I’ve been thinking this week about a lot of things both present and past while I eagerly anticipate the future.

One thing I have thought over is my ministry life so far and where it has brought me as well as what has been accomplished.  The memories have been bittersweet.

That night when I visited that coffeehouse and discovered how badly I needed a Savior, my life was changed. I started onto a road that has been amazing in a lot of ways. So far this journey has given me experiences beyond what I could have ever expected. I have felt unbelievable pain, joy, peace, brotherhood, friendship, betrayal, love, and just about every emotion you can list, I have felt it in its full form. I’m not the “thrill seeker” type person but if I were, this might be just what I would look for. It is definitely a rush sometimes.

You know, almost every thing I am speaking of whether hard to cope with or on the positive side has had a lasting effect on my life. It has ALL worked itself out to mold me into a better person, and I hope, a better representative and defender of the Faith. Even though I am a better man for it, these have not come without ransom. A great price was paid for my salvation and it cost me nothing. To live according to my calling and to make the most of what was purchased does sometimes have costs.

As I reflect, I can see many times where groups sharing the journey and cause with me were moved. Sometimes it hurt, sometimes it was a joyous occasion. The point is, God’s people should always be on the move striving towards our individual duties. As we travel along towards the common goal, my duties may change or yours may change which will take us away from each other for a time but to be reunited later.

I had some close friends and we were an amazing team working for the cause of Christ on a world-wide scale. As circumstances changed in our ministry, the team separated into 2 distinct groups each with their vision and tasks but on different paths to the same destination. There was some bitterness between some of us during this time of division and for a long time it was hard to accept. That is until I realized what I am writing about today, that God moves his workers around and we must embrace that and realize we’re all still on the same team although our place is changing.

Whatever brings on the change has to be overlooked in acceptance of the fact change is taking place for God’s purpose and whether it feels like it or not, God is very much in control of it. He is never out of control of our chaos. NEVER.

What would I change if I could go back and change anything considering my perfect hind-sight?

I’ll tell you because I have thought plenty about it over the past couple of years. I would absolutely stand against hell and the harsh words spoken to save the Godly relationships that were martyred to the changes in my life and ministry. The brotherhood I had with some men in my life was destroyed by harsh words and fighting for who’s right and who’s wrong. At the time I did not understand that no one was wrong, it was just time for our workers to stop occupying the same place. It was about placement, not power or right and wrong.

Right now those men are about their work doing what God has them to do and we are about our work doing what God has us to do. There is no hatred for one another but the bond we shared was broken through the process because neither side accepted what was happening as divine intervention. Each of us saw it as a struggle for place. NOW, I can see that my placement is just right. Now there are different ministries happening that would not be happening if not for the movement.

Wherever you are in your life or ministry, take comfort in knowing that God is so in love with you and when you feel like you are being opposed or betrayed by a co-worker in Christ, just try to realize that however unorganized or chaotic it feels, God has your place already secured and it will not be behind you, but ahead of you. Even though it hurts, it is progress. Accept some hard-learned wisdom today and do whatever it takes to save the relationships you have earned along the way. There WILL be a day when those paths will merge again and it will be great to truthfully embrace your friends and say it’s good to see you again!

Whoever said the Christian life, and especially the minister’s life was easy was probably as lost as a blind hog. It is not the easy life, but it is real life and not just a worthless existence with no eternal significance.

Last night I watched Kingdom of Heaven again for the 4th time. I love that movie. In the blacksmith’s shop the beam is carved to read, “what man is a man who does not make the world a better place?” We don’t make the world better by saving the dogs or cats or whales. We don’t make the world better by buying carbon offsets or stopping cruelty to animals. All those are great causes and they improve our environment. But, we make the world better by investing into people and building relationships that impact lives on an eternally significant level. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize and not let the enemy deceive us into squandering our most precious assets in the fight, our relationships.

May God bless you with an abundance of peace and discernment to remain victorious in your quest to further his Kingdom.

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

This week I had a very harsh reminder of how smooth our enemy is.

You’ve heard me say many times, Satan is too predictable to me during a direct attack and the only way he is able to get to me is through other people.

Just this Sunday morning I got a brutal wake-up call from some people close to me that I love a whole lot. I’ve come to see that some folks I thought were friendly to me are in fact impostors just friendly for their own personal gain.

When the truth came out by way of a fiery tongue, I was devastated. My heart was broken so hard I felt like my world had come to an end.

Not knowing what else to do, I called on God to help me with this unbearable pain I was feeling inside. The more I cried the more it hurt and the less it seemed like God was going to answer my prayers.

The only other thing I knew to do was to call on my friends. I mean the friends who have nasty ministries Those men who shine the light of Jesus but you can always tell that light is shining through the grit , grim and puss that got all over them from someone else’s sores from life. The one’s who people call “dangerous Christians”. Those 3 men who I know would walk through fire to Carry me out if I couldn’t make it. With only a short plea typed through eyes swollen from all the tears, my friends came to my aid.

Unable to speak myself, I just listened to the counsel of a friend and prayer and a word of encouragement. Then emails and text messages leading me back to my feet where I could stand in the strength of the Lord again. OH GOD I THANK YOU FOR MY FRIENDS! PLEASE LET ME BE ALL TO THEM THAT THEY ARE TO ME!

A little later I started getting calls and messages from another group of people, those that were so brutal in their verbal attack on me were now telling me how sorry they were and how they did not mean anything they said. They tried but the honesty if it is that once things are said to hurt someone, they are said and can’t just be erased. I will say I love them and was never mad about that, just deeply hurt in it. Be careful what you say and be slow to say it. I’ve come to appreciate my Grandma’s advice as some of the best teaching I ever had. She always said, “If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all”. Good stuff Memaw! Thank you.

Today is Tuesday. The pain is still there and will be for a while I suppose. If I explained, you’d understand but that is not what my blog is about today. I want to offer you both a warning, and some advice.

WARNING: Be very careful who you allow to befriend you. Not everyone who speaks good to your face speaks good behind your back. They could be speaking badly of you to some people that are close to you and those words can rise up when you least expect it and pierce your heart and cause you unbelievable pain.

ADVICE: Develop Godly friendships of like-minded people. You may find that a handful will develop into a bond that has depth and power in it. These are so important. I know a lot of people. I have a lot of Christian friends. The brotherhood I speak of, I have 3 right now and those 3 men have been my strength on occasions when I really did not feel like I could get up and swing the sword again. While I just breathed, they locked me behind their shields and fought for me until I could get up and shake the enemy off me. WOW, how amazing it is to have even one friend like that! I am truly blessed.

Be very careful of your friends who are not born again believers. They are nice. They are friendly and you may have fun together but there are things about your life they just cannot understand and therefore will not be of any help in a spiritual battle. Spiritual battles are fought by spiritual warriors and if you have 3 or 4 fighting with you the battle will be easier won. Believe me, I know. I just had my biggest reminder ever this week.

Blessings and peace to all my friends who visit inthestreet.org. Whether we share faith or not, I love you all so much and hope that this message will offer encouragement and wisdom to you today.

No matter what you’re going through today or how hard it is, God is totally in control of the chaos. I know that does not sound acceptable but it is true. I can’t completely explain it but God is never out of control. All things (not all good things) ALL THINGS work together for our (the saved) benefit.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose ROMANS 8:28

With great big heaping piles of love for you today, 

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

Kaine and I were having dinner with someone recently. As the waitress kept passing by, our friend kept commenting on how much he disliked this lady. After the comment, he’d always grin and say, “I don’t know why, I don’t know her but there’s just something about her I can’t stand”.

I asked him why he felt that way or what does he think might make him feel that way about someone he doesn’t know. We never could figure it out.

Now I admit the waitress was not the most professional waitress I’ve ever had at a restaurant but hey, great wait staff is getting harder to find – much like any other good help.

For a week or so now those comments have been weighing on my mind. I sometimes compare events like that with our entrance to Heaven. For instance, there is this couple I know and am good friends with. Even so, they are EXTREMELY legalistic and judgemental. You know the type of person I am talking about – their appointment on Earth is to point out even the slightest infraction on your part and to let you know what the bible says about it (which is often a twisted interpretation). Anyway, what if when we walk up to heaven’s gates Jesus is standing there and says to them, “your only assignment was to show mercy and grace to [your name here] but you just showed them criticism and condemnation”. How will we explain ourselves on that day?

Now I’m not trying to say that is what is going to happen but I like to think along those lines. Mostly because if Jesus were to ask me about how I treated someone, I want to have an answer.

How many times have you been in a group and someone else shows up to say hi and exchange pleasantries? when they leave someone in the group says “oooh, I just hate them” after just two seconds earlier giving them a hug, a handshake, and telling them they MUST DO LUNCH and catch up! What’s that all about?

Here’s my thought for this article;

We can put a dress on the pig but it is still a pig. Just because we put up a front to people and act like we love them does not change the fact that it is all just lip service. Maybe no one we do that to will ever ever know it but the ONLY one who matters already knows it.

Jesus knows us not by our deeds, but by the condition of our heart. What I mean is that no matter what we do or say, if the motives are not pure, it makes no difference.

If we go out and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners for selfish reasons or to show what we can do, the power in it is lost because we have claimed any glory and honor for ourselves.

If we treat people nice and show them love to their face and then secretly hate them in our heart, we have proved ourselves unworthy of trust.

If you feel you have your outward appearance all polished up and make a good showing, think about the only thing that matters, the condition of your heart. That is the part Jesus sees and the part he loves or despises.

Ask God to reveal to you the thigs he does not like about your heart and to help you purge those parts from you. Ask him to place in you the love he feels for people. When you see someone you can’t stand, ask God to show you how much he loves them and to give you that love for them too.

God will change your heart if you truly want him to. Sometimes we hang on to things from the past or even superficial things that we hold against others. We have to let it go. If we can truly understand how much God loves all people, we can become more like him and find it within ourselves to allow our heart to be healed.

Blessings & Peace.

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

You know, lately things have been very difficult. Not just for me and my family, but for almost everyone I know.

Sure the economic state makes it tough to get by day to day. But surely we must get hold of the fact that our economics are just a small part of our everyday lives. So much more is happening around us.

I notice for many people there is a lot going on their camel’s back and they are showing the signs of exhaustion. Believe me, I recognize it becasue I’m there too.

For a while now I have been almost overwhelmed by the lack of customers and work for almost 2 months straight. I have always tried to keep a month or two’s expenses saved up for a rainy day but that does not cover a rainy quarter!

A long time ago God proved himself to me all he needed to for me to understand that he is in total control and is more than capable of turning the circumstances of my life on a dime. I am very thankful becuase it was those hard times and difficult training that have given me the faith, strength and persevereance to stand strong and wait on the Lord through a time such as this that demands more than ever.

No, I’ve not made a 180 turn in circumstances but they have turned. I believe they will completely turn around.  Not just for me, but for everyone who shares this with me.

I just want to encourage all my readers & friends to stand up and be strong. Praise God for all those times he has seen you through. He does not change but your life goes to new levels, higher than before and more demanding than before. It is the strength we build now that will allow us to rech further next time to become better than we were. To grow in our spirit and to better reflect the image of God in us. That is a good thing!

I know many are fighting the battle of their lives at this very moment. Just hang on. Know that God is God and has YOUR best interest at heart and will cover you with his protection through all this if you just trust him.

Know that God loves you very intimately and cares for every concern in your heart. Know that I love you too and I pray for all my friends regularly. Please contact me if you need me or want me to pray for a specific need in your life.

Blessings,

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

This weekend the crew (Russ, Richard, Kaine, Barbara, Bart, Tim, Jimmy & Yours Truly) was ministering at the Maggie Valley bike rally. What a great time! I believe this was the largest Maggie rally I’ve been to yet! Lots of bikers from all over were here to enjoy some biker fun in one of God’s greatest creations, THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS! WOO-HA!

This year was especially great for Kaine because he just finished up his bobber project the night before the rally and he got to bring it along to show off. Let me give just a bit of history with the bobber so you know where I’m coming from.

I bought a little Honda Shadow about 2 years ago with the intent of chopping it up and making a bobber. I looked all over and finally found a very nice, extremely low miles bike in Louisville, Kentucky. I bought the bike in the winter so you know how my time is in the winter being a stove & fireplace man. I just never got time to fool with it. When spring rolled around, Kaine started to tinker with it. He would check with me about what was ok to do and would do what I said was ok.

It wasn’t too long before the bike became Kaine’s project bike and his project evolved into a labor of love. He tried many things and worked the bike into something very cool. He has sweated, bled, and been burned to transofrm the machine from what was common into something unique. I, as well as many friends have been very impressed with what he has done over the past 18 months or so.

This weekend, the fruits of a labor of love showed big time. OK, I have a very nice bike. But, I bought it that way. Someone else put the love into it and I just bought it. That is ok, I like my bike and really enjoy it when I can. Now that Kaine is riding, I enjoy it a lot more.

What happened this weekend? HA! Kaine pulled his bobber up about 6 or 8 feet beside my bike and as people walked by, I was quite humbled. My bike might as well have had a tarp over it. people would steady walk by and stop. Then there would be a whole crowd around kaine’s bobber taking pictures and asking what it was. When Kaine or his buddy would cruise it around the rally grounds, they would constantly be stopped by people wanting to look at it and ask questions.

I was soooooo proud of my boy this weekend and the more I watched and thought, the more proud I was of him and his accomplishment. Kaine has put in so many hours of hard work to bring the bike to completion. I’ve worked with him some here and there with design but I had not broken a sweat until this week as we painted and assembled it. For the most part, it was all Kaine. Kaine did not do all that work to have people come up and make a fuss over the bike. He did it because he loved doing it and wanted to make the bike something better than it was in the beginning. His love and hard work caused the fruits of the labor to be instantly recognizable – it stood out and showed among the others. It wasn’t the flair and chrome, it was that his bike was different!

As I thought about all that I just said, I thought too about our labors because of our love of Jesus.

There are some that do with the attitude of adding chrome or loud pipes – stuff that gets attention and looks pretty. “Get yourself a haircut. Put on these clothes. Stop doing this. Start doing that. Act this way. Walk like this.” You know what I mean.

There are some that labor strictly out of love. They love Jesus and want to be his hands and feet while they’re here on Earth. They want to share his love with others who need to know. Not so they can be shiny but so they can be better than they were before. When we invest a labor of love into a fellow human being, no matter how fat, skinny, dirty, smelly, or whatever, our love will show in them because they will be so much better than what they were.

As we invest in people, we have to remember why we do what we do. It is becuase Jesus loves that person with a love that we can’t comprehend. We have to love them too and if we truly love them and sew our love into their life, they too will be set apart from the everyday crowd. They will shine not with a thin shiny coat of chrome, but with a radiant glow of uniqueness that attracts people to them to see what is different about them.

When those that have been truly transformed stand beside those with only superficial changes to the surface, like my bike, you may as well throw a tarp over the latter because the one who is truly changed into a new creature is the one that will stand out in the crow. They will be the one that gathers the crowd overwhelmed with a desire to hear about who they are in contrast to who they used to be.

Be Blessed,

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART, WASSSUP!

Last night I had dinner with a good friend of mine from South Carolina. I love it when we get together because it isn’t that often and catching up is great for both of us. I think we both go home with cool new insights as to how God works in and through the lives of people.

Last night we talked about a lot of things. It was one of those dinners where the waitress started to come around and ask if we’re SURE we didn’t need anything else. A lot of our talk was on fear and depression and the things that cripple us – at least for a while – on our journey through life.

Although we have not lived close to each other, Cesar and I have sort of grown up together in a lot of ways. As we talked about today things, those old days things kept coming up. It was very evident as we talked that a picture of faith was unfolding in front of us and the foundation of the growth and strength we have gained was always uncertainty, pain, and even crisis.

Let’s face it, if we had a sign pop up in front of us every time we were about to go through a hard spot in life, we’d spend our whole life trying to find the easiest way around our obstacle instead of learning to just trust in God to see us through it. What I mean is, if God kept struggles away from us all the time, we would remain the same as we have always been. We would always trust ourselves and never learn to let go and let God do the work he began in us when we chose to believe.

To be a Child of God is believing, but on a deeper level, to place our faith in Jesus and not ourselves. If we will remember our lives before being saved, all we did was of our own power. We made our decisions and we lived according to what we chose. If we place our faith in Christ, why would we continue to be ruler of our lives?

So why do believers seem to go through so much muck when we are children of the King of kings and Lord of lords?

I think the answer is simple and just what I’m talking about here. Why did God have the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years? The Jews were slaves in Egypt, nothing more than free labor. When they were set free and led out by Moses, what did they do when times got hard? They complained and mourned for Egypt. They seemed to forget that they were slaves and they just remembered that they had food there. God gave them manna and they complained about it because it was unfamiliar to them!

The wilderness, and your wilderness today is not a place of punnishment, but a place of learning and refuge. Where did Moses go when he was being chased for killing an Egyptian? He went to the wilderness. David hid in the wilderness to flee from a King that was chasing him. The Jews were kept in the wilderness for 40 years so that God might test them, grow them, prove himself to them and allow them to prove their faith so that they would be ready to enter into His promise for them. Without that time, they would not have been ready.

You and I don’t yet know what God has prepared for us in our near future. All I know is, I must not be ready for it yet because I am still in the wilderness being led toward that day. THAT IS A GOOD THING. I’ve complained. I’ve looked back to Egypt when I had lots of money, alcohol, drugs, women or whatever else Egypt used to offer me for comfort or pleasure. I have also come beyond that and can see now that the wilderness has been a great place of growth and a refuge from those things. Thank God for the wilderness that shapes and molds me into who God wants me to be and not who I tend to be.

Where are you today in your wilderness journey? God has a great and wonderful promise for you and he will deliver in good time. For so many, the wilderness journey is one they are not willing to travel. Will you find your own way out of the wilderness or will you follow God and let him bring you out at the destination he has set for you?

Are you complaining and questioning God about your journey? That should show you where you are in it. Have you backslidden on God? A backslidden believer is merely one who has been unwilling to make the required and necessary journey through the wilderness. Either way, you can come back and continue with God. You can stop complaining and looking back and make the conscious decision to allow God to prove himself to you by letting God work in your life and lead you.

Maybe you have said no to the wilderness journey and returned to Egypt and what you know. Do not be deceived. You may know where your meal comes from but when you get up every morning, you are still a slave with no power in your life. God will bring you out again if you will let him but you must be willing to travel. Prepare your heart to make the journey this time and never look back, trust in God and he will lead you to what he has prepared for you.

 John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

Ah yes, another one word hook. No we’re not going to explore the Kama Sutra this time. I want to talk about passion in a different context.

What are you passionate about in your life? I know peeps who are passionate about keeping the brake dust off their wheels or not eating in their cars. Some are even passionate about having their whity tighties starched and pressed. So, think about what you are passionate about and then ask yourself, “Does this passion bear any eternal significance”?

It seems like these days we get so bogged down with our schedules, jobs, stuff, and friends that before you know it, 18 or 20 hours have been filled with junk that when looked at through the eternal scope means nothing at all. A whole day filled with irrelevant actions and reactions that just leaves us exhausted and now lacking sleep.

“Well John, you’ve really gone over the deep end this time! This is the American way. It’s how we work”.

OK. Maybe that is the case. That’s just how us Americans do it these days. But is it right? Since when do we become the authority on time management or priorities?

So, what has eternal significance in our daily lives? WHEW, I can only HOPE that you have at least one answer fo your own for that. If you don’t you are really missing out on a great part of your life now.

Let’s see, to make it very simple, Things of eternal significance have an impact on people that leads them to reconcilliation with God, and/or leads those people to be disciples themselves. God loves people – all people. Skinny people, fat people, dirty people, diseased people, gay people, permiscuous people, mean people, muslim people, hindu people, atheist people, and the list goes on and on. God LOVES THEM ALL and JESUS bore every sin on himself that day on the cross. Letting people know that will have an eternal impact.

Think about Paul. He was passionate about murduring Christians until he was saved and forgiven. He spent the rest of his life and ultimately was martyrd for the cause of Christ. I am sure that Paul personally led many to salvation, but I also know that his decision carries so much eternal significance that since his death, through his writings, millions more have been and continue to be led to the cross where they can be fogiven.

I challenge all my readers and friends to stand up for something today that matters. Make today the day that your life will mean something. Don’t leave this world with the best memories of you being how clean or nice your car was. Leave with a legacy of service to Jesus.

How can you make an eternal impact?

1. Find a church family and be a part of it. The body of Christ needs your strength too.
2. Support your church with your tithe. Without it your church cannot do what it is called to do in your community.
3. Support a local ministry. There are ministries all around you that are meeting the needs of YOUR PEOPLE but struggle every day to meet their obligations. Even the smallest of gifts can go a long way.
4. VOLUNTEER. Do you know how many ministries are around you that would be radically improved with just a handful of volunteers? Often times the leaders are overworked due to a lack of help from others. These people serve because they are called to ministry. They love the work but would love it more if it were not such a physical burden.

Thanks for spending some time reading this. I sincerely hope that it has blessed you with a new way of thinking. Please begin to pray for God to show you some opportunities for service. If you need any help finding a place to serve in your area, please let me know and I will help you. jgalloway@inthestreet.org

Blessings & Peace,

John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

I never watch this scene that I don’t think of how closely it reflects our cultural view of Jesus Christ.

Although this was meant to be funny, the truth in it is saddening to me.

How many times have we prayed to our own little baby Jesus? To put it into perspective, how about our good buddy Jesus? How about our trust fund Jesus or our car mechanic Jesus? Ever talked to your handyman Jesus about fixing all the broken stuff in your life?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that we should not take our care to Jesus. What I am saying is that too often we are acting like Ricky Bobby in the video. We choose an image of Jesus that makes us feel good. We make Jesus out to be a certain thing and ignore who Jesus really is. We must be careful because idolatry is to worship a god we have created in our own mind. What are some common idols we hear about on the streets every day?

• The god of love who is going to pardon everyone of sin because he is a good god.
• The god who will not judge us by our deeds.
• The god who would never let anyone go to hell.
• the god, who if existed, would just get rid of evil and free will.
• The god who hangs out silently waiting until we need something so we will talk to him.
• The god who removes obstacles and paves your future path with gold once you call on him.
• The God who let’s you ignore; Luke 5:32 “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to REPENTANCE.”  and believe that you can live however you want because you repeated someone’s prayer way back when.

The list could go on and on and on.

So what’s wrong with sweet little 8lb. 6oz. baby Jesus with his golden fleece diapers and fat little balled up fist pawing at the air? Nothing really except that it has so little to do with his life and purpose. In fact, Jesus being a defenseless baby just might be as dramatic an account of how low God came for US as the crucifixion! Think about that, GOD – loving you and me enough to leave Heaven and be born a baby to live as flesh on Earth. That chills me.

My Pastor Matt told a story once a long time ago in church that really demonstrated the nature of God and Jesus well. I’ll condense it best I can.

One Sunday morning a family was home. For some time the Mother and children had tried to encourage the Father to join them at Church on Sundays. The man always declined. One particular Sunday morning the man was napping when he awoke to see that a strong snow storm had blown in suddenly. Outside was a flock of tiny birds that had gotten stranded in the blizzard. They were seeking shelter in the bare trees. The sight caused the man to feel compassion for the birds so he went out and tried to shoo them into the barn but the birds just flew in circles. In his frustration the  man thought if he could just make himself into a bird he could lead the other birds to safety and they could be saved…

You see, that is the very thing God has done for us. He made himself a man to come into our world and show us the way so that we can be saved from the blizzard of our sinful nature.

Jesus is God, born in the flesh with a single purpose of sacrifice for us so that we can be saved.

Right now we are all engaged in the usual chaos of the season. Will you join me in something?

Every morning let’s start our days spending a few minutes alone with Jesus in prayer & meditation. Not the sweet little baby Jesus, but the mighty, perfect and powerful Jesus who did nothing wrong but took the punishment of man’s wrongdoing. The Jesus who loved you and I so much that he willfully left his place in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. Heaven, where he is worshipped and praised without pause. He left all that to make himself a man to live among us and ultimately gave up his life on that cross so that we might be saved. From now until New-Years let’s start each day just meditating on him, praising him and thanking him for all he has done and not ask him what else he is going to do for us. He has done all we need already.  

-john

Posted under FROM THE HEART

I recalled this great devotion from a long time ago. There is a lot of spiritual warfare going on now and God’s faithful servants seem to be in a great but painful time of purification. I believe it is so we can be ready when we are called up for what could be the toughest battles we have ever faced.

I hope you find strength and courage in this devotion. In your toughest hour, know that God has you in his closest care.

Zec 13:9 “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She diddn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of
refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to ho ld the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

-John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

This morning I got up as usual; stirred around a bit until I got my balance then went to the kitchen to make some coffee.

This morning I went through the whole procedure of washing the coffee pot, basket, loading the filter, and then, as soon as I picked up the coffee container I knew it… I was out of coffee! Well I actually had just about a spoonful of good coffee left so I dumped it into the filter. I knew I had some stale coffee I kept for just such an emergency (stale coffee beats no coffee). I added the stale coffee to the mix and hoped for the best.

I’m writing while I sip this brew so you can say it is so bad it inspired me to blog.

Think about this;

I had about as much very good coffee as I had bad coffee. Even so, in my cup, all I can taste is the bad coffee. There are no fruity or nutty tones. No snap. No bite at all. In essence, you could call my coffee this morning, “flavorless”.

As I got to thinking about this mix it ocurred to me that I would have been much better off to make a pot of stale coffee for survival and use the little bit of good coffee in my french press for at least one cup of satisfaction. I will remember next time this happens.

All this started me thinking of how when I had my conversion experience a lot of things changed immediately and also progressively.

The first thing to change was my language. I used to speak very colorfully in sentences three times as long as they needed to be. That changed instantly.

The next thing to change was my relationship with a couple of very close friends. One was an alcoholic and the other an Atheist. We were together every day for 12 or 14 hours per day. For no real reason I could tell then, those relationships ended. They got mad at me and we were no longer together. I cried like a baby about that. These were my homies – the guys I’d do anything for and them for me. It took a long time but God finally showed me. He had to end those relationships because I was incapable of doing it myself.

If I was going to be set apart for his purpose, I was going to have to undergo some cleansing and purification and I did not need to be mixing with the oposite.

You see, like mixing good coffee with bad ruins the whole coffee experience, mingling with your same friends and your same routines may also ruin you. Your old lifestle and friends just might be robbing your spiritaul life of it’s robust flavor and snap.

Just be mindful of who you hang out with. Know who they are and be aware of their reputation because whether it is true or not, you will be guilty by association. I hate to say this but if your friends are not born again, they are of no benefit to you. OUCH!!! Yes I said that out loud. I’m not saying you have to get rid of your friends just because they are not Christians. I AM saying that because they aren’t you no longer have a useful bond with them. What you feel is an emotional attachment from an irrelevant period in your life. Trying to maintain the same relationship in the same places with the same people will only cause you to stumble and bring on tempatations.

Should you stop talking to them or cut them off completely? Well, that depends. If you can relate without mixing yourselves up in the filter together then go for it. If you can’t then you should ask the Lord to do what needs to be done. You might require a little pruning* to set you free (*last weeks blog).

Posted under FROM THE HEART