Problem? What Problem?

Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13 ESV). Can it be both? Hindus consider India's 1,568-mile-long Ganges River to be holy, but the government says it's polluted. According to the Hindu faithful, the Ganges can never be contaminated, no matter how much garbage is dumped into it. In an article for The Washington Post, John Ward Anderson quoted a Hindu priest as saying, "A dip [in the Ganges] gets rid of illness and infection, and all sins are washed away." This same person acknowledged that raw sewage and partially cremated corpses are dumped into the river. "But," he said, "the purity and sacredness of the river can never be destroyed or even diminished." Is it just me, or does he need to catch a quick flight back to reality? How can a grossly polluted river that contributes to epidemics that kill thousands of people each year be considered a source of purity? It is ludicrous and unbelievable to imagine anyone so out of touch with reality. But, the truth is there for any logical person to see. Those who believe the pollution of the Ganges is not real have only deceived themselves. The people living in ancient Israel had a similar problem of self-deception. They didn't want to admit that they were polluted by idolatry. This is what Jeremiah referenced in our verses today. I wonder, what would the prophet Jeremiah say to our churches today? What would he say about our commitment to Christ? Is it pure or polluted? Would he accuse us of worshipping academic success, a career, money, sex, beauty, power, legalism, ourselves? And if he pointed out a problem, would we hit the denial button and play the recording, "I'm really not such a bad person"? Or would we admit our sin, confess it, and seek a pure-hearted devotion to the Lord? Jeremiah won't visit your home, work, or church today, but the Lord Jesus will through His Spirit. Are you willing to admit it when you are wrong? Are you quick to make corrections when He points out sin in your life? We can't afford to keep fooling ourselves. The only way to find pure spiritual refreshment is to have an open and honest relationship with Christ. Make a commitment to honesty in your life today. Be honest as you look within your beliefs, character, and habits. Those things that are polluted remove them through confession and repentance. Jesus has already provided forgiveness and restoration for all our sins! Trust in Him!

The Story of the Caged Chickens

My children, listen to me. Listen to your father's instruction. Pay attention and grow wise, for I am giving you good guidance. Don't turn away from my teaching. Learn to be wise, and develop good judgment. Don't forget or turn away from my words. Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And whatever else you do, get good judgment. My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths. If you live a life guided by wisdom, you won't limp or stumble as you run. Carry out my instructions; don't forsake them. Guard them, for they will lead you to a fulfilled life. Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully. Don't lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning. (Proverbs 4:1-2; 5-7; 10-13; 20-22, NLV).

I read a story several years ago about some chickens that had been bought from a poultry farm. They were chickens who had lived their entire lives in a cage. They were taken out to a ranch and turned loose to freely run in the yard and go in and out of the chicken house at will. As they were placed on the chicken house floor they didn't move. They had lived in cages all their life so they just stayed right in the chicken house. They didn't even know how to roost. They didn't even get up on the roost at night. They stayed huddled together on the floor. They were used to sleeping under a light because the poultry farmer kept a light lamp on them to make them lay more eggs. Men have devised ways to get the most out of everything, no matter if it's good for the animal or not. Because they were used to the light, they would sleep outside huddled under the moon on the ground. They didn't even know how to drink water the regular way because they had drunk water out of a little bottle with a little red tip on it. They had always gone over and pushed that little tip and gotten their water out. There they had fresh running water yet they didn't even know how to drink. One of them almost drowned trying to learn how to drink. These chickens didn't know what freedom was. I don't know if they would have ever enjoyed their freedom without someone to teach them what to do. Since there were some older chickens that were already there, the new ones watched them for awhile and they discovered a new way of living. Living with the older chickens for a time and learning from them they got liberated. They found out that they could go anyplace in the barnyard. But it took them a while.

Humans are very much the same. We are creatures of habit. We don't realize it, but we do things out of habit. Sometimes God wants to break old habits and old things in our life. Many Christians bring them over into the Christian walk. God begins to show us a better way, as our old habits are not fit for God's kingdom or His house. Even when we find ourselves changing the direction of our behavior from the negative to the positive, that is not God’s way. God is saying to us consistently in the Scripture that He now wants to show us a new way. That way is by faith, walking in the Spirit and trusting God to continue the work He has begun. He gave us everything we need to live the life of heirs to the Kingdom. This is the heart of the gospel. Why don’t you focus on what Jesus has already done for you instead of what you need to do for Him today!

Legacy

After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir. After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. (Judges 10:1-5 ESV).

Since my wife and I are former students of Texas A & M University, there is a tradition that has been begun in our family that helps me understand very clearly the concept of “legacy.” The traditions and spirit we share being “Aggies” runs deep. “Legacy” means something in this setting. However, it means much more also. In our passage today, the different Judges have their legacies named: how long and where they ruled, how many sons and donkeys they possessed, and where they were buried. Webster defines legacy as "something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past."

I am told Walt Disney World has an interesting sculpture at the entrance to the Epcot area. It is called the "Leave a Legacy Sculpture." People pay $35.00 to have their digital photo etched onto the sculpture. You can also have your image, along with your hopes and dreams for your family, placed on a special web site. This is for present and future generations to see and read. Disney calls this your legacy. It is, at best, vanity. We should not be so shallow as to think that leaving a photo and a few words will somehow validate our existence on earth.

So, it is valid for us to wonder what our legacy will be? Think on the answer today. Imagine that different people in the world are going to write our legacies for us. What would they write? What would your spouse write? What would your kids, your coworkers, your friends, your church family and your pastor write about you? What would you write? I wonder if the people around us would write the same general principles, indicating a balanced life? Or would they each be different, indicating a life of inconsistency? Think about it. How would you like to be remembered? Maybe you think your kids or spouse would write, "Dad was a great provider; we had everything we ever needed." Or, would they write, "Dad was never home; work was the most important area of his life." Perhaps you think your coworkers would write, "He was a fair and honest man, who always worked a full day." Or might they write, "He was self-centered and greedy, and never gave his best." How about people at church? Maybe you hope they would write, "He always volunteered to help, we could always count of him." Or could it be that the reality would be that they would write, "He served in a lot of positions, but he complained the entire time, neglected his family and brought down people with his grumbling." What legacy will you leave?

The Love of God in Christ

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1-11 ESV).

Perhaps one of the most incredible truths of the Scripture is found in the fact that Jesus became a man. Fully God, Jesus became fully man in order to take the penalty of our sin upon himself that we might be given grace to our salvation. I like the way Max Lucado put it in the book, God Came Near:

"The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became piercable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother" (Lucado, God Came Near, 25-6).

The Word became flesh… God became human
The invisible became visible…the untouchable became touchable
The eternal life experienced temporal death
The transcendent one descended and drew near
The unlimited became limited… the infinite became finite
The immutable became mutable
The unbreakable became fragile… spirit became matter… eternity entered time
The independent became dependent… the almighty became weak
The loved became the hated
The exalted was humbled… glory was subjected to shame… fame turned into obscurity… from inexpressible joy to tears of unimaginable grief… from a throne to a cross…from ruler to being ruled…from power to weakness.

However, I find no “glory” in his death. For me to shout Oh, Glorious Day! I am drawn to reason for his death. Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 ESV). THAT’S INCREDIBLE!

Salvation

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:1-5 ESV).

The word “salvation” is a great Biblical word. At times it is used of the initial experience of deliverance and thus redemption. This is the initiation of the Christian life as we first put our trust in Christ. It is then that we are saved from the awful penalty of sin. This is history for all those who have been born again. In other places it is used of the process and thus sanctification. This is that glorious process that is now in progress. It is the daily deliverance from the power of sin. Peter is using this word to refer to the final act of salvation and thus glorification. He is referring to the great event that will take place at the Second coming of Christ. It will be the final deliverance and vindication of the saints. It will be their deliverance into the ultimate expression of the rule of God where they will live eternally with God.

It is only a matter of time. The only reason this salvation has not been fully revealed is that the divinely established time has not arrived. But, we are kept, guarded, reserved until that time.

Let me close with this final short illustration…

A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that a rope would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon. Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. "Wait," he said, "I'll be back," and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, "I'll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope.” “Why him?” they asked. The boy answered simply, “He's my dad!"

The resurrection of Jesus proves to us that our Dad is holding the rope! NOW… can you sing Rising, He Justified Me Freely Forever? I can!

Justification

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:1-5 ESV).

The word translated “kept” is the Greek word tēreō. This word is used only six times in the New Testament, four of those appearing in the letters of Peter. It is a military word meaning to put a garrison of soldiers around someone or something for the purpose of protection. It is a present tense verb which means we are constantly “kept.” We are kept by the power of God; through faith; and unto salvation. Those three declarations form the basis for our understanding of justification. All of these were accomplished by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

According to the Easton Bible Dictionary, justification is a forensic term, opposed to condemnation. In its nature it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (cf. Romans 5:1-10). It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and forever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6-8). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness (cf. Romans 1:17; 3:25-26; 4:20, 22).

The power of God accomplishes all of this! After all, what good would it be if we knew all that is in God’s treasure chamber unless we know that he will also help our weakness and bring us to possess them? You see, this truth means that every source of our fear and dread can be swept away by the double assurance of the mighty hand of God preserving our heritage for us and we for it! We are KEPT! That’s something to sing about!

The Music of the Mountains

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:1-11 ESV).

In our world we are seeing more people who are genuinely seeking to hear from God. We need to know that God is real and listens to us.

Almost every year for the past forty-two years my family and I have taken a vacation through the Smoky Mountains. It was a family tradition with my wife long before it became one for us. However, it has always been a great source of joy and peace through the years. Even when we were pressed for time and could only spend a few days there, we couldn’t resist the call of those green lush mountains. The quiet and the solitude of a “quiet walkway” were too great a lure for us. When the boys were smaller we often made the drive from Gatlinburg to Cherokee. It is a winding mountain road that contains some of the most spectacular views of the Smokies. Later we discovered the peaceful setting of Cade’s Cove. A trip to the mountains was not complete until we made our way to that part of the National Park and made our way around the loop road watching the deer and listening to the sounds of the mountains.

Early in the trek I began to turn off the radio and roll the windows down in the car, as we would drive along. Of course, they would ask, “What are you doing, Dad?” My reply was always the same: “I’m listening to the music of the mountains.” They complained at first that they couldn’t hear anything. Then I reminded them that to hear it they had to really, really listen.

What a picture of the presence of God! He is all around and within us. However, we often find it difficult to hear Him. The sounds of the world drown out the quiet music of His voice. In your present crisis, whatever it may be, really, really listen, and you will hear Him reassure you of His strength and power. David was right when he sang: God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

Common Sense and Nonsense

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (Titus 2:1-13 ESV).

Common sense has never been universally common, but it sure seems less common than at any time I can remember. As I survey the current scene, it appears to me that we have gone from common sense to nonsense. The following are actual events.

 A six-year-old boy in Lexington NC was suspended for a day, banned from attending an ice cream party and sent home. His crime? Sexual harassment. He kissed a female classmate on the cheek.
 A six-year-old boy, in California, was red-carded for playing tag during recess. The explanation? Tag involves touching and that is clearly groping and foreplay.
 A sixty-two year old grandma in Cincinnati committed an act of random kindness by feeding money into parking meters to save a motorist she never met from getting a ticket. She was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of official business. She was arraigned and released on $1500.00 bail.

You have heard of these kinds of reports before. The question is, “Why?” Why do these things seem so commonplace? I believe it because we have lost our moral compass. True right and wrong are in line with God's plum line. Once right and wrong were set in stone. Even when the standard had drifted into a man made mandate, right was still right, wrong was still wrong and everyone knew where the line was. That’s not the case any longer. We have replaced right and wrong with legal and illegal, divine morality with political correctness. The consequences have been devastating.

In our desire to perform acceptably and avoid litigation, we no longer have reasonable judgment by reasoning individuals. We pursue rules and correctness. We have abandoned personal responsibility and have become moral cowards. As someone has so well said, it takes guts to make decisions that stray from the black and white of rigid written rules into the gray of judgment calls, as in the above reports. We've lost courage, real courage. We're cowards who hide behind correctness, conformity and comfort. Without a moral compass, we don't know where we are and we don't know which way to turn. We need a moral compass so we can be "sensible." There is a Greek word in the New Testament that means, "sane, sensible, self controlled." It is the word of our text this morning. Titus says old men should have it ("self-control"), older women should use it ("teach"), and younger women ("live wisely”), younger men ("live wisely"), and everybody else ("self control") needs it! How’s your common sense today? There is a right and wrong plainly revealed in the Scripture. Apply it with the grace of God in your life and restore your moral compass.

They

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Revelation 12:11 ESV).

God wants us to be the "they" of this verse. These are those who overcome Satan, those who go into the world and break the mold of what the world thinks Christians should be. He desires for us to become free, so that we do not feel compelled to prove ourselves to each other, but that we operate from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and that our lives are pleasing to Him. God has created us with awesome potential. He has given us His presence in the Holy Spirit. One of the major tasks of the Holy Spirit is to reveal truth to us. God wants to reveal the deep truths hidden in His Word. Part of this truth is for us to realize that when we are born again we are no longer fallen, but we have become joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We all have potential. Each one of us can rise above the negativity, the circumstances of life, and become a new breed of people. We can all rise and become one of the "theys" who overcame Satan, yet feelings of rejection and failure often hold us back.

Moses is a good example. After he killed an Egyptian, he spent 40 years in the desert. He must have felt like a failure, yet God called him to deliver a nation. It is the rejection in our lives that focuses on failure and often prevents us from accomplishing God’s will for us. Our fallen nature wants us to fail, but God created us to win. We must overcome feelings of rejection and failure. Our minds must be renewed so that we can know the good, perfect and acceptable will of God for our lives. We need to present ourselves as living sacrifices, knowing that God loves and cares for us. Unfortunately, we can know too much about ourselves, and not enough about God and what he has done for us. Do you know that God puts his trust in us? He trusts us to carry His message. He does not want us walking around from one failure to another, or to be people seeking sympathy and always looking for confirmation from other people. We need to understand that God believes in and trusts us. Sometimes God tries to help us out of our failure mentality and we don't even realize what He is trying to do. Negativity and failure can settle around us like sludge. We must come out of this and wash ourselves from it, knowing that what God has promised He is well able to perform. We need to remember that the devil is a liar, and he will find any chink in our armor to get into our life and give us trouble. We must determine that we will not accept lies and deceit from him.

The Holy Spirit's mission will not be complete until He has made each and everyone one of us a "they". He wants to make all of us champions. He is on a mission to bring to us an understanding of the power of God, to bring us a revelation of His power so we walk in the supernatural, so that we will not love our lives and do things for our own pride, but give God the glory. The power of God will be revealed to us in a new and awesome way if we allow the Holy Spirit to further his mission in our lives. Each and every one of us can reach our full potential in Christ. Pray this morning that you will hear the same voice of God calling to you that Moses did as He tells you of His love and power to be free and set others free. There is a burning bush in all of our lives. Look for yours today and go back to Egypt the child of God and the messenger of freedom!

The Cardiff Giant

“I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” (John 8:38-45 ESV).

In 1869, New York cigar maker George Hull had a block of gypsum carved in the likeness of a man over 10 feet tall. It was artificially aged, buried on the Cardiff, NY, farm of Hull's confederate, William Newell, and then arranged to be "discovered" by workmen. Its discovery was heralded as a great geological find of a huge petrified man, and proof of the Genesis verse: "There were giants on the earth in those days…" People flocked to see the giant for a mere 25 cent admission charge. P. T. Barnum wanted to buy the giant and when Hull refused Barnum had a copy made and declared Hull's to be phony. Hull finally confessed his fraud and Barnum's fake of a fake ultimately drew more people than the original. The Cardiff Giant can be visited today in Cooperstown, NY, while Barnum's fake is in Farmington Hills, Mich. It is also of note to know that this was the incident that inspired "There's a sucker born every minute" but P. T. Barnum didn't say it. One of Hull's partners, David Hannum did and Barnum “appropriated” it.

Perhaps some might make the claim for Barnum to be the greatest liar of all time, however the Scripture teaches us that Satan holds that position with no other challengers even close! Jesus said he is that “father of all lies.” The prevailing theme of the New Testament is the position we enjoy in Christ through our faith in Him. That's the good news: Christ in you and you in Christ. If there is a prevailing negative theme in the New Testament, which encapsulates the opposition we face in Satan, I believe it is his deception. There are at least three avenues through which Satan will attempt to dissuade you from God's truth and deceive you into believing his lies: self-deception, false prophets/teachers, and deceiving spirits. We are vulnerable to Satan's deception in these areas if we fail to clothe ourselves daily with the spiritual armor of the belt of truth. Just some of that truth for you to meditate on and declare today is:

 First, the power of sin and addiction is broken.
 Second, the promoter of sin and rebellion, Satan, is defeated.
 Third, the price of redemption has been paid in full, no debt remains.
 Fourth, the way to heaven and to peace with God is open; salvation full and free is available to all through the work of grace in Jesus Christ.
 Fifth, the grave is no longer a dead-end street, it has become a doorway to eternal life.

The next time the devil tries to whisper in your ear that you are defeated or rejected, remember the truth. That will set you free!

The Lifesaving Station

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV).

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew. Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now, the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, and there was a symbolic lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held. About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did. As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.

While this story is old, it still continues to proclaim a very contemporary message. As churches continue to seek to build bigger and better “ministries,” we all have the responsibility to insure that what we do is true to the Gospel, instead of merely satisfying our own desires and comforts. We are to be the salt and light of the world!

Real People

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:23-28 ESV).

What does it mean to be "real people”? It means a lot of things, and all of us can think of some of them. Here are a few that I thought of as I wrote this little devotional.

1. First, real people are people who are comfortable with their own truth. They love their own uniqueness. They do their own things, with no need to apologize for being what they are. Yet they are always becoming more than they are.

2. Second, real people stand just as tall as they ought to be, no more or no less, neither walking on tiptoe nor hanging their heads. They ask only to be taken for exactly what they are. Nor do they make other people feel that they are expected to be ten feet tall in a world where all are stunted by their own fears.

3. Third, real people have their daydreams, like all normal strivers. But they don't wallow in them. They accept their limitations and are content with achievement goals. They pick their goals with some understanding of the talent at hand. Escapism is not a moderate diversion in their way of life. Flight from effort or from involvement with others is not a routine survival tactic for real people.

4. Fourth, real people are “hurtable,” at least a little. They care enough for other people's love to feel the hurt of being ignored, misunderstood or rejected. And their own experience of hurt makes them sensitive to other people's pain.

5. Fifth, real people aren't hard to talk to. They invite communication because somehow or other, they make everybody feel their kinship with the human heart. Wherever you are, in loneliness, bitterness, shyness, or fright, they have a way of making you feel they have been there ahead of you. Consequently, they care.

6. Sixth, real people are like a pair of protective hands over the shoulders of a child. They are quick with laughter; they are not ashamed of tears; they are comfortable to be with because they let you know who they are.

How real are you? Make it your goal today to begin being “real people!”

Retro-Fittable Words

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:1-18 ESV).

What you are reading right now has been classified as "human readable information." This page is full of words that you as a human can read but that a lot of computers can't decipher. All that would change, of course, if this page had been printed in a bar code. Then the computer could read it and you couldn't. These classifications of "human readable information" and "bar code information" are new concepts brought on by technology. So now we have to distinguish between what humans can read and what a machine reads. There's a term for the new words we create as technology changes. It's retronym. A retronym is a word that is formed when we go back and reshape terms to keep up with the times.

For example, twenty years ago, when all telephones had rotary dials, they were just referred to as telephones. Now almost everyone has push-button phones, so we've had to give the old gizmos the name "rotary telephones." Back in the first century of the church of Jesus Christ, a group of people got a label that has stuck around for nearly 2,000 years. In Antioch, Jesus' followers were called Christians for the first time. This label, which clearly indicates a relationship with Christ, should be enough. But in our times, all kinds of people are using the term Christian. So, we have created the retronym born-again Christian. We use this term to mean someone who has truly accepted Jesus as Savior according to His definition in John 3. The label is not the important thing. What is vital is that you have asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and be your Savior. Whether you like to be called "born again" or "Christian" or both, the important thing is that you have put your faith in Jesus to save you. Have you? If not, then do so now.

I Don't Get It!

You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? (Psalm 43:2, NIV).

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8 NIV).

Recently I was looking through some old boxes to find pictures of the boys at various stages of growth. I am in the process of making a “Life’s Journey” DVD to give them. I found some of the pictures of them I had forgotten we even had! I found my oldest son’s baseball picture from his all star days in Little League. I saw the first soccer picture that our second son had made on his first team, “The Green Machine.” And there were mementos of our youngest son’s early years as well. So many memories came flooding back to me. I couldn’t help but be reflective. Some of those memories were good ones and some were not. I remembered that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33). Amazing how true those words have proven to be in my life.

I was a big fan of pro golfer Payne Stewart. I admired his boldness, not only with his golf game, but also in the way he proclaimed the Gospel. He was a relatively new Christian, influenced by his wife, children, and pastor to turn his life around and make a serious commitment to Christ. While wearing a W.W.J.D bracelet his 10-year-old son had given him, he won the US Open Father’s Day weekend here in North Carolina. I will never forget what Payne said to Phil Mickelson after sinking an incredible putt to win. Mickelson's wife was past the due date to have their first baby. At the height of the thrill of victory -- at an emotional climax -- Payne grabbed Phil by the face, looked him right in the eyes and said, “You are going to be a great father. Being a father is great!” Payne knew what mattered most, not success on the golf course but success as a person, a father, and a husband. Less than a month later, Payne died in a tragic plane accident. It is easy to ask, “Why, God? I just don’t get it!”

There are many events in my life, past and present that I do not understand. I am sure there will be many more down the road. I question God during these times. I ask Him, “Why this?” And that is okay. God wants us to pour out to Him whatever is on our hearts. But, my attitude toward these events is changing as I grow in my faith. While I still ask why, I find myself asking more and more often the next question, “What God?” Looking back on defining moments that changed the direction and course of my life, I now see how God was teaching me and molding me more into His image and His plan. In the heat of the battle or in the midst of struggle, it is very difficult to step back and ask, “Okay God, you have me here in this trial. What are you wanting me to learn?” If you can step back and ask, "What?" instead of continuing to ask, "Why?" it will help you move forward as you deal with the struggle. Like David said in the verse above, our hope is in God. God does not give us trials without a purpose. When God gives us a test, He is pulling for us. He wants us to grow and learn from the test. God is rooting for you! He is your best Fan and with Him on your side, you can’t lose. Trust Him more and more; even when things don’t seem to make much sense.

Faithful Forever

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!" 4For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90 ESV).

The good news: I think I’m pretty faithful, as friends and family go. The bad news: I won’t always be here, even though I’ve promised my children to live to be a hundred. Faithfulness is a great quality in anyone, especially friends. As the years go by, even if they don’t see each other, faithful friends can always pick up where they left off. It seems tough enough to make good friends, the ones who "stay kept" are that much more special.

We all want to have and be those kinds of friends. But I also know that I won’t always be around. I can’t be, and neither can my friends. The distance of geography may separate us. Or, death itself will intrude on our relationship with those who are close to us. When either of these things happen, it is essential that we understand the immovable faithfulness of God. That characteristic of God is at the heart of our hope and peace of mind. Because God never goes away and will never die, His faithfulness is unchanging and constant. He is eternal. When He says He is faithful to His people, both as individuals and all together, He means forever. We never have to worry about God not being there for us. He always will.

Psalm 90, our Scripture reading for today, is titled "A Prayer of Moses." Moses wrote it about 3,000 years ago, relatively early in God’s record of faithfulness. His psalm is more like a prophecy that has come true. From the time God guided the nation of Israel through the desert until today, He has been faithful to His people. His contract never ends.

How is your future looking? Secure? Perilous? Nobody really knows. I can’t predict your future, but I can make the same call as Moses: If you are living in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you can know that God will be there in your future, whatever it holds! The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we have an “anchor of the soul” that will hold us perfectly and forever (cf. Hebrews 6:19). So, rest assured of His faithfulness. He’ll never leave you alone! He is faithful forever!

Caged Chickens

My children, listen to me. Listen to your father's instruction. Pay attention and grow wise, for I am giving you good guidance. Don't turn away from my teaching. Learn to be wise, and develop good judgment. Don't forget or turn away from my words. Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And whatever else you do, get good judgment. My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths. If you live a life guided by wisdom, you won't limp or stumble as you run. Carry out my instructions; don't forsake them. Guard them, for they will lead you to a fulfilled life. Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully. Don't lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning. (Proverbs 4:1-2; 5-7; 10-13; 20-22, NLV).

I read a story several years ago about some chickens that had been bought from a poultry farm. They were chickens who had lived their entire lives in a cage. They were taken out to a ranch and turned loose to freely run in the chicken yard and go in and out of the chicken house at will. As they were placed on the chicken house floor they didn't move. They had lived in cages all their life so they just stayed right in the chicken house. They didn't even know how to roost. They didn't even get up on the roost at night. They stayed huddled together on the floor. They were used to sleeping under a light because the poultry farmer kept a light lamp on them to make them lay more eggs. Men have devised ways to get the most out of everything, no matter if it's good for the animal or not. Because they were used to the light, they would sleep outside huddled under the moon on the ground. They didn't even know how to drink water the regular way because they had drunk water out of a little bottle with a little red tip on it. They had always gone over and pushed that little tip and gotten their water out. There they had fresh running water yet they didn't even know how to drink. One of them almost drowned trying to learn how to drink. These chickens didn't know what freedom was. I don't know if they would have ever enjoyed their freedom without someone to teach them what to do. Since there were some older chickens that were already there, the new ones watched them for awhile and they discovered a new way of living. Living with the older chickens for a time and learning from them they got liberated. They found out that they could go anyplace in the barnyard. But it took them a while.

There is a wonderful spiritual lesson in this story. Humans are very much the same. We are creatures of habit. We don't realize it, but we do things out of habit. Sometimes God wants to break old habits and old things in our life. Many Christians bring them over into the Christian walk. God begins to show us a better way, as our old habits are not fit for God's kingdom or His house. If somebody comes and visits your house and they have bad habits you'll tolerate them on short-term bases. If they just come for a day and during their visit they're not very neat and they do some things that you don't like you will usually tolerate it. Most of the time out of the graciousness of your heart you won't say anything, you just put up with it and when they leave you clean up behind them. You will tolerate the messes they make on short-term basis. However, if somebody comes to live with you, the rules are different. You may say, "Wait a minute. We have rules in this house. Here is how we live here. We do not do these things in this house."

It's the same way with our Heavenly Father. When we come to God's house with some bad habits. He begins to show us the way out of bondage. He brings us into a New Kingdom and now that we are living in His house His rules are different. God gives us commandments and some rules so that we know what is acceptable in His house. In our house, if someone came to live with us, there would be certain rules they would be asked to follow. We like our house neat and clean. And God likes His house neat and clean too. So He says those filthy things that you used to do are not acceptable in His house. However, it is important to remember that keeping the laws do not get us to heaven. Only faith in Jesus does that. Keeping God's commandments is the evidence that we are Christ's children, as we desire to obey Him. Many of God's people when they first come into the kingdom don't know how to respond to this new freedom. God is saying to us in His Word that He now wants to show us a new way. That way is by faith, walking in the Spirit and trusting God to break the old habits. He gave us His Commandments so we might be blessed and live in harmony with one another in this earth. Grace gets us in the house, and then we are to live as under that grace!

The Smell of God

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 ESV).

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. "I don't think she is going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10% chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one." Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face is she survived. She would never walk. She would never talk. She would probably be blind. She would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation and on and on. "No! No!" was a Diana could say. She and David with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day that would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away. Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of drugged sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a happy, healthy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable. "David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements," Diana remembers. "I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen - I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!" As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life - a marvel her miniature body could endure. But, as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially "raw," the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultra-violet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger. But, as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero Danae went home from the hospital, just as he mother had predicted.

Today, years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for like. She shows no signs, whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairments. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story. One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain. "Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with some other children. Thinking back on her daughter's word's it confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest - and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

Two Seas

Morning Devotional
August 15, 2011

“Two Seas”
by Don Emmitte

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:24-28 ESV).

I have been able to travel to Israel twice. It is one of the most incredible places in the world. There are so many things that you may learn while visiting the sacred sites and seeing the places of the Bible come alive.

Just one of those lessons concerns the two seas in Israel. The Sea of Galilee is a fresh water sea and there are numerous fish in it. Splashes of green adorn its banks. Trees spread their branches over it and stretch out their thirsty roots to sip of its healing waters. Along its shores the children play, as children played when Jesus was there. He loved it. He could look across its silver surface when He spoke His parables. And on a rolling plain not far away He fed five thousand people.

The River Jordan, which begins in the high mountains to the north, feeds this sea with sparkling clean water. It is so clear that you can see to the bottom at its headwaters. Men build their houses near to it, and birds build their nests; and every kind of life is happier because it is there.

The River Jordan flows on south into another sea. Here is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of birds, and no children's laughter. Travelers choose another route, unless on urgent business. The air hangs heavy above its water, and neither man nor beast nor fowl will drink. It is the Dead Sea. I have visited this sea also.

What makes this mighty difference in these neighbor seas? Not the river Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil in which they lie not the country about. This is the difference. The Sea of Galilee receives but does not keep the Jordan. For every drop that flows into it another drop flows out. The giving and receiving go on in equal measure. The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income jealously. It will not be tempted into any generous impulse. Every drop it gets, it keeps. The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. This other sea gives nothing. It occurred to me that they are a perfect illustration of the two kinds of people in the world. And, just like these two seas, the people who give to others and find true life, and those who selfishly hold back from others and find only loneliness and death. Which sea are you like?

The Old Fisherman

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV).

There is a wonderful story about an old fisherman that perfectly illustrates the truth of this morning’s Scripture:

The house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The simple family lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic. One summer evening as supper was being prepared, there was a knock at the door. As the door opened it revealed a truly awful looking man standing on the porch. Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old, the wife and mother thought as she stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've come to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'til morning." He told her he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. "I guess it's my face...I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments..." For a moment she hesitated, but his next words convinced her: "I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning." She told him they would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. She went inside and finished getting supper. When they were ready, she asked the old man if he would join them. "No thank you. I have plenty." And he held up a brown paper bag.

When they had finished the dishes, she went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told her he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanksgiving to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going. At bedtime, they put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When she got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair." He paused a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind." She told him he was welcome to come again.

On his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters she had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. She knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for them. In the years he came to stay overnight with them there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times they received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. When they received these little remembrances, they often thought of a comment their next door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!" Maybe they did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. She knew their family always would be grateful to have known him; from him they learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Sometime ago I was visiting a friend who has a green thumb. As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had! My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden." I laughed as I imagined just such a scene in heaven. "Here's an especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body." It’s not the container you’re planted in, but the blooms you are producing that really count.

An Allergy to Bullets

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ESV).

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. One day Jerry was asked "You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life." How can it be that easy? Listen to Jerry’s explanation: "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

There’s more to this story, however. Several years later, Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. About six months after the accident, when he was asked how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" Same old Jerry. He continued his story: "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live. The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action. Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me. She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Walking the Wing

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:4-13 ESV).

I suppose it’s hard “to see the forest because of the trees” sometimes. Those who have positions of leadership sometimes fail to realize the importance of those who surround and support them. It is a subtle form of pride and arrogance that can become very destructive in our lives. The following story came from a good friend of mine as we visited about a situation he has seen develop in his church staff and provides the springboard for our devotional thought today.

Seems that there was a stunt pilot who performed at a lot of air shows. After several years he was in high demand. Crowds got larger and larger when they knew that this stunt pilot would be performing. They would cheer and encourage him as he would land and walk through the crowd. Several people began to tell him, "You are so good, you really need to get a bigger airplane. With that airplane you can do bigger performances and MORE people will come to see what you can do." After hearing this for awhile, he decided to do just that.

The stunt pilot purchased a 747. He beefed up the structure and took it to his first air show. The crowd was the largest ever. They cheered stronger than ever. He took that 747 up into the air and did barrel rolls, flips and everything that he had done with his smaller plane. After 30 minutes of this spectacular performance he landed the 747 and taxied to the front of the crowd. The steps we rolled up, the door opened and out stepped the pilot. Standing at the top of those stairs high above the audience he waved to a crowd that could not contain their joy after what they had seen. All eyes were focused on the happy pilot proudly waving to the exuberant crowd when a little door in the tail of the 747 opened. Out came the 15-crew members shaking, exhausted, wet from sweat and barely able to walk!

The point to this is you may be the guy in the front that gets to “look good,” but there are others that work sometimes to the point of long term illness behind the scenes to help you succeed. Remember that we are all part of the team, whether in your work or at church. As you walk the wings, remember those flying the plane!

Did You Know

The following are some “interesting facts.” All of them purport to be true even though you may wonder about the need to know them! So, with that in mind… did you know…

 The venom in a Daddy Long-Legs spider is more poisonous than a Black Widow’s or a Brown Recluse, but they cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.
 If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on bottom more often.
 Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots.
 The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze solid.
 There is no Betty Rubble in Flintstones Chewable Vitamins.
 In Minnesota it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head.
 In Indiana it is illegal to ride public transportation for at least thirty minutes after eating garlic.
 A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
 Polar bears are left-handed.
 A rhinoceros horn is actually made out of compacted hair.
 Donkeys kill more people annually than are killed in plane crashes.
 Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
 “Typewriter” is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on the top row of a keyboard.
 If the population of China were to walk by you single file, the line would never end because of their rate of reproduction.
 American Airlines saved $40,000.00 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.
 You share your birthday with at least nine million other people in the world.
 No president in the United States was an only child.
 The average human eats eight spiders in their lifetime while they sleep.

Some of those “facts” elicit a giggle, some a shrug, and others a “yuck!” All of them are really useless bits of information, and yet they find a way to call for our attention. However, there is some information that we ought to pay more attention to. It is the Scripture. That’s the truth found in today’s verse. Listen to Peter as he writes to the early Christians. It is a message for us today also.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21 ESV).

Don’t neglect your reading of the Bible each day. It is the only source of true knowledge for happiness and joy!

An Unavoidable Appointment

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV)

Anthony Fernando, a twenty-one year old man living in Colombo, Sri Lanka, went fishing one day of the coast of the island. He had no idea that he would never make it back alive. If you would venture to guess how this man lost his life, what would you say? That he died of a heart attack? Perhaps he fell out of the boat and drowned? Or even a shark attack? It was none of these things. A forktail garfish jumped out of the water and cut him on the neck with its tail. He bled to death before a fellow fisherman could get him into a hospital. If you had told him before he left to go fishing that this was going to happen, he wouldn’t have believe it.

Lance Foster also has an unusual story. He was a twenty-three year old student at the University of Kansas. He had been studying late one night and little did he know he would have only moments to live. How did he die? Was he shot by a roommate? Or did lightning come through the window and strike him? It was neither. A soda machine killed him! Foster became thirsty and decided to walk down the hallway to get a drink. He put his money in the machine, but the drink didn’t come out. When he rocked the vending machine back and forth to get the can of soda to drop, it fell on top of him. He died from internal injuries shortly thereafter. If you had told him he was going to die when he went to get a drink, he wouldn’t have believed it.

If you had told Ali-Asghar Ahani he would be shot to death by a snake, he wouldn’t have believed that either. But it happened. Although he could have shot the snake, this man was trying to capture it alive. When he pressed the butt of his shotgun behind its head, the snake coiled itself around the gun. With its tail thrashing, the snake pulled the trigger, firing one of the barrels and shooting Ahani in the head.

And then there’s the story of William Curry. After winning $3.6 million in the lottery, he must have believed he was the luckiest person on the earth. But he wasn’t very lucky for long. Two weeks after hitting the jackpot, Curry, at the age of thirty-seven, died of a heart attack. His sister-in-law said the stress of winning the lottery killed him.

None of these people knew or even imagined that death was just moments away. Death can come unexpectedly to anyone at anytime. But, it will come to all of us. We have an unavoidable appointment with death. The real key is not in knowing how we will die, but in how we will face the moments following death. How will you do? Only in Christ can you be safe after death. Trust Him today!

The Wall of Separation

Major anti-Communist riots broke out in East Berlin in June, 1953 and, in August, 1961, a Communist-built wall, 26½ miles long sealed off the Soviet Sector, running through the city. It was built to stem the flood of refugees seeking freedom in the West, 200,000 having fled in 1961 before the wall was erected.

On November 9, 1989, several weeks after the resignation of East Germany's long-time Communist leader, Erich Honecker, the wall's designer and chief proponent, the East German government opened its borders to the West and allowed thousands of its citizens to pass freely through the Berlin Wall. They were cheered and greeted by thousands of West Berliners, and many of the jubilant newcomers celebrated their new freedom by climbing on top of the hated wall. The following day, East German troops began dismantling parts of the wall. It was ironic that this wall was built to keep the citizens from leaving and, 28 years later, it was being dismantled for the same reason. On November 22, new passages were opened at the north and south of the Brandenburg Gate in an emotional ceremony attended by Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany and Chancellor Hans Modrow of East Germany. The opening of the Brandenburg Gate climaxed the ending of the barriers that had divided the German people since the end of World War II. The end of 1990 had removed the entire wall.

It was a day long celebrated, and it will be a day long remembered. However, there was another day when another wall was torn down that ought to be remembered with even more joy and celebration.

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-22 ESV).

The wall that had separated mankind from the presence of God was completely torn down and removed when Jesus provided Himself as the atoning sacrifice necessary to bring forgiveness to every man. I have seen a part of the Berlin Wall on display at the Bush Library, but it is nothing to the sight of the empty tomb I have visited in Jerusalem! Like the Apostle Paul I can exclaim, “Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through His son, Jesus Christ!” Celebrate the wall being torn down today in your life. Thank Him for giving you life and liberty. Open your heart and mind to His presence this moment.

The Magical Ring

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:13-18, 24 ESV).

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.
Spring passed and then summer and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of he poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: "gimel, zayin, yud", which began the words Gam zeh ya'avor, which is translated into the English as: "This too shall pass."

Of course there really are no “magical rings” that will bring happiness or sadness to the wearer. However, there is so much truth to Solomon’s words dealing with the value of wisdom. At least one principle of life that can be seen to be true day in and day out is embodied in the words Gam zeh ya’avor. Wisdom declares that we exist in a dynamic relationship with time. Time does not stand still. It is only when we get “stuck” in the loop of the moment that joy and peace slip away from us. While circumstances are often uncontrollable, our reaction to them is entirely within our ability to control. Happiness can be a choice even in the midst of great difficulty. The little chorus of the song goes, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Try living in the moment and see if it will not provide you with that “magical ring.”

The Future

At least as long as I can remember there hasn’t been an absence of those willing to predict the future. Just look at any of the publications near the checkout counter in the grocery store and read some of their headlines. I am constantly amused at how many people desire to know and predict tomorrow.

Former manager Earl Weaver foresees a pennant for the long-suffering Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs before the year 2500. Calorie counter Jennie Craig sees “a way to control fat storage on our bodies.” Writer Joseph Wambaugh bleakly expects the total eclipse of the printed word from the face of the earth.

Give people who are important or famous an invitation to write a prediction for the next millennium and listen for the sound of soapboxes being mounted. Get out your handkerchiefs seems to be the theme of a number of the 650 people recently polled for a forecast of the years between 2001 and 3000. James A Michener wrote, “Concerning the improvement of the human species so that war or other criminal behavior is no longer possible, I have not much hope.” Peter Straub predicts, “devastating new viruses and diseases, environmental disasters, bloody racial and religious conflicts and many other poisonous inheritances from the present century.” These thoughts come from “people of accomplishment” who were sent a blank United Nations postcard and asked to fill it with their vision of the future. There were many other responses, however none were quite as bleak as that of American artist Paul Cadmus. He wrote, “I foresee nothing but increasing deterioration in the world. Everything worsens: overpopulation thrives insanely, international poverty multiplies grotesquely, environmental conditions whither disastrously. I doubt life will be worth living.”

How tragic! There is another view of the future. And therein is the hope we have as believers in Christ.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:1-7 ESV).

The Agony of Defeat

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8-18 ESV).

Does the name Vinko Bogataj mean anything to you? Probably not would be my guess. Very few people will recognize the name of this famous man. Before I tell you who he is, here are some hints. He drives a forklift in a factory that manufactures anchor chains. He lives a very quiet life with his wife, two daughters, and mother-in-law. In his spare time, he paints and carves wood. Still no idea? Here are some more specific hints. Vinko Bogataj lives in Lesce, Yugoslavia, and is probably the most famous retired ski jumper in history.

Still no guesses? Well, even if you don’t know recognize his name, you’ve probably seen him jump. You see, Vinko Bogataj happens to be the athlete known as the “Agony of Defeat” for ABC’s Wide World of Sports opening visual collage. He was the ski jumper who took the incredible head-over-heals fall while in a ski jump competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, in 1971. Unfortunately for Vinko, Wide World of Sports was there to capture every inglorious second of his spectacular fall. They have been broadcasting that fall at the opening of their show every week for years, permanently immortalizing him in the “Sports Hall of Shame.” Jim McKay, the voice of Wide World of Sports for thirty years, says that the single most asked question about the show concern this poor skier from Lesce!

While I have not failed quite so spectacularly as Vinko, there have been those times when I thought I could never overcome a mistake. All of us have had those kinds of embarrassing moments. It is true that when others keep reminding us of our failures, it is much more difficult to overcome a sense of being a failure. However, failing does not make one a failure. The real key to overcoming any failure in life is in perseverance. B. F. Skinner wrote the following verse:

Failure is not always a mistake,
It may be simply the best one can do
under the circumstance.
The real mistake is to stop trying.

One caution, however: trying does not mean doing the same things that caused our failures in the first place. Sometimes trying means choosing a different direction in which to walk. Just don’t stop walking!

Rules of Thumb

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (So 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV).

Have you noticed? Some people will just not be stopped. They have accomplished much despite adversity. They refuse to listen to their fears. Nothing anyone says or does holds them back. As Ted Engstrom insightfully writes in his book "Pursuit of Excellence”: Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes Franklin Roosevelt. Burn him so severely that the doctors say he'll never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham, who set the world's one-mile record in 1934. Deafen him and you have a Ludwig von Beethoven. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Marian Anderson, a George Washington Carver. Call him a slow learner, retarded," and write him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.

Obstacles are necessary for success. Meaningful victory often comes after struggles and temporary setbacks. Each of these struggles and setbacks may serve to sharpen our skills and strengths, our courage and endurance, our ability and confidence so that each one becomes an opportunity for great victory. This is at the heart of Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthian Christians. We are each to be like athletes, highly motivated and disciplined, striving to be the best at whatever we seek to do.

With that truth in mind, I have listed a few “rules of thumb” for your consideration:

1. If you hit the target every time, it’s too near. Set your goal further and higher in your life.
2. Never worry about the details before deciding on a first step. This is just another way of saying: “Don’t cross the bridge before you get there.”
3. Always examine any problem from multiple perspectives. Like a diamond, there are always many facets to every situation. Look at the whole before you concentrate on the partial.
4. After a failure, don’t hesitate to change your approach to a solution. Sometimes a minor change means the difference between success and failure.
5. If you are having trouble understanding a problem, write it down, or try to explain it to someone else and listen, really listen to yourself.
6. Don’t worry about approaches that transform one problem into another. That is merely a new chance for another solution.
7. Most of the time, if it’s surprising, it’s useful.
8. Do not neglect spending time analyzing both your work methods and your results.

There could be many other “rules of thumb” in this list. These are offered to jump-start you toward excellence.

Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee Beans

“Potatoes, Eggs And Coffee Beans”
by Don Emmitte

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV).

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?" "Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied. "Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face. "Father, what does this mean?" she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. "Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? "

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. Which one are you? No wonder Paul prayed for his friends in Asia that they would be given mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. All of us will face adversity. Pray for the inner strength of His Spirit and see how He desires to use every experience to change both you and those around you. His resources are unlimited. Trust in Him today!