Walking With Jesus

Are You Amazed?

“Jesus and His companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, He went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at His teaching, for He taught with real authority – quite unlike the teachers of religious law.” (Mark 1:21-22 NLT)

What are the top 10 most amazing things you’ve ever experienced? Did Jesus make the cut? Or more to the point, His grace? I never cease to be amazed at how selfish I am, or how thoughtless when it comes to another person’s needs, especially the needs of someone I profess to love.

In my old age I’m learning it’s a lot easier to sing about amazing grace than it is to live daily with a spirit of amazement. And please understand, I’m not talking about all the things God has done by His grace, I’m addressing the limitless investments of His amazing grace in our lives every moment of every day.

Think about it! The air we breathe, the sunshine, rain, friendship, family – both physical and spiritual, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, the ability to feel things with our fingers and with our heart. Honestly, the list is endless of the ways God’s grace intersects our lives each second.

R. C. Sproul said: “We need to do more than sing ‘Amazing Grace.’ We need to be repeatedly amazed by grace.” How often do we take for granted food in our frig, a car in our garage, a spouse, kids, grandkids? How about the gift of neighbors, air conditioning and central heat?

It’s hard for me to think about all the ways God floods my life with His grace without thinking of those I’ve met in places within a short drive of my house who don’t have those things we too often take for granted. They don’t have a steady income that affords them a place to live with all the benefits we’ve learned to expect.

What if we suddenly, we’re deprived of all our creature comforts? What if a physical, mental, or emotional setback leaves us unable to provide anything for ourselves? The proverbial “domino effect” is closer to many people than we like to imagine. Many homeless today aren’t mentally or emotionally challenged, they’ve simply lost their job that took away their income, and they lost their house, car, and on and on it goes.

Where’s the grace of God in all of that? It’s the same place it always was! Grace isn’t dependent upon material things – what we have or don’t have. Gratitude for God’s free, undeserved gift of life that has likely led most of you who read this blog to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote: “The Christian life starts with grace, continues with grace, and ends with grace. By the grace of God I am what I am.” Who I am – who you are – isn’t dependent upon position, power, prestige, or possessions. It’s only and always dependent upon your life in Jesus. He IS our life, whether we have or have not.

If we’re alive our life has purpose – we’re alive for a reason, and that reason is to glorify and honor Jesus. How do we do that? By His grace! The free, unmerited, underserved gift of His holy presence that sustains us regardless of our circumstances.

I’m reminded of a group of American soldiers who were captured during WWII who worked out a system of communication that enabled them over time to remember Bible verses and hymns. When by God’s grace they made it home, they discovered that they’d actually added a verse to one hymn that wasn’t part of the original, but they attributed the grace of God with bringing those things to mind and sparing their lives.

What’s amazing about the grace of God in your life today?

Blessings, Ed 😊

Choices Have Consequences

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NLT)

We make our choices, then our choices make us! Everything we do, for good or ill, has a corresponding consequence. A consequence is a result or outcome, whether it’s good or bad depends on its cause. It’s a universal law of nature – cause and effect – that states that every effect is the direct outcome of a specific cause.

In the beginning God set in motion the laws that now govern the universe, including the laws to which we are subject as human beings – i.e. the law of gravity, cause and effect, etc. Additionally, there are spiritual laws that serve as the perimeters or boundaries in which we honor and please God, but outside of which we dishonor and violate, not only His law, but His Person.

To disregard what God says is to disregard His authority. Throughout the Bible and illustrated vividly throughout human history, we see man’s attempts to make better choices for themselves than they believe God can make. And because we have free will, God will never step in and make us obey Him.

Sin is a choice that carries a death penalty, not only after we die, but during the time we take up space on the earth. Jesus is the Author of life, seen clearly in the words of John in 1 John 5:11: “And this is what God has testified. He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”

The decisions we make from day to day typically follow the system of belief we have established for ourselves. If my goal is to please and honor God, by His grace and with His help, I will establish godly habits such as daily Bible reading/study, prayer, church attendance, treating others with respect and kindness, etc.

If my lifestyle is not based on Biblical criteria, I will often follow the lifestyles of those whose opinions I most respect or admire. If my family of origin valued education, had a strong work ethic, paid their bills on time, treated others respectfully, etc., that’s likely how I will order my life. There are many morally upright people who don’t follow Jesus, who, from all outward appearances, live good, honest lives.

So, what’s the problem? Because they don’t sin in obvious ways doesn’t make them any less separated from God than someone who does. The Pharisee in the Temple thanking God that he wasn’t like the sinful “tax collector” is further from God than the humble man begging God for mercy.

As I’ve often said, “sin is sin,” so it doesn’t matter if it’s gross, outward sin, or gross inward sin, it still has the same death penalty. God doesn’t grade on the curve – “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23) We’re either lost or saved in God’s estimate, and His is the only one that matters.

We like to think of people who are “so close” to being saved, or “those who are too far gone!” But it’s like scoring a touchdown in football, you’re either in the endzone or you’re not. We choose Christ or reject Him, and our life choices will reflect which decision we’ve made.

I implore you, if you don’t know with certainty that you’ve asked Christ for forgiveness and are seeking everyday to walk in that victory, please, click on this link to Ron Hutchcraft’s Bridge Illustration. Make the choice today to have your sins forgiven and choose to walk in newness of life only Christ can give you.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Ones We Love (Part 2)

“Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT)

Every human being who has ever lived, yes, even Jesus, has been born with the capacity to sin, with the desire and means of pleasing ourselves instead of God. How ever you paint it sin is a choice, nothing more, nothing less. And our choices will determine where we spend eternity and why.

James explains in chapter 1:12-15: “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Sin is sin, and largely due to the environment in which we are born and grow up, we each develop our sins of choice. Sexual sin, in whatever form it may draw us, is a major sin of choice because we are sexual creatures. We are born male or female and, most people are given the capacity to procreate. That’s a gift that God gives us and, like every other detail of our being, is given to be a means of pleasing and honoring God.

Taking sex out of its original context and turning it into something God never intended, nor desired for it to be, is where sin enters the picture. That’s why the Bible teaches against all means of using sex to please ourselves in ways that are dishonoring to God, both homosexually and heterosexually. But while one way is not more wrong than the other, the social implications of one seems to override the other in some people’s minds.

There are people in my life, as I’m confident there are in yours, who have children or others they deeply love who have same sex attractions. On many levels this is an emotionally tormenting issue, but I’d like to approach it from a Biblical perspective. Let’s say that your son lives with his girlfriend out of wedlock. He and his fiancée decide to get married, so in your joy and enthusiasm you quickly bless and support their decision and it never enters your mind not to attend their wedding.

On the other hand, let’s say your gay child comes to you and invites you to their wedding to a same sex partner. Now the sweat starts pouring down your neck and you’re uncertain as to how to respond. Here’s my question: why does it matter? Yes, of course, one is more socially acceptable, but both children in this scenario – the one marrying a person of the opposite sex and the other marrying someone of the same sex – have been living in blatant, sinful, disobedience to God. Both are guilty of what the Bible describes as “sexual sin.”

Marriage in either scenario doesn’t in and of itself make them right with God or push them any further away. They are still sinners in need of a Savior. We typically do our best to support our children in the decisions they make, not necessarily agreeing with their life’s choices, but continuing to love them through the difficult choices they make, seeking to keep the channels of communication open so that someday they may allow us the privilege of introducing them to the Savior.

The main difference between these two scenarios is the resultant social pressure. We’re concerned that those whose opinion we value will see our attending our child’s wedding as “supporting them in their sin.” I understand that, but personally would rather err on the side of loving my child than caring what the people on my Facebook page think, or even the people whose opinion I value at my church.

Does God’s love for us change or stop when we disobey? Of course not, so why should we not clearly, and often against pressure to do otherwise, do what will most effectively express our undying love for our children?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Ones We Love

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NLT)

Does it make sense to you that when we’re struggling to love ourselves, it’s nearly impossible to love anyone else? It’s also very difficult to love someone with whom we strongly disagree. If I’m an alcoholic or a drug addict it can be very difficult for me to love someone who is trying to “change” me, get me sober, make me change my ways. Think of how that fear of change is compounded in the heart and mind of someone who is gay. If I can’t help how I am, how can I change? Why would I even want to?

I’m running a risk today as I write, because we tend to be so prone to “hear” what we want to hear and discard the rest. Please read what I’m sharing today as from the heart of God. He has laid these things on my heart, and I need to be submissive to His directives. If anything you read today isn’t verifiable in the Word of God, then I’ve obviously misunderstood what the Lord is saying to me.

The foundation of what I’m sharing today is found in our desire, even as Jesus followers, to categorize and prioritize sin. Sin is sin and all sin leads to death, separation from God. There are no “big” sins or “little” sins. Anything done to please ourselves and ignore God’s directives to the contrary, is sin and will result in an eternal separation from God if we don’t repent and seek God’s forgiveness.

As it pertains to those who have chosen a homosexual lifestyle, one of the most common reasons I’ve heard for why they are the way they are is: “I was born this way” or “God made me this way.” The reality is EVERY human being is born with a bent to sin; EVERY human being is born with an inclination to want to please themselves. What particular “brand” of sin we choose varies almost from person to person.

As I sat listening to a gay friend as he poured out his anger and grief in the loss of his beloved partner, my heart broke for him. On many levels his grief is no different than my grief if I lost my wife. But something he said caught my attention. He told me how as a small boy he had “feelings” that led him to believe he was attracted to other boys. He said that he finally stopped fighting these “feelings” and gave into them, believing he had no choice.

Sounds very reasonable, and it is, because it’s essentially the struggle with which every human deals. No, not same sex attraction, but pleasing ourselves and following the dictates of our sinful nature. In my life, my “inclinations” led me to heterosexual fantasies and lusts. For others it’s prostitution, drunkenness, greed, being abusive, cheating people, adultery, fornication, gossip, and a thousand other manifestations of sin that’s geared to pleasing me and blaming God for the outcome.

By the way, check out 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, that’s where I got most of the sins I listed above which, of course, is not an exhaustive list. But let’s follow my friends’ logic to its natural conclusion. He said he ultimately gave into his relentless feelings to engage in homosexual activities. He told me he’d been married to more than one woman, but ultimately found his satisfaction in being with a man.

Okay, what if my sin of choice is killing. I start with insects, then graduate to animals, that leads to another human being, that leads to rape, torture and any number of other manifestations of murder. Am I to believe I should tell that person it’s okay, they’re just being “themselves?” They’re just being what God created them to be? They’re just yielding to their relentless “feelings?”

Let’s pick this up in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Cost of Our Choices

“Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.” (Proverbs 2:11-12 NLT)

Satan’s goal is to make right things look wrong and wrong things look right. “What’s wrong with love?” is often a question asked by two people of the same sex who love each other. And my response is nothing is wrong with loving each other. The Bible doesn’t condemn love between two people. What it condemns is turning love into something it was never intended to be.

There are many men I love in my life. They’re like brothers to me and I would lay down my life for them, just like Jesus laid down His sinless life for me. There are also many women whom I love and are privileged to have in my life. Paul gives Timothy instructions on how to treat the men and women in his life in 1 Timothy 5:1-2. What’s my point? Love is not the issue, ungodly passion is.

We, as human beings, have an evil bent that can take something that is pure, holy, and right, and turn it into something vile, disgusting, and very wrong. Sex traffickers prey on the lusts of men and women who want access to children whose lives are ruined to satisfy their lusts.

Personally, I believe God reserves some of the worst places in hell for sex traffickers and those who prey on children, but even as I write those words the Lord is reminding me that I’m capable of doing anything any of those people do, given the right set of circumstances. There, but for the grace of God, go I…and you!

But what about two consenting adults? What’s wrong with having sex with a man or woman we “love” and with whom we want to have a long-term relationship? Sex is a gift God has given us that is sacred and designed to be shared in the safety and security of a marriage relationship between one man and one woman. Anything outside those boundaries is sin. Period.

“Yeh, but…” Any choice to have sex outside of those limits set by God is sin and will lead to death, eternal separation from God unless we repent, seek God’s forgiveness, and turn from our sin. Here again, even as I write those words I see and can understand how archaic and “out of date” they seem to be. But the truth is, they’re not out of date. They’re just as true and current as they’ve ever been.

That’s why the choices we make regarding them are just as important today as ever before. Here’s the bottom line – you can live anyway you choose, do anything your little heart desires, but with every wrong choice comes a consequence. And I can hear the argument: “I don’t care about consequences. I don’t believe in a God who would set such limitations on people and say He ‘loves’ them. I’m going to live life to the fullest come what may.”

I’m an old man and I’ll readily admit to you there were times in my life when I felt God was trying to restrict my pleasures. Now, in this season of my life I understand that that was exactly what He was doing, and for a very good reason. He was keeping what seemed good to me so He could give me what was ultimately best for me.

All I want today is what God wants for me. If He doesn’t believe I should have it, I’m great with it. My humble opinion is that you should obey God. Make the right choice to follow His Word, His plan, His heart for you. You’ll be eternally grateful you did.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Praying For Children (Part 3)

“Lord, I prayed for this child, and You have granted me what I asked of You.” (1 Samuel 1:27)

*This is day 3 of 3 days of this helpful guide in praying for children by Sylvia Gunter. Used with permission.

These Scripture-based prayers are dedicated to this most important responsibility and privilege of a parent or grandparent or teacher for children of all ages.

Lord, what do You want for my children?

Guide me by Your Spirit as I pray for my children according to Your will. I release them to You so that You can accomplish Your will for their lives. Work the life of Christ in them and give them Your best.

I pray that my children would:

15. Walk wisely in the ways and wisdom of God... I pray that my children will commit everything they do to You and trust You to show them the blessings of obedience. Teach them to put You first in everything. Let their actions reflect Your goodness, righteousness, truth, and wisdom. Day by day fulfill all Your will for them. Ps 37:4- 6, Pro 3:5-6, Eph 5:8-10,15-17

16. Have the joy of the Lord… I pray that You alone will be my children’s joy. Fill them with Your joy, so they won’t pursue the world’s pleasures. Phil 4:4, Neh 8:10

17. Seek to please God, not self, and serve others… I pray that my children will desire to please You in their thoughts and actions and not be people-pleasers. May they have servant’s hearts and give to others like Jesus who did not seek to be served. Matt 4:10b, Ps 19:14, Mark 10:43-45

18. Learn who the enemy is and resist him victoriously… I pray that my children will humbly submit to You and resist the evil one, thereby defeating him. May they discern his tactics and not entertain his lies nor be entrapped by his snares. I pray that they will receive Your strength and resurrection power for every spiritual battle. 2 Cor 2:11, Jam 4:7, Eph 6:10

19. Maintain their first-love devotion to Jesus… I pray that Jesus will be the first love of my children. Give them a passion for Jesus. Cause them to love Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. May they prize His affection above all else. Phil 3:13-14, Luke 10:27

20. Find the godly life partner that God is preparing, a mate who will complement them in their obedient walk with the Lord… I pray that You will bring my children the life partner You have chosen for them. Develop the character of Jesus in them. May their walk together with You be a testimony that You made them for each other. Make them a mighty witness for You. Bless them with Your best. Pro 12:4, 31:10; Ps 112:1-2

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Prayer Portions Daily Study Guide is a great companion book for Prayer Portion. It is designed to help you study through Prayer Portions in 12 weeks either in a group or on your own. Click here to learn more and order.

Praying For Children (Part 2)

“Lord, I prayed for this child, and You have granted me what I asked of You.” (1 Samuel 1:27)

*This is day 2 of 3 days of this helpful guide in praying for children by Sylvia Gunter. Used with permission.

These Scripture-based prayers are dedicated to this most important responsibility and privilege of a parent or grandparent or teacher for children of all ages.

Lord, what do You want for my children?

8. Love the Word of God… I pray that my children will treasure Your Word more than wealth. Teach them to base their lives on it as their standard of life. Give them understanding as they seek You in Your Word. Teach them to plead Your unbreakable promises and to defeat all the lies of the enemy with Your truth revealed in Your Word. Ps 119:127-130,159-162

9. Learn to hate sin and love holiness, righteousness, and the fear of the Lord… I pray that You will write Your Word on the hearts of my children, so that they will choose to hate sin and love Your holiness. Work in their lives the holy fear of You. Help them to desire to please You in all they do. Create in them a pure heart. Make them wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. Move in them to dedicate their life to You as a living sacrifice. Ps 119:9,11; 2 Tim 2:22, Rom 16:19b, Pro 8:13

10. Grow up into maturity in the Lord… I pray that my children will be built on the foundation of Jesus and grow in Your grace with a conscious sense of Your presence conforming them to be like You. May they be built up with Your wisdom, favor, truth, love, life, faith, strength, and thankfulness. Luke 2:52, Eph 4:15, Col 2:6-7

11. Glorify God in their bodies as Your temple… I pray that my children will honor You by keeping their bodies pure as the temple of Your Spirit. Teach them the great price You paid in the death of Jesus for their holiness. 1 Cor 6:19-20, Rom 12:1-2

12. Respect those in authority…I pray that my children will submit to the authorities You have placed over them for their good. Cause them to obey and not reserve for themselves the right to choose whether to obey, which You call rebellion. Give them a joyful, grateful heart as they submit to authority. Rom 13:1, Eph 6:1, 3:22-25

13. Have healthy, edifying, wise friendships... I pray that my children will develop friendships based on the drawing of Your Holy Spirit to righteous companions. Give them friends who are true, wholesome, and mutually encouraging. Give them wisdom in choosing relationships that will honor You. Ps 119:63, John 15:13-14

14. Know the truth and renew their minds in God’s Word… I pray that my children will know Your truth in their hearts as well as their minds. May they base their life on Your truth instead of Satan’s lies, so that they will experience all the freedom that Jesus died to give them. I pray that they will daily renew their minds in Your Word and set their thoughts on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. John 8:32, Rom 12:2, Phil 4:8

Praying For Children

“Lord, I prayed for this child, and You have granted me what I asked of You. ” (1 Samuel 1:27)

*For the next three days I want to share this outstanding prayer tool for you to use when praying for children. I hope it blesses and encourages you as much as it did me. This is a resource from Sylvia Gunter that I share with you with permission.

These Scripture-based prayers are dedicated to this most important responsibility and privilege of a parent or grandparent or teacher for children of all ages.

Lord, what do You want for my children?

I pray that my children would:

1. Receive and love Jesus as their Savior… May they understand that You love them so much that You gave Your only Son for them, and when they believe in Him, they will have life forever with You. John 3:16

2. Commit their lives to make Jesus Lord and be filled with Your Spirit… May my children recognize that Jesus is the Name above all names and confess Him as Lord of all. I pray that they will trust Him with all their hearts, not lean on their own understanding, and acknowledge that He is Lord; thus, You will guide them in Your best way for them. May they be filled with Your Holy Spirit to the fullness of Christ. Phil 2:9-11, Pro 3:5-6, Eph 5:18, 1:23, 4:13

3. Know the true and living God intimately and cherish and live in all Your names… I pray that my children will desire to know You intimately, Father. May they love You and apply Your names and truth to their needs. Dan 11:32b, Phil 3:10, Ps 9:10

4. Learn to pray and praise… I pray that my children will learn to communicate with You, their loving Father. Put Your praise in their hearts and on their lips. Lead them to be entirely dependent on You for everything, so they talk with You about everything and give You the honor that You deserve. Mark 10:14-15, Matt 21:16, Phil 4:6

5. Know who they are in Christ… I pray that my children will know how precious they are to You. Teach them to base their identity and security in Christ. Give them Christ-centered confidence and worth. Give them Your mind about how You see them and how You feel about them. Help them to know who they are and what they have in Christ and what they can do through Him. Eph 1:4,7,11-14; Col 1 :27

6. Be protected from the evil one by the blood of Jesus… Cause my children to know the power of the blood to defeat all the works of the evil one. John 17:15, 1 John 4:4

7. Receive the love of God the Father… I pray that my children will know Your Father-heart and have the assurance of Your great love. Let them know by experience how extravagantly and unconditionally You love them. Father them with Your holy love, so that they know that You are always working in their lives in love. 1 John 3:1

Steering Wheel or Spare Tire?

“The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior. Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory – for all its strength, it cannot save you. But the Lord watches over those who fear Him, those who rely on His unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:16-18)

When are you most driven to pray? A health-related problem? A financial matter? A relational crisis? A work issue? Something else that troubles you? Why do we think we need a reason to pray? On some levels it’s like asking: “When should I speak to my spouse? Friend?”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t give us the air we breathe, He IS the air we breathe! To save prayer for a crisis is to misunderstand the nature of prayer. Think of prayer as conversation with God. If you have a best friend, what do you talk with them about? EVERYTHING! I don’t need an excuse to call my wife or speak with her about something that’s going on in our lives.

That’s the nature of friendship – communication! Yet, too often when it comes to God it’s like we have to have a reason to speak with Him. Corrie Ten Boom asked an important question when she wrote: “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?“

What’s the purpose of a steering wheel? To give direction to the vehicle, right? You’re not going to make it very far if you’re missing a steering wheel. On the other hand, when do you need a spare tire? Usually, in an emergency! A tire goes flat, you run over a nail, any number of reasons, but they’re typically emergent, they need your immediate attention. Again, you’re not going to make it very far on a flat tire.

How do you view prayer? How you answer that is going to depend largely on how you view God. Is He “the man upstairs?” Or a Friend who sticks closer than a brother? Is God the proverbial “genie in the bottle” or our gracious Father from whom comes “grace to help us when we need it most.”

If crisis is the only time you think to pray, what does that tell you about your relationship with God? An unknown source said: “Jesus should be your first line of defense, not your last resort.” To only think of God when something is wrong is like only thinking of your spouse when you want sex. Ideally, prayer is the means of opening avenues of intimacy with God that only sex can open for a man and woman committed to one another in marriage.

Prayer should never be an afterthought, but a lifeline that is constantly open between us and our Father in heaven. Prayer is an open conversation that begins when I awaken and ends when I fall asleep. If you dread prayer or “never know what to say,” may I remind you that the best prayers I ever prayed were sitting silent in the Lord’s holy presence.

When I was a boy, I didn’t go with my dad hunting, fishing, or to look at a car he was interested in purchasing because I necessarily had interest in those things, I went because I wanted to spend time with my dad. He wasn’t a big talker, but I learned a lot about what kind of man he was by just being with him.

Often our most valuable time spent with God isn’t when we’re speaking, or even listening, it’s when we’re observing who He is and how He works in certain environments that can be life-changing for us.

During the first date I had after getting my driver’s license, we were on a two-lane road and as I approached a cross street where there were cars waiting to turn, the second car in line apparently didn’t see me coming and pulled out right in front of me. All I remember is slamming on the brakes and steering hard right to miss them. Miraculously, we avoided a collision and came to a stop just inches from a ditch. I didn’t have time or presence of mind to “pray,” but I didn’t have any question as to Who was in control of that car.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Still Seeking Gold Stars?

“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1 John 2:16-17 NLT)

What do you crave? Think about that for a moment. Yeh, I get it – cherry pie and Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream – duh! But seriously, when you’re alone with your thoughts, where does your mind go? If you think about it, craving is just another word for addiction. We crave sex, money, attention, recognition, success, position, prestige – the list is long and, on many levels, frightening. How so?

Because what we think is followed closely by what we do, how we personalize and materialize our thoughts into actions soon gives us and everyone else visibility to our thoughts. What we think about comes about, so however we invest our thought-life, it’s just a matter of time until we see the manifestation of our thoughts turn into actions.

If you’re someone who loves Jesus that’s good news. Why? Because to invest our time pondering the Word of God, memorizing Scripture, researching the meaning of words and passages and how they relate to our life today, will result in not only greater levels of knowledge and understanding, but, ideally, living in greater measures of Christlikeness. But here again, what’s prompting these cravings – for good or evil?

Though I probably should have given it more effort, I’ve never been much of a pleaser. If I ever got a gold star for anything in elementary school, it was probably – as my kids used to say – “on an accident.” Yet, today, while I still don’t consciously seek to please people, I do want to excel in my pleasing Jesus. But even that positive and godly aspiration can haunt me with the obvious question – why? Why is pleasing Jesus so important to me…or you?

Lisa Lakey wrote in a Family Life devotion: “At an early age, I bought into the lie that success=value. That I was ‘less’ if I failed, if someone didn’t like me, if I wasn’t the best. So I held on dearly to each little gold star, be it figurative or literal (God bless elementary teachers!). Each one a life buoy to hold me over until the next one. And in between? Lots of non-star-worthy moments. Maybe this is why I didn’t accept Jesus until I was in my twenties. I just couldn’t fathom a world where, ‘the last will be first, and the first last’ (Matthew 20:16). But can I share something I’m still learning?”

Then she said something that caused me to look closely at my own heart. “My husband needs a wife motivated by love, not one obsessed with achievement. And I want my husband to feel he can come to me when he falters a bit, not scared of whether or not I will hold him to some unrealistic standard. Our value in this marriage is not determined by our successes, but upon the love and forgiveness Christ has shown each of us. No gold stars here. But love, hugs, apologies, and second chances? We have lots of those.”

The people in our lives, but more to the point, our Savior, deserves our love, not simply our focused attempts to achieve recognition or to receive His love. The Lord doesn’t give us “gold stars” when we “perform” well. Here’s the beauty of His love: “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us (don’t miss this) WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.” (Romans 5:8)

We don’t live good, quality, Christ-centered lives for earthly trinkets or “atta boys (or girls).” We allow the Holy Spirit to live His life in and through us to point us and others to the grandeur and greatness of our Savior. The reality is, we have nothing of value to offer Him. He IS our value; He IS what gives our lives worth.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊