Category: devotional

When Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse the Southern army had 200,000 well armed, well fed, well equipped soldiers. The Union army had not delivered a final fatal blow on the battlefield. Historical scholars maintain the war came to an end because the will to continue was broken. Confederate soldiers were receiving letters from home encouraging them to desert. General Lee saw a strengthening Northern army and decided there had been enough blood shed. It was time to quit.

Surrender is a difficult thing. Surrender rips the heart out of pride. Surrender acknowledges someone or something is bigger or stronger. Surrender says, “I can’t do it.” While surrender is often the logical, sensible thing to do often times pride keeps people from doing it and useless senseless carnage continues.

It is so fascinating that surrender is the key to victory in the Christian walk. We finally acknowledge we cannot be perfect. If we understand the depth of sin we own up to the cold hard truth that we cannot even go a day or an hour without sinning. At this point Jesus is eager to step in and grant us victory. He proclaims us faultless and sends the Holy Spirit into our lives and real growth finally begins.

Written in 2000

There is an old shell of what was once a triple story house in Worcester, Massachusetts. There is not much left of the third floor and the two lower floors have been gutted. In front there is a large sign that reads, “Quality Reconstruction” along with the company name and telephone number. Attached to the sign is a smaller sign that reads, “Help Wanted.”

Do people live all of their lives constructing their characters or reconstructing them? What one thinks about this probably depends on one’s philosophic or theological position on the nature of man. But whether one is constructing or reconstructing, the small sign is very appropriate, “Help Wanted.”

For all those “do-it-yourselfers” think about seeking help. In Romans 6, 7, and 8 Paul describes his frustration at trying to make himself into the kind of man he believed God desired. By himself it just did not work. But there is hope. His name is Jesus and He will respond to any “Help Wanted” sign. And what is more, we do end up with “Quality Reconstruction.” We are the temple of the living God and He is not about to continue living in a dump

Written in 2000

A neighbor down the street who has a professionally cared for lawn stopped to chat with another neighbor who has intensely labored to also have a beautiful lawn. During the course of a short conversation the one from down the street told the hard working neighbor that his lawn was the wrong color green.

Can you imagine? The wrong color green!! How audacious!

Reality is that most likely several times a week we also say the wrong things to people and are too dumb to realize it. However, sometimes we do know it. As soon as it comes off the tongue, we know it. Then begins the game of trying to politely back track. It is well nigh impossible to do that.

In light of real truth known only to God, I wonder if we ever say anything that is on the mark. God must shake His head and wonder at our audacity to speak with such confidence about so many things. Maybe the only thing we really do know for sure is that we are sinners in need, and we have a wonderful Savior named Jesus Christ. That is enough.

Written in 2000

In the classic film A Man for All Seasons a young man asks Sir Thomas More for an honored position. Sir Thomas tells him to “be a teacher.” The young man objects. If he becomes a teacher no one will ever think of him as a great man no matter how good he is in the classroom. He asks who would know he was a great teacher. Sir Thomas answered, “You will know. Your pupils, your friends. God will know. Not a bad public.”

Emily Dickinson once wrote, “I’m a nobody. Are you nobody, too?” For many people it is hard to be nobody. The quiet life has a multitude of qualities but it does not satisfy the inner hunger to be important. Each day we are bombarded with the names and faces of the famous. We see supposed privileges that go with notoriety failing to think of the good things that are sacrificed when the light shines on someone.

For thirty year Jesus worked quietly in his woodworking shop. Fame and publicity brought an end to His tranquility and filled not only His life with pain but also the lives of those who loved Him. Ironically His fame came because He did become a teacher.

It is good to remind ourselves that doing a task well brings its own reward. We will know and God will know and that is not a bad public.

Written in 2001

The sounds of words are wonderful when the very sounds of them describe their object or intent. Words like “roar” or “bark.” Or the word “maliferous.” It just sounds dark and evil to say it. Then there is another, “insalubrious.” That one sounds unwholesome just to let it come out of one’s mouth. There are some wonderful Swahili words. One of them is the word for bugs. It is “dudu.” The word for kill is “kufu.” So “insecticide” becomes “dudukufu.” Just say it. It rolls off the tongue so much easier than “insecticide.” Say it fast and it is even more fun.

The names of people we love are wonderful to say. Our spouses’ names are music to our ears. The names of our children and grandchildren are magical. In the musical “West Side Story” there is a song, “Maria.” It says it so well.

Now for the best, most marvelous, fabulous, extraordinary set of sounds in the world. Here goes. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.” That is music to our hearts.

Written in 2000

Writing letters of recommendation is a wonderful opportunity to say good things about people. It is an opportunity to help others continue to grow.

Have you ever wondered what kind of recommendation we would need if we had to apply for salvation? Would we need to vouch for our perfect characters? That would be hard to come by. Would we need someone to say what hard workers we are? The problem with that is works are not a ticket to heaven. It is given by grace.

Actually what we need is not someone to write a letter of recommendation; rather we need to proclaim the impossibility of obtaining a recommendation adequate enough to get us in. We need an attorney. And that is exactly what we have. In I John 2:1 we read, “…if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” He is a great attorney. He has earned the right to do something for us we cannot do for ourselves. He can declare us innocent. Now that is what will get us into heaven.

Written in 2000

If you are a precise, persnickety, pernickety, perfect, particular person there is a website just for you. It is www.time.gov. This wonderful location gives you the official United States time. You can set your time zone. It even tells you just how precise it is. Usually it is within one half of a second. This site is a chronologist’s dream. No longer do you have to scan the short wave bands of your radio listening for the “knock, knock” sound that indicates you are tuned to the broadcasting of the official GMT. Now you can bookmark this site and instantaneously know the time.

Wanting to know the time is not a modern phenomenon. In Acts 1:6-7 we read, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, ‘Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’ And he said unto them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.’”

History has seen its time setters. All of them have had to invent fanciful explanations for the obvious failure of their predictions. When one pauses to think about it, it really is not a good idea for us to know the exact time of Jesus’ return. As hard as we might try not to do so we would regulate our behavior in harmony with the announced time. That is not so good. We need to live our lives by the principles of God’s kingdom regardless of when our Lord should appear—that is the key to the abundant life.

Written in 2000

Some days are just “ordinary” sorts of days. Actually though one person’s “ordinary” is another person’s “extraordinary.” If we had to go to work in the morning and do what someone else ordinarily does that could be pretty extraordinary for us. If you got to pilot a 747 airliner today it would probably be the “extraordinary” of a lifetime. But for lots of people it is very ordinary to pilot several hundred people and a hundred tons of metal thousands of miles across the country at an altitude over five miles above the earth.

For those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up believing Jesus is our Savior, it is ordinary to live with the assurance of eternal life. It is ordinary to know we are loved. It is ordinary for us to know we have a purpose in life. It is ordinary for us to know any setback we might have now will be rectified in the future.

For lots of people those wonderful things are not ordinary.

Written in 2000

The words to the familiar hymn begin, “For the beauty of the earth,….” Those words create a mental slide show of snow-capped mountains, flower filled meadows, pastel sunsets, rainy mornings and snowy evenings. The beauty of the earth is all of the above, but it is also the mathematical precision of an atom, the double helix of DNA, the infinity of numbers, the curve of a normal distribution and the tenacity of life.

Our heliocentric solar system with its balance of gravity and distance that enables us to safely fall in yearly cycles dazzles the mind. Einstein’s theory of relativity, Feynman’s quantum physics and Sagan’s cosmos are layers of beauty unfolding a depth of artistry far beyond the hand of Michelangelo.

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon wrote, “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” All this beauty that surrounds us is the handiwork of the creative artistry of our heavenly Father. And He has created us to see, taste, feel, hear, and fathom this beauty.

Written in 2000

When making a purchase we contemplate many things. We wonder if the item will really work. We wonder how long it might be before it breaks. The sales person always tells us how wonderful the company is in honoring their products. Yet we have learned not to believe everything we are told.

Once the purchase is made we take it home, take out the papers and we read, “Limited Warranty”. We read the fine print hoping to find that it really will be fixed if it breaks. Have you every wondered about the thirty-year warranty you get from the guys who roof houses? The truth is there are few things one can really count on. Even the U.S. Government’s safety net for savings accounts in insured banks is limited and not absolutely sure. Remember the great Roman Empire?

But there is one thing you can count on. You can always count on God to keep His promises. Jesus once said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28. He also said, “…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20. These promises are guaranteed. The guarantee was purchased at Calvary.