Go For It

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Luke 5:1-10

In his fine little book Fully Human, Fully Alive, author John Powell relates an experience of a friend who was vacationing in the Bahamas. The friend was sightseeing when he noticed a crowd gathered toward the end of a pier. He walked down to investigate the commotion. Powell says:

. . . he discovered that the object of all the attention was a young man making the last-minute preparations for a solo journey around the world in a homemade boat. Without exception everyone on the pier was pessimistic. All were actively volunteering to tell the ambitious sailor all the things that could possibly go wrong. . . .

When my friend heard all these discouraging warnings to the adventurous young man, he felt an irresistible desire to offer some optimism and encouragement. As the little craft began drifting away from the pier towards the horizon, my friend . . . kept shouting: "BON VOYAGE! You're really something! We're with you. We're proud of you!"

How few are those who see beyond the danger . . . who say to those on the edge of some venture, "Go for it!" Funny, isn't it? I suppose it's related to one's inner ability to imagine, to envision, to be enraptured by the unseen, all the hazards and hardships notwithstanding.

How glad I am that certain visionaries refused to listen to the crowd on the pier. I'm glad . . .

• that Edison didn't give up on the light bulb
• that Luther refused to back down
• that Michelangelo kept painting
• that Lindbergh kept flying
• that Papa Ten Boom said "yes" to frightened Jews

Almost every day—certainly every week—we encounter people who are in their own homemade boat, thinking seriously about setting forth. The ocean of possibilities is enormously inviting, yet terribly threatening. Urge them on! Dare to say what they need to hear the most, "Go for it!" Then pray like mad. How much could be accomplished if only there were brave souls on the end of the pier smiling and affirming.

Most of the time it's not a matter of having the goods, but of hearing the bads.

Perspective: see from God's point of view

Posted by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Hebrews 5:14 (NLT)

"Knowledge is learning what God has said and done. Perspective is understanding why God said it or did it. "

Perspective is understanding something because you see it from a larger frame of reference. It is the ability to perceive how things are interrelated and then judge their comparative importance. 

And, for believers, it means seeing life from God's point of view.  In the Bible, the words "understanding", "wisdom", and "discernment" all have to do with perspective. The opposite of perspective is "hardness of heart", "blinded" and "dullness."

Psalm 103:7 says, "He (God) made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel."  The people of Israel got to see what God did, but Moses got to understand why God did it.  This is the difference between knowledge and perspective. Knowledge is learning what God has said and done. Perspective is understanding why God said it or did it.

Perspective answers the "Why?" questions of life.

The Bible says that unbelievers have no spiritual perspective (1 Corinthians 2:14). Likewise a lack of perspective is a mark of spiritual immaturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-2, 13:11, 14:20). God's reoccurring complaint about the nation of Israel was that they lacked perspective. Many of the prophets rebuked this weakness (Isaiah 44:18, Jeremiah 4:22, Micah 4:12).

In contrast, having perspective is evidence of spiritual maturity and our ability to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

God knows you. Is that disturbing or comforting?

By Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)

Knowing the truth - that God knows everything in your life, can either be very disturbing or very comforting.  It depends on your relationship to Him, whether you're trying to fool Him or not.

Have you been acting as if God is totally unaware of your life in any of these five areas?

• God know your faults and failures, but he still loves you unconditionally.

• God knows your feelings and frustrations, and he sees your hurt more than anyone else can.

• God knows your future, so he can tell what you need to know.

• God knows your fears, and he wants you to hand your worries over to him.

• God knows your faithfulness because he sees every good thing you do.

The fact that God knows everything is a tremendous motivator for me to live a godly life. I realize that nothing in my life is in secret; nothing I face will hinder his ability to help me; nothing that is to come will catch him by surprise; nothing I fear will be too big for God's strength; and nothing I do in his name is ever done in vain.

God says, "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jeremiah 29:11, MSG)

God knows your faithfulness

By Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up. Galatians 6:9 (HCSB)

If God sees all the good things that I do, then my response should be,
"Don't Be Discouraged!"

Here's another benefit from God knowing everything: He sees everything you do that is good and right. Every time you choose not to sin, every time you resist temptation, every time you take a stand because of God's Truth, he sees your faithfulness to Him. 

The Bible says every good deed will be rewarded, no matter how insignificant and regardless of whether anybody else on earth sees it.

Every encouragement you give to other people, every kind word you give to your children, every time you do a thoughtful act for your husband, every time you pick up around the office when it's not your job, every time you set up chairs in church or stuff bulletins, every act of courtesy, every time you refuse to gossip, every time your positive instead of negative -- God sees it all, no matter how small. (Matthew 10:40-42)

Imagine yourself on a giant stage and you're the only person on that stage.  You're acting out your life.  In the audience there is only one person and it's God.  He's out there clapping and saying "I see that good thing you just did.  Keep on going! Nobody else saw it, but I saw it." 

So what should be my response?  If God sees all the good things that I do and He's out there cheering me on, then my response should be, "Don't Be Discouraged!"

You may be thinking, "I've been trying to do the right thing in my marriage.  I don't see any results.  I've been trying to be the right kind of person and respond correctly with my kids or to my parents.  I've been trying to do the right thing at work or at school. And I don't know if it's paying off.  I don't see it making any difference in anybody's life."

God says, "I see it and it doesn't matter who else sees it."

Nothing good we ever do is ever done in vain: "So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up." (Galatians 6:9, HCSB)

God knows what gets you stressed

Posted by Rick Warren at crosswalk.com

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:8 (NIV)

"Prayer is never giving information to God. He already knows what's going on in your life. "

God knows everything that gets you stressed. For instance, many of us today are concerned about the economy, and so we have financial fears.

And then we act as if God is unaware of our bills?  "Don't you see, God?  I'm going under!  I'm not going to make it!"  We're trying to stretch and make ends meet. We get uptight, upset, and we worry. But worry is the result of not realizing the omniscience of God. 

When we think that God doesn't know what's going on in our lives, then we think we have to take matters into our own hands.  In effect, we're saying, "I'll be God." Worrying is taking responsibility for things God never intended you to have. 

The truth is God is aware of all your needs. He's aware of every single need you have: financial needs, spiritual needs, sexual needs, social needs, emotional needs. In fact, the Bible says God knows what you need before you ask.  Prayer is never giving information to God. He already knows what's going on in your life.

What's the use of praying, then?  God's waiting for you to ask Him for help. The Bible says, "You have not because you ask not."

God's Delivery Service

[ As a lung cancer survivor, this really hit home. He’s kept me around so far for a reason! – JS ]

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

1 Corinthians 2

I don't know where you are today, but I have a sneaky suspicion that you, like me, might have a few intruders crowding into your life and could use some divine reinforcements. If so, don't hesitate to call for help. Tell your Father that you are running out of hope and energy and ideas . . . that you need "not . . . words taught by human wisdom, but . . . those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. . . . For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:13, 16).

You may have cancer. So what can you do? You dial Heaven 911 and you tell God you have an emergency need: "I have cancer, Lord, and I need wisdom." And at that very moment He will begin to make His deliveries.

Amazingly, you soon discover that your greatest enemy is not the disease but subtle, slippery feelings of despair, the thief of peace. And so you rely on God's daily delivery service to get you through that one day. And then the next.

When Dan Richardson, an enthusiastic believer in Christ, lost his battle with cancer, the following piece was distributed at his memorial service.

Cancer is limited . . .

It cannot cripple love,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot eat away peace,
It cannot destroy confidence,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot shut out memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot reduce eternal life,
It cannot quench the Spirit,
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

You cannot deny that you have the disease, but you can deny despair from taking control. Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, call for God's daily delivery of wisdom, strength, and grace.

Each morning, slam the door on despair. If you don't, it will slip in and rob you. 
And you'll soon find a peace missing.

Take an inside look

By Selwyn Hughes at crosswalk.com

For reading & meditation: 1 Corinthians 11:27-34
"A man ought to examine himself '" (v.28)

From what we have seen over the past few days, it is clear that the psalmist has come to the place where his views have changed. He sees that God is ruling over human affairs and that the ungodly are not in such an enviable situation after all. We come now to see that he was not only put right in his thinking about the ungodly and about God, but he was also put right about himself: "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant: I was a brute beast before you" (Psa. 73:21-22). What a different view he has of himself now compared to previously, when he so evidently felt very sorry for himself: "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence" (v.13). Outside the sanctuary, he felt full of self-pity; inside the sanctuary, he had an entirely different view of himself. This is a moment when the psalmist honestly faces himself - something that is very difficult to do. Most of us don't mind working our way through our problems, but the moment we get relief, we want to stop right there. We do not go on to face up to what caused us to come to the wrong conclusions in the first place. This is why we keep going through the same problems over and over again - we fail to take an inside look. A schoolteacher claimed to have twenty-five years of experience, but her head teacher said of her: "She has just one year of experience twenty-five times." She worked long but learned little.

Prayer:

Father, I see why it is that so often I go through the same problems over and over again - I stop short of learning why they happened in the first place. Help me today to think through why it is that I get so tied up. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

For further study:

1 Chronicles 28:1-10; Jeremiah 17:10; Psalms 44:20-21
1. What did David reflect to Solomon?
2. What question did the Lord ask?

The Need for Integrity

By Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

1 Thessalonians 2:3

Leaders with power and brains are common. So are leaders with riches and popularity. But a competent leader full of integrity and skill, coupled with sincerity, is rare indeed.

Deception creates suspicion. Once the leader's followers begin to suspect motives or find that what is said publicly is denied privately, the thin wire of respect that holds everything in place snaps. Confidence drains away. All of us have suffered disappointment and no little fear as we watched President Clinton's secret life exposed to the public in the last several years. With each revelation of lies, our respect and confidence in our leader dwindled.

The late President Dwight Eisenhower stated his opinion with dogmatism: "The supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If his associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other."

I can think of few ingredients more foundational to being a good leader than knowing oneself—and accepting oneself—and feeling secure about oneself inside one's own skin.

"The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose."
—Dwight D. Eisenhower

Show you believe by belonging

By Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:35 (NLT)

"I can’t claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to any specific group of disciples."

The Bible says a Christian without a church home is like an organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without a family. It is an unnatural state. The Bible says, "You belong in God's household with every other Christian." (Ephesians 2:19b LB)

Today's culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual orphans—"bunny believers" who hop around from one church to another without any identity, accountability, or commitment. Many believe it is possible to be a "good Christian" without joining (or even attending) a local church, but God would strongly disagree.

The church is so significant that Jesus died on the cross for it. "Christ loved the church and gave his life for it." (Ephesians 5:25 GW)

Except for a few important exceptions referring to all believers throughout history, almost every time the word church is used in the Bible it refers to a local, visible congregation.

The New Testament assumes membership in a local congregation. The only Christians not members of a local fellowship were those under church discipline who had been removed from the fellowship because of gross public sin. (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Galatians 6:1-5)

The Bible offers many compelling reasons why you need to be committed and active in a local fellowship.

A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. I can't claim to be following Christ if I'm not committed to any specific group of disciples. Jesus said, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:35 NLT)

When we come together in love as a church family from different backgrounds, race, and social status, it is a witness to the world. (Galatians 3:28 MSG; see also John 17:21)

Don't just believe. Belong!

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

God's family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15b (GW)

"None of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves."

You are called to belong, not just believe.

Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden, God said, "It is not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18 NIV)

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God's purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits isolated from other believers and deprived of fellowship.

The Bible says we are put together, joined together, built together, members together, heirs together, fitted together, and held together and will be caught up together. (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:21, 22; 3:6; 4:16; Colossians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:17)

You're not on your own anymore!

While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God's family you are connected to every other believer, and we will belong to each other for eternity. The Bible says, "In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:5 NIV)

Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing. We are members of his Body—the church. C. S. Lewis noted that the word membership is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to "members," and advertisers use member names to create mailing lists. In churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your name to a roll, with no requirements or expectations.

To Paul, being a "member" of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the Body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building; an organism, not an organization. (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 6:15; 12:12-27)

God's purposes for his church are identical to his five purposes for you. Worship helps you focus on God; fellowship helps you face life's problems; discipleship helps fortify your faith; ministry helps find your talents; power helps fulfill your mission. There is nothing else on earth like the church!

Just ask!

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

"If you want to know what God really wants you to do, ask him . . . but if you don't ask in faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer." James 1:5-6 (LB)

"Have you ever asked God for something and didn't expect to get it? That's why you didn't get it."

The Bible says when we ask God for guidance, we need to believe he will give us that guidance.

Jesus said, "Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened" (Luke 11:9 NIV). Ask, seek, knock—ASK. God wants you to learn to ask. 

God is willing to give wisdom: "If you want to know what God really wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; but . . . if you don't ask in faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer" (James 1: 5-6 LB). 

God wants to direct you in life, but two things need to line up:  You have to ask the right person—God, and you have to ask with the right attitude—in faith, expecting an answer. 

Have you ever asked God for something and didn't expect to get it? That's why you didn't get it. God works in our lives according to faith. So many times we say, "God, please guide me!" and we walk away not even waiting for guidance. We just immediately start to work. We say, "God, I want you to give me wisdom, help me make the right decision." But we don't really expect Him to do that. We think it all depends on us. 

God has promised to give us wisdom, if we will ask. Wisdom is seeing life from God's point of view. Wisdom is the ability to make decisions the way God makes decisions.

Think about this: God never makes a bad decision. He never makes a mistake. He says if we trust Him and listen to Him, He will guide us. But we must ask in faith.

You can't decide without a guide

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." Psalm 25:9 (NIV)

The Bible says there are several things we need to do to receive guidance from God, but the very first thing is this:

I need to admit I need a guide!

Sheep, by nature, tend to wander off the path. The Prophet Isaiah says, "All of us like sheep have strayed away! We have left God's paths to follow our own." (Isaiah 53:6 NLT)

This is why we often don't know God's will. The truth is most of the time we don't want to follow God or anybody else. We want to go our own way. We don't want to admit we need direction or that we need a guide. 

Another thing about sheep is that they have poor vision. They can't see very far ahead. That's why, on a path, they don't know if it is heading toward a cliff, and that's why they need a shepherd. We can't see the future. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, much less next year or ten years from now. We don't even know what's going to happen this afternoon.

God made you so that you would not be able to see into the future no matter how much you try. Even with all the gimmicks to predict the future, you don't really know what's going to happen. Why did God do this? He did it so you would depend on Him.

Because we can't see into the future, we often stumble.  Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (NIV). We've all made decisions that at the time seemed right but later on turned out to be wrong. Some paths lead to dead ends and we end up off track. That's why we need to admit, "God, I need help." 

Think It Over

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

A bazaar was held in a village in northern India. Everyone brought his wares to trade and sell. One old farmer brought in a whole covey of quail. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird. The other ends of all the strings were tied to a ring which fit loosely over a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk dolefully in a circle, around and around, like mules at a sugarcane mill. Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the Hindu idea of respect for all life, so his heart of compassion went out to those poor little creatures walking in their monotonous circles.

"I want to buy them all," he told the merchant, who was elated. After receiving the money, he was surprised to hear the buyer say, "Now, I want you to set them all free."

"What's that, sir?"

"You heard me. Cut the strings from their legs and turn them loose. Set them all free!"

With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed at last. What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally, the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released . . . yet they kept going around in circles as if still tied.

Until you give yourself permission to be the unique person God made you to be . . . and to do the unpredictable things grace allows you to do . . . you will be like that covey of quail, marching around in vicious circles of fear, timidity, and boredom.

The Potter and the Clay

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Revelation 3:7-8

By now in our Christian walk we hardly need the reminder that life is not a cloud-nine utopia. It is a terribly unrealistic view to think that Christ helps you live happily ever after; it's downright unbiblical! Most of life is learning and growing, falling and getting back up, forgiving and forgetting, accepting and going on.

We know the sovereign Potter is working with our clay as He pleases. I've watched a few potters at work. And it's a funny thing. I have seen them suddenly mash the clay down and start over again. Each time they do this, the clay comes out looking entirely different. And with gifted potters, they can start over and over—and each time it's better and better.

He is the Potter, we are the clay. He is the one who gives the commands; we are the ones who obey. He never has to explain Himself; He never has to ask permission. He is shaping us over into the image of His Son, regardless of the pain and heartache that may require. Those lessons are learned a little easier when we remember that we are not in charge, He is.

Daniel Webster was asked,
"What is the greatest thought that can occupy a man's mind?"
He said, "His accountability to God."

Negotiating forgiveness

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

When it comes to forgiveness, we're tough negotiators. We open with an offer like, "I'll forgive you, if . . . ." Then, we follow with a subtle concession that sounds like a confession: "I can't forgive her until she learns her lesson."

When we think the other side is stonewalling, we take off the gloves: "If I forgive him, he'll just think he got away with it."

We think we're negotiating for God; we think we're negotiating for their souls; we think we're negotiation for justice, when all we're really doing is negotiating for control over the situation.

Truth says we can't conduct these negotiations. We're ambassadors of the King, and we represent, not our own, but the King's intentions as well as his character. The King says forgive and that means we forgive. See the period at the end of the previous sentence? We forgive.

The King's instructions are clear and unambiguous: If you forgive those who sin against you, then the King will forgive you for your sins against him. If you don't forgive those who sin against you, then the King won't forgive you for your sins against him. No room for negotiation there.

Anything else, such as saying, ""I'll forgive him, if . . ." isn't really forgiving; it's just negotiating, and God's court of justice will not recognize contracts made without kingly authority or permission.

The question is not should, if, or can someone be forgiven; the true question is will you make the choice to forgive?

Connect through commitment

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17 (NIV)

The final key to connecting: Be committed to the relationship.

It takes a lot of time to build a deep connection with somebody. And it requires commitment. 

I could not count the number of times that either Kay or I have felt like walking out of our marriage, particularly in the early years. But we didn't. Why? Because we'd made a commitment to God. I am so glad that we did not give up. Today, my wife is my best friend and I cannot imagine my life without her. 

Some of you may be in a relationship right now that is hanging on by less than a thread. Some of you are already in the stage of physical separation. Do not give up. We have a miracle-working God. The same God that raises the dead can raise a dead relationship if you're willing to be changed.

But it takes a commitment.

The Bible says this in Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loves at all times." That means even when it's inconvenient, when you don't feel like it, even when the other person doesn't deserve it, even at personal cost. That's what real friendship is all about.

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24 (NIV), "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." What does "a man of many companions may come to ruin" mean? Mere socializing can keep you from having deep relationships. You can be so busy making acquaintances that you never spend the time, energy and effort it takes to cultivate the deep, satisfying intimacy of a good friendship. 

You don't need a lot of friends to make it in this world but you do need a few good ones. One good friendship is better than ten thousand acquaintances. The acquaintances aren't going to be there in the crisis. Friends will. And every important close connection begins with a commitment.   

Who are you committed to? And who knows it? Have you gone to someone besides your spouse and said, "I just want you to know that I will always be there for you"? Have you ever established that kind of intentional commitment and said, "I want to grow close to you as a friend"? 

Here's the bottom line: You need people in your life who will be courageous, considerate, constructive, candid, confidential and committed. But there is only one way you're going to get people like this in your life: You have to be that kind of friend first.

A Fox in the Henhouse

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Galatians 6:7-8

I have been a Magic Johnson basketball fan ever since he made All-American at Michigan State. Magic was a champion without arrogance, an MVP without a peer.

And then, in one day, that love affair turned sour for some of us. We sat stunned. Magic had HIV! And to make the unbelievable hurt even more, he openly admitted that he had been promiscuous with numerous women. As he told Sports Illustrated: "The problem is that I can't pinpoint the time, the place, or the woman. It's a matter of numbers. . . . I confess that after I arrived in L.A., in 1979, I did my best to accommodate as many women as I could—most of them through unprotected sex."

Will someone please point out to me how those words resulted in such an avalanche of praise and approval, admiration and sympathy? While all the world seems impressed, I am both saddened and angry. Another national hero had been caught with his pants down . . . and now suffers the consequences.

At the risk of sounding terribly severe and perhaps unsympathetic, I must remind you that God's warning came over nineteen hundred years ago and has been true ever since mankind has inhabited this old planet: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:7-8).

Am I concerned over the AIDS epidemic? You bet your life I am. Do we need to warn the public and use every means possible to find ways to combat the disease? Absolutely.

But if we're looking for individuals who have the right to speak publicly, let's choose those who really have been victimized, like innocent folks who were given contaminated blood transfusions or the innocent children who were born with it or brokenhearted parents whose homes have been ripped apart as they helplessly watch their son or daughter die. These and others like them are the real victims of the AIDS virus. Their words will carry far more weight than some athletic fox who spent too much time in the henhouse.

"And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray us / In deepest consequence" 
(William Shakespeare).

How About 99.9%?

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Romans 4:4-5; Psalm 103

When the Ritz-Carlton Hotels won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the owner of that outstanding organization, Mr. William Johnson, stated that now they would need to work even harder to earn the respect that came with the award. "Quality," he said, "is a race with no finish line."

He is correct. Competitive excellence requires 100% all of the time. Ever tracked the consequences of "almost but not quite"? According to some fine research by Natalie Gabal, if 99.9% were considered good enough, then this year alone . . . 2,000,000 documents would be lost by the IRS; 12 babies would be given to the wrong parents each day; 291 pacemaker operations would be performed incorrectly; 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions would be written (to cite just a few examples).

Instead of applying this negatively to the practical side of life, I'd much rather compare it positively to the theological. Remember that forgotten word "justification"? Justification is the sovereign act of God whereby He declares righteous the believing sinner while that person is still in a sinning state. He doesn't suddenly make us righteous (we still sin). He declares us righteous. How righteous does God declare us? One hundred percent righteous. Stop and think: Upon believing in Jesus Christ's substitutionary death and bodily resurrection, the once-lost sinner is instantly, unconditionally, and permanently "declared 100% righteous." Anything less and we are not righteous . . . we're almost righteous.

If we were declared 99.9% righteous, some verses would have to be rewritten. Like Isaiah 1:18, which might then read: "'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD, 'though your sins are as scarlet, they will be light pink.'"

Nonsense! The promise of sins forgiven is all or nothing. Unlike the earthly race for excellence, the race against sin had a finish line. Otherwise, when Jesus breathed His last breath, He would've said, "It is almost finished." And we would have to keep working at it, adding to something Christ didn't finish at the cross.

Let's never, ever forget that God is into "white as snow," not light pink.

If Christ had paid 99.9% of the debt of sin,
not one of us would have a chance at heaven.

The Final Toll

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Romans 14:7-9

Sleep came hard for me last night. Earlier that evening, Cynthia and I had read together a letter from our long-time friend Wally Norling, who had just returned from the bedside of Betty, his "loving partner in life for forty-two years." Betty is dying of cancer of the liver, and Wally's letter, written in the midst of that, was a gracious, understated masterpiece of faith.

I lay there wide awake, reviewing the forty-plus years Cynthia and l have had together. I thought about those innocent early years, which seemed so tough back then. Years of enforced separation (thanks to the military), of a career change, of graduate school, of financially lean times, of learning and growing closer together.

Then came our child-bearing years—wonderful years, so incredibly surprising to both of us. The loss of two precious children by miscarriage, the healthy births of four. Yes, four! The simple joys of tent camping, of early schooling, of struggling with "finding myself" in pulpit style. Discovering much of what "being a pastor" meant. All the while, Cynthia was right there . . . understanding, affirming, being mother to our children and partner with me, assuring me that it was worth all the effort. Though she never bragged about it, l know she prayed me through many a sermon. As I improved, I got the credit, but she deserved the applause. As the song goes, she was the wind beneath my wings . . . and boy, did I need healthy gusts at times! Still do.

Read the rest…

We know God's Truth Jesus Christ

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NLT)

The Bible says that Jesus was full of grace and truth. Truth is not a principle. Truth is a person; truth is Jesus Christ.

One of the clearest and best-known statements by Jesus is: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, NLT)

Notice Jesus says, "I and the truth ...." He doesn't say truth is a religion, or a ritual, or a set of rules and regulations. He says "I." Truth is a person.

This is what separates Jesus Christ from every other leader of every other faith. Other leaders have said, "I'm looking for the truth" or "I'm teaching the truth" or "I point to the truth" or "I'm a prophet of truth." Jesus comes and says, "I am the truth."

A lot of people say, "I think Jesus was just a great teacher." But he couldn't be just that: No great teacher would claim to be God if he wasn't. Either Jesus is conning 2.3 billion people who believe a lie, or he was nuts, or Jesus is who he said he was.

Everybody's betting their life on something. I'm betting my life that Jesus is who he said he was.

What do you do with the truth once you've discovered it? Four things:

1. Believe the truth!

2. Do the truth -- Truth is not just an intellectual exercise; it's something you obey.

3. Stand for the truth -- The Bible tells us our responsibility is to never oppose the truth but to stand for it at all times.

4. Spread the truth.

The Bible says, "Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth and the fact that you were in dead earnest about it." (Titus 2:7) There's a lot in the Bible that I don't understand and that makes me uncomfortable. But the fact is, it is the truth. It is a map that always takes me where it promises.

"Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!'" (John 14:6-7, NLT)

We Know God's Truth through Careful Consideration

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Proverbs 4:26 (HCSB)

When you tell God, "I want the truth more than anything else," he will reveal his truth to you in a variety of ways, such as through creation or your conscience and also through careful consideration.

In other words, truth is knowable. You can test it; you can experiment with it; you can prove it.

If I want to go to San Francisco and I follow a map that takes me to San Francisco, and the next week I follow the same map to San Francisco again, eventually I figure out that the map is true.

The same is true of the Bible: If you follow its map again and again, you'll find it to be true. It always takes you where it says it's going to take you. You may not always like where it takes you, but it always takes you where it says it's going to take you.

Often people say, "Why won't God just write it in the sky?" Why would God do that? He gave you a brain. But most people never slow down long enough for such careful consideration. Most people just drift through life.

The Bible tells us, "Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established." (Proverbs 4:26, HCSB)

Spend some time in careful consideration, in thoughtful observation, and ask yourself: "Am I on a true path?"

God's Provision in Your Life – 2/15/10

by Adrian Rogers at crosswalk.com

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

A philosopher once said, "To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough."

What most people want is to have some money in the bank —  to have something there so whatever tomorrow brings, they'll not have to worry about it. We call that security.

Question: Is that really security? Who is more secure — the man who has a warehouse full of stale bread that the rats or thieves can get, or the man who has a father who is a very, very rich baker?

Begin your prayer time today with the Lord's Prayer and ask Him to help you to be content. Bow before Him in humble adoration of His provision in your life. Then share the Bread of Life with someone who is hungry today.

The Importance of Character and Integrity – Christian Devotional – 2/12/10

by Adrian Rogers at crosswalk.com

"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him." Proverbs 20:7

This world says, "If we could just arrange conditions so that we never had any sorrow, pain, or hurts, then we could change men. If we can change conditions, then we can change character."

But the Bible teaches just the opposite. The world puts the emphasis on conditions. God puts the emphasis on character.

Someone has well said, "You can't purify the water by painting the pump." And yet that's what we try to do. We think that if we can change the exterior or make conditions such that we never have any hurts, then we're going to be okay. But Jesus put the emphasis upon character — on what you are, not what you have.

Is there someone in your life that you admire? Someone who is a person of integrity? Praise God for His work in that person's life and give him or her a word of encouragement today.

Fear – Christian Devotional – 2/11/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Psalm 27; 2 Timothy 1:7; Isaiah 51:12-16

We were rapidly descending through a night of thick fog at 200 miles per hour, but the seasoned pilot of the twin-engine Aero Commander was loving every dip, roll, and lurch. At one point he looked over at me, smiled, and exclaimed, "Hey, Chuck, isn't this great?" I didn't answer. As the lonely plane knifed through the overcast pre-dawn sky, I was reviewing every Bible verse I'd ever known and re-confessing every wrong I'd ever done. It was like hurtling 200 miles an hour down the Santa Ana Freeway with a white bedsheet wrapped across the windshield and your radio turned up just beneath the threshold of audible pain.

I couldn't believe my companion-in-flight. He was whistling and humming like it was all a bike ride through the park. His passenger, however, had ten fingernails imbedded in the cushion. I stared longingly for something—anything—through the blanket of white surrounding us. Our flight record may have indicated two passengers on that eerie Monday morning, but I can vouch for at least three. An unyielding creature called Fear and I shared the same seat.

Drifting in through cracks in the floorboards or filtering down like a chilling mist, the fog called Fear whispers omens of the unknown and the unseen. Surrounding individuals with its blinding, billowy robe, the creature hisses, "What if . . . what if?" One blast of its awful breath transforms saints into atheists, reversing a person's entire mind-set. Its bite releases a paralyzing venom in its victim, and it isn't long before doubt begins to dull the vision. To one who falls prey to this attack, the creature displays no mercy. As we fall, it steps on our face with the weight of a Sherman tank . . . and laughs at our crippled condition as it prepares for another assault.

Fear. Ever met this beast? Sure you have. It creeps into your cockpit by a dozen different doors. Fear of failure. Fear of heights. Fear of crowds. Fear of disease. Fear of rejection. Fear of unemployment. Fear of what others are saying about you. Fear of moving away. Fear of height or depth or distance or death. Fear of being yourself. Fear of buying. Fear of selling. Fear of financial reversal. Fear of war. Fear of the dark. Fear of being alone.

Lurking in the shadows around every imaginable corner, it threatens to poison your inner peace and outward poise. Bully that it is, the creature relies on scare tactics and surprise attacks. It watches for your vulnerable moment, then picks the lock that safeguards your security. Once inside, it strikes quickly to transform spiritual muscle into mental mush. The prognosis for recovery is neither bright nor cheery.

David's twenty-seventh psalm, however, is known to contain an unusually effective antitoxin. With broad, bold strokes, the monarch of Israel pens a prescription guaranteed to infuse iron into our bones. He meets Fear face-to-face at the door of his dwelling with two questions:

Whom shall I dread? 
Whom shall I fear?

He slams the door in Fear's face with the declaration:

My heart will not fear . . . In spite of this I shall be confident. 
(Psalm 27:3)

He then whistles and hums to himself as he walks back into the family room, kitchen, office, or bedroom, reminding himself of the daily dosage required to counteract Fear's repeated attacks:

PRAYER: I have asked from the Lord (v. 4). 
VISION: I behold the beauty of the Lord (v. 4). 
GOD'S WORD: I meditate in His temple (v. 4). 
GOD'S PROTECTION: In the day of trouble He will conceal me/hide me/lift me (v. 5). 
MOMENT-BY-MOMENT WORSHIP: I will sing (v. 6). 
REST: I had believed . . . wait for the Lord (vv. 13-14). 
DETERMINATION: Let your heart take courage (v. 14).

Oh, how I needed this prescription in that dark cockpit as we dropped thousands of feet through the fog. Could it be that a cold overcast obscures your horizons right now? Tell you what—let's share the same seat and relax for a change. God's never missed the runway through all the centuries of fearful fog. But you might fasten your seat belt, friend. It could get a little rough before we land.

Gathering in His Name – Christian Devotional – 2/10/10

by Adrian Rogers at crosswalk.com

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

There's something wonderful about the unity we experience when we are together. I heard about a fellow who courted a girl by writing her a beautiful love letter every day for two years. He thought that would be a wonderful way to court her.

Do you know what happened? She married the mail carrier! There's nothing like being there.

There is nothing like personal contact. There is a sense in which Jesus Christ is present when His people gather that cannot be experienced any other way. You cannot get it the same way at home.

Do you have a church home? If not, I encourage you to find one today.

If church attendance isn't that important, then I wonder: why does Satan work so hard to keep folks away? If you do have a church home, make a special effort this week to meet a new friend and find a need they have which you can meet.

Growing Old – Christian Devotional – 2/9/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Proverbs 16:31; Psalm 92:14; Isaiah 46:4; Titus 2:2-3

Growing old, like taxes, is a fact we all must face. Now, you're not going to get me to declare when growing up stops and growing old starts—not on your life! But there are some signs we can read along life's journey that suggest we are entering the transition (how's that for diplomacy?).

Physically, the aging "bod" puts on the brakes. You begin to huff and puff when you used to rip and zip. You prefer to sit more than stand . . . to watch more than to do . . . to forget your birthday rather than remember it! Mentally, the aging brain longs for relief. You can't remember like you used to, and you don't respond like you ought to. You start thinking more about yesterday and tomorrow and less about today.Emotionally, you undergo strange fears and feelings you once swore would "never occur in me," such as:

• Being negative, critical, and downright ornery at times. 
• Being reluctant to let those who are younger carry more responsibility.
• Feeling unwanted and "in the way." 
• Preoccupied with "what if" rather frequently. 
• Feeling guilty over previous mistakes and wrong decisions. 
• Feeling forgotten, unloved, lonely, and passed by. 
• Threatened by sounds, speed, financial uncertainty, and disease. 
• Resisting the need to adjust and adapt.

All this—and there is much more—is worsened by the memory of those days when you once were so very efficient, capable, needed, and fulfilled. As you look into the mirror, you're forced to admit that the fingers of age have begun to scratch their marks upon your house of clay . . . and it's hard to believe your twilight years could be of any worth.

How wrong! How terribly wrong! How destructive such thoughts can be! How quickly such thinking can sentence you to the prison cell of self-pity surrounded by the four bleak walls of doubt, depression, uselessness, and grief.

God's patriarchs have always been among His choicest possessions. Abraham was far more effective once he grew old and mellow. Moses wasn't used with any measure of success until he turned eighty. Caleb was eighty-five when he began to enjoy God's best goals. Samuel was old, old when the God of Israel led him to establish the "school of the prophets," an institution that had a lasting influence for spirituality and godliness in the centuries to come. And who could deny the way God used Paul during his last days on his knees, writing words of encouragement in letters we cherish today!

No one fails to see that growing old has its difficulties and heartaches. It does, indeed. But to see only the hot sands of your desert experience and miss the lovely oases here and there (though they may be few) is to turn the latter part of your journey through life into an arid, tasteless endurance which makes everyone miserable.

Please don't forget—God has decided to let you live this long. Your old age is not a mistake . . . nor an oversight . . . nor an afterthought. Isn't it about time you cooled your tongue and softened your smile with a refreshing drink from the water of God's oasis? You've been thirsty a long, long time.

Resentment – Christian Devotional – 2/8/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at Crosswalk.com

2 Timothy 2:24; Hebrews 12:14, 15; James 3:14-16; 1 John 2:9-11

Leonard Holt was a paragon of respectability. He was a middle-aged, hard-working lab technician who had worked at the same Pennsylvania paper mill for nineteen years. Having been a Boy Scout leader, an affectionate father, a member of the local fire brigade, and a regular church-goer, he was admired as a model in his community. Until . . .

. . . that image exploded in a well-planned hour of bloodshed one brisk October morning. Holt decided to mount a one-man revolt against the world he inwardly resented. A proficient marksman, he stuffed two pistols into his coat pockets—a .45 automatic and a Smith and Wesson .38—before he drove his station wagon to the mill. Parking quietly, he gripped a gun in each fist, then slowly stalked into the shop. He started shooting with such calculated frenzy that it resembled a scene out of "Gunsmoke." He filled several of his fellow workmen with two and three bullets apiece, firing more than thirty shots in all . . . deliberately killing some of the men he had known for over fifteen years. When a posse was formed to capture the man, they found him standing in his doorway, snarling defiantly:

"Come and get me, you _________; 
I'm not taking any more of your _______."

Total bewilderment swept over the neighborhood. Puzzled policemen and friends finally discovered a tenuous chain of logic behind his brief reign of terror. Down deep within the heart and soul of Leonard Holt rumbled intense resentment. The man who had appeared like a monk on the outside was seething with murderous hatred within. A subsequent investigation led officials to numerous discoveries yielding such evidence. Several of the victims had been promoted over him while he remained in the same position. More than one in his car pool had quit riding with him due to his reckless driving. A neighbor had been threatened, then struck by Holt after an argument over a fallen tree. The man was brimming with resentful rage that could be held in check no longer.

Beneath his picture in Time magazine, the caption told the truth:

RESPONSIBLE, RESPECTABLE— 
AND RESENTFUL

So it is with resentment. Allowed to fester through neglect, the toxic fumes of hatred foam to a boil within the steamroom of the soul. Pressure mounts to a maddening magnitude. By then it's only a matter of time. The damage is always tragic, often irreparable:

• a battered child 
• a crime of passion 
• ugly, caustic words 
• loss of a job 
• a runaway 
• a bad record 
• domestic disharmony 
• a ruined testimony

None of this is new. Solomon described the problem long ag

Pretty words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a common clay pot. 
A man with hate in his heart may sound pleasant enough, but don't believe him; for he is cursing you in his heart. Though he pretends to be so kind, his hatred will finally come to light for all to see. 
(Proverbs 26:23-26, TLB)

The answer to resentment isn't complicated, it's just painful. It requires honesty. You must first admit it's there. It then requires humility. You must confess it before the One who died for such sins. It may even be necessary for you to make it right with those you have offended out of resentful bitterness. Finally, it requires vulnerability—a willingness to keep that tendency submissive to God's regular reproof, and a genuinely teachable, unguarded attitude.

Nobody ever dreamed Leonard Holt had a problem with resentment. And nobody dreams you do either.

Not yet . . . 

Christian Calling – 2/5/10

 
The word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Psalm 33:4-5 - Additional prayer and thoughts at heartlight.org

Pro-abortionists are pro-choice except for Pam Tebow's choice!

Your Habits Define Your Character

Posted by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress. 1 Timothy 4:15 (GW)

While you were given a brand new nature at the moment of conversion, you still have old habits, patterns, and practices that need to be removed and replaced.

Let go of the fears that keep you from growing -- The truth will set us free but it often makes us miserable first. The fear of what we might discover if we honestly faced our character defects keeps us living in the prison of denial. Only as God is allowed to shine the light of his truth on our faults, failures, and hang-ups can we begin to work on them. This is why you cannot grow without a humble, teachable attitude.

Stop basing your identity around your 'defects' -- We say, "It's just like me to be ..." and "It's just the way I am." The unconscious worry is that if I let go of my habit, my hurt, or my hang-up, who will I be? This fear can definitely slow down your growth.

As I wrote yesterday, good habits take time to develop. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits. You can't claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind—you show kindness without even thinking about it. You can't claim to have integrity unless it is your habit to always be honest. A husband who is faithful to his wife most of the time is not faithful at all! Your habits define your character.

There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character: You must practice them—and that takes time! There are no instant habits. Paul urged Timothy, "Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress." (1 Timothy 4:15 GW)

Christian Calling 2-4-10

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2 (from heartlight.org)

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.” Jerry Bridges

INCREDIBLE! Man Who Attacks Pope as Hurting People in the Name of Jesus Gets Appointed to Oversee Faith-Based Initiatives

The Final Priority – Christian Devotional – 2/4/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Matthew 12:33-37; John 17:20-26; 1 John 4:7-21

Somebody copied the following paraphrase from a well-worn carbon in the billfold of a thirty-year veteran missionary. With her husband, she was on her way to another tour of duty at Khartoum, Sudan. No one seems to know who authored it, but whoever it was captured the essence of the greatest essay on love ever written.

If I have the language ever so perfectly and speak like a pundit, and have not the love that grips the heart, I am nothing. If I have decorations and diplomas and am proficient in up-to-date methods and have not the touch of understanding love, I am nothing.

If I am able to worst my opponents in argument so as to make fools of them, and have not the wooing note, I am nothing. If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and wonderful visions, and have not the love that sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I am nothing.

If I surrender all prospects, and leaving home and friends and comforts, give myself to the showy sacrifice of a missionary career, and turn sour and selfish amid the daily annoyances and personal slights of a missionary life, and though I give my body to be consumed in the heat and sweat and mildew of India, and have not the love that yields its rights, its coveted leisure, its pet plans, I am nothing, nothing. Virtue has ceased to go out of me.

If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease, but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of love that is kind, I am nothing. If I write books and publish articles that set the world agape and fail to transcribe the word of the cross in the language of love, I am nothing. Worse, I may be competent, busy, fussy, punctilious, and well-equipped, but like the church at Laodicea—nauseating to Christ.

How about you and me committing ourselves to a life like this . . . a life that amounts to something . . . rather than nothing.

Each new day God brings our way is a fresh opportunity. 

Christian Calling – 2/3/10

ACTION Alert! Please Sign The Manhattan Declaration

Top 10 Articles of January 2010 - Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff: Is God mad at Haiti? Does God always speak? How do we really "wrestle in prayer"? Read more about spiritual life, pop culture, and current events in this month's top 10.

I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. -- Psalm 59:16

 

Let Christ stay throughout the meal.  Don't dismiss Him with the blessing. ~ Unknown 

Doing vs. Being – Christian Devotional – 2/3/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at Crosswalk.com

Ecclesiastes 2:11; 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16

My high school graduating class had its thirtieth anniversary reunion a number of summers ago. I'm sure they had a ball. A blast would better describe it, knowing that crowd. You gotta understand the east side of Houston back in the 1950s to have some idea of that explosive student body . . . a couple of thousand strong and a lot of 'em mean as a junkyard dog with a nail in his paw.

Since I wasn't able to attend the reunion, I decided to blow the dust off my yearbook and stroll down nostalgia lane. Faces aroused smiles and stories as one memory after another washed over me. Funny, I remembered a project we seniors were given before the yearbook went to press back in '52. We were asked to think about the next twenty years and answer, "What do I want to do?" The plan was to record our dreams and goals in the yearbook, then evaluate them when we met again at each subsequent reunion . . . you know, sort of a decade-by-decade checkup. Some of the goals are not fitting to repeat, but some are both interesting and revealing.

Several said: "Make a million bucks."

Others:

• "Win all-American honors and play professional football." 
• "Be the concertmaster of a symphony orchestra." 
• "Finish medical school and have a practice in Honolulu." 
• "Become the world heavyweight boxing champion." 
• "Make a living writing short stories, plays, and novels." 
• "Travel abroad as a news correspondent." 
• "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse."

All sorts of goals. Some admirable, some questionable, some crazy, a few stupid.

Without wanting to sound needlessly critical, as I look back over three decades, I think we were asked to answer the wrong question. What we want to do is not nearly as important as what we want to be. And the longer I live the more significant that becomes. It's possible to do lots of things yet be zilch as a person.

Doing is usually connected with a vocation or career, how we make a living. Being is much deeper. It relates to character, who we are, and how we make a life. Doing is tied in closely with activity, accomplishments, and tangible things—like salary, prestige, involvements, roles, and trophies. Being, on the other hand, has more to do with intangibles, the kind of people we become down inside, much of which can't be measured by objective yardsticks and impressive awards. But of the two, beingwill ultimately outdistance doing every time. It may take half a lifetime to perfect . . . but hands down, it's far more valuable. And lasting. And inspiring.

Remember those familiar words from Colossians 3? Twice we read, "Whatever you do . . . whatever you do . . ." (Colossians 3:17, 23). It's almost as if the Lord is saying, "Makes no difference what it is, whatever you do . . . " But then He immediately addresses things that have to do with being. Like being thankful, being considerate, being obedient, being sincere, being diligent. Same pattern—God emphasizes being more than doing.

So then, are you giving thought these days to things that count? I hope so. Goal-setting and achieving are important, especially if we are in need of being motivated. Moving in the right direction is a great way to break the mold of mediocrity. It's helpful to ask, "What do I want to do?"

But while you're at it, take a deeper look inside. Ask yourself the harder question, "What do I want to be?" Then listen to your heart . . . your inner spirit. True treasures will emerge. Pick one or two to start with. Don't tell anybody, just concentrate some time and attention on that particular target. Watch God work. It will amaze you how He arranges circumstances so that the very target you and He decided on will begin to take shape within you. Sometimes it will be painful; other times, sheer joy. It won't happen overnight, but that's a major difference between doing and being. One may take only twenty years; the other, the better part of your lifetime.

One can be recorded in a yearbook and is easily forgotten; but the other requires a lifebook, which is on display forever. 

No Shortcuts to Christian Maturity – Christian Devotional – 2/2/10

by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6 NLT)

It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christlike character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time.

When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In America, tomatoes are usually picked unripened so they won't bruise during shipping to the stores. Then, before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly.

While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. God views our lives from and for eternity, so he is never in a hurry.

Billy Graham associate Lane Adams once compared the process of spiritual growth to the strategy the Allies used in World War II to liberate islands in the South Pacific. First they would "soften up" an island, weakening the resistance by shelling the enemy strongholds with bombs from offshore ships.

Next, a small group of Marines would invade the island and establish a "beachhead"—a tiny fragment of the island that they could control. Once the beachhead was secured, they would begin the long process of liberating the rest of the island, one bit of territory at a time.

Eventually the entire island would be brought under control, but not without some costly battles.

Adams drew this parallel: Before Christ invades our lives at conversion, he sometimes has to "soften us up" by allowing problems we can't handle. While some open their lives to Christ the first time he knocks on the door, most of us are resistant and defensive. Our pre-conversion experience is Jesus saying, "Behold I stand at the door and bomb!"

The moment you open yourself to Christ, God gets a "beachhead" in your life. You may think you have surrendered all your life to him, but the truth is, there is a lot to your life that you aren't even aware of. You can only give God as much of you as you understand at that moment. That's okay.

Once Christ is given a beachhead, he begins the campaign to take over more and more territory until all of your life is completely his. There will be struggles and battles, but the outcome will never be in doubt. God has promised that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion."  (Philippians 1:6, NIV)

The Case Against Vanilla – Christian Devotional – 2/1/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at Crosswalk.com

Genesis 12:1-8; Joshua 14:1-15; Psalm 33:3

I cannot imagine anything more boring and less desirable than being poured into the mold of predictability as I grow older. Few things interest me less than the routine, the norm, the expected, the status quo. Call it the rebel in me, but I simply cannot bear plain vanilla when life offers so many other colorful and stimulating flavors. A fresh run at life by an untried route will get my vote every time—in spite of the risk. Stay open-minded for a moment and I'll try to show you why.

John Gardner once pointed out that, by their mid-thirties, most people have stopped acquiring new skills and new attitudes in any aspect of their lives. Does that jolt you? Stop and think, you who are over thirty. How long has it been since you acquired a new skill? How many brand-new attitudes have you adopted—personal, political, social, spiritual, financial—since you turned thirty?

Let's probe a little deeper. Do you drive to work the same way every morning? Are you compelled to approach a problem the identical way every time? Does a maverick (even wild) idea challenge you or cause you to retreat into the security of your shell? Have you lost that enthusiastic zest for discovery and adventure?

Say, you're older than you thought. You're older than you ought! God has arranged an "abundant life" for you, but it's slipping past. You're fast becoming addicted to the narcotic of predictability . . . and the longer you persist, the greater will be the pain of withdrawal.

Living and learning are linked; so are existing and expiring. Each day delivers a totally new set of circumstances and experiences. The same hours and minutes which capture the wonder of a child may deepen the rut of an adult.

Ever watched a preschooler's approach to life? His constant curiosity and probing inquisitiveness make every day completely fresh and exciting. To him, learning is natural; to the adult, it's a nuisance.

"Well," you rationalize, "I'm just too set. That's the way I am . . . you can't change me."Who can't change you? God? Like Israel of old, this sort of thinking puts limits on the Lord, discounting His power and denying His presence. Settling down to the hum-drum, bland diet of tasteless existence is a sure invitation for slackness and indolence to invade and plague your dwelling.

"So how do I break out?" you ask. "I guess I could row to Hawaii in a four-foot dinghy or schedule a February vacation in Iceland . . . maybe the family could tackle Everest this summer. . . ." 

Unnecessary! Life abounds with everyday problems needing transformation into creative projects. Try taking life by the throat and achieve mastery over a few things that have haunted and harassed you long enough. Or—how about a course at a nearby school this year . . . or a serious study of some subject all on your own. Why not broaden yourself in some new way to the greater glory of God?

Remember our old friend, Caleb? He was eighty-five and still growing when he gripped an uncertain future and put the torch to the bridges behind him. At a time when the ease and comfort of retirement seemed predictable, he fearlessly faced the invincible giants of the mountain. Read Joshua 14 again. There was no dust on that fella. Every new sunrise introduced another reminder that his body and rocking chair weren't made for each other. While his peers were yawning, Caleb was yearning.

Every one of us was poured into a mold . . . but some are "moldier" than others. If you are determined and work quickly, you can keep the concrete of predictability from setting rock-hard up to your ears. Then again, if the risks and potential dangers of sailing your ship in the vast oceans of uncertainty make you seasick, you'd better anchor yourself near the shallow shore of security. Concrete sinks fast, you know.

Staying Alert – Christian Devotional – 1/30/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at Crosswalk.com

1 Kings 4:29-34; Proverbs 2:1-10; 4:5-7; Isaiah 26:3; Romans 8:5-11; 12:2

Your mind is a muscle. It needs to be stretched to stay sharp. It needs to be prodded and pushed to perform. Let it get idle and lazy on you, and that muscle will become a pitiful mass of flab in an incredibly brief period of time.

How can you stretch your mind? What are some good mental exercises that will keep the cobwebs away? I offer three suggestions:

READ. You may be too crippled and too poor to travel—but between the covers of a book are ideas and insights that await the joy of discovery. William Tyndale was up in years when he was imprisoned. Shortly before his martyrdom he wrote to the governor asking for:

A warmer cap, a candle, a piece of cloth to patch my leggings. . . . But above all, I beseech and entreat your clemency to . . . permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend time . . . in study.¹

The powers of your perception will be magnified through reading. Read wisely. Read widely. Read slowly. Scan. Read history as well as current events . . . magazines and periodicals as well as classics and poetry . . . biographies and novels as well as the daily news and devotionals.

Don't have much time? Neither did John Wesley. But his passion for reading was so severe he made it a part of his schedule—he read mostly on horseback. He rode between fifty and ninety miles a day with the book propped up in his saddle . . . and got through thousands of volumes during his lifetime. Knowing that reading attacks thickness of thought, Wesley told many a younger minister either to read—or get out of the ministry.

TALK. Conversation adds the oil needed to keep our mental machinery running smoothly. The give-and-take involved in rap sessions, the question-answer dialogue connected to discussion, provides the grinding wheel needed to keep us keen.

Far too much of our talk is surface jargon . . . shallow, predictable, obvious, pointless. Talk is too valuable to waste. Leave the discussion of people and weather to the newscasters! Delve into issues, ideas, controversial subjects, things that really matter. Ask and answer "why" and "how" . . . rather than "what" and "when." Probe. Question. Socrates was considered wise—not because he knew all the answers, but because he knew how to ask the right questions. Few experiences are more stimulating than eyeball-to-eyeball, soul-to-soul talks that force us to think andreason through specifics. For the sheer excitement of learning, talk!

WRITE. Thoughts disentangle themselves over the lips . . . and through the fingertips. How true! The old gray matter increases its creases when you put it down on paper. Start a journal. A journal isn't a diary. It's more. A journal doesn't record what you do—it records what you think. It spells out your ideas, your feelings, your struggles, your discoveries, your dreams. In short, it helps you articulate who you are.

Who knows? Your memoirs might make the bestseller list in the future. And speaking of that, why not try writing an article for your favorite magazine? Editors are on a constant safari for rare species like you.

One More Night With The Frogs – Christian Devotional – 1/29/10

by Pastor Larry Thompson at mygodsightings.com

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.” ⁹ “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.” ¹⁰ “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. “All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.” Exodus 8:8-11 (NLT)

C. Northcote Parkinson said: “Delay is the most deadly form of denial.”

Today’s Bible study is one of the most confusing passages of Scripture I know. God, through the leadership of Moses, has sent yet another plague to Egypt and the palace of Pharaoh. This time it is frogs and the slimy little green things are everywhere! Moses stands before the leader of Egypt and said, “If you just let God’s people go then I will pray and ask God to remove the frogs from your land.” Pharaoh tells Moses, “Yes, please remove the frogs.”

Now the moment of truth: Moses says, “Just tell me when you want to get rid of the frogs and I will pray and God will remove them.”

And here is Pharaoh’s unbelievable answer. Pharaoh said,

“Tomorrow!”

I have never been able to figure this guy’s response! He has frogs in his food, frogs in his bed, frogs in his clothes, frogs everywhere, and God was ready to remove the frogs instantly. The decision was up to Pharaoh. But when given the choice, he said, “Tomorrow!”

It was as though he was saying,

“Moses, could you just give me one more night with the frogs.”

How could he possibly have chosen one more night with those frogs? It was a very strange decision on Pharaoh’s part. However, before we pass judgment on Pharaoh and assign him to the psychiatric ward for observation…let me ask this question:

“What are you doing about the frogs in your life?”

We all have “frogs” in our life. I’m talking about the frogs of troubles, doubt, burdens, suffering, sickness, sorrow, perplexities, disappointments and heartaches. These are the frogs you always say you need to deal with and yet they remain a continual part of your life. They are a constant source of harassment.

Just as Moses was sent by God to deal with the frogs in Pharaoh’s life, so also was Jesus was sent by God to deal with the frog situation in our lives. God is standing by today as you read His word. He is ready to remove the frogs that that are causing so much turmoil in your life.

Man's Quest – Christian Devotional for 1/28/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at Crosswalk.com

1 John 3:16-20; Matthew 11:25-30; Psalm 62:5-8, 91:1, 2

Greece said . . . Be wise, know yourself. 
Rome said . . . Be strong, discipline yourself. 
Judaism says . . . Be holy, conform yourself. 
Epicureanism says . . . Be sensuous, enjoy yourself. 
Education says . . . Be resourceful, expend yourself. 
Psychology says . . . Be confident, fulfill yourself. 
Materialism says . . . Be acquisitive, please yourself. 
Pride says . . . Be superior, promote yourself. 
Asceticism says . . . Be inferior, suppress yourself. 
Diplomacy says . . . Be reasonable, control yourself. 
Communism says . . . Be collective, secure yourself. 
Humanism says . . . Be capable, trust yourself. 
Philanthropy says . . . Be unselfish, give yourself.

And on and on and on goes the quest of man. No wonder people are confused! Pick any thought-dish from this smorgasbord of human philosophy, then digest it completely . . . and you will find yourself suffering from the worst case of indigestion imaginable.  It may smell good and even satisfy your rhetorical palate during the time you are consuming it . . . but it will leave you hungry, uneasy, and searching for something else to satisfy.

Rollo May's words often interrupt my thinking as I ponder the plight of searching men and women today:

It is an old and ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.

And so it is! Look across your office desk tomorrow and chances are you'll be observing a living example of someone still searching, still running to find inner satisfaction. Step out in front of your apartment or home tomorrow morning and look both ways . . . listen to the roar of automobiles . . . study the dwellings surrounding you. Those sights and sounds represent people who have, like Little Bo-Peep's sheep, "lost their way," and, tragedy upon tragedy—they don't know where to find it. Many of them have tried hard to "be religious" or "live by the golden rule" or "tie a knot and hang on" or "be sincere," but they're still running blind and bored and baffled.

They are attempting to fill the inner vacuum with everything but the only thing. You name it, it's being tried. As Henry Thoreau declared:

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Robert lngersol, the bold and brilliant agnostic, spent many years of his life opposing and attacking Scriptures and Christ's claims. On his deathbed . . .  at the end of his race, he uttered:

Life is a narrow veil between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry.

Ingersol's pursuit is best described in the bumper sticker I saw on my way to work:

DON'T FOLLOW ME . . . I'M LOST

Pontius Pilate, Judea's notorious governor, stood eyeball to eyeball with Jesus of Nazareth. In the judicial process of interrogation, he heard Christ refer to "everyone who is of the truth," to which Pilate replied, "What is truth?" That question hangs heavily on the thin wire of reason in many a mind this very hour. Pilate never waited for an answer. He whirled away in confused disgust. He should have stopped running and waited for the answer. Jesus could have told him that He alone had satisfying words of life . . . for He alone is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

Christianity is not a system of human philosophy nor a religious ritual nor a code of moral ethics—it is the impartation of divine life through Christ. Apart from the Way there is no going . . . apart from the Truth there is no knowing . . . apart from the Life there is no living.

God says . . . Be in Christ, rest yourself.

Insight – Christian Devotional for 1/27/10

by Charles R. Swindoll at crosswalk.com

Mark 6:45-56; Luke 24:36-45; Colossians 3:2; Hebrews 5:1-14; 1 Peter 1:13-15; 1 Kings 4:29

Are you ready for a surprise? You blink twenty-five times every minute. Each blink takes you about one-fifth of a second. Therefore, if you take a ten-hour automobile trip, averaging forty miles per hour, you will drive twenty miles with your eyes closed.

I know a fact far more surprising than that. Some people go through life with their eyes closed. They look but don't really "see" . . . they observe the surface but omit the underneath . . . they focus on images but not issues . . . vision is present but perception is absent. If life were a painting, they would see colors but no genius in the strokes of the brush. If it were a journey, they would notice a road but no majestic, awesome scenery. If it were a meal, they would eat and drink but overlook the exquisite beauty of the china and the delicate touch of wine in the sauce. If it were a poem, they would read print on the page but miss altogether the passion of the poet. Remove insight and you suddenly reduce life to existence with frequent flashes of boredom and indifference.

Those without insight dwell mainly in the realm of the obvious . . . the expected . . . the essentials. The dimensions that interest them are length and width, not depth. Please understand, I do not mean to be critical of those who cannot go deeper . . . but of those who can but will not. I'm not pointing my finger at inability but rather refusal.

As a concrete illustration, take the boatload of disciples in Mark, chapter 6. Immediately after Jesus had miraculously fed thousands of people with a few loaves and fish, He sent His men away in a boat as He slipped off to a quiet place on the mountain to pray. A storm later broke upon the sea and they were filled with panic. He came to their rescue shortly thereafter and calmed the sea as He stilled the wind and assured them there was no reason to be afraid. Mark makes a comment worth remembering:

They were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. (Mark 6:51-52)

It wasn't that they were unable to understand. They didn't want to understand! William Barclay of Glasgow says, "Their minds were obtuse." That was the root problem. Those men were insensitive, dull, blunt-brained. They weren't ding-a-lings by nature, but by choice—and therein rested not the tragedy but the blame! They didn't need Jesus's pity as much as they deserved a rebuke. By then they had been sufficiently exposed to their miracle-working Master to respond with keen insight to their circumstances. Had they applied what they observed earlier that day when the thousands were fed, their response to the storm would have been insightful.

Hebrews 5 is addressed to similar disciples today. Hours upon hours have been logged under the teaching of the Word, and opportunities to use those truths have been legion. But what does this passage say? It says some have become "dull of hearing"—thick, lazy, sluggish, lacking insight. Maturity—the result of mixing insight with practice—is rare today . . . and so the discernment between good and evil, brought on by "trained senses," is frequently conspicuous by its absence.

What are a few practical rewards? Parents with insight usually raise kids that are secure, fulfilled, relaxed, free to forge out ideas and to think. Single adults with insight won't feel they must marry—the sooner the better. Teachers with insight create an atmosphere conducive to learning. Bosses with insight develop employees and remain sensitive to surrounding needs. Students with insight learn far more than the required subject—they indeed glean an education.

I challenge you: Open your eyes! Think! Apply! Dig! Listen! There's a lot of difference between necessary blinking and unnecessary blindness.

Developing Biblical Self-Control – Christian Devotional – 1/26/10

Posted by Rick Warren at purposedriven.com

A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. Proverbs 25:28 (NLT)

People with self-control master their moods. They do not let their moods master them. Most of what gets done in the world is accomplished by people who do the right thing even when they don't feel like it: "A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls." (Proverbs 25:28, NLT)

People with self-control watch their words. They put their minds in gear before opening their mouths: "Be careful what you say and protect your life. A careless talker destroys himself." (Proverbs 13:3, TEV)

People with self-control restrain their reactions. How much can you take before you lose your cool? "If you are sensible, you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it." (Proverbs 19:11, TEV)

People with self-control stick to their schedule. If you don't determine how you will spend your time, then others will decide for you: "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16, NIV)

People with self-control manage their money. They learn to live on less than what they make and they invest the difference. The value of a budget is that it tells your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went! "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has." (Proverbs 21:20, NIV)

People with self-control maintain their health. That way they can accomplish more and enjoy their achievements: "Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body ...." (1 Thessalonians 4:4, MSG)

In what areas do you need to develop for self-control? The disciplines you establish today will determine your success tomorrow.

But it takes more than just willpower for lasting self-control. It takes a power greater than yourself: "For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7, TEV)