Sunday November 30, 2014

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Hebrews 5:14  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

In Colorado Springs it sure is easy to know which way is west – and from that all the other directions are clear.  This is because the Front Range and Pike’s Peak are directly to the west of the city.  When facing the mountains, north is to the right, south is to the left and east is behind you.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were that easy to tell good from evil – or right from wrong?

How do we know what is good and what is evil?  What is our basis for identifying such things?  Years ago I remember reading about an art forger who commented that one of the highlights of his ‘career’ was having art critics in Europe declare his forgery the original, and the original work of art the forgery.  Apparently, his forgeries were common enough that the critics got used to them.

We have this problem that the world has its own idea about what is good and evil.  Sometimes it seems that the biggest evil to the world is Christians making any kind of judgment that something is evil or wrong.  Isaiah addressed this problem – that we must contend with daily – when he wrote:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (Isaiah 5:20)

Some things are so blatantly evil that they are like a Pike’s Peak– so big you can’t miss them.  But that isn’t the general way the enemy of our soul attacks us.  He tries to blur the lines and induce Christians to walk in pathways that lead to temptation – that present unrighteousness in attractive packaging.  We become familiar with pathways that have his ‘forgeries’ presented as the norms of ‘good’ behavior.  His goal is to have us reach a point where we affirm the forgeries and reject the ‘original’.  God forbid that we should call his redefined ‘acceptable’ behavior sin!

If we insist on accurately identifying evil as evil and good as good, the enemy of our souls will try to move us to becoming overtly judgmental of others.  That can produce a prideful blindness that is repugnant to God.  Remember the Pharisees were so concerned with sin they missed Jesus.

God’s word, the Bible, is our standard.  It identifies that ‘good and evil’ applies to behaviors, thoughts, attitudes, actions – every area of our lives.  God wants us to walk in righteousness and it is imperative that we learn to do it – and do it in the fullness that it entails.  This means we have to learn what His word says.

We are surrounded by ‘forgeries’ and His word is the standard that identifies them and enables us to choose wisely.  This doesn’t happen by accident.  We must recognize that walking in righteousness requires focus, intentionality and training to do it His way.

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Saturday November 29, 2014

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 12:22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.

Is it okay sometimes to not tell the truth or to deliberately mislead?  Are ‘white lies’ appropriate sometimes?  Are there ever situations where avoiding hurting someone’s feelings should take priority over telling the truth?  Are ‘half-truths’ okay?  What qualifies as dishonesty?

Have you ever done something like this?  You’re running late for an appointment – say 20 minutes late because you got busy and forgot the time.  En route to the appointment there is a traffic accident that delays you 2 minutes.  Upon arriving at your appointment, you apologize for being late and inform them you were delayed by an accident on the highway.  The impression you want to give is that your tardiness is due to something beyond your control – a highway accident – versus your own negligence.

Think of being asked the question, “What were you doing?”  Suppose you were playing or reading stuff on the internet instead of working; or watching an inappropriate movie; or visiting inappropriate websites; or looking at inappropriate magazines.  How truthful will our answer be?  This brings up an entirely different subject of “What is inappropriate?” which we will look at later.

Our God is a loving God.  But He also informs us of His view of actions and behaviors.  Today’s verse is rather unambiguous to say the least.  On the one hand He detests those who lie and delights in those who tell the truth.  Note that it isn’t just the lies that He detests – it’s the one telling them!  Conversely, He delights not only in truth but in the one telling the truth.

Here is today’s verse in the Amplified version, “Lying lips are extremely disgusting and hateful to the Lord, but they who deal faithfully are His delight.”  The point isn’t to bring condemnation, but to bring God’s word into play in an important area of our lives.  The world thinks nothing of lying.  The world would answer the questions in the opening paragraph with a resounding “Yes!”  Unfortunately, far too much of the world is roosting in the lives of Christians.

While it is unpleasant to ponder the idea that God might detest some things we are doing, it is redemptive if we turn to Him and ask for His help to change.  We are commanded to please Him.  A more redemptive view is that we “Get to please Him!”  What a blessing it is when His Word and His Spirit show us areas in our lives where we fall short.  He enables us to repent and change – to replace our unrighteous actions with righteous ones.  He doesn’t leave us to ourselves, but is committed to enabling us to live lives that bring Him delight.

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Friday November 28, 2014

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Don Schmidt

1 John 3:1a  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

A few weeks ago I had my 46th birthday in Jesus.  In this Thanksgiving season, I am so mindful of the wonder of what He did in my life.  It was the day my world was forever changed.  Prior to that day, it never entered my mind that anyone could have a tangible, loving relationship with God; a relationship that went both ways.  He loves to express His love to us and we get to express our love to Him.

A relationship with Jesus is not just a theological reality – it is a whole new world.  Being born-again means we become His son or daughter but there is so much more to it than that.  It means that we become restored to a place where we can live our lives with Him and for Him.  It becomes our starting place.

Think of it!  We get to walk with Him.  We get to love Him.  We get to please Him.  We get to experience His affection.  Likewise each day He is with us.  He loves us.  He blesses us.  He guides us.  He disciplines us as sons and daughters.  We are His!

Our relationship with God is so incredibly practical.  He deals with who we are – transforming us into the image of Jesus.  He gives us the desire and helps us learn the things we need to learn – the doing part.  The more we become like Him, the better able we are to glorify Him in our daily lives.  A man or woman with a life characterized by the love of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit is in a much better place to become a Godly husband or wife; father or mother; friend; neighbor; son or daughter….

As I write this, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  It is like an artesian spring within me.  It just never ends.  No matter how difficult things might become from time to time, it is there.  What a treasure He gives us.  When I met Him, 46 years ago, I wondered how such an incredible experience could last a lifetime.  It never occurred to me that it could or would get even better!

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Thursday November 27, 2014 – Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 42:1  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

We had the blessing of living for twenty years in a little village in the middle of a 32,000 acre national park in NE Ohio between Akron and Cleveland.  We were in a valley, surrounded by forests and fields with a river running through the middle of it.  It was home to a great many white-tailed deer.  We could hardly drive anywhere without seeing them particularly in the morning and evening.

After moving into our home there we soon learned that the deer considered the flowers we planted ‘lunch’!  Later we built a wrap-around porch on our house with hanging plants centered in the railing sections.  We had to install gates on the porch because the deer would come onto it to eat the plants.  Whenever we drove, we had to keep an eye out for the deer because deer accidents were so common.  We had four in those years with several near misses.

One of the important side benefits of being around the deer was the way they reminded me of this verse.  For years it presented a fascinating picture, but I just glossed over the part of the verse that talks of my soul panting for God.  Later when the Lord began dealing with me about passion for Him I came to realize that this verse describes how He wants me to become.  He wants my soul to pant and thirst after Him just like a thirsty deer pants for streams of water.

This began a great adventure for me in seeking the Lord as to how to make this happen.  It’s one thing to say it or claim it – it’s another for it to be descriptive of what is actually occurring.  One of the things that helped me in the process was the conviction that it was the Holy Spirit, at work in me, who was causing me to seek after this.  Since He was the source, my hope was grounded firmly in the fact that He would enable me both to pursue and grow into this goal He had for me.

Thus began a process of daily praying for this to become me. Overall it was part of a much bigger picture of becoming passionate for God.  The focus was upon seeking Him.   The amazing thing is not only that God loves to play ‘Hide & Seek’ with us – but that He loves to be found!  (When we’re playing this game with our little kids or grandkids, think of the joy we have in them looking for us and finding us.)

It is now the fall season with Christmas just ahead.  We will see many deer in nature, in calendars, in pictures – even reindeer hitched to a sled.  Let them all trigger thoughts of this verse and the wonderful gift that God has in it for those who seek after Him.

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Wednesday November 26, 2014

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Don Schmidt

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Yesterday’s guest devotional dealt with gratitude and used the specific example of a pastor named Martin Rinkart from 17th century Germany.  I had never heard of him until I read Steve’s devotional nor did I recall the Great Pestilence of 1648.  The prayer that Martin wrote for his children and his story were so touching I wanted to find out more about him.  Wow – is there more to learn about him and the circumstances he lived in!

In 1617, at the age of 31, he became pastor at Eilenburg.  A year later in 1618 began the terrible conflict known as the Thirty Years War.  Army after army laid the countryside bare, having no regard for the civilian populations. Famine and disease became widespread; farms, livestock and crops had been destroyed and weak and hungry people had no resistance against illness. During this war nearly one-half the men and one-third of the total population of the German states lost their lives, mostly through hunger and illness.

By 1636, Martin Rinkart was the only pastor left in Eilenburg.  There had been four pastors in the town, one had left, and Rinkart buried the other two. The walled city had become a place filled with refugees, who brought with them further infection to add to that already present, and who placed further strain upon the town’s desperately short food supplies.  In 1637 8,000 people in the town were to die from the plague.  The illness had no regard for wealth or age.

In May 1837, he buried his own wife. He was to bury more than 4,000 people during the plague, which was followed by a severe famine that saw people fighting in the street over a dead crow or cat. He was faced with conducting up to dozens of funerals a day as the town struggled to cope with a huge mortality rate.  By the end of the year the bodies of refugees were being buried in trenches with no service.

The Swedish army that controlled the town in 1637 demanded a huge payment from the town.  Rinkart led a group of citizens from the town who went out to plead for leniency with the Swedish general. Their request was refused and Rinkart turned to his companions and said, “Come, my children, we can find no hearing, no mercy with men, let us take refuge with God.” An account of the event tells of how. ‘He fell on his knees, and prayed with such touching earnestness that the Swedish general relented, and lowered his demand’ (by over 90%).

Rinkart lived to see the coming of better times.  The signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 brought an end to the three decades of suffering and misery for the people of the continent of Europe.  Here again is the prayer he wrote for his children.

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices; 
Who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices. 
 Who, from our mother’s arms, hath led us on our way, With countless gifts of love… and still is ours today. 

Steve’s devotional led me to a sermon by Ion Poulton on Martin Rinkart that was my major source of additional information.  Ion is a canon of Saint Patrick’s National Cathedral, Dublin.  http://www.forthefainthearted.com/2011/09/14/an-a-z-of-hymnwriters-martin-rinkart/

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Tuesday November 25, 2014

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Re-post of Guest Devotional – By Steve Fry, our pastor at The Gate when we lived in Franklin, TN.

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices; 
                                            Who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices. 
                                           Who, from our mother’s arms, hath led us on our way,                                                        With countless gifts of love… and still is ours today.

Those words were penned by a 17th century German pastor by the name of Martin Rinkart. He wrote this ‘prayer’ for his children to offer to the Lord. Not all that unusual… Until we understand the backstory.

For Rinkart pastored a small village, Eilenburg, which had been decimated by war. He saw his colleagues and flock perish by the hundreds, victims of what was called The Great Pestilence of 1648. He buried his wife, buried his friends…At one point he was conducting 40 funerals a day.

Yet… he had learned to be thankful. He had learned a secret that is often missed in the very rushed world we live in today. A secret that Brennan Manning speaks of when he says, “We’re not joyful and then become grateful—we’re grateful, and that makes us joyful.”

As we survey this past year, I’m sure that we can all find a fair bit of disappointments, discouragements, and perhaps even deep losses. I’m sure we can also find the chuckles and the friends – and the many moments where God made us so very aware of His Presence!

In all these things, we can truly be thankful, for gratitude doesn’t have to wait for circumstantial happiness. Thanksgiving is always just a breath away, for in that moment of thanks we take a stand for hope in God’s faithfulness, and repudiate the lie that our circumstances determine our future.

You have a future and a hope, the prophet Jeremiah said (29:11), and it is continuous thanksgiving that will give you eyes to see what that hope looks like. It may not look like what you think it should look like, and if you see life through the lenses of discontent, you most likely will be blind to that future. A life of thanksgiving will adjust your sight to rightly see your future. Complaint and regret will merely shut you in the prison of your memories, and your hope –though right in front of you – will go unrecognized.

Rather, may the Spirit of God grant us the perspective of an Apostle Paul, who could say “though dying, behold we live; though persecuted, we are not killed; though sorrowful, yet we always rejoice; though poor, we make many rich; though we having nothing, yet we possessing everything.” (2 Cor. 6:9-10)… An ‘everything’ that can say with joyous abandon, “Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices!” 


Note: Donna and I are so grateful for the year we were able to spend at The Gate; the many wonderful friends we made, the love of God we experienced there and the blessing of Steve Fry & his wife Nancy.

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Monday November 24, 2014

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Ephesians 5:10  and find out what pleases the Lord.

There are 7 words in this verse and they present a thought and a command that is important beyond measure.  I’m embarrassed by the number of times I’ve read the book of Ephesians without noticing this verse.  I think it tends to get overlooked because the verses surrounding it are so significant.

The verses immediately preceding it deal with being children of light and what that entails.  The verses following it instruct us to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness.  These are major ideas of instruction (commands) for us.  But between them lies this life-giving gem for anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear.

Who is the focus of our lives as Christians?  Why do we do the things that we do?  What is the nature of our motivation?  What are we trying to accomplish?  Who is the love of our life?  What is important to Him?  What opportunities does He give us that are beyond counting?  This verse supplies the key.

We have the incredible opportunity to please the Lord by what we do – to bring pleasure to our God.  This opportunity doesn’t occur just once, or once in awhile – but innumerable times every day.  His Word and His Spirit will guide us to discover those things that please Him.  It’s not about earning salvation or earning anything.  It’s not about us – but about Him, the one we love and belong to.  It’s not about avoiding punishment or judgment but about blessing Him.  It’s living for Him.

Think of the pleasure you experience when someone does something important to bless you just because of his or her love for you and not wanting anything in return.  By finding out what pleases the Lord – and doing it – we can bring pleasure to our God each and every day of our lives.

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Sunday November 23, 2014

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 107:1  Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; his love endures forever.

A Politically Incorrect History of Thanksgiving

Posted: November 17, 2007              http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=44599
By Jonathan Falwell
© 2011

It was a bitter two-month sea journey the Pilgrims endured on their passage from England to Plymouth Rock. Upon landing, they gathered for a prayer service before setting out to build shelter. They were severely unprepared for the harsh New England winter that was approaching.

After that winter of 1620 killed almost half of their population, the Pilgrims were befriended by members of the Wampanoag Tribe. The Indians taught the naive colonists about fishing, planting and hunting, thereby ensuring their survival. When the fall of 1621 began to set in, they had reaped a bountiful harvest and preserved enough food to allow them to survive the coming winter, thanks to their Indian neighbors.

As an expression of their thanks to God, the colonists hosted a three-day feast to celebrate the harvest and the transformation of their fortunes from the previous winter. This meal today is thought of as the first Thanksgiving.

In the years to come during the fall, the governor of each New England colony would declare a day of Thanksgiving so that the people could prayerfully thank God for supplying their needs.

In 1777, the Continental Congress decreed that all 13 colonies were to jointly celebrate victory over the British.

Twelve years later, the first national Thanksgiving occurred. In the Congressional Record for Sept. 25, 1789, Elias Boudinot issued a resolution stating: “Resolved, That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the president of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. …”

The resolution was delivered to President George Washington who wholly concurred with the request, declaring: “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor … Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 . . . that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.”

Days of Thanksgiving were celebrated on varying dates throughout the nation for the next several years. It was not until 1863, following the 30-year effort of Godey’s Lady’s Book editor Sarah Joseph Hale, that a National Day of Thanksgiving was declared.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared a National Day of Thanksgiving in hopes of bringing healing to a land that had suffered greatly in Civil War.

He set aside the last Thursday in November, declaring: “We often forget the Source from which the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies come. … No human wisdom hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God. … I therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States… to observe the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

In 1941, Congress established the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to understand the Judeo-Christian history of our nation. Our forefathers were not uneasy about openly thanking God for His blessings or beseeching Him in times of trouble. Our nation is deeply rooted in Christianity and candid expressions of faith.

I urge readers across the nation to ensure that their children and grandchildren understand the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation. There are many who wish to ignore and/or rewrite our history as our nation further embraces secularism.

I am thankful for this nation and for the God of the Bible who shed His grace on us, beginning with the landing of the colonists at Plymouth Rock.

Jonathan Falwell is the pastor of the historic Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., the church his father started in 1956

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Saturday November 22, 2014

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 130:6  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

About fifteen years ago, in our Sunday service, a song based on this verse was being sung.  The words of the song were describing a passionate longing for the Lord that I didn’t have.  In  the distress of this realization, I went forward in the midst of it being sung and spoke to our rector who was leading worship.  I told him, “I can’t sing this song because it doesn’t describe me.”  When the song ended, I was so blessed by his words of wisdom.  He commented, “When we sing songs that don’t describe us, let the song be a prayer that you are asking to become true of you.”

God used this experience to create within me the desire to become passionate for Him – with a passion that was palpable.  I began searching for verses in the Psalms that communicated passion to me – and I found many of them.  Another verse that particularly struck me was Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  I wanted to have my soul pant for the Lord.  These verses then became the focus of my “Lord make this me” prayers.

My passion-meter or “passiometer” as I have referred to it, was not budging at all when this began.  No passion was being reflected within me as I read and prayed the passion verses that I wanted to become true of me.  Week after week; month after month; year after year, I prayed these verses throughout the Psalms.

As time went by, I was thrilled by the realization that the Lord was doing it.  He caused passion to grow within me so that I could honestly say that these verses were now describing me. I hadn’t “arrived” but my “passiometer” was now registering passion within me as a Geiger counter recognizes radiation.

God in His goodness allowed me to see that I was missing such an important attribute that He wants growing in me. He desires me to become more and more passionate for Him.  He gave me a plan and the determination to pursue it so He could bless me by answering it.  He will do the same for you.

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Friday November 21, 2014

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Isaiah 26:3  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

This morning I woke up thinking about this peace that God will provide and the last stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken.  Reading the entire poem it would seem that the name of the poem might have been more fitting to be The Road Less Traveled because as he writes, that has made all the difference.  Although the author might not have meant it this way, I have always related it to choosing to follow Christ:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.                        Robert Frost 

In Matthew 7:14 Jesus says, “But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  This is the Biblical “Road Less Traveled”.  While great is the blessing by simply not taking the other road (that leads to destruction), there is more to it than that.  It involves who we are and who we become as we take this road leading to life.

Colin Harbinson, a friend of ours, has a statement that focuses on this and my wife loves to quote him:  “We are human beings – not human doings.”  This really gets at the heart of today’s verse.  The Lord will keep in perfect peace him who is steadfast, because he trusts in the Lord.  Being steadfast and trusting in the Lord are the keys.  The Amplified Bible helps us by ‘amplifying’ the meaning of these words in Isaiah:

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

These are the attributes of the Road Less Traveled that the Lord wants to develop within us.  These are things we learn and grow in.  It is so much more than a list of ‘dos and don’ts’.  Remember that it is not only the destination that is a prize, but it is the journey that makes the difference.  It is as we walk along the road (with Him) that we experience the life-giving, life-transforming relationship with our Lord.

Life is filled with difficulties and uncertainties, but His peace is not subject to them. Likewise, neither are we.  His plan and provision are for us to walk in His peace no matter what turbulence is going on around us.  By focusing on Him, He transforms us so that today’s verse becomes the reality of our lives.

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