“Today’s children are the first generation in this country’s history who think divorce and separation are a normal part of family life.”

“Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.”  (Mat 19:8 NIV)

Think of the children.  With all the talk of family values there are still an astounding number of divorces in our time.  A generation of children is growing up around us with an overwhelming feeling of abandonment.  No doubt we are reaping the sin of carelessness in choosing a partner and not nurturing a marriage.

Our culture has taught us the concept that falling in love is tantamount to experiencing a tingling sensation up and down the spine when we are in the presence of a certain member of the opposite sex.  We nurture the sensation while often denying the reality around it.

When the reality of our decision hits home, it is often complicated by the intertwining of finances, the perceived stigma from relatives and friends, and the genuine paternal bonding of children.  We try to hang on, but the foundation is being washed out from under us.  Divorce seems to be the only option.

But there is a cure for hardness of heart.  God can make our hearts tender to the mate we already have.  He can also tenderize our hearts toward the reality of the potential mate ahead of us.  Prevention is better than cure.  The cure often hurts as much if not more than the disease.  For the sake of the children, use prevention or take the cure.  The cure might hurt, but you’ll feel a lot better in the long run.

“We are slowed more by the grain of sand in our shoe than the mountain we climb.” 

“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.”  (Song of Solomon 2:15 NIV)

The little things in life can be so irritating.  A splinter in your finger causes your whole focus of attention towards getting it out.  An unkind word spoken to you can set the pace for the whole day.  Burned toast spoils the whole breakfast.

What is it about the human psyche that causes it to concentrate on minor issues?  There is evidence to believe that the little things set the pace for the big things.  The old proverb “watch the pennies and you’ll have opportunity to watch the dollars” carries a lot of weight.  Or a statement like, “if you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves” can cause us to put a lot of emphasis on the little things.

Most little things though, are just that, little.  Many of those things are not worth giving the amount of attention we give them.  For instance, rarely will anyone notice that you have two different colored socks on.  You are probably more concerned about your “bad hair day” than anyone else.  Pennies rarely turn into dollars; they usually end up in your sock drawer or in the pockets of your nieces and nephews.

What is needed is the ability to distinguish what little things lead to big consequences and what little things need to be ignored.  Little foxes can do a lot of damage to a vineyard, but if you don’t own a vineyard you are probably better off letting someone else worry about the foxes.

“Trying to make it to heaven on your own goodness is like trying to get to the moon on a moon beam; nice idea, but try it and see what happens.”

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.  (Eph. 2:8,9 NIV)

There was a time when people were really interested in heaven.  They wondered what it looked like, what it was like and what it took to get there.  It seemed everybody wanted to go there even though they didn’t quite know how.

Great debates were staged by philosophers, theologians and just regular folks.  Everyone had an opinion but since no one knew for sure they got tired of arguing.  The final consensus was that if heaven even existed at all, then doing your best to be a good person was enough to get you a pass.  So being good became the order of business.

Slowly but surely being caught up with life’s demands occupied most of our time and energy while there was less and less thought given to the afterlife as if this life was all there was.  Keep busy, be responsible, go to church, drop some coins in the Salvation Army bucket, go to work, mow your lawn, attend your friends wedding, baby dedications and funerals and that would be good enough.

 The Bible states it a bit differently.  None of us can be good enough to get to heaven.  Salvation is a free gift received by faith extended by the grace of God.  A good life is the product of a changed life.  A changed life is what you get when you enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Being good will make your life more pleasant on earth.  Accepting God’s free gift will make your life eternally pleasant in heaven.

“Our culture views hate crimes as the worst kind of crime-even while our media-saturated culture spreads its own brand of intolerance against people of conviction.”

“You, 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.”    (Rom 2:1 NIV)

Living out your faith in the United States is becoming more difficult with each passing day. Compared to many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world we still enjoy tremendous freedom. But, make no mistake about it, the attack is intensifying.

It has become commonplace to equate Bible-believing Christians with extreme fundamentalism.  To believe in absolutes relegates you to the fringes of society threatening danger to the citizens around you.  Why are secular people so afraid of people of conviction?

While there are a number of possible answers, (the religious extremist, legalist, and killjoy) the answer is probably simpler than that.  “The heart of man,” the Bible says, “is deceitfully wicked above all else, who can know it?”  People as a general rule want to be left alone to do what they want, when they want.  But that kind of license is dangerous.

When a humble attempt to call people to righteous living is made, we can count on increased persecution.  But we must not relent.  Allowing wickedness to go unchecked results in paying a bigger penalty, social chaos.  Persecution is no fun, but anarchy is worse.

“Assimilation; becoming absorbed in the function of the Body of Christ as an active participant, relating to, sharing with, and caring for others in the Body.”

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” 1 Cor. 12:12 (NIV)

The church is described in Scripture in a number of ways.  It is described as a bride, an army, a vineyard, a wheat field, and a building.  But the most exhaustive illustration found in Scripture is that of the church as a body. The parallels are extraordinarily accurate.

The Body has organs, bones, muscles, and nerves.  They must all function at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness for the body to be healthy.  Any system whose parts are compromised or functioning at less than full capacity results in the body being ill, sluggish and potentially in a state of dying. So it is with the Body of Christ.

When we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, we transplanted into the Body of Christ. We are given a specialized role that is essential in the maintenance and function of a healthy Body.  We must immediately start functioning in a designed role.  We must relate to the other systems in the Body sharing our unique characteristics of function in a cooperative manner.  To function out of sequence is dysfunction.  To function at less than capacity is disease, and to not function at all is eventual death.

Have you identified what your role is in the Body?  If not, you need to. Do you know what you are supposed to be doing?  Are you doing it? Are you functioning at full capacity? If yes, good if not, what is the matter? A body that is not functioning correctly needs to see a doctor.  See your spiritual doctor today, and follow his instructions.  In little or no time health to the Body can be restored.

“A lady once asked G. Campbell Morgan, “Do you think we ought to pray about even the little things in Life?”  Dr. Morgan, in his typical British manner, replied, “Madam, can you think of anything in your life that is big to God?”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  (Phil. 4:6 NIV emphasis mine)

Ever get the impression that you are boring God with your prayers?  Looking at your prayer list you notice that it contains very little that is of an earthshaking nature.  It may discourage you by getting you to quit praying about the little things, or for that matter quit praying altogether.

The Scriptures are filled with incidences of God caring for the little things.  Jesus reminded us that God clothed lilies with a beauty that surpasses Solomon’s glory.  He mentioned that God knows of a single sparrow that falls to the ground.  Jesus suggested that God is informed of the very numbers of hairs on our heads.  God cares about little things.

God is great.  He is Master of the Universe.  He commands the planets to stay in their orbits.  He orders rulers and nations to fulfill His plan for history.  He seems to be a very busy God involved in large matters.  Yet even the big issues are small issues to the God that is omnipotent (all powerful).

The Apostle Paul encouraged us to pray about “everything”.  He recognized that God is concerned about everything in your life and mine.  As big as He is, he is involved in the small concerns of His creation.  As big as He is, we can take comfort in knowing that He is able to take care of our needs big and small.

“The extent of any emotion should be determined, at least in part, by its stimulus or object.”

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,”  (Ephesians 4:26 NKJV)

“Rejoice always,” (1 Thess. 5:16 NKJV)

We get excited about a lot of things.  We get angry about a lot of things.  Sometimes it seems that the things that make us angriest are little things that are blown out of proportion.  At other times it takes something really big to make us happy.

The Scriptures validate our feelings.  We are allowed to be happy and we are allowed to be sad, mad, frustrated, content and peaceful.  The parameters for the expression of our feelings are hinted at, though difficult to understand.  How can we “rejoice always”?  We find ourselves in situations that make rejoicing difficult or impossible.  What about being angry without sinning?  Haven’t we all been in a situation where our emotions got the best of us and we ended up doing something we regretted?  How do we find the balance of the scriptures teaching?  Kehl gives us a hint.

Because the battle of our behavior occurs in the head and heart, we must find balance with the way we see things and the way we feel them.  When we regret our negative response to something it is usually because we had time to think.  When we saw it from a different perspective, our emotions came into balance.  Other times we got excited about something only to reflect on it later and feel a bit foolish about how extreme we were.  The balance of head and heart is the key.

Foresight is difficult to cultivate.  Hindsight is 20/20.  If we could spend more time taking the lessons we have learned from experience and projecting these lessons into present and future situations, we can learn to get angry about the right things and truly joyful about the things that matter.  Until then we will live in the imbalance of getting angry over things that are not important and missing out on the true joy that can be ours.

“Revival and evangelism, although closely linked, are not to be confounded.  Revival is an experience in the Church; evangelism is an expression of the Church.”

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    (Acts 1:8 NIV

Power and witness, they go hand in hand.  The church in power is dynamic.  The church without power is anemic.  Power is what the early church experienced.  The experience expressed itself in evangelism.

Jesus never intended for the church to view evangelism as an option.  Evangelism is essential.  God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  If the church is not witnessing to the holiness, love, compassion and promises of God, how can the world know?

God wants to reveal his power.  He wants to pour out his power in the church.  The church empowered is effective.  People get saved, healed, delivered, encouraged, made holy, and pressed into God’s service.  Lord, grant us power . . . power to witness.

“It is a tragedy when dreams die.  When that happens, we feel deadness in our hearts and a dryness in our souls.” 

“”‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”  (Acts 2:17 NIV)

Ask any small child what she wants to be when she grows up and no doubt you will hear optimistic hopes and dreams as answers.  Astronauts, police officers, plumbers, scientists, airplane pilots, and doctors all started out as dreams.  But not all who dreamed had their dreams come true.

The stark realization of our lack of aptitude, financial limitations, broken home life or a previous bad decision may contribute to the rude awakening out of your dream world.  When our dreams die, a piece of us dies with it.

A new vision and hope are ours to claim when we respond in faith to the promise of God.  “I will pour out my Spirit.”  You sons and daughters will prophesy.”  “Your young men will see visions.”  “Your old men will dream dreams.” It is God’s will for us to dream again.  Perhaps an old dream needs to be revisited, or a new dream be created.  Claim the promise of God in this age of the Spirit and dare to dream again.

Happy New Year!  May your dreams be as real as the promises of God!  And may this be the year that your dreams come true.

“When he left his Father’s presence to come to earth he laid aside the majestic splendor that was rightfully his in the heavens.  In becoming a man he assumed the responsibilities true to men and women.  By being a carpenter he was not any less God, but signified to men and women that God is entirely comfortable in the carpenter.  This would be equally true had he been an accountant, an electrician, a computer analyst or a business executive.” 

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!”    (Phil 2:5-8 NIV)

Why would God want to leave the splendor of heaven and take on human skin?  Did he want to experience life as we know it?  I don’t think so.  God is very much able to experience anything and everything just as he knows anything and everything.  I believe He became a man so that we could know that he understands.

Although we seek others to affirm us when we do well and comfort us when things aren’t going well, we are especially tuned in to those who can say, “I know how you feel.”  If they have had a similar experience, then we draw great comfort from those words.  If they haven’t then we appreciate their attempt to empathize but deep down there remains a sense of loneliness that no one can share our pain.

The birth in Bethlehem was more than just the announcement that God is with us.  He has always been with us, just never in this intimate way.  God is entirely comfortable dealing with any situation or circumstance that you experience.  He understands it because He has lived it and conquered it offering us the hope that in Him we can conquer as well.