Be Made Whole

Are there times you feel lost? Do you feel as though something just isn’t in sync? Have you felt as though you were not where you should be? Do you like having that feeling? Would you like to regain the feeling of being where you should be?

We all go through times of feeling out of place. Perhaps it’s as simple as being at a company party. It could be a promotion that moves you up a level. Maybe it is moving across the country. You might have had to be part of a search team.

Regardless of feeling like you are lost, there is one thing we can all do at all times—we can praise God. We may be lost in a strange town. We can praise God and ask for His help. We may be going through a tough time in our personal lives. We can praise God and ask for His guidance.

At no time is it inappropriate to praise God. This is a point I believe we all forget. I know I do at times. We forget God is always there, He is always with us. We lean on our own knowledge and wisdom, rather than reaching out to God.

It is at times like these that we need to reach out to God to put things right. It is when we feel like something is missing that we need to realize it is God, we are not reaching out to Him. God is always ready to come, like the shepherd seeking his lost sheep, to our rescue. We simply need to call to Him.

It is not to say God is not working in our lives. We need to reach out to remind ourselves that He is always there. We need to ask for His assistance to put ourselves back in sync with Him. It gives us comfort and a feeling of peace as we remember God is there with us.

I pray we all reach out to God during those times of feeling out of sync. I pray we ask God to seek us out. I pray each one of us will recognize God is what is missing during those times of unease. Reach out to God. Ask God for help. Ask God to come into the situation. Know that He is always there. Trust God to answer. Be made whole.

Psalm 119:175-176

Let me live that I may praise you,

and may your laws sustain me.

I have strayed like a lost sheep.

Seek your servant,

for I have not forgotten your commands.

Day of Commitment

Do you like to laugh? Do you like parties? Are you happy when you are celebrating a birthday? Do you love celebrating holidays? Do you rejoice in your salvation provided by God? Do you jump for joy when you see someone commit to Christ?

Celebrating birthdays and holidays can be amazing. Those celebrations are often special. We have memories of our children’s birthdays at an early age. We look back at pictures, seeing their smiles with eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

There may be other special holiday events that bring some very special memories to us. Perhaps it was a special Independence Day celebration. It may have been a special Christmas. We might have special memories of an Easter Sunday. As we think back over our lives there are special days we remember.

We should also be joyous over the day we came to Christ. For some, it was at a young age. For others, it came much later in life. However, most of us probably don’t celebrate that day and may not even remember the date we made that all important commitment.

Why should we celebrate it? That was the day our initial seeking of God culminated in a momentous decision. It was the first day of our walk in a new life. It is also the day God celebrated our decision, welcomed us into His arms, and the host of heaven rejoiced. The day we made our commitment to follow Jesus is the most important day of our lives.

We may be more likely to remember the day our children or another loved one made that commitment. In fact, we may remember it vividly, including the place, who was present, how they were dressed. Yet, do we celebrate that day?

Rejoicing in God is something we should do every day. As we continue to look for His help, giving Him our praises, honoring Him is a way to let Him know we are thankful for His blessings. As we acknowledge His greatness, we become more aware of Him working in our lives.

I pray we all rejoice in our commitment to God. I pray we sing God’s praises, giving Him the honor He deserves. I pray each one of us continues to seek God’s help each day, following the guidance of His Holy Spirit. Seek God. Rejoice in your salvation. Sing praises to Him. Celebrate the day you committed to Christ.

Psalm 70:4

But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

“The Lord is great!”

Saved From Death

Is there someone you know who needs to turn away from destructive behavior? Have you made attempts to get them to see the error of their ways? Do you have your own issues with destructive behavior? Do you know the implications go beyond this life?

We know people who go about their lives either denying God exists or simply not wanting to change their lives to follow Him. We see their destructive behavior. We shake our heads. We talk about them. But what are we doing to turn them toward God?

Some of us have our own issues. We struggle to make changes of our own. We need someone to help us, yet we are either afraid to ask or too embarrassed to ask. So, we continue to struggle on our own. If we make progress at all, it’s as slow as walking in waist deep mud.

On the one hand, it would be wonderful to be like those we hear about who make a one-hundred-eighty-degree turnaround at the snap of their fingers. On the other hand, we are afraid of what our friends will think. We are afraid we will need to leave behind our current friends, needing to make new friends. Making new friends is difficult, especially in today’s world of social distancing, lack of getting out at all due to the pandemic, and the extensive work from home business world.

With all the above said, James tells us that by turning someone away from their sinful behavior we save them from death. He is not talking about the mortal death we all face, but the eternal death and punishment for those who do not belong to God. We don’t really want to think about the possibility of a friend spending eternity in torment. Whether we like to think about it or not, it is a reality we all must face.

Turning a friend toward God can be uncomfortable, especially if that person doesn’t really want to make a change. It can feel like chipping away at a large slab of marble. Yet, the great statues carved centuries ago were carved one chip at a time, ending in a masterpiece. Our efforts do not go unnoticed and may take years to take full effect. We must remain steadfast in our commitment and desire to save our friend. The reward is immeasurable.

I pray we all desire to save the ones we love. I pray we desire to save our friends. I pray each one of us will commit to turning others toward God, saving them from death. Turn from destructive behavior. Commit to helping others. Ask for help. Save someone from death.

James 5:19-20 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Loss or Gain

How do you react when you see someone else receiving accolades? How does it sit with you when someone you believe has done wrong is forgiven and welcomed with open arms? Do you respond with spite and disgust?

To see someone be given many gifts and waste them is difficult for us to swallow. It is especially hard when they return, and they are welcomed heartily. We may want to gouge their eyes out or send them on their way with a swift kick.

Let’s make this a little more personal. Let’s assume your sibling asked for and was given their inheritance at a young age. They went off to a large city, squandered their money, and found themselves homeless. They survive by digging through the dumpsters to scrounge food. Not a pretty sight. Finally, they have had enough. They decide to head home and ask their parents to allow them to stay with them for a while, until they get their feet back on the ground. They plan to beg forgiveness. When they show up, they start to beg but are stopped in mid-sentence by your parents, who throw their arms around your errant sibling and welcome them into the family home. Not only that, but they through a party to welcome them home. How does that suit your fancy?

That is exactly what happens in the parable of the prodigal son. Putting ourselves in the shoes of the son who stayed with his father and worked the entire time the other son was squandering his inheritance; we must ask ourselves how we would feel about it. Would we react the way the older son reacted? Would we ask how in the world our parents could throw a party for such a loser?

We are put in that very situation when someone comes to Jesus late in life if we have been serving Him for many years. Are we joyous the rebel rouser in their youth, flaunting rich person in their middle years, and world jaunting in their retirement years person finally comes to Jesus at age 90, just before they are about to die? Or are we wondering how God could welcome that person into His loving arms?

I believe God wants us to rejoice with Him. After all, it is God’s grace and mercy that saved both the prodigal and each one of us. It costs us nothing for God to save the other person. It is only jealousy that causes us to question God’s grace and mercy. We want more than the person who lived a raucous life and was saved on their death bed.

I pray we all rejoice with God when any person is saved. I pray we long to see the lost souls of this world saved. I pray each one of us realize it is no cost to us when God saves someone else. Rejoice with God. Celebrate another soul being saved. Long for the lost to be saved. You have lost nothing. You have gained a brother or sister.

Luke 15:31-32 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The Return

Have you had a family member or friend that left town for several months and returned? Have you left town for several months and returned? Was there a party thrown or were people happy to see the person who left and returned?

There are many reasons for people to leave town. Students go off to college. Some go to military boot camp. Others move for a job. Still others may go on mission trips to other countries. All of these people may be gone for a few months or several years.

Let’s consider our children for just a moment. When they go off to boot camp for a few months, we celebrate their return. We celebrate their accomplishment, the change in them, and the mere fact we get to see them for a few days knowing they will leave again. If the child goes off to college, we may see them more often—some freshmen return home nearly every weekend. Yet, it is no less joyous to see them and catch up on how their classes have been going.

When our children go to take on new challenges and are successful, those celebrations—even if it’s just their favorite meal—are happy moments. But what if your child left in a selfish manner and lost everything they had? It might be a little different reaction on our part.

In today’s passage, we see the reaction of the father whose son had been selfish, thought highly of himself, failed miserably, and returned. Notice the father didn’t berate him for his failure. No, he told his servants to cook the finest meal to celebrate his sons’ return.

The father’s reaction in this parable represents God’s reaction when a lost soul returns. He celebrates with a light heart, welcoming the lost into his house. Not only was a choice meal prepared, but the father had his son dressed in the best clothing and put a ring on his finger. The ring is key. Though clothing may be changed, the ring signified the family the son belonged to. Often the ring was used to seal official documents. It meant the son was a member of the family and could make purchases on behalf of the family.

God has celebrated over each of us who have come to Him. He has empowered us to be His representatives. He dresses us in the finest robes, if not in this life, in eternity. We are called brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We simply need to remember we are part of God’s family.

I pray we all celebrate when a lost soul comes home. I pray we accept the robe and ring from God. I pray each of us go into the world as God’s representative. Celebrate with God. Be joyous when a lost soul returns. Accept God’s gifts. Be His representative.

Luke 15:23-24 “‘Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

The Good Shepherd

Have you ever been lost? Were you truly lost, somewhere you had never been before and not sure how to get to a safe place? Were you hoping someone would come find you? Are you in a place like that now?

I’m sure most of us have been lost at some point in our lives. We were in unfamiliar territory and not sure how to get back to the interstate. We had gotten off the main road for one reason or another and gotten turned around.

Perhaps you were moving to a new city for a new job. You were trying to find your place of work. Maybe you were trying to map out a route from your new residence to your new workplace. This was much more challenging before we had GPSs on our smart phones.

Being lost can cause a host of mixed feelings. We may feel scared, anxious, unsafe, and helpless. We can quickly spiral downward to the point of inaction, being frozen in place not knowing what to do. The fear of the unknown can be paralyzing.

We all experience being lost, even in small instances, throughout our lives. For example, we may be looking for a specific office in a building, not knowing exactly where it is. We may be following directions to a family farm, going down unfamiliar roads. We may stop to ask for clarification of directions.

Here is some good news for our spiritual walk—God is searching for us. He is like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep. He is gathering us together so He can protect us. He will continue to gather us, not only in this short life, but for eternity. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).

Notice God had long ago determined to gather those who follow Him from around the world. Ezekiel lived 500-600 years before Jesus was born. His prophecy of bringing God’s children together may appear to be for the Jews. Yet, that would be a narrow-sighted view, much the same the Jews would have had more than two-thousand years ago. God isn’t limited by time. His prophecy can span thousands of years.

I pray we all understand God is searching for us. I pray we turn to Him to be found. I pray each one of us trust God to gather us into His arms to keep us safe for eternity. God is calling out to you. Hear His voice. Turn to Him. He is the Good Shepherd. God will protect you. Trust Him.

Ezekiel 34:11-13a “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.’”

Noble Character

What would you say your reputation is? How is your temperament? How do you believe others view your ethos? What traits of yours do you believe others admire? In other words, what is your character?

We all have a variety of traits that make up our character. Our temperament, attitude, ethos, habits, disposition, and aptitude are just a few others observe about us. When we add all of them up, we identify the character of someone.

But how do we hone these character traits? They don’t simply come about on their own. Oh, there are some we are predisposed to based on our genetics. Yet we can build on those we deem to be good character traits and grow new character traits we believe will aid us in life. Despite popular belief, a person can change quite a lot about themselves, if they truly desire it.

We admire people of stately or noble character. Many times, we want to be like that person. Unfortunately, far too often we don’t desire it enough to work toward building a better character. We prefer to take the easy road rather than the road less traveled. We go with the flow rather than cutting our own pathway. We hang out with the same group rather than searching for a better one.

Making a change is hard. I know from personal experience. Leaving behind your old ways, pursuing new ways takes a concerted effort, discipline, and a strong desire. There are struggles and challenges that come with it. There will be missteps along the way. We likely will face ridicule from those we leave behind. Yet, in the end, building a noble character is worth it.

Building our character on God’s promises, knowledge, and wisdom is noble. As we build that character, our faith is strengthened, our hope becomes more confident, and our lives improve dramatically. We begin living the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10).

Being of noble character also provides us opportunities to lead others into God’s kingdom. We become a living, breathing example for others to follow. We become the stately person others want to be like. We become the image of Jesus for others to see.

I pray we all pursue a noble character. I pray we desire to live the abundant life Jesus promised. I pray each one of us seeks to be the image of Jesus to the degree possible. Be of noble character. Pursue God’s wisdom. Be a positive example for others. Strengthen your faith. Increase confidence in your hope.

Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Lack Nothing

Have you had to persevere through challenges? Have you had to gut it out, grind your teeth, hold on for dear life, and pray fervently for relief? How was that experience? Would you ever want to go through it again?

As we go through life, we experience various types of trials and challenges. Some of them are small, while others are absolutely gut-wrenching. We can see the end of the challenge for some, while the end is nowhere in sight for others.

A current challenge all of us are going through is the pandemic. It appeared the end was in sight a couple months ago. Now, we see it exploding once again. No one can predict when it will be over. Did you know the Spanish flu pandemic lasted nearly seven years? I’m sure none of us want this one to last that long.

Many people look at trials and challenges with an angry attitude. They continuously ask “why” with the mindset of discarding it or wishing the trial would be done. Those who look for wisdom also ask “why”, but with the mindset of “what can I learn from this? What is the purpose of this trial?”

If we look at trials and challenges as an opportunity to learn, we will see our faith and hope grow. As we persevere through those trials, we gain wisdom, insight, knowledge, and we see God at work in them. We will see God pulling us through. We will see Him shedding His grace and mercy on us. We will see God blessing us, even when we don’t ask for it.

Going through trials will either break us or we will grow stronger. The difference is who we turn to as we go through them. By turning to God, asking for His wisdom, learning from them, we mature as human beings and as Christians. James tells us our maturity will grow so that we lack nothing, meaning knowledge and wisdom that comes from God.

I pray we all persevere through the trials we face. I pray we turn to God, not only during trials, but at all times in every situation. I pray we become mature and complete. Lean on God. Learn from God. Persevere in His grace and mercy. Become mature. Become complete. Lack nothing. Grow in wisdom.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Helmet of Hope

How do you protect yourself? What measures do you take to protect your family? What are you protecting yourself and your family against? Are there specific dangers you worry about more than others?

Most all of us will take measures to protect ourselves and our families against the dangers of this world. We put young children in car seats. We put protective equipment on our kids to play sports to reduce the possibility of injury. We put coats on to protect ourselves from frostbite when it is cold outside.

There are other protective measures we should consider. Specifically, we should look to outfit ourselves with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17). By putting on the armor provided by God, we protect ourselves from the devil’s attacks, from the various schemes he uses to mislead, confuse, separate, and harm us.

It has become an automatic action for most of us to put a seatbelt on when we get into a vehicle. So much so that we don’t even think about it. Personally, I’ve gotten in a vehicle, put my seatbelt on, and later noticed it was on and not even remember putting it on. Putting on the full armor of God needs to become just as automatic as putting on a seatbelt.

The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica to put God’s armor on, since they belonged to the day. What does he mean by belonging to the day? It means we live after Christ had been crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. It means we live in the new covenant.

He goes on to tell them to be sober of mind. In other words, understand you are being attacked by the devil and prepare yourself for those attacks. He provides the short list of God’s armor to protect the vital body parts.

The breastplate protects our heart. The helmet protects our head. Our hope of salvation helps keep our minds focused on the promise of eternity with God. With the protection provided by hope, we can ward off thoughts of failure, anxiety, worry, anger, and hate. Maintaining our hope in Christ protects us from being led astray by temptations.

Paul wraps up his message by stating God did not put us in this world to suffer wrath, His wrath. Rather, God desires us to accept the salvation He has offered through His Son. Salvation through Christ is our ultimate hope.

I pray we all decide to put on the armor of God. I pray we hold on to our hope in Christ. I pray each one of us understand we live in the new covenant implemented by Christ. Put on the armor of God. Protect yourself from the devil’s attacks. Hold on to your faith and hope.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-9 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

A New Beginning

How would you like to have an inheritance you could never expend? Would you like to have confidence it would last forever? Do you desire a restart, a do over, a new beginning? Do you know it is available to you?

Most of us think of an inheritance as money, land, or possessions. Some are granted an inheritance of the family farm. Others may covet and receive family photos a hundred years old. Still others may inherit money or life insurance.

Unfortunately, all those things will be spent or fade or require a lot of work to maintain. Rare is the individual who inherits enough money they never have to work again. Cherished photos slowly fade over time. Those who inherit a family farm or business must continue to work diligently to maintain them, so they are productive and relevant.

There is an inheritance we can receive that lasts forever. It comes through our new birth, new beginning due to God’s mercy. He gifts us with it and a living hope, a hope that grows in confidence. Our hope that comes from knowing Jesus was resurrected and lives today. A hope that becomes stronger as we experience God working in our lives.

Our experiences with God are many. We simply need to open our eyes and ears to see and hear them. It is easy to say it is simple, yet we struggle with seeing Him at work as we worry about our day-to-day lives. With our focus on the moment, we fail to see the larger work of God going on all around us, which is why we need quiet time with God. A time to step out of the moment, reflect, and see how God has worked in our lives. As we see Him at work, our hope increases.

I pray we all take time to reflect and see God working in our lives. I pray we have confidence in the resurrection of Jesus. I pray each of us live in our hope and new beginning. Accept God’s mercy. Enjoy your new beginning. Experience God. Know Christ lives. Grow your hope. Look forward to your eternal inheritance.

1 Peter 1:3-4a Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.