Relying On God

Where do you turn in times of difficulty? Where do you turn in times of stress? How do you handle facing ridicule when standing for what is right? Who do you desire to be by your side? Can you count on them to always be there, no matter what?

We can be sure we all will face difficulty, stress, ridicule, and other hard times during lives, if we stand for what is right. There will be people who want to take short cuts, avoid proper processes, and pressure us to do the same. We will face unrealistic deadlines.

It is challenging to face difficult situations, and more so if we are facing them alone. We are better able to withstand the attacks and stress when there are others standing with us. We may rely on co-workers, friends, or family to partner with us. There may be times when they cannot stand beside us but may be supporting us in the background.

We can always count on God to be with us. For those who have not experienced him, it appears to be foolishness. Yet, when we fully trust God to be with us, we know he is there. We go to him in prayer, asking for guidance, relying on his strength, and trusting he will work it out to our good. By doing this, we are granted a peace and calm that only God can provide.

Though it may feel like the world is against us and things are falling apart, leaning on God will get us through it. We can be confident that even those who oppose us will see our steadfastness and our right standing. By trusting God to be with us, not only will we be able to withstand whatever difficulty we face but we will bring glory to God.

I pray we all know God is always with us. I pray we lean on God to guide us through difficult situations. I pray each one of us experience the peace and calm that can only come from God. Know God is with you. Ask him for guidance. Rely on his strength. Experience his peace. Bring glory to God.

Isaiah 50:7-8a

The Lord God helps me; 

therefore I have not been disgraced; 

therefore I have set my face like flint, 

and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 

he who vindicates me is near.

Sustain the Weary

How well do you speak? Do you speak foolishness? Do you speak wisdom? Do you speak about things on which you are knowledgeable? Do you speak things you know very little about? Have you tamed your tongue? Have you allowed God to train you in your speech?

We like to speak, at times, about things on which we know very little. Sometimes, we speak in ignorance without knowing it. Other times, we speak about things we know and from personal experience. We can impart wisdom to others when we pair knowledge and experience.

Yet, we speak best when we lean on God to guide our tongue. Without God guiding us, we can speak foolishness, blathering about nothing and saying nothing of value though we may speak many words. To tame our tongue, we need God to help us. It is from him that true wisdom comes, wise words that can save a soul.

Not only can we speak wisdom when relying on God to guide us, but we can lift the heavy hearted, we can comfort the broken hearted, we can encourage the downtrodden. It is with God’s guidance that we will speak to the words that he desires us to speak. It is with God’s guidance that we will restrain ourselves. It is with his guidance that we will gain the wisdom to know when to speak and when to be quiet.

I pray we all seek to tame our tongues. I pray we ask God to grant us wisdom to know when to speak and when to be quiet. I pray each one of us will lean on God to sustain the weary with the words we speak. Tame your tongue. Ask God for wisdom. Lift the heavy hearted. Comfort the broken hearted. Encourage the downtrodden.

Isaiah 50:4a

The Lord God has given me 

a trained tongue, 

that I may know how to sustain 

the weary with a word.

Jesus As Our Priority

What are your priorities? Is it family? Is it job performance? Is it caring for those in need? Is it being at every worship service, Bible study, or other church function? Are your priorities your own or are they driven by someone else?

We can have several priorities and often they compete to be at the top of our list. It can be challenging at times to discern which one must be put before the other. However, there is someone who can help us set our priorities straight, if we make Him our top priority.

When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, there was at least one voice who complained about the expense. Perhaps others thought what the one said. But Jesus set the record straight. He was to be the priority, especially since He was about to go to the cross and would soon be leaving them.

Don’t misunderstand. Jesus was not saying we should not serve the poor. What He was saying is we should always make Him the priority, serving Him and thereby serving the poor. When we make Jesus our top priority and allow Him to be our guide, we will serve the poor but will also serve Him in other ways.

Service to Jesus is more than just serving the poor, though they are a part of it. It also includes serving our family, telling others about Jesus, trusting in His promises, and loving Him as much as He loves us. By making Jesus our top priority, all other priorities fall into place.

I pray we all seek to serve Jesus. I pray we ask Him to guide us through the long list of priorities. I pray we make Him our top priority, trusting in His promises, trust He will guide us, and love Him as much as He loves us. Seek to serve Jesus. Make Jesus your top priority. Trust Jesus. Love Jesus.

John 12:7-8 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Giving It All To Jesus

Do you give your best? Or do you hold back? 

It is easy for us to hold back a portion for ourselves. We have a built-in instinct to take care of ourselves. We also can be selfish, wanting the best for ourselves. The combination of those two can drive us to being reserved and saving for a rainy day.

Mary saved nothing. She gave Jesus everything she had. The fragrant perfume oil she poured on Jesus’ feet was worth a year’s wages. Think about that for one moment. How much money do you make per year? Would you spend it all on Jesus? But it is more than that. That year’s wage was what a day laborer would make. In that time, day laborers were only men. Mary could not be a day laborer.

Mary’s extravagance is even more impressive when we know that the oil she poured on Jesus’ feet was worth more than the average woman would receive as an inheritance. Mary may have been saving her pennies her entire life to buy that bottle of oil. She spent everything she had to anoint Jesus just six days before He would go to the cross.

We do not have to give up every dollar we have. But Jesus does want us to give up everything we have. Contradictory? No. We are to be willing to use everything we have to serve Jesus. We need to understand that it all belongs to God, and we are merely stewards of what he has blessed us with. When we understand that and are willing to give it all back to him, our hearts have become like that of God’s.

I pray we all understand everything belongs to God. I pray we know we are stewards of God’s blessings. I pray each one of us are willing to give everything to God, making our hearts like his. God owns everything. You are a steward of God’s blessings. Give it all to God. Have a heart like God’s.

John 12:3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Celebrate Like Jesus

Do you like dinner parties? Do you believe the more food there is and the more people there are the better the party is? Do you like to celebrate special occasions? Birthdays? Christmas? Easter? Thanksgiving? Can you think of a better occasion to celebrate?

Dinner parties can be a lot of fun. Celebrations are joyous occasions and can take us to extreme highs. There are milestone birthdays and anniversaries. We all have a very special Christmas or two. We may have a special Thanksgiving or two. And Easter can be a different type of high.

Jesus was in the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary to celebrate. What might have been a funeral dinner was a celebration. Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead. Though Jesus had left briefly after raising Lazarus, He returned to have a celebratory dinner with Lazarus and his sisters.

The timing is key and amazing. Six days before the Passover—THE Passover. This is just six days before Jesus has His last meal with the disciples before going to the cross. The Passover was on Friday. So, this is on the Sabbath, the Saturday before what we now call Palm Sunday. So, Jesus knew His time on earth was coming to a close. Yet, He knew it was important to celebrate Lazarus being alive with Martha and Mary. We, too, can celebrate even when we know something is coming to an end.

I pray we all choose to celebrate special occasions. I pray we understand the significance of celebrating. I pray each one of us will celebrate with special people in our lives, even if we know something is coming to an end. Choose to celebrate. Celebrate with special people. Celebrate like Jesus.

John 12:1-2 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.

Walk Toward the Future

Do you have goals set for your life? Have you accomplished goals during your life? Do you look back over your life at your accomplishments? Do you relish them? Do they bring back fond memories? Do you live in those memories? Are you looking to the future?

It is easy to live in the past, relishing those good memories and accomplishments. They are familiar. We know the outcome of them. On the other hand, the future is unknown. It can be uncertain. But we know we cannot relive the past and must stride into the future.

Having the mindset of the Apostle Paul would serve us well. He did not live in the past. He eagerly walked toward the future. Paul had been an enemy of God, even as he thought he was doing God’s work. He had persecuted the early church until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. After than turning point, all Paul could think about was telling others about Jesus.

Many people who had lived hard lives or lived through bad situations become the most passionate evangelists. They know what it is like to live without God in their lives. They know the uncertainty of not having God to lean on. They know what it is like to be reborn into Christ and the stability, peace, joy, comfort, and strength that is drastically different in Christ.

Yet, all of us can also experience this. Far too often we grow comfortable in our Christianity. Attending worship becomes rote behavior. It can become nothing more than a social event. Our relationship with God can become superficial. How do we change that? We can follow Paul’s advice by not living in the past. See each worship service as a new opportunity to grow our relationship in God. We can ask God to rejuvenate us through the worship service before we walk into the sanctuary. We can keep walking toward God each day.

I pray we all eagerly walk toward the future. I pray we stop living in the past. I pray each one of us will ask God to renew us each day and seek to grow a deeper relationship with him. Do not live in the past. Walk toward the future. Ask God to renew you each day. Seek a deeper relationship with God.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Give It All Up

Do you willingly give things up? Are you willing to lose everything you have? Will you give it all away? Will you give up control of it all? Have you considered it is not really yours? Will you give them up to gain something far more valuable? Do you know you have this choice?

In our consumerism culture, we put a high value on possessions. Whether we openly admit it or not, many of us have the attitude that the one who dies with the most toys wins. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this attitude could not be further from the truth.

The Apostle Paul states that he regards everything lost for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ. Before we start selling everything we have, Paul does not say he actually gave them up. No, he considered them lost to him. In other words, he knows they all belong to God. He used possessions and money to spread the gospel of Jesus.

When we come to the realization that we own nothing but are stewards of what God has blessed us with, it frees us from consumerism. We no longer feel the need to compete with others. Our attitude becomes more like Paul’s. We seek opportunities to use what God has blessed us with to spread the gospel.

Why would we do this? To know Christ more. In some respects, it is like the question of whether the chicken or the egg came first. As we grow closer to Christ, we loosen our grip on possessions. As we loosen our grip on possessions, we learn to trust Christ more. When we reach the level of trust Paul had, we experience the freedom Paul spoke of to the church in Galatia in Galatians 5:1.

I pray we all seek to grow closer to Jesus. I pray we seek to be like Paul. I pray each one of us will loosen our grip on our possessions, trust God with all things, and experience true freedom. Grow closer to Jesus. Loosen your grip on possessions. Trust God. Experience true freedom.

Philippians 3:7-8a Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

No More Haughtiness

Do you sometimes feel like you have it all together? Do you feel haughty, as though you are better than others? Have you thought your heritage is one to brag about? Has being a member of certain organizations made you feel superior? Do you know those are false feelings?

We like to think we are better than others. It may be due to specific talents or skills we have. It may be that we have joined organizations that tout being better. Unfortunately, some of us will base our superiority on race. But all these thoughts are evil, coming from Satan.

I retired from the Marine Corps and remember being a young Marine all puffed up because of the history of the Marine Corps. I have since discovered that every person is valued by God. In fact, it was during my time spent in the Marine Corps that I interacted with people of many different cultures and races. It was over the course of those 20 years that God slowly opened my eyes.

No matter what our race is, what clubs we belong to, what profession we work in, we all are children of God. He cares for each person. He loves each person. We may disappoint him with our actions and attitudes, but he still loves us. The most important thing we can do is love him back.

The Apostle Paul discovered this same truth. As Paul describes himself, he had all the qualifications of being a Jew of Jews. He had been raised the right way, educated in the law, was a member of the right group, and thought he was blameless. God removed his haughtiness with an encounter on the road to Damascus. Paul learned what each of us should learn, having a close relationship with Jesus, following His commands is the most important thing we can do.

I pray we all give up our haughtiness. I pray we know that God loves and cares for each person. I pray each one of us will pursue a close relationship with Jesus and follow His commands. Do not be haughty. God loves you. God loves each person. Grow closer to Jesus. Follow His commands.

Philippians 3:4b-6 If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Perceive God’s Work

Do you hold on to old things? Do you hold on to old memories? Do you like to remember the “good ole days” and wish you were still living them? Are you fearful of new things? Does the future scare you? Have you considered that God is doing something new?

We like to hold on to old memories and sometimes those memories are tied to old possessions. We might say we hold on to things that are sentimental. It may be a piece of jewelry. I may be an old t-shirt. I may be grandpa’s pocketknife. We won’t let go of them for the world.

For many of us, the future is scary. We have no idea what it will bring and fear of the unknown grips us in a vise. That fear can paralyze us. It can keep us from moving forward. If we never overcome it, it will keep us from becoming who God intended us to be.

God is always doing something new. Sometimes it is small things that are new and sometimes big things. God prophesied through the prophet Isaiah that he was going to do something new. In this case, God was talking about doing something big. This passage is often pointed at as being God’s prophetic message that Jesus was going to turn the world on its head.

This passage asks if Isaiah, and Israel as a nation, perceives what God is doing. Isaiah never saw the fruition of what God was doing. The nation of Israel would witness Jesus’ coming. Unfortunately, most of their leadership rejected Him. They did not perceive what God was doing. Today, we need to pay attention, so we perceive what God is doing. We must remember that God is always working.

I pray we all know that God is always at work. I pray we overcome our fear of the future. I pray each one of us will keep our eyes and ears open and perceive what God is doing in our lives. God is always at work. Overcome your fear. Keep your eyes open. Keep your ears open. Perceive what God is doing.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Do not remember the former things 

or consider the things of old. 

I am about to do 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.

Our Prodigal God

Do you believe God will give wonderful gifts to you? Do you believe God celebrates you? Do you believe he celebrates every sinner who returns to him? Do you believe he cares enough about you to provide all you need? Are you willing to trust him?

Far too often, we like to rely on ourselves. We fail to ask for help. We strike out on our own, relying on our own strength and our own resources. We fail to remember that everything belongs to God. Therefore, we fool ourselves into thinking we are on our own.

God is willing to give to us extravagantly. No, that doesn’t mean he will make us wealthy. After all, many of us could not handle wealth. However, God will provide for all our needs, especially the ministries we are working in for him. The parable we often call The Prodigal Son should be called The Prodigal Father.

Why? Prodigal means: recklessly extravagant, giving profusely, very generous, or lavishly abundant. Doesn’t that sound like an appropriate description of the father in this parable? Sure it does. His son has squandered his inheritance. Yet, when he returns empty handed, the father welcomes him in and gives to him abundantly.

God will do the same for us. And lest we are concerned about the other son, if we remain with the father as he did, we already have it all. That was the point the father was making to the oldest son.

I pray we all trust that God will bless us abundantly. I pray we see God as our Prodigal Father. I pray each one of us will humble ourselves before God and accept his lavish gifts. God blesses abundantly. God loves extravagantly. Trust God. Humble yourself before God. Accept his lavish gifts.

Luke 15:22-24 “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”