Two lessons from Charles Swindoll...

Take Timeby Charles R. Swindoll
Matthew 11:28-30

"I like that, Dad." I remember those words. It's like they were said to me yesterday.

Actually, they take me all the way back to the late 1970s. In '71, Cynthia and I moved our family (four children, ages 1 through 10) from a sleepy, casual bedroom community outside Dallas, Texas, to rapidly growing Orange County in Southern California. Almost before we knew it, we had entered the fast-lane life of the West Coast, doing our best to keep up. As time passed, we found ourselves doing double-time driving freeways, leading an expanding church with a multi-person staff, hauling busy kids to and from school, mixed with holidays and birthday celebrations, sleepovers, and endless ball games. My publishing world had suddenly exploded, which resulted in too many trips around the country and not enough down time to rest my spirit and calm my nerves and be with those I loved the most.

Mother's Day was fast approaching, so my older son and I dropped into the local Hallmark store to find a nice card for Cynthia. As I thumbed through numerous Mother's Day cards, he wandered back to the section where the posters were displayed. Before long he asked me to join him. He was standing before a large poster portraying a serene scene. A well-worn fishing boat was out on a lake. It was early dawn, with the sun peeking over the horizon. Its warm rays reached across a deep blue-gray sky wrapped in lacy white clouds. Two thin lines were in the water---one hanging from a pole held by a father, sitting in the back by a little outboard motor, and the other held by his son, sitting at the other end. Their corks made gentle ripples on the water's glassy surface. You could feel the closeness. You could hear the easygoing conversation as father and son savored the morning together.

Two simple words appeared at the bottom of the poster. They stung as I read them:

TAKE TIME.

"I like that, Dad," said Curt. I reached an arm around the broadening shoulders of my growing-up teenaged son, looked at him, and then looked again at the poster. "I do, too, son . . . I do, too." He didn't want to buy it. I realized he simply wanted me to see it. To think about it. I did. In fact, it was a needed wake-up call to this too-busy dad, whose son had hurriedly come into the store looking for something to buy for his mother, but who left slowly, far more concerned about his dad.

How easy it is for you and me to get caught up in a "hurry-worry sindrome," doing too much, driving too fast, eating too quickly, juggling too many things. It all seems ultra-important at the moment---but later we realize much was done at the expense of cultivating deeper and more meaningful relationships with those we love the most. Being held hostage by the tyranny of the urgent is not how we were meant to live.

Knowing how prone we are to this, Jesus offered a very sincere and gracious invitation. You may have read it before . . . but this time, linger over it. Turn the words over in your mind; let them seep in.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

I suggest you accept Jesus's invitation---today. Come to Him. Tell Him how weary and over-burdened you are. Pull that heavy backpack loaded with all your stuff off your shoulders and drop it at His feet. Do it now. Then enter into His rest. Relax for a change---take an extra several minutes to enjoy His presence . . . embrace His peace. Before you turn in tonight, curl up alongside those who mean the most to you and tell them how much you love them, how valuable they are to you.

The Secret to Staying Balanced, Part Twoby Charles R. Swindoll
Exodus 18:19-25

Thanks to Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, the great leader was able to confront a long-standing habit, which was wearing him down. Working so hard that you never have a break will wear anyone down, as we saw in a previous devotional. I commend Jethro for telling his son-in-law the truth. He didn't stutter: "The thing that you are doing is not good" (Exodus 18:17).

Before any need for change can be recognized, we have to face the truth. Thankfully, Moses did just that. Rather than arguing, he listened and did the right thing. He shared the burden of leadership. As you read yesterday, he "chose able men . . . and made them heads over the people" (18:25). The act of delegation works best when those who are given a share of the load are qualified to handle those responsibilities. What a relief that must have been to Moses! As a result, he finally took time to relax.

I hope you didn't miss something very important that Jethro said to Moses. He urged Moses to do this "so it will be easier for you . . . then you will be able to endure" (18:22-23). Working smarter is the ticket, not working harder. And the ultimate payoff: you'll "endure"!

I'm convinced that one of the reasons Moses remained so productive and healthy right up to the very end of that last 40-year segment of his life was that he learned the importance of delegating his heavy load of responsibility. Doing that allowed him sufficient time for R & R---rest and relaxation. We can all learn some vital lessons from ol' Moses.

By the way, he lived to be 120---healthy to the very end. His epitaph?

Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. (Deuteronomy 34:7)

Every time I read that, I smile.

The Place He's Preparing ... And the Way to it - by Charles R. Swindoll

February 10, 2009

John 14:6
Look again at what Jesus explained to His disciples during their last supper together:

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3)

While these words mean a lot to us today, they confused those who first heard them. After all, they expected Jesus to overthrow the Roman government, releasing the people of Israel from that long-standing domination, and to establish His kingdom on earth. But at that time, they heard that He was going to a cross, and He was going to die, and that meant they'd be left without Him . . . and this information came at the tail end of their investing 3 1/2 years of their lives with Him, anticipating all the above.

And on top of all that, He told them not to be troubled? And then He told them He was leaving and returning to His Father? He went on to say that they knew the way He was going. It was at this point Thomas must have waved his hand and interrupted Him with words to this effect: "Lord, we don't get it . . . and we don't understand the way!"

Jesus's response was clear and concise. It represents one of the most important statements He ever made. He said this to all of them: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6).

As important as His returning to prepare a heavenly home for us may seem, there is something far more basic than that. And that is being sure that we're included in that eternal place He's preparing. To the surprise of most people, it has nothing to do with becoming religious or trying our best to be good or working very hard to earn a place on His roster. No, that's not it at all. Having a place in heaven after we die has everything to do with this one factor: our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Look again at His words. He, alone, is the way to God. He, alone, personifies the truth. He, alone, is the source of eternal life with the Father. Without the way there is no going. Without the truth there is no knowing. Without the life there is no living. And so, without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no forgiveness of our sins, there is no hope beyond the grave, there is no home prepared for you in heaven.

Yes, the way that leads us into heaven is that narrow. To come to the Father and enjoy the place that's prepared, it must be through faith alone in Christ alone . . . Jesus Christ plus nothing. If Jesus's final words to His disciples at their last supper mean anything, they mean that.

Make sure that you not only understand this, but you also accept it, personally. Just as He has left the earth to prepare an eternal home for us, He urges you and me to prepare our hearts by receiving Him. He becomes the key that will unlock the door to your new home in heaven and allow you entrance.

Thankfully, I have trusted Christ . . . have you?

Copyright © 2006 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

What's Important?

What is important to you? What do you spend your time working on, developing, growing and investing in? To what does your time go?

As we have been studying King Solomon on Thursday mornings, we have learned from Solomon what is important. Throughout 1 Kings 1-12, we see Solomon going through his stages of life. We see him becoming King and following in the footsteps of his Father. The throne was given to him and he took it. He asks God for wisdom and he receives it and so much more. He amasses wealth and things far beyond what anyone has ever done. Just take some time to read about his wealth and the parties he throws in 1 Kings. This is the originial "party animal"!

Through all this, Solomon is brought back to what is important toward the end of his life. You can read this in Ecclesiastes 1-2. Look at 1:16, it reads: "I thought to myself, Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge. Then I applied myself to the undersanding of wisodm, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind."

So what is important? What is important to you?

Hopefully, knowing God and being known by God is the utmost important thing in your life. Next, I hope loving your wife and kids. Then the other things in life come.

Spend time today loving your wife and kids like never before. Invest your efforts in them and it will bring dividends that you cannot find anywhere else. This is an area that cannot be affected by the stock market. Your return on investment will be off the charts!!!

I know of a man that today is totally separated from his wife and kids. He has lived in this country for 15 years and yesterday, out of the blue, he was taken from his job and send to jail to be deported in a couple of weeks. No questions asked, no was to get out of this. His wife and kids will be able to stay, but he cannot. If you asked him today, I am sure he knows what is important to him, his wife and kids!

Don't waste anytime, love your wife and kids like it is your last day.

Praise God that he loves us and allows us to figure out for ourselves what is important. Let's don't wait any longer to invest in the right things!

STP, an IronMan