Remember your baptism?

When we are unmindful of our special status as God's baptized, it is easy to live in the "insanity" of our sin.  Our days become a meaningless bunch of hours, we lose sight of the importance of our relationship with God, and we begin justifying lax behavior and attitudes toward work and those we love.

Kurt Senske, "The Calling,: pages 91-92

Is...There...Any...Hope?

Years ago an S-4 submarine was rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts.  It sank immediately.  The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death.  Every effort was made to rescue the crew, but ultimately all plans failed.  Near the end of the ordeal, a deep-sea diver, who was doing everything in his power to find a way for the crew's rescue, thought he heard a tapping on the steel wall of the vessel.  He placed his helmet up against the side of the vessel and he realized it was the Morse Code.  He attached himself to the side and he spelled out in his mind the message being tapped from within.  It was repeating the same question: Is...there...any...hope?

That's a question we've all asked at least once in our lives, isn't it? Is there any hope...for my marriage, for finding a job, for earning a college scholarship, for an early retirement? Someone has said, "We can live forty days without food, eight days without water, four minutes without air, but only a few seconds without hope."

Take some time today to read Psalm 39.  There you’ll find David is faced with asking the question, "Is there any hope?" He had been trying to keep a stiff, upper lip, so to speak, by remaining silent during a very painful time in his life.  Then he pours out from his heart all the impatience and frustration he is feeling.  But by the time we get to verse seven, we learn that it has been helpful for David to have been very honest with the Lord.  He responds with what we might call a "trusting prayer" that is fueled by the hope he has in his Lord.

God has given you and me that same hope.  We don't worry about our standing with God because Jesus has made us right and acceptable to our Father.  We don't despair about our future because Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for us.  We don't allow present day problems to consume us because Jesus has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  (Romans 15:4)

We have hope!

Forgiveness is the air we breathe

Pastor Frank Starr wrote a  series of devotional book entitled, "Light For The Way."  The books are over 30 years old and out of print.  But I've found them to be a good tool for daily Bible reading.

I have copies a number of Starr's comments over the years in my journals.  I especially appreciated this one on forgiveness:

The Lord's forgiveness and restoration is the air we breathe, and breathing this air inspires us to share forgiveness and restoration with those around us.

"Light For The Way," Book 1, page 72

God - a DIY project?

More and more people describe themselves as "spiritual."  The term can mean many different things to many different people.  I imagine such people standing before a cafeteria counter taking a little of this and a little of that and when they get to the end they've created a god that they can be comfortable with, a god that makes no demands, a god that can be put on a shelf, so to speak, that can be taken down when needed.

Here's another quote from Ray Comfort's book, "Faith is For Weak People."  He describes very well what happens when we make god a DIY project:

When we create a god in our own image, we predictably shape him to conform to our sins.  This is what you will hear someone say they believe in God and almost in the same breath say that it is a woman's right to choose the death of her unborn child.  That god doesn't mind murder.

Hard words to hear.  However, one of the dangers of a DIY god is that it naturally lets us do what we want to do, without consequences.  And when life's troubles pay a visit, how does a homemade god offer comfort, provide strength and give assurance of being present in the lowest of times?

Worship the one true God, one not of your own making.  Worship the God who made you, gives you life and provides for your every need.  Worship the God who is full of love, so much so that He gave His one of a kind Son, Jesus, to redeem you of your sin, so that you didn't have to face the God of judgement.  Worship the God who won't abandon you in your time of trouble nor leave you to figure out your way to heaven. 

I'm a guy whose DIY projects usually end in disaster.  How good to know that our God needs no assembly required.  Instead, we echo the words of the psalmist: Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.  Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting YOU ARE GOD! (Psalm 90:1-2)

Have you spent time in prison?

I’ve spent some time in prison.  I was there because I put myself there.  It was so stupid.  I couldn't sleep.  I was anxious and distressed.  My heart was restless.  My stomach was tied up in knots.  It was horrible.

I was being held captive in a prison of fear.  Afraid of an individual.  Afraid of the trouble the person might cause me.  Afraid of the hurt the person might cause others.  I didn't want to see the person.  Didn't want to have anything to do with the individual.  I would have been glad if they had just gone away.  But that wasn't going to happen.  And I was going to have to deal with this person.

God had mercy on me, His weak and silly child.  God sprung me from my prison cell.  The key that he used to unlock my cell door was His Holy Word.  I read the words: When I am afraid, I will trust in You.  In God, whose Word I praise, In God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can mortal man do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4)

In these precious words the psalmist was reminding me that faith trumps fear! There was no reason to pull closed the cell door of my self-imposed prison.  God is greater than my fear.  He is more powerful and wise than any of my adversaries.  According to the psalmist, God had my back, so to speak.  I didn't have to be afraid of the troublemaker.  God was with me.  Praise His comforting Word! How grateful I was to my Lord and Savior for springing me from captivity.

The apostle Peter wrote: Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  Trust God.  He does care for you.  Tell Him about your adversaries and your problems.  And don't be afraid.  Walk before God in the light of life.  (Psalm 56:13)

Love Is All You Need

The key to reaching those who are perishing in their sins is love.  It casts out all fear.  If you are afraid to share your faith, don't pray for less fear.  Pray for more love.

Ray Comfort, "Faith is For Weak People," page 22

The power of prayer lays where?

I was watching a TV preacher the other day tell his viewers, "There's power in prayer so pray!" He seemed to be saying that the one who prays has the power to make things happened.

I like Michael W. Newman's viewpoint much better: Jesus also bid His disciples to pray.  The power of prayer is not as much in your speaking as it is in God's listening.  Implicit in prayer is the promise that God hears you and responds.  When you are overcome by anxiety, you can cast your cares upon your Lord and Savior, being confident that He will carry the burden and lighten the load.

From, "Hope When Your Heart Breaks," page 192