Making a Difference in your Life, in the Parts that are for Keeps!
“BE STILL” is becoming more uncomfortable and foreign to many people.
“BE QUIET” is also harder than it appears, if you try it.
But the benefits are well-documented.
And besides, it is all free.
Add one more thought to still and silent—
“BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.”
Sometimes we accomplish most while we wait on the Lord.
“THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH . . . LIKE EAGLES.”
Simple.
Try it.
This morning after breakfast, I was sitting in the recliner, drinking my coffee, watching the sun rise, listening to Christian music, trying to let the words soak in and lift out my worries.
I found myself dreaming of building my log cabin, with a sunroom outside the bedroom—a place to relax and enjoy the beginning of the day, warmed by the sun.
I realized once again that most of my thoughts of contentment revolve around someday when I get such-and-such done. And many of those projects are so slow in coming that they rob me of peace for today and contentment right now.
Then I thought of a Bible passage, and I will close with this. I want it to sink in and let God work in me.
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls;
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places.”
More and more I find myself becoming uncomfortable with comfortable.
Most Christian brothers and sisters around the world do not have a life of ease, and are not comfortable.
In fact, many are suffering, some severely, and dying for Jesus.
Very, very few of Jesus’ followers have had easy lives, and today there is a sudden worldwide wave of attack on His people—AS PROMISED.
And, now it is starting in America also. Christians are singled out and criticized and losing their jobs just for believing in Jesus and saying what He said.
Jesus said unpopular things, and He paid a high price for it.
My dad always repeated things Jesus said, and he paid a high price for that.
Perhaps the most unfavorable words of Jesus would be His prediction of the times closest to the end of the world.
“You will be hated by all for my name’s sake, . . . , and then shall the end come.”
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause
Or blush to speak His name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flow’ry beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by my God.
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die.
They see the triumph from afar
With faith’s discerning eye.
When that illustrious day shall rise
And all Thine armies shine,
In robes of victory through the skies
The glory shall be Thine.
“There goes a man of God.”
I remember well when two people said that about me a few weeks apart.
I remember well when I stepped into serious sin soon after.
Jesus said, “Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.”
I have learned to share the following story from my dad when someone wants to praise me for something:
Two ducks and a frog were friends at a pond. When the pond dried up, the ducks did not want to leave their frog friend behind. The three finally implemented a plan that worked, and they left for their new home. The two ducks held the ends of a stick in their beaks, and the frog held on with his mouth between them.
As they flew over a farmyard, the farmer looked up in amazement and said, “Whose idea was that?”
The frog answered, “Mine.”
“PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL, . . .”
There is another story of a woodpecker working hard at making holes in a tree to get his food. Suddenly lightning struck the tree and split it in half, giving free access for the woodpecker. But he left immediately and was gone for several hours. He returned with a half dozen friends, and proudly announced, “See, there it is, just as I told you what I did.”
The next lightning strike was not so favorable.
“. . . AND A HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE DESTRUCTION.”
BECAUSE HE IS ONE !
No further explanation needed.
No further explanation deserved.
No further explanation—NO MORE TIME ! ! !
If you can’t talk about your eternal destiny, it is likely in jeopardy.
So Christianity is supposed to be so great.
What’s the catch?
What’s the fine print?
What did they not tell me?
“The catch” is not in fine print.
It is the part they don’t tell you because it may not be popular.
Christianity is a gift, but being a Christian is not easy.
Christianity is free, but it costs the Christian everything.
Christianity is available for everyone, but the Christian will not be popular.
Christianity provides the way to heaven, but the Christian finds it is very narrow.
Christianity shows the love of Jesus, but the Christian learns to embrace everything Jesus said:
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.”
“The gate is difficult, and the road is narrow, that leads to life; and there are few that find it.”
“It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.”
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“You will be hated of all people for my name’s sake.”
“He who kills you will think he is doing God service.”
“If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
“He who endures to the end will be saved.”
“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.”
And the final, fine, bold print, to sing and shout:
“It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”
Don’t wait until you feel better, to do what makes you feel better.
Don’t wait to experience a close encounter with God, to experience getting close to God.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat and drink with him, and he with me.”
“Trust in the Lord, but some things you have to figure out yourself.”
Have you ever heard that?
Have you ever said that?
Do you believe that?
The bottom line is this:
Do you really believe God meant what He said?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Three things to consider today, before a new year, and DECIDE NOW what we will do then, when . . .
When we are faced with a new day in the new year, none of us is strong enough to withstand the myriad of attractions and distractions coming into our mind from our gadgets and our goals the moment we awaken. DECIDE NOW to give the very beginning of every day to Jesus.
When we are faced with any kind of sexual temptation, none of us is strong enough to decide then, to say “no,” if we do not DECIDE NOW.
When we are faced with a gun to our head or a knife to our neck to deny Jesus, we may not pass the test then, if we do not DECIDE NOW.
“REMEMBER NOW your Creator in the days of your youth [and we are all younger than we will ever be], before the evil days come, or the years draw near, when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.'” —–His Book
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