March 7- The Problem with Peanuts

Carson, my youngest son, has a severe peanut allergy. As a toddler he went into anaphylactic shock after we unknowingly gave him a macadamia cookie. He immediately broke out and instantly had trouble breathing. After taking him to the hospital we soon discovered his condition. He is allergic to every possible form of tree nuts.

In our house we take great measures keeping him away from certain foods. As a matter of fact, if anyone in my family happens to come into contact with peanuts they CANNOT come into contact with Carson. There are times when we eat certain foods we have to wash our hands and brush our teeth before we can embrace him.

Not long ago he wanted me to pick him up and hug him but I was unable to because I had just eaten a candy-bar with nuts. I had to walk away from him because I had something on me that was not allowed in his presence. I wonder how often that happens in our relationship with Christ?

When we have the contaminants of sin on our hands and in our hearts then our relationship with Him suffers. Today He has stretched His arms out wide ready to embrace you and me; is there anything in our lives that prevent us from approaching Him? If so, get clean. Wash the harmful toxins of sin from your life. The candy-bar was good, but not as sweet as the hug!

Loving the world destroys our relationship with God, it denies our faith in God, and it discounts our future with God” – David Jeremiah

March 6- We Died Before We Got Here

James Calvert was a missionary to the Fiji Islands.  While traveling to the mission field for the first time on boat, the captain warned Calvert and his team about the cannibals that occupied the hard-pressed region.  He said, “Sir, you will die, and your men will die if you stay here.”  James Calvert replied by saying, “We died before we got here.”

It is that kind of selfless and sacrificial attitude that pleases God.  Following the Lord Jesus Christ involves taking up our cross and dying to self.  Someone may say, “But doesn’t that infringe on my right to happiness and joy?”  The answer is no because taking up your cross and dying to your own will is the first step toward a life of contentment and happiness; it is also the first step toward total surrender and obedience to the Lord.

In the economy of God, the last shall be first and the first shall be last; and only those who are willing to lose their lives will find their lives Charles Kingsley said it like this, “There are two freedoms: the false where a man is free to do what he likes; and the true where a man is free to do as he ought.”

The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little progress is because they haven’t come to the end of themselves” – A.W. Tozer

March 5- The Collision of Faith

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided with one another in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died in the icy waters as the boats were destroyed. The accident was not caused by a mechanical malfunction or a technological glitch, but rather through the inflexibility and stubbornness of their captains.  After much investigation, news reports informed the public that both captains were aware of the other ship’s presence, but neither wanted to give way to the other.  Because two men failed to yield their boats, hundreds of people lost their lives.

Much like the captains of those ships, when we are contrary to God we place ourselves in terrible danger. Unfortunately we do not only endanger our own lives but the lives of others when we fail to yield in faith. Isn’t that what faith is all about?  It’s about fully surrendering to God and trusting Him to guide us.  We do not walk by sight, but rather by faith- simply meaning that we trust and believe in things we cannot see.

We will always experience trouble when we refuse to relinquish full control to the Lord.  God uses men and women who have handed over the reins to Him. Let Him guide your life, you will be amazed where He takes you.

A man will do more for his stubbornness than for his religion or his country” – Edgar Watson Howe

March 4- Disappointments in Life

As a middle-school student, I often worked during the summer months cutting grass.  There was a local builder that I worked for who told me he would give me twenty-five dollars in cash to cut his yard.  The first day I showed up to work he had three yards for me to cut.  For the next two days I worked steadily in the hot Atlanta sunshine heaving that old red Murray push-mower back and forth across those yards.  All I could think about was getting seventy-five dollars in cash at the end of week.  In 1987, that was a lot of money for a twelve-year old boy working in the summer months.

I still remember how I felt when Mr. Reeves handed me twenty-five dollars on that Friday afternoon.  I thought he was going to pay me twenty-five dollars for each lawn I cut; but he meant twenty-five dollars for all three yards.  It was my first real-life experience with disappointment.

Disappointment is unfortunately a part of life.  People let us down; opportunities fade; and expectations dissolve.  The one thing I have discovered however is that God never disappoints.  His way is always perfect.  I have never come through a trial and thought that God could have done things better.  Even when we cannot fully understand what He is doing He always delivers in a way that ultimately is for our good.

The Shepherd knows what pastures are best for his sheep, and they must trustingly follow Him” – H.W. Smith

March 3- Give Him All the Keys

Suppose you purchased a home free and clear from someone else.  The person selling you the home has been paid off completely and hands you the keys.  He tells you which keys go to which doors throughout the home; but there is one room that he refuses to relinquish.  He has pad-locked that room and tells you that he will remain owner of that particular space.  Most of us would not be willing to comply with such an offer.  If we purchased the house completely, then we should be the owner of the entire house, not just portions of the house.

When we fail to surrender completely to God’s will, this is exactly what we do.  God has purchased us with the blood of His precious Son- our life belongs to Him.  However, there are some rooms that we want to hang on to; there are some keys that we fail to hand over as we desire to maintain ownership of certain areas of our life.  The truth is- most of us have “rooms” that we do not want the Lord to occupy.

The Bible tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice, which simply means, we should not be concerned with the amount we surrender as much as how we surrender it.  Do you comply with God’s will concerning every area of your life?  Have you surrendered completely to Christ as Master?

A revival is nothing less than a new beginning of obedience to God” – Charles Finney

March 2- Shouldn’t We Tell Them?

Jonathan Edwards said, “Love is the sum of all virtue, and love disposes us to good.”  There is no substitute for love.  When writing about faith, hope, and charity, Paul concluded that charity was the greatest of these virtues.  Indeed, we can hang the entire law of God on the sole principle and precept of love.  We are instructed to love the Lord our God, we are to love our neighbor, we are to love our spouse, we are to love our children, we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ- we are even required to love our enemies; and in this well-known parable, we are reminded to love sinners and bring them to restoration.

It is easy to love when it is reciprocated.  It is easy to love those who are kind, patience, and caring toward us; but what about those who live in iniquity and sin?  Do we really have the love of God for such people?  The drug-dealers, the whoremongers, the addicts, the prostitutes of our society- we cringe at their heinous acts and cower from their wicked lifestyles.  We do not condone their sinfulness by any means, but do we love them enough to reach out to them and demonstrate the love of God’s Son?

Christ Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost.  If He loved sinners enough to die for them, shouldn’t we at least tell them?

Our love to God is measured by our every day fellowship with others and the love it displays” – Andrew Murray

March 1- Proper Estimations

A certain lady scheduled an appointment with a local pastor to talk with him about a specific sin in her life.  Once she was settled in his office she began to confess, “Pastor, I need to do something about this besetting sin that I have.”  She said, “Every Sunday in service I look around and notice that I am the prettiest woman in the church.  None of the other women can be compared to me.  What can I do about this sin?”  The pastor replied, “Ma’am that is not a sin that is just a mistake!”

Someone has anonymously said, “It is the laden bough that hangs low, and the most fruitful Christian is the most humble.”  Charles Spurgeon accurately commented on the subject, “Humility is to make the right estimation of one’s self.”

Too often we allow pride to invade the regions of our heart, and we forget how decrepit we were before Christ saved our souls.  If you examine anyone’s life outside of the grace of God you will discover nothing that merits praise.  The Lord hates pride, for it seeks to rob Him of His glory.  Pride is a dangerous and destructive quality that has no proper place in the life of someone who makes the right estimation of himself.

Pride is to character like the attic to the house- the highest part and generally the most empty” – Sydney Howard Gay

February 28- The Servant of All

A well-known, veteran missionary had passed away on the field in South Africa.  Many notable dignitaries assembled together for a memorial service to honor his life.  God had used his ministry to cure political and social injustices for a certain province of people; and he was being honored for all his accomplishments during the service.  After the dedication ceremony, a poorly-dressed native walked up to the casket for the viewing.  When asked how he knew the missionary, he simply responded by saying, “This is the man who used to wash my feet.”

We are never more like Christ than when we submit and surrender our life in service.  Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant…” (Philippians 2:5-6).  Andrew Murray said, “Just as a servant knows that he must first obey his master in all things, so the surrender to an implicit and unquestionable obedience must become the essential characteristic of our lives.”

It is hard to imagine that God Himself washed the feet of His disciples.  He did so, not that they would wash His feet, but for an example that they may wash one another’s feet.  Aspire to be like Christ, a servant of all.

In the Kingdom of God, service is not a stepping stone to nobility- it is nobility, the only kind that is recognized” – T.W. Manson

February 27- A Revival of the Bible

Winston Churchhill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”  Sadly, in our generation the spirit of relativism, humanism, and religious pluralism has led us to believe that absolute truth cannot really be known.  Men no longer “stumble” over the truth; they simply “go around it.”

Not only has this led to immorality and indecency, it has created a sense of hopelessness in our culture.  If there is no such thing as absolute truth then there can never be order or structure in our lives.  The aim of relativism is to create liberty in the mindset of a sin-cursed people, but ironically it doesn’t bring freedom at all; rather it keeps us bound in the darkness of deception and defeatism.

Therefore, our society operates and functions under the auspices of secularism- meaning, we are experiencing a famine of truth in the land.  We have taken away the Word of God and challenged our generation to order their existence without knowing what God has said about their lives.

The reality is- we can know the truth, and the truth can set us free.  There are absolutes that can and should govern our lives. If there will ever be a spiritual awakening in our country we need to return to biblical values.  We need a revival back to the Bible.

The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life” – John Quincy Adams

February 26- He Restoreth My Soul

The curiosity of the young lamb caused him to distance himself from the flock.  Before he could find his way back, he had placed himself in harm’s way.  The cleft was steep upon the mountain, and there was no other place to go.  He was too weak to get himself up from the small ledge carved into the mountainside; and he was too fearful to try and climb his way down.

All of a sudden the curved end of his shepherd’s staff appeared above his head.  The shepherd wedged his staff and rod together to secure his wayward lamb.  With a strong arm, he reached down and brought the lamb into safety.  Without any rebuke he gently spoke to the lamb in a tender voice, “Now there, I’ve got you.”  He pulled the contrary animal close to his heart and safely brought him back to the fold.  This is the story of humanity.

The prophet Isaiah records, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way;” (Isaiah 53:6). With rebellious curiosity we wander away from the flock of God.  We search for different places and long for new sights.  It is then we discover that our God is a God of second chances.  We understand Him to be the Great Shepherd of our souls.  He pulls us close to Him, and speaks our name as though we’d never left.  He wraps His arms around us and leads us back into fellowship with Him.  He restores our soul.

People need to be reminded that when God gives you a second chance it doesn’t mean you are second class” – Joe Arthur