Walking With Jesus

Agreement

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:14-16a NLT)

Have you ever agreed to something, then, almost immediately you knew you shouldn’t have? Yet, at that point you felt obligated not to back out. What did you do? What did you learn? It’s tempting, based on a negative experience, never to agree to anything, but that isn’t right either.

The verses above have reference to not aligning ourselves with those who are unbelievers in key relationships like marriage but can also be applicable to other relationships. Paul touches on another aspect of this in Romans 12:18 when he writes: “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” On some levels these are like two extremes of the same issue of agreement.

As Jesus followers were called to be agreeable, but sometimes there’s a thin line that we dare not cross. It’s like our obligation to love the sinner but hate their sin. That’s easier, because it’s the same battle we fight each day within ourselves. We’re commanded to love ourselves, but we certainly need to form a healthy hatred toward our own sin; otherwise, we’ll not feel any inclination to be rid of it, as Paul writes in Romans 8 we certainly should.

We’re also commanded to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 19:19) without regard to whether or not our neighbor is saved. Implicit in that loving is some measure of agreement; otherwise, we’ll be in constant friction with them. That speaks to something Russell Moore wrote: “I’ve never been humiliated into agreement. I have, however, been loved, served, and patiently convinced into agreement.”

What’s my point? Regardless of where we live, work, or serve, we’re called to be agreeable. To be a servant of the Lord and be cantankerous, argumentative, and uninviting in our outlook and demeanor towards others is an insult to the Savior we love and serve. Jesus loved the men who nailed Him to the Cross, and it was that love that prompted the words of the Centurion in Mark 15:39: “This man truly was the Son of God!”

Our loving kindness, cooperative spirit, accepting demeanor will open doors our trying to cram Scripture down someone’s throat never will. Is that to say there’s never a time or place to use Scripture? Of course not. The use of Scripture is crucial in helping someone come to the Lord, but how and when we use it must be guided by the Holy Spirit and flow from a heart of love and desire to see someone come to the Lord to meet their need, not ours.

But here’s the truth. There is no agreement between light and dark; right and wrong; good and evil. There are certainly opportunities for compromise, but not on core issues. I understand if someone continues to struggle with a sin or sins with which they wrestled when they first came to the Lord. But to still be “wrestling” with the same sin after 10 or more years is another story.

Our goal as a Jesus follower is to walk in the light of our new life and to lovingly seek to win the lost to the Lord Jesus and His holy way. My personal goal when I speak with someone about the Lord, if they aren’t open to beginning a relationship with the Lord in that moment, is to keep the door open so the next person with whom they speak will, hopefully, be able to lead them home. Or perhaps they’ll be more open in our next conversation.

But if I’m ugly, in their face, and turn them off to anything about the Christian life, I could ruin mine or someone else’s opportunity to ever help them see Jesus in a different light. We must be agreeable, even in our disagreement.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Believer’s Greatest Desire

“Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”” (Hebrews 6:11-12 NLT)

Desires, even for believers, range somewhat due to our level of spiritual maturity, age, stage in life, and many other factors. What I desired at 17 when I first gave my life to the Lord looks a lot different than the things I most desire today. Yet, on the other hand, there are still similarities.

What drew me to the Lord then and holds me on course today, was and is a desire to be free of sin and to be in a right relationship with Jesus. My greatest desire is to please God and walk in harmony with His will for me, but therein lies the question: What does that look like? What does it mean to please God and to walk in harmony with His will?

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Granted, there are similarities for each of us who bear His name. Obedience. Submission to His authority in and over our lives. Willingness to love Him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and body, and to love others as we love ourselves. But realistically, that can look different in the life of a new believer and a veteran saint; a young unmarried and a middle-aged married person; a retiree and someone just starting their career.

Stages of life can shift how desires manifest themselves, but at their core, our desires should always focus on what pleases and honors God, not just ourselves. Intimacy with the Lord is certainly among my strongest desires in this season of my life, but true intimacy flows out of obedient surrender, doing what pleases and honors the Lord regardless of how I might feel about it.

What’s important to the Lord must be important to me; thus, dictating policy in my life to conform to what pleases Him. We must consider the basics to see what’s most important to the Lord. From the beginning of time God chose to create beauty and order. Everything had a purpose; nothing was random or haphazard. Oceans flowed within their set boundaries, the sun, moon, and stars all follow the course of their Creator. Animals and wildlife operate within the guidelines of their instincts and abilities.

Only man was given freedom of choice, but why? Because love is meaningless without the option to receive or deny it, and the greatest gift God gave us as human beings is the gift of relationship – with each other and with Him. The Bible says in John 15:13: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” But how? What does “Laying down our life” look like in 2025?

It looks the same as it did when the words were written, denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24). The reason Jesus died wasn’t so we could stay the same, but in order that we might be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). When did that begin? When someone introduced us to Jesus!

J. C. Ryle wrote: “Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them.” As great as it is to be secure in our salvation, it pales in comparison to helping others find their salvation. When our intimacy with and joy in Jesus translates into brokenness over the lostness of our loved ones, neighbors, friends, co-workers, classmates, and others in our spheres of influence, our desire for God will increase exponentially with our desire to see others come to know Him. To know Jesus and not want to share Him is an oxymoron.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Bitter Cup

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.’” (Revelation 21:3-4 NLT)

Being the wimp that I am, I have a very low tolerance for pain. Having had several kidney stones and having had to wait in the emergency room numerous times while they confirmed that I indeed had a kidney stone, in agony I was begging them to give me something for my pain, but my cries fell on deaf ears. I can’t help but believe there are people in our spheres of influence who are crying out in pain, but their cries are falling on deaf ears.

As the verses above indicate, there is coming a day, sooner than any of us can imagine, when pain will no longer be an issue for those who are in Christ Jesus. But the exciting part to me, that brings me much comfort even in the midst of my pain, is that I’m seen! The Lord is with me NOW! And He’s with you, child of God. The same God who will be with us throughout eternity is with us NOW!

As a child of God, we don’t take a breath without His presence with us. “Then why don’t I feel His presence?” Do you feel the air you breathe? Do you feel the blood flowing through your heart, through your body, keeping you alive?

We place far too much emphasis on feelings. Emotions are rarely, if ever, a reliable source of what’s happening in our lives. There are so many sources of pain, each of which has its own system of torture and agony. Emotional pain may have physical manifestations, but words aren’t adequate to describe what happens in grief when it seems our heart has been torn out of our chest.

When our sense of loss is beyond words to describe. When we can hardly open our eyes without seeing something to remind us of that one who so filled our lives with such love and joy and happiness. The bitterness of our cup of grief seems in those moments to be incurable. Yet, the truth is, it is not.

Two things encourage me when I consider the pain I/we face as believers in Jesus. First, we never face those traumatic times alone. Vaneetha Rendal Risner wrote: “We never drink the bitter cup or endure any pain without him.” There is no comfort in empty words or hollow promises, but the presence of the Lord is more real than the skin on our bodies.

He literally NEVER leaves us and is, as His Word promises in Psalm 46:1-3: “our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”

The point is simply this – we’re literally never alone! No matter what our emotions tell us, we can count on the presence of the Lord to be with us. Even though His presence doesn’t guarantee immediate relief, He doesn’t jump in and jump out, He’s with us every step of the way. I love the picture of the footprints across the desert and the caption that says: “Jesus, I noticed when I was struggling the most You left me. There was only one set of footprints.” “No, precious one, that was the time I was carrying you!”

There is no cup so bitter our compassionate Savior is not “tasting” it with us. Take heart, you are NEVER alone!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Faithful or Just Busy?

“Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what He taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to You that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:38-42 NLT)

As a rule, when we read this passage, we’re immediately drawn to one of two “camps.” The “Martha” or the “Mary” camp. But why? It’s not like Jesus and His disciples would have starved if Martha had chosen to sit with Jesus. In all fairness, Martha was likely well versed in hospitality and, very likely, used to serving a level of diners with much more class than Jesus’ disciples.

But to her credit, she recognized she’d never served the Lord of Creation before. This was no ordinary meal; it was a gift to her King. The problem wasn’t what she was doing, it was the priority she gave it. On a much smaller scale we do the same thing when we fail to spend time with our children because we have to work. And when pressed we’d argue: “It’s all for THEM! So, I can provide a nice house for THEM, a great education for THEM, fun vacations for THEM!”

And on and on it goes, but in the process of providing all those very nice things, we lose our kids to the world. The looming question on the hearts of so many unhappy kids is: “Where’s dad/mom? Why is he/she always working (too busy for me)?” And to respond with: “It’s all for YOU!” is empty, shallow, and just not true.

The truth is Martha was a very spiritual woman (check out John 11), and Jesus wasn’t “reprimanding” her, He was merely making a statement of fact. We can’t have intimacy with anybody, but especially Jesus, without spending time with Him. Did you catch the word used in verse 42 in reference to Mary? The Bible said: “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” “ONLY ONE THING… Mary has discovered it.”

The word translated “discovered” is a word that means “to choose one out of many.” It’s the same word used in reference to Jesus when He chose His disciples. Intimacy with Jesus is a choice we make in and through the routine decisions we make every day. Many today refer to their “God time,” and I respect that and believe I understand what they mean, but the Lord NEVER leaves us. There’s a sense in which every moment of every day is God’s time.

He’s as interested in us “sitting” with Him (posturing our heart) while we’re doing taxes as He is when we’re praying, working, fixing a meal or anything else. Some of the richest times with the Lord in my life have been under a car trying to figure out what’s wrong and/or how to fix it. I remember praying when I was just a young man, under a car with a transmission sitting on my chest: “Lord, if You’ll get me out of this, I will never do this again!” (and I haven’t 😊).

Our option as 21^st century believers isn’t Martha OR Mary! It’s Martha AND Mary! There’s a time to give our undivided attention to preparing a meal, working, serving in whatever capacity, but those acts of service must grow out of extended times of worship, sitting at the Savior’s feet, feasting on His goodness, mercy, kindness, wisdom, knowledge, fellowship.

We can’t and won’t be prepared to serve effectively until we’ve worshipped wholeheartedly, enthusiastically and without reservation or interruption. Sit at the Master’s feet – THEN “fix the meal!” Please don’t allow busyness to rob you of intimacy with your Master!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Author of Life

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do that by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT)

We tend to get so encumbered by life. We want to think, and often even say, that we love Jesus with our whole heart. Yet, even as the words cross our mind and/or lips we know, if we’re honest, that it’s a lie. Yes, of course, we want it to be true, and, in some rare moments, perhaps it is. But what’s holding us back? What’s keeping us from loving God with everything we are in every moment?

My daughter has run in a few marathons. She didn’t run them in a snow suit. Why not? What if it was a cold day? It doesn’t matter. Runners dress light, including their shoes, in order to not only maintain the highest speed, but maintain that speed the longest period of time possible.

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Even though more than 1700 athletes have now achieved the four-minute mile status, do you think it’s easy? Could you swing by the track after work and run a four-minute mile? Even if you were a seasoned runner, after a full day’s work, it would be highly unlikely. What’s my point? We want to spend minutes with Jesus and His Holy Word and expect to be a “super-Christian.”

First, “Super-Christian’s” don’t exist. There was only One and the mold was broken when He stepped out of the tomb. What we can be is the best possible person of God WE can be, empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit, but it will cost us. Are you willing to pay the price? Are you sure?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could tell you: “Just do this, that, or the other and in 90 days (or 90 years) you’ll be like Jesus.” The truth is, “inch by inch anything’s a cinch.” (Robert Schuller) The first very important and irreplaceable step is to understand that Jesus is the Author of life. What does that mean? It means that there is no life except by and through Him. How do I know that? Because I read John 1:4 that says: “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.”

Let the words of Ray Majoran’s prayer challenge you as they challenged me to love the Lord, the Author of MY life and YOUR life, in unprecedented ways to His honor and fame.

“Glorious Father, You are the Author of Life, perfect in power and mighty in works. Each day, You lavish Your immeasurable greatness upon us, from the time we open our eyes to the moment we go to sleep. Every good gift comes from You, the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17).

Lord God, You reveal what is hidden — not only in the world around us, but in the quiet places of our own hearts (Daniel 2:22). Nothing escapes Your notice. Yet we often rush past the stillness where You do Your most profound work. We chase noise, fill the margins, and call it purpose, all while You wait — not demanding more effort, but inviting us to know You as You are. In silence, You refine our thinking. In waiting, You expose what we truly trust. And in the slow, unhurried moments, You show us that knowing You is worth more than anything we could ever accomplish.

Please tune our hearts to hear the silent symphony of Your presence — the steady, unshaken sound of Your voice speaking through the stillness. Disrupt the noise we’ve grown comfortable with. Remove our illusions of control, and confront our pride when we pretend to carry burdens You never asked us to hold. You are God, and we are not. Let us stop pretending otherwise.” (From Silent Symphony – 03-22-25)

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Good Father

“You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14-16 NLT)

With rare exception, who you are in your home is who you are. If you’re unkind to your wife/husband, children, and whomever else might be a regular part of your home environment, you’re not a good person, at least not in a Biblical sense. If there is ANYPLACE our “light” for Jesus should shine, it should be in our home, in our relationships with our family.

Having served in youth ministry for many years, my heart would break when one of my “kids” would say in reference to one or both of their parents: “I sure wish they treated me at home like they do here at church.” Or “I wish they were like they are at church, at home.”

Sometimes it’s easy to wear the proverbial mask when we’re out but feel like we can just “be ourselves” when we enter the door of our home. And there’s truth to that, as long as there’s not a huge difference in the two. To seek to act like Jesus when away from home, then become the proverbial “devil” when we’re with our family is not only wrong, it’s also sinful.

Dr. Billy Graham said, “A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.” Mothers, without question, play a vital role in the upbringing of their children, but the best results are had when mothers and fathers stay true to the Lord, to one another and to their children. In the best scenarios, it provides the safest, healthiest, and most stable environment in which to raise children.

Years ago, so the story goes, a greeting card company decided to make Mother’s Day cards available to the male inmates of a particular prison who wanted them. It was an overwhelming success, the card company having to supply more cards to meet the demands of the inmates. The response was so positive the prison decided to also offer Father’s Day cards to their inmates. There were no responses. Not one inmate wanted to send a card to their father.

Obviously, we can’t draw hard and fast conclusions based on something like that, but it’s at least safe to say those male prisoners had little or no respect for their fathers. I’m confident there are lots of reasons for those conclusions, but the verifiable point is, a father’s influence is a major factor in how children turn out.

To profess Jesus, yet not treat our children as the Bible instructs, is wrong and demands repentance. One of the primary ways we express love as a father is how we love our wives. Rearing godly children is a team effort, so, for a dad to love his children, yet ignore or demean his wife in front of his children, is wrong on all kinds of levels.

Loving others is fundamentally and foundationally a Christian virtue. How can we not make this a priority in our homes? Paul speaks of loving our wives sacrificially, but the whole of Jesus’ teaching emphasizes loving others as we love ourselves. Isn’t our goal to be like our Master, Jesus? No one was ever loved more by their Father and no one ever loved their Father more.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Illusion of Self-Sufficiency

“We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of His new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6a NLT)

To believe we are sufficient in and of ourselves to accomplish anything of lasting spiritual significance is to misunderstand the nature of spiritual growth and development. Jesus makes this crystal clear in John 15:5 when He said: “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.” The word used in the original Greek is an absolute negative which basically means “Not a single thing, no exceptions!”

Self-sufficiency and Christ-dependency are mutually exclusive concepts. To have one excludes and eliminates the other. To be a Jesus follower and believe I can tie my own shoes is to misunderstand the nature of the relationship. Jesus is my source of EVERYTHING! Every breath, the ability to move every muscle, speak every word, think every thought, accomplish every task – there are no exceptions.

The longer I live and serve the Lord the more inclined I am to believe that ANYTHING I do without acknowledging my complete and utter dependence upon the Lord borders on blasphemy. You may not agree, and I’m not prepared to say, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” but hear my heart. As Jesus followers our heart’s aim and desire is to have oneness, intimacy, and complete unity with the Father. How is that accomplished?

Of course, it’s a process that isn’t completed until we close our eyes in death and open them in the presence of our Master, but the process includes acknowledging our dependency upon the Lord in every area of our lives. It’s not unlike the arena of trust. I don’t trust myself to do anything without the Lord’s help and guidance.

The point is, as a child of God, apart from Jesus we are nothing, but don’t misunderstand. That’s not how the Lord views us. He views us as His sacred prize, His “masterpiece,” a magnificent work that He is forming to be something unique and grand. That’s why, even in our failures, He’s encouraging and inviting us to get up and try again.

Not many are able to jump on a bike and ride away the first time without failing to keep our balance and falling, what seems to be, an endless number of times. But remember the first time you rode and didn’t fall? It was like a new world of opportunity was opening to you! In a similar way, we learn to “keep our balance” spiritually, when the Lord” “releases” His hand from the back of our “bike,” and allows us to make mistakes and fail spiritually.

It’s not that He’s left us, He’s nearer than the air we breathe, but He intentionally allows us to experience times when we realize that we really can’t do anything of spiritual significance without Him. Even people who don’t profess faith are literally dependent upon the Lord, they just haven’t realized it.

Our goal as a believer in Jesus is to be conformed to His likeness, but to begin that process we must do exactly what He did, submit to the full rulership and ownership of the Father. Notice the words of Jesus in John 14:30-31, when He said: “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over Me, but I will do what the Father requires of Me. so that the world will know that I love the Father.”

Self-sufficiency doesn’t “do what the Father requires of Me!” Only God dependency can do that!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

No Stranger to Thorns

“The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” (Matthew 13:22 NLT)

Do you ever worry? Do Pugs love to eat? Dumb question, huh? But I have a word from the Lord! Satan may hound you to worry, but you can be free from worry by placing your complete trust in Jesus. Worry is, at its core, a lack of trust in the Person or promises of God. To worry is to believe either that God isn’t Sovereign, or that you are. Both are lies from the pit of hell.

Thorns, as seen in the verse above, manifest themselves in our lives in essentially one of two primary ways: either we worry about things pertaining to our life – i.e. family, work, health, friends, the world, or a thousand other things. We NEVER have a shortage of things about which to worry. But another avenue of worry is “the lure of wealth.”

This is something that seems to trap almost everyone at some point in our lives. It’s that desire to have “more,” whatever that may look like for each of us. More material things, more love, more opportunities, more pleasure, more excitement, more challenge, more ____________! It can be a trap because God’s desire is for us to have more. . . more of HIM!

That’s a familiar strategy of the enemy, to have us desire something that seems right, that seems that it might be something the Lord would want for us, but we’re so easily misled. We confuse what God wants for us for all the things we want for ourselves, most of which wouldn’t draw us closer to the Lord but push us further away.

The lure of wealth and the worries of life are among the many things that stir in our heart and mind that draw us inward to the satisfaction of our own desires, rather than to draw us ever more closely to the Lord. But in that seeming endless process of seeking self-satisfaction, we miss the joy of dependence upon and fulfillment in our relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Justin Talbert wrote: “Instead, joy is uncovered on the thorn-ridden trail of self-denial, self-forgetfulness, sacrificial love. When Jesus cements two sinners together, He says, ‘Your joy is now linked to theirs.’” So, God’s antidote to worry is “self-denial, self-forgetfulness, and sacrificial love,” among prayer, finding strength in God’s Word and in vital fellowship with others whose center and focus is also on the Lord Jesus.

Worry can be so worrisome because it can be couched in genuine concern but is revealed when our “concern” becomes more self-focused than God-focused. What does that mean? It means we begin to “count the cost” of what OUR concern is going to look like. We may have a sick child or spouse and, of course, we have concerns for them, but then OUR concern spills over into: “But when is he/she going to get back to work? We need their income!” Or “What if the insurance doesn’t cover all our expenses?” Or ___________________ and you can fill in the blank.

The reason the Lord allows the thorns in our lives isn’t to defeat or destroy us, but to turn our thoughts to Him, to help us learn to depend upon and trust Him, never to exasperate us to the point of a mental breakdown.

Our loving Shepherd knows our every need before we ask. He anticipates EVERY need before He allows the “thorn” in the first place. He shapes and designs everything that touches our life to help us grow in exactly the way or ways we need to grow in order to see Him more clearly, love Him more deeply, and serve Him more fruitfully and effectively.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Contending?

“Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people.” (Jude 1:3 NLT)

To see sin in the church and not, in some appropriate manner, do something about it, is sin. Now, the logical question then becomes, what’s appropriate? Prayer is always appropriate and should be our first course of action. Prayer is the platform upon which the Lord will instruct us to: 1) mind our own business or 2) pursue another course of action.

To contend essentially means to strive against or defend and can be understood in the context of war. To contend against an enemy may mean to fortify a position or take pro-active efforts to stop an attack already in progress. But it can also mean gathering enemy intel that may warn of future plans to attack or infiltrate.

We must understand that to be a believer in the Lord Jesus and not be at war with the enemy of our soul is to be either blind or naïve. Following Jesus is not a leisurely activity, like a vacation to the beach or to a favorite State or National Park. It’s to be commissioned by the Commander-in-Chief of Heaven’s Army, the Lord Jesus Himself. What might that look like?

In Scripture an expression used to identify the people of God is the “Bride of Christ”. If my wife and I were close to another couple and either of us heard rumors regarding their marriage, who should we first and foremost contact to express our concern? We should go to the source, right? And please understand, the “source” is not the one spreading the potentially harmful information, it’s the couple themselves.

They need to know that we heard something from this person. Why is that important? For two reasons. First, the couple needs to know we have their backs. Before we would whisper a word of what we heard to someone else (that’s gossip) we go straight to them. But the second reason is, if they told this other couple something in confidence, they need to know they should be very careful about sharing anything else with them. Do we risk hurting our relationship with the couple? Possibly, but not if the bonds of friendship are long-standing and strong.

In the Church gossip is rampant and we have to fight the temptation to simply forward what may have become grounded in a lie, as truth. That’s why it’s critical we go to the source. So, if we hear something about an issue in the church, we go to a Pastor or leader, we don’t perpetuate the possible “lie” by sharing it with others. And, even if we know it’s the truth, who do we benefit by spreading negative press about anyone?

Lisa Victoria asked a pertinent question: “You are not contending for the faith if you don’t love the people you are attempting to correct?” Contending implies working for the benefit of, so, if the questions I’m asking or the statements I’m making about a fellow believer aren’t being asked directly of them or a person in authority over them, assuming they’re holding an office in the Church, then I’m not contending, I’m simply spreading gossip.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Mistakes

“Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:2-3 NLT)

We can get very excited about things that have no eternal value. We can expend energy and waste seasons of our lives pursuing hobbies and activities that may not be bad in and of themselves but distract us from or prevent us from being invested in the Kingdom of God.

Some of you know that my daughter gave me a 2012 Mustang GTCS for my 65^th birthday. It was brand new and was the apple of my eye for many years. It was a treasure, not simply because it was a very nice car, but because of the sacrifice my daughter made to give it to me. To say I “babied” that car would be an understatement. Nothing but the best waxes, hand-buffed, serviced regularly, garaged-kept, wiped off nightly and only driven in nice weather.

Ultimately, I realized it had become “an idol,” of sorts. It demanded too much time and attention, and though it hurt me (and still does 😊), I had to let it go. After discussing it with my daughter and asking her permission, though she assured me it was completely my decision, I sold it. What’s my point?

It was not sinful or wrong that I loved my car. It became sinful and wrong when it demanded an inordinate amount of time and thought that prevented me from being able to use it in ways I needed to. What is your “golden calf?” What is it in your life that is drawing your attention away from the Lord or others? What is it that demands too much of your thought life and is distracting you from being all you can and should be for the Lord?

It’s a mistake not to allow the Lord to give you strength to deal with it now. Dan Reiland wrote: “Left unsolved, mistakes get bigger not better.” It’s a mistake not to be proactive in the development of your faith. Prayer can’t simply be “canned,” rehearsed, or rote, but must continually be sought for the purpose of personal edification and intimacy with the Lord, as well as continually addressing the needs of lost loved ones, friends and family.

And I understand that lifting the same people and/or needs to the Lord every day can seem monotonous and “rote,” but more importantly, the Lord knows our heart. It’s not the words we use, but the attitude of our heart that catches the Lord’s attention. Jesus’ story in Luke 18 of the two men praying caught my attention today. My sense is that Pharisee was “reciting” his “prayer,” while the tax collector was spilling out the concerns of his heart.

To use the same, even repetitive words (i.e. The Lord’s Prayer; Psalm 23, etc.) as we have conversations with the Lord is not only not wrong but can be very helpful. We can make a mistake when we assume familiar words are not helpful to use in our prayers. The Lord never tires of us telling Him we love, adore, need, desire, and worship Him for who He is. He understands that our vocabulary fails when trying to describe what He means to us and how much we appreciate His unfathomable investment in us in the person of His Son.

My sense is He basks in our efforts, yes, even our repetitive efforts to give expression to our love for and dependence upon Him. Continually seek His holy face and share with Him the needs and desires of your heart to know Him better, love and serve Him more effectively. If we’re going to make mistakes in our efforts to grow in our life in Jesus, let us make them risking saying the same things too often, rather than not often enough.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊