Be a Blessing

Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. 1 Peter 3:8-12 (The Message)

My mom told me ‘that if I could not say anything good about someone then I should not say anything at all.’ Good advice then that still applies today.

Unwarranted criticism, unjust sarcasm, and speaking evil only cuts, only harms, and only destroys. Turn on Fox news or any ‘news’ service today and you will view an example of how not to be. For to harm others is the way of the world. You harm others so that you can climb over them towards a promotion, towards stardom, or towards fame.

Yet, we’ve learned better. Jesus taught us better by his example, by how he lived. He showed love, compassion, and deep care towards all, even those who crucified him.

He taught us that love overcomes hate and that love heals. He taught that caring for others actually opens their hearts and when opened just a mite He planted an eternal truth.

We each have opportunities throughout our day to show kindness, to demonstrate mercy, to love, and hopefully to heal. In doing so we will be a blessing to those who desperately need a blessing and prayfully we can plant some truth that will be eternally received!

Trying of Your Faith Works Patience

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience James 1:3.

Just after Belinda and I moved into our new home it was decided that certain shelving units needed stripping. The old varnish needed to come off so that new paint could be applied. So on numerous weekends, holidays, and leave days I worked. It was a long and slow process. The abrasive solution weakened and softens the wood so patience was needed otherwise permanent damage could occur.

God is patiently working on our lives. He lovingly strips away our pride, our selfishness, and our defenses to expose our raw nature. This is a slow and often painful process. A process we don’t like to see, we don’t like to see the ugliness of our old nature. We like to believe that we are better than that. Yet, are we?

The more that we recognize our own sinful nature the more glorious is the redemptive salvation of Christ, our Lord. The more willing we are to bow the knee and proclaim the fullness of the glory and the honor and the majesty to Christ our King. The more that we see ourselves for who we truly are and therefore the more that we can see our need for Christ our Savior.

The trying of our faith strips away any falseness, any self-righteousness, any pride, and any self-reliance that we’ve trusted in. Our faith is tried and we learn patience. No, our old nature is not remarkably changed in a day but in a lifetime and even then we still will not measure up to the worthiness of Christ.

I may desire Christ to be formed in me… even to the point of self inducted depression… but in reality this is self-righteousness. I am the clay and not the potter, a follower by faith, by hope, by patience, and not by sight.

Christ loves us enough to allow suffering so that we can comfort those who suffer. How else can we know compassion, mercy, and forgiveness?

This you know and this you’ve shown me and by this I’ve been comforted and encouraged and strengthened.

We are therefore confident that: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

and

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36

Opening Up

Sometimes its best to do what you really don’t want to do. Sometimes when things are not working its best to try something different.

So, that is what I’m doing here. I’m writing to my friends when I don’t feel like writing. When I feel as if my writing is worthless and when I’m not the ‘most upbeat camper’ on the block.

I’m opening up to my friends and sharing with them all that is going on in my life. All in the hope that something that I say will click… something that is written may encourage and let them know that what they feel and think at times is common among others… that they are not alone in their feelings or their thoughts.

Here lately I’ve felt like everything that I’m doing is for naught. I battle with thoughts that they say, “you are a failure.” Ever feel that way? Ever think those thoughts. Maybe I’m alone here but its been a battle lately.

The Word of God encourages but the negativity remains. This is not and has not been a fast cure. On some days the battle is not so intense and yet at others… well, I don’t even like living with me. Ever feel that way?

Maybe it’s the changes that are occurring in my life? The retirement from the Air Force in March. The promised job that’s taken six months to materialize and still… I’m waiting. Or, maybe its the weeds in the back yard…

I will say this though, if not for friends and family I’m sure that I would have succumbed to my own depression. That’s right I said depression. I know, Christians are not suppose to get down or depressed or sad… we are taught that we are always suppose to be up, cheerful, and just wonderful people all the time.

Well I’m not wonderful all the time and I suspect that others are much the same way.
Sometimes I get angry for really stupid reasons and sometimes I say things that cut and sometimes I just feel like quitting.

Ever feel like quitting on yourself? You read the Bible and then you compare your life with it and you find a big, big difference. You read how others overcame, conquered, and remained steadfast and you look deep within your heart and you don’t see those same attributes…. ever feel this way?

Day in and day out you hope and your pray that God will change you because a while ago you found out… I can’t do this thing on my own. You recognize that its totally about grace and mercy and the Lord’s forgiveness. Yet, your heart so desires righteousness… because you so want to bring glory to your Heavenly Father…

If you’ve ever felt this way then you are not alone. King David felt this way… Job felt this way… and the Apostle Paul felt this way.

A brother in Christ in Australia wrote much more elegantly about such feels. Please consider his thoughts at: http://www.net-burst.net/search.htm

Weeds in the Backyard

The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him." John 14:21

The other day we were blessed with some late rain showers so I thought it a good time to pull-up my personal crop of weeds. These ‘precious growths of procrastination’ were by now thick, tall, and well rooted.

So into the thicket I marched. When not sliding or skidding in the mud I was bent over in search of the base of my wicked friends and when found… give a pull and hope for the best.

Among the pulling and the too-often ‘snapping’ of weed-roots my mind turned to the condition of my own heart. I wondered, when the Lord looks at my heart is it so unsightly… I wondered, in what areas ‘in my backyard’ have I procrastinated? In what areas have I not obeyed the Lord and in not obeying… what have I glossed over. Thinking, “ah, its not all that bad.”

So, in the mud, in the midst of well harvested weeds I prayed and asked my Lord for forgiveness. Forgiveness for all my disobedience and all the little seeds of rebellion that must be germinating… I prayed for restoration.

An hour later the majority of my weeds yet remained in the back yard but more importantly my relationship with my Savior was ever closer and the conscience of my heart clearer.

It does not take a backyard full of weeds for you to have a heart-check; just a heart that is sensitive and that continues in love with the Savior.

May your heart be sensitive today; one that loves and obeys.

Psalms and Prayer

“Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Also draw out the spear, and stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” Psalms 35:1-3

This beautiful psalm, ascribed to David and also prophetically to Christ the Messiah can also, I believe, be ascribed to us as well…

Certainly, we do not have someone trying to kill us like David or Christ did. At least on the surface we don’t. Yet, spiritually we have an enemy of our souls who desires to crush us, to minimize our effect, and if possible to kill our influence. This enemy, not often spoken of anymore, is the Devil.

Why not utilize this psalm and so many more in our prayer life? Why not say: ‘Plead my cause, O Lord, with the Devil who is striving with me. Fight against him who is fighting against me. Lord, take hold of your shield and buckler, and stand up for me. Also, draw out your spear and stop the evil one who pursues me. Lord, say to my soul, I am your salvation.’

Today, the Lord understands everything that you are going through. He understands the stress and pressure that you are under. He knows the fight of faith that you are raging, the depression you might be feeling, the fear that might be grabbing hold of your heart. The Lord understands, he cares, and he loves you dearly.

You may not think that the Lord cares for you but he does. Any thought that says otherwise is a lie. You may feel as if the Lord has deserted you but feelings deceive us. When all else fails… why not read the psalms… and pray!

Planning Your Day

Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Proverbs 16:1

Have you ever planned your day only to have your plan evaporate before the first item is check off? Planning our day is a good thing but sometimes God has different plans for you and for your day.

We tend to think that it is better to accomplish a lot in our day and some days that is very necessary. Yet in our marking off taskings do we sometimes forget… relationships?

Sometimes people just need us to be there for them. They need someone to talk to and someone to listen to them. There’s a lot of hurting and lonely people around us and they need comfort. They need a friend.

Being a friend to someone is more important than accomplishing a bunch of tasks. Jesus, lived this way. He always placed people above his to-do list. Should not we live the same way?

One of those days...

He told her, "You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God. Job 2:10

Ever have one of those days…? Your in a hurry to run errands and every stop light is against you causing you to stop and fume… when you finally get going someone cuts you off…

The checkout lines at the store go on and on and on… or your busy clearing out and organizing the pantry and one of your dogs gets sick… on new carpet?

The car needs an oil change, the lawn is weedy and needs mowing and the garage is a mess again... The honey-do list is expanding like your waist-line while the treadmill gathers more dust…

Your boss is cranky again, who knows which direction they will decide on… and so-and-so is stabbing you in the back… The ‘in’ box is starting to overflow and the ‘outbox’ is filled with scrap paper--just to make yourself feel productive…

Time and to-do lists and stressors march on, even if we don’t. We get tired and mind-weary from all the stress, all the fuss, and all the rush…

On some days the suns out and its just simply beautiful outside. The grass is green, flowers are blooming… but inside you feel gloomy? Ever feel that way?

Ever ask where is God is this madness? The Bible says that he’s right there with you. The distaste of a bad day may not go away but God will walk with you and be with you through it all.

And when you blow it, when anger flares because you over did it or you are overly stressed or the real reason, your sinful nature comes to the surface… when that occurs and you really, really feel low… God’s only a prayer away, a few words of forgiveness and then you move on.

Because that’s about all you can do. You and I cannot change all of our circumstances. Those that we can tweak, we tweak but what to say of all the others? Ever thought that maybe there’s a reason? Maybe the astonishing life that we’ve always dreamed of, that the world portrays to us, that we need to buy into maybe, it just does not fit us.

The question is… can we be happy with being who we truly are? With God we can be. The bad days will come and go and will come again but deep inside we can know the peace and joy and comfort of a God who knows… who understands… and who walks with us through it all!

The Human Heart is Deceitful

The human heart is deceitful… who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Within it can rage a great variety of emotions… some to do good… some evil… yet, this ‘knowledge of good and evil’ in a human vessel is still corrupt… still vile. The only righteousness flows from the throne of God.

Yet, so often we listen to our hearts of deceit. We follow the promptings of our heart… We run in earnest to that which feels good.

Pain and suffering, uneasiness and discomfort we… run away from. We believe that God cannot be in the suffering… 2 Corinthians 6:6

What of… the Word of God? In times of trouble do we lean on its secure foundations or do we… follow our hearts?

Our Sun and Shield

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. Psalm 84:11

The Lord is so good to us! He is our everything! He is like our sun for He gives us light to see… otherwise we would stumble in darkness. Psalm 18:28 His light (understanding) brings warmth to us and encourages us…

Our God is like a shield for He protects us. Psalm 18:2 No evil can come to us, no ill-will can cross us without the Lord’s first o.k. He’s in-charge, God directs… He protects.

The Lord gives us saving grace to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ! Acts 15:11, Acts 18:27, Romans 5:15. It is through His mercy that we see and know what we know…

That we know to do right… to be righteous. Something… of course, we cannot do own our own, that we do not possess, and that on our own we cannot obtain.

Yet, in Christ all things are possible… even godly righteousness within us. A righteousness worked into our lives through the grace and mercy of Christ… who is our example… our “sun and our shield”.

Praying to Father

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” Matthew 6:6-8

Some might ask then… why should we pray if God knows our needs already? We need to pray to encourage our own personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.

In a world that is desperately wicked and growing ever more so every day we need a closer and deeper walk with our Lord. We need His influence… His guidance… and His hand on our heart… to melt and change us… otherwise the world will influence us…

Prayer demonstrates our dependency on the Lord… to the Lord. We don’t pray to impress others. We don’t pray so that others think of us as being overly spiritual.

We pray because we want to. Because our hearts have fallen in love with our Lord and more than anything else in this world… we just want to be close to him. Spending time in prayer is spending time with the Lord.

Our prayers don’t need to be long… or be elaborate and elevated… our Heavenly Father seems to desire just the opposite. He likes for people to just talk to him… is their own everyday speech that they use with their families… with their friends.

He just wants to hear from his children just as a mother or a father desires to hear from their children…

to know how they are doing…

to be there in time of need…

to answer… when they call…

The Lord Will Help You

For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, Do not fear, I will help you Isaiah 41:13

The Lord helps and heals. He came from heaven to live… to experience… and understand… the human plight… our plight.

For years I thought that God was out to get me. I thought that he was always angry with me… always judging… basically against me. It was up to me to live righteously… if I couldn’t then… well, I was on my own.

Many view their Heavenly Father in such a light… maybe its because their earthly Fathers mistreated them… or its some wrong-headed teaching they’ve received.

The truth is God loves you. So much so that he gave his son as a ransom… as a replacement… as a sacrifice… for you… for me. God’s not against us… he’s for us.

The Lord helps his children but we need to ask for help. David knew this and did this is the Psalms…

Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Psalm 5:2

But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans. Psalm 10:14

Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. Psalm 10:17

[ A prayer of David. ] O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help. Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips. Psalm 17:1

Our Heavenly Father is not ‘out to get us’… he’s out to help us… when we recognize our great need for him…

The Faith of Rahab

By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God. [Hebrews 11:31]

Rahab, the one person that commentators have fussed over, argued over, and seemingly wanted to sweep under the corners of their theology rugs… as for the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 they deem that she doesn’t fit well. Why? Rahab was a harlot. [Joshua 2:1]

Harlots and heaven are not suppose to go together. Harlots are known as the worst of people… the dregs of humanity.

Yet, God loves harlots… even if we don’t. God’s view is to separate… the sin… from the sinner. He forgives the sin and the sinner becomes sinless…

God forgives and forgets… can we do the same? [Psalm 103:12]

Rahab believed God and helped the spies of Israel. Her faith was tied to action… she risked her own life to help another people…

Rahab is much like we are… she believed what she heard. She believed the report of how the Red Sea was dried up and how two kings who came against Israel… were destroyed. [Joshua 2:8]

Rahab’s belief went beyond her label. She forgave herself and her past and instead looked to the God of Israel for help… for mercy… for forgiveness… for grace.

We live in a world of Rahabs… some Christian… some not… most have played the harlot with some temptation of this world. Either that be food, sex, entertainment, sports, or self-absorbsion… or self-promotion in one way or another… at one time or another we all have bowed down and worshipped something or someone other than Christ our Lord. Maybe you haven’t… but I have.

I’m guilty just like Rahab and like her my only hope is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I have no righteousness… none… I’m just who I am… and that person needs help every day… every moment. Otherwise I’ll do my own thing… lean on my own understanding… or worse… I’ll put on a religious mask that is always… happy… self-righteous… and seldom… truthful. The world needs truthful and honest people… believers… and not more religion…

Rahab was honest… she was truthful… she believed… it is no wonder that the spies went to her home and in her put their trust…

Do the hurting people around you… put their trust in you?

The Faith of a Nation

By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned. By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat. Hebrews 11:29-30

On either occasion no one from Israel did the work… God did. All that God asked of his people was their faith. He asked that they fully believe in him to fully trust in him.

God was asking his people to leave their fears in Egypt. To leave their old ways behind them. To forget the ways of Egypt.

God asks the same of us today. He does not desire that we prove our love and faith to him in any grand project… in any building or temple or statue. He asks for sincere belief. A trust that denies our own objections, that quiets our own doubts, and that silences our nagging fears.

He asks that we love Him more than ourselves. Love will cast out our fears 1 John 4:18…
When our hearts are right with God… when trust in beating through our veins… then no enemy can stand against us. None of our stumbling blocks will hinder us… for God, the awesome God of eternity will fight for us… help us... and lead us.

Open… will fold the walls of the Red Sea! Down… will fall the walls of Jericho! And all we need do is walk in faith… believe and trust… and God will fight for us… protect us… walk with us… be with us in whatever desert we need cross… what ever Sea… what ever city we circle… we can be confident of His leading and His protection…

The Faith of Moses

By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them. Hebrews 11:23-25

Moses, a Hebrew child… placed and taken from the Nile River… during a time of great stress and great death. Raised in the court of Egypt… the very best of Egypt and yet it did not compare with the hope of his people… his faith in God.

He rejected the favor of Egypt and Egypt rejected him… he killed a man… he made mistakes… but God did not reject him. God will never reject his children… there is always mercy… grace.

I’m sure as he shepherd among the brush and cracked earth of the sun-burnt desert lands that he felt like a failure. His sandals no longer slapped the marble halls of Egypt nor did his voice ring in their courts… the hope of what he thought his future would be was… gone. His dreams and ambition slowly… evaporated.

Broken from prestige he started over in a new place, with new acquaintances, a new family and a new profession.

In Egypt, God’s people cried and prayed and God remembered His promises. On a desert mountain God spoke to Moses.

God had readied Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. God had readied His people’s hearts to leave Egypt. Moses heard from God and obeyed. Having faith is always tied to obedience.

God sees into your heart today. He knows the bondage of Egypt that you may be suffering under or the desert you may be walking or the elevated halls you may walk through. He knows how and when to make you ready for his service… for the right time… for the right purpose… for His purpose.

The Faith of Joseph

By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial. Hebrews 11:22

Joseph, the young man who had a dream. A dream that he shared and in sharing got in trouble. The trouble with his brothers lead him to Egypt and from there to prison. From prison God raised him to leadership and in doing so saved many.

Now with life fading Joseph encourages God’s people with a prophesy. From his first step into Egypt to his last breath Joseph remained a faithful and encouraging servant… to either the Egyptians or to God’s people…

He stayed on the job whether a brother, a slave, a servant, a prisoner, or a leader…

His spirit did not grow bitter through abuse…

He forgave injustice and rejection…

He overcame temptation…

He grew in wisdom and character…

His clothing changed from a coat of many colors… to rags… to princely attire… yet inside he remained clothed with integrity, honor, mercy, and love… each growing through the dust… the heat… the trials of Egypt.

To the Joseph’s of this world God has a plan. Some things may be taken away from us… some cruel taskmasters may be placed over us… some of us may spend time in the prison of despair, disappointment, and even disillusionment… but without mistake… this is God’s plan and it is no mistake that you are going through what you now face!

Hold on to faith in God! Remember all that he’s lead you through… has He ever failed you? Has he ever let you down? Has he not always brought you comfort no matter what you’ve gone through?

~

‘Father, give us a measure of the faith that Joseph had. Touch our hearts with integrity… with character… with faith. Help us to stand for righteousness. Help us to serve. Help us to encourage. Make us worthy to be called by your holy name!’

The Faith of Jacob

By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff. Hebrews 11:21

By this time Jacob could not see well. When Joseph’s two sons were brought to him it was customary to bless the eldest first and then the other. Jacob, at the time of blessing crossed his hands and blessed the youngest first and then the eldest. By this… breaking tradition through his trust in God.

There are many religious traditions that are cross-ways of scripture. When religious traditions trump scripture there are problems. Most of the problems place God’s people in legalistic bondage.

There is a time and a place to break with tradition. There is never a time to break from scripture. There is a difference.

Sometimes faith causes us to walk… a different pathway. A pathway different from our religious denomination… or oral tradition. When that occurs we will need the same faith that Jacob demonstrated since others will not understand and may condemn...

Jacob’s life was one of trial, problems, and mistakes. He was much like many of us… yet his belief in God… his trust… carried him through and in the end… he was deemed faithful… and our example.

Bless our Families

By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau. Hebrews 11:20 (The Message)

Isaac’s father Abraham, believed in the promises of God. Now at the end of Isaac’s life we find the same faith in Isaac… a faith he shares with his two sons.

Isaac shared with his boys the covenant of God. He shared with them the importance of walking with God and Isaac prayed with them… blessed them.

In this earthly life what is more important than family? In a maddening world that we occupy families should stick together, help one another, prayer for one another, and bless one another.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Time and inattention… distance and unfamiliarity have each taken their toll… and some families have a shaky future before them.

Yet, like the families of Jacob and Esau God has a purpose… a plan; good plans with a good future and marked with hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

Regardless of the strain in a relationship… regardless of the hurt… God cares and he works in our families because God loves families. He’s our Heavenly Father and the Father gives our families not a curse… but a blessing!

May we each be a blessing and bless our families today!

The Testing of Abraham's Faith

By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar. Hebrews 11:17 (The Message)

Ever have God give you a promise? Ever have him show you a life-vision… maybe it’s a work in the ministry or a specified purpose? Something bigger than you are… something or some dream that God’s laid on your heart that fills, thrills, and engages your creative juices?

Maybe you try and fulfill God’s purpose in your life... on your own... in your own strength? Many do… some fail… and some do not. Those who fail are the fortunate ones… the very blessed ones because God does not want His mission accomplished in their own strength. God always desires those with a broken-heart… to do his work… He can count on these to rely on him and to return to God the proper honor and glory.

Such was the heart of Abraham. God had promised that through him all nations would be blessed… He tried to 'help God' fulfill this vision with the birth of Ishmael but this lead only to heart-ache, stress, and divisiveness...

Then in Sarah and Abraham’s old age God blessed them both with a child of promise, Isaac.

Now, the promised child… (the vision that God had given to Abraham… just when the first step of fulfillment were to be actuated…) God seemingly changed His mind… for God gave Abraham a command to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering to him… [offering children was a pagan rite of the time…]

Ever feel like God’s changed His mind with you?

No, God had not changed his mind but was testing the faith of Abraham. The test required Abraham to die to his own desire to fulfill God’s plan and to place his entire trust, hope, and love into God’s hands. This is all that God requires of you and I… to trust and obey…

Abraham placed Isaac on the fire wood and raised a knife to kill his son… when an angel of the Lord stopped him. God knew for certain the trust and heart of Abraham.

Sometimes… God takes us to the breaking point… sometimes He saves at the very last moment… when all our hope is gone… when it is tempting to fix ‘the problem’ on our own… when self-reliance seems more rational that waiting on God… but when we wait… when we trust then we truly bring God the glory…

And bringing glory to God is what having faith in all about.