Encouraging Words for Today

We’re still going through the process of unpacking our stuff from our move here. It seems like an unending process sometimes, but it’s worth it when I discover things I thought were lost or thrown away in the move.

A couple days ago I discovered a duffel bag filled with clothes tucked into a closet. As I started unpacking it I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple shirts and a favorite sweater I’d thought were lost. It was like finding hidden treasure!

The shirts and sweater were pretty wrinkled, enough so Ana threw them in the wash. She tossed in some soap and started up the washer. Those clothes got soaked, scrubbed, tossed about, and spun around. Then they were thrown into the dryer to be subjected to the heat and more spinning. You’d think after all that they’d look even worse than before, but actually they looked great, with not a wrinkle in sight.

In Ephesians, Paul tells us “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…” (Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV).

Without Christ, we’re a mess. Stained, wrinkled, and just plain filthy. But God loved us so much He didn’t leave us in this condition. He sent His Son to die for us, so we could be cleansed by His blood and washed “with water through the word…”

Separated from God by our sins, we were “without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12). But Jesus changed all that. Now we are clean in Him. But God’s not done with us yet. He wants even more for us. He wants to be able to “present [us] to himself as a radiant church…” (Ephesians 5:27).

In order to accomplish this God sometimes has to put us through the wringer. He lets life toss us about. He allows circumstances to send us spinning. Finally, He uses the heat of hardship to burn away the dross in our souls, so when He is done we will be “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27).

This process doesn’t seem “pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11). When we finally walk through Heaven’s Gate we will know it was worth it all. With a shout of joy we will throw our crowns at Jesus’ feet and thank Him for putting us through the wringer, so we could stand before His throne, without stain or blemish and not a wrinkle in sight!

I’ve been waiting for God to answer a certain prayer for a long time. You don’t need to know the details, but it’s pretty important to me. Everyday I talk to Him about it. Ok, I admit, sometimes it’s more pleading than talking. It’s just so hard waiting for Him to answer. I’m afraid He’ll say “No”, but also terrified He’ll say “Yes” because, when that happens, everything changes.

Waiting on the Lord is sometimes difficult, but lately, something has been changing. No, not in this thing I’ve been praying about. The change is in me. The more time I’ve spent talking to God about this, the less important it’s become for me. I still want it, but I’ve found something else I want more – this closeness with God I’ve found from spending so much time struggling with Him.

It’s sort of a settling in my soul, a realization that what really matters is not getting what I want, but wanting what I’ve got. It’s being satisfied with the way things are, if that’s what God wants them to be. I guess that’s what Paul was talking about when he said, ”I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11 NIV).

It’s okay to want something good really bad. Jesus even said we should “should always pray and not give up.” (Luke 18:1). I think sometimes, however, God doesn’t answer our prayers right away, because He wants something better for us – a relationship with Him.

If God gave us what we ask for right away, we’d say “Thanks” and be on our merry way, missing out on the chance to get to know Him better. So, instead, He makes us wait, lets us struggle with Him in prayer, and the more time we struggle, the more we learn to trust. He gives us time to grow closer to Him and, in the end, that is the best gift of all.

Jesus promised His Father “will give you whatever you ask in [Jesus’] name.” (John 16:23). But you may have to wait a while before you get an answer. This isn’t always easy, but the wait is always worth it in the end. So, while you’re waiting for God to answer, make good use of the time to get to know Him better. You may just find He’s what you’ve been waiting for all along.

One of my favorite memories is of spelunking with Dad and Uncle Ben in a cave in Tennessee when I was a teenager. As I remember, the cave was set in the middle of the field. There was this large crater in the ground, with a path leading down into it.

When you got to the bottom, the only way into the cave was through a small tunnel in the rock. The tunnel was just large enough for a man to crawl through on his belly. About half-way through, the tunnel turned sharply to the left, before entering the cave.

I remember pushing my backpack ahead of me as I squirmed forward. I’m a little claustrophobic and I could feel the walls closing in on me. When I got to the turn I felt a moment of panic, certain I was going to get stuck as I navigated the corner. After taking a couple deep breaths I was able to press on. Moments later I dropped out of the tunnel into the cave itself.

What I saw took my breath away! I was in a huge cavern with massive stalactites and stalagmites and multi-colored rock formations. It was incredible! I was so glad I hadn’t given up when I was crawling through that narrow tunnel. If I had I would have missed out on the beauty of that amazing cave.

Jesus warned “small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:14 NIV). It goes against our human nature to take the narrow way, to do the difficult thing, but we miss out on so much when we choose the broad road, the easy path.

Being a Christian can be uncomfortable, unpopular, and just plain hard, but in the end it will be worth it all. When we finally walk through that narrow gate that leads to the tree of life, all the difficulties and hardships we’ve faced along the way will seem like nothing, as we behold the wonders of Heaven.

If you’re going through a tight place in your life, not sure you can turn the corner that lies ahead, don’t despair. You are not alone. Jesus has already gone before you. Keep your eyes on Him and He will lead you safely through that narrow way to your glorious new home. So, don’t give up. Press on! You’re almost there!

The news recently told of an Australian sailor, Timothy Shaddock, who, with his dog Bella, spent 3 months floating in the Pacific Ocean off of Mexico. He had set sail from La Paz, Mexico, but ran into bad weather. His boat crippled, he drifted out of the Sea of Cortez into the Pacific. Three months later they were finally rescued when a tuna boat’s helicopter spotted them 1200 miles from land.

We love to hear stories like this, of people who have drifted out to sea and survived. Sometimes it happens due to bad weather or an engine malfunction. At other times it’s just that the person wasn’t paying attention to the tides or the weather and got swept out to sea.

This is often what happens to us as Christians. The apostle Paul warned that “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1 NIV).

We get so busy with our daily lives, just making a living, putting one foot in front of the other, we stop paying attention to what really matters, things like spending time with God and studying His Word. Before we know it we’ve drifted away from Him and the Truth and aren’t sure how to find our way back.

Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t drift through life, without purpose or direction, “carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.” (Hebrews 13:9). Anchor yourself to the Rock, Christ Jesus. Study His Word everyday, reviewing the truths you have learned and discovering new depths of His love for you. Spend time talking with Him and seeking His direction for your life. If you do this you will never drift away from His sight, but will alway stay safely in the Harbor of His love.

I’ve discovered something I really don’t like about College Place – Spiders!

They have these spiders here that, in the Fall, seem to be everywhere. They spin their webs on my mailbox, on the railings of our front porch and between the plants in the garden.

The thing I hate most is when they make long strands of webbing across the sidewalks. I’ll be walking along, minding my own business and the next thing you’ll see is me frantically flailing my arms, trying to free myself from the spider web I just walked into. It gets on my face and sticks to my arms and hands. The only thing it doesn’t get into is my hair, but only because I don’t have any.

Now, I’m not afraid of spiders. I’d just rather not get entangled in their webs when I’m walking down the street. That’s a good way to ruin a perfectly good walk!

The thing is, I usually don’t see the web strands before I get wrapped up in them. If I saw them I’d avoid them. Sin’s a lot like that. I may not even be looking for trouble, but I’m also not watching where I’m going. Before I realize it I’ve walked into some temptation Satan has strung across my path and I find myself all tangled up in old habits and sins I thought I was done with.

I can free myself pretty easily from a spider web, but when I get entangled once again in old sins and temptations I’m pretty helpless on my own. I struggle and flail about, but I can’t get free without help. Thankfully, help is just a prayer away. God promises “call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” (Psalm 50:15 NIV).

So, don’t despair if you’ve gotten caught once again in Satan’s web. Call on Jesus and He will set you free from “the sin that so easily entangles.” (Hebrews 12:1). And “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36).

I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about pain. Pain hurts!

For the last several months I’ve been dealing with almost constant neck pain. X-rays show significant degenerative arthritic changes of my cervical spine and I think I aggravated the underlying problem with all the lifting I did during our move.

I’ve been seeing a chiropractor, which helps some. I’m also doing stretching and strengthening exercises, will be starting PT soon, and my PCP gave me a referral to physiatry. In other words, I’m doing everything I can to mitigate the pain.

Richard Rohr, in his article “Transforming Pain” stated, “If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it—usually to those closest to us: our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, and, invariably, the most vulnerable, our children.”

We see the truth of these words played out in our world everyday, in broken homes, shattered lives, abusive relationships, and wounded hearts. On the world stage we see it most dramatically in the wars and conflicts between nations or people groups.

Whatever the setting, whether in private homes or armed conflict, the root cause is pain, the pain of poverty, disrespect, alienation, and despair. When this pain is allowed to settle in one’s soul it leads only to more pain, both for ourselves and those around us.

Just as I cannot fully eliminate the pain in my neck, so personal, family, and societal pain is tenacious. The secret is not necessarily to stop the pain, but to transform it into something positive, to use it to help us grow. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3, 4).

Pain can cause terrible harm, especially if we transmit our pain to others. However, if we let God transform our pain and use it to help us grow, not only are we changed, but our corner of the world changes too. Transformed pain makes us more sensitive to the pain of others and the effect can be contagious.

No one really enjoys pain, but 2 Corinthians 4:17 promises “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Whatever kind of pain you are dealing with today, whether physical, emotional, or something else, give it to God and let Him transform it into something good – a thing called Hope.

Today, October 14, 2023, a total solar eclipse will be visible from Oregon to Texas. As the moon crosses in front of the sun, the skies will darken as the sun’s light is partially blocked, leaving just a “ring of fire”. It will be a spectacular event, one people will travel hundreds of miles to see.

For most of us, a solar eclipse is an easily explainable, though still amazing, scientific event, but for our ancestors this was not the case. For them solar eclipses generated not wonder, but fear.

Ancient myths often featured a beast or an angry god trying to destroy the Sun. The Chippewa shot flaming arrows into the sky in an attempt to rekindle the Sun. Peruvian natives did the same thing, but they were trying to drive away the beast that was eating the Sun. For Indonesians an eclipse was caused by the god Rahu swallowing the sun. This didn’t work, because the sun burned his tongue, so he spit it out.

We laugh at the foolishness of these traditions, but we too tremble when the unexpected comes our way. We may not fear a solar eclipse, but we do fear the unknown. We often are overcome with worry and despair when the unexpected happens or things don’t go as we had planned. When the light of God’s presence is momentarily blocked by unforeseen circumstances, we stumble in the darkness, trembling in fear about what will happen next.

It doesn’t need to be this way, however. God has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). In an eclipse, the sun temporarily blocks our view of the sun, but the sun is still there. In the same way, God is still, even when troubles and worries momentarily block our view of Him

So, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NIV). Don’t be afraid of the dark, because, even there, God sees you, for “darkness and the light are both alike to [Him].” (Psalm 139:12 NKJV).

The sun will come up tomorrow, of that you can be sure. You can also be certain of this – your Heavenly Father will never leave you, even on your darkest day. You may not be able to see Him, but He is still there. Grasp His hand by faith and he will guide you safely through the darkness back into His marvelous Light.

My morning walks are becoming more colorful as we move farther into autumn. The trees, which in the summer were a fairly uniform green, are changing before my eyes, their inner beauty coming out. Each is unique. Some are orange, others yellow or red, still others a mixture of purple or pink.

The amazing thing is those colors were there all the time, hidden away. It took a change in the seasons, a blast of cold air, to bring out their inner beauty. The leaves actually had to die, before they could be transformed.

The Bible says your beauty, “should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4 NIV). Each of us is unique, created by God with specially designed attributes which He has given us to bless others and bring beauty into the world around us.

However, for these gifts to have the impact they were intended for, a transformation must take place. The Bible says, “we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This transformation is not an easy one. God, in His mercy, sends trials our way to speed the process. Paul warned of this in 1 Corinthians 5:12. He said, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

Just as the leaves must endure the cold and even die for their beauty to be revealed, so we must endure hardship and fiery trials, even dying to self, if we are to be transformed into the image of Christ, so His beauty can shine through us.

Today, as you enjoy the beauty of the autumn leaves, ask God to work a transformation in your life too. This will mean facing some difficulties and hardships along the way, but in the end it will be worth it all, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Autumn is a time for change. Ask God to change you too, that others may see His beauty through you.

Stand Up!

Yesterday we were babysitting our grandson when he crawled across the floor, grabbed a hold of my pant leg and pulled himself up and stood. I was thrilled, not only that he stood, but because he chose to come to his grandpa, instead of grandma (she was so jealous! I loved it!).

He was apparently quite proud of himself, because he got a big grin on his face and yelled, “Eh!” This apparently means “Look what I did!” Well, actually, he says, “Eh!” for almost anything. Whatever he means by it, we just love hearing his voice.

As happy as we were to see our grandson reach this milestone, the joy we felt pales in comparison to how God feels when one of His lost children takes their stand for Him. The Bible says, “there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Luke 15:7 NLT).

Like the prodigal’s father, your Heavenly Father is watching for you, ready to run to you with His arms open wide, to welcome you home. “He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17).

No matter how far you’ve fallen, it’s not too deep for God to reach. Today, look up to the Father from the depths of your sin and despair. Humble yourself before Him, grab hold of His outstretched hand, “and he will lift you up in honor” and help you stand. (James 4:10).

Haven’t you crawled around in the dust of your past mistakes for long enough? Like our grandson, choose to take a stand! Just as He did to Joshua long ago God is calling you to “Stand up!” (Joshua 7:10). Don’t just sit there! Stand up! Stand up for Jesus today!

What do you fear? Losing your job? Apologizing to that person you’ve wronged? Taking a chance on a new relationship? Having enough money for retirement?

Maybe it’s not a “what”, but a “who” that’s got you shaking in your boots. Your boss? Maybe your spouse? The guy at work who’s always making your life miserable. That bill collector who won’t leave you alone?

Whoever or whatever you fear, that fear can be paralyzing, keeping you from reaching your full potential. The problem is your fear is misplaced.

The Bible says there is only One whom we should fear. Deuteronomy 13:4 (NLT): “Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.”

When we fear the Lord we don’t need to fear anything or anyone else, because God is on the side of those who fear Him. Psalm 25:14 says, “The Lord is a friend to those who fear Him and Psalm 115:13 adds, “He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly.”

Good things come from fearing God. Ecclesiastes 8:12 assures us “those who fear God will be better off.” If you fear and obey God “you will enjoy a long life” (Deuteronomy 6:2). Our Heavenly Father provides for and “gives food to those who fear him.” (Psalm 111:5).His “delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 147:11).

Those who fear the Lord can count on Him to “show them the path they should choose.” (Psalm 25:12). God will be “your helper and your shield.” (Psalm 115:11). He provides security for those who fear Him and “he will be a refuge for their children.” (Proverbs 14:26). The Lord watches over those who fear him…” (Psalm 33:18) and “surrounds and defends” them (Psalm 34:7).

There are many things we can fear in this life, but only One whom we should fear – the God who gave His Son to die for you and me. If we fear Him, then there is nothing and no one else we need to be afraid of.

The choice is yours. Whom do you fear?