Life's Little Frustrations

I love spring except for one reason.

Along with it come the allergy season,

With itching eyes and runny nose.

I'm always glad when the pollen goes.

The Message of Easter

I Peter 5:4, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."

Cross bearing precedes crown wearing. I don't know who said it first, but I have pondered this saying from time to time. Cross bearing precedes crown wearing. We are instructed to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Jesus. One of our hymns tells us, "There's a cross for everyone, and there's a cross for me."

We shrink from times of cross bearing, from pain and sorrow. So did our Lord. In the Garden of Gethsemane He asked His Father to let Him bypass the cup of suffering on the cross if it could be within the Father's will. Then Jesus said those submissive words quoted in Luke 22:45b, "Yet not my will, but Yours be done."

Scripture tells us that we must drink our full cup of suffering too. We are expected to fulfill the whole of God's plan for our lives on earth. Then we can say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness....." II Timothy 4:7-8a.

I imagine while Jesus hung on the cross He was looking with great anticipation toward His return to heaven. While men were doing everything possible to shame Him, He knew His glory would soon burst forth in all its splendor and majesty. He said in John 17:24a, "Father, I want those You have given Me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory....." One day we will behold Him with our own eyes in all His glory and beauty. More than that, one day we shall share that glory, not because we deserve it but because of the cross and God's love. II Corinthians 4:17 assures us, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." And Romans 8:18 gives us these words from Paul, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

Cross bearing precedes crown wearing. Because Jesus lives, we too shall be crowned with heaven's glory, recipients of God's goodness, mercy, grace and generosity. What a blessed hope! This is the message of Easter.

Lord Jesus, thank You for your death on the cross for us. Father, thank You for bringing Jesus back to life and restoring to Him the glory that was His in heaven. Thank You that one day we shall see our Lord face to face and share all the wonders of heaven with Him. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

I tell you the absolute truth--

Few things hurt worse than an unhappy tooth!

Conditions for Prayer 8

There is a great promise and another condition for praying effectively in I John 5:14-15, which says, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us; and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desired of him."

Ron Dunn was preaching on prayer one Sunday morning, and he said we could ask God for anything. After the sermon a lady who had been in the service approached him and said, "Brother Dunn, you lied in your sermon this morning." Ron asked the lady in a shocked voice why she would say that. She answered "You said people could pray about anything, but Scripture tells us to pray according to God's will." Ron's wise reply to her was, "Well, if something isn't God's will, you wouldn't want it, would you?"

How about you and me? Would we really want to pray against God's will? It has been well said that the purpose of prayer is not to change God's mind but to lay hold of the highest willingness of God.

Many people claim the promise in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." But if we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, His desires will become our desires. In other words, He may not change our circumstances to fulfill that promise. He may change us instead.

God hears and answers prayer, but He may say "wait awhile" or "no" or answer in a way we did not expect. Martin Luther said, "All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask; yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask."

Ephesians 3:20 describes God as "him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." All too often we want to limit our gracious and generous God to our small, self-centered requests. But remember--God gives the best to those who leave the choice with Him.

Father, thank You that You do hear and answer our prayers. Thank You that You do not always give us exactly what we have asked, but You instead give generously and wisely Your best for us. Amen.

Conditions for Prayer 7

Phil. 4:6b, "Tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for His answers."

When God answers our prayers, we should not forget to praise and thank Him. We have an enemy who will take advantage of an ungrateful heart. Those of you who have had teenaged drivers will appreciate this illustration. I was terribly nervous the first few times any of my children with a new driver's license took the car out alone. I would beseech God to bring them home safely, and He did every time.

The next time they started out driving somewhere, I would again begin my intercession for their safety. And then, all too often, I would be convicted that I had failed to thank God for bringing them home safely the last time they drove. That experience was a good reminder to thank God for answered prayers.

Luke 17:11-18 tells of the time ten lepers asked Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest who could pronounce them clean. As the lepers went, they were cleansed. Only one of the healed lepers, a Samaritan, returned to thank Jesus. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Can't you imagine Jesus' disappointment? Surely we don't want to be like the ungrateful lepers. Hopefully, these examples will remind us to keep an attitude of gratitude at all times.

Heavenly Father, there are so many things for which we should be grateful. May we thank You and praise You continually, acknowledging that every good and perfect gift we have comes from Your gracious, generous hand. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

I have two dogs who always hear
When someone they don't know is near.
It's good they bark to let me know,
But on and on and on they go!
Even thought I tell them "shush"!
It takes too long for them to hush.

Life's Little Frustrations

It looked as though the spring was here, with days so bright and fair,

But suddenly winter's back, with rain and chilly air.

Wishy washy weather really isn't rare,

But is surely makes it hard to know just what to wear!

Conditions for Prayer 6

Jesus gave us this promise in John 14:13, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."

Another condition for an effective prayer life is to pray in Jesus' name. This means more than just tacking "in Jesus' name, amen" at the end of our prayers.

Pastor Ron Dunn gave a great illustration of what it means to pray in Jesus' name. One year he took his three children to the fair. He bought a roll of tickets to the rides, and every time his children wanted to ride something, they would hold out their hands and he would place a ticket in each hand. This process was repeated several times. They came to another ride, and this time four hands were held out for tickets. After Ron gave each of his children a ticket, he looked into the face of a child he didn't know, the owner of the fourth outstretched hand. Ron drew back his tickets, having no intention of giving one to a strange child. But one of Ron's sons said, "Dad, this is my friend. I told him you would give him a ticket." That made all the difference. Ron's son had promised this boy that his dad would give him a ticket. Ron said, "Of course I gave him a ticket. My son told him I would."

Praying in Jesus' name means realizing that we have absolutely no right in our own merit to come into the presence of the Father. We come only through the shed blood of His son, Jesus Christ. God hears and answers our prayers because His Son gave His life so we could have access to the heavenly throne. Remember after Jesus died on the cross, the veil which separated the Holy Place in the temple from the Holy of Holies was rent in two from top to bottom, from heaven itself. Only the High Priest had access before that time to the Holy of Holies, which represented the presence of God, and he only had access on the Day of Atonement, which came once a year. Now we each one have that wonderful open invitation in Heb. 4:16, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." We can come at any time from any place with any need. Heb. 7:25 assures us, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Lord Jesus, thank You that Your shed blood on the cross provided not only forgiveness for sin but also continual access to our Heavenly Father. Amen.