiety.

We may not be able to help how we feel. But we need not let feelings drive our choices and decisions and attitudes. For if we will only remember a fraction of the times God has taken care of our events and circumstances we can go forward with confidence knowing that God is not limited by our weaknesses. We are lifted up by His strength as we rely upon Him in faith trusting all outcomes to the Lord’s will for us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, anxiety abounds in this world, and we are prone to it, nevertheless as we give our fear and anxiety to You we can trust that our outcomes will be good no matter the circumstances each day brings our way. Thank You Lord for giving us help and strength in time of our need. Amen.

What's So Good About Good Friday?

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Luke 23:33

One tradition says that Good Friday got its name from “God’s Friday”. When I think of Good Friday I think about Jesus’s suffering and death and at first glance there seems nothing good about it for our Lord.  Yet because of Him and what He endured on that cross for us it was definitely our Good Friday.

There are portions of the Bible that are difficult to read. The endless genealogies in the Old Testament, and all the detailed rules for setting up the temple with its numerous regulations. Yet for me, the hardest part of the Bible to read is about the suffering, humiliation, and undeserved death of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

I remember when Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ movie was first released. Every Christian felt almost duty bound to go and see it. The movie was probably the most accurate representation of our Savior’s crucifixion ever to be seen on the big screen. It was detailed, and absolutely horrible and painful to watch. To this day I have only watched it a couple of times because of how it represents our Lord’s suffering and death with such painful attention to detail regarding what Jesus endured.

The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus would be horrible to read about and think about if not for the fact it took His death on that cross to cleanse us of our sins and make a pathway for our entry into heaven. We have the hope of our own resurrection thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thank God that the story of Jesus did not end with a horrible death on a cross but with an empty tomb and a Risen Lord sitting at God’s right hand in heaven. He paved the way for our redemption through the horrible things He suffered on our behalf.

While we feel grief remembering that terrible death on a cross, out of what seemed a tragic event came something good beyond words. Life Everlasting was granted to us by the sacrificial death of Jesus. The Good News in its essence is that Jesus died for us so that we can be Saved through His loving sacrifice. Without Him we would be left in darkness to pay for our own sins and without that Good Friday we have nothing good to hope in or look forward to. The darkness that covered the land on the day of His death would have been an eternal darkness for us without Him.  Yes, Good Friday is Good.  It is Good because of all that it encompasses, including everything that came afterward.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, it will take an eternity of praising You for all that You have done for us. It is almost beyond our comprehension to take in all that You suffered and endured for our salvation. While it is painful to think about Your suffering and death for us, we are so grateful that You were willing to go to the cross to save us. We praise You for it Lord, and forever will do so. Amen.

How We Handle Pain

But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn. Job 14:22

I started going to a new dentist years ago and he was numbing my gum for a procedure. It was one of those times when the needle got shoved into a nerve and I heard myself saying “Owwwww!” The dentist said to me that there was a little boy in the next room and if he heard me saying that I was in pain it would scare the boy. I made no more sounds and choked down the pain.

How we deal with pain matters. Sometimes we have to give voice to it, and sometimes we must choke it down and silence it so we do not worry others or have them overly fearful.

Whether or not we cry aloud in pain, the most important thing is what we do with it. How do we face it? Especially unrelenting pain?

There are all sorts of pain in this world. It is easy to focus upon physical pain because we have all experienced it. Yet there is mental and emotional pain from loss, grief, anything that causes us undue suffering and anxiety or depression.

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Pain is common to us all, and the one thing we know for a fact when we are enduring it is that we want it to end as soon as possible.

When I think of the pain I have suffered there were almost unbearable times like when I had kidney stones and it felt like a knife was being twisted inside of my kidney. And the summer I spent on an air mattress on the floor in too much pain to move from a botched operation that left me with an open wound for months. I can list several others including the mental pain I endured during a severe bout of depression. We all have our lists of painful times. 

We have also watched loved ones in pain and that brings a whole other level of suffering to us as we feel helpless to relieve their pain. Like when my wife endured 16 hours of back labor when our daughter was being born. At times my wife’s eyes appeared to roll into the back of her head with agony. The helplessness we feel at such times is indescribable.

Prayer must be the first order of business when facing pain for ourselves or others. Over many years I have seen the effect of prayer, especially when others are praying for us. In no way that I can rationally describe to you I say with conviction that I have often “felt” the prayers of others. It must be something akin to when Jesus was walking through the crowd and was touched by the woman who suffered from bleeding and she knew if she touched His clothing she would be healed. Jesus felt power go out of Him (Luke chapter 8).  I have sometimes felt the power from prayers coming into me. Something touches our spirit when prayers are sent our way.

We pray. We take our concerns to the Lord and ask for His intervention on our behalf or on the behalf of the one who is suffering. Prayer is not a trite thing, not just something nice we tell people we will do when they are hurting. Prayer mixed with faith changes circumstances. It is a powerful thing, an important tool that should be put to use frequently by every Christian.

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

You should always share your pain with God, and from Him you receive comfort through His Spirit.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; John 14:16

God will help us in our pain. Either God will remove our pain, or give us the grace and strength to get through it. 

You are not without help in this world when pain strikes. Whether enduring physical pain, or mental pain and anguish, the Lord will help you through it when you call upon Him.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, this world throws all sorts of pain our way, help us when pain strikes, and let us never forget we can find comfort in You no matter what pain we are suffering through. Amen.

God Is Always With Us

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John16:7

It had to be a strange thing for the disciples of Jesus. It must have made no sense to them. How could it be possible that it would be an advantage for Jesus to leave them? They had spent years listening to His teachings, sharing meals, laughs, and experiences. They watched Him do Miracles. The idea of Him leaving them must have felt devastating.

But when you read the Bible book of Acts you can understand what Jesus was telling them. They would not only have His presence within them by the indwelling Holy Spirit, they would be like Jesus. They would do miracles, carry His teachings forward, and lead multitudes into the Kingdom of God with the power of the Holy Spirit that resided not beside them, not nearby, but within them.

Years ago when my anxiety was running rampant and panic attacks were devastating me I heard a preacher say that: “We need to become Christ Conscious.” He was saying we needed to get a revelation of the very presence of Christ dwelling within us. We not only need to mentally assent to the fact of God’s presence with us when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we need to have our very being saturated with the fact that we have a God who always abides within His children.

Getting that revelation of the presence of God within truly helped me with my anxiety and panic attacks. Knowing that the Holy Spirit brought the reality of God within me not just on Sunday, not just when I was feeling joyous, but especially during very tough times–it reshaped my thinking.

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21

Christians have endured hardship, persecutions, and even torture due to the fact they knew God was in the midst of it with them.

I recently was reading the book of Acts and got the point where Stephen was about to be stoned to death by a crowd of unbelievers. God revealed Himself visibly to Stephen just as the stones were about to fly. Like Jesus, Stephen asked God not to hold his death against them. The same compassion Jesus had on the cross was found in Stephen who we are told was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Every believer has the Holy Spirit within them, and with Him come both the Father and the Son for they are One. So every believer does indeed have the Kingdom of God within them for where God is–His Kingdom follows.

How would it shape your life if you truly got a revelation of God’s Presence with you always? What power and strength, joy and hope, courage and faith would you exhibit knowing the All Powerful Maker of Heaven and Earth dwells inside of you?

We can endure anything, overcome anything, accomplish just about anything as we allow Jesus to be Jesus within us. That He is inside of every believer is not up for debate. Whether or not we live in and with that truth is up to us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, ignite the revelation of the truth that You live inside the heart of every believer. Then help us to live out that truth in our lives. Amen.