February 1
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“And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”  Job 1:8 (RSV)
 
We are told in the book of Job that God was speaking to the angels one day in Heaven, and Satan came up to meet with them.   Satan, you see, was a fallen angel who rejected God.    As God and the angels talked, God praised Job’s faith. Out of envy and hatred, Satan decided to attack Job spiritually.  Satan believed that Job would give up his faith in God if he suffered.  God believed Job was a righteous and faithful man who would never give up on God.  They had a special love for each other… God and Job.   Satan decided to test that.   So, Satan asked God to drop some of his protections around Job.  God allowed it, trusting that Job would do what was right.  Still, God would not allow Job to lose his life no matter what.  Satan felt free to enter into Spiritual Warfare.  God was sure that Job’s faith was going to win out, and in the end grow stronger.  God had confidence in Job’s character and faith.

            Now, notice who Satan goes after in this scripture.  He goes after Job.  Of all the people on the earth, he goes after Job, God’s favorite.  Whenever we get close to God, Satan wants to and will attack us.  If you aren’t doing anything significant for God, Satan could care less about you… you are no threat to him. But once you begin to have a true faith, once you start getting closer to God, Satan will come after you.   He will attack you spiritually.

            Notice how Satan attacks Job.  Initially, he doesn’t even go after Job.  He went after Job’s family.  This is how Satan works.  If he can’t rattle your faith, he’ll hit your children, your spouse, your job, and your friends.  He’ll bring confusion, and death, and destruction, and sadness and hurt.   In the scripture, Satan killed off almost all of Job’s children (remember, they aren’t protected by their own faith), then Satan went after his animals and livelihood, especially his income.  Satan figured this would make Job give up on God.  When Job held faithful, Satan then went after Job’s health and gave him sores and pains in his body.    Job suffered.  

            Now, let’s stop here.    In order to get to you as he did Job, Satan will go after those around you, your supports, your family, and especially those who lack faith or do not have faith.  He will begin to make hurts and anger and emotions pop up all around you.   What do these do?  They cause hurt, and doubts, and pain, and spiritual torment.   What Satan is trying to do is isolate you; make you to feel alone, causing you to  feel beaten and discouraged.  Satan will want you to quit life, to have a pity party, or to just give up.    At this point, many people of shallow faith will give up or give in.

            Oh, but Satan doesn’t stop there.  As in Chapter 2 of the book of Job, then Satan will cause you to get sick, or have physical problems, or have psychological problems.     He will cause you to doubt your faith.    Job began to ask God “Why me?  What have I done?”.      At that point, Job’s wife, who should have supported his faith, suggested he just give up on God… that he curse God and just die.    Thus, depression set in.    Job was suffering on every level of his life.  Satan was loving it.

            Let’s stop to think again.   At this point, Job is wondering what is going on.  He’s wondering why this is happening.   His wife blamed God, even though it was Satan doing the attacking.   READ CAREFULLY NOW….  So, in the midst of Spiritual Warfare, you might get the feeling that God is against you, when its really Satan doing this to you.  You might even blame God or curse God or quit on God… when its Satan who’s at war with you!   And notice how when Satan attacks, Job questions THE WRONG PERSON!!!   He thinks God is doing this, when Satan is.   His wife also believed the wrong person was the problem.  She told her husband to curse God and just die.   Satan is known as the "Father of Lies" in Scripture.  During spiritual warfare, he will always get you to think that God is the problem or your faith is the problem, or the one telling you the truth is the problem, or the one who failed your trust is the problem.  He’ll get you to think your marriage is bad, your spouse isn’t good enough, a true friend isn’t a friend.  The fact is, Satan is the problem.  But he’s so good at lying to you that you begin to believe all kinds of lies about yourself, about how your family or friends feel about you, about what is even going on in your life.    Then, of course, depression hits, just like it did to Job.

            Many times in my life Satan went after me.  When he couldn’t get to me, he went after my wife and then my sons.  Then, he went after leaders and elders in my church.   Why?  Because we are dangerous to Satan.  True faith is a challenge to Satan, especially when your dedication and commitment to God are good, when your work for God is succeeding, when your Biblical and Theological stance is faithful and you are growing in the Spirit.  Satan will put a target on your back and go after you.   He’s going to lie to you and cause you to believe  things about others that is not true.  He will cause you to believe lies like the following: “The Pastor doesn’t like me”,    “I’m not happy in my marriage”,   “My family rejected me”,  “Nobody listens to me”,   “I have it so bad”,   “Poor me… I have to suffer all the time”,  “I should find another church”,   “My faith isn’t good enough to do what I must do”, and  “The people at church are mean to me”.   All these thoughts and feelings are lies to some extent or blown out of proportion… but Satan gets you to believe them.   Satan tempts you to think lies about yourself and others, and you’d bet your life that these lies were true.  You’d bet every bit of money you had that another person felt this way about you… and you’d be wrong.    Satan is twisting what you see so you can’t see the real truth.  
 
            In the Bible, Job spent 38 chapters trying to figure what was going on.  He had done all the right things in his life and yet he was suffering. It wasn’t fair.  And, that’s just it.  When Satan goes after you, it’s not because you did something wrong… it’s because you did something right.  It’s not because you are a bad person, but a good one.    Everything you believe, Satan turns upside down.    Your Pastor becomes the problem.  Your job becomes the problem.  Your spouse becomes the problem.  You get dissatisfied with things you used to cherish.  Your house turns chaotic.  Your life seems depressing and you think…. “Why me?”  without realizing Satan is saying, “Why not you?”.

            In the end of the book of Job, God restores Job’s life and blessed it even more.    Job never gave up on God, though he came close.    He began to question God.  In your life, when you begin to feel alone, isolated, friendless, or life is against you… when you begin to feel like the people in your life hate you or are against you, and  people at church are a bunch of hypocrites…. You might be completely WRONG!!!!  None of these may be true… it’s just that your mind and heart and world are being twisted by Satan.   He’s trying to deceive you, to drive a wedge between you and family, you and your church, you and your God.  He’s trying to make the truth into a lie, life into a living hell, and joy into sorrow.   When these things happen, and they will, just remember:  Satan attacks when he’s scared or jealous.  Satan attacks what God protects.   God was proud of Job.  Satan was envious.   Is God proud of things you’ve done in your life?    Well, expect the Spiritual Warfare to start or continue.  What kind of Spiritual War is hitting you today?
 
February 2

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him.  For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?"    Hebrews 12:5–7 (RSV)

Some have called the problem between parent and child, between grandparents and parents as a “Generation Gap”, and in some ways it is a gap, a big gap.  A parent can say something that the child takes totally wrong.  At times, the teenager is having mood swings (which by the way is normal for a teen), and the parent feels completely confused by the teen who is “just so emotional!”   What I’ve found is that the generations are sometimes at a gap and can’t quite communicate. 

            Even people in the Bible had problems between the generations.   King David and his son, Absalom did not understand each other.  Absalom was conceited and jealous of David.  David couldn’t get his son to understand right from wrong.  They never did mend their relationship before Absalom died trying to make a fool of his father.  Jacob also didn’t understand his son, Joseph.  He thought Joseph was a child with an active imagination, dreaming dreams that were not appropriate in which the father worshiped the son.  What Jacob didn’t know was that Joseph’s dreams came from God.  It wasn’t until just before Jacob’s death that he realized that Joseph wasn’t a childish dreamer, but a prophetic visionary.

            Now you might be thinking, how is it that the generations can communicate?  Even those in the Bible had problems!   How can a child learn to communicate with a parent?  How can they grow to love each other?  The scripture from Hebrews tells us…”God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrews 12)  In these verses, Hebrews is saying that God the Father in heaven disciplines us as followers in the faith.  The author says that discipline is necessary, that discipline is required from God to all of us, and that discipline is required in the home.   Some think when a child is young, the parent should be the child’s best friend, but it is almost impossible to discipline a child with that mindset.  Leave friendship for when the child grows up.  When a child is still learning, the parent is required to be the disciplinarian.    Required.

            Few people today understand discipline.  They think it relates to torture.  In fact, discipline comes from the same word as disciple.  It means to teach another to follow.  Discipline is when a parent teaches a child what is right and wrong and how to live in this world.    Discipline is when a parent teaches a teen to be independent, but discerning.  Discipline is when a parent requires a son or daughter to be responsible.  Discipline is problematic in unhealthy households.  There are parents who think discipline is spanking for every little thing.   If a child spills the milk on accident, it is an occasion for the belt.  This is not discipline, this is abuse.  Discipline can mean corporal punishment in the worst case scenario, but most times, it means teaching a child respect.

            In the scripture from Hebrews shown above, the scripture says “we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them.”    The scripture expects children and teens to respect their parents.  In truth, all children (even adult children) should show respect for their parents in order to be faithful to this scripture.  Its difficult for kids to respect their parents, especially when the child doesn’t know what the parents are doing when they discipline… that generation gap.    And, it’s inordinately difficult for kids to learn respect if their parents do not discipline well or don’t care.  

            Christian psychiatrist, Dr. Paul D. Meier wrote a book called, Christian Child Rearing and Personality Development.    In that book, he becomes a little sarcastic at one point.   He says…."Do you want your son to become an alcoholic, mothers?  Here’s what you do":

(1)     “Spoil him; give him everything he wants if you can afford it.”
     (2)     “When he does wrong, you may nag him, but never spank him.”
     (3)     “Foster his dependence on you, so drugs or alcohol can replace you when he is older.”
     (4)     “Protect him from your husband and from those mean teachers who threaten to correct him from time to time. Sue them if you wish.”
     (5)     “Make all of his decisions for him, since you are a lot older and wiser than he is. He might make mistakes and learn from them if you don’t.”
     (6)     “Criticize his father openly, so your son can lose his own self-respect and confidence.”
     (7)     “Always bail him out of trouble so he will like you. Besides, he might harm your reputation if he gets a police record. Never let him suffer the consequences of his own behavior.”
     (8)     “Always step in and solve his problems for him so he can depend on you and run to you when the going gets tough. Then when he is older and still hasn’t learned how to solve his own problems, he can continue to run from them through heroin or alcohol.”
     (9)     “Just to play it safe, be sure to dominate your husband and drive him to drink too, if you can.”
(10)“Take lots of prescription drugs yourself, so that taking non-prescription drugs won’t be a major step for him.”

Finally, we must end by pointing out that the scripture says, “God disciplines every child who God loves.”   God will discipline every single one of us.  Discipline is linked here with love.  Discipline is meant to help a child to learn, be independent, and succeed.   But, for discipline to succeed there is one crucial element required by youth….  Respect.   Youth, if you want your parents to respect you, you have to respect them.  Going around the house hollering at your parents, doing things wrong on purpose just to push mom and dad’s buttons, breaking laws to make your parents suffer… these are not ways to earn respect.    God requires respect from all God’s children.  Don t you remember the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother”?  God requires children to respect their parents.  If children won’t respect their parents, God will not respect them.

      Sometimes discipline is the problem.  Sometimes its respect.  Often, its both.  Out of love, God wants the home to be a place of love.  If it isn’t,  follow the prescription set by God in this scripture.  Children and youth, if you are having problems in the home, be more respectful and see if it doesn’t help.  Parents, if you are having problems in the home, try to be a better disciplinarian with better ways to teach lessons in life.  Finally, don’t wait until everything falls apart to seek help.  What you might find is that God has placed someone near you to teach you discipline, respect, or love.   What kinds of discipline do you need today?  How can you be more respectful?
 
February 3

“ For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,  and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.  Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.  By this we know love, that he (Jesus) laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.”  
1 John 3:11, 15–18 (RSV)

      A henpecked husband was advised by a psychiatrist to assert himself. "You don't have to let your wife bully you," he said. "Go home and show her you're the boss."

The husband decided to take the doctor's advice. He went home, slammed the door, shook his fist in his wife's face, and growled, "From now on you're taking orders from me. I want my supper right now, and when you get it on the table, go upstairs and lay out my clothes. Tonight I am going out with the boys. You are going to stay at home where you belong. Another thing, you know who is going to tie my bow tie?"

"I certainly do," said his wife calmly. "The undertaker."

There is no love lost now between this husband and wife. You can feel the conflict between them, can’t you?   In their responses and statements shines an aura of vengeance, animosity, even disgust.  There is a fight for control.  Anyone in that room overhearing that conversation would feel very awkward, and sense the tense situation.

Tense times are not just found in problem marriages.  They are found in many places…. In politics, at school, even among friends.  One of the saddest of all commentaries upon our age is that in the church of all places,  there are people who would say and do horrible things to one another.   Even though Jesus said in our scripture that we should never hate a brother or sister in Christ but love one another(John 13:35), there are people in the church and in the world who will show hate instead of love.   Jesus was very critical of these people.  The apostle John confirmed in the scripture above that you will never see eternal life in Heaven with hate for another person of the faith in your heart or mind (v. 15).

Two women were at a church meeting.  The one said to the other, “I don’t like the way you act in our women’s meeting.  You act as if you are running the show.   I think you are haughty and power-hungry.  You are not acting very Christian.   I’ll pray for you.”

The woman responded by saying spitefully, “I’ll be praying for you, too!  Because I think you an old witch!”
After the fight, one of the women wrote the pastor and told the pastor how ugly and demeaning the other was.  She was upset.  In her letter, she told the pastor the following words…         “Dear pastor: If Jesus Christ knew what this lady is doing to our church, he would turn over in his grave.”  Turn over in his grave?  I didn’t know Jesus was in his grave!

You can see between these two ladies a real hatred and animosity.  No doubt they have already spoken to their friends and told them not to speak to the offending enemy.  When they walk in church, they never greet each other.  When in the church hallways, they look the other way as they pass each other.  Each one thinks she was right.  Each one is holding a grudge.   It doesn’t matter who started it, both in the eyes of God are considered unrepentant “murderers” who figure the other deserves it.  They kill with their words, and God sees it as much as if they killed each other with a knife.

Let me explain.  In our scripture reading from above, the apostle John is trying to teach his church about God’s command to “love one another.”  Jesus said that a sign that Christians are truly Christians is when they show love to one another, even showing love to their enemies (Luke 6:27).   John goes on to say that… “We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother.”  If you remember, Cain killed Abel because Cain was jealous of his brother.   When jealousy burns brightly, it can kill.   Thus, people are killed everyday not just by knives and guns and terrorist bombs.  People are also killed with words.   John says this... “Whoever does not love abides in death.  All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.”(I John 3:14,15 NKJV)     Essentially, if you harbor a grudge or a resentment, and hate someone, you are as bad as an unrepentant murderer in the eyes of God.   In truth, John says you CANNOT pass into eternal life if you harbor ill-will and hate or resentment in your heart.  Even if you were innocently hurt by someone wrongly, if you harbor hatred, resentment, and bitterness in your heart, you are like an unrepentant murderer before God, and you cannot go into heaven when you die.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  And I fear even in our churches, there are lost souls.  Maybe some of you this morning are lost souls.   You have killed other people with your words or actions.  I don’t care if you were spoken to harshly or someone did an awful thing to you;  if you harbor hate at someone,   you are an unrepentant murderer.   If you feel like getting even with someone, you will not go to heaven unless you get right with God in your heart.  If you want a chance to see Jesus and be with him in all eternity, you better watch your ways.   

In our final verses of scripture, it says Jesus laid down his life for us and we are to lay down our lives for one another.  I believe that in many churches today,  people are unwilling to lay down some resentment or anger at the foot of the cross.  If you cannot speak to people in church with whom you are angry, or walk past others without even acknowledging them, you are a lost soul.   Heaven is not in your future….. unless, unless…. You are willing to let Jesus heal your bitterness…unless… you are willing to set aside the baggage of hate you carry and get on with loving one another.   This scripture is a warning.   I, like Jesus, want to save some of you who have murderous thoughts toward others.   I care about you and want you to be in heaven.  Lay aside at the foot of the cross all your anger, bitterness, and revenge. Ask forgiveness from that person you have hated (if Jesus means more to you than the hate!). Choose today…. Let it go to Jesus… or you will go to hell.   It’s as simple as that.

February 4

“These twelve (disciples) Jesus sent out, charging them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,  but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons...     And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.'”       Matthew 10:5-8, 13-14 (RSV)

 There comes a time in everyone’s life you have to make a decision:  do you stand up and fight something that's wrong, or just walk away.  Do you put up with a bad job, or find a new one?  Do you stay with a friend who is bad for you, or just say to yourself, “All we do is get in trouble.  I'm going to back off”?   Life is about choices. And I’m going to tell you that there are moments that God WILL want you to just “walk away” from someone or something.
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There are impossible situations where you can't fix something,  and it will cause you irreparable harm to try.  A woman is being beaten by her husband and lives in fear for her life. A young lady has an overbearing boyfriend.   Maybe, there is a job that might pay well but is not good for your health or your family life.   All these situations are ones where you may find God saying to you… “just walk away.”  You might think…  “I can make this work.  I can change him or her."  Still, the more you pray, the more you feel God pulling you away or pulling you toward help.  Thus, God is trying to protect you,  to keep you from harm. 

In one scripture of our Bible it mentions: “do not enter the path of the wicked… avoid it.” (Proverbs 4:14 RSV)   Another warns…  “avoid quarreling over opinions” (Romans 14:1)  One scripture in 1 Thessalonians is clear enough… “avoid evil.” (5:22)  Each of these scriptures tell us that the time can come in your life when you have to examine your situation and avoid a temptation, stay away from something not good for you, or keep away from something or someone who might hurt you.   For some of us, it is a food we must avoid.  We eat that food and get an upset stomach.  But we like that food!  Should we eat it?  Isn’t it obvious that it should be avoided?  For some of us on a diet or watching what we eat, or when the doctor puts us on a diet due to a health situation, there may be foods that you love but are bad for you.  It’s best to avoid them isn’t it?  The same thing can be said for a friend who constantly seeks to hurt you, or a family member that is always putting you down.  God may tell you not to listen to hurtful words or avoid a person who runs you down.  What should be obvious to us all is that certain situations require that we just “walk away” before we get hurt.  There are also certain people in life who are not good for us.  Maybe they bring out the worst in us.  You may have avoid their evil, in whatever form it may be.

            Jesus was speaking to his disciples before he sent them out to do mission work.  As he spoke to them, he gave them directions and words of caution.  Among those words of wisdom, he told his disciples that there would be places they would visit  that would not accept them or the gospel.  Instead of arguing with the people, or forcing them to believe, or causing a public situation, he told the disciples to do this… “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.”  Matthew 10:14 (NRSV)  The words of Jesus are obvious.  If people do not accept the disciples, all they can do at that time is just “walk away” from a town that will not accept the truth or the gospel.  If you can’t change their minds and hearts, God may have you just walk away and leave the situation to HIM.

A young girl grew up in a broken home.  Mary’s mother and father had divorced when she was six.  Her father moved out of state, and her mother grew more bitter as the years went by.  As the girl became a teenager, she noticed that her mother began to taunt, tease, and ridicule her.  When people came to visit, the mother would embarrass Mary in front of others, even saying things like, “Don’t you have a brain girl?”  “You are stupid, just like your father before you,”  and “I wish I never would have had you!”  The girl began to rebel.  She got into trouble with the law.  Then, after a particularly bad time, Mary stayed with a friend.  As the two girls were talking that night, Mary confided in her friend that she hated her mother.  The two shared a lot that night.  After a few more problems at home, Mary’s mother began to get abusive.  Mary and her friend talked more and came up with a plan.  Mary was going to either get away or she would really do something bad.  The girls planned to get Mary to her grandparents home.  There, she could start over.  Her mother fought with the whole plan, fought the grandparents, even made Mary’s life miserable.  But in the end, Mary knew she had to get away from her mother… at least for now.  God was providing a way out for her.  By the way, Mary spent some happy years with her grandparents, and today now takes care of her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's Disease.  Mary ran away not from a problem, but from a mother who hated her and couldn’t live with her.  She ran away from an impossible situation to one which God had provided for her.  It was perfect.  Sometimes, you have to walk away from a bad situation.  Jesus told his disciples about them. There may come a time when Jesus reminds you of the same.

Now, I know you may want to run away from something that you need to face.  Life can be difficult and you just can’t run and hide from some decisions, problems, or trials.  To do so would even go against God.  BUT, there are other times when all you can do is “walk away” from something wrong.  God is urging you, pleading with your heart, trying to keep you from harm.  In moments like that, you may find Jesus saying to you like he did to his disciples….  “time to get away”, “time to move on”, “time to let go”, “time to shake off the dust and walk away.”

If you are in an argument you can’t win, just stop driving yourself crazy and let it go.  Should you find yourself used or manipulated by someone, maybe you will see that sometimes people can be bad for you.  God may be urging you to avoid that person or you will get hurt.  For all of us, there are memories that hurt.  It may be that God wants you to deal with the memory and move on in your life, instead of beating yourself over and over for something you failed.  Time to shake off the dust and let go of something.  Give the situation to God, and just… “walk away from it.”

It may take a counselor to help you see when you should stick in there or when you should walk away.  It might take wisdom before you can see an impossible situation will only get worse.  Maybe a friend or family member will notice it first… that you need to change something in your life or move on in your life.  God may want us to avoid something that isn’t good for us… and at times “just let go"…or at moments.. “just walk away” from an evil or from a sin, or from a sinful person in life.  Is there something that you must banish today?  Is there someone you must avoid until God says otherwise?  Got a bad habit that God wants ended?  What does God want you to avoid for your own good? 

February 5

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."   (Matthew 12:36 NIV84)

 "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out." ​ (John 12:31 NIV84)

   Before World War Two, the original euthanasia program to "purify" the German race was a creation of certain physicians, not Hitler. Hitler simply allowed the use of the tools others had prepared.    The first gas chamber was designed by professors of psychiatry from 12 major German universities. They selected the patients and watched them die. Then, they slowly reduced the "price tag" to die until the mental hospitals were almost empty.  They were joined by some pediatricians, who began by emptying the institutions for handicapped children in 1939 ordering them killed also. By 1945 these doctors had so lowered the price tag to die that if a child was a bed-wetter or had misshapen ears or a learning disorder, he or she could be put to death.   (Wertham, The German Euthanasia Program,  Hayes Publishing Co., Cinn: 1977, p. 47)

                I once asked a German person how these doctors and soldiers and people could so easily put people to death.   The person responded, "We don't talk about it.  We are ashamed of that history.  We feel the judgment of the whole world and God upon us as a nation for what we did."  That's precisely it.   You can't put someone to death and not be tainted by that sin.  You can't kill an innocent person without God's eyes coming upon you and God's judgment coming right after you.  Jesus was an innocent man.  He was sentenced to death, tortured, then crucified.   As that innocent man died, all those who sin against Jesus then and now face the judgment of God.  You are either with God, or you are with the world and the killers who took Jesus' life.

                Jesus said that when anger gets to you hate someone wrongly, it is as bad as committing murder (Matthew 5:22).  When Cain killed Abel in the book of Genesis, God put a mark on Cain that everyone could see.  God also said that Abel's blood was crying out from the ground as he was murdered.  God knew what Cain had done.   Needless to say, if you have committed sins of anger, hatred, murder, and so many more, if you have the sins of pride or envy or other sins found in the list of abominations found in Proverbs 6, you also are under the eye of God.  God will judge you and mark you, just like Cain.  God holds you guilty, until you confess and repent and make things right.    There are people walking around in this world whom God has judged as sinful.  They are marked by God and God will send them directly to hell on Judgment day.   As Jesus says in this scripture, they are judged as are the sins of this world.  You either follow God or you will be following the world.  You worship God or you worship things or people of this life.  There is no middle ground.  And I personally wouldn't want God's judgment upon me.
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                In the book of Numbers, the Israelites complained against God and thought about hurting Moses and going back to Egypt (Numbers 21).  Scripture says that when God viewed their sin, he immediately sent snakes upon them to kill thousands of the people who had sinned.  When Pharaoh would not let God's people go from slavery in Egypt, God sent plague after plague against Egypt, and finally thousands of their firstborn were killed in one night (Exodus 7-11).  In 2 Kings 17, it is mentioned how the people sinned against God, and when they would not repent, God (who personally had held foreign armies back) allowed the Assyrian armies to kill and enslave whole sections of the northern ten tribes of Israel.  It is believed that more than one hundred thousand people suffered during the war with Assyria.   I could name dozens of other times where people came under the judgment of God, some who thought they were religious, but were not.... and how God marked them for suffering or death.   God's judgment brings blessings and eternal life to the faithful, but God's judgment also brings suffering and death to the unfaithful, to people who sin or hide their sin or who drive nails into the hands of Christ by their actions even today.

                I wouldn't want God to be my enemy, to judge me guilty of sinning against him or putting new nails into the hands of His beloved Son!  In our world,  many people have given up on God, chosen to follow other gods, or will not repent of their sins throughout history and even in our day.  Their end is never pretty.  They do not care about God, or they think God doesn't exist.   God is judge.   God will be merciful to the faithful; we know this.  But to those who are so prideful they will not repent or even acknowledge God, there will suffering in this life and the next.  The scriptures above state it.

                Judas, who betrayed Jesus , felt this judgment of God, and he chose to die rather than face God with this sin.   Peter sinned, but repented, and was forgiven and saved.  The disciples all fled, but were given grace.   To those who do not repent, who do not ask God to forgive, the world becomes dark and evil.  As the night cloaks all things in darkness, God's judgment upon their sin becomes a darkness that is with them always.. at all times.   Be careful what you do in your life, for even your words are accountable to God.  Be careful of sins that take hold of your life.  God's judgment can be severe... and last all eternity.     Repent and do what God requires, or it may be too late for you.   In Romans 6:23, Paul mentions that all of us have sinned.  Immediately following this scripture, the very next verse says that our hope lies in God's grace.  Forgiveness is waiting.  All we need to do is repent and ask God for this grace.  All of us have to repent for something.  God is watching and waiting, ready to swiftly bring that forgiveness and grace.   God doesn't want you to live under judgment, but under grace.  Is something preventing grace today?  Is there a sin that has hold in your life?   God wants to forgive you.  What do you want?  My words today may seem harsh to you.  Am I exaggerating?  Am I lying?   God loves to give grace and forgiveness.  We need both.  All that is required is one thing from us... ONE THING!  True Biblical Repentance.


February 6

“But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.  Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.  And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."      ​ (Luke 6:27-31 RSV)

   Jim Eliot and four other Christian missionaries made contact from their airplane with the Auca Indians using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Indian village, along the Curaray River. There they were approached one time by a small group of Auca Indians and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Indian whom they called "George" (his real name was Naenkiwi). Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Auca, without knowing that George had lied to the others about the missionaries' intentions. Their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of ten Huaorani warriors, who killed Elliot and his four companions in a sudden and brutal attack on January 8, 1956. Elliot's mutilated body was found downstream.  It was also discovered later, that the men had weapons, but did not use them in order to try to save the Indians and represent Christ’s love to them.
​
Jim Eliot’s journal entry for October 28, 1949, contains his now famous quotation, expressing his belief that missions work was more important than his life....

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

When held back by others so as not to go to Ecuador and reach out in mission, he would not give up.  He felt a need to reach out in faith.   When faced with enemies, Jim Eliot and the other missionaries tried to be faithful friends.  He didn’t’ think about the loss of his life, but instead the loss of all the lives of those who leave this world without Christ.

            After her husband's death, Elisabeth Elliot and other missionaries began working among the Auca Indians, where they had a profound impact and helped bring many people to Christ.  The story is told that the Indians especially revered the wife of Jim Eliot, the man they had killed.  They saw the Eliots as God’s love reaching out to them.

            Many people today shun from what is not comfortable or easy.  They think more of retirement and money than heaven and eternal life.  Jesus was not so earthly minded.  He instructs us in the scripture above to love enemies, doing good to those who hate, blessing and praying for those who abuse or curse you.   People are so thin-skinned today, that they even get offended if you talk differently, think differently, or don’t think like they do.   People get defensive instead of thinking lovingly.  They are ready to  fight back instead of pray.   You are called to be different, above the worldly ways, ready to stand for the faith.

            Jesus wanted all of you to remember that doing good to those who hate you is not stupid or weak as the world sees it.  Instead, it is a sign of faith and strength.   The Apostle Paul even said later that "if your enemy hungers, give him food, if he thirsts, give him a drink…. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good," (Romans 12).  How many of us have been overcome by evil?  How many of us at times took revenge, got even, and thus let evil win?  
 
            Jesus went on to say something very controversial.  "If your enemy strikes you on one cheek, you are to offer the other." (Luke 6:29)   This does not mean that if you are a wife who is beaten by her husband, you should let it happen and be nice about it.  It means that an example of faith is to do what is loving.  An abuser should be stopped.  That’s what is loving.  But a person who strikes you in anger can be stopped by love of another sort as a response.  Turn the other cheek.

            On an old "Amos and Andy" television program, Andy was angry.  There was a big man who would continually slap Andy across the chest every time they met.  Andy finally had enough of it.  He told Amos, "I'm going to get revenge.  I’ll put a stick of dynamite in my vest pocket.  The next time he slaps me on the chest he's going to get his hand blown off."  But Andy forgot that the dynamite would also blow his own heart out.  Revenge may hurt the other person but it always blows our own heart out. (Gaylord Goertsen in the "Christian Leader" (Feb. 26,1991), Christianity Today-Vol. 35, #7.)

How many times, would wars have been averted if people would have followed Jesus’ prescription in these verses?  How many times would fights in homes and school boards and between neighbors and even among friends have been averted by showing love instead of hate.
 
Ultimately, the reason most people don’t want to follow Jesus’ words in these verses is because of pride and fear.  If someone insults me, pride will say that I have to defend myself and get that person to take it back.   Pride says… “How dare anyone think wrong or bad of me…. Of me!”    Fear says…. “Nobody says or does anything like that to me… if I don’t respond strongly, they’ll think I’m weak.  Do I want to appear weak?”
 
Jesus has a very different idea of who is weak and who is strong.  If you read in this scripture, weak individuals curse others, strike others, and abuse others.   They also do not share.   Jesus believes strong people of faith pray , turn the other cheek, and share what they have.   What kind of world do you want your kids or grand-kids, friends and relatives, and church to be in?    Well, then it all starts with you.  How big are you?  How weak are you in the faith?   Can you forego some pain to show love?  Are you striking back at someone for something?  Are you thin-skinned, defensive, angry, vengeful?  Pray about it, then do something about it!

February 7

“... choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” ....  And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God."      ​ (Joshua 24:15, 27 RSV)

     After Israel left Egypt, freed by the ten great plagues God had sent.... after they crossed the Red Sea  .... after they wandered through the wilderness or desert for forty years.... it was time for them to finally move into the Promised Land that God had promised them many years before.  It was because of sin that the people had wandered in the desert for forty years.  While in the wilderness, many believed that God wasn't strong enough to help them take over the promised land, so God didn't give it to them.  God made them wait until they fully trusted HIM.  Finally, with Joshua in the lead, they were about to cross the river into the Promised Land.  It took them forty years to finally, truly believe!

            In the last night before they were to cross over, Joshua wanted the people to make a choice.  Were they finally going to trust God completely or were they going to rely on something else from now on?   Forty years before, Joshua believed they could take over the promised land, but he was overruled by others.  Now, as the people got ready to finally cross the border river, it was Joshua who asked the people to choose which God they were going to believe in.   Joshua knew that the people would never take the Promised Land or keep it, if they weren't willing to truly believe and serve in our God.   To help, Joshua said to the people here in our verses, "Choose this day whom you will serve.... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" (Joshua 24:15) Joshua believed that in order for the people to truly understand who brought them the blessing of the promised land, in order to win the land for themselves, they had to serve God.... our God... with a whole heart.

            Sometimes, you have to ask the question, "Which God do you serve?" Do you have a whole heart about your faith, or is your heart split on the subject?"

            There are many gods that people serve today.  Some serve Allah.  Some serve money or power.  Many, many worship themselves.   There comes a time when each of us must make a stand, make a statement or commitment in what we believe.  Atheists only believe in themselves and so they worship their own ways.  People from foreign religions worship their gods.  Every now and then, we are asked by God,   "Whom do you serve?  Why do you get up in the morning?  What is your purpose for being alive?   Which God will you serve today?"

            John is the kind of guy who some despise. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When asked how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"  He was a natural motivator.  If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.  

Seeing this attitude really made his best friend curious, so one day he went up and asked  him, "I don't get it!  You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
            He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two
choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in
a bad mood.  I choose to be in a good mood.  Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
             Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
 complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

             "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," his friend protested.
            "Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your  choice how you live your life"

            Several years later, John was involved in a serious accident,  falling some sixty feet from a communications tower.  After eighteen hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with metal rods holding his back together.  His best friend saw him about a month after the accident.  When his friend asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be
 twins. Wanna see my scars?"

            Each day, we have to choose how to live, whether to be a blessing or a curse to others, and most importantly....  if we are going to follow God or follow something or someone else.  Your choices in these matters will determine everything in your life.  ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!  

         In the scripture from Joshua, Joshua told the people of Israel:  "If you forsake the Lord and choose to serve foreign gods, HE will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after HE has been good to you.” (Joshua 24:15)   But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”

         Joshua then called for a witness.  In ancient days, a witness was not just a person.  A witness could also be something as simple as a stone.  And Joshua chose a stone.  And he put it in front of the people for it to be a sign of their choice for God.   Then Joshua said “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”    

You do not have to choose God.   But if you do choose to follow God today, don't fail to make choices based on God's will from now on, so that your life will receive blessings and not curses.  Make your choice.... right now.  Today. People and things will witness your acts of grace and mercy, as well as your sins and failures.  God will witness your actions as well.  What can you do today to be a witness for the faith?  Who needs you to witness to what it means to be faithful?


February 8

“Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. "      ​ (Matthew 16:24 RSV)

    It was at the end of the school year, and a kindergarten teacher was receiving gifts from her pupils.  The florist's son handed her a gift. She shook it, held it overhead, and said, "I bet I know what it is.  Some flowers."
 "That's right" the boy said, "but how did you know?"
"Oh, just a wild guess," she said.
            The next pupil was the candy shop owner's daughter.  The teacher held her gift overhead, shook it, and said, "I bet I can guess what it is.  A box of sweets."
"That's right, but how did you know?" asked the girl.
"Oh, just a wild guess," said the teacher.
            The next gift was from the son of the liquor store owner.  The teacher held the package overhead, but it was leaking.  She touched a drop of the leakage with her finger and touched it to her tongue.
"Is it wine?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, with some excitement.
The teacher repeated the process, taking a larger drop of the leakage to her tongue.
"Is it champagne?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, with more excitement.
The teacher took one more taste before declaring, "I give up, what is it?"
With great glee, the boy replied, "It's a puppy!"

            I tell you this story because it clearly illustrates a point.  The teacher thought she knew what all her students had brought her.  She thought she had them all figured out.  She thought she could predict their actions and choices.  She was wrong.  And, as you can see, she paid for it!

            There are times when we all think we know what the faith is about.  We think we’ve got it figured out.  We think we can predict God’s working in our lives, our church, or our world, but we can’t.  To assume we’ve got God figured out is to make a big mistake.  Today, I want you to read and learn anew some of God’s word.  Don't make assumptions, but just sit at the feet of the Master, our God in Heaven, for a few moments.

            As Jesus was teaching his disciples one day, he told them about a choice they had to make.  He said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”   Jesus gave them a choice to follow or not to follow.  God gives all of us that choice.  Jesus didn’t explain everything about himself before he asked the disciples to make a choice, he just said, “They must take up a cross and follow.”   They weren’t told where they would go.  They weren’t to ask why.  They were just to make a decision and follow.  Some of you have made that decision to follow God, wherever he takes you.  Some of you have not.  You may want God to spell it all out before you make a commitment,   but it doesn’t work that way.  You have  to make a complete commitment to God without knowing everywhere He will take you, without knowing all the details.  HE wants you to follow him on a journey.  Have you decided to follow?  Or are you undecided?  Do you have regrets?  Doubts?

            Now to those who have made the decision to follow Jesus, you were made HIS disciples.  Disciples are those who take up a cross and follow.  They are ones who are ready to learn from the Master Teacher.  As a disciple, your job is to learn about God and God's ways, discerning what kind of spiritual gifts God gives you.  You are to learn, to memorize (see Proverbs 3:3), to study God’s Word.  You are to pray to get to know God and yourself better.  All these things disciples do as part of their cross-bearing.  It is something you must do to know God or seek God's will.

            Martin Luther, the reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church, once said that “two hours of prayer is worth four hours of study.”  He found that in prayer, he was being led by God, taught by God, strengthened by God.  He was disciplined enough to take time out of his day to learn at the feet of the Master.  Are you?  Are you a good student?  Are you a good disciple?

            William Barclay writes, “It's possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple; to be a camp follower without being a soldier of the king; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one's weight. Once someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, 'So and so tells me that he was one of your students.' The teacher answered devastatingly, 'He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students.' There is a world of difference between attending lectures and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the Church that there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.  Real disciples bear their cross willingly.  They follow the master.  They are willing to learn and go where God leads.

            Are you undecided, or are you going to pick up a cross and follow Jesus?  Are you a disciple, and if so, are you a good student who willingly learns from the Master?  Which will you be today?  Undecided?  Doubtful?  True Disciple? What cross has God willed you to carry?  Do you complain about that cross?

February 9

“While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.....  But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities.  But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. "      ​ (Luke 5:12-13, 15-16 RSV)

    A pastor wanted to visit a family in his church.  The pastor called, and the family invited him for coffee after dinner. It gave them a good chance to sit down and talk about an important issue in the church at the time.  When he rang the doorbell, a little smile greeted him.  Little Johnnie was at the door.  He opened the door, recognizing the pastor, as mom came right behind him.  Mother showed the pastor to the living room, while little Johnnie was kept busy in the kitchen with toys.  As the pastor talked to Johnnie’s parents, they could hear Johnnie singing, playing, and giggling in the kitchen.  As the conversation by parents and pastor grew to almost a half hour, sounds from the kitchen died  down.  The pastor wondered if Johnnie fell asleep.  Finally, as the conversation concluded, Johnnie’s mom left to check on her little boy.  As she reached the kitchen, she was overheard to say, “Oh no, Johnnie!  That’s it!  You take a "time out" over in the dining room in the corner chair.  Get going now!”  Pretty soon, little Johnnie, with tears in his eyes, came running to the chair.  The pastor and Johnnie’s father came to the kitchen to find the toys on the floor, and in the middle was the dog covered in white.  It seemed that Johnnie had kept busy trying to brush the dog’s teeth! 

            Did you notice Johnnie’s punishment?  For trying to clean the dog’s teeth, Johnnie was given a “time out.”  "Time outs" began as a way for children to think about their mistakes or failings when they did something wrong.  "Time outs" occur when a child doesn’t listen to mom or dad, or doesn’t follow house rules.  They are meant as moments of learning, disciplining, and growing.

            What many people don’t realize is that every now and then adults need a "time out".  Its not just children who get into trouble who need a time out.  Sometimes, ordinary people like you or I need time to sort things out, to figure out why we messed something up, or to regroup emotionally or spiritually.

            In both of our scripture readings for today, we see Jesus and Jesus’ disciples take a "time out" to be alone, to be together, to be with God.   In Luke, chapter 5, Jesus heals a leper.  After the healing, it says in these verses that “more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad, and many crowds gathered to hear him and be cured of their diseases" (Luke 5:16).  Many people sought out Jesus.  Whole crowds followed Jesus.  They wanted healing or spiritual help.  They wanted to feel whole again.   No doubt, Jesus was in great demand.  I’m sure there were days that he touched many lives, healed many, reached out to many.  Luke 5:17 gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ busy life.  It says after mentioning all the many things Jesus would do that  there were times Jesus would also “withdraw to deserted places and pray.”   Jesus would withdraw to be alone with God, just him and God.  Jesus, who was the perfect Son of God, needed a "time out" to be with his creator, not because He did something wrong, but because He needed to reconnect with God the Father.  Now, if Jesus needed it, don’t you think there are times you need it?

            Everyone of us has looked at a desk filled with memos and papers, heard the phone ringing, and watched the door open all at the same time! Remember that frozen feeling that came over you when you just had too much to do, when you lost control, when your life came unglued?   

Have you ever seen a lion tamer in action?   Do you know why a lion tamer uses a whip and a stool?  Now, you may have a good idea why the whip might be used, but a stool?  What’s that for?  Is the lion tamer going to sit down in the cage?  No.  "Writer William H. Hinson once wrote that the stool is the most important tool of the trainer. The lion tamer holds the stool by the back and thrusts the legs toward the face of the wild animal. Those who know maintain that the animal tries to focus on all four legs at once. In the attempt to focus on all four at the same time, a kind of paralysis overwhelms the animal, and it becomes tame, weak, and disabled because its attention is fragmented."  (John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, p.31 Thomas Nelson Publ., Nashville 1993)

            When any of us is juggling too many responsibilities at once, we become like that lion.  We become focused on too many things, and our minds fragment.  During worship, instead of thinking about God, your mind wanders from this to that.  You go asleep at night to pray, but you fall asleep worrying about something.  You may find yourself just staring at a wall, or running yourself ragged,  feeling frenzied, anxious, and harried.  Your life feels out of rhythm.  Like the lion, you too become weak and disabled.  You might fall apart and cry at the slightest problem.  You may get irritated over little messes.  You feel tired all the time.  You might start feeling nobody notices all that you do.   At times like these, it might be that you, like Jesus, need a time out.  You need time with your Creator.

            I’ve stood by the bedside of hundreds who were dying.  I’ve spent countless hours with those who were terminally ill.  I’ve never in all my years heard anyone say on their deathbed that they wished they had spent more hours at work. I have heard many who said they wished they’d have taken more time to pray, taken more time to enjoy God’s beautiful creation, taken more time to be with loved ones, taken more time just to smell God’s roses. 

            Today,  realize that God might require a time out from you.  Like a loving Father, God doesn’t want you to fall apart, to lose yourself in stress, to be rushed all the time. God wants you to have meaning, for your life to be full of peace and joy, for you to desire to be with Him in prayer!  Take time out every few hours, to focus on God’s blessings.  Take time out of each day to pray and listen to what God is saying to you in scripture.  Take time out of your week to be in worship.  Take time out to watch over those who need you.  Take time out to keep your heart in the right place, and your mind focused.  So, are you going to back off from the pressures to spend time with your Maker?  Are you going to take some recreation with the creator?  Jesus needed it.  All of us need it.  Am I going to have to give you a "time out"?  Or has God already asked you for one?   

February 10

“.... Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.  As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men, Moses and Elijah,  appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem."      ​ (Luke 9:28-31 NIV 1984)

One day,  while Jesus was heavily involved in doing ministry, HE pulled aside three of his disciples: Peter, James and John. He led them up on a mountain to pray. As he prayed, Jesus was transformed, changed. The scripture in Luke 9 tells us that "his appearance was altered, his raiment became dazzling white." Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus. Moses and Elijah were two great leaders from Old Testament days, who had died hundreds of years before.  On that day, they were alive and talking with Jesus. In a way, it was a resurrection of the dead. The two dead men were alive and talking on that mountain with our Lord.

The disciples woke up to see Moses and Elijah there with Jesus. Peter told Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths (or altars/places of worship) one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Luke 9:33). It was a special moment for Peter, a holy moment.  He felt it important enough to mark the occasion by building booths or altars. In the future, people could thus come to that mountain to remember that mountain-top event. 

In the history of humankind, there have been many who have had what is called, "a mountaintop religious experience." A mountaintop religious experience is a moment in life when a person comes face to face with God or the power of God and they are made forever different because of it. They are the kind of moments when you are so sure that God is actually present in a place with you that the hair on your arms stands up, because in that very moment you are in God's holy and powerful presence.

Numerous people in the Bible had mountain-top experiences. Moses journeyed to Mt. Sinai to meet with God. It was there that he received the Ten Commandments.  The prophet Ezekiel spoke about the time he went up on a mountain whereupon he not only spoke with God, but he saw what was to happen in the future through God's eyes. Noah built an altar on Mt. Ararat, where the Ark came to rest after the great flood. It was his first act after leaving the ark. In numerous places and times, God visited people on mountain-tops. There they had mountain-top religious experiences, where God came to them in person and forever changed their lives.

But you know, you don't need a mountain top for God to reach you, to speak with you, to change your life forever. Throughout history God has spoken in numerous places and at numerous times. It may not happen on a mountain top with you. It may happen to you in worship, in the car, on a retreat or while on vacation. Most of the time, mountain-top religious experiences happen when people are worshiping.  Notice that Jesus was in the midst of prayer in the scripture above when the whole miracle takes place on the mountain top. For some reason, God seems to work most often among those in worship, in prayer, or doing HIS work.

Have you ever experienced that mountaintop religious experience? Have you met with your Lord some time in your life? Has God opened your eyes or spoken to you? Did you ever have the awesome feeling that God was with you, right there in the same place with you? 

There is one problem with a mountaintop experience, though:  they end, and you are left with God's work to do in the valleys of life. At the bottom of the mountain, in the valley below, Jesus healed a man who has demons possessing him. He drove the evil out of the man's life. The disciples apparently had tried to heal the man, but failed. Though they had just been on the mountain top with God, they could not even heal one man. Jesus told them they didn't have faith.  In the next few paragraphs in the Bible, the disciples failed again several times. Just three verses later, Luke goes on to tell us that the disciples (quote) "did not understand what Jesus was saying. " Then in another few verses, the disciples argued among themselves as to which one was the greatest. Finally, the disciples tried to stop a man from healing others, because he wasn't one of the special twelve disciples. I guess they figured they had been to the mountaintop and seen God, while the others had not. They had the right to speak for God, but the other man did not.  There are people like that out in our world today. They think that since they've been to the mountaintop so to speak, and seen God, that they are more righteous, more religious, more Godly than others. The disciples were corrected again by their Lord.

Despite taking part in their mountaintop religious experience just days before, the disciples managed to mess it up when they came down from the mountain. Just because you experience God acting in your life and speaking to you, that in no way means that you will always do right and be perfect from then on. In the valleys of life where you do God's work, there will be mistakes. There will be times when you will fail. There will be moments of stress and problems along the way.  Do not fret!   God is still there with you ... teaching you... showing you what HE desires from you.

Little Tyler was born infected with HIV, the precursor to AIDS.  His mother had the disease during pregnancy, and he contracted it from her in the womb.  From birth, he was dependent on medications to just to survive.   When Tyler was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in his chest.  The tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back.  Medications were fed to this pump and sent through this tube to his bloodstream.

When Tyler was five years old, he went with his mother to a wedding.  It was his first wedding, since the family was afraid of him getting infections while out in public.   When the family got to the church, they headed straight for the bathroom to check the pump on Tyler's backpack.   They then sat in the front row of the sanctuary reserved for family.  For some reason, the pump malfunctioned during the service, and Tyler had to leave with his mother several times.  The family knew why they left, but other visitors didn’t.  As they were walking out of church for the fourth time, Tyler’s mom overheard someone say,  “She should get control of her little boy.  A smack on the behind will stop him from misbehaving in church.   What kind of kid wears a backpack to church anyway?”  Tyler didn’t know why his mother cried that day in the bathroom.  A woman who attended that church regularly had said those terrible words, and should have known better.  Sometimes, we say things we shouldn’t.  We make mistakes.  

Too frequently, our actions show that in the valleys below, we are not so good at being like God above.

  One last bit about little Tyler.  Cindy Dee Holms was his nurse in the oncology ward.  One day,  Tyler asked Cindy to come over to his hospital bed.  He whispered, “I might die soon.  I’m not scared.  When I die, please dress me in red.  That way, when I’m playing in heaven, mom will be able to find me.” Cindy Holms realized at that moment how sure little Tyler was about heaven.  Though, that day was a difficult one for Cindy, she felt God was speaking to her through that little boy.    She was somewhere between joy and tears in that moment.   And that’s where we spend most of our lives.  We are somewhere between the joys and sorrows; the mountaintop with God and the valleys below. 

You might be having a powerful religious period in your life, where you feel that closeness of God.  You may be in those valleys in life, where challenges and mistakes haunt you, and God seems far away. Wherever you may be, remember that your Lord loves you and is close to you, teaching you. I long for some of you to meet God on that mountain-top.  I wish for you to keep the faith during your trials in the valleys of life.   Are you experiencing a closeness with God lately?  Are you stuck in a valley filled with doubts and discouragement?  Are you somewhere in between, stuck in a rut?  Pray about this.  Wherever you are, God is going to teach you, reach out for you, and love you.  All you have to do is look with eyes of faith.

February 11

“.... But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’  But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward."      ​ (Jeremiah 7:23-24 NIV 1984)

 If you look at any newer computer keyboard, you may notice a warning on the back for repetitive strain injury.  What is that?  Simply put, repetitive strain injury occurs when a person uses the same motion over and over and over again.  If you use a keyboard all day long at work, typing and typing and typing, you may get this injury to your wrists and hands.  Repetitive strain injury can be helped with exercises but sometimes requires surgery to correct.  What many people don’t know is that if you do certain stretches to break up the typing, it may keep you from getting repetitive strain injury.  If you take two or three breaks during an hour, it may help.  Some people do wrist exercises.  Some do filing or some other job so that they don’t get the injury.   But anyway you look at it, in order to prevent this injury, you have to do something different in order to keep your wrists and muscles fresh.

In faith, we can also get a repetitive strain injury, though most people don’t talk about it.  When you do the same spiritual things over and over, the danger is that your faith may suffer injury.  When your faith gets caught in a rut, in the same old same old, pretty soon it just isn’t enjoyable.  If you say prayers without thinking what they mean, sing a hymn that you are very familiar with but you don’t enjoy it; if you go to worship out of duty, and you just don’t have “fun” in your faith anymore, that's when you are in a spiritual rut.  When you do the same spiritual tasks day after day, week after week, the meaning just seems to fade.  Then, the Spirit is gone out of what you do.

If you look up the definition of a rut, it means a long furrow caused by erosion or by traffic of some sort.   Imagine a car driving down a muddy country road.  As the car moves along, its weight pushes down on the mud and makes two ruts in the road.  The ruts are made by the tires passing.   Over time, as a thousand cars pass by the same road, they will follow the previous cars and the ruts will get deeper and more ingrained.  The "rut" in the road may be so well used that after a while, a car will find it hard to even leave the ruts made by previous tires.  The same thing can happen in your faith.  If you get up in the morning and say the same morning prayer over and over.  At every meal if you say, “God is great!  God is good. Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen!”   three times a day religiously for months or years, how long until you get in a rut?   If you go to bed every night saying, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.  Amen!”, won't you get in a rut?

  When you go to church on Sunday and the bells ring at exactly 8:59; when the service always has two hymns, an offering, the Lord’s prayer right after the opening prayer, the Doxology after the offering; when the same tired pastor is telling the same tired stories, what will happen over time?   Pretty soon, you will find that your faith is very predictable, it may even become tired and boring and lifeless.  You also might find that just as its easier for a car to ride in the ruts in the old mud road because it takes less work, its also easier not to change the religious rut you are in.  In fact, how awful if a new pastor comes along and does something different and shakes up your world!???  How many times have you heard people say, “We’ve never done it like that before.”, meaning "We don’t want to change".  It might even feel normal to be in the rut you are in, with a faith that is predictable.

If you re-doing religious things because you've always done them that way, ponder this story from Murray Raphel's book, Mind Your Own Business:  "Years ago, in Russia, a czar came upon a lonely sentry standing at attention in a secluded comer of the palace garden..  “What are you guarding?” asked the czar. “I don't know. The captain ordered me to this post,” the sentry replied.  The czar called the captain and asked why one lone sentry was standing all day long in a corner of the garden. His answer: 'Written regulations specify a guard was to be assigned to that area.' The czar couldn’t figure out why.  The soldier couldn’t even see the rest of the garden from there.  The guard couldn’t see the palace to protect it.  The guard didn’t overlook a dangerous back entrance to the site.  So, the czar ordered a search to find out why they protect that muddy spot. The archives finally yielded the reason. Years before, Catherine the Great had planted a rose bush in that corner. She ordered a sentry to protect it for that evening.  One hundred years later, sentries were still guarding the now barren spot.  That's a most poignant reminder to question why you've "always done that way." You may find them as outdated as Catherine's 100-year watch. We can become terribly ingrained in doing the same things and after a while we do them without thinking or feeling or caring.

You might think that traditions must be bad because of the repetition.  Absolutely not, traditions are good to practice.  But getting in a religious rut because of traditions is not spiritually healthy.  It saps the soul of energy, freshness and spiritual revelation.   In the scripture reading above, God is telling Jeremiah precisely that.   When this scripture was written, God was upset with the people of Israel.   Sin had crept into the land.  The people worshiped, but not with faith, more out of obligation or duty.  God told Jeremiah to stop praying for the people of Judah.  They had forgotten what faith meant.  They were sinning.  They went to worship God one day, and made food dedicated for idols the next day.  In a more colloquial version of the Bible, Jeremiah says  …”Thus the Lord has spoken:Go ahead! Put your burnt offerings with all your other sacrificial offerings and make a good meal for yourselves. I sure don’t want them! When I delivered your ancestors out of Egypt, I never said anything to them about wanting burnt offerings and sacrifices like this.”  God wanted the people to have faith, to obey, and to follow God.  Instead, they were kept busy making food sacrifices and figuring that was enough for God.  God wanted more.  God wanted faith.  God wanted them to hear HIS voice and obey HIM.  They were too busy doing their repetitious prayers and making their usual food sacrifices to hear God’s voice.

            After a tough meeting in which a pastor was told he can only play one song and no other for the Easter Processional every year because they'd always done it that way in that church, the pastor wrote:  “The singing of a hymn should be a great experience for us - it can be a testimony, a praise, an invitation to others.  AND YET  We sing 'Sweet Hour of Prayer' and content ourselves with a few minutes of prayer a day.  We sing 'There shall be Showers of Blessings' but don't come to church when it's raining. We sing 'Blest Be the Tie that Binds' and let the least little offense sever us from our church.  We sing 'Onward Christian Soldiers' and turn down the church when they need someone to help a mission. We sing "Serve the Lord With Gladness" and gripe about all that we have to do. We sing 'I Love to Tell the Story' and never mention the gospel to anyone."  When you fall into a rut, you may sing the songs or say the prayers, but you do it without any passion.  God didn’t want that from people of faith.  God doesn’t want that in your spiritual life.

            If your life, marriage, friendship, or faith is in a rut today, turn off the road you are used to.  Take a different tack.  Go on a needed vacation.  Change your routine.  Start a new habit that is good for you.  If you read the Bible every day, start memorizing verses each day to be different.  Try reading a commentary about your daily scripture reading.  Join a group,  and read the Bible with others. Do something that makes the scripture come alive!  If you say the same prayers day after day, you may not know how to pray well.  Set a chair next to you at the kitchen table, and make believe Jesus is there.  Now, talk to him out loud, and your prayers will be better than ever.  If you are tired of the same old worship, give some new suggestions to your pastor and see what happens. 

            A mother  had been teaching her three-year old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord's
Prayer.  For several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after her mother the lines from the prayer.  Finally, the mother considered her child ready to pray on her own.  After a few months, the mother decided to listen in on her daughter's prayers.  The mother beamed with pride as the child carefully enunciated each word of the Lord's Prayer, right up to the end where she said,  "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some E-mail. Amen."  The little girl didn’t quite hear mom right and now was saying the wrong prayer over and over and over again.

            God wants a faith that is alive, that is fresh, that is strong.  Traditions are good.  Ruts are not.  God may want you to change things in your faith-walk to make you more alive in the Spirit.  Are you going to take a chance and do it, or are you going to remain in that nice comfortable rut you are in?  Just remember, God may want you to take one road, but the ruts go elsewhere.  Which will you follow?  Are you too spiritually lazy to change?   Find yourself too stressed or tired to do something different? Don't waste your time with God.  God doesn't waste time with you.

February 12

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and HE will sustain you..."      ​ (Psalm 55:22 RSV)

A British teacher was giving a lecture to his students on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?"
          The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gms.
          But he said, "It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it.   If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.   If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.   If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.   It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

          If you carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, you will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier.  Periodically,  we all have to put down the burden, so that we can be refreshed and able to carry on. So before you return home from work one day, or before you take someone's head off by yelling because of stress, before you have to take medicine to calm your nerves, you might try to put down some heavy burden that you carry. You can pick it up tomorrow.   Whatever burdens you are straining to hold need to be let down for a moment so you can read on.  Pick it up again later when you have rested... Rest and read. Let your heart take a break as God relieves you for a few moments.

          Many of us carry burdens all the time.  We get up in the morning and are already worrying about a friend, wondering what kind of trouble a child is going to get into today, frustrated by a job that is hard to do right, worried about bills or ills.    Some of us carry great burdens like the weight of the family's problems, health issues, past mistakes or toils, future possibilities.  We carry so much stuff inside, so many worries, problems, pains.  We forget that we are finite creatures.  The only one who can carry all our burdens without breaking is the strongest among us…and that my friend… is our God.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)  The problem is that many people are afraid to give their burdens to God or they like having all the control…. until things start to control them or they start to lose control.   Maybe you are the kind of person to carry all your burdens, and the burdens of your kids, and of your friends, and of your group…and… and …. and.   If you are weary, Jesus is wanting for you to cast your burdens on Him.  Let God work on them for a while.  As Christians, we must remember, that some things happen in God's time.  We can't hurry them or rush them no matter how much we try.

            A farmer taught me a valuable lesson.    He  took me out to a big field of corn that had grown close to a good harvest.   The farmer turned to me and said, "You know somethin' pastor.   I've learned a lot of things being a farmer.  One of the greatest lessons I learned is to have the patience to give things to God.   I used to be up worryin' at night over the crops or when there was too much rain or too little rain.  Got me an ulcer from it.  Then, one day I was walkin' in the field and God told me this.  God said, 'How many prayers can you say in order to get the corn to be planted and grow in a day?'  I said, 'Corn doesn't plant and grow in a day.  It takes time.'  And God said, 'That's right, some things in life take time… time for me to work.   Can you quit worrying about things and just keep them to me?  You don't look any thinner for all I've done for you.'"
 
            I turned to the farmer and said, "God talks to you?"  He said, "All the time.  And usually its about being patient, turning my crops over to God, and just giving God the time to do what is right and best."

            I thought about what he said, and it made sense.  You could pray today and every day for the corn to all come up in a single day, but life doesn't work that way.  You and I have to turn over the crops to God and wait for God's good time to harvest. Spiritually, we also must learn to give things, give burdens, give fears and worries to God.   If we carry them all on our shoulders, we will bend and break.  God is stronger.  God can do more.  Jesus wants our burdens.  Will we be big enough to give them over to Him?

            Psalm 55 is about a person with loads of troubles.  He is asking for God to be near during his trials.  He is being hurt by others who seek to bring troubles and problems upon him.    Death has come close and mourning brought him down.  Maybe someone in the family had just died, and he carried the anguish and grieving in his heart.    He wanted to run away.  He mentioned in these verses, "Oh that I had wings like a dove.  I would fly away and be at rest.  I would flee far away." (Psalm 55:6)  When life becomes too much, when the burden gets heavy, every one of us thinks about getting away, running away, flying away.  Some things in life are hard to bear, aren't they?   Yes, you know.  You have had to carry things with you, possibly for years.  The writer in Psalms found a way to handle those burdens.  He could not run away from his problems and pain.  Instead, he found that if he left them with God, even if just for a while, things would get better.   He noted in verse 22…  "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you." (Psalm 55:22)   God will give you strength.  God will take care of things when they get too big for you to handle.  Still, God wont' take care of things if we don't turn them over to HIM.  Do you need to read that again?

                Christians who give up all their cares to the Lord can face life's burdens much better than those who try to bear the weight themselves.   Christians also must look for people whom God puts nearby to help us bear what burdens we must carry together.

            Are you carrying too heavy a load?   Have you been faithfully giving your heavy burdens, your worry and anxiety, your fears to the Lord?  Time and events will show who gives what to the Lord and how much.  I find it interesting that Psalm 55 says "Cast your burdens on the Lord."  To cast, means to throw, to toss away, to get rid of forcefully.    What you throw God's way, you don't need to carry.  What God wants thrown HIS way, HE can handle… but can you handle giving up the burden?  Can you give up control to the Lord?  If you read what God is truly saying today, you will be a better person, a stronger person, a stable person, a faithful person no matter what in life hits you.... no matter how tough things get..... no matter what burden you bear.  

February 13

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world....  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."      ​ (Matthew 5:13, 14-16 RSV)

      After the Los Angeles riots, Steve Futterman of CBC Radio broadcast an interview with one of the riot’s many looters.  The man had been one of many people who looted a store.  When asked what he had stolen, the man replied, “Gospel Tapes, I love Jesus.”  It just didn’t’ make sense to many who heard the show and it doesn’t make sense to me today… why would a Christian go out at steal Christian tapes?   A Christian stealing?  Doesn't that break a Commandment?

Funny thing in our world is that a person can steal things and call him or herself a Christian or someone who loves Jesus.  Jesus would not want or wish or will someone to steal.  But, this man in the riots, and some of those looters during Hurricane Katrina and post-election 2016 seemed to throw away their faith to steal what they could get, to take advantage.   I can’t imagine a person who is a dentist saying, “I’m going to run into a wall and wreck my teeth!”  Why would a Christian want to go and throw away his own faith by stealing…. Even gospel tapes?

Jesus, in our scripture reading for today, wants those who believe and follow him to be two things.  At first, he wishes them to be “the salt of the earth.”  What does it mean to be the “salt of the earth”?   Initially, it’s a compliment.  In the ancient world, salt was a valuable possession.  Workers could be paid with salt.  Did you know that the word, “salary”, comes from the world salt for this reason… that people used to be paid in salt?  It’s true.  Salt was so important in some areas of the world that you could purchase things with salt… it was like gold.     Long before refrigerators and freezers, salt was used to preserve food.  Even today, butchers will add salt to a meat to help preserve it.   Salt was also used in ancient times as an antiseptic to clean out wounds and fight infection.  Salt was a valuable commodity.  So, when Jesus called his followers, “The salt of the earth”, he considered them very important for our world.

There was a lesson a father hoped to teach his son.  The father said to his son, “Put this salt in water in a dish and come back to me in the morning.”  The boy did as he was told and the next day, the Father said, “Bring me the salt you put in the water yesterday.”
The boy replied, “I can’t find it. It’s dissolved in the water.”
The wise father told his son, “Taste the water in the dish”  Again the boy did as he was told. 
“What does it taste like?” said the father.
“Like salt”, the son replied.
“Put the dish by the window for a few days.” Said the father.  And the boy complied.  Several days later, the father said, “Well, what’s in the dish?” 
“Salt” the boy said.  
The salt just didn’t seem to go away.  It affected the water it was put in.  It was left after evaporation.  Perhaps in calling HIS followers “the salt of the earth”, Jesus meant that once people became HIS followers, they were always active changing their environment, changing their world, interacting with the world, preserving the world, saving the world;   just like salt.  Just like salt preserves meat and makes it better for consumption, Christians are to make this world better and know how to save people for eternal life.   They are to protect and preserve people around them from mistakes and temptations and the corruptions of life.  Like salt affects what it touches, Christians are required to affect those whose lives they touch.  That is, of course, if they are pure salt or pure Christian.

Jesus went on to say in our scripture… “if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything,”   In Jesus’ day, salt was not pure salt like we have today, but it was harvested with other substances.  These substances could make the salt go bad over time.  Jesus wanted Christians must be pure, like pure salt, in order to truly affect their world.  Anytime a Christian is tainted by his or her world, they lose their purity, their saltiness, and become worth little to other Christians or to God.  We need to be pure Christians in heart and soul, not clogged up with sins that eat at us, taint us, and make us worldly.  Each of us has a chance to touch a life, to say a word about God, to make a difference.   Are you the salt of the earth?

Jesus also mentioned in our scripture above that Christians are “the light of the world.”  Just as Christians change the world by being salty, they also make a difference by being shiny...
A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"
The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.  Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.  He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.  Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."
 
Don’t you see what Jesus is saying in our scripture?  We are to be salty and shiny!  We are to be different from the world.  Where others would steal, we do not.  Where others would gossip, we do not.  Where others would hold a grudge, we do not.  We do not murder.  We do not worship other things.  Why?  We are the salt of the earth.  We are the light of the world.  We are meant to be different… because we are children of Christ.  We are to be a blessing in this world.  You must be act and behave differently from others who are not faithful.  Where others are bland with no Spiritual passion, we spark up.  Where others are dull with a boring and distorted spirit…… we shine…. with faith!  Now, how Spiritually salty is your faith today? Do you preserve and protect as you love in Christ? How much does you faith shine in this world?  Do others even know that God is working through you?

February 14

“ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 
 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;  it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. " (I Corinthians 13:1-7 RSV)

   Bruce Wilkinson, the guy who wrote The Prayer of Jabez is a pastor.  As part of his work with the book and his ministry, he felt he needed to see the holy land.   But, he didn't want to go alone.  Because of conditions with his job, his wife and family had to stay at home and he found himself in the Mediterranean on a cruise ship by himself.   On that ship, he docked on the Isle of Patmos, where the apostle John wrote Revelation. He was so lonely for his family, he didn't even go back up to the cave where it is believed the apostle wrote his famous work. He wanted to be by himself so he walked the streets of Patmos until he found a coffee shop. He sat down and somewhat depressed and lonely, he prayed: "Lord, I'm in the middle of nowhere. I don't know anyone. Send me someone to talk to.  Send someone who needs you."
          A few minutes later, a man at the next table said, "Do you want some coffee? I'll buy. Are you off that ship?"
          "Yes," Wilkinson said. And he moved over to the man's table as the man ordered two cups of coffee.
          "What's the matter?" Wilkinson said.
          The man replied, "What do you mean what's the matter?"
          Wilkinson pursued.. "I don't know. What's the matter?"
          Suddenly the man began to look desperate.  He said, "I just left my wife, and I'm not going back. I'm going to try to go on the ship to get to the next island so I can fly out of here."
          Wilkinson replied:  "Would you believe I'm all the way from Atlanta, Georgia, for one reason—to get you back to your wife?"
          "Impossible," the man said.
          "Let me return the favor of the coffee," said Wilkinson.  And for the next hour God broke through and that young man came to know Christ.  Wilkinson talked to the man about being faithful, forgiving, loving a wife through problems.  Finally, Wilkinson told him, "If you make it up with your wife before the boat leaves, you come wave."
          "It'll never happen." Said the man.  "She won't accept me back."
          Wilkinson was unmoved. "You're a miracle. Give God a chance. Let's Pray, then you go home and see what happens."
            Wilkinson got on back the cruise ship, and was praying like crazy. But he never doubted.  Just before the ship sailed, Wilkinson went to the back of the ship overlooking the harbor and there he saw down near the rocky cliff came this young couple holding hands and waving!  (Citation: Doug Banister, The Word and Power, pp. 97-98, (Zondervan, 1999); submitted by David Slagle, Wilmore, Kentucky)

            There are moments in every life when you have to forgive, to reconcile with someone, to make a wrong into a right, to make up after a fight, to show love when another cannot.   Marriage is often the place where these things happen.  It is not easy to be married, but when love is there, you can overcome anything.  Two faithful people can make each other better.  They can look past their shortcomings and learn to rely on each other's strengths.   Many a marriage has those moments when you want to run away, but running to each other's arms works out a whole lot better!

            Today, we see a lot a reality shows that put together strangers on deserted islands, jungles, even in a big city apartment.  Conflict always ensues.  People plot against one another, betray each other, and the lack of trust is clearly evident.   Often, people are hurt and animosity is rampant.  The same thing can happen in life or marriage.  Living with a person who has faults, who makes mistakes, who forgets to take out the trash, who says the wrong thing ….. lets just say that marriage and family aren't easy.  Families force us to think, "why did I do this?"    Then you remember, you did it out of love, and love can overcome all sorts of problems in marriage and family and everyday life.

            In the book of First Corinthians, in our Bible, there is a chapter that talks about the kind of love that God wants in all relationships and people, not just marriage.   It mentions in these verses that true love is not jealous, boastful, arrogant or rude.  True love does not insist on its own way, and is not irritable or resentful.    True love bears all problems and endures.   Now, why were these words written in the first place?   Is it because the church in Corinth had perfect people?  Is it because those first-century church people were very loving?  No.  Paul actually had to write these words because the people in Corinth would sometimes forget to show love, fail to be loving, or deny another forgiveness;  despite love.  The same thing can and does happen in all walks of life.  We all need at times to be reminded how important love is, that true love makes it through, and that loving involves forgiving.

            Pastor Bruce Wilkinson on a beautiful Mediterranean island, not far from where these words of First Corinthians were written down.  In this beautiful area, Wilkinson doesn't find perfect people with perfect love.  He finds a man who is upset with his wife, a man who wants to run away from his wife.  But the man couldn't run away from God or his love for his wife.  So, after a prayer and the right words, Bruce Wilkinson was able to show the man how to love his wife better, how to forgive, how God can work through a person of faith to do great things.  God's kind of love endures and is powerful in its effects.

            If you are a true person born of God, I believe your love can be so very great and powerful.   Despite your bad days, God's love in you can change lives and bring healing and hope.  God is greater than anything, and you love God!  Why not assume that God will do great acts of love through you in life if you let HIM?  God can make you into a better husband, wife, friend, counselor, believer, missionary, or listener.  Through love, - God will bring you through frustrations, trials, temptations and sin if you let Him.  Your love will become a joy for others.  All you have to do is listen for God's voice, follow God's lead, love others like God shows you in scripture.  God will take care of the rest.

            I won't kid you… marriage will be one of the toughest things you do in life.  Loving your enemy, showing love in the face of hate, loving your neighbor will be a challenge. There may be moments when you have to show love expecting NOTHING to get better, just because you do it for God.  Who needs to feel God's love today?   Who will God put in your path to show love today?  Can you love better?

February 15

“...these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.  Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He said to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.”  He answered, “But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods." (Daniel 3:23-25 RSV)

Every moment in life, we make choices.  A man decides to go out drinking after work every day knowing the money could be better spent at home feeding the family or paying off bills.   A woman decides that her job is more important than her marriage.  A man knows at work there are things that are not right, but he ignores them.  From what we eat to how we treat others, we make decisions every day.  Among those decisions, we all choose what to believe, what to value, and what is most important.  Among the decisions we make, are temptations to do the wrong thing in order to look better or get more in this world.

In the book of Daniel in our Old Testament,  three men were tempted to do the wrong thing.  They could save their lives, but they’d have to give up God to do it.   They had to make a choice... life or God. You might be thinking... "How terrible to have to chose between them!"  But don't you realize, you are choosing between them today, in the next few minutes, in the next hour and week?  You will be choosing whether to follow the way of the world or the way of God.   No, you won’t have to bow down to an image of the mayor or the president, but you may have to choose what is wrong in order to look good, to be accepted, or to fit in.   Do you think everyone on social media doesn't live with that every day?  Are you that naive?  Does God take first or second place in your life?  Do you want to fit in, or live a righteous life?   Who or what means more:  your friends, your likes, your page views...... or God?  
 
In the book of Daniel, three guys were at a moment of decision.  They could worship the king and renounce God, or be thrown into a fiery furnace.   They told the king, "... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace".  (Daniel 3:17)  King Nebuchadnezzar was so angry they didn't do what he wanted that he ordered the furnace heated up to max.  He had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bound up and thrown into the furnace.   

These men decided to leave the decision of their fate up to God. If they died in the fire, then so be it, but if it was God's will that they survive, to God alone be the glory. Jesus did the same thing the night before he died.  He prayed that his suffering might not come, but he ended his prayer with "Not my will but thine be done." (Matthew 26:42) Jesus, like the three men, was more concerned with doing God's will than keeping their lives.  Each was willing to do what was unacceptable in society in order to keep their faith.  Because the three might die in the fire didn't mean God wasn't with them, behind them, or for them. Because Jesus did die, doesn't mean God was not with Him, behind Him, or for Him. Sometimes, when challenges come along, we want to tell God what God ought to do.  We don't pray, "Thy will be done," instead we are more about "God, do this and that."   Too often, we want to call the shots for God.... rather than telling our Lord, "Thy will be done.."

Dave Dravecky, Pro Baseball pitcher, had this to say.... "One night.... a woman came up to me and told me how she was once down-and--out with a drug addiction - until someone told her about Christ, and she became a Christian and healed of her addiction. She told him that God wanted all his children to be 100% healthy. But does HE? What would God's children grow up to be like if... all the bumps in the road ahead of them were made smooth? Cancer introduced me to suffering. And suffering is what strengthened my faith. Yet that woman implied I was suffering because I didn’t' have enough faith. She seemed to say, 'have enough faith and get the life you want.' But that struck me as making God into some kind of cosmic vending machine, where, if you pushed the right button, you would get a sweet life, free of suffering.
Someone once said that the difference between American Christianity and Christianity as it is practiced in the rest of the world has to do with how each views suffering. In America, Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. In the rest of the world, Christmas pray for stronger backs so they can bear their suffering. That's why we look away from the bag lady on the street and look at the displays in store windows. That’s why we prefer to go to movies instead of to hospitals and nursing homes."

And I would add... That's why we are afraid to say to God, "Thy will be done."  We know that God's will may entail suffering and pain, discomfort and challenge... and in the case of the three men of God in the book of Daniel, it would mean death.

But God had other plans....

The King wanted to watch the three men die, so he looked into the furnace.  As King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire, he saw four people, not three.  He tried to figure out why.  He didn't realize until later that the one true God was with the men in the fire.  Maybe, it was an angel (v. 3:28).  Maybe, it was the Son of God ( Daniel 3:25).  One thing was certain, something changed in Nebuchadnezzar in that moment.  He realized he had condemned three good and righteous men to death, and he blessed the God who was there in the fire with the three men.  

Notice that when we have faith in God, God is there. Through thick and thin, God will be there. When you are in danger or trouble, in fear or lost, if you have faith, God will be there. When friends unlike you or family treat you wrong, God will be there.  When you face an impossible situation and are going to get burned by life, God will be there in the fire with you.  When you face burning fires in your life, in your future. in your darkest days, or days where danger or fear burns all around you, hold fast to your faith and surely, surely, God will be there. All you must do is hold on to your faith. No matter what the temptation is to give up, hold on to the one thing that will outlast all, hold on to your God.

In the days ahead, some of you will be tempted to give up on God when a wife dies, a husband gets ill, a son is hurt badly, or things don't go right. You will be tempted to give up when something more interesting comes along to do on Sunday morning.... You will be tempted to give up when someone from the church says a cross word to you or treats you wrongly. You will be tempted to give up when you are blessed with much or with not enough. Don't forget who is present in the trials in life with the faithful.  If you hold out, if you keep living as God commands, God will be there. Don't give up on HIM.  He won't give up on you.  Today, what kinds of fires are burning in your life?  How will you handle them? 

February 16

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.  Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12:14-19 RSV)

 "Ironing Out Differences Without Being Burned"

In Romans 12, the apostle Paul speaks about important aspects of being a Christian and a God-loving person.  In these verses, he tells us to “bless those who curse you, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, associate with the lowly.”  All these things are ways that we try to get along with one another and share the burdens of others.   Paul mentions that the goal of trying to get along is so that we can “live in harmony with one another.” Later in these verses he says we should “live peaceably.”  If we take the apostle Paul’s words to heart, we are thus told that we are called to be those who try to get along with others.   We iron out our differences with others.  We don’t get even, we find ways to make things right with those around us.

You might stop me right there and say, “Pastor Dave, there are some people who you just can’t get along with.”    That is true.  There are people who will dislike you for the smallest things.   It doesn’t matter what you do, you won’t please everyone, but this scripture isn’t talking about pleasing everyone.  It speaks about trying to live peaceably, in harmony.   It tells us that we all should try to get along if we want to please Christ.  We can’t make people get along with us, but we can do our part.  There are things we can do to help us avoid certain things that cause disharmony.  These are things that make people separate, take sides, fight, and argue.   The three biggest ways to fail to keep harmony are to clam up, blow up, or burn up.  These can damage friendships, relationships, marriages, and churches.  They can cause problems at work or at home.  They always break the harmony God intended.

A man was traveling by bus to Los Angeles.  As he boarded the bus, he found the only seat left was next to a lady in her fifties.  The man sat down and introduced himself.. and just as he did, her cell phone rang.  She put a finger up to him and answered her phone.  For the next several hours, the woman went from one phone conversation to another.  Everybody around her was getting frustrated as the lady talked on and on.  Finally, in between calls, the man next to her said, “Lady, would you please not talk on your cell phone.”  She glared at him.  When the next phone call came in, she answered saying, “I can’t talk now.  I have a man next to me who said I can’t answer my phone.  Yeah, its terrible what people will make you do.”  Then, she proceeded to remain absolutely silent the rest of the trip.  It was most uncomfortable.   Some people are like that.  Rather than thinking she was doing anything wrong, this woman, out of anger, clammed up.  She didn’t say a thing.. but in so doing she broke down all the communication with the people around her.
 
Clamming up is a common feeling when we get hurt.  We become afraid of saying anything that might offend, so we clam up.  We also may clam up to cause another person to suffer… we don’t say a word, but instead say volumes with cold stares, leering eyes, and looking the other way when a person is looking at us.  All are examples of childishness.  All break down communication.  And all stop harmony, which our scripture says is vital to a Christian.  In I Kings 21, it tells us that King Ahab didn’t get his way and became “quiet” and “sullen”.  He was sulking, but definitely not helping God in that instance.

Those who don’t clam up, may break communication by “blowing up.”  Are you one of those people who has a temper that can get out of control?  It might be that you won’t clam up, but you will blow up.  You take so much, and then like a volcano, you explode.  You swear, you yell, you throw things, you stomp your feet.  By blowing up, you are actually telling other people to stop talking, to stop what they are doing.  If others are trying to communicate, anger will make the communication stop too.  I see in many marriages where a man blows up, and then the wife clams up in response.  Then, the marriage is in trouble.   Then, there is no harmony, no peace at home.  Proverbs 29 says that no wise man argues with a fool (v. 9), for a fool vents his full anger without thinking (v. 10).

A third way to damage communication and harmony among people is to burn up.  Burning up occurs when you are burning inside with emotions. You seethe with emotions.  A person says something to you that strikes you wrong, and you get upset; fussing and fuming for hours.   Soon after, when you walk in the door after work and your innocent spouse says, “How was your day?”,  you say something you regret out of anger like,  “Why do I have to come home to a messy house?”   Burning up can take many forms.  Some people burn up with anger.  Others burn up with guilt.  It is possible to have your mind going twenty-four hours a day burning with a desire, going over and over in your mind what someone said, or feeling sadness all day long.  When you burn up, your mind wanders, you can’t concentrate, you look for mistakes, nothing seems good enough, or you become cynical and negative.  Who wants to be around a person who is always distant and sullen or a friend who is always negative?  Burning up definitely breaks harmony.

            There is another way to iron out your differences.  Rather than clam up, blow up, or burn up, how about wising up!   The first way to wise up is to keep your anger under control.  Whenever anger gets involved its hard to communicate or remain objective.  Psalm 103 even tells us that God is “slow to anger” (Read James 1:19!).  This should also describe you. 

When Harmony is broken and problems arise, there are other things you can do.  Be smart enough to call a “cease fire.”  Give time for people to work things out.  Let things cool down when issues heat up.  Also, an apology can help greatly.  An apology doesn’t necessarily say who is wrong and who is right.  You can apologize by saying, “I’m sorry we disagree. I’m sorry about the argument.  I’m sorry we don’t see the same way on this.”  Of course, this takes setting aside your pride to say you are sorry.    

To help problems and fights, to keep the peace, its best to follow certain pieces of wisdom.  First, don’t let problems simmer.  Ephesians 4:26 tells us that we should not let our anger go for days, but take care of them before the day is over.  I know many a husband and wife who will not go to bed at night if one is angry at the other.  They sort things out, apologize, compromise, and listen before they go to bed if there’s been any problem or argument. 

One way to keep problems from occurring and to keep the peace is to make sure you DON’T say everything you think.  Sometimes, its best to shut up if you want to say something hurtful instead of something constructive.  I love the quote from Elizabeth Elliot who once wrote, “Never pass on the opportunity to keep your mouth Shut.” You don’t have to share everything you think!

Finally, the greatest way to keep the peace, to keep harmony in home, in the church, at work is to at times “agree to disagree.”  You cannot see eye to eye with everyone.   So, you have to at times, just agree that people can see things differently.  You don’t have to fight and win every battle!

To keep the harmony, to be at peace….  We need to love God enough to suck up our pride and just work things out.  We need to compromise, to communicate, to share, to set aside our own biases.. and just iron things out.  I hope you are adult enough…. Christian enough, Godly enough…. to follow Paul’s hope and God’s plan from Romans 12.  We’re either going to harm or harmonize. If you’re going to enjoy healthy relationships, you can’t clam up or blow up or burn up. You’ve got to wise up, which allows you to iron out our differences without being burned. So, for today, maybe you need to just keep quiet and listen.  Maybe you should agree to disagree?  How about letting go of your pride?  Are you one to clam up?  God needs you to be wise in this world today.

February 17

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God." (Exodus 34:29 RSV)

    In our world, there are people who shine brightly.   When you are around them, troubles seem like they'll get better.  On a bad day, you might call or email them just to get a pick-me-up.  They are the kind of people you love to run into, and you feel like a better person just being around them.  It's not only their personality that you are seeing.  You might be seeing something else.  I believe that there are a few people who shine brightly in life…. because you can see God shining through them.

            In my first church, I knew a lady named Betty.  Now, Betty was in her seventies and always read her Bible.  She loved to talk about God, learn about God, and share her faith.  She had a warm personality and a smile that made you feel like you could share anything with her and it would be OK.   Betty and I went on a long car ride to a convention.  On the way back, she and I were talking about her faith and our church.  She turned to me and said, "You know, Pastor Dave, I believe you can see in a person if they have a true faith.   I believe God shines in them.  You can see it on their face.  You can see it in their whole attitude.  God shines through them.  I mean it. You can see it."  I have never forgotten her words of wisdom.  And I must say, I too believe that when God is in the heart of a true person of faith, you can see it in the way they conduct themselves, in the words they use, and in their personality.   It does show.  Their faith does shine brightly.

            In our scripture from Exodus 34, we have the story of Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai, where he had met with God.  God wrote the commandments on stone for the people of Israel, high on that mountain.  God and Moses shared plans concerning these people.  Moses saw God. The scripture tells us that because Moses was in God's presence, he became different.   The scripture says ... "Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God."  In this scripture, Moses' skin was shining from his time with God on the mountain.  His face was bright.  It was obvious when Moses came down from the mountain that God somehow changed him.  God's light shone brightly from his face.

            I believe God still shines through people, not in a literal sense but figuratively.  You can see God's joy in their face, through their smile.  You can hear God's praises on their lips and those praises seem so natural.  They make you want to be a better person.  When you are around them, you feel somehow closer to God.

            A 92 year-old lady decided she had fallen enough.  Her legs gave out in the living room and she fell, hitting the table. Then, she fell in the dining room, while cleaning a cabinet.  She was worried that she'd fall and get stuck.  She decided, with her daughter's help, that she would go to an assisted living nursing home.  Now, let me tell you a little about this lady.  Every day of her life she was fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she was legally blind.   She never let her failure to see stop her from learning, growing, helping, and living faithfully.  Her husband of seventy years had recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, the director provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

         "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old  having just been presented with a new  puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room ....  just wait."
          "That doesn't have anything to do with it," Mrs. Jones replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged...it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it .."It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the  difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the  ones that do."   That blind lady was something.  A few years later when she died, it is said that it took a bus to bring all the people from the nursing home to her funeral visitation.  Over and over people would say that though she was blind, she could see possibilities.   Others saw God in her attitude.

            Do others see God in you?   Does God's light shine in your life?   When you speak of your faith, are others encouraged to believe?  Pastor John Maxwell once wrote:  "When confronted with a difficult situation, a person with an outstanding attitude makes the best of it while he gets the worst of it. Life can be likened to a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you depends on what you are made of."   (Citation: John C. Maxwell, INJOY founder, from Attitude 101 (Thomas Nelson, 2003); reprinted in "Pearls of Wisdom," Today's Christian)

            What are you made of?  Have you been polished to a shine through years of experiencing God, or are you ground down and worn?    Are you the kind of person that others wish would shut up, or the kind of friend who others love to be around?  Does your faith affect others in such a way that they want to know God better, or do people wonder if you suck lemons in your spare time?   I believe God wants so much to shine through you.  How can you brighten someone's day today?  I pray God shines through you.  

February 18

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.... On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.  Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.  My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.... They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.  But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God’s name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced."
​ (Psalm 63:1, 6-8, 9-11 NIV84)

The Psalms are located in the middle of the Christian Bible.   If you open up most Bibles to the middle, you'll often find yourself somewhere in the Psalms.  What is especially interesting about the Psalms is that not only are they songs, but they are conversations between people and God (or of the person's heart with God).   Psalm 63, the scripture above, is no different.  It is a Psalm written by David when he was in the deserts of Judah.  A desert is a harsh place.  It is a place that is rugged and dangerous.   Just like the people who left Egypt with Moses ended up finding God in the desert, when David went out in the desert full of sadness and longing for God, he found God was waiting for him there.

            There comes a point in the lives of many of us when only an intimate relationship with God will satisfy. Many Christians go through life with a low sense of spiritual vitality. Our days are largely consumed with secular or worldly pursuits. Prayer and Bible reading are one-a-day “fast food” items. For the worldly-minded, “real life” is not life in the Spirit but life in the flesh. It is reaching here and there, doing this and that, and flitting in Christian activity largely to meet our social needs. We may close the night in prayer as a “spiritual glaze” over our real interests, but there is no way this can fix a heart that hungers for God.

However, this can change dramatically. A friend of mine who has cancer told me that his illness was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It stopped him short in the race of life and caused him to reevaluate everything, starting with his relationship with God. Illness and other troubles may bring us to a crisis point, throwing us with new seriousness upon the Lord. It may be a death in the family that changes you. It may be a major “passage” in life, a conflict in marriage, trouble with children, or a business reversal that shakes you up. These emotional earthquakes break down our defenses and open us up to the Lord. What we often find then is a deep inner emptiness and a longing for God. Psalm 63 is a witness to that longing and its satisfaction.

We know that King David, author of the above words, spent several periods of his life in the wilderness or desert of Judah.  Each time, his life was in danger.  When Saul wanted to harm him, David fled from Saul out to the desert.  When an army sought to kill him, David fled to the rugged wilderness.  When a foreign king betrayed David, again David found himself living in the stark wilderness and mountain areas of Judah.  While out in the wilderness, David desired to be with God.  He didn't mind being thirsty for water as much as he missed being in God's presence.  King David remembered days of the past when he praised God, when he ate rich foods, when he sang hymns.   He mentioned in this psalm how God was his constant companion at night when he was on guard or when he laid bed unable to sleep while in the wilderness. 

Now you might ask yourself, what made David unable to sleep?  Why is he on guard  in the desert?   The answer is that each time his life was in danger by people who wanted to hurt him. He fled in the desert to seek God's protection.   Psalm 63 states: "Those who seek my life will be destroyed......  they will go down to the depths of the earth."  David knew he was chosen by God to be King.  He knew he was called to defeat Goliath.  He constantly worshiped God and was loved by many.  God even called him a beloved son.  Still, there were those who schemed against David.  There were those who wanted  him to fail or look badly.  They lied about him (v. 11).    There were those who even wanted to kill him (v. 9).  David promised that those  schemers who sought to hurt him would be themselves hurt by God (v. 9), because God was protecting David. 
 
When you attack someone who is called by God or someone doing what God wants, when you scheme against another person, God takes offense.   Where David is protected by God's power in this scripture, anyone who attempts to fight God's chosen person will be themselves hunted or hurt by God.    Yet, I find it interesting that people scheme against others all the time.  There are people even  in churches who play games, who gossip, who lie, who cheat, who use the church for social or political or religious power plays. Do they think they can get by with this?  Do they think God won't get even  or go after their deceits and schemes?

      Another name for Satan in the Bible is deceiver.  In fact, Satan's name means to deceive or lie or hurt or manipulate.  When you do anything like scheming against someone or gossiping against someone or use passive aggressive games against someone, you are using Satan's tactics.   As David says in this Psalm and as the Bible attests, when you do these things, God will cause you to be destroyed (v.9) or silenced (v.11) or worse (do you know what silenced might mean?).  If in your life, you've done these things and now you are suffering, you have nobody to blame but yourself.  And unless you repent and get right with God and the person you wronged, you will feel God's wrath at some point in your life or somewhere around you.  God will not bless you until you repent!

It's funny how people who sin and cheat and scheme against another person or God will often say, "This is what God wants.  You don't understand.  You don't know anything.  You don't even know the Bible."   What I think is that most people who are caught up in sin have written in their hearts their own version of what the Bible says.  They don't listen when God says... "Don't do that."  They manipulate others to cover their sins.  They try to damage the reputation of others so they don't have to face up to their own mistakes.   They play with the truth.  They lie.  They did it to King David, as attested to in this very scripture.  They will do it to you and me.  Or are you one of them?  You might even be spiritually sick enough to blame someone else for your own sin or error, but God knows the truth. The day of judgment will be a sad day for all those who scheme against God or God's people or play around with God's commandments or will.

Are you at the mercy of schemers?  Do you scheme and plot against people who have done you wrong?  Scheming is a dangerous thing.  It can make you neurotic, questioning everyone who doesn't agree with you.  It can cause God's ire.   Can you live with that?  I couldn't.  David couldn't .  That's why he and I and many others (maybe even you) have gone searching after God. King David is protected from the schemers by God.  God is protecting you too, unless you are the one playing with the truth or seeking to hurt someone. To scheme, one plots evil or hurt against an innocent or righteous person.  This offends God.  God wants obedience, not game-playing on your part.  God judges schemes.  God protects the innocent.  If another is scheming against you today, know that God holds them accountable even in this moment.  God will not bless the evil plans of the wicked or allow them to last for long(Proverbs 6:18). Be patient until the day of the Lord rights the wrongs.

February 19

“And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.  Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun..... Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil—this is the gift of God.  For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart."
​ (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 5:19-20)

A couple of donkeys were in two fields separated by a barbed wire fence. The grass was equally lush and green in both pastures. yet each donkey could be seen poking its head through the fence as far as possible to graze on the grass in the adjoining field. As the old saying goes, "The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence."

            We often display that same tendency. Something that belongs to someone else, or some talent or ability that is beyond our reach, can seem so much more appealing than what we already possess. Yet the Lord wants us to be satisfied with what HE has given to us.

            Do you spend time looking at what your neighbor has, comparing yourself to others, all to see if someone has it better than you do?  Are you jealous when someone your age or with "lesser ability" gets ahead?  It's so easy to desire things, to always want something bigger, better, faster, newer, spiffier.   What I have found is that people often look for greener pastures, because they aren't satisfied with what they have, with what God has given them, with what they make for ourselves.  But I'm warning you now, if you think you can find joy in your heart and peace in your soul without God, you will never find it.  You will search for greener pastures and never find them.  Ever.

            An acquaintance left his job, because another company offered him several thousand dollars more.  He loved his old job, but went for the money.  He figured if he had a few thousand more to spend, it would be great.   At the new job, there was a boss who was overbearing, a co-worker who constantly derided him, and he was so bothered by stress that he had to be put on anti-anxiety drugs.   In the end, the extra trips to the doctor, medicines, and therapy cost more than the raise he received.  Why didn't he just stay where he was happy to begin with?  Some lessons are hard to learn, aren't they?  Why is it we don't have joy and aren't content, even when we have it good?   The problem is that we are looking for satisfaction in life in the wrong places.   As it says here in our scriptures today, you will not find true happiness without God.  If you are looking for greener pastures, maybe your soul is missing something.

            In Ecclesiastes, the great and wise King Solomon reflected on life.  Solomon had great riches and was known throughout the world for being the most intelligent of all men.  He was blessed by God with the wisdom to see things that many could not see, to understand how life worked and how God worked.   With this great wisdom, Solomon learned some very important lessons.  Endowed with this insight, he wrote the words of Ecclesiastes.  

            Among the lessons learned, Solomon perceived that material things do not satisfy.  You can have a good car, and you will desire a better car.  You can have an expensive dress, but long for one that is worn by a Hollywood star.   Advertisements may make you long for a toy, a new electronic gadget, the newest and greatest gimmick; but when you get it, will that make you happy forever?  The answer is no.  Solomon wrote that he tried all kinds of pleasure, but didn't find happiness.  He drank lots of wine, but did not find he enjoyed life any more.   He planted vineyards, built houses, planted trees, and grew rich.  It didn't satisfy him; he wanted more (Ecclesiastes 2:3).  He even had all the sex he wanted (Ecclesiastes 2:8).  He was not happy enough.  Solomon built swimming pools, learned to sing, and even collected lots of money, but it just didn't make him happy (Ecclesiastes 2:5ff).  The only happiness he found was when he was pursuing what God desired.  He felt that God gave him joy whenever he worked at godly pursuits.

            I've seen this over and over in my life.   People are empty inside, searching for joy.  When young, they think they will find perfect and lasting joy in a husband or wife.  After the honeymoon fun wears off, marriage has its ups and downs.  It can be a struggle.  There is great joy in a family, but there can be great sorrow.    Where can you find true joy?  It comes from having God in your marriage and life.   It comes from feeling God's Spirit working through you to change your world.

            Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife, two small children, and his elderly parents in a tiny hut. He tried to be patient and gracious, but the noise and crowded conditions wore him down.  He couldn't even pray without being interrupted.  He wasn't happy with how God had blessed him in his cluttered life.  His life was in chaos.  Had he sinned?  In desperation, he consulted the village wise man.  "Do you have a rooster?" asked the wise man.
"Yes," he replied.
"Keep the rooster in the hut with your family, and come see me again next week."
            The next week, the man returned and told the wise elder that living conditions were worse than ever, with the rooster crowing and making a mess of the hut. "Do you have a cow?" asked the wise elder. The man nodded fearfully. "Take your cow  into the hut as well, and come see me in a week."

            Over the next several weeks, the man--on the advice of the wise elder--made room for a goat, two dogs, and his brother's children.  Finally, he could take no more, and in a fit of anger, kicked out all the animals and guests, leaving only his wife, his children, and his parents. The home suddenly became spacious and quiet.  The man found he so enjoyed his new life that he enjoyed his prayers.  Of course nothing had changed from the beginning, except he found a new appreciation for what he did have and for his quiet time with God.

            If you feel emptiness in your life, maybe its time to see if you have learned your lesson yet.   Have you learned what Solomon learned?   Do "things" will bring you a lasting happiness?    I once met a golfer who shot a 90, and was unhappy.  So, he sought out a pro to teach him.  His score dropped to an 85, then an 80, then 75.  The man was ecstatic.  He said he was thrilled, happy.   Then, he hurt his arm in an accident at work and his golf game suffered.  Instead of 75's, he was hitting low 80s.  The man was upset, mad at himself, frustrated every time he played golf.   If you'd have asked him when he originally had a score of 90 if he'd be happy getting 80, he'd say absolutely.  But once he shot 75, he couldn't stand dropping down 5 or 6 strokes in his game.  Finally, he gave up on golf.  He was too upset to enjoy it!
 
            Will you find true happiness in a sport?  When you die, will you say to yourself, I won a gold medal, so I can die happy?    What Solomon found is that riches, songs, pools, even children could fade away or die.  Gold and silver can be lost or fail.   God is the only thing that can bring you lasting peace and joy (Ecclesiastes 5:20).  Everything else, is a striving after wind.  It will disappear or lose its luster quickly (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

             Let's assume that your life just ended.  Your eyes close and you wake up in a moment facing God at the pearly gates.   God looks at you and says, "What makes your soul happy?"  What would you say?   Would you say, "What made my soul permanently happy was having a good job."  "What made my soul feel the best was when I made lots of money."  No.   I bet what makes your soul feel real and lasting joy is when you are either spending time with God, or spending time doing something God wants you to do.   Your soul cannot be made permanently happy by buying things.   It will never be happy by being selfish or self centered.  Your soul finds ultimate joy by being with God and doing something you were meant to do for God.  Don't look for greener pastures by buying new land, moving, looking for a situation in life that meets your needs.  If you aren't happy in marriage, pray for the spouse and the situation you have, don't go looking for someone better or younger. You won't find that perfect person or situation.  The green pastures are already there for you.  It takes a change in your state of mind, and a change in your attitude with others, yourself, and ultimately with God.

            I will end by giving you a challenge.  Spend a few hours this week doing something good for someone who really has a need.   I mean really has a need.   Do it for God.  Then, when you finish helping that person, tell them you are doing it for God.  Afterward, go home and thank God that you have something to give.   I bet you will feel some of God's joy coming to you.   You will feel what Solomon learned;  material possessions don't give you joy.  Spending time doing meaningful things that God wants you to do brings you joy.  Doing some good for someone in the name of God will help you feel that joy.  If you are looking for greener pastures, maybe you need to be fed by God's hand, maybe your soul is hungry for something more, maybe God sees something in your soul that is lacking.  Maybe like the grass needs water to make it greener, your soul needs spiritual water to make it grow or to see beyond yourself. 

            Examine your life today.  Feeling empty?  Does your life feel meaningless at times?   Do something good for God and see if you don't feel the blessing.  Do something difficult for God, and watch what happens.  The smartest man in the Old Testament said you'd feel God's presence.  Don't look for greener pastures.  Look in your soul to see what it's hungry for.  Do something with and for God.    See if it doesn't do your soul a world of good!

February 20

“Early in the morning, as he (Jesus) was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.  Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered."
​ (Matthew 21:18–19 NIV84)

Recently, someone wanted me to explain the scripture above.  This scripture reading is one of the most misunderstood of our Bible.   It is a scripture that makes Jesus seem to be angry and vengeful, unless you really know what is going on here.   Are you one of those people who opens your Bible, reads a passage, and says to yourself, “What does this mean?”  You may scratch your head with this scripture, unless you really understand what God is trying to tell you in these verses.  It's message is very powerful.

            From the gospel of Matthew, we read, “ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.  Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again!' Immediately the tree withered.”    People often stop reading the story right here.  They question, “Why did Jesus do such a bad thing here?  Why did Jesus make this plant wither and die, when HE is the giver of life?  Why did HE curse this tree and not bless it?  What kind of bad person is Jesus, to go around and curse things?  Jesus is not fair!"
 
            Let's get a handle on what is going on here.  Jesus was hungry.  It was early morning and he probably hadn't eaten all night.  For days, He has been on the road, ministering and teaching.  He had traveled all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem.  This was very mountainous territory.  He couldn’t just wake up and go have breakfast at Denny’s!  He had to find something to eat!  When he looked at a distance, he saw a fig tree with leaves on it.  It was perfect for the morning, the perfect food to give him strength for the last week of his life.  He traveled off the road a good bit to the fig tree.  Upon encountering it, he saw that it held no fruit.  Jesus was not only hungry, he was surprised.
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            Now, you might be wondering why Jesus surprised. If you don’t understand the biology of fig trees, you’ll miss the whole meaning.  You see, this certain type of fig tree bears fruit in the spring.  Here, we know it was spring, because it was before the Passover.   When that type of fig tree bears fruit in the spring, it begins to produce leaves.  When you see the leaves, you know that the fruit has ripened.   So, when Jesus saw the leaves on the fig tree, he ventured off the road.  He was hungry.  The fig tree was supposed to be his sustenance, his breakfast that morning.  But after traveling off the road to pick the figs, he found no breakfast there!  This fig tree looked from a distance like it held fruit because of the leaves, but when you got closer to it, it didn’t hold any fruit at all. Why then did it have leaves?  What is wrong with this fig tree? When Jesus needed that fruit, there was none.

            This story is a parable of sorts.  Just like Jesus was hungry and needed that fig tree to give him food, there are times when Jesus needs for us to do things for Him.  So often, we think of what Jesus does for us without realizing that Jesus needs us to do things for Him.   A wise man once said to me that the greatest way for people to see and meet Jesus today is for them to see and meet Jesus in us, in Christians.  There are moments that Jesus will want us to do things for Him, to help others for Him, to reach out to others in His name, to teach others about Him, to save others for HIM.  We must be there for HIM when HE needs us. 

            Fergus Bordewich picked his way through the jam of pedestrians he finally found the right address.   It was down a narrow lane deep in the heart of Canton, China. Climbing two flights of stairs, Fergus entered a room packed with handmade pews. There were racks of Bibles and piles of hymnals. Twenty or more students, businessmen, and elderly women were kneeling on the concrete floor. Their voices swelled, and old Christian hymns echoed through the room. This was the Chinese underground church. According to a Reader's Digest article by Bordewich, everyone in the attic church knew the gathering was illegal. Police might burst in at any time to beat them and drag away their pastor, Lin Xiangao. Years before, Xiangao had been asked to denounce Christ. He refused, saying, "Even if you prolong my sentence or kill me, I can't criticize Christ."   Jesus needed pastor Lin Xiangao to minister to these people, even though his life was in danger.  God can count on him.

            But there are some people God cannot count on.  When Jesus counted on that fig tree having fruit for Him, He went and looked and found none.  Parabolically, when Jesus comes looking for Christians in our world, he sees people who from a distance look like Christians, they sing Christian hymns, but they are not true Christians.  They are Christians in name only.  They are people who worship on Sunday, but do not act like Christians on Monday.  They are people who come to church only on Christmas and Easter.  They are people who don’t give much if anything back to God.  They are people who have not led others to salvation in Christ.   They have borne no fruit to God in Christ, like the fig had borne no fruit for Jesus when he was hungry and in need.

            How about you?  Is your life bearing fruit?  Do others know God because of you?   Do others pray today because of you?   How many others have come to believe in God directly because of you?  Do they just come to church because of you, or do they believe in God because of you?  Can you honestly say you serve God?    If you serve God, that means that God determines how you spend your money, whether you worship or not, what work you do at church, and how you talk.   Real and true Christians always bear fruit.  They are ones God can count on when someone is hurting, when the church needs fixing, when the pastor needs help, when a mission needs resources, or when a family needs support.    True Christians always bear fruit. Don’t you see?  Jesus is teaching a very important lesson in this fig tree.  Either the fig tree bears fruit or why should it even take up space in the field?  Either we should bear Christian fruit or why should we bother taking up space in a pew on Sunday?
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            Now, you might say…. "I am a Christian."  If you are, you will bear fruit in what you do.  Bearing fruit doesn’t mean you come to church on Sunday alone.  Bearing fruit means you live like a Christian.  You talk like God would want you to talk.  Your money is God’s money.  Your bills are God’s bills.  Your hope is with God.  You don’t let things rile you up, because you know God in ultimately in control.   Others see God working in you.  They see righteous hope and joy and peace in your eyes.  They see your love.  They know you are dependable, reliable, and there when God has a need.  Does this describe you?   It should… if you are a true Christian…. If you want to be the kind of fig tree that bears fruit and is blessed.

            An elderly mother in Scotland went to a missionary society meeting where only contributing members were admitted.   She walked up to the church where they had the meeting.  The doorkeeper asked, "Are you a contributor?   Only contributors can enter, because they are the ones who lead this ministry.”  "I am afraid not," she answered. When he wouldn't let her in, she left disappointed.  She started down the steps toward home. On the way, pondering his words, she thought of her son who years before had gone as a missionary to Sierra Leone in West Africa. His body now lay buried in that distant land. He died there working for Christ.  She retraced her steps to the  church building and explained to the man, "I forgot. You asked me if I was a contributor. I gave my only boy to be a missionary, and he is buried out in Sierra Leone." The doorkeeper removed his cap, bowed graciously, and said, "Come in." He then led her to a front seat.  You see, this woman was a contributor.  She supported her son, taught her son, put her son’s life in God’s hand.  She was a giver.  She bore fruit.  She made a difference.  Do you?  Or is your spot in a church pew a waste of space?

            Now do you understand why Jesus cursed the fig tree?  He was trying to teach you and me!  Faith is ultimately important.  You either produce fruit, or God will find someone who is serious about the faith and who will produce fruit.  Jesus expected that fig tree to bear fruit.  God expects us to produce fruit.  God will expect you to reach out to others, to share what you have, to bring others to believe in him, to teach others about who He is, to take care of His building and His people.   He will count on you to come through for Him, but will you?  He believes in you.  Do you truly believe in Him?  Or shall He look for another?   I pray on the day you are face to face with God, you can say, “Dear God, Thank you for all the fruit I helped produce for You in my lifetime!  Thank you for the privilege!”  How can you produce fruit for God today?

 February 21

“... Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  ​ (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV84)

We are all guilty of something.  Every one of us.  We do something that is biased, unfair, unequal, and selfish.   Yes, its a sin in every one of us.  We all look at the appearance of people to determine their validity, their worth, truthfulness, honesty, integrity, potential, and more.   We all do it.   Sometimes, our view of a person's looks helps us.  For example, if I see a bunch of youth on an inner-city street corner, I might think "gang" and walk down another street.   This may be wise.  However, this very bunch of youth may also be a singing group walking home from a concert.  I just labeled them a "gang" when every one of them is a good kid.  Looks, perceptions, and first judgments can be deceiving.  On the one hand, seeing a situation and the people involved can help you avoid danger, trials, and troubles.  But on the other hand, you might look at a person and deem them less worthy because of their appearance, or judge them wrongly or unfairly. 

             It was a cold winter's day one Sunday at a church down south. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. Several people noticed as they got out of their cars that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked into the church.  And you could tell why.  There was a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes with holes in them that looked thirty years old, too small for his feet.  His toes stuck out of those shoes. Many assumed this man was homeless and asleep, so they walked on by through the doors of the church.  As the people gathered for fellowship before worship,  someone brought up the man laying outside.  People snickered and gossiped but no one dared bother to ask him to come in, including the leaders. A few moments later the worship service began. Just as the organ played,  the doors to the sanctuary opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit. He took off his hat and coat. People in the congregation let out a collective sigh. There stood their preacher. He was the "homeless man."  No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible  and laid it on the stand.  "Folks,"  he said," I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today.  I'm sure you know there are people out there who need God desperately.  Who of you will invite them in?   Who would not invite someone because of how they looked?  Who would ignore the dirty, the homeless, the shamed, the hurting?"

            Don't even begin to think that you and I aren't guilty at times of looking at the appearance of people and making judgments, even wrong judgments.   An old Indian saying states:  "Don't judge a man until you walk in his shoes a full moon",  meaning don't judge a man who you don't know about his life and trials.

            Wrong judgments based on appearances, or how someone looks are as old as humankind.   In the book of I Samuel, the prophet Samuel and greatly respected Jesse are even convicted of that very thing.  Samuel was looking for a King to govern all Israel and Judah.   God wanted this new King.  Samuel was told by God that the new king would be a son of Jesse.  When Samuel came to Jesse's house to anoint the future King, Jesse introduced Samuel to his sons, one at a time (starting with 1 Samuel 16:3).   Jesse knew one of them would be king, so he brought his oldest and strongest son before Samuel.   Samuel looked at the boy, who was big for his age, and he thought young Eliab was the perfect size, stature, height, and such for a King (I Samuel 16:6).  As Samuel thought about this, God said to Samuel….  “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  Ouch, that hurt.   Samuel was looking on the outside of the sons of Jesse.  God was looking at the heart of each of the boys.  

            Do you fail God in the same way?  Do you look at a person and instantly make a judgment of who they are?   You might look at a beautiful woman and think… "Well, she probably isn't very smart, is she?"    Others look at a man who wears ill-fitting clothes and think, "This guy isn't very successful or very intelligent, I bet."   People may look down on you in this life because you are woman, a black, a homosexual, a Catholic or Protestant, a Christian, white, handicapped, Semitic, and so much more.  We look at the appearances, where God looks on the heart.

            One by one, Jesse's sons passed by in front of the prophet Samuel.  One by one, God led Samuel to believe, "This is not the one who will be king." (1 Samuel 16:10)    All the sons inside the house passed by Samuel's gaze, but God wanted none of them for the king.  Finally, Samuel said to Jesse, "Are these all your sons?" (I Samuel 16:11)  Jesse told him that the youngest was out watching the sheep.  Jesse figured he would never be king.  Would God choose the smallest and youngest?   I guess so!   Young David came in the house,  and Samuel anointed him as the next king.

            Jesse and Samuel had no idea young David would be anointed.  He was just a kid;  just a small boy!  In the years to come, however, that young David grew up to slay the evil giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17), to bind the country together, and to win the greatest of wars against the Philistines.   David, at one point, was called, the apple of God's eye (Psalm 17:8) and God's beloved (Psalm 108:6).  If Samuel and Jesse had not listened to God, not looked past the appearances, none of those great things would have happened to Israel.

            You must be careful when treating people that you don't categorize them based on their looks or based on their dress.   I remember one day when my wife was pregnant with our first son.  She lost a lot of weight because she was so sick during that pregnancy.   She dropped down to a mere 90 pounds and even less.  But, I remember walking in the mall with her.  We were walking among the fountains in the center area hand in hand.  Because she wasn't feeling particularly well, she had put her hair up in pigtails.   She looked about fifteen years old, though we were both in our twenties.  I, on the other hand, I weighed 250 lbs and was the past captain of the football team and an avid weightlifter.  As we walked down the mall center court area, a woman walked by staring.  She saw Laura with her pig tails and baby belly, looked at me and promptly hit me with her purse and said, "Pig".  She must've thought I was an older man who had gotten a young fifteen-year-old pregnant.  I couldn't believe it!  She actually hit me with her purse!   She called me a pig!  Laura and I are only five months apart in age!   We were married!  We were in love!  She was my wife!  And, I was a pig?  Human beings often look only at appearances!

            I'd like to end with a prayer I recently heard, which said:   
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Heavenly Father,
 
Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.
 
Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried nineteen-year-old college student, balancing his worry over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress is savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity.

Let us judge not lest we be judged, and be quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.  Amen.
 
 How can you better look at the heart of someone today?

February 22

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, 'Which commandment is the first of all?'  Jesus answered, 'The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one;  and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  ​ (Mark 12:28-31 RSV)

 The story is told of a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline and who received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning. Not being far from shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from the village begged for some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some oil to use in his lamp. Further, a local businessman needed some to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and gave to each as they needed.  Toward the end of the month he noticed that the supply of oil was very low. Before the oil could be replenished, the beacon light went out. That night several ships were wrecked and lives were lost.  When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. To his excuses and pleading their reply was: "You were given the oil for one purpose--to keep that light burning!"

            Each of us has to make decisions as did the lighthouse keeper in the story.  We can help in some situations, but not help every single person we meet who is in need.  We have to decide whether to put money toward this bill or that purchase.  We have to decide whether to buy or rent, to lease or purchase, to tell that friend the secret or not, to go to a family gathering or a youth event.  There are times when you will have to choose whether to stick up for a family member or do the right thing.  None of us likes to make hard decisions, but all those choices show others and God what our priorities are and are not.

            You see, if you spend $10 a week on your golf game, but give $1 a week to church, God means 1/10 as much to you as golf.  If you help a friend during a time of grief, but do not attend your bridge club meeting to do it, your friend means more to you than the club meeting.  If you choose to watch your grandchildren instead of going to play bingo on Wednesday nights, it means your grandchildren mean more to you than bingo.  Don’t you see?  You have priorities in everything you do, whether you like it or not.  You show favoritism, what you favor more, in every choice and decision you make.

            One day, as Jesus was teaching, a man came to him with a question: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28)  This question obviously carries with it a discussion of priorities.  What commandment is the priority of God?  Jesus answered this way, ““The most important one is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 29-31)  The man who asked the question agreed.  And he went further, saying, these commandments are even more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices he could give.   To this Jesus replied, “, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34)
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            Jesus complimented this man on his understanding of priorities.  This scribe knew that to worship God is more important than offering sacrifices to God.  Jesus respected the man’s insight.  You see, in Jesus’ day, there were people who had it backward.  They thought that if they gave an offering to God, they were truly faithful.  Jesus here is saying that you must be truly faithful first, then offerings matter.   Today, even in churches, there are people who get their priorities messed up.  They think that having clean bathrooms and a nice church is more important than having faithful sermons or a strong youth ministry.  I remember a congregation that fought over purchasing a chandelier for the entrance way, but cut their missions budget without any discussion whatsoever.  Where some people fight over things and care more about how things look, Jesus cares if someone gets God and faith right.  God desires you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then love neighbor as yourself, then follow these through in all of life.  If these priorities are messed up, problems will arise in the church, or in your life.

            A minister was concerned when two of his three sons began to stutter. He made an appointment for them to see a speech therapist (who was also a psychologist), and later had a conference himself.  “That psychologist literally cursed me," the minister said. "He told me I was responsible for that speech defect, and that I was ruining my boys' lives."
The psychologist asked the minister:  'When did you last take your family on a vacation?'
            The minister replied, "Well, it has been a long, long time. I was too busy to take time with my family. You know the Devil never takes a vacation, so why should I?”  The doctor replied to the minister, “Since when is the Devil to be your example?”
            So many of us do not realize that our lives consist of constant priority-making.  We make priorities out of everything we do or don’t do.  This minister had made the church a priority to the detriment of his family.  He made a choice and paid for it.

            A man began a business venture.  He went out on a limb and began a business in computer controls.  The first few years were tough as he began to make a name for his company.  Finally, they began to make headway.  The business was succeeding.  He hired a lot of employees to help.  The company grew by leaps and bounds.  He even put his company on the stock market.  Lots of good things happened.  One day, when he was in the plant, a person came to him and congratulated him on a recent award.  The employee then said, “Thank you for my job, for giving me a job to support my family, to put my son through school.”  The man felt good about it, until the next day.  He came home from work as usual around 8 pm.  As he walked in, he found his wife crying in the couch.  When he asked her what was wrong, she replied that if he was around more often, he would have noticed their son was not doing well.  The boy was getting thinner, but dad was too busy to notice.  His son had a rare disease that could have been treated if they would have found it sooner.   The father thought to himself, “I work so hard to give other people time to spend with their families, but I don’t even spend time with my own!  What am I doing all this for?”  From that moment on, the father was a different man.  He got his priorities straight, his son received prompt medical attention, and his family made it through a tough time.   Why did it take a son’s illness for the man to put his priorities in order?   Because there are some who are, as Jesus states in this scripture, “Close to the kingdom of God”.  They have their priorities right, while others do not.  How are you at choosing your priorities?

            If your priorities of the past two weeks were shown for us all to see, would your example be worthy?   Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”  Do you give God your all?  Do you just give God just an hour a week?  Do you give God your best?  Do you give God your life, or just your Sunday mornings?  Do you look out for your neighbor or only yourself?  

Look at your priorities today.  See them as God sees them.  Do what God calls you to do.  It may be that God forces you to help your family instead of help your church.  It may be that God wants you to give to a mission rather than eat out.  It might be that you don't pray enough or that you don't say "no" when appropriate.  God may want you to give up one thing or accomplish another, send you to a friend or visit an enemy.  Pray and find out where you are to go and what you are to do!​ 

February 23

“And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.' And it was so.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. ”  ​ (Genesis 1:29-31 RSV)

 I know a man in Nevada.  He works hard, too hard.  To make up for the long hours at his job, he takes a few short-cuts in his life.  For example, he doesn’t take time to fix his car, tune it up, or even change the oil.  He just buys a new car and run it until it dies.  He’ll put oil in it every now and then, but he never takes the time to change the oil.  He drives the car until it quits due to engine failure, or failure of some other component.  Then, he sells the car to a junkyard and goes out and buys a new car.  Word has it that this man is on his fourth car now and has yet to change the oil in any of them.  Don't you think this is rather wasteful?

  In our modern world, there are many who’ve grown wasteful.  Years ago, you’d buy something new and whenever a part failed, you’d find a replacement part and fix it.  The manufacturer made it so that the product could be easily maintained.  Nowadays, there is less thought to maintaining products.  You use something for a while, then throw it away.  It's called "planned obsolescence".   Is it no surprise that the landfills are getting used up quickly?  It’s a way of life for many… if something’s broke, don’t fix it, throw it away and get a new one.  Environmentalists say that at the rate we are going now that the landfills will be full in 50 years.  Some don’t care.  We are a throw away society.  You might even add… “God doesn’t say anything about taking care of the environment, right?”  Wrong.

            For centuries, the church has been too quiet about the environment.  We cared a lot about saving souls, and no thought was given to protecting God's creation for future generations.  It wasn’t really until the latter twentieth century that pollution and environmental problems began to rise at such a rate that the church began to reevaluate their stance on the subject.  Some said that since the word environment isn’t in scripture that God doesn’t have anything to say about it.  Let’s see what you think.

            Our Bible reading above comes from Genesis 1 and tells about the sixth day of creation.  It speaks of the day when God created human beings.  Here, right in the beginning of our Christian Bible,  we see hints of what God wanted for all creation.  Genesis 1 reads…  " Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth' (Genesis 1:26)."
           
Essentially, God wanted to create humankind in HIS image to take care of HIS creation.   We were to have dominion over all the earth.  Some have said, “See, we are to have dominion over the earth!  We can do what we want to the environment.  God left it up to us.”  But if you read the scripture again, you will notice that humankind was created to be in God’s image, in God’s likeness.  Thus, we are made  to take care of creation God’s way.  God doesn’t come to the sixth day of creation with plans on destroying creation.  God wanted someone to tend and keep the land, the creation, watch over the animals and plants.  As God created men and women,  God said…  “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”   Again it says to have dominion.  Should that mean we wreck the earth?  Does that give us the right to trash the planet God created with life?  Does that give us the right to kill the buffalo almost to extinction just because we can do it?  Don’t you think that if God created us to have dominion over the earth, HE’d want us to care for it and not destroy it?  For what purpose do you think God wanted us to be in HIS image anyway?

            I’m not the type of Eco-terrorist who would rather see humans suffer so that nature can flourish.  I’m not someone who would choose animals over human beings, or who would advocate we worship nature.  However, in truth, you and I are all environmentalists meant to care for creation so that human beings and nature can exist together in harmony.  We were made to watch over creation for God and with God.  Creation protects us and sustains life.  God made it that way… a wonderful balance. 

            A few years ago, an environmental advocacy group decided that Hummers and SUV’s were gas hogs and bad for the planet.  They pollute too much.  So, what did the group do?  Members burned down a bunch of SUV’s at an auto dealership as a sign of resistance.  The fire marshal stated, and I quote, “There were more toxic gases released and damage to the environment by this terrorist act than would have been released by these vehicles in a lifetime of use.”  The person made a point about pollution, by polluting.  I don’t get it.  God meant for balance.  Sometimes we get that balance out of whack one way or another.

            There is a dangerous temptation to ignore or carelessly set aside God’s idea of balance and God’s care of nature.  Corporations have to choose between making money and caring for the environment.  Listen to the story of a woman in New Mexico.  “My family is of Mexican descent.  I was employed at GTE for nine years.  I’m now speaking for all those who worked with me.  We were all poisoned with some chemical.  Some days we get up in the morning and don’t know if we’re going to remember what we did that day.  There’s times I can’t move my legs due to nerve damage.  We suffer because we used toxic chemicals that weren’t even labeled.  We used them to clean parts in the factory.  We took it home on our clothes and some of our children have been diagnosed with problems because of it.  We were around gallons of poisons eight to ten hours a day.  Now, we’re suffering from brain damage and damage to the central nervous system.  75% of women who are of childbearing age are sterile.  Many women have cancer and brain tumors.  Forty-three children born to mothers who were pregnant and using the chemicals have birth defects.  For all this, we earned a minimum wage or less."

            "The only way for me to make ends meet during those years was to do double shifts.  So, I was doubly exposed.  When all of us got together to sue the company for damages, they settled out of court.  But instead of changing the working conditions, they moved the most dangerous processes across the border into Juarez, Mexico.  So now women in Mexico will go through the same thing.  State and Federal agencies won’t acknowledge there is a problem.  Soon all the evidence will be in coffins.”

            Why do human beings do this to God’s earth and to ourselves?  Why do we pollute what must sustain life as if it won’t come back to haunt us?  One book I read this week said that there is no human being alive who does not have traces of PCB’s in their body due to pollution over the last fifty years.  I’ve even heard some talk of bringing back DDT to help control the West Nile Virus.  Scientists have manipulated genes in plants without knowing the possible danger to our world.  When will we ever learn?

            Do you remember the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Russia?  Chernobyl was a Nuclear power plant that had a core meltdown.  Scientists estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 people would get cancer simply from that one accident.  Scientists have also proven that in some urban areas, the chemicals in the air will shorten your lifespan by up to two years.  Areas in China are so polluted that lifespans are shortened by a decade or more.  In Indian Reservations out west, there was found evidence of somebody who dumped toxic chemicals into rock crevices and sealed them.  The chemicals leached out into ground water and the area has been designated a toxic dump site and has been on the Government’s list for cleanup.  Remember the love canal in New York?  It took years to clean up, and scientists still believe the area is partially uninhabitable.  Logging companies in the past practiced clear-cutting and damaged many forests.  Strip mining forever scarred delicate ecosystems.  Floating piles of garbage in the Pacific kill off coral and lessen oxygen levels in the immediate area.  Sadly, we pollute God's creation with no thought of the consequences.

            In Isaiah 24, we find something very interesting.  Read closely…”the earth mourns and withers, the world languishes….  The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants, for they have broken God’s laws and God’s covenant.  Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt” (Isaiah 24:5ff).  Notice that the "polluted" earth in this scripture was caused by breaking God's laws and covenant.  Pollution is a sign of sinful living and is a curse (even all forms of pollution!).  Is this what will be the end of us?  Will our own irresponsible care-taking of God’s creation ultimately destroy us?  

            When God created humankind on that sixth day of creation, it says that the world was not just good, but very good.  God had created people in His image to care for His creation.  We were created top of the food chain, top dogs in the world, above all else in nature to care for nature.  What will you do with that power?  How can you personally do your best to help God and God’s creation?  

            At night, I like to go outside and just listen.  I hear frogs, cicadas, crickets.  I see bats and animals.  I’ve been in places in the big city where you never hear a frog at night.  I’ve seen skies so polluted you can’t even see any stars at night.   I believe God gave us human beings the ability to do awesome things.  I believe that land and earth and God's other creations are holy.   I know God wants us to be caretakers of His earth.  How can you help?

​February 24

“ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot;  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ”  ​ (Romans 8:5-8 RSV)

 In the scripture above, we are told that “to set the mind on flesh is death, but the set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)  It took me a long time in my own life to grasp what this meant;  to firmly understand its meaning.  I thought originally that this scripture meant that to think selfishly was wrong.  My purpose was to think about Spiritual things in life.  And though this is close to the meaning of this scripture, I can see now that God intended us to see these verses a little differently.  In prayer and meditation, I’ve seen that this scripture warns me that when my mind gets all caught up in fleshly things, in worldly pursuits, in doing what my desires and passions want, it is a deadly pursuit.  When I set my mind to doing worldly things, I will not find peace or life as God intended it.  With our world as it is today, there are a lot of voices saying we should set our mind on the flesh, on the passions, on earthly things.

A young girl is utterly in love with a boy named Jason.  She is smitten.  When she is at home in her room, all she can think about is him.  What would it be like to be on a date with him?  Would his kiss be sweet?  When she is in class, she doodles on papers, drawing hearts with hers and Jason’s initials.  When she is in church, her mind isn’t on the hymns, sermon, or scripture.  Her mind is far away, with Jason, riding down the street in his car with the top down and them smiling at each other… and life is glorious.  Her mind is wrapped up in Jason.  Her emotions are held captive in his smile.  She mulls over and over their last encounter.  He consumes her thoughts.  Her mind is set upon the flesh.  God is distant.  In these moments, this young girl is in danger.  She could easily let her passions run away even further.  And, as long as her mind is set on fleshly things, God will not be able to reach her.

A man is totally consumed by a project at work.  A boy lives to play baseball.  A woman who can’t get pregnant spends many a sleepless night thinking about fertility plans, artificial insemination, adoption.  She spends all her time wondering about what it would be like to hold her own child.  A construction worker leaves work only to go home and clean his new truck.  His truck is waxed, polished, and buffed.  It’s his baby.  Even his wife is jealous of the attention that he gives that truck!    All these people are fighting with worldly wants and desires.  Worldly pursuits can enthrall and mesmerize.  But the danger of worldly things is that sometimes… they can capture you.  They can control you. Then, they own you.

In one commentary on this part of the Bible, it mentions that sin can grasp you, enslave you.  It further states that the only way you will ever find life and peace is to become free from "sin’s grasp".   God’s Spirit will be God’s gift for those who are made free from the grasp of sin.  God’s Spirit will bring you peace… if you are free from sin’s hold.
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I have seen many people who have been in sin’s grasp….the alcoholic who can’t stop drinking, even if it has wrecked his life…. the workaholic who spends countless hours at work and neglects his family…. the miser who wouldn’t share a dime with even a family member in need… the crabby old lady who always sees the worst in others.  These people, along with many others in our world, are grasped and held firmly, captivated by sinful desires of this world.  They think earthly thoughts and believe they will be better off if they satisfy their earthly desires.   The fact is… they are doomed to a life of meaningless pursuits unless they can get free of sin’s grasp and find their freedom in Christ. 

A woman named Alice Pike was arrested at a Walmart.  Alice made the mistake of trying to pay for her purchases at Walmart with a $1 million bill.  When I read about Alice Pike's arrest, two questions came to mind:  "There isn't really a $1 million bill, is there?" and "What was she thinking?"  The answer to the first question is no, silly. The U.S. Treasury doesn't make a bank note with that many zeros. I don't know how high the denominations go, but thanks to Alice, nobody is going to con me with the million dollar bill. As far as what Alice was thinking, I don't believe she was.  Alice went to the register with $1,675 worth of stuff. What is amazing is that she expected change. Math is not my strongest suit, but by my calculation, that's a lot of change. Was Alice really expecting that the cashier not only would, but actually could, hand over $998,325.00? Did she envision the cashier on the loudspeaker saying, "We need 10's and 20's on aisle 5!"? Did she even bring a vehicle big enough to handle her purchases and the mountain of change that by the way could be 99,800 $10 bills?  Was she thinking she would just put the cash in her purse?

Alice helps remind us of the irrationality of sin. Most sin doesn't make sense. We lie and expect good results. We overindulge in food or alcohol or entertainment and expect to feel better. We take what isn't ours and expect satisfaction. We refuse to resist temptation and expect peace. We act selfishly and expect stronger relationships. We ignore repentance and expect forgiveness. We hand over a fake bill and expect change.   The fact is that when sin has a grasp on you, you think you’ll get by with it.  You think you are in control.  You think sin doesn’t have a hold on you… when it grasps you very tightly and runs the show. It will eat you up inside and then kill you. Romans 8:6 states that very clearly. 

You have to decide daily in your life whether you will follow fleshly pursuits or follow God.  You can’t do both.  You can’t have it both ways.  You can’t dabble in a secret sin and then figure God will bless you and be with you, listening your prayers anyway.  Paul is saying in this scripture that there is only one way to get out of the grasp of sin, to find any peace and joy in life that lasts.  That is to set your mind on spiritual things and commit your life fully to Christ.  There is no in-between.  You choose one or the other.

If you think you can sin and sweep it under the rug, life doesn’t work that way.  Don’t lie to yourself.  Sins start off making you feel good…. You fulfill desires of the flesh.  But, sin has its nasty side. It will grasp you and not want to let go.  Your only saving grace is to follow a spiritual path, with a full commitment to Christ.  Only then will you feel God’s comforting Spirit and truly understand how much God loves you.
Some of you are grasped by sin right now.  Some have shed their sins and are holding tightly to God’s Spirit.  This scripture reminds us that only with God’s Spirit will we experience true life and peace.  Does a sin have a hold on you or does God mean more?  You decide that each day of your life.  And you pay for that decision, one way or another,  in this life and the next life.  Don't mess this one up.....

February 25

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”  ​ (1 Corinthians 3:6-9 RSV)

Several times a daughter had telephoned her mother to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." The mother said she didn't want to drive all that way to see a bunch of stupid flowers, but she decided to come anyway.  The two drove in a car, with the kids.  The mother was all negative…. "There is fog today.  The kids don't need to come along.  Let's not drive an hour or so to this place."  Her daughter insisted.  
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            The more they drove, the more the mother didn't want to be there.   With a few blocks to go, the mother almost got out of the car in protest.  She was a bundle of nerves, but those nervous feelings left the second they turned down a gravel road and saw a small church. Beyond the church in an open field there lay a glorious sight.  It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down a mountain peak and slopes.  The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns - great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.   Each different variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like a river, but of brilliant color.  There were five acres of golden flowers.
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            "But who has done this?"  asked the mother. "Just one woman,"  her daughter answered.  "She lives on the property."  They saw the small little house and walked to it, through all the beautiful color.   On the patio, they saw a poster.  It read: "Answers to the Questions I know you are Asking."  The first answer was a simple one:   "50,000 bulbs" it said.  The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain."  The third answer was, "Began in 1958."  There it was: The Daffodil Principle.  The two women stood there in silence and thought of this woman who, decades before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Though only able to plant one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the mountainside. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of indescribable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.  The Daffodil principle. If you think about it, the Daffodil principle applies to many things in life.   What it means is that if you have a goal or desire, if you just work at it one day at a time, plant a seed each day, each hour, over time, your work accumulates and the changes to your world take root, grow, flower.  Stay true and you can do great things remembering it takes time, often a long time, before you can even see the changes.

            Spiritually, the Daffodil principle is seen in my world every day.  I plant seeds in people all the time.  I may tell a person something about faith.  I may warn a person that a sin is wrong.  I pray for a need.  I offer some help to a needy family.  All these things are planting seeds one at a time to change our world.  But, there is a spiritual fact that must be remembered about the Daffodil principle.  We may plant seeds, say things that are needed, do what is right, but those seeds have to grow and flower.  God still has to water and nurture those seeds of faith we plant.  Some seeds we spiritually plant may fail to grow for years, if at all.

            In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul talked about planting spiritual seeds.  In the third chapter, he mentions this to the Christians in Corinth:  "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.  For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building."  In these verses, you can see the Apostle Paul mentioning how he and a fellow Christian, Apollos, had worked together to build God's church.   By preaching and teaching, Paul began that church in Corinth.  Then, Apollos worked there to continue the ministry.  They taught them, spoke with them, helped them to face issues in life and in death.   They were there with them, praying with them, standing by them, pushing them to do the right thing, and even forgiving their sins in Christ.  Paul planted those seeds of faith.  Apollos watered the seeds of faith.  God gave the growth of faith.

            So often, we forget that our job is to just plant seeds or water the seeds.  God is the giver of the growth.  We plant seeds by talking to another about faith, by teaching in the Sunday School, by helping at the distribution center, by praying, by worshiping, by living faithful lives and so much more.  Each time we do something for God, others may see it and be changed.   Our examples, our teachings, our warnings all are seeds of faith planted.   Others may water that seed of faith we plant.  But, nothing will happen until God gives the growth in the soil of a heart.

            A woman named Nell  had often been urged by Christians to have faith in the Lord. She was raised in a tough family where her father drank.  She was always distant and angry as a child.  As an adult, it was no different.  She had a failed marriage.  She had children to care for and a rough life.  She was angry at everyone, especially God.  A friend invited her to come to church, but she declined.  Still, the seed was planted.  A few months later, a friend told her how her anger was hurting her.  "Give it to God," she said.  "Let him forgive you."  Another seed was planted.   Then, a neighbor had invited her to church again, this time giving her a tract which tells about Jesus' love for us and how he died to set us free.   The woman took the tract politely, but laid it by the fireplace without reading it.   Another seed planted.   A friend came to visit.  The friend was a Christian.  The friend told her to quit pushing everyone away and let God in.  This friend was watering the seeds that were planted.   But nothing of faith grew in the woman.  In spite of their persistent efforts, she continued to harden her  heart. One day she threw into the blazing fireplace a Bible and several tracts someone had given her. One of the leaflets fell  out of the flames, so she cast it in again. A second time it slipped down, and once more she put it back. Again her intentions  were frustrated. The third time, however, part of it became scorched. That night when the fire had died down, she picked up the portion that remained and exclaimed, "Surely the devil must be in that paper, for it will not burn!" Out of curiosity she began to read the partially destroyed tract. Being a message on salvation, it brought deep conviction to her heart. Finally, through that half-charred leaflet she was led to Christ!  God warmed her, and gave growth to the seeds her friends had planted and watered in her heart.

            Its definitely not easy to be a Johnny Appleseed of faith.  We plant seeds, but often don't get to see them grow or can't even make them grow.  God has to be the one to give the growth.  You can talk to your teenage son about what is right and wrong, but you are only planting seeds.  It may take someone else to repeat what you are saying, before God can give the growth.   Some of you have been planting seeds your whole life.  You encourage others to do right, you help others, you give of your money and your faith to others.   All these plant seeds of faith.  At points, you might get frustrated because you can't see the growth.  Don't.  Your job isn't to make faith grow, just to plant the seeds that in God's time may grow.

            A woman I know of married a man who she deeply loved.  He was a good man with a good heart, but now and then he would get very angry and lash out.  They fought about this for several years.  Then, finally she prayed about it.  Day after day, she asked God to take away his anger.  One day, in the middle of a fight, she told him…."The Bible says, 'Do not let the sun go down on your anger.' (Ephesians 4:26)   I think its wrong that you hold grudges against me.  You are angry too much and you bring up all the things I've done over the years, and bring them up over and over.  Let it go.  Talk to me with a loving voice, not an angry one.  Please!" Through these words, a seed of faith was planted.   The husband stormed off angry and resentful.  About a week later, his boss told her husband that he looked angry and asked him why.  The husband told his boss, "I'm not angry!" though he was lying.  The boss didn't know it, but he watered the wife's spiritual seed.   Two days later the husband got into a fight with his son.  His son told him, "Why do you hate me so much?"   The spiritual seed was watered deeply by this statement.   The man began to wonder why everybody thought he was angry and hateful.  He decided then and there to channel his anger.  Every time he got upset or angry, he would go for a walk instead of yell.  In those walks, he began to let things out, even began to pray to God about his situation in life.  God watered their discussions.  The man is very different today.   His wife no longer prays that he will stop being angry.  He was changed by the seed she planted and others watered.  God gave the growth.
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            All we can do, at times, is plant spiritual seeds.  When a young person is doing wrong, you plant the seed of what is right and wrong.  They may not get it for years, but you planted the seed.  When you are having problems in marriage or at work, you have to plant seeds of faith, telling the truth in love, even if its tough love, hoping God gives the growth.  If you plant enough seeds in life, you will see wonderful things grow.  It's again, the Daffodil Principle.   Start today, or just keep it up.  Plant seeds of faith in that angry friend, that lazy spouse, that disobedient child, that co-worker, that sick lady, that homeless man. Who knows, it may be your spiritual planting changes you! Today, try to plant new seeds of faith, hoping and praying that others may water what you plant and God will give the growth.   Over time, your world will be changed.  It's the Daffodil Principle.  It's God's Principle.

February 26

“And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!  Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from blood-guilt and from avenging myself with my own hand!  For as surely as the LORD the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you....”  ​ (1 Samuel 25:32-34 RSV)

Betty noticed that another woman from her congregation named Terry seemed to be so full of God's Spirit.  Terry was a newer Christian, having just come back to the church in her 40's.  Terry quit going to church in high school, but now she was a leader of the women's group, a member of a discipleship group, and helped regularly in a food pantry in her home town.  Betty saw Terry as a wonderful, faithful, warm Christian.  Better wondered what was Terry's secret to knowing God so well and being so full of passion and compassion.   Terry gave her an answer: "I Mind the Checks".  Betty said, "Whatever do you mean?"  Terry said, "The reason many people do not know God better is because  we often do not heed God's gentle 'checks', his corrections, his restraints. "  Betty said, "How do you suggest I mind the checks in my own life?"  Terry told her: "When you are about to say something in a conversation with others, and you feel God pulling you back, urging you to not speak but listen, mind the 'check' of God and just listen.  And when you are about to do something and your course of action seems perfectly clear and right, but you sense God's nudging you to do something different, follow God's nudge.  It's God's 'check', God's correction, even if it doesn't seem as good to you at the time.  God is smarter and more able to see the consequences than we are, and more than wanting to help us with all that we do."

            I believe this is wise advice, because I've seen many times how God works.  If you know God, and listen to God's still small voice, you will find God urging you in one direction.  If you can separate out God's voice from all the many voices that blare at you, you will notice HIM nudging you away from wrongs, pushing you to do what is right, and causing you to feel guilt and hurt when you sin.  All these are meant to prod us in the right direction, restrain us from doing wrong, keep us on the path that leads to heaven.

            Several years ago, I was at a birthday party.  There were around forty people in attendance.   In one corner of the party room, the family had set up a big display of blocks, each with a picture or a saying or a memory of the person who was turning fifty.   It was set up like Lego blocks, and it was a neat idea, except for one mom at the party.  Her two year old saw the blocks and wanted to demolish them and rebuild them.  You could see when he spied the blocks, his eyes got big, and he started half crawling and half waddling over to the blocks.  Mom leaned over and gently grabbed his pants and pulled him back.  In a short while, he'd start going to the blocks, and mom would gently pull him back and say, "NO!".  This went on for a good twenty minutes.  I thought to myself, "That kid is going to get those blocks before the night is through."  About an hour later, there was a big crash.  Mom didn't catch the boy in time and he knocked the whole display over.  Mom was embarrassed to say the least, but the little guy was in heaven.  "Blocks!  Blocks!" he was shouting and crying as he was led away.  Mom tried to restrain him, but he was intent on doing what he shouldn't do.

            You and I can be like that little guy at the party.  We see something and our eyes get big.  Our minds easily focus on getting what we want and when we want it.  Our thoughts gravitate toward our desires.  But over and over, God restrains us.   God tells us no.  God tells us to wait.  God reminds us that whatever it is isn't good for us.  Some of us big kids listen to God.  Others just plow right in, and don't listen for God's restraint.   At one point in the Bible, for example, the scripture mentions how a man goes into a prostitute and describes the man this way…"He sees her.  He goes with her, like an ox to the slaughter." (Proverbs 7:22)  How many times did you fail to listen when God restrained you, going headlong after what was not good for you?

            In 1 Samuel 25, David is restrained by God.   David wants to do something brash and wrong, but God holds him back.  The scripture begins by introducing a rich man named Nabal (1 Samuel 25:3).  Nabal had over three thousand sheep, which was a huge amount in Old Testament times.  It would be like a person being a millionaire today.  David had been protecting Nabal.  David's armies looked after the land where Nabal raised his sheep.  

On a holy day, a feast day, David figured his soldiers would enjoy a feast with Nabal's household.  David sent ten of his men who were very tired and hungry from doing their work, to share in the feast with Nabal.  Nabal sent the men away saying, "Who is David?   Shall I take my bread and water and give it to men I don't know? (1 Samuel 25:10)"  When the soldiers came and told David, his pride was hurt.  David shouted, "Everybody grab their swords!"  David was going to make Nabal pay for this.  How many times has a person hurt your pride, said something to hurt your feelings, and all you could do was get upset, get angry, and think of how to get even?   How many times do you find yourself thinking for hours just how you are going to get back at someone or tell them off the next time you see them?   A quick temper and easy anger never helps when your pride gets hurt.  It could cause you to do something rash, stupid, and thoughtless.  It could get you in trouble, or worse!

            David took his armed soldiers toward the home of Nabal.  As David was on his way over to "right the wrong", Nabal's men got wind of it.  They told Nabal's wife, Abigail, how David's soldiers were wronged (1 Samuel 25:14-17).  They told her how David's men were good to them, how David's soldiers protected them and Nabal's sheep.  Abigail knew that Nabal was "ill-natured", especially when he was drunk (1 Samuel 25:17).   She didn't want this evil to occur, so she filled a bunch of donkeys with food and sent them to David.  Then, she herself came and asked David for forgiveness and urged him not to get even.

            David listened to her.  He even said to her, "Blessed be God, who sent you to meet me today!   You have kept me from doing something seriously wrong." (1 Samuel 25:33)   Abigail restrained David from doing wrong… and David realized it was God's hand working through this woman.  David realized he was being brash and vengeful.  Later, Nabal got what was coming to him, but David didn't sin in the process (1 Samuel 25:38). Thankfully, David knew the hand of God at work to restrain him.

            In a fit of anger, in a moment of weakness, in a time when you are tired and worn down, it is so very easy to do something stupid, to say something very wrong, or to make a rash decision.  It is all too easy to sin against God, to wreck a friendship, or to cause an uproar.  When your pride is hurt, when you feel double-crossed by a friend, when your loyalty was thrown aside, it people can throw caution to the wind and do something they'll later regret.  God doesn't want you to sin, even when another person sins first.  God doesn't want you to mess up your life.  It only takes a short fuse in the wrong moment to make a mistake of a lifetime.  It only takes one dumb decision when you are drunk to kill someone while driving home.  One brief moment of anger or stupidity can wreck your life forever.    God will often give you nudges, send people to calm you down, restrain you, hold you back, keep you in "check".   God is trying to protect you from your own emotional responses and making serious mistakes.

            Mind your checks!  That's what Terry said would make you a better Christian.  Watch for God to protect you from harm.  Notice what sins God keeps pulling you away from.   God is trying to help you, but will you listen?  In a moment of anger, are you going to stop and pray before you mess things up?   God restrains every single one of us.   How many of us notice when God pulls us back from a mistake, and how many of us just go headlong in the wrong direction?   Pray about this today!​

February 27

“Immediately the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lamp stand; and the king saw the hand as it wrote.  Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.”  ​ (Daniel 5:5-6 RSV)

In life, it is not uncommon to ask for help, guidance, or direction.  Lisa Owens was facing knee surgery. She was a bit nervous about it, so she asked her boss, the veterinarian at the clinic where she worked, if he had any advice for her.  He said to her, “Why are you asking me?  I’m not an MD!”  She insisted he tell her what she should do after surgery.  So, without any hesitation he told her, "Turn your worries into prayers, get plenty of rest and don't lick your incision." (from Reader's Digest)

            Some people get guidance from those they shouldn’t listen to or from places that have no bearing.  There are youth who ignore good advice from parents and follow the advice of their friends, when their parents are right.  Sadly, there are spiritual individuals who follow the advice in their fortune cookies or horoscopes.  The very first verse in the book of Psalms says, “Do not follow the advice of the wicked!”  Proverbs 12 tells us that “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to good advice.” In scripture, we are told by Jesus  to “follow him.” If we are to follow Jesus and listen to God’s advice, one must learn to to feel for is God’s guiding hand.

             John Huffman tells the classic story of the man who was in a difficult situation, and in desperation turns to the Bible. He didn't know where to look. so he let the book flop open and he laid his finger on a verse, which said that Judas "went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5)" After a moment's thought, he decided to turn to a different verse for help; he repeated the process and read, "Go thou and do likewise (Luke 10:37)." Worried about these readings, he tried it once more and opened to, "What thou doest, do quickly (John 13:37).”  Too many of us are "hunt and poke" Bible students, and it's no wonder we have so little understanding of God's Word or God's counsel. The Bible requires and deserves our serious attention and study.  Discerning God’s direction for your life takes more than just hunting and poking throughout a Bible. 

            In Psalm 118, we read about a man who was having lots of troubles.  He had so many people who wanted to hurt him that he said they were like a swarm of “bees” (Psalm 118:12)  The man cried to the Lord, and said he felt God saving him.  Then he wrote, “the right hand of the Lord does valiantly;  the right hand of the Lord is exalted;  the right hand of the Lord does valiantly (Psalm 118:15,16).”  Obviously, this man believes he felt God’s guiding hand, and that hand of God saved him.  Throughout scripture, there were people who felt God’s guiding hand.  They experienced something more than coincidence.  In the book of Daniel, we even have an amazing story of God’s guiding hand actually coming into view.  A room of great nobles saw God’s hand write a prophecy on a wall. 

King Belshazzar of Babylon (around 550 BC) had a feast.  He brought all the greatest people in his kingdom to his palace for the celebration of victory.  The scripture in Daniel records a thousand of the king’s lords were gathered for the feast.  Since the king had just finished a war in Jerusalem, and destroyed the temple there, he felt especially powerful.  He ordered his servants to take holy jars from Jerusalem’s temple and fill them with wine.  Then, he and his lords drank from these and praised other gods. 

            It is one thing for the king to get drunk.  It’s a whole other thing when he takes holy vessels from the temple and uses them for his own drunken party.  He was prideful.  He was arrogant.  Despising what Belshazzar had done,  God had something to say about using holy things in a shameful way.  The scripture notes that after the king acted shamefully, “the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the royal palace, next to the lamp stand (Daniel 5:5).  Drunk and powerful King Belshazzar watched the hand as it wrote and fear tore at him.  His face turned ashen.  "His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together (Daniel 5:6).” Hey, my knees would have been shaking too!  A hand appears out of nowhere and writes on the wall.  Amazing!  What the king didn’t know was that the hand was the hand of God, and the writing told his future.

            The prophet Daniel was called to explain for the king what God’s hand had written.  Daniel told the king that “his days were numbered (Daniel 5:26).”  His life was soon going to end, and a few days later that prophecy came true.  God’s hand ended the king’s reign.  God’s hand always leads, guides, and controls with power.  By God’s hand, people are freed from Egypt (see Exodus).  By God’s hand, the unjust are punished, like King Belshazzar.   God’s hand is a powerful force in this world.  And you, my friend, should know that you may become aware of God’s guiding hand in your life.

            Why is it after the hand appeared to the king that they called Daniel, the prophet?  It is because God had shared with Daniel what was written by God's hand.  Faithful people always have a little extra insight into God's actions.  God’s hand can be understood by the faithful when God deems it necessarty.  If you don’t’ understand what God’s guiding hand is doing in your life, maybe you should follow the king’s example and find a faithful person to help you see where God is leading you.  Isn't it important to understand what God telling or writing you?

            When the infamous September 11 airplane barreled into the Pentagon, Officer Isaac Hoopii was nearby. Immediately, he began helping people straggle out of the building—in some cases carrying them out.  Seeing more need, Hoopii desired to help more. Wearing only his short-sleeved blue police uniform—no mask, no protective coat, not even a handkerchief—he ran into the inky blackness of the Pentagon. Someone yelled at him to stop. "We gotta get people," he shouted back.  He felt God pushing him to go back into the smoke.

            Suffocating on smoke, Hoopii heard the building cracking. He called out, "Is anybody in here? Anybody here?"  Hoopii said he felt as if God was pushing him onward.  He cried out again.  Wayne Sinclair and five co-workers were crawling through rubble and had lost all sense of direction.  They feared they were lost, when they heard Hoopii's voice. They cried out, and Hoopii responded. "Head toward my voice. Head toward my voice." Following his voice, Sinclair and the others made their way out of the crumbling building.   There are times we must follow God’s direction.  We must heed God’s voice.  We must hold on to God’s guiding hand.

            God’s hand can touch many things in a lifetime.  One man who was verbally abusive to his family, found out he had cancer.  The cancer and subsequent medical dilemmas changed him.  Those trials made him more tolerant and loving.  He didn’t want his family to remember him as an angry man.  He followed God’s guidance and changed his life.  A woman who always felt guilty for working full time while her kids grew up, changed her spending habits and switched to part-time work.  She felt God's hand upon her,  telling her that life was too short to be too tired to help her kids grow up.  Now, she is thrilled to spend time with her family.  A motorcyclist from a big city saw a man waving a white handkerchief by the side of the road.  The man was covered with blood. Though afraid it might be a setup or a gang situation, he felt God telling him to “go help”.  He saved the life of a man trapped in a car over a ridge.  All these are actual situations in life where God’s presence and God’s guiding hand could be felt.

            Realize that God’s hand may be acting upon you today or this week.  It might be that God’s hand is trying to protect you.  It might be that God’s hand is against you.  It might be that God is trying to save you from something or warn you away.  Just realize, it is not only kings who see God’s hand at work.  You have that possibility as well.  As a pastor, I’ve heard it over and over how people felt God's hand was upon them; touching them, healing them, driving them.  Learn to trust the hand of God.  Learn to understand where God’s hand is guiding you.  Learn to discern, like Daniel, what God wants of you this day and always.  And when the time comes, take God's hand into eternity.​

​February 28

“He (Jesus) also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 

 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;  for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”  ​ (Luke 6:39-45 RSV)

A group of High School kids in Minnesota decided to have a party.  One of them talked a family friend into buying them a keg of beer.  It started off that fifteen people were invited, but by the end of that week more than forty-five high school youth showed up at the party.   Some of them brought in additional alcohol, and not a few brought in other illegal substances.   The party was supposed to start on Friday night after the school football game. The youth who organized the bash thought they wouldn't’ get caught because they picked a very secluded spot for the party.  It was in the woods behind a stone cutting factory. 

By late evening on Friday, many of the youth were drunk.  A few went out during the party to secure some more alcohol.  They kept drinking and drinking.  At a little after midnight, the police arrived.  As the police cars pulled into the area behind the stone-cutting building, kids started to scatter.  Some ran into the woods, and some blindly stumbled in the dark beyond the woods into a fenced off area of the woods.   Hardly able to see because they had been drinking and they were running in the dark, a half dozen ran right off the end of a cliff into a quarry fifty feet below.  Several drowned.  

After the police investigation into the deaths, one of the people who was rescued said that they all followed those in front of them as they ran from the police.  As one youth ran through the woods, others followed behind.  As the first broke into the clearing, the rest followed behind.  As the one in front jumped the fence, those behind jumped the fence.  One by one, they stumbled on.  Then, the first fell into the quarry pit without knowing it was there.  The others followed blindly behind not aware of the danger. While talking to an officer, one parent put his head down on the kitchen table and said,  "I guess it was the blind leading the blind off the end of that cliff."

Jesus began our scripture today with a short parable:  "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?"   After reading these words of Jesus, all I could think of was these teens and how those behind followed blindly off the ledge. The blinded youth followed the lead of another who was confused in the darkness and all hit the water below in the pit. It started in fun.  It ended in death.  It turned sour when the youth followed someone who didn’t know the way. 

In his religious community, Jesus saw God's people following priests and pharisees who didn't understand the gospel. The blind led the blind there, too. In the town where he grew up, Jesus watched the Pharisees holding classes on God's law. Jesus knew these men knew the law well, but he also knew that they didn't really understand how God worked.  Jesus saw it as the blind teaching the blind. How could the people of Jesus' day follow such leaders and come to know God? When it came to God, Pharisees were blind to what God was doing in Jesus. They couldn't see grace and mercy very well. They couldn't even understand Jesus' parables.  Thus, they were blind to what God had planned.

While, it is easy to criticize those in Jesus' day who didn't believe Him, we must remember that there are times when we also are blind to what God is doing. You might be blind to God's actions in your life. You might fail to see God's presence in your world. Even when you've accepted God and come to believe in God with your whole heart, you still might be blind to God's guiding hand or the Holy Spirit's leading. Ever fail to see what God wants you to do?  Ever been so caught up in life situations that you were lost to what God was saying to you in that moment?  Have you walked blindly into a sin without realizing the potential consequences of your failure?  As an example of this, let me tell you about a home visit some years ago.

Walking into their house was like entering a battlefield. I came over to help the husband and wife during a squabble. Family members had called me, begging me to intervene. As I walked gingerly into the living room, the wife was crying and screaming that her husband was a lazy good for nothing who never treated her right. The husband would holler back, "At least I don't have friends like yours. They are enough to drive you nuts!"  

"Don't talk about my friends! You don't give a rip about me." the wife blasted back.  I tried to mediate, but while I was talking to one, the other would butt in and yell something. Back and forth they argued. I could hardly keep them from throwing fists. They had lived that way for years. Their lives consisted of work, eating, sleeping, and yelling. Their neighbors had heard arguments a thousand times, and were sick of the screaming and crying. The police were called often enough to have given up on the two.  They had fought so long and hard that they had forgotten how to love each other. Inside their hearts, they kept count of how many criticisms the other had given and what they were. Purposefully, when one tried to be nice for a while, the other would push buttons intentionally. It inevitably led to another fight. The only times of peace came when one was not speaking to the other.

After listening to the bickering and hollering, I shouted, "Why in the world did you two ever get married!" The husband shot a dig in, but the wife said something very revealing, "We used to love each other. We used to listen to each other. We used to have time for each other. We used to do things for each other. We don't anymore." The husband said, "That's right, she doesn't do a darn thing around the house anymore." With a tear in her eye, the woman looked at me and said, "Pastor, it's all his fault. I try and try, but look at what I put up with." "My fault?" her husband shouted. "You are the one who never forgets anything and who always gets even. You are the problem in our marriage."

The couple was so good at taking sides that they blamed the other for everything. It was always "the other's fault." From the outside, I could see they were both at fault, but they were blind to that. Clearly,  you could see digs and angry glances sent by both, but they didn't see it that way. Counselors say that most family arguments, fights, and problems are never just one person's fault. That is why many counselors have family therapy when one member of the family is having emotional problems. Each in the household contributes to the issue, even if just a little,  and all are then needed for a solution.

It's hard for people to see their own faults and failings. Blind to our own errors, it is so very easy to blame everything on another person or another situation. This is way too common. Our kids learn it early in life. You might hear, "It's Johnny's fault. He hit me first." On every playground in the nation have been uttered the words, "You did it first." From the beginning of creation it has been that way. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden,  Adam said to God, "Eve gave it to me first," putting blame on his wife (Genesis 2:12). Eve blamed the snake in the garden for talking her into doing something wrong (Genesis 2:13). When we are caught in a sin, blindly we blame others for our own failure.

I remember one Sunday when I was greeting those in line after worship. A man pulled me aside and whispered in my ear, "I hope my wife heard that sermon." A few minutes later, the wife walked through the line and shook my hand. She was with other relatives. She too whispered to me, "My husband better have listened to that sermon." The sermon was on mistakes in marriage. Each had figured the sermon was meant for the other. They were blind to the fact that the sermon was meant for both of them.

Jesus knew that we see the faults in others long before we see the failures in ourselves. Jesus said further...  "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice (or are blind to) the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
 
The meaning of this parable may be clear to you. How can a person help someone else when he or she does the very same wrongs. How can a father who never gets anything done around the house complain when a child doesn't get her homework done on time? As if the parent hasn't been doing the same thing! How can a mother who overspends constantly tell a child, "You need to learn to save your money!"? How can a divorcee who is sleeping around get angry when a daughter becomes pregnant or gets a venereal disease? Yes, there are parents who chastise and correct their children for the very same things they continue to do. They can see the error in the child's ways, but not their own.

It's not just parents who fail to see, it's all of us. I once heard an alcoholic tell another one, "They tell me at detox that I'm an alcoholic, can you believe that?" "Hey, buddy," said the other alcoholic. "I'm sure they must be out of their minds." The two cannot see the truth. They can't help each other. They are both criticizing those who would help them. Why? They can't see their own mistakes. They are blind to their own addictions.  As Jesus said here, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

Warren Wiersbe, in his book , Angry People, wrote about an incident in the life of Joseph Parker, the great British preacher. Parker was preaching at the City Temple in London. After the service one of the listeners came up to him and said, "Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical mistake in your sermon." He then proceeded to point out the error to the pastor. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, "And what else did you get out of the sermon?" Many in our world are so gifted at seeing the faults of others and fail to recognize their own.

Consider Jesus' words for today found in the gospel of Luke. Are you one who tends to see the speck in someone else's eye before you notice the log in your own? Are you one who criticizes others, but are blind to the places in life where you fail in the same way?  God, help us to see the truth, I pray!  Give God a chance to take the log out of your eyes so you can see things exactly as God intends.

The greatest sadness in me as I end this meditation is that you may think I am writing directly to someone else and be blind that God is pointing at your failures today.   You, yourself, may be blind to the fact that God loves you and wants you to give up some guilt and pain you have been blindly clinging to for years.  Out there is a person near you who is blind to her own self-worth.  She sees herself as ugly.  You see her as beautiful.  Maybe one of your family members is overly critical.  He complains about things you do.   He might be blind to the reasons you are doing what God calls you to do.  The world is full of blind people.  Blind people like you and me.  How can God help you to see more clearly today?