Have you ever truly been in love?  The kind of love where you wanted to be with the other person every minute of every day?  The kind of love where you wanted to give of yourself completely sacrificially without even a second thought as to your own well-being? 

Me neither.  Oh, I thought I had once but I found out over time how obviously that was not the case.  Even today I have people that I love but only two that I can think of that I love on the level of wanting them around every second of every day.  Those would be my kids.

Look at this passage from Philippians 1:7-8 (NIV):

"7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus."

The affection of Christ Jesus.

The way I read that is that's the love of Jesus for someone else.  How much did He love us?  He DIED for us.  Went to the cross, suffered horrible agony and then died just to pay the price for our sins. 

Do you have that kind of love for someone else?  Again, my thoughts run to my children and I would die for my children.  Anyone else?  I can't say I would put myself in the place to die a horrible agonizing death just to save someone else's life.  Certainly not in the way Jesus paid the price for us.

Yet here's Paul saying he has that kind of love for the entire church at Philippi.  He proved that love later when he stood for Christ and was murdered for his beliefs.  It challenges me to look at my love for my fellow believers and to ask if I have that kind of love.

Of course, I don't. I'm not even close most of the time.  Sometimes I think it's a big accomplishment just to listen on the phone for an hour when a sister in Christ needs to talk about a problem...or to drive across town to deliver some bread to a hungry family...or to carry the equipment off the stage and put in the church's trailer each Sunday.  Yet in the grand scheme of things, this is a speck of dust compared to the love Jesus showed.  It's not much more of a speck compared to what Paul showed to us as well.

I'm challenging myself to love others more and I'm throwing that challenge to you as well.

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Although sometimes it's hard to tell, this is the Season of Giving.  I know...shocking.  It runs so counter to the "I want this and you can't stop me from taking it" mentality that seems to run through society most of the time but it really is the time to be giving. 

Then again, I think all year is the time to give.  There shouldn't be such a thing as the "season of giving" as if we shouldn't give at all for the rest of the year.  I found this today while skimming around 1 John.  It's Chapter 3, verses 17-19 (NIV):

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence"

Setting aside the obvious call for us to take care of our fellow man and to put our faith into action by showing people we are more than just someone who can spew Scripture on command this passage also gives a call to give continually in faith.

Those verses mean if you're walking down the street on April 22, 2007 and a homeless man comes up to you and asks for a sandwich then you give him the PB&J in your pocket (if you have one, that is.  Tuna also works well.)  Maybe take him into the Subway on the corner and let him pick out his own cold cut combo. 

Those verses mean if you're sitting in your young adults group on July 8, 2007 and one of the single mothers is struggling finding time to get some refreshing because she's running the kids to sports and working two jobs that you volunteer to watch the kids some night so she can go catch a movie.  An even better move would be to give her the movie tickets so she doesn't have to pay for them.

Those verses mean that when you're browsing the shelves at Fast Eddie's Bookstore, Lube and Oil Change Shop on December 3, 2007 and you see an elderly lady struggling to carry a heavy package out to her car that you put down your copy of Oliver Twist and help her by carrying the package.  Opening the door for her would be a nice touch as well.

You see giving isn't just money or "stuff."  Giving can be so much more than just material possessions.  I'd even go as far as to say giving time can be more valuable than silver or gold in most situations.  It's sacrificing of yourself in many ways to benefit others and it's a great feeling the more you do it.  You end up blessing yourself more from giving than you will ever realize.

So this Christmas as you're giving gifts and hopefully receiving a few as well take a moment to think about how you can get these feelings year round by putting your faith into action and giving all year long.

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I was listening to a gay rights activist on a talk show today and he was ranting on "evil Christians" and the "horrible bigots who infest churches in America."  They went on to give the usual line about civil rights and other lies that have been attempted to pass off as truth over the last few years.

Now, I'm not one to say there aren't bigots in churches across America.  I'm sure there are those who fit that category.  Just like I'm sure there are meetings of gay rights groups that contain people who would like to see Christians get hung on crosses just like Christ.  You can find all walks of life in every group of people these days.  It's easy to paint with a wide brush so you can try to put a false light on a situation.

Then I stumbled onto a passage in Romans that I thought fit this situation because I think it talks to where this man's rage was coming from while at the same time not excusing his actions. It's Romans 2:1-3 (NIV):

"1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?"

Look closely at the verse because I want you to see what it really says versus what you think at first.

It doesn't say you shouldn't pass judgment on the actions of others...it says not to pass judgment on someone else.  There's a world of difference there and I think perhaps that feeds into the cycles of hate that we see from some individuals who may or may not represent a special interest group. 

We've gotten to the point that you can make an accusation and it becomes truth even if there is no truth attached to it.  I believe part of that comes from a tendency for most Christians to attach the sin to the person and condemn them as if they're defined by the sin they commit.  That is counter to Scripture in every way and yet it's the standard operating procedures for most Christians.

I know it can be hard when you're faced with someone who is as enraged as the person I was listening to earlier today.  He has obviously faced some serious condemnation in his life and it was directed at him and not the actions he was taking.  As a result, he came to identify with the sin and he melded himself with the actions he committed.  Now if you say anything negative about his action he thinks it's all on him...and it's up to Christians to show him that's not the case.

It's always harder to rebuild trust after it's been destroyed.  More often than not when you put something back together after it's been broken it's never as good as it was originally.  It takes time to put the pieces back in place and most of the time it's tenuous at best. 

Fortunately for us we have a God that can make old things new again.  Jesus can reach the angriest people and make them see love in ways they never imagined and we as Christians need to tap into His power.  Go above and beyond the call to separate the sinner from the sin.  Let them know just as commanded by God you aren't condemning THEM in any way.  Your issue is with the sin they committed and that's not something that defines them. 

It's hard...it'll take work...but you'll feel better about yourself and your walk when it's all over.

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The hardest part sometimes about sharing our faith with those who do not believe is that we don't have wiggle room on things.  It's not like Jesus came to earth and said "well, you can believe this and be saved but if you don't then that's just fine."   It was very clear from Jesus what was right and what was wrong.  The only path to spending eternity with God was through him.

John 3:35-36 (NIV): "35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.""

We don't have the right within ourselves to decide who's going to heaven and who's not going to heaven.  That puts us in the place where in today's mostly anti-Christian society we'll find ourselves being called closed-minded or a bigot or worse.  We'll be held up as intolerant of other lifestyles and someone who doesn't show respect to other religions.

Here's the thing...we don't have a choice in this matter.

If you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to the Father...as Jesus himself said...then you can't tell someone who's practicing another religion they're going to be spending eternity in heaven.  If you choose to tell someone of another faith their belief is acceptable, you're mocking the Scriptures and faith you claim to hold. 

I know it's very hard today when the current wave of those in power is to crush Christian values and beliefs.  They want to shut Christians down and prohibit our views from being part of the social, economic and political discourse.  Special interest groups are doing all they can to try and run anyone with a Christian faith...who stands on the Word of God...out of political office.  They cry out against a "separation of church and state" that doesn't exist in the manner they want to try and make people believe.  It's harder and harder to stand for your beliefs without being persecuted for it.

Now, I know some of you will say "you're in America. You don't have it bad."  I'm the first to say American Christians are very blessed in that we don't face being beaten or killed or jailed for our faith yet.  Right now, the majority of persecution of Christians is done through the media and ostracisism.  If a Christian can be held up for scorn and humilated in public then it's a time to celebrate in the eyes of many non-believers.

(On a side note: that's why I get so irritated at people like Stephen Colbert who claim to be believers yet routinely hold up Christians for ridicule and scorn: they feed the people who harbor genuine hatred toward believers in Christ.  There's a big difference between debating differences in interpretation of Scripture and holding someone up to be harassed and belittled.) 

So stay strong when you face people who mock without mercy.  The people who go out of their way to persecute, harass or smear you and then turn around tell people you're crying about persecution that doesn't exist.  The Bible says you'll face trouble...(i.e. John 16:33 (NIV)):

" "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.""

Just turn them over to God and let Him handle everything.  Forgive and take heart that our savior has overcome anything you will see in your days.

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I've recently had a chat with someone who is not a believer in Jesus as Lord but says they "believe in God."  Of course that doesn't get the job done in terms of spending eternity in heaven but it's certainly better than someone who's openly hostile toward God or doesn't even believe that He exists.  I'll take someone who "believes in God" every day of the week because they are able to believe...that's a big step in today's world.

One of their big stumbling blocks was that they couldn't believe they could just come to Jesus and all their sins would be forgiven.  They seemed to think they had to clean themselves up first before they could come to Christ.  This person had a basic knowledge of the Bible and mentioned the sacrifices in the Old Testament to cleanse the person.  They didn't believe that God could just forgive someone's sins and make them clean.

So off I flew to the Old Testament and found this wonderful passage...Zechariah 3:1-5 (NIV):

" 1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"

 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
      Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."

 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by."

Here's an example of the Lord putting Satan into his place and cleansing someone...in this case, Joshua.  All of Joshua's sins were wiped and he was made clean in the presence of the Lord by the Lord's angel.  There was no sacrifice offered on Joshua's part in this passage...the Lord allowed this entirely by His will.

I know sometimes it's hard to believe that God can forgive all of our sins.  We know that Jesus died for us and that was the ultimate sacrifice for us but we feel unworthy of the gift because of the depths of our depravity.  We feel nothing we can do would be good enough (and, it's not, but that's another story.) 

I hope you can take heart from this story where even before Jesus walked the Earth God just wiped away the sins of a mortal man.  If God did it before Jesus and showed that kind of love and mercy then you know He can show it now after Jesus has been the ultimate sacrifice!

Embrace the free gift...even if you don't like the way it fits.  You'll grow into it!

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I ran face to face into a wall of hate today.  It was a group of people who were actually taking enjoyment in trying to run down another human being because of a mistake they made.  Some of them were spewing the "eye for an eye" claim as if they were pretending to have knowledge of the heart of God. 

The rantings were filled with statements about how they had no sympathy for the person involved nor their family.  Some went as far to smear the family members of this person and all the family members had done was support their relative!  I don't want to paint society as a whole based on the actions of a few people but I fear these hatemongers are more the rule than the exception.

The "eye for an eye" crowd needs to really look at this passage...Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV):

"14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

(Now, let's get past the fact that most of the people issuing their hate filled condemnations have nothing at all to do with the situation.  The person in question didn't wrong them or their family at all.  It's like they're walking past a car wreck long after it happens and yelling at the driver to pay attention where they're going.)

It's very hard sometimes to forgive someone when they wrong you.  It's almost impossible if someone messes with your children.  However, God doesn't give Christians an option when it comes to forgiveness.  You can either forgive and have God forgive you the many sins you commit or you can have them counted against you.  It doesn't say "forgive unless they did X" or "forgive unless they did Y" but just "forgive."

It doesn't say "throw scorn at the person for their sin and God will praise you" or "condemn a person and wish their death upon them and the angels in heaven will rejoice."  No matter how much "fun" it may be to heap hate and condemnation upon someone else it's not the behavior you should be showing to others. 

Now...it's important to note that I'm not saying you don't condemn an action someone has taken.  You can very rightly condemn something that a person had done...it's when you take it into the person themselves that you sin.   If you want to say "it's horrible what you did and you deserve to be punished for that" it's fine.  If you say "you're horrible and you should be killed" then you're sinning.  Separate the sin from the sinner.

Most of all, when you find yourself surrounded by hate I suggest you do two things.  First, point out to those around you what they're doing.  Ask them if they would want to be treated how they're treating someone else.  Point out the situation for what it really is and present it in a way that's not condemning those people. Second, don't sink to their level.  More than likely someone that filled with hate won't bother with wise counsel nor will they see the truth for what it is.  There are those rare times where it can happen and that's why you need to stand for what's right.

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I'm sure you're as tired of the blind partisan trainwreck that is our American political system these days.  You really don't know who you can trust or depend on because there's always the nagging doubt the person talking is only giving about 85% of the truth.  Just enough they can get all indignant if you claim they're lying while at the same time knowing they were leaving out all the info that wouldn't back their claims.

There's a term for it now depending on which side of the political spectrum you call home..."swift boating" if you're on the left or "move on-ing" if you're on the right.  (Based on the Swift Boat Veterans who were critical of John Kerry and moveon.org which was critical of President Bush.)  No matter which term you want to apply to the situations it still involves someone being the subject of a public smear with less than completely truthful information or accusations that have no way of being proven in any direction.

What bothers me is it seems we're progressing to a point in society where "swift boating/move on-ing" is becoming something that's almost acceptable to even Christians.  It's gossip in it's purest and simplest forms but Christians want to lap it up like candy and then lash out when someone's trying to pull those tactics on you.

Look at this...1 Peter 2:15 (NIV):

"For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

When I read a verse like that it stings me because my nature, along with many of you, is to stand up and confront someone who's trying to swift boat you.  You want to say "hey, this isn't the whole truth" and lay everything out on the table.  You think if you do this that most rational people are going to look at all the evidence and then hold up for scorn or rebuke the person who was trying to be deceitful. 

You what most likely happens?  It becomes a case of "he said/she said" and people either think both sides are spinning the truth or they just walk away disgusted by the whole affair.  Most of the time you'll end up with a more negative impression on that person that you would have based on the swift boating of the false witness. 

In my view the best way to handle someone like this is to just ignore them and continue with your life and relationships as if they're not there.   If you're doing good and working in life a Christ calls one of two things will happen...they'll either realize you're not going to give into their goading of you and move onto their next target of slander or they'll continue to rage against you.  If the first happens, it's good for you although bad for whoever they fixate upon next.  If the second happens, most reasonable people will start to see through the ranting and wonder why this person seems so set on trying to destroy someone else.  The black mark won't be placed on you.  That person will look like the ignorant fool described in Scripture.

That's not to say some people won't believe what was said as being the truth.  Some will take your silence to mean it must be the truth or you'd go after the person who said it.  You can't change the minds of those people and very likely they wouldn't have believed your defense anyway...they would have been at the front of the line to say if you were fighting too hard if you had nothing to hide!  So don't sweat those people either.

Yeah, I know it's not fun when someone seems to be getting their enjoyment out of trying to slander you.  It can be really hard to hear someone saying things that are lies or reading e-mails someone has written where they're obviously distorting things to fit their own twisted vendetta.  Just remember our God is bigger and that He will provide justice in the end.  The foolish mockers will have to answer to Him.

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When I was thinking about today's blog, I had a laugh imagining a commercial on Nickelodeon for "Multiple Personality Jesus."  HE SHOWS LOVE!  HE SMITES YOU DOWN!  HE'S (cue the music) MULTIPLE PERSONALITY JESUS!

The reason this was kicking around in my mind was various discussions I've observed lately between Christians who can't seem to acknowledge Jesus wasn't on one of two extremes.  Either He's waiting for someone to slip up so he can smite them (we call them the judgmental or close-minded Christians) or He loves everyone so much we can't tell anyone when they're sinning (these are the self-proclaimed open-minded Christians.)

The truth is Jesus is a little bit of all of it. 

Jesus taught us love for our fellow man like in Mark 12:30-31 (NIV):

"30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these.""

If only the world would follow those commandments.  We wouldn't have wars, we wouldn't have adultery, we wouldn't have murder, we wouldn't have theft...it would be utopia.  Of course, we all have that fallen nature and none of us can attain the perfection in Christ's commands but we can work toward it!

However, Jesus wasn't Mr. Pacifist.  Jesus didn't just sit along the side of the road and watch the sin parade going past with a gentle "God loves you no matter what you do!" 

Entirely too many Christians swing to the ultra-love theory because they don't want to deal with the hassle of confronting someone in their sin.  If you tell someone they're doing something sinful then you become a bigot/hypocrite/hater/condemner who's "not showing the love of Jesus!" 

If someone tells you that then rebuke them.  They're feeding you a lie of Satan.

Look at what Jesus did in the temple in John 2:14-16 (NIV):

"14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!""

You really think no one ended up on the business end of that whip?  You don't think there were some bumps and bruises as people scattered away from Jesus' righteous anger?  Jesus certainly wasn't saying "hey, I love you so would you please think about perhaps not bringing your doves into my Father's house?"

If you even look at the verse so often quoted by those who want to never confront anyone in their sins..."love your neighbor as yourself"...there is an inherent call to confront someone in their sins!  If you truly loved yourself, would you continue to do something you knew was harming you?  Wouldn't you do all that was within your power to stop it?  Would you stick your arm in a log shredder and then after you lose a finger do it again or would you stop?

Sometimes showing love means you call someone to the carpet for their behavior and their actions.  Note...that's not condemning the PERSON...it's calling them to account for their ACTIONS.  The actions are the sins...the person themselves isn't the sin.

There's a reason James said in James 5:20 (NIV):

"remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

I think it's time we as Christians stopped insisting Jesus was one or the other.  We need to embrace ALL that our Savior is and not pick and choose to meet our own personal ends.  Sure...it's not a uncomfortable place to be but then being a Christian isn't supposed to be a piece of cake.  :)

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You may not know that it's Acts 20:35b (NIV)...but you've probably heard this verse quoted many, many times:

"the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

During the Christmas season you'll probably hear that phrase said by everyone from pastors to the child begging for a Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash set.  It's usually the first verse someone can snap off when someone mentions giving and it's also one that many people will just tune out because they've heard it so much!

I want you to take a second and think about giving beyond the traditional sense.  At this time of year we all have some kind of set giving that we do.  We'll get gifts to give family members.  We have a secret santa at work and perhaps a white elephant gift for the church party.  You may drop some change in the Salvation Army barrel and you might pick up a box for the Samaritan's Purse. 

All those are great things and I don't mean to downplay those sacrifices on your part.  Giving to your family and celebrating the birth of Christ are all worthwhile and the giving in those cases is usually reciprocal.  I doubt you walk away from any of those situations empty handed.  (Although with some white elephant gifts I've seen you'd be better off empty handed!)

Giving can be so much more than that at this time of the year.  There are many people around you who are in situations where perhaps they're not in dire need but have a need that could enhance their holiday. 

For example, maybe there's a single mother in your church who hasn't had a day to herself all year.  They spend so much time taking care of the kids.  She runs them to sports and drama and church and back again.  She works a full time job just to come home to cook, clean and be tutor for mountains of homework.  Why not give her a day off?  Arrange for the kids to be taken care of at church or a church family's home.  Give the mom a day at the spa, dinner and a movie then a night in a local hotel.   Why the hotel?  So she can sleep without worrying about little fingers wrapping around her toes at 2am because they had a bad dream!

Perhaps there's someone you know who wants to go home and spend the holidays with their family but don't have the means to get there.  If you've ever been in that situation you know how unpleasant it can be to only say "Merry Christmas" to mom over the phone.  So find out how much it costs to put them on a Greyhound bus and literally send them "home for the holidays."

Sure, it might be a little more pricey than you want in your flesh to give because that money could go to something for you or your family.  I truly believe that if you give sacrificially...and don't make a big deal about it...that God will honor that and bless you.  It might not be financially.  It might not in terms of "stuff."  It might just be the feeling of helping someone else during the holidays (and that's enough.)

So think big when you're giving this season and think a little bit outside the box.  (That means you have to look outside it to find those chances...)

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I know I don't reveal much personal information in this blog.  I'm going to change that a little bit with this entry.  Here is my momentus confession:

I am a child of the 80s.

Further, I wasn't a Christian during that time so I wasn't someone trying to shove DeGarmo & Key and Petra down people's throats.  Nope...I love the 80s and early 90s music.  I have music on my iPod from such well-known hair bands as Ratt, Bon Jovi, Vixen, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, etc.  I can sing all the lyrics from Slade's "Run Runaway."  I've listened to "Operation: Mindcrime" uninterrupted because I put the cassette on auto-reverse.  I don't still dress like I did back then (it even scares me now) but my iPod looks like it was stuck in 1989.

One of the coolest things from that time was exclusive videos on MTV.  You could only see the videos there.  They didn't just put the name of the band, song title and album in the bottom left corner.  Oh no...they had a little "Exclusive MTV" logo where the M was slanted out like we were getting a peek behind the scenes.  You'd even sit around waiting for the time of the hour when you knew they'd be playing an MTV Exclusive.

It came back to me the other day while goofing around on YouTube.  I was putting in the names of 80s bands I liked and after watching Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood", Vixen's "Edge of a Broken Heart" and Slade's "Run Runaway" I found the "Slip of the Lip" video by Ratt with the MTV Exclusive logo.  Good memories came back.  Then as luck would have it, the next band I looked up was Asia...and their "Go" video had the same graphic.  (I was a big Asia fan.) 

That lovely MTV Exclusive.  That little graphic that said the only way to see it was to come to MTV.  It made everything seem special.  Ah...the memories of youth.

Now...I'm sure you're wondering what that has to do with a Bible blog.  As I was driving home tonight I was thinking about MTV exclusives and thought of another exclusive that I...and I hope you...get just as excited about...

" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 (NIV)

I honestly had to ask myself if I get as excited about coming and spending time with the true exclusive...Jesus...as I did about those sappy, over produced, hairspray enhanced exclusive videos.   Here is the one way you can get to your Father in heaven...only one way...and yet many times I don't get as excited as I remember getting all those years ago when Martha Quinn would say the new Asia video was coming up.

We all tend sometimes to take that Christian walk for granted.  We do all the right things...prayer time, read the Word, go to church...but it becomes like an obligation instead of a joy.   I went into worship today with the attitude that I was going to praise God like I did those lame videos and it was one of the best worship experiences I'd had in a long time.  I want to encourage you that if you'd been sleepwalking to think of something you long loved...and ask if you've been loving Jesus that way.

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I have a friend who is a missionary to Taiwan.  I was chatting with him this morning and while discussing various things about surrendering things to God I typed this line:

"The head gets it but the heart isn't ready to give up yet."

At that moment a flood of "heart" related verses leapt into my head like the classic...Proverbs 3:5 (NIV):

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

Now, aside from not being able to get a certain Sixpence None The Richer song out of my head, I took a little sideways view of that verse and came up with another possible way to keep this verse hidden away in that heart.

God calls us to tell him the desires of our heart and if we delight in Him he will provide them to us.  (Psalm 37:4)  The catch is that we have to delight ourselves in the Lord FIRST.  That means everything else has to be pushed aside and placed on the back burner.

It's easy for the head to get it.  We read the Word and it's very plain to get.  The language is very simple.  Put God first and then He'll take care of everything.

Your heart doesn't want to take that in so easily.  You have all the things you want in life and it's hard to place them into God's hands.  Even when you feel God standing there prompting you to give it up you can't do it.

I can understand why that happens.  You see all your friends getting good jobs that they want to do while you're still flipping burgers at In-N-Out.  All of your friends are married or engaged while you're still unable to get a second date from anyone.  You want to be doing something big for the Kingdom of God but every time you try to get involved with a ministry it goes some other direction and you find yourself on the outside looking in.

Through all of it you crave those same desires in your heart.  Your heart just isn't ready to give up all of those hopes and dreams to God.  You still want to scour the want ads looking in desperation for anything.  You're on fifty dating service sites.  You'll sign up for any ministry related action even if you don't feel drawn to it.  Your heart just can't give up.

I can't type here and say it's easy but it's something you're going to have to do.  Give it all up to God in your heart and place Him in the same place you've put all those other hopes and dreams.  Scripture says if you do that God will bring the desires of your heart...so take the Scripture up on it.

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NOTE:  This is the last of the "big transfer" from the other site. 

The first half of Psalm 17:7 (NIV) says "Show the wonder of your great love."

The Psalm was clearly written to God and it's asking Him to show us the wonder of his great love but it's amazing how it can apply to us.  When's the last time you showed your great love to someone?

Let me tell you a story.

A guy was having a rough year.  He had lost his family, his home and was working too hard to still not make ends meet.  He was living alone in an apartment little bigger than the average living room in most homes.  He still believed in God and that He was going to move on his behalf but he was getting tired and defeated by the constant spiritual warfare and the troubles we get by just living in the world.

Now he was having a really rough week.  He had thought things were turning a little bit.  He heard rumors at work that they were going to reorganize and he was going to make enough money to live on without having to survive on beans and weenies.  He met a beautiful Christian woman who seemed interested in him and talked like he did of getting to know each other and possibly having a relationship.  He thought that perhaps this desert that never seemed to end was starting to get some blades of grass peeking through the sand. 

Then in a span of twelve hours he was told that his position at work doesn't really matter to the powers that be.  He was just put back in a little box that didn't really describe all he did but it made it easy for the bosses to ignore him that way.

Then if that weren't enough, the "good Christian woman" he was talking to and had dated suddenly turned on a dime and said it wouldn't be a good fit.  No reason why...just "sorry" and a goodbye without any explanation.

Can you imagine where this guy was in his spiritual walk?  It's easy to sit here and say "well, he should just suck it up and go on because that's life."  However, when you take that incident in account with all the other negative factors and blows in this man's life, you realize that this guy is like the fighter in the tenth round who's been knocked down a dozen times.  It's harder and harder to get up off the mat.  Every blow feels more intense than the last one.  He wonders how long he'll be able to keep getting back up.

Now...this guy goes to do laundry.  A simple, ordinary, everyday activity.  After loading his socks and undies in a machine he heads toward the counter to get change.  A woman stops him.

"Here," she says handing him a container of quarters.  "Something tells me I'm supposed to give this to you." 

He of course questions it and she just confirms that she feels led to give them to him.  He thanks her and starts his laundry.  They don't speak or start up a conversation.

Thirty minutes later the guy's standing in the laundromat just staring at the television.  He's not really watching the show with all the events of the week rolling around in his head.  Even with the surprise gift, he's still feeling alone and hurt.  He's feeling unloved and like no one around really understands or cares.  That's when the woman is suddenly right next to him.

"You know Jesus loves you, right?" she asks in a voice that's not really meaning it as a question.  She's delivering a Holy message.

The guy's stunned and doesn't know how to respond to such a powerful message given at the right time.  He finally croaks out that it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

"I know," the woman says.  "But He does."  With that, she walks off and leaves. 

The guy breaks into tears with the message of love that God chose to send to Him.  That reminder that even with all the problems and times that feel so painful and hopeless that He's still right there and that He still loves him.

That's a wonderful story, isn't it?  The best part is that it actually happened to someone.  That raises a challenge I want to place in front of you.

Would you have stepped out in the way that woman stepped out?

It's hard to talk to a complete stranger about anything let alone deliver a message from God.  How many times have you felt a prompting to give a kind word or give someone a sandwich and just shrug off the feeling because you're uncomfortable?  It seems so easy to be so nice but sometimes it's almost impossible to take that one step.

In this case, this woman delivered a powerful message of hope to someone who desperately needed it.  If she had decided not to do it, who knows where that guy would be now.  That night could have been the night he walked away from his faith for all we know.  However it didn't happen because that woman obeyed the Lord.

You may never face a situation like hers.  You may never have the Holy Spirit tell you to walk up to someone and remind them Jesus loves them.  However...you may be blessed to do that.  I do mean blessed.  You're a messenger of GOD!  When that time comes fight the urges to sit still.  Stand up to the dark forces that will be telling you to stay silent.  Show someone the wonder of your great Love...your love for Christ and your willingness to do anything for the one you love.

You never know what a blessing you can be with just one sentence.

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How often in times of trouble have you or someone around you said "well, God will never give you more than you can handle"?  It's usually done in an attempt to comfort someone who's just had something pretty crappy happen to them.  It could be anything from not getting a job they needed to meet their bills or a marriage/relationship breaking up or some kind of physical illness. 

When you're in those situations it's nice to have a friend or someone who will try and shove that misconception upon you.  It means someone on Earth actually cares about you and that provides comfort.  However, that belief isn't something that God really said to us in his word.  This belief seems to come from 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV):

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 

The verse doesn't say God won't put you in a situation where you can't handle the burden...it says that he won't let you be TEMPTED beyond what you can bear.  There is a world of difference between the two situations.  It's true that God will provide a way of escape in any tempting situation regardless of what your temptation may be...sex, drugs, alcohol, shopping, food, etc.  That doesn't mean he's going to take away the empty feelings or hurt or frustration.  Things that can really only be filled by Him.

What does God say about situations?  Well, He never directly says it but one could make a case that "God won't give you more than He can handle" is an accurate description.  That comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9(NIV):

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

When we are facing painful situations it's usually because we're powerless to do something about it.  We can't go out and make someone be our true love forever.  (I'm not talking temporary one night things...I'm talking that kind of love you see in those romance movies on the Lifetime Network.)  We can't just tell the cancer or other disease we may have to go away and it disappears.  We can't walk into a business and tell the owner they're going to give us a job that will pay us what we deserve and they'll just do it.  These are things that are out of our control but not God's control.

The question then becomes whether or not you'll trust God with everything and allow Him to use His strength on your behalf.  It's not fun either because God's timing is not our timing.  It leads to a lot of pain in our lives until we reach the point of being satisfied in just knowing He cares about it. 

It's hard and while someday it may get easier there are times where we feel it's too much.  That you want to drink a bottle of Drano to be literally as hollow inside and you feel in your spirit.  You feel as if there's nothing left for you and you want to just lay down, sleep and never wake up.  I can understand exactly what you mean because I've been there as well.  Almost everyone has felt that way at some point. 

The only thing I can say is that God said his power is made perfect in our weakness so acknowledge the weakness and just trust that when God finally decides to move and end the trial it's going to be better than we could hope to find ourselves.  Even when it seems your unending trial is about to finally conclude...and you suddenly find yourself deeper in the valley than you were before...just realize He is faithful and He is there. 

And if you're in that place right now, I'll be praying for you.  If you e-mail me, I'll be happy to pray by name or for a specific situation.  May God bless you.

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One of the hardest things in life is the concept of justice.  In our American society, you find that justice is at the hands of a human being who may or may not be impartial.  This person may have some agenda in the back of their minds or some bias caused by anything that can make them anything but impartial in their rulings. 

Now, I'm not getting political here and talking about "activist judges" although I'm sure there some people who would fall into that category.  I'm talking just based on the fact we're human beings and we're imperfect.  No human judge is going to be completely impartial because there are always things that effect their life and their outlook on life. 

As a result, many Christians feel they get the short end of the stick when it comes to dealing in the secular courts.  I'm not going to get off on the tangent of two believers not being in court because there are many times that a believer is brought into court by a non-believer or by another believer against their will.  It doesn't matter how you get there...there's a good chance you're going to get less than justice.

I thought of this for two reasons today.  First, a good friend of mine faced the raw end of a slanted judge today and also because I found this passage of scripture...Luke 18:1-8 (NIV):

" 1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

 4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

The key to the widow's getting true justice from the unjust judge?  Persistence.  Not giving up and packing it in just because she knew the judge wasn't someone who tended to give a fair and impartial ruling.  She kept coming and coming until the judge gave her justice.  Note he didn't say he gave her all she asked him for but gave her justice to make her go away. 

Then Jesus ties it into our walk with God.  God loves us.  He wants us to have justice and God is the great impartial judge.  He shows no quarter when it comes to someone who's sinned in life.  He brings judgment upon everyone regardless of what they've done.  Of course, as believers at the end of the day we have Jesus to step in on our behalf to say "Father, look on me." 

So I want you to take heart in situations where you know you're getting the raw end of the deal.  Handle the situation as you feel led by God to do so but keep continually praying.  If you don't get the outcome you want in the case then keep praying about it.  You'll either get a peace about it...or the Great Judge will step in and you'll see true justice taking hold.

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In an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick once accused SpongeBob of lying by saying "Liar, liar, plants for hire."  SpongeBob replied that it was "Pants on fire" and Patrick quipped "well, you would know....liar."

America has rapidly become the Land of the Liar.  In today's media driven society it's become even easier to smear the name and reputation of someone for any reason.  It doesn't really even matter what the truth is because if you heard it from someone else it had to be true.  We went from rumors being whispered to each other at work or at church to having them thrown on the internet with defiant attitudes of "I can say whatever I want!!"

It's hard when you face these times because the liars hide behind aliases or find other ways to disguise their true identity.  You never know who they are but they're quick to use the real names of other people and those slandered have no way to really defend themselves in the face of the lies.

Have you found yourself in those situations?  Maybe it wasn't even online...maybe it was malicious gossip around the church?  The water cooler at work?  Maybe a co-worker accused you of some kind of false item and you ended up in trouble with a boss because of it?

There are many mentions in the Bible of liars and the one that might bring you a little comfort is in Proverbs...Proverbs 19:9 (NIV) to be exact:

"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish."

Ultimately, God will make sure the liar is paid back for the seeds they sow.  It could be in a multitude of ways from the liar being exposed in their lies to having someone do the same to them.  It might not be until they die and discover that God doesn't look favorably on someone who lies and doesn't repent.  Just remember...they WILL get what's coming to them someday. 

Just don't let it be done by you.  ESPECIALLY if you're doing it by using the same tactics they use.  It's hard, I know...but rise above it.  You'll be better for it.

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There are few things that really work on a Christian like the everyday trials of life.  We all know of the big trials we all face...fires, divorces, deaths, etc...but we never want to acknowledge the small trials of life.  The ones that every Christian has on some level that teach us lessons all the time and God seems to leave us in them for a long time.

I began thinking about this after spending some more time in James.  I have two passages I want you to read and ponder...

James 1:2-4 (NIV): "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

James 1:12 (NIV): " Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Do you consider the stress and problems of the every day as blessings?  I know that I don't always consider them that way.  It can be the annoying brother in law that just doesn't understand you don't want to join up in his Xango business.  It could be the boss that enjoys talking down to you like you've never done your job before because they get a thrill from the power trip.  It could be the desk clerk at the hotel who keeps walking away when you want them to fix a problem with your room.  The times where you have to keep your cool and in some cases show respect to the position that this person is in (and perhaps abusing.)

Those are daily trials and we all face them.  How often do you hear someone complain about something like this and then say "yeah, so?  We all have those.  Deal with it!"  It's very easy sometimes to just dismiss someone complaining about the daily grind because we all have those problems to bear in our own lifes.  We all have bad bosses or annoying relatives or receive rude customer service. 

Obviously we pray for these situations.  We pray for God to provide relief or escape.  However, this is also a time where we should be able to turn to our brothers and sisters in Christ as well.  We all need other people to lean on for support and that's part of the reason the church is here.  We need to know that when we're down and out and we're praying but God seems to be so far away there's a brother or sister who will pray with us, cry with us, encourage us or even give us a little perspective on the situation.

Now, we as the church body...as brothers and sisters...need to really work on our patience in this realm.  There are always going to be some people who always co