Pray always

There are two sentences in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians’ that speak to the issue of God’s desire for us to pray. He writes, “Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) The Apostle was not just saying that because he personally knew it was a good idea to pray, he wrote that because he received his message directly from Jesus.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, that he was called by God. He said, “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12 NIV) After his conversion the Apostle spent time with Jesus, learned from Him and was called to preach the work of Christ on the cross. Paul was called to preach to the Gentiles (people who were not Jews) primarily and share the gospel with people around the world at that time.


There is little surprise that Paul learned to pray directly from Jesus because when Jesus was doing His earthly ministry He provided many examples of prayer in His own life. Jesus knew that to be effective in His life and ministry He must remain connected to His Father in heaven. There was no other way for Him to continue to receive the strength to become the one and only sacrifice acceptable to God the Father than to constantly be in communication with Him.


In His earthly ministry Jesus was constantly pressed by the throngs. He taught great crowds of people in addition to speaking individually to some. We see examples of Jesus withdrawing from the crowds to be alone to pray. One example was, “After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” (Mark 6:46 NIV) So we are encouraged to pray when we are alone and can hear the quiet voice of God providing encouragement, peace and instruction.


There are times in our lives that we encounter life-time events: Our marriages, the birth of our children, the death of a loved one, graduation from a school or university, or even around the communion table as we remember His death, burial and resurrection. That could be any event in our lives that are memorable and have great significance to us. Jesus provided a perfect example, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened.” (Luke 21 NIV) A very significant time in His life was there in the Jordan River being baptized by John. As Jesus was praying He was given the affirmation from His Father in heaven in the form like as a dove descending on His head and telling Him that His Father was well pleased with Him.


When we pray at the end of the day we are sometimes tired and may realize the next morning that we fell asleep during our prayer the night before. It is difficult to stay awake for sure, but Luke wrote that even though Jesus was tired having spent a difficult day laboring in ministry, the relationship with His Father was so important to Him that, “One of those days Jesus went out to mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” (Luke 6:12 NIV)


Our lives are full of distractions and we get side-tracked many times in things that are less important than more significant things in our lives. We have become a society of materialism and greed. The more we have, the more we want sometimes. Too many are willing to flutter away the time with their family in order to spend more time at their career. Households give up one parent to nurture the children in favor of two-parent workers to have a second, or third car, multiple televisions, a larger house, more materialistic “stuff” that will someday be nothing but rusty junk. Jesus contemplated the possibility of being derailed from the work He came to do. “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” (John 6:15 NIV) Jesus had a mission to complete His work on the cross; He did not have time to be side-tracked even for a second to stop and be king.


We are encouraged to pray even in our darkest hour. On the night that Jesus was betrayed by one of His own, He went with His Disciples to a garden to pray. “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 NIV) Even when Jesus sensed that the cross was near, and knew that His death was imminent, He sincerely wanted the task to go away; but He quickly added that it was not His will that should prevail, but it was God’s will that should continue. At that time in our lives, really the only thing we have is prayer.


Even that night in the garden Jesus had His friends with Him to surround Him with support. “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed.” (Luke 22:41 NIV) The intensity of Jesus’ prayer and the stress that he felt caused sweat drops of blood to fall from His face. It was His darkest hour knowing the end was coming soon. All of creation had been distorted because of Adam and Eve’s sin in a garden so many years past. All of creation depended on the work that Jesus was preparing to do on the cross as a sacrifice that would bring mankind back to a relationship with God. He had to do it, and there He was, with His friends at the last moment, praying to His Father in heaven.


Even as Jesus was dying, nailed on the cross, with His Blood running down the beam into the dirt below, the darkness had surrounded the hill outside of Jerusalem known as “the Skull.” Mockers were still screaming around Him, naked on the cross He bore the sins of all mankind, using Himself as a sacrifice to redeem each of us from being assigned a deserving place in the lake of fire; He still found time to pray for mercy for others: “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” (Luke 23:34 NIV)


In the last part of the first century the Church had been established. The Apostle John had been exiled to the Island of Patmos. He was given a great gift of a vision that God Himself allowed John to see. During John’s message to the seven churches of Asia Minor, and to the believers everywhere John witnessed many wondrous sights. Among those sights John saw the Worthy Lamb (Jesus) who was worthy because He was the Lamb who was slain. Within that sight we are allowed to see something that John saw: There were heavenly beings “holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” (Revelation 5:8 NIV)


Our prayers have reached heaven and are sweet-smelling to God and the Worthy Lamb. “Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

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God in control

I was talking with God in prayer just a few days ago telling him how amazed I was at how he can manage so many things in the universe. I know about the number of hairs on our heads and his ability to know everything not only past, but “fore” as well. But when I thought about the universe and how he created all of it I was amazed at how he can keep it moving along so nicely.

I guess I was thinking about the expanse of the whole thing, from the smallest to the largest. When I look at a small straight pin, a bottle cap or a clover, I know that those smarter than me have attested to the fact that atoms and even sub-atomic particles like neutrons, electrons and protons are swirling around in their own private little solar systems that make up the “matter” that form those things. That straight pin and the others are all made up of millions of atoms with their smaller sup-atomic parts. And some say that since there is a polarizing effect of those little particles flying around, they naturally tend to repel each other and have a tendency to “fly apart” and scatter everywhere. And yet, there they are just swirling around that atom in perfect harmony, not tearing anything up, but just being a bottle cap or straight pin.


My mind can’t even wrap around the amount of power it would take to hold those atoms together to keep them from exploding all over the place. But I know that God holds it together in such a way as it works according to his will. Then I realize that in order to destroy everything all he would have to do is relax for a moment and everything would explode into a giant ball of fire.


From the straight pin I move to the entire earth, then to our solar system and am amazed at the design being so similar. Then to the galaxy and those countless ones beyond; I can’t even wrap my mind around the number of atoms, protons or electrons that are in that vastness.


Then along came this story from a friend, written by who knows who, about an ant carrying a contact lens on a mountain side that became reunited with the person who lost it. No matter what the size or amount or the complexity of it, God always takes care of what we need at exactly the right time we need it. After all He does pretty well with the universe and keeping it going, so why couldn't He look after us pretty well.

“The Ant and the Contact Lens: a true story

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. 'Great', she thought. 'Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.'

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse 'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.'

She thought, 'Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.'

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, 'Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?'

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, 'Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You.'

I think it would do all of us some good to say, 'God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will.'

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him... I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)”

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Gambling we win by losing

Our little town is struggling to decide if they want to opt out of the opportunity to place video gambling machines in establishments that have liquor licenses. It seems the state has given us the opportunity to have much more gambling than in the past with our riverboat casinos. Of course the state will rake in a full thirty percent of the money giving the municipalities only a five percent cut.

The owners of the machines will rake in a percentage of the money lost by those who play the machines, so most of them are eager to have the opportunity to legalize gambling at that level. The problem is that many of those who lose really cannot afford to lose. When they lose there are often times many others who suffer from that loss. Spouses, children, parents and grandparents, friend, and yes, even taxpayers join in that loss. When food, clothing, house payments, utilities, and other necessities are let go month after month due to paychecks being lost in the machines, someone usually has to step up to help since the gambling loser cannot. Someone at a City Council meeting that was held said that for each dollar gained by the gambling machines, three dollars are needed to help those who suffer from the losses. That means that social agencies, both public and private, will have to generate more resources to meet the additional needs.


I think everyone who is honest with their own thoughts will admit that gambling hurts a lot more than it helps. There is a place we can turn, however, where losses turn into great returns; where we can win by losing.


A man asked Jesus how he could enter the Kingdom of God. “Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’” (Matthew 19:21 NIV) In our world if we gamble and lose all our possessions we are bankrupt and have nothing. Or if we sell all our possessions we would likely be moving or starting a new venture. We would take the money from the sale and start a business or start a new beginning somewhere else. But Jesus said to take the money and give it to the poor, then follow Him. At that point you are building treasure in heaven, so your loss here turns to gain in heaven.


Another time Jesus talked about your rights to life here on the earth. But the Bible says, “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’” (Mark 8:34-35 NIV) When we gamble in our world we are hoping for the jackpot to hit when we have the best hand. Likely as not we end up losing everything and gaining nothing. But, when we devote our lives to living the gospel and following Jesus, we actually save our lives and gain eternal life through Him.


After a discussion about who could be the greatest, “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” (Mark 9:35 NIV) In our world we dream of our gambling winnings taking us to the top. As we sit on top of the world we lord it over others and take more gain for ourselves. In the logic that Jesus uses, He says that to be first we must be last; to be the greatest; we must be the servant of all. When we submit ourselves to Jesus and accept His gift of salvation, we have placed ourselves under the authority of the King of Kings.


When a man dies he wants his epitaph to reflect a celebration of his life and his accomplishments for all to remember. He wants a legacy that people will look back to and say word of admiration and praise. But if that man lived for himself and refused to share his good fortune with others and only gambled himself away to the destruction of himself and his family, his epitaph will only reflect selfishness and sorrow. Jesus talked to His disciples one day, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.’” (John 12:24 NIV) A man must die to himself, follow Jesus and rise up to produce much through the leading from the Lord.


In gambling a person loses everything and gains nothing. In Christ a person loses everything but gains eternal salvation. The Apostle Paul writing in his letter of Philippians said, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8 NIV)


By gambling in life we sometimes lose; by placing our lives in Christ and the work He did on the cross for our salvation, we gain all eternity. What is your choice?

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Healthcare legitimately repaired

“The campaign goes on to bring health care in America out of the free market and into the protective custody of government. Those who brought us the postal service and Amtrak are anxious to provide medical service of the same high caliber.” —Ronald Reagan, as cited in “Reagan In His Own Hand.”

“We just can’t trust the American people to make these types of decisions. …Government has to make these choices for people.” —Hillary Clinton circa 1993, speaking to Rep. Dennis Hastert on the issue of who should control the allocation of money in her health care reform plan.


These two quotes contrasted to each other epitomize the differences between the conservative and liberal viewpoints for healthcare. These two well-respected American political leaders have articulated the heart of the issue. Now we have a new Congress that has garnered a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives that is being pushed along by the Tea Party Movement to roll-back the Health-care Law that was enacted last year as part of the President’s premier accomplishments.


There is no question that the healthcare system is broken. The cost of illness is prohibitive, sometimes even if the person who is ill has insurance coverage. We hear horror stories of loved ones in the hospital after an auto accident, or after suffering a heart attack or stroke, and the outlandish cost of the care and treatment. There are other instances of the hospital bill being sent both to the patient after discharge and the insurance company for processing; sometimes receiving payment from both sources in effect paying twice for the same service or equipment.


For too long some insurance companies have dropped the insured after years of paying premiums after a claim or two has been made. Pre-existing illnesses have prevented others from even having insurance completely, or only with a very high premium. For those with no insurance the use of the Emergency Rooms around the country have driven the cost of health care even higher, since those who pay have to pay not only for themselves, but for those who receive services but cannot pay.


The problem seems clear enough, and the comments from Mr. Reagan and Mrs. Clinton certainly stakes out the positions on both sides of the issue. Unfortunately the issue and problem has dragged on for far too long. When the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate, in addition to the White House, the law was pushed through primarily on a partisan basis. The result of that stiff-arm tactic was the passage of a law that has been taken to court by at least twenty-two states on the grounds of part of it being unconstitutional. For sure at least two federal Appeals courts have declared that parts of the law are unconstitutional. The challenge has progressed on and will likely be heard by the United States Supreme Court sometime in the future. In the meantime the people who need medical services are caught in the middle and the suffering continues.


If the politicians in Washington DC want to serve the people in the best possible way they need to put aside their differences and come together in a bi-partisan effort to realistically and honestly examine all the facets of the health care issue and come to a consensus about the best possible plan. Perhaps the Democrats believed they did that the first time, but the law failed the cooperation, bi-partisan test. So much so that the American people recognized that the law did not pass the “smell test.” The American people took to the streets in a democratic fashion and pushed back. The message in November 2010 mid-term election sent a strong message to the Democrat lawmakers they cannot usurp the process and go it alone. Ruling against the will of the people has proven to be disastrous on many levels; beginning with those who were turned out of office by the voters.


Lawmakers, both conservative and liberal must “reason together” in a way that puts aside their philosophical views to objectively study each facet of the health care issue and construct sound solutions to include the American people’s interests in the final product. That may include everything from tort reforms to regulatory constraints on practices that have skewed the medical services conservatively or liberally. The solution may require a combination of the free market system as well as oversight of regulations enacted by the government…but always to the favor of all Americans.

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Spiritual growth

It really seems simple, doesn’t it? God looks at mankind and our having fallen in love with our sin nature. Knowing we really can’t fight our way out of a wet paper bag to accomplish any kind of salvation at all, He knows that if redemption is going to be completed at all He is going to have to do it Himself. So here comes Jesus who presents Himself as a perfect sacrifice and does His work on the cross. God judged it and counted it perfect; accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and raised Him from the dead. Satan was defeated, death was cheated, and we, covered by the blood of Jesus, now can walk across that once-deadly chasm that separated us from God and stand directly in front of His Throne because we are covered by the blood of Jesus.

Now as we stand in Jesus, covered by His blood, saved by His Grace our faith in Him urges us to walk in Him. How do we do it? We follow the Apostle Paul’s example and declaration: “Live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.” (Galatians 5:16-17)


Find a Bible and read the entire book of Galatians to discover that you can be free in Christ, led by His Holy Spirit, and grow to maturity in Him.

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Working out our own salvation

Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;13 for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

The translation of “fear and trembling” seems to indicate a negative force that would have us “working” in a sense to fear the consequences of what may happen if we don’t work. If that is the case then I could somehow talk myself into believing that my salvation has come about because of my works to avoid the consequences of not working. If that were the case then I have negated the blood of Christ since I have put my faith into my works rather than His work on the cross.

I believe that many denominations believe this way and find it easy to light candles or do confessions to rid themselves of failures, then “do good works” to pad the ledger for themselves on the “good” side of their list.


I wonder if a better translation might be “awe and reverence” that reflects the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) through the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish their salvation. Salvation comes first by the blood; then because of the blood through the work of the Holy Spirit as a result of the believer’s faith in Christ’s work on the cross. The believer has no works that would accomplish salvation.

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God’s profound wisdom

I think I have learned over the years that God seems to use a wisdom that goes beyond the reach of man. The profoundness of His ways seem ridiculous to most people.

For instance, when you are smacked in the face turn the other cheek and take another smack.


Or love your enemies and do good things to those who revile you; it just doesn’t make good sense.


The one who is the greatest among us should be the servant of all. How could that be? He wouldn’t be the greatest anymore.


Then there is the one about dying to have life. I have been taught all my life from John Wayne and most others of his generation that we have power through strength. If we die for others, how can that be strength? Not only that, but we are strong when we are powerful…even Reagan said that! But God comes along and says he makes us strong through our weakness; how woefully un-American is that!


Having said all that, I don’t believe anything we say about God’s love is “simple.” Because in God’s perspective it seems that the moment we think anything connected to Him and His love is simple, you can be sure it is most profound!

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