Doubting God’s Love

Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus.  A.B. Simpson

Do you ever doubt God’s love for you?  I think we all do at various times in our life.  We doubt if He will help us out of the situation we are in, we doubt He will heal us, we doubt we will get the job we apply for and we doubt He will provide for us.  Many times the doubt we have is based on what we think we need instead of basing it on what God knows we need.  Too many times our doubt is based on a want instead of a need.  Sometimes it is based on our desire to avoid the very circumstance that God wants us to experience so that we will grow.

When you are doubting God’s love for you there are scriptures that you can turn to that will help overcome doubt and help you to understand that God wants what is best for you.  When we surrender to God’s abiding love, we learn what it means to have faith in the One who wants what is best for us.  Sometimes what is best for us is painful. The best example in my life was cancer.  I didn’t want cancer but it happened.  It was painful yet it taught me to appreciate what I have and to not pursue the things that don’t matter.  It also taught me that God loves me enough to heal me.  It taught me that He is with me in the worst of circumstances and also the best. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Psalm 91:1-6 Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Psalm 27:13-14

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Proverbs 3:5-10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for ever doubting Your love for me.  Remind me that even in times of trouble in my life, You want what is best for me and sometimes the most painful times in my life are meant for my good.  The very things I want to avoid in life are often the times I learn the most about what it means to love and know You.  I praise You in the good times and the bad.  I am forever grateful for Your love for me. 

     

Scripture: The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:1-5

God’s Will

To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God's will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. Oswald Chambers

One of the most difficult struggles I have in life is figuring out what God’s will is for my life.  How do you determine which direction God wants you to go?  God gave us a brain and the ability to choose, yet sometimes I am so concerned about making a mistake in my choice that I don’t do anything.  The problem with this is that I am still making a choice by not choosing.  The fear of making the wrong choice can debilitate me. 

The best place to figure this out is to read scripture that talks about God’s will. In Romans 12:1-21 we can learn how to live in God’s will. 

1.     Living Sacrifices to God:  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

2.     Serve God with Spiritual Gifts: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

3.     Behave Like a Christian: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

If any of these are missing in my life or if I am not practicing what these scriptures reveal, then I am not in God’s will.  God’s will is a lifestyle.  It is living as Christ did and if I am ever going to understand His will, it will mean I will need to change the lifestyle I am living. If I am walking closely with the Lord and truly desiring His will for my life, God will place His desires in my heart.  The most important part is wanting God’s will; not my own.  Psalm 37:4  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often stray from Your will because I am distracted by the world and what it has to offer.  Help me to keep my focus on You.  I need Your help every day to remind me that You are the only One who can lead me in the land of uprightness.  Help me to be a living sacrifice to You, serve You with the spiritual gifts you have given me and to behave like Christ.  

       

Scripture:  Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.  Psalm 143:10

Time to Refuel

He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.  C.S. Lewis

We live in a fast paced world where we are moving so fast that at times we forget to refuel.  How many days are we driving on fumes? Our bodies are very much like a car.  They need regular maintenance, tune ups and fuel to keep operating at optimum efficiency.  If we don’t take care of us we will break down. 

Have you ever had a fuel filter go out on your car?  You are driving along and all of a sudden your car starts sputtering and then it goes a few feet and then lurches forward a few times.  Eventually if you don’t replace the filter it will stall out completely.

We need to refuel our body and our mind so that we don’t stall out.  How do you know what steps to take when you don’t have the instruction manual readily available? One of the things that causes us to run out of gas in life is we aren’t prepared.  If we haven’t buried scripture in our heart so that it is readily available, we can end up making costly mistakes that can lead to burnout and lead us further from our Heavenly Father. 

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul states the following: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

God’s grace is sufficient.  His grace is enough.  The grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient to uphold me, strengthen me, comfort me, make my troubles useful to me, sufficient to enable me to triumph over it, to bring me out of it, sufficient to bring me out of anything and to take me home to heaven. God is sufficient.  He is enough to meet our needs and He is available for refueling our heart, mind and soul.  Spend time with the One whose grace is sufficient.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often forget to refuel.  When I lose sight of You I will break down.  I need your fuel to keep me going.  When I start running out of gas in this life, please call me back to You and your all sufficient grace.  Everything I will ever need in this life is found in You. Remind me to refuel on Your Word.   

      

Scripture: He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:29-31

Where Are You Going With Your GPS?

If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God does not guide those who want to run their own life. He only guides those who admit their need of His direction and rely on His wisdom.  Winkie Pratney

I was traveling this weekend and when I headed home I got a little lost.  Well ok, I got a lot lost.  At least I figured out I didn’t know where I needed to go before I was in another state so that is good when you live in Texas. 

So I pull over into a parking lot to set the GPS on my car.  I think GPS is great except when my voice system doesn’t understand a word I am saying even when I say it loudly and slowly.  The GPS doesn’t go into detail about how you need to say numbers and if you have a street name like Kensington it really confuses it.  When my GPS stopped thinking about where I wanted to go and came up with some options to select from, the voice came on and said select a number for the correct address.  My options all began with a number that looked something like this: 32000851645 King Street.  After four times of telling her “none of those” I finally just started manually entering the information. 

One of the things used long ago by sailors was the Polaris principle.  If you plan to go somewhere it is always best to know where that somewhere is.  Sailors used the North Star because it always stayed in the same place.  No matter when you looked for the North Star it would always be in the same place and you would always know you were heading north if you followed it.  The North Star is fixed in place. 

In life we need the same thing.  We need a North Star that will get us to where we need to go.  We must first decide what or whom our North Star is.  Is your North Star a friend, colleague, spouse or family member?  Have you figured out yet that any one of these can fail you, disappoint and give you bad directions?  We are human and God is not.  God should be our North Star.  He is never changing, always there and always consistent and forever dependable to lead us in the right direction.  If we keep our eyes focused on Him our paths will be straight.  He directs us in the way we should go.  There is no better GPS than God our heavenly Father. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for being my Spiritual GPS.  I am hopelessly lost without Your guidance.  Help me to keep my eyes focused on You so that my feet don’t fall off the path that leads to You. 

      

Scripture: Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.  Hebrews 13:7-9

 

The Race of Faith

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

 What We Learn Is How We Live

Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words or deeds. They imply a great deal of thinking about others. This in itself is rare. But they also imply a great deal of thinking about others without the thoughts being criticisms. This is rarer still.  Frederick W. Faber

Have you ever thought about the things that you learn become how you live?  When we are children we learn from our parents, teachers, peers and friends.  Everyone around us during our formative years is teaching us the way we will live for the remainder of our life on earth.  The interactions we have with others shapes whom we will become later in life. 

I read a poem written by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D. that talks about what children learn and I think it can also be applied to anyone.  I replaced “children” and “they” in the poem with “I” and "myself".  

If children (I) live with criticism, they (I) learn to condemn.

          If children (I) live with hostility, they (I) learn to fight.

If children (I) live with fear, they (I) learn to be apprehensive.

          If children (I) live with pity, they (I) learn to feel sorry for themselves (myself).

If children (I) live with ridicule, they (I) learn to feel shy.

          If children (I) live with jealousy, they (I) learn to feel envy.

If children (I) live with shame, they (I) learn to feel guilty.

If children (I) live with encouragement, they (I) learn confidence.

          If children (I) live with tolerance, they (I) learn patience.

If children (I) live with praise, they (I) learn appreciation.

          If children (I) live with acceptance, they (I) learn to love.

If children (I) live with approval, they (I) learn to like themselves (myself).

          If children (I) live with recognition, they (I) learn it is good to have a goal.

If children (I) live with sharing, they (I) learn generosity.

          If children (I) live with honesty, they (I) learn truthfulness.

If children (I) live with fairness, they (I) learn justice.

          If children (I) live with kindness and consideration, they (I) learn respect.

Do any of the above statements apply to you or your children?  We are living in a world where bullying has become the norm and hateful words become common in every day conversations.  It is hard to turn on the news without seeing someone stealing from another person or lying at every turn.  Change needs to happen within all of us if we are to become more like Christ. 

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to walk in the Spirit.  Some of the behaviors I learned over the years come from my childhood and others from my adulthood.  If I am going to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit I will need to work on me.  I believe You will give me the strength to overcome the bad behavior in my life so that I can show others what it means to walk in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Give me Your power to overcome the bad and replace it with good. 

       

Scripture: Walking in the Spirit

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.  Galatians 5:16-26

Chinese Fire Drill

    

Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace... If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you know what His will is.  Amy Carmichael

My Mom, Dad, sister and I were at an event in Houston this past week selling Purple Ranch products.  On Thursday night we returned to our hotel around ten and went to bed.  At 3:00am the fire alarm in our hotel went off.  To preface this story I will say that it was raining and 32 degrees outside with a north wind blowing.  I don’t know what everyone else was doing but I do know I jumped out of bed landed on two feet and said “what is that?”  It wasn’t one of my brighter moments, but what do you expect from someone who has had too little sleep. 

So we are running around trying to find coats and socks, anything we could get our hands on that would be warm if we had to go outside.   I always wondered where the term “it was like a Chinese fire drill” came from because we were in the midst of one.  It was believed to have originated in the early 1900’s when a British ship run by a Chinese crew practiced a fire drill in the engine room.  The bucket brigade would take their buckets to the starboard side and draw water, run to the engine room and throw water on the fire then a second crew would haul the accumulated water to the main deck and throw it over the port side.  There was a problem in translation between the parties so instead of dipping the water on the starboard side, running to the engine room to throw water on the fire, they totally bypassed the engine room and threw the water over the port side. 

We were having a Chinese fire drill in our hotel last weekend.  Have you ever had that circumstance occur in your Christian life?  You are so busy running from one side of your ship to the other doing pointless things, that you totally bypass God in the process.  There is a reason why God tells us to be still and trust in Him.  All the running around we do won’t bring us any closer to Him. Take refuge in Him.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times when my life becomes like a Chinese fire drill.  I run every way but to You.  When I don’t rest in You, I lose the very thing You want me to have. Peace in knowing that I am Yours and that You will take care of the details. Thank You Lord for loving me. 

Scripture: God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.  There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.  Psalm 46:1-11

Forgiving Those Who Hurt You

Forgiveness does not mean excusing.  C.S. Lewis

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with forgiving people from my past who have inflicted hurt.  I think sometimes there are those who don’t realize they are destructive to others and then there are those who know they are destructive to others and continue to be.  How do you forgive the people from your past or in your present who have hurt you whether knowingly or unknowingly?

I remember several years ago I was in a Bible study group and we were discussing forgiveness.  They showed a video of a woman from our church.  She told the story of how her mother was murdered. She talked about how she had to learn to forgive before she could heal.  After hearing her story, my reasons for not forgiving someone in my life paled in comparison.

One of the most important things about forgiveness is learning what it means.  Forgiveness is not forgetting.  It is forgiving the person who did the wrong and then allowing ourselves to heal.  There are going to be times when the person who hurt you either never realized you suffered hurt at his/her hand, or they will never acknowledge your hurt.  This is the part I struggle with the most; the knowledge that someone hurt me and may never realize it and may never ask for forgiveness.

If you look back over your life at the times where someone hurt you, you can probably remember every one of those even if it happened 30, 40 or 50 years ago.  Why can we remember the hurts more than any other incident?  I think part of the reason is because they become part of our identity.  How often have you heard someone say, “I am this way because of how I was treated by _________ or because of _________.”  What happens is we start thinking that if we let go of the hurt caused by another person, we will lose part of ourselves in the letting go.  This is based on the fear of losing something.

Jesus taught that I don’t have to hold onto the past hurts.  If I allow His love and forgiveness to flow from me towards the person who hurt me, instead of holding on to the anger of past wrongs, Christ’s love and forgiveness become my identity.  When we let it go we become more like Him.  “²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:20-21  Learn to forgive and set your heart free.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I struggle with forgiveness.  Sometimes I hold onto the hurt and replay it in my mind over and over again like a bad movie.  Help me to forgive those who hurt me and depend on you to take care of the rest.  Forgiving doesn’t mean I forget.  It also doesn’t mean that I trust the person who hurt me.  Being cautious with those who have hurt me doesn’t mean I haven’t forgiven them. It simply means that I am not You and cannot see that person’s heart.  

      

Scripture: There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:32-34

There Will Come a Day

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was at a Farmer’s Market last weekend and one of our regular customers came by to see us.  His wife has been struggling with illness and many times we told him we would be praying for her.  Although she struggles to walk, several times over the years she has come to visit us at our booth using a walker or in a wheelchair.  On this visit he came by himself because he said his wife was doing so much better that she had taken a trip to visit her family.  

As we were talking I asked him if he works and what does he do.  He is very soft spoken and I can understand why he would need to be with the type of work he does.  He said he counsels children who are involved in human trafficking.  He made several statements that stuck with me.  He said, “Many times this is going on right in front of us and we don’t realize it,” and then he said, “even here”.  “Even here” meant right at the market and in our neighborhoods.  He then said, “Many people who live in small towns think their children are safe from human traffickers, but that isn’t true.  Sometimes these are the easiest places to get to children because we believe our children are safe in a small tight knit community.”

It struck me that many of us live in an insulated world.  Sometimes tragedy is going on all around us and we don’t even realize it.  There are people in need all around us and we don’t even know it.  

As I was driving to work I heard a song that touched on this and all the other tragedies in this world.  The song is sung by Faith Hill called “There Will Come a Day”.   Several verses describe the world we live in today and the world to come.  I can’t wait to walk down the streets of gold with the voices of earth and angels singing and where every knee will bow to the One who saves us.

Wars are raging
Lives are scattered
Innocence is lost
And hopes are shattered
The old are forgotten
The children are forsaken
In this world we're living in
Isn't anything sacred

There's a better place
Where our Father waits
And every tear
He'll wipe away
The darkness will be gone
The weak shall be strong
Hold on to your faith
There will come a day
There will come a day

Song will ring out
Down those golden streets
The voices of earth
The angels will sing
Every knee will bow
Sin will have no trace
In the glory of His amazing grace
Every knee will bow
Sin will have no trace
In the glory of His amazing grace
There will come a day

Lyrics by Diane Warren, Aimee Mayo & William Luther

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we live in a world where war, famine, hate and children forgotten and abused are the norm.  When I start to become immune to the tragedies occurring around me, my heart will become hard. Help me to open my eyes to the suffering around me and to be brave enough to take a stand for You. I picture in my mind a place where sorrow and pain are no more and we will walk down the streets of gold where everyone will bow their knee and sing praises to You for your amazing grace.  

       

Scripture: All Things Made New

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:1-8

Road Hazards

If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.  John Henry Newman

Last week I was driving down the freeway and I looked up ahead of me and I saw all red taillights.  As I slowly moved forward I was thinking about what might be up in front of us on the road.  As will often happen, I kept easing up and I glanced ahead to the other side of the freeway and there is a refrigerator on its side in the middle lane.  A Walmart truck was stopped in the middle lane too.  At first I didn’t recognize it as a refrigerator because I think the Walmart truck hit it. The door was in one part of the lane and the body of the refrigerator was on its side further down the road. 

I don’t know if you see stuff like I do on the freeway.  Maybe you don’t drive as far as I do, or maybe you don’t drive on a freeway where people pass you going 80 to 90mph like you’re sitting still. It could also be that I just drive on the roads where people lose stuff.  If you think about it, if your car is going 70mph and the wind is blowing 40mph in the same direction, your refrigerator standing up in the back of the truck is going to have a wind force of a Category 1 hurricane pushing against it.  If your fridge is standing up in the back of your truck and it meets winds with the force of a Category 1 hurricane, is it any wonder your fridge is now road kill?  

Anyway I was thinking about this incident and it reminded me of the road hazards we face every day in life. These are the unexpected events that occur when you least expect it.  We are on a journey traveling a road that will lead us somewhere.  We make choices every day about which direction we will go when the road hazards of life hit us.  How we handle our choices can mean going down the right or wrong path.

In the book “Hazardous: Committing to the Cost of Following Jesus” Derek Cooper states that “being a follower of Jesus is fraught with all kinds of challenges.  In fact, following Jesus means making regular sacrifices, taking financial and vocational risks.” The bottom line is we must trust in God to see us through the hazards of life.  He promises we will have them but we need to learn how to live through them with His help.        

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, every day I meet up with the hazards of life.  Teach me to trust in You to see me through the very obstacles that are meant to trip me and make me fall.  Through You I have all the strength I will ever need to conquer any obstacle or hazard I face.  You are my Savior, My God and I praise Your Holy Name. 

      

Scripture: Seeing the Invisible

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

An Empty Vessel

Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus.  A.B. Simpson

When I looked up the definition of vessel it means “a hollow container”.  We all are a vessel or a hollow container waiting to be filled. God can use all of us as a vessel to spread the Word of Jesus Christ, but we must choose to be that vessel. 

Today we are surrounded by things that can distract us from our true purpose in life.  There are all kinds of things that we can fill our vessel with that won’t ever benefit the Kingdom of Heaven.  When we are baptized into a new life with Him, we become a new vessel.

In the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil we get a picture of what type of vessel God wants us to be.  The story is about a widow whose husband died.  A creditor is on his way to take her two sons to be his slaves.  So she goes to Elisha to ask what she should do.  Elisha asks her “what do you have in the house? And she responds “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”  So Elisha tells her to go out and get as many empty jars as she can find and fill them with oil then set them aside. 

If you look at this story we see that the widow and her sons represent the world. Oil is traditionally used to symbolize the Holy Spirit.  The empty jars stand for those who refuse to believe in God.  You can see the same thing when Jesus told the disciples to go into the world and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  (Matt. 28:19)

As long as the widow had empty jars the oil expanded to fill them.  As long as people come, there will be enough of the Holy Spirit to fill each of our vessels.  When we receive the Holy Spirit we are set apart just as Elisha told the widow to set aside the full jars.  Our past sins are forgiven and our debts are paid by Jesus death on the cross.

This is an example of salvation by grace, the remission of sin, the redemption of the soul and the gift of everlasting life.  Each one of us is a vessel waiting to be filled.  We can be born again, where our vessel is emptied of sin and refilled with the Holy Spirit. 

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for giving each of us a way back to You through Jesus Christ.  I want to be a vessel that is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Help me to set aside anything that hinders me from showing others Who You really are.  

Scripture: Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”  2 Kings 4:1-7

The Rich Fool

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  1 Timothy 6:10

One of the things I struggle with is money.  It is easy to fall into the trap of money.  When we start depending on it to sustain us we lose.  If I love money and pursue making it above everything else, I lose sight of what is important. 

God gives us everything we have in life including money.  How we handle this one thing can shape us into someone more like God or less like Him.  Remember the Parable of the Rich Fool.  The rich man had crops that yielded more than he could use.  He had so much that he didn’t have room in his barns for all of it so he decided he would tear down his barns and build bigger barns. The rich man said to himself, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink and be merry.  But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

How many of us are using the money God gave us to store up wealth for our retirement years like the rich man.  He had more than he would ever need and instead of giving it to someone less fortunate than himself; he decided to build bigger barns.  God wants us to use our money wisely.  There are several things we can do to gain the right perspective about money.

1.     Don’t love your money.  God should be number one in your life.  He tells us we can’t serve both God and money.

2.     Don’t waste your money.  Since everything I have belongs to God; I should be careful with it.  I should spend it carefully and wisely.

3.     Don’t trust your money.  If we place our trust in our money it can all be taken away from us in an instant.  If you look back in history to the Great Depression of 1929-1939 you can see why we shouldn’t trust money.  The stock market crash wiped out millions of investors.  During that time there were 22 suicides per 100,000 people.

4.     Don’t expect your money to satisfy or make you happy.  How many of us purchase things because we think they will make us happy and then a short time later are in pursuit of something else because that temporary happiness didn’t last.  

In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I struggle often with my thoughts about money.  I fall into the trap of believing that since I worked for it; it is mine to do with as I please.  Remind me that everything I have is given to me from You.  I think some of my misunderstanding comes from properly understanding what my “needs” really are.  Many times what I spend money on are not things I need; they are things I want.  Help me to look at money in the proper way and glorify You with my use of it. 

        

Scripture: The Parable of the Rich Fool

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21

The Armor of God

Thank God for the battle verses in the Bible. We go into the unknown every day of our lives, and especially every Monday morning, for the week is sure to be a battlefield, outwardly and inwardly in the unseen life of the spirit, which is often by far the sternest battlefield for souls. Either way, the Lord your God goes before you, He shall fight for you!  Amy Carmichael

We live in a world where Satan roams freely.  Are you prepared to fight him?  There are many things in the world that can lead us away from God and toward Satan.  In Ephesians we are given the best resources that we will need in this fight against Satan. 

One of the best examples of Satan doing his best to destroy someone on earth was Job. If we think Satan isn’t real we just need to read about Job.  Job didn’t do anything wrong but God allowed Satan to test him and what a test it was.  Job lost everything.  He even questioned if God was still with him. 

How many times in our daily life do we struggle with wondering if God is there in the midst of our trials?  If we are going to win the fight we will need to armor up.  When ancient warriors went into battle they prepared.  They had a horse to get them where they needed to go.  They also had armor and sometimes even their horses had armor. 

The first piece of armor we will need is truth. When a warrior went into battle he wore a belt.  The belt was used to hold his sword.  If the soldier didn’t wear his belt he couldn’t carry one of his most powerful weapons, the sword of the Spirit.  The girds refer to the pieces that held the armor on. If we don’t have the truth it’s like running out to fight in a t-shirt, jeans and a fly swatter. 

We also are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness.  The breastplate shielded a warrior’s vital organs from blows that could be fatal.  This righteousness isn’t of our works.  It is the righteousness of Christ, received by faith that guards our hearts against the accusations of Satan and secures us from his attacks. 

Next we will need to prepare our feet for battle.  Satan is going to try to stop each of us from sharing the Gospel.  He is going to do his best to throw roadblocks in our way so that we can’t advance God’s Kingdom.  He wants us to stumble and fall.  If we are going to share God’s message we better have good footwear.

We next need to get our shield of faith.  This shield helps us to deflect the blows that Satan throws our way.

The next thing we need to put on is the helmet of salvation.  If we don’t protect our head we aren’t much good in a fight, that’s why we need to protect it.  Your head is where the mind resides and when we prepare this vital part of our body it helps us to discern between spiritual truth and spiritual deception.

All of the previous pieces of armor are for defensive purposes.  When we put on the sword of the Spirit, it is the only offensive weapon that we use when we put on the armor of God.  This piece shows us the holiness and power of the Word of God.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he used the Word of God.  That was his formidable weapon against Satan.  The amazing thing is; we have the very same weapon at our disposal. 

For us to utilize God’s weapons we will need to study, live, breathe and walk in His Holy Word.  Our best defense against Satan is to be prepared and to use the tools God provides us. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to wear your armor.  If I don’t know Your truth and bury it in my heart, I will not be able to fight the battle that Satan wages on me every day.  Thank you for giving me the tools and weapons I need to fight an unseen force that tries to trip me up and make me fall.  I praise You for giving me the strength of Your weapons to fight this ongoing battle.          

      

Scripture: The Whole Armor of God

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:10-20

Dependent on Him

God may allow His servant to succeed when He has disciplined him to a point where he does not need to succeed to be happy. The man who is elated by success and is cast down by failure is still a carnal man. At best his fruit will have a worm in it.  A.W. Tozer

A man by the name of Wallace Johnson made this statement: “I am totally dependent on God for help in everything I do.  Otherwise I honestly believe I would start to fall apart in months.”  Wallace Johnson was fired from his job at the sawmill and he had no retirement and no severance package.  When his wife asked him what he planned to do, he stated that he was going to do what he always wanted to do.  He told her he was going to mortgage their home and go into the building business.

In 1952 he and his co-founder formed the motel chain Holiday Inn. They were the first chain to provide a Bible in every room.  He said it was to help people find Jesus and the solution to their problems, no matter who they were. Wallace later went on to say that if he could locate the man who fired him, he would thank him for what he had done.  He then stated, “This was God’s unerring and wondrous plan to get him into the career he was shaped to do.”

Have you had circumstances in your life where you failed at something?  We all have had those moments.  If we look at failure from a worldly perspective, we will buy into the definition that failure means that we have not met a desirable or intended objective.  The world believes that failure is the opposite of success. 

I believe that God allows things to happen to us for a reason. Sometimes it is necessary for us to fail because we are proud and we believe that we are the reason for our success. If we believe that God provides us with everything we have on earth, then our success really doesn’t have anything to do with us.  God created us and He knows what we are capable of in this life.  He also wants us to do what we were shaped to do.  His best is produced in us when we let go of what the world thinks we should do, and instead do what God created us to do. Depend on God for every decision you make in life. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You know what the best is for me.  Too many times I try to make the most important decisions without consulting You first.  Things fall apart when I neglect to depend on You.  I need Your help to guide me in the right direction.  When I fail at something, help me not to get caught up in the failure and instead look for the blessing.  

      

Scripture: Justification by Faith

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.  Galatians 3:1-9

Perfect Love Without Fear

Perfect love will never want the preeminence in everything, it will never want to take the place of another, it will always be willing to take the back seat.  Smith Wigglesworth

You are of God.  Love one another.  Love is of God.  His love has been perfected in us. There is no fear in love. He who loves God must love his brother also.  1 John 4

I think one of the most important things we can learn in this life is to love.  Have you ever thought about how love changes everything? I think sometimes we associate love with the wrong things.  I love my car, my house and my possessions.  I love my hairstyle, my outfit and my favorite shoes. Our perception of love can change everything and it can change the world.  How powerful is that?

We have a gentleman that goes to our church.  Everyone knows him.  I’ve never personally introduced myself to him but I know who he is and so does everyone else at church.  If you ever see him you will know that he knows what love is all about.  The first time I encountered Jerry was when I heard him say “AMEN” at our Rockwall campus.  He heard something Pastor Steve said and wholeheartedly agreed so in the silence of this huge building you heard this deep voice in the back speaking with passion when he said “AMEN”.  That is Jerry. 

Over the years I have watched Jerry move to our Town East campus and become a leader.  The one thing I always see in him is his love for other people.  He is absolutely passionate about God and loving people.  He does the majority of our baptism’s and you can feel the excitement and love flowing off of him in waves.  You can literally see the excitement in his eyes when he lowers the person into the water that he is thankful for another person being saved. 

God created love, it is who He is, it is the very essence of who He is.  We are to love one another with God’s kind of love.  This is not a fly by night, fickle kind of love.  This is an all consuming, until death kind of love. When we find that kind of love there is no fear.  Imagine having no fear in anything because we know we are loved by God.  Imagine having no fear of what will happen to us because we are loved by an amazing God.

   

If you think no one loves you, think again.  God loves You as if you were the only one who existed on this earth.  Love that never ends.  The Love that sends His son to die kind of Love.  Take an example from His Book and accept His amazing love and give it back to someone else. You can change the world.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Your love is perfect love.  I want to show that kind of love to other people.  I fail at this over and over again.  If I don’t love my neighbor, brother or sister with this kind of love, I don’t really know what Your love is all about.  Help me to love others as You do.  I praise You for loving me the way you do. 

Scripture: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

The Consummation of Love

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.  1 John 4