New Each Day

For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.

Lamentations 3:22, 23

“So what’s your New Year’s resolution?” Regan asked.

“I’m not making one,” Willie answered. “The last two resolutions I made, I had no intention of keeping. Why should I set goals I don’t plan to keep?”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Regan said in challenge.

“Why’s it so important that I decide to do something positive for myself on New Year’s Eve?” Willie countered. “I mean, I can make constructive changes to my life any day of the year. So why does it have to be right now, today?” he said with emphasis.

“Well … ” Regan paused, pondering the truth in Willie’s comment. It dawned on her that she might be doing something out of a misguided purpose. Whether he knew it or had just stumbled upon it by accident, there was validity in what Willie said. She finally answered, “Well, I guess I make a commitment each New Year’s Eve because it’s what I’ve always done.” Struck by a deeper thought, she pondered aloud, “Does that make it wrong?”

“No, I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong,” Willie responded; pausing a moment, he added, “But I’ve seen so many people set goals with good intentions, and when they didn’t follow through, they wound up discouraged with a sense of defeat. I just think there’s more to why we make lifestyle changes than when we decide to make them.”

†

Willie makes a valid point; when is not as important as why we do things. I’m not advocating that people stop making New Year’s resolutions. If you purposefully commit to your goals, you can certainly attain life-changing experiences. The truth is that if we desire, we can commit to those experiences any day of the year. We need not wait until December 31 to change the way we live.

God wants us to understand that we can bring before Him anything, anytime. As His Word says, His compassions—His ability to forgive and offer us a fresh start—are new each day.

Prayer

“Father of forgiveness and life, help me live more for You in this next year than I did in the past. And if I fail one day, lift me up and help me make a new start. Amen.”

 Running in Rebellion

But Jonah ran away from the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

Pam quietly raised her bedroom window and climbed out on the roof. She laid the note she’d written on the windowsill and closed the window as quietly as possible. With as little noise as possible, she crept to the trellis and climbed to the ground. Pausing to take stock of her surroundings, Pam took one last look toward her parents’ bedroom window and then slipped into the woods.

For two hours she followed the road to town, hiding in the bushes whenever she heard vehicles approaching. Reaching the rendezvous point, Pam took the flashlight from her backpack and, pointing it in a southerly direction, flashed it on and off three times in rapid succession. Moments later, her signal was returned. As Pam headed toward Gregory, she was beginning to have doubts about this. Hearing his approaching footsteps, Pam quelled the urge to turn around and run home. Instead, she cranked up her resolve and quietly called out, “Is that you, Greg?”

“It’s me. You ready?” he asked.

“I guess,” she said sullenly. “Do you really think this is the only way?”

He tried to put her doubt to rest. “Once they get your note, they’ll realize they’ve been too hard on you. Then they’ll be ready to listen,” he said. “Just wait, you’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said but couldn’t shake the sensation that what she was doing was wrong.

†

Running from our problems doesn’t bring resolution; it only delays the inevitable—facing our issues. We must meet our problems head on because no matter where we go, until they’re dealt with, they remain.

Running away is a form of rebellion, born out of disappointment, anger, or resentment. In Jonah’s case, it was all three. Jonah thought he knew what was best for Nineveh and made no effort to hide his displeasure with God.

God allowed Jonah the freedom to rebel. He even allowed Jonah to run away. But what He didn’t do was break off His pursuit of Jonah. In the end, Jonah repented of his rebellion and delivered God’s rebuke to Nineveh, which brought about their repentance and salvation—a lesson for us all.

Prayer

“Lord, keep my heart from rebellion. Draw me to Your side and keep me there. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 Watchman 

This is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a watchman and have him report what he sees.”

Isaiah 21:6

As he began the first fold in the flag, the SWAT commander reflected on his friend’s life. Words like duty and honor immediately came to mind—never taken lightly, rarely spoken of, silently understood. The man being laid to rest was a husband, father, brother, son, and friend.

He was a fifteen-year veteran who had laid down his life during the performance of his duties; a veteran whose thoughts were unlike the average civilian’s. Upon entering any structure, business, or residence, he noted every door and surveillance camera. He formulated plans for every scenario. He determined how he would respond if someone entered with criminal intent, because he was always thinking about the safety of others.

Drawn from his thoughts by the twenty-one-gun salute, the commander was intensely aware that he would rather have been anywhere but here. But, doing what he would always do under difficult circumstances, he put aside his emotion, and performed his duties. He had come here today to honor and pay tribute to a fallen comrade; nothing would deter him. Then he’d get back on the wall; entrusted with the freedom of others.

†

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” His revelation to his disciples was about duty and honor in love. It was about loving others in a way that places their welfare ahead of our own, suffering temporarily, so that they might be safe.

Jesus was the perfect example. He suffered death on a cross so that we might be saved. The battleground was Gethsemane. Bent by anguish beyond our comprehension, wishing to be anywhere but there at that moment, He submitted to the Father’s will. In that garden, Jesus showed us how to choose to defend the innocent over personal comfort. He rose up from praying and hung on the cross of Calvary—a wall no other could ever stand upon; offering a freedom no one else can provide.

Prayer

“Jesus, my Savior, thank You for choosing to die so that I might live. I ask Your protection over those who do as you did, to stand on the wall so that others might live. Amen.”

 Ditches

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin … rather offer yourselves to God.

Romans 6:13

The water poured into the ditch as fast as Darnell dug. He was trying to excavate around a broken water main so his crew could fix it, but it wasn’t going very well. He ordered one of his men to dig a diversion ditch to reroute the water away from the broken pipe. He advised the man to begin the ditch at least fifty feet away and work his way back to the break. “It needs to be below the level of the main pipeline or it won’t do us any good,” Darnell added.

The man chose a low-lying area in an abandoned lot. It would hold a large volume of water if it was routed in that direction. Starting at the abandoned lot, he began the ditch. Twenty minutes later, the water broke through into the diversion ditch as the final bit of ground gave way. The water level around the broken pipe receded, and Darnell was able to excavate the area so his men could complete repairs.

Finished, they filled in the ditches using power tampers to pack the dirt and then laid new asphalt. Within hours, water was restored to residents’ homes and traffic flowed normally through the neighborhood.

†

Undeterred sin becomes like a broken water main in our lives. And many times, in true remorse, we attempt to dig ourselves out, yet fail, only to sink deeper into the sin-laden soil. We get so bogged down that we believe there’s no way out. And for good reason: self-extrication never works. Eventually, sin floods our soul and drowns our spirit.

Fact: the more we dig, the deeper the ditch.

Truth: the only way out of our sin is to stop digging in the wrong ditch!

Answer: we must begin to dig a deeper ditch in God’s direction. He can and wants to cover the sin in our lives, filling in the old ditch if we allow Him.

Only by constantly offering ourselves to God—digging toward Him instead of our sinful desires—can we rise from our ditches.

Prayer

“Lord, fill in the sinful areas of my heart. Cover them with Your forgiveness and keep me from trying to dig them up again. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 Think Like Ants

Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise!

Proverbs 6:6

Carrie was drawn to the way Solomon dealt with laziness by encouraging people to watch ants at work—not just their laboring, but how they orchestrated events by breaking them into smaller tasks.

Since New Mexico winters didn’t drive all its insects into hibernation, Carrie decided to conduct her own experiment. Knowing the location of several anthills, Carrie took a sugar doughnut, lawn chair, and her camera equipment and set out for the woods.

Arriving at her destination, Carrie set the doughnut several feet from one particular anthill and then withdrew several more feet and set up her camera and tripod. Less than two minutes elapsed before the ants discovered the doughnut. Amazing! she thought, mesmerized by the fact that they were drawn to it so quickly. There must be thousands of them!

One by one, the ants climbed onto the doughnut, broke off a piece larger than their own body, and transported it back to the colony within the hill. In the span of two hours, the doughnut was gone! Not a single morsel of the sugary treat was left.

Returning home, Carrie took the digitally time-stamped pictures and arranged a PowerPoint slideshow for her laptop. She now had the perfect object lesson for next week’s study!

†

Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the big picture. We lack the ability to see it in doable pieces. And many times, because of its overwhelming nature, we procrastinate and put off doing the work at all.

We don’t readily equate this action as being lazy; instead, we rationalize it as being over our head or out of our league and fail to consider ways in which we might approach it successfully. What a trap our fearful unwillingness to make mistakes becomes!

It is in the delay that doubt speaks to our heart. If by breaking the project down into smaller parts we could see the possibilities, we might not be so quick to delay.

Solomon says, “Think like ants!” Break events into smaller, easier-to-complete tasks. Then don’t delay; get busy!

Prayer

“Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by the things that vie for my time, Lord. Help me learn to be like the ant, humbly enlisting help and eating the doughnut a piece at a time. Amen.”

 Equipped with Pain

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18

Burt wasn’t as limber as he once was; his body took longer to recuperate. Cold winter mornings made it even harder to rid himself of the stiffness. Today he was hurting a bit more than usual because he had helped his son cut and split a load of firewood two days before; the second day always seems the worst.

As he allowed the shower to massage his aching body, Burt complained to God about additional physical suffering for what he considered a labor of love. “I can’t believe You’d allow me to experience added pain in this situation, Lord. I mean, I was spending quality time with my son! Why should it hurt so much?”

Strange conversation? Not really, Burt talked with God this way all the time. When God spoke, which was frequently in Burt’s case, it was always to make a point.

This morning, God was quick to remind Burt that in his earlier years as a student athlete he’d awakened on most Sunday mornings stiff and sore without complaint. It was all part of playing sports. “So why, Burt, at fifty-five, do you feel like I’ve betrayed you?” God asked.

“So You think I’m feeling sorry for myself?” Burt countered.

Burt wasn’t positive, but he thought he heard God say, “Sorry, Burt. But they chose to eat the fruit.”

†

Pain—physical, emotional, and spiritual—is the result of one act of disobedience. And each act of disobedience on our part will exacerbate the effect. It may not seem fair because we didn’t ask for it. But until this life is over, that’s the way it is.

Paul said that we have Jesus’ promise that what we endure today is not to be compared to what we are going to inherit. Jesus believed in us so profoundly that he set aside his crown and endured a pain-filled life of His own. Though this life is equipped with pain, hold on and look to your future glory!

Prayer

“Lord, when I’m out of strength, revive me. When I feel like giving in, come to my rescue. Help me look to eternity as I walk through today’s pain. Amen.”

Merry Christmas!

Before We Called

Before they call, I will answer.

Isaiah 65:24

“Sir,” the voice on the other end of the phone said, “we need some of your son’s blood. It is the rarest of all types; with it, we can save the lives of millions of people.”

Was this some kind of sick joke? How could they possibly know that?

His son had been born just this morning and hadn’t yet been named. Three months premature, weighing less than three pounds, his survival was still in question.

How could someone possibly know what his blood type is? Or for that matter, how could they know it had curative properties? And even if they did know, how could they ask such a question?!

“Sir, we need your decision now. If we don’t give the children a serum from the antibodies your son’s blood has, many of them will die. We need your son’s blood.”

This can’t be happening! His mind was numb. His wife had died in childbirth, and now they were asking him to put his infant son’s life in jeopardy by allowing them to remove much of the blood from his little body.

“Sir?” He dropped the receiver and returned to the hospital nursery. He looked at his tiny son in the basinet and wondered, What am I supposed to do?

†

When God faced this situation, He never hesitated.

And before we called, God sent a baby, the symbol of the purest thing on earth. In an infant, there is no fault. Without a sacrifice pure enough to meet the demand of justice, we would be damned for eternity.

God sent a man who has the wisdom and strength to lead us through the murkiest waters and lift us from the greatest depths of despondency. God is a force Who will fight our battles with a love so fierce that He left His throne to live in our world.

God sent a Savior, the only One eligible to stand in our place, to take every punishment, every lash, every torment and be defiled because He could not stand that we would spend eternity without Him!

Before we called, God sent the answer.

Prayer

“Father of love, thank You for the life-giving blood of Jesus! May we never fail to understand, as much as humanly possible, what that sacrifice cost You. Amen.”