Meandering Monday - Keep on Loving - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Meandering Monday, where we take a trip back to an earlier post and enjoy it again.

Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Hebrews 6:11 NLT

I’m the first to admit, I’m not perfect. Never have been.

And I’m sure there have been many times during my life when acquaintances, friends, family, and co-workers have found me difficult to love. Yet, despite what I know about myself, I still frequently find it hard to love others unqualitatively.

Such as the church treasurer who got mad because the ruling body decided they would audit the books annually. He took this as an affront to his credibility, and I was the one he chose to direct his toward. Or the woman who blatantly accused my wife of trying to take over things in the church…activities no one else was doing. And the deacon who wanted to “think” about allowing me to go bi-vocational even though the church couldn’t pay me enough to live on. And how can I forget the man who challenged my decision to have a toilet at the church repaired without first voting on it at a church business meeting? All people who were difficult to love.

Whoever wrote this letter wanted these believers to keep on loving those difficult-to-love people. In fact, their love would fulfill all God’s commands and keep them from becoming spiritually dull and indifferent.

Just after loving God with our entire hearts and beings—according to Jesus—comes loving our neighbors as we do ourselves. The above are just a few examples of neighbors who were difficult to love. All of us can give our personal examples. But then again, loving them only when they’re easy to love doesn’t take much effort—or love—and doesn’t even define love.

Unconditional is a better term and the type of love we need to show. This is the way God loves us when we disobey him, affront him, neglect him, try to manipulate him, or totally disregard him.

Whom do you need to show love to?

Prayer: God of all love, teach us to love others unconditionally as You do us. 

Tweetable: Whom do you need to keep on loving? 

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In or Out of Control - Martin Wiles

Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Psalm 115:3 NLT

“I like to be in control,” my wife smirked.

The battery-operated toothbrush had lain on the bathroom counter for a week before I asked her where she got it from. By this time, it had either collected dust or come in its present condition when the company shipped it to my wife.

Thinking she had spent money on something we didn’t have extra funds for, I questioned her about the purchase. She had ordered it from a website she does business with where she can buy things for a dollar. I couldn’t argue with a dollar purchase, especially since I know how much those type of toothbrushes cost.

“Why haven’t you opened the package and used the brush?” I finally asked after watching the thing lie around for a week.

The next day, she did. After using her new brush once, she informed me she didn’t like it and wouldn’t be using it again. When I asked why, I got the smirk and the answer. She couldn’t control her toothbrush; the batteries controlled it. All she could do was let the bristles circulate over her teeth. She liked to put pressure on her teeth. She couldn’t with this toothbrush.

According to the psalmist, God is like the battery-operated toothbrush. Nothing controls Him. He does as He wishes.

The psalmist’s statement comforts me when I understand everything else the Bible says about God. He is holy, kind, loving, and fair. When I worship a God such as that, I’m okay with Him doing what He wants when He wants. If He were a different kind of deity, I might not relish His rule.

When it comes to controlling, I’ve discovered I can only control one person: me. I have no power over what others do—even if I’m their manager or supervisor. Perhaps I can control how they act while they are under my watch, but I can’t control what they do at other times or even what they’re thinking while they are under my supervision.

If we try to do what only God can do, we get disappointed and depressed. Life will not always go as we plan. When things are out of our hands—and we don’t trust God to control them—we’ll jump into bed with misery. And on the heels of unending misery comes depression.

We can also run off friends. No one wants to hang around with a control freak. And chances are, we’ll have a bad attitude to boot. Lack of friends, depression, and disappointment can lead to that. To reverse it, we must reverse our attempts to control.

Let go of the struggle to control and let God take His rightful position. This is the only way to enjoy the peace Jesus gives.

Prayer: Father, prompt us to relinquish control of our lives to You, and only You.

Tweetable: Are you in or out of control? 

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Apple Nut Cake

 

APPLE NUT CAKE

Ingredients

3 CUPS DICED APPLES

1 CUP CHOPPED PECANS

2 CUPS SUGAR

3 CUPS SELF-RISING FLOUR

1 CUP CRISCO OIL

3 EGGS

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

Directions

HAND MIX ALL INGREDIENTS.

POUR INTO A GREASED TUBE PAN.

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 1 HOUR OR UNTIL DONE.

GLAZE

Ingredients

½ CUP BUTTER

1 CUP BROWN SUGAR

¼ CUP EVAPORATED MILK

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

Directions

HEAT MARGARINE AND BROWN SUGAR OVER LOW HEAT UNTIL MELTED.

ADD MILK AND LET COME TO A FULL BOIL.

REMOVE FROM HEAT AND COOL.

ADD VANILLA AND POUR OVER CAKE.

Tweetable: Why not add this delicious cake to your main menu? 

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Walk-on Wednesday - Never Forgotten - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers. Hebrews 6:10 NLT

As an aspiring writer, I attended my first writer’s conference, sponsored by an organization for which I had been writing devotions.

Here’s my chance to hobnob with those who have pull in the writing world, I thought. I had been writing for several years and had always told myself I was doing this for God. Yet in the silence of some moments, I wondered if that was true. Could I accept it if I were never published? Goodness knows, I had received my share of rejection notices.

I quickly discovered the writing world was a dog-eat-dog world. One of the break-out sessions I chose was hosted by the co-founder and editor of the organization sponsoring the conference. Imagine my discouragement when he stood before the group and told us how much it costs a publishing company to publish a book and what our chances were for getting published.

It was decision time. With the bare facts before me, would I keep writing even if I was overlooked by everyone in the publishing world? Would it be enough to be rewarded only by God and never anyone else?

I was convicted. Jesus often cautioned the religious authorities about doing what they did for recognition. Rather, he—like the present writer--investigated my motivation. The effects of my writing—and anything else I do for God—will be quickly forgotten if I do it for praise from others. But if my service to God, in whatever form it takes, is done so others may see my good works and glorify the Father, then the effects will linger long after my eyes have closed in death.

Though we may face rejection and disappointment while on earth, God will never overlook what we do for him when it’s done with the right spirit.

Let the assurance of God’s love and recognition bolster you when you feel forgotten.

Prayer: Eternal God and Father, thank You for comforting us in those times when we feel overlooked and forgotten. 

Tweetable: Do you ever feel forgotten? 

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Meandering Monday - The Gift of Pick-Me-Up - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Meandering Monday, where we take a trip back to an earlier post and enjoy it again.

We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. Hebrews 6:9 NLT

Our friendship is an old one.

I met him when things in my life had taken a turn south. At the time, he was my middle brother’s pastor and had been a pastor to my parents. In spite of how bleak I imagined my future, he continued to tell me, “God’s not through with you. He has a plan.”

My wife and I eventually joined the church he pastored, and we continued to build our friendship with him and his family. At the end of one particular year, the youth pastor resigned, and my encouraging friend asked if I’d like the position of Associate Pastor. I accepted, and for two years, we worked together. During that time, he continued to remind me God had a plan. He was convinced greater things were in store and told me so often. God awarded me the gift of a pick-me-up…not in the form of medicine, but in the person of a good friend.

Turning my back on God is possible but unfathomable. These early Christians had been warned of the dangers of doing so, but the author doesn’t think they will. Better things are in store for them. He picks them up by speaking optimism and encouragement into their lives.

My friend was a healer of my spirit. His words brought peace to my soul. Hearing someone speak hope into my future was enough to get me through another night and day. When I do this for others, the same occurs. By encouraging them, I’m encouraged.

Life is filled with disappointments, but their appearance doesn’t mean God has forgotten us. Through the tough times, he weaves his plan and accomplishes his purpose for us: being formed into the likeness of Christ. The trials wart off laziness because it takes hard emotional and spiritual effort to pattern the various threads of life.

We’re products of our pasts—the tough times included—but we choose not to be prisoners. They’re a part of the baggage God uses to encourage others that a brighter future lies ahead.

Who can you encourage today?

Prayer: Eternal God, lift our spirits that we might raise the spirits of others. 

Tweetable: Who or what is your pick-me-up? 

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Here I Am; Look at Me - Teri Verduyn

When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me. Jeremiah 29:13 NIrV

In December 2007, my son Justin and I went to Antarctica.

We have traveled to each continent and discovered God on all seven. In Africa, we saw people who loved God and followed him faithfully living in wretched conditions. We received hospitality from the Australians that mirrored what Jesus gave to sinners. Asians joyfully shared their food and possessions with us like the poor widow who gave her two coins to Jesus. But, on each of the seven continents, we remembered that we lived as sojourners, waiting for our eternal home in heaven.

The Israelites were banished to Babylon and forced to wait in a new land. Jeremiah prophesied via a letter that, although they longed to return to Israel, they should engage in Babylonian life because God had a plan for them and hope for their future. God promised if they searched and called to him at the end of the exile, he would listen to them and return them to Jerusalem.

Today, God’s promise still holds. If we call to him, he will listen. But, unfortunately, it took a penguin to make me hear him.

This picture is one of 5,000 I took of the penguins and their environment. The rule—take only memories, leave only footprints—required us to socially distance from the penguins. As a result, the picture shows the penguin standing in the midst of us.

As I reviewed the picture, I thought about the trip. It took forever to fly to Antarctica, and we spent an atrocious amount of money to get there. But then, we stood looking at our cameras and not looking at the adorable little chinstrap penguin. Can you hear him say, “Here I am, look at me?”

Sometimes, I neglect Jesus, just as I neglected the penguin. I go to church, read my Bible, and serve others. I look for Jesus and call out to him but don’t hear him because I get distracted with the urgent. He stands next to me, saying, “Here I am. Look at me.”

Don’t miss Jesus. An incredible journey results when we follow him.

Father, help us seek Jesus in everything we do.

Tweetable: Have you missed Jesus? 

Teri Verduyn lives in Fargo, North Dakota, with her husband. She works as a financial advisor and pursues a ministry in writing Bible studies and non-fiction articles. She and her husband love their family, traveling, photography, and serving Christ together. 

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Sweet Potato Souffle

 

Ingredients

3 LARGE SWEET POTATOES

½ STICK BUTTER

1 CUP BROWN SUGAR

1 CUP WHITE SUGAR

2 EGGS

1 CUP MILK

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

2 CUP CHOPPED PECANS

2 TABLESPOON PLAIN FLOUR

Directions

WASH, PEEL, AND CUT POTATOES INTO CHUNKS.COOK UNTIL TENDER.

IN A BOWL, MASH  THE POTATOES. 

ADD WHITE SUGAR, 1/2 CUP BROWN SUGAR, EGGS, MILK, VANILLA, AND 1/4 STICK OF BUTTER.

MIX WELL. POUR INTO A GREASED CASSEROLE DISH.

IN A SEPARATE BOWL MIX THE REST OF BUTTER, BROWN SUGAR, FLOUR, AND PECANS. 

PLACE ON TOP OF POTATO MIXTURE.

BAKE AT 350 FOR 35 to 40 MINUTES

Tweetable: Why not make this an addition to your Thanksgiving meal? 

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Walk-on Wednesday - Gone Too Far - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again. Hebrews 6:6 NLT

The Christmas season had arrived.

My wife and I lived almost three hours away from our families but eagerly anticipated the drive home to frolic with family and friends. Since my wife had been an avid shopper that season, the presents soon overtook our luggage. We opened presents at my family’s home first, and then it was off to my in-law’s to repeat the process. As we did, my wife noticed that her nephew and niece had no gifts from us. She had bought an entire box full, but where were they?

“Did you get the box from the top of the closet,” she asked. I hadn’t, but we had gone too far to go back and retrieve them.

At some point, too far is too far. This hotly debated verse has witnessed several interpretations. Among them that the writer was warning against apostasy, that the listeners weren’t true believers, that the listeners were superficial believers, or that he was merely posing a hypothetical scenario. Regardless of what it could mean, a scarlet thread runs through all the possibilities: unbelief.

Unbelief is dangerous and has the potential to take me beyond the too-far point. When God gives more privileges, more responsibilities follow. Those who’ve heard the gospel but don’t respond will be held to a greater level of accountability than those who’ve never heard.

Since God doesn’t give second chances after death, it’s essential that we make necessary decisions now—deciding to trust Christ being the most important. When we continue to ignore God’s call to salvation, our hearts harden. Hearing demands action and our actions demonstrate we’ve heard.

The good news is that as long as we’re alive and in our right minds, we haven’t gone too far. We can respond to God’s call—most importantly, to the call to salvation but also to various areas of service.

No matter how far you are, God allows turn arounds.

Prayer: Father, may we avoid the too-far points by responding quickly to Your summons. 

Tweetable: Do you think you've gone too far from God? 

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Meandering Monday - Back to the Basics - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Meandering Monday, where we take a trip back to an earlier post and enjoy it again.

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Hebrews 6:1 NLT

Country music artist Waylon Jennings sang about getting back to the basics of love. So did the Christian group, 4 Him.

The importance of basics depends on what the basics are. If I choose a basic virus protection package for my computer, I give up full protection. If for my television satellite provider, channels I won’t be able to watch. The basics are the bare minimum. Whether having only the basics is enough merits further consideration.

Basics carry disadvantages but are necessary to enjoy the frills. I can’t watch ESPN if I don’t at least have satellite or cable. I can’t enjoy full virus protection if I don’t at least have the virus program. I can’t get back to the basics of love if I don’t have love to begin with.

When the writer says to leave the basics of Christianity and get on with mature spiritual living, he doesn’t mean the basics are dispensable. I can’t grow up in Christ if I don’t have Christ. While these early believers didn’t need to continually rehash the basics, the basics were imperative.

The basics of the biblical message concern God’s love and humanity’s problem. God calls the problem sin, and he cannot associate with it because of his holy nature. Either I or someone else must pay. Because of his enormous and matchless love, God decided to allow his Son to pay the debt. He did so by dying on a cross on a hill called Calvary.

In some unfathomable way, God placed the world’s sins on his Son, thereby freeing all persons who choose to accept his gift. Through faith in Christ and belief in his resurrection, we can be reconciled to God, enjoy an abundant life presently, and look forward to a wonderful eternity.

We can’t leave the basics out, but once we’ve accepted them, we must grow in our understanding of how to apply to life what we’ve received. What have you done with the basics?

Prayer: Merciful God, thank You for the basics that remind us of the great love You’ve shown through Jesus Christ. 

Tweetable: Do you need to get back to the basics? 

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When We’re Empty - Martin Wiles

I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me! Jonah 2:2 NLT

When my stomach talks, I listen.

My stomach speaks to me often. When I wake up early in the morning, it’s talking. About two hours later, it speaks again. Then we carry on another conversation around 11:00 that morning. A couple of hours later, and we’re at it again. Then again around 6 p.m. And yes, before bedtime, it’s yelling again.

I once ate as often as my stomach talked. But that was when my youthful nature still reigned, and my metabolism ran in high gear. I could eat all I wanted—and as much of it—and not gain a pound. Not true any longer. I still hear my stomach speaking, but now I either ignore it for a few hours or fill it with some healthier food that won’t cause weight gain.

I’ve also learned through the years that filling my stomach with certain things has unwelcome consequences—gaining weight not included. I’ll either end up with a stomachache, or I’ll make several trips to the bathroom. Something I might not have time for, especially if I’m teaching a class at school.

Jonah discovered a little about the stomach too—the stomach of a big fish. Whether the fish was a whale or not doesn’t really matter. Whatever it was, it was large enough to swallow him. I don’t know what Jonah heard, smelled, or saw in the belly of that fish, but I do know he wanted to get out. Fortunately, God heard his cry of repentance and instructed the fish to vomit him up on dry land. Jonah then decided he’d do what God had instructed him to do to begin with: preach about judgment to the wicked Ninevites.

Our stomachs talk when they’re empty, and Jonah was empty. Empty because he had disobeyed God. Empty because he wanted to go his own way rather than the way God had said. Empty because he was running from God’s will. Empty because he forgot God went with him everywhere he went. Empty in all respects.

Life has a way of mimicking our stomachs when they’re empty. We hit rock bottom with no way to look but up. Maybe we are there because of bad decisions we made or because someone else made them for us. Like the gas needle on the car, we feel as if we only have a few miles to go before we’re out of fuel. Our stomachs are talking and we’re listening, but we don’t know where to turn.

Our answer is the same as Jonah’s: cry out to God. He knows where we are, how we got there, and where the answer lies. He will deliver if we ask. Looking for other stuff to make our stomachs stop growling won’t work. Only a close relationship with our Creator will do.

And when we ask, God will fill our stomachs with what really satisfies. They’ll stop growling for the wrong things. And God will instruct them to vomit us out onto a clean fresh beachfront where life will deliver the peace He wants us to enjoy.

If you’re empty, turn to the stomach filler.

Prayer: Father, may we fill our stomachs with things that honor You. 

Tweetable: Are you running on empty? 

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Apple Cider

 

Ingredients

64 ounces of apple juice

2 bags of red hots

1 jar of Maraschino cherries

2 apples

1 bag of frozen pineapple

Directions

Place juice and red hots in a crockpot.

Turn on medium.

Once red hots start dissolving, add cherries with juice and pineapple.

Peel apples and cut into large chunks and place in mixture.

Turn on low. 

Let simmer until ready to serve.

Tweetable: Why not enjoy your fall evening by sipping on this soothing cider? 

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Walk-on Wednesday - Grow Up - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. Hebrews 5:12 NLT

Life had taken a sad turn.

My job of six years had vanished. Searching for a new one became a discouraging challenge. Months went by before a call finally came from a school district forty miles away wanting to know if I’d be interested in working as a teacher’s assistant. At this point, I was willing to try anything.

Little did I know the children I’d be working with were autistic. Their bodies were the normal size for their age, but their actions weren’t. Only one could go to the bathroom by himself. The others wore diapers. At their age, they should have been talking, but all they could do was make sounds. When other kids were watching movies and playing video games, these kids wanted to watch Barney the purple dinosaur. Normal children their age could feed themselves, but these children had to be spoon-fed like babies.

The recipients of this letter had been believers for many years. So long, in fact, that they should have known God’s Word well enough to teach others. But they couldn’t. They were still babies. They needed children’s Bible stories when they should have been teaching others the meat portions of God’s Word. They needed bottle feeding instead of spoon-feeding.

Growing up is fun but challenging and difficult as well. Many times I’ve wished I could return to the younger years when Mom and Dad took care of everything. Growing up in Christ is no different.

Physical growth happens naturally; spiritual growth takes effort. We won’t grow if we don’t try. Doing so requires being countercultural. We can’t sand with the grain because according to Jesus most of the grains are going in the wrong direction.

Through spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, meditation, and fellowship with like-minded believers, we train our conscience to be sensitive to the pricking of God’s Spirit. This takes time, but the reward is that we’ll grow up in Christ and be used in ways we wouldn’t be had we remained a babe. No longer will we be blown about by every new teaching that comes along. Neither will we find ourselves continually falling to the temptations of Satan. We will have matured.

What’s your spiritual age?

Prayer: Prod us, merciful Lord, to grow up in our faith walk so that we can be useful instruments of Yours.

Tweetable: Are you acting your spiritual age? 

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.