Many of us have a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons or the expectation that our friends will be like members of our family.  Jesus did not have that expectation. Look how Jesus defined his family in Mark 3:35: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.” When Jesus’ brothers did not share his convictions, he didn’t try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could give him what his physical family did not.

We cannot control how our families respond to us. Our hands are tied. We have to move beyond the expectation that if we do good, our family will treat us right! The fact is they may; and then again, they may not! Let God give you what your physical, earthly family does not. And don’t lose heart! God still changes families.

From Grace for the Moment

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts—we aren’t even in the same neighborhood!  Psalm 92:5 sets the standard!  “Lord you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts!”

When we’re thinking preserve the body, God is thinking save the soul. When we dream of a pay raise God dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace while God uses pain to bring peace. I’m going to live before I die, we resolve. But God instructs, Die so you can live. We love what rusts but God loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes but God rejoices at our confessions.

We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, “Be like him!” God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, “Be like Christ!”

From Grace for the Moment

God IS for you! In fact, the Bible says, “God will rejoice over you!”  Turn to the sidelines and hear God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Are you too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Are you too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you!

In Isaiah 49:15 God asks, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” Can you imagine a mother feeding her infant and later asking, “What was that baby’s name?” No. Can a mother forget? No way! And neither can God!

From Grace for the Moment

For all we don’t know about the next life—this much is certain. The day Christ comes will be a day of reward. A day in the winner’s circle!  Those who went unknown on earth will be known in heaven. Those who never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers of angels. Those who missed the blessing of a father will hear the blessing of their heavenly Father. The small will be great. The forgotten will be remembered. The unnoticed will be crowned and the faithful will be honored!

Ephesians 6:8 says, “The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he or she does, whether slave or free.” The winner’s circle is not reserved for a handful of the elite, but for a heaven full of God’s children who “will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him!” (James 1:12).

From Grace for the Moment

Our God is a promise-keeping God. Others may make a promise and forget it. But if God makes a promise, he keeps it. Does God’s integrity make a difference? When your daughter is on life support, it does. When you are pacing the ER floor, it does. When you are wondering what to do and you have to choose between faith or fear; God’s purpose or random history; a God who knows and cares or a God who isn’t there? We all choose.

Promised Land people choose to trust God’s promises. They choose to believe that God is up to something good even though all we see looks bad. Press into God’s promises. When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said … And when doubts arise, but God said… And when guilt overwhelms you, but God said…  Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises you find.

From Glory Days

Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.

It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!

From Glory Days

You will never have a problem-free life. Pigs might fly. A kangaroo might swim. Men might surrender the remote control. Women might quit buying purses. It’s not likely, but it’s possible. But a problem-free, no-hassle existence of smooth sailing? Don’t hold your breath. All people have problems, but not all people see problems the same way. Some are left bitter; others are left better. Some face their challenges with fear, others with faith. What about you?

The Psalmist asked, ”Why are you downcast, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” The struggles of life threatened to pull him under. But at just the right time, the writer made this decision: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him!” A deliberate decision to treat his downcast soul with thoughts of God. When troubles come, we can be stressed and upset…or we can trust God!

From Glory Days

Long after Joshua had distributed the land of Canaan, seven of the tribes were still in the military camp. Joshua scolded them in Joshua 18:3, “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?” They marched out of the wilderness and conquered the land; yet when the time came to inherit their unique parcels, they grew lazy.

Don’t make the same mistake. You are an heir with Christ of God’s estate. He has placed his Spirit in your heart as a down payment. What God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:3 he says to you. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” But you must possess it. You must deliberately receive what God so graciously gives! Find your lot in life and live in it!

From Glory Days

Joshua said: “Tribe of Judah, take the high country. Manasseh, occupy the valleys. People of God, inhabit the land east of the Jordan.”

Jesus says:  Joe, take your place in the domain of medicine. Mary, your territory is accounting. Susan, I give you the gift of compassion. Now occupy your territory.

Everybody gets a gift and these gifts come in different doses and combinations.  1 Corinthians 12:7 says, “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.” Our inheritance is grace-based and equal. But our assignments are tailor made. No two snowflakes the same and no two fingerprints the same. Why would two skill sets be the same? No wonder Paul said in Ephesians 5:17 to make sure you understand what the Master wants!  Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.

From Glory Days

Many people stop short of their destiny. They settle for someone else’s story. Grandpa was a butcher, Dad was a butcher, so I guess I’ll be a butcher. Everyone I know is in farming, so I guess I’m supposed to farm. Consequently, they risk leading dull, joyless, and fruitless lives. They never sing the song God wrote for their voices. They never cross a finish line with heavenward-stretched arms and declare, I was made to do this!  They fit in, settle in, and blend in. But they never find their call.

Don’t make the same mistake. Ephesians 2:10 says: “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” Your existence is not accidental. Your skills are not incidental. God shaped each person in turn!

From Glory Days

Call it what you wish. A talent…a skill set…a gift. The terms are different, but the truth is the same. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:7, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

You aren’t the only person with your skill. But you are the only person with your version of your skill. You entered the world uniquely equipped. Psalm 139:13-15 describes it as “knit together, woven together in the dark of the womb, intricately and curiously wrought.”

Each of us! Not some of us, a few of us, or the elite among us. Each of us has a beauty that longs to be revealed and released. It is you at your best! When you stand at the intersection of your skill and God’s call, you are standing at the corner of Promised Land Avenue and Glory Days Boulevard.

From Glory Days

As a member of God’s family, come to Him— not as a stranger, but as an heir. Earnestly make your requests known to him; not because of what you have achieved, but because of what Christ has done! Jesus spilled his blood for you. You can spill your heart before God.

Jesus said if you have faith, you can tell a mountain to go and jump into the sea (Mark 11:23). What is your mountain? What is the challenge of your life? Call out to God for help! Will he do what you want? I cannot say, but this I can say, “He will do what is best.” That includes any force that is seeking to drive you out of the Promised Land. “Ask and it will be given to you,” Jesus said in Matthew 7:7.  It is a battle, but you do not fight in vain. Call on God for great things!

From Glory Days

My friend Greg Pruett’s most significant contribution might be in the area of “extreme prayer.” In 2008 he assumed the role as president of Pioneer Bible Translators. The recession had sucked dollars out of the economy and confidence out of the public. Resources were few, and donors were disappearing.

Greg knew of only one response: prayer. He says, “That’s when I began to learn not to pray about my strategies, but to make prayer the strategy.” He wrote a half-page letter to his teammates worldwide, calling them to prayer. He urged them to stand before God’s throne with specific and bold requests. They did and the results were astounding.

Maybe God and prayer are all you have too. Respond in prayer—honest, continual, and audacious prayer.

From Glory Days

Our relationship with God is exactly that– a relationship. His invitation in Psalm 27:8 is simple. Come and talk with me, O my people. And our response? Lord, I’m coming! We abide with him and he abides with us.

Psalm 119:105 says in everything, His word is a “lamp unto our feet.” It’s not a spotlight into the future, but He gives enough light to take the next step.

Our “Glory Days” are such because we learn to hear God’s voice telling us to turn this way or that way. Isaiah speaks of it in chapter 30, verse 21. “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go.” Wait until God speaks before you act. Be patient and monitor your impulse. If you feel a check in your heart, heed it and ask God again. Consult God in everything!

From Glory Days