March 1

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.'”  ​ (Numbers 14:26-27 KJV)
 
A man decided to join a monastery and one of the rules of the group was that you were only allowed to speak two words every ten years. At the end of ten years he said, "Bad food!"
 Ten more years went by and he said, "Hard bed!"
 Finally, on his thirtieth anniversary with the order, he thundered, "I quit!" The priest in charge responded, "You might as well. All you do is complain  anyway."    (1/90.10 Sermon Illustration Cards)

            Complaining, murmuring, or moaning about something is not unusual or new.  It’s been done since forever.   You might complain and moan because you don’t get your way, or because things are more difficult than you would like them.  Pain or frustration might get you to whine or lash out.   There are a lot of reasons you might want to complain. The danger comes when we complain about God or at God, or complain about God’s choices or God’s will.
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            The scripture from Numbers written above occurs in the wilderness.  The people of Israel are in the wilderness because God is leading them on a journey to the promised land.  God had just freed them from slavery in Egypt, sent ten plagues to attain their freedom, and parted the Red Sea so that they would be safe from Egyptian armies.  God had done all these things!  However, that did not stop the Israelites from complaining.  They made an art form of complaining!   They complained about the food, about the water situation, about Moses and his leadership. They even at one point asked to go back to Egypt and to slavery because they had it better there.  Of course, that wasn’t true.  They just were just looking for something to complain about.  What the Israelites gathered there didn’t realize was that God heard their complaints against HIM and rejected the complaints.  God had provided for their needs in the wilderness and all they did was complain.  God asked for a few things from them, and the people didn’t like it.   Finally, in the scripture above, God said to Moses… “How long shall this wicked congregation complain (or murmur) against me? I have heard the complaints of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me.”   God saw their complaining as simply a lack of faith and respect.    Ever known someone who seemed to complain all the time, and no matter what you did? You just can't please some people!

            A friend told me the story of a man who was known as a complainer.  He was never happy with anything his friends or his family seemed to do.  He was unbearable in the morning. At breakfast one day and told his wife he wanted two eggs--"one fried, and one scrambled". With no comment, the long-suffering woman cooked each egg to his specifications and then quietly put the plate in front of him. "Oh no!" he groaned, pushing it away. "You've fried the wrong egg!”   It doesn't matter how perfect you are, there are those who will find something wrong with you AND God?

            Please understand: God sees it as disrespectful when we complain about things HE has done.  God sees it as a lack of faith to overlook the blessing and the good in HIS creation and work.   Complaining is a warning that we are not content with what God has done for us.  It is a sign that a person is dissatisfied and/or resentful in their heart and soul.   Wrongfully complaining not only undermines your faith, it hurts your relationship with God.  It can also be contagious.  When a coddled complainer gets their way, lots of others start complaining and pretty soon it’s the biggest complainers who are ever heard.    Then, what do you have?

            Some people have even perfected the art of complaining.  I am reminded of a parable.  A farmer came to town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The proprietor asked where he could find so many frogs.  “I've got a pond at home just full of them,'' the farmer replied. "They drive me crazy night and day."   After they made an agreement for several hundred frogs, the farmer went back home. He came back a week later with two scrawny frogs and a foolish look on his face. ''I guess I was wrong," he stammered. "There were just two frogs in the pond, but they sure were making a lot of noise!"  The next time you hear a lot of noise about how bad things are at church or at work or even at home,  just remember: it may be nothing more than a couple of chronic complainers who have nothing else to do but croak!

            What constant complainers and whiners don’t realize is that complaining can be a sign to God that we are not content with God or following God’s will.  There may come a point when God says, “Enough!”     In the scripture from Numbers, God had enough of the dissatisfied complaining of the Israelites.  In response, God told Moses and Aaron that the complainers were going to suffer for it.  God then used the complaints of the people to determine their punishment!!!   Where the people complained, “Oh, we are going to die out here in the wilderness.”,  God decided to let them die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:31ff).   And for every day the leaders did not see God’s plans for the promised land, God was going to add a year in the wilderness to add to their misery (Numbers 14:34).   God will not be mocked!  "What a man sows, that he also reaps" (Galatians 6:7).  When you complain WRONGLY OR SELFISHLY, God’s anger may be the response for your complaining.

            God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Why do the people complain?  They rebel against me…”  (Jeremiah 2:29)   Psalm 78:56 mentioned how in the wilderness the people rebelled against God; they tested God.  That’s what complainers do; they put God to the test.  In effect, complainers test God’s patience and power.   They are telling God to give more or they will not be happy.  Would you like to say that to God?   Do you see how dangerous complaining can be?

            Complaining is often a by-product of spoiled children or self-indulgent people.  They complain because they have convinced themselves that they are entitled to better treatment.   What is surprising to me is how many parents actually give in to their children’s complaining!   A child walks through the grocery store with mom, saying, “Mom, can I have a candy bar?  I don’t like that cereal as much as this one… let’s get this one (its only twice as expensive!)!"  On and on through the store, he whines,  until mom says, “Here, have this candy bar.  Will that keep you quiet?”  And what has she just taught her son?  Complain long enough and you can manipulate people.   Well, we can’t manipulate God, so what do we expect when we selfishly or wrongfully complain to God?   

  There is a time to complain to God.  When injustice is done, when people are being abused or murdered, complaining about your situation or suffering is right before God (For example, see Exodus 3:9, where the people of Israel cried out under oppression and slavery and God heard and responded).   However, many people complain about not getting their way and it hurts their relationship with God.  If you want to wreck your relationship with God, just go ahead and be a complainer.  It won’t take long before God gives back for your complaints.  Then, who will be to blame? Count your complaints or count your blessings:  which will you do today?

 
March 2

“About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way.(the early name for Christian believers was people of the Way)” 
 ​ (Acts 19:23 RSV)


Some thirty-five years ago, doctors reported some of the dangers of fats in the diet.  They spoke about the relationship between fats and different diseases such as colon cancer, high blood pressure, and various heart conditions.   The American Medical Association issued statements urging people to lower their intake of fat.  Numerous studies were done and many health professionals started to emphasize that people change their diets by taking out butter, which is high in saturated fats.  They urged people to use margarine instead, which has less saturated fat.   Many people jumped on the bandwagon and began to use margarine instead of butter.   But just a few years ago, other scientists found out that margarine has trans-fatty acids which could be worse for your health than saturated fat.  Some nutritionists and health professionals demanded that people shy away from margarine and to use butter instead.   Isn’t it funny how a few experts in the field can get others to change things, then change them again, and before you know it you have gotten all upset, changed your diet and you are back to eating what you were twenty years ago!

                I am constantly amazed how media outlets such as TV and newspapers, internet news and commentaries, talk shows and magazines have made it their job to get people all excited about something.   All stirred up!   On a recent newscast they talked about the important  things to do if you airplane crashes.  They made it sound like a plane crash was likely to happen to anyone.  But the chances of that happening are the equivalent of getting struck by lightning three times.  Yet, they play it up, make it seem such an important life and death issue.

                In the news media recently, I've seen more evidence that publishers like to stir the pot and get people all upset!   One news organization on the east coast is combing for past indiscretions to slur a despised political figure and get his constituents enraged.  In another article, a doctor was arrested for touching patients, so the media outlets make it seem like every doctor is to be suspect for the same thing.   An outbreak of brain-eating bacteria occurred last summer.  An outbreak when only three people got sick?????    There are thousands dying of malaria and dysentery from polluted or tainted drinking water, but the media is worried about a mistake made at the Oscars!   It’s dangerous when things are blown out of proportion.  People can lose perspective when they get caught up in emotional ramblings.   There are those who intentionally try to stir things up.  Too often, we follow blindly along with the crowd, not knowing that we might be so caught up in emotions that we fail to see the forest for the trees.

Our scripture reading for today has an example of people getting caught up in emotion.  Actually, they started a riot.   The reason for the riot and their emotion is given in scripture.  "About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way.”   The scripture tells us that certain Ephesians began to get upset concerning the Way.  The "Way" was the earliest name for Christians.  At the time, a man named Demetrius, a Silversmith who made idols in the city of Ephesus, got upset at the apostle Paul (Acts 19:26).  He was upset that Paul didn’t believe in his god, Artemis.  Paul had stated publicly that faithful people should not worship idols or things made of human hands.  It just so happened that Demetrius made a lot of money making little idols of the Ephesian god Artemis for people to take home and worship.   As people began to believe what the apostle Paul was saying, they gave up their idols to follow our God.  This cost Demetrius in profits.   So, the book of Acts tells us that Demetrius called together other workers who made these idols and said to them….  "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.  And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may count for nothing"  (Acts 19:25-27) The silversmiths got all riled up over it.  They ran through town shouting  to their god and getting the people of the city worked up into a frenzy. They were going to manipulate popular opinion.

In the confusion of this riot, the leaders dragged in two Christian friends of Paul.   The  rioting continued as these Christians were thrown down in front of the crowd and treated poorly, despite the fact that many in the crowd didn’t even know what was going on.  The scripture explains this:  "Now some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. (Acts 19:32)“  This is the danger of a riot or of getting all caught up in the emotions in any time and place.  You might find yourself doing things you normally wouldn’t do as you get fired up in the confusion of the moment.  

A young girl decided she was going out with her friends.  She was sixteen and felt determined that her parents were not going to stop her from going out with her friends.  One Saturday night, she picked up three girlfriends.  They went to a fraternity house at a nearby college campus to see what a party with older guys was like.  They were immediately invited in and given alcohol to drink.  They felt so much older and so much more like women than young girls.  But later, when many at the party were drunk, someone decided that they would all raid the campus bookstore.  The girls went right along with the crowd.  In the ensuing melee, two of the girls were arrested along with others for drunken and disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.  It is so easy to get caught up in what the crowd is doing that you act without thinking of the consequences.  

Back in Ephesus, with the two Christians before an angry mob, things did not look well.  Mob mentality was taking over and who knows, one of the Christians might get killed as a result.  This might have been what some of the leaders wanted.  If the Christians were done away with, maybe that would stop Christians from messing with the silver trade.  Whenever anyone tried to stop the mob, people would shout and yell.  The group was out of control and dangerous.  It was a powder keg looking for a match. 

It is tempting to start rumors and shake people up.  In Middle School, a girl might start a rumor about another girl hoping it blows up as the story is passed around the school.  This way the one girl can damage the reputation of the other. On Facebook, a troll urges a young girl to kill herself, and she is contemplating doing just that.   At the workplace and in churches rumors and gossip cause irreparable harm.  Sensationalistic journalism can goad people into attacking certain groups and organizations.    When you get all caught up in emotions, you can lose perspective and follow the crowd, even if that means committing a sin.  It reminds me of the soccer match in Brazil some years ago.  Somebody set off some fireworks and the fans in the stands thought it was gunshots.  As people ran to get away from the noise, they tripped and fell all over each other.  Several were hospitalized and several killed.  They were trampled to death by the rush of the crowd to get away in the confusion.  

Back in Ephesus, those Christians were in danger.  A mob was essentially holding a trial in a courtyard near where the ruckus occurred.   Who knows what could’ve happened if the town clerk had not come along.   He was the one calm voice in the whole crowd.  He listened to the accusations of the crowd against the Christians.   Then, with the authority due his office, he told the people to take the problem to the courts and not do something rash.  He then told them that the city assembly could also deal with this matter and urged the people to end the riot (See Acts 19:38,39).  He found no cause to justify that commotion.  Finally, the people began to listen to reason.  It’s important for each of us to remember that we, like the town clerk,  may be needed by God to be that calm voice when someone is caught up in the moment and is going to make a dangerous mistake.

A stressed-out single mother was working long hours and trying desperately to take care of her family the best she could.   Pressure from work kept her from sleeping fitfully.  Troubles with one of the children at home made her nights long and difficult.  With these stresses and the lack of sleep, it was inevitable that something would break.  While over to visit her aunt, the woman had an anxiety attack.  She felt that all of her problems were too much to handle.  She started hyperventilating.  She started crying uncontrollably.  She was overwhelmed, with a look of fear in her eyes.  But her aunt gently removed her to a quiet room.  There, she talked quietly but confidently to the stressed-out mother.  The aunt urged her to take deep breaths and rubbed her back.  The two talked through the problems and then prayed.  Only then, did the woman feel some peace coming back into her life.  The firmness  and caring concern of her relative helped this woman cope.   The prayer brought her calm.  God brought peace.

In your life, when emotions are running high, look for the Holy Spirit to attempt to shatter any emotions that stir you up.  If you get riled, look for God’s calm voice to follow.  Don’t follow the crowd or get whipped up in anger or emotional upheavals.  Don't let media and politics and issues and friends use emotions to whip you into a frenzy and manipulate your responses.  Listen for the clear voice of a true friend who knows God.  Be that calm voice of reason in the midst of this insane world we live in.   Don’t let emotions take you down a road where you don’t want to go.  Let God clear your head and calm your mind, otherwise little and big things will push you all over today.   Is that what God wants?

"Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him;  fret not...."  Psalm 37:7 ​
 
March 3

“ Vindicate me, O LORD,  for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.  Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.  For thy steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to thee.”  ​ (Psalm 26:1-3 RSV)


   Integrity is defined in the dictionary as….”A steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.”   A person with integrity will not waver when it comes to moral or ethical decisions.  When faced with a moral dilemma, they will choose the right no matter what the situation.  Their values are firm and faithful.   You can count on them. When the chips are down, they won’t give up their principles.

            IN 2001, a NASCAR crew chief had to make a decision.  There was a small adjustment to the car that could make a big difference. Sure, it was against NASCAR rules, but almost everyone else was doing it. So crew chief Tim Shutt crawled under the No. 20 car of Mike McLaughlin, who raced on the NASCAR Busch circuit, but couldn't bring himself to put the illegal device on the car.

        "Joe Gibbs was adamant that we don't cheat," says Shutt, a relatively new believer who encountered Christ at a Christian retreat for participants in the racing industry. "Most teams figure that as long as you get away with it, it's not cheating.   I said to Mike that morning in practice, 'If we're no good in practice, I'll put this piece—the illegal piece—on. Probably 30 other teams are doing it.'  I was justifying it.  I got up under the car, I got halfway through putting it on, and that verse, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God,' (Matthew 6:33) came flashing in red in front of me, and whoa, that was it. I said, 'I'm leaving this up to you, God.'" Shutt didn't put the piece on the car.   McLaughlin won the race. It was Talladega, one of the biggest races of 2001.  "When we won, the first thing that came to my mind was that verse," Tim says. "God wanted to show himself to me."   (Citation: Victor Lee, Sports Spectrum; reprinted in Men of Integrity May/June 2002)

            It is commonplace to follow the rules when someone is watching you.  Are you the kind of person who will follow the rules or do what is right when nobody is watching?  If you are, then maybe you walk in integrity.  Maybe you are a person of integrity with steadfast values, morals, and ethics.  In today's moral and political climate, this is rare.  Some will do whatever it takes to get ahead.  Not a small amount of people will compromise everything, including their beliefs, to get what they want.

            A two-year study of nearly 9,000 people (more than two-thirds of whom were in high school or college, ages 15 to 30) found significant numbers of students engaged or were willing to engage in lying, cheating and stealing.  "Clearly the youth of today didn't invent cheating, stealing and lying, but they're perfecting it" said Ralph Wexler, vice president of the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics, a non-profit organization based in California that conducted the survey. Here are some of their findings:   More than a third of the students claimed they would lie on an application or resume if necessary to get a job; 16 percent of the high-school group and 18 percent of the college crowd admitted that had already done it.  21 percent of the collegians approved of falsifying a report if needed to keep a job. Of the older group of students, more than a third also said they have lied to bosses.   Also,  33 percent of the high-school group and 14 percent of college students said they shoplifted within the year. 33 percent of high-schoolers and 11 percent of college students also admitted that they had stolen from parents or relatives.  What do you do when nobody is watching?

            Psalm 26 was written by David, King David.  At times in David’s life, he wronged others, but as he aged he learned better.  He learned that you can’t hide things from God.  As he began to be more faithful, he realized that people around him weren’t honest before God.  In fact, they would lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to get ahead.   David vowed to be different.  He felt God was closer to those who could be counted on to be faithful no matter who was watching.  This is what David said in one of his prayers to God…. “I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.   Prove me, O Lord , and try me;  test my heart and mind.   For your steadfast love is before my eyes,  and I walk in faithfulness to you.” (Psalm 26:1-3)  David wanted God to hear what he had learned.   David believed that his faithfulness and integrity were cherished by God. 

            As another example  of integrity from the book of Job, God called the angels to a meeting in heaven.  Guess who came along?  Satan, the fallen angel, visited the gathering!  As God talked to the angels, God said to Satan, “Have you seen my servant Job?  There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” (Job 1:8)  God was proud of Job.  God used Job as an example to Satan and all the other angels.  If you are faithful in character and walk in integrity, God notices.

            An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor.  Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children,  he decided something different.  He called several hundred young people in the kingdom together.   He said, "It is  time for me to step down and choose the next emperor.  I have decided to choose one of you." The youth were shocked, but the emperor continued.  "I am going  to give each  one of you a seed today, one very special seed.  I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what  you have  grown from this one seed.  I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"

            One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others,  received a  seed.  He went home and excitedly told his mother the story.  She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.  Every day he would water it watching to see if it had grown.  After three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds  and the  plants that were beginning to grow.  Ling kept checking his  seed, but  nothing ever grew.  Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by;  still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants,  but Ling didn't  have a plant.  He felt like a failure.  Six months went by with nothing in Ling's pot.  He surmised that he had killed his seed.  Others showed off trees  and tall plants borne from the seeds of the emperor, but he had nothing.  Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however.  He just kept  waiting for  his seed to grow.  A year finally went by and all the youths of  the kingdom  brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.  Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot,  but his  Mother said he must be honest about what happened.  Ling felt  sick to his  stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.  He took his empty pot to the palace. 

            When Ling arrived, he  was amazed at  the variety of plants grown by the other youths.  They were  beautiful in all their shapes and sizes.  Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many  of the other  kids laughed at him.  A few felt sorry for him.  When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young  people.  Ling hid in the back of the room.  "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor.  "Today, one of  you will be  appointed the next emperor!"  All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his  empty pot.  He ordered his guards to bring Ling to the front.  Ling was  terrified.  The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.  He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor!"  Ling could not believe it.  Ling couldn’t even grown one plant.  How could he be the new emperor? Then, the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed.  I  told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it  back to me today.  But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow.  All of you,  except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.  When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.    Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.  Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
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            From this parable, from David’s psalm, from the book of Job, you can see that morals and integrity are rare in this world.  Twice in Psalm 26, David mentions how he walks in his integrity before God (Psalm 26:1,11).  I hope you can say the same thing.  When nobody is watching, how do you act?  If you are a person walking in integrity, just know that God is proud of you.  God knows that a person with true integrity will never throw away their faithful values and morals to please others or to get an advantage in life.  The true Christian is faithful to God, but also to him or herself.   So, do you walk in integrity?  Can others count on you?  Can God trust you, even when others aren’t watching?  What shall a person with true integrity do today?

March 4

“And he (Jesus) called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?  For what can a man give in return for his life?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'”  ​ (Mark 8:34-38 RSV)


 There was a day when Jesus had gotten a little upset at his most outspoken disciple. Peter had done many good things as a disciple. He loved to serve His Lord, to listen to His words, and to accomplish His work. But Peter rejected Jesus claim that he would have to suffer and die rejected by the people. On one occasion, Peter yelled at Jesus for suggesting such a thing (in Mark 8). Jesus replied immediately: "Get behind me, Satan" (Mark 8:33).  Obviously, Jesus was unhappy with Peter's rejection.  He felt Peter and the disciples needed a lesson in true faith.   In the verses written above, Jesus told HIS followers about what was expected of them.

In Mark 8, Jesus told those who seek Him:  “If a man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)   But what exactly does Jesus mean by "deny yourself"? Does that mean we are to quit eating for him, quit working for Him, not to get married, to take up a vow of poverty and loneliness?  Does he mean we should take up a cross literally? Are we to build crosses and carry them wherever we go? One person suggested that is the reason we should all wear a cross necklace. . . to fulfill this command of Jesus to take his cross and follow him. What does this verse really mean? Jesus spent the next four verses explaining what it means to deny one's self to take up a cross and follow Him.
 
First off, Jesus said in  "whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35).  If one is willing to offer one's life for one's faith, that is a sign that one is sincerely taking up a cross and following Jesus. Many people in this world do not offer God their whole lives. Many are lucky if they offer God Christmas and Easter for one hour each day. In what ways do you put your life and faith on the line?

Several years ago, I went to a fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration.   The son of the celebrating couple gave a talk about growing up in a household of love.  He was very happy that his parents had remained faithful for their fifty years of marriage. He noted that in California, where he lived, being married faithfully for ten years is so unusual that people ask you how you have achieved such success in your marriage.  There, a marriage of fifty years is a rare and wonderful thing. In modern times, most people will not marry faithfully. They do not take seriously the wedding vow, "til death do us part". Do they lie intentionally when making those vows?  I really don't think so. But when it comes down to it, they do not hold true to their word, their vow.   They do not give their husband or wife their "whole heart".  There is no better way to feel the peace and security in all of life than to know that you've given God your whole heart, soul mind and strength (Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5), knowing God will take charge of everything else, including eternal life.

Many years ago, the ship known as the Empress of Ireland went down with one hundred and thirty Salvation Army officers on board along with many other passengers. Only twenty-one of those Christian workers' lives were spared - an unusually small number. Some of you might be thinking, "Surely God could have spared the lives of those special ones from death. Didn’t God care about them?"  But the story goes further. Many of the survivors told how those brave people from the Salvation Army, seeing there were not enough life jackets, took off their own and strapped them onto others, saying, "I know Jesus, so I can die without any regrets." Their supreme sacrifice and faithful words set a beautiful example, which for many years has inspired the Salvation Army and its work for God. Millions have come to recognize that real Christians can face death fearlessly, unless they are afraid because they see their life as more important than their faith. Would you offer your life jacket today because you know of a future in heaven?

How many people in our country have offered their lives for the sake of our country and fought in wars to preserve our freedoms?   Now, how many people do you know who have offered their lives for the sake of God and the gospel to preserve the faith? Are you willing? If you are, there are three other things required.

Jesus said further. . . ."For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36)  Rather than denying ourselves, do you desire to get more for yourself, to profit in this world? Things of the world can become more important than anything else in life. What would you sell your soul for?  What is more important in the world than your Lord? A study of Americans found that as a whole, we view four things as more important than God.   The study completed in 1991, found that Americans (including many in our churches) consider 1) family, 2) health, 3) their free time, and 4) close friends as more important than God.  

There is a problem here. Those who will not deny themselves are known to give family, friends, free time, and health more importance than God. Family, health, free time may all pass away. God will not. People have chosen money, power, success, and many other things with which to spend more time and money and devotion than to God.  Would you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow HIM, or deny Jesus to build up your possessions and follow your own selfish desires? Are you willing to bypass the view of success in this world in order to have success in heaven? Therein lies the second requirement for taking up a cross and following our Lord.

A third requirement is also listed. Jesus pressed his disciples and the people further. . ."For what can a man give in return for his life?"  (Mark 8:37)   What can you give God in return for your life? One hour a week? Easter morning? A few hours a month if you have it?  God wants you to give your whole self, not one morning, not a few dollars, not a week at camp or a few hours of Youth work. What will you give? Will you give your Lord all your life so He can decide how and where to spend your time on this earth? God gives you life, will you offer it back to Him?  The third requirement is fulfilled when one gives his or her whole life to God and God's way, thus denying himself or herself and fully trusting the Lord.
 
Finally, Jesus ends with these sharp words:  "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)  When we deny ourselves and begin to follow Christ, our pride is to be offered to God as well. Some are so prideful as to be embarrassed to talk about God or faith in public. They hide the fact they believe.

After his mother died, a man told me that he never knew his mother had much faith. It was only recently that he found his mother’s Bible, worn from use, and a journal in which was kept her close thoughts and prayers to God. He never knew she was very religious. Why is it that some of us never share the faith? Too often, we are embarrassed, ashamed to say publicly that we believe in God. Jesus died publicly, was humiliated and beaten publicly, while we cannot even talk publicly about Jesus to someone who needs to hear of HIM.  In what ways are you ashamed to talk about God? Who around you needs to hear of God, God's love, or God's commandments? To deny one's self and take up a cross and follow our Lord involves never being ashamed or embarrassed of Jesus or His word.

Each of us has a cross to bear, work to do, a faith to keep for Jesus Christ our Lord. Few understand what Jesus really wants of them. Fewer still will choose HIM to be most important in their lives. Only a select few will ever decide to take up the cross and follow HIM.  If you are one of those who will elect to deny and follow, consider Jesus' words in these verses above.   Share the good news of God.   Offer your time and commitment. Finally, offer your life to God to use as HE wills it.  You will find all this difficult, for who said carrying a cross was easy? But you will find that the rewards are out of this world.  By way of parable, if there were a cross and a life preserver presented to you this morning, which one would you pick up, which would you share, and which one would you give away?  Why?


March 5

“He (King Saul) waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.  So Saul said, 'Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.' And he offered the burnt offering.  As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him....  And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which HE commanded you; for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for ever.  But now your kingdom shall not continue; the LORD has sought out a man after HIS own heart; and the LORD has appointed him to be prince over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.'”  ​ (1 Samuel 13:8-10, 13-14 RSV)

 Steve Tran of Westminster , California felt his life was falling apart. As he told neighbors, his bug problem was out of control. Day after day, he found cockroaches had gotten into his kitchen or his living room. After killing one cockroach a day for thirty days, he had enough.  He wouldn't let one more bug live in his house! He went to the store and bought twenty-five bug bombs. He came home and activated them all, then closed up his house nice and tight.  Frighteningly, when the spray from the roach killer bug bomb reached the pilot light of the stove, it ignited.  It blasted his screen door across the street, broke all his windows, and set his furniture ablaze. "I really wanted to kill all of them," he said. "I thought if I used a lot more of the spray, it would last longer." According to the label, just two canisters of the fumigant would have solved Tran's roach problem. He used twenty-five. The blast caused over $10,000 damage to his apartment building. 

Sometimes, life can get totally out of control. A problem may seem bigger than it is, yet our solutions can be worse that the problem itself. We don't like to feel overwhelmed and out of control, yet it's dangerous to attempt to control everything or everyone around us. You may delight in telling others what to do at work.  You may tend to insert yourself into too much of your child's life. A relative may try to dominate conversations. Each time we try to take charge of something we can't control or we attempt to bend others to our will, sin will occur. 

In a small Methodist Church in Ohio, there weren't enough leaders to go around. With only sixty members, they found it easier to let the same president and treasurer govern the church year after year. The treasurer in that church had been in charge of church finances for some forty-eight years! If anything needed to be done in the church, they'd have to ask the treasurer for money. When the pastor 
came to preach, the treasurer wrote out the check. When a committee was formed to decide on building updates, the treasurer told them how much they had to spend. After the treasurer's death in 1957, they had to close the church. They didn't have a soul who could do the financial work for the congregation.  The leaders had trouble figuring out the system the treasurer had used for years. That treasurer had a problem with control. He didn't want anybody to make a mistake with the finances, so he kept control over each dollar. But by not training someone else to take his place, he doomed his own church. By not giving over some of the control of the purse strings, he made it so that the church couldn't get along without him. When he died, the church died. 

There are many individuals who have control issues. You probably know a few. They get upset when they aren't in charge. They panic when all of life isn't in "order". They don't like surprises or conflict, so they control the flow of information. They like things done their way. They grow impatient when everything doesn't work out as planned. Every one of us needs some control in our lives, but these people feel the need to control things and people around them to a dangerous extent. When you want to control too much, you will find yourself fighting against God who is ultimately the one in control. 

In our scripture above, King Saul made a huge mistake in his early years as head of Israel. He gathered an army near Michmash to fight the Philistines. The Philistines had caused many Israelites to suffer and die. Saul felt called by God to do something about it. He gathered the army to fight.  Before the war was to begin,  Samuel the prophet was to make a ritual sacrifice and bless the soldiers in their righteous battle.  As Saul was waiting for Samuel to arrive, he noticed that the Philistine armies were gathering. He heard chariots and men preparing for battle. Saul got anxious; the blessing by Samuel wasn't occurring on time as Saul had planned. Saul became impatient... where was Samuel to bless the troops?

Saul worried that all his best laid plans were falling apart. His time-frame for battle may have to be changed!  Some of his soldiers got cold feet and others grew antsy. Saul felt he was losing control of his men, so he did something he thought was right. Saul called to the men, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." (1 Samuel 13:9) Then, Saul led the religious ceremony.  Though he knew that the prophet Samuel was sent by God to lead the worship and do the blessing, Saul was too impatient to wait. His schedule for battle didn't have time to waste. He didn't have the patience to let the Philistine armies grow. Saul thought everything in the battle plan was falling apart. He was losing control, so he rushed through the blessing and went against God's command.
 
As Saul finished doing the religious ceremony, Samuel arrived. He questioned why Saul didn't wait as God had planned. Then, Saul received the bad news from Samuel. Because he was impatient, because he didn't wait for God's timing, Saul was going to lose his leadership as head of Israel.  The cost of his impatience was great. This feeling that he had to be "in control" haunted Saul all his life. In his latter 
years, Saul could not bear failure. He tried to kill good servants when they wouldn't do what he wanted  when he wanted. He endangered the lives of his men to follow his own plans.  He even went so far as to visit witches who he believed would tell him his future (1 Samuel 28:7ff). Why? Saul wanted to be in control of what was going to happen to him. He became obsessed with control, even control of the future. 

There is a danger in every life when we think we are in control. You can make plans to go on vacation, but a storm could hit while you're there and wreck all your plans. You might begin a savings plan for a child's education only to find out that your child doesn't want to go to college. For decades, a friend saved money for retirement, only to die one month into his retirement. Nobody can be totally in control of life. In fact, it is seen as sinful to believe we can control even what happens tomorrow (see James 4:13ff). God is in control. Saul learned that the hard way. He did not trust that God would send Samuel at the right time. When Samuel was late, Saul went ahead without him. When your plans and works, money and power become threatened by the insecurities of life, you may make the same mistake as Saul. God wants to be in control of your life. God's timetable shouldn't adjust to yours. You must adjust to God. 

Saul didn't want to rely on the prophet Samuel to discern God's will. He wanted to do everything himself. He desired to be both King and religious leader. God sent Samuel to oversee the religious life of the people. Saul had to rely on Samuel to win his battles. In your life, it will be the same. God will put people around you to help you, and make it so that you can't do everything on your own. If you do attempt 
to do everything yourself, you may fail regularly or get stressed out. God gives you others to rely on. You need the patience to wait.  You must adjust your plans and schedules to fit those of God.   You do not have to be in control of everything. That's God's job! God works best when we let go of our desire to control things. 

A mother and her teenage daughter were both artistic, creative, talented free-spirits. The mother always thought they were so close that the daughter could share anything.  While cleaning one morning, the mother found drugs in her daughter's pants. She grounded the girl, yelled at her for hours, and 
forbade her from seeing her friends. Thereafter, for weeks the mother constantly harped on her daughter about drugs. Enduring months of this, the daughter began to resent it. The mother did not quit. She drilled the girl about where she went, who she was with, what they were doing. The mother listened in on phone calls and searched the girl's room regularly. Because of the daughter's mistake, her mother became more and more controlling and judgmental. Slowly, she was driving her daughter away. In fact, the daughter was considering running away, and the mother knew it.

Finally, a friend suggested to the mother that she pray to God about the problem and let God work on her daughter. At first, the mother thought this wasn't enough. She wanted more control over her daughter's life than that. But the friend urged the woman to give it a try. Three weeks into her prayers, the mother noticed a change in her daughter. A few months later, the mother asked the daughter what changed her attitude. The teen said that nothing the mother did ever changed her.  What had changed her was when a friend was in a serious accident due to drugs at a party.  That incident changed her view of drugs and brought home the dangers of her lifestyle.   God used that incident and the mother's prayers to reach the girl. If the mother would not have given over her need to control to God, the girl may never have stayed around to learn the lesson. 

Life is never easy. There are many things beyond your control. Give over the control of some things to God. Take control where you can, but never be controlling. Think twice about times when you want to do something that God wants someone else to do. Beware when you need to "manage things" that don't need your input.   Be wary if you want to exert yourself into another's life or can't give up control of something in your own life. Saul suffered throughout his life because of his sinful desire to be in charge of something that he was never allowed to manage. God expects to be in control of your future.  Don't take that away from HIM. Listen to HIM. HE may change your plans, suggest you back off from overdoing it, help you delegate responsibilities.  Pray about this. Are you too controlling? How much is God in control of your life? How much control have you given over to God for decisions in your life? Saul never worked this out and it wrecked his life. You still have time to be responsible when needed, but to be free to listen and follow as directed.  Will you?  Starting today?


March 6

“And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.  And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD...
      'Seek the LORD and His strength,  seek His presence continually!  Remember the wonderful works that He has done, the wonders He wrought, the judgments He uttered...'"  ​ (1 Chronicles 16:1-2, 11-12 RSV)

On June 6th, 1944, D-Day began.   It was the invasion of Nazi held Europe.  During that one day, 10,000 allies fell to gunfire, and more than 4,000 people died.  One man I know personally described that day as "a living hell".  He was hit by enemy fire just a short time later at St. Lo in France.  He carried in his body the metal fragments and the memories from the mortar that hit him til the day he died.  
 
            There are some who say, "Why remember such a bad day?"   It was a bad day.  Why continue to remember it?  I can ask you: Why do people remember the day of Infamy, Dec. 7th, 1941 and the attack on Pearl Harbor?  Why do people remember where they were standing when they heard about 9/11 or even the day President Kennedy was shot?  Some people can tell you all about how everything looked or felt on a special day.   Why?  Because those events shape us, teach us about life and death, remind us what is worth living for and dying for.  There are times that each of us has to "pause to remember" the good days, the bad days, the memories, the loved one who is gone, the failures and the successes.

            I was talking to a woman who shared with me a memory.   When she was in High School, she and a few friends always played pranks on each other and on their favorite or not so favorite teachers.    Among her favorite memories was the time that several of her friends got up in the morning early and went to a favorite teacher's home.  Being a small town, they knew where she lived.  They jacked up her car on blocks and quickly sped away.  She got up in the morning, and went to get in her car.   She started it and it didn't move.   It couldn't.  None of the wheels were touching ground.   By the time that school day was over, the teacher came home to find all the blocks were removed and she could drive the car.  As the woman shared with me that story, you could see the naughty grin on her face.  You could see her laughing inside all over again.  Then she said, "Those were good days.  Kids didn't do drive by shootings.  There was respect for teachers.  But we had fun.   It's fun to think of that even now."   Memories can be a joy in life.  They tell us where we've been and how we became who we are.  They can remind us that life is a gift of God meant for our learning, our hopes, our dreams, our laughs, and our sorrows.

            On the other hand, there are some memories we'd rather forget.  Thirty years ago, a woman woke to a quiet house.  The sun was shining bright that morning.  The world seemed to hold so much promise.  But as she came down the steps her life forever changed.  She found her husband not breathing in his favorite chair.  He had gone to bed the night before with an upset stomach and feeling drained.   He must have gotten up during the night, so as not to disturb her, and came down to wait out the upset stomach on his favorite chair.  That's when the heart attack hit.  When she saw him, she cried.  She dialed 911 and cried some more.  She waited, hearing the ambulance coming.  But her husband wouldn't come back.   She was a widow from that day until today.   Even though that day was a terrible one, she relives it.  It is burned into her memory.  She can tell you how the room looked.  She can tell you what the morning smelled like in her room.  She can recall in detail every bit of that morning.  She has not forgotten it.  Some days, she wishes she would forget.  The pain is hard to bear.  Not long after her husband died, a friend said to her…. "I'm glad you were there to find your husband.  He would have wanted you to find him, to take care of him.  He knew you'd have helped him if you could.   He died in his home and with the woman he loved."  That brought comfort to her.   Now, as she relives that day, that terrible day, she has comfort in her heart.  She pauses in her mind to see her husband's face at peace.  She smiles as she plays through her mind all the times they laughed, he in his chair and her on the couch crocheting.   Her heart warms as the memories flood her thoughts.

            Memories can be good or bad.  Remembering can be tough to do, or oh so easy.  A person who has been through a trauma, a tragedy, or a death, often doesn't want to remember what happened.  In fact, some people in the midst of a tragedy go numb.   They stop feeling.  Their mind shuts down.  But often, those who go through tragedies are asked by counselors to "remember" the events.  Counselors have found that only by dealing with those memories can a person even hope to be at peace.  In good and bad times, we all must pause to remember, even if it is so that some day we can let go of some pain.

            In 1 Chronicles 16, King David had declared a time of Thanksgiving.  The ark of the covenant, which held the original 10 commandments, was given a special tent (1 Chronicles 16:1).  A place of worship was made. David wanted to use that moment to help the people remember why that Ark was so important so they wouldn't forget why they were celebrating that day. 
 
            David began the celebration of remembrance with singing (1 Chronicles 16:7).   David ordered the court singers to sing about the great and "wonderful works" of God .   David said, "Remember the wonderful works God has done, his miracles and the judgments HE uttered. ….   Remember HIS covenant forever!"(1 Chronicles 16:12)  On that day of celebration,  David urged the people over and over to pause and "remember" or to "tell of God's deeds" (1 Chronicles 16:9, 24).

            We are told the wise saying, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it."  Pausing to remember is so important.  King David wanted the people to remember all that God had done for them.  The people probably thought back to the parting of the Red Sea, the fire on Mt. Sinai, the stories of the plagues in Egypt and the Exodus.  They remembered, so that all God had done could be praised and recounted.

            There are times, we too need to remember.  If we forget what we have learned through mistakes the past, we are doomed to repeat the error.   When in prison, its important that the prisoner remember what he or she has done so they don't do it again.   When growing up, a child must remember mom's warnings, so he doesn't stick his finger in a power socket and be thrown across the room!   It is good to remember what it was like to grow up, especially when you see your own kids going through a tough time of growing up themselves.  It helps to remember what helped or hurt your marriage so that you can help that friend who is having problems in her marriage.  Remembering is a way we can look to the past in order to live in the present and for the future.

            But this caution I give to you.   When I say, "pause to remember", the danger is that you stay too long in memory.  There is such a thing as remembering too much.  Some people live in the past.  They never move beyond a failure, they relive bad decisions or terrible moments in life over and over.  God wants you to "pause to remember", not live in the past or dwell on past failures or problems.  God wants you to remember the valuable lessons.  God wants you to offer HIM things you regret.  I hope you read the scripture above,  and remember the many times God was with you. I hope you do not forget those events and people and holy moments that shaped your life.  What memories are still hard for you?  Who, from your past, has helped shaped your life?  How was God in those good and bad moments of your life?

March 7

“So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander.  Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation;  for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.  Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious;  and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  ​ (1 Peter 2:1-5 RSV)

 A mother wrote:  "As our pastor's sermon stretched on, my daughter grew impatient and started to talk.   'Shh,' mother whispered. 'I want to hear the sermon.' Later that week, the family saw their pastor while shopping. The mother exchanged greetings, and as the family walked away, she asked her daughter, 'Do you know who that was?'  'Sure,' the girl replied. 'That was the Sermon.'"(-Today's Christian Woman, May/June 1992. p.31)   In a way, all mature Christians are walking, talking sermons.  We preach a lot, whether we like it or not.  I'm not here today just to tell you that you are an example of Christ, and that you preach about God wherever you go.  I'm here to tell you that if you are a true and mature Christian, you are priests and pastors of a sort.

            If I asked you, "What is a minister like?", some of you might say "He wears a suit."  He preaches from the pulpit on Sundays.  He does weddings and funerals.  Or " It's a man or woman who is chosen by God to watch out for people."   All these answers are correct.  But, there is one element that is missing.  Every single true Christian is a pastor and a priest.  You are in the ministry.    Don't believe me?   Look at the scripture above.

            In Peter's first letter to the church, he talked about how Christians should live.   As a disciple himself, Peter knew what it was like to be a follower of Jesus.  He followed Jesus most of his adult life.  He went from being a fisherman, to fishing after souls.  He knew what it was like to have God pull you from fishing nets and have you speak to others about the faith.   In this first letter of Peter, the apostle calls Christians living stones in a spiritual house(1 Peter 2:5), and living blocks in the church.   Later, he writes that Christians are  "a holy priesthood".   In fact, twice in 1 Peter 2:1-10 Christians are actually called priests.   And what is the priesthood?  Is that when you go to seminary and become ordained by the denomination?  No. He is not speaking of special ordained ministries alone.  He is talking about lay ministry and ordained ministry, a priesthood of all believers.  To Peter, as a mature true Christian, you are a priest.  You make "spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2:5)  You are a member of God's leaders.  God has placed His Holy Spirit in your soul to do His work.

            What surprises me is how many Christians think they aren't in a priesthood.  They think pastors save souls, but lay people do not.  They think, pastors are the only ones who heal people, who pray for the church, who visit perspective church members or pray with those who are dying.  If this is your idea of priesthood, you got it all wrong.  According to Jesus' most important disciple, the one who was called the rock of the church, each and every Christian is a type of priest, called by God to minister.

            So, dare I say, "How are you doing as a pastor?"  Yes, you are pastors.  Teachers in a Sunday school should know that they are pastors over their children in their class.  Their class is a little church.  They are responsible for the spiritual growth of their little flock. If you are youth leader, the youth are your flock, and you are their shepherd.  If you are a an elder or deacon or deaconess or committee member, the congregation is your flock.  If it grows, it is partly because of your ministry.  If there is strife, it is partly due to your leadership.    How are you doing in your ministry?  If your group fails, it is partly your responsibility.  If you are in the women's group, everything that group does is part of your ministry, and you are responsible to God for that group.   Everyone who reaches out, who prays for others, who does something in the name of Jesus is a lay pastor, a lay minister, a lay priest or a special ordained priest.  Every one.  And dare I ask you, "How is your flock doing spiritually, today?" 

            God expects mature Christians like you to minister to others.  God will give you people to minister to, without exception.  Every true Christian will have to look out for others.  Every true Christian has a flock.  God holds you responsible for those to whom you are sent.  They are your church.  You all are part of the priesthood of all believers.   If you have children and you are a Christian, those children are part of your responsibility.  God holds you as one of their pastors.   From people who live with you to people you see at worship, all are part of the flock that God holds you accountable for.  If they grow spiritually, you are blessed. If they are in trouble, God will send you to them.

            John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, had a student named Tommy in his "Theology of Faith Class".  Tommy had long hair, hanging six inches below his shoulders.   Dr. Powell did not like Tommy's rebel look, nor his rebel attitude.  He once told a friend that he filed Tommy under 'S' for strange, very strange.  Tommy turned out to be Dr. Powell's toughest student.  He was admittedly the "atheist in residence" in the "Theology of Faith" course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. He complained to anyone who talked about God as lacking backbone.  When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he had a smirk on his face.  He turned to Dr. Powell and asked in a slightly cynical tone, "Do you think I'll ever find God?" Dr. Powell looked at him straight in the eye and felt as if God wanted him to say something shocking, so Dr. Powell said,  "No!  I don't ever think you'll ever find God. " Tommy responded, "Oh, I thought God was the product you were pushing."  Then, Dr. Powell finished what he was saying by stating, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!"  And God did find Tommy.  Some years later, when dying of Terminal Cancer, Tommy found his professor in his office.  All Tommy said when he saw Dr. Powell was, "He found me."  The two both knew what he meant.  Professor Powell didn't need to be reminded of what he said.  And Tommy knew Prof.  Powell would remember that promise he gave to a student who didn’t' know any better.  God would find him.  And God did.

            Prof. Powell knew what I'm telling you today.  Dr. Powell is a minister for God.  He may teach at a university in Chicago, but he is a minister for God.   He has his own flock.  Like it or not, Dr. Powell was given Tommy to minister to, to care for, to pray for, and to help see God.   If you are a teacher in the public schools, you minister for God among your students.  If you work on an assembly line, God will speak through you to others there.  If you work for the city, the members of that community are part of your fold.   You will answer for those you watch over.. every one of you....because, every one of you has a ministry… if you have made promises to God.

           Moses stuttered.  David's armor didn't fit.  John Mark deserted Paul. Timothy had ulcers.  Hosea's wife was a prostitute.  Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.  Jacob was a liar. Peter was afraid. Gideon and Thomas both doubted God. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Elijah was burned out.  But God used them all.  God gave them people to reach out to.  God gave them each a flock of others who needed their spiritual strength.  God will do the same with you.  Deny it if you must, but God has already given each of you a flock to care for, if you are a true Christian.  God wants you to speak to them, minister to them, be a servant to them, and nurture their faith.  You are part of a priesthood.  A holy and precious faith.  How good of a minister are you, anyway?

            Peter told Christians they are all in a priesthood.  With true faith comes a flock.  Who does God have in your flock?  Some of you will minister to children.  Others will minister to ladies, or men, or people who are sick, or to a choir, in a jail, to a friend in the church, to a person on the assembly line next to them, to someone crying at a family gathering, to a partner on the job or to a stranger far from home.  Some of you will even minister to me.   That's what it means to be in the faith of Jesus Christ.   Every one of us is responsible to God and for others.

            So, how's your flock doing?  Do they see your faith?   Are they excited about God, because of your passion for God? Are they growing or dying on the vine?  You are a lay or ordained pastor.  You have a priesthood from God.  Others look at you for faith, for strength in difficult times.  You may have to visit people to be faithful to God.  You may have to look out for others, tell of your faith, pray for healing.  Are the sheep in your fold being fed or starving spiritually because of you?  God wants to work through you.  How well do  you let HIM?

March 8

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."  ​ (Matthew 7:1–5 (NIV84))


  Jesus,in the scripture above, gave some of what later became known as Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7). This sermon on the mount contains a message Jesus wanted His followers to hear; they are His teachings to those who want to be His disciples. As people who strive to be His disciples, we must listen to the master as he teaches not only his disciples 2000 years ago, but each of us who want to be good disciples of His today.

Our scripture reading above begins with a very familiar statement: "Judge not, that you be not judged." (Matthew 7:1)  Over the centuries, people have seen fit to take these words to mean, "Don't ever judge anyone for anything. Don't ever pronounce anything a sin, or you will be judged for it. Don't ever tell anyone they might be sinning, because otherwise you will be going to hell for it.  Or, don’t ever tell anyone anything is wrong, because you will be judging them and their ways…and who are you to judge?"  This isnot what Jesus intended by these words. If you study Jesus' words on judging here and in the rest of the New Testament, you will see that Jesus meant, "Don't judge another for doing what you do.” 

Jesus next words clarify this interpretation...  "...For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get."  (Matthew 7:2)  Jesus words make clear that you are judged by your own judgments…. Don’t look down on another person for doing something wrong in their life when you do something similar in your own.  If you drink heavily, who are you to look down on another person by calling that person a lush?  Judge not, lest ye be judged.  Do you size another person up by what he or she wears but get angry when others look down upon you for how you look?  Judge not lest ye be judged.   Are you the kind to make fun of another because they do a certain kind of work, but get angry when people tell jokes about your profession?  Do you think to yourself, “What is that person doing in church after what she’s done….?”, ignoring all the things you’ve done against God and others in your life?  Judge not, lest ye be judged.  Are you quick to criticize another for not completing something, but find that you too need help completing some things in your life?  Judge not, lest ye be judged.   Jesus ' command to "Judge Not" does not mean . . don't say anything negative or challenging ever. Jesus did!  Paul did!  Prophets and religious people throughout the Bible often did just that at the request of God.   Jesus' command means, "Say and do what God wills, but make sure and live up to those standards and words yourself."   There's nothing worse than a person who tells others to have more faith when the person him or herself has doubts about what to believe. By your own words, you are judged. You should know better, but sometimes you are just blind to your own sins and judgments.

I remember one counseling session. The man wasn't listening to his wife. He seldom showed her the love she wanted. The wife was always bitter about this. She did little things that drove him crazy. Finally, I told them to quit hurting each other and treat each other as God would want. I told them what they were doing was destroying their marriage (Notice that I made a judgment!). The wife started to cry. The husband got angry at me. The wife agreed with him. They left my office.  It was easier for them to get angry at me than stop beating on each other. Come to think of it, they never did patch things up. They went from counselor to counselor. When they didn't hear what they wanted, they moved to another counselor. Their marriage ended that same year.

It's not just in a marriage that you can miss seeing your own failings and make wrong judgments, a country can do that as easily.  A country might judge a certain group, without even seeing problems in itself. During  the Korean war, America sought to fight for the independence of the Korean people. Leaders spoke of the need for people to be free. Our leaders spoke of America as the bearer of freedom for the world. And yet, while we were fighting Korea to free those people, a black woman was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man in this country. Now, let me draw the picture for you. We're over in Asia as the messengers of freedom, while some of our own people are not allowed basic freedoms because of their skin color. Looking back at this period of history, it seems hypocritical. Then again, we are often blind to our own sin and err in judgment.
 
Jesus went on to say "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, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."  These words are clearly showing that before you judge another person, give them advice, look negatively upon their choices, notice your attitude and look for hypocrisy on your thoughts.  Those very thoughts could be sinful.  That's what Jesus is getting at here. The real meaning of Jesus ' words are not to ever judge a situation or advise someone to straighten up the messes in life. Otherwise pastors would be guilty of condemnation in every counseling session. There, I must assess and judge a person's life or marriage or relationship with God and see how God and the scriptures can speak to the person. I must judge where they are in their spiritual life and if sin has a hold. Jesus needs me to do that with others and to myself.  Righteous judging isn't what's evil. It's judging when you are a hypocrite who should keep his or her mouth shut! The punishment you wish upon another person may be your own punishment.  The way you look down on others may be how God looks negatively upon you.

The Pharisees judged Jesus. They chastised Jesus for eating and visiting with "tax collectors and sinners" (Luke 5:30). They noted that he didn't come from a good family. Matthew 13 tells how the Pharisees looked down upon Jesus coming from a poor family of low status :  "Is not this the carpenter's son'? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"   And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this? And they took offense at him." (Matthew 13:55-57)  The Pharisees couldn't get past their own elitism to see Jesus as the Son of God. They frowned upon Jesus for coming from a family of "nobodies" and not nobility.   He didn’t go to all the good schools.  He didn’t study under the "good" teachers.  And thus, they looked down upon him, not realizing their own sin in the way they judged him.  While they were critical of his wisdom, they didn’t even realize God was critical of their own teaching and wisdom.

Every time I give a sermon, I judge myself by its words. I judge how I am living, my relationship with God. I take my sermon very seriously, and I take God's word very seriously.  As a person in relationship with Christ, you need to take Jesus command here seriously. It doesn't say you must not judge, but with your judgments, you will be judged. When you judge another person by gossiping, you better be ready to give a reckoning for your own self. You better realize that when you have a feeling about another person, good or bad, by your judgment of them, you are judged.  

One Sunday, I was greeting people after worship. A man through first and said, “Pastor, I heard you can’t find a person to serve on the budget committee.  What’s wrong, can’t find enough perfect people to fill the positions?!!!”  He laughed smugly.   As he stepped toward the door, his wife, overhearing what was said, turned an embarrassed shade of red.  She walked up to me and said so all could hear….”Don’t let his words get to you, pastor.  I know you have a hard time finding good committee members, and he should criticize!  He can’t even find his hair piece in the morning."  With that she walked off as snickers filled the back aisles of the church.

Take a careful check on what is going on in your life. With each situation, as you contemplate it, be careful how you make your judgments. You will be judged by them. In the end, God is the final judge. Our own judgments are always tested by Him, remembering that "the measure you give will be the measure you get back."  Our world needs people who can judge righteously.  Our world needs people to point out sin and how to find redemption.  You and I need people to correct us when we are walking down a wrong path in life.   Just remember to make your judgments and decisions and opinions about life through God's eyes and for God's purpose.   Are you hypocritical in any judgment?  Do you view others through a critical eye?  Do you lack mercy and forgiveness, or grace?  Does God need you to make a judgment or statement for HIM today? What situation needs your unbiased judgment today?

March 9

“And He (Jesus) said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.' And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And he said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.'  And He came and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, 'Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'  And again He went away and prayed, saying the same words.  And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him.  And He came the third time, and said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.'" 
 ​ (Mark 14:34-42)

 A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way back from the
sanctuary after a worship service, "Kids, why is it necessary to be quiet In church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

 Now, even though some people might fall asleep during a sermon, I'm writing today about another kind of sleeping: Spiritual Sleep. It's when your spiritual life is in limbo, numb, silent. You wouldn't notice Jesus Christ walking into your church. You are bored by the same old songs, teased into sleep as your mind wanders during the sermons, and find yourself coming to church because you are "supposed to" or because it is what you are used to, or its because you feel its your duty.  I think you'll agree that some folks are sleeping spiritually in church all the time! In fact, a few of us might be accused of spiritual sleep-walking. It's like people are spiritual zombies staring off into space, zoning out when they sit in a pew.

     On the night before Jesus died, HE left the Upper Room with his disciples and walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, a part of the Mt. of Olives. It was a more quiet, restful place. The trees caused the ground to be cool and after a wonderful Passover celebration with Jesus, the disciples were tempted to drop to the ground and sleep off the great meal with all its memories. But the disciples had heard some omens from Jesus that day and in past months. He said a few weeks before that the Son of man must go to Jerusalem and be handed over (Matthew 26:2). He warned about those who did test him (Mark 8:11).  He spoke about giving up a life for friends (John 15:13). All these were warning signs to the disciples. Even at dinner, Jesus mentioned that one of the disciples would betray him and another would deny him (Mark 14:13). The disciples probably thought that they had many years left with Jesus.  They might have sought comfort that it was a holy time in Jerusalem and violence would be far away.  The disciples had seen many miracles and healings performed by Jesus.  They knew God the Father was close to Jesus and to them.  How could anything bad happen?    
       
   After their dinner, when the disciples went into the Garden, Jesus said, "Sit here, while I pray" (Mark 14:32). Jesus knew his time was short. He even took three disciples aside and said, "Keep watch" (Mark 14:34). When a religious leader in those days said to you, "I'm going to pray. Keep watch." that was code for... "I need you to pray and be near me.  Something may happen." Jesus went off to pray. A while later, he came back and found the disciples sleeping. He woke them and told them to keep awake and told them to pray so that they may not fail during the upcoming trial of faith. Jesus went off to pray again.  Coming back a little while later, he found them sleeping a second time. On that very important night, the night Jesus was to be arrested, the night he was going to be betrayed and denied three times, the day before his crucifixion... the disciples weren't praying.  They were sleeping. A third time, Jesus found them sleeping but it was too late. Judas and the soldiers were there to betray Jesus.  You can't say Jesus didn't warn the disciples. You can't say Jesus didn't try to prepare them for their imminent spiritual trial. Yet, when it came down to that crucial moment, Jesus best disciples were sleeping on the job.  And sometimes we're doing the same thing.

       In 1957, a hard-working guy was coming home from a long twelve hour work shift.  On the way home, he thought he'd take the edge off and had just one beer at the neighborhood bar.  He spent an hour talking and laughing with friends.  Later,  as he drove home, he started to nod off.  He failed to see a stop sign, and plowed right into a car with a young couple heading to the hospital.  The wife in that car was pregnant and about to give birth. Because of the accident, the baby didn't make it and the mother was seriously injured.  Jerry's momentary nap in his car changed everything in that family's life and in his own life.  He was never the same guy.  He went through depression and drinking spells.  His own neighbors resented him for what he had done.  People whispered behind his back.  Jerry's best friend was at the bar that day and saw how tired Jerry was, but said nothing.  He did nothing.  Between his not offering to drive Jerry home, and Jerry's little nap behind the wheel, everything went wrong.  That's exactly the danger with falling asleep at the wheel in life.  When we get lulled into a false sense of security, when we don't think at the right time, when we take bad shortcuts, when we procrastinate, when we don't say something or do something we really should, we miss the opportunities in life to do what is right or what is needed or what God wants.  You might think," I  have lots of time to do that."  You might say,  "I'll get around to that some day."  You might tell yourself, " I'd like to do that for God."   Still,  its so very easy to  wait and forget and then sometimes... it's too late. 

    And it was too late for the disciples. When Jesus woke them the third time, Judas and the soldiers had already arrived. The disciples didn't even see them coming. That's precisely it. While we are spiritually sleeping, we don't see Satan doing his best. Satan stays awake all night trying to get us. He doesn't give up. He puts in all his energy to mess up God's plans, while we can be asleep at the wheel of faith.

            When the unsinkable Titanic sank, warning after warning had been sent to tell the captain and crew of the Titanic that they were speeding into an ice-field. But the messages were ignored. In fact, when a nearby ship sent an urgent warning about icebergs, the Titanic wireless operators were sending messages to Cape Race about when chauffeurs were to meet arriving passengers at the dock, and what meal menus and docking arrangements were upcoming. Preoccupied with trivia, the radio operators responded to the warning about ice sending this message: "Shut up. I am taking to Cape Race. You are jamming my signals." And they sailed on to death.

    In the same way, we can ignore warning signs while spiritually sleep-walking. A friend is no longer attending church. He used to come all the time. It's a warning... something is spiritually wrong.  A husband and wife hardly look at each other. You can see on their faces that something is awry in the marriage. A friend seems down and withdrawn. She seems depressed. You might think about saying something or being there for her, but there's a deadline at work. You don't say anything. And then one night there is news that she committed suicide.  A daughter seems to spend a lot of time with a friend. They are close; a little too secretive those two. You think about it. You file it away. You just missed a chance to stop your daughter from taking drugs.

    There are many ways to be asleep at the wheel spiritually. You can have a boring relationship with God. You can be so caught up with yourself or so busy that you don't notice what is going on around you. You can even do good things... too often. You don't take time to pray and though God is showing you warnings, you don't have time to see them.. too much to do... too little time for God.

   The disciples let Jesus down. They didn't pray. They didn't follow Jesus' directions. They were sleeping on the job. In every church, in every life, there is the same danger. You can be idling along and not even be aware of spiritual warnings sent from God.  Your chance to help passes.  

Jesus was arrested that night, just as the disciples woke up.  He was betrayed with a kiss while the disciples were just wiping away the sleep from their eyes.  Jesus was awake and praying at this crucial moment in history. The disciples were not.  Now, how about you? Will you  wake up and smell the roses? Are you not doing something in your life that you know God wants you to do? Are you going through the motions with something or someone?  Are you spiritually sleep walking, too?

I end this meditation with some words from Rev. R. G. Lee....
If all SLEEPING folks would WAKE UP; And all LUKEWARM would FIRE UP.
And all the DISGRUNTLED would SWEETEN UP. And all the DISCOURAGED would CHEER UP. And all the DISTRESSED would LOOK UP. And all the ESTRANGED would MAKE UP. And all the
GOSSIPERS would SHUT UP. Then there might just come a true revival in faith.  

March 10

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"  ​ (Matthew 7:21–23 NIV84)

The night in which Jesus was betrayed, handed over to the authorities,   Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." (Mark 14:31) All the other disciples said the same.  A mere twenty verses later, the scripture tells us in Mark 14:50 that everyone deserted Jesus and fled.    Jesus told his disciple, Simon Peter...  "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."  (Luke 22:31-33)  Peter's response was: "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Peter declared in front of all the other disciples,  “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." (Matthew 26:33) Yet on that night, Peter denied Jesus three times.

What we have exhibited by the disciples in scripture can happen to you.  You can feel so close to God, but do something so wrong. You can be a good Christian, but think such terrible thoughts.  You can want to do good, but have a life that is not right.  A young woman once told me that when things go wrong in her life and she starts denying her faith, not spending time with God or making time for holy things, that her “evil twin is at it again.”   God wants us to be faithful, but the fact is not all people are faithful all the time.  Maybe we all have that evil twin inside us.  Sometimes, we tell others what is right for their lives but do not do this in our own lives. We may act religious when we know its not true.  Do you act Christian?  Or do you live and work like one?

The danger in every life is that we fall away, that we find other worldly things to occupy our lives, that we say we are Christian when in reality we are not true to God.   We pray to a God who wants us to be faithful and have our priorities straight, but we might not.  We tell ourselves we are faithful when we really are not.  I’ve met with many people who experienced a closeness with God at one time in life, but that flame of faith flickered out.  They used to go to church, used to help at a soup kitchen, used to come every Sunday, used to desire worship. In a recent Barna Research poll, it was stated that 96% of people in the U. S. believe in God. When asked how many of these worship regularly, the figure was between 40 and 50%. Half of those who say they believe in God, don’t go about doing what a person of God does... they don’t worship.  They won’t be found doing God’s work either.  

This is where our scripture begins for today.  It calls each of us to examine ourselves and see if we are those who say we believe in God, but when it comes down to it, we really don’t know much about God because we don’t do much in God's name... "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"(Matthew 7:21-23)  Notice in these verses that the ones who did not live out their faith cried “Lord, Lord.”  They actually believed in God, but they didn’t do anything serious about it.  They couldn’t be found doing the work of God.  When God needed them to do something, they were Christian in name only.  They were acting the part.

    A young man recently was overheard talking about his father.  His father promised to watch his baseball game after school, but he never arrived.  Then, when the family was supposed to go out together for the evening, he worked late and the family went out without him.  After a few more events when the father was either too late, missing, or the family just didn’t know where he was, the young man said to his friends, “The man previously known as my father is not home tonight again.”  Your family knows when you aren’t around, when you aren’t responsible, when you don’t have time to do much.  Is God any different?

    In the scripture above, the Day of Judgement has come.  Any number of people faced judgment using God’s name. “Lord, Lord,”  they cried out.  But God knew that when they were needed on earth, when they were needed to share their faith or to share their money or to give of their time to the Lord, they couldn’t be found.  The Lord couldn’t trust them on earth, so there was no chance for them to get into heaven.  They thought they knew the Lord, but they didn’t live for the Lord.  Jesus thus gives a warning to us, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Not he who knows about the will of God, but he who does it!

            Throughout scripture, we are given promises by God.  There are promises that God will hear our prayers, be with us in life, be in our hearts, and give us eternal life.  This scripture reminds us that for God to give us all these blessings, we have to do our part.  Just like a marriage needs two people to make it work, heaven requires the same.  God does His part.  You have to do yours.   Just saying God’s name at the right time and in the right place doesn’t cut it.  You have to live out God’s will in your life to receive all the blessings God has for you.  You have to hold on to God through the good and bad times of life in order for God to see He truly is your Lord.  Before God will truly commit to hear you prayers, to deal with your stresses, to comfort you or to help you,  God is wants to see if you are truly committed to him.  My firm belief is that sometimes God doesn’t help someone, because they won’t give over their life or their heart totally to their Lord.   They won’t let God call the shots, so God doesn’t get involved. 

            A new boy in town was walking to school.  It was the second week of school.  He missed his old home, his old neighborhood, his own friends.  As he was walking, a boy from his class jumped out at him from a bush.  Behind him were three other boys.  The leader told the new boy in class to hand over his lunch money or they were going to beat him up.  Reluctantly, the boy gave up his lunch money.  This went on for over a week, when the boy finally told his mother.  On the very next day, the mother tailed her son on the way to school and found the boys picking on him again.  She hollered from a few houses back, “Johnny Draper, is that you?  What are you doing?  I’m calling your father.  Don’t you ever do this again.  And you, too, Steven Northlund.  Or you, Billy Holland.”   The reason that the mother knew all the boy’s names was that they just happened to be members of the youth choir in their rather large church.  The mother had met them a few weeks before.  Now, you have to wonder how it looks for "faithful" kids to sing in church on Sunday, and go threatening and stealing during the week???  It not only makes the boys look like hypocrites, but their God look rather foolish for choosing such believers!  God wants us to live like we believe in Him.  

I love seeing people who truly live out their faith.  When I see friends in Christ giving grace and love and sharing, when I see them hugging another or asking about a visitor, or calling on someone who’s been missing, I truly love it.  Obviously, based on this scripture, God does too!   If God needs something done, don't procrastinate.  If you know God needs you to be a leader, don't be afraid to step up.  If you know God’s wants you to help the needy more, don't walk away from the opportunity. You might find God doesn’t like being called YOUR Lord if you won’t act like he truly is your Lord. 

Those who had failed to live out their faith are told by the Lord in Heaven,  “'I never knew you. Away from me.”   All God desires is that you have a relationship of trust and truth with Him.  That you know HIM and do what HE needs you to do.   God wants you to follow Him.  He doesn’t want to follow you!    I’ve seen couples who could finish each others’ sentences.  They knew each other that well.  Do you know God that well?  What would a marriage be if you said, "I love you!" but never ever showed it?  How would you feel if your best friend never did anything for you, though he bragged about your friendship?  Would he really be your friend?  God is not only listening to your words of faith in prayer and worship, God is watching to see how you live that faith out.  Today, you need to examine if you are a Christian in name only.  Are you DOING what your Lord needs you to do?


March 11

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'  And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,  and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me..'"  ​ (Matthew 18:1-5 RSV)

A Sunday School teacher was in the process of teaching the Ten Commandments to her third grade class.  She noted: "We have learned the commandment, 'Honor thy father and mother.' Is there one that refers to brothers and sisters?" A little girl raised her hand and the teacher said, “Betsy is there a commandment that relates to brothers and sisters?”  Little Betsy responded, "Yes,Thou shalt not kill!"  (Homemade, Vol 16:1, January 1992)

Children are a joy.  They are, at times, like little adults.  At other times, you can bask in their wonder and awe of life.  However, they can also drive you crazy when they get tantrums, moods, or bad ideas.  I have found, however, that how a child is treated by the church shows what kind of church you have.

A pastor told me a number of years ago that in his church, they didn’t like children in the Adult areas of the Christian Education Wing.  They put ivory colored carpeting in the Adult Sunday school areas and found that children playing outside the church in the parking lot sometimes tracked in gravel, mud, and leaves.  After a few complaints, they made an unwritten rule that children are not to come up to the adult areas of that church building.  Is it no surprise that in that congregation, the Sunday School attendance has dropped 50% in twenty years?   In another church I've been in, parents with little children are asked to sit outside the sanctuary in a sound-proof room.  People don’t want them to bother others in worship.  I wonder if that church has places for others who are a bother in worship?

If you’ve ever been in a dying church, there is one thing that you will notice: an absence of children.  I’ve been in dying churches where there was never a child’s cry, a baby’s babbling, or a youngster’s doodles.  I sorely missed them.  Worship was too quiet.  Children are a great reminder that we all need God, we need to grow, we make mistakes, and we need to trust those who God puts over us.

When Jesus was traveling with his disciples, some mothers gathered near Him.  They had their children along.  The mothers wanted the children to hear and see Jesus, maybe even to be blessed by Him.  One mother asked a disciple if her child could see Jesus, and the disciple said “NO.”  Jesus was a busy teacher.  He had many things to teach all of Israel.  The disciple thought that Jesus didn’t have time for children, but he was wrong.  Jesus spoke sternly to the disciple, “Let the children come to me.  Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”(Matthew 19:14) Then, Jesus lifted up those children in his arms and blessed them.
​
Jesus didn’t have troubles with children.  He didn’t mind blessing them.  He made time for them.  In another scripture written above, the disciples ask Jesus, “,Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1)  I’ll bet the disciples thought Jesus might say “Moses”, “Elijah”, or “Isaiah.”  Instead, Jesus did something unexpected.  He called over a little child who was near to him.  He had the child stand with the disciples.  Jesus then said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:3-4)    This action of Jesus must have shocked the disciples.  It still shocks me.  Children are often overlooked.  But here, the greatest in heaven are compared to little children.  What is it that Jesus saw in children that made them so heavenly?  Is it that the children are young?  Probably not.  Is it that children make mistakes?  Probably not.  I believe that what Jesus saw in children are their greatest qualities.  They are trusting.  They learn and adapt.  They are willing to accept things on faith.

Mildred Clayton tells this story.  “My daughter-in-law was talking on the telephone to a friend, who asked for prayer. My five-year-old granddaughter, Amy, came bouncing into the room, stood still for a moment to listen, and heard her mother praying.  "Is that God on the phone?" Amy asked excitedly. "I need to talk to him, too!"  A child has no problem believing that God can be on a phone, in your room, invisible, or be all- powerful.  Children are a trusting sort, unless they’ve been taught differently, abused or hurt.

In Medellin, Columbia, the home base for the billionaire drug barons of Columbia, their most vicious weapons are the cicarios.  Cicarios are hired assassins, who with shotguns and pistols and ice picks, have killed presidential candidates and judges.  They have killed a newspaper publisher and an attorney general and assorted army and at least forty police officials. The cicarios, hired assassins, are often children recruited as young as six and trained to be professional killers by age fourteen.

       Jesus had nothing good to say about those who do hurtful things to children.  Jesus believed, in fact, that children should be nurtured, disciplined, and loved.   Those who hurt children deserve no mercy, as Jesus said in Matthew 19:5-7: “whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”   To consider hurting a child, manipulating a child, or abusing a child is out of the question for Jesus.

 It has been a terrible time for children of our world.  We call these days, modern times, but I’m wondering if we’ve become more barbaric.  Our schools have to put up school zone signs to keep drug dealers and pedophiles away.  Some schools have to have metal detectors to protect youth.  Because of children being taken from schools and disappearing with disgruntled parents or relatives, schools will only release a child to a parent with valid ID.  Background checks must be on file for every teacher before they are hired. There are stories of kidnapping and molestation of children almost weekly.  It’s sick.  Jesus compared the greatest in heaven to a child.  Sick people have made children’s lives a living, nightmarish hell.

            If Jesus compared heaven to children, we must all do our part to make our children safe.  We must look out for each other’s children.  We must protect our children.  We must teach them, discipline them, and especially love them.  They must have safe places to learn about God.  You can’t have priests touching children inappropriately.  I’ve been ashamed by the cover-ups of abusers in the Catholic Church and other denominations.  Do what’s right by God! Yet, while the news media scours for stories about all the abusing priests (who make up such a small percentage of all the priests worldwide!), very little is mentioned of the 800,000 cases of missing children in the US each year.   Jesus takes special notice what happens to children in His houses of worship.  He watches who cares for them and who is bothered by them.  

   You might be bothered by a baby crying in your pew during worship.  You might not like when kids make a mess.  All children need special instruction and a little more time and patience to learn, but they are worth it.  Jesus saw little ones as signs of the Kingdom.  You must as well. 

 A grandmother proudly told her 8-year-old granddaughter about her Bible and why it was worn.  The woman said, “I’ve been  reading my Bible and attending Bible class for almost 50 years!”  The little girl looked sympathetically at grandma and patted her hand.  "Don't worry, Grandma," she said. "Maybe this year you'll pass."  A sign of God’s Kingdom can be found in innocent children.  Don’t miss what Jesus is trying to teach us here.  Don’t forget to make a place for children.  Remember, they are a sign of the Kingdom, and must be cared for and protected no matter how much work it takes.  Is there a child who needs you today?  What of the kingdom of heaven have you seen lately in the actions of a child?

    I close with a wise poem by Lee Fisher called, "A Little Fellow Follows Me".  "A careful man I want to be,  A little fellow follows me;  I do not dare to go astray,   For fear he'll go the self-same way.  I cannot once escape his eyes,  What'er he sees me do, he tries;  Like me he says he's going to be,  The little chap who follows me.  He thinks that I am good and fine,   Believes in every work of mine;  The bad in me he must not see,  The little chap who follows me.   I must remember as I go,  Through summer's sun and winter's snow;  I'm building for the years to be, That little chap who follows me."  --Sent by A. M., Illinois

March 12

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. To Him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. " 
​ (1 Peter 5:6-11 RSV)

A friend told me about a boy who was cherished by his parents. Tragically, in his mid-teens, the boy's life went awry. He dropped out of school and began associating with a bad crowd. One night he staggered into his house at 3:00 a.m., completely drunk. His mother slipped out of bed and left her room. The father followed, assuming that his wife was in the kitchen, perhaps crying. Instead, he found her at her son's bedside, softly stroking his matted hair as he lay passed out drunk on the covers.  "What are you doing?" the father asked.  The mother answered, "He won't let me love him when he's awake."  This mother stepped into her son's darkness with a love that existed even though he could not love her back. So it is with God and you.  (Citation: Michael B. Brown, God's Man; reprinted in Men of Integrity (May/June 2002))  God loves you even when you don't love Him in return. God loves you even when you think nobody cares at all.

       Grace was defined in one of my Sunday School classes as "God's Riches at Christ's Expense".   Grace is when God gives you a gift you don’t' deserve.  God might forgive your sin, even though it caused a lot of mess in your life or in another's life.  God might forgive sins that you can't make right… like the sin of murder, a sin committed against someone who is now dead, a sin that haunts you at night because there is no way to "make it right".  God can forgive these sins because of grace. Grace is an unmerited gift, a gift you and I don’t' deserve.  It is the gift of a mother who loves her son, though the son is angry at the world.  Grace is in the husband who cares for his wife who has Alzheimer's, even though the wife can't communicate with him any longer.  She has no way to love him back or say "Thank you".  Grace is something you give not because you want someone to pay you back, but because you can.  It is a gift with no strings attached meant simply to be a gift of love.  It is a gift to give you a second chance, or to help you to overcome an obstacle.  It is something you need, but can't make happen on your own.

      Paul and William were two members of a church in Paramount, California.  They cared about each other, and wanted to be more faithful.  Each looked at life and decided they needed to make changes.  Paul regretted his swearing and yelling, cussing up a storm.  In an effort to break this bad habit, Paul started meeting with William. They set up an aggressive plan for holiness. Each Sunday, Paul would report to William how many times he used profanity during the week, and he'd put $5 in the offering plate for each incident. The first week cost Paul $100. Although following weeks improved somewhat, he wasn't having the success he wanted and was losing a lot of hard-earned cash.  After the fourth week, William told Paul he had unilaterally changed the deal for the coming week, but he wouldn't tell Paul the details. Paul wanted to know, but all William would say was, "Trust me. It will cost you both less and more."

 The following Sunday before worship, Paul was looking a bit down, obviously having failed again. William put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Paul, this will cost you both less and more. It's called grace." At that, he took out a check made out to the church, dated and signed by William. Only the amount was blank. "Your sin still costs, but for you it's free. I'll pay for it now.  Just fill in the numbers. And next week there will be more grace."  That first week of grace cost William $55, but the second only cost him $20. There was no third week. It cost Paul too much to make his best friend pay for the profanity, so he stopped swearing altogether.  (Citation: Bill White, Paramount, California)

        Grace can change you.  It can make you see the greatness of God.   Grace frees you from a burden.  It uplifts your Spirit.  In our scripture reading above, Peter mentions that the God of Grace comes to restore the faithful, to strengthen and help them.  God doesn't do this because you deserve it.  God does it out of grace.  God sent His Son out of grace to give you a chance at eternal life.  Through faith and the love of God, you also should notice that others need grace.  You should help those who can't give back.  You need to help the poor who have no way to pay you back, the dying who don't have time to give back, the suffering who may not be able to respond with anything but pain.  Grace is found in some unusual places in our world....even in a third grade classroom in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

            The story is told of a certain nine-year-old who was sitting at his desk in school when all of a sudden there was a puddle between his feet, and the front of his pants became wet. He thought his heart was going to stop, because he knew that when the boys found out, he'd never hear the end of it. And when the girls found out, they'd never speak to him again as long as he lived.  The boy put his head down and prayed quietly: "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm in trouble." He looked up from his prayer, and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he'd been discovered.   As the teacher was coming to snatch him up, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl filled with water. She stumbled and dumped the goldfish bowl in his lap. He pretended to be angry, but wasn't.  Now, rather than being the object of ridicule, this boy was the object of sympathy. The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his pants dried out. When he came back to class, all his classmates were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. This sympathy was wonderful!   But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his was transferred to Susie. She tried to help, but they told her to get away: "You've done enough, you klutz!" As the day progressed, the sympathy got better and better, but the ridicule got worse and worse.  Finally, at the end of the day, they were waiting at the bus stop. The boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "Susie, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"  Susie whispered back, "I wet my pants once too."   (Citation: As told in a sermon by Dr. Robert Tuttle, Jr.; submitted by Ron Watts, Cape Girardeau, Missouri) The grace of God is so wonderful when it happens in your life.  This little guy needed an answer to prayer, and God sent Susie and a goldfish bowl! 

When you really, and I mean really, feel that God has heard you…. when you have that load of guilt or worry taken off your shoulders because you've confessed an awful sin to God….. when a friend says, "I forgive you.  I'm sorry it happened."….  that grace can affect you in perfect ways.  Grace can make you feel whole again, not be afraid, feel like you want to sing, or share your life with others.  It can ease your burdens or take away depression.  It can make stomach aches from anxiety disappear overnight.  Grace has great power.  When we give grace, it is freeing.  When God gives grace, it is absolutely awesome in the peace and joy that come from it.

​ Peter tells us in this scripture to humble ourselves, cast our anxieties on God, and to discipline ourselves.  All these we do to keep from sin and to protect our souls from evil.   God notices when you do these things. God sees your efforts at faith.  But there are times, whether you have faith or not, God will bless you with grace just to remind you that you are loved and precious in HIS sight.  God gives grace just because HE can.   God's love is that great for you and for me.  Can you believe it?!!!  Who needs some grace near you today?

March 13

“So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.  But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?'
 He said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, "Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it." And he answered, "I will not give you my vineyard.”
 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, 'You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'”​ (1 Kings 21:4-7 NKJV)

In 1961, the Supreme Court told the Dupont family that they had too much power and control by owning both General Motors and the Dupont Corporation.  They were ordered to break up this monopoly. They cleverly hired a lawyer, Clark Clifford, to help them in the matter.  Clark Clifford got the company to sell off its GM stock all right.  They sold their stock to other Dupont family members!  That way all the power stayed in the family.  And not to be overburdened by the cost of the taxes for the selling of stock to other family members, they got Clark Clifford to do something for them.  Clifford and his aides drew up a bill which would allow the Dupont’s to pay the tax on the profits at a greatly reduced rate.  According to one estimate by the Treasury Dept, this reduced the taxes paid by the Dupont family from $45 to $7.25 per share.  It reduced the cost to the Dupont family by 85%!  By the way, to ensure that the bill would be passed, a family spokesperson personally met with every member of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.  With the strong backing of the senator from the Dupont’s home state, the bill passed and the Dupont family did not have to pay almost 85% of the taxes due.  Oh by the way,  Clark Clifford received a retainer over a ten year period after the passing of that bill of $1 million.  This event proved at the time that when someone with power or money wants something in our free country, sadly they can often get it… whatever it is.  Power has its advantages.  Riches have their privileges.  Don’t’ you think?

    In the scripture today from I Kings, King Ahab had all kinds of power and riches too.  He thought he could do what he wanted when the wanted and nobody would be able to stop him.  He was wrong.  God had something to say about it.

           In 1 Kings 19, we are introduced to a man named Naboth,  who had a vineyeard.   His next door neighbor was King Ahab.  The King admired the quality and produce of Naboth’s land, so, the King came to Naboth and said, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”   Naboth refused.  That land held the family home for centuries (1 Kings 21:3).  His children played in that vineyard.  The family’s fortunes were made in that vineyard.  It was holy land to Naboth.   The scripture tells  us of the King’s response.   The King went into his house resentful and sad.  He ran and laid on his bed, turned away is face and would not eat (1 Kings 21:4). 

            Poor King Ahab laid on his bed depressed because he didn’t get his way!  That’s right.  That’s what I wrote.  The king went home sad and upset because he didn’t get what he wanted!  Hmmm.  I wonder if you have done the same.  You didn’t get your way, so you ran home to your room and pouted.  You didn’t get the present you wanted, so you made a big stink about it.  A neighbor got the best of you, a friend got a raise and you didn’t, a family member won the lottery and now lives higher up the social bracket and you might pout and whine and carry on.  I’ve known people who didn’t get their way at work, so they went off in a big huff, wrecking everyone's day by making a big scene.  Some in professional life didn’t get their way in a meeting of some committee or organization so they quit and leave fuming.  How many of us act like King Ahab in life? Do you make a big scene and pout when you don't have your way?  Are you a demanding person who always needs to be in control of others and don’t’ like it when others are right and you are wrong?  In your marriage, do you get passive aggressive or spiteful when you are upset?  King Ahab thought the same way…. and his own power and sulking got him in a heap of trouble.

      Jezebel, the queen, saw her husband, "the great King",  pouting on his bed not eating.  She said to him, “Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?”  He told her about Naboth and the vineyard and about his hopes for a new garden in the fields.  Jezebel (who was a crafty, evil, conniving woman) said to him, “Aren’t you the leader of Israel?”  She wanted the King to see he had real power.   She then told him, “Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” (1 Kings 21:7)  Jezebel then used Ahab’s power to hatch a dastardly plan.  She manipulated the elders and leaders to go against Naboth.   Then they administered their own form of frontier justice.  They took Naboth and killed him outside the city.  Jezebel got Naboth out of the way, then took his land. 

Jezebel will do what she wants in Israel.  Who is going to stop her?  She is the queen.  She holds all power.  Power is a dangerous thing.  With power, great things can happen. But with power, awful, awful things can happen.  Souls can be hurt, people’s lives can be destroyed, all for power...  all to save face...all so that a person can look good....all so that a person can get her way.

Six year old Angie and her four year old brother Joel were sitting together before worship.  Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud.  Angie didn’t like her baby brother making a fuss, nor getting attention.  Finally,  his big sister had had enough.  "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church."
"Why?  Who's going to stop me?"  Joel asked.
Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door?  They are my friends.  And they're hushers."  Now, hush up!

It’s not unusual for kids to try to manipulate and control other kids.  It’s not too difficult to suppose an older brother or sister may try to have their way with the other children.  However, when adults have their way, it can be a terrible thing.  How often do you fight with others and God cause you gotta have your own way?

All the dirty deeds were completed by Jezebel and Ahab.  They thought they got by with it, but God knew what they had done.  God told Elijah, the prophet, exactly what had happened.  Elijah went to the King and said what God told him to… “Thus says the Lord.  In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will also lick up your blood.”(1 Kings 21:19)  The prophecy came true.  Less than a year later, Ahab was dead outside the city of Jezreel.

When people don’t get their way, they might have a snit and make a big scene.  Some may even do dirty deeds under the table to manipulate the situation.  They may purposefully start terrible rumors or smear the name of another person to get what they want.  But remember: God knows.  You don’t mess with God.  God gets even.  It may take a day or a year, but God will set the record straight in the end.

Proverbs is known to say, “Pride goeth before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).  Don’t be so selfish that you get caught up in your own world, in getting your own way, in doing what you want when you want it.  The best thing that can happen to you when selfish is that you get humbled, that you lose, that you fail.  The best lessons in life are learned when you don’t’ get your way. Today, remember to take defeats with humility.  Show your faith by stepping aside when another is to receive praise.  You don’t need to be the center of attention.  When you sulk and fume and pout, be careful.  King Ahab did the very same thing, and look where it got him.   You mean much to God.  But sometimes, God can’t accomplish good things with one who is self-centered or conceited.  Is there an area of your life needing a bit more humility?


March 14

“And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.  And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'”​ (Luke 23:33-34 RSV)

  Today, we have the scripture reading concerning Jesus’ moments on the cross from the gospel of Luke.  What happens is very revealing if you consider that these were Jesus’ final moments of life.  They make me wonder what I would do in the final moments of my life.

I’ve been with many people who were dying.  I’ve watched people breathe their last breaths.  I’ve seen people who’s heart stopped beating when I was with them in a hospital and nursing home.  I’ve talked with people in the hours of their death.  It is interesting what people talk about, think about, and respond to in those times.  I’ve seen people who went to the grave angry at someone. I’ve seen people who were hopeful.  I’ve seen people who were afraid.  I’ve witnessed confessions, fits of anger, tears, and much more.  What people do in those last moments of life is very revealing about them. I’ve seen workaholics who wanted to go to work for one more day, alcoholics who wanted a drink in the hospital ward, and argumentative people who wanted one last good fight. .  Those who have made many mistakes in life are apprehensive and worried.  People of strong faith usually are at peace and have hope.

Harold L. Fickett, Jr., wrote about a wealthy businessman who on his deathbed was filled with deep remorse. When his pastor called, he opened his heart and shared the burden he was carrying. He said that ten years earlier he had been given the opportunity to teach a Sunday school class of nine-year-old boys. Thinking he didn't have the time, he declined the offer. Now, however, deeply conscious that his life would soon be over, he confessed to the pastor that his most painful regret was that he had missed such a golden opportunity to serve the Lord by investing his life in the lives of those nine-year-old children. He estimated that at least one hundred boys would have passed through that class. "My investments in stocks and bonds will stay behind when I leave," he declared. "What a fool I have been.”  He realized too late what he could have done with his life.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 23, Jesus is crucified.  The location where the crucifixion will occur is called the "Place of the Skull".  The name for this place signifies that it is to be a location for death.  Jesus knows he is going to die as they nail him to the wood of the cross.  Facing his death, Jesus says 
 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   Jesus’ words speak of forgiveness for those who wronged Him in His life.  It is amazing to many that Jesus is speaking words of forgiveness.  You see, the soldiers had beaten him and whipped him, they spit on him, then nailed him to the wood.  They took his clothes and divided them up between them.  How can Jesus be so forgiving?  

When you are dying, the perspective of your world may change.  I’ve seen people have a change of heart and want to give all their possessions away at death.  I’ve seen people change from quiet and cold to warm and loving.   But Jesus didn't change in His moment of death.  He stayed just like he was in life.  He reached out to others. He was forgiving, loving.
​.  
Today, consider your own life.  If you were to die this day, would you change anything?  Would you be forgiving?  Would your last day be a blessing to God or someone else?   What would you do with your last few hours?  What final words would you leave with us?  What kind of legacy would you leave behind?


March 15

“...Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from morning till evening.  When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, '...Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand about you from morning till evening?'  And Moses said to his father-in-law, 'Because the people come to me to inquire of God;  when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and his decisions.'  Moses’ father-in-law said to him, 'What you are doing is not good.  You and the people with you will wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it alone.  Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God, and bring their cases to God;  and you shall teach them ... the way in which they must walk and what they must do.  Moreover choose able men from all the people.... and place such men over the people as rulers ... And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves; so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.  If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure... '”​ (Exodus 18:13-23 RSV (abridged))


Every one of us has looked at our desks 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 had so much to do that you didn’t know where to start? Focusing on so many things at once, you can’t do any one thing well or right.  Do you find it so hard keeping everything in the family, at work, and your personal life under control?  Do you feel like you are never able to get a moment’s peace?  Are you concentrating on so many things that you can’t get your most important jobs done?

In our fast paced world, the one type of individual who does well is a "go-getter".  Usually, that person has a "Type-A" personality, which means he or she likes to complete things and will push him or herself to reach goals.  However, it is precisely this type of person who has many things on his or her plate and can get very stressed, upset, and harried.  It’s hard for many people, especially those with a "Type-A" behavior, to let things go.  You may find it difficult to forgive your own mistakes, to deal with your fears or feelings or failures.  If you find that your plate is too full, that you have to get the job done your way,  or you can’t fail at anything you do even if it kills you, it might be that you need the scripture for today.

 In the book of Exodus, Moses’ father in law came to visit.  Moses seemed to have a good relationship of trust with his Father-in-law.   The two talked about important things, that’s clear.  The scripture above begins in the middle of the visit.  Jethro, Moses’ father in law, wanted to observe Moses' leadership of the people of Israel.  While he watched Moses work, Jethro became unsettled.  Moses was working day and night making decisions for the people.   Jethro told Moses, "Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"  Jethro noticed that Moses was overworked.   Moses tried to rationalize his long hours.  Jethro saw right through it.

Moses was overdoing it.  He was so busy seeing to the needs of the people that it was killing him.  He was working so much, that  he had no time for anything else (probably no time left for God!).  Jethro noticed this right away.  You may not notice when you are doing too much or under too much responsibility.  When the boss gives you a raise at work, but you end up spending sixty hours at work doing the job for two, there is no way you can have a well-balanced life and time for family.  Like Moses, you may skip time with your family because "others need you".  That’s just the problem.  Sometimes, people lean on us when they should do the work themselves.  That relative who constantly has you coming over to do the work, that church committee that lets you do all the work, that boss who hands all the tough jobs over to you…. these people give things to you knowing you will complete them, even if it kills you. 

When you try to please everyone, doing too much in too short of a time, or cram too much work into your day or week, something will fail.  Moses’ father in law said, "You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.”   He realized that the stress of caring for all the burdens was wrecking Moses and his family.  Jethro wanted changes.

Are you the kind of person who does a job yourself, because nobody can do it well enough?  Do you think to yourself that if you take a sick day, things will fall apart around you?  Do you feel as if nobody at work or home ever does things up to your standard?   Be careful, if you do think these things, you too might find yourself overworked.   I know pastors who never took vacations.  They had to be in the pulpit every Sunday.  They couldn’t miss a meeting or a funeral.  Even on their day off, they did church work.  Usually, I found they lost their creativity over time. Their sermons became boring.  Their children resented the church. They usually had physical problems because they couldn’t let go.  In our scripture, Jethro urged Moses not to make that mistake.

Jethro advised Moses to delegate his leadership, to lean on others when life gets to be too much.   If you have too much on your plate, you will have to do the same.  You may need the kids to do the dishes (even if they aren’t done perfectly).  You may have to let your co-worker handle a job you can’t complete well.  It’s better than killing yourself, isn’t it?  The problem is that some people cannot let go, they can’t delegate.  They either like the power of having others look up to them for all the answers, or they don’t know how to say “no” when necessary.

Sharon was a typical wife.  She took care of her kids, tried to keep up with the home, and always took care of her family.   When Sharon’s husband, Bob, was laid off, it bothered her greatly. For the first time in their lives, Bob and Sharon didn’t have enough money to make ends meet.  Sharon worked part time, but found that the money didn’t go far enough.  She felt like they were digging a hole of debt for themselves.  Sharon decided to go full time at her work, to help make ends meet.   But the family at home didn’t adapt.  Her husband was depressed about his layoff, and when he wasn’t searching for a job, he would often just sit and watch TV.  Her children were beautiful, but they too were used to having mom at home.  They complained about her being gone when they came home from school and not being at school programs during the day, but they got used to it.  After a few months at the new job, Sharon’s boss noticed her good work and asked her to take on some new responsibilities.  He gave her a raise of a $1 per hour.  She knew this would help pay the bills, so she took the responsibilities, but they cost her greatly.  Within months, Sharon’s life became rather messy.    Between going to work and seeing a pile of things to do on her desk,  and coming home and seeing all the work needing to be done there, she was paralyzed.   Her life was spinning out of control.

Sharon began to have heart palpitations.  She went to visit her doctor who said it was stress.  The doctor urged her to cut back her work and home responsibilities, but Sharon was reluctant.  Her husband couldn’t wash clothes or clean very well, so she ignored his help.  It was easier for her to just do the work for her kids, than take the needed time to teach them to do more chores.  She didn’t want to take fewer responsibilities at work either.  Instead, Sharon just took anti-anxiety pills, and trudged on.  But the pills only covered the problem.  They were a short-term answer.   Sharon didn’t want to delegate.  She had a hard time failing at anything.  She didn’t want to admit to herself that she needed help and that she couldn’t do it all.  But because she couldn’t make changes in her life, Sharon began to resent her husband.   She got angry all the time at her kids.  She became bossy at work.  She gained twenty-five pounds in two years.   She didn’t like herself, her job, her family, or her marriage anymore after that.   For a woman in her forties, Sharon looked closer to sixty.  You can understand why.

 Moses’ father in law was trying to help Moses.  He knew Moses was one to do too much, to work too hard, to ignore the pain from too many responsibilities.   Moses knew delegating his responsibilities was what God wanted him to do.  He made the changes necessary.  Are you willing to make changes in your life when overwhelmed?   Are you willing to delegate responsibilities to others, or do you like to have that control yourself?   Do you find yourself taking on too many responsibilities, and do not share the burdens?  Do you lack the energy for what is most important to you and God?  

 It is no surprise to me that God worked six days in creation and rested on the seventh day.  It wasn’t that God couldn’t work seven days.   God wanted to teach us to take time to let our souls catch up with our bodies.  God delegated some responsibility to us to care for creation.  Shouldn’t you delegate to others the same way, or do you think you have to do it all yourself?  How can you share the workload?  Does God want you to delegate something?  Who could benefit from your sharing the workload?


March 16

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.  And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'  And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;  but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.'”
 (Acts 9:1-6 RSV)

  "The School of Hard Knocks"
Workers were once repairing high-tension lines after a storm. The new poles they were using were "green" and thus able to conduct electricity.  While working in the rain, they hoisted one of the green poles, where it could be dropped into the hole dug for it. Trying to be helpful, one man thoughtlessly seized the end of the pole in order to guide it.  Suddenly one of the workers made a run for him and knocked him sprawling. He arose from the sloppy street-muddy and ready for a fight. But his attacker pointed aloft to where the damp wooden shaft had contacted the power line carrying 33,000 volts of electricity.  Said the rescued man, "Had my friend not taken such quick action I would have been a goner. Yes. Slim saved my life, but he had to knock me over to do it.     (Herald of Hope via Sparks)

        The Lord, too, has to knock some people over in order to get their attention, or in order to help them or save them.  Sometimes, bad things have to happen in life in order for us to see how much we need God.   Trials can happen in life in order to prevent worse things.   I truly believe that the more stubborn you are, the more you have to be knocked over before you see the truth, when you stubbornly cling to a lie.
 In the scripture from Acts above, chapter 9, Saul believed in a lie.  He believed that Jesus was not the Son of God, not raised from the dead, not able to save the soul.   Saul was so convinced about this that he sought to persecute Christians.  And he was so hard-headed about it, that he also sought to kill Christians, who he believed were heretics and shameful in faith.

            Chapter 9 of the book of Acts begins with Saul “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”  In fact, Saul was there when Stephen, the first martyr for the faith, died.  Saul supported the torturing and killing of Christians.   As the scripture even tells us, he got letters from the Jewish authorities to find and hold for persecution any Christians in Damascus.   Saul was now hunting Christians.  As Saul approached Damascus, he was blinded by a light from heaven.  Saul fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”   Saul wanted to know who was speaking.  And the voice from heaven responded, “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.”  At first, this had to really shake Saul to the core.  He was persecuting Christians because he believed Jesus to be dead.  Yet here was Jesus talking to him from heaven!  Saul believed the lie that followers of Jesus didn’t’ know the truth, but the fact was Jesus' resurrection was the truth!  Jesus was speaking to Saul on this road… and that could only happen if Jesus was raised from the dead. The stories were true!  Those who traveled with Saul noticed the light and heard the voice.  They couldn’t tell what was happening.  The scripture says the men were “speechless” (Acts 9:7).  They couldn’t explain it.   And they couldn’t explain one other thing.  Saul was blind (Acts 9:8). He couldn’t see.  God had blinded this man who would persecute the faithful.

         God can allow things to happen, or cause things to happen, so that we may wake up to the truth.  It’s not that all bad things are caused by God, but sometimes God lets bad things happen to the unfaithful and the faithful so that they may learn to lean on God and learn the truth.  It may take a few hard knocks in life before people understand the truth, realize that they are living a lie, or finally notice that God is there for them.  I dare say that most people have to be hit hard in life before they understand the mercy and love of God.

   At a special baptism service in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, there was a big gathering of people.  On that special Sunday service thirty-five people were baptized.  What a wonderful thing!  They baptize the people at a local lake, in the water, by immersion.  Now, among the thirty-five baptized in that special service was a man named Harold.  Let me tell you about Harold.  His wife, Linda, had been praying for Harold for years, thirty years to be exact.  He was a great guy – kind, helpful, and very willing to have Linda and his sons be involved in church.  Harold, however, wasn’t interested in church or membership or God for that matter.  It took one bad month to change Harold.  During one November, Harold suffered crisis after crisis.  He had problems at work.  He began to have health problems. He had problems with his marriage. A close friend was sick and another one died.  He began to have problems sleeping.  His life seemed to be unraveling.   He felt knocked down, beat up, and worn out.  That’s when he decided to change things.  At a counseling session with his pastor and his wife, the pastor said to him, “Harold, would you like to accept Christ?”  Harold looked at him and just said, “Yes, Pastor, it’s time.” His wife later said she almost fell out of the chair.  She had been praying for this for decades.  For all those years, she wanted so badly to have her husband sitting with her in church, and finally it happened.   He now studies the Bible, prays daily, and has taken on various roles in the church.  His life has also settled down.   Harold had to face the hard knocks before he realized that he needed God and needed the support of faithful people in order to make it through in life.   Everyone is excited about Harold’s changes, and Harold is a great joy to his church. (Citation: Lee Eclov,Vernon Hills, IL)

     I’ve seen this over and over in ministry.  It takes a few hard knocks by life or by God and finally people begin to realize that God is gracious.  God gives strength.  God can protect you.  God can watch over you.  God loves you.   God can take your pain and forgive your mistakes.  God is what we need.

    On that road to Damascus, Saul was changed forever.  Once he found out that Jesus was speaking to him, he knew his life would never be the same.  And now, he was blind.  It all got to him. He called upon God.  At another part of the city, Ananias the Christian, was also praying.   God asked Ananias to meet with Saul and pray for him.  Ananias was to  help Saul become a Christian. Saul,  who once killed Christians, became one of the greatest Christians of all time.  He wrote more books in our Bible than anyone else.   It took some hard knocks for Saul to see that Jesus was his Savior.  You might be like  that.  You won’t see God until hard times, until life hits hard, until you face the school of hard knocks in life.

    I have found that people who have faced the hard knocks in life and held on to God or come to God are some of the strongest of all Christians.  They are changed.  They are more open to God’s leading.  They look back in life and see their mistakes, and humbly follow God’s bidding, no matter where they are sent.  If you are facing your hard knocks, hold on to God.  Run to God!   Seek God out.   You will find that the school of hard knocks teaches you that God is your strength.  With God you can overcome great things.  Life is tough, but God is an awesome strength to those who are willing to come to him.  Are hard knocks hitting you?  Maybe its time you prayed and made some commitments at the feet of the Savior!   Maybe those hard knocks are forcing you down to your knees where you can gather strength in prayer.  Life is full of hard knocks.  But God is full of Amazing Grace.  


March 17

"When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD;  and they said to Moses, 'Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?  Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'  And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still.'”
 (Exodus 14:10-14 RSV)


 “Overcoming obstacles God’s Way”

            There are two ways to deal with a problem, a challenge, an obstacle.  You can handle it in your own way or you can handle it God’s way.  The scripture above is part of the story of the Israelites at the Red Sea.  In it, nestled in these verses is a very important lesson to be learned.  How to deal with an obstacle the human way, and how to deal with an obstacle God’s way.

            To begin this meditation, I want you to remember four words:   FEAR, COMPLAINING, BLAME, AND RUNNING.  That’s how many people handle obstacles in life.  They get afraid.  They blame their problems on others and don’t deal with the problem themselves.  Sadly, many run away from the obstacle, rather than overcome the obstacle.  Let’s look at each one of these human ways of dealing with obstacles as they happen in our scripture from Exodus.

      In Exodus 12, Moses and the slaves are freed in Egypt.  They have seen with their own eyes the power of God.  They witnessed first hand the ten plagues God sent upon Egypt (Exodus 7-11).  They saw the Nile River turn to blood.  They saw the frogs, gnats and flies.  They saw the sky darkened.  They saw the death of the first born of Egypt.  Unbelievable!  That’s how I would describe what those people saw… the unbelievable power of God.  Then, they came to the Red Sea (Exodus 14).  After seeing God overcome great obstacles for them, the people were sitting by the sea side.  As they looked back, the Egyptians were in view. The Egyptians were coming after them.  Here’s the obstacle:  What do the Israelites do when the Egyptians come after them to hurt them?  The people decided to handle it the old human way.  They began with fear.

            The scripture says, “the Israelites looked back, and there were Egyptians advancing on them.  In great fear they cried out to the Lord.” (Exodus 14:10)   Though I believe it is good to call upon God when an obstacle appears, these people were gripped with fear.  They didn’t know what to do.  They were afraid.  Have you ever been fearful?  Did you cry to the Lord?  What did you say?  Well, here’s what the Israelites said to Moses: “What have you done bringing us out of Egypt?  Isn’t this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?'" (Exodus 14:11,12)   These people were afraid.  Yes, they cried to God, but they were complaining.   Not only were they filled with fear and complaining, they blamed Moses for their problem.  People are good at pointing the finger at others when things go wrong.

      A mountain climber in the Alps had come to a perilous gap in the ice where the only way to get across a chasm was to place his foot in the outstretched hands of the guide who was a little way ahead of him. Told to do this by the one who was directing the party, the man hesitated a moment as he looked into the gloomy depths below where he would certainly fall to his death if anything went wrong. Seeing his hesitation, the guide said, 'Have no fear, sir; in all my years of service my hands have never yet lost a man!"  This filled the mountain climber with hope that he was in good hands.  He made the step and crossed that dangerous gap.   So often, we become frightened, we blame, we complain all because we do not trust our lives to God’s hand.  God has fed you for how many years, yet you doubt he can care for you again?   Why are you afraid of an obstacle?  Why not have faith that God’s hands are strong enough for you to overcome an obstacle?

              A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a cloudy day. He was not very experienced in instrument landing. When the control tower was to bring him in for a landing, he started thinking of the hills and the towers and buildings in that area and began to get panicky. His hands started to shake.  His stomach was in his throat.  Then, in a calm but stern voice the command came, "This is the tower.  You just obey instructions; we'll take care of the obstructions."     (David Seamands, Living With Your Dreams, p.79)   Too often, we wonder if God can take care of the obstructions in life.  We get wired up. We find someone to blame.  We can even blame the person who helps us.  It’s the human way.

            Many people come up against an obstacle, become afraid, then run away.  The Israelites looked away from the Red Sea and saw Pharaoh’s chariots.  They were scared stiff.  They told Moses…. “it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:12)  They wanted to run back to Egypt, even to slavery, rather than deal with the obstacle God’s way.   Had it not been for Moses, the exodus might have ended right there at the Red Sea.   Moses, however, knew God’s power.  Moses said, “Do not be afraid.  Stand firm.  See the deliverance of the Lord.” (Exodus 14:13) Memorize God’s way of overcoming obstacles from the verse above.  DO NOT BE AFRAID.  STAND FIRM IN FAITH.   WATCH FOR GOD TO DELIVER YOU.   If you are doing what God wants you to do in life,  listen to Moses.  He saw the obstacle.  He urged the people to stay there by the sea.  He wanted them to be firm in their faith.  And then, he waited for God to show him a way through the obstacle. 

     To most human eyes, the Israelites had no way out at the Red Sea, but God did have a way out.  If you are doing what God wants you to do, God will be there.  God will come through.  God will show you a way through that obstacle in your life.  As a person told me some time ago, “When someone shuts a door on you, God opens a window.”  In our scripture, God was about to give the Israelites a huge window.  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic.(Exodus 14:14-24)  Now the Egyptians were afraid.   The Egyptians are the ones with an obstacle!   Do they choose God’s way out of the obstacle?  No.  They too get afraid.  They too complain about their way being difficult.  They too want to turn back.  But that day they did not see deliverance.  They were not doing a holy thing that day.  God closed the waters back and the Egyptian soldiers died in the Red Sea.

            I believe that this story was not only put in our Bible to say what God has done, but to teach you a lesson in how to handle obstacles.  You can handle them the human way through FEAR, COMPLAINING, BLAMING, AND RUNNING AWAY.   Or You can handle them God’s way…  WITHOUT FEAR, STANDING FIRM IN FAITH, AND WATCHING FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE.  In your life, at each obstacle, you have to choose which way to handle adversity.  Which are you likely to choose?  Why?

    A man stopped to watch a local little League baseball game that was being played in a park near his home.  As he sat down behind the bench on the first-baseline, he asked one of the boys what the score was.  "We're behind 14 to nothing," he answered with a smile.  "Really," the man said. "I have to say you don't look very sad." "Sad?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face.  "Why should we be sad? We haven't been up to bat yet."  Does it take a child to teach us God’s idea of overcoming obstacles.  Don’t let fear control you.  Don’t let obstacles stop you from something great and wonderful in your life.  As the scripture says, “If God is for you, what can stop you?”  (Romans 8:31). 

  In the days and years ahead, you will face your obstacles.  Some will be small.  Some will be great.  Look for the Lord to help you overcome.  DO NOT BE AFRAID to take on great challenges so that God can show you HIS power!  STAND FIRM IN your faithful convictions and don’t compromise what is right by God.  Finally, “SET YOUR EYES ON GOD’S DELIVERANCE.”  God will be there with you.  At times, God will give you options you can’t even see at first glance.  Let the story of the Red Sea always be there to teach you.  God can make a way for you through the greatest of obstacles. 


March 18

" And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,  saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”  But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”      (Acts 5:27-29 RSV)


In the scripture reading for today, you will see people who are called by God to do something that goes against reason. In this reading, the disciples do something dangerous. They do so, not because of better judgment or higher morals, but because God wants it done that way. They did it out of obedience. Obedience to God alone.

Just after Jesus' death and resurrection, a Jewish group called the Sadducces went about trying to gather up Jesus' disciples to throw them into prison and stop them from following our Lord (Acts 5:17). In a miraculous twist of events, while they were in prison, an angel sent by God freed them. The angel told the men  . . . “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." (Acts 5:20)
 
Wait one minute! The disciples' lives were in danger. A few, who were already thrown into prison, were told that God wants them to preach the gospel in the middle of the city of Jerusalem.  They were to go into the temple (which by the way was where the Sadducee party headquarters was located) and speak to the people about true faith. This was not reasonable!  They would be facing those who killed Jesus!  But they put aside reason and followed the words of the angel. The next morning, they went into he temple and taught about Jesus.

The leaders of the Sadduccees discovered that the disciples had gotten out of the prison. They again captured them and brought them to stand trial before the High Council of Jerusalem. At their trial, the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. (Acts 5:28)"  But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
 
The disciples were preaching and teaching because God ordered them to do it, and they chose to obey. Even though the council wanted the disciples to obey their orders, they knew that when they had to choose between obeying the council and obeying God, they chose God.  As the apostles continue to speak in the trial, they say something very interesting: “And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. (Acts 5:32)"  Notice in this verse that the Holy Spirit is given to the apostles because, "They obey God." That's interesting.  The reason you or I might be given the Holy Spirit is because for a moment in our lives, we chose to obey God.  As long as we live in obedience to God the Father, the Holy Spirit will be with us, guide us, help us to face those challenges along the way.

In the end, the disciples were freed. The scripture gives the sentence from the court: "...when they (the council elders) had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  Then they (the disciples) left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.  And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:40-42)"  Think of it. They obeyed God and they were jailed and beaten. It could have cost them their lives. I'm sure many people thought they were nuts to go back into the city and preach openly.  But, they knew it was God's command, and they did it out of obedience to God
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The issue now stands before you and me. Do we live out of obedience to God? Will you do what God tells you to do?   Do you make decisions out of deference to what God would want, or do you use your own reason and judgment? Would you rather be safe than obedient?  Do you care more about how well you are liked or doing what God wills?  Obedience to God may mean you do things that others fight objectionable. . . But we must remember the disciples defense on that day long ago, “We must obey God rather than men."

Some, who call themselves Christians, don’t have sex outside marriage. . . for the kids sake not for God's sake. Some don't have sex with prostitutes because they may get a disease or AIDS, not because God wills it to be that way in Leviticus, Mark and elsewhere in our Bible. Some won't use drugs because they don't want to wind up in jail or dead on the street. It's not that God doesn't make clear in II Corinthians that your body is a temple of the living God. Good Kids in school don't cheat on tests because they realize cheating doesn't help them learn. Good children of God don't cheat because God wills for each of us to live in truth. Kids in school don't get in trouble because they could get expelled. Good Christian children don't get into trouble because God wills us to love one another as God loves us. Good countries don't fight a nuclear war because a nuclear war in study after study is proven to be unwinnable. Good Christian countries don't fight a nuclear war because God gave us this creation to watch over. A Good politician will help pass a bill to help the poor because it looks good and will get some votes. A Christian politician will help pass a bill for the poor because God calls us in Amos, Deuteronomy, and in Matthew to take care of the poor.

The only way to tell a Christian from a good person down the street is by the reasoning the person uses for their actions. Do you do what you do out of obedience to God, or do you do what you do because it stands to reason or to be nice? There is a huge difference. The day may come when you, like the disciples, may have to stand up for God in a situation others call unreasonable. How do you make decisions in life? Is it out of obedience to God? Or is it out of convenience?  Will you only follow God if HIS way is rational or sensible to you?  Are you only obedient when God does things you agree with?  I'm NOT saying you need to be an unreasonable Christian.  I believe that you "must obey God" even if it isn't clear yet why.  Faith involves believing when everything isn't clear.  Obedience involves following God even if it may involve consequences you don't like.


March 19

"Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him (Jesus), he fell at his feet,  and besought him, saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.'  And he went with him."      (Mark 5:22-24 RSV)


A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his five-year-old son waiting for him at the door.  "Daddy, may I ask you a question?" 
"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.
"Daddy, how much money do you get for an hour of work?"
"That's none of your business!  What makes you ask such a thing?"  the man said angrily. 
"I just want to know.  Please tell me, how much do you get an hour?" pleaded the little boy.
"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
"Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed.  Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"
The father was furious. He shouted: "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed.  Think about why you're being so selfish.  I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

​The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.  The father sat down and started to get himself all worked up about the little boy's questioning.   How dare him ask such questions only to get some money!  After an hour or so, the man had calmed down and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son.  Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00.  He really didn't ask for money very often.  The man went to the little boy's room and opened the door slowly. 
"Are you asleep, son?" he asked.
"No,  I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man.  "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you.  Here's that $10.00 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, beaming.  "Oh, thank you so much!" he yelled.
 Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.  The man, since the boy already had money, started to get angry again.  The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.
"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20.00 now.  Can I buy you for an hour?"
 
How much is an hour of your time worth?   We don’t realize how precious or costly are the moments of our lives.  Sometimes, we don’t use our time on this earth very wisely.  This man in the story didn’t spend enough time with his son.  I’m sure he truly loved his son and wanted to teach him right, but dad's life reflected to his son that his time was worth money.  Should his son need to stand in line waiting for dad’s time?   Maybe if dad used his time more wisely, he would have time for his son.  Maybe if we all manage our time well, we will have time for the most important things.

​Most of us can benefit from time management lessons.  Some of us worry away time, some procrastinate, some are habitually late, others have their priorities mixed up, and a good number just float through life not using their time well.  In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, we see Jesus doing time management.  If you look closely at how Jesus handled his time in this scripture, you might get some fresh insights on how to manage your own agenda and still accomplish the most important things in life.

        In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is met by a Jewish ruler named Jairus (Mark 5:22-24).  Jairus’ daughter is sick and at the point of death.  Jairus falls down before Jesus and asks our Lord to come save his daughter.  Jesus started walking with Jairus.  His disciples and a crowd followed to watch the healing.

     What you may not know about this story is that Jesus and the disciples were treated very negatively by the Jewish leaders.   The disciples believed that Jesus was a special holy man, even the Son of God.  The Jewish leaders, on the other hand, constantly spoke out against Jesus.  The disciples maybe surmised  that if Jesus could heal Jairus’ daughter, this might help Jesus look better among the Jewish people.  Maybe it would take the heat off.  Maybe a few more would follow Jesus.   The disciples were thrilled that Jesus was going to heal the young girl and save her from death.

   While Jesus was on his way to heal the dying girl, a woman who was sick for twelve years, a woman who the doctors couldn’t heal, followed the crowd (Mark 5:25).  She quietly came close to Jesus and said to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed" (Mark 5:28).   She touched Jesus as he walked along, and she was healed.   Jesus realized a moment later that healing touched someone close.  He  stopped the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes? (Mark 5:30)”   The disciples saw that Jesus was surrounded by a crowd.  How could they find out who touched his clothes? Their answer to Jesus sounds snippy, “You see the people crowing against you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?' (Mark 5:31)”  In essence they are saying, “How can you ask who touched you?  We don’t have time for this!”   But Jesus wouldn’t go on.  He wanted to find out who touched him.  No doubt, the disciples are puzzled as to why Jesus is stopping.   Shouldn’t He hurry to save the young girl?   Doesn’t He want to look good to the Jewish leader?  

       Let’s stop for a moment and realize what Jesus is teaching here about time management.  First, you are never too busy to look around at what God is doing.  The disciples don’t care that someone was healed.  They want to impress Jairus, a very influential man.   Jesus wants to see who was healed so that he can speak to the person, to finish the healing, to say a word from God.   We should never be too busy in life to be aware of what God puts before us. 

   There is one other important time management element here.  Notice that the healing is an interruption in Jesus’ trip to heal the young girl.  How does Jesus deal with this interruption?  He didn’t get upset at the interruption, as did the disciples.  Do you get upset when things interrupt your work?  Do you get upset when things interrupt your life?   Life is full of interruptions.  Deal with them when they come.  When God wants you to be interrupted, He will interrupt you.   Don’t get upset about it.  Deal with it, then move on.  Those interruptions may be very special moments, even if you don’t like them.  Here, in this instance, Jesus’ interruption means a person is healed.  That shouldn’t be overlooked but celebrated!   Jesus uses his time to stop and notice what God has done in that moment.  He makes time for a person in need and for a holy moment in his day.  Do you make time for needy people or children in your schedule?  Do you make time for holy moments?  Do you handle those interruptions in your routine well?

            After Jesus stopped to find out who was healed, the woman stepped forward and fell at Jesus’ feet.   She told Jesus what happened.  Notice in the scripture that the woman did exactly what Jairus had done.  Both fell at Jesus’ feet out of respect.   The woman deserved to be honored  just as much as Jairus.  Jesus spoke to her about the healing, then continued his journey.

            You might be thinking, “What is wrong with Jesus?”  The little girl is dying!  He has to hurry to get to her!   He didn’t have time to stop on the way!  However, that woman deserved healing as much as the young girl.   To ignore the miracle of God that intervened is something Jesus isn’t going to do.  He wants it mentioned.  He wants to complete it by speaking to the woman.  He had an opportunity to tell all those who heard that it takes faith to be healed.

       Just as Jesus finished talking to the healed woman, people came with the news that the little girl had died.  It seemed like Jesus was too late.  He should have hurried!  He shouldn’t have stopped!   Some time management Jesus has!   In fact, He surprisingly doesn’t seem hurried to get to the dying girl.  It seems as if Jesus is showing us that if God is going to heal the dying girl, Jesus will get there in time, even if her time has run out.  Jesus told the crowd and Jairus not to be afraid, but to believe.  As the sick woman had believed, they too must believe that God is going to do something special.   Jesus went on ahead with three of his disciples.  He reached the girl's death bed and told her to rise up.   The scripture tells us that  “Immediately the girl stood up and walked around." (Mark 5:42)   Another healing.  Another miracle.

I want to recap a few things about Jesus' method of time management. First, Jesus was pressured by his disciples.  Aren’t you pressured at times by those you know?  Pressures are a part of life.  People will always want you to do what they want when they want it.  But, Jesus didn’t let people pressure him into doing things they wanted.  He followed God’s schedule at all times.   Second, Jesus' time seems short to get to the girl.  The little girl was dying.  Though pressed for time, Jesus isn’t in a hurry.   Nowhere does it say Jesus hurried.  He even stopped to check on the woman who was healed.   Most of us, when pressed for time, ignore important things.  We hurry.  We fret.  We get frazzled and upset.  None of these emotions are found in the scripture.  Jesus knows he will heal the girl, if God wills it. Finally, Jesus didn’t go to heal the girl to impress the ruler.  He went to show the power of faith and God.  Sometimes, we set up the events of our day and divide our time according to whom we can impress, whom has power, and whomever yells the loudest.   Jesus set up whom He was going to talk to according to what God was doing around Him.  He never lost perspective, even when his disciples got a little testy, when bad news happened, when important people were around, or when He was under time pressures.    He did one thing at a time.  He did what was required.  His priorities centered around what God the Father needed done in that moment.  When plans were interrupted, Jesus changed priorities to match what the Heavenly Father was doing.  "Man plans his way, but God directs his step." (Proverbs 16:9)

Do you follow God’s type of time management and find peace?  Do you tend to follow your own methods of time management and find your world harried and rushed and stressful.  Accomplish what God wills in each moment.  Change plans according to God’s guidance.  Remain in faith.  Do not fret.  Let God lead you.   Let God work through you.  Your time is short in this world.  Make the most of it, beginning today!


March 20

“In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, “Speak now .... to all the remnant of the people, and say, ‘Who is left among you that saw this house (the Temple) in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage ... all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not.”   (Haggai 2:1-5 RSV)


In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn't eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to laugh a little, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night Grimaldi had the people rolling in the aisles. "You must go and see him," the doctor advised. "Grimaldi is the world's funniest clown. He'll make you laugh and cure your sadness. "No," replied the despairing man, "he can't help me. You see, I am Grimaldi!"  

 Grimaldi was sad.  Things in the circus had turned against him and it caused despair.  People expected him to be funny all the time, and like many who are responsible for so much, it was overwhelming.  It wore him down.  Soon, he was discouraged, thinking he couldn't do it anymore.  The job seemed too hard, too big, too demanding, too stressful.

      I have seen discouragement on the face of a football player who lost a big game.  Children have told me how down they feel when they fail a test. The look of discouragement on the face of a mother who has a child with behavioral problems is one you remember.  Soldiers have told me how discouraging it was to see their comrades die by their side.   With every job lost, with every layoff, every downturn in the economy, there is discouragement.  Can you image the thoughts of the retirees of Enron Company, whose retirement funds dropped 80 to 90%?  A number of them had to go to work at places like McDonald's just to pay their bills or to pay for their medicines   A few worked for forty years, and they had almost nothing left to live on in their retirement years!   Life can be difficult.  When we are blind-sided by calamity, hurt by the economy, pummeled by a divorce, or torn by a death, discouragement can easily set in.  You feel like no day is a good day.  You think like one of the peanut characters, that a cloud follows wherever you go.  If you've had those kinds of feelings, chances are you have fought discouragement.

            Even people in the Bible during their difficult moments ran into the brick wall of discouragement.   Elijah, Moses, and Jonah all grew so discouraged in the Lord’s work that they prayed for death. Jeremiah spent his latter years in the throes of depression.  David said, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?” (Psalm 43:5) Even the apostle Paul said that he was once so weary and worried in ministry that he couldn’t preach the gospel though a great door had opened to him (2 Corinthians 2:12).  But, each of these Biblical characters worked through the discouragement.  They overcame the adversity.  They remained faithful until God came through for them.

  In the scripture reading for today, the prophet Haggai gives his testimony of the sad state of Jerusalem and its broken down temple.  Haggai appeared on the scene in Jerusalem in 520 b.c. That was a critical time in the history of Jerusalem, because approximately seventy years earlier the city had been devastated and the temple had been destroyed.  Most of the inhabitants of the Holy City had been in exile. Eventually, through an edict of Cyrus, the Persian king, a Jewish remnant was allowed to return to Israel, intent on re-establishing the worship of God. They started off very well, but then ran into discouraging opposition; and for eighteen years the work on restoring the temple had ceased. That’s when Haggai arrived. He reminded the people that while the temple of the Lord was being neglected, they had spent a lot of time on their own houses. He explained in chapter 1 that the hard times they were experiencing were directly related to the spiritually impoverished lives they were living. The people were very responsive and they got to work, assured that the Lord was with them as they worked on the Temple. That is the essence of Haggai chapter 1. As we move into chapter 2, it is made clear that after a month of hard work, their enthusiasm had drained away again, their energies had dissipated.  Once again they were becoming discouraged. 

       Haggai knew that the people were spiritually weakened and needed God's strength to overcome their adversity.  He prayed to God, and God spoke to him.  First, the scripture tells us why there was such discouragement.  Haggai said to the people:  "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?" (Haggai 2:3)  God knew that the people were discouraged because the temple looked dilapidated.  Their house of worship was in shambles.  When they saw all the work that had to be done to fix the place up, they knew it would take a long time and many days.  They were too tired in body and soul to think they could accomplish any of the work.   Often, our discouragement comes from looking at  something that seems too big to overcome.  You are in debt so far, that you feel like you can never overcome it.   Or, you know you have problems in your marriage that seem insurmountable.  You feel like quitting.  You wonder if there's too much to ever get done. 

            You might come home from work and see a messy house and won't clean it.  You think… it'll take too long…and too much energy…. And I'm too tired!    Have you ever procrastinated, and then don't know how you could ever finish in time?  Ever thought about quitting instead of finishing?   Even our country can get caught up in discouragement.  There are terrorist cells in so many places, how can we ever get them all?  The news tells us of wars and bombings in Africa, Malaysia, the Philippines, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan.  If you want to get discouraged these days, just watch the news for a while and it seems like the problems are insurmountable.  Is discouragement far behind?

            One of the greatest reasons for discouragement is today's American wants to fix everything in a few minutes or hours or days.  But some things take time and patience.  You have to think beyond the moment.  If a marriage took twenty years to fall apart, two counseling sessions with the best isn't going to fix it.  If it took you five years to get into debt, barring winning the lottery, it will take you years to get out of debt.  Many are impatient, wanting to see results now.  Life doesn't normally work that way. It takes months for corn to grow.  It takes decades to get an education.  It takes thirty years to pay off a mortgage for most. It takes time for the medicine to work.  Part of our discouragement can come from being impatient.

 Notice in this scripture how God speaks to these people who are discouraged.  Three times in the scripture, God tells the people to take heart or have courage (Haggai 2:4).  To fight discouragement, you need to have the courage to fight.  You have to be willing to face the problem or the fear.  You have to stand up to Satan and fight him.  You have to fight for what is right day after day, sometimes for a long time, in order to beat discouragement.  If you are discouraged because of illness or death, you have to get up and have the courage to face the day, to face your sad thoughts and overcome them.  You may have to go on your day, fighting pain all day.  God knows…. If you keep fighting the right battles, you will win them.  If God wants you to win a battle, and you are willing to face that battle with courage, with God at your side…. The battle is already won.

            There are two other things that God tells the downcast people here in scripture.  First, he tells them to get to work (Haggai 2:4).  You can't fight something that discourages you by sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.  R. A. Torrey used to say, “The best way to begin is to begin.”   You can't procrastinate.  You can't put off what must be done.  You've got to do something….  You have to take steps to change… even if they are baby steps… even if its two steps forward and one step backward…. You are still going forward.
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            One other thing that God tells the people is that during their time of discouragement God would be with them (Haggai 2:4).  He said His Spirit was among them (Haggai 2:5).   When you are fighting big problems, big fears, bad news, frightening events, God will be with the righteous every time.  If you  are faithful to God, God will be right beside you as you fight your battles in life.  God won't let you down.  Don't let Him down. 
 
            Through all the work of God and the encouragement of the prophet Haggai, the people finally rebuilt the walls of the Holy City and the Temple again.  And the place was magnificent.  In fact, Jesus worshiped there, and some of the work they did can still be seen in Jerusalem today.   The people shook off their discouragement and rose to the occasion.   They quit procrastinating and tackled their problems.  With God beside you, you might be surprised what things you can overcome.  Even death cannot keep you down; Jesus took care of that.   In the coming weeks, don't let discouragement get you down.  Face your trials and your fears.  Have the courage to fight the fights God wants you to win.  Don't be afraid.  If God wants a project completed, God will walk with you over whatever mountain of pain you have to walk, and God will be with you when you look back and see the great things you accomplished when you shook off your discouragement.

 March 21

“...we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.”   (Ephesians 2:3–9  RSV)


  Godly love is not just liking someone…even a lot.  Biblical "agape" love is not lust, though many confuse it with that. Love isn't just having the same blood or being from the same ethnic group.  Love isn't always found in marriage, or families.  Love isn't found necessarily between friends.  "Agape" love is a character of God that is so special that there are different words in the bible for love of family, love of a spouse, and love of God.  Today, I want to write about the love of God… and how different it is from other kinds of love in this world.  I want you to ask yourself when I'm done not if you love, but if you love like God would love.  Do you have a great love like God's, or is your love is just ordinary.

     A Pastor was filling in at a city church one day, when a woman came to him with a little girl at her side. This woman had a cast on her arm and some scars on the side of her face.  She obviously had been in the hospital. She said, "I was in the hospital because of a very serious fire. There were burns over two-thirds of my body. My husband walked into the hospital room, took one look at me, and said, 'You're not the woman I married.' " He left her to marry someone younger and more beautiful.

Human love says, "As long as you stimulate me, as long as I can be proud of you, as long as you're beautiful, I can love you. If you change, my love for you changes."  (Citation: Erwin Lutzer, "Learning to Love," Preaching Today, Tape No. 99)  God's love is different. It is deeper. It lasts.  It is committed.  It looks past mistakes, and sees possibilities.   Do you have a love like God's love?  God's love, as shown in Romans 8: 37ff, is the kind of love that is unfailing…always there… nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God it says.  God's love is available to you and me always.  God's love is not conditional.  So often, we don't realize how much God loves us.   God even sent His son Jesus out of love as we are told in scripture. (Romans 5:8, for example)   God loves us enough to prepare a place for us in heaven, to forgive us, to watch over us, and to bless us.  God's love is a great love… not an ordinary kind of love. 

 Look at the scripture for today.   Here it talks about God's great love.  Ephesians 2:1-3 remind us that those lacking faith are dead in their sin, disobedient in mind, and caught up in the passions of the flesh.   But, God doesn't leave us there.  God calls us to a better life.  God, "rich in mercy and with a GREAT love", saves us by grace in Christ (Ephesians 2:4).  God doesn't leave us to sin, leave us to our fate.  God saves us, helps us, hopes in us.  Ordinary love might write a person off.  Ordinary love might just give up on you.  But God doesn't have an ordinary love.  This scripture is clear.  God's love is great.  Is yours?

   Without thinking, each of us can display a shallow love, or no love at all.  Maybe it is to the poor.  Maybe it is to our spouse.  Maybe, our anger or resentment gets the better of us.  It might be because we are tired, stressed, or crabby.  We are overcome by shallow thinking.    Our love grows cold.   It is so easy in our world to become bitter, envious, boastful, or harsh.  God wants each of us to strive to attain a great love like his.   How do you measure up?  Do you go through life selfishly, snippy and curt, saying things you shouldn't say, overlooking kind acts and gracious words?  The stress, the problems, the trials of life take their toll… and our love becomes small instead of great.

     I've seen people in the churches I've served who've had great love.  Others had ordinary love.  Too many had little love.  I must say that those with little or no love will sap your strength if you let them.  Words from their mouth will bring you down and make you feel small and insignificant.  They are quick to criticize and do not care if your feelings are hurt.  Those with a great love are different.  They make you feel better by their presence.  Their smile lights up a room.  Their love makes you feel special.  God's love floods from them to you.

God's great love can be seen in a number of ways in people.  I see it often in people who love their enemies.  I've seen God's great love in people who help the hurting and needy. I've seen that great love in those who forgive easily.  If you hold a grudge, are too tight with money or compliments, are overly harsh with those around you, or see problems more than solutions, chances are you have little love or ordinary love.  If you are more concerned with what the church is doing for you than if you are doing God's will,  chances are your love is also ordinary.  If others begin to believe in God (not just go to church) after getting to know you, your love is usually great. 

  I’m hopeful that what the world sees in you is some love... and not just a little love… .and not some ordinary love… I mean a great love…a love that goes one step beyond… a love that is like God's love.  Everyday, our world experiences hate and love.   Only amazing human beings and true people of faith show forth with God's kind of love.  A great love, an ordinary love, a little love… what does God see in you?  What do others feel around you?  What are you known for?

March 22

“It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife.  And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 
 For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment  in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,  you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 
 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed."   (1 Corinthians 5:1-7  RSV)


Martin Calvert had had been on the treadmill only a few seconds when he felt an unknown object under his big toe in his right tennis shoe. It was a pebble. Ever had a pebble in your shoe? Since the timer on the treadmill had been set, he wasn’t going to let a little pebble stop him from a good workout. He was determined to exercise!  Every minute or two, he shook his foot and tried to send the little agitator away, but soon it returned to the ball of his foot. It was definitely interfering with his exercise time. He shook his foot again, hoping for relief, but the pebble returned to pester him under his heel. By that time, it felt as if that little irritant was getting bigger! After 10 minutes, it felt like a stone, and he could think of little else. It seemed like an eternity before the treadmill told him that his time was up. He turned off the machine, and immediately loosed his shoe and shook it. Out came the irritant --a tiny, gray stone no bigger than the head of a pin. Martin Calvert then wrote this in his church newsletter, "The Temple Trumpet": “How could such a minuscule object cause so much trouble? So it is when we, as Christians, allow even a tiny sin to remain in our lives. We, too, have two choices: either to confess and forsake it and "get it fixed", or else to delay, try to ignore it, and tolerate it. But soon, that little sin will cause much trouble and greatly affect our spiritual lives. Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 28:13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses them shall have mercy. (KJV)" How wonderful it felt to remove the pebble, and how miserable it was to ignore it!

Martin Calvert knew what I want you to consider today. How is it that a little sin can sometimes be what gets you, what hurts you most, what causes you to fail? If you think of it, that first drink is the one that gets the alcoholic.  A little bit of jealousy can wreck a marriage. It’s a little taste of power that can go to a micro-manager's head. Sometimes, it’s not the big sins that will wreck you. It’s the little sins, the ones that don’t seem to matter, that really can mess things up in your life.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, the apostle Paul was very upset with the church in Corinth. In that congregation, there was a man who was living in an incestuous relationship with his father’s wife. The father probably died, and the son took up a relationship with his mother. It was a sinful relationship. It’s a sin that was not allowed in the early church and still is not allowed among the faithful today. Paul told the people in Corinth to kick the man out of the church, before he wrecked their faith. The man was going to hell, and Paul didn’t want the congregation to go with it.  Paul goes on to say, “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?  Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)” Essentially, Paul is saying, get rid of this one man so his sin doesn’t grow to infect the whole church.

Now, I’m sure this bit of wisdom not only should be told to the church in Corinth, but to you and me. We also need to be careful that a little bad leaven doesn’t mess up our whole life. It can. It does. It will.

A gunsmith was known for building the most accurate and beautiful hand-made rifles. What many people didn’t know was that this excellent gunsmith was crippled. He needed a wheelchair. It was amazing that despite his disability, he could do such great work putting details and artwork on gun stocks, or
perfecting a fiberglass pad for a rifle barrel. His talents were amazing. He was also easy to talk to.

A new customer stopped by at the gun shop to chat for a bit. He was seriously thinking of buying a gun that was on sale.  He and the gunsmith struck up a conversation.  With business being a little slow that day,  they talked for almost an hour about the difference between cheap guns and well-made guns.  Then,  the new customer glanced at the wheelchair. The gunsmith noticed, and said, “Do you know how I ended up in this stupid wheelchair?” When the gunsmith was a young man just out of High School, he and a friend went out drinking. They had a few too many beers, but decided to drive home. On the way home, filled with drunken bravado, the teens tried to beat a train to a railroad crossing and lost. The train crushed his spine in the ensuing accident. The gunsmith turned to the new customer and said, “One drink too many, one stupid thought trying to beat that train, and the rest of my life is tied to this stupid chair.”

Sometimes, all it takes is a little sin, a small mistake, a misjudgment, saying “Yes” when you should have said “No”, and a big problem flops right into your lap. That’s why I believe it is very important that we listen to Paul here in this scripture. He tells us to be careful that a little yeast doesn’t raise a whole lot of bad dough. He is teaching us that a little bad can damage what otherwise might be a great thing. A few bad individuals can wreck a great church. A few bad apples can make school something you’d rather not attend. A few small sins can sometimes become a big mistake. Not keeping up with your prayer time can make you susceptible to bigger problems.

Did you know that the average church fight or church split is caused by an average of eight people? That’s right. Eight trouble-makers in a church can wreck the situation for everybody. Did you know that just like a few bad pieces of fruit can ruin the whole fruit drawer in your refrigerator, a few little mistakes can really take their toll on your life?

A father of three young teenagers had a family rule that they could not attend PG-17 rated or R-rated movies. The teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-17. The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. They made a list of pros and cons about the movie to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it. The con's were that it contained a few swear words, only a little violence, and there was only one sex scene, but it wasn’t that bad. The pros were that it was a popular movie - a block buster. Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it.  Many of the members of their church who had even seen the movie though it wasn't "too bad". Since there were more pros than cons, the teens said they were asking their father to reconsider his position on just this one movie and let them have permission to go see it.
The father looked at the list of pros and cons. He said he could tell his kids had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision. The teens were thrilled thinking; "Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!" So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.

The next evening the father called the three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told them he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons. The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father. The brownies only had one con. The father had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well - they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could eat the brownies which included just a "little bit of bad" and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of bad" and not be affected. Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies.  The smug smiles had left their faces. Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he is opposed to the father just asks, "Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?"

It can be just one bad ingredient in your life that can really mess things up. You can do a lot of things right, be faithful in a lot of ways, but that one little bad habit... that’s what might get you into trouble.  Remember Paul’s words in this scripture. Don’t let a little bad leaven wreck the whole loaf. Don’t let a little thing or one small thoughtless comment, or a few selfish thoughts wreck your spiritual life, your church, your community, your job, your marriage, or your world. God may tell you about a small sin or issue that is creeping into your life.  But you’ve got to listen to Him.   Today, don't overlook the little "sins" in your life. 

March 23

“ To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ....  I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.” (Revelation 2:1–5   NIV84)  

There was a church in Kansas where a friend of mine served. He served there about 6 years. It was a good church, well, except for one big problem. The church was founded in the late 1800's by a family that was big into cattle. They owned a lot of land. The congregation grew through the years, and then went on a decline in the 1980's as farms went belly up or were bought up by conglomerates. An ancestor of the church's original founding family was a woman named Estelle. Now, Estelle had money, and she used it. She made sure people knew that the church was founded and was highly supported by her family. When there was a meeting, the congregation and Pastor knew how the vote would go... because if Estelle was for or against it, the church always sided with her.  She was a hard worker. When a member of the church died,  she was there to visit, usually bringing a pie. When there was a church dinner, she was in charge of the meal. When there was a meeting, she knew about it. This woman worked very hard at her church.  But the church was never going to grow. The church was controlled tightly by this woman... she had her hand in everything. She would give you the shirt off her back, but she was a bitter woman. If you crossed her, she let you know. She kept grudges. She kept a "short leash" (her words.  Is a pastor a dog?) on the pastors. She worked very hard on church projects, but there was little love in her speech or conduct. The church wasn't going to grow or change until Estelle died, and maybe it wouldn't even survive thereafter.

In Revelation 2, author John of Patmos relayed what he was shown by God. It involved the church in Ephesus (in ancient Greece). God told that church: "I know about your hard work and perseverance..." (Revelation 2:2). God knew these people in Ephesus were hard workers who remained faithful during tough times. God knew they did a lot of good works in faith. When persecution came, the congregation continued their worship services. They spoke out against wicked people. They shared and helped where they could. But God said that this hard working congregation had one FATAL flaw. That issue was so glaring that God the Father threatened to take away His Holy Spirit and the light of His presence from that church. What did the congregation do to cause God to consider giving them up? God said.... "I hold this against you [the congregation in Ephesus]: You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place." The people had lost their ability to love God. They did religious things, but their heart did not show forth the love of God. They stopped doing things out of the love of God and did things out of duty or respect or to be nice or out of habit. God would not tolerate this attitude in one of His churches. They were about to suffer for it.

There are many places even today where true love of God is missing, and God's judgment falls there. I've seen churches who have kicked out five, six, and even seven preachers.  They now are so riddled with problems, they will die... its just a matter of time. Unless they repent, they will perish. In all of these congregations, the pastor is seen as the problem, when in reality the congregation and its prideful people are the problem.   There are members who want to control others and the pastors, congregations where people play political games, places where lies are told about members and pastors for nefarious reasons.  The death of the church is the result every time.   And in most cases, the Pastors are not at fault.  It's the church that will be judged.  God hasn't come first. They chose control, power, politics, friends, family OVER love of God.
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 Years ago, I was asked by a fellow pastor to come to a leaders' meeting at his church. He was upset because the church treasurer was withholding his pay to pay other bills, and was worried that the meeting would be critical.  The church was low on money. The pastor and his family were slowly losing everything. The family had to choose between paying bills or eating.  At the meeting, the church treasurer told the leaders that he wasn't paying the pastor until he got enough money, and he wasn't going to push the members to give any more money because that wasn't his job.  The church died within a few years.  

I've seen churches where members fought openly. I've been in churches where some members sued other members and even the church.  There are congregations filled to the brim with bitterness and anger and resentment. I've personally seen fistfights break out, for heaven's sake!!! God will not allow this sinfulness to happen for long. When a congregation loses the ability to love, the Holy Spirit leaves that church.... just as was threatened by God in Ephesus. And if you are not very loving, if you are quick to play the judge, if you are negative toward others or you have to have your way, God will also pull his Holy Spirit from your heart. You will lack protection and care from God.  Then, your prayers will feel empty, and you will never again feel close to God.

​This scripture in Revelation is clear as a bell. Love of God must exist in our hearts and in our congregations. Remember the song? "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love." Well, they'll know we aren't Christians when we fail to love others and God.  Now, the love I'm talking about isn't a wishy-washy love where it doesn't matter how you love. It's not a love that is conditional. It is an unconditional Godly kind of love based on scripture and on the leading of the Holy Spirit. It's the kind of love that helps, cares for, and rescues. It's the kind of love that God wills to be done.

C.S. Lewis once said, "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give Your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, and airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is if you go to Hell."

  1 John 4:12 states “..if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
If we do not show forth God's love, we must repent and change. Love is not an option for a Christian. It is a requirement. If your love grows cold in marriage, you will kill it. If your love toward others grows cold, you will suffer. If the love in your church grows cold, God will remove His Spirit from that church. The absence of warmth is cold.  The absence of loving kindness is the absence of Christ. Even if you are right in an argument, repent whenever your heart grows cold and love does not come easy. Your closeness to Jesus absolutely depends on it.  Is there somewhere where your love has grown cold?  Will you act as if you love God today?

​March 24

“The Lord looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men; from where he sits enthroned he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds. .... Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. Yea, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in thee.”   (Psalm 33:13–22  RSV)  


 A young man named Mark was questioned by police after a drinking party where local teenagers were arrested for underage drinking. After the arrests were made, they let Mark go because he was old enough to drink. As he left the house, a policeman hollered, “Mark, I’ve got my eye on you. Better watch out.”

I’ve heard that several times in my life...”I’ve got my eye on you.” It is enough to bring chills to the bones of many a youngster. Growing up, there was a house next to my elementary school. It was right next to the baseball diamond. A few of us neighborhood kids were playing baseball one day when I hit a foul ball that sailed right over the fence and into that yard next door to the diamond. I promptly climbed the fence to get the ball. Just then, an old man, with a scruffy beard and old tattered clothes jumped out the door. “Hey,” he said, “What are you doing in my yard.” It caught me so by surprise, I left the ball right there and ran home. He scared me. Later that night, I came back to get my bat and ball. I got the ball and was just picking up the bat when a voice came from next door, “Hey, you. I’ve got my eye on you.” From then on whenever I hit a ball, I looked at the house first just to see if the man was watching. I made sure I never hit a ball toward his yard. When friends did hit into the man’s yard, we left the balls there, such fear we had of that man.

You’ve heard it said that some people have an "evil eye". They are watching to get you, to hurt you. You always watch over your back when someone has the evil eye out for you. You must make sure they don't catch you unaware. But there are also those who keep a watchful eye over you in love. You feel comfort knowing that they will be there for you when you need them.

Some people think God has an eye that is always looking to catch you in a mistake. They view God as the judge with an "evil eye". They see God as someone to be afraid of. This is not how our scripture for today reads. In Psalm 33, we are reminded that from heaven, God sees ALL the sons of men (Psalm 33:13). Did you know that from heaven, God can see you? God knows when you do right, and God knows when you do wrong. God sees. God knows. The scripture confirms this when it says....."from where he sits enthroned he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth, and observes all their deeds.” (Psalm 33:14,15) God knows what you care about, what you fake, what you fail at, and what you try to do.  But this scripture isn’t urging you to fear God’s watching you from heaven. It is not urging you to be afraid. It doesn’t draw a picture of God as an old man next door ready to scream at you. Instead, it is urging you to notice that God is watching over the faithful, guarding them. Listen to next verses of this scripture....  "Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine." (Psalm 33:18,19)  God keeps an eye on the faithful in order to save them, deliver them , keep them safe. Are you one of the faithful who respects God, who hopes in God's love, and who trusts in His name? Then you have an eye looking toward you, watching over you.

Psalm 34:15 adds to this picture of a God who watches over you when it says...."The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry."(Psalm 34:15)   Twice in two consecutive psalms, God is noted as looking out for God’s own.  Neither of these psalms mention that God looks out for those who do not respect Him, who do not trust in his name, whose acts are not righteous.

One of the most difficult things for me as a pastor is to do the funeral of someone who never went to church, who didn’t give to church or to God’s work, and didn’t really have much of a faith. It’s hard because I know God’s is not watching out for them as God watches over the righteous.  They will have to face God knowing they never much cared for God.  Instead of facing God after death with hopeful excitement, they will be facing God in dreaded fear.  It is different with the faithful.  They have a loving Heavenly Father who keeps an eye on them, carefully watching their situations.  I have often witnessed mothers and fathers looking out for their children. As these parents talk, they keep their eyes on their little children, watching so that they don’t hurt themselves, stray too far, or do something wrong. The parents are watching over those they love, as God watches over the faithful.

 A man was on a mountaintop in the Swiss Alps. He loved to climb mountains. He loved the feel of being on top of the world. But one day, as he reached the pinnacle of a mountain and looked down to see where he had walked, he noticed two cars on a winding road on the other side of the mountain. One was winding its way down, the other winding its way up the mountain. As he watched, he noticed that the one going down was beginning to run erratically. He figured its brakes had failed. The man could do nothing as he watched the car swerve and hit the other car on a curve. Both veered off the road in a terrible accident. Just before the cars hit, the man shouted a warning so loud his voice echoed off the mountain peaks in the distance. But, his voice could not be heard by the drivers. From the top of the mountain, all he could do was watch the crash happen.  Sometimes, from heaven, God looks down and tries to call to us, to reach us, to help us, and to save us. His voice may fall on deaf ears. What is His voice saying from the mountaintop today? As he looks through your life, does he see danger ahead? Will you hear his voice, the voice of the one who watches out for you?  Will you trust in the eyes of the God who sees all?

Are you one of the faithful? If so, you have someone watching over you today. You have one who is concerned about your welfare. As this scripture says, God watches out for you that He may deliver your soul from death. Don’t let any sin come between you and the one who watches over you. Don’t let anything weaken your trust in God's hand. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. His ears are open to their cry.

March 25

“I (Paul) therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift...... And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:1–16   RSV)  


We’re called the United States, but in our history, the North and South fought against each other. We’re part of the United Nations, but sometimes the countries of this union have fought wars and committed economic sanctions against one another. In many ways, the word united is used to say what we are supposed to be, but are not. Some see it as an ideal, a Utopian hope that someday unity will come. In scripture, the apostle Paul taught Christians to be united with one another as a basic tenant of being faithful. It is supposed to be a part of us even now. That’s why the Christian marriage ceremony says, "Let nothing separate the husband and wife,” as the two become one. That’s why Jesus sent out his disciples two by two. That’s why Jesus said “I will never leave or forsake you.” We are united with God and made to be united with other Christians and ultimately with all people created by God.

Have you ever heard the phrase, united we stand, divided we fall? This statement means in and of itself that if people are divided instead of united, they will fail and fall apart. Nature teaches us many valuable lessons about this. Let me share one of these lessons with you. The May 1987 edition of National Geographic included a feature about the arctic wolf. Author L. David Mech described how a seven-member pack of wolves had targeted several musk-oxen calves who were guarded by eleven adults. As the wolves approached their quarry, the musk-oxen bunched in an impenetrable semicircle, their deadly rear hooves facing out, and the calves remained safe during a long standoff with the enemy. Then, a single ox broke rank and the herd scattered into nervous little groups. A skirmish ensued, and the adults finally fled in panic, leaving the calves to the mercy of the predators. Not a single calf survived. Long ago, the apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29 that after his departure spiritual wolves would come, not sparing the Christian flock of faithful ones. Wolves continue to attack our families, our communities, and even the church today but cannot penetrate and destroy when unity is maintained. When believers break ranks, however, they provide easy prey. (John R. White in Leadership-Vol. 11, #3.) God made us to stand together, lest divided we fall.

In the book of Genesis, Satan separated Adam and Eve from God. In the end, they lost the ability to stay in the garden of Eden. Don’t you think that evil in this world will always try to separate you from those who are good for you? We are meant to be united with God and one another in Christ. Whatever divides faithful people and families is probably not good for us or for God.  Look around in our world and you will see all kinds of ways in which the unity God intended is being torn to shreds.   How many children grow up in single parent families because one of the parents didn’t want to keep the family together? How many friendships are torn apart by one person who has to have his or her way? Why is it that brothers and sisters sometimes hold such a grudge that they never talk to each other again? Many people tear apart what God wants held together.

Paul wrote our scripture today in an attempt to unite the young church in Ephesus. That church was under constant challenges from without and within. In the city of Ephesus, the majority of the people worshiped fertility goddesses and Roman gods. The Christians in this city had to constantly defend their faith from those who would challenge them. Also, within that congregation, some people encouraged worship of Jesus AND other gods. This was directly against the First Commandment of Exodus 20. We worship one God. In response to various challenges that threatened to tear that young church apart, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus.  In that letter, he said: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) Did you notice how many times that the word “one” is used in this sentence? Seven times in one sentence Paul tells those Christians how they worship one God, are one with God, one in the faith, and must be one with each other. He obviously sees them as united in Christ and wants them to keep the faith pure and strong.

Paul also urges the Christians in Ephesus to live a worthy life, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2). This is important to remember. While striving for unity with God and with those of the faith, we must love one another. We must bear with each other in love. This is never easy.  Why is it that so many people can’t just see past the differences of others or past their own biases? That is the only way unity will come. The apostle Paul wrote that though we are united in the Spirit, we do have different gifts and abilities given by God (Ephesians 4:11-14). It takes a lot of courage to see past differences and love one another, respect another, and encourage another.

I’ve seen families where a parent wouldn’t accept a child who was gifted in the arts when that parent was gifted in a trade. I’ve seen siblings who didn’t love one another because one married a Catholic while another married a protestant. I know Republicans who won’t give the time of day to a Democrat and vice-versa. Congress is constantly split on issues depending on where their loyalties lie.  Why is it that we cannot have unity? Because, often our hearts just aren’t loving and respectful enough.  We are good at dividing people, but find it difficult to unite them.  We worship things rather than respect God.

 A beautiful little girl wandered out one cold day into the countryside of Canada. The family finally realized she was lost and started a search. When they still couldn't find her,  they called the people of the community together. Each went his own way searching for the child, shouting out her name. It soon became dark and the cold of the Canadian winter settled in. After some time,  someone suggested the searchers join hands and cover the grass fields, but it was too late. They found the girl curled up, frozen in the cold. Then the shout went up, "It only we had joined hands before, we might have found her!" The spiritual meaning of this story is clear. Christ’s love demands unity among His believers. Sometimes by joining hands with others in the family or in the faith, we can do great things.  If we don't join hands, lives are lost.
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A decade ago, heavy snows hit North Carolina. Following an ice storm with a wet six-inch snowfall, it was interesting to see the effect along Interstate 40. Next to the highway stood several large groves of tall, young pine trees. The branches were bowed down with the heavy snow--so low that branches from one tree were often leaning against the trunk or branches of another. Wherever a single tree stood alone, however, the effect of the heavy snow was different. The branches had become heavier and heavier, and since there were no other trees to lean against, the branches snapped. They lay on the ground, dark and alone in the cold snow. The picture is clear. When the storms of life hit, we need to be standing close to other TRUE Christians and those God puts around us. The closer we stand, the more we will be able to hold up. (Carl G. Conner. Leadership-Vol 16, #4.)

Whether or not you are aware of it, sometimes people in our world or in the faith are not very loving. Some don’t care much about unity. There will be family members who love to push your buttons until you break. People around you, even friends, can sometimes be highly critical. God wants unity in the faith. We are required to love each other without exception. God puts us together in the church to overcome great evils and challenges in this world. We’ve got to look out for each other, weather the storms of life together, and love one another in Christian love. The task is set before you in this scripture.  Will your family or God’s family be united in Christ? Will you let critical people or attitudes drive wedges between you and others and between you and God? Remember the wolves surrounding the oxen. Remember the trees huddling together in the winter storm. Remember the Ephesians being told by Paul they are one in the Lord. United we stand. Divided we fall. That applies to pine trees, relationships, to friends, to family, and to God’s church. WE are all in this together, aren’t we?  How can you help to unify a situation today?

March 26

“In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord....” 
​(2 Kings 20:1–2, RSV)  

"Put Your House in Order"

There was a time when King Hezekiah was ill. He knew something was wrong in his body. Maybe inside his heart he also felt that his illness was fatal. At any rate, he was near death. Some of you before you die, may have that moment when you know death is close. Some are given a few months. A Doctor might say you have cancer and have six months to live. Or, in the fraction of a second before a car accident, you might think to yourself, "This is it. This is how my life is going to end." We don't know exactly what King Hezekiah's situation was, but we know he was near death. When you know you are going to die, one thing that happens to most people and truly happens to all Christians is we think to ourselves, "Am I ready to meet God?" You, my blessed friend, better be ready to meet God in that moment.

It started happening when he was age fifty-two. It wasn't like him. Earl began to act .... well... differently. Friends started seeing him in the back row at church. He stopped his heavy drinking. Though he hadn't cleaned out his garage in years, he suddenly took an interest in getting it squared away. His wife said to him, "Earl, you've been an eager beaver lately. What's your next project?" He shocked her, because he said, "I'm going to put that new maintenance free siding on the house. Then, I'm going to fix up my old boat."
She replied to her husband, "Earl, I like the new you!" Everybody noticed the changes for six months; Earl seemed happier. Some blamed it on church. A few in the family thought he was really doing well. He had lost some weight. He looked younger, healthier. His wife loved her new Earl.  What Earl told nobody except his Pastor was that something was bothering him. He was having a feeling. He believed he needed to come back to church after many years, because it was the right thing to do. And, Earl felt something else. He felt, somehow, that his time on this earth was short. He couldn't understand why he felt it. He wasn't sick. Everything was going well. He just had this feeling.

Eight months later, Earl died of a heart attack. One day he was laughing with his friends at a card party on the Fourth of July. Two days later, he was gone. His young wife couldn't believe it. But in the days and months after his death, Earl's wife told her sister, "I think Earl knew his time was short. And I believe before he died, he made right with God and put his house in order. He fixed up the place and got ready to meet his Maker."

I've heard a number of people say the same thing to me. Because of Cancer, a few knew they had to make some things right before they died. When another was dying of a lung disease, he came back to church to put things right with God. Some people die quickly in accidents or suddenly with a heart attack. Some die slowly with cancer or disease. But, many are given this feeling by God that their time on this earth is short, and they better put their house in order before they have to meet God face to face on Judgment Day. If you knew you had a few days or months to live, what would you do? How would you put your house in order? What things would change in your life?

In the scripture for today, King Hezekiah was not only feeling ill, he had a visit from a prophet. The court prophet Isaiah came to him and said, "This is what the Lord has told me, Put your house in order O King,
because you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness."(Isaiah 20:1) The historical record of King Hezekiah is pretty clear. From scripture and scholarly research, we know that Hezekiah is believed to have been named King of Judah when he was twenty-five years old. When he was approximately thirty-nine years old, he received this visit by Isaiah that his life was ending. From several scriptures we know that Hezekiah believed wholeheartedly in God. He was a pious man, a man of prayer, a man of faith. So when he heard these words of Isaiah, Hezekiah didn't just give up. Instead, Hezekiah did what he always had done.... he prayed. He reminded God how he had lived a life following God's will. He wept. He talked to God of his past and future. We are told in scripture that before Isaiah had even left the King's palace, God told the prophet to go back up to the king and tell him that God planned to add fifteen years onto his life. Why? Because God had something he needed Hezekiah to do. God needed Hezekiah to stand up to the King of Assyria. God was going to use Hezekiah's faith to build up the nation so God could defend the land.
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There are times when you might pray to God to ask for a dying friend to live, and God will answer that prayer by keeping the person alive. God can increase a person's life or take them home. But one thing is certain, during your life, you better have your house in order. You better make things right with God and others, because you never know when death may strike. God may add fifteen years to your life or through a miracle give you a second chance. Or, God may just take you home to heaven to be with him. God may send a person who has been evil and full of hatred straight to hell. God may call a person to repent in his or her final days. One way or another, each of us will have to give an accounting of our lives. I pray the day you meet God that your house is in order, your sins are forgiven, your hope is true, your faith is strong, and you are ready to see Jesus.

Every one of us, King Hezekiah included, needs to put our house in order. From the moment we are conceived, there is a date of death that is coming for us. We have come into this world as a gift from God, and we will go back to face God some day to answer for how we lived. Put your spiritual house in order, so that when that day comes, God can welcome you home with open, longing arms.

One way we are told in scripture to put our spiritual house in order is to repent. Jesus' first sermon talked about how we must repent (Mark 1:15). Isaiah said that the Redeemer in heaven will only come to those who repent (Isaiah 1:27). The prophet Jeremiah said that if you ever stray from what God wants, you better repent (Jeremiah 5:3). The Lenten Season in many denominations is also known as the Season of Repentance in the Church Year. It is a time when people like you get to repent and get right. It is a time to put your house in order.  The prophet Amos said to repent, to "Seek the Lord and live" and to those who wouldn't do that, he said, they would sense the darkness closing in and there would be nothing they could do to stop it (Amos 5:6).

Use this time of your life to repent of any sin that still clings to you.  Put your house in order.  Make things right with God.  Change some things in your life that aren't right. If you do, when you see the face of God, you will be joined in Heaven with all those who have gone before you and all those who come after you who put their house in order before meeting Almighty God.


March 27

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11–22   RSV) 


Growing up, it must have been in the third or fourth grade that we had a school program. For that program, our class was to sing the song, “Home of the Range”. The lyrics of that song sound like the home on the range is the place to be. There, "the dear and the antelope play. And never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.” It sounds like a great place to live. Many Christians look at the church as that “home on the range.” At church, everyone should play nicely, like the dear and antelope of the song. And never is heard a discouraging word at a truly faithful church. That’s how people think it should be. I believe God too believes it should be that way. But in all reality, its not that true for many churches is it?

There are many places in our world that are full of discouraging words. If you read the news, you will hear a lot about murders, rapes, embezzlement, crimes, violence. Sure, there are stories of weddings, of new happenings, of promotions. But they don’t get the headlines that often the discouraging things get. War gets headlines. The deaths of astronauts gets headlines. How many space missions have there been where the headlines are buried on page eight of the news or buried in the news site? When there is a tragedy, its front page news. Why is that? Why would people want to hear discouraging news all the time? I think many people just don’t know how to take good news.  They don't know how to be positive. Its easier to be an armchair quarterback and complain about a certain play in the Super Bowl than be supportive of your team. It’s easier to sit back and complain about politicians in Washington than run for office yourself and see how tough it is. A parent might say, “Why couldn’t you have been as easy to care for as your sister?” when the parent should have been more encouraging of the accomplishments of that child. It’s easier to complain and discourage, than to encourage.

Even in the church, it can get mighty discouraging. Ten years ago, a member of my church came to help at a function. When he got there, he was told, “Sorry you came in, we found others to do this and we don’t much need you.” I would rather they said, “I’m so glad you came. Help us out and we’ll get done more quickly.” We have a way of saying the wrong thing, don’t we? And it can get mighty discouraging. Some years ago, I was at a worship service and overheard a visitor come in to the sanctuary. He sat down in a pew that one of the regulars sat in every week. When the regular member came in and saw the new person in "his pew", can you guess what he did? He said, “Hey, you are sitting in my pew!” Aren't all the pews in the sanctuary God’s pews? People can be downright discouraging.

The apostle Paul knew this. When he dealt with churches, he wanted to be as encouraging as possible. At times,  he had to correct churches and deal with problems. But often, Paul simply tried to get the congregation to be positive and encouraging with each other. In the scripture above, the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica. Paul loved the people in the church at Thessalonica. They supported Paul in his ministry. Paul mentioned how Jesus Christ had obtained salvation for them. Then he said this: “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”(1 Thessalonians 5:11) In Christ, these people in the Thessalonian church were to be encouragers for each other. Because God did such a great thing in Christ, we are to encourage each other with that good news of Jesus’ saving our souls and offering us spiritual gifts.

The first four books of the New Testament are called gospels. Do you know why? Do you know what the word “gospel” means? It means “Good news”. Jesus’ coming to you and me was good news... great news. It’s news that is encouraging to each of our hearts and souls. And because Jesus came and conquered death, we do not need to fear death. Jesus died so that we might have eternal life in Him. That, my friend, is good news. Paul tells each of the people of that church they should encourage each other with that good news of the gospel.

There are moments I wonder if Christians have forgotten that Jesus’ coming is good news! Actually its great news. Death is not the end of your life. You can live in Christ, then see loved ones again in Heaven.  You can be healed and made free from sin and guilt. God does great things in Christ. But you walk into some churches on Sunday morning and its like walking into a funeral home or a morgue. I mean people look somber. They don’t sing with cheery voices; they mumble along. Some children look like they’d rather eat broccoli than be at church. People take communion as if it were their last supper, not an awesome powerful sacrament of grace! Talk about discouraging! If a person had to decide to believe in Jesus by just looking at your attitude, would he or she be encouraged or discouraged?

In this scripture, Paul goes on to give the people good reasons to be encouraged in the faith. He tells them, “Rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances, love your leaders.”(1 Thessalonians 5:13,16) Paul wants people to be filled with joy and encouragement. He also said, “encourage the fainthearted.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) So twice in just four verses, the Thessalonian church is told to be encouraging, not discouraging. In fact, six times in this short letter, Paul tells the Thessalonians about being encouraging to one another. Encouragement is at the heart of being a Christian.

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, listing what everyone else had said about each.  On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. 

A dozen years later, one of her students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.  As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.  "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."  After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."  Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.  "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."  All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."  Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."  "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary."
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her purse and showed her frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times, " Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."  That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. She cried as the emotions of her impact on these students lives was completely felt. She cried out of sorrow. She cried out of joy.

Those kids needed their teacher’s encouragement. They needed to know they were OK, that they were loved, that they were important, that they were thought about. People in church need that too. We all need it. And the Apostle Paul wanted Christians to have encouraging ways.   I don’t hide the truth of God from you. I tell it like it is. Based on my studies of encouragement in scripture, it is clear that God envisioned the church as a place of encouragement. It is to be a place where people feel uplifted, prayed for, loved, and nurtured. There are times church people have to be honest with each other, but do we have to say the demeaning and derogatory things? If you are a person who is constantly discouraging people, I’d like for you to quit your church. If you can't be encouraging, you are missing the entire point of being a Christian.  Every moment you spend in church is wasted until you change your ways. If you tend to discourage people a lot by your ill attitude, stay home until you read your Bible enough to know that Jesus’ salvation is good news and you are to be an encourager. You need to build others up, not tear them down. You need to be a source hope and praise and help, not gossip or sarcasm.

My grandmother taught me many things. One of her pieces of wisdom was this: “If you don’t have anything good to say, just don’t say anything at all.” I believe the apostle Paul would agree with that. If you’ve only got damaging, negative, spiteful words to say, don’t claim to be a true Christian. You don't belong in God's flock. Forgiveness belongs in your heart. Hope belongs in God's House. Learning is to take place in God's presence. Peace is found in God's arms. I pray that in your home, from your mouth, there "never is heard a discouraging word.” I pray your family finds strength in you. I pray people find hope in you. I pray others are encouraged by your words and what God does through you. I want people to look forward to seeing you in God's holy house.  Do they? 


​March 28

“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire....  You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:21-22, 27–28  RSV)  


A man was at work in the control room of the plant. He was working on the computer. Dials from the gauges in the plant were spinning behind him, the sound of machinery could be heard in the background. As he worked on the computer, an email popped into his mailbox. It was a note from the foreman. The man had been written up by the foreman for doing personal items at work on company time. The man had recently set up a pool at work concerning the upcoming football game. People in the plant took bets and paid for their place in the pool. The winner was going to receive $100 if the right numbers came up in the football game score. Problem was, it was against company policy to have a pool at work, but the man didn’t care. He did it anyway. Because he was written up by his foreman, this would stay on his record. From that day on, the two were enemies. To his boss’ face, the man would speak kindly, but behind his back, he would do everything he could to get back at the guy. He hated him. Once, at a company picnic, he personally started a rumor that the foreman was a drunk, just to see if that might hurt his job. When a friend at work talked about the foreman, the man would try to encourage his fellow worker to do things behind the foreman’s back. And the funny thing about all of this, was the man and the foreman went to the same church.

Now you might think that the man was wrong for being angry at his boss. You might think the boss should have concentrated on work issues instead of a fun betting game among friends at work. However, to God, there is something serious going on here. According to God, the man is murdering his boss, the foreman. That’s right. Breaking the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”. Jesus explains in the gospel of Matthew why the man’s anger is considered murder....He said, “You have heard... ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.”(Matthew 5:21,22) Jesus saw anger at someone as a breaking of the commandment against killing. One was just another form of the other. Hating someone is equivalent to murder in Jesus’ eyes. Yes, murder.

I’ve heard people say, “I’m a good person. I haven’t killed anyone.” When I hear that, I sometimes think about Jesus’ words in this scripture. I almost want to say to that person, “Have you ever hated someone? Because if you have, you have murdered, just in the heart.” People seem to think that sins of the heart, which are hidden, are not serious sins. Not in God's eyes. You hate someone in the heart, you’re a murderer.

Sins of the heart continue to be noticed by Jesus in our scripture reading for today. Jesus goes on to say that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed adultery in his heart. You see, a person can sin with the eyes and the heart and the mind. Just because you don’t commit adultery with another person in a hotel room somewhere doesn’t mean you don’t commit adultery in the heart with another person. That’s why pornography is so dangerous. It can cause you to get hooked on adultery, even if it is in the mind. Then, you break the seventh commandment.... in your heart.

What you must understand is that there’s sins you do with your body... and sins you do with your mind and heart. You may think... ‘I’m a good person because I never broke a commandment”. But, I wonder. In your mind, have you broken one? Have you hated someone, and thus broken the commandment not to kill? Have you cheated on your spouse in your mind and thus committed adultery? Have you longed badly to have something your neighbor has? Then, you broke the 10th commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” There are a lot of ways to break the commandments in the mind and heart.

I once counseled a husband and wife who were tearing each other apart. I mean, just a few minutes with them and you could feel the tension and hate... yes, hate. The husband found out his wife was cheating with another man. They were Christians! They attended church! They had kids!!! How could she? He threw guilt at her right and left. She was the bad one in their marriage. Then, she said something interesting. She said, “If you paid me half the attention you pay your car, I never would have cheated. If you caressed me like you caress your car when you wax it, I would have felt some love. But, no, your wife comes second. You should have married your Ferrari.” At that moment, I realized that they had both committed adultery. She made love to another man. He was having an affair with his car. If you ever have a friend say that something or someone is your spouse and is not talking about your husband or wife, better watch out. Chances are you may be cheating on them, if even in your mind or heart.

I’ve seen women choose a child over a spouse. I’ve seen men who were “married to their job”. I’ve seen people who had a hobby that controlled their life. I’ve seen people who took better care of a thing than they took care of their spouse or family. They are all cheating, committing adultery...in the heart. In God’s eyes, they all break the commandment of God, as Jesus so clearly shows us in these verses.

Sins of the body are deadly. Sins of the mind or heart.... are just as deadly.

If there is something that is a temptation in your life, be careful. Sin is not far away. If your heart is full of resentments, you just might be committing sin. If you are a jealous person in your mind, you might just be breaking the 10th commandment already. If you think about how you might get someone back or how you might spread a little gossip around to hurt a reputation, you are breaking commandments right and left. Are you aware of it?  Sins of the mind and heart are dangerous. Nobody knows about them except you and God. The Holy Spirit, if it lives in your heart, will be forcing you to feel the tension, desiring you to give up the sins of the heart.

A seventeen year old teen resented having his little sister tagging around all the time. He couldn’t stand it when his little sister would ask dumb questions like, “Harry, what makes an engine work?” “Harry, why don’t planes fall down out of the sky?” One day, he had it. He told his sister to shut up whenever she was around him. For weeks, she didn’t’ say a word when she was with him. It was starting to bother him. He thought back to a day when his sister asked a “dumb” question, where he had said, “That was stupid. That was really stupid, do you know who you are talking to? Do I look stupid?” Just then, he heard his mother and father fighting again. His father said to his mother, “Do I look stupid? Do you know who you are talking to? Don’t look at me like that?” As the words hit him, he thought about his sister and realized that she needed him. That little girl couldn’t talk to Mom and was afraid of Dad. Her brother was all she had. The next day, he took his little sister out to eat... .just the two of them. He said he was sorry. He told her she was a sweet little girl and he hoped she would be happy. He told her she could always come and talk to him. From then on, she did, and the two have been best friends for 45 years. They always will be. In order for that to happen, Harry had to set aside his sin of pride, a sin of the heart, to see what was really happening around him.

What kinds of sins lurk in your heart and eat at your soul? Give them up. Let them go. A sin is a sin is a sin... whether done by the hand... or dreamed up by the mind... or stewed on in the heart. Consider.... What is God saying to you... right now?

March 29

 “There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith...” (1 Timothy 6:6–12a  RSV)  


Paul Harvey told this story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then, he adds another layer of blood and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh-frozen blood. The smell and taste of the blood overwhelms the wolf's senses. Soon, he licks it faster and faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade in the Arctic night. So great becomes his craving for this blood that the wolf does not notice the razor sharp sting of the knife blade on his tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood.  As he licks the knife, his own blood from the cuts the knife makes in his own tongue adds to the blood on the knife. He licks and licks at the blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more and more -- until the dawn finds him dead in the snow.

Unbelievable isn't it? Why didn't the wolf notice when the blood in the snow began to take his own life? He was too caught up in the kill. The rush of the blood overwhelmed the animal and soon he suffered for being caught up in the moment. It's not only wolves that get caught up in the moment, in the rush of excitement. How many families taste that rush of adrenaline at the first buying on credit, or the first car, only to need to satisfy that hunger for something new again? Like that wolf that licks uncontrollably at the blood in the snow, so are some people when it comes to buying and spending. They get a rush out of  shopping; they live for a good deal. But that rush can turn against you as the knife blade hidden the blood turned against the wolf. You can get so hooked into buying on credit that you find one credit card at the limit. Then, you get another card and put that one to the limit. Not much later, your family is stuck with a financial burden and debts that take the life blood from a family as quickly and cleanly as the knife takes the blood from the wolf when he's hooked on the need for more. In every way, as the knife covered with blood spells death to a wolf, the lust for things and money and material satisfaction can easily spell death to any soul. Don't believe me?

It has been estimated that more divorces are caused by financial differences and difficulties than any other problem. That has been my experience as well. In a family where the mother cannot stop buying things at the mall when she sees a sale, there can be problems. In a marriage where a husband has to have that new car or new expensive toy every year, there can be problems. When mom and dad both work to pay off the credit card bills and nothing ever ends up in the bank, pressure can mount. Where a person has to keep up with the Jones', problems will surely arise in the family, the marriage, or a life. Stress at finding the money to pay the bills can become "the straw that broke the camel's back".

In the letter of our Bible written to Timothy, a budding pastor, the apostle Paul talks about the need for everyone to be content with what they have. If one is not content with his or her possessions, the tendency is to covet or desire other things. Paul knew this. He warns Timothy never to desire money or things too much. Here is what he said...  "There is great gain in godliness with contentment;  for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world;  but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, (can you picture the wolf????) into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:6-9) Paul is stating that we ought to be happy or content with enough food and clothing; in other words, the necessities. These words sound foreign to many. We are not used to living with only food and clothing. To some, necessities may include a new car, a new house, or a hundred thousand in the bank. I have known a few people who thought they couldn't live without a boat, a large house in a wealthy neighborhood, an expensive gaming computer, a new game console, and a big-screen TV. You name it, somebody has felt the desire to own it, to have it, or to get it. Again, Paul reassures us in these verses that we brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of it when we leave it. Though some have tried....

Did you know that when the Pharaohs of Egypt died, they would put many of their possessions in the pyramids with them?  Why? Because they believed you have these possessions in the next life. Again, Paul teaches that when you leave this world, when you die, you can't take it with you. But people try. In my office files, I have the picture of a woman and her pink Cadillac. She loved that car. Before she died, she told everybody she wanted to be buried in it. They asked her why she would want to be buried in the Cadillac. Her response was, "They say when you die, you can't take it with you. I want to take my Caddy with me."

Twenty years ago, I was at a convention in Indianapolis. A man was purchasing a very high-priced piece from a booth. I watched as the cash register rang up, $780. He gave his credit card to the man behind the table and said with a funny grin, "The one who dies with the most toys wins."  Is that true? 

Even young people are brought up already in debt. Credit card companies try to get booths at High School events, hoping to get credit cards into the hands of teens. They want them to get used to buying on credit. If they buy on credit enough, being in debt seems normal somehow. Is this a bonus for our economy? No. A dangerous game, I call it. Nowadays, you have to go in debt to buy a home. You have to go in debt to get a college education. You have to go in debt to even get married. Now advertisers say you should buy a wedding and engagement ring equal to one or two full months salary??? If you don't, you're cheating your spouse??? I wonder who started such a deal. I wonder what it teaches young people.  Our government is already a shining example of indebtedness. Will we ever pay off our national debt? Our government cannot keep a budget, our nation has the greatest debt in history, most people have gone credit crazy and money hungry.

Jacov Smirnov, a Russian-born American said this:  "America, what a country! Where else can you walk out of your mortgaged home, step into a time-payment car, and drive down a bonded highway on credit card gas to charge something at your favorite store"!  In contrast, read what the apostle Paul tells Timothy...  "the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving (picture the wolf!!!) that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs." (1 Timothy 6:10)   Not only can overspending give you bad credit, blow your budget, put pressure on you, it can also take it's toll on your faith. Like alcohol or drugs can ruin a life, an addiction or tendency to overspend can kill a  relationship with God. Through this craving to "buy, buy, buy", many church people have found themselves giving more every week for cable television that they do to God. Do you think God notices?

Listen very closely to Paul's warnings in this scripture. First he tells us that "those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare," Then he tells us that "the love of money is the root of all evils." He urges us to be content with what we have. Are you content with what you have, or do you want more, want what the neighbor has, want what someone else has'? Do you worship money? Have you fallen into that snare as Paul calls it? Do you want instant gratification that spending can give you? Do you think you can buy your way to happiness? Do you spend to keep up with the Jones'?

​ There is another thing to consider by Paul's words. So far in this sermon, I have talked about debts, and people who love to spend as evidence that there may be something wrong with your faith. But when Paul says, the "love of money is the root of all evils", he also is speaking to those who are not in debt, those who have more than enough money, those who greedily hoard their money, or who use their money to control others. I have seen couples so in love with money that they never go on a vacation, never buy a gift for the other spouse on a birthday or anniversary, never go out and do anything together because it costs money. Some marriages erode not because of bills, but because the only thing loved in the house is not the spouse or God but a big bank account. Will worshiping a big pension make you happy? Will relying more on your annuities for retirement than God get you anywhere in this life and in the next, Mr. Scrooge? Will that big stock portfolio look good to God when you are standing next to a poor person in heaven?

What drives me crazy is that people will go out to eat after worship and gladly pay $20 for that privilege. That's after they put $5 in the collection plate on Sunday morning. Does that mean that going out to eat is four times more important than God's Work or God's offering? Maybe it says that God is about one-fourth as important in our world as eating one meal.

Money is not the root of all evils. Read the scripture.. The love of money is the root of all evils. Be careful what you do with money, how you spend it, what takes priority in your checkbook. That checkbook can tell a whole lot about your priorities, and your faith. I close with these words...
​
Money can buy medicine, but not health.
Money can buy a house, but not a home.
Money can buy companionship, but not friends or a marriage.
Money can buy entertainment, but not happiness.
Money can buy a bed, but not sleep.
Money can buy a crucifix, but not a Savior.
Money can buy the good life, but not eternal life.

March 30

     “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.'” (1 Peter 3:8–10   NIV84)   

As a man lay dying, his wife kept a constant vigil at his bedside. Struggling to gasp his last few breaths, he said, "Honey, I need to tell you something." She patted his hand and told him to just be quiet and rest. He said, "No, I have to tell you something. I really do. I'm sorry, but I had an affair, I cheated on you. I had to get it out before I died." And she lovingly stroked his head, "I know, sweetly, just lay quietly and let the poison work." 

Sometimes, marriage can be a difficult thing. A husband and wife can be so in love, or fight too often. A marriage can be one of the greatest joys in life, or it can be one big argument, a series of worries, or a mess. There are people who can be in a relationship and show a great deal of concern and care for others. But, then, there are other marriages....  A gray haired couple sat holding hands every Sunday morning through most of the church service. A visitor turned to the wife, "How wonderful that you're still so much in love.  "Love has nothing to do with it," she replied. "I hold Bill's hand to keep him from cracking his knuckles."  I've known wives and husbands who were very good at getting on each other's nerves. One would constantly try to get a rise out of the other. One pushed the other's buttons. It can get so bad, with constant fighting, digs, and insults that the love gets lost.

In the first letter of Peter, a chapter is spent talking about the relationship between a husband and wife (1 Peter 3). He talked about the need for there to be giving of respect, consideration, and humility by husband and wife in a marriage.  Then, Peter wrote.... "live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult..." (1 Peter 3:8,9) Despite what Peter said about how it should be in marriage and relationships here, people do get even, giving insults as well as taking them. God did not intend any relationship to be this way.
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This scripture actually speaks about more than marriage; it speaks about all relationships. Relationships with family, friends, even co-workers should not be based on mutual insults. I remember walking into a warehouse years ago. I was there to pick up a shipment as part of my job. I brought an invoice, and gave it to the office manager at the warehouse. He told me "Go talk to Tiny.  He's the guy driving the forklift who looks like he ate a cow for breakfast this morning." I was thinking... "Sheez, you'd think the manager would have a few better words to describe his employees!"  But let's be honest. Some people are caustic. All they know how to do is start a fight, throw in a dig, make fun of others. What I have found is that a person who heaps up insults, who is always quick to make fun of others, is an insecure person. If all you can do is criticize others, you must not be too happy in your own heart and soul. You must sense your weakness, and be covering it up by pointing to others and making fun of others.  Peter tells us to not heap up insult for insult, replacing the insults with blessings.

This also applies to children. Sometimes, youth tend to be very abusive of siblings and parents. A Sunday School teacher was in the process of teaching the 10 commandments to her third grade class. She noted: "We have learned the commandments, 'Honor thy father and mother.' Is there one that refers to brothers and sisters?" A little girl responded, "Thou shalt not kill!" It makes me wonder what that little girl thinks about her brother or sister! Insults or outright hatred can be found in many homes today.  Maybe the parent never has anything good to say about the child. Maybe it's the parent who is constantly comparing the child with another child, or with other kids. Is dad so preoccupied with work that the only time he speaks is to discipline and swear at the kids?  Is mom so stressed, she is irritable?  Families can get caught up in cycles of verbal abuse of one another, where swearing and criticism and lying become the norm.  Young people can and do give digs and complain about their parents.  It has become an art form for young people to tell their parents how they "hate them". God never intended it this way. Should there be "insult upon insult" in any home?  How can we replace the insults with blessings?

The space shuttle Discovery was grounded in 1998--not by technical difficulties or lack of government funding, but by woodpeckers. That's right. Woodpeckers. Yellow-shafted flicker woodpeckers found the insulating foam on the shuttle's external fuel tank irresistible material for pecking. The foam is critical to the shuttle's performance. Without it, ice forms on the tank when it's filled with the super-cold fuel, ice that can break free during liftoff and damage the giant spacecraft. The shuttle was grounded until the damage was repaired. So here it was, a billion dollar shuttle launch stopped by woodpeckers!  Marriages, friendships, relationships at work can be stopped or damaged by the constant peck, peck, peck of one person picking on the other. Woodpeckers at work and in the home are quick to see the faults of others, to pick on others, to point out their errors, or to make fun of them. Most relationships are damaged not by big things-­infidelity or abuse or neglect--but by the little things. Criticism, lack of respect, and taking each other for granted peck away at the relationship and keep us from reaching great heights.  

Are you a person who abuses others with bickering, complaining, critical digs, or subtle criticism?  Do you take such abuse from another person?  God never wanted the Christian to give insult for insult. And God never wanted you to take insult after insult. God is calling you to never abuse another with words or actions, and to stop abuse when it happens around you.  God wishes blessings to be your "hallmark", not insults.

Jack and Carol had many a difficult day.  Carol would often come home from work with a chip on her shoulder.  She had a stressful job in human resources, and heard complaint after complaint each hour from customers and/or employees.  At times, the anxiety of hearing all the problems caused her heart to race, she would get headaches, and have problems with anxiety.  When she came home, Carol would be a jumble of nerves.  An unclean kitchen would make her frustrated.  Having to cook dinner right away when she got home made her feel like she was giving of herself day and night.​  Jack had remedies he'd use as often as he could.  He'd walk into the kitchen practically every evening, and hug his wife for a good minute.  When they sat on the couch after dinner, he would hold her hand or rub her feet.  He'd spend time listening intently when she would spew about the garbage at work.  If she snapped at him, he returned the words with a smile and affection.  Slowly, but surely, the stress each day would ease away, and Carol would be more relaxed.  Jack's actions and words kept the insults and anxious dialogue from ever damaging their marriage.

You must learn to find ways to mend hurt feelings, help others, stop the angry things people say to one another. You must learn to be a peacemaker, to not return insult upon insult, to show love when another might try to get even. God wants it. God needs it. You can do it.

March 31

“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  
     “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord...” (2 Corinthians 3:12-18; 4:2–5   NIV84)  

In the book of Genesis, we are told that God came walking through the Garden of Eden one day. Adam and Eve had just eaten the forbidden fruit God told them not to eat. Out of fear, Adam and Eve hid from God. They knew God would know they had done something wrong. It didn't matter. They hid from God in that garden, as if anyone can hide from God!

I once told this story of Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden of Eden to a Sunday School class of eight-year-old children. Their first reaction was, "Why did they hide?" When I told them that Adam and Eve had done a bad thing and didn't want God to find them, one of the young boys replied, "Sometimes, when I'm bad, I go and hide in my closet." After some discussion, it seems that almost all of the children in that Sunday School class felt the need to hide when they hurt someone, when they did wrong, when they were frightened, or when they wanted to be alone.  Some hid in closets, others under a bed, in a corner, or in a secret place. Facing the truth, facing scary things, facing up to the fact that they did wrong all were too much for these children.
 
It's not just children who hide.  Adults also try to hide things from others. Some hide what they think. Some hide in their hearts a secret past. Some hide their feelings when they are around those they do not trust. It's natural to hide some things, but not others. For example, some people (like Adam and Eve) try to hide their wrongs from God. When some fail God, they stop coming to church so they won't have to deal with their sin.  Others try to twist scripture's meaning to show they didn't really sin, but were just doing "what people do".  Some try to rationalize their failure away. All these are examples of those who try to hide the truth or hide from God. It surprises me how often people try to hide things from God, as if God can't see what they are doing.

In the scripture for today, God's Word is challenging how we may hide things. To begin this discussion, the apostle Paul gives us a very unusual command. He tells us NOT to be like Moses. That's unusual!  The scriptures normally desire us to be like faithful ones in the Bible, but in these verses, Paul wrote that we shouldn't be like Moses in one way: "We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away."(2 Corinthians 3:13) In the Old Testament book of Exodus, Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and spoke with God (Exodus 20). Because he was in God's presence, his face radiated brightly when he came back to the people. Out of fear, the people hid from Moses and did not talk to him, so Moses wore a veil to cover his face when not with God. (Exodus 34:30-35) Then, the people would not be afraid and hide from him. But whenever Moses was with God, he lifted up the veil to be face to face with God.

What do you think this story is teaching?  It speaks of hiding one's face from others. The Apostle Paul desired that you take away anything that hides your face from God.  Let's God's light shine through you! The apostle Paul goes on to say that many people of his day had a veil covering their heart. That veil should not be present, for if the heart is right with God, there is no need to hide anything from God.  Why would you want to hide from God, or hide God's presence from others? Paul says in these verses, that the faithful need to "reflect the Lord's glory." Do you hide your faith from others? Are you ashamed of God's imprint on your life?

During the 1980's, a minister was called to the bedside of a man who was going to have an operation to remove a tumor.   Alfred believed in God and worshiped at church regularly.  On hearing of the tumor, the whole congregation began to pray for Alfred to be helped by the surgery.  After his surgery, Alfred immediately called his minister.  The two discussed that the doctors found no tumor, with the doctor even saying it was a miracle.  The minister said to the man, "I can't wait to tell the congregation of this great event!"  The man replied, "Pastor, I don't want you to say anything."  "But, Alfred," said the minister, "this is truly a miracle!"  Alfred responded, "I don't want my friends to think I'm a spiritual nutcase.  I don't want them to see me as some walking miracle.  Let's just keep this to ourselves."  The minister kept it a secret as long as the man lived.  Alfred's been gone now for two decades, and never died of cancer, nor was a tumor ever found in him the rest of his life.  God did a miracle, but this man veiled it from all his friends, the congregation, and even his family.  He swept it under the rug and hid it.  The man didn't want to look "religious" to his friends and family.   But, what does this tell us about his faith?

The Apostle Paul told you not to put on a veil and hide your faith from others.  He wanted no veil between you and God. He wanted your life to reflect God's glory, for God's love to shine through you. Paul also wrote how to keep the veil from covering your heart and your life in this scripture: "we renounce secret and shameful ways. We do not use deception. We do not distort God's word. And we tell the truth plainly." (2 Corinthians 4:2) When you lie, use deception, and play with the truth, you are actually hiding things from others and from God.  That's not what Paul believed the true Christian should ever do.

An eighth grade teacher from a small town in southern Illinois announced to his class one day, "OK, young men and women, how many of you are members of a church?" Caught off guard by this question, only three youth of the thirty in the class admitted that they went to church. You see, young people in that school who went to church were often teased because they believed in such a "silly thing" as faith. Anyway, the teacher went on, "Today, as we continue our look at vocations and jobs, I'd like to introduce my pastor to talk about jobs in religion and social work." After that introduction,  the pastor walked in to see that more than half of the class came to his church, though only three admitted it.

When you hide from others your true faith, when you will not share your religious ideas because others may think you a fanatic, when you are ashamed to speak to others of who God is or what God has done for you, you put a veil over your faith. You hide it from others, and you embarrass God. If you lie, cheat, steal..... if you have secret shameful things that you do... if you do not speak the truth in love.... if you do any of these things, a veil comes over you. Others cannot see you are a Christian, and God will not accept you as one.

Paul made it clear in these verses.... "Let God's light shine out of darkness, for he has made His light to shine in the hearts of the faithful." (2 Corinthians 4:6) We reflect God's glory if it is truly in us.

Hiding: it is something children do, but are supposed to grow out of. Hiding:  it is something that you are tempted to do with others, but something that God doesn't want you to do. You have no reason to hide the good news of Christ!  You have no reason to hide that God is a part of your life. You have no reason to hide what you know about God. Hiding:  it is something you, like Adam and Eve, might be tempted to do with God. Can you really hide anything from God?

Don't hide your faith from others. Don't hide your guilt, mistakes, and pain from God.  Confess your sins and let God heal you and redeem you from guilt.  Let your faith shine into the lives of others.  Ask yourself today, "Are you hiding something from God? Are you hiding your faith from others? Are you hiding something that another needs to know?"   Don't hide what God wants revealed of your life. Don't let your life become one big game of hide and seek!