Month: September 2020

The sermon at CLC Sunday was about ministering to those who are hurting. It touched me deeply because it brought back memories of when I was the one hurting and of when I reached out to help others who were hurting.

As far as physical hurting, I have had some temporarily painful injuries, but never broken a bone. However, at the age of 63, I developed sciatic pain in both hips and legs. It was chronic pain that was constant. It made it very difficult for me to walk very far or to sit or lie down comfortably. When I started attending CLC, I joined a men’s group and the first meeting with them the leader asked for prayer requests. I asked for prayer for my sciatic pain. They immediately gathered around and laid their hands on me and fervently prayed for my healing. The next morning I awoke without nerve pain in my hips and legs for the first time in eight years. Those men ministered very effectively to me when I was hurting. It wasn’t just me. Every week we would pray for those who were hurting in any way and the following week they would give a praise report just as I had done.

Mental, emotional and spiritual hurts can often cause even more pain than physical injury. Twice in my life, I have experienced all three of those types of hurt at the same time. The first was when my mother died when I was in my early teens. The second was when my wife died after nearly 51 years of marriage. What helped me most when my mom died was when the young pastor who had baptized my mom and me spoke words of encouragement at her funeral. I realized then that as Christians our separation was only temporary and I will be with her again. When my wife died I knew we would be together again, but I was lost without her by my side. Another young pastor helped me through it by assuring me that God wasn’t done with me yet.

I have found the key to helping others who are hurting (as with everything I do) is to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit within me. God knows the words or actions that will help them the most and often it is just being there for them without speaking at all. I believe I have helped some of my friends through their suffering by simply offering a trusted, sympathetic ear while they share their pain and frustration without fear of embarrassment or accusation. Job’s friends had it right when they sat down with him and listened in silence to his grief and hurt. Then they blew it by beginning to offer their opinions and suggestions. They even falsely accused him of bringing it all on himself by somehow displeasing God. I’m sure that hurt him almost as much as the boils on his body or his many losses. When you are hurting; don’t hesitate to ask other believers for their prayers and then seek out a Christian brother or sister with whom you can comfortably share your pain. When you are helping; pray for them and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, treading lightly around their tender physical, mental, emotional or spiritual wound.              

Whenever someone has nice things to say about my blog or anything else I do or say in obedience to God’s Holy Spirit, I always respond, “I will keep the encouragement and pass the praise on to the One who deserves it.” I recently told that to one of my friends who had some positive things to say about my blog. She replied, “I know you didn’t do that on your own. No one is that talented.” We know each other well enough that I know it was her way of agreeing with me, but her bluntness jarred me awake to the full truth. God alone is worthy of our praise.

Praise should be an important part of every prayer we utter. The template of prayer that Jesus gave his disciples (and us) in Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) begins and ends with praise, “Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven….For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” I called it a template for prayer because Jesus never intended it to be a liturgy to be repeatedly recited. He didn’t say to pray this prayer. He said that we should “pray in this manner” (KJV). The NLT reads, “pray like this.” We should praise God, present our petitions or requests, vow to treat others as God has treated us and then praise Him some more. As Christians, our prayers should always end “In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” It is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are able to approach our heavenly Father directly in prayer.

Praise and worship are inseparable. Whether it is in one of the oldest hymns or a modern worship song, you will find words of praise. Praise is more than thanking God for what He has done. It is lifting Him to His rightful place in our thoughts and in our hearts. Simply put, it is acknowledging Him for who He is.       

I’ve never been a fan of liturgy that is recited every worship service. Repetition and familiarity turn meaningful thoughts into a rote recitation with no thought at all. But the first line of one liturgical song has been on my mind lately. It is, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” It is a constant reminder to me that as Christians we have the privilege of knowing who to thank for all that we have.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I try to stay away from church doctrine, because it is the interpretation of scripture by church leaders and it can be true to scripture, partially true or completely inconsistent with scripture depending on the ones teaching it. Instead, I rely directly on God’s written word, His Holy Spirit within me, my personal experience and the experience of others leading a Christian life. This post is no different, but it may be a little uncomfortable for those who have bought into a doctrine.

My life as a Christian began when I repented of my sins, believed in my heart and professed with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. In that moment, my sins were covered by the shed blood of Christ and His Spirit came to dwell in my heart to give me the power to resist sin and temptation. From that moment of spiritual rebirth, my Christian life (as all life) has involved growth. When I became a son of the Living God, He did not take away my free will. I did not become a robot or zombie programed only to obey Him. So my growth has been toward God when I obey His word and Holy Spirit and away from God through my inattention or disobedience. In either case the growth has been slow; inch by inch and step by step.

My periods of disobedience remind me of the instructions about how to boil a frog. If you try to put him in boiling water he will immediately jump out, but if you put him in cool water and gradually turn up the heat, by the time he realizes the water has begun to boil it will be too late to escape. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit has increasingly warned me every time to jump back into obedience before it was too late and I did.

How is it possible to drift away from God without realizing it? I became engaged before my tour of duty on Okinawa and we made plans to marry when I returned home. I was so in love that I wrote Carol almost every day from Okinawa. Then one day I got a letter from her that read, “Your father just called me to find out if you are still alive. Please write to him.” I was shocked. I had been ignoring my loving father without even a thought. As we can be distracted away from our earthly father, we can also be distracted away from our loving Heavenly Father.

To have our growth as Christians always draw us closer to God requires our obedience and love. Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” (John 14:15)  When asked about the most important commandment; “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)  To obey, we must pay attention to God’s instruction. To love, we must love God because He first loved us (John 3:16) and then share God’s love with everyone around us.

I wish the scripture said, “Nothing can separate you from the love of God; even you, Jim” but it doesn’t say that. The good news is, the closer my obedience and love draw me to God the less likely it is that I will begin to drift again. The Christian life is a marathon. We must endure to the end and through the power of the Holy Spirit we will, one step at a time.

My last blog post was about what happens when you refuse to do what God instructs you to do using Jonah as a prime example. God is our loving Father who not only tells us what He wants us to do; He also tells us what not to do and lets us know when it isn’t the right time. In response to our prayers and our plans, God may tell us yes, no or not yet. Whatever His instruction through His Spirit within us, it is always presented with love and concern for what is best for us.

I have been a child of God for more than six decades and I have experienced God’s loving encouragement, warning or instruction to wait for the right time countless times. The prompting and encouragement of the Holy Spirit to take action is actually the easiest to obey. That loving encouragement almost always involves service to others. Sharing God’s blessings with others is an integral part of life as a Christian and it has its own reward. It is my obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit that caused me to begin to share my Christian life and experiences with you in this blog. It is only through His help that I have been continuing to post twice a week for over three and a half years.

It is more difficult to obey when God says, “No!” Like a loving parent who warns a child not to touch something that is hot, God warns me when a temptation would have unpleasant consequences if I give in to it. On the occasions when I ignored His warning, I found myself in a real mess drifting away from my spiritual home. Like the Prodigal Son of Jesus’ parable (Luke 15:11-32), I humbly returned home and asked my Father to forgive me. Like the father in that parable, my heavenly Father has always welcomed me back with open arms and rejoiced that I was again home safe with Him.

The hardest instruction to obey is when God says, “Not now.” Patience is a virtue, but it not something that comes easy to us. Like a twelve-year-old who can’t understand why he or she can’t have the keys to the family car, we don’t realize why God wants us to wait until we gain the maturity to take on the responsibility that comes with our desire. It is only when God tells me, “Now you can go for it,” that I have understood why I had to wait.

I have heard some mega pastors say that when we accept Christ the Old Testament no longer applies to us, including the Ten Commandments. My experience over the years and Jesus’ own words tell me something different. Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why Ihavecome. Idid not come to abolish thelawof Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. (Matthew 5:17) As a child of God, it is the Holy Spirit within me that finally makes it possible for me to obey God’s law and His personal parental instructions.

I wrote recently about how God often chooses those who are ready and willing; then He makes us able. There is at least one very notable exception to that rule. In the four chapters of the book of Jonah, we find that Jonah was able, but definitely not ready or willing to obey God’s instructions. I heard a sermon once about Jonah titled, “Lord, here am I – send him!”

Jonah was already chosen by God as His obedient prophet. Jonah knew the power of God’s words spoken through His prophets and he also knew God’s love and mercy toward all of His creation (including him). God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and warn them that unless they repent and turn from their sins, the entire population of more than 120,000 people plus all of their animals would be destroyed; but there was one problem. Most of those people were Assyrians and unlike God, Jonah had hatred in his heart toward Assyrians and wanted them to be punished for their sins instead of forgiven. Today, Jonah would be considered a hater and a racist.

Instead of obeying God or even refusing to go, Jonah took off in the opposite direction. He found out very quickly that you can’t run from God. When he finally went to Nineveh and issued God’s warning, the people repented, fasted and prayed for forgiveness just as Jonah thought they would and he was angry that God forgave and saved them from destruction. God gave him an object lesson about his misdirected hatred and anger.

As a side note; the scripture is very clear that it was a large fish and not a whale that swallowed Jonah and threw him up three days later. The Creator of all life surely knows the difference between a mammal (whale) and a fish.   

As Christians, God’s adopted children, we have already been chosen to represent our heavenly Father here on Earth. We have experienced God’s mercy first hand and we know that God loves the world (including us) so much that Jesus died to bear the sins of all who believe in Him. When God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit, we only have two choices; do it or regret it. Running away from God is not an option and neither is allowing our human thoughts and feeling to get in the way of His love and His mercy. Jonah learned that the hard way. Let us learn from his mistakes.   

Some of the most sad and depressing words ever written or spoken in the English language were written by William Shakespeare and spoken by Macbeth in the play by that name. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps on this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing.” The reason it is so sad is that it is an accurate description of life lived without God.

Compare that with these words from one of my favorite Christian songs. “I don’t know about tomorrow. I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from the sunshine for its skies may turn to gray. I don’t worry over the future for I know what Jesus said and today I’ll walk beside Him for He knows what lies ahead. Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.” Life has true meaning when you are a child of God with His Spirit dwelling within you.

What was it that Jesus said? “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need.   So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

Accepting Jesus as our Savior isn’t just about gaining eternal life with God after this life is over; it is also about living a fruitful, meaningful life here and now. There is no meaning to a life without God; but with God all things are possible. We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow in this life, so let’s make the very best of every one of our todays.

One of my favorite Face Book posts is a photo of a large bear chasing a bicycle rider up the road with the caption, “Sometimes you have to find motivation and sometimes motivation finds you.” What motivates us as Christians? Is it faith or fear? Is it love or duty? Is it obedience or ritual?

When the Israelites escaped Egypt and came to the Red Sea, they realized that the Egyptian army was pursuing them. So when God told Moses to raise his staff and split the sea as a means for them to escape, their fear of the unknown or uncertainty was overcome by their fear of a very real danger. They rushed across the dry sea bed between the walls of water on either side in order to escape from the certain threat of the Egyptians. Afterward they knew it was God who saved them, but at the time I believe it was one fear overcoming another that motivated them to action.

Forty years and a generation later, Joshua was ready to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. They had to cross the Jordan River and it was at its peak depth with very strong currents. This time it was faith and obedience that overcame fear. God instructed Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the people and then stop in the middle of the river to allow the people to all pass by on dry ground. This time it was those first steps of the priests into that turbulent, muddy water in faith and obedience that caused the river to stop flowing and allow the people to all walk across the dry river bed into the Promised Land.

As sons and daughters of God, we encounter obstacles on the way to our eternal home. Some of them may seem like a sea or a raging river. Others may seem like violent storms or high mountains in our path. First, the perfect love of God will cast out all of our fears; then our faith in our Heavenly Father and obedience to His Holy Spirit within us will motivate us to take those first steps of faith into the storm or give us the strength to begin our climb over the mountain. Just as God went through the Red Sea and Jordan River with His chosen people, He will go through every trial or difficulty in this life with us, because we are His adopted children through His mercy and grace.

My answers to the questions at the beginning of this blog post are as follows. I am motivated by faith in God and His gift of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am motivated by love; God’s love for me, my love for Him and my love for others. I am motivated by obedience to my heavenly Father, to His word and His Holy Spirit within me. As a result, I am motivated to do the work God has assigned me here on Earth (with or without a bear, the Egyptian army or even Satan chasing me).            

Living the human life involves balancing idealism, creativity and aspirations with practical and sometimes harsh reality. Living a Christian life simply makes that balancing act easier as we align our hopes and dreams with our Heavenly Father’s aspirations for us. Once we have done that, He will open doors and show us the way to make them part of our reality. We have the Holy Spirit within us as our guide and God’s wisdom to help us make good decisions.

I find God’s wisdom in Proverbs, written by Solomon, whom God blessed with wisdom in answer to his prayer. I find even greater wisdom in the red letters of the New Testament; quotes from the very Son of God. I also find and share the wisdom of wise men and women through the ages; including those prolific writers Unknown and Anonymous. All true wisdom comes from God whether we know the first person who said it or not.

I ran across a quote from Unknown recently that really hit home with me. “There are seven days in a week and someday is not one of them.” As I have grown older with increased limitations, my someday has become never in many cases. If you really want to do something while you can, set a specific day or date and go for it. Someday has a way of never arriving.

Theodore Roosevelt seemed to have a grasp for balancing life. “Look up to the stars for inspiration, but make sure your feet remain firmly planted on the ground.” As President, Teddy would take guests out to the rose garden in the evening and encourage them to gaze at the stars with him. After an hour or so, he would say, “Gentlemen, I think we are small enough now. Let’s retire to bed.”

God wants us to apply our spirituality and wisdom to life right where we are and share them with those around us. A preacher once complained, “Some Christians have their heads so far into heaven, they are no longer of any earthly use.” It is fine to keep our eyes on the prize, but we must keep both feet firmly planted on earth to do the work God has for us here until He calls us home. As long as there is breath in our lungs and a beating heart in our chest, God is not done with us yet.      

This blog post is a day later than usual because I was waiting for God to show me what I should write. I’m still weak and shaky after last week’s drama and falls. At five o’clock this morning I was forced to make the approximately 70 foot walk from my chair to the bathroom on my walker with weak, unstable knees. I live alone, but God never leaves my side.

Over 58 years ago, I was stationed on Okinawa. One of the first phrases I learned in Japanese was “Thank you very much.” It was also the phrase I used the most. Two years later, while stationed on the Greek island of Crete, I learned and used that phrase in Greek. Why do I mention those two events? Because when I successfully made it to the bathroom this morning, after half a century those two phrases suddenly returned to my mind and came out of my mouth. I guess a simple “Thank you, Lord” just wasn’t enough to express my joy and relief on that occasion.  

I’ve mentioned before that the most common phrase in any language is, “I love you.” I have to believe that “Thank you very much” comes in a close second. Expressing gratitude is an important action in everyday life and especially in our prayer life as Christians. God does so much for us that we can’t even begin to comprehend it all. All He asks from us is our thankfulness and our obedience as His children.

Another lesson I learned from this experience is that what we memorize can come back to us at the most opportune time. So, it is important that we memorize positive and encouraging language that will be helpful in the future. There is nothing more positive or encouraging than God’s word.  As Christians with God’s Spirit dwelling in us we not only store His word in our memory, but we also keep His word in our heart. (Psalms 119:11) Jesus demonstrated how to use God’s word to resist temptation. We try to memorize chapter and verse but the words themselves are what is important. With technology, it is easy to look up the location of a verse in the Bible, if we forget where we read it, but the important thing is that the message is there in our mind and heart whenever it is needed.