Spirit & Heart

“What has God done for you?” the speaker asked. 

I couldn’t think of any miracles, so I jotted down the question without an answer, content to sit and listen—until movement distracted me. A woman I didn’t recognize bent at the end of my row. She whispered something I didn’t hear, an insistent expression as she reached over two of my friends to hand me a small item. I stared as she left—at the item in my hand, my friends, at the space where she had just stood, and at my friends.

“Did you know her?” I asked.

They did not. For the last few nights, my contacts had swum in solution at the bottom of a deodorant container and the plastic bowl from a razor head. I had forgotten to pack a contact case, but this stranger had just handed me a brand-new one.

I think Jesus is saying God cares whether we have the necessities of life. If He cares for us in the little things, how much more in the more significant things?

Thinking about my future is scary, but the exhaustion from relying on myself is far worse. When Jesus says God clothes the grass, it reminds me of God’s power. He will care for me in the little things—like a case for my contacts—and He will care for me in the big things—like where my career will take me.

Life might not always be painless, but we can trust that God will be with us. Give your fears to God. He loves you so much. Remember what God has done for you and praise Him.

Many so-called truths are lies that mislead. However, because truth is readily available, liars must be more subtle in their lies and misleading statements.

The word that describes this subtleness is prevaricate. Prevaricate is a milder word than lie and means to speak or act to deceive. The effect is the same, but it is accomplished using vague statements from which another may draw inaccurate conclusions rather than downright lying.

Such is the work of Satan and his minions. There’s objective truth—God’s universal and absolute Word—that will be the final judge of all people. And there’s subjective truth, which is an assumed truth determined by a person’s mind. This truth will not stand on judgment day.

The majority live by subjective truth, assuming their judgment is correct. A small minority live by objective truth—God’s Word—with the complete confidence that it can be trusted to be right about everything.

When we choose the way of truth, we keep God’s Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. But when we live by subjective truth, we believe the lie of Satan, which will betray us in the end. With God’s truth, we judge all things to see if they’re true.

Each person has free will and can decide what truth they will follow: subjective truth and living presumptuously or objective truth and living with a certainty that we’re in the center of God’s will.

Make sure you are following the right truth. 

In the early 1970s, I came to faith in Christ. Speakers came through our church to share their mountaintop experiences. It appeared they were jumping from one peak to another. Spiritually speaking, I could not get out of bed without tripping over my own feet. I said, “Lord, what's wrong with me?”

This question remained until I got to know some of these speakers. Between these mountaintop experiences, these men usually had a time in the valley where they tripped over their feet, just like me. They conveniently had omitted their valley, which had made their mountaintops possible.

Great people of faith are clay jars, just like us. The only difference is that God may have sovereignly used them for his glory. Christians love mountaintop experiences, but faithfulness grows in the valley.

A farmer must cultivate the soil before it will grow crops. He needs to turn the ground over and plant the seeds. He fertilizes the soil and provides the moisture that enables the seeds to germinate. It does not just happen; it takes a lot of work.  

Developing faithfulness is similar. We must read God's Word and allow it to turn over the fallow ground in our hearts. When our lives don't measure up, we must apply God's Word through repentance. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, not a gift. God bestows gifts, but fruits are grown.

Most crops are grown in the valley rather than on the mountaintop. When it appears not much is happening in our lives, God works faithfulness into our character.

David cared for a few sheep and was absent when Samuel sought a king. But the ability David gained in the sheepfold to slay the lion and the bear was what he used to kill Goliath.

Never despise the mundane in your life. God uses the ordinary to bring about the extraordinary. Keith Green, a Christian musician, once said, "If you find yourself in the valley, farm it."

Wherever you find yourself, know God is cultivating faithfulness. 

In the 1990s, after six years, my service with a Christian music ministry ended abruptly, catapulting me into a midlife career crisis.

Organizational troubles prompted my sudden departure, leaving me disappointed and hurt. I loved sharing the gospel worldwide through music and felt a deep sense of loss. I wondered why God took this from me and what I was to do. I didn’t know. But I didn’t want to return to my journalism career. Bruised and battered, I sought refuge in the Lord and begged for direction.

Disappointment strikes everyone. We feel let down or short of our best life. Disappointment is no respecter of age or station in life.

Yet Jesus can help us navigate through these times. He provides rest and peace amidst the storms. Our circumstances may not change overnight, but the Lord promises not to leave or forsake us. He can give us the strength to forge on as we trust Him for our next steps. He did this for me by setting me on a new path that led to more mission work, another degree, and a job at a Christian university.

When disappointment crushes you, give it to Jesus. Run into His arms and feel His warm embrace. Bask in His promised rest. He awaits.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and bstad.)

We note October 31 as Halloween, but Protestants celebrate Reformation Day on the last day of October.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous Ninety-five Thesis to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany. It protested the Catholic Churches’ selling of indulgences. His act is generally recognized as the start of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther was brought before the Diet of Worms to recant his heresy for this act and other writings. But he responded, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot, and I will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”

Luther believed that if something was not in the Bible, it should not be a Church doctrine. When the Church’s precepts are people-made and we hold to the supremacy of God’s Word, we always run into trouble, as did Luther. The Catholic Church eventually excommunicated him.

However, elevating human wisdom above the Bible is not confined to one denomination or church tradition. Since the Reformation, some churches and denominations have followed their church rules and by-laws over biblical truth. The result allows for actions and practices called sinful by the Bible. Scripture alone must be the basis for our faith.

One of Luther’s quotes explains why he became a pivotal figure in church history: “The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates the thirst.”

However, an inverse relationship between physical and spiritual food is also possible. The less we ingest physical food, the hungrier we get. The more we take in spiritual food, God’s Word, the hungrier we get too.

Don’t ignore Bible reading and prayer. Let God’s Word take you captive.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Pexels.)