Month: May 2021

David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and javelin. I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty.” I Samuel 17:45 The battle belongs to God.” I Samuel 17:47

When I think of giants, my mind always goes back to Jack and the Beanstalk! Jack, a poor country boy, trades his family cow for a few magic beans, which grow into an enormous beanstalk. Jack climbs the beanstalk and finds himself in the castle of a very unfriendly giant. After an encounter, Jack finds many goods that have been stolen from his family, a goose that lays a golden egg, and even a bag of gold in the giant’s possession. Jack takes back what is rightfully his. The giant chases Jack, but Jack is smart enough to scurry down the beanstalk and quickly cut it down sending the giant plunging down never to be seen again. The moral of the tale is good conquers evil. Jack is the good guy and the giant is, of course, the villain.

We all face giants in this life which can represent great difficulties, great hopelessness, or even great despair, and they stalk us everywhere much as the giant in our story. They can rise up in our families, our churches, our social lives, and even in our own hearts. If we don’t overcome them, they will devour us. Every time we face up to a giant and overcome them, we are made stronger. The Bible tells us in essence, to look to God and He will take care of the difficulties we find.

Sometimes giants seem unconquerable. David was told that Goliath was too big and too strong for him to ever conquer, but David refused armor, took his slingshot, gathered five stones, and called him out!! He declared that he came in the name of the Lord Almighty and needed no other weapon.

I think God tells us of some ways we can defeat our giants. First, in the scripture we see that God gave David the ability to see the giant, Goliath, through His eyes, and He allowed David to look past the size, the booming voice, and the condescending attitude of the giant. Once we start seeing the giants in our lives from God’s perspective, they begin to lose their power to intimidate us and control our emotions and mind. In short, we refuse to fear them; rather we realize that we only encounter giants when we are serving and following God’s will.

Secondly, God gave David the ability to rely on God’s strength instead of his own. When we encounter giants in our daily walk and hear of how huge and ferocious they are, remember God’s strength has never been defeated. We will end up stronger by trusting God to overcome them than if there had been no giants to defeat. We may think we are being persecuted, but God’s strength will never abandon us.

Finally, we must believe that God holds the power. His power is infinite, but that doesn’t mean that we are spared trials, conflicts, and giants. Paul is a great example of struggles which ended victory. Paul often told us that once he took the Lord Jesus Christ into his life, his struggles began. He felt “crowded from all sides but never defeated” to paraphrase 2 Corinthians 4:8.

When conflicts and giants come, many Christians expect to receive all the good things without a battle. However, God has no cheap goods on the heavenly market; nothing worth having is easily gained. Dare to believe, stand firm , and refuse to be overcome by those giants.

One of my favorite sermons that Randy ever preached was entitled, Giants. He left us with three things to remember that I relate to everyone. First, be who you are. Secondly, use what you have. Finally, trust God with what you need. That’s how you defeat those giants.

It shall be when these signs come unto you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. I Samuel 10:7

There are times in this life when time and circumstances present each of us with an opportunity or a need to revisit the beliefs we hold dear. It doesn’t happen often enough for me, but with Memorial Day at hand, a country and churches that are divided, hatred running amok, and kindness being forgotten, I sat down and pondered, What is it that I truly believe? What is it that makes me the person I am? What experiences in life have molded and assured me? I believe in many things, but I’m sharing just a few.

During the years when Jeff Foxworthy was at the zenith of his career with the The Blue Collar Comedy Club, we enjoyed listening to the Here’s Your Sign excerpts. The excerpts made fun of less than intelligent questions people ask. For example, “A man had a mess of bass on his boat as he motored to the dock on a lake. The passerby asked, “You catch those fish?” The man replied, “No, they just jumped in the boat and surrendered.” Here’s Your Sign.

First, I believe that Jesus sends signs and angels in our struggles that give us strength in the heat of the battle. These signs can be as small as a hummingbird who suddenly appears during prayer time to reassure us, or as huge as a neighbor who walks by and stops to give a hug and offer a prayer having no idea why she was called by God to do that.

Secondly, I believe that history provides us with an opportunity to learn. It’s important, and if we look closely we can find others before us who struggled with some of the same issues we face in our country, our churches, our communities and our families. In this country of ours, there are signs all around us that point us to the fact that God is being ignored by a great majority of people. The many men and women who fought for one nation under God and the important parts they played are being rewritten or even forgotten. I believe in truth, justice, and one nation, under God.

Next, I believe that God is with us even when He is quiet. I’m always encouraged when God sends visible evidence in answer to prayers or struggles, but I’ve found that it is even more appreciated and I am the most inclined to trust Him without it. His promise is more real and dependable than any evidence our senses may reveal. Saint Augustine said, Faith is believing what we do not see, and the reward for that kind of faith is to see what we believe.

Finally, love is a major part of what I believe. The love we feel for our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, our extended family, our friends is there even when we sometimes don’t express it enough. Love is the tie that binds us. God’s love for us is unchangeable, and He is just as loving even when we do not see or feel it.

Finally, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day, He arose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence, He shall come to judge the quick and dead. I believe in the Holy spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting. Amen. The Apostles Creed

I grew up watching The Perry Como show because my Mama was a big fan. So, on Saturday nights, if we were home, it was mandatory. He wrote and sang the song, I Believe. Mama sang it many times, and the words are worth sharing.

I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows; I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows. I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way. I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard; I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word. Every time I hear a new born baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky, then I know why I believe. Perry Como

Look for signs of God’s love, truth, strength, forgiveness, and answers to prayer. Focus on what you believe!

Consider it a sheer gift, friends when tests and challenges (trials) come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well developed. not deficient in any way. James 1:2-3 The Message

One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. If you have watched it as many times as we have, you know that Forrest had some pretty severe trials in his life. Despite the trials, Forrest always seemed to make the best of every situation. My favorite line in the movie is, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get.” Trials are like that, we just never know what will come our way.

I really like Cara Wall’s words on the subject. There are basically three kinds of trials in this world. There are the ones God gives which almost always lead to wisdom; there are trials you force upon yourself and should have abandoned, and there are trials we create for others which are more complicated because it is impossible to know whose hand is guiding them. The only advice I can give is don’t ever shrink from those last trials. Run to them. Only in the quality of the struggle with one another will you learn anything about yourself. Sometimes that struggle is almost impossible to survive, but it is those trials which make a life.

During trials, our first job is to face them and still honor God in the process. We do this by tempering our words, our actions, our emotions and exercising perfect faith in God’s goodness and love during the trial. A person has only as much faith he shows in times of trouble.

Trials can tend to become objects of despair if we allow them. We then have a choice to make. If we simply lie down and allow them to crush us, they soon gain uncontrollable momentum. However, if we grab hold of them and seek to control the damage they invoke on us, they can take us on to being an overcomer.

Sometimes trials are sent to help us discover our true worth and gifts in this life. We can go through this life like a firefly who shows very little light except when surrounded by darkness, but through the trials, our light can shine while we discover our gifts and experience real growth.

Trials also come with revelations where God reveals His purpose for our lives and gives us new strength and responsibility going forward. It’s like a pair of shoes that is worn in places as we seek God’s will. You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes; where they are going and where they have been.” Forrest Gump

In life’s trials, we can hold onto one thing: We can trust God to carry us through the trials. He and He alone determines “the end from the beginning” so we can come out of this stronger and wiser.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that. Forrest Gump

All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort; here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know whatever befalls me Jesus doeth all things well. Yes, I know whatever befalls me, Jesus doeth all things well. All The Way My Savior Leads Me by Fannie Crosby

Where is your faith? he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Luke 8:25

The storms last week reminded me of those which came through our small town during my growing up years. My Mama had a healthy respect for storms, and when we were growing up, there were many occasions to go through them with her in charge of our safety measures. Remember, this was during the 50’s and 60’s where technology updates on storms were rare, but Mama seemed to have a second sense about them. She could walk outside, gauge the wind, the sky, and the atmosphere and somehow know we were in for a bad storm.

We lived in South Georgia, and we had no basement or other shelter for protection against tornadoes or hurricanes, so Mama insisted that we girls get under our beds as protection during the height of a storm. The three of us spent many hours underneath our respective beds singing songs or just talking. I’m a little claustrophobic, so if I’d had my choice, I’d have rather taken my chances on the bed rather than under it!

Storms are a given in life, and we all face them at one time or another. They often appear when we least expect them, and they can leave us confused, broken, and even desperate. We can hide under the bed, deny their existence, or we can face them and trust God to bring us through.

What do we know about the storms in life? We know for absolute certain that in this life we can expect trouble, sadness, disappointment, failure, betrayal, and the list goes on. This is a given.

When storms come our way, as they surely will, it would help if we remember a few things about them. First, storms can come out of nowhere, so it helps to be prepared. Around our house, if we experience a long stretch of calm, we start getting ready because we know a storm of some sort is brewing. We try to stay prepared by practicing a consistent prayer life and thankful attitude for each calm day. Even though a new storm can be devastating, we try to lean on God and all the blessings we enjoy.

Storms also provide the opportunity to practice our faith as we strive for trust in God over understanding. It is during the storms of life that God can move closer to us and us to Him.

We should all try to remember the words of Elle Sommer, “Where you are now won’t last forever. Big challenges usually bring big victories.”

The third thing about storms is that they usually move quickly through and the sun comes out. We look back on them and marvel at the freshness and new perspective we find after the storm. They have a way of humbling us while bringing us closer together.

Lastly, I think storms, no matter what kind, have a way of showing us the silver lining in this life. Storms give color to the normalcy of daily living and remind us that God’s plan is bigger than any storm. His covenant with us lets us know that there are miracles brewing in the midst of any storm.

The hymn How Great Thou Art was written during a storm. The story is told that Mr. Carl Gustaf Boberg, a Swedish pastor, editor and member of the Swedish parliament was on his way home from church when a strong storm began to form out of nowhere. The winds were howling, and it appeared it would form into quite a devastating storm. Suddenly, as he watched, the storm disappeared as mysteriously as it had begun.

As the church bells rang and he looked out over the calm Monsteras Bay, these words began to form in his heart, O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder; consider all the worlds they hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder; Thy power throughout the universe displayed.” There was such calmness after the storm that he returned home to write the rest of the great hymn. It has been translated several times and finally in 1949 was published with all the verses we know today.

There is for me a certain awe that appears after a storm which makes me realize how protected we are by God’s hand during these times. We will all get through the storms in our lives and marvel at how trivial they seem now as we look at them through God’s perspective! Oh God, How Great Thou Art!

If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, (Eph.6:10) your strength will be born during a storm. copied

Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise. Many women have done wonderful things, but you have outclassed them all. Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the fear of God. Give her everything she deserves. Proverbs 31:28-31 The Message

There are occasions in this life when you are afforded the opportunity to meet and talk with people, and you wonder at first why God put them in your path.? Later, His plan is revealed and you marvel at how it was orchestrated.

Such a time arose for me several months ago when a lady with a sweet smile and kindly manner started coming to the pool. There was a way about her that reminded me somewhat of my Mama. She kept mostly to herself, but she was always quick to smile and say “hello”. One day as there were only the two of us in the pool, we introduced ourselves and shared a few bits of small talk and questions of how each of us was enduring the pandemic. Her name is Marie, and she is a very special lady.

One morning Marie was visibly different, and I inquired about her health and situation. She began by saying she just didn’t feel well and although she had been through some tests, the doctors couldn’t find anything that made them worry. She commented that she just couldn’t remember things and wasn’t as strong as she had been.

As we continued to talk and speculate about what could be wrong, she said, “You know, I don’t worry about myself, but I just don’t want to be a burden to my husband.” It seems that her husband is 83 years old, active, eats well, and is healthy. He was a chief officer in three different companies during his career, and she thinks he deserves worry free retirement years.

I asked about her career, and she said, “Oh, I was just a mother.” What a statement! Just a mother! Yes, she was just a mother to four children, seven grandchildren and three greats. Just a mother who helped her husband to have a successful career because she ran his home and cared for his children. Just a mother who loves her children, talks to them, treats them with respect, and raised them in a strong stable family.

I took the next moments to tell her about my own Mama and how she might not have finished college, might not have had her own career, but that she was the backbone of our family. Mama had such a beautiful soprano voice that she could have had her own career, but instead she sang for free everywhere from church to weddings, funerals to nursing homes and countless other volunteer opportunities. She was available for her three girls which allowed my Daddy to leave early in the morning to farm, come home late at night and make a living for his family!

There is no job which takes more skills, understanding, patience, and love than those needed by a Mother in all she does. Think of the mothers God himself picked and honored. Mary, Sarah, Rebekah, Eve, and Elizabeth just to name a few.

Mothers make a difference in the lives of their children. Not every mother gives to her children in the same way, but each Mother is a blessing and gift from God. In short, Mothers gift us with an inheritance. When someone loves you enough to leave you an inheritance, you should treasure it and treat it in a way that honors the giver. God has given us Mothers, and the children He has provided us are the greatest inheritance. No mother is just a mother but rather a treasure.

Happy Mother’s Day to each and every Mother!