Happy Independence Day

[Judy Harder]

Lonely Souls

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:11-12

In his lifetime Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting. Today he's known for his passion and artistic genius. And he's remembered as a lonely soul. In a letter to his beloved brother, Theo, Vincent wrote:

"Our inward thoughts, do they ever show outwardly? There may be a great fire in our soul, and no one ever comes to warm himself at it; the passers-by see only a little bit of smoke coming through the chimney, and pass on their way.  Now, look you, what must be done? Must one tend that inward fire, have salt in oneself, wait patiently yet with how much impatience for the hour when somebody will come and sit down near it—to stay there maybe?"

What great fire has God impressed upon your soul? Do passers-by see more than just a little bit of smoke?  Are you tending the fire?

Van Gogh expressed his passion in his art. Look for the best expression of your passion that will honor and glorify God.

"The passions are the winds that fill the ship's sails. Sometimes they submerge the ship, but without them the ship could not sail." -Voltaire (1694-1778)

[Judy Harder]

On the Defense

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

When my friend was in college he walked right-of-way property for a gas pipeline company one summer.  In many ways, it was a great job.  Lots of sunshine and exercise, walking through the countryside over a large buried pipeline.  There were, however, the inevitable bulls, bees. . . and a few ornery farmers.

One day his journey took him through the field of a farmer who didn't like anyone on his land, right-of-way or no right-of-way. After testing an electrical fence to make sure it was disarmed, my friend prepared to step over the barrier.  While he was straddling the wire, he saw out of the corner of his eye the farmer running for the barn.  The farmer was running for the power switch!

Are you sometimes like the farmer?  Quick to turn up the power and heat when someone's in a vulnerable position?  It's not what Jesus did—remember the woman caught in adultery?  Jesus extended grace. You should, too.

"Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything." - Billy Graham (1918-    )

[Judy Harder]

Size Doesn't Matter

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. - Ephesians 5:1

We live in a culture that values things that are large, extravagant, and impossible to miss.  For this reason, we're tempted to look at the struggles in our rather ordinary lives, and consider our victories insignificant if they're not acknowledged or recognized by others.

But that's just not true. Victor Hugo, the great French playwright who penned Les Miserables, rightly said our "greatest actions are performed in minor struggles. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes–obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes."

It's not the size of the audience, or the amount of applause, that determines the value of your achievements.  Live your life before the one true God.  And live it with faith, hope, and love even though you're not getting accolades for it.  Remember, your true character is what you do when no one is looking.

"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. " - Will Rogers (1879-1935)

[Judy Harder]

The Myths We Believe

Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. - Psalm 119:29-30                                       

What's more dangerous: a lie or a half-truth?  Without doubt, it's the half-truth.  John F. Kennedy said, "The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic."

Despite the common perception that we're a people "come of age," our culture remains inundated with half-truths—modern myths most people believe implicitly, and become offended when called into question.

Here's just a few examples: 1) People, at heart, are basically good; 2) The world's getting better; 3)Technological progress is the key to our happiness and well-being.

We love these myths because they give us hope. Yet that's precisely why they're so dangerous: they keep our hope securely misplaced—that is, on something other than Jesus Christ, our only true hope.

"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

[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)