Monday, March 1: “All My Trials” by the Temptations

One of the most common nightmares is one I have had frequently. I am back in college and arrive at class, only to discover it is time to take the final exam, but I forgot to study for it. Those who study dreams say that it reveals feeling pressured and unprepared in some situation in our lives. I don’t put stock in what scientists have to say about dreams, as in the Bible, without God’s help Daniel would have failed miserably, along with the “experts” in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Yet that dream does remind me of the pressures of those exams, when success and failure was measured in the moment of signing your name and turning in the last paper.


More important than any final exam in school are the day-by-day tests that God places us in. The word for trial in Greek is peirasmo, which is the state of being tested, often by suffering. Interestingly, it is the same word for temptation, which is a trial with a beneficial purpose. Even Jesus had to endure those trials and temptations when He walked as a man on this earth. Immediately after being baptized, Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and then battled Satan’s frontal assaults. Described by Matthew, Mark and Luke, we see that Satan offered Jesus the world. Jesus didn’t question Satan’s ability to give the world to Jesus, as He knew that Satan had dominion over the earth. Yet Jesus remained sin-free and thwarted Satan with His knowledge of the Word of God. Satan misquoted or misinterpreted God’s Word in his arguments to Jesus. This should remind us that while Satan is powerful, he is not ALL POWERFUL! He has spent thousands of years practicing his art of deceit. While he can pack quite a punch in his dealings with us as believers, he cannot battle the power of God. The power of God is available to us through the Bible, with God dwelling inside of every believer! How can we battle Satan without knowing what the Word says? This brings us to another powerful promise from our Lord:


13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13


Breaking this verse down, the first part that we see is that we all stumble in the same ways. Secondly, we see that though we aren’t faithful, God is! Thirdly, He only allows hurdles in our paths that we are able to jump over. Do you find yourself with a huge hurdle in front of you? God has at least two messages for you. As difficult as the task at hand may be, God is telling you that you are stronger. What a compliment! Remember, Satan brings the battle, but God allows Satan to bring the battle. So if Satan’s attack is strong, he must hate you a lot. The more you love the Lord, the bigger target will be on your head from Satan. It may be difficult, but we should remember who is in charge of our lives! Through every trial, God is testing us, and just as silver is purified and made stronger under intense heat, God is drawing us closer.


I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”
Zechariah 13:9

Sunday, Feb. 28: Why do we continue to fail?

After completing my day of teaching tennis, I have been watching the Olympics. Every aspect of my life recently has been focused on winning, whether it is teaching my students how to win at a sport I have been playing for 35 years, or watching the single-minded competitors at the 2010 Winter Olympics. I shuddered in fear when watching the Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer lose the gold medal because he listened to the erroneous advice of his coach to change lanes, causing a disqualification after Kramer crossed the line in first place. Mentally, I put myself into both positions, the coach and competitor, and wondered how I would respond. It would be devastating. Amazingly, the disappointed Kramer immediately made a statement saying he would stick with his coach! Why does God put us in positions where we will fail?


As stated in the devotional from yesterday, those failures teach us patience. What is patience? It is the ability to take a large quantity of punishment without getting angry, or without taking vengeance. Greek is one of the largest languages, if not the largest, and in Greek, almost every word has an opposite. Interestingly, the opposite of revenge is meekness. The Bible speaks much of meekness, and many Bible teachers remind us that its meaning is not weakness, but power under control. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Colossians reminds us what attributes we should have as believers:


12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:12-14


We know these are attributes of God and attributes of His Son, who walked on this earth. Jesus said,


28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30


Many people defend their angry actions, saying it was “righteous anger,” and point to Jesus turning over the tables of vendors in the Temple. Notice that Jesus was not offended by what the vendors had done to Him, but by what they had done to His Father’s temple. I also remember a verse stating, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Jesus was sinless, and we are far from that immeasurable trait. Instead of fighting against the people we believe have wronged us, we should leave that to the Lord. After all, Paul reminds us,


19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Romans 12:19


Each time you fail, look back and see how you handled that failure. Was it with patience or was it with anger? By looking at my failures, I can tell that I have a long way to go before God is done with me!

Saturday, Feb. 27: A Perfect 10!

Athletes always strive for perfection, though in many ways, perfection is a fleeting goal. In man’s eyes, perfection always is changing. Watching the figure skating at the Olympics, we could see that to some, a triple axel was perfection. An axel is a jump with a forward takeoff invented in 1882 by Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen. Dick Button was the first to land a double axel in competition, at the 1948 Winter Olympics. Thirty years later, Vern Taylor landed the first triple axel in competition. Now skaters are working on the quadruple axel, though as yet, no one has landed it in competition. Bigger and better continues to drive us. In God’s eyes, though, perfection doesn’t change. A perfect life is one without sin, and only Jesus could manage that. So do we have any chance at perfection?


I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Philippians 1:3-6 (NKJV)


We fail, but God doesn’t fail. He is the one responsible for us becoming more like Him. He will put us in situations where we will grow closer to Him. God is going to complete His work in us. So what is our part in this formula? This is very important. God is going to keep teaching us lessons, through the various trials of life. Before qualifying for the Olympics, the athletes have to prove themselves in the Olympic Trials. In the same manner, we endure trials to become more like the Lord.


2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4


Lessons are not always easy. Sometimes, we have to get gently prodded in one direction. When we fail to listen, sometimes we have to get hit in the head! The shepherd’s staff worked in two ways. The crook at the end could gently bring the straying sheep back. If the sheep went astray too many times, the shepherd might choose to pop the sheep in the butt with the staff to get the sheep’s attention.
If we learn the first time, we are more apt to get the gentle correction rather than the attention getter. I also have heard that after regular disobedience, the shepherd broke the rear legs of the sheep and carried the sheep, as with broken legs the sheep could not stray. While I don’t want to have my legs broken, there is a special and endearing aspect of the Lord carrying us! Learn your lessons well.


If God is going to perfect us, why didn’t He make us perfect the first time? Why did He allow us to live in these sinful bodies on this sinful earth? I think the passage in Romans 7 strikes home so deeply.


15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Romans 7:15-17


What we hate we continue to do! Sin still is a part of our lives. The key to it all is the desires of our hearts. As Christians, though we continue to sin, we desire to do it God’s way. When self dies to the point where we desire His will in our lives, He will work out the rest of the details. Think of David, who was a man after God’s own heart. If we delight in the Lord, the Word tells us that God will give us the desires of our hearts. If the desire of our hearts is to do it His way, then I can certainly see how God will give us that desire. He does it by perfecting us, by putting us in glorified bodies that never will have to worry or sorrow about sin ever again. Praise God!

Friday, Feb. 26: Praise Him!

Many pastors today are spreading a prosperity message. One of the fallacies of this teaching is that Jesus grew up wealthier than anyone around Him, based on the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh brought by the Magi. It’s easy to see why this message of earthly prosperity is prevalent, as it seems easier. “Name it and claim it” goes hand-in-hand with “blab it and grab it!” Yet having discussed some promises that give a believer power, we need to notice a promise that is noticeably absent. God has not promised that our Christian lives will be easy. Every one of the disciples of Jesus died as martyrs, except for John, and John was placed in a cauldron of burning oil! If God offered riches to everyone who turned to Him, wouldn’t everyone come for that reason alone?


Instead, Jesus told us:


18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.
John 15:18-20


Jesus also told us:


3 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33


So, don’t be surprised when life is difficult! When it is difficult, stand on the promises we already have discussed, and follow the advice in this Bible verse:


16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)


It doesn’t say to give thanks for all the seemingly wonderful things in your life. It says to give thanks for everything. Can you imagine having your child die and thanking God for the event? Job did. In fact, he thanked God for not just the death of one child, but for the death of all 10 of his children. God deserves our praise and our thanks. This relies heavily on the first two promises. If we have accepted Him into our lives, and He has forgiven our sins, we don’t need anything else! If we truly believe that all things will work together for our good, then even the death of a child, the loss of a job or the brokenness of our lives will be for our good. We just need to thank Him for it.


You might find yourself in a dark hole you never dreamed you would be in. Yet how dark can it be with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? He is the Light of the world, and light cannot exist with darkness. The place you are in might seem dark, but all you have to do is open your spiritual eyes and see the Light!

Thursday, Feb. 25: Who conducts your symphony?

Does God plan the sin in our lives? No, but He knows every sin that we are going to choose to commit, and uses our faulty choices to draw us closer to Him. Let’s continue with the same verse in Romans from yesterday:


28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)


Have you ever been to hear a symphony orchestra? If you get there early enough, you will hear the musicians tuning up. It is such a cacophony of discordant sound, with some instruments out of tune, and each musician playing at their own pace and with their own rhythm. That sound is as irritating as fingernails on a chalkboard. Yet after some time, the conductor marches to the podium. He directs each and every musician to play a unique piece on their own instrument, according to the conductor’s rhythm. When they are all playing together, the sound is melodic and harmonious.


Look at this analogy as it pertains to our Christian walks. God is the Conductor, as He directs each of us, though we choose whether or not to follow His lead. What would happen if all of a sudden we heard a flute piping the wrong high note in the midst of the symphony? In the Romans 8:28 philosophy, God would cover it. He could have all the other instruments play in that new key. He could have a bass drum play at exactly the same moment, overpowering the sound of the flute. He could let the flutist’s wrong note teach the musician a very important lesson about not following the music on the sheets in front of him (God's Law). Yet, however God would choose to handle the situation, by His promise, the symphony would continue to glorify Him and even be for the good of the flutist.


Those sounds that conflict the harmony of the symphony are representative of sin in this analogy, and our own sin should bother us more than fingernails on a chalkboard.
God’s perfect will has our lives making beautiful music unto Him. Yet He understands our propensity to sin. Rather than allowing sin to weigh us down, He has given us the gift of His Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins. That word “convict” refers to convincing, rather than finding us guilty in a court of law. Through the act of convicting us, the Holy Spirit teaches us to do it God’s way. He is certainly as important as the Conductor in the orchestra! If you are a member of God’s orchestra, know that He will not fire you for making mistakes! That should give you confidence in Him, rather than confidence in your own behavior. It also should take the pressure off. God doesn’t want us walking as rigid robots. He wants us to be the unique creations He made, yet while loving His law and Word.


Yet don’t forget that God is the Conductor! He leads the orchestra, drives the train and draws all the electricity and power to Himself!

Wednesday, Feb. 24: Pathways and Gates

Have you ever felt completely conflicted, not knowing which direction to turn? GPS can help when you are driving, but there are times when even that technological advancement gets it entirely wrong. The Bible is our spiritual GPS, giving us the answers to many age old questions. Yet some of those daily decisions don’t seem to have a Biblical answer. If you are being offered a job in New York City and another one in Tokyo, Japan, there is probably not a Bible verse that is going to give you that answer every time! In cases like that, we are instructed to wait on the Lord, to pray, and to seek Him. When we do that, He often will open one door and close another. In Biblical days, they cast lots, which would be




the modern-day equivalent of rolling dice. God already knows which decision you will make! That brings us to the most important promise in the Bible for believers, while still on the earth:


28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)


What an amazing promise! It doesn’t say that all things that we do correctly work out for our good, but all things. Every bad decision, God still can turn around for our good! What an amazing God! Just to make sure that you fall into this category, who are those who love God and are the called according to His purpose? That would be anyone who has asked Him into their hearts! When we are going through a difficult time on this earth, we sometimes forget how brief that difficulty will last. Even if the duration of the trial was to be our entire lives on this earth, it would pale in comparison to the amount of time we are going to spend with Him for eternity.
One way of grasping this is to understand the difference between God’s perfect will and His permissive will. I see it as a detour sign. While it may take less time to go directly from point A to point B, when we choose a waypoint that sends us on a wild goose chase, God faithfully brings us back to the path He has designed for us! When I was a teenager, I decided to follow the Lord, but a few years later, I selfishly pursued my own desires. Those desires carried me to a place of brokenness, and through that brokenness, I returned to the original path of following the Lord. Did I see the Lord in each of those detours? No, but He certainly was there, guiding my path.


Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
Psalms 119:105


Robert Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” God’s path is the one with all the blessings. That road more traveled by is the one with all the potholes, which cause us to trip and fall! If you are following the world, you are on the path to destruction.


13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14


Yet there is a difference between the path and the gate. As Christians, we occasionally can find ourselves on the wrong path, but God will make sure He gets us to the right gate! So take another step and stand on promise #2.

Tuesday, Feb. 23: 1 John 1:8-10

We can’t help but pick up some dirt in our daily walks, no matter how much we focus on God and the teachings of God. What can begin with the best attempt can turn into the worst in a manner of moments. Tell a child to “be good” and you have set him up for failure, as with sin nature, we can’t be good! “Act good, for a while,” is much more manageable! We are children of God and in the same manner that a child can’t be good, we can’t either. We have moments of following the Lord, but God has reminded us that we are sinners, saved by His grace. But God is good, and He is faithful to forgive us when we come to Him.


8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10 (NKJV)


Can we really make God a liar? No! He is incapable of telling a lie. What the passage is saying is that if we were telling the truth by saying that we haven’t sinned, God would be the wrong one. But we can’t even get through a day without sinning. Say that you are not a sinner, and you have sinned by lying! We are all sinners, and will continue to be sinners until we are united with our Savior.


For those of us who have accepted Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior, He forgave every sin that we committed before we came to Him. He also forgave every sin that we ever were going to commit. This is not a license to sin, but God understands our nature of sin. The prophet, Jeremiah, reminds us that:


9 "The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)


When we come to the Lord, He replaces that heart of stone with a heart of flesh. As much as we love the Lord, we continue to sin, and from a personal standpoint, I can tell you how horrible it feels to blow it over and over again. It feels like we let God down, but for Him to feel disappointment would mean that He had other expectations. Every sin you commit, God knew you would commit! And still He saved you!


God reminds us that we are to confess our sins. If we do, He promises to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To me, that means that there are some sins that we are aware of and also some sins that we are not aware of. If we confess the sins that we are aware of, He also will forgive us and cleanse us from the sins we are not aware of!


What does this have to do with struggling in a recession? It gives us the perspective of what this world and what this struggle is all about. What if you lose your job? What if you miss some meals? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of it all? In that grand scheme, I will spend all of eternity with Jesus, my Savior! Take that first step upon the Word of God and stand on promise #1!

Monday, Feb. 22: Standing on the Promises of God!

When I look at the world today, I see more brokenness than I ever have seen before. In the midst of a recession, most of the political pundits have told us that the recession is over. The 10.6% of the population in the United States that is unemployed would probably disagree with that assessment. In addition to that 10.6% are the people on total commission or the self-employed, who might still be employed, but their pay is much lower than ever before. I am struggling, but when I look around, I realize that so many others are in the same or worse positions.


What would the Lord have us do in the midst of this trial? Faith isn’t tested when everything is coming up roses. God never makes mistakes, so any situation that we find ourselves in has been designed specifically for us. With so many people hurting, this week’s devotionals will remind us to stand on the promises of God. R. Kelso Carter, who lived from 1849-1926, wrote the words and music to the great hymn, and I’m sure it spoke loudly to the folks enduring the Great Depression only a few years later. Here are the words:


“Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.”


What a great reminder! God’s Word is filled with promises to us, and He has not broken a promise. That is the beauty of His Word, as we can see time and time again, how steadfast He is to follow through on every promise. Sometimes, when we are going through tough times, it is better to remind ourselves of these promises, rather than to struggle in the trial.

Sunday, Feb. 21: Fill your lamps with oil!

Have you ever felt like you were in a hopeless situation? All of us have. It is part of life on this earth. Even Jesus found Himself in a situation that seemed to offer no way of escape. When Jesus felt the weight of the world dropping onto His shoulders, He went to His Father in prayer, and often, the place of that prayer was the Garden of Gethsemane, located in Jerusalem at the base of the Mount of Olives.
Jesus and His disciples spent much time in that garden, and were there the night before His crucifixion. In fact, it is where Judas brought the guards when he betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus prayed three separate times that if it was the Father’s will, to let this cup pass from Him. Anticipating the events to come, our Lord sweated blood.


In the Bible, olive oil is emblematic of the Holy Spirit. We are to keep oil in our lamps to keep those lamps lit (Matthew 25). Even the process of making olive oil points to our Lord, as when the olive is crushed, the oil remains. When Jesus was crushed, beaten and bruised, He left the Holy Spirit in His place. We never should lose sight of what our Savior endured for us, accepting His Father’s will to suffer in our places by becoming a man, for God cannot suffer. Though the physical pain was great, it was the separation from His Father that pained Jesus the most. He didn’t just carry our sins, He became sin for us.


21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)


Part of the issue you are facing in that time of trial is faith. Do you truly believe what God has told you in His Word? If you do, then you will realize that every trial that He allows you into, He already has made two promises. You can handle the trial and there is a way of escape. Jesus prayed for a way of escape before He went to the cross. The fact that the Father did not offer a way of escape reminded Jesus, and should remind us, that there was no other way for us to have a relationship with the Father apart from the events of the cross. The Father loved Jesus so much, yet Isaiah 53 reminds us, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” It pleased the Father for through that bruising, He opened the door for us to know His love.


If you find yourself in a troublesome situation and feel alone, know Jesus will join you in your Garden of Gethsemane. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. How much oil is in your lamp?

Saturday, Feb. 20: Slip Sliding Away!

Being an athlete, I always love watching the Olympics. The single-mindedness that it takes to compete on that level is admirable. I remember watching the opening ceremonies with a friend who made the United States Olympic team as a swimmer in 1980 after an entire childhood of two-a-day practices, only to have that dream snatched away by President Jimmy Carter’s boycott. It was a political statement against the Soviet Union’s war with Afghanistan. The United States tried a different approach when Adolf Hitler’s Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The crowning moment was Jesse Owens and his four gold medals, defeating the blonde-haired, blue-eyed athletes of Hitler’s perceived superior race! The tear-stained face of my friend watching the ceremonies certainly demonstrated to me how painful that event remained for him many years later, as he saw the athletes enjoying a feeling he would never know.


Sadly, on the first day of competition in the current Olympics, a luge competitor from Georgia named Nodar Kumaritashvili died on a training run. Luge takes more guts than almost any other sport, in my opinion. Sliders reach a speed approaching 100 M.P.H. lying on their backs with their feet leading the way down the icy track. They control the small metal sleds with their calves, and in that tucked position, have to be at least partially blind.


It made me think of the slippery slope of life that we all find ourselves on. Habitual sin is or has been a part of each of our lives. Illegal drugs are a perfect example. Taking drugs rarely is a one-time event in the life of a user. In the desire to re-create that high, or that removal from the drudgery of daily life, the user finds himself using more of the drug or a stronger drug. He continues down the slippery slope, with his body in jeopardy, as well as every relationship. Even knowing that the behavior is wrong, each time becomes easier. The next fix becomes the focal point of life, as everything else pales in comparison. That slope leads to death, though most people sliding down that icy hill have all the best hopes of an easy landing and another ride. Yet, it doesn’t have to be drug use to create that effect in our lives. All sin leads to the same place, and that place is judgment from the Lord.


Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them. Deuteronomy 32:35


God knows our motives better than we do and understands the attraction that sin has in our lives. All the way down that slippery slope, He is there, offering a hand of support and another path. That path leads to Him and is on solid ground.


37You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip
Samuel 22:37


On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand, or an icy slope. When you are standing on the Cornerstone, your foundation will be solid, not slippery!

Friday, Feb. 19: Salvation Mountain, a simple story of love!

This week, I took a journey to a one of a kind place. Just an hour and a half southeast of Palm Springs, California, is a desolate town on the edge of the Salton Sea called Niland. John Donne didn’t have anything on this place as, “No man is in Niland!” We didn’t meet a man there; we met a saint. Leonard Knight, at the ripe old age of 78, has offered his tireless energy for the last 30 years creating a piece of folk art that he uses to share his love for Jesus. Born and raised in Vermont, Leonard left high school after his sophomore year. He served in the army during the Korean War and ventured west. While visiting his sister in San Diego, he asked Jesus into his heart, and his life changed on the spot. He struggled with people who tried to make the relationship with God complicated, as many told him you couldn’t know God unless you deeply understood every aspect of the Bible. Leonard was a simple man; he found God in a simple way; he loved the Lord with his simple heart. Back in Vermont after his father’s death, Leonard decided that his way to share the Lord’s love was by putting the message “God is love” on a hot-air balloon and flying it above the curious people. Not being a simple task, the project grew too big for him as the years it took to assemble the balloon caused the weathered fabric to rip when inflated. He had relocated to Slab City, outside of Niland, CA, with his old van carrying the decaying, balloon fabric and a homemade inflating device. When the balloon wouldn’t hold air, another idea inflated in Leonard’s mind and Salvation Mountain was born. With years of labor, Leonard has created a place as colorful as Oz. He could have filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool with the gallons of paint he has used. There are enough bales of hay in the construction to feed a thousand horses for a year. He has created his own adobe and painted the Lord’s love across the world’s most interesting billboard. And for all those years, Leonard has lived simply inside the caves of his creation in a location that reaches as high as 120 degrees in the summer. His weathered face reveals his time in the sun. His thin frame reveals that he has enough food to survive, but not an abundance of it. Why? What would cause a man to spend his life creating this? It was the calling the Lord put on Leonard’s life. It might appear strange to the masses that visit, but like it or not, you cannot help but be impacted by this simple man and his simple message, always accompanied by a welcoming smile and the offer of a tour. What must have seemed crazy to many has become world renowned, and was even featured in the movie, “Into the Wild.” God calls some to be preachers, others to be teachers. Some He gives the gift of hospitality or encouragement. God gave Leonard the ability to live alone simply and create a slice of heaven in an isolated section of desert. Though isolated, God didn’t ask Leonard to travel to others, but instead, brought the people to Leonard. 12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 All of the gifts the Lord gives are to glorify Him, not us! If you are walking in His Spirit, He will use you to further His kingdom in amazing ways. Though it may never be in the way you imagine or desire, the result will be spectacular. Remember, there is nothing about the Lord that is ordinary, and what He designs for you will far surpass what you have in mind. The key is to find that place in the body where God desires you to be. Though no man is an island, there is a man in Niland! God puts people everywhere to share His love. That love is simple and it’s bigger than any love we can ever know. Be the unique person He created you to be in Him, today! Never underestimate the power of God’s love to make the simplest task something special. There is nothing mundane about our God, who deals in miracles!

Thursday, Feb. 18: Talk is cheap!

By the end of each day, I am tired of talking. You never would guess that would be the most difficult part of teaching tennis, as my body seems to withstand the daily abuse better than my tongue does! Years ago, I took the Myers-Briggs test when a man named Jonathan P. Niednagel applied that result to athletics. The ensuing result didn’t surprise me, but it surprised most of my students and acquaintances that I am an introvert. A little research helped give me a better understanding of the difference between introvert and extrovert. Basically, where do you derive the most energy, from being at a party with friends or at home alone?


I was thinking of the Eliza Doolittle song, “Show Me” from “My Fair Lady:”


“Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words. I get words all day through, first from him now from you, is that all you blighters can do? Don't talk of stars burning above,
if you're in love, show me!"


That song made me think of what God must feel with our prayers and promises. It’s hard to believe that He doesn’t tire of our words and desire for our actions to be more in line with those words. I know that we are to take our oaths to Him very seriously, but I have made promises and broken them. Most of those broken promises concerned sins that I promised never to do again. I have learned some lessons there, as I would rather not make a promise if all I am going to do is break it. Prayers can be just as empty, as too many of them have to do with my own selfish desires. God has promised to supply our needs, but His idea of what we need is starkly different than what we think we need.


Having spent much time in the South, I am accustomed to people making friendly comments when you walk past them. In New York, people tend to turn their faces away from you as they are hesitant to invite you into their spaces. Can you tell what a person is really like from their words or do you have to study their actions? The Lord told us:


34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 12:34-37


That is a scary verse, as it makes me want to be of the silent minority! Maybe our prayer should be more in line with one from King David:


Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14


We know that our hearts are wicked and deceitful, but the Lord gives us new hearts. When our words come from that new heart, they are aligned with Him, but the old heart has the idle words.

Wednesday, Feb. 17: Do you want to win the lottery?

Have you ever bought a lottery ticket? If the lottery involves picking 6 numbers between 1 and 99, the odds of winning are 1 in 1,120,529,256. Even knowing the near certainty of losing, many people continue to play. Studies show that poor people play more often, with the hopelessness of poverty pushing people to attempt to improve their condition. In that manner, it is a legal tax on the poor. The saddest aspect of the lottery, though, is that most people who win the mega-millions find that it changes their lives negatively.


When we play the lottery, we have no control over the luck or fate that will have the correct numbers pop up in our favor. But each of us has the ability to win a more important lottery and we have plenty of control in that lottery. Have you ever considered the value of eternal life in heaven?


4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7


Our frail, human minds have great difficulty grasping eternity. Even our lives on this earth seem like they last a long time, though when an 85-year-old is preparing for death, he often thinks about the brevity of the time he spent here. After 1 million of those 85-year time periods in heaven, we will be no closer to the end, as there is no end. Some people have a faulty concept of heaven, picturing us as sitting around on clouds playing harps. They erroneously think that we will get bored after a time. The verse above should remind us of how incredible heaven is going to be! “In the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”


Personally, I think Jesus has been incredibly kind to me on this earth. He chose me to serve Him, though all I deserved was death. “Why me,” is a constant question, and the answer has nothing to do with my redeeming qualities. Without Him, I am unredeemable; I am a clanging cymbal; I am nothing! So instead of the riches of the world, I have obtained the riches of His mercy and grace.


Do you truly want to win the lottery? Then accept Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. He doesn’t promise abundance while on the earth, but you certainly will have abundant life with Him for all of eternity!

Tuesday, Feb. 16: A sprinkle a day helps keep the odor away!

Saturday was cleaning day, which included a trip to the Laundromat and the assorted tasks at home of dusting, vacuuming, window cleaning and the dreaded cleaning of the bathroom. Based on other requirements of my time, the weekly tasks are sometimes put off for an additional week. When that happens, though, cleaning always takes twice as long. There just aren’t any shortcuts. It continues to amaze me how quickly dust returns and how dirty the clothes become by week’s end. Part of that has to do with my job of running around on a tennis court, but it doesn’t matter if the clothes are soiled by the coffee stains of a corporate executive or the perspiration of a tennis professional, they have to be cleaned again and again.


This world is a dirty place, isn’t it? You can come directly from a bath and find yourself covered in muck and mire in moments! When God created the world, it wasn’t designed that way. When Adam and Eve lived in the pre-sin Garden of Eden, I doubt that there was such thing as a dust mite. But when sin entered the picture, all of creation changed:


For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:22-23


Each of us yearns to be redeemed, and according to Romans, that included every aspect of creation. That also includes the dirt, the ocean, animals and yes, even dust mites! Jesus redeems us, as He bought us at a price. Salvation is a free gift, but let us never forget that the price was not a cheap one! He bought us with His life, with His blood.


In the same manner that our possessions need cleaning, we need spiritual cleansing even more often. That cleansing comes from God’s forgiveness of our sins. When Jesus comes to dwell in our hearts, He forgives us for all past, present and future sins. Yet we still have the responsibility of coming to Him and asking for that forgiveness.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9


Next time you are busy house cleaning, don’t leave out the most important part of that regular cleansing. Ask the Lord for His forgiveness of your sins, and remember that only His blood can make us white as snow!

Monday, Feb. 15: Sin Nature

I was teaching a tennis lesson this week to a group of 5 and 6-year-olds. It is a great age to start them in tennis, as most children that age are sponges when it comes to learning something new. The challenge, though, has to do with the attention span, especially of the boys. Seeing one of the boys a little too close to my racquet bag and gear sitting on the ground, I stupidly told him. “Please don’t step on my phone.”


What was I thinking? Immediately, he stepped on my phone. Luckily, it was in a case and he didn’t damage it. He suffered through a 5-minute timeout, and apologized. I don’t think he learned a lesson from the experience, but I certainly did. If I hadn’t said a word, he wouldn’t have stepped on the phone, unless it was a random accident. But with my request putting the idea in his mind, he was incapable of “just saying no.”


What is it in us that rarely evokes a different response? If you go to a restaurant and the waiter says, “Don’t touch the plate. It’s very hot.” As soon as the waiter puts down the plate and leaves the table, we have to touch it and see exactly how hot it is. Is it curiosity? Do we all want to be “Rebel Without a Cause,” who suddenly finds a cause? God certainly saw the same behavior in the Garden of Eden.


After creating the world and placing Adam and Eve in the Garden, God instructed them that they were allowed to eat anything they wanted EXCEPT one particular fruit:


15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15


Did Adam understand what God meant? Adam certainly understood that God did not want him to eat the fruit of that tree, but he might not have understood what death was. Up to that time, there had not been any death, and though I am sure that God had explained the concept to Adam, Adam’s understanding certainly was not experiential. It wasn’t Adam that tasted the fruit first. It was Eve at the insistence of the slimy serpent tricking her into that taste. When Eve tasted the fruit, she then gave it to her husband with her and he ate of it, too. Did Adam die at the moment he ate the fruit? Yes, though it was spiritual death, rather than physical death. Years ago, I was in a Bible study taught by Hal Lindsay and he said, “If you are born once, you will die twice, but if you are born twice, you will only die once!”


The first sin caused all of mankind to change, as we are all relatives of Adam, the “sons of disobedience.” Now, as in every generation after Adam, we don’t choose sin. Instead we are born into sin. The little boy on the tennis court had no other choice, based on the nature inside of him. Can we choose not to sin? Yes, but without the presence of Jesus living inside of us, we don’t have the power to control that urge. As Christians, we will continue to sin, and in the same sense will continue to give in to the powers of trickery used by the slimy one. Yet, when we have Jesus living inside of us, the Holy Spirit gives us His power to choose another option. Just as Adam had the ability to walk away from sin, based on the walking/talking relationship he had with the Lord, we have the ability to turn away. Do we have any benefits over Adam? Certainly, as we are forgiven for those transgressions when we ask for His forgiveness.

Sunday, Feb. 14: The Greatest Love

Saint Valentine’s Day commemorates the death and burial of an early Christian martyr, though modern-day culture associates the day with the affection of intimate companions. The day was established by Pope Gelasius 1 in A.D. 496, and early church tradition speaks of the martyrdom of numerous individuals named Valentine who lost their lives for their unwavering beliefs in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Though most of the records associated with these early believers have been lost, church tradition still speaks of two men, both buried on the Via Flaminia, a Roman road that leads from Rome to Riminia, a region of Italy on the Adriatic Sea.


Valentine of Rome, a priest in Rome, was martyred around A.D. 269. His relics are in Rome and Dublin. Additionally, Valentine of Terni, who was the bishop of Interamna was martyred around A.D. 197. His relics are in modern-day Terni. A third Valentine was martyred in Africa, supposedly on February 14, though nothing else is known of him.


So how does death become associated with love, for all future generations?


13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13


Sacrificial love is much different than romantic love. Somehow, Saint Valentine’s Day has taken on a different flavor with the addition of chocolate to the equation. It has become more of a “quid pro quo,” which in Latin means “something for something.” Jesus didn’t die on the cross with the feeling of “if you scratch My back, I’ll scratch yours.” Instead, He died so that we might live. His death is the gift that keeps on giving.


Some people have difficulty understanding the concept. How could the death of a man 2,000 years ago have anything to do with my life today? We have to understand that we are all sinners, and God must punish sin. If a murderer went before a judge and promised that he never would kill again, would the judge simply let the murderer off the hook? A righteous judge could not do that. In the same manner, God cannot simply ignore sin. That’s why Jesus departed heaven as God and became a man, as He was the only one who could live a life without sin. When He died, He took our sins on His shoulders and received the punishment that we were due to receive.


I don’t think of that gift often enough. Is there anyone in your life you would be willing to die for? Most mothers certainly know this feeling. Having carried that life in them for nine months, there is a special connection. Many fathers have that same feeling. Additionally, many of us have friends that we deeply care about. Yet what makes the life and death of Jesus so amazing is that He sacrificed His life for those who hated Him! Would you be willing to die in place of the idiotic driver who just cut you off? Would you be willing to die for the neighbor who keeps you up on Saturday nights with parties until the wee hours? Would you be willing to die for the co-worker who lied about you in order to receive a promotion you had earned?


2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:2


16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1 John 3:16


Though the world celebrates this day with chocolate and flowers, don’t forget the true significance of the greatest love. It has nothing in common with fleeting affection, and if you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He will shower you with His love for eternity! Share His love with a stranger. If you aren't willing to talk to them, you sure aren't willing to die for them!

Saturday, Feb. 13: Are you willing to be a prisoner?

Prison is a rough place, and thankfully, I don’t know that from personal experience. Yet every movie I see involving prison scares me. Certainly, the greatest difficulty of that life can have more to do with the treatment by your fellow inmates than with the loss of liberty that goes with your time there. I think it is most difficult for those with less than life sentences, for their thoughts, hopes and plans force them to think ahead to life past imprisonment. But the inmates who know that they will certainly die in prison seem to adjust to the life they are faced with.


Years ago, a tennis student who had been a physician told me a story that stayed with me. One of his patients was a quadriplegic, and as described to me, was one of the most upbeat people the physician ever had come in contact with. The physician asked him how long he had been a quadriplegic and what had caused it. When the man had been a teenager, he and his sister were riding in the backseat of the car, with their mother driving. He and his sister were arguing, and his mother kept yelling at them to stop. When they didn’t, the mother pulled over the car, pulled out a gun and shot them! His sister died, his mother went to prison and he became a quadriplegic! I remember when hearing the story, I expected a different end, something along the lines of his mother losing control of the car when she turned to yell at the children and in the ensuing accident, he became a quadriplegic. What a horrible story! But the young man endured that amazing obstacle and found happiness. My tennis student reminded me of the lesson that he learned from the story. We all have a balance point, a place of stasis. If you are a happy person, you will find that happiness again, regardless of the difficulties that come your way. If you are a depressed person, that is the place you will return to, as well.


We seem to put judgments on situations. Would it always be rough to be a quadriplegic? Would a person born with blindness be able to grasp what they are missing, or would they be content in the life they always had known? Would being a prisoner always be a negative?


34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Hebrews 10:34


8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—
Philemon 8-9


Paul tells us that he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and he is not alone in that capacity. It was an easy description for Paul, as he was literally a prisoner in his life, as well. The word for prisoner in Greek denotes the binding, or the prisoner who is bound. Paul also tells us that he is a “bondservant” of Jesus Christ, and that word is the same for “slave.” Our society gives us negative connotations of all three of those words, prisoner, slave and servant. Regardless of how our society sees the words, those stations are gifts of God. How many prisoners worry about where their next meal will come from or if they will be able to put a roof over their heads?


While we as believes are bound to Christ Jesus, it is not the weighty connection of a ball and chain that tethers us. Instead, we are bound to Jesus Christ with a lifeline of support. He is the parachute we wear with our plane going down, but instead of descending to the broken world below, He puts the wind in our sails and lifts us up to a new life in Him. I am so thankful that He captured my heart and made me His prisoner! My needs are all supplied by Jehovah-Gire!

Friday, Feb. 12: Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On!

At 4:53 p.m. on January 12, 2010, a month ago, a 7.0 earthquake struck with an epicenter 16 miles from Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti. At that moment and in the ensuing days, over 200,000 people lost their lives in Haiti, with estimates of over 300,000 injured and over 1 million people instantly homeless. That latter number is over 10% of the population of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In events of that magnitude of sadness, many question the presence of the Lord. Pat Robertson blamed the event on Haiti’s “pact with the devil,” and the comment outraged the masses.


Yet throughout the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, God used weather and natural disasters to speak to His people. Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind. The moment that Jesus died on the cross, an earthquake tore the temple veil from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51-53). There are multiple examples of similar events. In Isaiah, God said,


7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'
Isaiah 45:7


For those who think that God once acted in that regard, but no longer speaks through those kinds of events, the Lord told us that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) “For I am the LORD, I do not change." In fact, God is incapable of change! (Malachi 3:6) God has given dominion of the earth to Satan, for a time, though we must remember, Satan is not the sovereign ruler. Anything that occurs is God’s will, for His purposes. (See Job for clarification on this). That becomes increasingly difficult in the minds of many believers, who cannot fathom how a loving God can allow devastation of that magnitude. Before we question God, we need to remind ourselves of the difference between His knowledge and ours. He is omniscient, and it occurred to me that God has never said, “It occurred to Me.” He has known everything for all of eternity! Because the Father sent His Son to save the world, and in that act demonstrated the greatest love, I am definite in my belief that either those who died were believers and are with Him in heaven, or they never would have made that decision, regardless of the length of their lives. God has gone to the farthest degree imaginable to draw us to Him. We know that the earthquake in Haiti, the one causing the Indian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and similar events are signs of the times. Just before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples,


4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:4-14


We are told that these events will be like labor pains. To remind those of you who have not given birth, labor pains increase in frequency and intensity before the birth occurs. Revelation instructs us that these judgments grow more severe as that period continues. Why would a loving God put His creation under such duress and destruction?


As stated in yesterday’s devotional, we learn our lessons when under duress. When God judges a sinful earth, He still has redemption on His mind. Even in wrath, God is 100% loving. In that time, many will fall to their knees and ask Jesus to become the Savior of their lives. Others will turn their hearts coldly away from Him. As much emphasis as we put on this life, we are here for one purpose. That purpose is to make a decision of who we will serve. The Bible tells us that a man cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).


So in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake, know that we serve a loving God, and even that earthquake was an example of His love. God is love and He cannot contradict His own character. Pray for the families, come alongside the survivors and thank God for His mighty plan we are not always meant to understand.

Thursday, Feb. 11: The Yokes on You!

Everywhere I look there are people in pain. Unemployment is rising, along with credit card debt, foreclosures, homelessness and even suicide. Though we have a tendency to see this through an egocentric, American perspective, our economy has adversely affected the world’s economy. Back in the 1930’s when the collapse of the stock market led to the Great Depression, the economy of the United States was not tied as deeply into the economy of the world, but now, our bank failures, bailouts and bad decisions have caused a chain reaction. This month was a “barely” for me, as after paying rent, health insurance, car payment, utilities and the minimum on credit cards, there was a whopping $100 left over in my checking account. My initial reaction is, “What are You doing, God?”


That question has a good side and bad side. Obviously, the bad side is what right do I have to question God, who has promised that He will never leave nor forsake me? He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers more ornately than King Solomon (Matthew 6:26), and loves me more! The good side of that question is if I am asking God what He is doing, then I am acknowledging that He is doing something! What is He doing?


Do we ever learn lessons when life is easy? I know that I don’t! Bill Gates said, “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” When the seas are calm and the wind is blowing, we cruise around the ocean gleefully. If you ever sail in a storm, though, you remember each mistake. Those lessons are as apparent in life as they are in the physical world. Take metallurgy, for example. When gold is heated, it becomes stronger through purification.


28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28


If you are the Lord’s then you shouldn’t feel heavily burdened. If you are sailing under your own power, you might feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Yet the shoulders of Jesus already carried the burden of the world, when He suffered and died for us at the cross. Give Him the burden! Trust that He can handle it. It can be so difficult to hand off that difficulty to Him. I think of it as a relay race and I am running the anchor leg. Though I am in last place, far behind all of the other competitors, when I allow Jesus to help me, He will. I hand the baton to Jesus and He runs for me, past all the competition, past all the obstacles and to first place at the finish line. Amazingly, though, He holds onto us as He also carries the baton of burden. He is the wind in our sails. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Let Him finish for you.

Wednesday, Feb. 10: Memories!

Having hit the age of 50, I have been reflecting on the past. It’s amazing how quickly those years have flown by. I think what amazes me most is how old I thought a 50-year-old was when I was 20, and how young I think a 50-year-old is now. I’m sure the same thoughts come from an 80-year-old, though when we look back we see a changed world. Can you remember when the internet was not a part of your life? Do you remember when the new technology was an 8-track tape player? It took me three trips to carry my music collection when I was just out of college and now, that entire collection fits on an IPOD, the size of my palm! As I age, my memory doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to and in some ways, that can be a huge blessing!


Do you remember how difficult adolescence was? Do you remember the pains of broken relationships, the loss of your first love, the sadness of the death of close family members? Yes, I still remember all of those, but not with the same pain that overwhelmed me initially. Yesterday’s devotional emphasized the way that God forgets, specifically in reference to our sin. Why doesn’t He take our memories of that sin away in the same manner that He forgets it?


It’s not for the pain that sin can still cause that God allows us to keep those memories. It’s for the benefits. What benefits could there possibly be from remembering your sin, your failures, your biggest defeats? Through those sins, we should acquire an enormous amount of thankfulness for God’s grace and mercy.


41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
Luke 7:41-43


Paul saw himself as the chief sinner on the earth (1 Timothy 1:15). Personally, I think I replaced Paul in that role. Honestly, most of us feel that way. That is the Lord’s way of letting us understand how much He loves us! When I was 20, I was a sinner, but at that time, I didn’t fully appreciate what it meant that Christ died for my sins. That doesn’t mean that 20-year-olds can’t grasp the depth of that forgiveness, but after many years of walking in sin, I have gone from the poorest creature to the wealthiest, all with God’s gift of forgiveness. What does He want in exchange?


Have you ever noticed how God has a way of bringing people into your life who are wallowing in the same sin He delivered you from? That is because through your own stumbling, the Lord has given you an amazing gift of hindsight, and through that hindsight, a wealth of compassion. A great definition of compassion is feeling someone else’s pain, and that certainly is love. Love is what heals us, and we know from 1 John 4 that God is love! The key is to forget the pain of your sinful failures and remember the gift of that burden being removed from your shoulders!

Tuesday, Feb. 9: What do you want to see?

Around the corner from my house, a construction crew is remodeling one of the cottages and preparing it for rental. A cleaning crew was in there at the end of the week and one of the tasks was to take all the screens off and wash the inside and the outside of the windows. I was astounded how clean they looked in comparison to mine, and it reminded me that a little spring cleaning should be on my agenda. Everything appears so much brighter through clean windows!


In our lives, we have the choice of looking ahead through the big picture or looking back through the small window. Through the small window is the view of our past sins, but through the big window is the view of our future, the hope of our glory in Jesus Christ. Why do we wallow in the past, remembering our sins, when our Savior already has forgotten them?


12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalms 103:12

19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:19

17 Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
Isaiah 38:17


Our sins are on the ocean floor, covered in mud. How often do we dredge up those sins in our memories, though our Savior has promised us that He doesn’t do that? I think of the phrase “forgive and forget.” Truthfully, we are limited in our powers of forgiveness. We are capable of forgiving others, but mostly are incapable in regards to forgetting. It’s difficult for us to comprehend how God knows everything, but doesn’t remember our sin. He chooses not to remember our sin, which is a true gift. As pointed out earlier, once our sin has been dealt with, it is gone. It was dealt with when Jesus was punished for it on the cross, and became His responsibility when we ask for His forgiveness.


If you feel like your sin is weighing you down, maybe you are focusing too much on it! If you were like I was and really messed up your life before coming to the Lord, don’t worry about it. He does not see the dead man, the person you used to be. He doesn’t even see the person you are now. He sees the finished product, which He will make you into! Let go and let God! The big picture is Christ in you!

Monday, Feb. 8: Who is Eternity’s Top Chef?

Are you hungry? What are you hungry for? One of my favorite aspects of life on this earth is food! I love eating the tasty morsels prepared by those talented in the kitchen, and I am not a picky eater. I am able to enjoy at least a portion of what most chefs have to offer. Though there are occasions when some food doesn’t impress me as much as I expected, I don’t think I set the bar too high for chefs to attain. The truth is, even the most tasteless of those preparations still fills my belly, still gives me energy to go about my day! Junk food doesn’t really fall into that category, though. Usually loaded in fat or sugar, those foods only give us false energy. They can fill your belly and make you think you have enough energy to proceed, but soon after starting, a crash occurs.


God reminds us that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord,” in Deuteronomy 8:3, and that verse also is quoted in Matthew 4:4. The Gospel of John begins by telling us that Jesus is in title, the Word of God. He is God and existed always. He is the Word and gave us the Word, and He walked on this earth as a man. Sometimes, we lose sight of how important the Bible is to our daily survival and walk with the Lord. Which food will supply your needs better…a meal prepared by a top chef or reading a chapter of God’s Holy Bible? Since we exist in the flesh, we have the tendency to fill the needs of the flesh.


16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:16


Bob Dylan wrote a song in 1979 called, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” The truth is, we are all looking for an answer to the question of who to serve. In a way, that answer is blowing in the wind, for the Holy Spirit in Greek is “pneuma,” the same word for wind! We are either serving the God who made us, or we are serving the god of this world, Satan, who was given dominion over this earth for the time being. Satan is a talented liar, who understands that the best lies contain at least a morsel of truth. That is the same formula for rat poison, which is 97% food and 3% poison. The truth will lure you, but the lie will kill you! Many messages lead people down the wrong path, with that bastardized formula of truth mixed with lies. Sadly, some of these lies come from pulpits. Look at the controversy in the Episcopal church and the split that is occurring over the open sexuality of clergy and you will get a taste of this. Yet it is much more pervasive than one issue.


God desires to feed you; He desires to nurture you. Through His Word, we draw nearer to Him. If your walk is not leading you closer to the Lord, check your food. If it says, “Hostess Twinkies” on the package, you might want to shop somewhere else! That false energy only can make you trip and fall. But remember, God doesn’t need a pastor, preacher, teacher or friend to share His Word with you. If you open His Book, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things, and will fill you with the food that will help you to soar like an eagle!