Day by Day

[Soldier4Christ]

A Proper Respect

    My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (James 2:1-5).

There are no weird people, only weird perceptions of people. For as many people as there are there are as many different personalities and each embracing a certain degree of eccentricity. Basically stated, we are all strange in some fashion. And with that we might do well to keep in mind that though another seems odd to me, it is quite possible the feeling is mutual--or perhaps should be.
Each of us are a collage of wonders, extravagantly packaged by a glorious creator. All that makes up who we are is wondrous, and all that makes us who we will be is already known to Him that holds tomorrow. How arrogant to think that I should be better, know better or have better than another. For we all sojourn a dusty trail and thirst for what is right and good and pure. And though we make mistakes and often lose our way within the windstorms of our lives, there is One who persists to draw us.
To ponder these things, at least for a time, might begin to enlighten us somewhat. And perhaps we will open ourselves to the heart of God and discover what it means that "with God, there is no respect of persons." For it is out of His love for us that He respects us in truth, and not as though we have earned it. For God's treatment is just and His love is constant, and with that He knows no preferential treatment.
What shall we say then, we who call ourselves followers of the Son of the very God who loves in such a manner? Where do we find our justification to esteem one man above another due to position, wealth or education? Perhaps we do not seek to justify it at all, but instead, to try to overlook it. For our preferential treatment is often subtle, but nonetheless it exists. It exists in churches where we would listen to one man above another because of his looks or education; while the Davids and Samuels go unnoticed by our prejudicial appetites. It exists in our churches where we turn from one who is different, though we are not sure just how; nonetheless, we do not feel comfortable around him as we do with others we've known for some time. And the preferential treatment is evident in churches when the fellowships break into clicks and one or two sit in the shadows, not sure where someone like he or she would find a place--they are those who know only fellowship with God because He's the only One who loves them regardless.
A great deal of talk is kicked about regarding our witness to a lost world. We plan and program and train, and we go--and what we often do is reach out to others--others like ourselves. A middle-class church draws middle-class people, and an all white church draws whites. And so we arm ourselves to take the love of Christ to the dying world, and somewhere along the way it gets watered down and run through the filter of our preference--and so goes the message of God's love.

What will we do to show a love that is of God--a love that has no preference?

[Soldier4Christ]

Riding out the Storm

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." (Matthew 8:24-25)

The Disciples cried out, "Lord save us, we're going to drown!" Jesus rebuked their lack of faith. Then He turned to the storm and put an end to it. The storms of life are going to come. But Jesus reminds us that they will not take our lives. We will not perish. Yet we often become overwhelmed and afraid at the immensity of our circumstances. In those times, we--like the disciples--sometimes cry out for God to put an end to the storm and bring the calm into our lives once more. His merciful, loving response is at times to grant our request. But it is out of that same love He holds for us that sometimes He denies our request. He allows us to go through the storm to its finish because the benefits to us are too great for Him to do otherwise.
The storm is a time of tempering, when God works on us to make us a little stronger than before, to build our faith and to bring growth that would not come otherwise. It is part of His patient work He diligently performs in our lives, not just so we can ride out the storm, but so we can hold our eyes steadfast on Him throughout, and be able to rest in knowing we are safe.
How many times do we cry out in fear, forgetting He is with us, only to put a stop to His work in us prematurely? When we cry out for the calm, do we lose the benefits of the storm? Fortunately, though God may stop a storm or two, He does not stop His work on us (Phil. 1:6). Where one building process is ended, another will sometimes begin. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder what God could do in us if we would just ride out the storm.
With the beginning of a new year, each of us hopes for a better year than those before. We often hope for the new year to be one full of peace, prosperity and joy. Those are easy things to embrace. Yet perhaps each of us should be willing to embrace the storms that we will face this year, ride them out and allow God's work in our lives to bring the truest prosperity we will ever know--as we are shaped after the image of our Lord.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18)

[Soldier4Christ]

Blessed are you...

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks n all curcumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thes. 5:18).

If we were of the world rather than of God, being blessed would begin and end with ideals of health, wealth and happiness. A good job, a loving spouse and a comfortable lifestyle are certainly things with which we find pleasure. But these things can be gained through good decisions, timely choices and hard work, and often with little thought of God. All in all if our blessings are counted in similar fashion as the rest of the world, we, as Christians, have just as much chance in being blessed as the rest--or not.
So long as we are counting blessings, we might as well count the greatest blessing of all, that being the very thing that separates us from the rest of the world. No, it is not our Christian lifestyle or higher moral standard, it is the indwelling Spirit of the God of the universe.
We are truly blessed above the rest, but it is not in what we have in our success or in our health. Albeit we should express thanks to God for that which we consider good, indeed for all things. For "every good and perfect gift" comes from God. But what of the other blessings--those through which God demonstrates to us that we are His own?
What about the blessing of His correction when we go astray--done with the love of a Father to help His child find the way? How about the way we are allowed to experience a rough time in order to learn and to grow? Or what about God withdrawing His protection in order to allow us to face the consequences of our actions? Do these things sound much like blessings? Probably not the kind of blessings we are used to hearing about. Certainly not the kind we are used to proudly proclaiming at a church prayer meeting.
But these are the blessings of a loving Father, who cares for His children so much more than to see to it that they have a comfortable life--He wants to see that they have a healthy faith, good character and pure hearts. By the world's standards, these are not the blessings that make us comfortable in this life, but they are the blessings that will take us into the next.
We quickly say, "Look how God has blessed me!" when things are going our way--maybe we need to seek the same attitude when things are not exactly as we would have them. And in that moment, we can then look to God who brings good in all things (Rom. 8:28), and we might simply thank Him for how He has so richly blessed us.

[Soldier4Christ]

Unseen Abundance

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him Jesus and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here." He replied, "You give them something to eat" (Luke 9:12-13).

The disciples had noticed that the people were in need of food. They asked the Lord to send the people away so they could get something to eat. Jesus' response: "You give them something to eat." The disciples took inventory of their resources and decided they could not feed the 5000 plus people with what they had available. Their next step was to put their problem solving abilities to work. Their reasoning skills and common sense told them they would have to "go and by food for all the crowd." The next step would have probably been to take up a collection, and hope they would collect enough money to buy what was needed.
Jesus, however, saw the need as well. His response was to take what was available, give thanks for it, and use it to meet the need. He did not look at what they had alone, but at the potential of what it could become through God's power. He thanked God for it--even though to most it did not look like it would come close to being enough.
How many times do we see a need at home, or in our neighborhood or church, only to respond with "I can't" or "We can't" after examining the resources. Then we would do much the same as the twelve--begin reasoning what we must do to meet the need, and easily finding excuses why we cannot.
Jesus demonstrated that there are more resources available to us than what meets the human eye. It is the unseen abundance of all that God has, that with which He desires us to   meet the needs for our lives, our homes, our communities and our churches.
God gave us the ability to reason and think and work things out, but He did not give us these abilities to be the beginning and the end of our solution finding process. They are to be tightly woven together with faith--and they are nothing without God.
We often come to God for direction, then ask Him to bless us as we make our best efforts to accomplish a given task. Many times the majority of the process becomes just that--our best effort--as we somehow forget God's availability and ableness to help. Perhaps the approach we would use should be more similar to that of our Lord's: take whatever we have, give thanks, and use it to meet the need. There will always be more than enough to do so.

[Soldier4Christ]

Through the Process

"Listen Carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men." But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it" (Luke 9:44-45).

Did you ever wonder how many things are hidden from us or how many times God tells us something while the meaning is hidden from our understanding? Jesus told the disciples something He knew they would not understand. Yet He knew that one day, when the timing was best, what He told them would make perfect sense to them.
It has been said that God works in mysterious ways--mysterious to us, perhaps, but not so mysterious to Him.  Mysterious or not, His ways hold true to His nature.  There are times that God will tell us something which seems hidden, but only because He tells us long before He reveals its meaning to us. And when He does reveal the meaning to us, it is certain to be at a time that the final piece of the puzzle is put in place. It is then that we remember several previous times that God spoke in relation to a particular topic or event. And it is then that His most recent revelation draws everything together into a neatly packaged whole.
There are many things that God can only show us a little at a time, while He conceals the meaning of the whole until the perfect time. Piece by piece He constructs the puzzle to show us the whole picture--very possibly because we are unable to bear the whole picture all at once. It is a process of revelation that brings lasting significance to the end result.
Our responsibility is to allow God to take us through this process. We are not to see the first piece and then determine that we understand the whole. For if we do, we may act only on what we see at a particular point within the process. Therefore, we must be careful not to jump the gun, but to "wait upon the Lord," ponder what He has shown us so far, and eagerly anticipate the next piece of the puzzle. When the puzzle is complete, we will know it, and God will have made it clear what our next step is.
Consider Abraham. Throughout his life he was given direction one piece at a time. He was told to leave his homeland and to go to a place that God would reveal to him later. Abraham did not conclude where he was to go, but went, and trusted God to show him in God's time. Abraham did not know what God's plan would be for his life, but he followed God through the process, step by faithful step.
What God shows us today is what is often what is needed for now. But it is quite possibly just a piece of a greater picture. If we can keep this in mind, we will have an easier time waiting upon the Lord to reveal his plan piece by piece--as He takes us through the process.

Patience is a virtue,
But faith is its cornerstone.

[Soldier4Christ]

Quiet Times

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge n him" (Psalms 24:.

Some of my favorite times are those quiet times when I feel myself engulfed by the warm love of God. His arms wrapped around me, holding me near to Him. He is truly a loving Father.
His love for us is never-ending. His grace is immeasurable. As His children, we should all know what it means to "taste and see that the Lord is good." This is often hard to do as we are so distracted by the cares of this life. But if we could just clear our minds and focus on God and His goodness, we might begin to understand this a little more each time we come to Him in those blessed quiet times.

            Quiet Times

        Quiet fills the house
        as each have gone their separate ways
        yet I am not afraid
        within the quiet of this still embrace.
        I bask in the warm hug
        the emptiness provides,
        and slip into the silence
        to hide and seek alone.
        A cup of coffee and my easy chair
        prepare to add to this enchanting bliss.
        I sink myself into them both,
        a sweet kiss of morning love.
        Revealing now in unchurned air
        I move my hand as to beckon the letters
        from the table drawer.
        I open them and soon begin
        to drink in every letter--every word.
        Raising eyes briefly time to time
        to query my aloneness in secure.
        I feel enjoined within the hour
        to my gracious God,
        through love and letters,
        within His living Word.

        Quiet fills the house,
        and all have gone their separate ways.
        And I am loved
        within the quiet of this lasting still embrace.

Today, take time to be with God. Tell Him you love Him. Tell Him what you love about Him. And lose yourself in His love. Be sure to clear your mind of all distractions. If you do not think that will be easy, ask God to help. You will not be disappointed. Just taste, and see that the Lord is good.

[Soldier4Christ]

For the Love of God

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners. Christ died for us (Rom. 5:7-8).

What do we do for the love of God? Perhaps a lot of the same kinds of things that we do to feel we are loved by others. For some odd reason we have a human mind-set that bases the love we receive upon conditions--"You will love me if..." Understanding that God's love is unconditional does not seem to have jarred that "conditional love" mind-set we have. We know His love is unconditional, yet we continue trying to be good enough, or work hard enough to deserve His love.
We can never do enough to deserve God's love. To say that we can is to imply that God's love has limits. His love knows no limit. No matter how much (or how little) we do, His love remains constant. He loves us far and beyond our ability to grasp His love.
A parent loves a child simply because the child is that parent's child--no strings attached. The child does not have to perform, or do all the right things, or make very few mistakes in order to keep that parent's love. The parent loves the child unconditionally. And out of that love the parent gives many good things to the child--not because the child deserves it, but because the parent loves. Jesus asked that if we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, "how much more shall your Father, in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?" (Mat. 7:11).
So much of what happens to us is filtered through a human reasoned, reward and punishment mentality. God demonstrates His love toward us by giving good things, and we begin looking at the good things and thinking we must be living right "for God to bless me so." Or He demonstrates His love toward us by withholding something we don't really need or by allowing "bad" things to happen, and we begin trying to figure out what we have done wrong. Sometimes God does reward good behavior, or punish bad behavior, but everything God does is out of His love for us, and sometimes just because.
We do God an injustice if we always must attach what He does out of love to something we have done. He gives because He loves, as a Father loves His children. When we can begin to see God's love with no strings attached, we can begin to understand His grace. And what it means that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
As children of earthly parents many of us have received much more good than we deserved, simply because our parents loved us. We need to stop asking God "What did I do to deserve...?" and just thank Him, and accept what we receive just because He loves.

[Soldier4Christ]

Faith & Freedom

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.. . .And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him"
(Heb. 11:1,6; NIV).

Jesus tells us that unless we have the faith of a little child, it is impossible for us to enter the kingdom of heaven. This faith is to be "sure of what we hope for" and "certain of what we do not see." Without this child-like faith, "it is impossible to please God." If we are to find freedom within our faith, this is where we will find it:  complete trust and utter dependence upon our Heavenly Father. There is no other way to experience true freedom than to wholeheartedly submit to God's leadership.
Obedience is freedom. Obeying God means trusting God. It means that we put aside our understanding of what is best, accepting what God knows is best, and putting our faith into action by doing as He instructs, regardless of our lack of understanding. God does not ask that we understand everything He tells us, but that we obey. That does not mean that He does not want us to understand, for he will bring understanding to us as He desires. But for us to insist upon understanding before we obey shows that we do not trust Him wholey, and our faith is lacking.
Consider the children. They do not worry "saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'" For they know that all these things are provided for them by their parents. They do not even consider the possibility of not having thier needs met. They are carefree with respect to their basic needs, taking it for granted that they will always have food, and water, and clothing. They do not worry about 'making ends meet,' or 'which bill will get paid and which one won't.' These thoughts do not enter their minds.
Consider the faith of a child--the type of faith we are to have. God tells us plainly that we are to trust Him to provide for our needs. He desires that we trust Him as a little child--not giving a second thought to what we are to eat, drink and wear. Yet we continue to promote self-sufficiency. We say things like, "God helps those who help themselves," or "A person's gotta eat." These ideals of self-sufficiency do much more than show a mature acceptance of responsibility, they show a tremendous lack of faith. God says that He will provide, yet we continue thinking we need to provide for ourselves, then disguise our faithlessness with a false mask of obedience, saying, "God expects us to provide for our families." But true obedience exsists when our purpose for having a particular job is because God has directed it, not because we need a pay-check. If the paycheck is what dictates the who, what, where, when, why and how we work, then the paycheck is the master that commands our obedience. God desires that we work, but He wants our work to be for one Master. God may have many reasons why we are to work at a particular job, but we have one reason alone--obedience.

Read Matthew chapter 6. Consider the depth of what Jesus is telling us.

[Soldier4Christ]

Saving Faith, Daily Faith

    And Abraham Believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3).

Faith is a word that is difficult for many of us to define. In Romans, The last part of chapter 3 through the first part of chapter 5, Paul uses the word "faith" at least 20 times in effort to convey understanding of saving faith. Even after reading his discourse, many of us may still have difficulty defining faith in our own words.
Hebrews 11:1 states that "faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen." But even this definition contains abstract imagery which spurs a variant of ideas from person to person. A simple way I have heard it stated is that "faith is simply putting your trust in God." Simply put, we take God at His word--that which he says He will do, He will do (Rom. 4:21; Num. 23:19; Jer. 1:12).
The same faith that saves us today, saved Abraham many centuries before Jesus was born. "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." We believe God regarding Christ, we take Him at His word that Christ is our salvation--our righteousness (Rom. 1:16). We believe God, and it is counted as righteousness.
But that is just the beginning. Faith in God means taking Him at His word daily. We read scripture and pray, and when we are face to face with an issue we cannot quite comprehend, we lean not to our own understanding (Prov. 3:5). Instead, we believe God, and trust Him whole heartily.
Consider the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This is a challenging passage of scripture, one which is often read but so often leaves readers a bit puzzled. Many of the ideas presented in these three chapters rub painfully against human thinking. Nevertheless, it is truth spoken to us by God through His Son.
Matthew 6 discusses how we are to trust God to meet our basic needs. Jesus explains that God knows these needs and will meet them, and He tells us not to worry. God says He will take care of us. But so many of us still worry about making ends meet, or having a secure income. If we trust God, taking Him at His word, our faith will go beyond trusting Him with our soul for eternity--it will mean trusting Him to meet our earthly needs today. Faith in God means believing EVERYTHING He tells us--not just what fits our human reasoning.

    But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

[Soldier4Christ]

Left Undone

    The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him... (Luke 12:46)

It seems we all have something (or things) we are always putting off. Whether a new exercise program or those unattended odd jobs around the house, or working on the car, or...the list goes on. But nothing is quite as haunting as realizing you are putting off the really important things. Many a person has fell into the snare of neglect and procrastination only to become trapped in a situation in which there is no escape. Perhaps a physical exam would have caught a cancer in a stage early enough to do something about it. Maybe taking care of your financial situation earlier would have prevented the compounding of late fees and overdraft charges. Maybe a kind word would have mended a broken relationship before it was too late. Neglect leads to regret. Fortunately, God is in the business of helping us turn regret into wisdom. Then hopefully the next time we are faced with the serious decisions, we won't try to ignore them and hope they just go away.

Just One More Verse

            His mind began to frantically search,
            to learn what felt so wrong.
            His heart beat grew enormous,
            with each chorus of the song.
            He wished it to be over,
            it seemed an endless curse.
            But deep inside, a voice cried out,
            "Please sing just one more verse."

            Another Sunday came and went,
            And another invitation.
            But once again it passed him by,
            due to his hesitation.
            For every time the songs were sung,
            the struggle grew much worse.
            And his grip of pride grew tighter,
            Through the passing of each verse.

            The day soon came which was to be,
            his last day in the church.
            It seemed he no longer had the need,
            to carry on his search.
            But as they came to carry him,
            from the alter to the hearse,
            deep down inside, his spirit cried,
            "Please sing just one more verse."

Things left undone. Words left unsaid. Procrastination and neglect are the nails to the coffin of the man in the poem. But whose neglect is it? It's obvious he procrastinated too long, but what about the Christians who carried his coffin? Could they have been led by the Spirit to say something, to pray with him, to simply be a friend? Perhaps someone felt a strong compelling to call this man the night before, but talked himself out of it because it was too late at night, or he was too tired.  Maybe, like so many of us, that person thought to himself, "I'll call him tomorrow."
We do not know the hour that our Lord will come, nor do we know the hour we will go. That is why we will always be wise to take heed to Jesus' words to His disciples, "watch and pray." Because some things are far too important to leave undone.

[Soldier4Christ]

An Audible Word

"For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:15, NASB)

In a Sunday morning sermon, a preacher described an event as he believed it would happen if Jesus were to walk through the sanctuary doors, walk down the isle and stand at the front of the church. He believed that if this were to happen, if Jesus were to appear in that manner--in the flesh--that we would get up and run to him. While the image was one that brought me warmth and joy, it also brought me some discomfort. To see him like that would be great, to run to him, to behold and to be held was a wonderful thought. But then to be in the physical presence of One who knew everything about me, One who knows me better than I know myself--that can be kind of scary.
How many of us could come to Christ, spiritually naked and unashamed? How many of us could come to Christ even though we would be ashamed, making ourselves vulnerable and trusting him to love us just as we are? I fear that many of us would never benefit from such an occurrence. We might be afraid of what he might say or what He might see. Our masks that we put on for the church family would fall to the ground at Jesus' feet, exposing us to him and possibly to everyone else. Instead of running to him we might just sit where we are and hang our heads, looking down at the ground.
Though many of us do not hear an audible word from God, we do hear His voice through other means. And just as if Christ were physically standing before you, you have the choice of whether or not you will listen and act upon what you hear. His word to us has been made available. His word to us is unchanging, but it can change us if we allow it to do so. Try reading Matthew 5-7 with an attitude of unbiased, unquestioned acceptance. Take what Jesus says to you at face value and commit to apply whatever God says to do--regardless of the apparent difficulty of the task. In childlike faith accept what He says--even when it doesn't make sense. Apply it--and you will experience God's power in ways you've never imagined. We do have a wonderful Lord. Instead of coming and standing in front of the church, He comes to us. He meets us where we are and accepts us just as we are, and He gives us what we need to draw near to Him unashamed.

[Soldier4Christ]

Sufficiency of Grace

    Now to the one who works, His wage is not reckoned as a favor but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness (Rom. 4:4-5).

We are a busy people. Everyone of us, it seems, are having more trouble finding more time to do more things. Even our quiet times and church activities are sardined into an already tight schedule. Church has become a state of "doing" --a task to be accomplished. If righteousness were to come by works, many of us would be in the fast lane to Heaven. But God has made it clear to us that righteousness comes by faith. It is more a state of being than one of doing.
We may believe that, but how do we reflect that belief? How do we make that belief more evident in our fast-paced lives? A simple answer is to simply slow down. Simply put. But hard to do. Schedules busting at the seems of over-commitment make us feel powerless to live any other way. But God says "My grace is sufficient for you." You don't have to be doing and doing and doing.
There are those who preach quality over quantity, saying, "Make the most of the time you have." Good advise. But what do you do when your "quality time" is interrupted by thoughts of what needs done next? No wonder Jesus said "Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Living such hectic lives develops the mentality of works--one of "I have to be busy for God or I'm not being obedient to Him." Whatever happened to "Be still and know that I am God." Or what about Mary and Martha? Mary was BEING with the Lord Jesus while Martha was DOING for Him. Jesus considered Mary to be minding that which was important.
Our ability to please God does not increase with our activity for Him, but with our time spent with Him. It is then we discover His Grace is sufficient. Because it is then we discover it is His grace--not our effort--that carries us through each day.
Take some real time to spend time with our Lord. Sacrifice some of the other activities scheduled if necessary. You might be surprised to find that everything that is really important is still getting done. What have you got to lose--a headache or two? Or a possible forthcoming ulcer? The key is to ask God what you need to do today. You may be surprised to find your list of things to do get shorter. Try turning your schedule planning over to Him, and remember--His grace is sufficient.

    Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established (Prov. 16:3).

[Soldier4Christ]

Coffee Cakes and Coffee

    And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water. . .shall in no way lose his reward (Mt. 10:42).

It was an early morning after I had dropped the kids off at school. I had my usual hour before I myself had to be in class. I had bought my usual cup of coffee, and this time I picked up a package of three small coffee cakes--my favorite kind. I then pulled into an empty parking lot in front of the building that my class was in. I parked, opened my Bible, and bowed my head in preparation for my morning quiet time with God.
I felt so close to Him. And then a smile came across my face as I thought about God being right there with me. I thought of what I would do if anyone else were there in the car with me--I would offer them one of the coffee cakes I had with me. Then I smiled even more, in a silly kind of fashion, as I asked God if He would like one. The mere words coming out of my mouth made me smirk, however I was quite serious. I did not expect Him to materialize beside me or that one of the coffee cakes to suddenly disappear, but in my heart I just wanted to share what I had with God, as we sat together over morning coffee.
Then I heard His voice clearly within my heart. He said to me, "Even as you do unto the least of these, by brethren, you have done it unto me." I was struck by that, and sat there thinking about what that could mean to me. I then understood that He was telling me that the way I could share with Him was to share with others--the way I could give to Him and to love Him, was to give to and love others. The thought was very enlightening. And I responded by assuring God that next time I was in a similar situation, I would go to someone and do just what He had told me. His reply was to tell me to go do it now. I looked around, but saw no one. I then saw the building in front of me where my classes were and thought that there might be someone in there, even though it was still quite early. I told God I would go in there and that the first person I came across I would share with that person my coffee cake.
The first person I met was the department secretary. But she told me she could not have those kinds of sweets. The next person to come in was one of my professors. I asked him if he would like to share my coffee cakes and he invited me into his office. We sat down, ate, and I shared my story of what had brought me to him. Our conversation moved from one thing to the next, and eventually found its way to some of the troubles I was having in school. God used him to speak to me regarding my anxieties, and I left there with much more than I had came in with.
I left my professor's office with a new peace for where I was in school, my life, and God's will. Though my intention was to give, I was the one who received. Though my desire was to sacrifice (albeit a coffee cake), I was the one who gained. And what began as a desire to share a coffee cake with my Lord, became a life-changing moment, bringing peace to a troubled heart.
We can never ever outgive God.

    Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38).

[Soldier4Christ]

Perfect Strangers

    Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles in this world to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul
    (1 Pt. 2:11, The Amplified Bible).

One of my all time favorite TV shows was one called "Perfect Strangers." In it, two cousins decide to share an apartment in Chicago. The twist was that one of them happened to be from a foreign country. The absurdity was that it was not only foreign, but it was very strange in custom and culture. The show's hilarious antics often keyed on the eccentric behaviors and beliefs of the one cousin's background in relation to the other's. The amazing thing was that Balci, who was the foreigner, often was the one with the best answers to the more important questions.
Peter tells us that as we belong to God, we are the strangers in the world. But what does it mean to be a stranger? Most of us would agree that if we met someone like Balci, who was from a land as different to ours as night is to day, that we could define a stranger as: someone who stands out from the rest, as different, or peculiar. They would have characteristics and customs unlike those of the people in whose land they now lived. Often, one look bears the evidence of this fact.
If we as God's children are strangers in this land, then it should be evident. As others look at us, they might notice that we have different choices in lifestyle, entertainment, and desires from life. And not simply because they are choices, as much as it is because of what's inside of us.
Balci's Meposian heritage simply shined through in every movement he made, every syllable he uttered. He could not help but be who he was. He was born into a way of life, and that life was ingrained in every part of his being.
We are much the same way. Our culture we are born into is very much a part of who we are. It has become entangled within every fiber of our being. Our actions, our words, our choices--all can indicate where we are from. But as Christians we are well aware of the scripture that tells us we are to be born again. This would imply that we are born into a new culture, one that is vastly different from the culture we previously were a part of.
We are born into a new way of life. But there is an old way of life that has become ingrained into each of us. And to our own sorrow, many of us are strangers in Heavenly lands because our ingrained worldly heritage seeps through. And to our pain, if we walked the streets of gold today, we would be the ones who stood out as eccentric.
This is not to paint too dismal a picture. But if we are the strangers of this land, and we are the children of Light; when one looks at us along side the world--the difference should be night and day. We may seem very odd to those around us, but if we are the reflection a heavenly land--then we are the ones who will know the answers to many of the most important questions.

    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pt. 2:9).

[Soldier4Christ]

Hand in Hand

    Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor; For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

Have you ever knelt beside a stream of water to take a drink and use your hands, cupped together, to draw the water to your mouth. Even if you haven't, I'm sure you can picture doing so. One hand does all right, but when the two are brought together the amount of water that is held increases quite a bit more, making it easier to carry the water to your mouth without it all going down the front of your shirt.
I remember a preacher who desired very much to see his church grow, both spiritually and in number. He really cared. Yet, out of his concern he tried to do everything that had to be done. He took it upon himself to lead, plan and approve any and all activities within the church. It was not long before his efforts led to his own fatigue. His concern gave way to the undue pressures he placed upon himself and his work of love soon became nothing more than a task to be accomplished. The church's response was to see him as a dictator, and before long they asked him for his resignation.
A lot of good intentions are at the root of many efforts for doing God's work. Sure, our heart is in it and we want to see God's work done--we want to see lives changed. But to go it alone was never God's intent for any of us. We need the support and prayer of others, no matter how great or how small the work we do. Sometimes we need the help of others--along side of us--working hand in hand. We most definitely need God no matter what we are doing. We simply were not intended to do it on our own.
How many times have you felt that you were alone in your cause, your work, or your beliefs? Did you ever feel stronger because of it? Or did you feel isolated and like you just wanted to withdraw from the world for a while so you could get your strength back? Maybe you felt like your thoughts were yours alone and that no one else understood, and so you would just keep your mouth shut and wait for everything to blow over.
The only thing that comes from such feelings of personal aloneness is that we become even more isolated than before. We want to be effective and fruitful in the work for the Lord, yet we cripple our efforts by standing on our own two feet.
God's plan for us is to have a support group of which He is the coordinator. He (not us), directs the course of His work. He shows us the what, where, who and how of something to be done. Then He provides us with people in our lives that will encourage and pray for us, and sometimes work right along side of us.

First, find out what God is wanting you to do. Secondly, rely on Him to empower you to do it (trust in His abilities--not your own). Third, have at least two or three people who will support you, advise you, pray for you and encourage you. Report to them the progress of the work, and keep them aware of how they can be praying for you. The increase will come and you will know more than ever before that you are not alone.

    I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).