The Biggest Little Word

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What is the biggest word in the Bible?

The answer may surprise you. The biggest word in the Bible is “IF.” You may ask how I could come to that conclusion? Simple, it is because this tiny word carries enough power in it to move mountains. Even so, this word is probably one of the most overlooked and neglected words in the entire Bible.

For example, notice the first word of II Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Is it possible that there is so much turmoil in our land because we are asking God to heal our land but neglect the “if” part –to humble ourselves, and pray, and  seek God’s face, and  turn from our wicked ways?

God is not a man that He should lie, so obviously, we as a nation are neglecting the prerequisites that God set forth for the healing of our land.

Another example may be found in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. Here, we are instructed:

And it shall come to pass, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.

Scripture then goes on to promise abundant blessing and prosperity to those who obey all of God’s commandments. I hear much about the blessings, but  seldom do I hear anyone mention the prerequisite “IF.”

The Bible says that God uses the foolish thing of this earth to confound the wise. I guess he uses the smallest things too. Remember, dear reader, the word “if” has enough power in it to move mountains, when we obey the words that “if” preceeds.

One Fainting Robin

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If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Into his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

If we were to summarize Miss Dickinson’s aforementioned thoughts in one word, it would aptly be compassion.  But what does Scripture teach us about compassion?

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering… (Colossians 3:12).

 Interestingly,  Emily Dickinson was not an overtly religious person. In fact, her writings often reflect her feelings of “being shut out of heaven.” Nevertheless, she understood the importance of compassion; possibly because she was shown very little during her reclusive life.

 Emily was, I believe, the fainting robin she wrote about.  If only she could have grasped the truth that God is … full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth (Psalm 86:15) even towards her .  And if only others had shown her more mercy, love and compassion, as we are commanded to do in Scripture; perhaps she might have lived a more joyous life, having never felt shut out of heaven.

Dear reader, there are many Emily’s out there.  Will you be the one to show them God’s unceasing compassion by loving as Jesus loved?  Will you help a “fainting robin” back into the nest, or stop someone’s  heart from breaking? If you  do this for even one person, then your life will not have been lived in vain.

Bumps and Spills

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He was a tall man, so I couldn’t see the contents of the cup he was holding.  I assumed it was coffee, but I was wrong.  You see, as quickly as his bouncy sidekick bumped into him, orange juice sloshed all over his expensive white dress shirt. No one would have ever known what was in his cup if he hadn’t been bumped.

That made me think; human beings are all “vessels” (Romans 9:21). However, we do not all contain the same thing.  Sometimes, the best way to know  for sure what is inside a person, is to see what spills out when he or she is bumped.

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things (Matthew 12:34,35).

Dear reader, has someone bumped you lately? And if so, what spilled out? As for me I, like King David, pray:

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

Who’s Holding the Scalpel?

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“Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive injury.”   Edwin Hubbel Chapin. 

Forgiveness is a topic I could spend hours writing about, but I want to focus on just one thought for today.  Namely, who is really behind your pain?  By way of explanation, I will ask you the same question I have often posed to others:

If, during a routine surgery, the surgeon were to carelessly slash your face with his scalpel, would you blame the scalpel  for your  injury, or the surgeon holding it?  Even if you were scarred for life, would it be the scalpel’s fault? Or, would the blame lie with the one who was in control of it?

I submit, dear reader, that when others cut you deeply enough to leave an emotional scar, they are generally acting as unsuspecting instruments  in the hands of a very clever adversary –that evil, supernatural enemy which wages war against humanity.  I am certainly not negating the actions of those who hurt you; they are certainly responsible for whatever harm they have done and will be held accountable. But forgiveness is more for your sake than theirs, and it is far more easily accomplished when you truly understand the words of Ephesians 6:12:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Simply put, these dark powers are your true enemy, not other people. So the next time you are cut to the quick, dear reader, please remember that just as a scalpel is only a tool in the surgeon’s hands,  the person who hurt you was only a tool in the enemy’s hands. Then, in obedience to Scripture, forgive the offense:

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13).

After all, forgiveness is also an instrument; it is an instrument of healing in the hands of the Great Physician –healing for both you, and  the one who hurt you.

A Canardly

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A few years ago we adopted our outdoor dog from a rescue shelter.  She’s a mixed-breed, but I was fairly certain of what those breeds were, based on her color and markings. Still, I asked our veterinarian for his opinion. He told me she was a Canardly.  I’ve never heard of such a creature, I told him.  “There’s really no way to tell what she is,” he explained. With these mixed breeds, one  can ‘ardly tell.” I thought that little play on words was cute, and I’ve used it ever since.

Our beautiful Canardly has turned out to be the most loving and loyal dog of all. Plus, she is an incredibly vigilant watchdog.  Obviously, being a Canardly isn’t such a bad thing for a dog.  I don’t recommend it for Christians, though. How can we teach others about Jesus if they can ‘ardly tell that He is the Lord of our lives?

Jesus warned: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15,16).

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I would rather someone be frustrated by my fervor than confused by my complacency.  After all, if I’m not passionate about my Lord, Jesus Christ, how can I expect others to be?

Today, I leave you with this thought from Charles Spurgeon:

Believe me, brothers and sisters, if you never have sleepless hours, if you never have weeping eyes, if your hearts never swell as if they would burst, you need not anticipate that you will be called zealous; you do not know the beginning of true zeal, for the foundation of Christian zeal lies in the heart. The heart must be heavy with grief and yet must beat high with holy ardour; the heart must be vehement in desire, panting continually for God’s glory, or else we shall never attain to anything like the zeal which God would have us know.

Which Direction?

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Many years ago, a friend of mine was interpreting a church service when the whole deaf section busted-out laughing. That certainly got  the congregation’s attention, given the fact that the pastor’s sermon was a very serious one. He was preaching about consecrating oneself to the Lord steadfastly for a season.

“For the next few weeks,” the pastor told his congregants, “I plan to arrive early to pray.” What’s funny about that, you ask? The interpreter didn’t sign “early” to pray. He relayed to the whole deaf section that the pastor was planning to show up at the church “naked” to pray.

Being a sign language interpreter myself, I can assure you that this is a very easy mistake to make. You see the two words are quite similar. The only difference  between the two is in the direction the prominent hand is traveling. For one, the dominant hand slides across the other, and for the second sign, the prominent hand slides downward towards the fingertips.

The moral of today’s humorous, but true, story is simply this: Which direction are you going?

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death  (Proverbs 14:12).

The flip side to the above Scripture is this:

The Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless (Psalm 84:11).

Today would be a great day for each of us to examine our hearts and lives. After all, dear reader, direction is most assuredly important!

God’s “To Do” List

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Today I plan to start a new “to do” list. First order of business, find and compile all the other “to do” lists I have lying around, so that I can marvel at how many things I never seem to complete, and hopefully tackle some of them. Of course, the really important things get done, but I have a ton of worthwhile projects that, for one reason or another, got lost in the shuffle, never to be picked up again.

Aren’t you glad that God is not like that? I know I am. Can you just imagine Him starting something wonderful in your life, but stopping somewhere in the middle because He needed to go intervene in some crisis? Worse yet, imagine Him never completing the work?

That won’t happen, of course. Scripture says that He [the Holy Spirit] which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). God is working in the lives of every person on this planet, whether they acknowledge  Him or not; and He will never stop until His glorious return.

I guess you could say that we are all on God’s “to do” list since He is never finished with any of us. We should ask ourselves, then, is God at the top of our list? Last night I was challenged by a preacher who admonished his listeners to develop a personal spiritual growth program and pursue it vigorously. He wasn’t insinuating that his audience was neglecting the things of God, only that we should all strive to give even more of our time and effort to the Lord and His word. If we would do that, he encouraged, we would certainly grow spiritually.

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but that sounds like an excellent idea. If God loves me enough to keep me on His daily “to do” list, I think it only right that He is at the very top of mine! On second thought, forget all the old lists, if those projects haven’t been finished by now, they probably aren’t that important after all. Yes, I still plan to start a new list, but the very first item on the list will be: Start a spiritual growth program, beginning with …

In fact, I’m going to go do that now so I’ll catch you all later.
God bless.

God Is Doing a New, Old Thing

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My husband is in the other room watching a football game to relax. As I passed through, I heard one commentator say, “I’ve often thought I’ve seen everything there is to see in football   —then I go to another game.”

I’ve often thought the same thing about really good church services. Folks there sometimes say, “God is doing a new thing.” I agree. But I’m not talking about some of those new fads that pop up occasionally; I’m talking about the fact that God is not stagnant. His presence is always fresh and exhilarating!

The Lord God said in His word: Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19).

Rivers move! They certainly are not stagnant. It’s a good thing too, because stagnant waters draw mosquitoes, and you know what they do; they suck the life’s blood out of you. Rivers, on the other hand, are teeming with life –life that feeds the hungry.

Dear reader, many folks today are living in spiritual deserts. They are dry and hungry, and need now, more than ever, to be refreshed by the river of life. And the good news is; if you are a child of God, that river flows right out of you. C’mon, sing this old Christian chorus with me:

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!
Makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see!
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free.
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!

Spring up, O’ well, within my soul!
Spring up, O’ well, and make me whole!
Spring up, O’ well, and give to me,
That life, abundantly!

God is healing the sick and setting the captives free; nothing new there. He has been doing that since days of old. But consider this: if you and everyone in your church will stir that which is stagnant, and allow God’s miraculous river of life to flow out of you; a mighty torrent of God’s power will surely flow out of the building and into the streets. And when people are touched by that river, they will start doing some wonderful new things themselves. Yes, my friend, God is doing a new thing!

¹Song Lyrics and music by L. Casebolt

Still, Small Voice

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And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him…. but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (I Kings 19:9,12).

Finally, we have gotten some much needed rain. I’ve been praying for a gully-washer, but the rains that have come have been, for the most part, soft and gentle.

It is often the same way with God. There have been times that I prayed, feeling the need for God’s voice to be as loud and clear as a piercing boom of thunder. I wanted Him to pour down answers until they utterly saturated me, so I could in no way misunderstand what He was speaking to my heart. And yet, the answers sometimes came like more like a soft, refreshing rain –a few drops at a time, not overwhelming. I am reminded of something the Lord spoke to my heart several years ago. He said:

Sometimes I come like the softest rain, when the drops tap ever so lightly against the pane. These are they that please my heart: Those who hear my lightest tap –even in times when the sun is not shining brightly –even in the early morning hours when the world lay fast asleep. Those who will awaken to my lightest tap and say, enter Lord, I welcome you; these are they that please my heart.”

Today feels like one of those days. Precious Lord, let us hear your voice; we welcome you.

Stop Surfing and Relax

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Christian Devotions

Even we old folks know that WTMI stands for Way Too Much Information. Not that long ago, I was scolding my computer screen with those very initials after surfing through the Sea of Overwhelming. But I love to do research, so this is just par for the course.

My devotional time is different. After spending time with the Lord and reading His word, I enjoy reading inspirational material from my fellow Christian writers, but who wants to be distracted by the hunt? I’m sure you have felt that way many times yourself. The good news is we don’t have to.

There is a little treasure trove of Christian devotionals, and links to more than 150 Christian blogs, all conveniently located in one website. So stop surfing and just relax.

For quick access, click the Devotional Christian website icon at the top of this post and immerse yourself. What a great way to start a morning -after time with the Lord of course!

P.S. A big thanks to Tony Kummer for putting this website together. He also has an awesome Ministry to Children website. You can visit it here:
Ministry-To-Children