Stir up the Gift - Martin Wiles

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6 NKJV

I sat in the ladder back chair, wondering what I should do and feeling a bit useless.

The day prior to our move had arrived, but my wife and I were already at our new residence unpacking boxes. At least, she was. With no internet or satellite, what could I do. If I unpacked, I’d have to wait for her to tell me where to put it. So I sat.

“Is there something I can help you do,” I asked.

“No, just sit there,” she replied. So I did.

A few minutes later, she yelled from the next room, “See if you can find me a magic marker.”

Finally, something I could do. I walked in each room, perusing the boxes. No magic marker. How she expected me to find such a small item among the mounds of boxes and bags sitting in every nook and cranny, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I don’t see one,” I finally surrendered after searching in vain.

“Well, it won’t jump up and grab you,” came her curt reply. “Look in the boxes.” I searched again. No luck. I failed at my one chance to do something.

Tomorrow would be different. I’d have something to do. Move in the large pieces of furniture and hang pictures.

Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father and had commissioned him into the ministry. Now he reminds him to stir up that gift of pastoring a church.

Sitting around in a ladder back chair twiddling my thumbs isn’t the way to discover God’s gift to me. God has things for all of His children to do, and He gifts and talents us accordingly. There have been times when I’ve wondered what my gift was—or if I had one, but each time God showed up and showed me what it was.

Through prayer and effort, I can discover God’s gift. 

When I wondered if He had gifted me to teach, all I had to do was try. Had teaching not been my gift, I would have quickly discovered it—or someone would have kindly let me know. Some gifts all believers have—such as serving, but God gifts all believers. Gifts are His presents so we can accomplish His kingdom work in this world.

Don’t sit around wondering what your gift is. Ask God to show you, and then stir it up.

Prayer: Father, thank You for giving us gifts so we can do Your work in the world. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.

Hot- and Cold-Running Christians - Martin Wiles

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

The sign read: House for Rent. Hot and Cold Running Water.

Though laughable now, there was a time when having indoor plumbing was a luxury only the wealthy knew anything about. Water was drawn from a well or creek and carried indoors. Getting hot water meant cutting wood and placing cold water in pots in the fireplace or on a wood burning stove.

On a recent mid-August trip through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, my wife and I noticed the tree leaves in the highest elevations turning. Odd I thought, this early, but then again that’s what tree leaves do. As the summer season draws to a close and the daylight hours get shorter, the leaves lose their luminescence and reveal their natural color. The yellows were shining through beautifully. 

Christians shouldn’t run hot and cold or change annually like tree leaves. Paul encouraged the early believers to be steadfast in their love for the Lord as well as in their work for Him. Only by steadfastness would they be able to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

We hear a lot about pastors burning out and leaving the pulpit, but I’ve known quite a few regular Christians who burned out too. Burnout can come from trying too hard to alleviate feelings of guilt over past sins, from wrong motives for serving, or from trying to boost one’s self-esteem.

Another entire set tend to drop out rather than burn out. Among 18 to 22-year-olds, around 70% drop out of church after graduating high school. Reasons they give for doing so include life changes, needing a break, moving away to college, work interference, judgmental or unfriendly pastors or church members, a change in their views, or an acknowledgement that previously they were only trying to please someone by attending.

God’s work requires steadfast determination. The abundant life Jesus offers requires the same. Otherwise we’ll change like the leaves or run hot and cold like water. The power to remain steadfast doesn’t lie in us, but in God’s Spirit indwelling us. He provides the want to that keeps us keeping on—and for the right reasons.

Don’t run hot and cold or turn like the leaves. Serve God with consistence and diligence.

Prayer: Father, enable us to check our motives for serving You, and then give us staying power to serve You faithfully until the end. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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 - Never A Failure - Martin Wiles

Never a Failure

Failure? Success? A matter of definition but also perspective.

Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade and was defeated in every public office he ran for but at 62 became Britain’s Prime Minister. Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was too stupid to learn, but after 1,000 failed attempts, he created a light bulb that worked. Harland David Sanders had his chicken rejected by more than 1,000 restaurants, but the image of the “Colonel” is now plastered worldwide on KFC restaurants. R. H. Macy had a history of failing businesses but eventually landed the largest department store in the world. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.

Sidetracked - Martin Wiles

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21 NLT

Getting shoppers sidetracked is a retailer’s dream come true.

After a long day of sweating in the hot, humid temperatures of a South Carolina August, my wife and I showered and readied ourselves for church. Moving isn’t fun, but we had no choice.

Following church, we stopped by the local Wal-Mart for a few necessities: curtain rods and a gallon of milk. Tired from a day of moving, I said, “Now, we’re just going to get those two things and leave, right.”

“That’s all,” my wife remarked.

As we entered the store, we began walking in the wrong direction: the garden center. “You mom said they had chair cushions on sale.”

And so our visit went. Though we only came out with four instead of two items, I had to continually keep my wife pointed in the direction of what we came to get. My recliner was calling my name, but the retailer’s reputation for putting things in my wife’s path that attracted her kept getting her sidetracked.

God did His best to keep the nation of Israel on track. He sent prophets, priests, and judges who kept His ways before them, but they kept getting sidetracked. The pagan nations around them put more attractive things in their path.

I’m not much different than God’s people of old. In fact, I’ve been known to get sidetracked in Wal-Mart myself—just not over the same things my wife does. That’s how the enemy of my soul works. Through experience, he learns what attracts each individual. He won’t try to sidetrack me with clothes or shoes because he knows they don’t interest me. But he will throw up a few tech gadgets, a fancy calendar, or a recently released DVD movie.

I had to continue telling my wife not to get sidetracked. “Keep your eyes focused on what we came for,” I reminded her.

I have to do the same for myself. If I don’t, Satan will lead me in sinful or unhealthy directions. And like a puppy on a leash, I’ll follow if I’m not clothed in my spiritual armor. By the power of God’s Spirit, I can say no, get what I came to get, and go home.

Don’t get sidetracked by Satan’s attempt to convince you that you need things you don’t.

Prayer: Father, give us the power to say no to Satan’s attempts to sidetrack us. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.

Downsizing…of Sorts - Martin Wiles

Then he said, “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.” Luke 12:18 NLT

“Where are we going put it? I think we’re turning into hoarders.”

My wife and I both have asked the question and made the statements. Our love for antiques…especially furniture, keeps us adding to our collection and trying to stuff them into a small townhouse. On a recent move, we decided we were going to downsize—of sorts. Not that we were going to sell anything. We would simply transfer some things from our townhouse to the storage shed.

There were a few items we decided we could live without seeing or using. We loaded them into the back of our SUV and transported them several miles away. Perhaps our kids will want them someday. Or, maybe we’ll once again live in a larger place before we die. And of course, all of our stored pieces are assets we can sell if we need money.

Jesus told about a rich man who was a hoarder—but he wasn’t in to downsizing. He was in to upsizing. His crops produced more than normal. His barns were full. There was nothing for him to do but build larger barns, store his goods, and eat drink and be merry. Life was good…or so he thought, until God confronted him and told him his life would end that night.

Whether I downsize in actuality, I need to at least downsize in my thinking. Possessions are for this life. I will always love antiques and continue collecting them—and sell a few along the way. But I’m intelligent enough to know I can’t take them to heaven with me when I go.

God gives us things of this life to enjoy, but they are for earth, not heaven or the new earth. Possessions are tangible, corruptible, breakable, and can be stolen by thieves. Placing my security or faith in them will always lead to disappointment.

My possessions bring me joy, but God expects me to use them to help others and also advance His Kingdom. Seeming what I have as temporary helps me do this with the right attitude and avoid the rich man’s. He was selfish and thought only of himself. And, if by chance, my possessions turn my focus from God, I need to downsize.

Don’t let your possessions possess you. Downsize.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for all You give us. Help us use them to glorify Your name and advance Your work in this world. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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 - Different Is Okay - Martin Wiles

Different is Okay

Different is okay now; but it wasn’t always.

Peer pressure is real. The pressures of elementary school seem tame when compared to the present, but they were intense then. A certain brand of tennis shoes, a particular name on my jeans, or letting the lazy students who were bullies copy my homework or gaze on my test. Pressures were more intense in the teen years. Drinking, smoking, and using drugs were the big three. In adulthood, the pressures became more subtle but were just as penetrating. Re-think what I believed about God, cheat on my wife, fudge on my income tax return, steal from the boss, and call in sick when I wasn’t. Sometimes I gave in to temptation because I didn’t want to be different. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.

Building Blocks of Healthy Relationships - Martin Wiles

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21 NLT

“I remember when you used to…”

Anytime I hear my wife say the above, I know it will be followed with something I once did but don’t do anymore. Things like opening the door for her when she’s getting in the car or entering a store. Or coming up behind her and putting my arms around her neck while we’re shopping.

My wife has a memory like an elephant and recalls many things I’ve long forgotten. Among them, how our relationship was when we first married. I tell her our relationship has matured. She thinks, Now that you’ve got me, you think you don’t need to do those things anymore. We’re probably both right to a degree, but healthy relationships must be maintained.

Paul gives a list of instructions for husbands and wives. Some women don’t like the submission part while some husbands take issue with loving their wives enough to die for them. But Paul prefaces the instructions with a command for mutual submission. Doing this requires building blocks.

Mutual love and submission entail intentionality. If I’m not intentional or determined to love my wife as Christ loved the church or to submit to her as I desire her to submit to me, it won’t happen. Anything important requires my undivided attention.

Thoughtful words and actions are important. My wife loves to hear me tell her I love her, but she wants to see the love in action. Holding her hand, opening a car door, giving her a card, kissing her first thing in the morning. Little things that mean a lot.

Honesty is also critical. Dishonesty will wreck any marriage or relationship. I know. I’ve been on the receiving end of dishonesty, and it leads to a dead end. Trust is built in small ways over the course of many years. One wrong move can destroy what it took years to build.

Faithfulness is a must for healthy relationships. It follows on the heels of honesty. In the marriage ceremony, I promised faithfulness to my one wife until death parts us. No good reason exists to break that promise as long as I’m in the relationship.

More important than any other block is including God. Relationships that exclude Him are headed for failure from the start.

Use the correct building blocks to erect healthy relationships in your life.

Prayer: Father, give us wisdom to build healthy relationships with those You send into our lives. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.

Squirrel Determination - Martin Wiles

Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. Exodus 17:12-13 NLT

His determination paid off; he had emptied my bird feeder and satisfied his hunger.

I decided to take my new cedar bird feeder to the church and hang it outside my office window. Soon, birds of many varieties showed up. So did squirrels.

On one of my trips to fill the feeder, I noticed both side panels were missing. I picked up the panels from the ground and carefully slid them back into the grooved slots. No squirrel could do this, I thought. 

Thinking someone was playing a prank on me, I silently blamed it on the young guys who maintain our lawn. But I was wrong on both accounts. The next day, I noticed the top of the bird feeder was cocked sideways, and again one of the panels was almost out. Now I knew who the culprit was. Because of his determination to get sunflower seed, Mr. Squirrel was destroying my feeder.

Tittle tattle may lose the battle—and so will laziness. Moses and his counterparts, Aaron and Hur, were not about to let that happen. As Joshua the military commander carried out God’s command to fight and defeat the Amalekites because of their wickedness, Moses mounted a mountain and raised his arms. When his arms tired, Aaron and Hur sat him on a rock and held up his arms. As long as his arms were raised, the Israelite army prevailed.

Determination can apply to any number of life areas, but it is a must where my spirituality is concerned. Without determination, I won’t prepare financially for my or my children’s future. Without it, I won’t do my best in my profession or place of employment. Apart from determination, life will topple me instead of me conquering it.

More drastic, if I’m not determined, my focus on developing spiritual disciplines, serving, worshiping, and loving others will suffer. And this will affect my existence more than slacking on anything else. 

The Israelites battle with the Amalekites was more than a physical encounter; it was a spiritual war. Only with squirrel determination—fueled by the power of God’s Spirit within me, can I win my daily battles with temptation and make choices that please God.

Be determined to be the person God created you to be and to get what God has planned for you.

Prayer: Father, create in us a determination to be all You plan for us to be. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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 - What Are Problems Good For? - Martin Wiles

What Are Problems Good For?

I was there again. Wal-Mart. Once my favorite place…but not anymore. 

We were ready to check out, but there were only a few registers open. My wife asked that horrifying question: “Want to go through the self check out?” Going through this line is always a disaster. Sure enough, every third item scanned produced a message requiring assistance. 

Our bags were piling up when the attendant asked if we were making a split transaction. We were, but the machine wasn’t currently processing them. Our transaction was canceled, and we were forced to unbag and re-check our groceries through a normal register. One hour later, we finally hustled out the door. Read more...

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? 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.