Daily Living for Seniors

[Judy Harder]

Jesus said]: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."  --Matthew 23:27-28

At her launch in 1936, the Queen Mary was the largest ship to sail the oceans. She served faithfully for four decades, even through a world war, until she was retired in a Long Beach, California harbor.

After her retirement, she was transformed into a hotel and museum. During the conversion, she was given a complete facelift. Her three gigantic smokestacks were taken down to be scraped and repainted. But once on the dock, they crumbled as soon as the makeover began.

Nothing was left of the ¾-inch steel plates that had once formed the stacks. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint, which had been applied over the 40 years she was at sea. The steel had rusted away and left the stacks without substance.

Similarly, when Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," He meant they had no substance. They were merely concerned with externals...how they appeared before others. Jesus said, "On the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness" (Matthew 23:28).

Oh that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, would never be compared to the Pharisees! As children of the King, we must "first clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean" (Matthew 23:26).

The Scripture says God does not look at outward appearances or the things that man looks at, but instead He looks at the heart (see 1 Samuel 16:7). Seek daily a pure heart and your outward appearance will reflect your inner beauty and God's love.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God to cleanse and purify your heart, removing anything unclean from your life. Pray that He would create in you the inner beauty of His love,shining through to a lost world

[Judy Harder]

Avoiding the danger of overconfidence in yourself

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.... - Philippians 3:3

When it comes to overconfidence, golf legend Arnold Palmer recalls a tough lesson he once learned in a tournament:

"It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, 'Congratulations.'

"I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters.

"You don't forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again. I haven't in the 30 years since."

It can be easy to act like Arnold Palmer on that day and put too much confidence in yourself for faithful obedience. But the truth is that no one has the ability alone to live the Christian life. We're just not good enough to do that!

Don't make the mistake of becoming overconfident in your ability to obey Christ. Instead, trust in Jesus to live out a life of faithful obedience through you. That's how you can honor God with your life!

Prayer Challenge

Ask Jesus to live out faithful obedience through you so that you can honor God with your life!

[Judy Harder]

Are you too easily satisfied?

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. - 1 Corinthians 3:1-2

Over 2,000 years ago, a young Greek artist named Timanthes studied under a respected tutor. After several years, the teacher's efforts seemed to have paid off when Timanthes painted an exquisite work of art. Unfortunately, he became so enraptured with the painting that he spent days gazing at it.

One morning when he arrived to admire his work, he was shocked to find it blotted out with paint. Angry, Timanthes ran to his teacher, who admitted he had destroyed the painting. "I did it for your own good. That painting was slowing your progress. Start again and see if you can do better."

Timanthes took his teacher's advice and produced Sacrifice of Iphigenia, which is regarded as one of the finest paintings of antiquity. Yet he never would've painted such a masterpiece had he remained too easily satisfied with what he'd done up to that point.

When it comes to their relationship with Christ, Christians all too often remain so satisfied with where they are that they forget where they need to be going. This was the apostle Paul's point in today's passage, where he told the Corinthians they needed to move beyond the status quo and grow in their walk with Christ.

Maybe today you've found yourself so easily satisfied with how things are that you're not growing in your faith. Look ahead. God has something great in store for you if you're willing to grow in Him!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would not let you be too easily satisfied with how you are today and help you look forward to growing in Christ!

[Judy Harder]

Fostering inclusiveness in the Body of Christ

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. - Colossians 3:11

One Sunday morning in 1865, a black man entered a prominent and fashionable church in Richmond, Virginia. When Communion was served, he walked down the aisle and knelt at the altar. A rustle of resentment swept the congregation. How dare he! After all, believers in that church used a common cup to take communion.

Then all of a sudden, a very distinguished layman stood up, walked forward to the altar, and knelt beside the black man. It was Confederate General Robert E. Lee. With General Lee setting the example, the rest of the congregation soon followed his lead and joined the two in communion.

Since the Civil Rights movement began, our nation and our culture have been become dramatically more inclusive in terms of race. People of all races learn together, eat together, ride on the bus together, and worship together. What wonderful progress our country has made!

Yet despite this overall change in attitude, racism and ethnocentrism still persist among many individuals and communities today. But God's Word tells us that in Christ, everyone has been made one. Our standing in Christ isn't determined by our skin color, our culture, or our country of origin. We're all one in Jesus!

As Christians, it's our role to be an antidote against prejudice by accepting all people of all colors into the fold of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to help you identify and eliminate prejudice attitudes in your life.

Questions for Thought

Over your lifetime, has God worked in your heart when it comes to your attitudes toward people of other races?

How can you help foster racial inclusiveness in our nation and our churches today?

[Judy Harder]

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. --1 John 3:10

John Hess-Yoder, a missionary in Laos, once told this story:

"While serving as a missionary in Laos I discovered an illustration of the kingdom of God. Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas.

"Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians.

"On the other hand, those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese.

"The exact location of a person's home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited."

It is the same with believers. We live in the world, but not of it. Instead, we are children of God's kingdom. Therefore, we are to live according to His holy standards and values in this life.

The Scripture says, "He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. ... No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:7-9).

If you are a believer, it should be easy for others to tell what makes you different from them. Just as the Laotians and Vietnamese could be easily defined according to their cultural values, we as Christians should also always be easily identified as followers of Jesus Christ and His values.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God to integrate His values, morals, and biblical standards into every area of your life. Pray that you would be easily identifiable to the world as a follower of Jesus.

[Judy Harder]

You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.  --Leviticus 18:4-5

Author Timothy Munyon once wrote:

"While living in Florida, I had several friends who worked cleaning rooms at a nationally known inn located directly on the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. They spent their work breaks running barefoot in the sand. The problem was the inn required all employees to wear shoes at all times while working.

"I noticed the employees responded in one of two ways.

"The majority thought the rule restricted their freedom. The rooms had shag carpeting, delightful to bare toes, and just a few steps away lay the beach. To them the rule to wear shoes was nothing more than employer harassment.

"But a minority of the employees looked at the rule differently. Sometimes late night parties would produce small pieces of broken glass. Occasionally a stickpin would be found hidden in the deep shag piles. Some knew the pain of skinning bare toes on the steel bed frame while making a bed. This minority saw the rule as protection, not restriction.

"Were God's laws written to make life miserable? Or were they written by a loving heavenly Father who cares about His children?"

Deuteronomy 11:1 says, "Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws, and his commands always."

Over and over again in Scripture, followers of Jesus are admonished to obey the commands and laws of the Lord. Many believe these "laws" are meant to restrict Christians from living a free and happy life. Others realize they are meant to provide certain boundaries for believers as a form of protection while walking with the Lord.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for the laws, commands, and biblical boundaries found in His Word. Pray that He would bring them to your mind as you walk daily with Him.

[Judy Harder]

How to lean on God in days of doubt

The foolsays in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. - Psalm 14:1

Pastor and author Ravi Zacharias shares a story from British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge about a conversation he had with Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Josef Stalin. She spent some time with Muggeridge in his home in England while they were working together on their BBC production on the life of her father.

According to Svetlana, as her father lay in his bed during his final hours, he suddenly sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fist toward the heavens once more, and fell back upon his pillow, never to be revived.

The incredible irony of his whole life is that at one time, Josef Stalin had been a seminary student preparing for the ministry until he made a decisive break from his belief in God. This dramatic and complete reversal of conviction that resulted in his hatred for all religion is why Lenin had earlier chosen Stalin and positioned him in authority. And as Stalin lay dying, his one last gesture was a clenched fist toward God, his hard heart in defiance of God's very existence.

Every Christian, at one time or another, experiences doubt when it comes to faith. And there are two reactions you can have toward doubt: you can let it harden your heart or you can use it to build your faith even more by leaning more into God and watching Him work. So when doubt creeps in, don't shake your fist. Rely on God all the more and you'll be amazed at what He does!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would strengthen your faith in Him whenever doubt arises!

Questions for Thought

What are some times in your life when you've experienced doubt when it comes to your faith?

When you think back on God's work in your life, how does that reaffirm His existence, His goodness, and His faithfulness toward you?

[Judy Harder]

How to stand firm in the face of pressure

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Back in the early 1990s, it was no secret that President George H. W. Bush was not a fan of broccoli. In fact, his distaste for the vegetable was so strong that he actually banned it from Air Force One. This embroiled the entire nation in a "broccoli discussion," prompting broccoli growers to dispatch 10 tons of the vegetable free to Washington D.C.

Yet the President reiterated his distaste with gusto:

I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli. Now look, this is the last statement I'm going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that's coming in.

Talk about not bending under pressure! In the face of so much criticism and demand to change his ways, the President took a stand and told the world he was sticking to his guns!

If only more Christians today would stand firm like this in the face of the world's pressure to compromise and relent in their own enthusiasm for the Gospel. So when you're pressured to give in and water down your faith, remember that if one man can stand firm against a vegetable, you can stand firm for Jesus Christ!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to help you stand firm for your faith when you feel pressured to back down.

Questions for Thought

Can you think of a time when you were pressured to compromise on what you knew was the right thing to do?

How can you be more intent on standing for your faith even when you might receive some criticism?

[Judy Harder]

The reward of good accountability

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2

Former New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle recalls that as a teenager in the minor leagues he began playing poorly. Discouraged, homesick, and feeling sorry for himself, Mantle tearfully called his father to come to take him home. When the elder Mantle arrived, Mickey expected sympathy and reassurances.

But instead, Charles Mantle jarred his strapping son by saying, "Okay, if that's all the guts you've got, you might as well come home with me right now and work in the mines." Snapped awake, Mickey Mantle stuck it out that year—and wrote his name in history as one of the greatest baseball players to ever live.

Many times, we need a good kick in the pants to help us stay focused on what's really important. This is because it's so easy to get lost in the mundane and difficulty of our current circumstances that we lose sight of the big picture—we miss the forest for the trees! And it's in those times that you need people who will gently and lovingly steer you back in the right direction toward what's really important.

Keep a group of close friends around you who love you enough to spur you on to obedience to God's calling in your life. Mickey Mantle made history because of his baseball abilities. And you can impact eternity if you'll simply have those people in your lives who will love you enough to remind you of what really matters!

Prayer Challenge

Pray for God to reveal to you people in your life who you can ask to hold you accountable when you need it.

Questions for Thought

Can you think back to a time in your life when you let fleeting circumstances lead you to a wrong decision?

How many people can you name right now who, if they saw you making a wrong decision, would love you enough to let you know?

[Judy Harder]

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. --Deuteronomy 7:9

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up across the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies)...."

So begins Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's Paul Clifford, a novel containing what is widely considered one of the worst opening lines ever penned. So bad, in fact, that the English department at San Jose State University sponsors a whimsical competition every year challenging those who enter to write the worst novel opening possible!

Despite Bulwer-Lytton's shortcomings as an author, did you know he coined several phrases still used today? Phrases like "the almighty dollar" and "the pen is mightier than the sword." He also served as Interior Secretary of Canada, and a town in British Columbia bears his name. But unfortunately, he is most famous for that "dark and stormy night" opening line to his novel!

What about you? What legacy will you leave one day? When your family and friends think of you, what will come to mind?

The book of Deuteronomy gives us a sober warning that the consequences of our sin will affect those who come after us. But in the verse above, it also promises that God will keep His covenant of love for thousands of generations for those who love him and keep His commandments.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God to enable you to leave a lasting legacy for Him.