This story from the book of Ruth holds a special place in my heart.  Many people often focus on the fact of this being “Ruth’s” story because of how God works through and blesses her life for her faithfulness to Naomi.  But I think we must also look at Naomi – a woman whose husband had passed away and whose sons had also both died.  The grief she was carrying had to be a heavy burden on her shoulders.  I imagine that she had a lot of questions for God and wondered why these things had happened to her.  Probably, she might have thought that God abandoned and deserted her.  It’s interesting to me that even though she talks about the bitterness that she felt and the knowledge that the hand of the Lord was against her that she doesn’t lash out against God and she doesn’t ever leave Him.  Ultimately, she continued to trust Him because she knew that He was Sovereign and that He knew what is best for her.  Her faith in God had an impact on Ruth for she says later, “Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.”  Ruth was so taken by this women and her faith that Ruth makes the decision that Naomi’s God would be the God that she would follow.  Tragedies and difficulties happen in life.  Sometimes it seems as if the hand of the Lord has been lifted from us.  But it is at those times that we must dig deep and find out who we really are trusting in.  The end of this book shows that Naomi’s faith even reached out to the local women.  Look at what they had to say:

Ruth 4:14-15 (ESV) Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

May I encourage you today that if life seems to be “caving in” on you and perhaps it seems like the hand of God has been lifted from your life that this will not go on forever.  Put your hand in God’s hand today and trust Him that He will take you completely through this trial and that He knows what is best for your life today.

Most of us get a little “full of ourselves” once in a while.  We make the mistake of thinking that we deserve more than we have and that God should feel privileged that we have joined His ranks. But the fact remains that we are nothing before Him and we have nothing special to offer Him.  He owes us nothing.  Yet, true to His character, He doesn’t take any of that into His thinking.  He loves us just because.  He just “simply” loves us and wants the best for us.  God, our God, reached down from heaven and took us into His arms.  He picked us up out of our messes and cleaned us up and brought us close to His heart.  He nurtured us and bandaged us and healed our hearts and set us on our feet.  He didn’t have to but He did it because He loved us and has a great plan for our lives.  So… if you’re feeling a little “dumpy” or “grumpy” today and feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders – just remember this.  God made a promise a long time ago to love and to care for you.  He has never broken His promise in the past and He won’t now.  You are His child and you are SO LOVED today.  Rest in the fact that God hasn’t given up on you and you can be assured that He won’t in the future.

Have you ever needed to be encouraged?  I know I have – many times.  It is a fact, we all need someone to come along side us and speak words of encouragement and comfort to our hearts.  I used to pray – “Lord, couldn’t you just send someone to call me right now,” and… God has always answered my prayer.  But over time my prayers have changed a little.  Whenever I feel that I need encouragement – I often pray “Lord, who could I call and encourage? Who needs a call right now?  Who needs a note or an e-mail?”  The other day, I received a phone call from a dear brother in Australia.  He has a way of just dropping in at just the right moments to encourage, pray and give a scripture of promise.  His phone calls are always a welcomed blessing to my life as he always starts out by saying, “You’ve been on my heart and I’ve been praying for you.”  What a blessing those phone calls and notes have often been.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians – “the comfort you have received – now give it to others.”  Jesus even taught us that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.”  I am very thankful for all the encouragement and blessings people have brought into my life but what I really want to do now is be that encourager to others who are down and perhaps feeling a little low.  Perhaps you are reading this today and wondering if there is anyone who cares or understands.  I care.  I understand.  I know what it’s like to feel the weight of the world on your shoulders.  Time after time – God brought me through those difficult times and He will bring you through.  Be encouraged today – you are not alone.

Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG) I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

One of the difficult things I do as a pastor is to do funerals.  If a person has walked with Christ and has lived a life focused on God – it is an easy thing.  If the person lived a selfish, self-centered life and has pushed away all his/her friends – it can be a rather awkward and difficult time.  One of the greatest funerals I ever attended was right after I started in the ministry for Pastor Lou.  I was a young pastor and was enjoying the fellowship of the other older pastors in the area.  I so enjoyed being with them and having them speak into my life.  There was one pastor whom I looked up to so much.  He didn’t have a large church and probably wasn’t that charismatic of a person.  He took care of his invalid wife and his small congregation faithfully for many years.  When he died, I thought there would be just a few people attending his funeral.  I was so shocked to get there and realize that there was standing room only in the church he pastored for so many years.  He touched so many lives.  Person after person got up to tell how he was there for them when they needed him and how he poured his life into theirs.  They talked about a man who prayed with passion and with power – of a man who had been with God.  The legacy he left while he was alive and even in his death was unbelievable – even now as I write this to you.  Ministry and just walking with Christ is not always easy. Difficulty and hardship will often be seen in all of our lives.  But here is the truth – I am making an impact on the place I live and work whether I want to or not.  It might be a good impact or it might be a negative impact.  The choice is yours.  What are people saying about you?  What will they be saying at your funeral? I want to so live my life that it is said of me like Barnabas – Acts 11:24 (NLT) ²⁴ Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. What better words could be said?  It is what each of us should aspire to this and every day.

Recently, someone sat in my office and asked the question, “What is the
meaning of life?”  That’s a great question for all of us to answer on a
daily basis.  God’s Word promises us that He (God) will show us the way of
life in such a way that we can live life with joy and with the presence of
the Lord in our daily walk with Him.  Life gets overwhelming at times.
People are filled with stress and pressure.  Living is not about enjoying
life but rather existing in life.  From someone who has experienced the very
dark side of life and has been healed by the power of God – living and
enjoying life is the most wonderful experience you will ever have. To walk
about, knowing that the peace of God exists in you – to feel God’s holy
presence – words cannot explain how wonderful that is.  It doesn’t mean that
life is perfect and there are never any problems but it does mean that I
have someone who is always with me and will hold my hand through the darkest of nights.  Everything is relative.  Unless you’ve ever bottomed out – you won’t know what I’m talking about.  But if you’ve experienced the dark side and you’ve hit rock bottom in your life then you probably get what I’m
saying today.  I’ve seen both sides and I can without a shadow of doubt – I
like the side of peace.  I like the place of being in the presence of God.
Were it not for God – I don’t know what I would do today.  I am a walking
miracle who has seen the power and deliverance of God in my life.  I am awed
by Him.  I am excited about today.  I am looking forward to tomorrow.  God’s
Word tells us that He has plans for our lives and they are good (Jeremiah
29:11).  He tells us that He has a great future and hope for those who trust
in Him.  Quite frankly, I can’t wait to see what God is going to unveil next.  What an exciting journey lies ahead as we “put our hand in the hand
of the one who stills the waters.”  If you’ve been going through a hard time
- trust me today – God is but a whisper away and is ready to reach down and
help you and give you His peace in your life today.

As a young boy I lived near a creek that flowed almost year round.  During the winter it would swell and during the summer it would slow down to a trickle.  I spent hours upon hours along its banks hiking and playing and building forts, etc.  It was a great place for a young boy to play and a great place for the imagination to have no limits.  One time, my friends and myself decided to dam up the creek so we could have enough water to swim in.  It was a lot of work.  Kids from all over the neighborhood pitched in to help with the dream of having our own swimming hole.  We even built a channel with a gate to keep the water flowing through until we were ready to block it up completely.  The big day finally came and we completely blocked up the stream and waited for it to get full enough so that we could swim in it.  Little did we know that two problems were about to take place.  First, we did not know that the waters were filled with some sort of bacteria.  We all broke out in hives from one end to the other.  Second, we didn’t take into consideration that the stream also helped water livestock and farms downstream.  Standing on the banks, covered with welts and hives a farmer came around the bend and busted us all and made us tear the dam apart.  As we started dismantling the dam – water began to break through with a huge rush and began to pour downstream again.  All our hard work went, well… down the drain (you might say).  It is interesting – the book of Acts gives us this very same analogy by saying that sometimes our own lives become like that dam and need to be broken up.  We become stagnant and filled with bacteria.  The only way to get clean is to break up the dam.  The only way to be free is to let go of that which is causing the difficulty and pain in your life in the first place.  The promise is given: repent and seasons of refreshing will come your way – a “refreshing from the Lord.”  May I encourage you today to press in for your deliverance and press in for what God wants to come into your life?  Breakthrough is within your reach.  It is right around the corner.  Don’t be afraid and take the first step.  When you do – watch out, great peace will be just around the corner.

Have you prayed this prayer – “What has God done to us?”  For certain, I have – many times.  When things happen in our lives we point the finger so quickly at God without a full understanding of what we are saying.  Usually, if we are making this statement – it is in the negative sense- “God, I can’t believe you’ve allowed this to happen in my life.  Aren’t you supposed to be on my team?  Aren’t you supposed to be helping me?  Why have you done this to us?”  I guess age has its advantages – The older I get the more I see the bigger picture.  I have come to realize that God often has to do something to us in order to do something for us.  On my own – I stay in my comfort zones.  I look and see only the little picture and I think only about what concerns me.  I have, with years of mistakes under my belt, come to realize how jealous God is of my love and will do just about anything to keep my eyes and life focused on Him – even if it means breaking me that I might then totally rely on God.  I haven’t arrived yet – my life is still evolving and growing.  I still make mistakes and I still point my finger at God and ask why.  Sometimes, He gives me full explanations and sometimes He just looks at me and says, “Just because I love you.”  Ultimately, whether I accept it or not – God is always doing things to me so that He can do things for me.  I must  trust and submit to Him that He knows what is best  and that He will lead me in the right paths that He has laid out for me.

I’ve been given the privilege to meet with and see many people of various gifting and backgrounds and it never ceases to amaze me of the many ways that people spend their life and talents.  On one hand you will have a person with God-given gifts and talents who uses them for the glory of the Lord.  On the other hand, there will be a person equally talented who does nothing with their gift or talents for anyone other than themselves.  They tend to be self centered and do only things of interest to them.   Jesus is very clear here that someday we will be judged by how we use our lives and the gifts that God has given us.  We will stand before Him and give account of the way we lived our life and the way we spent our time and resources for Him or not. It’s a very simple statement – “when someone has been given much, much will be required in return.”  It’s succinct and to the point.  There is no wiggle room in regards to this matter.  Some might say, “Well, it’s too hard,” or “It’s too late in life for me,” etc.  The thing that I love about Christ is that He always tells us to come with what we have and He’ll use and multiply it for His glory.  I also like the fact that in Christ – there is always room to start over and to start fresh.  Perhaps God is dealing with you right now and perhaps God is speaking to your heart about the gifts and talents that He has given you.  It’s never too late to start.  It’s never too late to get back on track.  If God is speaking to your heart today – don’t wait for tomorrow to start.  Instead, start today and watch what God can do with your life and watch how satisfied your soul will become.

In today’s paper there is an article about how important it is for your own mental health to forgive someone who has hurt you.  It has no Biblical or religious reference –but  just common sense wisdom of the importance of living a life of forgiveness.  It stresses the obvious that you won’t obtain optimum health and well being in your life unless you let go and release those who have wounded and hurt you.  Of course, as Christians we know that this is the message that Jesus taught us over and over again –that  we can’t receive forgiveness unless we have forgiven others.  We also know that this isn’t something we can do on our own.  It takes a strength greater than what we possess because some people’s offences are greater than we can describe.  This is something that all of us must deal with in our lifetime over and over again.  It is what allows you to come to God in the right spirit. It is what allows you to pray with a clean heart.   I can never truly worship God with a heart of abandonment if I hold on to things here on earth.  I am thankful that God has helped me in this regard.  I am thankful that He has guided me through and helped me to forgive people in my life.  The choice to do so has caused me to grow closer and deeper in my relationship with God and with others.  I know that I still have a long way to go but I thank God for how far I have come.  I come to God daily and ask for His strength and for His help in this regard.  I trust Him totally and thank Him for the help He has given me.  I know that His arms are undergirding me and helping me to walk without bitterness and un-forgiveness today.

After completing Bible school I felt I was prepared to enter into ministry.  I was excited and ready to take on the world – to preach, love and care for those that God would put into my life.  I had sat under and had been trained by many godly men and women of faith who imparted their years of knowledge into my life.  I had also grown up in a home that was dedicated to ministry and to helping the needs of others.  I saw firsthand what ministry was all about.  I saw the ups and the downs – the joys and the sadness that ministry sometimes encompasses.  Now it was my turn.  I remember succinctly one day that my dad called me into his office and closed the door.  I had, by that time, accepted my first church in the state of Washington and was packing up my office and my family to become a senior pastor of a small church in a community that I had never even been to before.  As the door closed, he sat down and looked me straight in the eye and told me that he wanted to tell me some things that would help me in ministry.  I thought perhaps that he was going to lay his hand on my head and speak a prophetic word about how I would go out and reach thousands for Christ and how I would be the next Billy Graham and the world was waiting with abated breath just to hear me preach.  How wrong I was.  He simply sat down and told me that God spoke to him and told him to tell me that there was going to be no shortcuts in ministry for my life and went on to say that I would have to take every corner hard.( It’s kind of the picture of someone coming up to a red light and cutting through a gas station to beat the light).   I was gracious and thanked him but inwardly I thought that he didn’t get it.  “I was the anointed one.  I was the called one.  My parents were successful pastors.  I would follow right into their footsteps; I would have great ministry success, etc.”  It was true that God had great plans for me and that God would use me mightily in His kingdom but it was also true that I would have to take every corner square and that there would be no shortcuts.  In fact, I look back now and think that God made a few of the corners even sharper and longer because He had invaluable lessons for me to learn. He tested me from the time I began in ministry and the test continued to get harder and harder the longer I was in ministry.  When God chose to take me into ministry and to make me go deeper in Him, I never knew the path that I would ultimately take.  I never knew the sadness and loneliness that I would have to endure.  I never knew of the hardships and grief that I would have to bear.  On the other hand – I never knew the joy that I would come to have – the depth of growth and maturity that God would bring into my life.  I would get to see people’s lives changed and see God do so many miracles that it would be hard to count.  When God chose to test Abraham – Abraham simply stated, “Here I am.”  I think that is my prayer also today, “Lord, Here I am. Use me in any way that you so desire.  Whatever you need to do to prepare me for the task ahead – then, by all means, do it.  I’m willing and ready to be used by you.”  I hope that as I come to the latter end of my life (I will be 57 tomorrow) that I will continue to past this test and that my heavenly Father will always say about me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  May you enter into the joy of the Lord.”