January 9
​"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. ​ Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:1-2 (RSV)
 
   As I walk through public places, I see people going about their lives, and my mind goes to their burdens.  I see a mother who has lost a child.  I see a man who has a terrible disease.  I see a person who is in constant pain.  I see a family that is crumbling.  One difficulty in being a pastor or a friend or a family member is that I know some of the burdens carried by those I love.  I help carry that burden. I share in their hurt.  I know the soul.  Another difficulty I have is knowing that I can share some burdens with people, but I can't bear them all.  There are some burdens you need to or must carry, and some you need to share.
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            We begin in the letter to Galatians here in our Bible with the Apostle Paul saying in the second verse:  "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ."  This part of scripture reminds us that faith is not a one to one thing between you and God.  It also involves relating to, helping, and sharing the burdens of others.  There are some people who think that being faithful to God means you must do such things as go to church, read the Bible, and pray.  But, as this scripture says, to fulfill the "law of Christ", you also must bear one another's burdens.  We must look out for others of the faith.  We must help each other to carry this load of life…. A load that can get very heavy at times.  What burden are you carrying today?  Where is God sending you TODAY to help with a burden?  What burden have you been carrying too long?  How can God help you with that burden?
 
January 10

And Jesus said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  ​Luke 12:15 (RSV)

  "Money Can Distort the Soul"
            There are four ways that Money, riches and possessions distort the soul.  Financial matters can easily come between you and God.  Chances are every one of us has an issue with money and the soul, and some may even now be suffering because of financial issues that the scriptures have sought to correct.  

            First, some facts about money and the soul.  Money problems are the number one cause of marital problems.  Debt is considered in the top 5 worries of most people.  Wealth is seen as the number one reason why people go to college, not knowledge, or a good job, or to help people… most college grads want to be rich.   Money, as one famous person once said, "makes the world go round". The average family owes $8000 on credit cards.  The average family argues about money issues every week.

SO, HOW CAN YOU NOT LET MONEY AND POSSESSIONS CONTROL YOUR LIFE AND THUS BECOME YOUR GOD?
            Issue 1   "The Amount of Money you make determines how valuable you are to your church, community, or world"  
Do you determine your value by what you own?
            Issue 2   "You spend money to feel good, to keep up with the others, or to be in style, not for any basic need".  
How does money and advertising distort your life?
            Issue 3   "You'd rather spend money on what you want, not on what God wants." 
What would God want you to do today with some of HIS (God's) money given to you?
            Issue 4   "Possessions give you comfort, not God"
What would make your really feel comfortable today?  One more thing?  One more moment with a loved one?  A time of peace and quiet?  Or a trinket?
 
January 11

​"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” ​ Joshua 1:9 (RSV)

                    After Moses of our Bible died, Joshua was named to lead the people of Israel.  He was to lead them into the promised land, into territory God had blessed them with.  However, that new territory held its dangers, and the people needed faith to overcome the obstacles.   Joshua spoke to the people about going into this foreign land, and about how they were heading into the unknown.  To do so, required courage to follow God faithfully.  God said to Joshua and people, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6ff)   In order to succeed in his journey, Joshua had to be courageous, very courageous; not frightened, not timid.  He had to be strong in faith when they traveled into this new and strange country.  He had to keep the faith, and God would bring him success.

One of the reasons I believe that Christians do not have success in life is that they lack courage.  They have faith in God, faith that God is with them, faith enough to pray and study their scriptures, but they lack the courage to follow God when the going gets tough.  Courage for Joshua meant that Joshua was going to have to trust that God knew what God was doing as Joshua lead the people into the promised land.  Courage for you and me means we have to trust that God has told us what to do and that we follow God’s leading.  We must not be afraid or as the scripture says here… turn right or left, wimp out.  We have to follow God straight down HIS path set before us.  We can’t waver.  We must remain true to God, to our faith, and to our values.  Or, we may never reach that place where God wants us.  Do you lack courage to do something today?  Does God want it?  Do you need it?  What holds you back from being courageous for what is right or for what God wills?  Maybe you never reach your potential because you never are very courageous when you need to be.

January 12

Jesus said, "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. ” ​ Luke 15:7 (RSV)

  There is an old story about a devout mother, who had a large and busy family. This family, composed mostly of boys, lived in the country; and in most seasons of the year that meant the children were constantly out of doors, coming and going about their work or play checking in at mealtimes, but off again at full speed afterwards.   But as twilight drew its curtains across the end of each day, the mother would begin to count her brood, concerned when not all could be found within the shelter of the home. "Are all the children in?" she would ask her oldest son.  And as the darkness grew, so did her anxiety if any were missing. "Not all in? Go! Ring the bell again!" she would exclaim. She could not rest easy until she was assured that all were safe within the walls of her home.

I heard that story at a woman’s funeral.  She was just such a mother, and I knew it had been her concern for years that all her children be gathered safe against the night within the bosom of the Savior she so loved.  "Are all the children in?" This is the abiding concern of every godly mother, and every godly father, of people who understand the need for souls to be saved, of the faithful who care about those who are not yet under the shelter of God.  Our concern in Christ, you see, is not just to save ourselves.  Our goal as Christians, our reverence for Christ comes with it the concern for those who are unrepentant, for those who are not saved, for those who do not know God, or for those who are running far from God.

In our scripture reading for today, Jesus tells a parable.  It is a parable of a shepherd who has 100 sheep.  Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’"  Now, unless you are a shepherd, it may sound rather stupid to leave Ninety-Nine sheep to themselves to go after one which is lost.  Just imagine, there’s a wolf out there who may have stolen one sheep.  Are you going to leave the ninety-nine and go after the one?   But the fact is that wolves love to go after the lonely sheep.  Wolves will purposely watch a flock of sheep to find out which one strays away, which one is weak, which one is sick, which one is slower, which one is alone.  That’s the one that the wolf will go after.  That’s the one that especially needs protection.

Among those you know, whom among them would the wolf go after?  Which friend needs protection?  Who in the family is not safe? Who can't see God? That's who you should pray for and help today, I think.  What does Jesus think?  Ask HIM.

January 13

​Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  ​ Matthew 6:19-21 (RSV)

   Several years ago in Confirmation class, I asked the confirmands to tell me what they spent their money on.  I told them how they spend their money determines a lot about what is important to them in life.  Then, I said to them, "What do you spend your free time doing?"   I then told them how they spend their free time also determines a lot about what is important to them in life.   Now, if I were to ask you these same questions, how would you answer them?  Be careful.  As the scripture for today says, “Where your treasures are, there will your heart be also.”   You see, where you spend the most of your free time and money determines just what is most important to you.  It tells us all what truly motivates you.  It tells us what kinds of treasures you care about in this life and how they will affect you in the next life.
Every day, we choose things and attitudes based on what is most important to us. 

​When a man chooses to work seven days a week to have extra money to buy that expensive boat, that tells us about what is most important to him. When a mother decides to give up a good paying job to spend more time home with children, that tells us something about what is important to her.  When a man has to choose to miss the golf game with his good friends in order to make his son’s football game, that tells us something.  And when a person gives up a few dollars or a few hours to a needy friend, that tells us something, too.  Each moment of life, each decision, is a test for us all.  These tests show what is most important to us AND TO GOD.  Some people place things over people.  Some people place work over home life.  Some people choose to help others rather than have a lot of extra material possessions.  Some people choose to give time to God rather than spend a few extra hours before the TV screen.  All these tell us what is most important to each person.  If you look at the decisions in time and money the past year, what does it say about you?  What does it say about God?  In prayer today, talk about this with God.  See what should you keep and what should you change.  ​

January 14

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food; for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil."  ​ Hebrews 5:12-14 (RSV)

    In Tennessee, there is a special place for people who have been seriously injured in automobile accidents. This place was founded to take people who have had brain damage from auto accidents out of nursing homes and put them in better therapy.  With such brain injuries, these people have to be reeducated on how to eat, how to walk, how to think, how to coordinate movements. In a way, they have to start all over again. Thank God there are people there to help them to be their best. There was a documentary on that special home several years ago. It showed people in their twenties and thirties trying to walk, or playing card games ever so slowly. One picture showed a few of them learning to hit a baseball again. The coordination comes back so slowly.

Normally, we see adults and we expect them to do adult things. Children grow up to be adults, not vice-versa. Can you imagine if church leaders and the pastor were all playing hop scotch as you drove up every Sunday morning? How would that look? And yet, based on a study done recently, many churches have a problem with leaders who don’t have much Spiritual knowledge. The study was to determine extent to which church people know the Bible. The study leaders figured that since the Bible is the center of our knowledge of God, people would know something about it. What they found is surprising. NO denomination had more than a 50% of its people who knew the basics about the faith. In most of the denominations, more than 65% of the people in the pews were Biblically illiterate ( which means they didn't have the Biblical knowledge a normal second-grader in Sunday School would have).  Why is that? What makes Christians not want to grow in their relationship and knowledge of Christ? What would make them fail to know even the basics of the faith?

The scriptures for today calls those who are new Christians, or those who lack spiritual depth, "babes in Christ." In essence, they are like children. They need to be trained, helped ,nurtured whether they are five years old or seventy-five years old. You need to do a lot of hand holding with a child in this world. This is also true in the spiritual sense, for "Babes in Christ" don't have many answers, Biblical answers for things. Babes in the faith fall apart when things get tough. Just like a child, they need to be cuddled when they are afraid, and they are afraid of the smallest of things. The problem with some "babes in Christ" is that they are adults. They are adults, who may have grown up in the faith, but they have a very limited knowledge of God and relationship with God. In the book of Hebrews, the writer gets upset about those who have grown up in the faith but are not growing in their faith.  Listen as the scripture explains….  "...you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food.... But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil."…. -- Hebrews 5:12ff

So, in order for you to become a mature person of faith, you need to learn God's Word, know God from the scriptures and from prayer and from life in Christ.  You need to invite God's Holy Spirit in your life so that you can learn new things. Otherwise, you will never be able to tell good from evil, faithful from faithless; as the scripture here states. You will be blind to the spiritual wars around you.   Read and study your Bible today.  Take time to pray today.  Ask God to show you good and evil today.  Ready to fight the spiritual wars with the soldiers of God?  Prove it!

January 16

"And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and the disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”  And Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”"  Mark 4:37-40 (RSV)

                   How many of you find yourselves bending almost to the point of breaking because you are busy, harried, worried, bustling, frantic, hurrying.  Life goes by so quickly.  There are so many obligations, it is difficult to find time to reflect, to unwind, to be at ease, to find time for prayer, to relax, to let go of earthly needs and worries and just be at peace.
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Is it no surprise that the word for relaxation, namely recreation, is also re-creation?  That’s right.  We must find time to quiet our lives, to live for the moment, to relish peace.  Or God will find the time for us!

Jesus was with his disciples one evening.   They were crossing the sea of Galilee in a boat.  A furious storm came up.  The wind must have been strong, for the scripture tells us that even the waves washed over the boat.  You know what that means, don’t you?  The boat was filling with water.  Can’t you see it?  The disciples are holding on for dear life, as waves beat against the boat.  They are struggling to bail water out of the boat from the waves.  The wind is howling, the waves are enough to get you seasick.  The disciples are frightened.  It is dark.  Some may be worrying about life and death.  Some may be struggling just to keep their heads above water, and then… one disciple wakes up Jesus.   And what does Jesus do?  He gets up, stands there facing down the wind and waves and noise and says, “Be quiet.  Be still”.  And all the noise stops.  The wind dies down.  The seas abate.   And it becomes as our scripture tells us…. Absolutely calm.

There are times in life when God has to do that for us.  We get so caught up in the wind and waves and bailing water, and staying afloat in our finances.  We get so harried and worried about the winds of change blowing in these rough times, that our lives are a big storm.  Our minds are racing, our bodies are going 100 miles an hour, our hearts are pounding because of worry, hurry, busy-ness and obligations.  We cry to God… help me!  Help me… I’m drowning in a sea of hurried, anxious, troubles.  I’m dying here!  And Jesus says, “Be quiet.  Be still.”  And he calms everything down.  Is there something bothering you today? Do you lack peace?  How about a little faith here!

January 17

"Jesus called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:  not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”"  Matthew 15:10-11(RSV)

       Recently, I read about a woman who was listening to her pastor preach on a verse in Proverbs.  The verse says “A soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.”  The woman listened intently to the pastor say that we can do great things, accomplish great things by using kind, gentle, caring words.   The pastor then gave a challenge to the congregation, “I bet you can do the impossible just by using loving words.”  The woman, on hearing this, turned to her husband and said, “Honey, I just love to see your muscles bulge… when you take out the garbage!”

            Words accomplish or destroy much.  Be careful how you use them.  Some use words to damn, to condemn, to criticize, to deride.  Others use words to encourage, to bless, to help, to advise, to love, to give.   Which kinds of words do you give?  Which kinds of words do you use when speaking to yourself?

            Recently, something crossed my desk.  Here’s what it said…..
 Every person has the power to make others happy.    Some do it simply by entering a room-others by leaving the room.  Some individuals leave trails of gloom; others, trails of joy. Some leave trails of hate and bitterness; others, trails of love and harmony .  Some leave trails of cynicism and pessimism; others, trails of  faith and optimism. Some leave trails of criticism and resignation;  others trails of 
gratitude and hope. What kind of trails do you leave?

            What kind of mouth do you have?  The epistle of James mentions two kinds…. The mouth that blesses, and the mouth that curses.   You can have one or the other.  Who needs to hear something from you today?  Who needs NOT to hear something from you today?  ​​​​

January 18

And God Said, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:  the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day,  and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God..."  Deuteronomy 11:26-28ff (RSV)

 In the 1980’s, a small town I know of went through a series of tough times.  As political games were being played, families in the town turned against one another. Family fights broke out.  It was all over where to put a new school.   People on the school board received death threats.  Teachers were afraid for their families.  The local pastor of the largest church in town was threatened to keep quiet about the issue.  He preached a month later that it was wrong to fight about these things and have families split over it.  Within six months, the pastor resigned under terrible pressure.  But the fight died down when that very church from which the pastor was pushed out was struck by lightning.  And get this.. it was struck by lightning 4 months AFTER the church put up new lightning arrestors.  Yes, 4 months after the church purchased lightning arrestors to stop a lightning strike, the church was struck by lightning and the church was damaged in the subsequent fire.   Members at that church will tell you… they know why the lightning struck that church. They have no doubt.  Even the new equipment to stop lightning couldn’t stop God’s anger at what the people had done and were doing.

            In our scripture reading for today, God is speaking to Moses.  God is explaining to Moses a message he is passing on to all the faithful.   God said, “, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:”   God wanted Moses and the people to know that God  was going to bless the people if they truly followed God’s commandments and faith.  And God was going to curse them if they failed God’s commands and lived in sin.  Whether they were cursed or blessed was up to each person and their decisions.  If they followed God with a whole heart doing what was right… they were going to be blessed by God.  God was going to watch over them, help them, even fight for them.  Scripture there even says “no one will be able to defeat you.”    But, if the people didn’t support God, believe in God, give their offerings to God, help God’s ways, and follow God’s commands, God was going to take away the blessing and instead curse their work.  Whether the people were blessed or cursed by God was up to each individual and their choices.

            And it works the same way today.

            God sets before each of us the ability to be blessed and cursed.  When we follow God’s ways, not everything will go right in life… But God will watch over us and bless us on our way.   Still, when we disobey God and fail to give God HIS due, when we fail to repent or when we hide our sin, we will find God’s curse upon us.  And no matter how hard we try, God will not bless the work of our hands nor the thoughts of our hearts if we will not be faithful.

            Thus, you will be blessed or cursed in life based on YOUR own choices, acts, deeds, and giving.  So, today, what can you do to increase faith in God?  How can your relationship with God improve, so you may be blessed?   Is there something that is wrong in your life?   Is there something under a curse?  Time to change that by changing YOU.  Is every lightning strike a curse?  NO  Is every success a blessing?  NO.  But, watch closely and you will see God blessing and cursing things in this life.  You can count on it.

January 19

And Jesus opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 
 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 
 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 
 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 
 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
  Matthew 5:2-10 (RSV)

 In the gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples, "You are not of this world."  Now, if you think about this, Jesus is saying that WE ARE NOT like the natural world around us.  Christians do not think like "dog eat dog".  We do not seek to be power players.  Our goal is not wealth, but heaven.  Our ethics aren't based on what works, but what is right.  If Christians look like everybody else and think like everybody else in this world, something is WRONG with their faith.

            Take for example the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  (By the way, the word beatitudes, means "blessings".)  If you read them closely, you will see what they promote, what they profess, what they show is a God who blesses those who the world thinks are unworthy or lowly.    In Matthew 5, Jesus is speaking the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, he tells us eight things that God blesses.  Eight beatitudes.   If you read them closely, you'll see that what God blesses is not what the world blesses, because we are not of this world.  For example, "Blessed are the meek" is what Jesus said.  The world says, "Blessed are the "go-getters".  Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for they shall see God."   The world says, "There is no god.  There is no need for God.  Mourners are blessed?  That's dumb!"

​​As you can see, the beatitudes of Jesus turn the world upside down.  Those who seem to get ahead in the world are willing to compromise their morals and faith.  Jesus blesses those who stand up for their beliefs.   Those who want to get ahead in this world no matter who they have to step over in the ladder of success may be more wealthy, but they are not more blessed.  The meek are blessed. Those who hold on to God while mourning, they are blessed.  God blesses those who this world despises.  Are you of this world?  Or are you one who is blessed? Jealous or envious about people who follow "the world" or that you don't have some trinket or bauble?   When you seek to believe in God, meaning in this world turns upside down.  Things you can't see mean more.  Love means more.  Faith does more.   Jesus knows.   Now, you know.  So, what will you do about it today?

January 20

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."   Ephesians 6:10-20 (RSV)

 Every major decision in your life, every fight in your mind and heart, every choice, every friend, every punishment, every hope and dream… all these have spiritual elements, whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, or Unknowing.  Spiritual issues and decisions and problems occur so often and so powerfully in life, we often don't realize that to make the best of it all, we as Christians must rely on Spiritual people and especially God's Spirit to get us through.  That's why our scripture for today tells us…"be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power"  and "Take up the whole armor of God, so you may be able to withstand on that evil day…"  Withstand what?  Withstand the spiritual fights you will face.   Every decision you make, you decide between good and evil.  And through it all, Satan will tempt you, money and riches and dreams may tease and prod you, sex and power and glory will lure you into making wrong choices in your life. Jealousy of another, will drive you to look good instead of be faithful.  How will you fare in this spiritual fight?  It depends on how close you are to God, and if God's Spirit is in you.  It depends if you have God fighting with you and beside you, or if you are out there fighting on your own.  And if you are truly faithful, are you feeling God in the battle?  Are you?
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            In the Spiritual fights you face, God has given you weapons.  In our scripture here, we are told what weapons you have IF you have God's Spirit fighting with you.  Now, let me just say that if you go to church once in a while, or pray a sincere prayer once a week, you are not going to have the spiritual strength you need for your battles in life. Can a soldier who trains once in a while really defend himself or herself in battle?   If you are strong in the Spirit, God gives you armor to fend off spiritual battles.   God gives you a belt of truth and a breastplate of righteousness.  God gives you a shield to protect you made out of faith.  God gives you a helmet called salvation.  And the greatest offensive weapon you have is a sword.  And in scripture it says that the sword is the Holy Spirit based in the Word of God.   If you want to attack evil in your life and world, and you don't have the Holy Spirit strongly in your soul, and you don't know a thing about the Bible, you have NO offensive weapon to fight your spiritual battles.  You are going into a war and going to be beaten up badly.

             A couple is having marriage problems and they fight all the time.  They are fighting about their budget… he wants a new car and she wants to redo the living room.  You might think this has to do only with finances, but it is a spiritual fight as well.  These two are fighting based on their values, based on what is a priority in their lives.   That is a spiritual fight.  Spirituality looks at what you believe and why you believe it.  It looks at who God is, and who you are as a human being.  Spirituality looks at God's place in your life, and how you order your priorities in life based on faith choices.   I'm confident when I say that every fight you have in life is spiritual in nature… somehow.  I'm talking about the fights you have in your mind and in your world everyday.  You might fight in your heart whether or not you are happy at your job…  this is a very spiritual issue.  The soul affects everything you do…. From who you pick as a soul mate to what makes you happy.  And the soul is the seat of the Spirit for Christians.   If you are full of angst or regret or envy, instead of the Spirit,  you can spend all the money in the world and never be content or happy or fulfilled.   The body is even related to the soul and Spirit.   If your soul is miserable because of the death of a friend or family member, you will grieve in your heart.  You might find it hard to sleep, or get stomach aches, headaches, or even heart palpitations from stress.  When the soul is hurting, the body will hurt too.

So, honest to God, what is your soul saying today?  What battle are you fighting?  Are you leaning on your smarts or your youth, or are you leaning on God?  Do you see others as your enemies, or do you truly understand that they are not the enemy.... Satan is pushing all the buttons in them and you.  Can you get past all the cloudiness of life to see clearly?  Talk to God about it now.  

January 21

"But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;  they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”  It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.  But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;  keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."  Jude 17-22 (RSV)

 In the next to last book of the Bible… Jude… a very short book that is only one chapter long… we have a prediction.   In these verses it says that the apostles or disciples predicted that times would come when people would follow ungodly passions.  They would set up divisions and make people take sides.   They would be worldly people who would be lacking God’s Spirit.     

The apostle Paul also made this prediction to fellow pastor, Timothy.  He included this information:   people would also be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3).   Worldliness is when things of this world, material possessions and things that fade in time, mean more to you than things of God or things that last.   It’s when you seek to do your own thing instead of the right thing.  It’s when God comes second in your life and maybe you come first.  It makes us choose things over people and self-gratification over all.  And, I would say, this thinking is rampant even in churches today. 
 
  Some years ago, I talked to a woman who was dying.  She told me, "I used to think that I'd have time to do something later.  Now, I don't know if I'll have the time or a later.   But, for the first time in my life, I don't care about things.  Everything I touch no longer holds importance.  Love, family, friends, forgiveness, and God mean a lot more.  I only have a short time to live and I've found that feuds are pointless and love has amazing power.  Healing cannot occur when I'm more concerned about my pain and have to worry about my physical possessions.  My, how the world has changed for me!"  Things can’t make you content, joyful, or fulfilled.  You can sit in a house full of possessions and be utterly alone and could care less.   You can have it all, yet not be able to enjoy life.  Life can be empty, lost of joy, and without much hope when you let earthly things clog your mind.  Still, how often do people let earthly things or views deter them from doing what is right or good or holy?  Accumulate enough things to make you happy yet?  For how long?

Worldliness sucks you in to believing that earthly pleasures are more than worth the price.  So, you get addicted to things of this world.   It makes you care more about how you appear in your selfies than how shallow are your values.  Recently, I watched a movie wherein an actress said, “I’d die if I couldn’t have my coffee!”    If you had to choose between a habit and your spouse or child, which would you choose?  Really now!  If you had to choose between God and a bad habit, which would be worth more?   Sometimes, we can get caught up in believing that a purchase or even a sport is worth living or dying.  We will never find true joy or happiness in things of this world.. but human beings keep trying!  Has something material gotten its grip upon your life?  Who can free you from the tyranny of things?

January 22

"Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,  who are drunk, but not with wine: 
​Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people:  “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;   the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more.."    ​Isaiah 51:21-22 (RSV)

   Isaiah 51 begins with the words, "Listen to me."   That's because this chapter of Isaiah wants desperately to communicate with you, the person of faith.  God's got a message for you. YES YOU!  And what God's wanting to say to you in this chapter is to me, well, amazing!
            The Lord addresses us all by saying,   "...hear this, you who are wounded, who are drunk, but not with wine…"  These verses speak about people staggering drunk-like, but not with wine.  They were reeling with pain, agony, and hurting, spiritually, emotionally. 

At the time when Isaiah said these words, Israel was enslaved in Babylon.  The people were suffering in bondage, slavery, humiliation.   God wanted His people, who were wounded in heart and soul, body and mind, to know that He cared.  Likewise, now in this moment, God is saying this to you and me.  When we are in bondage to something, suffering, or some sin; reeling from things in life, God cares.  He hears your words when you say, "I'm sorry".  He sees when in pain you seek still to ease another's pain.  He knows when You miss Him.  God's eye is on every faithful person who staggers under the weight of an awful burden.   Each of you is under direct attack from Satan who tempts and torments.  Each of you will suffer at times.   You are or will be woozy and staggering from the effect.  You've been blind-sided by things in life and reeling.  If this in any way describes you, God wants to have a word with you today, here, now.

            Perhaps you're enduring a dark night of the soul: doubting, worrying, full of "what-ifs".   Maybe you're feeling your life is an ash heap of failure.  Maybe a number of sins have taken their toll on you.  Maybe you are simply worn down by things at work or things at home.   You've sunk into despair.  You feel unworthy to stand before God.  Maybe you are simply too depressed to move on in faith.   To you, God is speaking here in this chapter.  And He's got more to say…"the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving ".  Right now, some of you are beaten down, worried, full of anxiety.  But God is saying, "That's all about to change.  You are going to feel joy again.  Trust me.  Listen to me.  Believe it is going to happen.  I will do it."   

I'm not saying that God will make every day perfect.  I'm not saying that you won't suffer.  I'm saying that when you are faithful to God, God is faithful to you.  God will be there in your dark hours, when you are alone and crying and in pain.  And God will always bring better days after HE visits; even if it is to bring you home to Heaven, where you will no longer suffer.  His arms will carry you where your soul will be at peace.   God cares.  God watches.  God listens.  Look for His hand and presence today.... if you ask for it.

January 23

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ..."  Luke 2:25-26ff (RSV)

God has a different perspective of time. An economist once asked God…. “Lord, is it true that a thousand years for us is just like one minute to you as it says in scripture?”
The Lord said, “Yes.”
The economist said, “Well then, a million dollars to us must be like one penny to you.”
The Lord said, “Well, yes.”
The economist said, “Well, Lord, will you give me one of those pennies?”
            The Lord said, “All right, I will. Wait here a minute.”

 How do you feel about waiting? Do you enjoy a nice, long wait? Many people don’t like to wait. I’ve seen people tapping their toes and looking disgusting when they have to stand in line at the bank or the post office.  When at a tollbooth, the driver of the car in front of you is having an extended conversation with the tollbooth operator. Think for a moment about how you would respond. You’ve been sitting in the waiting room of your doctor’s office for an hour. What would you be thinking? 

     Now, these are fairly casual kinds of waiting, but we put up with them. However, there are other more serious and difficult kinds of waiting. There’s the waiting of a single person to see if there's a soul mate out there. There’s the childless couple who wait desperately wanting to start a family but day after day, week after week, the pregnancy never comes. There’s someone who was fired and is looking for a job… waiting and waiting for a call back after a few interviews. And there’s the person who’s desperate for a son or daughter to come around and straighten up his or her life.  No matter the situation…..waiting is something that shows what is important to you.  How you wait shows what kind of patience you have.  How you wait defines the way you handle things when they go wrongly. How you wait shows what you are like when your expectations are not fulfilled.  How do you wait?

Waiting on the Lord is an act of obedience.  It is something we must learn to do, trusting that God’s answer or presence will come.

       The gospel of Luke tells us about two people (Simeon and Anna) who recognized the Messiah because they were waiting on God for years to fulfill a prophecy.  Waiting on the Lord is the continual, daily decision to say, “God, I will trust you and I will obey you even though the circumstances of my life are not turning out the way I want them to."   "I’m betting everything on you, God, and there is no Plan B.” That’s waiting on the Lord;  it’s the hardest work of hoping and requires a trusting heart.  When you pray today, do so thinking about how patient or impatient you are.  Ever think that sometimes only by waiting can you really experience something important?  How would our food be if farmers never waited for the plants to grow?  How would your life be if you were overly impatient with those you love?

January 24

"...we exhort you, brethren, to do so more and more,  to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you;  so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody."  1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 (RSV)

   1 Thessalonians 4 states clearly the following warning (I'm reading from the Living Bible now)…..  " This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and doing your own work."  The scripture makes clear that we should mind our own business, and not be fussing about others.  But some people, gossips for example, and nosy neighbors as well, seem to like to put their noses into other people's business.   Maybe you compare yourself to others.  Do you like to hear the scoop about someone's affair or how a snob's life is a mess? This scripture clearly challenges this thinking.

            Unlike Jesus, who was about God the Father's business (see Luke 2:49-50 in The Living Bible), it has been common for people to be nosy about another's business.  In fact, its not usual for people to comment on what others are doing, or be critical of another's affairs.  Walk through a grocery store or department store and you will see lots of tabloids like The Star, The Enquirer and others….. whose sole purpose is to find out what is going on in the lives of the rich and famous and publish it so that everybody knows the gossip and innuendos that are going around about them.  A good number of Web Sites are dedicated to gossip alone!  For some reason, people like  to involve themselves in another's business instead of minding their own business as this scripture says, or doing God's business.

            A small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial -- a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
            She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."
            The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"
            She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to babysit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."
            At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you'll be jailed for contempt!"
            
            What I've found most true is that people who tend to make other's lives their business are often dissatisfied with their own life.  So, they pry their way into other lives.  They may be unhappy about their own accomplishments or worth, so they look to find unhappiness in the lives of others.    Any way you look at it, to be nosy is to not be about God's business and to be caught up in the wrong business.  And, nosiness can easily hurt a church and cause the wrath of God.

            When one group gets together in the parking lot to plot against another group in the church....  when one committee sits and complains about another committee....when people get together to gossip and run off at the mouth about others in the church or the pastor or leaders, nothing good will ever come of it.  Our job is to focus on God's business as did Jesus, to mind our own affairs as the Apostle Paul tells us in this scripture.  How many people are turned against the church and God by you or your "group"?  What innuendos are you apt to see or believe in the media or on Facebook? Are you swayed by popular opinion? What can you do today to help rather than pry?  Who do you look down upon and why?  A little self-evaluation in your prayers today may change the lives around you!

January 25

" ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance;  we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 
 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”"  Matthew 11:17-19 (RSV)

Joe is a good worker.  He works in a tough job, though.  During the past ten years, his company has consolidated and merged.  Consultants were brought in, and people were laid off who were considered "not vital to the company."  Joe got to keep his job, but in the process was told that he was going to have to take over the work of two others who were laid off.  But how could Joe do the work of three people?   Was he going to have to work over one hundred hours?  No.  The office expected him to work forty hours, without overtime, but yet do the work of all three employees.   Joe's job became frustrating.  He never had enough time in the day.  Every hour was crammed with more and more to do.  Joe spent two years like this, and had problems with weight gain, problems with illness, and problems with depression.  Finally, his wife convinced him to just quit his job as it was killing him.  Joe wanted to do the best job he could do, but was in an impossible position.   In essence, the company had unrealistic expectations of Joe, that he could do what three people did in less time, and after a while Joe realized he could never do that.  But while he worked, those unrealistic expectations really got to him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 
Joe would even tell you today that that time in his life left a lot of scars in him.

            Unrealistic expectations are getting more and more common at work, in school, in marriage, and even in the heart.  Unrealistic expectations cause stress and strain.  Let me give you an example.  A woman reads a Harlequin romance and thinks that's how marriage should be all the time. Why can't her husband whisk her away to romantic places and they have a perfect loving relationship that is deep and sensual?   Because, the people in Harlequin romances don't have to live on the salary you are living on, deal with the pressures you deal with, have the problems you face.  This woman has the unrealistic expectation that her husband should measure up to a perfect man who doesn't exist.   On the other hand, some men look at swim suit models and say to themselves, "Why can't my wife be as pretty as that?"  Why?  Because most of the swimsuit models don't even look like that!   They Photoshop the pictures!  They take off inches here and there using digital imaging.  These models don’t' have children, so there are no stretch marks.  Some men figure they want a swimsuit model for a wife, but they want kids too, oh and the wife has to work full time, and go to the gym and work out to get that body, and be home all the time, and, and, and.  You get the picture?   Yup, unrealistic expectations.

            Some unrealistic expectations are put on us by ourselves.   For example, pity the man who says:  "I'm going to lose 50 pounds this year in two weeks!  The ads say I should be able to!"   A woman who has problems with getting pregnant looks at her best friend who has two kids.  The woman thinks, "If I were a better person, I'd have kids, too!"  Sad, isn't it?     All these are unrealistic expectations.

            There are also unrealistic expectations others put on us.   Ever known of a father who, though the son brought home all A's and one B on his report card, complained of the one B?   How about the mother who thinks her daughter is not "pretty enough, smart enough, dressed well enough, or responsible enough no matter how hard she tries?"  Then, there's the boss who doesn't notice the many hours of good work you put in, but looks for the mistakes you make so seldom?   Maybe you have a friend who constantly compares him or herself to you and you always come up short?   How about the politicians who constantly try to find flaws in their opponent, even making them up as they go or fabricating them?   All these are unrealistic expectations others place upon us.

Let's be honest.  We put unrealistic expectations on others, and we do it to ourselves.   Even in Jesus' day, our Lord had to fight with this… and he was perfect!!!!   He was perfect and people still found things to complain and fuss about with Jesus!  Why?  You got it… unrealistic expectations.  Look at this scripture reading in Matthew.  Here, Jesus is talking about John the Baptist.  He tells the crowds that John was a great man, a great prophet, a man of faith!   Jesus didn’t' say, "Look at John, he's good but here are his flaws or here's what he could do better to be perfect."  Jesus was grateful for John and his ministry.   The Jewish leaders were not.  Jesus said to the crowds in Matthew 11….  "John came neither eating or drinking, and people said he had a demon.   I came eating and drinking and they say, ""He's a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.""  You just can't win, can you!   John the Baptist was a great man who fasted and prayed and never drank any alcohol.  People said he had a demon.  Jesus did the opposite, drinking and eating, and they said Jesus was a glutton who eats too much or a drunk who drinks too much.  You just can't win with these people!  Why?  They had unrealistic expectations.

            It didn't matter what Jesus did, people were going to find fault!   They blamed John for doing one thing, and when Jesus did the opposite, they found a reason to blame him for something too!  The fact is, it wouldn't have mattered at all what Jesus did, they would have found something wrong with him.   And let me clue you in to something…. There is nothing you can do with some people.  They will have unrealistic expectations of you.  They will find something to complain about with you.  If Jesus was perfect and the Son of God, for goodness sake, and they found problems with him, you can bet people will find things to complain about, fuss about, and hold over you!

            On the contrary, let me show you something about Jesus.  Unrealistic expectations didn't shake him a bit.  He noticed that people had these expectations, but that didn't change his ministry.  He didn't try to please everybody, he only sought to please God the Father.  He didn't try to do what everybody thought he should do, he simply did what God wanted him to do.  And that's the secret of staying sane in a world where there are so many unrealistic expectations.  You do what God wants you to do, no more and no less.  In the end of your life, you will answer to God, not to others.  In heaven you are judged by what God thinks of you, not the crowd.  Who are you competing with today?  What unrealistic expectations do you have?  What toxic situations in your life are fed by unrealistic expectations?  Got something to confess?

January 26

"There are six things which the LORD hates,  seven which are an abomination to him: 
       haughty eyes, a lying tongue,  and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans,  feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers. "  Proverbs 6:16-19 (RSV)

     In church, pastors like to talk about what God loves.  Too many ignore scriptures like that above, where it speaks of what God hates.  When I've mentioned that God hates some things in life, it is often interesting to note how few people actually realize that God can hate bad things.   The scripture in Proverbs is crystal clear that God does hate what some people do.  If we are prone to doing these things, we run the risk of permanently damaging our relationship with God. Now, it’s not that God hates people who do these things… God hates these things that people do.  Remember that.

It is not unusual for someone to say that since a person was “nice”, he or she deserves to go to heaven. This person never killed anybody, never stole from anyone. Therefore, he or she deserves a place in heaven. Not necessarily. You can make God angry, do something God hates, without killing someone or landing in jail. Our scripture for today states this clearly. Here in Proverbs 6, we are told of seven things which God hates... things which God will not stand for... things which God calls an abomination.

What is interesting is that in the original Hebrew language, this first scripture verse might be read.. . "There are six things which the Lord can't stand the smell of, six things that are odious to him." You see, the word for hate in Hebrew used here also means something odious, something that smells so bad you can't stand to be in the room with it. It's something that makes your nose curl so bad that your eyes may water or you may want to cough.  You can understand, then, that God doesn’t want to be around the person doing such things.  

 I was talking to a person at a store. As we talked, the person remarked to me that she believed she is going to heaven because she hasn't done anything real bad in her life. Many people figure that God has a sliding scale of what is bad and what it good, what will get you to heaven and what won't. Usually, we figure people who murder, those who deal in drugs, those who are habitual criminals are the ones who God will hate. Our little failings will be overlooked by God. But this scripture makes clear to me that there are little things which God hates as much as murder and worshiping other gods. God hates  “proud eyes, a lying tongue, hearts that devise wicked plans, feet of one quick to do bad deeds, those who lie in court, those who cause discord and fighting among friends, and those who kill the innocent (what does this say about abortion?).”  All these God hates to see in people of the faith. And if God hates them, you and I surely must take notice of each and never be caught doing them.

 I Pray that from this day on, you may remember each of them. I pray none of these seven things that God hates are a part of your life at the present, or you better repent of them… before you feel the fires of hell.  Read through this scripture again when you go to bed tonight.  It may be one of the most important scriptures in your life.   You want a God who loves you?  Beware of those things God hates.

Are you prideful about something?  Do you tell lies to yourself or to another?  When you lay in bed at night, do you plan to get even or to cause harm to another?  Are you quick to do something rash and hurtful, regretting it later?   When you are on Facebook or around and about, do you like to force people to argue or take sides, thus lacking love?  Do you hate a person enough to want them dead or wish evil upon him or her?  These are things that God can't stand to be around or see.  Can you give them up?  For God?  Today?

January 27

“If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,  eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,  burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."    Exodus 21:23-25 (RSV)

 There are always consequences to things that we do or choices that we make.  As they say in physics class… for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Our actions, our works, our words, our deeds all carry with them consequences.  If you do this… that will be the effect of your action.  If you eat a lot, you will gain weight.  Angry all the time?  Your blood pressure will rise.  Forgetful?  Get ready to pay late fees for your bills.   If you fail to keep gas in your car, you will soon run out of gas.  If you ignore your responsibilities, you will suffer some result. Life has its system of checks and balances… everything you do carries some responsibility and some consequence.

            In 1991, the consequence of  Mathieu Boya’s action became public. Boya was practicing his golf swing in a pasture adjacent to Africa's Benin Air Base. With one swing of the golf club, Boya set off an unbelievable series of events. The shot, described as "a glorious slice," hit a bird, which in turn dropped onto the windshield of a trainer jet whose pilot was taxiing into position for takeoff. The pilot lost control of his plane and plowed into four shiny Mirage jets, totally demolishing the entire air force of Benin.
Boya was jailed immediately for "hooliganism," and his attorney said he had no chance of winning a trial. The country wanted Boya to pay $40 million to replace the jets. Since Boya made only $275 per year, he figured it would take 145,000 years to pay off his debt to society.  (Citation: Rick Cato, Parables, Etc., (May 1991); submitted by J. Richard Love, Rushton, Louisiana.)

​Even when dealing with God this is true; there are consequences to our actions.   In the gospel of Luke it says that how we judge others, that is how God will judge us. If we forgive others, we can be forgiven.  If we do good things, good things come back to us from God.  Is it no surprise then that our actions are being recorded by God?    All of life has consequences. 

In Exodus 21, we are shown that God requires violence to be punished.  In this chapter, God has a plan of punishment for all those who act wrongly. In a sense, its  a list of consequences for those who commit sins of violence….  Among the listed offenses and their consequences are the following. If you kill a man, you will be put to death.  If a man is involved in a scheme to put someone to death, that person should also be put to death.   If a person hurts another, he or she must pay the injured man for his loss of time until he is completely healed.  In the end, the scripture says… “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”  The scripture is clear… if your action or violence causes another person harm, you should pay an equal amount back as a consequence.  It only seems fair, doesn’t it?  God sees fit that for every harm you cause, you should be required to pay something back.. and for every good thing you should be blessed in the end.  We pay the consequences for our actions… good or bad… because God is a just God, a fair God.  

There are only certain instances when punishment is not a consequence.  That is when we give or are given forgiveness or grace.  Forgiveness means a sin or wrong is "let go" in grace.   Forgiveness is given with no thought of return payment.  It's a gift, pure and simple.  Still, for the rest of life, there are consequences to your actions.   Are you aware of the consequences of your life, your words, your anger, your habits, or your sins?  Someone usually pays or suffers when you fail or sin or hurt or make mistakes.  Who in your life has suffered from your mistakes?  Have you ever said, "I'm sorry" to each?  Do you need forgiveness for doing something wrong today? Does someone need to hear from you the words, "I forgive you."?  Does God need to hear "I repent" about something today?  Pray about it and find your own forgiveness and grace.

January 28

“This charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith..." 
I Timothy 1:18,19 (RSV)

  "What Does Your Conscience Tell You?  Sometimes, it's a Lie!"     
​                
            Inside each of us is a little voice that tells us when something is good or bad, right or wrong.  That little voice speaks to us with each choice we make.  That little voice helps us to determine what we ought to do, or what we should be doing.  It reminds us when we are doing something that isn't right or is dangerous, or may hurt another.  That little voice is called the conscience.   And when the conscience speaks, we should listen.

            I once heard a little girl explain the conscience in this way:  "The conscience is something that makes you tell your mother about something before your brother or sister does."  Of course, this little girl was thinking that the conscience told her when something she did was wrong, and before she got into too much trouble, the conscience would remind her that it is good to speak the truth, or tell your parents when you mess up, rather than face the consequences after hiding a bad thing.

            Max Lucado, in his book, Six Hours One Friday, tells how the U.S. government in 1811 began collecting and storing letters like the following note dated February 6, 1974:  "I am sending ten dollars for blankets I stole while in World War II. My mind could not rest. Sorry I'm late." It was signed: "An ex-GI". And there was this postscript: "I want to be ready to meet with God."  The U.S. government not only collects and stores these letters, but the Treasury Department established a fund and labeled it the "Conscience Fund." Since its inception, the fund has grown to almost seven million dollars.   (Max Lucado, Six Hours One Friday p. 79; submitted by Aaron Goerner, Utica, New York)

            Many people, like this ex-GI,  feel the need to make amends when they do wrong.  Their consciences won't let them forget that they did something wrong, stole something, hurt someone.  The conscience helps us be better people.  It helps people do what is right. Having a clean conscience helps you to sleep at night, helps you to not worry or be afraid, and it helps you to know you are a good person and a faithful person. 

            In scripture, there were many in the Bible who knew the importance of having a clean or clear conscience. When speaking to governor Felix, the Apostle Paul said…  " Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people."  When Paul was teaching Timothy the ways of a pastor, he taught him that in order to be truthful with God, you must "have a good faith and a clear conscience."  Peter, the leader of the disciples, said, "Keep your conscience clear, so that …. those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame."  These followers of Christ knew that having a good conscience that was formed and directed by God was a basic tenet of faith.

            There are, however, times when we can have a corrupted conscience.   The Apostle Paul mentioned this to Titus:  "to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted."   When you do wrong things, sin, or follow bad advice, sometimes your conscience can become tainted or corrupted.  When that happens, you may find it easier to continue doing wrong without even feeling guilty about it.

Thus, the scriptures are clear that you should let your conscience be your guide, unless your conscience has been corrupted or seared.  When that happens, beware that your conscience will lie to you.  This is why it is so important that you keep your conscience clear, as the Apostle Paul teaches.  This is also why it is so important you pray daily and read the Bible.  God will help you keep your conscience clear, help you to see what is right and wrong, and show you how to keep the faith.  So, the old adage "let your conscience be your guide" may be good for you or bad for you depending on if you conscience lies to you.  I prefer to say, "Let God be your guide."  God, in Christ, will show you what is right and wrong in life.  God's Spirit in your heart will speak to you about which way to go when you have decisions to make. You have asked for God's Spirit to be placed inside your heart and mind, right?  Today, seek what your conscience is saying to you.  Ask God for the truth about what is truly right and wrong.  Hold fast to what is right.  Reject what is wrong.  They say those with a clean conscience sleep better at night.  Sometimes at night, God keeps you up or wakes you up to try and tell you something.  What is it?

January 29

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." 
Genesis 5:25 (RSV)

 In the Bible, in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, we are given examples of the great people of faith.  If you read through the list of names you  might know many of them.  People like Abraham, Noah, Sarah, and Abel are mentioned.  The scripture tells us how each one of these people listened to God, and followed God in their walk of faith.  Among the list of the faithful is also a man named Enoch (Hebrews 11:5).  The scripture doesn't say much about Enoch in the New Testament other than that he was faithful and that he pleased God.  Now, I was interested recently in finding  out more about this guy, Enoch.  So, I turned to the one other place in the Bible where he is mentioned.  That is the book of Genesis.  And there, the scripture tells us something very important about Enoch.   It says twice that "Enoch walked with God."  And God was so thrilled at Enoch having walked with him in life that when it came for Enoch to die, God did not let him die.  God took him right up into heaven.

            Not only did it impress me that Enoch was that good of a man, but that God did something for him that God did for only two people in all of scripture.  God even had Jesus die so that He could be raised from the dead, but Enoch… Enoch never even had to experience death.  It's not that Enoch was greater, or better, or more faithful than Jesus.  Jesus came to this world to face life and death, to defeat death.  But Enoch, he was placed in this world to be faithful, and he was.  Remember?  Twice here scripture it says he walked with God.

            Now, if God was especially thrilled with Enoch having walked with God in life, imagine if you were to do the same.  How do you walk with God in life?  George Whitefield considered how to walk with God.  And after reading what he wrote, I've worked through five ways you can walk with God in your life.  I suggest you even write these five down in your bulletin or Bible to consider.

            First, Whitefield said,  , you have to meet with God for the walk.  You have to accept God, to decide to believe in God, and learn to know who God is.   Why is it that people gather in a sanctuary to have a wedding?  Why is it that the bride and groom have to say their vows publicly?  To make a public commitment to God.  Making a commitment to God involves an act of faith.  It is when you aren't afraid to have others know you believe in God.  By the way, the best way to get to know God is to study God's word, see what kinds of things God says, how God thinks. 

            Whitefield next taught us a second way we walk with God.  He said, "if a person is walking with God, they have to let God lead the walk."  Often, we want to be in control, we lead the dance, we control the plane… and God is the co-pilot.  It has to be the other way around.  We don't get our way, we follow God's way.  We don't make God's ways agree with us, we must agree to walk where he leads. 
        
            The Third element of walking with God according to Whitefield is… you have to keep up with God.    Sometimes, you sin, you fail, you take a different path.   It is important that when you are walking this road of life that when you start falling behind, you catch up with God.  If you stray too far, you won't ever be able to find your way back to walking with God. Or, maybe you are one of those that likes to run ahead of God because you are impatient. Don't do it!  A bumper sticker I saw recently said simply this:  "Don't forget!  God allows U-turns!"  U-turns are when you confess your sin and change your ways in life.  You quit doing things that are bad for you and begin to do what God knows to be right for you.  You slow down to God's pace. You say you're sorry to a friend.  You admit your failings, your mistakes, your shortcomings, your short temper, your perfectionistic attitude, your bad attitude, and you let God forgive you and take these from you.  And don't take them back again!  

            Fourth, whenever you walk with God, that will also involve conversation with God.  Can you imagine two friends going for a walk and neither one ever talks?  Part of the fun of walking with a friend, part of the reason time can fly by is the conversation with that friend.  I find that prayer, conversation with God, is the most important time of my life.  

            Finally, walking with God involves obedience.  This may mean being faithful even when it hurts, even when others make fun of your faith, even if someone were to be critical of you for your faith, even if someone were threatening to kill you because of your faith.  Obedience means not only following God, trusting God, and talking with God, but doing HIS will, not your own will. 

Now look back through the five ways to "walk with God".  Which are you best at?  Which do you fail it?  Where are you weak?   For today, focus on the weakest link.  Strengthen it.  Do it.  See what happens.  You might be surprised at the results.   Trust me on this one!

January 30

“And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.  If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him. " 
I John 2:28,29 (RSV)

      "The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;  though war arise against me, yet I will be confident."  Psalm 27:1,3 (RSV)

  If a basketball player gets up to a free-throw line at a game where there are thousands of fans watching and he loses confidence, do you think he will make the shot?   It is known by all coaches that when you lose confidence, your game will suffer.   My grandmother used to say, “If you begin a project thinking you’ll fail, you probably will.”  Confidence is something required to do your best.  

​Confidence in the faith, Confidence that God will carry you through is required to do your best in Christ.
Seeing a man who was crippled the Temple, Peter and John felt called to heal him.  They walked over and did not say, “I hope you can be healed, let’s pray about it.”  No way.    Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6 RSV)  This was a command.  It wasn’t an iffy statement of possibility, but a confident command that the man could and would walk. 

So often, we as Christians lack confidence.  We pray with little confidence,  “Oh Lord, I hope you help my friend.”   A teacher says to her class, “I think we will see Jesus in heaven when we die.”   A man says to his friend, “I think you might make a good Council member.”  Where’s the confidence in Christ?  Where is the person to say, “I know that you have God’s faith and heaven will be a part of your future!”  Where is the mother to say, “When we are short of money, God will take care of us.”  Where is the person who says, “If you go out there and do this thing for God, God will make it work.”?

On the way home from Church one Sunday, a youngster was asked about what happened in his Sunday School Class that day.  He turned to his father and told him, “Our teacher told us about Moses crossing the Red Sea.  Moses had his engineers build a pontoon bridge across the sea, and then his people crossed it. As they went across the water, his reconnaissance planes radioed that an Egyptian tank corps was about to cross the bridge.  Moses ordered his jets to blow up the bridge.  They did, and Moses and his people were safe.”
            His father asked, “Are you sure that’s how your teacher told the story?’
            “Well, not exactly,” admitted the boy.  “But the way my teacher told it—you wouldn’t believe it.”

            This little guy had no confidence in what God can do, but you can.  Many of us have seen God do some incredible things. I have personally seen a person's heart arrhythmia cease, while I prayed over him.  I witnessed a smoker who had a cancer diagnosis (with the MRI to prove it) find out he had no cancer the week after the church prayed over him.  A child who was seen to have a terrible disease that had destroyed his stomach lining (as shown on a scope of his stomach) was healed on Christmas Day and never did have the surgery that was planned for the day after.  These are three of hundreds of examples I've seen where God came through for those in need.  The scriptures are full of illustrations and examples of God’s power and love. Psalm 27 reminds us that God is our "stronghold".  We have no need for fear of others, but confidence in what is right and good and holy.  Our scriptures today want to remind us all to have confidence in God’s power and might.  I pray you do.  I pray that you get rid of doubts and worry and learn to trust the one who made you.  Have confidence to do God’s work, no matter what the challenge.  Have confidence that God can overcome something in your life…. HE has before. HE will again.  Why do you lack confidence in things God wants and plans through you?

January 31

“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  That men may know wisdom and instruction,  understand words of insight,  receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity;  that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth...
       The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;  fools despise wisdom and instruction....
       The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."  
​Proverbs 1:1-4, 7;  12:15 (RSV)

Recently, I came across this quote:    “Children have a much better chance of growing up if their parents have done so first.”   How true is that?   When parents don’t grow up emotionally or intellectually or spiritually, they have a hard time passing on wisdom, learning and instruction to their kids.  If we become a nation where kids give birth to kids, who will truly bring wisdom, learning, and knowledge to the next generation? 

            The fact is that people can be downright pretentious.  We sometimes think we know so much.   You might think. ”Other people may fall for that, but I won’t.”  You still might get hoodwinked, cheated, scammed, or worse!  Each of us has those things we fall for, we are a sucker for, or we can be conned into.  Knowledge helps us to be smarter about the decisions we make, but in order to be truly knowledgeable, we first have to realize we all have weaknesses.  We all have things we don’t know much about; we all have our krypton, superman!

            People think they are smarter than they are.  And many people make the mistake of thinking that they are smart, when they are not.   Even those who have a high IQ, you might think as smart or very bright… but they still can do and say some pretty dumb things.

            A woman and her husband arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up their car.  But when they got there, they were told that the keys had been accidentally locked in the car. The two went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door.  As the wife watched from the driver's side, the husband instinctively tried the door handle on the passenger side and discovered it was open. "Hey," the man announced to the technician, "It's  open!"

            "I know," answered the young man. "I already got that side.” 

            Now, I want you to think about that for a moment!   This guy thought he had to open all doors with a special tool, instead of opening one and then unlocking the rest.

            Sometimes, human beings just do dumb things.  We have senior moments. We make thoughtless remarks.  We act without considering consequences.  We just don’t think.  It’s part of being human.   Human beings fail, make mistakes, and sin.  We are fallible creatures.  The real sad thing is that we all too often think we know it all.  You might think, you are smarter than you really are.  You might figure you got all the answers when in reality, you don’t know so much after all.  True knowledge that comes from God knows that we are fallible and don’t know everything. We are foolish to believe we know more than we really do.  But some people think they know sooo much, don’t they?

            The scripture from Proverbs 12:15  tells us that “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.”   Notice in this proverb that fools often think they have the answers when they do not.  We are foolish to think we know it all.  Nobody knows it all.  But some people in our world act like they do, when they do not.

            Knowledge is very important in our world.  Knowledge is something that God wants us to have.   In the book of Proverbs we are told that fools do not listen to knowledge or wisdom.  In fact, each of us should be keenly aware that our knowledge is limited.  We need to learn.  We need to know things.  That is why teachers are so important to God and to society.  In Proverbs, chapter 1, we are told to make sure young people learn knowledge, wisdom, and prudence.  People of faith are encouraged to “gain in learning” and acquire skills.   It even reminds us that true knowledge comes from having a right relationship with God.   Only fools would put down learning, especially learning the comes from God.

            Sometimes we don’t like to take the time to learn life’s lessons.  We want to take short cuts.  You can buy a college certificate online for $50, but does that mean you are any smarter?  Does that mean you know as much as a college graduate?  Wisdom, learning, and knowledge are important to our world.  They are promoted by God.  They are needed by every Christian.  There are no shortcuts to true knowledge.  Throughout scripture, there are references to wise people and to fools.  And there are three important things that separate the two.  Wise people seek advice.  Fools think they know more than they actually do.  Wise people want to learn more and more.  Fools think they know more than enough.  Wise people know that with God comes the greatest learning.  Fools look many places for knowledge, but not to God… thus they never do wise up.  God has a lot to teach.  Do you have time to learn from the master? What is it that God wants you to learn today?