Free To Be

Painting by John Trumbull of Signing of the
Declaration of Independence

Two hundred forty-three years ago, 56 patriots signed the Declaration of Independence which gave us an independent nation--the United States of America.

The Declaration states, "All men are... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Today, there is so much incendiary debate about just what rights we are entitled to that Congress gets nothing done. Everyone focuses on what is right for me instead of what is best for all of us. Politicians remind me of the old idiom, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." They are so against helping the other party get anything done that we all, including them, suffer.

The truth is that while it's fine to want and seek life and liberty and to pursue happiness, we are not entitled to those things.

The Bible teaches that what we all really deserve is eternal punishment in hell because of our sin. But Ephesians 2:4 announces,

The good news of the gospel is that God doesn't give us what we deserve! Instead, because of His great love for humankind, He gives us His grace through the death and resurrection of His Son! What is grace? It is bestowing upon us all the good things we don't deserve--such as forgiveness and eternal life.

How does that great truth apply in our human relationships?

First, we need to recognize that we are not entitled to anything from anybody. Yet, American society is based on "entitlement," the attitude that we are owed only the good things in life.

• Advertisements bombard us with the message, "You deserve a break today," or "You owe it to yourself to buy_______."
• College graduates think they are owed a higher salary.
• Parents feel their children owe them good behavior for all the things they do for them.
• Senior citizens think younger people owe them respect.
• People believe the government owes them everything--free health care, free college, and so on.
• Illegal aliens deserve all the rights of citizens.
• The rich owe the poor.

And the list goes on.

Christians seem to think God owes them a life free of trouble and suffering. But God doesn't owe us anything! He's already paid a debt we owed for sin that we could never repay.

The truth is, nobody owes anyone anything. To believe we deserve to get our needs met is arrogant. To expect special treatment as appropriate payment for what we do for someone else only invites anger, resentment, bitterness, and rebellion, which destroy relationships.

A sense of entitlement is self-serving, but focusing on how we can meet the needs of others fosters emotional well-being, cooperation, and mutual respect. Mutual giving builds relationships.

For our own well-being, we need to let go of feelings of entitlement. Instead, we need to follow God's example and practice grace!

Thank God for the freedom we have to be all we can be in Christ!

Happy Fourth of July!

Jesus in Our Messes

Someone once asked me, "What good is it to be a Christian? I still have messes in my life."

I thought about something that had happened in my life years ago. I was sure it would make me ineffective as a minister. But you know what I discovered?

I soon found myself ministering to more people than ever. People opened up to me about their own problems in a way they never had before. They could see that having Jesus with me in the midst of my mess made a wonderful difference, and they wanted Him in their lives too.

So I answered that person by saying, "We are not exempt from troubles just because we are Christians. We are all human and have messy lives, but I'd rather have my messes with Jesus than without Him." And I quoted what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:

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How many Christians believe the lie that God can't use them unless their lives are perfect and they are spiritually strong? They think that because they haven't straightened out all their own messes, they can't possibly tell their friends and loved ones about Christ. They are paralyzed by thinking their friends will say,"You haven't done very well in your own life. Why should I listen to you?"

The truth is, Christians are not perfect, just forgiven and saved by God's grace. We don't have to wait until we become spiritual giants to tell people about Jesus. We don't have to pretend to be perfect. That approach won't fool anyone. If we are honest about our struggles, telling how Jesus is giving us the strength to overcome, others may just want what we have found.

So, let your warts show and loudly proclaim what Jesus is doing in your life. Remember, the Christian life is a growing process for all of us.

Beside Still Waters, third book in the Alaskan Waters Trilogy, is coming soon. 

After her last living relative dies, a destitute young Boston woman accepts a teaching position in the harsh 1915 Yukon Territory, but when tragedy strikes again, she must find a new reason to live.

It's Not Fair!

I'm not going to comment on the election, except to say that a phrase I've heard a lot from both parties this election year is "It's not fair!"

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As children, we are continually told by our parents and teachers to play fair and to share equally. While that admonition helps us develop good character and people skills and shows us that they did not favor one child over another, that teaching also sets us up to believe that life should always be fair.

Courtesy Google,com

But the truth is, life is not always fair. Sometimes life is just plain unfair.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 points out that "in this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good" (NLT).

And Jesus told His disciples that the rain so necessary to abundant crops falls on the just and the unjust.

This doesn't seem fair, does it? The Psalmist too struggled with this dilemma in Psalm 73. "Why do the wicked prosper?" he asked (v. 16).

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Then he thought about their end and realized they were on a slippery path to destruction (v. 18).

That was when he realized how bitter he had become over life's unfairness (v. 21). His trust in God was restored because he remembered that God was leading him to a glorious destiny (v. 24).

I too have often struggled with the unfairness of life. Unfairness plays havoc with my sense of justice.

The trouble with this kind of thinking is that unfairness then becomes a double whammy. Not only do I experience unfairness when it occurs, but I am allowing it to continue to affect my life by not accepting that life is not always fair.

Instead of constantly rehearsing in my mind what I can do to make things fair, I need to let it go.

Basically, it boils down to an issue of forgiveness. When I realized that we are all flawed human beings and need to be forgiven, and that we all make mistakes which hurt others, whether intentionally or not, I can forgive and let the hurts go. Only in this way can I keep past injustices from ruining my present life.

Are you struggling with unfair treatment? The answer is to forgive and let it go. Only God can bring final justice. Leave it to Him.

Prescription for Peace Part 2 Guilt

Guilt and regret about the past will prevent us from ever knowing peace.

Some years ago, I saw a bumper sticker that read, "God forgives. Let Him." Did you know that there are two kinds of guilt?

• Real guilt  caused by unconfessed sin in our lives. 
• False guilt when we have confessed our sin and asked for God's forgiveness but do not forgive ourselves. 

The only solution to real guilt is to ask God to forgive us. The past cannot be changed, but you can be washed as clean as snow in the blood of Jesus. He has promised that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us (see 1 John 1:9).

False guilt plagues us when we don't comprehend the vastness of God's love and mercy, or we believe our sins are too grievous to be forgiven. We are essentially saying that Jesus' death on the cross is not sufficient to provide forgiveness of our sins.

When I was five years old, I invited Jesus into my life to be my personal Friend. At that young age, I didn't understand just how much God enjoys His relationship with us as His children.

During my early years, my parents operated a children's home, As their eldest child, I can't count the times I heard, "AnnaLee, you've got to set a good example for the others." That was too heavy a load for me to carry.

My mother was a godly, loving mother, but she was a perfectionist. Like any good mother, she always taught me how to do everything "right"--to her satisfaction. Since I loved and admired her, I wanted to be like her. Living up to her expectations wasn't easy! I soon began to feel that I could never please her, even though I tried to be perfect.

Without additional adult help, the children's home kept Mother very busy. She didn't have time for one-on-one with me. I remember when I was in first grade, I asked her to curl my hair for a special event. She said she didn't have time. Yet, she always made time to fix my little sister's hair. I believed she didn't love me as much, that I needed to be perfect to make her love me. I decided that if I got straight As and went to college, she would love me. (Of course, she always loved me. Years later, when I told her what I had thought, she cried.)

Unfortunately, I grew to believe that God expected me to be perfect too. No matter how hard I tried, though, I made mistakes. I was cranky. I fought with my sister. I got jealous. I complained about chores. I would ask God to forgive me, but I imagined Him checking His records and saying sternly, "You've sure done a lot of bad things. I'll forgive you this time. Just don't you ever do it again."

But I was a child. Of course, I failed--again and again. I carried a lot of guilt--false guilt.

Bobby (at two months) and me

When I grew up and became a mother, I really enjoyed watching my son learn to sit up, walk, talk, feed himself. Oh, he fell down many times as he learned to walk.  Did I love him less? Of course not! Did I kick him when he fell down? No! I reached out and helped him get up and try again. When he spilled food on his clothes or milk on the floor, I cleaned him up. I smiled when he talked about his "airbow" (elbow) or asked for more "spusgetti" (spaghetti). I was very proud of his progress, even though he wasn't doing anything perfectly.

Around that time, I read a little book titled, Guilt and Freedom, by Bruce Narramore and Bill Counts, and I realized that God, our Heavenly Father, enjoys His children just as much as we enjoy ours and is even more patient with us as we learn and grow spiritually. When we are trying to obey Him and make mistakes, He is quick to forgive us the moment we confess it and ask His forgiveness. That understanding set me free from the false guilt I had carried so long.

When we forgive, we still remember the injury. but God is not like us. When we repent and turn from our sinful ways, our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus and erased from God's sight, never to be remembered against us again (Isaiah 43:25). Our sins are expunged from the record just as though we had never done it. The slate is wiped clean. We enjoy freedom from guilt and have fellowship with God.

God forgives. Are you forgiving yourself?

God Saved Our Marriage Part 2

Betty had thought she was doing the Lord's will when she left Dave. Then Dave gave his life to the Lord, and the new church in Gloversville that he had begun attending was praying that they would reconcile. Her brother, who had led her to the Lord, was encouraging her to come back to Dave.

In Florida, Betty had been going to a women's Bible study, so she shared her thoughts and her brother's letter with them. To her surprise, they backed up what he had written. But, Betty was still not sure she could forgive Dave.

Two months after Betty had left Dave, her pastor's sermon one Sunday morning seemed to be directed to her. At that same time back in Gloversville, Dave told Pastor Conti, "Betty is going to call today. The Lord told me a week ago I'm going to be leaving for Florida today to bring Betty and Cheryl home." Dave was so sure of it that he went home and packed and was all ready to leave at a moment's notice.

That afternoon, Betty attended a Joy Fellowship meeting. The guest speaker that day spoke on resentment, rejection, and forgiveness. Betty said, "That message had my name all over it. As soon as I got home, I went right to prayer."

Later, Betty called Dave but couldn't bring herself to assure him they could get back together. Dave, however, decided to drive to Florida anyway and was on the road by 6 p.m. He drove straight through, stopping only for gas. When Betty came home at 1:30 a.m., Dave was there. They talked for hours about what the Lord had done for them. They shared from the Bible all the things the Lord had been teaching them. In all that time, they didn't talk about the past--only the future.

The following Sunday morning, just a week before Christmas, Dave, Betty, and Cheryl walked into church together at the Glove Cities Assembly of God in the YMCA in Gloversville, New York.

Betty said, "That Christmas was the best we had ever had because we knew the Christ of Christmas personally."

Dave and Betty became some of the most faithful members of the new church. Pastor Conti counseled with them to help them understand what had caused their problems and how to overcome them in the future.

"And God gave us a son to remind us of what He has done in our lives and in our marriage," Betty said.

Dave served as church treasurer and Betty taught Sunday school until God moved them to a new job out of state. We were heartbroken to see them go, but we still hear from them at Christmas, and they are happy serving the Lord.