In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. (Isaiah 10:27)

Well it is that time of the year again, an annual experience when I get a report on my most up to date physical condition. I have been to every kind of ologist there is and have too many times been asked to dress in an undersized grocery bag. I have been poked, prodded and stuck more times than I can imagine.

For the most part, all checked out well, but I still don’t like those sentences that begin ……”but for a person of your age.” I am blessed with good family medical history and I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t hang around with those who do. But, this year, as with most years, there is that one factor … weight. Some doctors refer to it as obese and refer to the charts. Those docs who know me on a first name basis use the word “fat.” I tell them that I am not overweight, just two feet short according to the charts.

So, here I go again, off to shed the pounds. It’s easy. I have done it many times and lost hundreds of pounds. Mark Twain once commented how easy it was to quit smoking, as he had done it hundreds of times.

No, it’s not easy. It is plain hard work and once you get to the target goal it is a bear to stay there. Let’s face it, I like to eat and that it the root of my problem. It creeps up gradually pound by pound and all of a sudden I am, well … fat again.

Sin is like that. Our natural man likes to do it and it creeps up on you sin by sin and soon you are drowning in it. We can try to wish it away, desire it to be away and even pray it away, but there is nothing passive about resisting sin. It, like losing weight, is just plain hard work. As humans, we like to sin, because Satan wraps it in such beautiful packages.

Physical weight has its consequences. Someone recently asked me how many fat people I knew who were over seventy. It was a sobering question. Sinful weight also has its consequences, often deadly. Isaiah (10:27) talks about a burden lifted from our shoulders.  It is an image of deliverance from oppression and calamity.

It is time for all of us to throw off the sinful burden our shoulders and the yolk around our neck. Get serious. Get real. Sin will take you under and drown you, so we all need to work hard to throw it off.

As for me, I am a man on a mission … a mission to shed the pounds, so if you see me, shake my hand, but please don’t offer me a Twinkie.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Luke 11:14)

Imagine you’re doing work on a deck and you fall on a rusty nail. It’s a small puncture but you keep working. Meanwhile, anaerobic bacteria begin to metabolize and cause infection. You don’t treat it and soon you have lockjaw, facial spasms, difficulty swallowing, and muscle rigidity. You start to get full body spasms and they continue for weeks until one day you die… if you don’t treat it.

Sin is the same way. It loves to fester in a grudge. The puss and poison of bitterness will eat away at your soul and enslave you… if you don’t treat it.

But treating it is hard. It’s open-heart surgery. We feel justified in our grudges! We think our bitterness is warranted and our rage is necessary for justice. Justice? Consider our Lord Jesus Christ:

He was crushed for our iniquities.

He took up our pain.

He bore our suffering.

He was stabbed for our sin.

His punishment brings us peace.

His wounds heal us.

We receive unwarranted forgiveness every day. We must also give it. The giving and receiving are two in one. Love God and your neighbor by accepting forgiveness and also forgiving.

Recall the people who have hurt you. Have you forgiven them? Reach back in your memory to your childhood and ask, “Does hate still linger there?”

Don’t listen to the voice that tells you, “Things are fine, let’s move on.” Search your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to search you as well. Uproot and kill the weeds of hate in your soul and humble yourself before God and man. Ask for forgiveness and be made new right now.

Lord, I understand that my salvation is not fair. You forgave me when I did not deserve it. And so, as I have been forgiven, so I must forgive. Holy Spirit, help me give up my grudge. Draw out the poison from my heart. In Jesus’ name I rebuke the unclean spirits in my heart and confess I have allowed them to fester. I repent and ask that you Lord Jesus to make me new. Cleanse me oh God from all unrighteousness. I trust you to heal and cleanse me and praise you for being the Great Physician. Amen.

Because of God’s holy justice, we deserve judgment for our sin. But Jesus paid for our sin-debt in full, so that now God offers us mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting favors we don’t deserve. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) Grace is a gift, which he has freely given us in Christ.

Not only do we receive God’s grace at salvation, but He pours it on us lavishly moment by moment. He equips us to be His agents of grace in our families and our neighborhood.

I will remember that today is a grace-day:
Great Riches At Christ’s Expense are mine.

I will immerse myself in the ocean of His grace. I will feed on promises of His grace.  I will be a grace-giver in prayer, and in my walk and talk.I will bless someone with grace today.

Dear Father, I’m truly amazed at your grace which you keep pouring out on me. I want to bless someone with your grace today.  Amen.

Questions: Can you think of someone who needs to know and experience the grace of God? Will you reach out to that person today?

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

A couple of years ago, my bride and I were in Albuquerque for a meeting that was at the same time as the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was an incredible sight to see all of the multi-colored balloons glistening against the crystal blue New Mexico sky.

My friend asked us if we had ever ridden in one and we both said no. He said that then was the time and the next thing I knew, we were crammed in an oversized laundry basket with two other friends and a young pilot barely old enough to shave and we were trusting our life to him.

Always wanting to know how things work, I started asking questions as I watched the hot air from the burners fill the balloon. There was a brisk wind from the South and I asked how we could ever expect to get back where we started. As we lifted off and began a rather swift ride North, the pilot answered my question.

It seems that the wind, much like the currents in the ocean does not run uniformly at all altitudes. The trick to piloting a balloon is to find out which way the wind is blowing at different altitudes and raising or lowering the balloon’s altitude to catch a ride in the desired direction.

A lot of people run their lives that way, following whatever is the path of least resistance. We take great pains to put ourselves on its path. We’d do anything to keep from waiting in traffic, standing in line at the bank, post office, or grocery store. We’d come back another time when the place is not as busy.

If Noah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, Joseph, Joshua and Caleb, Esther and others had taken the path of least resistance, would we be reading about them in the Scriptures? Probably not, because God’s way is not always the easy way.

Sometimes we fail to realize that the struggles and challenges in life, the trials and adversities that we face day to day are just what we need to grow in Christian grace. Matthew talks about the narrow gate and the broad gate. One is easy to pass through and the other takes effort, but the rewards are greater. Which way do you choose?

So, as we go through life, let us not follow the easiest way, but the way of highest calling…. God’s way.

Are you lacking Christian community? Let us pray for you.

Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27: 17)

These days, especially in large metropolitan areas, the Christian has a lot to choose from. You can attend a small neighborhood church with dozen of members or you can attend a mega church with thousands of members. You can hear great preaching and sermons that spiritually excite you in person, on line or on television. You can hear wonderful Christian music that inspires you.

But no matter where you go or what you hear, unless you are involved in a small group experience, you are not sharpening your spiritual growth. I am talking about Bible fellowship classes, small group Bible studies, prayer groups and accountability partnerships.

All of us are the product of the people we meet, the places we go and the books we read. If we hang around with dogs, we get fleas. In life, we are an associational product. It’s not easy to love a “G Rated” life in an “X Rated world.

The best way to live a holy life is to hang around with those who do. Get involved in a Bible fellowship, a morning Bible and accountability group, or a weekly luncheon with Christian brethren.

Living a holy life is not easy, but in order to do so, we must live in fellowship with God and have the flavor of God in our life. All of that goes with the development of a healthy and godly fear in our lives. To live a holy life, I must be identified with God and with Holy living. The best way to do that is to hang around with holy people.

Since I became a Christian I don’t do what I used to and I am not who I once was. But, I am human and I can slip and slide, especially when I hang around with the wrong people, read the wrong books (TV’s shows, movies and the like) and go the wrong places. No matter how solid my faith, there are limits to the temptation I can resist.

Getting saved is something I have to do alone. It is a private and personal thing between God and me. But living the Christian life is something that is best done in a group setting. It needs to be done with others and, like putting on your clothes, it is something that needs to be done daily. Daily, I must walk with the Spirit or risk walking in the flesh.

Living the Christian life is not easy in this demoralized world, but a team approach makes any task easier. Iron does sharpen iron, as Christians sharpen one another. So, pull along others and grow together.

 “The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name.” (Exodus 15:3)

Do a Google image search on the name Jesus. What do you see? I see dozens of pictures of a white guy who looks like he might be good at crocheting or reading nursery rhymes.

Who was Jesus? Well, he is alive, so the proper question is, “Who is Jesus?” What is he actually like? If you hung out with him for a day, what kind of person would you see.

He is God’s son and the image of the invisible God. Of the many indescribable characteristics he possesses, one of the strongest would undoubtedly be his humility. Philippians 2, among many other passages, confirms this.

But another facet in the diamond that is Jesus’ personality comes in the form of his warrior persona.

The Jews were expecting a liberating Savior that would free them from their physical oppression, restoring the nation of Israel geographically and politically. Jesus was concerned with much different things. He was in the business of spiritual liberation, spiritual freedom. He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and remained faithful, using the word of God as his defense. He cast out evil spirits and demons from people, restoring them to spiritual health. He was aware of the spiritual realms and engaged in spiritual warfare on many occasions.

May we do the same, by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, to the glory of His name. As Christ fought the darkness, so must we.

LORD, you are a warrior. May we be aware, as your son was when He came to earth, of the spiritual battle that rages around us. Holy Spirit, help us believe and overcome our unbelief. Keep us strong by the truth during temptation. Keep us faithful by prayer and fasting during spiritual warfare. Amen.  

1. Men would rather feel unloved than inadequate and disrespected. Husbands need to know that their wives respect them both privately and publicly. Men thrive when they know that their wives trust them, admire them and believe in them. Shaunti Feldhahn’s research indicated that men would rather sense the loss of loving feelings from their wives than to be disrespected by them.
2. A man’s anger is often a response to feeling disrespected by his wife. When a husband becomes angry with his wife, he may not come out and say, “You’re disrespecting me!” But, there is a good likelihood that he is feeling stung by something his wife has done which he considers disrespectful and humiliating.
3. Men are insecure. Men are afraid that they aren’t cutting it in life — not just at work, but at home, in their role as a husband. They may never vocalize this, but inwardly, they are secretly vulnerable. The antidote? Affirmation. To men, affirmation from their wives is everything! If they don’t receive this affirmation from their wives, they’ll seek it elsewhere. When they receive regular and genuine affirmation from their wives (not flattery, by the way), they become much more secure and confident in all areas of their lives.
4. Men feel the burden of being the provider for their family. Intellectually, it doesn’t matter how much or little a man makes, or whether or not his wife makes more or less money in her career. Men simply bear the emotional burden of providing for their family. It’s not a burden they’ve chosen to bear. Men are simply wired with this burden. As such, it is never far from their minds and can result in the feeling of being trapped. While wives cannot release their husbands from this burden, they can relieve it through a healthy dose of appreciation, encouragement and support.
5. Men want more sex. Everyone’s natural response to this is probably, “Duh!” But, that response is probably for the wrong reason. We primarily assume that men want more sex with their wives due to their physical wiring (their “needs”). But, surprisingly, Shaunti Feldhahn’s research showed that the reason men want more sex is because of their strong need to be desired by their wives. Men simply need to be wanted. Regular, fulfilling sex is critical to a man’s sense of feeling loved and desired.
6. Sex means more than sex. When men feel their wives desire them sexually, it has a profound effect on the rest of their lives. It gives them an increasing sense of confidence and well-being that carries over into every other area of his life. The flipside of this coin also carries a profoundly negative affect. When a husband feels rejected sexually, he not only feels his wife is rejecting him physically, but that she is somehow rejecting his life as a husband, provider and man. This is why making sex a priority in marriage is so incredibly important!
7. Men struggle with visual temptation. This means the vast majority of men respond to visual images when it comes to women. And, this doesn’t just mean the guys with wandering eyes. Even the most godly husband cannot avoid noticing a woman who dresses in a way that draws attention to her body. Even if it is just a glance, these visual images are stored away in the male brain as a sort of “visual rolodex” that will reappear without any warning. Men can choose whether to dwell on these images and memories or dismiss them, but they can’t control when these images appear.
8. Men enjoy romance, but doubt their skills to be romantic. True, many men appear to be unromantic clods, but it doesn’t mean that they want to be that way! Men want to be romantic, but they just doubt their ability to pull it off. They are plagued by internal hesitations, perceiving the risk of humiliation and failure as too high. Wives can do a great deal to increase their husbands’ confidence in their romantic skills through encouragement and redefining what romance looks like. For example, a wife may balk when her husband asks her to go along to the hardware store, but it’s likely that he’s asking because he sees it as a time they can get away as a couple and hang out together. What’s not romantic about that?
9. Men care about their wife’s appearance. This isn’t saying that all men want their wives to look like the latest supermodel. What men really want is to know that their wives are making an effort to take care of themselves (and not letting themselves go) because it matters to them (the husbands!). Husbands appreciate the efforts their wives make to maintain their attractiveness.
10. Men want their wives to know how much they love them. This was the number one response of men. Men aren’t confident in their ability to express this, but they love their wives dearly. Men want to show how much they love their wives and long for them to understand this fact.

Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:15-17)

It was not their first baby, so as the parents of 3-and-a-half-year-old twin boys, they felt everything was on course for the birth of their next child.  As it became evident that full labor was upon them, they loaded up the boys, packed bags and head to the sitter’s house then on to the hospital.

The situation became urgent when her water broke on their way to the sitter’s. Speeding, they got pulled over by the police.  The male officer was caught off guard when the husband explained that his wife’s water broke, but the officer’s partner, a woman, immediately understood and sent the family on their way. Stopping at the sitter’s was no longer an option. At the hospital in the birthing suite, while the doctors and nurses dealt with the imminent arrival of their sister, the boys watched TV.  During the labor, one of her boys turned to his mom and said, “Mom, sssshhhh!  We’re trying to watch TV!”

I’m sure there are times when I, like that 3-year-old, miss the fact that God is doing the miraculous because I’m too distracted or out of touch with God.  Not only do I miss out on something really cool, but I can also be a little annoyed with God for inconveniencing me! Like Elisha’s servant in the following verses, I need to have my eyes opened to what God is really doing around me.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:15-17)

My prayer… “God, help me not to be distracted today. Open my eyes to what you are doing, to the miraculous.”

“But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9)

In our minds, open doors and opposition do not belong together. Have you ever heard that phrase, “God is opening a door?” We often take it to mean that God is putting an opportunity in front of us, lining up all the circumstances just right. All we have to do is open the door and walk through it. Whatever’s on the other side – a conversation about Jesus, a new job, an exciting project – will work out perfectly. Nothing will stand in our way.

I’m standing in front of a door of my own. My team is getting ready to launch a strategy that aims to begin a nation-wide movement of one million Christians committed to surrendering their lives and to reach their world for Jesus (see TheLife.com). Enormous amounts of time, energy, and money are being poured into this project. Many people are making the commitment while others struggle with the challenge. With the potential to impact the spiritual direction of our nation the stakes are high.

My prayer partner called me up a while back. “I have some bad news,” she said. “I have a strong sense that there is great opposition heading for you.” She continued, “This is the verse that came to my mind.  ‘… a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.’”

In life with God, open doors and opposition often go hand in hand. The apostle Paul could see God opening a “great door for effective work” right in front of him. But he could also see obstacles and enemies up ahead, ready to oppose him. Paul recognized that great opportunities often lead us right into fierce battles. When we venture into work that threatens our greatest enemy, we should not be surprised when he takes notice.

If you prayerfully stepped through an open door and now you’re experiencing opposition, be encouraged. You didn’t misread the situation. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. Remember that God never sends us into battle unprotected. He sends us with full-body spiritual armor. (Ephesians 6:10-17) When we put that on, we can walk through any open door – opposition or no.

Prayer:  God, when a door from you opens up, help me to remember that I can be right in the middle of your will for my life and still be facing opposition. Help me to trust you even when circumstances aren’t perfect. Please give me the courage to fight for You, and protect me with your armor. Amen.