Monday, July 31, 2017

Stay On Course

O
ne of the joys and privileges of owning a car is maintenance!  Every time I turn around it seems something needs to be done to my car.  I have the oil changed regularly, I have the engine tuned, I have all the belts and hoses checked, and I make sure the tires get rotated every 5,000 miles.  With all these things to maintain, it’s no wonder the thrill of driving sometimes loses its appeal.

One Saturday morning, I took my car in for a regular oil change.  While I was there, I also decided to purchase a new set of tires since the ones on my car were beginning to show the wear and tear of the road.  The salesman was very knowledgeable and extremely polite and helped me pick out the best tire for the car within my budget.  We went to the counter to complete the order and he suggested I have my car aligned.  This made perfect sense!  The new tires would soon wear out completely if the car’s wheels were not aligned to drive in a straight line.

They took my car, put it up on the rack, installed the new tires, changed the oil, and finally aligned the wheels.  I watched this entire process through a large window and drank some coffee while I waited for my car.  They put a set of instruments on the wheels of my car that were designed to demonstrate the degree to which the car was pulling and veering away from a straight line.  According to what those instruments showed, the mechanic knew in which direction to adjust my tires so they would all work in perfect unity.  This ensured that no one tire would carry more weight than any other and that all of the treads would wear evenly as I drove.

Throughout this entire process, I was most impressed with the instruments used to test the alignment of my car.  They were designed to show the variance between my car’s idea of a straight line and one that was truly straight.  The instruments are always right and serve as the standard against which my car is measured.  Any variance from that standard spells difficulty for my car and added cost for me somewhere down the road.

The Apostle Paul also understood the necessity for alignment.  Paul, however, wasn’t thinking about aligning the wheels of a chariot, a cart, and certainly not a car.  What he had in mind was the alignment of the heart and soul.  He knew that unless we get properly aligned in our relationship with God, we will have great difficulty down the road and it will be impossible for us to stay on course.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul pens a very familiar passage, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).  Although short, this verse carries a heavy punch!  Let’s look at what it tells us today.  First, all of us have sinned.  No one can claim that he or she is living a perfect life.  There was only one person who lived perfectly and that was Jesus.  He was and is the glory of God revealed in the flesh.  Jesus is, therefore, the standard against which our lives are measured to see just how far from the “straight and narrow” we are.  Guess what?  All of us fall woefully short of that standard.

If we ended here, we could well become dejected, depressed, and downcast.  But Jesus came in order to offer us the opportunity to realign our lives.  Without him, we drive down the broad road of life, headed for a breakdown, a blowout, or worse, a fatal accident.  If our hearts and souls are not aligned with his, we are driving with defective equipment that will surely lead to our ruin.  But when we accept him as our savior, when we let him put us up on the rack and examine our hearts, when we allow him to push and pull them into proper alignment, our lives get on the right track and we stay on course, following him in a straight path.

When was the last time you had you spiritual alignment checked?  Isn’t if funny how we will make sure that our cars are running properly, following a straight line but neglect to check in with our chief mechanic to maintain proper alignment?  Are you traveling in a straight line today?  Are you staying on course?

Friday, July 28, 2017

Getting Hitched

T
he coffee table, the end tables, lamps, a sofa, bedroom furniture, kitchen utensils, pictures, books, books, and more books, when would it ever end?  Every time I turned around, my dad had placed something else outside the trailer which carried my things from North Carolina to Texas.  He and my brother had packed all of my things into a sixteen-foot trailer and my parents had moved the entire lot halfway across the country.  I was amazed at how much that trailer held and just when it seemed there could be nothing else to move, out came something else that needed to go into the apartment.

One week later, my dad connected that empty trailer to his truck, and he, along with my mom and sister, pulled away from the curb and started the long journey home.  I watched them as they gingerly guided that trailer over the speed bumps used to keep people from driving excessively fast in our parking area.  The trailer mirrored every move the truck made.  When the truck turned left, so did the trailer, when the truck sped up, the trailer followed suit, and when dad came to a halt, the trailer came to rest as well.

As I stood there, watching them leave, God impressed upon me a great truth about following him.  As Christians we all know the importance of following God and obeying his commandments.  But as I watched that trailer, I began to understand that the manner in which we follow God makes all the difference in the world.  Following God means this:  we go where he goes, when he goes, without asking why, without resisting his direction.  When he stops, we stop, when he turns, we turn, and when he slows down, we had best follow suit.

In Deuteronomy 13:4, Moses records these words“You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”  A careful reading of this verse reveals the actions the Israelites were to perform in order to follow the Lord. They were to follow, to fear, to keep his commandments, to listen, to serve, and to cling.  These words are still used today by professing Christians.  We use the words follow, serve, listen, and keep when we speak about our walk with the Lord.  But there is one word that doesn’t enter into our vocabulary very often, if it enters at all.

The last action in this series tells us that we are to cling to God.  What, exactly, does that mean?  Simply this, we are to be so close to our God that whenever he makes a move, we move with him immediately.  Our relationship to God must be such that we trust him completely; hitching ourselves to him, allowing him to lead us and pull us wherever he wills, and we must have no will except his.  This is what it means to cling.  We become totally dependent on God and trust him completely without worry, fear, or question.

The picture of my dad’s trailer is right on target.  Although it was loaded with wonderful things and although my parents had good intentions of bringing my things to me and helping me set up my apartment, unless my dad hitched the trailer to the truck, none of those intentions or the work they had done would have done any good.  The trailer, although filled with wonderful things was useless without the truck.  It is the same with us.  Our actions, our good intentions, our motives, our work, our willingness, while good, are worthless unless we follow God and hitch ourselves to him.  We can do nothing without him because he is the only one who knows where we are going and he is the only one who can get us there.

Today, are you hitched to God?  Are you following him without reserve?  Do you trust him completely to provide all your needs and to get you to the place to which he has called you?  The next time you see a trailer on the road, remember that God wants us not only to follow him, he wants us to cling to him as well.  Are you hitched today?

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Make Your Bed!


O
ne day, I was watching my mom as she cleaned the house.  We were in her bedroom and she was making the bed.  Intrigued, I asked her to teach me how to make the bed.  Little did I know that I would soon inherit this responsibility for my own room.  At the time, it seemed like the grown-up thing to do.  I wanted to learn to make the bed, so, she taught me.  From that moment on, making my bed became my responsibility and it had to be done every morning, no excuses!  The novelty of making my own bed soon wore off as the reality that this was expected of me settled in!   

To this day, I still make my bed every morning.  Ok, Ok, almost every morning.  I hope my mom is proud of me for listening to at least one thing she tried to instill in me those many years ago. I'm still working on keeping the space beneath my bed from becoming permanent storage.  Sorry Mom, I AM trying!!  Some lessons just take a little longer to learn!!  

Today's scripture comes from one of my favorite Psalms.  In this popular psalm, David speaks of God's presence and his care for his children.  David, of all biblical characters, knew what it was like to have a close relationship with God.  He understood and enjoyed an intimacy with God that is rare among believers.  It's not that this relationship is impossible, it's just that few of us actually pursue God to the same extent that David did. 

In Psalm 139:8 David writes, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." Why, you may ask, did I choose this particular verse?  Why not address other, more positive ideas present in this psalm?  I chose this verse because I believe it makes one of the most assuring and positive claims in scripture. 
  
I have had many opportunities to make my bed in different places in the world.  I have made my bed in Australia.  I have made my bed in New Mexico, in Texas, in North Carolina, in Georgia, and several other states.  For two years I made my bed in France and I have also made it in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland. On several occasions, I have made my bed in hospitals as a patient and every time, I have found David's statement to be true. There has been no place I have visited where God was not.  

While living in France, God was there.  He provided shelter, food, clothing, and medical attention when I needed it.  He traveled with me to Italy when I made my bed in Rome and spoke to me of the cost of being a disciple as I visited the great Coliseum.  In Germany, I slept in the city of Munich and visited the concentration camp at Dachau, and God was there. 

Wherever I have made my bed, wherever I have lived, wherever I have visited, God's presence has been with me.  He has never abandoned me and he never will.  When David spoke of making his bed in hell, he did so to demonstrate that even in the most remote places and in the most adverse circumstances, God is there.  He knows where I am, he sees what I am doing, he is aware of my needs. 


No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the assignment, God bids me to make my bed in his presence and to sleep there in peace.  David, who penned the words found in our lesson today, also wrote these words inPsalm 4:8, "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."  This morning as you start your daily routine, remember to make your bed.  No matter where that is, God is there, watching over you, keeping you, guiding you, remembering you, and loving you today!!

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

No Way Out!

A
 hospital is not the place to go if you need to rest.  People are always coming in and out of your room to check your temperature, to monitor your blood pressure, to weigh you, or to see if you need anything.  My personal favorite is when they wake you up to see if you're sleeping all right.  I've never quite figured that one out!  This was my experience the evening of June 11, 1975.  My parents had taken me to Duke University Medical Center to undergo open-heart surgery the following day.  I was eleven years old and the memory of that evening is indelibly etched on my mind.
I had had a grueling day, spending most of it waiting for a room to become available. Late in the afternoon, I was admitted.  We met with the surgeon early in the evening and then my parents left to go to their hotel.  The remainder of the evening I spent alone with my thoughts.  Many things raced through my mind but the one thought that kept returning to me was that there was no way out.  In the morning, I would be taken to the operating room and the surgery would be performed.  It was just a matter of time before they would come after me.
My parents arrived early the next morning and, not long after their arrival, they came to take me to surgery.  The view from a gurney is very interesting.  All I could see was the ceiling above me and I wasn't sure where I was. All I knew is that everyone around me was a stranger and the surroundings were unfamiliar.  Everyone and everything familiar was behind me while everyone and everything before me was unknown. 
As they made the final preparations for surgery and moved me to the table, the words of Isaiah 43:2-3acame to my mind.  This was a verse I had heard my mom quote several times and the words provided great solace to me, even at eleven years of age.  No words, perhaps, have given me more comfort during the difficult times in my life than these.  Isaiah 43:2-3a says, "When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."
As I closed my eyes, I knew God was there.  There was no way out except to go through the surgery.  God's promise was to be with me, all the way through to the very end.  He was there when I went to sleep, he was there when they began the surgery, he was there when they stopped my heart, he was there when they repaired the hole in it, he was there when it started again, and he was there when I woke up.
The pain I experienced when I awoke was proof that God had been with me.  The pain meant I was alive and the surgery was over.  Now the process of healing would begin.  When I saw my parents again, I remembered I hadn't been alone and that the same God who kept watch over me during the surgery also watched over them.  He had been with them through the long hours of waiting and had not left them alone either.
Each time I see the scar on my chest, I am reminded of God's great promise to me.  He never promised to remove the difficulties or the trials of life, but he did promise to go through them with me.  Since then, there have been other trials and tests and I can tell you that in every single one of them God has been with me.  He has never left me but has held my hand at all times through them, just as he promised he would. 
Wherever you are and whatever you are facing in life today, rest assured God knows where you are.  He is there with you, going through every trying experience you have, even when it seems there is no way out. Believe me when I tell you that God is faithful, that he fulfills his promises, that he will never leave you, and he will never forget you.  So, squeeze his hand more tightly as you walk with him today and you'll find that he will squeeze yours as well to let you know everything is all right!

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Skid Marks On The Driveway!

“J
onathan Blake Carpenter!  If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times….” My dad’s tone of voice and his selection of words indicated this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.  He had begun this verbal exchange by using all three of my names which for a kid was the curse of death!  

But there was nothing I could do.  I had been caught red-handed with the evidence of my crime all around me.  Saying I was innocent or that I had done nothing wrong would have given my dad more ammunition than he obviously needed to make his point!   

My crime?  Leaving skid marks on the driveway, something I had been warned against repeatedly.  I would ride my bike down Main Street, turn onto our driveway, race toward the bottom of our hill, and slam on the brakes!  This left a wonderful skid mark as the rubber from the tire was transferred to the concrete.  It was a six-year-old’s equivalent of a sixteen-year-old burning rubber in a car and it was a blast!  My dad, however, wasn’t so amused!  And now, I understand why.  Instead of clean concrete, it looked as if the Indy 500 had taken place on our driveway and I was Mario Andretti! 
My solution was simple; I would just take a cloth and wipe up the tire marks!  Wrong!  It seemed the rubber was intent on clinging to the concrete in a bond that was much stronger than my small rag and little arms could remove.  The drive way was stained; that was a fact.  Nothing short of time or a miracle could make it come clean. 

Actually, both of these elements worked to remove the evidence of my wild and crazy days as a neighborhood-driveway-bicycle-tire-rubber-laying-guru! A few weeks after this episode, with the evidence on the driveway still stacked against me, something wonderful happened.  We had an old-fashioned thunderstorm, North Carolina style!  It rained all night with heavy doses of thunder and lightning.  In the morning, the sun shone bright and clear, and the driveway was clean.  In fact, it was spotless!  There were no traces of rubber anywhere and it looked as if I had never touched that concrete with my bike! 

If you think about it, that driveway is a good representation of our lives.  We do a wonderful job of laying rubber and leaving dirty skid marks everywhere.  There seems to be no greater thrill to us than leaving as many of these marks as we can one after the other.  We even try to outdo ourselves by making sure the next skid mark is longer, darker, and more elaborate than any that have gone before.   

All this is great fun until we are called to account for our actions and to realize what we have done.  As we look over the driveways of our lives, we see mark after mark, each one representing a poor choice we made, an action we shouldn’t have performed, or a word we should never have spoken.  Bending down and wiping up these marks is not an option; what we need is a miracle, something or someone to completely remove all the ugly marks we left all over the clean concrete of life. 

Paul addressed this very issue in Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”   

This passage is taken from Paul’s admonition to couples about loving each other.  The first part of the passage—where wives are instructed to be submissive—is usually quoted without continuing on through the entire passage.  It is in the portion chosen for today that we get the full understanding of how husbands are to love their wives and how Christ loved us. 

Notice that Paul tells us that Christ loved the church, the body of believes, so much that he gave himself up for her. Not only that, his wish was to make her holy and to wash any and all stain from the church so that her body (that is every believer in Christ) would be clean, without spot or wrinkle!  Wow!  You want to talk about having your driveway cleaned!! This is how Christ loved us and consequently it is how husbands are to love their wives and how the body of Christ is to love each other! 

When we make a mess of our lives, when we constantly leave mark after mark, knowing what we are doing and continuing anyway, we end up making one colossal mess.  Jesus, however, stands ready to clean up all the marks we leave behind us.  He wants us to be holy, that means set apart, and he wants us to be without spot or wrinkle, acceptable to God.  We can only do this when we accept him as savior and lord, receiving his sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. 

What does the driveway of your life look like today?  Are their skid marks everywhere?  Does it seem there is more rubber than concrete and that the driveway is just one big black stain?  Please don’t give up!  There is a way that all those marks can be removed and the driveway restored to the clean condition it was meant to have.  Because of Jesus Christ, your driveway need never again be stained by the skid marks of life!  Won’t you accept his gift of salvation and forgiveness today? 

Monday, July 24, 2017

You're A Quart Low!

F
ull-service gasoline stations are almost a thing of the past.  They have been replaced with more modern, upscale, and faster self-service stations where you can pump your own gas, get a drink, and wash your car without changing establishments.  Yet, all the advanced technology, all the quick service, and all the added perks have removed the personal touch from having your car serviced.
  I can remember riding in the car with my dad or one of my grandfathers.  They would stop by the service station, roll down the window, and request the car be filled with gasoline.  The attendant always greeted his customers with a smile and always asked how things were going.
In addition to filling the car with gas, the windshield and the windows were cleaned, and the oil was checked.  All this was done as part of the service, at no extra charge.  Today, it is almost impossible to find someone to check your oil, let alone do it for free.
When I began driving, I took my car to the same station my dad visited.  I received the same service.  However, one day, the attendant announced, from underneath my hood, that my car was a quart low on oil.  He immediately put a quart of oil in the motor, finished cleaning the windshield and windows, topped off the gas tank, and sent me on my way. 
As I drove away, I was thankful there was someone who knew about cars, who knew how they ran, who knew what essential things to check, and who knew how to keep an engine properly maintained.  I don’t know what would have happened if that man hadn’t checked my oil.  He knew what the level should be and he knew how to replenish the oil supply in my car.  If he hadn’t checked it regularly, I could have been in serious trouble, along the road somewhere, stranded, with no one to help me.
Unfortunately, we view life much like a self-service gas station.  Occasionally we check our gauges, notice that we need to refuel, pull into the first available station, fill up with whatever is the cheapest, grab a few other things we need, and then go about our business.  We never give any thought to maintaining the important things in life.  We just get what we think we need, when we think we need it, and go on our merry way. 
This is reflected in our spiritual lives as well.  Most of us view God as a self-service gas station, a one-stop store we visit only when we need something.  Then after a short pit stop, we go on our way, never thinking about him until we are in need again. 
Have you ever considered asking God to give you full service?  Have you ever stopped to think what he would find if he looked under your hood?  If he looked deep into your heart would he find you running low on love, low on faith, and low on spiritual fuel?
This happened to King Belshazzar.  He was throwing a party when he ran out of things to serve.  He sent for the gold and silver items from God’s temple and paid homage to the gods of gold, silver, wood, etc.  A large hand appeared and wrote on the wall.  Daniel, the prophet interpreted the writing for the king with these words from Daniel 5:27You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”  He lost his kingdom that evening to the Medes and Persians.
And how about us today? Would we be found wanting?  We need to have his full service. Only he knows where to look in our lives for problems and difficulties.  Only he understands how we should be on the inside so that we honor and glorify him.  The next time you talk with God, have him look under the hood to make sure you are running at peak performance.  Don’t settle for anything less than full service.  Have you had your oil checked lately?

Friday, July 21, 2017

You May Safely Cross Over


I
t was a very typical Monday morning.  I had originally planned to get up earlier than usual to allow myself a little more time to get ready for work, a second or third cup of coffee, and a pleasant, leisurely drive to work.  Well, you can guess what happened, right?  The alarm clock went off on time but I dozed just a few minutes longer than I should have.  There was no coffee and my drive was anything but leisurely.  The traffic was awful and felt more like an Indy 500 race than a leisurely drive to the office. 

 I got off the Interstate at my usual exit and began my way toward the university.  This street is always congested but this morning it seemed to be more so. This was probably due to the fact that I was running behind and wanted to get to the office.  As I made my way around the last bend, I noticed an older gentleman in an orange vest sitting at an intersection.  He had a bright red stop sign beside his chair and he sat there very calmly in the cool morning air. 

This man was one of many volunteers who work for the local school systems.  His job is to stop traffic until school children have safely crossed over from one side to the other.  The power this man yields is incredible.  No matter the color of the traffic light, if he is in the crosswalk with a child, all cars, trucks, vans, scooters, and bicycles must stop until he has safely delivered a little boy or girl to the other side of the street.

The Old Testament book of Joshua has a very similar illustration for us today.  The Hebrew children were poised, ready to enter the Promised Land and to rout their enemies before them.  On the eve of their entrance, God informed Joshua that He would provide safe passage for the people across the Jordan River. Joshua was to instruct the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant before the people and the priests were to stand in the middle of the river.  What happened next is simply amazing!

Joshua 3:15-16 records this for us, “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.”

Wow!  Don’t you wish you could have witnessed this!!  Notice the condition of the Jordan River—flood stage!  Notice God’s instruction to the priest—step into the water!  Notice the course of the Jordan River—toward the Dead Sea!  Notice the results—the water upstream stopped flowing and the water downstream was cut off!  Now I ask you, what better illustration of crossing over our problems into God’s promise exists than this?  Outside the crossing of the Red Sea, nothing!

God had promised to be with His people and to provide for them.  When it came time to cross over into the land, the waters of the Jordan, even though at flood stage, posed no threat and were, in fact, inconsequential.  The priests took the Ark, the symbol of God’s presence, and entered the water.  When we take God into the middle of our trials the result is always miraculous.  If we enter the water when, how, and where He tells us, we find that we have safe passage from where we are to where He has called us to be.

In essence, God walked with the people, holding a stop sign, and the waters ceased their flow.  The waters upstream piled up while the waters downstream just drifted away.  Like the Jordan River at flood stage, a life without Christ who lovingly walks with us through all of life’s difficulties, leads to certain death and eternal separation from God.  However, when we choose to become a follower of Jesus, we are able to cross over and enter the promise of God’s love, mercy, and grace.  We are able to inherit the kingdom He created for those who choose to follow Him.

Jesus, himself, spoke to this point.  In John’s gospel, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24) 


What a wonderful promise this is.  Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have crossed over the Jordan River, over the river of sin, over the river of death, and we have received life!  Just like the children in the crosswalk this morning, and just like the people crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land, we can walk confidently, secure in the knowledge that Christ Jesus walks with us in all of life’s difficult paths.  He looks at us and says, “You may safely cross over with me!”  Are you enjoying this kind of walk today?

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Funds Now Available


I

 love banking via the Internet, especially when my schedule prevents me from running by the bank to make a deposit or a withdrawal.  Actually, deposits are like Haley’s Comet, they only come around once every 76 years it seems!!!  A quick gander at my checkbook register reveals that money flies out of my account much more readily than it flows in.  I am always in the black but it seems that the money in my account doesn’t stay in there long enough to even get comfortable!

My banking program allows me to connect with my bank and download all my transactions.  This helps me stay current with the bank and keeps me ever mindful of the funds I have available to spend during the month.  One of the most wonderful feelings comes from connecting to the website and seeing that my direct deposit has been made by the university.  During the night, while I sleep, the university’s accounting department forwards my paycheck directly to my account. The next morning, those funds are displayed on my screen and are available for use!

Has it ever occurred to you that God works the same way in our lives?  While we sleep, God is working, taking care of us and providing for us.  When we wake, we find that He has made a direct deposit of 24 hours into our lives.  The first rays of light, the first sounds of the day, the first movements of our bodies, and that first cup of coffee all serve to remind us that a fresh deposit of time has been placed in our accounts.  How we spend it is up to us.  The funds are available upon our waking but do we always spend the time God gives us in a wisely fashion?

This thought occupied the mind of Moses, the author of Psalm 90.  In this psalm, Moses offers a wonderful prayer to God.  He begins the psalm by praising the Lord for caring for His people throughout all generations.  Moses praises and thanks the Lord for His faithfulness, for always making deposits of time, grace, mercy, and love into the lives of His people.  Moses continues by enumerating the mighty acts of God drawing his examples from the created order and speaking of God’s eternal existence.

But Moses also realizes that man has a responsibility before God, a responsibility he often neglects and takes for granted.  It is this very fact that has caused him to write this psalm. Moses knows that people forget their maker too easily.  They need to be reminded that He is God, that He is eternal, that He is sovereign.  They need to know that without God their very existence is impossible.  That is why he calls on the Lord to return to His people and to teach them how to live and walk before Him in a right relationship.

In Psalm 90:12, Moses asks God to teach the people how to use their time wisely.  The New Living Translation renders the passage this way“Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.”  Please notice that this request carries with it a direct result.  Moses understands that the time God give us is precious. He also knows that only God can truly teach us how to use the time we have wisely and for His glory.  The result is that we may grow in wisdom.  When we learn to use our time in the right way and for God’s purpose, we do indeed become wise.  That means that when we neglect to use our time for the Lord and when we take it for granted, we become foolish and act accordingly.

This morning, the bank’s website told me I had funds that were available for use.  Those funds must last me until the end of the month so I keep looking for ways to spend the resources I have in a wise and responsible manner.  If you are reading this today, you are doing so because God made a direct deposit of 24 hours into your life account.  Those funds are now available.  Are you spending them wisely today?

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Let's Face It

I
 simply love to read quotations. On the Internet, in a book, in magazines, you name it; I love to read the profound statements others have made.  This provides good food for thought and causes me to see things in a different perspective.

A few days ago, I was visiting one of my favorite Internet sites which boasts literally thousands of quotations. You can look them up by subject matter and author.  The site also provides several quotes at random on a daily basis.  One quote I found really caused me to stop and think: “Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it.”  The quote is from English novelist, Joseph Conrad.

I really like this perspective and for anyone who has ever faced a challenge or any of life’s difficulties it is understood that there are only two options from which to choose. We either turn and run from the situation or we face it—there simply is no other possibility open to us.

The prophet Isaiah knew all about facing difficult situations in life but he also knew that we do not, and should not try, to face them alone.  In Isaiah 43:2 we read“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

Notice that the word through is mentioned three distinct times in this passage.  The writer speaks of water, rivers, and fire and at every turn he assures us that God will be with us.  We don’t face anything as God’s children on our own.  He is always with us in every trial, in every challenge, and in every one of life’s uncertainties.  They are uncertainties to us; not to God.

Jesus, himself, reminded his disciples of this fact just before his death. In John 16 Jesus promises his disciples two things: 1) that they would have trouble in the world, and 2) that he had overcome the world.  This does not mean that we, as Christians, will lead a worry-free life.  On the contrary, that we will have trouble is a promise but Jesus equally assures us he will be with us and that we will face no problem he has not overcome.

Joseph Conrad is correct.  We must face things in life to get through them and Isaiah reminds us that in every situation, every trial, every difficulty, and every pain that God is with us, through it all!!  Are you ready to face the challenges of the day ahead?  God is waiting on you!

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

No Charge

Y
es!  There was something in my mailbox.  A quick look through the small window in my post office box revealed one envelope and it was letter sized.  Perhaps Ed McMahon had finally come through on his promise to pay me 10 million dollars.  I quickly fumbled through the combination, threw open the door and withdrew the envelope.  It did have something to do with money.  But instead of someone giving me money, the envelope in my hand came from my credit card company and they were asking for money.

It seems my mailbox always has letters from some guy named “Bill” who is always asking for money.  He writes very regularly and he must really be in dire straights. He has several addresses and some of his stationery is quite pretty.  However, his notes are very impersonal and he always ends by demanding I send him money within 30 days.  Ever been there?

I opened my credit card statement and ran down the list of charges.  They were all correct except for the very last one.  There was a charge there I didn’t recall making.  In fact, the company’s name didn’t ring a bell.  I wondered if someone had somehow acquired my credit card number and used it.  I got back to my dorm room and called the company responsible for making the charge.  In a few moments, my fears were confirmed.  They had no record of my name or phone number but they had charged my account nonetheless.  They apologized and began an investigation.

I picked up the phone and called my credit card company.   They asked a few questions and then told me I wouldn’t be responsible for the charge.  The representative on the phone also promised a full investigation would be conducted to ascertain how this had occurred.  Before we finished the conversation, the man from the credit card company said, “Don’t worry Mr. Carpenter.  There will be no charge!.”  I was relieved and grateful.

The Apostle Paul understood what it was to be falsely accused. He knew full well what it meant to have things charged to his account that he had nothing to do with.  Each time something like this happened, Paul remembered God’s promise through Jesus, that all his debt was cancelled and that he lived his life by faith in the Son of God.  In Romans 8:33 Paul reminds us of this great truth, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”

What a wonderful promise from God this is.  We are accountable and answerable to God only.  When we sin, we must answer to him and bear the consequences of our actions.  However, when we are falsely accused, when we are misunderstood, when others seek to tear us down by making false accusations or attacking our character, God simply reminds us that these charges do not stick.  When Satan makes his accusations, reminding us of everything we’ve ever done wrong, God simply says, “No Charge!” 

Paul is right, God does not lay anything to our charge as long as we are in Christ Jesus.  This does not mean we have free reign to live our lives any way we wish.  But it does mean that when we belong to God, when we follow after him, seek his will, and do his will, then no one can bring anything to our charge because God justifies us. 

The legitimate charges on my bill belong to me and are my responsibility.  But the faulty charges, those placed there by someone else will not stick.  The credit card company does not hold them against me.  Isn’t in wonderful to know and serve a God who also takes care of us and makes sure that our accounts are always in good standing?  Isn’t it wonderful to know that God reminds us there is no charge?

Monday, July 17, 2017

Basic Requirements


O
 ne of my prized possessions is a large shadow box filled with various patches commemorating my trip through the scouting program.  All the badges are arranged in the order in which I earned them leading up to the highest level of achievement, the Eagle Scout patch and medal.
When I look at this display, I am reminded of all the work required to obtain that rank.  I remember each merit badge, each rank patch, and each skill award I earned.  At the time it seemed I would never finish the program.  Each time I   completed one level, it was time to start on another.  Each successive rank was more difficult and more challenging than the one before and sometimes I felt like giving up.
In order to move from one rank to the next, I had to fulfill several basic requirements laid out by the scouting organization’s handbook.  Each level required a certain number of merit badges, a certain amount of waiting, and a certain level of leadership.  In the upper ranks, participation in a service project was also required, making it more challenging to obtain that rank.
I vividly remember looking at all those requirements and being overwhelmed by them.  It seemed as though they wanted me to do the impossible in order to earn a small piece of cloth.  Reading the requirements always required a decision on my part.  That decision was to continue or to bail out of the program.  Although it wasn't always easy, I continued   and completed all the requirements for the Eagle rank.
Sometimes in our walk with God, we fall into the trap of trying to earn our way into a closer relationship with him.  We become dissatisfied and seek to fulfill more “requirements” in order to obtain a higher rank with God. 
Fortunately, God doesn't work like this.  His word does not lay out a series of requirements we must fulfill in order to gain his favor or to live a more holy life.  We could never do enough work to earn our salvation or to merit a relationship with God.  The Old Testament law was proof of that.  It was impossible to meet all the requirements of the law and to live a perfect life before God.  That is why Jesus came and died so that we could experience God’s grace and accept his gift of salvation.
But there are certain things we must do according to God’s word. “Aha,” you say, “I knew there was a catch somewhere!”  God only has three requirements, however, that we must follow and they are found in Micah 6:8“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 
First, we act justly when we live our lives and gauge our actions according to God’s word.  Every action, every motivation, every thought we have, and every word we speak must be in alignment with God’s word in order to be truly just. 
Second, we must be merciful.  Jesus himself said that if we would obtain mercy from God, we must show mercy to those around us.  God is merciful.  The fact that he sent Jesus to die for our sins and that he made a way for us to come to him and be his children is proof of his mercy and his justice.
Third, we must walk humbly with God. We do this by first accepting Jesus Christ as our savior and lord.  Then, we walk with God on a daily basis, remembering that we are saved by his grace and by that alone.  We cannot earn it, we cannot buy it, we cannot get it by our own efforts.  This keeps us humble before God, ensuring the right heart attitude before him.
When we fulfill these three requirements, our reward is a wonderful relationship with our heavenly father.  He loves us so much, far more than we can even imagine.  He never intended for us to earn our salvation.  Instead, he wants us to accept his gift and to enter into a loving relationship with him today.  So, where are you in this process?  Can you fulfill the basic requirements or are you still trying to add patches to your collection?

Friday, July 14, 2017

Watch Your Speed

H
ave you ever noticed how God uses the very ordinary things in life to teach us extraordinary things about himself?  Every once in awhile, he speaks to us through circumstances and experiences that seem to have no religious context whatsoever.  Yet, it is these expressions of God's truth that we remember most and from which we learn the best and most memorable lessons about the God we serve.

Such was the case with me one Sunday morning on my way to church.  I was taking a leisurely drive down one of my favorite roads.  It passed through the countryside, through a few small communities and nice subdivisions before eventually joined the road that led to my church.  There is nothing particularly enticing about driving this road; there are no adventurous curves or little dips that take your stomach when you drive over them.   No, the only thing remotely interesting on this road is the very short notice you receive that the speed limit has changed.  This was my problem!

As I entered the curve, I saw him.  As soon as I realized who he was I shot a quick glance down at my speedometer and sure enough, it indicated I was exceeding the speed limit.  I quickly tapped my brakes but the policeman confirmed what I already knew.  As soon as I passed him, he made a U-turn in the road and followed me.  Knowing I was guilty, I pulled over to the side of the road and removed my license and registration in preparation for showing them to the officer.  When he got to my car, I handed him the papers.  He looked at them and asked me where I was going in such a hurry.  I told him that I was on my way to church, not more than a few miles ahead.  He continued looking at my papers and my car's registration.  He then handed the papers back to me and reminded me to watch my speed.  Then, he let me go.

This is what God's grace is like.  Although I broke the law, the police officer decided not to enforce the penalty I deserved.  This is the definition of grace.  Grace is receiving that which we don't deserve.  On that morning, I didn't deserve to go free, I deserved to receive a ticket and pay a fine.  However, for whatever reason, the policeman did not levy anything to my account.  It had nothing to do with me.  I pay taxes, I keep my bills current, I am not involved in any illegal activity.  Yet, on this one occasion, I broke the law and was guilty. 

If I had possessed no knowledge of the laws governing driving, circumstances would have been different.  But I did know the law and that knowledge is what caused me to hit my brakes when I saw the police car.  This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, in Romans 3:20b,” for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  In other words, my understanding of the law made me guilty of speeding because I knew better.  In life, I also know what God's law demands and that knowledge makes me accountable when I break his law.  Yet, God shows me grace by not giving me what I deserve.  As a sinner I deserved death, but God, through his grace, gave me eternal life. 

The officer was well within his rights to give me a ticket that Sunday morning, but his decision not to taught me a far greater lesson than if he had written me one.  God's grace teaches us a wonderful lesson about his love as well.  Instead of giving us what we deserve as sinners, God forgives us, restores us, and pours out his love and blessings on us.  He does this, not because of who we are or because of what we do, but simply because he chooses to. What a wonderful God we serve!  Are you watching your speed today?

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Across The Miles

T
hanksgiving 1983 will be indelibly etched in my mind as the only Thanksgiving to date that I was unable to be with my family.  From September, 1983 until June, 1984 I lived in France, studying at a university there with over twenty fellow college mates.  We went to Europe as part of our college's Junior Year Abroad study program which emphasized living in a foreign country to learn the language, its people and its culture.  Spending this Thanksgiving away from family taught me many things I might not otherwise have learned.

In order to celebrate the holiday, our director had taken the liberty of pre-ordering all the ingredients we would need to prepare a Thanksgiving feast.  We decided to invite our host families and professors for a little taste of Americana, Ã  la française!!!  We cooked turkey, made dressing, prepared the vegetables, and we even had a recipe for pumpkin pie.  We had a wonderful time and, I think, our French guests did as well.

Just prior to this holiday, I received several cards and letters from family and friends back in the States.  Each of the cards and letters wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and expressed thoughts and prayers for me while I was absent from my family.  One card in particular stands out in my memory.  This card came from the parents of a very good friend of mine at college.  Across the front of the card appeared the words, Across The Miles at Thanksgiving!  I thought it was the neatest card because it stressed to me that no matter the distance, family and friends were still very much a part of my life and still connected to me.  Earlier that day, my parents and I had Thanksgiving on the phone and, although somewhat awkward, it was a good holiday because for the very first time, I knew what it was to be truly thankful for all I had.

As I hung up the phone it occurred to me that, even though my family was thousands of miles away, we were inseparable.  The distance made me no less their son and brother as it made them any less my parents and siblings.  This must have been the sentiment Paul was conveying to the believers in Rome.  The eighth chapter of Romans is a wonderful and powerful chapter.  Today's scripture verses come from there and remind us very plainly how near God is to us.  Paul writes, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(Romans 8:38-39)

Presently, we are in this world and we may wonder where God is at times?  When difficult circumstances surround us, he is there.  When emotional stress and strain weigh down on us, he is there.  When we are pressed by financial worries, family challenges, the loss of a loved one, or health problems, he is there.  At no time in our walk with him is God ever separated from us.  At no time is he unaware of the circumstances and obstacles we face.  At no time, does anything, and I do mean anything, touch us without his knowledge or approval.  That is how precious we are to him.  That is how much he loves us.

In France that year, I learned the true meaning of Thanksgiving.  Although I longed for home, my circumstances would not permit it.  However, I was able to make contact with my family and express my love for them.  I was also able to share our traditions with new friends and explain to them the true meaning of thanksgiving.  Psalm 100 admonishes to enter into God's gates with thanksgiving.  Although we are not home yet, we can still express thanksgiving to God for all he has done for us.  We can make contact every day with him and we have many opportunities to share his love with those around us. 

So today, as you continue your walk with God remember that no distance too great, no mountain too steep, no challenge too difficult, no request too large, no gulf too wide will ever keep us from our Heavenly Father.  We have his word on it!