“If only….”

How  many times have you used the expression, “If only….”?  “If only that promotion had gone my way.”    “If only my loved one had not died.”   “If only I had more time to do what I need to do.”   “If only the circumstances had been different.”  ”If only people had not mistreated me and hurt me.”   “If only the opportunities had come my way.”  All of us have said these things, or made statements similar to these before.  “If only….” is a common way of expressing our frustration, or our disappointment about how things have turned out.  It’s our way of verbally expressing dismay.

In John 11 we read the story of Lazarus’ death.  Before Lazarus died, his sisters Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus hoping that He would come and heal their brother.  Instead, Jesus did not show up as hoped and their brother died.    When Jesus did arrive at the home, the sisters met Jesus and said, “Lord, IF ONLY you had been here, our brother would not have died.”   These sisters were crushed with grief and found themselves locked into the “if only…” question.  The situation at hand seemed more than they could bear.  It was hard for them to understand why their brother had to die.  The grief seemed so senseless.  Sometimes life’s disappointments and heartaches push us into this corner!   We don’t always understand why things happen in life, and sometimes we feel that we are thrown into a tailspin.  The worst part of it is that we can get locked into a demoralizng, defeatest attitude about life and people.

I believe this is one of the reasons Jesus came!  Jesus came to bring assurance to our hearts.  He came to show us a new way of living.   Jesus wants to help us handle life with confidence and faith.  Even in those times when we don’t understand what is happening to us, or don’t know which direction to turn.  He came to teach us that we can trust Him in ALL of life’s circumstances…in times of trial, in times of suffering, in times of disappointment, in times of death.  The “if only…” question never takes us anywhere.  Many times it raises questions for which there is no answer.  At best, it only seems to amplify the difficulty and hurt that we are going through. 

In the Gospels we hear Jesus is constantly telling us, “Be of good cheer.”  “Do not be afraid.”  “Trust in Me with all of your heart.”   “I am the good shepherd.”   “To him who believes nothing is impossible.”  To be a follower of Jesus means that I am learning what it means to put ALL things in His hands!   They may be hurtful things, painful things, sorrowful things, distracting things, puzzling things….He just wants me to trust Him!   When I say, “trust Him”, I mean that He wants me to see Him as SUFFICIENT for all things.   He wants me to trust in His wisdom, His grace, and His strength.  It does not mean that bad things, or hurtful things, or painful things will not come my way.  When we live life, that means that we will encounter and experience all kinds of different things in our lives.  Some good, some bad.  Life is life.  However, in the midst of life, He promises to be there for me and to be the power I need for daily living.

I hope that you will take new courage today if you feel you’ve gotten yourself locked into a “if only….” attitude.  Whatever it is that you’re struggling with, or dealing with deep inside, just GIVE IT ALL TO JESUS!   Let Him be Lord!   Give Him total control over everything and let Him work!   You never know what He can do for you!   In the case of Martha and Mary, Jesus RAISED their brother, Lazarus, to life!  What a miracle!   It may be that God has a miracle right around the corner for you.  He is calling you today to put the full weight of your confidence in Him!  Will you?

“I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, even though he should die, yet shall he live.  Because I live, you too shall live.”     John 11:25

“In this world you will have many trials and sorrows.  Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”    John 16:33

I Love My Family!

I have had such a good week with my family.  Our youngest son, Matt, came down Monday evening and has spent the week with us.  We have enjoyed eating out, watching TV, playing ball, and catching up on his latest CD recording.  Jon and Michelle have been over several times to visit with us, also.  Last evening we all met at Logan’s Steak House and enjoyed a delicious dinner together.  This afternoon Matt headed down to Nashville, TN where his band will be playing Saturday evening. 

I am so proud of both of my boys and how they are growing spiritually.  They are both tremendous leaders that God is using in an unusual way.  It always means so much when we can all be together and spend time with one another. 

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings of life that you send our way.  I am so thankful for my family and for the love that we share with one another.  They, each one, mean so much to me!  Thanks for the lovely time that we spent this week catching up ‘on life’ with each other.  It meant so much!

Will you ‘turn aside’?

There’s an interesting comment about Moses when his eyes first spotted the burning bush out in the desert.  In Exodus 3:3 it says, “And Moses turned aside to see this marvelous thing…”.  That may not say much to you, but it says volumes to me!  When Moses saw the burning bush [ie- a bush that was aflame with fire but not being consumed] it caught his attention and the Bible says he turned aside from what he was doing and went to see this unusual sight.  I want to applaud Moses for dropping what he was doing and taking time to go and check out this strange phenomenon.  Many times in life God is calling to us, speaking to us, trying to get our attention through a variety of means, experiences, or situations.  Moses was able to find God’s will for his life, and for the entire nation of Israel, because he was willing to turn aside and check out the burning bush.   

I wonder how many times God tries to get our attention through some natural, or supernatural means BUT we are not willing to turn aside from what we’re doing to check it out.  Maybe we’re too busy…or we don’t feel that we have the time…or we’re too wrapped up in what we feel we should be doing, and so we refuse to turn aside and seek God’s voice and God’s direction in those ‘off the road’ situations that beckon us to come.  Could it be that we miss many of God’s blessings in life because we’re not willing to turn aside from what we’re doing to listen to God?  Could it be that we miss divine opportunities in life to serve, and know God in a greater way, because we refuse to turn aside and check out where the Holy Spirit is moving and seems to be directing?   Yes, as I read this passage in Exodus I am so thankful for the example that Moses sets for us as believers.  There are times when we must turn aside from what we are doing in order to let God speak to our hearts, so that we might discover what He wants to do through our lives.

Has God been trying to speak to you?  Do you feel that He has been putting things in your path in order to get your attention?   I hope that you will take time to turn aside from what you are doing and let God speak to your heart.  You never know the wonderful blessings and divine errands that you will be sent on by obeying His voice.    

“Behold, I have come to do Your will O God.”    Hebrews 10:7

The Power of Praise

There’s a story in the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 20, where the enemies of Israel are coming up against her.   God has a plan for victory.  He tells the prophet to send the choir of Israel out ahead of the army singing praises and lifting up shouts of joy to God.  In a supernatural act of deliverance, God routs the enemy and gives Israel a sweeping triumph on the battlefield.  

When we read this story we are so amazed at how God worked.  We would have figured that God would have devised some special military strategy to beat the enemy.  Instead, He called His people to praise Him!  This story sounds much like what we see in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are beaten for their witness about Jesus Christ and are thrown into jail.  We read that about midnight Paul and Silas are singing praises to God when God sends an earthquake and a mighty deliverance for his servants from their jail cell.  Is it any wonder that the Psalmist says that “God inhabits the praises of His people.”  Maybe when we find ourselves in difficult situations, and the enemy seems to have us in his grasp, and defeat seems sure and swift for us, that we should begin praising God!  We need to be reminded that there is POWER in praise!

God loves praise!  He works when His people praise Him!  Our adversitites become opportunities for God to work in our behalf when we lift our voices in praise and adoration to Him.  Too many times in life, we find ourselves whining, or complaining, or shrinking back in fear….rather than praising God!  The Psalmist says, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered.”   I don’t know about you, but I feel like praising the Lord right now!   I want to thank my Savior for His kindness, His mercy, His faithfulness, and His protection.  I want to thank Him right now that He is my total sufficieny for everything in life.  I believe that when we praise the Lord, the enemy is put to flight.  There’s nothing the devil fears most than when the believer begins to praise God!  Why not lift your voice up to God right now with a SHOUT of triumph…and let God work in your present situation.

“I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!  and I’ll bless you every day, and keep it up from now to eternity.  God is magnificent; He can never be praised enough.  There are no boundaries to His greatness.”   Psalm 145:1-2 

The Real Prayer Warrior!

Through the years I’ve often used the expression, “there’s a real prayer warrior”, to describe the passion and spiritual discipline of another believer whom I knew spent a lot of time in prayer and knew how to get in touch with God.  I know many people (including my mother-in-law, Ida Lee) who would fit this description and have been so appreciative of their many prayers for me, my family, and my ministry through the years. 

As I was meditating on this expression this morning, I was reminded that “the real prayer warrior” for every person is the Holy Spirit!  Listen to what Paul says about the Spirit of God in Romans 8:26 (Message), “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along.  If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter.  He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.  He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our current condition, and keeps us present before God.  That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked out into something good.”    Can you identify with any of that?  Have there ever been times when you didn’t know HOW to pray?  Or, WHAT to pray?  I’ve had times in my life when all I could do was just groan, mumble, or sigh.  I’ve gone through difficulties in life when I didn’t even know how to frame a prayer and lift it up to God.  But I’m thankful that God understands those times in our lives and has placed a HELPER within us!   The Word of God tells me that in those times the Holy Spirit is interceding for me with His prayering!  Wow!   How encouraging is that!  He is lifting me up before God, with all the details and circumstances of my life, asking God to help me, strengthen me, comfort me, and guide me.

All of us should be aware that the Holy Spirit is the real prayer warrior for each of us!  Every day, every moment of the day, He is interceding for us before God the Father, that Christ may be formed in our lives and we might fulfill God’s purposes.  I wonder how many times we might have failed…or given up…or succombed to temptation…or become overloaded with anger and bitterness…or, simply quit running the race….if, the Holy Spirit had not been interceding for us and bringing God’s mighty power to our lives to enable us to endure and press on!  How I praise God for this reminder today!   Just because the Holy Spirit is unseen to our physical eyes, does not mean that He is not continuously at work in our lives!  In fact, I believe scripture like this is given to us to open our spiritual eyes to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit within us.  I hope many who read this today will be blessed with the thought that the Holy Spirit is your GREATEST ALLY in life!  What you are going through in life right now, you do not have to go through alone!  Remember, the Holy Spirit is God’s presence with YOU, and working in YOU!

Friend, whatever you may be facing today, take courage that the Holy Spirit is YOUR prayer warrior before God and that He is continuously interceding before God, the Father, for YOU.  Why not take a moment to thank Him right now for that!  Why not take a moment to yield yourself to His control so that He might align your life with God’s divine purposes and plan for your life.  Thank Him that you do not have to understand everything happening to you, or have to have everything figured out….but that you affirm that He always has the best in mind for you, and that He is working for your good!

“So, what do you think?  With God on our side like this, how can we lose?  If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His own Son, is there anything else He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?”       Romans 8:31-32 (Message)

The Keys

I was meditating this morning on the sovereignty of God and His almighty power and all-knowing wisdom that is guiding us through this life.  To think about God’s sovereignty is in itself totally baffling and solemnly profound.  To realize that God loves me unconditionally and with an everlasting love completely blows my mind!  To know that He always has the BEST in mind for me at all times brings great comfort and encouragement to my soul.  I do believe that my life is IN HIS HANDS and that I can completely trust Him!

In the book of Revelation, chapter 1 verses 17 and 18 we read, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man.  And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have THE KEYS of death and of Hades.’”  As I read these verses this morning I was captivated by the image of Christ wearing a belt with many KEYS hanging upon it.  Here we read that Jesus has the keys of death and Hades.  However, I’m sure that He has other keys there, also!  Keys that unlock doors to our future.  Keys that unlock the storehouses of provision.  Key that unlock the doors of opportunity for us.  He also has keys that prevent us from going certain directions, or that lock doors in front of us until His perfect timing is in place.  I believe Jesus has MANY KEYS that He can use in His sovereign wisdom to guide and direct our lives so that His will is accomplished through us!

Because He is God, He can do anything to bring us to the points in life where He wants us to be, and He can work within us His transforming grace to help us become what He has designed us to be in Christ.  Sometimes He brings us to difficult places in life…sometimes He brings us to restful, soothing places.  Sometimes the strong winds blow against us, and at others times He sends the gentle winds to blow upon our lives.  Sometimes He gives us a wide open highway in which to travel, and at other times we come upon ‘dead ends streets’ that seem to take us nowhere.

I may not always understand the way before me…I may not always understand what I am going through…but I can rest assured that my Savior is leading all the way!  I want to praise Him today for the KEYS that He holds in His hands which He is daily using to mold, shape, refine, and transform my life!

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.”    Ephesians 1:11 (MSG)

Happy Labor Day!

I worked all night Saturday night, came home and showered, and Mary Lou and I went to worship at Christian Fellowship.  It was a wonderful service.  The time of praise and worship really ministered to me.  The pastor spoke on the importance of small groups.  He nailed it right on the head!  Following service we went to Applebee’s and shared a meal.  It was a nice time together.

Sunday afternoon J.R. and Julie Mezo came over to the house to visit.  They are such special friends.  We enjoyed catching up on their lives.  I finally got a nap about 3:00 pm and slept til 5:30 pm.  When I got up Mary Lou and I drove to Newburgh and found a spot on the Ohio River where we could sit and watch the evening sun glistening on the water.  It was so peaceful.

This morning Mary Lou and I started our Labor Day holiday by going to Cracker Barrel and enjoying a delicious breakfast.  It made the morning so special for us.  We had to wait nearly 40 minutes before we were seated…many others had the same idea.  Jon and Michelle came over at 3:00 pm and we grilled hamburgers outside.  We enjoyed the cookout and visiting with one another.  After dinner, Jon and I went out in the backyard and threw some baseball together. 

It has been a fantastic day!  We are so blessed.  God is so good to us.  I lift up my voice in praise!!!

“Great is the Lord, and worthy of praise….”    Psalm 48:1