Monthly Archives: June 2013

Give of Your Best

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“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”1

I have read how on one occasion when visiting Scotland Queen Mary “was strolling with a group of children. Suddenly the sky turned gray and thick, dark clouds appeared. The queen stopped at a nearby house and asked if she might borrow an umbrella. She told the lady of the house, ‘I’ll send it back to you tomorrow.’ The lady was understandably reluctant about lending a good umbrella to a total stranger, but she remembered that she had an old one in the attic. One rib was broken and there were several ragged holes in it, but she nevertheless, turned it over to this lady at her front door with a weak apology.

“The next day there was another knock at the door. This time, when she opened it, a man in gold braid stood with a big envelope in hand. ‘The queen sent me,’ he said, ‘and asked me to thank you for the umbrella.’”2

Can you imagine how this woman must have felt knowing she gave the Queen a broken umbrella and didn’t give her best.

For those of us who claim to be Christians I wonder how we will feel at the end of life’s journey when we stand face to face with Jesus to give account of our stewardship and realize that we didn’t give God our best—but only our broken “unwanteds.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in my service to you please help me always to give of my best so that when I stand before you face to face, I will not be ashamed or embarrassed. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 25:40 (NIV).

2. Mike Benson, Oakhill Church of Christ, http://www.oakhillcoc.org/

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As You Think

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“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”1

Golfer Arnold Palmer has won hundreds of trophies but he never flaunts these. In his office is only one trophy on display. It is a small cup he received at his first professional win at the Canadian Open in 1955.

On his office wall is this lone framed plaque that reads:

If you think you are beaten, you are. / If you think you dare not, you don’t. / If you’d like to win but think you can’t, / it’s almost certain you won’t. Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man, / But sooner or later, the man who wins / is the man who thinks he can.

Life’s battles, challenges, successes and/or failures are all fought, won or lost in the mind.

“Keep your heart with all diligence,” said Solomon, “for out of it are the issues of life.”2 The heart in the Bible refers to the total mind: the intellect, the will, and the emotions. And that’s the “mind” we need to guard with all diligence, and daily commit and trust to God.

Be assured, too, that “what the mind dwells on the body acts on.” If you don’t agree with this, just think how temptation works.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to guard my heart and mind with all diligence … and keep my thoughts focused on things that are ‘true, pure, and of good report.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 23:7.

2. Proverbs 4:23.

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Choices

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“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”1

It has been wisely said that “it is choice not chance that determines our destiny.” The fact is that we are where we are today primarily because of choices we have made in the past. Furthermore, we will be where we are in five, ten, or twenty years—and throughout eternity—based on choices we have or will yet make.

Floyd Lane, a talented basketball player who attended City College in New York in 1951, accepted a $3,000 bribe to shave points in just three games. Because other players were doing this, he decided to go with the group.

Big mistake. He and the other players got caught, arrested, and expelled from school. For the next 23 years he was unable to get a job as a player or a coach in sports because of what he had done. Finally, in 1974 his old college employed him as a coach.

When we make mistakes, which we all do from time to time, it’s encouraging to know that we still have the choice to put things right. Fortunately, when we admit what we have done, God forgives us. And where possible, where we have hurt others, we need to make amends for what we have done. We also need to forgive ourselves. The important thing is to think first, pray, and make wise choices from now on.

And most critical of all is to choose to accept God’s forgiveness and his gift of eternal life (if you haven’t already done so), as this choice is absolutely essential to guarantee that you spend eternity with God. Whatever else, DO NOT leave earth without God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life. For help, go to https://learning.actsweb.org/christian.

Prayer: “Dear God, please help me to make wise choices in everything I do—especially in choosing to love and serve you all the days of my life, and where I will spend eternity. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Joshua 24:15.

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Busyness

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“Jesus and his disciples … came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried [troubled] and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better [relationships], and it will not be taken away from her.’”1

I read about a very successful youth leader, or so he and many others believed, who built a tremendous youth ministry—the largest in the country. But he was always busy, busy, busy.

In fact he was so busy with his work “for God” that he neglected the most important things in his life. Late one November his wife caught him as he was racing out the door to go to preach to somebody else’s kids. She asked, “Do you know, or do you even care that from the middle of September until today, you have not been home one night?”

She had a breakdown soon after. He contemplated suicide. He later confessed, “I was a man who existed in a shell.”

Like many of us, Jim’s shell of busyness was his external protection—not from the outside world—but from his inner world of unresolved anxiety. Jim’s problem was that he was a busy-aholic. That may have been Martha’s problem too. Perhaps?

As long as we keep on the run to avoid facing our inner anxieties, our busyness can get us addicted to our own adrenaline, which becomes nothing less than a cheap anesthetic to deaden the feelings of an empty or troubled life. In so doing we end up hiding from our own reality—a self-destructive path to follow.

To overcome, the first step is to admit the truth of what we are doing; that is, admit our addiction no matter how refined it appears to be. The second step is to get into a recovery/support group to help stop the addictive/avoidance behavior so we can feel the pain we are seeking to avoid. And third, where necessary we need to seek wise or professional counseling as well as God’s help to resolve and overcome the cause or causes behind our avoidance behavior.

Suggested prayer (if needed): “Dear God, I confess that I’m a Martha to the core. Please help me to let go of the addictive over-control of my life, find the help I need to overcome, and help me to develop the relational ‘Mary’ in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 10:38-42 (NIV).

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Life With a Purpose

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“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”1

Motivational speaker, Mark Victor Hansen, said, “Setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to guarantee your personal, professional and financial success. Goals are like a road map to your target destination. Each goal accomplished is another mile behind you on the way to where you want to be.”

Years ago I heard another speaker say, “Success is the ability to embrace a worthwhile goal and employ all of your powers for the achievement of that goal.”

A life without goals is like a ship without a rudder drifting where the winds and waves of chance direct. However, even more important than setting goals is to first discover one’s God-given life purpose and then establish goals to fulfill that purpose.

This is exactly what Joshua did. And as long as he and the people of Israel lived by God’s laws and followed God’s plan, God assured them that they would have good success. God will do the same for you and me, too, as we live in harmony with his will and follow God’s plan and purpose for our life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to discover and clearly define my God-given life purpose and then direct me in the setting of worthwhile and specific goals that, with your help and my commitment, will assure the fulfillment of my life purpose. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Joshua 1:7 (NIV).

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What If There Were No Kangaroos?

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“The heavens [and all of creation] declare the glory of God.”1

Imagine, if you can, living in a world without birds, animals, flowers, grass, mountains, rivers, oceans, blue skies, and starry, moonlight nights. Fortunately, it isn’t so.

Our world is a beautiful place filled with fascinating creatures. Take a kangaroo, for example, the strangest “grass hoppers” you could ever wish to see. The smallest ones are only a foot tall, the largest seven feet, and fossil bones show that some in the past were twice as big as these.

A baby kangaroo is only about an inch long at birth. Immediately it clutches its way up to its mother’s pouch where it lives until it can take care of itself. Fully grown it has large powerful hind legs, small front legs, and a powerful tail that helps balance it as it hops. A tall kangaroo can jump up to 25 feet and hop along at 30 miles per hour.

Another fascinating native of Australia is the koala which looks and feels like a cuddly teddy bear. Though often called a bear, it isn’t one. Like the kangaroo, the koala is a marsupial that carries its young in a pouch. The baby koala stays there for about six months and then rides on its mother’s back until it is self-sufficient.

Think, too of the magnificent eagle that can soar thousands of feet in the air, the unusual New Zealand kiwi—a bird with hair-like feathers that doesn’t fly. Consider, too, the almost voiceless pelican whose enormous bill makes a perfect “fishing net.”

Another fascinating creature is the limpet mollusk that is found along the coast of North and South America. This tiny, boneless animal lives in a shell and is so tenacious it can survive ocean depths up to three miles and, while attached to a rock, its strength is a thousand times its body weight.

Or consider the human body with its millions of tiny blood cells that carry food and oxygen to every part of the body through a network of some 60,000 miles of arteries, veins, and minuscule capillaries. Consider, too, the marvels of the human mind—how it thinks, feels, communicates, recalls, makes choices, and directs the whole of a person’s life. No computer has ever matched the wonder of the human brain.

We could go on forever learning about the infinite marvels of creation just in our world, let alone the entire universe. Did this all happen by chance? It seems to me it would take a lot more faith to believe this than to believe as David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for the marvels of nature that I am aware of—not to mention the myriads of marvels I am totally unaware of? And how can I ever thank you enough for creating me and inviting me to be a part of your family for time and eternity? Help me to so live that my life will also declare your glory. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:1.

2. Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV).

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God of Second Chances

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“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’ Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.”1

As far as following God was concerned, Jonah failed hopelessly. He defiantly did the opposite of what he knew he was supposed to do. But did God reject him? No. God allowed him to experience failure. Getting thrown overboard and being swallowed by a whale (big fish) brought Jonah to his senses real quick. When he was ready to listen, “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.”

And so it is with us. No matter how many times we feel we’ve failed or blown it, God will continue to call us to himself. However, it is much wiser to “listen up” quickly so we don’t have to get hit over the head with a “4 by 4″—or be swallowed by a “whale of a problem” for God to get our attention.

So, if you feel you have failed, be encouraged. Now is the time to give God a chance. “He’ll mend even a broken heart if you’ll give him all the pieces.” God calls us all to follow him, so why not respond to his call and, if you haven’t already done so, ask him to come into your life as Lord and Savior? He can make a much better job of your life than you can if you will trust it to him. For help, be sure to read “How to Know God” at the link below.*

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you are a God of second (and third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seven times seventy) chances. Please help me to always live in harmony with your will so I will always be in tune to hear your word to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jonah 3:1-3 (NIV).

*”How to Know God” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/christian

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Uncommon Common Sense

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“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”1

Have you ever noticed that common sense is not very common and that much of our reasoning is not always reasonable?

We have all sorts of reasons and excuses for why we say what we say and do what we do. And then there are the real reasons—the motives behind our choices and actions.

People come to discussions with hidden agendas. Some bully to get what they want. Others manipulate. Some even quote or misquote Scriptures to get things done their way. Whether this type of control is with a high and mighty hand or in a sweet, manipulative manner makes no difference. Both are equally dishonest and are destructive to personal growth, conflict resolution, and interpersonal relationships.

Common sense tells us that we need to avoid these and all other dishonest games. Being truthful can be difficult at times, but when our words are spoken in love, it is the only way to grow and develop healthy and intimate relationships.

While God doesn’t make our choices for us, he has, as noted in today’s Scripture passage, promised to give wisdom (common sense) to all who ask him. So wisdom is available if we will ask God for it and truly mean it.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me wisdom and discernment so that my life will bring much glory to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:5 (NIV).

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An Answer for Loneliness

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Jesus “appointed twelve [disciples] … that they might be with him.”1

“Loneliness, it’s such a sad affair,” Karen Carpenter expressed in her popular song some years back. Apparently she knew firsthand what she was singing about as she ended her own life through self-starvation. Perhaps you, too, know too well the pains of loneliness.

While we have made profound scientific and technological advances in today’s world, sadly we have not kept pace with meeting the needs of the human heart and spirit. One of the high costs of this failure has been the ever-increasing sense of loneliness and isolation that pervades contemporary society.

As Selwyn Hughes wisely said, “To be is to be in relationships,” without which life can be empty and meaningless. One significant answer to this increasing malady is seen in the dramatic increase of the small-group movement—both within and without the church. Small groups, of course, are nothing new, but support-and-recovery type groups formed to meet almost every need imaginable have mushroomed in many places today. They are proving to be very effective. For example, one of the best-known methods for helping people overcome alcoholism is the twelve-step AA groups. And help for the spouses of alcoholics can be found in Alanon groups.

Small groups, at least as far as the Christian church is concerned, began with Jesus. At the beginning of his ministry he “appointed twelve [disciples] that they might be with him.” He then had an inner group made up of himself, Peter, James, and John, and then an intimate group with himself and John. If Jesus and his disciples needed this kind of connection and support, it sounds like an excellent example for all of us to follow.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to find the support I need to help me grow more like Jesus, overcome personal problems, and so I won’t be lonely. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 3:14 (NIV).

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Thoughtfulness

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“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”1

According to William A. Ward, “Thoughtfulness comes in many forms, and is virtually always welcomed by its recipients. Thoughtfulness is a habit—a way of life well worth cultivating and practicing.

“The thoughtful person is quick to pay a well-deserved compliment, or to send a prompt note of congratulations to someone who has received a promotion, an honor, or special recognition.

“Thoughtful people don’t wait for opportunities—they imaginatively create numerous opportunities to make life brighter, smoother, and more enjoyable for those about them. Our thoughtful attitudes and generous deeds can make many people happy—including ourselves.”

Being thoughtful is being kind, it is being loving, it is being “as Jesus” to people.

Today, make sure you go out of your way to be thoughtful and kind—first of all to your own loved ones … and in some way to every life you touch.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be loving, kind, and thoughtful today—and ‘as Jesus’—to my own loved ones and to someone who needs a touch from you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:32 (NIV).

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