Fatal Attraction - Martin Wiles

So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. Hebrews 13:9 NLT

The attraction almost always ends in death. 

Native to the wetlands of North and South Carolina is the Venus Flytrap. What makes the plant odd is that it’s a carnivorous plant, which means it eats meat—particularly insects and arachnids. The leaves of the plant are bright red, but the leaves are also decorated with tiny hairs. If an insect brushes two of the hairs within twenty seconds, the leaf closes, trapping its prey. The trapping mechanism is so sophisticated it can distinguish between a drop of rain and the prey that will provide sustenance. The meshwork of hairs allows smaller prey to escape, while encasing larger and more nutritious prey—subjects of a fatal attraction. 

The early church preached a simple message: Jesus Christ was the Messiah, he died for the sins of humanity, and God raised him to life. Unfortunately, fatal attractions lingered. The main one was preached by Jewish legalists who insisted observing Jewish ceremonies and customs was necessary for salvation. Believing this distorted the pure gospel. 

I’ve witnessed quite a few fatal attractions in my lifetime—beginning with the hippie movement. Some of their religious ideas were unbiblical and proved fatal. Mixed in were the Hare Krishna’s, along with a number of other attractive cults. Also in the mix were Christian legalists who weren’t much unlike the Jewish legalists of the first century—just with a different list of do’s and don’t’s. 

Fatal attractions still attract. They’re embodied in anything that attempts to draw my attention away from the pure gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. 

The uncontaminated gospel is encased in the two greatest commands: love God with my entire being and others as myself. My strength to avoid the fatal attractions—or distractions—comes from God alone. I can’t muster it nor can any person or substance deliver it. God’s grace, however, is always sufficient. 

Are there fatal attractions attracting you?

Prayer: Father, turn our eyes away from the fatal attractions that would distract us from serving You.

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Consistency Amidst Inconsistency - Martin Wiles

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 NLT

She was the most inconsistent person I’d ever met…but she was my boss. 

In an office predominantly stocked by females, I was only the third male ever hired. For that, I was appreciative. I needed the job. I soon discovered, however, that each day would be different. I was hired for a particular position but didn’t occupy that spot until months later. Rather, I was put in another position, then another, and then another. From day to day, I never knew what my duties might entail. 

One day, I might be a teller, the next a cleaner upper, and the next a supervisor. Nor did I ever know what type of mood my boss would be in when she arrived at the office. One day, she might be playful and humorous and the next morose and serious. Working for her was a challenge because of her inconsistency.  

Due to the day of Pentecost and the birth of the church, the first century was changing also. No longer were Jewish customs and ceremonies needed or required. Early apostles were simply saying a person needed to trust in the crucified and resurrected Christ. 

Technology has brought a constant flow of change in my life. No sooner do I learn to maneuver one smart phone than another comes out and I have to learn all over again. As soon as I get comfortable with one computer operating system, it is changed to look and function in a different way.

Thankfully, among all life’s variables there is a constant variable: Jesus Christ. Belief in his sacrifice on Calvary was my path to salvation initially, and I don’t have to fear he’ll change the way. Faith was sufficient in the beginning, and it will be in the end. He isn’t fickle as I and others often are. He doesn’t keep me guessing about whether he and I are on good terms. 

In an ever changing world, Christ is the only constant. Trusting in him will never lead me in the wrong direction. Is he your constant?

Prayer: Father, we thank You that the way to You will never change.

Three people are busy with personal tragedies —until a car crash brings them together and changes their lives forever. Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to order. 

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Making The World A Better Place

No authentic record of his birth exists. Of the seven children his mother birthed, only three survived. His mother’s death and his father’s alcoholism left him to care for his younger brothers when he was only a teenager. 

Ludwig van Beethoven’s promising career seemed over when at 26 he began experiencing hearing loss. Other life struggles followed-some of which may have led to his untimely death at 56, but his contributions to the world of classical music are immeasurable. He remains one of the world’s most influential composers with a genre that includes 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, 5 concertos for piano and 9 symphonies. Read more...

Midville newcomer and Iraq War widow, Dorie Fitzgerald, despises the frigid Adirondack wasteland that has now become her home. After twenty failed job interviews, she questions the wisdom of moving to be near her parents. Use coupon MWiles and receive 20% off. Click here to order. 

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Remember Your Leaders - Martin Wiles

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. Hebrews 13:7 NLT

I was a teenager and experimenting with things I should have left alone. At the time, he was my Sunday School teacher. I don’t remember the lesson, but I do recall what he said when referring to some acts of vandalism I was involved in—acts he didn’t know I was a part of: “We need to pray for the person or persons who did this.” His words convicted me, and I eventually straightened up.

I watched this same humble gentleman serve as chairman of the deacons, sing in the choir, and lead on other untold committees. He offered public prayers and always had an encouraging word for others. He visited the sick at home and in the hospital and wasn’t paid for it. He lived a good long life and provided a superb example of leadership.

As the early missionaries traveled from region to region and town to town establishing churches, they installed elders in each one. They were to be men whose lives reflected obedience to God and an ongoing developing spiritual maturity. They were charged with the spiritual care of the congregation.

The saying, “It’s lonely at the top,” is often true for leaders—secular or spiritual. I’ve been there; I know. Friends can be few and far between because of your position. Employees or church members can reject you because of decisions you make that affect their lives. Backbiting among the followers can be rife. Resignations can be asked for by the powers that be. 

My responsibility is to pray for my spiritual leaders and mentors. They need the type of direction and courage only God can give. They’ve been faithful to what God charged them with, and I need to be faithful in making petitions for them. Rather than tearing them down, I need to build them up. When they are the quality of spiritual leader they should be, I can hold them up as a role model for myself. 

What can you do for those who are leading you?

Prayer: Father, thank You for those spiritual leaders You place in our paths. Prompt us to pray for them that they might find the spiritual strength and wisdom they need. 

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Living with Contentment - Martin Wiles

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5 NLT

Marvin was a discontented kind of guy. If he didn’t have the latest cell phone, he would immediately purchase it when it came out. Other electronic gadgets intrigued him as well. He always had the latest television, video game, computer, IPad, etc.

After two years of owning any vehicle, Marvin was tired of it. Trade in time. Homes didn’t grow on him too long either. He’d never stayed in one long enough to pay off his mortgage. He didn’t fare any better in relationships. He’d been through three marriages, a string of almost marriages, and was presently working on his fourth. No woman seemed to satisfy him for very long. Contentment wasn’t in Marvin’s vocabulary.

Being satisfied with what I have is a tough directive. How can I tune out all those enticements to try this, buy this, rent this, or trade this? If I’m not spending money, there’s always someone who wants me to invest it. 

Money must enter any conversation about contentment because money is what our economies are based on. I can’t pay the doctor in chickens or offer to cut his grass in exchange for an office visit or surgery on my big toe.  

In spite of money’s prominent place in my life—and society’s attempt to keep me focused on it, I can learn contentment. Less is more is one key to contentment. I don’t have to heed the common message that only by having more will I be happy. 

What God has given me, he also wants me to share. And I don’t have to wait until I have an abundance to do so. He can take little and make much. Rather than listening to media sources remind me how much and what I don’t have, I can focus on being happy with what God has given me. He knows what and how much I can handle responsibly. 

Are you content with what God has given you?

Prayer: Father, help us to know the contentment that comes from trusting You fully.

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Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Losing The Idols

Rodney was a rising star in Little League baseball, but an unusual sermon changed his focus.

Teammates and coaches loved it when Rodney played on their team. He was a star hitter and a more than fair pitcher. But baseball wasn’t Rodney’s idol. He was overly concerned with his appearance and he’d been on a health kick for some time. His diet consisted of nutritious food instead of the junk pre-teens normally consume. And his exercise program was rigorous. Read more...

When Marcy Farris comes face to face with a murder victim at a high school football game, she’s plunged into a game no one wants to play. Use coupon MWiles for a 20% discount. Click here to order.

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Free in Christ - Martin Wiles

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

On July 4, the United States of America celebrates her freedom-a freedom won originally from England but a freedom that continues to cost human lives.

Our original march toward freedom was expressed by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

While our freedom is maintained by those in our armed forces, it’s expressed by citizens choosing who will govern them. But not all in the young nation enjoyed the privilege of voting. Women didn’t receive the right until 1920. Native Americans and African Americans legally won the right in 1870 with the Fifteenth Amendment but didn’t realize it in practice until 1924 and 1965 respectively. 

While freedom from another nation’s control and freedom to choose our rulers are tremendous freedoms, they aren’t the greatest. Jesus tells us what it is. 

A relationship with Jesus Christ frees us from sin’s penalty, sin’s power and eventually sin’s presence. The wages of sin may be death but the gift of God in Christ is eternal life (Romans 6:23). Believers are no longer under condemnation. Jesus paid our sin debt on Calvary, and we don’t have to send further payments. 

Christ gives us a new nature (II Corinthians 5:17). Through the power and presence of his Spirit, he teaches us how to live above sinful habits that once drug us down. And when we enter heaven, we won’t have to worry about sin period (Revelation 21:3-4). 

Are you enjoying freedom in Christ?

Prayer: Thank You Heavenly Father for the freedoms we experience through our relationship with You.

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Keeping the Commitment - Martin Wiles

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Hebrews 13:4 NLT

“If it wouldn’t ruin his ministry, I’d think about leaving him,” she said. 

But she never did. In fact, she stayed with him for over 50 years and until he took his final breath. I watched my mom endure moving from place to place, continually having to put her sons in different schools, repeatedly having to change employment, adapting to new surroundings and churches, and putting up with everything that goes along with bring a preacher’s wife. 

Mom wasn’t the only one in my family I saw exhibit marital commitment though. My paternal grandparents were married 60 plus years and were even placed in the same nursing home in the end. My grandmother held my grandfather’s hand as he took his final breath. My maternal grandparents hung in there together until the end as well. My grandmother waited on my grandfather hand and foot after strokes continued to take away his abilities.  

Unfortunately, in American society immorality—rather than love and stick-to-it-iveness, seems to be the norm. Living together before marriage is common and socially accepted by most. What better way to determine if we’re compatible with each other, the philosophy goes. Quickie divorces are also common. If we can’t work our disagreements out with very little fanfare, it’s over. Must have married the wrong person. Didn’t bargain for this.  

Marriage is an honorable estate, not to be entered into lightly. God performed the first one in the Garden of Eden thousands of years ago, and he designed theirs to be an example. 

I certainly don’t have a perfect marriage, but I intend to stick by my spouse until she or I breathe our last—regardless of what comes before that time. I’m faithful to her, and I expect the same in return. I don’t plan to be one of those persons whom God will have to judge for an immoral lifestyle. God gave me a wonderful treasure, and I plan to treasure her. 

Does your view of marriage align with God’s?

Prayer: Father, guide us to faithfulness in our marital relationships knowing they are pictures of Your relationship to us, the church.

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Where’s The Missing Piece?

I’ve never been challenged by one. Annoyed is more like it.

Jigsaw puzzles aren’t my forte. Trying to arrange 500 small pieces of cardboard into what it originally was isn’t my idea of a fun day. But I’ve known people who could sit for hours pouring over the tiny pieces until they completed the project. Assembling the border is typically easy, but finding the missing pieces that make up the center can be challenging. Read more...

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Entertaining Angels - Martin Wiles

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Hebrews 13:2 NLT

The promise was an old one. 

He’d prayed that his wife would be able to conceive and give him a child—hopefully a male child. In his spirit, he thought he had heard God tell him it would happen in time. Years went by…nothing. 

Now he and his wife were long past the age of having and rearing children. Then one day out of the blue—as he was lounging in his tent under a cool shade tree, three men appeared out of nowhere. He hadn’t had company to entertain in quite some time, so he welcomed them in and instructed his servants to prepare some food. 

Strangely, one of the strangers asked where his wife was. She was resting in the tent. Then came a startling announcement, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife will have a son.” His wife heard the announcement and laughed silently—or so she thought. The stranger heard her and cautioned her not to doubt God. The next year they were holding a son. 

Abraham and Sarah haven’t been the only ones in history to entertain angels and not know it. Old Testament Gideon and Manoah did as well. Not until the angel left did they understand what had happened. They often show up as strangers. 

With the exception of the first three months of my existence, I’ve lived in the South my entire life. One characteristic of the South that so many appreciate is our friendliness. Being spoken to, waved at, or smiled at by strangers is a typical thing. Strangers aren’t afraid to make eye contact with other strangers. In fact, if you walk around without doing those things, you’ll be considered the odd one out. 

I admit my hesitancy to help strangers. Our world is dangerous—and many people are untrustworthy, but it doesn’t unwind my responsibility to help those God places in my path. If he puts them there, I must trust him to protect me as I serve them. 

Are you open to entertaining strangers…or angels?

Prayer: Father, open our eyes to helping those You place in our paths.

Selena’s hope seemed to vanish long ago when her dad kicked her and her mom out of the house. Use coupon MWiles for 20% off ebook. Click here to order. 

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Living with a Thankful Spirit - Martin Wiles

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. Hebrews 12:28 NLT

I received his message as I sat down at my computer to write. The message read simply, “I’ve been enjoying your Love Lines. Can you send me your number?” 

Ironically, I had just thought about my friend a week or so before. Almost eight years had passed since we’d sat down and reminisced. He and I had been work associates right after we graduated from high school—36 years ago, but our lives had taken us in different directions. Periodically, we’d spend some time catching up. Excitedly, I sent him my number. 

Within five minutes, my phone rang. His voice sounded the same—his spirit just as chipper as I remember it always had been. For the next thirty minutes, we caught up on the last eight years. I was thankful I had a good friend. Though the miles separated us, I knew I could depend on him if I truly needed him. 

First century inhabitants also had reason to be thankful if they listened to and accepted the message of the early apostles. Their contemporaries may have killed Jesus and placed his body in a cold tomb, but God had raised him up and validated salvation for anyone who chose to believe. An eternal kingdom awaited them.

I’m not always as thankful as I should be. Sometimes it takes a call from an old acquaintance to remind me what I’ve had and what I still have. Among the many things I don’t have on earth that I might enjoy having, the eternal things ahead outweigh them all and should prompt me to give thanks in the present.

I have a promise from an eternal God that he knows and will supply my needs and a further promise that he has an eternal home prepared for me to enjoy. By worshiping him in truth and spirit, I show my thankfulness for these two promises and many more he gives. 

Are you demonstrating a thankful spirit?

Prayer: Father, we thank You for all that’s good and for Your love for us. 

The war claimed Daphne Kelley’s young husband’s life, but it couldn’t keep Raymond. Use coupon MWiles for 20% off ebook. Click here to order. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Finish What You Start

I couldn’t help but notice it sitting idly in the field. Every morning on my way to work I passed it. Why did no one finish it? What was completed was beautiful, but neglect was quickly overtaking the beauty. Piles of unused dirt lay scattered about, and weeds were rapidly overtaking the property.

Unfinished homes are familiar even though the whys of their status may be elusive. Read more...

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