Christ-centered, family-friendly devotionals that glorify God
Author: Steve Sawyer
God blessed me with the gift of writing. Mom told me I wrote paragraphs in second grade when others were learning to write sentences. I spent more than three decades in professional writing gigs. For the past eight years I've combined my passion for writing with my love for the Lord. He and I write a Christ-centered, family-friendly blog to glorify God Monday-thru Friday at https://stevensawyer.wordpress.com/. My wife and I have four grown children and two precious granddaughters we co-parent with their mom. I'm a Galatians 2:20 disciple of Christ seeking to allow Christ to live His life in me, through me, and as me.
EDITOR’S NOTE I published this post back in 2014. It remains one of my readers’ most liked posts.
Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question unless they are prepared for the answer.
In a trial in a small Southern town the prosecuting attorney called his first witness, an elderelyl grandmotherly woman to the stand. The prosecutor asked the woman, “Mrs Baker, do you know who I am?”
She responded, “Well, of course I know who you are, Mr Calhoun. I’ve known you since you was a little boy, and frankly you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife. You manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a big shot when you ain’t got the brains to realize you’ll never amount to anything more than a two-bit pencil pusher. Yes I know you.
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room. “Mrs Baker. Do you know the defense attorney, Mr. Brock?”
She again responded, “Why yes, of course I know Mr. Brock. I’ve known him since he was a youngster too, He’s lazy and a bigot and he’s got a drinkin’ problem. He don’t have a decent relationship with anybody, and his law practice is one of the worst in the whole state. Not to mention that he cheated on his wife with three different women, and one of ‘em was your wife, Mr. Calhoun. Yes, I know him. The defense attorney nearly died.
The judge asked both attorneys to approach the bench. He leaned over the bench and in a low voice”, almost a whisper he said, “If either of you ask her if she knows me, I’ll send both of you to the electric chair.”
If someone who knows you were a Christian and a follower of Christ came up to you and asked you, What do you truly believe? How would you confidently respond?
As a small boy I memorized and learned to recite the Apostle’s Creed. Its memory and words of belief and faith have remained in my heart all these many years and serve as my testimony about what I sincerely believe about God and life.
I believe in God, Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. On the third day he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sitith at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the Holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Our president (and I use that term loosely) recently told a gathering at the United Nation that the US will commit $11 Billion, (that’s Billion with a “B“) to “Climate Change” funding and what he said will help “save our planet”.
I can just hear God and Jesus both chuckling together over this totally absurd presidential gaff!
Lots of countries are committing millions of dollars and millions of resources to what they believe will lead to transformative climate change and save our planet. I read a statistic recently about electric cars. The research revealed that if everyone on the planet drove an electric car for a year, the result would warm the planet a whopping .00002 of one degree.
I have said this before: Climate Change is a total joke from a bunch of liberal dreamer clowns trying to play GOD.
Theyall refuse to accept God’s role in all this nonsense.
First of all GodCREATED the planet they’re all trying to save. With one wave of His hand God could make the earth evaporate. But he’s not going to do that. And He doesn’t need anyone on Earth to help him save the planet, if that’s what he chooses to do.
God also created every human being on the planet.Why? Why would Almighty God create all those people? One word–LOVE.
God created mankind to love them and provide for their well-being so they would in turn glorify Him, by surrendering their lives to him, claiming Jesus Christ as their Savior, and becoming a child of God.
Mankind’s efforts to change the climate will fail miserably. God is in complete control of the climate, the earth, and every other thing or human being He has ever created.
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Proverbs 16:4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:1-3
An organization functions best when each person correctly accesses his/her gifts, then deploys those gifts as a part of a team effort. Organizations get into trouble when individuals try to function independently rather than collectively as a team.A good model to follow is I Corinthians 12. Paul describes the Church as the human body. My body has different parts, such as feet, hands, ears, and eyes. My body does not function well if my eyes try to hear or my ears try to see. There is also dysfunction when one part of my body starts claiming that it is more important than another part. Each part is extremely important and essential for my body to function as a coordinated unit.
There is a beautiful example of this reported in China. A couple of eco-warriors in China are redefining what it means to work together. Jia Haixa is blind, and Jia Wenqi is a double amputee who lost both his arms at age 3. They both found it very difficult to find a job.
In 2001, they decided to engage this basic principle. They began working together planting trees along the riverbank in their hometown of Hebei. Despite the fact that neither one of them could do the work by himself, they discovered that together they could accomplish amazing things. They saw their respective situations not as disabilities but as possibilities if they worked together. The 53-year-olds have now managed to plant 10,000 trees over the last 10 years!
Today they are making a modest living which is helpful to their families but is also helping to protect their village from dangerous floods. Haixa says, “I am his hands. He is my eyes. We are good partners.” It is amazing what can happen when each person contributes his best gift to the work of the entire team.
There is a story about a captain of a ship and the chief engineer who one day began arguing about which was more important to the ship. To settle the argument, they decided to swap jobs for a few hours. The chief engineer went up to the bridge and the captain went into the engine room.
About an hour later the captain appeared on the bridge. He was covered with oil and soot and wildly waving a monkey wrench. He said, “I can’t make her go.” The chief quickly said, “Of course you can’t, we have run aground.”
An important aspect is the capability to both give and receive the help we need. It was reported that Apple chief executive Tim Cook revealed he once offered a dying Steve Jobs part of his own liver. Jobs’ response was, “I’ll never let you do that.” He refused the help. Cook said that he worked with Jobs for 13 years and was never yelled at but four or five times, but this was one of them. I wonder what could have been if Steve Jobs had received Tim Cook’s offer.
Working together is the “together” that makes for success. Sir Thomas Beecham, the eminent conductor of the London Symphony, was once the guest conductor in another venue and was frustrated with the seemingly undisciplined group of musicians. During the rehearsal, the concert master asked Mr. Beecham how he wanted a particular section played. After a long pause, and with great emphasis, he replied, “Together!”
We may not have it all together, but together we can have it all!
Every one will face an impossible situation at least once in their life. If you haven’t yet, one is on its way. Trust me.
When one arrives, it devastates the whole family. Panic, despair and fear settle in. There’s not even a straw to grab on to.
It’s the elephant in the room that won’t go away. It could be a spouse dying from lung cancer. It could be papers on the kitchen counter your wife brought you to sign to make your divorce final. It could be those bills on the desk you have no idea how you’ll pay them. It could be the miscarriage your daughter-in-law just told you about. It could be your neighbor across the street who had a stroke on Saturday and died on Sunday. Your water heater is leaking all over the garage floor. You’re getting another splitting migraine headache. “God, help! Won’t you do something? All this suffering. And no relief in sight.
Regardless of the severity or duration of your impossible situation, there is only one way to find relief and healing.
Go to Jesus.
Jairus knew that. In Luke chapter 8 his only daughter, just 14, was very sick and was dying. She hadn’t gotten out of bed for a month.
This was Jairus’ impossible situation. But he knew what to do. He trekked across town to find Jesus, who was in the temple. Jesus agreed to go home with Jairus to check on his daughter.
On their way home, some of Jairus’ friends met them on the road. One of them said, “Jairus, we have horrible news. We regret to tell you that your daughter is dead. Jesus said “No she isn’t. She’s not dead, she’s just sleeping.”
Jesus walked into the little girls bedroom. And there lying in the corner in the shadows was the still little figure. Jesus sat on the bed and took her pale hand. He
reached down into death and gently brought the little girl back to life.
She leapt out of bed. Jesus threw open the shutters and sunlight flooded the dark room.
“Hungry, little girl?” Jesus asked. She nodded”.” Jesus called to her family, “Bring this little girl some breakfast.”
And that’s how to heal impossible situations. The only way–with Jesus
Portions of this blog post were taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pg. 220
In my opinion gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and queers could not have picked a more offensive, morally reprehensive label to celebrate.
Pride is at the root of every sin known to mankind. Every one.
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:8.
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Proverb s 8:13
You folks and your pride collide headlong into God’s will for your lives and lifestyle.
My friends over at Miriam Webster’s place describe pride as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements
Totally self-absorbed, self-centered. ME ME ME! Focused on what you think of yourselves rather than showing thankfulness for who your Creator and mine created you to be. No matter what or who you are and what you believe about yourselves, God loves every one of you unconditionally and has a beautiful plan for your life if you will trust Him and His will.
I have a suggestion: A serious one that just might be a beautiful thing.
Rather tha call your celebration PRIDE, why not your celebration–SERVE?
After all Jesus commanded me and you to LOVE ANOTHER and to consider the needs of others greater than our own. That’s our greatest purpose. It’s God’s personal calling for each of our lives.
Foot washing was common around the evening meal dinner table in Jesus’ day.
But wait a minute. This is the Creator of the Universe bent over washing the disciples’ feet. This is the Savior the world. The King of kings. The Lord of Lords. Washing feet. Peter said “No.” But Jesus said to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then Peter answered, “Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well. “
This account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet is the only place in all of Scripture when Jesus gives the disciples a personal, visible example of how they are to love and serve each other.
So, are you ready to wash your family’s feet tonight at supper? How about your neighbor’s feet, whom you don’t particularly like? Are you ready to wash a stranger’s feet who is hungry and tired and cold?
Are you ready to serve and love others like the example Jesus showed his disciples by washing their feet?
So many people today are hurting, misguided, looking for answers, and feeling totally inadequate and broken. Many of them go for help in places that falsely lead to greater brokenness.
This was the case of Riaan Swiegelaar. In looking for answers, he began to resonate with the people and views of satanism. He joined their group.
He became a leader and was one of the cofounders of the South African Satanic Church. It was the first satanic church in the country of South Africa.
Earlier in 2021, he was doing a series of radio interviews concerning the satanic church. He was not ugly or argumentative—he just confessed that the people following Satan had cared most for him.
An amazing thing happened. After the radio interview, the interviewer named Amy came up to speak to him and simply hugged him appropriately. He said he had never experienced that from a person who called themselves a Christian. He couldn’t believe it. He had only experienced negative rejection from Christians.
I don’t know what Amy might have said to him. She did communicate that she was a Christian and that Jesus loved everybody.
A little later, Swiegelaar was involved in a satanic ritual, and he felt that Jesus appeared to him. He said that he recognized that it was Jesus because he saw in Him the same kind of accepting love that he had seen in Amy at the radio station. That was how he recognized the love of Christ.
He became a believer on May 30, 2022. He resigned as a “Presiding Reverend” of a satanic church. It just reminds me that God can change anybody anytime from anything.
Please note that it was the witness of a wonderful person who didn’t judge or condemn, but simply allowed the love of Christ to show through her. Jesus uses people to bring people to Him.
I encounter people who say that they have gone too far for Jesus to redeem them. Each of us is just a person who has sinned and stand in need of God’s forgiving, redeeming love that has no boundaries. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) That “whosoever” is the most inclusive word in the English language. It includes everybody!
The founder of a satanic church is on a different road in life today because somebody shared the love of Christ with him. That’s what we are called to do as Christians.
We live in a world that is broken and is filled with broken people. Broken people want to get fixed somewhere. The only real fix is done by Jesus. He is the Great Physician and can heal anybody. Whenever anybody chooses to follow Jesus, that person becomes a new creation. (II Corinthians 5:17)
I am so grateful for who Jesus is and how vast is His love. His love reached me and fixed my brokenness. His love reaches you. It reaches out to every person regardless of what they have done.
Be sure that you receive God’s grace. Be sure that you become the kind of witness that helps broken people find healing. I like the words of an old country preacher who said, “I’m just a nobody telling everybody about somebody who can change anybody.”
Jesus can fix any broken person or situation!Back to my blog
So many people today are hurting, misguided, looking for answers, and feeling totally inadequate and broken. Many of them go for help in places that falsely lead to greater brokenness.
This was the case of Riaan Swiegelaar. In looking for answers, he began to resonate with the people and views of satanism. He joined their group.
He became a leader and was one of the cofounders of the South African Satanic Church. It was the first satanic church in the country of South Africa.
Earlier in 2021, he was doing a series of radio interviews concerning the satanic church. He was not ugly or argumentative—he just confessed that the people following Satan had cared most for him.
An amazing thing happened. After the radio interview, the interviewer named Amy came up to speak to him and simply hugged him appropriately. He said he had never experienced that from a person who called themselves a Christian. He couldn’t believe it. He had only experienced negative rejection from Christians.
I don’t know what Amy might have said to him. She did communicate that she was a Christian and that Jesus loved everybody.
A little later, Swiegelaar was involved in a satanic ritual, and he felt that Jesus appeared to him. He said that he recognized that it was Jesus because he saw in Him the same kind of accepting love that he had seen in Amy at the radio station. That was how he recognized the love of Christ.
He became a believer on May 30, 2022. He resigned as a “Presiding Reverend” of a satanic church. It just reminds me that God can change anybody anytime from anything.
Please note that it was the witness of a wonderful person who didn’t judge or condemn, but simply allowed the love of Christ to show through her. Jesus uses people to bring people to Him.
I encounter people who say that they have gone too far for Jesus to redeem them. Each of us is just a person who has sinned and stand in need of God’s forgiving, redeeming love that has no boundaries. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) That “whosoever” is the most inclusive word in the English language. It includes everybody!
The founder of a satanic church is on a different road in life today because somebody shared the love of Christ with him. That’s what we are called to do as Christians.
We live in a world that is broken and is filled with broken people. Broken people want to get fixed somewhere. The only real fix is done by Jesus. He is the Great Physician and can heal anybody. Whenever anybody chooses to follow Jesus, that person becomes a new creation. (II Corinthians 5:17)
I am so grateful for who Jesus is and how vast is His love. His love reached me and fixed my brokenness. His love reaches you. It reaches out to every person regardless of what they have done.
Be sure that you receive God’s grace. Be sure that you become the kind of witness that helps broken people find healing. I like the words of an old country preacher who said, “I’m just a nobody telling everybody about somebody who can change anybody.”
Jesus can fix any broken person or situation!Back to my blog
Suffering is never easy. It is amplified when it befalls the family. It can become almost unbearable when the one suffering is a child. Even worse when the suffering child is your only daughter.
My saga of dealing with my daughter’s suffering actually began when Leah married the love of her life, Danny Stephens. I have never seen a couple so much in love as those two were. They doted on each other, and fawned over each other. It was such a joy to see them love each other.
They tried to have a baby naturally. It didn’t work. They tried in-vitro fertilization. And that didn’t work either. They both really wanted a Stephens’ baby. So they collected Danny’s sperm and Leah’s eggs and hoped for another way, another day.
In February, 2021 Leah was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Then, just four months later Leah fixed Danny a bowl of ice cream and took it to him in their bedroom. She went back to check on him a few minutes later. . .
Danny was dead.–a sudden massive heart attack.
Leah’s ovarian cancer treatment is ongoing. She is participating in a trial at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. They told her that surgery for her cancer would be very, very risky.
Leah works in a research project at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Several months ago driving home from work she was in an accident and totalled her car. She broke several bones in her back and had to wear a cumbersome back brace for a month.
Then on August 26 she was admitted back to M.D. Anderson for acute care. They were treating her for pneumonia. For several days she had trouble standing and walking. No pneumonia thank God. She’s better now and is feeling better back home. She goes back to M.D. Anderson on the 18th or 19th to meet with the oncologist to see if the cancer has spread to the lungs.
Please pray for relief and healing for Leah.
Leah and Danny both know Jesus. I know, as sure as I know my own name, that in just a flash Leah and Danny will be reunited and resume the love relationship they started down here, then live together and love each other for all Eternity with God in heaven.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Let’s unpack this pivotal verse and see what God reveals to us about our life.
First of all if anyone is in Christ, (is a true believer with an intimate personal relational with Christ) the rest of this verse is true about them.
the newcreation has come–that’s you my brother and sister, the new creation. You are brand new in Jesus. You have a new life. You don’t have to do anything.
the old is gone. The word “old“ in this text is from our English word for archeology which means buried, irrelevant, gone, useless.
The Apostle Paul says that when we are united with Christ through faith in Him, it is like putting on new clothing. In fact, when Jesus saves us and gives us His Spirit, it’s like putting on a new set of clothes each day. So, if you’ve got a new set of clothes to put on you have to take off and destroy your old clothes.
Wouldn’t you love to be living that new life in Christ all the time?
But if you don’t bury your old clothes, what often happens is that something from that old self rears its ugly head and we find ourselves wrestling with a demon or two from that old buried life.
Sometimes, if you don’t bury your old clothes you can think something from your past will define your future. Maybe you dropped out, maybe you slept around, maybe you were in jail, maybe you were a drunk, maybe you were a thief. But who you’ve been does not define who you will be. We are not who we were; but we are still becoming who we are.
The Apostle Paul says that when we are united with Christ through faith in Him, it is like putting on new clothing. In fact, when Jesus saves us and gives us His Spirit, it’s like putting on a new set of clothes each day. So, if you’ve got a new set of clothes to put on you have to take off and destroy your old clothes.
Idleman
The inspiration for this post was a message entitled "The Old is gone, the new has come" by Kyle Idleman, Senior Pastor, Southeastern Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.
I didn’t go in for all that Nintendo and game boy fad in the 80’s. It didn’t intrigue me like it did a few of my friends. The Nintendoe technology was crude and still in its neophyte stage. The Nintendo did have one really cool feature though. Right next to the “START” button was the “RESET” button. So if you didn’t like your score, or just wanted to start over, all you had to do was hit “RESET” and you could begin a new game, start over. A brand new fresh start.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a reset button for life?
What about that discussion you had with your wife that went South in a heartbeat and you said some awful, mean, hurtful things to her. With the reset button it’s like it never happened. You could reset the balance on your credit card so your balance could go back to $0. You could reset your marriage, relationships, the mortgage. All kinds of stuff if you just had a reset button.
Some
If you are in Christ, then Jesus is your life’s reset button. Jesus has a brand new life for you; but you need to completely destroy the old you completely.
So how do you make sure your old self is gone completely. That’s no easy task. Come back to my For His Glory blog site Monday t find out how you can get rid of your old self completely and forever. Promise!
The experts define stress as our body’s way of responding to any kind of external demand or threat. In other words: your life feels out of control.
Stress doesn’t just bother us. It overwhelms us. Stress can trigger other troubling emotions such as fear, anger, irritability, anxiety, depression, isolation, panic attacks loneliness and more.
Our stress response1 is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.
When stress grips our body, what do we want right then more than anything else: rest and peace. Right?
Stress impacts folks differently, depending on the life event causing the stress. A pair of psychologists studied stress and assigned numeric values to a variety of life events causing stress. They call them Life Change Units, or LCU’s. Here are a few and their numeric values:2
Death of a spouse–100
Divorce–73
Marriage–50 [Shouldn’t this number be higher?] :>)
Pregnancy–40
Trouble with in-laws–29
Change in sleeping habits–16
1To review all the LCU’s or evaluate your stress level by the numbers now, click here.
However, all the LCU’s and psychologists and doctors and stress management books and tapes and websites can’t begin to relieve our stress as thoroughly and as quickly as these proven stress relievers.
Try these infallible stress relievers:
You want rest?
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and humble in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 61:1-2
You want peace?
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; [Talk to God about your stress]and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Here’s another: In the middle of your struggle and trials with stress, just keep repeating the name, Jesus. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
A note to ye of little faith in these stress relievers:
You may think just saying scripture is bogus. “No way quoting scripture is going to relieve my stress.”
I would ask you, have you tried it? If not, why? What’s do you have to lose except stress?
If you’ve tried it and it doesn’t seem to work for you: Keep quoting. Keep meditating. Keep memorizing and keep remembering:
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Many Americans go to the beach on Labor Day weekend, or another favorite vacation spot in the woods or mountains, or perhaps taking a “stay-cation” in their own backyard. This holiday marks the end of summer, the last chance to relax together as a family before school and fall activities start.
It’s a good time to think about labor—work. Work is regarded, even by some Christians, as part of the curse that came as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:1-24).
But work actually came before the curse. When God created Adam in his image, He gave him work to do—just as He Himself had worked in creation (Genesis 2:15,19-20).
The word labor or toil comes from a root word meaning “representative, messenger, one sent.” God placed Adam and Eve on earth to care for it as his representatives (Genesis 1:26-28). After they disobeyed, their sin effected their work. God cursed the ground with thorns and thistles and said, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:17-19).
We all find thorns and thistles in our gardens. Fellow workers do not always cooperate. Someone else gets the attention or raise we wanted. Our ideal job turns out to be much more effort than we expected. We sweat, maybe psychologically more than physically.
We need to recognize that God has given us work—“good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” as Paul says in Ephesians 2:10. We need to seek his guidance in finding our jobs and then dedicate them unto Him, especially when difficulties appear. If we allow God to work through the thorns, thistles and sweat, we will grow and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30).
Can you see that God has given you your work? Instead of “TGIF,” can you say, “Thank you God, for the work you’ve given me”?
I published this post earlier this summer. We need to keep hammering this message home. These left-wing radical climate change and green new deal intellectual snobs are in direct conflict with God and His creation.
They are not unlike scores of other left wing radical, angry, extremists in society devoid of common sense. They rally around some make-believe cause and rebel and protest and burn things and break windows and give word-salad speeches to convince others to think like them.
The green new deal is a hoax and a fraud. There’s no way the green new deal ever happens.
Think about this: Who’s going to make all the parts for electric cars and how will parts be mad?All the climate change and all the green new deal folks will fail.
For one reason–God is in charge of everything. He is sovereign. Nothing that happens ever, that is not under His control.
There is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.” God has no competition in this universe. There is nobody He is trying to wrestle control of this universe from. Psalm 125:2
God will determine what happens in the earth and everything that happens on it when and how. God controls everything that happens in the entire universe.
These green-new dealers and all the climate-changers are claiming “We can do things better than God. Let’s see who’s right in the end.
I celebrated 13 years of blogging in April. Starting on Tuesday September 20, and Tuesdays thereafter I’m going to dip into my archives and re-publish some of my favorite (and some of your favorite) posts that appeared on FHG from years gone by.
I hope you enjoy this reminiscent trip down some terrific Tuesdays with me.
How many folks reading this post have ever bought something off an infomercial on TV? Come on. Be honest. Well, at least some of you are buying. In 2015 for instance, infomercial sales pushed $250 billion.
That’s billion with a B
Even if you’ve never bought something on an infomercial, I’ll bet you probably know someone who has. To be honest I’ve never known anyone who’s ever praised a product, gimmick or gadget they bought from an infomercial. In fact, I’ll bet most of the reactions are just the opposite of praise.
Even my pastor succumbed to the wiles of a slick pitch man one night to the tune of $45. The wand was going to take the place of his back yard sprayer. It didn’t. The magic wand ended up in the trash. The pastor was livid. He was disgusted with himself for being so guidable.
Do you know why infomercials get such a bad rap for being so cheap and sleezy. First of all because they are cheap and sleezy.
Secondly and most telling–Because they over sell and under deliver.
And if we’re not careful, infomercial faith can creep into the church and inhibit our ability to handle impossible situation that beleaguer us in life.
Folks with infomercial faith know just a little bit about Jesus and the bible but their faith and their Christian walk is shallow and shy of the truth.
Ordinary or Extraordinary We had about 400 children in the pre-school at Frazer Methodist Church. On Friday mornings, they had chapel and would invite me. They would often sing a song that has a great message: You are a promise! You are a possibility! You are a promise with a capital “P”! You are a great big bundle of potentiality! And if you’ll listen, you’ll hear God’s voice; And if you’re trying, He’ll help you make the right choice You’re a promise to be anything He wants you to be! You can go anywhere that He wants you to go, You can be anything that He wants you to be, You can climb the high mountain, You can cross the wide sea, You’re a great big promise you see! We have a great opportunity to encourage other people, especially children and young people, to allow God to help them reach their potential. God always puts people in our path to whom we can make a difference with our encouragement. Every person has potential, but sometimes it takes other people to bring out that potential. I love the story of John Mark in the Book of Acts. Paul carried him on his first missionary journey. John Mark didn’t expect the harsh conditions. I think he was expecting it to be more like he had at his mother’s house. The conditions were tough. John Mark made a decision to leave the rest of the group and go home. (Acts 13:13) Later, Paul and Barnabas were getting ready to take their second missionary journey. Barnabas suggested that they take John Mark with them. Paul insisted that he wasn’t going down that road again. John Mark had made a mistake, and Paul was not going to take him. The disagreement became so great between Barnabas and Paul that Barnabas suggested that he take John Mark with him, and he and Paul went in two different directions. (Acts 15:37-39) It’s tough for me to say that the Apostle Paul made a mistake, but he did in his relationship with John Mark, because he was a great asset to God’s kingdom as he ministered with Barnabas. Barnabas was an encourager. He brought out the potential in John Mark. In the latter part of Paul’s life, he was asking for certain things to give him comfort and encouragement. He recognized that he had made a mistake with John Mark, and he requested that John Mark come see him and minister both to him and with him! (II Timothy 4:11) John Mark had immense potential. He was a real promise. Barnabas brought that out in him. Be a Barnabas today! Check out who wrote the second book of the New Testament! You can look at people and be critical and fail to see their potential, or you can look at people as God sees them and discover the unbelievable potential in every person. Looking through human glasses, you see people who appear to be less than ordinary. Looking through God’s glasses, you see extraordinary people with potentiality with a capital P! What do you see?
How long has it been since you have heard a ministers’ message from the pulpit about Satan?
Probably quite a while, if ever I’d guess. Do you know why? Because Satan is difficult to talk about. He’s also difficult to hear about.
Kevin Myer
Before we go on–Everyone reading this post, no matter who you are, where you’re from, whether you are a believer or not, we are ALL in a war–a spiritual war.
Let’s go back to the Garden. Adam and Eve had the chance to trust God and enjoy all the benefits and blessings of Paradise in the Garden.
But Satan had other plans. Satan played with their appetites. “See how good that fruit looks. Surely it’s delicious and will be good for you.”
Adam said, “but God said it is forbidden to eat it. And if we eat it we will die.”
“Oh, God didn’t really mean that”, Satan said. If you eat that delicious fruit you certainly will not die”.
“And why would you want to follow his rules and worship him? Don’t you want to govern yourselves, make your own decisions. Come on, be open-minded.”
But Adam and Eve fell to the temptation, and they sinned. As a result they lost it all and everything that went with it.
But God, being all wise and loving did not want to leave his children in this God-forsaken world, so he sent his one and only son “I
God wanted to call us back to follow Him
As far as Satan goes I think a lot of folks with marginal faith concock a bunch of stuff they’ve heard or read some stories from other people to assuage their conscience and can say to their friend they know Satan.
You see,the thief (Satan) comes only to steal, kill and destroy.
Remember, whether we want to be or not, we are in the biggest war of our lives–a spiritual war. Everyone needs to believe it.
I think lots of folks with marginal faith fabricate a definition of what they think Satan is to assuage their conscience so they can say they know Satan. But their idea of Satan goes something like this:
“I believe in jesus and I try to follow him, but I don’t believe Satan is a real being. The devil is like a concept. When you get right down to it the truth is that it’s just me and God trying to figure this life down here out.”
Okay, first of all, Satan has no physical body. He is a spirit being. He whispers lies in your ear. At one time he was called an angel of light. Fallen angels became demons and they can tempt us.
Satan is a liar. He hates the Cross of Christ. He is not omniscient. he is not omnipresent.
Satan can only tempt us, He can’t make us sin. We have to choose to sin. He pretends to be our friend when he is tempting us.rgiveness
Every sinful or “holy” choice we make. Forgiveness removes the eternal consequences but rarely the earthly ones.
In a trial in a small Southern town the prosecuting attorney called his first witness, an elderely grandmotherly woman to the stand. The prosecutor asked the woman, “Mrs. Baker, do you know who I am?”
She responded, “Well, of course I know who you are, Mr Calhoun. I’ve known you since you was a little boy, and frankly you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife. You manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a big shot when you ain’t got the brains to realize you’ll never amount to anything more than a two-bit pencil pusher. Yes I know you.
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room. “Mrs Baker. Do you know the defense attorney, Mr. Brock?”
She again responded, “Why yes, of course I know Mr. Brock. I’ve known him since he was a youngster too. He’s lazy and a bigot and he’s got a drinkin’ problem. He don’t have a decent relationship with anybody, and his law practice is one of the worst in the whole state. Not to mention that he cheated on his wife with three different women, and one of ‘em was your wife, Mr. Calhoun. Yes, I know him. The defense attorney nearly died.
The judge asked both attorneys to approach the bench. He leaned over the bench and in a low voice” almost a whisper he said, “If either of you asks her if she knows me, I’ll send both of you to the electric chair.”
In his book, The Rest Of The Gospel Dan Stone writes most of us live behind our buts. No matter how we phrase the sentence, what lies behind our buts is our truth.
For instance,
“I’d like to help with Sunday School, but I’m not very good with children.”
My neighbor needs Jesus, but I’m afraid he’ll get mad if I share my faith with him.”
“I know the student ministry needs help, but I can’t relate to teenagers these days.”
“I’d love to play ball with you, Son, but there’s a baseball game on I want to watch.”
“They asked me to volunteer in the food pantry Saturday, but that’s my day off.”
Isn’t it a good time to get off our buts and start being servants?
In Henry Blackaby’s Bible study, Experiencing God, Blackaby says we need to look around to see where God is at work and join Him in His work. Living behind our buts with Christ’s perspective sounds like this:
“I’m not very good with children, but I know they need help in Sunday School.”
“I don’t understand teenagers today, but I know the student ministry needs help, so I’m going to help.”
“Saturday’s my day off, but I’m going to help them out in the food pantry anyway.”
Where we put our buts can make an eternal difference in the lives of others and in our own walk of faith as servants of the Most High God.
So, how big is your but?
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DONT MISS READING FOR HIS GLORY M0NDAY. I’m publishing one of my favorite and funniest posts ever, Mississippi Grandma. I think you’ll love it even if you’re not from the South. See you back here Monday.
It’s interesting to me to see different items that appear in a medical doctor’s exam rooms. I recently went with my wife, Lynn, to Dr. Pat Ryan, a neurosurgeon, because she was having difficulties with her back.
I had been to Dr. Ryan about four years ago, and he was very helpful to me in determining a course of action. Lynn had gone to him before with difficulties with her back. He directed her to a pain management program that provided a positive long-lasting effect.
Now we were back in one of those exam rooms. On the wall, you see a receptacle where different items can be placed. I was fascinated to see in the top bin that there was a Southern Living magazine, a large Holy Bible, and a little green New Testament.
A lot of people equate Southern Living with the Holy Bible. It’s easy to translate the values of life into the context of the area in which we live – whether it’s the south, north, east, or west. I’m proud to live in the south, but we need to derive our values from the Bible and not from Southern Living.
I’m glad the Holy Bible and the New Testament were both in the top bin of the receptacle. The best health–physical, mental, and spiritual–comes from the Bible.
In the next niche, there is a red folder with papers inside. If you get close enough, you can read that the tab on the folder is labeled “Healthy Lifestyle Information.” It is information that patients can take home with them to improve their lifestyle.
The most helpful lifestyle information does come from the Holy Bible. It is important to not treat it as new information, but to act on it. Healthy lifestyle information is to be applied. If we follow carefully, what it teaches, we will be healthy!
There’s one other yellow folder in the bottom niche. The label on the tab says, “Cigarette smoking and its risks.” The attitude towards cigarette smoking has changed dramatically in recent years. Conclusive evidence has shown that smoking cigarettes carries a risk.
I found it interesting seeing those four items in the exam room. I commented to Dr. Ryan about my observation. He smiled and said, “The most important one is the Holy Bible. It has the best prescription for dealing with the issues of life.” I like that.
The Bible was not placed in that exam room to “cram down somebody’s throat.” It was just there. Any patient could pick it up and read it if they wanted to. It speaks to the issues of life–but the voice of the Bible is not heard until it is read. It’s your best medical journal!
A doctor’s exam room can be intimidating. Anxiety levels can go up as you wait for the doctor’s diagnosis. Knowing that the Great Physician is there, and His prescription pad is available will bring comfort, peace, and healing. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Seek first God’s Kingdom and everything you need will be given to you. (Matthew 6:33) Apollos was an eloquent man who was mighty in the scriptures. (Acts 18:24)
God’s presence changes an exam room from intimidating to an exam room of inspiration!
Gays and the folk over at the LGBTQs place have invented some pretty queer (can I use “queer” in this sentence?) identities to call themselves.
Here’s a list of them: male, female, transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these. Notice the first two.
What if you meet a lady friend in the mall. Let’s say her name is Ruth. You say, “Hey Ruth. How are you?” And she says, “Please call me Ruth genderqueer now.”
After you pick your teeth up off the floor, you shake your head and wipe the tears off your cheeks and walk on by.
Let’s go back to the first two gender IDs on the list–“Male” and “Female”.
The male and female identities are the only true, legitimate genders. A person can call themselves anything they want. You can call yourself a turnip or a postage stamp. Whatever you choose to call yourself does absolutely NOTHING to influence your gender. Every human being on the planet is either a male or a female.
From Genesis: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
From Genesis–28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
So, from the beginning of everything God created two genders, male and female. That’s all he needed to populate the earth. So, every human being on the planet is either a male or a female gender. Anything else is just a joke.
This is one example of just how “blinkin” broken this country is:
Rep. Tim Scott, a Republican and an African American wrote an op-ed piece about racism in America that a New York Times pod cast editor was going to be published in the Times. In an editorial meeting discussing Scoot’s piece, a senior Times editor said, (Are you sitting down?) he said “Let’s run this piece by Chuck Schumer to see if he thinks we ought to run it.” Yes he did say it.
That’s just how blinkin’ bad it’s getting in this country.
Sometimes Christians find themselves believing and living a counterfeit Christianity.
This type of fraudulent living is never productive. In fact, if you keep practicing it,
it can reek havoc with all your relationships, your work, your marriage and your intimate relationship with God
The inspiration for this series comes from a message from Pastor Trey Hildebrandt at 12Stone church called Christianity is a Lifestyle
Counterfeit Christianity–Legalism
If your brand of Christianity embraces legalism you develop a dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith. You stress obedience rather than faith.
Legalism emphasizes a need “to perform certain deeds in order to gain salvation (works) and.
right standing before God.
Additionally, legalism refers to the view that Christians should be a Christian witness to things such as gambling, dancing, consuming alcohol, enjoying secular entertainment, or wearing immodest clothing.
"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Sharing the Gospel message of hope, strength, love, and peace through Jesus Christ to those who are hurting in their soul or spirit. This is the mission of Healthy Mind Ministry
"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Sharing the Gospel message of hope, strength, love, and peace through Jesus Christ to those who are hurting in their soul or spirit. This is the mission of Healthy Mind Ministry
For His Glory 