David, the author of  Psalm 23 , illustrates the relational and covenantal nature of God from the vantage point of a shepherd taking care of his sheep. Just as sheep are totally and completely cared for by their shepherd, God’s people are looked after by their Lord; the Good Shepherd makes sure that He provides for His children. God meets our needs. He meets the needs we are aware of, and He also meets the needs we don’t even know about. Regarding our spiritual needs, often what we need spiritually, we won’t desire in the flesh. God will make us lie down (vv. 2-3a) to give us the restoration and rest our soul needs. He gives us places of comfort so we can refocus on Him, recharge and be restored to full capacity. God meets our directional needs as well (v. 3b). Because we are sheep that are in constant need of guidance, God is our ultimate personal shepherd. The Lord God guides us like a modern-day GPS. When we get off a righteous course due to our own disobedience, God recalibrates our lives, course-corrects us and fully reconnects us with Him. So many people do not recognize or guard against getting direction from the wrong GPS — secular culture, the media, friends, or even personal opinion. God wants to lead in His way, and if we get off track, He guides us to get back on track. In addition to spiritual and directional needs, God offers to meet our emotional needs (v. 4). Sheep are easily emotionally stressed by events that are not as bad as they appear. For example, when sheep find themselves in the shadows, they interpret the lower light they experience as darkness to be feared. Because of the inability of sheep to see the big picture, they assume that the darkness signals that they are in the dead of night. As a result, they operate in fear. Many believers similarly allow temporary difficulties or challenges to cast a shadow on how they operate and move through life. Gripped by fear or paralyzed by other negative emotions, they do not turn to God and allow Him to lead them. God wants to calm our fears and help us confidently trust in Him and His ability to lead us well. Beyond our spiritual, directional and emotional needs, our physical needs can be met by God, too. Just like a shepherd feeds his sheep when they are hungry and cares for his sheep when they are wounded, God cares for the tangible, physical needs of His people. In  Psalm 37:25b , David says, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.” God cares for His people when they are hurting. Scripture says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” ( Ps 147:3 ). God is an overflowing source of provision, and His provision never runs dry. Because we are spiritual creatures who do not live on Earth forever, God can meet our eternal needs. He is preparing a place for us ( John 14:3 ). He wants us to love Him and intentionally pursue His goodness with eternity in mind. We serve a God who is comprehensive. He can meet all our needs as we follow Him and trust Him. When we understand how God leads, cares for, guides, and protects His own, we can confidently lean on Him and look to Him as our Good Shepherd. LET’S GET PERSONAL Do you trust God as your Good Shepherd? How do you know? Do you exemplify your trust by following His lead? How has God proved Himself to be a Good Shepherd in your life? In what ways has He tangibly provided for you spiritually, directionally, emotionally or physically? Go deeper! What specific spiritual, directional, emotional or physical needs in your life do you believe you most need God to meet? What you are hoping God will do to meet your need as your shepherd?

Some of the best advice I've heard about how to deal with people who are grieving is to walk softly around a broken heart. Brokenhearted people need hope, and hope is a process, as we see in John 20. This chapter tells the story of a woman who was in deep distress and grief: Mary Magdalene came to Jesus' empty tomb and thought someone had stolen His body. But Jesus came along and, through a simple and loving process, brought her immense hope. Let's look at four principles from this text about how to approach someone who's experiencing sorrow: 1. Crying is natural. "Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping" (v. 11). Mary's tears flowed freely—the Greek word for  weep  means to wail loudly—because crying is natural. God designed us to cry. In fact, it is unhealthy to suppress your tears when you go through grief and loss. Jesus Himself wept (see John 11:35), and He takes note of all the times we weep (see Psalm 56:8). 2. Questions are helpful. The angels who were sitting in the tomb asked Mary, "'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?'" (vv. 13-15). I've discovered that when a person is suffering or brokenhearted, asking them the right questions can help redirect their thinking and raise them to a higher level of faith and trust. Here, it was as if Jesus was saying, "Mary, could there be another explanation for an empty tomb other than the body was stolen—like a resurrection?" 3. Comprehension is gradual. Mary incorrectly assumed Jesus was the gardener (see v. 15), but then He said to her, "'Mary!' She turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher)" (v. 16). How did she recognize Jesus? She knew His voice (see John 10:4, 11) because she had been in His presence long enough to recognize it. In the same way, when you spend time listening to the voice of God in Scripture, you will come to recognize His voice. Mary's comprehension was gradual, but she eventually got it. 4. Commission is needful. "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her" (vv. 17-18). Giving a simple task to someone who is depressed or brokenhearted can help restore their hope. Sorrow is consuming and energy-absorbing, but when a person in that situation has something to do, it elevates them to a place where they feel purposeful and useful instead of hopeless and listless. The overarching Scripture that comes to mind in all this is Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Allow someone who is being buffeted by trials to emote, but then always redirect their thinking from the temporal to the eternal. I pray that God would help you do this as His ambassador in the world—that you might, like Jesus, walk softly around broken hearts and rekindle hope where there is none.

Whenever you travel to another country, you need the right documentation to be admitted across their borders. I made the mistake one time of getting all the way to the Los Angeles International Airport to travel to Singapore, and I forgot to pack my passport. I heard the words "Can I have your passport, please?" and my heart just sank because I knew I didn't have it. The eternal journey to heaven is far more serious than a trip overseas, and you have to make sure that you have the right documentation, so to speak: the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. But how do we live on earth responsibly while moving toward heaven eventually? How do we strike a balance between being citizens of the earth and citizens of heaven? This is something the apostle Paul modeled for us in Philippians 1. When Paul wrote Philippians, he was in prison facing a trial, and he didn't know if he was going to live or die. In Philippians 1:19-26 especially we see him doing mental gymnastics: "I don't know which would be better: to go to heaven or to stay on earth." In verses 23-24, he wrote that he was "hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Deep in his heart, Paul wanted to depart this life. The language he used describes the breaking up of a camp to move on to a permanent location. And for Paul, it was all about that permanent destination: to be with Christ. This is what makes the death of a believer so sweet. Anything we've encountered of Jesus in this life is going to pale in comparison to actually being in His presence and seeing His face, and Paul knew that. Even so, Paul was willing to persist here on earth: "Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you" (v. 24). Even in prison, he was thinking of how other people could benefit from his ministry, and he was determined to be fruitful. This is how Paul summed up his whole approach to life, to being a citizen of heaven on earth: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (v. 21). Only someone who says, "To live is Christ" can say, "To die is gain." Just try to recast that sentence according to whatever your life motto happens to be. "To live is money, and to die is to leave it all behind," right? You can't take it with you. Or "To live is notoriety, and to die is to be forgotten." But if you can say, "For me to live is Jesus Christ," then you can say, "To die is gain." You need to be ready to die, but you also need to be ready to live until you die. We all live in between two worlds, so keep the eternal in mind as you move through the temporal. That was Paul's way of living, and it can be yours, too. www.skipheitzig.com.

One of the callers on the  Intentional Living  program said, “I’m a single mom. I’m feeling overwhelmed with life. I’m trying to go to work. I’m trying to raise my kids.” And if you’ve been a single parent, you know some of that stress. You may not be overwhelmed with parenting or grand-parenting. It could be your health, your finances, your work or any number of things. But we feel overwhelmed at times. And I’ve learned over the years in working with people that when we get really overwhelmed, sometimes we can do some stupid things. People have made decisions when they’re overwhelmed that they later look back and say “I shouldn’t have done that,” or “I could’ve made a better decision, but because I was feeling so overwhelmed, it just seemed like the right thing to do.” So, let’s look at six things you can do when you’re feeling overwhelmed with life. 1 – Embrace what you’re facing We usually want to hurry through life; we want to get to the next stage, especially when the current situation is overwhelming. We tend to ask the question, “Are we there yet?” We tend to have an expectation that once we arrive, we’ll have peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (NKJV). When you’re feeling overwhelmed in life – whatever stage you are in – embrace the season that you are in because there’s always lessons to be learned, experiences to help you grow. When we are feeling overwhelmed, we should be able to say,  God, I don’t know why I’m going through this. I’m not quite clear on what this experience is going to teach me, but, I’m going to embrace this season of my life. 2 – Picture a better future There is something about being able to see a brighter, more hope-filled future. And I don’t mean only in eternity. God’s mercies are new every morning. The sun is going to come up again tomorrow. You are not always going to be facing the situation you’re experiencing right now. 3 – Understand God’s intentions for you are always good In Jeremiah 29:11, God is saying “Hey, listen! I know what I’m doing. Just relax. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you – plans to give you a future that you’ve hoped for” (MSG). It’s assuring to know God’s intentions for us are always good. 4 – Declare your intentions When I declare, not only what I believe, but what I’m going to do, it’s transformational in my life. Look what Paul says when he’s talking about the declaration of our intention spiritually: “It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word of God, Jesus is my master” (Romans 10:8 MSG). Paul says it’s important “we declare with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead and we will be saved. Embracing and body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead” (Romans 10:9-10 MSG). This passage reminds us God doesn’t need to hear us speak audibly to know what’s going on in our hearts. Declaring it helps us. 5 – Act in faith I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.  It’s our handle on what we can’t see”  (Hebrews 11:1 MSG). We have faith in people we’ve never seen, people we don’t even know. So, why can’t we have faith in a God who is always there for us? 6 – Build confidence When you act in faith, it builds confidence in your life. The first time you got on a bicycle, you acted by faith to be able to ride it. After a while, you had the confidence to be able to get on it and do it. The word  intention  comes from the Latin meaning  to stretch.  Intentional living is all about your faith being stretched to its limit – knowing what scripture teaches, taking that step of faith and stretching to that next level. Paul says in Philippians 3:14, “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back” (MSG). He’s saying – I’m going to stretch towards this goal and get it done.

In my previous blog,  How to Respond to a National Crisis,  we looked at the first of four kinds of crisis in our lives, taken from this month’s  Intentional Living  teaching with Dr. Randy Carlson,  How to Biblically Respond to a Crisis.  They answered the question as to how we should respond to four different kinds of crisis in our lives: a national crisis. a group crisis. a family crisis. a personal crisis. Today, let’s look at the third one – a family crisis. Maybe you’ve had a crisis in your family, in your marriage or other relationships. Joseph, the second youngest of 12 sons, dreamed dreams. When he was just 17 years old, he had another dream. He then told his brothers about the dream, which was probably not the first thing should have done. He said to his brothers, “Look, I have dreamed another dream, and this time the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowed down to me” (Genesis 37:9 NKJVJ). The dream foretold Joseph’s 11 brothers were going to bow down to him, and that developed a crisis of jealousy and competition within his family. Because of that crisis, Joseph’s brothers wanted to get rid of him, and they sold him into slavery. God had another plan for Joseph to use the decisions made as a result of this crisis, not only to save the Egyptians, but also his brothers. If we fast forward to the end of Genesis, in Chapter 50, Joseph’s brothers are standing before him, and Joseph’s prophecy foretold in his dream is being fulfilled. Joseph is a ruler in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.  He has access to food and protection for all his family. His brothers bow before him in fear, concerned they were about to lose their heads. “When the brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, ‘behold, we are your servants’” (Genesis 50:18 NKJV). Think of the crisis they’re going through. These guys were starving, and they thought they would be killed. Look what Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid for I am in the place of God. But as for you, you meant evil for me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is today to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:19-20). Joseph had an opportunity to really pay his brothers back. It’s so easy to have the spirit of revenge, but Joseph chose to take a different point in forgiving and providing for these brothers who had – during a time of crisis – sold him into slavery. It’s not what happens to you that matters as much as what happens in you. Think about the crisis you are going through now. You can get so caught up in the experience, the pain, the disappointment and unmet expectations that you lose the truth of what God is doing. In the middle of crisis, ask God: What are you doing? What can I learn through this? How can I strengthen my character? How can I become more of the man or woman you want me to be in my relationship with you? Look at the heart Joseph had. Imagine going through all he went through, and he still had a heart to be able to come back to his brothers in this family crisis and tell them: “It’s not what you did to me that matters.  It’s what God is doing in me that matters.” Taken from www.theintentionallife.com.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is a crisis we’ve never seen before. I started thinking about the word  crisis  and the different meanings for it. And the definition that really caught my attention: “a crisis is a time when a difficult or important decision must be made.” When people find themselves in a crisis, they react in different ways. And it’s important to look at how we should be respond to a crisis in our lives. This month’s  Intentional Living  teaching with Dr. Randy Carlson,  How to Biblically Respond to a Crisis,  reveals snapshots from God’s Word that answer how we should respond to four different kinds of crisis in our lives: a national crisis. a group crisis. a family crisis. a personal crisis. Let’s look at the first one – a national crisis – in the Book of Exodus. The children of Israel had been held captive in Egypt for many years. God calls Moses to free his people. The people of God experience His faithfulness in the Passover and in the preparation to leave captivity and journey to the Promised Land. They witnessed His faithfulness in these plagues and promises in their life. Eventually, Pharaoh is worn down. He frees them, but once they are on their way, he changes his mind.   Remember His Faithfulness As the Israelites approach the Red Sea, they start to experience some of what they hope will be freedom in their life, but then realize their captor is in pursuit. “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold the Egyptians marching after them. So they were afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord” (Exodus 14:10 NKJV). “And Moses then said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians who you see today you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace’” (Exodus 14:13-14 NKJV). “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward’” (Exodus 14:15 NKJV). When we reference the Bible commentary, we see God is really saying, there’s a time to pray, and a time to take action. God is saying to Moses – listen, I have been faithful; I have provided for you. I have made a way for you. Now, move forward, Israel! As we go through this national crisis it’s important not to get stuck. God is always faithful to us. This is not a time to lean back, but to lean forward. It’s time to use the strength God has given us. This is not a time to hide out, but a time to be very intentional, just like the children of Israel were commanded by God to move forward. God honored his promises. The Egyptians were destroyed. “Israel saw the great work, which the Lord had done in Egypt, so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant, Moses” (Exodus 15:31 NKJV).   Worship and Praise Then the nation of Israel sang a song to the Lord:   I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him; my father’s God and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them, and they sank to the bottom like a stone.   What a word picture! When going through a crisis, we should worship God and give Him praise. What a powerful time to take the Word of God, to take music and to bring Him worship and give Him glory. The children of Israel did that at a time of crisis in their life, and it’s something we need to do in our nation today. www.theintentionallife.com.

When did you learn those words?  It’s not fair.  What deed exposed you to the imbalanced scales of life? Did a car wreck leave you fatherless? Did friends forget you, a teacher ignore you, an adult abuse you? Have you ever prayed the psalmist’s prayer? “O Lord, how long will you look on?” (Psalm 35:17). When did you first ask the question of the prophet, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1). Why indeed? Why do drug peddlers get rich? Sex offenders get off? Charlatans get elected? Murderers get out? Cheaters get by? Scoundrels get in? Hypocrites get chosen? How long will injustice flourish? God’s answer is direct: Not as long as we might think. Scripture reveals a somber promise: “For has set a day when he will judge the world” (Acts 17:31). He is not sitting idly by. He is not twiddling his thumbs. Every flip of the calendar brings us closer to the day in which God will judge all evil. A Judgment Day has been chosen. The hour is marked and moment reserved. Judgment is not a possibility, but a stark reality. “Judgment Day” is an unpopular term. We dislike the image of a great hour of reckoning. Which is ironic. We disdain judgment but we value justice, yet the second is impossible without the first. One can’t have justice without judgment. For that reason, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Followers of Christ hold to this promise: Jesus will forever balance the scales of fairness. A day is coming, sooner than we might expect, in which we will see the devil pay for all the evil he has inflicted upon the world. Satan, and all who follow him, will hear the sentence: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Justice will prevail. This promise may not matter to you. For some people, life feels fair and just. If that describes you, count your blessings. There are others, however, who fight a daily battle with anger. They’ve been robbed; evil people have pilfered days they would have had with their loved ones, disease has sapped health from their body. They believe that justice must be served. I’m one of these people. My brother was robbed. Alcoholism heisted the joy out of his life. For two-thirds of his fifty-seven years, he battled the bottle. It cost him his family, finances, and friends. He was not innocent, I get that. He bought the liquor and made the choices. Yet, I am convinced that Satan assigned a special goon squad to tempt him. When they found his weakness, they refused to let up. They took him to the mat and pounded the self-control out of him. I’m ready to see Satan pay for his crimes against my brother. I am looking forward to that moment when I stand next to Dee, our bodies redeemed and souls secure. Together we will see the devil bound and chained and cast into a lake of fire. At that point we will begin to reclaim what the devil took. “For has set a day when he will judge the world” (Acts 17:31). Let this covenant abate the anger you feel at the hurting world. Devastations have wounded every home. Just last week I met with a family whose six-year-old twins were sexually abused by a grandparent. Two nights ago, our neighbors were assaulted and robbed in their own home. One of our church members spent two years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The guilty party went free. He went to jail. It’s not right, it’s not just, it’s not fair that evil prospers. When you wonder if wickedness will go unpunished or injustices will go unaddressed, let this promise gratify your desire for justice. God will have the final word. “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). www.maxlucado.com

The story of Ehud the Judge in Judges 3 is framed by two statements about his mission to free Israel from King Eglon of Moab. The first is the statement, “ turned back at the idols near Gilgal” ( Judges 3:19 ). This was when Ehud turned back after offering tribute to get Eglon’s attention. Then, after killing Eglon with a short sword, the text says, “Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah” ( Judges 3:26 ). The story is framed this way to demonstrate that the false idols of Ehud’s day were no match for the God of Israel or he whom God had called to save his people. He entered the city near the idols that had no way to protect Eglon, and he passed by again during his escape and they could not capture him. As the scripture says elsewhere, “They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat” (Pslam 115:5-7). So too, the false religions of our day are in the same condition as the idols during ancient times. Whether Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, or any other “ism” of our day, they are all false religions that offer no hope of escape from the effects or punishment of sin. They are vain belief systems, vain idols, that can do nothing for their adherents. There has only ever been one image of deity that can offer hope: Jesus Christ. Jesus is the image of the invisible God ( Colossians 1:15 ). He is not only like the Father, he is also like us, having been born as a man, lived a life as a man, died as a man, but raised from the dead as so much more. He saves and he condemns. And right now his mission, through his people, is to save. Don’t be afraid of what people of other faiths might say or do. Though opposition can be unpleasant, the day will come when all false idols will be judged and only Jesus will be left standing and his people with him. Speak of him as often as you can that others might come to know him too. And just like Ehud, you will have peace ( Judges 3:30 ).

Have you ever stopped praying because you have lost heart, or feel like you’re just repeating yourself, or wonder if God really hears you and your words just bounce off the ceiling? Does this feeling ever make you wonder if God is even there, if he even exists? What you may be experiencing is something called, “Prayer Fatigue.” You’re tied, feel drained, disheartened, and you wonder if God will even pay attention. Yet, there are many times, especially in the Psalms, where the Psalmist wonders the same thing. They ask God when he will answer or move or if he even listens. Today, I have some good news. You can beat your prayer fatigue with a simple exercise in scripture that will refocus your attention and address God in the most important ways and from your heart. At first, it may seem like a routine thing to do. But, with a little work in prayer you can find that your prayer fatigue will not only go away, you may find a new, fresh, meaningful way to pray. And it happens when you start praying according to Matthew 6. What do you find there? Here it is: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever” ( Matthew 6:9-13 ). Sometimes when we pray we feel frustrated and don’t know what to say. We encourage ourselves with a phrase from the Apostle Paul who said, “[The] Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” ( Romans 8:26 ). We tell ourselves that it’s okay if we don’t know what to say because the Holy Spirit is praying on our behalf anyway. So, we stop trying so hard. But, I don’t think that this is what Paul meant to communicate when he penned those words. Certainly, God doesn’t want us to stop praying. Paul also said, “Pray without ceasing” ( I Thessalonians 5:17 ). When the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray it was because they saw other teachers giving prayer instruction to their disciples.  Jesus gave them something short, but exceedingly profound. The Lord’s Prayer, as it has come to be known, was not only great instruction for the disciples, Jesus also used it himself in John 17. If you compared the two passages of scripture you will see in John 17 a model of Matthew 6. If Jesus used the Lord’s Prayer when he approached his father, how much more do we need it! So, how do you pray the Lord’s Prayer beyond just repeating the words as they are written? Look at how the Lord’s Prayer can help you by using it as a guideline for all of your prayers. Consider this: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” Lord, I come to you because you are the one and only great God. Your name and identity is beyond all I can imagine. You are the creator of all things and your name deserves to be made known and spread the world over. Think through how else God’s name can be praised in your life and is magnified in the things you see around you. “Your kingdom come.” Lord, please make me effective in advancing your kingdom on earth. I want to be an example of what it means to believe in Jesus and help others come to know him and fall in love with him. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When you speak the angels obey you. Nothing can defeat your will. Help me to obey you. Please Lord, also help my family and friends who don’t know you to come to know you and obey you as well. As you pray through each statement in the Lord’s Prayer, look for ways to related it to your life experience and relationships. Just as the Holy Spirit prays for you and with you when you struggle, so too, he will pray with you when you pray according to the outline in the Lord’s prayer. I use the Lord’s Prayer many times when approaching God. I know that he hears me when I pray according to his will and his words. When I started using the Lord’s Prayer it transformed my thinking and the way I approach God. The same can be true for you as well. guywithabible.com

Our world is always one push-button away from annihilation. If stocks plunge, nest eggs disappear. Pandemic fears fill our hearts. Don’t even get me started discussing global warming, moral depravity or the disintegration of the family unit. Depressing and worrysome.   Negro slaves, brutally beaten, living in poverty, had no hope. How could man's inhumanity to man exist? These slaves had one coping mechanism. They focused on heaven. Life on earth was hell. But heaven….yes, heaven would be different! “Deep River, my home is over Jordan,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot-coming for to carry me home!” Negro spirituals expressed hope in a life beyond death. We can learn from them.   How can you become heavenly-minded and hopeful?   1.     Remember that eternal life starts now. Jesus said in John 17:3: “Now this is eternal life; that they may know You, the only eternal God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jesus’ presence will fill you full of joy and pleasure (Psalm 16:11). Quiet your heart, mute your cell phone and let His love wash over you today. 2.      Jesus will be glad to see you . Matthew 25:23 expresses God’s absolute delight in your celestial arrival. He says “Well done, good and faithful servant….Come share your Master’s happiness.” Have you spent your life trying to please God and others? You will find forgiveness, grace and rest in heaven. (Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 4:10). Picture God smiling at you, welcoming you with open arms instead of shaking His finger at you in reproof. 3.     Bored? You will have fulfilling work to do. The cream cheese commercial featuring “haloed” angels lying on cloud pillows and strumming harps is a myth. Revelation 7 and 22 states that we will not work riddled with fatigue and frustration (the result of the Fall), but will fulfill all of the potential God placed within you with unlimited resources and energy. 4.     Those you love and miss are watching. Hebrews 12:1 describes the crowd of witnesses cheering us on in our earthly struggles. Revelation 6:9 and Luke 16:19-30 give us an indication that our dear ones do see us but through an eternal lens. What joy to reunite with them! If “a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years,” then your husband may die and you follow him ten years later. That’s about fifteen minutes in “heaven” time. He sees you and quips, “Hi, Honey! Late as usual…” 5.     The worship will be awesome!!! Revelation 4:1-11 depicts the glorious scene of unceasing worship before God’s Throne. All are singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” I don’t care how much or little you enjoy worship now, sing, shout, thank and praise God during your day. God’s presence hangs around when you praise. (Read about the Ark of God and His smoky glory). That should get you going!   Hoping in heaven gives you a different perspective on life. I envision my understanding of the here and now as the underside of an embroidered pillowcase. All I see are knots and dangling threads. The heaven side reveals a beautifully crafted masterpiece.   Thinking about heaven makes me happy. Besides, I am going to chow down at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb and not gain an ounce!

How do you spend your free time? Here are Randy Alcorn's terrific insights: "We have to look at our lives as a window of opportunity, because none of us has unlimited time. Everyone, no matter who they are, has 168 hours a week, and we’re supposed to spend about a third of it sleeping, and then another large amount of that likely goes to work. But in terms of what we call discretionary time, how much do we actually have? And how are we spending it? Scripture tells us to redeem the time and make the most of the time we’ve been given by living in light of eternity. We’d be wise to take these verses into account as we choose how to spend our time: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is ( Ephesians 5:15-17 ). Be self-controlled and vigilant ( 1 Peter 5:8 , PHILLIPS). This doesn’t mean that there’s no time for exercise, fun, hanging out with friends and family, barbecues, or watching a good movie. Our leisure time can be used in ways that please God—by studying and meditating on His Word (see  2 Timothy 2:15 ), by resting in Christ (see  Matthew 11:28-30 ), and by recuperating from life’s busyness, as Christ commanded His disciples (see  Mark 6:31 ). Scripture also says that God provides us with material things “for our enjoyment” ( 1 Timothy 6:17, NLT ). I’m so grateful for that phrase from Scripture, because it allows me to spend reasonable time and money enjoying God’s creation without guilt and doing things like playing tennis and riding my bike. Nanci and I sometimes go out to dinner or watch a movie together, enriching our relationship. These things contribute to my physical health and my mental and emotional refreshment. So the answer isn’t believing that spending time doing the things we enjoy is automatically wrong. Hobbies and God-honoring entertainment can be an enriching part of an abundant, satisfying, and happy life. But leisure time can also deteriorate into hours and days wasted watching mind-numbing television, endlessly browsing the Internet and social media, or indulging in fantasies, whether through pornography, explicit romance novels, or video games. If our approach to free time is just the television is always on because we’re watching this or binging on that, then we’re likely neglecting other important things God calls us to do. Are we building relationships with our neighbors and the people God has brought in our lives? Who are we serving or reaching out to? What great books are we reading? How deep are we going in reading and studying God’s Word? All of these things can bring us great refreshment and joy. I know people who say  I don’t have time to do a weekly Bible study, but they’re actually spending the evening at home watching television or scrolling through their phone or playing video games. So we have to ask ourselves,  What kind of a person will all these things make me? as opposed to  What kind of person will reading God’s Word and great books, meeting with Christ’s body, and serving other people, make me? One thing I encourage people to do is to keep track of how they spend their time for one week. (You can use a time management sheet like  this one ). You can keep track of everything, but most specifically your discretionary time. When we understand how we spend our time, it makes us better stewards because we become  aware  of what we otherwise don’t really know. Becoming aware is the first step of stewardship, which puts us in a position to decide, “I want to spend more time reading some great books and God’s Word, and talking with my wife and reading to my kids, and to steward this time I can reduce my time on electronics by five or ten hours each week.” Again, we won't do this without a clear picture of how we’re currently spending our time. When I was talking to my wife Nanci about this, she reminded me that when she had food allergy issues, she was supposed to write down each and every thing she ate for several weeks. She found this very helpful. As with eating, when it comes to how you spend your time, simply  knowing what you're actually doing  makes a huge difference in your ability to evaluate and make positive, God-glorifying changes. I admit sometimes I really do struggle with how quickly time runs out each day. I try to focus on the Lord and His Word and figure out  the few things in life  He really wants me to do. Every day—including this one—offers me a hundred distractions, not just bad things, but good things. I tell myself that I must say no to the vast majority of good things that I might be able to say yes to those very few things God really has for me, including during my free time. Jesus says to Martha in Luke 10: “Few things are necessary, really only one. Mary has chosen the better portion and it will not be taken from her.” May that be true of us too, and may we redeem the time God has given us, for His glory!" www.epm.org .

“How can God just do nothing?” This was the vulnerable and honest question I got from someone in the audience during a recent Q&A. The pain in her question was deep. The ache in her faith was real. And, gracious, do I ever understand what that feels like. Perhaps you understand, too. I remember feeling so disillusioned during my journey with my husband, Art, when he was unfaithful and our marriage was imploding. For years, all I could see from my vantage point was Art doing whatever he wanted with no apparent intervention by God at all. And when you’re suffering so much that each next breath seems excruciating, and the one causing the pain is seemingly thriving and prospering, it’s easy to start assuming God is doing nothing. But we don’t serve a do-nothing God. He is always working. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. He walked through years of rejection, false accusation, wrongful imprisonment and seemingly was forgotten … but with God, there is always a meanwhile. God was bringing about something only He could do with the circumstances before Joseph. He was positioning Joseph and preparing him to be used to help save the lives of millions of people during a famine that would have otherwise destroyed multiple nations. God is always doing something. Unlike in the Joseph story, sometimes we don’t get to see on this side of eternity how God is working in our most painful experiences. But I can let the way God worked in Joseph’s story be a reminder of His faithfulness in my story. I’ve been able to have conversations with Art in our reconciliation now that allow me to go back and correct some of my assumptions that life was fun and incredible for him during the years he was living a lie. God was still at work in my husband even when I couldn’t see the evidence. But even more than that, sin itself contains punishment built in. Art would tell you today he was miserable back then. He felt trapped inside of a lie that required him to put on a show, looking like he was having the time of his life. But that show required numbing substances that were killing him. It was a trap with vicious teeth dug so deeply down into his soul, he can’t talk about those years without begging others not to get caught in this same kind of nightmare. Sin always masquerades as fun and games. But pull back the curtain of the deceived human heart, and what you’ll find hiding there will drive you to your knees to pray for that person. And maybe that’s the very reason God instructs us to pray for our enemies. Job 15:20 reminds us,  “The wicked man writhes in pain all his days”  (ESV). And Psalm 44:15 says  “All day long my dishonor is before me And my humiliation has overwhelmed me”  (NASB). As St. Augustine, a fourth-century Christian theologian, says, sin “becomes the punishment of sin.” But never forget God is there in the midst of it all. No matter how good someone makes sinful choices seem, that isn’t the complete story. God knows the full truth. With Art, God wasn’t just trying to change his behavior. He was rescuing his soul. There was never one moment when God was doing nothing. Oh, friend, the heartbreaks you carry are enormous. And if no one else has ever said this to you, I want to: I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through. Your hurt matters. Not only do I care about you, but so does God. Don’t miss the tremendous amount of tenderness we find in our key verse today,  “… casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]”  (1 Peter 5:7). Keep trusting Him. He sees you. He loves you. And He knows exactly what needs to happen in every detail of your story. You do not serve a do-nothing God. Father God, I’m so thankful for the reminder that You are always doing something. Please help me to keep trusting You, even when I don’t understand what You’re doing. I know You see me. You love me. And You have not for one second forsaken me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. TRUTH FOR TODAY Matthew 5:44-45a, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (NIV) www.proverbs31.org.