Worship on the Go
by John Fischer
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God doesn’t desire more of our time sometimes; He desires more of our attention all the time.

Ever feel frustrated because you hear messages about getting closer to God and you definitely desire this for yourself, but you are inundated with so much to do already that this only makes you feel guilty because you are too busy for God? I think we all feel this at one time or another.

Some of you may need to carve some time out of your busy schedule for more specific time to be with God, but that isn’t necessarily the only answer to this question. Look at the following scriptures:

I have set the Lord always before me. Psalm 16:8 NIV
My eyes are ever on the Lord. Psalms 25:15 NIV
I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1 NIV

Reading these words makes you wonder if these are the words of a monk who had nothing else to do but devote himself to God. Actually, they are the words of David, King of Israel, a great ruler and warrior. How did he manage to run a nation and keep his eyes on the Lord at all times? The only conclusion is that he did this while he did everything else. It’s a continual awareness of God that we are talking about here, not necessarily more time devoted to spiritual pursuits.

I once saw a sign that read: “Your God is what you pay attention to.” You see, I believe you can pay attention to God while you are doing everything else. It’s all about doing everything for God and seeing God in everything we do. It’s about bringing God into the boardroom, the exercise room, the living room, and the bedroom. Now of course He’s already in all these places but we’re talking about being aware of His being there at all times. That’s what it means to set the Lord always before us.

Worship is a frame of mind that always has God in the picture. We don’t need church, or Bible study, or devotions to remind us about the Lord if we’re already aware of Him all the time. These opportunities then become more precious to us because we can devote all our attention to that which we have been aware of all along.

John Fischer is an author, speaker, and song writer based in Southern California. His latest book, Love Him in the Morning has been released by Revell Publishing.

The Heart of the Matter
by John Fischer
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I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter,
But my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter—
But I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness—
Even if—even if—you don't love me anymore.

- Don Henly



Yes, Don Henly was right: it’s all about forgiveness. It’s all about forgiveness, because we are all in such a mess—we are all in such need of it. Applying large doses of forgiveness is a necessary requirement for any relationship to flourish.



Authentic fellowship requires forgiveness or it is a phony, surface fellowship. It skips over the sins, disappointments and letdowns of our lives because these are too painful or too hard to face.



The only way it wouldn’t be about forgiveness would be if everyone were perfect and I checked myself in the mirror recently and concluded that my perfection doesn’t look like a possibility at least in my immediate future. I desperately need those around me to be forgiving if I am going to get anywhere near them because I have so much in me that will stand in the way of a real relationship if it’s not brought out into the open. And when something like that is brought out into the open something has to be done about it. It has to be the featured obstacle—the reason why we can’t get close—or it has to be forgiven.



I really don’t see this going any other way. Because we are all going to fail each other’s expectations so assuredly that I see only three possibilities here. Hate or fear each other and completely avoid any relationship. Carry on a superficial relationship where we hide most of our real feelings behind a mask of pretension. Or come out into the open and love each other applying forgiveness liberally to others and ourselves. Forgiveness is the only way to avoid resentment and anger. Fellowship is impossible without it.



“Above all, love each other deeply,” wrote Peter, “because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 Whose sins are being covered over here I wonder? Everyone’s. Love enables me to look past your sins and be in relationship with you. And love enables you to look past my sins and be in relationship with me. Not only that but it also allows us to have our own sins forgiven so we can have a sense of being worth something to someone else as a friend.



Fellowship is a great thing but don’t even try it without a commitment to forgiving each other. Otherwise, your fellow “ship” will never even get out of the harbor.



John Fischer is an author, speaker, and song writer based in Southern California. His latest book, Love Him in the Morning has been released by Revell Publishing.

Another Kind of Normal
by John Fischer
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Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. —Rick Warren



Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that we deserve to have a relatively easy life. We have a very false sense of what should be the norm. If someone asks you how things are going and you answer “Fine,” that is thought of as normal—the way it should be. If there is anything wrong, and you answer that question with a qualifier (“Fine, but…”) then it is assumed that your life is not normal. If something is wrong, then your life is for some reason not what it is supposed to be.



In actuality, the real thing that is wrong is this kind of thinking. Until we change our thinking in this regard, life will always be frustrating. We will be preoccupied with trying to fix everything instead of learning life’s lessons. We will always be expecting things to get better around the next bend in the road when “better” isn’t anywhere on the map. Until we learn this, we will just wrestle with life instead of working with it—taking what God sends as our course description, and readying ourselves for each new lesson. Difficulty, surprise, hardship, and trials of every kind are the norm for the follower of Christ.



Paul puts it this way: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NLT).



Now that’s normal. If you want to grow as a Christian, expect this kind of treatment. And the reason for this is twofold. First: life by nature is difficult and hardship produces character in us as we meet life’s challenges with the Holy Spirit; and second: when we go through ordinary hardship and difficulty the reality of the presence of God in our lives can be more easily seen, because the hope and confidence of Christ in our lives is in direct contrast to our situation, making God easier to spot. Or, as Paul goes on to say: “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us” (2 Corinthians 4:11 Msg).



If normal for you means everything is fine and dandy, then brace yourself, because it’s definitely going to get worse. Count on it. God loves you too much to allow you to get away with anything less. And if life is difficult for you right now, rejoice in your opportunity to grow. We need to all start expecting another kind of normal.

Gifted for a Reason
by John Fischer
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God made us to fit into His family and gave each of us gifts that will help define our place in that family. That gift is a special ability to meet other people’s needs. It’s what helps us serve better. Serving other people is not an added little project for us to take on so we can be purpose-driven; it is an integral part of our identities. You were made to serve, and you were given gifts to help you serve better.



Your gift is by nature just that: a gift, so it is not hard to do. Sometimes it may take effort to get yourself into a place where you can exercise your spiritual gift, but once you start serving, the gift comes naturally. If you’re not sure what your gift is, ask somebody.



What I mean is: we are not very good judges of our own gifts. Our gifts are for others, and for this reason, those who receive the benefits of our gifts are the best qualified to tell us what they are. For instance, if people naturally come to you for advice because you always speak practically into their lives, then they are probably telling you that you have the gift of wisdom. If people call you when they need something done because you always get things done on time and with limited effort, they may be telling you that you have the gift of service or administration. If people confide in you because they know that whatever they say, you will not turn them away, they may be counting on your gift of mercy. If whenever you teach a Bible study or a small group, people come up to you and tell you what they learned, then they may be telling you that you have the gift of teaching. Ask the people around you to tell you specifically how you affect their lives.



Of course you have to exercise your gift before anyone can benefit from it and tell you what it is. Knowledge of these things doesn’t come out of a vacuum. How do you start serving if you aren’t sure what your gift is? Best to simply get involved with a small group or in some capacity in your church or community. As you reach out to people in general, a certain expertise will take shape. It will be hard to miss. It’s a blend of what you like to do, what comes easily, and what those around you confirm.



Having a role to play in the family of God can be the difference between wondering why we are here and knowing why. And that can make all the difference in the world.



For more study on spiritual gifts, read Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Ephesians 4:4-13.

Listening for the Silent Scream
by John Fischer
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In counseling session, I inadvertently lean on a pillow that emits a faint electronic warble. I only hear it subconsciously, as I am deeply engaged in the conversation. Then it happens again and I look down and discover my pillow is screaming at me. An electronic chip inside is responding to the pressure of my elbow. On the face of the pillow is a rendering of Edvard Munch’s famous 19th century expressionism painting, “The Scream”—that wavy image of a wide-open mouth and gaunt, skeletal face cradled in the hands of its own desperation. You may have seen it currently in the supermarket rendered as a popular Halloween mask. It has become a universal depiction of the cry of the human heart.



In the painting, the screaming victim is standing on a bridge with a red, swirling sky behind him and two figures in the background. In the artist’s own words, the inspiration for this painting came when an unexplainable sense of dread overcame him while out walking with two of his friends. “My friends walked on—I stood there, trembling with fear. And I sensed a great, infinite scream pass through nature."



Until I read this description, I saw the figures as approaching and for some reason coming after the screaming victim (too many chase scenes, I guess), but according to the artist, the two figures have passed on ahead, seemingly oblivious to whatever it was that gripped him with fear. This underlines even more the loneliness expressed. His companions have their backs turned on his desperation. They are no help to him. Only he can hear the scream; and their apparent disinterest makes you feel the scream is silent.



This is not a painting of a human being on a bridge surrounded by landscape; it is an abstract capturing of the human soul. It is a painting of the state of mind that many people are in today. We live in a time of momentous fear. Terrorism and economic hardship grip many people, but their screams are mostly silent. Those who could help are walking away. Where are you in this picture?



Lord, make us sensitive to those around us who may be screaming inside. May we not walk on by. And may we face as well, the cry of our own soul and not try and distract ourselves. May our need lead us to you, the one for whom we were made—the only one who can dispel our fear.



To view this painting, go to: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/munch.scream2.jpg (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/munch.scream2.jpg)

What emotions does it raise in you? Do you identify with this character or the two figures walking away? Do you know people who are screaming? You’ve probably had dreams where you have tried to scream but couldn’t. Why do you suppose that is such a universal nightmare?

November 08, 2004
Yearbook
By John Fischer


I just found a number of my high school classmates. I stumbled onto an online service that connects classmates via the Internet. Not everyone in my class had found it and signed up, but a significant number of names were there that I still recognized. Suddenly I had an unexplainable desire to find out about these people. What were my memories of them? What would they look like now? What were they doing for a living? What had become of them? Where were they in relation to their belief in God?



And what would they think about me? Would they be surprised by my career and the importance my faith has played in it? Some of these people played an important role in my own development. Would they know that? Would it make a difference if they did? Did I have any effect on them?



Just seeing their names was like attending a reunion without really being there. Why do reunions have such an appeal? I believe there’s more to this than just being curious. The Bible teaches us that we are all wired for relationships, and running into our former classmates reminds us we were once part of a team—The Class of something or other (I’m not giving that part away!). I served on the Student Council with that team, and lead the marching band as a drum major. I found members of both these groups in the list. I also found my doubles partner on the tennis team, and the leader of the Youth for Christ group on campus. And, of course, my first date. She was the twin sister of my best buddy from the second grade. (That was the year he and I arranged to wear the same clothes each day for a while.) They were both signed up. I grew up with these people. I have no idea who these people are now, and yet I experience a strong connection to them.



All this just confirms that God made us for relationships—relationships with Him and with each other. When you think of it, there’s nothing in life more important than relationships. They are the one tangible connection we have to eternity. Our souls are eternal. What I know and remember of these people will live on into eternity. Some of them—I hope all of them—I will see in heaven. Some of them I may yet see on earth.



All our relationships are vital. God made us this way. Don’t miss the value of the people in your life today. They are eternal, just like you.

November 09, 2004
Opposites Attract
By John Fischer


How do you become like Christ? Interestingly enough, God is more committed to this than we are. And it’s a good thing, because if it all depended on us, we would never get very far in this process. We would probably be too easy on ourselves.



“And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again” (Philippians 1:6). He started it; He will finish it.



Okay, but how does this happen? One of the ways God does this is by letting the opposite thing happen to you. Do you need to learn how to love? Get ready for someone you can’t stand. Need patience? Better prepare for some aggravations to come your way. Looking for peace? Here’s a little chaos you weren’t expecting. Joy? Did I mention sorrow?



Now why is God like this? Is He some kind of killjoy in the sky? Does He get a kick out of kicking us around? Actually He does this for the very reason that He is the one who starts and finishes the work in us. You see, all these qualities really belong to God. Love, joy, peace, patience are actually fruits of God’s Spirit in those who believe. In other words, He’s provided all these things we need, but we don’t find them until we are desperate for them. It’s just the way we were made.



If we could come up with all these qualities on our own, we wouldn’t need God; we would have rules and formulas and steps to go through to better ourselves. In other words, religion would be enough. As it is, we are deeply flawed. Even our best attempts at producing the right things in our lives come up short. Religion is a fine thing; it’s just that it has never made anyone like Christ. In fact, the more religious we become, the further away from Christ we get. You get to be more like Christ by needing Him more and more in your life.



You can’t make the right stuff out of the wrong material. Or as Jesus said, you can’t put new wine in old wineskins. So God allows things into our lives that break the old, to bring in the new. The new is beyond us. We are forced to discover it when we are stretched beyond our means. So God brings the opposite to create in us what we really want. That’s when we grow.

Pool Mom
by John Fischer
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I met a man recently who served on the Missions Committee at his church. He told me how he was most proud of a certain former member of the committee—a woman who had put a promising career aside when she and her husband decided to adopt three children from Lithuania. Figuring that these children who had grown up at great risk would demand her full time attention, she committed herself to that very thing. She did enjoy volunteering at the church, however, and ended up serving on the Missions Committee and teaching Sunday School.



Then suddenly, as abruptly as she had begun serving her church, she informed my friend that she was resigning from the Missions Committee and giving up her Sunday school class as well. He asked her what was wrong, and she said that everything was fine—God had just spoken to her, and she was going to follow His lead.



“I spent most of the summer being a ‘Pool Mom,’” she told him, “taking my kids to the pool four to five days a week. I became friendly with several other Pool Moms, and we all had a lot of time to talk together. As August was winding down and the pool was about to close, one of them said to me, ‘It has been a real pleasure getting to know you this summer. The rest of us have been friends all our lives. We went to the same schools, the same summer camps, and the same temple. We were at each other’s bat-mitzvahs, and we attended each other’s weddings, but we’ve never gotten to know anybody like you. Maybe we could keep in touch….’



“So what could be a clearer direction from God than that?” She concluded. “I’ve decided to spend the next year completely focused on being a friend to this group of young Jewish ladies. I am going to practice friendship first, and let evangelism take its natural course. And I don’t want to be distracted by the demands of church activities. If I don’t give them up, I’ll have a very hard time fitting my friends into my schedule. This next year is for them! After that, who knows?”



Think of that: she got off the Missions Committee to perform a mission—a mission of being a friend. Not that we should disband worship committees, or that it will always take our full time attention to be a friend, but this woman’s priorities are something we all need to pay attention to. Being a friend is a mission in and if itself, and connecting to those around us who are outside the church is more important than being on a host of committees.

Different Parts and Different Hearts
by John Fischer








Why do we all have different passions? So everything that’s supposed to get done will get done.



Sometimes we get overwhelmed because we are constantly exposed to people with various passions for service, and when they represent their cause, they are so committed to that which has captured them that we feel guilty for not sharing their zeal. We seem indifferent in comparison.



When I was in college, we had chapel every day and almost every day we heard a message from someone who had a passion for some particular ministry. They were usually in some ways recruiting us for service, whether it was in missions or in the church, or in society, or among the poor. It was overwhelming, and often frustrating, because everyone made every concern sound like the only thing any caring person would support.



The same thing happens in our churches. Sometimes we feel guilt because we don’t have the same passion as the last person who talked about missions, or abortion, or the homeless, or marriage, or singleness, or men’s ministry, or AIDS prevention, or prisons, or evangelism, or the military. What we forget is that there are so many needs because there are so many of us to meet them. We aren’t supposed to get our bell rung by every appeal that comes by. We are a body made up of different parts and different hearts; we don’t have to all be moved by the same issues and needs.



This is where the concept and the practical nature of spiritual gifts come in. There are a variety of gifts and there are a variety of ministries, but the same Lord working in all and through all. No one has to do everything; no one can. It is up to us to find out where we fit and what God put us here to do. Soon you will be just as passionate about something because it’s your thing. This is the way it’s supposed to be. We only get frustrated when we forget this and try and take on everything, or get so overwhelmed that we take on nothing at all.



All of this should just make us marvel at the wisdom of God even more. He’s designed us all with different abilities and different interests so that we are not only good at what we do, we do not have to be frustrated or depressed over what we aren’t good at. When we all do our part in the body of Christ, everyone gets a job, everyone gets honored and everyone’s important. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Who Can Know What the Lord Is Thinking?
by John Fischer








Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be His counselor? And who could ever give to Him so much that He would have to pay it back? For everything comes from Him; everything exists by His power and is intended for His glory. To Him be glory evermore. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)



I have loved these verses for a long time—ever since I did a detailed study of the book of Romans as a young man. When you come upon this statement of praise in context, you realize Paul wrote this after three chapters of trying to explain God’s plan for the salvation of all people—how God picked the Jews to be His chosen people, how the Jews rebelled and God turned to the Gentiles, and how the Jews will once again share in God’s mercy. Salted and peppered throughout are statements of God’s predestination and man’s responsibility that have baffled us ever since and eluded the theologians’ attempts to explain. In fact, our attempts to grasp contradictory concepts like free will and predestination have driven Christians into warring camps and divided the church for centuries. It is precisely why Paul blasts off into worship here, to show us that when our minds can’t go any farther, we need to stop acting like we know everything—admit we don’t know anything—and worship God. !



“Oh, what a wonderful God we have!” exclaims Paul, and in essence goes on to say, He’s way past my being able to explain everything. This is as far as my little mind can take me. Don’t ask any more from it, because I’ve already taxed the poor thing too much already!



Sometimes you just have to throw up your hands and revel in the wisdom and glory of God. Sometimes you just have to humble yourself and admit what you don’t know—might never know. I’m not suggesting this is an excuse for being dumb. Nor does it condone poor scholarship. We need to study, and think, and research, and do the background work necessary to build our confidence in the word of God and what it says to us. God gave us a mind to use and not waste, but that mind can only go so far. Worship is what happens when the mind runs out of reasons.



Is there something you don’t understand, whether an intellectual question or a question about your life—what God is thinking? Go back to the verses at the top of this devotional and read them in light of your questions, and worship. Sometimes that's all you can do.

Planet Earth: Late But Still Great
by John Fischer
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The Lord is coming back. Christ’s return is imminent. Every generation believes theirs will be the one to see it. I certainly did, having been a young adult during the Jesus movement in the early 1970s. We were sure the return of Christ was right around the corner. We wrote songs about it. Hal Lindsay wrote a book about it. (Late Great Planet Earth) Larry Norman wrote a song to leave behind after we were gone! (“I Wish We’d All Been Ready”)



And here we are, thirty years later, aging Jesus people, going to work and trying to provide a future for our children and grandchildren. Believe me, the Lord has heard from me a few times about this. There was something very glamorous about being part of a revival that would usher in the last days and the return of Christ, especially when you were twenty-four years old and single with nothing more than a backpack and a guitar. Besides, we were part of a generation that prided itself in being anti-establishment, anti-mortgage, anti-credit card, anti-insurance. We were going to just be one big love-in, living off the land and taking care of each other until Christ returned, which wasn’t supposed to be more than two or three years, max.



I reflect back on those years sometimes and see how selfish we were. Had we gotten our wish, many of you who are reading this right now would not have existed. You wouldn’t have even gotten to be the proverbial gleam in your parent’s eye, since they never would have met. I think in some ways, every generation wants to be the last, especially when we face the dark side of our existence and long for heaven where there will be no more pain or sorrow.



But it’s not about us. It’s about all those who haven’t joined the fold—haven’t yet come into the family. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9 NLT).



Shame on us for thinking only of ourselves. We’re so quick to scramble on the ark and then close the door and let the rains come. God is more concerned about those who might be left behind than we are, or else He would have returned years ago. We can get so wrapped up in this. We can spend an inordinate amount of time poring over scripture trying to figure out exactly when this will happen, and then get into arguments with each other over exactly how we think it will happen, when the only reason it hasn't happened yet is standing outside our door, waiting to be loved.

Hell Bound
by John Fischer
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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. – Proverbs 25:2 (NIV)



There was a poignant story this week about evangelists on the streets of Las Vegas. They were preaching and holding signs about the gospel when a woman walked by and shouted: “I am a sinner and I am going straight to hell.” Cheers resounded from some people nearby who supported the sentiment.



“It doesn’t have to be that way,” one of the evangelists called out.



“I want it that way,” the woman called back over her shoulder.



Ironically, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was in the middle of a lawsuit defending the evangelists’ right to be there based on laws of free speech, and in the process this woman exercised her right to walk into hell with her head held high. It’s an awesome, God-given privilege to have the right to do this, and we need to defend that right, even though we know how tragic this is, just as the ACLU has to defend the evangelists’ right to the sidewalk if they are going to be consistent with their commitment to free speech. It’s remarkable how God has chosen to honor the dignity of human beings who reject Him.



Think about it this way: God has not made the truth about His existence obvious to everyone. When Jesus came, you had to have “ears to hear” or you missed it. Why doesn’t God make Himself more obvious to everyone? He is protecting the rights of those who don’t believe as well as those who do.



If God were obvious to everyone, you would be a fool for not believing. In which case, some might believe reluctantly or for the wrong reason. As it is, you are a fool (1 Corinthians 1:18) for believing and those of us who believe can afford that foolishness because our faith confirms in us what we see but others don’t.



So this woman who wants it this way—wants to be a sinner going straight to hell—should not be looked upon as an enemy, or some twisted, sick soul who is about to get what she deserves. Instead, we love her, respect her, and marvel at the freedom God has given her to be able to do this—to make it her call.



You probably know somebody like this who frustrates you no end. I bet the sign-holder had at least the thought of using her sign to bang some sense into this woman. Instead, we need to honor and learn how to befriend people like this, and respect their right to believe what they believe. By allowing for their unbelief, we may just be creating the environment that will encourage them to believe. Anyway, hasn’t God done that with us?

True Fellowship
by John Fischer
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Here’s a special greeting for Andrea and the Women of Purpose from Bayview Glen Church. Andrea forwards these devotionals every day to the 65 women in her group.



Hi ladies: Greetings in the name of the Lord!



Isn’t it great to belong? To be somebody in a group? To be missed when you’re not there and welcomed when you are? And fellowship has the added dimension of the Lord in the center. It is friendship with a purpose.



In his first letter, John wrote about fellowship and what makes it special. “We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write these things so that our joy will be complete” (1 John 1:3,4).



He’s referring to the fact that he and the other disciples have personally “seen and heard” Jesus, the Christ, and because of the reality of their relationship with Him, they now have a relationship with God, and a special relationship with each other. The only thing that would make this any greater would be if those to whom they are writing were to believe and join with them in a faith relationship. This would just finish off their joy.



You see, in a true relationship in Christ we are not just friends, we are joined as one, and we cannot help but care for each other because the love is not coming from us. Christ generates it in us. We are consciously experiencing Christ's unconditional love for us when we know there is not a thing about us worth caring about, and that makes us accepting of others beyond sin, beyond pride, and beyond prejudice.



Fellowship is the tangible expression of faith. The disciples, who had touched Jesus, then touched these new believers, who touched somebody, who touched somebody, who touched somebody, who touched somebody, and on it went, all the way down to us. And it’s the same Jesus who started it all who is now the center of our fellowship.



He’s the center of the Bayview Glen women’s Bible study. This is not just a seminar, or a club, or a therapy group, it is a living, throbbing organism, made alive by the blood of Jesus flowing out from the wounds on the cross that paid the price for all of us, and made us all acceptable to God and equal to each other. This is no small thing. People have died for this. In some parts of the world right now, people are secretly sharing in this very same fellowship because to do so openly would mean certain imprisonment and possible death. Forget MasterCard, this is priceless.



Hold on to what you’ve got, women of Bayview Glen. It’s a good thing.

Sad Little Shovels
by John Fischer
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I have a friend who has been battling cancer on and off now for about three years. He is an excellent writer, and has created a huge backlog of information and emotions chronicling the course of this dread disease and his reaction to it. Laced throughout are his dry humor, understandably sarcastic at times (how else can you keep your sanity in this madness?) and an undying faith. What stands out from the beginning has been his attempt to not draw all the attention to himself. When he asks for prayer, he never asks for prayer for himself, but on his behalf, for all the voiceless who suffer without hope, and no one to pray for them.



I thought he was almost out of the woods until today, when I received another E-mail, this time letting us know he was on his way into the hospital for the most severe treatment he will have received so far. In it he requests that we don’t send flowers or fruit, as he will be on a floor of patients who have no immune system to speak of. That’s also why, if we plan to visit, he doesn’t want us coming with runny noses and definitely no kids. “Kids, God love 'em, are little disease machines. They have orifices out each end that spew disease. Please, don't bring 'em.”



If we have to send something, he suggests money for his wife’s commute to the hospital, chocolates from a certain chocolatier (website included) or gift certificates for Nordstrom’s or the movies.



And then there was this: “One doctor referred to what we're about to do as getting hit by the train, then the trucks on the train pull out and hit you, and then their cargo of charging horses run over you too. Only then do the guys with the sad little shovels come and get you and sweep you away.”



But I think what got to me the most was his signoff: “Otherwise, just pray. And pray for the many who enter these things with far less hope.”



It‘s staggering to think how much knowing God and having a purpose in life can so radically affect the way a person looks at the worst of possible situations. Thinking about someone else in such a time humbles me greatly when I realize how much I think about myself when I am healthy and relatively whole. This man has consistently been using the resources in the family of God, summoned by his own struggle, to solicit prayer for countless people who have no one to think of them or pray for them. And God knows that makes a difference.

The Big Itch
by John Fischer
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The wise King Solomon once wrote: “He [God] has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people can’t see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT). In other words, it seems God has purposely frustrated us. He made us with a capacity for eternal things yet He keeps us from knowing fully what He is up to. And why would He do that unless He wanted us to seek after Him and perhaps even find Him?



This is God’s way. We can’t grasp much of this, but we can see that God has set things up so that we are a part of His creation and in participation with it. Part of that participation involves scratching a very big itch. The itch is that we belong to God and live in a universe He made, but He has remained relatively hidden from view. That means a whole lot of people are groping around looking for what they’re not even sure of. They might say they don’t believe in God, but they are looking for Him nonetheless. They have this itch.



Every thinker has it. Every artist has it. Every atheist has it. Every poor and needy person has it. Everyone has an itch to know God. People on drugs are looking for God. Criminals are looking for God. Scientists are looking for God. Philosophers are looking for God. Gays are looking for God. Intellectuals who argue against His existence are looking for God.



Now if this is the case, and we live in a universe like this, if you happen to know God (through the revealed word of God), have an idea what he looks like (Jesus), and would know Him if you saw Him (through the things that He has made), then you suddenly have something in common with all these people. You have what they’re all looking for. That means that just being around you might bring them some comfort. And for you to be around them is to have your own knowledge of God confirmed by their itch to know Him.



While I was writing this, my five year old turned on the radio and an Elton John song came on with the following lyrics: Life is precious/Every day’s a prize/ And sometimes you find an answer in the sky. Elton John? Not exactly the paragon of evangelical Christianity, but he’s itching, nonetheless.



If you listen for the big itch, you can find it almost anywhere.

Gifted for a Reason
by John Fischer
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God made us to fit into His family and gave each of us gifts that will help define our place in that family. That gift is a special ability to meet other people’s needs. It’s what helps us serve better. Serving other people is not an added little project for us to take on so we can be purpose-driven; it is an integral part of our identities. You were made to serve, and you were given gifts to help you serve better.

Your gift is by nature just that: a gift, so it is not hard to do. Sometimes it may take effort to get yourself into a place where you can exercise your spiritual gift, but once you start serving, the gift comes naturally. If you’re not sure what your gift is, ask somebody.

What I mean is: we are not very good judges of our own gifts. Our gifts are for others, and for this reason, those who receive the benefits of our gifts are the best qualified to tell us what they are. For instance, if people naturally come to you for advice because you always speak practically into their lives, then they are probably telling you that you have the gift of wisdom. If people call you when they need something done because you always get things done on time and with limited effort, they may be telling you that you have the gift of service or administration. If people confide in you because they know that whatever they say, you will not turn them away, they may be counting on your gift of mercy. If whenever you teach a Bible study or a small group, people come up to you and tell you what they learned, then they may be telling you that you have the gift of teaching. Ask the people around you to tell yo! u specifically how you affect their lives.

Of course you have to exercise your gift before anyone can benefit from it and tell you what it is. Knowledge of these things doesn’t come out of a vacuum. How do you start serving if you aren’t sure what your gift is? Best to simply get involved with a small group or in some capacity in your church or community. As you reach out to people in general, a certain expertise will take shape. It will be hard to miss. It’s a blend of what you like to do, what comes easily, and what those around you confirm.

Having a role to play in the family of God can be the difference between wondering why we are here and knowing why. And that can make all the difference in the world.

For more study on spiritual gifts, read Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Ephesians 4:4-13.

John Fischer is an author, speaker, and song writer based in Southern California. His latest book, Love Him in the Morning, has been released by Revell Publishing.

Stepping Out
by John Fischer
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In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Harrison Ford goes after the Holy Grail, there is a final test where he has to take a step of faith to get to the Grail. He has to cross a chasm over what appears to be a bottomless pit in order to claim the cup so he can use it to heal his father (Sean Connery) from a fatal wound. The riddle he and his father have figured out has convinced him he must take a step out into the abyss—has to put his full weight into it—and as he does, sure enough, a bridge appears out of nowhere and his step lands on something solid that was not visible until the instant his foot came down on it in mid-air. All issues of faith are like this. It’s not enough to believe, you have to put your whole weight into it. And when you do, you risk falling, but you find something solid.

So there is a risk involved. The risk is always around what will happen if God doesn’t do His part. The Bible says that faith “is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 It’s the bridge that we step out onto even if we cannot see it. Maybe that bridge is love for someone unlovely. Maybe it is the words we don’t think we have until we put open our mouths in front of the person we need to address. Maybe it is courage to face a responsibility that seems impossible. Maybe it is the power to overcome a bad habit. But it’s there—the bridge of faith is there—even though we can’t see it.

Hebrews 11 goes on to mention eighteen individuals by name, plus all the prophets, the children of Israel, and the early martyrs who accomplished impossible things by faith. All ordinary people—all with their own flaws, fears, and excuses to overcome. And the conclusion for us is to realize that these people and their examples are a huge crowd of witnesses surrounding us and telling us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run the race that God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 What a cheering section!

What is it in your life that you need to address by faith? What is the invisible bridge God is asking you to cross? I’m thinking about what’s on my plate. With this kind of encouragement, I think we can step out.

Homeland Security
by John Fischer
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We are hearing a lot about homeland security today, but we also all know that against terrorism, “security” is a relative thing. There’s only so much that is humanly, governmentally, and technologically possible to secure. After 9/11, we feel better doing something, but we also know that whatever we do, it will not be enough. Even airlines, with all the heightened security, and the opportunity to focus a search on every individual are not impervious to their own agents who test the system and are able to get through with illegal devices. So homeland security is at best a goal to strive for, but not something to feel secure about.

The only way to truly have homeland security is to have a home that isn’t here—and I’m not thinking about Switzerland; I’m thinking about heaven. This is not escapism, mind you; it is reality. “For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come.” Hebrews 13:14 There is a home that is permanently secure—no terrorist can touch it—and it is our true and ultimate home in heaven.

Now this does not mean that we unplug here, fold up our stuff, and wait for eternity, as some have done. We continue to be committed to our purposes here on earth to worship God, serve each other, grow in Christ and spread the good news of God’s forgiveness. But the knowledge that this is not our permanent home puts everything in perspective.

Besides, according to the Bible, we can expect things around here to get shaken up pretty good anyway. “When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: ‘Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.’ This means that the things on earth will be shaken, so that only eternal things will be left.” Hebrews 12:26-27 NLT

Isn’t it true that when our lives get shaken up, we lose a lot of what we didn’t need anyway so that what remains is much more solid? Well that is just what is going to happen with this earth and our temporal existence. God is going to turn us upside down and shake out of our pockets all the cares and worries and dangers of this world and turn us right-side-up to live with Him and each other in a permanent home forever. That’s real homeland security.

So let’s learn to lock our sights on our other home, even while we work for peace here.

Thanksgiving Day
by John Fischer
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Today is the day Americans celebrate family. Everyone comes home—as many as possible. Those who can’t are sorely missed. We get together around food. Today, food becomes sacred, not because it is spiritual, but because it brings us together, and I suppose in light of that, it is spiritual after all. The turkey is the centerpiece, but we are around the table and we are the ones who count. Of course we like fussing with the food anyway (someone will be fussing in the kitchen, Martha-like, most of the day), but we are the ones worth all the fuss.

If you are online today reading this, you may be one of those who couldn’t get home. In which case, know that you are loved and missed. You belong. Some of you may not feel like you do, but you do. You belong to God and the rest of us.

God made us a family, dependent on Him as our Father in heaven. He gives us our daily bread, steers us around temptation, and delivers us from the evil all around us, some of which we may or may not see. And most importantly, He forgives us of our sins against Him and each other. Without this, it would be hard to know love. We have so many barriers to love, and sins to be forgiven of and to forgive. We need a good deal of grace for days like this, because no one knows us better than family. And isn’t that what true family is—we love and we hurt all at the same time?

Thank God Jesus suffered hurt and died on the cross for all of us. Without this we would not be acceptable. With it, we can love and forgive because we have been forgiven.

I’m guessing that many of you will be reading this on Friday or Monday (I won’t be checking my own E-mail on Thanksgiving Day) and if you are, you will have waded through a sea of spam messages to get to it. Congratulations! Thanksgiving will be a memory—another roll of film to process and file or log onto your computer. Hopefully, one of those pictures stands out in your mind with a glow of the possible. We will live together for eternity, and today, we are one step closer. Today there are no spiritual orphans.

To God be the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

No Prayer Overdrive
by John Fischer
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“If someone approached you and repeated, ‘I praise you!’ ten times, you would probably think: For what?” – Rick Warren



The Psalms are full of praise to God, and almost every time there is a “Praise the Lord…”, “Bless the Lord…”, or “Give thanks…” there is something specific for which the accolade is expressed. Usually it is something about the character of God—such as His kindness, His mercy, His faithfulness—or what He has done in history for the children of Israel, or what He has done specifically for David, the psalmist, in protecting him and rescuing him from his enemies. There are always reasons for the praise.



This is important to remember lest we fall into what I call “prayer overdrive,” or praying without our mind being engaged. “Prayer overdrive” is when we rattle a bunch of words off in our minds without really thinking about what we are saying. I can only talk about this because I have caught myself doing it too many times.



“I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray in words I understand,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:15 (NLT). In other words, prayer and worship aren’t just spiritual things, nor are they mindless, emotive things only; they need to touch our heads as well as our hearts, our souls, and our bodies. We need to understand the words we are praying and why we are praising God.



Ever notice how much harder it is to pray out loud than to pray quietly in your mind? When I pray out loud, I have to think about my words. I hear myself praying and I am more apt to catch myself being lazy in my thinking. Usually someone else is listening when I pray out loud and I am aware of that. Will my prayer make sense to them? I’ve also found it useful to pray out loud even when I’m by myself as a way of staying alert. Thoughts can be sloppy. I can start praying in my mind and then go off somewhere else in my thoughts and forget entirely that I have evoked the presen! ce of the eternal wise God. At this point I shouldn’t be surprised if lightening wasn’t somewhere in the vicinity.



If you love someone you engage that person in conversation. You pay attention to what they say and what you say back. To be physically present during a conversation and not engage your mind in it is nothing short of rude and arrogant. If we’re not careful, our worship can turn into what Jesus calls “babbling on and on…” thinking our prayers will be answered by repeating our words over and over again (Matthew 6:7 NLT). This is superstition and worship is based on relationship.



When you praise the Lord, be conscious about what you want to praise Him for.

First Family
by John Fischer
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How important is family? So important that God had one before He had us.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves’”. Genesis 1:26 Ever wonder who God is talking to here? If you could hear me talking to myself sometimes, you would hear me use the plural, as in “Let’s do this or let’s do that.” That’s not what’s happening here, however. God is speaking of the parts of Himself that make up the whole of who He is. This is God as three in one—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Together they make up one God; separately they form three personas operating as one.

So when God made us like himself, He didn’t make just one of us, He made many that we might learn to relate to one another the way God relates to himself. That we might become one as He is one. This is the ultimate non-dysfunctional family—what we will realize in heaven, but get a glimpse of here on earth.

Christ’s goal for us is that we would be one with God and one with each other—multiple personalities operating and relating as one being. This is why being part of an extended family is a part of discovering who we are and why we are here.

So don’t ever sell this one short. Family is not something we have to put up with for a while; it is an integral part of our identity. This flies in the face of one of western culture’s most enduring myths—the myth of the supreme individualist. It’s an image idealized in our movies, especially the westerns of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and the spy adventures of James Bond.

God was a family before He made us, so this must be pretty important. Family has always been an important part of who we are. It’s imbedded in our very nature. No one can exist alone unto himself—even God. We were made to interrelate. We not only need each other, we were made for each other. This is an important part of our purpose for being.

So forget trying to go it alone. No one’s that tough, except for maybe Clint Eastwood, but that’s only in the movies.

Getting the Right God
by John Fischer
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Jesus said that those who worship God worship Him is spirit and in truth. John 4:24 The truth He’s referring to here would mean getting the right God.

Throughout the Old Testament, idolatry was the most reoccurring sin of God’s people, which is, the worship of the wrong god. The first of the Ten Commandments has to do with this: “’I am the Lord your God who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. Do not worship any other gods besides me.’” Exodus 20:2-3

Does this mean there are a bunch of other gods running around out there competing for our attention, and we have to somehow pick the right one? No. The Bible is very clear about there being only one God. The other supposed gods are substitutes. They are things (they can be people) that we substitute for the one living God.

We usually set up substitute gods because we want a god we can control, or, as in the case of setting up a person as a god, we want a god in complete control of us. The true God makes you think for yourself and come to your own conclusions. The true God doesn’t spell out every detail for you. We set up our authoritarian gods to do these things for us so we don’t have any responsibility. The true God doesn’t want robotic obedience. He wants a relationship.

But how do you know if you have the right God? The passage quoted above gives us a really big clue. “I am the Lord your God who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.” For the children of Israel, this was a dead ringer. No pagan god ever rescued them from anything, much less slavery in Egypt. This is very specific. No other god took them miraculously across the Red Sea, through the wilderness, across the Jordan River, and into the Promised Land. This description of God left no doubt.

What about you and me? What God freed us from slavery to sin and took us out of a place of bondage to it? What God came to earth in space and time and lived and died on a cross in order to do this? What God took us out of one place that was harmful to us and brought us into another place for our good?

The same things that identified God to His followers in the Old Testament identify Him to us today. He existed in time and space (we read, study and learn about Him from His word); and He affected our lives in a real way (He freed us from sin). We worship today, a living, historical God who has changed our lives. Only one God can do that. Worship Him.

December 10, 2004
Our Mission is to Worship


By John Fischer


Now wherever we go He [God] uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. (2 Corinthians 2:14)



I’ve always thought of this as worship that results in a mission. The first part, the sweet perfume mentioned here, is something that comes off of us as we worship God in our daily lives. God rubs off on us and in turn, He rubs up against the people we know and encounter. Some welcome this and some don’t, but that part is out of our control. Our focus is to be on Him.



I recently saw an ad on TV for a new perfume presented by a celebrity and bearing her name. Well, we are presented by Christ as a new fragrance bearing His name. It’s His life in us that does this. Ours is a life directed towards God, where everyone around us gets a benefit.



Author David Roper has put it this way:



Change, as it comes to us, is the fruit of our association with God. As we draw close to Him day by day, walking with Him, talking to Him, listening to His words, relying on Him, asking for His help, His beauty—the beauty of holiness—begins to rub off on us. Quietly and unobtrusively His influence softens our wills and inclines us to deep righteousness. In His quiet love He takes all that's ugly in us and gradually turns it into something beautiful for Him.



And that “something beautiful for Him” is what becomes our mission in the world. People who are going to be drawn to God will be drawn to the fragrance. It’s not that we’re faultless—some shining example of flawless perfection—we are simply in fellowship with God, and giving off the fragrance that is the result of being around Him.



Paul says the Lord uses us to spread the Good News about Him through this fragrant interaction. Our impact among others, therefore, is not something we have to overly concentrate on. It’s not: “I’ve got to remember to tell somebody about Jesus today,” it’s more like: “I want to be aware of God in my life today.” Walking in an awareness of God is already speaking volumes.



It’s a little like killing two birds with one stone. The Presbyterians have it in their catechism: “The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever.” I would suggest that there’s no way one can engage in this pursuit and not have an impact with his or her life. It’s all in the worship. Try it today and see what happens.

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN® LIFE Daily Devotional

December 1, 2004

Secret Servant
by John Fischer
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When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. (Matthew 6:2-4 NLT)



As purpose-driven people, we should always be looking for opportunities to serve. Most of these opportunities come as we spontaneously respond to the needs of those around us. It can mean serving on a board or a committee, or signing up to serve in a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter—there are many of these opportunities especially this time of year—but an important part of being a servant is responding to the immediate needs of those around us. This is the type of service for which we rarely receive credit, which makes it even more authentic.



Servants don’t expect thanks for what they do. I’m sure it’s nice to hear it once in a while, but servants, when they serve, are just doing their job. If you find you need to be recognized for your service, you might want to take a second look at your motivation. True servants go about their work quietly and with little acknowledgement because they know their heavenly Father sees everything and their reward will come at the right time if they remain faithful.



A servant’s satisfaction comes from watching what his or her service enabled. Maybe it’s a homeless person’s appreciation for a Thanksgiving meal, or the smile on the new neighbor’s face when they are welcomed with a gift, or maybe it’s simply a brightening awareness on someone’s face that you are actually paying attention to their problem, taking their point of view seriously, and offering to help them with a solution.



The truest kind of service is that which is anonymous. Jesus once said that when you give, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. In other words, keep your giving as a secret even to yourself. Don’t use your service for self-gratification. Serve and don’t think twice about it. Move on to the next thing. God sees everything.

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN® LIFE Daily Devotional

December 2, 2004

It's All in the Relationship
by John Fischer
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“I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33 NLT).

This is an important question to have in mind whenever we are talking to anyone: “What is best for this person?” It’s a way of both getting out of ourselves, and being in a position to truly help someone else. It requires finding out more about the other person—asking lots of questions and paying close attention to the answers. My job is to gain insight into a person’s thinking so as to understand who they are, where they are at, and what they are trusting in. Only then can I have a real relationship with someone. If my primary focus is on me, and what is best for me, that doesn’t even constitute a relationship.

This doesn’t mean I never talk about myself, it means that when I do, it’s for the purpose of identifying with another person. Real relationships reveal holes in our lives that others can relate to. And, if Jesus will accept someone like me, surely people can recognize that Jesus will accept them. But this only works when we tell the truth. We have to first introduce our real selves to people before we introduce Jesus; that way they can understand why we need Jesus. Out of real relationships, God has a chance to work.

Paul says that the essence of his impact on people is to introduce himself to them. As he puts it, “we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2 NIV To commend himself is to commend Christ, because Christ is his all in all. It’s all embodied in the relationship. Think of it this way: All our relationships are godly because God is all wrapped up in the people he created. People are God’s priority; they’re ours too, if we are following Him.

People can understand relationships, even if they do not trust them. Everyone wants a friend. Everyone wants someone to care about them. Everyone wants to know they can count on someone to be there. This is where Jesus picks up in true and trusted relationships. Our relationship with Jesus and with people is intertwined. Whether they know Him or not, Jesus is the essential element in all our relationships. And we’ll know when it’s important for someone to know that. Most likely, they’ll be asking us to tell them.

Aim high. God places a high value on relationships. It is what makes up the stuff of eternity. Aside from God and people and the love that holds us together, what else is there?

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN® LIFE Daily Devotional

December 3, 2004

Spiritual Equation
by John Fischer
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Comfort equals confusion; calamity equals clarity. How’s that for an insight into spiritual contradiction? No, this isn’t scripture, but I have found it true of many principles in scripture, and true to how growing in Christ works out in our real day-to-day experiences.

In my own life, being comfortable can cloud the picture of what God is doing. A comfortable place often makes me lazy spiritually. I find myself praying less, seeking God less, and often finding it hard to recognize the voice of God in my life. Comfort takes the edge off, and walking in the Spirit is all about being on edge, spiritually—being alert to the dangers around me, and the temptations that lurk so close at hand. It was while his army was off to war that King David of Israel had the time and the leisure to have an affair with the wife of one of his generals. The enemy gets us with our guard down.

And in this culture of relative affluence, we keep trying to find comfort when that may be the worst thing for us, and something God will refuse to grant, at least for now. It’s not because He loves making us uncomfortable, but because He knows what it usually takes for us to walk by faith. It takes trial, and testing, and pressure for faith to grow in us, and He loves us too much to rob us of this opportunity. That’s why a little calamity usually clears things up. It’s in these moments of pain and pressure that our faith becomes real. Believing God becomes a do or die proposition.

This is probably why Christians under persecution in troubled parts of the world always seem to be more passionate about following Christ. They are surrounded by calamity on every side, and yet their faith remains unshakable. They risk their lives to meet together with other believers. They consider a Bible the greatest treasure they could possess. They hold an immense amount of joy in their hearts in complete contrast to their situation.

On the contrary, when faith is taken for granted, as it is in this society, we often let spiritual things slide, and the result can be confusion about God’s will and our place in it. Our joy over temporal things competes with our joy in Christ. We start to treasure things that we are going to ultimately lose. We get spiritually confused.

Not that I want to wish calamity on you or me, but I think we need to learn to welcome it as an opportunity to grow. And I also think we need to be wary of what makes us think we are comfortable. Usually it’s only short-lived and not something we want to derive comfort from anyway.

Lord, if we find calamity upon us, make our faith strong, and if we feel comfortable, awaken us to distrust the source of our comfort if it is anything other than you.

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN® LIFE Daily Devotional

December 6, 2004

Carolina Graham and The Last Crusade
by John Fischer
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Billy Graham recently completed what may have been his last evangelistic crusade in the Los Angeles area—perhaps his last anywhere. There may be a few more “last crusades” before there truly is a final one: as long as he is able to deliver his message, Dr. Graham seems bent on doing so. And who would deny him? It has been his gift and his calling to be an evangelist to his generation. And in this role, no one has come close to his stature.

This last series of meetings was especially significant in that Los Angeles was the site of the crusade that vaulted him into the public eye almost 60 years ago and began an incredible career that spanned the globe and enabled him to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to millions in person. His dedication to that one message, his consistency of purpose, and the integrity of his life have gained him worldwide respect. He is revered by many—even those who do not share his beliefs.

Given his seemingly indispensable career and the effect of this one single life on the world, one would think that Billy Graham would have a special place set aside for him in heaven. He does. Jesus promised he would. “I am going to prepare a place for you,” Jesus said (John 14:2), and that’s what Jesus is doing right now—preparing a place in heaven for Billy Graham.

But wait a minute, you say, Jesus wasn’t just talking about Billy Graham when He said that. Wasn’t He talking about all of us? Yes, indeed. And this is what is true about following Christ: We are all great in God’s kingdom. Billy Graham has a special place in heaven, and so do you and I, and all who believe. In heaven there will be no hierarchy as there is here on earth. In heaven there will be only one famous person (that would be God), and we will all be equally famous for reflecting His glory.

Billy Graham is not greater than you or I. Billy Graham has simply used the gifts God gave him to serve. We can certainly admire him on a human level, but his true spiritual assessment will come from God, who judges the motivations of the heart, as it will for each of us.

We are all equally responsible for telling the story of Christ’s love to the people in our lives. Billy Graham may have had the chance to address millions about Christ, but that is no greater or lesser than the few people we may have an opportunity to speak to today. Keep that in mind: you and I are as important to God and His work as Billy Graham and I know he would agree.

December 7, 2004

A Season (A Life) of Giving
by John Fischer
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The holidays are here and gift giving once again moves to center stage. It’s easy to become cynical about this because of the over-commercialization of Christmas, but, as always, there is truth hidden in the bright lights, the colorful boxes and the rush of shoppers bringing home their treasures.

Where did all this gift giving come from, anyway if it didn’t come from God? No, God and Macy’s are not in cahoots; it’s just that God started it all. God in heaven gave us the most perfect gift for all seasons, His only Son, who brought light to the world and forgiveness of sins through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. But it doesn’t stop there. His is a gift that keeps on giving. It keeps on giving because His life is born in all who believe, and His presence in the world is perpetuated by the spiritual gifts He gives all believers by which we reach out to those around us.

Think about it: a big, beautifully wrapped box arrives for each one of us from God Himself—a personal gift with our name on it. Inside is a special gifting through which we can touch the people around us by way of the words we say and the things we do. It’s called our “spiritual gift” but it’s really a kind of gifting which enables us to do something for someone else. This puts a whole new slant on gifts, whatever the season.

I can remember Christmases growing up where I would arrange all my gifts neatly into a pile on my bed after all the presents were opened. It was always a smaller pile than I anticipated, but it was mine nonetheless. Christmas, in spite of the joy and excitement, was always a little bit of a disappointment because the gifts ran out. There was always the last gift—nothing more to open. My gifts stopped with what I could play with (until it broke) or what I could wear.

But God gives gifts that help us become givers as well. That’s a big difference. His gifts to us enable us to turn around and enrich others. Gifts like mercy, faith, encouragement, wisdom, knowledge, healing and discernment flow out of the brightly colored packages we unwrap every day from our Father. These are not gifts we pile up on our bed and look at. These are gifts that perpetuate the life of Christ in us. And they keep on giving for the rest of our lives, or as long as we use them.

This season, if you are able, give a gift that will warm a heart, but don’t forget the gifts we have from our Father that keep on giving all year long, and be just as intentional about receiving and giving those as well. What do you have, and who can you give it to?

December 8, 2004

"Indiana, let it go."
by John Fischer
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Well it seems like I’m getting a lot of mileage lately out of the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. So far it has yielded a devotional about faith and one on Billy Graham’s “last crusade.” But after the illustration about stepping out in faith, a reader wrote me and reminded me of yet another great moment in this final episode of the trilogy starring Harrison Ford as the adventurous archeologist, Indiana Jones. In the end of the movie, after having found the Holy Grail, Ford is tempted to take it with him from its hiding place in an obscure cave. This is after knowing it must stay where it is, guarded by an ancient medieval knight, or its bearer will face certain death.

Nevertheless, Ford tries to reach with one hand for the Grail that has lodged itself in a crag in the rock, while holding onto his father’s hands with the other, as he dangles over a bottomless pit. As if in a trance, gripped by the power of the Grail, Indiana Jones thinks he can escape the fate of the woman who has just fallen to her death trying to do the very same thing. After all, he wants its power for good—she wanted it for herself. Still, it is the voice of Indiana’s father (Sean Connery) that finally brings him to his senses: “Indiana! Let it go!”

The reader, another fan of these movies, writes:
“So many times it has happened that when I turn back to the Father and grasp with both hands, I see the danger I could have fallen into by reaching for what I thought was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Often times what was truly amazing was also truly wrong for me.”

It’s important to reach for things beyond our grasp. That is one of the ways we grow. Faith is discovered in the process of reaching out. Peter saw Jesus on the water and it was his idea to walk out to Him. But Jesus was right there with him. Peter was actually walking toward Christ. That’s a lot different from this illustration where Indiana Jones is holding onto his father’s hands and trying to reach for something else. If you have to let go of God to reach something, it’s probably not a good idea. Faith never leads us away from God.

When given a choice between letting go of God and letting go of something else, make it a no-brainer to let go of that something else, no matter how good it might be.

December 9, 2004

All in the Family
by John Fischer
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As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with Him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”



Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “These are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Matthew 12:46-50 NLT



Everyone wants to be on the inside. The existence of clubs, secret societies, membership, and associations indicates there is something in all of us that seeks a special identity apart from everyone else. No one wants to be lost in a crowd.



In the instance quoted above, Christ’s immediate family tried to pull rank on the larger group Jesus was addressing. The implication in their request is that they expected Jesus to give them priority over the crowd; they wanted Him to stop what He was doing and pay attention to them. We have no idea what the urgency was, it may have even been some important family matter they felt was worthy of an interruption, but Jesus used the opportunity to teach everyone something: He has a much bigger family than His nuclear family, and in that family, everyone has priority.



How does it feel to be a part of Christ’s immediate family? We have priority. Even if Mary His mother showed up, Jesus would say, “Just a minute. I know you’re my mother, but I’m talking to my mother over here.” Our requests receive the same significance as those from Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Christ’s earthly brothers. We have privilege, by walking in God’s will.



It’s a testimony to his humility that one of those brothers waiting to talk to Jesus that day was James, who went on to become one of the most important leaders of the early church, respected by Jews and Gentiles alike, and the author of the New Testament book by his name. When he introduces himself at the beginning of that book, he calls himself: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” James 1:1 Nothing else. You would think he would have thrown in “and brother of Jesus,” just for extra measure (I would have), but he did not. He didn’t want his place to be seen as any different from anyone else’s.



James knew that we could all say we are “the brother/sister of Jesus” by rebirth. He was not in a special position by birth; he was in a spec

"O Come All Ye Faithful..."
by John Fischer
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…And not so faithful, too.



There is a saying that was popular in the early days of the church. Paul called it a “trustworthy saying” in a letter to Timothy:



If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

If we endure, we will also reign with Him.

If we disown Him, He will disown us;

If we are faithless, He will remain faithful,

for He cannot disown Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NIV)



Have you ever come to Christmas, caught yourself singing, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and wondered: “Who’s that? Who can say they have been totally faithful to Christ?” If we were honest, could anyone say they were entirely faithful in their walk with God? I would want to add, “Compared to what?” because “faithful” would have to be a relative thing. We all fail Him from time to time. We all struggle with faith. We all prove to be unfaithful partners with God.



In other words, if our security with God depended on our faithfulness to Him, I’m afraid we would all be in bad shape; but the good news is: our security with God depends on His faithfulness to us. “Phew!”



Jesus chided his disciples for having a “little faith,” but He did not kick them off the team for it. He called His followers an “unbelieving generation,” but He did not abandon them. And in spite of the saying above about disowning those who disown Him, Jesus apparently made an exception to that rule for Peter, who on three occasions disowned having any part of Christ. He later forgave Peter and accepted him back.



As we come to the end of another year, I’m sure we can all recall times when we struggled with faith, had a hard time finding it, or perhaps found ourselves unfaithful to God. Some may be in such a place right now. This is a time to worship God for His faithfulness to us. We may have let go of Him, but He will never let go of us, because we are His, and He cannot disown what belongs to Him.



So for us, faith is a relative thing. We all struggle with our own demons. Maybe for you, “faithful” means you’re ready to get yourself back in the fold. Can’t think of a better time to do it. This is the gospel. This is Good News.



“O come all ye faithful…” and not so faithful, too!

December 14, 2004
Small Group Fellowship
By John Fischer


It occurs to me that the first fellowship group around Christ is probably represented somewhere in your house right now. It has some common shepherds in peasant’s clothes, three princes in royal robes, a man and a woman holding a newborn baby, and a random assortment of farm animals seeking shelter in a run down barn. We have ours actually on the windowsill in the dining room because there was no room for them in the living room.



That these figures represent two different visits roughly two years apart in two different locations isn’t a concern for today’s reflections. Taken together they constitute the first welcoming committee and, in a way, the first small group brought together by Jesus. They are the only people we know about, aside from Mary and Joseph, who had any clue what was going on with this miraculous birth. An angel had told the shepherds; the magi had deduced it from the stars.



They represented most likely Jews and Arabs, perhaps multiple races, a broad social class division, different nationalities and religions, and a large gap in intellectual knowledge. And there they were gathered around Jesus, and the one thing they had in common is that they were invited. They all heard from God. They were hand picked for the occasion. I wonder if you could call this the first small group fellowship.



Given that it was the first fellowship group, what do you suppose they talked about? I can imagine they talked about how they got there—what the angel said, how the stars were positioned in the sky, what the ancient books of knowledge indicated, or how their ears were still ringing from the angelic choir. They must have heard some of the story from Mary and Joseph and they would have been trying to put all the pieces together, while still left with plenty of pieces that didn’t fit. But most of all, I believe they were filled with wonder over why were they were there and not someone else.



Today, we’re still gathering together around Jesus. We’re amazed that He invited us. We’re telling stories about how we came to know about Him, and we’re talking a lot about how our lives have never been the same since. We’ve been thrown together from all walks of life with one thing in common. We, too, don’t have all the pieces together, but we are most amazed that among all the people in the world, He would choose us.

December 15, 2004
God's-eye View
By John Fischer


For now we see through a glass, darkly… (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV)



I had a mentor once who loved to teach about faith from a 20-foot long timeline of Bible history that he used as a powerful visual effect. He would roll out this room-sized diagram with a long line from Adam and Eve to the present day. On it, at appropriate spots, he would place little figures representing some of the well-known characters of the Bible such as Abraham, Moses, David, Ezekiel, and Paul. Then he would walk over to where, say, Moses was, turn him toward the future, and place a dark pane of glass right in front of his nose.



“This is how much Moses could see when he looked this way,” he would say, and because we had the perspective of the rest of the timeline, we could understand Moses’ dilemma, but also gain strength from what we knew lay ahead of him that he couldn’t see. In other words, in relation to Moses, we had more of a God’s-eye view of things.



Though Moses could not see into the future, there were two directions he could look, both of which were useful to his faith and in turn are useful to ours. He could look back and see how God had been faithful in his own life up until then, and, most importantly, he could look up to God and put his trust in the one who sees all.



The obvious lesson here is that we are in a similar place. We can only look back to the past and up to God, and remember there is a God’s-eye view of this; we just can’t see it right now. He knows what He’s doing and how the events of our lives fit into His overall purposes for us, and those around us. He sees reasons we have no access to. He sees a plan that looks at best murky from our point of view. But the future, and God’s purposes for us, and the reliability of His promises are no less reliable than they were to Moses. In fact, we have the huge benefit of much more history than Moses ever had—the fulfillment of things he could only dream about.



So just remember, whatever you are going through today, or wondering about in relation to tomorrow, there is a God’s-eye view of this. Look up.

December 16, 2004
Wise Men Still Seek Him
By John Fischer


It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (Proverbs 25:2 NIV)



I normally don’t like bumper stickers, especially with Christian slogans, because they so often seem to trivialize the message, but one exception stands out. It used to show up around Christmas time, though I haven’t seen it for a while. It is the simple but profound assertion: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM.



I like this because it says at least two things. 1) Those who seek God are wise. God affirms the dignity of the searcher and the search. The fact that God has set it up this way—has concealed His matters and invited us to search for Him—confirms our nobility. It says we have enough smarts to look for Him and recognize Him when we find Him. In fact, the proverb above puts the searcher in the realm of kings. It’s a noble task to seek after God.



2) Those who seek God are given the benefit of the doubt, that if they seek Him, they will find Him. This is actually a promise in scripture: “…He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). This is why those of us who already know Him don’t have to jump all over those who are seeking when they get something wrong or don’t put it in exactly the right words. If they are truly seeking, they will find Him, and it will be God who opens their eyes anyway. We need to respect the search of those we know who are seeking and not get impatient with them or think of them as stupid for not seeing what we see. When it’s time, they will.



This may mean you might have to bite your tongue a little bit and not say everything you know all the time. Better to listen for those parts of the truth the seeker has already found and affirm them. Jesus didn’t spill all the beans as soon as He started preaching. He let a little bit out at a time. He talked in code (parables). He asked a lot of questions. He protected the search. He didn’t give what was sacred to dogs or throw out pearls to pigs. He always said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” and then He went on to not say everything. He made them hang on His words and come back for more. All of this protects not only the dignity of the search and the searcher, but also the dignity of the truth.



It really should be this way; otherwise we could just put it all on a bumper sticker.

Priceless Gift
By John Fischer


Gift of service: Warm a cold heart with a warm blanket. Price: $35.00.

Gift of encouragement: Take flowers to a friend battling cancer. Price: $50.00.

Gift of leadership: Lead a group into a terrain they have never traveled before. Price of gas and lunch for 20: $300.



Gift of Christ to your next-door neighbor: Priceless.

Christmas is all about gift giving—making lists of gifts, purchasing gifts, wrapping gifts, giving gifts and opening gifts (and probably returning some). All of this is because of one priceless gift given to the human race two thousand years ago—the gift of God’s Son. And this gift came about as the result of God’s unfathomable mercy and grace. He did not have to do this. Nothing in us required it. He decided to be merciful to His own creation made in His image—all of us having turned our backs on Him and gone our own way.



Somehow we got fortunate. It’s definitely not because we’re cute. There is no merit here—nothing we deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve; mercy is not getting what you do deserve. We have been given both. We don’t deserve anything from God except punishment for our sins, and what did He do? His mercy up and cancelled the punishment so His grace could give us life. Two priceless gifts. One awesome God. What can we do except be filled with gratitude and mimic His gift giving to the extent of our creativity and our resources.



And while we’re at it, let’s think of a spiritual gift we can give, too, based on what has been given to us. Regardless of our material resources, we all are rich in spiritual ones. Give this some thought. Think of your spiritual gift and how you might turn it into an intentional present for someone this Christmas season. Make it something you can plan and accomplish as a deliberate act. Put a bow around it if needs be.



Christmas is spiritual, full of gifts and gift giving. Let’s not forget to give the gift of Christ to someone this Christmas. It’s priceless.

December 20, 2004
"A Soalin'"
By John Fischer


Hey ho, nobody home,
Meat nor drink nor money have I none.
Yet shall we be merry,
Hey ho, nobody home;
Hey Ho, nobody home. - Stookey/Batteaste/Mezzetti

Peter, Paul and Mary made this traditional English folk tune a holiday favorite in the mid-sixties. My personal trophy was learning the guitar part as a high school student and singing this song in my own version of the folk super group, except we were “Jim, John and Gail.” (No wonder we were never famous.)

The song is about the London tradition of poor children caroling in front of people’s homes expecting to be given treats or money in return for their winter serenade. This part of the song is anticipating that in the worst case (nobody home) they will choose to make merry anyway.

Most of our giving at Christmas involves an even exchange of gifts—something appropriate to the friendship or the family connection. We sometimes base our gifts on what we received the year before. But the Bible talks about giving as well to those who can’t give anything back. This is the way God gave that first Christmas. He owes us nothing, yet He has given us everything in His only Son, and He asks for nothing other than for us to believe it and receive it. We, in turn, can give nothing back that comes anywhere near the value of His gift to us. The closest we can come is to give Him our own lives in service and obedience, which in truth is all that we have. Which makes our service not a duty, but a gift. Not an obligation, but a joy. Our service to God is our gift back. It’s nothing we can buy and wrap up. It costs more than that.

This Christmas, as you work on your lists, think of giving to someone who is not in a position to give back. And do it quietly, perhaps even anonymously, so that the person receiving feels no obligation to the giver. This will give us a small taste of what God feels all the time.

The streets are very dirty; my shoes are very thin.
I have a little pocket to put a penny in.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha' penny then God bless you.

December 21, 2004
Mary and Joseph
By John Fischer
Mary: Joseph, my beloved, come walk with me a while;
I have something to share with you this evening.
An angel of God has appeared unto me,
And this is the greeting that he gave me:
“The Spirit of God has overcome you
And you shall bear His child.
And you shall call His name, Jesus,
For He’ll save His people from sin.”

Joseph: Mary, O Mary, how can this be true?
How can I believe the words you’re saying?
I’ve kept you a virgin, but now you are with child.
How can I be sure you are not lying?

Mary: Joseph, O Joseph, I’ve loved no other man,
And I serve only one God, Jehovah.
Please know I am not deceiving you,
I am only believing in His promise.
“The Spirit of God has overcome me,
And I shall bear His child.
And I shall call His name, Jesus,
For He’ll save His people from sin.”

Joseph: Mary, my beloved, come walk with me a while,
I have something to share with you this morning.
An angel of God has appeared unto me,
And this is the greeting that He gave me:
“The Spirit of God has overcome her
And she will bear His child.
And you shall call His name, Jesus,
For He’ll save His people from sin.”

Mary: “The Spirit of God has overcome me
And I shall bear His child.

Both: And we shall call His name, Jesus,
For He’ll save His people from sin.”

This incredible trial of faith has been dramatized in many ways since that first Christmas, but this rendition by singer/songwriter Pam Mark Hall is especially poignant. It captures the risk Mary took to remain true to the word delivered to her by the angel of the Lord, and the difficulty Joseph had believing her. It’s unclear how long she had this news without it being confirmed by Joseph’s own angelic encounter. It was long enough for him to attempt to break off the engagement (Matthew 1:19).

Mary must have been tempted at times to doubt her own memory of that heavenly visit, especially when trying to explain things to Joseph and face the inevitable public disgrace. The questions and accusations, both spoken and unspoken, must have been a challenge. She must have wished, at times, that everyone in town had received a visit by the same angel. Still, she was content knowing the quiet miracle was growing inside her.

There is a quiet miracle growing inside all who believe. Christ has been reborn in us by faith. Trust in the miracle. Draw on His presence today. And like Mary, believe it in spite of the fact that not everyone receives the same information.

John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife and son. John is also a published author and songwriter.

December 22, 2004
Holy Invasion
By John Fischer
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation! (Isaiah 52:7 NLT)



Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.

Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!



Jesus had a purpose when He came to earth. He was a man on a mission. He knew where He came from, where He was going, and what He came here to do. He never doubted it once, except when He was in the garden, and even then, He didn’t doubt His mission, He only struggled with the reality of completing it. We are all eternally grateful that, when faced with His darkest hour, Christ chose God’s will instead of His own. He was able to make that choice because He was a man on a mission, and in the end, the mission won out.



Christmas is, at its heart, the celebration of an invasion. God invaded earth. Not content to just stay in heaven, God came to earth in human form to overcome the evil in our lives and reclaim the good. Because Christ was born and He accomplished His mission, there is help from above—help only God could bring. Jesus Christ has joined the human caravan. Creator became created. Adam and Eve passed on to us their propensity toward sinning. It’s in our DNA. But Christ is the new Adam. He was born of a virgin, a child of the earth, but born through a seed that was conceived of God. The result is a man, fully human, but with God’s DNA in His veins. Only this perfect blood could atone for the sins of the world. Only this life could be an acceptable sacrifice.



And we have become partakers of this new life by faith. This is what it means to be born again—to be born into a new bloodline through Christ, and have God’s DNA (the Holy Spirit) in you to help you be more like Christ.



Jesus Christ was on a mission of love. His purpose was to love us so much that He would lay down His life for us. We have a mission, too. Our mission is to love people so much that we will tell them the good news about what Jesus did. There is hope! There is forgiveness! There is a new life we can live through the Holy Spirit! God did not stay aloof to our predicament; He invaded our flesh and blood and altered it for eternity!



Tell it on the mountain or over the hill—tell it everywhere: Jesus Christ is born, and because of it, nothing is the same!



John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife and son. John is also a published author and songwriter.

December 23, 2004
Gold Amidst the Glitter
By John Fischer
In the little town of Bethlehem, the most important birth in all of human history took place on what we now consider the first Christmas. It was sparsely attended by some bleating farm animals and a handful of shepherds who wouldn’t have been there had not the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly hosts only minutes before, praising God and inviting the shepherds to the stable. What an invitation! With the exception of that outburst, however, no one else knew. Oh yes, there were some astrologers from the east that figured out what was going on by studying the stars and some ancient manuscripts, but they didn’t make it to town until at least a year or two later when the baby was a child. Why such an uneventful welcome for such an auspicious event?



It’s God’s way. He’s always been quiet about His work on earth. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift was given/So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven.” He’s even pretty quiet about the way He works in our lives. Silently He came into the world; silently He comes into our hearts. No fanfare. No welcoming committee. God has never been into self-promotion. He lets His work speak for itself.



And that would be you and me. Believers are the result of Christ’s coming. It is all about good news and glad tidings for all people. A Savior has been born and He has been born for us. Or as the angel announced it: “The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David” (Luke 2:11 NLT)!



It occurs to me there are two ways to take all the fanfare and glitter of this season. We can see it as the over-commercialism of Christmas, or we can take all the lights, and gifts, and decorations, and parties, and bells, and carols, and Christmas specials on TV—even Santa and reindeer in the front yard—and bank them all as celebrations of the birth of Christ. We can even take the conversion of old Scrooge as the joy of new life and forgiveness of sins.



There’s no law against sanctifying the secularization of Christmas in your own heart and mind. It’s what we make of these things that count, anyway. Every single light can represent another soul secured in eternity as the result of what Christ has accomplished.



There was no room available for the Son of God when He came the first time. Let’s make sure there’s room in our hearts this Christmas, and don’t let anyone take away what is good about the glad tidings of Christ’s birth!



John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife and son. John is also a published author and songwriter.

December 27, 2004
The Work of Peace
By John Fischer


Blessed are those who work for peace, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)



I must admit, “working for peace” is a new concept for me when applied to my closest relationships. Being a child of the sixties, working for peace has strong connotations of political and social action. After all, we’re the generation who made the peace sign universal. But peace on a more human relationship level is another thing. I wouldn’t think of that as work; I would think of that more as avoidance. For me, peace in a relationship is achieved by avoiding anything and everything uncomfortable.



That’s because I’m dysfunctional when it comes to this. I will opt for peace at any price, which usually means, if I know a conflict exists in a particular area, I will avoid the subject altogether. Or if I am in conflict with a certain person, I will avoid them altogether. This is not being a peacemaker. It’s being a coward. A peacemaker works for peace and by avoiding conflict I am saying I am not willing to put forth the effort necessary to face into a problem, I am too afraid to face into it or I don’t care enough for the other person to want to seek peace. Do I care enough for myself to want to live in peace instead of conflict and denial?



Peace is never found in walking away from our fears, but in walking into them. Like the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz, courage comes when you care enough for someone that you will face into your fears on their behalf. It takes this kind of work to be a peacemaker.



Think about where there is conflict in your life and ask God to show you how you can make peace. It’s true that a relationship is made up of two people, and if there is a conflict, both have to want to make peace in order to achieve it. We can’t change the other person, but we can do our part to create the environment for reconciliation.



If there is a chasm in a relationship, you may have to reach all the way across to establish peace, but won’t it be worth it? God didn’t stay on His throne of righteousness, but reached all the way through the cross to bridge the chasm to us. Halfway is probably not far enough.

From Attitude to Gratitude
by John Fischer
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A reader who e-mailed me her testimony kindly consented to let me use it in a devotional. I can?t help but think there?s something here for all of us to reflect on.



If there is any such thing as a ?good? Christian, I was one?once. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at age seven, and spent all of my childhood and early adult life immersed in the ?Christian? lifestyle. I attended church faithfully, served in the ministry, said and did all the ?right? things and stayed well away from all the ?wrong? things.



I had it so ?together,? in fact, that I felt a little smug as I observed all the people who didn?t. I made a big deal about how I didn?t drink because I was a Christian, how I didn?t smoke because I was a Christian, how I basically didn?t do anything because I was a Christian. Each time I?d share my ?track record? (thinly disguised as a testimony), I?d feel like a shining example of a life lived for God.



The problem with not giving mercy to others is that you don?t get any, either. When you think in terms of earning the love of the God of the universe, nothing is ever enough. This, of course, was God?s point in giving us the law: so we?d know we couldn?t do it. So we?d know we needed a Savior.



It didn?t happen all at once, but gradually I realized that this ?good girl? had completely missed the point. In my quest to please God, I?d taken credit for my own salvation. I?d become the very definition of self-righteousness. I?d avoided the most ?visible? sins while harboring an abundance of secret ones in my heart and private life. I needed grace (undeserved, unearned favor). I needed a way to measure up. I needed a Savior, and it wasn?t me.



Having ultimately realized that even though I?m ?saved,? I?m no more ?good? than anybody else; I?ve stopped being mad at the world and started identifying with it. I know my own faults too well: I judge and criticize. I gossip. I yell at my kids. I overspend. I think unholy thoughts. I overeat. I ignore God when I need Him most. Honestly, sometimes I?m just grateful that He keeps me around!



I wonder what would happen if church became a transparent place where we openly shared our failures and deepest needs with each other. If we built fewer walls to insulate us from the bad stuff ?out there? and built bridges to the ?out there? instead.



I wonder what would happen if we realized that the one thing the whole universe has in common (?good Christians? included) is our desperate need for Jesus.

December 29, 2004
Family Portrait
By John Fischer
I have a friend who heads up an inner city ministry to homeless teenagers. Some are runaways, some have been kicked out of their homes, and others prefer homelessness to the abuse they experience at home. In a recent Christmas letter, he talked of stumbling onto a box of old photographs while doing some cleaning in his garage. “As the box emptied, forgotten memories instantly found their place on the walls and shelves in our home,” he wrote. “The photographs had always been with us, just not seen, and the memories they prompted had always been with us, just not recalled.”



Then he went on to tell of a unique gift from a professional photographer who was a supporter of their ministry. This man got the brilliant idea to volunteer a day of his time, bring his portrait studio equipment downtown and transform the ministry’s coffee shop into a studio. There he offered free portraits for the street kids, many of whom took advantage of it. Knowing a little bit about this business and what that photographer could have received at market value for each of these portraits adds up to a very significant gift.



Some of us may not have money to give, but time and expertise wisely spent can be worth even more. In another similar instance, I know of a church that periodically offers free car tune-ups and oil changes in their parking lot for single moms on Saturday mornings. It was the brainchild of an auto mechanic in the church who wanted to share his expertise with someone in the community he knew needed it.



We need to be thinking not just of giving money to needy causes, but also of how we can serve with our time and our talents. Besides, services like this go way beyond their monetary value. Think of the value and self-worth that a good professional portrait must have bestowed upon these homeless kids. And then think of some of their estranged families who will receive a portrait full of memories in the mail—memories that might put that kid up on the shelf or wall of their home and maybe even help reunite a family.



In his conclusion, my friend wrote: “This season of joy as you get out your own camera, converting your living room into a portrait studio, cherish each person, remember them, and love them like you have never loved them before. And please, when you get the pictures back, take a moment and pray for our kids and for their families, who might be finding pictures stowed away in garages, that some day their lives could reconcile.”

December 30, 2004
Our Help and Our Hope
By John Fischer
O God our help in ages past—

Our hope for years to come…



This is the time of year when we focus on God and thank Him for getting us through another year. Remember Y2K? We were wondering if we’d survive the turnover to a new century. Hard to believe that was five years ago.



As the hymn writer has reminded us, God is both our help and our hope—two four-letter words that pretty much sum up what our worship is all about this time of year. First, we look back on how He has helped us in the past.



The greatest thing about this is you can go back as far as you want into the ages past and still find God there, thinking about you. “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). (By the way, we are so thankful it says without fault “in His eyes,” because we have plenty of faults in other people’s eyes, including our own.) The point being, you can never go too far back to not have anyone to worship. (“In the beginning, God…”)



But right now, it would be good to focus on just this last year and think about how God has specifically helped us. What do you have now that you didn’t have a year ago? Think in terms of personal growth, experiences, and people God has blessed you with. How do you know God better than you did at this time a year ago? What more do you know about Him? What more do you know about yourself that He has revealed to you? What struggle has He helped you overcome? Is there anyone in your life who wasn’t there a year ago that you can honestly thank God for? What has He helped you accomplish? How has He been faithful to you even when you have been faithless?



Now think about this next year and how God is our only true hope. Think of specifically where you need to apply some of that hope. What are you afraid of? Where are you feeling inadequate? What do you want to change, and how can God help you? How about your plans? How big do you want to make them? How far are you willing to stretch? For all of this, He is our hope. And for all that we will face this next year that we don’t know anything about right now, He is our hope. He will be enough.



“Our fears for today, our worries for tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away” (Romans 8:38).

December 31, 2004
24-Hour Faith
By John Fischer
You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway. (John 20:29)



There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open? - Woody Allen



Christians believe there is an unseen world that in some ways is more real than the one we see. Not that the one we see isn’t real, but the unseen world sometimes is thought of as being more important because of its permanence. The unseen one will last forever; this one is temporary, and yet for now, this temporary one is our reality.



That’s why I like Woody Allen’s question about how far the unseen world is from us, and how late it stays open. In other words: how accessible is this unseen world? I think he may be on to something. As the saying goes: Some Christians are so heavenly minded, they’re of no earthly good.



The gospel is all about caring for the real human needs of people, not just about getting them into heaven.



Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. (James 2:17)



Jesus Christ brought the good news of the kingdom of heaven to earth, but He didn’t just touch down for a momentary appearance. Sometimes we forget He carried on a ministry here for three years. He connected with and did something about the suffering needs of the sick, dying, and mentally ill. Faith in action brings two worlds together.



The reality of heaven doesn’t make earth less real or less important. If our longing for heaven and focus on eternity is disengaging us from earth, we should probably check and see if we have the right heaven. If we have the right heaven, the opposite should happen. The more committed we are to heaven (the more we get an eternal perspective on life) the more deeply we will be committed to this life and those around us. Heaven brings meaning to earth, not an escape. It brings dignity to every human being, a reason for our existence and a desire to want to connect everyone to God.



When Jesus came, one of the first things He did was announce that the good news of the kingdom of heaven had come. Heaven is at hand. Let’s live in such a way as to show people like Mr. Allen that the unseen world is right around the corner, and what’s more, it stays open all night.

A Privilege and an Adventure
by John Fischer
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Ever wonder why, with countless numbers of angels to do His bidding, and His own omnipotence (all-powerful nature), and omnipresence (ability to be everywhere at once), God chooses to involve us in His work in the world? I cannot help but think that it is entirely His pleasure to do so. This means we are the ones who lose out if we don?t get with the program. God?s work will go on in spite of us, but in His mysterious ways, He factors us into the equation of His will. That makes it a privilege and an adventure to serve Him?an opportunity to find purpose and meaning cooperating with the purposes of God in the world.



?For we are God?s masterpiece,? Paul wrote in Ephesians (2:10). ?He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.? That means that God not only created the world and put us in it, but He created as well the good things that we would do with our lives. He didn?t just set the world spinning and go off somewhere and let it spin; He is intimately involved with what we are doing as well, having planned it out in advance. He created and He is creating; and we get to be a part of it all. These are things that our finite, limited minds cannot fully grasp, but they are true nonetheless.



This also means that when we serve God, we are entering into His creative process for us and for the world. We are claiming our place in His amazing plan for His creation. He doesn?t need us, but He wants us. He has chosen to share His creative work with us; you could even say He has made us co-creators with Him. This is more a factor of sharing than recruiting. It?s part of how He wants to fellowship with us, for in the beginning, before we were created, God said, ?Let us (the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit) make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life?? (Genesis 1:26).



Doesn?t knowing all this make you want to find out what He wants you to do? Doesn?t it make you want to give up those selfish things that hold you back from serving God and His purposes? Isn?t it amazing that He would give you so much importance in His creation? Suddenly that little thing you know He wants you to do for your neighbor or your fellow-worker takes on much bigger significance, doesn?t it? What great work is He sharing with you today? Remember there is nothing insignificant in His eyes

January 4, 2005
New Running Duds
By John Fischer
The New Year always begins with a certain amount of optimism based on new resolutions and the desire to change. But right on the heel of those determinations is usually a pessimistic voice as well that taunts us: “What if we can’t? What if we don’t?” We’ve been here before and seen so little lasting change based on questions like this. Our intentions are great; our actions are weak. What do we do about this?



This year, stirred on by the advice of my doctor to get more exercise, my children got me a running outfit and running shoes for Christmas. I told them that if they were going to do this, it had to be subtle. The last thing I wanted was to be out running the day after Christmas broadcasting to everyone what was under my tree this year. I didn’t want to make a big splash in the neighborhood for a few days only to never be seen again out there.