Military

Stomped-on and Slapped-down

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FEAR Over the last couple of weeks international news has focused on the missing Malaysian plane. Whenever the camera captured the faces of the family members, they were wrinkled with lines of agony. The fear of death had left them terrified and frightened.

Fear, terror, grief, and anxiety are emotions that are herculean in nature–strong emotions that wrestle us to the floor of our soul. Emotions like these are generally associated with loss that is either real or threatened.

David must have been in a situation like this when he wrote Psalm 56:1-2: “Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.”

You may have had times in your life when you could identify with David. You know what it is like to have a week of Mondays: It seems like you can’t get ahead because you’ve been stomped-on and slapped-down every time you try to do something.

When you feel like you’re down to the last straw and you want to avoid and withdraw from your problems and problem-makers, do what David did. He re-evaluated his resources: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me (Ps. 56:3-4)?

I know there are at least 63 different places in the Bible where the words “Fear not” are found. In Isaiah 41:10, God said: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

At some point in life, fears must be faced. The more you allow your fear to define you, the more it will confine you. According to Paul, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (I Tim. 1:7).”

When you look through the pages of the Bible, fear is usually the result of disobeying a command or disregarding a promise. In the first situation, a person disobeys because he thinks his reasoning is better than God’s, and in the second, he thinks the resources of God are insufficient.

Here is a tip to help you face your fear: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!” (Proverbs 3:5-7, The Message)

Producing Produce

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pecan-tree-river-ovalAre you producing produce? According to John 15:16-17, this is exactly what Jesus has chosen us to do: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

When we engage in the practice of producing produce, we will be living a relationship of love. This Christ-like kinship is an expression of the first and greatest commandment. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 22: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

To be effective produce producers, we need to have the right look:

• We need to LOOK UP to God in expressions of love and worship.
• We need to LOOK IN to see if we are living the disciplined life of a “chosen” child of God.
• We need to LOOK OUT to share the fruit of the Spirit with the people we encounter each day of our lives.

One more LOOK is needed, and it is a fresh peek at a principle in John 15: “ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

What produce are you producing?

MIA: Two Vowels and the Letter “M”

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miaPOW-MIA: The white stitching of these 6 letters is sewn on the bill of my black hat. The purpose and design of hats like these is to call us to duty, and that duty is to not forget and to always remember the sacrifice of those who served.

When I came home from work last night, I laid my hat aside and sat down in my chair. A little later I glanced at my hat, and my attention was focused on two vowels and the letter “M.”

The letters spell MIA (Missing In Action), and when I spin them around and rearrange them, they form a declaration and a question:

• I am!
• Am I?

As I think about this declaration and the question, I contemplate a conversation in Isaiah chapter six: “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah responded: “Here I am. Send me!”

I get the idea that up to this point in his life, Isaiah was MIA. The item of importance is not so much what Isaiah was or was not, but whether I am or am not.

Can I make a declaration or must I ask a question?

• I am serving the Lord!
• Am I serving the Lord?

This declaration and question was at the heart of what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 9:35-37: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Is your place in the harvest a declaration or a question?
• I am praying earnestly for more people to join hands and work in the harvest.
• I am actively at work in the harvest.
• Am I earnestly and actively using my gifts and abilities for God’s glory?

MIA: I am! or Am I? Two vowels and the letter “M”—How do they define your life?

The Morning Essential: Caffeine

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timcupI’m going to confirm what you may have suspected for some time: I’m a head-case. Not only am I a head-case, I’m a government certified, card-carrying, head-case!

Without boring you with too many details, I sustained a head injury while I served in the Air Force, and I’ve been plagued with daily headaches since 1972. Many different formulas have been prescribed to try to help me manage the pain, but nothing seems to work.

One of the pills I’ve tried consists of a blend of acetaminophen, butalbital, and caffeine. The acetaminophen is used to relieve inflammation and pain; the butalbital acts as a sedative relaxant; and the caffeine enhances the effects of the acetaminophen and butalbital.

Without the caffeine, the acetaminophen and butalbital would have some effect; however, for maximum effectiveness, the pill needs the presence of the caffeine.

I see a correlation between the effectiveness of the caffeine and the empowering and enlightening of the Holy Spirit that Paul wrote about in Ephesians: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.”

I guess you can say my morning routine includes caffeine and more caffeine. I begin by popping a K-Cup in my Keurig, going to my chair, and sipping my coffee as I ask for God’s Spirit to enlighten me as I read His word.

I know that I need to start every day with a fresh cup of His wisdom, and I invite you to join me—sip it in and live it out.

A Step Behind

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1downwardHave you ever had one of those days where you felt like you just couldn’t get caught up? Well, if you felt like you were a step behind yesterday, you may be an hour late this morning.

If you didn’t move your clock forward an hour yesterday, you may have some problems this morning. Instead of running a little late to work or school, you’re still falling backwards and need to leap ahead one hour—ASAP!

Time is an often discussed subject in the pages of Scripture, and Paul wrote of it in Romans 13: “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

The Apostle continued this theme when he wrote to the churches at Philippi and Colossae. In both letters he called on Christians to “redeem the time.” The word “redeem” is the Greek “exagorazó,” and it means to buy up. Paul was challenging people to buy up every opportunity to do what’s right, because of the downward spiral towards immorality.

Regardless of what you did with your seconds of yesterday, it is what you do with your minutes of today that is important. Yesterday is gone, but each hour of today is a gift from God, and they are ripe with the potential to change the future.

This truth is the focus of a discussion in The Fellowship of the Ring: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us (J.R.R. Tolkien).”

The question is not: “Are you having the time of your time?” The question that truly matters is this: “What are you going to do with the time of your life?”

Hand-Me-Down-Syndrome

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syndromeHand-Me-Down-Syndrome: I just checked Google, and I find no mention of it in a medical dictionary. Since this dreadful syndrome has afflicted most every person born into this world, its lack of mention is interesting

The first born child, often times, will not be fashioned by the hemlines of this condition, but she is directly involved in the distribution of this disorder. Prior to her birth, her mother, grandmother, aunts, and well-meaning family friends bought her cutesy, little pink girly dresses; and, within a few months she outgrows it all.

The Hand-Me-Down-Syndrome begins when the second child is born, and she gets the leftover hand-me-downs that had been previously worn by big sister. While this process is played out in many families, and it is a good money-saving practice, I received very little of what my older brother had worn. He was kind of a skinny, scrawny kid, and I was more robust—I much prefer robust to chunky!

This syndrome can manifest itself in either a negative or a positive fashion. As parents, we can pass-down unhealthy patterns of living (substance abuse, domestic violence, etc.), or we can be a guiding hand that provides positive re-enforcement.

Our children will mimic what we have modeled. Again, this can be either positive or negative. Paul gave a great example of this in his letter to Timothy: “I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also (2 Tim 1:3-5).”

Timothy was blessed by the powerful faith aspect of this syndrome. It began with his grandmother, was handed down to his mother, and Timothy dazzled the church as a fashion model of the faith.

How have you modeled your faith for your family? What are you handing-down and passing-on to them?

Head Games

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skull3-01-111413-2344I came across some statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health concerning fear and worry. After reading the findings, I find myself fearing that people worry too much or, worrying that people fear too much.
The study by the NIMH indicates that:
• 60% of fears are over things that will never happen.
• 30% of fears are focused on things that happened in the past
• 90 % of fears are somewhat insignificant
• 88% are health-related fears (hypochondriacs)

The Anxiety and Depression Society of America has stated that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population). Uncontrolled worry can have a debilitating effect on a person’s appetite, relationships, job performance, and sleep.

Please pay attention to this: Whatever gets your attention gets you. The content of your thoughts determine the contentment of your life.

As you read this you might say: “You’re crazy! You don’t know what’s happening in my life!” Statements like this are externally focused. While it’s true there are times when we have no control over the externals of life, we do control the internals.

A key means of controlling the internals is to be introspective with a proper perspective. This is a technique that is at least as old as the Apostle Paul, who said: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.”

It takes discipline and practice to make this a habit. This is because many people are born with a negative bias in the way they see life. Research indicates that the brain is more likely to focus on negative feelings instead of positive feelings.

The brain’s focus on negative feelings has been called the FUD Factor (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). When our thoughts are left unattended they wander into the wilderness of negativity and stumble into the cesspool of distress.

This is one reason Paul said that we need to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Some thoughts can be wonderfully captivating; however, others are so powerful in their negativity a person becomes a prisoner of his own mind.

How aware are you of the hundreds of mental-messages that flash through your mind each day? Is your self-talk wholesome conversation that builds your self-esteem and glorifies God? 1index When you begin to recognize the pattern of your thoughts, you’ve taken the first step into the transformation that renews your mind (Romans 12:2).

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prayerworldFIRST thing this morning, join hands and hearts with Christians in the Ukraine, and, PRAY for PEACE.

Psalm 63: O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.

For more information on the call for prayer in the Ukraine and for the Christians there, read this article: Pastors Hope All-Night Prayer Vigil Prevents Russia from Invading Ukraine