...responsibility

Sarah's mom agreed to let her 16-year-old go to a party if she promised to be home by midnight. But as the Cinderella hour approached, Sarah did a quick risk/reward calculation. She knew her mom would be angry and probably ground her, but she was having so much fun she decided it was worth it.

Sure enough, when she got home at 2:00 a.m., her mom was waiting for her, enraged that Sarah had violated her promise but relieved she was safe.

"Breaking your word was bad enough," her mom said, "but how could you be so cruel and selfish not to call and say you were safe? I was worried sick."

Sarah finished off an evening of bad choices with another: "You forced me into agreeing. The curfew was unfair. As to your worrying, that was your choice. I was perfectly safe. Just tell me the punishment and let me go to bed."

This is ugly.

Sarah's first mistake was to think she had the right to break her promise because she was "forced" into it. Mom's proposition was "Deal or no deal?" Sarah made a deal and, like it or not, she was morally bound to keep her word.

Her second mistake was to think she could buy off the moral duty to keep her promise simply by accepting punishment. Her mom's trust wasn't mended because Sarah paid the penalty. Ultimately, the issue wasn't about curfews or parties; it was about trust and credibility. Her lack of remorse and accountability only made things worse, critically damaging her relationship with her mom.

Her third mistake was to think, despite her refusal to accept responsibility for inflicting mental anguish on her mom, that she wasn't responsible. She was. If she bothered to think about it, Sarah knew her conduct would cause gut-wrenching worry, every bit as painful as a punch to the stomach. A person is ethically accountable for the predictable consequences of their actions.

In a nutshell, Sarah didn't act with character. She was untrustworthy, irresponsible, disrespectful, and unkind. It will take her a long time to build the healthy bonds of trust that both she and her mom want and need.

-michael josephson

..difference

Walter B. Knight reported how, "An hour after Queen Elizabeth's third child was born, 128 cables were sent to all parts of the world! Lights in Buckingham Palace, the Home Office, Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Commonwealth Relations Office had burned all night. The palace's big switchboard was manned all night. And personnel on night duty were doubled in the ministries."

How different was the birth of Jesus, "The Prince of Peace." No earthly potentates proclaimed his coming. Atrocious, bloodthirsty Herod concerned himself with the event because he thought some rival ruler had appeared.

God, however, signaled the birth of Jesus by dispatching angelic hosts to proclaim the good news and by placing in the heavens the guiding star to direct humble shepherds and seekers to the lowly place of Jesus' birth.

How different will be the second coming of Jesus. The first time, he came as a babe to identify with lost mankind and to pay the price of our redemption through his death on the cross. The good news is that Jesus is coming again and, when he does, he will come in all his divine glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. To him every knee will bow. What a day this will be!

Jesus himself promised that he would come back to earth to get and take his true followers to be with him forever in Heaven. The important thing is to be sure that we are ready for his return and/or to meet God face to face should we pass from this life to the next before Jesus Christ comes back again.

We do this by confessing our sinfulness, believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins, and accepting Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. 

...more

This day, this precious, wonderful gift has been bestowed upon me free! 

And whatever I choose to do with it remains entirely up to me.

I could squander these given hours, treat each task as if it's a chore 

And mark this day off my calendar like so many times before.

I could overlook the blooming flowers and ignore the sun's warm light 

Before it inevitably sets again, turning my gift of day to night.

I could dwell upon mistakes I've made and cry regretful tears 

And live my life in the shadow of my own anxieties and fears.

Or I could make a resolution, before one more day has passed, 

That I shall live it to its fullest, live it...as it if were my last.

Then I shall, as I awaken, relinquish my fret and my sorrow 

And accept one more day to love and laugh with no guarantee of tomorrow.

At night, as I lay down my head only to wake again, I'll pray, 

And if I do, then I'll thank God for giving me "One More Day."

-linda ellis

"Yesterday is a dream. 

Tomorrow is a vision. 

But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope."

...morality

A clergyman was walking down the street when he came upon a group of about a dozen boys, all of them between 10 and 12 years of age.

The group surrounded a dog. 

Concerned lest the boys were hurting the dog, he went over and asked "What are you doing with that dog?"

One of the boys replied, "This dog is just an old neighborhood stray. We all want him, but only one of us can take him home. So we've decided that whichever one of us can tell the biggest lie will get to keep the dog."

Of course, the reverend was taken aback. "You boys shouldn't be having a contest telling lies!" he exclaimed. He then launched into a ten minute sermon against lying, beginning, "Don't you boys know it's a sin to lie," and ending with, "Why, when I was your age, I never told a lie."

There was dead silence for about a minute. 

Just as the reverend was beginning to think he'd gotten through to them, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said, "All right, give him the dog."

wise...

"The only things that stand between a person and what they want in life are the will to try it and the faith to believe it's possible." – Rich Devos

"To get what we've never had, we must do what we've never done." – Anonymous

"Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." – Robert Brault

"The beginning is the most important part of any work." – Plato

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." – Anonymous

"We are what we repeatedly do." – Aristotle

...discipline

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."Hebrews 12:11

"A peach tree stands in our back yard," wrote K. Marshall Strom. "Unpruned, the tree grew big and leafy. It was loaded with peaches, although the fruit was disappointingly small and tasteless.

"The year my husband, Larry, was out of work, he went to work on the tree. When I came home from school one day and saw how far back he had pruned it, I stared in shock. 'You've killed it,' I cried. 'Now we won't have any peaches at all.'

"I was wrong. That spring the pruned branches burst forth with a beautiful blanketing of pink blossoms. Some little green peaches replaced the blossoms. 'Leave them alone,' I begged. Larry ignored me and thinned the fruit.

"By the end of summer the branches were so heavily laden with fruit they had to be propped up. And the peaches—how large, sweet and juicy they were! There was no denying it: the tree was far better off from the painful cutting it endured."

I like to constantly emphasize that God's goal is not to make us good, but to make us whole. The result will be that genuine goodness will be the outcome of being made whole. But to be made whole usually takes a lot of "pruning" (discipline) by God. Speaking personally, the only time I ever take a look at myself and break through some defense I have been using to hide some sin or fault is when I am hurting bad enough. I mean, who wants to change when everything is going great. Not me! I may not like the "pruning" process but I certainly appreciate the result ... fruit!

So, if you are going through a rough time right now, ask God to help you see if there is some lesson he is teaching you, some issue he is wanting you to deal with, or some change he sees you need to make.

heroism

Bob Butler lost his legs in a 1965 land mine explosion in Vietnam. He returned home a war hero. Twenty years later, he proved once again that heroism comes from the heart.

Butler was working in his garage in a small town in Arizona on a hot summer day when he heard a woman's screams coming from a nearby house. He began rolling his wheelchair toward the house but the dense shrubbery wouldn't allow him access to the back door. So he got out of his chair and started to crawl through the dirt and bushes.

"I had to get there," he said. "It didn't matter how much it hurt." When Butler arrived at the pool, there was a three-year-old girl named Stephanie Hanes lying at the bottom. She had been born without arms and had fallen in the water and couldn't swim. Her mother stood over her baby screaming frantically. Butler dove to the bottom of the pool and brought little Stephanie up to the deck. Her face was blue, she had no pulse and was not breathing.

Butler immediately went to work performing CPR to revive her while Stephanie's mother telephoned the fire department. She was told the paramedics were already out on a call.

Helplessly, she sobbed and hugged Butler's shoulder.

As Butler continued with his CPR, he calmly reassured her. "Don't worry," he said. "I was her arms to get out of the pool. It'll be okay. I am now her lungs. Together we can make it."

Seconds later the little girl coughed, regained consciousness, and began to cry.

As they hugged and rejoiced together, the mother asked Butler how he knew it would be okay. "The truth is, I didn't know," he told her. "But when my legs were blown off in the war, I was all alone in a field. No one was there to help except a little Vietnamese girl. As she struggled to drag me into her village, she whispered in broken English, 'It okay. You can live. I be your legs. Together we make it.'" Her kind words brought hope to my soul and I wanted to do the same for Stephanie.

There are simply those times when we cannot stand alone. 

There are those times when we need someone to be our legs, our arms, our friend. 

-author unknown

...trials

For twelve long years John Bunyan languished in prison. It was here, however, that he wrote his famous Pilgrim's Progress, one of the world's most read books. Bunyan said, "I was at home in prison, and I sat me down and wrote and wrote, for the joy did make me write." Had Bunyan not been in prison, it is highly unlikely that he would have ever written his famous work. It was also from prison that the Apostle Paul wrote several of his most valuable epistles recorded in the New Testament.

It has been said that the ancients use an interesting instrument called a "tribulum" to beat grain to separate the chaff from the wheat. Tribulum is the word from which we get our word tribulation. It's the tribulation in our lives that divides the "chaff" from the "wheat." The trials and tribulations that come our way can make us bitter or they can make us better. The choice is ours. The important thing is never to waste our pain but to invest it wisely in motivating ourselves to grow and to help encourage others to do the same.

As God's Word says, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."Romans 5:3-5.

...initiative

From Genesis to Revelation, we find God taking the initiative in relating to his creation. He seeks Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3:9). He sends Joseph to Egypt, Moses to Pharaoh, David to Goliath, Daniel to the king of Babylon, and Paul across the Roman Empire. 

Religion is about our climbing up to God; Christianity is about God climbing down to us. The entire story of his dealings with us is one of a shepherd seeking lost sheep, taking the incarnational initiative to go to those who could not come to him. 

As a result, you and I are not to respond to immorality with passivity. We are to be change agents, taking light to the dark and the gospel to the gates of hell (Matthew 5:13–16; 16:18). 

Look for ways to work with others. And choose the battles God wants you to wage. Christians need to be known for what we’re for, not just for what we’re against. The Lord will lead you to the issues he wants you to address. Define your gifts and influence, then use them for the kingdom. This is our side of the divine-human partnership.

When David was taking refuge from Saul in a cave, he prayed, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” (Psalm 57:1).

David believes that God has not abandoned him: “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” (v. 2). The darkness of the tunnel does not contradict the sovereignty of the engineer driving the train. 

As a result, David can claim, “He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me” (v. 3). “Him who tramples on me” was King Saul, the tallest warrior and most powerful person in the land. Think of the most powerful person you know, then imagine that person seeking to kill you. Now proclaim that God will defend you and defeat this person. 

This is David’s faith, based on the fact that the One in whom he trusts is more powerful than his most powerful adversary. 

Such faith does not change his immediate circumstances: “My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts—the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords” (v. 4). But it gives him joy in the present: “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!” (v. 7). And it gives him hope for the future: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations” (v. 9). 

A shelter in a storm is helpful only when we seek its protection. 

Whatever your challenges today, you can say to God: “In you my soul takes refuge.”

-mark turman

23

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd  -  That’s Relationship!

I shall not want  -  That’s Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures  -  That’s Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters  -  That’s Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul  -  That’s Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness  -  That’s Guidance!

For His name sake  -  That’s Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death  -  That’s Testing!

I will fear no evil  -  That’s Protection!

For Thou art with me  -  That’s Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me  -  That's Discipline!

Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies  -  That’s Hope!

Thou annointest my head with oil  -  That’s Consecration!

My cup runneth over  -  That’s Abundence.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life  -  That’s Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord  -  That’s Security!

Forever  -  That’s Eternity!
-david jesse

...look

Carinette has a spark in her. A look. A bounce in her step. A light in her eyes. She is one of fifty-seven children in the Haitian orphanage: all dark skinned, bright eyed, curly haired, Creole speaking, and fun loving. Each one is precious. But this seven-year-old stands out from the others. Not as a result of special treatment. She eats the same rice and beans as the others eat and plays on the same grassless playground. She sleeps beneath the same tin roof as the other girls, hearing the nearly nightly pound of rain. Her routine is identical to the other children’s. Yet she is different.  

The reason? Ask her. Ask Carinette about the visitors who traveled from a faraway world just to see her. They were looking for a girl, a little girl, a girl just like her. They knew her name. They knew her favorite song. They knew that she loves to look at books and jump rope. And, in a moment that changed her forever, they invited her to live with them.  

“They are coming for me,” she will tell you.  

Ask to see the pictures of her soon-to-be home; she’ll show them to you. Fail to ask; she’ll offer to show you. Her adoptive parents brought her pictures, a teddy bear, granola bars, and cookies. She shared the goodies with her friends and asked the director to guard her bear, but she keeps the pictures.  

They remind her of the father who knows her. They remind her of the home that awaits her. The photographs convince her to believe the incredible: somebody knows her name and has promised to take her home.  

As a result Carinette is different. She still lives in the same orphanage, plays on the same playground, eats in the same cafeteria. But her world changed the day she learned that someone faraway knows her name and is coming for her.  

Might you be willing to believe the same?  

Are you open to the idea of a Father, a heavenly Father, who knows you? A soon-to-be home that awaits you? Would you consider this life-changing idea: the almighty and all-knowing God has set His affection on you. Every detail about you He knows. Your interests, your hang-ups. Your fears and failures. He knows you.  

About His children God says,  

The Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. — 1 Chronicles 28:9 

He regards you as “the apple of his eye” (Zechariah 2:8). He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me…” King David wrote, “You knew my path” (Psalm 142:3).  

“He knows the way that I take,” declared Job (Job 23:10). Do you know this God who knows you?

He knows your name. 

And He can’t wait to get you home.

I came to know the story of the Cap-Haïtien orphan, not by traveling to Haiti, but by standing in the church foyer. I’m a pastor. Like other pastors I like to greet people after church services. And like other pastors I am a captive audience for parents and grandparents who want to show off new additions to the family. I’ve held more babies than I can count and looked at more pictures than a photographer. But I can’t recall ever being more surprised than the day Dan wanted to show me a photo of his new daughter.  

The girl in the photo smiled a big smile, wore a pink ribbon, and had skin the color of chocolate.  

The guy who handed me the photo smiled a big smile, wore cowboy boots and a hat, and had skin the color of Casper the Friendly Ghost.  

“Daughter?”  

That’s when I heard about the orphanage, the trip, and the decision to expand their family by adding one more face around the table. He scarcely took a breath for the next five minutes, telling me all about her hair, eyes, and favorite color, song, and book. He couldn’t stop talking about her. He was crazy about her.  

Might you believe the same about your Father? This is the ever-recurring, soul-lifting message of Heaven. “The Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:4).

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. — Isaiah 43:1

I have written your name on the palms of My hands. — Isaiah 49:16

The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy. — Psalm 147:11

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. — Psalm 37:23–24

Do such words surprise you? Where did we get this idea of a God who does not care, who is not near? We certainly didn’t get it from Jesus.Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of God. Just as Carinette had her photos, we have Jesus. Want to know how God feels about the sick? Look at Jesus. What angers God? Look at Jesus. Does God ever give up on people? Does He stand up for people? Find the answer in Jesus.  

The pictures inform Carinette’s thoughts about her home-to-be. She’s not home yet. Within a month she will be, maybe. Two at the most. She knows the day is coming. She knows the hour is imminent. Every opening of the gate makes her heart jump. Any day now her father will appear. He’s coming. He promised he’d be back. He came once to claim her. He’ll come again to carry her.  

Till then she lives with a heart headed home.  

Shouldn’t we all? Carinette’s situation mirrors ours. Have we not been claimed? Are we not adopted children?  God sought you. He searched you out. Before you knew you needed adopting, He’d already filed the papers.  Abandon you to a fatherless world of tin plates and hard bunks? No way. Those privy to God’s family Bible can read your name. He put your name in His book. What’s more, He covered the adoption fees.  

Heaven knows no stepchildren or grandchildren. You and Christ share the same will. What He inherits, you inherit. You are headed Home. Oh, but we tend to forget, don’t we? We grow accustomed to hard bunks and crowded classrooms. Too seldom do we peer over the fence into the world to come. And how long since you pictured your future home? I

Like Carinette we are adopted but not transported. We have a new family but haven’t met all of them yet. We know our Father’s name, and He has claimed us, but He has yet to come for us.  

So here we are. Caught between what is and what will be. No longer orphans but not yet home. What do we do in the meantime? Indeed, it can be just that — a mean time. Time made mean with disease, deceit, death, and debt. How do we live in the meantime? How do we keep our hearts headed Home?  

Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. — Hebrews 12:2 NCV 

-max lucado

...door

In Glasgow, Scotland, a young lady, like a lot of teens today, got tired of home and the restraints of her parents. The daughter rejected her family's religious lifestyle and said, "I don't want your God.  I give up.  I'm leaving!"

She left home, deciding to become a woman of the world. Before long, however, she was dejected and unable to find a job, so she took to the streets to sell her body as a prostitute.

The years passed by, her father died, her mother grew older, and the daughter became more and more entrenched in her way of life.  No contact was made between mother and daughter during these years.  The mother, having heard of her daughter's whereabouts, made her way to the skid-row section of the city in search of her daughter.  She stopped at each of the rescue

missions with a simple request.  "Would you allow me to put up this picture?" It was a picture of the smiling, gray-haired mother with a handwritten message at the bottom: "I love you still...come home!"

Months went by, and nothing happened.  Then one day the daughter wandered into a rescue mission for a needed meal. She sat absent-mindedly listening to the service, all the while letting her eyes wander over to the bulletin board.  There she saw the picture and thought, 'Could that be my mother?'  She couldn't wait until the service was over.  She stood and went to look. It was her mother, and there were those words, "I love you still...come home!"  As she stood in front of the picture, she wept.  It was too good to be true.

By this time it was night, but she was so touched by the message that she started walking home.  When she arrived it was early in the morning.  She was afraid and made her way timidly, not really knowing what to do.  As she knocked, the door flew open on its own.  She thought someone must have broken into the house.

Concerned for her mother's safety, the young woman ran to the bedroom and found her still sleeping.  She shook her mother awake and said, "It's me! It's me!  I'm home!"

The mother couldn't believe her eyes.  She wiped her tears and they fell into each other's arms.  The daughter said, "I was so worried!  The door was open and I thought someone had broken in!"

The mother replied gently, "No dear. From the day you left, that door has never been locked."

Jesus is the door to heaven and He is open to your entering in. He will welcome you with open arms.   Have you entered into the grace and mercy that He so lovingly gives?  The door is always open.  

-robert strand

...failure

Elijah was a heroic prophet, without question. He was also a man of great humility, as we have seen. But let's keep in mind that he was just a man—a human being, subject to the human condition, as we all are. He suffered discouragement, despondency, and depression. On one occasion, he couldn't shake it. 1 Kings 19:1-9

It is not surprising that at this point in Elijah's life the great prophet hit bottom. For several years he had stood strong amidst and against almost insurmountable odds and circumstances. But now, after a great victory, he dropped into the throes of discouragement and total despair.

He's a man, he's human, just like us, remember. Since this is true, we shouldn't be shocked to read that

He was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." (1 Kings 19:3–4)

I'm glad that this chapter has been included in Scripture. 

I'm glad that when God paints the portraits of His men and women, He paints them warts and all. He doesn't ignore their weaknesses or hide their failures.

Elijah had to get his eyes back on the Lord. That was absolutely essential. He had been used mightily, but it was the Lord who made him mighty. He stood strong against the enemy, but it was the Lord who had given him the strength.

Often we are more enamored with the gifts God gives us than with the Giver Himself. When the Lord brings rest and refreshment, we become more grateful for the rest and refreshment than for the God who allows it. When God gives us a good friend, we become absorbed in that friendship and so preoccupied with the friend that we forget it was our gracious God who gave us the friend. How easy to focus on the wrong things.

-charles r swindoll

...print

Whatever our hands touch...

We leave fingerprints!

On walls, on furniture

On doorknobs, dishes, books.

There's no escape.

As we touch we leave our identity.

Oh God, wherever I go today

Help me leave heartprints!

Heartprints of compassion

Of understanding and love.

Heartprints of kindness

And genuine concern.

May my heart touch a lonely neighbor

Or a runaway daughter

Or an anxious mother

Or a frustrated co-worker

Or a hurting friend

Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Lord, send me out today

To leave heartprints.

And if someone should say,

"I felt your touch,"

May that one sense YOUR LOVE

Touching through ME.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:40)

...shower

Dustin and Caren Moore were on a flight home with their adopted baby girl, who was just eight days old. Midflight from Colorado to California, Dustin realized the baby needed a diaper change. A Southwest Airlines flight attendant led the couple to a space where they could care for their newborn.

The flight attendant and another passenger complimented the little girl and asked what had prompted a flight with such a young infant. The father told them the story, which included nine years of fertility treatments, miscarriages, and adoption stress. 

Five minutes later, another flight attendant came on the intercom to announce, “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a very special guest on the flight today. She’s only eight days old and she’s traveling home with her mom and dad.” 

The flight attendant then announced that he would be passing out napkins and pens for anyone who wanted to write a message for the new parents. Sixty notes were collected. One of them read, “I was adopted 64 years ago. Thank you for giving this child a loving family to be part of. Us adopted kids need a little extra love. Congratulations.” Dustin’s mother made the napkin notes into a book so the couple could preserve the advice and good wishes for their daughter. 

In a related story, the Washington Post tells us about Hannah Brencher, an Atlanta writer who left kind notes in public places when she lived in New York City. Her idea birthed a movement called The World Needs More Love Letters, which now operates in seventy countries and has delivered more than 250,000 letters.  

What one person starts, others can continue. 

HGTV features a “throuple” on House Hunters 

That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: the same process works even if the cause is less worthy. 

Utah senators passed a bill this week to decriminalize polygamy in their state. Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bill cleared the Senate by a unanimous vote and now heads to the House. 

This is just the latest in a series of actions intended to accelerate polygamy as an accepted form of marriage in America. HGTV recently featured its first throuple—three people in a polyamorous romantic relationship—on one of its House Hunters episodes. 

And parents in Washington state are alarmed about potential legislation that would require all public schools in their state to provide “comprehensive” sex education to each student by the 2022–23 school year. Laurie Dills, who oversees sexual health education for the state superintendent’s office, is behind the move. 

According to one group, the legislation would introduce programs encouraging students “to experiment with same or opposite sex partners” and would teach content too explicit for me to describe here. 

“The thought of one who is at ease” 

If you’re like me, such stories leave you shaking your head at the growing immorality of our culture. For those who seek to live by biblical truth, however, there’s a hidden temptation we must identify and avoid. 

Responding to his accusers, Job made this observation: “In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune” (Job 12:5). I have found Job to be right. 

When I am “at ease,” I can easily develop “contempt” for those who are not. I can blame lost people for being lost and secular people for living by secular morality. 

But the wrong way to see the immorality of our culture is through a superior, condemning attitude. The right way is to grieve for the lost and stand in solidarity with those we are called to serve. 

When Nehemiah heard about the suffering of Jerusalem resulting from the nation’s sin and divine judgment, he turned to God, “confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned” (Nehemiah 1:6, my emphasis). We have no evidence that Nehemiah participated in the idolatry and immorality that led to the destruction of the city, but he counted himself one with his Jewish people and made their condition his own. 

When Jesus drew near that same city, “he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes'” (Luke 19:41–42). He then rode into the Holy City and called its people to faith in himself before judgment fell.

“This procedure galls Satan the most” 

If we are the only salt and light of the world, we must take responsibility for responding to the decay and darkness of the world (Matthew 5:13–16). And we must beware lest the sins we condemn become sins we commit. 

The sixteenth-century theologian Erasmus advised us: 

“If Satan tempts you toward boasting, double your efforts to be humble in all things. If Satan tempts you to withhold your prayers, increase them. If your inclinations are to be greedy and selfish, increase your donations to charity". This way you can find in temptation renewed provocation to increased piety. 

“This procedure galls Satan the most. It makes him afraid to tempt you because nothing is more hateful to the Evil One than that he should be responsible for some good.” 

How will you make Satan “responsible for some good” today?

-jim denison

reconciliation

Truth can be told in an instant, 

forgiveness can be offered spontaneously, 

but reconciliation is the work of lifetimes and generations. 

~ Krista Tippett - Speaking of Faith

On a recent visit to Rwanda, I was speaking to a man who was an advisor to the Rwandan government and a Christian leader before and after the genocide. He was telling me about the reality of the church in Rwanda. He told me that the Sunday before the genocide, 92 percent of Rwandans were in church. After it was all over, he wondered how he would ever preach again. What could the Church say? 

How could they gather people in churches that had been part of and complicit in such a great injustice? 

But it wasn’t long before he understood what they needed to say. 

The possibility of a new future soon dawned on them. 

Rwandans needed a place to go with their grief. With their sorrow. They needed a place of healing. Someone to help them carry their suffering. Other Rwandans needed a place to go with their shame. With their guilt. With the blood on their hands. They needed to find some forgiveness. Where can people go for that? What can reach that depth of pain and stain of guilt? This is when the church in Rwanda began to discover the relevance and power of what Christians believe to be the center of their faith: the Cross. They began to preach the Gospel by telling people about what Jesus had done on the Cross. 

This is so important for us right now. It’s not the Church that is the answer, and we know that now. We watch in dread as church leaders are named and shamed and church structures and attitudes side with oppression. We watch in shame as those who are guilty are shunned from the very places they might find forgiveness and restoration. We’re stunned as Christian leaders have been exposed as complicit in the destruction of healthy relationships between women and men. 

The Church without the centrality of the Cross is just a community group. 

But the Cross, that is where true power is on display for the deepest wounds of the world. The deepest wounds in us. When it comes to deep-seated injustices, there is only one place to go that might lead to healing and unravel the oppression that has held us all. There is only one place to go that might spur us to the hope of a different future, to change, to repentance and forgiveness and reconciliation. It’s the Cross. 

Jesus embraced the Cross as a demonstration of love and power personified. It is power to break the back of sin, shame, guilt, fear, and death. And it is love to soothe and heal shame, suffering, abuse, and pain. It is the place of transformation. 

No matter who we are, the oppressor or the oppressed, we will find what we need to get free from oppression’s tragic cycle. We will find this freedom in the person of Jesus on the Cross. On the Cross Jesus reconciled the whole world to Himself. C. S. Lewis described how when Jesus died on the cross, time itself began to move backward.1 What he meant was that Creation could now be restored to everything God had originally created it to be. When we think of the consequences of humans acting selfishly, we can follow a trajectory that began in the Genesis story of broken relationships. First between humanity and God. Then between men and women. Then between siblings, then between tribes, and this repeats itself until we find ourselves at this point in time, in a world tragically divided. What is the remedy? 

It’s a transformational idea to suggest that our restored relationship with God would begin to restore our relationships with everything and everyone else. Indeed, it’s the Gospel. 

A good description of the Gospel itself is the “ministry of reconciliation.”2

Can we imagine a reconciled world? I think right relationships are good news for this life. 

To be reconciled means that our relationships are made right. 

But relationships that are broken need repair. And repair takes effort and time. 

The righting of broken relationships (reconciliation) needs some guidance. 

Too often we think that powerful spiritual things happen by “magic.” 

But they don’t. They happen through grace and loads of work. 

-daniele strickland

?sabbath

Just this week my husband invited a couple of guys over to eat and hang out. We were all standing around the kitchen island polishing off some smoked gouda and barbecued sausages, while the conversation drifted over to the Ten Commandments. Now, keep in mind, there were three pastors and one pastor’s wife. We were trying to name what all ten commandments were, and all four of us were stumped. I got about six of them, and the guys did better with eights and nines. But no one could nail all ten. Adultery, murder, idolatry... hmmm... what was it? After a good couple of minutes, it came to us. Oh! Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy!

The Sabbath. For the life of us, none could remember the Sabbath.

We can’t seem to wrap our heads around just stopping. Stopping to simply be with each other. We obviously haven’t placed a high enough value on this thing God wrote with His own finger on a stone tablet.

I was thinking recently about the days before cancer, before our circumstances brought us to the point where we chewed off every nail and challenged every medical and spiritual ideology. Before we landed in a foreign country searching for the meaning of life. Were we concerned then about stopping to enjoy what’s here and now? Were we concerned then about keeping the Sabbath?

I got my answer while looking at old photos from the early days of our busy and important adulthood. We were so caught up working and meeting all the needs, we had neglected to take any breaks and had stopped doing most of the things we loved. I’d never seen us looking so pale and unhealthy. 

We took on the burden of adult life, of a new family of churches, of parenthood, and had subconsciously felt guilty about even the thought of making time for enjoying the things that were wired into us. Play, surfing, beach time, exercise, activities just for the sake of fun. We thought we were being super holy, that self-denial of anything superfluous and trivial like the beach would somehow rack up brownie points with God and Jesus. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Sabbath is a commandment.

We have been biblically mandated to take a load off, to let God take over for a day. Blessings, presence, food, reflection, all have been prescribed to us — a people who would rather overdo it, who would try and take the credit. It’s crazy that party time with God and loved ones happens to be a biblical mandate.

Sabbath looks different for everyone. For some, it’s dinner with friends and a day of no obligations, maybe a nap or a family movie. For others it’s playing hard, enjoying life-giving activities. It’s clearing some margin. It’s making time and space to be with each other. It’s freely enjoying God’s gifts of food, rest, and recreation. But the heart of the matter is the same. It’s leaving our work and striving for God to worry about for a day, knowing that it’s not we who hold the earth in the balance, but Him. It’s trading the unhealthy illusion of control and the addiction of distraction for the beneficial gift of presence. It’s giving up the hustle and having confidence God will take care of things while we take a break.

Our decision to go off the grid in Israel served us well because it brought us into the right here, right now — ushered us into a lifestyle of Sabbath. It gave us space from the noise, gave us the luxury of distraction-free living. It had a way of scrubbing off the film that had grown over the heart of real life so that we could see each other up close. It gave us our breath back so that we could run our race with focus, and it was a chance to push the reset button and figure out what we wanted most out of life. When we talk about fewer choices and opting out, it can feel like deprivation. But it’s just the opposite: it’s abundance. The dichotomy is that it gives rather than takes.

How is God ushering you into Sabbath? 

Where might He be calling you to unplug? 

Is it turning your phone off one day a week? 

Is it daily making time for quiet, for family? 

Is it putting email in its place or only working during specific time slots or maybe turning off your wifi during certain hours? 

Perhaps it’s more of a heart issue, trusting God to take care of all life’s busy worries, or getting a clear view on how much connectivity is spiritually and emotionally healthy.

Because there’s a lot of other things to say yes to, a lot in this beautiful world to see.

-kate merick

footsteps

My three year-old was on my heels no matter where I went.  

Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him.

I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, "Oh that's all right, Mommy. 

I'd rather be in here with you." Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.

After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience. 

When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said: "Well Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps! I can't see Him, so I'm walking in yours!"

-steve blair

...mercy

An elderly rabbi accepted a young, headstrong student. The new pupil constantly challenged his teacher's authority and theology, slandering his character and integrity in the larger community. One day after a particularly unfair attack, the student repented of his ungodly behavior and asked the rabbi's forgiveness.

The wise man quickly granted it, but assigned the student a task in response. He was to fill a bag with feathers, throw them into the wind, then retrieve them. The student returned the next day, frustrated and angry. He had been unable to catch even half of the feathers he had scattered. "So it is with your words," the rabbi replied.

It is impossible to unring a bell. 

Our words may linger far after our actions are forgotten. 

And our actions are remembered by those we hurt long after we have forgotten them.

In a fallen world filled with fallen people, "goodness" is essential.

"Goodness" translates the Greek word agathosune, which means "goodness in action." Scripture says that our Lord is a "good" Father. Consider Nehemiah 9:35: "Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works." Hundreds of times the Scriptures call God "good."

All through the Bible we find God initiating such goodness toward us:

"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). He took the initiative to find us when we didn't want to be found.

This was his Son's mission in life: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

God took the initiative in seeking me. When two men knocked on my door in Houston and invited me to ride their bus to church in 1973, I wasn't thinking about church. Or God. Left to myself, I would likely have never taken the initiative to go to a church or seek out the gospel. 

God came for me, or I wouldn't be writing these words. If he had not come for you, you probably wouldn't be reading them.

Now God calls us to initiate goodness toward others:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone" (Matthew 18:15).

"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23–24).

Think of the last sin God forgave in your life. Now think of the person whose sin you need to forgive, and choose to initiate goodness today.

...times

“He raced to his bedroom and returned holding a stack of letters. On the top letter, he had written, ‘MOST IMPORTANT LETTER.’” Charlie Costa’s eyes lit up as he shared the story with me.

For 22 years, Charlie has served as our Insight for Living Arabic field pastor, sharing the gospel throughout the Middle East and everywhere Arabic is spoken. The young man he was telling me about lived in a village in Northern Iraq. 

Charlie had traveled there from Beirut to meet new believers who had come to Christ through our Arabic-language broadcast. When Charlie introduced himself to the young man, excited recognition flashed across his face. The stack of letters he retrieved were written in Charlie’s handwriting.

“One day,” he told Charlie, “At the end of the Insight for Living broadcast, you led in prayer and asked listeners if they wanted to accept Christ. And I did. But I didn’t know what happened: Was I saved? So, I wrote you. And you wrote back in that most important letter about the assurance of salvation. 

I started jumping up and down, shouting, ‘I AM SAVED!’”

“Chuck,”  then said, “That man won 25 people in his village to Christ! The village was eventually overrun by ISIS. The people dispersed. They lost everything. Nonetheless, they still walk with Christ.”

The flames of conflict and tension in the Middle East have been burning since biblical days, sometimes quietly, more often ferociously. Politicians the world over argue about the best way to address that fire. But the truth is, no one but God can explain the complexity of the Middle East. And no one but the Prince of Peace can offer a resolution.

“We don’t talk about politics on our program,” Charlie says. “We talk about how, as a person, you need Christ to have peace. The Bible says there is no peace for the wicked. The flip side is Jesus’ saying, ‘My peace I give to you.’ That offer is attractive to people in the Middle East because, like you, they want peace. We live in a tumultuous world. Come to Jesus, and all that tumult becomes external.”

You may have never been to the Middle East. But the conflicts and tensions there likely spark fear in your heart. Sharp political divisions in many a country may too—not to mention road rage, mass shootings, natural disasters, the threat of many forms of terrorism, and personal trials too numerous to list. 

God’s Word overflows with wise counsel for our troubled times. It begins and ends with the Prince of Peace.

If you have Jesus Christ, all tumult becomes external. 

Jesus is the hope for our troubled times! 

He is THE answer to finding peace.

-charles swindoll