Monthly Archives: April 2013

Letting Go of the Past

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“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully.”1

Janet had been married eleven years when her husband, Ron, told her that he didn’t want to be married to her any more. Understandably, Janet took it extremely hard and refused to believe that Ron meant what he said.

But he did. So much so that he divorced Janet.

Two years later Janet was still in denial about her situation even though Ron was married to another woman. Furthermore, while Janet was fully supporting herself and taking care of her and Ron’s children, Janet was still supporting Ron financially—all of which was a vain attempt to get him back.

She had blinded herself totally to the reality of her situation and was living in a fantasy world. As long as she was in such deep denial, she was bound by her past, going nowhere with her life.

When Janet joined a support/growth group and began to see how much she was in denial about her situation, as painful as it was she was able to begin a process of healing that, in time, set her free to move ahead with her life.

Any wonder the Bible teaches: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood.”2 And as Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of denial so that I will always face reality and be totally honest with myself, God, and others. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:25 (NIV).

2. Ephesians 4:25 (NIV).

3. John 8:32.

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Dark Night of the Soul

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“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.”1

William Cowper, poet and hymn writer, who lived from 1731-1800 in England, apparently suffered from fits of melancholy and frequent attacks of spiritual despair which led to two suicide attempts.

On one of these occasions, during a time of deep despair and a dark night of the soul on a foggy night he set out from his home in London with the intention of jumping into the River Thames to end his life.

He got hopelessly lost in the fog and wandered blind for some time. Eventually, lost and confused, he walked into a home to get out of the fog. And the home he walked into? It was his own.

He sat down and penned the words of the beloved hymn:

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Dear reader, if you are going through a dark night of the soul right now and it feels that God is far away, be assured he is standing in the shadows and as he knows about every sparrow he knows all about you and he cares.

When we commit and trust our life to God every day, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy will come in the morning”—even if it is eventually!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in my despair let me not grow weary in trusting you, but renew my faith and use my present pain to make me a better, stronger person so I can comfort others as they struggle through their journey of despair and pain. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 12:6 (NIV).

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Purpose in Suffering

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“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”1

Jeris E. Bragan wrote about an old violin maker who chose the wood for his instruments from the north side of the trees because this was the side that faced the fiercest windstorms. When the storms raged the trees groaned under the lashings but this is what gave them their strength. As the violin maker said, “They are simply learning to be violins.”

In younger days I had a home that I built myself at the top of the hills overlooking the beautiful city of Adelaide in South Australia. Most Adelaidians didn’t like to live up there because of the fierce winds that often blow. But the view of the city and the ocean beyond was magnificent. However, when I was landscaping our property, the nursery man told me it was better to get very small trees and if I stake them at all, be sure to stake them very loosely. Allow them to bend and go with the wind because this makes them develop a strong root system. When the trees grew and the winds raged, we lost a few branches but we never lost any trees.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God …
Like the trees of the forest,
may I find nourishment in rain as well as sunshine, bend with the winds of misfortune without breaking;
give of myself to others
to provide shade from the blistering heat,
grow old gracefully and not
become rigid or unbending;
and above all
may I keep reaching ever upwards
towards heaven and to God.

– Dick Innes

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 5:3-4 (NIV).

NOTE: The above poem by Dick, “Reaching Upwards,” beautifully produced and ready for framing, is available online, on sale, at: http://tinyurl.com/reaching-up.

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The Value of a Friend

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“A friend loves at all times.”1

The following description of a friend came from an English magazine: “A true friend is one who has the courage to disagree with us when [we are] in the wrong, and advise us for our own good, rather than let his sympathy or sentimentality cause him to agree.”

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.”

Samuel Johnston said, “We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is that last drop which makes it run over, so in a series of kindnesses, there is at least one that makes the heart run over.”

And Dr. Alfred Adler, internationally known psychiatrist, based the following conclusions on a careful analysis of thousands of clients: “The most important task imposed by religion has always been, ‘Love thy neighbor….’ It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow man who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury on others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.”

Oh the priceless value of having at least one deep abiding friendship. Thank God for the gift of friendship.

Suggested prayer: “And thank you God for Jesus—the friend of sinners. Help me also to be a friend to fellow sinners and spread your love and forgiveness everywhere I go. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 17:17 (NIV).

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Dangerous Pets

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“What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What a relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.”1

I read about a girl who had a raccoon as a pet and was warned that it was about to undergo a glandular change that animal specialists say happens when they are about eighteen months old. This change can make them very dangerous.

Unfortunately, the girl didn’t heed the warning, protesting that her much-loved pet would never do anything to harm her. She was wrong—very wrong. Soon after, her raccoon clawed her so viciously she had to have reconstructive facial surgery.

Unresolved personal conflicts can have a similar effect. Some people can look very calm on the outside, but underneath they have a reservoir of super-charged repressed negative emotions that they never learned how to handle creatively.

At some point something happens. Their stored-up negative emotions are triggered—often by something as simple as somebody making a trivial mistake—and kaboom! They explode. Or they implode and become ill, or may even have a heart attack.

Other people have a secret or pet sin they hang on to telling themselves that it would never harm them. In time, however, it becomes a habit, the root of which they’ve never resolved. And then the habit gets the better of them and becomes an addiction that ends up badly hurting them and their loved ones.

So, whatever “pet raccoons” you and I may be harboring, we need to be aware that they could hurt us real bad if we don’t get them out of our life.

As David said, “There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. All day and all night your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess them to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if there are any ‘pet raccoons’ in my life that I am either harboring or unaware of, please bring these to my attention and help me to see how dangerous they are and, with your help, get them out of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 32:1-2 (TLB)(NLT).

2. Psalm 32:3-5 (TLB)(NLT).

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Give Me a Thankful Heart, O God

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“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. ‘Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you. You are the Lord God.’”1

How easy it is to take God’s blessings and provisions for granted. I’ve lived in Southern California for several years and have experienced earthquakes that shook more than the good old terra firma I was standing on. And frankly, the more “firma” the less “terra”! I’ve seen ravaging fires that destroyed scores of homes, riots that destroyed scores of properties, and floods and mudslides that also caused great losses.

Southern California is little more than converted desert, and what absolutely amazes me is where does all the water come from to meet the needs of 16+ million people? I’ve lived through several years of drought and still there was enough water. Most of the water comes from the most marvelous water storage system ever created and it’s not from the many man-made dams and reservoirs, as wonderful and as necessary as these are. It’s from the snow that stores water for many months of the year and releases it basically as it’s needed. If it weren’t for the magnificent mountains and the amazing supply of snow, Southern California would still be a desert.

It also amazes me how so many people complain about rainy days when we get good rains in such a dry and thirsty land—rains that fill up the rivers, dams, and reservoirs and store billions upon billions of gallons of water in the form of snow over thousands of square miles of rugged mountains—rains that keep us alive!

All God has to do is turn off the sky’s faucet or blot out the sun for long enough and every living thing would die.

As the Levite priests said, truly God gives life to everything.

Suggested prayer: “Thank you, God, for the incredible blessings you provide for all of us all of the time. May I ever be mindful of these manifold blessings that come from your hand. And above all that you have given me, please give me a thankful heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Nehemiah 9:5-7 (NIV).

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Blessings From Trees

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“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy, they will sing before the Lord, for he comes … to judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.”1

Imagine, if you can, living in a world without trees. How desolate such a place would be. But trees are not just a thing of beauty. They have a very strategic role to play in our world. They convert light into energy and “breathe” the carbon dioxide exhaled by man and animals. They use this gas to help manufacture food and in its place give off oxygen which man again breathes. They help clean the air of dust particles, stop erosion and restore deserts. They provide food, drink, lumber, and innumerable other products. Just how they lift enormous amounts of water to their highest branches and manufacture food is still a mystery.

As the poet so eloquently put it:

I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose thirsty mouth is pressed
against the earth’s sweet flowering breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
but only God can make a tree.
– Joyce Kilmer

Suggested prayer: “Thank you God for all the beauty and functionality you have created in nature. May these ever remind us of your majesty, your awesome power, and your everlasting love. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 96:11-13 (NIV).

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Changing Course?

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“Your word [God’s Word] is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”1

The following was circulated in an email some time ago but has a timely message that is good to be reminded about.

As the large ship cruised ahead through the night darkness, a message from ahead was received: “Make a course adjustment to avoid a collision.”

Immediately the ship responded: “I am an admiral. You make a course adjustment.”

“I am a petty officer. You make a course adjustment,” came the reply.

“I am an aircraft carrier. You had better turn quickly,” the admiral commanded.

The petty officer responded: “I am a lighthouse. You are the one who had better turn.”2

For the Christian, God’s Word is our guide through all of life, through the good days as well as through the dark nights. Every instruction, every commandment is there for our protection, for our safety, for our well-being. We disregard it to our peril. As Solomon wrote, “Despise God’s Word and find yourself in trouble. Obey it and succeed,”3 and again, “Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection.”4

God’s Word is the “course adjustment” lighthouse for us. If we’re heading in a dangerous direction, we are the ones who need to heed the directions and change course.

Suggested prayer: “Thank you God that ‘Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ Give me the good sense and the courage to always follow in your ways so my life will never be shipwrecked. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 119:105 (NIV).

2. Source unknown.

3. Proverbs 13:13 (TLB)(NLT).

4. Proverbs 30:5 (TLB)(NLT).

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You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don’t Want

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“According to your faith will it be done to you.”1

I read an interesting quote that said, “You can never get enough of what you don’t want.” I had to stop and think about this one. Why would I ever want what I don’t want?

An over-simplification of what I believe this quote means is that if I have a craving for chocolate ice-cream, no matter how much vanilla ice-cream I get, it would never satisfy my hunger for chocolate ice-cream.

To apply this principle to a higher cause means that sometimes we settle for less than what is best for us because of the challenge to achieve what we truly want to achieve if we are determined to do so.

For the Christian, God wants the very best for us. The question for each of us is, Do we want what God wants for us?

God wants us not only to be members of his family, but growing members who are becoming more and more like Christ in every way, who don’t settle for anything less than complete wholeness, complete recovery, a healthy lifestyle, a worthwhile work (either paid or voluntary) into which we can put our best efforts, loving relationships, and for us to discover and fulfill his divine purpose for our life.

It is no “chocolate ice-cream party” to achieve any of these goals let alone all of them. The half-hearted never make it. “Vanilla ice-cream living” is so much easier to achieve, but it has no “nutritional” (spiritual) value.

Are you and I settling for “vanilla ice-cream” when we could have the gold of God’s “chocolate ice-cream” life?

Suggested prayer: “Oh God, please don’t let me ever get satisfied with an abundance of what I don’t want—anything less than all that you have planned and envisioned for me to become and do. Please give me faith and determination, and with your help, to achieve all your goals for my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 9:29 (NIV).

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The Impact of One Faithful Witness

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Jesus said, “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”1

Many will have read about “layman Edward Kimball who gathered the nerve to witness and win the soul of a young shoe salesman named D.L. Moody to Christ. D.L. Moody went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in his day. But, do you know the rest of the story? D.L. Moody went to England and worked a profound change in the ministry of F.B. Meyer. F.B. Meyer, with his new evangelistic fervor, influenced J. Wilbur Chapman. Chapman helped in the ministry of converted baseball player Billy Sunday, who had a profound impact upon Mordacai Ham. And Mordacai Ham, holding a revival in North Carolina, led Billy Graham to Christ. And the man who started it all was a layman, Edward Kimball, who took seriously Christ’s commission to be a witness in his world.”2

And we all know the incredible way God has used Billy Graham to reach millions of people worldwide with the gospel.

You and I are not too likely to ever become a Billy Sunday or a Billy Graham, but every single one of us can be an “Edward Kimball” witness for Christ.

As the hymn writer so eloquently said, “When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus we’ll sing and shout the victory.” And how wonderful it will also be to meet the ones who are in heaven because of your and my witness for Jesus. Only heaven will reveal who these ones are.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available for you to use; please use me today and every day to be an effective witness for you, and to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch. And grant that they, seeing Jesus in me, will want you for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 16:15 (TLB)(NLT).

2. Submitted by Deward Hurst. Cited on the Sermon Fodder list. To subscribe please send an e-mail to Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

P.S. I happened to graduate from Moody Bible Institute, the school that D.L. Moody founded. Furthermore, several of the folk in Australia who have been involved in the ACTS ministry in Australia came to Christ during the Billy Graham Crusades in Australia. Furthermore, I am now doing the website for Dr. Jerry Beavan who was the architect of the Billy Graham international crusades. I first heard Dr. Beavan speak in Australia in 1958. His website is American News Commentary at: www.evangelical-viewpoint.com/. It is absolutely amazing what God can and will do through any one of us when we make ourselves available for him to use for his glory. And believe me I came from a very dysfunctional family background and never cease to thank and praise God for his saving, and using me.

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