Monthly Archives: August 2014

Life’s Little Things

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“Be kind to each other.”1

Chances are you’ve been bitten by a mosquito, an ant, a gnat, a bee or a wasp, but have you ever been bitten by a lion or an elephant? Not too likely.

The point is that it’s usually the little things in life that get under our skin and upset our apple cart more often than the biggies.

It’s also the little things that make a big difference to the quality of our life. A simple thank you, a kindly word, a word of encouragement, a telephone call, a note, an email, a greeting card, a smile, a word of appreciation, a flower, and so on. As another put it: “It’s the little things that bother us and put us on the rack; you can sit upon a mountain, but you can’t sit on a tack.”

Why not determine to do something kind every day for someone, and especially for your loved ones as well as to friends and work mates. As someone else said, “When we deserve love the least is when we need it the most!”

Do it today!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to always remember the important little things in life and give such gifts every day, not only to my loved ones and friends, but also to those who cross my path who need it—including those whom I don’t especially like. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Paul, the Apostle (Ephesians 4:32).

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Faith Without Works

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

“We’re all self-made,” said one self-made philosopher, “but only the rich will admit it.”

The fact is life is a series of choices. I am where and who I am today and doing what I want to do because of choices I made many years ago. Furthermore, who I am and what I do tomorrow will be largely affected by choices I make today. To do nothing is also a choice even if it is made unconsciously.

As Brian Tracy puts it, “It’s choice, not chance, that determines our destiny.”

For example, I may have been victimized in the past but if I remain a victim that is my choice and in so doing I become a willing volunteer. No matter what my background was or what happened to me in the past, I am now fully responsible for what I do about it and for what I become.

With God’s help and the support of loving friends and, if needed, the help of a well-trained counselor, I can become the person God wants me to be and fulfill the purpose he has for my life. It’s up to me, however, to find out what that purpose is and do my part in fulfilling it.

It boils down to choice. As Joshua said to the ancient Israelites, “Choose you this day whom you will serve … As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And he did for the rest of his life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to discover Your purpose for my life and accept full responsibility for becoming the person You want me to be and for doing what You have planned for me to do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Joshua 24:15.

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When the Heart Is Breaking

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“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”1

E. Kittredge wrote, “‘I am trying to trust,’ said one who had heard the earth falling on the casket which held the cold form of the dearest human friend, ‘I am trying to trust,’ and so I have seen a bird with a broken wing trying to fly. When the heart is broken, all our trying will only increase our pain and unrest. But if, instead of trying to trust, we will press closer to the Comforter, and lean our weak heads upon his sufficient grace, the trust will come without our trying, and the promised ‘perfect peace’ will calm every troubled wave of sorrow.”

Unfortunately, resolving grief is not quite this simple. Learning to resolve grief and trust God is not an event—it is a process, a process that takes time. To feel deserted by one whom we love leaves us destitute. We can be angry at God for taking our loved one and even angry at the one who left us. Whether we should or shouldn’t feel this way is beside the point. We feel what we feel. That’s the reality and these feelings need to be expressed in healthy ways to understanding friends who lovingly accept us and our feelings. Then there is the unrelenting grief that tears the heart apart. Tears—gut level tears—need to be sobbed out over and over until all the pain is dissipated. Again, this takes time. Tears are God’s gift to drain the pain of unrelenting grief. Until we resolve all these painful emotions, it can be very difficult for many, if not impossible, to feel God’s loving presence.

Also, at times of loss the support of loving friends is also critical. Certainly, one may need to withdraw for a brief season but not for too long. Loving support from friends is critical at this time … often for a long time.

Yes we need God but we also need people. One of the first things Jesus did at the commencement of his public ministry was to choose “twelve that they might be with him.”2 And one of Jesus’ hurts prior to his crucifixion was being abandoned by his disciples. If Jesus needed loving relationships, how much more do we?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a loving and supporting friend with whom grieving people feel safe to unburden the pain of their broken heart. And deliver me from the curse to give advice when all that is needed is a loving heart and a listening and understanding ear. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 34:18 (NIV).

2. Mark 3:14.

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Born to Fly

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“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”1

Today’s Daily Encounter is from the book, Broken Chains, by Doug Batchelor.

A naturalist visiting a farm one day was surprised to see a beautiful eagle in the farmer’s chicken coop. Befuddled, he asked, “Why in the world is that eagle living with chickens?”

“Well,” answered the farmer, “I found an abandoned eagle’s egg one day and laid it in the coop, and a chicken adopted it and raised the creature after it hatched. It doesn’t know any better; it thinks it’s a chicken.” The eagle was even pecking at grain and strutting awkwardly in circles.

“Doesn’t it ever try to fly out of there?” asked the naturalist, noticing that the bird never lifted its gaze. “No,” said the farmer, “I doubt it even knows what it means to fly.”

The naturalist asked to take the eagle a few days for experiments, and the farmer agreed. The scientist placed the eagle on a fence and pushed it off, bellowing, “Fly!” But the bird just fell to the ground and started pecking. He then climbed to the top of a hayloft and did the same thing, but the frightened bird just shrieked and fluttered ungraciously to the barnyard, where it resumed its strutting.

Finally, the naturalist took the docile bird away from the environment to which it had grown accustomed, driving to the highest butte in the county. After a lengthy and sweaty climb to the hillcrest with the bird tucked under his arm, he peered over the edge and then spoke gently: “You were born to soar. It is better that you die here today on the rocks below than live the rest of your life being a chicken. It’s not what you are.”

Then, with its keen eyesight, the confused bird spotted another eagle soaring on the currents high above the bluff, and a yearning was kindled within it. The naturalist threw the majestic beast up and over the edge, crying out, “Fly! Fly! Fly!”

The eagle began to tumble toward the rocks below, but then it opened its seven-foot span of wings and, with a mighty screech, instinctively began to flap them. Soon it was gliding gracefully, climbing in ever-higher spirals on unseen thermals into the blue sky. Eventually, the mighty eagle disappeared into the glare of the morning sun. The bird had become what it was born to be.2

Have you discovered your God-given purpose and potential—and have become or are becoming all that you were born to be?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to discover my God-given life purpose and potential and become all that You have envisioned for me to be and do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

Note: Be sure to check You Can’t Fly With a Broken Wing at www.actscom.com/store.

1. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV).

2. Doug Batchelor, Broken Chains, Pacific Press, 2004. Cited in WITandWISDOM, Richard Wimer. http://www.witandwisdom.org/.

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Evolution or Intelligent Design

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“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.“1

Chuck Colson in BreakPoint talked about evolution scientists who “came up with the ‘million monkeys’ theory to show that Shakespeare’s genius was nothing special, that his works could have come about purely by chance. And, the theory goes, ‘If monkeys could knock out a Shakespearean tragedy given enough time, then what about creating Shakespeare himself? Couldn’t he be almost as easily explained on Darwinian grounds?’

“But do you know what happened when scientists tried to test their theory? Obviously, they couldn’t test it for a million years, but they thought they could get some idea about the truth of the theory by testing it for a month. The monkeys pressed some random letters on the keyboard, bashed the computer with stones, and—to put it as delicately as possible—used it as a toilet. ‘Suffice it to say,’ the authors remark dryly, ‘their literary efforts fall a good deal short of the Bard’2 [goal].

“It’s difficult to see how extending this farce for a million years would have made any difference at all. In fact, a scientist at MIT used a computer simulation to prove that it could not have happened.”3

It seems to me that it takes a whole lot more “faith” to believe in evolution than it does to believe in intelligent design and a divine Creator.

Everybody believes in something—and what we believe in is a choice. Choose wisely for what you choose will determine your eternal destiny. Eternity is forever and that is an awful long time.

For help on choosing to believe in God and accept his way, go to: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding so that I will see the truth about life, about You, and about my eternal destiny with or without You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:1 (NIV).

2. Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt, A Meaningful World.
3. Chuck Colson, “What Has Darwin to Do with Shakespeare?” BreakPoint, October 12, 2006. http://www.breakpoint.org/.

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Procrastination

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“When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”1

When the Apostle Paul was brought before Governor Felix to be judged for his Christian faith, Paul may have come close to persuading him to become a Christian. On one occasion after listening to Paul’s case, Felix trembled and sent Paul away saying he would speak to him at a more convenient time.

Today is the only day we ever have. Yesterday is gone forever. Tomorrow never comes. Whatever it is we need to do today we need to do today. Procrastination surely is the thief of time. There are many reasons why we put things off—apathy, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, habit, indifference, passive resistance, and/or just plain not-getting-around-to-doing-it.

Whatever the reason, there are some things that are far too critical to put off until a more convenient time—especially putting our life right with God.

Even though Felix spoke to Paul on a number of occasions after saying he would speak to him at a more convenient time, there is no indication that he ever accepted the Christian faith.

If you need to put things right with God and/or accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, why not do that today? As the Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation.”2

For help on how to be sure you are a real Christian (without having to be religious) go to: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be sure that I am a true Christian and help me to so live that it will show in my daily living. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Felix, the governor (Acts 24:25, NIV).

2. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV).

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As Sick As Our Secrets

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“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”1

Earlier this evening I was reading a church-sponsored website set up to provide a safe place where people can confess their sins and failures. It was called “Sharing Secrets.”

Obviously people all over are desperate to confess their sins and failures and be rid of oppressive guilt. The number of and variety of confessions were pretty much par for the course. People shared their problems with addictions, living a double life, eating disorders, gambling, pornography, adultery, hurt, lying, stealing, relationships, illicit sex, past humiliation, regret, shame, abuse, lust, substance abuse, self-harm and so on.

My best guess is that most of these people were ordinary everyday people. There may have been some but I didn’t read of any who were involved in criminal activity. Some of these people held responsible positions; some were in leadership—including a pastor or two. The reality is we are all fellow strugglers in that we have all sinned, and when we do, we are plagued by guilt. Even if we repress the guilt from conscious memory, it will still plague us in one way or another.

As psychologists tell us, we are as sick as our secrets.

Every one of us needs a safe place to confess our sins and failures and to be fully forgiven. As King David said after confessing his sin with Bathsheba, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you [God] and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I admit and confess my sins to You, You fully forgive me and set me free from guilt. Help me not to sin, but when and if I do, give me the courage to confess what I have done to You and to a safe and trusting person, pastor, priest or counselor. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 John 1:9 (NIV).

2. Proverbs 28:13 (NASB).

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Reality Check

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“Faith without works is dead.”1

One of my favorite quotes happens to be from a Buddhist monk who said, “To know and not to do is not yet to know.” To translate this into our Christian terminology it could be, “To believe and not to act is not yet to believe because I only truly believe that which motivates me to action.”

It has also been pointed out that we don’t always act consistently with what we profess but we always act consistently with what we believe. In other words, I may profess to be a Christian but if I don’t act like one, chances are I may not be one.

Furthermore, if I say I believe that Jesus Christ is coming again and unless people receive him as their Savior, they will be lost forever—but don’t do anything to share the gospel—chances are I don’t really believe that people are lost and that Christ is coming back again. I only profess it.

As James put it, “What’s the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren’t proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? It isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.”2 And as James also said, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”3

Good works don’t save us. They just confirm what we are and what we believe. Jesus said the same thing. “By their fruits you will know them,” he declared.4 In other words, to know and not to do is not yet to know—or to believe and not to act is not yet to believe.

Have you had a reality check lately to see what you really do believe? You measure it by your actions and the way you live.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be a doer of Your Word and not just a hearer and grant that my belief in You will be for real—and be evident in what I do and in the way I live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. James 2:20.

2. James 2:14, 17 (TLB).

3. James 4:17 (NIV).

4. Matthew 7:20.

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Be God to Me?

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“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”1

In my counselor training and counseling days I participated in quite a few therapy groups of varying kinds. Some I found very helpful and others I could have done without. However on one occasion I was involved in a secular psychodrama (role-play) group with 25-30 participants.

We were sitting in a circle and a 30-something lady (whom I will call Janine) asked me if I would role play God for her. This was a secular group so why she picked on me I will never know (we hadn’t even met each other). I believe it had to be a God-thing. At any rate she placed a chair in the center of the circle and asked me to sit on it. I was rather nervous to put it mildly. I had never heard of anyone ever role-playing God. So I kept praying under my breath, “God help … God help.”

Janine got down on her knees in front of me and openly confessed that she had been a prostitute and asked for forgiveness. Immediately the words of Jesus came to my mind and I spoke them to Janine, “Your sins are forgiven.”

That was a courageous thing for Janine to do. It was the beginning of her healing. Unfortunately I never kept in contact with her but I hope and pray that she has, since then, genuinely sought to follow after God.

The point is whenever we sin, we are always left with guilt. Even if we repress it from conscious memory, it’s still there and it is a very unhealthy way to live, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The only cure is confession … to at least one trusting soul as well as to God. As God’s Word says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”2

Dear reader, if you have any unconfessed sin in your life, I urge you to see an understanding pastor, priest, trusted friend and/or Christian Counselor. Like David the Psalmist, who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, when he confessed his sin, he found God’s forgiveness and great release. You and I can do the same.*

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank You enough for loving me no matter what I have ever done and always forgiving me when I, with genuine sorrow, confess my sins. Help me always to find a trusting person to whom I can confess my sins and weaknesses—as well as confessing them to You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

*For help be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9

1. King David in Psalm 32:5 (NLT).
2. James 5:16 (NIV).

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When God Feels Far Away

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“God … is not far from each one of us.”1

“I attend church regularly,” one person said to me, “but I don’t necessarily believe in God. He seems so distant.”

The difficulty for many of us, even when we believe in God, is feeling close to him and experiencing his presence and love. When we can’t, as Cecil Osborne points out, it is our receptivity that is at fault. God is constantly broadcasting his love, power and blessings to all of us but when can’t feel these, it’s the barriers in our life that block God’s love getting through.

The barriers can be unresolved negative emotions such as anger, resentment, hurt, grief, fear, feelings of inadequacy, guilt and so on. Another barrier can be caused by any impaired relationship with a loved one or friend, by unconfessed sin, living out of harmony with God’s will, or by not making the effort to daily spend time with God in prayer and listening to his Word. When we starve our souls, it feels as if God is far away.

Another reason God can seem far away is because of a lack of sufficient human love, connection, and meaningful fellowship with fellow Christians. We were created for relationships—with God and people. Both are essential for emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. As John, the beloved disciple of Jesus put it, “If we love one another, God’s love is perfected or made complete in us.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, whenever I feel that You are distant, help me to realize that I’m the one who has moved, not You. Help me to see any barrier/s in me and lead me to the help I need to resolve these. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Paul the Apostle (Acts 17:27, NIV).
2. 1 John 4:12.

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