If God Be For Us . . .

How powerful is Romans Chapter 8?

There is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus    Christ . . . has freed you from the power of sin that leads to    death . . .by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins . . . what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later . . . God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God . . . If God be for us, who can be against    us . . . For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

All of that from a single chapter in a single book in the Bible. Wow. With promises like that, if God be for us, who can be against us?

God has been with us.

I have the utmost respect, admiration, and gratitude for those who serve in the Armed Forces. I will say thank you a thousand times, and it will not be enough. I cannot know the price they paid for the freedoms I have.

I also know that it is God who causes nations to rise and fall, who decides the victor of every battle, who rules the land, the sea, the air. God, and Him alone. If He had not been with us, then many would have succeeded against us.

God is with us always.

Think again about Romans 8. No condemnation. Free from the power of sin. Glorious future. All things for our good. No one can stand against us. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Paul is talking about you, me, and everyone else who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Once your are His, you are His forever. Nothing can take that away.

With that in mind, I repeat once more, If God be for us, who can be against us?

We all face a battle.

Every Christian is a warrior, by choice or conscription, it matters not. We are in the Lord's army--all of us who believe--and the enemy will come our way. Our duty, as those who have gone before us, is to bravely face the battle to come.

I encourage you, as indeed I encourage myself as I write those words, to keep this one thing in mind.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Our Good Shepherd

God tends to His flock every day.

Do you realize that God looks you over every day, as a shepherd examines his sheep? Ensuring you have access to good pasture and clean water. Providing a secure haven, safe from predators and storms. With knowing eye and gentle hands, He examines every part of your being, from top to bottom, looking for anything out of place. He cares for you as His prized possession.

Like sheep, we sometimes don't understand the Shepherd's care. We fail to understand that when His hand is upon us, He seeks only our good. When He removes something harmful from our lives, we recoil at the momentary discomfort. As He moves us to new pastures, we bleat and stall, often planting our feet and refusing to move.

Our Shepherd, though, knows best. Patiently, ever patiently, He guides us along, speaking soothing words. When we listen, we hear Him, but only when we stop bleating our complaints.

His flock is ever increasing.

Every day, God is seeking to increase His flock. Walking through the wilderness of the world, He calls to those who have no shepherd. Showing them His pastures, His streams, His barns and storehouses, He offers them a better life. Protection. Provision. Promise.

Some come to Him. Sadly, some do not. Always, always, all are accepted who heed His voice. Never once is one turned away.

He seeks the strays.

Even sheep in a flock stray. That is their nature. Our nature.

Mistaking weeds for better pasture, oblivious to the danger of wandering from the flock, we go off on our own. We are not fenced in; rather, He allows us freedom to roam. Our boundaries are well marked, the fields He has chosen for us broad and wide. But like sheep, we are not satisfied with enough. Content to follow the longings in our bellies, we slip away.

The Shepherd, though, knows. His watchful eye misses nothing. When one of His flock goes off alone, He is right behind them. Ever calling, He pursues the wanderer. Not in anger, not in frustration, but in love. Care. Concern. He wishes not for one of His sheep to fall prey to the dangers lurking.

Sometimes the sheep happily return with the Shepherd. Other times He guides them with His staff. Occasionally, when one has strayed too far, He has to carry them home in His arms. Binding their wounds, picking the burrs from their wool, He soothes their fears.

He is not angry, you see. Even in His discipline, He seeks not to do harm. Correcting in love, guiding in care, tears of joy flow down His cheeks.

He has found His stray, and tomorrow, when He tends His flock yet once more, He will do it all again. 

A Recipe For Success

 Who doesn't want a recipe for success?

I cannot think of a single person who does not want to succeed. From the most aggressive, goal driven mover and shaker to the meekest, come-what-may dreamer I know--everyone wants to succeed at something. The mover and shaker wants to make life happen. The dreamer wishes for nothing more than peace and quiet to allow her imagination to explore. I am somewhere in the middle.

Everybody has a goal, and desires to know how to get there.

In God's hands, your plan will succeed.

That sounds great! There is, however, a catch. You have to commit to the Lord whatever you do. Why is that a catch? Because so much of what we do is not committed to the Lord in any way, shape, or form. Not even close.

That business deal--why do you want it to succeed? Will it glorify God? Will His kingdom grow because of it? Or that relationship you so want to see flourish--why? Are you going to be closer to God, or farther away if it gets more serious?

Committing your plans to the Lord means letting His will be done, not yours. That might mean what you want isn't what happens. That's not failure--that's God succeeding.

Success is defined by God, not us.

We tend to define success as achieving what we set out to do. I don't think that's what Solomon meant when he wrote Proverb 16:3. The wisest man in the world understood that success can only be measured by God. Sometimes when we fail to get what we want, God succeeds. Jesus prayed that He would not have to face the cross, but also prayed for God's will to be done. Jesus didn't get what He asked for, but God certainly succeeded. Understand?

So it is with us. Committing whatever we do to the Lord means putting it in His capable hands and letting Him define success. Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. When God works things out for our good, that is success. Even if, in our eyes, we fail. Let Him decide what it means to succeed.

Whatever it is, give it to God.

Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5), but with Him, we can do anything (Philippians 4:13). So whatever you do, commit it to the Lord, and let Him lead you to His success. 

Think You've Had a Bad Day?

Is this a bad day?

If so, I've had a few. How about when your kids spill Kool-Aid on the carpet, or put a ball through the flat screen TV? Are those bad days? Trouble at work. Trouble at home. Traffic. Cut yourself shaving. Does a morning with bitter coffee, or worse, no coffee, a bad day make?


Bad is a relative term. The word only has meaning in context or comparison. For example, a car wreck is bad when compared to a safe drive home. But a fender-bender is not bad compared to totaling your ride. See? Context and comparison.

How bad was your day, really?

This is dangerous territory, because I don't know your context, and my comparisons may not apply to you. I do believe, however, that we can all agree that we need not look far to find someone who has had a worse day than we have. I've worked in healthcare for 20 years, and I've seen a lot of people who've had some really bad days. Life changing days. In some cases, life ending days. Suddenly, a bad cup of coffee doesn't seem like such a big deal.


Look around. Watch the news, or read the newspaper. People are going through some really, truly, awful experiences every single day. Most of us don't have to look that far. The neighbor with cancer. The co-worker going through a divorce. The friend who lost his job. Bad things, really bad things, happen all around us, yet we let an argument with our spouse ruin our day.

The only bad day is one without Christ.

War. Catastrophic storms. Earthquakes. Famine. Disease. Destruction and misery affect people every day. Even then, nothing is as bad as it could be, as it would be, without Christ. Want to know the definition of a bad day? Facing those calamities without having God in your corner. Dying without the saving grace of Jesus Christ. That's a bad day. That's the worst day that could ever be.

If you have Christ, nothing else compares. Paul says it this way in Romans 8:18, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. Your worst day means nothing compared to your eternal future. Put that in your pocket and pull it out when things get tough. It puts this life in perspective.

With God, every day is a good day.

Psalm 118:24 says, This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice, and be glad.

At the end of the day, if you've got Christ, that's all that matters.

A Friend Closer Than a Brother

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Does that picture speak to you?

Look closely. Take in the wet, dirty floor and coarse walls. Smell the dank, musty air.  See the weeds growing up, seeking to block the view beyond.  Even the body of water upon which those boys gaze looks dirty.

That's life, sometimes.

Not every path is paved in gold, view of the future unobstructed, nor seas as clear as crystal.

Life gets messy, and that's a fact.

We all need someone we can count on.

You will hit hard times. We all do. Maybe--probably--you already have. The last thing you want when you are wading through the muck of life is to do it alone. And let's face it, when the proverbial crap hits the proverbial fan, how many of your companions are going to weather the storm with you?

Not very many.

You need someone who will stick with you, no matter what. That friend or friends who are willing to jump down in the pit with you. Who are willing to do whatever, endure whatever, experience whatever comes but will never, ever leave your side. They're willing to fight. They're willing to lose. They're willing to die, if that's what you need from them.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

We all need a friend like that.

Jesus already did it.

Those words in John 15 were spoken by Jesus. He knew what He was going to do. And in the previous verse He said: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

Jesus told us--no, commanded us to love each other as He loved us. And then, then He defines that love as being willing to die for our friends, just as He was.

That's a tough act to follow. 

To have that, you must be that.

Do you have a friend who would be willing to die for you? Before you answer, let me ask another question. Are you a friend who would die for someone else?

I have a short list of friends for whom I would give my life. I say short because, honestly, that's the way it is. The reason I'd be willing to die for them? I believe they'd do the same for me. Pray God such a day never comes, but if it does, I will not face it alone.

And neither would they.

Closer than a brother.

I don't know the true story behind the picture above, but I know what it says to me. Those young men are close, closer than even brothers. Sitting together in the muck and the mire, they face the ugliness together. No matter what, one will not leave the other. Ever.

That's friendship.
  

Joy, Patience, Faith

That first one is easy enough.

I can be joyful as I hope things go the way I want. Looking forward to eternity with Jesus, my true hope, certainly brings me joy. Paul, the author of Romans, could have stopped right there, and I would've been quite happy. Joyful, even.

But he didn't.

Patient in affliction?

Paul, I'd rather joyfully hope to avoid affliction, if you don't mind. But that's not the way it works, is it? We face affliction every day. Not sure what affliction is? It's the stuff of life we don't like. Irritations, aggravations, complications, and unpleasant situations, to name a few.

Somebody just spilled my Cheerios, and God wants me to be patient? Yep, He sure does.

Not just with the little things--the idiot three feet from your bumper with his bright lights burning a hole in your retinas, or the social media queen who thinks her smart phone is more important than the green, now yellow light backing up traffic for two blocks. Yes, we are supposed to be patient with those minor irritations in life.

What about the real issues? Health. Money. Marriage. Kids. When one of those go haywire, am I supposed to just take a deep breath and believe everything is going to be OK? That's what the Book says. Be patient. Let God work. He's good at what He does.

Patience has never been my strong suit, but I'm working on it.

Faithful in prayer.

I consider myself a faithful guy. I'm loyal to my wife, devoted to my kids, dependable at work. I go to church, teach Sunday School, read the Bible (almost) every day. I remember to pray most times before I eat, thank God when it's time to go to bed, and ask for strength when it's time to get up. That's pretty faithful, isn't it?

Paul most likely would disagree. In Romans 12:11, the verse before the one we are talking about, he says, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." 

Zealous, fervent service to the Lord means more than joyfully hoping for the weekend, not screaming at the bad drivers around me, or mumbling a half-felt thank you around my french fries. That kind of service takes work. It takes effort. It means being intentional.

Joy, patience, and faith do not come naturally.

Paul says we have to be these things. God doesn't command us to do what comes naturally or easily. Most of the time, what we are supposed to do isn't the path of least resistance. I have to choose joy, practice patience, demonstrate faith. Those are action words, my friends, not pansy-waisted passive verbs without heart.

Being what God wants is a challenge. Are you up to it?

Be Still God, And Know That I Am

We've got it all mixed up.

That title isn't a typo. That's our all-to-often attitude towards God. We don't want to be still--we don't even know how to be still. What does that mean, anyway? Life stops for no man, right? He who waits, wants. Isn't that the motto of life?

We can't be still; if we don't do it, who will? Who's going to fix the mess that's my life? Who's going to fight my demons? Who's going to . . .

Be still all you want, God. I'm going to do something about this.

Oh boy, do we have a problem.

Psalm 46

Read it. There are 24 short lines and it'll only take a minute or two.

Now, go back to the top.

God is our refuge and strength, our ever present help in trouble. God isn't just standing around in heaven doing nothing. He is here, with us! Ever present. Our help. Our refuge. Our strength. Get out of His way--He's got this!

Though the earth give way and the mountains fall to the sea, we will not fear. Why would we? No matter what, God's in control. He is our refuge, our strength, our ever-present help in times of trouble.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. He's on our side! Almighty God fights for us with one arm, and shelters us with His other. He's that good.

Come and see the works of the Lord. He ends wars then destroys the weapons so men can fight no more. Talk about your peace negotiations! That's power. Can you do that? Can you solve every conflict in your life and destroy every weapon this world uses against you? I didn't think so. Yet you want God to stand on the sidelines while you take the wheel? Really?

Be still, and know that I am God.

Understand who God is. Refuge, strength, help, Almighty, fortress, God. Understand who you are not.

Now, be still and know that He is God!