Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “God is with you even in the deepest darkest valley”

Have you ever walked through “the valley of the shadow of death”? Some of you have literally been there. There are those reading this right now who have been in actual combat situations with bullets flying, bombs exploding, and people dying. There is also at least one former police officer who was shot at but survived.

Some of you have survived an illness that could have ended in your death. It was touch-and-go for a while and they weren’t sure if you would live or die. You were in the valley of the shadow of death.

For others of us there were times when it only felt like that. Our lives weren’t really in jeopardy but the struggle we were in was a deep dark valley and it seemed endless. In his book, “You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help For Your Turbulent Times”, Pastor Max Lucado tells of the time he was in the grocery store and he ran into a middle-aged woman who was a member of his church, but who had not been in church in a while. Max asked her if she was okay. She hesitated a moment and then she began to tremble. She told him that her husband of twenty years had left her and the three kids for another woman. Their lives were now a train wreck and she didn’t know what they were going to do. Max prayed with her and then he said “You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don’t be foolish or naïve. But don’t despair either. With God’s help you will get through this.”

That’s good advice and it’s true for you too. It’s also what David was teaching in Psalm 23:4. In the middle of the deepest and darkest valley in life, even if it is the literal valley of the shadow of death, God is with you, He is caring for you, He is protecting you, and He is helping you. Just be sure you are walking through the valley with Him. Don’t go off on your own. We need God all the time, but especially in those times when the valley is deep and dark and dangerous.

I don’t know how the situation turned out for the lady Max encountered in the grocery store. I also don’t know how your situation will turn out. But I do know God. And I know that He loves you and He cares for you. And I know that He will be there for you every step of the way.  He will protect you (His rod) and He will guide you through it (His staff). I hope that truth gives you great comfort.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.” Genesis 39:2

Our thought for today: “You can survive and you can thrive.”

I haven’t counted them but I’m sure I probably have about fifty Christian books in my personal library that pertain to getting through the storms of life. That may actually be a low estimate. The fact is that storms are so common in life that getting through them is a favorite theme for Christian authors and for Christian readers.

As I consider just the fifty or so that I have on my shelves, I’m amazed at how many of those books use the Biblical example of Joseph as their model for how to survive and even thrive as you deal with hard times. Joseph was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery in Egypt, falsely accused of a sex crime, thrown into prison for years, and then spent decades separated from his family. But in the middle of it all Joseph stayed faithful to God. He strived to be the best man he could be regardless of the difficulties he had to deal with, and he truly did thrive in the midst of adversity.

We can too. The same God who was with Joseph then is with you now and He will help you to not only survive, but also to thrive as you deal with whatever your current challenges are.

Some years ago, when I was in a bit of a valley in my life, my wife Linda gave me a pocket copy of Max Lucado’s great little book “You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help For Your Turbulent Times”. It’s about how to survive and thrive in difficult times and sure enough, the book revolves around lessons we learn from Joseph. Looking at Joseph’s story, and knowing how God would use those difficult times in his life, Max wrote:

“We see a perfect mess; God sees a perfect chance to train, test, and teach the future prime minister. We see a prison; God sees a kiln. We see famine; God sees the relocation of his chosen lineage. We see Satan’s tricks and ploys. God sees Satan tripped and foiled.”

I want to repeat the statement I made a few moments ago: The same God who was with Joseph then is with you now. And He will help you to not only survive, but also to thrive as you deal with whatever your current challenges are.

I know it might not seem that way right now. It might seem as if the depression will never lift, or the sickness will never get better, or you will never find a job. And in truth, it may take a while. But God is with you. Trust Him. Be faithful. Strive to do your best in the middle of difficult circumstances, and in His way and in His time God will deliver you.

Yes you can survive, but you can also thrive.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take refuge in Him.”

One of the first new friends Linda and I had when we became Christians was an elderly woman by the name of Phyllis Forte. She was the first one to greet us the day we visited Hilltop Baptist Church and you would have thought we were her long-lost grandchildren. She smiled, gave us big hugs, told us how glad she was that we were there, and when the service was over, she insisted we had to come back. We did, and every time we walked in Phyllis made the same big deal about it.

Fast-forward about three years. We are still at Hilltop Baptist Church and I am beginning my career in pastoral ministry – serving now as the part-time minister of education and beginning to do some preaching. I have also started in seminary. Phyllis is now a shut-in. Her diabetes has progressed and she has had toes amputated, then a foot, then a leg, and so on. Now she can’t get out of the house, so I go to see her. Sometimes we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, just me and her at her kitchen table.

Phyllis is close to dying but aside from that, nothing has changed. She is still the happy, joyful, and outgoing person she always was. She still smiles and hugs, she still makes me feel like I’m her favorite grandson, and she still loves to talk about Jesus.

When a Christian has learned to lean on the Lord and to draw their daily strength and joy from Him, there’s something about them that seems to come from a different dimension. There’s a focus on things unseen, a reliance on a power that is other-worldly, and there is a deep well of joy that can only come from the Lord – all of this regardless of the circumstances in their life.

Psalm 46:1 assures us that God will be our source of refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble. My friend Phyllis was so physically incapacitated that she couldn’t even stand up, but that didn’t stop her from dancing. Sometimes she waltzed (she was very graceful in her manner); sometimes she jitterbugged (she could be kind of sassy with just the right amount of attitude); and often she did the Cha-Cha (she could be funny and irreverent).

Phyllis trusted in the Lord. She drew her strength and peace and comfort from Him and she refused to give-in to despair. Despite her physical limitations and her many challenges Phyllis never stopped dancing, and I hope you won’t either.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.” Psalm 139:5-6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The presence of God will comfort you.”

As a Christian the worst thing you can do when you’re struggling with life-issues is to pull away from God. As a pastor I see this far too often. It usually happens when something occurs in life that you didn’t expect and which is causing you pain or difficulties. Perhaps you lost your job, or maybe there’s a serious illness in your family, or maybe the person you love breaks off the relationship and you are devastated.

It’s at times like that when you need a close relationship with God more than ever. You need more prayer not less, more Bible reading not less, more time with other Christians not less. But sometimes it’s precisely at those times that a person stops praying, stops reading his or her Bible, and stops attending church. Perhaps they’re mad at God for their circumstances, but rarely does God cause those situations. Mostly it’s just life happening. Normally God doesn’t intervene to prevent situations from happening, but He will help us get through it – if we stay close to Him. The presence of God is the most comforting thing we can experience during those times, and He will always be there.

Let’s read more from Psalm 139. Verses 7-10 tell us: “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me.”

If God seems far away it’s not because He moved, it’s because you did. God is always right there with you. There’s never a time when He is not there. But there are times when you aren’t aware of His presence because in your mind and heart you have pulled away from Him. His presence is not the problem, the condition of your heart is.

When we’re hurting and scared and confused it’s normal to wonder if God is even aware of what you’re going through, or if He cares. Well, He is there, He is aware, and He does care. The thing for you to do right now is to pull closer to Him, not further away – more prayer, more time reading your Bible, more Christian music, more time with Christian friends, and more time in church.

The presence of God will comfort you. Come close to Him and enjoy it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t apologize for who you are.”

I’m currently reading the new biography about Barbara Bush by author Susan Page. The title is “The Matriarch”. I’ve always admired Barbara Bush. She was plain-spoken; she seemed to be comfortable in her own skin; and she did not put on airs. She was who she was and you could take her or leave her, it was fine with her.

So I was surprised to learn that for much of her life she struggled with a deep-seated sense of insecurity about her looks. It grew out of her childhood. She had an older sister who was very shapely and pretty, and their mother fawned over her. Barbara by compassion was plain and a little chubby – and her mother told her so. Her mother frequently criticized her for not being more like her sister. That criticism created a sense of insecurity about her looks that she never fully got over.

However early in her adult life Barbara decided she was not going to try to be someone or something that she obviously was not. She was not shapely and pretty in the cover-girl way. Instead, she was plain and she had a weight problem. So Barbara decided she was just going to be herself. In good-natured ways she laughed about herself, she joked about her looks and her weight, and she actually learned to use it to her own advantage. She trained herself to be the epitome of a plain and slightly chubby woman who was poised and confident and comfortable in her own skin. And people loved her for it.

The Apostle Paul knew something about this. He was not one of the original apostles of Jesus. Worse, he had persecuted the followers of Jesus, even supervising some of their executions. Beyond that he was evidently a wiry, unattractive little man with a squeaky voice and runny eyes. Therefore many people didn’t like or respect him. But Paul refused to make apologies for who or what he was, and he refused to feel sorry for himself. He embraced his identity as being from God and he ran with it.

I don’t know many of you who read these daily devotionals and so I don’t know what burdens you carry, what challenges you face, or what limitations you struggle with. But I do know that God loves you exactly the way you are. Beyond that, he can use you for His glory if you will only let him. Don’t indulge in self-pity and don’t allow others to define you by your imperfections or by your limitations. Celebrate who you are. Be comfortable in your own skin. Just be you. And then dance.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t slit the cocoon”

In yesterday’s devotional I told you the story of the little boy who slit the cocoon of a caterpillar which was in the process of becoming a butterfly. The boy thought he was helping. His intent was to make it faster and easier for the butterfly to emerge from the cocoon. But in fact the struggle of emerging from the cocoon was an important part of the transformation process and when the struggle was cut short, the transformation was not completed and the caterpillar never became the thing of beauty God intended for it to be. Instead it was stunted and disfigured. It lived a sad short life and then fell over dead.

I received an interesting response to that devotional from a doctor who lives in another town. He said that he can’t count the number of times he has seen parents do that very thing to their children. Rather than letting the child struggle and learn, the over-indulgent parent interferes, believing they are “helping”, when in fact they are short-circuiting the process of growth and transformation that child needs to go through in order to become a fully functioning independent adult.

This is how you end up with a thirty-two year old drug-addicted man still living with, and living off of, his mother. He’s not a man he’s a man-child. Likewise, that eight year old pampered princess with the helicopter mommy who is always hovering nearby, ends up becoming a twenty-eight year old pampered princess, a woman-child, who still depends on mommy to do most things for her. They never became fully functioning independent adults because they didn’t have to.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 the Apostle Paul was teaching a Biblical principle about personal responsibility. In that case he used work and food as his example, but the principle applies to all of life. In this case there were Christians in the city of Thessalonica who were able to work but who chose not to. Instead they relied on the kindness and charity of others. Paul’s point was that the rest of the Christian community was not to enable that irresponsible behavior. Instead they should allow the non-workers to go hungry because if they got hungry enough, they would go get a job so they could earn some money and buy their own food.

The theme of “You Gotta Keep Dancing” implies personal responsibility along with maximum effort and perseverance. You don’t learn and grow and become stronger by being pampered. The trials of life are intended by God to make us strong and to help us grow.

I encourage you to not look for artificial short-cuts in your own life. Do the hard work to overcome your challenges. And don’t create artificial short-cuts in the lives of others. There’s a fine line between helping and enabling. Don’t slit the cocoon.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God might not protect you “from” the circumstances, but He will protect you “in” the circumstances.”

There’s a traumatic metamorphosis that must take place in order for a caterpillar to become a butterfly. After a few weeks of stuffing itself on leaves, the plumb and lazy caterpillar will hang upside down from a tree limb, spin a cocoon around itself, and begin a 14 day process of transformation which ends with it emerging from the cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. Although what takes place within the cocoon is scientifically fascinating, it’s the emergence from the cocoon that is pertinent to our discussion this morning.

The story is told of the little boy who found a caterpillar / butterfly just beginning the process of emerging from the cocoon. The creature was fighting and struggling, and appeared to be stuck. So the boy took the blade of his penknife, carefully but fully slit the cocoon, and helped the new butterfly to emerge. However, rather than being a beautiful butterfly spreading its wings and flying away, the creature was ugly and hobbled. It limped around on the ground for a short time then it fell over and died – having never become the beautiful butterfly it was intended to be.

What the boy failed to realize was that the struggle required for the butterfly to emerge from the cocoon was designed by God to force vital fluids throughout all parts of the butterfly’s new body, including its wings. When the struggle was artificially cut short the vital fluids didn’t flow and the body never developed into what it was supposed to be. By short-circuiting the struggle and “helping” the butterfly, the boy actually doomed it to a short and sad life. It never became the thing of beauty God intended for it to be because it never went through the struggle that would have developed it into that thing of beauty.

In His great prayer for His people recorded in John chapter 17, Jesus didn’t pray for the Father to take us out of the world or to spare us from trials and struggles. Instead He prayed that God would help us in the middle of those trials and struggles. You see, the struggles are just part of life. The struggles help us to grow and to become strong. God develops us into the beautiful people He intends for us to be by having us fight through the obstacles we face.

Whatever struggle or trial you are facing today, it is an opportunity for you to grow and develop and to become stronger. God probably will not slit the cocoon. Instead He will let you go through the fight, but He will make you into a better person as a result of it.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Shift your focus.”

Yesterday I told you the story of my old friend Bob, the man who had a terrible accident as a teenager and ended up spending his entire adult life as quadriplegic. Early-on Bob made the decision that instead of focusing on his terrible circumstances and the difficulties of life as a quadriplegic, he was instead going to look for and find the goodness of God in the middle of it all, and he would stay focused on that.

Tim Hansel had a similar experience, as recorded in his book “You Gotta Keep Dancin”. After his accident Tim made an entry in his journal that said sometimes it felt like he was in a walking coma. The pain, the drugs, the awful realization that his life had changed forever, all of it combined to create a fog in his mind that it was difficult to break through. Just as with Bob, Tim discovered that he had to force himself to focus on God instead of on his circumstances. When he did that things began to come into focus for him and like Bob, Tim went on to live a productive and victorious life despite his limitations and challenges.

Job was a man who suffered terribly. For reasons he couldn’t begin to comprehend he lost his children, his wealth, his health, and his influence. In short order he went from being a healthy and wealthy man who was admired and respected by all, to sitting in dust and ashes amidst the rubble of his life. In the middle of it all he famously declared, “But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand on the dust. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.” Job 19:25-26

Psalm 27 is a great passage of assurance and confidence written by King David. In it he writes about the threat of adversaries and adversities, of evildoers and of enemies. He starts the Psalm in verse one with the rhetorical questions, “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – whom should I dread?” Then for eleven verses he writes about a series of potential threats and challenges, finally concluding in verses 13 and 14, “I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14

Who or what are you fearing today? I encourage you to shift your focus from your circumstances to your God.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28” (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Keep it in perspective”

Not all things are good. No, some things are bad, sometimes very bad. So as we read a verse like Romans 8:28 we need to look carefully at what it does say, and also at what it does not say. It does not say that all things are good. It does say that in some manner God works all things out for the ultimate good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose. That’s different.

Earlier in life I had a friend by the name of Bob. He was a talented and promising young athlete who seemed to have a bright future. But then he suffered an injury on the football field which left him as a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. From that point forward Bob would need someone to dress him, prepare his food, empty his human waste bag, and with almost every other basic daily task. It was a devastating and life-changing accident.

But Bob was a strong Christian and he knew that God was with him in the middle of those awful circumstances. God did not cause the accident, but He was at work behind the scenes bringing good things out of it. So Bob determined that rather than focusing on how bad things were, he would instead look for evidence of God at work in the middle of those bad circumstances.

Over time he learned how to operate a motorized wheelchair, and he learned how to drive a specially equipped van. He eventually went to college and earned a Masters degree in family counseling, and then he spent the rest of his life counseling families and helping to restore relationships. He also wrote songs, sang in the choir at church, and taught Sunday school. His life ended up being a great inspiration to others who were faced with serious challenges. Through it all Bob gave the glory to God and he just kept going.

I don’t know what your big challenge in life is, but I do know that if you are a Christian then God is at work behind the scenes to bring good things out of your bad situation. A big part of my friend Bob’s success, and the victory he had over his circumstances, was his perspective that God was at work in the middle of it all. So Bob looked right past his circumstances and found God at work. You can do that too in the middle of your own difficult situations today.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.” Genesis 39:22-23 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t give-in to self-pity”

One of my heroes is General Colin Powell. He was a four-star Army General. He rose to the highest ranks of both military and civilian leadership in our nation serving in various capacities in the administrations of four U.S. Presidents, including as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Secretary of State.

General Powell had an extensive set of principles he developed which guided his own life, and which he looked for in others whom he was considering for various leadership positions. He called them “Powell’s Principles”. He had one regarding self-pity. It reads, “I am capable of self-pity, but not for long.” That principle is an acknowledgement of the truth that self-pity is a natural human emotion and we are all susceptible to it. The question is not whether or not we will sometimes feel sorry for ourselves; the question is how long will we allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity? The person who wallows in self-pity will live a defeated life. The person who shrugs it off and just keeps going will excel regardless of the unfortunate circumstances they are faced with.

That was the case with Joseph in the book of Genesis. Hated by his brothers; sold into slavery in Egypt; falsely accused of sexual assault and thrown into prison for years; Joseph had plenty of reasons to feel sorry for himself. But even though the Bible used fifteen entire chapters to tell Joseph’s story, there isn’t even a hint of self-pity in it. Not once. I believe that was a big part of the success Joseph experienced and why God was able to bless him so much. Joseph refused to give-in to self-pity. That doesn’t mean he never experienced even a twinge of it. It just means he refused to live there. He refused to wallow in it.

I want to share with you a few inspiring statements about resisting self-pity from Tim Hansel’s book “You Gotta Keep Dancin”:

“The choice for all of us is not if we will accept pain, but how.”
“If you can’t change your circumstances, change the way you respond to them.”
“What a test of character adversity is. It can either destroy or build up, depending on our chosen response.”

I encourage you to resist the temptation to wallow in self-pity. Shake it off and deal with your circumstances in a positive way that blesses others and honors God.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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