Notes of Faith February 26, 2024

Notes of Faith February 26, 2024

What Lies Beneath

When Amy and I were first married, we purchased a really small home built in 1910. The only two closets in the entire house were shoebox size. We moved in and hung a few shirts and pants in each closet. That was it. No more room. We put a couple of pairs of shoes in each closet, which maxed out the floor space. Uh-oh. What about our big bag of dog food, board games, photo albums, VHS tapes (this was the early 1990s), rollerblades (again, early ’90s), toilet plunger, winter clothes, and coats?

No problem. Our little house had a little basement, which we used as storage for everything.

It worked great!

Until our first big rainstorm.

You’ve heard the expression “It was raining cats and dogs”? Well, it was raining Great Danes and bobcats. (Not really, but my incident from the driveway causes me to see bobcats everywhere.)

We’d been out for the evening, and after a cautious drive through torrential rain, we made it home. When we walked into the house, we found our basement flooded with three feet of water. Our real estate agent had neglected to mention that the basement flooded several times a year. We looked and saw, to our dismay, floating dog food and board games and photo albums and rollerblades.

I leaped into the torrent and found myself standing waist deep in water. Our toilet plunger floated by. I considered grabbing it so I could start plunging, but I didn’t know where to start. That’s when Amy, peering safely from four steps up, reminded me that the previous owners had left a sump pump in the basement. I felt around until I found it. I pulled it out of the water and looked around for an outlet. I noticed the end of an extension cord dangling from a rafter directly overhead.

Hmm. I needed the sump pump to work. The sump pump required power to work. As I was still standing waist deep in the water, I knew this could be problematic, but the connection had to happen.

Had. To.

I thought, If I plug this in really, really quickly, maybe I won’t get shocked.

So I said a quick, wet prayer and pressed the two metal prongs of the pump cord into the corresponding slits in the extension cord.

When they connected, power happened. I know power happened because my body became the pathway for billions and billions of teeny-tiny electrons. Electric power surged through the cords and into my body. Apparently the piercing shock triggered certain neurons in the language center of my brain where a long-unused word — a very bad word — was stored.

Milliseconds later, the sheer force of the electric current pushed the foul word toward the front of my face and out of my mouth. Unfortunately, it did not come out quickly. Probably because of the gazillion volts of electricity surging through my body, it came out at an unusually increased volume and seemed to last as long as an episode of The Bachelor.

I looked up and saw the horror on my new wife’s face. Her preacher-husband had just shouted the mother of all bad words. I also saw fear — I think she believed I was about to die, and that word would be the last thing I ever said.

Part-Time Follower

You know how my house had an issue under the surface that the real estate agent hadn’t acknowledged? Well, I had an issue under the surface that I hadn’t acknowledged.

To be very clear — the bad word was not the problem. It was just embarrassing, outward evidence of the real, inward problem. Deep down, like in my basement, I knew there was something seeping into my heart and starting a flood that could create an even bigger issue sooner than later if I didn’t deal with it. In that shocking moment, I got a wake-up call.

I realized that when it came to my devotion to God, I was simply “going through the motions.”

As followers of Jesus we know we’re supposed to prioritize Him. You may have seen it on your friend’s Instagram bio: God first.

But it’s not just a cool thing we put on social media and T-shirts, it’s in Scripture. It doesn’t just appear in the Bible, it’s a major theme. In the book of Matthew alone, we find Jesus saying:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ ” (Matthew 22:37).

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37–38).

Why should we put God first? Well, it’s kind of like a car. The manufacturer tells you to put gas in the gas tank. We don’t question, “What’s your problem? Why do you insist on my putting gas in the gas tank?!” We understand that’s the way a car works.

God first.

How you work is to have God at the center of your life. You put God “in your gas tank” by putting Him first. If you don’t, you will always feel empty. And always seek more.

If you don’t put God first, nothing else will work right. Have you ever buttoned a shirt and by mistake put the first button in the second buttonhole? You keep buttoning, then get to the end and realize, Wait a second. Everything is wrong. Your shirt is totally screwed up. Why? Because if you put the first button in the second buttonhole, every button thereafter is in the wrong place. And if we don’t put God first — if we put something else in that top spot — everything else ends up wrong and you find yourself wondering why your life feels screwed up.

If you don’t put God first, you’ll put something else first, and nothing else can handle the pressure of being the most important thing in your life.

If you make your job the most important thing, your job will always disappoint you.

If you make your marriage the most important, your marriage will struggle.

If you put your kids and their success first, they’ll be burdened by the weight of that pressure and will probably disappoint you.

If you prioritize being happy, you will forever be disappointed, because you won’t be able to achieve true, lasting happiness without God.

First is too much pressure to put on anything else. God knows that, so he invites you to put Him first.

And I wasn’t putting God first.

Yes, I was a Christian. And yes, I was a pastor. But somehow, somewhere along the way, instead of being faithfully devoted to pursuing Jesus, my devotion devolved to duty.

I still read the Bible, but only to prepare sermons.

I still prayed, but mostly in public during church services.While I was waist deep in electrified water, God revealed something to me that stopped me in my tracks. He didn’t speak audibly. But what I felt seemed louder than audible. God showed me this:

I had become a full-time pastor and a part-time follower of Christ.

Instead of being devoted to Jesus, I was devoted to pleasing people and looking “spiritual” and being a “good pastor.” I was devoted to doing what I wanted to do.

But I wasn’t fully devoted to Jesus.

Can we pause here?

I’d like to give you a moment to reflect on and honestly answer this question:

Are you faithfully, passionately pursuing Jesus?

Are you seeking Him first? Are you pursuing Him with whole-hearted devotion? Or are you a bit more like I was?

You might realize that you are a full-time mom and a part-time follower of Christ. Or a full-time student but only partially devoted to Jesus. You could be fully invested in your business, your fitness routine, your YouTube channel, or your freakishly stylish appearance, but you are not fully devoted to the one who is fully devoted to you.

In this moment of honesty, you may discover that you are not as committed, not as close, not as intimate with God as you once were. Or you might acknowledge that you’ve never really walked closely with Him, sensing His loving presence, His ongoing guidance, and His supernatural power.

Why do we want to be devoted but find it so challenging?

When you think about it, the answer may seem obvious. No one ever gets close to Jesus by accident. Right? Has anyone ever said this:

I didn’t mean to, but somehow I’m stronger spiritually today than ever before.

I’m not sure what happened, but all of a sudden I know God’s Word and sense His presence.

I was just doing my own thing, minding my own business, and suddenly I’ve become full of spiritual power and confidence in Christ.

We will never accidentally get close to Jesus, so instead we will choose to think ahead and pre-decide:

I will be devoted.

Because of who God is and what He has done for me, I am willing to do anything and give up everything for Him. God is first.

God deserves that. Because God is God.

When you understand who God is, nothing else makes sense but to put Him first.

I. Will. Be. Devoted.

Excerpted from Think Ahead by Craig Groeschel, copyright Craig Groeschel.

This is not me, thankfully, but it could easily be. There are so many earthly distractions that try to take God’s place. But if we do that, everything else seems so messed up. We need to let God, and God alone be in first place, the priority of our lives before anything else. Sounds easy. But you will find yourself having a hard time, pastor or not. Let us pursue God not because of His incalculable blessings but because of who He is!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 25, 2024

Notes of Faith February 25, 2024

There’s a Snake at Your Feet

The enemy is good at his job. He uses our desires against us, persuades us, tricks us, and lies to us all so we reach for that thing we think we need. He tells us God is holding out on us, but A. J. Swoboda reminds us to be aware of temptations and fix our eyes on Jesus.

Was the tree of knowledge of good and evil bad? No, God created this tree. It was a good tree.

Still, it was dangerous, and humans weren’t to eat from it. Satan’s appeal, then, was that the fruit of this tree was “good for food,” “pleasant to the eye,” and “desirable for wisdom.” Notice that Satan’s appeal to the humans is to take something that was good. The tree was good — just off limits for the humans.

This is often how temptation works. We are tempted to take good, beautiful, and glorious things and use them in unintended ways. Food, sex, and pleasure aren’t bad. But they can be dangerous, and their boundaries must be honored.

Just because something is desirable and good does not mean it is for us.

Satan is good at arousing human desire to use good things in ways God does not bless. This is why the ancient author of the Shepherd of Hermas said the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” aroused within humans something called “overcuriosity.”1 Satan was piquing interest.

The importance of this, in part, lay in us developing a maturing awareness that God can (and does) create good things that simply aren’t for us. Just because something is beautiful and desirable doesn’t mean it is for our desire’s consumption. The temptation for more than what’s been provided is how the serpent deceived the man and the woman — and how he often deceives us. There’s a reason the Sanskrit word for “war” is “desire for more cows.” Our world is ravaged by a desire for more. One could say it is the reason for most wars.

Humans had plenty. Yet the serpent aroused a desire for more. Upon believing this message, the woman “saw” and “took.” Notice how these two words are used together:

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. — Genesis 3:6

We’re surprised to discover that the man was standing right there, “with her.” The text doesn’t put the weight of all responsibility on the woman’s shoulders. They both were there. The man was there too, watching, observing, and doing nothing. Yes, she saw, and she took. But he just passively watched.

This won’t be the last time seeing and taking are connected in biblical literature.2 When they are, something evil often takes place. For example, when King David observes from his Jerusalem rooftop the beautiful Bathsheba below, he sees and takes her (2 Samuel 11:2–5). And the prophet Samson sees a Canaanite descendent and takes her (Judges 14). Achan does the same thing as he observes the glories of the Babylonian cape, seeing and taking it for himself (Joshua 7:20–21) Time and again, humans see and take what’s not theirs. Perhaps Ariana Grande was reading her Bible when she wrote her famous song: “I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.”

One telltale sign of a world rebelling against its Creator is that its God-given limitations and boundaries are thrown aside.

As Dallas Willard put it, “I will have what I desire.”3 Sinful humanity, in its newfound “freedom,” seeks to take and conquer and steal that which it was not given. This is the essence of sin and the danger of unmitigated desire: seeing and taking what isn’t ours. We see and take when we abuse or weaponize sexuality. Those in power see and take the lands and places of others. All of us see and take when we store up greedily and mercilessly hoard more than what’s needed. It’s the spirit of Julius Caesar who declared in the battle of Zela, “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”). All sin, at its core, is the act of seeing and taking something that isn’t given by God.4

There is no missing out in Jesus.

This story of Genesis 3 can be read alongside Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4. There, Jesus comes face-to-face with Satan and faces three temptations: to turn stones into bread, to jump off a high place, and to bow down and worship Satan so he might have the nations. One of these temptations particularly parallels the Genesis 3 account:

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give You,’ he said, ‘if You will bow down and worship me’. — Matthew 4:8–9

The serpent promises to give Jesus all of the kingdoms, or nations, if and only if Jesus bows down and worships Satan. Go back to the garden where the serpent makes a promise to the woman:

‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’. — Genesis 3:4–5

The serpent promises, “You will be like God.” But there was a catch. The woman had to obey the serpent’s words to receive the serpent’s promise. A thread weaves between these two accounts. What’s the singular problem with offering Jesus the nations? All the nations and kingdoms were already His. What’s the singular problem with offering the woman to be “like God”? She had already been endowed with the image of God from the moment of her creation.

By a simple question, he convinces her that she wasn’t already like God through the mother tongue of the serpent: insinuation.

Both stories put the serpent’s methodia on full display. He offers us the gift of something we already have in God. He often awakens our desires for something God has already provided for us. In short, he awakens our desires by insinuating that we are missing out. This is where our desire becomes most twisted. As Jen Pollock Michel writes, “And here is how desire becomes corrupt: wanting derails into selfishness, greed and demanding ingratitude when we’ve failed to recognize and receive the good that God has already given.”5

There’s a solution: awakening to the reality that there’s no such thing as “missing out” when we are in Christ. As Paul wrote,

All things are yours. — 1 Corinthians 3:21

There is no missing out in Jesus. No, we won’t be fulfilled when we get married because we are already fulfilled in Christ. No, we don’t have to find our own identities because we already have names and love in the One who named us and made us. No, we won’t experience true happiness when we get the job or the paycheck we want because we are already, now, full of the presence and grace of God.

When you begin believing you are missing out, look down. There’s a snake at your feet. The serpent awakens our flesh by trying to convince us that we lack something. This is just his old bag of tricks.

Excerpted from The Gift of Thorns by A. J. Swoboda, copyright A. J. Swoboda.

From the beginning of man to today and into the future, Satan tells us that we are missing something. We are given everything in Christ. There is nothing that is not ours already. He offers us things that cause us to sin and rebel against God. We must choose whom to hear and obey.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 24, 2024

Notes of Faith February 24, 2024

He Speaks Our Language

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. — John 10:3-5

How do we hear and recognize God’s voice?

It’s one of the most important and challenging aspects of faith. Here, the Bible returns to one of its favorite metaphors.

God is the Shepherd; we are His sheep.

Tangent alert: Have you ever wondered why humans couldn’t have been a more impressive animal in these allegories? Perhaps a magnificent bird? Or how about a cheetah? Sheep aren’t exactly majestic. And they have a terrible reputation. For being dumb. Or blind. Or always getting lost. Or frightened by just about everything.

On the other hand, in this passage, the sheep are having a moment. They’re discerning — they know their caretaker’s voice and follow him. And they’re shrewd — they’re not fooled by an impostor.

They spot the counterfeit a mile away and wisely skedaddle.

Sheep — they’re just like us?

Maybe on our good days. It is incredibly hard to hear God’s voice in our whirring, mile-a-minute culture of commotion. The internet is loud. The news is loud. Our music is loud. Our kids are loud. Our problems are loud. Our distractions are loud.

And God is described as having “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 NKJV). No wonder we miss so much.

When I had my first baby, I was amazed at something. Well, a lot of things: her little squeaks, her sweet sighs, her pretty rosebud lips. The astonishing, adult truck driver volume of her burps. But back to the subject. Somehow, even though she was only days old, she seemed to recognize my voice.

Newborns are fascinating, but let’s face it, they don’t do much. Some say the first month of life is really the tenth month of gestation; infants aren’t ready for the world but are just too darn big for the womb. (When I was pregnant with Charley — who came into the world early at nearly ten pounds — I was so enormous that my work colleagues said my belly entered the room thirty seconds before I did.)

God is the Shepherd; we are His sheep.

In those first weeks, newborns mostly sleep and cry and barely open their eyes. And even when they do, they can’t see much. But babies can hear — and much more than just the indistinct clang and clamor of the world. By the time they are born, many newborns know and recognize the sound of their parents’ voices. In Vale’s first few weeks, sometimes I swear I could see it happen: this tiny lump of flesh, barely days old, eyelids shut tight, reacting — stirring, shifting, eyes flickering — when my familiar voice entered the room.

Let’s underline the point. How could my little newborn seem to recognize her mother’s voice from the moment she entered the world? Because we had spent a lot of time together. We had been intimately connected. Inseparable — literally. She would know my voice anywhere.

And so it is with our relationship with God.

If we want to recognize God’s voice, an intimate connection is vital. Moments spent together, just logging time. We must do life with Him, like a baby does with Mom.

We can extend the metaphor even more (yay, let’s!). Think about someone you really know. Your spouse, your sibling, your parent. Not only do you recognize their voice but you also know their tone. You know their inflections. You know what they’re saying — even if they don’t come right out and say it. For example, when I ask my husband, “Would you want to put the kids down tonight?” I am really saying, “You should put the kids down tonight.” I am not really asking. He knows me so well that he knows what I mean.

(Luckily, God is not passive-aggressive.)

To be quiet enough to hear God’s voice, we need more than a quiet place; we need quiet in our spirits and our souls. We need to make space for Him, just being present to Him — hearts open, ears peeled.

And by the way, quietness is hard. Stillness is hard. This is not a prerequisite, yet another impossible threshold we have to cross before God will speak. But it sure makes it easier to hear Him when He does.

Excerpted from Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie, copyright Savannah Guthrie.

Be still and know that I am God.

I recently read this and may have heard about it before but it bears repeating over and over…

Rearrange the letters in the word listen and you get . . . silent.

(I’ll wait, you’ll get it eventually)

Even when listening to God we have need to be silent. Stop talking or thinking about what you are going to say. Listen to His Spirit within you. Listen to His Word speak to you. Listen to Him speak to you through a trusted fellow believer. But be silent while you listen. After meditating on what you have learned, then respond in faith and trust in what you know to do.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 23, 2024

Notes of Faith February 23, 2024

Keep Fixing Your Eyes on Me

I, the Creator of the universe, am with you and for you. What more could you need? When you feel some lack, it is because you are not connecting with Me at a deep level. I offer abundant Life; your part is to trust Me, refusing to worry about anything.

It is not so much adverse events that make you anxious as it is your thoughts about those events. Your mind engages in efforts to take control of a situation, to bring about the result you desire. Your thoughts close in on the problem like ravenous wolves. Determined to make things go your way, you forget that I am in charge of your life. The only remedy is to switch your focus from the problem to My Presence. Stop all your striving, and watch to see what I will do. I am the Lord!

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? — Romans 8:31-32

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. —Micah 7:7

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

— 1 Corinthians 12:3

Switch your focus from the problem to My Presence

When things don’t go as you would like, accept the situation immediately. If you indulge in feelings of regret, they can easily spill over the line into resentment. Remember that I am sovereign over your circumstances, and humble yourself under My mighty hand. Rejoice in what I am doing in your life, even though it is beyond your understanding.

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life . In Me you have everything you need, both for this life and for the life yet to come. Don’t let the impact of the world shatter your thinking or draw you away from focusing on Me. The ultimate challenge is to keep fixing your eyes on Me, no matter what is going on around you. When I am central in your thinking, you are able to view circumstances from My perspective.

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. — 1 Peter 5:5-6

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

Excerpted from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.

Living in the presence of God…meaning you recognize that He is always with you, every moment, in every circumstance, even when you are sleeping… is difficult. We get distracted by daily living, no matter what the day brings. All of those things take us away from the presence of God. But in reality they cannot. He is there. He will always be there. May we pursue living in the presence of God and we will experience more of His love, power, protection, guidance, in all things, including our physical need for rest…He is still there!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 22, 2024

Notes of Faith February 22, 2024

Prayers for Fear and Anxiety

Fear and anxiety are at an all-time high the world over. We pray that you find these prayers comforting, exhorting, and hopeful!

Son of God, who subdued the troubled waters and laid to rest the fears of men,

let Your majesty master us and

Your power of calm control us.

Replace our fears with faith

and our unrest with perfect trust in You,

who lives and governs all things, world without end.

~ John Wallace Suter (1859–1942), Adapted

Set free, O Lord, the souls of Your servants

from all restlessness and anxiety.

Give us that peace and power which flow from You. Keep us in all perplexity and distress,

that upheld by Your strength

and stayed on the rock of Your faithfulness,

we may abide in You now and forevermore.

~ Francis Paget (1851–1911)

To You alone, O Jesus, I must cling; running to Your arms, dear Lord,

there let me hide, safe from all fears, loving You with the tenderness of a child.

~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897)

You say that if I give You my burdens,

You will take care of me.

You say that I should cast all my cares upon You,

because You love me,

because You can handle them all, and because it shows my faith in You.

A burden that is heavy enough to sink me is as light as a feather to You.

A fear that can paralyze me

has no power over You.

So I unload it all before You

and hand it over for You to manage.

I put my trust in You — not in my perspective or resources. You can do anything, God!

I will not be afraid, because You are my King and Father. You are with me, and You are for me.

You accept me as I need You and rely on You,

and You walk with me now and always.

You will strengthen me for whatever comes.

~ C. M.

Lord, my emotions could propel me downward or pull a curtain around me, blocking Your light. But instead, I look to You and pray:

Train my mind on Your truth.

Shape my thoughts with Your Spirit.

Fill my heart with Your peace.

Guide me and give me self-control to do what is wise. I trust that what You say is more real than what I feel.

~ C. M.

Make my body healthy and agile,

my mind sharp and clear,

my heart joyful and contented,

my soul faithful and loving. . . .

Above all let me live in Your presence, for with You all fear is banished

and there is only harmony and peace.

Let every day combine the beauty of spring, the brightness of summer,

the abundance of autumn,

and the repose of winter.

And at the end of my life on earth,

grant that I may come to see and know You in the fullness of Your glory.

~ St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

Fill my heart with Your peace.

Everything I could be worrying about right now, I’m praying about instead.

My concerns could take over my mind all day and seize my heart with despair.

But instead I’m taking those thoughts captive

and turning to You.

I want to make my mind obedient to You, the Truth.

I tell You what I need and hope for,

then let the matters rest in Your hands.

I rejoice that I belong to You, and You are a good Father. You’ve provided before, and You will again.

I realize my situation is an exercise in faith-training,

an opportunity to trust You and give You glory.

Now, Holy Spirit, the Great Helper,

give me self-control throughout this day

and help me fix my thoughts where You want them. May I find the good all around me.

May I fill my mind with what’s right and pure—

“the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

May I dwell on—and give power to—what is true.

May I find even simple things to delight in.

Help me choose joy; choose hope; choose peace.

~ C. M., quoted materials from Philippians 4:8 The Message

Most loving Father,

who has taught us to dread nothing but the loss of You, preserve me from faithless fears and worldly anxieties.

~ William Bright (1824–1901)

O my Lord and Savior,

in Your arms I am safe.

Keep me and I have nothing to fear. . . .

I know nothing about the future,

but I rely upon You.

I pray that You would give me what is good for me. . . .

If You bring pain or sorrow on me,

give me grace to bear it well—

keep me from fretfulness and selfishness.

If You give me health and strength and success in this world, keep me always on my guard

lest these great gifts carry me away from You.

O Christ, You died on the Cross for me,

even for me, sinner as I am.

Help me to know You,

to believe in You,

to love You,

to serve You,

to always aim at bringing You glory,

to live to and for You.

~ St, John Henry Newman (1801–1890)

Excerpted from A Prayer for Every Occasion by Carrie Mars, copyright Zondervan.

Prov 16:9

9 In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps.

Prov 19:21

21 Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Prov 16:3

3 Commit your works to the Lord

And your plans will be established.

We do not know what tomorrow or even the next moment brings, but God knows all from the beginning to the end. We rest and trust in His provision and care. Without trust in God we have no one to make us secure and safe. The Scriptures are filled with such provision of God to those who seek Him. Draw near to the throne of grace and rest secure in His love and power.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 21, 2024

Notes of Faith February 21, 2024

How Would Jesus Handle Life Drainers?

One of my friends likes to use the term life drainers for people who aren’t concerned about conflict resolution or relationship reconciliation, but whose primary intention is to prove they are right.

They drain joy and peace because we engage with them — often for days, weeks, or months — in the hopes of finding unity, solutions, or understanding, only to discover they aren’t interested in these things at all. They leave us emotionally, relationally, and spiritually spent.

Life drainers say things like “I don’t think wrong things; therefore, the way I see this issue is right.” (I actually heard someone say this once.) Even if a life drainer doesn’t come right out and verbalize this belief, they think it.

Life drainers are often critical and controlling. They see compromise as a last resort (if they consider compromise at all) since their goal is to prove they know best. Relationships are secondary.

Listening to another’s perspective is a waste of time for them. After all, why listen to someone else when you’re certain your way is the only way? They’d much prefer — in fact, they often demand — that you listen to them. Life drainers are starved bulldogs with fresh meat; they bite and simply will not let things go. If a life drainer can’t control, a life drainer will find something to criticize and then leave.

Sometimes life drainers are easy to spot; they’re contentious from the start. Other times, though, life-draining tendencies lie dormant. You won’t know someone is a life drainer so long as you both agree. But the moment you don’t see eye to eye — bam! — the life drainer won’t stop until you admit they are right.

Years ago, a man at a church we attended became disgruntled over a decision the pastoral team made. Instead of seeking first to understand, he called one of the pastors in a huff.

The parishioner was demanding and full of rage from the moment the conversation began: “Did you say such and such in the meeting where you made the decision? Yes or no?”

The pastor stayed calm in the face of unjust anger. “I think if you knew more of the context surrounding the decision, it would help clarify things. Let’s meet for coffee so I can explain more fully.”

“Just answer the question. Did you say __________? Yes or no? Yes or no?” the man commanded, his voice rising with every word. “As I mentioned, there is context surrounding what was said that’s important to know. We’re brothers in Christ. Let’s meet for coffee.” “I don’t want to meet you. I want you to answer the question: yes or no?”

You probably guessed the disgruntled church member was more interested in proving his point than in maintaining unity. You probably also guessed that he left the church.

Life drainers are not always aggressive though. Sometimes life drainers suck the joy out of relationships using more passive means. For example, consider Emily and Pam. They were the best of friends.

Until they weren’t.

Without warning, Emily stopped returning Pam’s calls or texts.

Pam left voice mail messages and countless texts asking Emily what she’d done wrong. She apologized for anything she might have said or done, though she honestly had no idea what might have offended her friend to the point of being completely cut off.

We can disagree without being disagreeable.

Desperate to resolve whatever conflict had come between them, Pam knocked on Emily’s door unannounced.

“Emily, you’re my dear friend. Please tell me what I did. I want to make this right,” Pam pleaded.

“You should know what you did. If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you,” Emily said dryly before shutting the door, leaving Pam standing alone on the porch.

Pam left heartbroken.

And Pam remained heartbroken, pierced by rejection until a wise friend gave her godly advice:

“Some people want to hold on to their grudge more than they want to hold on to their relationship. If you sincerely did all you could to reconcile, and yet the other person doesn’t want to, move on.

You did what is right before God. That’s your only responsibility.”

No matter what you dub them — pot stirrers, life drainers, or some other name of your own making — these folks haven’t grasped how to disagree without being disagreeable. Yet it’s vital to take a good look in the mirror. An honest assessment might reveal that we can be the pot stirrer. We may be the life drainer.

If we find that drama seems to follow us wherever we go, or if we find ourselves constantly irritated at others, we likely need to make some changes. We don’t have to be a pot stirrer. We don’t have to be a life drainer.

We can learn new, healthier, holier ways of handling disagreements.

And we don’t we have to allow pot-stirring, life-draining folks to control our lives with their incessant need to bring chaos into our calm. We can disagree without being disagreeable.

Of course, the natural question is how.

And, as always, the answer is found by looking at Jesus.

Jesus, the Life Giver

In Jesus’ day the Pharisees were the ultimate pot stirrers. And life drainers. Everywhere Jesus went the Pharisees challenged Him, attempted to stir up the crowd against Him, or some combination of both. If a group of Pharisees was present, conflict was not far behind.

How did Jesus respond to an almost constant barrage of opposition? Jesus was never unkind or unloving. However, Jesus didn’t have an insatiable need for everyone to like Him, which freed Him to seek to please the Father above all else. When confronted with conflict, more often than not Jesus calmly spoke truth and left it at that.

Jesus did not over-engage with people who had no real interest in finding peace and reconciliation. But Jesus didn’t under-engage with them either.

Jesus depended on His relationship with the Father to know when to speak, when to remain silent, when to stay, when to leave, and when to graciously let others leave.

We can do the same.

Conflict can drive us to the foot of the cross. It can provide an opportunity for us to live in dependence on our heavenly Father, who promises to give wisdom to those who ask. Instead of relying on resolution strategies (which have their place), sometimes conflict forces us to rely on our resurrected Savior. God knows when we should keep trying and when we should quit. He knows when it’s wise to walk away and when it’s wise to run.

As a general rule, though, if a person constantly dredges up drama, it’s usually best to keep them at arm’s length. And if a person is consistently more interested in proving their point than improving your relationship, it’s usually wisest to love them from a distance. These types of people have no real interest in unity, conflict resolution, or relational reconciliation.

To handle conflict like Jesus, we do our part to be at peace with all people — while also acknowledging that not everyone will want to be at peace with us.

Excerpted from Healthy Conflict, Peaceful Life by Donna Jones, copyright Donna Jones.

We might need to take a long look at ourselves to see if we are exhibiting characteristics of a life-drainer. Do we seek our way at the expense of relationships? How is our relationship with God? Responding like Jesus takes great discipline and self-control. May we be blessed with God’s grace to listen and seek God’s will.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 20, 2024

Notes of Faith February 20, 2024

Fight Discouragement

How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands... They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.

— Psalm 112:1, 7-8 NLT

Today is the day you’re going to obliterate discouragement from your life.

One of the biggest battles we face is discouragement. Everybody has to fight this.

One day as I was praying, the Lord asked me to state aloud the opposite of courage.

“Fear, of course,” I said.

No, it’s discouragement, God whispered.

Suddenly, I saw the word discourage in a whole new light!

We should view discouragement as the opposite of courage, and, therefore, it is to be given no place in our minds. Yet it’s something we often tolerate. We don’t recognize it as an enemy to our faith, so we pamper it and coddle it, we lean into it and feel sorry for ourselves when it comes.

But why? When we know that God is our source of joy and courage, we have no reason to fear or be discouraged. When discouragement inevitably comes knocking at our door, here’s what we need to do:

be strong and of good courage.

Think of a clear example of bravery in the Bible. Joshua was one of the children of Israel who left Egypt to embark on the great exodus. He and Caleb were among the twelve men sent from the tribes of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan. This was the land God promised to them. Yet ten of those spies didn’t believe the Israelites could secure it. Only Joshua and Caleb declared with confidence that the Lord would surely deliver Canaan into their hands. All twelve leaders saw the same things, but they didn’t see them the same way. Ten chose the path of their own ability, which led to discouragement, and only two saw God’s ability.

When we know that God is our source of joy and courage, we have no reason to fear or be discouraged.

This was the reason God said, to Joshua seven different times — whether it was through Moses, the elders, or God Himself — before entering the promised land. The Lord knew this would be one of Joshua’s greatest challenges.

Discouragement occurs during the droughts in our lives. It arrives in the middle of the battle when we feel deserted by God. The true enemies to the Israelites weren’t the intimidating giants living in the promised land. No — the enemies were the insulting whispers in their minds to remain in fear.

Joshua and Caleb feared God more than any threatening enemy. Because of that, they became the only two original members of the exodus to enter and possess the promised land.

Dear heavenly Father, give me the courage to dispel discouragement with words of faith and hope from You. May I delight in the fear of You, for it is “a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27). In Jesus’ name, amen.

Excerpted from Everyday Courage by John Bevere, copyright John P. Bevere.

There is cause for discouragement every day, but we can dispel the anxiety and disappointment knowing that God is sovereign and in control of everything in our lives! Praise Him for leading and guiding your every step, bringing you closer and closer to your perfect eternal home!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 19, 2024

Notes of Faith February 19, 2024

Worse Than Any Affliction

Why I Refuse to Grumble

Article by Joni Eareckson Tada

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Joni and Friends

Last year was a season of losses for me. It started in the spring when I was hospitalized 21 days for double pneumonia. The lung infection was bad enough, but the extended stay in bed left my right arm thick with lymphedema. Some of it was related to my long-ago therapy for cancer, but this was different. After my lungs cleared, I was sent home, but with a bulkier arm that was hard to lift.

Then in late summer, I developed a second respiratory infection, much worse than the first. During another lengthy hospital stay, I noticed more problems with my right arm. The doctors, however, stayed focused on the more life-threatening issue with my lungs. When the infection cleared and I was ready to go home, it was obvious my arm had suffered more damage. The already minuscule muscles I had used to feed myself were gone. Even with my hand splint, I could not lift the spoon to my mouth.

Decades ago, after suffering quadriplegia in the wake of my accident, doctors warned me that my partially paralyzed muscles would atrophy, and I knew that my “good” arm and my fragile lungs would eventually deteriorate. I just didn’t realize how hard it would be, losing the capacity to breathe well and losing my independence at mealtimes. Like I said, it was a tough year.

My flesh is wasting away, and who would blame me if I complained? Certainly not the world — it’s natural for them to expect an old lady in a wheelchair to grumble over her losses. But followers of Jesus Christ should expect more from me. Much more.

Why Do You Quarrel with God?

The Bible first addresses complaining in the book of Exodus. Things start off well enough after the Lord performs a great miracle at the Red Sea. At first, everyone’s ecstatic about walking through a sea parted on either side like glass skyscrapers. With their hearts bursting with joy, the entire fifteenth chapter is one long praise song:

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

my father’s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1–2)

A few verses later, though, their song fizzles. Only 72 hours of traveling in the desert without finding water, they grumble and demand of Moses, “What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24).

How ironic that they should complain about water! Didn’t they recall that God had just parted a whole sea of it? Their memory was jogged when God made bitter desert water good enough for them to drink. Yet only a couple of campsites later, they put up another stink about water. This time Moses replies, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” (Exodus 17:2).

Moses sharply rebukes them for disputing with the God who has just wondrously rescued them out of slavery. So, “he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7).

Do Not Harden Your Hearts

Nowadays, who among us would dare quarrel with God like that? Yet we do, every time we bellyache, quibble over some inequity, or whine about God’s timing or lack of provision. Even when we mutter (thinking it’s barely audible), all of our bemoaning is an assault against one Person: Jesus, the great I Am, who spilled a red sea of blood to wondrously rescue us out of slavery. When things don’t go our way and we grumble about it, we are inasmuch stamping our foot, crossing our arms, and demanding, “Lord, are you among us or not!”

Psalm 95:7–10 is a repeat of the Exodus debacle, except this time it’s not Moses speaking; it is Yahweh himself. And he has a message for us:

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. . . . They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. (Psalm 95:8–10)

When God’s people make a habit of complaining, they’ve gone astray and abandoned God’s ways.

“If this is what Jesus endured to rescue me, I refuse to dignify any sin that impaled him to that cursed tree.”

“Wait a minute,” some might say. “Cut us some slack — we’re just letting off a little steam.” If complaining were only a slip of the tongue, I might understand — especially if that person were an immature believer. But when a Christian’s default setting is to grumble, it develops into a character trait — a complaining spirit. A rebellious spirit. Some Christians may not see themselves as stiff-necked rebels when they squawk if it rains on their picnic, but Scripture speaks of a complaining spirit far differently.

Trembling over Our Grumbling

Whenever a group of Christians tour Joni and Friends and stop by my office, I like to spend some time and explain to them the reason behind my smile in this wheelchair. After introductions and a few comments, I’ll pick out someone to reach for the Bible on my shelf and flip to the book of Jude (I have the page marked). Then I’ll ask, “Read the fifteenth verse, please.”

Adjusting her glasses, the reader will say,

Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14–15)

“Who are these ungodly people?” I’ll ask. “Pedophiles? Mass murderers? Drug dealers in schoolyards?” A few will nod. I then turn to the one with the Bible and ask her to read the next verse: “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires” (Jude 16).

I close the little lesson, explaining how we tend to think of sin on a sliding scale. We place on one side gross wickedness like barstool swearing and Satan worship, and on the other nitpicking (complaints that appear respectable). We think we are not as ungodly as those evil reprobates who take part in orgies and follow the horoscope. We’re not ungodly at all; we’re merely spewing off about things now and then.

Jude’s scathing judgment, however, proves that God does not split hairs when it comes to sin, especially the sin of complaining. So, he does what we’d consider scandalous: he places grumblers at the top of a sordid list of apostates, connivers, and loud-mouthed boasters “for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 13).

It should make us tremble.

My Life Is Not My Own

After those two times in the hospital, I began rigorous home therapy for my damaged lungs. Twice a day, I must wear a tight vest that violently vibrates my chest for fifteen minutes as I inhale steroids through a nebulizer. “How long do I have to keep this up?” I asked my pulmonologist.

“Indefinitely,” he replied, “if you want to live.”

I was numb. That first week I tried to ignore the whole routine, the terrible jackhammering of the vest-machine, as well as the pungent vapors from the nebulizer. I viewed the routine as an unpleasant detour, an inconvenient interruption until I could get back on the main road of life. Ah, but this is your life, I heard the Spirit whisper.

Did I have a right to complain? Actually, I possess no real rights. I laid them all at the foot of the cross, agreeing with 1 Corinthians 6:19–20: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” The Son of God was ripped to shreds, and then hung up to drain like a bloodied piece of meat on a hook. And if this is what Jesus endured to rescue me, I refuse to dignify any sin that impaled him to that cursed tree.

I will not coddle anything that helped drive the nails deeper. I relinquished my right to complain so that I might glorify Almighty God through my hardships. Anything less shrinks my soul.

Woes of a Complaining Spirit

A complaining spirit abuses the kindness of Christ, for God “raised us up with [Christ] . . . so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6–7). God will one day raise us up to showcase the riches and kindness of his grace through us. I dare not diminish that glorious moment with a negative tongue. A grumbling spirit would only prove from heaven that I viewed his kindness as sorely lacking to me on earth.

A complaining spirit reveals a warped understanding of God’s ways with suffering. Through the years, Christ has used my quadriplegia to wrench my heart off of this world and affix it to his own. Jesus has captured my heart, totally ruining me for worldly delights (thus lessening any tendency to complain). My satisfaction is not bound to earthly things; I have been set free to pursue the joys of eternity (2 Corinthians 4:18). Complaining lessens the eternal reward my suffering might have gained. It shrinks my heavenly inheritance.

A complaining spirit weakens our confidence in God’s promises. Psalm 106:24–25 says, “Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord.” The Christian who wallows in complaining is tempted to believe that God might leave him, that God isn’t always helpful in times of trouble, or that divine grace is lacking for every need. He’s increasingly suspicious whether God’s word is always trustworthy. He feels that suffering is not worth what little eternal benefit it earns (Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 46:1; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 62:8; 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Chest-percussion therapy at home was a kick in the right direction. Without wasting another week, I decided to use that time to memorize Scripture. My husband opened the white three-ring binder containing passages I’ve either memorized or am in the process of learning by heart. He placed the binder on my bed where I could see it, and while the nebulizer hissed, and the vest rattled my chest, I memorized a batch of Scriptures. Ephesians 1 and part of chapter 2 have become an inoculation against any thought of murmuring, as has the Nicene Creed and Psalms 84, 92, and 121.

I’m sure you’d agree that suffering naturally contains the seeds of complaining. But when cultivated by the Spirit of God, suffering “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

Grumbling Is a Contagious Disease

Every morning a girlfriend or two arrives at our home to start the coffee and give me a bed bath, do toileting routines, get me dressed, and sit me up in my wheelchair. Sometimes I can hear them in the kitchen getting things ready, and I think, Lord, I’m in enormous pain, and I have no strength for this day, let alone for these dear helpers. I have no smile for them. But you do! So, please let me borrow your smile.

By the time they open the bedroom door with a fresh cup of coffee, my attitude has been cast for the day. I have God’s smiling grace. I am ready to serve them as they serve me. Ephesians 4:16 says we are one with other believers, and we are expected to act like it: “From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” My work in the body is to build others up, facing my problems with them in mind.

If I were to growl about my pain and paralysis, it would diminish the spiritual walk of these girls. It would sow negative seeds of discord, releasing them to complain about their own headaches and hardships. This exact thing happened in Numbers 14:36–37: “The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land . . . returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land.”

I cannot provide a better service to the people around me, including the girls who help me in the morning, than to not complain.

Will We Expect More of Us?

Whatever happened to my arm and the problem with feeding myself? Well, it never got better, but I don’t want any complaint to dare shrink my soul, dishonor my Lord, diminish my inheritance, or impact others negatively.

So, every Friday evening, my neighbor Kristen comes to our house around mealtime to cut up my food and lift it to my mouth so that I can enjoy dinner while my husband enjoys his. But to make sure I don’t allow myself a centimeter of self-pity, I’ll always take a moment to bless her hands: “Lord, shine your favor on Kristen, who is serving you tonight by serving me” (Colossians 3:23–24). The blessing probably helps me as much as it does her.

Do I sound like a saint on a pedestal? Hardly. For I should not be the exception. After all, Titus 2:7 was written for all of us: “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works.” And there’s nothing good about a complaining spirit. Yes, followers of Jesus Christ should expect more from one another. Much more.

Joni Eareckson Tada is founder and chief executive officer of Joni and Friends in Agoura Hills, California.

This is one amazing woman. But there are others like her though suffering much in this life, have placed themselves completely in the hands of God, trusting His love and care for them for now and all eternity. We live in a corrupt, decaying, decomposing world because of sin and should all come to the redemptive call of Jesus Christ…He paid the debt we owe for sin…death. We are all falling apart slowly or quickly, but praise God, He can and will heal those who believe and follow Jesus! Get in line with trust and faith and you will be healed!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 18, 2024

Notes of Faith February 18, 2024

I Want God More Than Control

God has set Eternity in our heart, and man’s infinite capacity cannot be filled or satisfied with the things of time and sense. ~ F. B. Meyer

Back when we had permed hair and were twentysomething vibrant, we used to talk about how we hoped God would never send us as missionaries to Africa.

My best friend and I recently revisit this twenty-year-old conversation: how while we walked the halls of a seminary where we studied God, we secretly feared a call on our lives that would make us do something radical and hard. Now, on one hand, we cringe at this. We want to judge it and call it ignorance or selfishness or being really young or thinking life was just up to us, but then we step back, pause, and get honest.

Were we really that different from most believers? We say we want God but sit with fingers crossed behind our backs, hoping He will never ask us to do something too sacrificial.

The truth is that our fear was never really about Africa. Africa just represented something that was unknown. Africa got blamed for what was really a small faith — a mindset whereby we could love God but never let that love interrupt our plan for a beautiful house, a handsome husband, three kids, a dog or two, manicured nails, church on Sunday, and cute jeans. It was never about Africa. It was about wanting life both ways.

Somewhere in the midst of the daily whirlwind of life, we have convinced ourselves that we can live in the in-between when it comes to God. We are convinced we can make our faith what we want it to be — customize it like we do with food at restaurants, ordering faith to fit our tastes. But when we become followers of Christ, we don’t get to make up the script.

It’s either all God or no God, He says.

I think of the church at Laodicea and feel akin. If I’m honest, I also feel scared and convicted. God is always blunt and to the point. But these verses are awakeners of a different kind.

I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot — far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. — Revelation 3:15–16 MSG

The idea that I could make God want to vomit chills me to the bone.

But I am the church at Laodicea. We are the church at Laodicea. We may be hotter than we are cold, less stale and stagnant than we used to be, and, indeed, we should be grateful for the forward progress. But God doesn’t compare us to ourselves as the measuring stick. He compares us to Him.

Our desire for control — for logic, for reason, for that which makes sense to us — is one of the biggest factors in why we don’t have more of God. It’s not that God is displeased with our logic or that we shouldn’t seek spiritual understanding through the studying of Scripture. In fact, this is the essence of spiritual growth: we want more of God the more we know Him. But if we truly want God, the piece that must be abandoned is our demand for logic. We have to want Him more than what we can understand, since intellect gets in the way of unvarnished love. When we demand that God make sense, we overstep our role and show our sense of entitlement. In life God calls us to scary places we can’t understand, and we must have an open heart of faith to take the leap with Him. We must come as children who know and care nothing of formulas, calculations, and risk. That is faith. That is what makes a Father glad.

Life with God was never meant to be a calculated risk; it was meant to be an illogical surety.

Logical people are at risk of stepping in the way of the supernatural. We don’t mean to — it’s just that often there’s a core incompatibility between what is known (tangible, flesh, earth) and the Unknown (God), and when we choose logic, it hinders His work. Don’t misunderstand — God doesn’t need us to understand to do His thing. He can work under any conditions, at any time, in any way. But whether we submit to His working is in our hands.

He wanted us to choose things and see things and experience things from a free will and open heart. Otherwise He would have created robots to simply do His bidding. But He didn’t. Because He is God, a part of Him will always be unknown to us as humans with limited minds. Yet so much of Him can be known by way of Scripture, experience, the heart, the mind, and the senses. We don’t need logic and reason to know we love and trust God.

And while logic feels good because it is a controllable entity, God often calls us to the illogical and unreasonable places to expose what position control holds in our life. He calls us to the things we fear because they’re foreign and require sacrifice. The things we don’t want to face because they seem too hard.

I wonder: What is your Africa?

Life with God was never meant to be a calculated risk; it was meant to be an illogical surety.

It took twenty-five years, but my best friend finally met hers. It started with a simple phone call, a “simple” inquiry about foster children in her county who needed a home, but it really started before that. The heart change had to come first, and did. It started seven years before with a trip to Colorado for couples struggling in their marriage. She went with her husband, fighting long-held private struggles. But she came back herself having changed. My best friend wasn’t the same best friend when she came back. She was a better version of the same one I loved. Something inside of her had met God in a different way in those Colorado mountains — something that made her more God-hungry than ever before. She was just... different.

So I wasn’t completely surprised when she called me a few years later to tell me the news. “We’re going to look deeper into foster care, Lisa. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I just feel pulled to do this and I can’t explain why.”

I didn’t need her to explain. I knew from my own life that wanting God means doing things that move His heart — which we want to do. People will no longer have to pitch us on God-causes; our heart for Him compels us to pursue them.

And I knew this, too — that God doesn’t typically ready us in ways we think work best and look best to others. He readies us on the inside when we can’t see it ourselves. (It’s a myth to think we will ever be ready for anything that is a God-sized undertaking. We can position ourselves but can never fully prepare.) My friend would never be ready to do foster care. But she was already ready to do it because of her desire for Him.

She’d done some form of foster care for many years, but I remember her first two years as a foster mom well. Many phone calls where she cried in frustration because it was hard and heartbreaking. Many moments when she felt like she wasn’t enough. I would tell her I loved her but offered little more than that because I just couldn’t help like God. She was bitten and spat on, and held children deep into the night while they told her they heard voices. She was in way over her head, way “underqualified” for the things she could and would tell me about. My little khaki-wearing friend became a woman who walked in and out of jails and spoke to the courts like an expert, without batting an eye. She loved her foster kids. They loved her. They became family. She cried, even when she knew it was right, the day the baby she’d had since birth left their home. I watched, from afar, as an observer. None of it made sense.

But it was all God. It’s what she could not unknow after she knew it.

We have both learned much since those seminary days. About life, God, and what messy looks like. We have learned that life is not our script to write and God lives in the illogical sureties, which are abundantly superior to the calculated risks.

And there is much more to learn.

But some things about God we never will.

So we keep going and make peace with the not knowing, understanding it is an important part of wanting Him first and most.

Excerpted from I Want God by Lisa Whittle, copyright Lisa Whittle.

Wanting more of God comes from His drawing you to Himself. Yes, you are seeking a more intimate relationship but God is drawing you toward that intimacy. We do want to know and understand everything about God. That is just not possible for God is not like us…He is God! We are made in His image and that is glorious but we are not made little gods. Let us pursue God with a sincere heart, with a fervent desire to know Him, His will for us, and live obedient to the truth He revealed in the Scriptures!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 17, 2024

Notes of Faith February 17, 2024

Believe

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

— John 20:29

Doubt tends to creep in at unfortunate times. In pivotal moments, when we need mountain-moving faith, doubt whispers, Does God hear my prayers? Why hasn’t He fixed this situation? How long will this continue? Often, when we experience doubt, we put on our game face and pretend all is well — but there’s a better way.

After Jesus was resurrected, the apostle Thomas struggled to believe the reports about Jesus being alive. Thomas said,

Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. — John 20:25

Sounds pretty cynical, right? Maybe so cynical that Jesus might write off Thomas? Hardly. Rather than dismissing Thomas because of his doubts, Jesus invited Thomas to take a closer look. A few days later, Jesus appeared to the apostle and said,

Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe. — John 20:27

When Thomas leaned in and took a closer look, he said,

My Lord and my God! — John 20:28

The remedy for doubt is taking a closer look at Jesus.

No, you can’t reach out like Thomas did and touch Jesus’ flesh — but you can study His Word. You can study history. You can study science. You can wrestle with the Scriptures and voice your questions in prayer. Jesus invites you to lean in closer and express your doubts — it’s the process that strengthens faith.

Lord, like Your disciples, I pray, “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When I struggle with doubt, teach me to look for the answers in Your Word and fill me with Your faith.

Take a closer look at Jesus

Humility

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! — Philippians 2:8

As the Son of God and Savior of the world, Jesus could have preached with pride and condemnation, but He never did. God could’ve chosen for Jesus to be born into a prominent and wealthy family; instead, He was born into humble circumstances. Jesus could’ve spent His thirty-three years on earth focusing on self-glorification, but instead, His goal was to bring glory to the Father. Although Jesus had the option to turn His back on His mission, He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). At every fork in the road, Jesus chose the humble path.

The apostle Peter wrote,

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6–7

What does it mean to live with humility? It means in order to love your neighbor, you should lay down your privilege and position and choose kindness and meekness instead. Humble living doesn’t mean you should shelve your ambition — some of the most productive people in the world are the most humble. Humility means approaching your work and goals with the objective of serving God and helping other people.

Humility may present differently in every culture and generation — it’s up to you to look for opportunities to make your life service-oriented. How can you encourage a peer at work and celebrate their talent? How can you surrender your time to volunteer at local nonprofits? How can you commit a portion of your income to help someone else? When done with a pure heart, these actions are all ways to participate in humble living. Identify one way you can actively humble yourself before your neighbor and contribute to Christ’s mission of love. As you do, watch how God changes you.

Lord, I pray You will teach me to humble myself before You and my neighbor. I pray my life will bring You glory and be of service in Your name.

Excerpted from A Savior Is Risen, copyright Zondervan.

Love God. Love Others. Love yourself. Putting yourself in the right position takes great humility. The more I watch people and get to know them it makes me think that humility is a gift from God. It is easy to be proud and arrogant, but difficult to sacrifice and give of yourself to others and for the glory of God. But that is what Jesus did. He gave of Himself for us all the way to death, that we might be saved and have eternal life by believing in Him! Follow Jesus. Take up your own cross. Sacrifice yourself to God and your fellow man. God will be the rewarder of your choices and actions. Pray for humility and love in your heart and life.

Pastor Dale