Wisdom of The Week

What an amazing God we serve. For our service yesterday at  Three Lakes Community Bible Church, we had the privilege and honor of hearing  from the first missionary our church supported financially. She has now been on  the field for some thirty years, serving in Pakistan and Afghanistan. What a joy  to hear how she has left “footprints for our Shepherd” in some very difficult  places in which to minister. We drove to the Kalispell airport  (100 miles  from Libby) to pick up our missionary. She stayed Friday and Saturday nights  with a family from our church. She needed to be back at the airport at 5 a.m.  Monday morning and we were wondering what would be the best way to get her  there. Someone offered to take her over Sunday evening and get her a motel with  shuttle service to the airport.

Well, unknown  to us, God had it all worked out way ahead of time. Visiting at church Sunday  was Clarke from Alaska who had come to Libby for the funeral of his wife’s  sister. His wife also passed away this past year, as had her dad. Anyway, Clarke  and his sister, Judith, who attends one of our Bible studies, came to church  Sunday.  In visiting with Clarke, I asked when he had to head back to  Alaska and he replied, “Early Monday morning. I have a 6 a.m. flight from  Kalispell!”  “And how are you getting to the airport?” I asked. “A friend  from Libby is taking me.” I introduced Clarke to our missionary and as they  compared notes they found that they were on the same flight to Seattle  where Clarke would head north and she south on connecting flights. I asked  Clarke if he thought they would have room for another passenger to  Kalispell.

So, our  missionary stayed with us Sunday afternoon and evening and at 3:15 this morning  we took her out to the highway to catch her ride to the Glacier International  Airport near Kalispell. Again, it was a privilege and joy to spend some time  with one of God’s very special servants. As we thought about the timing of all  that had to take place for that ride to Kalispell–wow! God is so-o-o  amazing!   Often we tend to start worrying about how we can work  through certain situations in our lives. We forget what a mighty God we serve,  and it is so encouraging when He reminds us by showing us His hand at work. I  was reminded of the song, Your Love Is Amazing by Hazell  Dean:

“Your love is amazing, steady and unchanging

Your  love is a mountain, firm beneath my feet.

Your  love is a mystery, how you gently lift me

When  I am surrounded, Your love carries me.

CHORUS:

“Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallellujah, Your love makes me sing.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Your love makes me sing.

“Your love is surprising, I can feel it rising.

All  the joy that’s growing deep inside of me.

Every time I see You, all Your goodness shines through

And  I can feel this God song, rising up in me.

“Yes  You make me sing

Lord, You make me sing, sing, sing

How  You make me sing.”

The Psalmist said,  “In the day of my trouble I shall call to You, for You  will answer me.  Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; no  deeds can compare with Yours” (Psa. 86:7,8). To Jeremiah the prophet  God promised, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you  great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jer. 33:3).  The  amazing thing is that often long before we cry out to God, He has set into  motion the answer to the prayer for help, as He indicated to Isaiah, saying,  “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and  while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isa. 65:24).  The  Apostle Paul, who saw God’s hand at work on many occasions, wrote this to the  believers at Ephesus: “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly  beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to  Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever  and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20,21).   To which we too say, “AMEN!  Thank you, Lord.”

A chorus by Will Downing  also expresses what an amazing God we have. It is entitled God Is So  Amazing.  Here are the lyrics:

“Imagine someone who can change everything in your  life

Someone who can take all your wrongs and make them  right

He carries all your pain and strife

If  you just dedicate your life to Christ.

“Someone who will always be there for you when you’re down

Right  there beside you, Jesus will always be around

He can be all these things for you

You must believe in Christ and see what He’ll  do.

CHORUS:

“God  is so amazing, He is so amazing

Let’s bless Him and praise Him

And show what God has done

He is so amazing, God is so amazing

Let’s bless Him and praise Him

And  show that God is love.

“Someone who will comfort your heart and ease all your  doubts

Somehow  you can know Jesus will always work it out

If  you believe in Him, He’ll always see you through.

“Someone who’s there for you no matter where you  are

A friend when you’re in need, your shining star

A guiding light that helps you make it through your  day

You must believe in him, He’ll always lead the  way.”

What a mighty God we serve!  Thank you, Lord, for caring about the details  of our lives and for answering even before we call, for putting a plan into  motion long before we even know of our need. What’s your need today?  “Cast your care (anxiety)  upon Him, for He cares for you” (I Pet.  5:7).

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

Some people are really SAD in the winter  months for they suffer from what has been called “Seasonal Affective Disorder” due to a lack of sunlight. Those who have severe cases often require some sort of light therapy to get them through the “winter blues.”  The farther north  you live the shorter the daylight hours in the winter and even during daylight  hours there can often be cloudy or foggy weather. Some go to work in the dark  and come home in the dark and may work where they don’t even get to be in the  sunlight during the day.  This can often lead to depression and other actual physical symptoms. Our bodies require exposure to the sun to stay healthy and encouraged. One of the major needs of our body is the vitamin D which we get  from sunlight.

Obviously  the same is true spiritually. We need consistent exposure to the Son through His  Word and time spent with Him. Lack of “Son-light” can cause depression,  spiritual complacency, and all sorts of other difficulties. Just as our physical bodies need exposure to the sun, our spiritual lives need exposure to God’s Son on a regular basis.  Someone said that “Seven days without prayer makes one  weak!” So does a neglect of God’s Word and Christian fellowship with  other believers. That’s why the writer of Hebrews exhorted: “And let us  consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our  own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another;  and all the more, as you see the day (of His return) drawing near”  (Heb. 10:24,25).

But, while “Seasonal Affective Disorder” is a very real thing, praise  God, so is “Seasonal Order,” for, even though it sometimes seems to  come a bit late, spring has always followed winter because God, who is the  “God of order” (I Cor. 14:33) made it that way. When after  the world-wide flood, Noah built an altar to the LORD and made sacrifices unto Him, we read that “The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the  LORD said to Himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground on account of man,  for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:20-22).  We are so accustomed to the  regularity of the seasons and the various time-constraints of nature (eg., the  length of the day and the year), we rarely stop to think how important all this  is. When the sun goes down each evening, we are not disturbed, because we know  it will rise the next morning; when winter settles over the hemisphere, we are  confident that the spring will return in due time. (It may be snowing  here today, March 28, but our spring flowers are also up and the snow  banks are almost gone from the yard)!

If it were not so, life would be extremely difficult. Science and knowledge, which are based on the assumption that like causes produce like effects, would be impossible.   These basic physical constants (the earth’s rotation controlling the length of the day, the earth’s orbit controlling the year, and the earth’s axial inclination controlling the seasons), in turn, control most other physical and biological processes on the earth.  Scientists, however,  have no explanation as to why these constants are what they are. There is no  better answer than that they are gifts of God’s grace–the God who is the “God  of order.”

As a matter of  fact, this present uniformity of nature dates only from the end of the great  Noahic Flood, which marked a tremendous discontinuity in the processes of nature  as they had functioned previously.  God’s promise to Noah of post-Flood  continuity, as quoted above, has been kept faithfully now for more  than 4,000 years.

All of God’s  wonderful creation gives a daily testimony to His faithfulness. On his missionary journey through Asia Minor, Paul stopped in Lystra (where he was  stoned and left for dead) and addressed the idol worshipers there, saying:   “…you should turn from these vain things to a living God who  made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them…and He did  not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from  heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness”  (Acts 14:15,17), and we should thank Him for it!

Praise God for  the reliability of Nature because, not only was it created by our all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving Creator-Redeemer, Jesus Christ, but it is sustained by Him. He holds it all together and makes sure it continues to operate in an  orderly, predictable fashion. “For by Him (Christ) all things were  created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether  thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things  hold together” (Col. 1:16,17).  Because of that, we are  guaranteed of “seasonal order.” We know that the sun will come up each day and  we know that spring will eventually follow winter each year.

If our God can  order His universe and this special planet earth on which we live in such a  fashion, we can surely trust Him with ordering our lives. Solomon, the wisest  man who ever lived, gave us this advice: “Trust in the LORD with all  your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways  acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Pro. 3:5,6).  Put God first in your life and He will make the course of your life  successful (spiritually).  After all, He is the “God of order.” Let Him  give order to your life today. No matter how smart you may be, He knows  best–even Solomon knew that. (Unfortunately he didn’t always live by that and  ended up writing of his experiences in the book of Ecclesiastes).

Forever His,

Pastor  Dave

You can tell it’s the first day of spring here in northwest Montana–it  is snowing!  We helped shovel the tennis courts yesterday in hopes that  maybe our high school team could get outside and practice this week, especially  since we are scheduled to have a home meet here this coming Saturday!  This  is kind of an annual ritual. As soon as we get the courts cleared so they can  dry off, it snows again.

One good  thing about a fresh snowfall is that it temporarily covers us the ugliness  of the mud and grime that shows up as the winter snows melt. I am reminded of  what the Bible says about God’s forgiveness of our sins. In Isaiah’s prophecy,  for example, we read: ” ‘Come now, and let us reason  together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as  scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,  they will be like wool'” (Isa. 1:18).  Scarlet and crimson were  both glaring and colorfast.  King David, who definitely came to understood  the glaring sin in his life, prayed: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall  be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy  and gladness, let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and  renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation…”  (Psa. 51:7-10).  (Hyssop was used in cleansing the house of a  leper and in purification from defilement by death. See Ex. 12:22 and Nu.  19:18,19).

When Adam and  Eve disobeyed God they experienced the ugliness and guilt of sin and they tried  to cover it up by covering their bodies with fig leaves, a picture of how man  tries unsuccessfully to appease his guilty conscience. Adam and Eve’s attempt too was unsuccessful so they tried to hide from God (good luck with  that!).  God provided a covering for them of animal skins, meaning there had to be the death of an innocent substitute and the shedding of blood on their behalf. Thus God instituted the pattern for the covering of sin throughout the  whole Old Testament period. Sacrifices had to be made to atone for (to cover) sin. There had to be the shedding of innocent blood. With the tabernacle and the temple, came the priesthood from the tribe of Levi and continual sacrifices made and blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. We read in Heb. 9:22 that “all  things are cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no  forgiveness.”

The Law given to Moses specified all the details of the sacrifices to  be made for sin, but “The Law, since it has only a shadow of the good  things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.  Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is  impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb.  10:1-4).  Thus the Old Testament priests work was never done and  when one priest died, another had to take his place. “But when Christ  appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:11,12).  “And the former priests, on the one hand,  existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from  continuing, but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His  priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw  near to God through him since He always lives to make intercession for them”  (Heb. 7:23-25).  “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering  of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily  ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never  take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat  down at the right hand of God…for by one offering He has perfected for all  time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:10-14).  During the time before Christ’s  sacrifice on Calvary, God made provision for sin, but it was only covered, not put away until Jesus came to die on the cross as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn.  1:29).

As the snow melts we see the ugliness of the mud and grime that it had covered, but we don’t have to worry about the ugliness of our sin ever being revealed again. Jesus came to put it away. Being God, Jesus could pay an infinite price for sin, and remove its guilt forever. The Old Testament priests’ work was perpetual. There was no chair in the Temple upon which they could rest. After Jesus made His  “once-and-for-all” sacrifice, He “sat down at the right hand of the  Father” (Heb. 10:12).  The work was done. “Gone, gone, gone, gone; Yes my  sins are gone. Now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song. Buried in the  deepest sea (Mic. 7:19), yes that’s good enough for me. I shall live eternally.  Praise God, my sins are G-O-N-E–gone!”

We had an  opportunity this winter to cross country ski on a logging road in the mountains  where there were no tracks of any kind, human or animal. The snow was pristine, virgin snow. What a beautiful sight, and so, so white. Yet the Bible says that He washes away our sins and makes them even whiter than snow!  “What can  wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O Precious is the flow, that makes me white as  snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus” (Nothing but  the Blood by Robert Lowry). “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn  from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their  guilty stains” (There Is a Fountain by William Cowper). “Whiter than  snow. Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; now wash me and I shall be whiter  than snow” (Whiter than Snow by James Nicholson).  “Have you been  to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?   Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of  the Lamb?…Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? (Are You Washed in the Blood? by Elisha A.  Hoffman).

Forever  His,

Pastor  Dave

(This devotional is based on an  editorial by Mark Maxwell, president of Prairie Bible Institute, in the  Servant magazine, issue eighty-six, 2010, and is  used with his permission.)

“On  the fifth of August, 2010, some 700,000 tons of rock collapsed  into a gold and copper mine in San Jose, Chile, trapping 33 miners 2,300 feet  underground. For 17 awful days, no one knew if there were any survivors or where  they might be. Families waited in agony in a temporary shanty town set up around  the site, dreaming of a rescue, but knowing full-well that a tragic conclusion  was possible.

“Then  came that indescribable moment when, on the 30th try, a probe drill punched  through solid rock into a chamber where the men had taken refuge and a camera  focused on 33 disheveled faces. In darkness they had waited, starving and  sweltering, but united in their hope that this was not the end. Suddenly panic  and despair turned to elation and relief–and hope.

“The mining  company, community, country, and the whole world were pulling out all the stops  to rescue them. International media clambered over each other to document the  events. You would have to be living in a cave (forgive me!) not to have heard  about (or viewed) the amazing rescue and miraculous  liberation.”   Sixty-nine days after the earth caved in on the 33  Chilean miners, millions of us sat glued to our televisions as the men were  lifted up, one at a time, through a narrow escape shaft to stand under the open sky, gulping fresh air, and hearing the cheers of joy from anxious, awaiting  family and friends. What a moving scene!

You probably  noticed that as the miners were being pulled from Chile’s San Jose mine that  most were wearing tan T-shirts over their coveralls. the Chilean government told  reporters that the green coveralls were designed to help absorb the sweat as they ascended to the top, but why the T-shirts and where did they come from. On the T-shirt’s left sleeve was a logo for the Jesus Film Project which is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International. The Jesus Film Project (TJFP) has translated the film (which depicts the life of Christ) into 1,105 languages and it has been seen in every country.

Seventeen days  into the mine accident, CCCI county director for Chile, Maureira, started contacting public officials to see if they could send the miners a copy of the  film. They were also able to reach a daughter and a brother of miner Jose  Henriquez and through that family contact, the group was able to send an MP3 audio version of the Jesus film and an MP3 audio version of the New Testament in Spanish to Henriquez down in the mine. The Jesus film explains that the New Testament tells how Jesus was laid into a tomb-like cave after His crucifixion. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. Women come to the tomb and find that the stone that blocked the entrance has been rolled away, and the cave/tomb was empty.

It is unclear  if the miners saw the resurrection story as a parallel for their hoped-for rescue, but Jose Henriquez passed along a letter to CCI’s Maureira from inside the mine. It read: “Thank you for this tremendous blessing for me and my co-workers. It will be good for our spiritual edification. I am fine because Christ lives in me. We have prayer services at 12 noon and at 6 p.m.” Henriquez  concluded his letter by quoting Psalm 95:4, which says, “In whose hand are the depths of the earth; the peaks of the mountains are His  also.”

A few days later,  Henriquez asked Maureira to get them special T-shirts. Campus Crusade had the T-shirts printed and taken down to the miners. On the front they read, ‘Thank you LORD.” and on the back, Psalm 95:4.  And, now you know “the rest of the  story!”

The dramatic rescue of the Chilean miners reminds us of our own  rescue, how Jesus reached down and drew us from darkness to light. King David put it this way, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of  destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a  song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, and trust in the LORD” (Psa.  40:1-3).  The Chilean rescue reminds us of some things that we too  easily forget.

1. Never Give Up… How do we hold onto hope amid insurmountable odds:  a serious illness, a  failing relationship, a job loss, a national catastrophe, losing a loved one? We ask, “Where is God? Does He care?”  Let’s never forget that we have a Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep, a God who never has promised to never leave us or forsake us. What a comfort!  In a letter sent  before his rescue, the youngest miner, 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, said there were actually 34 in the mine, “because God has never left us down here!”   (Remember the story of the fiery furnace in Daniel?)

2.  Reach Up…  Imagine if the capsule descended only to have one of the miners say,  “No, I’d rather not climb into that shuttle.”  “That’s crazy,” you say. But think of how often people reject God’s offer of rescue from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis said, “The gates of hell are locked on the inside.” God reached down to us in the greatest rescue attempt ever. But we must reach up to Him; that is, we must accept His offer. John wrote, “But as many as received  Him, to them He gave the right to become children  of God, even to those who believe in His name” (Jn. 1:12).

3.  Give Thanks…  As grateful as the Chilean miners were for being rescued, that great rescue pales in comparison to the heavenly relief effort necessary to rescue us, as Christ, the eternal Son of God, came to earth to live a sinless  life, then died to pay the awful cost of our sins. We “were not  redeemed (rescued) with perishable things like silver or gold from our futile way of  life…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (I Pet. 1:18,19).  We need to proclaim with the apostle Paul,  “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (II Cor.  9:15).

“It was a chilling moment when Manuel Gonzalez, the first of a  six-man rescue team, entered the capsule to descend–by  choice– into the dark tunnel to join the lost men in their plight and  guide them to freedom. The lift had not yet been tried. There were no  guarantees that he would return safely. In a dramatic scene fed back by  underground video cameras, Gonzalez stepped out of the capsule to be mobbed by the miners in their underground tombs. His coming brought life and hope!   As the last miner headed for the surface, grainy photos showed the rescue team  flashing a hand-made sign that read, ‘Mission  accomplished.’

“What an  unforgettable picture of what God has done through Jesus! At unspeakable cost He willingly accomplished His mission,” making salvation available for all.

“For the grace of God has  appeared, bringing (making available) salvation to all men” (Tit.  2:11).  When we have put our trust in Him and His rescue mission,  “Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus  our Lord” (Ro. 8:39). He will do whatever it takes to bring us Home.  Jesus said, “…of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise Him up on the last day” (Jn. 6:39,40).

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

One of the most fascinating books of the Bible was written by the  wisest–and possibly the wealthiest–man who ever lived yet who had at a point in his life tried to find his significance in possessions and accomplishments rather than in God. His life became very empty, lacking in purpose and meaning.  As a result, Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes which is part of God’s inspired revelation to man.   With his resources and position, there was nothing that Solomon couldn’t do or have, yet he said, “All things are wearisome. Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done.  So, there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:8,9).  “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!…Everything is futility and striving after the wind” (1:1; 2:17).

Solomon’s experience has been repeated millions upon millions of time throughout history by those who search for significance apart from a relationship with God. How true the famous prayer of Augustine: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  There is nothing quite so meaningless as human life apart from a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Everything else in this world serves a purpose. Every animal and every plant on this earth serves a  purpose. The sun, the moon, and every star in the sky serve a purpose. But for an individual human being, life without God is meaningless. “We were created with a God-shaped vacuum in our heart which only Jesus Christ can fill.”   When we try to fill that void inside with anything but Christ, we experience ultimate emptiness and meaninglessness, just as Solomon did when he tried to replace God with things.

The apostle Peter wrote of this in terms of “your futile way of life inherited from  your forefathers” (I Pet. 1:18 NASB). The word “futile” (“vain” in KJV)  is a translation of the Greek word mataios (mat’-ah-yos) which means  “empty, profitless, and idol, vain, vanity.”  It has in it the idea of an ineffectual attempt to do something  or an unsuccessful effort to attain something.  Sounds very much like Solomon’s observation of life doesn’t  it?  It is futile in that it doesn’t measure up to that for which human life was created which was to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. King David  discovered that, as reflected in His beloved Psalm 23 where he wrote:  “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (v. 1).  He  also wrote: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee?  And besides Thee, I  desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psa. 73:25,26).  The prophet  Jeremiah, though he lived in a time when his fellow countrymen had turned against God and faced judgment, had also found his significance in God and wrote: “The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I have hope in  Him” (Lam. 3:22-24).  The apostle Paul, though he had been a very religious, devout Jew, only found his significance when he met Christ in his  “road-to-Damascus experience” (Acts 9) and later wrote: “For to me, to  live is Christ…” (Phil. 1:21). “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered Himself  up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

When Paul went to Athens, Greece and noticed all the idols to their  gods, he also noticed one altar with the inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN  GOD” (Acts 17:23).  It was an indication of how their search for the true God and significance had led them to dead ends. They weren’t sure they had yet found the real thing. So, as Paul preached to them, he said,  “What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one (blood) every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…” (Acts 17:23-28).

God created us to have fellowship with Him and we will never find our  true meaning and fulfillment and significance in life apart from that, because that is how and why we are made.  That is how we are “wired.”  Satan,  in the temptation in the Garden, directly questioned God’s truthfulness,  implying that Eve could have greater significance apart from God and that eating the forbidden fruit would reveal hidden knowledge, enabling her to know good from evil like God Himself. Being deceived, Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam followed her in sinful rebellion against God. One of the tragic results of  this event is that man lost his secure status with God and began to struggle with feelings of arrogance, inadequacy, and despair, valuing the opinions of others more than the truth of God. This robbed man of his true self-worth and put him on a continual, but fruitless, search for significance through his success and the approval of others.  In one form or another, Satan’s lie still thrives today. For example, humanism, the central philosophy of our schools and society, teaches that man is above all else, that he alone is the center of meaning. Teaching that man has meaning totally apart from God,  atheistic, evolutionary humanism leaves morality, justice and behavior to the  discretion of “enlightened” man and encourages man to worship man and nature rather than God. Living without God’s divine truth, humanity sinks lower and lower in depravity, blindly following a philosophy that intends to heighten the dignity of man but instead lowers him to the level of animals. Rather than a spiritual and emotional being made in the image of God, man has been classified  as merely a natural phenomenon of time plus chance, no greater than rocks, animals or clouds. The apostle Paul described this foolishness and demeaning perspective of man in Ro. 1:18-25.

We were created by the infinite, almighty, all-knowing God who made us in His image with the ability and need to relate to Him, the only truly significant person/object in the universe. We will never find true significance without having a personal relationship with Him. He made that possible by sending His eternal Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from that empty, futile way of life that leaves Him out.  Peter wrote, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers  (by physical birth), but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (I Pet. 1:18,19).  Through faith in the shed blood of Christ at Calvary in payment for our sins, we are emancipated from bondage to self and to sin and to Satan. We then, and only then, can  experience not only eternal life, but the abundant life for which we were made.  Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10).     Are you still  searching for true significance or have you found it in the person of the Lord  Jesus Christ?  You won’t find it anywhere else.

Forever His,

Pastor  Dave

P.S.  Check out the book The  Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee (Available through “Man in the  Mirror”)

Throughout history people have often  wondered if they are facing the first impossible challenge that is even too  difficult for God. Abraham, for example was told by God that in him “all  the families of the earth would be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).  But now  he is advanced in age and his wife has been barren and is now well past the  ability to bear a child (Gen. 18:11). But the LORD appears to Abraham and  tells him “at this time next year, behold, Sarah your wife shall have a  son” (v.10).  Sarah was eavesdropping and laughed to herself (v.  12).  “And the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying,  ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’  Is anything too  difficult for the LORD'” (vv. 13,14).  Sure enough by that  time next year they had a son, Isaac (which means “laughter”!).

Moses too faced  a seemingly impossible situation when he led the estimated two million  Israelites out of their four centuries of bondage in Egypt. Pharaoh changed his  mind and pursued them with his entire army and overtook them camping by the Red  Sea (Ex. 14:9).  The people were terrified. They were caught between the  proverbial “Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (only here it was Pharaoh and the Red  Sea)!  What could they possibly do? They were thinking, “Why would God have  brought us this far only to die in the wilderness?” (v. 11).   “But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the  salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today…The LORD will  fight for you while you keep silent'” (vv. 13,14).  God placed a  cloud between the Egyptian army and the Israelites and “Then Moses  stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong  east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were  divided.  And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the  dry land…” (vv. 21,22). When the Egyptian army pursued them on their  chariots and horses, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand  over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their  chariots and their horsemen…And the waters returned and covered the chariots  and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army  that had gone into the sea  after them; not even one of them remained'” (vv. 26-28).

On another occasion, King Sennacherib and his ruthless army had  Jerusalem under siege. It was another “impossible” situation. There appeared to  be no escaping inevitable destruction, “But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the  prophet prayed about this and cried out to heaven. And the LORD sent an angel  who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the  king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. And when he had  entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with  the sword. So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem…” (II  Chr. 32:20-23).

Jeremiah the prophet, in view of the advancing armies of Babylon, was  wondering about the promise of the LORD that one day his descendants would  return to that land, but he “…prayed to the LORD, saying, ‘Ah Lord  GOD! Behold, Thou has made the heavens and the earth by Thy Great power and by  Thine outstretched arm!  Nothing is too difficult for Thee” (Jer.  32:16,17).

After Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is  hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven…it is easier for a camel to  go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of  God.’  And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished, and  said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And looking upon them Jesus said to them,  ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt.  19:23-26).'”

When the angel  came to the virgin Mary to tell her that she would conceive in her womb and bear  a son to be named Jesus who would be called the Son of God  who would reign  over the house of Jacob forever and whose kingdom would have no end,  “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the  angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the  Most High will overshadow you…For nothing will be impossible with God”  (Lk. 1:31-37).

The stories of God’s miraculous work in the face of seemingly  impossible situations doesn’t end with the accounts in Scripture. God is still  at work to show His omnipotence and omniscience in carrying out His purpose. I  shared with you a couple weeks ago the story of Corey Stark in Portland and how  God intervened to spare him from being at a gas station when a drunken driver  drove through the adjoining store.  I received in response the following  story which again illustrates that nothing is too difficult for God.  “My  sister was a truck dispatcher for a window company in West Virginia. A driver  had called from Pennsylvania to report a wreck. He said the Lord was looking out  for him and the other guy. The truck driver had gone in to get fuel, went in to  pay, forgot his card and had to go back out to the truck to get it. He then took  off down the freeway. An hour later he felt a lurch and jerk so he  pulled over and got out to look. He saw a compact pickup truck on top of his  trailer, collapsing it down. He called 911, then got up on the load and found  that the driver was still alive, but appeared to be having a heart attack. The  paramedics came, got him to the hospital and saved his life. He had his attack  on an overpass of the freeway, lost control of his pickup, launched over the  rail, and landed on/in the trailer, the windows inside and the shell of the  trailer cushioned his fall as it collapsed. Had the truck not been  traveling under that overpass at that precise moment, he would have most likely  been instantly killed!

Isn’t our God  amazing!   Do you have a seemingly impossible situation that you are  facing?  “Is anything too difficult for God?”  The  answer is the same as it has always been—NO!  “With men this is  impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

So, what’s the  world’s tallest building?  For some 41 years, New York’s Empire State  Building, completed in 1931,  enjoyed that distinction at 1,250  feet.  Since then, many others have surpassed it, including the World Trade  Center Twin Towers completed in 1973 at 1368 feet (destroyed 9-11-01), The Sears  Tower (now the Willis Tower) in Chicago in 1974 at 1450 feet,  the  1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998,  the  1,670-foot Taipei 101 building in Japan in 2004, and then in 2010, the  2,717-foot BurjKhalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Wow, it reaches up more than a half mile!). The Empire State Building now ranks only about  17th!

From ancient  times, man has tried to distinguish himself through monuments of all kinds. One  of the most significant mentioned in Scripture is recorded in Genesis chapter 11  where we read: “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same  words.  And it came about as they journeyed east (after the Flood), that  they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there… And they said,  ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into  heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over  the face of the whole earth'” (vv. 1,2,4). The city was called  Babylon and the tower, Babel, and they were built in order to prevent people  from scattering through the earth, in direct defiance of God’s clear command in  Gen. 9:1: “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be  fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'”  This tower was a  rallying point and symbol of human achievement. Some think that it may also have  included the signs of the Zodiac and the beginnings of  astrology.

Whether  it is building towers and tall buildings or sports achievements, man continues  to break the records of predecessors, and thus the saying, “records are made to  be broken.” No matter what ones human accomplishments and “moment in the  sun,” someone will come along one day and do even better. Even man’s  biggest “successes” are fleeting. Our best efforts can bring only  temporary honor, which will all too soon be eclipsed by the new and greater  achievements of others. And all the trophies and certificates and ribbons and  medals we collect along the way here will all be left behind one day and all the huge monuments built by mankind will one day topple as God destroys the earth  with fire (II Pet. 3:10-13) to make the “new heavens and  new earth” spoken of in Revelation 21:1.

The writer  of the epistle to the Hebrews presents a better way to achieve significance than  through human monuments, or medals or records. He gives us a list of heroes in  chapter 11, heroes of the faith who never lost sight of the fact that  “These all died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…for they desire a  better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb.  11:13,16).  Those who invest their efforts in living to please God have a lasting city and an everlasting honor to look forward to, as  did Abraham: “By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise,  as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of  the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:9,10).

Being made in  the image of God (Gen. 1:26,27), and as the crown of all His creation (Psa. 8),  man has been able to accomplish some amazing things, but no matter how well we  do, our “records” will inevitably be broken by someone. Someone will build a taller building; someone will achieve a higher score; someone will run a faster race.  We may have a shelf full of trophies and a case full of medals and ribbons, but one day we will leave this earth and all that will be left behind for someone else to worry about.  And, as Solomon said, “And who  knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun.  This too is vanity” (Eccl. 2:19).  As Dennis De Haan wrote in a  Daily Bread devotional, “True greatness does not lie with those who  strive for worldly fame; it lies instead with those who choose to serve in  Jesus’ name.”  That’s why Jesus challenged believers, saying: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…Seek first  the kingdom of God and His righteousness..” (Mt. 6:19-21,33).  The  apostle Paul conveyed this same truth to the Corinthian believers, writing:  “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying,  yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while  we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;  for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen  are eternal” (II Cor. 4:16-18).

Forever His,

Pastor  Dave

One of my favorite verses is Psa. 32:8: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD; and He delights in his way.”  I believe the “stops of a man” are established (ordered) by the Lord as well. Solomon  wrote, “The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps”  (Pr. 16:9).  As God directs our steps, I believe that He often enlists the service of his ministering angels.  We read in Psa. 91:11,  “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all  your ways.”   I was reminded of these truths as the following  story (used by permission) was related to us by some friends in Portland,  Corey and Debbie Stark. Debbie teaches at North Clackamas Christian School in  Oregon City where our son Grant and his wife Arika both teach.  The following account really emphasizes to me how God watches over us as the loving  heavenly Father that He is. Here’s the story that Corey shared with  us.

“Debbie and I  were heading home after a late night Portland Blazer game. We nearly passed by my pickup truck that we had left at a park and ride earlier in the day to carpool to the game. Deb dropped me off and left for home. I had to walk a ways to locate the truck and as I crested the hill and spotted it I noticed my  park lights were on. I quickly unlocked the door and fired ‘Farmer Jack’ up  (that’s what the kids call my 1973 F250 Ford pickup). It sluggishly started so I was pretty excited about that!

I had planned to stop for some gas, but now was afraid that if I did, I may not get ‘Farmer  Jack’ started again at the gas station but I took the next exit anyway.   While sitting at the traffic light 200 yards from the Shell station, I looked at my phone to see it was 10:15 p.m. and then looked again at the gas gauge and thought I could get it home tuck the kids in with Deb (which I really enjoy doing) and just get gas before work in the morning.  So, instead of turning left to the gas station, I went straight and got right back on the freeway.

I made it two miles from home and ran out of gas!  Fortunately, I was near another gas  station so I hopped out and started jogging down the off ramp I was on. I checked my watch to decide if I should call my wife and tell this reoccurring tale of me running out of gas!  It was just 10:25 so I didn’t call. . After I got the gas I quickly walked back up the hill, deposited the two gallons and turned the key to find indeed the battery was too weak to get me started again.  I called road-side assistance for a jump and noted the time once more was 10:45 so I called Deb to let her know of my delay. We chuckled about my predicament and then I began the hour wait for a jump. Ten minutes later someone swung in and gave me a jump and off I went to my sleeping family. I returned home at 11:30.

Little did I know till I turned on the news before bed that the frustrating end to my day had  turned out to be a huge blessing. At the very time that I would have been at the gas station where I had planned to get gas, a drunk driver drove his van right through the store!  My wife had given me $10 cash to spend which meant at that gas station that I would have had to go inside to pay. Also, at this particular station, the outer islands are closed after 10 p.m. so I’d have been next to the building and paying at the very moment the van came crashing into the store. The incident set me back in my chair because had I stopped for gas my dead battery would have certainly kept me longer than normal and I’d almost assuredly been in the path of this man’s drunken, drugged up  rampage.”  NOTE: You can see a picture of the van in the store at  http://www.kptv.com/news/26784596/detail.html?treets=ptl1&tmi=ptl1_12pm&ts=T&mi=ptl1_12pm_1_02000102082011

God doesn’t  protect us from all possible injuries, accidents or illnesses, for we live in a  world under the curse of sin, and Christians are not exempt, but He obviously can do so when that fulfills His purpose.  And even if it isn’t His purpose to prevent a difficulty from entering our life, He is always there to give the grace to endure it. God spoke through Isaiah saying, “When you  pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you” (Isa. 43:2) It gives us great confidence to know that our steps are “established by the LORD,” that He screens every event that He allows to come into our lives and that we will be here until  God is finished working in and through us. Corey, we’re grateful that God chose to keep you here at this time. Thanks for sharing your “God sighting” with  us.

Forever His,

Pastor  Dave

I’m sure most  of you are familiar with the fictional element called “Kryptonite.” It was  introduced in the radio drama “The Adventures of Superman” in 1943. It resulted from the radioactive remains of Superman’s native planet, Krypton. Kryptonite ore came to earth inside a single meteorite from the exploded planet.  In the Superman mythos, Kryptonite was the one thing that could weaken or kill  Superman. Superman’s cells would absorb electromagnet radiation from stars like the Earth’s sun, energizing him and giving him his super powers.   Kryptonite’s radioactivity interfered with this process, drawing the energy out of his cells in painful fashion.

Alexander Joseph (“Lex”) Luther was the super-villain who was introduced as the arch enemy of Superman in “Action Comics” in April, 1940.  Lex was a power-mad evil scientist of high intelligence and incredible technological prowess. His goals centered on killing Superman as a stepping stone to world domination. He wreaked havoc on the world with his futuristic weaponry. When he realized the effect that Kryptonite had on Superman, Lex Luther used it as his main means to attempt to destroy Superman so that he could rule the  world.

Superman and Lex Luther are, of course fictional characters, but I can’t help but see a number of spiritual parallels to our lives and the attempts of our enemy, Satan, to weaken and to destroy us.   Kryptonite has become a synonym for “Achilles’ heel”–the one weakness of an otherwise invulnerable hero.  Because we, as Christians, still have our old, sinful, Adamic natures, we have areas of weakness where we are susceptible to the  “schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). While the devil cannot make us do anything, he knows well what our weak areas are and will attack us through the “lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (I Jn. 2:16).  Like Superman being  energized by the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, we are energized spiritually by our exposure to the Son and from spending time in His Word, the Bible.  We grow in Christlikeness as we spend time with Him and in  “letting the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16).   Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask  whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you” (Jn. 15:7). The  Apostle Paul proclaimed, “I can do all things through Him (Christ) who  strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).  He exhorted the Ephesian believers  to “Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the  full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the  devil” (Eph. 6:10,11).

As believers in Christ, those who have been regenerated by the Holy  Spirit (Tit. 3:5), and become “partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4),  we, like Superman, are invincible as long as we abide in Christ, have the Spirit  of God controlling our lives and live in obedience to His Word.  We  have the same power at work in us that raised Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:19;  Col. 1:29).  “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer  through Him who loved us” (Ro. 8:37). “But thanks be to God, who gives us the  victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 15:57). “But thanks be to God,  who always leads us in His triumph in Christ…” (II Cor. 2:14).   However, we need to heed the warning that Paul gave the Ephesians to  keep our spiritual armor on (Eph. 6:10-17), to “Lay aside the old self,  which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be  renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the  likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth”  (Eph. 4:22-24).  Paul goes on to give several examples. He says,  “quit lying and speak the truth; stop letting the sun go down on your anger;  quit stealing and work with your hands; stop speaking unwholesome things and  speak only what builds up and gives grace to those who hear” (vv. 26-29). And  inserted in that passage is a key commandment: “And do not give the  devil an opportunity” (v. 27).

Each of us, through our old sinful nature, has a particular area of  vulnerability to Satan’s attack. It might be lying, or anger, or stealing, or our speech, or our thought life, or immorality, or unkindness, or any number of things.  If we allow our old nature to be in control, we become  susceptible to Satan’s “Kryptonite”!  (Remember the story of Samson and  Delilah!  Remember how he allowed Satan’s “Kryptonite” to cause his loss of  strength.)  We need to be aware of the areas where we are vulnerable and make sure we  equip ourselves with God’s Word, which is our offensive weapon, the  “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). We should memorize verses  that help us say no to temptation, especially in our special areas of weakness.  David knew that principle, and wrote: “How can a young man keep his way  pure?  By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have sought Thee; Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured  (hidden) in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Psa. 119:9-11).   I’ll bet David wished he had followed that advice when he spotted  Bathsheba bathing on the roof top! Because he allowed his old flesh to rule, he  succumbed to the “Kryptonite” of the enemy and was definitely weakened both physically and spiritually. Before he confessed his sin, he wrote: “When  I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day  long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away  as with the fever heat of summer” (Psa. 32:3,4).  But, praise God,  there is an antidote to the enemy’s “Kryptonite.” David went on to write:  “I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said,  ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD;’ and Thou didst forgive the guilt  of my sin” (v. 5). “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin  is covered!  How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute  iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!” (vv. 1,2).

So, what’s your “Kryptonite”?  Have you equipped yourself with  God’s Word to be able to resist the devil’s fiery darts?  Don’t give him an  opportunity!  He doesn’t need a very big opening to barge his way in. Don’t  give him an inch or he will take a mile. Don’t give him any room at all. Stay  “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.”

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

(Portions of this devotional are  taken–with permission–from an article written by Bill Graf of Rio Grande Bible  Institute)

The story is  told of a bloodhound who started chasing a deer but a fox crossed his path, so  he started chasing the fox instead. After a while, a rabbit crossed his path, so the hound chased the rabbit. Later, a mouse crossed his path and the hound  chased the mouse into a hole. The hound, which had begun his hunt on the trail  of a magnificent deer, ended up watching a mouse hole!

Now, for those of you who are our age, that may sound like a typical day. We set out to look for our car keys or the TV remote and notice we left a coffee cup on a table, so take the cup to the kitchen, only to notice the sink had not been rinsed out after the dishes were done….and so the day goes. Sound familiar?   Probably most of us face the problem to some degree of being distracted from what we set out to do. But often our lives become like that as well. We fall  prey to the “tyranny of the urgent.” It isn’t so much that we are distracted to  do bad things. It’s just that we find ourselves filling our time with good things that really have no value. The Apostle Paul, whom I’m sure was of like nature as we are, wrote to the Philippian believers: “…but  one thing I do…I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward  call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13,14). He also challenged the  Christians at Ephesus to “walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making  the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15,16).  Obviously each of us has only a limited time in which to live out our  days here on earth before God calls us home. It is important that we spend our  time and energy wisely, and not end up “watching a mouse hole!”

But how should  we spend our time? What should be the focus of our life?  There are so  many causes to which to dedicate ourselves. There are so many worthwhile goals to strive to achieve. Plus we have responsibilities in this life too. We  have to make a living to support our family, try to have an impact on our little world, take time for ourselves and continue to learn and mature. And of course, we need to discover how God has uniquely gifted us physically, mentally and spiritually and should train and excel in that which we are good at, shouldn’t we?  After all, if I am a gifted athlete or musician or speaker, or artist, or…, just look at the opportunities I have to have an impact and be a role model for those watching. But in order to be that top-ranked athlete or musician or speaker or artist, etc. I am going to have to dedicate my time and my efforts to becoming the best I can be. This must become the focus of my life. But, could that lead to a mouse hole? That is an interesting question: how can I know if a trail is worthy of my time and effort to follow if I don’t know what will be at the end of the trail until I get there?  How can I avoid embarrassment and regret at the end of my trail? How can I avoid sitting and watching a mouse hole?

How sad to hear the regrets of those who have scaled the ladder of success only to find it leaning against the wrong wall!  How disheartening it must be to arrive near the end of the trail and find that you have been following a mouse!   The years have been wasted, the reward has slipped through your grasp; how extremely sad, especially for a Christian. Even the Apostle Paul expressed concern that his life might just end up being that way. Note what he wrote  in I Cor. 9:27: “But I buffet (discipline) my body and make it my slave,  lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” The word Paul used that is translated “disqualified”  (“castaway” in the KJV), is adokimos (ad-ok’-ee-mos) which means  “unapproved, castaway, worthless, disqualified.”  It was used in reference  to a “cracked pot,” which was not thrown away, but put on the shelf and no longer used. When you go back to I Cor. 9:24-26 to see the context of v. 27, you  find Paul talking about running a race and running to win by staying focused on the goal and exercising self control in all things. You can’t allow yourself to be distracted if you are going to win the race. You have to remain focused.  The same is true if you are going to win a prize fight. After all the rigors of training, when you step into that ring and face your opponent, you don’t go in there to shadow box. You focus on delivering every ounce of strength of your body right to the tip of your glove as it impacts the body of the opponent.

In His second letter to Timothy, Paul uses a couple other metaphors to describe the focused life. In II Tim. 2:3-6, we read: “Suffer hardship with me, as a good  soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.” In addition to the athlete, Paul compares the Christian life to that of a soldier on active duty and a hard-working farmer. When you serve in the military, you can’t be engaged  in other pursuits and interests while you are enlisted. You have to be prepared for immediate changes of location and sudden changes of plans. In the eyes of the military, you are government property. Even when you are on leave or liberty, you have to remember your commitment. You could be court-martialed even for getting a sunburn because that is destruction of government property and could jeopardize the safety of your unit, your ship, or your plane. You have to be totally focused.

So, does that mean that the only way to be a committed Christian is to be a pastor or  missionary or to be in some other Christian vocation?  Can you be a professional athlete, musician, artist, plumber, electrician, school teacher, nurse, engineer, etc, and still be focused on one main goal?  Yes. God works as an  “infiltrator,” by giving believers abilities and gifts to use in all sorts of vocations and walks of life. We are all to be disciples of Christ, but often come disguised as athletes, musicians, artists, etc.  I think, for example,  of Tim Tebow, who was born on the mission field in the Philippines. The doctors  had recommended to his mother that she have an abortion because of the likelihood of complications, but, as a Christian, she knew that was not the right thing to do. Well, for those of you who know Tim’s story to date, he became a very gifted athlete who took his Florida Gator football team to the national championship. He won the coveted Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, and is now quarterback for the Denver Broncos. So, football must be the most important thing in his life. Right? Wrong, serving Jesus Christ is, and he has done so at every level along the way. His main goal is to glorify God.

You see, that’s the secret of not ending up sitting and watching a mouse hole. No matter what God has gifted us to do, He has called us to be His ambassador (II Cor. 5:20),  to represent Him in every walk of life. All the trophies and awards and remuneration we receive along the way for working hard at what we do will one day be gone. They are just temporal things that will be left here when we die or are raptured. It’s only what we do for Christ that will last.  The Apostle  Paul said, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the  Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father…Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord, rather than for men…It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col. 3:17,23,24).   In everything we do, we  should have one purpose–to glorify God. In every relationship, every  conversation, in every platform of influence, we should be focused on the goal of exalting Jesus Christ and pointing people toward a relationship with Him. In every one of our plans we should be focused on doing not our own will, but His.

So, don’t get  distracted!  Don’t end up sitting at a mouse hole when you started out  pursuing a deer!

Forever His,

Pastor Dave