We live in a world where you need to meet certain standards, certain criteria, in order to do most things. When applying for a job, the prospective employer looks over your resume to see if your education, background, and experiences qualify you for the position for which you applied. To be approved for a loan you need to be qualified by the lender, meaning you meet their requirements for extending you credit. In track and field, you often only qualify for championship events by meeting certain time, height or distance thresholds. 

If you do not have an accounting degree, you likely are not qualified to be an accountant. If you’ve filed bankruptcy or been delinquent on paying your bills, you might not qualify for a new car loan. If you run the 100 meter dash and your fastest time is 10.88 while the time required to qualify for the national championship meet is 10.50, you will be watching the track meet on television rather than participating in it. In each of those cases, the individual is the qualifier. It is you who has control over whether you meet the criteria required. You must do something, or not do something, in order to qualify.  

Whereas not meeting certain standards, certain criteria, disqualifies us from doing certain things in daily life, in God’s economy it is Jesus who is the qualifier, not the individual, and in and through Him we can do things that one our own are impossible (Philippians 4:13). When it comes to Jesus, the goal is not transformation, the goal is a relationship with Him. And through that relationship, becoming more like Jesus (transformation), begins to happen.

It is Jesus who gives you supernatural abilities; allowing you to do things otherwise impossible. You might have heard the phrase, naturally supernatural; meaning you can be yourself and God shows up and does some amazing things in and through you. Since you are qualified because of Jesus, you be uniquely yourself, and God can and will use you to pave the way for people to actually experience His loving, healing, and transforming presence.

In 2 Peter 1:3-4 we read this: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

I am not big on clichés, but this one says in eighteen words what I took an entire post to say: God doesn’t call the qualified, doesn’t call the equipped, instead, He qualifies, He equips, those whom He calls.

So, unlike the world around you that gives you a list of qualifications needed before you can begin, Jesus simply says to you what He said to Peter, as Peter stood on the edge of the boat in that dark and stormy night on the Sea of Galilee – “Come.” (Now I encourage you to read this story in its entirety, found in Matthew 14:22-33.)

Author’s note: “The Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water” is an oil on canvas painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner in 1907, housed in a collection at the Des Moines Art Center (USA). The image is in the public domain.

Are you someone who tries to have a well-planned out day, you have To-Do lists, or do you just fly by the seat of your pants, improvising as the day goes on? Did you know that the phrase “fly by the seat of one’s pants” was first used to refer to piloting an airplane without the aid of instruments and without a flight plan, using only instinct, visual observation, and pilot judgment?

Let’s be honest, throughout the most days, the urgent and unexpected can, and often does, derail the best laid out plans. But unless you have a plan, a To-Do list, the important often (if not always) gets replaced by the urgent and unexpected.

So, today, I want to ask you a simple question. In the midst of walking out your day, is this one very important thing on your To-Do list every day? If not, it would be wise to add it to your daily rhythm. – “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4)

As tropical storm Elsa makes her way up the east coast, many people heeded the storm warnings and are prepared, while others, even knowing the storm was coming, well, they will be not so prepared. When we lived in eastern North Carolina and tropical storms were bearing down on us, we began the process of storm-proofing our home and property. We would bring everything that was outside into our garage; stock up with food, water, batteries, blankets, and other items to help us and our cats survive the pending storm; put all of our important documents into zippered plastic bags; plan an emergency evaluation route; and make sure our weather radio was tuned to the local NOAA station. Those living closest to the coast often also put storm shutters over our windows as protection from the intense winds and flying debris.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you probably made an assumption that when you committed your life to Him, your life would somehow become storm-free. You assumed that all your problems and struggles would be a thing of the past. I know I did. Jesus is the good shepherd and are His sheep (read John 10) and therefore, in my false way of thinking, it seemed logical that wolves would never bother me again. I envisioned never getting caught in a storm again.

However, Jesus tells us a very different story. In John 16:33 we read these words of Jesus – “I tell you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” What this tells us today is that wolves will threaten our safety and storms will drench us, but He is bigger than the biggest baddest wolf and most threatening storm you face. During your storms, Jesus is always with you. Sometimes Jesus calms the storms around you while other times He calms you during the storm.

Even when we are doing His work, storms sometimes come. In Matthew 14, after Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two little fish He knew that the disciples (who delivered the food to the big crowd) needed some rest so He instructed them to get into a boat and go to the other side of the lake. They obeyed and in the middle of the lake they got caught in a storm with high wind and waves (22-36). They were doing exactly as Jesus asked, and still a storm came upon them. What’s up with that? [In a similar story, Jesus calmed the storm – Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41.]

Jesus can use every storm in your life to grow your faith. He might be training you, correcting you, equipping you, or maybe even re-directing your path. In and through the storms, He is wanting to make you (and me) more like Him. There is power in the storm.

So, amid the storms of life, both the passing showers and Category 5 hurricanes, do not lose hope, but rather, press in closer to God, seeking His purposes. Faith in Jesus does not give you a storm-free life, but it does storm-proof your life! Have you put your trust in Jesus yet? If not, how about doing so today!

You have likely heard the saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” That adage, or some variant of it, goes back almost 160 years, reportedly first appearing in a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Those words are also a modern children’s rhyme, used to persuade victims of name-calling to ignore that taunt. 

Regardless of its origination or usage, I disagree with the statement. I believe that the bruises caused by sticks and stones heal much quicker than the deep wounds often caused by name calling. I was made fun of as a young child and into my teen years for my speech impediment and to this day those wounds still rear their ugly head from time to time. My many broken bones and bruises, cuts and scrapes, are all long healed, long forgotten, but the name calling, it still hangs around. Just being honest.

The harmful words that come out of our mouths are sometimes well calculated, fully intended to cause hurt, other times, they just come out in the heat of the moment. Sometimes it is not so much what is said, but rather how it is said that causes hurt.

Words spoken to someone can also bring great encouragement and hope to them. My college football coach, while often critical of on and off the field actions, never once spoke harmful words. His criticism of what we did or did not do most often motivated us to become better. When I sat for an interview for acceptance into Vineyard’s ministry school, and as I was bumbling my way through telling the director my life’s journey, at some point he stopped me, and said these very words – “Dave, there is something in you that I just love and even though you don’t, I believe in you.” The trajectory of my life changed in that very moment, and over twenty years later those words still sit sweetly in my soul.

Every time after I preach, Robyn gives me an assessment, and regardless of the critique, her words are always honest, shared out of love, and helpful as I look to improve.  (That’s why I always ask her.)  

The Bible speaks frequently about guarding what comes out of our mouths. Let me share four verses –

 Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) – “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Swords inflict deep wounds.

Ephesians 4:29 (GNT) – “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.” Are you a builder-upper or a tearer-downer?

Colossians 4:6 (ESV) – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Salt has six functions in food: preservative, flavor, texture, and color enhancer, binding agent, source of nutrients.

Proverbs 16:24 (ESV) – “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” Is there anything sweeter than honey?

 [I encourage you to read Matthew 15:1-20. You might be surprised at the answer Jesus gave when pressed to explain a parable he had just told in response to a question regarding the uncleanliness of not washing one’s hands before eating.] 

So, is what you speak to others seasoned with salt, preserving and enhancing, helpful, is it sweeter than honey, or do your words cause harmful and deep wounds that pierce like a sharp sword?    

Think for a minute of the last big event you planned. Maybe it was your daughter’s wedding or a surprise birthday party for your husband or wife. How about after more than a year of hosting no dinner parties, you finally have one on the calendar for later this month, and you can’t wait to try out your new smoker. Or you might already be thinking about the annual Labor Day barbeque and cornhole tournament you hold every year, the one that keeps getting bigger and better every year. Whatever the big event is, you most likely don’t just wing, instead, you put a lot of planning into it. 

We often put so much time and effort into planning the big event that we often fail to take time to enjoy it. Not only do you spend lots of time and effort in the preparations but once the guests arrive you want to make the event as fun and relaxing so you end up waiting on everyone, and you never really get to sit and converse with your guests. Only after everyone has left do you find out from your spouse that your niece got engaged and that the guy down the street has cancer. Taking care of our guests is not a bad thing, just sometimes it causes us to not be able to savor the enjoyment of spending time with those whom we care about.

We often do the same thing with Jesus. We are so busy “doing” for Jesus that we fail to simply “be” with Jesus. There is a story in the Bible that you might be familiar with. It is found in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus stops by the house of his friends, sisters Mary and Martha. The text tells us that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that needed to be made while Mary simply sat on the couch and listened to Jesus. When Martha showed some displeasure with her sister for not helping with the work, Jesus gave her an answer that likely surprised her.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” (Lk 10:41-42)

What is Jesus saying? He was giving Mary and Martha, and is giving us today, a lesson on priorities. Neither sister was necessarily wrong in her response. Jesus is not teaching the value of a contemplative life compared to a life of action, but instead He is teaching that serving Him and those around us should not fill our lives to the extent that we fail to spend time with Him. We cannot let our “doing” get in the way of our “being.” Or put another way: before we can “do” the work of God the Father, we need to first “be” energized by God’s Spirit through an encounter with God’s Son.

We must learn to give our Lord and His Word priority, even over loving service. To fellowship with Jesus, we might have to leave some things undone, even good and worthy things. Jesus is more interested in our undivided hearts than He is in our big acts of sacrifice.

So, today, I ask, are you more busy doing for Jesus than you are being with Jesus?

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” Mark Twain

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Corrie Ten Boom

Isn’t it true, we often worry about things that have not even happened yet or things we have no control over; those what-ifs of life? Preparing for tomorrow and having a plan in place in case a what-if scenario does occur is a good thing, but excessive worry about those things steals your energy, strength, causes you to lose focus, and is just not healthy. Jesus speaks directly to this kind of needless worry.

In Matthew chapters 5-7 we find the Sermon on the Mount, a series of Jesus’s teachings In vv.6:25-26 He tells us this, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Jesus then gives a similar comparison to the flowers of the field (vv.28-30) and ends this teaching with these words, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (v.34).   

Just know that whatever happens today, good or bad, easy or hard, will not catch God off guard. God is not surprised by what happens today nor will He be taken by surprise tomorrow either. So, trust that God is in control, and regardless of how overcast and cloudy today is, do not let worry overwhelm or consume you. Focus on the sun that is ready to burst out from behind the clouds.

The Psalms are often a good place to look to find solace in your time of distress. Did you know that the Hebrew word for psalm is “tehillim,” which means “to praise”? Let me share three verses found in the Psalms:

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (34:4).

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (46:1). Make this one personal; change “our refuge” to “my refuge.”

“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations [compassion, comfort] delight my soul” (94:19).

Can you see the sun?