All posts by 5Q

Being Connected

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“If we claim to have fellowship with him [God] yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”1

For a number of years Ken was a capable professional man, a dedicated church worker, and a leader in his community. Outwardly he functioned very well. However, people had difficulty getting close to Ken because he seemed aloof. His family relationships were not good and he had ulcers. Vaguely sensing an inner emptiness, Ken joined a recovery group where he discovered that he was repressing many of his emotions.

Ken is still in the process of rediscovering his repressed self. Fortunately, however, since learning to recognize and express many of his true feelings (many of which were repressed and denied) in healthy ways, his ulcers have cleared up, and his family relationships have improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, many people are taught to ignore their negative emotions. As John T. Raffa wrote in Psychology for Living magazine: “They believe you should hide such feelings—deny, deny, deny—and become nothing but a robot instead of what God made us, beings with feelings.”

Obviously, the early Christians didn’t act this way otherwise they never would have been known for their love one for another. Peter, James, John and Paul all emphasized the need to be honest, to be open-faced, to walk in the light, to openly confess sins and faults, and to love one another. Repressed people are closed people and are unable to fully love and fully live. Neither can they have any kind of emotional intimacy in marriage and close relationships.

Only as we walk in the light, that is, in honesty and openness, are we able to have true fellowship and connection with both God and others. Furthermore, only then are we able to be open channels through which God’s love can flow to others, and in so doing will we be able to fully live and fully love.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please reveal to me any and every barrier in my life that blocks my feeling close to you and to others so that I can know true intimacy with you and the ones I love the most—and be a vibrant channel through which your love to others can flow. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully­­­, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 1:7 (NIV).

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Keepers of the Earth

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“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”1

John Ruskin wrote, “God has lent us the earth for our life. It belongs as much to those who are to come after us and those whose names are already written in the book of creation, as to us; and we have no right, by anything that we do, or neglect, to involve them in unnecessary penalties, or deprive them of benefits that are in our power to bequeath.”

We know that it isn’t God’s goal to save the world as it now is, but to save people from it. And we know that in the end times God is going to create a new earth and a new heaven.2 In the meantime, however, that doesn’t give any person or nation the right to damage the earth, because God has entrusted the keeping of it and everything in it to mankind. We are therefore responsible for doing just that. The world is not ours. We are to be caretakers of it, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”3

I’m not suggesting that we be obsessive and/or fanatical in this area as some (or many) are today, but that we all be responsible.

Suggested prayer: “Thank you, God, for the beauty of the earth and all that is therein, and, as a citizen of heaven, please help me to be a responsible citizen of earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Genesis 1:26 (NIV).

2. Revelation 21:1.

3. Psalm 24:1 (NIV).

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God Too Much

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“Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes … hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.”1

Napoleon Bonaparte was the greatest general of his day and one of the greatest of all time. He was also an astute politician with an unconquerable will to win. His goal was to rule the world and he seemed well on his way to achieving that goal.

History records how he boasted, “Russia next, then Britain, and Napoleon shall rule the world.”

When leading his army en route to conquer Russia, one tiny snowflake fell on Napoleon, “Then another, and another, and another, and they kept on falling until Napoleon’s proud army was reeling back, broken and defeated” not by an enemy’s army nor even a single shot, but by a mass of tiny snowflakes. Napoleon’s response? “God almighty was too much for me.”

It’s comforting to know that God is in control no matter what, and that this world and the life of each of us who put our trust in him are in his hands.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again today I commit and trust my life and way to you as I do that of my (name your loved ones). ‘O that you would bless us wonderfully. Please be with us in everything we do. Greatly expand our borders, and keep us from all evil and disaster.’2 Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 17:7-9 (NIV).

2. Prayer from 1 Chronicles 4:10.

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Promise to Return

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“And if I [Jesus] go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”1

An article in Our Daily Bread reports how, “In 1914 Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to sail to Antarctica, and then walk to the South Pole. The expedition went according to plan until ice trapped the ship and eventually crushed its hull. The men made their way by lifeboat to a small island. Promising to come back for them, Shackleton and a small rescue party set out across 800 miles of perilous seas to South Georgia Island.

“With only a sextant to guide them, they made it to the island. Shackleton then led his party over steep mountainous terrain to the whaling port on the other side. Once there, he acquired a ship to rescue his crew. Their leader had kept his word and returned for them. Not one man was left behind.”2

When Jesus completed his redemptive work here on earth, he promised that he would return again to take all his true followers and believers to be with him forever in heaven. “I will come again,” he promised. And on his word we can totally depend.

Furthermore, immediately following his ascension to heaven, two angels appeared to Christ’s eleven disciples and asked, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”3

If you are a true follower of Jesus of this one thing you can be certain, Jesus will come back for you. If you are not absolutely sure that you will be taken to heaven with Jesus when he returns, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian,” online at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for Jesus’ promise, and that of the angels, that Jesus is coming back to earth to take all his true followers to be with him and you in Heaven for all eternity. For this I will be eternally grateful. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 14:3 (NIV).

2. Dennis Fisher in Our Daily Bread November 8, 2005.

3. Acts 1:11 (NIV).

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If Jesus Came to Your House

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“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”1

In the words of the following poem, today’s Daily Encounter poses a very interesting question and challenge:

If Jesus came to your house
To spend some time with you,
If He came unexpected,
I wonder what you’d do.
Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room
To such an honored guest
And all the food you’d give to Him
Would be the very best.
And you would keep assuring Him
You’re glad to have Him there—
That serving Him in your home
Is joy beyond compare.
But when you saw Him coming,
Would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome
To your heavenly visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes
Before you let Him in
Or hide some magazines
And put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you hide your worldly music
and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right
in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder—if the Savior
spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing, the
things you always do?
Would you go right on saying, the
things you always say?
Or would life for you continue
as it does from day to day?
Would you take Jesus with you
everywhere you go?
Or would you maybe change your
plans for just a day or so?
Would you be glad to have Him
meet your closest friends?
Or would you hope they stay away,
until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him
stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great
relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know,
the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person, to spend
some time with you.2

Perhaps this poem might be better entitled, “If Jesus Came to My House.” If He did come to my house, I wonder what I would do. How about you?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to so live in harmony with your will that if Jesus came in person to my house today, I would not in any way be embarrassed or ashamed. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV).

2. Credited to Lois Blanchard Eades.

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Growing Strong in the Broken Places

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“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.”1

In his book, Beginning Again, Terry Hershey writes, “God not only says that failure is never the final word, but that your area of weakness will become your area of strength. Where you were weak and learned grace will become a means whereby you can reach out and touch the lives of others who need the same good news.

“God is not only working to heal you, but to heal others through you, to make you what Henri Nouwen called a ‘wounded healer.’

“Such healing doesn’t happen through the man or woman who has all the answers. It happens through the man or woman who understands pain and grace. Nouwen explains, ‘For a deep understanding of his own pain makes it possible for the [wounded healer] to convert his weaknesses into strength and to offer his experience as a source of healing to those who are often lost in the darkness of their own misunderstood suffering.’”

I believe it was Ernest Hemingway who first used the phrase, “Growing strong in the broken places.” The idea behind these words is that where a bone is broken and heals, it becomes the strongest part of the bone.

The same is true of our broken places—where we have been hurt, have fallen or failed. When we bring these to Christ for his healing, his strength is then made perfect in and through our weaknesses. This is certainly true in ministering effectively to other people. They are helped, not through our brilliant logic or persuasive speech, but through the sharing of our struggles, and how, with God’s help, we have overcome. It is a case of one beggar showing other beggars where to find bread. This is why the Apostle Paul could say, “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.”1

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please heal me in my many broken places and use me to be a wounded healer to many others who have fallen, been wounded, hurt, or brokenhearted. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 8:28 (NIV).

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Is Israel God’s Timepiece?

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To Abraham, father of the nation of Israel, God made the following commitment: “The whole land of Canaan [future Israel], where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”1

A year or two ago Joy and I had the opportunity to visit Israel. To walk where Jesus and his disciples walked in Jerusalem, by the Temple wall, on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the “Place of the Skull” where Jesus was crucified; the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus, plus sailing across the Sea of Galilee made God’s Word, the Bible, come alive.

What is even more amazing is not only Israel’s return to the Promised Land and its restoration as a nation on May 14, 1948, but it’s survival against overwhelming odds. Ever since this time, including the six-day war in 1967, the surrounding Arab nations have been hell-bent on destroying the nation of Israel. Her survival is proof positive that God’s hand is on this tiny nation and that he will keep all the promises he made regarding her.

Prior to the time of Moses, God made the following covenant with Abraham, the father of the Israelites, saying: “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”2 God was referring to the land that was to become Israel.

Later, God said through Moses, some 3,600 years ago, that Israel would disobey him and be driven from their homeland and scattered among the nations.3

It took 900 years to happen, but it did! In 721 BC, northern Israel was taken captive by Assyria. In 586 BC, southern Israel was taken to Babylon. Seventy years later, a small remnant of 40,000 returned to rebuild Israel. But in AD 70, Jerusalem was again destroyed, this time by the Romans, and those who survived were scattered among the nations—where most Jews still live today.

A thousand years after Moses, God said through Ezekiel: “I will gather you (Israel) from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.”4 God also predicted that Israel would once again “blossom as the rose,”5 and that he would “gather the scattered Israelites from the ends of the earth.”6 Through Amos, God added, “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.”7

Every one of these promises made by God has been fulfilled in minutest detail, so we can be equally as certain that Israel will always survive because this land was given by God to the Israelites forever.

In fact, when Jesus returns to set up his millennial reign on earth, he will rule the world from Jerusalem.8 Immediately prior to this breath-taking event, will be the seven-year Great Tribulation when the Antichrist will arise and seek to control the entire globe. Three-and-a-half years into the Great Tribulation he, the Antichrist, will enter the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem claiming to be God.9

But, you say, there is no longer a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and there can’t be because the Temple Mount is controlled by the Palestinians upon which they have built the Dome of the Rock. Not so fast, however, because when Joy and I were in Jerusalem, we visited the Temple Institute and learned firsthand that the Jewish leaders are right now making preparations for the re-building of their Temple. The plans are made, the priests are being trained to minister in it, the needed worship vessels are all being made and, knowing the Jews, you can be certain that somewhere “in the backwoods” they are cutting all of the needed stonework so the new Temple can be erected almost “overnight” when the time is ready. That could be a whole lot closer than all current-day political leaders in Washington and in the Arab nations—who are wanting to divide and/or conquer Israel—even consider.

When we see these things happening before our eyes, we can be assured that the setting of the stages for both the entrance of the Antichrist, and the return of the real Christ are accelerating. While only God knows the exact day of Chris’s return, the important thing is to be ready. For instance, if Jesus were to return today, would you be ready to go with him, to rule and reign with him, or would you be left behind—ultimately to face the Great White Judgment throne of God at the end time? To make sure that you are ready for Christ’s return please read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, which provides all the information needed to assure us that you always keep your promises, and that Jesus will return to take all his true believers to be with him forever. Please help me to live for you today, and be certain that I am ready for Christ’s return. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: For additional key information be sure to read Jerry Beavan’s insightful article on the place and critical importance of the nation of Israel in God’s plan at: http://tinyurl.com/n5dqsva. Jerry Beavan is known as the international architect of the Billy Graham worldwide crusades.

1. Genesis 17:8 (NIV). 2. Genesis 13:14-15 (NIV). 3. Leviticus 26:32-33. 4. Ezekiel 36:24 (NIV). 5. Isaiah 35:1. 6. Isaiah 11:12 (TLB). 7. Amos 9:14 (TLB/NLT). 8. Zephaniah 3:14-17. 9. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

When You Can’t Forgive Yourself … Part II

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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

Yesterday we discussed how to overcome real guilt by confessing what we have done wrong both to God and to at least one trusted person and, where possible, to the one whom we have hurt or wronged. When we do this, real guilt goes.

However, if having done the above and I still feel guilty, the feeling is false guilt. With false guilt I can confess it all day long, but the “guilty” feeling will never go away because it isn’t guilt.

False guilt is a conditioned response that is more often than not learned in childhood. If, for example, I had super-strict parents and lived up to their every expectation, did everything the way they wanted it done, and even believed the same as they believed and so on, they would give me their love and approval. If, on the other hand, I didn’t conform to their every expectation (be they realistic or not), they would withdraw their love and approval, and would make me feel guilty. That’s false guilt. In other words, this kind of parental love is conditional, but conditional love isn’t love at all. It’s a means of controlling others.

Immature parents aren’t the only ones that use false guilt to control others. Legalistic churches and religious groups are notorious for doing this. This keeps their followers in bondage, hinders their growth in maturity, and stops their depending on God’s Spirit to direct them.

False guilt can also be the result of being a perfectionist or having perfectionistic tendencies. When one doesn’t live up to his unrealistic expectations of himself, like his parents of old, he sends himself on a false guilt trip.

So how do we overcome false guilt? I wish I had a simple answer, but I don’t. Nor do I have a magic wand to make the problem vanish. Resolving false guilt requires a reprogramming of one’s thinking as well as his/her emotional responses. One’s “guilty self-image” in large part was programmed in the past by failing to conform to and living up to somebody else’s unrealistic expectations of him or her.

Reprogramming is achieved over time by developing a guilt-free healthy self-image based on who one IS—and NOT on what he/she did or didn’t do. As I let a trusted friend or counselor see the real me—warts and all—and as he/she loves and accepts me as I am, little by little I learn to love and accept myself in the same way that God loves and accepts me. This takes courageous honesty, a commitment to recovery, and perseverance. God’s Word, the Bible, provides the essential key for this healing: “Therefore confess your sins [and faults] one to another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see when I am experiencing false guilt; help me to understand the root cause of it; and please help me to find a safe, accepting friend or counselor to whom I can confess my struggles, and who will help me on the pathway to recovery. And when my guilt is real, please give me the courage to admit and confess the cause of this guilt, not only to you, but also to a trusted friend or counselor—and where needed to the one I may have sinned against. Thank you for your forgiveness, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 5:16 (NIV).

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When You Can’t Forgive Yourself … Part I

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“Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”1

“How can I get rid of this terrible guilt?” a distraught father recently asked me. “I have been in a terrible conflict with one of my sons for many years. Two weeks ago I was so frustrated with him that I said to myself, ‘I wish he would die.’ That night he died.”

This father is blaming himself for the death of his son. In his mind he is convinced that Satan killed him because of his wish.

I can understand why this father is distraught. However, the fact is, he didn’t cause his son to die. His son had been very ill for some time and died of natural causes. If Satan had anything to do with this matter, it was sowing the lie in the father’s mind about the devil killing his son. What the father is struggling with is not real guilt but false guilt.

One of the difficulties regarding guilt is learning to tell the difference between real guilt and false guilt. Because they pretty much feel the same, it can be challenging to sort out the real from the false.

Some counselors claim that all guilt is psychologically damaging, but this is nonsense. If we don’t feel guilty when we do wrong, we’d be a bunch of psychopaths with dead consciences. It’s false guilt that is psychologically damaging because it keeps people in endless bondage not because of what they did, but because of their faulty thinking.

To resolve real guilt, for our spiritual wellbeing we need to admit what we have done wrong, confess it to God and ask for his forgiveness. When we do this God forgives us. He promised he would.2 For our mental wellbeing we also need to confess our wrongdoing to at least one trusted friend or counselor, and wherever possible ask the one we wronged for their forgiveness, and seek to make amends for what we have done. And then, regardless of whether this person forgives us or not, God has forgiven us and we need to forgive ourselves. When we genuinely do this, we experience the relief that David experienced when he confessed his sin with Bathsheba.

However, if having done all of this and we still feel guilty, the feeling is false guilt and that is a totally different matter.

Continued tomorrow in Part II….

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to always admit and confess my sins so I can be forgiven and therein resolve my feelings of guilt, and please help me to overcome the sins that so easily beset me. When I experience false guilt, help me to see it for what it is and get the help I need to overcome it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 32:2-5 (NLT).

2. 1 John 1:9.

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Whittling Away at the Word of God

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“All Scripture is God-breathed [inspired] and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”1

In an Agape Press news report, Mark Creech shared how “Mike Yaconelli once wrote in the Wittenburg Door about his life in a small rural community where there were lots of cattle ranches, and once in a while a cow would wander off and get lost. He wrote, ‘Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, ‘Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of green grass right next to the hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’”2

Over the last two centuries liberal theologians and churches have whittled away at the Word of God until they have gotten to the point where they decide what is God’s Word and what isn’t. Among many church leaders and church members today abortion on demand is accepted and approved, homosexuality and the gay lifestyle are no longer questioned, and gay marriage is permitted—all of which God’s Word, the Bible, strongly opposes. And the reason God is opposed to any and all sinful behavior is because it hurts and ultimately destroys those whom he loves—us!

Mark Creech also shared how a fairly recent poll of members of a major Protestant church in the U.S. “found that only 43% of parishioners, 50% of elders, and 39% of clergy could agree that Jesus Christ was the only way of salvation.”3 At this point such adherents have nibbled themselves into being lost—eternally lost—because Jesus made it very clear that he and he alone was the only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”4

Furthermore, had there been any other way for men and women to come to God, why would Jesus, the Son of God, have needed to come to earth in human form, to be crucified and die on the cruel and excruciatingly painful Roman cross to save us from our sins?

Whenever we ignore God’s Word and go our own way, we do so to our peril. And in so doing, we can drag other people down with us into an eternal hell.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, in which you give clear instructions for this life as well as the next. Please deliver me from the sin and folly of adding to your Word or detracting from it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV).

2. Mark H. Creech, “The Right Frame of Mind. How

Did Mainline Churches Get This Way?” August 25,

2003. Agape Press.

3. Ibid.

4. John 14:6 (NIV).

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