Month: March 2020

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Anyone who has tried to hold a conversation in a crowded restaurant or a bustling environment knows how difficult it is to understand what someone is saying when it competes with background noise! Researchers have found that familiarity offers an advantage in these situations. In order words, a voice with whom you are familiar is often so much easier to understand. I began to think of all the voices, which in a crowded room or unexpected place, I could recognize immediately. My question then was, “Could I recognize God’s voice if He were speaking to me amid the confusion of this world?”

The Bible confirms that Abraham heard the still small voice of God on many occasions. He didn’t know where he was going, but it was enough for him to know that wherever it was, he went with God. Not only was he willing to follow God, Abraham was also willing to take his idea of what the journey would be like and tear it into tiny pieces. He was smart enough to know that nothing on the itinerary will happen as expected.

What do we do when our life as we know it seems blocked? We can’t retreat, go forward, turn left or right. I think the still small voice of God would have us do a few things. The first thing is to Stand Firm and listen only to the sweet voice of Jesus. Don’t give into despair, impatience or doubt. Just remember, God will not only do something – He will do everything.

During a time of adversity, the world tends to speak of providence with a total lack of understanding. What the world views as providence they see as occurrences of fate which reduces God from His position as our powerful and personal Savior. The time of trouble is the place where He preserves us not the place where He fails us.

I’m a firm believer in the still small voice of God not only in trouble, but in good times as well. During the coming days, we will undoubtedly have many occasions to demonstrate the art of Standing Firm in our faith and trusting God to bring the Easter message to everyone with whom we come in contact (social distancing of course).

Let us remember, it is in our crisis time that the “still voice” of the Lord speaks to our troubled hearts, and if we listen, it saves us. George Weagba

He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing; And the melody that He gave to me, within my heart is ringing. And he walks with me, and He talks with me; And He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there; None other has ever known. This sweet and precious song is verse 2 of In The Garden by Charles A. Miles 1913.

Stand Firm.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

Circumference is defined as the enclosing boundary of a geometric figure, especially a circle. The key words here are enclosing and boundary. In life, the word circle, can be used to describe many different things such as: groups of friends, small groups, neighborhoods, Christians, organizations, churches, businesses, and many other things. The idea of a circle can be positive or negative depending upon whether you happen to be on the inside of the circle or the outside of the circle.

These past couple of weeks have been filled with panic, fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Although this is a strange time, there are so many examples of people who could build a circle around themselves, their assets, and their health, but instead are reaching out to extend their circles to include those who need help. It was encouraging to see posts where people can place their “needs” on social media, and those who are able will try to see that those needs are met.

Today as I was waiting in line at Starbucks, a young girl who was ahead of me in line, hopped out of her car and began to do cheers outside her car door. Obviously, she was a cheerleader and missing out on try outs or practice. At first, I thought, how ridiculous – she’s making me wait longer in line. Then, I realized she was just trying to use some way of making others smile, and it worked. Instead of holding others at arm’s length, she was expanding the circle to include others.

I learned an interesting fact from an article sent to me by a friend this week. The huge redwood trees that grow in the forests of California have a unique growing method. They grow in circles, and this methods shields each of the tress from strong winds. Whereas most trees just grow wherever they are planted or in no particular pattern, these trees are unique as they help each other or lift each other up.

We live in a lonely world which is getting lonelier each day as so many are quarantined, and daily we rely on Instacart, Uber Eats, on line ordering and banking, and so many other conveniences which isolate us from our community. During this stressful time for all of us, it is so heartwarming to see so many widening their circles to include the elderly, the needy, the sick, and the lonely.

Instead of building a circle around ourselves, the best thing we can do is make a circle to draw folks in. Edwin Markham said it best in his poem, “Outwitted”: He drew a circle to keep me out; Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout; But love and I had the wit to win; we drew a circle that took him in.

Our Father included all in this world, and I believe He would want us to check on the needy, the sick, the elderly, and the poor. Do unto others as we would have them do for us. It’s a wonderful thing to watch the circle of Christian men and women demonstrate their faith by their works and deeds.

Paul Hammer writes, “In the Bible, faith is never a matter simply for an isolated individual. It involves a community of persons that stretches back into the past, embraces people in the present and anticipates a fellowship in the future. Faith involves a cloud of witnesses to God’s continuing faithfulness.”

Do not let your adorning be external, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God’s sight is very precious. 2 Peter 3:4

A few months ago Randy and I had the opportunity to visit St. Petersburg, Russia. Among the beautiful palaces, gardens, and scenery we saw there, one of the most interesting things was the Faberge egg collection. The beautiful egg was first created for Czar Alexander III on the occasion of the 20th year anniversary of his marriage. Although the egg itself is beautiful on the outside, the surprise is on the inside. The original one contained a gold egg inside and inside the egg was a golden hen. Maria, his wife, loved it so much that she commissioned others to be made. I brought a souvenir egg home as a reminder of the collection.

Our lives can be likened to the Faberge eggs as it’s not so much what’s on the outside but rather what we find on the inside that counts. These past two weeks have proved that to our family. We have watched a dear member of our extended family die suddenly, and in the same week gathered to participate as a dear friend’s daughter happily married her love. What two emotions could be further distanced from each other, yet be beautiful each in its own way.? God received a new saint into heaven, and He also blessed a marriage.

Now, our country and world is dealing with a virus which seems to have driven us all to a mild panic. All this happening at one time is proof to me that God can take a situation or a nation and endow that person or nation with strength enough to make a profound mark upon the history of their time. In God’s strength, we can take the loss of a loved one, the joy of a marriage, or the epidemic that threatens us, break it open, and discover a precious level of grace inside.

Grace is defined as “free and unmerited favor”. God has looked down upon our family, our friends, and our country by making us stronger than our circumstances and helping us turn each situation to our good. Christ is building His kingdom with all the broken people and situations on this earth. There is nothing that He can’t take and restore to a glorious place of blessing and beauty.

We are so grateful and thankful for lives well lived, for new beginnings, and for strength. It’s something beautiful to see God at work.

Something beautiful, something good; All my confusion, He understood; All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife; But He made something beautiful of my life. Bill Gaither

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

In the years of teaching kindergarten, we usually had helpers each week who were chosen from the children in the class, and each child got a chance throughout the year to do each of the helper opportunities offered. These included jobs such as, line leader, lunchroom monitor, paper passer, and the ever popular door holder among other things. The kids loved it when it was their turn to be a classroom helper because it seemed to give them a sense of responsibility and importance.

A disciple is defined as a follower and a learner. Sometimes I even hear children refer to the disciples as helpers, and I think that’s a good description. There were twelve of these helpers, and Jesus took three years to train, teach, show, and transform the men he had chosen to be with him. When he was through, He then commissioned them to spread the Gospel throughout the earth.

These helpers were there to follow Jesus, to learn from Him, and to exemplify Him in all areas of their life. They knew if they wanted to follow Christ, they would have to follow Him into a life which involved sacrificing their own life to live more Christlike. They lived with the mindset that the life they had in Christ was worth the loss of the earthly life they would have without Him. They also realized they would have to surrender their own personal agenda in order to deny themselves and follow Him.

It’s interesting that the word disciple or helper doesn’t just apply to the Apostles who followed Jesus during His time on earth. The word applies to any one of us who follow Jesus and his teachings today. Anyone who professes to be a Christian can be a helper.

Instances of people being helpers happen every day all around us. During the years that Jesus walked the earth, He lived a life of compassion, and He clearly expected His followers to be concerned about the needy, the poor, and the distraught.

We, as helpers today have the opportunity to offer hope to those who need it, wait for miracles, and be prepared for the ways God can work in our lives and those of others. In short, be a helper of Jesus.

You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want. Zig Zigler

I‘m asking God for one thing, only one thing : To live with Him in His house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate His beauty: I’ll study at His feet. The Message Psalm 27:4

One of my favorite movies is City Slickers starring Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. In the movie, three friends set off on a cattle drive to “get their smiles back”, and they meet Curly, a grumpy old trail boss.

There are many things the guys learned from Curly, but I think the best exchange comes between he and Mitch. Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? This (he holds up one finger). One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and the rest doesn’t matter. Mitch: What is the one thing? Curly: That’s what you have to figure out.

The phrase one thing is mentioned sixteen times in the Bible in different chapters and situations. That one thing may be something different to each person, but I like what Frances Ridley Havergal once said. “Every year I live, in fact nearly every day, I seem to see more clearly how all the peace, happiness and power of the Christian life hinges on one thing. That one thing is taking God at His word, believing He really means exactly what He says, and accepting the very words that reveal His goodness and grace without substituting other words or changing the precise moods and tenses He has seen fit to use.”

This says to me that God wants to be within our reach and honor all the promises He has made to us. Our job is to be specific in our prayers and petitions, and stand firmly on His promises. When we do that, we can obtain enough power to throw open the gates of heaven and take those promises by force!

Many people don’t use checks anymore as debit and credit cards are the new way to purchase items and pay bills. My parents religiously paid their bills with checks. I still use checks a lot because there’s something about filling out a check for a definite amount for bills and purchases, and signing my name to it. It is something tangible and it helps me remember the exact amount I just spent.

Likewise, when we pray and petition God for something specific, it’s likened to taking a check to the bank and knowing we will receive exactly the amount for which we asked.

John Wesley said it best, God has written it down in a book. O give me that book. At any price, give me the book of God. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book.

Wouldn’t it be exciting to have that one thing at the top of our agenda every day? It would revolutionize our lives.