Lord of reality
make me real
not plastic
synthetic
pretend phony
an actor playing out his part
hypocrite.
I don’t want
to keep a prayer list
but to pray
nor agonize to find Your will
but to obey
what I already know
to argue
theories of inspiration
but submit to Your Word.
I don’t want
to explain the difference
between eros and philos
and agape
but to love.
I don’t want
to sing as IF I mean it
I WANT TO MEAN IT.
I don’t want
to tell it like it is
BUT TO BE IT
like YOU want it.
I don’t want
to think another needs me
but I need him
else I’m not complete.
I don’t want
to tell others HOW to do it
but to do it
to have to be always right
but to admit it WHEN I’m wrong.
I don’t want to be a census taker
but an obstetrician
nor an involved person, a professional
BUT A FRIEND.
I don’t want to be insensitive
but to hurt where other people hurt
nor to say I know HOW you feel
but to say GOD KNOWS
and I’ll try
if you’ll be patient with me
and meanwhile I’ll be quiet.
I don’t want to scorn the clichés of others but to mean everything I say including this!
from Joseph Bayly, PSALMS OF MY LIFE

“How quick we are to question the motives of others, yet we are so slow to question our own! When others harm us, we may assume the worst of intentions. When we are guilty, we even excuse our offenses, concluding that others are far too sensitive! Regardless of how we monitor our motives, God weighs them in His scales of righteousness. It is futile to try to deceive God with our pious justifications, for He sees our hearts.

Is it possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason? Of course! You can attend worship services with a heart that is far from worshipful (Isaiah 1:10-17). Could you show concern for the poor and yet have a heart that is opposed to God? Judas did (John 12:4-8). Could you make
bold statements of love for Christ and actually be aiding the work of Satan? Peter did (Matthew 21-23). Could you offer sacrifices to God and be in total disobedience to Him? King Saul did (I Samuel 13:8-9). Could you pray with the wrong motives? James said you can (James 4:3).

Many things cause us to do what we do. We can be motivated by good things, such as love for God, compassion, generosity, and faith. Our actions can come from unhealthy motives such as pride, insecurity, ambition, lust, greed, guilt, anger, fear, and hurt. It is even possible to do the best things based on the wrong motives. When the Lord measures our motives He looks for one thing: love. All that we do should proceed from our love for God and for others (I Corinthians 13). Take time to look past your actions to what lies behind them. Ask God to show you
what He sees when He examines your motives.”

from Henry Blackcap’s EXPERIENCING GOD Day-by-Day

“In this modern day we are, more and more, turning from GOD-APPOINTED means of intercessory prayer and adopting, instead, merely natural agencies for carrying on His work. Intercessory prayer has been shelved. For some reason it is out of date. Our methods, we say, are better, our plans more successful, and so we adopt natural means to bring to pass
the supernatural.
My brethren, it can never be done. We may appear successful; the crowds may come, the altar may be full night after night. Reported results may be broadcasted everywhere. Whole cities may be stirred and mightily moved! And yet when it is all over and two or three years have passed, how little will be found to be genuine! And why? Simply because we have been satisfied with a superficial, spectacular work, brought to pass by natural means. Consequently the truly supernatural has been largely lacking. Oh let us get back to intercessory prayer, the highest form of Christian service, and give God no rest until we have a spiritual outcome.”

Oswald J. Sanders

“At any time, the receptiveness of your heart will determine your response to God’s Word (Luke 8:5-18). If your heart is like the trampled ground, hardened by the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness, you will be unable to accept a message from God. Though you heart the words of the message, you will remain unchanged. If your heart is like the shallow soil on top of a rock, you will accept God’s Word in your mind, but the truth will not penetrate your heart to make a difference in your actions. A heart like thorny soil is a life that is distracted by the cares of the world; the pursuit of earthly pleasure prevents God’s Word from taking hold and producing righteousness. The heart that is like good soil received a word from God, applies it, and brings forth fruit in due time. This is the heart that Jesus desires in us, for the fruit will be a Christ like life.

Any time you hear a word from God, whether through Bible reading, prayer, or worship, the WAY you respond will depend on HOW you have cultivated your heart (Hosea 10:12). How do you develop a heart that is good soil? Repent of ANY bitterness, anger, or unforgiveness that is
hardening your heart. Meditate on God’s Word until it enters deep into your heart and not just your mind. When you read or hear a word from God, apply it to your life and let God bring His word into reality in your life (Galatians 6:9). Protect your lifestyle. See that you don’t
devote all of your energy to worldly concerns, rather than to pursuing your relationship with God. The condition of your heart will vary, depending on HOW you cultivate it. If it was receptive to a word from God yesterday, this does not guarantee it is receptive today! DAILY
prepare your heart for the word God has for YOU!

Good words from the daily devotional EXPERIENCING GOD DAY-BY-DAY by Henry Blackaby

Coming back from vacation for me is worse than all the preparation to go. It seems like every time we go away, we come back to some major crisis or event. Coming back from our trip to Minnesota was no different. I came back with several major things that needed to be addressed, and quite frankly, I started to stress out big time. But I decided to get alone with the Lord and talk with Him about the matters that were of concern to me. He didn’t take away the situations that I needed to address, but He sure gave me wisdom, strength, peace, and all the necessary things that I needed for handling them.

At just the right time yesterday, the Lord sent me to a devotional book and I believe led me to a particular passage that I needed to read. Hear these words from Dr. John Piper . . .

“Prayer is the walkie-talkie on the battlefield of the world. It calls on God for courage (Ephesians 6:19). It calls in for troop deployment (Acts 13:1-3). It calls for protection and air cover (Matthew 6:13; Luke 21:36). It calls in for fire power to blast open a way for the Word of God (Colossians 4:3). It calls in for the miracle of healing for the wounded soldiers (James 5:16). It calls in for the supplies for the forces (Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:6) And it calls in for needed
reinforcements (Matthew 9:38). This is the place of prayer — on the battlefield of the world. It is a war-time walk talkie for spiritual warfare, not a domestic intercom to increase the comforts of the saints. And one of the reasons it malfunctions in the hands of many Christian soldiers is that they have gone AWOL!”

(from Magnificent Prayer by Nick Harrison published by Zondervan) Thank you in advance for not leaving your post. Please don’t go AWOL!

Reminds me of a familiar hymn:

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear.
What a privilege to carry EVERYTHING to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we OFTEN forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry EVERYTHING to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble everywhere?
We should never be discouraged, TAKE IT TO THE LORD IN PRAYER!
Can we find a friend so faithful — Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our Refuge — take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there.

I needed those words this morning. Maybe you did too!

“The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than before and he fully expects to live forever. He walks on earth while seated in heaven and though born on earth he finds that after his conversion he is not at home here. Like the nighthawk, which in the air
is the essence of grace and beauty but on the ground is awkward and ugly, so the Christian appears at his best in the heavenly places but does not fit well into the ways of the very society into which he was born.

The Christian soon learns that if he would be victorious as a son of heaven among men on earth he must not follow the common pattern of mankind, but rather the contrary. That he may be safe he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up.

He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most.

He may be and often is highest when he feels lowest and most sinless when he is most conscious of sin. He is wisest when he knows that he knows not and knows least when he has acquired the greatest amount of knowledge. He sometimes does most by doing nothing and goes furtherest
when standing still. In heaviness he manages to rejoice and keeps his heart glad even in sorrow.

He believes he is saved now, nevertheless he expects to be saved later and looks forward joyfully to complete salvation. He fears God but is not afraid of Him. In God’s presence he feels overwhelmed and undone, yet there is nowhere he would rather be than in that presence. He knows that he has been cleansed from his sin, yet he is painfully conscious that in his flesh dwells no good thing.

He loves supremely One whom he has never seen, and though himself poor and lowly he talks familiarly with the One who is King of all kinds and Lord of all lord, and is aware of no incongruity in doing so. He feels he is in his own right altogether less than nothing, yet he believes without question that he is the apple of God’s eye and that for him the
Eternal Son became flesh and died on the cross of shame.”

from the writings of A.W. Tozer in his timely classic, THAT INCREDIBLE CHRISTIAN
published by Christian Publications

What an incredible life we have IN CHRIST!

Have you ever had insomnia? If not, I trust you never experience it. I have faced some sleepless nights and it is not fun. Sleep aids have become a huge money maker for the medical industry and the pharmaceutical companies. There are sleep clinics and sleep specialists. You can find all kinds of supplements, medications, and gadgets that will help you fall asleep.

The Bible has the answers to life’s challenges and has much to say about the topic of sleep. Proverbs has some really neat insight into our need for sleep and rest. Dr. Mark Swenson in his classic book, MARGIN, says this about insomnia . . . “If insomnia strikes, don’t panic! It happens
to everybody from time to time, and one or two nights of sleeplessness do not constitute a crisis. What can become a crisis, however, is your REACTION to the experience.

After one or two nights of sleeplessness, a pattern develops. Annoyance turns to fear, then fear turns to panic. And nothing retards sleep like panic. Trying to force yourself to sleep is the surest way of PREVENTING sleep. A persistent pattern of insomnia sometimes begins with exactly this reaction of desperation. ‘Sleep is one of the few things in life that cannot be improved upon trying harder,’ explains sleep expert Dr. Peter Hauri.

If insomnia is a problem, don’t stay in bed awake. Get up, sit in a comfortable chair or lie on the couch, read, write a letter, have a light snack, drink some milk, take a walk, soak in the bathtub, watch television. Don’t worry. Consider turning the night into a conversation with God. Pray. Listen. Meditate. Read the Word. Begin a spiritual journal. List to Christian music. And don’t forget to thank Him for the special opportunity of this time together. When tiredness begins to
overtake you, retire once again with gratitude for the double blessing of this night: that of fellowship and now that of sleep.”

There are some legitimate physical and emotional reasons why some people can’t sleep. If you have a persistent problem, you should seek medical attention. But I also encourage you to commit to memory (I’m working on this right now) some of the promises from God’s Word about sleep. Here are several that I read in my devotional time this morning:

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for YOU alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels
charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. When you lie down and your sleep will be sweet. So he gives His beloved sleep.” (Psalm 4:8; Psalm 9:9-11; Proverbs 3:24; Psalm 127:2)

Good words to ponder today!

I have a hard time with Father’s Day! I’m being honest with you. I can make it through most holidays, but this one is tough for me. I walked by the card section at Wal-Mart this week and saw all the Father’s Day cards. I got a lump in my throat and my eyes filled with tears as I was
reminded that my Dad is in heaven. He is enjoying Father’s Day with the REAL Father. How awesome!

I am amazed at the number of men that I have met that have little or no communication with their earthly fathers. Some of you have been through painful times with your Dads, and that makes this day a tough one for you as well. Some of us have been hurt by our Dads and have allowed bitterness to turn into hardened hearts. That robs and sucks the joy out of your life. Your Heavenly Father wants to heal that broken relationship and restore it! The prophet Malachi talked about this day in Malachi 4:6 — “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to his
children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers . . .”

Today can be a day of new beginnings — ask your HEAVENLY FATHER to turn your heart towards your earthly father. Purpose in your heart to pick up the phone and call your Dad. Wish him a “Happy Father’s Day.” Honor your Dad and thank God for him.

Have a great Father’s Day.

On Thursday we had the opportunity to get “up close and personal” with one of the hundreds of windmills not being operated in Minnesota. From a distance they don’t look that big — but we were able to stand right beside one. THEY ARE HUGE. I have a picture of my son Zach standing at the base of the windmill and he looks like a little bug next to this enormous structure that has unbelievable power in providing electricity to thousands of people.

As I was standing at the base looking up at the huge propellers, David’s words from Psalm 8 came to my mind. I wonder if he penned these words while sitting on a Judean hillside looking into the heavens while tending his sheep at night . . . “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your
name in all the earth! You have set your glory ABOVE the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the some of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet . . . O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

You were created by the Master Designer — the One who calls the stars by their names has called you His own. Wow! Thank You, Lord for your love for me!

Good words to ponder on this Saturday, June 18, 2005.

One of the things we enjoy doing as a family is visiting antique shops. We have been doing it for years and hardly ever buy anything. We enjoy seeing stuff that our Mom’s had when we were kids being sold for ridiculous prices. Simple things like Hershey Cocoa containers that are empty, but now selling for $25.

There was a huge antique store in Sioux Falls called “Monks Junk” that was really cool. It was an old “kwanza” building turned into a store with two floors filled with stuff. The community people laughed about it because they all new that the prices were way to high. How could “junk” be so costly?

When God created Adam, he created him out of dust! Nothing fancy — dust! And yet think about how important that dust is in God’s eyes. He created and fashioned you with his own hands (Psalm 139:13) and then He purchased us with the blood of His only Son (I Corinthians 6:20).

My friend, Pastor Tom Mahairas, reminds me that “God don’t make no junk!” You might be discouraged today believing the lies of the enemy that you are worthless nobody. Don’t believe the lie! You are of great value to Him.

Read Psalm 139 and thank Him for His care and concern for you.

SPECIAL DINNER CONCERT — Join us next Saturday evening for another outstanding dinner concert at America’s KESWICK with Stuart Neil. Stuart travels worldwide with the world’s major orchestra’s and has an incredible testimony. To make your reservations, call today — 800-453-7942.