Getting Free

On July 4th, 1776, thirteen colonies proclaimed their independence from England.  That event eventually led to the formation of the United States of America.  Every year our nation celebrates this historic event on July 4th.

I have always looked at Luke 4:18, as the Biblical proclamation of freedom from oppression.  After Jesus had fulfilled His forty days in the wilderness overcoming the temptations of Satan, He began His earthly ministry.  The Bible tells us that Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and read these words from the book of Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed."
                                           Luke 4:18  (NKJV)

After Jesus read these words He said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Many of us today are not really free.  We struggle with problems and various issues of stress almost daily, which can take away the joy that Jesus promised to His followers.  Jesus was aware that we can become prisoners of our own mind.  How do we break free?  How do we capture peace of mind?  How do we get free?  

Jesus says that whoever believes in Him and has a relationship with Him, that He will give them peace and set them free from the struggles and stress of life.  Developing that relationship with the Lord is the most important thing you can do in your life.  That requires talking to the Lord on a daily basis and growing in your personal walk with Him.  Make this Independence Day your independence from oppression of any kind.  Jesus knows now is the time to get free and He will help you every step of the way.

Happy 4th of July to you and your family.  May God's love be with you.  

How To Make God Happy

Can you remember the first time you fell in love?  Wasn’t it somewhat magical and perhaps breathtaking?  Didn’t you feel such incredible joy in your heart?  Didn’t you want to do whatever it took to make the object of your love feel happy?

I remember when Billy Graham was asked that question.  He said, “When I told my parents that I was in love they told me,  ‘that’s puppy love.’ I said, ‘Maybe so, but it sure feels real to the puppy.’”  

Jesus tells us in Luke 10:27:  “. . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. . .”

What would it take to love God like that?  How could we make God happy more than anything else?  The Bible tells us exactly how to do that. In the 15th chapter of Luke, Jesus tells three stories about how to make God happy.  The story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.  In the story of the Prodigal Son who was lost, the father represents God who waits patiently for the lost son to return.  When God sees him, He runs to greet him and hugs him.  It is the only time in the Bible that reveals God ever running.  God is so happy he says, “ . . . this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.  And they began to be merry.”   In the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin, whey they are found, Jesus says, “ . . . there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents . . . “

We live in a lost and fallen world.  As Christians, the Lord has given us the Great Commission to, “make disciples of all the nations . . .”  We are instructed to reach out to the lost and invite them to church.  Church statistics point out that over 80% of people who come to church were invited by a friend.  Can you be a friend to the lost, and invite them to church?  If you want to make God happy, and make the angels rejoice, this is how to do it.

Time: The Final Element of Love

After 45 years of working with couples in marital therapy I have learned what makes an excellent relationship.  Without question, the ability and motivation to adore the object of your love is the most important.  I have always found that to be true and what separates a good relationship from a great relationship.  To adore the object of your love is the key to a great relationship.

I have also realized during this time that there is also one more element that separates the good relationship from the great relationship.  It is time.  We love what we give our most time to.  If we adore the object of our love and we truly love them, the most important thing we can give them is our time.  It is not material things, although they are nice.  It is not just being a good friend, although that is very important.  If we are truly "in love" with the object of our love - we give them our time.  If we don't, then we are not.  We can be a great friend but there is a huge difference between loving someone and being, "in love" with someone.  

We are now living in a time where social media plays a big part in our lives.  It is so simple to just send an email to someone on their birthday or for their latest accomplishment.  That extra touch; however, is when we take the time to send a card instead.  That extra time to do that sends a message to the recipient that you care about them.  It is personal and it really does let people know that you do care a little bit more about them then they thought.  Why?  Not because it cost more.  It's because you took some of your precious time and went to that extra trouble to let them know that you do really care.  

Time.  How do we use it?  Who do we give it to?  There are so many ways we share our time with.  If you are going to meet the President of the United States at 1:00, are you going to show up at 1:30?  Probably not.  Why?  Because you respect him or her and you show that you care by being on time.  

Our time is important.  How we use it determines who we are and who we respect and who we love.  God is very aware of the time we spend with Him.  What does time say about our relationship with the One who made us?  

May God's love be with you and may you be a blessing to those around you.  You have the time to make everyone feel a little bit special.  To let those around you know that you really do care.  

The Saturday People

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."                    

                                                                 Isaiah 43:1-3

There are 7,000 promises in the Bible.  I would like to address one of the most important in this article.  Easter has passed and life goes on for all of us.  For many there will be joy but there will be those who do not experience joy due to doubt.

To simplify things I would like to look at three important days:  

Good Friday - the day Christ was crucified.  Pain. 

Saturday - the day of confusion and doubt.

Easter Sunday - the day of joy.

Good Friday was the day of pain for Christ and all of His followers.  

The next day, Saturday, there was confusion and doubt among His followers.  How could this happen?  Was this not the Messiah?  Why didn't He save Himself?  What is going to happen to us now?  Was He really the One?  The Messiah?

Easter Sunday was the day of joy.  Jesus arose from the the dead and many people saw Him as He walked the earth and preached the Kingdom of God for 40 days before His ascension into heaven.

We have all felt pain in our lives.  We live in a fallen world and we will feel pain again in our lives.  We know it.  We don't like it, but we understand what pain feels like.  

We also know what Easter joy is like.  It feels wonderful and we have not doubt or confusion.  We are happy.  

But what about Saturday?  That is what I want to focus on in this article.  What about those who are caught between the pain of Friday and the joy of Sunday?  They are stuck in Saturday and cannot seem to move on to the joy of Sunday?  

I would like to call these people the, "Saturday," people.  They still live in doubt and confusion.  They ask questions like, "Why did God let my child die?  Why did God let my son-in-law die?  Why didn't God save my loved one I prayed so hard for to live?  Why didn't God intervene when I prayed so hard for Him to do so? 

Some Saturday people cannot bring themselves to ever forgive God and are clearly stuck in Saturday.  Others just are not sure about God and if God can really be trusted.  A lingering doubt hangs over their head like the Sword of Damocles.  The doubt can feel like one lover towards another lover:  "does she really love me?"  The joy of conviction is not there.  The lingering doubt hangs heavy and robs the lover of his or her joy that the object of one's love truly is "in love" with him or her.  

When it comes to God; however, the Bible tells us that there is no lingering doubt on God's side of this issue.  God is love and truly loves you and knows what you are going through.  Jesus tries to explain that He must die for the sins of humanity and He must go away, but that He will return again.   Jesus tells us this in John 16:20-22:  "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."  

If you are a Saturday person, it is time to come home.  God is waiting for you, to hold you, and to love you and to bring comfort to your emotional wounds.  God made you and God can heal you.  God will give you the strength to overcome your pain and sorrows.  

It's time for you to come home.  God is waiting for you with opening hands.  Like the father in the Prodigal Son story.  The father represents our heavenly Father in that story.  When He saw His son coming home He ran to meet him and kissed him and gave him a great party and gave him great joy.  

It's time to come home.  Your heavenly Father is waiting for you.  

Battle Tested

When I was a young teenager, one of the greatest poems I ever heard stuck with me my entire life and still resonates with me to this day.  It was entitled, The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and it was written in 1854.  The poem was written for people of all ages to remember the suicidal charge by a light calvary, consisting of 637 soldiers on horseback with sabers and swords, charging into a valley facing 20 battalions of Russian infantry with over 50 cannons pointed at them from all directions.  The charge into the valley of death came from the 23'rd psalm.  It happened during the Battle of Balaclava (Ukraine) during the Crimean War 1854-1856.  Florence Nightingale trained and led nurses to help the wounded during that war.  It was also the beginning of what is now referred to as "war correspondents."

I'll briefly paraphrase this great poem:

"Half a league half a league, half a league onward, into the valley of death rode the six hundred.  Canon to the right of them, canon to the left of them, canon in front of them, volley and thundered.  Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell rode the six hundred.  Theirs was not to reason why.  Theirs was but to do and die."  

What was going through the minds of these soldiers as they were facing impossible odds?  Facing 20 battalions of the enemy and they were equipped only with sabers and swords.  I believe they were thinking to themselves, "Mine is not to reason why.  Mine is but to do and die."

In my life, as a young man and minister, I used to question how God could possibly let tragic things happen.  Like anyone, I experienced doubt and sometimes anger.  Where was God?  Why was this happening?  There were times when I felt that God would surely intervene in a particular situation, and He didn't.  Why not?  I didn't understand.  Perhaps I was not that important.  I didn't really know.  

As I have matured in age and emotions, I feel that I understand these things much better.  I only need to think back to His Son, Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He pleaded with God, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me."  Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him but He knew what He had to do.  His was not to reason why.  His was but to do and die.  Jesus then said, "Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  He then went to the Cross.

We may never know during our life time why certain things happen to our friends and even to our self.  The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9 these words:  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."


Unfortunately, I have seen and listened to good people who feel that God abandoned them and will not forgive God.  Their hearts have hardened toward God and they just cannot get over it.  They just cannot let go of the anger and disappointment and even feel that God has betrayed them.  

In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus talked about Himself as the bread of life and that, "I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."  When many of His disciples heard this they walked away from Jesus.  Jesus said in John 6:64:  "But there are some of you who do not believe.  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him."  Jesus then asked the twelve apostles, "Do you also want to go away?"  "But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Are we sometimes like those disciples who walked away when they did not understand Jesus?  Do we behave like we were the ones Jesus was talking about when He said He knew from the beginning those who would not believe and would betray Him?  

We do not know the mind of God.  But one day we will if we do not lose our faith and we remain obedient no matter what the circumstances may be.  

We will go through many battles in our life.  We will win some and we will also lose some.  Through it all - we will be "Battle Tested."  
We may never know why some things happen but if we keep the faith - no matter what - one day we will and we will understand.  Until then, keep Jesus in mind.  Not my will but Your will be done and He died for us so we would have eternal life with Him.

I have learned in my life that God only wants what is good and right for us.  God loves us and when things happen that we don't understand we have to rely on our faith.  Let us not betray Him because we don't understand.  Let us remember the words of Job who despite not understanding at all what was happening to him said, "I know that my Redeemer lives . . . Yea though He slay me, I will not betray Him." 

That is being, "Battle Tested."  Job was rewarded for his faith many times over.  We will all be, "Battle Tested."  Let us keep the faith no matter what happens.  We know that our Redeemer lives.  

Love

Have you ever loved anyone with all your heart?  Your world revolved around the object of your love.  You would do anything for them and you believed this was the "one" you would spend the rest of your life with?  

To only find out that they couldn't, or wouldn't love you back?  What was that like for you?  It hurt didn't it?  It hurt very much.  That is how God feels about you.  

The most important thing you can do in the world is to love God.  The One who made you.  The One you hope to spend all of eternity with.  

If you are married or in a serious relationship right now, I would like to ask you this question and see if you can give an honest answer.  It will either be a yes or a no.

Will you do anything for the object of your love?  There should be little hesitation in this question.  Of course, it is contingent on how deeply in love with this person you are, so the question is directed at serious lovers.  Do you have an answer yet?  

If you answered, "I'm not sure, it depends on the situation," you have given the wrong answer.  For you, it may be a matter of convenience, or it may be something like, "If it is within the law."

Again, all of these answers are absolutely wrong and I believe you need to take a serious look at your relationship and see what you can do to improve it.  

There is only one correct answer.  The answer is, "Yes."  You may want to know the logic behind this answer.  Again, to even ask this question, you are going to need to look at your relationship again.

Here is the logic behind the only answer to this question.  The answer is, "Yes," and here is why:

Number 1:  Do you love the object of your love?  

Answer:  Obviously yes if this is a serious relationship.

Number 2:  Do you trust the object of your love?

Answer:  Obviously yes if this is a serious relationship.  (If you don't trust the object of your love - it's the end of the question and for you the answer to the original question is, "No."

Number 3:  Would the object of your love ever intentionally hurt you? 

Answer:  Obviously no if this is a serious relationship.  (If you don't know if the object of your relationship would hurt you or not - it's the end of the question and for you the answer to the original question is, "No."

Number 4:  If you trust the object of your love and believe this person would never do anything to put you in harms way; for example, the object of your love is not going to ask you to murder someone, or to rob a bank, or to kill yourself, or bankrupt you - then you have your answer.  You would feel free to do anything for the object of your love because this person in turn loves you and would never be demanding nor ask you to do anything wrong.  

How about the One that made you, and like a great Father who loves his or her child and wants only the very best for you.  Will you do anything for God?  

There is a poker game called Texas hold'em, no limit.  When you have so much faith in your poker hand that you put all of your chips in the middle of the table and say, "I'm all in," you are saying that you are going all the way.  Everything you have is riding on this hand.  That is what God wants from you.  He's waiting for you to say, "I'm all in Lord."  I love you and I am now at the point that I can say, "I'm all in."  

When you get to this point in your life when you can love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength - you are now able to put the Great Commandment into action.  Your life will change forever.  You're all in.

We are approaching Valentine's Day.  People all over America will be talking about love.  May you find the love you are looking for and may God's love be with you.