Monthly Minute

 August 2007

"It's selfish to have your needs met." Have you ever heard this blither? In our efforts to condemn our sinful, self-indulging, prideful, and depraved nature, we throw out the baby with the bath. I believe there is a way to address our needs, without being selfish.

Jesus' greatest commandment was to love others "as we love ourselves." He needed Peter, James and John in the Garden when He stated, "I am overwhelmed with sorrow, stay here while I pray." On the cross Jesus said "I thirst" to the people around Him.

Who would say to a child,"STOP, don't eat that food, you must learn to trust God! Don't satisfy your needs with worldly substitutes. If God provided manna in the wilderness, He can provide for you. So put that fork down and trust God, oh ye of little faith." How absurd. I suspect an observant child would say, "but this IS my manna, I should eat it!"

And he would be right. The same applies to our emotional needs. It is appropriate to say, "I have needs and I would like them met please." It hurts when we are unappreciated, disrespected, unsupported, ignored, unheard, and rejected. This hurts, not because we are selfish, but because we are created in God's likeness. He hurts when the same thing happens to Him. We can "grieve" the Holy Spirit. Who can miss the brokenheart of God when He commands the Israelites to "shut the Temple doors...I am not pleased with you...and I will accept no offerings from your hands." Mal. 1:10.

So the next time your heart is lonely and your designed needs are not being met, you are not being selfish.

"Dear God, teach me the difference between selfishness and neediness. Help me to speak my neediness to those who love me. Amen"

Monthly Minute

July 2007

One of the reasons marriages break apart is the lack of fear. Our world glorifies the phrase, "no fear" as if it is a virtue. It is common to hear, "you biggest problem is fear, just go for it, don't look back, leap then watch, etc." This philosophy has merit when properly applied, but it is easily confused with the truth. In reality, we have two types of fear. We have "objective" fear which is God given and should be acknowledged. To fear falling, choking, painful touch is normal and part of our protective system. Very few would suggest seeing a nail in my path and "going for it" as I stomped it sending the shaft through my foot. Secondly, we have "subjective" fear which is produced by some thought process that may or may not be true. This may be the feeling when my boss walks by with out speaking, or the shaky feeling I get when a new friend laughs at me, or even when I get stuck in an elevator. In these cases the fear isn't based on objective fact. I chose to produce it by the thoughts I have about the situation.

So what kind of fear do we need? Fear of God. We need an "objective" fear of God. What should stop us from running to divorce? I believe a person forgets who else was standing at the altar that day. If you listened you heard yourself promise those things to God. Therefore, you entered into a covenant with your partner and with God. We should remember that God holds us accountable for our promises to Him. No, God isn't going to hit us or turn His back on us, but rest assured that He will not ignore it and in His justice, must deal with it. His holiness demands it.

Next time the thought crosses your mind to cut and run from your marriage, remember that when you're through  running you'll find yourself face to face with the One who loves you and refuses to let you lie to yourself.

Truly the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

"Dear God, teach me to fear you. Teach me to believe in your sufficiency and avoid the tendency to be apart from you. thank you for your faithfulness."

Monthly Minute

June 2007

We possess the efficient ability to DECEIVE ourselves. Then of course, if we are deceiving ourselves, WE DON'T KNOW IT. This ability gets us into much trouble. We become "blind" to the truth about ourselves and even when pointed out, we still are not able to "get it."

Have you ever known someone "just like their mother/father" and when told that, they reel in denial. "ME?" they say, "yes, you" you say. I once knew a man who smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes daily and when queried as to that wisdom, he remarked," Oh, they haven't proved that. It's just a conspiracy against the tobacco companies." I knew a teen who reported, "Smoking grass doesn't hurt you."

As a school teacher I would ask my students, "If you were being deceived, do you think you would know it?" To which 75-80% would raise their hand. I was looking at a sea of vulnerable young people.

The truth is, we can train ourselves to believe a lie. In James. 1:22-24 we see a spiritual illustration of this fact. In verse 22 we see the connection between "looking" at something but refusing to see it. There are many reasons for this, but the end result is actually "deceiving" ourselves. In other words, we train ourselves to ignore the truth. We "learn" how to forget. Then the picture is given of a man who looks in mirror and turns away when he see something he doesn't want to face. The text says he "immediately" forgets what he doesn't want to face. This is learned process. We practice it over and over until we do it automatically.

Back to the schoolhouse. I assigned homework from time to time and notoriously some of my champions had trouble turning it in. One day I stood in the hallway watching a chronic "forgetter" of homework load his backpack. I watched as he stared at his locker deciding what to take home. He had just left my class and I know he hadn't done my assignment and I watched him pack his history, english and health books along with other items. He slammed his locker door shut (why do they have to do that) and wheeled away. "Hey!" I said what about my book. To which he responded, "huh....oh yeh.... guess I forgot." I immediately retorted, "yes, you forgot because you 'planned' to forget the moment I assigned it."

Do you do that? Have you trained yourself to forget? Do you look in the mirror of life and refuse to see the truth? Ask a true friend if they see things that you are missing. Better yet, ask God to shed light on your insight. You are probably deceiving yourself in some areas.

"Dear God,  I am a great deceiver, I do not want to be like THE great deceiver. Please shed light on my shadows and dark spots. I want to see them just like you do.   Amen"

Monthly Minute

May 2007

People can change. It is common for someone to tell me, "people are basically the same and change very little." This statement is first pessimistic and secondly unscriptural. the fact is the people DO change. They change all the time. We could not go through a day without changing. Just a few years ago I was using an electric typewriter (poorly) and now I am using a computer. In reality, the world has left me behind in the techno age, but I have greatly changed. Routinely I am enlightened at church by responsible exegesis and make changes. At times the Lord either allows a rug to be pulled out from under me or I bump into a "tree limb" of life and I change.

In Mark 3: 21 Jesus tells the parable of the wineskins and presents a principle that is powerful. The Jews had been the same for several hundred years when Jesus came on the scene. Since Daniel's day the Jewish traditions had been predictable. In a discussion about fasting Jesus implies that spiritual integrity had to do with new wine. New life, fervor, spiritiual motivation, had to come from a new source. One could not follow Him and make it "fit" into unbiblical traditions. In other words, to follow Him, you must change drastically. This new life He would provide would need to be placed in new "wineskins." That is, the container had to be stretchable (changable).

What about your life? Are you allowing the life of God in you to change you? Are you using that old excuse, "I can't change?" The text is teaching that the very definiton of living with God daily implies "stretching." Every feel stretched? For the Christian that is proof that God is working in you and wants to change you from within. He not only KNOWS you can change, He is ENCOURAGING the process.

"Dear God, make me what you want me to be. I will stretch so that your fullness can work in me. I don't like change Lord, I feel insecure and vulnerable each time. Thank you that you have a finished product in mind that is sweet and refreshing. Amen"

Monthly Minute

April 2007

God wants us to encourage one another. In Luke 1 the Lord goes out of His way to demonstrate how important it is to be understood and strengthed. We learn this lesson from Mary and Elizabeth.

In verse 23 Zechariah, having seen a vision while serving in the Temple, goes home. His wife becomes pregnant (could be what the vision was about) and immediately Elizabeth goes into seclusion. Maybe she needed to keep her feet up for 5 months! At any rate, when Mary was being instructed about her situation, the angel said a very endearing thing, " even your relative Elizabeth is going to have a child in her old age..." v. 36. After the angel left her, Mary immediately ran to see Elizabeth. Not her mom, not the Temple, not her girlfirends, but her aunt. How awesome!  She "hurried" to no doubt share the amazing miracle with her aunt. The angel didn't say that she bore John the Baptist, it didn't matter. Mary, the young excited somewhat fearful teen and Elizabeth, the faithful sage who no doubt couldn't wipe the smile off of her face! How precious must have been their 3 months together. How Elizabeth must have rehearsed such wise advice to her previliged niece. And Mary with so many questions, may have spent many hours ministering to her aged aunt. How they must have worshipped and visualized the future of their chosen ones.

All of this took place because God knew they would need each other. He literally PUT THEM together to minister and encourage each other.

What about your relationships? Do you see them as a gift, given divinely for eternal purposes? As surely as God put Mary and Elizabeth together, He has put you in your world to strengthen and encourge those around you. Don't miss it.

Dear God, Help me to see the significance of the relationships in my life. I either take them for granted, or simply refuse to see their divine purpose. Lord, I don't want to experience the 'you don't know what you have until it's gone' thing. Open my eyes to see your plan and purpose for those around me.  Amen

Monthly Minute

March 2007

Daffodils are my favorite flower in the Spring. They jump oput of the ground with their characteristic deep green follage with a zeal that is contagious. The flower forms into a golden trumpet that bugles forth, "Look out world, here it comes! Pay attention, God is about to do it again!" Out of the dark cold earth, having rested all winter, this majestic caller defies the cool air as if it can't wait. It is followed by the other Spring blooms, all beautiful in their own way, but daffy leads the way.

God must enjoy them too. "Not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these." A short study on Solomon's kingdom reveals quite a comparrison. If God was glorified by the Temple, He must certainly be glorified by the millions of daffodils each Spring.

What about you? Do you feel like you are in the winter at times? Is your world lifeless, cold and damp? I believe God wants to do with you what He did with the all the daffodils this year. He wants to be able to say,"Hey world, look what I can do!" Allow Him to stir your inward spiritual parts and bring forth life. Claim the fact that He want your life to be a beautiful statement in a world that has very little hope. Who knows, maybe if you start it, the trumpet will awaken the rest of us and we'll all join a splendid parade that puts joy in our Father's heart and what must assuredly be a smile on His face.

Dear God, I have the tendency to allow the dark damp circumstances of my life to cause me to forget the warmth of your presence. Rise up in me and allow me to be the first to glorify you....today. Give me eyes to see your glory revealed in the simplicity of your floral beauty. Make me like that God.  Amen

Monthly Minute

February 2007

What is LOVE anyway? So much had been written about it and so little has been practiced. Perhaps the essense of love is silent sacrifice. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemene He prayed alone. And to the same intensity He loved alone. It seems to me that silent love is based on true commitment. It is hard to communicate and difficult to understand.

In Ephesians 4, Paul has just finished one of the great treatises on the basics of our salvation and what it means to be "in Christ." In chapter 4 he begins the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would say. Paul begins by talking about being a "prisoner." Imagine being a loving prisoner. Imagine the silent moments of lonliness when only you and God are aware of sacrifice. The inner commitment of steadfast love.

But vs. 2 is the kicker. We are to be "completely humble AND gentle." Talk about silent sacrifice!! How can anyone measure such qualities? Only God Himself would know if this were true of us. Then we are to "(be) patient, bearing up one another in love." This is the picture of Jesus carrying His cross. Again, He demonstrated a personal devotion unmatched in history.

I see a man or woman in a home. How many thousand times does one or the other silently serve with little recognition, often forgotten and rarely noticed. She picks up the kids' socks; he puts the bicycle away to make sure it isn't rained on; she sets the table warmly and carefully for her family only to see it plundered by busy hands and mouths leaving the standard mess;  he gets up in the night when he hears a noise being sure not to wake the others. Thousands.... of these silent sacrifices.

It will be interesting in heaven how many of these silent sacrifices will receive great reward. I believe this is the essence of love. It most  assuredly will make the charts in Christ's hit parade.

"Dear God, help me to love like you. help me to require less and silently give more. I know you are listening, and that's enough. It's great to be in such select company.  Amen"

Monthly Minute

January 2007

I love beginnings.

God must love them too. He surrounds us with wonderful "starts and restarts" all around us. He records many beginnings. "In the beginning God created...," Jesus is the "beginning and the end," "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," etc.

As parents we yearn to see "the first step" or hear "the first word." Our children even get to have a "first grade." Those living in the frigid north of the winter of 2004 long to see the "first Robin of Spring." Farmers walk the plowed fields each day watching for the first sprouts that signal the beginning of a new harvest year.

Beginnings are so energizing because they also signal an "ending."

I suggest that this January would be fulfilled if we make a couple choices;

1. Pick one old, slow, hard, depressing thing that needs to end in you and make it a target of prayer and Bible study, so that this time next year you can wonder "what was that thing I stopped last year?'

2. Pick one new, adventurous, smiling thing that you want to begin. Make it a target of prayer and Bible study. Meditate on it daily and this time next year you can wonder,"What was that thing I began this year?" It will have become a part of your fabric, as if it has always been there.

Have a great year. And by the way, maybe this year will in fact be "The Year of OUR Lord.!" Wouldn't that be great?

Marshall

Monthly Minute

December 2006

What is so hard about Christmas? Why is it classically one the most depressing times of the year? Is it any wonder that the angel choir sang about "Joy?"

It seems to me that the problem is something called "Forced Joy." Forced Joy happens when you are "supposed" to be joyful. It taps into the performance orientation of our world. Many people do not do things because they want to. They are routinely making choices because they "have to" for some reason.

At Christmas we see pictures of smiling families sitting around a bountiful table enjoying life to the fullest. I am sure Norman Rockwell experienced this, but today the tables are quite different. Divorce and the resultant broken homes create scattered families with children and parents of all combinations. We are "supposed to love" them all just the same even though we feel confused, angry, and even lonely. We try to compensate by making sure our tables and Christmas trees are all filled with abundance. Maybe if there is enough abundance somehow I'll convince my self that I am wonderfully happy at every moment during Christimas time. 

I have a solution. Do what God did. Why not focus on bringing joy to others - and let your joy take care of itself?

Think of others sitting there who may feel like you do. Be an angel!! Enter into their world and splatter joy all over them! You may find yourself smiling in the process.

Merry Christmas.

Marshall

Monthly Minute

November 2003

"BE THANKFUL!"

      This command shows up repeatedly in the Scripture. It is scattered throughout the OT and NT because it is a message for all time. Unfortunately, this command can go against everything we feel or think sometimes. Why would God give us this spiritual responsibility when we may be already overwhelmed? We've been hurt by someone. It just doesn't seem very practical during those hard times to think about being thankful. Some Christians may even experience guilt because they don't "feel" very thankful or spiritual, and they may be thinking thoughts of revenge, punishment, and judgement toward a person. This sure doesn't seem very mature, and it may result in our rejection of God in the situation. We may think, "God doesn't want anything to do with me while I have this attitude." We may be silently (subconsciously) be blaming God for the problem in the first place. After all, he is supposed to be my Protector and He didn't do a very good job!

At those times, "being thankful" doesn't seem practical or helpful.

Again I ask," Why would God be so preoccupied with telling to be thankful during such hard times?" I believe there are several practical reasons;
1. God created us in His image, He knows what is best for us. Eph. 2:10
2. God is more aware of the situation than we are. Job 42:3
3. God wants to be free from the entrapment of despair. I Cor. 10:13-14
4. God doesn't "let people off because He's so nice." Matt. 18:5-6
5. God knows we can't do His job and that we are prone to try. Mk. 8:34
6. God knows that thanklessness will result in anger, then bitterness, thus destroying your effectiveness in His Kingdom. I Sam 18:8-11
7. In almost every case we are commanded to be thankful "to the Lord, etc." This allows us to "be near God" when we are weakest. We receive power and learn new things about Him and ourselves. Matt. 11:29
8. The most important reason to be thankful when we are wronged: WE ARE THE ONE HARMED WHEN WE HARBOR AN OFFENSE, NOT THE ONE WHO HURT US.  John 15:25-16:1

Many times after we have been hurt. the other person has gone on and may not even remember hurting us. If we bring it to their attention, they may not even admit it once you've reminded them. Even if they do, and you resolve the issue, they may still question why you waited so long to clear it up.

Try this approach, " Dear God, You said to be thankful through this and I choose to do it. I choose to let you handle this. I officially deny my ownership and management of this and declare it Yours. You can and will do exactly what needs to be done in this situation. God I don't really "feel" like I want to be thankful, but I know You understand that. Increase my faith, and when I am tempted to take this back, remind me and I will give it back. Teach me what I need to know through this. Thank you, ...I'm sure we will discussing this again. Amen."

This year practice being thankful "to God" in all things. HAPPY THANSGIVING !!

October 2003

"ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER"

Christ accepts us (Rom.15.7), but we rarely experience acceptance in our human relationships. Acceptance is the "butler" attitude. It says, " I receive you willingly regardless of your faults." It does not say that behavior does not matter or that I intend to accept it. It is the attempt to focus on a person's need vs. their faults.

When Christ encountered the woman at the well in John 4, he encountered a toxic hurting person. She threw a number of barbs at him to "back him off." Jesus had made a special trip just to meet her and he wanted to address her deepest needs.

After observing her faults he focused on her need. She was a lonely person who spent her life hurting. He offered her a new life in the form of "living water" (V.14) and she wanted it. Her deliverance was so powerful that she went back into town in midday and shamelessly called out to the town to come meet Jesus.

How often do we encounter a person who is toxic? Their behavior, life style, attitude is so undesirable that we tend to attack the bahavior or reject them as a person. We all have defense mechanisms that cause us to recoil or attack when we encounter a toxic person. This person may be a family member, neighbor, boss, co-worker or church member.

Recall, Jesus responded to her need not her faulty behavior. That toxic person who is hurting you is a hurting person. The behavior you are observing grows out of a great hurt inside them. No, the Lord doesn't want us to excuse painful behavior, but he does want us to try to look behind the behavior and ask, "what is the hurt in them, and how can I meet the healing need they have?"

In so doing we are showing them ACCEPTANCE. Like a butler who focuses on what the master needs, regardless of circumstances, in the same way, we want to willingly show them that we intend to minister to them anyway. Rarely does a butler refuse to serve because his master is in a bad mood.!

This my friend is not an easy task. It is a spiritual task and should only be attempted with spiritual tools. Pray for discernment, rely on Biblical principles, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Talk to Jesus about the process, because even though you do not have the same lifestyle as the woman in John 4, in one way or the other, Jesus accepts YOU all the time.

Dear God,

Give me your eyes, ears and heart to know how to minister to the hurting, even though they may be hurting me at times. Help me to show them that I accept them, even though I reject the way they are acting. And Father help me to know when I am doing it to you.

Amen.