Matthew 6:34 records Jesus’ words when he said, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. As the New Year gets underway, you might find yourself constantly worrying about what the future holds. Will Covid get worse? Will the economy and inflation ever get better? Will I be able to meet the demands of my job, or will I even have a job? Will I be able to meet with my extended family again? Will our political leaders ever get their act together for the good of the country? There are all kinds of things we might be worrying about as one year ends and another begins. But Jesus says we are to stop carrying the weight of the past and to not worry over the uncertainty of the future. In essence, he tells us to focus on living our best life today. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn from the past or make goals for the future, rather, it means we should not constantly live with worry that cannot change anything. Marijohn Wilkin learned this the hard way. She grew up in Texas in a home where her parents loved the Lord and raised her well. As a teen she moved to Nashville, where she became one of the biggest names in country music, writing songs for Mel Tillis, Johnny Cash, Patti Page, Charley Pride, Patsy Cline, Glen Campbell, and many others. Despite her fame, however, Marijohn was not doing well by the time she turned 50, for she was consumed with fear about the future, which drove her to alcohol. Alcohol drove her to multiple suicide attempts. Her life was a mess. When life finally got desperate enough, Marijohn remembered the God she left behind. She found a church and met with the minister, who opened God’s Word and directed her back to a life of faith. That’s when she realized that God didn’t make her to constantly be consumed by anxiety and fear. She went home and then wrote one of the most famous country songs of all time. Though sung by many performers in several versions through the years, the message has remained the same: One day at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m askin’ from You Just give me the strength to do every day what I have to do Yesterday’s gone, sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine Lord help me today, show me the way one day at a time You cannot do anything about yesterday, and tomorrow is not yet here. The problem with worry is that it keeps you from doing what you CAN do. We can be godly in this immoral culture. We can vote. We can pray. We can be loving and kind to the people around us. We can be the best employees in our company. We can be the most faithful, prayerful church members possible. We can roll up our sleeves and work so that God’s church can be more of what he wants it to be. Worry costs us energy and effort that could otherwise be applied to living. So, let’s choose to trust the Lord today as we live one day at a time. Happy New Year! Tyler
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I had heard this story before, but last year I saw it again on Facebook. Its point is packed with insight as the Christmas season gets underway, so here is the story for your consideration. My hope is that this year we will rediscover the good news of Christmas, even if the times we live in are troubling. It was the biggest night of the year in a little town called Cornwall. It was the night of the annual Christmas pageant. It's an especially big deal for the children in town--they get to try out for the roles in the Christmas story. Everybody wants a part. Which leads us to the problem of Harold. Harold really wanted to be in the play, too, but he was—well—he was kind of a slow and simple kid. The directors knew Harold would be crushed if he didn't have a part, but they were afraid he might mess up the town's magic moment. Finally, they decided to cast Harold as the innkeeper, the one who turns Mary and Joseph away the night Jesus is born. He had only one line: "I'm sorry, we have no room." No one could imagine the impact that line would have. The night of the pageant the church was packed, as usual. The Christmas story unfolded according to plan--angels singing, Joseph's dream, and the trip to Bethlehem. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived at the door of the Bethlehem inn, looking appropriately tired. Joseph knocked on the inn door and Harold was there to open the door. Joseph asked his question on cue - "Do you have a room for the night?" Harold froze. After a long pause, Harold mumbled his line, "I'm sorry - we have no room." And, with a little coaching, he shut the door. The directors heaved a sigh of relief--prematurely. As Mary and Joseph disappeared into the night, the set suddenly started shaking again, and the door opened. Harold was back! And then, in an unrehearsed moment that folks would not soon forget, Harold went running after the young couple, shouting as loud as he could, "Wait! Don't go, Joseph. Bring Mary back! You can have MY room!" I think little Harold may have understood the real issue of Christmas better than anyone else there that night. How can you leave Jesus outside? You have to make room for Jesus. And that may be the issue for you this Christmas. What will you do with this Son of God who came to earth to find you? Jesus is the One who trades a throne room for a stable, and the praise of angels for human mockery. This is the Creator who gives Himself on a cross! The Bible gives us the only appropriate response: "The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Look at what Jesus did to pay for your sin on the cross, and then say those life-changing words: "For me." Jesus is at YOUR door this Christmas. Maybe He's been knocking for a long time. Maybe He won't keep knocking much longer. All your life--even the events of the last few months--have been to prepare you for this crossroads moment with Jesus your Savior. Don't leave Him outside any longer. Open the door this Christmas. Decide not to keep Him out any longer. Let him in, and give him room in your life. One way to do that is to join us as a community of believers in celebrating Jesus through the various opportunities the church has available for you this Christmastime. Merry Christmas! Tyler In the United States of America, the entire nation celebrates Thanksgiving in November to pause for a moment and remember to be grateful for all that we have. Some celebrate by preparing food, or watching football, and by gathering with family. For many this will be an especially precious time since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many families and friends from gathering last year. For others, COVID has taken family or friends, and we realize now more than ever how precious the gift of family and friends are. As great as all these Thanksgiving blessings are, however, Christians have a greater blessing in the opportunity to give thanks to God. Whether people in this world want to recognize it or not, everything they own is given to them by the Lord. Are you grateful? In his book, “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life,” Chuck Swindoll writes: "I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that ever emerged from a soul plunged in pain. At that time in my young life, I fell strangely in love with Thanksgiving. Lost in sympathy and a boy’s pity for his teacher, I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country . . . my friends . . . my school . . . my church . . . and my family." May we always have the same grateful attitude as expressed in Psalm 100 which says, Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. When we focus on God’s goodness and grace, rather than on all of our wants, losses, and frustrations, living with gratitude can become a strong unifier that keeps us together even though there are a thousand things that would try to divide us. Let us together be thankful for God’s goodness. God is still good, and His love endures forever. Happy Thanksgiving! Tyler When my family and I were hiking up the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes one time, we wanted to get to the western edge of the dunes so that we could look down upon Lake Michigan. We’d get over one hill, and then there’d be another hill to climb. Surely, we thought, if we just get to the top of that, we’ll get to the top of the dunes and be able to look down at Lake Michigan. Then we’d walk to the top of that hill and look up…still another dune to climb. But we just knew that once we got to the top of that one, then we’d be at the top of the dunes. So we kept on walking, until we got to the top of THAT hill and looked up…only to see still another big mountain of sand. No matter how many times we thought we were to the final mound, there was yet another mound to climb. Not knowing how much further it was to the top, we finally gave up. We turned around and headed back down to where we had started, and by that time we were very hot and thirsty. We never did see Lake Michigan from atop the dunes that day. Sometimes when you’re doing something, and you don’t know how far or how much longer until you complete it, you can begin to feel discouraged—even to the point where you just give up. That’s similar to what happened to Nehemiah and the Israelites as they are rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 4:6 we read, “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.” They were half done with this massive project. But then it seemed like it was the never-ending project. And rather than see all that they had done, they began to focus on all that still needed to be done. They were out of breath and they were tired, and they thought that completing the project was more than they could do. Often, the halfway point can be the toughest place to be. That’s when the work gets boring and monotonous, and you don’t really want to do it anymore. That’s when the financing gets tough and you wonder how you’re going to come up with enough money to do the rest. That’s when the initial joy and enthusiasm gives way to drudgery and impatience. That’s when the critics come out and wonder aloud why you’re doing it “that way.” Or someone who is jealous begins to undermine what you do. It’s a lot easier to start something than it is to finish it. That’s how it was for the Israelites when they reached the halfway point of rebuilding the wall, and they focused on what was left to be done instead of what they had done so far. Do you remember when you first dedicated your life to the Lord and you were baptized in him? How excited you were about your decision and the new direction for your life? As time goes on, the Christian life can get mundane as we get into a routine. Or maybe you find that it’s a lot harder to resist temptations than you thought it would be. And you feel defeated. Or you are going through struggles, and you wonder why your faith is so hard. When the devil brings on discouragement and chaos, don’t fall for it by only focusing on what’s left to be done. Remember what God has done in your life, and keep going strong, moving ahead in your faith one step at a time. Keep reading and studying the Bible. Keep going to church. Keep remembering that God is working in you and through you no matter where you are. Keep close to those in the community of faith. And keep praying. If you do that, like Nehemiah and the Israelites who DID finish building their wall, you will finish your faith well and make it to the end. You and God…you’ve got this. Tyler Hebrews 12:1-2 says, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. It’s important to keep your eyes focused on the appropriate thing at the right time. I grew up on a small 40-acre farm north of Corunna. I remember my stepdad teaching me to drive a tractor and fit a field by dragging behind it a disk and a spring-tooth. These pieces of equipment are pulled by a tractor across a field to get rid of weeds, and they cut into the ground to break up the dirt and smooth out the field in preparation for planting. Many farmers today use a method of planting called “no-till,” meaning they don’t have to fit the field today like they did it in the old days. Anyway, I remember my stepdad saying, “Make sure, as you’re driving the tractor, that you look ahead to the end of the field, focus your eye on something there, and drive the tractor toward it.” It could be a fence post, or a tree, or a clump of weeds. I was to keep my eye on that goal and drive towards it, because if I did, my row through the field would be straight. The temptation is to always look at the ground immediately in front of the tractor, or to keep looking back to see if the row is straight. But doing that always ends up in crooked rows. Nowadays, the tractors can practically drive themselves with GPS, but back then, the way to have a straight row was to keep your eye on some object at the far end of the field. As Christians, we must always keep in mind where we are going. Yes, we pay attention to shorter goals and little details along life’s journey, but we also focus on the longer view: We fix our eyes on Jesus who is in heaven waiting for us. Looking to Jesus isn’t like gazing at your favorite collectible, however. We’re not to simply look at him, but rather we are to look to him and partner with him to make a difference in this world as we are able. When we allow God to shape our lives, to transform our thinking and attitudes, and give us his perspective on how to live a flourishing life and how to see the world, that will help us to finish strong in our Christian faith. By looking in the right direction, we can run with renewed perspective. Rather than losing heart and giving up, our life can be strengthened and our path can be straightened. Fixing my eyes on Jesus with you, Tyler |
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