Month: September 2021

For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you! Luke 10:19

During storms, we sometimes lose the luxury of electricity, and we quickly realize the importance of power in our lives. Without power, we lose the convenience of using our ovens and stoves, watching television, keeping food in our refrigerator cold and especially the power to see in the darkness because our “lights are out.”

This theme of power runs throughout the Gospel of Luke. It begins in Chapter 9 when Jesus gives the 12 Disciples the power and authority over all demons and the power to cure diseases. The power continues as the Disciples feed the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish.

The word, power, is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. In the Gospel of Luke, the disciples were granted power from on high to go about doing good.

Power can be good in the hands of some, but it can be detrimental in the hands of others. Take for instance our grandson, Reese. Reese was given the distinct honor of serving on safety patrol for a time in his elementary school. The safety patrol’s job is to monitor the students as they arrive and depart from school every day making sure they are walking in the halls, not loitering, and generally following the rules.

Some students may think of this as just a job, but Reese loved the power of “telling everybody what to do.” After a week of this power, at the end of the day when he finally got in the car after a hard day’s work, his words were, “Well, just another day of the same old, same old.”

Sometimes life can do that to us. It can cause us to take the power that God has given us as Christians and children of God for granted and begin to think of it as the same old, same old.

That’s not the way God would want us to view the power He bestows on us. God hasn’t give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but He has given us a spirit of power, love and self discipline. Jesus has the power to help us use our power to discard warped philosophies, tear down barriers that can be erected against the truth of God fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Jesus gives us the power to use ordinary, every day things for His purposes. We have the means to take something we have and use it to let people know that they matter to God and they matter to others. That’s the power of caring.

Jesus also gives us the power to change a bad situation. When we are up against a tough situation, the first essential is to stand up to it. Face it and hit back hard with the knowledge that there is enough power given to you by God to overcome the situation. Jesus has the power to redeem things and give us the chance to get through it. The past can be forgotten with a new time, a new start, and a new beginning. Charles Martin in his book Long Way Gone says “No gone is too far gone” because Jesus can redeem our bad situation.

Jesus has given us the power to change our attitude about the past, the present and the future. Faith is believing that God is telling the truth about this power. In order to get the results God’s word promises for a change of attitude, we must place our absolute trust and confidence in His power, His wisdom, and His goodness. No life or attitude is beyond the power of Jesus.

Jesus also gives us the power of forgiveness for ourselves and for others. The Lord’s prayer reminds us to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Christians way involves a cross where Jesus paid for our sins and offers forgiveness for those who will confess our sin and follow Him. If He can forgive us, shouldn’t we forgive others?

Jesus died for us all. All we need to do is use the power of caring, change and forgiveness He gives us to come to the Father and let Him redeem the things in life that keep us from acknowledging all our power. There is no power without God.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1:3

The word test is defined as a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance or reliability of something. We are in a time when the word test is used more often than ever. People are taking Covid tests, antibody tests, and even saliva tests, with hopes of getting negative results from the virus that seems to be changing our society and our lives. People are being tested.

Life itself affords us many opportunities to be tested. We are constantly tested on things such as our morals, our beliefs, our integrity, our honesty, our faith, and even our God.

Last week in total frustration with the news media and their presentation, or lack thereof, of the news, I found myself tuning into an old Leave It To Beaver episode. In this particular one, Beaver is perplexed because he used his Dad’s library card to check out a book without his permission, and he lost the book. He hid all the overdue notices which came in the mail, and didn’t tell his Dad in hopes that he would find the book. Of course, dishonesty never works, and he was found out. Beaver was tested on honesty, and his Dad made a good point when he said, “When you tell one lie you always have to tell another to cover up the first.” Beaver had his honesty tested.

What difference does it make to be honest? The Christian should answer this question with something like, “it makes all the difference to God” or “speak the truth to one another”. Zechariah 8:18 When we are honest, we build strength of character that will allow us to be of greater service to God and to others.

God tests us just as He tested Abraham with his son, Isaac. He wants to see if there is anything we love more than Him. God tests us for basically two reasons. First, to prove Himself faithful to us, and second, to give us an opportunity to prove our faithfulness to Him.

When God tests us, that’s the best time to test Him by putting His promises to the test and then claiming from Him exactly what your trials have made necessary. There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try and get out of the trial, and then to be thankful when it’s over. The other way is to recognize that the trial is a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever before experienced and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God’s divine grace.

During these tests, even the Adversary becomes a help to us, and all things that seem to be against us turn out to assist us along our way. This is what is meant by in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

Tests let us know that there are expectations, things required of us. When we are tested, we have a tendency to look around at things that can’t be done. We are drawn to things that we can’t do. That’s when Jesus comes to the aid of those of us who are tempted to despair and give us strength we don’t know we have.

First, we gain the strength to look to Him for what’s lacking in us. Some of us do well in studying before the test, but feel totally inadequate to take the tests when they are provided. Norman Vincent Peale reminds us that, “the tests of life are not to break you, but to make you”.

Then, we learn to have hope. People are still feeling isolated for many different reasons, because of this, we need to embrace the mind of Christ and take the test He offers of reaching out to others and giving hope. Don’t give up – give Hope.

God is going to test each of us to make sure our faith, our identity, and our security are found in Him alone. We can’t let the gifts we enjoy become more important than the Giver because that undermines His purpose for our lives.

God tested Abraham for a very long time by delaying the fulfillment of His promise, Satan tested him through temptation, and people tested him through their jealousy, distrust, and opposition. We sometimes experience the same thing in our lives. Remember, Abraham was tested but he patiently waited, ultimately received what was promised and was satisfied. If we imitate his example, we will share the same blessing.

When we pass the test, we are blessed with peace of mind and self respect so that we can better serve God. Passing the test is a reflection of our character and a way to show our faith. Take the test and remember, after the testing comes the blessing!

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord you God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

The football season is upon us, and in true form, it has already given us some exciting moments – great wins and tough losses. The first weekend of games were some of the best in years!

Although the Bulldogs had a great win, the game that was most exciting was the FSU-Notre Dame contest. My brother in law is a staunch fan of the Seminoles, and some of our dear friends are now living in Irish country, so our interest in the game was peaked.

The game did not disappoint, but the story was not the final score, but rather a young man by the name of McKenzie Milton, a backup quarterback for the Seminoles. The scenario played like this. The starting quarterback for FSU received a blow to the head and had to leave the game. Milton came off the bench to lead Florida State back from a ten point deficit and force overtime against the ranked Notre Dame team. The team lost, but Milton got a resounding win!

This scenario occurs in football all the time, but Milton had not played a game since November 24, 2018 when he sustained artery and nerve damage to his right leg along with a dislocated knee and torn ligaments. This injury was catastrophic and almost caused the amputation of his right leg.

Through the efforts or many surgeons, trainers, physical therapists, family, friends, and others, Milton did what others thought impossible. Dr. Levy (his orthopedic surgeon) is quoted as saying on the first day he met Milton after the injury, “Even if you miraculously get back and do what no one else has every done before, you have to ask yourself, do you want to?” Milton never hesitated and said, “Doc, I know I’m playing football again. I just know it.”

The courage. bravery, and fortitude of this young man brings to mind other situations where these qualities have been a factor in life’s situations. General Robert E. Lee used these sentiments in his Farewell Address to the Army of Northern Virginian at Appomattox, Lou Gehrig’s Farewell to Baseball address used them, and Winston Churchill’s We Shall Fight on the Beaches addresses these characteristics.

Fortitude is defined as mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger or temptation courageously. Personally, I think physical strength could be added.

In these last few weeks, I have learned a lot about folks who are poster men and women for fortitude. On June 8, 1967, as I was entering my senior year in high school, the USS Liberty was cruising in International Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean when it was attacked without warning or justification by air and naval forces of Israel. They were 294 officers and crew on board. Of these 294, 34 were killed, 174 wounded, and the ship was so severely damaged that it never sailed again.

Fortitude is a word that should be used for the surviving crew members who kept the ship afloat, cared for the injured, tended to their friends who were killed, and had no aid for days. The atrocities of this “incident”(as the government called it) are unbelievable and unfathomable, and they have never been fully acknowledged by our military and government. Many of us are guilty of being totally unaware of sacrifices and fortitude such as this, and the suffering that occurred.

The average person will never be able to exhibit this kind of fortitude, but there are so many incidences in life where we see people going about their lives with this strength every day. I see it in my own life. First, there’s my friend and college roommate who has been caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s every day of her life for ten years. Although he is now in a facility for round the clock care, her devotion, love and care continues daily. Her fortitude is evident in her devotion.

Then there’s the mother who endured the pain of watching her daughter courageously fight cancer for years and lose the battle. This mother swims in honor of her daughter’s fight and to raise money to fight cancer so that one day, when a cure is found, other Mother’s might be spared the pain she suffered. She is putting her fortitude into action for a cure and a promise!

There’s the young doctor (who happens to be my nephew) who is on the front line in a hospital fighting to save the lives of his patients who are suffering from Covid while hearing cries of “Help me, please.” His fortitude is making a difference and saving lives.

There’s an amazing thirteen year old young lady who suffers from autism. She is now using her new found “voice” to help others understand the trials and triumphs so that they may find hope and courage. Her fortitude is inspirational and courageous.

There are men and women who still live with images of the horrors of war, those who suffer ramifications of 911, and those who live with PTSD. Their fortitude is courageous.

The stories of fortitude can be found among us every day. God speaks to fortitude when he directs us to be strong and courageous as we know He will go with us. God bless all who set the examples of fortitude for others every day.

It’s not life that counts but the fortitude you bring into it. John Galsworthy

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Most products that we purchase these days have an expiration date stamped somewhere on the item. It rarely says, “product expires by”, but rather uses terms such as “best if used by” or “don’t use after”. Producers have learned that people react more positively if the word “expires” isn’t used.

When I was growing up, we had tons of fresh vegetables that we either canned or froze to eat later. Our Mama was always insistent on writing or stamping the date the products were frozen or canned on the outside of the package or can. My Daddy, on the other hand, always said that these particular items had no expiration date because they were fresh grown, picked, and processed! My children and grands know that I agree with my Daddy – if they smell good and aren’t over a year out of date – they are fine!

We don’t use the word expire much in our world today because it frightens us to ponder the reality that each of our lives has an expiration date. A gentleman in my water aerobics class put a perfect spin on it last week. He was looking at the twenty plus people there and said, “Look at all these old people trying to stay young. Sometimes you wonder if they know that we all have an expiration date?”

Later than same morning, I happened to walk by his wife as she was sitting in a chair waiting for him to come out of the locker room. I remarked that it was quite a difference in our lives now as husbands had spent most of their lives waiting on us and now we have to wait on them. We laughed, and I left.

The next week as we were waiting to start class, I noticed that she was there, but he was not. When I asked about him, her answer was not what I expected. She said, “My husband has been fighting colon cancer for ten years, and some mornings he moves more slowly than others. He will be here when he can. I am just so grateful that he is a survivor! He can take as long as he wants, because I will wait on him as long as he needs.”

God shows up in unlikely ways and circumstances to help us discover our cause and our legacy in this life. As we approach the later years of our lives, we realize that it’s not what you do that matters, but what you do for others. This sweet wife is leaving the legacy of her tender care and love to her husband and their family.

When our life’s sole focus is self interest, we won’t be missed when we are gone or we won’t be missed for the right reason. We all need to find a cause greater than ourselves, one that will out live us, and pour ourselves into it.

We don’t get to choose the moment of our arrival or departure here on earth. We do, however, have a chance to choose what our legacy will be. For what would we like to be remembered?

My mind and heart go to the American soldiers who lost their lives last week in Kabul defending those people and our country. Even though we don’t know their individual stories, we all know that they left quite a legacy for their families. Even though they lived each day with the possibility of the sacrifice they might have to make, I’m sure in the last few days of their lives in that dangerous situation, the possibility of their expiration date became very real. My prayer is that each of them would know how much this country values their service and their legacy.

Randy and I lost a dear friend and faithful servant of God on Tuesday. Dr. Med Roach, a Methodist minister and long time friend, died peacefully but much too soon. As we spoke with other minister friends, everyone lamented the same thing, “We all thought he would be here longer, and we would get a chance to see him again.” God’s expiration date is not based on our thoughts, hopes or timing. Fortunately, Med has left a legacy in each church he served and in every life of those he touched. God’s causes were always His priority. He certainly left a legacy of faithful service of God and love for God to his family and friends.

As the twentieth anniversary of 911 looms before us this week, and we remember all the men and women who died; some in service and others just going about their daily lives, the advice I would have for us all is, “don’t let your expiration date sneak up on you. Find a cause greater than yourself. Don’t just leave a will, leave a legacy that fulfills God’s will. ”

(Photo was copied, but look closely at the clouds.)