Dry Bones

There are times in life when we simply run dry. We have given all we have to give or someone has taken all we had to start with - in either case, we're done. 

Maybe it is a job that has sucked you dry. Perhaps it is a spouse for which you have nothing left to give. It could be your whole crazy family that has just wrung you out of your last bit of care.  Whatever or whoever, you're not even running on empty, you've rolled to a stop. 

What does one do at this point?  How do we draw up refreshing water when there is nothing left to prime the pump?  What do we do if the well's gone dry?  What if we've reached down deep and nothing is there?  

We could give up, assured we gave it all we had. Or, we could look to another Source to refresh our marriage, our job, our family dynamic - our very soul. 

When you've exhausted every ounce of strength, every drop of emotion and you can't dig deep enough to find a molecue of care, there is more. When you have become as empty as a valley of dry bones. "This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life" (Ezekiel 37:5).

When you've gone as far as you can go, then there is God.

Jus' Sayn.

The Answer

When I was a young preacher, full of head knowledge and, perhaps, a bit full of self, I thought I had to have the answer for everyone (whether they asked or not, by the way),  fortunately, like so many young folks, I was sure I had all the answers. 

As I matured a bit and began to truly see what people were missing in their lives or, more accurately, "Who" they were missing, I came to believe that I needed only to point people to the Answer. 

As I have become much more seasoned and sprinkled more heavily with gray, I have have come to see that I need instead to be the Answer for those lost or hurting around me. 

I finally, after decades of ministry and enough degrees to be a thermometer, truly understood that I was to be "the light of the world...[and]...let [my] light shine before others..." (Matt 5:14-16), or allow the Light of the Christ within shine on others. 

If we, like the apostle Paul, "have been crucified with Christ and [we] no longer live but Christ lives in [us]," (Gal 2:20), then we are Christ for those with whom we come in contact and they see in us the Answer: Christ. People need the Lord - we must let them see Him in our words and deeds.

Jus' Sayn. 

God's Friday

It's Friday the 13th.  What terrible things are in store for this "unlucky day?"  Nothing except what God had either prescribed or permits.  This day, like all other days, is God's day, which he has created for his purposes and our enrichment. Even when trials come, our personal growth can result: "Consider it pure joy...whenever you face trials... so that you may be mature and complete..." (James 1:2-4).  

Regardless of what may come this day, the Spirit calls us to have but one response, "Rejoice!  And I will say it again, rejoice!" (Phil 4:4).  Because The Lord is with us, even in the valley of the shadow of death (cf. Psa 23), we can and should "be content" (see Phil 4:12-13).

I do not know what you are facing or will face today. But I do know that if Jesus is Lord of your life, you are not going to be facing it alone. And I know that He has already won the victory for you - even as you step into the struggle or hardship you must endure.  "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. …" (1 Jn 5:4-5).

In Christ, truly "it's all good," even when we have to pass through some pretty rough territory. 

Jus' Sayn. 

Laying Down The Gavel

So often we hear people say, "Don't judge me."  We are offended when someone assumes to know all the facts of our lives, all the circumstances in which we live or what is going on in the core of our being. Who do they think they are - God?

We really don't like it when someone assumes that position, unless, of course it is ourselves.  We seem to think that we are somehow the exception, that we somehow see more clearly. We are particularly certain when it comes to self-judgment. Surely we are in the position to do that, right?  Wrong!

Let me try to make this point abundantly clear - there is only one Judge. There is only One who knows all the particulars, all the circumstances and all the values. And that One is not you.  Listen to the Word: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. …" (Rom 8:33-34). 

While we can and must, at times, judge the actions or "fruit," as Jesus puts it (cf. Matt 7:15-20), we are not equipped, called or authorized to judge the moral worth of anyone, not even self. 

And, by the way, it is worth pointing out that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Maybe it's time for laying down the gavel and simply be a witness to what Christ has done. 

Jus' Sayn. 

Do Not Be Afraid - Really

It's yet another anniversary of 9/11 and the enemies behind that attack are as active as ever, looking for ways to destroy us. Our President has been chomping at the bit to go to engage in yet another military action with part of them until Russia offered to lead in a peace initiative with Syria - really?

On the home front, the unemployment rate is moving down as the number of Americans give up looking for work goes up and part-time jobs increase - really?  

The Affordable Care Act has been steadily increasing the cost of health care while many are losing their employment-provided health care - really?

Does any of this make you feel secure - really?  What should our reaction to all this be?  Counter intuitively, our response should be one of increasing peace and calm for the victory in all these things is already won - really?  Yes!  Really!

Listen to the Word of God: “Do not be afraid...Jesus, who was crucified....is not here [in the grave]; he has risen..." (Matt 28:5-6).  

I don't know what we may yet have to go through, but I know we don't have to go through it alone. And, I know that He will safely see the sheep of His pasture to the other side (cf. Ps 23).

Jus' Sayn. 

God's Unfailing Love

In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, Israel had turned its back on God, chasing after idols and following the sinful ways of the nations around her. The natural conclusion would have been that God had wiped His hands clean of her, that He no longer considered Israel worthy of His love. 

That conclusion, as rational and fair as it might be, would be wrong. In God's eyes, as clear as Israel's rejection of Him had become, He had not changed in His love for Israel. As the people's revealed, "‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me" (Jer 2:2).  God, despite the reality of Israel's unfaithfulness, still saw her with eyes of love, still cared for her. 

You may not feel that same love for God you once did. You may have lost the excitement you felt when you first accepted Christ. You may feel quite distant from Him and wonder how He could love you considering the condition of your heart towards Him. You may have concluded that He no longer considers you worthy of His love. 

You would be wrong. Jesus promised, "I will never leave you as orphaned" (John 14:18) and the Psalmist calls us to "put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption" (Psalm 130:7). And, Paul clearly reveals that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (cf. Rom 8:39). 

Regardless of how your love may have waned, God's love is unfailing. Turn your heart back to Him today, He still loves you with the same passion. 

Jus' Sayn. 

New Victory in Old Failures

You worked hard, you did your best, you gave it all you had - you failed. What happened?  What next?  Where do I turn from here?  Peter and his partners were acutely aware of their failure. There is no denying a fishing boat devoid of fish. They had worked all night, they had employed their considerable collective fishing skills, they did their best - they had no fish. Time to clean their nets, pack up and head home.

And they would have headed for the barn, so to speak, except for Jesus.  The Lord dismissed their fishless outcome and set aside their combined professional efforts. The Carpenter directed the fishermen to cast out their nets again. Peter, knowing that he and his partners had done all that was possible to insure a catch but submitted to The Lord saying, " Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets" (Luke 5:5).

The chances of these fishermen catching any fish at this point were small to none, but “What is impossible with man is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). While the cause of their failure may have been poor choices or poor conditions or just bad luck; the assurance of their victory was trusting in The Lord.

If you have done all your research, focused all your energy and gave it your best shot only to fail - perhaps it is time to focus your energy on Jesus and put your trust in Him.erhaps a victory is out of your hands,,but it is not out of His.

Jus' Sayn.