I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve made a New Year’s Resolution. Too much pressure for my one little person to handle. Just the thought of looming goals made in anticipation of grandiose payoffs gets my heart racing. If I’m going to make a change—especially one that lasts—it’s going to be done in small, manageable steps. Continue reading
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas…let your heart be light …”
It’s one of my favorite holiday tunes; words so full of promise they seem to taunt the wanting that accompanies the season. Certainly its cache of goodwill can help
us maximize the merry this Christmas? Here’s what I gleaned from its recommendations: Continue reading
I thought about putting together a Christmas Gift-Giving Guide for the Christian Parent. But this story
, adapted from Dr Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee’s book Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy, touched my heart in a way that no list of gadgets could.
Are you ready ready to live the true meaning of Christmas with your family rather than barely surviving another chaotic season of activities that leave everyone drained?
Perhaps you would consider making this part of your family’s Christmas gift-giving tradition.
This session at Fruits of Faith Bible study I prayed for two things before we started: 1. For a creative healing miracle and 2. To see the angel messenger who would deliver the healing.
God answered both. Here’s what happened:
As I write this I am heading back to my hometown to visit my mother who was admitted to the ICU of the hospital. She fell and broke six ribs, puncturing her diaphragm. This puncture wound went undetected by the doctors for a week, causing extensive internal bleeding, shortness of breath, disorientation and weakness. On a scale of one to ten, when she could speak, she said her pain was a fourteen.
If you asked her, my mom would testify that any doctor who could bind up her wounds and heal her bleeding diaphragm would be worth everything right now. To her great blessing, a cardiac pulmonologist operated, binding up the puncture wound. She is finally on the road to healing.
“He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Is this scripture referring to a surgeon who repairs punctured diaphragms and the like? The author of this scripture lived almost 3,000 years ago. Yet he spoke of a person who could heal in ways that earthly physicians cannot, then or now.
The Psalmist spoke of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In the Old Testament, the Messiah was something the Israelites hoped for, but who had not yet arrived.
Unlike the Israelistes of the Old Testament, we possess the blessing of Jesus’ actual arrival and accomplishment of His purpose. We have the living hope that what the Psalmist prophesized Jesus would do is no longer just a future prospect–it happened.
Jesus said He came to heal us. He will heal us physically, true. But He primarily wants to heal our broken hearts. The brokenness that Jesus desires to fix is the brokenness of being separated from Him.
Apart from a relationship with our Savior, our hearts hurt. With Jesus, we can endure much suffering because Jesus offers to take our difficult times and give us a joy that gets us through our pain.
When we accept Jesus, He serves as the great physician to pull us into relationship with our Creator and heal the “bleeding” from willful separation.
Jesus does not promise a perfect, pain-free life. But He does offer to bind up the wounds and heal the broken hearts that result from a painful life apart from Him. By accepting Jesus’ forgiveness for our sin, our hearts are made whole; they are bound up and finally on the road to healing.
“Make a wish!”How often have we advised our children and others to do this as they blow out the candles on their birthday cake, or as they toss pennies into the fountain, or as they gaze upon a star. I don’t know about you, but I really thought hard as a child to choose the thing I wanted most to come true. I didn’t want to waste this special privilege on just a whim.
Yet, did we really expect our wishes to come true?
Perhaps. And maybe they did materialize in one form or another. But were they guarantees? Unfortunately, no. And most of us could testify to the disappointment of many of those wishes left unfulfilled.
So, what keeps us going back every year and making another wish? I can tell you: hope. We are slow to give up hope. Hope is the carrot that keeps us going. But hope based on wishes is empty. Empty wishes have nothing to back them up, to provide the guarantee or the surety that they will come true. Such futility will ultimately end in our disappointment.
And isn’t that the issue with life? Disappointment? After so many, we become jaded. We stop trusting. We definitely stop wishing. Experience has taught us, don’t waste your breath. The hope is gone.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.”
Here’s the good news: the hope that Jesus offers is a guarantee. The mission is already accomplished. Victory is already ours. We experience this now in part through faith, and we will experience this hope fully in eternity.
The substance of all our hopes and dreams is set forth in this description of Heaven: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
The substance of the guarantee we all truly hope for is reconciliation God. We all long for a relationship with our heavenly Father. Faith satisfies this need now; the hope of such satisfaction keeps us going. We cannot see this faith, but there’s evidence of it in the fulfillment we experience through the living hope, Jesus Christ, abiding in our hearts.
Next time you’re tempted to make a wish, say a prayer instead thanking God for giving us the living hope of His Son, which is guaranateed to satisfy the longing of our human hearts.
What are the blessings of believing? Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” James 1:6 corroborates this by stating “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
I love to smile. After all, smiling actually requires less muscle than frowning (call me lazy). 🙂
But have you ever smiled at someone just to have them look away? I have lived in a couple different areas of the United States and I have to admit, this happens everywhere.
There are many reasons someone may “diss” a smile. Whatever their reason, it can have the affect of making us regret the effort.
I agree, not every situation is appropriate to expect a smile. But what about the cases when a smile is not out of line, not awkward, and even arguably appropriate?
Last week we had a boost of heat. I loved that it seemed to extend summer. Yet as the weather inevitably turns to Autumn, I am reminded of the different seasons of our lives.
What’s keeping you from living the abundant life Jesus promises? Most often, it’s failure to trust the One offering such a profound gift. We love God, but like the elephant in the room, we don’t want to admit that we cling to something else for our security.
Trust is the action that evidences our belief. First sign we trust God is letting go of what we are currently holding on to that is preventing us from receiving His promises.
And you might not realize what you’re holding onto. Here’s some examples: money, power, prestige, popularity, tradition, possessions, worldly reputation, bitterness, regret, martyrdom, shame, condemnation, and guilt.
The Bible says the things of this world are like a vapor; vanity. Like a mirage, they will disappear as soon as we try to grasp them. In that way, worldly pursuits provide us no lasting support or comfort (Ecclesiastes 1:2). And Jesus acknowledges that the weight of this world is heavy, but He wants to take that weight and exchange it for a lighter load (Matthew 11:28-29). Let Him.
Only when we let go of what we cling to in lieu of God will we have our hands free to receive all that God has planned for us. Take that step of faith today.
