WHICH MASTER DO YOU SERVE?

Straddling a fence must be uncomfortable after a time. Yet many of us tend to do just that, without thought of the consequence. Will we fall? Become injured? Lose our balance? God tells us not to be fence-straddlers, but to decide whether He will be our Master, or someone/something else. Let’s make up our minds!

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

A divided mind

Should I water the garden or wait for the predicted rain to do the job? Read my book or write that letter of apology? Clean the house or go shopping? Every day, we’re faced with conflicting choices—this or that, now or then, less or more.

One choice we should always make is to follow Christ as Savior and Lord of our life. Too many of us can’t seem to decide how closely to follow Him. When we allow other things to take first place, we find ourselves straddling the fence of faith.

 Jesus would have us focus on Him only. Surrounded as we are with so many temptations, our focus can easily slip into doubts, especially about His truth. Is He really able to solve our problems? Can we count on His promise to never forsake us? To forgive all our sins? To love us through every situation?

Doubt comes quickly when we’re focused on our problems rather than on Him. God would rather have us embrace our trials. As James says: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:2-8)

The word double-minded means “two souls.” When one part of us is set on God and the other set on worldly pursuits, the result will be constant conflict and loss of joy and peace.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

We do well to ask ourselves daily which master we serve: God, who is faithful and loving, or “man,” who is finite and undependable and without eternal substance.

Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness. Help us focus on You alone so we won’t be double-minded, unstable in faith, and tossed by life’s winds and waves. In Jesus’ name, amen.

REMEMBERING HENNY PENNY

“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” the chicken called. People today believe the end is imminent, too. And it is, according to God’s Word. But unlike Henny Penny, we need not fear. God controls the universe and we need only look to Him for peace and freedom from fear. Hallelujah!

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES       by Sally Bair

What’s your worry?

I’m surrounded by worriers. Every day I hear someone say, “I can’t sleep because my son is out partying.” “I worry about not having enough money to pay all my bills.” “I’m sick with worrying about my baby’s health.”

Someone said women in particular are born to worry; that’s their role in life. It may seem so, but it shouldn’t be so. Worry robs us of our health—physical, emotional, and spiritual. It also robs us of our time.

As fragile humans, we’re prone to worry. But we’re told not to. Worry and faith, after all, are poles apart and shouldn’t even be spoken of in the same sentence. James 1:6-8 says if we doubt God’s Word, we’re like a wind-tossed wave, double-minded in all our ways.

Part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount speaks of the futility of worrying. We shouldn’t worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear, He tells us. “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:32-34)

Paul also exhorts us to not worry. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

I read of a man who couldn’t sleep as he faced a crisis. He thought of the verse from Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” The man decided that since there was no need for both him and the Lord to stay up all night, he’d let the Lord stay awake and he would sleep.

Sounds like a good solution, doesn’t it? Why not let the Lord take our worries and deal with the problems and crises so we can sleep in peace? If you’re a worrier, why not memorize the above verses and use them every time you become anxious? Then you too will find God’s peace, which really does pass human understanding.

Lord, thank You for promising to take over our worries and for Your incredible peace that comes when we hand them over to you. Strengthen our faith in Your Word so we’ll remain free from all worries. In Jesus’ name, amen.

REMAIN WITH THE FLOCK!

As believers, we know how imperative it is to remain in contact with other believers. We must not let anything or anyone keep us from remaining in the flock. Blessings and joy and peace.

 

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

Isolation

My mom contracted staph infection in her right hand one year and had to be hospitalized in isolation for several days. Her only, infrequent contact was with the necessary nurses who had to don isolation garb, which took extra time from their regular duties.

Lonely but determined to make the most of her time, Mom taught herself how to write with her left hand, scrawling out children’s stories.

Self-imposed isolation can be as deadly to the soul and spirit as staph infection can be to the body. Years ago I committed a serious moral sin and felt so guilty about it that I quit attending church. Not wanting to face possible censure or embarrassment, I left my friends. I didn’t want to face God, either.

Isolation is one of the devil’s greatest tools. Isolated prisoners of war have been known to lose their sanity, their hope, and their faith in God. The ones who were—or are—able to communicate by code through walls fared far better than those unable to do so. Servicemen and women who refuse to talk about their horrific experiences are less likely to heal emotionally.

We are somewhat like sheep when it comes to isolation. Having no natural protection from predators, sheep stay close together. Pity the poor sheep that steps outside its flock. It might as well wear a tag that says, “Here I am, wolf, come and get me.” It veers off toward danger.

We too tend to veer toward danger when we leave our “flock” of family, friends, or fellow Christians. We cover our guilt with any number of excuses to remain isolated, believing we no longer have a place with our flock.

God tells us to remain close to His flock. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) Hebrews 10:25 says, “… not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another …” God makes it clear that we must come alongside our Christian brothers and sisters with truth, inspiration, and spiritual help. We need one another.

We especially need to be in fellowship with God. “(1 John 1:6-7) “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Thank You, Good Shepherd, for promoting fellowship with You and with one another. Keep us close to Your flock. In Jesus’ name, amen.

WHAT'S YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?

God has a distinct purpose for each of us—in our endeavor to please Him by drawing others to His love. My prayer is that you know your purpose and remain focused on it for His glory and honor.

Eternal Perspectives   by Sally Bair

Thank you

Since I began publishing my devotional column in 2003, I’ve received countless encouraging comments. Many readers have advised me to include them in a book and now, The Nature of God: Daily Devotionals Celebrating Summer, is available! Subsequent seasonal books will follow.

The process of choosing, cutting, editing, and proofing each story from my nearly-600 published columns has been a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness and His incredible attributes so visible in nature. Every day I pray my readers will be blessed by the words He gives me. Some have asked me how I find my story ideas. They surround me—in Scripture, sermons, occasional comments by friends, and, of course, in nature itself.

As with most habitual mindsets, ideas come easier and faster over time. Perhaps, for example, you’ve been touched by the plight of an abused woman and it has flooded your brain with the compulsion to seek out and help others with the same needs. My experience in writing has been to glom onto an idea with the thought of how it will bring the readers to a clearer, deeper understanding of God’s love.

God has a purpose for each of us. Mine happens to be writing. Yours may be to work with the homeless. Raise a family using biblical principles. Haul garbage or drive truck. Read to the elderly. Pray. Whatever the task, we can be assured God is smiling at our joyful willingness to do His bidding.

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him ... do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men …” (Colossians 3:17, 23)

At times I’ve felt like giving up. Too tired, too busy, too distracted by surrounding problems to keep writing, I’ve resorted to recycling some columns. Perhaps you’ve recognized some. Regardless of how I feel or how the messages end up, I continue to be humbled by my task. I’m thrilled we still live in a country that allows freedom of speech and the publication of Christian literature. And I’m blessed to know my stories are being read and are blessing you.

If you’re a senior like me, you’ll be happy to know my new book is printed in larger-than-average type size. It is available on Amazon.com, on my website (www.sallybair.com), or by writing me at P.O. Box 186, Washburn WI 54891.

Lord, thank You for making Yourself known through creation. Bless those who are drawn to Your Word and those whom You’ve gifted with the ability to inspire others through writing. In Jesus’ name, amen.