Read Ephesians 3:15-21

     The records of history are filled with amazing statements of men whose vision was clouded on some important issues…

             On world population:  “The population of the earth decreases every day, and, if this continues, in another ten centuries the earth will be nothing but a desert.”  (Montesquieu, 1743)

             On anesthesia: “The abolishment of pain in surgery is a chimera.  It is absurd to go on seeking it today.  Knife and pain are two words in surgery that must forever be associated in the consciousness of the patient.  To this compulsory combination we shall have to adjust ourselves.” (Dr. Alfred Velpeau, 1839)

On aviation: “The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery, and known forms of force can be united in a practical machine by which man shall fly long distances through the air, seems to the writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration of any physical fact to be.” (Simon Newcomb, 1903)

On the atomic bomb: “That is the biggest fool thing that we have ever done.  The bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives.” (Admiral William Leahy to President Harry S. Truman, 1945)

     Though these men were well meaning, they just didn’t seem to see things in the right way.  Their sight for the future was distorted by the seemingly impossible circumstances of their era.  They looked at the natural world and concluded that certain things were just not possible.  As we consider their words today, be admonished not to look at the spiritual world and conclude that certain things are not possible, for, with God all things are possible.

     As we gaze into our futures, we need to have 20/20 spiritual vision.  We need to pray together that in the midst of our walk with God, our families will be experience a unifying power of seeing and believing God for something that is far beyond the imagination.

January 13

Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

     It is the foundational question that we must answer, “What are you living for?” It is exciting reading stories from the underground church. There was a house church in old Russia that met in small groups so as not to arouse the KGB. It was at such a meeting after they began to quietly worship that the door burst open and two soldiers quickly entered with automatic weapons raised.

     They lined everybody up against the wall and threatened to kill anyone that did not denounce Christ. If they would denounce Christ they could leave the room and nothing else would be said. Slowly, several began to leave and yet there were a few that stood against the threat of death. After a few minutes the soldiers gave everyone one last chance to leave. A few more people slipped out the door. Those that were left looked down at their children with a look of reassurance. Finally, the soldiers turned and said to those that stayed to raise their hands one more time- and praise the Lord. These soldiers had been converted at an earlier raid. They made this statement to those that remained, “We have learned from experience that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted.”

     The only way that you know what you will live for is to examine what you are willing to die for. It is only through the mindset of being willing to die for something that makes it truly worth living for. The reason why America is so awe inspiring is because there were men, women and children willing to die to make it so. What price you are willing to pay determines the value of that which you possess. So, will you say with Joshua today, "As for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord!"

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

Albert Einstein

January 10

Matthew 7:14 “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

     When I lived in Kansas City, there was an area that I dreaded to drive, especially at rush hour. The place was called the Grandview Triangle. It was a mess of roads that converge at the same place, and traffic was often unbearable. The triangle had three major freeways, and a major highway all connecting in this area. What a place.

     I have found a lot of people that have been stuck in the Grandview Triangles of life. They have converged on a certain point, and they are now stuck in the traffic jams of life. From getting their children to school on time, to picking up Tommy from school and getting him to soccer practice, and at the same time getting Sally to Girl Scouts is physically draining. Add to that traffic, a superior at work riding your back about something seemingly irrelevant, an argument with your spouse before work, and oh, yeah, choir practice is at seven. The only time you have had all day to rest was the five minutes that you spent on the side of the road waiting for that policeman to write your ticket because you were speeding to get everything accomplished on the highway of life.

     We have all been there, done that, and made the t-shirt. Life gets so hectic that we often fail to see beyond this life into the life that has been promised to us, if we are born again. 

     There is some good news. In the midst of all that, there is this one thing: there is no traffic jam on the straight and narrow road. You know, that road that leads to heaven. Just think, shortly, all traffic in life will cease for the glory of your final destination.

We've traveled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation.
Tom Stoppard

January 4

Genesis 19:26 “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

     The story of Lot’s wife is an interesting story of human behavior. It demonstrates the seen and the unseen. Abraham left Ur to find a city that he never saw, whose builder and maker was God. Lot’s wife saw the city that she wanted to be a part of and when faced with the reality of leaving that city for a place she did not know, she looked back.

     We face a similar situation almost daily. God is calling us to walk toward a city that we have not seen, and yet, we know is real. The New Jerusalem is a promise to those that follow after Christ. So, do we keep our eye on this world, or do we close our eyes to that which is around us, and look for a city whose builder and maker is God?

     I remember the time in my life when I was required by God to leave something for the unknown. I grew up playing hockey. I loved the sport, and still do. When I was in ninth grade, I had to make the decision to play for the high school team or continue Bible Quizzing. Really it wasn’t a decision between those two, though I thought it was. It really was between where God wanted me and where I wanted myself.

    I knew that God had called me to the ministry at the age of eleven. It was now at age 14 that I needed to make my decision. I read the passage of Lot’s wife. That was enough for me. I left hockey, never to play it again. In fact, I have rarely skated over the last 30 years because where God has taken me did not have much ice. I made a conscience decision to never look back, and by the grace of God, I never have. You see, Lot’s wife tried to hold onto two worlds, and lost them both. That was not going to be my story.

Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is a temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be unwise in statesmanship.

James Russell Lowell

January 2

Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand forever.”

     My favorite sections of any library are history and religion. What about you? Imagine if one Saturday morning you showed up at the library only to find your favorite books reduced to a pile of ashes.

     Centuries ago, that is what happened when thousands of books at the Library of Alexandria caught fire. Alexandria was a place to do research in the ancient world. Then, on a fateful day in 47 B.C., Julius Caesar set fire to his ships in the Alexandrian harbor to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The fire soon spread to the docks and the naval arsenal, ultimately destroying 400,000 of the library’s precious scrolls.

     Such a tragedy shows just how perishable written materials can be. This makes the preservation of the Bible such a marvel. The Word of God has survived book-burnings, riots, revolutions, persecutions and catastrophes. Yet scholars tell us that manuscripts have been accurately preserved through millennia of copying.

     There is no other book of antiquity that is able to address the smallest to greatest problems of the modern era like the Bible. It is the greatest resource to the questions of life that has ever been written. Truly, mankind is blessed to have such a document at its disposal.

     God inspired the writing of Scripture (II Timothy 3:16) and has promised to preserve it through the centuries. So, the next time you open your Bible, take a moment to reflect on how precious it is, and thank God for keeping it safe for you.

There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible.
      Francis Bacon