At the Cross

I remember a dark time in my life. The church was going through difficulty; I was going through the wringer. I cried more than I laughed. I sighed more than I prayed. It was during this sad time, Steven came to visit. Steven is our oldest grandson. He was three at the time. We had a ritual he enjoyed. We would go into my office at home, sit on the couch and look at guns. We would talk about hunting and adventure.

That evening, we were looking at a rifle. I was depressed and didn’t want to get up and get it, so I was ignoring him. Then he said, “You know, Pa, when you look through that gun, you see that cross like where Jesus died. He was talking about the cross hairs in the scope. But when he said it, I was shocked back to reality. “What did you say? I asked”. He replied, “You know, that thing that when you look through it, you see that cross like where Jesus died.”  “Tell me about when Jesus died.” So he did.  Every detail.  I was overwhelmed and started to cry. Steven said, “It’s O.K., He’s alive now and He’s coming back.”          

Well, I really started to cry and I went and got Patsy. I sat her down on the other side of Steven and said, “Steven, tell Honey about when Jesus died.” And he did. Only better this time. He added more details and excitement to the story. Now we are both crying. That little guy took our hands in his and said, “It’s O.K., He’s alive you know and he’s coming back. NOTHING CAN STOP JESUS!        

You know, I knew that, but I must have forgotten. I was so busy with my sins and others, that I forgot. So the best sermon I ever heard was from a three year old. “It’s O.K., He’s alive you know, and He’s coming back.”

Dear Father, You sent Your son into darkness to save me. You held nothing back to free me. Thank you for Your great love and great grace. Even when I forget You, You do not forget me. When I am faithless, You are faithful. Help me to remember when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death that You are with me. Help me not to be afraid. Help me to remember You have already won. In the name of Jesus, that name that nothing can stop. I pray. Amen

Paul Shero

San Angelo, Texas

"Of Christ"..?

As many of you know we started another round of our Small Group Sessions here at Graham St. Church last night. Man oh Man, what a refreshing and rejuvenating experience this is. I am not sure how many of you are plugged into a Small Group as of yet. If you are you know how up-lifting of an experience this is. If you are not in one of the groups I strongly encourage you to get engaged in one. Jessica, the kids and I have just finished our first full week here in Stephenville and have eagerly awaited the time on Sunday nights to share in this experience and last night started out with a bang--and a big bang, I should say.

In my group, we discussed what it means to be “Of Christ."  When you think about this idea, I am sure many things come to mind.  I know for me personally, it really tugs at my intellect and stretches my faith. What does “Of Christ” really mean for us? How authentic and genuine are we? Are we pew sitter people that have crafty ways to deceive ourselves and others to think we are “Of Christ,” but really are not? Where do our hearts stand in relation to this concept?

Jesus is relational.  He expects us as human beings to ultimately have and want to have a relationship with him. He also expects us to have a relationship with others. When you are intimate with someone else, you trust them enough to share your secrets. As God, Jesus already knows everything about you anyway, but when you choose to tell him what’s hidden deep within you, it proves you trust him. Trust is hard. You’ve probably been betrayed by other people, and when that happened, maybe you swore you’d never open up again. But Jesus loved you and trusted you first. He laid down his life for you. That sacrifice has earned him your trust. Many of my secrets are sad, and maybe yours are too. It hurts to bring them up again and give them to Jesus, but that is the path to intimacy.

If you want the closest of relationships with Jesus and others, you have to risk opening your heart. There’s no other way but this to be “Of Christ." Christ wants to fellowship with His creation. His Word says that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). This process does not have to be difficult; it just has to be sincere and consistent. Each day, throughout the course of your day, give of yourself to Him, and just as the Word promises, He will respond.

Jesus, thank you for loving us. Help us to have the same unconditional love for others that you had for us. Soften our hearts so that we are genuine in being “Of Christ.” Shape our paths that we are always conscious of living for you and others. In your most Holy Name, Amen.

Landon Kribbs

Stephenville, Texas

Theme: Be Thankful!

Just a Coke Can

It was just a coke on a hot summer day.  After a long day in the sun, filled with sights that made my stomach hurt, head pound, and eyes swell from crying, its taste was sweet and refreshing.  

I sat on a curb in a dirty market place, surrounded by a small group of children.  A little girl, not much older than seven, stopped to sell me something from the large platter of wares that sat atop her head.   I was shocked to see a small baby strapped to her back.  Our group was beginning a two week trip into some of the villages of northern Ghana.  We had stopped to exchange money and buy supplies for the upcoming journey.  While we were waiting, one of the Ghanaian preachers had purchased (with probably all the money he had for that week) cokes for six of us.  As I drank my coke the little girl smiled up at me with a longing expression.  I later learned that children are typically much older than they appear, but still this young girl taking care of a younger sibling and working to support her family was too much to bear.  I shared my drink with her and quickly other children surrounded her.  I was aghast as she turned to the oldest boy and compliantly handed the half full can over to him.  He then told the other children something that sounded authoritative and demanding.  I was on the verge of going for help from a local adult when the kids began doing something that was astounding.  I watched as one by one they took a sip and passed the can on to the next child.  They made two rounds of the group in this fashion, but the sharing continued as the oldest boy took out a homemade knife and cut off the top of the can.  They passed the can and shared the remaining drops, with happy smiles.  Thankful.

Once the can had been licked clean (yes, I mean they licked the inside of the can clean) the boy with the knife cut off the bottom of the can and gave the remaining aluminum to another boy in the group.  That boy took the can and hammered it out flat while the older boy fashioned the top and bottom into wheels.  They then took the now rectangle piece of aluminum and folded it into a kind of axle and attached the two wheels.  Another boy came with a long stick and attached this make-shift “car” to the stick.  This “car” was shared among the group, but I was given the distinct impression that it was meant to go home with the young girl at the end of the day.  Thankful.

Though I can vividly remember what happened that day, it is easy for me to forget this lesson on perspective.  When the transmission breaks, the blessing of a new child necessitates a bigger vehicle, salaries are reduced, or an insurance deductible needs to be met, my perspective can become skewed.  I can easily become anxious.  To make matters worse I sometimes allow Satan to fuel my anxiety with materialism.  What begins as a light drizzle of what I think are ‘needs’, can suddenly and quickly turn into a thunderstorm of greedy wants.  The feel-good thankfulness of Thanksgiving Day can become the dark cloud of Black Friday.  I can compare my lot with others and feel underprivileged.  As we read in Ecclesiastes 6:7,    “All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not satisfied.”

What this verse means to me is that I am not alone in this struggle.  From the time Adam was cursed with feeding his family by the sweat of his brow, we humans have longed for more and more.  Even though God has given us love and grace beyond measure, he still understands this struggle.  Jesus tells us, “…do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat nor about your body, what you put on.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing…But if God so clothes the grass…how much more will he clothe you.”  Luke chapter twelve has a lot to say about being thankful in perspective.

Jesus cares about our physical needs, even a few of our wants; but God calls us to keep our minds on the eternal.  The way we get a proper thankful perspective is by seeking His Kingdom priorities first.

As we enter into this truly Christian season of thanksgiving, let’s all be reminded that we have enough and should be thankful.  I would be surprised if even one person reading this blog were in truly deep need of food and shelter.  But even if we find ourselves one day truly hungry and in need like the little girl in the market, let us be reminded that we are still saved and be…Thankful.  

“Not what you possess but what you do with what you have, determines your true worth.”
-Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)   

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you.  Help me to see my many blessings from your perspective.   Help me to live and to act as I should:  thankful.  Amen.

Dana Jaworski
Anchor Point, AK

Jars of Joy

It seems that when things are going bad, it is second nature to worry. Stress and anxiety seem easier at times than trusting in God. Much of the worry in our lives is failure on our part to believe and trust the hand of God. Maybe we view this world as a place intended simply for our happiness and our jars of joy are empty.  When we allow our minds to run wild with worry, we receive absolutely no joy.

So how do we fill our jars with joy during those intolerable times? There are numerous scriptures which tell us that when we give thanks for the daily gifts God gives us that our thanksgiving creates abundance and multiplies our joy.  In Philippians 4:11-12  the apostle Paul says, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether is it with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little”. (See also:  Eph. 5: 20; Phil. 4: 6; John 6: 11; Matt. 14: 19; Matt. 15: 36; Romans 5: 3; 2 Cor. 7: 4)

We can give thanks in everything because God is working all things together for good. God has already proved his love for us by sending his son. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8: 32).

I think the point in all this is simply this:  when we are wrestling with our emotions and feeling abandoned by God we should trust in the Lord’s love. There is no point at which God does not love us. He never lets us down. He is always there and meets every need perfectly. Even in our sins, God continues to love us. Much like Moses’ experience in Exodus 33, it is in the dark that God is passing by. He tucks us in the cleft of the rock and covers us with his hand (Ex. 33: 22-23).  When the dust settles we look back and see God’s back.

God blesses those who are humble (Matt. 5:5).   When we are in a place of humble thanks, God protects and blesses us with more gifts and our jar of joy never runs dry.

Father, we desire to be a grateful people. Help us to be mindful of our blessings in all circumstances. Open our eyes so that we can see You working in our situations.

Carla Henson

Abilene, Texas

What's Your Story?

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the One he loves. - Ephesians 1:12

Once upon a time, in a land no longer far away, a child was born.  Naked, bloody and helpless it was thrown into the wilderness to die.  Before wild beasts could devour it, the Master of the sun – and everything under it – rescued the child because it was his.  He made a covenant he would always keep, and loved it with a Love too powerful to comprehend.

Like most children, this child’s gratitude was conditional, and its memory short.  Over time a pattern emerged that grieved the father’s heart.  When the child misbehaved, the father rescued, warned and forgave.  After a period of remorse, the child rebelled again, and again the father rescued, warned and forgave.  The child continued to ignore its father’s warnings, behaving more detestably than the wickedest children in the world!  

Many years passed and the child forgot Who, where, and what condition it was in when rescued.  At his wit’s end – and in an effort to ultimately save the child’s life – the father did something he had never done before.  He withdrew his favor.  His punishment is reputed to have equaled the severity of the child’s depravity.  It also proved the depth of the father’s love.  

As the story goes, the father kept all his covenant promises to the child, eventually extending those promises to his adopted children as well.    

And the rest, they say, is history.

You may recognize this story.  It’s my sophomoric attempt to summarize a portion of the prophet Ezekiel’s graphic, sometimes pornographic, message to the children of Israel (see Ezekiel 5).  

Paul began his letter to the Christians in Ephesus by reminding them of the spiritual blessings they enjoy because God adopted them and treated them like his own flesh and blood.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There is properly no history, only biography.”  From the beginning of time our “biography” has been part of God’s plan.  It not only reminds us of our past, but reveals our future as well.

Awesome Father, you rescued us when we were too rebellious to know we needed rescuing.  Your love is so great it breaks our hardened hearts.  Fill us with your presence so our lives can be a praise to your glorious grace.  Through Christ we pray, amen.

Sandra Milholland

Abilene, Texas

Thank You, Shirley

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:7-8

Some people we meet while on our journey through this life stand out like a neon sign on a dark night. The light that shines from within them beams across our path and shows us where the next steps need to fall.  Her name is Shirley Eubank and the light glowing from within her made a lasting impression on me and served as a welcome guide for a portion of my journey.

When I was still fairly young in my faith, with few scrapes or bruises, I came to know Shirley. She was the wife of an elder, the mother of three, and a rock in the faith. Shirley had leukemia. Many times she would come to worship feeling nauseous or so exhausted from treatments that she could barely stand. Yet she always brought a smile with her and an encouraging word. Though she was nearly twenty-five years my senior she treated me as a close friend. She loved and encouraged me and my husband, Randy, frequently commenting on what a good lesson he preached or how blessed she was to know us. I felt warmth and love every time I was in her presence. Though it would be a few years before I experienced difficult struggles – the kind that rock your faith – I learned something from Shirley about trials that I never forgot. We were talking one day about the story of Job. Shirely had been reading the book of Job for her daily study. I knew the story of Job but Shirley had traveled inside the story of Job. One day she was talking about her illness and I was startled by something she said. She said, “Why NOT me?”

At the time, I was so impressed by her faith. It wasn’t until years later and miles traveled through life that I truly understood what she was saying.

Struggles and trials of one kind or another will fall upon all of us. Our journey is not without its share of potholes and roadblocks. The ways we see our struggle, or maybe the way we see God, can serve to strengthen or destroy our faith in God and His purposes.

During those stretches of road when I couldn’t see around the next bend and wasn’t sure I would survive the trip I had to stop and think why? Then I remembered Shirley. And so many others. I thought of Joseph and David whose lives were turned upside down by people with questionable motives. I thought about the woman at the well and the woman with the issue of blood. So many people mentioned in scripture who survived the struggle, grew in their faith, and serve as a reminder to me that my struggle may serve a greater purpose of which I’m totally unaware. For David it was to prepare him to lead a nation and leave us the beautiful prayers and songs of the Psalms. For Joseph it was to save a nation and his family. Our trials may not have such grand purposes. Or maybe they do. Perhaps the experience is to strengthen our own faith that we might endure to the end and receive the crown. Maybe it is so a loved one, friend, or even an enemy might see God.

Shirley was a simple and beautiful Christian woman living in a small west Texas town. Her strength and grace in trial helped light the path on my journey so that I might see God and His purposes.

Father, make our hearts open and willing to receive whatever comes our way knowing that you care for us and that you can see around the bend in the road. Help our hearts and minds to trust and believe you. Give us the desire to be part of your purposes here on the earth. Keep our eyes fixed on you. Amen

Heidi Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

Answer Envy

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

Do you ever envy God’s answers to someone else’s prayers?

I remember almost choking on the words, “I am so happy for you!” in response to the breaking news that friends of ours from North Carolina had sold their house after it had been on the market for twenty days.  To them it had been a long twenty days. Houses were normally snatched up quickly in their area. In our shaky West Texas economy, however, it takes a bit longer. In fact, on the day she announced that her home now had a “sold” sign in the front yard, we turned another page on our calendar — marking how long our house had been for sale. Not twenty days, but twenty months to be exact.

Although I was genuinely thrilled for my friend, I was also a tad green with jealousy.  I call this answer envy. It is that “poor me” mentality that creeps into my heart when God answers someone else’s prayers more quickly than mine. Or when He responds to them with a “yes” but His answer seems to be a “no” for me, or at least a “not right now.”

I’ve had my fair share of answer envy outbreaks over the years, at all stages of life.  Over the years I have discovered that the cure for answer envy is not always easy because I must play an active role in my own healing.  What I need is a shift in perspective. When I “call to God” as encouraged in the verse above, I must trust that He will keep His word. He will tell me “great and unsearchable things” that I do not know. Sometimes those things are the answers to my request. However, do you know what those great and unsearchable things more often are? They are the reasons He seems not to be answering my original request!

So, instead of only begging God to “sell my house” or “take away my pain” or “fix my kid,” I need also to ask myself some questions. Questions like – “What is my Creator trying to teach me that I might never learn if He were to suddenly pluck me out of this situation?” Or -  “What character qualities is He trying to grow in me? Patience, trust, compassion, contentment?”
Not available in quick microwave form, the cure for answer envy must be cultivated moment by moment.  We must believe that God will answer. He will clearly say “yes,” “no,” or “not right now.” He is able, ready and willing to answer our prayers — here is the catch — as He sees fit and to grow us to be more like His Son in the process.

It took two years until our “for sale” sign was finally replaced with a “sold” banner. It was a long stay in God’s waiting room. However, I now know this to be true: I must not merely seek the answer to my prayer. Instead, I must seek a deeper relationship with the answer Giver.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your perfect plans… Your perfect timing… and the perfect way Your development happens in my times of waiting. Grant us patience and understanding.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Casey Dacus
Graham, TX