What They Did For Love

The Blinding Power of Wounds

By: John Stallings

It’s probably happened to all of us at some time or
another.


Someone offended us by what they said or did. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an offense is “something which outrages the senses.”
Those who are offended are sometimes described as “hurt, wounded, upset, insulted, disappointed, irritated, or angry”.


It’s unfortunate that offenses ever occur, but the Bible indicates that if we keep our focus upon God and His Word, He will maintain such peace in our heart that we can become resistant to offenses. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psa. 119:165 KJV).


 Obviously, offensive things will still come our way, but we need not be offended by them. The Lord is our reliable source of peace in all the circumstances of this life. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

GUARD FROM CAUSING OFFENSES

We are also charged with a responsibility to guard our own conduct from causing offenses which could harm the faith of other believers.
Jesus gave a somber warning, reminding that we are accountable for the care of our brethren. He said,


 “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! ”It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke 17:1-2).


Jesus said “It’s inevitable that offenses shall come.”
When He uses that word “offense,” it’s actually the Greek word “Scandalon,” from which we get “scandal” or “scandalized.”
That word can be interpreted as a trap because originally a scandalon was the bait that was used in a trap. It can be translated as “snare” or “an offense,” or anything that hinders our walk with God. Jesus said that it is inevitable that these types of snares and traps will come.


SUFFERING WRONGS/HURTS/OFFENSES


Let’s look at how Satan uses wrongs/hurts and wounds to erect a wall between us and God. If we falter here, we can’t move ahead spiritually, thus we’re stuck where we are.
A large part of the challenge is centered on bringing about reconciliation between wounded parties. Reconciliation isn’t always possible, but we should always attempt it. IMO you and I should try to be reconciled with those we’ve hurt or who’ve hurt us.
It’s vitally important that we have a conscience that is free of offense before God and man. Sometimes we forget that it’s clogged human relationships that hurt our relationship with God.


I can remember as a kid, playing with water hoses. A hose can easily be knotted or twisted, stopping the water from flowing. To get water flowing again, it isn’t necessary to turn the water on, it’s already on. All that’s needed is to untwist the hose and the water- that was backed up- comes gushing through.


Our “spiritual hoses” can get clogged, much like gunk can clog our natural arteries. To point out the obvious, what you and I need is to get rid of the clutter and debris that’s in our lives.
As we walk with God, these dings get in our way. And usually they are offenses from people who’re closest to us. It would be a little easier to deal with our enemies, we expect that from them.

 Listen to the words of David in Psalms 55. He says,
 “For it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, and then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together in God’s house as we walked in with the throng or the congregation. It’s you, a friend.”
 
This is why divorces are so nasty and bitter. It’s because someone we love, someone who’s in our house, someone with whom we shared a bedroom.... that’s the one who has hurt us… and those hurts go deep.


UNFULFILLED PROMISES


Satan uses unfulfilled promises to keep us bound.  We’ve all had that experience. You lend somebody some money and they say, “I’ll get it back to you as soon as I have it.” And later on you see they have it because they buy a new car, pretending everything is fine.
In my early, naive years as a pastor a lady in a church I pastored asked to borrow $1,000 to catch up on her house payments. She and her husband were gainfully employed. I was only able to loan the lady half what she asked for. Shortly afterward she left the church. Another of my lady parishioners who knew the story saw the lady in a store and asked why she’d left the church and hadn’t paid the pastor the money he’d loaned her. The ladies answer:  “Oh -I don’t owe him that money because we don’t go to his church now.” God helped me to get the money back and I grew up fast.


I heard of a dentist that did a lot of work for Christians. He stopped going to church because he said there were too many choir members singing through teeth that he had fixed and they hadn’t paid him. 


Breaking of confidence- You tell someone you think you can trust something of a sensitive nature and then are shocked to learn they’ve spread it everywhere like a child spreads peanut butter.


Rejection, abuse, etc. are all kinds of different means of rejection. One cutting remark made in the summer can last all winter and beyond. Several winters, as a matter of fact. If you think you can say something to someone, [although to you it seems innocuous,] that may bruise a person’s ego and appear to them to be a “put down” and not have it boomerang on you at some later date, please think again. You just may have some major things to learn about human nature.


False accusations: here’s a girl who accuses a boy of something and the boy absolutely denies it. The two families are friends but now there’s a wedge between them. Parents tend to defend their particular child, so the parents say, “Our daughter would never lie.” And the other parents say, “Our son would never do this!” And there you go – false accusations. You’ve got a fight going .


WALLS, BARS


Proverbs, chapter eighteen, verse nineteen says:
 “A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.”
 
A brother offended is more unyielding… you can more easily conquer a castle, a city that’s defended with high walls. But even though it appears impossible -it’s possible. With God all things are possible.


Now if you have a city like that, what’s the purpose of the walls? The walls are to keep people out.


A brother offended is going to build walls. He’s going to lay deep foundations to make sure that the wrong people don’t ever come into his life again, sometimes living in isolation because he doesn’t want anyone to “get to him” again.
And then what does the verse mean when it says “quarrelling is like the bars of a castle.”? Is it easy to take away the bars of a castle? Can you remove them? No. That’s the way it is with people who quarrel. We’re talking about strongholds. We’re talking about walls, and bricks. We’re talking human relationships.
Let’s look at some characteristics of the person who has an offense/hurt … and who will not give it up.


BLINDNESS


We become blind to our own faults- blind to our own offense. In the walls of this castle since they control who comes and goes, an offended person will make sure that the only information and the only people that are allowed through the gate is someone whom he enlists and agrees with him… someone who takes his side. All other information is filtered out. There’s no possible way that anyone else can touch him because the walls are so high and the gates are so thick. And so he can’t see his own faults. When we have an offense we are blinded to our own faults.


I think this is what Jesus meant when in Matthew, chapter seven, you remember He said, “You know, you think you have a speck of sawdust in your own eye, but you don’t realize there’s a beam in it.” And so you have guy and he has the beam. He’s the person you see, who is agenda-driven. He’s the one who’s got this beam, this 2x4 in his eye. He thinks it’s a piece of sawdust, but it’s actually a 2x4. And as he looks at others he is absolutely confidant that they all have 2x4’s. He thinks he only has a piece of sawdust, and they are the ones with the 2x4’s.


What he doesn’t understand is that when he looks at them, what he sees in their eye is a reflection of what is in his own eye. But he can’t see it. He’s blinded by it; he’s blinded by Satan. His hurt runs so deep that he says to himself, “No matter what I do to other people, it can’t possibly be as great as the harm that’s been done to me. Therefore, I have a right to hurt other people, because after all, I’ve been hurt.” He justifies it. He’s blind to what he is doing.


Paul says in Romans 12:9,  
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to the good. Love one another with brotherly affection; out-do one another in showing honor; do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord.”
Verse fourteen says: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another, do not become haughty but associate with the lowly, never be conceited.”


Why is He saying that? It’s because offended people are often very conceited. Their pride gets in the way, and they become blind to it. And then it says,
 
“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.”

The individual who holds an offense that sticks like Velcro to his soul will always seek 
“justice” but too often what they want is vengeance. It’s the desire to see someone destroyed, the desire to absolutely do all that you possibly can to make people pay the utmost farthing.
A person like this believes that if he were to forgive, he would trivialize the offense. So, there is no way he is going to lay down his bitterness. That would mean it’s small in his eyes, and, therefore, he hangs on to it.
 
And then he spends a lot of time trying to convince God to hate the same people whom he hates. And so he gives all these reasons to God as to why God should be as angry at them as he is. Like the Sons of Thunder in the days of the New Testament, the people of Samaria,
“God, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and consume them?” Jesus said, “You don’t understand what spirit you are of.”


A man left a Christian organization that he felt had wronged him. They had promised him a certain number of things, and they didn’t come through with the promise. And they had some personality conflicts. But he thought that he was right and they were wrong. And so when he was released, he was so angry he stomped the dust from his feet and prayed that God would curse the place and shut it down.


Years later he had to confess that all that God did since he left is to bless the place. It grew; the ministry was used mightily of God and still is used by God today. That’s something like Balaam. You remember He tried to curse Israel, and all that would come out is blessing.
Have you ever noticed that God sometimes blesses people that you and I think He shouldn’t? Has that ever crossed your mind? It’s certainly crossed mine.


What happens now is this person in his vengeance will believe only evil about a person. All good information is filtered out. Because he is standing there at the door of his castle making sure that the only information that is fed to him confirms his own feelings… everything else is censored, and can’t, according to him, apply. The only thing getting through is that which confirms his predisposition.


Hate is a terrible thing. If you hate a political leader, you’ll connect dots and make accusations whether you have evidence or not. All that matters is that you latch onto something that confirms your hatred. Oh, the power of hate. Hate filters out the good and embellishes the bad, regardless of what we hear about those whom we hate.


DESTROYERS


There’s another characteristic of offended folk, and that is they can become destroyers. John 10:10 says this of the enemy, Satan. But if you and I hold onto an offense we’re in league with the devil. We can become destroyers. John 10:10: “The thief comes but for to steal, to kill and to destroy. I’ve come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” The thief destroys.


As tragic as it may be, there are some people who get their sense of significance from destroying others. Really! I could tell you lots of stories about that. There are people whose whole sense of value, and self-worth, and power is tied up in the ability and the desire to destroy people.


HURTS AND OFFENSES GO INTO OTHER RELATIONSHIPS.


I read that 66% of all divorced people get divorced a second time. The reason is they take as much baggage into their new relationship as they had previously… maybe more. And so they bring all of this into the second relationship believing of course that they are not at fault, and possibly they might not be… but so often unresolved issues spill over. So what happens is the whole world revolves around the offense and the bitterness.
A person who holds onto an offense/hurt succumbs to idolatry. John says in 1 John 5:21. “Little children, keep yourself from idols.”


Please think with me on this for a moment. An individual, who harbors a hurt or an offence, has an idol. What he’s saying is this: “I’m willing to give up on God until this matter is resolved. And unless I can get vengeance,” or whatever he wanted, “unless this matter is somehow addressed to my satisfaction, I can just tell God to ‘Take a hike.’ I can stop going to church, I can stop being with Christians, I can just do whatever I like because my relationship with God is negotiable. “


You see the idols of the heart? Do you see how easily we can be blinded and are willing to give up on God and to put our relationship with Him on hold, until something else is resolved? Is that not idolatry? When we say, “Something else is more important than my relationship with God, and that is the resolution of the evil that has been done against me” …that’s idolatry and should be identified as such.


What do we do about it? We must confront our idols. What is standing between you and 
your relationship with God today… something that somebody did or some offense that cleaves to your soul? And you say, “I can’t walk with God, I can’t be with the people of God. Because, look at what has happened to me!” It’s the blinding power of a hurt. And whatever you and I hang onto that is more important than loving the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul is idolatry. Here’s the “kicker”…we can’t see those idols unless God reveals it to us as we spend time in His presence.


Then we must turn this stumbling block into a stepping stone. You have to believe that God is saying to you, “If you can overcome this in your walk, then you can go on to new heights and new challenges in your relationship with me.”
 
This takes a great deal of real honesty, humility, and brokenness in the presence of God.
What we need to do is to follow Christ’s example. When He was reviled, reviled not in return, He uttered no threats, but committed himself to Him that judges righteously.
 
Oh, but you say, “I’ve invested so much in it! I’ve had it for so long! I’ve made sure that these wounds would never heal, and now you are asking me to just give it up?” Yes, I’m asking you to just give it up. Brother/sister -just lay it down.

Many of us say, “If only the people who hurt me would show some remorse, some sorrow, then maybe I would forgive them.” But consider Jesus on the cross. No one seemed sorry, quite the contrary-- they laughed, mocked & jeered at Him. They hurled insults at Him. The people who killed Him were pleased with themselves. Pilate washed his hands of the whole sordid affair. The Jewish leaders hated Him with a fierce irrational hatred. They were happy to see Him suffer & die.

Evil was in the air that day. The forces of darkness had done their work & Jesus would soon be in a tomb. No one said, “I was wrong, this is a mistake.” And yet He said, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,” --this is precisely what we must say to the people who hurt us deliberately & repeatedly.

We must say it to those who intentionally attack us.


We must say it to those who casually & thoughtlessly wound us.


We must say it to those closest to us, to our husband or wife, to our children, to our parents, to our friends, to our neighbors, to our brothers & sisters.
The Bible says, “Examine yourself before you eat.,” speaking of the Communion elements we receive at The Lord’s table. Examine what is in your heart that stands in the way of your relationship with God.


Are you willing to tell God… “God, I’m willing to give up my idols, I’m willing to lay them down, to -by your grace, nail them to your cross.


 For some -the idol of pride has to be laid down, and you have to receive the forgiveness of Christ for the first time. You have to say, “Jesus I am a sinner. Save me.”
 
After all, He died for people like you and me.

 
Blessings,


John

Goodnight Brother, I'll see you in the morning!

 By Dan Welch

 Our son Dan who lives in Philadelphia with his dear wife and five children, recently and suddenly lost a precious friend. He posted the following tribute on Facebook but I was so moved by it I wanted to share it with my blog readers.

 I have a dear beloved brother whose name is David Sacks,
His torch burns brightly for the glory of the Lord,
He is an magnificent man who is a man of many gifts.
He is a Man of God, who used his gifts as a photographer to capture,
Joy in the midst of despair, Hope, in the midst of poverty. He saw beauty where others would see only want.

 He was a rich man. Not because of his worldly successes; he has the jewels of a wonderful Wife, Children, Brother, Sisters, Mother, Father and extended family of which no bank's coffers could ever hold the wealth thereof. 

Last night, he stepped from the latitudes of earth, onto the latitudes of heaven.
His eyes are now seeing the glories that he so often spoke of beholding. My eyes are obscured by my tears of missing my dear brother.

I know that I will see him again. His legacy will not fade, no; his example leads me on; in hope in Jesus. Lord, could I only be as brave as my dear brother? I speak of him as alive because he is alive in a way that I can only hope to be.

I pray that I can follow his example of walking to the end of my time on earth in the same way that he did. Knowing that there is yet a Kingdom to come. Knowing that we will all be together in paradise.

Every breath You Take... Every move you make...

By John Stallings

Disaster strikes.

A gunman opens fire in a theater killing scores of people.  Another gunman opens fire in a school killing 20 children and six adults. The children were all six and seven years old.

A mega-storm hits the coastline changing the landscape and destroying multitudes of homes and killing scores of people.

What is your first reaction? Is our most stabbing question though we may not give voice to it…Where is God in all this? Doesn’t He care what’s happening to us?

Yes, Jesus does care.

 He cares enough to allow disaster and he cares enough to stop it. He wants us to trust him regardless of the circumstances.

Mark 4:35-41 finds Jesus by the Sea of Galilee. Leaving the crowd behind, He took His disciples in a boat to go to the other side.

All seemed well, until a furious squall

came up. The Sea of Galilee is actually a fresh water lake in northern Palestine. The Lake was subject to violent storms.

 It sat 680 feet below sea level, which made it warm, but was surrounded with mountains shaped like funnels that allowed higher, cold air to whip down and mix with the hotter climate. This causes hurricane like winds.

The disciples were scared to death and humanly speaking, they had every reason to be. Waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Imagine the scene: the disciples working hard trying to steer the ship as wave after wave pounded them. The lake began spilling into the boat and the disciples panicking. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

“How could Jesus sleep? Doesn’t he feel the waves and wind? Doesn’t he hear our cries? We’re dying here, and he is sleeping like there is total calm.”

The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?” What the disciples did was good and bad. It was good that they finally turned to Jesus for help.

 The LORD says: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." (Psalm 50:15)

Jesus knew sooner or later the disciples would need an audio visual “sermon” on faith. This is why he allowed the disciples to struggle so hard – in order to test and strengthen their faith.

Then Jesus gave them a picture of faith… he slept secure in the back of the boat.

How is this a picture of faith? Jesus’ calm sleep showed that He was not afraid, but trusted His Father’s loving providence, regardless of how dire things got. And Jesus wanted the disciples to have this same trust in Him, His power and His love.

Sadly the disciples didn’t display such trust. They saw Jesus as their teacher, their master, but not their all powerful God. They even questioned his love.

It’s comforting to know The Creator of the heavens and the earth knows us by name and loves us. When we consider this vast universe, it’s astonishing to know that God knows our needs and provides for us like a loving father.

I believe the three Hebrew boys, could witness that God will take care of you. Daniel would tell you he will take care of you. I know Job would tell that not only will He deliver you, not only will He take care of you, but sometimes He’ll give you double for your trouble.

It may seem like you can’t see your way through, but watch God come through.

As a kid I knew a man in a church my father pastored and with whom I spoke several times a week. After years, this man still didn’t know my name. He’d always call me by some other name, not mine. The last time I checked, John [my name] is a rather common name, and not that hard to pronounce.

I was young and inexperienced and I didn’t really know how to catalog what I felt. I observed that the man didn’t have a large memory deficit because he seemed sharp as a tack about other things including names. This good man taught me a very valuable lesson.

I determined then and there, by God’s grace that I’d never be dismissive and absent minded toward people as this man was to me. I feel sure that he, if faced with his behavior would have been apologetic as I never got the feeling he was mean spirited. It was probably a “blind spot.”

I’m sure I’ve failed at times but I’ve always made an effort not to treat anyone, especially the young as if they were of no significance.

 “NOBODY CARES BUT JESUS.”

Do you ever feel that no one is listening and that people, who should be concerned, hurt you, rather than minister to your need?

Sometimes these are just our perceptions- but often, they are a reflection of the hard-heartedness and self-absorption of those around us. Yes, even of Christians! 

Sir, do you ever experience coming home from an unbelievably hard day at work and start to unload on your wife and family? Have you learned yet that 99% of the time the family isn’t interested in your hard day at work? I don’t mean to sound cynical or unkind here. But let’s face it; a wife whose been running a house all day long, with all the pressures that entails, isn’t going to be interested in your difficult day at work. Face it sir, at least you got out of the 

 house and had a little change of scenery.

 “Nobody cares but Jesus.”

Lady, have you ever tried to unpack your day on a frazzled out husband just getting in the door from work? Have you learned yet that for the most part, he’s not really interested in hearing it, at least not until later…much later?

 “Nobody cares but Jesus.”

We could ask the same question of our children and it’s a “slam dunk” that they understand this problem too; trying to communicate with nobody listening.

It’s not that we don’t love one another, it’s just that in today’s world we’re all hanging on by a thread and stressed beyond belief. At the end of a hard day our shoulders are so up around our ears that we resemble the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

In this world people often act around us as though we don’t even exist. But God not only knows that you exist, He knows your name. Listen;

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1). “I know you by name” (Exodus 33:17).

We are not just numbers in God’s big database. He knows our names and not only our names, but everything about us. We often find it hard to understand how God can know us by our names when people around us don’t. That’s just the problem. We tend to feel that because people don’t care, God also doesn’t care. But God does care even more than we can imagine.

He keeps track of every bird that dies and of every hair on our heads (Matthew 10:29-30).

 If He’s concerned about such unimportant details, don’t you think that He’s even more concerned and informed about those major issues you’re wrestling with? Of course He is. There’s no problem in your life that’s too big or too small for God to know about and to care about.

I‘ve never come across anyone who counts the hairs on their head, yet God does. So if he is concerned about the least of our worries, is He not even more concerned with those major problems, traumas, upsets, fears and frustrations that you face?

Often people say they care yet you know that they remain unaffected by your situation. But God not only knows about your heartache, He feels with you and for you. Have your friends forsaken you, do people misunderstand you, do they turn your words into something you didn’t mean, do they slander you, do they actually try to hurt you (physically and emotionally), do they act as though you don’t exist 

 and your opinions aren’t worthy of consideration?

LOOK TO JESUS!

They did the same to Jesus, and much more, so He’s touched by our struggles. He feels with us, and feels for us when we go through tough times. There’s not a single hurt that you feel, that he doesn’t feel as acutely as you do.

God has compassion on us. People often respond to our problems by saying that we have brought it on ourselves, and often that’s true. But God isn’t in the blame business. He loves, cares, is concerned and is merciful on all who are in need.

Sometimes we can’t bear to look upon other’s hurt- it’s too much for us to countenance. But God never turns His face away, no matter what happens.

STEPHEN

 When those rocks were crushing Stephen’s bones, and his ears were filled with blasphemy, insults and accusations, and his friends fled, Jesus stood at the right hand of the Throne and took every blow together with Stephen. It was just as though Jesus was right next to Stephen on that landfill as they buried him under the rocks and the insults.

People’s insensitivity and hardness to our needs often hurt more than the problems. But God is sensitive, merciful, tender, compassionate, kind and gentle with those who’re struggling. The problem is that we are sometimes so concerned with reaching out to people for help we forget that our God is actually reaching out to touch us in our moment of weakness.

Peter, writing to suffering Christians says:

“...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1Peter 5:7).

Yes, He indeed cares for you but you and I need to cast our cares on Him. So often we try to bear them ourselves. We often bemoan the fact that no one else cares to lift a finger to help us with our load when the Lord Jesus is just waiting for us to unload it all on Him.

You and I need to think hard and long before we unload our problems on another person. In all likelihood they already have about all they can deal with. Tell it to Jesus!

Jesus spoke of the scribes and Pharisee's who bound up burdens too heavy to carry and then put them on the backs of others, but would not as much as move their little finger to carry the load.

Maybe as we begin a New Year you need to come to Him and place your burdens at His feet. The problems may not immediately vanish, but knowing that He is sharing the load makes it so much lighter and easier to bear.

HANNAH

Hannah the mother of Samuel had great cares.

In that culture, she shared her husband with another woman. She suffered under a cultural curse of not being able to bear a child.

The other wife who was jealous of their husband’s obvious preference for Hannah was able to bear many children and would taunt Hannah over her barrenness. The heavy care was more than she could bare, and she found herself often weeping and unable to eat.

It finally brought a rift between her husband and her, for one day as they were traveling together he asked her why she was weeping and was not eating.

He couldn’t understand her deep longing for a child. Like a typical husband he thought, "She has me, what more could she want?" We read that as they were in Shiloh worshipping the Lord she was in bitterness of soul and weeping as she was praying. Her grief was so deep that she could not audibly utter her prayer. Her lips were moving but no sounds were coming out.

As the High Priest Eli passed by and saw her in this condition, he thought she was drunk and said, "How long are you going to be drunk, get rid of your wine." She answered the High Priest, "I am not drunk, I am a woman with a sorrowful heart, and I have poured out my soul unto the Lord."

She had cast her care upon the Lord.

Note that when she cast her care upon her husband, he didn’t understand her, and it brought sort of a rift. When she cast them upon the Lord she received the assurance that God would grant her petition, and she ate and began to rejoice.

It’s interesting how Satan begins to play his games in our minds. He seeks to make us feel that no one has ever suffered as much as we have-that we’re all alone in our fight for righteousness.

Like Elijah we often feel that “I, only I am left, and they are seeking my life.” But God comforted him assuring him he wasn’t alone in the fight. What a comforting thought to know God cares.

Though all may fail and forsake me, He has promised never to leave me or forsake me.

This thought ought to encourages us, that

He cares for us more than we can ever realize.

How do we know that He really cares for us?

Jesus was constantly telling the disciples of the Father's care for them. He told them that they didn’t have to worry about things. Their Father sees that the birds are fed.  He sees that the fields are robed in beautiful colors. If He sees to the birds needs, how much more will He see to the needs of His children. The Father knows we have need of these things.

If you’re ever tempted to question or doubt the care that God has for you, just look at the cross. There God showed you just how much He cares.

Paul said,

 "If God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how much more shall He not freely give us all things?

The presence of God is portrayed in Psalm 139 as all-pervasive and all-knowing of humankind’s thoughts and actions.

The Psalmist said,  “Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. . . . Whither shall I go from thy Spirit” (Psalm 139:3, 7).  

  I like the way The Message translates  this passage;

“God investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m and open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I am thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too–your reassuring presence, coming and going.  This is too much, too wonderful– I can’t take it all in!  Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?  To be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there!  If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’ll find me in a minute– you’re already there waiting!  Then I said to myself, ‘O He even sees me in the dark!  At night I am immersed in the light!’ It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and night, they are all the same to you.”

Let me close with this verse that has always been a comforting one to me.

Indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4

The Psalmist tells us that our God never slumbers nor sleeps. What’s the difference in sleeping and slumbering? None that I can see. Maybe the writer just wants to put extra emphasis here.

If you find yourself tossing and turning at night trying to figure out the solution to every possible dilemma, here’s a New Years suggestion for you:
Since God never slumbers or sleeps, you might as well get some rest.

If something’s got you worked up today, remember, God’s on the clock, He’s on the throne, and He’s got you covered.

Every step you take, every move you make, He’ll be watching you.

Blessings,

John

The Baby With Four Names

By John Stallings

There are lots of people with three names.

Among them are, Sandra Day-O'Conner, US Supreme Court Judge, Jaquelyn Kennedy Onasis, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tommy Lee Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Ray Cyrus, James Earl Jones, and Sara Jessica Parker.

Of course we can’t forget those with one name like Madonna, or Cher or Elvis.

One of the many important decisions confronting new parents is, “What shall we call our baby?” Most new parents spend hours debating this question. We all realize that names matter. Shall the new baby be named after his father, his uncle, a favorite friend? Should he be given a name that happens to be popular at the moment? Or one that simply sounds good?

Charles Phillip Arthur George

Names are important because once you pick out a name the child will be stuck with it for a long, long time! Babies have no voice in the selection of their names. They have to live with them — to live them down or live them up.

Every so often you’ll run across a person with multiple names, such as Charles Phillip Arthur George Windsor. That’s sounds odd until you discover it’s Prince Charles. If you say that’s a heavy load to lay on a baby, remember He’s royalty and He needs a long name.

So it is with Jesus.

Even before His birth, He was a child with many names. The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before He was born, prophesied that Messiah would have four names:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

We know that there are many other names for Jesus; however this verse reveals four of those names. Each one features an aspect of His character. They teach who He is and how He can help us. One of our beloved carols is cast in a plaintive question:

“What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”

Listen to Isaiah’s divinely-inspired answer. These four names speak to us about wisdom, power, security, and assurance. The first name is…

1. WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

Literally this title means “a wonder of a counselor.” It speaks of the wisdom of his plan. The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.” The writers of the Old Testament used it for acts of God which man cannot understand. The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”

There are several professions that make their living giving advice to others but they can’t claim perfection. Psychiatrists routinely make $150 (and sometimes $350) an hour for their counsel. Much of it is good, some not so good. But the Lord goes to no one for advice. And when anyone comes to him, He gives them the counsel they need.

He is therefore the perfect teacher and the ultimate counselor. This gives us insight into his working. His plans are not our plans, His ways not our ways. He will accomplish things beyond human comprehension and He will do it in ways we cannot fathom. He will do the greatest work ever accomplished and He will do it seamlessly. A violent death would not be man’s way to victory but it was God’s plan and our Lord carried it out perfectly.

As the Wonderful Counselor, He gives great direction to His people. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness but in the blazing light of day. In this tiny baby we see all the wisdom of God wrapped in swaddling clothes. What Child is This? He is the Wonderful Counselor. Then He’s the…

2. MIGHTY GOD

This speaks of the “Power of Accomplishment.” It is first of all a statement of deity. The baby born in the manger is not just the Son of God; He is also God the Son. All the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the ancient creeds declare, He is “very God of very God.”

That can never be said of any mere human baby. Something else is important in this title. The word translated “mighty” is the word gibo, which means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.” Thus the term “mighty God is actually a military title. He is the God who fights for his people! At the Incarnation, God took the form of human flesh. That’s why one of his names is Immanuel–God with us.

Now take the first two titles together and what do you have?

As the Wonderful Counselor — He makes the Plans.
As the Mighty God —He makes the plans Work.

All of his wonderful plans will be carried out with all of God’s infinite might. There is in this little baby’s arms flailing around in His crude bassinet all the strength of Deity. The power of God is in those tiny fists. He has strength which is divine. The omnipotence of God is at His command. Whatever He desires, He is able to achieve.

Carl Sagan Meets Jesus

When we meet Jesus, we meet God. If He is not the “mighty God,” then we are deceived and it is blasphemy to worship him. There is no middle ground here.

If He is not God, we are fools to worship Him. If He is God, we are fools not to.

Some time back renowned astronomer Carl Sagan died. He is best remembered for his famous PBS series called “Cosmos” in which he evangelized for his evolutionary views, especially the notion that the universe is billions and billions of years old. He repeatedly said that he didn’t believe in the afterlife. However, he also said he wasn’t an atheist because he didn’t know enough to rule out the possibility of God. I would argue that God never gave a human being the power to be a real atheist, but that’s another article.

Carl Sagan is an evolutionist no longer. And at this moment he is neither an atheist nor an agnostic, for he has met the Mighty God whom he refused to worship in this life. Despite his great learning and his notable achievements, Carl Sagan died a fool’s death because he would not bow before the Babe of Bethlehem.

HERE’S THE REAL REASON MANY PEOPLE RESENT MANGER SCENES IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE…

Banning manger scenes or other Christmas scenes from public places has nothing whatsoever to do with being “politically correct” or offending people of other religions. Let’s do a post-mortem on the real reason some people fight so hard to call Christmas trees “Holiday trees” and say “Season’s greetings,” or “Happy holidays” taking all mention of Christ out of Christmas.

Christmas is the great dividing line of the human race. No wonder some people want all mention of Christmas expunged from our public schools and from our public life, indeed from human consciousness. They understand that Christians believe Christmas is based on the belief that at Bethlehem, God Incarnate slipped out of timelessness into time, to land in the arms of a virgin girl. Now, if this is true, then unbelievers have problems.

When a person says there is no God, rejecting Christianities tenants, they are telling themselves they can live like the devil then die like a dog. How “very nice” for them. They want to believe that at death, that’s it, it’s over. They’ll never be faced with standing before a Holy God being judged based on what they did with their life, and especially what they did with Jesus.

These “atheists” may never darken a church door. They can live their lives and never open a Bible. They never have to even hear the name of God or Jesus Christ except in cursing. But once a year, here comes Jesus again. And that’s every year, for about a month. More toasters will be sold in Jesus’ name than any name in history. More turkey and Ham will be sold in His name and more money will be spent in His name than any other name. The only way these folk could escape it would be to leave the planet.

Now, if they’re not careful they’ll hear Christ’s name coming out of their own mouth, and we couldn’t have that. A manger scene isn’t only about a cute little baby. Who could be offended by that? The entire world loves a baby. But baby Jesus is different. If you accept that manger scene then you’ve got to accept that God exists, the miracle of the virgin birth, and the rest that goes along with it. This is too painful for them because when you extrapolate it out, you’re faced with things like- one day giving account for yourself to God and then issues like what your eternal address will be, - heaven or hell.

If we take out manger scenes and the name of Christ, we’ve erased some of the best gospel preaching imaginable, and to these people that’s a good thing.

In this tiny baby we see the power of God sleeping on Mary’s lap. What Child is this? He is the Mighty God. He is also…

3. THE EVERLASTING FATHER

In the Hebrew the phrase is literally “the Father of Eternity.” This speaks of the purpose of his coming.

He is before, above, and beyond time. He is the possessor of eternity. He is eternally like a father to his people. This is not a statement about the Trinity, but about the character of our Lord. All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.

Because He’s like a father, -caring for his people. Because He owns eternity, He can give us eternal life. That’s so important for those of us who live on this sin-cursed planet. No one lives forever. Sooner or later we will also find our own place in the graveyard. We’re not immortal, but transitory. We’re here today, gone tomorrow. A dead Christ will do us no good. Dying men need an undying Christ.

Here’s a key phrase: He is a father forever! That’s important to me because I had a father, but not a father forever. I had a father, but he is gone now… He was a very good man, but he was not a father forever. . I am father to daughters but not a father forever. I will someday pass away. All human fathers must go. But Jesus is a father forever! He’ll outlast the stars in the heavens.

When our children need anything, we run to help them. If they cry, we go. If they want us, we will come to them. We would never kick them out. They belong to us. They are ours, in a manner of speaking. What we are in a poor way to them, Jesus is in a perfect way to all who believe in Him.

In this tiny baby we see the love of God sleeping in a stable. What child is this? He is the everlasting Father and he’s also…

4. PRINCE OF PEACE

The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace” This speaks of the effect of his coming. This final title is the climax of all that has gone before. The word “prince” means something like “General of the Army.” It speaks of his high position. The word “peace” speaks of his basic nature.

Recently I read that there are more wars raging right now than at any time this century. All over globe there are ethnic conflicts and tribal wars. Closer to home not a day goes by without word that someone else has been murdered in America. We see so much killing that it no longer surprises us—or even bothers us.

In Florida where I live, recently a man, embittered because his wife had lost her teaching job went to a school-board meeting intent on killing several school board officials. The video has been played over and over with the warning about its violence. He was a very angry man but thankfully a bad shot and was gunned down by officials. This video will probably go viral on YouTube.
We’re practically immune to violence because we live in a violent world.

Isaiah 9:6 tells us that God’s plan for world peace is focused on a one person—a baby asleep in a manger in Bethlehem. He is the ultimate man of peace.

· In the past, His coming made peace with God*
. In the present, those who come to Him find peace in their heart when Christ comes in.
· In the future, His second coming will usher in a kingdom of peace. There is no peace today. -So much strife and bloodshed. He is not a failure. We are.

Christ is no warrior, no greedy conqueror, and no empire builder. He came to bring peace. He did. He does. He will.

In this tiny baby we see the peace of God welcomed by angels and shepherds. What child is this? He is the Prince of Peace.

In this one verse you have the four names of Jesus. This is what they mean to us today:
If you are confused…He is the Wonderful Counselor.If you are weak…..He is the Mighty God.If you are scared……He is the Everlasting Father.If you are disturbed….He is the Prince of Peace.

You never know what may happen in the world because a baby was born. No doubt the Innkeeper didn’t know who he was turning away. Even Mary couldn’t fully imagine what it all meant that night. But that baby born in Bethlehem has become the centerpiece of human history. We even divide time itself by his coming—B.C. and A.D.

What child is this? He is … the Wonderful Counselor … the Mighty God … the Everlasting Father … the Prince of Peace.

“For to us”

The most important part of our verse is the first three words……."For to us” The gift of Christ is a personal gift from God to us. A gift requires a response. If I put a gift under your tree, you may acknowledge it, may admire it, may even thank me for it, but it isn’t yours until you open it and take it for your own.

Why Would God Visit Us?

Mankind has made a total mess of things. We blew our one shot at immortality—and now the graveyards are filling up. But God is not finished with us yet. Go to Psalm 8 and find these words;

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

David seems to say; why bother with people like us? We ruined Eden, you gave us another chance, and we fouled up so badly that you sent a flood to wipe out the human race except for one family. Why not just hit the delete button on the human race? Why not just admit that this was an experiment that didn’t work out? No one could blame God if He decided to get rid of us all and start over again.

David’s question comes to the very heart of Christmas—What is man that God should pay attention to us? What is man that God should care about us after we’ve failed so miserably? Why should God care about us at all?

The New King James Version renders verse 4 this way: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Why would God care enough to visit people like us? It is right at this point that we see the glory and wonder and mystery of the gospel.

Jesus visited us to become like us in his nature. That’s the Incarnation. That’s Bethlehem. That’s Christmas. He came into this world as a tiny baby, born in a stable, in an obscure village, born in poverty, unwanted by the world. He was just another face in the crowd. Few knew that He was coming. No one cared that He had arrived. Jesus “had” to do this. In order to truly “visit” us, He had to become like us.

Jesus tasted death because that is our common destiny… Jesus could not have truly “visited” us if He had held himself back from “the last enemy” that confronts us—death. In order to be fully human, He had to taste death. Jesus suffered and died because that was the only way He could save us. Only by dying could He give us life.

Jesus came to restore all that we had lost in Eden. The Bible calls Jesus “the last Adam.” One of the verses of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” calls him the “Second Adam from above.” He came to reverse the curse that we brought upon ourselves. Now in heaven He is crowned with glory and honor. One day all those who believe in Jesus will share that glory with him.

God said, “I will not leave you alone. I will not let you destroy yourself, each other, and the world I have made. I love you too much to let you alone.” So He sent prophets. We killed them. He wrote letters. We ignored them. He told us how to live—and we said, “Who are you to tell us what to do?” We mocked the God who made us, we broke his laws, we said we didn’t need him, and we made up our own gods that we liked much better because they looked so much like us.

Oh, we made a mess of things. God had every reason to kill us all. But he didn’t. He said, “I love you too much to let you go.” And after we had trashed everything, God said, “I’m coming down there so you’ll know once and for all how much I love you.” We didn’t pay any attention; it didn’t even make sense to us. How could God visit us? But He did—and He came to the world in a very strange way. He entered a virgin’s womb and came out as a baby, born in Bethlehem, a baby named Jesus, born to save us from our sins.

So He came as a baby, and when He grew up, we butchered Him, slaughtered Him and murdered Him on a cross. That’s the thanks we gave to God for visiting us. But we were wrong about everything. After we killed Him, He came back from the dead—proving that He was right all along and we were really wrong—dead wrong about everything—and still God loved us and came from heaven to earth on the greatest rescue mission in history.
He came because we blew it so badly.He came and we killed him.He died and became our Savior.

WHAT A STORY! WHAT A CHRIST!

That’s the good news of Christmas: God has done it all. The only thing left to you and me is to believe. God wrapped up his Son in swaddling clothes and said to the whole world, “This is my Christmas gift to you.”

Someone rightly called Christmas “the happiest holiday.” But it will only be truly happy for those who truly believe in Jesus. I cannot prove to you that what I have said is true. You will have to decide that for yourself. But I can say without any reservation that I have staked my life on the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the incomparable Son of God.

Christmas matters because truth matters. And the heart of the truth is that God did not leave us alone, but in our misery He came to visit us one dark night in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

Christmas is all about who we are, and who God is, and how far God will go to reach us.

Blessings,


John

"These Are The Times That Try Men's Souls..."

By John Stallings

The full sentence helps explain the meaning better:

 These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

 At the time Thomas Paine wrote those words, it looked like we would lose the American Revolution and some people were walking away because times were getting tough. By saying "These are the times that try [or test] men's souls," he was saying...   "This is how we'll see what your spirit is really made of. Do you leave when things look bad, or do you have the courage to stand up for what you believe in?"

Somehow these word seem apropos in this hour.

ELECTION AFTERGLOW

Pot-heads, sodomites, pro-aborts and all common moochers, are sharing a collective thrill in the afterglow of President Obama’s re-election. Added to that list are Ayman al-Zawahiri, Ayatollah Khamenei, Vladimir Putin and Chris Matthews, as well as millions of others.

Who can deny that the American people by a clear majority have rejected fiscal responsibility, energy independence, national security, border security, and traditional family values. In the mind of many of us Barack Obama’s re-election is a complete political, economic, moral, social and spiritual catastrophe.

However despite the very real implications of America’s bad news, Christians still have substantial hope and reason to remain joyful.

Let’s briefly detail some of the reasons why Christians should rise above the depression and hopelessness that has gripped so many.

In Hebrews 11, we’re encouraged to consider the lives of the faithful saints of old. Some of these men and woman lived very blessed lives and experienced great prosperity. Others suffered terrible hardships. What they all shared, however, was a vision, a hope of “a better country,” a heavenly “city.”

Consider what the Bible has to say concerning Abraham:

“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” [Hebrews 11:9-10]

As our “great thinkers” ponder the reasons for the outcome of the election, I notice that many of them postulate that we conservatives have not been sensitive to the minorities, women’s rights, and especially illegal aliens.

Please!

Let’s turn this around. In response, though I’ve been a close observer of national politics for well over half a century, and have seen many Liberal defeats, I don’t remember ever hearing them ever so much as hint at the possibility that “we’ve been too strident on the abortion issue” or for that matter any of the issues they hold dear. No matter how many elections they lose, they seemingly have no self-doubts.

 However, they have no inhibitions when it comes to telling conservatives –we’re defeated by our core values.

As sad as it is to watch our great country take such a harsh left-lurch into irresponsibility and outright godlessness, I’d like to remind us that our ultimate and eternal citizenship is not here on earth. We’re to live within this corrupt and perverse age as aliens, foreigners, whose eyes are forever fixed on our true, eternal home. Consider this passage as we imitate these saints of old:

“They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” [Hebrews 11:13-16]

Think about it; anywhere you open the bible you find people who live in nations where they are a minority, and where persecution and hatred of the Godly is common. This is after all, how life was for the early Godly folk. Perhaps our hope has been too focused on this life, on our stuff and our comforts.

Maybe if Americans are made a bit more uncomfortable, we might shift our eyes to the heavenly city, to the country that God is preparing for us. Maybe that’s one plus behind this election catastrophe.

In one of the most well-known prophetic messianic Psalms, we read the following description of what Jesus will accomplish when he returns:

“The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. … The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.’” [Psalm 110:2, 4-6]

One of the primary events that will accompany the return of Jesus as he establishes his messianic kingdom over the earth from Jerusalem is the judgment of the many unrighteous, self-serving and corrupt politicians throughout the whole earth. As the Psalm states, when Jesus returns, before he establishes his kingdom, he will “crush kings on the day of his wrath.”

While some may feel uneasy with this point, personally, I take great comfort in it. Who among us doesn’t truly grieve at the degree of corruption, character assassination, slander, lies and deceit that so many politicians use to acquire and maintain power? The Lord will not allow this to remain unpunished. There is coming a day of justice.

For now, America is governed by a man many of us feel is a truly unrighteous individual, a race-baiter, a divider, a liar, and a destroyer. And while I would not suppose to know anyone’s heart, I do take great comfort in the fact that there is one who knows the hearts of all people and who has promised a day of justice for all of the earth.

So I will continue to stand and fight for this great nation, believing that there is yet hope for repentance, revival and restoration. As I watch this beautiful country slip away and devolve into something almost unrecognizable, I take great comfort in knowing that a heavenly country lies ahead. I have been promised a kingdom, and it is on this kingdom the eyes of my heart are fixed. And even more than the coming kingdom, my eyes of hope are fixed entirely on the coming King.

I wrote a song many years ago called “I’m not letting anybody steal my joy. I’m standing by that.

 Hear this: the present man in office will never have control over my emotions and will do nothing to steal my joy.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” [Romans 15:13]

Be Blessed,

John

A Short Message About The Election

By John Stallings

As I pondered what to write, & more importantly what, in my opinion we all need to hear right now, I could think of nothing better than to share what God has spoken to my heart.

I need to take a deep breath & be reminded that we’re all in God’s hands & that no matter what; we'll be hidden with Christ in God. Our lives are still in the hands of a never-changing, eternally loving, gracious Father who is sovereign & who still reigns supreme. He will work out His eternal plans no matter who sits in the Oval office.

I need to remind myself that light will always overcome darkness just as in Christ, life will ultimately overcome death.

I need to remind myself that far more important than seeing my candidate triumph, I must continue to be a repairer of the breach & continue to fight the fight of faith.

I need to rest in God & find my strength in Him who has promised to never leave or forsake me, accept by His grace what comes & keep going.

I need to hand-off the heaviness to God because He can carry it. I can’t & I don’t have to.

I need to remind myself that even though the stars fall I can find victory in He who attends the funerals of sparrows & surely, come what may, He can give to me a supple spirit & a singing heart.

So I am calm & will accomplish it one day at a time by continuing to live in that peaceful center, my life in God.

I trust & pray that this will be useful to anyone who’s been suffering from “election overload” or maybe “concern overload,” and, like me have spent more than a little time grieving over the results of the recent election. If you feel that at least for the time being the American dream has been thrown under the bus and replaced with a welfare state, and that America can't possibly survive another four years of Obama, know that you're not alone.

When a large preponderance of folk monitored [exit polls] as they came out of voting machines are asked-to whom do you blame the  problems we've encountered over the last four years, and their answer -"It's the fault of  George Bush,-" what can we look forward to now with a president who specializes in passing the buck. Narcissism takes NO blame!!

When my heart is breaking with grief & sorrow; when my mind is almost numb from trying to answer questions that are beyond my capacity to comprehend; when evil seems to triumph; when goodness & decency are being trampled in the dust; when sneering faces mock me or ugly voices ask; "Where is your God?"....I go to the cross. I remember how they mocked Him. I remember how they hurt Him.

I remember how He died.

I see the dignity of His spirit. I see the strength of one who says: "Nothing you do to me can destroy my life or my love. Nothing you can do can defeat my Father's plan."

 I remember His passion. And I say to those who would mock our faith or ridicule our God: This is where I take my stand: beneath the cross of Jesus. I believe and trust in the One who gave His life & love for the whole world & for me. I place my faith in the One who rose from the dead & removed the stone on Easter morning with the battering ram of omnipotence.

I trust the promises of the One who said: “ I will be with you always.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we have much work to do. We all need to stay engaged in life with a hopeful spirit remembering always that we serve the man who saw the troubled waters congeal under his feet & we’re floating on the great river of God’s grace.

God bless you and God bless America!!!

EVERY BLESSING,

John