All posts by 5Q

God Ist Gut

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“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”1

In the book, Finding Hope Again, Roy Fairchild told how he had come to Vienna after a two-week illness in a small Austrian village. He had spent most of his money on medical costs and his last cent to take a train to Vienna to try and find his friends with whom he had been traveling.

As he was standing in one of the street car stations in the center of the city, tired, hungry and discouraged, a little old wrinkled lady, one of the ladies whose job was to sweep out the station, came to him and asked him if he were hungry.

Before he could answer she took her own lunch from a brown paper bag and offered him half of it. He said he was so moved by her action that he has never forgotten her face or her kindness and the sparkle in her eye.

They talked for more than an hour about her life. She was raised in the country on a farm knowing only hard work. Since then she had lost her husband and two sons in the Resistance. Only her daughter had survived but she said that she was very thankful for many things.

When asking her why she offered him half her lunch the lady simply said, “Jesu ist mein Herr. Gott ist gut (Jesus is my Lord. God is good).”

This story reminds me of one of my favorite hymns written by Kate B. Wilkinson. Let’s make it our prayer for today and every day:

“Dear God,

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,

Live in me from day to day,

By his love and pow’r controlling,

All I do and say.

May his beauty rest upon me

As I seek the lost to win,

And may they forget the channel,

Seeing only him.

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

1. Philippians 2:4-5 (NIV).

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Going out on a Limb

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“Choose you this day whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”1

“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is,” said one insightful person.

To achieve anything worthwhile in life that has eternal value and dividends, we need to genuinely serve God. To do this we may need to go out on a limb and be willing to swim against the tide of popular thought, to be different but not odd, assertive but not aggressive, strong but not pushy, meek but not weak, honest and truthful but not unkind.

We may, at times, even be considered a little bit crazy, but as another has said, “You’ve got to be a little bit crazy because if you always keep both feet on the ground, you can never get your pants on!”

Seriously, to serve God, also means knowing what your God-given life purpose is; that is, knowing what God wants you to be and what he wants you to do with your life. It will include having a worthwhile goal and work into which you can put your heart and best efforts. But doing this can be scary because like Noah, Abraham and other men and women of faith we, too, (even if it isn’t to the same extent) may need to step out in faith and go out on a limb! But remember, that’s where the fruit is.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the courage and help me to so live in harmony with your will that, when necessary, I will not be afraid to go out on a limb, so that whatever I do—with your help—will be fruitful, productive and bring glory to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Joshua 24:15 (NIV).

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It’s Only Words

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“Encouraging words well spoken,” wrote Solomon, “are like golden apples in silver settings.”1

“It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.” These words are from one of my favorite songs sung by the Bee Gees. Obviously, words can have a powerful effect either for good or for bad, for healing or for hurting, for encouraging or discouraging, or for making others laugh or cry.

With words, we can inspire people and even nations to noble deeds of courage, such as the words Sir Winston Churchill broadcast to spur the British people on to victory when, during World War II, Britain’s back was against the wall as she was being bombarded by Germany’s relentless air raid attacks. Forty-seven of her warships had been sunk. The Royal Air Force had lost 40 percent of its bomber strength. Britain was on the brink of famine and was facing imminent invasion.

Here’s what Churchill said in this hour of great need: “We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight in the fields; we shall fight in the streets; and we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.”2

Or with people such as the Hitlers and the Saddam Husseins of the world, words can be used to motivate people to dastardly deeds of treachery, murder, slaughter, and relentless acts of terrorism.

Most of us, of course, will never be in a position to move multitudes of people, but every single one of us is in a position to make a big difference in the life of at least one person—and in realty, the lives of many people if we are so inclined.

Life is filled with plenty of negatives, setbacks, unkind and hurtful words. And so we all need words of encouragement. Let’s not fail to give such a word to at least one person every day whether they are young or old because:

Words spoken
may soon pass away
and forgotten be,
but when expressed
in love and kindness
are like beautiful flowers,
and even though
they fade and die
from conscious memory,
Their fragrance lives on
embedded in the
deeper mind –
forever.3

© Dick Innes

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to have a loving heart, keeping in mind that ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’ Please use me and the words I speak to encourage a fellow struggler along the way . . . and especially to encourage, motivate, and inspire my loved ones at home. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 25:11 (Paraphrase).

2. Reported by Benjamin P. Browne.

3. Dick Innes. This poem, beautifully presented ready for framing, is available from http://www.actscom.com/store or at: http://tinyurl.com/words-spoken.

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When You Don’t Know What to Do

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“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”1

“John Patton, in his book, From Ministry to Theology, relates the story of a rather green chaplaincy resident, naive to many of the pressures and pains of a teaching hospital. While on call one night, the intern was summoned to the room of a woman whose baby had been stillborn a few hours earlier. ‘We want our baby baptized,’ the young mother said, cradling her lifeless daughter, her husband at her side. ‘Her name is Nicole.’

“The intern didn’t know what to do, but asked them to come to the chapel a few minutes later. In the meantime he tried to find another, more experienced chaplain to take over, but to no avail. He was on his own and quite unsure as to how to proceed. He had not only professional uncertainties about what he had been asked to do, but theological qualms as well. Still, he knew he had to meet with grieving parents. He sketched in his mind something to say, hoping it would be appropriate to the moment.

“The young parents arrived at the appointed time, but the chaplain found he could not say what he had prepared. Instead, and almost without realizing what he was doing, he took a tissue, wiped at the tears in the eyes of the parents, then wiped his own tears and touched the tissue to the baby’s head and said, ‘Nicole, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ He said nothing else—the tears were more eloquent than words could have been.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me an understanding and tender heart so that I will always rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:15 (NKJV).

2. Thomas R.Steagald, “More Eloquent Than Words,” Michael Duduit in The Abingdon Preaching Annual, 1995 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), pp. 316-317. Cited on www.sermons.com.

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When Will Jesus Come Again?

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“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”1

Over the centuries it seems there has never been a shortage of would-be prophets who claimed to have a corner on the truth . . . several of whom were convinced of the very day Christ would return to earth to take his true followers with him to Heaven.

For instance, “After 14 years of studying the Bible, William Miller became convinced that Christ would return in 1843. When Miller announced April 3 as the day, some disciples went to mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in reunion with their departed loved ones. Philadelphia society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God’s kingdom amid the common herd. When April 4 dawned as usual the Millerites were disillusioned, but they took heart. Their leader had predicted a range of dates for Christ’s return. They still had until March 21, 1844. The devout continued to make ready, but again they were disappointed. A third date, October 22, 1844, was set, but it also, obviously, passed.”2

The Bible also predicts a seven-year-time of great tribulation that will occur at or about the time of Christ’s Second coming. Among serious Bible scholars, some believe Christ will come before the great tribulation—these people are called pre-trib believers. Others believe Christ will come at the end of the great tribulation—these are known as post-trib believers. Then there are the mid-trib scholars who believe Christ will come in the middle of the great tribulation.

However, as Jesus himself said, only God the Father knows the exact day and hour of Christ’s return. The important thing for his followers is (1) not to get caught up in arguing about the details of Christ’s return, but to do as Jesus did when he was here on earth; and that is “to be about our Father’s Business,” and (2) to make absolute sure that we are ready for Christ’s return; for he will come when least expected.

Of one thing we can be certain—just as sure as we are of Christ’s first coming we can be equally sure about his second coming. Jesus is coming again. He promised he would . . . it could be today . . . or it could be in the near or far-off future. However, if Jesus should come today, would you be ready?

To make sure you are ready for when Jesus comes again to earth, be sure to read the article, “How to be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the wonderful promise that Jesus is coming again to take all your true followers to be with you for all eternity in Heaven. Please help me to know that I know that I know that I am ready for that great and glorious day. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 14:1-3 (NKJV).

2. Adapted from Today in the Word, December 20, 1991. Cited on www.eSermons.com.

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A Father’s Blessing

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“When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, ‘Who are these?’ ‘They are the sons God has given me here,’ Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, ‘Bring them to me so I may bless them.’”1

One of the major causes of emotional and relational conflicts among teens, adults, and even children is that of fatherless homes, absentee fathers, emotionally uninvolved fathers, and/or abusive fathers. In God’s economy and plan fathers have an extremely important and significant role to play, not only providing for their children’s physical needs, but also for their emotional and spiritual needs. Equally important is the God-given role of mothers, but today we are focusing on fathers.

Regardless of what women’s libbers and/or gay couples try to tell us, one of the greatest needs for healthy homes and families—healthy children, teens, and healthy, mature adults—is to have (or to have had) a father who is/was not only present emotionally, but also affirming, loving, accepting, and loving and giving full support to his wife—the mother of his children—and modeling what it means to be a kind, loving and supportive father, man, and adult. Every child needs this, his/her father’s blessing. The importance of this for the healthy nurturing of his children simply cannot be over-emphasized.

For a few simple tips on being a supportive father, listen to what Gary Smalley, popular author and psychologist, had to say after he asked 100 people, “What is one specific way you knew that you had received your father’s blessing?”

Here are some of those answers:

1. “My father would put his arm around me at church and let me lay my head on his shoulder.”

2. “When my father was facing being transferred at work, he purposely took another job so that I could finish my senior year in high school at the same school.”

3. “When I wrecked my parent’s car, my father’s first reaction was to hug me and let me cry instead of yelling at me.”

4. “When I was thirteen, my dad trusted me to use his favorite hunting rifle when I was invited to go hunting with a friend and his father.”

5. “My father went with me when I had to take back an ugly dress a saleswoman had talked me into buying.”

6. “My father would let me practice pitching to him for a long time when he got home from work.”

7. “Even though I had never seen him cry before, my father cried during my wedding because he was going to miss my no longer being at home.”2

Perhaps the greatest need of fathers is to be emotionally as well as physically present for his wife and children. At the same time, it’s the multiplication of the everyday little loving, caring things over the years that help a child to feel affirmed and blessed by his/her father.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be the kind of father (or mother) you want me to be. And please help me to be a channel of your love, and because of your love flowing through me, grant that my children will know without a shadow of a doubt that they have indeed been blessed by their father. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Genesis 48:8-9 (NIV).

2. Gary Smalley, adapted for www.eSermons.com, Sept 2003.

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For Father’s Day … Can I Borrow $100?

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Tim knew his father was an important lawyer who worked most nights and weekends. So he was disappointed but not surprised when his father didn’t attend his last soccer game of the season.

That night he got up the nerve to interrupt his dad’s work to ask, “How much do lawyers make?”

Annoyed, his father gruffly answered, “My clients pay me $300 an hour.”

Tim gulped. “Wow, that’s a lot. Would you lend me $100?”

“Of course not,” his father said. “Please, just let me work.”

Moments later, he heard his son sobbing in the other room, and he called him back. “Son, I’m sorry. If you need some money, of course I’ll lend it to you. But can I ask why you need it?”

Tim said, “Well, I’ve saved $200, and if you lend me a hundred, I’ll have enough.”

“Enough for what?”

“To buy an hour of your time so you can come to our banquet on Friday and see me get the most valuable player award. Will you come?”

His father felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart. For the first time, he realized the cost of his priorities. None of his clients needed him as much as his son, and nothing he could do as a lawyer was more important than what he could do as a father. How had he missed that insight?

It’s always difficult to balance job demands and family needs, but the test of whether you work too much is simple: Are you able to be the kind of parent your child deserves?

Few people look back on their lives and wish they’d spent more time at the office. Far more wish they’d spent more time with their kids.

This story is derived and adapted from one circulated on the Internet without attribution. The original source is unknown. As seen on Character Counts by Michael Josephson, www.charactercounts.org

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always … in all ways … to be ‘as Jesus’ to every one of my family members and loved ones. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Healing Life’s Hurts Part III

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“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”1

The first step, we said, in the healing process is to admit that we have a problem or need. We have a friend whose teenage daughter is anorexic and is also in total denial. Even though she has had to be hospitalized, she claims that there is nothing wrong with her. Until she admits that she has a serious eating disorder and that she needs help, there is no chance of her ever recovering and being made well.

The second step is to want to be healed—not just wish to be. Wanting also means that we have to accept total responsibility to do whatever we need to do in order to be made well.

Third, it isn’t enough to talk about our painful feelings. We need to find a safe place with a trusted friend, counselor, therapy group, or recovery group where we can confidentially experience and express our feelings of hurt, guilt, shame, anger, fear, plus our sins and faults. These are the secrets that comprise our dark side which, unconfessed, keep us bound. As it has been said, “We are as sick as our secrets.” Not all ills are caused by these issues, but many are.

Fourth, when necessary, where we have hurt somebody else, we need to seek their forgiveness and, wherever possible, right the wrong/s that we have done.

Fifth, we then need to forgive all who have hurt us. This is part of gaining freedom from the past. Once we have grown strong enough to face our pain, set appropriate boundaries, and develop some safe relationships, we can begin to forgive. But we cannot simply put forgiveness on top of unresolved hurt, grief, or anger. These must first be dealt with and resolved. Then we are ready to forgive.

Sixth, we also need to confess our sins and faults to God and ask for and receive his forgiveness. His Word says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”2

Seventh, we need to forgive ourselves, let go of the past, and move on to become the persons God planned for us to be. Once we have faced our pain and hurt and anger and begun to forgive, we can start looking ahead in life.

Eighth, develop a healthy support network with a trusted friend or two. At the very minimum, ask God to give you at least one close friend who you trust implicitly and with whom you can share your total self—your joys sorrows, victories, and failures—and with whom you can keep accountable.

Finally, we need to consistently seek God’s help through prayer, scripture, and Christian fellowship. I don’t mean through a magical quick fix but rather through the miracle of God’s healing over time through our relationship with Him and members of the body of Christ—the Church.

Remember, too, that one of the names for God in Hebrew, Yahweh-rophe, literally means “The Lord who heals.”

God wants to heal us and has shown us the way. It’s in the Bible: “Confess your sins and faults to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”3 Do you truly want to be healed? If so, and the cause of your illness is within yourself, as you follow God’s way, you can and will be healed of many of life’s ills. It may take time but God wants you to become the person He created you to be.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, whatever it takes, whatever I need to see and whatever I need to do, with your help I am willing to be made willing to accept full responsibility for my unresolved personal issues that are causing many of my ills—be they physical, emotional, or spiritual. And, where needed, help me to find the help I need to fully recover and experience your healing. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 5:16 (NIV).

2. 1 John 1:9 (NIV).

3. James 5:16 (NIV).

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Healing Life’s Hurts Part II

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”1

Continuing from yesterday’s Daily Encounter, very cautiously Jennifer (a repeated rape victim) began to share. Then her feelings came rushing out in torrents. It was the first time in her life she completely shared her years of bottled-up emotions. This catharsis (emptying out) was essential to open the way for Jennifer to begin to heal. Without first taking this step, she couldn’t be freed from the past so that she could, in time, move to a point of forgiveness. After three days of painful sharing, we prayed for Jennifer. She went back to her room and returned some time later looking like a different person. She put on a pretty blouse, makeup, fixed her hair, and came in wearing a million-dollar smile. She had a long road ahead but her healing and freedom from the past had begun.

More than a year after the seminars I ran into Jennifer again. She had sought out Christian counseling and although her progress was slow, she was doing incredibly well. Her spiritual and emotional healing was well underway.

Jennifer’s story is by no means unusual as there are millions of others who have been sexually, physically and/or emotionally abused—and even spiritually abused. Others of us, while not suffering such extreme abuse, still have our share of wounds and unmet needs. We live in a sinful, fallen world and none of us escape the ravages of sin. Every family has some “dysfunction.” True, some families are more dysfunctional than others, but every family has been affected. Some of us are either co-dependent or overly independent. Others of us are detached, perfectionistic, prone to angry outbursts, withdraw when we are hurt or angry, excessively anxious, or sad. Each of us needs some spiritual, emotional, or relational healing.

One of the facts of life is that we are destined to repeat in one form or another those dysfunctions we fail to resolve, or take out our hurt and anger on the ones we love—and then pass on our dysfunctions to our children! The Bible says, “The sins [including the emotional sins] of the fathers [parents] are visited to the third and fourth generation.”2 This is why it is imperative that, with God’s help, we resolve them. The following steps will help.

First, we need to admit that we have been hurt, that we have a problem, and that we need healing.

Second, we need to want healing badly enough to be willing to face our pain rather than bury it. As Jesus, the Master Physician, said to a man who had been an invalid for 38 years: “Do you want to get well?”3 It sounds like a silly question but it is really profound. We have to want to get better badly enough to face our hidden or painful hurts. Only those who want to be healed will be. The half-hearted never make it.

To be continued . . .

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be ruthlessly honest with myself and with you and see and admit where I need healing. Help me, too, to understand the healing process according to the principles found in your Word, and please lead me to the help I need to get to the root cause/s of my problems and resolve these. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 1:9 (NIV).

2. Deuteronomy 5:9.

3. John 5:6.

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Healing Life’s Hurts Part I

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“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’”1

When I first met Jennifer at a seminar I was leading, she was very withdrawn and her face, apart from sad eyes, was expressionless. She said little all day but her body language spoke volumes. It didn’t take a great deal of insight to realize that Jennifer was in pain—deep pain.

I was quite busy and didn’t give any more thought to Jennifer until a few weeks later when she turned up a thousand miles away at a more intensive week-long counseling workshop. Here her story unfolded.

Jennifer was at breaking point. She had a young son and was about to give him up for adoption. She told us she was so afraid to be touched she couldn’t stand her own child hugging her. It was no surprise to learn that Jennifer was a rape victim—repeated rape. In fact, her son was a child of rape. This terrible abuse started when she was very young and left her paralyzed with fear.

Like a lion in the forest preys on wounded animals, perpetrating men saw Jennifer as easy prey and had been violating her for much of her 40 years. She came to our counseling week as a last hope. Since nothing else had worked, she determined that if she didn’t find help here, she was going to take her life.

Fortunately, Jennifer found a place where she felt safe to share her story and express the incredibly painful emotions that had been bottled up inside since she was repeatedly raped as a small child and as an adolescent. Time and again she had been used and shamed. She felt ugly, dirty, unlovable, and despised.

To be healed Jennifer needed to share not only what had happened to her (where she had been sinned against) but also all of the hurt, shame, anger (rage), and terror she felt. Although her painful emotions were justified by the horrible mistreatment she had suffered, Jennifer had turned these emotions against herself and they were all but destroying her.

To be continued . . .

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be available to people who are hurting, and give me a listening ear, an understanding heart, and an accepting spirit so those needing to share their struggles will feel safe to do so with me. And please use me to be a ‘wounded healer.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 5:6 (NIV).

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