The Significance of Power

By Marvin Ferguson

My high school physics class was a challenge. Why? Perhaps it's because tinkering in a lab with pulleys on a robe, blocks of wood on a plank, or watching wheels turn, just didn't interest me.

Theoretically power is the ability to do work. But at sixteen years of age who cared?

On July 5th the Atlanta Braves hit four home runs in a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field. The fans went crazy. And yes, it was more power at the plate.

Then there is that famous hymn: There's power in the blood; power in the blood; power in the blood... That's a powerful statement. In the blood of Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. The power of salvation is in the blood.

Today, as I brain storm the word power lots of things cross my mind. We use power, mentally and physically, in everything we do. I just never thought about it as work. And surely, as long as there is life on this earth, power will always have some significance.

Fig Trees and Dreams

By Lisa Lickel

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26

It’s so unfair, a poor little fig tree and leafed out. Jesus tries to pick a fig to eat, but there aren’t any. It’s not even the time for figs. Jesus isn’t disappointed. He’s not sad for the misguided tree. He’s not upset he can’t have a fig when he’s so hungry. Instead, Jesus is enraged, so out of his mind angry that he curses the tree. Can you imagine the searing breeze of that curse, withering the bright green leaves into brown crisps, cracking and peeling the bark, boiling the sap and finally shriveling roots?

For forty years I’d heard that story and I never understood what Jesus had against that tree. Until I realized that my writing career had done the same thing. I hadn’t put in the necessary prep time to understand what I was doing to encourage sales when my first novels were published. I was all leafed out, eager to show everyone I was someone! I had what it takes to produce…nothing. Without a foundation, fertilized soil, tender nurturing, I was worse than the seed of another parable that fell on thin soil and barely sprouted. I had a root that made promises to readers that I couldn’t keep.

I believe it’s okay to see your dream become reality. Go ahead and publish your book, hold it in your hands, see who’ll buy it. But do your homework first. Prepare the ground, line up the gardeners who will support you. Store water and gather fertilizer, but most of all, be ready at the right season of your life to nurture others with the work you have been blessed to share. No matter who helps you put your work out for show, make sure it’s more than pleasing to the eye on the outside, but also handsome and hearty for refreshment on the inside.

Thank you, Jesus, for the work you have commissioned from me. May it be pleasing, never false, in the Kingdom. Amen.

 Lisa Lickel
"What if" stories with a twist of grace
http://www.lisalickel.com
The Map Quilt, coming April 27

A Time for Second Chances

By Michael Elmore

Author, Max Lucado shares a great piece of insight in his monthly newsletter that all of us need to take to heart. In case you haven’t read it on Crosswalk.com let me share it with you:

"It was small enough to overlook. Only two words. I know I’d read that passage a hundred times. But I’d never seen it.

But I won’t miss it again. It’s highlighted in yellow and underlined in red. You might want to do the same. Look in Mark, chapter 16. Get your pencil ready and enjoy this jewel in the seventh verse (here it comes). The verse reads like this: 'But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.'

Did you see it? Read it again. (This time I italicized the words.)

'But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.'

Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure.

If I might paraphrase the words, 'Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples,' a pause, then a smile, 'and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.'

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again. 'Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out. Tell him that one failure doesn’t make a flop.'

Whew!

No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.

Those who know these types of things say that the Gospel of Mark is really the transcribed notes and dictated thoughts of Peter. If this is true, then it was Peter himself who included these two words! And if these really are his words, I can’t help but imagine that the old fisherman had to brush away a tear and swallow a lump when he got to this point in the story.

It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.

But in Jesus, Peter found both."

I love Max Lucado’s explanation of Mark 16 its excellent. “The God of the second chance”. God knows that we all need one. Peter is a prime example. So are others. I think of John Mark in Acts. After he left Paul as they travelled together, Paul refused to travel with him so violently that he and Barnabas split up. Later, Paul gives John Mark a second chance to join with him in his travels and ministry Its interesting to note that John Mark, a "second chance guy,"  was the one who Peter dictated the Gospel of Mark to. I think John Mark understood Peter’s experience.  

“Second chances” are something God does in our lives all the time. The Bible is full of “second chance stories and we need them. Perhaps this New Year’s time you have found your relationship with Jesus to be a little out of sync . . . maybe more out of sync then you’d like to admit. Remember Peter wasn’t unique. If you find yourself needing a second chance this New Year’s season, open up your heart and receive the Christ afresh. Jesus tells us that “he stands at the door of our hearts knocking” (Rev. 3:20). Open the door let him in and the joy of second chances can be yours.

THE BUSY BEES/BE'S OF SUMMER

By Sharon Wilhite

Buzzzzzzz...Like the industrious bees buzzing around summer's blooms,
I buzz busily from duties to deadlines to summer activities, etc. etc.

Bees have instinctive rest times,
while I have to choose to slow down, to be calm and not habitually frenetic.

God reminds me that to"BE" spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

He tells me to "BE" still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)

To not "BE" weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9) I have to draw close to God and renew my strength daily from Him and His word. 

Let this be our best summer ever.
Busily "BEE-ING" Christlike...
quietly "BEE-COMING" Christlike.

(good website for slowing down and contemplating: aholyexperience.com.)

PASSING THE TEST

By Michael Elmore

No one likes to takes tests. I remember the very first test I took in seminary; my hands were shaking because I was so nervous. (Incidentally, I aced the test!)
In 1 Corinthians 10:13, 14, the Bible states that God tests us, “No test has seized you except what is common to everyone. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it”

God’s tests are not like pencil and paper tests. His tests aren’t to see what we know; he wants to see what we are. His tests are more like drop forging hot metal. In the process of drop forging, one metal is combined with another and then dropped into a vat of cold water to see if it cracks or remains strong. In this way it can be shaped and molded. The purpose of God’s test is to make us stronger by shaping us into the image of Christ.

As I said, no one likes tests. However the apostle Paul shares with us three things in this verse that will help us “ace” God’s test. The first secret to passing the test is to realize that you are not in a unique situation; the test you are going through is “common to everyone”. In other words, lots of people have or are facing the same thing you are. God is not picking on you.

The second secret to passing the test is to realize that, “God is faithful”. Like the Marine motto “Semper Fi”, you can count on God not to test you beyond what you can stand up under. Will you face pressure while being tested? Of course! We must realize that most of us rarely change unless we are pressured to do so. That is why James 1:2 says, “Count it all joy brothers when you face many kinds of tests.” Why? God is doing his best to help you change for the better. God guarantees that the pressure won’t be so great that we will fail the test.

The third secret to passing the test Paul says is that “when we are tested God will provide a way out.” What we don’t realize is that “the way out”, is “often the way through”. I went through the largest corn maze in the State of Iowa with my family. We all went in and wondered around in circles asking other people for directions. Finally, we spotted a platform where we thought that we would see the way out. Up on top of the platform we soon realized that we were stuck in the middle of the maze. We could see the end but we still had to go through the maze to get there. Fortunately, an employee met us and offered to take us through to the exit. God doesn’t provide a way out, but he does provide a way through. The secret to passing the test is to realize that it is God who takes us through.

You may be saying to yourself, “hey, I am going through a whopper of a test RIGHT NOW and I need help. Like a dead car battery your strength might be used up and you don’t think you can make it. That’s exactly where God wants us to be . . . wholly dependent on his power. Open yourself heart right now and receive a boost of God’s power to recharge your life. Remember, “God is faithful he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear.” Use the three secrets the Apostle Paul gives us to pass this test: tests put the pressure on us but God will never let it become too great that you can’t stand it. You are not unique many people face tests like yours and pass it successfully. Don’t forget, you may have to go through the test, but you are not alone God goes through it with you.

Michael Elmore

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