Tag Archives: bible

December 4, 2013 · 7:50 AM

Retaliate With Love

Over the Thanksgiving break, I watched the video of the “Duck Dynasty” Robertson family giving their testimony on IAmSecond.org. Phil Robertson shared a story of reading Matthew 5:44 shortly after becoming a Christian. He couldn’t understand the logic in what Jesus was saying when He said, “Bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” He shared a story of how “river rats” were stealing his fish. He trusted God, gave them the fish they were trying to steal and they quit stealing from him.

I read another article on yahoo.com recently where a young lady was pick pocketed in the grocery store. She had a strange feeling about a man who had followed her around the store. When he quit following her, she noticed her wallet was missing. She found him a few aisles over and decided to confront him. She said, “I think you have something of mine. I’m going to give you a choice. You can either give me my wallet and I’ll forgive you right now,and I’ll even take you to the front and pay for your groceries” or we can get the authorities involved. That’s not how I would have handled it, but it’s the way God says to.

The man broke down and cried. He was desperate to feed his family and didn’t know what else to do. Instead of retaliating like most of us would have, she paid for groceries for his family. In The Message, it quotes Jesus in Matthew 5:44 as saying, “I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.” That’s hard to do. It’s unnatural to let someone who hurts you to bring out the best in you. Normally we retaliate evil for evil and allow their bad deed to give us an excuse to do something back. God says we aren’t to behave that way. He says we’re to do good to them and to show them His love.

If you skip down to verse 48 of the same chapter, Jesus finishes by saying, “In a word, what I’m saying is, ‘Grow up.’ You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Those last few words get me every time. “The way God lives toward you” is how He wants me to live toward others. Each of us have wronged God and hurt Him. Each of us will continue to do so until we die. We’re imperfect. How we treat Him doesn’t change how He lives toward us. He still loves us no matter what we’ve done to Him. That’s how He he is telling us to be towards others who wrong us.

I’m sure, like me, you can think of the people who have wronged you or hurt you. I’m also sure you would like nothing more than to hurt them back or see them get paybacks. Paying back evil for evil or good for good is what’s expected. If you really want to do something memorable and life changing, do something good for them. If you want to live generously and graciously like God asked us to live, do the opposite of what your human nature wants you to do and repay them with love for pain they caused you. I know it’s easier said than done, but I can tell you it works and you’ll be happier for it.

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December 3, 2013 · 7:56 AM

Why Are You Running Away?

I was reading in I Kings 17-19 about Elijah the prophet. In one chapter, he prays and God sends a drought that last for years. In another part, God uses ravens to bring him food each day. Then a widow woman gives up her final meal to feed him. She is rewarded with the resurrection of her son when he died and unending flour and oil. Elijah then challenges the prophets of the god Baal to a showdown. After proving that his God was real and Baal wasn’t, he had them killed. He then prayed to end the drought and it rained again. When he got back to town Jezebel threatened to kill him and he ran away.

He went on a 40 day journey to the mountain of God. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and fell asleep. In verse 9 of I Kings 19, God said, “So Elijah, what are you doing here?” His response was that he had been doing everything he could for God, the people of Israel had abandoned God and they wanted to kill him because he was the only prophet left. I don’t think that was the answer God was looking for. Every other time that he had been in trouble, God had met him where he was and provided for him. Why was this time different?

Instead of waiting to hear where God wanted him to go, as had been how things went in previous chapters, Elijah set out on his own to find God. He left where God had him and asked him to go. I didn’t read where God told him to run from Jezebel. He just did it out of human emotion. So when he arrived at the mountain of God, He wanted to know why he was there and not where He had told him to be. Why do any of us leave the place God has us just because things aren’t happening the way we thought the should? Why do we run from difficult circumstances to where we think God is instead of facing them head on in the place we’re called?

That reminds me of Job’s response to his wife when everything bad was happening to him. He was where God had him and lost everything he owned and his children. Soon after that, he lost his health. His wife told him to just curse God and die. Instead of running away from the problems that were going on in his life and cursing God, he asked her a question. In Job 2:10, he said, “We take the good days from God – why not the bad?” We are quick to accept good days from God, but when things stop going our way, we start questioning his judgement or run away. We try to find the place where we know God is hoping to find shelter and rest. We aren’t always prepared for God to ask, “Why are you here?”

God sent Elijah back to Israel with instructions on what to do next. He didn’t let him camp out in that cave until Jezebel died or things blew over. God knows it’s easy to trust him on the good days and when things are going as planned. It’s when they aren’t so good or not going as planned that we really learn what trust is and our faith grows. I’d rather stay where God had me and face difficult times than to have to answer the difficult question of, “Why are you here and not where I had you?” I’d rather stay where He has me and let Him provide during the droughts of life. I want to be thankful for the good days and accepting of the bad.

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December 2, 2013 · 8:04 AM

Sucker Punched

How do you keep going when you can’t see the future because your present is so dark? How do you begin to pick up the pieces of a broken life when you’re hurting inside? How do you keep praying when it feels like God has left you alone and unprotected? How do you keep from being angry and bitter when everything you had has been taken from you in a moment? As a person who has struggled with these questions, I have people ask me them all the time. I don’t have all the answers to them. I can only tell you how I did it.

When life sucker punches you, it’s hard to get back up knowing you’ll be sucker punched again and again. The easy thing to do is to give up. The hard thing to do is to open your eyes each day, get up and face life. I had the support of family and friends who constantly picked me up and helped me keep going. If you are struggling right now, don’t push away those whom God has put in your life to help. No, they really don’t understand what you’re going through, but they don’t have to in order to hold you up.

When it’s time and you have the strength, you’ll have to stop trying to hold it all together and start to rebuild. It’s no fun having to start over when you’ve already started and built a life. The good news is you’ll make fewer mistakes this time around and you can build the kind of life you really want. My idea of what life should be was a lot different at 30 than it was at 20. It will still take time, but you can avoid several of the pitfalls you made when you were younger. Pick up the pieces of your life that you want to keep. Leave the ones you don’t behind. Rebuild with good material on a solid foundation.

Even though it feels like God has abandoned you and none of your prayers are being answered, let alone heard, stay in the habit of praying. You can be honest with God about your pain, your struggles and fears. You’ll probably never pray more honest prayers than when you’ve been knocked down. God hears every prayer and sees what’s going on in your life. He has not abandoned you. He has not forgotten you or left you to fend for yourself. He is your strong tower and place of refuge. Run to Him. Hide in Him. He will bring peace in the midst of your chaos.

I prayed two scriptures to help me get through my struggles. I prayed Nehemiah 8:10, “For the joy of The Lord is your (my) strength.” I prayed, “Lord, give me your joy that isn’t dependent on circumstances so that I can have strength to walk through this.” I also prayed Hebrews 12:15, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” I prayed, “Lord, I know I have every right to be bitter, but please don’t let any of it take root. I don’t want this to affect my future relationships.” I repeated those constantly even when it felt like they were just words and not prayers. I believe God answered them.

If you are in a place today where these questions haunt you and life has sucker punched you, don’t give up. You don’t have to be strong and put on a brave face for everyone. It’s in our weakness that God’s grace is made perfect. He has given you all the grace you will need to survive this. He has placed people in your life to help pull you through. He is walking by your side even when you can’t see Him. It will take time to recover, to rebuild and to heal. Don’t try to speed up the process. Trust God’s plan and timing. You will make it through this.

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November 29, 2013 · 8:06 AM

First World Problems, Third World Realities

As I was driving home last night, I noticed the car in front of me. Their passenger side door was partially opened. Fearing the worst that could happen, I changed lanes and went to pass them. As I got beside them, I noticed why the door was open. They had a TV in their backseat that was wider than their car. I thought, “First world problems.” Then I glanced over to the right and saw Target and Best Buy’s parking lot. They were completely full and people were driving around looking for a place to park. “More first world problems,” I thought.

I’m not against having things or Black Friday shopping. I’ve just had my perspective adjusted by the realities of how the rest of the world lives. God has blessed us beyond measure and we don’t even realize it most of the time. He has opened the windows of Heaven on us and poured out blessings so much that we just assume this is how it’s supposed to be. The reality is that 80% of the world’s population lives on less than $10 a day according to GlobalIssues.com. That’s just over $3,000 a year. Sure the cost of living is less, but not so much that you can have quality things at that rate.

I’m not going to ask you to give up a coffee a day or to give to some great cause. I’m simply going to ask you to be thankful for what God has given you. Acknowledge Him as the source of your income and be mindful of the blessings He’s given to you. Understanding the realities that other people live in helps adjust our perspective of the “problems” we have here. Knowing that there are still people in the world that don’t have running water or electricity in their homes to keep them warm should help us to be more thankful. We should believe the saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

We truly have a lot to be thankful for. As you shop today, this weekend or holiday season, keep in mind that you are able to do so because God has blessed you. The long lines you’re in for great deals could very well be long lines to get food or clean water. Instead of complaining because of all the craziness, thank God you have more than enough and can go shopping for all these things. Our first world problems are nothing compared to the third world realities. Our inability to recognize God’s blessings could lead Him to shut those windows and open them on someone else. Stop today and truly give thanks.

Free Friday will resume next week.

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November 28, 2013 · 7:58 AM

Changing The Pity Party Perspective

As things in my life went downhill ten years ago, my brother helped me to keep things in perspective. Over the course of a few months an employee of mine died in a crash with her husband and one child, I got pulled into the legal fight for the remaining child, my wife had an affair while i was distracted by the legal battle, she then left me for another man, my business went under and I filed bankruptcy. While I was having a pity party one day, my brother looked me in the eye and said, “Believe it or not, someone else has it worse than you do. You can be thankful you’re not them.”

No sooner than his words hit my ear, they pierced my heart. I had been feeling like my life was worse than what Job had experienced and the truth was that my life wasn’t as bad as it could be. When my thoughts of pity changed, my perspective changed. I quit trying to find others to feel sorry for me and started to find reasons to be thankful. My situation hadn’t changed, in fact, it continued to get worse. What changed when I decided to become thankful was how I saw myself in the storm I was in and the purpose of the storm.

Instead of asking, “Why me, God”, I began to ask, “What am I to learn from this?” Being thankful changed me from being a victim to a student. Even in my darkest hour, God had something to show me. In fact, He was desperately trying to get my attention. I had been stubbornly ignoring His call and living how I wanted to live. I had ignored His gentle warnings and signs to change how I was living and now He was getting louder and louder in His attempts to get my attention. God wasn’t content to let me live my life my way. He wanted me to live it His way. I’m thankful now that He didn’t leave me in the life I was living.

The theologian Albert Barnes said, “We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.” In my life I’ve always remembered that someone always has it worse than anything I will ever face. I can always be thankful for that. When times are tough and life isn’t going the way I think it should or I feel I’ve been dealt a bad hand, I no longer pretend I’m the victim. I know now that even when things appear bad or that they can’t get worse, God is there in the storm with me. He hasn’t left me or forsaken me. He’s there enduring it with me and wants to use the experience for His glory.

If you’re in the middle of a storm in your life where you feel like things can’t get worse, I challenge you to find something to be thankful for. Are you still breathing? Then you have something to be thankful for. Your life isn’t over and God can rebuild your life from the ruins of where you are now. Lose the victim mentality and become a student of what God wants to show you. To change your perspective, you have to change your mindset. A changed mindset begins with a thankful heart. Things may not get better right away, but being thankful will give you a purpose in hard times. That purpose, combined with a thankful heart, will pull you through.

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November 27, 2013 · 7:31 AM

Reaping Where You Haven’t Sown

Today is the last day before the official holiday season. From now until the end of the year we’ll be bombarded by Christmas commercials, mall Santa’s, bell ringers and sales at every store. Everyone wants the money in your pocket because this is when we spend like no other time of year. Today, I just want to take a deep breath and relax in the calm before the crazy begins. I want to purpose in my heart that I won’t let all those other things get in the way or ruin the real reason for the Christmas season. Before I go, go, go, I want to thank the one who came.

A young girl sang a song in church on Sunday that asked the question, “Where’s the line to see Jesus?” It talked about the lines in the stores and the lines to see Santa, but where are the lines of people to see Jesus? We’re willing to camp out for great deals, stand in long checkout lines and endure cold weather, but complain when the sermon goes 5 minutes over. We wonder why our nation doesn’t turn to Jesus and we pray for an awakening, but we’ve got to wake up first.

I’m not against all the sales, standing in line or camping out. I’m just asking, “When is the last time we sacrificed for God? When have we truly given up something important for the advancement of the Kingdom?” I look at my life and wonder why there’s so little fruit, it’s because I’m planting in one vineyard and trying to reap in another. It doesn’t work that way. Not only will we reap what we sow, but we will reap it where we sow it. We can’t plant seeds of selfishness and expect to grow trees of righteousness. We can’t sow our time in things that don’t matter and expect a return in the eternal. Yet we do and then wonder why God isn’t bringing in a harvest.

If we want to have God move in our churches and nation, we’ve got to sow the seeds of time in prayer. If we want to reap a harvest of souls, we’ve got to sow effort in helping our communities. We can’t stand by the church door, ring the bells or put on amazing media presentations in the church and hope they’ll come. The law of God has always been about sowing and reaping. The Church has always understood that until this generation. We are expecting to reap without having sown. We are expecting an increase without having decreased. We are expecting gain without the pain.

Where does God want you to sow seeds in this holiday season? How can you water seeds that have already been planted? Are you ready to harvest? Look around you while you stand in long lines. You have a captive audience to plant seeds. God is looking for those who are available to work in the vineyard. He’s willing to pay full wages even if we don’t work the whole day. It’s up to us to see the opportunities, to say yes to His will and to begin planting seeds that will bring a harvest.

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November 26, 2013 · 7:46 AM

Finding Happiness

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I enjoy this time of year. As much as I joke about it, I do like reading people’s Facebook posts of what they’re thankful for each day. About this time in the month though, most have quit doing it, a few will post the last several days together and some remain faithful to it. I believe that being thankful changes your perspective in situations. It takes your eyes off of what you don’t have to what you do have. If you’re constantly wishing you had more without being thankful for what you have, you will never be happy. You will never be satisfied in life and it will be a long, bumpy ride.

I saw two different children in Haiti that really got my attention. One little boy was running down the side of the road. He was pulling a string that was attached to the neck of a water bottle. There were two pencils stuck through the side of the bottle with bottle caps on the ends making wheels. He had a huge grin as he pulled his homemade car down the road. Another child I saw had a stroller wheel with a stick in it. He ran around holding that stick and pushing that wheel wherever he went. It looked like it was his favorite toy. Both kids were satisfied with what little they had. Both kids were thankful just to have a toy.

They both know that there are better toys out there in the world, but they’ve chosen to be satisfied with what they have. That’s the secret to happiness. I’m not saying you shouldn’t want to improve your life, have a better house or a job that pays more. I’m saying, learn to be content and satisfied with what you have right now. Don’t get caught up in the lie that says, “If only I had ________ I’d be happy.” Being satisfied and thankful for what you have right now is a choice that only you can make. Things should never control how you feel. I say that as a person who knows what it’s like to have everything I want and as one who knows what it’s like to have nothing.

When we allow things to control our happiness, we lose sight of God. We are telling Him that what He thinks we should have is not enough. We are telling Him that He is not a good provider. Once we learn to see that the things we have aren’t even ours, but rather they’re His and we are just stewards over them, we can learn to be satisfied and happy. God’s message is different than the world’s. It always has been and always will be. Therefore, as God’s people, we should live our lives differently too. We shouldn’t be worried about the things we don’t have, but rather we should be thankful for what we do have.

There’s an old hymn that says, “Count your blessings one by one. Count your blessing, see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. It will surprise you what The Lord has done.” That’s the thought I want to leave you with today. Count your blessings today and see what God has done and where He’s brought you from. You’ll have a lot to be thankful for, I’m sure.

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November 25, 2013 · 7:28 AM

Being Available

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Have you ever had a car break down on you? I had one break down on me in high school late at night after I dropped off my girlfriend. It was a cold night and she lived way out in the middle of no where. I was listening to the radio, signing along, when there was a noise from the engine and the car died. I coasted to a stop and began to look for lights. Cell phones were a luxury for the rich back then so calling someone was out. I got out and walked down the road until I came to a house. I went up and knocked on the door. A voice from inside asked what I wanted. When I explained what happened, they said, “We don’t open the door for anyone!”

I went down the road looking for another house. I was freezing cold and starting to jog to get my blood moving. I saw another house. It has the blinking, purple light flashing from a TV in the windows. I knocked and the TV turned off. I told them I knew they were awake and I just needed to make a call. No answer. Down the road I went to the next house. When I knocked, the door immediately opened. They were having a party. I asked for a phone, they let me use it and then drove me back to my car. I’m not sure how many doors I was going to have to knock on that night, but if was going to until I found someone available to help.

Our guest preacher yesterday mentioned in his sermon how God is looking for us to be available to Him. We say we want God to use us, but when He asks, we’re too busy. We have so many things going on in our lives that we’ve failed to be available to God when He wants to use us. He comes and knocks on our door, but it’s too late in the day or we just pretend not to hear it. We want to be used by God, but only when it’s convenient for us. We don’t want it to be in public, at a restaurant, in front of other people or when we’re in the middle of something else. We want to be used only when it’s at our convenience.

Sadly, He passes us by continuing to knock on the doors of hearts until someone is available to help. We wonder why He doesn’t use us very often. We think we are the model Christians, yet every time He knocks, we disregard it because it isn’t convenient. God wants our availability. Either we’re willing to be used by Him whenever He wants or we’re just not really available. What if Moses had been too busy doing his daily tasks to notice the burning bush? What if David had said he was too busy to go to the house to see Samuel? What if Peter was too busy to go to the upper room? You probably wouldn’t know their names. Instead you’d know the names of people who would’ve been available.

How’s your availability to God? Have you told Him you want to be used by Him, but haven’t made yourself available on His schedule? The good news is that you can change that in an instant. You simply have to let Him know that you’re ready when He’s ready, that His plans are more important than your plans and that when He asks, you’ll say, “Yes!” If you aren’t available when He knocks, He will move on to someone who will say yes. There is nothing here more important than what God wants you to do. It may not be convenient or easy to do, but it is the most important thing on your to-do list today. Will you be available when He knocks?

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November 21, 2013 · 7:41 AM

Helping Those In Pain

I’m approached often by people who have friends or family who have been cheated on by their spouse. They want to know what they can do to help them, how they can reach out to them and what they need most. There’s not a simple answer. Everyone reacts differently to the situation, but the pain and emotions are very similar I’ve found. I don’t think I can adequately give you everything you need in a few hundred words, but I’ll tell you what I needed most during that time in my life.

The first thing to understand is that they’re in pain from the betrayal. If they have kids, they will try to be strong for them. I imagine they will find a place to weep once the kids are asleep. They need some kind of outlet for that kind of pain. Without an outlet, pain turns to rage and a bad situation can easily be made worse. Everyone has a different outlet. I had to do things to keep my mind occupied. I painted my house over and over. I cleaned the grout around every tile with a toothbrush. I needed someone to listen who could understand my pain instead of just saying, “I’m sorry” or “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” or “I never liked them anyway.” They were empty phrases from people who didn’t know what I was experiencing. For this, they need someone to listen without judging.

The next thing you should know is that it is unbelievably embarrassing for them. The hardest thing to do is face family and friends and admit your spouse cheated on you. I didn’t want anyone to know about it in case she came home. I didn’t want her to think she couldn’t come back because everyone knew. I didn’t want others to know because it made me look like a failure as a spouse. I thought that If I had been able to be the spouse they needed, they wouldn’t have cheated on me. I was the first person in the history of my family to go through a divorce and that made it worse. Not only did I feel like a second rate Christian, now I’m the guy in the family who couldn’t keep a wife. For this, they need acceptance without a bunch of questions.

The last thing I’ll mention in this post is that through all the pain and embarrassment, there is still a desire for their spouse to get their head on straight and come home. For months, every time I turned on the road to my house, I would look in the driveway and pray her car would be there. Even after all the pain and embarrassment, I thought that if she would just come home, it would be like nothing ever happened and I could get away from the pain. I thought everything would be better if she came to her senses and returned. Without her, it was like trying to walk without one leg. I had grown used to having two legs and if she returned, I could walk again. It may not make sense to you if you haven’t been in those shoes. For this, they need understanding without ridicule.

Above all else, they need prayer. They need someone to hold them up because they don’t have the strength to help themselves in their time of need. They need friends instead of judges. They need support instead of questions. They don’t always want to talk about it so don’t press them on it. When they’re ready, they’ll talk to you about it. Be a listening ear without attacking their spouse. Don’t say phrases like, “I never liked them.” That’s counter productive to someone who, at that moment, thinks that their world will be made right if their spouse returns. Offer to get a babysitter and take them out to eat. Get them out of the environment every now and then that is so rich with memories that remind them of the pain. Be a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Don’t offer advice unless it’s asked for.

These are a few of the things I needed in my separation. It’s not a complete list and reflects only what I went through and needed. If you’ve been through something similar, write a comment about what you needed so others who have friends or family will know how to be a better help.

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November 20, 2013 · 7:38 AM

He Loves Us Anyway

I’m broken this morning by the goodness of God. I’m overwhelmed at how much He loves us. The more I think about it, the more broken I become. The David Crowder song “How He Loves Us” is playing in my mind and I keep breaking down as the lyrics sink in. “He is jealous for me, loves likes a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.” Today, I’m that tree that is bent over because I’m blown away at how much He loves us. We’ve not given Him any reason to. We’ve done everything that we can to push Him away, but He loves us anyway.

That kind of love is hard for me to grasp. How can He still love us when we treat Him like a genie, hurt others that He loves dearly and live our lives for ourselves? Just about everything we do should give Him a reason not to love us. Yet He shows His mercy in each sunrise. He offers His grace with each new dawn. How many mornings have I just taken His love, grace and mercy for granted? How many times has He painted the sky with His love for me and I missed it because I was too busy looking for other things besides Him? But He loves me anyway.

The song “The More I Seek You” by Kari Jobe comes to mind. “This love is so deep, it’s more than I can stand. I melt in your peace, it’s overwhelming.” I’m experiencing those feelings today, yet I believe it should be an every day thing. I should be overwhelmed day by day at just how good God is to me. I should be overflowing with thankfulness at the blessings He’s given me. I should be thankful for breath and life each morning. I should be honored that He spends time with me each day and walks with me. Instead, I treat those things like an all too familiar routine of motions that I go through each day. Even then, He loves me anyway.

When is the last time you stopped and just rested in God’s love? When is the last time you went swimming in His grace? Have you stood still long enough for Him to give you the embrace He wants to give you? His arms are open wide and He’s looking right at you today. His eyes are filled with love for you. He’s calling out your name. Can you hear it? He wants so little from us and yet offers unending love so freely. He’s patient when we’re too busy to stop and let Him love us. He’s good to us when we’ve done nothing to deserve it. He doesn’t care how many times we’ve brushed Him off or pushed Him aside. He loves you more than you are capable of understanding. No matter what you’ve done, He loves you anyway.

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