We were climbing to the peak that morning and had been at it for two hours.  It didn't matter that we were in deep shade and temperatures were only in the low 50s.  We had already crammed our jackets in the back pack and tied our sweatshirts around our waists.  We were pouring sweat in our tee shirts.  The higher we climbed, the steeper the trail became.  At my height, I often had to pull on a sapling to manage the natural "steps" the State Park had left for us.

              Suddenly we heard a rustling in the branches above us and a scattering of pebbles came rattling down around us.  Up ahead two hikers were headed our way, having started on the other end of the trail and just come over the top.  Ragged, sweating and panting, we must have looked like we needed some encouragement.

              "You're almost there," the woman hiker said.  "The top is really steep but the way down on the other side is all switchbacks."

              It was hard to imagine anything steeper than we had already encountered, but it soon became that way.  Only the knowledge that we were "almost there" kept us going, and the relative ease of the promised switchbacks meant the worst was almost over.

              That is the power of exhortation and encouragement and that is one reason God designed fellowship. 

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. (Rom 1:11-12)
For I would have you know how greatly I strive for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be comforted, (Col 2:1)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1Thess 5:11)
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Heb 3:13)

              Even when we do find ourselves alone, He has left us with "a great cloud of witnesses," pictured as spectators cheering us on in Hebrews 12.  Too many times what should be the home crowd might as well be the heart of enemy territory.  Why is it that a young woman announcing her pregnancy brings on every horror story of labor and delivery that every woman around her has heard or experienced?  Probably the same reason that preachers who gather together for moral support in areas where the church is small and scattered wind up trying to top one another with their bad experiences.  Brothers and sisters alike seem to focus on the negative rather than the positive.  Just exactly who will that encourage except the enemy?

              "We all sin all the time."
              "Even the best of us sin every day."
              "It's impossible for even a strong Christian to overcome sin."

            I have heard these things all my life.  They certainly give an unscriptural view of our power to overcome with the help of Christ.  And they made me feel hopeless.  Until I learned better I didn't even try that hard.  That's what focusing on the negative accomplishes—failure.

              God expects better of His children.  He expects us to help each other, not cast stumblingblocks in the way.  And He has some strong words for those who do the latter.

              I might not have made it to the top of the mountain that day if those hikers hadn't come along with encouraging words.  As you pass others making their way up the mountain of life, remember to lighten their steps with a supporting cheer.  You wouldn't want them to give up when they are so close to the top.
 
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb 10:23-25)
 
Dene Ward

Some have called eggs the perfect food with their own perfect container.  I recently heard a TV cook say they are “hermetically sealed.”  Eggshells themselves are stronger than their reputation says.  After all, birds sit on them for days, and it takes a good deal of effort for a baby bird to peck its way out of one.

            However, it doesn’t take more than one instance of carelessness to discover just how easily they will break.  Mine usually make it home from the grocery store in one piece, in spite of being placed in a cooler with a couple of bags of groceries and an ice block, and then traveling thirty miles, the last half mile over a bumpy lime rock lane.  Only once in over 30 years have I opened my cooler to find eggs that have tumbled out and cracked all over the other groceries.

            You must also be careful where you put them on the counter.  Most recipes require ingredients at room temperature, so I take the butter and eggs out a half hour or more before I plan to use them.  I quickly learned to put them in a small bowl so they couldn’t possibly roll off the countertop onto the floor, even if I did think I had them safely corralled by other ingredients.  Somehow they only roll when you turn your back.  As I recall, that recipe required a lot of eggs, and suddenly I was short a couple.

            Because of their relative fragility, we have developed the idiom “walking on eggshells.”  When the situation is tricky, when someone is already on a short fuse, we tread carefully with our words, as if we were walking carefully, trying not to break the eggshells under our feet.  Sometimes that is a good thing.  No one wants to hurt a person who has just experienced a tragedy.  No one wants to carelessly bring up a topic that might hinder the growth of a babe in Christ.  Certainly no one wants to put out a spark of interest in the gospel.    But sometimes the need to walk on eggshells is a shame, especially when the wrong people have to walk on them.

            I suppose every congregation has one of those members who gives everyone pause; one who has hot buttons you do your best not to push;  one who seems to take offense at the most innocuous statements or actions.  The shame of it is this:  in nearly every case I can remember, that person is over 50, and most over 60.  “You know old brother so-and-so,” everyone will tell newcomers.  “You have to be careful what you say around him.”  Why is it that younger Christians must negotiate minefields around an older Christian who should have grown in wisdom and forbearance?

            Do you think God has nothing to say about people like this? 

            The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. Pro 12:16
            Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. Pro 10:12
            Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Pro 19:11
            Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Cor 13:7
            Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Pet 4:8.

            Now let’s put that all together.  A person who is quick to take offense, who is easily set off when a certain topic arises, who seems to make a career out of hurt feelings is a fool, imprudent, full of hate instead of love, divisive, and lacking good sense.  That’s what God says about the matter.  He didn’t walk on eggshells.

            On the other hand, the person who overlooks insults, who doesn’t take everything the worst possible way, who makes allowances for others’ foibles, especially verbal ones, and who doesn’t tell everyone how hurt or insulted he is, is wise, prudent, sensible, and full of love.  Shouldn’t that describe any Christian, especially one who has been at if for thirty or forty years?

            So, let’s take a good look at ourselves.  Do people avoid me?  Am I defensive, and quick to assume bad motives?   Do I find myself insulted or hurt several times a week?  Do I keep thinking that everyone is out to get me in every arena of life?  Maybe I need to realize that I am not the one that everyone always has in mind when they speak or act.  I am not, after all, the center of the universe.  Maybe it’s time I acted the spiritual age I claim to be.

            Maybe I need to sweep up a few eggshells.
 
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:12-14.
 
Dene Ward

My jasmine vine had a super-trellis built by a man who believes that if a little is good, more is better. 

            The trellis itself is a lattice of thick metal wires called a “cow panel,” used for the gate portion of pasture fence.  A cow isn’t even going to bend it, much less push through it.  The panel was stood on end and woven through a piece of twenty foot antenna mast set five feet deep into the ground.  The fifteen feet above ground was held steady by nylon cord tied to two nearby trees.

            The jasmine had already been growing five years, twisting its way up the fifteen feet of lattice work, and hanging over the top at least four feet.  Most of the blooms were bunched near the top every year, the sides down toward the bottom thinner in both leaf and blossom.  Still that huge vine was a beauty every spring and its scent often wafted on the breeze a good fifty feet away.

            Then last summer, after the spring blooms had been spent, an afternoon thunderstorm blew through.  Winds gusting up to forty miles an hour bore down on our property, littering the yard with limbs and twigs, moss and air plants.  Afterward, we walked the place mentally adding up the hours of clean-up in our future.  Then we headed down the drive and when we passed the two azaleas and two young oaks announcing the beginning of our yard, we saw the jasmine.

            The two cords had snapped from the tension the winds had put on them and then the mast had simply bent over in a salaam toward the wood pile.  It wasn’t broken or even creased, just bowed in an arc.  The weight of that vine simply couldn’t stand on its own against the gusts.  The “top” of the trellis now hung only a foot or so off the ground.  Keith got beneath it and tried to stand it up, but the weight was too much for him alone.  It would take at least two men pushing, while a truck pulled with a rope. 

            A few days later, before we had had a chance to do anything about it, we walked out again and discovered new growth all over the “side” of the jasmine vine, the side that was now the “top.”  It looked like the vine would not only survive, but thrive.  So we found a section of 8 inch PVC pipe that would stand on its end six feet high, and used it to prop the end of the bent trellis.

            Within a few weeks the shoots on the vine were thickening all over the new top, and dangling off the sides.  It was obvious we would no longer have a fifteen foot tall sentinel welcoming guests, but a fifteen foot long hedge four feet high would do just as nicely. 

            This past spring white blossoms covered the entire length of it, not just the mass at the end that used to be the top.  The white was almost solid because the blooms were so thick and on some mornings you could smell it all the way across the field.   

            We don’t realize it, but the times when the storms of life hit us, are often the times our faith and strength shows best.  When a trellis stands on its own on a calm day, so what if the vine blooms?  Would we expect otherwise?  But when the storm comes and the trellis is damaged, yet it not only continues to support the vine the best it can, but the blooms actually increase, now that’s worth noticing. 

            When life is easy, of course we can stay faithful.  Isn’t that what Satan said about Job?  But when a trial comes along, how we handle it can be a far more powerful witness of Christ in us than any service we might have given, any class we might have taught, any check we might have offered.  Just like that bent over jasmine, our blooms will show brighter and influence more people when we faithfully endure the worst Satan flings at us.

            Are you dealing with a storm in your life?  Don’t think your usefulness to God and his people is finished.  Don’t think that because some servant of Satan blew you over that you have lost your value.  How you handle it, the fact that you keep on standing for the Lord, even if a little bent, will be seen by many more than ever before.  The blooms will be so thick, and the scent so heady, that your example will not be missed.  You may think you are of no more benefit to God, but He says otherwise.  Those who appreciate you will stand under your bower and give you support, but the work you are doing as you persevere is still a service far more precious than you could ever have imagined.
 
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Prov 4:18
 
Dene Ward

When we lived in another state many years ago, we had two hydrangeas, one flanking each side of the patio steps.  I loved those plants.  They took little care and for that meager effort produced huge balls of blue blooms all summer.  So I decided a few years ago to plant a couple here.

            I understand that there are white hydrangeas that are supposed to be that way.  They are often used in weddings, which seems appropriate and lovely.  But most hydrangeas are not supposed to be white.  Instead, the color of their blooms depends upon the pH of the soil.  If there is plenty of aluminum in the soil, you get blue blooms.  If aluminum is lacking, you usually get pink. 

            If you do not get the color you want, you can change it yourself.  Mix one tablespoon of aluminum sulfate per gallon of water and use it during the growing season.  (Be sure the plant is well-watered beforehand or you could burn your plants.)  If you prefer pink blooms, use dolomite.  I really don’t care if I get pink instead of blue, but I did not want white.  White is what I got.

            Some people can’t seem to make up their minds about serving God.   They show up on Sunday morning, but you would never know it if you saw them the rest of the week.  Their dress, language, recreation, and opinions match the world around them.  Like God’s people of old, they “fear the Lord, but serve other gods,” 2 Kings 17:21.  Instead of being either pink or blue, they try to be neutral, thinking it will help them get along with both sides.

            Jesus addressed their descendants in Matt 6:24—“You cannot serve two masters,” something we often try to do ourselves, giving our time and energy to the material and only the leftovers, if there are any, to the spiritual.  That is why our prayers are often useless.  We know we aren’t pink or blue, so we pray with “doubt,” like the “double-minded man, unstable in all his ways,” James 1:6-8.

            That wasn’t the end of passages I could find.  “How long will you go limping between two sides?” Elijah asked in 1 Kgs 18:12.  “Choose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua demanded, 24:15.  The Lord doesn’t want white hydrangeas any more than I do.  He wants people who can make a decision and stand by it, people who care enough to go all out, not just dabble.  We cannot be wishy-washy.  “If you aren’t with me you are against me,” he told the disciples, Luke 11:23. 

            One of my hydrangeas has finally developed a light blue tint.  Then I got my acid and alkaline colors mixed up and had Keith put hydrated lime on it.  So tomorrow it may turn pink.  But it really doesn’t matter—one or the other, pink or blue, just not white.  I didn’t plant it to get some neutral color, and that isn’t why God put us where He did either.
 
I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth. Rev 3:15-16
 
Dene Ward

After reading them for so many years, I can skim a recipe and garner all sorts of necessary information in that quick once-over.  Not just whether I have the ingredients, but how long it will take, what I can do ahead of time, what equipment I will need, the substitutions I can make if necessary, and whether I can cut it in half or freeze half of it.  Sometimes, though, a recipe needs a closer reading.

            I made a vegetable lasagna once that turned out well, but was way too big.  I took over half of the leftovers to my women’s class potluck and it got rave reviews and several requests.  So I went home and started typing the two page recipe containing at least two dozen ingredients.  The typing required a careful reading of the recipe so I wouldn’t give anyone wrong amounts or directions, and as I did so I discovered that I had completely forgotten one ingredient and had missed one of the procedures.  Just imagine how good it would have been if I had done the whole thing correctly.

            Too many times we try to read the Bible like I read that recipe, especially the passages we think we already know.  I have said many times to many classes, the biggest hindrance to learning is what you think you already know.  Today I am going to prove it to you.

            Have you ever said, or even taught, that turning the water to wine was the first miracle Jesus ever did?  I know, it’s what all the Bible class curricula say.  Well, it’s your job to check out those lessons with your own careful reading.  Most of the time that means reading far beyond the actual lesson text.  This isn’t even hard to see, but you do have to think about what you see.  Some time today when you have the time—okay, make the time—read the following verses.
 
John 1:45-51--Jesus tells Nathanael that he saw him before it was possible for him to see him.  This was enough of a miracle that it brought a confession from Nathanael: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”, v 49.
2:11--“This is the first of his signs” (water to wine)
2:23--“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed on his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” (Notice, this is an unknown number of signs,)
4:16-19--Jesus tells the woman at the well all about her life, a life he could not have known about except miraculously.  She would later tell her neighbors, “Come see a man who told me all that ever I did.  Can this be the Christ?” v 29.  She certainly thought she had seen a miracle.
4:46-54--Jesus heals the nobleman’s son, which John labels “the second sign that Jesus did.”  What about John 1?  What about 2:23?  What about Samaria?
 
            For years I read “first” and “second,” knowing full well about the other signs before and between them, and didn’t even think about what I was reading. I was reading it like a recipe, a quick once over because I already knew the story.  Now, having seen all the passages together, you can see that “first” and “second” in John 2:11 and 4:54 obviously do not mean the simple chronological “first” and “second” you might think at first glance.  You need the entire context of John to figure it out.

            Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name, John 20:30,31.  Right there John tells you not only why he wrote his book, but that he simply chose certain signs to discuss in detail.  If you do a careful study of the entire book, you will discover that he chose seven, each making a particular point about the power of Jesus that proves his Deity.  No, I am not going to list them for you.  You need to take up your Bibles and figure it out for yourself so you know firsthand.   

            When John says “This is the first,” and “this is the second,” he is simply referring to the list of seven he intends to discuss more fully.  Turning the water to wine was the first on his list, NOT the first miracle Jesus ever did, and all you have to do is read earlier in the book to see at least one more—Nathanael’s.  In fact, you cannot even count the number he did in between the “first” and the “second,” 2:23.

            So, be careful what you believe.  Be even more careful what you teach because that could affect many others.  Pay attention to the details and don’t pull events and verses out of context.  Do you want to know why so many false doctrines spread?  Because people read the “proof texts” like a recipe, a quick scan instead of a careful reading, if indeed they read them at all.

            Don’t skim the Word of God.  Give it the attention it deserves.           
 
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 2 Pet 1:19.
 
Dene Ward

I bet you have all used them sometime in your life, maybe even every day.  Leo Gerstenzang, who was born in Poland on June 3, 1892, invented the cotton swab.  He sold them under the name "Baby Gays."  We know them as Q-tips, but did you know that the Q stands for "quality?"  And despite doctors' warnings, I bet most of you stick them in your ears.  But sticking a spiritual Q-tip in your figurative ears is a good idea.

            Jesus once made a statement that has always made me flinch.  After the parable of the sower, when listing all the various soils and what went wrong with each hearer, he added, as Luke records it, Be careful therefore, how you hear, 8:18.  In a society big on blaming everyone but ourselves for our problems, this is truly one of the biggest.  Unlike the early church, which seemed to thrive on helping each other overcome problems with confessions and exhortations, we seem to think that no one has the right to tell us anything that might even slightly indicate that we might need to change.  Or we “wear our feelings on our shirtsleeves,” as the old saying goes, so we can be offended at the least provocation.

              Jesus makes it plain in this passage that how I take what people say to me is entirely up to me.  It only makes sense when you think about it.  If I had no control over my reactions to what others say, then it would be to my advantage for people to say hurtful things to me, wouldn’t it?  In fact, getting my feelings hurt would be the ideal way to go.  Then I could be angry and strike back with no qualms at all. 

              I could ignore the rebukes others offered for my sins as long as I felt insulted, and could keep doing them, couldn’t I?  But Paul says in Rom 2:6 that God will render to every man according to his deeds, not according to how someone corrected me.

              I could ignore the one who tells me I am wrong about what I believe if I thought he had evil motives and bad intentions, couldn’t I?  But Paul also says of those who preached with bad intentions, What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and therein I rejoice, Phil 1:19.

             I could hear false teaching and not have to worry about checking it out, right?  But Jesus said in Matt 15:14, they are blind guides and if the blind guide the blind, they both fall into a pit.

              So here is my obligation:  Listen to what others say, and evaluate it based upon truth, not upon how they say it, who they are, and whether or not I like them or their teaching.  Judgment Day will not dawn with three groups of people, including a group who “got their feelings hurt,” or “didn’t like the preacher,” or “were provoked,” and because of that did not do what they should have done.

              There will only be two groups:  the ones who did right and the ones who did not.  Let’s get out those Q-tips and clean out our ears.  Be careful how you hear.
 
He who corrects a scoffer gets to himself reviling, and he who reproves a wicked man gets himself a blot.  Reprove a scoffer and he will hate you; reprove a wise man and he will love you.  Give instruction to a wise man and he will be even wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning, Prov 9:7-9
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel. Prov 12:15
 
Dene Ward

Nathan has done the impossible—he has turned me into a baseball fan.  Admittedly I don’t watch but one team, the Rays, but that’s still a lot more than I ever watched before. 

            Now that I know more about the game, the statistics mean more too.  I recently ran across this one:  On June 2, 1922, Stuffy (John Phelan) McInnis, a first baseman for the Indians, ended an errorless streak of 1700 chances.  That means 1700 times in a row he caught every ball or tagged every player or threw every ball straight to get a man out.  The streak began in 1921 when he was still with the Red Sox, and ended 163 games later.  I have watched games this year alone where a Gold Glove winner had two or more errors in a single game.

            All Stuffy McInnis had to rely on was himself and his own unaided ability.  Why is it that we can’t run rings around this statistic?  Why can’t we go more than a single day without a sin?  “But I’m only human,” I keep hearing, and yes, I understand the concept of being too sure of oneself (1 Cor 10:12).  But it isn’t me I am counting on, is it?

            No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor 10:13)  Tell me, don’t you think God is faithful?

            Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Pet 1:5)  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  (2 Cor 10:4)  Do you doubt the power of God?

            Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials… (2 Pe 2:9).  Do you think God doesn’t know what he is doing?

            Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, (Jude 24).  Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.  (Heb 7:25)  Are you questioning God’s ability?

            Yes, those passages speak of things we have to do too, but if you think what you do is the main ingredient in overcoming sin, you are already thinking too highly of yourself.  When we try to overcome sin, it isn’t our own skill we are counting on, it’s the power of God.  He has promised he will help us and that nothing will happen that we cannot handle.  He has promised us everything we need, every weapon available, to fight the adversary, and he has promised that those weapons are more than sufficient to get us through any ordeal.  If we don’t make it, it’s because we forgot to rely on him and his help.  We may never go 1700 chances without a sin, but surely we can do better than we have in the past.

            Stuffy McInnis got his nickname because every time he made an amazing defensive play people said, “That’s the stuff!”  God has all the “stuff” we need.  Now let’s get out there and use it.
 
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

It has happened fairly often lately with the climate change – we will go through a long spell of dry in mid-May sometimes into June. Then the rains come. 2 inches in two days, 3 or 4 inches in a day. Rains every day for a week or two. Actually, this causes little problem if it has rained from the beginning. But, after weeks of just enough irrigation, the sudden influx of too much rain causes my tomatoes to crack, then the gnats and other bugs and the rot get in. Often, even green tomatoes burst.

Someone will say, well, Keith, God knows more about how much rain to send and when to send it than you do. No doubt. But, this is a sin cursed garden, not Eden. So, I have weeds, too much rain, too little rain, blights caused by just a dampening shower every evening which does not in a week add up to a tenth, but keeps it wet so fungi grow.

It surely makes me long for THE garden.

In a similar way some say that the will of God will not lead where the Grace of God is not sufficient. But, then, their self will leads them to situations and they expect the grace of God to rescue them....without harm. NOT!

Or, something has happened that derailed me, and I just know that God has a better plan for me. Seems more likely that sin ruined the better plan God had for me (and you) and now you (and I) are stuck with plan B or even plan J. We just cannot go our own way and expect to escape consequences. Our lives may turn out far worse and our service may be much less than would have been possible had we not gone our own way for a time, or two, or three.…

It is by the grace of God that I enjoy anything from my garden, even the tomatoes that did not crack and the other veggies rescued at great effort from bugs, blights and weeds. It is by the grace of God that there can be a Plan C (or Q). Rather than moaning about what might have been or expecting something better, we must press on with what is left in the service of God who loves us.
 
​Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? … but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (Lam 3:39,   Heb 12:10).
 
Keith Ward

The first few years I only had one catbird at my feeder, a chary fellow who only visited during winter when he couldn’t find anything easily on his own.  He sat clumsily on the suet cage, which was almost too small for him, and pecked away, but it only took a micro-movement from me on the other side of the window to scare him off.

            Although I had read that the catbird got its name from its call, I had never heard him utter a peep.  He quietly came to the square of suet, ate his fill, and left.  The other morning, as I sat by the window he flew into the nearest azalea on the other side of the feeder and I heard it, a “mew” just as clear and sweet as a newborn kitten’s.  And what caused him to mew?  There on the suet perched another catbird--he was jealous.  Suddenly he flew at the interloper and chased him away.   

            Within a week, a third catbird had joined the fray, this one a bit smaller and slimmer, probably a fledgling.  Now they all go at it.  It isn’t enough to chase one away and then eat your fill.  They think they must sit guard and keep the others from getting any of it.  This is not the catbird personality I had always seen before, and I hear that mew more often too.  Now I know what truly lies beneath those slate gray feathers.

            I have seen it happen with people too.  You think they are one sort of personality but when circumstances don’t go their way, suddenly they morph into someone you have never met before.  Sometimes that’s a good thing, like quiet mothers who instantly, and fiercely, protect their young, but others times it means we have not really become new creatures, we have just hidden the old one and stress made him rear his ugly head once again.

            Becoming a better person is difficult.  Baptism doesn’t instantly fix the flaws in your character.  They have deep-seated roots from childhood or traumatic experiences in your life.  It takes effort to change yourself.  You have to first realize where the problems lie.  Then you have to prepare yourself to meet those stressful situations with study, prayer and meditation, deciding ahead of time how you will react should the same thing happen again.  You have to learn to accept the help of others, even if it does come in the form of a stern rebuke or disapproving look.  Finally, you have to be on watch.  Most of us just let life happen to us, then wonder why we weren’t able to do better “after all these years,” as if time were the only thing that mattered.  Doing better must come from being better or it won’t last.

            God will not remove the stress from our lives.  He won’t make the trials suddenly disappear.  Any time we convert someone with the promise that all of their problems will now be solved, we are giving them false hopes.  The true hope is that now we have help with our problems, but only if we use it.  God does not allow trials so we will have an excuse for bad behavior but so we will become stronger and better able to handle those trials. 

            I watch those catbirds and wonder if I have really become a new creature.  Today it’s time to get up out of my chair and work on it.
 
For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again…Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Cor 5:14, 15, 17                                                         
 
Dene Ward

George Washington is credited with creating the order of the Purple Heart.  It was actually called the Badge of Merit and was made in the form of a purple heart.  Only enlisted men were eligible to receive it.  The award ended with the Revolution.

              But the idea never died.  Finally on May 28, 1932, the Purple Heart we are now familiar with was first awarded.  It has been awarded since to all who were "wounded, killed, or died after being wounded" in battle.

              I remember people, including soldiers who received it, belittling the Purple Heart.  "All I did was get shot.  What's so brave about that?"

              Here's what:  You were brave enough to put yourself in the line of fire.  You were brave enough to risk your life.

              What if we gave Purple Hearts in the Lord's kingdom?  Who should get them?

              The preacher who dares to preach the unvarnished Truth to the church that pays his salary.

              The teenage Christian who dares to say, "No," in the face of constant peer pressure.

              The secretary who refuses to lie for her boss and risks losing her job.

              The Christian who doesn't shrink back into a corner when a certain subject comes up.

              The brother or sister who risks losing the goodwill of one who needs correction—not to mention his reputation with the church who takes up for the sinner.

              The one who risks being kicked out of the family by obeying the gospel.

              I am sure you can come up with others, and I invite you to do so in the comment section below.  But here is something for you to consider.  Sooner or later, every disciple of the wounded Savior ought to have a few Purple Hearts of his own.  How many do you have?
 
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (1Pet 4:14-16)
 
Dene Ward