Happy Thanksgiving - In The Faith

Despite all of the turmoil going on around the world and here in the U.S.A. we STILL have a lot to be thankful for! His promises written in the Bible have been kept. Prophecy fulfilled is proof of who He is and we know that all promises given to us by the Lord will be kept - both in this current world of existence as well as into eternity.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His mercies are new every morning.

My loved ones all realize even more of His mercy and grace today. We had a health scare in our family, and the results of an MRI revealed that it wasn't the dreaded disease of cancer. The lesser problem is nothing compared to what a diagnosis for cancer would have been!

I recall praying for healing of my loved one through Jesus Christ two days ago. I recall witnessing the painful ordeal my loved one has been going through and the uncomfortable time endured through the MRI. I recall the agonizing wait the next day to hear what was wrong.

Through it all, friends and family were praying fervently. One very special lady kept telling me to "keep the faith."

People, no matter how strong your own individual faith is the truth is that we need each other, as fellow Christians, to help us in our times of fear, doubt, pain, suffering and worry. That is why we have the church. I don't mean a building - I mean the people in the faith.

The encouragement was greatly appreciated (you know who you are!!) and helped to calm my spirit while awaiting the test results.

Today was an extra special Thanksgiving. At our table, we thanked the Lord Jesus Christ for our lives, our health, and the love we have for God, each other, and especially the love that God has shown to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving and may God bless you and yours this day and always.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

We are about 30 minutes away from sitting down to our Thanksgiving feast! I wanted to put up a brief post to share with visitors and friends who frequent this blog.

I, as well as every Christian, am most thankful for Jesus Christ. Everything else that I am thankful for...my family, friends, fellow Christians, and acquaintances proceed from Christ.

This morning, I read a portion of Dr. David Jeremiah's new book, "Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World" where he explains the importance of focusing on Jesus' connection to you (me, us).

Dr. Jeremiah writes:

Colossians 3:1-4 reads, "If then you were raised with Christ....your life is hidden with Christ...you also will appear with Him in glory" (emphasis added).

I've highlighted the word with to show just how critical it is in this frame of thinking. With is a word of connection, our lifeline to Christ. When He died, we died with him. When He was buried, so were we. And we shared in His glorious resurrection, so that now we can be seated in the heavenlies with Him.

When the Bible says that Jesus died for us, it doesn't mean simply that He died in our behalf; it means He died in our place. He died where we should have died. Just as Adam was the personal embodiment of our fall into sin, Christ is the personal embodiment of our salvation and glory. "For as in Adam all dies, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). We fell with Adam, but we were resurrected with Christ.

Do you see the importance of that little word with in our spiritual destiny? The great Chinese Christian preacher and writer, Watchman Nee, grasped it. In 1927, he had been struggling with issues of temptation and his sinful nature. One morning he was sitting upstairs reading the book of Romans, and he came to the words, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him..." (6:6). For Nee, it was as if the words had come to life on the page. He leaped from his chair, ran downstairs, and grabbed a kitchen worker by the hands. "Brother," he shouted. "Do you know that I have died?"

The worker only stared in puzzlement. Nee blurted out, "Do you not know that Christ has died? Do you not know that I died with Him? Do you not know that my death is no less truly a fact than His?"

It was all Watchman Nee could do to keep himself from running through the streets of Shanghai, shouting about his death and new life. From that day on, his faith was confident and strong. His biographer wrote that it was impossible to say anything that might offend Nee. Why should he be offended? That Watchman Nee was long since dead!"

How powerful is Nee's testimony? Extremely powerful!

I think that this is where the divide between liberal Christian thought and Biblical Christian thought (that was partially articulated in the Manhattan Declaration) takes that proverbial 180 degree turn. If one hasn't died to self in Jesus Christ, then one cannot possibly experience the amazing phenomenon of dying with Christ.

Dr. Jeremiah continues:

Charles Spurgeon had his own way of explaining this:

I suppose that, if you were to meet your old self, he would hardly know you, for you are so greatly altered. I dare say he would say to you, "Come, old fellow, let us go to the theater, or turn into this beer-shop, or let us go home, and find out some way of amusing ourselves."

You would reply, "No, sir; I cut your acquaintance a long time ago, and I do not mean to have anything further to do with you, so you may go about your business as soon as you like. I am not what I was, for I have been crucified with Christ, and I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God."

That is what the Cross of Christ achieves for every believer! The old you is dead and in the grave; the new you is raised to walk in newness of life, and to live victoriously for Christ.

It is for this reason that no matter what transpires on this earth - we can have the utmost confidence to stay centered with Jesus Christ in our hearts; as our lives are hid in Him in God!

Why We Need Our Shepherd

My Dear Blogging Friends,

Have you ever been so busy that you are tempted to recycle a blog post from the past during a major holiday? I'm guilty! In fact, I just typed in "Thanksgiving" into my blogger search and I have four years of Thanksgiving posts to choose from! Here is one of my favorites: Give Thanks to God.

OK. I'm done. Happy Thanksgiving! (j/k)

Actually, I'm not really done. There is more to write today!

During our Thanksgiving dinner, my family usually goes around the table and shares what they are thankful for. Each of us give our own, individual answers. Most of the time, we state that we are thankful to God, for His mercy and grace for sending Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are thankful for parents, children, relatives (well - most of them - heh heh), friends, our fellowship with church members and Bible study group members and our acquaintances. We are thankful that we live in a free nation. We are very thankful to our military that works hard and willingly sacrifices life, limb and time to keep our nation safe.

Today, I want to mention that I am thankful for all of my blogging friends! Each of you have encouraged me and inspired me. Even some of my detractors have helped me to grow as they continue to challenge me here at Talk Wisdom. These are all good things. Challenges keep us alert as to just what might be keeping non-Christians from coming to Christ.

Years ago, I often posted on atheists/agnostics/skeptics message boards. I wanted to find out what makes them "tick," so to speak. Well, the conversations ran the gamut! Many were downright nasty and made every attempt to ridicule me away from posting there anymore. I'm sure many Christians who have visited such boards to share Jesus Christ and God's Word with non-believers experienced similar situations. Occasionally, a nice skeptic would come along and carry on a decent conversation. I loved that. They attacked my "reasons for believing" rather than attacking me, personally, or what they might perceive as my "ignorance for having faith" in Jesus Christ. It was quite refreshing!

We can never know this side of heaven how we, as Christians, may have positively influenced a skeptic to consider (or even reconsider) Jesus Christ.

Does anyone here watch the new show on the Fox News Channel called, "Huckabee"? Recently, the show host, former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, had an interview with Bill Maher - who is a well-know celebrity and atheist. They were discussing Maher's movie, "Religulous." If you have ever seen Maher's HBO talk show, you know that his favorite sport is to insult, degrade, ridicule, disparage, and spew hatred and contempt at anyone who believes in God - especially Christians.

At one point during the conversation, Maher was caught completely off guard when Mike Huckabee agreed that Christians have times of doubt in their lives. Maher couldn't believe that Mike would admit that - especially in front of millions on a national cable T.V. show! Apparently, Maher developed some sort of new respect for Mr. Huckabee, as a person (and former pastor, I might add) because he admitted that Christians are not "perfectly" faithful - which Maher has often suspected all along.

I thought of that incident when I read a portion of Max Lucado's book, "Traveling Light" this morning. In Chapter 3, entitled "I'll Do It My Way" - The Burden of Self-Reliance, Mr. Lucado expands upon Psalm 23:1 - "The LORD is my shepherd."

Towards the end of the chapter, Mr. Lucado writes:

When David, who was a warrior, minstrel, and ambassador for God, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd. He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep day and night. How he slept with them and watched over them.

And the way he cared for the sheep reminded him of the way God cares for us. David rejoiced to say, "The LORD is my shepherd," and in so doing he proudly implied, "I am his sheep."

Still uncomfortable with being considered a sheep? Will you humor me and take a simple quiz? See if you succeed in self-reliance. Raise your hand if any of the following describe you.

You can control your moods. You're never grumpy or sullen. You can't relate to Jekyll and Hyde. You're always upbeat and upright. Does that describe you? No? Well, let's try another.

You are at peace with everyone. Every relationship as sweet as fudge. Even your old flames speak highly of you. Love all and are loved by all. Is that you? If not, how about this description?

You have no fears. Call you the Teflon toughie. Wall Street plummets - no problem. Heart condition discovered - yawn. World War III starts - what's for dinner? Does this describe you?

You need no forgiveness. Never made a mistake. As square as a game of checkers. As clean as grandma's kitchen. Never cheated, never lied, never lied about cheating. Is that you? No?

Let's evaluate this. You can't control your moods. A few of your relationships are shaky. You have fears and faults. Hmmm. Do you really want to hang onto your chest of self-reliance? Sounds to me as if you could use a shepherd. Otherwise, you might end up with a Twenty-third Psalm like this:

I am my own shepherd. I am always in need.
I stumble from mall to mall and shrink to shrink, seeking relief but never finding it.
I creep through the valley of the shadow of death and fall apart.
I fear everything from pesticides to power lines, and I'm starting to act like my mother.
I go down to the weekly staff meeting and am surrounded by enemies.
I go home, and even my goldfish scowls at me.
I anoint my headache with extra-strength Tylenol.
My Jack Daniel's runneth over.
Surely misery and misfortune will follow me, and I will live in self-doubt for the rest of my lonely life.

Why is it that the ones who most need a shepherd resist him so?

Ah, now there is a question for the Van de Veldes of life. Scripture says, "Do it God's way." Experience says, "Do it God's way." Every Scot in heaven begs, "Aye, laddie, do it God's way."

And every so often, we do. And when we do, when we follow the lead of Notre Dieu and keep the driver in the bag, somehow the ball stays in the fairway.

[Note: Earlier in the chapter, Max tells the story of Jean Van de Velde who, rather than taking his caddie's advice to hit three short shots in the British Open in '99 - where he was six strokes and 480 yards away from a major championship, a wad of cash, and a place in history. All he needed to do was score a six on a par four.

Logic says, "Don't go for the green."
Golf 101 says, "Don't go for the green."
Every Scot in the gallery says, "Aye Laddie. Don't go for the green"
Van de Velde says, "I'm going for the green."]

Long story short - Using his driver (no!!!!) the ball caroms off the bleachers and disappears into a marsh tall enough to hide a lawn gnome! To make the story even shorter - he lost the play-off.

[Y]es, Van de Velde reminds me of me.

After losing the play-off, he kept his composure for the crowds. But once he sat in the scorers tent, he buried his face in his hands. "Next time I'll hit zee wedge," he sobbed. "You'll say I'm a coward, but next time I'll hit zee wedge."

You and me both, Jean.1

Reference source: Traveling Light by Max Lucado, 2001 W Publishing Group, a Division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214, pp. 22, 24-26.

End notes:
1, With appreciation to Rick Reilly and his chapter on Jean Van de Velde, "Mon Dieu! Better Safe Than Sorry!" in The Life of Reilly (New York: Total Sports Illustrated, 2000), 175-77.

God's Grace Is Permanent

On this Lord's Day, Sunday, September 7th, 2008, I would like to invite you to watch a wonderful sermon broadcast by Dr. David Jeremiah. The topic of discussion is:

The Continual Praise of Grace

Nothing is Permanent but God's Grace

That is a strong and true statement! After listening and viewing the broadcast, I think that you will most likely agree!

During the sermon, Dr. Jeremiah quoted this:

Gratitude - The forgotten factor in happiness.

Hbr 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.

HT: Lightsource.com