The problem with us is we quickly forget. Many of us attended Good Friday services yesterday and focused our attention for an hour or more on all that Jesus did for us the day He died. But let’s be honest . . . how many of us actually spent the rest of the day reflecting on the events of the crucifixion? Within minutes of concluding the service, we immersed ourselves back into our routines, or for some of us, took the time to enjoy the rest of our “holiday.” How quickly it is for us to forget significant events in our lives.

Good Friday was a MAJOR event. The September 11 of Christianity. War was declared on the terror and reign of sin. And once and for all, sin was taken care of, not partially, not until next year — but FOREVER! The words of Jesus from the cross are ones that we ponder once a year. But let these words burn into the fabric of your being . . . IT IS FINISHED! He took care of our sins ONCE AND FOR ALL! Praise God! But not only were your sins crucified . . . You were crucified with Christ. And He now wants to be your life!

Tomorrow we celebrate the glorious resurrection. In between Friday and Sunday is Saturday. Can I suggest that today you get alone and take a few moment to reflect on the fact that YOU WERE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST! Paul wrote these powerful words in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Hallelujah, What a Savior!

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood —
Sealed my pardon with His blood;
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilt, vile and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die,
“It is finished,” was His cry;
Now in heav’n exalted high!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Good words to ponder on this Saturday, March 25, 2005

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most —
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” Philippians 3:7-9

From DAILY WITH THE KING published by our good friends at Moody Press

“I must realize that the closer I walk with God, the more subtle sin will become. The natural man does not hate sin; he only hates the mess he has gotten himself into. But the disciple soon discovers that sin has great undoing power, the power not only to neutralize the present, but
also to cancel the past.

Israel made a calf of gold and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ (Exodus 32:4) This was a direct contradiction to what Israel said earlier, ‘Thou has led the people whom Thou hast redeemed.’ (Exodus 15:13)

Sin is always a contradiction. It is the great no to every manifestation of God’s truth and power. Even more, it destroys the PRESENT benefit that past blessings have brought us. The great strength occasioned by the song of Moses was wiped out by the creation of the golden calf.

God answered prayer for me yesterday, and I found that it still nourished me today — until I made a calf of gold. Yesterday’s blessing is dissolved by today’s idolatry. The subtle power of sin is that it prevents me from relying on my spiritual savings account. Sin not only defeats me but it also strips me of my armor.

What is my defense against the insidious thing? Only my bedrock relationship with God. That is one thing sin cannot change, remove, or dissolve. God has vowed my salvation, not on the basis of what I experience, but on what His Son has experienced for me. While sin can eliminate a day or a year’s growth in my soul, it cannot eliminate the thing that makes growth possible — the vibrant, pulsating life of God.”

“For the law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and Death!” (Romans 8:2)

Good words for us to ponder today!

This is one of those reminders that as men (and women) we need to hear often — “Don’t play with sin.” One of the things that we see happening as a ministry that counseling people, is the tragedy that we think we can get as close to the edge and yet not get burned.

God’s Word makes the issues quite clear, and yet for some reason, we try to figure how close we can get before crossing the line. We may pride ourselves that we wouldn’t dare go to an adult bookstore to view or purchase pornography, but we will watch an R-rated movie that contains sexually-explicit material. We might pride ourselves that we are faithful to our spouses, but get close to the edge with flirtatious remarks to a co-worker or friend.

Recently, our Director of Marketing and Technology was running a job on our company copier which was going to tie up the copier for most of the day. Due to the wonders of technology, he was able to run the job from his office in the basement of the Raws building. There would be moments were it would appear the copier was ok to use, but doing so would interrupt and foul up the job. So he placed a sign on the copier that said, “Please do not touch!” It was funny to watch the reaction of the staff throughout the day, as many of us had the same reaction — we wanted to go up and touch it just for spite! Childish?

Well think about it. God has given you and me some pretty specific, detailed instructions about what we can and cannot do. He says, “Do not touch” and yet from the very beginning, starting with Adam and Eve, we have struggled with this.

Here are some reminders from the Word of God for you and me this morning . . . “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Remember Lot’s wife. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with
lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? Therefore, ‘Come out from among them and separate,’ says the Lord. “Do not touch what is unclean.’ Do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Galatians 6:7; Luke 17:32; 2 Corinthians 6:14,17; Ephesians 5:7-8; 10-11)

What about you this morning? Are there areas in your life where you are playing with sin? Is there an area where you are deceiving yourself? Purpose in your heart today to say “NO!” — stop playing with sin.

REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE.

I have watched the life of one of a mentor and friend for over 35 years. I have watched him in numerous circumstances in life, but there was a time that I actually worked for him for seven years. He was the President of a major para-church organization. There were many things that he taught me with his life, but there is one thing that stands out — He was very careful with his words.

I sat in on several meetings where he had to say some very difficult things to staff that were not performing. From a human perspective, he could have been very upset and angry. But in these situations, he was very calm and careful with his words. Later on I asked him how he was able to do that. He shared with me that in his younger years he was not as careful with his words. In fact, he was quite a hot-head. After having to go to people time and time again to apologize for his unkind words, he began to allow the Holy Spirit to control his tongue, and began to watch what he said. He said that by doing this, it saved him much grief.

Proverbs 21:23 says, “Watch your words and hold your tongue; you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.” Jesus emphasized the importance of our words in Matthew 12:34-35 . . . . “It’s your heart, not the dictionary that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deed and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: every one of your careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can be your damnation.” (The Message)

Wow — isn’t that a power reminder! Think about your words today. Think about what you will say to your spouse, your kids, your boss, your employees. Purpose in your heart to “watch way you say.” It might save you a lot of grief!

Good words to ponder on this March 21, 2005. Have a great day.

“Youth may be admired for vigor, but gray hair gives prestige to the old.” — Proverbs 20:29

Turning 50 is traumatic. Well at least it is for some of us. I hate being gray, but at this point in my life I am grateful for two things … 1.) Half of my relatives had little hair at this age, and 2) the other half were pure white in their 20’s.

One of the things that concerns me in our society is that we have such a huge emphasis of separating the ages. The seniors don’t want to be around the younger people, and vice versa. We live in the fifth largest senior area of the country, and our you can’t even buy a home in a village unless you are 55. If we wanted to buy a home in five years, we wouldn’t be able to do that because we would have a 13 year old living with us!

There is great value for younger people in rubbing shoulders with seniors. I know that there are some that are crabby and opinionated. But over the course of my life, some of my greatest mentors and friends have been senior saints who have walked with the Lord. They have become my greatest prayer partners, and I grieve every time one of them goes home to be with the Lord.

Unfortunately this separation of the ages even impacts the church. We have services for the young and services for the old. I think the body of Christ is missing out by not having all ages worshipping the Lord together. I have not been able to find any illustrations in the Scriptures where the Israelites or the New Testament church had a separation of the ages. There is much written in the epistles of older men and younger men working together, as well as how older women and younger women can benefit from a mentoring relationship.

If you are a “younger” person, take some time today at church to meet a senior saint. Ask them to pray for you and your family. And then do the same for them. If you are a senior saint with gray hair . . . step out of your comfort zone and meet a younger family. Let them know that you
will be praying for them. Who knows what might happen with vigor is combined with prestige! Enjoy your day of worship.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but MY words will by no means pass away. You know it all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has
failed.”

“Fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!” So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let me lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” ‘”Be strong … and work; for I am with you,” says the Lord of hosts. “Not by might nor by power, but by MY spirit,” says the Lord of hosts.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (Luke 21:33; Joshua 23:14; Daniel 10:19; Haggia 2:4; Zechariah 4:6; Ephesians 6:10)

I needed those verses this morning, and my guess is that one of you did too. May God’s Word encourage you on this Saturday, March 19, 2005. If these verses touched your heart, I would love to hear from you!

Like many of you, I receive many forwards from friends with things they want me to read. I am not one to pass them on, but this one was worth your consideration. I cannot give the proper credit for it since it was forwarded without information.

Today, when I awoke, I suddenly realized that this is the best day of my life, ever! There were times when I wondered if I would make it to today; but I did! And because I did I’m going to celebrate! Today, I’m going to celebrate what an unbelievable life I have had so far: the accomplishments, the many blessings, and, yes, even the hardships because they have served to make me stronger.

I will go through this day with my head held high and a happy heart. I will marvel at God’s seemingly simple gifts: the morning dew, the sun, the clouds, the trees, the flowers, the birds.

Today, none of these miraculous creations will escape my notice. Today, I will share my excitement for life with other people. I’ll make someone smile. I’ll go out of my way to perform an unexpected act of kindness for someone I don’t even know. Today, I’ll give a sincere compliment to someone who seems down. I’ll tell a child how special he is, and I’ll tell
someone I love just how deeply I care for them and how much they mean to me.

Today is the day I quit worrying about what I don’t have and start being grateful for all the wonderful things God has already given me. I’ll remember that to worry is just a waste of time because my faith in God and his Divine Plan ensures everything will be just fine.

And tonight, before I go to bed, I’ll go outside and raise my eyes to the heavens. I will stand in awe at the beauty of the stars and the moon, and I will praise God for these magnificent treasures.

As the day ends and I lay my head down on my pillow, I will thank the Almighty for the best day of my life. And I will sleep the sleep of a contented child, excited with expectation because I know tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life, ever!

Good words for you to ponder on this Friday, March 18, 2005.

This morning I was trying to find the hymn that is based on St. Patrick’s Prayer. I commend you to think through it today and even sing it! The tune is MORNING HAS BROKEN.

Christ beside me, Christ before me,
Christ behind — king of my heart.
Christ within me, Christ below me,
Christ above — never to part.

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me — shield in my strife;
Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising — light of my life.

Christ be in all hearts thinking about me,
Christ be on all tongues telling of me;
Christ be the vision in eyes that see me,
In ears that hear me Christ ever be.

Christ beside me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me — king of my heart;
Christ within me, Christ below me,
Christ above me — never to part.

from THE WORSHIPPING CHURCH — A HYMNAL

Have a great day!

My wife tells me that when men are sick we are really a bunch of wimps.
I think she is right! Talk to just about any wife and they will confirm that they would much rather be sick than have us sick. All of a sudden we become whiny. complain, and think that the simplest cold is terminal.

Our minds are powerful tools. Doctors have proven that we can make ourselves sick by thinking wrong thoughts. Proverbs 14:29 confirms their research — “A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones.” (The Message) Solomon confirms this in Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.”

Today I go to the dentist to have a cavity filled. I have known about this cavity for at least six months. But knowing that today it was going to be fixed, my mind was focusing in on that little crater that is going to come under the scrutiny of the dentist drill. By the time I went to bed last night, it was hurting like crazy. My mind was out of control.

What are you thinking about today? How do we handle those inappropriate thoughts? Paul gives us a prescription for right thinking in Philippians 4:8 (The Message) “Summing it all up friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things that are TRUE, NOBLE, REPUTABLE, AUTHENTIC, COMPELLING, GRACIOUS — the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

Hey, that is a great prescription for us today. Rather than focus on the negative things, or as Zig Ziglar says, “stinkin’ thinking” think on the BEST things. Thinking on the right things has a profound impact on us physically. Take some time today to think on the right stuff. What are you thinking about today? Turn those thoughts over to Him!
Good words to ponder today!

We receive such encouraging notes from many of our Freedom Fighter family. You can help another brother by sharing how God is working in your life. Why not visit the Freedom Fighter site and leave your comments. Let your friends know what God is teaching you in your life — www.americaskeswick.org.