It May Be Today

“In my Father’s house are many rooms … I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go … I will come back and take you to be with me.”1

I remember reading a few years ago about a strange occurrence which I was informed took place in Haiti. A man reported to a gas (petrol/fuel) station owner that he had picked up a hitchhiker who was sitting in the back seat when, as they were driving along, suddenly blurted out, “Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!” Whereupon the man looked around and his passenger had disappeared.

Even more strange was the response from the gas station owner who said, “You’re the third person who has told me the exact same story.”

Whether this incident was a strange coincidence, the figment of someone’s imagination, or something supernatural I cannot be certain. But of one thing we can be sure, Jesus is coming again. He himself promised he would.

Christ’s first coming is an indisputable fact of history. His second coming is just as certain. He said he would come when we least expect it. The important thing is to be ready by receiving him as our personal Lord and Savior. He is coming again. It may be today. If so, are you ready?

For help, be sure to read “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/christian.

Remember, too, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, Thank you for the wonderful hope you have given us that Jesus is coming again so we can all be together forever in heaven. I pray today for all who haven’t received you as their Lord and Savior. Please use me to help share your gospel message of salvation to others around the world, which is now possible with e-Mail and the Internet. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jesus in John 14:2-3 (NIV).

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The Importance of Little Things

“Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards.”1

Ben Franklin is credited with having said the following: “For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost; being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.”

Whether it’s little acts of kindness, little words of encouragement, little acts of unkindness or little acts of thoughtless deeds, little things play a big role in, and are a major part of, our lives. Their impact can far outweigh the size of the words or deeds.

Furthermore, “Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones.” Reminds me of a song we used to sing as kids in Sunday School,

“Oh be careful little hands what you do!

Oh be careful little hands what you do,

God is up above,

He is looking down in love,

So be careful little hands what you do.”

That song may sound silly, but it isn’t.

When addressing the chapel audience at Milligan College (Tenn.) social activist, Tony Campolo, after singing this song (with hand motions and all) shouted, “That song! That song ruined my dating life. You know, I’d be out there in a car and just when I’m ready to make the move, this voice from heaven says, ‘Be careful little hands, what you do.’”2

Remember it’s the little “foxes that spoil the grapes,” and it’s the little acts of kindness and love that enrich our own lives as well as the lives of those we touch.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me always to remember that it’s the everyday ‘little things’ that, added together, form the character and value (or otherwise) of my life. Help me to also remember the children’s song: ‘Be careful little hands’ (and tongue) what you do and say. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Song of Solomon 2:15 (NASB).

2. Cited on Terry Mattingly On Religion, http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/1999/03/03/.

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Impacting Our Kids

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”1

J.M. writes, “Would you please send me some advice on how to help my daughter turn her life around and embrace God. I have been praying for two years that God would bring positive friends and circumstances into her life to help her get interested in school and positive activities, but each time I try to help her, the doors keep closing! Thanks for any advice you may send.”

Dear J.M., not always, but sometimes the best way to pray for our kids is to ask God to change us. The reality is that we can’t change anyone other than ourselves and as we change, others are pretty much forced to change in response—one way or the other. Some people don’t want us to change because it upsets the games they play. However, having said that, realize that the art of all effective communication is “show me—don’t tell me.”

So ask God to help you to show your daughter by example the value in putting God first in her life. Every day ask God to help you to be “as Jesus” to her and that she, seeing Jesus in you, will in time want Jesus in her life too. Never give up praying the following prayer. I pray it every day regarding my loved ones and also try, in some way, to be “as Jesus” to every life I touch.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be ‘as Jesus,’ especially to my loved ones and in some way to every life I touch today and every day and grant that they, seeing Jesus in me, will want the same for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 5:16 (NIV).

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Mind Changes

“Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”1

Em Griffin in The Mindchangers said, “Some early studies concerned with prejudice show that we’re quite capable of reordering our perceptions of the world around us in order to maintain our conviction that we’re right.

“A group of white, middle-class New York City residents were presented with a picture of people on a subway. Two men were in the foreground. One was white, one was black. One wore a business suit; one was clothed in workman’s overalls. One was giving his money to the other who was threatening him with a knife.

“Now as a matter of fact it was the black man who wore the suit, and it was he who was being robbed by the white laborer. But such a picture didn’t square with the prejudices of the viewers. To them, white men were executives; black men were blue-collar workers. Blacks were the robbers, whites the victims. And so they reported what their mind told them they saw—that a black laborer was assaulting a white businessman.

“As human beings who desperately desire our lives to be consistent and untroubled, we’ll go to great lengths to reject a message that implies we’re wrong.”2

As I’ve said before, the more dishonest we are with our inner self, the more we will distort all truth—including God’s Truth/Word—to make it match our twisted perception of reality in a vain attempt to justify our every thought, perception, and action while totally denying our reality and real motives.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be honest with myself, with you, and with others, and never twist truth to make it justify what I have done or want to do. Give me a pure heart and help me to always be honest and real about my motives. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:14-15 (NLT).

2. Em Griffin, The Mindchangers, Tyndale House, 1976, pp. 48-9

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Response to Shame and Guilt Trips

“Now I am happy,” the Apostle Paul wrote, “not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness…what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”1

In response to a Daily Encounter I wrote some time ago, a subscriber wrote the following day, “I am concerned about your article on guilt throwers and guilt catchers. There are some things in this world that are Biblically wrong! Our daughter has used that article to justify a lifestyle that is inherently fraught with sin. Sin is real and it is wrong. Some people need to feel guilt. That is how the Holy Spirit works to return them to God’s guidance fold. I despise the whole idea of this article—that there is nothing about which we should feel guilt—BALONEY AND HERESY! SHAME ON YOU!”

Dear Joan (name changed), thank you for your response to the Daily Encounter about “Guilt Throwers and Guilt Catchers.” I always appreciate it when those who differ with me say it directly to my face.

First, I would appreciate it if you would let me know specifically what I said that you feel is baloney and heresy? Also, where did I say “there is nothing about which we should feel guilt or guilty?”

Second, this article is not talking about not feeling guilty when we have done wrong. It’s talking about people who dump shame and/or guilt trips onto other people, which is often used to control and manipulate them—or to seek to justify their own actions.

Third, my article says that guilt is best left to the Holy Spirit. In other words it is God’s work to make us feel guilty, not my responsibility to make others feel shameful or guilty.

Fourth, it is true that we use the term “guilty” as an emotional response but in the Bible guilt is a legal, not an emotional, term. If we have done wrong, we are guilty regardless of what we feel. It’s the same with the law of the land—guilt has to do with what we have done or haven’t done—not how we feel.

Fifth, the biblical “emotional” term and appropriate response when we are guilty is “Godly sorrow” as seen in today’s Scripture passage.

Lastly, If your daughter is in rebellion against what you believe, I would urge you to sincerely pray and ask God to reveal to you anything you might possibly be contributing in any way towards her rebellion. Keep in mind, too, that people who know that what they are doing is wrong, will often twist truth to make it match their twisted perception of reality in a vain attempt to justify their actions. Not what I or anybody else has said is to blame. They are totally responsible for their actions and their behavior.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me never to twist your truth to make it say what I want it to say. And help me never to justify my own or others’ wrongful actions, and help me never to use your truth to manipulate others to make them feel shameful or guilty. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 (NIV).

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On Sawdust and Planks

“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

One of the first rules in a healthy support group is to not confess anybody else’s sins and faults but your own.

I think the following rule (though not likely to ever happen) should apply to every newspaper journalist, radio and TV commentator, and every politician in that they should never be allowed to confess another’s sins publicly without having first confessed their own publicly! This surely would silence a whole lot of negative, nasty, and dishonest criticism.

As Greg Laurie said, “Show me a person who is hyper-critical, and I will show you a person who is guilty of far worse sin in his own life. David was guilty of adultery and of premeditated murder. Yet he thought it perfectly just to kill a man who had merely stolen his neighbor’s sheep. Of all people, King David should have been ‘Mr. Compassion.’ But instead, he was ‘Mr. Hypocrisy.’ He fell neatly into Nathan’s little prophetic trap, as the prophet pointed his finger straight at David and said, ‘You are the man.’”

Here’s another possible pitfall, to quote Cecil Osborne again: “When we are hiding a deeper sin or fault, we tend to confess a lesser one all the more vigorously,” to which I would add, “or we confess someone else’s sins and faults.”

We can’t expect open honesty with many non-Christians but, for those of us who claim to be Christ followers, before we look at the sawdust in another’s eye, let us make sure we get rid of the plank in our own eye.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of having a critical, negative attitude and help me to see that when I do criticize, it has more to do with me than the one whom I am condemning. Please help me to see and get rid of any planks in my eyes. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jesus in Matthew 7:3 (NIV).

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Never Missing a Wrong Note

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”1

Before Ansel Adams became famous as a landscape photographer, he studied piano and showed some talent. At one of his first recitals he played Chopin’s Nocturne in F Major. “In some strange way,” he said, “my right hand started off in F-sharp major while my left hand behaved well in F major. I could not bring them together. I went through the entire nocturne with the hands separated by a half-step. The next day, someone walked up to him and jokingly commented, “You never missed a wrong note.”2

I can identify with Adams in that in much younger days I used to play trumpet on a gospel team and one of the first times I played a solo, I was so nervous I was thinking one song and playing another! You can imagine the effect. It was very embarrassing, to say the least.

Such mistakes are easily overcome. But some mistakes we make in life can have long-lasting serious consequences. With these mistakes, however, the good news is that God’s mercy is always available to all who confess their sins and failures and ask for his forgiveness.

Have you forgiven all who have ever hurt you? And have you experienced God’s forgiveness? If not, why not do that today. For further help be sure to read the article: “Forgiveness: The Power That Heals.” It’s online at: http://tinyurl.com/dvwh5.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that ‘You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness,’3 and that you forgive all my sins and trespasses when I genuinely confess them to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 51:1-2 (NIV).

2. David Roper. Cited in KneEmail. To subscribe send a blank message to: kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org

3. Nehemiah 9:17 (NIV).

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The Power of Thanksgiving

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”1

“University psychologists recently conducted a research project on gratitude and thanksgiving. They divided participants into three groups. People in the first group practiced daily exercises like writing in a gratitude journal. They reported higher levels of alertness, determination, optimism, energy, and less depression and stress than the control group. Unsurprisingly, they were also a lot happier than the participants who were told to keep an account of all the bad things that happened each day.

“One of the psychologists concluded that though a practice of gratitude is a key to most religions, its benefits extend to the general population, regardless of faith or no faith. He suggested that anyone can increase his sense of well-being just from counting his blessings.”2

As William Shakespeare said so eloquently: “Let never day nor night unhallowed pass / But still remember what the Lord hath done.” To those words I would add a very hearty “amen”!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a thankful heart and may words of thanksgiving be always in my heart and never far from my lips, and help me always to live in an attitude of gratitude. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV).

2. Chuck Colson in Breakpoint, May 17, 2005. http://www.pfm.org/

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Laughter Is Good Medicine … Science Agrees

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”1

Science has finally caught up with these words in the Bible that King Solomon wrote some 3,000 years ago.

The following report is from The Week magazine: “Laughter is good for your health—and now scientists know why. Researchers at the University of Maryland found that when 20 healthy volunteers smiled and guffawed while watching the comedy, Kingpin, their blood flow increased by 22 percent, about the same increase caused by aerobic exercise. But when volunteers watched tension-filled scenes from Saving Private Ryan, their blood flow decreased 35 percent.

“The researchers say that laughing apparently causes the endothelium, the tissue that lines blood vessels, to expand, which increases blood flow. Laughter may also improve arterial health by reducing mental stress, which constricts vessels and cuts blood flow. A healthy lifestyle—researcher Michael Miller tells New Scientist—would include 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, and 15 minutes of hearty laughter each day.”2

It’s a pity that so many totally ignore God’s directives for healthier, happier living. If we would live by the principles as found in his Word, the Bible, we would not only live healthier and happier lives, but our relationships would improve out of sight. We can’t improve on God’s plan. The wisest thing is to get in on it.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the principles given in your Word so that I can know how to live a healthier and happier life, and in so living greatly enhance my relationships. Please help me God to so live. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 17:22 (NIV).

2. The Week magazine, March 25, 2005. Cited on Parables, Etc., April 2005

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Digging Up the Past

“Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.”1

“In 1642 England was caught up in the Civil War with Cromwell and the roundheads. Five years later King Charles the First was captured, tried and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 30, 1649. Fifty-nine men put their signatures to the death warrant.

“When Charles II was restored to the throne some eleven years later, he wanted to avenge his father’s death. However, by that time, some had died and others were living abroad. They were arrested, taken back to England, and ordered to stand trial.

“As for those who had died, the bodies of fifteen signatories, many of whom had been dead for years, were exhumed and then hung on the gallows.”2

That’s exactly what resentment does. It digs up the past. It is caused by nursing grudges and failing to forgive—a practice that God’s Words warns us not to do. This is because buried and/or unresolved anger, hurt, grief, bitterness, etc., work like emotional cancer that “rots the bones,” destroys relationships, and keeps one bound by the past.

As I’ve quoted before, “Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” No wonder that God’s Word also says, “So get rid of your feelings of hatred [unresolved anger and resentment]. Don’t just pretend to be good.”3

For further help read, “Forgiveness: The Power that Heals” at http://tinyurl.com/btwy7.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of nursing grudges and holding on to all negative emotions so that I can become a happier, healthier person and a clear channel of your love. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:26-27 (NLT).

2. Ivor Bailey, “Digging up the Past,” Encounter magazine (Australia), June/July 2005.

3. 1 Peter 2:1 (TLB)(NLT).

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