Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “A wise person has good counselors.”

I was fortunate to come to faith in Christ during the hey-day of the Promise Keepers movement. Right at the time I was beginning my relationship with Jesus, across the nation men were filling huge stadiums for weekend-long crusades. There was lots of great worship music, powerful teaching, and it was all designed to bring men closer to the Lord and closer to each other.

One of the key lessons taught by Promise Keepers was the need for fellowship and accountability. God doesn’t call us to be “Lone Ranger Christians”. None of us are supposed to be a spiritual Rambo, living off the land, “eating things that would make a Billy Goat puke”, and needing help from nobody.

The Christian life is to be lived in close fellowship with other Christians and we are to make ourselves accountable to others. Each of us needs to have a few close Christian friends who are mature in their faith and wise in their ways. These should be people who have our permission to ask hard questions and to speak straight truth to us. A friend who simply tells us what we want to hear is no friend at all. We need people in our lives who will tell us what we need to hear, even if we don’t want to hear it.

For this Father’s Day weekend devotional, I’ve chosen a classic verse of Scripture often used in men’s groups, Proverbs 27:17. It speaks of how one Christian sharpens another by speaking truth and enforcing accountability. This is important. One of the most common ways God guides us is through the wise counsel of Christian friends.

However, when you seek counsel from other Christians make sure they are mature and make sure they are wise. Your counselors should be people you admire and who are living lives that honor Christ. They should be people who know the Bible well, who have a rich prayer life, and who live what they profess to believe. It’s also helpful if they have personal experience with the issue you’re seeking the Lord’s guidance about.

If you’re not in the habit of seeking counsel from other Christians, I can say with certainty you are missing some (or even a lot) of the guidance God is trying to give you. One of God’s favorite ways to guide us is through the wise counsel of other Christians.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “You word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The answer may come one step of obedience at a time.”

I love the word picture the Psalmist paints in Psalm 119:105. There we find a faithful man seeking guidance and following the Lord. His way forward is illuminated one step at a time, and it isn’t until he has taken the next step that he’s able to see the step he is to take after that.

This is a perfect illustration of how God often guides us. Usually we’re looking for big answers to complex problems. We want to know why we are where we are; we want to see a clear path out of our situation; and we want to know how it’s all going to turn out. But seldom does God give us that much illumination all at once. More often the lamp of guidance illuminates only the next step on the path of obedience, and little more. God has probably given you a general sense of the direction He wants you to go, but the specific steps that will get you there only become clear one small step of obedience at a time.

In our Baptist churches we sometimes sing an old hymn titled “Wherever He leads I’ll Go”. The first stanza and chorus go, “Take up thy cross and follow Me”, I heard my Master say; “I gave My life to ransom thee, surrender your all today”. Wherever He leads I’ll go, Wherever He leads I’ll go, I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads I’ll go.”

That song highlights the nature of Christian living – it involves one faithful step of obedience at a time. We know the Lord is leading us somewhere good; we may even have a vision of where that destination is; but beyond that we just need to put one step in front of the other and faithfully follow Him.

As you’re seeking guidance today remember that the guidance you receive could very well be nothing more than what you are supposed to do today, rather than next week, next month, or next year. You might not have a full plan to take you all the way to where He’s leading you. But if God shows you something you can do today that will take you one step closer to where you need to be in life, then you have the guidance you need for today.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord is good and does what is right; He shows the proper path to those who go astray.” Psalm 25:8 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “This can be fixed.”

Have you ever made a big mess of things in your life and then found yourself wondering, “How in the world is this ever going to get straightened out?” Sometimes we all do dumb things and we create messy situations in our lives. And the longer we continue down that wrong path the worse things get. God’s way and the wrong way are not parallel paths, they are divergent. The longer you stay on the wrong path the further it takes you from the right path.

The good news is that messy situations can be cleaned up and lives can be transformed. The answer is to get back on the right path. Doing so might take time and effort, but it is possible and God will show you the way.

God wants to be heard and understood by His people so that He can then be obeyed. If you sincerely desire to know His will so you can then obey it, He will guide you and direct you back to where He wants you to be. Earlier this month I suggested some steps you can take, and a prayer you can pray, to help you discern God’s guidance. If you don’t remember what was taught in those devotionals messages, and if you no longer have them to refer back to, let me know and I will be happy to send them to you again.

As Psalm 25:8 says, God shows the proper path to those who have gone astray. In many different ways, through sermons, Bible studies, devotional messages, song lyrics, the counsel of Christian friends, circumstances in your life, and multiple other ways, God will get your attention and He will show you the path back to where you’re supposed to be. You just need to be paying attention to Him, seeking His guidance, and you need to respond in obedience.

And when you do, He will begin to put the pieces of your life back together again. Through the Old Testament prophet Joel God once said, “So I will restore to you the years the swarming locust have eaten.” (Joel 2:25) God spoke those words to the rebellious nation of Judah but they’re true for you too. The devastation brought by the swarming locust that He spoke of represents the destructiveness of sin in our lives. You may not regain everything you’ve lost by going astray, and it might not be possible to repair all of the damage, but God can and will help you to pick up the pieces and begin putting it all back together again. You just need to get back on the right path.

This can be fixed. Whatever “this” is in your life, it can be fixed. You just need to get right with God.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Seeking guidance requires faith.”

Having faith often requires us to believe even when it goes beyond all reason to believe. That was certainly the case with the American Revolution. Yesterday I told you about the strong faith of George Washington and how it was that in faith, he constantly sought God’s guidance. And boy did he need it! The prospect of a puny, untrained, and ill-equipped little band of farmers and laborers being able to defeat the mighty British army was beyond belief. Washington needed faith in the impossible, and he needed God’s guidance every step of the way.

One of the great truths that George Washington clung to, and which helped to carry him through the deepest and darkest days of the Revolutionary War, was a firm belief that God could and would accomplish great things through the strong faith and sacrificial obedience of good people. If the colonists would just have faith in God; if they would sincerely seek His will and then be resolved to sacrificially do their part; God was poised to perform miracles and the results would be amazing. Washington firmly believed this.

And the miracle did come. Goliath fell and a great nation was born. Strong faith in the God of the impossible, along with persistent seeking of His will, coupled with a willingness to sacrificially do their part, was what was needed – and God came through.

There’s an obvious lesson in that for us. God can and will accomplish great things through the strong faith and sacrificial obedience of good people. If you sincerely desire to know His will so you can then be obedient to it; and if you patiently and persistently seek the guidance from Him that you need; in His way and in His time He will show you what to do and then He will guide you and carry you through it.

The starting place is faith. If you’re seeking guidance from God, it’s because you obviously believe He will give it to you. Now stick with it. The American Revolution lasted seven long years, and during most of those years the situation looked pretty bleak for the colonists. But they didn’t give up. They trusted God, they walked it out, and because they did, you and I have this great country today. They didn’t give up and neither should you. Keep seeking His guidance until you get it; then trust Him to lead you where He wants you to go.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your faithful love, because of your truth.” Psalm 115:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Give the credit to God.

I’ve always considered George Washington to have been one of the greatest leaders of all time. He was a patriot, a brilliant general, a hero of the Revolutionary War, and he was our greatest President. He was a man of high integrity and he was known for his courage, his honesty, and his strength of character. Those who knew him said that he always carried himself with a sense of dignity and he exuded a sense of quiet confidence. I’ve read several biographies about him and currently I’m reading a little book called “George Washington’s Leadership Lessons: What the Father of our Country can teach us about effective leadership and character.”

Another thing I admire about Washington is his strong faith. Despite the fact that modern revisionist historians try to say that Washington was not really a Christian, or at best he was just a deist, it’s simply not true. His speeches, letters, and personal conversations were laced with references to God, and he regularly spoke about the importance of faith. He frequently commented on how much he relied on God’s guidance and provision, and he invariably gave credit to God for his successes. His was an interactive and intimate relationship with the One he called, “The Savior of mankind.”

Another notable aspect of Washington’s character was that he would rarely accept credit or praise for something he had accomplished. He would always respond by giving the credit to God and to others.

Author and historian James Rees, the Executive Director of Mount Vernon, writes about Washington, “Whenever Washington achieved something special, or whenever circumstances conspired in favor of America, he almost always gave credit to God. In doing so, he downplayed his own contributions and enabled the spotlight to shine on the many (and on God). With his typical graciousness, Washington was able to defer the praise that his country and, in fact, the world was more than ready to shower on him.”

Rather than accepting praise for himself, Washington consistently gave the credit to God and to those God had brought around him to assist him in the endeavor. This is instructive for us. As we seek guidance from God for our various endeavors in life, and as we receive that guidance and therefore achieve successes, we need to be careful to give the credit to whom it is due. Remember where your success really comes from, it comes from God. By all means, go ahead and ask Him for guidance, but then give Him the credit when things go well for you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “Help me understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.” Psalm 119:34 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “When God shows you what you to do, you need to act on it.”

One of the most common mistakes people make is failing to act on the guidance God has given them. We seek His guidance, we pray for His leading, but then when He shows us what He wants us to do, we don’t do it.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen this happen with people coming home from a mission trip. I’ve taken hundreds of people on international mission trips over the years, and I love to watch as God uses those experiences to open their eyes to things He had been trying to say to them, or to provide them the direction or guidance they’ve been seeking. Mission trips are often “mountaintop spiritual experiences”. We’re removed from all the hustle and bustle of normal life, God has our full attention, and He is able to speak to us more directly and more clearly than ever before. As a result, mission trips are often eye-opening experiences and people come home with a new vision from God.

Sadly, even though God has spoken to them, and even though they come home all fired-up and enthusiastic, once they’re home they often allow the vision to slide onto the back burner of life. The person quickly sinks back into the ebb and flow of everyday activities and life soon swallows them up again. Since the vision is now on the back burner and not getting much attention, soon the enthusiasm wanes and the vision fades, and it often ends up that they don’t do anything with the guidance God gave them. (My first book “Bringing it Home: A post-trip devotional guide for short-term international and domestic missions” was written to help prevent that very thing from happening”.

That example applies not just to those who have been on mission trips, but to anyone who is seeking God’s guidance about anything. When God speaks to you, you have to immediately do something with it. You have to protect the vision or guidance by nurturing it. Write it down; make a plan for how you’re going to fulfill it; take some initial steps in that direction; and pray about it every day. Keep it fresh in your mind and maintain your enthusiasm for it.

Don’t lose what God has given you!  When God shows you what to do you need to protect it, nurture it, and quickly do something with it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.” Romans 12L2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Understand how God’s will works.”

When we are praying for guidance from God, and for His will to be revealed so we can then be obedient to it, it’s important for us to understand the different aspects of God’s will and how it works.

First, there is what is often called God’s specific will. This is expressed in ways like the Ten Commandments. If you’re wondering whether or not it’s okay to kill your annoying neighbor just read the sixth commandment, found in Exodus 20:13, and you have your answer: “Do not murder”. Some things are the proverbial “no-brainer”. God has made it clear and it applies to all people in all places at all times.

Second, there is what some people call God’s general will. This is a little less specific and usually involves boundaries within which we (His people) need to stay. Author Dallas Willard once explained this with the example of his children playing in the yard. As their father it was Dallas’ will that his children stay within the boundaries of the fenced in backyard. They were free to decide for themselves whether they wanted to swing on the swings, play in the sandbox, sit in the shade and read a book, or pretty much anything else. As long as they stayed within the boundaries of the backyard and behaved themselves, they could decide for themselves what specific activities to engage in.

This is often how God guides us. Just know the Biblical boundaries, stay within them, and go have fun. Of course, this also requires spiritual maturity. You have to know what the broad general rules are (the boundaries), and you have to have good judgment. You must be spiritually mature in order to successfully navigate life like this.

Third, there is also God’s permissive will. In this case God simply chooses to allow things to happen, although the actual event might be contrary to His own will. For instance, it is not God’s will for you to shoot heroin into your veins. And if you decide to do it anyway, God probably will not physically restrain you. By His permissive will He will allow you to do something that He would prefer you not do. But He will also allow you to suffer the consequences of your own bad choices. This is His permissive will in action and it pertains to much of what happens in this world.

When it comes to discerning God’s guidance we must first of all know our Bible very, very well. The Bible is God’s most direct and specific form of communication with us. By knowing your Bible you will be familiar with the specific commands which govern much of life. Then we must also have engaged in sufficient discipleship and spiritual formation activities in order to be spiritually mature enough to live well within the broad boundaries of God’s general will. And finally, understand that God’s permissive will allows for things to happen as a result of human free will, although many of those things will be contrary to what God wants.

Understanding how God’s will works in the affairs of our daily lives helps us to understand how he guides us.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “And not only that, but we rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.” Romans 5:3-4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You honor God when you handle difficulties well.”

Dr. Paul Tournier once wrote a landmark book about how people handle suffering and tough times. The title was “Creative Suffering”. At one place in the book Dr. Tournier writes about a study he came across of 300 of the most influential leaders in history. One thing all 300 had in common is that they had all suffered greatly in life, either with health issues or personal tragedies. Suffering and tragedy was a common thread in the lives of those who ultimately rose to greatness in life. It was the lessons learned while pushing through the difficulties that helped to make them great.

I once read a story about a boy who found a butterfly about to emerge from a cocoon. The metamorphous that changed the caterpillar into a butterfly had already taken place and now the butterfly was fighting its way out of the cocoon. The boy decided to help the butterfly emerge by taking his knife and cutting an opening in the cocoon, thereby relieving the butterfly of the struggle required to break out of the cocoon by its own effort. When he slit the cocoon the butterfly quickly emerged. But rather than spreading its wings and flying away, the butterfly remained ugly and shriveled. It hobbled around on the ground for a short period and then it fell over and died.

What the boy didn’t realize was that the process of the struggle required to break out of the cocoon would have forced strengthening juices to pump through the butterfly’s wings, straightening and shaping them. But without the struggle, the formation was never completed and therefore the butterfly never became the thing of beauty and grace God intended it to be. Instead it was weak and deformed and quickly perished.

Our struggles strengthen us. As a result of the process of pushing through the difficulties, we stretch and strain, we grow and get stronger. This is what Paul meant in Romans 5:3-4. He did not mean that we should be happy to be suffering, or that we should seek suffering, only that we should recognize how God can and does use our suffering to make us stronger and better.

In his extensive studies on how people handle suffering and difficulties Dr. Tournier found that a person’s attitude about their difficulties determined how well they would handle that situation, and whether the situation would break them or make them a stronger and better person.

As was noted yesterday, when we’re faced with trials and difficulties in life our normal response is to pray and ask God to take it away. And sometimes He will. But more often His desire is for us to honor Him in the way we handle it, and to grow stronger and better as a result of it. You honor God when you handle your difficulties well.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “God’s guidance”

Our Bible verse for today: “But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “With God you can handle this”.

In his book “Where is God when it hurts?” Philip Yancey tells the story of two people who each suffered a catastrophic life-altering injury as teenagers. Both were talented young athletes with promising lives in front of them, and both of them broke their necks and ended up as quadriplegics for life.

Understandably, each of them went through a period of denial and depression. One of them, a young man, never came out of it. He lived the rest of his life gloomy, brooding, and always expecting God to return Him to full health, even though after decades of paralysis it was clear that wasn’t going to happen in this lifetime.

The other accident victim, a young woman, soon came to the conclusion that her paralyzed condition would simply be the new normal for her. She resolved that by relying on the constant help of the Lord she would accept it, embrace it, and then live her life to the fullest, with joy and enthusiasm. That woman’s name is Joni Eareckson Tada.

From that point forward her life became one of accomplishment and fullness. She learned to paint holding a paint brush in her teeth. She developed a great singing voice and sings in the choir at church. She has written multiple books about faith and encouragement and perseverance. She is an inspirational motivational speaker at Christian conferences, and she founded and leads the ministry “Joni and Friends”, which is a Christian ministry focused on serving the needs of the disabled community worldwide. (By the way, Joni’s mission teams use my book “Bringing it Home” as their post-trip devotional guide. I’m very honored by that.)

When faced with challenges, trials, and hardships most of us turn to the Lord for help. But like the young man in the story above, usually we’re seeking guidance that will lead us out of our problems and back to a more pleasant situation in life. But sometimes that’s not God’s plan. Sometimes the guidance He gives is something like: “Trust Me. Rely on Me. Instead of taking this trial away, I want you to shine for me in the middle of it. I want to renew your strength and give you firm resolve so you can soar like an eagle with this challenge in your life.”

Tragedy and suffering, pain and heartache, challenges and difficulties, are all simply part of life, and sometimes they don’t go away. But God wants to redeem those things and bring good out of them. We will explore this idea further tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: