Mr. Vain Jangler

Here's another one I like. Thanks to Frank Houser for letting me post it.

Saint Russell

I've been on a hundred diets and lost ten thousand pounds. Once, during my Atkins Diet Dispensation, I discovered something that was so wonderful it almost brought tears to my eyes. It’s the Russell Stover Sugar-Free, Low Carb Chocolate Candies. I had deprived myself of chocolate for so long that I secretly feared that I may never know such carnal pleasures again. I envisioned myself as a cocoaeunuch from henceforth and it was a depressing thought.

Then Russell Stover came to me – in the depths of my dieter’s despair he came and lifted me up from the sweetless wasteland where I lived and set my feet on chocolate ground. May his name be blessed! Russell Stover delivered me from the prison house of chocolate deprivation.

Long had there been civil unrest in the depths of my being, as my dictatorial dieter’s will held me in slavery, while my yearning for chocolate had regularly chanted “We shall overcome.” Now at last my appetite cried out, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, free at last!”

When I discovered this Russel Stover's Candy, I thought the millennial reign surely had begun. It felt like the earth had righted itself and all life made sense again. All was right with the world. The famine was over and chocolate had returned to its rightful place in our lives.

I bought low carb caramels, a low carb version of Butterfingers, low carb peanut butter cups, low carb chocolate covered peanuts, even a low carb version of M&Ms. It was a a dieter’s nirvana. With those first bites of chocolate, I savored the delicacy. Then for the next week, I ate the candy with no restraint – freely enjoying it with the same guiltless grace that I felt hadn’t been known since Adam and Eve walked naked in the garden and were not ashamed. After all, it was low carb!

I gorged on this cocoa-manna that seemed like it had surely been dropped from heaven. I felt that truly I was experiencing life the way it is meant to be enjoyed. I never varied from my low-carb routine at mealtime. But in between, Russell Stover and I became best friends.

When Monday rolled around and it was time to step on the scales for my self imposed weekly weigh-in, I stepped out of the shower and onto the scales with no fear at all. After all, I was on a low carb diet that had been working for me. But as I looked down at the number on the scales, I was shocked. Surely I was misreading what the digital number said. I stepped off the scales to give it a moment to reset, then stepped back on again. The number was the same. My heart sank. Anxiety suddenly flooded my emotions and it seemed as if the fat demons of the universe were taunting inside my head, “Gotcha! Sucker! You gained more weight this week than you had lost in the previous two weeks!”

“What happened?” Those words bounced around inside my fat head, indicting me again and again. “I ate low carbs this week!” I protested. Then it hit me. “The candy! Could it be the low-carb candy?” I quickly dressed and went immediately to the kitchen to read the nutrition panel on the bags again to make sure that my memory of the carb count was correct.

As I stood there in the kitchen, barely dressed and with my wet hair still sticking straight up on my head, I anxiously studied the nutrition information on the back of the candy bags. Then I saw it. The other column – the one that listed serving size and calories per serving. I was shocked.

Suddenly the scales made sense. I had indeed eaten low carb meals all week. But with this candy, I had eaten enough calories to feed a family of three for a week in some poverty stricken countries of the world. It was a lesson hard learned – low net carbs can still mean a lot of calories.

The whole thing boils down to what I call the “If This-Then That Principle” I thought that if I ate a low carb diet, I would still lose weight. Was I ever wrong. “If I do this, then that will happen.” I’ve learned that life in general often doesn’t work that way. Just because “this” is true doesn’t mean “that” is true. There are variables that keep the “If This-Then That Principle” from becoming a universal law. God is not a vending machine where you put something in to get something out. That is a legalistic mind set.

I used to think that if I read my Bible enough, I would become the person I wanted to be. If I would pray enough, I would feel spiritual. If I shared the gospel with unbelievers, my Father would be proud. On and on the list went. I don't think that way anymore. Now my actions are motivated because of His love for me and what that creates. I read the Bible because I want to, not because of duty. I pray because I find the desire in me instead of the demand I used to feel.

I'm free from the "if-then" trap and never been happier in my grace walk. As to my "weight walk," I still carry a 35 pound thorn in the flesh in my body, but I'm done with the if-then rule in that part of life too. Until the Father gives me some revelation,some deliverance, some impartation in that area, I'll just live by the verse that says, "He that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat" (Proverbs 28:25, King James Version). Okay, I'm kidding about that too, but I know it'll be grace that leads me onward there too. In the meantime, there shall be no grace toward "Job's friends" who tell me what I need to do to lose weight. "For the wages of condescending comments from thin people is being unfriended on FB" (Atkins 3:23).

Getting Our Minds Right

The fifth chapter of John tells the story of an afflicted man whom Jesus encountered. This particular man had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. As he lay by the Pool of Bethesda, he watched other people see their dreams come true. Every now and then, an angel would come and stir the water in the pool. Immediately afterwards, the first one who got into the pool would be healed of whatever problem he had.

One day Jesus came to that pool and saw the man lying there. “ Do you want to get well?” Jesus asked him. “I can’t get into the water and nobody will help me,” the man answered. Jesus said to the man, “Get up, take your mattress and walk.” Immediately the man did what Christ said. He simply got up and walked away. (See John 5:1-9)

Before the paralyzed man was healed, he had to come face to face with a question that almost seems bizarre on the surface. “Do you want to get well?” Jesus asked him. “Do I want to get well?!?” the man might have asked. “What kind of question is that? Of course I want to get well!”

That’s not what he said. Instead he began to explain why being well was outside the realm of possibility for him. Somewhere along the way, his dream of ever walking again had died. Jesus, however, is in the business of resurrecting things that have died. With loving compassion, He simply said to the man, “Get up.” Inherent in His word was both the motivation and the ability for the man to finally do what his heart had yearned to do for years – to walk.

What dreams lie dormant inside your heart that were once alive and vibrant? It is important for you to realize that those dreams may be the voice of God’s will within you nudging you toward rising up and fulfilling His plan for your life. What would you do if Jesus said to you today, “Get up and do it”? How long have you watched other people’s dreams come true while you lay on the sidelines?

Abby FitzPatrick is one of my heroes. The thing you may find surprising is that she is only eleven years old. Abby has a rare disease called Mitochondrial Disease. Mitochondria are powerhouse of each cell and are responsible for converting substances from the foods we eat into energy for essential cell functions and the cell functions in turn run all of the organs and systems in our bodies. The process of converting food into that energy requires hundreds of chemical reactions, and every one of them has to run almost perfectly in order to have a continuous supply of energy. When one or more components of these chemical reactions don’t run perfectly, there is an energy crisis, and the cells can’t function normally. As a result, there is not enough cellular energy to run the essential systems in the body - such as the heart, liver, kidneys, digestive tract, muscle and brain. It is a serious disease, to say the least.

Abby is an amazing girl, animated by divine power. She is in the Beta Club. As her energy allows, she swims and runs and plays like all eleven-year-old girls. This year she was on the volleyball team at the local YMCA. She knows how serious her health problem is, but has decided to live every day to the fullest degree possible.

Sometimes when I’m dealing with the routine frustrations of life, I think about Abby. I wonder what kind of day she has had. I’m reminded of how she handles the hard days and I think to myself, “Life is too short to sit on the sidelines. If Abby can run the race with gusto, despite her challenges, I have no excuses.” So I shake off my petty attitude and determine to move ahead with faith and hope.

Are there any good excuses you have for not running the race with gusto? You’ve had some debilitating things happen in life? Okay, so what are you going to do now? You may think your situation is “sick,” but you have divine life pulsating through you. It’s who you are. Don’t let yourself get bogged down by your circumstances. They don’t define you. Your Creator has defined who you are and He says that you have been created as somebody who is filled with divine potential.

Maybe you’ve been set on the sideline, seemingly handicapped by life’s circumstances. Here’s the question you must answer: Do you want to be well? Some people don’t. To be well means they would have all their excuses taken away from them. They wouldn’t be able to blame their circumstances anymore. They could no longer say that other people were at fault.

To be well, they would have to assume full responsibility for rising up and stepping out in faith to do God’s will. It would be them and Jesus. They couldn’t play the role of a victim anymore. No more excuses. No more delays. Do you want to be well?

You can be well. God’s will is most definitely for you to know and believe this fact – It’s your turn! Your day has come! Jesus is speaking to you right now. Deep inside you something is stirring. It is a hope that all this might be true. Well, it is.
Your day has come because God is faithful to His promises. “Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!” wrote the hymn-writer. If you will believe in your Father’s goodness and in His desire to lead you into fulfilling His will, your life can change. Will you appropriate the ability to fulfill God’s will for your life because of what Jesus has done?

Maybe something inside you needs to change if your are going to “rise up and walk.” The longer you have laid on the sidelines and meditated on your own pitiful condition while others walked onward, the more necessary it is for you to change the way you think. You must reset your “internal thermostat” in order to believe and receive what your generous Father has in store for you. Sometimes you need to retrieve what you know to be true. Do you want to realize the wonderful potential that God has planned for you? He will enable you to get up and go.

(This article is an excerpt from my book, Walking in the Will of God)

Knowing Your Value

While teaching in the Grace Walk Conference yesterday, Grace Walk Canada's National Director told a great story that I'd like to pass along in this blog.

Mike said that he was speaking in church one day when a man in the congregation noticed that Mike didn't have a watch. (Wonder what made him notice that??:) Anyway, after the service the man came to him and in a stammering sort of way said, "The Lord told me to give you this watch." He took the watch off his own arm and handed it to Mike. After being assured by the man that he did indeed want him to have it, Mike accepted the watch and expressed a sincere, but casual thanks to the man.

Mike began to wear the watch all the time - when he was at home relaxing, when he was working outside in the garden, when he was doing hard and dirty work. It was his only watch and he wore it continually.

One day the battery on the watch died. Mike stopped by a Kiosk at the mall to have the battery changed. "You'll need to take this watch to the jewelry store to have the battery replaced," the man told him. So off to the jewelry store he went. As the jeweler was opening the back of the watch, Mike said, "I need a new band for the watch too. I'd like to buy a cheap band while I'm here."

The man looked up at him with a puzzled look on his face. "A cheap band?" the jeweler asked? "Yes," Mike said. Then he began to explain to the jeweler how a man at church had given him the watch. Mike said the jeweler acted odd and looked as if he knew there was something Mike didn't know. "Is it a good watch?" Mike asked him. "Oh, yeah," the jewler said. "Do you know what it's worth?" Mike asked. "This watch is worth at least twenty five hundred dollars." "Two thousand five hundred dollars!" Mike exclaimed in shock.

"I didn't know the value of what I had," he said, "but from that day onward I have taken great care of this watch - because now I know its value!"

When we don't know our value in Christ, it affects how we live. It causes us to think little about the negative effects that fleshly behavior has on us. We don't mind the dirt if we think we're not worth much anyway. But once we have come to understand the value our God has placed on us, we want to "take care" in the things we do because we now realize that we "have been bought with a price" and that we have great value.

The workmanship of an expensive watch is something to admire, but you "are His (God's) workmanship created in Christ Jesus!" So let's act like the valuable work of our Creator that we in fact are!

(Thanks for the story, Mike, and for reminding us of our value. I wish you could all know Michael Zenker. He is a gift from God to me, to Grace Walk Ministries, and to his country. Check out our Canadian ministry at www.gracewalkcanada.org)

What's It Mean to Walk After The Flesh?

“I don’t know what to do about a problem I’m having. I know the Bible teaches that my old man was crucified, but he keeps coming back to life!” That's what somebody told me once after I'd spoken on the topic of our cocrucifixion with Christ. I understood why he would make such a statement. He didn’t understand the difference between the power of indwelling sin and his old sin nature. He believed that his old man was still troubling him.

The old sin nature will never pose a problem for us because it is has been put to death by the cross. Failure in battle comes when we allow the power of indwelling sin to cause us to act out of our flesh. To function from our flesh is simply to act out of our own natural abilities instead of trusting Christ to give life to our actions.

Depending on our own natural abilities usually doesn’t look so bad if they are religious. I used to think that walking after the flesh referred to the man who stayed out drunk all night on Saturday then showed up at church on Sunday morning with bloodshot eyes. That was “flesh” as I understood it. If a man was having an affair, that was flesh. If somebody was embezzling money from his company, that was flesh. It’s true, all those things are an indication that somebody is living out our their self-life and not by the life of Christ. However, flesh doesn’t have to look like that.

Many sincere Christians are walking after the flesh for one simple reason — they are depending on themselves to try to live the Christian life instead of trusting Christ to be the Source of their behavior.

Author Charles Trumbull writes about being in Edinburgh, where he learned of a meeting in which the speaker was going to speak on the subject of “The Resources of the Christian Life.” He said,

I went eagerly to hear him. I expected him to give us a series of definite things that we could do to strengthen our Christian life; and I knew I needed them. But his opening words showed me my mistake, while they made my heart leap with a new joy. What he said was something like this: The only resources of the Christian life, my friends, are just — Jesus Christ.That was all, but that was enough. (From the book, Victory In Christ)

Western world Christians find that fact hard to believe. Our culture has programmed us throughout our whole lives to do our personal best, to excel by sheer effort and determination. Many have adapted that philosophy in their Christian walk, thinking that God is pleased by it. I have even heard it said that we are supposed to do the best we can, then God will take up the slack and do the rest. That is found nowhere in the Bible! Christians are not to live up to the best of our ability, then trust Him to do the rest. We are to trust Him to do it all! Our personal best will ruin us because we aren’t called to do our best, but to rely at every moment upon Jesus Christ as our Source of life. He is to be our personal Best. The whole purpose of Christ indwelling the believer is that we are now able to live out of His ability. Does this mean that our ability lies unutilized within us? Not at all. Our ability is to be energized by His life, thereby making it His ability.

Somebody once challenged me on my assertion that we are to depend upon Christ to do all that needs to be done and not ourselves. “Even Paul said that he labored and strived in the ministry,” he said.

“You are right,” I responded, “but look at the way that Paul put forth that effort. Colossians 1:29 says, ‘And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works in me.”

In no way am I advocating passivity in the Christian life. We do strive, labor, fight. We do actively participate in what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world around us, but we do it as we depend upon His power which works mightily in us. Concerning his own ministry, Paul said: “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed” (Romans 15:17-18). Paul recognized that his ministry had actually been the result of Christ working through him. To live otherwise is to walk after the flesh.

So, walking after the flesh doesn't have to look disgusting. In fact, it's often applauded by the world of religion. The truth is, though, that we can't live the Christ life ourselves and to try is to insult the Holy Spirit who has come into us for that very reason.

Does God Intend For Us To Always Be Happy?

The contemporary religious world seems at times to have God confused with Santa Claus. To listen to some people, I'd come to the conclusion that their view is that our Heavenly Father always intends to give us exactly what we want, behave exactly like we expect Him to behave and arrange our circumstances exactly the way we want them to be. When these things don't happy so that we can be happy at every minute, they seem to think that the devil must be attacking us to steal away our happiness. The Scripture, however, teaches a different viewpoint. Happiness is not our birthright and has not been promised to us as a continual, uninterrupted way of life.

The truth is that “happiness” is not God’s primary concern for us. There have been many great Christians throughout church history, and even now, who are very unhappy people. There's certainly nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. In fact, that's the normal desire of every human being, but the fact is that God has something much better than happiness available for us.

What God wants for you to know is joy. Joy and happiness are not the same thing. The difference is this: The word "happy" comes from the old English root word, “hap,” which means, “chance.” “Happiness” comes from the word happenings. Happiness is directed to the things that happen in our lives. It's entirely circumstantial. Happiness is connected to external factors and variables in life. Many who have experienced the emotional state of unhappiness have been extremely spiritual, faithful believers. In other words, it’s possible to be both filled with faith and unhappy at the same time.

Joy on the other hand, is something very different. Joy comes from a deep abiding recognition of who Jesus is in us. It is a quality that is not dependent on circumstances. Joy is connected to a Person. Joy comes through our conscious awareness of unity with God, through the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus Christ to us — the Triune God pouring out His love on us, and sharing His quality of eternal Life.

None of us like having problems or enduring suffering. No one would choose those things in and of themselves, but it’s obvious that trouble is part of life on planet earth until the Lord launches His recreation of nature. But even in a world of trouble, joy is available to those who know and believe in Him. Happiness may elude us at times, but joy is a different matter. Look at these passages from Psalms:

You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. Psalm 21:6

For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Psalm 33:21

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. Psalm 36:7-8

When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. Psalm 6-7

And of course, the New Testament says the same. And notice that these passages say nothing about “happy” circumstances being the cause:

“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11

Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer. Romans 12:12

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17

As sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing to possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6:10

But the fruit of the Spirit is … joy. Galatians 5:22

Rejoice always; again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4

Rejoice always. 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. James 1:2

And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. 1 Peter 1:8

This long list of passages should demonstrate beyond doubt that joy is inseparable from the Christian life lived in its fullness, the grace walk. And along with joy invariably comes the result of gratitude or thanksgiving:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:15-17

Happiness has to do with external things. Joy isn't grounded in the external but in the Eternal. It has to do with the realization of the internal life of Christ and the eternal reality that He is our very life!

God’s goal for you is not to see to it that you are always happy. I don’t think Paul was happy when he was in a prison. I don’t think Jesus was happy in the garden of Gethsemane. And yet Paul did say, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). Jesus did say to the Father, “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:30). The Bible says that “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Even for the Lord Jesus Himself there was a difference between joy and happiness. Aren’t you thankful that He chose joy over happiness?

There is a difference between joy and happiness for us, too. You may not be in a happy circumstance right now in your life, and you may be praying for God to change your circumstances so that you’ll be happy. There is nothing wrong with asking God to change your circumstances. Perhaps He will. But I encourage you to realize that what Christ offers you is much better. It runs much deeper than the shallow emotion of happiness. What Jesus Christ offers you is joy that is found in Him.

Thanks To Calvary, I'm Not The Man I Used To Be

After posting that last horrific southern gospel song, I thought equal time for the opposing viewpoint was deserved! :) Seriously, I'm not wild about the whole Southern Gospel Music culture, but this one by Doug Oldham is a classic. When I was in my 20's I shed a river of tears of joy listening to him sing. All these years later, I still find myself moved by his tenderness and style. Here are a couple of great old songs about identity and freedom in Christ. It stirs up a nostalgic sentiment in my heart.