Hand-Me-Downs

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Five years of fashion separated my older sister’s wardrobe from my eager little frame. As I inherited the stylish clothes she grew out of, the clothes often hung off of me, because I could not wait until they actually fit. Many times, by the time they did, the trends had changed. Five years is a long time in the world of what-to-wear.

As a believer in Christ, I also inherited a wardrobe from Him: garments of salvation and robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), a crown of life (James 1:12), a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), and a full set of armor (Ephesians 6:13-17) which includes the accessories of shoes and a belt!

Garments from the first-born of creation (Jesus) never wear out and are always in vogue for Christ-followers of either gender. They provide the perfect fit.

AUTHOR QUOTE: I’m perfectly clothed wearing the garments of God.

“…to bestow on them…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3 NIV).

Green Flowered Bag in a Black Suitcase World

By Rhonda Rhea –

I was waiting for my luggage at the airport recently and I made an interesting observation: I think about 90% of travelers have black luggage. If you have a black suitcase on wheels, forget about just reaching out, grabbing it off the belt and rolling on your way. Just try it and you could very possibly get mugged by a dozen or so other black-luggage-lugging passengers. I had to take my husband’s black luggage on a trip one time, and I lost two nails in a bad black suitcase scene. I think I still have a couple of emotional scars from that one. Talk about emotional baggage.

It was actually pretty funny when I watched it this week. Tons of luggage was sliding down to the carousel and every time the crowd spotted a black, wheeled bag coming down the pike, the entire mob leaned in as one. It was a little freaky. As the bag got closer, they would all circle around it like over-sized vultures.

Three or four would reach for it to try to check the tags. Then there were several awkward smiles. And then for that one person (who had probably already reached for the wrong bag a good dozen times), it would be sort of like when you guess the right price from contestant’s row and get to go up on stage. Ding, ding, ding! “I won! It’s mine!”

This time I got to simply stand back and observe. Why? Because my luggage is green. Not just green, but green with flowers. And if that’s not distinctive enough, I’ve tied a white scarf in a giant bow around the handle. I can identify my luggage before it’s even all the way down the chute. Never a doubt. I always know when mine is coming.

Jesus knows us that way. He can see us coming. How it fills our lives with hope when we’re assured that we are identified as His.

The Bible tells us that everyone who is born of God wins. 1 John 5:4 says, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

There’s even more dark stuff in this world than there is dark luggage. But for those of us who’ve by faith given our lives to Christ, there’s a bright and shining hope that is our ultimate victory. It’s brighter than the brightest green luggage and more distinctive than any white bow. You can say, “I won! Victory is mine!” Hope is instant once we understand what it is to become that green-flowered bag in a black suitcase world.

So go ahead. Check the name tag. If you’re His, your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It’s settled. Never a doubt. The suitcase is yours. It’s a bag that comes packed full of all the hope you’ll ever need to carry you joyfully through this life journey.

And this is actually one of those times when it’s good to be left holding the bag.

Surprise Me, God

By Jarrod Spencer –

One Sunday morning about five years ago, I was taking a shower to get ready for the day ahead. As I was praying, I asked God to surprise me. To be quite honest, I cannot remember if anything amazing happened that day or not.

What I do know is that that phrase in my prayer changed the way I looked at things from that point forward.

It was as if I was the blind man that Jesus placed mud upon his eyes, then scraped it off so I could see clearly. Or Saul, after his sight had been returned. I could now see things I had not been able to see before. It changed my outlook on the people I encountered throughout the day. I looked forward to situations that came about as “God-sent,” and not just coincidences.

I anticipated something great happening when I would go out into the world. I wondered, with an on-the-edge-of-my-seat anxiousness, what God was going to do with the people I came in contact with or where He was going to send me that day. I could sense the Holy Spirit working to connect me with people that needed Him. I felt so much a part of God’s earthly team that I was in the game the entire time, no sitting down to rest. I was looking forward to the next mountain-top experience that may be waiting around the next corner.

I would be lying if I said that everything I encountered was a mountain-top experience. However, as with sports, when you hit that “sweet shot” in any sport, you look forward to the next opportunity. Even though the next shot may not have been as sweet or powerful, I looked forward to the next opportunity.

I do know that about six months after praying this prayer regularly, we found out that we were going to have our first baby. This came after eight and a half years of not being able to have kids. Our excitement was indescribable!

As I mentioned, I am still praying that prayer and look forward to whatever, or whomever, God has in store for me on any particular day.

I challenge you to ask God to surprise you as you look to the future. It’s a wild ride, but quite rewarding!

PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for the many surprises You have given me. May I continually keep my spiritual eyes open to see what You bring into my life at any given time. Keep them coming, God! I cannot wait to see all that You will surprise me with tomorrow.

“She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, ‘Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus’” (Luke 1:29 MSG).

Who’s the Enemy?

By Kathi Woodall –

The Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict our country has ever fought. Not only was the death rate the highest of any of our nation’s struggles, but it exceeded the sum of the deaths of all other American wars from the Revolutionary War through modern times. Although the methods of warfare contributed to the high death rate, one factor stands alone as the greatest cause of the phenomenal loss of life. Every drop of spilled blood was American blood. When the death tolls were counted, the distinction between “them” and “us” faded away. Whether the uniform was gray or blue, whether the flag was Union or Confederate, as brother fought against brother, they were all Americans.

Our family visited the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia. I was touched by the story of Richard Kirkland, a nineteen year old Confederate sergeant. The Union army had been defeated, but many soldiers lay wounded on the battlefield. Those who were still alive remained in their battle positions. Sergeant Kirkland could not bear the sound of the wounded as they cried out for aid and relief. Placing his life in danger, he took canteens of water and offered drinks to the hurting men. Union soldiers began firing on him, but the firing ceased as they realized his actions were from a heart of compassion rather than malice.

Are we fighting a civil war within the church? The battle is now believer against believer as arguments are made and people are hurt. People leave churches. Believers lose the passion of serving their Savior. The spiritual death toll grows.

• Contemporary music vs. traditional
• Programs and activities vs. Bible studies and prayer meetings
• Casual dress vs. formal
• He said vs. she said
• It’s always been done this way vs. new and different
• My ministry vs. your ministry

Issues such as these pull us away from the real enemy; “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

We are all either wounded soldiers lying on a spiritual battlefield or active soldiers fighting in the trenches. Shouldn’t we be offering drinks of water to our fallen brothers rather than firing fatal shots? After all, fellow believers aren’t the real enemy and by firing another verbal blow or spreading another slanderous story we may find ourselves serving within the ranks of the true enemy.
•  Worship
•  Learn
• Attend
• Share
• Do
• Serve

“…Whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck” (Mark 9:40-42 NIV).

Pleeeeze, Not Ice!

By Steph Prichard –

Because I’m somewhat expressive (I say “imaginative,” my children say “drama queen”), I occasionally lack credibility with my offspring. Take the time I was in Chicago helping my daughter recover from surgery. Every day I walked my grandchildren to and from school, loving the stroll with them between rows of condos on a street bustling with traffic. A right-hand turn down a quieter, tree-lined street led to the school.

It was that quieter (read “deserted”) street that caught my imagination when the sidewalks turned into sheets of ice the very hour I needed to get the kids. “I can just see myself falling and breaking my leg,” I told my daughter. “I’ll be lying there, unable to move, and along will come some man. ‘Can I help you?’ he’ll say, and when I tell him I can’t move he’ll wring his hands in delight and go ‘Mwhooohooohooohaha!’” I paused at my daughter’s rolling eyeballs.

“It’s your last day here, Mom. The kids will be disappointed if you don’t walk them home.” She handed me a scarf and mittens and pushed me out the door. Well, it felt like she did, anyway.

Hoo, were those sidewalks slick! Barely maintaining my balance, I slipped and slid and skidded ten steps forward, heart thumping, sweat gushing from my armpits. Dare I crawl on my hands and knees? If I could make it to the corner, maybe someone would help me stand and cross the street. But what if no one was there? I’d have to crawl across the street in front of the stopped traffic, and they’d all laugh at me. We drama queens do have our limits, you know.

I eyed the patches of lawn between the sidewalk and condos. Well, duh, why not walk on the grass? The blades, though glazed with ice, would provide texture to tread on. With a sigh of relief, I stepped onto the frozen grass.

And fell.

Yep. Onto the hard sidewalk. With my foot twisted under me. And I couldn’t move.

“Can I help you?” A man appeared out of nowhere.

As if following my own script, I said, “I can’t move.”

I stiffened, waiting for the “Mwhooohooohooohaha!” Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and asked, “Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

“Please! And can you call my daughter too?”

Within minutes, she was skidding across the winter wonderland to kneel beside me. Tears spilled from her eyes. “Mom, I’m so sorry!”

How could I say “I told you so” to that?

An ambulance ride and five hours in the emergency room later, I learned I had broken my ankle. Ouch. The very circumstance I had feared … had come true.

That little drama effected a mighty change in me.

I was a coward, and I had ended up in exactly the situation I was afraid of. What if, instead of squaring off my anxiety against circumstances (pleeeeze, not ice!), I had addressed my character deficiency (I need to be brave)? Until this incident, my prayers for myself and others had pretty much asked for avoidance of any kind of suffering. Please, heal his cancer … give her a happy marriage … don’t let him lose his job. My prayers spoke only to circumstances, not to character transformations. Now I pray, Please, may he trust in Your plan for his life … may she learn to forgive her husband … may he see his shortcomings at work. We don’t know if it’s God’s will to change a circumstance, but for sure we know it’s His will for us to grow in godliness.

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