Monthly Archives: July 2014

Independence

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“So if the Son [Jesus, the Son of God] sets you free, you will be free indeed.”1

Tomorrow in the U.S.A. is Independence Day, the day Americans celebrate the birthday of the United States of America. Founded July 4th, 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, America is celebrating its 233rd birthday this year (2009).

“The American Revolution ended a couple of centuries of British rule over most of the North American colonies and laid the foundation of the present United States of America. After the Revolution, the constitution of the United States of America was drafted and ratified. On the anniversary of that day, the new nation declared its citizens rights to ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’”2

Sad to say, however, so many people worldwide don’t enjoy the freedoms that many of us do, not only in the U.S.A., but also in other free lands around the world.

Today, let those of us who live in free lands especially remember our brothers and sisters who live in lands where there is no freedom and great persecution—especially for Christians and those who reject the religion of their state.

I am also reminded today of the words written on the wall of a Nazi prison during the Holocaust.

I believe in the sun even when it isn’t shining.
I believe in love even when I am alone.
I believe in God even when he is silent.

And let us thank God that, no matter where we live, while men may be able to control our external reality, they have no power to control our inner reality—our faith, our beliefs, nor the destiny of our soul. That alone is our choice. However, may we who have chosen to trust in God through Jesus Christ our Savior do all in our power to share God’s great news of salvation to all people—everywhere. And let us pray that every person in the world will hear or read the gospel that, via the electronic media, can reach into many places where preaching the gospel and message of Jesus Christ is forbidden.

And in hearing the gospel, may God grant that every person in the world will at least have the opportunity to celebrate independence in their heart.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, today I especially pray for my brothers and sisters in lands that are not free, where they are being persecuted for their faith—or their lack of faith in the coerced religion of their land. Grant that they will know independence in their heart and the greatest freedom of all in knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And thank You forever for the fact that somebody shared the gospel with me and that I thus had the opportunity to place my trust in You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 8:36 (NIV).

2. www.123independenceday.com

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When Life Is a Relational Mess

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“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — Jesus Christ.1

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I am desperate for help. I recently found out that my wife was sleeping with another man. She refuses to stop seeing him, claiming that they are only friends. I am told on an almost daily basis that everything I do is not good enough, and unless I do more, we will be divorced. I don’t know how to do anything more. I cook, I clean, I do the laundry, and I spend evenings helping our two oldest children with school work and problems that they have faced through the day. I teach our youngest son (he is too young for school); I am in the military reserves, manage an apartment building, and am trying to run a business….”

“Dear Keith,” [not his real name] I replied, “thank you for sharing your heart with me. Your life right now is certainly a struggle and I can certainly feel for you, but it is very important to realize that the only person you can ever change is yourself. If you try to change your wife, you will end up making things worse. However, as you change, she will be forced to change one way or the other, and there is no guarantee in which way that will be.

“Keith needs to work on Keith. First of all I strongly encourage you to pray and ask God to confront you with the truth about yourself and reveal to you what you are contributing to the relational disaster you are in. This is the starting point of all recovery. Speaking personally, I was in a very painful situation for many years. After years of therapy and things only getting worse, I literally begged God to confront me with the truth of what I was still contributing to the mess I was in. Almost overnight it became glaringly obvious just how totally co-dependent that I was in this situation. I kept protecting this person from the consequences of their destructive behavior. Once I saw the truth about myself, I knew exactly what I had to do. As Jesus said, ‘You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’

“After you see the truth of what you are contributing to your situation, I suggest that you lovingly tell your wife that you see what you have been contributing to your marriage, and that you are not going to do this any longer. I then suggest that you go together to a highly qualified Christian counselor for therapy. If your wife refuses to do this, you need to let her lovingly know that unless she does, then you will need to distance yourself from her. Inform her that you will no longer allow her to treat you the way that she has been doing. This is tough love and in situations like yours, it is a vital need.

“If your wife refuses to go to counseling with you, then you need to get counseling to take care of yourself. This is imperative. Yes, it is expensive, but you can’t afford not to do it. For several years I worked two jobs at the same time to pay for the counseling I needed to recover from my relational sickness.

“Also, pray and ask God to help you to find the counseling help you need so you can change. If you live in North America, for the name of a fine Christian counselor call the Narramore Christian Foundation at 1-800-477-5893 and press ’1′ for Dianne. She should be able to help you with the name of a Christian counselor or two in your area.

“By the way, once you change, your wife will be forced to change in her way of treating you. She may not want you to change so will quite possibly, at least for a start, treat you even worse. That’s par for the course whenever we change our relationship patterns.

“Keep praying for the truth and once you see the truth about you and do what you need to do to recover, then you can pray to see the truth about your wife. Only following the truth will ever set you free. Once you see the overall truth, you will know what you need to do.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, my life is in chaos. Please confront me with the truth of exactly what I am doing to contribute to the mess I am in. Help me to change so that I will become the person You want me to be. And please help me to be ‘as Jesus’ to my spouse (or friend), and do what I need to do in order to resolve our situation. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 8:32 (NIV).

NOTE: For help you may want to read my book, You Can’t Fly With a Broken Wing. You can check it out online at: http://tinyurl.com/broken-wing-book.

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Opportunity Lost

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“Almost you persuade me to be a Christian.”1

When Mahatma Gandhi was attending university in London, he became almost convinced of the validity of Christianity, seeing it as possibly the one true supernatural religion.

After graduation, he continued to seek evidence that would persuade him to become a committed Christian. When he accepted employment in East Africa, and lived with a family who were members of an evangelical Christian church, he believed this would be his greatest source of evidence for the Christian faith.

Gandhi lived with this family for seven months, but after seeing their causal attitude towards God, hearing them complain about making sacrifices for Christ, and becoming acutely aware of their religious apathy, he became disillusioned.

“No,” he concluded, “Christianity is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. A good religion, but just one more of the many religions in the world.”

While the circumstances were vastly different between King Agrippa who heard Paul’s testimony and rejected it, Gandhi, too, was almost persuaded to become a Christian, but didn’t become one because of a Christian’s very poor testimony.

May God grant that that may never be true of me. Every day I seek to pray the following prayer: (Can I challenge you to do the same?)

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available today. Please make me usable and help me to be an effective witness and be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch today. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

NOTE: If you are not sure you are a real Christian, please don’t be like King Agrippa or Gandhi and miss the opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness for all your sins and his gift of eternal life. For help click on: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

1. Acts 26:28.

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