The Gravity of the Situation

By Rhonda Rhea –

There are several reasons I’ll never skydive. I’ll give you my top two. First, I’ve seen videos of people skydiving. Their faces…well…they “flutter.” Wildly. Honestly, I don’t need to see my face flapping violently over my ears, thank you very much. That kind of wind velocity is just not meant for faces over 40. It ends up looking like a basset hound pup with its head out a car window—multiplied by how ever many years you are over 40.

I’m not daring enough to sass the math. Gravity plus wind velocity times X the number of years over 40. That’s an equation that simply can’t equal anything pretty.

But in addition to the math of it all, the second reason you won’t find me skydiving—and the biggest reason—is this simple: gravity. Seems to me skydiving could all too easily become sky-dying. It’s not even the jumping out of a plane part that scares me so much as it is the inevitability of the hitting the ground part. No it’s not the jumping, or even the falling. It’s the landing. And the possibility of it ending in a splat. Sometimes I wonder if people who skydive don’t really understand the “gravity” of the situation.

That reminds me, though, how glad I am that I know where I’m headed, eternally speaking. I don’t fear death. I will confess here, I do fear pain. Actually it’s not quite fear of pain. It’s more of a very vigorously enthusiastic hatred of pain.

But pain or no pain, it’s essential we know that our future is secure and that death, however it comes, is not the end. There’s amazing comfort there. And that always tends to put fear in its place. It even puts math in its place.

Second Corinthians 4:16-18 says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal,” (ESV).

The Amplified version of verse 17 refers to our existence on the other side of this flappy-faced life as “an everlasting weight of glory, beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!” Now that, my friends, is a weight that defies gravity. This is some math I can love. It’s a beyond-all-measure, never-ceasing glory. Its calculations are beyond comparison in this life. No need to bother with any old equation. This is the greatest of the “greater thans.”

I want to follow Paul’s instructions in this passage to “not lose heart.” As a matter of fact, instead of losing my heart, I want to keep it. And I know it’s some strange math, but I think keeping my heart means giving it away. A heart fully surrendered to Christ is one that is able to look past the pains of this life and to look past a wildly flapping, wasting-away face, experiencing renewal day by day. I want to live in that renewal. I want to live this life well in the power of the One who created me. And then, I want to finish well. I want to “stick the landing,” so to speak. Even if it ends with a splat.

Obedience and Walking in the Spirit

By Rachel Indihar –

We all have habits and/or personality traits that we wish we could change. Some of these are minor and won’t affect our spiritual walk, such as twirling our hair when we’re nervous. However, other habits have a deep impact on our spiritual lives and can lead to us drifting away from the Lord.

For example, all of my life I’ve had trouble waking up in the morning without hitting my snooze button a few times. In college I had the terrible habit of sleeping through a class occasionally if I didn’t feel well. It’s easy to give your body what it wants when you’re half asleep and the “off” button on the alarm is inches away. The problem is that the habit of sleeping in and ignoring my alarm has continued into my adult life. Why? Because it’s a habit I perfected over many years. A dangerous habit.

A few months ago I felt the Lord asking me to get up early to do my devotions, because I don’t have time when I get home from work. He asked me to get up at 6:00 am so that I had around two hours to meditate on His Word and eat breakfast before going to work. This spiritual discipline would help me prepare for the day and keep my focus on Jesus instead of my anxieties or problems.

Well, you can foresee the problem. The alarm would ring at 6:00 am, and I – who never feels good early in the morning – would quickly change the alarm to 7:00 am…and then 7:30 am…and soon I’d be waking up at 7:45 when I had to leave for work by 8:15. And suddenly POOF! My entire devotional time was gone.

At first I didn’t think this was a problem, because I thought I could find time later to study the Bible. However, as time went on, I realized that the morning really was the best time to read without being distracted by my To-Do list. The Lord was telling me to do something that was hard on my body but good for my soul. It was something I needed to do in order to get through the day.

This disobedience has lasted for weeks, with some successes, but many failures. I’ve been frustrated, irritated and depressed as I keep asking myself, “Why can’t I do it? Why can’t I obey the Lord?”

In Romans 8, Paul speaks to fellow believers about walking in the Spirit and denying the flesh. He says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8 ESVUK).

Paul is telling believers back then and today that we cannot obey the Lord when our minds are focused on our flesh (i.e. our own selfish needs, wants, desires, etc.) I can have all the motivation and inspiration to wake up at 6:00 am the night before, but when 6:00 am eventually rolls around and I’m focused on how tired I am or on my headache, I will hit the snooze button. I don’t want to or intend to disobey God, but when I don’t pray for help from the Holy Spirit in the morning, I am going to fail. I am going to disobey God.

If you have a bad habit or character trait that you wish to change, don’t try to get rid of it in your own strength! Pray for wisdom and strength from the Holy Spirit, and He will give it to you. Then you will have success that comes from the Lord, not from your own doing. Later when people say to you, “How did you give up (fill in the blank)? How did you change that deeply ingrained habit?”

You can smile and say, “It wasn’t me. God gave me the strength I needed so that I could succeed. I succeeded in His strength, not my own.”

All glory and praise to our Father when we concur bad habits and change our lives. For we could not do it without Him.

Following the Ways of the Father

By Gillis Killam –

Some years ago the leadership of our denomination met together in a retreat to seek the Lord for the direction of our Fellowship. In one of the sessions we were asked to give our personal testimony: how we came to Christ and how our family had impacted our lives. As we went around the circle of twelve men we listened with full attention because many of us, who came from other parts of Canada, had never heard the story of other members. It was one of the most encouraging and uplifting moments in our time together.

When it came time for the last one to speak we were surprised to hear him say, “I don’t have a Christian heritage in my family!” He told us that he could not look back to a father, mother, or grandparents, for a Christian influence. Other people outside his natural family were now like father and mother to him and they were a blessing. He went on to say that now he has a wife and children and he is building a heritage for his own family with the help of his Heavenly Father.

An interesting scripture tells us something about Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, which says, “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel” (2 Chronicles 17:3-4 NIV).

Jehoshaphat’s father, King Asa, followed the Lord in the first part of his reign, but turned away from God in his later years and did not obey Him. He did not leave a good memory or a godly heritage that his son could look back on, so Jehoshaphat looked back to his forefather, David, who was a man after God’s own heart, and followed His ways.

Even if we don’t have a godly Christian heritage in our immediate family, we may look back to someone who was an example (John 1:12). If we can’t find a godly influence in our past, but have accepted Christ as our Saviour we can look to our Heavenly Father. When we receive Christ as our Saviour we become “children of God” (1 John 3:1 NIV).

Prayer: Thank you Father for a godly father and mother who showed me the way to You. Amen

The Dance of Gratitude

By Diane Mayfield –

I start planning for Thanksgiving dinner in August. I think about which kids I get to have home with us, if we are going to the Thanksgiving Day football game and what time the game is so I’ll know when to plan dinner. Last year we had dinner on Friday. This year I have a small group for Thanksgiving Day, so we are going to the Four Seasons Hotel for its fabulous lunch before the game. No cooking and cleaning for me this year. Woo Hoo!

Thanksgiving isn’t just about the food, but it typically gets most of my attention. I don’t think about what I’m thankful for until the day of Thanksgiving. As Christians, the Bible says giving thanks is to be part of our every day existence. In fact, praise and thanksgiving is the posture we take to come to our Father. “In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV Philippians 4:6b).

For a year I faithfully wrote a gratitude journal. Then, for some reason, I quit. This day, I am thankful that I was reminded to start it up again.

I’ve been listening to The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown. She talks about foreboding joy, which is basically sabotaging those moments when we experience a little taste of heaven by projecting a future catastrophe. The antithesis to foreboding joy is gratitude. Now Brene is not writing from a Christian perspective, but the truth she presents is very biblical. She speaks of practicing gratitude and her suggestion is to start a gratitude journal. I believe God was nudging me back to my discipline of writing in my gratitude journal again.

So I started writing each morning. I’ve been doing it for a week now. As a result, I am more mindful throughout the day of the blessings that come my way. Here’s an example: My sister came into town at my request to help me with painting, cleaning and decluttering my Alzheimer diseased mom’s room at her assisted living facility. Those of you who have lived with and through this disease understand what I’m up against just saying those words. If you have not experience it, think about what it’s like to clean up a toddler’s room with the toddler present. Impossible!

After two days of working together and feeling very satisfied with our accomplishment, we sat in the car exhausted, looked at each other and said, “I’m so grateful we could do this together.” Truly, at that moment, gratitude ruled our hearts and not exhaustion.

I took it even further. For that moment, I believe the Sovereign God of the Universe knew I would need a sister to go through these times with me as the oldest in the family. We have a brother, too, but let’s face it, guys just don’t take care of elderly mothers in the same way women do. I for one feel so blessed to have my sister to go through this very difficult time with me. I am so grateful we have each other to lean on.

During this Thanksgiving season, I hope you will take some time from the meal planning to create your own gratitude journal. I have even set my phone to alert me every day at noon to stop and reflect on what I am grateful for in the moment. I know many of you have probably practiced this for years. I’m just now getting back to this dance of gratitude. Come join me if you have not started.

What Does Sin Cost?

By Susan Dollyhigh –

“What does a gallon of gas cost?” the pastor asked the little ones gathered around him for children’s church.

Little hands shot into the air. A brown-haired boy answered with great confidence, “Seventy-five dollars.” The congregation laughed softly.

A blond-haired lad called out, “Eighty dollars!” and as if in a bidding war, a freckle-faced little guy upped his answer to one hundred dollars.

Then a wise spectacled-boy calmly answered, “Three dollars a gallon.”

“Very good.” The pastor leaned back on the step he was sitting on. “Okay. How much does a shirt cost at Target?”

“Fifty dollars,” a little girl with pigtails said.

The blond-haired lad decided to try his answer of eighty dollars again.

The pastor declared that the price of shirts had gone up since he last shopped at Target. “Okay let me ask you this, what would happen if I didn’t pay my water bill?”

With wide eyes, little pigtail girl said, “You could go to jail.”

Wise spectacled-boy announced, “They will cut off your water.”

“Yes, I guess both of those things could happen,” the pastor said. “Okay here’s another one, what does sin cost?”

Without even raising her hand, a little brunette who’d remained silent whispered just loud enough to be heard, “Your life. Sin costs you your life.”

The pastor blinked in surprise. “That’s right. The Bible tells us that the cost of our sin is death, but the Bible also tells us that our bill has already been paid. Who do you think paid that bill?”

“Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” the boys and girls shouted.

“Jesus paid the bill for everyone,” little pigtail girl said, then raising her chin, “even cats.”

“The Church is always one generation short of extinction, if our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end!” Warren Wiersbe

This Thanksgiving season, I’m thankful for Jesus. I’m thankful that He paid the cost of my sin the day He died on the cross. I’m also thankful that the church seems safe from extinction for another generation. I pray these children will grow up and guard and entrust the truth to their children, ensuring the survival of the church of Christ.

Bible Verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV).

Prayer: Father, thank You for all your many blessings. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for parents who guard and entrust the truth to their children. Amen.

« Previous Page — Next Page »