I wanted to give you a little snippet to keep your faith growing up.  Some folks have wondered and asked, “What will it be like when Jesus comes back?”  Well… How about THIS?  Even good meat and wine!  May you have a blessed day… Whose banner is flying above YOUR life?

The Triumph Is Sure by John Piper

Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. (Isaiah 25:3)

Isaiah sees the day coming when all the nations — representatives from all the people groups — will no longer be at odds with Yahweh, the God of Israel and his Messiah, whom we know to be Jesus.

They will no longer worship Bel or Nebo or Molech or Allah or Buddha or utopian social programs or capitalistic growth possibilities or ancestors or animistic spirits. Instead they will come in faith to the banquet on God’s mountain.

And they will have the veil of sorrow removed and death shall be swallowed up and the reproach of God’s people will be removed and tears shall be gone forever.

That’s the setting for understanding the vision of Isaiah 25:3: “Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.” In other words, God is stronger than the “strong peoples” and he is so powerful and so gracious that in the end he will turn ruthless nations to revere him.

So the picture Isaiah gives us is one of all nations turned to God in worship, a great banquet for all the peoples, the removal of all suffering and grief and reproach from the nations, who have become his people, and the final putting away of death forever.

This triumph is sure because God is doing it. Therefore we can be certain of it.

Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement or one little light shining in some dark place — nothing in the cause of this advancing kingdom is in vain.

The triumph is sure!

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:8

I saw them yesterday, and the day before etc, etc! My neighbors, that is! And they were BUSY tearing up the backyard to plant some sort of garden. Which is EXACTLY what the PREVIOUS neighbor did… then moved away! I wondered what they would plant!

The last neighbor was only a renter. This new couple are the current owners. I’m not sure what kind of difference that makes when gardening, as only time will tell. But when the renter started working on the garden area, the amount of time and effort that went into it was WAY over what was required. Special landscaping boundaries in unique shapes seemed to be the focus.

I can look back and tell you the renter’s story better than I can the new owners. When the garden was done and became plants, what he grew… were flowers! While I am not qualified to judge posies, I didn’t think they were even that pretty, since I’ve seen better. I DO know that when the next season for planting came up, renter didn’t even bother to show!

John 15:1 says that God is a Gardener! Being made in His image, AND given the charge to ‘go and grow,’ it isn’t surprising that ‘I’ am called to be in the planting and reaping business too. When Jesus came to Earth, He came with a message reiterating His Father’s original ‘Family Plan.’ John 15 tells me what that is.

God is in the Gardening business. He wants and expects FRUIT from His garden. And while I may not be exactly SURE what kind of plant He wants ME to give birth to, I AM sure that whatever fruit it is, I’d better be baring it at the end of me! SO I am motivated!

To be sure, I looked up the definitions. Bearing, in this case, means to GIVE BIRTH TO. Baring means to SHOW! BOTH will be used, either for or against me, on a Day that I should be looking forward to! Since God DOESN’T plant junk, He DOES expect GOOD fruit all the time! My bearing fruit here, and barring it, will either make Him smile… or not!  Which is something to think about!

SOW…. According to God… how ‘fruity’ are YOU?

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

“Where do I go NOW?” I thought. I thought about it because I genuinely didn’t KNOW! It wasn’t like I could look around the room for advice either, since Dickie was the only other guy there. And HE’S no help at all when it comes to communication, or direction. He just lays there! Which at the moment, wasn’t giving me direction since HE was the REASON I was in the room.

Dickie is special to me and our Church. The 74 year old man with Cerebral Palsy lay twisted in a ball on the bed in front of me. Sometimes moaning, crying, laughing or trying to tell me something. I could understand only the first 2. I had read the Bible to him, prayed, made small talk, and even told him some jokes. I talked about courage and his future Hope. 45 minutes later… I had nothing and felt like a fool!

Leaning over him I put my face 8 inches from his. We locked eyes and I just let him know the truth. “Pal… I really love you, but I just don’t know what to do or say right now. But my heart aches and, if I did, I would.” My last prayer felt like it didn’t even hit the ceiling. Then, having another appointment, I left. As I reached the door I looked back… he was watching me.

There are times I feel SO very small. Though I have never captained a ship, reality says otherwise.  AND… reality tells me that I am NO expert! If my life is a ship, I must admit, I spend MOST of the time in the fog! Looking around, it’s getting foggier! Bravely going into Dickie’s room thinking I might help left me feeling helpless. I hate helpless!

When the real world reached the parking lot, Jesus caught up with me. Remembering a story about leaving the 99 to find the lost one, it hit me I was him. I shoulda known He’d be there. And while His presence did nothing to make me FEEL better, He DID help! TREMENDOUSLY! He helped me to see once more, that ‘I’ am NOT the Captain of my own ship!

There’s an old saying from a wise man who stated, “in my life I have learned 2 things: 1. There IS a God And 2. I am not Him.” With His hand on my heart and His eyes on me, Jesus reminds me of the fact that “HE IS” And that seeing, knowing and understanding everything is NOT part of my job description. It never will be! The best I will ever do in a fog will be to lean in close, and look deep into His face. He’ll manage the rest!  Dickie didn’t need advice!  He just needed a friend!

How close are YOU to the Captain?

“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” 1 Corinthians 2:12

AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! I never thought it’d come down to this, but there I was. Having been a loyal Sprint customer forever, THEY SOLD ME OUT! Now T-Mobile was moving into my world and if I wanted to use my phone, I had to replace my ‘Subscriber Identity Module,’ or SIM card! And it wasn’t going very well.

What started off as a simple, “Oh I can do THAT!” turned into “SHE’S BREAKING -UP SHE’S BREAKING UP!” Texting by way of chat, the representative was very patient as the SIM card AND storage module kept falling out. When I finally shoved it in, I read “DO NOT FORCE!” But it was too late! Working carefully, I finally was able to get it unstuck. Which meant trying all over AGAIN!

The problem was that the parts are small and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. Add to it that the lighting was pretty bad, and you can get the picture. I just could not understand why it was so difficult. I even watched the video 6 times! But then, I noticed something on the seventh. In the video, he turned the phone UPSIDE DOWN, but hadn’t made that clear! My misunderstanding came from a tired old brain combined with a terrible teacher!

Someone recently told me that they were shocked to hear God actually TALK to them! Not in an audible voice, but in HIS voice. That silent affirmation ‘you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW’ voice! But to hear Him, they confirmed that they had to be willing to learn AND to pay attention. A double edged sword is dangerous and powerful.

God is not a poor instructor. I, the STUDENT, am that one that is defective. I have found that when I humbly and willfully get myself out of the way, the process of getting close to Him is both JOYFUL and fulfilling. In other words, the greatest enemy to snuggling up to the Master of the Universe… is ME! I must take out the old me, and input the new! With new eyes too!

When I received Jesus as my Savior, I received a NEW ‘Subscriber Identity Module’ and, a whole new way of doing things expected by the new provider. THANKFULLY He is VERY patient. But sometimes TOO patient. I will ONLY be able to get the most out of my new identity when I listen and obey. I REALLY want my phone, and my life, to be more than a paper weight!

What does YOUR SIM Card lead YOU to do?

“Then Jesus cried out, ‘Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.'” John 12:44-45

UGHHHH!!!!! What NEVER happened growing up, now happens ALL the time! And it just happened… AGAIN! Going online to a website, It prompted me for my User ID and Password! Which is a safe and effective way to win my business! Except that… I FORGOT MINE!

It might not have worried or bothered me as much as it did. But THIS site was my BANK! I recently acquired a new computer and it hasn’t quite learned that we are pals! When logging into a usual location, this computer looks like an alien. “I” have to be the one to make the introduction so that when THEIR computer meets MY computer, THEY see ME! Capeesh?

Normally when someone sees me, I am recognized by my face. No one on earth looks EXACTLY like me! If there is ever a squabble, a fingerprint or eye scan can confirm… WITH the right equipment. But I have over 50 user ID’s and passwords! And even ‘I’ can’t remember them all! To top it off, some sites REQUIRE special characters for any access!

But there is ONE password that I will NEVER forget. And I’m praying that anyone reading this doesn’t either. Because there is coming a time and a place where FORGETTING won’t even give me a HINT. When I am standing at the gates of Heaven, there will be only 1 question that will allow my entrance… “Why should YOU be allowed in HERE?” In other words… “PASSWORD PLEASE!”

By the time I get there it will NOT be possible to forget. Because it is a password I am required to use here EVERYDAY… ALL DAY! Only ONE word can get me past sin, guilt, resentment, anger, fear, loathing, selfishness and hate. Only ONE word… gets me past ALL of it. He even GIVES ME A HINT!!! Because He ‘IS’ The Word! THE PASS-WORD IS “JESUS!”!

Today’s verse is clear. To know Jesus is to know God. To know God is to know Jesus! EVERYTHING He said and did was to show, or confirm that fact. If you don’t understand, read the whole chapter! And if I DO understand, I NEVER need worry about access… EVER!

Sooooooo…… do YOU know The Password? And….. are you sure?

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

BANG!!!! My grandson has a new hobby which happily includes me, since I introduced him to it. Every week we get together at an appointed time and place where he gets lessons on how to safely and properly shoot a .22 pistol. At the age of 10, he loves the fact that he is doing something other boys his age can’t or don’t do. And THAT desire is too big to not take advantage of!

There are skills that EVERYONE should learn and master in order to grow up to be something other than a meathead! In my opinion, skills like manners and how to communicate with others are essential. So Cash’s desire to shoot provides opportunity to teach him other things. So I take advantage of his desire to add other vital life lessons into the mix… since I have his attention!

Cash is coming along just fine. He is learning how to meet, greet, talk and communicate with other people at the range, and they all love him. He also is required to write a paper on any subject he chooses, 5 days a week. He is very good at coming up with ideas and putting them to paper. We’re currently working on his aim AND on writing introductions!

Teaching is something best done when the DESIRE to learn is there. A dictator uses fear and intimidation to create a desire in people to do what he says. Though fear can be a motivator that works temporarily, I have learned that positive reinforcement is the better teaching method of great teachers… like Jesus!

A friend is helping me with Cash, and he came up with an idea he calls ‘Cash for Cash!’ In his plan, Cash gets rewarded for shooting bulls-eyes at the end of his lessons. The only drawback is that “I” have to pay him the money when he does well! This leads me to ask myself just how much am ‘I’ INVESTED in Cash’s success? Today’s Bible verse reinforces Jesus’ investment in ME.

Jesus not only created the word (the Bible) … he IS ‘The Word.’ And He created me with a purpose in mind. If I take His Word to heart and apply it, He tells me that I can POSITIVELY EXPECT to learn endurance, encouragement and have hope. In a world that aims to overrun Godly values with immoral selfishness, Jesus asks me to join Him in Teaching them His better way!

Are YOU invested in His teachings and are YOU aiming to spread his Word of encouragement and hope?

It’s Friday after Ash Wednesday, and I’m feeling MUCH more reflective than creative.  While I don’t like what is going on in the world, I wrestle with what ‘I’ can possibly DO about it.  Today, America AND the world seems to most resemble the book ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell, than what I have grown accustomed to… which sends me to God with questions.  “What do YOU want from me God,” I ask.  After reading several devotionals, articles and snippets from books, here are 2 things I’d like to pass on in hopes that they might calm you as they have me.  

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6

Perhaps Paul’s joy in these people at Philippi was that he was seeing them by faith. Not as they were, but as they would be when God’s work was done. He was looking at them with the eye of faith. He was sure that He who began a good work in them was going to finish it, so Paul could say that, even though you rub me the wrong way once in a while, I know what you are going to be. This is the key to getting along with other Christians. Sometimes it’s difficult, but when we realize what they will be we can do it. I heard of an artist who called a friend in and asked him to comment on a picture he was painting. He said, this is my masterpiece. It is beautiful. The man said I guess I don’t see what you see. It just looks like dabs of different colors to me, without form or anything. The artist said, Oh I forgot. I’m seeing it as it will be when finished. You are seeing it as it is now.

This is what Paul was doing. He was seeing these Christians as they would be and he thanks God it’s going to happen. What a comforting verse. Many times, when I am discouraged with myself, I utterly despair of being what I ought to be. I am so aware of the deceitfulness and subtlety of the flesh. Even when I want to be what I ought to be, I end up deceiving myself. I see the utter futility of depending on me to get this job done. In those times, I try to remember this verse, being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

This means that life is not perfect yet. It has an adequate goal, and it is a goal which will be reached, and the final responsibility is not in my hands but in God’s. I love that! Paul’s confidence is placed in a Person, not on himself. We are all, if we know Christ, in the hands of the One who can change us. Sometimes we don’t want to be what God wants us to be, but it’s being done in us despite us. God knows how to bring us into the circumstances that will make us willing to be made willing, if He needs to. It’s a great consolation to recognize in whose hands we are. The impression is often given by we Christians today that our main task is to keep Christianity going. Christianity didn’t start that way. These early Christians gave the very clear impression that it was their faith in Christ that kept them going. There are those who tell us that we can lose our Christian life, but if this is something we can lose, then it must be based on some human factor — that it depends on us. But if it depends on us, then we can’t depend on it. I am so grateful that this rests upon a Person who is capable of doing the work, and who has promised to complete it. Thanks be to God who is able to keep us from falling.

Lord, keep me from the folly of thinking that it is the crusade I launch or the activity that I fulfill or my busyness that accomplishes your will today, rather than what I am in Jesus Christ, and all that marvelous love of Your being flooding through my soul, into my experience and actions.

Life Application

Joy is ‘the serious business of heaven’. It is a consequence of being preoccupied with the living and indwelling Christ, confident that He will complete His redeeming work in us and through us. Are we there yet? No, but God isn’t finished either, so let’s pay attention.

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries. For permission to use this content, please review RayStedman.org/permissions. Subject to permission policy, all rights reserved.

Here is the link for the second one.  It’s a little longer but even MORE helpful to show what God wants and expects from His Children.  It’s the weekend… You can find the time to read it if you want.  About 10 minutes MAX.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/will-i-trust-god?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=204731993&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8JFZMZpm2XFQkmLH2rC6bVzeLJZaiDHXR9um7QgtI10euCX9LiqNMIhCGyY9qGEabLwRVpmaDjgUPZ1KX4wdW3KQ64Ng&utm_content=204731993&utm_source=hs_email

Blessings to you.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

My mind continually confuses me! I have a VERY old air compressor that was old when I bought it used, sans motor, 40 years ago. Recently, the pressure switch went out on it and I was surprised to find one online. Little did I realize that the line between theory and reality, in my mind, was about to be put to the test!

When the switch arrived it was different from the one I had. But as I looked and studied, an idea flashed through my brain, “you can rebuild one that works from the old and new ones you have!” And before I could even second guess myself, I was already searching and reaching for my tools.

The old saying “necessity is the mother of invention” holds true with me. Less about ego and more about economics is how I roll since, the ‘frugal’ gene of Scottish heritage still lives within me… often at the expense of time and efficiency. But… my feet had already started down that path. When I took apart the NEW switch… springs came flying out from within! I was committed!

I talked to 2 Christian brothers yesterday about our mutual walk as disciples in following Jesus. Both discussions came about over how we each saw things. My reaching out to them was for clarification because… that is how I roll. As we talked, their point of view was made more clear. And so was mine. Since the ax issue was minor, it was quickly sharpened with no flying springs in sight!

I have learned that BECAUSE Jesus has standards, so do I! The ‘Ingenuity’ required to fix my compressor is as American as hot dogs and apple pie. I think I can, therefore I try. But what happens when I’m wrong? Where do I turn? Well, I have learned the HARD way, that if I REALLY care about Christ and HIS objectives, I need to stay CLOSE to His fellow disciples to keep on hammering!

The ideas that we don’t have to go to Church, read the Bible or work on being good actually comes from Christians who actually BELIEVE them! These ideas are opposed to what Jesus had to say to His Disciples, and should be called out by genuine Believers. Because sometimes what I think, just ain’t so since, often what I think, is wrong! Hot Dogs were actually invented by the Chinese!

Are YOU a sharp sharpener?

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13

“YEA YEA… EVERYTHING man! Put it on dare!” We were in a restaurant, the kind where you order the food in a line, then pay and receive it at the end. The guy in front of us was a rather healthy sized man from New York, and he was spending and ordering like a king trying to impress. His family waited for him to deliver the bounty to the table. And the show hadn’t even started yet!

They seemed a good family, well mannered and dressed, for about the first 5 minutes. Then the bully showed up! Estimating him to be about 4, and the 4^th kid in the family, he soon made his presence known… “I DON’T WANT DAT!!!” and threw his food across the table. NO one, even dad, blinked an eye!

I was at the end of the restaurant facing them and Katie across from me with her back to it. All I could do was stare in unbelief and watch the show. When I turned to look at Katie’s face, her eyes were squinty and she was nodding her head in the no-no direction, then calmly said… “don’t do it!” After over 5 minutes, enduring a slug-fest of verbal assault in the air, She KNEW that I was preparing to get up and walk in the direction of daddy.

I sat there at her request, but it got worse and worse. EVERYONE in the restaurant was uncomfortable. When bully daddy was done, he got up and walked out. Mom picked the bully child up and said, “now you apologize to everyone in here.” KNOWING he had the power, he simply hollered, “NO!”

As I write this, Russia has invaded Ukraine. The world sits by watching the spectacle as a bully forces his will upon a country not it’s own… YET!  Because of selfish choices, nations sit uncomfortable, waiting for SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING! And the world stews under the spell of its god… satan.

I thank God for my wife. She kept me sane. I honestly don’t know what I would have said if I’d gone to that table, but looking back, it probably wouldn’t have ended well. God’s calls to ME in the verse above. It is CLEARLY an action verse with Godly intent within it. I can influence a big family in the middle of a restaurant about as well as I can Russia right now. But I am NOT absolved from trying to influence elsewhere.

At FLAP we are learning how to talk to the lost and confused world in a non-combative Godly way. It’s good stuff because it is as practical as it is required by our Master. I AM called to be an influencer in GOOD ways. Failing to learn and practice will lead to the end of the world as I know it. He reminds me that He comes back AFTER the Church’s influence has failed! And THAT is something I don’t want to be held responsible for!

Are YOU a Godly, Courageous influencer for Christ?