Rick Sentle

Now that 2017 is behind us, we have an opportunity to look back and look ahead. Reflecting, something that, in the fast pace of life we don’t have a tendency to do. Something that we should make time for and do more often.

I was going through the attic before the holidays, looking to get down some seasonal decorations. As I was looking through old boxes I came across some old photo albums. That distracted me from what I was doing but was a pleasant way to spend an hour or so.

In looking through the albums, a few things stood out. There were a few very good photographs. Clear and in focus, great pictures. Probably taken by a photographer or someone who knew what they were doing. Then there were some others, well ….not so much.

They were out of focus, fuzzy, bad lighting and hard to see clearly. What we see does have a lot to do with focus and perspective.

If you’ve ever been hiking in the woods you can understand what they mean about not being able to see the forest for the trees. As the path winds back and forth, up and down it can be easy to get lost. But once in a while you may find a clearing or an overlook. Then you can look back to where you had been and ahead to where you are going. It’s a good feeling. Sometimes even with part of the picture out of focus, if you take the time, the background, light shining through or highlights make for a good view.

When I look at things in the limited vision of my own thoughts it’s not so clear. But when I look at things through the light of God’s word, things look so much clearer. I can get a better perspective of what’s going on.

Ephesians 1:18-19. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparable great power for us who believe.

Looking at some of the oldies, I saw my younger parents holding a little kid that was me. Then I came across some pictures of a younger me holding my son. Digging Deeper still I came across a picture of my father holding his grandson. Three really different perspectives.

As a teenager I thought someone in their 40s was old. Now I think someone in their 40s is a young whipper-snapper. Perspectives. The little details and the big picture. But what about Eternal perspectives. In Romans 8:38 Paul encouraged us – For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our lord.

Too often we think about what will happen today, tomorrow, next week, next year or in ten years. In the grand scheme even 100 years is a grain of sand in the hourglass of eternity. Philippians 3:20-21. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.

When we focus on the small stuff, the struggles the bumps in the road, we miss out on the big picture. Look ahead and don’t worry. Keep things in perspective.

John 14:1-3. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Fathers House has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

By Rick Sentle

“Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

I’ve been trying to work up my energy to write this article for a while, but with life’s distractions, it hasn’t been easy. There are times I feel like I’m knocking my head against a wall. I guess you could say I’m a little weary. This is something I think we all can relate to. There are many things that can make us weary. Dealing with health issues, family problems, loneliness, too many activities, work challenges or other things. I’m sure you can add to the list.

Weariness, by definition is extreme tiredness or fatigue. Or a reluctance to see or experience any more of something. (Have you tried watching the news lately?)

Trouble comes from many directions. It is nothing new, Old Testament New Testament; young or old — it touches all of us at some point. Troubles can wear us down. So what can we do?

What is it you seek in time of trouble- shelter, help, hope? Let’s look to God’s word.

Psalm 9:9-10: “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.“

Matthew 11:28: “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” When Jesus says “Take my yoke upon you” He means be connected, supported, part of the team. He will help you to bear the load.

We get frustrated in our struggles when we see we can’t make it on our own. Remember, sometimes it’s important for us to “let go and let God”. Paul reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.” And Jesus declares “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and lay it down. We are children of God. We have the comforter that Christ promised, the Holy Spirit. He lives in us and is our strength. Take heart from the words of Isaiah.

Isaiah 40:28-31 describes the resources we have in Him: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I’ll finish with some words from one of my favorite authors.

Quote from Max Lucado – The next time you find yourself alone in a dark alley facing the undeniables of life, don’t cover them with a blanket or ignore them with a nervous grin. Don’t turn up the tv and pretend they aren’t there. Instead stand still, whisper His name and listen. He is nearer than you think.

May your hope be in the Lord.

While strolling through a local cemetery, I noticed the following epitaph on a tombstone:

“If Love Could Have Saved You
You Would Have Lived Forever”

I had to stop and ponder that for a minute. I was struck not only by how well it declared the survivor’s affection for the person buried beneath, but also punctuated the sadness and impotence we feel when faced with our mortality.

Then I remembered how, as followers of Jesus, the Scriptures lead us to a far different conclusion. There is a person in whom both perfect love and life-giving power are found. There is someone whose love is so powerful that he can save us so we can live forever. His name is Jesus, and he came to earth to die for this very purpose.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Your ability to receive this gift of eternal life is conditional, however, on two things. 1. You must believe that it is true.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

2. And you must reject sin and commit to holy living.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord… (Acts 3:19)

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

The fulfilment of the promise of eternal life is a physical, bodily resurrection. This is the great cause for hope possessed by all who have placed their trust in Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 declares it plainly:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

And, as the angels in Acts 1:11 declared:

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

In future posts, we’ll explore other good reasons for followers of Jesus to rise above the circumstances and challenges we face. Jesus himself said:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

 

 

By Rick Sentle

Hey, wait a minute, I kind of resemble that remark. But then again, don’t we all. It’s easy to develop a little roughness with all the hard things we deal with in life.  One thing is certain, we all have situations, circumstances and people who can wear on us, but the good news is we don’t have to deal with them on our own. We have someone who longs to help us through our tough times.

Our reaction to the rough things can have effects.  The first thing that came to mind was callouses- from the Latin meaning tough skin. The dictionary defines calloused as: made hard; insensitive, indifferent or unsympathetic.  If you’ve faced a lot of hardship and trials, that may describe you. But I don’t think that this description was what God had in mind for His children.

Let’s look to Jesus for a minute. Jesus grew up as son of Joseph the carpenter. Back in that time a carpenter was not just wood and nails.   It was stonework, building and many physical tasks.  I’m sure Jesus knew a little about callouses. The physical ones. He also knew something about making things.  Beautiful things.

The craftsman knows that sometimes you have to get out the hammer and chisel to knock off the rough edges.  You may have to shave away things on the outside to get the shape you want. And before you are finished you may need to rub things down with sandpaper to smooth things out.

Let’s get back to our rough edges. We all have a few. Some may be physical, some may be emotional and some may be spiritual. Each causes their own problems. Some of these took some time to develop. Some are deeply ingrained into who we are.  None of us can fix these on our own. They won’t change overnight. But if we don’t recognize the problem and work to correct it there are serious consequences in our life.

Jesus spent a lot of time in His earthly ministry talking with His disciples and common folk about God’s plan for us. He seemed to run across quite a selection of folks who had seen tough times. People who looked to Him for hope.

In His teachings He used many examples, parables about the hardened condition of people. He warned us of many things to look out for. He also talked a lot about callouses on people’s hearts.  Quoting from the Old Testament He helps us see part of the problem  …. wander from Your way(God’s)…. harden your heart …. do not revere God.   Sounds like trouble to me.

Other scripture (Exodus; Proverbs; Psalms; Isaiah) point to similar patterns-….hearts calloused….. ears dull….. closed eyes …. separated from God.    But the good news is there is a better way.

He shared these warnings with us to keep us on the right path, the path he leads us on. He lived his life as an example. Even in the face of persecution, He chose Love. We have to make the choice to allow the hardness to take over, and affect our lives or through His Grace and the power of His Spirit, follow Him, and grow in love.    It’s either/or – we choose.

We need to look at things as Jesus did.  Sometimes his way seemed backwards. In the natural we think an eye for an eye, but Jesus says turn the other cheek. In Matthew He told us …”you have heard it said ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven”.  That kind of goes against the grain of the natural way of thinking.  But He looked at things in the Spiritual and not the natural.

Maybe there’s someone out there that “rubs you the wrong way”. If we act in the natural way we can have trouble. But if we recognize that God may be using this like sand paper, to rub off our rough edges, we can rise above and react with love. Maybe we need to work on our patience. Maybe we need to recognize there is a reason that person is acting in hurtful ways. Maybe we need to be reminded of the grace that God showed us. It definitely won’t be easy.  That’s why we need to look to Jesus and remember that we are all a work in progress.

When Jesus was asked what was The most important commandment, He replied –”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And love one another. All the other laws and Prophets hang on these two commands.”

The rough edges we’ve built up make us insensitive, indifferent and unsympathetic. They can make us hard.  They can separate us from God.   But if we let the love of Jesus Reign in or hearts we can shine our light to a world that needs to see it.  Demonstrate true Christian love – you will know my children by their love.

Hebrews 4:7   …..Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

Welcome!