The Commonwealth Games have begun this week. All countries, still allegiant to the Queen of England, take part in a huge sporting event, on a par with the olympics. Yesterday I was watching some of the triathlon. Men were running, swimming, and bike riding, all with one aim — to cross the finish line. As time passed, you could see the hard breathing, lungs no doubt searing in discomfort, gulping for air to go on. Muscles were aching, bodies were exhausted, but they pressed on.
Such a race in not dissimilar to the track we run in our spiritual world. We find ourselves in difficult situations, perhaps it’s hard to breathe, we ache and endure pain of suffering with every event, but we press on, keeping our eyes on the prize — Jesus waiting at the finish line! One glimpse of His face, and anything endured in our lives will be as nothing compared to the prize of Jesus.
This reminds me of the verse in Job 23:10, But He knows the way that I take. When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Sometimes this verse is misunderstood. Some have mistakingly thought this meant that God was deliberately throwing us in the fires of difficulties on purpose; then, if we by our own strength got through, He would reward us at the end. Oh, no, that is not the meaning!
Have you ever watched a craftsman molding gold? While it’s in the fire, all the impurities rise to the surface. Then the craftsman can remove what’s not needed, and mold only what is pure and lovely. The result is something of great beauty.
When you and I find ourselves in the the midst of the troubles of this world, God has not thrown us in; it’s the result of the fallen and sinful world we live in. This verse means that, while we are in the fires of painful circumstances, God Himself will offer us His own strength and wisdom to get through. Then, when we have taken all He gives us to cross the finish line, like the beauty of gold, we, too, emerge beautiful and triumphant!
We know it to be true that God equips us with all we need to daily face our troubles, because there are numerous promises of His help to us throughout the Bible. When we run a difficult race in our world, God is our coach and trainer, teaching us how to press on, and not give up. The key is focus. Like the athletes in the triathlon, their only focus is the finish line. Let it be the same with us — never giving up, never tripping over a hurdle and laying on the track in failure, but getting up and running again, aiming for the finish line.
When we cross God’s finish line, everyone gets a gold medal. Everyone wins. Everyone who reaches the finish line sees the prize that is waiting for them. Jesus in all His glory — and we get to live with Him — in a place of no more tears — forever! Press on fellow athletes! Let us obtain the prize together. Oh, what joy!
Everyday, the world news is bleak: cyclones and deadly storms, continued disaster in Syria, Ukraine and Russia still at odds, coastal killings in Kenya, a mass family murder in Texas, Israel and Hamas firing missiles at each other — the list could go on and on. Sometimes it seems the whole earth is spinning out of control. Wars and rumors of wars widen. Weather disasters are more frequent. Brother against brother is nothing unusual. Political lying, cheating, and backbiting is the norm in any country. Inflation and unemployment rises daily on every continent. Hardworking people are sleeping in cars with their families, unable to make financial ends meet. What in the world is going on? Is there any hope? Can any encouragement be found?
First, we must not be surprised by the world’s events. When countries and individuals choose to make their own way, ignoring God’s plans and directions, then disaster is sure to follow. The Bible is a historical record of this fact. When we step off of God’s road, and onto a road of our own making, be assured that the way forward is perilous.
But what about those who are looking to God? They, too, suffer the consequences of the world’s calamity. Is there any hope and joy for them? Yes, indeed. David reminds us that in the midst of all darkness, God is there to shine His light into hearts that yearn for Him. He gives faith to the weak of heart. He gives strength to those who feel they can’t go on. He gives courage when fear would like to overcome. He gives peace in the midst of any of life’s storms.
God has never failed anyone in the past. Therefore, there is no reason to feel He is going to fail anyone today or tomorrow. Don’t forget, there is a great weapon available to every Christian who feels themselves being pulled down into the mire of this world’s disturbances. It’s called: praising. When we praise God for all He has done for us yesterday, it builds our faith to trust Him for all that will happen today. It gives us peace for the unchartered paths of tomorrow. As David said in Psalm 103:2, “Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forger the good things He has done for me.”
God never changes. Therefore, it stands to reason that, if God has been your light in the midst of life’s storms yesterday, He will remain your beacon of safety in dangerous waters today. He will never fail you. It’s impossible. At the core of anything that concerns us, God is there, whispering to us His words of love and comfort; equipping us with everything we need to face anything today puts in our path.
Therefore, why wouldn’t we want to praise Him today for all He has done yesterday, and for all He will most certainly do today? Remember, He never stops guiding, filling with peace, and kissing our griefs with His tenderness and care.
“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
My friends took me to spend a few days in the Australian Bush. Our cabin was secluded. I was excited.
The first morning I decided to explore the surroundings. There were walking paths to take. As I was walking along, kookaburras were calling to each other, back and forth, louder and still louder.
Then, what did I see? Kangaroos! I looked at them; they looked at me. Just ahead, what crossed my path? A fox. There was a flutter overhead – green parrots with red heads.
The smells of the foliage were fresh, unusual – the slightest hint of some fragrance in the air. I stopped where I was for a moment, taking deep breaths to fill my lungs with this exotic fresh air. I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying sounds, like whispers in treetops.
It was then the thought came – at that moment in time I was the only person in the entire world there at that spot. A thrill shivered its way up my spine. A joy nearly indescribable poured from my innermost being.
” Thank you, Father!” I called out in my heart. ” Your creation is marvelous. You are marvelous!” The presence of the Spirit of God permeated my being with sweetness.
He inhabits our praises as it says in Psalm 22:3, “You are holy; you inhabit the praises of Israel.” He inhabits our praises, too.
Whether in joyful moments or difficulties – He is there making His presence known as we praise Him.
I’m continuing to enjoy spending time with my dear Russian family in Perth, Australia. It’s a beautiful place stretching along the western coast, looking out over the Indian Ocean.
It’s so peaceful strolling along through the parks with wild, colorful parrots flying about, or walking along the beach keeping watch for dolphins. That peace was slightly interrupted the other day when, as we were walking about, a group of children run by, one of them shouting, “That’s not fair!”
I smiled at the children and thought to myself, we’re not unlike them as adults. How often have situations come into our lives, and we have thought, that’s not fair. Sadly, even Christians can let their minds be filled with resentment toward God for not doing as they thought best. Inwardly they shout at God, “That’s not fair!”
There are lots of things that happen to us that’s just not fair. It wasn’t fair that Gods only Son paid the price for our sin. It wasn’t fair that Jesus died a cruel death for things He never did. It’s not fair that God blesses us with His goodness though we forget all about Him time and time again.
The next time something unfair takes place in our personal world, perhaps we can take a moment to ponder the love of God shown to us even though we don’t deserve it. Remember, too, His way of doing things is beyond our understanding, but His ways are perfect.
“He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” Matthew 5:45
Life may not be fair; God always is, and He will be your everything to get you through anything.
I’m in Australia enjoying a sweet reunion with dear Russian friends who immigrated from Kyrgyzstan six years ago. They’ve shown me beautiful sights in their new homeland. I’ve seen a variety of trees I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen parrots of brilliant colors, and today I saw my first kangaroo in the wild!
All of these things are wonderful, but for my blog this week, those of you who know me well, won’t be surprised that my topic was inspired by a dog named Jessie. This little black and white terrier belongs to Ivan and Galina who I am staying with while in Perth.
Jessie was happy enough to meet me but had a reserve about her. However, a gift of a squeaky rabbit, endless time tossing a ball, and several energetic walks later, and Jessie counts me as one of the family.
This trust and joy in my company has thrilled me. As I have thought about the joy shared between us, I realize it has come about as a result of time spent together. It’s not unlike the joy that grows with time spent in the presence of God. He gives us good gifts, walks and talks with us, and is always pleased when we come to Him.
It’s the “coming to Him” where many of us fail. We convince ourselves that we’re useless, unworthy, failures on a regular basis, etc. Such feelings can rob us of tremendous joy.
What can we do? We can begin by remembering what is written in Lamentations 3:22-23, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed. His compassionate never fail. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.”
Try to always remember that our Lord loves you to come to Him. Come with your concerns or come with your joy or come to worship, but come. He is always there, waiting with a longing that you will come and enjoy Him.
Leave yesterday in the past. Every morning offers you a new day.
This past Sunday, many churches celebrated Pentecost — the day that Jesus told His followers they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5) Jesus told them all in Acts 1:8, “But when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, you will receive power, and will tell people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Do you recall Jesus’ disciples? What a motley crew. A rough and tough band of fisherman. These were the ones Jesus chose, to train them up, to take His message of love and hope throughout the world. If these same men were to enter any type of leadership training program today, they would be shown the door. They had no skills, no training, and showed no natural abilities of leadership of any kind.
Remember Peter? Loud mouthed, a bit of a braggart, very opinionated, and when it really counted, He proved himself to be a coward. He was sorry enough after his cowardly deed; he wept bitterly, but the deed was done. At this point, Peter was not a shining example of success in Christian living.
Now, let’s get back to the part where Jesus promised that after He returned to His Father in heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit to be their comforter and teacher. The Holy Spirit would remind them of the things Jesus taught them, and He would empower them to make a difference in the world in the name of Christ. Even Peter? I’m happy to say — even Peter.
Peter was used mightily of God. In fact, just as soon as the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, it was Peter who led the way out into the streets to share the Good News of Jesus. I love the verse in Acts 2:14, “Then Peter stepped forward…” Gone was the former fear. Cowardice was nowhere to be found within him. The rest of this chapter in Acts records a most powerful sermon, and it was given by Peter. How could this be? He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. What happened? 3000 people came to accept Jesus as their Savior that day.
Before the Holy Spirit took charge of Peter, he was the most unlikely candidate for “Hero of the Faith.” Do you ever feel that way? Have you really blown it? Has the Lord put in your heart to do something, or to share His truth with someone, but you got so scared you backed away? Like Peter, have you been so sorry you wept bitterly in misery and self loathing?
If that’s you, take heart from the example of Peter. What a failure he was — before surrendering all of himself to the molding and empowering of the Holy Spirit. Then — what a success he became, used mightily of God to bring literally thousands into the Kingdom of Heaven. If God could take a loud mouthed coward like Peter, and turn him into one of the Bible’s greatest success stories — can’t God do the same with you? After all, He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:5
Don’t waste time beating yourself up for failures. That’s what Satan wants you to do. Instead, spend time soaking in the Word of God. Then, like Peter, step forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. Turn the impossibilities about your life into everything possible through Jesus Christ.
I’m back in England again, and today I have the joy of keeping one of my friend’s dogs — Trixie. A few years ago, in her chasing squirrels mode, Trixie fell down a ravine and broke her back. She went through surgery and many months of recovery. Slowly, but surely, she regained the use of her back legs. To see her trotting about now, one would not easily know she had ever been hurt. There is definitely a weakness there, and care must be taken with her. She still goes for massage therapy on a regular basis.
My apartment is on the second floor. Can Trixie do the stairs? Yes, but I don’t like to think of her going up and down them several times a day, which she will need to do as I live upstairs. Such continual effort as that would cause her pain. Is there a solution? Yes, I will carry her. Trixie is very light. It’s no trouble at all to simply pick her up and carry her up and down the stairs. Besides that, I think Trixie likes the attention and comfort of arms she trusts, holding her close, and a voice she knows, speaking joyfully to her, “We’re going for a walk, Trixie!” or “It’s time to go up for dinner now, Trixie!” or “Let’s go up and give you a massage, Trixie!” She’s safe and happy in my arms.
Thinking of this made me think of you and me. We have areas of our lives where we are weak. Sometimes we are in difficult situations that scare us. Sometimes we don’t know how we will get through a particular something. What is the answer? Let our Father hold you. Let Him be your strength where you are weak. Listen as He speaks His words of joy and comfort into your heart. The strong arm of the Lord can do anything! We know that because of Psalm 118:16, “The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!”
Try not to worry when the things of life around you seem unsurmountable. God’s arms can carry you through, and don’t forget — He loves to hold you close, speaking words of comfort and joy to you. If I love to hold close, and care for Trixie, how much more does our heavenly Father love to do the same thing for us?
This past week I visited an orphanage just outside the capital city of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I had never been to this particular orphanage. We arrived unannounced. One gets a better picture of conditions when the staff don’t know you’re coming. I was delightfully surprised to see that this orphanage was different than many I have seen throughout Kyrgyzstan.
The staff greeted us happily, accepting gifts we had brought for the children. They showed us where the children sleep. There were about 30 beds all lined up, each one neatly made; all the linen and blankets appearing fresh and clean. In the play room, there were a variety of toys, all in good condition. The dining room and the school room were the same; clean and cheerful with bright paintings on the walls.
The children were intrigued with our visit and expressed uninhibited joy at our being there. Detecting my accent, one child asked me where I am from. “America,” I answered. This created great excitement as they then asked, “Oh, have you come to be our mother? Will you take us with you?” My heart strings were pulled. I wanted to answer that, yes, I will take you all! Of course, I could not.
I explained we were there to visit them, bring some gifts, and hopefully would be able to come again in the future. This seemed to satisfy them. Their attention turned to clambering into our laps, holding our hands, and arms. The staff were wonderful with the children, and one easily saw that the children loved them, too. Even so, the staff can’t give one on one attention to all of them when they need it.
So, I spent quite a bit of time holding the children, tickling them, asking them their names, etc. At one point a little fight broke out between two of the boys. I’m not exactly certain what happened, but while one boy stalked off in a huff, the other boy just sat with quiet tears forming in his eyes. He glanced up and saw me looking at him. Instinctively, I held my hands out to him, motioning him to come. Warmth filled my heart when he did just that — he came with no hesitation to my waiting arms. He came close and let me soothe him with gentle words, stroking his hair, tears disappearing as the hurt in his heart was replaced with receiving the love I offered him.
I have that little boy’s face etched in my memory. I think of him now everyday. I pray for him to be given a good home. I pray for him to come to know about Jesus.
I have thought, too, about Jesus and what He said about children in Matthew 19:13-15, “Some children were brought to Jesus so He could lay hands on them and pray for them. The disciples told them not to bother Him. But Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.’ And He put His hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.”
Reading this I thought again of the little boy who did not hesitate to come to me when I held my arms out, offering comfort and words of love to his hurting heart. It’s the same with Jesus, and you and me, isn’t it? We hurt in this world for all sorts of reasons. There is Jesus, holding His arms out to us, ready and longing to offer us comfort, and words of love to heal the wounds of our hearts. But so often, we don’t come into His arms. Like the second little boy, we stalk away in a huff. It’s so much better to receive love, than to run away from all Jesus offers to us — don’t you think so?
Jesus said when He was with the children, “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these” That’s right. To receive everything Jesus has for us, like children, we must trust Him, we must choose to go to Him. He will not force us, but He is always hoping and waiting. Are you hurting today? Will you go to Jesus? His arms are open wide.
Yesterday an unusual cold snap hit Kyrgyzstan for this time of year. The middle of May is nearly always very warm — not so yesterday. My friend Sofia, also chilly, said, “Let’s have some cocoa!” I readily agreed. Hot chocolate is always especially good on a cold day.
She prepared the hot milk on the stove and added the cocoa and sugar. Then she poured the steaming liquid into our waiting mugs. Ummm, delicious from the first sip. I said to Sofia, “I have a friend who likes to put a sprinkle of red pepper in her hot chocolate.” Immediately Sofia stood to go and get the red pepper. She was anxious to try something new.
We each took a pinch of the pepper between our thumb and forefinger, dropped it into our chocolate, and stirred. Did it change the taste? Yes, there was the slightest taste of the hot spice. It was only the smallest pinch but it had made a difference.
Do you know what came to my mind? I thought about what Paul said in his letter to the churches in Galatia. He was trying to warn them to be very careful concerning their faith. Faith is a fragile thing and must be cared for and nurtured in order for it to grow and stay strong. In Galations 5:9, Paul addresses the issue of who we spend our time with and who we listen to, taking their words to heart. He says this, “But it takes only one wrong person among you to infect all the others — a little yeast spreads quickly through the whole batch of dough!” How true! Like red pepper changed the taste of our chocolate, yeast completely changes the consistency of flour. Likewise, false words, bitter words, gossiping words, negative words, these can all infect us, zapping away our joy in the Lord, and weakening our faith.
Whenever I have opportunity, I especially like to warn young people to be careful who you chose for your friends. By that, I mean those with whom you share your heart and from whom you would take advice, and value their opinions. Make certain it is someone likeminded in the Lord as you are; someone who desires to grow in the things of Jesus as you do. If you add someone who is not walking godly into your intimate circle, the Scripture warns, you are in danger of being infected in your inner spirit. It just takes a few negative words to sow bitterness. It takes just a few words of gossip to cause us to think less of someone than we ought to.
One bad apple really can make the whole bunch rot. Be careful. Guard your faith. Guard your hearts as it says in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”
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