Knowing the Word

Satan deals in subtleties. An outright lie is not easily believed, but a half-truth could be. What is a child of God to do? 2 John 10-11 says the following:

“If any person comes to you with a teaching that does not align with the true message of Jesus, do not welcome that person into your house or greet him as you would a true brother. Anyone who welcomes this person has become a partner in advancing his wicked agenda.”

As we partner with the Holy Spirit to develop a resilient faith, Satan will do all he can to derail those efforts.  He wants to bring discouragement, so you walk away from the Lord.  He wants to bring disappointment to make you feel unsatisfied in your faith journey.  He wants to bring confusion and chaos by being exposed to false teachings.  All of that comes in the form of half-truths.

How many times have we doubted because something seemed pretty close to the truth? How many times have we allowed Satan to steal our peace, our joy, or our faith by believing a half-truth?  How many times have we stayed “stuck” in our current situation because of Satan’s half-truths?

Half-truths equal false teachings. That’s why it is so important to know the real truths and promises in God’s Word. Unless we have a solid understanding of Scripture, we won’t even know when our faith is being attacked by subtle inconsistencies.  Little by little, misinformation and blatant untruths will chip away at our heart until our resilient faith is wounded. That is just what Satan wants. A wounded faith has a hard time doing God’s will. So, we must saturate our mind, heart, soul, and spirit in the Word, the only real truth. We must protect and guard our faith because it is a very precious thing.

Pressing On

We all have past, a place where we were before we knew Jesus. We may have memories that make us cringe in shame and regret, but that's not where God wants our focus to be. Because if we are so busy looking back at the past, then there is a good chance we will lose our balance and stumble on the path before us.

Paul when he was still called Saul persecuted Christians, then Jesus showed him the light on the road to Damascus. After that he became an apostle and brought the Word to the gentile nations. In the Old Testament, Rahab was a prostitute, but after finding God she turned her life around and became an ancestor of Jesus. Moses and David were both murderers, and David was an adulterer too. Yet if any of these people had kept their focus on the past and their personal history, they never would have seen themselves as the people God already saw: His children who, with His strength and help, would further His kingdom. Paul states it best in Philippians 3 verses 13 and 14,

But I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us.

We are all just works in progress. Not the finished person, but definitely not the lumpy mess we started out as. Forget the past and press on to the place that Jesus is calling you.

Be a Good Coach

I was reading one of my devotion books the other day about famous fathers. A phrase caught my eye that said, “A famous man is someone whose children love him.” I added to that and said, “A blessed child is one whose parents truly love them and God’s love is the foundation.” When you get to be my age you tend to reflect on life and wish you would have done things a little differently in the past. I think we have all messed up along the journey of life.

I coached baseball for several years, but before that I was fortunate to have a few good coaches along the way. I learned some things that stuck with me about the game, but more importantly I learned some life lessons from them. Coach Pete and Coach Harry taught me to be a good teammate, enjoy the game, play hard, and show respect to both teammates and opponents. In grade school I had a coach who was also my teacher. Respectfully, he didn’t know much about basketball. However, he taught us how to act, have fun, and follow orders. We knew he cared for us, and we learned to appreciate his authority because we knew he always had our best interests at heart.

Coach Pete and Coach Harry would always walk by and put an arm my shoulders and say, “You are doing good. Keep it up.” But if things were not going too good, they would still put their arms on my shoulders and say, “You are doing some good things out there, but why don’t we try it this way. Give it a try.” Now, if we disrespected the umpire, teammate, or opponent they would talk a little sterner.

My dad gave me instructions in a way that I respected. He did it in a kind way as long as I deserved it. Then I thought about God, our heavenly father, who guides us. I thought sometimes Coach God would want to call a timeout and chew us out real good because we didn’t listen and acted like jerks. Instead, He puts His arm around our shoulders and reminds us of our blessings and the good things and how we need to change some things.

Those are the things I remember about my coaches and parents. They all stood with me, strengthened me, and gave me guidance. God wants to always be on our side in the good times and bad. He wants a relationship like we had with our coaches, teammates, and best friends. 2 Timothy 4:17 says,

“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.”

We may not be called to preach, but we are called to live our lives as a testimony for our Lord and Savior to what He has done in our lives. So, this reminded me to just put my arm around a friend, our kids, or grandkids if they are struggling and let them know we are in it with them and give them encouragement. Those life lessons from those coaches were worth it. And just maybe God was working through those coaches I had so I would listen and let them help me. Be a good coach and show some compassion to those we love that may need some help.

When God Says No

God has an appropriate and wise answer for every prayer. Sometimes that answer is no. That was the case for the Apostle Paul when he pleaded with the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh. Paul recounts the story in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9,

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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.

Sometimes when we pray God chooses to say no. In God’s providence and divine wisdom, sometimes God deems it best that He should walk us through the storm rather than calm the storm. There are times when God desires to perfect His power in us instead of showing His power at work around us. When God says no, He is wanting to build strength, dependence, and humility in us. If doesn’t seem like God is working on your outside situation at the moment it might be because He is trying to work on your inside. Here are six thoughts that can be help our faith when God says no.

1. God is working out things for our good in the midst of our problems.
2. God allows us to endure hardship but never without purpose or outside of His divine plan.
3. God has a different value system than we do at times. He values growth over comfort.
4. God is always able to meet our needs, and we should always trust He knows what He’s doing.
5. An awareness of your own weakness increases your capacity to experience God’s strength.
6. You can choose to be glad in hardship because God is using it to strengthen you.

As I look back on my life and the prayers that I have prayed, I am thankful that God, in His wisdom, loved me enough to tell me no. I may not have always understood what God was up to at first, but I could learn more and more to put my faith in His character and nature. He is a God that is real, that loves us, and knows what’s best. Now, that’s something that comforts my soul, even when God says no.