A Word of Hope when you feel Washed Up

I read about a little parakeet that had a particularly hard day. 

"Chippie the Parakeet never saw it coming. One minute he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said ‘hello’ when ‘sssopp!’ Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie—still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. ’Well,’ she replied, ’Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore—he just sits and stares.’ It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . that’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart."

Do you ever feel like Chippie?  I'm sure you do, if we are honest, all of us feel like that poor bird from time to time.  Life has a way of catching us off guard, sucking us in, washing us up and blowing us out.  In the sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus spoke to a mass crowd, many of them feeling like poor O'Chippie.  They were poor, stressed, oppressed by the Roman Government, despised and rejected.  With hungry hearts they listened as the Lord Jesus spoke words of hope and life.

Jesus said, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6: 33-34).

Consider the wisdom in the Lord's words.

First of all, Jesus says to Set your Gaze upon God and His Purposes.

What happens when you set your eyes on your problems, the problems in the world and the uncertainties of life? You quickly become discouraged.  The joy of life can be chocked out by the issues of life. The Apostle Paul encouraged us to "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2).  I've heard it said, "You can become so earthly minded that you will be no heavenly good.  Yet, if you are heavenly minded, you might just do the world some good."  I like that.

Second, the Lord says to Trust Him. 

Jesus says that God knows what we need.  If it is encouragement, He is the encourager.  Need guidance?  He promises to guide our steps.  Forgiveness?  He promises to forgive us and cast our sins as far as the east is from the west when we repent.  It all comes down to a matter of trust.  Jesus says, "seek first His kingdom...and all these things will be given to you..."

Third, Jesus says to Hold On to Hope. 

There is not one of us who knows what the day will bring each morning as we pull ourselves out of bed.   Each step of the day is a step of faith.  God doesn't promise a smooth ride, but He does promise to go with us.  Meditate on this wonderful promise, “Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

You can have a Living Hope

A song writer once wrote that each of us have a God-shaped hole in our heart and nothing can fill that void accept a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Bill Fay would agree with that.  He was born to an upper middle class family.  His father was the president of General Foods and introduced a frozen food line called “Bird’s eye.”  There’s a good chance you have purchased some of their product at your local grocery store.

Bill admits he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth.  He never did without whatever he wanted.  Sadly, his father’s spending habits caused him to die penny-less in a veteran’s hospital.  Bill decided that he would not die that way.  He would live life to the fullest, thinking of no one else but himself.

At age 16, he got a girl pregnant and married her.  He went off to college after High School.  In college he met a man who taught him to be a professional gambler.  Bill put himself through college by playing card games.  After graduation he divorced his wife and walked away from his daughter so he could advance his career.  Bill met and married another woman and at age 22 he was hired by an Atlanta corporation and quickly became their number 1 salesman. 

Shortly afterwards, he was invited to Las Vegas where he was enamored by the power, money and women.  He said; “If I can just get connected into all this, my life will be fine.”  On that trip that he met a man at a card table who lost $200,000 in just 20 minutes and acted as if it was nothing.  Bill was impressed.  The man invited him to play a game and in just fifteen minutes, Bill won over $250,000.

Despite the money and power he was gaining, he was still miserable.  One day, Bill was talking to a woman on the telephone.  He asked her, “What do you want out of life?”  She replied; “Money and power.”  This captivated Bill and he left his second wife of 12 years and married this other woman.  The new couple moved to Denver and he became the CEO of a multimillion-dollar Corporation.  One afternoon he stood in his office, looked over his mahogany desk, had his chauffeur-driven limousine outside, had an unlimited expense account, diamond rings, Rolexes, gold jewelry and he thought; “What’s next?  I have both legal and illegal money.  I have power, both corporately and illegally, yet something is missing.”

It wasn’t long until his third wife left and Bill met and married his fourth wife. He decided he would help men with their loneliness and opened Fantasy Island in Lakewood, Colorado, one of the largest houses of prostitution in the Unites States.  Sounds like a movie doesn’t it?  But it isn’t, it is the life of Bill Fay.

There are many people living like Bill Fay.  They may not have the power or money, but they are searching for love, searching for hope, and searching for what is missing in their heart.  They are asking; “Is this all there is?  I Want More!”

In 1 Peter chapter 1, the Apostle Peter is writing to Christians who were the opposite of men like Bill Fay.  These early Christ-followers had been driven from their home in Jerusalem through persecution.  They had no power, no money, and no homeland.  Yet they have what Bill Fay and many people today are longing for, they had a Hope that was Alive in their Soul.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”   1 Peter 1:3

Look at how Peter expresses himself in reference to the living hope we receive in Christ Jesus.  He writes, “Praise be to God….he has given us new birth...a living hope…”  Understand this, when the Peter states that those who surrender to Christ receive a living hope, he is not referring to hope the way many of us do. 

We consider hope as something we want to happen but are not sure if it will.  That is not what the word hope means in this verse.  Hope here means, “a certain expectation.”  Here is the good news about this living hope, when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we receive the promise that we have peace with God and are as assured of heaven as if we were already there! 

If you have surrendered your life to Christ, you have this living hope in your NOW.

You also have this living hope for your TOMORROWS.  Look at what Peter writes next.

“and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you…” 1 Peter 1:4

One day Albert Einstein boarded a train from Princeton. The conductor came by asking to punch the tickets.  Einstein was brilliant man, but a little absent minded.  Einstein could not find his ticket; he looked in his pockets, through his luggage, and could not find his ticket.  The conductor said; “It’s alright Mr. Einstein, I know who you are.”  Then the conductor turned and walked away.  He looked back and saw Einstein looking under his seat.  The conductor came back and said; “Mr. Einstein, I don’t need your ticket, I know who you are.”  Einstein said; “I know who I am too, but I need to know where I’m going.”

Do you know where you’re going when your time on this Earth is done?  Peter says we can have a Living Hope in Christ and know beyond any doubt that we have Eternal Life in Heaven.  Look at how Peter describes it. Our inheritance in Christ will never perish, never spoil and never fade away!

Now let me finish the story of Bill Fay.  Bill loved racquetball.  One day while coming into the gym he met a guy named Paul. Bill began to ridicule him because he was a Christian.  Shortly after that, Bill and his fourth wife took a trip to Las Vegas.  While there, his attorney called and told him the prostitution house had been raided and there was a warrant for his arrest.  Soon the media caught the news and Bill was devastated.  The only person who ever called and checked on him was Paul.  One day Bill was sitting at his kitchen table crying uncontrollably.  His non-believing wife suggested they go see the man who had married them.  Bill did not want to go see him, but the Holy Spirit would not stop working on Bill’s heart.  He called the pastor and said that he wanted inner peace in his life.   The next day, he drove 85 miles to a little country church.  At 10:00 a.m. on March 4, 1981, Bill Fay met Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and He received the Living Hope that he had always longed for.

What about you?

Will you…

• Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, His death, burial and resurrection?
• Trust Him to take away your sins and forgive you?
• Invite Him to be Your Lord and receive a Living Hope?

4 Focus Points to Greater Kingdom Impact

I’m sure you have heard it said just like I have; “If there are so many Christians, then why aren’t we seeing a greater impact on our society and world?”  Personally, I don’t believe it is from a lack of concern.  Every Christ-follower that I have had discussion with has a genuine concern over the moral and spiritual decline we are witnessing in society.   Now, I may be wrong, but I also don’t believe I have ever met a true believer who wasn’t deeply burdened for those who are without a personal relationship with Christ.  Yet, that still doesn’t answer the question, “Why aren’t Christians making a greater impact?”

As I mentioned, I don’t think it is from a lack of concern.  I believe for many of us, the enemy is using a different tool from his evil collection; he has got us distracted.  Christians are not exempt from the everyday pressures of life.  Like everyone else, Christ-followers have families to raise, jobs to go to, lawns to mow, dishes to wash, bills to pay, PTA meetings to attend and the list goes on and on. Satan knows that he doesn’t have to harden our heart, he can simply distract our focus.

I love the story about former New York Yankee catcher, Yogi Berra.  He was known for his

Give Yourself Permission to Smile

It is stated that the wisest man in history was the great King Solomon of Israel.  To this day, his wise proverbs inspire us, challenge us, help guide us down a road of self-improvement and draw us closer to God.  In addition to the book of Proverbs recorded in the Bible, the book of Ecclesiastes is also attributed to him.  Written toward the end of his life, Ecclesiastes has a different feel than his Proverbs, but is no less beneficial to our  life and faith.

When you begin reading Ecclesiastes, you are struck with the author's dark, depressive tone.  Though a man given wisdom from above, like all of us, Solomon did not always yield to heavenly wisdom and made many mistakes.  In Ecclesiastes, he writes from a reflective point of view as if he is looking back over his life and asking the questions "Why did I do that?" "Was that important?" "Where did my focus get off track?"  Over and over again he repeats the words, "Everything is meaningless!" and "Chasing after the wind."

hen reading Ecclesiastes, It's tempting to close the book and open to a different section of the Bible. We are more comfortable with lighter, more uplifting texts of Scripture.  Truth is, some of

GPS - God Positions your Steps

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.” – Psalm 37: 23

Like most men, my friend has a one–track mind when it comes to travel.  He likes to go from point A to point B, no detours, no alternate routes, minimal stops, just get in the car, put it into drive and get there.  One year, he and his wife were planning a trip to the Great Smokey Mountains of East Tennessee.  They had been there several times before and had their route memorized.  This particular year they decided to invite another couple to join them.  Shortly after leaving their home

You are a Piece of Art

He seemed almost erratic as he bounced from side to side on the stage splashing bright paints of various colors upon a large canvas.  Lisa and I had joined several thousand others at a Contemporary Christian concert and were caught in awe as the artist, dressed in a black robe, created his masterpiece before our eyes as the band filled the room with music and praise.

One minute passed, then two, then three and to be honest, we still couldn’t make out what the image was going to be.  Finally, the artist stepped back as to unveil to the crowd his work of art and it still made no sense at all.  Then he walked up to the canvas and turned it 180’ and what we beheld sent a hush over the entire crowd, it was an incredible portrait of the face of Jesus.

We have been blessed over the ages with some very talented artist whose works have often left us breathless.  Still yet, their creativity pales when compared to the true Master Artist – God.  On a

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Their names are ordinary. Names like Herbert, Pearl, Ron, Bryan, Joe, Lola, Winnie, yet their stories are anything but. Each face comes with a story, a history of tragedy, pain, fear, and loss.  They are the remnant of a land torn apart by war and disease.  They are the orphans of West Africa.

You wouldn’t know their past by simply looking in their eyes. They are not filled with tears, but with beams of light.  Nor would you gather that some of these children have suffered a lifetime of sadness in their few short years by watching their actions.  They sing.  They dance.  They laugh.  They giggle with a joy that the world cannot give and the world surely cannot take away.

They understand the feelings of abandonment.  Some of these little ones were left at the hospital just hours after their birth, while others, lost their entire families, their mothers and fathers, sisters