I'm Too Busy: How will God view our excuses when eternity comes?

The church is full of hypocrites.

A God of love would never send people to hell.

Everyone has their own truth and their own path to God.

My teacher told me God doesn’t exist.

I went to church when I was little so it’s all good. Or, I’m a member of the local church so it’s all good. I’m covered.

I’ve done too many bad things. God doesn’t want me.

I’m a good person. God will let me in.

I can take care of that some other time. I’m too busy right now.

I don’t feel like it.

All that Bible stuff is too hard. I’ll just wing it.

I went to church but someone there made me mad. I won’t go back.

I’d go to church but someone already there hurt me. I’ll never go somewhere where he/she is at.

They are just after my money. They don’t care about me.

We’ve all heard these excuses for why people reject Christianity. We’ve probably even said or thought some of them ourselves.

I’m not even going to offer a rebuttal to them. Instead, I’m going to skip the debate and go straight to the point. I’m going to focus on the heart of the issue. These are all excuses we use so we don’t have to face the truth. However, when the moment of truth comes, our excuses won’t matter one single bit.

I’m not going to sugar coat this or try to make it politically correct. I’m going to put it out there and leave the rest up to you.

You will stand before God at some point. He’s not going to consider your excuses and make allowances for them. God won’t say, “Yes, I know. The church was full of hypocrites so I understand why you didn’t go. Please, enter into eternity with Me.”

You’ll never hear, “Your teacher told you I don’t exist so it’s not really your fault that you rejected Me. We’ll blame your teacher instead. Heaven awaits you.”

God isn’t going to look at the calendar on your smartphone and reply, “Wow, you’re right. You were really busy with your career and your children’s activities and civic responsibilities and taking care of your home and still trying to fit in some fun stuff. I can see why you never took time to learn about Me. Sure, we can make an exception. I have a spot prepared for you in heaven with Me.”

Do you see where I’m going with this?

We throw out excuses for our rejection of God’s truth as if they’ll make a difference in our eternal outcome. We actually think God will consider those excuses as valid “Get out of jail free” cards in a cosmic, eternal Monopoly game.

I mean, after all, God is love and His is a message of grace, right?

This is God’s Love

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

God is a God of love. As Creator of the universe, He has the privilege of defining love. He defined it as a sacrifice made by one person for the benefit of another person. He played it out by sacrificing Himself to pay the penalty for our sin so we might receive the benefit of forgiveness and eternity in heaven.

This is God’s Grace

“Since by one man’s trespass [Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. … But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:17, 20-21).

God is a God of grace. Grace doesn’t make excuses and exceptions to get around the truth. That’s called lying and deception and they’re trademark signs of Satan, not God. God’s grace recognizes our sin for what it is without excuse. Instead, He forgives it completely and totally because of the blood sacrificed by Jesus.

A difference exists between excusing an offense and forgiving one. To excuse an offense means to pretend as if it wasn’t actually offensive or didn’t hurt you. To excuse an offense gives power to the offender. To forgive an offense means to recognize that the person’s action was wrong, it did hurt you, but you choose not to hold it against them. To forgive an offense gives the power to the one offended. The latter is God’s grace.

No one will hold your hand

When that moment comes and you stand before God, I won’t be there to hold your hand and offer false promises of security. Your excuses won’t be there still promising false justification. That moment will be between you and God alone; all that will matter is what you did with the message of love and grace offered by Jesus. Did you accept it or did you excuse it away?

Please click here to read a full explanation of what it means to accept Jesus’ gift of love, grace, and salvation. It’s eternally significant.

Courage Until the End: Utilizing the power in our words

Encourage – to fill someone up with courage.

Discourage – to take any shred of courage they have and throw it in the trash.

We wield a lot of power when we choose whether to encourage or discourage another believer.

God has worked with me a lot on the power and necessity of encouraging words over the last few years. A lot of it has showed up on here…

Handling Discouragement

Don’t Diss Someone’s Courage

Encouragement in the Last Days

As we draw nearer to Jesus’ return, it will become almost impossible to maintain our courage. God knew that when He inspired the writer of Hebrews to say, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13, emphasis mine). Did you catch the word “daily” in that verse? We may have been full of courage yesterday, but today it’s zapped. Gone. We need a daily fill up of courage to keep believing, keep loving, and keep serving. Later, he also wrote, “Let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). As the time of the end draws near, we have to get together and fill each other with courage. Otherwise, we won’t be able to serve as God calls us – by loving and doing good works.

I’ve written a lot about how to deal with the discouragement so prevalent in the last days…

My Peace I Give You

A World in Chaos: What can I do?

Where is God in a Tragedy?

Life Sucks

The Hand of God

Finding Good Things in Bad Times

Encouragement in general

Jesus may return tomorrow or decades from now; either way, we must keep our courage level full. Our enemy doesn’t want us showing true love or serving in a real way; he knows those things will witness to the world of God’s awesomeness. Our enemy knows if we do those things, people might catch a true glimpse of the Savior of the world. He wants to keep that from happening at all costs. He will do everything in his power to keep you from loving and serving in the same way that Jesus loved and served us. He succeeds when we become discouraged – when our level of courage zeroes out.

I’ve written a lot about the necessity of encouragement in general…

Spark: Five ways to renew the light within you

The God of Peace

Bible Band-aids

Thankful for You: Finding ways to appreciate each other

And yet…

So, like I said, over the last few years God has really been teaching me the importance of encouragement. Even still, the other day someone said something to me that totally discouraged me. In the day that followed our encounter, I felt completely drained. I didn’t want to pray, study, or write. I didn’t want to serve in other areas – forget responsibilities at home, quit on projects at church. As I look back, I realize now that the words of discouragement left me without the courage needed to love and serve in the ways which God has called me.

I tried praying – more out of discipline than anything else. It helped because God is always faithful to hear us when we call out to Him. It wasn’t complete, though. I knew something else was still missing. I knew griping to a friend or my husband wouldn’t help – been there, done that, doesn’t work.

I saw the person. We talked. We worked it out and reconciled the situation. Grace was required on both sides; forgiveness was present. We parted ways once again in unity as fellow believers in Jesus. Once again, I was encouraged.

What’s the point?

Life’s hard and it’s going to get harder. We can’t let little differences keep us down. Sometimes we have to talk to others and work out our problems. They can’t rob us of the courage needed to love and serve God through difficult times.

God says a lot in His Word about pouring grace out all over the place, sacrificing ourselves with unconditional love, humble forgiveness that looks to the other person first, and complete service that gives until nothing’s left to give. We can’t live that way until we have the courage to do so – courage that comes from the power of words poured into us by our fellow believers.

Priorities: Finding a way to give thanks in a messed up world

As a family, we give thanks before each meal. We bow our heads and one of us – we take turns – prays a simple prayer of appreciation for the meal. I remember when my youngest could barely speak. She’d pray, “Baby Jesus, for this food. Amen.” We never figured out why she prayed to Baby Jesus, but she’s outgrown it now.

I doubt if any of us send up a prayer of appreciation for our clothes before we get dressed each morning. Or how about every time we get in the car and it starts? What about when we pay bills and the money doesn’t run out before we pay the last one. Do we think a prayer of thankfulness every time a thought of a loved one comes through our minds?

It seems so odd to me. We can be so rigid about the necessity of giving thanks before a meal but not express any appreciation the rest of the day.

What are some other things for which we can be thankful?

A lot of conflicting stories abound on every issue out there. I’ve learned to rely on Scripture to help me prioritize what’s important. Based on that, in no particular order, I’m thankful for…

• The transforming power of the Word of God; 1 Thessalonians 2:13. (ß Spend some time in God’s Word; read the verses to help you prioritize your season right now!)
• God’s gift – the sacrifice of His Son; 2 Corinthians 9:15.
• The peace of the Messiah; Colossians 3:15.
• The privilege to enter the presence of God; Psalm 100:4.
• Victory, because it is all about winning when it comes to eternity; 1 Corinthians 15:57.
• God’s grace and the privilege to pass it along; 2 Corinthians 4:15.
• The hard times God uses to help me grow; 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
• The part I have in God’s eternal kingdom; Colossians 1:12.
• Wisdom and power of God that are available to me; Daniel 2:23.
• Prayer that conquers worry; Philippians 4:6.
• God’s eternal goodness and love; Psalm 106:1.
• The amazing works of a loving God; Psalm 107:8.
• God hears us, answers us, and saves us; Psalm 118:21.
• The righteousness of Holy God; Psalm 7:17.
• The unlimited power and eternal nature of Almighty God; Revelation 11:17.
• The faith of believers all over the world who do their part in God’s kingdom; Romans 1:8.
• The teaching of Christ who points us to all truth; Romans 6:17-18.

You see, it’s ok if you burn the turkey or dump a pie on the kitchen floor (already had that one happen this year). It will even be ok if one of your relatives isn’t able to be with you this year. News of riots, wars, and nuclear talk failures can't even stop thankfulness. Why? Because even in the midst of daily stresses, relationship difficulties, and world turmoil, we have much for which to be thankful. We are thankful because God reigns, He gave His Son to restore our relationship with Him, and He and His kingdom will stand victorious for all eternity.

May some of these be added to your list of thankfulness this holiday season. 

The Rock: Rejecting the truth to follow a lie

“Pay attention, heavens, and I will speak; listen, earth, to the words of my mouth.

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

“For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name.

“Declare the greatness of our God!

“The Rock – His work is perfect; all His ways are entirely just. A faithful God, without prejudice, He is righteous and true” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Gentleness and tenderness build to a dramatic proclamation as Moses declares to the people a new name for Holy God.

The chapter continues with powerful words to the people as they have allowed corruption and deceit to permeate their lives. They did so despite all that God had done for them. He created them as God but He also sustained them as would a Father (verse 6). He pulled them out of desolation to make them His chosen people (verses 9-10). He was God to them – Most High over all other gods (verse 12). He blessed them in abundance (verses 13-14).

And yet…, 

I shake my head as I see myself and our culture in their response.

Despite all God did for His people, they gorged themselves on the provision rather than the Provider. They became fat and bloated on it (verses 15). They ignored the God of their fathers as they followed after foreign gods and deceptive demons (verses 16-17).

“They ignored the Rock who gave them birth; they forgot the God who gave birth to them” (Deuteronomy 32:18 paraphrased).

They ignored the Rock – and the response didn’t go well for the people of Israel (verses 19-27). They never realized weak earthly attacks couldn’t come against them “unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up” (Deuteronomy 32:30).

They followed their little idols not realizing that “their ‘rock’ is not like our Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:31).

And yet, despite all their gorging selfishness and their love affair with the idols of Satan, “the Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants” (Deuteronomy 32:36).

Why on earth would He do such a thing?

God’s mercy and grace pour out on His people because they are just that – His people. Their sin is ugly – horrifying, really – but Holy God cut covenant with them. If He went back on His word and didn’t provide for them, then He would be an untrustworthy liar. That’s not going to happen. Not only that, but if He doesn’t protect them, then those who brought down His people would take credit for their destruction. Or, in other words, Satan would get the glory for bringing the defeat of God’s people. Again, not going to happen. (See verses 26-27. Did you notice the italics on provide and protect? Remember those words because they’ll be important in the next part of this series.)

“See now that I alone am He; there is no God but Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from My hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

Why do we care?

We care because we see ourselves in the Israelite people. God didn’t only create them – He created us. He didn’t only sustain them as would a Father – He sustains us. He pulled us out of desolation and chose us as His people – adopted in as children of Abraham. He is our Most High God with abundant blessings.

And we said, “Screw it. I don’t care. I want my own way. I want to pour my passion into the ‘rocks’ because I know better than the Rock does.”

Even still, He has compassion on us. Even still, He provides with the Rock of living water in the desert. He protects us in the cleft of the Rock. This is going to get good…please continue on for the next part.

Good & Evil: Where will we live after a world of evil

“Boko Haram has emerged as one of the world's most dangerous and violent Islamic terrorist sects.”

This quote is from an article entitled Photo prompts speculation Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader killed in battle  at FoxNews.com (Warning: Link contains graphic images). We’ve talked about the atrocities of Boko Haram a lot over the last few weeks as we consider some aspects of Psalm 37. As you can probably guess by the title, the leader of this brutal terrorist group may be dead. But if you read the article, you’ll find that authorities don’t know for sure if he’s dead or alive. The man in the gruesome photos may be a body double. To further increase suspicion, neighboring militant groups have reported his death before only to be proven false later.

Perhaps he is dead, in which case I mourn for the state of his soul. Heaven doesn’t await those who reject the message of Jesus. Perhaps he is still alive, in which case hope remains for him. It’s happened before.

Either way, Scripture assures us of the outcome of the evil among us. That’s what we’re going to read about today in this final section of our study on Psalm 37.

We’ve already studied who we are as children of God in the midst of an evil world. We looked at what we should do and what God will do for us – His children – in an evil world. Today, we wrap up the study by comparing the final outcome of the children of God with the outcome of those who reject His message of salvation. Where will each group live for eternity?

Outcome for God’s Children

37:3 – Live securely. As a shepherd watches over his flock, God will watch over His children. That’s the message here; it’s a familiar one in the New Testament. “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).

37:4 – Obtain our heart’s desires. If we delight in Him, He grants our heart’s desires. The first half is the balance to the second half. God doesn’t give everyone everything we want. But for those who delight in Him – who make Him their reason to be happy – He will grant you your heart’s desires. A key factor here is that when He is our reason to be happy, then the desires of our heart align themselves with what He would want as well. “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17 NIV).

37:11 – Enjoy abundant prosperity. I’m not sure about the word “prosperity” here. The Hebrew is the common word shalom which can mean prosperity but is more commonly translated as peace. In our world of war, I like the idea of abundant peace in the end for God’s children. “And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

37:19 – Won’t be disgraced; will be satisfied. A reality of life is that hard times are going to come. Quite often, the presence of evil in the world causes those hard times. And yet, God’s children won’t be ashamed or disappointed during those times. They will be satisfied. “Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated – so also with the fish, as much as they wanted” (John 6:11).

37:24 – Won’t be overwhelmed. The idea behind this phrase is something causes you to be hurled or thrown down. God’s children fell; we’ve all sinned. Satan sinned too and the result for him was to be cast down from heaven. We sinned but God sent a Savior so that we won’t be overwhelmed – we won’t be cast down from God’s presence in the end. “Anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

37:37 – Will have a future. This phrase is similar to the ones we read in verses 11 and 24. When the end comes, the child of God will know peace. The evil will be cast into the lake of fire but the child of God will rest in His presence. “Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

37:3, 9, 11, 18, 22, 27, 29, 34 – Inherit the land and dwell in it forever. I saved the best for last; isn’t it amazing how these are building one on the other? What an example of God’s perfect word! God promised the land to Abraham for his descendants. This physical Promised Land symbolizes a spiritual Promised Land that awaits each of Abraham’s descendants – an eternity in heaven! You can read all of Romans 4 to see this but for now, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. … This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all” (Romans 4:3, 16).

Outcome for the Evil

37:2, 10 – Will wither and wilt. The evil have no lasting place. They’re like a plant that is here today and gone tomorrow. “The grass withers, the flowers fade when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever” (Isaiah 40:7-8).

37:15 – Pierced by their own swords. Their own actions – their own choices – will bring them to destruction in the end. “The LORD has revealed Himself; He has executed justice, striking down the wicked by the work of their hands” (Psalm 9:16).

37:15 – Bows will be broken. God will not allow their wars and evil to continue. In the future, He will return a second time to reign in peace. At that time, He alone will be exalted among the nations. “He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces; He burns up the chariots. ‘Stop your fighting – and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth’” (Psalm 46:9-10).

37:17 – Arms (or power) will be broken. The Hebrew word for “arms” is often symbolic of power throughout the Old Testament. It is even translated as such a few times. The power of God and the light of His truth are foundations for followers of Christ. Yet, for those who reject Him and choose evil, “Light is withheld from the wicked, and the arm raised in violence is broken” (Job 38:15).

37:20 – Will perish and fade away. They come to nothing. No one remembers the wicked in grandeur. The hopes of the wicked die with them. “As smoke is blows away, so You blow them away. As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked are destroyed before God” (Psalm 68:2).

37:9, 22, 28, 34, 38 – Will be destroyed. Wicked, evildoers, cursed, children of the wicked, and future of the wicked; God brings all of it to destruction. The outcome for God’s children ends with our freedom to inherit and dwell in the land forever. It’s not so for the evil. “For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous uprooted from it” (Proverbs 2:21-22).

So,

We’ve asked a series of questions and looked to Psalm 37 for answers. We could probably ask several more. But we’ve seen the truth already; we must decide what we’re going to do about it.

Who are we in a world of evil? We’re those who live differently from the ways of the world as we follow the way God designed for us to live.

What should we do in a world of evil? We can turn our focus to Almighty God as we trust Him and intertwine our lives with Him.

What does God do in a world of evil? He is there for us in ways we can never imagine providing us with all that we need.

Finally, what are the outcomes for both the good and the evil? Where will they live for eternity? This is the question where we face a decision. We’ve talked about the evil of groups like Boko Haram and ISIS. But we’re all evil. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and our “heart is more deceitful than anything else and incurable” (Romans 3:23 and Jeremiah 17:9, respectively). We are among the evil until we choose to surrender to Jesus and give Him our sinful heart by faith. In His infinite grace, He forgives the evils of our deceitful hearts and makes us one of His children. He brings us into the sheepfold and allows us to be among those who inherit the land, as we mentioned earlier in this article. Click here to read more about finding a relationship with Christ.

Click here to read the previous article in this series.

Good & Evil: Who we are in a world of evil

Boko Haram, a Muslim extremist group in Nigeria, butchers Christians. “Butchers” isn’t too strong of a word; it’s morbidly accurate as the group slices and hacks at the bodies of the non-Muslims. They stop only long enough to determine if the sufferer is ready to renounce Christ and pledge allegiance to Allah. You can read more at VOM’s article, “You can’t kill my soul,” but I warn you that it might make you feel something – a churning of the stomach, a shudder of the spine, an inexplicable urge to fall to your knees and pray for someone in a far off land.

Evil is nothing new; persecution began when God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s resulting in Cain’s murderous assault on Abel (Genesis 4:1-12). Nevertheless, it is part of our current world. How do we face it? How do we respond to bloody stories that don’t fit with our comfortable church-pew Christianity?

I found some help – even some encouragement – in Psalm 37. I hope you’ll take a minute to read it now; all you have to do is click on the link. (Can I be honest here for a second and point out that a lot of people in this world would weep tears of joy for such easy access to the word of God?)

We’re going to take a look at Psalm 37 over the next four weeks. This article will consider who we are, the next two weeks we’ll look at what we do and what God does, and then the fourth week we’ll discuss the outcome.

Who are we? Characteristics of the righteous

I pulled this list of characteristics out of the text of the chapter. Let me start by saying that I dealt with some serious conviction while I did so. You know what I mean – those “Ouch” moments when you read God’s Word and the Spirit points out somewhere deep inside that you aren’t quite living up to what God is asking of you. Yeah, those. But here we go –

When confronted with evil, a child of God is…

37:1, 7, 8 – Not agitated. A confrontation with evil shouldn’t make us burn with anger. That’s hard, isn’t it? When I read the above article from VOM about the beheading of a little boy, anger burned within me. By all accounts, evil is spreading and prospering. Earthly armies can’t stop it but eventually Christ will. Trust me, evil doesn’t prosper and find victory in the end.

37:1 – Not envious. At first thought, why would we be envious of evildoers? But, let me admit, envy flickered in my mind when I found out the ISIS army has $2,000,000 a day in income just from the oil fields they’ve conquered. But again, their success is temporary.

37:6 – Righteousness that shines like the dawn. This isn’t me showing off all my good works to make sure everyone sees them. My righteousness is in Christ; if it shines like the dawn then that is Him in me shining out to the world. That’s a good thing.

37:8 – Not angry nor enraged, in addition to not agitated. Keep the breathing under control; don’t spew words of poison. Stay steady. If you believe God is in control then you should be under control.

37:11 – Humble. Remember, Christ’s righteousness shines through us, not our own goodness. Honestly, we don’t have any goodness on our own anyway. He’s in control. As a child of God, we lay aside our own pride and positions to advance His kingdom.

37:18 – Blameless. We’re not perfect; we’re not sinless. The idea behind being blameless is to be complete or whole. Christ in us – His joy and love manifested in us – completes us.

37:21, 26 – Gracious and giving. We can’t hold tight to what God has given us. When we see evil, our response is to help, reach out, give, and extend grace to those who hurt as a result.

37:22 – Blessed by God. God chose to look on us in favor. He chose to come before us with the greatest gift possible – the life of His Son. He chose to restore us through the sacrifice of that Son. We are blessed.

37:30, 31 – Wise, just, and know God’s instruction. This is another one we can only claim because Christ works in us and through us. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

37:37 – Man of peace. Evil – characterized by pride, anger, rage, greed, and foolishness – leads to restlessness, destruction, and death. But a child of God knows peace even in the midst of evil.

I don’t know about you, but this list will stay with me this week as I see evil become more prevalent in our world. All of these characteristics are contrary to how the world says we should live. If we can implement them in our lives, we can make a difference. We can live the difference. We can shine the righteousness of Christ in a world of darkness.

Please click here for the next article in the series.

Holy Anguish: Praying for those who hurt

Our last post shared about the flood crisis Jimmy flew into during his current trip to Africa. Much of that post came from Chica, the wife of the couple with whom he worked while in that particular village. The following is another section of the email I received from her regarding their current situation. 

Before the floods even hit, a flu-like sickness hit many of the people. As Jimmy said in a text message at one point, "People are dying all over the swamp." (The swamp is their nickname for the area.)

With that explanation, here is Chica's update...

Last week the local religious leaders said the amount of sickness in our town is due to people not following Mohammad's way correctly. The leaders announced that everyone was supposed to wash with hot water mixed with salt and neem leaves at 11:11. Then God would hear them, and he would heal them. Well, a lot of people did it. Neighbors checked on each other to see if they did. Then they decided they should have a sacrifice, too. Just maybe, God would be pleased and take away the rampant sickness. So, lots of sacrifices and blood was split.

Then this week it flooded.

I asked my neighbor, Ash, and she told me that the washing was silliness. That it is not commanded, but praying is commanded. So, everyone should just pray. I shared with her about why I don't spill blood. I shared that I agree we should only look at God’s Word and see what it says; follow that, and not listen to what others say.

She said, “Who would ever think that God needed salt?”

Today, it was just Ash and me on the mat. It was a sweet time for me with her. Please pray for her – and for my boldness. Pray for her as this is abnormal for her to go against what everyone is doing and say these things. Pray for me that God would increase my love for Him with all of my heart, soul, and mind so my words flow from my heart and not rehearsed. Pray that I have the courage to continue to be bold with her.

Also, please pray for me to have a holy anguish for all of the peoples here.

I realized I was in anguish – just nauseated – thinking of the villages cut off by the flood during this season. Malaria is coming; it always does. The way to the hospital – the way to the saving medicine – will either be very difficult or impossible. Many will die. It makes me so upset inside… then angry… and then really sad. I wish they just had the opportunity to get the medicine, if they chose to come in. Dumb flood!

And at the end of today, I realized I’m more upset about this crisis and thinking how can we fix this than I am about the same people cut off by the flood of sin. Sin is reality; it always is. The way to the ultimate saving grace – the way to healing that will save their lives and give glory to the Healer – will be very difficult. Many will die. And that should also make me so upset inside… then angry… and then really sad. I want them to have the opportunity to get to salvation by grace, if they choose to come to Him. Dumb, deceitful father of lies!

So I am praying that our Father will give me that holy anguish for them.

Finding Good Things in Bad Times

It’s been a rough week. Jimmy is in Africa which leaves me as a single parent of four (make it five) active girls.

A beloved grandparent is suffering through some hard medical times. The whole extended family hurts along with him.

Celebrity status doesn’t affect me; people are people, regardless. But Robin Williams’ suicide hit me kind of hard. It’s rough to see such a beloved entertainer reach that level of despair.

Ferguson, Missouri, is a mess right now. 

The Middle East has been a simmering cauldron for too long. It appears it may be about to boil over. The terror of ISIS, combined with the war between Israel and Hamas has also weighed heavy on me. That’s not to mention the Syrian conflict, Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, and Putin’s actions in the Ukraine. All of it may play a role in the onset of very dire times.

Every afternoon I have a cup of coffee. During these hot summer months, I usually drink it iced, flavored with sugar and half & half. Stay with me…this is connected to the first part of my article.

This week that afternoon coffee has tugged at my heart. For some reason, I found myself being conscientiously thankful for that coffee each day. Perhaps it was the Spirit’s prompting. I held that cup each afternoon and was acutely aware that God blesses even in hard times.

This may sound silly. Imagine how I felt, however, when this series of text messages came in from Jimmy regarding their current project in Africa…

God is good. We are completely finished with the electrical work. Big Daddy R will now get some quality time with his grandchildren. It’s fun, fun as I sit here and watch him be a jungle gym for their young birthday girl. Doc’s birthday is today, also. Sitting in an air cooled, 78° house while the temperatures soar outside is an awesome birthday present.

It was great to see the joy on Posey’s face when she got to make iced coffee for the first time. Then, I saw the joy on Doc’s face when he got to taste it. These are the simple things we in America take for granted – things we think we have to have to survive.

Lights, cooling fans, and refrigeration will make Doc and Posey’s work in the desert so much easier as they bring living water to this dry land. 

We have seen and heard good things. 

Fly Like an Eagle: Exchanging our strength for God's

But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

I posted this verse on Facebook and Twitter; it received a lot of attention. This popular verse is a favorite for many of us who follow Christ. After all, it makes us feel good. But what does it mean – below the surface – in the heart of the passage?

It’s in the middle of a long prophecy by Isaiah. A little context will help us here. Isaiah 40 alternates back and forth between descriptions of God and descriptions of humanity. Here they are in summary –

This is Him. He is…

• The glory of the revealed King (40:3-5).
• The eternal Word (40:8).
• The God of power and reward (40:9-10).
• The Good Shepherd (40:11).
• The Creator of the earth (40:12).
• The Source of wisdom and knowledge (40:13-14).
• Superior to man-made idols (40:18-20).
• Enthroned high above the earth (40:21-22).
• The Creator of the starry universe (40:25-26).

This is us. We are…

• Deserving punishment for sin (40:1-2).
• Withered grass and fallen flowers (40:6-8).
• Nothing – even our greatest nations and rulers are nothing (40:15-17, 23-24).
• Grasshoppers (40:22).

And yet we say…

Despite the awesomeness of who He is and despite the temporal, disobedient mess that we are, we have the nerve and the audacity to say, “God doesn’t know and He wouldn’t care if He did” (40:27 paraphrase).

But here’s the point…

He alone is the eternal Creator. He’ll never grow tired or weary. Even kids eventually get tired and wear out but God doesn’t. He won’t. He can’t (40:28-31).

We may be as weak as a withered piece of grass. We may deserve punishment for our sin. We may appear as a grasshopper. But God is willing to renew us. That little word renew – don’t skim by it! Take a moment to think about it. It means to substitute, to change for the better, to make new. That’s a pretty amazing offer for the eternal Creator to be willing to take our tired, worn out, weak selves and give us His strength instead. We can exchange our strength – or lack thereof – for His incredible strength that never does wear out! Only then can we “run and not grow weary;” only then can we “walk and not faint” (40:31)

How is that possible?

He offers this exchange to those who trust Him – to those who put their hope in Him (40:31). It’s that simple. Recognize who God is and Jesus the Messiah as His Son. Recognize He is eternal Creator and you’re a sinner in need of rescue from coming punishment. Click here to read more about a relationship with God.

In case that’s not enough…

Those who trust in the Lord will exchange their strength for God’s strength but there’s more. They will also soar on wings like eagles. This is some pretty cool symbolism. I say symbolism because Christ’s followers don’t really fly on the wings of some giant, magical eagle. Just thought I’d make sure you knew that.

Three other times in God’s Word He used the symbolism of His people being carried on eagle’s wings. They are all pretty significant.

In Exodus 19:3-6, Moses wrote that God carried the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt on the wings of an eagle. He even went further and promised that if they obeyed His Word and kept covenant then they would be His treasured possession.

In Deuteronomy 32:8-12, Moses wrote of Jacob. God found Jacob alone in the desert; at that time, He gave Jacob the Promised Land as an inheritance. From then on, God shielded Jacob and cared for him as an eagle does her young – just as she carries them on her wings. Jacob trusted God alone – no foreign God – and God alone led Him.

In Revelation 12:14, John prophetically wrote of a still unfulfilled time period. At that time, God will once again give Israel the wings of an eagle to carry her to safety during the time of the Antichrist.

These three Scriptural examples tell us a lot about the freedom to soar on wings like eagles. Just as God did the Israelites in Egypt, God frees those who trust Him from the oppression of slavery and makes us His treasured possession. Just as He did for Jacob, He leads those who trust Him until they reach the Promised Land of eternity. Just like He’ll do for Israel in the future, He’ll protect those who trust Him as He brings defeat to our enemies.

Like I said, it’s a pretty cool exchange. I’m ready to fly like an eagle.

Liberated to Live Free: 3 Aspects of Spiritual Freedom

Can you imagine a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz concentration camp who chose to stay when Soviet forces liberated the camp? Would an inmate in Alcatraz refuse if a boat pulled up and offered him passage to freedom? Would a POW at the Hanoi Hilton stay huddled in his cell when the door opened and freedom awaited?

“Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit to a yoke of slavery. … For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:1, 13).

Set Free to Live Free

Freedom became available for all humanity when Jesus died and later resurrected. He didn’t sacrifice so greatly for our freedom so we could continue to live in bondage. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NIV). He set us free to live free! He opened the cell door, liberated the camp, and offered the passage to freedom. Why do some of us not step out of the prison cell darkness and into the light?

Click here to read more on what it means to live free.

Stand Firm

D. L. Moody once quoted a former slave woman in the South following the Civil War. “Being a former slave, she was confused about her status and asked, ‘Now is I free, or is I not? When I go to my old master he says I ain’t free, and when I go to my own people they say I is, and I don’t know whether I’m free or not. Some people told me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says he didn’t; he didn’t have any right to.’” (Source) 

This enslaved woman needed to learn the same lessons we need to learn as well. Abraham Lincoln defeated his enemy thereby retaining the power to set the woman free; likewise, Jesus Christ defeated His enemy and retained the power to set us free. Her former master told her lies to keep her confused as to her status of freedom. Our former master – the enemy of Jesus Christ – tells us lies as well to keep us from living in our freedom.

We can’t stand firm in our freedom if we crumble every time Satan attacks. We can’t let our former master put the yoke of slavery back on us with his lies.

Free to Love, not Indulge

Here’s the part where many fall apart. The fear is that many who choose to live free will throw off all self-restraint. Morals and standards will disappear as people live free to do whatever they desire.

But freedom is not the absence of responsibility.

Freedom granted by Christ follows His example. He used His freedom to choose sacrificial love – not to satisfy selfish indulgences. We live free to serve others and love them sacrificially – not as an opportunity to satisfy our human desires.

Find Power in Weakness

My daughter wanted a monkey piñata for her birthday. Not only that, but because my girls are getting a little older, it had to be the kind of piñata you hit. The pull strings just didn’t cut it anymore.

I was unable to find one so we decided to undertake it as a summer craft project. After all, who doesn’t love playing with papier-mâché?

We cut cardboard, wadded newspaper, glued strips, and added paint. Here was our finished project.

We did our best to make the monkey as strong as possible. We’d never made a piñata before so we weren’t sure how well it would hold together once the bat started swinging.

At the time of the party, we hung the piñata on our swing set and lined up my nieces and nephews, starting with the youngest first. We gave her a plastic whiffle bat, blindfolded her, and let her at it. No damage.

Next child, no damage.

We went through the entire line of candy-craving children with no damage to the piñata. It was too strong.

We decided not to blindfold the kids so they could have a more accurate blow to the dangling monkey. The plaster started to crack a little with each swing but no signs of a candy-supplying hole.

We gave the kids a real bat instead of the plastic one. They went through the line again – trying to tear the piñata apart.

Finally, we stepped it up a final notch. We brought in our two oldest daughters. Both of our strong teenage girls have been swinging a softball bat as long as they can remember.

First the younger, then the older – they stood in swinging stance and swung with all their might. The plaster started to crumble off the inner cardboard structure. Still, nothing that would make the piñata give up its sweet contents.

After a few rounds by the older daughters, the younger of them hit the piñata right on the hole where we had filled it.

She found the weak spot; the piñata crumbled in one blow.

In the end, one good hit in the weak spot was all it took to bring it down.

I’m kind of like that monkey piñata and I think a lot of you may be as well. We are so strong. We’ve built a sturdy structure in our life; we’ve plastered it smooth with layers of protection.

But we also all have a weak spot – a hole we haven’t filled. A single blow to that one area may be all it takes to bring us down. That one blow may make us explode as all the issues we hold in come pouring forth.

Even the apostle Paul had a weak spot. If he’s not above an area of weakness, then I know you and I aren’t either. We, like Paul, need to be aware that our weak spot is where Satan is going to take his swings at us. “Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment me so I would not exalt myself” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

We are pretty powerful on our own. We can withstand a lot of blows without more than a few cracks in our outer layer. Eventually, though, Satan sends one of his messengers to find and exploit that weak spot.

What do we do then?

In that moment, we recognize our strength is inadequate on its own. We remember that, as a follower of Christ, the Lord is our strength. “The Lord is the strength of His people; He is a stronghold of salvation for His anointed” (Psalm 28:8). It is our weakness that reveals His power.

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).