Daily Living for Seniors

[Judy Harder]

How you can be used to impact eternity

Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. - James 5:20

In 1994, The New York Times reported that graffiti from the 1800s was discovered by workers renovating the Washington Monument. It was quite a different tone from much of the graffiti found today on walls, railcars, and street signs. Here's what it said:

Whoever is the human instrument under God in the conversion of one soul, erects a monument to his own memory more lofty and enduing [sic] than this.

The inscription was signed with the initials, BFB. No one knows who that is, but this anonymous author's words can now be seen by the thousands who visit the monument each year.

Though written so long ago, those words ring very true today... and they're at the heart of today's verse. Whoever God uses to turn people away from their sin and toward a faith relationship with Jesus Christ makes an impact on eternity!

Perhaps today, there are people in your life who you can point toward Christ. Maybe they live nearby, shop at the same store as you, or you see them in your daily routine. Whoever it is, God wants to use you to tell them about Jesus. And when you do, you can be confident that you've made an impact that will last longer than any monument ever built!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to show you people in your life who need to hear about Jesus. Pray that you would be open to being used by Him to impact eternity!

[Judy Harder]

The profound impact of human connection

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. - Romans 12:10

There was a woman who always went to a certain post office in her town because the postal employees there were just so friendly. One year just before Christmas, she walked in to buy a book of stamps, and the lines were particularly long.

Another customer waiting next to her in line pointed out that there was no need to wait because the post office had installed a stamp machine in the lobby. "I know," said the woman, "but that machine won't ask me about my arthritis."

So often today in our world of mass communication and high-efficiency processes, it's easy to miss the human connection that's so badly needed in our lives. And sadly, this has even become the case in many of our churches, where people get in and get out as quickly as they can in order to jump back into their busy schedules.

But what a remarkable change we would see in our world today if we slowed down a step to talk to others. Instead of rushing out of the store, what if you asked the clerk how her day was going? Instead of hurrying to meet a deadline a work, what if you stopped to wish the secretary a good morning?

A simple human connection can do amazing things in your life and in the lives of others. So as you go throughout your day, don't let busyness get in the way of the important task of connecting with others!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would remind you to slow down a bit each day and spend quality time connecting with others.

[Judy Harder]

How you can build up the body of Christ

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. - Ephesians 4:16

There was a team of engineers who did an experiment in a wind tunnel to determine why geese fly in a "V" formation. In the experiment, they discovered that each goose, flapping its wings, creates an uplift for the goose that follows.

Now while this uplift may be minuscule for each goose, the result is that the whole flock gains 71% greater flying range than if they journeyed alone. So to distribute the work among the geese, the leader of the "V" will fall back periodically to let another leader take the point.

This amazing example in God's creation can show us something very important about working together. You see, when people in a group decide to each sacrifice a little for the sake of the whole, then the group is better able to accomplish its goal. But when a member wanders away, it will be detrimental to the group's task.

In the body of Christ, the same is true. Each individual Christian is called to sacrifice his- or herself for the betterment of others in the body. They serve at church on Sunday or they give to those in need not for their own good, but for the good of others. So as a Christian, remember to give yourself for the sake of others and build up the body of Christ.

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would show you ways that you can humble yourself for the sake of building up the body of Christ!

[Judy Harder]

The greatest gift you could ever receive

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23

On May 2, 1962, a dramatic advertisement appeared in the San Francisco examiner that said,

I don't want my husband to die in the gas chamber for a crime he did not commit. I will therefore offer my services for 10 years as a cook, maid, or housekeeper to any leading attorney who will defend him and bring about his vindication.

One of San Francisco's greatest attorneys, Vincent Hallinan, read the ad and contacted Gladys Kidd, the desperate wife who had placed it. Her husband, Robert Lee Kidd, was about to be tried for the slaying of an elderly antique dealer. Kidd's fingerprints had been found on a bloodstained sword in the victim's shop.

During the trial, Hallinan proved that the antique dealer had not been killed by the sword, and that Kidd's fingerprints and blood on the sword got there because Kidd had once toyed with it while playfully dueling with a friend when they were both out shopping. The jury, after 11 hours, found Kidd to be not guilty. And when the trial was over, Attorney Hallinan refused Gladys Kidd's offer of 10 years servitude.

Unselfish acts like these don't happen every day. Yet even this act of generosity pales in comparison to what Christ did for you—dying to give you eternal life, knowing that you'd never be able to pay Him back. So thank God today for His wonderful free gift of salvation and live your life to offer that gift to others!

Prayer Challenge

Tell God "thank you" for sending Jesus to die so that you can have the free gift of eternal life. Pray that He would give you the courage to offer this free gift to others as well.

[Judy Harder]

The power of loving your enemies

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. - Luke 6:35

In his book, The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution named Peter Miller who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

In the same town also lived an evil-minded man who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor whenever he had the chance. One day, this man was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. So Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for General George Washington to spare the life of the traitor.

"No, Peter," General Washington said. "I cannot grant you the life of your friend."

"My friend?" exclaimed the old preacher. "He's the bitterest enemy I have!"

"What?" cried Washington. "You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I'll grant your pardon."

Peter Miller took his long-time enemy back home to Ephrata—but now he was a friend.

So often today, Christians miss out on the blessings that can come with loving their enemies. They don't like this or that group of people because their behavior is sinful, so they treat them as outcasts. But what if instead of condemning them, we showed them who God is by loving them despite their actions?

God loved us when we were His enemies. So love others the same way and just watch how He'll change lives through you!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to show you "enemies" you can love today. Pray that He would transform their hearts as they see the kind of God you serve!

[Judy Harder]

Becoming great by getting out of your puddle

The LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." - Genesis 12:1-2

You might be surprised to learn that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium you put it in. Sharks can be six inches long yet fully matured. But if you let them loose in the ocean, they will grow to their normal length.

Sadly, this is what happens spiritually to many Christians today. They grow up in church, never get out of the "culture of Christianity", and they live their whole lives never being challenged in their faith. This leads to stunted growth... resulting in generations of Christians who never reach their full potential!

Yes, the world is filled with little six-inch Christians who swim around in their puddle. You can look at them and comment on how fine they are. But if you were to put them out into a larger arena into the broad view of a whole creation, much like God did to Abram in today's passage, they might become so much greater.

God will help us not to be confined to a little puddle out of fear or insecurity, but instead to see that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. If we will have internal integrity and relate to the larger world in the ways He has ordained, we will be able to grow and serve Him in ways we've never imagined!

Prayer Challenge

Pray and ask God to show you where you can step out of your puddle and become great for Christ!

[Judy Harder]

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. --Colossians 3:12

A man waiting in between flights at an airport went to a store and bought a small package of cookies. He then sat down in the waiting area to read his newspaper. Gradually, he became aware of a rustling noise next to him. From behind his paper, he was shocked to see a neatly dressed woman helping herself to his cookies sitting in the next seat.

Not wanting to cause problems or make a scene out of the situation, the man leaned over and took a cookie himself from the package. A couple of minutes passed and then came more rustling. The woman was helping herself to another cookie!

By this time, the man was so angry he had a good mind to tell her off for digging in his things. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the woman broke the last cookie into two pieces, pushed half across to the man, ate the other half, and left.

Still fuming when his flight was announced, the man opened his briefcase to get his ticket. And to his embarrassment, there he found his package of unopened cookies!

How wrong our assumptions can be sometimes. Christ has called us to demonstrate kindness and love toward others in all situations—even those such as the one mentioned above.

"'Let...the wise man boast...that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

If the Lord delights in kindness, so should we. In any situation, remember to take hold of and possess the qualities of kindness and brotherly love that our Lord demonstrates so you can be an effective witness to others (see 2 Peter 1:5-8).

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask the Lord to remind you to practice kindness toward others and to be an effective witness in all situations.

[Judy Harder]

The destructive power of unforgiveness

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." - Matthew 6:12

The famous writer Leo Tolstoy thought he was getting his marriage off on the right foot when he asked his fiancée Sonya to read his diaries, detailing all of his sexual indiscretions. Instead, Tolstoy's confession sowed the seeds for a marriage that would be held together by bitterness, not love. Sonya wrote in her diary, "When he kisses me I'm always thinking, 'I'm not the first woman he has loved.'"

Some of his adolescent flings she could forgive, but not his affair with a particular peasant woman who continued to work on the Tolstoy estate. Another diary entry dates from January 14, 1909. "He relishes that peasant wench with her strong female body and her sunburnt legs, she allures him just as powerfully now as she did all those years ago..."

Sonya wrote those words when this peasant woman was eighty years old. For half a century, jealousy and unforgiveness blinded her and destroyed all love for her husband.

It's difficult to truly comprehend the power of unforgiveness. Years, even decades, after a person was wronged, he or she can hold onto bitterness so tightly that it is as if it happened yesterday.

But God calls us to a higher level of forgiveness, one that understands our own brokenness before Him and forgives others because we were first forgiven. So instead of holding onto bitterness, let it go. Allow God to soften your heart and forgive others because you were first forgiven!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would reveal areas of unforgiveness in your life and give you the strength to forgive others who may have wronged you.

Questions for Thought

As you think back, are there people in your life against whom you still harbor bitterness and unforgiveness?

What would your life look like if it exemplified the forgiveness toward others that God has already shown to you?

[Judy Harder]

Exposing the misconception of meekness

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." - Matthew 5:5

So often today, the Christian value of meekness is overlooked, and often times completely disregarded. Much of this attitude has come about as a result of Christians who misunderstand what meekness really is.

On this subject, the great author A. W. Tozer wrote,

"The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto."

A meek person is not one with an inferiority complex. He is quite the opposite. Meekness is a characteristic within a person which creates boldness and strength, yet at the same time causes that person to humbly understand that everything good in him comes from God, not himself.

Jesus only gave the promise to inherit the earth to one group of people: the meek. So as you live your life, be both bold and strong in your faith while also humble and quiet in your boasting. Be meek... because the reward is great!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would give you boldness in your faith while at the same time giving you a humble heart. Pray for meekness, and you'll inherit the earth!

[Judy Harder]

Are you living a productive life?

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. - Psalm 119:15-16

The story goes that the great entrepreneur Henry Ford once hired an efficiency expert to evaluate his company. This man came into his factories and offices to assess the efficiency level of the workers. After a few weeks, the expert made his report, which was highly favorable except for one thing.

"It's that man down the hall," said the expert. "Every time I go by his office he's just sitting there with his feet on his desk. He's wasting your money!"

Mr. Ford replied, "That man once had an idea that saved us millions of dollars. At the time, I believe his feet were planted right where they are now. He's staying put!"

In today's world, our society measures effectiveness by task completion. If you get all your tasks done in a day that were on your list, then the day was productive. But if you've fallen short of your task list, then the day was unproductive. It rarely matters what else you accomplished. You're measured on your tasks.

But think of all the great ideas that have come about very likely because someone just stopped to think. Albert Einstein... Ben Franklin... Leonardo da Vinci... all of these great minds spent significant time simply thinking!

There's nothing wrong with tasks, but don't let them run your life. Spend daily time meditating on God and His truth because that's the path to truly finding wisdom!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would release you from letting tasks overtake your life. Ask Him to speak to you as you spend quiet time meditating on Him.