When Hope is Crushed - Martin Wiles

Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Psalm 119:116 NLT

We sat in a small group and talked about disappointment and appointments. And when hope is crushed, we experience frustration.

When I have an appointment, someone has agreed to meet me at a particular time, or I’ve agreed to meet them. Disappointment is the difference between my expectations and what happens.

If my doctor’s appointment is canceled when I really need to see him, I’m disappointed. If I expect my children to succeed in school and college and they don’t, I’m disappointed. If I’m looking for a pay increase and don’t get it, I’m disappointed. When I do everything I should to promote good health only to find out I have a terminal illness, I’m disappointed.

Disappointment and crushed hope have been friends of mine quite a few times. She showed up when my son decided to quit school. She walked in when a spouse walked out. When my drooling over a new car was sopped up by the salesman who said my credit rating wasn’t high enough for a loan. And when I was told someone else had been hired for the job.

For a shepherd, disappointments might be different. Perhaps the sheep didn’t produce as much wool as he had hoped. Or a wild animal killed a few of his prize animals. Maybe one wandered too close to the edge of the mountain and fell to its death. Or ate poisonous weeds.

If I’m not careful, bitterness can stroll in when my hopes are crushed. Unfortunately, there are few things in life I can control. The forces of nature or the actions of others control everything else. I can, however, remember God is in control no matter how bleak my circumstances appear.

God is never disappointed—or surprised. He knows everything that’s going to happen. He orchestrates world events and the situations in my life. Believing in his unconditional love helps us navigate the disappointments of life without them crushing our hopes.

Don’t let life’s disappointments crush your hopes. Trust God for the best.

Prayer: Father, guide us to look to You when circumstances attempt to crush our hopes. 

Tweetable: Where do you turn when your hopes are crushed? 

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.

Farmhouse Barbecue Muffins

Ingredients 

1 CAN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

1LB. GROUND BEEF

½ CUP KETCHUP

3 TABLESPOONS BROWN SUGAR

1 TABLESPOON VINEGAR

½ TEASPOON CHILI POWDER

1 CUP SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE

Directions

FLATTEN EACH BISCUIT INTO A 5-INCH CIRCLE.

PRESS IN BOTTOM AND SIDES OF GREASED MUFFIN PAN.

BROWN BEEF AND DRAIN.

MIX ALL INGREDIENTS EXCEPT CHEESE.

PLACE IN MUFFIN PAN AND TOP WITH CHEESE.

BAKE AT 375 DEGREES FOR 18 TO 20 MINUTES.

Tweetable: Why not add these as an appetizer to your evening meal? 

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.

One Day You Will Thank Me

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6 NLT

“One day, you’ll thank me.”

My wife and I—along with my brother and sister-in-law—decided to celebrate Christmas day and the two days after with a trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One of the things on our to-do list involved walking the new Skybridge in Gatlinburg. Throngs of people thwarted our first attempt, so we decided to return earlier the next day.

Sure enough, our second attempt rewarded us with shorter lines and wait times. As my wife and I awaited our turn to step onto the bridge, two families with a teen boy in each preceded us. Signs decorated the railings around the bridge, telling visitors not to jump on the bridge or shake it.

As soon as one of the teenage boys set foot on the bridge, he did exactly what the sign warned against: jumped. An attendant scolded him. He responded with a vulgar hand motion. The worker said nothing—nor did his parents.

We continued to follow the two families across the bridge. Halfway across, the other teenager grabbed the rail and shook. Another misdemeanor—one that his parents again ignored.

A little farther, the two families stopped to take pictures. Wanting to hurry across, we passed them. The father of one of the teens—who also had a smaller child—responded by tossing out the “f” bomb because we thought we were too good to wait.

I thought of this Bible verse and also of one of my dad’s sayings. I wondered if these children would be able to say their parents had guided them along right paths. Sure, they spent time with them, but they also ignored their bad behavior by overlooking their disobedience to rules and authority figures.

Dad always used this saying when I didn’t like one of the rules he and mom had made. When I balked, he reminded me that one day I’d thank him for the rule. I didn’t think so then, but he was right. During my teen years, I, too, went astray—as the bridge-walking teens appeared to be doing. But during my forays into disobedience, my parents’ rules—which represented God’s rules—always haunted me. When I became a young adult, I gave up my disobedience and returned to the right path.

God has given parents the responsibility to train their children in the right way. This entails teaching them God’s principles, but it also involves noticing what gifts and talents God has given them and then encouraging them to use those gifts in God’s service to make the world a better place.

God holds parents accountable for adhering to His guidelines for parenting. Although we can’t control what decisions our children make—and shouldn’t beat ourselves up when they go astray after our honorable efforts—teaching is our job. We must make the effort. How they respond is on them, but laying a good foundation makes it more probable they’ll choose the right path.

Are you laying a foundation your children will one day thank you for?

Prayer: Father, give us parents the wisdom and fortitude to raise our children and grandchildren in a way that pleases You. 

Tweetable: What will your children thank you for? 

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.

Light for the Path - Martin Wiles

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm119:105 NLT

Camping in the mountains without light for the path can be disastrous.

When my brother, my children, and I backpacked in the mountains, we wanted our packs to be as light as possible. But a flashlight wasn’t one of the things I chose to omit. Additionally, I’d carry extra batteries—especially if we were camping in the winter months. Flashlights came in handy when preparing a meal before daylight, making a bathroom trip during the night, looking for something in my tent, and reading before I fell asleep. Camping in the mountains without some type of light would have been unthinkable.

My life path is just as tenuous or more so as the dark paths I’ve walked in the mountains or the campsites I’ve fumbled around in after dark. Without a light, I could stumble over roots, fall, and injure a body part. Trying to find my Bible in a dark tent isn’t fun either. Nor is trying to fix a stuck zipper on my sleeping bag or cooking supper during the winter months.

I sometimes feel I’m fumbling around in the dark in life. Darkness descends when a family member dies, when a trusted friend betrays us, or when a spouse walks out the door never to return. Darkness happens when the boss delivers the pink slip or when the doctor delivers bad news. Or when the professor stamps C in our grade slot when we tried so hard for an A. Darkness surrounds us when depression sets in and happiness steps out.

Whatever the darkness, God’s Word provides a lamp for our way, shining brightly so we can determine where we need to step to avoid falling and injuring ourselves. It will shine the light of peace on our troubled situations and illuminate happiness where sadness has settled. 

God’s Word reminds us who’s in control, that life does have meaning, and that a vibrant relationship with Christ is the way to experience peace in spite of our circumstances. 

What are you using to light your path?

Prayer: Father, may we trust You to guide us along the dark paths of life. 

Tweetable: What lights your life path? 

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.

Faithful to the End - Martin Wiles

Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Psalm 119:90 NLT

She was a vibrant young teenager who was faithful to the end.

Rachel Scott had a premonition she’d never live to see twenty. She was popular at her high school, even though her witness for Christ wasn’t always well received. Two students who hated her were Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. She had talked to them and tried to persuade them to stop doing all the weird things they were doing.

During the week of Easter, both boys entered Rachel’s school and started shooting. Before approaching her, they killed another student who was witnessing about his faith. Then they shot Rachel in the leg and back. Realizing she was still alive, Harris walked over to her and asked, “Do you still believe in God?”

Before Harris delivered the final shots that ended her life, Rachel said, “You know I do.” 

I’m not sure how old the psalmist was when he wrote these words, but he obviously had lived long enough to observe God’s faithfulness. And I suppose he must have read and heard about God’s faithfulness as well. Friends, parents, grandparents. They’d all experienced God’s faithfulness and lived to tell him about it.

I too have a heritage of hearing about and experiencing God’s faithfulness. I watched as both of my great-grandmothers witnessed of God’s faithfulness. My grandparents also showed me God’s faithfulness and told me many stories to support it. Both of my parents testified of God’s faithfulness and lived out that belief daily. I did the same with my two children, and hopefully, they will do the same with their children.

I’ve read of God’s faithfulness in the Bible’s historical stories and other Christian literature. I’ve witnessed it in the lives of hundreds of others. 

God was faithful yesterday, he is today, and he will be forever. Faithful to fulfill every promise he makes to his children in his Word. He has to be. Not to would contradict his very nature.

Are you experiencing God’s faithfulness in Your life?

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your faithfulness to us. Enable us to be as faithful to You. 

Tweetable: Will you be faithful to the end? 

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.

Earthquake Cake

 

Ingredients

1 BOX GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX

1 CUP CHOPPED PECANS

1 CUP COCONUT

1 STICK BUTTER (MELTED) 

1 8-OUNCE CREAM CHEESE 

1 BOX POWDERED SUGAR

Directions

MIX CAKE AS DIRECTED ON BOX.

LAYER NUTS AND COCONUT IN THE BOTTOM OF A GREASED 9 X 13 PAN.

ADD CAKE BATTER.

IN A BOWL, MIX CREAM CHEESE AND POWDERED SUGAR UNTIL CREAMY.

POUR OVER CAKE BATTER. 

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 35 TO 45 MINUTES.

Tweetable: Why not feel the earth move beneath your feet with this tastebud-shattering dessert? 

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.

Reckless Love - Martin Wiles

Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17 NLT

He heard the fright in his voice.

My brother once hunted deer avidly. When his oldest son reached a certain age, my brother wanted to pass his love for hunting along to his son, so he took him deer hunting with him. The first year, he sat next to his son as they waited for the deer. But the second year, he sat him in a spot by himself. My brother walked a little distance away—out of sight but not out of hearing.

My brother typically stayed in his spot until darkness enveloped the land behind his house, but knowing he would have to walk to his son, he left a little earlier. As soon as he stood to leave, two does appeared. Not wanting to spook them, he waited until they grazed a little and then moved on.

By this time, pitch-black darkness covered the land. He heard the screech owls yelling and the coyotes yapping. Both eerie sounds, but ones he was accustomed to. He also heard his son cry out, “Dad!” Disregarding his fear that he might run up on coyotes, my brother hurriedly made his way to his son with reckless abandon. Nothing mattered but getting to his frightened son. 

God did the same with the disobedient prophet, Jonah. He had commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people that judgment was on the way because of their wickedness. But Jonah didn’t care for the Ninevites and chose to go in the opposite direction. God pursued him with reckless abandon, too, but at the moment, God’s chasing included discipline for disobedience—discipline that came in the form of a large fish.

God loves because His nature demands it. He can do no less. If He didn’t, He would cease to be God. If we choose to run from Him in disobedience or disbelief, He will pursue us with reckless abandon, hoping to turn us from our wayward course. This discipline erupts from His love. If He didn’t love, He wouldn’t care what we did.

God loved Jonah, the Ninevites, and the world. So much so that He sent His Son to pay our sin debt, and so much so that once we belong to Him He continues to pursue us with reckless abandon. He wants us to have the best in life, which comes from obeying His plan. Doing our own thing represents our disdain for Him. Calling out to Him, as my nephew did to my brother, demonstrates our willingness to let Him love us to the fullest extent.

In our heartaches and sorrows, God pursues us. When life throws everything it has against us, God chases us. When we don’t know which way to go or what decision to make, God recklessly—but with purpose—pursues us with His love and direction.

When you find yourself running from God, turn around and accept His reckless love.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your love that won’t let You leave us alone. 

Tweetable: Are you receiving God's reckless love? 

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.

How Long, Lord? - Martin Wiles

My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? Psalm 119:82 NLT

Rachel knew God’s promises but couldn’t help but ask, “How long, Lord?”

Rachel was a young woman with health problems the size of an older person. Degenerative arthritis plagued her joints and back. Several female operations had left her unable to have children. She was fortunate her situation hadn’t turned into cancer. Other surgeries had taken care of a diseased gall bladder and a protruding hernia.

Now, she faced a malfunctioning heart. Her heart flopped and fluttered. Tests revealed severe PVCs. Medicine didn’t seem to help. If doctors didn’t calm them down, they could damage her heart. Through all of her health challenges, Rachel never stopped trusting God, but she couldn’t help but wonder when God's promises to care for her would come true. 

Perhaps Ezra the priest was the author of this lengthy psalm. Unfortunately, he was caught up in the Babylonian captivity. Seventy years would pass before God would raise a new ruler who would allow the people to return to their homeland. Ezra would have the privilege of leading some of them back, but he languished in sorrow for a number of years before he saw God’s promise come true.

I too have meandered through lean periods when I wondered if God had forgotten his promises to me. I’ve never been homeless or had completely bare cabinets, but I have lived in undesirable places and had less to eat than I wanted. Like Rachel, I’ve endured medical issues that seemed to last forever and wondered when God was going to come through with a healing. And though God promises not to let temptations become overbearing, there have been some I didn’t seem to see a way out of.

Though God’s comfort occasionally appears slow in arriving, it always comes—in the correct measure and at the right moment. He never forgets his promises nor reneges on them. He always sends an answer to our prayers, comforts us in our pain, and assures us through our misunderstandings.

Let God’s promises be your stronghold in life’s tough times.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for Your promises that are steadfast and sure. 

Tweetable: Are you asking God "How Long?"

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.

Daring to Discipline - Martin Wiles

I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it. Psalm 119:75 NLT

I didn’t enjoy getting it as a child, giving it as a parent, or administering it as a teacher . . . but daring to discipline had to be done.

My parents were strict disciplinarians. My father thought about what disciplinary methods would work best. My mother often disciplined out of anger. As a parent, I didn’t enjoy disciplining my children, but it was necessary if I expected them to stay on track. Like me, they had a sinful bent. I tried various techniques, some identical to the ones my parents had used on me. Some worked; others didn’t. I’ve also found discipline necessary as a teacher of middle school students. Many of them have that same tendency to buck the rules.

The writer knew God’s regulations were fair, but he tended to stray from them. When God sent discipline, he knew it was because he needed it.

I was born with sinful tendencies. Everyone else is too. These tendencies make me want to test the limits. I tried them as a child and as a teenager. And there have been times I’ve done the same as an adult. Discipline always followed when I was caught.

I’ve also tested God’s limitations. Had I written the rules, I may have added or subtracted a few. But I didn’t. God did. I know his laws are fair, and he gives them so I can truly enjoy life. As my parents continually reminded me that they knew what was best for me—though I doubted it at the time, so God reminds me of the same.

God knows what it will take for us to experience a full and fruitful life and established the rules accordingly. When we break them, he disciplines. We may not like it, but deep down inside, we know his discipline is for our good, as are his boundaries. If we respond by learning the lesson, life will be more pleasurable.

When God sends discipline into your life, remember that He loves You and desires what’s best for you.

Prayer: Father, though we don’t enjoy it now, we thank You for the love You demonstrate through discipline. 

Tweetable: How do you respond to God's discipline? 

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.