Walking With Jesus

Ruined By Praise

“The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, ‘It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!’ Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.” (Acts 12:22-23 NLT)

Everyone loves to be praised, encouraged, and made to feel like their life counts. Some, of course, like Herod of old, more than others, but each of us likes to know we’ve been noticed and appreciated. The sad truth is, some thrive on recognition, seek it and are discouraged and sometimes devastated if they don’t receive enough of it. Therein lies the issue: when is “enough” enough?

Solomon gives us insight when he wrote in Proverbs 27:2: Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth – a stranger, not your own lips.” Then in verse 21: “Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.” The word in verse 21 translated “being praised” can also be translated “by flattery.” When praise is empty or sought after it too often becomes simple flattery based on obligation or devotion, not reality.

Photo by Mike van Schoonderwalt on Pexels.com

Again, Solomon, addresses our need for honesty when he writes in Proverbs 27:6: Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.” While criticism stings and can hurt our feelings, it’s the ointment of true friendship. Norman Vincent Peale addresses a real issue when he wrote: “The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”

Only someone who truly loves us will be honest about what they see in us. Yes, of course, critics will rant and rave about our faults, but too often their assessment isn’t accurate simply because they don’t like us and are looking for ways to tear us down. Friends, on the other hand, are looking for ways to build us up, especially in our walk with the Lord Jesus.

Obviously, this is a delicate subject, as most of us are hypersensitive and take great pride in the things we believe we’re good at or about which we strongly feel we’re right. Unfortunately, there are areas of Scripture that are simply not clear to the untrained eye, and, even then, are open to legitimate differences in interpretation.

How much more in our observations of one another. There are things about myself I don’t like and wish I could change, but the fact is the Lord made us all different for good reason, but those differences don’t make anyone better than any other person, especially not another person of God.

Something that really bothers me is when someone criticizes or laughs at someone who has another native language when they mispronounce a word they are struggling to speak in English. Having visited in foreign cultures and struggled to learn the simplest words or phrases in their language, the Lord has given me great respect for anyone who knows and speaks English as a second language.

Similarly, when someone is a new believer and someone criticizes or demeans them because they still wrestle with a sin with which they are struggling to be free. For years I struggled with lust. I despised myself yet couldn’t find an answer until God in his mercy put someone in my life who walked with me into healing and freedom from its deadly tentacles.

“Lord, give us one person who will love us enough to be honest with us about what they see, but who will patiently endure our excuses and failures until we submit to Your Lordship and allow YOU to do in and through us what we can never in eternity do for ourselves.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

To My Mormon Friends (whom I love, respect, and admire)

“For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we much be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12 NLT)

Realizing those who believe in the Mormon doctrines use some of the same terms we use in the Christian Faith, the Lord has given me a story that I pray and believe will help to clarify our understanding of why it’s so difficult for a Mormon and even a Muslim to see the Truth of the Gospel.

Imagine you’re now an adult, and all your life you’ve believed your mom and dad were your biological parents. They’ve never given you any indication to the contrary and you’ve never had any reason to question whether they were anyone but who they’ve claimed to be. However, due to a recent development your kidneys have become diseased, and it has become necessary for you to seek a donor for a kidney.

The logical choice for a donor would be your parents or siblings, yet all seem reluctant to be considered. Upon further investigation you discover through DNA testing that you are not the biological child of the man you’ve called “father” your whole life. What do you do? Heartbroken you beg for an explanation, but the only thing you hear is some version of: “We thought it would be best for you not to know!”

Imagine how hard it would be for a person to wrap their head and heart around the reality that the person they’ve believed to be their father their whole life turns out to be a liar and a fraud. That’s essentially the scenario in which a Mormon finds themselves when presented with the truth of Scripture that tells them the god of Mormonism, though called by the same name, is not the God of the Bible and the Christ who died for their eternal salvation.

They have several choices: continue to believe the lie, choosing rather to believe the Truth IS the lie, believe the whole “Christ as Savior” is a fantasy and walk away from religion in any form, or, ideally, embrace the God of the Bible as their true and living Heavenly Father and embrace the Jesus of the Bible as their Savior and Lord.

But the question remains, how do you “prove” the DNA of the Mormon god is NOT the God of the Bible? Yes, of course, the teachings of the Mormon faith do not align with Scripture, but when you’re brainwashed from the beginning that lies are “truth,” it’s difficult to know what IS true. It’s like trying to wrap your mind around realizing the man your thought was your father your whole life really isn’t.

“Yeh, but he raised me my whole life. So, he kinda IS my ‘real’ father!” But the fact remains he IS NOT! And that’s the fact with which you must deal! And that’s the fact with which Mormon’s must come to terms: the god they worship and call “heavenly father” and “christ” are not the eternal God, Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the Universe of Whom are written and spoken of in the Holy Bible.

They, in fact, are the figment of an ungodly and deranged man’s mind who created them for his benefit and glory, not the glory of the God of the Bible. Please, if you know someone imprisoned in the cult of Mormonism, please prayerfully consider sharing this article with them or conveying it in your own words. The power of God’s Spirit is the only way they will ever hear the message and be liberated. So, pray, pray, pray!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Why It Is Too Soon to Give Up

By Ron Hutchcraft

*Knowing that many of you who read these words each day have loved ones and friends for whom you are praying, some for many years, please be encouraged by Ron’s powerful words. Blessings, Ed 😊

Ten more minutes and my wife would have never been born. The story that changed everything is hope for any of us who love someone who’s making some very bad choices. My wife’s grandfather, Bill, had given up on life. Trashing a profitable career for the alcohol and cocaine he could not resist. He was labeled with a prison record, he was penniless, he was hopeless and he was suicidal.

And that night, as he walked South State Street in downtown Chicago, he was minutes away from Lake Michigan where he’d decided to end it all. One thing saved him. A mother who had never given up on him. There, on the street, he heard the song, the one his mother used to sing to him. It was coming from the rescue mission he had just passed. Something made him stop and go inside. And there a caring mission worker shared a Bible verse that has probably changed more lives than any other. The worker started, “For God so loved the world that He gave…” Suddenly, Bill finished it. “…His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Somewhere in the long-clouded corners of his memory, he could hear his mother teaching him those words.

And that night – minutes away from ending his life – he found life. He never touched or wanted alcohol or drugs from that night on. And he spent the rest of his life bringing the hope he’d found to forgotten people across the country. And now three generations Bill never met are here, and they’re living and spreading that same hope because of one man’s choice that night.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Why It Is Too Soon to Give Up.”

The story behind the story is told in the inscription on the back of a photo of young Bill. His mother wrote, “O Will, every night when I read my Bible, I look at this picture and I ask God to keep you and somehow seal your heart with His love. You may see this after I’m gone and you’ll know that I never ceased to pray for you. Mother.” She did live ten years after the night God answered those prayers.

Even as her son’s life got darker and darker, this mother was hanging onto a powerful but easily-forgotten truth. That’s one that I, too, have hung onto – even today. Because so much of my life’s work has been trying to love and rescue people who just keep spiraling downward. It’s a hope-preserver for all of us who grieve and who pray for broken, prodigal people.

Never forget the difference between a chapter and a book. See, many a book with a happy ending has some very dark chapters. A loved one’s seemingly unstoppable rush to the edge of the cliff? That’s not the book. It’s a chapter. If we lose that wide angle lens perspective, we’re going to lose hope. But the Bible urges us in our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 6:9, “Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest…” And Jesus said that we “should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).

That’s what Bill’s mother did. She wept over many chapters. She never lost sight, though, of the ending God could write to the book of her son’s life. She just kept loving, praying and believing. And the final chapters of Bill’s life were more glorious and more miraculous than she could have ever dreamed.

If we can remember, in the darkest hours of a loved one’s heartbreaking journey, that this is a chapter, then hope can win when despair is strong. Even as I write this, there are young men and women whose life-eroding choices I grieve for. But I know there is a relentless Shepherd who came, He said, to “seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). He says, “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays” (Ezekiel 34:16). He will do whatever it takes to bring them home. Even when it meant a cross.

So, as long as there’s breath, there’s hope. I know, because Bill’s beautiful granddaughter, my wife, told me.

Jesus Would Have Baked the Cake

…and other nonsense Jesus wouldn’t have done.

By John Stonestreet

*This article by John Stonestreet of the Colson Center is just too rich and full of helpful information not to share. Enjoy! Blessings, Ed 😊

On a Saturday morning in 2012, sitting on my porch reading an actual newspaper, I first learned of a Denver baker named Jack Phillips. A gay couple, having been “married in a different state,” asked Jack, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, to custom design a cake for their same-sex “wedding” celebration. Jack offered them service and any cake in his store that was already made. What he could not do, he said, was use his creative talent to communicate a message that violated his conscience and said what he knew to be untrue.

To say that a lot has happened since is, to put it mildly, an understatement. He was harassed by the state of Colorado, specifically the Civil Rights Commission. He was slandered online and subjected to death threats against him and his family. He was sued, not only by the state but also by a man—who claimed to be a woman—who repeatedly asked him to bake perverted and disgusting cakes. In the end, his case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, has been pivotal in advancing the rights of conscience, suppressing state hostility to religion, and attracting many to Christ.

But I also remember the chorus of voices, many of them Christian leaders, saying at the time, “Just bake the cake.” Or even, “Jesus would’ve baked the cake.” Jack was accused of hate, intolerance, and bigotry. But he stood courageously, even in the face of great criticism from brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank God he did. Recently, at an event hosted by Colorado Christian University and featuring the brilliant Ayaan Hirsi Ali—one of those who was inspired by Jack’s story—I asked Jack, and Kristen Waggoner, Jack’s attorney and CEO of the Alliance Defending Freedom what he thinks now as he looks back on the past decade and a half.

Here’s Jack:

God tells us to live by a truth. He says we need to know the truth and that the truth will set us free. Jesus is the Truth, and we just have to know Him. And we get to know Him better and more clearly through His Word, through good teaching, and by spending time with Him. The more time you spend with Him, the better you know Him, and you don’t want to disappoint somebody you know well.

It would have been a huge disappointment to Jesus if I’d have [baked the cake] when He’s given us the power to live by what He says. And people want good news. There are tons of people who I’ve talked to who have been encouraged by this story. I think if I had made the cake . . . I don’t know because we’ve had so many things that have just happened that have been so good. Tonight is one of them.

Kristin Waggoner added more context:

In Jack’s situation, Jack modeled tolerance, and the other side did not. And so, it’s not about refusing to serve, because Jack serves everyone. Everybody. But when the government can compel you to speak messages and affirm lies that violate your conscience, then there is no limit to the government’s power. . .. So that’s really what that was about—it was “the message” that Jack was being asked to communicate.

I can tell you, having talked to hundreds of people over the last 10 years, that they have said that courage begets courage. And they’ve modeled that because they heard of Jack’s story, and it caused them to consider Christ and come to salvation. But it also caused them to be courageous in their moment.

One example that comes to mind is Sher Lori from Downtown Hope Center. She runs a homeless shelter in Alaska, and a man who identifies as a woman wanted to come into that shelter sleeping three feet away from the women in the shelter. As she’s coming down the stairs, she knows that the man is at the door wanting to come in. He had a reputation that would suggest that would not be a good thing. Even aside from the fact that he’s a man, he had violent tendencies and things like that. And what goes through her mind is, remember the baker. So, she gives that man cab money to go to the hospital to get his wounds cared for because he was in a fight earlier. But she does not let him in. She keeps that safe space for those women. So that’s what I think of; all the people who were inspired by Jack as well.

Praise God. The entire conversation, preceded by a stunning and brilliant speech by Ayaan Hirsi-Ali, is now available on YouTube. And, of course, the stories of Jack Phillips and Ayaan Hirsi-Ali are told in Truth Rising: The Study and the Truth Rising documentary. Learn more at colsoncenter.org/truth.

Interested in this topic?

You’re in a conversation and someone says, “The kind thing to do when someone tells you their pronouns is to use them. We should practice ‘pronoun hospitality.’” What would you say?

Watch here

When Jesus Is Your Supreme 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.” (Matthew 22:37-38 NLT)

What does it mean to love anything or anyone? There are people I love very much, but how do you really measure love? Isn’t it primarily based on commitment to that person? There are people I love very much, but I wouldn’t want them to live with me, loan them money or even lend them my car. But where do you draw the line?

With Jesus you don’t! That’s the point! Loving with all your heart doesn’t set limits, it’s what allowed nails to be driven in the hands and feet of our Savior and a crown of thorns to be placed on His holy, sinless head. He asks us to do nothing more than what He did – love His Father without reservation or restriction. So, what might that look like in real life, in real time?

Why don’t we ask Jim Elliot, or John Allen Chau, or Charlie Kirk or any of the millions of others who have given their lives over the years because they loved Jesus more than they loved their own lives. But while that’s arguably the most dramatic and final way to express our love, on some levels, it’s not the only way and, if we’re honest, it may not be the hardest way.

We’re quick to think or even say, “Sure, I’d give my life for Jesus!” Then we head to the bar to enjoy time with our buds or head off to meet our girlfriend when our wife is at work or in other ways clearly violate our “love” for Jesus. Talk is cheap, but love is expensive, hard, and trying. So, how do we know our love is centered on Jesus?

Who or what do you think about the most? Talk about? Talk with? Long to learn about? Share with others? For whom do you spend your money?

When my first child, my daughter, was born she was the most beautiful sight my eyes had ever seen. I couldn’t stop looking at her, taking her picture, making movies of her every move. (Want to see them? I still have them. 😊) From the moment of her birth she was the focus of my energy, plans, desires in terms of wanting to hold her, be with her, talk to her, cradle her, watch her sleep, feed her, in short, my world revolved around this new life that stole my heart and captured my mind.

But how can we devote all that time and energy and effort to our love for Jesus? Even when I had my daughter, I was a full-time Seminary student and worked full time. It doesn’t exempt you from being involved in life, it only keeps you focused so you don’t waste time on unnecessary things. As parents, everything we do, every plan we make, every dollar we spend, every trip to the grocery store we make, every vacation we plan revolves around this new life which has become our responsibility.

In much the same way we keep our focus and attention on pleasing Jesus and doing everything in a manner that would reflect our love for and devotion to Him. But how do we know what that should look like? We spend much time in conversation with Him as we listen to Him through His instruction manual, the Holy Bible, and speak with Him in prayer. We ask Him and others who are further along than we are, questions, we share our concerns, seek His forgiveness when we fail, treat Him as we would a trusted confidant, because He must become that to and for us.

My love for Jesus has evolved over the years as I’ve learned to receive His love in more personal ways, and to express my love TO Him in more personal ways. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m far from perfect and I’m confident there are lots of men and women of God who walk more closely with Jesus than I do, but my heart’s desire in this season of my life is to be the most like Him as I can possibly be and if that costs me my life, I’m all for it. I’ll just get home that much more quickly!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Do You Think of Jesus?

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20 NLT)

Based on Pauls’ words above, it’s safe to say that Jesus is a little more than our “personal” Savior!

He’s master designer, creator, owner, equipper, and sustainer of everything that lives, moves, or has its being on this earth. He gives the oceans their boundaries and the sun permission to shine. He sustains His people who would rather suffer for Him than deny Him, preparing for them an eternal home that will erase whatever thoughts they might have had that they weren’t good enough, smart enough, spiritual enough, strong enough, or any other negative thought that Satan might have tried to use to demean them into believing they were anything other than the favored, honored, and cherished children of God that they were and are. Jesus is our everything!

He’s the air we breathe, the reason our eyes open in the morning and our lungs fill with air. He gives us energy to get out of bed, prepare for the day, and find hope and joy in our love for Him and for His holy service. He’s what motivates our positive and good thoughts and causes us to believe we can do more and be more than we ever dreamed we could.

He’s the reason we love others and grieve at the thought of them dying and being separated from Him for all eternity. He’s what causes our eyes to fill with tears as we watch a new life lowered into their watery “grave” and rise to new life in Him through water Baptism.

He’s the joy behind our efforts to help someone who is struggling get a grasp on life as we explain His love for them and offer them a helping hand. It’s our joy to sacrifice our time, energy, and money to help someone in need, not because we know them well, but because we know HIM well and we want to be like Him.

John MacArthur gives us insight when he writes: “The Christian husband displays what he thinks of Christ by the way he treats his wife”. And, of course, how the Christian wife displays her love for Jesus in the way she treats her husband, and Christian parents treat their children, and Christian employers treat their employees, and Christian employees treat how they do their work and how Christians love their neighbors and seek those in their spheres of influence for Him.

How we think of Jesus IS GOING TO SHOW whether we like it or not! When I love my wife, it’s going to show; when I love my pups, it’s going to show; when I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s going to show; and when I love my neighbors, lost loved ones and friends, it’s going to show! That’s just who Jesus is! He’s not going to hide in or behind someone in whose life He’s been given preeminence, He’s going to shine, and reveal Himself for anyone to see.

Is He shining in and through you? If not, please click this link and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a brief, but clear and meaningful presentation as to how and why you can walk with Him, changing forever what you think of Him.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When The World Feels Heavy

*Sylvia Gunter’s daughter, Elizabeth Gunter Powell’s Spirit-filled words again inspire, encourage, and uplift us today. Enjoy! Blessings, Ed 😊

Knowing that this devotional reaches people in over 120 nations, I have struggled with what to share this week. With recent global events, the world feels scary. I am also aware of many who are dealing with pain and grief in their personal lives. Whether globally or personally, we are all feeling the weight of what we cannot control. We feel the ache of what we cannot change. We feel the pull to brace ourselves as though our vigilance will somehow make us safe.

The struggle is not allowing the circumstances to be louder than the character of God.

Beloved, listen to the Word of the Lord for you. “God is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). And again, He says to you “If you make the Most High your dwelling even the LORD, who is my refuge then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:9–11).

He is very present. Not distant or distracted. Not waiting for things to calm down before He draws near. He is in the boat with you in the storm. The Most High is your Dwelling Place. The LORD is your Refuge. These are not poetic phrases; they are covenant names of God. He is bound to you by His name.

Let the strength of His name be louder than the circumstances.

He is exalted, omnipotent, supreme in majesty, above all, and in all. He is Commander of the armies of heaven. When the world feels unsteady, it is not because God has left. The Father has never wrung His hands over the nations. So, we can rest in His name.

We will still have trials. Jesus promised that in this world we would face trouble. But He also told us to take heart, for He has overcome the world. The war is already won, even if you find yourself in the toughest battle of your life right now. Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, is victorious.

But what do we do with the very present fear and danger of today? We hold on with hope and faith, not for a change of circumstances, but we hold on to the One who holds us. Faith does not always look like bold declarations. Sometimes it looks like breathing deeply when your chest feels tight. Sometimes it looks like doing the next faithful thing with trembling fingers. If your heart feels heavy today, you are not weak. You are human.

When fear rises, remember you are held by the Most High. Guarded by His command. Covered in His covenant love. You are a covenant son/daughter of God. He is entirely responsible for you. Immanuel walks with you. The LORD is your Refuge who surrounds you.

Pray with me

Most High God,

You are our Dwelling Place and our Refuge. When the world feels loud, and our hearts feel fragile, gather us under the shadow of Your wings. Command Your peace over our thoughts. Silence every lie that exalts itself against the knowledge of who You are.

We choose to make You our dwelling today. We choose to trust Your unfailing protection. We choose to stand in our covenant identity as Your sons and daughters.

Guard us in all our ways. Steady us when we feel shaken. Remind us that You are Commander of heaven’s armies and our tender Father who is attentive to our needs.

Teach us to walk in honor, dignity, and quiet authority, not in fear.

We receive Your nearness. We receive Your protection. We receive Your strength for the next faithful step.

In the mighty and gentle name of Jesus,

Amen.

Strength To Equal Your Days: 365 Days of Prayers and Blessings is a year-long journey of encouragement, filled with daily reminders of God’s love, faithfulness, and strength. Each page invites readers to pause, pray, and be refreshed by timeless truth. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who could use a touch of hope and peace: friends, family, coworkers, or even yourself. Give a gift that nourishes the soul and strengthens the spirit: 365 days of hope, faith, and blessings

Going Not Knowing

*Please enjoy this powerful message from Ron Hutchcraft. Blessings, Ed 😊

Mystery rides were part of growing up at our house. Usually it was a Sunday afternoon, and I’d pile our three kids into our car for a ride. I think we explored every corner of our area. And as we did, we discovered over the years, a lot of great things. But I’ve got one son who’s a lot like me. He wants to know the plan before we leave.

“Hey, Dad, where are we going? Where are we going to eat? What are we going to eat? What are we going to do while we’re there? How long will we be there? What time are we going to get home?” He would pump me with more questions; I felt like I was being interrogated by a police sergeant. Sometimes I knew it was better not to explain where we were going. I mean we’ve done things that would have sounded boring if I had told about them, but they turned out to be exciting and I knew they would. Plus surprises are fun anyway. So, my kids got used to hearing two words when we were about to begin a mystery trip, “Trust me.” I don’t think I let them down. It was good training for journeys with their other Father.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Going Not Knowing.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the life of the Apostle Paul. He’s still Saul of Tarsus here. Acts 9 – he’s on his way to wipe out Christians. He missed some in Jerusalem. So he said, “I’ll get them in Damascus. They all went there; I’ll find them in Syria.” We begin in verse 3: “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?’ ‘Well, who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now, get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'”

Now, it’s interesting that Saul’s training for his whole life in Christ began immediately with a mystery trip. Yeah, did you notice that? He has just opened up to Jesus, and the Lord says, “Go into the city and you will be told.” “Lord, what do you want me to do there? Who am I going to meet there? How am I even going to be able to see; I’m blind right now?” The Lord says, “Go and you will be told.” Well, he spent the rest of his life living like that.

In Acts 20, when he was on his way to Jerusalem as the great Apostle Paul and his friends were trying to discourage him, he said, “Compelled by the Spirit, I am going not knowing.” See, you have a heavenly Father who often takes His children on mystery trips. Maybe you’re on one of His mystery trips right now. There’s a good destination He’s got in mind, but right now He’s telling you just the next step. In essence, He’s saying to you as He did to Saul, “Go, and you will be told as you are on the way.”

It may well be that you’re in the middle of one of those times right now, and the tendency is to say, “Now, Lord, if you’ll just give me all the information, give me all the facts, I’ll start going that direction.” And the Lord says, “No, you start moving in that direction I’ve told you to go, and you’ll get more information as you go.”

Now, maybe you’re waiting to have all your questions answered before you move, and right now there are more question marks than there are periods or exclamation points for sure. Can you almost hear your Father saying as He bundles you into His car, “Trust Me, let’s start traveling together.”

Hey, He died for you. Is He ever going to do you wrong? God’s mystery trips always lead to a destination that is selected with you in mind, for your good. So, why not settle back, enjoy the trip, and let Him drive. Trust your Father and don’t be afraid of going not knowing.

Unsure how to do that? Tap on this link.

Feel Like Giving Up?

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT)

Discouraged? Disappointed? Down? Been there! Wanting to quit? I wanted to quit not only ministry, the Christian way, but life itself! Times get hard, Satan oppresses in unimaginable ways and the echo in our spirit is: “Nobody ever told me it would be this hard! That it would hurt this much!” Spiritual pain is perhaps the most severe with which we have to deal in this life. Believing God is with us and for us, that He’s called us, equipped, informed, and is guiding us – then the bottom drops out!

Someone leaves, dies, or an opportunity we’d counted on falls through. All our dreams seem to be shattered with one letter, call or conversation. How can we go on? How can life ever be the same? And here’s the good news – It can’t be! It won’t be! And that’s good news because? Because God is in control of our lives and outcomes, not us!

Paul understood this as revealed in his words in 2 Corinthians 6:4: “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.” Then in verses 5-10 he outlines the many ways he has experienced those “hardships and calamities.” But why? Why would the God of love allow His followers to suffer in such cruel ways?

Because it’s the way of the Cross! Jesus said in Matthew 16:24: “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, your will lose it, but if your give up your life for My sake, you will save it.” Does that mean every Jesus follower will suffer like Jesus or Paul?

No, but that’s got to be our attitude if we’re going to survive this life with an ounce of faith left. Suffering and hardship are part of the deal. To believe we’re going to skate through life without any heartache or pain is to misunderstand the purpose of life. Life as a believer in Jesus is hard, but the reward is out of this world! We must persevere, believing the Lord is with us, for us and will sustain us through whatever He allows to enter our life.

It brings me comfort to know that some of the spiritual “giants” of the Bible – Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Job, even Paul got tired, angry with God and wanted to quit. But we read their stories, not because they walked their walk perfectly, but because in the end, they didn’t quit! Toby McKeehan (Toby Mac) gives us insight here when he writes: “Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other tires because you got one flat.”

It’s encouraging to know that the reason we have the stories of the men and women of faith whom God used to change the course of history weren’t perfect, they just chose to “change their flat” and keep moving forward. Billy Graham challenges us when he writes: “The Holy Spirit can rejuvenate a tired Christian, captivate an indifferent believer, and empower a dry church.” This morning, I could hardly lift my head, but this afternoon I have joy in Jesus as He’s enabling me to declare His praise and honor.

Here’s the bottom line: DON’T QUIT! Keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep plodding forward in Jesus. He IS with you! He IS for you! And the end you cannot now see is even better than you’ve ever imagined. You WILL get through this hard chapter, and the Lord WILL make the remaining chapters of your life better than you’ve ever imagined. Please don’t let the enemy of your soul rob, not only you, but those who will grow and benefit from your present experience with the Lord.

By God’s grace keep moving forward to the glory and honor of the One whose holy Name you bear!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When Jesus Returns

“We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NLT)

While these verses are very exciting and encouraging, they also raise some questions that deserve consideration. First, as we shared in yesterday’s article, to be absent from our earthly, fleshly body is to be present with the Lord in some spiritual form. Presumably we will be recognizable when we get to heaven, because Moses and Elijah had recognizable forms when they appeared to Jesus, Peter, James, and John on the Mount of transfiguration in Mark 9.

So, why are our ashes or rotting corpses raised from the graves on Resurrection Day? Following Jesus’ ascension, the angel of the Lord told those present: “As they strained to see Him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ‘Men of Galilee, ‘; they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!’”

Notice a few things. First, Jesus rose in a recognizable, bodily form. To the disciples His resurrected body appeared to be an exact likeness of the body in which their Savior was housed when He walked the earth as a man. Are we to assume then that our new, resurrected bodies will look very similar as well? My sense is we will.

Of course, Jesus was only 33 when He died, so His resurrection body looked strong and young. Again, my sense is, at least I’m very hopeful, that my old withered and worn body will look more like I looked when I was in my thirties. Don’t get me wrong, I may not have been “eye candy”, but I looked much better than I do now. Just saying! 😊 Whatever the Lord decides, my point is, we’ll be recognizable just as Jesus was when He ascended.

So, why resurrect the old bodies? We can speculate all day about “why,” but the main reason is, that’s how the Lord planned it (see verses above). Here again, my sense is just as those who are living when the Lord comes will be transformed in the “blink of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52) into our new, eternal bodies, so will those former bodies of departed loved ones be transformed and reunited with their spirits from heaven instantaneously and without apparent notice. Those living won’t even notice or realize that their transformation is happening simultaneously with the transformations of those who died before us.

All we’ll know is that we’re all being escorted by our Savior to our eternal home, where, for all eternity we will be liberated from all sin and shame and clothed with an eternal peace that can’t be explained with human vocabulary. Just as our initial conversion is invisible to the human eye, but recognizable to the heart of God, so will our final transformation be, an act of God on our behalf.

So, the question remains: Are YOU ready for that day? If not, please tap this link and let Ron Huchcraft walk you through a simple, straightforward explanation of how you can give your life to the Lord and know with certainty that when the Lord returns or when you close your eyes in death you will open them in the presence of your risen Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊