Monthly Archives: October 2011

True Riches

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“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”1

Today’s Daily Encounter is told by Henry Gariepy.

A rich man named Carl loved to ride his horse through his vast estate to congratulate himself on his wealth. One day on such a ride, he came on Hans, an old tenant farmer who had sat down to eat his lunch in the shade of a great oak tree. Hans’ head was bowed in prayer. When Hans looked up, he said, “Oh, excuse me, Sir. I didn’t see you. I was giving thanks for my food.”

“Hmph!” snorted the rich man, Carl. He noticed the coarse dark bread and cheese which made up the old man’s lunch. “If that were all I had to eat, I don’t think I would feel like giving thanks.”

“Oh,” replied Hans, “it is quite sufficient. But it is remarkable that you should come by today, Sir. I feel I should tell you, I had a strange dream just before awakening this morning.”

“And what did you dream?” Carl asked with an amused smile. The old man answered, “There was beauty and peace all around, and yet I could hear a voice saying, ‘The richest man in the valley will die tonight.’”

“Dreams!” cried Carl. “Nonsense!” He turned and galloped away. Hans prayed as he watched horse and rider disappear.

Die tonight, mused Carl. It’s ridiculous, of course! No use my going into a panic. The best thing to do about the old man’s dream is to forget it. But he couldn’t forget it. He had felt fine, at least until Hans described his stupid dream. Now he didn’t feel too well. That evening he called his doctor, who was also a personal friend. “Could you come over?” he asked. “I need to talk to you.” When the doctor arrived, Carl told him the old man’s dream—how the richest man in the valley would die that night.

“Sounds like poppycock to me,” the doctor said, “but for your peace of mind, let’s examine you.”

A little later, his examination complete, the doctor was full of assurances. “Carl, you’re as strong and healthy as that horse of yours. There’s no way you’re going to die tonight.” Carl thanked his friend and told him how foolish he felt for being upset by an old man’s dream.

It was about 9 A.M. when a messenger arrived at Carl’s door. “It’s old Hans,” the messenger said. “He died last night in his sleep.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to live with eternal values in mind and become rich in the eyes of heaven regardless of whether I am rich or poor in the eyes of man. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: To be sure you are ready for the day when you will meet your Maker, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” online at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. Jesus in Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV).

2. This story is told by Henry Gariepy in Portraits of Perseverance, (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1989).

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Healthy Parenting and Partnering

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“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”1

I read recently about a man who said, “I failed my son when he needed me most. I was under a great strain from a workload I seemed unable to escape. A gulf came between me and my son, and when I recognized it, it was too late. I have never been able to regain communication. I failed God as well as my son.”

In our dreadfully materialistic culture in the Western world, far too many parents (who are on the obsessive merry-go-round of what the secular world calls success) try to buy off their kids with endless things, and/or get them involved in endless activities so they don’t have to spend time with them.

In some of America’s most affluent class, madness reigns. Super wealthy parents can give their kids “an ‘Atherton Castle’ [that] comes with a two-story, seven-foot-square ‘fort,’ and a ten-foot bridge that connects to another five-level fort with a ‘crazy bar’ climb—all for only $54,600. If that price seems steep, there’s a ‘pirate’s haunt’ for only $35,000.”2 There’s far higher priced models too.

We, including our children, were created for relationships with each other—not with things. We all need to be bonded to people, without which we live together alone apart and consequently suffer from emotional malnutrition and die a little every day.

What kid needs any gift—be it large or small—without the loving emotional connection to his mom and dad? More than anything else our kids need our presence, to be with them, listen to them, be kind to them, care about them, help them, and communicate to them through word and deed that we truly love them. If a child doesn’t feel loved, he/she is heading for major problems somewhere down the road—and it may be just around the corner.

And by the way, our spouses have exactly the same need. I have a friend from back home who, when her husband was climbing the ladder of success, used to say, “My husband gives me everything I want … except himself.” Needless to say their marriage failed.

When we try to pay off our kids with things and our wives with expensive jewelry and the like, we wonder why our kids get into serious trouble and our spouses have emotional or physical breakdowns and/or get involved in an affair. I had another friend who, when going through chemotherapy, said, “I know why I have cancer. I’m dying of loneliness in my marriage.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to love my spouse and my children as you love me, and help me to make them, as well as my relationship to you, my number one priority in life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Timothy 5:8 (NASB).

2. Quoted on Breakpoint with Chuck Colson, Feb 25, 2005.

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Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

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“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”1

Not so long ago two of my sisters and a brother-in-law from Australia visited us here in California. John, my brother-in-law came down with a heavy cold and was feeling lousy. He went to a local pharmacy to get some medication—or to try to get some. He spoke to the pharmacist (chemist, as he called him) and said in his heavy Aussie accent, “I have a dreadful cold and need some medicine todie.”

“I beg your pardon,” replied the pharmacist, “you want what?”

“I want some medicine todie.”

“I can’t do that for you,” the pharmacist declared.

“But I’m feeling very sick and need help todie,” John repeated, and for the life of him he couldn’t understand why the pharmacist wouldn’t help him. John ended up walking out of the pharmacy and came home very frustrated.

John and the pharmacist were both speaking the same language but neither one understood the other. When John, with his heavy Australian accent, said, “I need help todie,” translated into American he was actually saying, “I need help today.”

Needless to say when we “translated” for him, we all had a fit of laughter.

In relationships however, miscommunication can be the cause of considerable misunderstanding and conflict. Two partners or friends may be saying the same thing but each interprets it differently. When Joy and I have a disagreement (which is rare), it is almost always a communication problem. We misinterpret what the other had said. We think that what we think is what the other was thinking when they didn’t say what we thought they said and didn’t know what they were thinking. That’s how confusing miscommunication can be.

So … three keys for effective relationships are: (1) communication, (2) communication, and (3) communication.

So again … all of us (including myself) need to stick to the old remedy by counting to ten before we fly off the handle when we are upset by what another has said. Before jumping to a wrong conclusion, ask, “I’m confused, did I hear you correctly?” Explain what you heard, and then ask, “Is this what you meant? If not, will you please explain so I don’t misunderstand you?”

We have only communicated effectively when the listener interprets in his/her thinking as close as possible to what we meant in what we said. Something we all need to work on when communicating.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that even when I don’t get my words right, you understand what my heart is saying. Please help me to do likewise with all my loved ones and friends. Help me, not only to be a good communicator in what I say, but also a good listener and in close relationships always listen with my heart as well as with my head. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 5:37 (NKJV).

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Trust

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“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”1

Speaking of dreams, rock-climbing definitely is not a dream of mine. I’ve seen rock climbers scale the face of El Capitan in the magnificent Yosemite National Park in California. The thought of my doing what they are doing terrifies me. What if they fell? It can happen. Imagine the terror that rock climber, Lynn Hill, experienced in May of 1989 when scaling a cliff face in France. As she reached the top of a 72-foot ledge, she leaned back into her harness to take a rest—and her rope didn’t hold. She hurtled backwards into space. Amazingly, she survived the fall. She shared this in her autobiography, Climbing Free.

Hill was an experienced rock climber and relied fully on her equipment. Her experience, however, is a powerful reminder of the dangers of putting our trust into something that can fail.2

Think of all the people who held stock in companies such as Enron. Thousands thought their future was secure but lost all their retirement funds. Same with me, I put my trust in my broker and he stole my entire retirement fund. True, we can’t go through life being suspicious of everyone, but having said that, we do need to be wise and careful about who and what we put our trust in.

In some situations where we have been let down, we can recover, but when it comes to putting our trust in planning for eternity, there’s no recovery if we place our trust in the wrong religion or in a false “god.”

Many religious leaders besides Jesus Christ have and still claim that their religion is the true way to God. But Jesus was emphatic in stating that he—not religion nor Christianity for that matter—but that HE was the only way to God. “No one,” he said, “comes to God except through me!”

While Jesus Christ is not the only religious leader who claimed to be God, he is the only one who ever convinced a great portion of the world that he is. He is also the only leader who ever claimed that he would rise from death,3 and according to historical evidence, he did. Following his resurrection, he was seen by the women who visited his tomb and found it empty, by the disciples, and by more than 500 other witnesses.4

Christ’s resurrection was also recorded by Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his Antiquities (18:3). Josephus was a Jew writing to satisfy the Romans, so his report of Christ’s resurrection would not have pleased the Romans at all. He would not have included it had he not believed it to be true.*

Had there been any other way to save lost mankind from sins’ eternal destruction, why would Jesus, the Son of God, have come to earth as a baby to identify with mankind and then die in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins on the cruel Roman cross?

So be extremely wise and careful in what and in whom you put your trust when it comes to life after death. Your life depends on it. Eternity is forever!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please be merciful to me, a sinner. Help me to see your truth. Help me not to depend on anyone other than you, the one and only God, to reveal to me the way to you and the way to eternal life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

*Note: For further evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ see the article, “Jesus Christ: God or Man?” at: www.actsweb.org/articles/article.php?i=24&d=1&c=1&p=1. And, if you are not sure that you have placed your trust in Jesus for your eternal destiny, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/articles/article.php?i=2&d=1&c=1&p=2.

1. John 14:6 (NIV).

2. James B. Meigs, “Extreme Living,” O, The Oprah Magazine, July 2002, p. 35-37.

3. Matthew 16:21.

4. Luke 24:13-43; 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.

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Attitude

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“Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”1

Attitude, as it has been said, is much more important than aptitude. Aptitude says that we can do things, but attitude will determine how well we do them. Aptitude will determine how well we can think, but attitude will determine how well we feel about what we think. Aptitude will help us see things that perhaps others don’t see, but attitude will help how we interpret what we see and what we do about it. A person with a healthy, positive attitude can achieve much more with his average aptitude than a person with a highly skilled aptitude but who has a negative and self-defeating attitude.

People with a positive attitude will see the glass half-full and be thankful, while those with a negative attitude will see the glass half-empty and complain about it. Both are correct of course but it’s attitude that makes the difference in how they see things. In life we see things not the way they are but the way we are. And if we don’t have an honest and realistic attitude, we will distort the most obvious facts to make them match our prejudiced attitude.

Then, of course, there are those who will argue that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. You can’t win with these people because no matter what you say, they will disagree with you because they have a disagreeable attitude.

In all of life it’s attitude that makes the difference. Aptitude is a gift. Attitude is a choice.

I like what Michael Josephson of Character Counts said, “So, at least for today, I’m not going to worry that roses have thorns; I’ll rejoice that thorns have roses.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see the roses on the thorny bush, the rainbow in the rain, and the hidden blessings you have for me in every circumstance. Help me to develop a thankful attitude so that I will put to best use the aptitudes you have gifted me with. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 5:20 (NIV).

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Turning Pebbles Into Pearls

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“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”1

Into the shell of an oyster a tiny foreign body—such as a tiny parasite—finds its way into the soft oyster body. “The intruder, though microscopic, is a source of irritation and pain to the soft body of the oyster. Unable to rid itself of the unwelcome ‘guest,’ the oyster seeks to reduce the irritation by coating it with layers of soft, iridescent mother-of-pearl material from its own shell. Over time, the oyster transforms a painful irritation into a beautiful pearl of great value.”

Most of us have “tiny parasites” or annoying “pebbles” that come into our life on a regular basis … many of which can be very frustrating and even painful.

But every one of these annoyances gives us a chance to grow and mature. Some will require great patience, others tough love. Some will require our turning the other cheek, some confrontation, and some kindness and understanding. For example, addicts need to be treated with tough love. Bullies require us to maintain healthy boundaries. Cheaters need to be confronted. Manipulators need to be managed. Control freaks need to be resisted, guilt throwers need to be challenged, and toxic people may need to be avoided, and so on.

With God’s help, if we so choose, we can turn every one of these annoying pebbles into pearls or we can allow them to make us bitter. For it’s not what happens to us that matters, but how we react to what happens. What we do about it is what matters—and that’s a choice we make either consciously or unconsciously. And remember, “The bumps are what we climb on.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see an opportunity for growth in every annoying situation. Give me the courage to be strong when needed, have healthy boundaries where required, exercise tough love where it is essential, and show kindness, patience and understanding where these are needed. Help me to always ask, ‘What would Jesus do?’ And please give me the courage to do just that. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV).

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Daddy, Daddy

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“Around mid-afternoon [from the cross] Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly … ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’”1

Tom Miller wrote about the following experience:

My nine-year-old daughter Jennifer was looking forward to our family’s mini-vacation, but when our vacation arrived, she became ill, and a long anticipated day at Sea World was replaced by an all-night series of CAT scans, X-rays, and blood work at a hospital.

As morning approached, the doctors told my exhausted little girl that she needed to have one more test, a spinal tap. The procedure would be painful, they said. The doctor then asked me if I planned to stay in the room. I nodded my head, knowing I couldn’t leave Jennifer alone during her ordeal.

The doctor gently asked Jennifer to remove all her clothing. She looked at me with childlike modesty as if to ask if that were all right. Then they had her curl into a tiny ball. I buried my face in hers and hugged her.

Jennifer cried as the needle went in. As the searing pain increased, she sobbingly repeated, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” her voice becoming more earnest with each word. It was as if she was saying, “Oh, Daddy, this hurts so badly. Please, can’t you do something?”

My tears mingled with hers. My heart was broken. I felt nauseous. Because I loved her, I allowed her to go through the most agonizing experience of her life, and I could hardly stand it.

In the middle of the procedure, my thoughts went to the cross of Christ. What unspeakable pain both the Son and God the Father endured for our sakes. We owe a debt that can never be fully paid. The best thing we can do is give ourselves as living sacrifices.2

Ed. Note: If you’ve never truly thanked Jesus for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for all your sins and received God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life, why not do that today by praying this simple prayer: “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me and I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and the desire to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer and genuinely meant it, please let us know by filling in the reply form at: www.actsweb.org/decision.php

1. Matthew 27:46 (The Message).

2. KneEmail at http://www.oakhillcoc.org.

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Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Courtesy?

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“Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.”1

It has been said that the job of the preacher is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable! So here goes!

I often hold the door open for people when entering or exiting a restaurant or store—be it for a woman or a man, the young or the old, a boy or a girl. Most are appreciative and say thank you, but quite a few don’t bother to say anything. I’m often tempted to say, “You’re welcome,” anyhow, but bite my tongue.

And it never ceases to amaze me how many people ask me via email to do something for them without saying please, thank you, or anything courteous—not to mention drivers who cut in front of you on the highway, etc., etc.

Or like I’ve said before about the many people who just leave their shopping cart out in the parking lot for someone else to put away … some even leave them in car parking spaces. And what about people who throw their garbage out of their car window and litter the magnificent highways we are so privileged to have, at least where I live? And what about those who dump their empty beer and soft drink cans and trash along hiking trails in our beautiful forest and mountain areas?

I can’t help but wonder how these self-centered, thoughtless folk act at home?

Whatever happened to old-fashioned courtesy—thinking of others, saying please and thank you, cleaning up our own messes, picking things up after ourselves, and fixing what we break?

In the early church Christians were known for their love for one another. Would to God that this were true today. Love is always expressed, not in what we say or in what we believe in, but in what we do and how we treat others. And I don’t think we can have love without courtesy and thoughtfulness towards others. Furthermore, it’s the little things—not the big things we do—that define who we really are.

Let’s make sure we reflect the love of God and Spirit of Christ in everything we do and say. “WWJD—what would Jesus do?” is still a good principle by which to live.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again today I pray, please help me to be as Jesus to every life I touch and give me the wisdom to know what you would do in situations where I am not sure how to act. May I be known for my love and concern for others and always be Christ-like and courteous in every situation. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:9-11 (NLT).

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Does Jesus Care?

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“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 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.”1

“Dear Dick,” a reader writes, “Your Daily Encounter, ‘Living with a Challenge,’ has really inspired me. Less than a week ago the bombshell dropped. My adult son, Jim, has the HIV virus. He was released from the hospital yesterday, but without any kind of counseling help.

“We don’t even know how to begin to cope. He has a teen-age daughter and a seven-year-old son. He is terrified of being rejected even by our family. I think the hardest part is his not wanting to lie to anyone about his illness, but not wanting to share it with anyone because of the terrible stigma attached. Just yesterday with fear and trepidation he asked if he could come and see me to spend a little time together for my birthday. Please could you pray for us?”

Dear Jennifer (not her real name), how incredibly sad for Jim, you, his children, and your entire family. I grieve with you. While we don’t know how Jim contracted this dreaded disease, if it were through immoral behavior, we need to remember what D.L. Moody once said when he saw a drunken skid row alcoholic lying in the gutter, “But for the grace of God there go I.”

Having said that, the words of an old hymn, written many years ago by Frank E. Graeff, come to my mind:

Does Jesus care?

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

Too deeply for mirth and song;

As the burdens press, and the cares distress,

And the way grows weary and long?

Oh yes he cares;

I know he cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares.

While we must never condone sin, it is very important that we never reject repentant sinners. Jesus always hated sin because it destroys those whom God loves, but he always loved the sinner. We need to do the same for it is only by the grace of God that we haven’t fallen into destructive sins.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please be with Jim, Jennifer, Jim’s children and the entire family. May they, and all who might be in a similar situation, look to you in their hour of deepest need, and sense your loving presence. No matter what the circumstances, may they know that your grace is sufficient to cover all that has happened in the past, and may they know that you care deeply. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV).

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Sunk in a Sink Hole

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“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, ‘Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’”1

“In December 1985 an enormous sinkhole swallowed a house and carport and forced the evacuation of four homes in a retirement community in Florida. The hole was about the size of a pickup truck when it was discovered. Within three hours it had grown to 30 by 40 feet and had swallowed half of a small house. Two hours later it had expanded to more than 70 feet, and the house with its carport was gone. Authorities were grateful that it finally stopped growing without doing even more damage.

“David discovered that sin is like an ever-expanding sinkhole. As he was walking on the flat roof of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman bathing. Instead of turning away, he stared longingly at her. At this point the sinkhole was small but expanding. When he inquired about who she was, the hole grew larger. And finally, when he sent for her, he soon found himself and those around him swallowed up. What started out as only a look ended in tragedy for all involved.”2

Many people, like David, find themselves falling into the sinkhole of temptation because they leave the door open for temptation to enter.

Temptation works the same for all of us. It’s progressive. It can start with an innocent look, then a thought, and then if we linger longer on the look, the thought progresses to desire, then to becoming blind to reality and fooling ourselves into rationalizing that it won’t hurt, and then to yielding. Following this pathway can quickly lead one into the sinkhole of sin as well as despair.

To overcome temptation we need to realize how vulnerable we are to the pull that temptation has on us. When temptation knocks on your door, ask Jesus to answer the door. Also, as God’s Word says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men [and women] of courage; be strong.”3 And again, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.4 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”5

I also find that when tempting thoughts knock on “the door of my mind,” I realize that I need to take control of my thinking and pray, “Help, Jesus, help,” and keep saying, “Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord of my life,” until the chain of tempting thoughts is broken.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, may I never forget that I, like David, am just as open to temptation as he was. Please help me to call on you in the hour or even the moment of temptation, and give me the strength to resist the devil so that he will flee from me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Samuel 11:2-3 (NIV).

2. “Lessons on Living,” Back To the Bible. www.backtothebible.org.

3. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV).

4. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV).

5. James 4:7 (NIV).

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