Sometimes you get a pit

Have you ever been enjoying a nice piece of cherry pie
and suddenly come across a cherry pit (seed)? I have, on several occasions in
my life. Pits are unexpected and sometimes painful; at the very least they are
a nuisance.

Life sometimes is that way also isn't it? That’s why
we have the saying in America, "Isn’t that just the pits?" You
know what I am talking about I’m sure. You are expecting a good day and along
comes a pit. Your life is fairly untroubled and an illness or accident pops up.
You are doing well at work and then you get the word your job is ending. Your
church life is going pretty well, and the preacher announces that he is
retiring. "Isn't that just the pits?"

I wish that we could find a way to make our lives always
fun, always joyful, always feeling good, but that just isn't the way life is,
is it? Often it seems we have the wrong idea that our relationship with Christ
is suppose to make bad things stop. That idea is strengthened by what we do,
say and sing to one another. I have always enjoyed singing the song Blue Skies
and Rainbows.

In case you don't know the words here they are: (1)
"Blue skies and
rainbows and sunbeams from heaven. Are what I
can see when My Lord is living in me. (2) Green grass and flowers, all blooming
in springtime, is works of the Master I live for each day. (3) Tall mountains,
green valleys, the beauty that surrounds me. All make me aware of the One Who
made it all. Chorus: Jesus is well and alive today; He makes His home in my
heart. Never more will I be all alone since He promised me that we never would
part."

That song proclaims how wonderful our life will be if
we only have Jesus in it and it is 100% right if you are just talking about
spiritual things. However the physical side of life keeps intervening with that
perfect life doesn't it? How is it that the apostle Paul could write, "I
have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" referring
to all of his physical challenges? (Philippians
4:11) In verse 13 he writes,
"I can do all this through him (Christ) who gives me strength."

Paul accepted the fact that bad things sometimes
happen in our lives, but he wasn't living his life according to what happened
to him physically. His hope and his ability to cope, was based upon what was
going to happen after he left this physical world.

Yes, sometimes you get "a pit" in life when
you were expecting to enjoy the cherry. Some folks give up or even get mad at
God because bad things happen. They seem to say, "When I became a
Christian I was only suppose to receive good things!" They will, but of
course God has promised good things in the spirit and that is what they really
struggle with.

So, can we still sing "Blue skies and rainbows
are what I see when my lord is living in me"? Yes, of course we can if we
understand what the promise is really about. Our promise is of a time to come
when there will be no more tears, no more death, no more suffering (Revelation
21:4). That's what Christians really live for, so if you are not, why not start
now? Your "pit" is coming, how are you going to deal with it?

It's all about the weather!

It seems that at almost any time of the year, the first
topic of conversation is the weather. In fact if any conversation every lags,
just ask about the weather to get it going again. Is it going to rain, it is
going to snow, how much snow is there going to be, is there going to be fog or
ice? Sometimes an optimistic person will ask, "Is it going to be sunny
today?," which leads to the question of how hot it might get.

I saw an interesting sign the other day that really got my interest.
It said, "TODAY'S FORCAST: GOD REIGNS AND THE SON SHINES". I mean,
think of the truth of that statement. Our weather is so unpredictable, so
changeable, it can change in a matter of minutes, but God is the one constant
in our universe.

I love what James has to say about God in regard to this in James 1:17. He tells us, "Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows ". (NIV)

Our lives are full of shadows aren’t they? Loss of loved
ones, loss of jobs, economies which crumble, prices which climb, our ability to
pay for daily necessities, age sneaking up on us, abuses, betrayals, health
issues, and the list could go on an on. Shadows come and shadows go, but God is
constant, "he never changes or casts a shifting shadow".

As you are dealing with the latest crisis in your life, your
shadow, wouldn't it be nice to feel safe for a change, wouldn't it be nice to
be able to deal with the shadows? Could it just be time to look at your
relationship with God and start to put a light in your life?

I read a funny little saying the other day that said,
"If they don't want you to snack at night, why did they put a light in the
refrigerator?" In the same way, if God didn't want to light your life, why
did the creator of all light make it known to us that he is the light? Maybe
it's time you reconnect to "the Father of light" in your world. He
never promised to take away the shadows, but he will give us light to deal with
them as they come and go from our life. Why? Because, GOD REIGNS AND THE SON
SHINES.

SMALL ANNOYANCES

I
don't know about you, but I don't automatically think of scripture with every
event in my life. However the other day, as it does on occasion, it happened
that a scripture popped into my mind, in an unusual place.

The
occasion was when my wife and I were having lunch at our favorite Chinese
Restaurant. With the meal we received the standard "Fortune Cookie".
You know that little cookie with the small piece of paper inside with your
supposed future or life lessons described, usually in vague terms. Mine read,
"Put up with small annoyances to
gain great results".

The
scripture that immediately sprang to mind was 1 Peter 1:6-7, where Peter encourages us with these words:
"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may
have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the
proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes
even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus
Christ is revealed". (NIV)

The
human side of me says, "I love God and I don't need a test or a trial to
prove it". God says however, "Yes, you do!" Personally I don't
like the trials in my life. I just want my life to flow along smoothly without
any bumps in the road. I like it that way, but it's been rare where there has
been a period of time in my life that has been without some kind of trial which
tests the strength of my faith.

Another
scripture that comes to mind is Hebrews 12:11-12 where the writer
reminds us that: "No discipline is enjoyable while it is
happening, it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of
right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with
your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees".  (NLT)

Personally,
I'm looking forward to more "peaceful harvest of right living". God
expects us to show continual growth in our spiritual lives. That's why the
testing? To strengthen our reliance upon God for our help. To grow to a point
spiritually that we can say with the apostle Paul, "I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)

So,
putting up with small annoyances is only one way our faith is tested, because
they can easily turn in to big problems. When they do, how do deal with that
"refining" of your faith? Isaiah put it this way in Isaiah 26:4, "Trust in the LORD forever, for
the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal".

So
how are you doing? Personally, I'm still struggling and still growing and still
learning to "trust in the Lord
forever", because he is "the rock eternal." 

ADJUSTABLE TRUTHS

Truth is sometimes a hard thing to find, isn't it?
I don't know if our time in this world is any worse than other times or not,
but truth seems to be cherished less than when I was younger. Truth seems more
"adjustable" if you will. If you want to change a little thing here
or there to make whatever is being said more palatable, more believable that's
acceptable. If you words can make you seem more important, more accomplished, and
then embellish all you want.  

This little story illustrates this point. It seems
that two ardent fishermen met on their vacation and began swapping stories
about the different places they had fished, the kind of tackle used, the best
bait, and finally about some of the fish they had caught. One of them told of a
vicious battle he once had with a 300-pound salmon. The other man listened
attentively. He frankly admitted he had never caught anything quite that big.
However, he told about the time his hook snagged a lantern from the depths of a
lake. The lantern carried a tag proving it was lost back in 1912. But the
strangest thing of all was the fact that it was a waterproof lantern and the
light was still lit.

For a long time the first man said nothing. Then he
took one long deep breath. "I'll tell you what I'll do," he said
slowly. "I'll take 200 pounds off my fish, if you'll put out the light in
your lantern."

The writer
of Ecclesiastes 5:2 tells us: "Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven
and you are on earth, so let your words be few."

While Solomon tells us in Proverbs 23:23: "Buy
the truth and do not sell it… ". In other words the truth has
value; don't give it up for something that will cheapen your life.

I wonder how our story would have to change to put out our
light? I'm sure you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16. He said:  "…
let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven."

Words
have meaning, words have consequences. Some of those consequences are seen in
God's words recorded in Revelation
21:7-8. "Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God
and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters
and all liars; they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This
is the second death."

Isn't
it strange, we tend to categorize sin as big or little, serious or not so
serious, but God says they all have the same ending whether it is those who are
sexually immoral or liars. Do you use an adjustable scale on truth? Maybe you
should rethink that approach.

IF MARRIAGE WERE'NT ALREADY HARD ENOUGH

Melody
and I went to a restaurant for lunch the other day, not just for the food, but
to get away from packing and enjoy a little quiet time together. While we sat
there talking with one another I noticed several couples (who looked like
husbands and wives), sitting at their tables, not talking, in fact not paying
any attention to one another at all. They instead had their cell phones out,
texting and checking their email and possibly their Facebook account.

Sadly,
this is not an unusual occurrence today at all. Everywhere you look you see
those little electronic devices in the hands of people around you.

What
about you and the other special people in your life? Do you need to send a text
to the person across the table to communicate with them? If you do, maybe you
need to consider life without electronics.

My friend
Ron sent me the following little story that makes a good point. "We had a
power outage at our house this morning and my PC, laptop, TV, DVD, iPad & my
new surround sound music system were all shut down. Then I discovered that my
Cell phone battery was flat and to top it off it was raining outside.

I went
into the kitchen to make coffee and then I remembered that this also needs
power, so I sat and talked with my wife for a few hours… She seems like a nice
person."

I know
you have heard the verse a thousand times, but notice it again for me, in Genesis
2:24 we read: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

You know this is not just a
suggestion from God, it is actually him telling us the way it is suppose to be!
In the original language the word "Cleve" has the idea of "to
stick to". Now there are a lot of implications to that idea, but
how close do you stick to your husband/wife? How can you stick with someone who
you don't spend time with?

Maybe you should try one day
without electronics. I know it would be difficult; you have the demands of your
job and your connections to others in life, but what about the ones you are
suppose to be sharing your life with? Try it sometime, you might find out that
the person across the table from you is really a nice person.

My wife and I took an extended
vacation recently with a total of about 10 days driving alone in the car. We
took a selection of CD's to listen to if we wanted, but do you know what we
did, we talked instead (that's a regular thing for us). We are interested in
one another, in our cares, or concerns, our likes and dislikes, the things that
worry us and the things that delight us. After almost 49 years together we
still enjoy sharing sunrises and sunsets and one another's company. We still
"cleave" together because that's what God intended for us to do.

Marriage is hard enough without all
of the confusion electronics bring to it. Try doing without them sometime, you
just might discover the person you fell in love with to begin with.

Russ Lawson

Never Give Up

Have you ever been to the point of giving up? Giving up on
your job, giving up on your family, giving up on life in general. Going through
my library I ran across an older book which I hadn't read for a number of
years. I started re-reading it and wanted to recommend it to each of my friends
and family. I hope you might share this with others as the book is such a great
blessing.

I talk with so many people who are struggling in their
lives. I read on Facebook about the many struggles that each of you have and
pray about that, but each of us face the question, "is there more I can do
when I hurt?" Yes there is, so let me recommend this book to you, "Have you felt like giving up lately,"
by David Wilkerson.

Some of the chapter headings are, When you hurt and there is
no physical cure, Why me, Lord? Friends try so hard to help, Time heals
nothing, Heartbreakers do not get off easy.

One of my favorite chapters is, "You can't carry your
own cross" (very interesting ideas). Then there is: You can't depend on
others for your happiness. Why do we feel like giving up, and what is the cure?
These are only a few of the chapters, but you get the idea.

You see what each of us need to remember is that there is
always hope! You may not feel like it as you grapple with the problems in your
life, but our God is a God of Hope!

What is the worst thing that can happen to you? What is it
that most people fear the most? For those in the world, those who are outside
of Christ, isn't it death? Yet Paul writes in 1Thessalonians 4:13-4, "Brothers
and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in
death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will
bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him."

You see in the end, we have the promise of eternal life with
God. That is the hope that keeps us from giving up, no matter what.

Are you struggling, then perhaps you need to reevaluate your
relationship with Christ.

SOMETHING

It's always something isn't it? It seems like always, something
is changing, something old, something new, something challenging us, something
unexpected. That's the thing about life, it is full of the unexpected
"somethings" isn't it? One of the problems I see is that rarely do we
credit God for the unexpected somethings in our lives.

I ran
across a wonderful story that illustrates this point very well. There's a
store-front church which is called Almighty God Tabernacle. One Saturday
evening, the preacher of this church was working late, and decided to call his
wife before he left for home. It was about 10 PM, but his wife did not answer
the phone. The preacher let it ring about two dozen times but she didn't
answer. He thought it was a little odd, but decided to finish up a few things
and try a few minutes later.

When he
tried again, she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't answered
before, and she said that the phone hadn't rung at their house. They brushed it
off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.

The
following Monday, the preacher received a call at the church office, which was
the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted
to know why he'd called on Saturday night. The preacher couldn't figure out
what the guy was talking about. Then the guy said, "It rang and rang and rang,
but I didn't answer."

The preacher
then remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that
he'd tried to call his wife. The man said, "That's
okay. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on
Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if you're there, and you don't
want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that point my phone started to
ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to
answer!"

Does
God work through the unexpected? Surely he does! Most of the time I don't think
we have any idea he may be involved with the unexpected something in our life,
but what if he is, what if God is trying to change our lives, trying to teach
us something "Life Changing"?

In Luke 5:1-11
Jesus comes to his apostles who had gone back to fishing. He asks them about
their success and they tell him they had fished all night and caught nothing.
He tells them to try one more time and they caught enough fish to sink the boats.
The unexpected had life changing results. We are told, "So they pulled their boats up on shore, left
everything and followed him."

I wonder what God is trying to show
us when the unexpected happens in our lives?