Blessed but Stressed - Martin Wiles

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. 2 Corinthians 4:8 KJV

Although our stressors differ, we help each other through our stressful periods through prayer.

How I met my pastor friend in New Delhi, India, I don’t remember. Somewhere, he read a devotion I had written and sent me a message. Leary of answering to begin with, I finally did after investigating the website listed beneath his name. From then on, our friendship was cemented.

I love the periodic messages he sends, mostly prayer requests, but feel bad when I send him mine, which seem to pale in significance. Since Christianity is illegal where he lives, seeing one person come to know Christ is a blessing … but a stressor. He asks me to pray that their faith will remain strong and that they will influence others around them to trust Christ. I know nothing of such persecution.

I ask him to remember our financial situation since my wife can’t work. He sends me a video of Hindu nationalists commandeering missionaries’ Bibles and burning them in the streets. He tells me to pray because India has entered the cold, rainy season, and he is worried about rampant disease. I tell him my wife and I just took the flu shot. He reminds me they have no such luxury.

We are both blessed by God, but face different stressors. The apostle Paul did too. The list of his troubles was lengthy. Troubles haunted him on every side: stoning, shipwreck, lashes, jail, snake bite, false accusations. Yet, he didn’t grow weary in doing well. He may not have understood why God allowed it all, but he pressed on.

God places us in different geographical places and in various life situations, and these come with stressors that differ. Regardless of where we live or what our stressors are, God remains faithfully by our side. None of the things that cause stress reign greater than the God we serve. Each is under His control, and, when responded to correctly, will lead to our faith growing and God being glorified.

Stressors can also enhance our testimony. I’m amazed at how God uses my friend and how my friend takes each stressor in stride and keeps going. When we respond in the same way, others will notice and be drawn to the God we serve.

Let God help you deal with the stressors while you remember how blessed you are.

Prayer: Father, when the stressors come, help us remember You are greater than anything we face.

Tweetable: Are you stressed? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Treading the Muddy Waters - Martin Wiles

Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. Exodus 14:21 NLT

My brother and I plodded along the muddy trail, not knowing what was ahead.

Before work schedules, age, and health issues interfered, monthly trips to the mountains was a regular way of life for me and my brother. On one such hike, we parked just off the interstate at a gravel parking lot to access a trail that would lead us to beautiful Cataloochee Valley—a place we had visited by car but never on foot.

What we didn’t know was that the trail was also a horse trail. Though we didn’t see any, what they left behind evidenced their presence. Heavy rains from the previous weeks made the trail muddy, so we couldn’t see what we stepped in. Mud crept up to our knees, but we trudged on.

The sites didn’t disappoint us. We saw several old cabins, remains of homes once occupied by residents who had their land bought by the National Park Service when they established the park. At the end of our journey, an old church with a cemetery nearby sat awaiting us—one of the churches valley congregants of long ago met at to worship.

As my brother and I trod the muddy trail, we never imagined the beauty that awaited on the other side. I doubt the Israelites who had just escaped Egyptian slavery did either. To get there, however, they had to cross the Red Sea. God took care of parting it—and of drying the ground so they didn’t sink into the mud as they crossed.

God’s plan for our lives isn’t always what we might imagine, or desire. His plan often carries us through muddy areas where we think we’re sure to sink, but God always dries up the path enough for us to make it through. If the path God designed was always easy, our faith wouldn’t grow or stretch. Neither would it bring God glory, which is another reason He takes us these ways.

Jesus suffered and said His followers would as well. Through the muddy paths—the sufferings—God sanctifies us … sets us apart … in our attitudes, emotions, actions, and words. And through the process, He brings us to more beautiful places than we could ever have imagined.

Don’t fear the muddy trails of life. God has something better ahead.

Prayer: Father, we trust You to guide us along whatever paths You deem appropriate and that will make us more like You.

Tweetable: Is God taking you through muddy water?

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Flashback Friday - Why Have You Led Me Where I Am? - Martin Wiles

Why Have You Led Me Where I Am?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1 NLT

“I wouldn’t be where I am today had *Tony not brought me here.”

As we enjoyed a relaxing but candid conversation, *Fred admitted the above truth. His confession confirmed his humility. It also reaffirmed in his mind why he was where he was. God had used him for ten years to pastor a church that may have never considered him had it not been for the influence of a fellow pastor. Read more...

Tweetable: Do you wonder why God has put you where you are? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Taking the Long Way - Martin Wiles

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. Exodus 13:17 NLT

My wife and I planned the short route, but nature took us the long way around.

Honeymooning in the Great Smokey Mountains always brings surprises, and it did for us. As we ate our breakfast at a local pancake house in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on a crisp November morning, we watched flakes of snow begin. Loving snow—but not seeing it often enough—we decided to head to one of our favorite places where we hoped to see more … and in a more beautiful setting: Cades Cove.

We weren’t disappointed. The snow was light, but it blanketed the grass and trees, making the picture-perfect setting of the cove even more breathtaking. When the time arrived for us to make our way back home, we planned to take the scenic route through Newfound Gap and over the mountains to Cherokee, North Carolina. Nature changed our plans.

Newfound Gap, with Clingman’s Dome nearby, hosts wicked weather in the winter, and park rangers often close portions of the road. They had. This meant we had to travel back to Gatlinburg, take a secondary highway a number of miles to reach the interstate, and then go home. A much longer journey, and not nearly as scenic. We had no choice—and it was for our own safety.

Neither did the Israelites have a choice. After four hundred years in slavery, God finally delivered them. But He didn’t lead them along the shortest route to the Promised Land. He feared if they saw war, they’d want to return to Egypt, which also wasn’t in their best interest.

When we let God guide our lives, He doesn’t always take us down the short cuts. Sometime, the long way around is best, even though we might not think so. Instead of rebelling and forcing ourselves down the shortest way, we should remember God sees what we can’t—just as park rangers knew the weather along the route my wife and I wanted to travel.

God continually molds us more into the image of His Son, and this often happens through the long routes that teach us patience and trust. They also build our faith. He may also be protecting us from some unknown danger or preparing us for a battle we’re presently not ready to fight.

When God takes you the long way around, accept by faith that He knows what’s best.

Prayer: Father, when the journey is long and arduous, help us trust You to take us the right way.

Tweetable: Is God taking you the long way around? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Love One Another - Martin Wiles

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14 NLT

“Love one another.”

My daughter sends me small conversations she has with her two sons—or either conversations that the two boys have with each other. The five-year-old is a contemplative type who attends a nice public school in our town. His teacher is the daughter of a teacher who teaches with me at a local Christian school. His younger brother attends the Christian school.

Recently, the five-year-old’s attitude has changed—and not for the better. He has taken up with a friend at school who is teaching him bad attitudes…and words. One of his attitudes is saying he doesn’t love someone when they don’t give him what he wants or allow things to go his way.

One recent conversation went something like this:

Levi (shouting to his brother Colton): I don’t love you anymore.

Colton: (shouting back): Love one another.

Colton may have missed the tone of love, but at least he knew the verse. I know many wonderful public-school teachers—many of whom are believers—but unfortunately, they can’t express their faith at school. Colton’s teachers can, and the kids are taught biblical principles and verses each day.

Jesus echoed the same. He compared believers to a bright light on a hill … such as an illuminated house on the top of a mountain … with the intention that we would let those lights shine. Colton was. Levi has too…when his attitude doesn’t get in the way.

Letting our lights shine means checking our attitudes and actions. If we cover the light with bad attitudes and actions—as Jesus warns us not to do—we snuff out the light. We don’t lose our salvation when we do, but others can’t see the light for the nastiness shining through our mannerisms.

Staying in the Word … allowing God’s principles to infiltrate our minds daily…goes a long way with keeping our attitudes and actions in check. When we’re tempted to say or do something we shouldn’t, we’ll feel God’s inner nudge not to. We may not feel like acting or talking otherwise, but we will. And at the very least, we’ll just keep our mouths shut.

Let your light for Christ shine. You can because God’s grace is always sufficient.

Prayer: Father, help us to love one another through our actions and attitudes.

Tweetable: Do you have trouble loving some people?

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Throwback Tuesday - Is There a Purpose for My Trials? - Martin Wiles

Is There a Purpose for My Trials?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy…When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow…for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete. James 1:2-4

She was on a mission of mercy, but her journey didn’t end the way she anticipated.

Our church began a Sunday evening feeding program recently—a program supported completely by member donations. One elderly lady was bringing supplies for the upcoming feeding when she missed a step and fell. A severe break to one of her femurs resulted. For eight weeks, she was unable to put any pressure on the injured leg. For an active senior like herself, this was a major trial—yet one that had a purpose. Shortly after arriving at the rehabilitation center, she led one of her nurses to a relationship with the Lord. Read more...

Tweetable: Do you find purpose in your trials? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Instant Gratification - Martin Wiles

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:13 NLT

Growing up, I had holes in my pockets.

Well … not really, but my parents and both of my grandmothers told me I did. I’m sure when they said, “That money is burning a hole in your pocket,” I had no idea what they meant until they explained it, but instant gratification had something to do with it.

My parents gave me an allowance for doing chores around the house, and my grandparents would slip me a little now and then also. No sooner did I receive my money than I looked for something to buy.

Though my dad taught me to save—a certain percentage in savings, a certain percentage to God, and the remainder for whatever I wanted—I didn’t adhere to his lesson too well. The money burned a hole in my pocket. What I wanted, I wanted right then.

Satan threw this instant gratification temptation at Jesus after Jesus had fasted for forty days in the wilderness. Rocks abounded. Why not turn some of them into bread and have a feast. But that wouldn’t have been trusting His heavenly Father to care for Him. Jesus said no. People don’t live by bread alone. Nor by instantly gratifying themselves.

Happiness and contentment aren’t found in things, although that’s the message Satan still tosses around. Get this … and you’ll be happy. If you must buy it by using money you need for bills, it’s okay. Or if you must steal it because you don’t have the money, go ahead. He forgets to tell us things are temporary … or that the happiness is short-lived. Like a child, what makes me happy today, I’ll probably cast aside in a few months.

Things—and thinking we must have them immediately regardless of how we get them—lead to unnecessary debt and unwise decisions. The instant gratification mindset can also lead us into relationships or other immoral actions God would want us to leave alone.

God wants us to wait on Him. He has the best in store for us and will deliver it at the appropriate time. His best is ahead most of the time … not instantly … and through prayer and patience, we’ll experience a joy we won’t through our efforts of instant gratification.

Let God teach you to wait on Him for the things you need and want.

Prayer: Father, when we are tempted to instantly gratify ourselves, help us to wait on You.

Tweetable: Are you willing to wait for God's best? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Seeing at Dusk - Martin Wiles

We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. 2 Chronicles 20:12b NLT

When the lights go down, the blurries go up.

As I have aged, my already less-than-perfect eyes have gotten worse. Battling near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and potential glaucoma at the same time is no fun. And it’s especially painful if I’m driving at dusk. The lights from other cars fuzz up and run together. Their intensity seems to magnify, making it difficult for me to tell how many cars it is as well as how far away they are. When possible, I avoid driving at dusk, letting my wife drive instead.

What I know well while driving during the daylight hours, I don’t know so well if I drive during dusk or at night.

Kind Jehoshaphat didn’t know some things either—he couldn’t see well—and it worried him. A vast army from the area of Edom marched against him. The news terrified him so much so that he fasted and ordered the people to also. He prayed and sought guidance from God, while acknowledging he couldn’t see what was about to happen.

Unlike a few people I’ve met along life’s journey, I willingly admit I don’t know it all. I tell my students this, but at the same time offer to find out what I don’t know. Thinking I know it all—even when deep inside I know I don’t—only leads to pride and displays that same trait to others. This turns off relationships.

Nor would I want to know it all. I’d be frightened by what’s ahead. I’d worry and fear. Anxiety would consume me. I’d probably make plans to face whatever was coming.

Fortunately, I know the One who does know it all. He won’t tell me, but He will give me the faith to trust Him, as Jehoshaphat did. Through ignorance of the future, my faith and trust in God grow. I learn to walk by faith, not sight. As I trust God to guide me when I’m driving at dusk, so I trust Him to lead me through life. And He won’t disappoint me.

When you can’t see what’s ahead—or don’t know what to do when you do see it—trust the all-wise God.

Prayer: Father, we admit our weaknesses and turn to You for guidance.

Tweetable: Does the unknown stress you? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Flashback Friday - Why Did Jesus Die? - Martin Wiles

Why Did Jesus Die?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:4

As a grammar instructor, I teach my students four types of sentences: imperative, exclamatory, declarative, and interrogative. Imperative sentences give a command or directions. Exclamatory sentences express excitement. Declarative sentences are normal sentences, and interrogative sentences ask a question. Imperative and exclamatory can occasionally be confused because both can end with an exclamation mark. Interrogative sentences are perhaps the easiest to identify because the ending punctuation is always a question mark and because they begin with the infamous “w” words: why, what, where, when. Read more...

Tweetable: Do you wonder why Jesus had to die? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Sealed Lips - Martin Wiles

Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Psalm 141:3 NLT

Some things seal better than others.

My wife and I discovered this when she had shoulder surgery. The doctor did not issue her an ice machine afterward but simply told her to ice the incision area to keep down swelling. Since we didn’t have an ice pack available at the moment, I took a freezer bag—a cheap freezer bag—filled it with ice, and placed it on her shoulder.

In short order, the ice melted. Prior to my going to bed, I filled the freezer bag full and placed it on her shoulder. The next morning, the melted ice water had leaked from the bag, ran down her shoulder, and soaked her clothes. A cheap freezer bag doing what cheap freezer bags do.

I buy store brands for most things, but some store brands are just not as good. Matching up the seams is next to impossible. Once sealed, the seam is easy to open or to come open on its own, making it a poor choice for an ice pack or for anything else in liquid form.

The psalmist begged for God to guard or seal his lips. Not that he never wanted to talk but that he wanted to be careful when he did.

If I could control my tongue, I could save myself a lot of trouble. And I’ve met several people in my life who I could say the same of. In fact, what the psalmist asks God to do is something everyone should ask God to do.

One research found that we open our mouths around 700 times each day. I imagine many of those times I do so without thinking. Like the woman who once introduced herself to me and then said, “I speak before I think.” I’ve been with her more times than I care to admit, but keeping my mouth shut more cures the problem of speaking before I think.

Keeping our mouths closed more than open cuts down on gossip. The less I open my mouth, the less likely I will say things about others I shouldn’t. And it also silences those who might falsely accuse us as Christians. What comes from our mouths should reflect our character—and the name of Christ.

Ask God to guard your lips so that what you say will build others up and honor the name of Christ.

Prayer: Father, give us wisdom to know when to speak up and when to shut up.

Tweetable: Do you have trouble sealing your lips? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Age Changes Everything…Except - Martin Wiles

Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT

“Look who I ran into.”

The text came from my longest-standing friend of forty years. He and I had worked at a local manufacturing plant just after graduating from high school. The company’s business had gone south several years later, and they laid me off. He, however, continues to work for them forty years later.

Currently, my friend is stationed in Ohio, but the company generously flies him home two weekends each month so he can see his family. On one such trip, he ran into another friend we had worked with forty years before.

“Whom is this? I texted back.

I barely recognized my friend. He had changed a lot over the years also. Though we have remained in contact, we haven’t sent pictures of each other. But this other person? I couldn’t tell who he was. When my friend gave his name, I recognized him. His eyes remained the same, although age lines, weight change, and a bald head had changed him otherwise.

Age has a way of doing this. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and sinned against God in doing so, age has changed the human body. I can eat healthily and exercise, but my body will age. I can use creams and have surgeries, but the birthdays will still come around annually.

What I can do is age gracefully by not letting age change the most important things. Paul knew his body was dying—and Emperor Nero would soon do away with it altogether. But inwardly, Paul renewed his spirit daily. That part was spiritual, and age—nor a wicked emperor—could stop the process.

Wise King Solomon said people’s chief purpose was to fear God and obey His commands. If we do those two things, we will age gracefully. Aging will change the way we look and affect us in other ways, but it cannot steal our love for God or our ability to obey Him.

Regardless of how old you get, make up your mind to make God the heaviest weight in your life. Others may not recognize you outwardly, but they’ll know who you are inwardly by your character.

Prayer: Father, may we age gracefully as we grow spiritually in You.

Tweetable: What about aging don't you enjoy? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Throwback Tuesday - Do Animals Go to Heaven? - Martin Wiles

Do Animals Go to Heaven?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NLT

Courtney was a middle schooler who attended the same church as me. Every Wednesday evening when the pastor asked for prayer requests, her hand shot up. Her requests were often not for family members or friends but for one of her animals. If her cat was about to deliver kittens, she prayed. If a dog became ill, she consulted God. The pastor acknowledged the importance of her requests as he did all others. Under my breath, I often laughed at her naivety but later realized that while we served the same God perhaps she understood him better. Read more...

Tweetable: Have you had animals you hope to see in heaven? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

When Things Get Low - Martin Wiles

Hear my cry, for I am very low. Psalm 142:6 NLT

“Do you know ya’ll are overdrawn?”

The short text came from our daughter who is a bank teller where we bank. She had put her monthly $40 dollars in our account to cover the gas my wife burns to pick up our two grandsons.

“What do you mean we’re overdrawn?” I quickly shot a text back.

Suddenly, the day went from bad to worse. Our financial state had changed drastically over the past nine months. One week before, my wife had undergone rotary cuff surgery, rendering her unable to keep the toddler she had been keeping for our music teacher. The extra money had helped. 

In her pain-induced state, my wife had forgotten about all the drafts that come out of our account at the first of the month. Now, we only had until 5:30 p.m. to make up the shortfall or the bank would charge an additional $38.

My daughter’s text sent me to a new low, capping off nine months of fighting to pay the rent, to pay the utilities, to keep groceries on the table. I’d never been in such a fix—and didn’t enjoy being in this one at my age in life. At 4:30, my sweet mother drove up, asked for our account number, and made her way to the bank where she deposited enough to get us back in the black.

When things get low, it’s easy to get low with them—and I confess I have. But my wife, and others, keep reminding me of God’s promises to care for His children. I could think my own ingenuity or others are responsible for us staying afloat, but I choose to see God behind it all.

Failing to depend on God’s promises to care for His children can sink us even deeper during life’s low periods. God knows the details, and, whether it appears so or not, He is concerned and working behind the scenes. At the right time, He will deliver.

When we see things with this perspective, our faith will grow, and we’ll have stories of deliverance to share with others as we witness to our faith.

Don’t let the low times drag you lower. Look up to God.

Prayer: Father, we look to You during the low times of life, knowing You are the only One who can deliver us.

Tweetable: Where do you turn when things get low? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.