I Don't Know

 I came across two men yesterday working. I did not have a long interaction with them, but long enough to ask them where they would spend eternity. One of the guys quietly distanced himself from the conversation. The second man started to say something that sounded good, but he stopped. He honestly said, "I don't know." 

They were busy. I knew I had seconds with them and not minutes. In hurried fashion I told them about Jesus and that He was the only way to spend eternity in Heaven. Maybe that brief conversation will resonate with them. Hopefully it sparked a conversation after we parted. Perhaps God rewound that conversation in their minds all through the night and into this morning. 

It is incredulous to me that people consider all sorts of things about their lives without taking into count death and the afterlife. Yesterday there was a funeral across the street in the cemetery where I live. Another reminder that life is brief, but eternity is long. Too long to get it wrong. 

I appreciate the fact that one of those men was honest. I could see him thinking. He knew the way he lived. He knew enough to respect God and not lie. He obviously did not know enough to commit to Jesus as a follower. Following Jesus means changing our lifestyles. Some love sin more than considering the consequences of those sins. It is a dangerous game of Russian Roulette. 

I have contemplated Colossians 1:14-15 this week in preparation for the message Sunday. Those verses start a section describing the incomparable Christ. Our Lord Jesus has rescued us. Have we forgotten from where and what He rescued us from? He paid our ransom so we could be free from our being held hostage by sin and Satan. What a great deliverance He purchased for us. It cost Him dearly. A brutal bloody death on a cross. That cross is no longer a sign of execution but one of liberation for millions of believers. The cross is a symbol of hope. A symbol of victory. 

Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, our lives are His bought with His blood. We are crucified to the world and the world to us. Our boast is no longer in our accomplishments but in what Jesus accomplished for us on that cross. Galatians 6:14

I don't know. I don't know why anyone would not immediately respond to the offer of salvation except that the god of this age has blinded them. Blinded them to the abundant life we have in Jesus. I don't know why people are not interested. Why churches are not overflowing with people. I don't know why those who need the message of the cross the most are the most reluctant to come hear it. I don't know why Christians who know the truth refuse to share it with those put in our paths if even for a few seconds. 

The Intercessor

 He knows how to pray. What I mean is he can pray with authority like no one else I have ever heard. He has this uncanny ability to connect those prayers with what God plans and wants to do. He secures answers frequently. He is also a tenacious intercessor. He does not give up easily until the answer comes. His supplications secure answers. We could all learn a few things from the intercessor. 

Who is this mystery master of prayer? He is a bestselling author. Not a one hit wonder. He is perennially a bestselling author. His works are timeless. Classics. They ought to be read by all people.

He is also generous with his time. Willing to add more people to his ever-expanding prayer list. He does not seek attention. He prefers not to be the center of attention. He does his prayer work behind the scenes out of the public eye. His intercessions are both fervent and indefatigable. Tirelessly he makes intercessions both night and day. 

Praying is not his only job. He teaches. He comforts people in difficult times. He fearlessly points out sin in others urging them to repent. He often has a peaceful presence when he shows up in the room. People are less anxious when he prays for them. They are strengthened when he prays. 

You can read about the intercessor in [Romans 8:26-27]. The Holy Spirit is our intercessor. One who stands in the gap between us and God. He knows how to pray according to the will of God. He knows the mind of God and the need of those he prays for. I'm thankful to have an intercessor who can interpret my groans when the pain is too deep that I can't put it into words. He prays perfectly. I hope you find comfort in that truth today. 

Great is His Faithfulness

 It was a tough week. Turner had a minor accident at college hitting another vehicle in the parking lot. Tanner's car broke down and his puppy chewed his phone destroying it. The tires on my Yukon are beginning to split and need replaced. We did what we always do. We prayed and asked God to help. 

We had a deadline for God to come do something mighty for us, or we were going to have to dip into what little retirement money we have to meet the needs. Saturday came and went with no answer. On Sunday night I was handed an envelope after the evening service. It contained a $20 bill for pastor appreciation month from a visitor. Earlier in the week I received a $100 gift from that man's sister who is a member of Spring Creek. That $120 gift was not enough to meet the thousands of dollars of need. Don't despise small beginnings. 

Our best guess is we needed about $3,500 for all of it. At the end of Sunday night, I prepared myself to dip into our retirement money the next day to meet the need. I am not sure when I received the text that changed everything this morning. It was early after I prayed. The text informed me of a $3,600 direct answer to prayer. Let me tell you rest of the story. 

We were told a long time ago that we could expect this provision on a certain date. The date came and went. In fact, six months passed, and we did not receive it. We accepted this fact and prayed. We determined that we would not remind the gift sender about the financial promise. We trusted God who knows our needs. We believed God would do it another way.

That is when God stepped in at 11:59. Turns out the gift giver suddenly remembered about the promised gift on Sunday night. Something or SOMEONE jarred the memory. Brenda and I believe God penetrated that person's thoughts causing the reminder. The text assured me that the check would be in hand today. Some might consider that a miracle, but Brenda and I certainly do. 

I know some will say we were just being stubbornly proud not to remind the gift giver about the check. Brenda and I committed to God a long time ago that we would communicate our needs to Him trusting God to provide. He has done that for over three decades. He did it at 11:59 again. If that person had waited to text me until after lunch, I would have already taken that money from our retirement account. God knew. He waited just to show me again how faithful He is and how wavering my faith can be. 

God did it again. He intervened in our circumstances to meet a need we could not foresee and did not have money in hand to meet for ourselves. He knew the deadline and waited to the last minute just for dramatic effect. He could have let us rob our retirement. I was prepared to do it though I felt very uneasy about it. I knew I could take matters into my own hands. That did not seem like faith. Why? Because I did not trust God to come through. I nearly took matters into my own hands because I doubted God would be faithful like He has been in the past. Shame on me. A foolish mindset on my part. 

One more time God has given me this platform to testify about another answer to prayer. I don't know if they make any difference. My hope is that it encourages some soul in a difficult spot just like Brenda and I were in. We have testimonies galore of God doing similar things over the past 30 years. I take no credit. It is God choosing to work in powerful ways in our lives. I know what He keeps doing for my family He can also do for any reading this around the world. I bow my knee and say, "Great is His faithfulness." 

Tug Of War

 You know about tug of war. You have two teams grab both ends of a long rope. The game is started with each side trying to tug the other team across a barrier. Loads of fun have been had with this old competition. That is not what is on my mind today. I am thinking of a much more serious tug of war that happens in the soul. 

Christians live with the constant tug of war of two natures. They are waging war for supremacy. The flesh opposes the Spirit of God within us. Each fighting for control. The flesh is hostile toward God and the things of God. This is the sinful carnal nature. The Holy Spirit is fighting just as hard to lead us to honor and please God. Which one wins?

Let me illustrate. Say we have two dogs of equal breeding, size and temperament. One dog you faithfully feed every day. The second dog you only feed once every three days. This routine is repeated for several weeks. Say those two dogs turn on each other and get into a fight. Which dog do you suppose will win? The stronger dog will be the one that has been properly nourished. 

The same is true in us. If I constantly feed the flesh, give into carnal desires, and let that nature rule supremely I will lose more spiritual battles than I win. If on the other hand, I pray, study the scriptures, and seek to live surrendered to the Holy Spirit I will most likely win most of my spiritual battles. 

It is a constant tug of war in the soul. The nature you give the most attention will most likely be the nature that wins the day. Paul exhorts us in [Galatians 5:16] to walk by the Spirit. I interpret this to mean that we are to live in submissive surrender to the Holy Spirit. To put it another way, we are to live yielded to the Holy Spirit. Suppose two cars approach an intersection and one has a yield sign and the other does not. The car with the yield sign surrenders the right of way to the other car. In yielding to the Holy Spirit, we give Him the right of way in our lives. When we do this, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Even though the flesh is in opposition with the Holy Spirit within us, the Holy Spirit is the more dominant force when we walk by His power. 

We read on in Galatians about behaviors associated with the flesh and behaviors associated with the Spirit in [Gal 5:19-23]. Which set of behaviors most characterizes your life? That will give a clear indication of which nature is winning the tug of war in your soul.  

Hope Against Hope

 Hope is very fragile. Liken it to an elusive feather floating in the breeze. Just about the time you think you have hold of it a waft of wind blows it out of reach. Or at least hope can feel that way. Once you get a handle on it, something happens causing hope to slip between your fingers. 

The optimist lives with hope. They see the glass half-filled instead of half emptied. They look on the bright side of life. They see the silver lining in the clouds. The pessimist on the other hand, takes a much dimmer approach to life. They see the glass half emptied. They fixate on the dark side of life. They miss the silver lining in the clouds. The pessimist has a hard time with hope. Even when things are going well, they sit waiting for the next bad thing to happen. 

What about for Christians? We are supposed to be people of faith. [II Cor 5:7] We are to live by faith and not sight. Part of that living by faith is living with the hope that God will come through. We invite God to intervene in our circumstances. We make supplication for His strong help in various degrees. We are exhorted that without faith it is impossible to please God. [Heb 11:6] We are supposed to be people with hope. 

Let's define hope as confident expectation. We pray about things with the confident expectation that God hears us and that He involves Himself in the solution to our problems. That sounds great in theory. Sooner or later, we will face something big requiring God to help. We pray. We expect Him to answer. We wait in hope. Time ticks and God doesn't answer the way we want Him to do. We pray again and wait longer. Hope that once burned brightly now begins to slowly fade. If the answered prayer is delayed further hope begins to flicker. If we wait too long hope can extinguish. 

That is what makes the story of [Romans 4:18-21] all the more powerful. We have a guy praying in faith with hope. The prayer was not answered right away. In fact, it was not answered for decades. One of the amazing things is the man praying did not lose hope. The passage informs us that he maintained hope against hope. 

The man in the story is Abraham praying for a son. A promised son. He waited well over two decades for God to answer that prayer. That is a long time to wait in hope. Abraham believed God when his circumstances dictated doubt. Abraham and Sarah were aging. Sarah had never been able to conceive. The only hope they had was a promise from God. The promise went much deeper than for a son. It included a future nation. With each passing delay that promise may have seemed more elusive. 

When delays happen the natural thing to do is to grow weaker in our faith. Delays do not make us grow stronger very often except for the mature in faith. Strong people of faith and prayer can contemplate their circumstances. They take stock of the difficulties and on occasion even the impossibilities. They are not fazed by the things. They see them as an opportunity for God to do something amazing. This gives them hope against hope. 

Hope for mature believers is rooted in two things. The promises of God and His faithfulness to keep those promises. God promised Abraham he would be the father of a great nation. That did not seem it was ever going to happen when Sarah could not even conceive of the first son. On top of that, she was past the age of childbearing at 90. God's delays do not mean He does not care. His timing is perfect. He orchestrates things very often to look impossible so that He can get the maximum glory when He comes through. 

Do we believe what God says, or do we believe what our eyes see? This is a question we will face numerous times in our life journey. Do we waver in unbelief or stay rooted in God's word trusting Him to help at the proper time? To do that we must grow strong in faith. 

If we want to grow strong in faith, we have to get used to God exercising faith through trials, challenges, and even impossible obstacles placed before us. Each of those is designed to force us to exercise more faith resulting in stronger faith. Faith is defined for us in [Heb 11:1]. It is assurance and confidence. It is believing God for things to exist before they actually exist. It seeing the unseen and asking God to make it happen. How is that possible. Because with hope against hope we are assured by the promises of God. What God says He does. He keeps His promises. For that reason, we can hope against hope no matter what we face or how long the answer is delayed.

This Is Not Heaven

 On a phone conversation a man reminded me of something his father told him. His dad said, "Son, remember this is not heaven. We are going to have trials on this earth." His dad suffered with Parkinson's disease. His dad was right. We all have troubles in this life. 

I am sure you have your own trials. They come in various shapes and sizes. Some of them knock us to our knees with severe blows like cancer, Alzheimer's, the economy, and relational troubles. You barely get through one trial and soon after the next one hits. This is common to the human condition. Sin, suffering, and sorrow are all part of the curse from original sin. It seems like it is only getting worse. 

Beware of putting your hope in vain things. Like a presidential election. No candidate is a savior. That title is reserved exclusively for the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior or the world. Financial security is chasing shadows. So is trying to secure material things. Nothing on this earth will ever produce the long sought after contentment we long for. No matter our stage in life, trials will still come. Our hope is not in an easier stress free path. Our hope is in God alone no matter what we face. 

This world is not Heaven. It is a sin infested polluted planet of depraved and defiled people who oppose God by and large. Trials come for everyone. The just and the unjust. The righteous and the wicked all face challenges and setbacks. The closest this earth was ever to Heaven was back in Eden. Since the bite of the forbidden fruit, it has been a downhill slide. 

We would do well to remember that life will be filled with trials. I am not suggesting there will not be days of triumph mixed in as well. The fact remains, none of us is going to live a trouble-free existence. What we can do is walk keeping our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. [Heb 12:2] We can rest assured that He will strengthen us, grant us peace, and help us persevere through those trials. 

One day we will kiss these earthly shells and this earthly life goodbye. Believers in Jesus will shed mortality in exchange for immorality. One day we will get home to Heaven. No more pain or death there. No more sorrows. Every tear will be wiped away. [Rev 21:3-4] It will be endless rejoicing and delight in God's presence. Worship will be wonderful. Authentic. Endless worship for all eternity to the Father and to the Lamb of God slain and resurrected. [Rev 4:1-11]

We only get to Heaven through repentance and faith in the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. [I Jn 2:1-2] It is by His grace and through the shedding of His blood we are saved. [Eph 2:8-9] For those who have believed Heaven awaits. What a day of rejoicing that will be when we get there. There might be some tough sledding between now and then. Let us run our race with endurance until we cross the finish line. [Heb 12:1]