Notes of Faith January 10, 2024

Notes of Faith January 10, 2024

Boundaries: Guard Your Heart

We were created to be who God designed us to be, to love who God calls us to love, and to accomplish what God tasks us to accomplish. That is the secret to a fruitful and fulfilled life, with great relationships and a deep sense of purpose.

Unfortunately, we all encounter obstacles which can distract, or even paralyze us, from that great life God had planned. Some of the most difficult obstacles are the inability to say no, confront, and establish consequences in relationships when you need to. There are a number of examples of this sort of problem:

A child who doesn’t do homework or clean up after herself

A husband who controls his marriage by getting angry when his wife disagrees with him

An employee who is defensive about poor performance, and becomes “unconfrontable”

A boss who intimidates her employees by being critical of those who speak up about problems in the organization

These obstacles can sap your energy, get you off track, discourage you and even damage you emotionally. Most of us know how this can feel, and it’s not a good place to be.

The Bible presents a solution, which, in a word, is called boundaries.

Boundaries are your personal property line, where you set out where you end, and where the other person begins.

They help you own your time, energy, resources and money, and decide for yourself what to do with them. Boundaries help you determine when to say yes, and how to say no. Yet so many people feel guilty about having boundaries, or that the Bible teaches us not to have them.

Proverbs 4:23 is a wonderful verse which teaches on a very rich level, how boundaries can help us. Let’s take a look:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Ask God to guide you to the right boundary that you need to establish today.

This is a great encapsulation of the why and the how of boundaries. Here is the breakdown of the passage, not in the exact word order, but in a linear flow for you:

Your heart: Your heart is the core of who you are, your insides, literally the “inner person.” The word refers to all of the contents that reside in your brain. That includes your values, thoughts, opinions, feelings and decisions. If you have ever experienced “losing heart”, when you become discouraged or demotivated, it is often because you either allowed someone to take your time or energy, or because you allowed someone inside your heart who had no business being there, and the result was that there was hurt and damage.

Everything you do flows from it: Why is your heart so important? Because your entire life’s path depends on how healthy your heart is. All of your actions, how you treat yourself, how you engage in your relationships with God and others, and the impact you make on the world, is directed by what happens in your heart. For example, leaders who reflect on their careers will often look back on matters of the heart as being tipping points that changed the trajectory of their lives. Think of it from the health perspective. If you take care of your body and eat right, exercise and sleep well, you are likely to have a healthy body for a long time. But neglecting or abusing your body can easily result in sickness and dysfunction. Your heart is simply critical to living life in God’s way.

Guard: literally, to protect. In other words, watch over your inner self, and keep it from harm. I love the fact that God put this specific word in this specific place! That is the role of a boundary, whether it be the word “no”, a difficult confrontation or some limit you need to set in a relationship. So often, people think that saying “no” and taking responsibility to guard yourself is selfish and “all about me.” But we have been entrusted with the task of guarding this most precious gift of God. I often tell people to change the “S” from Selfishness to Stewardship, for that is how the Bible teaches it.

Above all else: All 30,000 verses of the Bible are, by definition, from God. So when you see the words “above all else” in the Scriptures, that’s a highlighter, meaning, “pay attention, this is a priority.” So often we think that saying no to preserve our hearts should be unimportant. But God instructs us that this is a critical and life-preserving stance to take.

This is just one of so many passages that teach us that clear and loving boundaries are a tool for good in our lives. Pray over this verse and ask God to guide you to the right boundary that you need to establish today. For more information on the topic, read the Updated and Expanded edition of Boundaries by me and Dr. Henry Cloud. God bless you.

Written for Devotionals Daily by Dr. John Townsend, author with Henry Cloud of Boundaries.

Scriptures use the “heart” for who we are, how we act, most importantly, who we belong to, Guarding your heart is describing a protection from anything that would take you away from intimate relationship with God. Do everything you can to guard your heart!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 9, 2024

Notes of Faith January 9, 2024

Leaders Rise for the Occasion

The Opportunity of Early Mornings

Article by Andrew Ballard

“Your boss is dead. You’re taking his place.”

Not the words we might expect to accompany a promotion. But that’s how Joshua’s new role began. Here’s how God told Joshua the sobering news:

Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

(Joshua 1:2)

In other words: “Joshua, your first task as successor to Moses — the Moses — is to do the one thing your mentor could not do: take Israel into the promised land.”

How do you think Joshua felt? Competent and confident? Or fearful and timid? The next several verses suggest he was insecure and nervous.

Learning from a Rare Leader

The impending conquest of Canaan had hung over the Israelites for the last forty years, a whole generation growing up in the shadow of their parents’ failure. Therefore, in the first chapter alone, God tells Joshua four times to “be strong and courageous.”

Perhaps an even greater shadow lingered though: the legacy of Moses, his mentor and hero. Moses, who was forty days and forty nights on the thundering mountain. Moses, who spoke face to face with the God beyond facing. Moses, who performed the ten plagues and delivered God’s people from four hundred years of slavery. Moses, who split the sea and proceeded confidently to claim God’s promises.

Joshua was not Moses. The pressure was on. The task was daunting. The responsibility was real, and the need was now pressing. How would he lead?

Perhaps you can relate in some small way. Maybe you’ve recently taken on responsibility. Maybe expectations linger from a previous leader. Or you might be self-conscious of your limitations — in capacity, experience, knowledge, giftings. Maybe you’re stepping into a leadership role at your church. Whatever your responsibility, Joshua offers rich lessons for every leader. In contrast to later judges, Joshua rarely failed morally or practically. So, what might we learn from this remarkable leader?

Among many lessons, consider one: whenever he had to rise to the occasion, Joshua started by rising for the occasion. Which is to say, he got up early.

Joshua Got Up Early

Where do we see this leader rising for the occasion? Four times in the book of Joshua, we are specifically told that he got up early — it’s a refrain in the story. Let’s start with the Jordan River.

1. AT THE JORDAN

Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. (Joshua 3:1)

Can you imagine Joshua standing on the banks of the Jordan? The image of Moses standing at the edge of the Red Sea must have been vivid in his memory. Perhaps the Israelites saw the shadow too. What would happen? Would Joshua falter in the face of an impossible task? Or would he be strong and courageous, and follow the path before him?

Joshua took the step of faith.

But his first step wasn’t into the dry riverbed. It was onto the floor beside his own bed. Though the crowd saw Joshua’s mighty faith, faith that trusted God to part the waters, Joshua didn’t suddenly start trusting God then. He had already been walking in faith — and a small evidence is the detail that he got up early. He knew what his Lord expected of him, and he stepped out in faith.

2. OUTSIDE JERICHO

The momentum of that step carried Israel across the river, all the way to Jericho. God told Israel to march around the city. Joshua followed God’s command — promptly.

Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. . . . So they did for six days. (Joshua 6:12–14)

Joshua continued to trust God. He led the people with strength, courage, and faith. He (and the people) got up early so they wouldn’t delay obedience. Faith in God and faithfulness to God meant, at least on this occasion, a sunrise salutation.

3. AFTER DEFEAT

In the next chapter, we learn Israel was defeated by Ai because of treasure-snatching Achan. God tells Joshua to take inventory. What does he do?

Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. (Joshua 7:16)

You know the rest. Achan is judged, and Israel advances in their conquest.

What if Joshua had been squeamish about the confrontation? What if fear of man had led him to procrastinate? Would more Israelites have perished? I don’t know. But I know he was active in his faith and dealt with the issue swiftly — starting with an early morning.

4. INTO BATTLE

Lastly, after they cleaned house, God strengthened Joshua:

Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. (Joshua 8:1)

Rather than sitting back or sleeping in, “Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai” (Joshua 8:10). He heeded the exhortation to be “strong and courageous” because the Lord was with him. God’s promises were not Joshua’s excuse to sleep in — they were his strength to get up and to get up earlier than he might have otherwise.

Power of Well-Spent Mornings

Hope in God’s word is what ties Joshua’s daybreak discipline to the broader theme of mornings in Scripture. When a leader has important work to do in the Bible, he often begins early in the morning.

Abraham rose early to go and discern Lot’s situation (Genesis 19:27–28). Isaac rose early when it was time to finalize his reconciliation with Abimelech (Genesis 26:31). Moses chose to confront Pharaoh early in the morning (Exodus 8:20; 9:13). Job rose early to intercede for his children (Job 1:5). And this doesn’t apply only to men: Scripture commends the Proverbs 31 woman because “she rises while it is yet night” to set her household up for success in the dawning day (Proverbs 31:15).

Clearly, many leaders in the Bible knew the importance of rising for the occasion. Perhaps they saw what the psalmists saw. God’s poets took unusual (and frequent) delight in the dawn:

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. (Psalm 5:3)

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)

I rise before dawn and cry for help;

I hope in your words. (Psalm 119:147)

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust. (Psalm 143:8)

In the New Testament, we get real glimpses of Jesus’s sleeping (and rising) habits:

Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

Amid the pressing needs of ministry, Jesus prioritized one thing above all: to meet his Father in prayer. And toward that end, he often found fitting opportunities in the shape of early mornings.

Sunrise Opportunity

Joshua’s example is not a command to set all alarms for five o’clock. He does hold out, however, a burden of responsibility, a legacy of faithfulness, and a wise pattern of early mornings.

The sunrise is an opportunity. It’s not the solution for everyone, in every moment, for every season. We need prudence in applying this principle. There may be times when refusing to stay up late could be a dereliction of duty. (If Joshua hadn’t marched through the night, for example, Israel wouldn’t have rescued the Gibeonites; Joshua 10:9.) There is a season for everything under the sun — and for every sleeping pattern.

If God has made us a leader and given us responsibility for others, we might ask, How can I be a better steward of those God-given responsibilities? We will be judged more strictly, especially if we lead a local church (James 3:1; Hebrews 13:17). So, we must be all the more diligent. Part of the answer might be a commitment to get up early, and go after God and the callings he has given us. Joshua led that way, so why not you and me?

After rising early yesterday at 4 a.m. we were diverted from our destination to another state’s airport, then sat on the plane for more than an hour before being redirected to the original destination. By that time we had missed our connecting flight and were put on another 5 hours later. I am leaving out some despairing details. We finally left for our final destination and suffered the worst turbulence we have ever experienced. Family stayed up and met us at the airport after midnight, finally reaching our house here close to 1 in the morning. Other family members were getting up early so we rose up early at 6 a.m. today to see them before work and school. I know this is not what the author of this article has in mind, but after lasts nights plane ride, I have spent a lot of time with God early this morning. Wake up call?... I enjoy my time alone with God and sharing prayers with my wife. We are safe and secure in His arms no matter the circumstances, trials, or concerns. Let’s spend more time with God each day and rise early if you are called to do so or He may give you a wake-up call that you will enjoy a whole lot less than our plane ride.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 8, 2024

Notes of Faith January 8, 2024

Be His Example

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven. — Matthew 5:16

Whether you realize it or not, you’re an example. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re too weak or inadequate to be one — there are people who look up to you and are watching to see how you live. And God wants you to be His representative to them.

Jesus came into this world as a Servant, humbly giving His life so that we would be reconciled to the Father. And God’s will is that we imitate what He did for us by serving others. We perform loving acts of service that meet the spiritual and practical needs of those around us so that they’ll grow closer to Him.

There are so many people around you in need today — not just physically or financially, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Everyone you meet needs someone to encourage him or her. Will you make time to reach out and show them the awesome, unconditional, sacrificial love of Christ? Remember, God sees everything you do in His name and will bless you for all you do in obedience to Him (Hebrews 6:10).

Jesus, show me where I can serve others with Your love and compassion. Work through me to draw others to Yourself. Amen.

My hope is in Jesus because He is worthy of my service.

See God

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. — Matthew 5:8

Do you want to see more of God’s work in your life and experience His presence in a more profound way? Would you like the capacity to perceive His protection and provision in your work, trials, relationships, and in every aspect of your existence? Jesus tells you the way: pursue purity.

When you purge your life of all the behaviors and attitudes that displease God, you clear your vision of the impediments that usually obscure His work in you. You receive a clearer understanding of how He’s behind every good gift you receive (James 1:17) and how He gives meaning to all your struggles (Romans 8:28). Without sin clouding your thinking and deadening your spiritual senses, you become more aware of how the Father is engineering all circumstances for your ultimate good.

So keep your heart pure by seeking and obeying the Lord. Invite the Holy Spirit to convict you through God’s Word and repent of sin as soon as you’re conscious of its presence. And in all things, do as He says. After all, obedience always brings blessing, and when the reward is seeing God, you’re receiving the ultimate desire of your soul. It’s certainly worthwhile!

Jesus, purify my heart and help me see You in every aspect of my life. Amen.

My hope is in Jesus because in Him is everything I need.

Excerpted from Jesus Our Perfect Hope by Dr. Charles Stanley, copyright Charles F. Stanley.

Ps 51:1-13

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right when you speak

and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;

you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will turn back to you.

My hope is in Jesus because in Him is everything I need!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 7, 2024

Notes of Faith January 7, 2024

God Will Help You Get Through Grief

We don’t discuss graveyards to brighten our day. Cemeteries aren’t typically known for their inspiration. But an exception was found in a graveyard near Bethany. And that one exception is exceptional.

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling Him,

Lord, your dear friend is very sick. — John 11:1-3 NLT

John weighted the opening words of the chapter with reality: “A man named Lazarus was sick.” Your journal might reveal a comparable statement. “A woman named Judy was tired.” “A father named Tom was confused.” “A youngster named Sophia was sad.”

Lazarus was a real person with a real problem. He was sick; his body ached; his fever raged; his stomach churned. But he had something going for him. Or, better stated, he had Someone going for him. He had a friend named Jesus, the water-to-wine, stormy-sea-to-calm-waters, picnic-basket-to-buffet Jesus. Others were fans of Christ. Lazarus was friends with Him.

So the sisters of Lazarus sent Jesus a not-too-subtle message: “Lord, Your dear friend is very sick.”

They appealed to the love of Jesus and stated their problem. They did not tell Him how to respond. No presumption. No overreaching or underreacting. They simply wrapped their concern in a sentence and left it with Jesus. A lesson for us perhaps?

Christ responded to the crisis of health with a promise of help.

But when Jesus heard about it He said, ‘Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this’. — John 11:4 NLT

It would have been easy to misunderstand this promise. The listener could be forgiven for hearing “Lazarus will not face death or endure death.” But Jesus made a different promise: “This sickness will not end in death.” Lazarus, we learn, would find himself in the valley of death, but he would not stay there.

The messenger surely hurried back to Bethany and told the family to take heart and have hope.

Yet

He [Jesus] stayed where He was for the next two days. — John 11:6 NLT

The crisis of health was exacerbated by the crisis of delay. How many times did Lazarus ask his sisters, “Is Jesus here yet?” How many times did they mop his fevered brow and then look for Jesus’ coming? Did they not assure one another, “Any minute now Jesus will arrive”? But days came and went. No Jesus. Lazarus began to fade. No Jesus. Lazarus died. No Jesus.

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, He was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. — John 11:17 NLT

“Israel’s rabbinic faith taught that for three days a soul lingered about a body, but on the fourth day it left permanently.”1 Jesus was a day late, or so it seemed.

The sisters thought he was.

When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died’. — John 11:20-21 NLT

Jesus meets us in the cemeteries of life.

She was disappointed in Jesus. “If only You had been here.” Christ did not meet her expectations. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for the better part of a week. In our day his body would have been embalmed or cremated, the obituary would have been printed, the burial plot purchased, and the funeral at least planned, if not completed.

I know this to be true because I’ve planned many funerals. And in more memorials than I can count, I’ve told the Lazarus story. I’ve even dared to stand near the casket, look into the faces of modern-day Marthas, Marys, Matthews, and Michaels and say, “Maybe you, like Martha, are disappointed. You told Jesus about the sickness. You waited at the hospital bed. You kept vigil in the convalescent room. You told Him that the one He loved was sick, sicker, dying. And now death has come. And some of you find yourselves, like Mary, too bereaved to speak. Others, like Martha, too bewildered to be silent. Would you be willing to imitate the faith of Martha?”

Look again at her words:

Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask. — John 11:21-22 NLT, emphasis mine

How much time do you suppose passed between the “if only” of verse 21 and the “even now I know” of verse 22? What caused the change in her tone? Did she see something in the expression of Christ? Did she remember a promise from the past? Did His hand brush away her tear? Did His confidence calm her fear? Something moved Martha from complaint to confession.

Jesus responded with a death-defying promise:

Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ‘Yes,’ Martha said, ‘he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.’ Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying… Do you believe this?’ — John 11:23-26 NLT

The moment drips with drama.

Look to whom Jesus asked this question: a bereaved, heartbroken sister.

Look at where Jesus stood as He asked this question: within the vicinity, perhaps in the center, of a cemetery.

Look at when Jesus asked this question: four days too late. Lazarus, His friend, was four days dead, four days gone, four days buried.

Martha has had plenty of time to give up on Jesus. Yet now this Jesus has the audacity to pull rank over death and ask, “Do you believe this, Martha? Do you believe that I am Lord of all, even of the cemetery?” Maybe she answered with a lilt in her voice, with the conviction of a triumphant angel, fists pumping the air and face radiant with hope. Give her reply a dozen exclamation marks if you want, but I don’t. I hear a pause, a swallow. I hear a meek

Yes, Lord,… I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God. — John 11:27 NLT

Martha wasn’t ready to say Jesus could raise the dead. Even so, she gave Him a triple tribute: “the Messiah,” “the Son of God,” and “the One who has come into the world.” She mustered a mustard-seed confession. That was enough for Jesus.

Martha fetched her sister. Mary saw Christ and wept. And

when Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ He asked them. They told Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Then Jesus wept. — John 11:33-35 NLT

What caused Jesus to weep? Did He cry at the death of His friend? Or the impact death had on His friends? Did He weep out of sorrow? Or anger? Was it the fact of the grave or its control over people that broke His heart?

It must have been the latter because a determined, not despondent, Jesus took charge. Jesus told them to roll the stone away. Martha hesitated. Who wouldn’t? He insisted. She complied. Then came the command, no doubt the only command ever made to a cadaver. Jesus, prone as He was to thank God for impossible situations, offered a prayer of gratitude, and

then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave-clothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go!’ — John 11:43-44 NLT

“Don’t miss the message of this miracle,” I love to say at funerals, although careful not to get too animated, because, after all, it is a memorial service. Still, I indulge in some excitement. “You are never alone. Jesus meets us in the cemeteries of life. Whether we are there to say goodbye or there to be buried, we can count on the presence of God.”

He is Lord both of the dead and of the living. — Romans 14:9 ESV

An encore is scheduled. Lazarus was but a warm-up. Jesus will someday shout, and the ingathering of saints will begin. Graveyards, ocean depths, battlefields, burned buildings, and every other resting place of the deceased will give up the dead in whatever condition they might be found. They will be recomposed, resurrected, and re-presented in the presence of Christ. Salvation of the saints is not merely the redemption of souls but also the recollection of souls and bodies.

When we are in Christ, we grieve, but we grieve with hope. Lazarus is proof of this. His death proved that our Savior grieves death with us. Jesus cares and understands and feels the weight of death just like we do. But as the conqueror of death, Jesus knows death is not the end. It is simply the beginning of a life we cannot imagine during our lives on earth. So grieve here, today. Receive the comfort of Christ in your sorrow, but hold fast to the promise that the sorrow you feel in the night makes way for joy in the morning.

Father, I know You are my comforter. I know You are strong when I am weak. I know You are hope when I am hopeless. I need all these from You today — comfort, strength, and hope — because I cannot muster them on my own. When I am deep in grief, all I see is darkness, and all I feel is hopeless. But You empathize with this pain. You know it well. Remind me of Your love during this time. Remind me that I can share my thoughts and struggles with You. You are not afraid of negative feelings. Hold me as I walk through this season of grief. Don’t let me run away from it, but also don’t let me fall into despair. Guide me toward the hope and light I have in Christ. In His name, amen.

Excerpted with permission from God Will Help You by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

Is it possible that you never experienced an “If only”? We put expectations on God all the time. We want our desires over His. Until we discover that His are better! Let us live in confidence that our Lord and Savior is always on time providing us with more than we could ever think or imagine. He cares for you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 6, 2024

Notes of Faith January 6, 2024

Don't Fear Weakness

Bear Grylls is a survivor. You’ve likely seen him on one of his many survival and adventure TV shows, such as Man Vs. Wild, You Vs. Wild, The Island, and Running Wild with Bear Grylls. In his life, Bear has served with British special forces, climbed Everest, crossed the orth Atlantic unassisted, and he currently holds the record for the longest indoor freefall! But as much as Bear knows about adventure and survival, he’s come to realize that a deeper source of strength is needed in this life. As Bear says, “I find the journey hard. I often mess up. I feel myself teetering on the edge more often than you would imagine. So for me, starting my day with God really helps. It is like food. Like good fuel for the soul.” In his book Soul Fuel, Bear Grylls offers up 365 devotions, many of which he wrote on his phone during his countless adventures. Enjoy two selections today from Bear in Soul Fuel.

Don’t Fear Weakness

I often feel inadequate because of my many weaknesses. But sometimes God works through our weaknesses better than through our perceived strengths.

We see it in Gideon. Chosen by God to lead an army, he didn’t feel that he was up to the job.

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family”. — Judges 6:15

Often our doubts and fears only really surface when we’re about to be tested. But our sense of weakness is no barrier to God. “I will be with you,” said God to Gideon. And He says it to us too.

I often draw strength from the words of the apostle Paul:

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me… For when I am weak, then I am strong.

—2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Don’t run or hide from your weaknesses. Accept and embrace them, and lay them before the Almighty. He longs to enter, transform, and empower our lives. It is what He does — but only when asked, and only when there is room for Him to work.

A false sense of self-confidence often gets in the way of our progress in life. There’s a power to weakness, strange as it sounds. But when we admit that we’re unable to fight the big battles alone, that is when we learn to effectively rely on a stronger power. God-confidence is always going to win over self-confidence. Gideon knew that, as have so many of the most empowered men and women throughout history.

When we think life is dark, Christ knows better. Look up. The light is coming.

The Curtain Between Man and God

It is arguably the most poignant moment in human history: Pilate turned and looked at Jesus. Covered in blood, a crown of thorns biting into His scalp, soldiers on either side, Jesus didn’t look like much of a threat to the Roman ruler. I imagine Pilot half sneering, half despairing as he spoke:

Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you? — John 19:10

But Jesus’ reply was so calm and clear:

You haven’t a shred of authority over Me except what has been given you from Heaven. — John 19:11 MSG

It must have looked to many as though it was game over, as though Jesus’ life had been a failure — that hatred, jealousy, and ego had conquered over mercy, forgiveness, and love. But in reality, the greatest victory in the history of the world was about to be won. The conquered one, the man who looked as if He’d failed, was about to reveal a source of new life, a new vision for humankind, a new road to peace and unity.

At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. — Matthew 27:51 MSG

Whenever we’re struggling with the circumstances of our lives, let’s see beyond what other people see as failure and look instead to what God’s doing behind the scenes in our lives. Let’s choose to remember that the greatest triumphs sometimes occur when the circumstances seem to be hardest.

He went through it all — was put to death and then made alive — to bring us to God. — 1 Peter 3:18 MSG

When we think life is dark, Christ knows better. Look up. The light is coming.

Excerpted from Soul Fuel by Bear Grylls, copyright BGV Global Limited, 2019.

I like to call people like Bear Grylls “nuts” because of the things they seem to enjoy doing that are life threatening. Admittedly, I have watched some of his craziness on television. But I don’t plan to join him in his antics. However, I am grateful that He sees God in and through it all, and proclaims the truth of God to others who can see and listen to the truth. Praise God for those that seek and find Him even in the crazy things of life.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 5, 2024

Note of Faith January 5, 2024

Worry Is Worthless

Here are two short devotions on worry and trusting in God’s care for us.

My soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. — Psalm 57:1

Worry is a complete waste of energy. It solves nothing. That’s why Jesus said,

Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? — Matthew 6:27

In essence He was saying, “You go to bed tonight and fret and fuss because you’re not five feet, eleven inches; you’re only five feet, nine inches. But when you wake up in the morning, you’re still going to be five feet, nine inches.”

Worry will never make you stretch! And it won’t solve that anxiety on your mind either.

Let me be completely candid here. Do you know why we worry? We have a quiet, hidden, love for worry. We enjoy it! When one worry is gone, we replace it with another. There’s always a line of worries waiting to get in the door. So as one goes out the back door, we usher in the next one through the front door. We enjoy entertaining them.

Worries are our mental and emotional companions. But Jesus says, in effect, that they’re worthless!

~Perfect Trust

Worry won’t solve that anxiety on your mind.

God Takes Care of You

Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. — Joshua 1:9

Did you know that worry erases the promises of God from your mind. Jesus implies this when He says,

O men of little faith. Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ — Matthew 6:31

The promise of God is that He will not allow His children to beg for bread. He will care for our needs and that’s the promise you can claim. Since He took care of our greatest need at Calvary by giving us Christ, then you can be sure He will take care of everything else He considers important for us.

~ Perfect Trust

Excerpted from Wisdom for the Way by Charles R. Swindoll, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Luke 12:25-32

25 "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? 26 "If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? 27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28 "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! 29 "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

Try, try hard not to worry. It seems to be part of our makeup. But try, because it truly is worthless. Trust in God, who is faithful to provide all that you need both now and for all eternity!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 4, 2024

Notes of Faith January 4, 2024

Knowing the Truth

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

— 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

People have all kinds of ideas about truth. Some think that there is no absolute truth. Whatever the view, wisely study and believe what Jesus taught about truth.

He taught not only that there is truth, but that He is the Truth.

Through prayer ask Him to give you the faith to believe and put into practice His absolute truth, and pray the same for others.

Scripture tells us to study to show that we are approved to God — that our beliefs line up with His. We are to know God’s Word, believe it, obey it, and live by it. Great blessing and comfort come in the midst of a conflicted world embroiled in turmoil.

There are those who are offended by absolute truth, but it doesn’t change with the blowing of the wind.

The Spirit of truth... will guide you into all truth. — John 16:13

Jesus made the bold claim,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. — John 14:6

People question whether the Bible is really the Word of God. But the truth is clear: from beginning to end the Bible is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit who will teach us, and we can know the truth, and the truth will set us free (John 8:32).

Jesus taught not only that there is truth, but that He is the Truth.

Truthful Optimism

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

— 1 John 1:8

Admiral Jim Stockdale served in Vietnam and spent time as a prisoner of war in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” He once was asked which men didn’t make it out of the prison. His answer was surprising: “The optimists.” He went on to explain. “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end.”

While optimism can strengthen our resolve to persevere, it can also mislead us when we deny facts. A CNN documentary reported that optimism can take on the tone of arrogance. For instance, when bad weather approaches and the warning goes out to evacuate an area, the optimist might “opt” to stay put instead of getting out of harm’s way. It might work for them, even many times, but then one fateful day the storm hits hard and they suffer greatly.

This happens with those who put God out of their thinking. They are optimistic that since they lead a good life, they will cross the finish line into Heaven. Their optimism leads them astray. They are not willing to acknowledge before God they are sinners and need salvation.

Truth is not always pleasant, but it is always right. Truth is absolute.

The Bible tells us to be on the alert and not be arrogant. The true optimist will heed warnings and be wisely led by the Word of God.

Excerpted from Truth for Each Day by Billy Graham, copyright Billy Graham Literary Trust.

Absolute truth does exist… Absolute truth = God! People can deny that gravity exists, that black is white, that wrong is right…but truth is truth. Those that deny the existence of God do not make the existence of God untrue. If God were not, they could not be, since He created them… truth! God has given us His Word, to know Him, and to know what He expects from the life He has given us. Let us proclaim truth, God is, wants an intimate relationship with those He created in His image, and recognize our need for a Savior for the forgiveness of rebellion and sin that has brought us sickness, lies, deception, and death. Praise God for truth today!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 3, 2024

Notes of Faith January 3, 2024

You Need the Voice of God in Your Everyday Life

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

— Proverbs 4:23

God uniquely created you to listen to Him in a particular way, but He created all of us to communicate with Him. When you listen to God and encounter His truth, you find freedom. Jesus said to His disciples,

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. — John 8:32

And when you know truth and freedom, little can stop you from accomplishing what He has given you to do.

As you mature, you gain confidence that comes from encountering truth firsthand. The truth grounds you at your core. You are sure of what God said. You got it! Once you know what the biblical truth is, you’re all in. You’re a force to be reckoned with. You’ve located the truth, and as a result, you have extraordinary courage and resolve.

Also, your confidence in God’s truth will enable you to challenge others or even to be challenged yourself. You’re not afraid to do what’s right because you know it’s right. Popular opinion doesn’t influence you. Even doubters and judges will not distract you from your hard-and-fast, rock-solid conviction. You know God is with you! He has spoken clearly.

You might feel fear, but you are not confused.

No matter what your Prophetic Personality is, all of us have common ground in the following truths. Remembering them keeps us anchored to God.

As you spend time with God in His Word, reading and listening in the unique way He made you, you’ll discover more and more about who He is.

We All Need Relationship with God

When I was learning how to use my knowing, it wasn’t all kicks and giggles. In fact, in the beginning I noticed something that really bothered me. I heard God’s voice regularly, but I wasn’t growing closer to Him. I sensed I was further from Him than ever. I couldn’t understand why this was happening. Wasn’t I supposed to get closer to God the more I interacted with Him? I really wanted that.

One night while flying home from a speaking event, I sat in the darkness of the cabin with the sound of the humming engine filling the air. In the quiet I asked God, “Why do I feel so distant from You even though we’re talking every day? It doesn’t make sense. What am I missing?”

He replied, Havilah, it’s because you’re having only a transactional relationship with Me, not an intimate relationship. The truth of His words painfully hit my heart. He was right. I had never thought about it that way before.

A transactional relationship is one we invest in for the sake of getting something in return. We keep things good with our work bosses because they keep us employed and paid. We consult teachers because they give us instruction and doctors because they can point us toward health. We take care of pets because they give us a sense of well-being and maybe even purpose. When we interact with God to get special blessings or to get our way, we miss the point: we are relational beings.

God gives us our Prophetic Personality for the sake of an intimate relationship with Him. The primary purpose of an intimate relationship is to know and be known, to love and be loved. Does this mean you never get anything out of an intimate relationship? Of course not. Spouses support each other in practical ways; parents instruct children; friends give each other a hand. But intimate relationships aren’t only transactional.

Imagine what you’d be missing if you never learned how to communicate with your Creator. What if you could never talk to your architect, the One who knows everything about you? What if you couldn’t ask the questions He alone can answer? Everything you need to know, God knows. You were never created to do life alone.

You need the voice of God in your everyday life.

But again, this communication isn’t a one-way street. Whether through hearing, seeing, feeling, or knowing, God uses your Prophetic Personality to reveal Himself to you. For starters, because He designed them, they reveal important elements of His character:

God hears (John 9:31; 1 John 5:14).

God sees (Genesis 16:13; Proverbs 15:3).

God feels (Jeremiah 31:3; Psalm 103:13).

God knows (Psalm 147:5; 1 John 3:20).

As you spend time with God in His Word, reading and listening in the unique way He made you, you’ll discover more and more about who He is.

I’ll say it one more time: one of the most important things I want you to know is that the strengths of your Prophetic Personality are the outcome of an intimate relationship with God. You can’t nurture those strengths or mature in your listening skills apart from Him. So gently turn your heart away from the idea that God gave you a Prophetic Personality as a spiritual perk and see it for what it really is: a path to experiencing the fullness of God in a deeper way.

We all benefit from being careful not to seek our gifts more than we seek Him. When we leave this earth, we will take our relationship with the Lord with us, but we won’t take our special method of listening with us. We won’t need that in Heaven, where the barriers of this physical world no longer exist, and we can experience God face-to-face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Excerpted from Created to Hear God by Havilah Cunnington, copyright Havilah Cunnington.

Bobby Michaels sang a song with these words, “Seek the Blesser not the blessing, the Giver not the gift.” What as expression of an intimate relationship verses a transactional one. We are known by God. We need to know God and pursue knowing Him more and more in this walk of life, following Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, and one day being made complete, living eternally with our Lord and Savior in the glory that He has prepared for us! Seek greater intimacy today! Why don’t you take a few minutes and talk to Him right now…

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 2, 2024

Notes of Faith January 2, 2024

Start Where You Are

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. — Psalm 23:5

My friend Laura’s New Year’s resolution is “start where you are.” I love it. Whatever thing seems too intimidating, whatever new skill seems too far off to develop, whatever project has been hanging over your head forever: start where you are.

Each of us has been created by a holy God with love, on purpose and for a purpose. But so many of us feel afraid or unprepared. This is the secret, though: No one is prepared enough. No one is perfectly ready.

Let’s choose together to take one step forward today, whatever that means — a phone call, an hour of writing, a day away to dream. Sometimes even just a half hour to brainstorm or plan gets us unstuck.

No one lives out an exciting calling without just plunging forward at some point, full of fear and uncertainty.

The world is full of people who can talk your ear off about all the reasons they can’t possibly just begin that thing they’re longing to begin. Let’s not be those people. Let’s start where we are.

What’s the dream or vision or project you feel called to in this season of your life? What’s one tangible way to start where you are?

Let’s choose together to take one step forward today.

Excerpted from Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are by Shauna Niequist, copyright Zondervan.

In Christ you are a new creation … Try something today that will draw you closer to God, pray, read your Bible, do a random act of kindness, return love for hate. You are an ambassador of the King of kings. Represent Him well!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 1, 2024

Notes of Faith January 1, 2024

What Is My One Word?

So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

— Psalm 90:12

I don’t have enough time to live my own life!

I reached this conclusion after trying to follow all the advice given on a morning news show one week in January. It seemed like a smart way to start my day. I figured I’d tune in, get the forecast, learn the headlines, and maybe hear a celebrity interview. I wasn’t expecting all the show segments telling me how to live my life better.

Most of these segments offered the promise of deliverance: “Financial Freedom Is Closer than You Think” or “Four Secrets to Better Communication.” Others, I decided, were designed to scare the socks off of me: “Six Health Risks Every Person Faces” or “Thieves You Cannot See — Avoiding Identity Theft.” Motivated by this combination of hope and fear, I compiled a to-do list of ways to improve my life and its management according to the experts. The more I listened, learned, and listed, the more behind schedule I felt.

The topics on my list ranged from health maintenance to home maintenance to car maintenance. I was informed I need to eat certain foods every day: four veggies, three fruits, two proteins (preferably chicken or fish), and I think a partridge in a pear tree. I also need to get enough fiber, calcium, Vitamin D, B, C, and Beta-something-or-other.

I need thirty minutes of cardio a day (but apparently with the right exercise product this can be done in ten), fifteen minutes of strength training, and ten minutes of stretching. Plus, some extended time for meditation so that my body and mind could align. I’m told a germ-resistant mat is needed for that. I need to bust my stress, nurture my creativity, and improve my posture.

I need to pay attention to my finances. Save and invest. Spend frugally — yet somehow also buy the cool gadgets they review on the show. Apparently extreme couponing is the way to afford it all, but it takes a lot of time to save 80 percent on your grocery bill. I need to check my credit report regularly. Shred important documents. Back up my computer. Meet with my financial planner. And read the information that comes with our kid’s (underfunded) college fund. That, by the way, is forty pages of legal and financial mumbo jumbo in eight-point font, single-spaced. I suppose I need to meet with my attorney to understand it. And that creates two prerequisite tasks to add to the list: find an attorney and find a financial planner. They assume every regular Joe has a CFP, a CPA, and a JD on speed dial. I have Domino’s on mine.

The list continues…

Change my oil every 3,000 miles and my transmission fluid every 30,000. Test my smoke detector batteries biannually. Change my air filters every other month. Replace my toothbrush every three months. Flip my mattress every six. Buy new pillows every three years — I think this is for my posture, but it could be to get rid of dust mites. Check my skin for irregular moles. Check my yard for moles too. Weed and feed the lawn each spring. Grow houseplants to cleanse the air. Save last night’s roasted chicken bones to make my own chicken stock. Buy undervalued international stocks. Sell my stock before it drops. And stock my pantry for possible natural disasters.

Fertilize, amortize, winterize, maximize, scrutinize. Suddenly I realized: I don’t have time to live my life!

PAUSE. My word for the year is PAUSE. In my busy life there are so many times I need to pause. Pause to remember these days, for they will fly by so quickly. Pause to say yes … and no. Pause to give thanks. Pause before I speak in anger, judgment, or criticism. Pause to say I’m sorry. Pause to dwell on God’s goodness and mercy. — Dawn

Looking at the list of things I was supposed to do to live my life right, or well, or whatever all this was going to do for me, I felt defeated. The list that was going to improve my life left me overwhelmed. In my moment of defeat all I wanted to do was go surf. ’Course the list said I should put on a high-SPF sunscreen and take along a BPA-free water bottle to keep me well hydrated. Filled with filtered spring water, of course.

Change is possible.

Dropping the Ball

I’m sure you can relate; you’ve made lists too. Lists of things you want to start doing or stop doing — things you want to change about yourself. Lists of ways to improve your life and your character. Maybe you’ve only listed them in your head. But I bet they come to mind each January. Nearly two-thirds of America’s population has made New Year’s resolutions. I am one of them.

And you’ve probably found, like I’ve found, that each day keeps blurring into the next while we try to make some progress with our many good intentions. Yet very little actually changes. That ball keeps dropping in Times Square each New Year’s. And we keep dropping the ball on our resolutions to improve.

Only 20 percent of resolution makers report achieving any significant long-term change.

When I open my Bible, I find more lists. Things a follower of Christ should do. Things a follower of Christ should resist doing. Traits a follower of Christ should display — all the truly important stuff that never makes it onto morning show segments. When was I going to get to any of this?

I decided to drop my list of ways to get the most out of my life. I realized I needed to find a new way to approach personal change.

Losing the List, Picking a Word

My first journal entry in 2004 was a single word: FLOW. Not merely written on the page, but etched in bubble letters about three-quarters of an inch tall. The letters are heavily outlined, surrounded by a thin border, and colored in gray. It took me about ten minutes to draw and color the word FLOW. But it took three weeks to narrow all that was bubbling up in me down to that single word.

I’d been writing in a journal for years, but here was something I had never done before. Instead of blasting paragraphs on a page to capture my thoughts and insights, recording my steps and setbacks, I decided to meditate on just one word.

I wrote this word FLOW in response to something Jesus said. He said,

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’.— John 7:38 ESV

That struck a nerve.

There were times when I felt the living water flowing with ease from my heart. But there were other times, more times, when it felt forced.

The idea of FLOW drew me forward. It didn’t have the trappings of regret or the pressure of sweeping promises to change like my resolutions did. It awakened something in me. Not a compulsive desire to change born out of being sick of the way I was, but a desire to live an authentic life that flowed from my relationship with Christ.

Could my life really flow from my heart? The question sent me on a search anchored by the four letters of this one word.

If what Jesus said was true — pause for the obvious answer to arise — then I’d need a way to pay attention to my heart on a daily basis.

I decided looking at and concentrating on this word FLOW would remind me to do that. In the months to come, I paid attention to FLOW and used it to gauge my heart and my life. I discovered I could tell the condition of my heart based on what was coming out of it into my life.

And slowly, over time with this word FLOW, I learned to reverse that process. Instead of looking at my life and actions to realize the state of my heart, I proactively addressed the condition of my heart. That changed my life.

In looking through the lens of a single chosen word, I found a new approach to personal change and spiritual formation — one that is doable, memorable, effective, and sticky. The results have been greater than I expected.

FAITHFUL. For twenty-seven years I’ve believed that my plan for my life is superior to God’s plan. My time has been spent pursuing goals, accomplishments, and things I felt I needed to be happy and complete. After twenty-seven years of much external success, I realized I was still personally and emotionally unsatisfied. While driving to work one morning I was listening to K-LOVE, and I heard Mike talk of the One Word concept. That day I decided, for the first time in my life, to focus on God’s plan for my life instead of my own. Handing over the reins has not been easy; in fact, sometimes I’m not sure I have the endurance. So I chose FAITHFUL as my one word, because I’m committed to being faithful to God’s Word and plan. The thought of where things are going is exciting! I’m now being led by the earth’s Creator. — Brian

Excerpted from My One Word by Mike Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen, copyright Mike Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen

The WORD of God is the person of Jesus Christ and the holy Scriptures God has given to reveal Himself to us. Meditating on a word is good but having a relationship with the WORD is even better. May you be blessed with an intimate relationship with the WORD in 2024.