A gift for me?

I find it difficult to accept gifts! What's wrong with me? Mostly, it is a pride thing, I suppose. I am not, by nature, an effusive person. Too many times to remember, I have disappointed my wife or kids at Christmas or birthdays when they presented me with some gift they had plotted and planned to get to me without my knowledge only to have me say, "That's nice. Thanks." They want excitement! I try, but whooping and yelling are hard for me. So, rather than disappoint anybody, I just say, in advance, "No gifts." When the church has a Pastor Appreciation Day, I worry about the same thing kind of disappointment for those who are trying to show their love for me, too. I am deeply touched by the expressions of thanks, but find it hard to show the proper emotion of joy! What have come to realize only of late is that when I wave off gifts or refuse to accept someone's thanks, I am robbed of a blessings and, even more significantly, I rob them of joy. So, I counsel myself, "Get over yourself!"

In Leadership, 2008, an article about one of God's great gifts to us appeared. It is from the pen of Tony Campolo. "Sitting with my parents at a Communion service with my parents when I was very young, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, I became aware of a young woman in the pew in front of us who was sobbing and shaking. The minister had just finished reading 1 Corinthians 11:27 - "whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27, NKJV) As the Communion plate, with its small pieces of bread was passed to the young woman before me, she waved it away and lowered her head in despair. It was then that my Sicilian father leaned over her shoulder, and in his broken English, said sternly, "Take it, girl! It was meant for you. Do you hear me?" She raised her head, nodded - and then she took the bread and ate it. I knew that some kind of heavy burden was lifted from her heart. Since then, I have known that a church that could offer Communion to hurting people, offers a gift from God."

I want you, Believer, to take two thoughts with you today.

The first is that God's salvation is not meant to exclude, but to include! We sin terribly when we use the words of the One who is Love Incarnate, the One who came to build a bridge to our Father for us in His Body, to create barriers for those we deem unworthy of our acceptance. Jesus reserved His most angry condemnation for the religious elite who made it hard for hurting, sinful people to find their way to God. "They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden." (Matthew 23:4, NLT) Jesus offered grace to the worst, the scandalous, the outcasts and said that they would enter the Kingdom of God ahead of those who were too proud to accept God's gift, because those who were most broken understood their need better and were therefore receptive to His Gift.

The second is that God's gift of salvation is for YOU. You're not too bad, too good, too broken, too undesirable, too far gone to accept Him or to be accepted by Him. He counseled us to forgive others 77 times when they offend us. Do you somehow think He holds Himself to a different standard? His grace is amazing. The Enemy of your soul wants you to see your sins and failures written in bold capital letters. He wants you to feel the awful unworthiness as long as you will stay focused on self. For then, you will fail to see the Cross with the marred form of Jesus, with His arms extended wide in symbolic embrace of the world. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" (Romans 5:8-9, NIV)

Don't allow some mistaken sense of self-reliance keep you from receiving the Gift! What you cannot do for yourself, God has already accomplished in full, at His own expense, and He offers full rights of sonship, an eternal inheritance, to you freely. Yes, maybe, you, like me on Christmas, wonder, "what if I fail to show proper appreciation?" Get over yourself! It's not about YOU, it about Him. Like Campolo's father, I say, "Take it. It was meant for you."

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:4-5, NKJV) "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:10-13, NKJV)
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We will be celebrating our Great Savior and His gift with Holy Communion this Sunday, May 4, at the Assembly. I welcome you to worship with us at 10:15 AM.
If you cannot be there in person, you can join worship virtually and live on the Internet at http://www.washingtonag.com/
Just look for the live streaming globe and click on play.

Blessing of Less

I knew there was a sickness in my soul as my son described the excitement in the fast-growing church he attends and my response was not delight, but envy! I did not think, "Isn't it wonderful that God is blessing that congregation?" Instead, I stewed over the question for days: "Why doesn't my church grow like that?" Discontent is a silent sin that can thrive undetected in the hidden corners of our heart and from that place infects every part of our lives.

I believe that it is an epidemic in America right now. Many are totally convinced that there is someone, or someplace, or something that will make them feel complete. In my case, that kind of discontent was poisoning my ability to serve my church with joy and fulfillment. I've seen it break marriages, when a spouse became convinced that they needed someone smarter, richer, taller, thinner, more exciting... or something else that they failed to see in their husband or wife I've seen it cause people to go deeply into debt to buy things they really don't need because they think a new house, car, or an exotic vacation will finally be 'it.' I've watched discontent fester in Believers who move from church to church in the vain hope of finding a spiritual experience that will let them live on the top of the mountain.

Mindy Caliguire, head of Soul Care Ministries, suggests that we ask ourselves four questions to diagnose the sickness of discontent:
1. Do I feel overwhelmed by options?
2. Do I feel burdened by impossible demands?
3. Do I often buy more than I can afford?
4. Do I frequently desire to be more than I am? -- Leadership, Winter, 2008

We love having multiple investment strategies available to us. We like big supermarkets that let choose from 28 brands of ketchup! But there is stress that goes with having so many options from which to choose. We like the feeling of importance that comes from being busy, from filling up our days with activities. A crammed calendar says, "I am valuable. Look at how much I do!" But, when we cannot sleep because our mind continues to race when we lie down, that is a signal that we are trying to live 26 hours in a 24 hour day! Because we live in a consumer culture most of us accept, without question, that having more of everything is key to our happiness. For many, a shopping day at the mall is a great delight and MasterCard rejoices when they go there!

Believer, there is a spiritual discipline that restores sanity!
It is called, simplicity. What is this? It is the conscious choice to be a person who understands who God is calling us to be and focusing on that. It is the decision to pray to become contented with who we are, what we have, and where we are.

We stop looking at others and comparing ourselves.
We refuse to buy things we don't want to impress people we don't like.
We give away stuff we no longer use, instead of renting storage space to keep it until it molds and we are forced to throw it away.
We give thanks for what we have instead of begging God for more.
We work to understand the gift(s) of the Spirit He's given to us and to use it for His glory, right where we are, today!
We simplify our menu, unclutter our closet, and learn that saying 'no' to yet another appeal is just fine.
We refuse debt, financial and emotional, choosing to live in what we can afford, and not borrowing against tomorrow.

Here's what Jesus said. "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:22-24, NLT) What's your vision for life? If it is a clear vision, fixed on truth, and focused around the goodness of God, you will live freely, soberly, and with contentment. If it is corrupted by materialism, sensuality, celebrity, greed, or other common American 'values,' you will descend ever deeper into the confusion of trying to fill the longing for meaning with things that can never satisfy your soul.

Say 'yes' to worship, deep and intimate worship of the Lord, our God. Learn to revel in the beauty of a bird's song, the giggle of a child, the grace He promises 'just for today.' You will, in these choices, break the power of the conspiracy of self and Satan to make you a slave to reputation, stuff, and activities. Find others who are at peace with themselves, who are refusing the lie of more.

Then, dear Believer, you will discover the blessing of less.

Your Will Be Done, On Earth As In Heaven

Kathy (not her real name) was angry. She claimed that her husband was a selfish, miserable, critical man all the time! I have no reason to doubt that she was mostly telling the truth. The subtext of the story is that life has been turned inside out for her over the last few years - health problems, family turmoil - being just two of the difficult things in her life. She is a Believer and prays. Like many Christians, she thinks that Jesus should make her happy, that prayer should work like aspirin to make pain disappear, and that her Pastor should be able to dispense a spiritual prescription to make life easier.

Following Jesus is not a plan to make Kathy, or me, or you necessarily more happy by current standards. Jesus does not guarantee us smoother skin, better sex, or fatter wallets. He promises us His Presence and His Peace! At the Last Supper, to men who were stunned by His declaration that He was going to die, He said: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27, NKJV)

And where would they find such peace? In a life intimately connected relationally to Him. He illustrated that by saying, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." (John 15:1, NIV) "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:9-11, NIV)

When Kathy's anger poured out, I did not condemn her. The truth is that life stinks for her right now! I believe Jesus weeps with her, too. He would not ask her to deny her pain, but He would call her from 'solutions' that are not real answers. He would point her to the necessity of making the choice to trust God, to ask Him for the miracle of bold love for her husband that mixes honesty and empathy, challenge and comfort. God can use her then to minister grace to this man who is working through his own struggles with life's disappointments and issues of faith.

Contemporary 'wisdom' would counsel Kathy to issue an ultimatum to Jim (not his real name) and if he does not change, to divorce him and try again. God's wisdom says "I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." (Luke 6:27-28, NLT) Obedience provides an opportunity for God to finish His work in us, for us to know grace, and for depth of intimacy with Him to grow. And faith allows God to do amazing things in the world around us.

Jesus says, "I will never leave you, never forsake you." Is that your hope today, Believer, to live with Him at your side, to be hidden in His love and grace? We are tempted to live as animals live - foraging for food, fighting for security, and reproducing. God calls us higher. He calls us to live in Him, to let His Presence and Peace flow into our lives. Will you believe this promise? "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:32-33, NKJV) There it is! Invite and submit to His rule - and He will take care of food, security, and the future!

"In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

(Matthew 6:9-13, NKJV)

Today's choice, tomorrow's outcome

Miley Cyrus, a 15 year old star on Disney TV appearing as 'Hannah Montana,' is a role model and the celebrity of the moment for millions of American pre-adolescent girls. Up to yesterday, she enjoyed a "G"-rated, squeaky clean image. Several weeks ago, in a photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, Cyrus allowed some 'artistic' shots to be taken that will be published in a national magazine. Pre-publication release of the photos provoked a storm of criticism and a quick apology by Cyrus for her choice to allow the pictures to be taken. Reading the story, I couldn't help but think of more than a few choices I have made in life that seemed good at the time but which produced a harvest of unintended consequences. How about you? Are you choosing wisely, inviting the best outcome in life? The importance of choosing wisely is a recurring theme in the Scripture! How do we choose wisely?

Most basically, we must decide who is Lord, God or Self. Elijah, the fearless prophet of God at a time when Israel was deeply involved in idolatry, laid down this challenge: "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." (1 Kings 18:21, NKJV) Who is in charge of your life, Believer? Have you made an irrevocable choice to embrace God's rule, committing yourself to follow His ways in all things, everyday? None of us does it perfectly! But, we can and, by the power of the Spirit, we will grow in grace and He will forgive us our sins and failures.

If we choose to make Him the Lord of life, it follows that we must discern His purpose. Wouldn't we be foolish to say, "I am a disciple of Christ," but have no idea where is He leading us? Jesus asks, "Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?" (Luke 6:46, NLT) Some who call themselves Christians wrap the Bible around their lives. The words of Jesus become a veneer that hides their own self-will. A disciple who is sincere wraps his life around the Word! Prayerfully, honestly, humbly he gives himself to know and understand the Word and, having internalized it, allows the principles to shape every decision.

It is hard to give up our freedom of choice! For those of us who were taught to value self-expression, personal fulfillment, and happiness above all things, it is a hard thing to kneel before the Cross of Christ and 'die to Self.' I want to do what makes Jerry happy, but I am not my own. Nor are you, Believer. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV) That is not a grim statement of resignation, at all. It is a declaration of a glorious privilege. We are sons, not servants, and we make our Father's will known in this world; "His good, pleasing, and perfect will." (Romans 12.2) The paradox, in terms of human reasoning, is that the person who surrenders himself to God finds is the most free person of all - free from slavery to sin, free from fear of judgment, and free to become the person he was designed to be by his Creator.

What choices are you making today? Are they wise? Are they in keeping with your heritage as God's child?

Jesus promises that choosing wisely to live in the will of God produces the best outcome. Meditate on this passage and let it shape your ways. "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27, NIV)
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All to Jesus, I surrender,
all to Him, I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him,
in His presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior.
I surrender all!

All to Jesus, I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee.
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

- Judson Van DeVenter - public domain

How to have a great week

"After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself." (1 Samuel 18:1, NIV) The crown prince, Jonathan, became the close friend and ally of David, the man whom God had chosen to take the throne instead of him! That kind of thing was unheard of in a time when kings even killed off their own family members to eliminate competition. In the story, Jonathan defends David, warns him of his father's murderous rage, and respects God's call to the very end of his life. Where we would expect to find rivalry and defensiveness, we find two men who love each other deeply. Both of their lives were enriched by their relationship.

Some think that love is a sign of weakness. Such persons live defensively, are quick to take offense, are always protecting their dignity and insisting that others give them what they believe they are entitled to receive. If another steps in front of them in a line, agitation sets in. If someone does not listen to them, they are angry. When overlooked for a promotion or recognition they feel they deserve, they sulk and even sabotage the one who was rewarded. But love is actually the expression of amazing strength of character. Those who live in love choose to live at peace, giving respect without the need to have it returned. Instead of seeing others as competitors or life as a contest, each day brings them opportunities to care for others- good, bad, noble, base, young, old, powerful, weak - it just doesn't matter!

Jesus is the model of this kind of life. He boldly loved others. In a time when children were treated much differently than we treat them today, He allowed them to climb onto his lap and 'blessed' them. That word, by the way, does not just mean he pronounced a prayer over them. It can mean He made them laugh by raising their spirits! He did not consider Himself too good to sit down to eat with those who lives were moral wrecks. For that He earned the scorn of the religious elite who thought they were insulting Him when they called Him "friend of sinners." He took their words as commendation that He was truly doing God's work! On the night when His own heart was broken as He faced the Cross, He did not insist on being comforted. Instead, He gathered His friends at Passover dinner and washed their feet! "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:15, NIV) And, then He chose to die for the sins of the world - the Sinless One taking on the sins of the world - and making us right with our Father. "Greater love has no man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends!"

Do you love well? Those who live in love enrich others and they are made rich in return! Love is a choice to become aware of others, to put their needs before our own, and to appropriately express concern. A person who loves takes himself out of the center of things and gives his attention to those around him. Here's a word from the Word. It is familiar, but read it with thought, prayerfully asking the Lord of Love to give you understanding of what it means.
"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
We love each other because he loved us first." (1 John 4:16-19, NLT)

Go, love your world! When you do, you will have a great week, for you will be pleasing your Heavenly Father and you will experience the joy of His Presence.

Things I hate!

Hate is a strong word that offends some people. The dictionary defines hatred as "an intense dislike, extreme hostility." The tolerant culture in which we live tries to smooth out the wrinkles of hatred in us, and for good reason. Hatred is a nuclear emotion! It packs a lot of punch and, if not carefully monitored and properly focused, becomes a toxin that destroys us. But, there are things I hate.

High on my list of things hated is abuse of power! Whether it is a government official throwing his weight around, a parent misusing his authority, or a spiritual leader feeding himself at the expense of those who follow him; I hate it. My blood boils when I see a powerful person exploit a weaker one.

I hate hypocrisy- in me, and in the world around me. As much as I love authenticity, I know there are shadows in my life, places where the truth is obscured. It makes me angry when I become aware of a gap between what I profess to believe and how I live. When I am in a room with a poser, puffing and pretending to be someone he is not, the desire to shout out the truth is nearly overwhelming.

I hate suffering, especially the kind that is unnecessarily inflicted on others by people who just don't care. Recently my uncle told me of touring WW2 Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. Those imprisoned there were required to wear a hat at all times and to always stay on the concrete walkways. If a prisoner stepped off the walkway, he was shot by guards in towers. Sadistic guards would go among the prisoners, grab the hat from someone's head and toss it onto the grass. Then they would order the man to retrieve his hat or suffer punishment. When he stepped off the walkway, he was shot down. If he did not, he was beaten to death! That is an extreme example, but the same kind of cruelty, just of a different degree, exists all around us. Why people enjoy inflicting pain on others is a mystery to me.

I hate sin. Here it gets a lot less black and white. I do hate sin, but sometimes I desire it. The Bible teaches us that this part of the normal human experience. "The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge." (Romans 7:21-23, The Message) I cannot trust my own resolve to protect me from doing wrong! In fact, just about the time I start to feel self-assured, just about the time I conclude that I am beyond the reach of some temptation, I find myself locked in battle with it. The Bible goes on to say, "Jesus Christ ... acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." (Romans 7:24-25, The Message)

Let me circle 'round and close the loop of this thought. A Believer who fails to acknowledge that he is prone to be tempted, that the sinful nature and the enemy of his soul are always ready to seduce him given the slightest opportunity, is very likely to become all the other things on the list of things I hate! Yes, I am prone to those things. If I don't not hate sin in me, I will focus on the sins of others and become a critical abuser. I will fail to see my own failures and become hypocritical, with a stench of self-righteousness covering my life. I will inflict suffering on others by demanding from them what I cannot or will not demand of myself. That is why I love Jesus! He is my Savior. For no other reason than love, He invites me to the Cross, where He died to reconcile me to my Father and to restore, in me, the ability to do God's will. I kneel in humility, acknowledging that I have sinned and that I am a sinner. Forgiveness flows and I find release from guilt, renewal of hope, and the possibility of transformation. Then, He invites me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, daily, and the power of the Spirit in me changes me 'from glory to glory.'

Believer, hate sin; but be careful that your hatred of it, drives you only to the Cross! If you allow it to take you anywhere else, that hatred will destroy you and cause you to harm those around. But, if your extreme aversion to sin takes you to the Cross, you will be transformed into a warrior of love, making the world right. Then, this will be true of you. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV)
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YahwehT'sebaoth

There is a moment in that old movie, The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and company discover that behind the curtain there is only a little man pulling levers! The mystery is stripped away and the ordinariness of the machine revealed. Is your God too small? It's thought I'm working through today. Is He so great in your life, so amazing, that you tremble before Him, or have you tamed Him, explained Him, defined Him to such an extent that He no longer reigns in majesty? When we pursue the knowledge of the Holy One, we find that His majesty grows greater, His grandeur only increasing with discovery!

In that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, there is a line that says, "Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same." YahwehT'sebaoth- the Lord of Hosts- is a name given to God often in the Old Testament. Some modern translations say "Almighty God" but I really love the imagery of The Message which translates that title as "God-of-the-Angel-Armies." The Hebrew - "tsaba" - is a generalized word that means a force, a group, or an army. When the Scripture calls God, Yahweh T'sebaoth, the intent is to impress us with His power that is beyond challenge.

How easily we trivialize God, fooling ourselves into thinking we are reverencing Him by attaching a Christian fish to our car's bumper, or wearing a cross on our lapel, or saying a ritual prayer before we drop off to sleep. True worship of Yahweh T'sebaoth is expressed in trusting Him implicitly and following His commands without question! That can be hard to do when He only allows us to see a slice of time that doesn't include a neat ending to the story of our lives! We discover the true depth of our surrender to His authority when His orders appear to leading us into tough times or costly sacrifice.Let me illustrate the principle of submission from common experience. If you think your project manager is competent, if you understand her goals, if you agree with her strategy, it's easy to fall in line, isn't it? If our boss or leader inspires us we readily put ourselves wholeheartedly into the effort they're leading. But what about the times when you don't know the plan, when you only have your assignment and not the whole plan, and have not worked with the one in charge enough to really know if she's all that competent as a leader? It is natural then to wonder - "Is this the right thing to do? Will this really succeed?"

The Bible tells us that God is Yahweh T'sebaoth, urging us to trust Him totally, even when He doesn't reveal the whole plan to us! The General of Heaven's Armies has it all worked out and He's been very successful! So, when He sends us into the battle in life - be it with temptation, with sickness, with Satan or his demons- we go with full assurance, and with authority - not of our own making, but from His Name! David, just a teenager, went to do battle with Goliath, the giant champion of the Philistine army that was holding the line against the armies of Israel. Filled with faith and in spite of not knowing exactly how the Lord would provide the victory, the teenage shepherd strode onto the field where the contest would take place. His courage came from knowing he was in the Lord's army. As he approached the skilled warrior, he said, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, butI come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty (YahwehT'sebaoth), the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me... and the whole worldwill know that there is a God in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:45-46, NIV) And, we know the rest of the story. David defeated the hero in the power of the Lord and God's Name was honored.

Don't make God too small in your understanding. Don't steal His majesty. Let Him impress His majesty on you. "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." (Ephesians 1:17-19, NIV) Stay patiently with this theme as I take you to one more Scripture passage.

After Judah was destroyed by Babylonia and Jerusalem lay in ruins for about 70 years, some Jews hadreturned from Babylon to rebuild their nation. Nehemiah had led the campaign to restore the city walls. Ezra headed the campaign to rebuild the Temple. Surrounding nations were threatened by the re-building and sent an emissary to Xerxes, the Persian king who had allowed the reconstruction, asking him to stop the effort. The enemies of Judah said, "If the Jews rebuild their Temple, their God willreturn and make them strong again!" For several years the work was at a standstill, the foundations and stonework reminding the Jews of their weakness before the great Persian empire. During that time, Zechariah preached and encouraged Zerrubabel, the mayor of Jerusalem.

The prophet said, "This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor bystrength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. (YahwehTsebaoth) Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabelwill set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people willshout: `May God bless it! May God bless it!' " (Zechariah 4:6-7,NLT)

Who is trying to stymie God's work in your life?
Who is trying to discourage you, cause you to doubt or fear?
Bow in humble reverence, magnify God in sincere praise.
Then, speak to them and say, "It is not by force nor by strength, but by mySpirit, says the Lord Almighty (Yahweh Tsebaoth)!"
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It's not an option!

It was the quiet of the dawn around 5:30. Bev was already up preparing for her day and I was awake. My habit in those first moments of consciousness is to talk with the Lord; simple prayers, often just phrases, that reflect my concerns of the particular day. They are childlike prayers when I present myself to my Lord, inviting Him to work in me and through me. But yesterday, I was more childish than childlike! I awakened thinking of my father's critical illness. I was angry; raw, unfocused, aching anger. Piled on top of those emotions there was disappointment, there was fear, and there was a terrible sense of inadequacy to meet the present challenges in my life. I was tempted to refuse to pray! "Why should I talk to You," I thought, "when You keep silent and allow such pain? Just leave me alone!" I was not sure if I was forsaking God or if He was forsaking me, but I felt alone, without serenity.

Just about every Believer I know experiences those kind of moments. Financial stress, people that do us wrong, relationships that fail to live up to their promise, physical pain, illness, aging, guilt ... are common to us all, at one time or another. Sometimes these things come at us all at once like a powerful wave that threatens to engulf us and sweep us away. It is quite common to grow fearful on those days. Since fear and anger live very close to one another in our emotions, one flows into the other and we tend to be angry and afraid at the same time. When we are in that place, the devil exploits the moment by tempting us to turn against the very One who can restore our peace.

Yesterday, when my fears fueled my childish anger with God, His wonderful Word sprang to mind: "Pray without ceasing!" (1 Thess. 5.17) By bringing Truth to me, the Spirit was waging war on my behalf, inviting me to defeat evil with obedience. "Pray all the time, that's an order!" is what God was saying to me. He doesn't tell me to pray nice prayers, or short prayers, or long prayers, or eloquent prayers; but He does tell me (and you!) to keep our lines of communication open. When we stop talking to our Father, we break the sweet fellowship that is the one thing we need most to quiet our fearful hearts and calm our angry minds! In another passage, the Word instructs us that we must not "worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel." (Philippians 4:6-7, CEV)

When prayer is difficult, when there is little delight in sharing our heart with the Lord, there are ways to remain faithful to His command to pray always.

Use the words of another! When words fail me, I turn to the Psalms or a borrow a song. In a time of sorrow recently, I sang, "Does Jesus care, when my heart is pained, too deeply for mirth and song. As the burdens press and the cares distress, and the way goes weary and long? Oh, Yes, He cares! I know He cares. His heart is touched with my grief!" -public domain

Let others pray for you! Yesterday, in a meeting with several fellow Pastors, I soaked up their prayers offered for my Dad and me. I murmured my agreement as they shared the burden.

Pray simply, using a single phrase! When tempted, I might pray over and over, "Purify my heart." When standing near a suffering saint, I sometimes repeat, "Lord, have mercy." Even the name of Jesus, whispered to Him reverently, again and again, is a prayer.

Let the Spirit lead! The Word gives this promise of His Advocacy on our behalf. "The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." (Romans 8:26-27, NLT)

Prayer is not an option. When we pray, we open up our lives to the power of God and, in ways that defy our understanding, we become co-laborers in His work of building His Kingdom here on earth. Pray first, not last. Pray often, not seldom. Pray boldly, not tentatively. Pray faithfully, knowing that He is faithful, even when you cannot discern His ways or hear His voice.
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"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were." (Psalm 39:12, NIV)
"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8, NLT)
"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light." (Psalm 56:12-13, NLT)

Selling God?

Last weeks' headlines were jarring to me as a person of faith. Time and again, I saw this line or one similar. "Pope Benedict XVI out of touch with American Catholics." One TV news story featured an angry young woman railing on the Catholic church for not being "more responsive to the demands of women in the church." These are the reflections of people so accustomed to having everything shaped by their opinions and/or their dollars that they simply assume even their church should bend to their will. In our consumer driven culture everything is for sale at the right price. Churches of all persuasions are being forced to play along with consumer demands or they wither and die. Look no further than the church just down the road that is affiliated with one of the large mainline denominations. Many are within a decade of death! What we see results from watering down the Truth and hanging onto superfluous traditions for too long. In many of those churches, which once held the prominent place in every town, about half the members are women over the age of 60, according to a professor of advertising named James Twitchell. One doesn't have to be in advertising to know that if the largest group of people 'buying' your product is over age 60, the future for your business is not bright.
- The Divine Commodity, Leadership, Winter, 2008

But, is Christianity about marketing? Is it about giving the public what it wants? Is it about taking polls and adjusting the content of our message to please the maximum amount of people? I think not!

The church is not serving hamburgers that you can 'have your way!' Christ's church provides guidance for life, both present and eternal. Christianity is about a pursuit of revealed Truth not a pursuit of maximum profit. (Or at least it ought to be!) We hold certain statements to be true regardless of how many are offended. To be sure, adaptations in the ways we worship, or even in the ways we apply what we believe to be True to our lives, are in order. There are traditions that can change without compromise of the message. A pipe organ is not more holy than a guitar. Robed clergy are not more pleasing to God than preachers in street clothing. The Bible translation commissioned by King James of 17th century England cannot be said to be more accurate or more holy than the New International Version.

But, God's revealed Truth about the Deity of Christ, His commands about holy living, the fact of salvation from sin available only through His grace given at the Cross, and such things; are not up for vote, nor are they subject to revision to fit current sensibilities.

Believer, let's make it personal. Are you a spiritual consumer, quick to move to a different church when you collide with some stand on a matter you regard as inconvenient or unpleasant? Are you quick to criticize spiritual leadership in your church or even in the wider Church when their teaching runs headlong into your choices or values? We need to rethink the way we relate to the place and the persons who provide spiritual care for us and our family. We do not want somebody in our church pulpit whose primary qualification for ministry is his great charisma and glib tongue. He will substitute his opinions for eternal Truth to win our loyalty and applause! Those who teach us the Scripture should be deeply devout, reverent before God, and careful students of Scripture, who are full of the Spirit. If our preacher is telling us things we want to hear, all the time; if he does not make us think and occasionally perspire with some level of discomfort over the way we are living, we ought to question his devotion to the Truth! He might love our money more than our souls. Don't confuse sincerity, earnestness, or even the volume of presentation with passion for the Truth. While some churches err by falling in love with tradition, I fear that in the evangelical church we have fallen so in love with 'relevance and change' that our preachers are adrift on the sea of novelty, without an anchor in immutable Truth! There is no substitute for hearing, "the Bible says" from the lips of one who has "been diligent to rightly divide the Word of Truth."

In a letter to a younger pastor named Timothy, Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote: "Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you." (2 Timothy 4:2-5, NLT) Such a commission is demanding. It requires that the pastor resist the latest fad sweeping through the Church even when he knows that some will leave for a church more 'open to the move of the Spirit' taking their support and service! The true servant of God will remain steady and solid when people say, "but, Rev. Riches says..." and he is a big-name preacher on TV who appears to be oh-so-successful. In those kinds of situations, as a shepherd of God's people, I pray for the humility to be teachable, but also for the courage of a lion to remain faithful in defense of the Truth.

Here's what God asks of each of us. Take this word from the Word and let it shape your love of God's church and support for those godly men and women He has called to serve as teachers in His body. "Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. . . . Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen." (Hebrews 13:17, 20-21, NLT)
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The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by water and the word.
From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

Elect from ev'ry nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation - "One Lord, one faith, one birth;"
One holy name she blesses; partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with ev'ry grace endued.

'Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious, shall be the Church at rest.

Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, "how long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

The Church's One Foundation
Samuel Wesley © Public Domain

Make it God's week!

Monday mornings have a terrible reputation. Traditionally, it is the 'back to work' day after the weekend break. Another week stretches out in front of us with work to be done, deadlines to be met. Let me suggest that instead of thinking, "O Lord, it's Monday," with a sigh; that you change that to: "Praise God, it's Monday!" with a song. Commit the week to the Lord, asking Him for wisdom for each task, for strength to carry each burden, and for enthusiasm in each challenge. Instead of dragging yourself toward Friday, choose to live fully in each day, in what God allows for that day.

One of the miracle experiences that God gave to His people when they were making the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land provides a great lesson for those of us who attempt to take on too many days at one time. While the Israelites were in the desert, God fed them each day with a miraculous provision called 'manna.' The name literally means "what is it?" because that was what they said on the first morning that they found the white, flakey stuff lying on the ground in their camp. "It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:31, NIV) Moses instructed them not to hoard it. "Just gather enough for the day and tomorrow God will provide it again." Some of them did not listen and tried to store it. The next day they found it had gone bad and developed a terrible smell! Here's a curious detail. On the day before Sabbath, they could gather two day's provisions and the manna did not spoil! The lesson? Let God be Lord of this day and leave tomorrow to His care.

Sometimes I weary myself and/or grow discouraged by anticipating the work of another day before I have finished this day's work. Jesus says that living for tomorrow is foolish and teaches us to take each day, one at a time, and the bread provided for it. "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11, NIV) "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." (Matthew 6:34, The Message) Give us today our daily bread! That short phrase is a way to pray, "Lord, provide what I need to meet the challenges of this day and help me not to borrow sunshine or trouble from tomorrow!"

So, make it God's week! Pray your way through each day. Present your requests with faith that He has an answer. Talk over your concerns and let Him help you solve your problems. Give thanks for what He provides so that you don't become self-centered. Seek His wisdom which He promises to give to those who ask. Weep, if you need to, with Him; for He is a Friend that cares for you. If you do these things, you will arrive at Friday in a much better frame of mind.

Letting the Lord provide for each day keeps us humbly dependent on Him. As proud people and living in a culture of wealth and self-reliance, we resist living from day to day. It is possible to be rich in supplies, yet poor in our relationship with the Spirit. Our Father wants us to know His love, to live at His table, to come often into His Presence. It's Monday! Begin this week with His gracious blessings by taking your needs to Him early and often. Remember He is Yahweh Yireh - "The Lord, Your Provider." (Genesis 22.14)
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They're watching!

Maribel and I traveled to Selinsgrove, PA yesterday to see my parents. My grandson, age 13 months, was in his car seat in the center of the backseat of my car. I started snapping my fingers to the beat the song on the CD and in the rearview mirror caught a glimpse of the tyke with his little arm extended and bent just like mine, trying his best to snap his fingers. It was a funny, sobering moment! What other parts of my life is he watching? What will he take away from Grandpa's example in word and action? The thought persisted through the day as I walked and talked with my Dad and saw, in a renewed way, the power of legacy. My Dad's parents met Christ and were transformed by the Gospel. They passed the the faith to my parents, who passed the faith to me. Bev and I passed it to our children, who are now passing it to their children. As I took a photo of my Dad and my grandson; and a silent prayer went up to the Lord - "may all who come behind me, find me faithful!"

Believer, the Gospel that is entrusted to us is not just to be preached, it must be lived! We not only have a message, we have a charge to be models of faith. Paul wrote, "Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern." (Philippians 3:17, NKJV) There is no arrogance in his statement. It is an invitation. He was able to say, "If you want to know how this thing called Christianity works, watch me! Do what I do. As I work out the implications of being a follower of Christ, you can observe my choices, my decisions, and use them as a guide in your own discipleship."

Can you say the same to your family, to your neighbors, to your world?

My first objection is, "That's hard and I'm not perfect." Nobody is, not even Paul who invited those first generation Believers to imitate his walk with Christ. Authenticity is of critical importance! We teach as much by the way we recover from our mistakes as we do when we hit a homerun; perhaps even more. Recently I was having a conversation with a fellow Believer about the road I am walking with my Dad in this time of his critical illness. It's been a difficult way - a mix hope and fear, times of amazing faith and no faith at all. The man with whom I was speaking reminded me that many were watching and learning from my example. "Oh, Lord!" I thought to myself, "what if I don't do this well?" But that's the wrong focus. It's not about me; it's about the Presence of Christ in me.

Jesus Christ showed His first disciples and us, as well, how to be a good example. He told them that the strength is not from will, intellect, or wit! "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8, NIV) Passing the faith along, being a teller, a mentor, and a model is not a matter of performance. That is the tragedy of superficial religion. It isn't about learning some good lines or putting on a good show. It is living as people of the Spirit, changed from the inside out. The Lord reserved His strongest condemnation for those who put on a good religion show, whose hearts were far from devotion to God. Of them, He said, ". . . be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer. "Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. . . . Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. "I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom." (Matthew 23:3-5, 11-13, The Message)

Pray that God will make you a bridge to the life of Christ, not a roadblock!
Deal ruthlessly with sin and inconsistency in your life.
Refuse the temptation to pretend to be someone that you are not but, at the same time,
aspire to be all that the Holy Spirit makes it possible for you to become.
And, the beauty of Jesus will shine through you.

God, my Defender

The story of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt reaches the high point of drama as the Israelites are camped by the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh is approaching. Tension builds. What will the people of God do? Will there be bloodshed before they are dragged back to their slavery in that land? The people were terrified. Moses cried out to the Lord. Then we read that God moved the cloud that had been the symbol of His Presence before them, to the rear of their camp to separate them from the approaching army. Finally, in the night, God opened the waters and "the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!" (Exodus 14:22, NLT) As dawn approached, Pharaoh made his move. His chariots went into the watery chasm as the Israelites had done. Confusion broke out. The wheels of their chariots fell off. "Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!" the Egyptians shouted. "The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!" (Exodus 14:25, NLT) At God's command, Moses stretched out his hand and the waters closed, killing the Egyptian army and ending the threat.

It's a glorious story written to inspire hope and faith. The question that begs an answer for me is- should we expect God to defend us in similar manner? Oh, friend, it is a dangerous one to ask. We want to quickly say, "Yes!" and claim our place at the head of the line of humanity as many Christians do. We want to conclude that God will lead us into triumph, pouring out blessings on us. But is that a right expectation?

The first thing that we need to do is to make the distinction between ourselves as individual Believers and God's Church, the Body of Christ. God will always defend His Bride, the Church. He will see to it that She is protected from the world until Christ returns to finalize the defeat of Evil. In a passage pregnant with promise, we read of God's salvation of His church. And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:14-17, NIV)

God will keep us, as individuals, who trust in Him, safe in His embrace, too. But, we may find ourselves experiencing hard times, enduring difficult situations, even becoming martyrs- squarely in the center of God's purposes. "But, Jerry, that doesn't sound like He is defending me!" My point is that His purposes for us may be entirely different than what we think they are or should be. As an illustration of this principle take the experience of Jim Elliott and his missionary friends who were killed on January 8, 1956 while on an outreach to a tribe of native people in the Ecuadorian jungles. Those young men, in the prime of life, thought that their mission was to take the Gospel to that little tribe. I do not think that even one of them thought their calling was to be fulfilled in an awful death on a small river beach in the Amazon! Each wanted to build the Kingdom of God and each did, though not in the way they thought they would. Their martyrdom inspired thousands of young people to take up the call of missions in the second half of the 20th century. The effect of Elliott's life was magnified many times over in his death. Did God defend him? Not from death at the tip of a spear, but He did work His kingdom purposes and most certainly received those brave men to Himself.

This is a hard word, acceptable only if we have a heart full of faith. But it is Biblical, dear friend. The 'faith chapter' (Hebrews 11) opens with this definition: " Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1, NIV) The Spirit leads us in that passage through some wonderful examples of men and women who enjoyed great victories by faith, who others admired and who inspire us to greater faith to this day: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samson, David, even Rahab!

But the chapter does not end with such glorious stories. It ends with a passage that is not read with as much enthusiasm as the first half. "But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us." (Hebrews 11:35-40, NLT)

The Psalmist sings, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4, NKJV)

Steady on, Believer. He is our Defender. He is at work to accomplish His will, to build His Kingdom. He assures us that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28, NKJV)

Jesus, hold my hand. Teach me to lean on You, to trust You equally when the sun shines brightly overhead and when the way is darkened by storms.
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The Noonday Demon

Almost everyday, right around 1 pm, I feel my energy sag. If I lean back on my chair and close my eyes, I can fall asleep in 30 seconds. Fortunately, if a nap overtakes me, I know that I will awaken in about 10 minutes. The brief rest leaves me feeling refreshed. I just hope that no one finds me napping in my office! I would not want to be charged with the sin of sloth. Now there's a word we don't hear much. Does a midday nap make me guilty?

The ancient church leaders listed 7 deadly sins that afflict the soul:

Pride, the excessive belief in one's own abilities;
Envy, the desire for what belongs to another;
Gluttony, an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires;
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body;
Anger, also known as wrath;
Greed, the desire for material wealth or gain; and
Sloth, the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. Sloth was sometimes called the 'noonday demon' because it showed itself when the sun was hottest.

Are you afflicted with the sin of slothfulness? Many of us, when presented that question, could point to our long list of accomplishments and commitments. We could hold up an award or two for our diligence. Yet, if we took a deeper look we might find sloth rooted in our soul. Sometimes our frenetic day to day activities are a way to hide the barrenness of our soul that is brought on by spiritual sloth! Matthew Woodley points out, "Sloth causes a break in our relationship with God. In contrast to pride which responds to God with a defiant 'no!' - sloth responds to Him with a quiet 'yeah, whatever.'"

The Bible speaks to the slothful Believer challenging him to adopt a new way of life, "We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." {Heb 6:11-12 NIV} Let's break it down.

Show diligence. Don't ignore or excuse your spiritual stupor. Don't make the error of comparing yourself to others and taking false comfort that you're 'doing better than some.' The Lord asks us to give 'our personal best' to Him and will ask us to give account for our efforts. He does not grade by comparison. Diligence is not workaholism! It is obedient, faithful, consistent response to His leading.

Cultivate faith. The counsel of the Word is that we 'walk by faith, not by sight.' Even when the reward is hidden, we press ahead. Sometimes the Presence of God is obscured by fatigue, disappointment, or physical malady. In those moments we lean on our brothers and do the right thing just because we know it's right!

Be patient! The Bible does not ask a resigned- "Oh, well, I'll put up with this with gritted teeth" that we often confuse with real patience. True patience is illustrated by the wait of the farmer between planting season and harvest. The farmer knows that his seed will grow and produce a harvest IF he will just wait for the process. He keeps cultivating, keeps on with life, while he waits for a harvest. Practicing the disciplines of the Spirit day by day is the patient thing to do as we resist the tyranny of slothfulness that demands quick fixes and easy solutions to life's challenges. James says {1:3-4, 12} NLT (Give) "your endurance a chance to grow. . . . for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything... God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Sloth is seldom defeated by sheer determination. If we really want to become productive and faithful Christians, we will tell somebody about our struggle and ask them to help us make the choices we need to make, day after day, until a new habit replaces the old one.

Silence the whispers of the 'noonday demon' with the enduring wisdom of the Word that teaches us that -"Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor." (Proverbs 12:24, NIV) "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." (Proverbs 21:5, NIV)

Believer, are you 'killing time' because you just do not want to fight the good fight of faith? Here's a word from the Word. Meditate on it today as you ask the Spirit to help you defeat the temptation to sloth. "Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up. We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord." (Galatians 6:9-10, CEV)
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Beneath the cross of Jesus,
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a Mighty Rock
within a weary land.
A home within the wilderness
a rest along the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.

-Public Domain
Elizabeth Clephane

We need a Daniel!

Are you tired of the endless political season? I am! It's not that I think this election is unimportant. It would be refreshing to hear a thoughtful, deep, and detailed discussion about the serious issues facing this nation, of which there is no shortage! Challenges that need to be addressed include the cost of energy which threatens to bankrupt us, the availability and cost of health care, the spiraling cost of education, the spiritual, social, and economic ills that are creating the wastelands we call urban areas, the endless war in Iraq, and more. Instead of proposals we get sound-bites about who drinks with whom, half-true stories of past exploits, claims about who is more 'in touch' with average Americans, and debates about experience and who is too young or too old for the office. Even the televised debates, which are supposed to provide us with insight into the candidate's minds, produce more of the same shallow image polishing and sly personal attacks. To me much of what passes for political discussion looks like grown-ups playing schoolyard 'gotcha' games.

We need a Daniel, but I am not sure if a democratic election can produce that kind of leader - bold, truthful, wise, and ready to speak the truth without regard for polls or popularity. Someone has said that "America gets the leaders it deserves!" Perhaps that is true. Maybe we are so pre-occupied with greed, protecting our entitlements, and looking good that we are prepared to elect a person who mirrors that same lack of depth to lead us. In the book of Daniel, we read of a man who was faithful to God and full of wisdom, who spoke truth to power. Daniel was a teenage noble in Judah when the Babylonian army took him captive and transported him back to their capital city to serve in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. Many years later, when he was an old man, that empire came to a moment of crisis. Here's how the Queen-mother describes Daniel to the king. "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called." (Daniel 5:11-12, NKJV)

Believer, I want to be that kind of person in my neighborhood, my town; yes, in my world. How about you? I want to be known as a man in whom lives the Spirit of God and who can be trusted to be thoughtful, prayerful, and wise. Wouldn't be wonderful if Christians in America were respected as people of "light and understanding and wisdom?" like Daniel of old? We need to live excellently so that when our family members who do not know God come into a time of crisis they turn to each other and say, "we need to call on (our name) because the Spirit of God lives in him!" Such a life comes with a cost. It means doing the right thing even when it is hard. It means keeping our word even when it hurts. It means remaining deeply devoted even when God falls silent and we walk by faith through dark days. It means studying the Word diligently and avoiding simple-minded clichés and slogans. After his encounter with the king, Daniel was raised to a high place in the empire. He so distinguished himself that the other court officials said this of him. "Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." (Daniel 6:3-5, NIV)

And, as the story goes, he continued to serve God even when they duped the king into outlawing prayer. His faithfulness got him thrown into the famed lions' den! But even there his devotion, steadiness, and faith shown brightly.

Yes, America needs a Daniel. It probably won't be the next President, but it could be you and me. We may never hold high office or even be known beyond our town. But, each of us can exercise a powerful influence for good, for righteousness, for truth in our home, our extended family, our place of employment, our church, and our community. God, make me a Daniel.

Here's a word from the Word. Keep it in your thoughts today. "Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world." (1 Peter 2:11-12, NLT)
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Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God's command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel's band!

Many mighty men are lost,
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel's band!

Many giants great and tall,
Stalking thru the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel's band!

Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known!

Dare to be a Daniel
Philip Bliss © Public Domain

The sky is falling!

When an acorn fell and hit her on the head, Chicken Little announced to the barnyard animals that the sky was falling. Yes, it's a fairy tale, but the lesson is one we all need. Take care about jumping to conclusions that the available facts do not support! Seems to me that we live in an age when the voices of the fearful are amplified through the megaphone of the media. One professor with a sensational story can seize the nation's attention as he makes his way from network to network telling his story about the terrible thing that is about to wipe out human civilization as we know it. What he, and most of us fail to remember, is that human beings have been amazingly gifted by God to give birth to creative solutions for problems that arise!

Is life really as awful as we are often led to believe? Is the doom of the world imminent at the hands of crazed terrorists, big oil companies, or polluters? Before you say, 'yes,' consider this. One hundred years ago, the average life expectancy for an American was around age 50; today it is near 80. When I was a child, there were hundreds of 'dead' rivers and lakes in America, full of toxic wastes. Today, there are virtually none! Dr. Paul Erlich, a biologist and author of the 1967 book The Population Bomb, predicted that "the world would experience famines sometime between 1970 and 1985 due to population growth outstripping resources. Ehrlich wrote that "the battle to feed all of humanity is over ... In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now." Ehrlich also stated, "India couldn't possibly feed two hundred million more people by 1980," and "I have yet to meet anyone familiar with the situation who thinks that India will be self-sufficient in food by 1971." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_R._Ehrlich Forty years later and with a world population that has doubled, the predicted famines are not happening. Is there hunger in the world? Absolutely, but not because of production problems. Hunger exists in some parts of our world primarily because of warfare and distribution issues not production problems.

My point is not to belittle caution or to say that there are no real problems in our world or even in our individual lives. What we fail to recognize, personally and as human beings, is that change is constant. Innovations and adaptations are part of the world and we are constantly developing new tools that help us to overcome the doomsday predictions.

Some predict the demise of Christianity, the passing of the Church, within a generation. They selectively use statistics that produce great alarm (and bigger contributions!). Are they right? I am quite sure they are not! As one who came to maturity in a time of apocalyptic predictions about the 'end of the ages,' in the 1970's, I was fed a steady diet of sermons about the rise of the Anti-Christ and the coming of a world government that would bring a bloodbath of martyrdom to the faithful. I know what fear mongering can do and nothing good comes of it. I now understand the tragedy of a whole generation of Christians, who lost sight of the richness that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit could bring to their lives due to bad eschatology, built their entire spiritual experience around fear instead of hope! Paranoia replaced vision! I now see how those Gifts were given to empower the people of God to build the Kingdom of Christ in the world where they lived. But millions fearfully hunkered down in their churches, staring at charts that predicted an imminent Great Tribulation and led them to conclude that the End was near.

Thankfully, God is greater than our fears and misconceptions! While some of us waited for Jesus to whisk us out of this world, others heard the call of the Spirit to go and make a difference in Jesus' name. And, despite all the doom and gloom, since 1970 the Church has grown by leaps and bounds in Latin America, Africa, and even - wonder of wonders - in Communist China! Yes, Believer Friend, I do hold to the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ. However, that doctrine has become for me a great source of hope for the redemption of Creation as the Scripture would have us understand it! When Jesus promised to return, He did so as a statement of victory over sin, Hell, and death.

Are you letting the troubles of life fill you with fear? Are you living defensively, building walls to shut out every threat both real and imagined? Let me gently suggest that you have missed the major part of the Story! Go to the Scripture and read again the glorious 8th chapter of Romans! In one brief, breathtaking passage, we are told of God's plan, about our destiny as His children who now call the Lord of Glory, "Dad!" We are urged to keep faith even as we work through the difficulties of life. Then the chapter closes with this shout of victory. Take it with you today. "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-32, 37-39, NIV)

Pray that faith will overcome fear, that God will make you a person who is full of the Spirit and who works diligently to bring Light and Life to a world that so often marred by Darkness and Death.
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:15-17, NKJV)
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Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

-- 8th Century Hymn

I failed the test!

Since last week, my physical frame has been plagued with severe pain. First it was a shoulder, now a hip. I'm not talking mild discomfort. I'm talking 'take your breath away, make you yell' stabbing pain. The shoulder's pain escalated over two days to the point of becoming immobile, then subsided about as quickly. The hip's pain seems to be on the wane. My response to this week of pain was not one of grace or simple faith! I became short-tempered and had a heart full of complaint. Yes, I failed the test of suffering in patient quietness! As I talked over my responses with the Lord, confessing my failure to accept His grace for this trial, He gently reminded me that many people suffer much worse pain and for extended periods of time. I could sense the Spirit saying, "Are you gentle with them? Do you empathize, encourage, and help them carry the burden? Do you offer them grace and faith, or do you just 'instruct' them?" Being human, I quickly told the Lord I would do better.... and that I didn't need a retest!

Suffering should help us to understand our frailty and make us dependent on our God so that His glory and strengthen can shine through our weakness. But, does it? Too often, no. Many are like me, assuming a right to feeling well, to having a pill at hand to take away pain, to finding a solution now for the things that are difficult. But sometimes the Lord has a purpose for leading us into temptation! (Read that word 'temptation' not as a time of seduction to sin, but rather as a time of testing for the purpose revealing weakness and strengthening faith.)

In the 14th chapter of the Exodus, we learn that shortly after the Israeli people left their Egyptian slavery, delivered by the mighty hand of God, something that defied all logic, happened. Take a look. "Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses: "Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon." (Exodus 14:1-2, NLT) God turned them around, led them back toward Egypt and to a place where their ability to get away was blocked by a body of water! Why? Because the Lord wanted to draw the Pharaoh and his armies into one more decisive conflict. He wanted Pharaoh to think that they were confused and ready to be retaken! "I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord!" So the Israelites camped there as they were told." (Exodus 14:4, NLT)

Pharaoh took the bait and soon the Israelis saw the approaching army. Did they remember that God was with them? Did they quietly wait for the next instructions? No. They failed the test! "They panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’ " (Exodus 14:10-12, NLT)

Moses' did not fail the test! "Moses spoke to the people: "Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again. God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!" (Exodus 14:13-14, The Message) And we know the rest of that story, the great crossing of the sea when God parted the waters.

A pastor from Kenya and I were talking about faith and prayer. "Jerry, I find that American Christians don't depend enough on the Lord," Patrick said. He went on to explain that in Africa, because they are not so wealthy, because they do not have so many medical resources, the Christians are much more prone to trust God, to fast and to seek Him in times of trial! How unlike us. Usually pain doesn't make us reflective and faithful - it tends to make us loud in complaint and angry with God! Dear friend, let's renew our commitment to Him, trusting Him with the pain as quickly as we praise Him for the blessings. Let's rediscover the God-honoring life that emerges when we dethrone Self and enthrone Christ as Lord of all, and let Him lead us even where we would not naturally choose to go.

Here's a word from the Word to ponder today. Paul wrote it as he reflected on his own prayer for relief from something that caused him distress.
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:8-10, NIV)

Thanks for praying for the Lord to heal my body.
But I'd appreciate your prayers even more that my faith would be made strong so that I won't flunk the test next time!
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Paradise

Last night 'round 9:30, I sat quietly alone prayerfully thinking about the day that was now ending; and I longed for Paradise. As I prayed, God was near. The experience of His Presence is wonderful, but I still have to deal with the multiple evidences of sin in myself and my world - as I had done throughout yesterday. I am not complaining about my life! I enjoy rich blessings - the love of God, many friendships, a comfortable home, a loving wife, great kids. I even took my Miata out in the Spring sunshine for a spin with the top down yesterday. What I am trying to say is that even with a good life, there is a longing for that promised place where sin cannot enter, where suffering is unknown, and where intimacy with God is unbroken. The Psalmist expresses my desire: "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4, NIV)

Heaven is written into us by our Creator. He made us to love and serve Him and, as we invite His Spirit to be at work in us, we will more intensely desire His Presence, which will be perfectly known when we reach Paradise! One of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard, points Believers forward to eternity. Without a firm grasp on the promise of Paradise, we risk becoming disillusioned, even embittered, with the passing of time. He writes, "I meet many faithful Christians who, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in how their lives have turned out. Sometimes it is a matter of how they experience aging, which they take to mean they no longer have a future. But often, due to circumstances or wrongful decisions and actions by others, what they had hoped to accomplish in life they did not .... Much of the distress of these people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them.. the life that lies endlessly before us in the kingdom of God." (The Divine Conspiracy) We must look beyond what we cannot understand now and take hold of what we are certainly promised throughout the Scriptures. We must not allow ourselves to make the error of thinking that eternal life only begins when we die, that the joy of Heaven is only available to us after our bodies are in the grave! I am a citizen of Heaven, now by the grace of Jesus Christ. I can and I do commune with the Lord of Glory now. I am called to bring Heaven to earth, to live in earnest expectation of glories to come, while confronting the darkness of sin with the Light of Heaven, right now!

We need to imitate the life of the father of the faithful, Abraham. He heard God's call, grasped the reality of Paradise, and lived the rest of days here on earth on pilgrimage. Was he perfect? No! He took some detours from the straight and narrow path, but he never lost sight of where he was going. "By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God." (Hebrews 11:8-10, The Message)

I am concerned that we do not anticipate Paradise with greater desire because we have adopted a faulty vision of that place. Hollywood has given us the wrong picture of Heaven. The images of the misty fog enveloping transparent spirits floating in a ghostly realm, the fat little cherubs strumming harps as their feet dangle over the edge of clouds, is nonsense! Heaven is a place; yes, a real substantial place, created by the same God that thought up the refraction of sunlight by water moisture which produces the beauty of a rainbow. He did that for a thing of beauty that lasts for a few moments. The One who designed this temporal world, which is destined for destruction, has built a place where we will live eternally. If He would make a temporary world of such splendor, I can only begin to imagine what Heaven, His eternal home looks like. John tried to describe it for us, but could only speak of gates of pearl and streets of gold!

The best conversation, the deepest intimacy with another, the most wonderful worship, the most blissful day of rest - are just glimpses of Glory! So, by faith, reach out and hold onto Heaven. Never lose sight of that place. When life is overwhelming, when sin threatens to engulf you, when all seems futile, when disappointment breaks your heart - look up and thank God that He has written Heaven into your heart. It is precisely the longing for Paradise that makes us unwilling to settle down and desire our best life now. We are headed home!
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV)
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Smoke and Mirrors

I spent the morning with a young woman whose life has been turned inside out by a deceiver! To all appearances, the man was a Christian, concerned about serving others, generous, and ready to make a difference in the world. He befriended her, gave her gifts, and played up his meager accomplishments so he appeared to be a person headed for greatness. After he had gained access to her trust, he manipulated her into a significant financial deal. Then, he took off with the goods. He stole more than her money. He took away her ability to trust others, destroyed her self-confidence, and left a great deal of sorrow in the lives of several people.

Have you ever been deceived? It is a fairly common experience. We all encounter people that try to appear to be someone or something other than who they really are. Some are just harmless posers, wanna-be's who are playing a role. That is a stage that most of go through on our way to adulthood. We dress like a favorite actor or musician, adopt the mannerisms of a celebrity, or take on the persona of the coolest person we know. Almost all of us grow out of that stage as we leave our teens years behind and discover our own identity. But there are those who are incapable of being truthful with themselves, who refuse to do the hard work of making a real life for themselves, that become instruments of evil as they live a lie. Their lives are like a movie set; illusions made only of fabrications, boasts, and superficial appearance. They contribute nothing to others and drain away resources - financial, emotional, and relational- from all those with whom they have interactions.

Jesus describes such people as being just like their father! "For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. . . . He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44, NLT) What does the Evil One do? He destroys. He takes. He consumes. The words associated with him are darkness and death! Contrast that with what we find in the One who is Truth Personified! Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!" What does He do? He builds up. He gives. He enriches those who love Him and His words. In Him there is Light and Life!

That, dear Believer, is why I love the Truth and despise even the smallest falsehood, the most 'harmless' pretense. The truth, even when it leads to disclosure of what is ugly, is always to be preferred to a lie! When we love the Truth and tell the truth- to ourselves and to others - God is able to change our hearts and minds. As we confess (say the same thing about them as He says) our sins to Him, we not only find forgiveness. We find cleansing and power to live a new life.

Are you an immature poser, a wanna-be who is trying to be somebody you're not? Grow up in Christ. Stop playing silly religious games and do the work of spiritual disciplines that allow you to become a mature Believer, full of the Spirit, who builds the Kingdom of God in the world.

Are you a deceiver, lying and living in a world of deception? I fear for you! It is oh so easy to get lost in the maze of mirrors that a life of lies creates. Fall on your knees and tell the Lord you need to be led to freedom. Tell him that you can't trust your own heart. Ask Him to send His Truth. "For the word of God is living 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:12-13, NIV)

Here's a word of Truth. Meditate on it today.
"Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:22-25, NLT)

Plan "D"

We all have a preferred life path, plan "A." We have a back-up alternative, plan "B." There is that which we think is possible but unlikely, plan "C." But what often happens is, plan "D," that which we never even imagined in our wildest dreams or worst nightmares! Plan "D" is not always bad, though often frightening. It is the circumstance that develops unforeseen in our lives, that changes everything, and it shakes us to the core. Plan "D" events include situations like divorce, disease, career loss, a friend that turns against us becoming a foe, disaster, and spiritual crisis. They also can be serendiptious - a sudden promotion, birth of twins, the discovery of love, or spiritual awakening!

Many of us work very hard to keep surprises out of our lives. We plan carefully, build limits and walls into our lives, reduce expectations, and guard our emotions. Though we don't consciously think it, our guiding motto is "Better safe than sorry!" But surprises - both wonderful and not so great - manage to break through anyway. Having experienced some of those plan "D" moments in my lifetime, I can tell you that trusting God and staying faithful through them is the path to joy. If we resist Him, we will become embittered, miserable people. If we walk with Him, letting Him guide and lead, from our tears will water seeds from which grows the beauty of His character in us. In 1988, I found myself pastoring a small country church in New England, after serving on the staff of a suburban growing exciting church for eight years. Initially, I felt like the Lord had sidelined me. I wondered how long I would be 'in exile.' I experienced depression. But, I prayed for faith and embraced the place. That season of my life, which extended for over 12 years, was filled with rich experiences of ministry, loving people, and was of great benefit to my family. Looking back, I see so clearly that what I thought was a Plan "D" was actually God's gift where amazing blessings were bestowed on me for which I am thankful to this day!

In the book of James, the Spirit urges us to faithful acceptance of the lives that God gives to us. "Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. Those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:9-12, NLT) No, the Word does not teach us to be resigned to fate! We must not confuse acceptance of God's reign with resignation to 'life as it is!' James also teaches us, "Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. . . . The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." (James 5:13, 16, NLT) Those 'wonderful results' are often not at all what we expected! They are what God, in His infinite wisdom, brings into our lives.

Believer, go deep with your faith. Let the Holy Spirit of God do His work in you, through you, and to you. He is not always 'fair' in the way that we would determine fairness. His ways are not always pleasant as we would desire. But He is always good, always present, and as the Word promises, "always working for the good of those who love Him and who are called to His eternal purposes." Yes, even on plan "D" days!

Here's a word from the Word. Join Job in this declaration of faith today. "But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside." (Job 23:10-11, NKJV)
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Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best;
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He sure would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in ev'ry tribulation,
So to trust Your promises, O Lord;
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Your holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a Father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Day By Day -
Berg, Carolina Sandell / Ahnfelt, Oscar / Skoog, Andrew© Public Domain

So, help me, God!

One of the great tragedies of our time is the growing distain that exists towards the Christian church among those who are not Believers. Barna Research, a reputable firm, reports that 38 percent of young Americans (16-29) have a negative impression of present day Christianity.
Christians are perceived as unintelligent and out of touch with the world, as judgmental and quick to find fault, as people who do not live what they teach, and as those who are too willing to readily and uncritically adopt the political views of the right wing. Gabe Lyons, author of unChristian: What a New Generation thinks of Christianity (Baker, 2008) writes of Believers: "we've almost forgotten what it means to be human, or to suffer with other people, or to admit to our brokenness, or to connect with people in areas where we don't have it all figured out. We've tried to portray an image that we have it all together, that our life is best now, that in a lot of ways we have conquered major issues. And we all know that is not reality." ('Christianity In Crisis,' Willow Journal, Winter, 2008)

What a telling observation! Is the assessment of Believers accurate or is it based on superficial perceptions? That I cannot say with certainty. I know many Christians on whom the indictments of insincerity, hypocrisy, blind allegiance to one political party, and judgmentalism can be hung with justice. But, I also know many Believers who work hard to serve the world in Jesus' Name with gentle love, who desire no recognition as they give of their time and resources to help those who are weighed down by terrible sorrow and/or pain. I want to be latter, so help me, God! Don't you?

Even from the 'inside,' as one who has lived his entire adult life in the shadow of the organized church and as a Pastor, I realize that we Believers are often too prone to trust government to make our world a better place, instead of rolling up our sleeves and getting about the business of building the Kingdom of God! Additionally, we let agencies do what Christ calls us to do - care for the poor, love the weak and the sick, and defend the powerless! Too often, we seek places of power instead of service; rejecting the servant's towel in favor of the weight of the law. We think that our society will be redeemed by stricter judges, with the election of politicians who use 'church speak,' or through enactment of laws more narrowly and punitively written. After years of enjoying political influence, the mirage of a legislated morality ought be obvious to Christians. National politicians that have been elected with wide support by evangelical Believers have not been able to do what only the Gospel of Christ can do - change human hearts.

Though the ages, the good news about Jesus has been validated by Christians who have served Him as they served others. Wherever the Church attempted to advance its influence on the tip of a sword, there was only failure, the establishment of a religion perhaps, but not the transformation of a culture. We need to study those history lessons and remember what Jesus urged on us when He showed us the heart of a Servant while He lived among us.

We do not lack for ministry opportunities, Believer! The prisons of America are overflowing. Are we stepping up to share the Word with inmates in Bible studies, and as we do, are we ready to show them the genuine love of Jesus Christ as we embrace them, weep with them, and ask God to bring them new hearts? The families of America are breaking up under terrible pressures. Are we teaching people to keep their covenants by keeping ours; to choose to live with less things so they can live more sanely and wholly by reducing our consumption? Are we modeling concern for those who are oppressed? As ignorant persons foment hatred, do we speak fearlessly to the prejudice that grows from fear, even at the cost of popularity? A sin-sick society, plagued with sexual dysfunction and greed needs models of purity and generosity. Do we confront our own sins and weaknesses with earnest prayer and pursuit of the fruit of Spirit life outlined in Galatians 5; "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (5:22-23, NIV) so that we might lead the way to Christ, who saves from sin?

Nehemiah, the restorer of Jerusalem, points us in the right direction in our desire to bring God to our world. The Word tells us that when he encountered the threats of those who wanted to stop his work he "prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves." (Nehemiah 4:9, NLT) We cannot just disappear into our churches and pray, nor can we only take on the challenges with hard work. Prayer without hard work produces few results. Hard work without prayer produces no lasting results.

Our response to the criticisms of our culture must not be defensive. We must never return attack for attack! Instead, with the same humility Jesus showed to those who constantly attacked Him, we must serve without needing affirmation. We must ask the Spirit to empower us, not in the usual sense, but in our hearts with courage and stamina to continue to do good, for God's glory alone. Our Master asks nothing less of us.
"Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world." (Matthew 28:19-20, CEV) "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8, NLT)

Here I am, Lord. I will serve You and my world in Your Name, so help me, God.
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