Chewing on Sin - Martin Wiles

Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? 1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT

Nasty. Repulsive. Though he doesn’t know what an adjective is, I could tell these two were circling in his mind. 

My wife recently introduced our middle grandson to table food. We could tell baby food wasn’t satisfying him anymore. Every time he sat down at the table with us to eat, it was evident he wanted the real thing. 

One particular night, my wife cooked a spread of vegetables—broccoli among them. Since his older brother loves broccoli, we assumed he might. Additionally, it’s healthy. My wife mashed up a small piece and placed it in his mouth. His expression was priceless. Not a smile that said, “Give me more,” but a contorted scowl that sent each of us rolling with laughter appeared. Though he continued to chew on it and swallow it, he didn’t enjoy it. 

Paul reminds me my body is a temple of God’s Spirit. He took up residence when I trusted Jesus as my Savior. God’s Old Testament temple was a holy place. Not just anyone or anything could enter. Certainly nothing sinful. Since my body—and not a structure, is now the temple, nothing should change. 

Most of what I chew I swallow. If it’s nasty or repulsive, I normally spit it out. But I have been known to swallow some things I shouldn’t have as well as some things I didn’t particularly enjoy. 

Regardless of what I swallow, it comes out through the digestive process. Jesus says what I swallow through my senses will also. 

Chewing on sinful tendencies, explorations, and thoughts should produce the same contorted expression I witnessed on my grandson. But rather than swallow them as he did the broccoli, I should spit them out. Actually, I should never taste them in the first place. If I ingest them, they will pollute my temple and come out in ways that offend God. 

The best way to keep from chewing on sin is never to taste it in the first place. God’s Word tells us what spiritual food is and isn’t beneficial for us. All we have to do is read the menu. Though pleasurable for the moment, sinful food will never produce anything of lasting value. 

Chew on God’s Word and get the nutrition you need.

Prayer: Father, guide us to the spiritual nourishment that will ensure godly living. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Watching the Tongue

He was a prior police officer and a current fellow pastor and good friend, but idle tongues cost him his present position and almost ruined his reputation.

I pastored on one end of town and he on the other. Riding past his church one day, I observed an adage on the marquee denigrating gossip. A red flag shot up. My friend was counseling a woman with marital trouble, and some in the church assumed the worse. Talk continued in spite of his discretion, and he soon felt it best to resign. Fortunately, he had another career to fall back on, but the church suffered needlessly-and so did his reputation. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Smelling Good for God - Martin Wiles

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15 NLT

Having been antique collectors and dealers for a number of years, my wife and I love the smell of “old.”

How does old smell? Perhaps only those who deal with old things can tell. When I open a book published in the 1800’s, I smell old. When I bought an old oak desk and brought it home, I opened the drawers to the aroma of “old.” “Smell this,” I said to my wife. Recently, we inherited my mother’s first china cabinet. Opening the bottom two cabinets, my wife remarked, “This smells old.” 

While we like things that smell old, we don’t necessarily want our home to smell old. And it can’t because it’s not old. My wife has air fresheners in almost every room, normally along with a few candles. When all are lit or plugged in, a variety of fragrances float through the air, touching every piece of furniture and clothes. We don’t necessarily perceive it while there, but if we leave we notice our clothes smell like our house. 

Paul says our lives are a Christ-like fragrance that ascends to God. Just as my wife and I have fragrances we adore—old being one of them, so God does as well. There are some air fresheners we won’t buy because the aroma repels us. God has special fragrances He enjoys too. Not all that rise to Him will receive a “That smells good” response. 

God loves the fragrance of holiness. He is holy, and He expects the same aroma from His children. While we are given the fragrance of righteousness (holiness) when we trust Christ as our Savior, it takes effort on our part—as well as reliance on God’s indwelling Spirit, to emit that fragrance on a regular basis. Holiness doesn’t happen automatically. Our position must be transferred into practice. 

Only by complete dependence on God’s power—as well as placing ourselves around those things and people that discharge holiness, can we ever hope to smell good for God. Those emitting the same aroma as us will enjoy the similar fragrance, but those emitting sinful aromas will most likely not appreciate our smell. When smelling good for God, we will always face opposition of some type. 

What type of fragrance are you emitting?

Prayer: Father, remind us of who we represent so we can release a fragrance that pleases You and points others to You.

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

First Things First - Martin Wiles

Anyone who wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else. Mark 9:35 NLT

On November 21, 2015, I experienced another first. 

Firsts are important. On this particular day, two of my cousins brought a mahogany china cabinet to our home. The reason it was a first is not because it’s the first one I’ve ever owned but because it was the first piece of furniture my mom ever bought with her own money. She purchased it to hold china she was getting for her upcoming marriage to my Dad. 

After marrying Dad and Uncle Sam calling him up, she gave it to her sister to hold for her because she had no room for it. Recently, my aunt died, and her children returned the piece. Ironically, mom doesn’t have room for it now. We have less room than her, but because it was a “first” we squeezed it in. 

Knowing the human heart’s tendency toward selfishness, Jesus spoke several times about firsts. When asked what the greatest commandment was, He said to put God first. On this occasion, He was correcting His disciples who were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Jesus said it was the one who was willing to become a servant. 

My most important first was August 31, 1960—the day I sucked my first breath of outside air and entered this world. The second was nine years later when I was born again—the day I recognized I was a sinner and needed Jesus’ forgiveness. 

Putting first things first entails recognizing our sinful bent, asking Jesus to forgive our sins, and committing our lives to Him. Without this first, other firsts will be of little if any value. This first first should lead to a second first: humility. Jesus’ disciples wanted to rule, but Jesus reminded them firstness came from serving not lording. Pride gets us nowhere with God—or others. Humility, on the other hand, is praised by God and normally others. 

When we love God above all other people and things, serving becomes much easier. Jesus says we’ll be rewarded if we offer a mere cup of cold water to someone in His name. We serve God by adopting a servant mindset. We achieve firstness by serving even though it might appear we’re not first at all. 

In the midst of the many things that clamor for your attention, ask God to help you put first things first. 

Prayer: Father, as we set priorities in life, guide us to put first things first: You, our families, our churches, and others. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Speaking Truth

She was in a precarious situation. Was it acceptable to lie?

The battle commander assembled his troops and made plans to defeat his quarry. Little did Rahab know she was part of the strategy but would be faced with an ethical dilemma in the process. The army’s incursion was delayed until a report from two spies was received…two spies who happened upon Rahab’s house. When the king sent sentries to capture them, Rahab hid them beneath piles of flax and said, They left the city at dusk, as the city gates were about to close, and I don’t know where they went (Joshua 2:5 NLT).

Rahab’s predicament is one which believers don’t unanimously agree on…Is it ever permissible to lie? Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Perspectives on Possessions - Martin Wiles

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:19-20 NLT

Extravagant beyond imagination was all that ran through my mind. 

George Vanderbilt created Biltmore in 1895 for family and friends as an escape from everyday life. His descendents still own this magnificent display of wealth that rests beautifully on 8,000 acres of land. After six years of construction, George officially opened the estate on Christmas Eve for himself, his wife Edith, and their daughter Cornelia. 

As my wife and I and hundreds of others toured selected rooms of this immaculate estate, we witnessed opulence at its best. A banquet hall that once sat 38 people around a large oak table, a Billiard Room, a library where nearly half of Mr. Vanderbilt’s 23,000 volume collection lines the walls in floor to ceiling bookcases, guest bedrooms with private bathrooms, a bowling alley, and a 70,000 gallon indoor swimming pool. 

I couldn’t help but wonder what George Vanderbilt thought about Jesus’ warning against storing up wealth on earth. But then again, was Jesus really saying it was a sin to do so? Perhaps His warning was only against the dangers of what wealth can do to our focus. 

Earthly possessions may pretend to grant happiness—as they did for the Vanderbilt’s, their family, and their many guests—but if the state of happiness disappears when the possessions do, then happiness was never truly experienced in the first place. 

Possessions can be used foolishly or for God’s purposes. Many people still enjoy the elegance of the Vanderbilt Estate. King Solomon was the wealthiest man ever to live, but he divided his loyalties and possessions between the one true God and the false gods of his many wives. My possessions are given by God and should be used to advance His Kingdom. 

Nor can I take my possessions with me when I die. Mr. Vanderbilt left all his behind at 51. No doubt, he ensured through a will that his family inherited what he had labored for. Wills are essential, but I’ll still leave what I’ve amassed behind. Jesus says I should store my goods in heaven, and this I do by service to Him. 

Possessions are temporary, but they have eternal implications. We can use them selfishly and be poor eternally or use them to benefit others and God’s work and be rich eternally. Which are you doing?

Prayer: Father, guide us to understand that all we have comes from You and should be used for Your honor and glory. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

When God Hides - Martin Wiles

But they didn’t know who he was, because God kept them from recognizing him. Luke 24:16 NLT

Hiding appears to be a normal part of life. Perhaps, it’s a part of that sinful bent all people are born with. After all, hiding is the first thing Adam and Eve did after disobeying God. 

I too am familiar with hiding. Apart from the normal game of hide-n-seek, my cousin and I often invented other hiding games. We invented imaginary giants to hide from in my grandfather’s barns. If we chose to play cowboys and Indians, one group would hide.

The hog pens also provided ample opportunity for hiding. Amidst the mud were areas of broom straw taller than us. We enjoyed aggravating the hogs, so after doing so—knowing our grandmother would soon appear and scold us, we’d duck between the straw. 

Jesus once hid Himself from two of his followers walking the Emmaus road. They saw Him, but they didn’t recognize Him. Jesus feigned ignorance about what had happened to Him, so the two informed Him about the death and reported resurrection. As He sat to eat with them, their eyes were opened. They recognized who He was. 

Sin leads to hiding. God has created in us the ability to know right from wrong. Though we do wrong from an early age, there comes a point when we recognize wrong. Thereafter, a failure to admit the wrong makes us want to hide like our first parents. 

God can hide from us in an attempt to stretch our faith. Though there, He makes His presence less prominent. His desire is that we stretch for Him, realize our need for Him, and grow our faith to a deeper degree. 

When God hides, it tests our resolve. His apparent absence leads us to consider the seriousness of our love and service for Him as well as our sincerity about whatever task we’ve undertaken. 

Times of absence may also signal God is busy preparing circumstances—or even us, for another area of service. Moses experienced God hiding while living on the back side of the desert, Elijah while hiding in a cave, and Joseph while languishing in a foreign country. 

God never truly hides, but when it seems He has, self-examine to see what He’s up to. 

Prayer: Father, in times when it appears You have left us, guide us to seek You more than ever so we can discover what You’re up to. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Doing What’s Right

She entered the classroom and dropped into her desk. Shaundra* had a quiz, but her hurried entrance, speedy trip to her desk, rapid unpacking of her books, and worried look on her face made it obvious she wasn’t prepared. And out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the ultimate evidence…a small cheat sheet.

As the test began, she positioned her long flowing hair over her left shoulder and turned her head sideways so I couldn’t observe the paper neatly lying in her jacket sleeve. But I knew…and she did too. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Hearing the Horn - Martin Wiles

And Samuel replied, “Yes, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 NLT

When the horn blew, we knew it was time to come home. 

As a child, I never knew the type of technology our current generation enjoys. My friends and I played the normal games—hide n seek, cowboys and Indians, Red Rover—but we also made up many games. My cousin and I were good at it, since our grandparents lived on a farm. 

Cell phones hadn’t been invented, but my grandmother invented a unique way to let us know when it was time for supper. She walked outside, opened the door of her blue Ford galaxy, and pressed the horn. The silence of the woods was broken only by the sounds of nature, so a car horn stuck out like a sore thumb. When we heard it, we immediately quit what we were doing and made our way back home. 

The little boy Samuel didn’t initially hear the horn. He confused it with Eli’s voice. After several times of hearing what he thought was Eli’s voice, Samuel was told it was the Lord’s voice. The next time he heard the voice, he told God he was listening. 

Silence is necessary to hear God’s voice. It was why my cousin and I heard the horn. Had we been near a road where the sounds of traffic were continually bombarding our ears, we wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the horn. God can speak in the midst of our noisy lives, but the chances are high we won’t hear Him.

Time is required to hear God. My cousin and I gave time to the woods and the animals that lived there. We heard their sounds, observed their likeness, and learned what made what sound. We’ll never learn to hear God clearly if we don’t spend time with Him. 
We must also have a heart to obey. If God knows we have a disobedient streak, He’s not likely to reveal His plan. Our hearts must be tender and anxious to obey so He’ll reveal His plan to us as He did to Samuel. 

Unconfessed sin must also be confessed. Sin prevents us from hearing God when He speaks. Confession clears the air so we can perceive clearly what God is saying. 

Is something keeping you from hearing God’s voice when He speaks? 

Prayer: Father, we ask that You help us hear clearly when You speak. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

God’s Plunder Room - Martin Wiles

My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live in Egypt. Deuteronomy 26:5 NLT

We called it the plunder room because that’s what we did there.

My grandmother’s home had a large room built on the back—a room that was once a bedroom for a father who stayed with them. Sometime after his death, my grandfather tore away some of that part of the large farmhouse, but he left what we called the plunder room. My cousin and I often spent time there sorting through the multitude of discarded items to see if there was anything we might use as we tried to entertain ourselves on the farm. Technology hadn’t inundated our lives. Restlessness drove us there when we had nothing else particular to do. 

Many of the mid-Eastern Biblical characters were somewhat nomadic. Various occurrences caused them to change locations. For Jacob, it was learning his youngest son Joseph wasn’t dead after all. A desire to see him and escape the famine that ravaged his land made him leave his homeland and travel to Egypt where his descendants eventually spent 400 years in slavery. 

Restlessness is a taxing feeling. As a teen and even young adult, it hung over my head more than once. The desire to get away…to escape. I couldn’t pinpoint any reason; I just wanted to leave. Hop an empty railroad box car and see where it took me. Walk a power line and see where it led. 

As I look back, I suppose my restlessness was created by my running…from God. I knew what He wanted from me, but the lifestyle I was living fought against it. Not until I stopped plundering in the wrong places and with the wrong people did I finally settle down. I still periodically fight the restless spirit—the desire to return to what once was. Paul calls it battling the flesh. The part of me that wants to rebel against God and all I know to be right. 

God wants us to plunder in His plunder room. Rather than discarded valueless items, God’s plunder room holds His purpose and plan. It houses the strength to do His work. He doesn’t want us to live aimlessly and purposelessly but rather to discover His plan and follow it diligently. 

Are you searching around in God’s plunder room?

Prayer: Father, guide us to pursue those things of spiritual value that will enable us to accomplish Your will for us. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

The Den of Iniquity

Though cute snuggled in his “den,” approaching too closely will uncover bared teeth, a bark, and-if necessary, a sharp crunch on the finger.

Our Chihuahua demonstrates perfectly the traits of the breed-possessive, selfish, habitual, loving to friends but vicious toward anyone intervening in his cozy world. Burrowing is also one of his habits. Whether underneath the bed covers, beneath his favorite blanket, or buried in a throw, he loves to snuggle and be covered while doing it. But his den quickly becomes iniquitous when invaded. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Walk the Path - Martin Wiles

Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Proverbs 4:26 NLT

Though once clear and distinct, the path has now disappeared. 

Paths vary in length and purpose. The Appalachian Trail marches over 2,000 miles of the roughest terrain in the Eastern United States and is traversed by thousands every year. I’ve walked parts of it. The Foothills Trail meanders some 80 miles along the most remote mountainous areas of the North Carolina South Carolina border. I’ve walked all of it. 

But there was another path…one that connected my grandparents’ home with my aunt and uncle’s. Though not many people walked it, thousands of footprints kept it well-worn. Footprints that represented numerous trips for various purposes: to eat a meal, to spend the night, to ask a question, to have a glass of Southern sweet tea, to borrow a cup of sugar, to go fishing, to go hunting, to play in the hog pen. In 1991, one terminus of the path vanished when my grandmother died. Recently (2015), the other terminus moved when my aunt died.  

On a recent and final trip to see my aunt, I noticed the path had vanished. What was once well-worn was now grass covered. No one had walked it since 1991. There was no reason. Strangers had bought and moved into my grandparents’ home. Exactly how long it was after people stopped walking the path that it disappeared, I’m not sure. But eventually, the last sprig of grass crept over the final bare spot, and it was gone—never to be seen or walked again. 

For me, this path between the two homes led to family, fellowship, love, fun, and safety. Other paths have various purposes. The one we must walk to Jesus represents forgiveness and eternal life with the God who loves us. As we walk it, spiritual growth should take place. 

Paths can also take us to new friendships and love relationships. Our life path should lead to happiness and contentment. And, of course, some paths—those that are damaging to us spiritually, emotionally, or physically—should be left alone to grow over like the one between my relatives’ homes. 

Consider the paths you’re walking. Where are they taking you and why? Then walk the path your Creator wants you to. 

Prayer: Father, guide us to the path that leads us to You and then to the path of service. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.

Protected from Self - Martin Wiles

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

On any given day, stress levels can be elevated. 

I work well under pressure, but don’t handle pressure well. When I’m behind on grading assignments I’ve given students, I feel pressured. Or when the internet is acting up. Intermittent downtime means more time is required to do the work I’m required to do—if I can do it at all. Online books can’t be accessed; online exercises can’t be completed. Students have heard me grunt at the computer more than once. 

While I may blame my stress level on the computer, the internet, or the demands of my profession, the source is me. My attitude toward these or other aggravating circumstances swell my stress level. But circumstances or people can only stretch my stress level if I allow them.

The source of any sinful actions or thoughts I choose to commit is identical. James says my biggest problem is me—not others…or even Satan. I am my worst enemy. On the other hand, he isn’t teaching that Satan or his demonic companions are figments of religious imagination. 

I—and every other human—was born with a sinful nature. When I choose to follow Christ, He replaces it with a new nature, but He doesn’t remove the “flesh.” Flesh isn’t a reference to the skin that covers my bones but to the part of me that still wants to act and think the way I did before I met Christ. Satan temps through my flesh, but the flesh is mine. I need protection from me. 

The devil can’t make us do anything. The Spirit who is in believers is greater than the one (Satan) who is in the world. When I feed my flesh and new nature with God things, I lessen the chances I’m going to cause me problems. 

Having God’s Word hidden in our hearts gives us a source to run to when our flesh acts up. Remaining in a constant attitude of prayer reminds us God is always present to give us wisdom and strength to overcome what Satan—or ourselves—is throwing at us. 

Putting on the full armor of God protects us from Satan’s attacks. Tending to our inner selves protects us from ourselves.

Prayer: Father, we ask that You give us an inner desire to obey You rather than the temptations of Satan or the flesh. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in Christian books at discount prices? Use coupon MWiles for 20% off. Click here to see selections.  

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.