Monthly Archives: January 2012

What I See Is Who I Am

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“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”1

Ken Crockett, in his book, I Once Was Blind, But Now I Squint, shares the experience of Pastor Ed Manning who told “about a situation when a woman approached him to ask a question. As she drew closer to him, he tipped his head back to look through the bottom lenses of his bifocals to focus on her more clearly. ‘There you go again!’ the woman exploded. ‘You stick your nose up in the air every time I talk to you! Who do you think you are? I’m sick of your arrogant attitude!’

“Manning was taken aback by her outburst of anger. ‘You don’t understand,’ he explained. ‘I’m not sticking my nose up in the air at you. I just can’t see you when you get near me. I’m tilting my head back so I can see you through the bottom half of my bifocals.’”2

Sound familiar?

Blaise Pascal said, “We view things not only from different sides but with different eyes.” Or to put it another way, “We see things not the way they are, but the way we are.”

For instance, if I have unresolved anger, I will see things through angry, critical eyes. If have unresolved fears, I will view things through fearful eyes. If I have a negative attitude, I will look at things through negative eyes. If I am insecure, I will see things through insecure eyes. If I am a jealous person, I will view things through jealous eyes. If I am a cheat, I will see things through cheating eyes, and so on.

Whatever I see—the way I see it will always be twisted to match my distorted perception of reality and in so doing I will rationalize my every thought and justify my every action. A very unhealthy and self-defeating way to live.

Any wonder that Jesus said that if we are going to see things the way they are, we need to see the plank in our own eye and get rid of that. It is true, what I see is who I am. It is equally true, if I am a loving person, I will see things through loving eyes.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open my eyes so that I will see clearly who I am—warts and all—and help me to get rid of any specks and all planks in my eye so I will see the truth as it is and not as I distort or want it to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 7:3 (NIV).

2. From I Once Was Blind, But Now I Squint, by Kent Crockett, AMG Publishers/Living Ink. See http://tinyurl.com/8kesa

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Faith or Fake Healers

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“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”1

“I don’t need to get into a recovery group and deal with my past,” my good friend Graham said, “I had special prayer and God has healed me from all that.”

However, his constant gut-level coughing bothered me, but what could I say? God had healed him—those who prayed for him told him so! However, not too long afterward Graham came down with cancer. Again he was prayed for and a year later told me how grateful to God he was because he had been totally healed—those who prayed for him told him so!

Exactly one week later he was back in the hospital. His body was riddled with cancer. The hospital did what they could but after a few weeks sent him home to die.

The reality was that Graham had a very dysfunctional upbringing. His so-called-sister was actually his mother. As a teen she had a child out of wedlock and her mother adopted this child, and brought the two of them up as brother and sister. As an adult Graham covered the pain caused by his dysfunctional family background by becoming a super workaholic. As long as he kept super busy, he didn’t feel or face the pain. However, in “deadening” the pain he very likely contributed to his own demise.

Very often it’s the buried pain from the past—supercharged repressed negative emotions such as envy, resentment, guilt (real or false), anger, hurt, grief, fear, anxiety and/or hatred and so on that make us ill. These “sins of the spirit,” if not resolved, can be lethal.

When we bury these emotions we never bury them dead but very much alive and, as John Powell says, “When we bury our emotions our stomach keeps score.” To put this another way, and pardon the language, the stuff we stuff damages up our lives—physically, emotionally, spiritually, and/or relationally. These negative emotions are like an emotional cancer and we either get the “cancer” or the “cancer” gets us.

This is why gut-level confession is absolutely essential for healing. Without which, prayer is like putting a Band-Aid over a deep wound without cleaning out the pus. It just drives the wound deeper and increases the infection.

Certainly, not all sickness is caused by unresolved personal issues, but if it is, God isn’t going to heal me any more than he will heal me if my sickness is caused by my living in sin or in an unhealthy manner and refusing to change my ways. God’s way is to deal with issues that make us sick so healing can follow. If I smoke, eat unhealthy foods, or fail to exercise, I will suffer the natural consequences. Healthy living requires a healthy lifestyle—physically, emotionally, relationally, as well as spiritually.

So beware of faith healers who ignore the principle of genuine confession which is essential for healing. As God’s word says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, about these constant ‘headaches’ (or whatever … name the specific sickness) I’m experiencing—please help me to face, deal with, and resolve any unresolved personal issue that may be causing or affecting my sickness in any way. Please lead me to the help I need to see and resolve these issues. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 4:1 (NLT).

2. James 5:16 (NIV).

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Are You God’s Wife?

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“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”1

According to a story reportedly written by Leo Buscaglia, “On a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10 years old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

“A lady approached the young boy and said, ‘My, but you’re in such deep thought staring in that window!’

“‘I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy’s reply.

“The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

“She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

“By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she then purchased a pair of shoes for him.

“She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, ‘No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.’

“As she turned to go, the astonished child caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked, ‘Are you God’s wife?’”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, open the eyes of my heart so that wherever there is a pressing need placed across my path, I will see it—and help to meet it. And wherever there is a hurt, please help me to heal it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:27

2. Leo Buscaglia.

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Enlightened or Endarkened

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“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”1

You may recall that several years ago Mel Gibson was bitterly criticized for his movie, The Passion of the Christ. Much of the criticism was apparently by people who didn’t even see the movie. But that’s not my point. What if Mel Gibson, or any other actor for that matter, were doing a movie glorifying homosexuality and/or gay marriage, or promoting the liberal and legal use of marijuana? Chances are many of these same critics would praise such a movie as being enlightening.

One cannot help but wonder if the accelerating moral decline in the U.S.A. didn’t begin “in 1947 when the Supreme Court ruled on the ‘Separation of Church and State,’ opening the door for Madalyn Murray O’hair and her 1962 lawsuit which literally kicked God out of our schools. Furthermore, in 1973, the Supreme Court ruled to make abortions legal, and since that time some 50 million babies have been killed.”2

Even many churches today have also gravely lowered their standards of biblical morality. Not so long ago, an openly gay bishop was appointed to the Episcopal

Church. Does this also mean that a single bishop would be accepted and appointed if he were an openly practicing fornicator? More recently the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) lowered its standard thereby opening the door to allow homosexuals to be ordained as pastors.

One cannot help but wonder athow far we have moved as a society from the light and how much are we now walking in darkness?

Years ago former president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, posed the same question: “In the swift rush of great events, we find ourselves groping to know the full sense and meaning of these times in which we live. In our quest of understanding, we beseech God’s guidance. We summon all our knowledge of the past and we scan all signs of the future. We bring all our wit and all our will to meet the question: How far have we come in man’s long pilgrimage from darkness toward the light? Are we nearing the light—a day of freedom and of peace for all mankind? Or are the shadows of another night closing in upon us?”

I am also reminded of the words of President Ronald Reagan who said, “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under!”

With God’s help let us make sure that you and I walk in the light—the light as revealed to us in God’s Word, the Bible.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help us as a nation to see the folly of our ways when we turn from the light of your Word and walk in darkness. In your mercy please send a great spiritual awakening to our country … and let it begin in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 1:5-7 (NIV).

2. Jerry Beavan, American News Commentary, June 8, 2011.

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The Whale—Gratitude

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“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”1

“If you read this front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, and a line tugging in her mouth.

“A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her.

“They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as if she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The man who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.”2

When we realize that the chains of sin, unless we are set free by Jesus Christ, will damn us to a lost eternity, our eyes will be opened so that we can see that Jesus Christ is the only one who can set us free and save us for all eternity. When we allow Jesus to set us free, we, too, will never be the same again. For help to be set free see “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

And may we, who have been set free, like the divers who set the whale free, do everything we can to help others be freed from the chains of sin by introducing them to Jesus. For simple and effective helps to do this go to: http://tinyurl.com/people-power02.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you are the only one who can set me free from the chains of sin. Please use me to help bring others to you so that they, too, can be freed from the chains of sin. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Galatians 5:1 (NLT).

2. Reported to be from San Francisco Chronicle. Date unknown.

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Globalization

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“Go into all the world and preach [communicate] the Good News [the gospel message] to everyone.”1

According to Britannica Online Encyclopedia, “Globalization is the process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation technologies and services, mass migration and the movement of peoples….”2

In today’s highly sophisticated world, globalization has increasingly become a buzz word, not only at the business level, but also at the political and religious levels. Besides the push for a global economy, we are bound to see in the days ahead a push also for a global government, and a global religion.

According to God’s Word, the Bible, in the end times of this world age when the Antichrist arrives, he will control a one-world government and a one-world religion—besides a one-world economy where people won’t be able to purchase any goods without the mark of the beast [the Antichrist]. With all that is happening in today’s world, it certainly appears that the stage for the coming Antichrist is being set up at an accelerated rate.

Because of this, however, what is needed right now more than anything else is a Global Gospel Outreach. Let us remember that Jesus commissioned his disciples saying, “Go into all the world and preach [communicate] the Good News [the gospel message] to everyone.”1

Let us also realize that without accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, people all around the world are lost—eternally. Furthermore, because somebody introduced you and me to Jesus Christ, let us make certain that you and I do everything in our power, with God’s help, to introduce others to Jesus Christ for he is the only hope for saving lost mankind. As Jesus also said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me.”3

One very simple and effective way you can help introduce others to Jesus is to join with us as a “People Power for Jesus Partner.” There is no cost involved and there are many simple helps to show you how you can effectively communicate the Good News of the gospel to every person on your e-mail list, as well as in other simple, non-offensive ways. See https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power/ and then click on the “Tips for People Power People” link in the header. You can also use any of these tips without becoming a People Power for Jesus Partner.

The critical issue is that every Christian becomes involved in an urgently needed Global Gospel Outreach. Please check out the ACTS People Power for Jesus website and prayerfully consider joining with us today to help reach the world for Jesus Christ—one person at a time.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in appreciation for all that you have done for me, today I commit and dedicate my life afresh to you. I am available today and every day to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch, and for you to use me to share the gospel message to others and thereby help introduce them to Jesus. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: You can subscribe/join with us as a People Power for Jesus Partner at: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power/subscribe.php. There is no charge.

1. Mark 16:15 (NLT).

2. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357503/cultural-globalization

3. John 14:6 (NIV).

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Commitment

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“Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.”1

I have read how, after a large gathering of Christian youth, a church staff member was counting the offering. Included with all the donations there was a teen-aged girl’s picture. Had someone taken that picture from someone’s wallet and thrown it in the offering as a practical joke? That’s the kind of thing teenagers sometimes do. On the back of her own picture, however, a girl had written, “I have nothing to give but myself.”2

Whether we have little or much to give—monetary wise—the gift God wants us to give first of all is the gift of ourselves! As we do this may we, too, like the Macedonian believers, be filled with abundant joy, which will also overflow in rich generosity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, for all that you have done for me in giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins so that I can be freely forgiven and therein receive your gift of eternal life, I freely give my life to you for faithful service. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NLT).

2. http://www.autoillustrator.com/preahing.html.

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Living With an Alcoholic

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“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes, “I am having a very difficult time and need help. I am angry a lot and do not know how to go about changing to be how I should be. My husband is an abusive alcoholic and keeps verbally jabbing me until I get angry and then he uses my anger against me. What should I do? Please help me.”

Dear Jennifer (name changed). Unfortunately you can’t change your husband. If you try to, it will make him angry and more abusive. The reality is that the only person we can ever change is ourselves and when we change, those around us are forced to change in their relationship to us. This is not always for the best, however, as people don’t want us to change and can get very mean and nasty if we do. However nothing changes if nothing changes. Husbands like yours refuse to take responsibility for their actions and need someone to blame their anger on, so for your own sake you are the one who needs to change. If you don’t change what you are contributing, you become a part of the family sickness.

It won’t be easy but what you need to do is to exercise tough love. Make it very clear to your husband that you will no longer tolerate the way he treats you and if he continues to do so, you will have to distance or separate yourself from him until he gets into a recovery program and overcomes his addiction to alcohol and treats you with loving respect all the time. So while you can’t change him, with help, you can change you. For your survival it is imperative that you do so.

You also need to realize the reason you were attracted to this type of man in the first place. Chances are that you are a codependent and, as such, mistake need for love. In other words you need to be needed in order to feel loved. I urge you to ask God to confront you with the truth about you no matter how much it hurts and to lead you to the help you need to overcome your problem. This is difficult. I know. But as long as you blame your husband for your problems and not look at what you are contributing, you will never find peace, love or contentment. And as it is nigh on impossible to make these changes by yourself, I urge you to get some qualified counseling help and at the very least join a twelve-step Al-Anon group—a group for the spouses of alcoholics. You will be able to find information about these groups by contacting the Al-Anon and Alateen web site at http://www.al-anon.org/index.php.

And above all, every day ask God to help you to be “as Jesus” not only to your husband but also to yourself. And remember, Jesus used tough love to drive the money changers out of the temple when they were abusing it. To be like Jesus we all need to exercise tough love when required. Tough love is the most loving thing you can do for your husband—and for yourself.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in all of my problems and conflicts, give me the courage to see exactly what I am contributing and then lead me to the help I need to change. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 15:22 (NIV).

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No Guarantee

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To the rich man in Jesus’ parable who said to himself, “I have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry,” God said, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”1

This past week a teacher friend of mine attended an extremely sad funeral. One of the younger teachers from his school was on her way home with her two young children. She stopped her car in the driveway at their home to pick up the mail from the mail box. Somehow her car started to run towards the house. She ran to protect her children and got caught between the car and the garage—was pinned to the garage door—and killed. One moment she was alive and vibrant, the next her life was snuffed out.

Life can be like that. One of our ACTS Board members, still in his forties, found out one November that he had cancer. He died in January. Every time I drive on the Los Angeles freeways and see a lunatic speeding driver darting in and out of heavy traffic, I tremble—not so much for him but for myself and/or for someone else’s loved one that, in a split second, he is just as likely to kill or maim for life.

The reality is that not one of us has any guarantee of tomorrow. Whether our life is taken suddenly or if we should live to a ripe old age, it is imperative that we are ready to go because, as God’s Word says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”2 And again, “Prepare to meet your God.”3

According to God’s Word, after this life we will all appear before God as either our Savior or our judge. It is crucial that we make that choice today. To be sure you are prepared to meet God as your Savior do read the article, “To Know God and be sure you’re a real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that over and over you have warned all mankind in your Word, the Bible, that the human soul never dies in that there is life after physical death either with you in heaven or apart from you in hell (whatever and wherever that may happen to be). Please help me to be certain that when my time is up, I will meet you as my Savior and not my judge. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. See Luke 12:16-20 (NIV).

2. Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV).

3. Amos 4:12 (NKJV).

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Heaven Is Beautiful

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“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”1

You may have seen the video about the blind man sitting by the side of the road begging but wasn’t receiving much help. A passerby came along, read the man’s sign and walked on. Then she stopped, returned to the beggar, picked up his sign and re-wrote the message, then went on her way.

The response to the beggar’s sign improved dramatically. All day long passerby people were throwing coins into his lap. Late in the day a lady stopped to talk to him wanting to know how his day went. The beggar recognized the lady so excitedly asked what she did to his sign that made all the difference.

His sign had said, “I’m blind. Please help.” The lady had turned it over and wrote, “It is a beautiful day and I can’t see it.”2

Dear reader, when it comes to God and spiritual sight we are blind and cannot see with human eyes what lay ahead. Let us be sure to listen to what God has to say about heaven. Not only is it God’s dwelling place but right now Jesus is there preparing a place for all his true followers and promised to return to take us there.3

It’s beauty is beyond compare. Here’s a tiny glimpse: “The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”4

Best of all, God will be there and there will no longer be any need for the sun or the moon as the Bible says, “The city [heaven] does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb [Jesus] is its lamp.”5 And all of his true followers will be there in their new heavenly body—and there will be no more sickness, sadness or sorrow, no more parting, and no more dying.

Heaven is indeed beautiful. Whatever you do, make sure you get to see it.

To do so be absolutely sure to pick up your Passport for Heaven. Don’t leave earth without it. Go to: www.actsweb.org/passport.php or read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have given your Son, Jesus, to die in my place on the cross to pay the penalty for all my sins, and in so doing you have offered me a full pardon for all my sins and with that a home in Heaven to be with you for all eternity. Help me to be certain that I have received your forgiveness and have accepted your invitation to Heaven. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV).

2. See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU.

3. John 14:1-3.

4. Revelation 21:18-21 (NIV).

5. Revelation 21:23 (NIV).

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