Purpose Driven Life Devotionals

[Forever_Lovers]

Worship on the Go
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

The Heart of the Matter
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Another Kind of Normal
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Gifted for a Reason
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Listening for the Silent Scream
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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

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?

[Forever_Lovers]

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Pool Mom
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Planet Earth: Late But Still Great
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Hell Bound
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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?

[Forever_Lovers]

True Fellowship
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

Sad Little Shovels
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.

[Forever_Lovers]

The Big Itch
by John Fischer
</B></FONT>

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.