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Today’s Word Is AGREE

Wed-Jul-8-2020

I once had this conversation with a co-worker …

ME: You’re very smart.

THEM: No. Not really.

ME: I’m smart. I made straight A’s mostly.

THEM: Yeah, so did I.

ME: Then you’re pretty smart.

THEM: Well … hmmmm … Okay.

It’s okay to say you’re smart or talented in some way, or whatever your characteristics are, in an honest and humble way. It’s part of having a good, healthy, and accurate view of yourself. Many of us were taught not to compliment ourselves because it sounds like “bragging.” Often our solution is to belittle ourselves as a way of ensuring that we don’t think too highly of ourselves. It took me 40-plus years to stop this bad habit.

The Bible talks about how you should view yourself.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” – The Apostle Paul (Romans 12:3)

A “sober judgment” means a correct evaluation. This means you should not think “too highly” nor “too lowly” of yourself. Now who do you think has the most “sober” or accurate evaluation and opinion of you? Well … It’s God, of course.

You should agree with God and his opinion of you. He knows your value, your potential, your strengths, your weaknesses. For some of us, it is a great discovery to learn that “God thinks of me more highly than I thought He did!” God is for us, not against us. (See Romans 8 below.) So, if someone has told you that God thinks poorly of you … that’s a lie. If you think you should deny your strengths as a way of being humble, consider that this is a form of false humility, and not at all biblical. Instead, affirm who you are and the gifts you have been given, and then delight in using them for God’s purposes.

In addition, don’t bemoan your weaknesses. Everyone has them. Accept them. Improve on them when you can. This is all part of agreeing with God about who you are and who you are to become. And if you can agree with God about the total you, there will be greater peace, and probably more smiles.

If you still are going to have a hard time with this God-centered view of yourself, then let me add this. Once you are saved, there is no condemnation against you. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) Only those who are denying God or refusing Christ should fear condemnation.

Once you are born again, there is no issue that will cause God to reject you. You are his adopted child, an heir to the Kingdom. Every objection you have to your new position of worth in Christ, every struggle to accept your high value in his eyes can be answered by this … God our Father loves you, Jesus loves you, Holy Spirit loves you. You are loved, loved, loved. However much you think God loves you, it is more than that! Receive it. Return it. Stop any practice of self-condemnation and reject any tendency to expect punishment. God may discipline, but he does not punish those who are his. Smile and relax when you consider the amazing and wonderful love God has for you.

Agreeing with God about who you are is a good thing. Thinking that God is against you is not. No one can take your God-given value away from you. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Please don’t take as long as I did to internalize that and live with joy and freedom. If you truly do this, it will not create arrogance but humility and peace.

Have a blessed day,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is ABSORB

Tue-Jun-9-2020

What creates fear in you? Relationship problems? Health problems? Financial problems? How about fear of failure? Fear of death? Fear of rejection? Something else?

Unaddressed fear contributes to worry, and the combination of fear and worry becomes heavier and heavier. Sometimes we try to fix it by isolating it into a back corner of our mind and then just live with it. In the medical sense we know that infected wounds don’t go away. And emotional woundedness that manifests in fear and worry festers in the same way.

So … How do you get rid of fear? What can you do to be less afraid of threats? Is there a way to reach the point where fear is not your automatic reaction? Can fear be cleansed out of us and replaced with a sense of peace and security?

Would the best tool be to have more courage? That certainly helps. Should we frequently and habitually remind ourselves of truths as a way to quench our fears? That is helpful as well. Some people would tell us, “Just get over it.” In my experience that rarely works. The fear hides somewhere inside, but it is still there.

You might know the answer I am looking for if I ask it this way: What does the Bible say will cast out fear?

It is love … perfect love.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1^st John 4:18)

The source of love is God, and love is the most powerful game-changer in existence. We can release this love power into ourselves and into others through prayer. Everything God does is based on his love for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his Son…” (John 3:16) God’s love is “perfect” love.

During these contentious times, let us intentionally reflect on the unlimited and unconditional love of God. Think of how deeply, thoroughly, and perfectly God loves you! Soak it in. Bring to the surface any worry or care that causes distress and ask God to replace it with his love. Make declarations about his love’s effect on you. “I am deeply loved by God.” “Nothing can separate me from the love of God.” (see Romans 8:38-39) “I hereby trade any disturbance in me in exchange for the love of God.” “I breathe in his love and breathe out the impurities of fear and anxiety.”

You see, as we continuously absorb the love of God into our inner being over a long period of time, fear starts to run out of places to inhabit within us. Fear eventually has little or no room to function. As the incredible love of God goes in, the fear is “cast out.”

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is SACRIFICE

Thu-May-21-2020

“But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation…” – The Apostle Paul (2^nd Corinthians 1:6)

In our culture, the norm is to avoid suffering at any cost. There are lots of people who would be willing to help you in a time of need, so long as it is convenient. Far fewer are those who would suffer hardship and inconvenience in order to serve you or help in a crisis. But the love of God that comes to dwell within us as Christians is an unconditional love. Thus, Paul tells the Corinthians that he is willing to suffer affliction in order to bless them.

Is there anyone in your past or present who has made great sacrifices on your behalf? Were any of those sacrificial people doing so unexpectedly? Maybe they were strangers or just someone who went out of their way to take an interest in you at a critical time in life. Without those people our world would be worse off for it. It is a noble thing to intentionally make sacrifices for the sake of someone else. As parents we do so for our children, but all too often people don’t make sacrifices unless there is compensation. (Hmmm … I guess if you get compensated, it’s not really a sacrifice after all.)

In the case of Paul, he was making these sacrifices without requiring compensation and doing it for complete strangers. Many of us restrict our sacrificial giving and acts of service to those we know and love, or at least to those who, in our opinion, deserve it.

Whoa … wait a minute … no compensation for Paul? Well, actually, he did sometimes receive offerings of assistance, though not always, and certainly not because he demanded it. They were gifts. And beyond that, there were some intangible compensations from God that were also gifts. You will find out about them below.

Paul was involved in a three-party relationship … himself, those he helped, and God whom he served. The reason he made sacrifices was not founded on the needs of the people he was “sent to,” it was because of the “sender” … God who called him, who sustained him, and who gave him a purpose.

Think about it … the idea of sacrificing for others is at the very heart of what God is asking us to do. It is not about increasing our goodness points. It is not about caring for someone because they care about us. It is not about helping those who deserve it. It is because we have a Great Provider who has done far more for us than we could ever do for anyone else.

We get to imitate the God of the universe by doing sacrificial and costly things, because God has always been willing to do sacrificial and costly things for us. At the cost of his Son’s life, he forgave our sins and gave us a new heart. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

Are there benefits? Of course, there are. God certainly wants to bless us with tangible benefits … home, family, comfort, and well-being. But these are secondary to God’s amazing intangible benefits. And as Paul is trying to say, it is worth it to forgo tangible benefits when doing so will benefit others. “But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation…” (2^nd Corinthians 1:6)

Our sacrifices for the sake of others open doors within them to receive comfort and salvation. It also opens doors within us to receive the intangible benefits of love, peace, hope, joy, and fulfillment. Would you trade these five things for all the treasures in the world? I wouldn’t.

I am thankful for your sacrifices for the sake of others,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is HIGHER

Wed-May-20-2020

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Psalm 55:8-9)

The whole idea of electricity and how it works amazes me. The fact that water is going through turbines in a dam and causing a light bulb in my living room to glow is a wonder.

And how can an ant with a brain the size of a speck of dust, and whose home is 20 yards from my house, find a pinhead sized fragment of a candy bar located on the floor in the grandkids’ playroom inside my house made of thick walls, and then remember the way back to its mound?

The universe is amazing, and the Creator of the universe is not just amazing but is in fact the source of anything and everything that is amazing. I don’t have to know how electricity works to enjoy its benefits. And I don’t have to know how God works to enjoy him.

To an ant, I am beyond comprehension. And to me, God is beyond comprehension. The difference is that I can never communicate with an ant and explain who I am; whereas God has designed me in his likeness and chosen to reveal himself to me in a way that I can understand enough to know that he is good, loving, and trustworthy. Indeed, if I accept the invitation to relate to him, he renews my mind sufficiently to understand enough about him to receive his blessings.

If God has communicated through his Word that he knows me better than I know myself, and if he cares more for me than I care for myself, and if he has plenty enough ability and resources to supply my needs, and loves me and promises me to do so, then that is also more than I can fathom. But I choose to believe it and to receive it.

We cannot know all that God knows, but we can trust him and enjoy him. I have had plenty of ups and downs in life, but I must say that God has supplied my needs enough for me to cling to him above all else. But there is more depth of relationship beyond just “getting my needs met” in a physical sense.

Somewhere in our walk with God we should become so in love with the Lord, so bonded with him, so trusting, that getting our needs met is really secondary. The main thing is more about loving and being loved than about being comfortable. To be deeply in love with God who is deeply in love with us eventually makes comfort an irrelevant issue.

The amazing journey with God is higher than my thoughts. It happens through his ways which are higher than my ways. What an adventure! – To engage in something higher than I can understand! Hey … I’m all in for that! How about you?

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is UNCONDITIONAL

Tue-May-12-2020

Having God’s unconditional love does not mean you have God’s unconditional approval. – Pastor Miles McPherson, former NFL player

While attending seminary I found a stray puppy one day and decided to rescue her. She was brown and black and fuzzy, possibly part German Shepherd. I took her home and fed her. Then I put her in the sink and cleaned off a lot of fleas and dried blood. Next, I took her to the vet to get rid of parasites from her bloated stomach and to give her immunizations to protect her future health. I named her Ginger, and eventually had a friend come forward who wanted to adopt her and give her a permanent home.

Here’s my way of saying what Pastor McPherson is trying to get at: ”God loves you just the way you are. But he loves you too much to leave you the way you are.”

Some folks interpret God’s unconditional love as requiring nothing in the way of change or improvement. They would contend that if God loves me the way I am, he’s not going to make me change or do anything. I am what I am. What you see is what you get.

But think of this … Suppose I take in this stray puppy but do nothing to “fix it up.” I tell my friends about my new puppy, and that she is really cute and lovable. So, they come by to see this little rascal but are astonished at her sickly appearance. Obviously, they would think that I didn’t care very much about its well-being. They would, in fact, think that I was cruel to take it in and then let it suffer through fleas, worms, sores, and malnutrition. If I really loved this puppy, then taking it in is not enough.

In terms of the love of God for us, being “saved” is only the beginning. When I took in Ginger the puppy, unconditional love was at work. I gave her a home when she was lost, unclaimed, and belonged to no one. That was her “salvation.” But that unconditional love also led me to nurse her back to health by fixing what was wrong.

God loves you unconditionally, which means he wants you to come home to him, but because he loves you unconditionally, he also wants to work on what is not healthy in you. Those of us who are looking for change and transformation can be encouraged today that it is available. God will meet us where we are and take us where we need to be. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

In the case of this helpless puppy, I took charge and worked on her problems. However, in our case, when God takes us in, and by his grace and our confession and faith, we receive salvation, God is not going to force us into change. We are not animals, but humans with a will and a choice.

So, yes, “God loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to ignore us and leave us like we are.” He lets his desires be made known, offering to lead us into health and well-being. He does not demand that we change or force us into it. He waits for us to want it and to seek it and to seek him. This is the way to life as we are intended to live it.

God in his unconditional love saves us and then leads us through the changes we must make to become the person we are intended to be. This is a life-long process. We may need to remind certain people what the unconditional love of God is really like – He loves us like we are, but he loves us too much to leave us like we are.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

(If you’re interested) … The Miles McPherson Story: The man behind the Pastor

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in March 1960, the second oldest of five children, Miles McPherson was raised on Long Island in a strong family. After excelling in football throughout high school, he attended the University of New Haven, where he majored in engineering. McPherson was the university’s first player to achieve All-American honors in football and be drafted into the NFL. Strong athletics run in the McPherson family; Miles’ brother, Don McPherson, was a Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1987.

Miles played four years in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers from 1982-1985. It was during this time that he developed a cocaine addiction that found the NFL star in a tailspin as he began feeding his habit.

After his second season in the NFL and after a weekend-long drug binge, he called out to Jesus Christ, accepted Him and stopped doing drugs in one day. This turnaround put him on the road to becoming a pastor.

Today’s Word Is LOVED

It’s Humor Day!
Fri-May-8-2020

Do any of these sound familiar?

THE TOP 13 THINGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME

#13 – She taught me about how to become an adult … “If you don’t eat your vegetables, it will stunt your growth, and you’ll never grow up.”

#12 – She taught me about logic … “Because I said so, that’s why.”

#11 – She taught me about foresight … “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

#10 – She taught me about irony … “Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”

#9 – She taught me about contortionism … “Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck.”

#8 – She taught me about endurance … “You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”

#7 – She taught me about the weather … “This room of yours looks like a cyclone went through it.”

#6 – She taught me about hypocrisy … “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times, don’t exaggerate!”

#5 – She taught me about appreciation … “There are millions of children around the world who are starving, so eat your supper and appreciate it.”

#4 – She taught me about anticipation … “Just wait until your father gets home.”

#3 – She taught me about medical sciences … “If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.”

#2 – She taught me about ESP … “Put your jacket on. Don’t you think I know when you are cold?”

#1 – She taught me about prayer … “You’d better pray that Kool-Aid stain comes out of the carpet!”

Actually, my mom only used a few of those on me and my four siblings. We had a good home and parents who loved us, took good care of us, guided us, and carried us to church every Sunday. (Of course, our Dad was the pastor, LOL). Mom passed away 17 years ago, and we all miss her still. Even in the later years of her life, she had a great smile, loved to play card games with the family, was proud of her children, and sang in the church choir as long as she could.

One description of Christian parenting tells us that the primary role of the father is protection, and of the mother affection. For instance, in Paul’s letter to Titus, he tells the older women to “admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children …” (Titus 2:4)

Generally, we expect our mother to love us above all others. It is natural. So, think of protection and affection this way. If a child falls down and bruises their knee, or even just bruises their pride, who would they typically run to? Mom. She kisses it and makes it better, comforts the child, and tenderly takes care of the hurt.

On the other hand, suppose the family is strolling through the shopping mall and a loud gunshot startles everyone. What would the child be likely to do? Grab Dad’s leg with both arms and hold on tight. I know this is a generalization, but the point is these are situations where a child has an urgent need and God has designed parents to meet those needs.

Neil Anderson, author of Who I Am in Christ and other books, says that there are three basic human needs … acceptance, security, and significance … and he lists the many Scriptures describing how God meets each one. Parents imitate God for the young child by providing these needs. You can see how the combination of a mother and father helps the child to feel accepted as a person and safe from outside harm. Obviously, mothers and fathers both do some of each of these, according to their gifts and the needs of the child.

Each of us emerged from childhood with some degree of these things. From there on we allow God to finish the work that our parents started. The purpose of parenting IS NOT to raise children from dependence to independence! It is to raise them from total dependence on their parents to total dependence on God!

Thank you. Lord, for those mothers who have helped us to feel loved and accepted.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Christmas Word Is … LOVE

Thu-Dec-19-2019

“I Love You” changes everything.

That is what God said at Christmas, “I love you.”

1st Corinthians is called the Love Chapter of the Bible

Verse 13 ends the chapter as the Apostle Paul says, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

Every person caught in a life problem, can best be helped by first loving them. It tills the ground for God to grow his harvest. Until the person feels loved, their heart will be cold and hardened, and unlikely to grow a good crop of healthy fruit.

If there is someone you want to change … love them.

If there is someone who has hurt you … love them.

If there is someone who is in the wrong lifestyle … love them.

Here is the Christmas version of 1st Corinthians 13

By Sharon Jaymes

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, sing Christmas carols in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to those I came to help, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the Christmas tree with shimmering angels and handmade snowflakes, and go to a dozen Christmas parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, my job will someday cease, and the house will eventually be gone.

But giving the gift of love will endure forever.

Share the love!

Chaplain Mark

1st Corinthians 13 (NRSV)

The Gift of Love

1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.