How to Clean Fingerprints - Martin Wiles

WISHING ALL OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. 

Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean.” John 13:10 NLT

“Fingerprints all over the place.” Of course, how to clean the fingerprints involved another story.

My oldest grandson called the dirty storm door to my attention as he and his younger brother stood looking over the back yard. What he failed to mention was that both were the reason for the smudges. At the time, we kept them five days a week, so keeping the door clean was an exercise in futility—as it is now, since their number has grown to four.

“Handprints are more like it,” I snickered.

“You need to clean it, Pop,” he said.

A Type A personality like myself, he couldn’t stand dirt—or smudges. I walked by and left the door alone. Since we planned to move in a couple of weeks, I had even more reason to ignore the grimy handprints. But when I decided to clean the door—just before we moved—I didn’t replace the entire door. I just took out the window cleaner and cleaned the glass portion.

Jesus proposed a similar scenario to his disciples. They didn’t need to wash all over—just their feet. They were fully cleansed when they believed in him and decided to be his followers. Now they merely needed a daily sponge bath.

At nine years of age, I decided to do what these early disciples did—trust Jesus as my Savior. Dad explained the gospel message of how Jesus died for my sins. I believed and invited Christ into my life. In that moment, he cleansed me all over. Past, present, and future sins were washed away. The price Jesus paid on Calvary for humanity’s sins was applied to me.

But what about the daily fingerprints that come from putting our hands where they don’t belong—like my grandchildren? They won’t send us to hell because Jesus’ blood has covered them. They will, however, interfere with our spiritual vision as the fingerprints on the door clouded the view of the backyard. Confession will clear away the smudges. Our acknowledgement of our failures and sins is what Jesus referred to when he mentioned daily foot-washing.

Make confession a daily practice. Doing so is good for the soul and will keep your feet clean—and remove the smudges from the doors so interaction between the Savior and you can be open and transparent.

Father, keep me free from sin smudges so I can hear you clearly when you speak.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Managing Cuckoo Burrows - Martin Wiles

Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn. Matthew 13:30 NLT

Managing cuckoo burrows was a new experience for me in farm life.

Visiting my maternal grandparents on the farm was always enjoyable. Every day was a new adventure, doing things I had never experienced in the city. Along with my cousin, I’d pile into my grandfather’s blue Chevy truck and head to the farm.

As my grandfather rode down the dirt roads dividing the cotton fields, he pointed out cuckoo burrows. These invaders were thorny weeds that often grew alongside the cotton. They were easy to spot as they matured. And when my grandfather did, he’d send my grandmother, my cousin, or me into the fields to pull them up.

“Be careful not to pull up the cotton,” he’d caution. Sometimes, this challenged me because they grew so close together.

Jesus once said something similar when asked if weeds should be pulled from the wheat field. Unlike my grandfather, he said to leave them until the harvest time. Then they would be separated into their respective places.

Like the tares of Jesus’ day, these weeds represented things that shouldn’t be in the cotton field. If left alone, they would take over, preventing the cotton plant from growing and producing as my grandfather intended.

Cuckoo burrows represent things that shouldn’t be in our lives. Left there, they will stunt our spiritual growth or even keep us from Christ in the beginning. Sinful choices and relationships invite thorns into our lives. Some aren’t sinful; they merely interfere with our service to Christ. Like my grandfather, Christ tells me to pull them up.

Ridding our lives of prickly invaders takes intentional effort. I could have looked at them in the cotton field all day long, but they would never have gone away. I had to leave the truck, walk into the field, and remove them. Cuckoo burrows interfere with our being the salt and light Jesus wants us to be in this world. Spiritual disciplines spread poison on them.

Ask God to show you your cuckoo burrows. Then pull them up so you can be successful in your work for Him.

Father, thank you for giving me the power to rid my life of anything that hinders my witness and service to you.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Bacon-Wrapped Smokies

Ingredients 

1 pack Lil' Smokies

1 pound bacon (cut in half)

1 bottle BBQ Sauce (any kind)

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with non-stick aluminum foil.

Wrap each smokie with bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Place on the cookie sheet.

Top with BBQ sauce.

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

How to Love the Overlooked and Forgotten - Martin Wiles

But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. Matthew10:29 NLT

The peeping alerted me that something was amiss.

A mother bluebird had hatched several nestlings in a birdhouse outside my office window. As I worked, I enjoyed hearing their peeps as the mother and father bird made numerous trips to feed their young.

But on one day, the peeping differed. I looked outside, thinking the babies had flown the coup. And they had, except one who languished on the cement porch. I quickly scooped up the hatchling and returned it to the nest. But mom and dad never returned. I saw them flitting around in the yard, but they ignored the peeps of the abandoned baby. Although I tried feeding it insects, it was dead when I arrived for work the next day.

In warning his followers about the persecution on their horizon, Jesus reminded them that not even a sparrow falls without his knowledge. He loves the least. I thought of the verse when I opened the birdhouse and saw the dead baby. My heart broke as I realized sin was the reason this scenario had gone awry. God didn’t want the nestling to die.

Loving the least is rarely easy. I thought of the Andy Griffith episode where Andy’s son, Opie, adopted a nest full of baby birds and nurtured them until they were ready to fly. His attempt succeeded; mine failed. But at least I made the effort.

Although animals aren’t created in the likeness of God as people are, and though they don’t have immortal souls as humans do, they are still a part of God’s creation, which he expects us to care for. Many years ago, God entrusted Adam and Eve with the care of his creation. His instructions to them have been passed to all earthly inhabitants.

But loving the least extends beyond animals and the environment to people as well. We are God’s highest creation, made in his image. It may be easier to hobnob with those in places of importance who can scratch our back in return, but God wants us to love the least, too. Those in dire straits. Those who can’t fend for themselves. Those to whom life has handed a tough hand of cards.

Learn to love the least, not just those who can help you in return.

Father, create in my heart a love for all people and for everything you have created.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Finding Comfort When God Draws Near - Martin Wiles

But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. Genesis 11:5 NLT

They popped over the treetops and whizzed along the nape of the field.

When I was a young lad, crop dusters were common in the flat farmland. Fields were planted with cotton, corn, and soybeans. Laws preventing certain chemicals, which we now know cause cancer and other diseases, had not been passed. So farmers and crop dusters spread cotton poison to protect their crops.

Visiting my grandfather’s farm and sitting on the front porch, watching planes crop dust the neighboring fields, was one of my favorite activities. From out of nowhere, the plane would appear at tree-top level, drop to just above the cotton, drop its load, and then pull up just before reaching power lines, homes, or trees. Enduring the stench of the cotton poison was almost more than I could bear, but it was worth it to see this acrobat’s antics.

There was a time long ago when God came low. When a group of people got together and decided to build the Tower of Babel. Seemingly an innocent task … until you read the rest of the story. Doing so was about selfishness and pagan worship. God dropped a load on them. Not poison, but the confusion of their languages and thus the end of their project.

A few thousand years later, God came low again. This time when he allowed his Son to take on human flesh and die for humanity’s sins. But he didn’t stop with that. After Jesus ascended back into heaven, God sent his Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and the church was born. The psalmist was right when he said that God delights in every detail of their lives (Psalm 37:23).

As I delighted in watching the crop dusters fly low, so I enjoy knowing God flies low into my life’s experiences. And not only mine, but everyone’s who will call on him. He’s never too busy, nor is he ever unconcerned. What concerns us, no matter how insignificant, concerns our Creator. He can come down for our needs and everyone else’s at the same time. We don’t have to take a number or wait in line. God flies so low we can reach up and touch his grace, mercy, and assistance at any time we choose.

Let God fly low into every detail of your life.

Father, give me faith to reach out for you in every circumstance of my life, knowing you are as low as the stretch of my fingertips.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

How to Trust God When You Can’t See the Way Forward - Martin Wiles

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT

Just trust God, and everything will work out for the good.

The Porters were college friends with whom we had a common bond: we were both from South Carolina. They also had two children who were close in age to our two. One of which was our daughter’s “boyfriend.”

As so often happens, we lost track of them after graduation. Several years later, I received devastating news: their daughter had been killed. She was riding a bicycle, which was a little too large for her, rolled into the path of an oncoming truck, was struck, and died from the impact. Our family was stunned … and heartbroken. When I called to express my sympathies, the mom, with a broken voice, said, “We’re just trusting God to get us through this.”

I’ve heard enough religious platitudes in my lifetime to fill a small book. Some of them biblical, some not. Some well-timed, some ill-timed. But telling someone to trust God and that everything will work out for the good is true. But how, when, and where we say it, we must carefully consider.

Everything that comes into our lives won’t be good. I’ve experienced enough regretful things to fill a book. And actually, they have. Several, in fact. Having good things happen consistently wouldn’t necessarily make me trust God more. When things go well all the time, I tend to trust myself rather than God. Bad things turn my focus on him. Some turn a bitter focus, but others, me included, turn a longing focus. A longing to know why and how I should respond.

As I look back on the unfortunate things I’ve experienced, I also see how God brought good from them. The lessons I learned from correctly responding are innumerable. My trust in God rose, as did my faith. Since the consequences of bad events tend to hang around, sometimes for years, I’ve been able to continually see God bringing good things from bad circumstances.

God is a good God who wants us to experience good things—even if they have to come through unpleasant circumstances.

Trust God to manufacture good out of the bad times in your life.

Father, I have faith that you will turn the bad in my life into good that will spur me on to spiritual growth and bring glory to your name.

I invite you to try my book Grits, Grace, and God in eBook or paperback. If you want a daily dose of God's grace, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Buttery Biscuits

 

Ingredients

1 STICK BUTTER

1 CUP BUTTERMILK

2 CUPS SELF-RISING FLOUR

Directions

MELT BUTTER IN A LARGE IRON SKILLET IN A 400°F OVEN. 

MIX FLOUR AND BUTTERMILK TOGETHER AND POUR OVER MELTED BUTTER.

USE A BISCUIT CUTTER TO MAKE INDENTATIONS IN THE DOUGH.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THROUGH THE DOUGH. 

BAKE ON 400 DEGREES FOR 15 to 20 MINUTES.

 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.