An Always God

"Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly." Jonah 2:1
Two thoughts here: first, Jonah was at the lowest point in his life. No one else could hear him--in man's eyes he would have been given up as lost with no hope. Ask any scientist--it's not possible to survive Jonah's situation. And yet God not only hears, but he answers in a miraculous way. We don't think of it that way often, but it's true--God performed a miracle to save Jonah's life.
Second, in spite of his disobedience and outright rebellion against God, the Lord was still Jonah's God.
We do stupid things and get ourselves into impossible situations. And yet, no matter how deep into trouble we get, and no matter how far from Him we run, God is able to hear us, able to save us, and able to keep us. He's never out of earshot, His arm is never too short to reach us, and He will never, ever forsake us.

Beyond Me

There's a song lyric that goes, "It's beyond me--I cannot carry the weight of a heavy world." With the exception of "Jesus loves me," I doubt there's a line more meaningful for today's people. So often we rush through life taking on more and more, trying to get more, accomplish more, go farther faster. We do our dead-level best trying to single-handedly take on the weight of a very heavy world...and we just can't bear it. It is very much beyond us. So we spin our wheels, running ourselves into the ground. And we do this spiritually and emotionally as much as we do it physically. Folks, you don't have to try to carry the world all by yourself--which is good, because you're not able to. God is waiting to help you bear all of your burdens, and there's nothing He wants more. He already died to keep you out of hell, don't you think you can trust Him to help you with the rest?

How Far Have You Been Called?

I wanted to make one other observation from our passage yesterday in the Garden of Gethsemene. I find it interesting that Jesus brought his twelve disciples, of all the many who followed Him, to the garden...then, of the twelve, took three--Peter, James and John--a little farther than the others. That's a great analogy for our Christian journey, too. God doesn't deal with each of us exactly the same. His plan for each of us is unique. It's easy for us to get caught up in what so-and-so is doing for God--what He's led them to do. But it's not our concern what God has for others. We have to stay in touch with God and do what He wants US to do. You may be a garden disciple...or even a "little farther" disciple...or you may just be a palm-laying disciple. Just be sure that you're where He has called you--as far, but no further--and you will have the peace that passeth all understanding.

I Am A Rock

There's an old song (old being, of course, relative) that says, "I am a rock." It's a good song--well-written lyrically and musically. It's also dead wrong. I'm not a rock. Neither are you. We're weak...we tire, we fail, we crack under pressure...and there's a lot of pressure out there to break us. It's good to know, in a crushing world that there is a Rock that we can run to...that He will never tire or fail or crack under pressure...that, when we are weak, He is strong. Are you resting in that Rock today? Or are you standing on your own under the shadow of impending doom, arrogantly proclaiming, "I am a rock...and a rock feels no pain?"

Overcoming Unhappiness

I've noticed that only two things can make me miserable--something I do, or something someone else does. Seems obvious, but often we try to blame our unhappiness on things like poor finances, our job, a stressful situation.... But really our unhappiness is almost always due to either sin in our lives creating disharmony with God and within ourselves, or allowing things people say and do to hurt our pride. That's what it is, isn't it? We determine that we deserve to be treated better than that...that they oughtn't speak that way to us...who do they think they are?
The Bible tells us to die to self. To sacrifice our pride--our "deservedness." And that's how we often view it--as a sacrifice. God, though, in His higher-than-ours wisdom, knew that only by sacrificing ourselves in this way will we be able to experience peace and overcome unhappiness and dissatisfaction. That's exactly what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

The Source

I had a conversation today with someone who believes that, after death one of two things happens: if you have not finished "all that you're supposed to accomplish," you go "back into the void to wait for a new body" and be reincarnated; if you have accomplished everything, you "move on to a new plane--that's heaven." Sounds ridiculous, huh? Of course--because it IS ridiculous. It's ridiculous any time we come up with "beliefs" based on our own authority. I'm so grateful that God saw fit to give us everything we need to know about Himself and our relationship with Him. The Bible is (with the obvious exception of Christ Himself) the greatest gift man has ever been given. Don't take for granted the fact that you have in your possession the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Because of that you can KNOW the answers to all of life's difficult questions without having to make them up on your own.

Make Today Count

Today there was a horrible wreck just a few yards from my house. As far as I know, no one was killed, but that was only by the grace of God. One driver is currently having his face operated on; the 18-wheeler involved exploded twice, but only after the driver was able to get away from his cab. Just a couple weeks ago, two young men who graduated from high school with my little sister died in a car accident. Yesterday I learned that a 25-year-old girl I know was just diagnosed with cancer.
Life is deadly. The Bible tells us that our life is merely a vapor--here one instant, gone the next. None of us is guaranteed to be alive tomorrow...or five minutes from now. My point is not that we should live in fear or in the shadow of death. My point is that, first, as believers, we have the light to banish that shadow; and, second, we ought to live every day with the recognition that it could be our last. Don't get caught up in the peripheral things of life--remember what is important. Your relationships with God and man are the only thing that you get to carry into the next life, so don't screw them up! Be sure that the people you care about know that you do...and make sure that when the day comes that you are gone, people have the confidence to say you are with your Savior. Make today count!

An Involved God

There are scores of references in the Bible to God's relationship with man--His leading, His talking with, His care for, His interaction with...even His anger towards man's sin. There's one thing that all these things tell us--GOD IS INVOLVED! God knows who you are, where you are, what you're going through...and He CARES! Is that not the most amazing thing ever?! Don't let the world or people or your trials get you down--God is involved in your life, and He is in control--it'll all work out as long as you're letting Him work it out for you.

Friend First

The Bible tells us that for a man to have friends, he must show himself friendly. Note that it doesn't promise that, if you're friendly, people WILL reciprocate. There are some people that you can be just as nice as you please...and they'll treat you like the scum of the earth anyway. It's so easy in those situations to act in kind, but you'll never win that way. Smile, be nice...and move on. That's the only way to beat people like that. You may never convert them into a friend--or you may. Either way, be sure that at the end of the day you can say, "I did the right thing." You'll feel better about yourself, you'll have a less strained relationship with God, and others will notice. You will only gain friends if you ARE a friend first.

Why We Fail, pt. 4

Just one more reason (that I'll cover, at least) we don't keep resolutions and achieve our goals: we try to do it alone. Your chances of success in just about any venture increases greatly with company. Trying to accomplish something with another person's inclusion provides moral support, encouragement, accountability, and objective advice. But even better than that, as Christians, we have an omnipotent, omniscent God always available to us. He wants us to achieve, to be successful, to be happy and healthy and holy. And He's never too busy to lend an ear or a hand. Don't forget your greatest aid in goal-reaching--your Heavenly Father!

Another reason we fail to reach our goals is inability to stand against resistance. Or: a willingness to quit. Proverbs tells us that a just man falls seven times and rises up again. You're going fail. Success and victory do not have tendencies to land gently in your lap. No, you've got to learn to get back up when you fall and press on. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Don't quit! When you run into an obstacle, find a way around it. Or over it. Or under it. Or THROUGH it. Just keep on trying, and you will eventually succeed.

Why We Fail, pt. 3

A third reason our resolutions fall apart quickly is passive goal-setting. Make sure your goals are pro-active. Don't NOT do something--DO something. You have to take postive action, and (to just insert another in here) you have to do it NOW. Goals should be active and timely. You have to get yourself involved in the goal-reaching/resolution-keeping process. Want to kick a habit? Break that besetting sin? Make it your goal to replace it with something that will help in the prevention. Just giving something up--anger, meanness, bitterness, lust, gossiping...whatever--creates a void that must be filled. Make filling that your goal, and losing the habit will take care of itself! Be AGGRESSIVE with your goals, and they'll stand a much better chance.

Why We Fail, pt. 1

Well, here we are a week into a new year again. We naturally tend to spend a lot of time reevaluating in these days right around New Year's. We consider the successes and failures of the past year; we determine to do this or that, or more of that or this; we set goals and resolutions. And two weeks later, we're in the same ruts and bad habits we were in two months ago. What happened?
A few things can cause us to fail in our determination to do better, and I'll try to hit on a few of these pitfalls--and map out some ways around them--in the next few days.
The first thing that can prevent our success in the new year and in life is doing things for the wrong reasons. Ask yourself why you set those goals and mae those resolutions. Far too often our ambitions are determined by what other think (or what we believe they think) of us. I'm not going to tell you not to care what others think, because, as ambassadors of Heaven, we SHOULD care. But if that's what you're baseing your goals on, you'll fail almost every time. If this is your problem, try changing the way you're thinking about your goals. Isn't that just playing semantics? You bet it is. And you can bet semantic differences can make a huge difference. Reword your purposes. Want to lose some weight so people will look at you differently or find you more attractive? No--you want to slim down so you feel better about what you see in the mirror and to improve your long-term health. Make sure you're reasons center around yourself and God. Those are the two people you're stuck with!