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July 13, 2015

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Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Grace & Love, Holy Spirit, Miracles, Prayer, Thanks & Praise

ANSWERED PRAYERS

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And in the same way—by our faith—the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. [Romans 8:26 (TLB)]

Thank you, God, for answered prayers.

While it was obvious the relationship was in deep trouble, I knew neither how nor why it had happened nor what could to be done to remedy it. Realizing that this situation required divine intervention, I took it to God in prayer. As I poured out my distress, I was unable to articulate the problem or think of a solution. I just knew something was damaged that desperately needed to be fixed—how I didn’t know. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit put my lament into words as I dumped the frayed relationship in God’s lap, trusting Him to do the necessary mending. Recognizing that the situation was way beyond my job description, I stopped trying to repair what was torn or attempting to patch up what was tattered; that was clearly a task for God. While offering my wordless prayers and waiting patiently for His heavenly hand, I continued to love the person and did my best to keep the situation from further unraveling—the rest was up to Him. Praise the Lord, God came through! I don’t know how He did it, but He did!

Did the other person have a change of heart and attitude? Yes, indeed. What about me? Although I wasn’t aware of it, I think God may have made a few alterations on me, as well. All I know for certain is that prayers, even inarticulate wordless ones, can and do get answered.

We’re often perplexed about how and for what we should pray. It’s not always possible to voice our fears, sorrow, distress and longings. Thank you, God, for giving us the Holy Spirit who knows our hearts and makes our needs known to you. And, thank you, God, for answered prayers.

The best prayers have often more groans than words. [John Bunyan]

Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul. [Hannah More]

But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. [Jude 1:20 (TLB)]

 

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July 11, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Love & Works, Money & Wealth, Obedience

IGNORING THEIR CRIES

So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal. [Genesis 37:23-25a (NKJV)]

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Recently, in our nation’s capital, four people were murdered and their home set ablaze. It was DNA left on a pizza crust that quickly led police to the alleged killer. While this was an astounding piece of detective work, what astonishes me most is that, while holding four people hostage, four people likely pleading desperately for their lives, someone could calmly eat a pizza. How could anyone have an appetite while plotting murder? Yet, someone did and he’s not alone; that’s exactly what Joseph’s brothers did.

You remember Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, the handsome one with the coat of many colors. When his jealous brothers conspired to kill him, Reuben (thinking he might rescue his younger brother later) suggested they throw him into a dry cistern and leave him to the mercy of the elements. After tossing Joseph like a piece of garbage into a pit, the brothers all sat down to eat. Boys being boys, perhaps Joseph thought it was just a brotherly prank and his siblings would soon let him out of the well. “Come on guys, I’m hungry and thirsty. Help me up so I can have some lunch. I’ll even share my coat with you!” But, when he heard his brothers discuss selling him into slavery to some Ishmaelite traders, it began to dawn on him that he was in serious trouble and they weren’t joking. Can you imagine the cries of the terrified youth once he realized what was happening and the danger of his situation? While Joseph pled for his life, his brothers ignored his cries and enjoyed their meal. Can you imagine how he must have begged for their mercy, much as the DC family probably begged for their lives? Unlike the pizza eating criminal, Joseph’s brothers didn’t plan an outright murder; they were going to leave that to the slave traders. But, like that killer in DC, they knew their victim’s anguish and refused to hear his cries.

While we’re not likely to invade a home and kill its occupants or throw someone into a pit and sell him into slavery, we’re not all that different from Joseph’s brothers and the suspected murderer in DC. We may not be plotting murder and mayhem, but we do ignore the desperate cries of those in need and, by ignoring their cries, condemn them to lives of misery or death. While calmly enjoying meals in the comfort of our homes, do we turn a deaf ear to the voices of the hungry? Do we turn our backs on our less fortunate brothers and sisters—the poor, homeless, sick, or victimized? This morning I saw a sign on a church that read, “Be the Church—Fight for the Powerless.” We can’t do that if we ignore their cries!

We must never minimize the suffering of another. Scripture’s mandate to us is, “Weep with them that weep.” [Billy Graham]

Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” [Genesis 42:21(NKJV)]

And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. [Luke 6:31 (NKJV)]

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July 10, 2015

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Bible Stories, God's Promises, Knowing Him, Obedience, Temptation & Sin

WICKEDNESS BRINGS PUNISHMENT

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“The Last Judgment” – Munster Cathedral, Bern, Switzerland


Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. [Exodus 43:6-7 (NLT)]

If asked to draw a picture of God, many would probably draw a pleasant old gentleman with a gentle smile. Looking a bit like Santa Claus, he’d be dressed in a long white robe instead of a fur-trimmed red coat and hat. This kind-looking grandfatherly man would be seated on a throne with several little children in his lap. Reading the Old Testament, however, makes one rethink this picture. While we meet a loving and forgiving God, we also encounter a judgmental and destructive God: a God who sends plagues to his people, destroys whole towns, and sends his people into slavery. This is not the “warm and fuzzy” God about whom we want to think. He’s certainly not the good-natured God of my Sunday school classes.

It certainly is more comforting for us to think of God as loving and merciful and, indeed, He is. But, as the Old Testament reminds us and the New Testament warns us, God can get angry with his people. He hates sin and he is ready to hand out punishment to those who defy him. Fortunately, we also have a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father who hasn’t lost faith in his children. He saved Noah and his family from the flood. He rescued Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He saved Jonah from the whale after Jonah said he’d obey God’s directions. After telling Nineveh they would be destroyed in forty days, God relented when they repented their sinful ways. After punishing the Israelites for their disobedience, God finally led them to the Promised Land. Later, He rescued them from their exile in Babylon. Although we continually disappoint God with our disobedience, He mercifully gave us his only son as a sacrifice for our sins.

The righteous character of God includes both his anger and judgment along with his love and mercy. It is not enough to read and hear only God’s comforting words. We must remember that His justice goes hand in hand with His love.

Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken! [Jeremiah 2:19 (NLT)]

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July 9, 2015

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Forgiveness, God's Grace & Love, Salvation: A New You, Thanks & Praise

HOW VALUABLE ARE YOU?

What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries. [Luke 12:6-7 (MSG)]

bee eater Arusha-TanzaniaWEBRecently, our Florida pastor held up a brand new $100 bill and asked who would like to have it. Hands were quickly raised. He then crumpled up the bill and asked the question again; hands were raised a second time. After all, what are a few wrinkles? Pastor then sneezed and wiped his nose with the money and asked the question yet again; no one seemed deterred by a few germs and, once more, up went the hands. He wiped the worn and slightly damp bill in his armpits and asked the same question yet another time. Our congregation didn’t get to their retirement years in Florida without knowing the value of a $100 bill, even a wrinkled germy dirty one, and our hands continued to be lifted in the air. Fortunately, Pastor did not stick the bill down his pants and ask the question again. His point had been made; money retains its value no matter how dilapidated and soiled it may be.

That afternoon, I did a little Internet research to determine my monetary value. Some estimates of the assorted chemical components of my body were as low as $1. Positive I had to be worth substantially more than a dollar, I searched until I found a site that claimed the chemicals in a 176 pound person are worth about $160. I was still disappointed, especially since I weigh considerably less than that. Nevertheless, I do have some gold and silver in my mouth along with a few titanium screws in various bones, so I could be worth more when adding the value of my scrap metal. On the plus side, if one were to sell my various body organs and tissue (heart, blood, lungs, bone marrow, kidneys, corneas, etc.), this same site said I could be worth as much as $45 million. Now, that’s more like it! On second thought, that’s probably assuming all of those body parts are in pristine condition, something definitely not true of my well-worn “mature” body. My organs have been damaged by age, environment, misuse and disease. In short, my past has probably devalued my worth considerably.

To God, we are worth far more than even 45 million dollars! It doesn’t matter to Him if our bodies are in less than pristine shape or even if we still have all of our original parts. Better yet, He doesn’t care about the damage our past history has done to our souls! We don’t have to be pure and unblemished to have value to Him because we are his beloved children. Abortion, addiction, anger, violence, maliciousness, drunkenness, insincerity, depression, dishonesty, attempted suicide, divorce, adultery, wastefulness, pride, and more—none of these have devalued us in the eyes of God. Like the $100 bill our pastor showed us, we retain our value no matter how sullied, stained, damaged, or tattered we may be. We don’t have to be perfect (or even in “good” or “fair” condition) to be loved by our perfect God.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for seeing our worth even when can’t see it ourselves. Thank you for your grace and mercy, for redeeming our damaged souls and loving us no matter what has happened in the past. Thank you for giving us a new beginning in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it. [C.S. Lewis]

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. [John 3:16-17 (MSG)]

 

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July 6, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Fear & Doubt, Love & Works, Obedience, Trusting God

THE BURNING BUSH

Now I am going to send you to Pharaoh, to demand that he let you lead my people out of Egypt. “But I’m not the person for a job like that!” Moses exclaimed. [Exodus 3:10-11 (TLB)]

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Flame Vine

Things were going well for Moses in Midian: he was happily married, with a family and tending his father-in-law’s sheep. Then God interrupted his comfortable life with a burning bush and a major task: free the Israelites. Moses reacted the way most of us would by questioning God. Who am I to do this? Who do I say sent me? What if they don’t believe me? He then told God he simply wasn’t up to the task. God, not one to be thwarted, responded to all off Moses’ concerns. He would be with him, provide the words, the proof, and even Aaron to do the talking. In short, God promised to provide and Moses obeyed.

God sends all of us burning bush moments that interrupt our comfortable lives. While not history-making assignments like freeing people from slavery, they are, nevertheless, important to the people involved. A few years ago I had a burning bush moment and, like Moses, I questioned God about my ability to respond.

My mother-in-law had suffered a mild heart attack and we were in a treatment room in the local ER. Resting comfortably, she’d been diagnosed and treatment had started. We were simply waiting with her for a hospital room to become available. Suddenly, a young man on a gurney was wheeled past our room. Surrounded by paramedics, an automated CPR machine was pumping on his chest. As doctors and nurses sped past, I said a quick prayer for him. Not much later, I saw a young woman being consoled by a nurse. There was no doubt in my mind that this woman had been married to the man brought in by the EMTs. Clearly, the outcome had not been good; while she’d started the day as a wife, she would be ending it as a widow. This tearful woman was being given papers, directions and some small solace before the nurse turned away. It was a busy night in the ER and other patients called. This was my burning bush moment. Alone in her grief, did she need someone to be with her?

Like Moses, I had questions and excuses. I’m not a grief counselor, what would I say? What if she rebuffed my offer? What if she’s not Christian? Would I have to drive her home? If so, how and when would I get back to the hospital? What if I got sucked into all sorts of family drama? Unlike Moses, however, I didn’t trust God’s provision. In fact, I didn’t even listen for His answers to my questions. While busy thinking about me and pondering various difficult scenarios in my mind, the opportunity passed. When next I looked, the woman was gone.

Unsure of what to do and hesitant to get involved, I should have prayed for God’s guidance. Instead of thinking of all the reasons I wasn’t qualified, I should have trusted His provision. I may have been told to mind my own business or been slightly inconvenienced. I’m a big girl and I could have handled that. Like Moses, I didn’t know what I’d say. It probably wasn’t relevant Bible verses, however, that this woman needed. She just needed God’s love and compassion and I have plenty of that. I could have offered a little help, prayers, sympathy and a shoulder on which she could cry.

Without a doubt, there will be other burning bush moments in my life. I pray that I will respond with an open and trusting heart the next time that happens. Keep your eyes open; there may be a burning bush in your path today. How will you respond?

Among the early difficulties of our early ministry, my brother Charles often said, “If the Lord would give me wings, I’d fly.” I used to answer, “If God bids me fly, I will trust Him for the wings.” [John Wesley]

Help me to do your will, for you are my God. Lead me in good paths, for your Spirit is good. [Psalm 143:10 (TLB)]

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July 3, 2015

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Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, Miracles, Prayer, Trusting God

WINNING THE LOTTERY

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. [Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)]

The story is told of Jack, a man who was definitely down on his luck: his business had gone sour, the bills were mounting, and foreclosure was imminent. Jack turned to God in prayer: “God, I trust you to help me. I’m in dire straits and desperately need financial help. Please let me win the lottery this week.” When the lotto numbers were drawn, however, someone else won. Although Jack’s faithful but desperate prayers went on for three more weeks, he never won the lottery. When the lotto rolled around again, once more Jack desperately prayed: “Lord, I’ve now lost my business, house and car. We’re homeless with nothing to eat. Please help your good and faithful servant; let me win the lotto just this one time.” Suddenly, there was a flash of light, the heavens opened and Jack heard a thunderous voice from above: “Jack, my son, you’ve got to meet me halfway on this. Go buy a ticket!”

As much as we wish it, trusting God doesn’t mean we will always stay out of difficulties or harm’s way nor does it free us of the consequences of our actions or, as in Jack’s case, our inaction. Trusting God means we know He cares and is ever-present; it means we believe that He loves and leads us and intends good for us. Trusting God means doing what God says; it means that we can turn our fears and anxieties over to Him. Trusting God, however, doesn’t mean we can turn our work over to God. Let us never forget that trusting God doesn’t mean we stop toiling or striving while the world collapses around us. Perhaps, when it seems God has forgotten us, it’s not because He’s failed to do His part; it’s because we’ve failed to do ours!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. [Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)]