Monthly Archives: August 2023

For the last couple of days we’ve been exploring possible reasons why God remains silent, especially, it seems, during the times we need to hear from Him the most. When our world is crashing down around us, in our anguish we cry out,“O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God.” (Psalm 83:1 NLT). Then we listen, but we hear nothing, only deafening silence.

How can this be? How can our Heavenly Father, our God who says He loves us with an everlasting love, stay silent when we cry out to Him? If He loves us, how can He not answer our prayers, rescue us from our trials, or at least comfort us in the midst of them? Why does He not speak?

However, as we study God’s Word we discover it is precisely because God loves us He sometimes does not answer.

You see, God is not just our Heavenly Father. He is also our Teacher and a teacher sometimes has to give us tests. Matthew 11:29 says, “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you.” The yoke we bear, the trials we face, are the tests He gives to help us grow and learn. However, as someone said at church recently, “A teacher is always quiet during a test.”

Can you imagine what would happen if a teacher, when giving a test, kept talking, telling his students all the answers? They’d never learn. They’d never study. They’d pass the class, but they’d never grow, and they’d leave that class unprepared to face the real world.

Each of us are being tested everyday. It is part of life and God, in His love, lets us have these trials for a reason. God’s not just concerned about your day-to-day problems. He’s looking at the big picture. God knows “when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” and “when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NLT).

Sometimes, like any good teacher, God stays quiet during the time of testing, but even in His silence, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation” because by staying quiet He is giving them room to grow into “the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12).

Someday soon God will speak. He will be silent no longer. On that day, when “your endurance is fully developed” and you are “perfect and complete”, you will hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21 KJV).

Till then keep listening for God’s voice, studying His word, “keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” (1 Peter 4:19).

God bless and have a great day!

The story of the boy Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 starts with this interesting observation, “Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.”

Sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it? Our world sometimes seems to think it has outgrown God and no longer needs His guidance. At the same time, the lives of those who claim to have a message from Him more often than not don’t match up to their words. As for us average Joe’s and Jane’s, our lives are so busy, with so many distractions and demands, that hearing God speak amidst all the noise seems well nigh impossible. Yet, even with all our frantic running around, we know something is missing. Sometimes we’d give almost anything to hear God whisper in our hearts, “Peace. Be still.”

So what’s a person to do? How can we hear God’s voice in the midst of all the noise? The answer is we need to Stop, Look, and Listen. This is how Samuel was able to hear God speak and it will work for you and I too.

Stop – 1 Samuel 3:3 (NLT) says, “Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. No, I’m not advocating sleeping in church, but to hear God’s voice we need to put ourselves in situations where He’s most likely can be found. For some this might be church while for others it might be out in the beauty of nature. Wherever your quiet place is, you need to go there regularly to meet with God.

Look – Look for a guide. Verse 7 says, “Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.” Samuel heard God speak, but he had no idea who it was. Confused, he went to Eli. Now Eli wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with God right then, but he knew God well enough to recognize what was happening. Sometimes, consulting with a godly friend or mentor can help us learn to listen better too.

Listen – Once he realized, with Eli’s guidance, what was happening, Samuel listened for God to call again. When He did, Samuel was ready. He replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” Then he did just that – he listened and he kept listening for the rest of his life.

God is still speaking. He’s still calling. He’s still looking for Samuel’s in our day and age. You can be one of them, if you will just remember to Stop, Look, and Listen everyday. And when you hear Him call your name, be ready to reply, “Speak, Lord, I am listening.”

Do you ever wonder, when trouble comes, why God seems so quiet? Your health is threatened, your marriage is on the rocks, you’re standing on the precipice of financial ruin, and you cry out to God and you hear nothing, not even crickets. All you hear is utter silence that leaves you feeling abandoned and alone.

Where is God in times like these? Why does He seem to stay silent when you need to hear Him the most? As I’ve studied and thought about this I’ve discovered a couple things which can make it hard for us to hear God’s voice sometimes. Over the next couple days we’ll explore these things together.

The first thing I’ve learned is sometimes it’s not that God isn’t speaking, but that we are not tuned in to His voice. He’s talking, but we can’t hear Him through all the noise, because we’ve not spent enough time listening to Him in the first place.

I have hearing loss, probably from spending too much time working in the broom shop in academy and college. I wear hearing aids, but sometimes I forget to put them on. When this happens I have trouble hearing others’ voices, but Ana’s voice I can still understand. Why? I’ve spent so much time with her I’m tuned into what she has to say.

It’s the same with God. When we come near to God, accepting Jesus as our Savior by faith, we become His children, His cherished possession. We belong to God and, as Jesus promised, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.” (John 8;47). As we come near to Him each day, through Bible study and prayer, we become attuned to His voice. Then, even when life gets the loudest, we’ll still be able to hear Him speak.

Are you having trouble hearing God’s voice today? Then it’s time to tune in to Jesus. It’s time “Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:8 NIV). Open your Bible and listen for Him to speak. Invite the Holy Spirit to attune your ears to HIs Voice. If you do this He promises He “will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

Tomorrow we’ll look at the story of the boy Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:1-10 and what it can teach us about hearing God’s voice. Until then, God bless and have a wonderful day!.

Children can be so much smarter than we adults. Have you noticed that? We get so tangled up in our worries and cares we sometimes feel trapped, with no way forward. Whether it’s financial setbacks, relationship difficulties, or health problems, we let these tie us up and steal our joy in the present, while we worry about our future.

Kids handle things differently. They live in the here and now. They take each day as it comes, trusting God and their parents with the rest. When bad things happen they may cry a little, but soon something new catches their attention and laughter bubbles up out of them once again.

We could learn a lot from our kids. No wonder Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3 NIV).

Even though children take a simpler approach to life and can be downright silly at times, every once in a while they say something incredibly wise. Last Sabbath our pastor shared a couple of those moments with us in church.

Pastor Eric told us about his beautiful daughter, Julianna, who 6 years ago, died of a brain tumor at only 8 years-old. Even after months of chemotherapy and radiation, Julianna’s faith remained strong and she told her parents, “I’m not afraid to die, because I know Jesus has me.”

One night, as Julianna lay in bed with her parents, while recovering from the latest treatments, she suddenly declared, “I’ve got a wise saying to tell you guys.” Her father grabbed his cell phone and recorded what came next.

Julianna said, “Life won’t pause in the middle of something scary.” Then she added, “we always should look ahead, because it’s going to get over, like in one minute. Life won’t pause. Remember that.”

“Life won’t pause.” Pretty wise for an 8 year-old, don’t you think? No matter what you are facing right now, no matter how scary this moment, it is only that – a moment. Life doesn’t pause. This too shall pass and, in the end, our God will make “all things work together for good to them that love God…” (Romans 8:28 KJV).

Today, no matter what comes your way, remember – life won’t pause. Keep looking forward, keep trusting Jesus to guide you safely through whatever lies ahead. Life won’t pause and neither will God’s love and compassion for you. No, “They are new every morning; great is [His] faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22).

(If you would like to hear more about Julianna’s faith, here’s a link to Pastor Eric’s sermon, Julianna’s Journey: A Child’s Faith)

Our granddaughter, Bexlie, adores her grandmother and tries to imitate everything Ana does. If Ana eats something, Bexlie wants some. If she coughs, Bexlie coughs. If she vacuums the floor, Bexlie grabs her toy vacuum and joins her Nana. No matter what Ana does, Bexlie does her best to do the same.

The other day Ana was bending down to clean something off the floor with a cloth. When she did this she leaned on the coffee table with one hand, while wiping the mess up with the other. Bexlie immediately ran and got a cloth and, leaning on the coffee table like Ana, enthusiastically wiped the already clean floor, declaring the whole time, “Bexlie help. Bexlie help.”

Bexlie wants to be like Ana and our Heavenly Father wants us to be like Him. Paul tells us we should “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” (Ephesians 5:1 NLT).

Just like Bexlie loves to imitate her Nana, so should we strive to be more and more like God, imitating Him in everything we do. Our highest goal should be to be like Jesus. And what was Jesus like? Matthew 20:28 says “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

What a difference this would make in our relationships with others if we chose each day to be like Jesus, to serve, instead of expecting to be served. Instead of retaliating when someone wrongs us, we would turn the other cheek. Instead of words of anger, we’d respond with love. Instead of turning our back on another’s pain, we’d walk with them through the valley, even carrying them if we had too.

Bexlie wants to be like Ana. Someday, as she gets to know Jesus, I hope she’ll want to be like Him too. In the meantime, Ana and I will continue to try to set her an example, by striving to imitate God and live like Jesus everyday. I hope you’ll do the same for those you meet today.

“Be like Jesus, this my song,
In the home and in the throng;
Be like Jesus, all day long!
I would be like Jesus.”

James Rowe

Have you ever been in a store and just couldn’t find what you were looking for? I have – far too many times!

I will search aisle after aisle, to no avail, until I finally break down and do something which goes against the very essence of being male – I ask for help.

This is a major concession on my part, so I appreciate it when the person I ask, instead of just giving me directions, actually takes me to the correct aisle and points out the product I am looking for.

We human beings spend a good portion of our lives searching for something, many times with no real idea what we’re searching for. We just know something’s missing. What we don’t realize is what we’ve been searching for all along is God.

So we try this thing or that, read books, search the net, all in a vain attempt to fill that God-shaped emptiness inside. Finally, in desperation, we do something which goes against our very nature. We ask for help.

Unfortunately, when we do finally take this step and ask a Christian for help in finding God, too often they instead inundate us with information. Prophecy. Doctrinal arguments. Scriptural references.

I had a colleague once who, when describing how he’d “witnessed” to a patient, bragged, “I hit him with about 20 Scriptures in 10 minutes!” Ouch! That’s not witnessing! That’s assault!

Too often Christians’ approach to witnessing does nothing more than get the other person’s dander up. It causes them to get defensive and fight back with arguments of their own, pointing out inconsistencies in our arguments and even in our own lives.

What we really need is to follow the example of Philip. When he told Nathanael about Jesus, Nathanael’s response dripped with skepticism. He said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip didn’t take the bait. Instead of arguing with his friend. Philip simply invited Nathanael to,, “Come and see.” (John 1:46 NIV). 

in their search for God, it is not doctrine people need. What they need is a loving touch and a kind word. They need someone to hold out their hand and invite them to  “Come and see.”

Everywhere you go today you will come in contact with people searching for a God to love. When this happens don’t just give them directions. Show them the way. Put your arm around them and invite them to “Come and see!”

The story of the talents is one of the most oft quoted parables Jesus taught. We all shake our heads at the foolishness of the man with only one talent who went and buried it in the ground. I mean, really, how dumb can you be?

The truth is, sometimes I’m kind of jealous of that guy. After all, he had it pretty easy. He only had one talent he was responsible for and if he’d just spent a little time and effort at developing it the Master would have praised him for his efforts.

But what about those of us with several talents? That can be a heavy responsibility. If the master was upset with the guy with just one undeveloped talent, how is he going to feel about someone with many talents who doesn’t make the most of them?

Have you ever heard someone called a “Jack of all trades – master of none.” That pretty well describes me. I’ve been blessed (or cursed, depending on your perspective) with several different talents. I can write and speak fairly well. I’m pretty good at drawing and I’m starting to paint a little. I can design houses and build the cabinets for them. I create intarsia and do a little carving now and then. I’m pretty good at lots of things, but not great at any of them.

The problem for me and for any one with a talent for something, whether we have ten talents or only one, is a lack of focus. We’re busy doing so many things that we never reach our full potential in any of them. We need to choose one thing and focus on it till we master it, then move on.

The same holds true in our spiritual lives. It’s easy to get so distracted by all the things we need to do that we lose sight of the one thing that really matters, our relationship with Jesus Christ. To have true success in life, “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2 God’s Word translation).

Where is your focus today? Fix your eyes on Jesus and everything else will fall into focus too.

God bless and have a wonderful day.

I was out on my morning walk today, enjoying the beautiful flowers and trees that make our neighborhood such a pleasant place to live, when I met a white-haired gentleman walking in the other direction. As we passed each other, he groused, “Those trees sure stink!” Sniffing the air I realized he was right. The beautiful trees I was walking by did stink!

As I continued my walk, I thought to myself, “Isn’t that something? All I noticed was the beauty of the trees and flowers, but all that guy noticed was how bad those same trees smelled.”

We live in an imperfect world, with imperfect people (yeah, that includes you and me). Still, in spite of all that is wrong with this world, there is still so much beauty to see and experience. The bright colors of flowers along your path, fluffy white clouds floating through the sky, the song of a meadowlark in a field, the majesty of the stars at night. No wonder the Psalmist declared, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1 NIV)

And beauty is not just limited to nature. There is so much beauty in people too, especially those who’ve given Jesus first place in their hearts. A young person helping his grandmother across the street, a stranger stopping to help someone change a tire, a friend who’s always there to lend a helping hand.

We have a choice to make every day. We can concentrate on all that is ugly in the world around us and make ourselves and others miserable by pointing it out or we can look for the beautiful and good and focus on that. The choice is ours. What we choose will make all the difference in our lives and in the lives of those we meet

Today let’s focus on the beauty around us and at the same time watch for opportunities to add a little beauty to someone else’s life. There’s enough evil in the world without us pointing it out.
Today, let’s enjoy the beauty of the trees and not worry about the smell.

The front lawn of our new house has a problem familiar to most homeowners – dandelions!

This prolific little weed, so pretty in the spring, with its bright yellow blossom, becomes a nuisance when it goes to seed and starts to spread, taking over most of the lawn. Weed killers can sometimes work, but this is a tough little plant that tends to come back no matter what you do.

I do have to admire the dandelion for one thing – it knows how to let go. If its little seeds clung to the mother plant it would never spread and reach its full potential. It is only by letting go that it can find a place to grow on its own.

It’s the same with you and I. Matthew 16:25 warns, “…whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

If we cling to our old way of life, to the familiar, and never take a chance, we will never learn to fly, never reach the full potential God wants for us. We long for a better life, but it’s so hard to let go of the things that hold us back, our old habits, the safety of everyday routines. It’s so hard to trust God and take a leap of faith.

Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” God wants us to have an amazing, meaningful, fulfilling life, a life beyond our wildest dreams. But we cannot have this rich and abundant life he wants for us as long as we cling to the things of this life. It is only by letting go of the life we’ve grown accustomed to, that we can find true life, a life that will never end.

What are you holding on to today? Let go! Let go and grasp the life Jesus offers so freely to each and every one of us. Let go and grab Jesus’ hand instead and never, ever let it go! Then, and only then, will you know what it means to be truly alive, to be truly free!

Fifteen minutes. What can you do in 15 minutes?

The first thing every morning I:

Study my Sabbath School lesson,
Read 3 passages of Scripture,
Read The Open Word e-devotional, and,
Have prayer for the new day, asking God to bless and guide and protect me and my loved ones and friends.

I do all this in 15 minutes. Is it ideal? No. Should I be taking more time for study and prayer? Absolutely! But it is the best I can do some days and it gets my day started off right.

Many times people say, I don’t have time to study my Bible or to pray. The truth is you don’t have time not to!

Going without spiritual food day-in and day-out is as crazy as not eating physical food for days at a time. You can’t expect your spiritual life to be healthy if you don’t give it what it needs to survive – time spent feeding on God’s Word and communicating with your Heavenly Father.

King David knew the importance of this. Even with all the hefty responsibilities of running a kingdom he recognized the need of starting the day with his Creator. He said, “I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word.” Psalm 119:147. He made time with God a priority and it showed in his life. It was the secret of his success.

Fifteen minutes. It’s not much time, but it can make such a difference. Why not follow David’s example this week and “rise before the dawning of the morning” and spend that first 15 minutes with your Best Friend. What a great way to start the day!