Beach Repair

Have you ever walked down the beach very early in the morning?  Did you ever notice how the sand right at the water’s edge is always perfectly smooth?  As you walked down the beach, did you ever turn back to see your foot prints were gone just seconds after you made them?  As the ocean crashes down on the beach, the water stirs up the sand enough to erase all the marks that are made by man.  

                On our last trip to the beach, my daughter learned this phenomenon the hard way.  She decided to dig a hole close enough to the water to allow the waves to fill is up so she could sit in it.  She called it her hot tub at the beach.  What she did not realize was the ocean has a way of healing the beaches.  As she would quit digging and go play in the water, the waves would stir up the sand and started filling in her hot tub.  Several times she would dig it back out only to have her hole filled right back in again with sand.  Over the course of a couple hours, she finally gave up her digging and the ocean repaired the beach back to smooth again. 

                We are no different than the beach when we have God in our lives.  The world starts digging holes in our lives and we think that the scars will last forever.  There are times that people walk all over us and other times when someone just starts digging a hole right in the middle of our sole.  We see the effects of what they are doing to us and think there is no way we can ever be whole again.  When we turn the hurt and scars over to God, His love crashes over us in wave after wave until all the holes are filled in again.  Over time all the footprints from being walked on and all holes people have dug are erased.  God’s love for us gives us an opportunity to be completely made new again.

                Lord I pray tonight for anyone that has not seen the love that You have for them.  You are the great physician and You can cure the physical and emotional holes that the world digs into us.  Thank you God for repairing all the scars in my life and allowing me to be made whole again in You.  Amen

Eclipse of the Son

                August 21, 2017 was one those days that will always be etched in my mind.  That was a day when the world stood completely still for just a couple of minutes in Middle Tennessee.  August 21^st was a solar eclipse that passed through the area.  At the peak of the eclipse, I stood there listening to complete silence.  All the dogs in the yard, the chickens around house and the people watching all had a common thread, they were completely still and quiet.  The outside temperature dropped drastically during that period of time.  All of the automatic lights came on to light the darkness.  And for just a brief moment in time the sun had disappeared from the world.  The solar eclipse was in full effect in my life.

                An eclipse doesn’t only happen to the Earth, it can also happen to Christians on a spiritual level.  We walk in the light and feel the warmth of Jesus shinning all around us.  We go through life without even thinking about the possibilities that Jesus will not be shinning down on us.  And gradually the Son starts getting blocked out and we start to lose the Light.  But we continue to carry on with our life as if nothing is happening around us.  We are too consumed by the things we have to accomplish to realize that our world is getting darker. 

                Finally, the Son is gone from our view and the darkness has taken over our lives.  Everything gets very still and quiet.  We no longer have the desire to keep moving forward.  We are frozen in place.  The warmth from the Son has vanished and we are left in the cold.  We start to look for light from any place.  We turn to man made lights to replace the Light of the World and go off in the direction of those lights just to feel normal again.  We try to feel the void in our lives with anything that might give us temporary happiness.

        

              The solar eclipse only lasts for a short period of time.  Middle Tennessee averaged two minutes of total eclipse.  A spiritual eclipse doesn’t have a time table.  We can be without seeing the Son for a short period or it could last years.  We never know how long it will take for the Son to reemerge in our lives.  And when the sun starts to reappear from behind the moon, it makes a beautiful picture of a diamond ring.  That same picture describes the Son as He is allowed back into our lives.  Our soul is presented with the diamond ring and the promise that He was always there waiting on us to emerge from the darkness and back into the warmth of his Light.

                It has taken me several months to realize that I was walking in the dark.  My personal eclipse started over the summer of 2017.  I watched as my father-in law was being weakened by cancer.  His body was not responding to the treatments or the medicines and he was growing weaker by the hour.  Finally on August 11 God called him home.  I didn’t only lose my father-in law but I also lost a very dear friend.  The height of my eclipse happened in December of 2017.  It started out on the first day of December when my grandfather’s body finally grew too weak to carry on.  He was one of my mentors and one of the people that I looked to for help in many areas.  The darkness continued as Christmas came and the realization set in that two of the people I loved dearly would no longer be with us.  My soul was in a cold state and my life was filled with man made light.  I would sit in the church pews but my mind was everywhere else.  The spiritual eclipse was in full effect in my life.

                Thank you Jesus for always being there when I was in the darkness.  You are the Light of the World and as You reemerged from the darkness, I saw the diamond and received Your promise that You will always be there when I’m in midst of the darkness.  Lord I pray for anyone that is going through a spiritual eclipse.  I pray that they remember the promise that You are always there and that they find the Son light.  Amen

Thank God for Cancer

                How many times has someone gone to the doctor for a routine check up or a minor injury that would not go away?  And how many times have they received the worst possible diagnosis from those routine visists?  The diagnosis that they don’t want to hear is cancer.  In 2016, an estimated 1.7 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed and approximately 600,000 people lose their battle with this horrible disease.  And that is just in the United States alone.

                Unfortunately my family is not immune from those statistics.  On August 11, 2017, my father in law lost his battle with cancer.  He fought the disease until the very end.  Even when the doctors gave him little hope of surviving being taken off the vent, he fought for two more days.  And in those days he was able to tell the family that he loved them.  He slipped from this world holding his wife’s hand after telling her that he loved her one last time.  He was finally able to rest.

                Cancer stole him from this world before we were ready to let him go, but it also gave him an eternal life.  My father in law was a good man.  He would go out of his way to help people and make sure others had the things they needed.  On many occasions he gave hurting people money to buy food or pay a bill. He would give them food out of his own freezer to make sure they ate.  It was not uncommon for him to give someone a ride to help them get to work.  But even with all the good deeds, he realized something was missing.  As he lay in the hospital one afternoon, he was led to 

Jesus and accepted Him as his personal savior.  And now he is walking the streets of gold.

                But his story is not that much different from thousands of others that come to Jesus.  They go through life being a good person, helping the sick and poor and feel they are making a difference in the world.  They make their own way and rely on their hard work for everything they have.  God becomes an afterthought right up until the realization hits them they can’t overcome their situation.  Then God, in that still small voice, starts talking to them and they find their way into His presence.  They finally accept that He gives them a way to win the war.  They may lose the battles in this life but they win the war over death.  And they are awarded the same reward as someone that has been in the presence of God all their life.

                Mathew 20:1-16 shows us that everyone is given the same reward no matter when they come to Jesus.  It reads, “1 For the kingdom of heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. 3”At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw people standing around doing nothing.  4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right the end of the day.  5 So they went to work in the vineyard.  At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.  6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around.  He asked them, “Why haven’t you been working today?”  7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’  “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’ 8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.  9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.  10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more.  But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.  11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’ 13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair!  Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?  14 Take your money and go.  I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.  15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money?  Should you be jealous because I am kind to other?’  16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

                God doesn’t care when you accept Him, He just wants to fully accept Him.  Like most things in life, it’s never a good idea to procrastinate but your reward will still be waiting on you.  Thank you Lord for always knocking on the door our hearts waiting for us to allow You in.

Taboo Gift

                Walk into just about any traditional church in America and you will get just about the same response from every congregation when the subject of alcohol is brought up.  Drinking alcohol is a sin and you should abstain from taking a drink.  One of the most often things said when it’s pointed out that Jesus drank wine is the wine back then is like grape juice today.  These statements are not only false but they are not even Biblical. 

           

     So what is the truth about drinking alcohol?  David says it best in Psalms 104:13-15.  It reads, “13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.  14You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for the people to use.  You allow them to produce food from the earth—15wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.”  God provided us with the fruits to be able to enjoy His gifts.  Ecclesiastes 9:5-8 tells us that God approves of drinking of wine for enjoyment.  The NLT translation reads, “5The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing.  They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.  6Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all gone.  They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.  7So go ahead.  Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!  8Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!”  Clearly drinking wine is not a sin nor should it be seen as taboo in the church.   

                When we dig a little deeper on the subject, we find that Jesus drank wine in celebration.  The first miracle Jesus performed in front of disciples was to turn water into wine at a wedding celebration.  This miracle was recorded by John (John 2:1-12) and caused the disciples to believe more in Jesus.  But if wine was a sin, then why would Jesus choose turning water into wine as His first miracle?  Wine has always been used in celebrations and other gatherings throughout the Bible.  The last super that Jesus shared with the disciples, Jesus took a glass of wine and passed it around as a symbol of the blood He would shed for our sins. 

                These are just a couple of examples of wine being consumed in the Bible.  But does that mean we are free to drink without consequences?  Just as with any gift that God gives us, Satan can take that gift and turn it into a sinful act very quickly.  And the Bible warns us not to become drunkards.  Ephesians 5:18 says, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because it will ruin your life.  Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”   So there is a fine line in enjoying the gifts of God and allowing that gift to become a sin.

                God gave us the gift of wine for our enjoyment and to be consumed in moderation.  It is completely up to us individually to choose whether or not to have a drink of alcohol.  And if God convicts you about consuming wine, that does not mean that it is a sin for others to have a drink.  We have to be very conscious of the message that we are telling others when we judge them for their choices on alcohol.  Wine is a gift from God and needs to be treated as such. 

                Lord, thank you for providing all the gifts You want us to have.  I pray for the Christians that judge others because they feel alcohol is a sin.  Lord only You have the power to judge us for our choices.  Lord, I also pray for the brothers and sisters that struggle with alcohol.  In Your name I pray, amen.

               

                

Six Inches

             

  There are many things that come to mind when I think of half of a foot.  Six inches made the difference when the Tennessee Titans were in the Super Bowl.  If the receiver could have stretched just six more inches, then they would have won a title.  Around lunch time every day, you can see people flooding sandwich shops looking to feel their stomachs with a six inch sub.  The phone you carry is probably about six inches long (unless you are me and you need the bigger screen).  A dollar bill is around six inches long.  So in the grand scheme of things six inches is a very small measurement unless you break it down and then it becomes a pretty important part of life.

                Six inches also could mean the difference in life and death.  I have a friend that can testify to how half of a foot meant that he could tell me the story.  He was inspecting a roller coaster and fell off of it.  When he hit the ground, he broke bones and was injured, but he was alive.  The piece of ground that he fell on was about six inches from a concrete sidewalk.  Had he been over just a few inches, then his head would have hit the concrete instead of landing on the grass.  So six inches meant everything to him that day. 

                Eternal life and eternal damnation can also be measured in six inches.  When you measure the distance from your head to your heart, it measures about six inches in length.  Jesus is a very well known historical person.  You can do the research and find Him without any trouble.  All the Jewish leaders knew who Jesus was before they put Him to death.  They all used their heads and never allowed Jesus into their heart.  The disciples on the other hand got to know Jesus with their heart.  They followed Him because they wanted the relationship with Him.  They decided that the relationship with Jesus would ultimately lead to eternal life.

                The choice is the same today as it was then.  You can be like the Jewish leaders and know Jesus with head or like the disciples and know Him with your heart.  Knowing Him with your head will lead to Him telling you depart from me, I know you not.  While building a relationship and allowing Jesus into your heart will gain you an eternal life.  And you will hear the sweetest words to ever be spoken, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” 

                So six inches in worldly terms is a very small distance, but could have lasting effect on you.  But in the eternal life, six inches is the greatest gap ever to be seen.  Don’t allow half of a foot to cause you to be separated from God.  You have an opportunity today to go from knowing about Jesus to Jesus knowing you.  All you have to do is develop a relationship with Him.  He will stay closer to you than any other person you know.  He will be there when you are down and feel like no one loves you.  Even when you go through the dark times in your life, Jesus will still be right beside you.  So the real question that needs to be asked is, how big is six inches?

                Lord, thank you for putting people in my life to show me how important six inches can be.  I pray that six inches doesn’t keep anyone from the eternal life that You have promised to all of us.  Lord I pray for anyone right now that knows about You, but has not allowed You to get to know them.  I pray that the six inches between their heart and head is not what stands between them hearing well done and depart from me.  I pray that anyone reading this, which is not in a relationship with you, find someone to pray with them about their salvation.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to continue writing the things that You put on me to write.  In Your precious name I Pray, Amen.

Broke.....n

             

               In the world today, it is hard not to allow things to tear at you.  Every day you see more and more things that make you wonder if this world has completely been lost.  There are people out there doing all sorts of dreadful and cruel things to the disabled and children.  Every day people are murdered for no reason.  Protests are happening on behalf of criminals because they are “good” people.  And the list goes on for pages and pages of all the things that tear at us.  We are living in a broken world and developing broken people.

                Every now and then you have to stop and look around you to see that the people in your life are just as broken as the world.  The stress of family members battling diseases that can’t be won or families torn apart by the effects of addiction can be hidden deep within people.  The questions of how all the bills will get paid this month and how will they have enough left over to feed everyone still linger every night when they go to bed.  These people are broken, but you would never know it because they get up and hide behind a smile every day.  Brokenness is a worldly problem that has very personal connections with everyone in it. 

                With all the brokenness that is out there today, it is hard to fall back on the words David wrote in Psalm.  He talked about giving hope to people that are broken.  Psalm 34:17-18 says, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.  He rescues them from all their troubles.  18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”   But with so much pressure being put on people, it is hard to follow David’s teachings and know that God is there waiting on us.  We feel like we can survive on our own without asking for help.

                No one is immune from having their spirit broken at times either.  The pressures of the world become greater than we can deal with and we are ready to give up.  We see the light at the end of the tunnel but we know that it is a train coming straight for us.  The world is about to run us over and we have nowhere to run.  We are right in the path of the destruction that is looming.  And in the aftermath of being run over by the world or our personal hell, we also have to look back to David for another verse of encouragement.  Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” 

                In the world we live in today, I hope David is right.  There are people that have been beat down and chewed up with fear, stress and every other emotion that can weigh on you that need God to heal them from within.  They need their brokenness bandaged up so they can get up with a genuine smile on their face and tell people how God brought them trough the trials of life.  The world will always be broken and people will always be pushed to their breaking point, but when they stop to catch their breath they will hear God telling them, “Be still, and know that I am God!...”(Psalm 46:10) . 

                It is time for everyone to stop and listen to God and not the world.  The world is a broken place and causes us to become broken people, but God is the healer of all things broken when we allow Him to take control. BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!  This is something that will calm the stress that comes from being BROKEN.

                Lord, I pray for the broken. Amen.

Jesus’ Best Friend

                Have you ever had a friend or loved one that you were so close to that you thought they would never betray your trust?  Did you trust them with everything you have?  Did you ever have to question their loyalty to you?  Did they turn out to be that person or did you lose that person because they turned their back on you?  How did you react to that person?

                Simon Peter was that type of person in the life of Jesus.  He was one of the first people Jesus called on when he started His mission.  Jesus called a dirty fisherman out of the boat and

befriended him.  I would dare to say that Jesus and Peter became the best of friends.  They were together almost every day and Peter became one of the more vocal members of the group.  Peter was one of the people Jesus could trust with everything.  Peter showed his loyalty on many occasions but none greater than in the garden when Jesus was arrested.  He was ready to fight to save his friend from being arrested.  Luke 22:33 tells us of the loyalty that Peter had for Jesus.  It reads, “Lord I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”  Don’t we all wish we had a friend like Peter?

            But Jesus knew Peter better than he even knew himself.  Jesus knew that Peter was loyal to Him until the pressure of the world got to him.  Jesus even predicted that Peter would turn his back on his best friend.  John 13:38 says, “Die for me?  I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows

tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times that you even know me.”  So Jesus knew that His friend would walk away from Him when he was confronted by others about his relationship with Jesus.  Peter didn’t have the strength to hold up his end of their friendship when the world came knocking.

                How many of us are really like Peter?   Not just in our relationships with our friends but in our relationship with Jesus.  Do we really take the stand for Jesus when the world looks at us and says you are a follower of Him?  I know in your heart right now you are answering the question just as Peter did, “I am ready to go to prison with you, and even die with you.”  But are you really stronger than Jesus’ best friend?  I pray that you are never put in the situation where you have to make that decision.  But if you are and you follow the same path as Peter, then remember there is still hope for you. 

                Jesus gives us that hope, just as He did Peter.  Luke 22:31-32 is that hope.  It reads, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.  32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail.  So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”  Jesus knew the heart of Peter, just as He knows our heart, and knew that Peter would come back to Him.  Jesus knew Satan was ready to make Peter’s life hard and Peter would fail under the pressure.  But He also wanted to let Peter know that he could come back to Him and be a stronger leader to his brothers.

                So I ask again, are you really stronger than Jesus’ best friend?  Peter succumbs to the pressure of Satan and turned his back on Christ, we will also turn our backs on Christ at some point.  But when we do, we can rely on the hope that Jesus gave to Peter.  We can repent and be brought back into the fold with Him.  But that is only the first step in the process.  We can’t just stop there; no we must now be ready to strengthen our brothers.  We have to be ready to stand in the gap for another or give a testimony of our trials to show others the redemptive power of Jesus.

 

                Jesus, thank you for showing us, through Your friend Peter, that we can fail You but there is a way back to You.  Thank you for giving us hope in our times of failing You.  You made a way for us to have a relationship with you and thank you for wanting to have relationship with us.  Lord I pray for the person that the world is pressuring to the breaking point right now.  I pray that they will come through those trials and will have a testimony for others that show Your shinning light.  Lord I pray for those that are strengthening others with their testimony.  They may have come through a fire, but that doesn’t mean they are done with their own tribulations so I pray for them as well.  Strengthen us Lord to handle the situations we find ourselves in.  In Your​ name I pray, Amen.