Ready To Live!

For in him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:28

Stran Smith is a professional rodeo rider. His passion is steer-roping…jumping off his horse at 25mph!

Stran had been riding the circuit for seven years, when one day he exhibited alarming medical symptoms and was transported to the local hospital, where doctors discovered he’d had a stroke. Further testing revealed a hole between two chambers of Stran’s heart; a condition known as ‘PFO’ had led to the blood clot in his brain.

Faced with choosing between a risk-filled experimental surgery to repair the hole, or lead a sedentary life—where watering his grass was the limit of his physical exertion, and rodeoing was no longer an option—Stran and his wife, Jennifer, spent a great deal of time in prayer, seeking God’s direction.

Ultimately, they opted for surgery, which was a remarkable success. Stran, now healthier than he’d ever been, returned to the rodeo circuit within two months of the procedure. When asked what the biggest lesson of his experience had been, Stran commented, “Until I was ready to die, I wasn’t ready to live.”

Stran credits his professional rodeo status to blood, sweat, and God’s guidance through his relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Faced with a crisis of faith, we must decide whether we want to hang up our saddle, becoming a reluctant spectator in a full-contact arena, or trust God to fully and faithfully live through us in the time we have left.

In Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection we have the ability to die to ourselves daily, preparing the way for God to resurrect us each morning through our relationship with Jesus Christ, under the power of the Holy Spirit. Our deliberate dying-to-self leaves the door open for God to do miraculous things with and through us. By intentionally facing death, finding our purpose and being in Jesus Christ, we become ready to live!

Prayer

“I want to live today, Lord! But it’s so hard to lay down my own desires each day. I want the benefits of having You in control, but sometimes my wants get in the way. Show me how to humbly listen and await Your instruction at the beginning of each day as I spend this time with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Some Will Perish

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:10

Mindy’s sense of guilt and shame deepened as the pastor continued his message, “There is a Heaven to be sought and a Hell to be shunned! The Bible says that once we’ve accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we must maintain good standing with God, so that on the day we see Him face to face we will be acceptable in his sight."

To Mindy it was just more proof that God was vengeful and unyielding. She’d heard of God’s great love for her, yet the God this man preached about sure didn’t sound like someone who cared about anything but keeping track of her mistakes, so He could read the long list to her on the day she stood before Him to be judged. All she could expect from this God on that day was a sentence to Hell.

Where’s this great love I keep hearing about? Mindy wondered. How could I ever hope to measure up to those standards? She felt the grip of hopelessness tighten on her heart. There’s no way I could ever meet his demands…Mindy left the service feeling defeated.

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My prayer is that you understand we can no more maintain our salvation than we can earn it. So when you hear a message of ‘sustaining our good standing with God in order to be acceptable’, that message is not accurate. We should want to honor our Creator out of our love for Him. But to fall down and fail does not rob us of our right-standing with God. His grace abounds in this world that so desperately needs such love.

But as real as this misconception of a vengeful God is, so is the danger of presenting a God who will allow no one to perish; even to the extent that He withholds judgment completely. Some say this is the meaning of grace.     

Here is the truth: God’s holiness cannot abide the presence of unrighteousness. Jesus’ death provided victory over all sin, with one exception: We must personally accept God’s gift of Jesus’ atoning blood. Failing that, we sentence ourselves to Hell, by rejecting such love. This is not the act of an angry, vengeful God. It is the act of a selfish, petulant child refusing to be saved.

Prayer

“Lord, help me to know You as the loving Father You are instead of the vengeful bully some present You to be. In Jesus’ Name, amen.” 

Leaving No Stains Behind

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

Isaiah 1:18

Jenny was up to her elbows in grass stains. To her, cleaning grass-stained jeans and elbows wasn’t a chore; it was a blessing. She smiled as memories filled her mind, and the exuberance of youth flooded her soul. She was remembering how much fun she’d had rolling down the hill behind the house.

Her kids had inherited her love of the outdoors, as well as the house Jenny’d grown up in. So naturally, they’d set out to see what the mystique of tucking their hands against their faces, holding their elbows tightly against their sides, and launching themselves off the precipice of the hill was all about. Jenny heard them laugh as they recklessly rolled to the bottom, only to race back to the top and do it all over again. By the time they’d had enough for one day, their jeans and elbows were as green as the lime Kool-Aid they were enjoying.

Jenny had scrubbed their elbows until she thought they’d bleed, all the while listening to their complaints of ‘This is child abuse!’ But eventually the stains and complaints vanished. The jeans, however, were a different matter. She scrubbed and scrubbed, throwing everything in her arsenal of cleaning products at the stains, yet they remained. Jenny smiled insightfully, No biggie, hearing their laughter is worth it!

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The laundry detergent Tide claims, ‘It gets the stains out that others leave behind!’ And speaking from personal experience, it does a pretty good job. But even Tide can’t remove every stain.

Our spiritual disposition is much the same. While rolling down the grass-covered hills of life, many of the things we do seem fun and harmless…until we look in the spiritual mirror. And over time, the stains of sin mar our soul. Our best efforts to clean ourselves up always leave stains behind.

The good news is…God can take away the stains that others leave behind. If we ask, He will wipe away every transgression, every smudge, every mistake, leaving no stains behind!

Prayer

“I’m dirty from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, Lord Jesus. And I haven’t got the power to do anything about it. Please forgive me, and wipe away every sinful stain You see. Amen.”

Guppy

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Trish was the Student Attendance Officer at the local high school. One of her duties was making sure all twelve hundred students were in school, and if not, where they were and why. Because of her position, Trish had garnered certain insights into the lives of many of the most disruptive and troubled students; the ones where teachers were actually relieved when they were not in class. Trish knew that their behavior was a result of their home life. Many were from broken marriages, abused or neglected, and left to fend for themselves. As a result, most of them had become thick-skinned and hard hearted, wanting to keep the world at a distance lest they be wounded again.

But Trish, having had her parents separate when she was young, understood them. She was known for having an empathetic desire to help mend the brokenness. So much so that the principle and teachers brought students to her for counseling and prayer, rather than expel or detain them. She’d had remarkable success in helping resolve issues and rekindle openness and trust.

Years ago, one of Trish’s students had nicknamed her ‘Guppy’, an affectionate play on words of the Hebrew word agape’, which means unconditional love, and her petite stature. To them Trish was the living definition.

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Today’s scripture tells us that God will put to use the pain of our lives if we’ll let Him. If we remain faithful to God’s purpose there will be times we find ourselves suddenly understanding why God didn't immediately deliver us from our struggles.

Like Trish, we are meant to be good stewards of our wounds, to use experience and understanding to make a difference in the lives of those who are hurting.

Having persevered through hardships and heartache we can be the ‘Guppy’ to those in need of our experience and love. We can, like Trish, teach them to hope again.

Prayer

“Lord, use my past to help someone in the present. Help me encourage those You bring to me for healing and direction with the agape’ love You show to me. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

The Supreme Sacrifice

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 KJV

As I listened to the 2011 Memorial Day address, I thought of how so many had given so much for our freedom. Many families in our small community had sons and daughters in harms way, in a hostile land. But one individual here knew the pain of supreme sacrifice. Charles and Judy Goare’s son, Shamus had been killed in Afghanistan, and Judy was in attendance to honor their son.

I was reminded of another difficult and bittersweet day for the Goares: “Mr. President,” Senator Mike DeWine announced in the December 8, 2006 Session. “This afternoon I would like to pay tribute to Army Staff Sergeant Shamus Goare from Danville, Ohio. He was killed on June 28, 2005, when his helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan.”

Midway through his tribute the Senator shared, “Mr. President, shortly before his death Shamus received a Medal of Valor for humanitarian work in Afghanistan. Shamus was working with children, which was something his father said he dearly loved…Life in the military was a good fit for Shamus. It led him to a series of selfless and compassionate acts of heroism, many of which he could not divulge to his family due to the nature of his work with the 160^th’s Night Stalkers. And true to their motto, Shamus never quit—even to the very end.”

Following the service I, as well as many others, hugged Judy and thanked her for Shamus, for his life and sacrifice, and for our freedom. In that tearful embrace Judy responded, “You are so welcome…thank you for remembering my son.”

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There is no way we can repay the Shamus, Judy, and Charlie Goares of this Nation. Neither can we repay Jesus for the supreme sacrifice He made on our behalf.

Shamus died so that we might live in freedom from tyranny and oppression, able to enjoy the freedom to worship as we choose.

Jesus died to give us complete freedom, freedom from the penalty sin demands, and the freedom to spend eternity with Him.

Greater love hath no man than this.

Prayer

“Father of Comfort, be with those who have lost loved ones who have served to keep me free. And thank You for true eternal freedom through the death of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.”

The Best Sinner in Hell

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

James 2:10

The judge’s glance shifted from the defendant to the file in his hands. These kinds of cases always caused inner conflict; compassion verses the wisdom of required justice. He’d read the file in his chambers before entering the courtroom. The defendant needed to get home to see his dying mother. She’d had only hours to live. He’d borrowed a friend’s car but had no money for gas so he’d pumped twenty dollars worth of gas at a local station and left without paying. He’d broken the law hoping the judge would understand.

“Son,” the judge said. “What you did was wrong and I cannot allow it to go unpunished. I know why you did it, but your reasoning is in error. You broke the law and no matter how justified the violation might seem to you, you must be held accountable. Therefore, you will serve six months Community Control Sanction; you must pay restitution to the filling station owner, and you will serve two hundred hours of community service at his place of business. Case closed,” he said with finality.

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There is a real danger in rationalizing sin we deem as ‘SMALL’ or ‘INSIGNIFICANT’, by telling ourselves they are of no consequence. We believe that those sins should not meet the ineligibility terms God has set in place. And in that arrogant mindset we sentence ourselves to Hell. The fallacy of our own goodness, as well as the defendant’s reasoning in today’s story, is worthless.

Today’s text says if we have committed one sin we are guilty in God’s eyes. The first part of Romans 6:23 says the penalty for that sin is eternal death. But in the second part of verse 23 God provides the pardon for our sin through Jesus Christ!

We can lay claim to our own goodness; to which God will say, “You will be one of the best sinners in Hell,”or, we can lay claim to the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ and spend eternity with our Creator.

Prayer

“I choose to not be one of the best sinners in Hell, Lord. Please, forgive the sin in my life. Thank You, Jesus, for taking that judgment in my place. Amen.”

Into The Wind

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

James 1:2-3

Several different models of planes sat on the launch deck of the USS Nimitz awaiting their turn to take off. There were A-10A Thunderbolts (Warthogs), F-14A Tomcats, and F/A-18A Hornets waiting for their turn at the catapult. Each had their mission orders and was ready to complete their sortie; they had trained for moments such as this.

Having received the order to launch operation, ‘No Fly’, Admiral Houser watched as the Helmsman carried out his order to turn the Nimitz into the wind and bring her to thirty-five knots.

Within minutes the floating runway’s wind detector signaled the first part of the maneuver had been completed. A mere one minute later ‘launch speed’ had been achieved and war planes began leaving the ship. In all, some fifty planes took flight on their way to accomplish their dangerous missions as the flight deck hummed with activity. Not one aircraft failed to take to the air for lack of sufficient headwind.

Some six hours later, having successfully completed their mission, a victorious group of fighter pilots returned to the deck of the USS Nimitz.

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All major airports have multiple runways laid out in differing geographical directions so that the wind can be taken advantage of. Even small-craft airports with grass runways have windsocks to show wind direction. Why? Because a headwind makes it easier to launch an airplane into the sky. This same principle can work in our lives as well.

By facing the hardships in life instead of turning from them in frustration and defeat we can use each event to rise above the challenge it presents. Is it easy? No…facing adversity never is. Is it worth the effort? Yes…the view from above gives us better perspective and a brighter outlook. Is this always possible? Yes…but it’s a choice we must make with each ordeal that comes our way.

If you run with the wind you’ll never leave the ground. Want a lift? Turn around, into life's headwinds.

Prayer

“Lord, give me the strength to face my problems head-on. Teach me to use each trial to rise above the natural tendency to whine, quit, or admit defeat. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”