Secrets

The Lord made it very plain in the New Testament that believers cannot escape reaping the kind of harvest they sow. We cannot hide our sin; we will not get away with it. The secrets of the night are not hidden from God.  Theodore Epp

Do you have secrets? I believe we all do.  Sometimes these are the things we have done that we don’t want anyone else to know.  The problem with secrets is they can often keep us from getting closer to God. 

The irony of this is that God already knows what our secrets are and we don’t have to tell him about them.  He knows.  When we keep secrets we isolate ourselves from God and others.  We can’t form loving relationships with others when our secrets are standing in the way.  We think we are protecting ourselves but in reality we are hindering our growth.

There used to be a commercial about how if you ate Wheaties you would grow to be strong and could accomplish great things.  Then they would throw a famous athlete on the cover of the box to encourage you to buy Wheaties because then you could become or look like the person on the box.  The reality is we don’t get our strength from Wheaties.  We get that from God. 

If we want to be strong in our faith it is necessary to let go of our secrets.  Secrets that are harmful and hidden create guilt.  Guilt draws us away from the people and the One we most need in our life. 

When we trust someone else with our secrets, we begin to heal.  What we also find out is that the person we trust our secrets to sometimes has bigger secrets or the same secrets we do.  When we confess our sins or secrets to God we are forgiven.  When we confess our secrets to those who love us, we start to heal the brokenness inside us. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of having secrets.  If I don’t confess the secrets to You and repent I am not forgiven.  I need relationships with others and I need to reveal the secrets that hinder me from a close relationship with You.  Help me to be wise in who I choose to share those secrets with and to always come to You and confess them.  When I reveal You heal. 

Scripture:  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8

Jury Duty

Remember that even Jesus' most scathing denunciation - a blistering diatribe against the religious leaders of Jerusalem in Matthew 23 - ends with Christ weeping over Jerusalem. Compassion colored everything He did.  John MacArthur

This week I had the opportunity to see our judicial system at work.  I am not sure how it happens but every year at this time I receive my summons for jury duty.  My husband receives one in random years but I receive one every year like clockwork.   So I was selected out of 600,000 names.  Last time I checked the population of Dallas is over 1.2 million so why does my name get pulled every year?  It always amazes me how much time is wasted in the process.  I always arrive early because when you have jury duty in Dallas County, you are arriving with approximately 2000 other people to serve and parking is a nightmare in downtown Dallas.  I say 2000 and that is an estimate because the numbers went up to 3000 and if you calculate how many people don’t show up that probably makes about 2000 of us sitting in the same room. 

You do get to see a movie and they try to make it better by using local newscasters to narrate but it is not an academy award winner and once you’ve seen it one time you really don’t want a repeat performance.  They have a check in process and on this day there were three windows but only two open so you can imagine the lines.  I had plenty of time to think about the process so I came up with a few time saving things they could do to make things more efficient. 

Everyone who receives a summons gets a sheet with a bar code on it.  The little ladies behind the desk take your sheet and scan it with a bar code reader.  I am thinking a little signage would help and maybe a freestanding barcode reader.  The first sign for one line could say, “If you registered online or by mail step up to the barcode reader and scan your form.  I already know how to do this because the grocery store trained me.  The second sign would read “Questions”.  The third sign would say “Pick the line that best matches your situation and if you don't know your situation go to the window marked "Confused”.  

So you are expected to be in your seat in the jury room by 8:30am.  So I am sitting in the jury room reading my Kindle.  Finally around 8:45 the lights dim and the movie comes on.  The movie covers all sorts of topics.  Who can serve and who can’t, if you are too old or too young, why it is important to serve, and it even covers your mental capacity to serve.  Once the movie is over there is a 20 minute break.  Then a young lady comes out and there is an eraser board easel at the front of the room and she starts to write down the court numbers, presiding judges and floors they are located on.  Since there were a lot of cases scheduled for the day this process took a while.  I was thinking if they already know this information, and they must, why don’t they have that already listed on the board prior to us getting there.

We then go through orientation.  This part covers how parking is not free, where the cafeteria is and that they only accept cash.  Since they only accept cash orientation tells you where the ATM’s are in the building and you get directions to the cafeteria.  You learn where the bathrooms, vending machines and water fountains are, how to get Dart passes validated and they even tell you when you go to the cafeteria or the hallways you are not to discuss the case being presented.  Once this orientation is complete we get another 20 minute break. 

The lady then starts selecting groups of numbers for the various courts.  Since there was only one small eraser board at the front of the room she ran out of room so she had to erase and rewrite the cases smaller so she could fit more on the board. When your number comes up all the jurors in the group are required to go to the front of the room and get a juror badge. 

As I watched this process I thought of the purpose of the process.  It is intended to give a person who has committed a crime the opportunity for his/her peers to judge their actions in an impartial manner and decide whether the person is guilty or not. 

This made me think of Jesus.  He was judged and found guilty.  His guilty sentence was not based on truth or facts. Jesus was sinless and died for our sin not His.  Pontius Pilate bowed to popular demand and crucified an innocent man.  People testified against Him, Judas betrayed Him and Peter denied knowing Him and yet he still showed compassion to those who accused Him.  I want to be more like Him.  I have a long way to go but I will continue to strive for that goal.   

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be more like Jesus.  I live in a sinful world and it is so easy to get drawn into what the world does and to forget what you placed me here for. Give me the strength and courage to become more like Jesus.  

  

Scripture: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:37-39

Green Acres

So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings--whether in a hovel or prison-dungeon, or at a martyr's stake--we shall be enabled to say, " The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places" (Ps. 16:6). But that is the language of faith, not of sight nor of sense.   A.W. Pink

Those of you who are not the ripe old age of me might not have ever heard of this show but it was one I loved to watch as a kid.  Green Acres was a show about a big city attorney named Oliver and his Hungarian wife Lisa.  Oliver was originally a Manhattan attorney who decided to trade the big city life for the rural countryside.  It portrayed the lives of city folk moving to the country as greenhorns. Lisa hated the country and wanted the big city life back, but she actually fit in better than Oliver because of her quirkiness. 

There were episodes about Oliver arguing with the phone company about moving his phone inside the house.  It was installed on a telephone pole and you had to climb the pole to answer the phone.  There was Mr. Haney the salesman who sold the ramshackle “Haney Farm” to the gullible Oliver.

Oliver and Lisa had elderly neighbors who never had children so they adopted a pig named Arnold Ziffel as their son who understood English, went to the local school and loved westerns.  Oliver seemed to be the only one who understood that Arnold was livestock and not a person. Arnold would sometimes show up at Oliver and Lisa’s house to watch TV. 

I was thinking about this long ago show and it actually made me long for the country life.  We grew up in the country where riding horses was the norm.  We rode in the evenings as kids.  Dad would get home from work and we would saddle all the horses and all six of us would ride for several hours.  It was amazing how much you could see riding around the neighborhoods.  We actually caught up with neighbors along the way because they would be out in their yards so we would stop to talk and catch up.  We also had great family time.  You had plenty of time to talk with no traffic noise or exhaust fumes and no one was ever in a hurry to get anywhere.

When I look back I long for those days.  I live and work in the big city now and there are more motorcycles than horses and fewer kids riding bicycles and more playing video games. 

If I had it to do over I would spend more time with God than I did back then.  It is wonderful to reflect back on those long ago times but I realize now that I didn’t appreciate God’s creation as much as I do now.  There were many years that I wasted in not seeing God in everything around me.  Think of how much I missed by not tuning into Him. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I miss those long ago days of carefree summers and where life was much simpler.  Now I am always in a hurry all the time because there isn’t enough time in the day to get to everything.  Help me to slow down in this fast paced environment and appreciate Your creation.  I can find You anywhere but I need to slow down so I won’t miss a detail.   

Scripture:  Scripture:  O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.  I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.  Psalm 16:5-8

Egg Toss    

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.  C.S. Lewis

I have told many stories of my childhood and I thought today would be a good day to share another of those stories.  I love this saying by C.S. Lewis.  We can either be a decent ordinary egg our entire lives, or as I say we can be an extraordinary egg.

My brother and I were out in the woods behind our house with my Dad.  I am sure Dad was working or cutting wood or something productive but my brother and I were mostly goofing off.  We had gone to the barn earlier that morning and gathered eggs.  Unbeknownst to me, my brother had held onto one of the eggs. 

So I am walking through the woods, minding my own business, when something comes sailing through the trees.  The problem with this was my brother knew it was headed for me but I didn’t and he really didn’t give me a heads up or in this case head duck.  The reason he knew it was because he is the one who threw the egg.  So I am walking along and all of a sudden I get smacked upside, (I don’t think that is a word but it sounds right for this story), the head with a raw egg. 

Since my brother played baseball when he was younger, I guess he was a better pitcher than he thought because his aim was good that day.  He missed every tree branch so the egg had nothing to stop its momentum except me.  So here I am standing in the woods with egg running down the side of my head.  I think it surprised me more than anything but I am sure I cried because it shocked me.  It wasn’t like I got a goose egg from it or in this case a chicken egg.  He got in trouble of course, but I don’t quite remember the punishment since there is not anything in the Kid Manual about what punishment is required for hitting your sister upside the head with a raw egg. That was a new one for my Dad and he had lots of practice with four kids. 

      

I love the analogy of being hatched or going bad.  That is so true.  Our lives are like a long incubation period.  This is when we are learning and growing in our spiritual life. 

We had an incubator when I was young and it always fascinated me that you could place eggs in this thing and later the chicks would hatch.  The thing is you had to make sure the light source stayed on continuously and you had to go out every day and turn the eggs.  That is what God is to us.  He is our light source and he turns us every day.  In the turning process he may give us challenges or trials that help us mature so that one day we too will hatch.  It is up to us whether we will be a decent egg, an extraordinary egg or a rotten egg.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes allow worldly things to distract me and it is like my brain has a short circuit or sometimes an entire power outage.  Those are the times that I need to cling to you with everything in me. I praise You for loving me enough to wait until the lights come back on.   

    

Scripture:   Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:7-9

Announcing Your Presence

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.  Abraham Lincoln

I believe Satan to exist for two reasons: first, the Bible says so; and second, I've done business with him.  D.L. Moody

The chief weapon we ought to use in resisting Satan is the Bible. Three times the great enemy offered temptations to our Lord. Three times his offer was refused, with a text of Scripture as the reason, "it is written" (Mt. 3:4, 7, 10).  J.C. Ryle

There are some animals that I am not so partial to.  This weekend I was setting up at a farmer’s market and I heard the person next to me say “There is a skunk.”  I am thinking “We are in the middle of town, how could there be a skunk in downtown Rockwall?”  He comes waddling down the sidewalk, crosses the street and goes under the farmer’s trailer.  You want to get a bunch of farmer’s excited, just throw a skunk into the mix. 

I thought of the cartoon about the French Pepe Le Pew where the skunk Pepe chases after his true love Penelope (a black cat) who can’t stand the odiferous smell he exudes.  The problem with Pepe was he announced his presence before he could get close to his true love. 

When we were kids we lived out in the country so there were always plenty of snakes. One of the more common snakes in Louisiana is the water moccasin also known as a pit viper.  I don’t like snakes.  I admit I am in more danger of injuring myself trying to get away from them than they are of biting me.  I can run really fast with the right incentive. 

We had an open garage attached to our house and during construction we had a stack of paneling on the floor of the garage.  A water moccasin had gotten in between the sheets of paneling.  How did we know that?  A water moccasin gives off a distinct bad odor when they are threatened. It is likened to the smell of a billy goat, but take my word for it they just smell bad.   My dad was used to snakes being around the yard or in the barn so he started taking the paneling off one piece at a time until he found the snake and killed it. 

Wouldn’t it be great if Satan did the same thing?  If he gave off some offensive odor so that you could tell he was getting ready to attack or was in the vicinity.  The problem is he doesn’t warn us ahead of time of his presence.  He sneaks in when we least expect it.  He uses stealth as his weapon of choice and before we know it he has taken over our life and actions.  We have a weak moment and he takes advantage.

Unfortunately, we must always be on guard for Satan to strike because he isn’t going to boldly announce his presence and he isn’t going to warn us ahead of time of the danger.  He wants us to be sucked in so that he can bring us down with him.  God has given us the Survival Guide to denying Satan.  If we don’t use it we are in danger of becoming his victims.  Reading the Bible will give us all the instruction we will ever need to avoid sin and ultimately Satan.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the Bible so that I can avoid being caught in Satan’s web of deceit.  Help me to strengthen my armor and uphold Your sword of righteousness so that I won’t fall into Satan’s trap. Satan doesn’t announce his presence so I need every weapon in Your Holy arsenal to protect me from him.   

   

Scripture: Satan Tempts Jesus

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Matthew 4:1-11

Refinishing Furniture or Refinishing You

  

Renewing the mind is a little like refinishing furniture. It is a two-stage process. It involves taking off the old and replacing it with the new. The old is the lies you have learned to tell or were taught by those around you; it is the attitudes and ideas that have become a part of your thinking but do not reflect reality. The new is the truth. To renew your mind is to involve yourself in the process of allowing God to bring to the surface the lies you have mistakenly accepted and replace them with truth. To the degree that you do this, your behaviour will be transformed.  Charles Stanley

Have you ever refinished a piece of furniture?  There is a process that you go through to do this.  Sometimes you buy an old piece of furniture that someone has painted multiple colors and you have to sand off all the old paint to get to the beautiful wood beneath. Other times someone had placed a wet glass on the piece and it damages the surface which then needs to be refinished to restore it. The best way to refinish a piece is to take all of the hardware off so that you can paint underneath while keeping the hardware paint or stain free.  Then you can take a varnish and paint that on top to protect the finish.  Who wants to go through all that work and not protect the finish from damage?

Our Christian life is very much like refinishing a piece of furniture.  We spend years committing sin in our lives, yet we think we will somehow never be tempted to sin again.  We need to realize that our lives are a constant refinishing process.  When we are baptized it is like we sand off all the old sin and get down to the beautiful finish below.  We are made new again.  Next we need to get new hardware.  Our hardware consists of the Bible.  We can find everything we need to keep the finish new from this one Book.  Then there is the protective coating that needs to be applied to protect us.  God is our coat of armor and breastplate of righteousness when the world and Satan is bombarding us.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for the opportunity to refinish me.  When I was baptized I was made new again, but it doesn’t stop there.  I must continue to fight against the sin of this world.  I am in the battle of a lifetime and I need Your help to guide, guard and protect me.  Thank you for loving and protecting me.   

  

Scripture: Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:4

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

The Foundation We Build On

Godliness is more than Christian character. It covers the totality of the Christian life and provides the foundation upon which Christian character is built.  Jerry Bridges

I was listening to the news this morning and there was a story about a neighborhood whose homes are sinking.  Many of the homes had to be abandoned due to safety issues.  They are not sure why they are sinking except they do know that the homes are built on an inactive volcano and water is bubbling up out of the ground.

 

This made me think of the city where I was born.  The city was named for the sulfur mines that were excavated in the area in the 1900s.  A German immigrant by the name of Frasch invented the “Frasch method” of mining sulfur.  Hot steam was pumped into the ground, liquidizing the mineral and then it was pumped to the surface.  

     

This started me thinking about what is under the ground now.  Did they replace the sulfur that was removed?  If not, there are probably large caverns underground that could potentially cave in one day, especially if water starts running through them. 

The kind of foundation we build on as a Christian is the most important one we will ever build.  If we build our foundation on shifting sand; deceitful behavior, lying, cheating, mistreatment of others, our very foundation will crumble. 

When I started thinking about this topic an old hymn that we sang in church when I was young came to mind.  I haven’t thought of this song in years but the melody came right back and I was able to sing the lines of the song from memory.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Written by: Edward Mote c.1834

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know that if I build my Christian life on Your foundation I am able to stand strong through any circumstance.  It is when I stray away from You that my foundation becomes weak and is subject to disaster.  If I want my foundation to be strong to withstand life’s trials, it is necessary for me to spend time with you and meditate on Your Word. 

                

Scripture: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:24-27