Tag Archives: God

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7 Ways to Anger God

The Bible tells us that God is loving and slow to anger. Exodus 34:5-6 Then the Lord descended in the form of a pillar of cloud and stood there with him, and passed in front of him and announced the meaning of his name. “I am Jehovah, the merciful and gracious God,” he said, “slow to anger and rich in steadfast love and truth. God demonstrates incredible patience with us, but He is also a God of justice.
Psalm 37:28 For the Lord loves justice and fairness; he will never abandon his people. They will be kept safe forever; but all who love wickedness shall perish.
Isaiah 61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them.
God is just, but despite being slow to anger, we can make Him angry. As you read through the Old Testament you see His people worshiping other gods and turning away from Him. You see God restraining His anger until the time He has had enough.
2 Chronicles 36:16 But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words, scoffing at the prophets until the anger of the Lord could no longer be restrained, and there was no longer any remedy.
In today’s message we see Jesus blasting the religious leaders. Our behavior can make God angry.
Matthew 23:14-36 TLB 13-14 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites! 15 Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves. 16 Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear ‘By God’s Temple’ means nothing—you can break that oath, but to swear ‘By the gold in the Temple’ is binding! 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say that to take an oath ‘By the altar’ can be broken, but to swear ‘By the gifts on the altar’ is binding! 19 Blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? 20 When you swear ‘By the altar,’ you are swearing by it and everything on it, 21 and when you swear ‘By the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘By heavens,’ you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.
23 “Yes, woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders—hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things—justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. 26 Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums—full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. 28 You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.
29-30 “Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, ‘We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.’
31 “In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men. 32 And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?
34 “I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city, 35 so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. 36 Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.
Today we will look at 7 ways our behavior can make God angry, as described by Jesus in today’s text. In today’s text Jesus pronounces “woes” on the religious elite of the day. The word woe is an exclamation of grief, denunciation, or distress. This was not the first time Jesus had some harsh words for the religious leaders. The scribes and Pharisees were supposed to know God and help others know Him and follow His ways. Instead, they added to God’s Law, making it a heavy burden on the people. And they did not follow God with a pure heart. Their religion was not true worship of God; rather, it was rooted in a prideful heart. The scribes and Pharisees emphasized the letter, completely missing its spirit.
Many of the practices that Jesus denounced are still found in our churches and people today. We need to be aware and repent if we are doing these things.

Here is one way to anger God:
1. Not letting others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and not entering it yourself. Mt 23:13-14 13-14 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites!
Being a religious leader in Jerusalem was very different from being a pastor in a secular society today. The nation’s history, culture, and daily life centered around its relationship with God. The religious leaders were the most well-known, powerful, and respected of all leaders. Jesus gave His stinging accusations because their hunger for more power and status had made them lose sight of God, and their blindness was spreading to the whole nation.
Jesus cares for people. He desires for them to know Him and to enter His kingdom. After rebuking the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus lamented over rebellious Jerusalem. His heart is for people to find life in Him. He has harsh words for those who prevent people from finding salvation. The teachers of the Law and Pharisees were not truly seeking after God, though they acted as if they were. Their religion was empty, and it was preventing others from following the Messiah.
Jesus’ severe words were directed against religious leaders and false teachers who had rejected a part of the revealed Word of God and replaced it with their own ideas and interpretations. This also applies today. Jesus was not a weak preacher who tolerated sin. In our culture, we see many churches who have reinterpreted God’s Word and replace it with their own ideas. My friends, God does not celebrate sin. Make sure the church you are attending lines up with God’s Word. And, if you are a leader or a teacher, be sure that you are presenting God’s Word correctly. The Bible tells us that those who teach and preach will be held to a stricter standard. Be sure you are presenting His words correctly.
Another way to anger God is…


2. Converting people away from God to be like yourselves. Mt 23:15 15 Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves. Converting people away from God to be like yourselves
In the second woe, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for making strenuous efforts to win converts and then leading those converts to be “twice as much” children of hell as the scribes and Pharisees were. In other words, they were more intent on spreading their religion than on maintaining the truth.
The Pharisees’ converts were attracted to pharisaism, not to God. By getting caught up in all the details of their additional laws and regulations, they missed God to whom the laws pointed. A religion of works puts pressure on people to surpass others in what they know and do. A hypocritical teacher is likely to have students who are even more hypocritical. We must make sure we are not creating Pharisees by emphasizing outward obedience at the expense of inner renewal.
God is angered when we…


3. Blindly lead God’s people to follow man-made traditions instead of God’s Word.
Mt23:16-22 16 Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear ‘By God’s Temple’ means nothing—you can break that oath, but to swear ‘By the gold in the Temple’ is binding! 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say that to take an oath ‘By the altar’ can be broken, but to swear ‘By the gifts on the altar’ is binding! 19 Blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? 20 When you swear ‘By the altar,’ you are swearing by it and everything on it, 21 and when you swear ‘By the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘By heavens,’ you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.
The third woe Jesus pronounces against the scribes and Pharisees calls the religious leaders “blind guides” and “blind fools”. Specifically, Jesus points out, they nit-picked about which oaths were binding and which were not, ignoring the sacred nature of all oaths and significance of the temple and God’s holiness. They blindly led God’s people to follow man-made traditions instead of God’s Word.
This has not disappeared in our culture. There are a number of denominations that promote man made traditions as being equal to God’s Word. Take note of what your particular denomination teaches. Does it focus on God’s Word, or does it weave in traditions that are not found in the Bible?
God is angered when you…


4. Involve yourself in insignificant details and ignoring what is really important: justice, mercy, and faith. Mt 23:23-2423 “Yes, woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders—hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things—justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
The fourth woe calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their practice of diligently paying the tithe while neglecting to actually care for people. While they were counting their mint leaves to make sure they gave one tenth to the temple, they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness”. Once again, they focused on the letter of the Law and obeyed it with pride, but they missed the weightier things of God. Their religion was external; their hearts were not transformed.
It is possible to obey the details of the law but still be disobedient in our general behavior. For example, we could be very precise and faithful about giving 10 percent of our money to God but refuse to give one minute of our time in helping others. Tithing is important, but paying the tithed does not exempt us from fulfilling god’s other directives.
This also angers God:


5. Keeping up appearances while your private world is corrupt. Mt 23:25-26 25 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. 26 Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.
The religious leaders made sure they were keeping up appearances while their private world was corrupt. Jesus elaborates on their hypocrisy in the fifth woe. He tells the religious leaders they appear clean on the outside, but they have neglected the inside. They perform religious acts but do not have God-honoring hearts. It does no good, Jesus says, to clean up the outside when the inside is “full of greed and self-indulgence”. The Pharisees and scribes were blind and did not recognize that, when the inside is changed, the outside, too, will be transformed.
I recently heard of a Christian men’s conference that was held in a large hotel. After the day’s conference, it was reported that 60 percent of the participants that night had ordered pay for view pornography as they attended the conference. It matters to God what you do in private as well as your public behavior. God wants our outside to match our insides. He sees what we do in secret, and we will all give an account of our behavior on judgment day.
Do you want to anger God? Do this:


6. Act Spiritual to cover sin. Mt23:27-28 27 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums—full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. 28 You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.
We should not act spiritual to cover sin In the sixth woe, Jesus claims the scribes and Pharisees are “like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. The deadness inside of tombs is likened to the “hypocrisy and wickedness” inside the religious leaders. Once again, they appeared to obey God, but their hearts were far from Him. Jesus condemned these religious leaders for appearing saintly and holy outwardly but inwardly remaining full of corruption and greed. Living our Christianity as a show for others is like washing a cup on the outside only. When we are clean on the inside, our cleanliness on the outside won’t be a sham.
God is also angered when we:


7. Pretend to have learned from past history, but our present behavior shows we have learned nothing. Mt 23:29-36 29-30 “Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, ‘We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.’
31 “In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men. 32 And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?
34 “I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city, 35 so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. 36 Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.
Jesus concluded His seven-fold rebuke by telling the religious leaders that they are just like their fathers, who persecuted the prophets of old. In building monuments to the prophets, they testified against themselves, openly admitting that it was their ancestors who killed the prophets. Although they arrogantly claimed that they would not have done so, they were the ones who will soon plot the murder of the Son of God Himself.
In verse 35, Jesus gave a brief summary of Old Testament martyrdom. Abel was the first martyr; Zechariah was the last because the Hebrew Bible ended with 2 Chronicles. Zechariah was an example of a man of God being killed by those who claimed to be God’s people. ( 2 chronicles 24:21 21 Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and finally King Joash himself ordered him executed in the court of the Temple.)
Jesus wanted to gather His people together as a hen protects her chicks under her wings, but they wouldn’t let him. Jesus also wants to protect us if we will come to him. Many times, we hurt and don’t know where to turn. We reject Christ’s help because we don’t think He can give us what we need. But who knows our needs better than our Creator? Those who turn to Jesus will find that He helps and comforts as no one else can.


Jesus’ words were harsh because there was so much at stake. Those who followed the Pharisees and scribes were being kept from following God. Much of the teaching in Jesus’ day was in direct contradiction of God’s Word. The religious leaders made a mockery out of following God. They did not truly understand God’s ways, and they led others away from God. Jesus’ desire was that people would come to know God and be reconciled with Him.
Sadly, many churches in America are also teaching things that are in direct contradiction of God’s Word. And if people do not know Scripture, they will blindly assume their religious leaders are teaching God’s truth. I used to work at a bank and part of my training was studying currency so I would be able to spot a counterfeit. We study God’s Word for the same reason. We should all be like the ancient Bereans who dug into God’s Word and studied His truths so they would not be deceived by a leader’s lies.
You may not be a church leader, but it is possible for individuals to twist and distort God’s Word. It is possible for individuals to look holy on the outside but be sinful in secret. It is possible for individuals to “do church” but never have a transformed heart. Do you recognize yourself in any of these examples?
Jeremiah 2:35 And yet you say, “I haven’t done a thing to anger God. I’m sure he isn’t angry!” I will punish you severely because you say, “I haven’t sinned!”
Scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fallen short of meeting God’s holy standard. We need to recognize that we cannot save ourselves, despite all of the good deeds we may do. We need a savior!
Jeremiah 4:4 Cleanse your minds and hearts, not just your bodies, or else my anger will burn you to a crisp because of all your sins. And no one will be able to put the fire out.
We must repent of our sins and accept Jesus’ payment for our sins. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and seek God’s truth today.
Repentance is more than saying, “Sorry!” It is a promise to turn around and avoid sinning. Accept Jesus’ payment for your sins, ask God to make you His own, and promise to do your best to live your life in ways that please Him. He will send the Holy Spirit to live inside of you to help guide you. He will make the Bible clear to you and help you make Godly choices.
I believe our time here is short. One day we will stand before God and be judged; we will either receive rewards for our life or be condemned for our behavior on earth. I pray that you will take these words to heart and draw close to God. Do not be one to hear Jesus say “I never knew you”!


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Living in God’s Light

Today we will look at a passage from the book of First John.   First John was written by the apostle John, one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples.  This letter was probably written between AD 85-90 from Ephesus, before John’s exile to the island of Patmos.  Jerusalem had been destroyed in AD 70, and Christians were scattered throughout the empire.  By the time John wrote this epistle, Christianity had been around for more than a generation.  It had faced and survived severe persecution.  The main problem confronting the church at this time was seduction and many believers were conforming to the world’s standards, failing to stand up for Christ, and compromising their faith.  False teachers were plentiful, and they accelerated the church’s downward slide away from the Christian faith.

Things haven’t really changed much in 2,000 years.  The church still faces seduction, and many believers are conformed to the world’s standards.  False teachers are still plentiful today, and we can fall for their lies.  Just as the Christians of John’s time, Believers in our time need to be reminded about how to live in God’s light.

1 John 1:5-10 AMP  5 This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection]. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. 8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.] 9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. 10 If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.

This passage from the 1st letter of John gives three basic instructions on how to live in God’s light.  The first is to avoid spiritual darkness; second is: don’t be self-deceived; and the third is to freely confess our sins to God.

The first point of instruction in John’s letter to Christians is:   Avoid Spiritual darkness.

     V 5-7 AMP  5 This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection]. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].

    Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy and reliable.  Darkness represents sin and evil.  To say “God is light” means that God is perfectly holy and true, and that He alone can guide us out of the darkness of sin.  Light is also related to truth.  It exposes whatever exists, whether it is good or bad.  In the dark, good and evil can look alike; but in the light, they can be clearly distinguished.  Just as darkness cannot exit in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of a Holy God.  

    If we want to have a relationship with God, we must put aside our sinful ways of living.  To claim that relationship but live for ourselves is hypocrisy.   Christ will expose and judge such deceit.

    To walk in spiritual darkness means to live in sin and immoral pleasure.  Such people do not have fellowship with God.  They are not born of God.  Those who have fellowship with God experience His grace and live lives of holiness in His presence. 

    Conversely, to walk in spiritual light means to believe God’s truth as revealed in His Word and to make a sincere and sustained effort by His grace to follow it in word and deed.  The phrase “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” refers to the ongoing work of sanctification within the believer and the continual cleansing thought Christ’s blood for our inadvertent sins.

    This process is called “Sanctification”.  It means to make holy, to consecrate, to separate from the world, and to be set apart from sin so that we may have intimate fellowship with God and serve Him gladly. 

    1Peter 1:2 AMP  2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].

    Sanctification was God’s will for His people in the OT; they were to live holy or sanctified lives, separated from the lifestyles of the nations around them.  Likewise, sanctification is a requirement for believer in Christ.  Scripture teaches that without holiness no one will see the Lord.

     Heb 12:14 AMP  14 Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.

    God’s children achieve sanctification by faith, by union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by the blood of Christ, by the Word, and by the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  Faith is not real unless it results in changed lives and good works and people cannot be true believers if they continue living in sin. 

    Sanctification is both a work of God and a work of His people.  In order to accomplish God’s will in sanctification, believers must participate in the Spirit’s sanctifying work by ceasing to do evil, purifying themselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, and keeping themselves from being polluted by the world.

    True sanctification requires that believers maintain intimate communion with Christ, engage in fellowship with believers, devote themselves to prayer, obey God’s Word, be sensitive to God’s presence and care, love righteousness and hate wickedness, put sin to death, submit to God’s discipline, continue to obey, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

    In the New Testament, sanctification is not pictured as a slow process of forsaking sin little by little.  Instead, it is presented as a definitive act by which the believer by grace is set free from Satan’s bondage and makes a clear break with sin in order to live for God.  At the same time, sanctification is described as a lifelong process by which we continue to put to death the misdeeds of the body and are progressively transformed into Christ’s likeness.  We grow in grace and exercise a greater love for God and each other. 

    We have seen that Believers should avoid spiritual darkness.  The second point of John’s instruction to Christians is: Don’t be self-deceived  v 8  AMP  8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.]

     We need to remember that not everyone with a platform, television program, pod cast or radio slot will teach God’s truth.  If a person does not study the Bible and know it’s truth, they can easily be led astray by a false teacher.  Many false teachings appeal to our sin nature and sound like an easier path than what the Bible truly teaches. 

    There were false teachers who wormed their way into the church in John’s day as well as ours.  Some of these people taught the body was evil or worthless.  Either they insisted on denying bodily desires through rigid discipline, or they approved of gratifying every physical lust because the body was going to be destroyed anyway.  Obviously, the second approach was more popular in John’s time as well as ours!  In this letter John exposes the error in both of these approaches.

     Not only may false teachers be found in churches, but many are welcomed   into our homes on a nightly basis.  When I was in college, I was taught that those who control the media control the culture and can mold it to their will.  Television shows often promote the idea that lying is okay as long as it accomplishes one’s goal.  Sex before marriage is okay as long as you are in love.  And if the woman gets pregnant, an abortion can take care of that. If you are bored with your spouse, have an affair.  It is whatever makes you happy that matters.   Homosexuality is celebrated and religious people are foolish. 

    Today we see many false teachers promoting lifestyles that God clearly calls an abomination.  We see them sanctioning sexual immorality, teaching that it is okay to claim the name of Jesus and still actively participate in these sins.  One day we will all stand before God and give an account of how we followed Jesus in this life.  Beware of teachers who call evil good.

    Some false teachers taught that not only that they had no sin in them, and whatever they did, they would not sin.  This is a lie.  They forgot one basic truth: we are sinners by nature and by practice.

    Romans 3:23  AMP   For all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God.   

    These false teachers wanted to be considered Christians, but they saw no need to confess their sins and repent.  The blood of Jesus did not mean much to them, because they didn’t think they needed it.  Instead of repenting and being cleansed by Christ’s blood, they were introducing impurity into the circle of believers. 

    They taught not only that they had no sin in them but also that no matter what they did, they would not sin.  This is a lie.  They forgot the basic truth that we are sinners by nature and by practice.  At conversion all our sins are forgiven – past, present and future.  Yet even after we become Christians, we still sin and must confess.  This kind of confession is not to gain God’s acceptance, but to remove the barrier to fellowship that our sin has put between us and Him.  It takes humility and honesty to recognize our weaknesses, and most of us would rather pretend we are strong.  But we need to not fear revealing our sins to God – He knows them already.  He will not push us away, no matter what we’ve done.  Instead, He will push away the sins and draw us to Himself.

    We have seen that Christians should avoid spiritual darkness and should not be self-deceived.  Now we will address John’s third point: Freely confess sins to God 

    v.9-10  AMP  9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. 10 If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.

    Confession is supposed to free us to enjoy fellowship with Christ.  It should ease our consciences and lighten our cares.  But some Christians do not understand how it works.  They feel so guilty that they confess the same sins over and over and then wonder if they might have forgotten something.  Other Christians believe God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with un-confessed sins, they would be forever lost.  These Christians do not understand that God wants to forgive us.  He allowed His beloved Son to die just so He could pardon us.  When we come to Christ, He forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit.  We don’t need to confess the same sins all over again and we don’t need to fear that He will cast us out if we don’t keep our slate perfectly clear at all moments.  Of course we want to continue to confess our sins, but not because we think failure to do so will make us lose our salvation.  Our hope in Christ is secure.  Instead, we confess our sins so we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with Him.

    True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We can’t just say, “Ooops, I did it again, sorry.”   We are not genuinely confessing our sins before God if we plan to commit the sin again and just want temporary forgiveness.  We must pray for strength to defeat the temptation the next time it appears.

    Born again Christians are still capable of some kinds of sin.  However, John does not teach that the Christian MUST sin; instead, he exhorts his readers to live without sin.  For those who do fall into sin, the remedy is to confess and forsake our sin.  The assurance of forgiveness lies in the blood of Jesus Christ and His heavenly ministry as “one who speaks to the Father in our defense.”  Jesus intercedes before God on our behalf on the basis of His atoning death, our repentance and our faith in Him.

    In this small passage of John’s letter, written to believers everywhere, we see three key instructions for the church.  We are to avoid spiritual darkness; don’t be self-deceived; and freely confess our sins to God.

    There is much spiritual darkness waging war against Christ’s church today and many false teachers doing their best to deceive God’s people.  John reminds us that we are to freely confess our sins to God. 

    If you have not done a thorough assessment of your life lately, ask God to show you where you may have sinned and confess them to receive that wonderful reconciliation with God.  Ask Him to help you avoid these snares of sinful behavior; He will through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

    May we walk before God with a clean slate and enjoy unbroken fellowship with our loving Heavenly Father.

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    Don’t Love the Evil World

    Today we will look at the Apostle John’s message to the followers of Jesus Christ.  The world was steeped in evil when John wrote this message.  Ephesus, where he served the Lord, was under Roman rule and people followed a multitude of false gods, including worship of the emperor.  Sexual sins abounded and morals were low.  John warns the church about allowing themselves to be drawn back into the evil world systems of the day.  His warning applies to us as well.  In modern times we see false religions, we see multitudes indifferent to God, we see a rise in Satan worship as well as some churches claiming the name of Christ but celebrating things that God calls an abomination.  We need this message today as much as John’s readers did 2,000 years ago. 

    Let’s look at 1 John 2:12-17 NLT  I am writing to you who are God’s children
        because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.[    a]
    13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith[    b]
        because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
    I am writing to you who are young in the faith
        because you have won your battle with the evil one.
    14 I have written to you who are God’s children
        because you know the Father.
    I have written to you who are mature in the faith
        because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
    I have written to you who are young in the faith
        because you are strong.
    God’s word lives in your hearts,
        and you have won your battle with the evil one.

     15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

    John addresses three things in today’s text.  This is a message for all who belong to Christ.  It is a warning that worldliness begins in the heart, and it is an instruction to do God’s will.

     John’s message is for all. V.12-14  NLT  I am writing to you who are God’s children
        because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.[    a]
    13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith[    b]
        because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
    I am writing to you who are young in the faith
        because you have won your battle with the evil one.
    14 I have written to you who are God’s children
        because you know the Father.
    I have written to you who are mature in the faith
        because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
    I have written to you who are young in the faith
        because you are strong.
    God’s word lives in your hearts,
        and you have won your battle with the evil one.

    John is writing to believers of all ages. He writes to his “little children” who had experienced forgiveness through Jesus.  He writes to the older men who were mature in the faith and had a long-standing relationship with Christ. He writes to the younger men who had struggled with Satan’s temptations and had won.  And he writes to the boys and girls who had learned about Christ and were just beginning their spiritual journey.

     In each stage of life, God’s Word is relevant.  Each stage of life builds upon the other.  As children learn about Christ, they grow in their ability to win battles with temptation.  As young adults move from victory to victory, they grow in their relationship with Christ.  Older adults, having known Christ for years, have developed the wisdom needed to teach young people and start the cycle all over again.  Is your Christian growth appropriate for your stage in life?  This message applies to all, wherever you may be in your Christian Walk.

    If you are a Christian, this message is for you!

    2.Worldliness begins in the heart  v 15-16 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

    The term “world’ often refers to the vast system of this age that Satan promotes and exists independent of God.  It consists not only in the obviously evil, immoral and sinful pleasures of the world, but also refers to the spirit of rebellion against or indifference to God and His revelation that exists within all human enterprises not under Christ’s lordship.

     Satan uses the world’s ideas, morality, philosophies, psychology, desires, governments, culture, education, science, art, medicine, music, economic systems, entertainment, mass media, religions, sports, agriculture, etc, to oppose God, His people, His Word and His righteous standards.  For example, Satan will use the medical profession to promote the killing of unborn babies, agriculture to produce life-destroying drugs such as alcohol and narcotics, educational systems to promote ungodly and humanistic philosophy, and the entertainment media to destroy Godly standards. 

    Believers must be aware that behind all human enterprises there is a spirit or power that moves against God and His Word, some to a lesser degree, some to a greater degree.  Finally, the “world’ also includes all man-made religious systems such as Greek gods or humanistic, and all unbiblical, worldly or lukewarm “Christian” organizations and churches. 

    Satan is the god of the present world system.  Along with a host of subordinate evil spirits he controls it.  He has organized the world into political, cultural, economic and religious systems that are innately hostile toward God and His people and that refuse to submit to His Truth, which exposes its evil.

    John 7:7 NLT  7 The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.

    Because the world hated Jesus, we who follow Him can expect that many people will hate us as well.  We can be grateful if life goes well, but not at the cost of following Jesus halfheartedly or not at all.

    The world and the true church are two distinct groups of people: The world is under Satan’s dominion, and the church belongs exclusively to God.  Believers must separate themselves from the world.  In the world believers are aliens and strangers.  We don’t think or act or speak the way people do who are under Satanic control. 

     1 Peter 2:11. NLT  11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

    Believers must come out of the world, not be conformed to the world, and not love the world.  Instead, we are to overcome the world, hate the world’s evil, die to the world and be delivered from the world.  Loving the world defiles our fellowship with God and leads to spiritual destruction.  It is impossible to love the world and the Father at the same time. 

    Mt 6:24  NLT  24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

    To love the world means to be in intimate fellowship with and devoted to its values, interests, ways and pleasures.  It means taking pleasure in or enjoying what is offensive and opposed to God.

    The terms “world” and “earth” are not synonymous.  God does not forbid a love for the created earth, ie nature, mountains, forests, animals and the like.  God created the earth and declared it to be good in Genesis 1.

    1 John 2:16 NLT  16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

    There are three aspects of the sinful world that create open hostility to God.  They are:  1. The cravings of sinful man.  2 impure desires and 3 running after sinful pleasures and sensual gratification.

    1 Corinthians 6:18 NLT  18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

    Php 3:19 NLT  19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

    James 1:14 NLT  14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

    The Believer must not have close fellowship with those who participate in the world’s evil system.  Instead, we must openly condemn their sin, be salt and light to them, love them and attempt to win them to Christ.

    The devil will oppose what we are doing, and the true Christian will experience trouble, hatred persecution and suffering.  Using the lures of the world Satan makes an unceasing effort to destroy the life of God in the Christian.

    We must remember that the world system is temporary and will be destroyed by God.    Even now the world is passing away.    

    We have seen that this message from John is for all believers and that worldliness begins in the heart.  Now we will see that believers should do God’s will, in spite of the evil around us.   

    3.Do God’s Will  v17 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

    When our attachment to worldly things is strong, it’s hard to believe that the things we want will one day pass away.  It may be even harder to believe that the person who does the will of God will live forever.  But this was John’s conviction based on the facts of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and promises He made.  Knowing that this evil world and its sin will end gives us courage to continue doing God’s will.

    What is God’s will for the Believer?  To love God and love people. 

    John’s message was for all believers, including believers of today.  This world is steeped in evil and many systems and people live in direct opposition to God and His followers.  But, despite what we see around us, we are to continue to live lives that please God. 

    We have the promise of eternal life with Him. 

    People often fear death because of the many unknown factors surrounding it.  We don’t need to fear.  Jesus tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Our last breath on earth is followed by our next breath in Heaven.  And we will be with Jesus forever. 

    Revelation 22:3-5  NLT  3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

    John gives us a sneak peek into our future in Heaven with Jesus.  There will be no evil there.  God will live among His faithful people on an earth purged from all evil.  On this new earth the saints will see and live with Jesus, the Lamb of God, who through love redeemed them by His death on the cross.  We will worship God and see Him face to face, wrapped in His perpetual love. 

    Please remember this great promise if you feel yourself being tempted by Satan and drawn to evil.  Stand firm and resist the devil and he will flee from you.

    I pray that God will bless you richly until we meet again.

    by

    Behave Yourself!

    When my children were young, they often heard a warning before we went out in public, going shopping, or visiting anywhere. BEHAVE YOURSELF! This meant no climbing on shelves, no hiding in the clothes racks, no helping themselves to food, no tantrums, no pleading, and no whining! It meant something a little different if we were going clothes shopping, especially if the shopping trip was for me. No running amuck in the dressing room, especially once I was stripped down to my underwear.

    They did that to me once. I had a double stroller with both of them strapped inside and I needed a dress for a special party. I wheeled them into the dressing room and proceeded to strip down, they undid the stroller straps, hopped out of the stroller and disappeared under the door of the changing booth, giggling hysterically as I hollered for them to get back inside here, all while frantically throwing on my clothes. They thought it was a grand joke. I was not amused.

    A visit to Great Aunt Mary’s house, with her collection of fragile china figurines on open display, meant a warning to not TOUCH ANYTHING. This also meant no rough housing, and sitting quietly even if the adult conversation was BORING! And don’t gobble the cookies she gave them, or complain that they wanted chocolate chip cookies instead of oatmeal raisin.

    These reminders were issued on a regular basis because my children are human and humans have a tendency to forget things, especially when presented with new and unfamiliar situations.

    Behave yourself was a reminder to not act like a rebellious out-of-control lout, to not behave selfishly, and to recognize the preciousness of others and their belongings.

    My children are now grown up and I don’t remind them to behave themselves when they go out. Hopefully they got enough to that message growing up.

    We may be all grown up, but we still need to behave, especially if we are Christians. You may ask, “Why should we Christians behave? Why should we live any differently than the rest of the world? I accepted Jesus as my Savior, and I’m going to heaven. What difference does it make if I behave or not?”

    We should behave for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

    Unfortunately, many unsaved people view Christians as hypocrites. We say one thing and often act in an entirely different way. The world is watching. People are searching for a truth to believe in and when we live no differently than the world, it cheapens Christ’s sacrifice. Why should they commit their lives to Christ when believers live the same as they do?

    Being a Christian is more than just attending a service on Sunday morning and letting the devil rule the rest of the week. Our lives should be so different than the lives of the lost that they are drawn to Christ because of the different way we live. Your life as a Christian should make non-believers question their disbelief in God.

    The Bible tells us to put on the new man when we are born again. We let go of things that offend God, live our lives to please Him and study His Holy Word. The Bible is our new road map for living. We are careful to not follow the way of the world but to walk as Jesus did, in close communion with God and striving to please Him in our daily live.

    We should behave for the sake of New Believers.

    -People are watching us. The un-redeemed person will test you to see if your faith is real. Remember, they are looking for something true to believe in; something that isn’t another lie.

    When I was a new believer, I felt like the Christian walk was something of a mine field. One person said I would go to Hell if I wore slacks or jewelry. Another said I would go to Hell if I used a salad dressing or cold medicine that contained alcohol. Another said I would go to Hell if I cut my hair. None of these will send you to Hell. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you will do you best to learn how He wants you to live. If you don’t know how to behave in the way God would have you behave, take a good look at the Ten Commandments and then Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees. These are a good place to start.

    Exodus 20:1-17

    1And God spoke all these words:

    2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

    3“You shall have no other gods before me.

    4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

    7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.

    8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

    12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

    13“You shall not murder.

    14“You shall not commit adultery.

    15“You shall not steal.

    16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

    17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

    These are the ten commandments that God Himself inscribed on a stone tablet for Moses. These are His rules for living, for the Nation of Israel as well as for us today.

    Or, you could check out the “Hillbilly 10 Commandments.” They are a condensed version of the 10 commandments, in a slightly different order than the ones God gave Moses, with a backwoodsy twist.

    1. Aint but One God.
    2. Honor yer Ma and Pa.
    3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’.
    4. Git yer hide ta Sunday meetin’.
    5. Aint notin’ come before the Lord.
    6. No foolin’ with another feller’s gal.
    7. No killin’, cept fer critters.
    8. Quit yer foul mouthin’.
    9. No swipen’ yer kin folk’s stuff.
    10. Don’t be hankerin’ fer it neither.

    The Pharisees and Sadducees were the teachers of the teachers of the law the leaders of Israel in Jesus’ day and they were always trying to trip him up. They questioned Jesus on the commandments in Matthew 22: 34-40.

    34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

    37 Jesus replied, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

    And this succinctly boils down all of the ten commandments into two. Love God and love people.

    We should behave because our children are watching.

    We all smile when we see a little boy imitating his daddy shaving, or a little girl imitating her mother applying makeup. Our children are watching our every move and the lessons they learn as they watch us are far more impactful than anything we could ever say.

    Some things are better caught than taught. We should be a living gospel to all who see us, particularly our children. Studies show that parents who make church attendance optional. meaning only attending when it is convenient, tend to raise children who view church and God as non-essential.

    In 1 Corinthians 4:16 Paul urges the new Believers in Corinth to imitate him as he follows Christ. Our children imitate us. Our children and new Believers are always watching us and learning how to walk the Christian walk largely based on how we are walking ourselves.

    We should behave because Jesus is watching.

    Have you heard the joke about the burglar and the parrot? the burglar breaks into a person’s house and is busily trying to crack open the safe when he hears a voice behind him say, “Jesus is watching,.” Startled, he turns around and sees no one else in the room with him and returns to his work. Again, he hears: “Jesus is watching.”

    This time he shines his flashlight around the room and sees a parrot sitting on a perch. The bird looks at him and says again, “Jesus is watching.”

    “Just a stupid bird,” the burglar mutters. Then he asks the bird its name. The bird replies, “Moses.”

    “Moses!” the burglar says. “Who would name a bird Moses?”

    The bird replies, “The same person who named their Rottweiler Jesus. Sic ’em, Jesus.”

    Jesus Christ is not a rottweiler. He is the King and Lord of Lords and is God in the flesh. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Believers will not be judged as to if they can enter heaven or not; believing in Jesus, making Him the Lord of your life and following Him takes care of that. But there is a special judgment for believers where Jesus will examine the works we did on earth, and the way that we lived our life here on earth and we will be rewarded for the things we did for His Kingdom.

    In Matthew 16:24-27, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”

    Paul, addressing the church in Corinth said in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15: By the grace God has given me I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s works. If what has built survives, he will receive his reward. It it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

    What are you building on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Are you building with gold and gemstones or wood and straw?

    Jesus is the good shepherd. He watches over His church. It breaks my heart to think of willfully doing anything that would grieve Him or cause Him pain. He has done so much for me. My obedience to Him is an act of love.

    Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey My commandments.” Remember, these are “love God and love people.” Walk circumspectly because people are watching. They are the lost, sin-soaked world that is looking for truth to commit their lives to. They are new Believers who are looking for an example of Christian walk to follow. They are your children, the next generation of Christianity. And it is Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who is looking for people to follow Him in truth.

    There is a sad heresy that has crept into Christendom today. It is the Hyper Grace movement. It reduces a life of devotion to Jesus to a mere incantation. Say the words, walk the church aisle, and be saved. Then live as you choose because you now have your golden ticket to heaven.

    That is not the way it works. Jesus is looking for people to be devoted to Him, to turn away from sin, and walk as new creatures in the light of God, not people who only give Him lip service and then live by their own rules.

    Are you willing to make that choice? Are you willing to give up the sinful life and follow Jesus? If you are willing, please don’t delay. I firmly believe that Jesus could return for His Church at any moment. You don’t want to miss that train. You don’t have to recite a fancy prayer; just talk to God from your heart and tell Him you are sorry for sinning against Him and ask Him to make you part of His family and ask HIm to help you live for Jesus.

    by

    COVID19 – White Nights

    The night before last I had insomnia. I was bug-eyed and wide awake until after 5:30 am. It reminded me of a bout of insomnia I experienced about 10 years ago when doctors discovered a growth on my thyroid. I tried to not think about it during the day and felt like I wasn’t freaking out with future tripping “what ifs”, but still experienced a four night insomnia storm leading up to my biopsy. I think it was a deep, subconscious anxiety about what they might find that kept me wound up and unable to sleep. Everything turned out fine; lots of people have benign growths on their thyroid, especially as they get older. But sometimes, it is malignant, hence the anxiety.

    A friend of mine in Tennessee experienced insomnia last night and shared her frustration on Facebook. Sleeplessness is unusual for her. She works hard during the day and typically sleeps well all night. Many of her friends chimed in to her post, sharing that they, too, were experiencing insomnia. It must be something going around.

    In retrospect, I can look back on my white nights prior to my biopsy and attribute the sleeplessness to anxiety created by the uncertainties of the thyroid growth. I couldn’t break it down to that at the time because I was caught up in the storm.


    There is so much uncertainty about life and the future wrapped around this Global Pandemic and I suspect many of us are experiencing insomnia driven anxiety during this time of self quarantined isolation.

    We can just try to soldier on and cope as best as possible, or we can take action when insomnia disturbs our sleep. I am not talking about taking sleeping pills. They didn’t work for me when I was in the thyroid insomnia storm. A sleep aid can sometimes force our bodies into an artificial sleep pattern but they don’t address the root of the problem. Looking back, I can see that I was afraid of what the biopsy might find. I refused to address the fear and pushed it down, out of my mind instead of releasing it to God.

    When insomnia strikes there is usually something else going on beneath the surface that we are not surrendering to God.

    Recognizing the attack and addressing the root cause is the first step to overcoming. Satan, the enemy of our soul, looks for these chinks in our spiritual armor and uses them to distract and derail us. He doesn’t fight fairly and never wastes an opportunity to keep our eyes off Jesus.

    I have a suggestion if you are experiencing sleepless nights, or if you want to take some preemptive steps. Before you go to bed, set up a CD player, MP3 player, tablet, or other music playing device next to your bed. Load it with soothing worship songs. Have earphones handy if you share a bedroom and don’t want to disturb your partner.

    When insomnia strikes, play this music softly and focus your mind on Jesus. Consciously relax and rest your body. Choose to relax your mind. Focus on the words of the song. Demonic forces flee when Jesus is worshiped and God is glorified.

    Tell God what is bothering you. Be honest. He knows it already and is there to help you through this. He loves you and wants you to rest in Him and trust Him despite the circumstances swirling around you. Remember, God’s got this.

    I pray that the peace of Christ floods your spirit, and floods the spirits of all who are dealing with many uncertainties in this season.

    by

    Taking it all For Granted

    The morning after the rare snowstorm, bringing 22 degree temperatures and no power!

    We are experiencing a rare polar temperature plunge. In fact, it is colder here in VA BCH than in Northern Michigan right now. Last night’s snowstorm (another rarity) dropped about 4 “of icy snow and we woke up to clear blue skies, sunshine, and NO POWER.
    We were better prepared for power outages when we lived on a country road in Michigan. Frequent blizzards and ice storms necessitated the use of our trusty generator and wood stove almost every winter. We simply cooked in the downstairs kitchen on the gas stove instead of using the electric stove in our regular kitchen or cooked something in a pot on the wood-burner as we heated the house. The generator ran the pump and kept the refrigerator cold, and was equipped with a convenient switch that routed the power to house when the power went down. And, if the well failed, our backyard pond could supply ample water till things straightened out again.
    But, a few years ago, we traded the country life for a neighborhood in a major city. Shopping is better; there are at least 6 different grocery stores within a 3 mile circle from our home, and multiple malls and big box stores within 10 miles. We have numerous hospitals close by, and are not limited to medical care. Entertainment opportunities abound in the big city. And, instead of our closest neighbors being a half mile down the dirt road, we have community.
    This morning, however, I missed the country life. While we have a gas furnace, the ignition and fan are electric. We have a gas stove, but had to find matches to light the burners. And, as we watched the interior temperatures drop, we reminisced over the ease of flipping a generator switch in the country house as we debated about which appliances were the most important to access the generator first. Thankfully water is not a problem, because the city feeds provide pressure for flushing toilets, but how to keep the pipes from freezing?
    We dug out our long underwear, dressed in layers and boiled a kettle of water to make to coffee. I was amused to find myself automatically reaching for light switches in rooms, only to remember, “Oh, no power.” We take having electricity at our fingertips for granted.
    This is the first power outage we have experienced here; the lines are buried so even during the past three hurricanes, our lights have not flickered. Nearly 4,000 customers were without power this morning and I am grateful for the crews who worked in the 22 degree cold to quickly restore our electricity.
    This minor blip, this short term power outage, makes me think of all the other things we casually take for granted in our lives. Having available food, a home, clothing, friends, instant technology, freedom to worship, living in relative safety, and health are all treasures. And most of all, a loving creator God who wants to have a personal relationship with us.
    In a recent Sunday school class, we talked with the elementary children about living without electricity. They were horrified by the thought of not having their tablets and cell phones. One ten year old said he could live without electricity as long as he could still play his video games any time he wanted. An eleven year old girl said she couldn’t live without her cell phone. We teachers struggled to help them understand that there are places on earth where people live without such modern conveniences, but I’m sure they thought we were exaggerating. Not only do we, as a population, take our luxuries for granted, but we claim them as a necessity.
    Yet the only REAL necessity we have in this life is a personal relationship with our loving creator God. He supplies all of our needs, from the air in our lungs, to the food we eat and the clothing we wear. Everything we are and have come from His hand.
    In Exodus 33, the Bible records a conversation between God and Moses. The people have rebelled and God is angry. He tells Moses that He will send an angel to bring them to the Promised Land but He will not go with them because of their sin. The people repent and God relents. Moses declares, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
    We need to cultivate the heart of Moses. It isn’t our creature comforts that matter the most, but our relationship with God. We need God’s presence in our lives far more than electricity and other modern conveniences. And, like electricity, He is always near, but we just take Him for granted.

    by

    Snap, Crackle…and…POP!

    Accidents happen. They come out of the blue, unplanned and unexpected. They disrupt your life, cause injury, and make you painfully aware of your own destructibility.

    I was at a family party, celebrating the second and fourth birthdays of granddaughters two and three. The family was gathered at my son’s table, finishing lunch and laughing as we visited. In one smooth move, I scooped up the used party plates and was in the process of pivoting around in my chair while standing up, planning to deposit them in the trash container behind me. Instead I landed head-first in my niece’s lap! Somehow I managed to get a foot tangled up with the leg of my chair and the table leg.

    The culprits: chair and table leg.

    I think I managed to hook my little toe on the aluminum chair leg, bending the last two toes skyward. The remaining toes smashed against the table leg, pressing them downwards. Imagine a circus strongman ripping a phone book in half down the middle. Now exchange the phone book for my foot!

    My foot immediately inflated and discolored. I could still wiggle my toes, so I assumed nothing was broken. It wouldn’t “flex” and I had a funny bump on the sole under my little toe, but I could still put weight on the heel and hobble along. Wearing a shoe was out of the question, but I managed an over-sized flip flop. Wrapping my foot in athletic tape provided some support and helped quell the throbbing pain and the swelling gradually decreased.

    Tutti-fruity colors; the nail polish is hiding the bruises UNDER the nails.

    I have broken a toe before and the remedy was to “buddy tape” it to the toe next door. I figured I was in for a long six weeks and was grateful that it happened in the summer so I didn’t have to try to wear real shoes. I slept with it elevated and outside of the covers to avoid the weight of blankets.

    A nurse friend suggested that I probably should get x-rays and cautioned that if I broke the socket, I might need surgery. I was leaving the next day for a week-long trip and figured I would see a doctor when I got home if it wasn’t any better by the time I returned home.

    Our first night of the trip was spent at a charming, rustic 1940’s style Lodge on Skyline Drive. No televisions in the room, no a/c, and no elevators! The down comforter on the double bed gave the room a European feel.

    Our charming room at the Lodge.

    We climbed the steep, double flight of stairs and I hobbled down the hall to our room. The narrow room could only accommodate a full sized bed, instead of a Queen or King, and the right side of the bed was only about a foot from the wall. I opted to sleep on the bathroom side, despite placing my sore foot on the center of the bed.

    Sometime during the night I woke up yelling and moaning. Deep asleep, I must have gotten my foot wrapped up in the bedding and thrashed it into my husband’s leg as I tried to kick free of the covers. I remember feeling a “POP” as I hit his leg, and a white-hot flash of intense pain.

    But in the morning, my foot was fine! I suspect I had dislocated my toe in the accident and the night-time impact realigned it. God’s chiropractic adjustment! God restored my foot during the night. The throbbing pain was gone, my foot could flex again and the odd lump under my little toe had vanished. I can walk again!

    Isaiah 52:7 says “How blessed are the feet of those who bring good news.” One week after the “adjustment,” I am only dealing with minor bruising and muscle strain but am well on the way to full recovery.

    by

    Flipping the “Dog House.”

    Why I haven’t been blogging for the past two and a half years….

    The house-hunting ordeal had begun again. This was not a new game for us; we had lived at 16 different addresses in our nearly 40 years of marriage; this was not a corporate move as many of the prior ones had been, but finding a long-term home after retirement. And, after years of major renovations in the homes we had purchased, my handy-man husband had stipulated he didn’t want to buy another house that needed work!

    We began looking on-line, ruling out hundreds of homes before ever driving by or stepping inside them. Wrong room lay-outs, not enough bedrooms, awful kitchens, no garden space in the back yard, lack of garage, or just out of our price range took its toll. Finally we narrowed the list to about 30 homes and contacted a real estate agent who drove us around for weeks, only to have us turn our thumbs down on all of them.

    It was discouraging. This community has thousands of homes for sale, but every single one of them had some major flaw that eliminated it from our consideration. After all, this was not a house that we would need to resell in a year or two when the company needed my husband’s skills at a new location; this would be a permanent home until we were too fragile to live on our own.

    One sunny Sunday afternoon, as my husband settled on the sofa for an afternoon of football, I dug back into the internet searching and discovered two “Open House” homes in an area we liked. He was involved in watching his games so I went alone.

    I fell in love with the first house. From the moment I walked through the front door, I liked everything I saw. (Remember, we were looking for a house that wouldn’t need any work!) And this one was a beauty! There were no worn, dirty carpets to replace; there were no textile floors at all. All of the floors and even the stairs were finished in wood. It had real wooden cupboards in the kitchen.

    Our dream list included a formal living room, formal dining room, large kitchen, family room with a fireplace, at least four bedrooms, a screened back porch, and a space in the backyard for a garden, a two car garage and a shed. And this place had it all…almost. The only thing missing was the screening on the covered porch in back, but that was an easy fix. It was at the high end of our price range but was the first house that actually fulfilled our list and it was beautiful.

    I then drove a couple of blocks to the second Open House listing. Pots of dead plants peeked out from under the overgrown shrubbery and long grass grew from the multiple cracks in the driveway. The door was missing from the mailbox and the screens were tattered. Paint was peeling from the front porch and door trim and the front door and garage door were painted a hideous purple. Things didn’t improve much when I walked inside.

    The floors were covered in original builder grade carpeting that was nearly worn through and filthy. The walls had recently been spray painted in a flat white, complete with paint runs down the walls and on the dusty, faded window treatments. Most of the window glass had broken seals and were completely fogged. The kitchen was big with a nice floor-plan but the condition of the appliances, cabinets and flooring were a complete distraction. Two of the four bathrooms had new ceramic floors, but the other two floors were worn and torn. Even the registers were bent and rusted.

    Upstairs bedrooms still sported the original builder grade paint and an accumulation of all the dirt and abuse from the day it was first purchased by the original owner. Outdated light fixtures missing globes, filthy carpet, dirty walls and cracked door frames adorned every bedroom and peeling thermafoil cabinets in the bathrooms.

    No shed or screened porch in the backyard, either. The two car garage didn’t even have an automatic door opener and was filled with boxes. The man door to the side yard was rusted nearly through.

    The house was a wreck. I didn’t spend much time looking at it, mentally contrasting it with the jewel a few blocks away. My husband heard a glowing review of that house when I got home but was told, “Don’t waste your time even looking at the second house; it is a DOG!”

    We went through the “Jewel House” a couple of times with our agent. And my husband’s engineer eye pointed out flaws that I had overlooked. The shed was too small, the backyard wasn’t large enough, and there was a foreclosed, crumbling house right next door. The street was busy, with lots of cars parked alongside because the driveways were so short.

    We continued the hunt, but our selection was rapidly dwindling. So, we finally expanded our search to include “houses that may need some work.”

    We toured houses with buckled floors, mold issues, holes in the walls and ceilings, and some that needed major foundation repair. Even despite these major flaws, we never found a floor plan that we agreed on. We wanted a house with a downstairs bedroom and bath so when we are too rickety to maneuver stairs, we would have a bedroom on the main floor. Surprisingly, they are very rare in our community.

    Finally, he said, “Let’s go through the ‘Dog house.’” And, as he toured the house, he said, “I like it!” I groaned. Sure, it was livable in its current condition, because a family had lived here for years, but it was a wreck of a house.

    There was a bedroom and full bath on the main floor but there was no shed and no screened porch. And, there was WORK everywhere! We debated its pros and cons at length, but I reluctantly agreed to making an offer when he asked, “Would you like it if it had wood flooring throughout, a new kitchen, a privacy fence, a shed, a screened porch, and modern light fixtures?” “Well, sure. It would be like a different house then.”

    Despite not wanting to take on another home remodel project, we agreed on the floor plan, the neighborhood, and the largish sunlit back yard. We are not afraid of doing hard work and have the know-how to do many things ourselves so we placed an offer, subject to the house passing a home inspection.

    The inspector said the house was well constructed, better even than some of the homes in surrounding neighborhoods, but refused to turn on the microwave oven because the plastic back of the box was melted off from an interior fire, the dishwasher flooded the kitchen floor when we tested it, and the carbon monoxide alarm rang continuously. A separate heat pump inspection revealed a cracked heat exchanger and owner’s bypass attempts that were pumping toxic gas into the home whenever you turned on the heat.

    We threatened to withdraw the offer if they did not replace the heat pump and surprisingly, they installed a new unit. The appliances were ancient, and we decided not to make an issue out of something we would be replacing anyway.

    In our area, the seller must vacate the house of all possessions before the final closing. The purchaser makes a final walk through the property, viewing it empty, and has a final opportunity to change their mind and withdraw the offer. And the sale nearly fell apart at the closing table.

    During their pack out, someone had backed a truck into the garage door, and smashed it to the point of being unusable. We said we wanted a new garage door; they said it was like that when we placed our offer. I produced photos and our agents began to negotiate. I was ready to walk away from the table; the sellers were not happy that they were forced to replace the heat pump and did not want to replace the door. Finally they said that one of their helpers had backed up too far and smashed in the door and would give us the money for an equivalent door. Tense emotions calmed and we closed the sale.

    We were moving into the “Dog House” but the overwhelming amount of work prevented us from making that move right away. We began stripping carpeting from all the floors, tearing up the worn hardwood in the entry, and taking down the dust-caked, paint smeared window treatments. The first week of home ownership was a flurry of appliance shopping, meeting with window repairmen, and multiple trips to the landfill. We hired a company to repaint interior rooms, and it was one of the best decisions we could have made.

    The upgrades were not all cosmetic; there was rotted subflooring that needed repaired, and holes in the walls, as well as places where the plaster had fallen off from moisture damage. The house looked much worse once it was emptied, and we found surprises that were hidden by the worn carpeting.

    We had purchased new stainless steel appliances and had no sooner arranged for delivery when the refrigerator died. The grease caked stove was the only appliance that was still functional when the new units were installed.

    Instead of selecting solid hardwood flooring, we decided to install a laminate throughout the house, based on scratch and dent resistance reviews. We have installed and lived with solid oak hardwood floors in a previous home, and found them to scratch and dent easily. We had installed premium laminate flooring in the condo we were currently flipping and were impressed with the durability, feel, and luxurious appearance, as well as the ease of installation.

    We figured it took roughly three 8 man-hour days per room to install the flooring and my husband, my daughter, and I tackled the project. We lay flooring in the critical rooms, like a bedroom and storage room so we could vacate and sell the condo, slowly moving our belongings out of storage units as flooring was finished in each room. Basically, we camped in the construction zone.

    When the flooring was finished, the furniture brought out of storage, boxes unpacked and life began to settle in, we received a letter about a class action lawsuit concerning our flooring selection. We needed to test it for formaldehyde gassing as it might be a health hazard. After thorough testing, the flooring was deemed acceptable.

    A five ft long tick list hangs on the side of the refrigerator. It details all of the things for each room, from replacing the rusted air vent covers, replacing window treatments, replacing the outdated light fixtures, replacing the paint crusted, mismatched door hinges and knobs, to replacing the torn screens and broken window panes. As we finish and item we scratch it off the list.

    We purchased a shed from a company that delivered it to our lot, hired a contractor to build the screened porch on the back of the house, and hired a carpenter to install a privacy fence. I tackled the peeling thermafoil on the bathroom vanities, peeled them off with a heat gun and painted them. The guest bath on the main floor has been stripped out and upgraded.

    Instead of putting bandages on the awful kitchen cabinets and worn out kitchen floor, we decided to gut and replace everything with new flooring, custom wood cupboards, and the prettiest granite countertop I have ever seen.

    Two and a half years later, most of the rooms are done, but we still have some big projects to tackle. One bathroom is still untouched, sporting its 1980 wallpaper and broken acrylic shower stall. We are in the process of insulating and dry-walling one of the two large unfinished rooms, and still have one exterior door to replace.

    The “Dog House” has essentially been flipped. It is beautiful, welcoming, and prettier than it was when it was new. We host weekly Bible Studies and it is a place of ministry. My daughter said, “You have flipped the “Dog “house. What do you get when you flip the word Dog? It is now the ‘God House!’” You can’t get any better than that!

    by

    And The Lord says, “Trust Me.”

    My trust muscle is getting stretched some more today. It has been a grueling summer of selling our home (twice!), moving cross country, and a blur of packing and unpacking. I have purged, and packed, and wept as I have let go of items of sentimental value, and said good-bye to dear friends and a house and property that I loved.

    On the flip side of all that stress, is the awesome revival of a dead dream. I lived here before and hated leaving my church, my friends, my home, and my life. And now, years later after all hope was gone, The Lord opened the door and made a way for me to return. But, my joy today is tempered with a dose of frustration.

    And, this frustration is over a house! I want to be settled into a “forever house” with a yard for a garden. For months I have been long-distance stalking home sales via the internet, but was never in a position to seriously look, until now. I have watched most of the homes that I have liked and could afford to buy progress from “for sale” to “pending” to ultimately “sold.” Apparently my tastes must be similar to most other home buyers; the houses I like seem to be snapped up in a hurry.

    Today’s pending home sale was the last home on my original “watch list.” It has an accepted offer and is no longer officially on the market. Sales contracts sometimes fall through; I personally experienced it this summer on the FIRST sale of our home. The Lord is faithful, and ten days later we received an even better offer and were able to close the sale.

    This is another opportunity to trust Jesus; another opportunity to reflect on His faithfulness, restoration, and love for me and not get tangled up in the weeds of circumstances. But, silly human that I am, I tend to be short-sighted and lose focus on the big picture. My gerbil-brain forgets all of the times The Lord has provided for me time and time again. I get caught in the thistles of here and now and am easily distracted. But He is faithful, and The Lord says, “Trust me.”

    by

    Whom Are We Really Offending?

    Today is Halloween or more specifically, All Hallows Eve, the day before the Christian feast day dedicated to the celebration of heaven being the final destination for all who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Just as many begin their official celebration of Christmas on December 24, or Christmas Eve, All Hallows Eve traditionally was the “kick-off party” to the celebration of “All Saints Day.”

    One year our church hosted a children’s party that focused on the celebration of those of us who looked forward to heaven – those of us still here on earth fighting in the trenches of spiritual warfare. No spooky or gory costumes were permitted. Children were to dress in costumes representing Believers who had died in Christ and were now triumphantly in heaven. The party looked a lot like a gathering of “The Village People” with many tinkers, tailors, and Indian Chiefs.

    But this year, a school district in Colorado sent letters home to parents stating that children’s Halloween party costumes criteria no longer allowed children to dress up as cowboys or Indians, nor wear any other attire which the school might find offensive, particularly any outfit that might offend any ethnic group. (No more gypsies, geishas, flamenco dancers, or Mexican freedom fighters, like Zorro, allowed either!) Witches, ghouls, vampires, goblins and zombies are permitted.

    The American culture is steeped in death and the occult. Tune into prime time television on any night and take note of the parade of undead, witches, and vampires. Even commercials have zombies trying to buy cell phones! The school’s permission of gory, occultic and demonic costumes shouldn’t offend anyone, right? And many Christians, lulled into the fog of political correctness, allow their offspring to dress up as a zombie, witch, or vampire and think nothing of it, because the costumes are not offending any particular ethnic group.

    Whom are we really offending? We are so caught up with political correctness, that we completely miss the offense we are committing toward our God and Creator. His love letter to us, the Holy Bible, warns us to have nothing to do with the occult and to avoid every appearance of evil. Satan celebrates death, while Jesus came that we might enjoy abundant life.

    Christians, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Don’t be changed by the culture we live in, but transform the culture around you by letting the light of Christ-in-you shine and dispel the darkness, and battle on!