Transformation - Martin Wiles

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

My wife and I excelled at transforming yards, but this one … well ….

Our time had come to move—again. But this time, it wasn’t by force but by choice. We were excited, sort of, until we saw the backyard of the small patio townhome. Landscapers maintained the front yard, and our new landlords had transformed the inside, but the backyard was a mess. A single vine had overtaken an entire side of the three-sided privacy fence, briars had overrun what was once a rock-laden yard, suckers had covered the four crepe myrtle trees, and grass had scampered off for good. But we agreed when the landlord offered to cut our security deposit by three hundred dollars if we landscaped the area.

My wife, the creative one in our marriage, could see in her mind’s eye how she wanted the yard to look. She didn’t want to sow grass in the small area. She wanted to mulch it. So, we raked away all the dead briars, cut the suckers from the trees, and removed the dead weeds. After throwing it in the wooded area behind the townhome, we set out for Lowes. Ten bags of mulch later, we were back and spreading. But when we finished, we were one bag short. Back to Lowes we went for another five bags, just in case.

Once we had finished the mulching, we returned to our old townhome and removed the one hundred river rocks with which we had landscaped that yard. We loaded them into the back of my old Explorer—our moving van—one by one and drove three doors down. I handed them to my wife one by one, who carefully outlined our backyard with them. Then, we removed the fifteen landscaping squares in our old yard and made a walking path across the mulch, extending from our patio to the back gate.

After completing the yard, we worked on the fence. We brought the old implements that had hung on our old fence and put them on our new fence. Since I had already planted our garden vegetables, I also had to transplant them.

Seven hours later—with sweat-soaked clothes, clay-laced hands, and brown-mulched skin—we stood and admired the transformation we had created. “I wish I had taken a before picture,” my wife said as we looked over our new backyard. I wished she had, too.

Once we placed our patio furniture, our new little garden area was complete. We imagined how pleasant the evenings would be—sitting on our patio, watching the birds and squirrels, and seeing our garden grow.

I think Paul imagined God doing somewhat the same with people. From heaven—or everywhere since he’s omnipresent—God watches us and works in our lives, as my wife and I did with our new backyard. Paul calls it a transformation.

We need transformation because we aren’t what we should be or what God wants. Born with a sinful nature, we’ll travel the wrong path almost every time we’re given the chance. Although we may make some good choices, the bad will outweigh the good because of our sinful bent. Only God can transform that. And he does when we invite him into our lives, repent of our sins, and ask him for forgiveness.

Christ’s forgiveness propels us in God’s direction instead of the selfish one we’re born with. God transforms us so we don’t look, act, or think as we once did. As we submit to the process, we begin to see beauty in our lives we never could have mustered before. Through our obedience to the spiritual disciples of prayer, Bible study, and corporate worship, God turns us into something we almost don’t recognize. Nor do others.

I explained our new backyard to others by praising my wife’s creative genius and our hard work. We explained our new way of life by praising God’s grace and creative genius.

Make sure you are submitting to God’s transforming work.

Father, help me to submit to your transforming work in my life.

Tweetable: Are you letting God transform you? 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

Freezing Out Temptation - Martin Wiles

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. James 1:14 NLT

The humungous concrete trough begged us to place our parched toes in its tantalizing coolness.

Life on the farm was different every day. My cousin and I could find more adventures than we had time for. We sat around this particular day, thinking about what we could do. Where we sat was on a ledge just above a concrete trough filled with green water.

Running around barefoot wasn’t uncommon. Why not plunge our dirty, parched feet into this water? We did. Within a few days, I noticed a circle on my foot. When I showed it to Mom, she immediately took me to the doctor, who froze it. The stagnant water had produced ringworm.

While the freezing process was somewhat unpleasant, this infestation wasn’t as deadly as the one James speaks of. The sinful nature we’re born with leads us into temptations of various types and degrees and drags us into sinful activities and thoughts. Of course, Satan and his demonic hordes are involved, but we don’t need any help being bad.

Satan, however, often provides the stagnant water that draws our attention to areas we should avoid. With Eve, it was fruit from the one tree God told her and Adam to leave alone. For King Saul, it was a jealous spirit. With David, it was sexual lust. For the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, it was power and an attitude of spiritual superiority.

God, however, provides the strength to freeze out a pattern of sinful activity. We must put forth the effort. We know our nature and what our weaknesses are. Satan learns them and uses them to his advantage. When we live with a desire for holiness and purity, We’ll make a valid attempt to stay away from people and situations we know will pull us down and entice us to sin.

Even as a young boy, I probably had better sense than to put my feet in stagnant water—but I did it anyway. When we’re determined to live a holy lifestyle, we’ll depend on God to give us direction and stop us from putting our feet—and eyes and hands--where they don’t belong.

Let God help you freeze out temptation.

Father, remind me you will never let me be tempted beyond what I can bear with your help. 

Tweetable: Are you freezing out temptation? 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

Why We’re Here - Martin Wiles

Should I pray, “Father, save me from what lies ahead?” But that is the very reason why I came. John 12:27 NLT

Our reason for existence sometimes takes time to discover.

As a child, staying with my paternal grandparents was second nature. When I was pre-school age, my grandmother was my babysitter. I rode with her in her 1930s green Chevy and helped her ring doorbells—though I never heard her say, “Avon calling.”

One day--then in middle school--while sitting beside my grandmother, I confessed: “I think God wants me to be a Bible teacher.” I had accepted Christ several years before and now considered why God had placed me on earth. Although it took cascading through some years of rebellion, I finally succumbed to God’s will. Sure enough, I became a Bible teacher and a pastor. God’s plan for me has changed and developed, but I’m still reminded of when I discovered why God placed me here.

Though God, Jesus was also human and, like everyone, had to discover why he was on earth. We can’t be sure when the Father revealed that, but he did. The thought of the cross repulsed Jesus, but he knew it was why he was here.

Above all else, we’re here to glorify God. He created us, and our thoughts and actions should reflect him to others by their purity and holiness. Jesus said we should let our lights shine so that others can see him through us and glorify the Father in heaven.

We’re here to serve God. Beyond loving him with our entire being—which Jesus said was the greatest commandment--we’re to love and serve others. Jesus even went so far as to say that’s how we serve him. Sharing God’s love is vital to our walk with him. We share by telling why Jesus was here, showing the difference he can make in a person’s life, and giving ourselves to him and others.

We’re here to allow God to form us in Christ’s image. Sometimes, we don’t enjoy the avenues God chooses to do that, but bucking him won’t yield the results he wants. Submission and obedience will.

When we live out the reason God put us here, we’ll enjoy life and live it fully.

Father, thank you for creating me with purpose. Guide me to live out your plan for my life. 

Tweetable: Have you discovered why you are here? 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

Chicken and Rice Perlo

Ingredients

7 BONELESS/SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS

2 CUPS MINUTE RICE

LARGE CARTON OF CHICKEN BROTH

1 STICK OF BUTTER

SALT/PEPPER

½ TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER

½ TEASPOON ONION POWDER

16 OUNCES SOUR CREAM

1 CAN CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP

Directions 

BOIL CHICKEN IN WATER, BUTTER, SALT/PEPPER, GARLIC, AND ONION POWDER UNTIL TENDER.

REMOVE CHICKEN FROM BROTH, SHRED, AND RETURN TO BROTH.

ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS AND SIMMER ON LOW UNTIL RICE IS TENDER.

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

Finalizing the Final Affairs - Martin Wiles

Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness. 2 Kings 20:1 NLT

Handling final affairs can be sobering but helpful.

Sometime before my father died, he arranged most of his final affairs. Although he never visited the funeral home and selected a casket, he did have his order of service mapped out, as well as a burial site chosen. This made it much easier on Mom and us boys when he died.

Later, when Mom remarried, she and her new husband went even further. Even though they decided to keep the original burial plots they had selected from previous marriages, they redrew their wills. Mom, too, has planned out her funeral service. The only thing we three sons will have to do is choose her casket.

Finalizing our final affairs isn’t pleasant, but it’s wise. King Hezekiah faced his mortality when he became deathly ill. Isaiah the prophet visited him and told him to arrange his affairs. He would soon die.

A loved one’s death is taxing on a family. Having a will made so a particular state can’t take what doesn’t belong to them—or so the family members won’t get bottled up in legal battles as they divide the loved one’s estate--is vital. What a will states doesn’t always please family members, but having one is still more advantageous than not.

Picking out a burial plot and then taking a trip to the funeral home to select a casket and make arrangements to pay for final affairs isn’t a bad idea either. No one enjoys facing their mortality, but already having the final details taken care of gives the family more time to grieve properly.

Whether or not we want it to be, life is brief—even when it’s eighty or more years. Anne Bradstreet, one of the two noted poets from Puritan America—in writing of the death of her grandchild—wrote:

Or sigh thy days so soon were terminate

Sith thou are settled in an everlasting state.

Though life is tenuous and uncertain—as is proven every day by terrorist acts, natural disasters, and other tragedies--we don’t have to live with fear. Bradstreet concluded her poem with the line: “Is by His hand alone that guides nature and fate.”

Planning your final affairs is prudent; ensuring your life is securely in God’s care is even more so.

Father, knowing life is precious but brief, help me to live prepared to meet you. 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

Trusting the Unseen - Martin Wiles

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:17 NLT

Financial crunches sometimes reveal the unseen.

Ours was a financial crunch like we hadn’t seen lately. The payment for our low-mileage used car drained from our bank account, so we had to decide. As much as we hated parting with it, we had to let our car go back. In its place, we purchased an older vehicle of the same model with more miles. The seller advertised it as having 100K and told us before we gave it a test drive that the odometer only worked periodically.

As we drove down the road, we discovered he was right—at least in one respect. The odometer wasn’t showing the mileage. But then, suddenly, the mileage appeared. Although the owner had been truthful about the odometer, he hadn’t been about the mileage. One hundred thousand was 205,000. Now we had another decision.

Three years later, we didn’t regret our decision to purchase it. We experienced no trouble, even though we rarely saw the odometer. Occasionally, it appeared--long enough for us to know it was working and to mentally note the mileage so we could tell the service attendant the next time we had the oil changed. We trusted the unseen.

A foreign king hounded the prophet Elisha, wanting to end his life. When Elisha’s servant saw the army surrounding him and his master, he cried out in fear: “What will we do now?” Elisha prayed that God would help him see the unseen—and God did. The hillside around them ignited with horses and chariots of fire. Elisha trusted the unseen.

The times I’ve seen God’s hand at work in vivid color are somewhat like the odometer on that car—rarely seen. But they come around regularly enough to let me know he’s continually working behind the scenes. My life is in his hands, and he is constantly working to form me into his Son’s image, to protect me from unforeseen danger, and to supply my every need—even if it’s an older model car with high mileage. Through explicit and unexplainable occurrences—as well as through the kindness of others--God leads us to trust his unseen hand.

We don’t always observe God’s hand, but he lovingly controls the world and faithfully works to provide for our needs. Trust him in the unseen.

Father, thank you for letting me know you work behind the scenes even when I can’t see your hand. 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.

The Go Bag - Lynne Phipps

Help me welcome my good friend, Lynne Phipps, as a new writer for Love Lines from God. 

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:10 NIV

When a friend of mine was evacuated from his home and then town because of a wildfire, I asked him if he had taken all his important legal papers, identification, and medical files with him. He told me he had not. He had simply left quickly. My friend did not have what has come to be known as “a go bag.”

One keeps a go bag ready in case of an emergency evacuation notice, something that is happening frequently due to the shift in weather patterns our world is experiencing. Fires, floods, landslides, hurricanes, tornados, and the like can come on us with little or sometimes no warning. Having a go bag ready and waiting can make a huge difference when dealing with long-term evacuations or the possible loss of our home and property.

Similarly, the Scriptures remind us that the day of the Lord’s return will also come upon us when we least expect it. When that day comes, we will not have time to prepare to meet our heavenly Father. The time will have passed to ready our spiritual go bag. We will be evacuated to an eternity spent with or without God.

John writes, “And this is the testimony (statement or proof): God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11,12 NIV).

Jesus, the Son of God, offers us our spiritual go bag for free. It is known as salvation. Knowing him as our personal Lord and Saviour and trusting him for the forgiveness of our sins, which makes us holy and acceptable to God, assures us that our name is written in God’s Book of Life. Not knowing Christ, however, condemns us to judgment and eternal death in the lake of fire known as Hades. 

Each one of us is going to be evacuated from this earth, whether by death or through the return of Jesus. This is a fact, a given. The question is whether we are ready. 

Is the Spirit of Jesus residing within your heart through accepting the gift of salvation? Make sure your go bag is ready.

Lord God, may my eyes be opened to see the need of the peoples of the world for salvation so that I can help them prepare their spiritual go bag. In Christ’s name, amen.

Tweetable: Do you have your go bag ready? 

Lynne Phipps and her family live on a small hobby farm in the heart of Alberta, Canada’s farming country. She has been writing devotions for forty years and never tires of the spiritual correlation the Holy Spirit blesses her with. He uses normal everyday events and the behaviors of the multitude of glorious creatures He has brought across her path to point her to the truths of God. Lynne is a devotion writer for VineWords: Devotions and More.

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book 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.