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October 23, 2014

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Family, Friends & Fellowship, Love & Works, Thanks & Praise

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL

See, I am sending an Angel before you to lead you safely to the land I have prepared for you. Reverence him and obey all of his instruction … he is my representative—he bears my name. [Exodus 23:20-21 (TLB)]

When watching Jeopardy or playing any trivia game, I’m amazed at how much I have forgotten and how quickly the names of the rich, famous, and scandalous have left my memory. Academy award winners, Nobel Prize recipients, United Nations Secretary-Generals, Supreme Court justices, tyrants and statesmen, inventors and sports stars, popes and politicians: you name them; I’ve probably forgotten their names. There are, however, certain people I will never forget: those who have acted as God’s angels in my life, some whose names I never even knew.

Thank you, Lord, for those people who have touched my life and made it better. Thank you for the healing touch, encouraging words, spirit lifting, helpful hands, listening ears, comforting arms, excellent examples, loving acceptance and wise advice offered by your emissaries. While I may forget the famous and infamous, I will never forget the “angels” you have sent into my life.

How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near? For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail. [Psalm 91:10-12 (TLB)]

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October 22, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Holy Spirit, Love & Works

CUTTHROAT COMPETITION

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. [Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)]

Although I enjoy the various cooking competition shows such as “Chopped,” one Food Network program troubles me: “Cutthroat Kitchen”, with its phrase, “Sabotage is back in season!” Four competitors start with $25,000 each. During the various cooking challenges, they bid on ways to handicap their opponents, such as making them cook the assigned dish on an iron, removing all their knifes or bowls, or even taking away an essential ingredient, such as sugar when the task is brownies. The host chuckles with glee as the hampered chefs struggle to complete their cooking task in the allotted time. The bidding gets fiercer and more vengeful as the show goes on. The winner isn’t necessarily the best cook; it’s the one who is most devious and underhanded. The victor only gets to keep the money that remains after he or she has paid out thousands to destroy the other chefs’ chances; often it is a just pittance.

It’s just a television program and, admittedly, it’s interesting seeing how the cooks manage to rise to the challenges. Most of the time, however, they can’t overcome the hindrances. It’s disturbing that watching people take delight in limiting other individual’s opportunities in a contest (or life) is ever considered entertainment. Unfortunately, much of “reality” television is just that. Every time we find it amusing to watch someone get hurt or humiliated, our humanity erodes just a little. We may become more willing to sabotage others to win at all costs in our own lives. Our schools talk a lot about bullying; let’s be careful that we don’t ever find bullying entertaining lest we become bullies ourselves.

Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I follow your guide to life.

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. [Romans 12:17-18 (NLT)]

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October 20, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Temptation & Sin

POISON

10-20-14web2People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. [James 3:7-9 (NLT)]

“Something is eating my flowers!” I said. Immediately, I got out the pesticide and started spraying with a vengeance, until I met the culprit! There he was, in his glorious bug beauty: a praying mantis! Coming face to face with my target, I just couldn’t continue to spread the poison. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. After his initial shock, he left my garden quickly; if he was lucky, he lived to see another day in someone else’s garden.

Gossip is like that bug spray; while it is easy to spread and looks harmless, it is poison. Just as a few teaspoons of pesticide made the water toxic, a few poorly chosen words can turn an innocent conversation into gossip. Unlike the bug spray, gossip doesn’t come with a label that easily identifies it as such. How do we know when we’re harmlessly chatting and catching up or when we’re gossiping? An easy test is asking ourselves if we’d say those same words if we were face to face with the person about whom we’re speaking. There’s nothing like being eye to eye with our prey to stop us from spreading poison! Just as the praying mantis quickly fled from my pesticide, we also need to make a quick exit when someone is spreading poison (or gossip)!

The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble; the conversation of good people keeps them out of it. [Proverbs 12:13 (MSG)]

Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want junk like that in your belly? [Proverbs 18:8 (MSG)]

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October 16, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Joy, Today: Make it Count

OPEN THE PRESENT

Both day and night belong to you; you made the starlight and the sun. You set the boundaries of the earth, and you made both summer and winter. [Psalm 74:16-17 (NLT)]

Seasons come and seasons go and it seems as if we’re never satisfied with the season we’re in. In the fall, we can’t wait for December and the holidays, but by January we’re protesting the cold and wondering when spring will arrive. Spring finally appears; we complain about the rain, saying we can’t wait for summer’s sun. In the summer, it’s too hot and humid for us; we grumble about the garden work and wish for the cool of autumn. When autumn arrives, we gripe about the shortened days and piles of leaves and anxiously await the first snowfall. Of course, we complain the first time we shovel snow and the cycle starts again.

Life has seasons, too, and some of them, like the weather, are more pleasant than others. We can’t wait until we get out of college, only to miss the flexibility, fun and long holidays we enjoyed in school. When we’re poor newlyweds, we can’t wait until we’ve got great careers and a big house, only to discover how much stress goes along with high pressure jobs and large mortgages. When our children are babies, we can’t wait until they’re bigger and then, when they’re teens, we realize how nice those toddler years were!

Let’s not make the mistake in life’s seasons of dreaming so much about the rewards of the future that we miss the gifts of the here and now. We all probably know of someone who put off vacations and time with his family so he’d have a big “nest egg” in retirement, only to die or become incapacitated before ever having a chance to enjoy those golden years. Today is called “the present” for a reason; let’s be sure to enjoy every last minute of it.

9-20-14 presentWEBLord, sometimes we’re so anxious about getting to tomorrow that we miss the beautiful scenery of today. Help us find joy in our present circumstances, whatever they may be. Keep us from wishing away the pleasures of this season for another one that may not be any sunnier.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. [Dale Carnegie]

One today is worth two tomorrows. [Benjamin Franklin]

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. [Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)]

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October 14, 2014

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God's Promises, Holy Spirit, Joy, Salvation: A New You

BELIEVE AND RECEIVE

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. [John 3:16-17 (NCV)]

What a beautiful promise Jesus makes to us: everlasting life! There is, however, a stipulation: to get this wonderful gift, we have to believe! This belief is not just an intellectual exercise of acknowledging that someone named Jesus lived in Israel over 2,000 years ago. It’s more than knowing a few Bible verses and stories. This belief requires us to trust Jesus’ words and to rely on his Holy Spirit to make a change in our lives. We need to have confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior. We need to be confident enough that we will give Him our lives. That’s a lot of belief!

If we believe, God promises us a gift: everlasting life. This will not be a continuation of the life we have now on earth. There will be no death, sin, sickness, pain, enemies or anger. The wonderful thing is that we don’t have to wait until we die before we start enjoying this new life in Christ. All we have to do is believe and accept the gift of His Holy Spirit right now. Christ’s love will live in us and we will start experiencing a new life immediately.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. [Romans 10:9 (NCV)]

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October 13, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Peace of God, Prayer

THE PRAYOMETER

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [Colossians 4:2 (NIV)]

I recently received a FitBit: a digital pedometer that syncs with my phone and computer. It keeps track of my steps, mileage, calories burned, and “active minutes.” During the day, I get encouraging texts and a little face on my device has a big grin once I attain my goal of 10,000 steps. Like the “Map My Walk” app, it doesn’t allow me to fool myself; it keeps an accurate record of my activity. I thought I was active, but my FitBit made it clear I sit a lot more than I thought I did! No matter how busy I am throughout the day, unless I set aside specific time for a walk, I usually don’t manage to achieve my goal. Time needs to be set aside for more than just exercise; it also needs to be set aside for prayer!

A few years ago our pastor challenged the congregation to spend ten uninterrupted minutes in prayer every day for the following week. The first morning, finding myself continually looking up at the clock, I set the kitchen timer for ten minutes and started praying, planning on stopping when the timer rang. I was amazed that I ran out of time long before I ran out of prayer! When the week was up, I stopped setting the timer but continued the practice. As time has passed, however, sorry to say, I’ve become less consistent about the time I spend in active prayer.

Perhaps there’s a need for another kind of monitoring device: a FitBit for prayer. This “prayometer” would keep track of the actual “active minutes” spent in communion with God. I think we’d all find that, unless we set aside a specific block of time for Him, we won’t spend nearly enough time in prayer during the rest of the day. Just as a successful business often starts with a staff meeting, it’s a wise practice to start our day in a staff meeting with God. I can’t promise you a smiley face or an encouraging text on your phone, but I think you’ll find that ten to twenty minutes (or more) spent in prayer each morning are a small price to pay for the clarity, perspective and peace comes from it.

Do not have your concert first and tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with God. [James Hudson Taylor (English missionary)]

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. [James 5:16b (NIV)]