Tact

January 31

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. Abraham Lincoln

By this definition, one could almost accuse America's greatest president of being a great liar, for often the way people see themselves is anything but the reality of who they are. By aligning ourselves with their erroneous perception, we make ourselves complicit in their self-deception. Yet, there is another aspect of the approach advocated by President Lincoln that makes his viewpoint quite appealing and it is rooted in the old adage that admonishes us to 'pick our battles.'

When we consider that our nation was enmeshed in a great Civil War during President Lincoln's tenure in office, that more Americans were slain during that war than in any other conflict, when the threat loomed that the union would never be restored, we would have to acquiesce to the idea that were Lincoln to concern himself about such petty notions as men's perceptions of themselves, he would have been negligent to his greater calling of restoring the nation and ridding it of the great scourge of slavery.

So we weigh his definition of tact on a more finely-tuned scale in order to grasp the truth it conveys, and we realize that each of us will, at one time or another in our lives, be confronted with the necessity of doing the same thing--we, too, must learn to pick our battles. We, too, must choose our words carefully, knowing as Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” Matthew 12:34. We will not want to provoke anger in a friend or in an adversary or in our children (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21), and we will understand that if we hold good for them in our hearts, our words regarding them will be tactful and kind.

We must promise ourselves to apply the Biblical admonition that approximates President Lincoln's recommendation, "A soft answer turns away wrath," Proverbs 15:1, for when we have spoken softly to an opponent and given place to his perception of his point of view (as Lincoln said, to describe him as he sees himself), we will have deflected the arrows of the enemy of our souls who wants nothing more than to use any and all things—even words—as weapons that we hurl at one another.

When we have extended to an adversary the respect and regard that he perceives to be his due, we have not so much been duplicitous as we have been tactful. We have not been manipulators of words as much as we have been transformers of words from weapons of destruction to instruments of peace. The questions we must ask ourselves are, ‘Is Jesus glorified by my words? Is Jesus lifted up by my concession to my opponent? Will Jesus be able to use my kind descriptions of others to effect the good in His heart?

Our Negotiator

January 30

The single most powerful tool for winning a negotiation is the ability to get up and walk away from the table without a deal Author Unknown
It's true. We don't always prevail in our negotiations. We don't always walk away from the table feeling like we've attained all the points we desired. Sometimes that's due to compromise and often it's due to irreconcilable differences. When the latter is the outcome, our negotiations appear futile—until God is factored into the equation. When we have placed our confidence in Him, we are not undone by seeming setbacks; no, we are steadfast on the path of faith that causes us to believe that HE is leading us in the way we should go. We always trust Him because, “We walk by faith, not by sight,” II Corinthians 5:7.

The course on which He takes our journey may not be the most direct and we may not attain our goal expeditiously, but when we "...know Who we have believed, we are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed to Him," (II Timothy 1:12). We may not always be sure why or how we are where we are but we trust the One who has promised to take us safely to our next destination. When we have placed our lives in His hands, we understand that our walk may at times necessitate our traveling through the darkness of the storm where we are barraged with perplexity but we also know the light of His Word guides us one step at a time (Psalm 119:105).

And we are sure that ultimately, we will emerge into the bright place of blessing to which He has been guiding us! We will discover that He has provided blessings along the way that we hadn't even realized were ours—and some blessings will have come through the adversity we endured! We will see that the attainment of the good things we'd desired were not the result of our clever or resolute negotiations but because we were able to leave the nuts and bolts of the matter in the hands of the Savior who loves us.

Jesus doesn't desire for His people to fail—and HE will never fail them (See Hebrews 13:5), but He does desire us to trust Him no matter how things may appear (See Proverbs 3:5). Sometimes that requires allowing Him to be our Negotiator when we seem to have reached one of the impasses in life. Because we know HE IS FAITHFUL (I Thessalonians 5:24), and we can TRUST HIM IN ALL THINGS, we place our absolute faith in Jesus and His faithfulness. He has already worked out the best deal for us because He loves us—He negotiated our salvation before the world began! (See Revelation 13:8).

Serenity, Courage, Wisdom

January 29

"Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Rinehold Neiburh


Niebuhr has struck upon the key to our own contentment in life, and that is discernment. There are some things that will never be resolved to our satisfaction. We cannot excel academically beyond our intellectual capacity; we cannot change Washington because we cannot change politicians; we cannot affect peace in the world other than by introducing one man at a time to the Prince of Peace and by allowing Him to reign in our own hearts.

Yet we cannot sit idly by when needs arise that we can alter by our investment of ourselves into them. We can, for example, "Study to show yourself approved of the Lord, a workman rightly dividing the Word of Truth," as we are admonished to do in II Timothy 2:15. We know our knowledge of the Word and of the One who is the Author of Truth is not contingent upon our intellectual prowess but upon our willingness to open our hearts and minds to His Holy Spirit (John 14:26), so we should apply due diligence to its appropriation.

We cannot change Washington politicians or their counterparts in other parts of the world, but we can exercise our right to pray and seek the Lord's face as we are admonished to do in II Chronicles 7:14--and we can watch as the God of Creation who holds all life in the hollow of His hand exercises His prerogative to "...put down one and set up another." (Psalm 75:7). And we may "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," knowing the Word says, "...they shall prosper that love thee" Psalm 122:6. This is especially true in this evil day when we see nations of the world rising against the peace of Jerusalem.

Although we cannot always know how and when to promote change, we can know that with the Lord's help change for the better can be accomplished. I pray you give yourself so fully to Him that He can use your prayers to make a difference in the circumstances that beset you and in the distressing things that are unfolding in the world. I pray that through His intervention you may be infused with the wisdom to discern the course you should take to achieve the best of all outcomes. He would have you to employ the philosophy of Reinhold Niebuhr to promote the purposes of Jesus in your life and, through your prayers, to improve the world.

Bathed in His Promises

January 28

If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot." Korean Proverb

Your heavenly Father’s expects you to reflect the light of Jesus. You may deny it, but that does not change the reality of what God wants you to be, a beautiful and brilliant light that illumines the darkness around you. Perhaps you deny the light in you because it's a big responsibility to be light, to have anyone look to you for illumination, but, that’s a cop-out.

Every believer is in the same situation. Apart from Jesus and the light He shines upon us and through us, we all stumble in the darkness. We may rail at the darkness but as this proverb states so succinctly, when we do, we risk injuring ourselves because anger places the one who harbors it in jeopardy. That is why the beautiful words of Micah 7:8 are so precious to people of faith. Here the Lord tells us through His prophet, "Rejoice not over me, O, mine enemy, for when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me."

Although we may hurt our own foot when we kick a stone in anger, we will not harm ourselves even if we fall, if we are walking in His integrity, for HE will catch us; He will keep us from falling, or He will pick us up! (See Jude 1:24). When the darkness of our circumstances surrounds us, JESUS will be a light to us! With that great truth to guide our walk, we are constrained from lashing out in frustration or impatience or despair or anger! When we place our hand in His, we know the One who overcomes all the works of the evil one can also overcome his mischief in us!


The reality is that we are brought to the point of pain, frustration, impatience, despair and anger when we feel helpless to overcome the negative circumstances that we face. We slump into negativity when neither our attempts at resolution nor our prayers seem to be effectual to the overcoming of our problems. The enemy of our soul relies upon this negativity within ourselves for it is the only weapon he has to use against us! The WORD tells us that "no weapon formed against you shall stand," (See Isaiah 54:17). That statement leads us to conclude that the only weapon that has a chance to undo us is the one we form against ourselves—the weapon of unbelief!

Equipped with that knowledge, we must prevent ourselves from 'kicking stones in anger,' for it is those stones that originate in our own mind that can harm us! Let us rather, take all those stones of bitterness and despair and depression and place them in our 'rock garden' of faith where truth and honor and kindness and gentleness and meekness and hope and love may bloom under the SON-SHINE of Jesus' love and be bathed in the LIVING WATER of His promises.

Only to Him

January 27

"He who angers you conquers you." Elizabeth Kenny

This quote parallels that of the Bible which states the idea in even stronger terms. It says, "The man who controls his spirit is stronger than the warrior who conquerors a city,” Proverbs 16:32. The reality is, controlling the inner man is the most profound challenge any of us face.

Perhaps this is because our foe, God's arch enemy, attacks us most relentlessly there. If he can challenge our faith, challenge our attitudes, challenge our emotions, challenge our resolve to be a person after the Lord's own heart, he has not only gained a victory over us but also a victory over Jesus who wants us to be “…more than conquerors,” Romans 8:37, over all adversity, over every scheme of the enemy, and over ourselves.

So, may we lay our anger, our frustration, our depression, our depletion, our despair, our sadness, our sense of futility--every negative thing that we have harbored within ourselves--at the feet of Jesus and say to Him, ‘According to Your Word, that cannot fail and cannot lie, I place my burden before You and ask You to carry it for me as You have promised to do’ (I Peter 5:7).

We must always remember that the only Man worthy of being trusted with our emotions is the Man who gave Himself on a cross for us; the Man who rose to glory for us, the Man who lives in our hearts and will “never fail or forsake us,” Hebrews 13:5. Jesus will not provoke us to anger, for His Word admonishes that we not inflame anger in one another (Colossians 3:21).

Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave for us (Revelation 1:18 and Hosea 13:14) so we should willingly surrender the entirety of our self-hood, our emotions—including anger—only to Him.

Surrounded by Fools

January 26

"Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools." Albert Einstein

By this definition, we are, unfortunately, surrounded by fools, for in large part we are an angry people who compound our anger with condemnation, judgmentalism and vindictiveness. Perhaps the worst of all the traits we evidence through our anger is that of the Pharisees—self-righteousness. For what else justifies us in all the above, except that we are convinced we are untainted by the stain of sin?

Until we, like the humble man who placed his sin at the altar and walked away forgiven (Luke 18:9-14), place our transgressions at His feet, none of us can receive the forgiveness Jesus spent Himself to purchase for us. That may be small consolation as we deal with people and their denunciation of our faith and our Christ, but ultimately their condemnation means nothing. In Isaiah 54 the child of God is told, "...they shall surely gather together against you, but not by Me: whoever shall gather against you shall fall for your sake...No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the Lord…your righteousness is from Me, says the Lord.”

Betrayal and condemnation are painful. When people with whom we have shared our faith, before whom we have been honorable and righteous and for whom we have prayed turn against us, we are broken in the inner core of who we are, but when we recognize that their unkindness evidences the fact that they have no understanding of the Christ, it becomes apparent to us that they don’t deserve our anger nearly as much as they need our forgiveness and our prayers.

We cannot allow them to hurt us, for if we do, the evil within them will have triumphed over the Christ in us! Remember, "Greater is HE who is in us than he who is in the world." (I John 4:4) We may not be able to see or feel our victory over their wickedness, but our victory is not a reality because we feel it but because JESUS SAYS, "Through Me you can do all things!" (Philippians 4:13) Because His Word that cannot fail and cannot lie tells us that we are, "More than conquerors through Christ who loves us!" (Romans 8:37)

Jesus said that His strength is perfected in our weakness, (II Corinthians 12:9) so we must allow Him to be our strength when we are weak and weary; when we are surrounded by anger and swallowed by frustration because of the onslaught of the minions of the evil one who endeavor to destroy us. If we allow anger to flourish in our bosom or frustration to drive our actions, we are no better than the fools who sow their seeds.

His Loving Children

January 25

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing. Anads Nin

Another reality regarding the death of love is that God's mortal enemy is forever endeavoring to slay it. Why is the evil one so opposed to love? Why does he strive so diligently to undermine it and to frustrate those who attempt to give it, who try to allow it to be the core of their lives? Perhaps it is because he, too, has read the scripture and knows that "…God is love," I John 4:8, and that apart from love we cannot know God.

Should we be surprised when the one the Word refers to as 'the father of lies' (John 8:44) endeavors to destroy the ONE THING that completely evidences our HEAVENLY FATHER, the ONE THING THAT IS ABSOLUTE TRUTH ABOUT HIM? Is it a surprise when false religious systems and those who are deceived by them manifest the power of the evil one most effectively through the deceit of hatred and death?

Although the enemy is evident in the ones who, like him, come to “steal, kill and destroy,” John 10:10, the reality is that our God is not fully evidenced in our altruism, although we may give Him credit for it. Our Lord is not fully reflected in our kindness, for the world has a counterfeit of that commodity. Jesus is not always recognizable in our goodness and mercy, for even those who live their lives apart from Him can feign these attributes, so the enemy of our soul does not mind that we manifest a modicum of Christ’s goodness and kindness to those around us.

The only thing that thwarts his schemes to undo lives and relegate the souls of men to hell eternally is when we love--not our own love which is a mere counterfeit of eternal love--but when we allow Christ's love which is eternal to pervade our lives to the degree that anyone who knows our circumstances must say, 'Surely this is the love of God, for no mere mortal can love in this situation.'

Will we, can we give ourselves as vessels through whom HE may pour out His love upon the lost and dying souls around us? Of ourselves, we cannot. We are so fractured that we cannot even contain His love, let alone carry it and pour it upon those around us who are unlovely. But with JESUS, we are assured that we can "do all things," Philippians 4:13. Will we, can we, allow loving those who are least deserving of love to be recipients of His love through us? If we will, if we can, we then become the "peacemakers" who Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:9 become "the children of God."

Love Is...

January 24

"Love is the dynamic motivation behind every worthy purpose; it is the upward thrust that lifts men to the heights." Wilferd A. Peterson

Love is so much more than dynamic motivation and upward thrust. If that's all it were, it would be more worthy of the space program than of its ultimate definition, "…God is love," I John 4:8. When we allow it to be what HE says it is, it becomes the transformative component of any situation, circumstance, relationship. It becomes the one factor that can confound the negativity one individual feels for another, for it is the one thing no man can rationalize away.

Give love and forgiveness to everyone around you--you may not trust them, you may not share your secrets with them, you may not open yourself to further hurt by their hand but you will extend God to them by living before them as He would live, in the essence of His person-hood. By doing that, your life becomes the backdrop on which the life of Jesus may be clearly seen--and the unmistakable contrast between His life and theirs just might bring them to the foot of the cross where they, too might find forgiveness in the revelation of who He is.

It may have taken many people to break your heart, to undermine your reputation, to diminish your sense of self-worth, but it will take only ONE to reverse the damage of their evil intent and that ONE is JESUS. HE IS FAITHFUL. He will perform what He has promised (See Romans 4:21).

It may not be evident at the moment of your testing, but Jesus loves you, and on a day when you may least expect it, you will be bathed in His love, for He is always pouring it over you. Ultimately, He will make it real because, "Faith is the substance of things HOPED FOR, the evidence of things unseen," Hebrews 11:1. By the evidence of Calvary Jesus proved forever that He would make any sacrifice in your behalf. It is the sacrifice, it is the love, Paul assures us in I Corinthians 13:8, “…will never fail.”

Acceptable in Your Sight

Words can cut or comfort, hinder or help, harass or heal, injure or inspire.
William Arthur Ward

I speak words of energy and strength over you and into you. I speak to you words of peace and comfort and joy and truth and love and power. I speak JESUS into you and into your circumstances, for where He is, there is every good thing. A man may be locked away in a prison cell, a man may be maligned and tortured for his faith, but when he has JESUS in his heart and in his mind, when the WORD of GOD is hidden in his heart, he finds the comfort of eternal truth can shield him from the shameless lies of time.

Words and ideas are powerful. That is why it is important for each man to speak words of faith and hope and truth and joy and love into HIMSELF! Some of the people in our lives may have made a concerted effort to speak negativity into us. They have denigrated us. They have betrayed us. They have minimized and marginalized us. Their words would have dragged us down and left us in despair—except that “HE who is in us is greater than he who is in the world!” I John 4:4. That's why we have to appropriate the power of the tongue that the Bible says is ours to speak words of hope, words of affirmation, words of joy, words of power, words of health, words of love--and yes, words of forgiveness—first into ourselves and then into those who have wronged us.

We can transform human words of negativity by the power of Jesus' affirmation that we are precious in the beloved. We can deal with any depression, any pain, any torture, any false accusation, if we believe that “The joy of the Lord is our strength,” Nehemiah 8:10—and that joy can overpower all the wiles of the enemy! We can overcome any weakness if we believe the power Christ has invested in us will swallow it up in victory. We can overcome the hate and bitterness that swirl around us if we will allow the love of Jesus to overflow from our heart where HE has placed it to wash away the negativity of those who only know how to taint the world with bitterness and condemnation and lies. We can employ the forgiveness that Jesus used when He was unjustly condemned and we can be washed clean—we can be free to bless even those who condemn us by the wonderful opportunity HE gives us to express words of forgiveness and love into those who feel anger and hate.

Our Jesus loves us. May we let that one, glorious truth make a difference for good in the depth of who we are as well as before our loved ones and before our enemies. Because of that truth, may we, “Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O God our Strength and our Redeemer,” Psalm 19:14.

Overcome the Brokenness

January 22

No matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you'll never get through it without the Lord, for His love is the dove of peace, the spirit of tenderness and compassion, forgiveness and tolerance that empowers you to traverse the brokenness and embrace the wholeness of His love that makes you new." Anonymous

Each of us needs those lovely qualities that the Lord's presence supplies for us. We need His 'peace that passes understanding,' Philippians 4:7. We need His tenderness that caused Him to abandon Heaven (Philippians 2:6) to dwell with us. We need His compassion that required Him to die in our place 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Romans 5:8. We need His forgiveness that makes us clean and new and we need His tolerance that enables us to say as He did, "they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34.)

Appropriating all that He is in exchange for all that we are enables us to overcome the brokenness of our lives and find ourselves whole again. Only the love of Jesus has the power to transcend the reality of today and transform it into the fulfillment of His promises for tomorrow. Only the love of Jesus can make us new. Only the love of Jesus can give us the reason to desire newness when we have become enmeshed in our problems.

The burden we carry can begin to feel comfortable. We slip into it as we put on a pair of old shoes that don't look fashionable but we wear them often because we’ve ‘broken them in.’ The 'fix' for our brokenness doesn't lie in the comfort of the weight of care we're accustomed to bearing. The fix for our brokenness lies in surrendering it to Jesus' compassion, forgiveness and tolerance. Those things come to us when we grasp the reality of His amazing peace, compassion, forgiveness and love for us.

Forgiveness

Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than to hurt yourself trying to put them back together. Author Unknown

Though this anonymous statement is true, only the Lord can give the individual who has been wounded the insight to see whether or not a relationship has the potential to be salvaged, for only He can see hearts and only He can see the future. We know the Word tells us that we are to “prefer one another above ourselves,” Romans 12:10, and that we are to “forgive as we are forgiven,” (see Matthew 18:21-35) but it requires the Lord’s grace to apply these principles into relationships that have been hurtful.

All men have the potential to change--to conform within the depth of their beings to the image of Christ, to embrace and project kindness and to extend love to those around them rather than to harangue and badger them with the law; to resolve within themselves to mend rather than to destroy by their words and deeds--but all men do not choose to be conformed to Christ.

They prefer the Pharisaical projection of their own perception of wisdom into situations to Christ's projection of healing love (see Luke 18:11-14). Though it is difficult to evidence forgiveness in such circumstances, we are admonished that we must forgive as Christ forgave us; as He beseeched the Father from the cross, “…forgive them, for they know not what they do,” Luke 23:34.

Indeed, if men knew, truly knew the evil they were about, they would disdain it! They would give it up! But the wiles of the evil one are pervasive. The ability he has to blind his unwitting dupes is powerful. As II Corinthians 4:4 tells us, "The god of this world has blinded their eyes lest the glorious light of the gospel of Christ should shine unto them."

Unless all who are involved have surrendered themselves to Jesus, the fellowship of faith cannot be a reality. The part of the believer is to forgive as Christ forgave in spite of the lack of willingness on the part of the offender to receive forgiveness. When he has forgiven, he has won a victory for himself by the power of the living Christ within him! Our prayer must be that we will not leave the altar unforgiven because we are unwilling to forgive (see Matthew 5:4).

Loving Sacrifice

January 20

"Love is the dynamic motivation behind every worthy purpose; it is the upward thrust that lifts men to the heights." Wilferd A. Peterson

Love is indeed what the Lord desires would motivate us to do what we do. If our spouse, our children, were not the dearest things in life to us we would not toil for years at unrewarding jobs to make their lives pleasant and their needs supplied. We would not endure daily stress and weariness that could reduce us to hopelessness except that we labor tirelessly, often without reward, because we love. Our love lifts us up because we know our effort allows their lives to be filled with good things--our joy comes from seeing them blessed. This tracks with I Timothy 5:8 which tells us that if we neglect to provide for our own, we are worse than infidels.

Imagine this same scenario with you as the object of selfless love, for indeed you are. Your Jesus loves you so much that HE who thought it not robbery to be equal with God made Himself of no reputation and took on Himself the form of a man and subjected Himself to death—even the death of the cross,” Philippians 2:6-8, just because He loves you! Yes, Jesus loves you so much that HE willingly denied Himself the glory that was His in order to assure that your life could be eternally secure.

Jesus wants you to abide in the blessings He has sacrificed to provide for you even as you want those you love to abide in the blessings you have sacrificed to provide for them. If they are miserable and despondent, your laying aside your personal pursuit of happiness is for nothing. If you are miserable and despondent, Christ's laying aside of His deity in order to bless you for time and eternity is for nothing. Put the burden that is robbing you of the fullness of the joy of your salvation at the feet of Jesus for He has invited you to place it upon Him (I Peter 5:7).

Appropriate the JOY OF THE LORD and allow it to be YOUR STRENGTH as HE PROMISES IT IS (Nehemiah 8:10). You and Jesus have a victory. Don't deny yourself the manifestations of that victory--don't deny yourself the hope, peace, truth, joy, prosperity, love that He has provided for you. He gave a lot for you to have these heavenly treasures, just as you give a lot to supply those you love with the needs of life. The price of these heavenly needs was paid in full. They are yours. When you appropriate them, you will be happy and blessed; and even the angels will rejoice (Luke 15:10).

Sadness Flies Away

Sadness flies away on the wings of time. Jean de La Fontaine

This statement is true. The things that drag you down today will be of no consequence on that glorious tomorrow when they are resolved. Though you may be weighed down with the burden of them this morning, though you take them with you wherever you go as if they are too precious to leave behind and unattended, one beautiful morning, you will awaken with the wonderful realization that they are gone because you have laid them at the feet of Jesus, as He has invited you to do, and thereby have allowed Him to fulfill the promise, "Cast all your cares upon Me, for I care for you." (I Peter 5:7)

You have the option of doing that right now--but perhaps you can't see it yet. If you elect to carry the burden another day, the Christ who loves you will be right beside you as you do, ever waiting to take it from you when you give Him leave to do so. The first step to relinquishing your burden is to realize it has only the control over you that you give to it. When you see that you have the power to let it go, it will no longer dominate you. You have that power because Jesus says you do… because HE gives you the authority to command trouble away from you! JESUS LOVES YOU!

He has promised His joy to you as your strength (Nehemiah 8:10), He has promised His Spirit to you as your Teacher (John 14:26), He has told you His angels surround you to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:11). Your trial does not allow you to feel the reality of those promises for it commands your attention. But those wonderful words are yours! When you contemplate the start of your day, shake yourself and tell yourself, "I am a child of the Living Christ. My Savior and my God spent HIMSELF FOR ME because He counts Me worthy. My JESUS LOVES ME.

My Savior and Lord gives me victory over death, hell, the grave, and my current circumstances. My Jesus tells me that I am "more than a conqueror" (Romans 8:37) through Him and I choose to trust Him rather than to doubt or fear! I will walk today in the light of what He has spoken about me, not in the darkness of what I have believed about myself. I will walk today in the peace and joy of who I am in Christ, not in the condemnation of the law or of the judgmentalism of mere men. I will walk today in the love of my Savior, not in the burden tribulation would lay upon me—and my sadness will fly away.

Reduced

I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it. Maya Angelou

When I taught fifth grade math, I explained reducing fractions by saying, 'It's just like when your mom goes on a diet. She has reduced, but she still has the same value. She is still exactly your mom.' Because most children have watched their mothers go through a process of dieting, they could better understand the concept of having a mathematical entity that appeared smaller but was exactly the same.

Maya Angelou is saying something similar. The experiences of life can alter our present circumstances, our future prospects, our temporary outlook, but they cannot diminish who we really are, for who we really are is who we are in the inner man, who we are in the essence of our self-hood, who we are in Christ. In the heart of who we are, we are being molded and shaped by His loving hand to be in conformity with who He is.

The underlying truth of Philippians 2:5 is that Christ was so secure in who He was—in who He is as the Second Member of the Trinity—that He did not experience any diminishing of Himself when He allowed Himself to be reduced to being a mere man. Because He knew His eternal plan was unfolding, because He knew His role in it, He did not feel emptied by the experience. Though He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7) His self-hood remained intact. That is always His ultimate end in allowing us to experience the bitter and disappointing aspects of life. It is not to diminish us, but to make us a more useful, functional version of our self.

As we attain that end, we recognize that we are becoming more like Him! Just as a large fraction is cumbersome and difficult to work with, our lives are awkward until He has applied His heavenly math to us and reduced us to the lowest denominator. Then we have much more ability to do the simplified math accurately. In order for the next chapter of our lives to be holy and wholly His, we need to function at the level of efficiency that Heaven's reducing process can supply for us. We will have the same value in His eyes, but we will be more pliable in His hand. We will be transformed, reduced to be more functional toward His purposes.

To Friend And Foe

January 17

"The train of brotherly love rides on tracks of concern and compassion."
William Arthur Ward

If there is a bright aspect to all man suffers, it may be that it is the litmus test for discerning who ones true friends are. It's amazing how people fall away when there is trouble. Relationships that seemed steadfast and enduring, even those interactions that seemed to be built on mutual interests and even on mutual faith, become dispensable when the line is drawn in the sand that says, 'Things have changed. I'm no longer on stable ground.’

This observation becomes profoundly evident when someone loses a job or becomes the object of scrutiny for questionable behavior. It can happen when one party in a friendship introduces others into the relationship. It is also true when couple-hood changes to single-hood.

So Ward's observation becomes a reality in the life of one whose status has undergone a transition. The true friend, who extends real brotherly concern, will be steadfast throughout the time of flux and into the friend's new circumstances. As the Bible tells us he will, “stick closer than a brother,” Proverbs 18:24. However, the one whose own comfort zone is no longer enhanced by the relationship, whose own self-esteem is no longer elevated because of having an acquaintance in a certain situation, will, for selfish reasons, abandon the relationship when his own status is jeopardized.

The one 'silver lining' in the entire upheaval of life may be that insight is given through turmoil of circumstances into the true heart of one who had been thought to be a soul-mate. Though it may be a disappointing realization, it is actually a blessing, for it is always a good thing to know an individual's true feelings and the steadfastness of ones association with him. Our advantage is that we may go forward in the light of truth. Our responsibility is that we continue to evidence God's love to all, without allowing our new insight to diminish our resolve to evidence Christ and His love to friend and foe alike.

Close to God

January 16

God is closest to those with broken hearts. Jewish Proverb

Perhaps this proverb unlocks the secret of "Why?" When we can't understand how it could be that God would allow disappointment and frustration and anguish of soul to His people, this ancient word reveals His heart. Because it is His desire that we draw close to Him, He woos us through the one method He knows will work. You may shake your head in disagreement, but careful pondering of the assertion will affirm it is a reality—in your life, too.

When things are going well for us, when our efforts are rewarded with the things we desire most fervently, we hardly feel a need for God. We feel very accomplished, very self-sufficient. When our fortunes turn, however; when life takes on negative aspects, when we feel helpless and without recourse—it is then that we turn to our Jesus. And it is then that He takes us in. He has stated in Revelation 3:20 that He stands at the door of our lives, ready to enter, but He won’t intrude unless invited in.

Jesus loves to bless His people; He longs to give them the desires of their hearts, but He knows when we are content and happy, we wrap ourselves around our delights. When we are broken and unable to extricate ourselves from the gloom of our situation, it is then we most fervently seek His light. It is when we grasp most fully just how helpless and hopeless we are when left to our own devices that we seek Him with all our hearts and minds and spirits.

May He help us hear Him knock upon the door of our lives and help us to open wide our hearts that He may enter and take control of every aspect of our being. We desire to live and move and have our being in Jesus and to thereby find the fullness of all the blessings He says are ours. This will indeed insure that we have, "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garland of praise for the spirit of heaviness," as the Word says we will in Isaiah 61:3.

Worthy of Emulation

January 15

"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience." George Washington

There have been TV and movie productions that endeavor to depict two of the great heroes of the American experience. Let me state emphatically that although there may be an element of historical accuracy in them, each of the recent ones contains one glaring, over-arching error that renders them unfaithful to the task of presenting Washington and Lincoln in a true light. Both of these men were men of honor. They were born in an age when honor and personal integrity, were esteemed, and although neither man was, or claimed to be un-flawed, each had a persona of dignified comportment.

This element of their characters was recognized even by their enemies. An outstanding example of this statement is the fact that even as a young man, Washington was possessed of an aura of invincibility that came from the Christ he loved and in whom he professed unshakable faith. Before Washington became the hero of the American Revolution, he was a young surveyor whose encounters with Native Americans are recounted by these indigenous peoples.

They attest to having shot Washington with their well-aimed arrows only to have them deflected from him by an unseen hand. That the hand of God was upon this man who was destined for great things is affirmed by those who had been his enemies but who became admirers who recognized that he was set apart by the ‘Great Spirit’ for great things. Surely, it was these sorts of experiences to which Washington alluded when he spoke of looking back to profit by dearly bought experience.

And Lincoln, unlike his portrayal in the new movie about him, was neither given to nor did he abide profanity or blasphemy. Indeed, those of his officers who indulged such were reprimanded. This man of humble beginnings who attained greatness had read and re-read the Bible countless times and he was a proponent of its admonition that the name of the Lord be rightly handled and never taken in vain, according to the third commandment in Exodus 20:7. These American heroes were indeed heroes of the faith. May our leaders today, not just in America but in all lands, emulate them.

Seeing with His Eyes

January 14

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato

Begin your day well and allow it to progress through its normal activities with the joy of the Lord as your strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and the power of the Lord as your ultimate weapon. Let the Holy Spirit within you reveal new aspects of the Christ you love and serve according to the promise Jesus spoke in John 14:26 ("...the Comforter will...teach you all things.") Let Him reconnect you with the faith that first caused you to hear His truth and believe His word of salvation.

As you tap into that bedrock of your confidence in His completed work in your behalf, may you find yourself more on fire for Jesus and more optimistic about the work He’s doing in you and through you and in your behalf than you have ever yet been. May you recognize the good that His power, released in you, can bring to you and to those around you.

Everyone is fighting some kind of battle, as Plato has noted, and the Christ in you is mighty to pull down every stronghold (II Corinthians 10:4,5)--whether in yourself or in those for whom you pray. I pray you are so re-energized in your inner man, that you are so empowered with renewed expectation of Jesus moving in and through your prayers, that nothing you see of difficulty in your own sphere or in that of those with whom you interact will intimidate you--for through the eyes of faith (II Corinthians 5:7), every problem becomes an opportunity for the Lord to glorify Himself!

I pray there is a new fire of vision--of hope and joy and faith and love lit within you that will burn up every anxiety, care, tension, and negativity—for as Proverbs 29:18 tells us, “Without vision the people perish.”. I pray it will illumine you to see God's solution to every problem you face. In seeing with HIS EYES, may all your problems become small, may the power within you become greater than all you need in order that you might become “more than a conqueror” Romans 8:37, through the Christ to whom you surrender so He may win every battle you face in your behalf.

The Powerful Positive Outlook

January 13

Success is Never Ending; Failure is Never Final. Robert H. Schuller,

The above quote reminds me of something said to a rising young executive--"The faster you go up, the faster you go up." It's true. Success builds on itself. The person who anticipates success and not only strives toward it but THINKS it, will not be disappointed. It goes along with the Biblical admonition about the power we have in our thoughts, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," Proverbs 23:7, and the power we have in our words, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue," Proverbs 18:21.

Cultivate a positive outlook within yourself. Let your faith build you up, stabilize and strengthen you. Nurture your faith. The Bible admonishes that we remind ourselves of the things the Lord has helped us through (Psalm 126:3). We should reflect upon His faithfulness to other people, too, for in reflecting upon His goodness, we will be encouraged to trust Him in our current situation.

We should be mindful to share the truth of His goodness and faithfulness with our children so they will grow up in the expectation of God's abiding presence and power and love in effect in their lives. Deuteronomy 4:9 states clearly that we must ponder the good things God has done for us and we must be diligent to share them with our children and grandchildren. If we reflect upon the times He has made a way of escape in our difficulty when there appeared to be no way, we will boldly trust for His help in our current situation.

As Robert Schuller states, the difficulties of life are temporary. The Lord has promised, "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world," John 16:33, Whatever trial we face, we know HE has a solution for it and He invites us to, "Cast your care upon Him, for He cares for you," I Peter 5:7. Let Jesus be your Helper today and forever. There is nothing you and He cannot overcome together. Because of JESUS, YOU are, in spite of trial, "more than a conqueror," Romans 8:37.

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Forgive my careless editing:

Last Paragraph: Philippians 4:13

We Believe

January 12

The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results. Norman Vincent Peale

Norman Vincent Peale was a famous preacher when I was a child. He was Protestant and my family was Catholic so I didn't have much exposure to him, but I knew he was famous and I knew he interacted a lot with people of various religious persuasions. Perhaps that was because he was noted more for his words of wisdom than for his doctrine.

In any case, this particular thought tracks with the words of the Bible that say, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” Proverbs 23:7. Our thoughts and the words we speak can impact those around us for ill or for good, depending upon the nature of the words. We must have a mindset that is so fixed on Jesus, a faith that is so anchored in Him, a heart that is so filled with His love, that even when we are shaken, the only thing that can possibly spill out of us is kindness. It may seem impossible to exude warmth, tenderness, understanding, hopefulness, joy when others are negative in the words and the mindset they project, but it is within our ability to achieve this Godly end when we are focused, not on those around us, but on Jesus.

That's the key--eyes on Jesus. He says it this way, "Without Me, you can do nothing,” John 15:5. Paul echoes the sentiment when he says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13. In other words, we must accomplish negative things--anger, frustration, disappointment, joylessness, futility--on our own; but JESUS will help us when we strive to accomplish, "...whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report…” Philippians 4:8. May we take Him at His word. May we let HIM help us to do and to be all that HE desires for us.

If we truly know Jesus, we know we are more dearly loved than words can say. We know we can trust HIM to help us to do and to be all that will result in that perfect best He desires for us. We believe and are sure that WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US, as per Philippians 413. We believe and are sure that JESUS WILL NEVER FAIL OR FORSAKE US (Hebrews 13:5). We believe and are sure that WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH CHRIST WHO LOVES US (Romans 8:37). We believe!

A Danish Proverb

January 11

A good example is like a bell that calls many to church. – Danish Proverb

I wish it were in my power to remove the hurt you've carried, the disappointment you've felt and the ordeal you've experienced, for if it were, your trial would be over and you would awaken today and every day in joy. Though I haven't the power to do that, you and Jesus do, and I pray you and He will work together today toward the conclusion to the ordeal that weighs you down—whatever it may be. This can happen because HE has invited you to, “Cast all your care upon Jesus, for He cares for you,” I Peter 5:7.

The Lord is not dogmatic. Jesus is not legalistic. He is HOPE, He is JOY. He is LOVE. He is FORGIVENESS. He is NEW BEGINNINGS. He is REFRESHING. May He help you today to appropriate all that He is and to go forward with a lightness of spirit that comes when you truly know that you know that you know HIM and have received to yourself, have appropriated, everything He promises to you.

May you go forward with the lightness of step that evidences the fact that you have no burden upon you--it is all on HIM, as it should be, because only HE can carry its weight (I Peter 5:7). In releasing your burden to Him completely, you receive total freedom from it. You go forth into your day, into your future, with the optimism born of complete trust in the completed work of Jesus and in the assurance that the outcome of that finished work will be evidenced in your behalf right now, and forever!

His love and blessing lavished upon you will testify to everyone around you that HIS TOTAL PROVISION, THAT COMES FROM HIS PERFECT LOVE, CONQUERS EVERY FAILURE, EVERY DISAPPOINTMENT, EVERY SIN; that HIS CLEANSING, HIS RENEWAL, HIS PROVISION ARE COMPLETE and HIS CHILD WALKS IN THE SECURITY OF HIS LOVE. This example will call many to the Lord, for all mankind stands in need of what He has given to you. Let your life be the bell that calls many to the power of His salvation and His love.

Guide Your Destiny

January 10

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. – William James

James may be a bit over simplistic in his assertion, but there is a truth here. There is a degree to which an individual is master of his own destiny. What we think (our mindset, our attitude) motivates what we say and do, and what we say and do affects other people and triggers a response from them.

In a sense we are puppeteers who pull the strings of those around us by what we project to them. In that small way, we fulfill the Bible verse that says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," Proverbs 23:7. And to some degree we also see the realization of the verse that says, "The tongue is a small member but it has the power of life and death," Proverbs 18:21.

Of even more significance is the truth we find in Proverbs 21:23 which says, “The man who controls his mouth and tongue keeps his eternal soul from trouble.” You and Jesus are on a wonderful adventure together. Let your lips ever praise Him. Let your spirit sing the joyous songs of the “night when a holy solemnity is kept,” Isaiah 30:29.

Let your attitude be one of praise for the Christ who has sacrificed Himself for you. Let your joyful heart and your songs of praise arise to His throne of glory where they can be met with His acceptance because you know He “inhabits the praise of His people,” Psalm 22:3. Let your adoration of your Savior guide your destiny into the fullness of His blessings.

Trust He Will Speak

January 9

Sometimes our consternation is great because we are torn by our circumstances and by the options we see before us for righting them. It is not always clear which direction we should proceed when we are at a crossroads. At those times, when our map seems indistinct and our direction is not clear, the Lord may allow us to "put a fleece" before Him and to use it to reveal His will to us.

This is a Biblical option. Just as Gideon put a fleece before the Lord to see if he should presume to lead the forces of God against their enemy, so we at times can employ this method to ascertain God’s will for our next course of action. In Gideon’s case he posed to the Lord that if, when he awoke, the fleece were wet and the ground was dry it would mean that he, the least of his father’s family, should presume to lead the army of God.

When Gideon awoke and the fleece was wet and the ground was dry he was still unsure so to PROVE he didn't have the wind whistling through his head, he told the Lord he wanted the reverse the next night--dry fleece, wet ground. Again, the Lord complied. (See Judges 6:36-40). Perhaps it’s time that we place a fleece before our God. We think we’ve heard His voice, we think we understand the direction He is leading us, but we are unsure.

We love the Lord our God and our fervent desire is to please Him in all we think and feel and do, but the course before us is unclear. It is not wrong at such times to place a fleece before God. Before we do, however, we must pray for His affirmation that such an action on our part is acceptable to Him. Only Jesus can give us the insight as to how to proceed. Only He can affirm that the fleece set before Him will reflect His perfect will.

We must seek Him in all matters that concern us, trusting He will speak.

Through Him

January 8

Max Lucado, prolific Christian writer of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries is perhaps the most ‘quotable’ writer of his day. The profound truths he has penned can be placed alongside those of many esteemed Christian exegetes from his own or from any other generation.

One of the things he has said, which is acutely relevant in the lives of believers who are searching for a ‘soul mate’ states simple advice in undeniable truth. Lucado says, “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”

Wow! What an awesome thought! And it certainly is equally true for any man who is seeking a godly woman to love.

This bit of counsel flows directly from the admonition of the Apostle Paul, which is found in his discourse on love. The prolific Apostle tells us in I Corinthians 13:4-13 exactly what love is and what it is not. He says, “Love suffers long and is kind…love is not proud or unseemly; it does not vaunt itself and is not easily provoked …love does not gloat in sin but rejoices in truth…Love hopes, bears much…true love, rooted in God, does not fail…” And this is followed by his very clear directive in II Corinthians 6:14 that a believer in Christ, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness; what communion has light with darkness?”

Jesus loves you. Let that glorious truth soak into your mind and into your heart and allow it to filter out anything that causes you so succumb to the lie of the evil one that a relationship with an unbeliever will result in his salvation and your godly marriage. Let it anchor you forever to the Savior in whose eyes you are so precious that Calvary was not too great a price for Him to pay to have you as His own precious one who will make up His Bride. The Lord expects every one of His own who is seeking a spouse to follow Max Lucado’s wise advice—your suitor is only suitable if he has first sought Jesus and then seeks you through Him.

Unlocking the Prison Door

January 7

Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner! – Max Lucado

The reason forgiving others sets us free is because other than love--for God IS love and His love is the light that dispels darkness (I John 2:8-10)--forgiveness distinguishes the Christ in us most clearly as His own faithful ones who have been released from the power of sin and its negative baggage.

He who hung on a cruel cross in our behalf said of us, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) and in essence, when we forgive others, we are acknowledging that when they hurt us—when they mock us, persecute us, torture us, kill us—they really don't know what they're doing or they wouldn’t lend themselves as instruments in the hands of the evil one! If they recognized who JESUS is—the Great I AM (John 10:36-38) –they wouldn’t try to stamp out the Christ they see in us, they wouldn't be blind to who He is and what He's accomplished in us and desires to do in them!

They are wounding the heart of Jesus when they are unkind, when they wrap themselves in the law and use their righteousness to pound us for our sin! That puts them further away from the Lord than anything else for it allows judgmentalism and hatred to dominate their spirit when Christ's love is supposed to reign there. A person is the slave to whatever he gives himself--if he gives himself to self-righteousness and condemnation of others he becomes prisoner to the harshest of masters.

So, we must love and forgive--and love and forgive again. Jesus will bring to fruition in His perfect time the seeds we sow when we surrender our spirit to His Holy Spirit and allow His heart to overflow ours through these two godly virtues.

Our Mountain Of Debt--Paid!

January 6

Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that, “God knew man before He made the world and He decided that man should be like His Son so Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers.” That’s precious to know but difficult to understand, for man is steeped in depravity. We needn’t look far—only to ourselves—to discover we fall far short of Jesus’ example of complete righteousness, of total holiness.

So how do we reconcile who we know we are with who the Lord says we are, considering the following?

Worry falls short of faith.
Impatience falls short of kindness.
The critical spirit falls short of love.

So, with these sins and countless others on our account, how often do we sin, hmm… in an hour? For the sake of discussion, let’s say each of us sins ten times an hour. Ten sins an hour, times sixteen waking hours, times 365 days a year, times the average life span of 74 years. I’m rounding the total off to 4,300,000 sins per person!

How do each of us plan to pay God for our individual 4.3 million sin increments per lifetime? We’re swimming in an ocean of debt! Much like the failed economies of the world system, each person who has ever breathed owes a mountain of sin-debt to our holy God. But unlike the economic quagmire that is unforgiving and will accrue far further than our lifetimes to those of our children and grandchildren and beyond, God pardons the zillion sins of selfish humanity! He forgives sixty million sin-filled days ad infinitum!

As Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” God knows our frame and He knows our utter inability to live up to His holy standard, but He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by the grace, the sacrifice, the propitiatory death, the love, of Jesus Christ.

He is not there?

January 5

Mark it down. You will never go where God is not. – Max Lucado

Young couples are always hoping for the opportunity that will afford them the break they need to achieve the financial goals they desire. We were no exception. The day is indelibly printed in my mind when my husband came home from work and announced that his company was opening a new office in another state. Obtaining one of the jobs they had available would mean a promotion and a salary increase for him.

It sounded like a wonderful idea to me until he went on to say that the job would require him to travel into Saudi Arabia. Being a ‘home-town’ kind of girl, I had no desire to venture into ‘another world’ simply to attain a financial opportunity—especially to a place that seemed barbaric in my mind. My husband agreed, because of my apprehension, that he would not apply for the job. However, something happened that changed both our minds.

The very next Sunday, as we sat in our little Pentecostal church, the service was interrupted with a message in tongues. I remember it verbatim: “You can go anywhere in the world and I will be with you and I will return you safely home.” My husband and I looked at each other and we knew that although that word from God may be meant for dozens of others, it was certainly meant for us, so we traveled as a family to that distant land that is so unlike our homeland. We enjoyed every moment of time we spent there.

We came to appreciate the strength of the people who had hewn out a culture in such a foreboding land. But most of all, we came to appreciate the promise of the Lord in John 14:18 which says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will always be with you.” He was indeed true to His word to us. He guided us through the differences in values and beliefs that were so unlike our own and He enabled us to share our faith with people who desired to better understand the strangers among them.

Regarding Pearl Harbor

January 4
In a small pamphlet written by Admiral Chester Nimitz, he made the following observations regarding strategic errors made by the Japanese when they attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Here are his comments:

REGARDING PEARL HARBOR

Mistake number one : the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two : when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore who are eager to man those ships.

Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top-of-the-ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make—or God was taking care of America .

That little book is still an inspiration to all who read it for it brings to mind I John 1:3 which says, “We announce to you all that we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship with us for our fellowship is with God the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Admiral Nimitz had a faith in his own military prowess that enabled him to see a silver lining in the situation where everyone else saw only defeat. We need a leader today who will help us to see beyond the gloom of our circumstances to the hope of the promises we have in Christ. There is a reason our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST. Why have we forgotten?

As an aside to the above, let me tell you that when I lived in Saudi Arabia, I had in my class a little boy who was the great-grandnephew of Admiral Chester Nimitz. I cannot remember the little boy’s name, but I will always be proud to have been the teacher of a ‘child’ of a hero.

Adopted

January 3

We who believe in Jesus are blessed to be adopted into the family of God. In some minds, there is a stigma to the word ‘adoption.’ It conjures thoughts of a lesser place in the family circle, a reduced inheritance of the family wealth. But to those who know the truth of God, it is a term of privilege and worth.

Children are sometimes born into families by ‘accident.’ Not every child who is ever conceived is wanted. Consequently, children are sometimes abandoned, sometimes aborted—in some way ‘sacrificed’ at the altar of self-indulgence where many of our day worship the human appetite rather than the Living God.

But, no child is ever adopted by accident. The child who is adopted into a family may know that he was sought for and he was profoundly desired long before he came to the parents who longed for him. The adopted child may know beyond doubting that his parents not only desired him but sacrificed of their earthly substance to attain him.

They may know that their parents, as Paul stated of the Lord in I Corinthians 1:9, “God has called you to share everything with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and He is faithful.” What Paul is emphasizing here is that God sets us on a par with Jesus—to the degree that everything that is Christ’s is ours—and it is ours forever.

Diamond Dust

January 2

Adversity is the diamond dust with which heaven polishes its jewels. Robert Leighton

Luster and brilliance are not the innate characteristics of jewels. In their natural state, the finest of gems appear dull and rough. They can easily be overlooked as they appear before they are transformed by the hand of a master craftsman. In fact, it takes a trained eye to recognize the valuable treasure hidden among the ordinary rocks in which they are found.

In their natural state, the most precious stones will not be found among the crown jewels of England or in the coffers of the wealthy. Until they are placed into the hands of a master jeweler, their intrinsic beauty will remain undiscovered. Man is much like that. In his natural state he evidences little worth. Whatever beauty is within him remains undiscovered until the Lord, the Master Jeweler, plies His skill upon him.

One man who will forever stand as "Exhibit A" of the power of God's workmanship upon a life is John Newton, author of the hymn "Amazing Grace." Newton's story is well known. His father was a seaman so he naturally gravitated toward the adventure of the sea. After working for a while in a respectable avenue of the seafaring trade, he asked to be transferred to a slave ship. Newton witnessed and assented to the abuse to which his human cargo was subjected. It didn't touch his heart until he encountered an horrific storm that he knew would plunge the ship and all its cargo into the churning ocean. At that point, although he disdained religion, he cried out, "God, save us!" The storm abated and the ship was safe. Alone in his cabin, Newton pondered the events he had just encountered and laid his life at the feet of Jesus. Forever after that, he counted the day, May 10, as the day of his rebirth.

Although we all have a 'sordid past' from which we must be delivered, Newton's included extreme cruelty and abuse to fellow human beings, but the Lord transformed him through his trial from a man who had only faint reflections of youthful religious training into a minister of the gospel and the author of some of our most memorable hymns. God used adversity to first cause Newton to cry out for mercy then remind him of the Lord he had once known and to cause him to turn to Jesus at the point of his helplessness. Though his heart was pliable in the hands of the Christ, he didn't immediately realize his goal of service to the Kingdom of the Lord. Newton educated himself in the religious languages of the day, studied the Word and taught himself to listen to and follow after Jesus. As HE did with John Newton, so the unchanging Christ will use the adversity we face to bring us into a place of devotion and service to the Kingdom of God.

As HE did with John Newton, HE will use the trials we face to become the tools in His hand that will cut and polish us into beautiful gems that reflect His craftsmanship. He will use the worst trials we face as HE used Newton's violent storm at sea as the diamond dust that elicits the utmost glory from the work He is doing in us. Though the cutting and polishing do not seem pleasant at the time, the trials we face are designed to bring us to the place where we, like John Newton, will recognize our total helplessness and cause us to submit to the One who is able to deliver us. In so doing, He elicits from us a richer, fuller, more complete cooperation than we have ever yet given to Him. Through that cooperation, HE brings us to the place of total surrender, total service and total joy that HE desires us to have. Does He want His people to fall into the wretchedness of sin that Newton experienced? No, but He knows our frame and He has made provision for it.

The reality is that there are probably hundreds of slave boat captains whose names we will never know. Newton was not alone in his depth of depravity. But we know his name because he found the Christ and experienced His mercy because of all he suffered. Jesus would have us to be like him in that regard...that all we suffer because of our sin will be, as was Newton's, turned around for good, according to God’s unfailing Word, "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to they who are the called according to His promise," Romans 8:28.

If that beautiful truth came to glorious fulfillment in John Newton, we know we may claim it, too. God will work all our trials together for our good and His glory. We may be sure that the worst storm of our life simply is His opportunity to demonstrate His power to rescue us when it has completed its diamond-dust work of bringing us to the luster of the jewel He fashioned us to be.

For His Sake

January 1 Happy New Year!

As we begin a New Year, some may ask people like me who purport ourselves to have wisdom from God, some insight into His heart, exactly what counsel we believe is worthy to extend on this day when so many are making New Year’s resolutions. If there were just one thing we all could do that could transform man, what would it be?

Some might feel the best advice would be to ‘stick to your guns!’ Don’t give place to the enemy in any area of endeavor. Some may believe the wisest counsel would be to seek after truth with a whole heart. Others may be sure that the wisest step forward into the unknown before us is to hold fast to the tried-and-true methods of the past.

And, to a measure, they would all be right. It is important to hold fast to what you believe to be true; some people are sure that employing the practices that have resulted in past successes are those that should be relied upon in the future. But I would suggest another option as a covering for any other method that may be employed toward the end of self-improvement or toward the end of betterment of the world. It is found in John 15:12-14.

Here Jesus says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. The greatest love a person can give is to lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” As with so much that the Lord spoke, this is a hard saying. Not many of us want to think of relinquishing our lives as we go forward into a new year, but our willingness to do that one thing assures that we will love others and be good to ourselves--for His sake.