Better Than a Cell Phone

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Soon after I got my first cell phone I was taking my oldest daughter to lunch one day. I took one of my kids to lunch each week to spend some time with each of them individually. I had picked her up from school and we were going to get a burger when my cell phone rang. It was the office and a church member had just been taken to the hospital. As we rushed through lunch my daughter looked at my cell phone and remarked, “I do not like that thing already.” One form of communication had interrupted another and I too could see a potential problem.

We have so many ways to communicate with each other these days. Everyone seems to carry a cell phone. Plus we have text, email, and messaging through various social media such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, some people prefer messaging because you can respond on your own time without feeling you are a slave to other people’s desires to communicate. I feel their pain.

I wonder sometime if we are aware that God is also communicating with us through multiple means. He speaks to us through many of the ways we speak to each other. He calls me on the phone through the encouraging words of friends. He texts me through His Word, the Bible, and books Christians write. He speaks to me through music on Christian radio. He even uses social media. When I read the posts people write that spoke to them, He also speaks to me.

I have a friend who lost his wife to cancer last year. He writes a prayer on Facebook nearly every day that comes directly from his heart. Many days as I have read the prayer of his heart God has also spoken to mine.

Prayer is our side of the conversation with God. He speaks to us in many ways. How many ways do we speak to Him? We pray in the morning, at meals, at night. We can offer prayers of service because doing the work of God is a prayer. We can communicate with God through our hands, hearts, thoughts, actions, and words.

We pray for Revival in our Church but have you given any thought about how much you want Revival? Have you thought about how you can communicate your heart to the only one who can bring Revival to us?

Paul said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

Do not just talk. Communicate with God and listen with your eyes and ears as He communicates with you.

Bro. Robin

Spiritual Spring Cleaning

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Spring is a time for spring cleaning. When we start spring cleaning we put things in three piles. One pile is for trash: things to throw away. These are the things that are broken or of no use to anyone. The next pile is for yard sale: things to share. This pile includes things we do not want but could be useful to someone else. The last pile is for things to keep, at least for another year.

As I thought about spring cleaning another kind of spiritual cleaning came to mind. I have been studying Colossians 3. Paul talks about how we need to put off the old person, with all its bad habits, and put on the new person with all the Godly characteristics. I thought about all the things that I need to get out of my life and mentally put them on a “Put Off” list. I then looked at the Godly Characteristics that I needed to work on and put them on a “Put On” list.

I also need to think of my spiritual growth the same way I look at spring cleaning? If so, then I  need to make three lists.

The first list is like the trash pile. The trash pile is for things to throw away, such as things that are broken, or are of no use to anyone. Old habits, such as immorality, are of no use to anyone. Old attitudes, such as greed and lust, are of no use to anyone. Old feelings, such as hate, anger, or envy are of no use to anyone. The list of things I need to “Put Off” goes on. Those are all bad but there are so many more things we store up that we think are not so bad that we also need to remove. Bad feelings, bad language, and lies are among the things Paul warns the church about. Gossip and a critical spirit are also included in some of Paul’s other letters. The trash pile can get pretty deep if we are not careful.

The second list is like the keep pile. The Bible is also full of Godly characteristics we need to “Put On” and add to our lives. The things we need to keep include anything in God’s Word that renews us in knowing God better. We sometimes need to be reminded that we are made in His image at creation and we are remade into the image of His Son, Jesus, at salvation.

The third list is like the share pile. Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faith, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) I think this is a partial list but you get the idea. Fruit does not grow to benefit the tree. Fruit grows to spread the tree and benefit all those around it. The Fruit of the Spirit is God sharing Himself with the world through us.

Consider God’s Word like a mirror to reveal your Spiritual life. Take a good look and then look at your lists again. Is there anything missing? Have you written something God’s Word doesn’t support? What do you need to throw away, keep, and share?

“Above all, put on love – the perfect bond of unity.” (Colossians 3:14)

Bro. Robin

Power and Heat

Spring is almost here but the air is still cool. This means jackets and heaters stay on for a while longer. This would not be a problem if the heater in Joyce’s car was reliable. It has always had issues but she has learned to deal with them by adjusting the dials like the combination on a safe. But last fall not even the combination would work. So we decided it was time to have some work done on it.

After charging us the equivalent of a house payment she drove the car to work and turned on the heater. It worked! She had heat. She turned the thermostat down a tad to control the heat and suddenly she was getting cold air. She turned it up and got heat, hot heat. Turned slightly down and she got cold, no heat. There was nothing in between all the way hot and all the way cold.

I called the shop and got a conversation that included things like, “It could be several things,” and, “We won’t know how much it will cost until we find the problem.” We decided Joyce could live with it for now.

I realized later my mistake in describing the problem. We did not just want heat we wanted control over the heater. It was a matter of control. I also thought about how typical that is for many areas of our lives. We all like control and need it to some degree in our lives in order to feel secure. We need to feel some sense of power to make our own decisions for our own lives.

God also recognizes our need for power. He sent Jesus to bring us salvation and then gave us the power to choose. He gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us to be able to live the Christian life that He promised us in His word.

Paul said, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV) God wants us to feel secure in Him.

Bro. Robin

I Can Fly

One of my favorite games as a child was playing Superman. I would stand on a high place, like a wall, hold out my arms, and jump. If I was high enough and jumped just right I might have a whole second of flight. At a young age a second can seem like a long time. Then my dad, or an older brother, would catch me and I would say, “Again.” I knew that as long as he was there I could fly.

I played the same game with my children and now it is my grandchildren I hear saying, “Again, Poppa.” As long as I can I will keep holding out my arms to catch them.

I enjoy listening to Christian music and one song that has caught my attention lately is “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)” by Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash. Based on scripture, Chris Tomlin sings about God’s protection. The chorus says, “Whom shall I fear, I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind, the God of angel armies, is always by my side.” Music can draw us in and encourage us with an interpretation of God’s word that speaks to our hearts. I find myself thinking about God’s protection as I hum along with this song.

There are many scriptures that speak of god’s protection. One of my favorites is Psalm 34:7, which says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them.”  He is always there to protect us and catch us. We can fly, just like those angel armies, into His hands.

Bro. Robin