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A Repentant Heart

By |2024-08-23T02:33:27-04:00August 23rd, 2024|

A friend had violated the vows of his marriage. It was painful to watch him destroy his family. As he sought reconciliation with his wife, he asked my counsel. I told him he needed to offer more than words; he needed to be proactive in loving his wife and removing any patterns of sin. 

The prophet Jeremiah offered similar advice to those who’d broken their covenant with God and followed other gods. It wasn’t enough to return to Him (Jeremiah 4:1), though that was the right start. They also needed to align their actions with what they were saying. That meant getting rid of their “detestable idols” (v. 1). Jeremiah said that if they made commitments “in a truthful, just and righteous way,” then God would bless the nations (v. 2). The problem was the people were making empty promises. Their heart wasn’t in it.

God doesn’t want mere words; He wants our hearts. As Jesus said, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matthew 12:34). That’s why Jeremiah goes on to encourage those who would listen to break up the unplowed ground of their heart and not sow among the thorns (4:3).

Sadly, like so many people, my friend didn’t heed sound biblical counsel and consequently lost his marriage. When we sin, we must confess and turn from it. God doesn’t want empty promises; He desires a life that’s truly aligned with Him. 

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Place It on God’s Plate

By |2024-08-22T02:33:27-04:00August 22nd, 2024|

For years, a mother prayed as she helped her adult daughter navigate the healthcare system and find counseling and the best medications. Her extreme highs and deep lows weighed on her mama’s heart day after day. Often exhausted from sadness, she realized she had to take care of herself too. A friend suggested writing out her worries and things she couldn’t control on small pieces of paper and placing them on “God’s plate” at her bedside. This simple practice didn’t eliminate all stress but seeing that plate reminds her those concerns are on God’s plate, not hers.

In a way, many of David’s psalms were his way of listing his troubles and laying them on God’s plate (Psalm 55:1, 16–17). If the coup attempt by his son Absalom is what’s being described, David’s “close friend” Ahithophel had indeed betrayed him and was involved in the plot to kill him (2 Samuel 15–16). So “evening, morning and noon [David cried] out in distress,” and God heard his prayer (Psalm 55:17). He chose to “cast [his] cares on the Lord” and experienced His care (v. 22).

We can authentically acknowledge that worries and fears affect us all. We may even have thoughts like David’s: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (v. 6). God is near and is the only one who has the power to change situations. Put it all on His plate.

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Love in Action

By |2024-08-09T02:33:12-04:00August 9th, 2024|

The single mother lived next door to the older gentleman for more than five years. One day, concerned for her welfare, he rang her doorbell. “I haven’t seen you for about a week,” he said. “I was just checking to see if you’re all right.” His “wellness check” encouraged her. Having lost her father at a young age, she appreciated having the kind man watching out for her and her family.

When the free-to-give and priceless-to-receive gift of kindness goes beyond good thoughts or intentions, we’re serving others by sharing the love of Christ with them. The writer of Hebrews said believers in Jesus should “continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Hebrews 13:15). Then, the writer commissioned them to live out their faith, saying, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (v. 16).

Worshiping Jesus by professing His name is a pleasure and privilege. But we express true love for God when we love like Jesus. We can ask the Holy Spirit to make us aware of opportunities and empower us to love others well within our own families and beyond. Through those ministry moments, we will be sharing Jesus through the powerful message of love in action.

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A Child’s Hope

By |2024-08-02T02:33:08-04:00August 2nd, 2024|

When my granddaughter Eliana was just seven, she saw a video at her school about an orphanage in Guatemala. She told her mom, “We have to go there to help them.” Her mom replied that they would think about it when she was older.

Eliana never forgot, and sure enough, when she was ten, her family went to help in the orphanage. Two years later, they went back, this time taking along a couple of other families from Eliana’s school. When Eliana was fifteen, she and her dad went again to Guatemala to serve.

We sometimes think the wishes and dreams of little children don’t carry the weight of adult hopes. But Scripture seems to make no such distinction. God calls children, as in the case of Samuel (1 Samuel 4). Jesus honors the faith of little ones (Luke 18:16). And Paul said younger believers shouldn’t let people discount them just because they “are young” (1 Timothy 4:12).

So, we’re called to guide our children (Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Proverbs 22:6), recognizing that their faith is a model for us all (Matthew 18:3) and understanding that hindering them is something Jesus warned against (Luke 18:15).

When we see a spark of hope in children, our job as adults is to help ignite it. And as God leads us, encourage them toward a life dedicated to trust in Jesus and service for Him.

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Family Matters

By |2024-04-20T02:33:14-04:00April 20th, 2024|

My sister, brother, and I flew from our separate states to our uncle’s funeral and stopped to see our ninety-year-old grandmother. She’d been paralyzed by a stroke, had lost the ability to speak, and had only the use of her right hand. As we stood around her bed, she reached out that hand and took each of our hands, placing one atop another over her heart and patted them in place. With this wordless gesture, my grandmother spoke into what had been our somewhat broken and distant sibling relationship. “Family matters.”

In God’s family, the church, we can grow apart as well. We might allow bitterness to separate us from each other. The writer of Hebrews references the bitterness that separated Esau from his brother (Hebrews 12:16) and challenges us as brothers and sisters to hold on to each other in God’s family. “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone” (v. 14). Here the words “every effort” convey a deliberate and decisive investment in peacemaking with our brothers and sisters in God’s family. Every such effort is then applied to everyone. Every. One.

Family matters. Both our earthly families and God’s family of believers. Might we all invest the efforts needed to hold on to each other?

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