Month: May 2024

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Need encouragement?

“He said ‘Love…as I have loved you.’ We cannot love too much.”—Amy Carmichael

We’ve had some difficult health news in our family recently – the kind of diagnosis no one wants to hear. And that’s hard. But, you know what? We have God-following friends who are praying for us. Asking after us. Wondering if we need help. Asking God for his mercy and grace toward us.

And all of that means everything on a day when we’re tired or anxious: Just to know our friends and family are lifting us in prayer to our Father in Heaven, the one who sees, hears, heals, loves, and has promised never to leave us.

And do you know what all that support does for me? It makes me stronger. It helps me feel God’s love through human friends. It lightens my load and brightens my day.

And then, here’s the really good part: It makes me want to encourage someone else. There are many worse off than we are. Many who don’t know Jesus as Lord. Many who are suffering without the encouragement we are receiving. Paul, who suffered more in his lifetime than I ever will, tells us this: “Therefore encourage one another, and build one another up as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

We all know someone who needs some “building up” today. They need a gentle word, a loving touch, or a simple text message. They need us to offer to pray for them (very few will say “no” to that). Let’s be aware, as we go through our day today, of the people around us. Do we see or sense someone struggling – someone we can encourage? Let’s just do it. We’ll never know the difference a few words might make.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2

NOTE: Photo above was taken by a pastor friend of ours in Pakistan.

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Getting Ready

“Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next.” – Elizabeth Elliot

When we invite someone for dinner, we do a lot of work to get ready: plan the menu, buy the groceries, cook the food, set the table. Why? We have guests coming and we want everything to be welcoming when they get there.

When God called the people of Israel to come back to Jerusalem after their time in exile, he told them to prepare for a crowd:

“Enlarge the place of your tent,
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.” (Isaiah 54:2)

God was telling his people he would settle them back in the land, and they were to make their “tent” bigger to prepare for many more people to come to join them. Company is coming!

There are times when God is telling us to make our tents bigger – to prepare for the next thing he will call us to do. Sometimes, it’s clear what he’s planning and sometimes it’s not. But we should always have an attitude that says we are are willing to enlarge our tent to be ready to serve when he calls.

Often, when we look back on our lives, we see why he told us to move to a certain neighborhood or why he put us in a place where we could learn a new skill, or why he challenged us to teach that class. Even now, he may be preparing us for something greater, something new. If so, get ready for growth, for change, for something only God can do!

“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.” – Isaiah 40:3b

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Beyond Fear

“. . . for the believer, fear is always God-forgetful. If God is sovereign and his rule is complete, wise, righteous, and good, why would you fear?” – Paul David Tripp

How do you think God reacts when we are constantly stressed and worried? When I go to him with my troubles, I often find soothing words in the Bible, or I sense his tender care toward me. He responds to our fears, but I found out recently that, at some point, he seems to think we should develop enough spiritual confidence to get beyond fear.

I had been lying in bed worried about stuff (you probably understand). Then I prayed, giving it over to God. And I fell asleep. About two hours later, I was wide awake – thinking about everything that challenged me and assuming the worst possible outcomes.

Before I could even begin to pray about it all (again!), I sensed these words in my head, “Don’t you dare be anxious. After all I’ve done to prove my presence in your life, you have no right, no cause, to be anxious.” Hey, where was that tender touch, that reassurance, that sympathetic response? God was challenging me to grow up spiritually. To learn to really trust him.

Then I remembered when Jesus and the disciples were in a boat and a violent storm came up. When the men called frantically to the sleeping Jesus, he didn’t say “Don’t worry, guys, I’ve got this.” No. He said, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Kind of what he said to me. He wants us to grow up spiritually. And the true test of that is whether we really trust him or not.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise-
in God I trust and am not afraid.”
– Psalm 56:3-4a

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Looking for change?

“It’s much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future than it is to ask him what he wants you to do in the next ten minutes.” – Francis Chan

Do you realize how often in the Bible we read stories of instant change?

Think of the man born blind who was made to see. Do you think he thought that would happen when he woke up that morning?

Or of the Samaritan woman who, after just one conversation with Jesus, announced him as Messiah to the people of her town who had condemned her life choices. He even came into the village with her and stayed for a few days. She went from outcast to heroine instantly.

Or of the people of Israel, under enemy siege and out of food, barely surviving on scraps. Two lepers found the enemy camp hastily deserted, leaving an abundance of food behind. They went from starvation to plenty in one instant. From despair to joy. No one saw that coming.

As we look back on our lives, we sometimes can identify meeting someone who changed our life. Or making a small decision that had big consequences. Or having an opportunity we never could have anticipated. These turning points have happened to all of us.

So if you are feeling stuck now or in a rut or disappointed with the way things have turned out for you, don’t despair. God can intervene. We just need to watch for his hand and his guidance as we go through our days. Sometimes God’s changes are slow, sometimes fast, but there’s always a turning point. Today may be the day when everything changes!

“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:1

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It’s a family thing.

“Father is the Christian name for God.” – J. I. Packer

We all have an idealized picture of what a good family should be like. It’s where we are loved, accepted, corrected, and encouraged. It is where we’re secure and confident. While every earthly family falls short of that, there is a spiritual family designed to meet every one of those desires. Let’s look –

On the cross Jesus paid the debt we owed for our sins and he offers us forgiveness. That is an astounding gift. But it doesn’t stop there. The cross was the first step in God’s ultimate goal for us – that we be adopted into the family of God. It’s not a perfect family yet, but this family does have a perfect Father and we are his kids.

J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God teaches that having God as our Father means that, much as a good earthly father, he has authority over us, he has affection for us, and he provides for us.

Unlike earthly fathers, he is all-wise and all-sufficient. He will never steer us wrong and he will never run out of resources with which to help us.

Having God as our Father also means that we can approach him without fear and we have the honor of carrying his name. We are children of the King – forever. That should make us all smile – and relax!

Whatever our circumstances today, we know we have a Father who loves us, who will never leave us, and who will provide for us from his endless resources. It’s good to be adopted into God’s family!

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” – Galatians 4:4-5