The Devil Made Me Do It

(Shrove Tuesday)

In I John 4:4, the text reads: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

As Christians approach the season of Lent, there are so many times that they examine their failures and weaknesses and get discouraged because they have failed so often.

Flip Wilson on T.V. had a familiar phrase, “The devil made me do it!” We have all said that, or something similar to it, I suppose. We have felt that we were not in control, or that we were not ourselves…not at our best…and the power of evil zaps us between the eyes and we sin.

The 40 days of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, are like the period of testing that Jesus spent in the wilderness. He too, struggled for supremacy over evil, and he won!

Although we can never be sinless like Jesus, yet if he is in our hearts, then we have a power stronger within us, than all the combined forces of evil on the outside. For that we should rejoice!

SanDee Tillee is a poet who often puts her lyrics to country music. In her own life, she must have gone through experiences like that of the Prodigal Son. When she was baptized, she wrote these words:

“Lord, I’ve been in hell so long.

Thank you for helping me out.

You’ve given me a brand new song;

You mapped the whole road out.

Yes, I believe I’m on the right road.

But, I’ve still got the tracks on my arms

To remind me of that hellish load,

With the devil’s many charms.”

If you feel the need for power on the inside to work against the evil on the outside, then invite the Savior to walk the journey of Lent with you.

Are You The Same Old You?

I talked with a woman once who said, “I go to church faithfully, I listen, I understand, I believe. But when I get home, I’m the same old me!”

How true! We are caught up with hopes and beliefs and faith during special moments of worship and inspiration. But when we go back to the grind of life, we feel like the same old person again.

And yet this is not quite true. I am not quite the same “me.” Because every experience in life does change us! We cannot be exposed again and again to the Savior, and not be changed by Him. Here is the value of regular worship, and the attitude that seeks a blessing when we go.

Somebody asked a church member one day what the minister had said on Sunday. She thought for a moment, and then said she didn’t remember. “See,” said her friend, “It doesn’t do you any good. Why not stay at home?” The church member pointed at her wicker basket and asked, “What if I asked you to fill up that basket with water, and bring it to me?” Said the other, “why the water would all run out!” “That’s right,” said the woman, “but it would be a cleaner basket, wouldn’t it?”

Do you despair of growing in grace, of being better? Don’t give up, just because you fall now and then. Do you sometimes wish you had never been made? Just remember: You’re not made yet. You’re just in the process of being made, and this is all part of the Maker’s process.

Go to church. Keep growing in the faith. Eagerly seek Him, and that same old “you” will become a “transformed new you.”

Stupid Joke:
Question--"Which is more important, the sun or the moon?"
Answer--"Why the moon, of course. The sun shines when there's plenty of light. The moon shines when we need it!"
Therefore: "Moon Glow And Biscuits"...Light when we need it, and nourishment for the dark times.

Try Writing Your Own Obituary

One morning in 1888, Nobel, inventor of dynamite, the man who had spent his life amassing a fortune from the manufacture and sale of weapons of destruction, awoke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error…Alfred’s brother had died, and a French reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother.

Naturally any person would be disturbed to see his own obituary in the paper, but it was especially so to Alfred Nobel, because he saw himself as the world had seen him, “the dynamite king.” As far as the public was concerned, the entire purpose of his life was to make money from destruction. He was a merchant of death.

As he read his obituary with horror, Nobel resolved to change his image before the world, and the result was that the most valued of all prizes is now given for one who works hardest for peace. It is called the “Nobel Prize.”

What do you suppose the public would include in your obituary? It’s a strange question, but makes us think whether we have made it clear to all what our central concern in life really is.

“Here is a man who loved the Lord” would be a good epitaph. Or “Here is one who loved all people” would be another. Or what about the phrase, “In kindness she moved, in mercy she walked, in humility she lived.”? Why not write your own obituary? Make it the way you want it to sound, and then ask God to help you live so it can come true.

Nobody has to be a stinker! There is absolutely no reason anyone has to have a reputation for being evil, or a bully, or cruel. It is only as we will to do His will, that we achieve the great change in life that transforms our lives and makes it possible for our loved ones and even our enemies to say noble things about us in our passing.

I wouldn’t want to be caught dead with some of the things folks might say about me. How about you? Maybe it’s time we started to make some changes right now while we still have time.

Try Kissing A Frog

Did you ever try to kiss a frog? Not easy, is it? Maybe not even much fun! But all around our neighborhoods are froggy people, feeling slow, and low, and ugly, and droopy, and down in the dumps! Maybe you feel that way too now and then. What is a person to do?

In the Church, when we talk about “the Priesthood of Believers,” we mean quite literally that we are to be “priests” to one another…or to minister to one another…to be really caring folks!

So…down the great river of life, come froggy people, on drifting lily pads, feeling frightened and disgusted, and too froggy to budge.

Once upon a time, there was a frog. But he really wasn’t a frog. He was a prince, who looked and felt like a frog. A wicked witch had cast a spell upon him, and only the kiss of a beautiful maiden could save him. But cute chicks don’t really enjoy kissing frogs, and there he was, unkissed and unhappy. Miracles do happen now and then, however. One day, a beautiful young lady grabbed him up and gave him a big smack. And there he was, a handsome prince. Now, you know the rest…they lived happily ever after!

Bruce Larson, the author of this interesting illustration, asks the question, “What is the task of the church?” and he gives as his answer, “to kiss frogs, of course.”

The apostle Paul said: “bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) Is it possible, that if we just looked around, we might find a prince or a princess in a froggy mood, who needed to be kissed? Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? But it also sounds like one of the hardest things, and yet one of the most Christian things we could be doing!

The King Is With Us

There is a story coming out of ancient England, that says that workers in a factory one day were amazed to discover that their king was working alongside them at a lathe, and had been doing so for a long time without being recognized.

When the news got out, it sent a thrill through the people. “The King is working with us,” they said. “The King is working with us!”

Let us never forget that Jesus our King came to earth and walked the lowly problems of life with us. He did then, and our resurrected Lord is with us now.

Doesn’t it change your daily routine to believe that “the King is working with you”? He is!

What If God Sued Us?

I’ve been thinking about suing God! Everybody else is suing somebody…why not me? It seems to me that God really didn’t make me as bright as some of the folks I know. I think He might have neglected me somewhat!

I heard once about a lady who sued God for letting lightning strike her home. As far as I know, God never showed up for the trial…As far as I know, the lady never collected either.

But on the other hand, I wonder if God shouldn’t have a few law-suits pending on His own? After all, we took His beautiful world, and turned it into a waste-land. We burned up His fuel oils. We muddied up His beautiful rivers and streams. We allowed His children in many parts of the world, to go hungry, because we never cared enough to teach them to farm their barren lands.

Looks to me like God has a pretty strong case against us. We’ve taken the good bodies He gave us, and filled them with black coffee, and deadening sodas and alcoholic beverages. We’ve turned the noses He gave us into smoke-stacks. We’ve eaten all the fat-producing desserts, and left the spinach behind.

How can God put up with us? We are law-breakers, spoilers, destroyers, contaminators, offenders.

But there is good news! In spite of it all, He cares. He doesn’t sue us…He saves us through His great love. He saves us for all eternity, if we come to Him. We are not worthy, but still He pours out His love. What a wonderful, marvelous God we have!

Strike an “A”

Have you ever heard someone say, “That gives me good vibrations?” Have you ever considered that life, all of life is designed to move and vibrate according to a certain frequency? After all, music is like that. So also is elec- tricity, sound waves, and radio and T.V. The very chairs we sit on, the tables we work at, the pencils we hold, the telephones we speak through, all of them are seething movements of molecules, energy in motion!

Everything is moving, vibrating, according to the created principle of the Creator! What if my life is out of sequence? What if my sins have changed the harmonies? What if I am making a discord in God’s amazing symphony?

Once upon a time, there was a sheep-herder who wrote to a New York Radio station. He explained that he lived a simple life in the country, with only his dog and sheep for companions. “I get my greatest pleasure from my radio and my violin,” he wrote. “But recently my violin has become badly out of tune. Would it be possible for someone there to strike the note ‘A’ on the piano so that I could hear it on my radio, and tune my violin by it?”

The disc jockey read the letter to his audience and announced that the program would be delayed for a few moments so that he could strike the note “A” on the piano for the man to tune his violin.

What happens when I get out of tune with my Creator? Then I need to “be still” and wait for that Some One to pluck the strings of my heart, and put me back in tune again.

My Church provides worship for me this week. I need that! I need the good vibrations of the Savior to start me moving right again. My life tends to get discordant, angry, out-of-shape, moving in the wrong direction! Study of the Scriptures, faithful attendance in worship, more time in prayer, and a new tuning of the strings of my heart puts me in sync with Eternal love, and the frequencies of the Savior.

The Psalmist was right… “the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.” “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.” (Psalm 1:6) It’s just a matter of logic: goodness works…evil does not! Vibrate in tune, or rattle away into oblivion!