Happy Independence Day

[Judy Harder]

Excuses

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10

There are so many excuses I could've used to hold back and not serve God, but none of them were good enough to miss God's best.  Just the fact that I paid for an abortion could've kept me on the sidelines rather than preaching God's truth.  Despite that horrific ordeal, God has allowed me to speak at Crisis Pregnancy centers and help them raise millions of dollars during the past ten years.  What a blessing it's been for me to be used in that way. 

Because I have failed in so many ways, God gets all the glory for anything that comes out of my life that's worth mentioning.  So no matter what comes my way, if God can still use me, as embarrassing and humbling as it might be, I want to be used for Him.  I want the same for you.  God can use you...imperfections and all.

"Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle." - James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

[Judy Harder]

God Plus One

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11

Andy was struggling to scan the purchases—but was also determined to get it done.  His customer recognized he'd been through a serious trauma.

She said, "...that must be hard to do with one arm."
"Yes, but you do what you have to, and I guess that's what I get for riding motorcycles."
"God must really have a plan for you since you're still alive" she responded.
"You have no idea.  I died four times at the hospital, and they had to revive me.  The doctors told my mom the first night, 'Sorry, there's not much hope for him.' Yes, God has a plan for me.  The doctors didn't know who they were dealing with.  It wasn't just me, but my mom and her prayers—my mom plus God—you don't mess with that!"

Wow!  Mom plus God.  Plus means addition.  Think about adding God to the equation of
your life.  "You plus God" has a pretty good ring to it. 

"Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things." - Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963)

[Judy Harder]

God Redeeming Us

God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. - Matthew 6:34

The day Martha Stewart went to jail, I mentioned to a group that we should pray for her as she entered her new "gated community", and the group laughed at that.  But seriously, jail can indeed be a gift.  We prayed for her because good things can happen when people go to jail. 

In the Bible there's a story about a man named Joseph who refused to sleep with the queen and was imprisoned for more than 13 years.  That was a huge chunk of his life, but it must have been the chunk that prepared him to later be in charge of the entire nation. 

Then there was Chuck Colson.  While imprisoned for crimes committed during the Watergate scandal he came to trust in God, and when released from prison, Chuck founded what has grown into an international prison ministry that has touched the lives of thousands upon thousands of prisoners.

Your situation might be just as humiliating as Martha Stewart going to jail, but God can redeem it.  He makes the best come out of the worst, if you'll trust him to do so.

"You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that? Come up with a smiling face. It's nothing against you to fall down flat but to lie there—that's disgrace." - Edmund Vance Cook (1867-1933)

[Judy Harder]

Lights Flashing

The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. - Hosea 14:9

John Smith was pulled over for driving erratically, but just as officers began administering a breath test, there was an accident on the other side of the freeway.  The policeman ordered John to wait and ran across the street, but John immediately drove home. 

A few hours later, Mrs. Smith found two officers at her door.  John came out of the bedroom faking a cough.  When asked if he'd been pulled over for a highway citation, he replied, "Oh, no I've been home sick all day."

When they asked to see his car, John confidently walked out to the garage thinking, "It's been hours, the engine is cool, and I'm totally going to get away with this!"

He threw open the garage door, and there in the garage was the patrol car with the lights still flashing!

Tell me, friend, what lights are flashing in your garage? 

"We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance." - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

[Judy Harder]

Promises

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 2 Corinthians 9:7

A poor man vowed to give God a certain percentage of his income. From his first week's pay he gave one dollar. But before long, prosperity raised the sum of the gift to one hundred dollars a week, and in time, to five hundred dollars.

Initially his offerings brought intense joy. But over time, he began feeling entitled to his prosperity. He explained to a close friend that when he made the promise he only had to give a dollar, but now that it was five hundred he didn't feel he could afford such extravagant giving.

His wise friend said, "I'm afraid you cannot get a release from the promise, but there is something we can do. We can kneel down and ask God to shrink your income so that you can afford to give a dollar again."

God deserves our best. Has he blessed you? Ask Him how he might use you to bless others.

"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." -William James (1842-1910)

[Judy Harder]

Treasures

If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, "You are my security" if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, then these also would be sins to be judged,  for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. - Job 31:24, 25, 28

A rich man prayed, "I've worked so hard and I want to take my fortune to heaven." 

"We don't do that," God said.

"Please," he begged, "let me bring it so my children will be spared from an indulgent life."

"Okay," God amended "you may bring one suitcase."

Weeks later, the man found himself at heaven's gates with a suitcase full of gold bricks.

"A suitcase?" the angel guarding the gates questioned.  "You can't bring anything with you!"

"Oh, I have a special arrangement with God."

The angel looked into the suitcase and lifted his head, "Lord, I've got a man here who says he's made a
special arrangement with you."

The heavens rumbled, "What sort of arrangement?"

"For some reason he wants to bring in a suitcase full of paving material."

In God's economy, your gold will be worth less than the pavement under your feet! But the things often overlooked—our children, the poor, the underprivileged, our relationships with others—are priceless. 

"Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile." - Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940)

[Judy Harder]

Renoir and Matisse

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13

Renoir and Matisse were friends with a common bond; they loved color, beauty, and painting. Renoir, however, developed a very serious case of arthritis ...so debilitating that he was almost completely paralyzed by it. He winced and jerked in pain as he applied each stroke of color to the canvas. But no matter how severe the pain, no matter how difficult the brushstroke, he continued to paint.

Matisse watched his friend with great concern and passion, mystified at the dedication that led to creating his artwork at such a painful level of personal sacrifice. When he asked Renoir why he continued to paint, Renoir replied, "Because the beauty remains: the pain passes."

Are you struggling through painful times? If so, please don't give up. Don't believe the lie that there's no hope for you. Surrender and persevere. Hang on to Christ. Make the healing choice to persevere and do whatever necessary to hang on one more day. The pain passes; the beauty God brings through perseverance remains. 

"Austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the least of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832)

[Judy Harder]

Defective Mind

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. - (1 Timothy 6: 20 – 21)                                         

The other day I spoke with a very bright thirty-five-year-old man. . . a microbiologist, nuclear physicist. . . well, he has the degree to be a microbiologist, nuclear physicist. Instead, he's a postal worker who comes home to an empty house everyday.  This man suffers from social anxiety. He's uncomfortable every moment he's around others. And he's miserable. 

Now, I'm all for us feeling good about ourselves and being grateful for the gifts that God's given us. But in the midst of our happy talk, we need to accept that to some degree or another, we each have a sick mind. So sick that microbiologists end up delivering mail. Wealthy people shoplift. Healthy people gain 180 pounds. And counselors end up in inappropriate relationships with those they wanted to help.

Our sick minds won't lead us to a place of health and wholeness. You have to reach beyond what's in your head and reach out for the help you need. Reach out to God. Reach out to others. Be attentive to what the Holy Spirit is saying—in your thought life and in the circumstances of your life. Be responsible and do something!

"Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be a hope of wholeness, is the unshaken need for an unshakable God." - Maya Angelou (1928-   )

[Judy Harder]

His Hands

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. - Matthew 14:19b-21

Have you ever noticed how ordinary items become extraordinary in the right hands?

• A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. In Kobe Bryant's hands its worth over $136 million. 
• A paintbrush in my hands is useless. In Monet's hands, a paintbrush produces masterpieces. 
• Two fish and five loaves in my hands make a couple of fish sandwiches. In Jesus' hands, they feed thousands.
• A nail stuck in my hand would produce needless pain and a resolve never to get in over my head with home maintenance again. But the nails piercing Christ's hands are an expression of the wisdom of God and His infinite ability to use suffering to redeem the world's pain. 

As with everything else, whose hand the object is in makes all the difference.

What are you holding on to and afraid to give up?  Give what you're holding onto to the One who transforms the ordinary—there's no telling what He'll do with it.

"A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive; therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle." - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

[Judy Harder]

Balanced View of Jesus

Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." - Revelation 5:5

The following observation by author Philip Yancey is well-worth meditating upon.  "As I studied the life of Christ," he said, "one impression about Jesus struck me more forcefully than any other. We have tamed him. The Jesus I learned about as a child was sweet and inoffensive, the kind of person whose lap you'd want to climb on.  Mister Rogers with a beard.  Indeed, Jesus did have qualities of gentleness and compassion that attracted little children. Mister Rogers, however, he assuredly was not.  Not even the Romans would have crucified Mister Rogers."

How balanced is your view of Jesus?  Have you come to the crucial conclusion that His grace is bigger than anything we can possibly comprehend?  And, I hope that conclusion doesn't come at the expense of His strength. The biblical picture of Jesus is that of a tenderhearted Lion.  And conceptions that fall on either side of this picture are caricatures and incomplete.

"Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." - Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)