Happy Independence Day

[Judy Harder]

Today's Youth

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. - Mark10:14

When June Cleaver said, "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver," her primary concern was probably that he'd turn out to be as obnoxious as Eddie Haskell. Boy, have times changed!

Kids today face a harder world, and are seriously threatened with a premature loss of innocence.

For instance, within the next 30 minutes at least:

29 kids will attempt suicide.
57 adolescents will run away from home.
14 teenager girls will give birth out of wedlock.
22 girls will get abortions.
686 kids will use one of many illegal drugs.
And 188 will abuse alcohol.

This picture of the struggles America's kids now face is a long way from the struggles within the Cleaver household. The beginning of change is to acknowledge the problem. Pray for the kids of today and for their parents. The changes we need must come from the inside out if they're to be real and lasting.

"How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children." - Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

[Judy Harder]

Tribute to Jackie Robinson

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:22-24

In 1948 Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.  He faced stiff opposition.  Pitchers threw at him.  Base runners dug their spikes into his shins.  Fans mocked him and some even wrote death threats.

To endure this mistreatment, you'd have to be a scrapper.  Robinson was certainly no exception.

He was proud and competitive. But he also knew the right way to fight—and that's what set him apart.  Before being allowed to play, Jackie was asked what he'd do if another player hit him on the cheek.  He answered, "Sir, I have two cheeks." Robinson knew that real strength—the kind necessary to accomplish truly great things—is demonstrated in meekness and forbearance. With that strength, he changed the face of America's favorite pastime, and in the process, helped change the face of America.

We can learn from his example—an inner strength in adversity; not striking back when we're wronged; keeping focus on the task before us.  He had a rather Christ-like attitude and example, wouldn't you say?   

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. - Martha Washington (1732 - 1802)

[Judy Harder]

Delay and Distract

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. - Matthew 26:41

Have you ever noticed that no matter how strong the struggles with our appetites may be, most of them only last a few minutes? It's true. And so I want to talk with you about a tactic that'll help you make good choices in these times: distraction and delay.

When facing temptation, try to delay your decision to act upon the desire you're experiencing for fifteen to thirty minutes. What you'll find is that you've gained a great deal of perspective and resolve in that relatively short but very important interval.

But while you're delaying, make sure to use some kind of distraction or diversion—one that will allow you to think clearly about the choice you must make, while at the same time allowing you to distance yourself a bit from the temptations that cloud your decision. If you don't join distraction or diversion with your delay, you'll probably find yourself just watching the clock and thinking about how much longer you have before you get to indulge.

Get involved with something else. If your desire has passed, then great—you've successfully avoided something you didn't really want and probably didn't need!  But if thirty minutes passes and you still want whatever it is you're desiring—and that something isn't destructive—then go ahead and enjoy it, in moderation!

"A delay is better than a disaster." - Unknown

[Judy Harder]

Fellowship with God

Come nearer to God and he will come near to you. - James 4:8

When you have an appetite that asks to be fed, you have a choice as to how you're going to feed it.  At almost every point of decision, you'll be tempted to satisfy your appetites in a way that does little more than nourishes your sinful desires and strengthens your resistance to God.  However, you have another choice: you can choose to feed your soul and strengthen yourself from the inside out.

There are many skills and strategies that can help you fight temptation and control your appetites—and you would be wise to learn them all well.  But none are more important, more effective, or more rewarding than fellowship with God!

As we spend time with our heavenly Father, we gain wisdom and understanding.  We grow stronger spiritually.  As a result, we become more able to utilize the resources He makes available to us. Through this growth, we become better equipped and better prepared to fight the good fight of faith by standing firm against the temptations that assail us.

It's through fellowship with God that we open ourselves to the fulfillment we were designed for—a fulfillment that satisfies our cravings and our desires better and longer than any other alternative.

As you fellowship with God—through time spent in His Word, through relationships with other believers, and through loving service to others; you gain the accountability, the structure, and the support you need to control and redirect your appetites for redemptive ends.

"Man's love of God is identical with his knowledge of Him." - Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)

[Judy Harder]

Self-Monitoring

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? - 1 Corinthians 2:16

Our contemporary culture desires things to happen as quickly and conveniently as possible. Yet when it comes to knowing others, and knowing ourselves, "quick and convenient" breeds superficiality. Our love for expediency is making us strangers to one another, and strangers to ourselves.

A wise man long ago said that an unexamined life is not worth living. I would add: an unexamined life is impossible to live faithfully and well. One reason for this is that controlling our desires has everything to do with getting to know ourselves better—that is, understanding what people, situations, and substances give us problems, and what responses are effective in countering them.

A good way to begin practicing the examined life is to ask yourself what you're feeling before you indulge your cravings. Our cravings are often the result of—and a superficial way of dealing with—some negative emotion. . . anger, depression, anxiety, boredom, loneliness, etc.  Once you've identified the feeling behind the drive, you can more appropriately express or deal with it, instead of engaging in some appetite you think will make the feeling disappear.

When you learn to know yourself and express your feelings appropriately, your appetites can stop being emotional buffers and once again serve the purposes God intended them to serve.

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind." - William James (1842-1910)

[Judy Harder]

Self-Talk

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. - 1 Peter 2:1-2

Go ahead and admit it, you talk to yourself. It's not something to be embarrassed about—self-talk can be used to your benefit in order to greatly improve your success in controlling your desires.

One way to use it is to constructively direct the anger you feel when you're tempted by an unhealthy or inappropriate desire. Instead of getting angry with yourself, get angry at the offense, and at the stumbling block it poses. This will help you resist it.

Another way self-talk can be used is to confront yourself and your appetites in order to bring rationality back into play when temptation threatens to confuse and disorient you. When you actively engage your mind by talking to yourself, you'll be less likely to act without thinking, and you'll reinforce what you believe to be true, right, and good.

Make no mistake about it. Self-talk can be a very spiritually wise thing to do. Listen to what the master theologian, J. I. Packer says on this topic in his book, A Quest For Godliness: "Richard Baxter convinced me long ago that regular discursive meditation, in which as he quaintly put it you 'imitate the most powerful preacher you ever heard' in applying spiritual truth to yourself, as well as turning that truth into praise, is a vital discipline for spiritual health. This unanimous Puritan view is now mine too."

"If you hear a voice within you saying you are a painter, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." -Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

[Judy Harder]

The Key to Success!

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God - Romans 5:3-5

Looking for an edge in life? Consider this: God is the key to any success you may have in learning to control your desires. He must be your strength, your counselor, and your sure foundation.

Why is God so important? Because He's the source and fulfillment of all human life, including yours.  In other words, you were created by God as well as for God. We often forget the latter.

St. Augustine made this beautiful confession nearly seventeen centuries ago: "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in You, O Lord." It was true for him then, and it's true for you now.

"My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." (Psalm 84:2)

"Whoever drinks the water I give Him," said Jesus, "will never thirst...[it] will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 14:4)

"I am the bread of life," said Jesus, "He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)

Behind all your cravings is a craving for God. And this craving can only be filled through a relationship with Jesus Christ—your true food and drink.

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." -  Michelangelo (1475-1564)

[Judy Harder]

Believing God's Promises

For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever. - Psalm 37:28

I read and study God's Word because it's a map—an instruction manual—for my life.  As the psalmist said, Scripture's a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths.  Yet there's an important discipline to consider when we spend time in Scripture: and that is believing God's promises.  Listen to a few:

God is always near and will never forsake you.
God has good plans for you.
God listens to you when you pray.
God will forgive you when you fail.

From first to last, Scripture is filled with God's promises to us. These promises of God fill us with hope and love, and they give you courage to live in the world, but not of the world.  Believe God's promises to us.

"How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter." - Woody Allen (1935-     )

[Judy Harder]

Cultivating a Divine Appetite

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. - Isaiah 55:2

Unlike physical hunger, our appetite for God is never fully satisfied.  Once we've satisfied our physical hunger we no longer want to eat, at least until we become hungry again.  In fact, the sight, smell, or even the thought of food can repulse us after we've eaten our fill.  Proverbs 27:7 describes the phenomenon like this: "He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet."

But the opposite is true with regard to our appetite for God. In the very act of satisfying it, the appetite intensifies.  This may be something new and different for you, so let me explain.

If you've never tasted cheesecake, gone to a professional football game, or watched the sun set over the ocean, you can't really know what you're missing.  Consequently, you probably don't have much of an appetite for those things.  It's only when you've experienced something that you realize you want more of it.

That's what Psalm 34:8 is telling us:  "Taste and see that the Lord is good."  Experience for yourself that He's good, and that He satisfies completely.  And when you do, something wonderful and life changing will happen–you will find yourself wanting more and more of Him, and less and less of the world's cheap substitutes for Him. 

"Life is as a jelly roll. When you think you have it eaten, it comes out the other end. " - Christopher P. Buonanno

[Judy Harder]

Delight in the Lord

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. - Deuteronomy 11:18

Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight in the Lord and He'll give us the desires of our hearts.  What does that mean?  It sounds like some magic formula, like rubbing the genie's lamp to get what we want. That's not the way it works.

It's hard to believe until you've experienced it, but if you're desiring something sinful, destructive, or something you can't afford, and you're truly delighting yourself in the Lord, He'll change those desires and replace them with new ones.  Don't get trapped into thinking of God as a magician who provides things that would only distract you from Him.

So then, what does it mean to "delight in the Lord?"  Consider what it means to delight in a friend's company.  Whenever you have opportunity you spend time with that person.  You talk openly and honestly with him or her; you look forward to your time together; you seek ways of knowing that person more fully and intimately; and you guard yourself from doing anything that would hurt, disappoint, or bring open shame upon your friend.

Well, that's very much what it's like for us to delight in the Lord. We delight in Him by reading His Word; by trusting what He says is true, by spending time in prayer and meditation; and by seeking to honor Him in every area of our life.

"A Brother may not be a Friend, but a Friend will always be a Brother." - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)