Walking With Jesus

“Last Resort” Prayers

“Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet, pleading fervently with Him. ‘My little daughter is dying,’ he said. ‘Please come and lay Your hands on her; heal her so she can live.’ Jesus went with Him.” (Mark 5:22-24a NLT)

There are several prayers of desperation offered in Scripture, none that shed more light on the kind of God and Savior we serve than Jairus’. If anything would grab our heart and send us to the edge mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, it would be a sick or dying child. The tenderness we feel for our children is inherited from our heavenly Father.

It speaks to me that Jesus had no hesitation, but immediately began walking with this desperate man on a journey that would end, not only in the healing of a child, but of a dad. Do you think Jairus ever looked at or spoke about Jesus in the same way? He was a leader of a local Jewish synagogue whose superiors were violently opposed to Jesus, yet he didn’t send someone to find Jesus, he RAN himself.

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” “The Lord will be a light to me”

Would his “bosses” stand by with understanding when they learned Jairus not only invited this “outcast” to his home, he also knelt at His feet and worshipped Him in front of hundreds of onlookers? In those moments do you think Jairus really cared what they thought? He understood there was no one else who could do what he was asking Jesus to do. So, even at the risk of losing his job, he ran as fast as his feet would carry him to find Jesus, and when he did, nothing else mattered but his little girl.

A devotion by Carlos Santiago reminded me of Jairus’ story when he wrote about a time in his life and marriage when he prayed a “last resort” prayer. Carlos wrote: “I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my boss. The country was in a recession, and he offered me a choice: Travel to India for two to four months to help set up a new help desk or be laid off. My wife and 3-year-old daughter depended on my income, but they also depended on my presence. I could not imagine leaving them for so long. He gave me until Monday to give my answer. That weekend we prayed a last-resort prayer, ‘Lord, move my boss out of the way of our family, or move me to where you want me.’”

Miraculously, the boss relented and gave Carlos another position that allowed him to not have to go to India. But is that the way God generally works? See, here’s the deal, God doesn’t have a “general” way He works. The Lord takes EVERY prayer seriously and considers all possibilities before answering.

What about the desperate prayers of the parents of those children who were killed by Herod in his effort to kill the child Jesus? (See Matthew 2:16) Was sparing the life of God’s Son worth the lives of hundreds of innocent children? But though those parents had no way of knowing who Jesus was or would become, even if they’d known it would not have comforted them one tiny bit. But now, for Jairus and millions more like Him across the centuries, Jesus’ “spared” life, ultimately given in death for us, allows us the privilege of accessing His life-giving power on behalf, not only of our children, but of ourselves and others under any circumstance.

Carlos wrote: “When we pray last-resort prayers, we accept that we are powerless to change the situation, and this is good. Other times, it’s easy for us to steal the credit from God. When we’re at the end of our ropes, however, God’s hand is far more apparent.”

It’s sad that we have to get desperate to take prayer seriously. We need to recognize and learn to live in desperate need of Jesus at all times, then prayer would be first, not last.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Confused?

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14 NLT)

The Gospel, the Good News, as it literally means, isn’t complicated or hard to understand. We complicate it by trying to “fit” it to our “brand” of Christianity. What Jesus said and then what His Disciples recorded for us and which became His words in the Bible, are crystal clear to all who will hear.

Because we, as members of the human family, chose to sin, to decide our way was better than God’s, that original choice of Adam and Eve resulted in them being removed from the Garden of Eden. In essence, their sin caused them to be removed from God’s physical presence. That original sin became part of our nature as human beings and has been passed down to every person ever born of woman, except One (Jesus).

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” Broken Bridges (Ron Standish)

What that meant was, since we were forever separated from God by our own choice, God had to intervene and make a way back to Him where one didn’t exist.

God gave His law, not as a means of giving us a way back to Him, but to reveal to us our sin, our helplessness in finding a way on our own. The Law magnifies our sin and brokenness and highlights why what Jesus did on the Cross is the ONLY way back to God.

Our sin is what separates us from God and the “wages” or payment for our sin is death – eternal separation from a holy God. Because Jesus paid the penalty – the death sentence – sin pronounced on us and by His blood, shed on the Cross for the remission of our sin, we can have eternal life in Christ alone by faith alone!

We don’t and can’t earn eternal life, it is the gift of God and was given so none of us could brag that we had anything to do with it. And just to be clear, no one – NOT ONE – who has ever been washed in the soul cleansing blood of our Savior, has or ever will deserve what He did for them/us.

There are those who ask: “How can a God of love demand such a harsh penalty for sin?” And the simple answer is: He’s a God of His Word. God said in Genesis 2:16-17: “But the Lord God warned Him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden- except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, YOU ARE SURE TO DIE.’”

It is critical that we have a clear understanding of what the Gospel is, how it’s made available by grace through Christ alone, because He alone paid the penalty for our sin, and is offered to anyone who will come to Him in faith, not demanding, but willingly accepting the gift of eternal life. Mark Dever wrote: “A church confused about the gospel is worse than worthless. It is a blocked emergency exit. It’s an elevator to hell.”

Being a Jesus follower, while certainly an unparalleled privilege, is also a staggering responsibility. Fellow Jesus followers, WE are Jesus’ hands and feet, but we are also His voice to those in our spheres of influence. May each of us take that responsibility very seriously as we interact with those the Lord puts in our path from day to day.

That DOESN’T mean cramming Him down someone’s throat but being attentive to those whose heart He’s prepared to receive what He’s given us to share with them.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Call of God

“Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” (John 11:43 NLT)

If you’re a child of God today, it’s only because the Lord Jesus called your name and invited you to come to life in Him. Do you believe that Lazarus ever forgot that day? On many levels, coming to faith in Jesus should be no less dramatic and life-transforming than it was for Lazarus.

I’m forgetting a lot of things these days, but, while not remembering the exact date, I’m not forgetting the evening I knelt at an altar of prayer in a little church in South Charleston, West Virginia and was brought to new life in Jesus. How about you? Do you remember the day you met Jesus? I hope you do.

It’s my conviction that we sometimes make it too easy for someone to “come to Christ.” How so? First, because no one comes without an invitation. Yet, there’s also the component of the process that we can’t overlook – while the “invitation” is universal and, for the most part, ever-standing, which means the door is nearly always willing to be opened by the Lord, He won’t force anyone against their will to come to Him.

Responding to the call of God is an act of volition on our part, that signals a willingness to yield our life and allegiance to Jesus without reservation. His invitation isn’t to get our proverbial “feet wet,” it’s to dive in with everything we are or ever hope to be.

That’s why the Biblical illustration of Baptism is to be lowered into a watery grave, then to rise to new life in Christ alone by faith alone. There’s no “magic” in the water, the miracle is in the faith that allows our souls to be transformed by the renewing of our mind and heart. It’s not the act of baptism that saves, it’s the act of faith planted in our heart by the Holy Spirit that is our invitation to a new life.

John Piper wrote: “The call of God does what the call of man cannot. It raises the dead.” We downplay the miracle of the new birth when we make it out to be a simple prayer. But think of it as a doorway. It’s not the door that’s as significant as the destination. Where is the doorway leading. When we think of Jesus as being the “Door” or the “Way,” it changes the dynamic of the illustration, but only adds to its significance.

The point is, being “born again” is an act of God, initiated by God, purposed because of God, made possible by God, that leads to a life of surrender to God. On a very practical level, our only participation is saying “yes!” Again, think of Lazarus.

There was no discussion, compromising, negotiating, or any other dimension of decision to be made by Lazarus than to hop out of that grave. We come to Christ “as we are.”

It’s true for all of us. If, before we made our grand “entrance” into our new life, the Lord read a summary of all our sins, none of us would want to participate in that. Dragging us through all of those painful memories, revealing the “stench” of our past life, laying us “bare” to all our friends and loved ones, that would be too painful.

Thankfully, when the Lord extends His call, while He’s more familiar with the details of our past than we are, His only mention of it is to say to us: “It’s gone, child! Welcome home to ME!” When we hear His call, we need to drop everything and simply say: “Yes, Lord!”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Will Heaven Be Boring?

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NLT)

A simple way to consider the answer to the above question is this: “Is it boring to be in the presence of Jesus?” Not for me and I’m in His presence every second of every day…and so are you! Every person on earth since the moment of creation has and will continue to be in God’s presence until time as we know it stops.

Upon dying we are either ushered into God’s eternal presence or separated from His presence for all eternity. That’s why it’s hell! Hell is to be separated from God’s eternal presence. That’s the nature of sin. Sin separates – people from Truth, people from people, but most dramatically we see it’s ugly effects as it separates people from God.

Critics complain that God punishes people in horrible and agonizing ways when they are “sent” to hell, but the reality is, these are not “punishments” that God assigns, rather they are circumstances finally realized by the separation we’ve allowed through our choice of sin over holiness; Satan over Jesus; evil over good; ourselves over God. The agonizing torment of then knowing fully how wrong we were will haunt us throughout all eternity, not because God caused it, but allowed it because He gives us choice.

On the other hand, heaven will never be boring because it will be an ever-increasing revelation of who God is and all we will be becoming in Him in our new home. John MacArthur wrote: “Heaven will never be boring or monotonous, precisely because God’s glory will be on full display.”

God’s glory is fully revealed in Jesus, then in and through us to the extent we give revelation to His presence working in and through us in the Person of His Holy Spirit. But all of His creation bears witness to His glory to some extent.

Think of the view from the top of Mount Everest, amplified by the sacrifice in time, money, and physical exertion it took to get there. Then think of the tremendous cost to God, in giving His only Son. But there’s a cost to be had by us as well. For us to remain faithful, we must make choices daily to exalt Jesus rather than give in to the frills and thrills of this world. In the end, it will have cost us everything to love and honor Jesus, even, as it has millions already, to the giving of our very lives.

But in one instant any thought of what we may have given will be erased in the glory of our Savior’s face. Glory equals presence, so, for the first time, though we’ve sensed and lived in His holy presence even before He moved into our lives, we’ll finally see as we’ve been seen. Without obstacle of any kind, we’ll finally look upon unrivalled beauty, the exquisite nature of which human beings have not the capacity to conceive.

We’ll touch and kiss His beautiful feet and realize whatever it has cost us to be in this moment, it was worth it. Heaven isn’t about geography as much as finally experiencing His abiding presence in ways we’ve been restricted because of our humanity. Once being separated by time and space, but then with unhindered joy we’ll finally have full access to His holy presence in a manner heretofore inconceivable.

Nothing about that will be boring!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Finger of God

“Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, ‘I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.’ So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.” (Romans 9:14-16 NLT)

Romans 9 is an interesting chapter that, in some ways, raises more questions than it answers, and, perhaps, that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this post. But here’s my disclaimer: When it’s all said and done, God can do whatever He pleases that will ultimately accomplish His eternal purposes. What role does prayer play in the process? On what basis does God decide who lives and who dies? Who fails and who succeeds?

These and a thousand other questions invade our minds, but for me, I’ve cast my lot with Jesus. He can do anything He chooses in, through, and on my behalf, whatever will render to Him the most glory. Period. He has chosen to show me mercy when I didn’t deserve it and withheld it when I thought I did. I suspect I’m joined in believing that by a large percentage of the people who have ever lived.

However, the plot thickens when we look more globally at what’s happening in our world. The Lord chooses the rulers of the world. Again, in Romans 9:17, Paul wrote: “For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, ‘I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying My power in you and to spread My fame throughout the earth.’”

That raises so many questions, but the point is, He’s God and we’re not; He can make the hard decisions because His perspective is far broader than ours. We believe the future of the world is riding on the election happening in a few days in my country and I can assure you, it is, but not for the reasons many believe. The timing is perfect for whomever is elected.

You see, God is the Captain of this “Ship” called Planet Earth. And just as surely as He knew exactly why He chose Noah to build an Ark, and Pharoah through whom to free His people, He knows exactly who will be elected and why. Does that mean He has Predetermined the future? No, it means He’s omniscient and knows everything about everything. Of course He knows how it’s all going to end because He’s seen every piece of the puzzle being fit together before He ever created the first particle of dust.

Does He know the next car you’ll buy? Or the socks you’ll choose to wear tomorrow morning? Of course, but did He coerce you in any way to make those choices? Your wife may have, but He doesn’t make us do anything, He knows because He’s God.

Regardless of what happens in America on November 5^th we can know with certainty that God will use it for the good of His people and allow His will to be accomplished through it. As in virtually any election, good people will be hurt, and bad people will “win.” There is a lot of human “engineering of circumstances” that go on behind the scenes of any major event, but none of which God is not aware and none which He won’t use for our good, as His people, and to His honor, glory and fame.

The same “finger of God” who healed the blind, the crippled, and diseased will continue to work powerfully in, through, and on behalf of His people, readying them (us) for what’s inevitably coming when He calls the activities of this earth to a halt. While I don’t know when that day will come, I do know at least two things about it: (1) It will be sooner than any of us can imagine and (2) you definitely want to make sure before that day that you’re ready to meet Jesus. If you’re not sure, please go to Ron Hutchcraft’s Bridge to God.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You An Image Bearer?

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…’ So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26a-27 NLT)

In light of the wickedness in our world across the centuries, but especially in our own day, it seems incredible to believe that all humanity – each individual human being – has been and is an image bearer of Almighty God. Caesar Kalinowski wrote: “You have never looked into the face of another person that is not an image bearer of God. NOT ONE!”

What do you believe constitutes being an image bearer of the living God? Do you have to believe a certain way? Live in a certain place or ascribe to a certain list of rules? Perhaps belong to a certain religion or wear a particular style of clothes? What is it exactly that qualifies any person, past or present, to be considered an image bearer of God?

The key ingredient of human beings that separate them from every other species is the fact we have a soul. What does that mean? What difference does that make?

The soul is a gift that enables us to have eternal life, like God, but it also gives us the gift of will, which allows us to choose for ourselves. We have appetites (for good or ill), emotions, and passions. Humans can think, reason, plan, scheme, and devise activities that will honor God or not. It’s ironic on a lot of levels that the Lord entrusted to us the very gift He selected for Human beings alone, that resulted in us being expelled from the Garden.

It’s also ironic to me that that single gift, the gift of choice, is the only means whereby we can find our way back to Him. The will to choose between right and wrong – on a moment-by-moment basis – is what draws us ever more closely to the Lord or allows us to drift from Him. And here’s the kicker – each of us is as close to God as we choose to be.

Another irony is, a person can look like a saint and still think, act, and live like Satan. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 11:14: “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” It’s disappointing and can be very discouraging to have someone pretend to be a Jesus follower, but only for personal gain. But despite all of that, EVERY person still bears the indelible image of God and deserves to be treated with respect, not because they are necessarily worthy of that respect, but because we honor the one who gave them life.

There have been and are leaders of our world today, religious, political, economic, and otherwise, who have had and have agendas for the world that are for anything BUT God, yet the Lord still gives them the same opportunity that He gives us – to choose Him, through the power of His Son. And here are the two most mind-boggling features of this privilege of being an image bearer that are literally beyond my ability to understand!

First, had we been in Eve and Adam’s places in the Garden, we would have made the same choice as they made. And worse, secondly, had we been in Jesus’ place in the wilderness when He was being tempted by the devil, when the devil showed us all the kingdoms of the world and offered them to us in place of our soul, we’d have said: “Stop right there devil, that looks good to me. Where do I sign? I’m all yours!”

Yet, Jesus STILL offers us salvation! Incredible, but true! “Thank you, Lord, for loving us and walking with us in spite of all you know about us.”

It’s an incredible privilege to be an image bearer of the most high God! Let’s live like it! And recognize His image in other human beings, even when we don’t think they deserve it. News flash: NONE OF US DO!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Can We Come to God Anytime?

“Remember what it says: ‘Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.’” (Hebrews 3:15 NLT)

If anyone could have seen with crystal clarity the power of God, it should have been the freshly delivered Hebrew slaves from Egypt. For their entire lives all they’d ever known was slavery, yet, once they were free by the power of God, all some of them could hope for was to go back to Egypt. How like us who are so prone to forget so quickly who God is and what He’s done for us.

What the Lord has given me today can be difficult to clearly see, so please “listen” carefully. Over the years I’ve said to people: “As long as there’s breath there’s hope.” And I believe on some levels that’s true, but I’ve also seen many, though the Lord has reached out to them many times, their lives have grown colder and their hearts harder to the point of no longer having an openness to hear the voice of God, even as He’s continued to speak.

Those who grew up in the church or have loved ones or friends who have a close relationship with the Lord, tend to believe they can come to the Lord at an unspecified, but later time. What makes them believe that’s true? What I read in Scripture is “Today when you hear His voice…!” We have no promise of tomorrow.

Even as believers we tend to put off sharing our faith with our loved ones and friends, wrongly assuming, “I can do it another time.” I’ve learned when the Lord lays on my heart to share something with someone, I do it right then, I don’t wait.

When I was in High School there was a young man who was very popular, whom, on some levels, I aspired to be like. He was handsome, well-known and well-liked. He was the kind of guy everyone admired and believed was the perfect candidate for “person most people wanted to be like.” I don’t believe he knew who I was, but he must have known I had a car, so he asked me one day if I’d take him to a store close to school. So, of course, I jumped at the chance.

I hadn’t been walking with the Lord very long, so, the thought of sharing my faith with him never occurred to me. To me, of all people he seemed like the last person who would need Jesus (I told you I was new in my faith). He came out of the store, I dropped him off, and that was the last time I’d ever see him. The next day he drove his family’s car into the river and drowned himself.

That’s not only been a great motivator for me to share Christ’s love with whomever will listen, but to warn people who haven’t yet committed their life to Jesus to not keep putting it off. There comes a point where one of a few things can happen. First, our heart hardens to the point we no longer CAN listen, or the circumstances of life collapse on us and by our own hand or by another means, our life is ended.

That’s why I urge you, if you haven’t yet opened your heart to Jesus, please, I’m begging you to do that today – RIGHT NOW! Bow your head and heart to the Lord, confess your sin, invite Him to forgive you of your sin, cleanse your heart and life, and allow the Lord Jesus to become the Savior of your life without delay.

You may be young, like my High School friend, and believe you have your “whole life ahead of you!” That’s a lie from hell. Because of sin, it can be as brief as hours or days, or more than 100 years for others. God alone knows, so, to gamble with our eternal destiny by waiting is a huge risk.

Please! Please, don’t wait another minute. We never know when THIS moment will be our last! And I’m not trying to scare you, I’m simply telling you the truth.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Unguarded Presence

“As Jesus went with him, He was surrounded by the crowds. A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of His robe, Immediately the bleeding stopped.”

As a human being we are rarely, if ever, in the unguarded presence of anyone. Our proverbial “guard” is always up, either literally or figuratively, and, truthfully, often with good reason.

In the climate of today’s world, we’re never quite sure what someone’s intentions might be when they approach us. As I got out of my car in a parking lot recently, I was immediately presented with the presence of a small, apparently homeless person, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. The thought came to me that I should check around me to see if this small person was sent to distract me while another person came up behind me. It’s just the skepticism with which we live in today’s world.

That incident caused me to think of how the Disciples must have guarded and sought to protect Jesus. In the reference above, there were likely hundreds, if not thousands of people milling around, trying to get their hands on Jesus, which had become the nature of His ministry in that season.

But one of whom no one took notice, made her way to Jesus, not to harm Him in any way, but to simply touch the hem of His outer garment. When she did, the result of her touch accomplished her wildest dream: she was completely healed! Not just her body – her heart, mind and soul as well! But of all the hundreds present, only two people even noticed – the woman who’d been dealing with “constant bleeding” for 12 years, and, of course, Jesus.

We know very little about her, but enough to know she was “invisible” to everyone but Jesus. In His holy, unguarded presence she found the answer to the problem with which she’d struggled for all those years. Then the Holy Spirit gave her an idea, an idea not unlike the one He gave me and, perhaps, you at some strategic point in your life.

He whispered to her, “Go see Jesus!” In all likelihood she rarely, if ever, ventured out. For one, she was drained, too weak to hardly move, let alone walk any distance. But even when she dared, she was met with such derision and unkindness she’d learned to stay away from people.

But not today! Somehow, she’d heard Jesus would be passing by, and that was enough to enable her to muster courage she’d forgotten she had. So, with borrowed energy she forced each painful step to make her way toward her only Hope. Then the crowd! What to do? Should she turn back, just forgetting the crazy idea she’d dared believe possible?

“NO!” became the desperate cry of her heart as in my mind’s eye, I see her plowing through anyone in her way until finally, with her last ounce of energy, she lunged at the Master, barely touching the hem of His robe as she landed. But she knew! Even as she lay in the street, with dozens stepping on or over her. She knew! And so did her Friend, Jesus.

While others ignored her the only One whose opinion of her mattered, sought her with resolute conviction: “Who touched Me?” The disciples thought He’d lost His mind, but He knew exactly for whom He was looking! By this time, she was on her feet and when their eyes met, He knew He’d found the one He sought.

But that’s not the end of this beautiful story. You see, He’s also looking for YOU, my lost, lonely, seeming forgotten friend, He’s searching for YOU! He’s responding to the longings of your crippled heart, the silent cries no one has heard but Him. Please don’t run away. Embrace His cries and be healed, as certainly as the woman with her repulsive constant bleeding.

Please come to Him today and let your broken heart and crippled spirit be healed.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Farmer’s Whistle

“Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heaven burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)

Dr. David Jeremiah inspires me. He’s a man of great faith and great courage and often addresses issues in his Turning Point devotional that challenge and inform me. In a recent devotional entitled “Every Deed a Seed,” (09-26-24) Dr. Jeremiah wrote: “It was a farmer whistling hymns that prompted Jane Guinness to seek and find Christ. Another farmer offered to let a teenager named Billy Graham drive his truck if he’d attend the Mordecai Ham crusade, and Billy was saved.

Ham himself felt God’s hand fall on him when he watched his grandfather on his death bed pointing upward as if seeing Jesus. An unknown saint donated a few dollars to provide the Gideon Bible that brought baseball player Orel Hershiser to Christ. Charles Spurgeon was converted when a layman quoted Isaiah 45:22: ‘Look to Me, and be saved.’”

Photo by Maria Verkhoturtseva on Pexels.com

What might it take to turn you to Jesus? Or what small thing might the Lord be prompting you to do that could influence someone in your spheres of influence to yield their life to Jesus. I’d been shooting hoops at a local park when I saw a boy from school staring at me very intently. “I’m watching you!” he said, as I passed him.

If someone said that to me today, I’d likely ask some questions, but that day, for whatever reason, I just kept walking. I hadn’t been a believer very long, so, I assumed he was referring to my life as a believer, but regardless of what he meant, it’s always reminded me that regardless of who we are, someone is watching our life.

And that’s okay. Everybody was watching Jesus, and it was all good. He never made a mistake, never did or said anything that would be offensive, except, maybe, to the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders, those who were violating His Law so rudely and calling it “obedience.” But the point for us is simply this – “Who’s watching YOU?” Whose life are you effecting, positively or negatively, that is either pointing others to Jesus or away from Him.

We want to believe the “professionals” say it best and wield the most influence over others, but, honestly, that’s rarely the case. Most people of whom I’m aware, come to the Lord because of a faithful friend who day after day lives Jesus through an honest effort to be His humble servant. They aren’t trying to “preach” to us or to impress anyone with their knowledge of the Bible or Jesus, they just want to show us how good it is to know Jesus and seek to follow Him closely.

They “whisper” to us through their loving friendship, kindness, thoughtfulness, gentleness, and other God-honoring ways, inviting us into a relationship with the Lord Jesus who has changed their life so dramatically.

How about you? Do you know Him? Have you learned to love Him and to be loved by Him? I have and it’s the best decision BY FAR that I’ve ever made in my life. If you’re thinking about learning how to start a relationship with Jesus, go to Ron Hutchcraft’s website and watch this brief video. Just click on the highlighted word.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Weary of Waiting?

“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.” (Romans 8:22-23a NLT)

Being away from someone you love and with whom you can’t stand to be separated, is painful. The time seems to pass so slowly, then, when our wait is over and we’re finally reunited we seem to pick up right where we left off, as if there’d been no separation. But it’s different with the Lord, in the sense we’ve never been in His physical presence, so, our anticipation is based on two things: First, what we’ve read in Scripture, and Second, how our life in Christ has been so far on earth.

The life I now have with the Lord, on many levels, makes it easy to wait, as His closeness is as real as if I was literally with Him – because I am! But for me, and I suspect for many of you, as we age, it gets harder to live with ourselves. As our physical, mental, and emotional issues increase, the dread can increase as we anticipate what the future may look like.

Our attitude can become: “ANYTHING” will be better than what I’m now experiencing! My contention is that’s the point! Of course, heaven is going to be eternal bliss. Even if we’re never sick a day in our life, then go to heaven, it will still be like night and day. For me, my anticipation grows to be with Jesus regardless of how I’m feeling or how things are going. But there’s another consideration.

C.H. Spurgeon wrote: “We will not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited on us.” But that’s not only true in terms of us coming to Him for salvation but coming to Him for sanctification. At times it seems our spiritual maturity happens at a sick snail’s pace. Some have wrestled with addictions for years, yet the Lord never loses patience with us.

Or waiting for someone we love to be saved. Wow! Talk about agony of spirit! But when we talk with them, it’s like: “Chill! I’m fine!” “NO, YOU’RE NOT!” we want to scream, but refrain for fear we’ll lose all connection with them.

There are two things that bring me comfort in my waiting. First, how patiently the Lord waited for me. But secondly, His promise that if I ask anything in line with His will; that will honor and glorify His Father, He’ll answer. Nothing magnifies and honors the Father more than someone yielding their lives to His precious Son, acknowledging that the tremendous sacrifice He made for us was not in vain.

Knowing that the Lord listens, cares, and promises to answer gives me patience in my waiting. However, I still grieve that the longer the person for whom I’m praying waits, the more they’ll miss by not getting to know Jesus and walking with Him longer on earth. In some ways I want my loved ones and friends to come to Jesus, not only because I want them to be with me in heaven, but I want them to experience a touch of heaven on earth by getting to know Jesus and walking with Him here.

The passion of my life is to know, love, and serve my Savior. Walking with Him gets better, more refreshing and enjoyable the more time we spend together. The strongest argument that Jesus is alive and exactly who He claimed to be is no longer my growing understanding of Scripture or the increasing amount of research and number of books being written about Him. The strongest argument in my spiritual “arsenal,” is His voice that speaks to me so clearly, compassionately, and convincingly. Being close to Him takes the “weary” out of my waiting.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊