Traveling with Firm Footing - Martin Wiles

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:33 NLT

I learned the art of careful walking while backpacking in the mountains. Trails were littered with rocks, roots, and dead leaves, making the path uneven and slippery. If I wasn’t careful, I could twist my ankle, catch my foot on a root, or slip on wet leaves. More than once, my feet magically disappeared from under me. 

Having to watch my step while hiking made me wish I was like a deer. While visiting our friends in Henderson, Colorado, we traveled to the Rocky Mountain State Park. The mountains are aptly named and peered at us through the car window as we wound around the curves. Suddenly, they were there, and we pulled over for a better view. Mountain goats. They were like deer—surefooted. They scaled the rocky surfaces—never slipping, as I would have. 

I doubt the psalmist meant God gave him the ability to climb a mountain without falling, though he was familiar with mountains. The mountains he needed help climbing are like ours: financial, spiritual, emotional, relational, educational, and parental. I’ve discovered life is filled with such mountains. The psalmist scaled them because God steadied his feet. 

Slipping on the mountains we climb is inevitable if we don’t let God help us scale the heights. Through prayer, meditation on his Word, and wise counsel, God gives us the wisdom to take the right step. Even when we neglect these things and fall, he’s more than happy to pick us up, steady our feet, and nudge us along. 

Although we sometimes fall out of neglect, we periodically fall because God lets us. Falls teach important lessons. We need to pray before we make decisions. When we make decisions that take us out of God’s will, he will discipline us because he loves us. Occasionally, God leads us over rocky, slippery paths to prepare us for an upcoming assignment. 

While it’s our responsibility to watch the path we’re traveling, God will give us sure footing so we can travel it. 

Travel your life paths with confidence. God will give you sure footing as you walk each one. 

Father, I trust you for the ability to travel each path on which you lead me. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.

Po Man's BBQ Chicken and Bacon Hoagie

 

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen Tyson’s Shredded Chicken

1 bottle BBQ sauce

1 pound of bacon

Tomatoes

Muenster Cheese

Hoagie Buns

Directions

Thaw chicken and place in a crock pot on low.

Mix in barbecue sauce and cook until warm.

Fry bacon and set aside.

Place cheese, bacon, BBQ chicken, and tomatoes on a hoagie bun.

Toast in a toaster oven. 

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To Forgive or Not to Forgive - Martin Wiles

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

To forgive or not to forgive, that is life’s dilemma.

Mickey had faced a lot in life. He’d had to forgive his first wife for walking out on him. So he wasn’t prepared for the words his second wife whispered one night in their bedroom: “I don’t love you anymore.” 

Mickey’s world also crumbled when he learned his wife had been unfaithful. Containing his anger took every ounce of energy he had. When his wife finally walked out, forgiveness was the last thing on his mind. When it became clear the marriage was not salvageable, he had to choose: forgive her and move on, or resent her and be miserable. 

God’s choice was similar. He created humans, placed them in a garden where all their needs were met, and gave them one prohibition. Shortly thereafter, they failed the test. He could assign them and their descendants a murky future or forgive them and provide a way for reconciliation. He chose the latter and made a path of reclamation that was foreshadowed by the skins he secured to cover their nakedness.

Thousands of years later, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice that those first animal skins had symbolized. But why couldn’t God simply forgive without the gruesome suffering the cross demonstrated? The answer lies in the association between forgiveness and suffering. The first always entails the second.

Choosing to forgive entails suffering. If someone wrongs us and we choose not to forgive, resentment, hatred, anger, and plans for revenge will assume the place of forgiveness. We may think refusing to forgive hurts the other person, but we’re the one who suffers. Doing the opposite, forgiving, also involves suffering. 

Our willingness to forgive automatically brings suffering because we release someone from a debt they owe us for a wrong they’ve committed against us. Doing so goes against our human nature and brings pain. Jesus showed how to do it well. God allowed him to take on our sin so we could receive his righteousness. When we forgive others, we assume the pain they deserve to endure for hurting us. 

God forgave because he loves. He gives us the power to do the same. Let Him teach you how to forgive those who’ve wronged you. Failing to forgive leads to a life of misery.

Father, give me the grace and strength to follow your example of forgiveness. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.

Where Can We Find Absolute Truth - Martin Wiles

God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. Psalm 18:30 NLT

Befriending a liar is taxing.

Ben was a friend who entered my family through marriage. Initially, I took everything he said at face value. Then I talked with someone who had known him longer than I had. Suddenly, Ben’s stories took on a new appearance. His stories seemed too good to be true. Perhaps the truth was somewhere in the story, but he embellished it so much that it was unrecognizable. My friendship with Ben never became what it could have been because I couldn’t trust his words as the whole truth. 

Ann also entered my family through marriage. Whereas Ben exaggerated to make himself look better or to make his stories more interesting, Ann told plain lies. Not so much in what she said as in what she withheld. As with Ben, I initially took her words at face value. Then I spoke with people who had known her longer than I had. Their stories agreed: “You can’t believe anything she says. She’s a perpetual liar.”  

But the story doesn’t stop with two. Charlie, another family member by marriage, also struggled to tell the truth. Not initially when she entered the family, but later when she went through some type of mid-life crisis. Deciding whether I could believe her made associating with her taxing—and unpleasant. 

Thankfully, God doesn’t mince words, renege on his word, or utter untruths. Every command God gives has a purpose, and every promise he makes will come to pass. Friends and family who keep their word and speak the truth are much easier to have relationships with. When we’re never lied to, we never have to worry about whether what they say is true. We accept it as fact. 

Every word God speaks is truth. In a time when many wonder where to find truth, I’m betting my life on the truth of God’s Word. It testifies to its own inspiration, relevance, and freedom from error. God’s Spirit inspired the writers, and they penned what He wanted them to say. God’s truth has stood the test of time and will endure to the end of time. 

When you’re looking for something you can depend upon, look to God’s Word. 

Father, I thank you for giving me your Word, which is dependable, trustworthy, inspired, and profitable in any situation we face. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.

What if Your Guide Is Blind - Martin Wiles

They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. Matthew 15:4 NLT

He stared at her until she got up and exited the building.

Spring had arrived, and our church needed to schedule one of our two annual revivals. But one year, we decided to hold only one and hire a full-time evangelist.  

A church member had recently begun a van ministry. Each Sunday, she faithfully picked up kids from the neighborhood and brought them to church. We never saw any of their parents—until one night during our revival. 

A young mother with a small child walked in and sat near the front. Her baby was restless, the preacher was preaching passionately, and the mother was trying to quiet her. I saw irritation wash over the revivalist’s face as the mother kept sitting and listening while her baby whimpered. See, we had no scheduled nursery—we had no nursery-age children in the church—and no one got up and offered to take the small child to our nursery. 

Then it happened. He stopped preaching and gave her the Aren’t-you-going-to-leave stare. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, she did. We never saw her or her child again. A potential believer was lost. I suppose the evangelist believed the adage, “children should be seen and not heard.” I wondered where he found that in the Bible. I also wondered whether he ever felt any shame about turning away someone who needed and wanted to hear about Jesus. 

Those Jesus called blind guides were not dastardly criminals, but religious leaders. It’s ironic that he called them that, but they led people astray with their traditions and added interpretations to God’s law. Jesus corrected them with scathing words. 

Traditions can be good or bad, but even good ones become bad when we elevate them to the same level as God’s Word and then make others feel guilty for not obeying them. This makes us blind guides, and our destiny is to fall into a ditch. Our hypocritical actions will lead others farther from God, not closer to him. 

God wants us to share his truth, not the interpretations or traditions we’ve developed around it. His truth—and his truth alone—sets people free. 

Don’t let your traditions or personal convictions hinder you from delivering God’s simple truth to others. 

Father, I thank you for your truth. May I faithfully deliver it, without adding anything. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.

POSSUM PIE

Ingredients

1 LARGE INSTANT CHOCOLATE PUDDING    

1 LARGE COOL WHIP  

1 PACKAGE OF OREO COOKIES

Directions

PREPARE PUDDING AS DIRECTED FOR PIE FILLING. LET SET. 

WHEN PUDDING IS SET, FOLD IN COOL WHIP AND CRUSHED COOKIES.

REFRIGERATE UNTIL READY TO SERVE.

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.

Surrender Is Not Giving Up - Douglas Vandergraph

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV 

Quitting and surrendering are different. Quitting says, “Nothing matters, so I am done.” Surrender says, “God matters more than my need to control the outcome.” From the outside, both can look like letting go. Inside the heart, they move in opposite directions.

Trust becomes difficult when we can see only part of the road. We want explanations before obedience and guarantees before peace.

But surrender does not mean becoming passive. It means doing what is ours to do and releasing what is not ours to control. We can make the phone call, prepare carefully, apologize sincerely, work diligently, seek wise counsel, and pray faithfully. We cannot force another person’s response, manufacture an opportunity, or command tomorrow to cooperate.

Jesus modeled surrender in Gethsemane. He did not pretend the suffering ahead was easy. Instead, He prayed honestly and then entrusted Himself to the Father’s will. That is not defeat. That is faith under pressure.

Today, identify the outcome you keep trying to control. Name it before God. Then ask, What part is mine to do faithfully, and what part must I release? Do the first with courage. Give the second to God.

Father, show me where control has replaced trust. Give me courage to obey and humility to release what belongs in Your hands. Amen.

Douglas Vandergraph is a Christian writer, Bible teacher, podcaster, and digital creator whose work centers on Jesus Christ, Scripture, spiritual growth, practical encouragement, and long-form Bible study. He has built an extensive free Christian library and a YouTube community of approximately 600,000 subscribers, with more than 2,000 videos across his broader body of work. Douglas writes and speaks to help people connect Jesus’s teachings with grief, prayer, forgiveness, perseverance, purpose, hope, and ordinary life.

Links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

Christian Library / Master Index: https://douglasvandergraph.com/douglas-vandergraph-master-index

Christian Website: https://www.douglasvandergraph.org

Primary Website: https://douglasvandergraph.com

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing 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.