A number of years ago when we lived in New Albany, Ohio, I coached our oldest daughter’s middle school rec soccer team. One Saturday we traveled to a nearby community to play a team that was undefeated. When we got to the field the outcome of the game was already decided in my girls minds. The smallest girls on the opposing team were much bigger than the biggest girls on my team. These girls were giant-sized. The coach was even big! Heck, those girls and their coach even scared me. As hard as I tried to convince my team that we could play with them, we lost and lost bad. The opposing team’s size intimidated us, and once fear set in, we were defeated before the start of the game.

Those same years I also coached our younger daughter’s U-10 soccer team. This team was very good and we were winning games easily. One particular game several of our girls were sick and could not play. We were shorthanded, but instead of seeing this as a giant obstacle, these little girls saw it as an opportunity to overcome the odds. Those girls played better, and harder, than I had ever seen them play, and we won the game with two less girls on the field than our opponent.

In the earliest days of recovering from a stroke, as my brain was struggling to process the world around me, and as I stared into the unknown, it took constant prayer along with encouragement from my support network and therapists to not allow fear to rule the day.  

We all face giants in our lives; things that just seem too big to conquer. These giants represent obstacles that often seem insurmountable. As we stare at these giant mountains or challenges, we are often defeated before the game begins.

A story in the Bible shows us two responses to overcoming the giants we face. In Numbers chapter 13, as Moses and Aaron were ready to lead the people into the Promised Land that flowed with milk and honey, twelve scouts (one from each ancestral tribe) were sent out to check out the land of Canaan.

The scouts confirmed that the land was plentiful (vv.25-27). But they also reported that the people who lived there were powerful and the cities fortified (v.28). The size of the people caused fear to rule their hearts, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are (v.31).” And in verse 33 we read, “We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

But, quite the opposite, Caleb, one of the scouts, responded to that alarming news this way, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it (v:30).” He trusted God’s plan.

The truth is we need faith to not be consumed by the giants in our path. We need to completely trust that God is bigger than the biggest giant we face. Looking to God, rather than staring at the giant, will give you God-sized strength, and you can say with confidence, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

And not only do you find yourself with God-sized strength in those moments when fear sets in, you also never walk through your fears alone – “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13).

Are you looking at the giants or at God? Look past your giants and look to God.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

We live in a world full of choices, often choices we can pick and choose from. I recently needed to buy some body wash. Who knew that could be so hard, with every scent from teakwood to tropical coconut. They even had deep woods. Wouldn’t that attract mosquitoes?

Not into body wash scents? Okay, then think back to the last time you went out to eat. When you can order individually priced items off the menu, it is called à la carte. The literal meaning of the French phrase is “by the card,” but is commonly used to mean “according to the menu.” As opposed to à la carte, a set meal (grilled chicken with a salad and two sides) at a fixed price is table d´ hôte, which comes from the French phrase, “the host’s table.” This is the type of restaurant menu we are most accustomed to seeing. A third menu is known as prix fixe, which is one price for all courses served together as a meal.

Many times, we want to follow God à la carte. We want to pick and choose which of God’s commands to embrace. God has given us free will to choose between good and evil, right and wrong, love and hate, etc. Paul tells us that we have freedom in Christ. In Galatians 5:13 we read this, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom in indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

This freedom we have is a liberty (free from restrictions) not a license (permission granted to do something). What I mean by that is our freedom is not a permission granted to indulge our flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a list of the sinful acts of the flesh. This list is à la carte; each behavior is “separately priced” and can be “ordered” on its own. I can have outbursts of anger without being sexually immoral. I can struggle with envy without practicing witchcraft. 

Today I want to focus not on the acts that our sinful nature is capable of, but rather, I want to look at the fruit that comes by living in the Spirit. The “Fruit of the Spirit” consists of attitudes and actions that should all be evident in followers of Jesus. In this context, the word “fruit” is in the singular form, meaning it is not an à la carte menu to pick and choose from. These nine fruits, like a table d´ hôte menu that does not allow for picking and choosing, come as one “set meal.” I cannot model kindness but leave out patience or self-control

Looking at it another way, this fruit is like a bunch of grapes, all one cluster, as compared to separate and differing pieces of fruit, ones you can pick and choose from.

Just what is this fruit? In Galatians 5:22-23 we find, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there in no law (NASB).”

These virtues need no classification, but to help understand them, let me offer three categories. The first three can be viewed as habits of our heart, the second three as social values, and the last three concern how we are to be in ourselves.

Leave à la carte at the restaurant. Ask God to help you grow fruit in your life, increasing your juice from His singular cluster of grapes.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

While the characters in this story are fictitious, the story itself is about every one of us, because… there is a little bit of Tom in all of us.

There was a young couple who went to Virginia Beach on their honeymoon. I will call them Tom and Becky. Becky had a real relationship with Jesus while Tom attended church with her but was still investigating what it meant to have faith in Jesus.

On Saturday evening as they were walking on the boardwalk, they saw a poster that indicated there would be a church service on the beach, near the fishing pier, the next morning. As it was with most church-related things, Becky was interested in going while Tom was thinking about sleeping in the next morning, but because he wanted to be a good newlywed husband, he agreed to attend with her.

The next morning, they woke up early, Becky excitedly so, Tom rather reluctantly. After breakfast they headed to 14th Street and made their way to be beach. About 75 people had already gathered, all dressed casually, many in beach attire. The service began with a small band playing several worship songs. Not music Tom had heard in church before. People were singing and dancing, several even tossing a beach ball back and forth. Tom was very surprised to see that most of the people in attendance actually looked like they were enjoying the experience. He was used to church being formal and somber.

After the worship band stopped playing, a barefooted young man stepped to the microphone and welcomed the crowd, gave a few instructions, then prayed. This prayer was different than what Tom was accustomed to. This prayer seemed like a conversation between the man and God, whereas Tom was used to prayers being formal and filled with lots of spiritual words. After the prayer, a woman in shorts and flip flops got up and gave a message on what it means to have a real relationship with Jesus, to seek after Him with all your heart. The sermon had stories and jokes and Tom felt as if the preacher was talking to him.

Something pricked Tom’s heart and after the service was over he asked Becky to go with him to talk to the preacher about her message. Becky was pleasantly surprised; in fact, she was hoping this would be the moment in which Tom would commit his life to Jesus. Tom only had one question for the woman – He asked, “You said we need to desire God more than anything else in life. What does that really mean?” The lady preacher gave a surprising answer. She said to Tom, “Walk down to the end of the boardwalk towards Rudee Inlet and look for an old man who spends his days sitting on the beach; he is usually shirtless and well-tanned, with long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail. Ask him that question.”

That seemed like a strange answer, but Becky and Tom grabbed some lunch and headed off to find the old man. They quickly found him, sitting on a rock near the inlet, feeding the seagulls. After introducing themselves, Tom said, “The beach preacher told me to find you because you would explain to me what it means to seek after God with all my heart.”

Without saying a word, the old man motioned for Tom to follow him, and they walked into the ocean, first up to their ankles, then their knees, and soon they were standing in water chest deep. Suddenly the old man pushed Tom’s head under the water and held him there. Ten, fifteen, twenty seconds went by and soon Tom was running out of oxygen. After what seemed like minutes, Tom was angry and he exploded up out of the water, yelling at the old man, “What were you doing, trying to drown me?” Again, without talking, the old man began walking back to the shoreline, motioning Tom to follow him.

Once they got to the beach, the old man finally spoke. He asked Tom, “When you were under the water, what is the one thing you desired most?” Tom yelled back, somewhat sarcastically, “Oxygen!” The old man then said to Tom, “When you want Jesus like you wanted oxygen, you will find Him.” With that, he turned and walked away from Tom and Becky.

Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us this, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Proverbs 8:17 reads like this, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me.”

So, today I ask you, how passionately are you seeking after God?

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

I believe it is safe to say there is no more enduring symbol of love and beauty in Western culture than red roses. They are a way to express your deepest affection, longing, desire. Giving or receiving a bouquet of red roses is a message of love. Red roses appear in music, poetry, literature, classical artwork, films and everywhere in between. Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote this, comparing his sweetheart to a red rose – “O my Luve’s like a red, red rose, That’s newly sprung in June; O my Luve’s like the melodie, That’s sweetly play’d in tune” (“A Red, Red Rose,” 1794).

Among other things, one thing genuine love does is forgive (read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). We live in a world that often does not easily forgive. We tend to hold grudges and look for ways to get even with the person who we think wronged us. We might not say it out loud, but we think to ourselves those words spoken by the Wicked Witch of the West to Dorothy, “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!” (The Wizard of Oz).

Most often the person we fail to forgive is ourselves. We have asked the person we wronged for forgiveness, they have granted it, but we look in the mirror with remorse and regret, never allowing ourselves to climb out from under the weight of guilt. If you are a Christ follower, once you ask God to forgive your sin, He does, never to hold it against you. Do you believe that? Read Micah 7:19 (in context, Micah 7:18-20) and Psalm 103:12 (in context, all of Psalm 103).

The problem is when we fail to forgive ourselves, even after God and others have, we begin to feel unlovable and we spiral down a dark path from which there is often no escaping. The Bible’s overarching theme is that God loves you and is pursuing you! You were made in His image (Genesis 1:27) and He allowed His only Son, Jesus, to be crucified and die (Romans 5:8), then resurrected Him, in order to restore a personal relationship with you (John 3:16-18), one that was broken due to sin (Romans 4:25).

If the truth be told, we are more convinced of God’s love and forgiveness for others than for ourselves. Many times, we hear that internal whisper, “Yes, but…” after every declaration of God’s goodness and kindness to us. We see ourselves as unlovable and unforgiveable.       

You probably know the first few words of the most recognized verse in the Bible (John 3:16) – “For God so loved the world…” The world, that excludes no one! Sensing God’s love – grabbing hold of it, letting it fill your lungs, swimming in it – is foundational to God’s Kingdom. The truest expression of God’s character is His love. The gospel message at its core is a message of love.

In 1 John 3:1 we read this, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

So, right now, no matter how you feel, no matter what your past looks like, open your heart and accept God’s extravagant and lavish love; a love greater than that expressed by a dozen long stemmed red roses.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

Are you a person who lives by the adage, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today” or do you flip that around and say, “Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow”?

We live in a world of procrastinators. Cats never seem to be in any hurry to do anything. The same can sometimes be said of us. We push so much off until tomorrow. But so often, the proverbial “tomorrow” never comes. Have you ever waited until the day before an assignment is due to begin working on it? You need to get bloodwork done, but you keep putting it off. You keep finding better things to do than go through the boxes in the basement and get rid of years’ worth of accumulated junk. You put off calling a loved one until one day it is too late.

I am sure that today card stores will be full of men, many with panicked looks on their faces, scrambling to find a Valentine’s Day card

Pablo Picasso once said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” We live in a world of procrastinators. The word procrastinate comes from the Latin verb “procrastinare” which means deferred until tomorrow. Most of us eventually do the things we need to do, we just seem to usually put them off or wait until the last minute.

When our daughters were growing up, my wife and I would regularly ask them to do certain things. “Please clean your room.” That meant clean your room right now. Other times, it might have sounded like this: “On Saturday, please clean you room.” When God gives a command without any specific day or time, I believe he is desiring whatever it is he commanded to be done immediately. Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is. Delayed obedience is really nothing more than disobedience.

And when our daughters pushed back on something we asked of them, we tried not to simply say, “Do it because I say so.” We gave them an explanation, to hopefully help them understand our reasoning. There were times, however, when we felt they would not at that moment understand, so “do it because I say so” meant something like this: “Trust me on this, it is for your own good.” And sometimes what God asks us to do simply makes no sense. But we can always rest assured that it is for our own good and the good of others.       

When Jesus visited Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew as they were fishing, He invited them to become his disciples. In Matthew 4:19 we see Jesus say, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Did the two men ask to go home and think about it for a few days before giving Jesus an answer? You be the judge; here is what we read in v.20 – “At once they left their nets and followed him.” In the very next verse, we again see Jesus extend an invitation, this time to James and John, to join Him. They too “immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.”

We find these words in Psalm 119:60 – “As soon as you command, I do what you say (CEV).”

It might be okay to procrastinate on doing certain things, but when it comes to responding to God, the only way to be obedient is to obey Him, completely and without delay.

What is God calling you to do that you keep putting off?

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

When I was nine or ten years old, I rode my bike to the neighborhood apothecary to purchase a balsa wood glider. After assembling the glider, I headed to the field behind our house. After a few successful flights, that glider ended up on the roof of a neighbor’s house. So, rather than wait until an adult could get my glider off the roof, I again rode my bike to that small corner store and picked myself up another glider; however, this time not paying for it.

That evening, the owner of the store paid a visit to our house to discuss with me my decision to steal from his store. He did not raise his voice, nor did my parents, but it was clear that the adults in the room were disappointed in me. And there were consequences to be had. As the days wore on, their disappointment faded.  

The man forgave me for my misdeed, but there were still consequences. I was not allowed in his store for three months. I don’t remember the excuse I told my friends, but I’m sure it wasn’t the truth. And even after that, when us neighborhood boys would go into his store to buy Topps baseball cards or candy, the owner always seemed to watch my every move. He simply did not trust me, and rightfully so.

We live in a society that struggles to forgive. We either clearly state a lack of willingness to forgive or we say we forgive but still hold a grudge. Forgiveness has nothing to do with escaping the consequences of one’s actions. Even in forgiveness, there are consequences to our actions. Forgiveness is to let go of an offense, to stop feeling resentful or angry toward the offender. I am sure, if you are like me, you’ve been on both sides of that fence – needing to both forgive and to be forgiven. But be honest, forgiving and being forgiven, both usually lacking in some way.     

Unlike you and me, who struggle to forgive genuinely and completely, the Bible is clear that because Jesus paid the price for our sins (Ephesians 1:7), we freely and unconditionally receive God’s forgiveness. Acts 3:19 tells us – “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” But let me be clear here as well, even in forgiveness, there are still consequences for our actions.

God not only forgives, He also forgets, never holding our past against us. In Micah 7:19 we read these words – “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” And in Hebrews 8:12 – “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 

We come to know the character of God by His many names. One such name is El Nose, the “God Who Forgives.” We see this very name in Psalm 99:8 – “LORD [Yahweh/Jehovah] our God [Elohim], you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God [El Nose], though you punished their misdeeds.”

The expanse of God’s great love instructs us through our wrong choices and that same pure love offers us forgiveness. How big is God’s love you ask? Picture for a minute a field of sunflowers that seems to go on endlessly. As expansive as that field appears to be, it does have boundaries. God’s love on the other hand has no boundaries. It is vast beyond measure; it extends past our capacity to understand.

So, today, I ask you – Will you repent of your sins and receive the forgiveness of El Nose? And with a grateful heart will you thank El Nose for His great love poured out in that forgiveness? 

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.