Human Suffering ..... Streams in the Desert

Human Suffering 

Streams in the Desert

"Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" (Ps. 4:1).

This is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement.

And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that "the iron entered into his soul." We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal.

My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings -- wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain.
--George Matheson

If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the golden chain about his neck.
--Selected

Parents Responsibility ..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Parents Responsibility

Dr. Charles Stanley

Luke 3:22

As we saw yesterday, words are but a small part of parental communication. Now let's look at two types of messages we should purposefully model for our kids.

First, boys and girls need affirmation that they are loved, accepted, and competent. In today's passage, God the Father spoke those very things to His Son. It is essential that our children gain a sense of security and belonging at home so they won't seek acceptance elsewhere. And the way we care and provide for them will help them grasp the heavenly Father's love.

Second, parents are responsible for presenting the principles needed for living a godly life. One way to do so is by reading Scripture aloud and sharing stories of the Lord's involvement in our lives. But actions must match what we say. For example, we cannot expect children to truly understand the golden rule if we act with selfishness, arrogance, or insensitivity.

Modeling a godly life is oftentimes an intentional pursuit, like reading Scripture or serving as a family on a mission trip. It can also be as simple and unplanned as picking up a piece of trash on a neighbor's lawn. But keep in mind that actions and words aren't always perceived correctly. Check that your children's understanding matches the message you hope to communicate.

Your words and actions are teaching lessons. Do your children know, beyond any doubt, that they're treasured and capable? Are you giving them the tools they need to follow Christ? Remember, God doesn't expect perfection. He will guide the willing heart—and cover missteps with His grace.

When You’re Not Sure You Like the True You..... LYNN COWELL

When You’re Not Sure You Like the True You
LYNN COWELL

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” Romans 9:20 (ESV)

Sitting on the deck in the dark of the night, I suddenly felt the urge to cover my face with my hoodie. My daughter had convinced me to take yet another personality test. The results … well, they weren’t very surprising.

Reading the traits out loud took me back to grade school. I could still hear my teacher say, “You need to be quieter … not so energetic.” He should’ve just said, “Lynn, be more like ____ and less like yourself.” When someone tells you that, you instantly become uncomfortable being yourself.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Just be yourself.” I’ve even told myself this, especially when I’m getting ready to meet new people or walk into a situation where I’ll feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Being myself isn’t always easy. I worry if I’m the true me, others won’t like me. I haven’t made up this scenario in my mind — I’ve faced people’s displeasure when I’ve tried being “the real Lynn.”

But I can’t change people’s opinions, and I certainly shouldn’t be changing the way God made me. So, I guess the question is not “Will they like me?” but “Will I choose to like myself?”

God certainly has something to say about that. In today’s key verse, God says: “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Romans 9:20).

Here, God calls Himself the molder of me, the molder of you. As our Maker, He knew exactly what He was doing when He made me talkative, energetic, even outspoken. He knew these were traits He would use along with the gifts He has given me. These traits, when honed by Him, would glorify Him.

The same is true for you. When He made you, He knew exactly what He was doing! He knew you needed to be extroverted or introverted, loud or quiet, energetic or low-key. God not only tells us to not question why He made us a certain way, but He gets to decide how He will use His creation!

This is the true reason why we need to know, in the deepest parts of who we are, that He made us, that what He made is good and that He will use what He made.

Friend, what if we let this truth be the basis for loving who we are? For when we receive God’s view of ourselves, it helps us see others in a new way … the way God sees them.

John sums it up best: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NIV).

Father God, thank You for making me exactly the way You made me. Right now, I’m struggling with liking this part about myself: _____ (fill in the blank). Help me see this part of me in a new way … very intentionally designed by You. Put people in my path today who need to know just how much they are loved for exactly who they are, too. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?” (ESV)

Jeremiah 31:3, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’” (NIV)

You're Right!..... by Shawn McEvoy

You're Right!
by Shawn McEvoy

"I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do.
I'm only pointing out the obvious...
 If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it - and live a blessed life."
John 13:15-17, The Message

I was very close to my father. He was the best man in my wedding, and growing up, when a lot of my peers were spending their weekend nights partying, I was usually happier to spend an evening with my dad watching a movie over ice cream.

One of the reasons I loved spending time with him was because I knew the Lord in a personal way... and he didn't. Sure, he was raised a "cultural Catholic," and was even an altar boy, but he'd definitely fallen away from any semblance of faith, and we all knew that he'd never been saved.

For several years, Dad was pretty much my pet project. I was always sharing with him when I could, always witnessing, always loving on him. I was continually lifting up prayers to God for his salvation, always trusting and somehow knowing it would eventually come to pass. And it did, 17 years after it had for me, and four years before he died. It's one reason his death - even though he was only 57 - wasn't nearly as devastating as it might have been to me.

He passed away in August of 2001. I stayed with my mom for a few weeks to help out before flying home on the evening of September 10 - yep, the night before a whole lot more stuff changed for a whole lot of us. I was in graduate school at the time, though I ended up taking a semester off to deal with all that had happened. So that Fall was a very strange time for me.

But then, as is so often true, there was Christmas...

We were at my in-laws' house that year. Somewhere in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve I was awoken, not by reindeer on the roof, but by a rainbow in my mind. It came to me in a dream, out of the darkness, but as if I were awake. One minute there was an immense, black screen before my eyes. Then, just like in a cartoon, someone pushed a section of the blackness out of the way, revealing just a square inch of the most amazing colors. It was my dad.

He was young, tan, and radiant, and he was wearing a smile bigger than any he'd smiled on earth. He didn't linger long. He simply said, "Shawn! Shawn-o! You were right! You were right about all this! But you're not living like it!"

Intersecting Faith & Life: The rest of this story is mine, and for the most part, I'm blessed to say I'm "living like it" a lot more since then, a few bumps in the road excepted. Ask yourself: if it were confirmed to you that everything you believe from the Word of God, and everything you've preached was true, right, and absolute, what would you do? What would you no longer waste time doing? With whom would you share, and how would your purpose and daily life change? Because guess what... it is true! You're right!

When You Ask “Why, God?”..... By Dr. Jeff Schreve

When You Ask “Why, God?”
By Dr. Jeff Schreve

We all grieved and mourned the brutal, unimaginable horror that took place November 5, 2017, at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. A deranged and demonized (if not demon-possessed) gunman shot and killed 26 people and wounded 20 others in the worst church shooting America has ever witnessed. The loss of life and utter decimation to individual families and the church family at large are simply heartbreaking to contemplate.

In times like this, we naturally ask, “Why, God? What gives here? These people were worshiping You, and they were senselessly and viciously gunned down in cold blood. I cannot understand why, on earth or in heaven, You would have allowed this to happen.”

You know, it is normal and natural to ask God why. Jesus asked why when He was on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. We just need to know that God does not often answer our question of why. He is not in the business of explaining. He is in the business of sustaining. We will probably never know the answer to our whys this side of heaven. But, what we can know and cling to are these truths:

God is good.
God is love.
God is perfect.

God is in control.
God never makes a mistake.
God cares for us.

God allows things to happen in life that don’t make sense to us… but they do make sense to Him. His understanding compared to our understanding is like the Pacific Ocean compared to a tea cup. When we ask God our why questions, His response is typically something akin to this, “My child, you would not understand even if I explained it to you. (Our teacup minds cannot begin to contain the enormity of the Pacific Ocean.) So how about this: just trust Me.”

TRUST AND PRAY

In the midst of this tragedy, may we trust God and pray that He would use this somehow and some way to further His Kingdom. May He use this as an opportunity for people like you and me to have spiritual conversations with those who do not know Christ. May we be faithful to pray for the families of those killed … and for the church, the pastor and the entire community. May we remember that this fallen world is not our home. We are citizens of heaven who are to hold all things loosely while on this earth. Nothing really belongs to us, not even our own children. Everything belongs to God — “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). We are simply the managers of His stuff. May we manage well, trusting Him to do “all things well” and “work all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

A Prayer for Those Still Lost..... By: Meg Bucher

A Prayer for Those Still Lost
By: Meg Bucher

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” - Philippians 2:1-2 NIV

The grass crept in on both sides of us, until we had to put one foot directly in front of the other in order to follow the rapidly disappearing trail. Overgrown and clearly less traveled than the other routes on the trail map, we stayed the course. Alone, in the middle of the Northern Michigan woods, on a new trail, with my two daughters, I started to see imaginary eyeballs popping out of every bit of brush.

We dodged poison ivy, oak, and who knows what else, panicked and uncertain we were even on a trail anymore. Eventually, we joined up with the main trail, and decided never to venture off of it again! When it comes to hiking in the woods, maps do not exceed experience in importance.

We’re not all traveling the same trail through the woods of life, but most of us recognize the fearful feeling of being lost. There are many of us who have yet to learn how unreliable our own internal compass is, and the difficultly of the conditions of the trail in different seasons.

Others of us have logged miles of hiking experience, surviving close calls and celebrating victoriously new discovered views.

In Christ, we are to show compassion, care, and respect for all the people God has placed in our lives, even the ones still naively lost in the forest of their own lives. As the family of God, believers are to seek peace, exude forgiveness, and be relatable. We’re just as messed up as the guy on the other trail… in fact, we’ve probably traveled that trail. The only difference is Jesus. We are called to reciprocate the encouragement, comfort, common sharing, tenderness and compassion of Christ.

Do you know someone wandering around his or her life, trying to make sense of it apart from Jesus? Take a moment today to pray for that soul, that the scales would fall from their eyes and they would see clearly the path to Christ.

Father,

These are trying times, and we all feel a little lost in the woods some days. But we know You are not hidden, and no different, than You were yesterday. You are not surprised. In fact, You are in control. Forgive our condemning spirits towards those learning to traverse trails we, ourselves, have walked. Above all of our plans and solutions, You sit sovereign and unmoved. Father, help us find our stability in You through Christ. To receive encouragement, comfort, common sharing in the Spirit, tenderness and compassion from our Savior, Jesus. Let our lives be obvious signs of Your grace and forgiveness. May all of the ways You uplift us, flow out of us and onto the people You have placed in our lives.