YOUR BEST TIME IS RIGHT NOW

YOUR BEST TIME IS RIGHT NOW

Our high school football coach, Mr. Joe Gladys, motivated us through inspirational and practical words of wisdom.  Knowing full well that trying times would surface for each new squad of enthusiastic and energetic athletes, he forearmed us with this sobering challenge: “If not me, who?  If not now, when?”  Coach Gladys was teaching us to recognize the urgency of now.  All too often, we humans tend to victimize ourselves by embracing attitudes of procrastination.  That is, we become so fascinated and fixated about the future that we fail to rightly appreciate, appropriate and act on present realities.  future pipe dreams can eradicate our awareness and blur our focus on the mission critical here-and-now.  It reminds me of an article I read, reprinted below for your consideration.

Most of us convince ourselves that life will somehow be ‘better’ when particular things occur, for example, when we get married, when we have a child…one thing or another.  Then we feel frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and become convinced we will be more content when they are.  After that, we’re upset that we now have troubled teenagers to deal with.  We will certainly be ‘happy’ when they get beyond that stage.

We tell ourselves that life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when are able to go on a certain vacation, or when we retire.

The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now.  If not now, when?  Your life will always be filled with challenges.  It’s best to admit this truth to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza.  He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was just about to begin – real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time remaining to fulfill some obligation, or some debt to be paid.  Then…life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles WERE my life.”

Souza’s perspective helps us to see that there is no singular avenue to happiness.  Contentment is the only sensible pathway.  So, value every moment that you have and treasure it even more because you shared it with some special people…special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are financially set, until the first or fifteenth of the month, until your song comes on…until you die.  Once you start to really mature in your faith walk, you will surely discover that there is no better time than to be happy than right now.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Work like you don’t need money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one’s watching.

God has given each of us a “gift” that we are to use to glorify His name!  Do you know yours?

What will you plan and execute TODAY to establish your dream of TOMORROW?  And how will you raise your awareness of this day as a marvelous and memorable milestone in this journey called LIFE?

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR EAT

Mr. Fred Feldman, our junior high school boys’ physical education and health teacher, had an interesting saying. “You are what you eat,” he constantly reminded us.  And, from the perspective of later life, I am confident that he had a firm grip on the truth. 

Let me tell you a related story…

A Cherokee Chief was sitting at the fireplace with his grandchildren one cold winter evening, while sharing a lifetime of sound judgment and wisdom.  “In every life there is a life or death struggle,” he admonished the coming generation, “a terrible fight between two powerful wolves.  One wolf is evil.  It brings fear, anger, envy, greed, self-pity, resentment, selfishness, dishonesty and arrogance.  The other wolf is good.  It brings truth, serenity, sincerity, confidence, generosity, gentleness, joy, compassion and humility.”

His youngest grandchild nervously queried, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?” The elder sage looked the little boy straight in the eye and said firmly: “the one you feed.”

It’s not a Christian story, but it certainly conveys truth.  In life, we have definite options.  We choose either evil or good.  However, the overall result we achieve is actually the product of the life decision tree, which is comprised of a host of smaller and seemingly ordinary choices we have made along the way.  How we spend our time is one choice.  The company that we keep is another.  The spouses we choose, the books we read, the music we embrace, the television programs we follow, the events we attend, the church families we join – all are monumental choices that impact our thinking, our short- and long-term decision making and our eternal destiny.

“…choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)  

My friend, choose well.  Eat well.  The leaves, branches and fruit of your LIFE’S TREE are actually the product of that which you have purposefully ingested along the way.  So, dine sumptuously, healthily and heartily…on THE WORD.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!

LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT

LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT

One of the first Bible verses I committed to memory, as well as the text for my very first sermon on August 20, 1967, is recorded in Hebrews 12:1-2.  “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Apostle Paul made frequent references to running as a metaphor for the Christian journey.  Olympic runners train with weights to experience resistance during workouts, followed by relative lightness and increased speed during competitions.  It reminds me of a story I read recently:

One of my teachers asked us to bring in clear plastic bags and sacks of potatoes.  For every person we refused to forgive in our lives, we were told to choose a potato, write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag.  Some of our bags, as you might imagine, became quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk at work, etc.  The hassle of lugging this cumbersome bag around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually. 

There’s a crucial lesson in that classroom assignment, don’t you think?  My friend, are you bound and burdened by heavy bags of unforgiveness?  If so, confess your condition to God. Then, strive to become reconciled with any persons who are the objects of ill will or hurt feelings.  In the process, you will feel so much lighter…and you will be set free.

In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)  Never forget that the forgiveness we receive from God is identical to that which we mete out to others.  This is one of the key Kingdom principles taught by Jesus in The Lord’s Prayer.  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

Your journey is too lengthy and challenging to carry weights of unforgiveness.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!

CONFIDENCE IN COMPLETION

CONFIDENCE IN COMPLETION

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)  This verse of scripture has had a more profound impact on my daily walk with God than any other.  It is my life-verse, a constant reminder that my very existence on this planet is a definite work in progress, ordered and orchestrated by Heaven’s concealed, capable and caring hands. 

Dare I be transparent enough to concede publicly that I am indeed a “work in progress?”  It is an admission that could be disturbing to some, although, all things considered, it should be painfully obvious to most.  Nevertheless, erroneous teachings have led many to believe that we will somehow ‘get it all together’ within the span of our sojourn here on earth.  My friend, here is a shocker: You will never be perfect!

But how can that be, when GOD issues scriptural admonitions concerning perfection?  We quote them often, as if they are somehow easy or automatic to achieve: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)  “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (Philippians 3:15) “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4)

Since the Word of God is always true, it begs the question: ‘Exactly what did GOD have in mind when He mandated our perfection?”  Surely, He could not have meant that believers would never err, that we will always adhere fully to the divine will and way.  An honest examination of my own post-conversion walk (or yours) should totally annihilate that interpretation.  Alright, for the sake of those for whom self-examination might be challenging, for one moment consider your most trusted colleagues in the Body of Christ.  Can you honestly say that they have been ABSOLUTELY perfect in their attitudes, actions, words, deeds, dedication, service and etcetera?  I think not.  Actually, when we boastfully attest to our own “perfection,” we do considerable damage to the cause of Christ and reduce our witness to the world to the level of that which is patently absurd, non-credible and dishonest.

Regarding our perfection, GOD had something entirely different in Mind, something quite extraordinary, but something other than that which is perceived by our logical minds.  The facts support this conclusion: We Christians are benefactors of positional perfection.  That is, via our connection to Calvary’s cross and the new birth, we become new creations “in Christ,” and are thus rendered perfect in faith and fellowship with Him. (II Corinthians 5:17)  In every case, positional perfection produces a constant cry for closer communion: “That I may know HIM…” (Philippians 3:10)  To wit, our status of spiritual perfection begins and ends with the admission that there is always more spiritual intimacy to be sought after and achieved.  Scriptural spiritual perfection (according to Jesus) precipitates a constant “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” (Matthew 5:6)

Here’s the bottom-line:  Notwithstanding our issues, believers are complete in Christ.  We have been saved by His grace, and through our faith, we stand as spiritually complete products of the finished redemptive work of Calvary. (Ephesians 2:8)  But herein lies the paradox.  Although, we have already been saved (by grace through faith), we are also being saved.  That is, just like natural plants, we are pruned (daily) and purified (spiritually) by The Husbandman, who utilizes a Word Process to develop us and to grow us up into Him. (John 15:1 – Ephesians 5:26 – Ephesians 4:15)  But this is not the end of the story. At His second coming, His glorious appearing, we shall be saved, i.e. fully delivered and set free from this carnally influenced “body of death.” (I Corinthians 15:52-53 – Romans 7:24) 

Throughout this process, believers sustain supreme confidence in CHRIST to COMPLETE US.  My life-verse bears repetition: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)  So, stop obsessing over your personal perfection.  Instead, focus on doing these things: Pray continually.  Read and meditate on God’s Word.  Do the work of His Kingdom.  Fellowship with His people.  Stay open to sound teaching and the leading of His Spirit.  Be steadfast and unmovable.  And maintain absolute confidence in your completion. (I Corinthians 15:58 –Hebrews 10:35) 

TRUST GOD.  HE will handle the rest.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!

TEARS THAT BRING JOY

TEARS THAT BRING JOY

Ironically, the shortest verse of scripture (and arguably the saddest) is “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)  It is a striking and emotional portrait of Jesus Christ, standing before the burial site of his dear friend, Lazarus.  While the number of words recorded here by John, the apostle of love, is modest; their significance is monumental.  It is the clearest and most concise declaration of one key aspect of the person and work of our Lord.  In Christ, we have a high priest who is “touched by the feeling of our infirmities.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Dictionary.com defines “infirmity” as “a physical weakness or ailment” (or) “a lack of strength” (or) “a moral weakness or failing.” As it relates to us, Jesus Christ directly connects with every part of that definition.  As ‘very man,’ Jesus is intrinsically clothed in our humanity.  Put simply, he gets us.  As ‘very God,’ Jesus has limitless power to totally transform our various conditions and circumstances.  In other words, he ENLIGHTENS AND ELEVATES us.  Through Christ, our minds are transformed; our ailments become healings; our weaknesses become strengths; our failures (moral or otherwise) become undeniable victories.

I hope that you do not consider me unkind or insensitive when I admit that I am hilariously happy that Jesus wept.  Because His tears were not only the precursor to Lazarus’ resurrection, they have become the catalyst for our regeneration, restoration, renewal and rejoicing.  Since Jesus wept, we can “glory in tribulations.” (Romans 5:3)  Because Jesus wept, we can “count it all joy.” (James 1:2)  Hallelujah, what a Savior! 

Regardless of what you might be experiencing during this hour, be aware that YOU are the constant concern of THE COMPASSIONATE CHRIST.  As a matter of fact, you are absolutely free to cast “all your cares upon Him,” with complete confidence that (no matter what) “He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!

BEAUTY REALLY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

BEAUTY REALLY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

Future historians could well reckon the last 20 years of human history as ‘The Cosmetic Age’ because we exist in an era of abject superficiality, i.e. we are overly fascinated with glitz and glamour.  Why is this?  On a daily basis, we are bombarded with media images that narrowly define beauty for us.  To wit, the majority of goods and services are marketed by so-called ‘beautiful people.’   We consumers purchase products with insatiable appetites and great expectations that we will somehow look like those who stylishly model the products that shrewd businesses hope we will find absolutely indispensable.  This shallow emphasis on exterior beauty causes many to become desensitized to people and things that do not mirror perfection.  

So, the very next time we are tempted to judge someone by their physical appearance, we must recall the following touching tale by an unknown author:

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  We lived downstairs and rented upstairs rooms to clinic outpatients.  One summer evening as I was fixing dinner, there was a knock at the door.  I opened and beheld a truly awful looking man.

‘Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,’ I thought as I stared at his stooped, shriveled body.  But the most appalling thing was his face; it was lopsided, swollen, red and raw.  Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening.  I’ve come to see if you have a room for just one night.  I am here from the Eastern Shore for a treatment, and there’s no return bus until morning.”  He told me he had been hunting for a room since noon, but with no success.  “I guess it’s my face...I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments…”

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words really grabbed hold of me: “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch,” he suggested.  “My bus leaves early in the morning.”  I told him we would find him a bed, and he could rest on the porch for the time being.

I went inside and finished preparing dinner.  When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us.  “No, thank you,” he said.  “I have plenty!”  And he held up a brown paper bag.  When I finished the dishes, I went back out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes.  It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body.  He told me he was a fisherman and worked hard to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who had been permanently crippled by a back injury.

He didn’t tell it by way of complaint.  In fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for one blessing or another.  He seemed very grateful that no pain had accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer.  And he thanked God for just giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a cot in the children’s room for him.  When I rose the next morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was already out on the porch.  He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he hesitantly asked for a favor.  “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment?  I won't put you out a bit.  I can sleep fine in a chair.”  He paused a moment and then added, “Your children made me feel right at home.  Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.”  I assured him that he was welcome to come again.

On his next trip, he arrived a little after seven in the morning.  As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen.  He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh.  I knew the bus left from his home at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us. 

For several years he came to stay overnight with us, and there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.  At other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery: fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed.

Knowing that he walked three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious for us.  When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after this dear man had left our home that first morning. “Did you keep that awful looking man last night?  I turned him away!  You can lose roomers by putting up such people!”

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice.  But oh!  If only they could have known him, perhaps their own illnesses would have been easier to bear.  I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with total gratitude to God.

Recently I visited a friend who has a greenhouse.  As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum that was bursting with blooms.  To my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket.  I thought to myself, “If this were my plant, I would put it in the loveliest container I had!” But my green-thumbed friend changed my mind.  “I ran short of pots,” she explained, “and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail.  It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.”

She must have wondered why I was laughing so spontaneously and happily, but at that moment I was imagining a similar scene in heaven.  “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when he came to the soul of that sweet old fisherman.  “He’s so beautiful that surely he wouldn’t mind starting out in this particular body.”

My friends, let’s learn to love and live in the image and likeness of our Creator.  The Word declares that “man looks on the outward appearance, but THE LORD looks on the heart.” (II Corinthians 10:7b)

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!

LIFE'S BOTTOM-LINE

LIFE’S BOTTOM-LINE

Carefully consider the following prayer from an anonymous believer:

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, “No.  It is not for me to take it away, but for you to give it up.”

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, “No.  His spirit is whole; his body is only temporary.”

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, “No.  Patience is a byproduct of tribulation; it isn’t granted, it is learned.”

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, “No.  I grant you blessings; happiness is up to you.”

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, “No.  Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me.”

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, “No.  You must grow on your own, but I will prune and make you fruitful.”

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, “No.  I give you life that you may enjoy all things.”

I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as HE loves me.
God said, “Ah, finally you’ve got the right idea!”

Indeed, the simplest truth that lies at the core of this complex reality we call life is the miraculous and transformational power of love.  When we love others as we love ourselves, we actively embrace and actually emulate the image of God, in which we were created, and by which we ultimately prosper.

We know love when we see it:  Love considers.  Love gives.  Love serves.  Love strengthens.  Love shields.  Love nurtures.  Love believes. Love empowers.  Love guides.  Love warns.  Love obeys.  Love forgives.  Love understands.  Love empathizes.  Love encourages.  Love shapes our attitudes.  Love informs our decisions.  Love inspires our actions.  And love always endures.

Our daily walk with God leads us steadily in the direction of love…for GOD IS LOVE. (I John 4:8)  Therefore, love is both the means and method of our maturation and our mission.  For in love, i.e. IN GOD, “we live, and move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)  As we quest toward perfect love, we remember the words of the Apostle Paul, “But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” (I Corinthians 13:13, The Message Bible) 

“LOVE EXTRAVAGANTLY” is a divine and delightful admonition.  It means we must love beyond measurement, without manipulation, and with little expectation of reciprocity from others.  Indeed, it is sufficiently challenging to require our utmost diligence and patience – but let’s just do it.  Let’s love others to life!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!