Book Review of Dr. Charles Stanley’s Latest Book

I recently experienced the blessing of reading Dr. Charles Stanley’s latest book Emotions: Confront the Lies, Conquer with Truth.  For years I have studied, taught, and preached about the ongoing battle between what we feel and what we know.  Dr. Stanley draws on a lifetime of personal study and pastoral ministry to provide an invaluable resource for understanding what the Bible teaches about the proper role of emotions in our lives.

Dr. Stanley begins the book with a look at how God has provided all that is necessary for us to triumph over our emotions rather than letting them rule our lives.  He sets forth from the beginning the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ to winning this ongoing battle.  One cannot overcome emotions without trusting God and trusting His Son’s death on the cross for eternal life.

Dr. Stanley deals with five of the most crippling emotions we face – fear, rejection, bitterness, guilt, and despair.  He reminds us that fear is the primary emotion behind the other defeating emotions and shows with each chapter how five basic components help us realize the victory God has provided for us.  

  • Experiencing the new birth
  • Examining the thoughts that dominate our lives
  • Exchanging our thought patterns
  • Exercising the powerful privilege of prayer
  • Expecting healing to begin immediately

One very helpful element of the book was a chart at the conclusion of each chapter that contrasted the enemy’s lie and God’s truth.  A model prayer and questions for reflection followed those charts.  The charts provided a visual framework to help with the practice of exchanging thought patterns.  The questions opened my mind to practical application of the truth in my life.

To paraphrase Dr. Stanley at the close of the last chapter, our proof of success in overcoming our emotions is control them rather than having our feelings dominating us and to employ your understanding of them for the good of others and the glory of God. This book goes a long way to helping us achieve that goal.  I could not recommend a book more highly.  This one is a MUST READ.  Some of my family members can expect to get one for Christmas.

A Birthday Present for Billy Graham

Today, on his 95th birthday, November 7, Billy Graham, the most famous Protestant evangelist of the 20th century, will give what could be his final and most important message to the world. It will be broadcast on a significant number of channels, including major ones such as Fox News, during a four day period of November 7-10. You can find the specific channels and times at http://watchbillygraham.com

The program is approximately 30 minutes long, with Dr. Graham joined by his son, Franklin, as well as musicians LeCrae Moore and Lacey Sturm. We viewed the movie last night (November 6) at our church and I strongly encourage you to find a way to watch it during the next few days. I cannot stress to highly how much you and the people you love NEED to see this movie.

 

 

What to Do When Your QB Gets Hurt…and other life lessons from football

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Quarterback and Discount Double-Check Salesman – left last night’s game with an injury. Green Bay lost 27-20.

Sunday, the Houston Texans led 21-3 at half-time when their head coach, Gary Kubiak, collapsed while leaving the field.  They lost the game 27-24.

As I thought about the challenges these teams faced, I thought about some challenges my family and I are facing.  What do you do when things don’t go the way you planned?  These football teams can’t decide to wait until they can play under better circumstances. They make adjustments and move forward.

In life, when circumstances seem to mount against us, we can’t just stay in bed and wait for “better times,” we have to adjust and do the best with the circumstances presented us.

At just the right time – as usual – God sent a needed Scripture to me this morning that helps me see how I can continue even with less than desirable circumstances.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12

  • REJOICE in hope – my life is not a random flow of unrelated coincidences.  GOD IS IN CONTROL.  My confidence for today  and all of my tomorrows rests in my Sovereign God who is working His plan for my life.  My game plan may need  adjustments, but HIS cannot be thwarted.
  • Be PATIENT in tribulation – Keep on keeping on, even when the going gets tough.  Don’t quit, shrink back, or make excuses.   Do what you CAN and stop complaining about what you CAN’T.
  • Be CONSTANT in prayer – Stay in touch with the ONE in control of the plan.  He is the one to guide my adjustments.  Acknowledge Him in all my ways and He will make my path straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When circumstances catch you off guard, remember, our all-knowing God knew they were coming all along.  Trust Him and faithfully keep doing the last thing He told you to do until He tells you to do something else.

Does God Have My Attention?

We read one of the most exciting Bible stories in 1 Kings 18 where Elijah had a “showdown” with Baal’s 450 prophets on Mt. Carmel. Both sides placed a bull on an altar, with an ungifted wood pile underneath it.  They then would pray to their God (or god) to ignite the altar.

The prophets of Baal went first.  All day, they prayed, cried aloud, cut themselves, and danced trying to induce a god who didn’t exist to prove his existence.  I love the description of their efforts found in 1 Kings 18:29: “…no one answered; no one paid attention.”  Embarrassing utter defeat.

When it was his turn, Elijah did the unthinkable.  He poured so much water on the bull and on the wood, that the water runoff filled a trench he had dug around the altar.  Then, he prayed a simple prayer asking God to reveal Himself.  No crying.  No cutting.  No dancing.  God answered demonstratively.  Not only did God ignite the drenched wood, but the fire also consumed the bull, the wood, the stones that made up the altar, the dust around the altar, and licked up all the water in the trench.

Here is the contrast that challenged me this morning. Baal’s prophets had to go to great lengths to attempt to catch his attention.  The story includes a nugget of humor as we read Elijah’s “smack talk” as Baal’s prophets tried futilely to induce a nonexistent god to start a fire.

Elijah already had God’s attention and more importantly, God had his attention.  The sad irony, however, is that this God who pays constant attention to us, has to go to great lengths to get us to pay attention to him.

Heavenly Father, help me today to pay as much attention to YOU as You do to me.  

The Holy Spirit…More or Less?

My last blog dealt with how we can tell if we are living “spiritual” lives.  The Bible often refers living spiritually minded to being “filled” with the Spirit.

 “…do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit…” – Ephesians 5:18

Unfortunately, we tend to think of Spirit filling like we think of filling a gas tank or a glass of water.  Sometimes I hear people say something to the effect of “I need more of the Spirit.”  In reality if we are believers in Christ, the Spirit lives in us.  The Bible refers to this as “indwelling.”  We get all there is of Him, not just part of him.

The key to understanding what it means to be filled with the Spirit is found in the comparison provided in the first part of the verse.  A person who is inebriated is under the control or influence of alcohol or some other intoxicating substance.  Such a person does not behave as they normally would, but their behavior is altered by the substance influencing them.

So it is with Spirit-filling – we are not filled up to a certain level, but instead we are filled through with the influence of the Spirit.  Just as a glove does nothing on its own, but does what the hand filling it does, so also the Spirit-filled believer does not act in his own understanding and resources but through the influence of the Holy Spirit. The question is not how much of the SPIRIT do I have, but how much of ME does the Spirit have.

So, how can I experience life under the influence of the Holy Spirit?  First, I must be clean.  Sin grieves the Spirit and limits his availability to work through me.  When I sin, He convicts me of that sin and leads me to confess it so I can be forgiven.  If I reject His prompting to repent, my hardening heard grows resistance to His influence.

Second, I must be surrendered.  God gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish HIS purpose in our lives, not to make up proud of ourselves or to give us a sense of superiority over others.  I experience the fullest influence of the Spirit when I am completely sold out to God’s plan and recognize my utter dependence on Him to achieve it.

Finally, I must be grounded.  Electrical current will not work properly unless it is “grounded.”  So also, we cannot experience the fullest influence of the Spirit unless we are consistently and constantly grounded in God’s Word.  The discipline of regular Bible intake provides the instructions we need to align our lives with what the Spirit is up to around us.

Questions for reflection:

1. How often do I experience the power of God working through me, power beyond my known abilities and efforts?

2. Have I refused to admit and turn away from sin God has revealed in my life?

3. Am I fully surrendered to God’s way of ordering my life?  If not, why?

4.  Am I spending time daily in God’s Word?

Objective Spirituality

The word “spiritual” gets thrown around a lot these days.  Some want to seem more spiritual than everyone else, and all of us are offended if someone should suggest that maybe we aren’t as spiritual as we think we are.

Is being spiritual just a matter of saying the right words so that we seem to know what we are talking about when we speak of God, Christian life, and church?  Does the spiritual person verbalize more eloquent public prayers than others?  Am I more spiritual than others because I “do” more than they do?

The Bible answers a resound “NO” to all the above.  A spiritual person is led by the Spirit of God. The Bible presents for us a rather obvious description of the person living under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The truly spiritual person demonstrates consistently the fruit (notice the word is singular, not plural) of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

These nine qualities are shown in contrast to the “works of the flesh” described in Galatians 5:19-21.  So the determining factor of spirituality is the motivation for how we think and act.  The spiritual person does not do what gratifies himself (the flesh) but what pleases the Holy Spirit.  I cannot claim to be spiritual and behave in a fleshly way.

Spiritual Exercise:

On a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle vertically.  One the left hand side list the “works of the flesh” found in Galatians 5:19-21, then on the right hand side the nine qualities called the “fruit of the Spirit.”  Each day for a week, keep score of which qualities are most evident in your attitudes, thoughts, and actions.  Tally it all up and ask yourself if you are more motivated by the flesh or by the Sprit.

Check back for more on the Spirit-filled life throughout the week.

This Week’s Quotes – October 18

Each Friday I share a random sampling of quotes I read, shared, or retweeted during the week. Then feel free to comment on ones which “flipped your switch.”

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“Right and wrong” is decided by the Bible – not how you grew up, what your friends think, or how you feel led on a particular day.” – Jim Cymbala

“Nothing has more consistently kindled my consistently cold heart than praying thru Scripture.” –Don Whitney

“A cook is offended by the picky eater. God must be offended by those who pick & choose from His Word.” – Wayne Hilsden

“Satan has no difficulty in making sin look innocent.” –John Blanchard

“Long ago I ceased to count heads. Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world.” — Charles Surgeon

“I found out early in life that I never have to explain anything I haven’t said.” –  Sam Raburn

 

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Hope for the Downcast

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I am feeling a heavy burden these days for several family members, friends, and church folks who are going through difficult times in their lives.  Some are battling disease, some face financial issues, some emotional distress, still others are dealing with family matters that hurt to the core of their souls. I wish I could snap my fingers and make all of their problems go away.  I deal with things in my own life, but I hurt even more when people I care for are hurting.

Many of you reading this are going through challenging times in your life as well.  So, today, I want to just share some Bible verses that I hope will encourage you.  If you are where you can do it, read them out loud.  Let the devil hear the reason for hope in you.  Meditate on theses verses; claim the truth for your life.  Refuse to be governed by how you FEEL about your circumstances, and choose instead to yield to what you KNOW about our Sovereign God and HIS truth for your life.

Know that I am praying for those of you whose hurts I know.

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 9:9-10 – The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 34:17-19 –  When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,
who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

What Are You Passing on to Your Kids?

genetic posterRecently, my daughter completed a science project for school that demonstrated how she inherited several physical attributes from me and her mom.  We scanned old pictures and took new pictures, pasting them to a poster board to show how she inherited several traits from each of us her parents.  It was both funny and informative at the same time.

Today, when she brought home the project, I reflected on the non-physical attributes she may get from me – not the natural inherited traits, but the observed and learned behaviors she sees demonstrated in my life.  I pray that she sees and learns things from me that help her develop into a godly young lady.  I hope my life is an accurate reflection of Christ.  What does she learn from me?

    • Does she see the supremacy of Christ?
    • Does she see the effective, fervent prayer a righteous man that avails much?
    • Does she learn the importance of reading and obeying the Bible?
    • Does she hear me pray for her, knowing the I love her so much I commit her to the Lord daily?
    • Does she experience unconditional love and acceptance?
    • What does she learn from the way I handle stress?  Worry or faith?
    • What does she learn about dealing with difficult circumstances and people?  Does she see steadfastness and patience?

Little eyes are watching, little ears are listening.  What are they learning from us that will come to fruit later in their lives?  Let’s sow good seeds into the fertile ground of our kids’ hearts so that we can grow a generation of kids that leads our culture back to Christ.  They MUST see it in us before it becomes a reality in them.

Parents, we need to realize that more than likely our children will become exponentially what we are . . .  good and bad. Be the adult you want your child to grow up to become and they will…AND MORE.

Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6

How to Receive God’s Promise of a Future and Hope

One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11.  What a great promise!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

I am still amazed that the Creator of this universe, the one who holds it all together, the one who is responsible for every molecule in this universe has a specific, intentional plan for MY life.  WOW!  Most people I know find great comfort and encouragement in that truth.

 We forget, however, that while God has the plan for us, we still must follow the plan.  God has mapped out the journey to glory, but we have the responsibility for follow the plan. 

God does not superimpose his way on us, he does not force us down the path.  To reach the destination we must engage the journey God has placed before us.  We realize the promise of “welfare,” “future,” and “hope,” when we undertake the journey God prescribes in verses 12-13 of Jeremiah 29.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

 Notice the caveat – SEEK.  Seek God, not blessings, not ease, not victory, not success, but seek a person…GOD.  And God gives us the directions for seeking Him – call, come, pray.

We will not enjoy the hopeful and blessed future God has designed for us without passionately seeking to be with him in prayer and following him in obedience.  There are not shortcuts, and it may be difficult at times. Otherwise, he would not have called it SEEKING.  

Consistently and intentionally bury your heart in God’s Word and bend your knees in prayer to him.  Get to know who God is and what he wants to do in your life.  Seek to know and obey the God who has designed a fabulous life for you.