We as Christians need to begin to see that God does not leave us hanging out to dry in an effort to test us and see if we will make wise decisions to better our lot in life. The wisest choice is to “seek God and His righteousness, and all the things we need will be added unto us” (Matthew 6:33). These “things” don’t have to be material items that can sidetrack us from the true needs within our lives.

Our true needs that might send us over the edge of despair are our needs for safety, health, and peace of mind. The Bible is FULL of encouragement to lead us to the source of hope, as well as the power to provide us with what we need.

Psalm 91 is a vivid picture of God’s provision of hope through many dangers. God rescues us from the snare of the fowler. God protects us under His wings. God fights our enemies. God provides energy for us to keep going forward. All of this provision is because of our trust and dwelling in His presence; not our own efforts.

We need to have a mind shift to trust in God, the unseen, more than we trust in the seen. So many say that is foolish. But Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the mighty things.”

The many Bible stories and Bible verses we have learned over our lifetime, need to now be put into demonstrated power actions that reveal we have our faith in God who is our rock and fortress (Psalm 18:2), and not in the temporal things of this Earth…even though God will provide things we need…homes, jobs, transportation, food, etc. “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but I trust in the Lord my God” (Psalm 20:7).

That kind of abandoned faith causes us to say, as the words of the song, “I Surrender All.”

Surrendering to God restores us with His authority and power living in us as “Christ the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27). His power moves mountains (obstacles). His power is creative and demonstrated throughout the Bible with examples of providing out of nothing: manna, quail, and water. His power demonstrated the parting of the Red Sea and everyone crossing over on dry ground while moments later drowning Pharaoh and his army. In the New Testament, Paul was saved from death: shipwreck, beating, and snake bite. God says, “Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). We say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…therefore we should have that God kind of faith to believe He will use His power to provide us hope. Hope in His love that was so strong, He gave His only son so that we would be brought into His family to dwell (John 3:16).

As we become part of His family, we need to move away from the idea of doing life on our own efforts to the realization that “I can’t do it myself.” We MUST live only through God’s power moving in and through us. That is when we become the Kings and Priests God intended to step out in His Name to do great exploits (Daniel 11:32) to win the lost and to disciple the nations toward His Glory covering the Earth as the water covers the sea (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Habakkuk 2:14).

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The older I get the more I wonder, “What is God saying through nature?” I used to think it was a crazy idea that God spoke from the heavens because Disney videos portrayed the sounds from heaven as gods or imaginary characters playing 10-Pin in heaven, and I knew that wasn’t true.

God started telling us the heavens and stars were important in Genesis 1:1 when “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” Later in verses 3-5 God says, “Let there be light” that separated the light from the darkness and created the first day. This was not the ending of God’s creation of lights. In verses 14-19 on the fourth day God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years…And God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

Now let’s return to Psalm 19. Verses 2-4 tell us what is occurring all around us, but because of our human nature we are so woefully unaware.

V. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

V. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

V. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

I ask the question again, “What is God saying all around us that we cannot currently understand?” I find myself listening to the wind blowing through the trees, listening more intently to the rumbles of thunder in the distance, and viewing the clouds, the leaves, and the change of weather with a spoken statement to the heavens, “God, what are you saying?”

In the Bible there are several references of God speaking and those in hearing thought it was thunder or didn’t understand what they experienced.

Matthew 3:13-17: At Jesus’ baptism “as soon as he was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”

John 12:27-29: Jesus was telling of his coming death and resurrection to his disciples. Jesus said, “‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered, others said an angel had spoken to him.”

Matthew 27:32-56: Jesus’ crucifixion records the following nature reactions to his death. “From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)…And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

Acts 9:1-7: Saul, a murderer of Christians had a conversion to Paul, becoming the anchor of God’s New Testament. Saul had a life-changing heaven encounter from God. “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul said. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ he replied. The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anything.”

What is God saying to us through His nature that surrounds us today? Realize that it is possible that no one else may hear or see what God is telling you. Maybe God’s words to us may be through the reading of the Bible or an encounter with a person giving us encouragement. However, in each of the Biblical examples above, the people who encountered God’s breakthrough from Heaven to Earth were forever changed, and their change impacted the people and world around them. I encourage all of us to ask God, “What are you saying?”

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I’m more of a task-oriented person, so if you give me a job and a deadline, I will usually push to get it done, but I found that after a while, I was reading the words of Scripture as just words to get through. Now, I still think it is a good idea to read the Bible all the way through. God left us one book that tells us about Him and that He wants us to read, and I think I’d feel kind of stupid standing in front of Him some day with Him knowing I never even read it.

But this year I tried something different – I have been reading an archaeological study Bible. If you are imagining boring measurements from a dig site, it is not like that, but there are hundreds of photographs of artifacts and places. You will get an idea of what some ancient tools, seals, and pots looked like and learn how they demonstrate that the stories of the Bible actually took place. Pictures of ancient buildings and fields and mountains near where events occurred bring context to your reading.

Who, Where, Why, and When

But the archaeological Bible does more than explain the archaeology. It helps out with geography, history, and culture too. Maps illustrate the relation of one event to another, often answering the question why something took place where it did. The notes will give you a more complete look at history. It tells you what else was going on in the world at the same time Bible events were happening. And the many footnotes and side articles give insights to the people both of the Bible and their neighbors. Their culture is not ours, and the articles point out what was going on at the time God was speaking to them.

Ancient writers are quoted. These quotes have been found on monuments, carvings, and scrolls – poets writing about kings or regular people discussing regular people. One insert I recently read was text on a tablet from a Sumerian scribal school in which an older student mockingly criticized the work of a younger student – makes even the really ancient people sound just like us!

Slow Down

If you chose to make a more academic study of things, you could. There are notes, concordances, and charts. I don’t; I just use it for my personal reading. The most valuable part of all is that it slows you down. You won’t feel the same pull to rush through to get so many chapters read, but your understanding will grow.

Some examples of archaeological Bibles and similar cultural background Bibles you might want to check out are:

1. Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV and NKJV) (sampler)
2. ESV Archaeology Study Bible from Crossway (sampler)
3. Archaeological Study Bible (NIV and KJV) This is the one I use, but unfortunately, it is now out of print. There is a digital version, and there are still copies available on places like eBay. (a helpful personal review found on youtube)

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Realizing this darkness is often hard for us to know because we are so engulfed in the world as we know it. However, Isaiah 60:2 describes the world as it is, “Darkness now covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples.” However, God has ALWAYS determined to rescue His creation from the grips of satan and his effort to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). The second half of verse 10 has Jesus again declaring darkness to light saying, “I have come that they (creation who believes) may have life, and have it to the full.”

Isaiah 60:1 tells of God’s speaking of light into darkness. God through the prophet Isaiah states, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” While this is a reference to the coming Messiah, we as Christians are the body of Christ to distribute the light of God to a dark and hurting world.

The first verse of the Christmas carol “O Holy Night” describes the world at Jesus’ birth, but also mirrors the world of today.

Oh, holy night,
The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night
Of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world,
In sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn.

The key line that jumps out to me is “till he (Jesus) appeared and the soul felt its worth.” As I said earlier, we often don’t realize that we are in a dark world without the light of God. Our hope is in our “soul” finding the light of God, not the acquisition of wealth and things.

God never leaves us in the dark. God ALWAYS introjects light into the darkness. God’s light is the good news of Jesus coming as the Savior of all Mankind. Isaiah 61:1-3 declares:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning
and a garment of praise
Instead of a spirit of despair.

This is the “Good News” that God has commissioned us as His children to declare to a dark and dying world. Light penetrates through darkness. Light attracts those who want warmth and direction. Light generates hope of a breakthrough of the darkness that so enslaves us as humanity. Jesus’ light in our life is the true FREEDOM of the “soul finding its worth”. Let us take the torch of Jesus and hold the “Good News” high to draw those who are still in darkness into the light and warmth of God’s eternal plan of salvation. This is the ultimate darkness to light that God provided through His son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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Surprisingly, there’s a story in I Samuel that talks about hemorrhoids. You may already be familiar with it. Toward the end of the time of the judges, the Philistines attacked the Israelites at a city about twenty-five miles from Shiloh, the home of the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant at the time. The first day of the battle, the Israelites were soundly defeated. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders had the idea to send men to Shiloh and bring the ark of the covenant to the battle site so that “it” would save them from their enemies.

When the ark arrived, the Israelites shouted so loud, the ground shook. The Philistines heard the shouting and wondered what the noise was all about. When they learned the ark of Yahweh was there, the Philistines were afraid. And they had reason to be. They believed a god had actually come into the camp – one of the gods who had earlier “struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.”

But they knew they had to win or be slaves, so they fought hard and defeated the Israelites – killing 30,000 – and what was more, captured the ark of God. They took it back to Ashdod and put it in the temple of their god Dagon, until their god broke falling down before the ark. God not only judged their god, but their people as well. The author said the Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and He brought devastation and afflicted them with hemorrhoids. The Philistines recognized the punishment was from the God of Israel, so they sent the ark on to another city. The same death and affliction happened there and wherever they moved the ark, so that after seven months, the Philistines called all their priests and diviners and asked what to do with the ark.

They told them to send it back to the Israelites – with gifts – but they also warned their fellow countrymen to not “harden their hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did.” Send the ark back now before we get nine more rounds of hemorrhoids and worse. What I want you to notice is that the Philistines knew and were afraid of the power of the God of Israel. They knew and believed the stories of the plagues on Egypt – that had happened in a different country 400 years earlier! The Israelites, apparently not impressed by their own God, had not asked for His help but dragged around the ark of the covenant like a good luck charm.

When I see the sin and craziness going on around us now, I am fascinated by how hard the world, like the Philistines, fights against God, as if they know how powerful He is and need to fight as hard as they possibly can. They go all out and sometimes even throw up their fists in victory, seemingly unaware that God has already won. Let the strength and hope of that knowledge give you peace but also inspire you to bring those fighting so futilely to the winning side.

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You know our children often ask us, “Are we there yet?”  They ask us how high is the sky or ask us how deep is the ocean?  Those questions actually do have answers even though they may be much larger than a small child could comprehend.  We as adults usually know that an answer is available for our children’s questions, but know explaining the answer to the young inquiring minds will be difficult for them to understand because of their lack of experience and knowledge.

However, when we ask the question “How big is God?”, we really can’t conceive that answer for ourselves.  We have to realize that compared to God, we are the young inquiring minds that lack experience and knowledge.  When we read the Bible it says that God is the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning, and the End.  How do you measure anything that has no beginning or end?

One of my previous pastors, focused our congregation on praying and realizing we have so often view God as having limits, therefore putting Him in a box. The congregational focus was to meet in small groups and pray that God would reveal Himself outside of the box.  We were to look around us in nature and our every experience to notice where God was.  We learned that so often we miss the greatness of God because we might not be looking.  Our expectation is that God is far away and doesn’t take interest in our daily lives.

I’ve been reflecting again on how big IS God?  I was reminded of a song, “How Big is God?” that encouraged me when I was a child.  It was written by Stuart Hamblen.  (A side note: look Stuart Hamblen up and read his biography, it is a very encouraging life story).  The song lyrics push us to focus on God’s perspective of His greatness.  When we remember that His GREAT LOVE sent Jesus to rescue us as His children and to restore the family relationship He intended from the beginning of creation, we continue to fathom, “How Big is God?”

Song Lyrics:

Though men may strive to go beyond the reach of space

To crawl beyond the distant shining stars

This world’s a room so small within my Master’s house

The open sky’s but a portion of his yard.

Chorus:

How big is God? How big and wide is His vast domain?

To try to tell these lips can only start

He’s big enough to rule His mighty universe

Yet small enough to live within my heart.

As winter chill may cause the tiny seed to fall

To lie asleep till waked by summer’s rain

The heart grown cold will warm and trod with life anew

The Master’s touch will bring the glow again.

Science and the Size of God

Now let me blow your mind of how big God IS!  In my contemplation of this question I became aware of a statistic.  With this statistic I truly feel like the little child that lacks the experience and knowledge to grasp the greatness of God’s greatness.  Remember, I am a science geek.

The electromagnetic spectrum is 0.005 of what exists in the universe.  That includes: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays.  0.005 is five-hundred thousandths…that is a SMALL amount of what exists in the universe.  The light that we can see is visible light and is considered a “smear” within that spectrum.  So, if we are judging God’s bigness on what we can see, we are only seeing a smear, not even a fraction of how big God IS!

I started to think about the scriptures like:

He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.

Psalm 18:11

He shrouded himself in darkness, in thick rain clouds.

2 Samuel 22:12

There is MORE of what we can’t see, even beyond the electromagnetic spectrum.  Have we unwittingly put God in the box of only what we know or can see?  How big is God?  God is bigger than the universe and bigger than our minds’ can conceive.

I challenge you and me to trust God like our children trust us when we can’t give them the specific answer they are wanting.  We may be asking the wrong question.  The real question may be, “How can I experience you God, in my everyday life in both the big and the small issues?”  This is what my former pastor was challenging us to do.

A minister I listen to exhorts us to know that “God is ABSOLUTELY Good!”  Knowing that God is absolutely good can allow our hearts and minds to be settled that no matter what we see around us, only good comes from God.  Let’s cling to James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  Also Matthew 7:11, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who seek him.”

Let’s stop asking as the children do, “Are we there yet?” and just enjoy the ride with God as our Heavenly Father and seek to know him and experience the adventure He has laid out before us.  Remember He said in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD.  They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

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Within that trek for success, individuals are also looking for that perfect spouse, the perfect house, and the perfect everything to fulfill their dreams.  However, I want to distinguish the concept of purpose.  Purpose is different from career or any token of success we may gather along the way.

Purpose is an inward longing that can only be fulfilled by letting it out.  But, how do you find that purpose?  Many individuals may live a lifetime and NEVER find their purpose.  Not having a purpose can lead to a life characterized by chasing after something and everything in an effort to satisfy a deep inner emptiness.

So much of our world today is on “speed-dial” and we miss the quiet moments to reflect on who we are and for what we have been created.  During the time our world was locked and sequestered away I spent much of my time reading, writing, and praying.  I found that the more time I spent seeking God rather than seeking the purpose, my purpose became apparent.  I reflected on my journey from childhood to adulthood and the opportunities and trials that I encountered.  I spent quite a bit of time looking at the path that God had guided me through.  That reflection revealed talents and tendencies that God planted within me before the foundation of the world.

The Bible states in Jeremiah 29:11 (God speaking), “I know the plans that I have for you.  They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

What I am learning is that God isn’t into always telling us the full plan up front.  If He did that, we wouldn’t need God.  We also might get impatient as children and ask, “Are we there yet?”  God gives us an adventure.  As we seek more of Him, He reveals more of us to ourselves.  I know that sounds weird, but God is a good God and He is a loving father.

Do you remember having the opportunity to play “Hide-n-Seek” or “Scavenger Hunt”?  Do you remember that whether you were the one hiding or the one seeking in either of those games, you were watching the faces of those with whom you were playing?  Everyone was thrilled for the unknown.

Have we ever thought about God as our Heavenly Father wanting to reveal to us our hidden treasure as we spend more and more time in His presence?  In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).  Our number one purpose is to “LOVE God with ALL our HEART, and lean NOT to our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct our path” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Path of God leads to purpose.  Our purpose is to become more like Jesus every day.  As we become “Christ-like” (Christians), then our purpose is to let our lives become a reflection of God Himself.  Our purpose is able to be fulfilled in whatever career we choose.  Whether we are a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a nurse, or a parent…our ultimate success is found in the outward expression of LOVE to the people we encounter every day.

Don’t get caught in thinking you have missed your purpose because you didn’t get the right job, finish the degree, or acquire the house with a picket fence and 2.5 kids.  Purpose is more than what you do as a profession; purpose is who you are as a person and how you “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Some of you will find that your purpose is demonstrated in acts of generosity.  Others will find your purpose in being a listening ear.  Purpose of God includes “seed planters” sharing the Good News and “harvesters” to usher in new believers to God’s Kingdom.  Purpose is more often found in the little nudges that are triggered in your heart after spending time with God.  The best way for you to really find your purpose is to ask God to reveal the purpose He had in mind for you before you were formed in your mother’s womb.  The Bible states in Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message Bible):

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

You formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

You know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

How I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

All the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

The Bible tells us that when we call upon God He hears us and is faithful to answer us.  However, remember, you probably won’t get a loud thunder clap…but a still small voice.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

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Psalm 18:21 reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  This is a parallel to Deuteronomy 30:15, 19; “Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction…I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.”

The creative power of words goes back to Genesis 1:3 when God said, “Let there be light!”  That began the precedent of speaking into existence things that are, out of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1-3).  What have we become accustomed to speaking without thinking?  Have we become like the song in Hee Haw, “Gloom, despair, and agony on me?” or the sayings of Job, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25).

We as God’s children have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit in our souls (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5).  The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher and guide to grow in the grace that Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice afforded for us (The Great Exchange).

Paul tells us to throw off every weight that so easily besets (distracts) us from running the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1-3).  Are our words one of those weights that so easily distracts us from the life giving power of God’s Holy Words?  We go back to Psalms 18:21 and Deuteronomy 30:15, 19.  God through the Prophets have instructed that we need to choose life.  Life not only of salvation, but life of the fruit of our tongue.

Every word we speak is a seed.  What type of seeds are we planting with our speech?  Seeds of life or seeds of death.  So often we may not realize the significance and the power our words have on ourself and on others.  Sometimes we just blow it off and say, “I’m only joking.”  Have we ever considered that every word we speak becomes a seed that either God or Satan can take to bring about life or death?

God is absolutely good and provides only perfect gifts of life.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Jesus tells us about Satan, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Jesus lived and taught many of His parables in a farming community.  He often talked about the seed or the crop.  We need to take seriously that the words we speak are creating a crop…a crop of life or a crop of death.  Don’t be discouraged if to this point the majority of your seeds have been less than life.  That is why Jesus came and bought back (redeemed) our relationship to God the Father.  That is why Holy Spirit came to be alongside us every step of the way…because in and of ourselves…we can’t make the change.

It isn’t a “mind over matter” or a “I can do better” effort.  James Chapter 3 expresses that the tongue is a fire and “is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).  The only way we have a chance to plant better life crops is to turn our lives over to the care of God who loves us so much He gave His only son (Jesus), so that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) will have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Begin planting seeds of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23) and watch and wait expectantly like the farmers for a yet unseen crop to come to harvest as long as they (we) don’t get weary in well doing and not faint in their (our) planting and watering (Galatians 6:9).  Water those life giving word seeds with the scripture, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and acceptable unto you O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

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                But there is a well-known story in the Bible that takes place after Jesus’s death and resurrection in which His disciples were at one point “overjoyed,” but it seems that was not enough to conquer their fear and doubt. The story is the one we refer to as “Doubting Thomas.” On the evening of the day Jesus rose from the dead, most of His disciples were together in a locked room. The doors were locked because they were afraid the Jews would find them and take them away as they did Jesus. But that night, Jesus came in the room and showed them His hands and side, which filled the disciples with joy. Their teacher was alive!

                But the next week, the disciples were again gathered together in a locked room, apparently still afraid. This time Thomas was with them. He got his nickname because when the disciples who had been at the first meeting told him that they had seen Jesus, Thomas, perhaps thinking they had seen a ghost, said he would not believe until he put his finger where the nails were and his hand into Jesus’s side.

                As you probably know, Jesus again came into the locked room, told them to be at peace, and then spoke directly to Thomas: Put your finger in My hands and your hand in My side. Stop doubting and believe.

He Got It

Thomas no longer needed to touch Jesus. He immediately said, My Lord and my God! Yes, their teacher was no longer dead, but now the disciples, at least Thomas, saw that Jesus was not just a teacher, their rabbi, but God Himself. He was known as a doubter, but he was apparently the first person to understand that Jesus was deity. He was God.

The disciples had thought Jesus was bringing the kingdom, but He had been killed instead. Now they had seen the risen Jesus – they had joy but not hope. They were confused and scared. They had seen Him alive again, but He still wasn’t challenging the Romans. Who was this man they had followed for years? Did His resurrection make any difference to them?

But Doubting Thomas got it. Jesus was God, and that changed things. The disciples no longer needed to be afraid of the Jews or anyone else. In just a few weeks, instead of hiding in a locked room, they were all speaking in public to thousands, preaching to the very people who had killed Jesus. Almost all the apostles would eventually be beaten, jailed, and murdered for the name of Jesus. Back in the locked room, Jesus replied to Thomas, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. That’s us, you and me. We’re blessed because we have the joy and the hope. We would have doubted too, but we have the Bible which put it all together for us and the Spirit, whom Jesus sent when He returned to the Father. Knowing who Jesus is and that we will be resurrected too, changes us. We no longer need to hide in a locked room but can live and speak without fear, with joy and hope, just as the disciples did.

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Clouds actually benefit the daily cycle of life.  Clouds protect from the burning rays of the sun.  Clouds are like a blanket and trap in the warmth of the sun.  Clouds hold moisture to eventually pour out over the earth to refresh and bring life. Clouds also are used as weather forecasting tools.

When we experience emotional, physical, or spiritual clouds, do we look at the benefits, or only see the dark clouds as ominous and foreboding?  What we need to remember is that behind those clouds, the sun (SON) is still shining.

Jesus said,

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Jesus living in us gives us the rays of light that pierce through the darkness of our eyesight.  We as humanity are so tied to what we see.  Dependence on Jesus is a walk of faith.  The faith walk is a journey that begins with asking Jesus to take you out of the darkness and bring you into the light.

Many people may not realize or want to admit they are living in darkness. 

Isaiah explains,

“See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

Isaiah 60:2

Our daily walk is to believe that Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose again, and lives today ALWAYS praying for us to see the LIGHT OF LIFE he provided.

I’d like to share the words of that childhood song I mentioned earlier.  First, the title of the song is “I Found the Answer” as sung by Mahalia Jackson.  The line actually reads, “the sun is shining for me (not on me) each day.”  This song can help you and me remember that JESUS, the SON is ALWAYS SHINING, and He is the ANSWER.

I found the answer, I learned to pray
With faith to guide me, I’ve found the way
The sun is shining for me each day
I found the answer, and I learned to pray.

I was weak and weary, I had gone astray
Walking in the darkness, I could not find the way
But then a light came shining to lead me from despair
All my sins forgiven, and I was free from care.

Keep your Bible with you, read it every day
Always count your blessings, always stop and pray
Learn to keep on believing and faith will see you through
Seek to know contentment, and it will come to you.

I found the answer, I learned to pray
With faith to guide me, I’ve found the way
The sun is shining for me each day, yes
I found the answer, and I learned to pray.

Mahalia Jackson

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1. To give something to someone and receive something in return.
2. A marketplace where financial securities are bought and sold.
3. A conversation or discussion between two or more people.
4. A point where passengers, cargo, or vehicles change from one form of transportation to another.

You have probably experienced each form of exchange listed.  Can you imagine what the number of exchanges is per day worldwide?  I asked the app to tell me.  It replied that based upon the four listed definitions, it could be billions or trillions.

The Great Biblical Exchanges

Did you know Biblically there have been only two great exchanges?

• The first exchange was when Adam traded the Glory of God as his covering and inheritance.
• The second exchange was Jesus redeeming and buying back the covering of God’s Glory and the inheritance God intended for His children.

Every account within the Bible demonstrates God’s interaction with humanity as individuals and as nations.  The Bible proclaims God’s communication in an effort to showcase how Adam’s and Jesus’ choices affect humanity’s lives today.

Many people live day to day without awareness they are living in a spiritual realm governed by God. This spiritual realm is governed by the choices we make regarding our belief or not in God.  Our day-to-day living is a constant marketplace of whether we receive or deny the gift of Jesus’ redemption to buy back our inheritance.  The destination of one’s soul and spirit after the physical body dies is a transition to either Heaven or Hell. This is an example of the transportation of exchange.

What Are the Great Exchanges?

If you are like most stock traders, they never make an exchange without researching the commodity in which they are interested.  Here is a brief overview of the GREAT EXCHANGE that governs the lives of humanity.

Adam and Eve

• Made in God’s Image

“So God made man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:27

“This is the book of the generations of Adam.  When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.”

Genesis 5:1

• Communicated With God

Genesis Chapter 2 and Chapter 3

• Administered God’s Authority (Inheritance)

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:28

• Forfeited Inheritance

“The ground is cursed because of you.  Through hard work you will eat food that comes from it every day of your life.  So God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from which the man had been formed.”

Genesis 3:17, 23

GOD TO THE RESCUE

• We are His Children

“Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Psalm 100:3

• This is My Father’s World

“The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it.”

Psalm 24:1

• Plans to Provide for Your Future

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

• Knew You Before Your Birth

(King David speaking of God) “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb….Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:13-16

Jesus and the Cross

• Significance of ATONEMENT (EXCHANGE)

Definition of Atonement: Noun – Satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

• Jesus the PERFECT SACRIFICE (EXCHANGE)

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith…”

Romans 3:25a

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

Romans 5:19

What is Our Response?

Not making a choice is choosing to remain in the separated state from God that was initiated by the transaction of Adam and Eve.

God knew His love would be spurned even before time began.  But, He provided the exchange to align His children with the Glory and inheritance He planned from the beginning.  A choice to believe that God has loved us since before time began is the BEST choice we could make.

When we choose to believe in Jesus’ transaction of redemption, we also now choose to allow our lives to be transformed into His image and reflection of His character here on Earth.  We become part of the Great Exchange and tell others of the unimaginable, but free LOVE gift of being brought into the family of God.

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What Is Lent?

is meant to commemorate the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, so some Lenten traditions do include self-sacrifice and special acts of charity during this time. Most involve confession and repentance. But for all religious traditions, Lent is a time to prepare for Easter, a time to actively prepare ourselves through Scripture, prayer, and repentance. We know there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor and His love, but I think the very idea that we can do nothing, that it was all the work of God, sometimes causes us to take it all for granted.

Because we were, through God’s grace, crucified and buried with Christ – with no pain and suffering on our part – it seems easy. And it is:

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

Acts 16:31

But if we don’t remember what that gift cost, we can also forget its value. We perhaps forget what sinners we were, how desperate our need was, and how great a sacrifice Jesus made for us, not just in His death, but in His very life here on earth.

But the other part of the story, the reason why Lent has an end, is because we were not only crucified and buried with Jesus, forgiven and made righteous, but we were also resurrected with Him into eternal life.

I Can

Attending this new church forced me to think about Lent. Whatever it was in my mind before or maybe what it is for others, it did not have to be for me. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the most important events in the history of the world. Believers, hopefully, are always mindful of this, but it is not wrong to spend a little extra time focusing on Jesus, the cross, His love and sacrifice for us that allows us to experience the amazing unearned and unending joy of Easter morning.

By the time you read this, Lent this year will have already begun, but the number of days doesn’t matter. Use whatever time you can to reflect on what a selfless gift Jesus gave us. The reflection, meditation, and prayer of the days of Lent can lead us to appreciate and value even more Christ’s sacrificial death for us.

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Have you ever experienced something like that? I think on one hand, we’re wired to be drawn to kindness because we’re created in God’s image- our souls gravitate towards the characteristics of God. On the other hand, sometimes our response to kindness is so strong because we’ve either not seen enough of it, or stopped expecting it all together.

One Kind Word

As Christians who desire to lead people to Jesus, kindness is the key. One kind word can open the door to conversation, friendship, and beyond. We can see through Jesus’ interactions with people that He took the time to listen, spent time with them, and imparted truth.  I’ve gathered 8 scriptures about kindness to encourage and equip you to show God’s love through kindness. 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 4.32 ESV

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them

Matthew 7.12 ESV

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2.7 NLT

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54.10 NIV

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

Colossians 3.12 NIV

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2.4 NIV

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6.10 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13 NIV

I hope you’ll take the time to meditate on these verses about kindness. You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: you never know what someone is going through, so be kind.

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Do you ever feel like you’re just barely making it through? Don’t try to make it through hard times on your own strength…lean on the One who promises to be close in times of trouble and to be our strength when we are weak. Meditate on these Scriptures, and this short teaching from David Jeremiah to help you recenter on Jesus and His amazing love for you. 

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4.16 ESV

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9.8 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3.22-23 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34.18 ESV

Strength for Today by David Jeremiah

“You and I have the privilege of getting up every morning and spending time with the Lord. None of us know what tomorrow holds, so how do we want to start tomorrow? How do we want to be sure? How do we want to be able to live peacefully, confidently, boldly, productively, fruitfully, tomorrow? By starting off the day with the One who will give us guidance and direction, enable us in every single way. What does He want first? He wants you. Just you alone- no iPhones, no iPads, no computers, and no this and no that and all the things that jam and crowd us. He just wants you. Don’t you think God deserves your undistracted attention? Look at all the benefits of solitude, just you and God:

1. It’ll make your busy days much more fruitful. Why? As you begin the day with Him, and you’re listening to Him, and God is guiding you and leading you because you open your heart and mind to Him, you’re going to be more productive.
2. He repairs the damage. Let’s say you’ve had one of those days and you come home and you think ‘I can’t handle any more of this,’ and what happens? Time of solitude drains all that out. And this idea of ‘I can’t’ and ‘He won’t’ and ‘they will…’ no. Just give Him time. It’s like sometimes He squeezes it out of us. It’s like sometimes He pulls the drain and it just pours out and what happens is we’re free. We’re liberated. That’s the benefit of just being alone with Him. Listen, God’s not uptight. There’s not anything about us He can’t fix and He will fix it if we give Him time. It just refuels us emotionally. He’ll meet you anywhere you’re willing to meet Him. 

He’ll meet you anywhere you’re willing to meet Him. 

3. Solitude equips us to face the tough days. All of us are going to have them. All of us are going to have trials; all of us are going to have heartaches and burdens and things we have to deal with. Solitude equips us to face them confidently and assuredly, without getting all nervous and upset, frantic and thinking ‘God, what’s going to happen?’ It’ll make a difference in your health, it’ll make a difference in your relationships to other people. You’re going to have a sense of peace, and joy, and confidence in your heart that no matter what comes your way, when you get alone with Him, He stills your heart, quiets your spirit and makes you an overcomer no matter what you’re facing in life. There isn’t anything else that can give me all that but time alone with Him. 

“Now I simply ask you this: do you want God’s best? This is the avenue. Do you want life’s best? This is the avenue. Do you want peace in the midst of storms and quietness and joy when turmoil is all around you? This is the answer.” ~David Jeremiah

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“When you look at the original Hebrew, fearfully means “with great reverence and heartfelt interest,” and the word wonderfully means “unique and set apart.” It makes me realize how much love, thought, and concern went into our unique design as God carefully created each of us. We are His masterpieces, walking around with flesh and blood. 

And if we let that really sink in, we can comprehend maybe just a little bit how much He loves and cares for us. None of us is here by random chance. We were knit together with great reverence and deep emotion by our Creator- every fiber of our being. He could have made anything, but He chose to make you– with all your quirks and freckles and personality.”

Melanie Shankle, Everyday Holy (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, pages 154-155)

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139.13-14 ESV

Many people these days say that animals, plants, and even bugs are equally as valuable as humankind, or that your worth as a person has nothing to do with God. However, we can see a different story in the Bible. In Genesis 2, we read that God formed man from the dust of the ground and “breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Genesis 2.7. There is no other creature God breathed His breath into, just as humans are the only creation made in God’s image. 

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 1.

When you look in the mirror, would you consider yourself a “masterpiece”? God does. Ephesians 2.10 NLT says: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” To fully absorb what this verse is telling us, let’s look at the Greek word for masterpiece, aristourgima. It means “the most outstanding work of a creative artist or craftsman” and “an outstanding achievement.” Think of how grabbing ahold of this truth could change the way you live; how you might make different decisions. Think of how differently you might treat the people around you. 

“We are a divine work of art.”

CS Lewis

“If Rembrandt’s artistic masterpieces have great, undisputed value, would not God’s one-of-a-kind human masterpieces convey even greater value?”

D Robertson

Our worth as a race is inherent, based on the fact we were created by a holy God. It’s no wonder that as more and more people lose sight of that truth, we see more crime, more hopelessness, more suicide. Look back at the quote at the top…how does it make you feel to think that God created you with “great reverence and heartfelt interest”? Does it make you see yourself a little differently?

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It’s easy for us to forget that the little things matter.

So, you all know we’ve been moving and situating…we’ve had so many things going on. Honestly, just to find my toothbrush is a feat every single day, much less finding all my kids’ toothbrushes. We’re just in that transition period. I was at our house, and I looked at the front door, and I was like, “what’s that?” It was this big, chubby package and I opened it, and a friend of mine from California had sent it to me, and she said, “Hey, I just wanted you to know I love you and I’m thinking about you.” It was a blanket that she and her daughter had made. It had puppy dogs all over it. If you don’t know this about me, I’m a big animal lover. I would have one of everything up in our house all the time if my husband would let me. And I would love to have farm animals, but he’s like, “no- because you would want them all to be in the house, especially when it’s rainy or cold.” And I would. 

So it’s just sometimes a small little thing, and nowadays it’s so easy to let people know that you’re thinking about them. I know you’re like, “I’m busy, Lauren. I don’t have time,” but just the people that mean so much to you, or your friends that you know of that are going through a lot, or maybe someone just comes into your mind and you’re like “Why am I thinking about them?” Stop and pray for them and just say, “Hey! You’re on my heart.” I wanted to share part of a Scripture verse with you, and I’ve heard this Scripture verse, but I’d kinda forgotten about it:

“…a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.”

Proverbs 27.9b

I’m just thankful today for friendship, and I pray the Lord brings sweet friends into your life and people that highlight your day and make you feel special and cared for. The Lord loves us and cares about us so much that He gives us each other to lean on. 

~Lauren Kitchens (Living Life with Lauren)

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“We wholeheartedly believe a daily rhythm of seeking intimacy with God has the power to transform lives. That’s why YouVersion creates biblically centered, culturally relevant experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God throughout each day. It’s through these experiences we create opportunities fit for anyone’s daily routine, ultimately helping them form a spiritually-rich rhythm of seeking God intimately.”

There are so many options for studies. You can find plans by your favorite teachers or search through the recommended and featured plans. You can find options that are shorter or longer, deeper or more devotional type, subject-based or Scripture only. There is a “Search By Emotion” feature that helps you find what you need in God’s Word when you don’t know where to turn. There are even video-based studies if that’s more up your alley. 

There are many features on the app to enhance your Bible reading and studying experience. One of my favorites is the Verse of the Day. Many times I find that single verse encourages me to study deeper or nudges me to spend time in the Word. You can sign up to have the verse sent straight to your phone, and you can create an image post for social media to share what you’re learning with your online friends. In fact, you can invite friends to go through studies with you, and there’s even a function where you can discuss what you’re reading right there on the app. This is a great feature, especially right now when so many in-person Bible studies are cancelled or postponed. 

As you’re reading through Scripture, YouVersion has many tools to help you. You can highlight, add a prayer, bookmark, or note to specific verses, see related videos, switch the version (or compare versions) with a click of a button, change the text size, hear the text in audio form, share the verse to social media in text or image form, or copy a section to add into a note or text message. Another especially useful tool is the Reminder option, which allows you to set a time to be reminded to read your Bible.

5 Reading Plans To Try

1. Walking With Others Through Life’s Valleys by Jim Daly
   A 7-Day plan exploring how to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people around you. 

2. New Year, New Mercies by Paul Tripp
   A 15-Day Devotional about God’s grace to us, and learning to trust and rely on Him when feel-good aphorisms aren’t enough. 

3. Truth For Dark Days by Alistair Begg
   A 7-Day plan that reminds us of the hope we have in God’s goodness and sovereignty. 

4. Why Suffering? By Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale
   For a more in-depth study, this 24-Day plan based on the book by the same name is a great option that dives into the questions “why is there suffering?” and “how do we face pain?”

5. The Power of a Simple Prayer by Max Lucado
   A powerful 5-Day plan to help us pray effectively and consistently. 

We’re so blessed to have this kind of access to God’s Word, anytime and anyplace. It’s imperative we don’t take it for granted or forget that there are people in the world who can’t get the Word, or aren’t allowed to have it. 

If you use any of these reading plans or have others you’d like to share, let us know below! May your new year be blessed and Bible-centered! 

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“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Philippians 4.4-8 NIV

In Philippians 4.4-8, Paul lists four helpful ideas for winning the war on worry. I think they make a nice acrostic that spells out the word CALM. If you want to move from chaos into calm, the Apostle Paul says:

1. Celebrate God’s goodness

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

Philippians 4.4 NKJV

Paul, always the preacher, knows to repeat what he wants to say. “Rejoice in the Lord always…you weren’t listening, Lucado! Again I say, rejoice!” and then he sticks an exclamation point on the end of it, as if to say “Come on!” 

“Rejoice in the Lord always” the apostle writes with chains dangling, from that Roman jail cell. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always” he writes, with no penny in his pocket and perhaps the footsteps of the executioner echoing in the hallway. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always” he writes beneath the shadow of Nero and the threat to the church. He says “let’s just rejoice in the Lord always.” His point is: don’t meditate on the mess. 

The more you stare at the problem, the bigger it gets. 

When you have a problem, lift up your eyes and rejoice in the Lord. The minute the anxiety comes, rather than giving in to it, you lift up your eyes and you rejoice in the Lord. This was the counsel of the psalmist: 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills- from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121.1-2 NKJV

Do you see the intentionality in those words? “I will lift up my eyes…” This was a decision the psalmist made. The Apostle Peter is a testimony to this. Do you remember how the storm struck the Sea of Galilee, he knew what 10 foot waves could do to a fishing boat. Maybe that’s why he volunteered to walk on the water when he saw Jesus walking on the water. 

“Peter cried out, ‘Lord if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water.’ Jesus said, ‘Come.’ And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. But when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink. He shouted, ‘Lord, save me!’”

Matthew 14.28-30 NKJV

“But when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he began to”…what? Sink. As long as he kept his eyes on Christ, he was able to do the impossible; but when he saw the wind and the waves- when he turned his gaze away from Christ- he began to sink. If today you feel like you’re sinking, or the next time you feel like you’re sinking, lift up your eyes. Set your gaze on Christ. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in His sovereignty. 

Is God greater than your problem? 
Has God ever faced this problem before? 
Does God have solutions you’ve not thought of? 
Has God got you through these types of things before? 
Does God have a good track record? 
Is God strong? 
Is God sovereign?
Is God still on the throne?
Is He over all? 

See how you lift that up? You’re rejoicing in the Lord! You’re lifting your mind away from the problems and you’re setting your mind on the One who can solve it. Do not meditate on the mess. 

I have a childhood memory I’m fond of, when my Dad had everybody in the house in bed, I was probably 8 or 9 or 10 years of age. I had an older brother, when he had us in bed, when he had his wife in bed, he’d make the rounds around the house and he’d stop in the kitchen and get a cup of buttermilk, and he’s crumble up some cornbread in it, can you guess I was raised in a small West Texas town? He was always wearing his t-shirt and his boxer shorts. Then he’d make the rounds and he’d make sure all the doors were locked, which took about 2 minutes because there were only 3 doors- front door, back door and the door to the garage. Then, as if he were the commander of a great vessel, he would bellow out- probably loud enough for the neighbors to hear- 

“EVERYTHING IS LOCKED UP! YOU CAN GO TO SLEEP NOW! IT’S SAFE!”

And you know, I believed him. You might say I rejoiced in my father’s strength. Because he spoke, I could calm down and I could go to sleep. I have no inclination to think that God loves buttermilk and cornbread, but everything in my spirit says He wants you to hear what my father would say to us: and that is “I’m in charge of this house. You’re not. I’ve checked the entrances and the exits and I determine who enters and who leaves. You can rest now.” So you rejoice. That’s what it means to rejoice in the Lord. “I’ve got a great God! I’ve got a wonderful Father! I rejoice in the Lord!” Then the Apostle says having done that, you’ll be ready:

2. Ask God for help. 

You’ve calmed yourself down, now you ask God for help.

“let your requests be made known to God”

Philippians 4.6 NIV

You see, fear triggers either despair or prayer, so choose wisely. God said “call on me in the day of trouble.” Psalm 50.15 NIV. Jesus said “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7.7 NKJV 

The path to peace is always paved with prayer. 

That’s why the devil doesn’t want you to pray. The Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, said “put the Lord in remembrance (of His promises), keep not silence” Isaiah 62.6 AMPC. God told Isaiah, “Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together” Isaiah 43.26 NKJV. That is to say, go ahead and remind the Lord of what He said He will do; not that He needs the reminder, but we need the reminder. We are agreeing with God which stands in defiance of the devil and any demons who might be lurking around. You’re standing, not on the pain in life, or the problems of life, but you’re standing on the promise of life. 

Lord, You said You’d walk me through the valley.

Lord, You said You would never leave me or forsake me.

Lord, You said You would walk me through the waters- see you find a promise that fits your problem and you make a prayer out of it. These prayers touch the heart of God and activate the angels in Heaven. Your prayer might not be answered overnight, but it will come with an answered prayer, and you will overcome. Having done so, you can then do this:

3. Leave your concerns with God.

Have you ever taken anything to an appliance store- how about a computer to be fixed? Have you ever done that? Have you ever taken a car in to be fixed? So you know what it’s like when you take something to be repaired. When you take something to be repaired, you take a sleeping bag with you, do you not? You roll it out on the floor and you tell the repairman, “I’m just going to lie here until you get it fixed, in case you need my help.” That’s not how it works, is it? You take it to the repairman and you leave it with him. When you offer a request to God, do you tell God, “now God, I’m just going to stay around until You get it fixed, if you need my advice. I’m going to be putting You on the clock; I’m going to check in with You.” No. You leave your concern with your Heavenly Father. 

“let your requests be made known to God”

Philippians 4.6 NIV

The word “request” there is a word that can be translated as “itemized request.” These are specific concerns you have. The more specific you can get, the better. So you wake up in the morning and you think oh, I’ve got that interview with that person at 2:30 this afternoon… I always get tied up into knots thinking about how difficult that’s going to be…but today instead of giving in to the anxiety, I’m going to offer a specific prayer based on a specific promise. 

“Heavenly Father, please at 2:30 this afternoon, go ahead of me. Go into the room- be preparing it, clean it out, change the atmosphere. Be softening his heart, be giving me wisdom. Grant that I can know exactly what to say before I get there.”

Be specific with it. “Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus taught us to pray. Give us today what we need. And then between early in the morning and 2:30, when you feel that anxiety coming, you can say “oh, no. I left that at the repair shop. I left that with the Heavenly Father. He’s working on that. He has gone ahead of me. I trust Him,” instead of giving in to the anxiety. Then you can rejoice! You say “oh good! I’m going to rejoice in the Lord, because I know He’s going to keep that promise because He’s a faithful father. I’m going to leave that with Him.” Instead of giving in to that tailspin, that quicksand of anxiety, you lift up your eyes and you rejoice in the Lord. By the time it’s time to go into that meeting, you’re a better person. You’re going in armed with faith, and consequently, where that anxiety has gone, you can now place gratitude. Look what the Apostle says:

“But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving…”

Philippians 4.6

Thanksgiving. Anxiety and gratitude cannot share the same heart. Test me on this. If someone comes to see me as a pastor about anxiety, I say “let’s just make a list of 10 good things in your life.” Sometimes I have to talk them into it, because they’ve gotten hooked on their anxiety. It can be addicting. But if we can get them out of that mindset and say “let’s just think of 10 good things in your life…” as they begin making the list, you actually begin to see life returning to their face. Test me on that. Try it sometime. The next time you’re anxious, begin to make the list of things for which you’re grateful for. Because anxiety and gratitude refuse to share the same heart.

I have a friend named Jerry, who’s a retired dentist. He’s 78 years old and he regularly beats me on the golf course. He often shoots his age; if I do the same, I’ll need to live to be 100! He’s the most joyful, happy man. You’d never know that his life has been marred by crisis. Over the last 18 years, his wife has battled Parkinson’s Disease. What they thought would be a wonderful season of retirement and travel has been populated by multiple trips to the hospital and managing medication. It’s not what they had hoped it would be. One day I asked him, “Jerry, how do you stay so peaceful, so happy?” He said, “Well, every morning when Ginger and I wake up, she says ‘can we sing a hymn?’ I say ‘what do you want to sing?’ and she always says ‘Can we sing ‘Count Your Many Blessings’? Name them one by one.’ And so we do.” And they have learned the importance of dealing with anxiety through the power of gratitude. You leave your concerns with Him. You fill your heart with gratitude. And then, lastly, you:

4. Meditate on good things.

The Apostle gives us a long list here: he says 

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.”

Philippians 4.8 NKJV

Don’t let anxious negative thoughts take over your mind. You cannot control your circumstances, but you can control how you think about them. One of the most difficult days of my life found me in Dalton, Georgia. I was 19 years old. I had spent the night before in the Salvation Army. The inebriated fellow in the bunk above mine had rolled over in the middle of the night and puked. If loneliness was water, I was soaked to the bone. On the promise of fast cash and new sights, I had signed on to sell books, door to door and got shipped out to Georgia from Texas. My two good friends who had signed up with me, they quit the first day, so I was all by myself. I learned something- I learned that people don’t like door to door salesmen… even nice ones like me. I would knock on the first door, “Hello, I’m Max-” SLAM! “Hello, I’m Max-” SLAM! “Hello, I’m Max-” SLAM! The next day wasn’t any better. Noon on the second day, I pulled into a diner, nursed my bruised ego, and ate a hamburger. As I was paying for the burger, next to the cash register, there was a display of magnetized rubberized truisms- little quotes, slogans that you could purchase and affix to a refrigerator or something. One of them was shaped like a lemon and on it were the words (you know what I’m going to say) “If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade.” It was folksy, it was homespun, it was overused, it was corny- but I had never heard it before! And it was exactly what I needed. So I purchased that little rubberized magnetized truism, yellow and shaped like a lemon “If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade” and I affixed it to the metal strip on the dash of my 1973 Duster. I can’t tell you how many times over the summer I would rub my thumb over that little quote. I made it through the summer. People still slammed doors and life gave me a lemon, but I discovered the idea of trying to make lemonade out of the lemons of life. That’s been 40 years ago…well, not quite. Heading toward it…and you know what I’ve learned? Life still gives lemons…and the lemons I was facing that day back in Georgia was nothing compared to the lemons some of you are facing today. I spoke to a lady this week, a single mom, she genuinely wonders if she’ll ever have a good night’s sleep again. I spoke to a fellow, 70 years old, and is going through a divorce, of all things. Spoke to a lady whose husband battles dementia. He was a pilot for the Air Force, but now he can no longer drive a car. She was going to have to go take his keys away from him. Life still gives lemons. Life gives lemons to young people, to old people, to rich people, to poor people, to good people, to bad people. 

Life comes with lemons, but you don’t have to suck on them. 

Anxiety happens as we suck on lemons. The Apostle says “meditate on good things.” Some years ago, I wrote this in a journal. I read it quite often. “Today I will live today. Yesterday has passed; tomorrow is not yet. I’m left with today. So today I will live today. Relive yesterday? No…I will learn from it. I will seek mercy for it. I will take joy in it, but I won’t live in it. The sun has set on yesterday. The sun has yet to rise on tomorrow. Worry about the future? To what gain? It deserves a glance and nothing more. I can’t change tomorrow until tomorrow. Today I will live today. I will face today’s challenges with today’s strength. I will dance today’s waltz with today’s music. I will celebrate today’s opportunities with today’s hope. Today. May I laugh, listen, learn, and love. And if tomorrow comes, may I do it again.” The next time anxiety awakes you at 2:30 in the morning, would you believe what I’m suggesting to you? That it is not God’s will that you live a life of perpetual anxiety. That your Heavenly Father will help you. He will help you pull out the roots of your anxiety. He will help you deal with the fears that face you. He loves you. What my father said to us in our small West Texas home, our Heavenly Father says to you.

 “Everything is safe now. You can rest.”

Thank you for joining us for this powerful message from Max Lucado. We hope you were blessed by this timely teaching. We would love to pray with you about whatever you’re facing. Go to the “Prayer” tab at the top of the website to share your requests with us.

The post How To Deal With Worry appeared first on 93.7 The Light.

Sound familiar?

It’s 2:30 in the morning, and you cannot sleep; you roll from one side to the other; pound your pillow; nothing helps. Everyone else sleeps. Your spouse has entered the world of dreamland; your dog is curled up in a lump at the end of your bed. Everyone else sleeps, but not you. It’s 2:30 in the morning. In 6 hours, you begin a new job, a new chapter, a new season, a new era of life. You will be the rookie on the sales team and you’re wondering if you made the right decision- after all, the hours are going to be long, the competition severe, the economy is threatening to decline. Besides, you’re 23 years old, right out of college; 33 years old with 2 kids and a family to take care of; 43 years old and the latest victim of lay-offs; 53 years old- not the perfect time to begin a new career; 63 years old…what happened to retirement and time with the grandkids? Regardless of the age, anxiety can come like a tornado through a Texas prairie, sucking every final vestige of hope out into the sky. So, it’s 2:30 in the morning, it becomes 3:30 and you still haven’t slept. The only light in the room is the green light that comes from the clock. The only light in your life, indeed. All of a sudden a new strain of worry enters your mind. You feel a twitch in the back of your neck. Oh, no! It’s a tumor! Just like great-grandpa….I knew I was next in line! I knew my time was coming. Will the insurance kick in soon enough to cover chemotherapy? Who’s going to take care of the kids? And anxiety begins to have its way with you. Another hour passes, you cover your head with your pillow. You feel like crying…what a mess. What does all this anxiety mean? All this insecurity, all this trepidation, all this worry, all this restlessness, what does it mean? Well, it simply means this: you are a human being. You’re not stupid; you’re not emotionally underdeveloped; you’re not immature; your parents didn’t fail you; it doesn’t mean you failed them; and, this is important, it doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian. Christians battle anxiety- Jesus did, for Heaven’s sake. In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before His crucifixion, He prayed for the cup of suffering to be taken away from Him, and He prayed with such ferocity that the capillaries burst, and rivulets of crimson rolled down His face. Jesus battled anxiety. He faced fears, but He fought through His fears and surrendered them to God and fulfilled His mission. Anxiety did not win. And such is God’s plan for you. Anxiety comes with life but it doesn’t have to dominate your life. God’s plan for you is not a life that is drenched in anxiety. It is His will that you and I learn to live a life that is characterized by calm and not chaos; by peace and not panic. There’s a pathway out of the valley of fret, and God has used the apostle Paul to sketch the map.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Philippians 4.4-8 NKJV

A person would be hard pressed to find a passage more practical and more applicable to our day and age, wouldn’t you agree? The land of the stars and stripes has become the land of stress and strife. We are now officially the most anxious nation on the planet. This is the most anxious nation since anxiety has been measured. How can this be? Our cars are safer than ever. We have more technological tools, more than our great-grandparents or grandparents could have ever dreamed of. And yet, citizens of third world countries score healthier on the anxiety meter than we do. In fact, when people from third world countries move to the United States, their anxiety spikes! It is as if anxiety is contagious. One of the calmest nations of the world is one we would assume is one of the most stress-filled, and that is Mexico. And yet across the border, we, who pride ourselves in not having what Mexico sometimes has, the nation that battles with anxiety…it’s enough to make me want to move to Acapulco! How do we explain it? What’s more, our college kids are feeling it as well. A recent study of 200,000 incoming freshmen stated “students reported all time lows in overall mental health and emotional stability.” One psychologist said the average child today exhibits the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient of the 1950s. Kids have more toys, more opportunities, more clothing than ever, but by the time they go to college, they’re wrapped tighter than Egyptian mummies. We’re a mess. A doctor received a patient, the patient said “Doc, I have a problem. Last night I dreamt I was a pup tent, the night before I dreamt I was a teepee. What’s wrong with me?” The doctor said “Oh, that’s easy. You’re two tents.”

We are tense and we pay a price for it. 

One doctor friend told me “To see the consequences of anxiety just read half the ailments in a medical textbook.” The psalmist said “do not fret, it only causes harm.” Harm where? Harm to our necks, to our jaws, to our backs, to our bowels…anxiety can twist us into emotional pretzels. It can make our eyes twitch, our blood pressure rise, our heads ache, and our armpits sweat. Anxiety ain’t fun! What can we do? Let me be clear- I do not want to leave the impression that anxiety can be waved away with one sermon, one book, or one season. For some of you, anxiety is THE challenge of life, and it has been. Part of God’s healing for you might very well include professional help- therapy, a counselor, a physician, some medication- and if that is the case, you are not a second-class citizen. God has healing, and sometimes that comes through professional help. All of us, however, could benefit from a healthy dose of Philippians 4.4-8. Right in the center of this passage, the Apostle says “be anxious for nothing.” I would have been happy he had said “be anxious on Thursdays,” or “be anxious on occasion,” or “be anxious only on tough days.” Can somebody really live a life in which they’re anxious for nothing? On occasion, it’s helpful for us to remember that sometimes the Bible uses Greek tense language that helps us understand what the Apostle meant. In this case, the phrase is written in an present active tense, which implies an ongoing state, which could lead us to translate the passage as “do not let yourself be caught in a state of perpetual anxiety.” That’s what he’s saying. It’s impossible to live a life free from anxiety, but we can discover a life that is void of perpetual anxiety. Anxiety comes with life, but it does not have to dominate our lives.

In the next part of this series, Max Lucado gives practical and timely advice on how to deal with worry and anxiety in our lives. Thanks for reading!

The post Be Anxious For Nothing appeared first on 93.7 The Light.

My mind often rebels. When I need to ponder, my mind wants to wander. When I need to pray, my mind drifts away. He says “we take captive, we make it obedient.” What he’s saying here is that you have a choice. Your mind has to listen to you. God didn’t just give you a mind, He gave you a will and emotions. But part of your will is to bring your mind into order. The reason why most people are ineffective in life, and actually fail at life, and don’t enjoy life is because they’ve never learned how to fight the battle of the mind. This is so important. Paul says that we’re not supposed to be ignorant of how Satan works, so we’re not caught off guard. Let me explain to you how temptation works- because it always uses the same pattern.

“Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires, and these evil desires lead to evil actions, then the evil actions lead to death.”

James 1.14-15

Notice, temptation is a process, it’s not an isolated event. You know when people talk about “It just caught me off guard…it was just a one night stand!” No, it wasn’t. There were a lot of things you gave in to before you got to lowering that barrier. Temptation is a process and the Bible describes exactly how it happens. There are 4 phases.

4 Phases of Temptation 

1. Desire

If you don’t have a desire for something, it’s not a temptation. I have never, ever, in my life been tempted to smoke a cigarette. Why? There’s no desire in me. I think they stink! Somebody asked me one day “will smoking send you to Hell?” I said, “No. It’ll make you smell like you’ve been there, but it’s not going to send you to Hell…” Do you remember when they used to have smoking on airplanes? It was terrible! I had a friend that used to carry a card with him, and when a guy would light up next to him on the plane, he would hand him the card that said, “I noticed you smoke, well I chew. If you don’t blow smoke on me, I won’t spit on you.” I’ve never been tempted because it just didn’t smell good to me. Now there’s a lot of stuff I’ve been tempted in that you haven’t been tempted in. It always starts with an internal desire. He says there, “the lure of our own evil desires.” Temptation doesn’t start “out there.” It doesn’t start on the tv, it doesn’t start on the street corner, it starts in your mind. It often begins with a natural desire, not even an evil desire. You have a natural desire for sleep, you have a natural desire for water, you have a natural desire for food, you have a natural desire for sex, you have a natural desire to succeed in life- all God-given drives. The drive to achieve, the drive for sex- those are all normal- nothing wrong with them. Temptation turns a routine desire into a runaway desire, and that’s what makes it bad. It becomes more important than anything else. It’s all you think about- and any desire out of control is destructive. Fire in a fireplace can warm; fire in a cooking stove can warm food; but fire uncontrolled can burn your house down. All of God’s gifts, misused and abused, will burn your house down. Any of them will- sex, sleeping, eating- any of those thingsl. Often temptation is an attempt to fulfill a legitimate desire in your life, like “I just want to be loved.” There’s nothing wrong with that. The point is, it’s like steel in a magnet, if there was no desire in me, there would be no temptation.

2. Doubt

You begin to doubt 2 things: you doubt that God loves you, and you doubt that God knows best. When you start to get tempted, you go, “did God really say don’t have sex outside of marriage? Did God really say forgive the person instead of get even with them? Did God really say it’s more blessed to give than to receive?” And you start doubting God’s Word. We see it from the very first temptation, in Adam and Eve, in a perfect environment. It’s paradise- no clothes and no kids. How do you mess up that? Satan comes and says, “hey, see that tree over there? Did God really say you can’t eat of that tree?” What was he doing? He’s getting you to doubt God’s Word. Then he says, “God knows that if you eat that tree, you’ll be as smart as He is.” He’s getting you to doubt that God loves you, that God’s rules are for your benefit. 

Every time you give in to temptation, you are believing a lie.

You think you know better; you think God doesn’t know best; you think you know what will make you happy better than He does. There’s always the desire, then there’s the doubt. “Did God really say….? Does God really love me? Isn’t God being a little prudish about this? Is it really true?” And on and on and on.

3. Deception

The third thing Satan does, is he replaces God’s truth with his lie. He says, “You won’t die if you eat this…” God had already said “If you eat this fruit, you will die.” God said, “You can eat anything in the entire park, except this one tree.” What does man do? He goes immediately to the one tree. It’s the minimum amount of temptation possible, but it allows a choice. Satan changes it all and says, “God says you can’t eat a bunch of stuff, and the reason He doesn’t want you to is He doesn’t want you to be as smart as He is.” He is giving you a lie. He is deceiving you. Notice it says in that verse, “Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desire.” That’s a fishing term- enticed. He’s talking about using bait there. The secret to good fishing is real simple- you have to use the right bait. Salmon eat a certain kind of bait, and trout eat another kind of bait, and fish will even change what they’re eating at different times of the day. How many fish are you going to catch with a bare hook? None. Zero. Obviously, you have to put some bait on there. You’ve got to have a lure. What kind of bait does Satan use on you? Do you even know? Do you know the one he always uses on you? And he keeps coming back to it, because it hooks you every single time. It may be from something a long time ago that a parent said to you, but man, when that thing comes out, you are just so hooked. You immediately get depressed, or you immediately get angry, or you immediately get worried, and Satan goes “got her hooked. I put the right bait on that hook.” Satan knows your weaknesses and he hides the hook. I call this phase “deception” because often we know there’s a hook there, but we still keep nibbling. 

Often we know there’s a hook there, but we still keep nibbling.

4. Disobedience and defeat

Now it’s sin. What began in the mind, translated into action, and it goes like this: my attention becomes an attitude, and my attitude becomes an action. This is how it works in the battle for your mind. I’ve had guys say to me, “What’s the danger of a harmless fantasy?” Are you kidding me? It’s not harmless. 

What I flirt with, I’ll fall for.

I need to refocus my attention. The Bible says that after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and the end result is death. What’s death? The exact opposite of living. You are free to choose anything you want in life. You’re free to make your choices, but you are not free from the consequences of those choices. The moment you make that choice you are no longer free. There are consequences that come to every choice, often unintended consequences- what you sow, you will reap- and you cannot choose the behavior and not choose the consequence. The best time to win the battle with temptation is before it begins. 

“I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what.”

Psalm 119.112 CEV

Until you come to that point, you’re just going to keep stumbling, and stumbling, and stumbling. “I have made up my mind…” That’s a choice. 

Back to the 3 choices you have to make every day. I have to feed my mind constantly on truth, not garbage. I have to free my mind from destructive thoughts. And the third is I have to focus my mind on the right things.

3. I have to focus my mind on the right things

The three things that will make the most difference in your mental state- 

A. Think about Jesus. 

You’ve heard that old cliche “you become whatever you think about most”? Well, you think about Jesus, guess what you’re going to become like? Jesus. 

“Keep your mind on Jesus Christ.”

2 Timothy 2.8 CEV

Think about Jesus’ example. He held on. Are you having a hard time holding on? He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to Him! Do not get tired and stop trying. When you start to feel like you want to give up, think about what Jesus went through. Think about Jesus.

B. Think about others. 

“Don’t just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others too, and what they are doing.”

Philippians 2.4

Do you realize how countercultural that is? Everything in the world teaches you to think about yourself and nobody else. How many times have you heard this phrase “I’ve gotta do what’s best for me.” “Looking out for #1.” You can go down a list of all these phrases that basically say “it’s all about me.” That’s why when I wrote Purpose Driven Life, the most countercultural statement I could think of to begin with was “It’s not about you.” It’s like a slap in the face. It’s not about you. It’s all about God. It’s only in giving your life away that you will understand what it really means to live. 

“Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds.”

Hebrews 10.24

C. Think about eternity

There’s more to life than the here and now. The problem we have today is we have short-term thinking. We only think about what’s happening right now. 

“Let Heaven fill your thoughts. Do not only think about things down here on earth.

Colossians 3.2

The King James Version says, “Set your minds on things above. Not upon things on the earth.” 

Have you heard this old canard? “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.” That’s a bunch of baloney. You know what I’ve found? Only the people who are heavenly minded actually do any good. Those who are most heavenly minded throughout history are those who have done the most good on earth. It’s not the most earthly-minded people who get the most done on earth. The problem is the opposite: we’re so earthly-minded, we’re no heavenly good. All we think about is budget and baseball and bills and stuff like that.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2.9

Think about that. When you start thinking about that, all the problems- the little nitpicky problems in your life- are so inferior compared to the glory, the joy, the pleasure, the enjoyment, the things we have to look forward to in eternity. 

Let’s bow for prayer. “Father, you gave us our minds, we were made in your image. This is the greatest gift you’ve ever given us- the gift of intellect. We realize it’s our greatest asset and yet it is the greatest battleground, and we realize the world and the flesh and the devil all team up to thwart our best intentions.”

Now you pray. Just say a simple prayer: “God, help me to put into practice what I’ve just learned. Help me to make these choices on a daily basis. I want to feed my mind with truth all the time. I want to free my mind from destructive thoughts by taking every thought captive, to make it obedient to Christ- to not just let my mind run wild. Help me to be wise to temptation and realize when desire is turning to doubt, to deception, to disobedience. God, today I’m going to make up my mind to obey Your Word forever, no matter what. Help me to think about Jesus, to think about others, and to think about eternity that my life may be truly transformed. In Your Name I pray, Amen.”

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