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Yearning to be One with God and with One Another

While Janet takes a break from blog writing for the holidays, we hope you will enjoy an excerpt from her latest Advent devotional over the next few weeks. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy of Waiting for Christmas, we still have a few copies available. Order your copy here.

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Yearning to be One with God and with One Another

Entry from December 10

Christmas movies often show large families gathering to spend the Christmas Day celebration together. There is always plenty of food that is spread out for all to feast on, gifts that are opened with excitement and gratitude, and plenty of smiles and joy for the day.

Christmas movies don’t usually reflect the actual realities of Christmas. Someone had to shop for, pay for, haul home, put away, and eventually cook up all those groceries to make the meal. Some gifts are winners and others are not. Fairly often there are family members who have to put forth great effort to travel somewhere for Christmas. Every year the evening news shows families stranded on the road because of bad weather or having to spend part of their Christmas holiday waiting in an airport. There is someone who is really tired from all that time in the kitchen. There is someone who is cranky after a rough trip. And there is that someone in the crowd who tends to bring up politics, past mistakes, or something else that brings a cloud to the room. It isn’t always joy and fa-la-la.

Every now and then we experience a “Hallmark Christmas,” but most of our holidays have a bit of comedy and/or drama. That just means it’s an authentic Christmas, with real people, and a real family. As the saying goes, “Life is messy.” It always has been.

When you look at the list of characters in the Christmas story, you see normal people, living their normal lives, who were joined together by God through extraordinary experiences.

Joseph and Mary made a very difficult trip to Bethlehem.
Mary gave birth in a stable because there was no room in the inn.
The shepherds were busy all day, every day, tending their sheep.
Every pilgrim to Bethlehem had meals to prepare and chores to complete.
And poor Mary had a sleepless newborn baby to feed, clothe, and keep warm.

Then the heavens were filled with God’s glory. The angels spoke and the Messiah was announced. The shepherds laid their daily chores aside so they could go see the baby the angels had announced. Mary and Joseph might have been awakened or at least interrupted by the shepherds’ arrival. Many of the people in Bethlehem missed the Christmas miracles because they were trying to get in line, take care of the census, and just get back home.

The Christmas holiday is almost always a gathering of people with different ideas, agendas, priorities, and personalities. The unity and the joy of the holiday are witnessed as all these different people come together to celebrate the one baby King they all worship.

Some will wait all month for the celebration on December 25, and the day may disappoint. Some will miss the joy of Christmas because of earthly realities. Our job as Christians should be to follow the shepherds’ lead and take the time to pursue Jesus each day until we find him. Other things in this busy holiday season matter, but seeking Jesus will always matter most.

Waiting for the Peace of God

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Waiting for the Peace of God

Entry from December 3

The shepherds were in the field when a host of angels appeared praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14). Peace and joy are important themes in our Christmas story.

During their four hundred years of waiting for the Messiah, the Jewish people yearned and prayed for peace. It was a difficult time in Israel under the Greco-Roman rulers. Some of the most difficult years occurred about halfway through the intertestamental period. According to the Museum of the Bible’s website,

“It was 167 BC, Mattathias the Hasmonean was a Jew and he was furious. The king who reigned over the region had sent his officers to Mattathias’s hometown in Judea. The officers were trying to force Mattathias, his five sons, and their neighbors to perform sacrifices to their gods. When another Jew stepped forward to make the sacrifice, Mattathias killed him on the altar. The king’s officer was next. Finally, Mattathias tore down the altar. The Hasmonean Revolt was born. Over a century earlier, Hellenistic forces had taken control of Judea and forced their culture and religion upon the people. According to the first book of Maccabees, one of the Hellenistic kings defiled the temple, forbade circumcision, and even set up altars to his gods. Some Jews went along with the changes. Others, like Mattathias, fought to remain faithful to the Law. The revolt is also known by the name Maccabee, after the most renowned of Mattathias’s sons, Judah the Maccabee (which means “Judah the hammer”). When Mattathias died, two years into the revolt, his sons carried on. In the end, the Maccabees recaptured Jerusalem and regained their freedom. The festival of Hanukkah celebrates the restoration of the temple. The family of Mattathias and Judah ruled until the rise of the Herods in 63 BC. The Maccabean revolt was seared into Jewish memory. It shaped the way first-century Jews thought about foreign powers and faithfulness to the Law (“The Story of the Maccabees,” Museum of the Bible, accessed June 27, 2025).”

While we celebrate the Messiah’s birth, many will celebrate the victory that Hanukkah recalls instead. Peace during the Christmas season is an important aim, but true peace isn’t found in the absence of troubles. God’s peace is experienced through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus spoke to his disciples saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

When the birth of Jesus was announced to the shepherds, the angels praised God, announcing his peace to those with whom God was pleased. The peace of Christmas is the peace of Christ that transcends the troubles of this world. Who do you know that needs the peace of Jesus this Christmas season?

Let’s pray for his peace to permeate our holiday with his joy and purpose. God has always fought for his children so they could live their best lives. His goal is to give us the peace that Jesus was born to provide. May this be a peace-filled day of great joy because you spend it faithfully, protected and loved through the holy presence of Christ.

You are a chosen believer

The Bible teaches us to “humble ourselves,” yet it also teaches us that we have been “chosen” by the Creator of the world to be his children. It’s hard to be humble when we realize who our Father is! That’s why God sent us his Son. Of all the character qualities of Christ, his humility is the most profound.

Jesus stepped away from his throne in heaven to become a helpless infant, born in a cave to impoverished parents. The Son of God worked long days as a carpenter and then became a homeless prophet. He washed the feet of his disciples and then forgave them when all but John chose not to watch him suffer on a cross for their sins.

Yet Paul told the Ephesian church, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4–5).

We are about to enter another holiday season. How do we live these next weeks for the glory of the One who chose us to be his own? You are a chosen believer. How best can you serve your King?

Did God choose us or did we choose him?

Jesus told his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16).

I don’t have a degree in theology, but I’m married to someone I often refer to as my “live-in commentary.” I’ve heard him have the predestination conversation with other theologians. You can put these people in a room, and after each one speaks, it’s easy to see his or her point.

Jesus told his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Did he choose us, or did he choose us to become his disciples after we chose him? Those conversations are debates that I don’t really want to get involved with. I think the point is a practical one. When we get to heaven, the people that God has chosen will be there with us. For those of us who are Christians, we are now part of the chosen race, and we can know that God has chosen us to fulfill a purpose here on earth.

For what purpose did God choose you to be his child?

Different gifts, one purpose

Who are we in Christ Jesus, and what were we chosen to accomplish with our earthly lives?

Peter wrote to the first-century Christians and said, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Peter’s audience for this letter is uncertain. His readers could have been Christians who had been Jewish, having stepped from the Old Covenant relationship with God into the New Covenant established by Christ. But his audience could also have been Gentile believers who had come to know that they were now the “chosen race” of God. There has been considerable debate over the recipients of Peter’s letter, but the practical implications remain the same.

If we are Christians, in the first century or today, we can know this about ourselves: We were chosen by God to be his people. We need to see ourselves as:

A royal priesthood appointed to carry the gospel message so others can be right with God.
A holy nation of people who live with God’s biblical priorities.
A people whose first identity is as the adopted children of God, his heirs.
A people chosen and gifted by his Spirit to tell others about the excellencies of Christ.
A people who each live with the light of Christ and encourage others to live that way too.

When we view the Bible as a practical book of instruction from the apostles, theological debates take a secondary role. We can look at the standards Peter set for the chosen people of God, and we can see that those standards have always been his goal for his children.

God told the people of the Old Testament to “be holy because I’m holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Peter told Christians that God still has those same standards for the children of the New Covenant. Many, if not most, of the Old Testament children had come to define “chosen” as better than others. God never intended that. The “chosen” of the Old Testament were supposed to live with God’s blessings, his word, and his purpose. Their blessed lives were intended to demonstrate to the world that their God was the Creator of the universe. Instead, they used God’s commands to be separate from the world to cause them to feel better than others. They didn’t live as an example; they lived as if they were superior.

So, God gave the world Jesus so that everyone who believed could be saved. There was never a time when God’s love was only for his children. The Old Covenant became the New Covenant so that everyone would understand what God wanted for this world.

Interestingly, the principles above are just as valid today as they were when they were written.

You are a chosen believer

We are entering the holiday season, and Peter’s teachings remain a valuable message for the days ahead.

If we walk through each day of this season with God’s priorities, we will see ourselves first and foremost as his child who has a divine kingdom purpose.

Live as if you truly understand what Thanksgiving and Christmas are about. Remember that you have been gifted through the Holy Spirit of Christ for every conversation and circumstance that comes your way. God has a way of introducing “appointments” in our lives so that others can hear a word from God. It takes about seven touches for people to finally admit that they sense God at work. You might be the second touch or the seventh in God’s divine plan. Our job is simply to recognize the opportunity to be the person of Christ in someone’s life, through the Holy Spirit.

This is a great week to commit your holiday season to the work of Christ. I hope we sit in our homes on New Year’s Day, grateful for the fact that God used our lives during the holidays to serve his kingdom purpose.

You are a chosen believer. Let’s be grateful and prayerful servants in these coming weeks. God will honor our prayers and our priorities.

Your secret place with God

This is a busy time of year for our family. In addition to the holidays, we have several birthdays to celebrate. I began speaking at our church last Wednesday night about this year’s Advent book, Waiting for Christmas, and realized that the holiday season is already in full swing. Now is a good time to focus on God’s plans for this year’s holidays.

My husband and I have enjoyed a season of “simplification” these past two years. We actually like the fact that we are a bit older now, and things don’t need to run at the frenzied pace of past years. God created us to need quiet in our lives. What better time for us to consider carving out some moments with our Father as the calendar begins to fill up, and the holiday “to-do list” grows longer.

How can we gear up for the upcoming holidays and maintain our quiet, peaceful moments with God?

Where is your secret place?

Jesus taught his disciples, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

Do you have a spot where you can go each day for the sole purpose of spending time with God? Pick a chair, a time, and make an appointment daily to sit with the Creator of the universe, your Father.

What chair can you move to when the season gets busy that helps you turn off the world and listen to God? If you don’t have that spot, make that your early Christmas gift to yourself today.

Allow creation to speak to your soul

I try to carve out quiet moments every day to spend time with God. I love the early morning hours. I have a spot where I can sit and watch the sunrise outside my back window. Almost every morning, I am blessed to witness the majesty of God spread across the sky. That quiet, peaceful time is often when I gain thoughts about something I will be teaching or writing that week. It is also a time when God brings people to my heart and mind whom I need to be praying for. When we witness and consider the greatness of God in his creation, we position ourselves to listen to his silent, all-powerful voice.

King David learned to hear God speak through creation. In Psalm 19:1–4, he wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words, no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out to all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

I picture David, as a young teenage boy, out in the fields with his sheep. David’s life was likely the result of those moments in the field, when he watched a sunrise or sunset and learned to trust the quiet, silent voice of God in his thoughts. David said those moments, “pour forth speech and reveal knowledge.”

Every morning and every night, we can witness the consistent, all-powerful character of God through a sunrise, sunset, or a miraculous display of the moon and the stars. The challenge is to turn off the world’s noise and distractions and experience God’s holy and powerful presence. And, according to King David, to open our thoughts up to his.

If we want to spend the holiday season with God, we will need to take time to sit in awe of his creation and turn our thoughts to his voice.

God “rewards” the time you spend with him

Jesus said, “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

The God of the universe wants to spend time with us. He gave his Son that first Christmas day so that we could spend all of eternity with him in heaven. He watched Jesus suffer and die so that his salvation could perfect those who believed. Everything God has done in this world has been for the sake of our eternal relationship with him.

God molds our hearts and souls when we set aside moments to sit with him and listen. The wisdom, direction, and peace that result from those times are heavenly rewards for our day. When the schedule gets full, we need those times with God even more.

Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). The most important reward we gain from our quiet times with God is that voice. You can know the voice of Jesus and walk through this holiday season with his peaceful direction.

That’s the reward of spending time with God and listening.

A busy week that just got blessed

I woke up really early this morning. Too early, or so I thought. I was staring out my back window, knowing the sun wouldn’t be rising for a couple of hours. I have a busy week and a lot on my mind. I began to consider my schedule, and then I began to consider my blessings.

As I sat in my “quiet place,” God came and sat with me. Now, after enjoying that time with him, I am done writing this week’s article. Even as I type, I know that these words were not just for my sake. As we gear up for the holiday season, we need to remember how much we need God’s voice, our great reward now and one day, eternally.

I hope you find, decorate, and make comfortable a new “sweet spot” in your home and schedule regular times to sit with your Father. And I hope that your time spent in that spot will become your favorite time each day.

This article is the result of my very early, extended time with God this morning. I know I have been “rewarded” with his thoughts, and I hope they will become a blessing for all of you as well.

Have a wonderful week, as you sit in your “secret place” with your Creator.

Let Faith Trump Feelings

Do you ever have a week where it seems like you hear God teach the same lesson to you over and over again? That describes my experience last week. Maybe I’m just too hard-headed, and God needed to keep repeating himself. But I honestly believe that my circumstances were intended as a lesson to learn and a blog post to write.

Why do we allow our feelings to trump what we know about our faith? How have our lives suffered because we have chosen to respond to our feelings instead of our faith? It seems like an easier question to answer than it is. I’ve spent a week thinking about that idea.

It all began with a Sunday school lesson from the book of Numbers.

When fear trumps faith

Have you noticed how many of the news stories are written and reported with the goal of creating fear? Opinions are presented as fact and phrased to evoke a fear response. Spend some time this week listening to the news with the goal of spiritual discernment. You will likely be shocked at the way you hear things in a new light. We are more likely to become passionate about an opinion when we are afraid of someone else’s. If fear trumps faith, we will miss a lot of God’s blessings. That was true for the people in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 13 and 14 are about the twelve spies who were sent into the promised land to scope out the people and places that God had led them toward. You know the story. All twelve spies returned home, affirming the land was exactly what God had promised. They had found abundant food, water, and other blessings, but, there were also a few “giants” and other perceived dangers. Ten of the spies were adamant that entering the promised land would mean certain death. Joshua and Caleb were certain that they could trust God to handle whatever came their way. The people believed the ten who were afraid instead of the two who were faithful. The people’s feelings trumped their faith, and it cost them a life in the promised land.

The twelve spies were convinced of two very different outcomes. Ten men said everyone would be captured and probably killed. Two men said, “Let’s trust God and go.” Scripture tells us, “Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt’” (Numbers 14:1–4).

Which spies would you have sided with, and why? I confess that I would probably have followed the ten. The majority often rules, even when it is wrong. Joshua and Caleb lived long enough to lead the people into the promised land. The other ten spies died before that day. The majority of the spies got it wrong, and then they, along with their families, paid a price.

How can we allow our faith to trump our fear?

What lesson was God teaching the Israelites? How is that a lesson for us today?

God asked Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” (Numbers 14:11). Moses knew God was angry because the people lacked faith. They had witnessed the miracles in Egypt and the evidence of God’s care for them throughout their journey from Egypt. Yet, they trusted the men who feared rather than the faith of Joshua and Caleb.

Why did Joshua’s and Caleb’s faith trump their fears? The question I have asked myself for the past week is this: Were Joshua and Caleb “younger men” than the other ten? They lived another forty years, and Joshua actually led the people into the battles after they entered the land. The Bible doesn’t tell us if Caleb and Joshua were younger, but based on the information above, it is a valid question. It’s a question worth considering for our lives today.

Faith can only trump fear when we set aside any other influence. Wisdom comes with age, but so do some of our fears. Experience is a great teacher unless God is planning to do a “new thing” in our lives. As I’ve said before, just a quick study of Scripture is a reminder that “God’s ways are not our ways.” How often do we limit God to our best thoughts instead of seeking his?

When do our feelings trump our faith?

Most of our church committees are set up to follow a majority opinion. Americans live in a democracy that requires us to accept majority decisions. We are taught to trust that the majority of people will vote for the best choice. God taught us to seek counsel and trust godly people for spiritual advice. Sometimes, godly counsel is not the majority opinion.

When did you last sit on a committee that voted to do what most didn’t want to do?
What is the last decision you made out of obedience to God, even though it seemed a reckless choice to other people?
When have we followed the minority opinion to be right with God?
Are Jacob and Caleb relevant examples for God’s children today?

The answers to the questions above are important and worth considering. Joshua and Caleb didn’t offer the majority opinion, and God wouldn’t have preserved the story in Scripture if it didn’t matter to us today. The major difference between decision-making as God’s children now, compared to those in the Old Testament, involves the gift that Jesus died to give.

Faith can trump our feelings

The people of the Old Testament saw amazing miracles. The Ark of the Covenant, then the temple, literally contained the holy Presence of God. The altar provided a way for them to be made right with God. The law was God’s covenant promise with his people. And all of that didn’t sustain the people’s faith in God.

So God gave the world Jesus and then, through faith in his Son, God gave us his Holy Spirit. Counsel is good when it is Spirit-led. A committee will lead us to a correct decision if most of its members are led by God’s Spirit. The majority opinion is valuable if the majority of the people came to their opinion through the spiritual direction of God’s Spirit. Faith can trump our fears and our feelings if we can trust God’s voice and God’s word to matter more than any other influence the world offers.

Now, the practical lesson that God kept teaching me last week is this: What feelings or influences have I put ahead of God’s word? What decisions have I made, and what opinions have I believed that were borne of media-induced fear instead of biblical faith? Which voices shout louder than God’s?

Faith should trump our feelings, especially our fears. To ignore God’s Spirit is to walk in the wilderness. What truth is God’s voice prompting you to trust today?

How do we increase our joyspan?

My husband Jim sent me a great article by Angela Haupt, a writer for Time magazine. Haupt interviewed Dr. Kerry Burnight, a geriatrician who treats older patients each day. Dr. Burnight coined the phrase “joyspan” and defines the term as: “the third piece of the longevity puzzle, alongside ‘lifespan’ (how many years you live) and ‘healthspan’ (how many of them are spent in good health). Joyspan, as its name suggests, describes the experience of well-being and satisfaction in longevity.”

The article also suggests that the sooner in life we make our “joyspan” a priority, the better off we are. It was a great article, and I couldn’t help but notice how, once again, that Scripture has always taught us lessons we don’t fully appreciate and use to govern our lives. Dr. Burnight’s suggestions for aging could be summarized as living with biblical priorities.

God truly knows what is best for our earthly lives if we just believe and then practically apply his truth.

How do we increase our joyspan? Let’s see how Dr. Burnight and God answer that question.

How do we age with joy?

Dr. Burnight says, “The research groups it into four areas: grow, connect, adapt, and give. They’re all verbs, because they all take effort.”

We all want to experience joy, but we often want it to happen to us. Biblically, happiness happens, but joy, according to Scripture, is a pursuit, an effort. Psalm 21:6 tells us, “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.”

The greatest pursuit in life is our pursuit of God’s presence. God knew that we needed him, and through Christ, gave us his Presence when he gave us his Spirit. Joy is becoming increasingly aware that God is near.

How can we increase our joyspan?

Grow in our knowledge of, and love for, God. We tend to want to stop growing at a certain age. Growing older isn’t something we like to dwell on. But one of the best things about growing older is growing wiser about our priorities. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are the gifts of aging if we will continue to seek God’s presence and make the effort to study and walk in his word.
Connect with God and others through his Spirit. God created us to need fellowship with him and with other Christians. The Holy Spirit of Jesus will help us with the how, the when, the why, and the words we need. The apostle John told the early believers, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20). The apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). When we connect with God and others through the Spirit of Christ, we will develop and enjoy our most meaningful relationships.
Adapt to the changes that are inevitable this side of heaven. King Solomon wrote, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). King Solomon’s life was filled with change, and he could never imagine what our century would be like. So, how are his words biblical truth? God looked at the chariots of Solomon’s era and knew that one day drones would fly. God looked at the wall of scrolls in the temple and knew there would be an internet. God looked at the tendencies of mankind and knew those tendencies would remain the same. We must adapt to changes all the time, while our unchanging God simply notices that these changes have arrived. The more closely we walk with God, the more we recognize that change is just the next stepping stone toward our permanent destination. Adapting to change is simply forward progress.
Give our best because that is what God gave to us. “For God so loved the world, he gave us his Son” (John 3:16). God set our example when he placed Jesus in the manger to grow up in this world. God taught us about sacrifice when he allowed Jesus to carry his cross and die for our sins. There is a reason people say, “You can’t outgive God.” That said, we need to make the effort to give to others like God gave to us. Jesus taught, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). The joy of aging is that we have a lot to give, and giving is the example of Christ.

What is the measure of our joyspan?

Our lifespan refers to the number of days we spend on Earth. Our healthspan is the number of days we remain healthy on earth. Our joyspan is the number of days we make the effort to enjoy the blessings of God’s presence and purpose in our lives because, for a Christian, that is our greatest joy.

We were created in God’s image. We were created to live with his joy.

If we choose to measure our days by his joy, we will continue to grow, connect, adapt, and give. Christians know that each day is an opportunity to store our treasure in heaven and go to sleep each night knowing that we are one day closer to eternal perfection.

Aging is a gift of joy when we see it through the lens of God’s truth. Let’s not spend so much time fighting the process as we spend focused on all that we are progressing toward. I hope those thoughts bring you joy today.

Let’s make the effort to live a joy-filled week in God’s presence. His Spirit will take care of the rest.

Your influence with a Kingdom purpose

I ran across a graphic last week as I was preparing to teach a Bible study about the prophet Daniel and the influence he had on those around him. The graphic caught my eye, and I later learned that it reflected a current model widely taught in business circles. The graphic illustrates the process by which we can focus and improve our ability to influence others.

The graphic noted three circles we should use to separate and qualify the various experiences or relationships in our lives. The first and widest circle is the circle of concern, defined as those circumstances in our lives, including other people’s choices, that we cannot control. The second circle was the circle of influence, which comprises of those circumstances and relationships we have the opportunity to influence. The final, smallest circle, is the circle of control. Those are the areas where we actually provide influence in ways that cause or control final outcomes.

Oxford University described the point of the research saying, “The Circles of Influence concept, developed by Stephen Covey, can help you recognize which things you can influence and control, and which you can’t, even though they may impact on you. ‘Proactive people….work on things they can do something about.’”

The secular study has spiritual application for Christians. If we want to be proactive with our faith, we should focus on the influence we have on the people in our lives. For example, we should care about enacting laws that support biblical truth. But realistically, how many of us will be involved in the actual legislation of those laws? Our ability to influence a law is likely limited to a few conversations on the subject and a single vote on election day.

The Circles of Influence concept encourages us to focus more of our energy on our circles of influence and control. When was the last time you considered how you invest your time and efforts in those two most important circles of life and ministry?

All riled up with no place to go

Forbes magazine published an article about watching television news during the COVID-19 concerns of 2020. The article said, “In general, the more hours someone spent watching the news, the higher levels of fear they had.” The article went on to say that “watching negative news has been associated with sadness, worries, anxiety, and increase in negative affect. In disaster media specifically, we know that increasing exposure to media is associated with alcohol use, tobacco use, insomnia, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms, according to Dr. Joshua Morganstein, Chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee.”

I’ve been told that part of my concussion protocol is to cut down on my screen time. In full confession, I haven’t been a very good patient. I work for an online ministry. Screens are difficult to avoid! I have noticed, however, that what I want to watch and listen to has been influenced by my bruised brain just a bit. I’ve turned off some of the loud conversations that the news media have used to “grab people’s attention.” The noise, the angst, and the vitriol are good for ratings but not good for our lives. We get all riled up about things we can’t control, and there is nowhere to go with our feelings. It’s actually been relaxing in some ways to have a minor concussion and need to avoid some of that!

Television news is simply another form of TV entertainment. Walter Conkrite would struggle to be successful or popular as a broadcaster in today’s ratings war. Much of the news we view on our televisions will fall into that first circle of concern. We can see what is happening, but we have very little we can do to influence or control an outcome. Stephen Covey would suggest we limit our time involvement with that circle of concern.

Jesus told his followers, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14–16).

What would happen if Christians were to take Covey’s advice and follow Jesus’ teaching? God’s people should be aware of what and who they have been called to influence and spend more of their time and energies working in those places. We are called to focus on the people and the circumstances the Spirit guides us toward. If we are not focused on his leadership in our lives, we can be easily distracted by those things that we have no actual way to influence or change.

Who around us will observe or be impacted by the light of Christ in our personal witness? Do we spend more of our time discussing the topics and choices we cannot control or those we can and should control? Jesus said, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Could it be that Jesus was teaching us about more than our money?

We are the light of the world. When people see our lives, they should be drawn to the greatness and glory of our God because of our words and our choices. Our influence should be focused on an eternal purpose more than on an earthly opportunity.

We can strengthen our Christian influence

G.K. Chesterton said, “The books that influence the world are those that it has not read.” I think there is a lot of wisdom in those words. The reason I am passionate about teaching the Bible is that I have found the wisdom of God’s word to be my greatest help in life. I want to encourage people to read that Book.

The world is filled with people, ideas, and values that shape our thoughts daily. Our lives are consistently bombarded with sights and sounds via screens. G.K. Chesterton’s statement made me realize that the Bible cannot fully influence people unless they read it for themselves. We can share God’s word, but there is nothing more powerful than reading Scripture and hearing God’s Spirit speak to our thoughts from the pages. How can we influence others to read the Bible for themselves?

We can strengthen our personal Christian influence if we strengthen our thoughts with the truth of God’s word. Are your words of influence authored by God’s truth or by something less? Paul was teaching this point to the early Christians when he told them, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:7–9).

Whenever we are not fully “persuaded” by the truth of God’s Word, we are being persuaded by the lies of something less. And a little of the world’s influence can impact our entire witness.

Billy Graham said, “God will never lead contrary to His word—so get acquainted with the Word of God, the Bible. Pray. He leads through the illumination of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Use whatever you have and be faithful. We are called to serve Christ in our sphere of influence.”

Some of our most interesting conversations are centered around the things in this world that we cannot control or influence. Those topics are compelling and entertaining. It’s just important to remember that our most important influential conversations will be focused on the biblical truth that can have an eternal impact on a person’s life.

Do you need to adjust your focus and spend more energy in your circles of influence and control? I know I want to do that. Let’s pray that we will become influencers who have a Kingdom purpose. God would love to answer those prayers!

Focus on the “i” in the middle

Don’t you often find that it’s the small things that eventually trip you up? I speak from experience this week because I’m typing this blog with a black eye and a bruised face. I was playing soccer with my grandson, late at night, on the concrete driveway, wearing flip-flops. When he zagged, I zigged. The result was a pretty decent fall. I’m not that good at being a “senior” adult. I still want to do the things I did before, but sometimes that just isn’t a good idea. I’m older and slower, and my grandson is younger and faster.

The whole accident gave me some food for thought – in addition to a black eye and bruised face.

If I had taken just a moment to think, I would have done a few things differently. Hence, the point of this blog post. The English language has a lot of words that contain an “i” in the middle. Spiritually, it is a big help if we focus on keeping the “i” in the middle a lower-case letter. For example:

Think, but don’t thInk

If I had been thinking about something other than the idea that “I” wanted to play soccer, I might have realized a late-night game of soccer, on a concrete driveway, with a VERY fast, energetic grandson, who was wearing tennis shoes compared to my worn-out flipflops – well, you get the picture. That serves as an analogy for a more important spiritual principle.

I would look and feel a lot better today if I had chosen to think instead of thInk. I put my wants ahead of what I know to be true. I know I’m older, slower, and tired at the end of a long day. The facts are the facts. I ignored the truth and took a fall. That’s usually what causes us to fall spiritually as well.

I love Isaiah 55:8, which says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” A lot of mistakes are made in this life when we “thInk” about ourselves first. We capitalize the letter in the middle, and things go wrong. If we go through life valuing our thoughts more than God’s, we are going to trip and fall. Our thoughts are not God’s, and it’s important to thInk about the consequences of thinking “more highly of ourselves than we ought” (Romans 12:3).

Faith instead of faIth

Romans 1:17 tells us, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Those words follow the important statement that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). We cannot live by faith and enjoy a righteous relationship with God if we put a capital “I” in the middle of the word faith.

The power of our witness is the gospel message, not ourselves. It’s important to share our testimony, but our words should reflect what God has done rather than ourselves or our own works. It’s good to ask ourselves if people see our “faIth” or our faith in God. Is our primary focus sharing our story or the gospel, the good news of Christ?

Come to think of it, we should be careful to share our “testimony” instead of a “testImony.” That little “i” really makes a difference!

Most sin is sIn

I recently taught Acts 6, which talks about the need for lay leadership in the early church. It was likely only about a year after the ascension when the events of chapter 6 occurred. The apostles were busy preaching and sharing the gospel with people. Scripture refers to their work as “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). In the early church, a problem arose between two groups of women. The Hellenistic Jews felt like the Hebraic Jews were getting better treatment when it came to the passing out of food.

That story from Acts is simply another example in Scripture about the perpetual, strongest motivation for sin. My husband often refers to it as “I” trouble. Eve put herself first and “sIn” entered the world. The sin of self can be found at the center of almost every sin that has been committed since the Garden.

Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” The early church chose faithful leaders who helped the women receive food more fairly. The question was not about “who deserved the food most.” The right solution was to ask, “Who deserved the food?” So many of our own sins occur when we value ourselves more than someone else.

If we counted our sins today, how many would be “sIns?”

There is no “I” in King

We know Jesus is our King, but too many times we spell the word “KIng.” We know we are second to God, but we like to think we are not small. Consider this relationship with Jesus as your KiNG.

K: King of kings and Lord of lords.
i: Realize self will always be small in comparison to his greatness.
N: Nothing, NOTHING can separate you from his love.
G: God is good, all the time.

If Jesus is your KiNG, you WIN

I’ve shared this CeCe Winans song with you before, but it is worth hearing often. When Jesus is KiNG of our lives, we can know that one day we will WIN all the joy and reward our Lord has provided us in heaven. On that day, we will be made holy, righteous, and free from every sIn.

Enjoy the song and enjoy knowing that the sins of self will one day be conquered by our Savior King. Until then, it’s our job to focus on keeping the “I” out of our thoughts, our faith, and our sinful temptations. The best way to accomplish that is to once again make Jesus your KiNG today.

C.S. Lewis taught us to take care of our souls

It’s easy to ignore an essential aspect of our spiritual lives. Life on earth can be a distraction to the blessings our souls need. We are bombarded by messages, posts, and discussions about taking care of our health and keeping our bodies as strong as possible. It’s not wrong to prioritize our health, unless physical health becomes a higher priority than spiritual health.

C.S. Lewis said, “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” When last did you look in the mirror for the purpose of seeing your soul reflected? How can we ensure that caring for our souls is a top spiritual priority? C.S. Lewis offers some great advice for that.

Pursue the joy of your salvation daily

We can wake up each morning with the joy and comfort Jesus provides. Upon our salvation, we received the daily companionship of Jesus through his Holy Spirit so that we could live with the assurance of heaven. One of the best ways to live on earth is to look forward to the perfection our souls will enjoy in heaven.

We chase after happiness in our lives; we should also pursue the “inexpressible joy” that Peter wrote about.

Peter told the early church to live with the joy of their faith in Christ and their promised salvation. The apostle wrote, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9).

Everything on earth is temporary. Joy is pursuing things eternal.

Enjoy your promised salvation, but care about the salvation of others

Everyone you see this week is a soul living in a temporary, human body. Each person you speak to or pass by is either going to spend eternity in heaven or hell. Biblically, those are the only two options God provided.

I’ve spent a lot of time with my mom at her assisted living home. I teach a Bible study there each week, and even in the memory care area, it is easy to spot those who are comforted by God’s eternal promises and those who still need to receive the salvation Jesus died to provide them. I never teach a Bible study there without reminding the group about their salvation in Jesus. Most are in wheelchairs, and the others move about slowly. Their bodies are worn out and tired, but the Christians have an eagerness for heaven that shines in their eyes. The salvation of their souls is their greatest joy.

I’ve had so many unique experiences teaching up there. I’ve seen glimpses of the joy of Jesus in their faces, their words, and their expressions of love for one another. I’ve driven home with tears at times and the sense that I am incredibly privileged to help walk these saints home to heaven.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.” I’ve learned a valuable lesson from these Christians who are almost home. I should live with their eternal priorities now. It would be a shame to miss that eternal joy today simply because my earthly life is less limited by age-related issues.

I’ve also learned to see each elderly person as almost eternal. If I love them as I should, I will do my best to make sure their eternity will be spent with the Lord. And I’m reminded that I should see everyone with that same eternal priority.

Do we love the unsaved as we should?

C.S. Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock, it is opened.”

I will always consider my time with my mom one of the greatest privileges of my life. She is a Christian, and I know that one of these days, when the phone rings, I will rejoice through my tears that she is safely home in heaven. This time with her has been life-changing. The Lord wanted me to learn and experience these lessons for the sake of my soul and for the sake of my ministry.

These souls living on the edge of eternity have taught me not to wait until happiness runs out to pursue eternal joy. As C.S. Lewis said, we all have earthly bodies, but we are souls. I want to help others look in the mirror and see their soul reflected. I want all of us to spend the rest of our lives viewing other people with an eternal perspective.

I’ve been cussed at a few times while I was teaching a Bible lesson to the group. It was a bit shocking at first, but now I’ve come to realize those moments are God’s revelation to me and to the other Christians in the room. God is saying, “I want to love this person as much as possible, through you.” Interestingly, I have watched a lot of us develop a God-given love for some of those people who are obviously angry, sad, and desperate.

Last week, as I was teaching, a woman stood up and walked toward me with angry, foul words. I just looked her in the eyes and told her how much Jesus loved her and wanted her to have his joy. I taught the rest of my lesson with this woman’s head on my shoulder as I hugged her. I pray the Holy Spirit was able to give her the message she needed to know about salvation that day. I have prayed for her soul to know the joy of salvation through Jesus Christ.

I’ve learned that God can give me his great love for others, and I truly do care about the eternal security of these souls. I’ve also learned that I should feel that exact way for everyone I encounter, not just these elderly people whom I teach every week.. I don’t think I would have cared about another person who cussed me out like I care for those in my mom’s memory care area. But I should – and I want to.

Our souls live to bring God glory now

We care about the length of time our earthly bodies will live. We should care even more about the reasons our souls are still alive on earth. Each day, we have an eternal purpose for our temporary life on earth. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The Glory of God, and, as our only means of glorifying Him, the salvation of human souls, is the real business of life.”

Some of the people you will speak to this week are spending their earthly lives without the joy of eternity in their souls. Some Christians are doing the same thing. Joy is the reflection of a soul that is filled with God’s glory. If you see that joy reflected in your mirror, others will want the joy of your salvation.

May our mirrors reflect the glory of God, and may our lives reflect his eternal priorities. If so, other souls will likely go to heaven as a result. And, as C.S. Lewis said, that is the “real business of life.”

A shot heard around the world

I had to smile when I read a post from the Babylon Bee, the day after Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. The Babylon Bee authors Christian satire and is a frequently forwarded post in my family’s text stream. If you enjoy satire, you should check out their site.

The Bee’s headline read, “Satan: ‘I’ve made a huge mistake.’”

Several times during the service, I heard a verse from Genesis 50 quoted by people who spoke. Joseph told his brothers who had sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

As we have seen over these last ten days, the service itself has been a well-discussed event, and I’m glad. My point today isn’t to continue that discussion, but to look forward to the potential impact in the days ahead. Henry Blackaby said our job as Christians was to find where God was at work, and “get in on it.” His point was that rather than asking God to bless our plans, our priority should instead be looking to what God is already doing so that we can join him in accomplishing his plans.

I can honestly say that I’ve done ministry both ways, and I would heartily agree with Blackaby. God is often good to bless my ideas, but the end result is rarely as effective as when I see what the Spirit is already doing and join that work.

The Holy Spirit was profoundly apparent in that memorial service as people worldwide were led to truly worship God that day. I wish I could have been there, but I worshipped as I watched the entire service live, in my own home. I did, however, think a few moments contained some well-intentioned, but incomplete theology. That said, the message of the good news, the gospel, was shared over and over again. I believe God was greatly honored in that service for Charlie.

Now, it’s time for God’s people to get to work. It’s time to join the revival that is taking place in the hearts and minds of young people. It’s time to pray that God will give them courage on their college campuses to speak the truth. And it’s time to pray that the love of God and our love for God will continue to motivate the witness of God’s people.

A shot heard around the world

My husband and I have been in ministry for more than four decades. We have prayed for awakening in our culture and for revival in God’s church. We have spent a lot of time discussing what we have seen take place after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We think these days might just be an answer to those prayers.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has literally sent shock waves around the world. The Holy Spirit is inspiring a large group of young people to step out and speak up. Charlie’s death didn’t produce riots, anger, protests, or a call for retribution. That alone is evidence that the Holy Spirit is leading. Now, you can add to all of that the increasing desire that young people have to attend a Bible-based church, filled with genuine believers.

The shot that killed Charlie Kirk was heard around the world, and Christians everywhere are responding. How will each of us join the movement of the Holy Spirit in these days?

The wisdom to lead by example

I recently spoke to a room of wonderful people supporting our ministry. As I spoke, I heard myself say, “Most of us are in the fourth quarter of our lives. I also think this may be the fourth quarter of world history as well.” Interestingly, I heard that statement along with everyone else. I hadn’t planned to say those words, but I did.

Over the past few years, I’ve given a lot of thought to the Gates Foundation’s plan to send enough satellites into our atmosphere so that the entire world will be one contiguous “hot spot.” A recent article states that their hope is to “save the world” using drone and satellite imagery, which gathers the earth’s data. I look at their well-intentioned goals a bit differently.

As I have said before, Jesus told his disciples on the Mount of Olives, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Those satellites that will one day gather all that data, will also be able to carry the gospel to every nation. The message Jesus gave to his disciples could literally come to pass in this century via those satellites.

Is your life as intentionally evangelistic as it needs to be? Young people seeking to determine if the Christian religion is valid need to see the truth of the gospel message through our lives and witness. How will you encourage the younger generations to live by the truth of God’s word? If they examine our lives, will they think, “This faith is what I want for my life”?

Let’s live our witness out loud

Those of us who have been Christians for a long time can be used by God’s Spirit as witnesses. There really is no more crucial call upon our lives for the “fourth quarter.” Wisdom does come with age. We can be confident in our faith because we have experienced more of God’s truth.

We know how to share the gospel.
We know how God has blessed our marriages and held them together.
We know how God strengthens our hearts and provides his comfort in the tough times.
We know the mistakes we have made and the “do-overs” that God has given us.
We know the value of walking in biblical truth.

Will we speak biblical truth with joy and confidence? Will we offer grace for those beginning to know God so they will continue to walk their faith journey and reach maturity? Will we care more about the eternal lives of those we meet than their earthly lives, or our own? Will we care more about the salvation and blessings our family members need than the earthly relationships we hope to have with them?

This is a tough one, but we need to care more about a child’s soul or a friend’s eternal relationship with God than we care about the earthly relationships we might risk if we speak God’s truth.

If we “love one another” as we are commanded to do, we will see people turn to God, or back to God. We might also anger and distance a person who doesn’t want to hear biblical truth. We must remember that if we truly love them more than we love ourselves, we will want them to be right with God.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Today, will we choose to share Jesus’ priorities for a person’s earthly life? If we don’t, we might be sharing Satan’s priorities instead.

My prayer for this article is that Satan will hate it and wish I had written about something else. But I’m in the fourth quarter of life, and I plan to spend as much time as possible joining the Holy Spirit wherever he is at work. Right now, the Spirit is at work in the lives of people like Charlie Kirk, who boldly shared his Lord with non-believers, cynics, critics, and even hostile enemies. Let’s choose to live our faith loudly as well, so that others will see our lives and want to know our Lord. Amen?