Slumber Party

The other day we were working on a new recipe for dinner. It was zucchini and penne pasta with ricotta cheese. As we went down the list of ingredients we found we didn’t have some and we considered how we might substitute. It took me back to an evening many years earlier. It was 1966…
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Shame Off You

Has anyone said to you, “Shame on you!” or “You ought to be ashamed!”? Shame makes us feel small, flawed, not good enough. Shame adversely affects our relationship with God, ourselves, and others. It hinders our ability to experience God’s unconditional love.

The good news is there is power in God’s Word to break through the lies I have believed. Breaking free from the bondage of shame is not an instant event or even a quick-fix, three-step process. It is an ongoing adventure of discovering the depths of God’s love and the scope of God’s power to transform me. God has new life, new freedom available on the other side of this journey.

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It’s The Thought That Counts

I can be born again but my life can still look like something out of Loony Tunes, right up until “Th- th- that’s all, folks!” Inside, I’m perfect―born again in the image of God Himself. But on the outside I find myself falling frustratingly short. What am I going to do? The answer lies in renewing my mind. Romans 12:2 (NIV) commands, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Instead of conforming to the world’s image, I seek transformation into the image of the reborn spirit within me. (Ephesians 4:24)

Wishing for it is not enough to bring about change. My mind is where the battle takes place. Whatever I allow to dominate my mind will rule my life. Will it be the Word of God or the lies of Satan? My choice.

James 4:7 says to “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The devil is going to attack my mind and cause me to wrestle with thoughts of fear, shame, guilt and rejection. How can I resist the devil? Jesus showed the way in Matthew 4 – combat the devil’s lies with the Word of God. When fear comes that I am going to fail, I remind the devil Jesus already won the victory!

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A Moth or a Cockroach

Everyone who hears the truth of the Gospel behaves like a bug. Which are you: a moth or a cockroach?

When you turn on a light, a moth is immediately attracted to it. The opposite reaction happens with a cockroach. He will scurry away to hide. People are the same way with the Gospel. John 3:19-21 (NIV): “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

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Close to the Fire

The Pogo comic strip appeared in the1970’s featuring a possum and an alligator. It’s most famous quote was, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I have faced many enemies: the pitcher who wanted to strike me out in grade school, the young man who tried to steal my girl in college, the boss who cut me down behind my back. Then there is the continuing lure of the flesh, the snare of unforgiveness. The most dangerous enemy I will face is…

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Let the Fire Fall

When I was five, my folks took me camping in Yosemite National Park. At that time, each evening visitors would gather at Camp Curry in Yosemite Valley and the ranger would call out, “Let the fire fall.” 3,000 feet above the valley on Glacier Point, a huge bonfire had been built and on that signal, bulldozers would begin pushing it over the cliff forming a spectacular fire fall in the darkness. Today if you visit Yosemite and ask the ranger, “When does the fire fall?” he will respond, “I’m sorry, the fire doesn’t fall here anymore.” How often is that a picture of our lives? There was a time when I said, “Lord, come into my life.”, a time when I was full of hope at what God could do in my life, but perhaps today the flame has dwindled and faded and is almost out…

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There Will Be Willow Days

The Feast of Tabernacles was a celebration of a successful harvest season at the same time being a reminder of God residing with His people for 40 years in the wilderness. Leviticus 23:40 (NLT) commands, “On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees–palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the LORD your God for seven days.” Leafy trees I think represent provision and abundance. The palm in Scripture spoke of victory and success. Think Hawaii; think happy dance. The willow, on the other hand, represents tears, trials and adversity. Life is a combination of all of these. We have palm days and willow days. I will not have palm days all the time; I will not have weeping willow days all the time. Life is a mixture but through it God is the same, unchanging…

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Someday I Will Hear This Heart Again

On March 4th, 2000 our 22 year old son Paul and his fiancé Amy were struck by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the interstate. Amy was declared dead at the scene. Paul was airlifted to the hospital where he was declared brain-dead 3 days later, and we signed his body over for organ donation.

Fast forward now to November of that year. I answered the phone one evening and I thought I recognized the voice on the other end as a friend who had moved to New Mexico a couple of years earlier. He asked if he and his wife could come over. I said, “Sure, it will be great to see you.” A half hour later the doorbell rang. When I opened it I faced a couple with their 5 children and I had never seen them before in my life. While my wife took the kids downstairs, I brought the couple into the living room and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?” The wife’s name was Linda and she was Paul’s heart recipient.

Just before leaving the hospital we had each taken a few minutes to say goodbye to Paul. When I was with him, I put my head to his chest, listened to his heart and declared, “Someday I will hear this heart again.” That night eight months later, I heard Paul’s heart again…

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The Glass Wall

I recently rented the movie Divergent. It takes place in Chicago sometime in the future. The world has been devastated by war. To keep from falling into chaos society has been structured along strict class lines: farmers, factory workers, intellectuals, government officials, warriors. Each youth upon coming of age must declare for a specific class and then go through training. The heroine in the story declares for warriors. Part of her training is to enter a drug induced series of hallucinations where she must face her worst fears. She finds herself in a glass chamber which is filling up with water. (See the clip at https://youtu.be/X70hGbGc2ZM) She pushes against the glass. She kicks and beats on it without success. Finally the chamber is full. She is drowning without hope and suddenly she realizes, “This isn’t real.” Repeating “This isn’t real”, she taps on the glass with her finger. It cracks. As she continues tapping it breaks and collapses, releasing her.

In your Christian walk, have you ever been going along pretty good and suddenly: Wham! You hit a glass wall…

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The Father Ran

How do you picture God the Father? Long white hair, golden crown, sitting on a heavenly throne? Calm, in control? Do you picture Him running? The Bible does not describe the Father as being in a hurry at any time except once: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. When the father sees his son at a distance, he can’t wait to embrace him so he runs. That was very undignified for a family patriarch to hitch up his robes and run down the street, yet that is the picture Jesus gives us of the emotion of our heavenly Father in welcoming us back. God meets us more than half way. He is not holding a grudge for all the dumb things I have done. Coming to God does not mean condemnation but rather celebration…

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