Don’t Make ‘Em Hunt For It

By Jarrod Spencer –

Last year, I pulled in to Sonic Drive-In to get a late night snack. As I was perusing the menu, I noticed the Easter-themed promotion of the Sonic Card (aka gift card). It read, “Don’t make ‘em hunt for it.” That phrase grabbed my attention.

One of the common events around the Easter holiday is egg hunting. When I was younger, I enjoyed hunting for the hidden eggs when I was younger. The mystery alone was fun to solve: where are they hidden? In addition, who can resist the candy that waits inside? That delicious, cavity-enhancing material is very appealing.

Easter should be about the tomb and the Resurrection. In the early morning, the tomb was found empty. However, in the days prior to this, it had been filled. Though it wasn’t filled with chocolate, marshmallows, or jelly beans, it was filled with something sweet to the soul. Jesus occupied that tomb. Jesus had been flogged and tormented, resulting in His death on the cross. To make sure he was dead, they pierced His side. Then, they took Him down and laid Him in the tomb.

Three days later, on the first day of the week, two women approached the tomb, only to find it empty. Others looked inside, but there was no Jesus. Where was He?

He had risen. And Jesus chose not to make His followers hunt for Him. He came to them.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16) doesn’t instruct us or allude to the “come” concept. The first imperative in Matthew’s account is for us to “go.”

Easter is this month. Go. Go to the people and let them know the greatness of your Savior. It may lead to questions. It may eventually lead to someone being saved. You never know. However, accept His mission to go to the people, not expecting them to come to you.

The sweetness that comes as a result of the Gospel will also create a cavity. A cavity created as Satan and self are pushed out, now can be filled with Jesus!

Remember, don’t make ‘em hunt for it…Go!

PRAYER: Father, may I reveal to others what You have revealed to me. May the ‘good news’ of my sin-disease cure be something I share with others. Thank You for making a way for me to return to the glory I lost as a result of sin. Thank you for clearing the Tomb where Jesus’ was laid and demonstrating the power that comes through You.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

A Healthy Appetite

By Rosemary Flaaten –

As my age has increased, so has my waistline. You may understand this. Extra weight creeps on and before we know it, we’re 10, 20, 50 pounds overweight. Despite many different methodologies and programs, there is no secret formula for losing weight. If we want to lose that extra fat, the number of calories that we expend must be more than the amount we take in. Recent studies show that the type of food from which those calories come from are less significant than the simple volume we eat.

And that’s where appetite comes in. My desire to put more food into my mouth than what my body needs is my problem. I don’t just eat because I’m hungry; I eat to experience satisfaction. Rather than listening to my God-given hunger reflex, I respond to my desire for love, approval, comfort, and strength by opening my mouth and eating. My hunger is not for food, it is for fulfilment. In my attempt to satisfy this need, I have made food an idol in my life.

God spoke these words about His people’s incessant idolatry: “They’ll realize how devastated I was by their betrayals, by their voracious lust for gratifying themselves in their idolatries.” (Ezekiel 6:9 TM)

This verse hits me between the eyes on the topic of self-indulgence. I set out to satisfy my deepest longings of my heart, but instead of turning to God, who has promised everything I need, including all the food my body requires, I seek to gratify myself. I stuff my face with food that quickly shows up on my hips and in doing so, my heart remains impoverished and gaunt.

I realize we cannot stop eating. We require physical food. But when we allow God to fill us with Himself, then our deepest needs will be met with the Living Water and Bread of Life. Instead of eating for reasons other than physical hunger, we will feast on the riches of the Holy Spirit. Food will take its rightful second place and become a means of sustenance rather than indulgence. That’s when we’ll have a healthy appetite.

PRAYER: O Father, show me where I have replaced my first love of You with a desire for food.

“Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35 NIV).

No Victory in Mud Slinging

By Jarrod Spencer –

Complaints are a dime-a-dozen. A child complains about what’s for dinner. A fan or player compains about an official’s call, or lack thereof. A customer complains over dissatisfaction with their food. We complain over an actor’s work in a play/film, the weather, the government, or how a church operates. Quite simply, we find it easy to complain. We want to be satisfied, so when we’re not, we don’t give second chances and we let people know about it.

Have you been receiving complaints?

I’ve had my fair share. I once thought I wanted to be a “famous” preacher. However, after knowing all that they go through from skeptics, I reconsidered, and no longer want to be well-known.

If you have been experiencing some complaints lately, the following quote from Rubel Shelly is for you: “If criticism is mistaken or mean-spirited, rise above it. Maintain the high ground when you’re under fire. No victory is worth winning at the expense of picking up the mud that has been slung at you and throwing it back.”

Would you agree it is easy to throw mud back? There are people out there that will always complain about something I have done. They have slung mud when they were upset. It took a lot to imitate Christ and not sling it back. Though it may make me feel good to throw it back, there is no victory found in mudslinging.

If you are thinking about slinging some mud, don’t. If you’ve been slung at, don’t sling back. There is no victory in that. Rise above being under fire! You can gain victory by rising above, rather than lowering yourself to their level.

I am ever trying to maintain the higher ground, with his help.

PRAYER: Father, may I imitate Your Son’s example when He was on the cross and did not sling the verbal mud back that was hurled at Him.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (I Peter 2:21-23 ESV).

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).

Rules for the Road

By Cheri Cowell –

Have you ever spent time with someone who criticizes and finds fault with everything and everyone around them? It is tiring being with these people.

Perhaps I should say it is tiring if we are working hard to not join them. It is easy if we just chime in, for all of us have a critical spirit by nature.

While walking by someone who is dressed inappropriately, a comment can be made about dressing to attract the wrong kind of attention, then the conversation quickly moves to how the morals of society are going down the drain, and how your mother never would have let you out of the house dressed that way. How easily we use our superior yardstick to judge others. I have often heard it said that we should be careful when pointing a finger at someone because when we do, there are four pointing back at us. Though we may not dress that way, we do many other things that in God’s eyes are just as wrong.

When studying Romans 8:1, it dawned on me I had heard this verse referred to when people were feeling guilt-ridden and needed relief, but I hadn’t really looked at what preceded the ‘therefore.’

Paul has just written his famous words, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” He explains that his body is still a slave to the human desires he was born with (including a critical nature), yet he is now a member of a new kingdom with different rules. Jesus came along and said He knew we couldn’t keep all the rules, and that keeping rules was not the point. The new rule is to love others as yourself and love Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

When we do this, we desire to do what is right, and we have the power within us in the form of the Holy Spirit to do it – most of the time.

PRAYER: Thank You, God, for Your new kingdom with the new way of seeing the old rules. Help keep my heart, mind, and soul focused on You so I may give others the grace that has been freely given to me.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2 NIV).

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