A WORD
WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft of
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
"Something
Beautiful From Something Ugly"
II Corinthians 1:3-4
Not long ago, we went on a guided tour of this large cave near us.
You walk through these winding and really narrow passageways, admiring the
wonders that God has created from stalagmites, stalactites, and underground rivers.
Now we entered this one large chamber, the guide turned on the
light and directed our eyes to this high vaulted ceiling. You can probably guess
what animals we saw hanging out up there - bats, lots of bats. The
guide told us that the early explorers of this cave had found large quantities of what she
called "bat guano." If you don't know what that is,
never mind. It's gross, that's what it is. But they made lots of money selling
that stuff. I thought, "What good could bat dung possibly
be?" Surprise - they make gunpowder out of it! And even more
surprisingly, they can turn that gross stuff into makeup, they said - like
mascara and lipstick! Makes me think twice about kissing my wife.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Something Beautiful From Something Ugly."
It's amazing how people can turn something seemingly useless and ugly
into something useful and even beautiful. It's much more amazing how God does
that with our lives! In fact, He's wanting to do that for you - to make something
beautiful and useful of the ugliest things that have happened in
your life. And only He can.
One way He does that is described in our word for today from the Word
of God in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. "The Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort . . . comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." I
don't know what kind of "troubles" you've been through - it could be anything
from sickness, to abuse, to addiction, to grief - but whatever the
trouble, I know it's made you need the Lord more than ever before. And so you
experienced His compassion, His comfort, His strength, and His support
in deeply personal ways.
Now, in a sense, God wants you to be for other hurting people what He
has been for you. That's how He takes the worst things that ever happened to
you and makes them into something beautiful. Scott was listening to my youth
broadcast one night when he was desperately lonely - desperate enough
to be considering suicide. Instead, he gave his life to Christ that night.
Later, he told me that he decided to have a ministry to people like
himself for the rest of his life - he knew how to help lonely people because he had been
lonely.
Jane was sexually abused by two different family members. When
she brought that awful garbage to Jesus, He began to give her a ministry to
abused girls and she has helped a lot of them. Her history of abuse became her strange
credentials for caring for abuse victims. My friend Don has
had a tremendous ministry to young people that others would call rejects. He's so
tender and compassionate toward them. You know why? He
says it because he remembers the hurt he experienced as an illegitimate child in a
terribly dysfunctional home. God has recycled his wounds into a
life-changing compassion.
God wants to do that for you - if you'll bring Him all that pain, all
those wounds, all those memories. He wants to take all that ugly stuff -
stuff that looks like its useless - and He wants to turn into something very beautiful - a
tender, compassionate, helping heart in you. Because of
what Christ can do with the waste of our lives, the ones who have been hurt the most turn
out to be some of the greatest healers in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shields Up!"
you know this is a fave of mine, the Star Trek fan that I am!!!
There are few TV series that have become more a
part of the culture than the one that portrays the voyage of the Starship Enterprise -
yep, Star
Trek. The original show has spawned two or three other series and several major
movies. So, many people know about the transporter which beams your
molecules up and down to another location or the weapon the Trekkies call a phaser.
And maybe you remember the command the captain gives whenever the
Enterprise is coming under fire ... it's the directive that activates the invisible
protection around their ship - "Shields up!"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Shields Up!"
If you are trying to make any kind of difference for Jesus Christ, you
know what it is to come under enemy fire. After all, "your enemy the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." (I Peter
5:8) And that warning is in a passage addressed to spiritual
activists. It's followed by this command - "Resist him." Shields up!
There's a time when we are particularly vulnerable to our enemy's
attack - the time when we are most likely to have our shields down. Strangely
enough, we are often most vulnerable immediately after God has done something powerful for
us or through us. Think about Elijah - when was he
suddenly so depressed he didn't even want to live anymore? Immediately after he
challenged and defeated 450 false prophets in that
fire-from-heaven showdown.
How about Moses? He's just met Jehovah on the mountain, and he's
received the laws of God from God's own mouth. And he comes down from the mountain
to his people and they're worshipping the golden calf. Or think about Jesus.
When does Satan come in and blast Him with relentless temptations -
right after Jesus' greatest spiritual moment, His baptism when Heaven came down on
Him. The disciples came down from seeing Heaven on a mountain with
Jesus, only to be confronted with the devil at the bottom of the mountain - in the form of
a demon-possessed boy.
One reason we're so vulnerable to Satan's attacks after a spiritual
victory is this: We go into the battle with our shields up, spiritually
alert, deeply dependent on God. But when the battle's over and we've won, we tend to
lower our guard. We felt our need for the Lord going in - we
forget how much we need Him coming out. So the devil is all over us after the
victory. He knows we're too close to God during the battle itself - so
he waits until the battle is over and we're spiritually relaxed.
That's when he hits you with that temptation ... that discouragement
... that depression ... that problem at home or at work ... that conflict ...
those doubts. Sound familiar? You may be in the middle of that kind of attack
right now. If it was during the big battle, you would instinctively
know it was Satan and you'd fight back with everything you've got. But because it
comes after the battle, you don't use your spiritual
weapons. You tend to fight it as "flesh and blood" instead of "the
spiritual forces of evil." (Ephesians 6:12) And you lose a battle you
should be winning.
So, I love our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 52:12 -
"The Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard."
God
promises not only to look out for you as you're going into the battle, but also to be your
"rear guard" after the battle. So when God has worked
mightily, when God has used you significantly, don't get spiritually careless. That's the
time to give yourself that all-important order - "Shields
up!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Grabbing What's Quick, Missing What's Better."
If anybody ever tells you that travel is glamorous, would you have them
talk to me, or anybody who flies a lot? The other day I had one of those
glamorous days, chasing through airports to make connections because of delayed flights.
And since you don't see many meals on airplanes these
days, you have to grab what you can. In this particular airport, I had a few extra
minutes for a meal, but, not knowing if there would be any other
options between where I was and my gate, I grabbed the first thing in sight. Which
happened to be the gourmet treat known as a hot dog. It
wasn't even that great of a hot dog. But what was especially aggravating was what I
saw after I wolfed that hot dog - within two minutes I walked by
two or three places where I could have had a real meal! But no - I couldn't wait.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Grabbing What's Quick, Missing What's Better."
My mistake that day at the airport was very simple - and very easily
avoided. I went for what I could have at the moment and I missed
something a lot better. But that's a pretty common mistake. Especially when it
comes to love. And especially when it comes to sex.
In our word for today from the Word of God, a man named Esau makes that
tragic mistake of trading what he can have now for something much better he
could have had later. The issue was something the Jews called the birthright - the
legal privileges of the firstborn son for a double
inheritance and other great benefits. Jacob, the younger brother, wants the
birthright that belongs to Esau.
In Genesis 25:29, Esau comes in from a hunting trip with a powerful
appetite. Jacob is cooking a pot of stew - which Esau asks to share. The
story picks up as "Jacob replied, 'First sell me your birthright.' 'Look, I am
about to die,' Esau said (which was probably a huge exaggeration).
What good is the birthright to me?' . . . So he swore an oath to Jacob, selling him his
birthright.'" A tragic mistake. The New Testament
comments on his choice this way: "Esau, for a single meal, sold his inheritance
. . . afterward . . . when he wanted to inherit this blessing,
he was rejected" (Hebrews 12:16-17). Too late. He took what he
could have right now and forfeited something so much more valuable - because he
couldn't wait.
And so many people have done that for love. So many people have
done that sexually. God designed sex to be one man with one woman in a committed
lifetime relationship. And when you wait for that kind of exclusive love, you
experience sex at its best - the way God designed it. But it's very
tempting to go for what looks and feels like love now - especially if you've been waiting
a while. But you're losing something that is just too
special to sacrifice.
Right now you may be facing the temptation to do something for love
that will cost you the "birthright" God has for you if you wait. And like
Esau,
once you've met your immediate need, you'll realize that you gave what you cannot get
back. Whatever the pressure, whatever the temptation, however
strong the feelings are, don't make a mistake that you'll regret for a long, long time.
God has something beautiful up ahead. Don't blow it by grabbing
what's there now and missing what is so much better. It's worth the wait.
"When You've Been Burned"
The other day in the
airport, I saw a mother and her daughter hustling to make a plane. But the little
girl's face was covered with a mask that was basically a screen - she could see through
it, but it was protecting her face. In just a glance, I could see that her face had
been badly burned. She had long sleeves and long pants on ... my guess is that she
probably had burns on other parts of her body, too. I really felt for her
- and for her mother. She appeared to be a burn victim, doing all she could to heal
and recover.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"When You've Been Burned."
It's tragic to be a burn victim - even if you've been spiritually
burned. Maybe especially if you've been spiritually burned. Physical burns
affect your outside, and they can often be treated medically. When you've been
burned spiritually, the scars are inside where they're hard to get at. Someone's
reading today who is just such a burn victim.
It can happen many ways. Often you get hurt by some people who
claim to be Christians ... or you have a bad experience with a church or a ministry.
And whether the causes are real, perceived, or a combination of both, there are way
too many people who have withdrawn to the spiritual sidelines because they feel burned.
Maybe you've been hurt or disillusioned ... and maybe you've withdrawn and isolated
yourself from Christian things ... or you've become reluctant to make any spiritual
commitments ... or you've just tried to protect yourself by hardening your heart ... or
maybe you're using the hypocrisy of others as an excuse to do wrong things. You're
one of Christianity's burn victims.
We probably don't need to talk anymore about your hurt - we need to
talk about your healing. Which God talks about in our word for today from the Word
of God. I'm hoping that these wonderful promises from Isaiah 61, beginning with
verse 1, will help you make today a turning point day - a day when you begin to move from
burn victim to burn victor.
In a passage describing the Messiah's mission, the Lord says, "He
has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted ... to comfort all who mourn and provide for
those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil
of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair." I
so want those words to be about you ... and God so wants to do those things for you - if
you'll let Him.
God's program of burn therapy and plastic surgery on your soul will
include several action steps on your part. They're challenging, but
they're the road to healing. It starts when you focus on Christ and not on
Christians. Jesus didn't burn you - and the heart of being a Christian is
Jesus' simple command - "Follow Me." Next, you need to open up to healing.
You've nursed and rehearsed your wounds long enough - now it's
time to get well. You also need to recognize your own imperfection. We've all
been hurt - but we've all been hurters, too. You and I stand as guilty of hurting
people as the people who hurt us.
That makes the next step slightly easier - release the bitterness.
The grudges inside are an emotional cancer that poison so much of your
life. Ask God to heal you of the bitterness that costs you so much of His grace.
(Hebrews 12:15) Then, forgive the hurters - as Colossians 3:13
says, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." And then I hope you can rejoin
the family of God where you belong and become part of the answer. You know what's
hurting people in the Church - use that knowledge and experience to help model how it's
supposed to be.
Hard steps ... important steps ... steps to healing. Jesus heals
burn victims - and replaces their mourning with gladness, their ashes with
beauty, their despair with praise. Let Him work that healing miracle in you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Living Up To Your
Name."
Alexander the Great conquered most of the
then-known world by the age of
33. One of the reasons for that was the iron discipline that he insisted
on among his troops. That's why a young soldier was so terrified as he was
hauled into Alexander's tent to answer for charges of cowardice and
desertion in battle. The general was seated at a table, and the accused
soldier was standing before him. Alexander said, "Soldier, you've been
accused of deserting during a battle - guilty or not?" "Guilty," he
replied almost inaudibly. The general followed up then by asking, "What's
your name, soldier?" The answer came back - "My name is Alexander,
sir." It was at that point that Alexander the Great leaped to his feet,
reached across the table, grabbed the soldier by the collar and shouted,
"Either you change your life or you change your name!"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Living Up To Your Name."
I wonder if Jesus doesn't feel that way about some of us. We're
carrying
His name around - a Christian ... a Christ one. And we're reflecting on
His name by the way we're living, the way we're treating people, the way
we're doing business, and the way we're reacting. Does the life live up to
that holy name we carry?
Suddenly, we're looking at one of the Ten Commandments in a different
light than we usually do. In Exodus 20:7, our word for today from the Word
of God, He says, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses His name." Now, that
commandment is usually used in the context of not using the Lord's name as
a swear word or using it lightly or irreverently. And that is sure
included in what God meant. We are supposed to always use the name of our
Lord with great respect.
But swearing or irreverence are not the only ways to "misuse the
name of
the Lord your God," or, as the King James Version says, "take the name of
the Lord your God in vain." When you claim to be a "Christ-one" and
you
live or talk in a way that is the opposite of what Christ is like - you're
discrediting the name of the One you claim to serve. There's an example of
that in Romans 2:24 where Paul says of his fellow Jews, "God's name is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
And we all know that the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of a believer
give unbelievers a reason not to come to Jesus. Probably the most common
reason people give for rejecting Jesus is another Christian. And probably
the most common reason people come to Christ is because of another
Christian. Before most people start believing in Christ, they believe in a
Christian they know.
You're not an island. You're being watched - especially if you
claim to
be a Christian. And someone is sizing up Jesus based on what they see in
you. They can't see Him - they can see you. What a horrible thought - you
or I might be a reason for someone we care about to miss Jesus - and to
miss heaven forever.
So look at your life in light of the holy name of Jesus that every
Christian carries. What kind of feeling are you giving your children about
Jesus, based on how you treat them? How about your coworkers? Your
employees? Your fellow students? Your friends?
In heaven, they bow down at the name of Jesus. One day every
being in
heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow down at the name of
Jesus. It is to Almighty God the highest, the holiest name. And you, as
His follower, carry that name. If your life is dishonoring the name, it is
time to change your life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Biggest Mistake Of
All."
Amy Biehl was 26 years old, and she
really wanted to make a
difference. Her graduate studies took her to South Africa in the turbulent
days when the repressive system of apartheid was coming down and that
nation's first all-race elections were approaching. She actually helped
develop voter registration programs to help black South Africans
participate in a system that had always shut them out. She was driving
three black coworkers back to the township where they lived when a group of
youths pelted her car with stones and forced it to stop. Dozens of young
men surrounded the car repeating the militant chant, "One settler, one
bullet!" They pulled Amy from the car, hit her with a brick, beat her, and
then stabbed her in the heart. During the attack her black friends were
yelling that she was a friend to black South Africans - all to no
avail. Amy died from her wounds.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A
Word With You today about
"The Biggest Mistake Of All."
Someone who knew Amy underscored the
tragedy of her death this
way: "She was killed by some of the very people she had come to
help." Some of those she came to help loved her - but others attacked
her. And it's an ugly thing to brutalize someone who has come to help
you. It happens to Jesus all the time. Often at the hands of people who
have no idea that's what they're doing - people who have actually come
close to Jesus, people who know a lot about Jesus.
That's the sobering scenario described in
our word for today from
the Word of God in Hebrews 10:29. These verses talk about what happens "if
we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
truth." The Bible appears to be talking here about people who know about
Jesus but keep on running their own lives. And that person, according to
Hebrews 10:29, "has trampled the Son of God under foot ... treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him ... and insulted
the Spirit of grace." Man, that is heavy-duty stuff. In fact, Hebrews 6:6
says that those who have tasted what Jesus offers and then go live their
own way "are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to
public disgrace."
I'll tell you, if you know that Jesus has
died on the cross to pay
for your sin, if you've been "into Jesus" to some extent - and remain
unchanged, it is very serious business. And even though you're for Jesus
and agreeing with Jesus, you may be missing Jesus. The only response
worthy of the sacrifice He made for us is to fall on our knees and give
ourselves completely to the One who gave Himself completely for
us. Anything less than a life-changing personal commitment to Jesus
amounts to "trampling the Son of God under foot" and "crucifying the Son of
God all over again" - in essence, turning on the very One who came to help
you, to save you.
And that is the greatest mistake anyone
can ever make. This isn't
about Christianity or Christians - it's about Jesus. And maybe right now,
Jesus is speaking to you in your heart saying, "Don't do this. Don't come
this close to Me and miss Me. I love you, and I'm giving you this chance
to make things right with Me. Come on home." If you're ready to finally
give yourself completely to Jesus, you can tell Him that right where you
are - He's been waiting for you. And I'd like to send you the booklet,
"Yours For Life," that I wrote about getting started with Jesus. Just let
me know you want it.
Please - don't risk another day away from
Jesus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Deadly Magic."
When I was a kid, I used to like to put on
shows for the other
kids in the neighborhood - wait a minute, am I still doing shows for the
kids in the neighborhood? Well, anyway, I bought a couple of cheap books
on magic back then and a little kit of magic tricks. Even at my juvenile
level, I soon learned that magic wasn't really magic - it was
illusions. My beginner magic book talked about this basic magician skill
called "misdirection." The idea is that while you're doing the trick over
here you do something that will get everybody looking over there. They
said it helped to talk a lot. I knew I'd at least be good at that part.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to
have A WORD WITH YOU today
about "Deadly Magic."
So one of the secrets of fooling people
is to get them looking at
something other than what's really going on. It's a tactic employed by
someone with far more sinister intentions than some magician or illusionist
- this misdirection ploy is being used to keep a lot of people from going
to heaven. Maybe you, or someone you love.
This deadly strategy is revealed,
actually, in our word for today
from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The devil is called here "the
god of this age." And it says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ." Satan really doesn't want you, or anyone, to see who
Jesus really is and what Jesus could really do to light up your life. So
he blinds you. He keeps you from seeing Jesus - because if you ever really
give yourself to Jesus, the devil has lost you forever.
Of course, few people are going to
knowingly follow the devil or
cooperate with his plans to have them in hell forever. So Satan works his
deadly magic - of getting us to look at something other than Jesus -
anything other than Jesus.
He may be trying that blinding,
misdirecting strategy on
you. Again, he doesn't care what you focus on, as long as it isn't
Jesus. So maybe the deceiver's got you focused on Christians, instead of
Christ - the hypocrites, the professed Christians who've hurt you, the
inconsistencies of the Church. But that isn't Jesus ... and Jesus is the
issue. Or maybe the devil's got you all wrapped up in your religion, even
a religion that's very much about Jesus. He doesn't care - as long as your
depending on your religion makes you miss Jesus.
Maybe the deceiver's blinding you by
getting you focused on
personal spirituality ... or a career that's keeping you too busy for
God. Maybe he's got you looking at your pain ... your past ... your family
... a love relationship ... the fine points of theology ... a sin you can't
let go of. Satan will use anything to keep your eyes off Jesus ... to keep
you from getting to that cross where God's only Son paid the awful price
for your sin ... where you can finally face your sin, be forgiven of your
sin, and receive the guarantee of heaven forever.
But today - right now - Jesus is coming
to you where you are,
reaching out His hand, offering you His awesome love. The moment you die,
you will know that the only thing that really mattered was what you did
with Jesus. But then it will be too late to change it. Today, you can
still open your heart to Him - today you can finally turn your eyes to Jesus.
If you want to begin your personal
relationship with Jesus, would
you tell Him that right now? And I hope you'll let me know - I want to
send you the booklet, "Yours For Life," that I wrote about beginning this
relationship. Just let me know you want it.
Satan has desperately been trying to get
you to look at anything
but Jesus - so he can have you forever. But today you can finally see the
Light he's been trying to keep you from for so long. This is your Jesus Day!
EXCELLENT--->
"The Hypocrite Hang-up."
Seven years of junior high band concerts. Yes, that was the
special joy Karen and I share since all three of the Hutchcraft kids were
in junior high band. Now it wasn't always a supreme musical experience,
but, hey, it's our kids, right? Now, let's imagine you have never heard of
the brilliant composer Ludwig von Beethoven before. And I say to you,
"Beethoven was a genius. His music is some of the most beautiful ever
written." You're a little skeptical because you've never heard any of him,
but I suggest a way to remedy that. See, the junior high band is having a
concert this week, and they're performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. So you
go, and you come back to me saying, "I thought you said this Beethoven guy
was a genius! I just heard his music. It wasn't brilliant!" Now
what's
the problem here? It isn't Beethoven - it's the way that band played his
music. Just because they don't play his music well doesn't mean the man
who wrote the music wasn't a genius!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to
have A WORD WITH YOU today
about "The Hypocrite Hang-up."
I've devoted my life to telling people
about the Genius who can
harmonize our lives, who wrote the music that's supposed to guide
everything we do. His name is Jesus. But many people - maybe you - can't
bring themselves to a point where they will put their trust in Jesus Christ
to be their own personal Savior. And one of the biggest
reasons? Christians. Christians who are hypocrites. Maybe some
hypocrites you know have been a major roadblock in your considering Christ.
Well, that's why I'm so glad for today's
word for today from the
Word of God, where Jesus clarifies what, and who, is the issue in this
whole Christian thing. Mark 2:14, our word for today from the Word of God
- "As Jesus walked along, He saw Levi, sitting at the tax collector's
booth. Follow Me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him."
Jesus sums up here the central decision
we all have to make by
issuing this clear, two-word invitation that He gave to many people:
"Follow Me." Jesus said, "I'm the issue. Make your decision
about
ME." He repeated that invitation so many times when He was here on
earth. And it's His invitation to you and me today. As for those
Christians who aren't a very good advertisement - well, they're like that
junior high band trying to play that Beethoven symphony. Unfortunately,
some of us don't play Jesus' music very well. But that has nothing to do
with Jesus. He is still the Genius who forgives our failures and loves us
with "never-leave-you" love, and takes us to heaven when we die.
Jesus didn't say, "Follow My
followers," or "Follow My leaders,"
or "Follow My religion." He said, "Follow ME." The only
reason not to be
a Christian is if you've got something against Jesus. And there wasn't a
trace of hypocrisy in Him.
All that will matter when you keep your
appointment with God is
what you did with Jesus, His one and only Son who died on the cross to pay
... not for His sins, but for yours. Honestly, there is no place to hide
when it comes to Jesus. Either you commit yourself to this Man who died
for you or you turn your back on Him and walk away.
It is all about Jesus. And maybe
you're ready to surrender all
the baggage that's kept you from His love. It's Jesus and you, because
it's Jesus you're trusting, not Christianity. Maybe you're ready to begin
this relationship you were created for. Tell Him that. And, if you would,
let me send you the booklet I wrote about beginning with Jesus called
"Yours For Life." We'll tell you how to get in touch with us in just a
moment.
On Judgment Day, it will be you and
Jesus. Today it's you and
Jesus. In the words of an old hymn, "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral
you cannot be. For someday your heart will be asking, 'What will He do
with me?'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WHEN OUR
TOWERS CAME CRASHING DOWN"
By Ron Hutchcraft
I've been on top of the World Trade Center many times. For thirty
years of my life in the New York area, those towers dominated the horizon. I
can't imagine they're gone.
But so much more than buildings collapsed that awful day when airliners
became missiles and America itself became the battlefield. Thousands of lives came
crashing down that day, too. The airline passengers, the World Trade and Pentagon
workers, the rescuers who died trying to rescue - so
many, gone in one awful, violent moment. And the countless loved ones, in some cases
not knowing what happened to those they love, in all cases
agonizing over the horrific circumstances of their death ... and the lifelong scars on
those heroic rescuers, recovery workers, and medical
personnel who will always be haunted with the memories of what they have seen.
But the carnage and shock of September 11 have touched every American.
We've been glued to our news channels, repeatedly horrified by
the endless replays and unfolding details of unthinkable scenes in places we thought
invulnerable. Like the TV commentators, we try to put our
feelings in words, but no words can really say it.
I remember vividly the first attack on the World Trade Center - we
thought that was unimaginable! The morning after I arrived at an airport in
another city, only to be greeted by a TV crew with videocam and microphone in hand.
They were seeking comments from people arriving on the first
flight from Newark that day. When they asked me my reaction to the Trade Center
bombing, I could think of only one word to describe how so many of
us were feeling after that shock - "Vulnerable."
As I'm hearing people trying to put their feelings into words today,
that's the feeling I'm hearing the most. The very symbols of our financial
and military security as Americans have themselves been attacked - one is gone, the other
heavily damaged. We watched everyday people like us, doing
things we do - passengers on a jetliner, folks at their jobs - suddenly wiped out en
masse. We see the lists of fatalities - including CEOs, Chief
Operating Officers, high-profile lawyers and entertainment executives - and we realize
that, like those who died on the Titanic, success and position
mean nothing when death strikes suddenly. We see our children trying to understand horrors
a child cannot understand - let alone us parents who are
trying to explain those horrors.
We feel vulnerable. It's as if some of our sense of personal
security and safety came crashing down with those majestic towers. The banner
headline
of our local newspaper screamed, "Forever changed" - they're probably right.
One woman said, "I'm scared" ... one man said, "It feels like
things are out of control."
If your heart is like mine and so many others I know, it's soft and
searching - and re-evaluating right now. While the events have been
horrific, the questions we're asking - or ought to be asking - could, indeed, leave us
"forever changed" - for the better. Questions like, "What
are the things that really matter and the things that really don't - and which ones have I
been living for?" ... "What have I got that will really
last - no matter what tragedy comes crashing into my life?" ... "Am I ready for
eternity, no matter how suddenly my time comes?"
We have seen how suddenly our towers can come crashing down, how
quickly
what I've built and who I've loved can all be gone. And our hearts are
hungry for something we can anchor to ... for something to sustain us when
the bad news is more than we can bear ... for something that will make us
really safe.
When our President addressed the nation on this generation's "day
of infamy," he alluded to the one Source of comfort and hope in moments like
these. He quoted from that treasured 23rd Psalm found in the best-selling book of
all times, the Bible - "Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." (Psalm 23:4)
Life has many "vulnerable" moments - when you lose your job,
when you lose someone you love, when your marriage or your parents' marriage collapses,
when the medical report is unsettling. But that "valley of the shadow of
death" - that is, by far, life's most vulnerable moment. Yet the Bible
holds out to you and me a security that can keep you safe even in that valley - and no
matter what else comes crashing down in your life.
That security is a Relationship, a Person - "You are with me,
Lord." All our lives we have been hungry for one "unloseable" love.
And there really
only is one. It's the love of the One who made you ... the One who you will meet on
the other side of your last heartbeat ... the One whose love
caused Him to literally lay down His life for you.
The safety our heart longs for is found in the arms of Jesus Christ.
In God's own words, "Nothing will every separate us from the love of God that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39) But in your vulnerable moments,
your moments that are more than you can handle alone - those
moments when you've gone seeking God - maybe you've realized that there is something that
is separating you from Him. The Bible confirms that all the
wrong things we've ever done have actually "separated you from your God."
(Isaiah 59:2) This "sin" - our hijacking of a life that God was supposed
to run - cuts us off from the very God whose love is our only safe place.
But that's why Jesus came. "God sent His Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins ... He sent His one and only Son that we might live through
Him."
(I John 4:9, 10) Now all Jesus is waiting for is for you to grab His outreached hand
like a person trapped in the wreckage would grab the hand
of a rescuer. You can do that right where you are, this very moment. Just tell
Him, "Jesus, I've lived enough days without You ... I'm sorry for
running a life that You were supposed to run ... I want to belong to You ... I want to be
changed forever."
Jesus liked to use the word "everlasting" to describe the
kind of life He wants to give you. We have been reminded so powerfully that nothing
earth
has is everlasting. That's the time your heart should be turning to the only One who
is - so you can know that you have a love you can never lose
... a security that can never be shaken ... and that you're ready for eternity, whenever
it comes. No religion can even offer that kind of
security or everlasting life, it is only found with a relationship with Jesus Christ.
You're vulnerable no more when you run to the safest place in all the
world - "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it
and they are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Knowing What It Is To Be Broke."
Maybe it's because my father-in-law was a
corrections officer for a while, and I've heard his stories about the wasted lives behind
prison
bars. But whatever the reason, I've always admired the men who minister as prison
chaplains. It's tough ministry, but it's ministry where it's
desperately needed. I've got a new friend, Bill, and he works as a prison Chaplain,
and he recently told me about an incident that touched me when he
told me and it continues to touch me. Bill had been visiting this cell block, and he
went out in the exercise yard for some fresh air, he
said. There was this clean cut, young inmate who happened to be African-American,
who walked up to him, and he said, "Hey mister! Are you
broke?" Well, Bill kinda fished around in his pocket and didn't find any money
in there, and the inmate said, "Hey, it doesn't matter, your money is
no good in here anyway. Now, are you broke?" Only this time the inmate
had tears in his eyes. And then here's what he said: "Mister, don't try to
minister to people in here if you ain't broke, cause we all are." Now, that's
not just inside prison walls.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A
WORD WITH YOU today about "Knowing What It Is To Be Broke."
You don't have to go into a prison to
find people who are, in the words of that inmate, "broke." There's so much
pain today, and so much of
it is from broken things - broken family, broken health, broken heart, broken dream,
broken relationships, broken trust - you may be
"broke." Perhaps, even in spite of a life that's reasonably successful and
an outward image that looks fine. You may be one of the millions of the
walking wounded ... not sure where to put your pain ... where to put your brokenness.
Our word for today from the Word of God,
Hebrews 4:14, says this: "Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the
Heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess." Now, here Jesus is
called "high priest" and you know those were the men in the Old
Testament who represented people to God. So Jesus is now our personal representative
with God in Heaven.
Now, if that inmate, or even you, were to
walk up to this Savior and ask, "Are you broke?" He might refer you to the
next verse, verse
15. Here's what it says - "We do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of
Grace with confidence." Now, He's walked in our shoes, He's felt
what we feel - except He never responded by doing something outside of God's will.
And we can come to Him with confidence. Why? Well, we're
coming to a Savior who has lived the feelings we are bringing to Him. He knows what
it is to be poor ... He knows what it feels like to be turned on
by your family ... to be betrayed by someone very close - He was. To be rejected -
He was. To be pressured to do the wrong thing - He was. To be
tortured ... to be lonely ... to be murdered - He was all of those. This Savior knows the
pain!
There are other people who can empathize.
There are some counselors who can help you understand the pain, but only Jesus can
carry
your pain and begin to heal a lifetime of scars. He says, "I came to bind up
the broken-hearted." But the great tragedy may be this: You're
needlessly carrying all your hurt alone because this Savior isn't your Savior because
you've never given yourself to Him. He went way beyond the
pain to the core reason for our wounds - human sin.
We're all the victims of people's sins
and we're sinners ourselves. Sin is our personal rebellion against our Creator,
saying,
"God, you run the Universe, I'll run me." Because we're away from the one
we were made by, we keep making choices that increase our pain. But Jesus
is saying to you today, "Why are you carrying that all alone? I died for you.
Won't you let me be your Savior? Let me pick up your pain. Let me
begin to apply my love to your wounds." If you've never done that, why would
you walk alone one more day? If you want to begin a personal
relationship with Him, I hope you use the link below to let me know. I'll send you
the booklet I wrote about it, called "Yours for Life." If the
question is, "Jesus, I'm 'broke.' Only someone who's 'broke' can help me,"
then you come to the mangled body on the blood-stained cross and see that
the Son of God was "broke" so you don't have to be anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shocking Truth About History's Ultimate CrimeActor Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion," has broken new ground for Hollywood - and triggered a firestorm of controversy. "The Passion" tells the story of the day of Jesus' death with an attempt at Biblical accuracy that is seemingly unprecedented in movie-making history. The dialog is even spoken in the languages spoken at that time. And the portrayal of the crucifixion of Christ is said to be intensely realistic, following as closely as possible the Bible's description of what happened that day on a place called Skull Hill. The controversy revolves around the portrayal of the role of the Jewish leaders on that day in conspiring to have Jesus crucified by the Romans and their statement inviting His blood to be "upon us and our children." So, for centuries, Jews have been wrongly persecuted as "Christ-killers," allegedly guilty of "deicide." What a tragic mistake! The truth of why Jesus died so brutally on that cross is far more shocking.
"Will The Real You Please Stand Up?"
It was a TV show a long time
ago, and it's a TV show again. The
idea must still have some life in it! It's called "To Tell the Truth" -
maybe you have seen it. Three contestants all tell the panel their name -
and they all claim to be the same person. The host reads a little
background on the person, and then it's up to the panel to try to figure
out which one is the real one. The climactic moment comes when the host
says, "Will the real Joe Shlobotnik please stand up?" They all shift in
their chairs, but finally one stands up. The real one!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to
have A Word With You today
about "Will The Real You Please Stand Up?"
For many people, the struggle to identify
which person is really
them is a deeply personal one - one that rages within us. It's very
important that you decide which of three identities is really you. In
fact, the identity you choose will determine much of how you make your life
choices and whether you feel significant or insignificant.
Identity #1 is you, the victim. Now
if you've been hurt,
betrayed, maybe abused, or abandoned, or neglected, it's possible to live
your life thinking of yourself as a victim. Which means you will spend
much of your life feeling worthless, depressed, distrusting, maybe
negative, or self-pitying. And your relationships, your decisions, your
goals will all be shaped by choosing "victim" as your identity.
OK, Identity #2 is you, the sinner.
While the victim focuses on
their pain, the sinner focuses on their failures. You are frequently
reliving the things you've done that were wrong - maybe very wrong, in some
cases. If you decide that the "you" that is going to stand up is you, the
sinner, you're also going to feel worthless much of the time ... and
ashamed ... and never good enough. You'll accept and you'll expect a
little life because you think that's all you deserve. And your shame will
cause you to feel, "What's the use?" - and that will set you up for more
and more mistakes.
But there's a third identity you can
choose. It's spelled out in
II Corinthians 5:17, our word for today from the Word of God. "If anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!" There is an amazing transformation that takes place when a person
gives themselves to Jesus Christ - from that moment on they have the right,
they have the spiritual power to live as a new person!
So if you belong to Jesus Christ, the
real you is Identity #3 -
new person in Jesus Christ! You don't have to be defined by your past
pain. You don't have to be defined by your past sin. You are now defined
by your relationship with Jesus - you are a child of God ... a servant of
Christ ... and a Make A Difference person! Because you are forgiven ...
you are clean ... you are free from the shackles of the past. You're about
your future now, not your past! Don't miss, don't forget who you really
are! It's time for the real you to stand up!
And if you've never given yourself to the
Man who died so you
could be forgiven and new ... if you're ready to begin your life-changing
relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that right now? And I hope
you'll let me send you the booklet I wrote about this relationship, called
"Yours For Life." Just let me know you want it.
From today on, your life can be about
whose you are - defined by
your relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ - the Healer, the
Forgiver of the past, and the author of a whole new beginning!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Level Ground."
When I meet people who went to elementary or high school with my
wife, they tell me she was shy. I didn't know her then, but I have found
that very hard to accept. From the time I met her at a Christian college,
she was vivacious and outgoing and confident. I've asked her about this
seeming contradiction. She says that both descriptions are accurate. In
her secondary school years, Karen lived in the country with parents who
gave her a lot of love and courtesy and spiritual wealth, but who didn't
have much what our world calls wealth. So, she lived in a home without the
conveniences many of her friends in town would consider basic. She didn't
have money to spend on clothes or makeup - so she felt a little
self-conscious in a campus world that was so much about the way you dress
and the "stuff" you have. But when she got to a Christian college,
suddenly everything changed. She told me, "For the first time, the playing
field was level."
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to
have A Word With You today
about "Level Ground."
That's exactly the way God
intended for it to be in His family, in
His church - a level playing field where all that external junk the world
judges people by just doesn't matter. It's the kind of environment in
which people can blossom and unleash all the beauty and giftedness God has
planted in them.
In Galatians 3:26 and 28, our word for
today from the Word of God,
the Lord says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus ...
There is neither Jew nor Greek (that's racial differences), slave nor free
(that's class differences), male nor female (that's discrimination based on
gender), for you are all one in Christ Jesus." I wonder if your church
feels like that kind of place, your youth group, your Christian
group. That's how it's supposed to feel!
The culture of money and power and
fashion and social groupings is
supposed to stop at the door of the Church of Jesus Christ. I hope it does
at yours. None of that stuff matters to Jesus. The world has its "power
elite" and its "insiders and outsiders." Don't let that cancer infect
your
church. People need to come into a group of Christians and feel level
ground - a warm, sincere welcome, no matter how they look, what they have,
or what their background. Anything less is a shameful contradiction of
everything Jesus is about - grace ... unconditional love. Remember, "Man
looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (I
Samuel 16:7)
Years ago in a large, fashionable church,
two people came down the
aisle to give their lives to Christ - one was the governor of the state,
the other a maid. The pastor said it all when he said, "The ground is
level at the cross." And maybe only at the cross. It may be that you have
spent most of your life feeling like you were on the bottom - the
outsider. Maybe even Christians have let Jesus down in how they've treated
you. But I want to invite you this very day to come to the cross where
Jesus - the Son of God - thought you were worth dying for. He knows all
about you - and He loves you. And He's waiting to welcome you into His
family - and one day into His heaven, if you'll give yourself to Him today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Israeli
intelligence had indicated that the ship was carrying dangerous
weapons, and Israel assumed they were to be their ultimate target. Well, a
daring mission executed with assault helicopters and naval commandos
surprised the ship's crew and led to the ship's seizure in the middle of
the Red Sea. What they found was shocking - fifty tons of missiles,
rockets, machine guns, along with other weapons and munitions. You can't
help but ask, "What if they hadn't intercepted the weapons that might have
been used against them?"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about
"Intercepting The Weapons."
Those weapons could have done terrible damage - but they won't.
They were
kept out of the hands of those who would use them to do that
damage. That's actually the best way to win any battle - just don't let
your enemy get the weapons to attack you with! It is a powerful way to
keep your enemy - your spiritual enemy, the devil, from doing serious
damage. Don't let him have his weapons.
Satan is anxious to make you afraid ... to make you discouraged or
depressed. He wants to make you a slave to lust or addiction. He wants to
make you negative, critical, defeated, deceitful. He needs weapons to get
you to do or think things that you know are wrong - that you know come
between you and God. But you can intercept some of the weapons he'd like
to use - if you'll carefully obey God's simple directive in our word for
today from the Word of God.
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else (OK, God wants this to be top
priority!), guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Be
careful what you allow into your heart because everything originates
there. The picture that comes to mind is a reservoir from which the water
supply for many people comes. That is one place where you don't want any
poison getting in. Authorities put up high fences and arrange elaborate
security to make sure no one can put anything harmful in the area's water
supply. Guard the source. Be very careful about what gets into the source
- and for you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, the reservoir is your heart.
You actually give your enemy weapons to destroy you with when you allow
poison into your heart - when you watch things, listen to things, read
about things, laugh at things, flirt with things that feed the old you. TV
... music ... movies ... . books ... websites ... certain friends ...
certain conversations ... humor. Too many times - usually in unguarded,
casual moments, we allow Satan to smuggle in weapons he can use later to
get us to think or act sinfully - input that gets you thinking lustfully
about the opposite sex ... that fuels your fears ... that makes you more
negative, more cynical, more critical ... things that make you more lonely,
more depressed, more discouraged.
Maybe one reason parts of the old you are still so strong is because
you've been feeding the old you too much. What you feed will grow. Our
mission is to starve our sinful side, not feed it more! It's already got
all the fuel it needs for the rest of our life! But you help insure this
promise from Isaiah 54:17 will happen to you - "No weapons forged against
you will prevail!"
Just don't let Satan get the weapons that he wants to use against you -
images, thoughts, songs, friends that make it harder for you to win
spiritually - and more likely to lose. When you walk away from the
conversations, the shows, the songs, the people, the places that feed your
dark side, you pre-empt temptations now that would otherwise bombard you
later. And that's the easiest way to win the battle - to never let your
enemy get his weapons. "Guard your heart!"
+++++++++++++++++++++++
"What's Eating Your Home."
My wife Karen was waking up to
a sound she hadn't heard before - and she couldn't identify. It sounded like
crinkling cellophane - and it was
coming from inside our bedroom walls! Now, somehow I missed this little symphony,
but Karen sure picked up on it. Since we were pretty sure no one
was actually crinkling cellophane in our walls, we looked into other possibilities.
Like carpenter ants, for example. And sure enough, that's
what it was! Those little marauders were feasting on the wood in our house ... and
they were gradually eating our home! We didn't even have to think
about what to do. "Hello, Mr. Exterminator?"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"What's Eating Your Home."
Obviously, you need to take drastic measures when something is eating
your home-including some invaders that do far more damage than some hungry,
little bugs. There may be some forces that are eating away right now, not at the
building you live in, but the family who lives in it!
You can hear some of the sounds of deterioration-the angry words that
are causing such deep wounds ... or that chilly silence ... or the
negativism. Far more comments on what people are doing wrong than what they're doing
right ... the exasperation, the frustration over not being
listened to. Don't ignore those "sounds in the walls". The longer
you do, the harder it's going to be to repair the damage. If there's growing
tension or growing distance, or growing hard feelings or frustration, then it's time for
radical action. It's time to attack what's eating your home.
Our word for today from the Word of God may be a statement that you
need to take as a charge for you and your family. It's from Hebrews 12:1. It
says this, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles." Now if something is slowing you down or entangling you
as a family, throw it off! Get rid of it! Or call the exterminator!
Maybe what's weakening your home is too much criticism…maybe too
little affection shown…or maybe too little listening. Or it could be hypocrisy
that's eating at your home-a big gap between the "church you" and then the you
they see at home. Maybe there's favoritism or perfectionism that's
driving everyone crazy. Or maybe your family is just feeling the effects of too
little of your time…of a schedule that often has no room for them in it?
But listen, will you, to the sounds of a home slowly being eaten away.
It's time to take strong corrective action - to "throw off
everything" that is hindering your family and the sin that is tripping them up.
And let the change begin with you. Get to your knees and confess to
your Lord the part that you've been playing in the problems at home. And ask Him to
change you from a thermometer who reflects everything that's
going on there, to a thermostat that sets a whole new temperature.
Where you've been wrong, tell your family. You won't lose their
respect - you'll gain it. God says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray
for
each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16) There are few words more
healing than, "I was wrong." I wonder how many marriages could have
been saved if someone could have said them ... or how many children. As this verse
says, healing also comes when you begin to pray for each
other-and for family healing. And if you need outside help, don't let your pride
keep you from seeking that help.
Would you say to God, "Lord, I can hear the sounds of our home
being slowly eaten away, and I want it to stop. I dedicate myself today to
stopping it ... by stopping it in me first." Those bugs will destroy your home
only one way - through your denial or your neglect. It's time for the
exterminator - before any more damage is done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Your Personal Life
Support System."
When astronaut Neil Armstrong
first stepped onto the surface of the moon for his "one small step for man," he
really didn't look like himself. He
was totally wrapped up in that modern-day armor called a space suit. Well, there's a
reason. The moon is an environment hostile to humans. An
unequipped, unprotected astronaut would have died in an instant of lunar exposure.
Why? No oxygen. That big pack on his back was the margin of
survival.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today
about "Your Personal Life Support System."
Now if the Apollo astronauts had depended on their surroundings for
their lives, they would have died on the moon. Instead, they depended on the
life-support system that they carried with them!
Actually, you don't have to go to the moon to find a hostile atmosphere
to survive in. We've got that right here. Spiritually speaking, we live in
an environment where the air is often pretty polluted with temptation, with totally un-God
ways of thinking, with stress, with negativity. When that's
pretty much what your soul breathes all day long, you end up gasping for air and sometimes
going under.
What we need is something like the Apollo astronauts had - we need a
life-support system that will sustain us through the bombardment of the
day. But it needs to be something totally dependable and highly mobile - a lifepack
that you can have with you everywhere you go. And there is
one. Our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 119:11 says, "I have
hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You." David
says, "I have planted God's words in my heart to answer the sinful pressures that are
coming against me."
So what's your personal life-support system in a spiritually and
emotionally hostile environment? The words of God, committed to memory, so
you'll always have them when you need them. You can't always carry a Bible around
with you - and if you do, you wouldn't usually have time to start
looking up verses in the middle of a situation. In fact, you'd probably have to
carry a concordance, too, so you'd know where to look in the Bible!
But you can always carry Scripture that you have "hidden in your
heart." During the Vietnam War, some of the American pilots imprisoned for
years in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison tried to piece together as much of the Bible
as they could from memory. I wonder how much of a Bible you'd have
if all you had was what you've memorized? In a sense, that is all you have when
you're in the middle of a real life situation.
So, maybe it's time for you to get serious about a regular program of
committing Bible verses to memory. What you're doing is actually planting
the responses of God in your personality - so you can respond to what's happening with a
heaven-answer, not an earth-answer. How many times I have
been sustained by saying Deuteronomy 33:25 aloud - "Your strength will equal your
days" ... or Isaiah 40:31 - "Those who hope in the Lord will
renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not
grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." How many times I
have been helped by the battle cry of 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "We take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ." The list of the times I've
been rescued by a verse that I've made my own is endless.
D. L. Moody said, "When you're thinking sin, think
Scripture." You can't think Scripture if you don't know any Scripture.
Our minds are cluttered
with tons of earth-trivia - we need more of heaven in our heart. Load up on heaven's
oxygen - God's own words - and you'll be breathing better air
all day long from the life-support system that you carry in your heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Bouncing Back When
You Blow It."
I'm about 5'8". You probably know that because I sound about
that tall, right? Years ago, I was carrying 210 pounds on this little 68 inch
body. Goodyear actually offered me a job as their blimp. But thankfully, I
have weighed about 45 to 50 pounds less than that for a lot of years. Of
course, I've still got the same metabolism that inflated this body many years ago.
So, ohhh, do I know about dieting! And I also know the point
at which your diet is in the greatest danger. OK, you've really been good ... the
scale has been giving you good news the last couple of weeks ...
your diet discipline is holding ... then, somebody offers you something that you
just can't resist - let's say, a few french fries. You consume
them in one bite. So, you buy a whole order of fries for yourself. And now you
feel bad. You have blown your diet. You could just get back on
track right then! But no - you say to yourself, "I blew it! I've failed!
Oh well, what's the use? I might as well have a milk shake to
wash down those fries. Hey, anybody got the number of Pizza Heaven?"
Yeah, you messed up. So you give up - and soon return to your
former roundness.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Bouncing Back When You Blow It."
Now, it's a shame when one or two failures
make you give up on your diet. Or, more importantly, on living like Jesus wants you
to live.
Maybe it's a pattern you know all too well. Like a dieter, you've
made up your mind to change - to do things Jesus' way. You're living right, you're
doing well. But one day you mess up and fall back into something the old you would
do. And you feel ashamed. Now right here is the point - in
dieting or being a disciple - that will determine whether or not this is a brief detour or
a huge defeat. What will you do when you've blown
it? Now, you can clean up or give up. And, believe me, satan is gonna be right
there whispering, "What's the use? You tried this Christian thing,
and look at you! You're a spiritual lose. You'll never make it. This is too
hard for you. Give it up, man."
Now, Jesus said satan is capable only of telling lies - and this is no
exception. But he wants to take one defeat and turn it into many defeats
... to use this one detour to get you to turn back completely. And maybe you have.
Well, it's time for the truth. Our word for today from the Word
of God, Proverbs 24:16 - "Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises
again." Notice it doesn't say, "a righteous man never falls."
It
says that when he falls, he gets right back up and starts walking again! See, that's
God's intention for you when you've messed up.
That's why He invites us in I John 1:9 to "confess our sins"
because "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." It's not Jesus standing there, condemning you for falling.
God says, "there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus." (Romans
8:1) No, that's your enemy trying to pull you into a cycle of defeat. Live
right ... then mess up ... then feel ashamed ... then you
give up ... then you mess up a lot more ... and then you crash spiritually. That's
the cycle of defeat. But Jesus is saying, "One
failure is one failure. And the only people who never fell down are people who
aren't trying to walk. Bring that sin to My Cross. Let me clean you
up. Tomorrow's a new day!"
So when you mess up spiritually, it's either the cross or a crash.
Bring that sin straight to Jesus' cross, and you can get up and keep
going. Believe the "what's the use?" lie, and you'll crash. Because
of Jesus, no failure is final. If you've fallen, you can get up, in the
forgiveness and power of your Savior.
Take it from a veteran dieter - it's a terrible mistake to give up just
because you mess up. Today's failure doesn't have to sink you
tomorrow. You have a Savior who makes each new day a brand new beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"More Baggage ... Less
People."
It has always been challenging to take our "On Eagle's Wings"
team of young Native American believers to do reservation outreach. But going to
Alaska to do it has meant a really challenging challenge! With a suicide rate 20
times greater than that of the rest of the young people in America,
the young Native Alaskans are a desperate mission field. You can probably imagine
that the logistics of this kind of outreach are pretty exciting -
especially when some of the villages you're in are 400 miles from the nearest road!
The entire team has to be transported by missionary planes
and fishing boats! Since the planes are just single or twin-engine aircraft, you can
choose between taking less people with more luggage, or
more people with less luggage. Since we need every seat filled with a team member,
the sacrifice is going to be in how much baggage each of us
takes. The limit is 20 pounds per person - for five weeks! It's hard to travel
that light, but it's important. When you carry just the basic
essentials, you can move more people and go a lot farther!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about
"More Baggage ... Less People."
A team moves farther and faster with less baggage ... and so does the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why the powerful Apostle Paul, who could
have dazzled a crowd with his incredible theology, kept his message to the lost very
simple. Our word for today for the Word of God, 1 Corinthians
2:1-2 -"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior
wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I
resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
Now ,with all the Christian truth Paul could have presented, (that he
knew there was to present), when it came to the lost, he carried an unencumbered
Gospel. Like us packing for our missionary trip to Alaska, he limited himself to the
basic essentials, and he left out anything that would
unnecessarily encumber the message he was carrying. His message: Jesus Christ and
His death on the cross for you.
Now one reason we may not see more people interested in our Jesus is
that we may have, without realizing it, added baggage to the simple Gospel
message. Baggage like rules, rituals, religion - all of which obscure the real
issue, which is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we encumber the Gospel with lifestyle issues.
"Now, you need Jesus - and what are you doing with an earring there?" Or
we attack their wrong music ... or their wrong relationship ... or their wrong
entertainment. We're trying to clean them up before they have the Cleaner-Upper
inside them! Stick to Jesus and His cross!
It's also tempting to load down the Jesus story with the baggage of our
group's special theological emphasis. There are distinctives in every
denomination and group that makes them them - and they often concern very important areas
of Christian truth. But they're not part of the
Gospel. They are what we will teach this person after they have been to the Cross
and made Jesus their Savior. Then, those teachings may become
essentials to their relationship with Christ. But now, before they know Him, those
emphases may be extra baggage - baggage that means, like
traveling in those little planes in Alaska, will be carrying less people - to Jesus.
If a lost person stumbles over Jesus or His cross, then the
responsibility is theirs. If they stumble over baggage that we add to Jesus and His
cross, then the responsibility is ours. And the consequences can be eternal.
Aren't you glad you don't have to carry all the Christian baggage when
you try to win the heart of a lost friend or loved one? Unpack all the other
Christian things, and just deliver the essentials - the incredible news that Jesus loved
us enough to die for us, to rescue us from the death
penalty of our sin. Stick to Jesus!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Darkness Behind You, Sunlight Ahead."
Our daughter and
son-in-law and two grandsons were driving through the Midwest a while back - and not
liking the drive very much. For most of
that day's drive, they were in the thick of a powerful storm system - drenching rain, and
more significantly, a lot of dangerous lightning ...
until they got to Springfield, Missouri. When our daughter called us, they were
heading south out of Springfield - and liking the trip a lot
more. She said, "You cannot believe how ugly it looks behind us - the sky and
the lightning back there look so angry and foreboding. But the road
ahead of us is clear and bright!"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Darkness Behind You, Sunlight Ahead."
With so much darkness behind them and a much better road ahead, believe
me, our family had no desire to turn around and head back into what they had come from.
Why would anyone do that? Including someone Jesus has delivered from
spiritual darkness and put on a much brighter road?
If you have given your heart to Jesus Christ, then you have experienced
the miracle described in our word for today from the Word of
God. Colossians 1:13 says that God "has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He
loves." Rescued. Now, imagine someone that was rescued from a burning or
collapsed building. Can you imagine them going back into the wreckage they were just
rescued from? And yet that is exactly what many of us Jesus followers do. We
head back into the darkness from which Christ has delivered us.
That day our family experienced the dark clouds behind them and the
bright road ahead is a picture of your own, what I call, "B. C. / A. D."
experience. That's your time "before Christ" and your life since the
moment you began your relationship with Him. It's not just the world's
history that's divided into B. C. and A. D. - it's the personal history of all of us who
have been rescued from our sin by Jesus Christ.
But could it be that you've been heading back to some aspect of the
"B. C." you? Back in the direction of what God calls "the dominion of
darkness"? The old lying ... the old habit ... the old crowd ... the old
selfishness or bad mouth ... the old anger or depression - somehow you've
made a U-turn on the Jesus Road and started back toward that time before you met Jesus.
Maybe you're forgetting how ugly, dark and stormy it was back there.
Or maybe you were raised in a Christian environment - you never experienced much of
Satan's enslaving darkness - and you're tempted to try a little. Sin has some very
attractive packages - but that's all it is - a
package. Once you open it, you find what's inside is a lot of guilt, a lot of shame,
a lot of bondage, a lot of loneliness. And it costs you the
greatest anchor you've got in your life - that wonderful sense of the closeness of Jesus
and the peace that only He can bring.
Paul says, Jesus "gave Himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness" (Titus 2:13) - now, how can we drift back into the things He died to get
us out of? I can't think of a greater insult to the Man who died for you.
Because of Jesus, you were able to drive out of the storm, out of the
darkness, out of eternal danger. Don't go back there! Everything you were made
for, everything you need is on the Jesus Road ahead of you. Keep
driving toward His light - that ugly sky behind you will soon be just a shrinking shadow
in your rear view mirror.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Danger Zone
Alarm."
An alarm may be annoying but, face it, most alarms are your friend.
The alarm clock in the morning - without which you'd lose your job. The smoke
detector. The fire alarm. Now most of us don't carry an alarm with us, but for
some people, it's a very positive idea. Recently, my wife was in a
nursing home on an errand of mercy when suddenly this loud alarm went off.
Immediately, a nurse came running to a door where she intercepted one
of their elderly residents who was headed for that door. The manager explained that
some of their residents are afflicted with serious memory
loss or disorientation, so much so, that they have left the building and wandered off, not
knowing where they were - including right into the middle
of the road! So the woman who triggered the alarm has been fitted with a special
bracelet - one that triggers an alarm whenever she is on the edge
of a possible danger zone. Apparently, she does remember what the alarm is for.
When it went off, she instinctively stopped where she was. That
alarm could literally save her life.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"The Danger Zone Alarm."
When you're moving into danger you don't realize, it's good to have an
alarm that alerts you. And it's good to pay attention to that alarm. Your
Lord has built that kind of alarm into you - in the person of the Holy Spirit who lives
inside of you as a follower of Christ. Jesus said the
Spirit would "convict the world of guilt in regard to sin." (John 16:8)
One important ministry the Holy Spirit has to you is warning you
when you're wandering into the danger zone spiritually. A danger you may not know is
there, but a danger that could do you a lot of harm.
That's why God's warning is in our word for today from the Word of God.
It's so important - 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Four words: "Quench not
the Spirit." After that, it goes on to say, "Hold on to the good.
Avoid every kind of evil." When the Holy Spirit is talking to you inside, don't
ignore Him. Don't put out the fire He sets inside you. Don't blow right past
His warning that you've crossed the line.
The Holy Spirit is active in your heart, your mind, and your conscience
all day long, representing how God feels about what you're saying, what
you're watching, what you're listening to, what you're doing with His temple (your body),
what you're thinking about, fantasizing about, the
motives behind what you're doing. And when you're starting to wander out of bounds,
He puts a check in your spirit - a restraint, or even a twinge
of guilt. The alarm goes off - God's quiet inner alarm that says, "You're out
of bounds. You can't see it, but you have just entered the danger zone."
See, the Holy Spirit knows exactly where the choices you're making are
going to ultimately end up. Like a disoriented older person, where you
want to go looks very desirable and perfectly harmless. But God knows this will take
you into deadly heavy traffic - and by the time you realize it,
you may not be able to get out. No sin remains isolated. The first compromise
may be hard, but it seldom stays just one compromise. The next
one is always a little easier, until one day you have done what you never thought you'd
do, you've become what you never thought you'd become.
It may be that God's alarm has been going off in you recently, warning
you not to keep telling or living that lie. Or making you feel shame or guilt
or uneasiness over something you watch or listen to or laugh at. Maybe warning you
against leaving your family when it looks so tempting to bail
out. Or the Spirit-alarm may be trying to move you away from that wrong
relationship, that dangerous flirtation, or that growing anger or bitterness.
God's warning is clear - don't quench the Holy Spirit of Almighty God.
Listen to God's alarm going off in you. You don't know the trouble
this is taking you into. He does! Back away from this door. It takes you
where you do not want to end up. You are entering the danger zone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Unguarded Beaches"
This one is excellent, they all are, but grab ahold of this one!
There are two words that will inevitably
cause a look of excitement to appear on any face in our family - "Ocean City."
That's the name of this
charming town on the Jersey shore where our family has made a lot of memories over the
years. Not long ago, several of us rendezvoused there
for a couple of days of time together and making a few more memories. As I was
riding my bike along the boardwalk there, I passed some Herculean young
men jogging the boards. Their shirts had four letters on them: OCBP. That's
Ocean City Beach Patrol. Actually, they recently celebrated
their centennial - no, not the young joggers, but the Beach Patrol itself. A century
ago, as Ocean City was becoming a tourist mecca, the
number of drownings began to increase. So, the Beach Patrol was formed. They
have a record to be proud of. In 100 years, they have never
lost anyone at a guarded beach. Now I do remember a time some years ago when a young
Amish woman drowned in the Atlantic Ocean, but that was on an
unguarded beach.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Unguarded Beaches."
I've seen those lifeguards in action. They concentrate on their
stretch of water and the people in it as if it's a life-or-death matter. It
is! Just like the rescue responsibility God has entrusted to you.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 24:11-12.
As you listen, try to picture some of the people on the stretch of beach God
has given you to guard. He says, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold
back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew
nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who
guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person
according to what he has done?" God's saying here, "If you have a rescue
responsibility, there is no excuse for you letting people die without your
trying to do something about it."
The awful tragedy is that so many Christless lives are being lost -
eternally - because one of God's spiritual lifeguards is leaving their
beach unguarded. Your beach is that circle of influence God has given you - the
people you work with or live near or go to school with. But too many
of us lifeguards just stay in the lifeguard station, enjoying the fellowship of the other
lifeguards, singing lifeguard songs, planning
lifeguard meetings - while people are dying in the surf.
Maybe we leave our stretch of the beach unguarded because we forget
that telling people about Jesus really is life-or-death. The people around you
may not look or sound like they're dying spiritually, but listen to just a few of the
words God uses to describe them. "Those being led away to
death" (Proverbs 24:11), "lost" according to Luke 19:10. Or in
Ephesians 2:12, "without God, without hope." In John 3:36, "whoever
rejects the Son
will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." 2 Thessalonians 1:9 says
those who don't know God "will be punished with everlasting
destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord." And in Revelation
20:15, God says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of
life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." These are people you know - or
ought to know. And you carry in your heart the one message that can change
all this - the message of a Savior who loved them enough to die so they don't have to.
Your job isn't to persuade them to come to Jesus - it's only to present
Jesus. But if you haven't done that, then they don't know they're dying
and they don't know who to grab to rescue them.
You may think there's someone better to rescue the people around you,
but God put you in the middle of them. This is your stretch of the beach. The
people there are your responsibility. Don't leave your beach unguarded. Too
many people are dying at unguarded beaches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Closing The Gap."
Nehemiah 4:6 and 7
The other day, while I was out of town, my wife woke up to the sound of hoofbeats in our
yard. That's actually a problem. Misty, her horse, is
supposed to be out in the pasture, inside a barbed wire fence. But this particular
day, Misty was having a grand old time running around our yard -
and, without quick action on Karen's part - soon she would have been out of our yard and
in harm's way. Fortunately, my wife managed to get Misty back
to her pasture before any harm was done. But the big question was, "How do you
prevent this horse from getting out again?" The problem was that storm
with 80 MPH winds the other night - it uprooted the tree that was anchoring one corner of
the pasture's barbed-wire fence. We were hoping that the
downed tree and the partially intact fence would be enough to keep Misty in until we could
close the gap. It wasn't. Our horse just found the gap and
ended up going where she really should not go.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Closing The Gap."
It's not just a horse that exploits a gap in the fence. It's the
lion, too - the one the Bible says is prowling around, looking for someone to
devour. (I Peter 5:8) Satan, of course. And you can be sure the destroyer is
prowling around your life, your home, your ministry right now, looking
for a gap in the fence - a way to go where he should never really be allowed to go.
So here's a quick lesson in how to drive your enemy nuts. It's in
our word for today from the Word of God in Nehemiah 4:6 and 7. It comes from
Nehemiah's fascinating account of how a small band of Jews rebuilt the walls and gates of
a devastated Jerusalem in fifty-two days, all the time
surrounded by enemies that were determined to stop them. And here's one important
step they took to cut off their enemies' attacks - a step you may
need to be taking to keep your eternal enemy out.
The Bible says, "So we rebuilt the wall until it reached half its
height, for the people worked with all their heart. But when Sanballat, Tobiah,
the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod (that's a lot of guys against you!) heard
that the repairs in Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead
and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry." I guess so.
Those gaps were weak spots in the wall that they could use to go where
they should never be allowed to go.
Now, you want to send your enemy Satan away frustrated and fuming?
Close up the gaps in the wall around your life ... your marriage ... your family
... your ministry. Because right now he's doing all he can to get inside through
those gaps and destroy everything that matters. You can't neglect
the gaps any longer - there's too much at stake.
The gap through which Satan is getting in may be one of your important
relationships that you've been neglecting - and ugly stuff, you know, grows
in a garden that's neglected. Or maybe it's a strained relationship that is allowing
your enemy to sow resentment and anger. The hard feelings
you've allowed to grow inside you are a gaping hole for Satan to exploit. Or it
could be a compromise you've allowed - in your integrity
in your sexual standards, in what you watch or listen to for entertainment. Maybe
the gap is a past sin you have not dealt with ... or
lustful thoughts. Or just allowing yourself to consider quitting - on your marriage,
on a commitment, on a ministry God has called you to.
Wherever the gaps are, you can be sure your enemy has identified
where you're vulnerable, and he's planning to use those gaps to get into the core of your
life. When there's a gap in the fence, a gap in the wall, it can only put you in
harm's way - actually in hell's way. Don't wait another
day to start closing the gaps. You've got too much to lose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Brand New
You."
On a recent business trip, my friend Rich found a site that advertised
caverns and an Indian artifact museum. An Indian man, with his coal black
hair pulled back and a face my friend described as "well-weathered," offered to
take Rich on the museum tour - which he thought would last about
fifteen minutes. Nearly two hours later, he had received an incredible history
lesson on the Shawnee Nation. The guide said that the Shawnee
Nation is made up of many different Indian tribes which the Shawnee have
"adopted" into their nation. And several times the Shawnee man pointed out
that when his tribe allows this to happen, the adopted people or person may never speak of
his former tribe or nation again!
Several times, Rich's guide asked if he really understood that concept
- and my friend assured him that he did. Suddenly, the Shawnee man stepped
back a few feet and said, "You're a Christian, aren't you?" Rich gave him
a wholehearted "yes" - and asked how he could tell. The Indian man's
response: "Only a true Shawnee or a Christian can understand forsaking all past life
and accepting a new life." Later, as they prayed together, it
was clear that this man - who my friend described as "truly amazing" - was
both a Shawnee and a Christian.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"A Brand New You."
That Indian brother really understands what it means to become a part
of Jesus' tribe - far better than many of us who claim to be following
Jesus. What he said is almost a paraphrase of exactly what God says in our word for
today from the Word of God in II Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 15.
"Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live
for themselves (stop and ask yourself - are you really living for yourself?),
but to live for Him who died for them and was raised again ... Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!" And paralleling the Shawnee experience, the way we became "in
Christ" was "to be adopted as God's sons through Jesus Christ." (Ephesians
1:5) Adopted, not to have part of us in our old family - which is really the devil's
family - and part of us in God's family ... no, we're talking
here about leaving one way of life for good and taking on a brand new you! Which may
make some of the junk in your life right now a little hard
to explain.
You can't really hold Jesus with one hand and, with your other hand,
some of the junk that killed Him. After all, in God's words, "He bore our sins
in His own body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness."
(I Peter 2:24) Imagine how it must make Jesus feel to see
you still hanging onto sins that He died to get you out of! It may be
that you've missed the imperative Jesus gave us to "repent" when
we come to Him. It would be easy to miss - nobody talks about repenting much these
days. But it still matters just as much to Jesus. And your
failure to really repent may explain your constant spiritual roller coaster, your
recurring doubts about whether or not you really belong to
Jesus. In Acts 3:19, the call is to "repent and turn to God, so that your sins
may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the
Lord." Repenting of that sin isn't just saying, "I'm sorry" - it's
saying "I'm not doing that stuff any more!"
You've tried carrying your dual identity long enough - you're a
halfhearted sinner and a halfhearted Christian. It's time to turn your
back, once and for all, on that junk that's shackled you for so long. Here's what
you can tell Jesus right now - "Jesus, with Your power,
I'm dropping this junk and saying goodbye to the old me once and for all. You died
to get me out of this stuff - and beginning today, I am
Yours ... all Yours!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Race To Save Lives."
It's got to be one of the most unique sporting events in the
world - it's the Iditarod, the ultimate sled dog race in the world This past
year, 68
teams lined up for the historic 1,000-mile race from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nome. Of
course, it didn't start as a sporting competition. It started in
1925 when the stakes were much higher than a cash prize - it was the lives of countless
children in Nome who had been exposed to the dread disease,
diphtheria. The only serum to fight it in Alaska was in faraway Anchorage. It
had to get to Nome in the shortest time possible. And it
was carried in an amazing, Pony Express-like relay by one dog team after another. It
took twenty drivers, some of whom braved mountain ranges,
brutal weather, a merciless gale. But on February 2 - only 127 hours after the first
team left - the last driver arrived in Nome with his tired dog
team and 300,000 units of life-saving serum.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"The Race To Save Lives."
Originally, that's what the Iditarod was. But what was once a
life-saving mission is today just an activity. They're still racing on the same
course
- but they're not racing to save lives anymore. Like many of us followers of
Jesus. Like many of our churches, many of our ministries.
Oh, we're racing, all right. But not to save lives. There's
a lot of activity and excitement - but it's not about rescuing people who will die
if we don't get to them. But that's what we're supposed to be about. At least
according to our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs
24:11-12. God's orders are, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back
those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing
about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?'"
As we begin to see the unreached people around us through the eyes of
Jesus, we begin to realize that they are the ones "being led away to
death." Listen to some of the words God uses to describe the people around you
who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ - they're "lost" (Luke
19:10) … "separated from God" (Isaiah 59:2)…"perishing" (I
Corinthians 1:18) ... "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians
2:12) ...
and ultimately those who "will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out
from the presence of the Lord." (II Thessalonians 1:9) Not
because God wants it that way - He sent His Son to die so they don't have to. But
they don't know that yet.
But that's why God has placed you where you are - where you work, where
you go to school, where you live, where you recreate. He's put you there
to get the "life-saving serum" of the Good News about Jesus to them ... to help
some of those people around you be in Heaven with you!
So maybe you're busy in the Christian race, but you - or your ministry
- has forgotten the life-saving purpose of the race. And God is calling you
to see the "dyingness" of the people within your reach ... to see that He has
positioned you to be the one to rescue them. And it is a race -
because every day they live without Christ, they move one step closer to an eternity
without Him.
But you're there. And you have the serum. You have nothing
more important to do with the rest of your life than to deliver life to those who will die
if you don't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Secret Of Staying Healthy."
Recently we had a wave of nasty infections going
through our area - and our team. Thank the Lord, I have not been one who got knocked
out for a week or more by this bug. And I am very grateful for all the people who
pray for me - that's got to be a big reason why I'm still going strong. Of course, I
try to do what I can to stay healthy. I've concluded that one of the biggest things
you can do to keep from getting sick is simply to wash your hands frequently. So I
do. Wherever I travel, I take my trusty towelettes and my liquid disinfectant.
We're picking up germs that could infect us all day long - it's a good idea to wash
your hands regularly.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"The Secret Of Staying Healthy."
The fact is, we live in a world where we're surrounded by plenty of
spiritual germs, as well. And the secret of spiritual health is the same as physical
health - frequent washing. Not hand-washing, but heart-washing!
Our word for today from the Word of God explains the importance of our
staying spiritually uncontaminated. And it may be a reminder to some of us
that we've become dangerously careless about staying clean. In II Corinthians 6,
beginning in verse 16, Paul reminds us that "we are the temple of the living God ...
as God has said, 'I will be their God, and they will be My people ... Therefore, come out
from them and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing and I will
receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,' says
the Lord Almighty."
What an awesome position you have if you belong to Jesus Christ!
God lives in you ... you are "His people" ... you're a prince or princess, a son
or daughter of the King! So live like it! And II Corinthians 7:1 tells you how
to do that - "Since we have these promises, let us purify ourselves from everything
that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for
God." Keep washing your heart, keep washing your mind, from anything that could
contaminate you - you're His temple, remember!
So we need to stop regularly and wash away any contaminating attitude
or conversation or thought or action we've picked up. If you tell anything
less than the truth, correct it immediately before it becomes an entrenched infection.
If you speak a harsh word, make it right immediately - don't let it fester in your
heart or their heart. If you allow a lustful thought to take over the stage in your
mind, don't dwell on it - confess it and replace it right away with thoughts about Jesus.
If you find yourself thinking proudly about something you've done, get rid of it
quickly and give all the glory to the God who gave you everything you have and everything
you are. If you're watching or listening to something that is unpleasing to God,
turn it off right away.
The alternative is spiritual infection. It's carelessness about
staying clean that can cost you your physical health and, yes, your spiritual health.
And we get careless when we forget who we are - God's temple, God's people, God's
son, God's daughter. He says, "Don't touch any unclean thing."
Remember who you are.
Life is so much more enjoyable when you're healthy. And you're
likely to stay spiritually healthy a lot more if you practice frequent heart-washing
- or, as the Bible says, "purifying yourself from everything that contaminates."
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"Slowly Losing Ground."
Almost fifty years ago, my wife's
grandparents bought fifteen acres of farmland and built a little house on it. Today,
that house and that land
belong to Karen and me - well, actually to Karen - she's kind enough to let me live there
with her. Our deed still says fifteen acres. The tax bill
still says fifteen acres every year. But we only have thirteen acres. See,
over the years as tenants occupied the property, the land was
slowly encroached on - a little by the county for the road in front of our house, a little
by a neighbor. The missing acres weren't suddenly gobbled
up - they were more like nibbled away. No one was there to stop the encroachment
that came so slowly - but surely - and it took away what the
family once had.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Slowly Losing Ground."
When you lose ground gradually, it can happen without your even realizing
it - until sometimes it's too late to get back what you've
lost. Especially if the ground your losing is spiritual ground - if it's your
character . . . your integrity . . . or your rightness with God.
That process of spiritual erosion is described in our word for today
from the Word of God in Psalm 1:1-3. Notice the three positions a believer can
have when it comes to the pressures and temptations around him. "Blessed is the
man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the
way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the
Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a
tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not
wither. Whatever he does prospers."
I want to be that person, don't you? "Planted" -
stable, consistent . . . "fruitful" - your life is really making a difference .
. . "he prospers" -
you're blessed in all you're doing. But in order to have that kind of life, you have
to take your stand against the insidious encroachment of sin
in your life. And I can guarantee you, right now there are pressures on you to
compromise some part of the ground you've gained since you met
Christ - or maybe you've already lost some of that ground.
Psalm 1 suggests that you first just "walk" through the
compromise zone - you're around it. But eventually you are "standing" there -
you've stopped and you're consciously or unconsciously flirting with something sinful -
just "a little," of course. But ultimately, we end up "sitting"
in that
sin - settled into doing the wrong thing, probably rationalizing and excusing it every
step of the way.
I've just painted a picture of someone who's listening right
now. Actually, God has painted that picture. You've been allowing
creeping compromise - in your business practices, in your sexual standards, in the
priority of your family, in your telling nothing but the truth, in a habit you had beaten,
or in what you watch or listen to, maybe in the priority of your personal time with Jesus.
The encroachment has all happened so gradually that you've hardly noticed
what you've lost. But day by day, you're losing more and more of what you can't
afford to lose.
Satan doesn't usually wreck a life by a sin explosion - he does it
through erosion. You're allowing things you wouldn't have allowed in your life,
say a year or two ago. You're becoming numb, desensitized to things that break the heart
of Jesus. Your radar is off…your defenses are down…the
encroachment of sin, the encroachment of Satan is slowly taking away what Jesus died to
give you.
It's time for you to, as the Bible says, "Take your stand against
the devil's schemes" (Ephesians 6:11). Look at the ground you've lost -
probably through neglect and carelessness. And start fighting back - you have so
much to lose if you don't.
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"Finishing Your Race."
It was the end of the day at the 1968 Mexico City
Olympics - only a few thousand spectators were in the stadium as the last of the marathon
runners
were carried off in exhaustion to the first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier
and Ethiopian runner had been the first to cross the finish line in this grueling 26-mile
event. As the remaining spectators prepared to leave, they were stopped by the sound
of sirens going off and policemen blowing whistles. There, entering the stadium came
a lone figure wearing the colors of Tanzania - his name was John Akhwari. He was the
last man to finish the marathon.
His leg was bloodied and bandaged, and he grimaced with each step.
He had severely injured his knee in a fall, but painfully, he hobbled around the
400-meter track. The spectators who were still there just got to their feet and
applauded as if the were the winner. After he crossed the finish
line in excruciating pain, he was asked why he hadn't quit when he had no chance of
winning a medal. His answer: "My country did not send me 7,000
miles away to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it."
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about
"Finishing Your Race."
When God wanted to give us a mental picture of our life and our service
for Him, He used an Olympic image - running a race. And you've been
running the race He set out for you - but you've been hurt . . . you're running with pain
. . . you've