Paul’s advice for those who are weary of the eerie and feeling a bit grinchy

Tomorrow is Halloween, and I am glad it is finally here. I’m always okay when October flies by, and this one has. Halloween has become increasingly popular—and increasingly eerie. But I’m not a fan of this holiday’s ghoulish, dark festivities, commercials, and programming. You could call me the Grinchette who stole Halloween. Still, I understand and appreciate how many churches try to use Halloween to do some good outreach while passing out candy. 

Nevertheless, I’ll be glad when all the eerie inflatable decor is exchanged for air-filled turkeys, pumpkins, and pilgrims. Then, those will be set aside for all the Santas, Christmas trees, and sleighs. I’d prefer to skip Halloween and just celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a new year.

Eerie is big business

I don’t think I will be able to wish away Halloween any time soon. According to one news story, “The National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween consumer survey found total Halloween spending in 2024 is expected to reach $11.6 billion, with $3.8 billion of that going to costumes.” The same report said that some costumes this year cost almost $200. I still remember the year I cut holes for my arms and legs into a big box and went trick or treating as a computer. I used up some of my mom’s aluminum foil, but otherwise, the costume was free.

You can probably spend a bit more on the eerie Halloween decor and costumes this year because Thanksgiving turkeys are supposed to cost 13% less this November. However, if you also serve ham at your meal, you will pay 5.2 % more for that.

The best part of this Thanksgiving will be watching the football games without the numerous political ads. The election will have been decided before the holiday arrives. That said, you may want to throw an extra bottle of Tums into your grocery cart just in case the family gets into a heated conversation over the election results while consuming that turkey and ham. 

I won’t even mention the Christmas season yet, even though we’ll begin to see some of those decorations next week! Weary of the eerie leads to being thankfully rushed into the busiest and most festive season of the year. We do love our holidays!

This Grinchette will look for her heart

Dr. Seuss’ story of the Grinch is famous. At the end of the story, the townspeople’s joy causes the Grinch’s heart to grow three times its size. His new, larger heart leads him to return all the toys, food, and decorations he stole from Cindy Lou and the rest of the town. Everyone has a wonderful holiday after all.

What can we do when we become weary of the eerie? Are you tired of turkeys on the table and on the tv? And what do you do if you have become a Grinch or a Grinchette about the Christmas season and schedule?

The next couple of months will happen, and we need to be ready emotionally, financially, and most especially spiritually.

Seek God, and you will find him

I was teaching from the book of Philippians when I read a familiar passage in a new light. Paul wrote these words while being held under house arrest by the Roman government. We have a lot of profound Scripture today because Paul spent almost two years confined to a house, able to think, pray, and write. 

When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, he told them why he was content even though imprisoned. He said, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). That is a well-known and often quoted verse, but when read in its context, it is rich with biblical advice for every Christian.

Right before Paul spoke about being content, he taught the church how to live in a way that pleases God. If we heed Paul’s advice to the Philippians, we will know how to seek God and find him. Paul would tell us that this is how we live our faith for the upcoming season of holidays and every day that follows in the new year. Paul told the Philippians (and us), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:4–9).

The God of peace will be with us, too

Paul taught us what to do if we want “the God of peace” to be with us. Joy is our reward. Christian character is our choice. The peace of God is our strength. The presence of God is his gift. If we choose to live with the holy character Paul described, we will enjoy these next months and years filled with the peace of God through his Holy Spirit.

The eeriness of Halloween reminds us that we live in a dark world without God’s light. Our deepest gratitude at Thanksgiving is grounded in the eternal hope that Jesus has provided us through our salvation. How we “practice” our faith is the best way to seek and find the God of peace, especially as we kneel before the holy infant of Christmas.

“If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” That is how we overcome being weary of the eerie and all the other stress of the holidays and celebrate each day ahead with joy. (And, by the way, your heart could grow to be three times its original size according to “Seuss 12:1–2.”).

Let me be the first to wish you all happy, holy holidays ahead and encourage you to spend each coming day knowing the God of peace has filled your life with his presence, peace, and joy. Christians have a LOT to celebrate . . . especially after tomorrow.

Fortune Cookie Faith

I had finished my egg roll, egg drop soup, and cashew chicken. I poured myself another cup of hot Jasmine tea and opened my fortune cookie. Who knew a blog post would follow?

The little piece of paper hidden inside my cookie held an interesting message. Fortunes usually contain a statement that will be true if the person holding the message makes it come true. I read my fortune that day and wanted to live the message as a truth for my life.

My fortune said: “To think is easy; to act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all.”

To think is easy.

According to healthybrains.org, “Your brain is a three pound universe that processes 70,000 thoughts each day using 100 billion neurons that connect at more than 500 trillion points through synapses that travel 300 miles/hour.” It’s a wonder we don’t have a constant headache!

King David praised God saying, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:13–14). 

God created our brains and then caused us to think millions of thoughts each day. Our brains don’t even shut down when we sleep. Thinking is easy because that’s what God created us to do. It’s also why God knew we would need his guidance.

The apostle Paul was mentoring Timothy when he said, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7). One of the most helpful things we can do for our lives is to think with God’s guidance. We can gain knowledge as we think, but we gain understanding as God applies his wisdom to our thoughts.

To think is easy . . .

To act is difficult

Forbes Magazine published an article about the twenty-five biggest regrets in life. The list confirmed the message I got in my fortune cookie. All of us have millions of thoughts, but our lives are altered by the actions, or inactions, our thoughts produce in our lives.

Forbes Magazine listed these as people’s greatest regrets:

  • Working too much at the expense of family and friendships.
  • Not standing up to bullies in school or in life.
  • Not maintaining friendships.
  • Losing a true love relationship.
  • Worrying what others think too often.
  • Not having confidence.
  • Living the life a parent wants for us, rather than the life we want for ourselves.
  • Not seeking a dream job. Not pursuing joy. Taking life too seriously.
  • Not disconnecting from technology often enough.
  • Not taking fun trips with family and friends.
  • Not healing a broken marriage or friendship.
  • Not trusting the inner voice and allowing other voices to carry too much influence.

A sin occurs when we choose to do wrong. I used to tell my kids that mistakes were normal and we all make them. I didn’t punish my kids for making a mistake. I did, however, punish them if they chose to do something wrong when they knew to do what was right. That’s the difference between a mistake and a sin.

God will never let us “fall” into sin. He will, however, allow us to choose the path that leads to that fall. Our common sense and God’s Spirit will re-direct and warn us before we fall. God doesn’t want us to fall, doesn’t cause us to fall, but he also doesn’t promise to keep us from falling. God made us with a free will and then gave us a mind that would be able to know how to use our free will. 

It’s easy to think about things. Our problem is we don’t always act on the thoughts God provides.

To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all.

There are a LOT of verses that discuss the importance of our actions. The apostle John taught, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). James said, “You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). King Solomon said, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).

Our three-pound brains create about 70,000 thoughts each day. Many of those thoughts lead to our actions. Our most difficult task begins with our most difficult choice. Paul taught us to, “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). 

If we want to act on our best thoughts we need to remember to think with God. If we want to walk in his ways, we need to obey the voice of Christ, through his Holy Spirit. Godly actions will require us to think with biblical priorities.

None of us will do that often enough. We certainly live in an era of “arguments and lofty opinions.” We also live with constant access to God’s word. We simply have to make the difficult choice to submit every thought to Christ and then obey his direction.

Fortune Cookie Faith

I opened that fortune cookie, read it, and then passed it to my husband. I liked the message and wanted to share it with him. Normally, I would have left that little piece of paper on the table before leaving the restaurant; but that day I took it home.

Sometimes a fortune cookie gives you a message for the moment. Sometimes a fortune cookie becomes a thought, which when submitted to God becomes an action. One of my 70,000 thoughts that day was, “I want to write about this.”

I hope my fortune cookie faith was a blessing to your thoughts today. God wants us to revere his voice and obey his daily direction. It’s our whole duty and it’s our great reward.

That cashew chicken was really good, but God used a fortune cookie to provide his thought that day.

Your best help for 2024

It’s a new year! We are getting a lot of emails suggesting they have the corner on the market for shedding those extra holiday pounds. I can sum those emails up in one suggestion: Eat less and exercise more. 

We are getting a lot of advice and ads about simplification, de-stressing, getting organized, and living with more physical and mental energy. I would sum up most of those ideas by saying, “Put down the electronics and give yourself more time for chores and sleep.”

My helpful hint for 2024 is a bit different from a lot of those other articles. I would like to suggest that the best thing we can do for our lives in 2024 is to walk more closely with God led by his Holy Spirit. That one decision will do a lot to improve every other area of our lives.

How can we know we are walking with God’s Spirit?

It’s a common goal each January to make our spiritual lives a higher priority. Inevitably, life challenges that high priority. We can make every effort to walk with God’s Spirit, but we can know with certainty that Satan and his crew will be standing around a corner with an evil plan to trip us up. 

Our inboxes will be filled each day with helpful “advice” from Internet marketing and AI targeting. How do we discern which advice is consistent with God’s plans and which advice sends us in a different direction? 

I had to smile when I heard this from a friend. He was talking to my husband about discerning God’s wisdom when he said, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting a tomato in your fruit salad.” That’s a good picture for a lesson to remember: Not every word of advice in this world belongs in our lives.

I want to offer you a daily help for discerning God’s wise priorities. I wrote and recorded Wisdom Matters and it is yours, free of charge. You probably won’t get to it every day of the year, but it is available to you each day. I use a verse of wisdom from God’s word to apply it to the various areas of our lives. If you have not signed up for that daily devotional, you can do that today. 

Scripture tells us that God’s word “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, or joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). 

When we fill our lives with God’s word, the Holy Spirit will make God’s word alive in our lives and give us the wisdom and discernment to know what belongs in our fruit salad and what doesn’t.

What did Jesus promise us for 2024?

I was watching Anne Graham Lotz’s Christmas message and knew I would need to include her thoughts in this first blog post of the new year. I love it when I hear a message from God’s word and gain a new, profound truth!

Anne was talking about the verses in Luke, chapter 1, when Mary learned from the angel Gabriel that the “Holy Spirit would come upon her.” She, a virgin, would conceive and bear God’s Son. From those verses, Anne discussed her own salvation and then said something I had never considered before.

She referred to Jesus’ teaching in John 16 when the Lord told his disciples that he was going away. Jesus could tell the disciples were confused and concerned so he gave them a hope-filled promise. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).

Anne went on to teach that when she became a Christian she, like Mary, conceived the person of Jesus in her life, through his Holy Spirit. That’s why the Bible teaches us we are “born again” or “made new” in Christ. The Spirit came to indwell us, much like Jesus came to indwell Mary. Jesus told his disciples that it was to their advantage that Jesus would be going away. We are better off walking with the Spirit of Jesus within our lives than those in the first century who walked with Jesus physically.

If you are a Christian, you have received the same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples. The Spirit of Christ has been conceived within you. We who walk in God’s Spirit, walk with a very great advantage in this world.

Hold Jesus close in 2024

Our best help for the coming new year is already living in our lives. We carry the actual voice of Jesus to offer us wisdom and direction. We walk with Jesus within us, which is more powerful to our lives than those who walked beside him on earth. We are God’s child because we have received his Son in our lives.

Jesus indwells our lives, our thoughts, our hearts. 2024 will be our best year if we choose to trust the power and guidance of God’s indwelling Son. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

I hope you will allow Wisdom Matters to speak God’s word into your lives each day. I hope gaining a message from God’s wisdom will help you “keep in step with the Spirit.” 

These are changing times, and this year looks to be volatile, divisive, and could be filled with a lot of unknown dangers. God knows what we can’t and would whisper in our ears, “walk with me and follow my direction.”

Your best help for 2024 is already yours because of Jesus. We can look forward to this new year with his joy, his peace, and his promise of hope. This world may throw a few tomatoes our way, but with God’s help we won’t let them alter the fruits of his Holy Spirit.

Happy New Year!

Choose “ye today” for your holiday

If you want a joy-filled, blessed holiday season, there is a choice that you might want to make today. 

The rush begins earlier each year. This year, the Halloween candy didn’t even make it to the half-price baskets before the shelves began filling up with green and red merchandise. There is a Thanksgiving shelf somewhere, but it’s probably not front and center. Thanksgiving and Christmas are one season now. 

Last week I wrote about not missing your chance to live gratefully toward God, but this week I want to talk about living joyfully with Jesus. 

A choice every Christian must make 

I first learned the message of Joshua 24:14–15 from a plaque that hung in our kitchen. It said, “Choose ye this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I grew up with that verse, but I learned the context for those words at some point. 

The battles to take the promised land were over and now it was time for the people of Israel to settle into their home and establish their lives. Joshua made a wonderful speech to the family leaders, ending it with the choice he had made that he encouraged all the other families to make as well.  

Joshua told them to choose today whom they would serve in their new land. They would either choose to serve God each day or they would end up serving something less. As you consider that ancient wisdom, think about how to apply that truth to your own life today. 

Every Christian must choose to serve the Lord, or later they will realize they have come to serve something or someone less. 

The most common mistake

Most Christians want to live right with God. We want to make choices our Lord can honor and bless. Most of us make good choices, but often those “good” choices end up being “lesser” choices than we were called to make. 

I often say, “Satan doesn’t really mind if Christians are good people. He does mind when we choose to be godly.” 

A common mistake we make as Christians is to define good things as godly. How do we know the difference?

When are you making a godly choice? 

There is an obvious answer to that question. When we are faced with a circumstance that Scripture speaks to in a direct way, then obedience is our godly choice. 

  • We should remain faithful to our spouses, both physically and emotionally.
  • We should honor our parents.
  • We should worship the one true God and live with reverence to his holiness.

Each day we have choices to make that aren’t specifically answered in God’s word. 

  • Should I accept that new job and move to a different city?
  • Should I speak to that friend about a sin or just pray for God to lead?
  • Should I spend this money or give it as an offering?
  • Should I end this friendship or just limit the influence?
  • Should I serve on this committee at church or be more available to my family?

How do we know when our daily decisions are a godly choice? There is a clear answer, but it isn’t always easy to discern. If we make our daily decisions out of a sense of serving others, we might miss an opportunity to serve God. 

Christians often make good decisions that serve other people. In fact, I think Satan tempts Christians to do that. If we stay busy serving our friends, our families, our jobs, and even our churches, we can miss the calling to serve God. How do we know if God has called us to a committee, a project, or any other opportunity to serve him? 

The best answer I know is a difficult choice to maintain. It is the message of Galatians 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” If we want to make godly choices, we will probably need to ignore some good ideas along the way. 

What does God want for your holiday season? 

Only God can give you that answer. If we understand that one important choice, the other decisions are more likely to serve God rather than something or someone less. 

I recently taught on my Advent book for this year, The Gift of Immanuel. Isaiah said that the Messiah’s “name” would be Immanuel but later said “his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). The angel would tell Joseph to name his Son “Jesus.” 

Cruden’s Concordance lists 198 names or titles given to Jesus. All of those are an aspect of the one name Immanuel. Immanuel means “God with us.”  

When you became a Christian and received the Holy Spirit of God, Immanuel came to be within you. There are several reasons God wanted to give his Spirit to his children. We can’t live godly lives without his Spirit’s direction.  

What does God want for your holiday season? 

You don’t know until you ask. You won’t know, or know how to obey, unless you “keep in step with the Spirit.” 

Choose “ye today” for your holiday

The joy we all look for from our Christmas holiday is one choice away. Joy is the gift of heaven, given to those who walk with God in obedience to his will and word. Today, and every day of the holiday season, will be changed by the choice to “serve God as you walk in his Spirit.” 

We can ask God for ears to hear his calling. We can ask God for discernment to serve him before anything or anyone else. We can ask God for the ability to hear his voice, his commands, and his encouragement above all the other noisy moments in the month ahead. 

Joy will follow our obedience to his leadership. That is the difference between a holiday filled with good things and a holiday filled with God’s joy. 

“Choose ye today” whom you want to serve. Then, make that same choice for tomorrow. Your holiday season can be good, bad, mediocre, or godly simply because you make that daily choice. 

Let’s all choose right now to serve God this busy Christmas season. I pray your memories of Christmas 2023 will include a list of his joy-filled blessings as a result.

What Does It Mean To Mock God?

That is the question that kept coming to my mind, after Dan Patrick’s tweet was being volleyed about in the news. I will probably get into a bit of trouble with this blog, but I have to write it. I decided to spend a good amount of time studying the passage, thinking about the news, and trying to find an answer to the question. When does a person “mock God?”

I have often said that I think Galatians 6:1–10 is one of the most provable, practical passages in the Bible. We think of Scripture in terms of chapter and verse, but that was not how it was written. Paul’s letters need to be read as letters, from start to finish. The epistles are popular because every word came from Paul’s Spirit-led heart, and he wrote to churches he loved.

Paul wrote to the church in Galatia because they were struggling to maintain the Christian doctrine they had been taught. Teachers had come to the city, insisting that Gentile Christians needed to enter into Jewish practices, like circumcision, if they were to truly be accepted by God. At the same time, Gentile believers were teaching that no matter what a person did, they could be forgiven. Many Gentiles wanted to maintain some of their sinful practices and used the message of forgiveness to distort spiritual truth.

The book of Galatians is among the most relevant books for the American culture. Galatians 5 ends with one of my favorite passages in Scripture. The gist: Christians are to live by the power, purpose, and priority of God’s Holy Spirit. That is what it means to be “Spirit-led.” God’s people have often wanted “five easy steps” to forgiveness or “ten ways to know God’s will.” The truth: God gave us his Holy Spirit so that we could “keep in step” with him (Galatians 5:25).

Paul, in chapter 6, calls the mature, Spirit-led Christians to restore the brothers and sisters who have fallen away from the standards of the Christian faith. Paul tells the mature Christians to be careful, because it will be tempting to trip over our own set of sins while trying to help others with theirs.

It is then Paul writes verse 7, the now famous tweet, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” What does it mean to “mock God?” I’ll let God’s word provide the answer.

  • “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8).
  • “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

Basically, a person mocks God when they think they can live apart from his laws. We can’t plant carrot seeds and think we will grow squash. We mock God if we think we can jump out of a tree and defy the law of gravity. We mock God if we think we can fool God because we can fool others. We mock God if we think we are more intelligent, more forward thinking, or more advanced than his Word. We mock God’s word if we try to change it.

Jesus was teaching that truth to his disciples in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–23). Every farmer understands the laws of nature and works accordingly. God can forgive a sin, and remove our punishment, but the consequences of our choices remain.

We can choose not to love a person and God can forgive our sin, but there is still a broken heart and a damaged witness. God can forgive us our reckless driving, but there is still a ticket to be paid and a car that is damaged. God can forgive sexual sin, but there are still people who have been hurt, disease that has spread, and even children born, or aborted.

When that man entered the bar with the intention to kill, God’s laws were broken, and the consequences will endure. God grieves every child lost and he grieves every sin that separated those people from his love and direction. God grieves the rallies, the politics, and the obscuring of his truth, whether that takes place in the media or in the church.

God’s word has always been the same, and he cannot be mocked. When people break his laws, there are always consequences. That is true for the shooter, the people in the bar, and the people in the church. God loves all of us and wants us to spend our days on earth Spirit-led. He gave us Scripture so we could understand how to live our earthly lives and how to live one day in heaven. God’s word, like God, cannot be mocked. Truth cannot be a lie.

There are so many people who want to be loved in this world. They are lonely, broken, and looking for something or someone to meet their needs. There, but for the grace of God, go we. I know this is a controversial statement, but I have lived with this thought since I heard the news of Dan Patrick’s tweet. It has been proven that the tweet was randomly scheduled, before the events that occurred in Orlando. The tweet has been labeled “unfortunate,” “random,” “racist,” “homophobic,” “insensitive,” “slanderous” and many other things.

I couldn’t escape this thought: what if that very public, scheduled tweet was not random at all? What if God was saying to the world, and especially to Christians, my word cannot be mocked? What if God was reminding believers of the great solution found in the book of Galatians? God is calling his Church, the body of Christ, to be Spirit-led. Galatians was written to believers. What if Dan Patrick’s tweet was as well?

 


This article was originally published on June 21, 2016 and makes reference to the Orlando nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12, 2016, where 49 people were killed and 53 injured.

Warmer times

In many ways, Texas recently became a parable for our culture. 

During our long freeze, the weatherman promised the sun would return in a week, but the news anchor couldn’t predict when the power would be restored. Most of us were much more interested in the electricity than the weatherman’s promise for the coming week. 

And that is a parable for those of us who want to share our faith. 

Our best answer, the one we could count on, was a week away. Even still, we were less interested in the long-term answer because that power didn’t make promises for the moment, just the future. And, we need to hear many of God’s promises with that same perspective. 

It was a tough week, and now things are better. The weatherman was right, and we are glad. I’ve spent the month writing about God’s voice and our need to listen. 

What are the lessons from last week’s parable? 

GOD OFFERS PERSPECTIVE 

All of us go to God for today’s needs. Jesus taught us to pray for “our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). But Jesus also taught, “ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  

Jesus promised us his peace, but he also promised we would need it. This world is going to freeze again. Spring is coming, but so is another February. 

It is so important to seek God’s voice for our lives, not just our days. His answers sometimes take years to receive or realize. Listening for God’s wisdom requires God’s perspective. Scripture, prayer, and God’s Holy Spirit can provide strength for the moments of our lives, but often his most important instruction is for eternal—not present—circumstances. 

GOD WILL ALWAYS CONSIDER EVERYONE 

The people in charge of the Texas power grid cut power to millions for a time so that everyone would have power in the future. Texas reserved power for those who needed it most. And those of us who did without were reminded of all we tend to take for granted. 

But even when it got down to forty-something degrees in my kitchen, I was glad that my kids, and their kids, were warm. I was glad the hospitals had power. I was glad the cold was only for a week. And I was especially glad that the people who knew a lot more than me were responsible for making the tough choices. 

I imagine it was a tremendously difficult decision for those who cut the power to people’s homes, knowing it was freezing outside. But, they did what was best, not what was easy.  

God has a unique love for each of us. He has a plan for every life. And only God has the ability to take care of everyone forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  

Ash Wednesday got lost in the snow. But Cynthia Izaguirre, a Dallas newscaster, did her best to remind people things would get better and why. She closed the broadcast on Ash Wednesday, not with words of hope about electricity, but with words of eternal hope. 

GOD’S WARMTH 

I felt much warmer and much safer when our power was restored. I still wake up and smile because I know my coffee pot is out there and ready to go! I took a lot of things for granted, and I know I will likely take them for granted again. 

But today, I am grateful. 

The people in charge of the grid should have been better prepared. Hopefully, by the time February rolls around again, they will be. A lot of us in Texas had a bad week. Others will have a bad year trying to repair the damage. Still others lost their lives. The Texas power grid couldn’t thaw the snow or protect us, but the sun did. And that might be the biggest lesson from last week’s story. 

The warmth God brought through the sun is what caused the snow to melt. Electricity kept us safe in our homes, but God’s provision is what enabled us to get back to normal. Last week was rough; this week is wonderful. And so goes life on this side of heaven. 

The power grid restored my heat, but it was God who brought warmth. The weatherman knew what he could promise last week and he did. The news anchor couldn’t promise electricity, but she could promise hope.  

LESSONS FROM THE GREAT THAW 

I can promise God is speaking, guiding, and directing the path of those who trust in him. I am like the weatherman who can make promises that depend on the truth of God’s creation and character, found in the truth of God’s word. It would have been wrong for those in the news to promise our heat would return quickly. That depended on people being able to fix the problems.  

What can we learn about God through what we have experienced?  

We should never underestimate the power of warmth. For many years, we have been making strong arguments by using strong language to share God’s truth. We have been trying to present a powerful, united front to the world and hope our politics would legislate morality. We have been trying to build bigger and better churches, thinking that such an effort would attract people to God.  

But, the end result is a power grid that failed. Our ideas and best-laid plans might provide a momentary fix, but it isn’t God’s solution. Our culture needs warmth because our culture needs disciples. People aren’t left in the cold when they are led to the Son.  

We are like the weatherman. We can’t create God’s answers; we only report his hope. We have to be careful not to promise for this life what God has not promised.  

JESUS PROMISED 

Jesus promised tribulation. Jesus promised his peace. Jesus promised we could live with hope. Jesus promised our hope would one day be our reward.  

Until then, we are to accept the storms, endure the cold, and wait for the warmth. It always returns. Mostly, we are to use our lives to lead as many people to the Son as we possibly can.  

One last “report” from a “weatherman”: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). 

Don’t just read that verse today; hear Jesus speak his promise to you. 

God speaks to servants who listen. 

Allow God’s truth to warm your soul until your hope becomes his reward. 

A before-and-after story

How did your salvation change your life?

This blog post is especially for people who were raised in the church or have gone to church for much of their lives. 

Chances are, your testimony isn’t usually described as powerful—but it should be.  

Paul and Peter 

Paul’s salvation testimony is exciting to teach. 

His story begins with Paul as a young man witnessing the stoning of Stephen while surrounded by the cloaks of those throwing the rocks. 

The story continues with his subsequent persecution of Christians, his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and a visit from Ananias. 

The scales of blindness fall from Paul’s eyes as he dedicates the rest of his life to preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. 

There isn’t a more dramatic salvation testimony in the Bible! 

Or is there? 

Peter grew up faithfully attending the synagogue and was strong in his faith. 

He was likely a disciple of John the Baptist before he was a disciple of Christ. Peter, with James and John, was chosen to be in the inner circle of Christ. 

Peter was the first leader of the Christian movement after Pentecost. He was “the rock” God used to build his church. 

We know about Peter’s life before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s life after Pentecost. 

Here’s my question: Is your personal testimony more like Paul’s or Peter’s? 

How did Jesus change your life? 

I’ve often said that the lifelong believer has a challenge that a late-in-life believer often doesn’t. Except for your promise of heaven, how did your salvation change your life? 

When you are raised in the church, that question is crucial. It can be the difference between living as a Pharisee and living as a Spirit-led disciple of Christ. 

If you were raised in the church, your daily life might not have been dramatically changed the day you became a Christian. You knew about the Lord before you were saved and you knew about him after. The Holy Spirit entered your life and affirmed your values more than he changed them. 

So then, how did the indwelling Spirit, who is Jesus, change your life? 

Scripture’s answer to that question is likely found in Peter’s testimony. 

How did the indwelling of the Holy Spirit change Peter? 

I’m writing Bible studies out of 1 and 2 Peter right now. I spent some time comparing the stories of Peter in the gospels to the wisdom of Peter from his letters.  

I’ve spent most of my life thinking of Peter as the man who walked with Jesus, but those gospel stories represent less than three years of his life. Most of Peter’s testimony takes place after Pentecost.  

If you grew up in church, that is a point to ponder. 

Peter was the foundational leader of the early church. He was the one called and gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach and maintain the accurate theology of the Christian movement. Peter knew Jesus and loved him. He was the disciple Jesus spoke to, saying, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17). 

Jesus called Peter to that ministry and then gave him his Spirit for that ministry. 

Is Peter’s “before-and-after” story similar to your testimony? 

Peter: Before and after 

Peter was the disciple who climbed out of a boat in the middle of a storm to walk to Jesus. When Peter sank, he understood it was Jesus who had provided the miraculous power. He was a man who understood the power of God.

When the Holy Spirit entered Peter’s life at Pentecost, he was a familiar presence of power. Peter recognized that holy Presence, and Peter left the upper room and walked with Jesus—again. 

Peter didn’t just know about Jesus; he walked with him and served him with his life. That is exactly what happened in each of our lives when we became Christians. Your daily choices might not have changed dramatically when you were saved. But your lifelong choices probably did. 

When did you step out of the boat? When did you sink? 

When did you know you were walking with Jesus? Are you aware that he is guiding your thoughts right now?  

Our before-and-after testimony is this: Before we became Christians, we knew about Jesus. After we were saved, we were able to live with his constant, holy Presence in our lives.  

The power of a lifelong believer 

Paul also grew up with faith, but it was Peter whom the Lord called and used first. It wasn’t knowledge about Jesus that mattered most; it was knowing Jesus.  

That is the difference between a Pharisee and a Spirit-led believer. That is our daily, moment-to-moment choice. We can live with what we know about Jesus or we can live with Jesus. 

Never underestimate the great power that comes from the lifelong knowledge of God and his word. 

If you grew up in the church learning God’s word, you were equipped with the ability to be a foundational leader of the faith. Paul taught Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).  

Paul chose Timothy, a lifelong believer, to continue his earthly ministry. Timothy knew Scripture and was competent and equipped for good works. But Paul wouldn’t have chosen Timothy if Timothy weren’t also a man who walked in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  

Our before-and-after testimony 

If all that is happening in our world is causing you to “sink” just a bit these days, consider Peter’s story. Never underestimate the power of a person who walks with Jesus. Peter left the upper room and started sharing the gospel with everyone who would listen. 

But Peter didn’t preach until he had been gifted with the empowering presence of Jesus. In fact, Jesus told him not to speak until he was.  

If you are sinking these days, is it because you know what you know? 

It’s easy to be a Pharisee these days! But, the only way for miracles of change to happen is to know it is Jesus that has the power, the knowledge, and the plan for the needed change. 

Jesus can help scientists create a vaccine. Jesus can help heal racial divides. Jesus can calm fears just like he calmed storms. Jesus can use all that you know to help you become the person you need to be.  

It is common for God to choose those who have a strong foundation to be leaders. Your testimony might not be dramatic, but it is likely the story that will guide most people to place their faith in Christ. 

A lifelong testimony is difficult to question, and a life that exhibits the presence of Christ is difficult to ignore.  

Live your testimony 

Jesus told Peter, and Scripture teaches us, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). 

What is the Holy Spirit of Christ guiding you to know, speak, and do today? 

Spend some time listening for that answer right now. 

That will be your testimony for today.