Archive for May, 2021

Count Your…

Some mornings I wake up and feel like praying, “Dear God, I don’t feel like you’re within a country mile of me.” Perhaps even during the day you feel that way. It may be you ate pickles and peanut butter on your cookies, and you just don’t feel good. Or it may simply be the ionic concentration in the atmosphere is off that has you “out of sorts.”

It is then that you need to remember that feelings are fickle, but facts are fixed, and pray, “Dear God, I don’t feel like you are here with me, BUT I know you are, therefore let’s you and me go get ’em.” That reality is based on the promises of God.

There are various kinds of promises in the Bible.

Some are to specific persons or groups at a given time only.

Some are directed to particular people, but the concept is relevant to all of us.

Some are applicable to all people for all time.

It is inappropriate to apply the first of these to us. We should be aware the second kind of these is not directed to us, but the principle is relevant to us. The third one is ours to enjoy fully. With that in mind, enjoy such promises daily.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV  It was directed to a certain people, but the principle applies to us.

Here are a couple that are germane in every life.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

“… he will not forsake his saints.” Psalm 37:28

Armed with such truth… go get ‘em.

Change

Change can be instant or a process. When needed, it is a joy to see the positive result. A concerned distraught grandmother came to my office seeking help. When asked how I could be of help she began to weep as she told me her story.

Her daughter would not let her have any contact with her children. When asked why, she said her daughter said she was so negative and complained so much that she did not want her children to be around such a person.

My enquiry as to whether she wanted to change was met with an immediate affirmation. Then our interchange began.

I assured her the negative person who entered my office could leave it a positive and joyous one through Jesus Christ. We then discussed this text:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” I John 5:14, 15

I was careful to call her attention to the phrase “according to His will,” and not just anything. I asked if she thought it was God’s will for His children to express the joy of their salvation. Assuring me she did, we then engaged in a time of prayer which on her behalf involved contrition, confession, cleansing, and commitment. Only after these steps was a request made to become a positive, optimistic, and joyous child of God.

I saw her a month later and she was radiant in telling me she was so changed her daughter asked her to stay with her children a day each week.

Not all transformation is that instantaneous, but hers was. God is in the life changing business. Talk to Him about your life, and any changes needing to be made. Then take the steps that lady did. You, too, can become a new you.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

Be an Original You

In 1964, a group of scientists studied the schooling instinct of fish as to what makes them swim in shoals. Painstakingly they removed from one fish the portion of the brain they believed controlled its social instinct. Did he play hooky from school? He tried, but amazingly all the other fish followed this witless-wonder around! It is hard, even for people, to break the conformity instinct. It is everywhere. We speak of …

• a flock of sheep
• a pack of wolves
• a swarm of bees
• a covey of quail
• a pride of lions
• a gaggle of geese
• a bevy of girls
• a gang of boys

We are born original and die a copy. Who we copy determines our destiny. That is why it is so important that we believe so strongly in Jesus Christ that we resolve to conform in Him, and not the world. No matter how ugly your sin may be He will forgive you. Even if you feel terribly unworthy and sinful, Jesus is willing to forgive you and await you in heaven.

Why not be yourself with a new self that is alive in Jesus Christ, a new, fresh, and excitingly different you? If you have done this rejoice! If not, break with the pack now and …

“Don’t copy the fashions and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will see from your own experiences how His way really satisfies you!”  Romans 12:2

Play Ball!

There was an old baseball coach at Pepperdine University named John Scolinos who when he addressed an audience of baseball coaches had a standard size home plate hung around his neck. He began by asking in succession if there were any Little League, Babe Ruth, high school, college, Minor League, and finally Major League coaches present. Pausing between each, he asked what was the size of your home plate. Reservedly, thinking it was a trick question, each slowly answered, “17 inches.”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES,” he confirmed.

Then he questioned, “What do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?”

Someone shouted, “They send him to Pocatello!”

Coach Scolinos remarked, “They don’t say, ‘That is OK. If you can’t hit a seventeen inch target we will make it eighteen or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you will have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.’”

Then he asked, “What do we do if the best player consistently shows up late for practice? Or, when the rules forbid facial hair and he shows up unshaven? Do we change the rules for him?”

Next he drove home his point noting that is the problem in our country. “We have changed the rules in government, in marriage, in church, and in education.” 

Regarding each of these disciplines, he made his point as he did in this way regarding government: “Our so called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss and we just watch.”

(Author’s Note: I want to interject that though this is true in general, there are some very good leaders who serve us well.)

In a discipline dear to me there have been dramatic changes of standards.

There is a new theological school of thought going around in some churches known as Liberation Theology. Proponents say the church has alienated society by holding standards no longer acceptable by the world. The church must change to be more acceptable by the world. It must become more compatible with the world.

You fill in the blanks noting where standards have been changed by the church.

Historically the objective has been to love the world, but not the things of the world and endeavor to lead the world to upgrade its standards. That is now being reversed in the name of popularity.

Scolinos made his final point. “If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standard, if we are unwilling and unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches and our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to…”

At that point he turns over the home plate he has around his neck to show the reverse side. Showing it to be black he warns, “We have dark days ahead!” Then this appeal, to keep “Your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.”  Use the Bible as your ruler.

Time Out

Traveling in Switzerland I saw one of those large ornate clocks with animated figures. It was striking! (Get it? Clock striking?) The words inscribed on it were even more so:

“When as a child I laughed and wept,
Time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked,
Time walked.
When I became a full grown man,
Time ran.
When older still I grew,
Time flew.
Soon I shall find in traveling on,
Time gone.”

The author is unknown, but the truth expressed isn’t. Each of us is in one of those groups.

Don’t rush by today to get to tomorrow. Don’t spoil today by pulling tomorrow’s clouds over today’s sunshine. Likewise don’t be like a peacock whose glory is behind it.

You have never lived this day before. There will be no instant replay, no rerun. Live it up in such a way you won’t long to live it down.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
Proverbs 27:1 NIV

While relating to time it is a good time to acknowledge it is running out on each of us.

Settle the issue of where you will spend eternity by giving your life to Jesus Christ and asking His forgiveness, and acknowledging your willful commitment to Him as your Savior.

If you have already done so, renew your devotion to Him today.

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 
I John 2:17 NIV