You may have heard the story about the elderly woman who, when sitting in the waiting room for her first appointment with a new dentist, noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name.

Suddenly, she remembered that a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in her high school class some 40-odd years ago. Could he be the same fellow that she had a secret crush on, way back then?

Upon seeing him, however, she quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way, way too old to have been her classmate.

After he examined her teeth, she asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School.

“Yes. Yes. I did. I’m a Morgan Mustang,” he gleamed with pride.

“When did you graduate?” she asked.

He answered, “In 1959. Why do you ask?”

“You were in my class!” she exclaimed.

He looked at her closely and then asked, “What did you teach?”

How easy it is, when meeting old friends we haven’t seen for many years, and think to ourselves how much they have aged, not even imagining that they might be thinking the exact same thing about us. And amazing how easy it is to see “the speck of sawdust” in another’s eye but fail to see “the plank” in our own eye.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to get real about my own self with all my sins and faults so that I will not be judgmental of others. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus, in Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV).

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” This timely advice is attributed to Stephen Grellet, Franco-American Quaker (1773-1855).

John, one of Jesus’ disciples, wrote, “Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”²

Do you need to make a phone call, send a card, or do something special for your wife, husband, children, friend, or neighbor? If so, do it today. Do you need to resolve an impaired relationship? Do it today. Do you need to take care of that responsibility you’ve been putting off for weeks/months? Do it today. Do you need to tell someone how much you love them? Do it today.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please use me to be as Jesus to the people in my world. Today. Help me to be a part of what You are doing in the world. Today. Whatever loving deeds I need to do or responsibility to fulfill help me to do it today. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Paul the Apostle, Galatians 6:2 (RSV).

2. 1 John 3:18 (TLB).

In Today in the Word the story is told about a woman who once came to Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia, requesting that the man who killed her husband be put to death. The man had fallen from the top of a palm tree when he had been gathering dates and landed on this lady’s husband and killed him.

The king said, “It is your right to exact compensation, and it is also your right to ask for this man’s life. But it is my right to decree how he shall die. You shall take this man with you and he shall be tied to the foot of a palm tree and then you shall climb to the top of the tree and cast yourself down upon him from that height. In that way you will take his life as he took your husband’s. Or perhaps,” Ibn Saud added, “you would prefer after all to take the blood money?”

The widow took the money.vTo fail to forgive keeps us bound to the past. It is a killer—not of the one who caused the resentment, but the one who carries the resentment. As another has put it, “Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

Also, as Jesus said, “He who has been forgiven little loves little.” One way to love much, therefore, is to confess all our wrongs and sins, not only to God, but to the one/s we have hurt and do all we can to make restitution and be forgiven ourselves. For he who has been forgiven much loves much!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to confess all my sins and ways I have hurt others (name them), and find forgiveness from You and them so I will love much and freely forgive all who have hurt me—as You have freely forgiven me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus in Luke 7:47 (NIV).

Alan Smith in his “Thought for the Day” tells about the man who, upon entering the little country store, noticed a sign saying, “Danger! Beware of the Dog!” posted on the glass door. Inside he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor beside the cash register.

He asked the store manager, “Is that the dog folks are supposed to beware of?”

“Yep, that’s him,” he replied.

The stranger couldn’t help but be amused. “That certainly doesn’t look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?”

“Because,” said the owner, “before I posted that sign people kept tripping over him.”²

I’m sure that most people reading this Daily Encounter aren’t lazy in their everyday life, but sometimes when it comes to the church there’s almost always a trouble-maker or two, a control freak, or someone who is quick to criticize but never does a thing to lift a helping hand and, like the “dog” in the store mentioned above, just hangs around and gets in the way.

Let’s always remember that if we criticize and don’t do anything to help in some way, we don’t have a right to criticize; rather we could at least offer and try to help. He who can and does, does well; but he who can and doesn’t do, very often is the one who criticizes!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a doer and a good helper in the work You want done in the world in which I live, and also help in some way in the wider world. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 26:13-15 (NIV).
2. Alan Smith, “Thought for the Day,” http://www.tftd-online.com.

I have read how Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the world’s greatest musicians, was born into a musical family in Germany.

By the age of eleven he was already composing his own music and conducting an orchestra. In his late teens he went to Vienna for further study. There he reached fame, though not fortune.

According to the story, one evening when Beethoven visited in a cobbler’s house, he noticed that the young lady at the piano was blind, so he offered to play the piece for her. He did so for her for more than an hour and while he did, darkness fell and the lone candle in the room had gone out.

Outside in the night sky the moon shone brightly and sent its radiant beams glistening into the room where Beethoven sat playing beautiful music. He was so inspired by the appreciation of his music by the young lady and the beauty of the atmosphere in the room that he composed his famous “Moonlight Sonata.”

Do you ever feel that your dreams have been shattered and you feel all alone in the darkness of despair? I certainly have. However, when our life is committed to Christ, it’s in these “dark nights of the soul” that God is working in us to give us more understanding of life and compassion for others, and in time will bring back “beautiful music” into our life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please put a song in my heart, a song of gratitude and love for You for all that You have done for and given to me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Job 35:10 (NIV).

Some time ago I was a lay leader in my local church. On more than one occasion a fellow lay leader (who claimed to have the spiritual gift of discernment), in important leadership meetings, would state at the very beginning of the meeting that God had told him how the matter at hand was to be.

End of discussion? Who can argue against what God has said? At one meeting where we were discussing the future of the church, as graciously as I could I said, “God hasn’t told me how it should be so can we discuss this matter.” Fortunately we did. At the time the church was land-locked without any room for growth. After lengthy discussion it was decided to consider relocation. Today it is now a thriving church in a new and excellent location.

Yes, I believe in the importance of spiritual gifts. However, all who claim to have certain spiritual gifts do not necessarily have them. God’s Word tells us to test the spirits to see if they are of God or otherwise.

Unfortunately, because of immaturity, insecurity and needing attention, some folk are guilty of arm-twisting for God; that is, they use God-talk in order to gain attention, to be in control, to get their own way, and/or to feel important.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be courageously honest with myself and You and never be guilty of ‘arm-twisting’ in Your name in order to gain attention or to get my own way. And please give me a discerning spirit so that I will know what is from You and what is not. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 John 4:1 (NIV).

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”¹

It happens in clubs, churches, at work, on committees, and pretty much wherever people are involved in any kind of work or planning group. Often there is at least one so-called strong person who has a need to be in control—and “lord it” over the others.

The fact is that some of the people we call strong; that is, domineering and controlling people, are anything but strong. They are control freaks because they are immature and insecure. The only way they feel secure is when they are in control. They are difficult to work with, to plan with, and even more so to live with.

Jesus gives us the perfect example on how to live and lead. He always spoke with authority but was never authoritarian or controlling. He had true strength, which never has a need to control or lord it over others.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of controlling and seeking to ‘lord it over others.’ If I should ever do this, help me to see that this is not a sign of strength but a symptom of weakness and insecurity, and then get the help I need to overcome my problem. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NIV).

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.

If you watch TV interviews, you have undoubtedly seen how people with an ax to grind, a pet peeve to air, a theory to promote, or a politician wanting to be re-elected, avoid the question being asked, change the subject, or boringly beat around the bush. Some do this because the question puts them on the spot while others are in deep denial and totally blind to reality.

Some time ago we were involved in a joint action law suit against a fraudulent investment company where our attorney had to state to the defendant over and over, “Just answer the question!” to which the defendant would repeatedly reply, “What question?” Talk about a guilty person avoiding the issue. By way of interest, we won the case hands down.

As the communication specialists remind us, we all have a filter system in our mind that filters or blocks out any message we don’t want to see or hear. In other words we can be very selective in how we see and hear any message regardless of its validity.

For instance, “Selective exposure shows that many people will be open only to messages they want to hear. Selective attention shows that some hear only what they want to hear. Those with selective comprehension or perception will see things only the way they want to see them. Others with selective distortion will twist messages to make them match their self-concept or perception of reality. And those with selective retention choose only to remember what they want to remember. Everything else is filtered out.”²

It boils down to personal truth and honesty. The more honest and truthful I am with my inner self the clearer I will see all other truth—including God’s truth. On the other hand, the more dishonest I am the more I will see all truth—including God’s truth—through a distorted filter and twist it to make it say exactly what I want it to say. The latter is a dangerous and ultimately self-destructive path to follow.

1. Psalm 51:6, (NASB).
2. Dick Innes, I Hate Witnessing, ACTS Communications, 2003, P. 151. You can order a copy of Dick’s book at: http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk.

Kent Edwards wrote how the tuna fish “were running for the first time in forty-seven years only thirty miles off Cape Cod.”² They were apparently biting furiously so many would-be tuna fishermen in their excitement to catch a large tuna ignored Coast Guard warnings. What they didn’t realize was that the problem didn’t lie in hooking a tuna but landing it in the boat.

One boat, the Christi Anne, capsized while battling with a large tuna. The same day another boat, Basic Instinct, met with the same fate. And Official Business was swamped when trying to land its catch. The tuna pulled the boat below the surface of the water.

What these fishermen didn’t realize was the power of large tuna fish. That’s pretty much like what temptation does to us. At first it can seem very exciting and enticing but once we take the bait, we’re the ones that get hooked and it can quickly overpower us and pull us under.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be always on guard so that I will avoid the lure of temptation and not get hooked or entrapped by it. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV).

2. Kent Edwards. Cited in Encounter magazine (ACTS Australia), January 2007.