A Change of Relationship

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Colossians 1:21,22

I love the beauty of the word ‘reconciled’ and it is so profound in this verse. It means to be made right, become friends, and brought together. Look at the comparison of words….formerly alienated, hostile, and evil deeds presented holy, blameless, and beyond reproach! Makes me wonder how I could have ever thought of God as tolerating me more than loving me. When a person puts their trust in Christ they enter into a whole new relationship with God. They go from being His enemy to His precious child (Romans 5:10). Where once they were far away from God they are brought near (Ephesians 2:3,12).

Many people are under the assumption that because God created each one of us we automatically are His children….hence the idea of the Fatherhood of God. Not true! Because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden we are all born separated from God….alienated if you will. We are foreigners to Him and His ways. Because we were created in His image we may possess some good qualities ….kindness, love, compassion, etc… But there is no relationship with Him. The Bible says we are children of wrath not children of God.

Many people believe they are Christians because they go to church, love their neighbor, or attempt to keep the ten commandments. What they fail to realize is that none of those things make you a Christian. They are commendable things but unable to bring you into right relationship with God. There is only one way to become God’s child and that is by being born into His family. And a person is born into God’s family when he trusts Christ and accepts Him as his Savior. His death on Calvary and subsequent resurrection made it possible for people to be reconciled to God. But they must personally accept Him before that takes place. May we take the opportunities to share that with them.

Father, our reconciliation is a beautiful thing. You drew me near and now call me your daughter. May our Father/daughter relationship continue to be profound. Amen.

A Change of Kingdoms

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Colossians 1:13

Whether or not we are fully aware of it, much takes place the moment we trust Christ as our Savior and Colossians 1:13 is an explanation for all the change. A couple nights ago I was talking with one of my brothers and in the course of the conversation I was telling him the things that instantly changed in me when I became a Christian. These were things that had not previously been a part of my life. Here are the changes that came to mind: I had an assurance of Heaven, I had a desire to read the Bible, I had an awareness that my sin offended a holy God, I wanted to be in church and fellowship with believers, I had new ambitions and new desires, I was accountable to God, my mindset was different, and I was able to understand spiritual truths. What a change from the way I spent my first 14 years!

At the time, I did not understand I had been taken out from under the authority and rule of Satan and brought into God’s kingdom, rule, and authority. As a matter of fact, I did not even know those two kingdoms existed but they did. Prior to my salvation I was actually living under the philosophy, mindset, and dominion of God’s enemy. I had a blindness and disinterest in anything that pertained to God. I was ruled by my flesh with a strong propensity toward sin. Even though I was created in the image of God I was not displaying that in my actions, words, or thoughts. Although I was not a Satan worshiper per se, I was one of his captives.

But that captivity ended when Christ became my Savior. He not only brought me into His family but He transferred me into His kingdom as well. Under His authority and care I was able to live my life differently. Being in Christ made me a new person and the old way of life gave way to a new way of life. This included a new way of thinking, acting, speaking, and living. It did not mean perfection….that will not be attained until I am in Heaven. It meant a life of progress one step at a time. I have made my share of mistakes along the way, blown it in many ways, and misunderstood countless things. BUT God’s hand has never let go of me, His eye has never been taken off me, and His kingdom has remained my place of residence.

Father, I thrive under Your rule, care, and authority. I am at home with this kingdom life. Thank you for placing me under Your domain. Amen.

From Recipient to Distributor

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints. Colossians 1:3,4

Can you imagine receiving a letter to your church from a leading evangelist of our day? While he may not have directly started your church, word has gotten back to him about the condition of your church and it was a good report. The church of Colossi was not founded by the Apostle Paul. It was founded by one of Paul’s converts…Epaphras. But that did not stop Paul from taking this church into his heart and bathing it in prayer. Paul wasted no time in thanking God for His work in their life and in giving the assurance of his continued prayers for them. He starts right out rejoicing for their evident faith in Christ and love for one another.

I heard a sermon yesterday that emphasized the importance of encouraging one another. The message illustrated something I have been aware of for quite some time. We need each other. We need to be encouraged and we need to be encouragers. I wrote down one quote that spoke volumes to me, “Spiritual maturity does not mean needing each other less.” While God should be my ultimate source for encouragement He uses many avenues to impart that encouragement to me…..His Word, music, other believers, books, prayer, etc… But lately He is challenging me to be an encourager to others. His intent is that I take what has been so lavishly given to me and now lavish it on others.

I like Paul’s pattern shown in most of his New Testament books. He is thankful to God for others, he is a prayer warrior for others, he emphasizes the good qualities he sees God instilling in them, and with love he addresses areas of concern. Is there someone to whom I can become this kind of encourager? God has graciously given me countless encouragers over the years. Their words still nourish my soul. They were faithful to mentor me and help me cultivate a walk with God. They set a good example for me to follow. May I now invest myself in others.

Father, for decades You have faithfully brought encouragers across my path. How I needed them…and still do. Show me practical ways to become an encourager to someone who needs life giving words spoken to them. I have been the recipient of such words and desire to now be the distributor of them. Amen.

Words He Loves to Hear

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies, Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep, O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 36:5-7

David was a man who could not say enough good about our God. In this passage alone He eludes to at least seven aspects of God: His loving kindness, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His judgments, His presence, His protection, and His person. The Psalms are filled with many more verbalized lists of who God is, what God is like, and what God does.

It was from the psalmist that I learned God is my rock, my defense, my shelter, my sustainer, my high tower, my shepherd, my comforter, my defender, my strength, my forgiver, my healer, etc…. Our God is not a distant, abstract God. He is personal and passionate about us and wants us to know Him on an intimate level.

This morning as I anticipate tomorrow’s day of Thanksgiving I want to make sure that my prayers of thanksgiving reflect and include the attributes of my God. While I am thankful for freedom, family, possessions, health, and friendships, I am most thankful for God Himself. May I find time amidst family gatherings and travel to slip away with Him and spend some time listing to Him all that I know about Him. May the words not come fast enough as I proclaim the truth of Him and all He means to me. As His intervention and interaction in my life come to mind, may praise fill my lips and tears fill my eyes. Heartfelt acknowledgement of His presence and person fills Him with delight!

So how can I do all of this on a practical level? Here are a few ways: read through some Psalms and slip my name into the verses, list God’s attributes using the alphabet (one for each letter), review the events of my life picturing Jesus in each scene, sing songs of worship back to Him, tell Him my deepest feelings about Him. The list is endless! The practice is powerful! The result will be astounding! May my anticipation for such a meeting build and may I integrate it into my daily life.

Father, while my list will never be complete it will be proclaimed with passion! You are beyond words but I will speak the ones I know. As your child, I delight in You, celebrate You, and acknowledge You. Amen.

With Open Eyes

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. Luke 24:31

I love the story that took place after the resurrection of Jesus. Two people are walking on the road to Emmaus which was about seven miles outside of Jerusalem. They had been witnesses to the crucifixion of Jesus. His death had been unexpected by them and the sorrow profound. While they had heard reports that He had actually risen from the dead they could not embrace it as truth yet. As they talked they were joined by none other than Jesus but they did not realize it was Him. He took the time to listen to them and then began to explain the Scriptures that taught of Him. Still there was no recognition. It wasn’t until they got to the place they were staying and invited this guest to join them for a meal that their eyes were opened. When Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them they recognized Him….then He vanished.

Hearts that once burned with sorrow now exploded with joy and they could not wait to get back to His disciples to share their experience and the truth of His resurrection! I am sure it was a story they would tell countless times to anyone who would listen. Imagine being one of the people who actually saw Jesus after His resurrection! Only His friends and followers had that rare experience. Not one enemy was given the privilege.

Jesus is still in the business of opening eyes today. Each of us who know Him as Savior, came to the point of recognizing who He was after living part of our life unable to see Him. It is a spiritual sight that is profound. Only Christ could open our eyes to the truth of His death and resurrection and then make what He did personal to us by accepting Him as our Savior. Have you ever stopped to think what your life would be like if that had never happened? But it does not stop at salvation. Eye opening experiences to who Jesus is continue to happen to us. The longer I walk with Him the more times I have of recognizing Him in new and profound ways. While He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, my view of Him is what keeps changing and that in turn continues to change me!

Father, at one time I was completely blind to You. Thank you that You continue to improve my vision. I long to see You more clearly each day. Keep opening my eyes to new dimensions of Yourself. Amen.

I CAN Get Up

There the doers of iniquity have fallen; they have been thrust down and cannot rise. Psalm 36:12

Years ago there was a commercial with an elderly woman who is remembered for her desperate statement, “I have fallen and I can’t get up!” Have you ever felt like that? I certainly have. Psalm 36:12 can be placed over the lives of many people. Pride, wickedness, and a refusal to turn to God can send them on a spiraling lifestyle where there is no recovery. How sad!
I am encouraged this morning because while there may be times that I fall and am thrust down, as a child of God I CAN rise. If I sin I can find forgiveness. If I am discouraged I can be encouraged. If my emotions have run amuck I can be strengthened once again. How? By coming to my father in humility and honesty and allowing Him to lift me up.

The Christian life is meant to be more than behavior modification and positive thinking. Those two things can pretty much be produced on our own. But it takes the Word of God and His Spirit in me to do a work that literally changes the way I think, act, and speak. It is not just an outward makeover. It is a complete overhaul! The things I change on my own result in temporary fixes at best. When God does the changing it lasts!

So I am asking myself this morning, what are the steps I must take and what is it that God does? Here is what I have learned so far:

I must come before Him in honesty. No more hiding. No more pretending I don’t have the thoughts and feelings that I have. He knows me thoroughly. Confession and repentance may be the first words out of my mouth. After that it may just be a time of admitting what is going on in my heart.
I must take time to listen to God’s response back to me. Many times it will be in recalling Scripture I have committed to memory. God’s Word has much to say about God’s thoughts toward me and how He longs for me to see myself.

Many times God will use these two things to transform my thinking and establish growth and change that is lasting.

Father, thank you for the many times you lift me up when I have fallen. Your hands hold me firmly as I continue on this journey with You. Amen.

Accepting the Gifts

Every good gift and every prefect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

I just finished reading today’s selection from Our Daily Bread and my mind is swimming with the gifts God desired to give me for many years but I did not know how to reach out my hand and accept them. While I was able to receive the gift of salvation at the age of 14, it took decades to realize other intended gifts God had for me. Three gifts are coming to mind that I now possess. They are the gift of fellowship that crosses over denominational lines, the gift of reading various versions of the Bible, and the gift of listening to Christian music that ministers deeply to me. I have reveled in the joy of these gifts for nearly three years now. What took me so long?!

The answer lies in two sources. For one, I did not know God was offering me the gifts. I had so cloaked myself in the garments of separation that they were not even an option for me. But I was also taught these were counterfeits of God’s actual will and I felt if I embraced them I must be backsliding. I felt like the person who possessed a ticket to an amusement park. The ticket permitted me to ride any ride I wanted, but I did not have the luxury of doing that. I was limited to the rides of other people’s choices. I was also like the person who purchases a television set but allows the salesman to program the remote to his favorite channels. I had completely missed the heart of Paul’s themes which express the ability to take our instructions from God. I was not able to look to God for direction in how to live my individual Christian life. And I was miserable!

What finally helped me to see the truth? God brought genuine Christians across my path that radiated with a love for Christ and they were free! Free to enjoy the gifts God offered. I hungered to live my Christian life in the same way. My new found desire allowed me to finally reach out my hands and receive multiple gifts God joyfully gave me. And what I have come to realize is that it is not a matter of whether or not I align myself with the boundaries, rules, and limitations others would seek to imprison me with but rather whether or not I allow God to design my walk with Him.

Father, You have been so patient in waiting for me to accept what You have been offering me all along. Thank you! Amen.

He Is Not Finished

May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NASB

I find that my personal struggles center more in my thoughts and mindsets than in any other area of my life. No wonder Jesus so clearly stated, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” I have spent a life time gathering information and yet the bottom line still comes down to what I believe in the very depths of my heart. I have come to the place where I can now divide my thought patterns into three categories….what I believe about God, what I believe about myself, and what I believe about other people. For some people they would have other categories but these are mine.

Three years ago God began to help me see where my thoughts were untrue about Himself. He has led me on a progressive journey with Himself to help me come to know Him, His character, His heart, and His ways in a manner that is encouraging and precious. I do not view Him in the same way as I did for decades. Along with that journey He has begun to help me clear up some thinking pertaining to myself. This involves finding the root causes for self-condemnation, shame, and self-loathing. It has never been His intent that I would see myself any differently than He sees me. Although I don’t fully have these two areas transformed, He has also begun to help me examine my view of others.

This part is difficult because I am so use to interpreting other people’s words, actions, and absence through the grid of my own perceptions. The more significant the person the more condemning my thoughts seem to be. Again, He will begin to reveal to me the root causes for these mindsets. Relational issues can have us in as strong a bondage as any drug. Am I free yet? No. Will I be? Absolutely! Because He has promised to finish what He starts in my life.
I do not have to succumb to the thoughts that things will never change, life will never look different. Our God is interested in my progress, freedom, and change. He is my biggest cheerleader and source of transformation. And He is most certainly the One directing my heart toward Himself.

Father, You know where I still need freedom. If it were left up to me I wouldn’t have the strength or ability to free myself. I once again look to You to do Your work in me. Amen.

Exchanging the Garments

I rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10

I look at this verse and it is a wonderful reminder to me of what takes place the moment we accept Christ as our Savior and are born into God’s family. Instantaneously, we receive all the luxuries of being God’s child. The day I trusted Christ, He changed my identity, my destiny, and my relationship to Himself. That was completed and unalterable. Yet I have learned He still has much to do in my internal world.

He has spent the past three decades helping me to see the areas in my life that need His healing touch. The longer I know Him the deeper He goes, the more profound His measures, and the more radical the freedom. What many times may start out as steps of fear and timidity eventually become the places in which I learn to dance! While I may cringe at the process I come to cherish the transformation.

This is exactly what took place for me this past weekend while visiting some friends in Wisconsin. God had been bringing me to a place of opening up an area embedded in my memory from early childhood. It wasn’t a repressed memory by any means. It was something I was totally aware of for the last 44 years. The incident left me frozen and unable to voice its existence. God had let me know that when this event had taken place a robe of innocence was taken from me and it was replaced by a garment of shame. In order to exchange the garments I had to expose the secret. Over the course of a three day visit I found myself in a safe haven. Safe enough to finally open up and verbalize to my friend what had taken place. She listened without condemnation and then voiced the words I needed to hear, “That shouldn’t have happened to you. It wasn’t right!” We had a precious time of prayer and then took a piece of paper with the perpetrator’s name on it over to a paper shredder to finalize the closure. Finally, that little child in me was able to exchange the garment of shame for God’s intended garment of innocence. Thus ended a 44 year internal world of turmoil. I now embrace a freedom of great proportion!

Father, You saw the first exchange when I was just four years old. You then wept for me as I wore the wrong garments for all these years. It is with joy I now don the robe You have given back to me. Amen.

*****I share this with you in order to help someone who might also be haunted by memories of shame in their own life. For some people they can simply take it to God and come away whole. For me, I needed to get the secret out. If that is you, ask God to lead you to a person equipped to listen and handle what is to be exposed. Preferably someone who has had some training. This person’s role is to allow you to speak what has been painful. Then they can tell you what you need to hear….it was wrong for someone to do that to you. Please don’t continue to wear garments that were never intended for you.

Tracing My Roots

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them. 2 Timothy 3:14

Paul knew that the roots of Timothy’s faith could be traced back to his mother and grandmother. What a godly heritage this young man had! Have you ever taken the time to review your own history of faith? If you did, from where would your roots extend?

I was not brought up in a Christian home. My early religious training of any kind came from my mother who was a Jehovah’s Witness for the first ten years of my life…..not counting my infant baptism in a Methodist church. It was from her I learned that God created the world and Adam and Eve were the first two people He created. That was the extent of my Bible knowledge but I am thankful today for those tiny seeds.

At the age of fourteen, I came to know Christ as my personal savior and God began to bring into my life a long line of individuals who had a tremendous influence on me and helped me to develop a walk with God that continues into my late 40’s. I can never review this precious list of individuals without seeing the faces of Bob and Martha Robinson…my first pastor and wife as well as youth directors. God allowed me to sit under their ministry for 9 months until He called them to the mission field of Guatemala. They not only taught me the beginning building blocks of my faith, they lived out the Christian life in front of me and served as an example I desired to follow. They were the first of many to take me under their wings and nurture my young faith.

Over the course of the next 30 some years the list grew to include Sharon, Barb, Mary Lou, Nancy, Velda, and Christine. God’s intent was that I not only learn from them but that I would one day enjoy a rich life with Him as my Mentor and Guide. Having made that transition, He is now calling and equipping me to invest myself in the lives of others. What I have been taught and what I am learning is meant to be passed on to others. What a joy and delight! Whether it is through email devotionals or one on one ministry, I take my role seriously and always under the watchful eye of my Father.

Father, You had this planned all along. Although I do not know the full extent of Your call I revel in what You are doing so far. Amen.

Finding the Least Among You

Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40

In a Sunday School class I attend, the question was asked, “Have you ever been an enemy of God?” Instantly, people’s minds went to individuals who opposed the Bible, hated God, and persecuted Christians. With that image in their mind the answer to the question was, “No.” I too was thinking along the same line until God nudged me and brought this verse to mind. God wanted me to realize that my treatment toward others IS my treatment toward Him. If I have ever treated someone as my enemy then I have treated God as my enemy. In light of that, I would have to say there have been times when I was an enemy of God. Ouch!!!! I shared the thought with the class and you could see the light bulbs coming on for them.

Jesus is wanting each of us to realize the way we interact with Him and the way we interact with the people in our life cannot be separated. They are so closely tied together that He says when you do one you do the other…automatically. This point is driven home even deeper in I John 4:20 when it says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” There is no mistake. What I do for others and how I treat them is noticed by God, important to God, and directed toward God.

As I begin to digest this truth a phrase from the verse stands out as well…..”even the least of these.” I find it easy to treat well the ones I love, admire, and respect. But today’s passage (Matthew 25:35-40) gives me a list of people to consider that I might otherwise not see. The hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned. In other words, the ones who have very little in the way of this life’s goods. They stand among us but are not seen by us. Am I willing to ask God to open my eyes to the ones in the most need of my attention and help? Jesus invites me to love Him by showing love to them.

Father, help me to see ‘the least among us’ today. What I say to them I will be saying to You. What I give to them I will be giving to You. What I think of them I will be thinking of You. May I never again separate those You created in Your image from You as their Creator. Amen.

My Power Source

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1

It often amazes me that while I entered the Christian life fully aware that I could do nothing to save myself, I so quickly began living the Christian life out of a mindset that said I need to muster up my own strength to live in victory and bring pleasure to God. The Christian life for me became a chore of changing my outward behavior hoping it would somehow work its way into a changed heart. Although I knew Christ as my savior, I spent the first three decades embracing the religion of Christianity rather than developing a close, personal relationship with Christ. I was more comfortable conforming to the expectations of others than being conformed to the image of God.

The result? I was living my Christian life out of duty instead of delight. I was daily weighed down with self condemnation, worthlessness, negative thinking, and failure. I had resigned myself to the belief that it probably would not get any better. I was in a hopeless cycle of trying to do something I was not capable of doing. I struggled to admit any of this to myself let alone other individuals.

This morning I look at Paul’s words to Timothy in a different light. To be strong in the grace of God means I live dependent on God and cooperate with God. I realize that there is no strength in myself to do anything God calls me to do. He is not expecting me to perform for Him apart from His presence, His power, and His provision. He enables me to do what He causes me to desire to do. It is no longer on my shoulders to do it all!

So what is it He empowers me to do? Get into His Word each morning and apply the truths He shows me. Look to Him as my Source for EVERYTHING. Cultivate a deep, intimate walk with Him. Live my life out of the benefits that come from being in relationship with Him. Know that lasting change will only come as I link my mind with His and move forward arm in arm with the Creator of the universe.

Father, You never meant for me to live independent of You. I did not know that. How much better it is to find my strength in You. Amen.

Seeing a Soul Set Free

Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7

Have you ever known someone who is in bondage of one form or another? Maybe it is a habit, a mindset, a stronghold, an addiction, or a generational bent. Internally, they are held captive to forces that seem to work against them. They rise each day under a cloud of oppression, suspicion, and hopelessness. They long for freedom from the thoughts, feelings, and emotions. What a beautiful picture the psalmist gives us as to what is possible in Christ.

I have recently watched a special person in my life experience the freedom from such entrapment by the enemy. His world had become dark in the midst of trying circumstances. Feeling like his life was under the control of anyone but himself, the enemy took advantage of his situation and entrapped him with bitterness, negativity, hopelessness, and fear. His mindset was such that it darkened his world to the point that he was unable to see God’s hand in his life, any good things that were happening, and any reason to joy in life. It affected every area of his life and there did not seem to be an end in sight for even the slightest deliverance. His circular reasoning always seemed to send him spiraling down into a pit of despair.

What a joy it has been in the last couple of days to see his soul set free! His freedom from entrapment came as he saw that his problems did not lie in his circumstances but rather in his thought patterns. He had become so use to believing the lies of the enemy that he was missing the key to freedom. What is the key? Truth! Truth about God, truth about himself, and truth about his life. It has been in grabbing hold of Scripture and biblical principles that he has been able to wield a sword against the lies. He discovered he has a choice as to what he will fix his mind on.

He is learning the power of simply saying, “I am not going there” when wrong thinking comes his way. He is testing his thoughts through the grid of truth. And the result is astounding. Although his circumstances have not changed, his eyes now dance with life, his voice reflects truth and peace, and his entire demeanor has been transformed. I delight in the privilege of seeing this miracle unfold right in front of my eyes!

Father, the Truth really does set us free! May others discover life outside the entrapments and snares of the enemy. Amen.

Rethinking What It Means to Serve

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Psalm 100:2

Many will look at Psalm 100:2 and instantly think of their role in the local church. I often have! But when I stop to realize my time spent in church constitutes a mere six hours in a week (at most) I must conclude that most of my service to the Lord will be done outside the walls of my church. How will I view and occupy the other 163 hours in my week? Some will be spent in my home, at my place of employment, at stores, traveling in my vehicle, etc… How am I doing at the tasks God gives me each day?

It changes my perspective greatly when I realize that everything I do can be done for God. It helps when I am doing something to envision Jesus Himself standing by me and saying, “Will you do this for Me?” Often times, my whole attitude and enthusiasm is changed depending on who is making the request. If it is someone I love, admire, and enjoy I am thrilled to be at their every beck and call. If it is someone I have little regard for I may respond less enthusiastically. I might even perform the task half heartedly, hesitantly, or with a bothered spirit.

Recently God has been showing me the value of doing something with the same attitude and willingness that I would have if He were the one requesting it or a dear friend were requesting it. That becomes the standard by which He interprets my service. Anything less is not pleasing to Him…..it is not serving Him with gladness.

So I head into today asking myself how I will do throughout my day. How will I view the jobs I am asked to do that don’t appeal to me or that no one else wants to do? How will I serve the person I hesitate to fully love? How will I respond at times when doing something interferes or interrupts my task at hand? May I desire to serve the Lord with gladness! When done for Him, no job can be called mundane, menial, or meaningless.

May the people I come into contact with today be the recipients of service done out of love and empowered by the Spirit of God. Former students of mine use to enthusiastically raise their hands when asked if someone would like to do ___________. May I be THAT willing, THAT excited, and THAT desirous to accept God’s assignments.

Father, empower me to not only serve You today but to serve You with gladness. Amen.

Unable To Do It Ourselves

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” Matthew 19:16

Ask any number of people how to get to Heaven and the answers will be varied. Some would say to live a good life….keep the ten commandments. Here are some thoughts I have heard from people. Join a church, be baptized, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, live in such a way that your good outweighs your sin, pray, give your money to a church, read your Bible, sacrifice things in your life. We are a society of self sufficiency. We see life as pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and working toward success. It is in our nature to live independent of God and His ways.

But what is wrong with thinking we can do something good enough to earn a place in Heaven? The premise is wrong! For one, a person’s view of God is such that they think He is saying, “Heaven is a wonderful place and you must do something to impress me enough to let you come here.” They think they must EARN a place there. By hard work and good deeds they hope they have given God enough reason to let them in.

Another problem is they have a wrong view of themselves. They think they are capable of doing enough to get them into Heaven. That maybe if they haven’t lived a horribly sinful life or committed a heinous crime they stand a good chance of getting in on their own merit. They may see the good life of an individual and assume those actions are what make Heaven a possibility for them. They feel they have tried their best and surely that will be good enough for God.
Allow me to address the first thought pattern. God offers Heaven as a free gift! He knows we could not produce enough good in our life to obtain it for ourselves. The Bible says we are saved by grace, not by works, because if it were by works we would spend eternity bragging on ourselves. It also says that all our righteousness (good deeds) are like filthy rags. No one will be in Heaven because of their own goodness. Jesus’ death and resurrection paid the price for our way to Heaven. If it could be earned, He would not have come in the first place.

Secondly, the idea that my good cancels out my sin is like saying, “All the times I drove at the speed limit should impress the judge enough to do away with my speeding ticket.” Or “All the times I have paid for items should cause the policeman to simply ignore the one time I shoplift.” How absurd! If this world does not operate on such a premise, what makes us think God does?
Yes, there is a Heaven and yes there is a way to get there. It is through Jesus.

Father, if it were up to any one of us to get ourselves to Heaven we would fail. It is not a matter of our good versus our bad. It is a matter of accepting Your offer of salvation as a free gift. Once that is done, may we live out the rest of our days here for Your honor and glory. Amen.

My Ultimate Helper

My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2

I love Scripture that reminds me of who God is and what God is in relationship to my life. Psalm 121 gives me four aspects of God that are encouraging and refreshing to read. He is my Helper, my Keeper, my Protector, and my Guard. Talk about feeling surrounded and safe!!!! As His child, some of my most basic needs are to be loved, cared for, nurtured, and wanted. If I am seeking to get those needs met independent of God I am in for disappointment, heartache, and sorrow.

To think that the One who comes to my aid is the One who created heaven and earth. Anything I bring to Him shrinks in comparison to the magnitude of His creation. I often jokingly will tell someone, “Yes, God divided the Red Sea, brought water out of the rock, raised the dead, defeated vast armies, and much more…..but what I am bringing to Him is a BIG problem.” Laughter erupts because of the absurdity of such a statement!

Isn’t it interesting how certain individuals can come to our aid and just their presence relieves us? For instance, seeing a fireman when there is a fire, seeing a policeman when a crime is about to be committed against us, seeing a soldier (from YOUR nation) when the enemy has moved in? Those are just a few examples but none of them can compare with the presence of God in ones life. His attributes of being all-present, all-power, and all-knowing put Him far above any human source of help.

I am coming to realize that His help (while always available) does not mean life will automatically go my way, that dangers will disappear, or that heartache will cease. But when I go through a storm or a valley He is able to preserve my soul and spirit. Though my outward life may be filled with difficulties, He is able to bring peace and safety to my internal world. It does not mean there will be no tears. It means I will be able to shed those tears on His shoulders and in His arms.

I long to live in a perfect world with perfect people and perfect situations….but that is Heaven. While I am living my days out here, I am learning to take refuge under the shadow of His wings.

Father, Your many invitations to come to You show me where to turn throughout my day. As my helper, keeper, protector, and guard, You quiet my heart amidst any difficulty. May I always rest in You. Amen.