TRIALS, UGH!

Trials come in every life.  You might be going through a trial right now.  Maybe, you are battling a serious illlness.  It could be that your marriage is on the rocks.  You might have a rebellious child.  A recent loss of a loved one has rocked your world.  You recently lost your job and have financial struggles.  Trials come in all shapes and sizes.

Why, when we are trying to live a faithful life, must we face trials?  Elisabeth Elliot, one of my favorite authors, understood trials. Her first husband was brutally murdered by people he was trying to reach for the Lord when their child was only a toddler. Some years later, she remarried and within five years her second happy marriage ended when he died from cancer.  Even later, she married for the third time.  Unfortunately, this marriage was not particularly happy, but it lasted for over 30 years.  She was known to have said, "Suffering is never for nothing."  

Consider James 1 verses 2-4:  "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  Trials of our faith are meant to strengthen us.  The difficulty comes when we are called on to rejoice because we are having trials.  Yet, we are to rejoice knowing that the proper attitude toward our trials will help us to be perfect and complete in our faith.

There are a lot of examples of God's people facing trials.  Consider Job.  He never did understand why he had to lose so much and suffer so much.

Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern. Joseph was sold into slavery. Moses had to deal with difficulties in the wilderness.  David was forced to flee from his own son.  Paul talks about the thorn in his flesh.  Peter warns the people that they should be prepared to face trials. The Apostle James was killed for his faith, as was John the Baptist. We could go on and on.  Even God's own son faced trials while he was on earth.

How will we respond? There is a precious promise in James 1:12   "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."  What a beautiful promise.  Remain steadfast and God will give us the crown of life.

They say that silver and gold have to be refined before they can reach their full potential and value.  The refining process involves heat so high that the metal is melted and the impurities are destroyed.  Refining is not a pleasant process but the result is a bright, beautiful metal. We sometimes wish that we could stop the refining, but if we don't give up our great refiner will make us a beautiful, valuable metal.

ASCENSION DAY

When we took our walk this morning things were different. Where we usually see many people hurrying to work or taking children to the school bus, cars rushing here and there, people on the sidewalks walking to their job or hoping for a lift to town, teenagers walking to their bus stop; there was almost none of that.

Today is Ascension Day and in this country that is a public holiday. Schools are closed, as are many businesses. There are a few churches holding services, but not many.

It is odd that a country that is really still mostly pagan celebrates the day that Jesus ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. These people do love their public holidays.

Sadly, most people don't seem to even know what Ascension Day is or why it is celebrated.

I come from a Christian upbringing. In the church where I grew up we celebrated the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus every Sunday through the Lord's Supper. We chose not to celebrate Easter just once a year and that Sunday was no different from any other Sunday. 

Sometimes we would hear about the ascension of Jesus as a Bible fact, but no emphasis was placed on it and certainly we never celebrated the day.

However, the ascension of Jesus is vitally important to us today. I am not suggesting that we should celebrate a special holiday 40 days after Easter, but we should certainly praise God for the fact that it happened. We should meditate on it and what it actually means for us.

When Jesus was born into the world, the incarnation, he was born a fully human child. He grew up in a physical body just as all of us did. He chose to limit himself to the confines of a human body.  He was also fully God as we can see from his perfect life, his amazing miracles and the way he faced his death. (Even the Roman Centurion in charge of the crucifixion recognized his divinity.)

When Jesus was resurrected after his burial, he still had his human body, but that body had been changed. He was able to join his disciples in a closed room without opening a door, for example. But, that body still confined him to being in one place at a time. 

When Jesus ascended to the Father something changed. From that time on, he was able to be with all of us at all times. He sent his Spirit. Each of us who is in Christ has the Spirit living in us. We are never alone in this world.  That could not have happened if Jesus had remained in a physical body on earth.

So, today and everyday, let us praise God that Jesus ascended to the Father and that he is still here with us.  We have so much to rejoice in. We are highly blessed.

A DAY ENJOYING CREATION

We took a day off recently to visit a nearby wildlife sanctuary.  What a joy to see God's beautiful works.  The animals seemed to be enjoying the beautiful weather as much as we were.  I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the sights we enjoyed.

 

A busy warthog

Isn't this a beautiful creature! This is a Bushbuck.  

This bird is called a Bee Eater.  There are several types of Bee Eaters and I am not exactly sure which one this is.  We saw several of them.  They are beautiful!

This is the same kind of bird.  I thought you would enjoy this funny picture.  The bird turned its head and we ended up with a full face picture. It is so exact that you can only see the very end of its beak.  You can see the beautiful plumage better in this picture.

There were several of these big boys on an island.  This one seemed to be enjoying the water.  We estimate that they were at least seven feet long. Of course, we took this with the camera on zoom.

I really, really like this picture. I managed to catch this fellow as he turned to look at us.  Just look at the stripes! Notice the gorgeous background. 

We saw quite a few zebra.  Those bumps on the ground are most likely blesbok, another type of antelope. There were a lot in the park.

How can we not praise our amazing God when we spend time in his creation? When I look at a Zebra, I imagine the Lord actually having a lot of fun!

GOOD KING ASA??

As I was doing my daily Bible reading the other day, I came to 2 Chronicles 14.  This chapter begins the story of King Asa of Judah.  Asa was the son of Abijah and verse 2 of chapter 14 says "And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God." 

As we read on, we see that Asa destroyed the idols and led the country in following the Lord God.  God then gave him peace.  Further on in the chapter we read more good news about Asa. 

When the Ethiopians came out to attack Judah, Asa cried to the Lord.  God heard him and destroyed the invaders and strengthened the people while causing the nations around to fear them.

At the beginning of chapter 15, we read about the prophet Azariah who went to meet Asa and gave him the word of the Lord.  God will be with you and if you seek him you will find him.  What an amazing promise, but it came with a warning. If you forsake him, he will forsake you.  

This word through Azariah strengthened Asa and he put away even more idols and repaired the altar of God.  Many people from the land of Israel deserted to Asa because they saw that the Lord God was with him.  

Asa even removed his mother from being queen mother because she had made an idol.  Asa destroyed that idol.  He brought many rich gifts to the house of God.

Asa was a truly good king. 2 Chronicles 15:17 says, "...the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days." Asa's faith and faithfulness were a great blessing to the people of Judah and those of Israel who joined him.

But as we go on into chapter 16 we come to some disturbing events. The king of Israel decided to fight against Judah and to build a city to block his people from leaving and going into Judah.  This was very upsetting to Asa. He took silver and gold from the treasures of God's house and the king's house and sent them to the king of Syria. Asa asked him to accept the gift and to break his covenant with the king of Israel so that he would stop attacking Judah.

The king of Syria listened to Asa and attacked Israel.  Asa got the result he desired when the king of Israel stopped building that city and went to take care of the king of Syria.  Asa then had his people take away the stones and timbers which the king of Israel had been using to build the city.  Asa used them to build some cities of his own. Sounds pretty wise, doesn't it.

Well, God sent a prophet to Asa with some words.  Let's see what he said. 

 “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.  Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”  2 Chronicles 16:7-9 (ESV)

God reminded Asa of how when Asa had relied on the Lord, God fought his battles. He ended by saying that Asa had acted foolishly.  From then on there would be wars.

But even worse was Asa's response to the prophet.  Asa became enraged and put the prophet in stocks in the prison.  He even acted in cruelty toward some of the people.  Asa had another chance to rely on the Lord.  A few years later Asa developed a disease in his feet.  It became very severe.  But Asa did not seek the Lord's healing, he just consulted the doctors. He died in the forty-first year of his reign.

As I read this story I thought of what a good king Asa was as long as he relied on the Lord.  Somewhere along the way, Asa developed pride.  He seemed to think the peace and prosperity of the land was due to him and it was his responsibility to be sure it continued.  He started to rely on his own wisdom.  This happened after he had been a good and faithful king for 35 years! 

Now, what does this have to do with us?  Some of us have been Christians for many years. We have been serving God and trying to do his will.  But we must not think that we have it made!  We must always fight against pride and keep focused on God.  No matter how long you have been a Christian, no matter how faithfully you have loved and obeyed him, no matter how much you have relied on God, you must guard yourself.  Satan is always ready to inspire pride.  Fight, fight, fight!

 ARE YOU RESOLVED?

The end of the year is nearly upon us.  New Year's Day looms near.  Are you one of those who makes a new year's resolution?  Should you be?  

There are some resolutions that should be made and not just at the new year.  We all need to resolve to be more like Christ; to know Him better; to spend more time in his word and in prayer.  Here is another idea.

My husband got me a new book for Christmas.  I had recently reread the minor prophets and noticed Jonah's response to his preaching in Nineveh and then what Nahum had to say to Nineveh some time later.  The book he got is about these two prophets and God's response to Nineveh at these two different times.

As I was reading I came across this paragraph:  "The comedic duo Penn and Teller, known for their longrunning Las Vegas magic show, are outspoken atheists.  One night after a show, a fan waited in line to meet Jillette Penn and gave him a Bible with a kind inscription.  Penn was touched by the gesture and released the following statement:  'If you believe that there is a heaven and a hell and you think that it's not worth telling people because it might make things socially awkward:  How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?  How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?'"(The Two Prophets to Nineveh by James E McCarthy)

How often do we fail to talk to someone about the Lord because we think it won't matter or they won't listen anyway or it just isn't the right time or (fill in the blank)?  The truth is we are being like Jonah who really didn't want the people of Nineveh to experience the grace and mercy of God.  Wow!  This really hit me.  

How about this resolution.  Resolve to share the gospel with everyone you meet in any way possible.  Love them the way Christ loves them.  After all, we are supposed to be imitators of Christ.

 It's That Time Again!

As hard as it may be to believe 2025 is coming to its end.  2026 is just around the corner.  

For those of you who have been following a "read through the Bible in a year" program, you are almost finished for the year.  Time to plan for next year.

I have been reading through the Bible every year for quite a few years now, and I can honestly say that it has been a wonderful blessing.  I look forward to starting afresh each year.

I want to share some ideas for those who want to give it a try in 2026.

When I first started I used LaGard Smith's chronological Bible divided into daily readings.  That book has developed into what is known as The Daily Bible which also includes some devotional thoughts.  I used this method for several years.  I began to feel that I wanted to get into the New Testament earlier in the year.

I found a daily Bible reading schedule in a (I think) calendar book I got with a homeschool order.  It included four daily readings from different parts of the Bible which made it possible to get through the entire Bible in a year.  I used this method for a lot of years and shared copies of the plan with others.  Schedules like this are readily available online should you want to try this method.

At some point, I started switching between different versions; using one version for a year then choosing another for the next year.  I found this to be very helpful in understanding different passages.  It also can cause different scriptures to jump out to us.

A new tool that was brought out several years ago is the "Reader's Version" of the Bible.  This is the Bible with no chapter and verse markings.  The idea is that the reader can just read without the interruption of chapter markings.  Now, there are several different versions in this format.  I began using these and really enjoy them.  I can highly recommend them.  I have used the ESV, CSB, NKJV and ASV.  There may be other versions out there in this format.  

Whatever plan you choose, do something!  Make the decision now to start a daily Bible reading plan.  Let the Holy Spirit give the blessings that come through scripture.  

If you feel like you can't read that much in each day, choose a plan that will take you through the Bible in two years.  They are available.

 ARE YOU A JESUS FREAK?

Back in the days of the hippies and flower children there were also the Jesus freaks.  The term was applied to those who were part of the "Jesus movement."  It was not considered a complimentary term for the most part.  Dictionary.com defines a freak as "any abnormal phenomenon or product or unusual object."  As a general rule, people do not like being referred to as freaks.

But, in truth, as followers of Jesus we should be abnormal in comparison with the world.  We should be an unusual object to worldly eyes.  Not that we should put on silly glasses and totally crazy clothes, lol!  But as a follower of Jesus my life should look different from the lives of my non-Christian neighbors.  

Do we look just like the average citizen to those who look at us closely?  Let's consider how we should be "freaks" for Jesus.

A true follower of Jesus will consider His will in every decision.  Should I buy a new car?  Do I need a bigger house?  Where will I go to school?  Who will I marry?  How will I spend my money?  For example, do I need the newest car or can I be satisfied with an older model in good condition which I can purchase without debt?  Should I even carry large amounts of debt?  Should I work to pay off all bills and wait to buy the new appliance until I have saved the money?  

A true follower of Jesus will spend time in his word every day and will meditate on his teachings.  Life can become very busy and it is tempting to squeeze our time reading the Bible and praying into a few quick moments as we rush on to the next thing.  How do we prioritize our time?

A true follower of Jesus will rejoice in Him!  We will take joy in sharing him with others.  We won't be shy about bringing him into our conversations.  

A true follower of Jesus will obey his command to take the gospel into all the world.  Some are able to relocate to an area where the need is great, while others are able to help send them.  Being sure a share of our income is dedicated to ministries which are sharing the gospel is one way to help in the mission.  

Jesus will come first!  If we make this true in our lives we will certainly be an unusual object to the world.

Consider these scriptures:

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Matthew 10:37 (ESV)

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Luke 14:26 (ESV)

 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.  Luke 14:33 (ESV)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, John 8:31 (ESV)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  John 14:15 (ESV)

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  1 Peter 2:21-23 (ESV)

Let's all work to be "freaks" for Jesus!