Encouraging Thoughts

Once upon a time one of my co-workers received notification that he had been chosen to receive a vacation package. The card stated, “You have been chosen for a 7-day/6-night Florida Caribbean Vacation Package, including all accommodations and a round trip cruise.” A 1-800 number was included for accepting the package. When called, the “vacation coordinator” confirmed that my co-worker had, in fact, been chosen for the vacation package. All he had to do was pay for it. “Say what?” he inquired. “The card said I was chosen.” The coordinator said, “Yes, you were chosen, but surely you didn’t think the vacation was free!”

Mankind has received a communiqué from the Creator. It says that all who believe the truth of His message have been chosen for travel, by way of a temporary stay on Earth, to eternal life and happiness in Heaven. The call for acceptance is toll free. Those of us who have already called upon Him have discovered that we were, in fact, chosen for the journey. The most important fact is that travel and accommodation costs have already been paid in full. The trip is a gift!

Unlike the card from the vacation promoters, God’s message is not misleading. It is clear and straight to the point.  “…from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our Gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NIV) Is that not extraordinary?! We were chosen to be saved and to share in His glory! We can share in His glory to a degree in this life, but the ultimate glory of Christ will only be shared in that incredible experience called eternity. All who believe have been chosen to participate.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV) This is too good to keep to myself. I’m ready to declare His praises for including me among His chosen people, aren’t you?

When I sit and contemplate eternity, I experience a touch of angst. It’s not exactly panic, but neither is it something I can just brush aside. I suppose it’s because everything on this side of eternity eventually comes to an end. It’s probably also my innate dislike of repetitive tasks and very long projects. I mean, after the first million years or so, what will there be to do that we haven’t already done?

I work on escaping the angst by recognizing that everyone there will be in the same boat. I mean, suppose after a few thousand years I think I’ve had enough. But if everyone else is looking forward to the next thousand years, I’m not gonna want to be the only one to give it up. This is, without any doubt, abstract thinking; I wonder if anyone else has these thoughts.

In a recent TV series a man had killed his wife, and with help from others the murder had been made to look like a robbery. For months the man was tortured with guilt. On his way to turn himself in to police, he phoned one of those involved with the cover-up. He said he had been thinking about hell. He said people in hell know everything that happened in their past, but they know nothing that’s happening in the present. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. But it could be another aspect of the awfulness of spending eternity in the wrong place.

During his last session on the book of Revelation, Doc Overholt talked about the aloneness of hell – how people in hell will, for millions of years, think about how they got there, how they squandered opportunities to escape hell, and how they repeatedly rejected the gift of salvation. When I ponder that horrifying state of affairs, my eternity anxiety subsides somewhat. I mean, people who tragically wind up in hell must be continually terrified at the prospect of eternity in that indescribable place with no hope of escape. Finding oneself in hell must be the ultimate state of horror.

Rick Warren says, “…life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever [in this body], and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body – but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.”

Ok, I get all except the part about “what we will do forever in eternity.” That’s a little unclear to me. It may be, as many believe, that there will be no sense of time in eternity – the one-day-is-like-a-thousand-years concept. One thing is sure – it’s over my head. But, believing that God knows best, I have to believe that He knows how to make eternity work – even for people like me, who keep trying to figure it out ahead of time.

I’m not going to understand eternity until I get there. Nor should I expect to grasp it all. And there’s a basic principle to be applied until that day occurs. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

Anxious about eternity? God says don’t be! Bring anxiety to God in prayer? By all means! Bow before God with thanksgiving? It’s imperative! Thank God for the assurance of spending eternity with Him? Hallelujah!!

A few weeks ago we considered that the state of being content might involve a balance between desiring to do one’s best and thanking God for His provisions. So that you will know the idea is not just an abstract cranial exercise, I want to share with you my own experience in connection with the subject.

For twelve years I worked for an IBM division that was prime contractor for the Instrument Unit, the “brains” of the Saturn rocket that was used to deliver American astronauts to the Moon. For most of those years the work was exciting and challenging. As the Apollo Program began winding down, the work became less interesting and more tedious and boring to me. I found myself wanting to do more, thinking I had to break loose and do some great work on my own. I had visions of becoming my own boss and become independently wealthy. Eventually, IBM decided to phase out their Huntsville operation that was involved with Government contracts. I had the choice of transferring to an out-of-state location or leaving the company. Thinking this was the opportunity I had been waiting for, I opted to leave the company and try a business venture. I believed God had provided this opportunity; so I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of it.

Using my severance pay, I became a wholesale distributor of an assortment of items. To make a long story short, the venture didn’t go well. While I was able to sell some of all the various products I carried, the sales volume just never was enough. My severance fund ran out, so I had to do some borrowing to survive. Wilma took a part-time job so as to help with our survival and be at home when our children were.

Having been unable to find contentment working for one of the better companies, I tried my own thing. I found myself doing the two things I never wanted to do for a living – selling and going on the road. Some people can do either or both easily, but I couldn’t. Selling was difficult for me, and I strongly disliked being away from my family for extended time periods. So in a motel room in Tupelo I gave up my dream of doing my own great work and asked God to give me direction. In a few weeks I returned to doing the kind of work I had done before. God blessed, we paid off business debt, and eventually we recovered financially.

Do you have the picture? I left a good job with good salary and benefits because I wasn’t content. In my pursuit of contentment I came to the point of far less contentment. Do you think God had a part in all of that? I do. Even if I had agreed to a transfer with the company, I would not have been content after a time. Trying my own thing was just something I had to do to get it out of my system. Even though there was nothing inherently wrong with what I wanted to do, God knew I wasn’t suited for it. He also knew that allowing me to try it was the only way I would learn contentment.

After that venture I experienced peace and contentment while reporting to others and doing my job. There were periods of time when I was tempted to think about trying my own thing again. Those periods lasted only a few nanoseconds. The memory of the hard time remained in my frontal lobe for a very long time. I still had the desire to do my best and to excel in my work. But that desire was balanced with reality and thanksgiving. God taught me the secret of contentment. If there’s a need, He’ll do the same for you.

In order to improve product quality, enhance customer relations, regain market share, and improve the financial bottom line, many businesses have adopted programs to motivate employees to improve the work processes they perform. The idea is for every employee to examine on a regular basis every process the employee uses in the performance of his or her job and look for ways to improve those processes.

To promote the idea among employees, one of the companies I worked for created a new department called “Continuous Improvement.” I know what you’re thinking – ‘That’s just another gimmick to get more from employees. And like government, business has to create a new bureaucracy to count beans and shuffle paper.’ There is, no doubt, some basis for that thought. But given the widely-held opinion that many American workers are lazy and are not interested in producing a high-quality product, it’s not a bad idea to place a new emphasis on improving the way all of us do things on the job.

There is also a widely-held opinion among unbelievers that many church leaders and church members are not that serious about doing work for God. Many have the impression that church-goers attend church to be seen or to maintain a social network. It is important, therefore, that we who believe continuously examine the way we do whatever it is that we do. We need to examine our attitudes toward other believers as well as unbelievers. We should look closely at the way we interact with our spouses and our children. Our prayer, worship, and study processes need to be evaluated. Our performance on the job and off the job is under scrutiny by unbelievers to see if we practice what we preach. So, it is urgent, if we haven’t already done so, that we develop the habit of continuous improvement in our daily activities.

Getting in the continuous improvement groove doesn’t come naturally. We tend to get in ruts and continue to do things the way we’ve always done them. The implementation of continuous improvement requires an awareness of the need to improve, a willingness to improve, an active thought process, and the determination to make it happen.

God has that idea in mind, don’t you think, when He talks about growth and maturity in the lives of His children. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul writes about Jesus choosing some among us to be evangelists, pastors and teachers “…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13 NIV)  It is His purpose that our goal will be to approach perfection in our walk before Him. The probability of achieving that goal can be greatly enhanced by implementing the practice of continuous improvement.

The blizzards of winter 2009-10 had something for everyone. There were thunderstorms and hail, hurricane-force winds and tornadoes, torrential rain and coastal flooding. And there was snow – lots of snow – as much as four feet at a time in some areas. To many folks the massive winter storms were no more than Mother Nature out of control. To us who believe, however, the storms exemplified the awesome power of the Creator at work. The elements are always under His control. Humans have the dubious honor of being the one specific creation of God that is most likely to be out of control.

The Bible indicates that God has given control of natural forces to His Son Jesus. On one occasion a storm came up suddenly on the Sea of Galilee as Jesus and His disciples were out in a boat. The disciples feared for their lives. But after the disciples awakened Him, Jesus calmly said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26 NIV) As Jesus rebuked the winds and calmed the waves, His disciples were astounded and exclaimed, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!” (Matthew 8:26 NIV)

What kind of man indeed!? He is the kind of man who could be both God and man at the same time. He is the kind of man who could weep over a departed friend but drive out peddlers who opened a flea market in the temple courts. He had the power to cast out demons but had the tenderness to hold children on His lap. This man condemned the hypocrisy of Pharisees but forgave the sins of a fallen woman who believed in Him. Jesus had access to all the resources of the universe, but He owned not so much as a place to lay His head.

This man Jesus had legions of angels at His command, but He allowed Himself to be crucified between two thieves for your sins and mine. He had the power to rise from the dead but was not too high and mighty to enjoy eating fish with those whom He had discipled. After His resurrection, this man could have blazed into His glory in Heaven and forsaken the selfish, unbelieving hordes of this world. Yet He humbly returned to His Father and sent the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort believers. Then He proceeded to implement His ‘mission statement’, which called for Him to make intercession with the Father for believers in this life and to prepare a place of abode for His brethren in the life to come.

What kind of man indeed!?

In 2009 Father’s Day occurred on the same day that summer began. This year Father’s Day is on June 20, just one day away from the beginning of summer. “So what?” you ask. I’m glad you asked. Well, it’s not really a big deal. I just like to associate Father’s Day with the beginning of summer because there are about a million activities, give or take a few, that fathers get involved in during summer. Some are enjoyable; others are more enjoyable; yet others are admittedly somewhat of a pain.

Many fathers enjoy swimming, fishing, boating, or golfing. Some dads like to plant and tend vegetable gardens. Wilma’s dad always had a garden. One summer his three-pound tomato was recognized on WAAY TV and was added to the list of “Gary’s Garden Giants.” Other dads like to care for trees, flowers and lawns. Still others walk away at the mention of gardening. And that’s ok; everybody can’t be a gardener.

Some dads race automobiles; others simply repair them. Some dads make big bucks playing sports, while others make big impressions on little folks by teaching them to hit, throw and catch a ball. A few dads become famous for a monumental discovery. Many dads become loved and respected because they discover that satisfaction and contentment come by doing acts of service to their families and to their Lord. My dad was one of those, and I’m most thankful for the memories I have of him and the devotion he had for his family and his Savior.

An event that many fathers find satisfying is planning for and taking their families on a summer vacation. (No…not like the Griswold summer vacation.) While our children were growing up, summer vacation was an annual highlight of our family life. I remember one dad in a former church who had saved money for just such a purpose. During a Life Action meeting at that church he felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to give to the ministry of Life Action the money he had saved for a summer vacation. His children were disappointed at first, but they understood. Later that year some money appeared out of nowhere (presumably), and the family took their vacation then.

I think there’s a message in that story. Fathers should delight themselves in serving their families. The only thing fathers should have a greater delight in is serving their Lord. That’s not always the easy thing for fathers to do, but it is always the right thing. And I don’t believe God would have fathers spend so much time serving Him that the family is neglected. It’s all about the proper balance in allocating one’s time.

I believe there is scriptural basis for that viewpoint. The writer of Proverbs talks about fathers who delight in their children. “…the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12 NIV)  The psalmist encourages all of us – fathers included:  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4 NIV) Suppose we make a connection between these two passages. We could make the case for a father delighting himself in his family, and that delight being a very close second to the father’s delight in his Heavenly Father. I don’t believe it would be a perversion of Scripture to make that connection, do you?

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV) “…This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4 NIV)  What does it mean? Volumes have been written telling in exhaustive detail what faith is all about. Those writings are invaluable for a thorough understanding of the principle. But a simple description is often quite useful in getting our thoughts around an important truth. Such is the case in an example given by Wayne Barber. He said, “Faith means ‘Forsaking All, I Trust Him’.” That is both simple enough to be easily grasped and deep enough to be profound.

Forsaking sin and self is required if faith is to be exercised. God said, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7 NIV)

All is to be forsaken if faith is to prevail. All what? When the rich young man asked how to get eternal life, Jesus said to him, “…Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” (Luke 18:22 NIV)  If we apply the light of the body of Scripture, we can be sure that Jesus was not telling the man that salvation is obtained by giving to the poor. Rather He was emphasizing the principle that a person must be willing to trust/follow Jesus and forsake all other means by which many think salvation is obtained.

I must be willing to forsake all and trust Christ. Faith is a personal act by which you and I individually turn in repentance from sin and self to God through His Son. Family or church heritage won’t do; every person must be accountable for his or her own actions and exercise personal faith. And I don’t trust Him for salvation alone. I trust Him – not my employer, not the government, not the church – to sustain me day by day. I trust Him to provide for my needs and the needs of my family. I trust Him for grace, not only to survive, but also to overcome whatever trouble develops in this life. I trust Him for everything.

Trust is the message of Scripture:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) Trust is the message of song:  Simply trusting every day, Trusting through a stormy way, Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by; Trusting Him whate’er befall, Trusting Jesus, that is all.”

Him is not the easiest word with which to begin a sentence. But what should be easy is to trust in Him, referring of course to our Lord and Savior Jesus. I mean, who else is there in whom we can trust completely? All other men and women have ‘feet of clay’ just as you and I do. That condition renders them imperfect and susceptible to failure. There’s only One Who became God in the flesh, impervious to the curse of sin, and worthy of our complete trust.

“Forsaking All, I Trust Him.”

Once upon a time I traveled with a co-worker on a business trip to the West Coast. We had work sessions at a small engineering company in Roseburg, Oregon. After work, the company owner and his wife drove us to see their new home, which was under construction. As you might imagine, we rode in their late-model Mercedes. The house was being built on their 100-acre country estate and was a sight to behold. It was a multi-story structure with all the amenities one could imagine. Many of the materials were being imported from other countries. If I might borrow a phrase from Woodland Homes, this country home was going to be “Simply the Best.”

By contrast I’ve been in the homes of people who are surviving at subsistence well below the declared poverty level. Some of the houses are not suitable for humans to live in. What furniture exists is in shambles. If the folks have a car, it is rusty and broken down; no funds are available for repairs or improvements.

My experience in Oregon motivated me to work harder – or at least smarter. If I work as hard or as smart as that businessman, I could drive an expensive car and build a mansion in the country. When I see the other extreme, I am motivated to thank God for the material goods with which He has blessed me. Except for the grace of God delivered to me, I could be in poverty, homeless, penniless, or starving.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he declared, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:12 NIV)  It sounds like Paul had experience at both ends of the prosperity spectrum. And he had learned to be thankful and content at both ends. Some will try to use Bible instruction on contentment to justify the status quo, no matter how poor it might be. But that view is in conflict with other Scripture passages exhorting us to do our best. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” (Colossians 3:23 NIV)

It seems to me the state of being content involves the proper balance between desiring to do our best and thanking God for His provisions. God exhorts us to do our best – for which varying levels of material reward will result. Even though you and I work hard/smart and do our best, we may never own a high-tech business and live on a country estate. And that’s o.k. Despite what high-pressure motivational speakers say, everyone is not suited for wealth and power. As believers, we’re responsible to do our best. And having done our best, we are exhorted to be content with and thankful for the result, whatever prosperity level it is. God will doubtless bless our consistent efforts with the living standard that’s best for each of us. Paul learned the secret of contentment; so can we.

Jim and I worked together back in the 90s. Jim’s son was 21 years old and married. Every January for the previous three years the son had come down with a mysterious illness that began with nausea and deteriorated to the point of hospitalization. During the prior year’s extended hospital stay, he was laid off from his job. Because his wife missed too much work dealing with his hospitalization, she too lost her job. Multiple doctors and hospitals had treated his illness. Every year at the conclusion of the hospital stay, another doctor declared that this time the malady had been cured.

Here we were in late January again; I asked Jim how he was and how his son was doing. Jim said he was ok, but his son had just been hospitalized with the same problem as before. He and his wife had no jobs and no insurance. Jim said his faith was sustaining him, but it was increasingly difficult to be optimistic. This thing with his son had become worse than a recurring nightmare.

But one recent event had encouraged Jim to be thankful that his son’s condition was not even worse. The day before, Jim had gone to the visitation for a friend’s 20-year-old son who had committed suicide. The young man had graduated from high school and was working and going to college. He was making good grades and had given no indication of a serious problem. His father said not only had he lost his son, but also he had lost his best friend. Jim asked about my son; I told him he was doing well. At the time he was not as motivated as I wanted him to be, but I considered that to be a minor concern, considering the multiple stages of trouble in the world. The matter of a son’s level of motivation is comparatively minor, while the loss of a child to suicide is indeed at the extreme end of the trouble chart.

Contemplating my conversation with Jim, I could only bow my head and thank God for my current state of comparatively minor trouble. There have been times of worse trouble during which it has been difficult, sometimes impossible, for me to give thanks. How about you? Are you giving thanks for your state of being? Are you thankful at all levels of trouble? I know from my own experience that it’s difficult at times. But God would have us to be thankful in spite of circumstances. He said, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV) To enable us to perform those actions, God provided a resource that is described thus by Paul: “But He said to me, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)

Did you get that? Paul says he will rejoice in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ may work in his life. God surely understands our emotional weakness during times of trouble. He did create us, after all. And He supplies the resources that we need to increase our thankfulness at all levels of trouble. The words of this song express that truth.

“He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;

He giveth more strength when the labors increase.

To added affliction He addeth His mercy;

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace…

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.”

If anyone at your house complains about leftovers, just refer them to the Bible account of the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men – plus the women and children. After dinner Jesus said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” (John 6:12 NIV)

Back in the 1970s, Wilma and I were members of a church where we needed financing for a large project. The plan was to get a number of people to sign a note to back an unsecured loan. I was assigned the task of asking several men to sign the note. One of the men I asked said he would rather not sign. I reported that to my leader and said I didn’t know why this individual wouldn’t sign. He said, “I don’t know, but the Lord has done so much for me, I’m not going to question it.” At the time my leader was older and much wiser than I. He understood that we are responsible to present opportunities – not to control the response.

After spending a couple of hours trying to get my 14-year old Mac 3200 chain saw to run, I went online looking for a source for help since McCulloch has gone out of business. What I found was a blog site wherein people railed about the same kind of problems I was having. Among the many ‘blogifications’ this one jumped out at me. “I have a missionary friend in the mountains of Old Mexico who has a 1979 McCullough chain saw. (short bar) Does anyone know what the model name would be for that saw and where to get parts?” Remember when we thought about stopping the whining? That commentary brought to a screeching halt the whining about my saw troubles.

Someone says, “Every time I get some spare cash, something comes up and I have to spend it.” Here’s another view: Every time something unexpected comes up, I have the money to pay for it. It’s a matter of perspective.

When something bad happens, many of us are prone to ask, “Why me?” We should work on correcting that response. The real question is, “Why not me?” I’m no better than anyone else. The words from this old song describe all of us who believe…

“Only a sinner – saved by grace,

Only a sinner – saved by grace.

This is my story – to God be the glory.

I’m only a sinner – saved…by…grace.”