Sitting in the Light ... by Charles R. Swindoll

1 John 1:5-7

"You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is required. The stars neither require it nor demand it" (Annie Dillard).

A lot of things in life are like that, aren't they?

A piano sits in a room, gathering dust. It is full of the music of the masters, but in order for such strains to flow from it, fingers must strike the keys . . . trained fingers, representing endless hours of disciplined dedication. You do not have to practice. The piano neither requires it nor demands it. If, however, you want to draw beautiful music from the piano, that discipline is required.

A child plays at your feet, growing and learning. That little one has incredible potential, a hidden reservoir of capability and creativity, but in order for those possibilities to be developed, parents must take time . . . listen, train, encourage, reprove, challenge, support, and model. Moms and dads do not have to do any of that. The child neither requires nor demands that we do so. If, however, we hope to raise secure and healthy offspring, those things are required.

Time spreads itself before us, directionless and vacant. That time can be filled with meaningful activities and personal accomplishments, but in order for that to occur, you must think through a plan and carry it out. You do not have to plan or follow through. Time neither requires it nor demands it. If, however, you hope to look back over those days, weeks, months, and years and smile at what was achieved, planning is required.

What is true of the stars, a piano, a child, and the days ahead is especially true of your mind. It awaits absorption. It will soak up whatever you feed it: imaginary worries, fears, filthy and seductive thoughts, hours of television, and selfish greed . . . or good books, stimulating discussions, exciting risks of faith, the memorization of Scripture, and learning a few new skills. You can even take a course or two that will stretch your mental muscles.

You do not have to pay the price to grow and expand intellectually. The mind neither requires it nor demands it. If, however, you want to experience the joy of discovery and the pleasure of plowing new and fertile soil, effort is required.

Light won't automatically shine upon you, nor will truth silently seep into your head by means of rocking-chair osmosis.

It's up to you. It's your move.

If the splendor of the stars is worth sitting outside in the dark, believe me, the joy of fresh discovery is worth sitting inside in the light.

Pray for Revival .. by Pastor Graham

And he [Jesus] said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?”

-- Matthew 26:40

Have you ever noticed how often our self confidence leads to a lack of dependence upon the Lord in prayer?

You and I get so busy that we take our eyes off him and when our focus is off the Lord, we are set up for spiritual failure. If you don’t believe me, ask Simon Peter. Remember before his arrest, when Jesus found Simon Peter sleeping rather than praying? Well, at that moment, prayerlessness was Peter’s downfall.

I believe prayerlessness is one of the biggest issues facing the American church today. We know we need a cultural revolution and that we are headed for disaster unless God’s people return to him. But too often the church tries to fight the cultural battle with physical weapons.

So let me remind you that the agenda of the church is not just stopping abortion, or the gay agenda, or the demise of the culture through the media.

Even though we want these things to stop, the only way we will win these battles is on our knees in prayer. The only way America will change is one life at a time… one heart at a time. And that means God’s people must be in prayer.

Let’s get our eyes off ourselves and back on God. Without him we can do nothing.

THE ONLY WAY AMERICA WILL CHANGE IS ONE LIFE AT A TIME… ONE HEART AT A TIME.

The Chapel: Where Man Covers His Mouth... by Max Lucado

“I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything, so I will put my hand over my mouth.” (Job 40:4)

The phrase for the chapel is “Hallowed be thy name.”

This phrase is a petition, not a proclamation. A request, not an announcement. Hallowed be your name. We enter the chapel and beseech, “Be hallowed, Lord.” Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Take your rightful place on the throne. Exalt yourself. Magnify yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and I’ll be quiet.

The word hallowed comes from the word holy, and the word holy means “to separate.” The ancestry of the term can be traced back to an ancient word which means “to cut.” To be holy, then, is to be a cut above the norm, superior, extraordinary. Remember what we learned in the observatory? The Holy One dwells on a different level from the rest of us. What frightens us does not frighten him. What troubles us does not trouble him.

I’m more a landlubber than a sailor, but I’ve puttered around in a bass boat enough to know the secret for finding land in a storm … You don’t aim at another boat. You certainly don’t stare at the waves. You set your sights on an object unaffected by the wind—a light on the shore—and go straight toward it. The light is unaffected by the storm.

By seeking God in the chapel, you do the same. When you set your sights on our God, you focus on one “a cut above” any storm life may bring.

Like Job, you find peace in the pain.

Like Job, you cover your mouth and sit still.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). This verse contains a command with a promise.

The command?

Be still.

Cover your mouth.

Bend your knees.

The promise? You will know that I am God.

The vessel of faith journeys on soft waters. Belief rides on the wings of waiting.

Linger in the chapel. Linger often in the chapel. In the midst of your daily storms, make it a point to be still and set your sights on him. Let God be God. Let him bathe you in his glory so that both your breath and your troubles are sucked from your soul. Be still. Be quiet. Be open and willing. Then you will know that God is God, and you can’t help but confess, “Hallowed be thy name.”

From The Great House of God
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1997) Max Lucado

Service Opportunity!!!

We have an opportunity to serve some very deserving folks on Jan. 16th. We will be preparing and serving a meal to the Ronald McDonald House of Ft. Worth. We need all the help we can get! Please contact me and let me know if you can attend and be a part of the blessing. We want to be a blessing to these awesome people. They are all going through some very difficult times right now and a good hot meal is always appreciated!

Email (stacey@pmiair.com) or call me (214-415-9568) to let me know you can come!

Please don't miss this opportunity to be a blessing!

www.ftworthrmh.org

STP, an IronMan

Christ In Me ... by Max Lucado

Like Mary, you and I are indwelt by Christ.

Find that hard to believe? How much more did Mary? No one was more surprised by this miracle than she was. And no one more passive than she was. God did everything. Mary didn't volunteer to help. What did she have to offer? She offered no assistance.

And she offered no resistance. Instead she said, "Behold, the bond- slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

Unlike Mary, we tend to assist God, assuming our part is as important as his. Or we resist, thinking we are too bad or too busy. Yet when we assist or resist, we miss God's great grace. We miss out on the reason we were placed on earth-to be so pregnant with heaven's child that he lives through us. To be so full of him that we could say with Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20)

What would that be like? To have a child within is a miracle, but to have Christ within?

To have my voice, but him speaking.
My steps, but Christ leading.
My heart, but his love beating
in me, through me, with me.
What's it like to have Christ on the inside?

To tap his strength when mine expires
or feel the force of heaven's fires
raging, purging wrong desires.
Could Christ become my self entire?

So much him, so little me
That in my eyes it's him they see.
What's it like to a Mary be?
No longer I, but Christ in me.

From Next Door Savior

Dealing with Difficult Relatives ... by Max Lucado

Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult relatives? Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family? Yes, there is.

His own.

It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. If your family doesn’t appreciate you, take heart, neither did Jesus’.

“His family … went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).

Jesus’ siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They weren’t proud—they were embarrassed!

It’s worth noting that he didn’t try to control his family’s behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn’t demand that they agree with him. He didn’t sulk when they insulted him. He didn’t make it his mission to try to please them.

Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons, an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin. Jesus didn’t have that expectation. Look how he defined his family: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants” (Mark 3:35).

When Jesus’ brothers didn’t share his convictions, he didn’t try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn’t. If Jesus himself couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?

Having your family’s approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because he didn’t, this chapter has a happy ending.

What happened to Jesus’ family?

Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of Acts. “Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.… They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers” (Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis added).

What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones who pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he’d suffocated his family with his demand for change?

He didn’t. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. And because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One brother became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1 Cor. 9:5).

So don’t lose heart. God still changes families.

From He Still Moves Stones
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1999) Max Lucado

Great song and message!

Take it Easy ... by Charles R. Swindoll

Proverbs 22:6

Maybe it's because I just had another birthday. Maybe it's because I'm a granddad several times over. Or maybe it's because of a struggling young seminarian I met recently who wishes he had been higher on his parents' priority list than, say, fifth or sixth. He was hurried and ignored through childhood, then tolerated and misunderstood through adolescence, and finally expected to "be a man" without having been taught how.

My words are dedicated to all of you who have the opportunity to make an investment in a growing child so that he or she might someday be whole and healthy, secure and mature. Granted, yours is a tough job. Relentless and thankless . . . at least for now. But nobody is better qualified to shape the thinking, to answer the questions, to assist during the struggles, to calm the fears, to administer the discipline, to know the innermost heart, or to love and affirm the life of your offspring than you.

When it comes to "training up the child in the way he should go," you've got the inside lane, Mom and Dad. So---take it easy! Remember (as Anne Ortlund puts it) "children are wet cement." They take the shape of your mold. They're learning even when you don't think they're watching. And those little guys and gals are plenty smart. They hear tone as well as terms. They read looks as well as books. They figure out motives, even those you think you can hide. They are not fooled, not in the long haul.

The two most important tools of parenting are time and touch. Believe me, both are essential. If you and I hope to release from our nest fairly capable and relatively stable people who can soar and make it on their own, we'll need to pay the price of saying no to many of our own wants and needs in order to interact with our young . . . and we'll have to keep breaking down the distance that only naturally forms as our little people grow up.

Time and touch. Listen to your boys and girls, look them in the eye, put your arms around them, hug them close, tell them how valuable they are. Don't hold back. Take the time to do it. Reach. Touch.

When you are tempted to get involved in some energy-draining, time-consuming opportunity that will only increase the distance between you and yours, ask yourself hard questions like, "Could my time be better spent at home?" and "Won't there be similar opportunities in the years to come?" Then turn your attention to your boy or girl. Hold nothing back as you renew acquaintances.

Take it easy!

The two most important tools of parenting are time and touch.

Keep It Simple ... by Charles R. Swindoll

Micah 6:6-8

Micah isn't exactly a household word. Too bad. Though obscure, the ancient prophet had his stuff together. Eclipsed by the much more famous Isaiah, who ministered among the elite, Micah took God's message to the streets.

Micah had a deep suspicion of phony religion. He saw greed in the hearts of the leaders of the kingdom of Judah, which prompted him to warn the common folk not to be deceived by religious pretense among nobility. In true prophetic style, Micah comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. He condemned sin. He exposed performance-based piety. He championed the cause of the oppressed. He predicted the fall of the nation. And he did it all at the risk of his own life.

But Micah didn't just denounce and attack, leaving everyone aware of the things he despised but none of the things he believed. Like rays of brilliant sunlight piercing charcoal-colored clouds after a storm, the prophet saved his best words for a positive message to the people, and I am pleased to say that he did it with simplicity: "With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Mic. 6:6-7).

Micah's words state exactly what many, to this day, wonder about pleasing God. Teachers and preachers have made it so sacrificial . . . so complicated . . . so extremely difficult. To them, God is virtually impossible to please. Therefore, religion has become a series of long, drawn-out, deeply painful acts designed to appease this peeved Deity in the sky who takes delight in watching us squirm.

Micah erases the things on the entire list, replacing the complicated possibilities with one of the finest definitions of simple faith: "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic. 6:8).

God does not look for big-time, external displays. He does not require slick public performances.

What is required? Slow down and read the list aloud: to do justice . . . to love kindness . . . and to walk humbly with your God. Period.

Faith is not a long series of religious performances or a pile of pious things.
All God asks for is simple faith.

Believe ... by Max Lucado

Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet, “saying again and again, ‘My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live’” (Mark 5:23).

There are no games. No haggling. No masquerades. The situation is starkly simple: Jairus is blind to the future and Jesus knows the future. So Jairus asks for his help.

And Jesus, who loves the honest heart, goes to give it…[He] turns immediately to Jairus and pleads: “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v. 36).

Jesus compels Jairus to see the unseen. When Jesus says, “Just believe … ,” he is imploring, “Don’t limit your possibilities to the visible. Don’t listen only for the audible. Don’t be controlled by the logical. Believe there is more to life than meets the eye!”

“Trust me,” Jesus is pleading. “Don’t be afraid; just trust.”

From Fear Not Promise Book

Just What I needed ...

Thank you HS for working and speaking to us in just the right ways!

I got a call today from a fellow IronMan and I REALLY NEEDED IT!!! Thanks SB for listening to the Spirit because I needed your call today.

I am constantly amazed at the way the Spirit works on our behalf. Sometimes you feel that nothing is working out right and at just the right moment, God reveals himself by the Spirit thru a fellow brother!!! Have you had this experience before?

I pray you have and that you can be that encouragement for a fellow IronMan, even TODAY! Look for these opportunities and pray to the Spirit to lead you to them. Ask the Spirit to give you the words that are necessary to speak life to others. This is exactly what happened to me today and I am so thankful for it! Praise God!

STP

My Struggles are About Him ... by Max Lucado

What about your struggles? Is there any chance, any possibility, that you have been selected to struggle for God’s glory? Have you “been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29)?

Here is a clue. Do your prayers seem to be unanswered? What you request and what you receive aren’t matching up? Don’t think God is not listening. Indeed he is. He may have higher plans.

Here is another. Are people strengthened by your struggles? A friend of mine can answer yes. His cancer was consuming more than his body; it was eating away at his faith. Unanswered petitions perplexed him. Well-meaning Christians confused him. “If you have faith,” they said, “you will be healed.”

No healing came. Just more chemo, nausea, and questions. He assumed the fault was a small faith. I suggested another answer. “It’s not about you,” I told him. “Your hospital room is a showcase for your Maker. Your faith in the face of suffering cranks up the volume of God’s song.”

Oh, that you could have seen the relief on his face. To know that he hadn’t failed God and God hadn’t failed him—this made all the difference. Seeing his sickness in the scope of God’s sovereign plan gave his condition a sense of dignity. He accepted his cancer as an assignment from heaven: a missionary to the cancer ward.

A week later I saw him again. “I reflected God,” he said, smiling through a thin face, “to the nurse, the doctors, my friends. Who knows who needed to see God, but I did my best to make him seen.”

Bingo. His cancer paraded the power of Jesus down the Main Street of his world.

God will use whatever he wants to display his glory. Heavens and stars. History and nations. People and problems.

Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God.

Through your problems and mine, may God be seen.

From
It's Not About Me
© (Thomas Nelson, 2007),
Max Lucado

It's ON!!!

IronMen, It's ON!!! Just read 1 Kings 20:29!

"For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was JOINED."

Sometimes you have to quit talking and take action! This is the way I feel about IronMen and specifically our IM EDGE on Thursday mornings. We are moving EDGE to Vinny's on 114 in Trophy Club as the first effort to ENGAGE THE BATTLE FOR LOST SOULS!

It's ON, if you will!

We are refocusing our mission for IM EDGE to reach all the men of Trophy Club for Christ. We want to take over the town for Christ and I believe the best way to do that is to reach the men! So, the BATTLE IS ON!

Will you join the battle? We need strong men of God to join and bring their friends. We need strong men of God to engage their neighbors and build relationship with them that will revolve around Christ. This call is not for the weak or the faint of heart, this call is for IronMen!!!

Are you IN? The BATTLE IS ON!!! See you Thursday morning!

STP, an IronMan

Criticism ... by Charles Swindoll

Looking for a role model on how to handle criticism? It would be worth your while to check out the book of Nehemiah. On several occasions this great-hearted statesman was openly criticized, falsely accused, and grossly misunderstood. Each time he kept his cool . . . he rolled with the punch . . . he considered the source . . . he refused to get discouraged . . . he went to God in prayer . . . he kept building the wall (Nehemiah 2:19-20; 4:1-5).

One of the occupational hazards of being a leader is receiving criticism (not all of it constructive, by the way). In the face of that kind of heat, there's a strong temptation to "go under," "throw in the towel," "bail out." Many have faded out of leadership because of intense criticism. I firmly believe that the leader who does anything that is different or worthwhile or visionary can count on criticism.

Along this line, I appreciate the remarks made by the fiery president of a past generation, Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

To those words I add a resounding amen.

A sense of humor is of paramount importance to the leader. Many of God's servants are simply too serious! There are at least two tests we face that determine the extent of our sense of humor:

• the ability to laugh at ourselves
• the ability to take criticism

Believe me, no leader can continue effectively if he or she fails these tests! Equally important, of course, is the ability to sift from any criticism that which is true, that which is fact. We are foolish if we respond angrily to every criticism. Who knows, God may be using those words to teach us some essential lessons, painful though they may be.

Isn't this what Proverbs 27:5-6 is saying?

Better is open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

And let me call to your attention the word friend in these verses. Friendship is not threatened but strengthened by honest criticism. But---when you are criticized by one who hardly knows you, filter out what is fact . . . and ignore the rest!

Nehemiah did that . . . and he got the wall built.

Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

Focus on the Task at Hand ... by Max Lucado

Life is tough enough as it is. It’s even tougher when we’re headed in the wrong direction.

One of the incredible abilities of Jesus was to stay on target. His life never got off track. Not once do we find him walking down the wrong side of the fairway. He had no money, no computers, no jets, no administrative assistants or staff; yet Jesus did what many of us fail to do. He kept his life on course.

As Jesus looked across the horizon of his future, he could see many targets. Many flags were flapping in the wind, each of which he could have pursued. He could have been a political revolutionary. He could have been a national leader. He could have been content to be a teacher and educate minds or to be a physician and heal bodies. But in the end he chose to be a Savior and save souls.

Anyone near Christ for any length of time heard it from Jesus himself. “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them” (Luke 19:10). “The Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people” (Mark 10:45).

The heart of Christ was relentlessly focused on one task. The day he left the carpentry shop of Nazareth he had one ultimate aim—the cross of Calvary. He was so focused that his final words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

How could Jesus say he was finished? There were still the hungry to feed, the sick to heal, the untaught to instruct, and the unloved to love. How could he say he was finished? Simple. He had completed his designated task. His commission was fulfilled. The painter could set aside his brush, the sculptor lay down his chisel, the writer put away his pen. The job was done.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to say the same? Wouldn’t you love to look back on your life and know you had done what you were called to do?

From
Let the Journey Begin:
God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings

Faith of Elijah...

"So he did what the Lord had told him" 1 Kings 17:5.  

Sounds like a simple statement, right?  Well, what exactly did the Lord tell Elijah to do?  Look back a few verses.  The Lord told Elijah to prophecy that there would be neither dew or rain for the next few years except at His word.  He also told Elijah that He would take care of him by moving him east of the Jordan and he would "drink from the brook and have ravens bring him food". 

Wow, that is a little strange, don't you think!  What a calling.

Not always do we understand the ways of God and why He does things they way He does.  I would assume that Elijah must have had some wonderment in how this would play out.  Do you think he questioned God about this new environment?  Do you think he was a little unsure?  

I know I would be.  When God gives a call, he does not always lay out every detail the way we might want.  We must have faith!  We must be able to act on the calling even if we don't understand it completly.  

Elijah had faith and acted.  "So he did what the Lord had told him."  I pray that I can have this kind of faith when God calls me.  Have you been in this situation before?  It is not easy and we can second guess God so much.  It takes a real faith to just go!

Look at the next verse, verse 6.  "So the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.  Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land."  

Some time later - that is a little vague but it implies that this raven feeding thing went on for a while.  Wouldn't that get old?  Wonder if there was any variety in the feedings, or did the ravens supply the same old thing, day by day?  I know I like a little variety in my meals.

The story goes on...  God tells him to move again and that he will provide food for him via a widow.  Look at verse 10 - "So he went to Zarephath."  

Elijah is a man of faith and we see it in his actions.  What do our actions say about us?  Are we people of faith?  When God says go, do we go?  Are we listening?  Are we willing to let God work out some of the details or do we need it all laid out before us?

I want to be more like Elijah and have the faith to act!  Elisha wanted this also.  Check out 2 Kings 2:9.  What a great verse and one of my favorites!  Elijah asked Elisha what he could give Elisha before he was taken away?  Elisha asks, "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit." It is obvious that Elisha wanted his faith to be like the faith of Elijah.  

I want that also!!!

Jesus Heals a Blind Man ... by Max Ludado

“As [Jesus] passed by, He saw a man blind from birth” (John 9:1).

This man has never seen a sunrise. Can’t tell purple from pink. The disciples fault the family tree. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (v. 2).

Neither, the God-man replies. Trace this condition back to heaven. The reason the man was born sightless? So “the works of God might be displayed in him” (v. 3).

Talk about a thankless role. Selected to suffer. Some sing to God’s glory. Others teach to God’s glory. Who wants to be blind for God’s glory? Which is tougher—the condition or discovering it was God’s idea?

The cure proves to be as surprising as the cause. “[Jesus] spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes” (v. 6).

The world abounds with paintings of the God-man: in the arms of Mary, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the Upper Room, in the darkened tomb. Jesus touching. Jesus weeping, laughing, teaching … but I’ve never seen a painting of Jesus spitting.

Christ smacking his lips a time or two, gathering a mouth of saliva, working up a blob of drool, and letting it go. Down in the dirt. (Kids, next time your mother tells you not to spit, show her this passage.) Then he squats, stirs up a puddle of … I don’t know, what would you call it?

Holy putty? Spit therapy? Saliva solution? Whatever the name, he places a fingerful in his palm, and then, as calmly as a painter spackles a hole in the wall, Jesus streaks mud-miracle on the blind man’s eyes. “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (v. 7).

The beggar feels his way to the pool, splashes water on his mud-streaked face, and rubs away the clay. The result is the first chapter of Genesis, just for him. Light where there was darkness. Virgin eyes focus, fuzzy figures become human beings, and John receives the Understatement of the Bible Award when he writes: “He … came back seeing” (v. 7).

Come on, John! Running short of verbs? How about “he raced back seeing”? “He danced back seeing”? “He roared back whooping and hollering.”

From His Name is Jesus

He Did It Just For You ... by Max Lucado

When God entered time and became a man, he who was boundless became bound. Imprisoned in flesh. Restricted by weary-prone muscles and eyelids. For more than three decades, his once limitless reach would be limited to the stretch of an arm, his speed checked to the pace of human feet.

I wonder, was he ever tempted to reclaim his boundlessness? In the middle of a long trip, did he ever consider transporting himself to the next city? When the rain chilled his bones, was he tempted to change the weather? When the heat parched his lips, did he give thought to popping over to the Caribbean for some refreshment?

If ever he entertained such thoughts, he never gave in to them. Not once. Stop and think about this. Not once did Christ use his supernatural powers for personal comfort. With one word he could’ve transformed the hard earth into a soft bed, but he didn’t. With a wave of his hand, he could’ve boomeranged the spit of his accusers back into their faces, but he didn’t. With an arch of his brow, he could’ve paralyzed the hand of the soldier as he braided the crown of thorns. But he didn’t.

Want to know the coolest thing about the coming?

Not that he, in an instant, went from needing nothing to needing air, food, a tub of hot water and salts for his tired feet, and, more than anything, needing somebody—anybody—who was more concerned about where he would spend eternity than where he would spend Friday’s paycheck.

Not that he kept his cool while the dozen best friends he ever had felt the heat and got out of the kitchen. Or that he gave no command to the angels who begged, “Just give the nod, Lord. One word and these demons will be deviled eggs.”

Not that he refused to defend himself when blamed for every sin since Adam. Or that he stood silent as a million guilty verdicts echoed in the tribunal of heaven and the giver of light was left in the chill of a sinner’s night.

Not even that after three days in a dark hole he stepped into the Easter sunrise with a smile and a swagger and a question for lowly Lucifer—“Is that your best punch?”

That was cool, incredibly cool.

But want to know the coolest thing about the One who gave up the crown of heaven for a crown of thorns?

He did it for you. Just for you.

>From His Name is Jesus

The Cross ... by Max Lucado

The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don’t you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. The symbols of other faiths are more upbeat: the six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, a lotus blossom for Buddhism. Yet a cross for Christianity? An instrument of execution?

Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman’s noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Many even make the sign of the cross as they pray. Would we make the sign of, say, a guillotine? Instead of the triangular touch on the forehead and shoulders, how about a karate chop on the palm? Doesn’t quite have the same feel, does it?

Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler. One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

How could he do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on his Son and punished it there.
“God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God” (2 Cor. 5:21 MSG).

From His Name is Jesus© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado

Fallibility, Part One ... by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 119:89-96

Ever since I was knee-high to a gnat, I have been taught about and have believed in the infallibility of Scripture. Among the upper echelons of doctrinal truths, this one ranks alongside the Godhead, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace. We may fuss around with a few of the events in God's eschatological calendar or leave breathing room for differing opinions regarding angels and local church government. But when the subject turns to the infallibility and inerrancy of Holy Writ, I'm convinced there's no wobble room. Can't be. Take away that absolute and you've opened a hole in your theological dike that cannot be plugged. Given enough time and pressure, it wouldn't be long before everything around you would get soggy and slippery. Make no mistake about it; the infallibility of Scripture is a watershed issue.

But wait . . . let's stop right there when it comes to infallibility. Before I make my point, allow me to quote Webster's definition:

Incapable of error . . . not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint.

While that is certainly true of Scripture, it is not true of people. When it comes to humanity, fallibility is the order of the day. Meaning what? Just this: there is not one soul on this earth who is incapable of error, who is free from fault, who is unable to make mistakes, who is absolutely and equivocally reliable. Can't be. Depravity mixed with limited knowledge and tendencies to misunderstand, misread, misquote, and misjudge should keep all of us free from two very common mistakes: first, deification of certain individuals (including ourselves); and second, disillusionment when we discover fault and mistakes in others.

Just as biblical infallibility assures us that each page is incapable of error or deception, fallibility reminds us that each person is capable of both. The implications are equally clear. When it comes to the Bible, keep trusting. When it comes to people, be discerning.

This includes all people. I don't have space enough to complete a list, so I'll be painfully general and mention one group. I choose this group only because it's the one we tend not to question: those professionals whom we trust with our bodies, minds, and souls---namely, physicians, psychologists, and pastors. What influence these men and women possess! What good they do! How necessary they are! Most of us, if asked to name 10 people we admire and appreciate the most, would include two or three from this category. How gracious of God to give us such splendid individuals to help us through this vale of tears! Yet each one has something in common with everyone else---fallibility. Those whom we most admire remind us of that from time to time; nevertheless, everything in us cries out to resist such reminders. Of the three, I believe it is the minister whom people tend most to place on a pedestal.

It is certainly an unscriptural practice. The Berean believers are commended for listening to Paul then "examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Apollos and Paul are referred to merely as "servants through whom you believed" (1 Corinthians 3:5) and later given a rather insignificant place:

So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:7)

It's easy to forget all that, especially in a day when we hunger for spiritual leaders whom we can respect and follow. Put flawed human beings on a pedestal and they are bound to topple, fail, and disappoint, but God's Word is holy, inerrant, and totally reliable. To Him be the glory.