His Presence

Sometimes a church building can be a creepy place at night. Whatever the reason I’m here, being in the building late, alone just gives me shivers. Otherwise bright and cheerful classrooms become vast, dark voids. Crowded, happy hallways become long black corridors. And an auditorium that is usually full of smiling faces and laughter transforms into a collage of shadows and disconcerting creeks. I know that there is no one else in the building, but walking down the hall and out the door to the parking lot, I can’t help but conjure up horror movie images of something lurking in the shadows behind me. And I shiver with the thought that there is someone else here with me. Which is a silly thought because we have locks and cameras and our building is sandwiched between a police station and a busy hospital. But you just get that feeling sometimes.

I had a meeting with a parent recently. Nothing serious, just light conversation. But when we parted ways they made a comment that gave me the shivers. She said that her kid is “getting it,” that it’s sinking in, and the Spirit of God is on the move in their life. And as I stood in the hallway outside of my office, now alone in the building, I shivered. I wasn’t cold or creeped out, but for a single astonishing moment of clarity I was afraid. Afraid like all the folks in the Bible are afraid. And in part afraid for the same reason I’m afraid when I’m in the building all alone at night, because I knew there was someone else here with me. Not because of the building I was standing in, but because I let my guard down for a minute, turned off the security cameras and unlocked the doors and allowed God to move without my manipulations or restraints. And a God that moves unbridled is a scary thought. And you shiver.

But it’s a good scared, like when you just get off a roller coaster. It was fast, a rush, uncertain, but had an overwhelming presence of safety and control. Isn’t that what we’re longing for in our faith? A faith and a God that exhilarates us and maybe even scares us? I Kings 19 tells us a story of God appearing to the prophet Elijah in a time of great stress and anxiety for the messenger. And as Elijah is waiting for God a great wind, then an earthquake, and then a fire comes that shakes the mountains around him. And then a “gentle whisper,” passes by and in its presence Elijah knows that there is someone else there with him.

When was the last time God moved in your life like a whisper or a vapor? Not in some big, monumental, extravaganza of mass-marketed Christianity, but in a manner that was so subtle, so slight, and yet ever so real that it broke you? When was the last time you were alone but knew that there was someone else there with you? Many of us have a day-to-day life that is structured, scheduled, routine, and predictable. And you can have a God that is that same way, predictable, safe, routine. Which is appealing because then he’s is convenient, easy, and comprehensible. But do you want or, even more, need a God that is a mystery, exciting, and alive and brings you to life?

Father, in the presence of your bigness, mysteriousness, and reality sometimes we minimize you into a God that we can grasp, control, own, and consume. Forgive us for our disrespect. May we be a people that anticipates your moving in our life. May we look forward to it, excited by the life you breath into us. God, make our hairs stand on end. Make our hearts race in the midst of your “gentle whisper.” Make us aware when there is someone else here with us. Humble us with the knowledge that you are a mystery and are uncontainable and unpredictable. And make us a people that become alive when you are in our company.

Chris Palmer
Stephenville, Texas

From Etch-A-Sketch to Master Artists!

IT’S AMAZING!! Dating back to the late 1950’s, the Etch A Sketch is one classic toy whose cultural presence has extended beyond it’s intended role as a children’s doodling device! Still popular today, the “toy” has become a device used by young and old alike to create real complex art! Now, I confess, I never really progressed past the doodling level of creativity, but according to the instructions, anyone who really wants to, can master the Etch A Sketch! All you have to do is learn a few basic techniques and practice-practice-practice!! As a “doodler”, the neatest feature of the Etch A Sketch is the ability to erase the imagery of your work in progress if you’re not satisfied with your efforts. Just flip the gadget over, give it a couple of light shakes and VOILA, a clean drawing board ready for a new beginning!

IT’S AMAZING!! When we consider our spiritual relationship with God, we should be grateful that He allows us to function much like the Etch A Sketch! The blessing of “free will” allows us to engage life and make decisions. Those decisions whether good or bad, mold our character. Our character thus becomes the imagery that communicates who we are to our family, friends and the world around us. When we find that our decisions have created imagery that is not what it should/could be, God gives us the opportunity to clean our slates and begin anew!! In Colossians chapter 3, Paul sets forth some practical exhortations for every day living. In verse 3, he reminds those that had heard and responded to the gospel of Christ at Colossae to “Set their minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.” They needed to continue striving to change their lives to reflect the image of Christ! Thus in verse 5, he tells them, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry.” He continues in verse 8, “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. (v9) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, (v10) and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Knowledge of Christ and his will is key to transforming our image into the likeness of his. So with our slate clean and our hearts open, let us focus on the words of Paul as he continues in verse 12, “Put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, (v13) bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (14) And above all these put on love, which binds everything in perfect harmony.” or

IT WILL BE AMAZING!! With the desire for a new beginning, an open heart and the study of God’s word, we will be amazed as He “cleans our slate” and transforms us from “doodlers” into “master artists”, creating in us a life that reflects the image of our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ!!

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love,…your mercy,…your grace,…and your long suffering towards us. We thank you for the opportunity to have and to know your word. Grant us Lord the strength, courage and determination to allow the power of your word to transform us from the likeness of the world into the likeness of Christ!! In His name, amen!

Ron Smith
Beeville, Texas

The Power and Majesty of Jesus

Matthew 4:25 says, ‘ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed Jesus.’ Why? Why did they follow? And, why are words like ‘amazed’, ‘astonished’, ‘marveled’, and ‘in awe’ used to describe how people responded to Jesus? Why did He have such a large following?

Mark 4:35-5:42 records four events in Jesus’ life that are ‘awe-inspiring’ events. First, Jesus steps out onto the edge of a boat being pummeled by the wind on the Sea of Galilee and He has the audacity to say “Peace, be still!!”. And, do you want to hear something more absurd than that? The wind and the sea obey. Next, Jesus exits the boat on the shore of the Gerasenes and a wild man meets him—a man possessed with demons. Jesus, without blinking His eyes, casts out the man’s demons. This man, who has cut himself and shrieked in his agony and wrenched apart the bonds that held him, a man who has lived in isolation and without clothing and has scared the living daylights out of people, is transformed into a man, clothed and in his right mind and conversing rationally with Jesus. DEMON-FREE!! Next, while walking with a crowd of people to check on the sick daughter of Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, a woman who has suffered for twelve years with hemorrhaging quietly comes up behind Jesus and touches his cloak. She wants healing, but she wants it to happen secretly. The result of her action of faith: what doctors for twelve years have been unable to do happens. She is healed because she touches the cloak of Jesus. Finally, the climax of these miraculous events: Jesus goes on to the house of Jairus, despite the news that his twelve year old daughter has died. With her parents looking on, Jesus speaks to the dead girl as if she were taking a nap. “Little girl, get up!” The inconceivable happens. SHE STANDS UP AND WALKS AROUND AND EATS.

Why do we ‘stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene’? Because He is God. To the people who saw Him here on earth, He demonstrated His power over nature (‘the wind and the sea obey Him’), over demons (‘come out of this man’), over disease (‘Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him’), and even death (‘Talitha koum!’). May we never lose our amazement about Jesus! As we read the gospels afresh, let us fall in love with Jesus the Nazarene! As the old song says, ‘I keep falling in love with Him over and over, and over and over again. He gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by, oh what a love between my Lord and I, I keep falling in love with Him over and over and over and over again.’

Prayer: Our Father, we thank you for sending Your only Son to be our savior. We love Him for how He gave of Himself for us. Help me to fall at His feet in worship and in awe. Amen.

Terry Brown
Abilene, Texas

My Daddy's Lap

When I was a little girl, every night after supper I jumped down from my chair, ran around to the other side of the table, and climbed up into my daddy’s lap. Sometimes I had to ask first, “Daddy, can I sit in your lap now?” because he might not be quite through eating. But if he were through, or almost through with his supper, he’d push back from the table, turn his chair sideways, I was welcomed.

I’d snuggle up in his lap with my back against his chest, my head laid back on his left shoulder, and his left arm cozily around me. We always laughed when my fine hair invariably caught in his heavy, 12-hours-old beard and tickled his face. Chuckling, he’d wipe my hair away from his face while I tried to scootch down a bit further in his lap so my hair wouldn’t tickle him so much. He’s ask me how my day went, what happened, what all I had done, in general hearing about my life from my perspective. If he had questions, we’d discuss whatever he wanted to know more about, trying to understand my heart.

On other occasions, when Daddy had to discipline me (never because of what I told him at “lap time”) and I was left crying, with my feelings more hurt than anything else, he required that I come to his lap after my punishment was over. Then he talked to me, hugged me, made sure I understood how and why my behavior was not acceptable in our home. What I had to do to meet with his approval was always clear. Do what he said! No ambiguity! I always knew that he “meant business” about my behavior. My parents had expectations of my behavior which were taught, were reasonable, were consistent, and were not to be ignored!

Even after I had acted “naughty,” my daddy loved holding me. I always loved that he held me so freely. He loved that I came to him with joys, hurts, problems, successes, laughter, tears. I loved him because he loved me so. Everything in my life was a “good excuse” to go to my Daddy’s lap. My Daddy’s lap always meant unconditional love! All I had to do to know it again was to come to him!

In Mark 10:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.” In the eyes of Jesus and Jehovah, we are all little children. Our God, our heavenly Father, wants us, His children. to come to him with everything in our lives: our questions and understandings, our laughter and tears, our successes and dissappointments, our fears and comforts, when we hurt and when we rejoice, when we cry and when we laugh, when we know we have sinned and when we have served Him well. He wants to be the most important part of our total lives. He wants us, in effect, to sit on His lap, to share with him all things in our lives, to give him our cares, wants, thanks, joys, love. We can’t physically sit on the lap of Jesus or of God as I did my Daddy’s lap. Instead, we can spirtiually come to our “Abba,” Father (Rom 8:15) through Jesus Christ, mentally curl up in His lap, and empty our hearts to Him.

His loving arms will be wrapped around us, ready at all times to lift us up in love and show us again the way to serve God and others. Anything in our hearts and minds is a perfect “excuse” to go to His lap.

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Beloved Father, thank You so much for always waiting, ready at any moment to listen to our thoughts, our prayers, on any occasion. On this earth we cannot begin to understand the depths of your love and kindness toward us in sending Jesus Christ so we can be ransomed from our transgressions, so that we may come before you with all this is on our hearts. We gratefully acknowledge what You have done for us and give You all the praise and glory and thanks for Who You are, for what You have done, and for what You do for us continually. By your loving care, help us to know You more, and in our knowing you, to constantly learn from You how to daily join in the glorious life of our salvation by serving You and others more fully. Through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Marilyn Schulze
Stephenville, Texas

The Glory of the Lord

There was a slight chill in the air late one fall evening. It was the kind of chill where one likes to snuggle into a hoodie or sweater to go outside. The evening was one of those moonless nights, so that when I closed the door of the cabin, blocking the light, the darkness was like the darkness I felt when the lights were turned off deep in Carlsbad Cavern. Soon, my eyes adapted to the darkness and the sky overhead took on a brilliance of it’s own as our own galaxy, the Milky Way, spread overhead, glowing with all its glory from the light of billions of stars. Above me in all directions I could see stars and familiar star formations. My gaze brought into focus some familiar objects like the north star Polaris, the constellation Ursa Major which is also known as the Larger Bear or just the Bear, Orion the Hunter, and the beautiful Pleiades, sometimes called the Seven Sisters. From my studies in astronomy, I knew that the individual stars and objects I could see with my unaided eyes comprised only a very small fraction of the billions upon billions of stars and galaxies which can be seen by large telescopes. I was then, as I always am, amazed at the non-ending extent and beauty of the heavens around me. I reminisced on the fact that our God made all this for us, his greatest creation, to discover, study and enjoy. God saw that is was good.

The Orion Nebula

When I see beautiful sights as this, I remember that Paul, writing to the Philippians, said that we, as the children of God, shine like stars in the universe.

I also remember what Job said:

“He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted.” (Job 9:9-10)

Then there was David who put the following words to song:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalms 19:1)

I can only image that Job, some time in his life, walked many evenings in a dark pasture or field and gazed up at the stars overhead. Perhaps David, as he fled from King Saul, looked at the star studded skies above. Then, before going to sleep, perhaps they laid down and gazed upon the very same planets, stars and star formations that you and I see today. I can only imagine what they pondered about the beauty and greatness of the heavens which the Lord created for all of us to enjoy, since the beginning of time.

Praise be the Lord God, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, who is greater than all we can see or imagine. The universe is vast, without known boundaries, but your greatness, oh God, is so much more than all this. Nothing exceeds your majesty, power, knowledge, goodness, and love. Blessed be the name of Jehovah who loved us so much that, not only did you create the beauty of the heavens and earth for us, but you sent your only son that we might be redeemed to enjoy your goodness and love forever and ever through the Son. Amen.

Paul Schulze, PhD
Stephenville, Texas

The Contented Life

Do you ever feel like you are chasing your tail trying to chase the American dream? Are you working long hours, taking on more work than humanly possible? Maybe you don’t work outside the home, but do you desire to have the perfect house and best dressed, most well behaved kids? Do you sometimes find that you are not satisfied with your talents and that you don’tfully value yourself?

Our culture has engrained in us the notion that not pushing ourselves to do more and be more simply isn’t American. We certainly should always strive to improve our skills and groom our talents. However, we allow Satan to influence us into believing we aren’t good enough, smart enough, wealthy enough, successful enough, attractive enough and so on.

Discontentment can infiltrate our lives in so many ways. Because of our free will, God knew we would be tempted by envy and covetousness. Since the fall of man, we have struggled with this very thing. In fact, it’s the tenth commandment God gave Moses and the Israelites.

"'And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.' (Duet. 5:21 ESV)

Working towards goals to have earthly things is not necessarily a sin. The deep longing and attitude that we are some how incomplete without these things is sinful. Nothing should consume our thoughts, time, and effort so much that we fail to be content with our situation and distract us from whole–heartedly serving our Father.

Consider these words from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi:

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

As Christians, we are assured that our loving Father has and will provide ALL that we need! His perfect love was demonstrated by sending His son to earth to live in the flesh, face temptations just as we face them and prevail over sin through his death at Calvary. How much more can we desire than this perfect love?

Having a happy heart and focused mind is vital to our walk with Christ. In order for God to use us and mold us into the children He desire’s us to be, we must be content with our circumstance and value ourselves as His children, made perfect and sinless through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Michelle Tittor
Cleburne, Texas

Why Do We Give Praise?

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalms 34:1

The scriptures tell us to “praise God.” We know that that is what Christians do. They praise God. They worship God. But do all of us understand WHY we praise God? I ask because I suspect that there are many individuals – especially new Christians - who assume that God demands praise simply because God wants to feel elevated. True, that ought to be enough to compel us. But leaving it at that – deciding that we praise God only because it is expected of us, purely for God’s own sake - can lead some to thinking less highly of God than they perhaps otherwise would.

I don’t recall ever hearing another believer try to explain to me why we praise God, other than by reminding that God commands us to do so. But I do believe that we are able to know the reasons WHY God would command it, if we simply apply ourselves to the matter.

In Psalms 35:28, we read, “And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness And Your praise all day long.”

Why would a Supreme Being want us to extol His virtues to ourselves and to our fellow man? Taken at the surface level, it sounds a bit like egotism or vanity. But if we truly credit the being as a Supreme Being, and if that Supreme Being is perfect in every way, then those perfect traits include humility, moderation, sensibility, groundedness. Can any Being that is humble and grounded really want us to sing His praises simply so that He Himself might feel elevated and uplifted and higher than all others? How could a Supreme Being be so empty or insecure as to need to be bucked up by our words and thoughts? So that cannot be His reasons for wanting it. A Supreme Being lacks for nothing. Realizing this, we begin to realize that everything that God does for His creation is beneficial for the creation. The same with praise. How could praise be beneficial to we who give praise? Is it possible that it could be more beneficial to the giver than to the Receiver? Well, think about it... How can we not be uplifted if we are declaring to the world something that is not only good and true, but also worthy of the world's notice? And if we believe in God, are we not morally obliged to be honest with ourselves and our fellow man and woman about Him? If we are declaring to the world the surpassing qualities of something higher than ourselves, we are benefiting ourselves in every way. We are making ourselves better people than we had been moments before. We are becoming stronger and better attuned to truth, and more appreciative of truth, and more vocal about truth, and more in touch with our own beliefs, and less ambivalent about them, and less “double-minded,” and more pure of heart, than we had been moments before we performed this act. The Bible holds that the truth is something to be “shouted from the rooftops.” And how can anyone argue with that? How can someone not be a better person for espousing one's heart's desires and deepest beliefs with courage and honesty and sincerity?

God is someone beyond improvement, beyond flattery, beyond egotism. If He enjoys praise at all, it is only because He wills himself to be pleased by it. He wills himself a need where previously no need existed. And why do that? If He wills himself to be pleased by something like praise, it can only be for the benefit of his creation. We cannot consider him to be needy and still think of him as supreme.

Prayer:
To You, the all-knowing, all-seeing God, I offer up my praise and worship. You are perfect in every way. Perfect in Power. Perfect in purity and holiness. Perfect in your Plan that you have for each one of us. Thank you that I was brought, by Your Will, into this creation and into this Plan that you have for me and for all whom you love. I pray that I might know your will better every day. That I might know your presence daily. That I might walk in your light. That your Word might guide my steps. That I might feel the closeness to You that is the greatest treasure anyone can know. To God be the glory, now and forever. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.

Jesse Mullins
Abilene, Texas