TOXIC PEOPLE

TOXIC PEOPLE

This devotion has been on my heart for a week or two, but God hadn't completed the direction for it until now. He kept telling me two words: toxic people.

Who or what they were I didn't know. Now I am going to share with you what He taught me. Toxic people are people who are infected and contagious. They spread and infect others around them with their negative, judgmental, critical and harsh personality. Before you start thinking of people you know right now that you consider toxic, judge yourself in the light of God's word to see how much toxin lay within you. In my mind, everyone is toxic to one degree or another because no one has all of the flesh removed. This is why God is after our hearts to change us - where we are - rather than us waiting for Him to change all the others around us.

God wants to change us all into the image of His dear Son. We only have power to change ourselves. Ultimately, no matter how much conviction God pours into our heart or how much His hand tries to change us, the decision to be reformed in our personality, actions, and character lies with us.

I know a young man who is not saved but has been in church for a number of years throughout his life. When anyone tries to talk to him about the Lord, this boy shuts them off all the time. Finally, after months of walking before this young man as Christ would want him to walk, the boy told said: The only reason I would return to the church is if I wanted to get hurt. Ouch!

But how true this is. The Bible commands us - rather Jesus commanded us – in Matthew 7:1 to not judge other people. This includes their motives, their ability to change, their heart, and anything else. Do not judge anyone. Period. Nothing in between. Nothing more to say. Regardless what you "perceive", you are not called to judge. Regardless of what you think that person needs to change, you don't judge, criticize, or form a negative opinion of them.

This is natural, carnal living but God is calling for us to become crucified, because what you see may not be what truth is. For example, in Acts 2, after the 120 had been filled with the Holy Spirit, they left the upper room and entered the streets. The people in the streets saw them staggering under the influence of the Spirit's power on them and said they were drunk. They passed judgment based on what their limited understanding of God was, and based on what they saw in the natural. The problem? They were wrong. Peter addressed them saying, "These men are not drunk but are filled with the Holy Spirit."

The Bible is full of examples of when the things that people perceived or judged was wrong. It's also chock full of people who lived critical, negative lives and infected the lives of those around them. Consider reading the books of I and II Kings. You notice that when a righteous man became King, Israel pleased God. They obeyed Him. But when a man arose as King who did evil in the sight of the Lord, all of Israel was infected and did evil right along side him. They knew better, but chose to follow their impulses rather than obey the Word of the Lord. Then they would find themselves in bondage and God would raise up a deliverer when they cried out for help.

Daily we also, like those Kings, lead by our example: to our families, the people we work with or live near. They see our actions, good or evil, and it begins to infiltrate the whole. Jesus likened it to leaven. It said all it took was a little bit of yeast to cause dough to rise. So it also only takes a little contention, a little un-forgiveness, a little judgment, a little criticism, a little negative thinking and you and those around you become infected. Toxins ooze out instead of the life and glory of God.

Sadly, many of the body of Christ never see the poison in their mouths and hearts. They won't cry out for God to change them because they are too busy seeing the need for others to be changed. I have been guilty of this and admit it. But in admitting it, please also heed my warning. It's a path that leads away from God even if you are on a worship team, are active in church or pastor a church. From the pulpit to the pew, no one is exempt from becoming toxic.

I deal with this continually in ministry. God desires to change me and He uses situations in my life to accomplish this. I am not the same person I was a year ago. I have grown and changed. Some changes were easy while others were much more difficult. The focus of any season of change was on me individually.

If I am dealing with people that are more difficult than what I like being around, I can't just pray and wait for them to change. I HAVE TO CHANGE. God may be dealing with them. They may be changing or they may be resisting the change, but the ONLY thing I have to answer for is how I respond. Do I allow God to make me more like Him or do I look for other people to help me with a matter? Do I yield to His molding in me or demand my way and make everyone miserable unless they surrender to me? Is my presence soothing or does it causes others to feel that they are walking on eggshells?

As I said in the beginning, don't read this and think of all the people you know that may need to hear these words. Place the magnifying glass over your own life. I do. Daily. How is my life lining up with scripture? Am I obeying His word when pressure is applied or do I wriggle around like a worm on a hook, looking for someone else to change so I don't have to?

It's easy to look at the Ten Commandments and think you are living well. Probably so if you aren't killing someone, coveting or committing adultery. But what about the rest of the word of God? Look at these few scriptures and see how your heart stands:

"Avoid godless and foolish discussions which lead to more and more ungodliness. This kind of talk spreads like cancer." 2 Timothy 2:16

"The Lord's servants must not quarrel but MUST be kind to EVERYONE" 2 Timothy 2:24

"Judge no one unless you yourself be judged." Matt 7:1

"But I (Jesus) say, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. In that way you will be ACTING LIKE TRUE CHILDREN of your Father in Heaven." Matt. 5:44 (Are you acting like His child... Would those around you say that you are?)

"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37

"...blessed are all those who hear the word of God and put it into practice." Luke 11:28

"You must be compassionate, just as your Father in Heaven is compassionate." Luke 6:36

"Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled. Such people claim that they know God, but they deny Him by the way they live." Titus 2:15

"Believers MUST NOT speak evil of ANYONE and they MUST avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to EVERYONE." Titus 3:2

I don't know about you, but when I read how God expects His children to act; what His Son Jesus showed them, in person, how to live, it makes me realize two things:
1. I still fall short and need more of God
2. I can't judge anyone else because I myself will stand in judgment (because I still fall short) There are also scriptures that you NEVER want to become an example of: "These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. Their worship (this means they are worshipping in some manor) is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man made teachings." Mark 7:7 (They are worshipping; God is not accepting it) "So why do you call me Lord when you will not obey me?" Luke 6:46 I'm pleading with each and every reader to place their heart and mouth under the magnifying glass and judge themselves. The Bible tells us if we will judge ourselves (correctly) we won't be judged. I'm all for that!

Love EVERYONE. Each family member; regardless of their actions for evil. Never repay evil actions with an attitude of your own. Bless them and be compassionate to them. The people you work with, live near, or come into contact with should see a glorious reflection of the face of Jesus coming from us. Stephen, in Acts 7, had a face shining like that of an angel. Some may say to me that at the time that happened, Stephen was being stoned, so the glory and grace of God was being manifested. I would have to say that you never know how you will respond to someone beating you to death until you get to that place, but if you explode when someone crosses you, has a different opinion than you, lies or deceives to or about you then there is no way you would have grace to bless someone killing you.

You have to learn to show grace to those around you in your daily life in order to have learned blessing and forgiveness for the bigger and more trying circumstances. Grace, love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness and blessing those who are making our lives a more difficult is not natural. It requires crucifixion and staying in the word until the word stays in you. Stop going through the word of God as though it was a duty you must perform to be acceptable to God. Instead, get in His Word, learn of Him and let His word go through you.

Toxic people will always be stumbling blocks. They are in the church and in the world. They always have been and always will be. But those of us who call ourselves Christians have a compass to our actions. If we'll line up with His word, I believe more people would line up to find Jesus. We would make finding and knowing Him irresistible!

Michelle Molina

Share Your Faith - Somebody Needs It!

Share Your Faith - Somebody Needs It!

I will teach transgressors Your ways. Psalm 51:13 NIV

Roger Simms was hitchhiking home when he was picked up by Mr. Hanover. As they drove towards Chicago, Roger felt God urging him to share his faith. When he overcame his fear and asked the man if he would like to receive Christ, Mr. Hanover stopped, bowed his head on the steering wheel, began to cry, and accepted Christ. "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me," he said.

Shortly afterwards he dropped Roger at his house and went on to Chicago, which was about an hour down the road. Years later, while preparing for a business trip to Chicago, Roger came across the gold-embossed business card Mr. Hanover had given him years earlier. When he arrived in Chicago he decided to look up Hanover Enterprises and found it located in a skyscraper down town.

When he asked the receptionist if he could see Mr. Hanover, she said, "No, but his wife is here." "You knew my husband?" the woman in her 50's asked. Roger explained that her husband had given him a ride and how he'd led him to Christ. "When was that?" she asked. "May 7th, five years ago, the day I was discharged from the army." She began to sob. After several minutes she regained control and said, "I prayed for my husband's salvation for years, believing God would save him. But right after he let you out of his car, on May 7th, he was killed in a head-on collision. I thought God had not answered my prayer, and I stopped living for Him five years ago. Now I am happy that he has accepted Jesus Christ." That day she recommitted her life to Christ.

Share your faith - somebody needs it!

BLESSED BY SIMPLICITY

BLESSED BY SIMPLICITY

I recently started working part-time at a discount store. I have had the opportunity to observe customers from all walks of life. Even though the store is a "discount" store, shoppers range from well-to-do to the plain and simple whose economic needs probably necessitate their shopping at discount stores. Of course I already knew that having a bright loving persona isn't by any means related to how affluent a person is, and that is what this little story is about...

This week a special blessing was sent my way! Three very special customers came in together - three young ladies - or maybe I should label them angels in disguise! I was standing behind the counter as they entered and realized that one of the ladies was the caregiver and that she had brought the other two "mentally challenged" ladies in to shop. I believe that's the modern term for what society formerly called "mentally retarded." Webster's Dictionary defines the word "retarded" as "slow or delayed." What I am about to describe certainly reflects neither...

As the ladies shopped all around the store eventually they came up to the counter where I was standing, to look at the ring display. One of the ladies had her arms overflowing with little toys and other items. I think most of it was for friends back at the group home where they lived. She was naming what she had chosen special for each friend.

She then carefully picked out a ring which she said she was buying for her boyfriend. The other lady tried on different rings and then decided upon one for herself, with the guidance of the caregiver, who was so kind and patient with them. As they were standing at the counter looking at the rings, I started talking to them, and one of the ladies formally introduced me to the caregiver and to her other friend.

She put her arms around each one, hugged them up close to her and said, "These are my friends", and told me their names. Then she looked direct at me, smiled, and said, "You are two of a kind!" I smiled back at her in silence, not knowing what she meant by that! I have since thought about those words and I'm not totally sure of what she meant by them, but I hope that in her own special way perhaps she sensed a friendly loving spirit within me as that of her friends! That one simple little sentence blessed my heart that day, and made me feel very special!

I saw the joy of simplicity that these ladies were savoring, and I felt the happiness they were sharing together as friends. As they paid for their purchases with their own money, I could sense their feeling of satisfaction of being independent in choosing what they wanted to buy. They seemed so happy and content with what they had chosen. No debating over whether they should do this or that, and no discussing or worrying whether their friends would be happy with the gifts chosen just for them. I'm sure they had no doubt that their friends would appreciate what they had bought for them, because it was coming from their hearts.

Just a simple day - a simple shopping spree - but it made me realize that these young ladies were living life to the fullest! I believe they were truly angels in disguise sent just for me that day, to make me more aware of how complicated I tend to make my own life sometimes, and that I need to slow down, look around, and savor the simple joys of life. It's right there under our noses, if only we will slow down enough to see it! These young ladies didn't have lots of worldly possessions or any of the things that we think we have to have in order to enjoy life. They were just simply enjoying the pathway that God had chosen for their lives, to the best of their abilities. How many of us can honestly say that we do that?

It's the simple things in life that matter the most. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget that. We get so caught up in the rat race of life that we forget how our lives can be so richly Blessed by Simplicity!

Kathy S. Norris

Be Prepared in All Times to Witness

Be Prepared in All Times to Witness

John 21:5-6 - Jesus spoke to them: "Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?" They answered, "No." He said, "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens." They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren't strong enough to pull it in.

We recently spent a week on the Gulf coast of Florida, where each night, we were blessed to watch the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico.

Our morning also found us walking the beach. On this particular morning, I found myself standing on a pier watching two men in boat. From a distance, they appeared to be throwing something into the water and then pulling it back out. As I got closer to them, I could tell that they were throwing a net over the side of the boat. Again it came out empty.

As curiosity got the better of me, I inquired as to what they were doing. The one gentleman replied that they were trying to get bait in their net so that they could use the bait for their day of fishing.

It was then that I found myself sharing with these men the story of the disciples on the lake and Jesus telling them to throw their nets over the other side of the boat. I suggested that they try throwing their nets over the other side. They both kind of looked at me in disbelief, but then proceeded to do so. No sooner had the man thrown the net in, than he began to pull it out, and it was full of little fish. He then said, "What do you think?" To me. I replied, "Try the other side again", which he did. Again it took the two of them to pull in the net.

After they had placed the bait fish into the container, the one man turned to me and said, "We have enough bait for the day. We have never caught so many in just two castings of our nets."

I told them, "When you put your trust in Jesus, He will always provide." They smiled, and began to pull anchor and leave for their day of fishing. They never indicated to me whether they were believers or not. I know in my heart that if they weren't, a seed was planted that day. As I watched them leave the marina, my prayer for them was that they would have some time during their day to reflect on the Creator of our world.

How easy it would have been for me to continue walking past them and not to have inquired as to what they were doing. How many times do we miss opportunities that the Lord provides for us to share Him with the world? Acts 22:15 - For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Dear Jesus, thank You for being alive in us and prompting us to share You with the people we meet in life. We are sorry for the times we have missed these opportunities. We are grateful and blessed by each new day You give us through the rising and the setting of the sun. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Julie Bowles

The Choice Is Yours!

The Choice Is Yours!

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in. Revelation 3:20

Max Lucado writes: "Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Or why Jesus was in the centre? Those two crosses symbolize one of God's greatest gifts - the gift of choice. The two criminals have much in common; convicted by the same system, condemned to the same death, surrounded by the same crowd, and equally close to the same Christ. In fact, they began with the same sarcasm; the two criminals each said cruel things to Jesus. But one changed. He said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise' ( Luke 23:42-43).

While we rejoice at the thief who changed, we dare not forget the one who didn't. There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends blessings to lure us. But there are times when God sends nothing but silence, as He honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity. We have never been given a greater privilege than that of choice. Think about the thief who repented. Though we know little about him, we know this: in the end, all his bad choices were redeemed by a solitary good choice. He chose Christ!"

No matter how many bad choices you may have made in your past, you can be redeemed by one good choice - the choice to give your life to Christ and follow Him. Will you make that choice now? If you do you'll never regret it.

Bob Gass

Buried Alive

Buried Alive

"It is not great talents God bless so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God." ~ Robert M. McCheyne

This weekend I witnessed God move in the most incredible way! Every one in the body of Christ has something, a gift from God, that they are called by God to operate in. Everyone loves to read books, stories, testimonies or "how to" guides about finding our spiritual gifts and finding our purpose or destiny. But somewhere in the chaos of "finding our destiny" made me realize something: we are complicating the simplicity of Christ.

God desires more than anything for us to walk in His perfect will in every area of our life. He makes it easy to find. We are the ones that make it difficult.

How can you and I cut through all the complexities and find our gifts? Simple. Look at what your passion is. Look at what is easy for you; what comes naturally. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and she was telling me about a woman at her church who can make anyone who comes into the church feel welcome. She can easily go up to them, engage them in a wonderful conversation and make them feel comfortable and at home in a matter of moments. That's a gift!

Not everyone can do that. What a wreck it would be if we all looked at her and decided we wanted that gift for ourselves, appointed ourselves to the greeters ministry, and forced our boring selves upon everyone that walked through the doors. Ho hum. I would be an absolute failure at this!! I am horrible at small talk.

What comes easily to you? To help break it down, let’s place ourselves in an imaginary scenario. Imagine we are all in a room fellowshipping and someone walks in the room, trips on the corner of the rug and spills the pie he was carrying all over the floor. Would you be the mercy person who would walk over to comfort him and make sure he's all right? Would you be the administrative gift who turns to two people and tells them to go get a broom and dust pan so the mess can be cleared before someone else falls? Would you be the helps gift who would go get the cleaning supplies and clean it up?

Would you be the giving gift who would go to him and let him know that you are heading to the store to buy another pie. Perhaps you are the teacher who would point out to him later the need to look around at the lighting and placement of furniture when he is walking into a room.

You won't be all those gifts (that would be utter confusion) but one comes easily and naturally to you. That's your gift and you need to move in it. For spiritual gifts, you don't go to school to get them. They have always been with you. The Holy Spirit shows us everything we need to know in the Bible. We don't need someone to lay hands on us to have it in more abundance. We don't need to fill ourselves with all the learning available before we do what we are gifted at. We keep the plan of Christ simple by just doing it. Stop making it complicated! With it being so simple, what keeps so many of us from operating where God has placed us. Our own minds.

You have gifts within you to help the whole body function to save the lost around us all but as a body, we are crippled when the leg won't walk, the hand won't move or the joints won't bend. When people sit around reading about gifts instead of flowing in what comes to them naturally, we, part of the body of Christ, become partially paralyzed. What holds us back from stepping out?

The first effective weapon the enemy uses is fear. Fear of man, fear of failure, fear of the unknown and fear of missing God are only a few. Fear paralyzes us from moving. I know a person who was called by God to go to another country and be His hands of healing but because of a fear of flying and fear of what might happen in a third world country, this person never went. God never gives us this type of fear and this fear is something we all MUST fight at one point or another if we are ever going to finish our course without having buried our talents along the way.

How many people might have been ministered to or helped if fear had not kept your feet on the safe paths as well? Be willing to live like the disciples if God calls you to get a little dirty. Be willing to go the extra mile. Don't count on what you used to do, but what you are called to do now.

Another weapon is double mindedness. How many times have I seen this? Too many! I hear from people on a weekly basis who say, "I think God wants me to do this but I need a confirmation." I say in response: What do you have peace about? Follow that. God may not give you dreams, visions, or seven children dancing in a row as a sign that you are to do something. He expects us to obey.

Well, you might say, what if I am not sure about what I am hearing? Good question, but again, it all still comes down to following the peace of God in your heart. Fear or double mindedness will always cost lives.

Instead of taking a moment to pray or quick dial her intercessor friends, we learn to do what the Holy Spirit instinctively compels us to do: save lives. Our instinct as Christians tells us to save souls. It's only when we defeat our internal instincts by drowning them out with complicating "voices" and debates that we lose the effectiveness that we were all born to walk in. Finally, I must talk about unbelief. This is so prevalent in the body. We either believe that if we step out and say something to someone, God is not going to back us up. We believe that if we do what God wants us to do, everything will be perfect and the path uncluttered. Then when its not, we move to unbelief. If you really believe that walking in the perfect will of God and operating in His gift for you will mean everything will spring up daisies around your feet, you need to look at what happened to the men and
women of the Bible that 100% obeyed God. They were stoned and persecuted. They were rejected. They were cast out of villages. But they didn't let that stop them. They didn't sit down and question God. They kept moving in their gifts.

Doubt of what we should do here and doubt that God is really speaking to us. Doubt and fear together will cause to you to run to your backyard, cast your talents in a hole and bury them deep. Walking in His will is not always un-cumbered but it is always fulfilling in the end.

Walking in the will of God is the most life giving thing any of us can do. Don't complicate it. If fear paralyzes you, walk past it. If your mind demands some sort of confirmation, walk past it. If doubts bombard you because of the past, press past it. Help as you were born to help. Administrate like you were born to. Give as you are called to. Teach with the wisdom you were born with. Whatever gift is within you, don't suppress it - release it.

I want all of us to take the talents inside of us that have been buried and let the breath of God bring them back to life. Now we need to become the year that the body of Christ ceases being a paraplegic and begin to have every joint function as it was created to. Let's begin to move out together to see this world changed in Jesus name!

Michelle Molina

The curtain-sinner

The curtain-sinner

A godly man does not indulge himself in any sin.

Though sin lives in him - yet he does not live in sin. A godly man may step into sin through infirmity - but he does not keep on that road. What is it to indulge sin? To indulge sin is to give the breast to it and feed it. To indulge sin is to commit it with delight. The ungodly "delight in wickedness." (2 Thess. 2:12). In this sense, a godly man does not indulge sin. Though sin is in him - he is troubled at it and would gladly get rid
of it.

There is as much difference between sin in the wicked, and sin in the godly - as between poison being in a serpent, and poison being in a man. Poison in a serpent is in its natural place and is delightful - but poison in a man's body is harmful and he uses antidotes to expel it. So sin in a wicked man is delightful, being in its natural place - but sin in a child of God is burdensome and he uses all means to expel it.

A godly man will not allow himself in secret sins. Some are more modest than to commit open gross sin. That would be a stain on their reputation. All will not sin on a balcony - but perhaps they will sin behind the curtain! But a godly man dare not sin secretly, for he knows that God can neither be deceived by our subtlety, nor excluded by our secrecy. He knows that secret sins are in some sense worse than others. They reveal more deceit and atheism. "He knows the secrets of every heart." (Psalm 44:21)

But the curtain-sinner thinks that God does not see: "Have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying - The Lord doesn't see us!" (Ezek. 8:12). How it provokes God, that men's atheism should give the lie to His omniscience! "He who formed the eye - shall He not see?" (Psalm 94:9).

A godly man knows that secret sins shall not escape God's justice. A judge on the bench cannot punish the treason of the heart. But the sins of the heart are as visible to God, as if they were written upon the forehead! As God will reward secret duties; so He will revenge secret sins!

A godly man enters his protest against sin: "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?" (Romans 7:24). A child of God, while he commits sin, hates the sin he commits!

Thomas Watson

What's your Excuse?

What's your Excuse?

Feeling selfish for thinking I am having bad days here and there… God Can use anyone, How about you. . .? WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 Consider this: "I have learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content!" Have we?

My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.

"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors we shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with limbs missing.

"And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him." That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used. I am now twenty-three years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational Speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector. I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope , to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

In Christ,
Nick Vujicic

Drinking Dirt

Drinking Dirt

When you use our kitchen sink, you notice this little contraption attached to the faucet. It's one of those sophisticated water filters. Before the water arrives in your glass or container, it has to pass through that filter. Now, I hate surprises in my H2O, I don't know about you. I was amazed the first time that we took that filter off to clean it. Oh, it needed lots of cleaning! It had screened out of our drinking water this layer of dirty stuff. I didn't even want to think about that stuff going into my body. Let's hear it for the filter!

That's actually what a lot of people are doing - drinking dirt. Mentally, that is. Just letting a lot of things that are spiritually and morally impure pour right into their soul un-filtered input - like drinking dirt. And if you belong to Jesus Christ, the dirt is rushing into what the Bible describes as the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God literally lives in you through His Holy Spirit. That's Holy Spirit. Dirty stuff should never defile His temple.

In fact, in our word for today from the Word of God, God clearly commands us to filter what's coming in. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." A lot of times we either don't have a spiritual filter for what we see and hear. Or we have a pretty wide screen on that filter; one porous enough to let in a lot that has no place in a heart or mind that is owned by Jesus and inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God.

Sometimes it takes a child to show us "sophisticated" adults how we should be living. The other day, the teacher was a five-year-old; our grandson, who's watching a whole new crop of kids' shows. Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers are gone; and yes, Big Bird is still flying around Sesame Street. But now I'm learning about Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, a tomato named Bob, a cucumber named Larry. Well, our five-year-old grandson, of course, has a few favorites he likes to watch. There's one he watches almost every day. But the other day, he walked over to the television and did something he does not do with this program that he likes a lot. He turned it off in the middle of the show. The story was starting to involve some ghost and witch stuff. When Daddy asked our grandson why he had turned off one of his favorites, he just said, "It was a bad one, Daddy."

The radar of a five-year-old boy in whom Jesus lives. He knew that no matter how much he liked the show, no matter how many shows they have where there's nothing bad, when it is bad, it isn't for him. That's a model for a Jesus-follower of any age. But all too often, we watch portrayed, or we read about, or we listen to something that is part of the sin that Jesus died for.

The Bible says He carried our sins in His body on the tree "that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24). So what business do we have letting in things that portray premarital sex, adultery, occult practices that the Bible calls an "abomination," violence, disrespect for God and His Son? You can't turn on the TV or video and then turn off being a temple of the Holy Spirit.

We're most likely to let in the garbage when it's wrapped in a package that's funny, or entertaining, or brilliant, or clever, or popular. Satan's no dummy! He comes in under the radar, like a Stealth Bomber, when your guard is down.

It's not to be taken lightly when God gives a command that says, "Above all else..." He does in Proverbs 4:23. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart as the spiritual reservoir from which you drink all day long. If it's a "bad one," you've got to turn it off if you're serious about really being His man or woman. If you don't want to let dirt into the Holy Spirit's house, filter what you let come in. You wouldn't knowingly let your mouth drink dirt. Well, then, don't let your soul do it!

CAN I FOLLOW YOU?

CAN I FOLLOW YOU?

I discovered something very sad today. I see people saved and delivered and healed and discipled all the time. We all do. We expect hypocrisy from some of them; they are just learning how to walk in God. But it was one man's story that broke me. He had backslidden from God a few decades back and was so determined to never walk with God again. However, God placed intercessors in his path that prayed for him for more than two years and a miracle happened. This person gave his life back to God and he is again growing and feeding on the word of God. How awesome if the story were to stop here. But it doesn't.

See, it was the sin in the church, specifically church members - gossip, slander, backbiting, judgmental hearts and the like that caused a lack of the glory and power of God to reside among them. Seeing nothing real, he left the church for what was real - the sinners. They are very real. In bars, drunk or high, they will tell you just what they think. But he (and sadly I) find that there are "mature" believers who still talk freely in judgment against others...in the church or outside of it. I heard someone say of me that I hate it when people talk about me...not true. If you are speaking life - as I do you - with your tongue - then even God could say nothing. However, it is God Himself who says in Proverbs that He hates (emphasis on hates) those who sow discord among the brethren. He is speaking to His people when He speaks this. It is not the sins the church thinks God hates that stand out enough to be written by the scribes of old.

Many times when I am witnessing to someone, they have a tale or two to tell of what someone, who professed to being a Christian, did to them that. One woman said that there were more church people in bars on Saturday nights than at home sleeping. Why did she say this? She said every Saturday night, any bar she was in had people that would be at her table, partying, drinking, and flirting, until about midnight. Then they would get up, say they had to get home because of church in the morning, and stagger out to the car.

A relative of mine said that he would never get saved because every man that worked at the plant with him who called himself a Christian was either a liar or a thief, or both. He told me story after story of the foul language, stolen parts, calling in "sick" after partying with other men at the plant, and so on. My heart hurt for him. I know that without a miracle of God, this relative will go to hell because of the poor representation he has seen of those that call themselves followers of Jesus.

Another person explained that for years she has bought her drugs from someone who went to church. This could go on for a long time, but suffice it to say that we cannot say that we are all, 100% of the time, able to say that we are representing the Lord Jesus Christ accurately to those around us on a consistent basis.

In recent months I have dealt with a situation in my life that has required me to draw heavily on every bit of grace available to me. Hurting people hurt people. And a hurting person that is family hurt me. But if a hurting person hurts me and I don't deal with it, I in turn, through my hurt, perpetuate the cycle by hurting others. I have to daily pour out forgiveness. I have to bless unless I become accursed. The venom injected by this person could defile me quickly if I made the wrong choices.

But on a personal level we all can relate to, God is very interested in the way we treat others. It doesn't have to be the big things like I mentioned above, it can be a bad attitude, anger, jealousy, out of control thoughts that break into the everyday workplace. It may be rejection that is manifesting as an uncontrollable temper. It could be a flirtatious spirit that winks at or touches others inappropriately. Regardless of what it is in your life, God takes a great interest in taking that thing or things into His hands

I am laying down the gauntlet today and challenging you to take me up on it. I ask you, for one whole day, to live that day as if Jesus had possesses your body and is living your life for you for this one day. If in the morning, when you wake up, you began the day by literally saying, "Today, until my head is back on this pillow, I will only say what Jesus would say, only do what Jesus would do and act like He would act."

What would he say to that person at work? Would there be big changes or would no one notice any difference? Would your spouse think that that day you lived like that was the best day of your marriage? Would your kids find a more patient and loving father or mother?

If you are not sure about something, err on the side of humility. For example, recently I had a misunderstanding with someone. They had thought they portrayed one thing to me, but my perception of it was not what they intended. The result: offense was trying to take hold and work its way down. In a situation like this, you may find it hard to know exactly what Jesus would do.

When in doubt, take the path of humility. Humble yourself, take the blame and walk in restoration. If not, pride will rot away relationships with coworkers, friends, or family.

Satan is not only out to steal your soul and destroy your life, but he is also after your witness. Anything that he can do to discredit you to others will make it harder for those souls to find salvation, now or in the future. Worse yet, on Judgment Day, who will have to answer for those souls? We will. Everyone that was hindered because of us will be headed to an eternity apart from God and we will have to answer for it.

Where is that in the scriptures? For one, the Bible says that every idle word that we speak we will have to give an account for on Judgment Day. If something is idle, it is not moving forward or backward. It is motionless. Unproductive.

Those outbursts that we think we can get away with will be replayed to us. I don't know about you, but I want to make it easy for anyone who hears me, knows me, watches me or trusts me to make it to heaven. (Matt 12:36)

Jesus takes seriously the discrediting of His church. That is why the Bible is in our hands. It is the roadmap to life and handling every trying situation. We have the answers in our Bibles to every situation we face.

Reinhardt Bonke said, "Win the lost at any cost because people last forever." Nothing we try to attain has any eternal value except what we do with the people around us. Will it be easy to find Christ if people follow your footprints? Do those that work with you want to know your God?

What about you? Do people want to know your God? Are you consistently a good witness or do people tiptoe around you?

If you hesitate, as I did when I first posed this to myself, then take the challenge. Really examine your heart. If it is hard for you to make it one day, then you, like many others, will have found places in the heart that need to be surrendered to God so that they can begin to look like and act like God.

Michelle Molina

God's Jewels

God's Jewels

"And they shall be Mine, says the Lord Almighty, in that day when I make up My jewels." Malachi 3:17

It almost surprises one to learn that the great and self-sufficient God has 'jewels,' but our surprise increases to astonishment when we learn that these 'jewels' are living creatures. And astonishment gives place to overwhelming amazement when we discover that these living creatures are fallen and depraved sinners redeemed from among men! Truly, nothing but Divine grace would ever liken such wretched worms of the dust, unto precious jewels! Yet that is the very thing which we find God doing in our text. It is not the un-fallen angels, nor the holy seraphim and exalted cherubim who are spoken of as Jehovah's valued treasure--but lost and ruined sinners saved by amazing grace!

The Lord has likened His people to 'jewels' because of their inestimable value in His sight. This is an exceedingly hard thing for the Christian to really grasp, for he feels such a wretched and worthless creature in himself. That the Lord of Glory should deem him of his great worth, is difficult to conceive. Yet so it is!

From the earliest times, men have thought much of precious gems, and fabulous prices have been paid for them. With great ardor and toil, do men hunt after gold; but with even greater eagerness and labor will they seek the diamond. Hundreds of men will labor for a whole year in one of the diamond mines of Africa, and the entire result of their efforts may be held in the palm of your hand. Princes have been known to barter their estates in order to obtain some gem of peculiar brilliance and rare excellence.

Yet more desirable still, are His saints in the esteem of the Lord Jesus. The value of a thing in the eyes of its possessor, may be gauged by the price he was willing to pay for it. So valuable was the Church unto Christ that He gave Himself for it, and shed His precious blood to purchase it for Himself. Thus, the saints are likened unto 'jewels' because of the great value which the Lord places upon them.

"You will be a glorious crown in the Lord's hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God." (Isaiah 62:3) What marvelous words are these for faith and hope to lay hold of! Our feeble intellects cannot grasp them! Wondrous is it to think of rough stones, which first look like small pebbles, being found in the mud and mire of earth; then cut and polished until they scintillate with a brilliancy surpassing any earthly object, and being given an honored place in the diadem of a monarch. But infinitely more wonderful is it, that poor lost sinners, saved by sovereign grace, should be among the crown-jewels of the Son of God!

Arthur Pink

All Those Terrible Stories!

All Those Terrible Stories!

Someone asked me a while back about "all those terrible stories" in the Bible. I admit that I was a bit taken aback by the question. So I asked him to explain by naming some of the stories he had in mind.

He started with some of the familiar ones that are left half-told in Sunday School. For example, the story of Noah and the Ark is hardly a sweet tale about animal husbandry. It is actually a story of judgment in which everybody in the world gets drowned - except for Noah and seven members of his family.

Then he named some of the lesser-known stories of the Bible that rarely ever get mentioned at church. Abraham's abuse of Hagar, the horrible rape of Diana, bears turning on some kids who were taunting a prophet, Jephthah's murder of his own daughter - and there were more. I'll give the fellow credit for reading the Bible more closely than some. He knows what is there. The answer I gave him seemed to make sense to him. He even said it helped a bit. But I thought I'd ask you to ponder it too.

In a nutshell, I spluttered something about the Bible being a collection of true-to-life stories that speak of life in terms of its gritty realities. It isn't a "pretty" book. It is a truthful book. It tells the human story without glossing over the dark and ugly scenes. And some of those scenes involve things like heroes behaving badly and innocent people getting ground up in power plays.

The Bible tells the stories without glossing the character flaws of Abraham or Moses, David or Peter. Yet it also tells of the noble behaviors of a prostitute named Rahab and a soldier in the execution squad of Jesus who dared to marvel at his dignity, composure, and faith.

The more I have thought about the answer I gave the man, the more convinced I am that it was at least in the right direction. The Bible isn't what some of us were led to think. It isn't bedtime stories. It isn't burdensome rules. It isn't a handbook for glib answers to complex problems. It is a family album for the human race. It isn't so much filled with stories as with people. And the exploits of people are messy, unpredictable, and downright weird.

As you read your Bible, see your own life as an extension of its narrative. Don't despair of the unflattering or even the immoral; celebrate God's kindness and eagerness to forgive. Don't live in denial of sleights suffered or abuse endured; name them and bring them into the light for the sake of healing. Accept the success and enjoy the applause; just remember who made them possible.

The theme of Holy Scripture is the redemption of sinful humanity by the love and mercy of God, and the story is still being written in all of our lives.

Rubel Shelly

Good Things Happen

Good Things Happen

I never get tired of hearing stories about what Christ does when He starts making His way through families drawing people to Himself one at a time. Sunday after my message a woman introduced herself to me. Her name is Betty Hasemeyer she grew up in Momence. Her maiden name was Keller. She was in town for the Keller family reunion. She was visiting the church with her sister Ruth Doud. I felt a tug on my heart to ask her to tell me the story of how she came to Christ.

"How did you come to know the Lord as your Savior?" I asked. She said, "I was saved as a girl at a tabernacle meeting in Kankakee." When she was in about the fifth grade her uncle Charlie came to know the Lord and follow Him. Charlie was the oldest of a number of brothers in the Keller family. His brothers including her dad mocked and heckled Charlie about his religion. One foggy morning on the way rabbit hunting he was involved in an automobile accident and was killed.

His death spurred his brother Roy to receive eternal life. As a new Christian he was burdened about an offense that had come between him and his brother Lon. Roy heard that a revivalist was preaching at a tabernacle in Kankakee. He invited his brother hoping they could reconcile. They went to the revival together. Lon took his daughter Betty who was about eleven at the time. That night she began a lifetime of following Jesus.

Reconciliation is one of the very basic teachings of Jesus. One man obeyed that command and as a result his daughter came to faith in Christ. You never know all the good that can come from obedience to even the most basic command of Jesus. If you read the New Testament you will notice that good things happen when people do what Jesus says. It's still that way. If he said do it, believe it and do it now matter how hard it seems. You might be delighted.

Maybe people will talk about it generations from now with a little tear in the corner of their eye.

Ken Pierpont

The Ant and the Feather

The Ant and the Feather

"Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!" Proverbs 6:6 (NIV)

"One morning," writes Ron Clarke, "I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather across my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour.

"At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way.

"I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant - one of God's smallest creatures. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome."

Can you imagine God telling us to learn from an ant? So what can we learn? Ants are determined, they are not afraid to work to achieve their goals, they work as a team, they think through and work to overcome the challenges thrown in their pathway, and they never give up. But most of all they teach us about the marvels of God's creation.

Dear God, thank you for the miracles of your creation. Help me to learn the lessons I need to learn from the ants. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen.

Acts

Strive not so much to SUCCEED!

Strive not so much to SUCCEED!

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it." Mark 8:35-36.

I remember addressing a group of ministers.

I told them the story of my own failures -
- which at that time amounted to a great many, and I said: "The lesson I have learned from my failures is that I don't have to succeed. I have to do the right thing under God's guidance and leave success or failure in His hands. "

One of the ministers came to me afterwards and said, "I am a pastor of one of the largest churches in this area and regarded by my peers as one of the most successful ministers in my denomination. But today you have helped me overcome the greatest pressure in my life - the pressure to succeed."

In the early years of my ministry-
I was extremely success-oriented!
When I succeeded, I felt good.
When I failed, I felt devastated.

Then God said to me quite bluntly one day-
"Are you willing to be a failure for Mysake?"
The question shook me rigid.

God called Ezekiel for a ministry of failure.

He said to him, "The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn... for they are a rebellious house." Then God gave him a book that described His mission "on both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe." Ezekiel.2:4, 5, 10

The fruit of the Spirit is -
- not only love, joy and peace
- but also long suffering! Gal.5:22

It was a whole week later before I found sufficient grace to answer that question with a "Yes!". And when I did, I was instantly released from the two things that had crippled my life and ministry:
- the pressure to succeed!
- and the fear of failure!!

What matters is not succeeding or failing;
But being faithful to Him!
God has not called us -
- to be successful
- but to be faithful!

Success and failure are in His hands.

I am not on the way to success! I am on the Way!!!

Success in life is neither achievement nor accomplishment!
But,
It is the fulfillment of God's will in my life!!!

Dean

Tactics of the Enemy

Tactics of the Enemy

Talk about having it made in the shade! When God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a veritable paradise. It was beautiful, to say the least, and they enjoyed direct communication with God Himself!

Adam's job description was to tend and keep the garden, discovering and marveling in all God had done and walking in fellowship with Him. The first couple was told they could eat of any tree in the garden-except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And yet there was Eve, hanging out by that very tree.

Why is it that we are always attracted to that which can harm us? You tell a child to not touch a certain thing or go to a certain place and that's exactly where he will be when given a chance. It's human nature!

Satan was saying, "Eve, you can be a goddess! Adam, you can be a god-just take a bite and see."

That was the bite felt around the world. Satan certainly knows how to package his wares.

But God told Adam and Eve, and us, not to sin for good reason.

In our warped minds, we think that God is keeping something good from us. Scripture, however, tells us: "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

God gave them a warning, and they ignored it.

The book of Genesis records how our first parents ignored the warning, how they were fatally injured, and how they had no one to blame but themselves (see Genesis 3:1-13).

Of course, Satan, the devil, was there too, waiting for an opportunity to lead Eve astray. Here are three ploys he used to bring her to ruin. Ploys, I might add, that he is still using today.

1. He questioned God's word.
Satan didn't deny God had spoken. He simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve thought He had said. He wanted her to think that perhaps she had misunderstood God's command. He wanted to "interpret" God's words for Eve. It's the same in our world today. Satan still twists the truth to try to alienate people from God.

2. He questioned God's love.
Satan wanted to make Eve think that God was holding something back from her. In reality, God Himself had placed this lone restriction in Adam and Eve's life to keep them from sin and its painful consequences! In the same way, the barriers God places in our lives are there because He loves us.

3. He substituted his own lie.
Satan led Eve to believe that if she ate of the tree, she would become like God. At that point, Eve had a choice: She could take God at His word, or believe Satan's lie.

Satan knows that our minds are "command central." This is where we reason, fantasize, and imagine. Through our imaginations, we can reach into the future. And in our memories, we can reach into the past. The devil will try to get a foothold in your thinking. He will attempt to make you second-guess what God has said in His Word, or try to get you to dwell on the "what ifs" in life.

Our counterattack is found in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5: "I use God's mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil's strongholds. These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him" (LB).

Having eaten now of the "forbidden fruit," something unusual happened to Adam and Eve: The Bible says, "The eyes of both of them were opened" (Genesis 3:7). That is, their eyes were opened to the earth, but closed to heaven.

So what happened next? "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8).

When God didn't find Adam waiting in their usual meeting place, He called out to him, "Adam, where are you?"

I believe there was hurt in that voice, but love as well, as a Father called out to His wayward son.

And there was Adam, the crown of God's creation, cowering behind a bush in fear. He then asked Adam and Eve a series of questions in that terrible moment.

Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?

What is this you have done?

Obviously, God already knew the answers to those questions, but He wanted to be sure they understood their actions. He was looking for an admission of wrongdoing, an admission of sin. He desired nothing short of a full-blown confession.

Instead of acknowledging his sin, however, Adam offered the mother of all excuses-in fact, it was the first recorded excuse in all of human history. "The woman whom you gave to be with me . . . " (Genesis 3:12 NKJV). Adam was, in essence, saying, "This is Your doing. It's the woman You gave me!" That's what sin does. It blinds you to reality. We dare to blame God for the stupid decisions we sometimes make in life.

But God wanted fellowship restored with Adam. That would ultimately be accomplished through the death of God's own son, Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross.

God desires to walk with you in the cool of the day, just as He had enjoyed the company and fellowship of the first human beings. He wants to draw near to you, comfort you, instruct you, guide you, and lead you into a life of abundance and joy. He wants to be an intimate part of your life.

Could He be calling out to you right now, just as He called out to Adam?

Where are you?

How did you get to this place?

Do you want to change?

If so, you need to come to Jesus and ask Him to help you do just that. He's just a prayer away.

Greg Laurie

The Unwanted belong to God

The Unwanted belong to God

"But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you - from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted." (1 Peter 2:9-1)

I think we have all, at one time or another, desperately wished that the fellow believers in our churches would show us support in what we are going through. We have all read the uplifting words of Heb 3:13: "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness", and at some level, we long for such encouragement to be present in our home churches. Although our first goal for going to church should be to worship God with all of our heart, soul and being, we all long to experience the fellowship described in the New Testament.

Most of you will probably relate to the following illustration. You enter a church for the first time. The person who greets you at the door seems genuine enough. You receive a nice handshake, maybe even a hug, and a church program, and you move into the sanctuary hoping that this same warmth will also be found on the inside.

The service starts off well with an uplifting praise and worship service, and you can feel yourself drawing closer to God, the One who makes a real difference in your life. After the announcements however, it seems that no one has time for you. A brief, "Hello, it's nice to see you!" Is all you hear while going to the washroom? When the service restarts with the sermon, the people around you don't seem to notice you at all. It doesn't matter however. As you listen to the sermon, you are blessed by the message. Maybe after the service someone will take note of you.

But it isn't to be. After the closing prayer, people around you gather into little groups and talk excitedly among themselves. You look around, but you are the only one being left out. You feel that this is somehow okay. After all, it is your first Sunday in this particular church and no one knows you. You decide to try and join in one of the groups. Maybe if they get to know you . . . But you realize that as soon as someone in the group notices your presence, their conversation ends abruptly. You smile and try to say something, and one of them nods their head, but their conversation has come to a dead end.

You decide to move on, and you can't help but notice that once away from the group, its enthusiasm is reignited. Then you see the guy who welcomed you to church. He seemed so friendly at the door. He approaches you now and makes some small talk, and you begin to think that maybe he really does care. But then someone comes and draws him into a lengthy conversation, one that leaves you completely on the outside.

You are getting discouraged, but you are determined to overcome it. You try again, a lady this time. She is outwardly friendly and willing to make small talk, but again, she zips away as soon as there is a break in the conversation to join a group of friends. You are left, once again, on the outside.

You leave church depressed, wondering if it's something you've done; but you persist anyway, figuring that once you are no longer a stranger, you will be accepted into one of their groups. After a year of indifference however, with the pastor himself only sporadically and briefly greeting you, you can't stop your feelings of rejection. Who would blame you for turning your back on that church for good?

Six weeks go by, and someone finally notices that you haven't been to church. They call you up and talk with your wife. Your wife says the conversation seemed to show genuine love, but you have to wonder why, if you mean so much now, why were you not welcomed when in their midst? This is a sad story, but unfortunately a common one. And it is the reason why so many leave churches. They don't feel that they fit in. None of the cliques make room for them, and they wander away. Some continue to cling to Jesus and look for another church. Others reject God completely.

I have been facing a similar situation. When I left a legalistic church, God clearly told me which church to attend. I was fed in that church, but it was a very big church and it was hard to get to know people. We felt welcome enough however, in a "big church" sort of way, and we stayed. But then my boys began to grow up (they never stop doing that, do they?) And they wanted to become more involved in church activities. Because this particular church was a good distance away, this just wasn't possible, and we started to pray about finding a local church.

After a bit of church hopping, we eventually decided on a local non-denominational congregation. My boys got caught up in the young people's activities right away and loved it, but the adults were not as quick to accept new people into their cliques. For an entire year I was greeted in the same way as in the above illustration, and I felt that I wasn't doing my boys justice in getting them involved in such a cliquish church.

Finally I brought my family to another church. There I was greeted with love. The sermons are Spirit-filled, and there are outstanding activities for the children. I feel the presence of God in their midst. But was this the church for me and my family?

After a few weeks of attending this new church, I received a message from God: "But in what I instruct [you] next I do not commend [you], because when you meet together, it is not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, when you assemble as a congregation, I hear that there are cliques (divisions and factions) among you." (1 Cor. 11:17-18) I couldn't believe my eyes. As I reread this verse, I realized God was speaking about the old church, and I was overwhelmingly persuaded that I should continue to go to the new church.

If you feel unwanted, even despised in your church, don't give up. God is a God of the unwanted. He loves the despised. He loves you and will never reject you. He knows how it feels to be despised, and if you will let Him, He will lift you up. Come and pour your heart out to Him. But don't give up on church: "And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do . . ." (Heb. 10:24,25) Instead, ask Him to direct you to the church He wants you to attend. He has a group of followers in your town who worship Him with all of their heart, who will also welcome you with open arms. He will guide you to them. He may do so instantly, or He may take His time. Whichever way He chooses, He will reveal how much He loves you! Remember, a Christian congregation has to have the Bible as its guide. It needs to rely on God's Spirit for guidance. But it also must have an unearthly sense of brotherly love, where encouraging one another is the norm.

Remember Jesus' new commandment? "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV). Only by loving like Jesus loves us will we be light beams in this world. Only with this kind of love will we attract the unwanted to a place where they will feel wanted.

Cliques are deadly to any church and God hates them. However, God loves His church when they show genuine love towards each other. Remember: "There should be no division (or cliques) in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor. 12:25-26)

No matter what, if you are God's child, you will be welcomed with open arms in His kingdom! God loves you, my friend. Find those in your midst who are madly in love with Him as well, and feel free to encourage one another. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matt 5:4)

Rob Chaffart

Yesterday's Dreams

Yesterday's Dreams

Every once in a while as you're cruising down the highway, you'll see one of those trucks - the ones that are carrying a truckload of smashed cars. We're talking, you know like, steel pancakes here. Sometimes you'll drive by the scrap yard where these junkers end up, and there you'll see row after row with stacks of these flattened old vehicles. "Junk," you say. Today it is, but there was a day when that hunk of steel was someone's dream come true. It was the new wheels they'd hoped for and saved for; a prize they wouldn't let anyone touch - now flattened.

The last time I passed one of those automobile scrap yards, I got to thinking, "In a way, a lot of our life's dreams end up that way." At one time the dream was new and shiny - something we thought would make us happy for a long time. But so many dreams end up letting us down - flattened. Excitement turns to tedium. Having what I wanted turns to restlessness and dissatisfaction. A great gain suddenly becomes a great loss. Yesterday's discovery becomes today's disappointment.

We thought those friends would do it for us. They didn't. A girlfriend, a boyfriend, a husband, a wife, children - good, but not enough. Or sometimes a dream turned into a nightmare. Yesterday's dream job, or home, or degree, or milestone, or money, it's amazing how many of these seem so flat before long.

I guess there are at least three ways that yesterday's dream turn into today's disappointment: Your dream gets flattened because you never get it, or because you get it and you lose it or because you get it and find out that it wasn't the answer you thought it would be.

This cycle of disappointing or disappointed dreams breeds sort of an "un-peace" in our heart; this restlessness to find out what is the dream that will finally fulfill us. Our Creator steps into this satisfaction void with a word that might put us on the right track. It's recorded in the Bible in Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 1. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Why spend money (or your life for that matter) on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." That's it - the end of our lifelong search for meaning, for peace, for what goes in that hole in our heart.

Jesus Christ has made this amazing promise: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (John 6:35). Jesus says He can finally satisfy your lifelong heart-hunger. Here's why: what we're missing in our soul is the God who made us. We're missing Him because we've kept Him on the margins of our life, running things our way, not His way, which has put an eternal wall between us and Him. But because He loves you so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the death penalty for our "me first" lives and to conquer death by coming back from His grave. You've given yourself to other pursuits that weren't the dream after all. When you do that with Jesus, the wall between you and God comes down forever and a love relationship with your Creator finally completes you.

In a world of flattened hopes and dreams, the purpose, the relationship you were made for, they're right now right in front of you because Jesus is moving in your heart to move you to Him. Your part is to give yourself completely to this one who gave Himself totally on the cross for you. With a faith commitment like that, He'll come into your life and He'll do what only He can do.

Ron Hutchcraft

The Abused Kitten

The Abused Kitten

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

Over the past several years, our now eleven-year-old daughter has been persistent in asking for a cat. My wife and I tried to placate her with fish. This worked for a while, but she finally exclaimed, "Daddy, you can't hold fish!" So a few months ago, I was speaking to a friend who is a veterinarian, and I told him we were looking for a kitten. Then just before Christmas, he phoned and said that they had a little kitten in that had been treated badly. Well, I took my daughter down to see the kitten, and the moment she saw it, that little black cat was coming home.

So we went to the local pet shop and bought all the things one would need for a kitten. So Gomez, as we eventually called him, came to live with us. Because he had been so abused, he hid underneath the sofa or any new hiding place that he could find. We were getting concerned that our little cat didn't realize that we had his best interests at heart. We wanted to have a relationship with him and to love him. However, his response was to run away. Then one day, he disappeared, and while we searched everywhere in the house, we concluded that he must have slipped out a door. Three days later, while my wife was putting some bed linen away, she found the cat and the three days of mess.
Gomez scooted downstairs and hid underneath the sofa. Eventually, we phoned our vet friend, and he came over with some chicken pieces. He persuaded him to come out, and we put him in a training cage. So over the next few weeks, Gomez was fed and petted and talked to. The training cage has been put away now, and the other night, Gomez was sitting on my daughter's lap, sleeping. He has finally understood that he is safe.

People will often visit our churches. They come to us, nervous, frightened, or sometimes battered and bruised by life's problems. They do not realize that we want a relationship with them. They don't realize God wants a relationship with them. Obviously, we can't have training cages, but are our churches places where these people can find love and friendship? Just as Gomez discovered that we wanted only to love him, eventually, through tenderness, people will discover the same through us. We may be the tool that our Father God wants to use to express His love to a bruised and battered world.

Father God, there are so many abused, fearful, and lonely people in this world. May our churches be warm, caring, safe places where these souls can be ministered to. In the name of Jesus, Who loves us all tenderly, we pray. Amen.

Robert Clark

The Inventor of the Telegraph

The Inventor of the Telegraph

If you need wisdom . . . ask Him. (James 1:5, NLT)

Dear friends:
It occurred to me one day that God can do more in one second than man can do in a thousand years, or a million years. Trying to accomplish things in our own strength and wisdom can be fruitless and time-wasting.

Many successful people have acknowledged in their memoirs that whenever they came to an impasse in their work and were completely baffled, they sought wisdom from the Lord.

Abraham Lincoln once told an intimate newspaper friend, Noah Brooks, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

This was also true in the life of the famous inventor of the telegraph, Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872). In an interview, he was once asked, "Professor Morse, when you were making your experiments at the university, did you ever come to a standstill, not knowing what to do next?" "I've never discussed this with anyone, so the public knows nothing about it. But now that you ask me, I'll tell you frankly -- I prayed for more light."

"And did God give you the wisdom and knowledge you needed?"

"Yes, He did," said Morse. "That's why I never felt I deserved the honors that came to me from America and Europe because of the invention associated with my name. I had made a valuable application of the use of electrical power, but it was all through God's help. It wasn't because I was superior to other scientists. When the Lord wanted to bestow this gift on mankind, He had to use someone. I'm just grateful He chose to reveal it to me."

In view of these facts, it's not surprising that the inventor's first message over the telegraph -- the very first transmitted message in history -- was: "What hath God wrought!"

Every time you face a perplexing problem, seek wisdom from above. And when the answer comes, always be sure to thank God and give Him all the glory. "If you need wisdom -- if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do (James 1:5-8, NLT).

Bill Bright

The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books.