It’s Not So Much “The Secret” or “The Power” May 18, 2013

Have you heard about “The Secret” or “The Power” on TV or in the bookstore?  Rhonda Byrne is the creator of this movement.  Here are some summaries of what she is promoting from her website http://www.thesecret.tv:

The Secret has been passed down through the ages… coveted, hidden, lost, stolen, bought for vast sums of money, and known by some of the most exceptional people who ever lived: Plato, Galileo, Da Vinci, Beethoven, Edison, and Einstein, to name but a few. The Secret book reveals how you can change every aspect of your life. You can turn any weakness or suffering into strength, power, unlimited abundance, health and joy. Everything is possible, nothing is impossible. There are no limits. Whatever you can dream of can be yours, when you use The Secret.

What is The Power? The greatest power in the universe is a feeling – a feeling harnessed by the greatest thinkers, discoverers, inventors, and saviors of the world. You are just one feeling away from changing your life… just one feeling away from the life of your dreams.

You can even read personal testimonies from people on her website about how this has worked from them.  I read one story from a lady in the Philippines.  She wanted a new dream car.  She focused on the principles in the book and practiced the visualization techniques in the book.  Within a month she had her dream car.  In reality she had finagled a loan for a car that was more than she could afford and then she asked her two sisters for loans for $8000 for the down payment.  Then she wrote a book about how God gave her the car and she earned the money to pay it off.  It was as if she thought and Rhonda Byrone thought that God was a magic Genie.  Wouldn’t that be cool if you could just rub the lamb so to speak through prayer and get whatever you visualized?  Well, I am here to say, God doesn’t work that way.

God tells us how He works in John 15:7-9:

⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.

First of all we have to have a close relationship with Him.  We need to “remain in Him”.  In other words a person who has not received Jesus as their personal Savior cannot ask Him for things and expect that He is going to listen or answer.  He may if He knows it will help to reach that person, but the odds are since that person doesn’t believe in Him and has no goal of glorifying Him why would He want to answer them.  Next we need to be committed to Him.  We need to be so focused on Him that we are remaining in Him no matter what is going on around us.  Nothing distracts us from serving and glorifying Him.  We are in His Word regularly.  We are communicating with Him regularly through prayer.  Beyond reading His Word, His Word is deeply embedded in our hearts.  When His Word is in our hearts and minds, the Holy Spirit can use it to teach us about God and His Will.  He can use it to keep us out of temptation’s way.  He can use it to minister to us.  He can use it to help us to witness to others.  When you are so close to God and know His Will, then you will know what to ask for in prayer.  Your prayers will be focused on finding results that glorify God in this world.  Therefore when you ask something you will receive it.  As a result you will produce fruit for God and glorify Him.  These actions and results will “prove” us “to be His disciples”.  Not remaining in Him and not praying according to His Will proves that we are in to selves and not in to glorifying Him. 

“The Secret” and “The Power” is for people who are in to the ways of this world.  They are in to themselves.  They do not glorify God by receiving these things they visualize.  Instead they end up making God look like a servant to us and our self-seeking pleasures.  So what is your goal in your prayer life?  Are you in to self and meeting your needs?  Or are you in to drawing close to God, so you know Him so well you will know what to ask for that will glorify Him?

Not Just Another Pretty Face! May 11, 2013

Have you ever really given much thought to Bathsheba? We first learn about her in II Samuel 11: 2-5. There we find out she was a stunningly beautiful woman that David found irresistible. So much so that he committed adultery and murder. We don’t know really why she gave in to the situation. Was she pressured to because David was the king or because she found him attractive to? Whatever the case we see a woman now in a very bad situation. She is pregnant through adultery. Her whole life changed in that moment she went up on to her housetop and the king saw her. Then she lost that baby. Another great sadness in her life. That was pretty rough start to her new life with King David.

Yet somehow over the years of trials and tribulations living with David, his other wives and his children she becomes mother of the next king. One wouldn’t expect that. After all she was a wife created out of adultery and murder. David had another wife before her that was seen as wise and noble, Abigail. In I Samuel 25 we learn that Abigail was intelligent and beautiful too. We know she had sons like Bathsheba from scripture. By the end of David’s life we see in I Kings 1: 11-31 and I Chronicles 3:5 that Bathsheba willingly took wise advice from the King’s spiritual advisor, Nathan. Through Bathsheba’s intervention her son, Solomon, became King. David still loved Bathsheba very much and still respected her wishes and honored her request.

Once Solomon is king, we see his great wisdom come out. He does many things with his life. He took time to write down what he learned through his experiences. We see him speak of his mother in Proverbs 31, “¹The words of King Lemuel, the strong advice his mother gave him: ^2-3 “Oh, son of mine, what can you be thinking of! Child whom I bore! The son I dedicated to God!” Lemuel is a name of Solomon. Here he tells us that his mother gave him good advice. We also learn that she dedicated him to God. How much wiser could Bathsheba be, but to dedicate and raise her son to God. When you read all of Proverbs 31 you see what a good woman, wife and mother should be like. No doubt he learned this from his mother. What an honor to Bathsheba to have her son, the wisest man alive, a great king, write this proverb from what he learned from her.

It doesn’t matter what happens in your life or how you start it out, what matters is what you do with it or how you handle it. Are you a mom or parent that dedicates her children to God, like Bathsheba? Or are you like some of David’s other wives who had children grow up to rape and kill one another. Some things our children do are not our fault. Everyone makes their own choices. Its up to our children what they do with their lives and whether they follow the Lord. Our part as moms and parents is to do our best to raise them with God’s teachings or even once they are grown to advise them spiritually. We need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. We need to live our lives before our children and grandchildren. We need to pray that we can be a good influence like Bathsheba was with her son, Solomon. We need to pray hard for our children. We need to give our children love and impart wisdom to them, like Bathsheba. She wasn’t just another pretty face!

The True New Age May 4, 2013

In our world today, people are disturbed and stressed by all the bad things that are going on.  They hope for a better place.  They try and put laws in to place to control things.  They vote new politicians in to office hoping to make improvements to society.  They spend money on research to improve life.  They devote themselves to the invention of modern conveniences.  They work on self improvement through self-help books and new age techniques.  Recently I watched a movie with Dick Van Dyke called, “Murder 101: Locked Room Mystery” or also released as “Murder 101: New Age”.  It focused around a group of people who sought peace and love through New Age techniques.  They would use deep meditation to help them reach their desired inner state.  According to Wikipedia, “Meditation refers to any of a family of practices in which the practitioner trains his or her mind or self-induces a mode of consciousness in order to realize some benefit. Meditation is generally an internal, personal practice and done without any external involvement, except perhaps prayer beads to count prayers. Meditation often involves invoking or cultivating a feeling or internal state, such as compassion, or attending to a specific focal point. The term can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state”.

As Christians we should know we are not suppose to be involved with the New Age movement.  However, there is one concept that they have right that many of us do not employ in our walk with the Lord.  That’s the way it is with the devil, he takes something that should be godly and twists it or turns it in to a half truth.  In this instance the Lord’s adversary has taken the concept of meditation and changed its focus from growing closer to the Lord to self awareness and improvement.  Do a word search sometime on meditate in the Bible.  You will find many passages that show us that we need to meditate on God’s Word, His wonders, His works, His laws and His decrees.  Here are two references:

Psalm 119:148 – “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”

Joshua 1:8 – “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

In this world we face many things that create lack of hope or sadness.  We face terrorism, bombings, explosions, murders, bad health, bad news, high crime rates, loss of loved ones, job loss, home loss, etc.  We also face many things that are not godly and are just plain evil.  We are constantly under the barrage of the devils bullets.  He throws things in our mind through various forms of media.  We are so desensitized sometimes that we don’t even notice his fiery darts.  That’s where meditation on God’s Word, His Promises, etc., will help us.  For example, if we know what God’s Word says about our future, that will be one place we can focus our minds when this world has brought us down.  So we challenge you this week to meditate on God’s Kingdom of Light and see how it lifts your spirits and changes your focus in life.  We also ask you to think about whether you are living the Kingdom Life here on earth and helping to influence others to join our God’s Kingdom.

Colossians 1: 10-12 –

¹⁰ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Isaiah 65:17-19 –

 ¹⁷ “Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
 

Isaiah 11:3-9 –

³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
 ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

Revelation Chapter 21 –

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”   ⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”   ⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.  ²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation Chapter 22: 1-5 –

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

What a wonderful place God has created for us to go to.  Beauty, peace, security, health, provision and God!

Curb Appeal April 27, 2013

There is TV show called “Curb Appeal”.  It focuses on the appearance of the front outside of the house.  First impressions are important when selling a home.  The inside of your house may be great, but the outside may be very unwelcoming.  A few times when I have watched the show the designer decided to paint the front door red.  I could never figure out why.   It just seemed an awfully bright color. It usually ended up looking pretty good though.  By the time each show was done the outside of the house was much more appealing and inviting and welcoming.  It wasn’t that the homeowners were bad people and deliberately kept their house that way.  Some had financial problems, some were in poor health, and some worked too many hours, etc.  They really had a lack of knowledge of how important it was to keep the front of their homes up kept and looking good.  They had spent more time focusing on the other things in their lives.

The other day I was watching a video clip of a missionary who services in the United States.  He had named the new church they planted “Red Door”.  What a unique name for a church.  I couldn’t figure out why anyone would name their church that.  Then the missionary began to explain.  A door painted red traditionally meant the home was a welcoming home.  I decided to go on the web and look that tradition up.  Homecurbappeal.com had this to say:

A red door means “welcome” in an old early American tradition. If a family had a red front door tired travelers traveling by horse and buggy would know that a home was a welcoming place to rest. They would be able to spend the night there.

A red door provides protection. In Biblical times, the Hebrew slaves were instructed to smear blood of a lamb on their front doors to protect their first born from the angel of death. In old Catholicism churches painted the doors of the church red to represent the blood of Christ. Passing through the door would mean that you were on holy ground. Some believe a red door protects the occupants from evil.

A red front door means mortgage-free. In Scotland, homeowners would paint their front door red to signify that they had paid off their mortgage.

Christ is the original “Red Door” that welcomes all who want to come in to eternity with Him.  Read John 10: 7 – 9.

⁷ So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

As Christians we are called to be like Him, which means we need to be welcoming and inviting.  We need to be Christians that people see as appealing.  Our bodies are our spiritual homes.  They must exhibit curb appeal.  In other words, we must have a joy and beauty shining out of us that demonstrates that Christ lives in us.  If we are running around with frowns, angry expressions and stern faces all the time, you have to ask yourself what is wrong inside.  Doesn’t Christ bring you joy?  Or if we don’t have time for people, we may be putting off signals that we are better than them or that Christ doesn’t accept or love them.  Or if we are rude, un-giving or un-kind, we send a message that Christ must not be very nice or that we don’t have Him living in us.

So do you have curb appeal to those you meet?  Or is your house needing some work?  Are you a welcoming home with a Red Door?

The Great Misconception April 20, 2013

I have been doing some deep thought provoking research on God’s love.  I want you to think deep with me on this one.  So I am going to give you a few important links in this research.  I strongly encourage you to watch, listen and read what is in these links.  It will take you a little time, but this meant to put us in the right focus.  Without doing this first, you will not really get the point of what I am saying.

I started with this wonderful video made by a Christian group:  Father’s Love Letter

Then I listened to a great Christian music video: They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Then I watched this Christian movie trailer: Furious Love

Then I read this internet article about God’s love from a Muslim’s perspective.  I am going to give you one excerpt from the article to read: “We reached a point where if you say God loves you, some say this is a Christian thing!  Well, actually it is not, Christians “advertise” that God loves everyone and everything unconditionally and that is a major misunderstanding.  In fact it is illogical. Why would God love those who are spreading corruption on earth, killing the innocent, torturing the weak, robbing people of their belongings, polluting our environment, raping women and abusing children? If God loved us all unconditionally, regardless of what we DO, we would all have a license to commit the worst of evils while assured that we will end up in Heaven.  This will create people who “SAY” they are religious, though they commit the worst of sins.” Have you ever thought about what others think about Christians? 

Have you ever analyzed what they might think about you as a Christian based on your life, actions and words?  If you truly think about it, you might realize that others in this world (whether Christian or non-Christian) might possibly be seeing you as a bad example of God’s love.  Sure they might see you going to church or carrying a Bible, but do they see you in action for God.  Do they see you exemplifying God’s love in all areas of your life?  Or do they see someone that is all talk, with nothing backing up their words.  How far will you go to demonstrate God’s love to others?  God said in John 13: 34-35:

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

God tells us that this is our main tool of reaching others for Him.  God tells us that this is required.  It is not a wishful thought or good idea on God’s part.  It is a command.  He wants us to share His all encompassing, compassionate, sacrificial love with others.  He is our example.  It may mean we have to go in to some dark areas to share His love.  It may mean we will have to give sacrificially from our money or belongings.  It may mean we will have to change others mis-conceptions of what Christians are all about, by changing our words and actions.  It may mean we will have to walk up to someone and verbally share God’s Words of love from the Bible (even when they are a stranger and it is cold turkey).  It may mean will have to actually stop and think before we speak.  It may mean we have to actually serve God, and not just attend church when we feel like it.  It may mean we have to open our home to someone to live with us or to open it for a Bible Study for our neighbors.  It may mean we have to get up out of bed and go to church.  It may mean we have to stop listening to inappropriate music or watching movies that Jesus wouldn’t watch.  It may mean we have to give someone else our parking spot.  It may mean we have to mow someone’s yard.  It may mean we have to be willing to go to a foreign country and build a home for someone.  It may mean we have to give up our vacation to help out in a disaster area.  It may mean we have to be willing to publicly pray in a prayer group for more than 5 minutes.  It may mean we have to give up our rights.  It may mean we have to give up a nights sleep to sit with a friend in need. It may mean we have to not criticize others.  It may mean we have to pull the log out of our own eye first.  It may mean we need to volunteer for nursery, so that a mom can sit for a few moments in peace and worship God.  It may mean not being rude to someone of another faith or race.  It may mean realizing we are no better than anyone else and that we all need God’s love.

Think about your life, your words, and your actions.  What are they telling others about God’s love?

Greater Works April 13, 2013

Since humans have been on this Earth many great works have been accomplished.  We tend to take pride in our great works and honor them in a variety of ways.  We write books about them.  Make movies about them.  Have symposiums about them.  Give out Pulitzer prizes for them.  There are many types of things that we honor as great works.  We have great works of literature, architecture, scientific discoveries, technological development and art to name a few.  We admire literature like Animal Farm, Brave New World, Hamlet, and The Odyssey as great works.  We can’t help admire great architectural works like the Great Wall of China or the Egyptian Pyramids.  We view the scientific discovery of microorganisms in 1674 and the atomic theory in 1808 as a great works. We are grateful for the wonderful technological developments of the industrial revolution and the computer age.  We see great beauty and creativity in our great works of art like the Terracotta Army, the stained glass of Chartres Cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’, and Michelangelo Buonarroti’s ‘Pieta’.  Although all of these have merit as being great works, I don’t think they were what Jesus had in mind in John 14: 12 – 14:

¹² ” I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus tells us that we will do “greater works than these”.  What was Jesus referring to?  Was He referring to the things we listed above?  Only if they accomplished the things He accomplished.  If one of our great works of art could lead someone to the Lord or a better understanding of the Lord, then they are great work in God’s eyes.  The things that Jesus did on Earth while He was here that were great were all things that glorified His Father.  He only did the Father’s Will while He was here with us.  He only did things that built the Kingdom of God.  So what are some of the things He did that glorified God?  Number one and most important as I have already said He did the Will of His Father.  If we do the Will of our Father (God) then we will glorify Him on Earth too, which is the greatest work we could do.  Jesus taught others the truth.  He drew them closer to God.  He led people to a reconciled relationship to God.  He encouraged them. He healed them spiritually and physically.  He fed them.  He restored them.  He blessed them.  He performed miracles that only drew people to God.  He suffered for serving God.  He completed His assignment for God.  These are the great works in God’s eyes.  These are the things we should be doing.  Jesus said we can do the same things He did and that actually we could do even greater things than He did.

So why are we not all living this miraculous life?  What is holding us back?  We see a few “stars” in the Christian world who have led many to relationships with God like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie or Moody.  We see organizations like Samaritan’s Purse or Southern Baptist Disaster Relief helping those in need.  Yet, overall we do not see the majority of Christians living this life of making “greater works” than Jesus’ come to pass.  What is going wrong?  Do Christians not understand what Jesus has commanded them to do (Matt. 28:18-20 or Act 1:8)?

When we received Jesus in to our hearts, we received everything we ever needed to live this miraculous life that He has called us to (John 14: 15-18, II Peter 1:3 and Acts 1:8).  There is no heavenly reason we cannot be living this miraculous life He has called us to and doing greater works than the ones He had done on Earth.  There are, however, earthly reasons that do hold us back.  The first one is simple.  We are not committed to glorifying God and serving Him.  We are more committed to our own personal needs and desires.  We need to remember that we were to have died to self when we received Christ.  That is what our first step of obedience (baptism) symbolized (II Cor. 5: 16-18).  We aren’t to be living for our self anymore.  The next reason we are not living this life is the fact that we do not have enough faith (Matt. 8:26, Matt. 9:29, and Matt. 17: 19-21).  And some of those miracles can perform for Jesus will require even more work as we see in Matthew 17: 19-21.  We will actually need to pray and fast before we can perform them.  So, we just need to really believe what we believe about God.  Do we believe He has given us everything we need to live that miraculous life?  Do we believe He has given us His Spirit to empower us?  Do we believe what Jesus says, “you will do greater works than these”?  Do we believe Jesus when he says, “Nothing will be impossible for you.”?  Do we believe God is all powerful? 

When we just come to church every so often to hear the sermon and then do nothing beyond that as God has called us to do, we are saying we don’t really believe these things.  We are not glorifying God by our lives.  What would this world be like if we really believed what we say we believe?  If we were living miraculous lives?  If we were just having even a little faith?  If we were focused on glorifying God and not just making it through this life?

Hearts Ablaze! April 6, 2013

Many a love has grown cold as time has passed in a relationship.  Usually one or both start focusing on the negatives of the other person.  They start dwelling on the bad habits.  Usually one or both forget why the fell in love in the first place.  Good memories are replaced with bad memories.  Sadness, depression, discouragement and anger can all replace the love that was once there.  Once the heart grows cold it can take a lot to warm it back up.  Many people just give up, walk away and never to go back to the relationship.  It is just easier that way.  No work is required.

The same thing can happen to the Christian.  Something doesn’t go as planned in their walk with the Lord, they become discouraged.  Many times the focus on the event, the pain, the hurt or the discouragement and their hearts grow colder and colder.  Soon they have walked away from the Lord or Church or fellow Christians.  They forget why they came to know the Lord in the first place.  They forget what they have been taught.  They forget what the real focus of their life was to be.  The warmth of their love for Jesus in their hearts has been replaced with the cold of the hurt or the cold of the discouragement from lack of fruit or the cold of the things of this world.  The Disciples experienced discouragement when the Lord was crucified.  All through chapter 24 of the book of Luke we read different accounts of their discouragement.  One account is found in Luke 24: 13 – 35 on the “Road to Emmaus”.  In the disciples minds Jesus was dead and gone.  Their plans for the future were gone.  They forgot what Jesus had taught them while He was with them.  Then while they were walking to Emmaus a miracle happened, the Lord met them, walked with them, broke bread with them and reminded them once again.

Luke 24: 30 – 35

30 It was as He reclined at the table with them that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, but He disappeared from their sight. 32 So they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us? 33 That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, 34 who said, “The Lord has certainly been raised, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

Time in the Word and with Jesus set their hearts ablaze once again for Him!  They remembered and now understood what really happened and what their future really was.  Jesus was no longer going to be their earthly king setting them free from the Romans, but He was going to be their eternal King.  The discouragement based on their incorrect hope for an earthly king lost to death was replaced with an eternal hope.  They were refocused and ready to go!  They headed right back out to work.  They headed for Jerusalem to share the good news!

Is your heart ablaze for the Lord?  Are you keeping in His Word and spending time with Him?  Are you remembering what He has done for you and for others?  Are you memorizing His Word, so you can remember it when you become discouraged?  Set your heart ablaze for the Lord!  Share the Good News!