When you have car problems, the answers are in the owner’s manual, right? Everything is there: how to change a tire, battery maintenance, oil changes, weather issues, repairs, everything.
The Bible is the OWNER’S MANUAL for life. Consider Proverbs:
A wise man will listen and increase his learning. (LISTEN.) Proverbs 1:2.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7.
Listen to the teaching of your father and mother—it will be a like gold medals around your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9.
Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Proverbs 3:3.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Proverbs 3:5.
Fear the Lord, turn away from evil, and you will find healing. Proverbs 3:7-8.
Honor the Lord with your money and giving. Proverbs 3:9.
God disciplines you like a son He adores. Accept it. Proverbs 3:11-12.
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. Proverbs 4:23.
Let your eyes look forward, don’t turn to the right or to the left, keep your feet away from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27.
That is so much good advice! I read all of that this morning in the first four chapters of Proverbs. God’s word is filled with so many gold nuggets of wisdom. You just need to mine it—read it and search for the gold. It’s on every page. Remember, this amazing book is your owner’s manual. Read it to understand how to operate and maintain your LIFE. It’s all in there.
Pray. Dear God, help us to love You and love Your word. Help us to see your nuggets of truth, to read it, study it, memorize it, and MASTER it. Make us devoted students of your word. May it change our lives and make us people who glorify you every day. Help us to walk in your grace! We love you, Jesus.
Pictured: Marshall Wales, NCAA Division 1 playoffs, spring of 2023. Sam Houston vs. Oregon State.
God is the first and greatest athlete. Don’t think so? What weight can He not lift? What speed can He not travel? What target will He fail to hit?
Surely the best-known athlete in the Bible is David. And David clearly gives God all the credit for his gifts. In 2 Samuel 22, David writes that God performed the most amazing, most dramatic rescue in history—the rescue itself is described in terms worthy of an Olympic event:
“The earth shook because God burned with anger, He rode on a cherub with clouds under His feet, a consuming fire came from His mouth… The Lord thundered from heaven, the Most High projected His voice. He shot arrows and scattered my enemies, He hurled lightning bolts and routed them. He reached down from heaven and pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy…” 2 Samuel 22:8-18.
After God rescues David, He trains him for war.
“With God, I can attack a fortress, and with God’s help, I can leap over a wall…. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and sets me safely on the mountain heights. He trains my hands for war, my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me a shield and a wide, flat place to walk. My ankles do not give way. You have clothed me with strength for battle” 2 Samuel 22:30-40.
Count the athletic gifts:
He can attack a fort.
Leap over a wall.
Run like a deer.
Fight.
Shoot arrows with a bronze bow.
Shield himself from the enemy.
He is sure-footed; no broken ankles.
He is strong.
David, a famous athlete before the word “athlete” was invented, knows that his gifts and training come from God.
Never forget the One Who is your source and Who gets the credit and the glory, whether your athletic gifts are your work or your hobby, your vocation or your avocation.
God hears. No matter what day, no matter what is going on. No matter what you have done—God hears. Take your complaints, your hurt, your fear, and broken heart to God. He hears you. He loves you. He will deliver you.
When David was upset and afraid, he wrote Psalm 55.
“But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. I complain and groan morning, noon, and night, and He hears my voice. Though many are against me, He will redeem me from my battle unharmed” Psalm 55:16-18.
Do you ever feel like many are against you?
Do you ever find yourself complaining morning, noon, and night?
Even then, as bad as you may feel, you can remember that HE HEARS YOUR VOICE.
Dear Lord, thank you that you hear us! Thank you for protecting us from enemies, for providing for us and taking care of us. Help us to love you more every day, and to bring all our problems to you. And never let us forget that YOU HEAR US. Thank you for hearing us and understanding all our problems and fears. Thank you that you will always take care of us. We love you!
These things seem like harmless fun. But there’s a reason the Bible forbids them. The answers they provide can be convincing because your enemy (1) knows you and (2) has some knowledge of the future. With that combination, a psychic or a fortune teller can be so persuasive. But these people get their “answers” from the spirit world, from fallen angels that come to them disguised as friendly “spirit guides.” The medium may not know she is toying with demonic forces—but she is.
For example, in 1 Samuel 28, Samuel is dead but Saul wants his advice. So Saul asks his men to find a medium. Mediums were illegal in Israel (and Saul would have them killed if discovered), so Saul and his men approach her in disguise:
“Who is it that you want me to bring up [from the dead] for you?”
“Samuel.”
“When the woman saw that it WAS Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, ‘Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!’” 1 Samuel 28:11-20.
Notice that the woman screams when she sees Samuel. She is used to working her “magic” and seeing her “spirit guide.” But this is the first time she actually sees the person she tried to bring up. She immediately knows something is different. And she realizes the real king Saul is involved, and this is the real prophet Samuel, and she is no longer dealing with her small-time “spirit guides,” but is now dealing with the holy, all-knowing and all-powerful God of the universe. No wonder she screamed!
Samuel tells Saul that Saul will be dead in 24 hours, because he has continued to disobey God, including by consulting a medium. God takes this sin seriously, because you are opening your mind up to the devil—the sworn enemy of God!
Do not toy with mediums, spiritists, palm readers, crystal balls, Ouija boards, horoscopes, or any other demonic sources of answers. I know some will find this discussion comical, even ludicrous. But God does not take these sins lightly. Neither should we.
Pictured: Guard House for lifeguards on Miami Beach.
Once in Maine, my father and I were standing on a pier talking to someone. My six-year-old brother Dennis was swimming in the lake. He was trying to get into an inner tube. But when he swam up to it, another boy was in it. Dennis seemed to be struggling. There were canoes and other things in the water. Suddenly, Daddy–former river lifeguard with hundreds of rescues to his credit–threw off his sunglasses and dove into the lake. Instantly he surfaced right where Dennis was, holding him up. It all happened so fast. I was not even sure Dennis was in trouble before he had already been rescued.
God rescues us the same way.
Read Psalm 18 (2 Samuel 22 records the same psalm). David knows God rescued him from all his numerous enemies, and he draws an amazing picture that sounds a lot like drowning, tangled in seaweed. David is struggling, drowning, desperate. He cries out to God and God hears him.
Suddenly, God moves. The earth quakes! The clouds part. The mountains shake. God is angry. Smoke blows out of His nostrils. Fire comes from His mouth. God mounts an angel and flies. Clouds, storms, fire, and earthquakes follow Him. Lightning flashes before Him. His voice thunders. He shoots arrows, hurls lightning bolts. He reaches down and grabs David, pulls Him free and saves Him.
Read Psalm 18:3-17 and thank God for being our rescuer!
Long before he was king, David wrote psalms (poetry and songs) reflecting on the years he spent as a fugitive, hunted by King Saul.
David is a rich example of godly manhood–he makes mistakes, of course. But the man is unusually well-adjusted. He is courageous but sensitive, bold but vulnerable, strong but compassionate. This warrior who ran boldly at Goliath is a feeling man who is not afraid to weep with God, his shepherd.
Here are a few of my favorite words from this warrior-wordsmith:
“The One who examines the thoughts and emotions is a righteous God” Psalm 7:9.
(Did you know God examines your thoughts and emotions?)
“Lord, I will seek Your face. Do not hide Your face from me” Psalm 27:8-9.
(This should be our prayer every day!)
“I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living” Psalm 27:13.
(God WILL bless you, not just in Heaven, but in this life.)
“You redeem me, Lord, God of truth” Psalm 31:5.
(God will take your broken life, a life without value, and make it valuable again! He puts value BACK into you.)
“You have set my feet in a spacious place” Psalm 31:8
(What a great verse about living in the country!)
“May the Lord be praised, for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me in a city under siege” Psalm 31:21.
(Great verse for the quarantine—God blessed so many of us, though ‘under siege.’)
“I sought the Lord and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears” Psalm 34:4.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him” Psalm 34:8.
“Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all” Psalm 34:19.
(You will have problems. But God will deliver you!)
“I am like an olive tree flourishing in the House of God. I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever” Psalm 52:8.
(Isn’t that us? Do we not flourish? Are we not blessed? God prunes you and waters you and cares for you day and night.)
Choose your favorite verse above. Pray through those words to God. Talk about it. Then write it down to think about it later.
When I was a child in Sunday school, I always wondered what went wrong? We would read about Adam and Eve, the way they walked with God in the garden. But in a few generations, people were so evil, God chose to flood the earth and start over.
Then Noah and his three sons and daughters-in-law were saved on the ark. They saw God’s judgment and God’s amazing deliverance. They saw animals come in pairs from the ends of the earth—what a miracle! All six of them were believers. But in a few generations, the world was again filled with evil.
What happened?
What went wrong?
After God delivered Israel from Egypt, the people made a lot of mistakes. But those who entered the Promised Land with Joshua were faithful. After Joshua’s death, the nation remained faithful while the elders who had known Joshua were alive. But once all those who had witnessed God’s miracles had died, the nation fell away—AGAIN.
“That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel. The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshipped the Baals and abandoned the Lord…. They infuriated the Lord…. [And] He handed them over to marauders” Judges 2:10-12,14.
How can that happen? How can a younger generation grow up and not follow God?
Again, what went wrong?
I have been thinking about this my whole life. I ask myself, what can I do, to make sure my children do not fall away from God?
What is the answer? Of course, kids and grandkids make their own choices. They live their own lives.
Given the numerous Biblical examples of children of godly parents who go astray–we must not blame parents for the choices of their children.
But is there something more I can do? I want my kids to be faithful. I want to spare them the heartache of a life apart from God. I want those who come behind me to love God and obey Him and follow His word—to read it, study it, memorize it, and submit themselves to its authority.
So what is the secret? What can a father do to ensure his children are faithful disciples of Christ?
This is a tough question and I’m not sure there is a clear answer. Here are my thoughts:
First, children learn by what they see. They need to see their parents not merely talking about faith, but living it, day-in and day-out. Children can sniff out the hypocrisy of fake religion quicker than anyone, and they will not learn discipleship from parents who are not actively living as disciples: reading and studying the word, talking about the word, engaged in a real and active prayer life, worshipping with other believers and sharing and talking about their faith in an honest and vulnerable way.
Perhaps it goes without saying, but parents who are committed disciples of Christ, studying His word and struggling to apply it, should be transformed by the word of God into what else? Good parents. That is, a parent’s walk with Christ should transform him or her into a person of compassion, kindness, patience, cheerfulness, encouragement, wisdom, and more. To put it another way, godly parents should not be dour, unpleasant, hyper-zealous rule-enforcers, but loving, encouraging people who nurture children wisely and prepare them well for the demands of adult life.
Finally, children should be able to demand total integrity from their parents. We should be honest in all our dealings, whether a tax return, a speeding ticket, a purchase at a bait shop, or at a car dealership.
Discipleship is CAUGHT not TAUGHT. Parents have to live it more than they talk about it.
Second, Parents must be praying for their children. Make a written prayer list. Pray hard. Pray often. Pray for them long after they move out of the house. Prayer will make a difference.
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6.
In Genesis 24, Abraham is getting old, and sends his servant to find a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac. How will the servant know whom to choose? Maybe a beauty contest? How about a talent show? How does a man find a wife for another man? I won’t even buy shoes online for myself for fear they will not fit—and I know my sizes.
How can this servant choose a wife for Isaac—and also please Isaac’s father and the servant’s boss, Abraham?
First, he prays. He asks God to guide him. Don’t skip that! Nothing is more critical than seeking God’s help and wisdom. But look at what he is watching for—the trait he values:
He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master” Genesis 24: 12-14.
What trait does the servant ask to see in a future spouse?
SERVANTHOOD.
Look what happens next:
“Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar.; She said, ‘Drink, my lord’; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, ‘I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.’ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not” Genesis 24:15-21.
So what trait does the man look for? And what trait does God use to help the servant recognize the woman God chose for Isaac?
SERVANTHOOD.
Rebecca is a servant. Remember, this is before water pumps and garden hoses. To water the camels means she has to lower a bucket in to the spring, pull it back up, and pour the water into her jar. Once the jar held four or five gallons, she would empty it into the water trough. If the trough held 40 gallons (like the smaller troughs for sale at Tractor Supply Company) she would need 8 full jars, and would raise the bucket 40 times. But the trough was probably much bigger—and the servant may have been traveling with four or five camels. If it was 200 gallons, she would fill the jar 200 times and carry the jar from the well to the trough 20 times. No matter the exact details, this was a chore. And why did she do it?
The servant asked only for a drink for himself. She had NO idea who he was, but she answered, “Go ahead, and I will water your camels also.”
That shows an amazing servant’s heart. Do you have a heart like that? Do I?
Are you seeking that kind of willingness to serve in a future spouse? Because you should. Marriage and families are a lot of work. Raising kids is a 24-7 job, with no vacations. There are meals, illnesses, bills, home maintenance, your job, chores, laundry, shopping, groceries, doctor visits, sports and hobbies and birthday parties and on and on. The list is never ending.
Be a servant. Be a spouse that serves well. And SEEK a spouse who serves well.
Dear God, make us servants. Make us willing to work hard for our loved ones and families. And lead us to people that will serve us well, and serve you well. May each of us and our spouses or future spouses have hearts like Rebecca. Show us how to serve every day—and show us whom to serve every day.
Marriage is hard. Really. Before we wed, my girlfriend was my best friend. We actually were prayer partners before we dated. Then we dated for seven years (marriage being out of the question due to age and circumstances). We prayed on every date—every time we got together, we began with prayer, asking God to bless us and help us to honor Him with our words and actions.
(COULD YOU LAY A MORE SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE?)
Yet even with a solid foundation, we struggled when we got married. The first few months were shockingly hard. And then again once our children were born, things got tough. It is so easy to become selfish and stressed out and sloppy about communication. Not only that, you have an enemy. He attacks marriages.
So marriage is hard. It is rewarding too, of course. But it is one of the most critical decisions you will ever make. Please allow me to take the liberty of suggestiong what you ought to look for in a spouse.
Ask yourself these questions:
Does he love Jesus more than me?
Does she love Jesus more than herself?
Will he humble himself for Jesus when he is too angry to do it for me?
Will she forgive me or apologize to me because she is seeking Jesus’s will?
Do they say no to their desires so that they can please Jesus?
Do they spend time with Jesus every day?
Do they own and use a well-worn Bible?
Do they talk about scripture?
Can you tell they are learning new things about the Bible all the time?
Do we have conversations about what God is teaching them?
Are they excited to tell me about something they read in the Bible or a book about the Bible?
Are they excited about their church?
Do they want to tell me about it, or take me there?
Can they share their faith with lost people? Do they?
Before I ever dated my wife, I could have answered YES to every one of these questions. I believe she would say the same about me.
Will everyone be able to answer yes to every question? Perhaps not. And yes, people grow. There is grace. But the questions above are a good guide–not only about finding the right person, but about being the right person.
Consider what the Bible says. Here’s a good verse for men looking for a bride:
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is meaningless, but a woman who fears the Lord, SHE shall be praised” Proverbs 31:30.
And there are verses that can be applied to women looking for a husband. Consider God’s instructions in First Samuel—
“Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7.
Think about those words—Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Ask God to help you look at the heart.
Nothing is more important than that. You need a spouse whose heart hungers and thirsts for God. This will be your partner for life, and he or she will raise your children—all their problems and issues will impact your kids. You need a spouse who is desperately in love with Jesus.
There’s a great song about a man asking out a woman and she says she loves another more, and he finally realizes the one she loves more is Jesus. That is exactly what I pray for my children: I pray you marry someone who loves Jesus more than they love you.
ΑΩ
P.S. I recognize that some argue praying together creates too deep a level of intimacy between people who are dating. And of course, stopping to pray can feel strange and awkward when the purpose of some dating is merely lighthearted and fun. I do not disagree. I am merely reporting what Wendy and I experienced when we were dating. It worked well for us. And on balance, I’d have to say praying together probably beats not praying together–particularly if praying together was a regular part of your friendship BEFORE you dated.
See the song “2 Loves” by Wayne Watson:
I fell head over heels for her Tell me–Do ya think we could grow old together Broken–She said that she loved another Heartache–Feeling despised and rejected Jesus–I heard you felt it, too Perfect–She said her first love was higher Jesus–Her perfect love–Is it You
Picture of a “terra cotta wall sconce,” that is–an earthen vessel or a clay pot for holding (and releasing) light.
I can think of four reasons for suffering:
1. We live in a broken world. Every day we endure hassles caused by the Fall: illness, parasites, hurricanes, etc.
2. We have an enemy—we are attacked regularly, especially when God is planning something great.
3. God allows struggles to help you grow.
I think these three are well known. But Paul notes an interesting fourth reason for troubles:
4. When Christians suffer, God’s light shines through them.
In 2 Corinthians 4, he writes that—
“We have this treasure [the gospel message of our salvation] in earthen vessels so that the surpassing power can be seen to be from God and not from ourselves. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body” 2 Corinthians 4:7-11.
Consider again that first line: “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” That is, we hold the gospel in a clay pot. The gospel is a light, like a torch. What happens if you put a torch inside a clay pot? It doesn’t give off any light, does it? So what does God do? He allows the pot to crack. Every crack lets out a little more light. The more you suffer, the more the light is revealed. Great suffering is like shattering the clay pot—and all the lost people can see the brilliant light of Christ shining forth.
So we are clay pots, earthen vessels, and the lost world watches us. They see us suffer, and that’s when God’s truth shines the brightest. (Incidentally, I believe the effect of the suffering is cumulative—it changes us enough that the light that begins escaping the pot through today’s suffering will continue to escape from now on. That’s why some of those who have walked with the Lord for many years shine so much more brightly than younger Christians—they have suffered much and their clay pot is filled with broken places where the Light of Christ shines out.)
When you suffer—if you suffer today—think about these four reasons for suffering. Ask God to use your suffering for His glory.
Dear God, thank you for using me as a witness. When I suffer, remind me that You are in control and that You will bring good from it. Help me grow through suffering. And let my suffering bring light to those around me. May they see Jesus in me and be drawn to His light and His truth.
Household Words: 