The Floor Above (December 26, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
The floor above is only one flight up. The elevator will get you there in about a minute. For most people on the first floor taking the stairs is out of the question. For them it really is a long and arduous journey to get to that second floor from the first. There is physical effort required and for that reason some won't make it. Perhaps the mental strain involved in making the move from the bottom floor, up just one floor, is too great for many. But, not for one person I know!
The week before, Lula Mae, age 94, had fallen twice and ended up in the emergency room both times. The second time she required an operation to install a pacemaker that would regulate her heart beat. She was able to take time out to have that procedure done even though she was very busy telling the doctors and nurses in the emergency room how she thought things should be done.
Two days after the operation she was out of the hospital and back at the Assisted Living facility where she resides. Only this time she was returned to the Care Center on the ground floor of the building. This is the area where people who need full time care are placed. Some are resigned to staying there to be treated and cared for all the time. Not Lula Mae! Immediately she set herself a goal of rehabbing sufficiently to be able to use her walker.
"I know they are not going to let me go back to my apartment until I can walk using that walker," she said. Her apartment is on the second floor. The distance from her current room on the ground floor to her apartment was not very far really. But, what she had to overcome was a good bit to surmount at her age. So, she set a goal. She wanted to be walking with that walker and back in her apartment by Christmas. That was less than two weeks away.
We've all been there. No, we haven't all had a pacemaker inserted and faced a rehab process to get back on our feet even though that operation is more common these days than in the past. But, at times we've been grounded. Stuck on the bottom level of a situation with no idea how we could extract ourselves and move ahead with our lives. The distance to the floor above seemed insurmountable.
No matter how dark and desperate the situation may seem to be there is a solution. Trust the one who put you here in the first place. The Creator did not just plan for your appearance on this planet and then desert you at birth. It ain't your fault you were born, but often some of the predicaments we get into are our fault. The answer to those self-imposed messes is the same. Trust the Creator.
God chose Israel not because they deserved to be the chosen ones to represent Him to the world, but because He wanted them to be. He wanted them to live up to the standards He established for them. He loved them and He longed to be loved in return. But, they failed. They turned to idol worship. They forgot His goodness and His faithfulness. But, God didn't forget them.
Through the prophet Isaiah He told them not to worry. Even though they seemed hopelessly grounded on the first floor they could improve their situation. They could regain His favor, because He still loved them. "Don't be afraid for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God." He would bring them back if they were obedient.
Now all believers are the chosen people. As Christians we are the folks who are commissioned to spread the Gospel message. We are God's representatives. Heavy duty stuff, huh. Tremendous responsibility. How can we make the move out of the morass that is the ground floor to the floor above?
Jesus provides the answer to His disciples in John 16:33 "...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world." There is no problem too big or too small to be handled when we seek the right help. We are granted this help through our prayers. Prayer is a powerful and privileged tool we have been provided by God. It is a way to communicate with Him and to gain answers. And here's some great news. Jesus is praying for you and me. How do I know? Simple, He said so. In John 17:20 He told His disciples: "I am praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony."
In our focal scripture today God was telling the people, through the prophet Isaiah, the same thing He wants us to know: "We should not fear because 1) God is with us (I am with you): 2) God has established a relationship with us (I am your God); and 3) God gives us assurance of his strength, help, and victory over sin and death. (NLT pg. 1092).
The Israelites were surrounded by nations whose gods were supposed to have special powers. They relied on them to help their crops grow and a variety of other areas of their well-being. But, these gods continued to fail them. If a god has limited power he is no god at all. If he's just a god of the crops alone then he can't be the King of Hearts. If his control is only over one area, what kind of a god is that? These folks had to consult the "god encyclopedia" (they couldn't go on the internet for the information) to find out which god to pray to in different circumstances. How great is it that we can go directly to the God of the Universe, the One True God when we are mired in a morass and find direction, instruction and a caring heart. So, it makes since to go to Him everyday with grateful hearts expressing our gratitude for His love and the way He uses His awesome power to move us from a stalemate in life to the floor above.
At last report Lula Mae was well on her way to achieving her goal of moving to the floor above. I have no doubts she will do this. As my Mom, I've seen her tackle and overcome difficulties many times. She continues to succeed because she is in touch with her heavenly Father everyday. She believes in Him and He continues to honor her faithfulness.
Monday Prayer: Lord of all things big and small we gratefully acknowledge your power to move us to the next floor and the next one as well. Thank you for loving us. Amen!
***Author's note: My wish for you is the greatest Christmas ever in 2007 and stellar start to 2008.
Sizing up Christmas (December 19, 2007) by Jim Crosby
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
Women's clothing sizes confuse me! Here's a somewhat hypothetical setting to explain. I say "hypothetical" because only the sizes...may or may not...have been changed in this story for illustration purposes. Actual sizes may not apply.
Say, I decide to surprise the Lovely Susette with some great looking clothes for Christmas. I'm not saying I've decided this for sure (she will read this before Christmas)but there is a possibility this is what I, being the unskilled, amateur shopper that I am might choose to do.
So, say that I decided to look in her closet when she is not around to equip myself with some valuable shopping information. I might see an item that says "Petite" on it. Then, I might see another that says "S." Well even a brain-dead shopper like me can figure out that S stands for small. All right I would then be on my way to a successful shopping expedition, if I left it at that. But, what if I kept looking at other items and saw a 2P, a 4P, a plain old 6, and an XS which I am sure would stand for "extra small." What's going on here?
Scratching my head I would try to remember which of those I had seen her wearing recently? Do some of them not fit anymore? After fracturing her wrist and having to quit exercising for awhile maybe some of them ain't so loose on her? No, I can't say I've noticed anything like that. In fact, when we went to the Clear Channel Christmas Party last night she did look "stunning."
I remember once having a discussion about sizes with her. She said, in the better clothing i.e. the more expensive clothes, she could take a smaller size. Okay, that brings up the dilemma of what is considered a "more expensive" item? Most of it looks kind of expensive to a writer. Well, maybe not to John Grisham or Max Lucado, but I'm not quite in that category yet. I'm just a few bestsellers behind them.
Hey that's an idea! Maybe I could get her a book. One that I would enjoy reading when she was finished? Or a box of chocolate covered cherries that she could share with her favorite "chocaholic." So, the dilemma continues, but somehow it all works out each year.
Now, I wonder if the Magi or the Wise Men as we call them had that dilemma in picking out a present to give to the Baby Jesus? After all the gift giving at Christmas tradition derives from this example of presenting gifts that would pleasing and appropriate. They didn't have to worry about 2Ps as opposed to 4Ps.
But, they did want to give only the best. I'm sure they selected thoughtfully and...uh, wisely, since they were Wise Men. These were expensive gifts. Gold speaks for itself. Being a poor couple Joseph and Mary probably used that to finance a return trip back to Nazareth.
I remember when I was a kid I wanted things like balls, bats, bicycles, board games (yes, that was before video games) and other things to play games with. If somebody had given me money (gold) and said, "Boy here's some gold we are putting it in the bank and it will pay for your college education someday." I would have been thinking..."What a bummer? Who wants to go to college anyway? I'm so happy it's the holiday season and I'm out of school. I want to go out and see how far I can kick a football."
You know how they always say it's the thought that counts? That's usually what you are supposed to be thinking when somebody gives you a garish looking tie that's completely out of style or a sweater or coat that your Grandma would have worn.
Well the thought really counted with these Magi because Gold was a gift befitting a king. They were wise enough to know that lying in that manger was the King of kings. One consideration they had to make was how transportable the gifts were, hence the selections of frankincense and myrrh.
Once I attended a Christmas Play and between acts there was a stand-up comedian, well it didn't say that on the program, but the guy had some funny lines. He launched into an explanation of what "Myrrh" really is. He said: "Most of you probably didn't know that these Wise Men were Methodists, but that's how we know what myrrh is. It's a casserole!" Can you tell this play was presented at a Methodist Church? Yes, the Methodists do favor dinner gatherings...as a church, in small groups and have some of those infamous "pot-luck dinners."
But, myrrh was actually an "extract from a stiff-branched tree with white flowers and plum-like fruit." It was actually spice. One use for it was to anoint a body for burial. Not sure if this gift was symbolic of the crucifixion or not. I am pretty certain it was not just something they casually picked off of the shelf and brought because they were overstocked with myrrh.
We would never do that would we? Oh, I got two of these last Christmas so I'll give one to Joe or Ilene, or whoever? Problem is Joe or Ilene might be the one that gave it to you last year. Not a good plan!
The third gift was frankincense which smelled good. It was a perfume or an anointing oil. This was one that Mary probably really appreciated. Although I did read that myrrh was sometimes used in beauty treatments, so the Mother of Jesus would have probably liked both of those gifts. She probably enjoyed receiving the gold as well. There wasn't any mention of diamonds, so gold was just fine.
But, it's a great story isn't it? I love revisiting the story of the Magi each year. Their sacrifices were real. They gave their time, endured the hardships of travel, and presented special gifts. Many will do the same this Christmas to be with ones they love.
So, how do we size up Christmas? As far as the significance of the gifts we give this year, because of the Bethlehem tradition, it is Size 1. And in our sizing system that's the largest not the smallest number of all.
Monday Prayer: Lord, it brings joy to our hearts to recall that first Christmas visit of the Wise Men to the new born baby. This year, help us to give unselfishly of ourselves to ensure that the love and peace of Christmas shines brightly wherever we are. Amen!
***Author's note: Consider those gifts carefully this year. The Wise Men have set the example for us to follow. They thoughtfully gave meaningful gifts that showed they cared.
An August Person (December 12, 2007) by Jim Crosby
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. Luke 2:1
Okay, right off the bat you may be wondering what in the world is an August Person? No, it is not somebody who was born in August, but it could be. According to John Ortberg when we refer to an August Person we are talking about someone whose status is "grand and majestic." The term is derived from the ruler of Rome at the time of the birth of Jesus...Caesar Augustus.Because the Roman Empire had conquered a large portion of the world at that time Caesar Augustus was a ruler of rulers. He was a king of kings. There was actually peace in the world because everyone came under the rule of the Roman government. Of course, not everybody wanted to be in that situation, but Caesar's army was so large and powerful no one could challenge it.
In his book "When the Game is over it all goes back in the box" Ortberg points out that this standing army consisted of 500,000 soliders. That's a pretty big payroll. How was Caesar going to get all that money? Same way politicians continue to get it today, "And it came to pass in those days there went out a decree that all the world should be taxed." Gosh seems like that decree never went away doesn't it? I guess Caesar Augustus just passed it along and so did all of his descendents thereafter. That's why he was an August Person.
But, there was a misconception at play here. You see, Caesar thought he was in control. He thought that the plan to tax everybody was his idea. Actually it was planted by God. It was part of a plan for having the Christ Child be born in Bethlehem where his earthly parents had to go to register so they could pay taxes.
That's where the real King of kings would be born. Caesar Augustus only thought he was the King of kings, the ruler of rulers, the head banana. Not so! He was only a character in the drama that would unfold in Bethlehem at that time. This august person who thought he was in control of everything wasn't really even in control of his own kingdom. God was using him so the greatest story ever told could take place. Ortberg says, "Caesar thought his throne in Rome was as secure as a throne could be. But the kingdom was lying in a manger in Bethlehem.
How often do we think we are in control of our own lives? When do we have circumstances occur that we take credit for causing them to happen? We are only in control when the Lord cedes His control to us. We are in control when it is within his will.
Father Tim Kavanagh, the main character, in Jan Karon's highly successful series of books about the fictional town of Mitford, often refers to the prayer that never fails. It is the prayer in which we pray that God's will be done. We ask for control of a situation. We request that His favor shine on our circumstances. But, we should ask that these things come about if they are within His will. He has a plan for us and it is greater than anything we could even imagine.
The Quest Study Bible (pg 1340) has a good explanation of why we should pray for God's will to be done. "Because when we do, we yield to God's authority, giving him permission to fulfill his best purposes in our lives. It is a humble admission that He knows better than we do what is right. It also announces our intentions to obey Him, so we will not obstruct His purposes or hinder the advancement of the kingdom of God."
In other words we are saying "I'm getting out of your way God, so you can do what is best." You see, God has it all planned out. His plan that affects our lives stretches all the way back before we were born.
Have you ever been involved in a situation where you really felt good about the action you were going to take? You had done your homework. Your research was solid. You felt confident that you were taking the right action. Then someone who hadn't put a lick of work into it came along and with very little forethought messed the whole thing up.
That's what we want to avoid doing and why we pray in God's will. It's why we submit our requests, our "hope-fors" and "wannabes" and "would like to have happens" to Him, praying that He will grant favor if it is in His will. We want it to come about only if it fits in this well-thought out plan that He has stretching back in time before we were born.
We are saying that we are going to stay out of God's way and let him execute that well-thought out plan because we only have part of the picture. Our research falls short when compared to His. We don't want to mess it up for Him. We are smart enough to know who is really in control.
So, as we read in the gospel of Luke, this august person, this king in Rome who thought he was in control just lifted a finger to make a decree and all the world scrambled to comply. Among those was a poverty -stricken couple. The woman was about ready to give birth. Didn't matter to Caesar. Joseph and Mary had to undergo this arduous 70-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem because a decree went out from this august person. "And it came pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Casear Augustus..."(KJV)
Why did it come to pass? It came to pass because God had surveyed the landscape. He had analyzed His creation and what had become of it. He saw that the ideal plan was not playing out. Greedy people like Caesar Augustus had seized control on earth. It was time to play the trump card. A baby, not a pompous earthly king, would become the true King of kings.
And now Caesar has only one palace left. It's not in Rome. It is in Las Vegas. Everyday it lures people who, like the August Person that sent out his historic decree, think they are in control. Sadly they leave poorer and wiser having learned a hard lesson.
We are not in control and that's a good thing. The August One whose birthday we celebrate on December 25th is truly grand and majestic and He rules our lives with love and understanding. His fondest wish is for "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men."
Prayer: Lord we are reminded, at this special time of year, that a child was born as part of the master plan to instill your love and peace in our hearts. We pray that the things we do during this season will find favor with you and be within your will. Amen!
***Author's note: Hope you are finding time to stop and enjoy the excitement and happiness that comes with the holiday season. The biggest birthday party of the year is coming up on the 25th and that's reason to celebrate and count our blessings.
A Gift Suggestion (December 5, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And large numbers of people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:24We are now fully immersed in the gift giving season. Counting down the shopping days to Christmas becomes more stressful as the remaining days get shorter and that long gift list doesn't. Often there are names on the list who don't have a gift penciled in next to them. That's because you don't know what to get for those folks.
Some people are hard to shop for because they have...uh, unique tastes. Some are just hard to please. There are the folks on your list who seem to have everything and you just can't figure out what to get for them. You want to please them. You don't want to just give a gift because you feel obligated. You want them to like it.
There are folks you are close to that you have given many gifts to over the years and you just can't figure out what to give them this time that will be different. All of these are gift-giving dilemmas. What's a person to do? Well, let me tell you. I don't know! I can't help you with those gift-list problems, but I feel your pain.
What I can pass along to you is a suggestion for a gift you can give anyone at any time and it works especially well during the holiday season when people are rushed, harried, tired, frustrated, even angry. And it doesn't cost a dime. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it.
It is the gift of encouragement. This is a gift that doesn't require a lot of bargain hunting, driving from store to store, using up a lot of gas, fighting the crowds, waiting in long check out lines, and increasing that ever-growing credit-card balance.
Wait a minute, you say. Jim, you cornball! What's up with that? Are you suggesting that instead of buying a gift, I just say, "Hey Mom, instead of buying you some old boring gift this year, I want to give you something different---an encouraging word. So, here goes. You are really doing a great job as a Mother. Keep up the good work. You are the best!" Sure, that's going to go over well!
No, I'm not saying that at all. It would be nice to tell your Mother how much you appreciate and love her. That would be encouraging to her. But, she deserves a nice gift as well. She's your Mom.
"Okay Jim are you saying that I tell my employees that instead of giving them a Christmas bonus, I tell them I'm going to give them the gift of encouragement this year and proceed to tell them what great workers they are and how valuable they are to the success the company has enjoyed?" No...that's not it. They earned that bonus and they should get it.
Here is what I'm saying. Let the NLT Bible say it for me. "Every group needs an "encourager" because everyone needs encouragement at one time or another. However, the value of encouragement is often missed because it tends to be private rather than public. In fact, people most need encouragement when they feel most alone."
The above passage came from the bio of Barnabas. Here's what NLT has further to say about him. "Barnabas was drawn to people he could encourage, and he was a great help to those around him. It is delightful that wherever Barnabas encouraged Christians, non-Christians flocked to become believers!"
Actually the name Barnabas means "Son of Encouragement." Obviously he was good at this. Encouragement is one of the spiritual gifts. It is one that can be acquired and developed and a person can become good at it, just like Barnabas was.
Thanks to Barnabas, in a way, we have most of the New Testament. First, of all he is largely responsible for Paul being able to accomplish a lot of his work. Paul, back when he was known as Saul, was a persecutor of Christians, before his encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus which changed him from "opponent" to "proponent" of Jesus.
But, Paul couldn't just have a conversion experience and go right out and be accepted by those who had known him as a persecutor. He had to have someone pave the way or he wouldn't have had an audience at all. They were all afraid of him. Enter the Son of Encouragement, himself...Barnabas.
Barnabas was well-respected, people liked to be around him. Who wouldn't want to be in the company of someone who found good things to say and was always upbeat and encouraging them to get better.
In Acts 9:26 we read "When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They thought he was only pretending to be a believer!" But, Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles and told them about his experience on the road to Damascus and convinced them that he was really changed and was now sincere in his desire to take the gospel message everywhere.
Later when Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey they took John Mark, who was a cousin of Barnabas, along as an assistant. Partway into the trip John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. No reason is given.
Later when Barnabas wanted John Mark to join them for another missionary journey Paul said,; "No way. He's grounded for violation of team rules," or something like that. So Barnabas suggested that they separate and have two missionary teams instead of one. He would take John Mark with him and Silas would accompany Paul.
Thus, Barnabas encouraged his cousin not to give up and as a result he not only wrote the Gospel of Mark, but later gained Paul's respect (Colossians 4:10) and helped him in his work (2 Timothy 4:11). So, Barnabas, by using his gift of encouragement played an important role in the development of the early church.
There is no telling what great acts you can inspire when you become an encourager. So, I encourage you during this Christmas Season to give the gift that really does keep on giving...the Gift of Encouragement.
Monday Prayer: Lord, instill the gift of encouragement in each us so we may make the holidays brighter for all those around us. Amen!
Author's note: An encouraging word breaks tension, pleases others and brightens up any situation. Look for opportunities to sincerely encourage others this week.
Shopping (November 28, 2007) by Jim Crosby
If you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve...But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
On the Tuesday morning before the Thanksgiving Holiday I went outside early and picked up the morning newspaper as usual. As I was taking the protective wrapper off of it a bunch of pages and fliers fell out on the sidewalk. It's what I usually call the Sunday Morning fallout because all of these advertisements fall out on the ground. Most of them come along with the Sunday paper because it is larger and has more readers than the weekday editions. This week the fallout came early.
I usually debate whether to take the fallout straight to the trash bin or bring them inside with the rest of the paper. But, that's a no-brainer because the Lovely Susette would send me back out to retrieve them if I did toss them out before she perused them. So, I carry the fallout into the house making sure I separate it from the sports pages.
The reason all these fallout pages came on Tuesday was to advertise the pre-Thanksgiving Day sales. Most of the department stores were opening at 7 a.m. and offering big discounts on a wide variety of products. They were trying to get a head start on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which traditionally is the biggest shopping day of the year. Can't imagine how early the stores will open for that one---5 a.m. maybe?
When I went upstairs to begin my workday and turned on my computer guess what I saw. My friends at Border's Bookstore had sent me an on-line coupon for 50% off on a purchase. It was good only on the day before Thanksgiving. Wish they hadn't done that. They are smart. They know I wouldn't look at the newspaper fallout ads ─might see an ad if it was on the sports page, but none of the other stuff─so they sneakily hit me over the internet where they know I will see it. They have already formed an opinion about what a sucker I am for book bargains.
One week, they sent me a coupon for 30% off. I rushed into the local Borders store to use it and discovered when I got there the coupon was good only for the next day. Well, since I was there any way I might as well buy a book, right? Then the next day, I took my coupon back to the store and discovered the book I wanted was on the best seller's list and had a 30% discount already, so it was not eligible for the coupon. Okay. So, I'll take that 30% discount and find another book for my coupon.
My next choice already had a 40% discount. No brainer, huh. Got that one too. Hey, I'm doing well I still have my 30% off coupon...but, it has to be used today. So, I found a book it would work on. Hey, I really made out didn't I? That's 100% in discounts. Didn't have to pay anything, right? Well, not exactly, but I did end up with four good books.
So, even though I'm not into shopping like Susette is, she could point out─ although she is too nice to do so─that I can't make that claim because if it is something I really like I'll go shopping. What I could claim is that shopping for books is part of my work. As a writer I have to stay on top of what books are being published, what they are about and who is publishing them.
Of course Susette really could make the same claim. It is part of her job. As an interior designer she has to recommend furniture, lighting, chairs, desks, sofas, entertainment centers, etc. for her clients. She has to know what's available. I just don't see how shopping for sweaters, lingerie, shoes, etc. fits her job description.
The point of all this is that shopping, no matter what other term we might affix to it, is an essential part of our lives. There are many choices that we face in all aspects of our lives. To make the wisest decision it pays to shop around.
People shop for almost everything. Some shop around to find the right church. They want to find a place where they feel comfortable and at ease in worship. Some may choose a church because they like the pastor. Or maybe the church has a great youth program. They might like the music. Or maybe it's the denomination they grew up in, so when they moved they only shopped for a Methodist Church or a Baptist Church or Catholic. Maybe the pews are comfortable or the color of the carpet suits them. There are all kinds of different reasons that people settle on the church of their choice. No matter what the reason for doing the shopping, the fact that they settle on a church makes it worthwhile.
I remember hearing a pastor once who talked to a family and asked them where they went to church, hoping to invite them to join his congregation. They said they didn't really have a church home. They had been looking for one since they moved here from Alabama, but hadn't found one yet. The pastor asked them how long they had lived here and they said, "30 years." Gosh, that's a lot of shopping.
The Israelites, God's chosen people, even though they had been greatly blessed by Him, seemed predisposed to doing a little shopping around. They became infatuated with idols and false gods. The Quest Study Bible says that there were a variety of reasons why this was so. 1) Israel's God was unseen whereas idols were physical objects that could be seen. 2) Idols could be carried, controlled and confined. God however was awesome, mysterious and could not be manipulated. 3) These foreign gods were thought to have power over crops 4) Some foreign gods were thought to bring fertility to the womb. 5) Idol worship was the norm. In other words it was easier to join in these local customs than to oppose them. (Quest Study Bible, pg 316)
So, Joshua, who had led the people to the Promised Land in the first place, assembled them for a memory-refresher session. He revisited all the things that God had done for them. After he had laid all these events one-by-one on the table, he asked the people (24:15) to choose who they would serve. Would they serve this awesome, mighty God who had rescued them and brought them to this place and all the prosperity he had provided? Or would they continue to shop around and see what these other false gods had to offer? Joshua left little doubt what he would do. "As for me and my household we will serve the Lord."
When you go shopping you ultimately have to make a decision. You decide to buy something and settle on the exact item you want or you don't buy anything. In that case you must shop some more.
Joshua and his family didn't have to agonize over that major shopping decision because they had already made it. They would serve the Lord so, in comparison, all the other shopping decisions would be easy ones.
Monday Prayer: Heavenly Father you are an awesome God. We honor and praise You knowing that we don't have to shop anymore to attain your blessings. You are the one we trust and know that You will lead us in the right direction for all the other shopping decisions thereafter. Amen!
***Author's note: Welcome to the Holiday Season. Thanksgiving is behind us and that means the shopping season has begun. Make your commitment to the Lord a priority during the holidays and everything else will fall into place.
Thank You Very Much (November 21, 2007) by Jim Crosby
We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! Psalm 75:1
This week it is fashionable to give thanks. There is even a national holiday centered around giving thanks that is appropriately called "Thanksgiving." Families all over America will pause to give thanks, some briefly, before digging into a feast of turkey, dressing, vegetables, bread, pies and whatever else they can pile on their plates. So, having a national holiday named "Thanksgiving" makes pausing to think about all our blessings and bowing our heads to give thanks for them the "in" thing to do.
Of course those who are truly thankful don't just wait until a holiday rolls around to give thanks to the Heavenly Father for his graciousness. We should do this everyday.
What's the old saying about giving back to God some of what He has given us (and is really His anyway)? Appropriately it says "You can't out give God." Consequently, we can never thank God enough for all we receive from Him including the next breath we take.
In 1621, Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag Indian Tribe, along with his wife and 90 men made a two-day trip on foot to Plymouth Colony to drop in on the Pilgrims. It was good timing because they arrived for dinner. Governor William Bradford had set aside a time for this feast to celebrate and give thanks to God for the abundant harvest. He sent four men out "fowling," i. e. looking for meat to go along with all the other good stuff. Naturally they killed quite a few wild turkeys which became a centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinners thereafter. So, the 53 pilgrims sat down to enjoy this meal with their new found Indian friends. (www.pilgrimhall.org)
In 1777, General George Washington issued orders for December 18, 1777 to be set aside as a day for "solemn thanksgiving and praise" to celebrate the victories over the British.
In 1846, Sarah Hale began a letter writing campaign to make the last Thursday in November a National Day of Thanksgiving. If there is one thing we can say about Sarah it is that she was one persistent Lady. She must have read the Parable of the Persistent Widow told by Jesus in Luke 18:1-8, because Sarah's campaign lasted 17 years.
Then, in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln declared a Day of Thanksgiving after Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. When he got a letter from Sarah Hale he made the last Thursday in November the Thanksgiving Holiday.
In 1939, National Retailers lobbied President Franklin D. Roosevelt to change the Thanksgiving Holiday to the first Thursday in November in order to expand the Christmas Shopping Season. He did that and threw the country into confusion as to which day to really celebrate. In 1941 President Roosevelt changed it back to the fourth Thursday. (www.scholastic.com)
So, for 386 years our country has observed at least one day of Thanksgiving for the abundance of our blessings. That is a pretty good lesson in longevity. It tells us when something worthwhile is started it will last. It has staying power.
David Jeremiah tells the story of a retired French lawyer who struck a deal with a ninety year-old widow. "For a payment of $500 per month to her until she died, he bought the rights to take over the lease to her fashionable apartment. At her age, it looked like a shrewd investment. In 1995, thirty years and $180,000 later, he was still paying─when she turned 120. Longevity is certainly something to give thanks for although that shrewd attorney might have reservations about agreeing with that. In the realm of longevity, I'll be giving thanks again this year for my Mom, who is 94 and still going strong.
We have so much to be thankful for that we could not only take up the entire Thanksgiving holiday just thanking God for them, but many days thereafter. Of course one of the things I'm thankful for is football. There are a lot of those games on television on the Thanksgiving Holiday to remind me of that. And of course the next day and the day after that and Sunday as well ,there will be games to be thankful for.
To honor the pilgrims this is the one day of the year that I give myself permission to really "pig out" or should I say "turkey out." Normally I'm not a second-helping type of guy. But, on Thanksgiving Day I don't worry about it if I go back for another helping of food and then later have a turkey sandwich and a piece of pumpkin or pecan pie while watching still another game. Now, there is something to really give thanks for. But, trutfhfully the idea is not only to give thanks and enjoy a great meal, but it is a day of rest from those normal everyday labors we must pursue.
At this time of year I'm reminded of the story I read many years ago in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution newspaper about this old housekeeper/nursemaid and the lessons on being grateful that she taught her young ward.
One of the things she said she was thankful for was "coffee." She said when she woke up in the morning and smelled the coffee that her daughter was brewing that she gave thanks to the Lord for coffee before she even got out of bed.
She said she was also thankful for pretty clothes. She would go downtown and look in the window and see all those pretty dresses and she would give thanks. The young boy said, "But, you don't have any money to buy any of those." She said..."That's okay. I like to look and I think of how pretty your mother would look in those dresses and that makes me happy and I give thanks."
I don't even have to find that article any more. I just think about it every year at Thanksgiving and it makes me smile. It also makes me thankful for all the little things in my life that God has so graciously given to me.
One thing I am really thankful for this year is for all of you who take time to read these devotions each week. The employees of Clear Channel, members of Good Samaritan Church, all of you who visit http://www.writeman.com/ on the internet and those who have read my devotional books and shared the things the Lord put on my heart to write.
On this Thanksgiving Holiday, 2007, I simply say to you. "Thank You Very Much!" Happy Thanksgiving.!
Monday Prayer: Lord we are especially grateful for the Thanksgiving Holiday because it reminds us how much you have blessed us with because you love us. Amen!
***Author's note: Enjoy your shortened work week. Hope you have a wonderful time sharing the holiday with those you care about and give thanks for daily.
Balloon Stomping (November 14, 2007) by Jim Crosby
He made himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. Philippians 2:7
A fourth grade teacher devised a game called the "balloon stomp." Each child tied a balloon to his/her leg. Upon receiving a signal the game commenced and each child tried to pop everyone else's balloon and protect their own. The last child to have an un-popped balloon was the winner.
Writing about this in his latest book: "When the Game is Over, it All Goes Back in the Box," John Ortberg calls "balloon stomp" a zero sum game. "If I win, you lose." If another player is successful you aren't. The game was over in seconds and the winner "was the most (secretly) disliked kid in the room. It's hard to really win at balloon stomp."
Writer Anne Lamott puts it this way. "Some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry, undeserving people you know─people who are, in other words, not you." It's hard for losers to love winners when competition is the name of the game. If the total focus is on winning out, then those who give it their best shot and come up short feel a sense of frustration. It takes effort to smile and enjoy the winner's celebration.
But, that wasn't the end of the "balloon stomp" A second class was brought in to the classroom to play the same game. The difference was that this was a class of developmentally challenged children. Great potential for disaster, here as they were each given a balloon and the game started.
Here's what happened. These kids apparently didn't grasp the instructions that had been hastily given. They got the idea that instead of trying to win by popping the most balloons while protecting your own, that they should help one another pop balloons. Instead of fighting they were helping each other. Ortberg calls it a "balloon stomp co-op."
One little boy was getting frustrated trying to pop the balloon tied to a girl's leg so she knelt and held it in place, kind of like the holder for a place kicker in football, while he popped it. Then the boy returned the favor with his balloon. When the last balloon was popped they all cheered because they all won!
We have become a society of scorekeepers. It seems there is a "win-at-all-costs" mentally pervading our environment. To be happy we must have the highest point total. Scorekeeping actually begins with parents. Children look for ways to get their parent's attention. They want to make them smile and hope to gain their approval.
Scorekeeping even led to the first murder. Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve were out working in the fields. "Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil." (Genesis 4:2). When they both brought offerings to the Lord, the one that Abel presented found greater favor. So, Cain killed Abel. Scorekeeping was really out of whack in that one.
I love watching football games on the weekend. And frankly if there wasn't a winner and a loser it would be kind of boring. I must admit that it is hard to accept defeat especially at the hands of a rival team. What's the old saying, "Everybody loves a winner!" Wrong! The losers find it hard to love a winner.
But that is what Jesus calls us to do. To love our enemies as ourselves. Now that doesn't apply to football. You know why? Because those folks who win out in a football game are not our enemies. They have many of the same likes and dislikes that we do. Their work weeks are similar. The goals they try to attain in life are very much like ours. We can even cooperate with them in achieving common goals. And we all were made by the same Creator. We owe our allegiance to Him.
How gratifying it is when you pull together with another group or each member of your own group pools their talents to accomplish something really special. But, often it is just so much easier to measure the end result if the outcome can be compared to some written goal.
Ortberg talked about how baseball cards have all the pertinent statistics for a player on the back of the card. Batting Average, Home Runs, Fielding Pct., Errors, Wins, Losses, Earned Run Average,. et al. But he said that nobody sells Major League Father Cards with the pertinent stats on the back. Things like: "Had a great season in 2005:set career highs in unforced expressions of affection and averaged 87 minutes of quality time (with his family) per day." It just a little more subjective when it comes to measuring relationships.
The early church was built when believers gathered and shared what they had. They pulled together to get things going instead of worrying about who was getting credit or who was winning or losing. "And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved." (Acts 3:44) This is how the church survived from the early days to now. People formed a "balloon stomp co-op mentality." They cared about and provided help for each other as they took up a common cause.
There are some good things that arise from competition. Performance can soar. Athletes, businessmen and women, students can achieve far beyond what they thought they were capable of accomplishing by trying to match or outdo the competition. Even if they don't win or achieve all that they were going after positive growth occurs. Competition can improve one's determination, persistence, stamina and builds character. It's when competition spawns envy, jealousy, and feelings of depression that it becomes a negative force.
As the legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote. "When the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game."
God has a strange scoring system. When you recognize your smallness you get bigger in God's eyes.
Monday Prayer: Lord whenever we see a bunch of balloons may we think of the balloon stomping story, so that will be a reminder to us that the principle of helping others is greater in your eyes than achieving victory alone. Amen!
***Author's note: Hope you have a balloon-stomping good time as you help others in life.
Delay of Game (November 7, 2007) by Jim Crosby
There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, "Son, go and work today in the vineyard." "I will not," said the son, but later changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. "I will, sir,' he replied, but did not go. Which of the two did what the father wanted? Matthew 21: 28-30
Frustrations can trigger damaging talk. Case in point. The Colts had made it to the playoffs as a wildcard entry in 2002. It was a brief stay. Jets 41 Colts 0 In that kind of situation it would almost be better not to make it into a postseason than to be humbled in such a lopsided manner. The situation was ripe for finger-pointing.
And that's just what one of the players did...a field goal kicker no less. On a Canadian television station Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt hinted that the leadership of the team was insufficient. He knocked Coach Tony Dungy and QB Peyton Manning. He said the team needed "somebody who is going to get in people's face and yell and scream." He said Coach Dungy was too "mild mannered and even keeled" for the Colts to be successful.
As the interview rocketed around the NFL making news in every city, Coach Dungy called Mike at his home in Toronto and requested that he report to Indianapolis for a confab. Needless to say Mike was a little nervous about facing the "mild mannered, even keeled coach." Despite the prospects of incurring a delay of game penalty, he took two days to get to Indianapolis from Toronto.
In the meantime Dungy had determined that Vanderjagt was finished with the Colts. He made it a practice of never cutting a player from the team without telling him face to face. But, during the Mike's delay in arriving a couple of things happened.
First, Tony's son Jamie asked his Dad why everybody was mad at Mike. When he was told it was because of the things he had said, Jamie replied, "Dad you can't get rid of Mike. He's my friend." Tony told his son that he couldn't promise that wouldn't happen.
Second, Dungy and a number of coaches and players were in the process of the reading the Bible through and in his daily scripture he read Matthew 21:28-32. This is the story of two sons who were asked, by their Dad, to work in the vineyard. The first said he would not do it, but later changed his mind and did. The second said he would go, but didn't show up.
In his book "Quiet Strength" Dungy recalls, "Jesus' point is that the first son was obedient in spite of his words. It's what's in our heart that matters, even if our words say otherwise. Dungy said that made him realize he had a similar situation with the kicker. He heard Mike's words in the press and rushed to judge him without hearing his side.
When Mike talked with him he explained that he was speaking out of frustration and what came out was not exactly what he meant. Dungy explained the damage those comments had caused then asked him if he still wanted to kick for the Colts. He received an emphatic "yes." So going against the advice he was receiving from others, except for his son Jamie, he kept Mike on the team.
Flash forward to a key game in the 2003 season. Facing Houston the Colts needed a win to secure the division title. On the final play of the game Vanderjagt clinched a home playoff berth for the Colts and set an NFL record with his 41st consecutive field goal coming from 43-yards out. Dungy writes "As the guys carried Mike off the field, I looked at Jamie who was running alongside me. ‘Good call," I told him.' He flashed me his big, bright smile."
Vanderjagt's "delay of game" worked in a positive fashion since taking two days to come to the confrontation with Dungy allowed the coach to cool off, receive a request on Mike's behalf from his son, and to read a passage of scripture that influenced his decision in Vanderjagt's favor.
Sometimes it's best to delay the game. We rush into things or say things that with the passage of time would clearly require a different response. The first son in our focal scripture obviously had a quick replay. One that was probably unsatisfactory to his Dad.
But, after he had time to reflect on his off-the-cuff reply, he decided to go to work anyway. It's not like his parent was asking something that was unreasonable. Ultimately, as the old saying goes, his heart was in the right place.
Now, the second son gained instant favor with his practiced reply. I picture him as the type of guy who says what he knows the other person wants to hear whether he has any intention of following through or not. He's a hero for the moment. Have you known people like that? I have! It seems they feel that by simply saying they will do something that's good enough. It is, in their minds, misconstrued as being the same thing as doing it. Since they have gotten off the hook by acceding to the request, verbally, they dismiss it thereafter and go along their way.
Here's the way the NLT Bible views this situation. "The son who said he would obey and then didn't represented the people of Israel in Jesus' day. They said they wanted to do God's will, but they constantly disobeyed. They were phony, just going through the motions. It is dangerous to pretend to obey God when our heart is far from him because God knows our true intentions. Our actions must match our words."
Ironically three years later the Colts, under Dungy, would win the Super Bowl, but without Mike Vanderjagt. As a free agent in 2005 he elected to sign with the Dallas Cowboys. But, he had become a record-setting kicker while playing for the Colts because of a "delay of game" in traveling to meet with Dungy gaining time in which the Coach read a scripture that changed his thinking about the entire scenario.
Although, we may say the wrong thing and delay doing what we should, if our hearts are right, and we get back to doing what's best that's what counts. In that case a delay of game is not so bad.
Prayer: Lord show us when to delay the game and when to proceed. In the process renovate our hearts that we might be focused on your plan for our lives . Amen!
***Author's note: Sometimes a delay is not too bad. Just be sure you know what the penalty is for delay of game and if that's something you can deal with you don't have to plunge right in. Have a great week!
Sell Something (October 31, 2007) by Jim Crosby
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:20
Back in the day, I used to have a sales manager who had a very annoying habit. Whenever he saw you getting ready to walk out the front door of the radio station he would say, "sell something!" Now, that was aggravating. Rather than providing motivation to make a great sale this usually set my teeth on edge. After all what did he think I was going to do, try not to make a sale? Maybe it was his way of saying "stick to business" don't go play a round of golf. If so that was even more irritating.
Yet, even more bothersome was if he saw you coming back at the end of the day his first words were "what did you sell?" Not "hey did you have a good day?" Or "how's it going?" Of course if I had sold some advertising that day it wouldn't be quite as angering since I could fire back with a litany of accomplishments.
Somewhere along the way, however, I learned that selling was more than a dollars and cents proposition. Sometimes not making a sale can even have a positive aspect. Your presentation may have other ramifications. It may even accomplish something greater than you anticipated.
When you think about it we are always selling something. It may be an idea, an opinion, a political candidate we prefer, our choice of restaurants, which movie to go see, a book we've read and recommend, or a vacation spot for the family. The list is endless. Fortunately there is not someone looking over our shoulder on all of those activities awaiting an outcome and asking "what did you sell?"
During the course of a day we make sales and we have sales pitches rejected. Does it all even out? Do we get more "yes-es" than "no's" on all of these sales attempts. Who knows? Who cares? Nobody is going to accept or go along with all of the ideas we propose. We will not have a perfect record. But, it doesn't matter because we are not passionate concerning a lot of those anyway. It's the big things that we throw our best effort into, taking the art of persuasion to a high level, that count. Ideas, concepts or actions that will impact our lives, not just for the moment, but for days to come and in some cases for a lifetime.
In Tallahassee, I'm currently a member of a newly forming church called Good Samaritan church. We started from scratch. No members, no building, not even an assigned pastor at the time. We did have a beautiful, wooded piece of property in a great location, the backing of the church I was a member of at the time, and high hopes that a pastor we viewed as being "just right" would be appointed by the Florida Conference.
So, we really had a selling job on our hands. We had to sell people on the idea of joining and working to grow a church that really had few visible assets. After we began to form and started meeting in a high school cafeteria we had to convince people that this setting was a church on Sunday mornings and a cafeteria the rest of the week. Further, they had to view it as the best choice of a place of worship on Sunday morning despite the fact that there were many other established churches in town worshipping in state-of-the-art sanctuaries.
When you want to make a sale your best chance for success lies in being armed with lots of ammunition. Research is the key. You have to know what you are talking about and have a passion and enthusiasm that is contagious to convince others that you are pursuing something that is important. Then you can sell them on the idea of going along with you.
As we researched the success stories of newly forming churches we studied the story of The Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. This church began meeting in 1990 in a funeral home in an area where there were about 20 churches already established. Today, they have more than 13,000 members. How did they do it?
First, their pastor Adam Hamilton understood that they had to not only sell people on the idea of worshipping in that setting, but he had to sell every idea for ministry along the way. Everything involved selling. Hamilton was so convinced that this is the reason the church eventually flourished that he has documented the process in a book called "Selling Swimsuits in the Arctic." (Abingdon Press, 2005). On page 4 he writes, "...trying to persuade people to become a part of a church that had no building, no established programs, and no history, I was pursing my work in sales."
I won't spoil the book for those of you who may wish to read it and are puzzling over the title and wondering where Pastor Hamilton is coming from with that one. But, I do want to share the seven sales principles that keyed the great success story of The Church of the Resurrection. He says "many of the same attributes that make one an excellent sales person are needed to be an excellent leader in the church. I think this holds true in anything you are selling whether it is a product, an idea, opinion or deep-seated belief.
Pastor Hamilton's "seven simple keys to success in sales" are:
1. You must believe in your product.
2. You must believe that others need what you are selling.
3. You must understand the needs of those you are seeking to reach.
4. You must offer an excellent product or service.
5. You must embody the values and ideals of your product.
6. You must effectively market the product.
7. You must not give up in face of adversity or rejection.
When you stop to think about it all of these just make good sense. 1) You can't expect someone to buy or agree to something you don't fully believe in. 2) If you can't see that they need this, how are you going to convince them they do? 3) You need to know more about what that person's overall needs are to understand how what you are selling fits in 4) You can't sell junk. You have to offer excellence. If it's a ministry you are seeking help with or a product you're selling it has be one that is excellently produced. 5) You have to believe your product is the best. You can't sell Nikes while wearing Reeboks or vice versa 6) You must market your product or idea showing it in it's best light and spotlighting the benefits and virtues of it. Marketing helps reach a larger number of people. 7) Nobody is successful 100% of the time. In fact, many rejections may come before success. Continuing to believe in what you're doing and looking for new and better ways to present it, in spite of disappointments, will enable you to be successful and to make the sale.
Paul says God is making his appeal to others through us. We are His sales people. When we follow the seven keys to success we will be able to "sell something."
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we ask that you take our talents and use them to honor your work. Grant us success in selling the gospel message you've entrusted us with. Amen!
***Author's note: I won't tell you to "sell something." I know you are constantly selling. Just have fun selling and continue to believe good things will happen.
The Junk Drawer (October 24, 2007) by Jim Crosby
"...do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
Do you have a junk drawer? Maybe it's a box stored away in the attic or the garage. Perhaps the whole attic or the entire garage is full of junk. All of that stuff looks like junk to somebody else, but to you it is important. How does that saying go? "One man's junk is another man's treasure!"
Maybe you haven't even looked at any of that stuff in a year or longer. So, why are you keeping it? That's the difficult question the Lovely Susette and I had to ask recently when we joined in the community-wide Garage Sale event. When we started looking at what was stashed away in boxes we should have seen lots of junk. After all since we moved into this house almost two years ago we had so much stuff in boxes in our garage we couldn't get our cars in it.
So, this looked like a great time to clean out some of that junk, right! Well that idea sounded good until we started looking in those boxes and discovering treasures instead of junk. Remember when they used to bronze baby shoes? Some of those were out there. Can't throw those away, even though they hadn't been looked at in years, except when we packed them for the move.
How about the Mother's Day card our youngest one made in school back in the first grade. Can't throw that out. Well, what about the one in second grade or third grade, ad infinitum. How about all the cards from all our children...all five of them...over the years. Those certainly qualify as junk to someone else, but are treasures to us. Why? Because they represent memories. Special occasions. Special times from by gone days.
It's not the card itself. It is the memory we treasure. Sure, it only happened because some teacher was scrambling around to find something for the class to do. But, looking at that large, crooked, scrawly hand-writing reminds us with a smile, maybe even a tear, of our little guy or gal and how they were back then. In our case those little tykes are all grown up now, so maybe this makes us feel a little bit old as well. That's a good reason to throw that junk out, right?
But, in good times as well as tough times, we cling to memories of special times. Even if now is the greatest time in your life, you can still fondly recall times from the past that you treasure. Maybe you went on a cruise 25 years ago and you have this never-sent post-card in that junk drawer that says: "Greetings from Alaska!" You're never going to send that faded, coffee-stained card anywhere. Why keep it? Well, because it is more than a card. It triggers your memory of a great cruise you took. When you look at that card you can almost feel the cold air that was hitting your face while you remember how you stood on the deck and saw those glaciers the ship was passing by.
What about that rock in the corner of the drawer? Uh, let's see. Oh yeah, I remember picking that one up in the mountains, when we went hiking back in the 90's or was it the 80's. Oh well, one of those times. That makes it special. Can't get rid of it. We take common things and look at them differently because of what they represent. That's what occurs when you attend church and partake of one of the sacraments.
In our Home Group meeting last week we studied the Last Supper; Luke 22:7-22. In this story we saw more evidence that Jesus was a planner. He planned not only to meet with his disciples to prepare them for the events that were soon to come about. He already had determined the place where it would be held. Jesus sent Peter and John into town to find the owner of the house, in whose upper room, they would meet for this Passover meal.
He told them they would see a man carrying a jar of water as they entered the gates of the city. That would be the guy! He owned the house. Those instructions were pretty easy to follow because seldom would you see a man carrying a jar of water. Bringing water from the community well to the house was work for women.
Jesus told his disciples that this was a special meal for it would be the last meal He would eat in this world. His death was imminent. So, he gave them bread and said that it represented his body that would be broken for them. He would die for the sins, the mistakes, the messes they would make, so these would be forgiven by their Heavenly Father. Likewise, He passed them a cup of wine telling them it represented His blood that would be shed.
Now, He wasn't passing around real flesh or real blood, but the bread and the wine were symbolic of it. Then, He added the words; "do this in remembrance of me." And because of that occasion churches to this day emulate the Lord's Supper, called "communion." And when they pass out the bread and the wine the recipients remember that last supper, but beyond that they remember the significance of it and the events that followed. Not only are they reminded of the death of Jesus, but are able to think beyond that and remember the resurrection as well.
What the congregants eat in communion is common bread and the cup holds, in most cases, grape juice. But, it represents much more. It helps us remember why we partake of this sacrament and how special it is.
Likewise the reason we continue to keep a lot of those items in the drawer is the special memories they contain. The nice thing about it is they can be revisited simply by opening the drawer and looking at all those treasures.
Monday Prayer: Lord, we treasure our memories and thank you for each of these special ones you have blessed us with. Each is uniquely our own and is a gift from you that makes them a treasure instead of junk. Amen!
**Author's note: In streamlining your life be careful not to mistake those treasures for junk. The special times they recall are irreplaceable.
A Wise Guy (October 17, 2007) by Jim Crosby
But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it . Luke 7:35
It's funny how some terms get distorted from the original meaning through a specialized vocabulary we call "slang." Taken separately the two words "wise guy" should have a positive connotation. To be wise is a very good thing. A person who is wise is "informed; shows good judgment; is shrewd; crafty; learned; erudite. It's all good.
Guy is slang word for "any person." Most frequently it refers to a man or boy but is not limited to males. So, given those definitions, we would think that "wise guy" would be a positive term. Well, here are the definitions I found for wise guy. "One who is obnoxiously, self-assertive, and arrogant; know-it-all; smart aleck; smarty-pants, wiseacre; wisecracker.
What's up with that? If you called someone a "wise person" you would be paying them a compliment. If you said he was a "wise guy" that would not be complimentary at all. The key to all of this is "wisdom" which is "the power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding; good judgement. " (Webster's New World Dictionary)
The Bible leaves little doubt that wisdom comes from above. James 1:5 says: "If you need wisdom─if you want to know what God wants you to do─ask Him and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking." James is not just talking about knowledge, but he is referring to the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances. Whenever we need wisdom, we can pray to God, and He will generously supply what we need. Christians don't have to grope around in the dark, hoping to stumble upon answers. We can ask for God's wisdom to guide our choices."
Also, here's what the NLT Bible says about wisdom. "Wisdom means practical discernment. It begins with respect for God, leads to right living, and results in increased ability to tell right from wrong. God is willing to give us this wisdom, but we will be unable to receive it if our goals are self-centered instead of God-centered. To learn God's will, we need to read His Word and ask Him to show us how to obey it. Then, we must do what He tells us."
One of the ways in which wisdom exhibits itself is through what we say. Wise speech is a result of having wisdom. In the book of James we learn that "God holds us responsible for the result of our destructive words. The wisdom of God that helps control the tongue can help control all our actions." (NLT pg. 1984)
So often we want to run ahead of God. If there is something that we truly desire to see happen, we might forget to check and see if it is in God's Will. Even though He might be waiting to hear from us, so He can rejoice with us. If it is something really good, chances are God's blessing will be yours as you pursue it. However, God wants to be consulted. He wants us to ask before we speak out and say: "I'm going to do this or that." As Joyce Meyer says: "We must resist the temptation to play ‘Holy Ghost, Jr.'. Instead, we must let God be God." Only then will the outcome be a pleasing one.
Communication with God is where wisdom begins. Thanking Him for what we take for granted is a wise thing to do. In one of his books Norman Vincent Peale revealed the story of Dr. John Reilly, a medical doctor who at one time was the physician attending the president of the United States.
Each morning, in prayer, Dr. Reilly made it a point to thank God for every organ in his body and asked Him to bless each one and to have it function perfectly. His prayer went like this: "Thank You, God, for my clear mind. Thank You for my sturdy heart. Thank You for my sound lungs, my marvelous network of veins and arteries, my reliable digestive system. Thank You for my eyesight and my hearing. Thank You for the perfection of Your creative workmanship as it appears throughout my body."
Peale said that Dr. Reilly remained alert, healthy and very much alive throughout his life. When he was ninety-five years old he lay down for a nap. "While he slept the Heavenly Father called him home." Dr. John Reilly was very wise and in His wisdom God rewarded him with a long and healthy life.
Peale recalled that Reilly often told him he was firmly convinced that our bodily health is largely determined by what we habitually think. He also said "that a primary rule of good health is to avoid any kind of behavior that can set up feelings of remorse or guilt. Guilt can actually plant the seeds of sickness in the soul, a sickness that proceeds to damage the mind, and in time the body." (From the book: "Why Some Positive Thinkers Get Powerful Results.")
You know, that just makes good sense doesn't it? When we get extremely angry or when we don't think about what we are saying and hurt someone else it can set up a guilt trip in our minds. If something like that is so upsetting to us mentally, logic tells me it could affect our physical well being also.
By applying wisdom to that kind of scenario, I hark back to what Christian Psychologist Les Parrott said in his book: "Three Seconds." Before we comment or act out a thought we've had, it is good to just delay action or verbal response for three seconds to see if a stronger inclination, maybe even a thought directing you to a different course of action, pops into your mind. By doing this you may avoid a hasty mistake, one that would be regrettable and hard to fix.
So, as we think about the role that wisdom can play in our lives, we realize it is not so much about having knowledge. It is more about making the right choices. And if we are blessed with this wisdom from God, one of the choices we will make is not to be a "wise guy." Then we will be a wise person instead.
Prayer: Lord we pray for the wisdom to lead our lives in a way that honors You. For in so doing we realize the rewards are great in this life and thereafter as well.
***Author's note: Have a great week. Pray for wisdom and don't let the wise guys, who cross your path, get you down.
Future Happenings (October 10, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful! Colossians 3:15
When casting about for a devotional topic this week I came across a book in my personal library by Joyce Meyer called "In Pursuit of Peace." I don't remember purchasing it. The cover says: "Advance reading copy. Not for sale. To be published in hardcover September 2004." Only answer I could come up with is that it must have been a book being distributed at the 2004 Christian Booksellers Convention I went to in Atlanta. But, Joyce Meyer wasn't there, so it must have come from her publishers Time Warner, who did have a presence.
I'm also not sure why I picked it up and selected this topic because the cover also had as a subtitle: "21 ways to conquer anxiety, fear and discontentment." Can't say I was feeling particularly anxious, discontented or fearful, other than the fact that it was getting late in the week and I needed a devotional topic. This is not to say those three conditions have never been present in my life. Certainly they have on many occasions.
As I opened the book I came to Peacekeeper #4: "Don't Worry about the Future."Don't even know why I was attracted to those pages 20 pages (42-61). The book had no underlining or yellow hi-liting in it...which are pretty much standard in all my books after I have read them. I am an inveterate underliner and note-maker. I write all over my books to help things sink in and create ease of access to the important points when I return to the book at a later date. By the way, I was encouraged in that process recently when I borrowed a book from my Pastor Betsy Ouellette and saw that she does the same thing. Uh,...Betsy if you're reading this don't despair I will return your book soon.) :)
I guess what really attracted me to today's topic was opening to the page (53) and reading the heading: "Let peace be your umpire." Being the big lover of baseball that I am, this was an attention getter. What the apostle Paul was saying in this verse of scripture is so true. When we make quick decisions out of fear, worry or anger we usually make the wrong decision. So we need an umpire to help us come to the right conclusion. An umpire's decision can have a great effect on a game. Calling a pitch a ball or a strike; a batted ball fair or foul; a runner safe or out impacts the game. This is not to say that the outcome is decided by the umpire, but it can be impacted by his decision.
Now, to make sure the umpire's call is correct a batter, pitcher or fielder must do his part. The batter must swing at good pitches and take bad ones; the pitcher must make good pitches; the fielder must hustle to the ball and field it cleanly and make good throws.
Likewise to ensure a future outcome that will be pleasing our decisions must be made by seeking the inner peace that the Lord provides when we ask for it. Meyer says: "If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. It means to think of something over and over. Meditation on God's Word is one of the major ways you can find deliverance from worrying. Just as we once formed a habit of worrying (meditating on the problem), we can form a new habit of meditating on God's Word. Take portions of scripture that comfort you, and roll them over and over in your mind. Do it on purpose!"
The future is one thing that presents a real opportunity for worry. What does the future hold? None of us knows. As I've heard said many times in church, even if we don't know what the future holds we know Who holds the future."
Still, the fact remains that our future will definitely be a mixed bag. It will contain things we enjoy and things we would just as soon skip. Paul wrote in Philippians we should be content in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Even thought that ain't easy to do it is the key to having peace.
Many times I have referred to the scene in the movie "Facing the Giants" in which Coach Grant Taylor tells his football players that the new team philosophy was going to be to "Praise God when they win and to praise Him when they lose." It was new mindset that freed those players up to be the best they could be.
In my Football Bible Study, being conducted through Good Samaritan Church, I have been surprised how many times that advice is contained in the Bible. Even though I devised most of the discussion questions before I had seen the "Giants" movie, many of the answers keep referring back to praising Him in all situations.
Even though we can't realistically expect only good things to happen in our future we are not to fear these. Meyer says: "Remember God never allows more to come on us than what we can bear, but with every temptation He always provides a way out."
The thing to do is to continue to ask God for good news. James 4 tells us that we "have not because we ask not." The great thing is that God is not keeping score. He does not have a ledger up in heaven where he records and limits the number of good things He will grant us. He doesn't decide outcomes based on how many times or different things we have asked him for. We cannot use up His favor. Most important is to pray that things will be done in His will, because he wants good things for us.
If we make up our minds that "all of life does not need to make us feel good in order for us to face it with peace and joy...we will develop a thankful attitude in which we will not dread anything we have to do."
When peace of mind is the umpire in your life those future happenings can be anticipated with joy in your heart.
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for this lesson in how to handle the future. Help us to meditate on your word and thereby gain the answers you direct us to focus on for a joy-filled future.
***Author's note: Take time to meditate on God's word this week and see how many things fall into place due to the lessons you learn. Amen!
Significance (October 3, 2007) by Jim Crosby
But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then. Mark 10:31"The quality of being important." That's one of the dictionary definitions of the word "significance." What is important in your life? What takes on the greatest significance in your journey?
Perhaps you don't stop to think in those terms very often. But, unless you do pause to consider the answer to these simple questions, how do you know that the things you are doing are ones of lasting significance?
It's good sometimes to just stop and take stock of our lives. In doing that you may be surprised at how much time you spend doing insignificant things. Maybe I should stop here. I'm not sure I like the way this devotion is going. Frankly, I'm concerned that in doing an assessment of what's significant I might find that I'm doing the insignificant more often than doing what counts. But, no I'm going to be bold and courageous and press on with this subject no matter how inadequate it makes us feel. We'll learn from it and get better.
Our scripture today points out the "importance"of performing this exercise. "But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then." (NLT pg. 1508)
So what is significant? Well, there are "significant others." That's become a very familiar term and means someone who is very special to someone else
There are significant figures. According to Wikipedia "Rounding to ‘n' significant figures is a form of rounding. .. Computer representations of floating point numbers typically use a form of rounding to significant figures, but with binary numbers." Makes sense right? No that doesn't make any sense to me at all. Yet, it does point out that there are digits, that when considered in combination with other digits, take on added significance.
Hey, I didn't even get into "operational significant event imagery." Okay, I'm having fun with you, now. But, the point of it all is that no matter what you are involved in there are things of significance as well as insignificant things involved. So, it is important to assess which of these things we are doing that have real significance and which insignificant ones may be diverting ourselves from the important ones.
Here's what Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy has to say on this subject. "The only work you can do that has eternal value is work with people. Possessions, organizations, companies, buildings─ everything else─will one day fade away or burn up. But people are eternal. Real and lasting significance comes through the way you interact with and affect people. Who you are today is at least in part a result of how those closest to you loved you or failed to do so. When you interact with your friends, family, and coworkers, you are affecting eternity."
Of course, if you design buildings they will affect the lives of people by helping them enjoy their homes more, or become more efficient in the workplace, or provide an environment to worship in. Even though these are important for the moment and rightfully require our attention, they do not have eternal value because they will eventually pass away.
Charitable organizations and churches will eventually pass away too, but the work they do here has eternal value in changing lives and bringing believers in closer contact with God. It is all about people and how the things we do affect their lives.
"Return on investment" is a key phrase in investing or running a business. In his book "Tomorrow is a Matter of Choice" William L. Thrasher, Jr, a Christian writer who formerly worked for a Fortune 100 company explains what "return on investment means." "Every business needs to measure all the costs associated with doing something and then measure what value or profit, over time, something produces."
This certainly applies in determining how we invest our time. Some of the time investments we make in the short run may not seem as significant as they turn out to be in the long run. Sometimes just a helpful act, a kind word of encouragement, or simply setting an example by working hard or being loyal, even your honesty in the transactions you make, can add significance to the simplest of activities.
Thrasher also said, "We have our existence which was given to us by God. Every life is of incalculable worth. Every life is purposed to make a contribution and each person is given a certain amount of time. This time can be used to produce very valuable results such as investing in someone else's life, helping those less fortunate, or providing various types of goods or services. We are given talents and abilities from God that He intends for us to develop and use. We are given varied opportunities every day that we can choose to take advantage of or waste. All of these are "investments" that God makes in each of our lives."
So, the way I see it, the question we should be addressing is: Since God made such a major investment in us, how are we being good stewards of that investment?
It would be good to get "outside of ourselves" for a little while. By that I mean stop the daily grind and take a walk or sit on the porch or just get somewhere that is quiet and different from the hectic pace you're keeping up and simply think. Look at your own life from a distance. While you are on the outside looking into your life try to determine how do the things that are occupying your time hold up. Good? Or is it time to readjust some of those priorities?
Be honest. Give yourself credit for the ways in which you are wisely using your time. Nobody wastes every minute. Then assess the things that are not that significant and could easily slide down on your "things to do list."
It is an exercise that will help you discover the things of true significance in your life!
Monday Prayer: Lord we sincerely want to discern the things of significance that you would have us do. Help us to eliminate the time wasters and focus on the productive things that You want us to succeed in doing. Amen!
***Author's note: Hope you have an opportunity to take a little "time" inventory this week. These will be valuable moments spent with lasting significance as the reward.
Gift Wrapped Moments (September 26, 2007) by Jim Crosby
A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great. Proverbs 18:16
It was said of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright that he had a way of "gift wrapping the moment." Wright was noted for his unique, individual style of architecture in which he strived not just to design a house, but to create an environment. He was concerned with the details of the interior as well. Wright often "designed the stained glass, fabric, furniture, carpet and accessories of the house. Over 500 of his designs were built including the Guggenheim Museum and Florida Southern University. Even though he passed away almost 50 years ago he remains America's most famous architect.
But, all of those Wright creations are not what prompted this topic. It was the way that he could make a "moment" really stand out. When Wright gave a gift or treated someone on a special occasion, he could make it stand out from the ordinary. He took great pains to make it a surprise and to ensure that it was a big deal.
There is an added element of mystery and wonderment when you receive a gift that is beautifully gift-wrapped. With trembling fingers you can't seem to unwrap it quickly enough as you seek to uncover the treasure inside the package.
Or perhaps your gift-wrapped moment is not a package at all. It could be a great surprise that is sprung on you. Tickets to a big game for a youngster. Air line tickets and reservations for Hawaii. A surprise birthday party. Your husband announces a big Saturday morning relevation...he's going to clean out the garage. Okay maybe that last one is stretching the imagination. But, any of those can be pleasant revelations in which the presentation adds luster to the moment and enhances the joy of the gift. This is what Wright was a master at doing, in addition to his architectural talents.
If we put our minds to it we can find many moments throughout the day that we can "gift wrap" and make them special for someone. The apostle Paul says if your gift is to encourage others, then do it. That's a nice way to gift wrap a moment. Paying a compliment makes you feel good and the receiver feels great.
Paul says if you have a gift for showing kindness to others do it gladly. Although it shouldn't be your motive behind being kind to someone, be assured that these good things that you do will come back to you in many ways. If you have money to share, Paul says to share it generously. Although money is a fleeting gift it can be used to do lots of good. Donations to your church or other charitable organizations become gift wrapped moments when received. Then they lead to gift wrapped moments for many others who benefit from their services.
I'm sure you can remember many gift-wrapped moments in your life. Isn't it nice when you receive a gift-wrapped surprise. One that was unexpected. It just changes your whole day...sometimes your whole life.
From our childhood we recall gift wrapped moments from Christmas. Those were literal ones because the things we were eagerly anticipating receiving were actually wrapped and placed under the tree. The enjoyment of those holiday settings continues into adulthood as we watch our children enjoy those gift wrapped moments. But, those are kind of universal.
There are moments that you can make special because of their uniqueness in your life. Only you have the opportunity to gift wrap them. It's that way with our Heavenly Father. Can you imagine how much joy it gives Him to present us with a gift wrapped moment?
Listen to how God gift wrapped this historic moment for Mary. He sent the angel Gabriel to Mary and he said: "Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty. Beautiful inside and out! God be with you." Wow, how's that for some fancy wrapping?
Then, Gabriel completed the gift wrapped moment by astounding Mary with the news. "Mary you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great, be called ‘Son of the Most High.'" (The Message, Luke 1:26-32) God is good at that. When he sets up a gift wrapped moment He does it right. He always goes first class.
Sometimes a gift-wrapped moment is not really recognized for what it is. Occasionally it is disguised as disappointment. I remember such a story from Edgar Bergen's childhood. He had decided that he wanted to be a magician. So, he sent away for a book called: "How to Perform Magic Tricks." Everyday he rushed to the mailbox to see if his book had arrived. Day after day he was disappointed.
Then one day the package came and he was really disappointed. The bookstore had sent him the wrong book. The one they sent in error was not about performing featsof magic at all. Instead he received a book on "The art of Ventriloquism." Because of a gift wrapped moment that he didn't recognize as one, Edgar Bergen and his sidekick Charlie McCarthy (the dummy) had a national radio show for 20 years and most of the great names in show business appeared with them. They also appeared in movies and on television.
Our scripture lesson from Proverbs says that "a gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great." I believe that is saying that the Great One has a special gift wrapped moment just waiting for you. The best way to receive it is for you to design and present one of those unique moments to someone else. By so doing you will be in the presence of God, so He can deliver your gift wrapped moment to you.
Greatness could be only one gift wrapped moment away!
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for those gift wrapped moments in life. We know they bring joy to the giver and the receiver. Amen!
***Author's note: Look for opportunities this week to gift wrap a moment for someone and brighten his or her life. You'll remember it as a special time.
A Historic Night (September 19, 2007) by Jim Crosby
The Lord will grant that the enemies, who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction, but flee from you in seven. Deuteronomy 28:7
In 2004, the Lord and I wrote a book. I say it that way because I prayed long and hard about the book "Devotions for the Armchair Quarterback." Sometimes it took me a long time to find the best scripture and on occasion it was hard to locate any scripture at all to associate with a particular aspect of the game of football. In those instances persistence and patience were rewarded. I believe this was God's way of making me study and completely think through the intertwining of each football and Bible story. In so doing the book would take on depth and meaning instead of being considered a shallow, frivolous pursuit in linking a game or entertainment with holy scripture.
After the book was published I started thinking that this would be a good way to reach out to folks and encourage them to study the Bible and apply the lessons learned to their own lives. By linking scriptures with a game that is enjoyed by millions of people every weekend we could reach people for Christ and grow the Kingdom.
So, we developed a Bible Study called "God's Game: The Xs and Os of Football and the Bible." When I shared the idea with my pastor Betsy Ouellette she suggested that I lead the study, this fall, for Good Samaritan Church. Instantly I recognized this as a confirming God Nod. Why not get people involved in this as a small home group study? Then it will become even stronger and take on more meaning. Anytime people get together to study God's Word they take what they learned with them out into the world gaining not only an opportunity for positive changes in their own lives, but they are able to pass these along to others.
So, Monday September 10th was a historic night. The faithful eight; Matt, Vicki, Preston, Victoria, David, Kenny, the Lovely Susette and I gathered in our home to study "God's Game: The X's and O's of the Bible."
After a period of getting acquainted and talking about our expectations for this unique Bible Study, it was time to proceed in our preparation to play the game. So, we filed into the Family Room for our pre-game pep talk. To ensure that we had the proper motivation for this first game...uh, lesson I called on Coach Grant Taylor of the Shiloh Eagles to get us fired up. As we turned on the DVD Player Coach Taylor told his team that they were going to change their philosophy.
Taylor said it was no longer about just winning football games. That goal was too small. He said God cared more about their faith than he did victory in a game. Coach Taylor then proposed this. "When we win we will praise God. When we lose we will praise Him. Either way we will give God the Glory." Those of you who saw the movie: "Facing the Giants," know that after the Eagles made that commitment their lives and their football season were dramatically affected.
So, with the motivational talk still fresh in our minds we headed back to the dining room table to immerse ourselves in the material. Lesson one was called "The Season Opener." We talked about how much planning and practicing football coaches and players must do to have a winning season. You don't just fall into a season and start winning games. It takes a master plan for the year and a specific game plan for the season opening game as well as a new one for each opponent.
Likewise we have to follow a game plan for our lives laid out by the Lord and be ready for the season opener. Then we must fine tune that game plan as different opposition confronts us. Even if we do this, it is still not going to be easy. Jimbo Fisher, the new and highly regarded offensive coordinator for Florida State said after the first two games (in which his team was 1-1): "Winning is hard. If it wasn't everybody would be doing it. I always expect things to be hard. I never expect them to be easy."
So it takes a lot of preparation and study. As we studied the role of faith and football in our lives in this Season Opening session let me share with you the basics that we learned:
1. Just as faith plays a large role in our spiritual life it is huge in football as well. Players must have faith in the teaching of their coaches. The coaches must have faith that the players can execute the plan. The fans must have faith that the team will be able to put it all together and have success.
2. Nothing good happens in life or football without a plan. God's plan for us can be found in the Bible. An example is Joshua's Game Plan for the Israelites in Joshua 23: 5-11 in which he laid out how they should play the game from that point on.
3. Just as a football team has to prepare for season openers we have season openers in life. Some examples of these include weddings; birth of a child; new job; promotions to new position; divorce; etc. Season openers in the Bible include: The creation; the flood; the Exodus from Egypt; birth of Jesus; the Resurection; et. al.
4. By interspersing scriptures with football we can learn and grow in God's kingdom in an enjoyable manner.
Deuteronomy 28:7 tells us what will happen when we are executing God's Game Plan for our lives in the way He laid it out: "The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven." Sounds like a pretty sound thrashing of the opponents to me. In real life those opponents who would defeat your happiness and peace of mind may come in the form of household bills; credit card debt; failed relationships; crushing deadlines; overwork; addictions; or any of a variety of ways the enemy chooses to harass you.
Study the game plan. God has the answers and He has "a plan to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for the wonderful game of football and the life lessons we can learn from it by associating them with Your Word. Amen!
***Author's note: No turning back now. Football season is upon us. The good news is that we can look for those scriptures that apply in the game and in life away from the gridiron as well.
*Thanks to Phil Sears, Tallahassee.com for the photo.
A Touch of Fall (September 12, 2007) by Jim Crosby
You made the moon to mark the seasons and the sun that knows when to set. Psalm 104:19
As I return to the bedroom with the morning paper the Lovely Susette asks:
"How's the weather outside, hon?"
"Nice, there's a little touch of Fall in the air."
I have to pardon her if she doesn't really buy that because the temperature in North Florida is only dropping down to about 70 degrees overnight, then the mercury climbs back into the 90's during the day.
But, I usually go to extremes to find a "little touch of fall." Maybe it's just a tad of coolness on that morning or late afternoon breeze. Perhaps I can detect a little different look to sun, not quite the bold brightness of those hot summer days. Just a little less glare. And that maple tree in our backyard...it's still in its infancy, but the leaves it does have are now red instead of green. Well, that qualifies for a little "touch of fall."
So why shouldn't we consider it a little "Fallish?" Everything else is "falling" into place. First all it's football season. That happens in the Fall. And Wikipedia says that "autumn (also known as Fall in North American English) marks the transition from summer into winter. In the Northern Hemisphere the start of autumn (Fall) is generally considered to be around September." You see there. That proves it! It was a "little touch of fall" I was feeling. It wasn't my imagination. Wikipedia proved it for me.
So, why am I being so fanatical about Fall? It's because I just love this time of the year and want to hurry along its arrival. God seems to put things in motion in the Autumn of the year. The pace picks up. Stuff starts to happen. No more lazy hazy days of Summer.
The changing seasons are one of God's gifts to us. Granted some places on the map receive less dramatic changes weather-wise. These folks may have to look more closely at the calendar to realize a season change has occurred. But, it's a good time to make transitions in their lives.
From the beginning God planned for seasons to play a role in the passage of time. Genesis 1:14 "And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.' And it was so."
When you read the creation story in Genesis one thing comes through clearly. God established order from the beginning. Out of chaos He created a universe that has functioned in an orderly fashion since. The sun still comes up every day, even if it is sometimes obscured by clouds. The moon is there every night even though our view of it differs during different seasons.
So these changing seasons are an important factor in moving our lives ahead. We know that God is not time-bound, but we are. Psalm 139:16 "...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God knew how many season changes we would experience before we ever went through the first one.
The Quest Study Bible (pg 855) says that this is a poetic way of speaking about God's intentions and best wishes for people. "David is not saying that the script for our lives has been written in indelible ink. David simply acknowledges God's plan for our lives including the number of days God would give."
God knows how long we will be here. It is up to us to decide how we want to live out those days. Maybe things are not going the way we planned. Then along comes a change of seasons that signals to us it might be time for us to make some changes in our lives.
God is saying that Summer has played its role and is time to fade into the background. As a God Nod to us, first He sends a little touch of Fall. Then, we cast a brief look back at the bygone days of Summer, see how our lives are different now than they were at the beginning of Summer, and plan to move forward into the exciting new adventures the Lord has in store for us.
That's why I look so hard for that little touch of fall. It's like a new beginning. My life may go on in the same manner for a while, but deep down I know there is potential for positive change. God has reminded me of that.
So I find my little touch of fall and rush to tell Susette and she says it's too early. Fall won't be here until somewhere around September 21st. I disagree. I tell her that the 21st is a pivotal day for summer and winter. June 21st (the Summer Solstice) is the longest day of the year and December 21st (the Winter Solstice) is the shortest day of the year.
Then I get to thinking. Gosh, the Lovely Susette is right so often I'd better check this out. Well, guess what? The 21st of September does have seasonal significance. It's called the Fall Equinox. (I knew I should have paid closer attention in my college Meteorology Class.) On the day of the Fall Equinox as well as on the Spring Equinox (March 21st) the amount of daylight and darkness is almost equal.
Okay, I'll buy that. But, the fact is that God has already started preparing me for this with these little touches. Sometimes it takes a lot of creativity on my part to discern how some of these things signal the coming of Fall. But, hey I'm a writer. I'm supposed to be creative. So, the Lord is just helping me polish up my creativity for a great Fall of writing.
He's doing the same thing in your life. He's throwing out these little signs for your observation telling you that a change in the weather is headed your way and you should take the hint and think about some things you've been wanting to alter, refine, do-better or emphasize more in your life.
When you go outside today look for a little touch of Fall in the air. Then, give thanks for the reminder and the opportunity to step up your role and performance in the Master's Plan.
Prayer: Lord, each of those little touches of Fall signal that you still control the universe with a steady, dependable, organized system. Thank you for these reminders of your love for us. Amen!
***Author's note: It happened again. I just walked outside and a breeze greeted me. It was unlike those summer breezes, it had a wee bit of coolness to it. It was a little touch of Fall. Yea!
Strength (September 5, 2007) by Jim Crosby
What they are building, if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones. Nehemiah 4:3
How strong are you? If someone asked you that question what would be the first thought that entered your mind? Would you think, "I'm pretty strong for my age, I moved all the furniture around in the living room and that recliner is pretty doggone heavy. Or, "I carry little Tommy, our 18-month old, around and he gets heavier every day." Or, "My bench press is up to 250 and I only weigh 170."
Maybe your mind would call up the opposite. You might think of a physical circumstance in which you didn't have enough strength. Couldn't open a bottle of Ketchup that was stuck, or pull a stump out of the ground in your back yard, or push some heavy boxes out of the way in the garage to reach a cooler in the back.
All of these situations refer to physical strength. When your limit is reached with your limited physical strength there are solutions available. You can find someone to help. Women can pull out the old "honey-do" strategy. "Honey would you get out of that recliner and move it over in the corner. We're rearranging the family room." Of course Hubby can say, "Son, move this recliner over there and help your Mother. She's rearranging the furniture, again."
You may simply find another solution that doesn't require as much strength when you are stymied. Decide you don't need that cooler in the garage, it's too small anyway. Borrow your neighbor's cooler. Go buy another recliner and have the delivery-men set it up and take the old one away.
The point, which I am belaboring is...there is an answer when your physical strength has been taxed to the limit. But, I really wasn't referring to physical strength in my original question. I was thinking about mental strength. How tough minded are you?
When mental and physical strength are combined you become unstoppable. The reason being, this is the kind of strength that comes from the Lord. Mental strength enables you to find the sources of physical strength needed when those are required to solve a problem. But, if your mental strength is depleted then the ability to locate or exert the necessary physical strength is eradicated as well.
In his "Quiet Strength Bible Study" Super Bowl Champion Coach Tony Dungy talks about real strength being a mix of "steely nerves and emotional intelligence." Dungy who gets things done without "yelling, intimidating or getting in the faces of his players" states; "Perhaps real strength isn't found in personality type or even an outlook on life. Regardless of how we are wired, strength is found in having the faith to look to God to change us and to obey Him in what He has called each of us to do.
"When Dungy was a first year player with the Steelers, he started studying the book of Nehemiah. It gave him the strength needed to get through many NFL struggles. He says the three main points he has carried with him all these years, right on up through winning the Super Bowl in February 2007 are:
1) Nehemiah's opportunity came in God's time, not his own.
2) Nehemiah diligently prepared his mind and his heart so he would be ready when God's time arrived.
3) Nehemiah needed to be prepared to take on the problems, doubt, and adversity that would come his way both from the outside and within.
Here is what Nehemiah and his people faced. Israel had been conquered by the Babylonians, who in turned were conquered by Persia (539 B.C.). The Jews had been allowed to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. But, by 445 B.C. the homeland had not really been rebuilt. The city wall remained in rubble leaving them vulnerable to enemies and thieves who could come and go freely in the city.
So, there was much work to be done and it would require a lot of strength, both physical (carrying stones and boulders up a mountain putting them in place) and mental strength to withstand the rigors and the ridicule. It seems there was some real opposition to be overcome beyond physical labor. The governors of the regions situated to the north (Samaria) and east (Ammon) of Jerusalem did not want the city to regain control. They wanted to keep it under their thumb. Even though they were under the rule of Persia, they had become very wealthy while governing this area.
So, God's prophet Nehemiah, who was installed in the court of King Ataxerxes, as a confidant, had his work cut out for him. He was concerned that his homeland was going to fall back under the same influence that ended up getting them in trouble with God in the past.
The first thing he did was pray! In Nehemiah 1:5 "Then I said: O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love him and obey His commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before day and night for your servants the people of Israel." Then he said: "I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you." Notice the first two parts of the prayer: Adoration and Confession,,which we are given as a model for lifting up prayers to the Lord. Then, comes Thanksgiving followed by Supplication. Notice the last part is the plea we make to God asking for His help.
The issues facing Nehemiah are still common today and require mental strength to move through; motivation, fatigue and criticism. Calling on God's wisdom, Nehemiah was able to get through the first two and the people began to work hard. But, criticism is often the killer. It is hard to deal with. And when the two governors went out to observe the re-building and saw what was being accomplished they got angry. Tobiah, the Ammonite, ridiculed the people saying that wall wouldn't even support a fox and would break down with the least amount of pressure.
But, Nehemiah kept praying, and God kept providing and the wall was "completed in fifty-two days." Nehemiah 5:16 says; "When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence because they realized that this work had been done with the help of God."
God had granted the Israelites the strength to accomplish their goal. He will do the same for us.
Prayer: Lord we ask you for the strength and motivation in our daily lives to withstand the fatigue and criticism that would defeat us. Amen!
***Author's note: Short week due to the holiday. Fewer days to do the same amount of work. Ask the Lord for the mental and physical strength to do all that needs to be done.
Mood Swings (August 29, 2007)-By Jim Crosby
Who can withstand His indignation. Who can endure his fierce anger...The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:6-7
Does God have mood swings? The Quest Study Bible (pg 1288) says "No."Even though reading these back-to-back verses in Nahum would seem to contradict that. The commentary explains it this way. "It might be difficult at times to see how God's love can be compatible with His judgment. But, God never changes. His character and actions are consistent throughout human history. He loves people and hates injustice."So, what we might be looking at as a mood swing...changing from being extremely mad to loving... really reflects a consistent stance by God. He has laid out the rules. We have been given the ability to discern right from wrong. When we choose to do wrong God's consistent nature requires punishment.
The good news is that He doesn't hold it against us forever. He is quick to forgive and even better, to forget. The prophet Micah points this out ( 7:18-19) Who is a God like you who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
So, how about you? Do you have mood swings? Often? Seldom? All the time? Never? Let's take a look at what a mood is, how it differs from an emotion and then maybe we can analyze how frequently they occur in our lives and if they are a good or a bad thing.
First of all let me say two things. a) I am not a psychologist or a professional in that field, so if you disagree with any observations that appear here, well...you might be right. My statements come solely from what I have read and experienced and certainly could differ from yours. But, I'm laying them out in hopes of stimulating your thinking and maybe even providing some understanding about these. b) Let me also say that I am certainly subject to mood swings and sometimes struggle to understand why their effect can be so dramatic and difficult to defeat.
The dictionary says that a mood is "a particular state of mind or feeling. It is a predominant or pervading feeling, spirit or tone." Someone could say something that puts you in a "bad mood" or some act of kindness could trigger a "good mood." This could last for a brief period of time or maybe even hours or a few days. Often some kind of resolution or change has to come about to change that mood, but moods are subject to change, therefore we have mood swings.
Some people are moodier than others. They are more easily affected by negative things in life or get frustrated when things don't proceed as expected. While one action might affect them negatively another person might not be affected by it at all. Why is that? Wikipedia says: "The tendency for those who are highly artistic to show dramatic swings in emotion, while not solely possessed by artists, it is highly prevalent among artists of all mediums, including painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, etc. OK, that explains us. What about you? Just kidding, but this does call for the need to gain an understanding of an emotion is and how it differs from a mood.
An emotion is a strong, specific feeling with various mental and physical manifestations. Some of these include; love, hate, fear and anger. So it would seem that emotions are much stronger and lasting than moods.
But, what about feelings? Maybe we should check those out. A feeling, unless otherwise qualified, usually refers to a reaction either pleasant or unpleasant to a situation. There is an implied absence of reasoning involved. You just feel a certain way and you may or may not understand the root cause.
What have we learned so far? Something can happen that will make you feel a certain way thereby putting you in a mood that is markedly different or greatly enhances the way your day was going before. This could last a short while or longer depending on when it is resolved. If it is something that touches your emotions it will have greater impact will probably require taking action before you can let go of it and have peace of mind. Well, maybe my conclusions leave something to be desired, but I think they make a point.
Moods, feelings and emotions affect the way we live. They impact our actions and contribute to success or failure and can make us happy or sad. We are bound to have mood swings in life. When these mood swings occur rapidly they can wear us out. Are they manageable? Before I say "yes" let me mention one more aspect of mood swings that usually has the greatest impact on me. It's anger.
When something is triggered in my feeble brain that makes me mad, I usually encounter a mood swing that is going to last for awhile. Sometimes I don't get over a "mad" and move on as quickly as I should. Okay, okay, I'm working on it! I think that is why the Lord directed me to do this particular devotion today. I certainly didn't have any idea of doing this particular one when I sat down at the computer. I started out looking at something from Nehemiah, but ended up in Nahum and Micah instead. I believe the Lord had a particular point at a particular time that He wanted to make. So, I hope this helps me and you!
What I learned was that God is consistent and the more consistent we can be in our own lives the greater peace of mind and happiness we will experience. God doesn't have mood swings, but we are not perfect so we do. When those moods swing to the dark side of the pendulum the way to get through them is to pray for an understanding of why this circumstance is knocking you off course and threatening to shut you down. It may involve some confession and repentance on your part. But, rest assured that a loving and consistent God likes nothing better than bringing you back on course. He wants to quickly get you back to achieving the things He has laid out for you in His Master Plan for your life.
Prayer: Lord we confess that we are the victim of mood swings that threaten our ability to lead a God-pleasing life. We pray for your understanding, forgiveness and wisdom in quickly dispatching these moods and their negative impact. Amen!
** Author's note: My hope is that your mood swings will go in a positive direction this week. If they don't then ask God for help and you'll receive it.
Picture Day Again (August 22, 2007) by Jim Crosby
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
Can you believe it? Summer is zipping past and it's time to start kicking the pigskin around again. As football fever descends on Tallahassee the Florida State and Florida A&M teams started practicing in oppressive heat with a heat index reaching as high as 117 degrees. Actual temperatures were consistently around 100 degrees. What's that old saying about trials and tribulations? "If they don't kill you they will make you better." Well, practicing in that kind of heat will certainly get a player in shape.
This devotion has become a tradition. Every year I use this theme and point out how all of those players look like All Americans on picture day. They are undefeated. Their jersies are nice and clean. No major injuries, yet. It's a picture of perfection. But, since nobody is perfect it is all downhill from there. Yet, looking at things from an optimistic view, each of these players has an opportunity for greatness stretching out ahead of him.
This year as my game-day assistant, the Lovely Susette and I, were involved in interviews with the Seminole coaches and players in their meeting room I spotted a sign on the wall that read: TED: "our way of life."
The three components of TED are 1) Toughness 2) Effort 3) Discipline. As I prepare to conduct a Bible Study this fall on "Football and the Bible" at my home church, Good Samaritan UMC in Tallahassee, I thought these things are worthy of further investigation as we look at them in light of how they can improve our lives as well.
Let me lay out the coaches explanations for each of these first, then we'll look at them more closely and see how they are worthy of practice not only for football players, but for us, too. Under toughness there are two aspects: 1) Mental and 2) Physical.
As far as effort goes the coaching staff had three words: "relentless" and "no excuses." Discipline warranted four statements: 1) Doing what you're supposed to do 2) When you're supposed to do it 3) The way it's supposed to be done 4) Every single time.
The coaches have a two-fold purpose at this early stage of player and team development. They want to get the players to buy into the system and rules and strategies so they are mentally focused on doing the job. If they believe in what they are being taught then they won't question it when the going gets tough. They will continue to battle no matter what surprises the opponent throws at them because they have developed the mental toughness to overcome it. And by practicing in that 100 degree heat and not slacking off they develop the physical toughness to succeed.
In Isaiah 26:3, the prophet tells the people if they just trust in God he will give them the peace of mind required to overcome obstacles. So, our mental toughness comes from trusting God and knowing that He watches over us. When financial setbacks, illness, relationship problems, work related setbacks or other problems occur we know first that there is help available. We can remember that our trust will be rewarded as we bring these difficulties to our Heavenly Father for assistance.
But, the second part of the toughness equation is important as well. Staying physically fit, so we can battle through otherwise debilitating problems is important as well. Sure, the ravages of time will diminish our physical abilities as we get older, but we can still slow this down.
My mother celebrated her 94th birthday this month. She lives in an assisted living facility, but she refuses to give in to aging. Every morning before breakfast she gets her walker and walks up and down that long haul, at a measured distance, four times...two down and two back, then she walks to the dining room. No room service for her. She knows she must stay active to keep her strength up.
Legendary NFL Coach Vince Lombardi once said; "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." That's what the Seminole Coaches were pointing out and so was the prophet Isaiah. To do our best we must stay tough mentally and physically and trust the Lord. When we get too tired it's hard to think straight and to push ourselves. But, that's not enough. We have to do our best. Give it our all and keep on relentlessly until there's a resolution. That may be soon or it may take years. Colossians 3:23 instructs us: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward."
Just as the coaches expect self-discipline from their players, so the Lord requires that of us. Knowing the difference between right and wrong and doing what is right is important. Just as those coaches expect their players to know what to do, to do it the right way when it needs to be done and to keep on doing it that way...so does our Head Coach require us to do likewise. Never "weary in well-doing" the scriptures tell us. And I'll admit that's hard.
But, think about it. Whenever you've stopped doing something that was good, an activity that would eventually bring about success it was probably because you got tired, wasn't it? You just couldn't keep at it because you were mentally or physically exhausted. In your mind you knew it was something you should keep doing, but your fatigue led you to rationalize away its importance.
Asking God to help you stay tough and keep on giving your best effort is a very good thing to do. He will give you the strength and the wisdom to know what you should be doing, when to do it, and in what way. Then your mental toughness will help you do it that way every time.
Prayer: Lord, help us to stay tough, give great effort and be disciplined as we battle the things that would defeat us. Amen!
***Author's note: Have a great week. Hang in there. Trust the Lord and determine to stay tough even in light of difficulties.
Thanks to Tallahassee.com and photographer Glen Beil for the picture day photo.
Restoration Mentality (August 15, 2007) by Jim Crosby
I will restore the years that the locust has eaten and I will bring you out with plenty and you shall be satisfied. Joel 2:25-26
"Life is hard, but God is good," says Super Bowl Champion Coach Tony Dungy in his bestselling book Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life. Dungy certainly had to feel that his life had been restored to a state of happiness after all the disappointments and tragedy he and his family had endured. The Indianapolis coach added: "It's because of God's goodness that we can have hope, both for here and the hereafter." Dungy had maintained a restoration mentality.
A devotion by Joel Osteen, based on Joel 2:25-26, got me thinking about the value of having a restoration mentality. Osteen said: "God wants you to live a satisfied life. He has promised to restore all the things that the enemy has stolen. However, just because God gives this great promise, doesn't mean it will automatically come to pass in your life."
The enemy he is referring to is a formidable one. He's sneaky. He invades your mind. Have you ever been dogged by some dark thoughts that you just could not seem to eliminate? That's where the enemy, Satan, does some of his best...uh, most effective and devastating work. He is a master at this.
When I shared these scriptures with the Lovely Susette she said: "I recall that scripture from the Alpha Class we took at church three or four years ago." I said, "You do, gosh in all my years of reading the Bible I don't think I could say I really remember a single verse from the Old Testament book of Joel."
The reason those verses struck home with Susette is because of her work as an interior designer. Frequently, she is called on to do restoration work. Maybe a room is showing the wear and tear of heavy use over the years and the family just no longer likes the way it looks. Once they loved it and spent many enjoyable hours there. But, now...ugh, it's just depressing.
Well, the Lovely Susette can restore that room through an analysis and recommendation of things like carpet changes, re-painting, different furniture and how to arrange it, and other ideas. When all of that is finished, once again that enjoyability has been restored.
Or maybe a company needs a re-do because it has grown and expanded and what was working as far as space, furniture and other business aspects are not effective anymore. Susette will provide renovation and restoration expertise. That's why the scripture from Joel struck a chord and she was able to remember it years later. She already had a restoration mentality in her work and those verses pointed out how God can restore other things in our lives if we let Him.
We can all remember good times and how they slipped away. The world is changing around us. People's ideas and attitudes are not static. As we all grow older, and hopefully wiser, we learn from the past. But, as in the past, there are new-good times ahead.
When times are tough, if we keep that restoration mentality strong, God can do some of His best work in our lives. But, if we keep duplicating the errors of the past how can we expect not to endure more difficulties? God was promising the Israelites that they would not endure another plague of locusts. This had not been a little old, minor plague. This was the real deal. A plague of major proportions. One version of these verses reads: "I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts, the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts and the hopping locusts." Wow! God dumped the whole bag full of every kind of locust on their heads because they had disobeyed him.
Hosea 10:1-2 says: "How prosperous Israel is---a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit! But the more wealth the people got, the more they poured it on the altars of their foreign gods...The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished."
Remember the Commandment that says: "You shall have no other gods before Me." That's one that God is real serious about and His chosen people had not gotten the message.
But, God was willing to forgive and restore everything the locusts had destroyed, if the people had gotten the message. Joel 2:12 points out. "Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful. He is not easy angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you." If they were possessed of a restoration mentality he would forgive, forget and also restore.
Many times God has shown that He is a Restoring God. In the book of Job, the verse that sums everything up for me is: Job 42:12. "The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first." Call that blessed assurance. If we retain a restoration mentality and keep the faith God will bring us through even the most difficult of times.
Now after the Jews were rescued from the disastrous locust plague did they never experience another disaster? Yes, they did. They underwent Babylonian captivity, were slaves under Greeks and Romans, and persecuted by Hitler (NLT pg. 1311). All of these required a strong restoration mentality and faith in God to survive.
Tony Dungy experienced a major tragedy when a son committed suicide. He had to question his whole life and wondered if God was telling him to get out of coaching. While the loss of a son could never be restored, what God did say to Dungy through his Super Bowl victory was: "Stay the course. You are affecting the lives of many people in a positive way." Being the first African-American Coach to win a Super Bowl and then praise God in front of millions of people on television, in spite of life's tragic events, showed Dungy that "Life is hard and God is good."
In closing, let me say that for the second week in a row the Lord took me right to the wire before showing me a topic to use as a devotion. Most weeks I get an idea early and race to the computer to share it. Last week with no idea what to write about, as the week waned and my deadline quickly approached, the Lord sent me the newsletter, "The Horton Herald" to talk about not getting discouraged because discouragement is the "enemy of success.' At the end of this week, I received Dungy's book in the mail. Then I also read Joel's Devotion and realized God was saying that some of the recent things that were plaguing my mind like locusts, could be defeated with a restoration mentality.
I wish you well in developing a restoration mentality that will enable God to bring you through down times and negative thinking and do great things through you!
Prayer: Lord help us to develop a restoration mentality that will move us forward even in difficult times. Amen!
A Dismal Failure? (August 8, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
Here are some dismal failures in the business world:
1) VW Beetle---only sold 330 cars in the first year
2) Liquid Paper---sold 1,200 bottles first year
3) Cuisinart- sold 200 first year
4) Remington typewriter-sold 8 the first year
5) Scrabble-sold 532 first year
6) Coca Cola- sold 25 bottles first year
Gosh, with such an abysmal track record for the initial year of business you wonder how those businesses survived at all, don't you? No, not really because we are aware of what happened after that first year. Each of those products turned out to be incredibly successful money makers for their company. Fortunately none of those companies gave up based on the slow start and have now become household names.
Our friend, Janyce Horton, Home Mortgage Consultant for Wells Fargo, pointed out those dismal failures in her monthly newsletter, "The Horton Herald." (janyce.horton@mortgage.wellsfargo.com) In her front page article, "The Write Stuff," (you can see why that title appealed to me as my slogan is "The right writer for the write job) Janyce makes a very interesting point. She writes, "...discouragement rather than failure is the enemy of success."
To support that statement she quotes Tom Hopkins and Winston Churchill. Hopkins said: "The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying." Churchill's viewpoint was: "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm."
When I worked in advertising sales I was always told to welcome a "no" answer to my sales presentation because that meant I was just that much closer to a "yes." I always found it real hard to keep that in mind especially when I had worked hard, researched, and brought creativity and ingenuity to the customer's place of business. How could they possibly reject that wonderfully imaginative production? Well, it happens!
And it happens for a variety of reasons most of which have nothing to do with your hard work. And sure enough, the "no's" didn't last forever even though they did outnumber the "yes's." But, I found that the satisfaction received from making a major sale far outweighed all the negatives from those "failed" presentations. Those weren't really failures at all because each time one was not accepted I learned something that helped make the next one better.
Now that I'm a writer I have to keep that in mind as the rejections pile up on my "perfect-for-this-publisher" proposals. Discouragement can easily set in and make it hard for a writer to regroup and remember that each rejection brings him or her a step closer to acceptance. After all, "Chicken Soup for the Soul" was rejected over 100 times before it was self-published and became a mega-bestseller spawning more and more spin-offs of the original and selling so many books internationally they have lost count. That's where I plan to be someday and hopefully without 100 rejections.
Looking at today's scripture I came to realize that God has a really hard job. He keeps on turning out those perfect days, one after another, without a failure. Since He never fails He doesn't have to build up a bunch of "no's" before He gets a "yes."
Sure we may like some days better than others. You may prefer a sunny day and it rains. Or you might like cold weather and it is a hot day. But, those aren't failures. They put variety into our lives rather than having the sameness all the time. That would be boring and would not inspire us and stroke our imagination.
A failure for God would be if the sun did not stay in its cycle and come up at the right time. It comes up even if you don't see it. It can be cloudy where you and sunny somewhere else. Or if the earth stopped its rotation for awhile or the moon wasn't where it was supposed to be. But, His creation is always functioning the way it was designed in the Master Plan. God never fails!
Because of our personal circumstances that may be difficult to remember at times especially when we are frustrated and the beginning of discouragement creeps in. Talk about a tough selling job. The prophet Jeremiah was trying to sell the idea of remembering God's love in times of trouble to the Israelites.
Jeremiah says: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for His compassions never fail." Of course, as so often is the case, the people were placing the blame in the wrong place. It was their disobedience that had brought about their fall and their captivity. Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon and the people had been killed, tortured or captured.
The reason Jeremiah was able to find a ray of optimism is because he believed in God's unchanging character. It had been necessary for the people to be punished, but they were so badly outnumbered they could have been totally annihilated and the entire nation eradicated. That didn't happen and a sliver of hope remained. It was a hard lesson, but only by asking forgiveness and trusting God to be faithful to His nature, would they get through it and see better times?no matter how long it took.
Discouragement is a trap that perpetuates failure. Sometimes we may see something that looks so good, so right, so perfect that we can't see how it has any chance to fail. When it does it is natural to get discouraged. But, what will keep you immersed in disappointment and lack of productivity is not moving past the discouraging feelings in due time.
God demonstrates every day that He loves us and that's the starting point for conquering discouragement. Here's the way The Message puts it: "God's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great is your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God."
Prayer: Lord, when we remember that your Love is so powerful that it can prevail in any situation we are on the road to conquering discouragement. Cure our nearsightedness when we fail to see this and grant us clear vision to see your pathway to success. Amen!
***Author's note: Have a great week and remember to look for evidence of God's love all around you. It's your shield against discouragement and failure.
Hopes and Dreams (August 1, 2007) by Jim Crosby
An unknown comedian with high hopes headed out to Hollywood. Entering "Tinseltown," where so many hopes and dreams of aspiring actors have been dashed, he did an unusual thing. Although his funds were very limited, he made out a check to himself for $10 million. On the memo line he wrote "For Services Rendered." For years Jim Carrey, carried the check with him while dreaming of the day that he would receive a valid check like that. Today Carrey receives $20 million per movie qualifying him as one of today's highest-paid Hollywood stars.
How often do you call to mind the hopes and dreams of your life? We all have them. Most of them are being carried around in our minds without ever stopping to articulate them. Some of those are realized over the course of a lifetime, but many die for lack of cultivation.
Mark Twain once said: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." His advice, "Sail away from that safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Well, that's easy for you to say Mr. Clemens, you might be thinking. But, I have a job and must work to put food on the table. Or I'm trying to raise a family, or go to school, or learn a trade, or teach a Sunday School class. There will always be ready-made excuses...things that get in the way of our best intentions.
Consider the case of Mary in the article "Caregiver Hopes and Dreams" by Dr. Vicki Rackner, MD. She had always imagined herself in a field of wildflowers with an easel. Her dream was to be a painter. But for practical considerations, suggested by her parents, she became a teacher. Then, she married and had three children and there was never any time to pursue the dream of painting.
When Mary's children were grown and she thought she could finally begin painting, her Mother had a stroke and she took on the arduous role of caregiving. Now, at age 50, Mary thinks more often of her dream of being a painter and realizes she has never put a brush to an easel. She says, "Sure I could live my life without ever painting...but, I think of being confined to a wheel chair like my Mom and a little part of me dies when I think of dying with my paintings inside me."
Christian Psychologist Les Parrott believes in dreaming big. One of his favorite phrases is "stop stewing and start doing." He believes in converting those dreams into actual goals, writing them down, then getting with it. It doesn't matter how far-fetched or un-accomplishable they may seem just write them down and refer to them often.
Back in 1966 Lou Holtz was 28 years old, out of a job, with no money in the bank and his wife Beth was pregnant with their third child. Beth gave him a copy of a book to cheer him up. It was called, The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. The book state that you should write down all the goals you wanted to achieve before you died.
Holtz sat down at the kitchen table and started writing. When he was finished he had 107 goals on paper. Many of them seemed ridiculous at the time. Things like having dinner at the White House, appearing on The Tonight Show, meeting the Pope, winning a National Championship, making a hole in one and he even included jumping out of an airplane.
Lou Holtz has achieved 81 of those 107 goals. He met the pope, appeared with Johnny Carson, has photos of his dinner with President Reagan and has made two holes in one. He probably would not have achieved those if he hadn't written them down, especially the ones that seemed, to an out-of-work 28 year old, all but impossible to achieve. Holtz says, "If you're bored with life you don't have enough goals."
Once you have written them down, thereby turning your dreams into goals that you want to achieve, start working through the list and ask God for a vision of how to accomplish each one. As the Psalmist said in 44:3: "They did not conquer by their own
strength, and skill but by your mighty power and because you smiled upon them and favored them." It is through God's power that we can fulfill our dreams. He boosts our strength and sharpens our skills to enable us do this.
I like the last part of the verse as the Psalmist reminds the Israelites that they had succeeded in the past because God had smiled on them and favored them. God is on our side. He is the ultimate vision-giver. He loves it when we ask him if our plan is His plan, too and seek His vision to make those dreams come true. When you do this there is always hope that the dreams will be realized.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, and author of "The Purpose Driven Life" says "A vision is a dream that can be implemented. It is specific. Nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific." Even Warren could not have dreamed large enough to catch a vision of his book selling more than 30 million copies. Only God has a vision that big! As Dr. Robert Schuller is fond of saying, "Make sure your dreams are big enough to fit God in." He certainly has bigger plans for our dreams than we could ever imagine.
Can you remember times in your life when you have shared a hope or a vision you had with someone and their reply, uttered in a "you-gotta-be-kidding-manner" was "Dream on." I hope you answered, "Thank you very much I believe I will."
After all some day the measure of your dreams may be the measure of your greatness!
Prayer: Lord as we dream big dreams we ask that you turn each of these into a vision that will enable us to achieve your goals for our lives.
***Author's note: Dream on! Dream Big! Stretch your imagination to the limit and give God lots of room to work in your life.
God’s Gift to You (July 25, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38
God has given you a wonderful gift. It's the gift of giving. Say what? What kind of a gift is it? If somebody gives you something, but you have to turn around and give it away, what good is it? Hopefully, by the time you have finished reading this devotion you'll realize that is the best kind of gift and one of that reaps endless dividends.God has given us lots of gifts. He just keeps on giving and giving from an endless supply of love and caring. His greatest gift was his Son. As John 3:16 says, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that all who believe in Him, will not perish but have eternal life. That's a gift that can't be topped. And because of that gift, all of these other Godly gifts take on added significance.
In his book "Your Best Life Now" Joel Osteen gives the example of the Dead Sea. It has such a high mineral content that even a non-swimmer could stay afloat. You could sit down in the water and read a newspaper without sinking. There is one little drawback to that. Once you came out of the water nobody would want to get near you because of the smell. The water of the Dead Sea smells awful.
You see, the Dead Sea only collects water it doesn't give water to any river, lake or creek. Joel uses this as an example of a selfish person who only takes and doesn't give anything in return. God is calling on us to be like a river with His blessings flowing through us, not a reservoir that only collects them. "If we live selfishly, always receiving, always taking and never giving we become stagnant and polluted. Putting it bluntly our lives will start to stink."
It's kind of like that old saying, "A man who is all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package." The way to become a Big Package is to use this gift of giving that God has given you. As The Message says: "Generosity begets generosity."
In the example Luke gave in Chapter 6 Jesus used the illustration of measuring out grain. If a person was stingy with the amount of grain put in a basket then he would not receive a full measure of return from that basket. But, if it was fairly measured out and freely given then the return would be much greater. It wouldn't be like loosely placed grain that gave the appearance of having more than was there. It would be much more. The return on it would be like it had been shaken out, then pressed down and measured out in greater abundance. What you receive in return will be running over the top because there will be so much of it.
King Solomon, with all of his God-given wisdom, wrote in Ecclesiastes (11:1-2): "Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead." Solomon did not believe in being stingy or having a gloomy outlook on life. The NLT comments on this portion of scripture by saying: "We need a spirit of trust and adventure, facing life's risks and opportunities with God-directed enthusiasm and faith." When we are not all wrapped up in ourselves we discover that we just feel better about our lives. Remember "The Lord loves a cheerful giver."
When we talk about giving the first thing people think about is money. Sometimes giving money is the easiest solution in reaching out. It may be the best way in certain situations. But, giving from God's abundance involves more than just monetary considerations. God gives us a fresh 24 hours each day. We can share our time with someone who needs company. We may share our energy with a person who needs a jumpstart. Or we could share our ideas, our friendship, our love and our resources. Making someone else happy is a great way to keep that river flowing.
Maybe you have a lot going on right now and you feel like just can't spring loose to give of yourself. You're thinking, "Well, when I get caught up I can help somebody out." Joel says that is backward thinking. Remember the Bible says you must sow then you'll reap. What farmer could ever expect to harvest a crop if he didn't plant any seed?
"Go help someone first, then God will begin to turn your situation around. "Giving in a way that is pleasing to God involves going the extra mile. Remember how Jesus instructed His followers to do that even when it was unpleasant. Back then when a Roman soldier was carrying a heavy pack and happened to be passing through a civilian area he would stop and order a person to carry his pack for him.
This practice became so common that a law was passed requiring young boys to carry a solider's pack for a mile. So, these boys used to mark off a mile in every direction from their neighborhood and place a stick in the ground showing when they had completed the one-mile requirement. Jesus said if you're forced to carry it a mile, go ahead and carry it for two miles instead. That's where the common phrase "go the extra mile" comes from.
Many of us are good at walking that first mile, but doing the extra...going that second mile is something different. Les Parrott says the first mile is charity. The second mile is generosity. French Philospher Albert Camus said: "Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity." Parrott adds: "Charity gives the giver a tax break. Generosity is based on genuine empathy and intention. It goes beyond expectations."
It may take a little practice. You may have to get out of your comfort zone. It might even put a little strain or at least present a creative planning opportunity financially. The Lovely Susette and I were talking with a financial planner recently and he made a statement that really surprised me. It was not surprising because I hadn't heard it before or that I didn't fully believe it because I do. But, the element of surprise came from the fact that a financial planner is usually all about investing and saving and receiving. And this one doesn't get short-changed in that area. Which made it surprising to hear him talk about giving and to say: "You can't out give God!" Amen!
As Joel says: "When you are generous with others, God will always be generous with you."
Prayer: Father instill generosity in our hearts that we might act as a river through which your gracious gifts flow to others. Thank you for the abundance ofyour blessings. Amen!
***Author's note: Lots of food for thought in today's devotion. Generosity or charity? Think about the difference this week and choose the way you want to construct your lifestyle.
Whatever or Whatever it Takes (July 18, 2007) by Jim Crosby
...whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance hasa chance to grow. So let it grow for when your enduranceis fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. James 1:2-4
Christian psychologist Les Parrott, in his new book "Three Seconds," tells the story of Seth Gary who has "managed some of the world's finest hotels." Early in his career he was working as the overnight manager of The Four Seasons (Seattle) when a guest came to him, at about 6 a.m., with an "opportunity." We would probably call it a "problem," but Gary prefers to call them opportunities.
This guest had come in from Chicago for business and arrived late the night before. He had a presentation to give at 8 a.m. The airlines had lost one of his bags and said they would deliver it during the night, but didn't. The guest had the bag with his shirts and ties, but not the one with his suit and shoes so he was in a frantic mode when he approached Gary at the desk that morning.
Since none of the retail stores were open yet, Gary's options were dwindling. He decided to call the hotel "uniform manager." The manager was able to find a pair of black slacks that fit the guest. Then Gary managed to borrow a sport coat that was available in the dining room. But, still there was one problem...uh, opportunity remaining...the shoes.
The man wore a size "10." Just so happened that was Seth Gary's shoe size. So, he took off his shoes, had them polished and turned them over to the man, who went off to his presentation in good spirits, with no one the wiser.
Then Seth Gary finished the final two hours of his shift without his shoes and went to a managers meeting in his socks. Obviously Seth could have given the man the "whatever" approach, shrugged his shoulders and apologized for not being able to do anything about his problem at that early hour of the morning. But, he decided instead to take the "whatever it takes" approach.
Seth Gary said he learned early the importance of embracing a challenge. That not only applies in work, but in whatever we do. And it's easy to see, with that attitude, why Gary eventually became General Manager of a Five-Star resort in California and then one in Hawaiian Islands.
That's something to think about. Look back on your week and the opportunities that you had. Did you take a "whatever" approach, saying "that's life, I can't do anything about it" most of the time. Or were yours a "whatever it takes" approach most of the time. Maybe you had a mixture of both? Can you see places where you didn't, but could have taken the "whatever-it-takes-approach?"
I'm married to a bonafide "whatever it takes" person. That's probably why The Lovely Susette's interior design clients love her and pass along so many referrals. We were at home on July 3rd and one of her business clients had a plumbing problem; water was shooting out of one of the toilets in a workplace bathroom. Naturally they were all getting ready to head out and celebrate the holiday. So, guess who went over there and let the plumber in, supervised to make sure it was going right, then went back in the early evening to lock up everything. That's right, the interior designer did whatever it took.
One time we were going into a bookstore in Ft. Lauderdale on a Friday evening where I was holding a book signing. Susette's cell phone rang as we were getting books out of the trunk of the car. Now, Ft. Lauderdale is over 450 miles from our home town, where her exasperated residential client was calling from. She was able to calm the client down and personally locate and call the people back in Tallahassee who could solve the problem instead of having her client call them. Then she called her client back with the assurance that everything would be fine. By then I was a half an hour into the Friday evening book signing.
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote about taking the "whatever it takes approach." He says when trouble comes your way to "let it be an opportunity for joy." Notice he doesn't say "if," but "whenever" because we will face trouble in life. But, also look at what he called it. James used Seth Gary's term and called trouble an "opportunity."
And James says if you welcome these opportunities, which are challenges to your faith, you will develop endurance (perseverance) and your endurance will have a chance to grow. And as your endurance grows your character becomes more fully developed and you will be "ready for anything."
Does James say that these tests of our faith and patience will be fun? Not necessarily, but doing "whatever it takes" and getting through it will give you a great sense of satisfaction and you'll grow from it. That's what Seth Gary and the Lovely Susette have learned.
Les Parrott points out six different impulses that we often experience which prompt us to take the "whatever" instead of the "whatever it takes approach." These are the impulse to: 1) Give up before trying...because we feel helpless 2) Shun a challenge...because it seems daunting 3) Settle for the status quo...because we lack vision 4) Shirk responsibility...because it's easier to shift blame 5) Do the mere minimum...because that's all that's expected 6) Avoid taking action...because we fear failure.
Parrott says that each of these impulses is self-sabotaging and does nothing to elevate our lives. His recommendation is before you follow your initial instinct to give in and say "whatever" thereby taking a helpless or victim's approach, you just take "three seconds" before you respond. Parrott says by doing this a better solution will pop into your mind .
I would add something to that. When taking these three seconds to evaluate before you act, say a quick prayer and ask the Lord to give you the solution. Chances are great that He will instantly show you the way to succeed with a "whatever it takes approach."
Weekly Prayer: Lord help us to be better "whatever-it-takes-people" so we may grow in favor with You and with those people who populate our lives. We realize this approach will enable us to more effectively grow Your Kingdom. Amen!
***Author's note: Hope this week all your whatever-it-takes efforts will be crowned with great success.
Unlimited Resources (July 11, 2007) by Jim Crosby
We pray that from your glorious, unlimited resources You will give us mighty, inner strength through your Holy Spirit. Ephesians 3:16
Wouldn't it be great to have unlimited resources? If you consider a resource as something that is available anytime to take care of a need, then having unlimited resources could dispel all your worries. Got a bunch of credit card debt? No problem, just reach into your unlimited money supply and pay them off. Got a problem you can't figure out? Just tap into your unlimited mental assets and get the answer to solve it.
I know you're thinking that we are dealing in fantasy here. But, sometimes we do treat our resources as if they are unlimited. Take natural resources for example. When, you think about such things as coal and oil it seems that they are in such great demand that we treat them as being unlimited. Who knows how much oil is available? Certainly record-setting gas prices have not slowed down our use of these natural resources. Our actions support a feeling of having no limits on these.
There is another kind of resource described in the dictionary. It is "inner resources," These are: "The ability to deal promptly and effectively with problems, difficulties, etc; resourcefulness."
A resourceful person is able to draw on a large supply of inner strength to cope with difficulties in life. But, does anyone have an unlimited supply of this kind of resource. The answer is "yes" and "no." It's "no" if we rely solely on our own knowledge. It's "yes" if put God into the equation and call on Him for solutions.
In our scripture today Paul writes to the church at Ephesus. The purpose of his letter to them is to strengthen and encourage them. It can also serve as a great guide for believers everywhere.
Paul established the church at Ephesus on one of his missionary journeys. Then a year later he returned and stayed there for three years "preaching and teaching with great effectiveness." (Acts 19: 1-20, NLT). So now, around 60 A.D. he was writing words of encouragement to keep them going in the direction and along the pathways that he had established.
Today's section of Ephesians was pointed out to me by Florida State University Women's Basketball Coach Sue Semrau. In 2004, her team experienced the tragic, unexpected death to one of its players. Then, through a series of events they approached the new season minus six players who had made a difference the previous year. When you consider that a college basketball squad usually only has 10 to 15 players this was a major blow to the program.
The death of a popular player could certainly have sounded a death knell for the team. But, coach Semrau said they made a conscious decision to "head into the pain," not to try to skirt around it. As the team dealt with it in their own human frailty, they turned everything over to God.
The coach said that God directed her to this passage of scripture in Ephesians. Subsituting the words "I" and "me" in the appropriate places she read it over and over. Here's what Coach Semrau read: "I pray that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will give me mighty, inner-strength through Your Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in my heart as I trust Him. May my roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may I have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love really is. May I experience the love of Christ, though it is so great I will never fully understand it. Then, I will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:16-21).
Suddenly the Florida State team realized, as they committed the season to God and honored their deceased teammate, that they weren't just a bunch of powerless ragamuffins. They had unlimited resources through God's love for them.
Armed with this knowledge they went on to have an incredible season...the best in the history of the program. They had 24 victories and at one point won three straight over-time games. Beyond their own meager abilities these players were calling on the unlimited resources of a loving God.
Sometimes God's unlimited resources make it so easy we overlook or disdain to follow his direction. This was the case with Naaman commander of the Syrian army who had leprosy. This was a feared, uncureable disease and Naaman's case was probably in its infant stages, but certainly would get worse.
A servant girl that he had captured from Israel suggested that Naaman go to Samaria to see the prophet Elisha to be healed. So, Naaman's entourage headed out. When he got to Elisha's place and sent a servant in with his request for healing, the prophet did not even come outside. He sent a servant out with the instructions that Naaman was to dip in the Jordan river seven times and he would be healed.
Imagine how angry Naaman was? He had come all this way and this so-called prophet wouldn't even come outside. He's probably thinking he could have emailed me this information. J Besides that they had much better rivers than the Jordan back home. He started to storm off and head back home disregarding Elisha's proposed cure.
But, his servants said, "Master, we have come all this way. What would it hurt to try what the prophet said to do, before we go back?" So, Naaman did and when he came up out of the waters of the Jordan River for the seventh time he was completely healed." From God's unlimited resources had come a simple solution.
When I read Ephesians 3:16-21, without fail, I always feel comforted and strengthened, knowing that God's unlimited resources are available to me. I especially feel strengthened when I read about how "wide and long, and high and deep" His love for us is. It is through this love that He gives us unlimited resources.Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for the unlimited resources you make available to us through your incredible love. Amen!Author's note: Read Ephesians 3:16-21 out loud many times and pray about that scripture. In doing so I believe you will learn how to partake of God's unlimited resources.
Have You Heard the Mockingbird? (July 4, 2007) by Jim Crosby
In the morning, O Lord you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3 Most mornings when I go outside early to pick up the paper I get serenaded. No, there isn't a marching band in the park across the street, although with Independence Day coming up this week that might not be a bad idea. But, perched atop the street light across the street is a mockingbird who is just singing away. Let me tell you. If you haven't been serenaded by a mockingbird you haven't been serenaded by a pro. Those birds can sing.
According to "Birds of North America" the scientific name for the mockingbird is "polyglottos" which means "many tongued." My own mockingbird certainly lives up to that. Mockingbirds can imitate dozens of other birds, machinery, insects, and even musical instruments. Whenever I walk outside my mockingbird (I need to think up a name for him) starts off, non-stop, performing his entire repertoire without even stopping to take a breath.
I'm saying that this bird is a male, but I'm not sure. The way it talks non-stop it could be a female. Just kidding ladies, most of us men talk just as much. J But, the males and females of the mockingbird family look alike. They have medium-gray backs and gray-white chests. They have white patches on their wings which they flash when flying, sparring, or trying to scare up some bugs to eat.
This particular bird likes to fake-out the quails in the area. He's got that "bob-white" cry down pat. He will repeat one verse 3 to 5 times then move to his next song. I particularly like it when he sings: "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy." I take that as my own special "welcome-to-this-brand-new-day" greeting. Of course, other folks might interpret that verse differently thinking he's saying something like, "chewy, chewy, chewy," but I know better.
The main thing is that this bird brings to my attention God's blessings in nature that surround me. He causes me to notice the beautiful sunrise, the fresh air, the greenness of the trees and grass, the stunning reds and purples, the pinks and yellows of the flowers we have planted. I go back inside and smell the coffee and experience another special part of my morning by sharing a devotion with the Lovely Susette. Then, I'm ready to face the day.
Great things await us in the morning. The Psalmist says: "...weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." Maybe some things we have done are not pleasing to God. Heck, they might even not be pleasing to us. The NLT Bible says, "Like a shot given by a doctor, the discomfort of God's anger lasts only a moment, but the good effects go on for a long time." The night of despair passes and the morning comes. Everything looks fresher, more hopeful at the start of the day.
The Prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations soon after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. "It is written in the rhythm and style of ancient Jewish funeral songs or chants." There is a lot of gloom and doom in this book because "Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon and her people killed, tortured or taken captive."
Jeremiah begins: "Worthless, Cheap, Abject! Oh, oh, oh...How empty the city, once teeming with people. A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations, once queen of the ball, she's now a drudge in the kitchen." (Lamentations 1:1, The Message) But, even in the midst of all that despair Jeremiah breaks with the grieving in verses 3:22-23. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Two Sundays ago, as our Pastor Betsy Ouellette poured fresh water from a large pitcher into a baptismal fount during the morning worship service, she said that was symbolic of "God's love that is continually poured out for us." He washes away the things of yesterday and presents us with new hope, new joy, and new opportunities.
The earlier you get up the sooner you will experience more of God' love. Mark 1:35 says, "And in the morning rising up a great while before day, Jesus went out and departed into a solitary place and there He prayed." That's a pretty good example for us to follow.
Mike Murdock (The Leadership Secrets of Jesus) writes: "Champions seize their day. Famous, successful men usually get up early. Get an early start every day. You will be amazed how much you can accomplish when others are just beginning their day."
Murdock points out Joshua rose early. (Joshua 6:12). Moses rose early. (Exodus 8:20). Abraham rose early. (Genesis 19:27). He says, "You think more clearly in the morning. You can focus. Your day is uncluttered. As you accumulate the emotions and stress of others throughout the day, the quality of your work usually deteriorates."
As I've mentioned before a song we sometimes hear in church that the Lovely Susette and I really like is "Morning Has Broken." It goes: "Morning has broken like the first morning; mockingbird, oops...blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning! Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!
The Bible tells us that God created the morning. He created light, separating it from darkness and together these made up one day. Our busy Creator went on to make water, land, plants and trees, the sun, moon and the stars. Then on the fifth day He created fish and birds. So, basically that mockingbird was created before I was, so to speak. Well, anyway...the birds were here before the people.
I wonder if my mockingbird is bragging about that each morning? Well, whatever he is saying I feel blessed to be singled out to hear it each day. After all, those songs go back to the fifth day of creation. Now that's something worth getting up to hear.
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for the chirping of the birds. As we stop to hear their songs we feel closer to our Creator and are reminded of all those blessings we take for granted. Amen!
Author's note: While you're stopping to smell the roses this week listen for the songs of the bird population as they sing praises to the Creator.
A Wet Blanket in the Linen Closet of Life (June 27,2007) by Jim Crosby
A cheerful look brings joy to the heart and good news gives health to the bones. Proverbs 15:30 (NIV)
Smiling faces make us feel happy. Proverbs 15:30 (Good News Bible)
A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart and good news makes you feel fits as a fiddle. Proverbs 15:30 (The Message)
John Ortberg tells the story of a farmer who had a neighbor who was "wet blanket in the linen closet of life." This guy was just a constant complainer and it was a real challenge to find anything that he would be positive about.
The farmer took up the challenge and with great determination set out to find something that would impress this professional fault-finder. He bought the world's greatest hunting dog, thoroughly trained it, then invited his neighbor to go hunting.
When they got out in the woods he showed his neighbor how this remarkable dog was able to stand motionless for an hour, then pick up a scent from a mile away. This revelation received no response from the neighbor.
So, the farmer saw a duck flying over, fired and hit the duck which landed in the middle of a pond. When he commanded the dog to fetch the duck, this remarkable animal trotted out to the pond, actually began walking on the surface of the water, retrieved the duck, walked back on top of the water and dropped it at the farmer's feet.
"What do you think of that?" the farmer asked in a challenging tone.
The neighbor responded, "Your dog can't swim, can he?"
I'm sure you have known people like the farmer's neighbor who fear that to crack a smile would crack his/her face. These folks are pros at throwing water on the fire of enthusiasm. "Well, you won't be able to do that because...." Negativism rules and it sours their personality. Tough to be around a person like that for long and not start feeling bad.
Much better to be around a "joy mentor." Ortberg says we "need to identify a few people who play this role in our lives─especially if we tend to be joy-challenged. Make a joy appointment to spend some time with such a person this week. We need to spend regular and significant amounts of time around life-enhancing, joy-producing people."
King Solomon, the wisest king Israel ever had, knew the value of being around people who make you smile. Not necessarily comedians. But, just good solid folks who enjoy life, feel blessed and make you feel the same way.
In Proverbs he wrote "A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day." Also, "A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song."
Ortberg suggests setting aside a specific day and dedicating it to acts of celebration, so "joy will infuse your entire life." Maybe on that day you just eat food that you really like (throw out the diet for a day). You wear your favorite clothes...even if it is something that's old and out of style. Maybe you want to go out and get some exercise in a fun way...not just pumping iron or climbing the stairmaster. Play golf , tennis or tiddly winks...whatever puts a little fun in your life. Read an uplifting book that stimulates your thinking or one that simply entertains you. And while you are doing these things thank God for His goodness and honor Him for being the giver of "every good and perfect gift." Gosh, it's amazing how good you'll feel if you do this.
Back in the early 60's an insurance company in Massachusetts completed a merger with another company that did not make its employees happy. Morale had tanked and management tried to figure out how to regain it. They dreamed up a "friendship campaign" and the gist of it was to encourage their employees to smile when "they answered the phone, typed a report or paid a claim." It's hard to feel bad or depressed when you are smiling, right?
To provide graphic support for this campaign they turned to Harvey Ball a graphic artist, to create something that would enhance their efforts and serve as a reminder to smile. Ball took about 10-minutes and came up with what we know as "the smiley face." During the early 70's this yellow-faced rendering with two black eyes and an up-turned slit of a mouth would become an instantly recognized symbol for an entire generation of Americans. The smiley face has emerged as one of the most well-know images in the country.
Ball was paid $45 for his work, but did not copyright it. In 1970 two brothers in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain, who were in the business of making fad items,drew up a smiley-face and put the inscription under it: "Have a nice day." They copyrighted the image and words and soon were cranking out a whole slew of items featuring the smiley face. The number of smiley face buttons produced by 1972 was estimated at 50 million. That was 35 years ago. Imagine how many have been produced now? And the whole idea behind it is to make people smile.
King Solomon would have approved of smiley faces. He probably would have had them pasted all over the kingdom because of the positive image they portray. Smiley faces would help to enhance Solomon's Proverbs. Here are some other Proverbs I find intriguing especially in the way The Message expresses them;
- Congenial conversation─what a pleasure! The right word at the right time─beautiful.
- Better a bread crust shared in love than a slab of prime rib served in hate.
- An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth; fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.
Smiling. Speaking in a congenial manner. Having a passion for the truth. Expressing love to others. Practice these wise proverbs and you'll never be considered "a wet blanket in the linen closet of life."
Weekly Prayer: Lord may the joy you place in our hearts create smiling faces, congenial conversation and loving relationships even when another person insists on being a wet blanket. Amen!
Author's note: Have a great week. Hope the happiness you experience will even turn the heads of those negative people you come across as God continues to bless you.
The Kid Magnet-(June 20, 2007) by Jim Crosby
But, Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." ~Luke 16-17
As we celebrated Father's Day 2007 my thoughts returned to my Dad and some of the qualities that endeared him to others. It wasn't until he passed away in 1999 that I fully realized, not only what a good Dad he had been, but that he was also my best friend. His support in my life was complete and freely given. He was one person I would go to great links to provide legitimate reasons for him to be pleased.
As I thought about "Pop" and tried to determine how best to describe him to someone who had never met him, a number of choices came to mind. He was the most honest person I have known. If he left a restaurant and got all the way to the car before it occurred to him the cashier had given him too much change back, he would go back and return the overage no matter how big or small.
One summer when he was back in Georgia and visiting his Mother's grave site, which was located way out in the country, he noticed a crack in the head stone. He went into the small town near there and located someone who would repair it. Since he was on his way back to South Florida he asked the man if he could mail him a check and the repair man concurred.
When he got home a couple of days later he realized he had lost the man's name and address. One year later, on summer vacation, he went back to the small town, found the man, and paid him. The man, who after a few months had assumed it was one bill that would go unpaid, was very surprised and pleased with Pop's honesty.
His faith was another great quality my Dad possessed. Sunday School teacher, Deacon, regular church attender. All of these displays of his faith and strong belief in God set a great example for his family.
Pop's love of sports was another legacy handed down to me and my brother. He took us to ballgames and on the golf course with him about as soon as we were out of the cradle.
But, if there is one term that I could use that would say a lot about my Dad, in a short phrase, it is that he was a Kid Magnet. Yes, children of all ages were just naturally attracted to my dad. Even if a youngster had never seen my Dad before and he held out his hands the little tot would come to him and happily sit on his lap.
I don't really know what it was about Pop that drew children to him, but they automatically liked and trusted him. And when that happened, oh boy, you had two kids on your hands because Pop could really get down on a child's level.
Many times when I would be driving and my two boys would be sitting in the backseat of the car with their Grandfather. The noise level would get so loud, silly, and distracting for the driver (me) I'd have to scold all three of them. Of course, I'd give anything to have that problem once again because I miss him and my boys are now grown.
I can't help, but think that the Lord would look down on those occasions with my Dad acting like a five or six year old and He would smile. After all Jesus said "the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." He was saying that those little ones believed without questioning. You didn't have to come up with a complicated intellectual explanation to win them over. Because they trusted Him, they believed Him.
Of course, the disciples had tried to shoo away the children, viewing their presence as an intrusion and an unwanted distraction. But, Jesus would have none of that. He not only welcomed the children, he held them up as an example of the kind of faith needed to "get into the Kingdom of God." The NLT Bible says, "It is important that we introduce our children to Jesus and that we ourselves approach Him with childlike attitudes of acceptance, faith, and trust."
I decided to further investigate the importance of children in the Bible, so I went to Strong's Concordance. I found over five pages of scriptural references to children. That's over 1,700 times "children" is used in scripture, not even counting when a writer uses "child" or the possessive---"children's." Obviously kids count with God.
One of the things Good Samaritan church is doing is making sure the entire family is included in all of our activities. In our small home groups the adults, teens, and little ones eat together, pray, play and learn together. So, what if a little one spills something in the middle of Bible study? We wipe it up and keep going. If one of them asks a question we answer it, incorporating it into our lesson as a natural part. I think that's the way Jesus did it when He was teaching.
In our recent "Pray and Play" together gathering at a local park on a Sunday morning, while the adults were sharing prayer requests and learning a different way to "pray the scriptures" the children were memorizing scripture and the "hand signs" that went with it. Then they proudly demonstrated to everyone what they had learned. Afterwards there was a lot of good eating and game playing.
The core values for the church are to worship together, learn together, play together and serve together. That doesn't mean adults only. We need the kids around, with their simple faith, to strengthen our own.
All of this proceeds along even more smoothly when you have a few Kid Magnets, like my Dad, around.
Weekly Prayer: Lord we thank you for our Fathers. We especially thank you for the Kid Magnets among them who realize the importance of including the little ones in the things we do and have a special way of gaining their trust and influencing them in a positive way.
Author's note: As you go out in public this week, look for the Kid Magnets in our society. They're easy to spot, they'll not only be amongst the kids, but they will be smiling while they are.
The Legacy (June 13, 2007) by Jim Crosby
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:16
In the summer of 1907 there were 100 residents in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a city that currently has over 1,500,000 people. One evening seven of those 100 got together for the express purpose of starting a church. The result was the formation of the fledgling First Baptist Church (FBC). Last weekend the Lovely Susette and I, along with my Mom, were privileged to attend the Centennial Celebration of this dynamic church which currently has 13,500 members. What a wonderful legacy has been left behind by those seven forward-thinking Christians who met because they wanted to create a place of worship.
Soon after they had started meeting in a little white schoolhouse, a couple donated a choice lot, now located downtown, on which to build a church. Ironically that lot is where I got my first job, as a bank teller, after my discharge from the Army. It was no longer a church as FBC had moved about three blocks north to its current location.
But, back then the lot was on a sand trail surrounded by palmettos and pine trees. They formulated a plan for a building and ordered two boxcar loads of cement. The cement arrived early, before the money had been collected to pay for it, so one of the trustees set out on a bicycle, going from home to home, to raise $300 to pay for it.
Today, under the dynamic leadership of Senior Pastor Larry Thompson, First Baptist Church has a sanctuary that seats 3,500. This year they completed a beautiful addition to the church complex featuring a children's center and banquet hall. They raised $9 million dollars and were able to build it debt free. If you want to measure progress in dollars I think you'll agree that going from raising $300 for concrete to $9 million for a state-of-art complex is a quantum leap, even in 100 years.
But, it's not about the money. It is about doing what it takes to serve the Lord and making his house of worship a place that honors Him. Sure, you can worship in a tent or a shack. You can worship outdoors...on a mountain, a beach, in the woods, wherever. Our omnipresent God is everywhere. But, when people commit themselves to constructing a great building for the purpose of worshipping God many others will come aboard. It doesn't matter if what attracted them was the building, the members, the pastor, or a combination of these, by attending the church they will be exposed to the teachings of the Bible. This is what happened in Ft. Lauderdale and precipitated the fabulous growth of FBC.
During the fourth year of his reign, 480 years after the people of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt, King Solomon began work on a temple for God. After all those years of transporting the Ark of the Covenant from one place to the other, it was time for a permanent home for the Ark. By bringing the Ark to the Temple they would signify that God's presence was in this place. They would have a permanent place to worship God.
Seven years later the work was done and King Solomon prayed (1 Kings 8): "O Lord, I have built a glorious temple for you where you can live forever!" With his hands lifted to heaven Solomon continued "O Lord God of Israel there is no God like you in all of heaven or earth. You keep your promises and show unfailing love to all who obey you and are eager to do your will." God had promised David (Solomon's Father) that his son would build this temple.
Then Solomon put it all in perspective: "But, will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain You. Listen to my prayer and my request O Lord, My God...May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place...Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive."
Solomon realized that God had put his name on this temple. It was dedicated to Him and a wonderful legacy to be left behind to remind the people how gracious God had been to them and how He honored hard work done in His name. Sadly, the people of Israel did not continue to honor this legacy they were given. A series of evil kings allowed the legacy to be distorted and trashed and eventually "Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar looted, sacked and burned the temple." The legacy was all but dead.
When Jesus came he said that now our worship would no longer be in a temple, but we "would worship Him in spirit and in truth." Now, it would be all about our heart. Would it be committed to Him? The church replaced the temple and we are the church.
Are those beautiful church buildings still pleasing to God? Absolutely! Why? Because they provide a place for worship where a legacy of faithfulness can be constructed along with the construction of the building. That is how the church survives and grows and builds a sound and lasting legacy.
The people of FBC could have packed it in many times. In 1912 a fire destroyed everything. In 1926 a huge hurricane hit the city. In 1928 the local bank closed its doors during the depression, but the church persevered and in the 25th year the church historian wrote. "Through a great fire, the boom, hurricane, bank failures and the depression, losing heavily in all of them, still we as a church have struggled on, apparently drawn closer together through adversity."
As we look as these stories of perseverance and commitment we must stop and ask ourselves. What is the legacy I am leaving behind? How will I be remembered? Am I doing my best to serve the Creator who gave me life and endowed me with the freedom to choose how my mind and heart will be focused and what actions will follow?
At the 50th anniversary of FBC, Dr. Thomas Hansen (1950-62) wrote about the church: "You must understand this is no dead pile of stones, unmeaning timbers, cold steel. It is a living thing." Now, 50 years beyond that message FBC is truly a living legacy.
Your life is a legacy that is being built one brick a time. Take care! Build it well!
Weekly Prayer: Lord, we ask that you guide us as we craft a legacy from our daily lives that will live on long after us. Our prayer is that those who come behind us will draw inspiration from our own personal legacy and their faith will be strengthened. Amen!
Author's note: Legacy. Something I had not given much thought to, but certainly will in the future. Think about some of the people or institutions you consider a legacy. Why do you think of them in that way? What's special about them? How do you relate to them and in what ways do they affect you? Interesting exercise as we build our own legacy.
Higher Math (June 6, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. ~Luke 16:10
Up front let me issue this qualifier. Math has never been my best subjects. I did all right in high school, but took as little of it as possible in college. Once I got past algebra and into plane geometry (which was never plain to me) and beyond that, I decided it would be much better for me to concentrate on things like English, Speech, History, Writing, and Business courses.
But, of all the math functions, multiplication captured my fancy. It's good to add to what you've got, unless we are talking about troubles. But, to multiply what you have is even better. You grow by leaps and bounds when you multiply things.
To get big, you must start small. Sometimes you may get discouraged if you consider what you have as being small. It could be something financial, career, friend or travel-related or any number of other areas in which you may be tempted to think that you don't have much. Often that kind of a feeling is caused by comparing yourself or your situation to that of others.
Maybe you check your pocket or your purse and you only have 57 cents. Doesn't sound like much does it? Well, let me tell you story that Dr. David Jeremiah shared in a devotion.
"In 1912, Dr. Russell Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, had a young student in Sunday school named Hattie May Wiatt. The church was crowded and one day Dr. Conwell told Hattie May that he would love to have buildings large enough for everyone to attend.
When Hattie May became ill and died, Rev. Conwell was asked to preach the funeral. The girl's mother told him Hattie May had been saving her money to help build a bigger church. Hattie's purse contained coins amounting to fifty-seven cents. Taking the coins to the bank, Conwell exchanged them for fifty-seven pennies which he put on display and "sold." With the proceeds, a nearby house was purchased for a children's wing to the church. Inspired by Hattie's story more money came in and out of her fifty-seven cents eventually came the buildings of Temple Baptist Church, Temple University, and Good Samaritan Hospital." How's that for something small being multiplied into something really big?
Sometimes our discouragement comes from being in a hurry. We want things to move along quicker and it is frustrating when they don't. Certain dreams can take months, years, even a lifetime to be realized. Who's got time to wait, right?
Maybe, at times, our expectations are a little unrealistic. Or perhaps we are tempted to take a, uh...more circuitous route. The NLT Bible says, "God calls us to be honest even in small details we could easily ignore. Heaven's riches are far more valuable than earthly wealth. But, if we are not trustworthy with our money here (no matter how much or little we have) we will be unfit to handle the vast riches of God's Kingdom. See that you maintain your integrity in all matters, whether big or small."
Nobody jumps from the mailroom to president of the company. I remember many years ago when I started working in a bank I suggested that they let me start out as President and work my way down to a teller. It made sense to me...while I was young I could really enjoy all the money that a bank president makes. Somehow they didn't see it that way. So they started me out as a teller and I never did make it to bank president either.
The Quest Study Bible points out that it is "the same with spiritual promotions." It's really a matter of keeping the big picture in mind. In the long run we will understand that spiritual wealth is a lot more important than material/worldly wealth.
But, what we have here on earth is kind of a testing ground. If we are selfish, materialistic and fail to honor God with our money, time and possessions then we are showing that we just might not value spiritual wealth. We are called on to be good stewards of all that we have been blessed with and not to throw away any of these gracious gifts.
We have been gifted with just what we are capable of handling at the moment. If we wish to improve our status then it is up to us to show what we can do with what we've been given Jesus told the parable of the master who was going on a trip and called on his servants to take charge while he was gone.
In this familiar story he gave one servant charge of five talents, to another he gave two, and the other servant received one. Why the disparity. Probably because he had assessed the abilities of each servant and assigned responsibility according to their ability to handle it.
You've probably heard it said that God will not give us more to do than we can handle. But, He is also watching us to see what we do with what we have. When we prove capable and trustworthy then he will up the ante. He will bless us with more and more as we prove more and more capable.
Sure enough the servant with the five talents doubled his master's money and returned ten. The servant who got two returned four and the untrustworthy servant who received one returned only what he had been given. He didn't grow in his responsibility at all. He got nothing done, so why should he expect any reward?
When we assume the responsibilities and are committed to accomplishing the tasks God puts in our paths here on earth, we don't have to know any mathematical formulas. Throw all those theorems and equations out the window. The Great Multiplier will wondrously transform the small matters into larger ones. We will only be limited by how faithfully we perform them when they are still small.
Weekly Prayer: Lord we ask for your guidance so we may remain faithful and stay on task even when the things we have and those we do seem small and insignificant. We know our faith will be rewarded as promised in your word. Amen!
Author's note: Take heart. I'm sure you have more than fifty-seven cents and just look what God did with that amount when it was committed to him. Have a super week.
The Mess Maker (May 2, 2007) by Jim Crosby
If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ~James 1:5
"Boy I made a mess of that!"
"You know, I don't think I could have made a bigger mess if I had really tried."
"Sometimes it seems I have really made a mess of my life."
"Don't mess with Texas!"(wait a minute how did that one get in there? Just thought I'd throw in a little humor It's one I saw on t-shirts at the College World Series when the Longhorns were playing.)
Do those statements sound familiar? Have you ever said them or entertained those kinds of thoughts about yourself? We all have and they ain't fun are they? From the nagging little mistakes to the big old messes─ we've all made them. In fact, some of these things tend to stick with us and even when we recall them later, sometimes after many years, we still feel angst, discomfort, or embarrassment.
There are lots of different kinds of messes that can be made when the human element is involved. When I was in the Army we ate in a Mess Hall. When we went into the fields for one of those lovely camping trips ...I think they called them maneuvers, we were issued a mess kit. It didn't take me long to figure out why they used the term "mess." A lot of that cooking was a real mess. I can say that now because I have my honorable discharge, so no Mess Sergeant can put me on KP (kitchen patrol) and dirty up every pot and pan in the kitchen for me to wash. And those were some really big pots with lots of food stuck to them. They really were a mess. Of course I still do get assigned KP sometimes by the Lovely Susette. But, she can cook good and it's worth it just to enjoy her home-cooked meals.
Yes, we all make a mess of things at times. Here's the good news. God can make a miracle out of your mess. As Joel Osteen said in a sermon a few Sundays ago, "There is no reason for a negative past to keep you from having a bright future. God is not looking for perfect people. If He did we would all be disqualified." We don't have to let a mess we've made defeat us.
As Joel pointed out there are quite a few examples in the Bible of people who thought they had really messed up there lives and God still blessed them with a bright future. Remember when Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew? He killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Then, fearing reprisal he fled the country. (Exodus 2:11-15). Moses was probably thinking he had made a mess of things and his future looked anything but bright. But, God turned Moses into a leader of his nation and he rescued them from slavery.
Whatever has happened in the past cannot drag you down unless you let it. God sees nothing but bright skies ahead for you. James 1:5 points out that God is not a fault-finder. When you come to Him for help he doesn't say. "Oh sure, now you come with your hat in hand. What about last week when you made that terrible business decision without consulting me. I had the right answer for you buddy. But, no you went ahead and messed it up. So, why don't you just figure this one out on your own like you did that one?"
Thank goodness God forgives our messes and converts them into recoveries. He is the God of second chance. He is a Plan B God, as well as Plan C, Plan D, however many plans we need. He is a patient, loving and forgiving God.
There is no need to think that we have used up all his forgiveness. We haven't blown all our chances. God loves us and as we read in 1 Corinthians: "Love keeps no record of wrongs." Now having said that about God, isn't that someone you would want to please? If so, then we should seek wisdom from Him.
Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." God knows we have problems. He knows that many of these are of our own making. He fully understands all the forces that have caused us to be in the predicament we are in.
One pessimist summed up things by saying, "Life is hard and then you die." Boy, I'd hate to go through life feeling that way wouldn't you? By focusing only on the negative things that take place we could feel that way.
Gosh, what about all the good things? Start with the fact that you woke up this morning and your name was not in the obituaries. You're alive. That's a great start and it gets better from there.
How about the fact that the sun came up this morning. You say Jim, where I live it's rained twelve days straight except for the days it snowed. Great, you'll appreciate the sun more when it does come out.
Joel said "You're the only one who can keep God's plan for you from happening." Think about that. God didn't plan for you to make a mess of things. You are not a mess-maker in His eyes. He knows what you are struggling with. But, he really does have a great plan for the rest of your life. Psalm 139:16 says "You saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Since God goes all the way back to the pre-natal planning of your life he certainly is not going to desert you when trouble comes along, even if it is of your own making.
God never wastes anything. Remember how He had the disciples gather up all that leftover bread that he had multiplied from the boy's five loaves of bread and two fish? He is not going to waste your life, so don't you do it either. Seek His wisdom. He will share it with you. I like what Joel said: "God can take your mess and turn it into your message!"
This Week's Prayer: Lord please continue to forgive us when we make a mess. But, help us to learn from each experience so we will first seek your wisdom, then act. Amen!
Author's note: Okay, we may be mess makers, but now we know how to be mess-escapers. Have a great week.
It Makes Sense (May 9, 2007) by Jim Crosby
...clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have...over all these virtues put on love...Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. ~Colossians 3:12-15
A little boy was in the post office with his Father and he asked his Dad about all the pictures that were on the wall. His Dad said, "Well son, those are pictures of people the police are trying to find because they have committed a crime." Then the little boy asked, "Well, why didn't they just keep them when they took their pictures?"
The boy's view made perfect sense if he had all the information. For each picture up on that wall there probably was a different reason why the authorities now had to seek assistance from any one who recognizes any of them after seeing their picture. But, yes since they were police photos they probably did have them under arrest at one time.
Sometimes things that seem to make sense really don't. The logical explanation is not always the one that gets acted upon. But, in this case the authorities couldn't sit around and dwell on the past; they had to act in the present. Winston Churchill once said: "If we open an argument between the past and the present, we will find that we have lost the future." Often we base how we will act or react today on our actions of the past.
"This worked before so I'm sure it will work again." But, what if it doesn't work this time? Then what? Do we sit around and complain..."Well, this always worked before there is no reason for it not to work now. This is not acceptable. It should work. It's got to work."
We can refuse to change because something once made sense or we can seek a solution as to why it doesn't make sense in today's situation. Maybe there is a good reason why it doesn't work now. Could be similar to the situation of those "most wanted" crooks on the post office wall. Perhaps, the authorities tried to keep them locked up, but a slick lawyer got them off. Then, after being released they committed another crime. Maybe they escaped. Maybe their Moms wrote a letter to the warden and got them excused. Okay, so that one wouldn't work. But, the point is there was a reason that made sense at the time but doesn't make as much sense now that they are wanted again.
The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Colosse gave them some instructions for daily living that still makes sense. Colosse was located in what is now the southwest interior of Turkey. His letters to the Colossians were written to a church he had never visited. It was established by Epaphras, a disciple of his. The reason for writing to them was to help them make sense of all the conflicting information they had been receiving.
According to the Quest Study Bible there a group called the Gnostics who "claimed that they possessed supernatural knowledge necessary for salvation." So Paul was writing to dispute these "subtle arguments and false teachings that threatened to undermine the Colossians' faith."
Since their faith was based on salvation through Jesus Christ they should try to imitate Him in the way they lived. He told them to first "clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." All of those character qualities make sense. Since Christ stressed the importance of servanthood, Paul mentions the assets that would lead to success in that area.
Notice Paul said for them to clothe themselves with these attributes. We have to dress ourselves. It takes a conscious effort. Our clothes don't just appear on our back. The ones we choose and put on are the ones we wear.
The basis for what they believed was wrapped up in having compassion for others. They were to put on kindness, which speaks for itself. It is the tender-hearted way of doing for others. Just as Jesus was humble, so should they dress themselves in humility as well. This is a way to esteem others instead of self. However, as movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn once said: "When someone does something good applaud. You will make two people happy." So, there are self-benefits to being humble.
Then Paul told them to put on patience. Uh-oh, I knew there was one that would trip me up. But, to help others you must be patient. Sometimes it's a project, not a simple act of assistance. On top of that Paul adds while we are being patient we must forgive whatever grievances we have. Boy that's a lot of things to clothe ourselves with. Hope it's a cool day ‘cause it could get hot with that heavy-duty outfit.
But, Paul wasn't through yet. There was one more item we should clothe ourselves with. Love! He said that is the thing that binds all these others together in "perfect unity."
Okay, so maybe we can't put on all those clothes at once. We could concentrate on one at a time. Just wake up tomorrow morning and say I'm clothing myself with compassion today. Look for opportunities to express or feel or act out your compassion for someone. That shouldn't be too hard to do.
The next day you might say: "I know this is going to be tough, but as great as I am I'm still going to be humble today." Well, maybe your self-talk should be couched in a little different terminology, but you know where I'm headed. Look for ways to subvert your wants and wishes to a position of helping someone else. That ain't all bad. Zig Ziglar says, "I'm convinced you can get anything you want out of life if you first help someone else get what they want." All right. Maybe we detect a little bit of a selfish motive behind that kind of thinking. But, hey, if it helps you help others it can't be all bad can it.
I think the last one I'll be putting on is patience. That outfit is way in the back of the closet behind my winter coat. And it being May, in Florida, I don't think I'll be going back there for the heavy coat for awhile. But by being patient (there's that word again) as we put into practice each of the other attributes and do it with love even "patience" will come around as well.
It makes sense to me!
This Week's Prayer: Lord thank you for this lesson from Colossians. May we take it to heart and try to be more compassionate, kinder, humble, gentle, patient and loving people. And as we demonstrate those qualities they will rub off on others around us. Amen!
Author's note: Look for those things that make sense to you this week and enjoy them.
Construction Zone (May 16, 2007) by Jim Crosby
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19
When you are driving along and see a road sign that says: "Construction Zone," you understand that means to slow down and drive with caution. In his book Everybody's Normal ‘til You Get to Know Them John Ortberg writes: "Every relationship is a construction zone."
When those two ideas are combined we begin to understand that the relationships we experience in life are continually under construction. We are always in the process of building these relationships. Just as your garden or your lawn requires attention to grow, so do human relationships. Without water and sunlight plants won't grow.
Ortberg says, "This is no less true of human gardens. Without proper attention, relationships tend to drift. Conflict tends to go unresolved. Work teams tend to break down. Small groups tend to lose touch. Families tend to get busy. Sports teams tend to go south."
Those of you who have been reading these weekly devotions for awhile may recall one from last December called; "A Wobbly Wheel at Christmas." In it I related my dismay when I would read on the box of any of my children's toys: "Assembly Required." Well, like Ortberg, I've come to realize that in every relationship there is "some assembly required."
It would be nice if our relationships just blossomed naturally without having to be paid a lot of attention. But, that just doesn't happen. Like the flower that is not watered and is not covered during freezing temperatures and doesn't receive the proper nutrients from the soil it resides in, it just won't make it. For a relationship to grow and not die out it needs our attention as well.
Granted some relationships need more attention than others just as some plants are hardier and require less care. Determining which ones need more and which can get by on less is a key exercise. We must become adept at what Ortberg calls the "Art of Reading People."
In order to drive safely (and qualify for a driver's license) we have to know the Rules of the Road. Likewise there are certain "Relational Rules of the Road" we should be familiar with in building good solid relationships. When we become familiar with these and can read the signs we will know how to make these blossom into healthy, attractive relationships. This goes for new as well as on-going relationships and runs the whole gamut from family, friends and acquaintances to work and professional relationships.
Here are some of the signs we should look for. First of all, body language says a lot. It often belies what a person is saying. When they are not saying anything it can be the sole indicator we have to go by. Of course there are other indicators we can observe that may not involve analyzing actual words. Things like facial expressions, tone of voice, vocal volume, inflections, and gestures. You can tell things about another person by posture or ways they may show nervousness. Maybe they laugh at the wrong place in a conversation or laugh when they are trying to win favor on a certain point. A lot of these are more subtle indicators of a person's disposition, feelings and opinions.
Ortberg's book says the first sign we should look for is the "Stop" sign. Maybe we are being told to just stop talking. Give it a rest. Listen. Or let's just experience the wonder of silence. A stop sign is one you need to immediately recognize when driving. Likewise it is important in a relationship. Have you known some non-stop talker that you tried to avoid or looked for a way to excuse yourself when he went on a talking marathon? Often this sign is given with the eyes. Most eye contact lasts three seconds or less, but it is a powerful indicator of feelings.
Sobriety is one of the rules of the road. You must be sober to drive a vehicle. But, a sober, somber, gloomy look is not good for a relationship. Proverbs says: "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart." Often we walk around with a frown, maybe even what appears to be a scowl on our faces that carries over into our association with another person. So look for a sign in another person that you are transmitting unhappiness in your attitude. The way they respond to you in words, looks, body language, etc. will be a sign for you to make an adjustment.
"Road Closed" is another road sign. Relationally it can be expressed in what Ortberg calls "spatial orientation." Sometimes our upper body unconsciously leans toward a person we like and is angled away from someone or in some situation we are not comfortable in or a conversational point that we disagree with. Look for this use of space as a possible indicator of agreement or disagreement.
A road sign you often see concerns the "shoulder" of the road. It could be lower than the road, higher, softer, whatever. There is danger in not observing this sign, especially at high speeds. Shoulder shrugs in a conversation can be used to indicate uncertainty, show resignation, indicate confidence or ask for trust.
And of course there is the "Construction Sign" which brings us back to the original point. We are continually constructing and renovating relationships with others. But, more important is the fact that we are continuing to build a relationship with our Heavenly Father. The best way to do this is to read all the signs that we have been given in the Bible.
Jesus provided the example to pattern our lives after. His parables, actions, feelings and sacrifices are chronicled in the Bible. When we continue to look for these in scripture we improve not only our relationship with Him but concomitantly with all we come in contact with.
Good advice on how to get started in reading people comes in our scripture from James when he says to" be quick, to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Oh yeah, and while you are doing that don't forget to observe those other signs: body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and gestures. They help provide road signs for the construction of strong relationships.
Weekly Prayer: Lord give us the wisdom required to nurture our human relationships and deepen our relationship with You. Amen!
Author's note: Today we looked at some common sense ways to build and improve relationships. Have fun this week looking for these road signs in others and enjoy your life with others.
Don't Tell Me How Rough the Sea is (May 23, 2007) by Jim Crosby
"Why are you so afraid? You have so little faith," (Jesus said) then He stood up and rebuked the wind and waves and suddenly all was calm. ~Matthew 8:26 (also Mark 4:35-41 & Luke 8:22-25)
Now that he has retired from the game Kevin Knox, former wide receiver, tells about the time he missed a crucial third down pass in a game Florida State was losing to Clemson in 1992. Knox, speaking to a group of boosters at a banquet in Tampa, FL said he thought he had been interfered with and even asked the official where his flag was
When he went to the bench he hid out among the offensive lineman, but Coach Bobby Bowden, college football's all-time leader in games won, found him anyway. Bobby asked what happened and Knox told him he had been interfered with by a defensive player.
Coach Bowden looked at him and said, "Son, don't tell me how rough the sea is. Just bring in the ship." Standing on the sideline in front of thousands of people Knox thought about that. Then he went on to make some amazing catches to help spur his team on to victory. The coach's statement not only had an immediate impact it continues to effect Knox's life to this day.
We all know the seas can get pretty rough out there. Living in Florida where the threat of hurricanes is real, we certainly understand that. But, what coach Bowden was talking about and the lesson that Jesus was teaching his disciples goes beyond the boating travails that stormy weather presents. It concerns overcoming obstacles and not letting them beat us down even if they are unfair or illegal. It's about having faith.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all thought the story of Jesus calming the seas was important enough to be included in their writings about His life. The versions are consistent in relating that Jesus was asleep in a boat being navigated by his disciples, several of which were veteran fishermen and certainly had been exposed to bad boating weather before.
They were on the Sea of Galilee which is actually more like a large lake. Even today it is subject to very fierce storms and may have waves as high as 20 feet. The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long, 7 miles wide and 150 feet deep with a shoreline that is 680 feet below sea level. So, these sudden storms can come up over the nearby mountains without warning and the water can turn violent in a matter of moments. (NLT)
So, even though these fishermen were experienced seamen they were in great danger and when lowering the sails and performing the other emergency precautions had no effect on their safety, they were terrified.
When they woke Jesus up his first question was, "Where's your faith?" In other words, you have seen me handle difficult situations before, so why are you so afraid. Maybe they didn't realize that Jesus could control the forces of nature as well as doing those other minor things like turning water into wine, multiplying loaves of bread and fish, and other miracles he had performed.
Expressed that way it sounds a little foolish doesn't it. But, we can think about it in terms of our own lives. Do we always exhibit the faith in the Lord we should? Does having faith mean we are never going to be afraid? Here's what the Quest Study Bible has to say about that: "Jesus doesn't promise we'll never face fearful circumstances. Instead, He teaches that God is greater than whatever we are facing and he is in control. Faith means trusting that we never face dangers alone. Knowing God is present keeps fear from paralyzing us."
There are still going to be those things that come upon us suddenly like a storm quickly descending from the mountains bordering the Sea of Galilee and putting things into turmoil. We are going to experience those moments of dread when it feels like something clubbed us right in the pit of our stomach.
When these times occur we must do what the disciples did. Go to the Lord for help. Now, I don't know if Jesus was being a little grumpy because they woke Him up or if He was just frustrated that his disciples continued to have these moments in which they didn't display total trust in him. But, here's what He did. He rebuked the winds and calmed them and the sea. To rebuke means to reprimand or to scold in a very sharp way. Obviously Jesus got the message across because everything settled down.
When we get over that initial scariness, even while our heart is still racing a mile a minute, the very next thing for us to do to experience peace is to ask Jesus to calm the storm.
The NLT Bible says: "When caught in the storms of life, it is easy to think God has lost control and that we are at the mercy of the winds of fate. In reality, God is sovereign. He controls the history of the world as well as our personal destiny. Just as Jesus calmed the waves, He can calm whatever storms you may face."
Sure, there will be situations just like the one Kevin Knox faced where we feel like we have been unjustly interfered with. Somebody didn't follow the rules and they got away with it and that frustrates us and makes us angry. Knox was running the pass pattern like he was supposed to. He was ready to make the catch, then somebody didn't play fair. But, with proper focus maybe he should have caught the ball anyway.
Life is not always fair, but instead of complaining and worrying about how rough the seas are there is a better solution. Go to the One who is in control of those stormy seas and start experiencing His calming influence just as his disciples did on the stormy Sea of Galilee.
Weekly Prayer: Lord thank you for calming the storms of life when they threaten to take control of us. Help us to stay grounded in the faith so we may bring in the ship instead of complaining about the storm. Amen.
Author's note: Happy boating this week. May you sail smoothly through even those choppy troubled seas by depending on the Lord's help.
Used Faith (May 30, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Then the Lord told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives and your Father's house and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous and I will make you a blessing to others. ~Genesis 12:1-2
"...Faith grows as we step out to do things that we don't have any experience in or perhaps don't totally understand. Faith becomes great through experience. It develops as it is used," says Joyce Meyer, in her book, "How to Hear from God."
How strong is your faith? Is it active, on-hold, or stagnant? Due to circumstances in your life is your faith strong and growing stronger or weak and becoming weaker. Do you have "used faith", that is to say faith that you use often to get you through situations, help you deal with a problem and get closer to God?
The main thing about "used faith" is that it puts your trust in God on display. It's kind of a "put-up or shut-up" exercise. This is about not just "saying" to the Lord that you trust Him to make something happen. It's about stepping out and doing something to help it come about. It is taking a pro-active role as God's helper. It is faith in action.
Can God accomplish it anyway, even if we don't spring into action? Yes, obviously God is omnipotent. He can do it with or without our help. Will He? That depends on His plan for us and what role this circumstance plays in it. Maybe the accomplishment of our hoped-for objective is subject to our participation because God has even greater plans in that area than we do.
But, the thing about used faith, is that it grows stronger each time we, uh...use it. It's kind of like a muscle that grows stronger and larger through use, but will become weaker and maybe even atrophy through disuse.
Since we are building a new church─Good Samaritan Church. I was interested in Meyer's comment that "faith grows as we step out to do things we don't have any experience in" because none of us at Good Sam really have any experience in starting a church from scratch. Thankfully, God started us out with the property, but beyond that we had nothing...no building...no congregation...no pastor...no plan, really. All we had was a vision and faith.
So when we used that faith and stepped out to make and follow a plan, God really started to make things happen. He sent his God-picked pastor Betsy Ouellette and assistant pastor Erick Ashley our way. He sent an experienced and knowledgeable man (Harry Mursten) to lead the building team. Before long we had an architect, construction manager, interior designer and a place to hold temporary meetings.
The congregation began to grow as we realized we had to say good-bye to Frog Evangelism and Hello to Lizard Discipleship. Say what? In his book "Faithquakes" Leonard Sweet says: "Don't expect people to "come to" church anymore. You've got to "go to" them and reach them in their cocoons. Frogs sit and wait until their food walks, flies, or swims past. Then they pounce. Lizards go out in search of food. In the frog world everything comes to those who wait. In the lizard world everyone would die if they sat and waited. The postmodern climate is not conducive to frog ministries. "Come-to" strategies no longer work. It's a "go-to" world."
Our fledgling church realized that we needed to reach out in our neighborhoods, communities, and city to build a loyal membership. That has begun to happen by starting "home groups." These small groups meet once a week in a designated home to fellowship, have fun and study God's word. Does that sound familiar? Well, it is the way the church began in olden days. Remember Peter being freed from prison and going to the home where a "prayer meeting" for his release was going on?
Once I was privileged to attend former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class at his home church in Plains, GA. He spoke on today's scripture about the faith of Abraham and what a big step of faith he made. God appeared to Abram, as he was called back then, and told him that He had a plan in mind for him, but he needed to pull up stakes and move. This is where that "used faith principle" comes into play. Abram was going to have to leave the familiar and comfortable surroundings of his father's house, go away from his relatives and move to a country to be named later.
God was taking Abraham one step at a time on a journey of faith that He promised would have a successful conclusion. Abraham just had to trust him and use his faith to propel his family into action. Then, God told him if he took this step of faith not only would he be blessed, but generations to come would be also. The influence of his "used faith" would be felt forever because from his family tree would come the Messiah who would save humanity.
Meyer says; "This is so simple, but so profound: "God gives us direction, one step at a time. But you may be like many people who refuse to take step one until they think they understand steps two, three, four and five." To accomplish great things in our lives we must trust Him and take that first step. We must use our faith to get the process physically started.
Used faith is not like a used car. Now, I'm not knocking used cars, don't want to get the car salesmen down on me. There are some great used cars out there, I'm sure. But, the difference in this analogy is they were used by someone else first. Your personal faith is yours alone. It becomes used only when you are the user. And when you step out and use this faith, God can multiply it many times over. For verification we have only to read Abraham's life story.
Weekly Prayer: Lord, used faith is a wonderful thing. It is a key to unlocking the treasure house of multiple blessings in our lives and moving us on to great accomplishments in your name. Amen!
Author's note: Use that faith this week to get from point A to point B and the Lord will take you to point C and many points beyond. J
Fell Off A Ladder (April 4, 2007) By Jim Crosby
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. ~Job 8:21
Father Tim calls Uncle Billy on the telephone just to check up on him and see how it's going:
"Uncle Billy, it's Father Tim. How are you doing?"
"Well, considering that I just fell off a 12-foot ladder, I'm doing pretty well," said Billy.
"My word. You fell off a 12-foot ladder? I'm surprised you survived the fall!"
"Well, to tell ya the truth, I only fell off the bottom rung," says Billy.
That's another knee-slapper from Uncle Billy. He's full of them. The master of the simple joke. Father Tim and Uncle Billy are just a couple of the colorful characters created by Jan Karon in her delightful Mitford series books. Karon has created a fictional town in the mountains with a priest as the main character.
It all started with "At Home in Mitford" in 1994 and has continued for nine novels with the latest? "Light from Heaven" having been released in 2005. Mitford readers who have read the entire series have now been exposed to over 700 characters. All of them are unique and most of them are loveable. Well, you must have a villain or two along the way to keep the interest going.
But, I have to say Uncle Billy is one of my favorites along with his friend Arthur. Arthur who? Arthur-itis! :) :) And his favorite saying is: "Well, I'll be et for a tater!" Okay that's one of those... "have to be there to appreciate it things." But, when you get to know Uncle Billy you'll laugh in spite of yourself each time you read that one.
I was thinking about this the other day when I was driving my father-in-law home from a luncheon meeting. He's pretty much a one-liner guy, like...."I've got a good memory, it's just short." We were talking about how to tell a good joke. It is my contention that to get the punch line across you really have to milk it for all it is worth. You must get the listener wondering, "Where in the world is he going with this?" Then you zap ‘em with the punch line. Elmo said, "That's fine, but I usually mess up the punch line." Well, that won't work. Maybe he should stick to the one-liners.
But, the point is a good joke teller can be worth his/her weight in gold. The value of being able to break up the thought processes with genuine, good old laughter is priceless. It brightens the moment, even if you have to fall back into solving a problem afterwards; at least you have relief for the moment. And sometimes it even re-directs your thinking in a positive and productive manner.
Lately I've been making a conscious effort to smile more. Why? Because I have a lot to smile about even when, at times, I catch myself frowning. God is good and His blessings are abundant. Also, smiling just helps your whole system. It has healthy benefits.
When Job, a righteous man, was being besieged by problem after problem he didn't understand it. He had always honored God and had been rewarded with an abundant life. Now everything had gone wacko! He could not get a grip on why things had taken a turn for the worse.
His friend Bildad was convinced that Job was keeping secrets. After all God didn't punish a person for no reason at all and on the surface Job certainly appeared to be receiving punishment. His erroneous advice to Job was to "plead with the Almighty, and if you are pure and upright even now he will rouse himself on your behalf." Then Bildad goes on to talk about how God is honest and just and will not "reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers."
He said if Job would just abase himself and admit all his wrongdoings that "God will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Job took all that in, but he was still too puzzled, confused and depressed to do much laughing. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, "There is a time to weep and a time to laugh." Job felt more like weeping than laughing.
There are times when depression becomes so deeply rooted in our lives that we have a hard time mustering up any laughter. But, if we can find something to laugh about it helps. It's just that during those times not a whole lot seems funny. Our perception of humor changes. But, the way to fight our way out of it is to try to maintain the proverbial "sense of humor."
After listing all the different things that have their respective times and places in our lives the writer of Ecclesiastes says in 3:11-12 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." And of course when you are happy you will find lots to laugh about.
There is a kind of laughter that isn't good. It's when someone laughs at you. The purpose of their laughter is to heighten your embarrassment or to make you feel bad, to belittle you for something you have done or said. It's my belief that someone doing this will be repaid somewhere down the line in a way they will not be pleased with. That's why we must guard against falling into that trap. Recognize when laughter is an acceptable response to someone's actions or words. Hurt feelings heal slowly.
Without much effort we can all come up with some sayings we've heard about laughter over the years. These clichés include: "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing with you." "Laughter is good for the soul." And one I especially like: "He who laughs last, laughs best" or sometimes stated as: "He/She who laughs last...lasts!
As evidence of this "last" saying I offer God's statement to Bildad and Job's other friends who had been criticizing him. "I am angry with you and your two friends because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has." God added that he would have Job pray for them. (Job 42:7-9) Was Job "laughing last?" No, not out loud because he was too nice a guy to do that. But, he could have. Inside he had to be smiling and that is good for the soul.
Weekly Prayer: Lord, help us to dwell on your abundant blessings this week so laughter and smiles will prevail in our lives. Amen
Author's note: It's fun to laugh and I hope you have lots of opportunities for laughter to prevail in your life this week. :)
Do, Re, Mi (April 11, 2007) By Jim Crosby
Finally, all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ~1 Peter 3:8
Okay, sing along with me now:
Let's start at the beginning
a very good place to start
When you read you begin with A-B-C
The first three notes happen to be Do-Re-Mi
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-Ti-La
Let's see if I can make it easy
Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow sew
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
that will bring us back to doe
There, that should put you in the proper frame of mind today. Those are the words from one of the memorable songs in the movie "A Sound of Music." In that scene Maria (Julie Andrews), a governess, is trying to teach the children in her care, the notes of the musical scale. Then, after that she teaches them to sing in harmony.
Since I am one of the world's worst singers I have great admiration for those who can master the notes of the musical scale and proceed from there to make beautiful music. And when people sing in harmony, wow, that's special! It takes talent and concentration to do that.
When Maria's wards were singing the notes of the scale together they were singing in unison. They did a good job. Then Maria complicated the challenge as she taught them to sing the scale in two-part harmony.
Dr. David Jeremiah (Turning Points) says: "A lot of us need to learn the difference between unison and harmony." Forget it Dr. Jeremiah. I've put many a gray hair in a music teacher's head trying to just teach me to sing "on key," so I could sing in unison and not throw everybody else "off key." And you are talking about singing in harmony? Forget about it.
Then I read further and found out Dr. Jeremiah wasn't talking about singing in harmony, he was talking about "living" in harmony. That's different and sometimes even more difficult to accomplish.
Jeremiah writes: "The Bible doesn't tell us to live our lives in unison. Your friends, family, and fellow believers all have different personalities, backgrounds, and opinions. We have different levels of spiritual maturity, different strengths and weaknesses, and different gifts. We aren't all going to agree about everything."
For those hard chargers out there living in harmony can sometimes be difficult. You (we) want to forge ahead rushing on to victory in your (our) lives. We want to get things done now, regardless of whether that fosters harmony or dis-harmony.
Well, when we read the words of Peter we are hearing from one of the original hard-chargers. Peter was impulsive and pro-active. Here's what the NLT Bible says: "Peter developed the qualities of tenderness and humility the hard way. In his early days with Christ, these attitudes did not come naturally to his impulsive, strong-willed personality. But, the Holy Spirit changed Peter molding his strong personality to God's use and teaching him tenderness and humility"
Sometimes living in harmony means making unwanted changes. Keeping the peace, so to speak, is important in fostering and preserving harmony. When you find yourself in sharp disagreement with someone simply stop and ask yourself, "Is this really worth it." Sure there are some stances you have to take. Sometimes you need to dig in your heels and say "No way. I'm not budging on this one." But, I encourage you to make sure that taking this kind of a stance is worth it at the cost of not having harmony. Maybe you are completely right in the situation. Ask yourself if being right is better than having harmony.
Jeremiah says, "Instead of being argumentative, learn the secret of harmony. Respect the opinions and personalities of those the Lord has placed in your life, and don't always expect to have your own way or have the last word. Live in harmony with one another."
On occasion you may have to take a position that is morally or legally right. One that you just cannot justify not taking. Even though by following your beliefs in this harmony goes out the window. So be it, if all your efforts to elucidate the reasons your
position must prevail have been exhausted. Sometimes simply the fact that you believe so strongly and deeply about your position is enough to win the other person over and preserve harmony. If you are following your heart and it is clear that the intent is not to cause harm, then the other person cannot logically argue against your right to do that.
Here again I caution you to make absolutely sure that maintaining this position is more important than preserving harmony if that's what will result.
Peter is talking to the new believers about a harmonious life-style and says there are five key elements that should characterize any group of believers (NLT, pg 2002).
- 1) One mind-The group should pursue the same goals
- 2) sympathy-being responsive to other's needs
- 3) love-seeing and treating each other as brothers and sisters
- 4) tenderness-being affectionately sensitive and caring
- 5) humility-being willing to encourage one another and rejoice in each other's successes
When all of these things are a part of our relationships then we can not only do things in unison, but in harmony as well.
Weekly Prayer: Lord we pray for the harmony in every aspect of our lives that can only come from committing our words, thoughts, and actions to Your care. Amen!
Author's note: Living in harmony is a good thing. It makes each day a little brighter and chases away the storm clouds of dissent and depression. Have a wonderful week!
God-Space (April 18, 2007) By Jim Crosby
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. ~1 Peter 5:7
How much God-space have you created lately? Not enough if you are like me.
Okay, I'm not preaching, just bringing up a topic for self-consideration that could help all of us. So, I hope you will follow along and think about this.
First of all, what is God-space? Henri Nouwen said it is simply "creating space in which God can act." Think about it. Phillip Yancey points out: "God, who made space in the most literal sense, the universe, needs us to protect a God-space, to prevent our lives from filling up with other things."
How can we expect God to help us if we don't give Him room to work? Okay, He's God and He can do anything. He has no limitations. He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent, right! Yes, He is all of those. That being said, we would do well to remember that He can also choose how, when and where He directs us in our lives.
Do you think that firing off a bunch of requests in a few minutes of prayer, then forgetting all about God until the next day, or next week in church, and living any way we please while ignoring Him would make God pre-disposed to fulfilling those prayers. Well, if He does it is only because He loves us.
But, for God to work the best way in our lives He needs some co-operation from us. He needs our attention, our time. He needs God-space in which to work. One reason for this is that He often needs to bring about changes in us as individuals to do some of His best work.
We fill up a lot of space in our lives. How? Well, for example, Yancey says: "I enter a motel room and switch on the television. I have CNN going when I eat lunch and the radio playing when I drive the car. I'm always reading a newspaper, magazine, computer manual, Internet blog, something. I fill up spaces."
Remember the devotion we did awhile back called; "I'm Not Listening?" That's a favorite ploy of some children. If they aren't listening when you demand that they do something, how can they be expected to do it? So, how can we know that God has a plan and is working on it if we don't listen and create God-space in which he can work in our lives? How can he change us in the necessary ways to bring about the desired end result if we don't listen and create God-space in our lives for Him?
On occasion I have been a part of a prayer-vigil at church where everyone signs up for a specific hour to some to the sanctuary and pray for a certain thing. The church sanctuary seems a lot different at 2 a.m. than it does in the 11 a.m. Sunday morning service. There aren't any other worshippers there in the wee hours. In the Sunday worship service you have plenty of company. God is there both times, but it sure seems a lot different. In the prayer vigil you have created God-space. It is just you and your Heavenly Father. There is great potential for him to communicate and work His will.
You don't have to be in church or awake at 2 a.m. to create God-space. Any time you go to God in prayer and actually do some listening, instead of doing all the talking, you are creating God-space. Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
God has lots to communicate to us. We must provide the opportunity. We must be available to hear.
Now, I will have to admit that during part of the prayer-vigil time when I should have been praying or listening to God, my mind was wandering. This happens in my everyday prayers, too. I can have the best intentions of shutting out everything, but God. Then, doggone it, my mind goes off on something else. As soon as I realize this I corral my thoughts and get back on track.
Reading Yancey reminded me that often in my work as a sports reporter and writer I have interviewed folks who weren't, uh..., exactly glib. I would ask a question that was important to the article and when they started giving an answer, whether through nervousness or the need to think about it, they would pause, I'd jump in and complete their sentence for them. With experience I learned that some of the best articles came about when I didn't jump in and help out. When, I sat silently and patiently waited, they would add more. Often these thoughtful additions would transform the entire article. Simply by giving them some space, a great benefit was wrought.
Often we just need to give God this same kind of space. What is wrong with asking God a question and simply waiting for an answer? If nothing is forthcoming after a while, simply think about God's goodness, His love and how great it is that you can spend time with Him. His answer will come in due time and possibly in a most unexpected way.
Klaus Issler, a seminary professor, wrote a book called: Wasting Time with God. In it he dwells on the notion of simply being with God. Time with God is not wasted. There are lots of ways to spend time with God. Sitting up with a sick child. Spending time with an elderly person. Helping a neighbor with a problem. Providing a meal for someone who is rehabbing an injury or a surgical procedure. Assisting someone at work with a difficult task that is not your responsibility. Whenever you are ministering to others that is "time with God" and it is certainly not wasted.
Prayer often gets crowded out by other things. It shouldn't because it is a very important way of creating God-space. Each week, I spend time, as the Lay Leader, with our Pastor Betsy and Erick our Assistant Pastor in prayer for Good Samaritan UMC. We pray for the vision in building God's church to be clear and to follow His agenda not ours. We pray for His direction for the architect, construction manager, and interior designer and that their work will honor Him. We pray for the members, their families and for specific needs. We pray for healing. We spend time in giving thanks and praising the Lord.
Often as I sit there listening to the prayers of one of the pastors or when we have a few moments of quiet with no one speaking, God will reveal something important that needs to be lifted up in prayer, maybe it is something we have overlooked.
Never does this time spent in prayer seem like wasting time. It has become very meaningful for us and is obvious that we continue to experience answers to these prayers when we create the God-space for Him to work.
Weekly Prayer: Lord, continue to remind us of our need to create God-space so you can work in and through us to accomplish Your will. Amen!
Author's note: Don't forget about God-space during your busy week and God will take you beyond what you could ever imagine.
Act as if…(April 25, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be yours. ~Mark 11:24
"Act as if you've been there before." That's what one football coach told his players concerning how to conduct themselves in the end zone after scoring a touchdown. His ulterior motive involved instructing them thusly to avoid the 15-yard penalties the NCAA had decreed will accompany "excessive celebration" or taunting."
I'm not sure I understand that one. Are players who practice, train, and work hard to excel, not supposed to demonstrate their happiness when they do something good like, score a touchdown? Okay, I'll admit some of the flaunting by a player when he beats a defender to the end zone has been taken to extremes by a few players.
I'll also admit that I've always been more impressed with a player who scores and hands the ball to the referee. I think this sends the message: "Hey I've scored TDs before and I'm going to score lots more." That's class. It shows character. Still it's difficult to come down hard on a college kid who is simply acting as if he is happy because he has worked hard, done what his coaches asked of him and seen this result in a successful event.
But, the coach had a good point; there is a lot to be said about the importance of "acting as if." Our actions, our body language, our words tell others a lot about us. So, if we act as if something is the case, most likely it is or will become the case.
That is what Jesus is quoted as saying in Mark 11:24. He says to pray confidently about something and then proceed on as if you have received it. What a great promise that is. Of course, God can overrule a request if, in His Omniscience, He sees this would not be the best route to take or if we are not ready for it. So our job is to ask God to reveal what His will is, then pray in faith believing we're doing the right thing, and then start acting as if we have been granted a positive result just as He promised.
In a way the recent best-selling book that is sweeping the nation called─The Secret─could have been entitled "Act as if." Of course, it could also be called "The Power of Positive Thinking" but that one is already taken. This hot new book is basically a re-packaging of the positive thinking concept. It purports that you really do become consumed by what you are thinking about. Then as these movies keep running through your mind you will act out the ideas. They will be the ones that you put into practice in your life.
To put a new twist on this concept, one that will sell books, they reveal that The Secret is a law. They call it the Law of Attraction. Now, being an author, I'm not going to knock this strategy because it sure has generated a lot of book sales. And another reason I won't knock it is I agree with what their Law of Attraction says. Basically it declares: "Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you."
On page four of The Secret you'll read this: "Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it's attracted to you by virtue of the images you're holding in your mind. It's what you're thinking...." The authors/contributors say that the law of attraction is a law of nature and is as impartial as the law of gravity. It doesn't play favorites. It applies to everyone.
Then on page 54 they quote our scripture: Mark 11:24 as well as Matthew 21:23 "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." After that the scriptures receive little, if any, mention. They probably didn't want to run the risk of losing book sales from those who are not believers.
But, as far as I'm concerned my faith in God is the reason the law of attraction works. God created us. He gave us this brain we have and he granted us a free will to program that brain however we want to. We can choose to fill our minds with negative thinking or we can accentuate the positive. There are many examples of people who have physical ailments healing faster and having a better chance of complete recovery by thinking positively, relaxing and laughing a lot.
Generally speaking that is not always easy to do. But, as Author Prentice Mulford said back in the 1800's: "Every thought of yours is a real thing─a force." What he discovered over two centuries ago still holds water.
The Secret contends that we should turn those negative thoughts into positive ones as soon as they enter our minds. So, when we are thinking and praying about something good that we want to happen it is best to stress the positive aspect rather than the negative. Instead of thinking "I don't want that to happen." Think about the reverse of that. "I want this to happen." "This is going to happen." "I see it happening in my life." Hold on to those positive and they will attract not only more positive thoughts, but positive results as well. Then submit them to God, believing that He will bring them about and start visualizing your life as if this is already an answered prayer.
For example here's one I can really relate to. When praying for a publisher who will appreciate my writing and take my books to the next success level I could start thinking negatively about all that must be overcome. I could choose to think about past rejection letters, or the difficulty of getting attention directed to my book among the myriad submissions each publisher receives, or start doubting if my writing really can cut the mustard.
Or, I could choose to envision how it is going to be when I receive that call of acceptance from the publisher to partner with them. I can picture receiving that advance from them and depositing it. I see in my mind the New York Times Bestseller list and see my book and my name listed at the top. I picture going up to the podium to receive an award as the Book of the Year. Hey, this is fun. I feel like I'm there already. In my mind I am, I've got the Lord working with me and He's using the Law of Attraction to place me in a success mode.
You can do it too. Just pray about it. Start envisioning it as happening and then start: Acting as if....
Weekly Prayer: Lord help us to eliminate those doubts and negative thoughts as soon as they enter our minds and replace them with the positive ideas you send our way. Amen!
Author's note: I don't know about you, but I'm really getting into this idea of positive thoughts attracting even more of them and resulting in great results. The more I practice it, the easier I find it to do. Try it. You'll like it.
The Bus Driver
Once again, don't think that I have lost my wits to talk like this. But, even if you do, listen to me, as you would a foolish person while I also boast a little. Such bragging is not something the Lord wants, but I am acting like a fool. ~2 Corinthians 11:16
"They call me the bus driver dude, ‘cause I'm about to take you to school," declares little guy in the trendy basketball outfit as he begins his fancy dribbling the ball while getting into position to shoot.
The taller guy in the plain shorts and t-shirt is not impressed. He quietly adjusts his position and when the "bus driver" turns to make his "take-you-to-school" jump shot, he times his leap and swats the basketball right back into the shooter's face. Whereupon the boasting bus driver cries out and falls to the ground holding his face.
The next thing you hear is laughter and the scene transitions to the workplace where the shot blocker is showing his co-workers a replay of the incident on his camera-cell phone. He's laughing and saying, "I've been showing this to everybody."
Then the little guy, with bandages over his nose, sporting a bruised face comes up. He's not looking nearly as cocky as he did when he boasted that he was going to going to take him to school, i.e. give him a lesson in basketball. He stops a few feet away and asks: "What are you guys looking at?" They say, "Nothing," the laughter dies and they slink away.
It's all part of a cell phone commercial that ran on the telecasts of basketball games throughout the season. In fact, it ran and ran and ran. It seems every time I watched a televised game that ad was running "ad nauseum."
What was the purpose of all that? Obviously the company wanted to sell camera-cell phones. I'm sure the message is that if you bought one of their camera-cell phones you could capture unique and special moments on it and share them with your friends.
But, there is a lesson here for all of us. Now, I'm not a person who wants to take even the simplest message and dissect it and analyze it to death while trying to find some deeper lesson in it. Don't you hate that? when people make a big deal out of a little deal? For Pete's sake. This company is trying to sell phones. That's it!
But, I can't help thinking about the hot-dogging, and show-boating this guy did as he boasted about what he was gonna do. Then it backfired on him and he didn't get it accomplished. I guess the reason I go beyond the sales message and think about that aspect of it is because yes, I've been known to boast a little. And yes, I've had to eat my words a few times. And yes, the Bible does have something to say about that.
Now, be honest we love it when a "big-mouth" goes around bragging and then gets his comeuppance, don't we? I think the familiar term is "having to eat your words."
But what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians is that even though the Lord does not condone bragging he's going to do it anyway. And why is that? It's because he feels that is the way he can get the people's attention.
They listen when somebody comes along spouting off a bunch of platitudes no matter how wrong-thinking these might be. So Paul is saying, "I'm going to boast a little so you will accord me the same kind of audience you give these guys who don't know what they are talking about, because I do know. I want you to hear my message."
These false prophets had been boasting about themselves and bragging that they were true representatives of God because they were full-blooded Hebrews set apart by God. They thought their "family-tree" gave them favor that the Gentiles did not have. "They didn't realize that as far as God was concerned, there was now no difference between Jew and Gentile: all were sinners, and needed to be saved through faith in Christ alone." (Believer's Bible Commentary, pg 1862)
Basically Paul's boasting was not really about himself. Sure, once his boastful start had gotten their attention, he went on to tell about all the suffering he had endured. But, in the end we see that he was not boasting about himself in any other way than to say that he was a servant of the Savior and because of that the suffering was well worth it.
As the scriptures say: "The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done. When people boast about themselves it doesn't count for much. But when the Lord commends someone, that's different." (2 Corinthians 10:17-18)
When we boast we are trying to build ourselves up even beyond what our accomplishment warrants. Or we could be trying to create favor where none is really deserved. Boasting can be taken as a sign of insecurity. Proverbs 27:2 "Don't praise yourself; let others do it. When you do it, it sounds like just what it is─bragging. When someone else does it this also sounds like what it is─praise. There is a big difference between boasting and praise.
We have talked a lot about boasting after you do something. But, the other kind of boasting also rings hollow. It is the kind of boasting our bus driver did. That's boasting before you do something. "I'm gonna do this, or that, or the other..." That kind of boasting puts you under a lot of pressure to accomplish something. Then, if you can't do it you are labeled as being "all talk."
This is what our "bus driver" did. He didn't take his opponent "to school" he actually talked "out of school." And look at the results. He was made to look foolish. Then, his opponent turned into a boaster: "I've been showing this to everybody." And then all this boasting made other people feel bad. When the bus driver asked "What are you guys looking at." They all had sheepish looks on their faces and they seemed to feel guilty about making fun of him as they quietly walked away without answering. Nobody really felt good in the end about all of that.
Gosh, I wonder if that commercial really is going to sell any cell phones? Oh well, like I said, sometimes we just make try to big a deal out of a little deal. Even though there is a life lesson there about the dangers of boasting, I'm sure nobody ever expected a psycho-analysis of that simple television commercial which was produced to sell phones.
But, you know what? After all those times of seeing that commercial, I couldn't tell you who the cell phone company is that paid for the air time. Guess I got the wrong message from the commercial. Or did I?
Weekly Prayer: Lord, may our inclination to boast be turned into praise for You and what You are doing in our lives. Amen!
Author's note: I think it is sometimes good to inform others of some of the good and deserving things you are doing, when you do it in a tasteful way. There's a difference between doing it that way and bragging. When tastefully done, the Lord will give you even more good things to talk about. Don't forget to give Him the praise and the credit!
Acres of Diamonds (March 21, 2007) By Jim Crosby
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field ─and to get the treasure too. ~ Matthew 13:44(NLT)
The story is told of a farmer in Africa who, after hearing the adventures of a visitor to his farm, became excited about the prospects of looking for diamonds. An abundance of diamonds had already been discovered on the African continent, so this farmer became taken with the idea of finding millions of dollars of diamonds.
He sold his farm and headed out to discover fame and fortune. He searched all over the continent for diamonds. But, as the years slipped past the wealth he had dreamed of still eluded him. He was completely broke and became so discouraged that he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meanwhile the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock, about the size of a country egg, and put it up on the mantle as sort of a conversation piece. A visitor happened by and was invited in. When he saw the rock on the mantle he became very excited. He said that rock was the biggest diamond he had ever seen. The new farm owner said, "Heck, the whole farm is covered with them."
Sure enough that farm became the Kimberly Diamond Mine...the richest the world has ever known. Before he started out on his mis-adventure the farmer had been standing on "an acre of diamonds." After telling the story Earl Nightingale said to his worldwide radio audience: "You are, at this moment, standing, right in the middle of your own "acres of diamonds."
Now, I'm not suggesting that you go out in your backyard and pick up a bunch of rocks and take them down to Helzberg or Kay Jewelers and see what they are worth. Unless you are very lucky those rocks would be worth nothing. Of course "diamonds in the rough" don't really look like diamonds as we know them do they?
In a 2001 devotion (since repeated in 2006) entitled "Diamonds Against Black Velvet," I quoted famous English preacher Charles Spurgeon who pointed out "when a jeweler shows his best diamonds he sets them against a black velvet backdrop. The contrast of the jewels against the dark velvet background brings out their luster."
That foolish farmer never would have sold his farm if all those rocks had been cut, polished and laying around on pieces of black velvet. But, it doesn't work that way.
As Nightingale says "we're in the middle of an acre of diamonds everyday. We just have to seek them out." We have to determine which are just plain rocks and which are diamonds. The point is that "opportunity does not just come along─it is there all the time─we just have to see it."
I don't know anything else about our mis-guided farmer. But, I can imagine that he rarely stopped to just look around his farm and to appreciate the beauty of the setting. Even if he had done so, he would probably have simply seen a bunch of rocks that impeded his progress in plowing the ground to plant his crops.
He could only see the hard work required and the obstacles he had to overcome to be successful in farming. He never could have imagined that he was standing in acres of diamonds. He could only envision the toil, the problems, and the frustration. Had he stuck with it, I believe someday the same kind of person who ventured by and recognized the rock on the mantle as a diamond would have come by and seen these diamonds in the farmer's field and told him. Then, instead of the folly of running around looking for diamonds elsewhere, he would have seen what a great blessing he had right where he was living.
How often do we look elsewhere for something only to discover we already have something of equal or greater value right where we are? In our central scripture today the man who finds the treasure in the field recognizes it for what it is. He is willing to make a great sacrifice in order to own it. So, he sells everything and purchases the field and gets the treasure as well.
In this parable Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven. He points out that it is like that treasure. It is of inestimable value. Preparing for it should make us see some of the other things in life in a different light. It is worth selling out our other interests, if those are holding us back, to ensure a future in the kingdom of heaven.
The good news is that we are already standing in an acre of diamonds because we have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Let's take a look at what these are as we search for them in our home place. Look over here that big diamond sparkling in our life, right in the center of the backyard is our beliefs. We believe in Jesus and that is the main key, the one that opens the gates to the kingdom. "...for whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
As we continue our search we find there are other diamonds in our life with which the pathway to the kingdom is paved. Our faith in God is another sparkling gem. It keeps us going and shows us there is a better way when things aren't happening like we want them to. "For faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Here in another part of our yard we find this diamond in the rough. It's called hope. Our hope is fueled by God's promises to us. It keeps our dreams alive. "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you..." Jeremiah 29:11
And this big old rock over here in the corner of the yard is a real treasure. It's the Bible─the word of God. It is our instruction book. We learn new and exciting things from it everyday. It teaches us by separating right from wrong and putting each in the proper category. "For the word of God living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword..." Hebrews 4:12
There are many other diamonds awaiting your self-discovery. Little gems like prayer...your church...your loving spouse...family...friends and neighbors...material comforts...health...happiness. And this one, your talents. God has blessed you with the talent to do many things. Much of your talent is still waiting to be uncovered. You don't have to go searching elsewhere for a solution. God has given you the ability.
When you really stop to think about it you have a lot going for you. Yes, you are literally living in "acres of diamonds."
Weekly Prayer: Lord, thank you for the diamonds in life. Help us to use these sparkling gems to make the place where we are a better place to live and serve You! Amen!
Author's note: There you have it. You're living amongst a bunch of un-cut diamonds. Have fun in discovering these so your life will truly sparkle.
Watch The Birdie (March 14, 2007) By Jim Crosby
Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows. ~Matthew 10:29-31
More than 60 million North Americans now engage in "birding" which is the common name for bird-watching. They have plenty to watch because there are 920 different species of birds that have been observed by birders in this country.(Smithsonian: Birds of North America)
It used to be that the term "bird watcher" had a much different connotation. It carried an image of, well...uh, a nerd...somebody out of the mainstream. TV shows like The Beverly Hillbillies with the bird-watching character Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp) further contributed to that viewpoint. Playing the role to perfection she was cast as "long-suffering, love-sick, and bird loving." Since she was perpetually "date-less" the obvious analogy was that people who were bird-watchers were different. Not so any more. They come from all walks of life.
Recently I've become somewhat a bird-watcher myself. Birds are one of God's neatest creations. If you pay attention to them you'll begin to notice that each bird has its own little habits and quirks. While a bird's day mostly consists of looking for food and flying from place-to-place, identifying the different birds in your area can be fun. Soon they become old friends as you are on the lookout for certain ones.
In the 19th century "bird" was a slang term that meant anything "excellent." Thus golfers picked up the term "birdie" (one shot below par) to signify a shot that was "so beautiful that it flies like a bird." (http://www.word-detective.com/) Needlesss to say golfers are very fond of watching birdies.
The phrase "watch the birdie" evolved from the early days of photography. It was a tactic used to get the attention and hopefully elicit a smile from a restless child who was being photographed. A parent or assistant would stand behind the cameraman with a replica of a bird, usually a brass model, and start waving the bird around as they called out: "watch the birdie."
Watching birds is a good way to come to the realization how greatly we are blessed by our Creator. "His eye is on the sparrow" so says the song. In Florida his eye would likely be on about three different kinds of sparrows with the Song Sparrow probably being the most common. Most of these feature brownish gray coloring and have a pleasant song in which they whistle two or three introductory notes, finishing with a high trill. Something like: "chimp-what-ssst.")
Probably the reason the sparrow is singled out in Matthew 10 is because they are small birds; usually measuring between 4.5 to 7 inches. So, on a monetary scale they aren't that valuable as Matthew (10:29) puts it, "worth only half a penny." But, God sees and cares when even one of these little birds falls to the ground. And while He cares for them he cares even more for you and me who were created in His image.
Meanwhile as we watch the birdies our Heavenly Father watches us watching them. And He uses our bird-watching to present a good example of why we shouldn't worry. "So, I tell you, don't worry about everyday life─whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are." (Matthew 6:25-26)
We are being told that worry is a killer. It can bring you down. As the NLT Bible says, "Worry may, 1) damage your health 2) disrupt your productivity 3) negatively affect the way you treat others and 4) reduce your ability to trust God." Worry ain't good!
But, we are bombarded by so many negatives in our daily world that worry has evolved as something that seems like the natural thing to do. Yet, worry rarely has positive effects. It seldom solves a problem. It's negative impact on us is far greater than any benefit we could derive from it.
Am I saying that it is possible to simply go through life without a care in the world? No, even the Bible says: "In this world you will have trouble." But, Jesus says "Don't fear I have overcome the world."
Sometimes God sends other people to help us with the things we worry about. In His perfect timing, He sends physical support to supplement the spiritual support we get from our prayers. This is true also in the bird kingdom.
I remember when my interest in learning about birds was first stimulated. After we moved to our new home, one Saturday morning a husband and wife "birding" team held a class down at the lake just a couple of blocks from our house. One of the most memorable things from that experience was when they talked about how birds band together to help each other in a certain situation.
Halfway around the lake we had stopped in an open area bordered by some very tall trees. Then the man said he would show us how to attract birds. There is one thing that just about every bird has in common. They hate the Screech Owl. He he had a tape recording that continually played the screeching of an owl. He went into the open area and put the recording of that owl's screeching on full blast and left it there. In a matter of minutes those trees were full of birds of all kinds. Each one tweeting out its own scolding song in a joint effort to scare away the owl. Those birds had bonded together for the common good.
God watches over those birds and He watches over us. When we have trouble He will send help. So, whenever you leave your house in the morning, or go for a walk, or sit on a park bench, look and listen. Chances are it won't take long for you to hear or see a bird busy singing or tracking down food. As you "watch the birdie" be reminded that God loves that bird, but He loves you even more.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we appreciate the beauty of your creation. We praise You and give thanks for the birds of the air that only an awesome God could create. Help us to be reminded of your love for us when we see all these different kinds of birds flying above us. Amen!
Author's note: With spring approaching it's a great time for bird-watching. Those birds are on the move. Some are flying north for the summer. Some are flying south. And the old faithfuls are staying in your area. Take time to enjoy this part of God's creation and it will help put a lot of things in proper perspective.
Tough Enough (March 7, 2007) By Jim Crosby
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. ~Joshua 1:9
"God's great love and purposes for us are worked out in the messes, storms, and sins, blue skies, daily work, and dreams of our common lives, working with us as we are and not as we should be.
People who want God as an escape from reality, from the often hard conditions of this life, don't find this much to their liking. But to the man or woman wanting more reality, not less─this continuation of the salvation story─Joshua's fierce and devout determination to win land for his people and his extraordinary attention to getting all the tribes and their families name by name assigned to their own place, is good news indeed. Joshua lays a firm foundation for a life that is grounded." (The Message, Introduction to Joshua, pg. 363).
Joshua was being readied by God to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. That land had been promised many years before, but because of their whining and complaining, they had been wandering in the wilderness. They weren't tough enough─yet. But, Joshua was. He had that fierceness. That determination. He wouldn't back down. He was not easily swayed. But, most of all he had faith in God.
Sometimes when we hear the word "tough" we mistake it for big, brawny, physical people. Football coaches want their players to have "toughness" above all other attributes. But being tough is not limited to the physical arena. Mental toughness is the key to enduring and surviving difficulties.
Pastor Joel Osteen tells the story of a little boy who, much to his Mother's dismay, was jumping up and down and being a distraction in church. He would stand on his seat for a few minutes and his Mom would say, "Son, sit down!" He would...but, only for a few minutes, then he would be jumping up and down in the aisle. He was just full of energy. He was all-boy!
Finally, in desperation, his Mom just took her hand, placed it on his head and pushed him down onto the seat. This time he sat there smiling. Then, he looked at his mother and said, "Mom, I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing up on the inside." That boy had inner toughness. That's where it all starts---inside.
A person who is tough is also strong. He is resistant. She is unyielding. They are not easily moved. They may be sitting down on the outside, but they are bouncing around on the inside.
My wife, the Lovely Susette, is an interior designer. She's 5'3" and, well I won't give her weight ‘cause she'll get me if I do, but suffice it to say that it ain't much. She's pleasant and easy to get along with. But, she's tough! I've seen contractors, painters, plumbers, vendors, etc. come to that conclusion. They go away shaking their heads and probably muttering─ "Man, she's tough" ─ if they try to take an approach that is not up to the standards or quality she demands on a job or if they want to take an ill-advised shortcut. Toughness can come in small packages. Toughness will not be defeated.
Dr. Robert Schuller, in his book Tough Times Never Last, Tough People Do, describes the mind-set of the tough-minded person: "When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath─or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help!"
That's what toughness does for you. It will not let you quit. It prompts you to find a way. When Joshua went out to explore the Promised Land, along with the other scouts, he came back and reported, "We can take it." He and Caleb were the only ones who reported positively. The rest of the scouts weren't as tough as Joshua and Caleb. They fearfully described the size and perceived strength of the inhabitants while expressing misgivings about being able to conquer the land.
Now, many years later those guys were dead and Joshua was ready to take the land for his people. It took awhile, but Joshua outlasted them all. He was now in charge. He and God were in control of the situation.
Joshua said to the people: "Pack your bags. In three days you will cross this Jordan River to enter and take the land God, your God, is giving you to possess." His message hadn't changed. Joshua hadn't changed either in all those years. He was still confident they would take the land. His toughness had won out.
Hebrews 10:35 -36 says: "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised." Really that's what Joshua did. He remained confident. He kept the faith. God had promised them a new country and Joshua believed and trusted Him.
God's promise was still on target after all those years. That's what enables us to develop our inner toughness. It's why we can keep standing firm. As the old song "Standing on the Promises" reminds us: "When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God."
When we believe in something we will defend that belief. It becomes a part of us. As we stand on God's promises we'll be standing firm even when those beliefs are buffeted about by strong opposition. As Joel says: "Even when we are sitting down on the outside, we must see ourselves as standing on the inside." That's the way we become "tough enough."
This Week's Prayer: Lord help us to be tough enough even when our lives seem like one big mess or something happens to create a storm. We know as we stand on your promises of love and protection we will develop the kind of inner toughness you can work with in your plan for our lives. Amen
Author's note: Have a great week. Stand on the promises. Stay tough!
A Gym For The Soul (February 28, 2007) by Jim Crosby
When I pray you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need. ~Psalm 138:3
Last year I started reading the Psalms. Sure, I had read all of the Psalms before. But, I hadn't really read them, if you know what I mean. In the past I had read the Bible through from start to finish a number of times, so, I certainly had read, or maybe I should say been exposed to, all of the Psalms before.
There is one negative associated with a program of reading the Bible all the way through in a specified amount of time. You have a tendency to hurry your reading. Sometimes you find your focus is more about checking off another day's scripture reading as done instead of concentrating on what that scripture actually says and how it applies to your own life.
So, it appeared to me that this is what had happened frequently in my reading of the Psalms. I was determined to do something about it. I'm one of the world's greatest list-makers and goal-setters. That's fine, but the caveat is that you must be careful or you'll fall in love with the planning and not leave enough time to execute it. What's the old saying? "You've got to plan your work and work your plan!"
What I decided to do is simply read all of the Psalms and to try to think deeply (well as deeply as I'm capable of doing) about each one. No time table. No bragging rights ("Hey look at me I just read all the Psalms through," while patting myself on the back for being a good little boy.)
I won't say that my day is not complete until I've read the Psalm for the day. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on myself. Then I'll just begin checking them off as "done" again. So, I just pick them up periodically and read, study, and contemplate one. I think I've read about 85 of the 150 Psalms so far. Sometimes I may re-read one before I move on. No agenda. Just learning and drawing strength from them.
The Psalms have become kind of a "gymnasium for my soul." (Notice that's in quotes) Wish I could take credit for that catchy little phrase, but I read it in Phillip Yancey's latest book on Prayer. He is quoting St. Ambrose who "described the Psalms as sort of a gymnasium for the use of all souls."
I like that image because I know how good I feel about working out. Uh..., let me rephrase that. I know how good I feel when I leave the "Y" after completing a rigorous, challenging exercise session. Just as the gym has various machines that fit your different needs, so do the Psalms.
The Psalms can be very uplifting as we see in our focal verse: "When I pray you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need." And how about that truly wonderful Twenty-third Psalm? "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me." Ah yes, God is good!
But, what about the 22nd Psalm? Just before we read in Psalm 23 about God preparing a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and anointing our heads with oil and how our cup runs over with all these blessings and how goodness and mercy are going to follow us all the days of our life, we read: "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help! Every day I call to you my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. (Psalm 22:1-2) Oops! So life is not a bed of roses after all. Into every life some rain must fall. I could pull out a few more choice clichés, but there's no need to. The Apostle Paul explained that we would have troubles, but that they would be character builders.
As Yancey says, "Everyone who keeps company with God goes through stages encompassing bright joyful times as well as dark wintry times." That's just the way life works. If everything was good all the time we wouldn't appreciate those really special times when God sends them our way.
Just as God creates a rainbow to signify that a storm has passed, he sends bright, sunny days into our lives after times of turmoil. After a Psalm 88: 8-9, "....I am in a trap with no way of escape. My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O Lord." We read in Psalm 89:1 "I will sing of the tender mercies of the Lord forever! Young and old will hear of His faithfulness."
Sure we will find words of distress and sorrow in Psalms like: "My heart is sick like withered grass and I have lost my appetite." (102:4). "I lie awake lonely as a solitary bird on the roof." (102:6.) "I am worn out from sobbing. Every night tears drench my bed; my pillow is wet from weeping. My vision is blurred by grief and my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies" (6:6-7). Who needs more depression? Why read these Psalms and get further depressed?
Here are some real good reasons to read the Psalms:
- "The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." (Ps. 32:8)
- "But you O Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to get angry, full of unfailing love and truth." (Ps. 86:15)
- "For He orders his angels to protect you wherever you go." (Ps. 91:11)
- "For his unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth." (Ps. 103:11)
- "The Lord is for me, so I will not be afraid, What can mere mortals do to me? (Ps. 118:6)
- "When I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need." (Ps. 138:3)
Now that's more like it and I've only scratched the surface. Every day...well, not everyday, but every time I read a Psalm, I find such encouragement and that's only the beginning. There's much more awaiting the reader of the Psalms. This is probably why the Psalmist deduced: "A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked." (Ps. 84:10).
Sounds like words straight from the Gymnasium for your soul!
This Week's Prayer: Lord your Psalms are truly a gym for our soul. Thank you for making them readily available to us. Help us to work-out there often and draw strength and encouragement from them. Amen!
Author's note: Did you know that the center of the Bible is found in Psalms? Yes, Psalm 118:8 is the midpoint of the Bible with an equal number of scriptures coming before and after it. What does it say? "It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in people."
Faithfully Yours (February 21, 2007) by Jim Crosby
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. ~2 Timothy 2:13
In our recent small group Bible study in the Gospel of Mark we read the story of the four friends who carried their paralyzed friend to be healed by Jesus. When they arrived at their destination they discovered the house was overcrowded and they couldn't get in.
So, with remarkable ingenuity they went up to the roof, dug a hole through that flat roof, which consisted of brushwood and clay, and lowered their friend down to the floor at the feet of Jesus. There he was healed.
One of the discussion questions we considered, in light of this story, was: "What characteristic do you value most in a friend?" The choices were: 1) loyalty 2) good humor 3) compassion 4) honesty 5) understanding 6) strong faith 7) other. While all of those are good qualities to have in a friend, and "strong faith" is certainly a good one, I think I would have to choose loyalty.
Loyalty means that your friend will stick with you through good times and bad ones. You don't have to always be trying to prove your worth to this friend. He/she likes you no matter how much you make a mess of things.
When I look up the word "faithful" in my Synonym Finder, the first synonym I come to is: "loyal." A loyal friend is a faithful friend. Looking at a few other synonyms we find that faithful/loyal people are: reliable; conscientious; trusted; dependable; tried and true; honest; sincere; true to one's word; upright; high-principled and more. Wow, where do I find a friend like that?
While there are some friends who have many of those characteristics, probably no one possesses all of them or certainly nobody can demonstrate all of those all of the time. Well, there is one exception. Jesus!
He really doesn't have a choice. He has to be faithful because that is what He is all about. Being a faithful friend to us through thick and thin. As 2 Timothy 2:13 points out He is faithful even when we are unfaithful because He cannot deny Himself.
The NLT Bible commentary elaborates: "Jesus is faithful. He will stay by our side even when we have endured so much that we seem to have no faith left. We may be faithless at times, but Jesus is faithful to His promise to be with us ‘to the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20). Refusing Christ's help will break our communication with God, but He will never turn His back on us even though we may turn our back on Him." Now that's a true friend!
The paralytic in Mark 2 had four faithful friends. Do you or I have four friends who would go out of their way to help us to the extent those friends did? That's something to contemplate.
I remember seeing a poster once that showed a path through the snow leading up to a house sitting on a hill. The caption on it said, "To a friend's house the road is never long." That goes along with the old saying: "To have a friend be a friend." If we want to develop friendships it starts with being a faithful friend ourselves. Not one who abandons the ship when it seems to be sinking. But, a friend who stays on board, bailing water, until the ship is saved.
The friends of the paralytic were obviously men of faith. They had faith that once they went to all the trouble to carry their friend to the destination, fight their way through the obstacles there, and get him an audience with Jesus, their efforts would be rewarded.
They weren't looking for a monetary reward. They weren't seeking a write-up in the "Capernaum Daily News." They weren't seeking to be memorialized in scripture forever, although their act was so remarkable they have been. Their one main reason for doing all of that was to get healing for their friend. They were four faithful friends.
Friendship is priceless. Perhaps one of the greatest times in the lives of the Disciples was the day Jesus said to them: "I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me, I chose you." (John 15:15-16).
They had been found worthy of being called "friends." And even though they would desert Jesus in his time of greatest need...they were still his friends. He did not desert them. He remained their faithful friend. He knew the pressures that caused them not to respond as a faithful friend would. But He forgave them. Friends forgive friends.
Dr. David Jeremiah relates the story of Dr. Chandrasekar, Nobel prize-winning professor of astrophysics at the University of Chicago. In 1947, he was scheduled to teach an advanced seminar. He lived in Wisconsin, so in the dead of winter, he had to make the 100-mile trip to the campus twice a week.
When only two students signed up for the class everyone expected him to cancel. He didn't. All winter long he braved the snow and ice twice a week to teach the class. As Jeremiah says, "Dr. Chandrasekar displayed one of God's characteristics: faithfulness.
Oh yeah, one other note. Both of those students won a Nobel Prize later. The professor's faithfulness was rewarded.
Don't you love stories like that where people do the right thing despite difficulties and numerous reasons to cop out and God rewards their faithfulness? Well, guess what! God is writing that kind of story for your life. I'm sure you can remember times in your life when you did the right thing and it all turned out well.
God has lots more of those awaiting you if you are faithful to Him. In fact, our scripture says this is the case even when you are unfaithful. Count on it. When God writes that letter of recommendation for you saying just how good you can be. He will sign it:
Faithfully Yours.
This Week's Prayer: Lord thank you for being faithful and attentive to our every need even when we are unfaithful and don't deserve it. You are an awesome God. Amen!
Author's note: Maybe the story of the four friends of the paralytic will cause us to think a little bit differently this week about friends. Having friends and being a friend are important.
Coaching For God (February 14, 2007) by Jim Crosby
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. ~Psalm 32:8
Well, the football season is officially over. The long journey that began in August culminated in a fantastic finish in February at the Super Bowl. It was an exciting season in both the college and professional ranks. But, I think one of the strongest memories I have of this recently concluded season will not be one from a game, but from a postgame.
As I watched the Colts celebration in the relentless rain and the soggy confetti the cameras zoomed in on the podium at midfield of the Miami Stadium where Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy was being presented the Pete Rozelle silver football trophy, emblematic of being Super Bowl Champions.
It was a historic occasion because not only was it the first championship for Indianapolis, but also the first time an African-American Coach had won the trophy. In fact, it was the first time two black head coaches had coached in this game with Lovie Smith coaching the Chicago Bears.
Inevitably Dungy was asked what it meant to him to be the first Head Coach of his race to win the Super Bowl. Here's what he answered and the thing that was thrilling to me: "I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this. But, again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-Americans, but also Christian coaches showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that." Amen, Tony! You go guy!
Tony Dungy had just stood up for doing things the right way. "The Lord's way." Dungy had used his moment in the spotlight to witness to millions of people. Yes, Christians can succeed in a secular world. Dungy was not afraid to share his faith with the world. He wasn't fearful of criticism, displeasure or disagreement. He was using his moment in the spotlight, a time during in which everyone was listening to hear how he accomplished winning the biggest game in Pro football to tell the truth about how he did it. He committed his work to the Lord and in doing so he was blessed with a great reward.
It was only a little over a year ago that Dungy's son committed suicide. He acknowledges that it was through his faith and the Lord's strength that he was able to get through that, then to continue and perform his job at such a high level in the face of this tragedy. His unshakeable faith speaks volumes to us as Christians about obstacles we face and how God is always faithful.
I remember a few years back interviewing Danny Wuerffel's Dad who was a military chaplain. He said that Danny, an All-American QB at the University of Florida, had an opportunity to reach more people for Christ in a couple of minutes on national television after a bowl game than he could reach in a lifetime of preaching. Danny always gave credit to the Lord at the outset of his interviews.
February 7, 2007, was National Signing Day for college football. It is the day that all the hard work college coaches have put in trying to convince high school and junior college players to come and play football for their school comes to a conclusion. I was at the press conference for Florida State University when recruiting coordinator John Lilly said: "We'd like to thank God because we are very serious about praying that He delivers the right guys to our program and if Florida State is not the right place for them they end up where the right place for them is." Lilly was letting it be known that each recruit who visits FSU and those who play for the Seminoles are in the prayers of the coaching staff.
Later in an interview Coach Bobby Bowden used as a recruiting example the Parable of the Lost Sheep. He talked about leaving the ninety-and-nine players secure in the fold and going out to seek the lost or un-committed one to bring him safely in.
I remember reading a quote by Bobby Dodd, legendary Hall of Fame Coach at Georgia Tech who said: "We're not miracle workers, but if you send us a good boy to Georgia Tech, we will send you a good boy home." Dodd also said: "Either you love your players or you get out of coaching."
It's the messages of Dungy, Lilly, Bowden and Dodd that often get lost in the newspaper and magazine accounts of the keys to success. I've often stood in interviews with Christian athletes and coaches and seen media members squirm and change the subject when these performers have mentioned their faith as being a key to success. These stories get overshadowed by those of arrests of players for drug use, driving under the influence, abuse of spouse or girl friend and other negative sensationalism.
If the truth was known there are far more faith-related activities going on in coaching, teaching, and performing than there are high profile arrests. So how can these get to be reported more proportionally in the media? It will probably occur when more courageous Christians than just Dungy, Wuerffel, Charlie Ward and others stand up for their faith and speak out about the role it has played in their success. When this becomes the norm rather than the exception reporters, who are doing their job, must report it.
This is one reason I am working on a series of Sports Related Bible Studies. There are so many ways in which our faith can elevate our everyday lives when we look at the principles that govern athletic success and through related scriptures see how they can help us in our everyday lives.
The Psalmist writes in 32:8: "I will instruct you and and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Isn't that a wonderful promise? God says that He is going to tell us what to do. He will teach us how to do it. He will counsel us in the problems and roadblocks we encounter. And He will be watching over us all the way."
The same instruction, teaching, counseling, and watch care that Tony Dungy availed himself of in winning the Super Bowl is available to you and me. All we have to do is seek and follow the things that our God reveals to us.
This Week's Prayer: Father, we realize that every day can be a Super Bowl day in our lives when we commit our deeds to you. Each morning we ask that you instruct us and strengthen our faith to follow Your way. Amen.
Author's note: May the Lord bless and keep you this week as you seek His instruction, teaching and counseling, secure in the fact that He is watching over you.
Doubting (February 7, 2007) by Jim Crosby
They told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But Thomas replied, I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them and place my hand into the wound in his side." ~John 20:25
Let's start this week's devotion with a word of thanks. "Thank you Thomas for your example." So, what great feat did Thomas perform for which we should be grateful?
Well, he...uh...he doubted!
Say what? We're supposed to thank Thomas for not taking the word of ten of his best friends on a matter? You mean we should thank Thomas for not having faith that Jesus did what his friends were telling him He did? Yes, that's what I'm saying.
Thanks to Thomas it is okay to have doubts. It's okay to look for verification ...for some means of proof if something sounds...say, too good to be true. Or it's all right to try find proof that something bad is true by getting to the bottom of matters and having your questions answered before you erase all doubts.
For some reason Thomas was not around when Jesus appeared to the other 10 disciples after the resurrection. There was one other disciple who wasn't there either─Judas─but we know why he wasn't present. Thomas, we're not sure about. Maybe he was so distraught at what had happened he just wanted to be alone. Maybe he went fishing. We don't know. But, he wasn't around. So he got the information second hand that Jesus, who had been crucified and buried, had appeared, in the flesh to His disciples.
So, Thomas' doubts had a purpose. He was seeking the truth. As the NLT Bible says, "Doubting was only his way of responding, not his way of life." Thomas didn't go through life as a negative person who refused to believe others. He wasn't a man of little faith. He was simply a seeker of the truth.
Eight days later Jesus re-appeared and this time Thomas was there. He didn't scold Thomas for having doubts. But, He did present a little life lesson for us. He said to Thomas "Put your fingers here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless (a doubter) any longer. Believe." Now here comes the lesson.
Jesus said: "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway." Hey that's us. We haven't personally seen Jesus. But, we believe. That's why we enjoy so many blessings.
There's another story...this one in Mark, Chapter 9, that I've always liked because it is about a man who is a believer, but he has some doubts and he hates that he does. He doesn't want to have doubts, but they keep creeping into his mind, so he utters a memorable phrase. It's one I've used many times in my prayers. But, first the story.
There was a man, in a crowd, whose son was demon-possessed. He asked Jesus to heal him, "if you can." Jesus answered "What do you mean if I can? All things are possible if a person believes."
Did you ever just say something badly and want to call time out? You want to say "wait a minute that didn't sound right let me re-phrase it." I think this man may have had second thoughts. Might have been thinking...you know, I could have said that a little better. So, he instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt." Like I say, I've had to use that line before in my prayers when doubts have crept in.
Shakespeare said: "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." Newspaper Business writer Jerry Osteryoung elaborates on Shakespeare's statement: "Doubts as Shakespeare said are our traitors. They are like voices that tell us the goal is out of reach or that it is no longer important.
In essence, doubts are thoughts that impede our ability to succeed. If we think we cannot achieve something, we will not. It is as simple as that. Our negative thoughts drive us off the path; they are what hinder our success."
So, doubts can destroy our good intentions, hinder our best efforts and defeat our goals, if we let them. But, there can be a positive side to doubting as well. Hear what the NLT Bible says in it's bio of Thomas. "We can doubt without having to live a doubting way of life. Doubt encourages rethinking. Its purpose is more to sharpen the mind than to change it. Doubt can be used to pose the question, get an answer, and push for a decision. But, doubt was never meant to be a permanent condition. Doubt is one foot lifted, poised to step forward or backward. There is no motion until the foot comes down."
As far as life lessons that we can learn from good old "Doubting Thomas" here's what NLT says: First, Jesus did not reject doubts that are honest and directed toward belief. Second, it's better to doubt out loud than to disbelieve in silence.
Doubting is one of Satan's most effective tools. If he can put enough doubts in your mind then he can stymie your best efforts especially those directed at growing God's Kingdom. Doubts can thwart those goals, make you question your actions, even weaken your beliefs.
This is where doubting and having faith collide. How strong is your faith? Is it strong enough, like the man with the demon-possessed son, to admit that you have doubts and ask the Lord to help you with your doubts?
Having doubts doesn't mean that we are disloyal to others. Jesus didn't come down hard on Thomas for doubting. Some people believe more readily than others. But doubts represent bigger roadblocks in the lives of some than others. That's okay! "If doubt leads to questions, questions lead to answers, and the answers are accepted, then doubt has done good work."
So, don't let your doubts defeat you. On the contrary, when you pursue the answers doubt will deepen your faith. In the long run when you cope with these doubts you will be stronger and feel better about yourself and your relationship with the God who loves you.
This Week's Prayer: Lord, doubts frequently occupy our minds. Help us to defeat them and not to let them take up residency there. May the end result of each doubt we face be a stronger faith, so we may more readily overcome doubts that arise in the future. Amen!
Author's note: Not to worry. Doubts will come and they will go. Your faith will give you a resounding victory over them.
Angle of Repose (January 31, 2007) by Jim Crosby
If you live in the mountains you may take this for granted. But, for a Floridian who loves the mountains (we don't have any of those in my state), I find this fascinating.
Did you ever travel on a mountain road and look up at a bunch of giant rocks and wonder what was keeping them from falling on your car? I must admit I give that question some thought when I'm vacationing in the mountains.
Now, after an extensive amount of geological research, I have the answer. The thing that keeps those boulders from bouncing down the mountainside and on top of your car is the angle of repose. Hey, are you impressed?
Actually let me qualify a couple of things. My extensive research actually consisted of reading about this in Philip Yancey's latest book, Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference. Yancey said the angle of repose is "the precise angle at which a boulder will rest on the side of a hill, rather than tumble downward."
Okay, so now you know. You're probably thinking, "That's nice, but was the quality of my life really improved by gaining that bit of knowledge." Or maybe you did know it already. Or maybe you didn't care.
Well consider this new found knowledge you now have in light of another blockbuster. Did you know that "angle of repose" is a good way to describe something that is important in our prayer life? Yancey says that we should consider the angle of repose as "the point at which prayer and action meet."
So, how important is that? Pretty important if you ask James. Well if you could ask him, but he's been deceased for 2,000 years. Yet, his little old book in the Bible is still dynamite, even in the 21st century. James doesn't pull any punches when he talks about our faith. He says it doesn't do any good to have faith if it isn't followed by action.
James asks the question: "What good is it to say to someone in need. I wish you the best, have a good day." Then I mosey on by without an offer to help. Prayer that isn't followed by prayerful action accomplishes only half the task. When both are a part of the strategy it is a powerful one indeed.
Sir Thomas Moore prayed: "The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labour for." Sometimes when a person is hurting and you ask what you can do to help the reply will be: "Just pray for me." Armed with those clear instructions you can go to the Lord in sincere, heartfelt, intercessory prayer thereby placing the burden on Him. If there is a way you can help further then God will show you.
When you pray in faith God can do great things. But, James cautions that it is of little use to say you have faith and then disprove it by your actions. Praying for one thing and doing another or not doing anything won't get it.
The NLT Bible (pg 1988) says: "When someone claims to have faith, what he or she may have is intellectual assent─agreement with a set of Christian teachings─and as such it would be incomplete faith. True faith transforms our conduct as well as our thoughts. If our life remains unchanged, we don't truly believe the truths we claim to believe."
The Message puts it a little more succinctly:"...God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense." Ouch. That one smarts. But, we are all a little guilty of this. Sometimes we pray with the best of intentions for a brother in need, but we leave it at that.
We leave it up to God to work it out through some other means than by using us. This is kind of like a kid asking his parents to solve a math problem while he plays video games. But, what if God had determined that the best way to help that brother was through us? Then what?
We would certainly take a disconcerting guilt-trip at work or at home if we allowed someone else to do a bunch of stuff that we should be doing or helping with. So why is it different with God? Why is it okay to just pray and dump the total burden on God and say "All right I did my part, I prayed. Now, you go, God!
God blesses us and works out so many things in our lives that we don't even realize many of these are the results of prayerful action. Sometimes unexpected help comes from a friend, a neighbor, a stranger. Could that have been a prayerful action following a prayer? Maybe a relative or friend in another city has you in his or her prayers. They are praying for your well-being. God answers that prayer with prayerful action on the part of another closer in proximity to you.
The church that we are starting near my new neighborhood is called: Good Samaritan Church. Just by choosing that name we made a statement that as a praying church we also know the importance of following it up with prayerful action. And these actions, by the following the example of the Good Samaritan, are to be extended to others without qualification. It doesn't matter who you are the Good Samaritan Church opens its doors to you and invites you to come worship, learn, serve and play together with us. We've prayed for a successful start to this church. The prayers have been and are being answered. Now we understand it is time for our prayerful action to follow.
This is a time for all of us, in our faith and our prayer-life to consider the angle of repose. Where do our prayers and actions join at that perfect angle to prevent our faith from tumbling down the mountainside?
Weekly Prayer: Lord the angle of repose is sometimes a tricky one to discover. But, it doesn't take a tape measure, a laser level, or a divining rod to find it. It will be found as we determine in our hearts that our prayers are going to be followed by prayerful actions. Amen!
Author's note: Pray that God will show you the proper angle of repose in your prayer life and that prayer will be answered.
Praising (January 24, 2007) by Jim Crosby
"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom." ~Psalm 145:3
"If we win we will praise Him. If we lose we will praise Him," Coach Grant Taylor told his football team, the Shiloh Eagles, in a memorable scene from the movie "Facing the Giants." I have to say this one line from that big-little movie has really impacted the lives of the Lovely Susette and me.
Just a little refresher here... "Facing the Giants" is a production of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. Using church talent and calling on local businesses to help, they crafted a movie that was so appealing Sony Pictures picked it up and distributed it nationwide.
The reason I bring it up again is to emphasize the dramatic role one line can play in a person's life if he or she takes it to heart. A little while after we saw the movie Susette said, as we were grappling to come up with a solution to a problem, "I've just decided that no matter how this comes out, I will praise Him if we win and praise Him if we lose." Great minds work together when the Lord is directing them because I had been thinking the same thing.
If you want to experience positive changes in your life adopt a posture of praising God in all things. Remember the Shiloh Eagles were transformed from losers to winners on the football field and in life when they adopted this stance. The NLT Bible says (pg 360) "Whether you are experiencing a great victory or a major dilemma singing praises to God can have a positive effect on your attitude."
Praising God when things are going well is easy to do─if we remember to do it. Praising Him in tough times is more difficult, but equally important. It is a matter of the mindset that we have. Are we determined to praise Him when we lose as well as win? It takes a little practice to do that. We must, like those Shiloh Eagles who turned their misfortunes into fortunes by changing their attitude, do the same.
King David made a vow that He would praise God everyday. Psalm 61:8: Then I will always sing praises to your name as I fulfill my vows day after day. By vowing to do this David was saying he was going to praise God in good times and through difficulties. No matter what happened he would give praise to God.
Praising God when we are in the depths of depression may not be easy, but it is a great solution. Melody Beattie in her book "Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life" tells an interesting story about her new house. Well, it was new to her, but not a brand new house by any stretch of the imagination.
This house "was three stories of broken windows and broken wood. Some rooms had ten layers of wallpaper on the walls. Some walls had holes straight through to outdoors. The floors were covered with bright orange carpeting with large stains." You get the picture. About all you say for it was that they owned their own home, but it was all they could afford as newlyweds with a new baby.
What to do? Well, her first solution was to wait until everyone was asleep at night, tiptoe down to the living room, sit in the middle of the floor and cry. After months of doing this she determined that would not make things better. She determined to try praise and thanksgiving. She would tell God what she was grateful for.
Then, she said, "Wait a minute. This is absurd. What do I have to be grateful for in this ugly house." However, tiring of her own whining she decided to try this approach anyway. She forced it. She faked it. She made herself think grateful thoughts. She started thanking God for each thing in the house she hated. She evened thanked God that she hated it.
When she stopped thinking about what she hated and became grateful that she had a house, ideas started to pop into her head. She wondered what was under the wallpaper and began to peel it off revealing a decent paint job. She went to a community workshop and learned about textured paints that fill and cover old walls and the cracks in them. She found some antique lace curtains in boxes she had packed away. Her mother volunteered to help her do some wallpapering.
Guess what! In nine months she had a beautiful home. Those old solid oak floors now glistened and the bargain country-print wallpaper contrasted nicely with dark, scrolled woodwork. It came about because the whining turned to praising. Praise and thanksgiving go hand-in-hand. They are partners in progress.
Think about how you feel when someone praises you for something you've done. It's a good thing. That makes it even more appropriate to praise God because praising Him reminds us of His faithfulness and His character. He has done infinitely more that is praise-worthy than we could ever imagine.
Beginning any task we undertake by first giving praise to God is not only appropriate it's smart. It follows the instructions of Jesus who in teaching His disciples to pray began the model prayer (The Lord's Prayer) with praise. "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name." Then the petitions follow the praise. Unfortunately many of our prayers are the other way around. While we are promised that our prayers will be heard and answered, frequently we fire off a bunch of requests without even stopping to praise the one who grants them.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below." That's what we are instructed to do in the Doxology, the song of praise for which the music is believed to go back to 1551 with words coming along 123 years later in 1674. I guess it took that long to get the words just right because praise is very important.
Praising God can reap remarkable results in our lives. So let's remember to
"Praise Him when we win and to praise Him when we lose."
This Week's Prayer: Lord you are worthy of praise at all times, in all situations and in every result. Amen!
Author's note: Praising just seems to strike a positive chord and can affect the way we structure our actions. It is a great way to turn negative stressful events into a positive peaceful acceptance of God's way of working things out.
The Choicest of Relics (January 17, 2007) by Jim Crosby
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ~Romans 15:4
"A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself." Those are the words of Henry David Thoreau (1817-62), noted author whose chief claim to contemporary fame is that the street we live on is named after him. J
I find intriguing Thoreau's statement that something written down is the "choicest of relics." A relic is "something that has historic interest because of its age and associations with the past, or that serves as a keepsake or souvenir" (Webster's New World Dictionary). This is one of the real reasons I became a writer. Because when you write something down it can take on a life of its own that transcends just the immediate and the superficial. The things you write can last a lifetime and beyond. They say something about who you are, what you believe and how you approach life. That's why it behooves us to take care in what we write.
As much as I like to write, I enjoy reading even more. The danger there is that I sometimes become so wrapped up in reading that I don't write enough. Our household is Reading Central. My father-in-law reads constantly. The newspaper, magazines, and books. As soon as he finishes one book he goes on to the next one.
My wife, the lovely Susette is a lover of books. She reads lots and lots of fiction. Loves recipe books. But, she also reads many magazines and articles, especially those having to do with interior design, homes, and architecture.
I frequently have as many as four or five books going at once. Only one of those will be fiction, but the others are non-fiction on a variety of subjects. Currently I'm reading, "The Richest Man in Babylon;" (Clason) "Prayer: Does it Make a Difference" (Yancey); "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," (Malkiel) and "Turning Points" (Daily Devotionals by David Jeremiah). And just to make sure that all this reading is helpful and not a deterrent to my writing, I'm reading the book: "Reading like a Writer" by Francine Prose.
But, one thing that we read at our house daily is the Bible. As far as I am concerned it is the ultimate in written words; the choicest of relics. From the Bible I get inspiration and instruction. I am encouraged by it and challenged as well. On its pages I find hope and encouragement. I'm entertained by its stories and intrigued by the people who populate its pages.
I find what motivational/religious speaker John Riley once said to be true for me as well. He said, "I can pick up the Bible and read a verse of scripture that I have read 90 times before and I'll still get something new, a new understanding from it."
Isn't that amazing? I believe it is because we read these verses at different stages in our lives. So, we are often bringing a different mindset to the reading and understanding of a familiar passage of scripture. It is not that the Bible verses are changing, but we are. That's why we should read it constantly.
One anonymous person said: "The Bible is a good book that's even better when it's the worse for wear." There is timeless instruction, life-changing scenarios, comfort, hope and peace found in its pages.
Sometimes when you are seeking inspiration or specific assistance with a problem or a particular viewpoint you can simply open your Bible and the perfect verse jumps out at you. But, at times you have to work at it to find the one God wants to convey to you.
In writing these weekly devotions I frequently think of a title that would be a nice attention getter and would make interesting reading. Occasionally when that happens and I start searching for a scripture to enhance and validate the topic, I find it immediately. But, often the Lord has me search for it. Sometimes it could delay my writing for an hour or so. Sometimes I take a walk or go to the YMCA or wait until the next day to continue the search. But, always God leads me to a verse that works. When I have to search and work at it, I find a lot of other things are revealed to me. Verses to ponder, ones to use in future devotions and some to underline and return to again.
Today, I wanted to write about the Bible. Last week our devotion was on prayer, which is basically the spoken word although it can take other forms as well. So today it made good sense to write about God's written word, the choicest of relics, The Bible.
As David Jeremiah points out even the Bible has two great sections─The Old Testament and New Testament─contains sixty-six books within it. There are 1,189 chapters and 31, 102 verses and these were written by forty-plus authors. Yet, even the newest parts of the Bible are nearly two millennia old.
Given the age of the writings does that mean that the Bible is outdated? As Jeremiah says: "Not at all. The Bible is timeless. It reveals the mind of an eternal God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever...The Bible is timely, giving us daily encouragement and guidance." We are changing. The Bible isn't. But, within its pages is contained timely advice to help us today.
The way to enjoy success in life is to know and do God's will. The Bible is where that information can be found according to no less an authority than Dr. Billy Graham. In a 1999 interview with Time Magazine he said: "There is only one way (to discover God's will). And that's first of all to really have a personal relationship with God and be sure your life is in tune with Him─and in tune with God's plan, His commandments, and His Word. His Word is found in the Bible and the Bible is a message to you. And if you live according to that He has a plan for you and the ultimate end of that plan is total happiness, and joy, and peace, and the solution to your problems."
Yes, the written word is the choicest of relics and among those relics the Bible is the choicest of all.
This Week's Prayer: Thank you Lord for the inspiration of the Bible. Help us to use it often and wisely. Amen!
Author's note: Picking out a scripture for today's devotion was a challenge. Did you know there are over 90 scriptures mentioning "write" and 288 more refer to "written." But the Lord summed it up nicely in Romans 15:4.
Prayer: The Struggle (January 10, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. ~ Matthew 7:7
When Philip Yancey set out to write his latest book (Prayer: Does it Make a Difference? Zondervan, 2006) his publisher conducted a website poll asking the respondents if they "felt satisfied with the time they were spending in prayer."
Of the 678 who responded only 23 answered "yes." That's only 3% of those who indicated they felt like they prayed enough or that their prayers were effective.
I venture to say if even greater numbers of people were polled the results would not vary significantly. So, why is prayer a struggle? Why don't we pray more? Yancey said the question he wanted to find an answer to that prompted him to research and write the book was: "Why does prayer rank so high on surveys of theoretical importance and so low on surveys of actual satisfaction?"
At the beginning of every New Year one of my unspoken, unwritten resolutions is to pray more. Since I really don't write down how often or how long I pray, I'm not sure if this is a resolution I keep or not. I do know that prayer plays an important role in my life as well as that of the Lovely Susette. We believe in prayer. God has proven many times over that He hears and answers our prayers. So, when I think about the act of praying why do I feel this vague discomfort about my not praying enough? Why is prayer a struggle?
I'm not sure praying effectively is about how long you pray. Maybe not even how often you do it. I believe the key is that you pray believing that God is listening. With that being the case, then obviously you have faith that He will answer your prayers. What kind of a relationship would it be if you did all the talking and never got a reply? God doesn't operate that way. But, I think that sometimes we fire off so many requests in our prayers we don't hear what His response is.
Maybe it's like Yancey says, we're not starting at the right place. He said that once he decided to follow this creek that runs by his house to its starting point. He lives in the mountains of Colorado, but his home is in a canyon in the shadow of a mountain. So he hiked alongside the creek, which turns into a stream and acts more like a river when the snows melt, until he got to the top of the mountain.
When Yancey reached the summit he discovered what he calls "snow cups." They were little pools that formed as the snow melted. They collected and ran off into a pond which overflows and heads down the mountain joining in this creek tumbling downward and going right past Yancey's house.
In looking at this act of nature Yancey drew an analogy about prayer: "It occurs to me, thinking about prayer, that most of the time I get the direction wrong. I start downstream with my own concerns and bring them to God. I inform God, as if God did not already know. I plead with God as if hoping to change God's mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, I should start upstream where the flow begins.
"When I shift direction, I realize that God already cares about my concerns ...more than I do. Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. I begin with God, who bears primary responsibility for what happens on earth, and ask what part I can play in God's work on earth."
When we do that we view things differently. We observe nature from a different view. We look at people differently. When we begin to pray differently we simply begin to act differently. God-centeredness is followed by other-centeredness and our lives change.
I remember a cartoon that showed a preacher starting down the steps of the church building when he sees one of his church members heading up the street. He stops abruptly and says, "Oh, oh, there comes Bob." Then, in the next breath he says, "Dear God. Bless Bob. Amen!" Then, he takes a couple of steps and says out loud, "Oh, Hi Bob. I've been praying for you."
Sometimes I wonder if that isn't how many of our prayers are delivered. Maybe we are too flip or too quick to say "We'll be praying for you" and then we don't remember to do so. That could be how a lot of prayers go. When we get in a bind is when we pray most and hardest. Finding time to pray is such a struggle.
But, why should it be? We can pray to God any time and anywhere. He's always on duty. He loves to hear from us. And, gosh, just think about all He can do with your prayer. Dr. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral says, "Any fool can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed."
Think about that! When one little old apple seed is planted God already knows how many apples are going to be on that big old apple tree when it grows up. We, on the other hand, don't even know if the seeds will grow at all. But we are planting them in the faith that they will. Otherwise, why plant them at all?
What is the life span of a prayer? We may think of a prayer as being offered up, heard, and answered by God and that's the end of it. But Schuller says that prayers are fertile seeds in God's Garden. Only God knows the life span or effect of a prayer, but as Schuller says, "Many prayers, I am sure, will be immortal."
Think of the prayers in which we ask God for a healthy baby at birth. When He answers that little seed of prayer, it can keep on growing for generations as the baby grows into adulthood has children and those children have children and the line of descendants keeps on enlarging. It all got started with an answer to the simplest, most common of prayers.
I'm sure, if we put our minds to it, we could think of many other little seeds planted in prayer that God has grown into greatness. These thoughts alone should turn our prayer life into fulfilling and treasured times instead of times of struggle.
Weekly Prayer: Lord we thank you for the privilege and power of prayer. Please take the seeds planted in our prayers and grow them into greatness as only You can. Amen!
Author's note: William James said: "The reason we pray is simply we cannot help praying." God made us that way for a reason. Prayer is one of His greatest gifts. We should use it wisely and often.
The Future (January 3, 2007) by Jim Crosby
Oh what a wonderful God we have! How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions, and His methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be His counselor? And who could ever give Him so much that He would have to pay it back? ~Romans 11:33-35
If God told you that, on a one time basis, He would allow you a glimpse into the
future so you could see exactly what was going to take place in your life, would you take Him up on it? Keeping in mind this would be strictly optional, would you choose to know ahead of time what was going to happen? You would be leaving yourself open to view the fantastic along with the disastrous and all the things in between.
Or perhaps God said you could pick one week in the future and the events would be revealed to you. You could you choose any week you wanted. Which week would you choose? Maybe a week is too much. A lot can happen in a week.
How about a day? If God said, "Go ahead and pick a day that you have curiosity about and I will show you all the events that will happen in your life on that day;" would you want to do that?
Maybe just one hour. Is there is one particular hour that you want to get through; one that seems to have more relevance to your well-being than the others near it? Would you want to know ahead of time what was going to happen, even if the outcome was not the one you would hope for?
Why am I devoting so much time to speculating about choices we would or wouldn't make since we probably won't have that option anyway? One reason is because in this bright, shiny first week of the New Year we stand on the horizon of a new beginning. The year 2007 brings with it the potential for a wonderful mix of the new and unfamiliar as well as the familiar and repeat occurrences in our lives. You may be nervous about some of these things. You may eagerly await others. But, if you could know about them in advance would you want to?
Sometimes we take a look at where we are now and compare it to where we were in the past and we say, "Wow, if I just knew back then, what I know now just think what I could have accomplished!" It's true in that case you might have really achieved some fantastic results. But, having that knowledge might also have changed the circumstances you were involved in thereby providing a different outcome-one that might not have been so beneficial to you after all.
God could choose to reveal to you something that is going to happen in your life if He wanted to. He could do this through a vision or a dream. Joseph dreamed things that would come to pass and he told his brothers about them.
God could reveal something to you through a déjà vu experience. Ever have something happen to you and somewhere in the back of your mind you have a nagging suspicion that you've experienced a similar incident before in your life?
But, even if you could see into the future you would not fully understand God's plan and why certain things happen in certain ways. Charles Stanley in his book, "Living the Extraordinary Life" says that God is creating a Masterpiece out of your life. As this work of the Master is being created you may not understand why he uses a broad brush stroke in one place and smaller brush with fine lines in another circumstance.
Stanley says, "One day you will see the wonder and splendor of God's work and understand the purpose behind each of your trials. Like an artist blending both dark and light colors to achieve a beautiful portrait, He will work in your life to create a masterpiece." As Stanley points out God uses every circumstance..."Every frustration, fear, and feeling of hopelessness like colors on an artist's palette to move your life toward completion." So, even if you could see, in advance, what would happen, you might not understand the reason for it or appreciate its significance.
As Paul was instructing the believers in Rome he wanted to make sure they didn't stray away from their beliefs during difficult times. He said: "For God has imprisoned all people in their own disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone." There was no one group─Jews or Gentiles─who was not in need of His mercy.
Then Paul goes on to point out how wonderful God is. There is no circumstance that he has left uncovered. He has accounted for everything. That is so phenomenal that it is impossible for us to comprehend. "For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be His counselor? And who could ever give Him so much that he would have to pay it back?" (Romans 11:34-35)
Despite His awesomeness. Despite His being totally in control with everything planned out. God is on this journey with us. Zephaniah 3:17 points out: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. He will be quiet in His love. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." He can make us into this masterpiece because He understands us. He came and lived among us and He knows what is going on.
Stanley says "Amid the uncertainty and pressures surrounding you, Jesus is at your side to strengthen and encourage you. When your eyes are fixed on Him and not the world around you, you begin to see life differently."
Sure, at times you will feel rejected and you'll endure hardships. Look at the earthly life of Jesus and you will see what He went through. Nothing we could endure could equal the sacrifice Jesus was required to make on our behalf.
Since we have this wonderful God who cares about us and is making our lives into masterpieces there is no need to know ahead of time what will happen while we are here on earth. All we need to do is have faith that no matter what period of our life we are in, any month, week, day or hour God is watching over us. He sees what is happening. He knows the end result.
So instead of wishing that God would reveal the future to us in advance we should concentrate on making the present a time in which we trust and honor Him. As Stanley says when we "put away our self-reliance and striving for worldly affection" the future will take care of itself because God is in control.
Monday Prayer: Lord, there is no need for us to see into the future because we know that you see and control our futures. Help us to become the masterpiece you have in mind for us. Amen!
Author's note: Happy New Year. May God grant you a safe and joyous beginning to this exciting time in your life.
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