Notes of Faith February 24, 2021

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. — 
1 Corinthians 12:1, NIV 

 Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others. ~ Rick Warren 

I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves— one above another—and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now I find that God’s gifts are on shelves—and the lower we stoop, the more we get. ~ 
F. B. Meyer 

You have been gifted for greatness. 

Is there anything more fun than watching children open Christmas presents? My wife, Stacey, and I have three children. Christmas morning in our house is wild! Our children leap out of bed at the crack of dawn and race down the stairs to see what Santa has left them under the tree.

When they find presents with their names on them, bows and paper fly in every direction!  

As their father, I take special pleasure in watching each one enjoy the moment. My heart is filled with love as their eyes brighten with the excitement of discovery. I am delighted when they ask me to show them how to use the gifts. (“Some assembly required. Batteries not included.”) Satisfaction fills my soul as I watch them begin to actually play with these things Stacey and I picked out especially for them.  

Now picture this same wonderful scene, only with spiritual gifts. When God planned the masterpiece He would make of your life, He decided to give you certain gifts that would enable you to effectively share His love and make your own unique contribution to His Kingdom. He placed these spiritual abilities within you and waits eagerly for you to discover them. I’m certain it fills His heart with joy as He watches us discover and start using the spiritual gifts He has given us. We should be as excited as children on Christmas Day about unwrapping these treasures.  

In his book, 19 Gifts of the Spirit, Leslie B. Flynn writes: “You are a gifted child of God. Since you are also given an outlet for your gift, you are a minister too. For every gift He bestows, the Spirit has planned a sphere of service. Thus, no child should have an inferiority complex. Rather, awareness that he is a gifted child with an area of ministry should meet every child of God’s psychological need to feel wanted and to possess a sense of worth.”1  

Too often, I see people carrying heavy loads of frustration because they are trying to serve in areas for which they have little or no ability. On the other hand, the most fulfilled and effective people I see are functioning in areas that precisely match the gifts God has given them.  

For many years, Trisha believed she was “only” a coordinator for a ministry — and she felt vaguely dissatisfied about it. Then, in her fifties, she finally understood that God had gifted her to be the team’s administrator. “It seems the team functions more effectively when I use my gifts, and when others use theirs,” she says.

“From now on, I’m going to enjoy this wonderful opportunity to express what God has given me.”  

Perhaps you believe you don’t have a gift at all. Brent, a lifelong member of Saddleback Church, once murmured, “I only run the computerized music program for our college ministry.” But when he looked at his life through the lens of spiritual gifts, Brent realized that his gift of serving was crucial to the success of the college ministry.  

Or maybe you are like Jeff and Joy, who said to me, “We are just parents. We don’t have a lot of time to make a contribution with our lives right now.” When they learned God had given them gifts of encouragement, leadership, administration, and mercy, they were thrilled to realize God had shaped them to help their four children become everything God planned for them to be.  

Understanding Spiritual Gifts  

At first, this whole issue of spiritual gifts may seem mysterious, complicated, and difficult — but in fact the opposite is true. God has given us wonderful gifts, and He doesn’t make it difficult to discover and use them.  

In 1 Corinthians 12:1, Paul says,  

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 

The word ignorant here does not mean “unintelligent” or “naive.” Rather, Paul is telling us that if we are uninformed, we will miss out on the wonderful gifts God has given us.

Your heavenly Father wants His children to be fully informed so they can unwrap every single gift they have received.

Your gifts are the key to fulfilling the Kingdom Purpose He has set aside just for you. When that truth finally sank in for me, it was sobering. Suddenly I felt a deep desire to understand the entire subject of spiritual gifts.  

As a pastor, I hear several questions about spiritual gifts that come up over and over. As we examine what the Bible says, we discover God’s answers to those questions.  

What Are Spiritual Gifts?  

Let’s start by clarifying what they are not. First, your spiritual gifts are not the same as your personality traits. A personality test is not an adequate indicator of what spiritual gifts you possess. Your personality traits, however, do provide natural vehicles for expressing your gifts. For example, if God wired you to be outgoing, then your gifts will work best as you actively engage other people. If you are more reserved by nature, your personality will complement your giftedness.  

Second, spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents. You can be a very talented architect, salesperson, or manager, but those are not spiritual gifts. Leslie B. Flynn explains, “Talents have to do with techniques and methods; gifts have to do with spiritual abilities. Talents depend on natural power, gifts on spiritual endowment.”2  

Third, spiritual gifts are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22–23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the Spirit reveal Christ’s contribution to our character, while our spiritual gifts reveal the contribution we make to God’s kingdom.  

So what are spiritual gifts? For this study, let’s define a spiritual gift as a God-given special ability, given to every believer at conversion by the Holy Spirit, to share His love and strengthen the body of Christ. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 4:10 that God is the gift giver:  

God has given each of you a spiritual gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. — NLT 

I love how Os Guinness, in his book The Call, talks about the role of giftedness. Os says, “The purpose of giftedness is stewardship and service, not selfishness.”3  

God gives us these special abilities for specific reasons.

Spiritual gifts only work in spiritual ways. Designed to bring great color and clarity to your life, they can only be used to their full potential when empowered by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the life of every believer.  

Only those who have entered into a personal relationship with Christ have these gifts.  

Why Does God Give Spiritual Gifts?  

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul says,  

A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church. — NLT 

 The spiritual gifts God gives you are neither for you nor about you. They weren’t given to boost your self-image or to serve as some kind of special reward from God. They were not given to raise you up to some level of worldly greatness or success. They are yours for the express purpose of blessing the body of Christ — the Church. That is why you need to be part of a church family. Discovering your spiritual gifts is not the ultimate goal — using them to bless others is.  

Does Everyone Get a Gift?  

The Bible assures us that every believer receives gifts from God:  

Each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. — 1 Corinthians 7:7b, NIV 

You may not feel tremendously gifted, but God says that you are. Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift.  

In my role as pastor of ministry and S.H.A.P.E. discovery at Saddleback, I have seen that people discover their gifts as they minister to others. The more you serve God in ministry, the more clearly you will see your gifts.  

God gives gifts to everyone, not just “special” people. There are no special qualifications needed, no special level of maturity required, not even a particular time span needed in your journey with Jesus. If you are a believer, then you have the Spirit living in you. If you have the Spirit living in you, then you have spiritual gifts to use for God’s glory and the benefit of others.  

You may not have discovered the gifts you have or begun to use them yet, but you definitely have them. You have God’s word on it. He is the one who decided which gifts to give you.  

How many gifts you have is not nearly as important as discovering and developing the gifts you do have.  

1. Leslie B. Flynn, 19 Gifts of the Spirit. Colorado Springs: Cook Communications, 1974, 1994, 17–18.  

2. Ibid., 27.  

3. Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville: W Publishing, 2003, 45.  

Excerpted from S.H.A.P.E. by Erik Rees, copyright Erik E. Rees. 

You have spiritual gifts! Even if you don’t feel particularly gifted, you are! Ask the Lord to show you what gifts He has given you and use it/them for His glory today!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 23, 2021

The Transforming Power of Pearls

I know a couple of things about oysters. They make pearls and they are edible, but you kind of have to acquire a taste for them. I have only eaten oysters once. My son and his brother-in-law invited me to an oyster bar in Texas. They taught me how to dip it in sauce (butter, I think), separate the meat from the shell, and slide it down my throat. Not bad. I ended up eating my share of four or five. But have no great desire to repeat the experience, though it wasn’t as “icky” as I had imagined.

Oysters have another “icky” function – how pearls are made. Even cultured pearls come about by the same process, though under controlled circumstances. A pearl starts as an irritant inside the shell of the mollusk. It may be as small as a piece of sand. Think about how you feel when you get something caught in your teeth when even floss doesn’t seem to work. Maybe it is that irritating to the poor oyster. So, he wraps the foreign object in a milky coating that hardens. And keeps applying more and more layers so that it is round and smooth and no longer irritating. Seems like the growing pearl would be irritating, but I suppose that the smoothness compensates and makes the intrusion tolerable. It is amazing how God has designed His creation with ways to care for troubles that intrude.

God has provided for us to care for intruding troubles as well. We have been tested a lot in that area this past year. Not just COVID, but all of the other irritants and troubles that have affected our lives. And COVID, with the added worries and restrictions, has just made things harder. O that we could just wish trouble away or at least capture it and coat it with pearl creating stuff! But, we actually have better!

Jesus predicted that His followers would have trouble. But He also said: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" John 16:33 (NASB).

We still have to live in an imperfect world with sin and disease all around (all of the time). God allows bad things to happen so that His purposes may be accomplished. Our motive and goal should be to honor God with our thoughts, actions, and speech. The best way to stay centered is to bathe our minds, souls, and hearts with the Word of God. Aren’t you glad that we live in an era where we can saturate our lives with good Christian music, preaching, books, novels, art, and even have the Bible read to us by that little person on our phone?

Don’t be discouraged! Jesus said hard times would come and even that His followers could expect persecution, but that He would be with us, and the Holy Spirit would be in us to teach, guide, and strengthen us. Difficult times do not change our purpose and goal: to love God and love others (especially so that they will also love God):

“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NASB)

We may not produce pearls in the tangible sense, but we are able to see irritants transformed into blessings when we remember that “all things work together for good.” Our example in personal hard times might just be “the thing” that folks in our church or community need to see to help them also transcend their troubles. God’s Word is transforming. Let’s make more pearls, while we are making disciples!

Pastor Gregory Howell
Community Grace Brethren Church, Goldendale, Wash.

As a Christian and Pastor, there have been times when someone within the church is the irritant.  They do not respond to the Word of God in their own life, always pointing to others as the offender, including me.  But God is the One making pearls out of our sin-filled lives.  It is such an incredible blessing to watch God at work.  I could not have been given a more precious work on earth than to preach/teach/live the gospel of Jesus Christ and watch God do the greater work of saving souls for all eternity.  The true believer is being transformed into a more blessed beauty than the pearl…the image of the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 22, 2021

Article by David Mathis
Executive Editor, desiringGod.org

I don’t remember which son I held first.

In the chaos of the C-section, with doctors and nurses racing around, and the anesthesiologist team standing by — and two cords to cut — I’m not sure which of our twin boys I first took in my own hands. Or at what point, in the special-care nursery in those first two weeks, I sat there holding one of the boys and first realized, “This is my son.” My wife and I slept so little in those first twelve weeks that many memories are a blur.

Nor did I ever have the chance of focusing my father’s heart on one particular and only son. But as a father of these boys, and now of two younger daughters (who are not twins), I can testify from both Scripture and experience that there is something special about a father’s love for a son.

Other ‘Four Loves’

God made two sexes — which makes for four distinct relationships between parents and their children: father-son, father-daughter, mother-daughter, and mother-son. Interestingly, Jesus honored each of these four loves during the course of his ministry:

a mother’s love for her demonized daughter (Mark 7:24–30),

a mother’s love for her dead son (Luke 7:11–17),

a father’s love for his dead daughter (Mark 5:22–43), and

a father’s love for his demonized son (Matthew 17:14–20; Mark 9:14–29; Luke 9:37–43).

Elsewhere I’ve reflected on a father’s heart for his daughter, but here, without minimizing any of those other loves — there is something special about each one — let’s ponder the peculiar nature and contours of a father’s love for his son.

‘My Beloved Son’

We could first linger over that human father’s special love for his demonized son. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each in their own way, accent the father’s love for his son (Matthew 17:15; Mark 9:22, 24; Luke 9:38, 42). However, in all three Gospels — this is no small detail — the account of Jesus rescuing this father’s demonized son follows immediately on the heels of the transfiguration, which has at its heart the heavenly Father’s declaration about his Son.

Just as he had declared his love for his Son at the outset of his public ministry, at his baptism (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22), now, as the Son draws near to the cross, the Father again speaks over him a clear fatherly word of love and approval:

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 17:5)

“The transfiguration may give us as profound a peek into a father’s love for his son as we can find.”

On the mount of transfiguration, Jesus “is reminded once again who he is,” comments Donald Macleod, “and reminded, too, of the Father’s love and approbation” (Christ Crucified, 21). Soon Jesus will face the cross, and be surrounded by mockers and the power of darkness, but here, in the calm before the storm, it is as if his Father says, “Son, in all you are now going to face, never forget who you are, never forget that I love you, and never forget how proud I am of you” (22).

The transfiguration, in context, may give us as profound a peek into a father’s love for his son as we can find. Let’s ponder it through Macleod’s threefold framework, which helps us get at several aspects unique to (or especially pronounced in) the love of a father for a son.

1. ‘Who You Are’

The Father says, “You are my Son.” A father begets a son, generates a son, as one who is like himself in a profound and objective way that a daughter is not.

A human father loves a son as one who, with respect to biological sex, down to every cell of his body, is like me. A son grows up to be a man, not a woman — a father, not a mother. God has entrusted us as fathers to raise up our sons to be like us — not just as humans and Christians, but as men, not women. He calls us to speak words with the gravity of a father’s particular identity-shaping power. And to demonstrate masculine strength at work in the self-sacrifice and humble initiative it takes to lead, provide for, and protect a wife and children.

A father loves a daughter — and oh, do fathers love their daughters — as someone who is not like me but rather like the most important person on earth to me: my wife. With a daughter, a good father models self-sacrificial masculinity and teaches her what it’s like to receive and be cared for by a worthy, Christlike man. But with his son, a father wants more. He wants his son to one day be the man. “You are my son.” I want you, as my son, to learn to be the one who will be the Christlike head of his family (Ephesians 5:23) and shoulder primary (not sole) responsibility for his family. As dads, we want our son to cultivate enough strength and gentleness to show honor to his wife as both weaker vessel and coheir of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7).

A father looks at his son as one who will become what he is — a father — and so needs to learn what it means to be a man. To use masculine strength to help, not hurt; authority to serve, not be served; words to encourage, not demean. A father wants his son not only to benefit, as a child, from his father’s strength but also increasingly to become strong, as a man. A good father wants to replace himself with a young man like him, and better.

2. ‘I Love You’

The Father also says, “You are my beloved Son.” Few words in all the world carry such power as a father’s declaration of love for his son. Few words are as profound in forming and securing the bonds that hold society together. And few words cause as much harm and instability when they go unexpressed, or when a father gives his son the impression of contempt. Or perhaps worse: apathy.

The mention of a beloved son calls to mind the affection that Abraham, after decades of aching, had for his son Isaac — the son of whom God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, . . . and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2; also 22:12).

“Few words in all the world carry such power as a father’s declaration of love for his son.”

With respect to the heavenly Father, this love for his Son is a love we hear in what may be the single greatest promise in all the Bible: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Here we have a pledge as expansive as the heavens — to “graciously give us all things” — fixed firmly on the rock-solid ground of the gospel itself: God “gave him up for us all.”

Might the Father have spared a daughter? Yet at Calvary, he did not spare his own Son. A son is an extension of his father, the most official of all representatives, the father himself in a distinct person, different than a daughter. Special to a father’s love for his son is that at the right time, under worthy conditions, he might indeed not spare him something difficult — not from any lack of love but precisely because of the nature of the father-son relationship and its particular, sacrificial, burden-bearing love.

3. ‘I Am Pleased with You’

Finally, the Father says, “You are my beloved Son.” We might say he was “proud.” It’s a challenging word in English. Surely, we would not mean pride as the great evil but as a holy kind of proud, for lack of a better term, that a father will feel toward a good son. Macleod also mentions “approbation,” which is not much of an improvement. We might hear approval, praise or commendation, even respect. Whatever we may call it, it is a unique kind of admiration that a father has for a son as an instantiation of himself in a new generation.

In the heavenly Father’s declaration, we also hear his love in the unashamed claim of possession: my beloved Son. And we see it in the setting, that this is a public declaration, for the ears of witnesses: “This is my beloved Son . . .” Most of all, we hear it in the clause that follows: “. . . with whom I am well pleased.” Earthly fathers, note with me that our heavenly Father didn’t leave it unsaid. And saying so was no burden to this Father of all fathers. When we unfetter our manly tongues, and tell our sons of the pleasure we have in them, we increase both their joy and our own.

Words of a Father

No doubt, we could name other aspects peculiar to the father-son relationship and love, but at least for these three, what stands out as common among them is the power of the father’s words. What is the Father’s main action at the transfiguration of his Son? He speaks. He is present, and declares, “This is my beloved Son!” For the ears of the witnesses, and for the ears of Christ himself.

God wired the souls of men to hear, and be stabilized by, such words of identity, love, and approval from their fathers. Which is why it can be so deeply painful for sons whose fathers have been negligent, or worse, with their words. And why it is no small thing, in Christ, to find a Father in heaven who speaks to his Son — and sons — as he does.

Human fathers not only bring life into existence through begetting, but also speak reality into existence with their words. Just as Adam named the animals (Genesis 2:19–20), his wife (Genesis 3:20), and his son (Genesis 5:3). Partnering together with his wife’s indispensable ability to nurture (1 Thessalonians 2:7), fathers name, speaking with particular power, backed up by a life of action. As Paul models well, “You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:11–12).

A father’s lived-out example is not to be minimized. Fathers set visible examples for their sons to imitate (1 Corinthians 4:15–16), as do mothers. Neither do we minimize the influence of a mother’s counsel, as Lady Wisdom to her husband and sons. But as the heavenly Father himself demonstrates in his declaration to and about his Son — “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” — we fathers must reckon with the remarkable power of our words.

I am so grateful that God blessed me with the joy of being a father.  I am indeed proud of my children as they have grown in faith and wisdom from above, from their heavenly Father who loves them more than their mother and me.  Other than the joy of knowing my God and Savior, I have known no greater joy on earth than the love of my wife and children.  I am indeed well pleased!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 21, 2021

“GROWING WISE”
Proverbs 2:1-5

Every sensitive Christian has at least a modicum of desire to know the heart and mind of God.  Wherever that desire is present, God will fulfill it.  Proverbs 2:1-5 deals with the question, “How may I acquire an intelligent knowledge of God; a knowledge upon facts; facts that lead to discernment and understanding?”  In contrast we see the unbeliever’s attitude toward God in I Corinthians 2:14.

The Starting Place:

     True wisdom and knowledge begins and ends with truth - the intake of truth from the Word of God and outflow of truth through the child of God (Matthew 4:4).

The Process for Attaining Wisdom:

1.  Take God’s Word personally - v. 1

     •  We receive it - Luke 8:13

     •  We treasure it - Matthew 13:3-8, 18-25

2.  Pay attention to God’s Word - v. 2

     •  Make your ear attentive.  Force yourself to hear what God is saying. Matthew 11:15

3.  Pray over God’s Word - v. 3

     •  Pray for illumination which shows a deep inner hunger for a knowledge of the truth.

        That hunger is expressed in fervent petition to God for illumination.  James 1:5

4.  Really dig into God’s Word - v. 4

     •  Prayer alone does not bring satisfaction and illumination but must be accompanied

        by personal persistent Bible study.

Four requirements for hunting treasure are:

1.  The promise of discovery.

2.  Having the necessary equipment.

3.  Having the necessary will and desire.

4.  Applying personal energy and effort in using the equipment.

The fruit of our efforts are:

     “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord” - v. 5a

     “And find the knowledge of God” - v. 5b

The Bottom Line - You get out of a thing what you put into it!

     Beloved, how diligent are we in searching out God’s truths?

Love to all, Charles Covington

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 20, 2021

What Satan Means For Evil
Article by John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

Satan is not in control of this world. God never has given, and never will give, to Satan any freedom that God himself does not restrain and decisively direct for his wise, just, and good purposes. In all his acts, Satan is subject to God’s overruling and guiding providence.

Since Satan is uniformly evil, we may use the words of Genesis 50:20 for every one of his acts in this world: “he meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” When Satan wills something, he always intends to diminish God’s glory and ultimately ruin God’s people. When God permits Satan to act with that design, God’s design in doing so is for his glory and the ultimate good of his people.

But given the amount of evil and pain that Satan causes in the world, we inevitably ask, Why does God permit Satan to go on working, or even existing? If God rules Satan so thoroughly, why does he not use his power and wisdom to put Satan out of existence now?

“In all his acts, Satan is subject to God’s overruling and guiding providence.”

The Bible does not answer this question directly. But there are pointers. So let me venture four answers for you to test. Even though these suggestions are not given in Scripture as explicit answers to our question, nevertheless, I think they do give a partial answer.

I would sum up why God permits Satan to go on living and working by saying that God intends to defeat Satan not with one initial blow of power, but through four processes:

He is defeating Satan with showing.
He is defeating Satan with suffering.
He is defeating Satan with Satan.
He is defeating Satan with savoring.

1. God is defeating Satan with showing more of his own attributes.

Consider the lamentable condition of the woman in Luke 13:10–17, who for eighteen years “was bent over and could not fully straighten herself” (Luke 13:11). Luke tells us more specifically that “Satan [had] bound [her] for eighteen years” (Luke 13:16). Jesus is going to heal her completely, which means that God could have healed her at any time during those eighteen painful years. He was powerful and compassionate enough to do it at any time. But instead he permitted Satan to have his ugly way in her body for eighteen years.

The upshot of healing her was that Jesus’s “adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him” (Luke 13:17). We do not know why God permitted this woman to endure Satan’s “binding” for so long. But what we do know is this: by overcoming this woman’s satanic bondage, Jesus defeated Satan in two other ways — in exposing the hypocrisy of his adversaries, and in showing his compassion and authority and power so that people rejoiced at his glorious deeds.

It seems to me, then, that this one incident gives a glimpse into God’s larger purpose for his timing in defeating Satan. From this story, we may infer that part of God’s purpose is to show more aspects of Christ’s glory by the manifold demonstrations of his superiority over Satan than would be shown if he had put Satan out of existence all at once, at some earlier point in redemptive history.

2. God is defeating Satan with suffering.

The most central and staggering reality about Satan’s eventual defeat is not that he will be thrown into the lake of fire but that Jesus was thrown into the fire, as it were (Luke 12:50), to defeat Satan’s hold on his people. Both Paul and the writer to the Hebrews teach that Jesus defeated Satan by means of his suffering and death (Colossians 2:13–15; Hebrews 2:14–15).

It is more beautiful, more glorious and excellent and wonderful, that the greatest person in the universe should defeat the most despicable being in the universe by choosing to suffer and die in an act of liberating love — love for those who were in fact “following the prince of the power of the air . . . like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:2–3). When Jesus throws Satan into the lake of fire, Jesus’s justice and power will be on full display. But at the cross, his grace and mercy and patience and love and wisdom were on full display as he conquered Satan’s claim on God’s people by paying their debts.

“The ultimate goal of providence is the joyful praise of the glory of God’s grace.”

Colossians 2:14 makes clear how Satan lost his claim on God’s people when Christ died. Christ canceled “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” This is followed by its effect on Satan: “He [in canceling their debts] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15). In other words, the only damning indictments Satan can bring against us at the last day is unforgiven sin. But Christ nailed those to the cross. This stripped from Satan’s hand his only damning weapon. He was disarmed. Indeed, he was shamed because, in all his vaunted strength and pride and hate, he lost his prize — God’s elect — to an act of omnipotent weakness and humility and love.

The ultimate goal of providence is the joyful praise of the glory of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14), and the consummate demonstration of that glorious grace is the freely chosen suffering and death of the infinitely worthy Son of God for unworthy sinners like us. Now we see some small glimpse of why Satan is given such a role in the theater of God’s wonders. At every point, Christ proves superior, and at the most important moment in history, the beauty of Christ shines most brightly as the ugliest being is undone by the greatest act of beauty.

3. God is defeating Satan with Satan.

The wisdom of God appears more fully, and his superiority over Satan in every way, not just in sheer power, shines more brightly, in the manifold ways he brings Satan to ruin. One of those ways is to make Satan serve God’s sanctifying purposes in the lives of his children. It must infuriate Satan that God’s ways are so pure and brilliant that Satan not only fails to obstruct them but unwittingly serves them.

What I have in mind is Paul’s thorn in the flesh, which he tells us about in 2 Corinthians 12:1–10. Paul had been granted a supernatural glimpse into heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1–4). God had granted Paul this privilege, knowing it would tempt Paul to be conceited. God deemed the gift worth the troubles to come. His answer to this dangerous temptation of pride was to see to it (providence) that Paul would have a thorn in the flesh. Paul tells us this with a stunning sentence about God’s aim to sanctify him, and Satan’s unwitting hand in it!

To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (2 Corinthians 12:7)

At the beginning and the ending of this verse, the purpose of the thorn is mentioned: “to keep me from becoming conceited . . . to keep me from becoming conceited.” Now, that is not Satan’s design. Satan does not hinder conceit; he helps it. This is God’s design for Paul’s thorn — humility and trust. Nevertheless, the thorn is called “a messenger of Satan.” In ways that exceed our full comprehension, God is able to harness Satan’s hatred of Paul and make it serve God’s own purposes of Paul’s humility and purity and glad reliance on the grace of Jesus.

So, the upshot of Satan’s attack on Paul is not only the exposure of his self-defeating folly, but also the revelation of Christ’s all-satisfying grace:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)

I think this gets close to the heart of why God allows Satan to exist and bring short-term harm on God’s people. It becomes an occasion not only to show the greater glory of Christ’s wisdom and power and worth, but also to show the superior satisfaction that this glory gives his people compared to what Satan can give. This leads to the fourth divine strategy for defeating Satan.

4. God is defeating Satan with savoring.

Notice that the climax of Paul’s experience of the thorn in the flesh is not Paul’s awareness of Christ’s grace as sufficient. Rather, the awareness and experience of this sufficiency brings Paul to “boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses.” When Paul experiences the all-sufficient grace of Jesus as a “glad” (hēdista, 2 Corinthians 12:9, the word from which we get hedonism!) boast, this experience makes the grace and the power of Christ stand forth all the more clearly.

“Nothing Satan is and nothing he offers can compare with Christ.”

I call this “gladness” savoring. And my point is that God intends for Satan to be defeated in this age not merely by showing him to be weaker than Christ, but also by showing him to be less savory than Christ — less desirable, less satisfying. If this sounds superficial or marginal to you, you and I are not yet on the same page. In my understanding of God’s purposes in the universe, the ultimate goal is that the beauty and worth of Christ be magnified as the supreme treasure of the universe through being savored above all other reality. Providence over Satan and all other created reality reaches its ultimate goal when the intensity of human savoring corresponds to the infinite beauty and worth of Christ.

Satan’s most essential role in achieving that goal is to offer us every conceivable pleasure to entice us away from savoring, desiring, and being satisfied with Christ, and every conceivable pain to turn us against the goodness of Christ. When God’s people face these temptations to prefer the world and to repudiate Christ, but instead “gladly” boast in their weaknesses and losses because of the surpassing value of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 3:8), Satan is defeated in the most wonderful and thorough way.

Satan is not only shown to be weaker than Christ, but, more importantly, he is shown to be less desirable than Christ. Satan is less satisfying because he is not only weak compared to Christ’s power, but also ugly compared to Christ’s beauty and disgusting compared to Christ’s sweetness. Nothing Satan is and nothing he offers can compare with Christ.

The savoring of Christ above all that Satan can give in riches, or all he can take in suffering, magnifies Christ’s beauty and worth in ways that could never have happened if God had banished Satan from the world before his weakness and folly and ugliness were fully exposed, and before Christ was shown to be infinitely more desirable.

Part of our weakness is the sinful human mind that wants to have everything according to its’ desires.  When things do not go according to our thoughts and plans, we ask God “Why?”  Thankfully, God’s thoughts and ways are higher than my ways and your ways.  We do not fully understand His grace, mercy and love fitted perfectly together with His holy discipline and judgment.  May we learn daily to trust the love of God, who called us to Himself and will bring us to completion in Christ when the trumpet sounds and He calls us home.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 19, 2021

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By the time your life is over, you will have spent six months at stoplights, eight months opening junk mail, a year and a half looking for lost stuff (double that number in my case), and a whopping five years standing in various lines.

Why don’t you give these moments to God? By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as “Thank you, Father,” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,” “You are my resting place, Jesus” can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen.

Just pray where you are.

Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

Do you only pray at church and at home? Only before meals and at bedtime? Try a “pray where you are” challenge today. How many different places can you remember to pray to God? Can you make it five, or ten, or even twenty?

Excerpted with permission from Grace for the Moment Family Devotional by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. — Psalm 139:23

Jesus was always in communion and communication with the Father.  May we try to be like Jesus more and more each day, praying at any and every place and moment of our day, to seek His will, and BE like Jesus.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 18, 2021

Notes of Faith February 18, 2021

The Bible contains promises for every problem and a word of assurance for every need. When faced with anger or anxiety, we can always find a word from God to nudge us onward and upward — if only we’ll open His Book. That’s what Darlene Zschech did one dark day in 1993.

Darlene was born in 1965 in Brisbane, Australia, and she grew up singing. When she was about fifteen, her father, who had recently given his life to Christ, enrolled her in a Christian scouting program; and through that program she received Jesus Christ as her Savior.

Years later, one day in 1993, Darlene faced a daunting and discouraging personal problem. In her heaviness, she entered the study of her home and sat at the old and out-of-tune piano her parents had given her when she was five.

Opening her Bible, she started reading Psalm 96.

As Darlene meditated on that psalm, her fingers pressed the keys of the piano, and the music and words began to flow. In about twenty minutes the song was done. For several days she sang it to herself as the truths of the song ministered to her own heart. She had not previously called herself a songwriter, so Darlene was reluctant to share it with anyone. But mustering her courage, she finally asked the music pastor at her church to listen to it. She was so nervous she kept stopping and apologizing. She even asked him to stand over by the wall and turn away from her while she sang it.

He assured her the song was wonderful, and shortly afterward they sang “Shout to the Lord” during the offering at church. The congregation took to it quickly, standing and joining in the song, though the words hadn’t been prepared for bulletin or screen. Darlene’s pastor, Brian Houston, predicted it would be sung around the world.

And so it has.

Verse of the Week

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise His name;
proclaim His salvation day after day.

— Psalm 96:1–2 NIV

Reflect

Darlene Zschech wrote “Shout to the Lord” while feeling discouraged and sad. How does singing it make you feel?

The psalms inspired Zschech’s lyrics, especially Psalm 96.

What does Psalm 100:1 say?

Consider this line: “All of my days / I want to praise.” Desire (“want”) often determines whether or not we praise God.

What happens when you don’t really want to, but you do it anyway?

What does Philippians 2:9-11 say about the sound of the name of Jesus?

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,

My King and my God,

For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning,

O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

Amen.

—Psalm 5:1–3 NKJV

Excerpted from Then Sings My Soul Prayer Journal by Robert Morgan, copyright Robert J. Morgan.

Read Psalm 96. What does it mean to you? Can you sing a line or two in worship to the Lord?

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 17, 2021

John 4:1-26, John 4:28-30, John 4:39-42  

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John — although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples. So He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 

Now He had to go through Samaria. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.  

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give Me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  

The Samaritan woman said to Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”  

“Sir,” the woman said, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can You get this living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”  

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  

“I have no husband,” she replied.  

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”  

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that You are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but You Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe Me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”  

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you — I am He.”  

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  

“Come, see a Man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward Him.  

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. And because of His words many more became believers.  

They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this Man really is the Savior of the world.”  

* 

This Samaritan woman had been searching for something, but she had looked in the wrong place — she had had five husbands and was with a sixth man. She was filled with shame, coming to gather water at high noon, well after all the other women had finished that chore. Then Jesus spoke with her and said He was the Messiah and the living water, echoing Isaiah 12:3:  

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 

What did the woman do next? How, in your life, has Jesus been like “a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” changing shame into worship? 

Excerpted from The Hope of Easter, copyright Zondervan. 

What must that have been like for her? She had been hiding, avoiding, hardened by her sin and circumstances but Jesus took all of that off of her and freed her completely! She walked in shame no more! And everyone around her could see the change!  Tell others what God has done for you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 16, 2021

Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do. Themselves. No wonder God insists that we “keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time” (Hebrews 12:15).

His healing includes a move out of the house of spite, a shift away from the cramped world of grudge and toward spacious ways of grace, away from hardness and toward forgiveness. He moves us forward by healing our past.

Can He really? This mess? This history of sexual abuse? This raw anger at the father who left my mother? This seething disgust I feel every time I think of the one who treated me like yesterday’s trash? Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?

Joseph asked these questions. You never outlive the memory of ten brothers giving you the heave-ho. They walked away and never came back. So he gave them a taste of their own medicine. When he saw them in the breadline, he snapped at them. He accused them of treachery and threw them in jail. “Take that, you rascals!”

Isn’t it good to know that Joseph was human? The guy was so good it hurt. He endured slavery, succeeded in a foreign land, mastered a new language, and resisted sexual seductions. He was the model prisoner and the perfect counselor to the king. Scratch him, and he bled holy blood.

We expect him to see his brothers and declare, “Father, forgive them, for they knew not what they did” (see Luke 23:34). But he didn’t. He didn’t because forgiving jerks is the hardest trick in the bag. We will feed the poor and counsel the king. Why, we’ll memorize the book of Leviticus if God says to do so.

But…

Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry (Ephesians 4:26)?

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice (Ephesians 4:31)?

As Christ forgave you, so you also must do (Colossians 3:13)?

Really, God?

I have a friend who was six years old when her mother ran off with a salesman, leaving her to be raised by a good-hearted dad who knew nothing about dolls, dresses, or dates. The father and daughter stumbled through life and made the best of it. Recently the mom reappeared, like a brother out of Canaan, requested a coffee date with my friend, and said, “I’m sorry for abandoning you.” The mom wants to reenter her daughter’s world.

My friend’s first thought was, That’s it? I’m supposed to forgive you? Seems too easy. Doesn’t the mom need to experience what she gave? A few years wondering if she will see her daughter again. Some pain-filled nights. A bit of justice. How do we reconcile the pain of the daughter with God’s command to forgive?

Isn’t some vengeance in order? Of course it is. In fact, God cares about justice more than we do. Paul admonished, Never pay back evil for evil… never avenge yourselves.

Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it (Romans 12:17, Romans 12:19).

We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished. Escape to Fiji and sip mai tais on the beach.

Not to worry.

Scripture says, “[God] will repay,” not He “might repay.”

God will get through this execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness. Case in point? Prepare yourself for the most surprising turnaround of the Joseph story.

After three days Joseph released all but one brother from jail. They returned to Canaan to report to Jacob, their father, a weak shadow of an old man. The brothers told him how Simeon was kept in Egypt as assurance they would return with Benjamin, the youngest brother. Jacob had nothing to say except, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me” (Genesis 42:36).

Such a louse. Jacob played favorites, refused to discipline, had multiple wives, and upon hearing of the imprisonment of his son, had a pity party. What a prima donna. No wonder the family was screwed up.

But as we read further, a light breaks through the clouds.

Judah, who once wanted to get rid of Joseph, stepped forward. “Send [Benjamin] with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever” (Genesis 43:8–9).

Is this the same Judah? The same man who said, “Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites” (Genesis 37:27)? The same brother who helped negotiate the slave trade? Well, yes… and no. Judah, as it turns out, has had his own descent into the pit.

After Joseph’s abduction Judah went on to have three sons. He arranged for the eldest to marry a girl named Tamar. But the son died. Following the proper protocol of his day, Judah arranged for his second son to marry Tamar. The son didn’t manage the situation well and died. Judah assumed Tamar was jinxed. Afraid that his third son would meet the same fate, Judah put the matter on hold, leaving Tamar with no husband.

Later Judah’s wife died. Tamar heard that Judah was coming to town. Apparently she hadn’t been able to get Judah to reply to her e-mails, so she got creative. She disguised herself as a prostitute and made him an offer.

Judah took the bait. He exchanged his necklace and walking stick for sex, unaware that he was sleeping with his daughter-in-law. (Oh, how lust blinds a man!) She conceived.

Three months later she reappeared in Judah’s life as Tamar, pregnant Tamar. Judah went high and mighty on her and demanded she be burned. That’s when she produced Judah’s necklace and walking stick, and Judah realized the child was his. He was caught in his own sin, disgraced in front of his own family. Things had come full circle. Judah, who had deceived Jacob, was deceived. Judah, who had trapped Joseph, was trapped. Judah, who had helped humiliate Joseph, was humiliated. God gave Judah his comeuppance, and Judah came to his senses. “She has been more righteous than I,” he confessed (Genesis 38:26).

For years I wondered why Judah’s exploits were included in the Joseph narrative. They interrupt everything. We just get started in chapter 37 with the dreams and drama of Joseph when the narrator dedicates chapter 38 to the story of Judah, the hustler, and Tamar, the faux escort. Two dead husbands. One clever widow. An odd, poorly placed story. But now I see how it fits.

For anything good to happen to Jacob’s family, someone in the clan had to grow up. If not the father, one of the brothers had to mature to the point where he took responsibility for his actions.

God activated the change in Judah. He gave the guy a taste of his own medicine, and the medicine worked! Judah championed the family cause. He spoke sense into his father’s head. He was willing to take responsibility for Benjamin’s safety and bear the blame if he failed. Judah got his wake-up call, and Joseph didn’t have to lift a finger or swing a fist.

Vengeance is God’s. He will repay — whether ultimately on the Day of Judgment or intermediately in this life.

The point of the story?

God handles all Judahs. He can discipline your abusive boss, soften your angry parent. He can bring your ex to his knees or her senses.

Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God.

He guarantees the right retribution. We give too much or too little. But the God of justice has the precise prescription.

Unlike us, God never gives up on a person. Never. Long after we have moved on, God is still there, probing the conscience, stirring conviction, always orchestrating redemption. Fix your enemies? That’s God’s job.

Forgive your enemies? Ah, that’s where you and I come in. We forgive.

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:26–27). The word translated opportunity is the Greek word topos, the same term from which we get the English noun topography. It means territory or ground. Interesting.

Anger gives ground to the devil. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room. Believe me, he will move in and stink up the place. Gossip, slander, temper — anytime you see these, Satan has claimed a bunk.

Evict him. Don’t even give him the time of day. In the name of Jesus tell him to pack his bags and hit the road. Begin the process of forgiveness. Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Hate the wrong without hating wrongdoers. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Jesus did for you.

Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them too. If He thinks they are worth forgiving, they are. Does that make forgiveness easy? No. Quick? Seldom. Painless? It wasn’t for Joseph.

The brothers returned to Egypt from Canaan, Benjamin in tow. Joseph invited them to a dinner. He asked about Jacob, spotted Benjamin, and all but came undone. “God be gracious to you, my son,” he blurted before he hurried out of the room to weep (Genesis 43:29).

He returned to eat and drink and make merry with the brothers. Joseph sat them according to birth order. He singled out Benjamin for special treatment. Every time the brothers got one helping, Benjamin got five. They noticed this. But said nothing.

Joseph loaded their sacks with food and hid his personal cup in the sack of Benjamin.

The brothers were barely down the road when Joseph’s steward stopped their caravan, searched their sacks, and found the cup. The brothers tore their clothes (the ancient equivalent of pulling out one’s hair) and soon found themselves back in front of Joseph, fearing for their lives.

Joseph couldn’t make up his mind! He welcomed them, wept over them, ate with them, and then played a trick on them. He was at war with himself. These brothers had peeled the scab off his oldest and deepest wound. And he would be hanged before he’d let them do it again. On the other hand, these were his brothers, and he would be hanged before he lost them again.

Forgiveness vacillates like this. It has fits and starts, good days and bad. Anger intermingled with love. Irregular mercy. We make progress only to make a wrong turn. Step forward and fall back. But this is okay. When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. No one owns a secret formula. As long as you are trying to forgive, you are forgiving. It’s when you no longer try that bitterness sets in.

Stay the course. You’ll spend less time in the spite house and more in the grace house. And as one who has walked the hallways of both, I can guarantee that you are going to love the space of grace.

Excerpted from You'll Get Through This by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

Where are you on the journey of forgiveness? Have you made progress? Have you seemed to start back at ground zero and been frustrated? Do you have people in your life that, even after a relatively long period of time, you can’t seem to forgive?  Let Jesus do His work in you and in the one you need to forgive as well.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 15, 2021

March 4, 1881  

Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant. — Psalm 86:16 

When Abraham and Eliza Garfield married, they built a log cabin in Mentor, Ohio, and that’s where James Abram was born in 1831. Two years later, Abraham, thirty-three, died while fighting a fire that threatened their farm. Eliza, a devout follower of Christ, determined to raise her children with prayer as her secret weapon.  

When James was a teenager, he left home to work on the Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal. It was a dangerous job, and he could barely swim. One dark night, he woke for his shift and made his way to the deck. While struggling with a coil of rope, he fell headfirst over the railing and sank in the cold waters. As he thrashed about, his hand felt a loose rope. It was taut enough to support him, and he hauled himself to the railing and collapsed onto the deck.  

I felt I was coming to drowning. At length, however, [the rope] held and I was able to draw myself up until I could get a breath of air above the stagnant, stifling water... My feeble calls for help [received] no response from the sleeping people in the boat. I was curious to know what had caused the rope to stop unwinding and carefully examining it, I found that just where it came over the edge of the boat it had been drawn into a crack and there knotted itself. I sat down in the cold of the night and in my wet clothes and [thought about] the matter. I thought [God] had saved me... for something greater and better than canaling.1  

James had swallowed a large quantity of water and was chilled to the bone. He developed a high fever as he trudged toward home. Reaching the little house, he saw a light, and through the window there was his mother on her knees, an open Bible before her, praying, “Oh, turn to me, and have mercy upon me; give strength to Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid.” James knew this was the prayer his mother offered for him daily.2  

In Psalm 86, King David was in a crisis, and he begged the Lord to have mercy on him, to help him, to show him strength, to help him for he was the son of a godly mother. The New International Version says,  

Turn to me and have mercy on me; show Your strength in behalf of Your servant; save me, because I serve You just as my mother did. 

It is one of the very few biblical references to David’s mother. In the older translations, the verse simply said, “Save the son of Your maidservant,” and Eliza made that her prayer.  

Hearing those words, James opened the door and fell into her arms.  

Eliza nursed her son to health, and shortly afterward, he attended a revival meeting. Listening carefully to the sermons, he told the preacher, “If I could be satisfied that what you have taught tonight is simple truth and would secure happiness, I would embrace the faith.”3 The next night, James gave his life to Christ and soon began preaching the gospel.4 

His friends were impacted by his faith. One evening as he and his buddies were celebrating the Fourth of July around a campfire, he pulled a copy of the New Testament from his pocket and said, “Boys, I am accustomed to read a chapter with my absent mother every night. Shall I read it aloud?” They agreed, and he read the chapter his mother was reading in her cabin at the same time.5  

In one of his letters, Garfield described a revival in which he preached the gospel nineteen times, with thirty-four people coming to Christ and thirty-one of them being baptized.6  

Later while at Williams College, Garfield summarized his philosophy of history for the school magazine: “No man can understand the history of any nation or of the world who does not recognize in it the power of God and behold His stately goings forth as He walks among the nations. It is His hand that is moving the vast superstructure of human history.”7  

At age twenty-six, Garfield was appointed president of Hiram College. He began making political speeches denouncing the evils of slavery, and in 1860, he was elected state senator. When the Civil War broke out, Garfield joined the Union Army and rose to the rank of major-general, but he resigned his commission to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives. His political career was meteoric, and in 1880, he was elected president of the United States.  

His aged mother, Eliza, traveled with him to Washington where, on March 4, 1881, she became the first mother of a president to see her son sworn into office and the first mother of a president to live in the White House.  

And if you visit the bedroom she occupied at the Garfield home in Mentor, Ohio, you’ll see on the wall an old framed embroidery bearing the words “Watch and Pray.”  

1. See Stephen G. Yanoff, The Second Mourning: The Untold Story of America’s Most Bizarre Political Murder (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2014), 38. Also William M. Thayer, From Log Cabin to the White House (Boston: James H. Earle Publisher, 1881), 208–10; Ruth Tenzer Feldman, James Garfield (Minneapolis: Leaner Publications Company, 2005), 8. Also Candice Millard, Destiny of the Republic (New York: Doubleday, 2011), 21.  

2. William Judson Hampton, Our Presidents and Their Mothers (Boston: Cornhill Publishing Company, 1922), 159.  

3. Benson John Lossing, A Biography of James A. Garfield (New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Company, 1882), 66.  

4. Lossing, James A. Garfield, 75.  

5. Lossing, James A. Garfield, 94.  

6. David Barton, A Spiritual Heritage (Aledo, TX: WallBuilders, 2000), 36. Barton attributes this to a personal letter from Garfield, which is in his possession.  

7. Lossing, A Biography of James A. Garfield, 83.  

Excerpted from 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert J. Morgan, copyright Robert J. Morgan. 

Prayer is powerful! Praying for our children is powerful! Take this verse as Eliza did and remember it with the Lord for your children and their children.  It seems that my mother also had a special relationship with the Lord and even as a young child I heard her praying for me.  She never stopped.  I remember hearing her praying for me shortly before her passing into the presence of the Lord, giving thanks for the calling on my life to pastor and for the flock that I was responsible for.  A mother’s prayers are indeed powerful for her children.  Let us all pray without ceasing for our children…for God to use them and bless them for His glory and honor!

Pastor Dale