Hear This

The Day is coming.

A day of darkness, despair, fear, and rejoicing.
A day of judgement. A day of wrath. A day of salvation.

He has delayed. He has tarried.
His patience grows thin.

Why do you think He would not keep His word?
Why would you believe it will not come to be?

Because He has waited?
Because He is patient?

Know this:

My God of patience
Is a God of judgment.
My God of mercy
Is a God of wrath.

He will have mercy on those whom He would have mercy.
He will destroy those whom He would destroy.

You cannot hide.
You cannot flee.

He is coming.

Remember

He has told you these things.
You have been given fair warning.

From the beginning of the Ages He has revealed His plan.
His mouth has not been silent.
His Word has not been kept secret.

When He comes, you will have no excuse.

Prepare

Take refuge in the only place safety can be found.
Hide yourself in the cloak of His mercy and grace.

Do not think you can avoid Him.
Do not be fooled by false teachings.

When Judgment comes, He will see two things:
Death.
His shed blood.

When His fiery gaze falls upon you,
Which do you want Him to see?

What's Your Goal?

Everybody has a goal.

The runner's goal is the finish line. The quarterback seeks the end zone. Lovers want love, workers want paid, parents want obedient children and children want to grow up (or drive me insane, whichever comes first!).

You get the point. Everybody has a goal.

Let me ask you this: What is yours?

Maybe you don't have one?

Wrong! Everyone has a goal. Be it power, money, strength, intelligence, or serving Almighty God--everybody is working for and towards something.

So let me ask you again--what is your goal?

Your goals reveal your faith.

Whatever you are striving for in this life--your goals--reveal what you believe in. If your goal is to be rich, your faith is in money. If your goal is a certain level of authority, you have placed your faith in power, and so on.

I'm not talking about career goals, retirement planning, or other, lesser goals. I'm talking about the overall purpose for your life. You can seek power, wealth, knowledge and many other things without placing your faith in them.

The problem arises when your goal in life becomes something that doesn't really matter, when you put your faith in things which will ultimately let you down.

There is only one goal that counts for eternity.

That goal is the salvation of your soul. And there is only one faith that can bring about that goal--faith in Jesus Christ.

If the goal of your faith is anything less than that, and if your faith is placed anywhere else, you're in for a big surprise--You're going to lose.

The reality is this--everything else, be it fame, fortune, beauty, or the world itself--is going to pass away. It's all temporary, folks! Only you will last forever. And if your goal hasn't been the salvation of your soul, what will you have left?

Nothing.

Goals matter.

Having goals is a good thing. We never strive as hard as when we know what we are working for.

So one last time--What is your goal?

 

Be The Best You Out There

Ever been picked last?

Remember how we used to pick teams, where the two "best" at whatever game you were getting ready to play acted as captains, taking turns choosing their teammates? Sometimes being the last man standing isn't so great after all.

Ever rode the bench, guarded the water bottles, or otherwise watched from the sidelines? It can be hard. I know.

Maybe you've always been a starter.

Perhaps you're that guy or girl who's always been the captain, always been picked first. Maybe you're the one who made the crowd sigh and look anxiously at the coach when you came out of the game.

Then you know it's the leader who gets the blame, the captain who accepts the trophy, or gives it away. You understand the pressure of expectation, the true agony of defeat.

That's not easy, either.

Either way, you're the only you out there.

In some ways, life doesn't change a whole lot as we get older. We still have leaders, teams are still chosen. Games continue to be played, with one team winning, another losing. Someone gets the glory. Another gets the blame.

Despite the overwhelming message of the world, I think winning still matters. It's not everything, but it's something.

What you cannot let it be is the definition of who you are. What I mean is, if you're picked last, you're not a loser. If you're the captain, you're not necessarily a winner. Playing the whole game doesn't make you better than the guy on the bench.

Whatever your role, you are the only you out there.

Be the best you you can be.

If you're not picked to lead that team project, contribute everything you can. If you're passed over for that promotion, fill your role to your best ability. Whether picked first or last, work your hardest.

Do not let your position in life define you. Define yourself by what you do where you've been placed.

As the Bible says in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. 

That passage doesn't say to win, or succeed, or be the best, it says do your best. The next verse is a continuation of the same sentence and reads, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. 

You see, God doesn't just reward winners. He rewards workers. Those who do their best. But lest you think I've gone all soft on winning and losing, let me leave you with two more verses, these also from Paul, in Philippians 3:14, 15.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.




 

Playing In The Mud

Remember how you played when you were a kid?

Not the organized, school or Little-League sanctioned games, but the pick-up football, baseball, basketball, or soccer games that happened in the backyard or the neighborhood park? Remember tag, hide-and-seek, cowboys and Indians (sorry, we were not PC in the 70s), or 1,000 other games you played?

Let me ask you something . . .

How often did those games get cancelled because it rained? How often did you stay inside because it was too hot, or too cold, because you were tired, or had something better to do?

If you were like me and the kids I grew up with, not very often. In fact, unless your parents told you otherwise, you played no matter what.

What happened?

When did we decide we could only play if and when conditions were perfect? When did TV become so important, or doing nothing become a pastime?

When did mud become toxic, rain poisonous, heat unbearable, and cold intolerable?

When did we get so soft?

Life lessons learned.

I really believe playing is practicing for life. We could go into the lessons I learned as a kid playing all those games, but I don't have to . . . you already know. A few are worth mentioning, though, because they still apply. To start with, you played whenever you had the chance, and you did the best you could.

Always.

I truly believe those lessons carried over into my adult life. Playing in the rain taught me to be tough, and that the playing field of life wasn't always going to be perfectly manicured and maintained. Sliding through the mud taught me to get up when I fell, and that dirt washes off.

Cold hands and numb fingers taught me to keep my eye on the ball. 100 degree days taught me a little sweat never hurt anyone. Winning taught me hard work pays off. Losing taught me humility.

Those are lessons for life.

We need to get back out in the mud.

When we stop playing because it's too hot or too cold, too muddy or too dry, too this or too that, we start forgetting those lessons. We forget to work harder when life gets tough, to play smarter when you're outnumbered, to swing for the fences sometimes, to get up and try again.

Striving for success in conditions that are less than perfect pretty much defines life, doesn't it?

What better practice could there be than getting out there and playing in the mud?

Lightening The Load

Life's hard . . . when you try to do it alone.

I like to do things myself. I'd rather struggle through, wear myself down to the bone, and even fail before asking for help. I'm independent. I'm a problem solver. I can do it. Or die trying.

And many of us will. Die trying, that is.

The truth is, I can't do it alone--it being this life. Not well, at least. I will never accomplish all that I want to do, all that I need to do, if I try to do it alone.

There's simply too much to bear on my own.

My load grows heavier each day.

Between work, family, writing, serving in the church, kids activities, marriage, keeping up the yard, the house, the vehicles, friends, hobbies, and all the other stuff--there are not enough hours in the day or energy in my tank to get it all done. Leave something undone today, and it gets added to tomorrow, next week, next month.

Life starts to pile up. That load gets heavier and heavier.

Eventually, I'm going to drop it unless something gives.

Thankfully, I have Christ.

I am a Christian. I believe the Bible, not because someone told me it is true, but rather because I have seen it work in my own life. This is one of those lessons I have learned, and am still learning, the hard way.

I can't do it alone. I don't have to.

I have Christ.

Being a Christian isn't about taking on the extra burdens of going to church, giving money away, not having any fun, and in all ways being a drag. Being a Christian is about depending on Christ not only for what comes after this life, but what I am going through today.

You see, Christ didn't only take my sins on the cross; He takes my burdens every day.

I don't really know how it works.

As an elder in the church, having taught adult classes for years, I feel like I should be able to explain how this works, but I can't. All I know is that when I depend on Christ, life gets easier. When I depend on myself, it gets harder.

I cannot say that I have ever seen Christ do my work for me, but I have certainly experienced the evidence of His hand in my life. Take the subject of money--one of my heavy burdens. I have learned (the hard way, of course!) that when I give to God what He has put on my heart to give, I have more money. When I don't, I have less. How? I don't know. Honestly, I don't have a clue. It just works that way.

My marriage, my kids, my job--it's all the same. When I try to do it on my own, everything's harder. When I ask God to help me, He does. I don't know what He does, but it works. That's good enough for me.

Christ will give you rest.

All you have to do is ask. Life is hard, but He is there.

Ask for His help, and just see if He doesn't lighten your load.

Moving Mountains

Jesus' disciples knew hard times.

Our story for the day comes from Matthew 17:14-21. In this passage of Scripture the disciples find themselves in a bit of a pickle. They had been healing the sick and casting out demons, and were probably feeling pretty good about themselves. Life was going along pretty well, until all of the sudden they came up against a problem they couldn't handle.

A boy.

Not unlike others they had seen, and healed, this boy was afflicted by a demon. Try as they might, however, they could not cast the demon out. Imagine their consternation as everyone looked on as they tried, and failed, to do what they had done before, and no doubt promised they could do again.

Can you imagine the sweaty palms, nervous glances at each other, and clearing of throats as they tried and tried again?

"Come out of him!" 

No response.

"I say again, 'Come out of him . . .' "

Nothing. No healing, no screaming demon launched into the "arid places," no applause, no thanks, no converting to faith in Jesus Christ.

Just silence, and failure.

An immovable mountainous problem.

They didn't have enough faith.

That's what Jesus told them when He arrived on the scene. He cast out the demon, and when His disciples asked why they couldn't do it, He replied, "Because you have so little faith." 

Ouch!

Jesus' own disciples, the men who walked and talked and ate and laughed and cried with Him didn't have enough faith to do what He had enabled them to do. Was it because it was impossible? Not at all. In fact, this is the rest of what Jesus said to them:

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

If you just have faith.


I can't help but think that the disciples learned something that day, that their faith was made stronger because of the struggle they experienced. All they needed was faith, and Jesus told them they didn't have it in sufficient quantity. That would make you stop and examine your life for a minute, don't you think?

As the Bible works, this is not only the story of a group of guys who on one day failed to do what they should have been able to do.

This is the story of us.

Those mountains out there--those obstacles, those problems, those gigantic looming cliffs of terror that surround you--they're not insurmountable. They are not immovable.

You--yes you--can move whatever mountain stands in your way if only you have a little faith.


 

Struggles Make Us Stronger

I'll say it again . . . 

Life is hard.

Our jobs, our education, our families, our marriages, our friendships--at one time or another all of them are hard. This is to say nothing about financial struggles, failures, disappointments, enemies, and the like.

Everything can be, and at one time or another, is hard.

Life is a struggle.

Rejoice!

Really? Rejoice, as in show joy? Be glad?

Yep.  That's what Paul says in the verses above. And James in Chapter 1, verses 2-4. And Jesus in Matthew 5:11-12. And . . .

Rejoice and be glad, because struggle makes us stronger.

Does anyone like pain?

OK, sure, there are probably some people out there with various disorders who enjoy pain. The majority of us, however, don't. We'll do whatever we can, and whatever we have to, to avoid it. Pain isn't pleasant.

The thing is, without pain, there is rarely growth. Take an athlete. Can she become better, faster, stronger without some degree of pain? Or a student--can he master his studies without enduring hours of work? Does an artist produce a masterpiece without failure, or a parent an obedient child without discipline?

No.

We might not like pain, but we need it. To grow.

Look beyond the hardships.

I think that's the real lesson for us here. The point Paul, and James, and Jesus are making isn't that we should enjoy the pain, but rather look forward to what it produces. We are to rejoice not so much in the struggles of life, but the fruits they produce.

Think of marriage. Is every day easy? Mine isn't. But is the resulting growth of love, intimacy, and strength of bond worth the effort of endurance? Absolutely. As are the difficulties of parenting. The trials of friendship. The testings of faith.

The rejoicing comes on the other side.

Challenges are opportunities for growth.

That's one of those lines from countless self-help, team-building, and you-can-do-it seminars. It is also God's truth found in His Word. Suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope.

Hope makes us stronger.

Life is hard, yes.

Rejoice, because we are the stronger for it!