All posts by 5Q

Horse Sense

Leave a comment

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”1

“On his radio broadcast Steve Brown explained that when a group of thoroughbred horses face attack from an outside enemy, they stand in a circle facing each other and with their back legs, kick out at the enemy. Donkeys, on the other hand, do just the opposite. They circle up, facing the enemy, and use their hind legs to kick each other! How often does the church [or families] do the identical thing—ignore the real enemy while attacking fellow believers.”2

An old cliché, but worth repeating, says, “The church is the only army that shoots its wounded.” This can be especially applicable to some divorced people in some church circles—even when the divorcee had absolutely no choice in the matter. Some churches have fought and split over their church music. Some denominations have split over insignificant doctrinal issues. I’ve seen bickering and backbiting destroy one church I know, and I know one pastor who was “crucified” through idle gossip started by a jealous, critical person. Most of those church members would never have dreamt of stealing this pastor’s transportation, which they would have considered to be a terrible sin, but thought nothing about stealing his reputation—and which did the greater harm?

Furthermore, when the name of someone we don’t like comes up, all we have to do is to say, “Oh him,” in a put-down-tone-of-voice, to sow doubt in someone’s mind about that person. And when we label people negatively, we negate them.

When we do these things, we are not acting like thoroughbred horses!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, deliver me from the sin of gossip, slander, backbiting, and divisive behavior. Help me to become a ‘thoroughbred’ Christian and not like the other kind. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:30-32 (NIV).

2. E. Glenn Wagner, Ph.D, The Awesome Power of Shared Beliefs (Word Publishing, 1995).

<:))))><

A Lawyer’s Question

Leave a comment

“Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?”1

A lawyer whom I believe was sincere wrote saying, “As my profession is a lawyer, when someone cites the Bible, I always tend to think about different ways of interpretation of the Word—such as during the times of the inquisition.”

Good point. I think many people genuinely struggle with the same question as there are so many different interpretations of God’s Word … and so many different applications of the same passages.

Answering a lawyer is out of my league; however, suffice it to say that legalists (out of their own insecurities and authoritarian stance) will use God’s Word to control people to get them to conform to their (the legalist’s) neuroses. At the opposite end of the scale are those who say what “speaks” to them in the Bible is God’s Word and the rest they conveniently ignore—a very comfortable but, like the legalist’s view, a self-deceptive way to live. Somewhere between these extremes are those who seek a balanced view of what God is really saying.

One major problem is that we all interpret situations, etc., on the basis of who we are and often on what we want to see… and on how honest or dishonest we are with our own selves.

In other words, we all look at truth—including God’s Truth, the Bible—through our own warped lenses. The more dishonest we are with ourselves, the more warped our lenses will be, and the more warped our lenses, the more we will distort all truth (including God’s Truth) to make it match our perception of reality—and thereby interpret it to say what we want it to say. Alternatively, the more honest we are with ourselves (less defensive, etc.) the less warped will be our lenses, and the clearer we will see all truth, including God’s Truth. I believe it is impossible to be intellectually honest without being personally honest.

If we want to interpret God’s Word correctly and see and hear what God is really saying, we need to start by “melting” our hardened hearts (the cause of which is personal dishonesty and defensiveness), and by becoming courageously honest with ourselves.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be real, authentic, and courageously honest with myself so I can see your Word more clearly, and follow your directives more closely. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 8:17-18 (NIV).

<:))))><

To Be a Man—A Message to My Sons

Leave a comment

“You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord. Fathers, don’t aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying.”1

When you can dream beyond today
and rise above your fears and doubts;
When you can conquer every trial
that comes to those who dare
to climb the highest heights;
When you can keep on getting up each
time you’ve failed…or been knocked down;
When you can walk through the
fires of criticism, and disregard
the jibes of jealous lesser men;
When you can see your greatest strength
lies in your faith and gentleness. . .
your greatest courage in admitting
your faults, and with God’s help
strive to overcome them;
When you can accept responsibility
for resolving all your hurts and break
the chain from generations past;
When you can know a father’s love
and feel with all your heart;
When you can love yourself, others,
and God more than earthly gain
or fame, and recognition, you will,
my son, be then a man –
and, indeed, a great man at that.2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that I will so live that my life will model the kind of father and man you want me to be so that my sons, seeing your love in me, will want the same for themselves. And please forgive me for where I have failed to so be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Note: This poem by Dick is available, beautifully printed with a landscape photo. See and order from: http://tinyurl.com/392ak6.

1. Colossians 3:20-21 (NLT).

2. “To Be a Man.” © Copyright 2001 by Dick Innes.

<:))))><

I Hate Baloney

Leave a comment

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’”1

You may have read about the man, a construction worker who took a sandwich out of his lunch bag, looked at it and threw it on the ground, yelling, “Baloney again! I hate baloney.” A coworker said, “If you hate baloney so much, just ask your wife to make you something else.” The man replied, “That’s the problem. My wife didn’t make the sandwich. I did.”

Whether this story is true or not, doesn’t really matter. It’s a great parable.

As Michael Josephson in Character Counts said, “Lots of people continually make their own baloney sandwiches and then act as victims when it’s time to eat them. It’s like the man who killed his parents and had the audacity to demand mercy because he was an orphan.”

Or like the overweight man who kept eating hamburgers and blamed and wanted to sue MacDonald’s, and three other hamburger chains for contributing to his obesity. And like the lady who sued a store because she fell over an unruly child and hurt herself—and the unruly kid in question was her own child! The tragedy was she won the case and was awarded something like $700,000! We’ve gone sue crazy in this part of the world where I live and much, if not most, of it is because of gross irresponsibility and pure greed—wanting the rewards of hard work at someone else’s expense.

I realize it can be extremely difficult (and sometimes impossible) in tough economical times to get work, but if work—any kind of work—is available and I don’t want to work, nobody, including the government, is responsible for paying me or feeding me … neither are my parents…nor is society. As Paul implied, if I CAN get any kind of a job but don’t want to work or do so-called menial work, then I don’t deserve to eat. Let me add, I’ve done some pretty menial work in my time—working as many as three jobs at once in the summer break and part-time through the school year to put myself through college. Years later, I’m still working a second part-time job to supplement my ministry income.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if in any way I’m acting irresponsibly and trying to get others to do for me what I can and need to do for myself, help me to confess up and accept personal responsibility. And if I’m supporting an irresponsible child or person, help me to wake up and motivate him/her to grow up. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV).

<:))))><

The Positive Side of No

Leave a comment

“But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.”1

Yesterday the Apostle Paul was telling us that we need to “carry each other’s burdens,” and today, a few verses later, he’s telling us that each person needs to carry his own load. Sure sounds contradictory … at least on the surface.

Actually, in yesterday’s instruction, the word for burden in the original language applied to a load or burden that was too heavy for one person to carry alone. The word for “load” in today’s Scripture verse means a load that one is quite capable of carrying himself.

Yes, we do need to help one another in times of need when one’s burden is too heavy to carry alone, but there are times when helping to carry another person’s load when he or she should be carrying it alone is not helpful.

These are the times when we need to say no, and it applies to a very positive action. For instance, there are some people who are takers. They take all they can get and give little if anything in return. They are self-centered and selfish. To do for them what they can and need to do for themselves is not loving or helping, but hurting them. It keeps us weak and reinforces their laziness and selfishness.

These people are so used to getting (manipulating to get) their own way that they don’t like taking no for an answer. Chances are they will try to make you feel guilty when you say no. If they do, a good answer is a line from the country-western song that says rather eloquently, “What part of no don’t you understand? … I’ll be glad to explain!”

Remember, too, we don’t need to justify ourselves when we say no. We just need to take a page out of Jesus’ book: “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the wisdom to know if and when I am being used and the courage to say no. And when another pressures me to do something wrong, again give me the courage to say, ‘No, I won’t.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For further help read, “Overcoming Codependency,” at: http://tinyurl.com/8p4t6

1. Galatians 6:4-5 (NKJV).

2. Matthew 5:37 (NLT).

<:))))><

He’s Not Heavy—He’s My Brother

Leave a comment

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”1

You may have read how “when Sadhu Sundar Singh and a companion were traveling through a pass high in the Himalayan Mountains. At one point they came across a body lying in the snow. Sundar Singh wished to stop and help the unfortunate man, but his companion refused, saying, ‘We shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.’

“But Sundar Singh would not think of leaving the man to die in the ice and snow. As his companion made his farewell, Sundar Singh lifted the poor traveler onto his back. With great exertion on his part, he bore the man onward, but gradually the heat from Singh’s body began to warm up the beleaguered frozen fellow, and he revived. Soon both were walking together side by side. Catching up with his former companion, they found him dead—frozen by the cold.

“In the case of Sundar Singh, he was willing to lose his life on behalf of another, and in the process, found it; but in the case of his companion who sought only his own well-being, he only lost it.”2

As the caption of the painting (housed at Girls and Boys Town National Headquarters in Nebraska) of the “Two Brothers” commissioned by Father Flanagan back in 1943, and copied from the original statue done in sandstone, says, “He ain’t heavy, Father … he’s m’ brother.”

When we treat a needy person who crosses our path as our brother (or sister), the rewards of carrying them until they can get on their own two feet will far outweigh the burden of the load.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to treat each person you bring into my life as a brother and/or sister and be willing to help them when they need a helping hand, to help lift their spirit when they need an encouraging word, and to help carry their load when it is too heavy for them to bear alone—as you have done for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Galatians 6:2 (NIV).

2. Source Unknown

<:))))><

Soar with the Eagles

Leave a comment

“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

Did you know that an eagle knows when the storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come.

When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle doesn’t escape the storm; it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us—and all of us will experience them—it may not be easy but we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief in Jesus, our God—and daily committing and trusting our life and way to Him. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God’s power to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, but rather, how we handle them.2

As God’s Word says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”3 Admittedly, this can take time.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to always hope and trust in you so that, when the storms of life rage around me, I will be able to soar like the eagle above the turbulence and become a better, stronger and calmer Christian as a result. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Note: For additional help read “Lessons from Suffering” at: http://tinyurl.com/exuyw

1. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV).

2. Today’s Daily Encounter was submitted by Dick Nichol who has since lost his wife through cancer. Author of the Eagle story unknown.

3. Romans 8:28 (NIV).

<:))))><

Resolution or Repetition

Leave a comment

“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 [made whole]?’”1

A Daily Encounter reader whom I will call Janice wrote, “I am at my wit’s end, please I need your help. I was sexually abused by a family member from the age of 6 years to 13 years old and then he died. I was always the child who was either fighting with the neighbors, my brother or sisters, and this led to getting a thrashing with a belt on many a night. I fell pregnant at the age of 18, a year out of school, and got married ….”

Janice’s marriage was a disaster—with abuse, rejection, affairs. She was divorced … remarried … another disaster … divorced again … married again … another disaster … another divorce … same man only with different names.

While Janice’s story is extreme, she is not alone. I have taught in divorce and grief recovery workshops over the past decade-and-a-half and have seen too many singles repeat the same mistake over and over.

As I said to Janice (and have written many times), what we don’t resolve we are destined to repeat. We have two choices—either resolution or repetition.

We need to realize that we are basically attracted to other people (especially romantically) on the basis of who we are. The one I am attracted to is a match of me in that “the bumps on my head match the holes in her head.” All too soon I begin to see the holes in her head, but fail to see the bumps on mine!

Because Janice was abused as a child and a teenager, she is drawn to abusive men—in an unconscious attempt to “make things right this time.” It never works.

As painful as it is to admit, we are as sick (or as healthy) as the people we are attracted to. Until we admit this and look at the bumps/holes on/in our head and quit blaming our partner for our relational difficulties, and get into a healthy recovery program, chances are that we will continue to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The important thing to realize is not to look for the right partner but to become the right partner, for only happy, healthy people find happy, healthy partners. Furthermore, only to the degree that we are made whole will our lifestyle, actions, attitudes, and relationships become wholesome. Realize too, that while God wants us to be made whole, he usually works through others to do this. We were damaged in damaging relationships and find healing in healing relationships.

If you (or someone you know) can identify in some way with Janice, I urge you to seek wise counseling to help you face and resolve the issues in your life that are causing you to have failed or unsatisfying relationships. Life is too short to live in the constant pain of impaired and hurtful relationships. Such can not only destroy the quality of your life, but also take years off your life.

If you live in North America and need the name of a Christian counselor in your area, call the Narramore Christian Foundation for a counselor near you. The number is 1-800-477-5893 Ex 227. Tell Mary that Dick Innes suggested you call. Don’t delay. Make that call today. Or if you live overseas, you can receive free lay counseling with New Hope Counseling online at: http://www.newhopenow.org/.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to grow and become whole in every area of life so that my life and relationships will be truly wholesome. May I settle for nothing less. And please lead me to the counseling I need to help me so that my life will become a living testimony of your saving power and help. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 5:6 (NIV).

<:))))><

Getting Rid of the Gunk

Leave a comment

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”1

Ron Ledford reports how “each year thousands of tourists journey to Mount Rushmore National Memorial that is carved above the town of Keystone in southwestern South Dakota. It is there that the images of four of the great presidents of the United States are carved in granite.

“What the average tourist does not realize is the constant work that goes on to keep this giant sculpture from deteriorating. For one week in September workers go over this magnificent piece of art removing bird nests, pulling shrubs that have grown in the crevices in the rock. But the most important task of all is filling the hundreds of natural rock fissures that crisscross the executive figures. Workmen carefully fill these cracks with a special mixture of white granite dust, linseed oil, and white lead. If these fissures were left unattended, the autumn rains and melting snow could creep into the rock and freeze, thus shattering a president’s image.”2

Our life is like that too. We need to constantly be on guard against all things that in time, if not put away or cleaned up, could destroy our Christian walk and testimony, and eventually lead us far from God.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be aware of anything in my life that is not pleasing to you and is harmful to me and my testimony for you. Let your Spirit convict me of these things and lead me to confession and ‘cleaning up my act.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:30-31 (NIV).

2. Ron Ledford. Cited by King Duncan www.sermons.com.

<:))))><

Little Things—Big Consequences

Leave a comment

“And then he [Jesus] told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach [communicate] the Good News to everyone, everywhere.’”1

Ron Clarke of Tasmania, Australia, asks, “Have you ever been to the south coast of England? If not, you may have seen pictures of it or can remember the wartime song ‘There’ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover.’ These white cliffs are composed of chalk. Chalk is formed by the shells of very tiny animals called ‘Foraminifera’, meaning ‘hole-bearers’. They are so called because their small shells are pierced with little holes. Thousands of years ago there were trillions of these little creatures in the sea. As they died, their shells fell to the sea floor and formed a layer that gradually became thicker and thicker. Then followed an earthquake and pushed the layer upwards to form chalk cliffs.

“These cliffs are being destroyed by another small shellfish called a ‘Piddock’. This creature can twist its shell rather like an awl or drill bit to make holes in the chalk. They attack the cliffs just above high water, and as the seas pound against the cliffs, they are weakened and eventually collapse in a landslide. A naturalist, writing about Piddocks, said that Britain is an island because of the work of Piddocks. Britain was once joined to the continent of Europe, and over thousands of years Piddocks have destroyed the chalk cliffs to form the English Channel.

“This piece of trivia highlights what great things [or destructive things] can be achieved by very tiny creatures, and how much can result from very little. It would have cost billions to excavate the English Channel, but the humble Piddock did it alone.”2

As we noted in yesterday’s Daily Encounter, we all have a part to play in God’s service—no matter how small that may be. Your and my contribution is all a part of God’s greater plan and a part of what he is doing in the world today. We can’t improve on God’s plan. The smartest thing to do is to get in on it. And a vital part of his plan, as Jesus commissioned each of us, is to “go into all the world and preach [communicate] the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”

And that starts right where we are by being as Christ to every life we touch … and by joining hands and hearts with those who are reaching the lost with the lifesaving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available. Please make me usable and use me to be as Christ to every life I touch, and be ready and prepared to share your plan of salvation as opportunities arise. And please help me to be sensitive to these opportunities. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: Please join with us as a People Power for Jesus partner … there is no charge. For more information go to: www.actsweb.org/people_power. “When many people each do a little, together we can accomplish great things for God.”

1. Mark 16:15 (NASB).

2. Ron Clarke, www.pastornet.net.au/word4week.

<:))))><