The Set of Our Sails

And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will
you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him;
but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.

1 Kings 18:21

When it comes to God, we won't make much progress if we "falter between two opinions." There is a certain amount of difficulty that has to be overcome in the course of our journey toward God, and that difficulty won't be overcome if we haven't made up our minds and committed ourselves to making the journey. The roadside will be littered with the bleached bones of those who wavered -- those who weren't sure what their opinion was as to the importance of God and weren't sure whether devoting themselves to Him was something they wanted to do.

Less important excusions in life often don't require any definite goal or decisiveness on our part. For me, one of life's great joys is the joy of walking, and there are some times when I set out on a walk without any notion of where I want to go. It's enjoyable just to walk. The destination might change during the walk, and side trips can easily be taken. On such a walk, a little haphazardness doesn't hurt; it may even enhance the pleasure of the trek.

But haphazard progress won't get us to heaven. We won't reach God by casually strolling through life admiring the scenery. God is the God of those who "diligently seeking Him" (Hebrews 11:6), and that implies the necessity of conscious decision. If God is our goal, we won't move toward Him if we don't reach for Him.

In the end, there'll only be two groups of people. The dividing line won't be between the fortunate and the unfortunate, or between those who had it easy and those who had it hard; it will be between those who decided to go to heaven and those who didn't. When "every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14) is gusting every which way, it's the set of our sails that'll get us home.

Dark Days of Faith

Then his wife said to him, "Do you now still mean to persist in your
blamelessness? Curse God, and die." "That is how foolish women talk," Job
replied. "If we take happiness from God's hand, must we not take sorrow too?"
And in all this misfortune Job uttered no sinful word.

Job 2:9,10 Jerusalem Bible

Both reverence and gratitude must be maintained during the days of darkness. God is not any less "there" when life is hard than when it is easy. This is an objective fact, regardless of what our feelings may indicate. The challenge is to discipline our feelings when necessary and maintain our faith in the face of hardship and doubt. Dark days need not be days of utter defeat.

As one of the Lord's apostles, and having endured more than a few difficult days, Paul could say, "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). To be "hard pressed" doesn't mean that we have to be "crushed." We may be "perplexed, but not in despair."

To the church in Smyrna, Christ sent this message: "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).

We simply must not allow the onset of pain in our lives to demolish our faith. Is it not a finer and nobler thing to believe when it's difficult than when it's easy? After all, it doesn't take much character or integrity to believe when God's reality is radiantly shining and all the obvious blessings are flowing our way. "Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" But when the clouds roll in, that is when people of real faith continue to honor God and thank Him for His goodness. When it must meet some significant test, that is when trust means the most. The value of faith doesn't really become obvious until there is some doubt to be dealt with

. Blind to Reality

If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat, and the bee.

They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there in the word of God. And the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. The LORD of LORDS and the KING of KINGS  our Redeemer and Frend.

Love Bob

No Use Pretending

For we all stumble in many things.

James 3:2

We commonly make two mistakes with respect to life in Christ. Either we ourselves underestimate the value of what is truly good about it, or we misrepresent that goodness to others, portraying the Christian's life as something other than what it is. The great gifts available in Jesus Christ -- the forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven -- are of incalculable worth. It took the death of the Son of God to make these gifts possible, and we err greatly if we ever undervalue them. But we err no less if we misrepresent what the Christian's life is like in a world damaged by sin. "There is no escape from an aching soul, only denial of it. The promise of one day being with Jesus in a perfect world is the Christian's only hope for complete relief. Until then we either groan or pretend we don't" .

The tools are surely available in the Scriptures to build a better life in this world than would be possible by any other means. As Paul put it, godliness is "profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). But even at its best, the Christian's life may involve great sorrow and difficulty. It's true that God offers to sustain us through the pain, but it's unwise to pretend that the pain doesn't hurt.

Sometimes, though, we do pretend. In our pride, we conceal the heartache of deep needs that God allows, for the time being and for our ultimate good, to remain unfulfilled. And in our pride, we also cover up the reality of our continuing struggle with sin.

Yet the problem is not always pride. Often it is the popular but mistaken doctrine that we can obtain complete relief and total joy right now, and that if we hurt emotionally or if we struggle with sin, then we've just not reached the plateau of happiness where more committed Christians live. We may be suffocating in a "spiritual" climate where pretense is rewarded and honesty is frowned upon. If so, we're missing the very thing that can draw us toward a richer taste of God: a deeply felt, realistic acceptance of the imperfection that yet remains within us.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. Psalms 58:3

TODAY'S TOUGH QUESTION:
My sister's baby boy lived just one year then died. Where will he spend eternity? What if he had died in the womb?

Let's start with your second question. First, it is important to know that even though a child in the womb does not "breathe" it is alive in the mother. Therefore it has a soul and a spirit as well as a living body in the prenatal state. This, in essence makes your two questions one. What happens to children who die before they are old enough to accept Jesus as their lord and savior? Everyone needs salvation, even those too young to know it. We are all born into sin. However, those children who die prior to reaching their individual age of accountability are under the blood and saved by the blood of Christ. Remember, Jesus died for all, including the children. Children who are to young to accept Jesus, and understand what they have done, will spend eternity in heaven with God. It is very important that just as soon as your children are old enough to understand, you lead them to Christ. See Mark 10:14


TODAY'S MIRACLE:
Conception and childbirth. Just sit quietly and think about it for a few minutes.

TODAY'S EXAMPLE OF GOD'S LOVE:
Jesus blesses the children. See Mark 10:13-16
 

13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them

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There is nothing that cannot be accomplished with prayer, except that which is outside God's will.
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TODAY'S PRAYER:
Dear heavenly Father, we love you. We adore you. You alone are King of kings, and Lord of lords. Father, your work is unbelievable. We cannot even begin to comprehend your ways. We look at your miracle of childbirth and are just blown away. How could you have even conceived of such, let alone created it? Father, we know that your ways are not our ways, and we acknowledge that you are sovereign. Father, we pray for all children who die before knowing Jesus personally, and we pray for their parents. Dear God, we pray for the salvation of those parents who don't yet know Jesus. Father, put it on their hearts that "now is the time" so that they may also spend eternity with Jesus, and with their children who have gone ahead of them. Father God, we thank you that you made provision for those children too young to accept Christ for themselves. We thank you that those children will spend eternity in heaven with you. What a generous act of love. In His name. Amen.