Is There Hope for Peace In Our Troubled World?

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 

Timothy 3:1-5

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 

Matthew 24:6-9

            These verses could have been ripped from the pages of our newspaper.  We read every day of despots who kill their own people in order to get power;  protestors who wreck their surroundings to get their point across;  warlords  who kidnap children and turn them into their personal slaves and soldiers;  exploiters who kidnap children and sell them into sexual slavery;  drug gangs that kill and terrify to further their drug sales; gangs of teenagers who are disaffected and feel detached in our society, who rampage, kill and steal; corrupt politicians who promise anything to get elected and give their voters largesse to keep their votes; businessmen who do anything to make a buck; sexual promiscuity, alcoholism, and drug addiction; schools that  don't teach; absentee parents who do not discipline their children; children who have no respect for their parents or anyone else; abortion clinics in every city of any size; gay "marriage"; and the list goes on and on.

            In our country we are fearfully watching as Iran and North Korea apparently are developing nuclear weapons.  We have been the target of Islamic extremists over and over again.  We wonder why they hate us. Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34. (NIV) He divided the world into two parts: Those who accepted Him, and those who did not accept him. There will never be world peace until Jesus returns.  He did make provision for His followers to have peace of mind in this world, however.  Do you want that peace? Then follow Him.  Make Him your Lord and Savior.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Pat Eppler                                                                        

Asleep in the Boat: Day 4

   Then a voice said to him “What are you doing Elijah?”

  He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to the death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.”  The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king of Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi, king of Israel, and anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Ball and all whose mouths have not kissed him.

         I Kings 19:13-18

This is such a great story! In fact, it may be the story for our times.

To recap: Elijah has given his all for the Lord’s work and seen some amazing results. In the end, however, the governing authority seems to have won and Elijah, in apparent defeat, must flee for his life. Reduced to an exhausted puddle of self-pity, Elijah has all but thrown in the towel. Then God calls him out of hiding, listens to Elijah’s complaint and imparts two game changing pieces of information:

First of all, He gives Elijah his marching orders. He is to go back home and do what prophets do: anoint two kings to replace Elijah’s seemingly invincible nemesis and a prophet to take Elijah’s place. The king that Elijah perceives to be in charge of his life is on his way out. The reality is two kings will shortly take his place. And help is on the way in the prophet department, too. Elisha will not only be his future successor, but a present companion in his loneliness. Just when Elijah thought the end had come, God reveals preparations for a new beginning and given Elijah the great privilege of preparing the way.

Secondly, God shows Elijah (who believes that the future of Jehovah’s agenda rests on his weary shoulders) that there is a bigger picture. God is the keeper of Israel. Despite appearances, there are 7,000 true believers who are devoted to the one true God and God Himself will preserve them.

What great encouragement for our time! Evil is increasing at a breath-taking rate and it seems that nothing can slow its malignant spread. The governing authorities are godless and seemingly unstoppable.

But God’s Word hasn’t changed from Elijah’s time to our day: We are to go back into the society we came from and live out our identity—salt and light. As we go and as we live, we will trust God for the results.

Nancy Shirah      

Asleep in the Boat: Day 3

God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.   

Hebrew 12: 10, 11

Once upon a time, for one brief, shining moment, I was a psychology major. My desire in pursuing that degree was to help people think clearly so that they could solve their problems and have better lives. Imagine my surprise when, on the first day of the first required class for this major (at the highly respected institution of higher learning where I was enrolled), the professor said, “We aren’t concerned with what people think; our concern is with how they behave.” He then proceeded to introduce us to our rats and their mazes and demonstrate how to dispense both food pellets and shocks.

If that seems extreme to you, consider that we now live in a world governed by the well-accepted principle of carrots (rewards) and sticks (punishment). People are motivated and shaped by their natural desire to maximize the carrots in their lives and avoid the sticks. In many situations this kind of motivation is effective in attaining a short-term goal. However, this approach to life is a dangerous detour away from Scriptural truth.

Christianity, as some advertise it, is the ultimate carrot-filled life with God as the dispenser of everything good. Jesus took the sticks; ours is to enjoy the produce. When we encounter bumps, or just feel ourselves being worn down by the daily grind, we assume something is amiss. Where is God? Where is the joy, joy, joy down in our heart? At the least, Jesus seems to be asleep in the boat; at most, he has jumped ship entirely.

Both the answer and the encouragement can be found in verses like today’s verses from Hebrews. Discipline, contrary to what the world says, is not a stick, a punishment, something to be avoided. For a Christian, discipline is a shaper of behavior, a changer of attitude, the pathway to sanctification. It is the means by which God produces in us His lushest bounty, the graces of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

If you are feeling very alone in your struggle or depleted by the demands of your situation, go to Jesus today and ask Him what His purpose is for this time. He is not asleep: He is present and fully engaged in your life. He will answer you with His comfort, His guidance and His overcoming power.

Nancy Shirah   

Asleep in the Boat: Day 2

Nothing is going to happen today that God and I can’t handle.                                                                             

 (Church Billboard)

This is a familiar and favorite saying on billboards, bookmarks and plaques. I understand the intent and know that it is a truth for many people’s lives. But let’s take a moment and examine this sentiment in the light of this week’s story.

“Handle” and its first cousin “cope” are well-known concepts in our culture. Put your head down, your nose to the grindstone and one foot in front of the other for as long as it takes to finish the job. Right? Employing this philosophy, the disciples would have awakened Jesus, handed him a bucket and they would have all bailed water out of the boat until the storm blew over or they reached the other shore. And it is also clear by the disciples’ response that what Jesus did do was completely surprising.

This is the point: So many people (and I can name names) are in “firm control” of their situation, even as they are going under for the third time. God is called in when things reach a crisis point, and only for a specified chore for a specified time. Sort of like a divine consultant.

Why is this? The reasons may range from ignorance of God’s power to deliver to lack of faith. But I think in all there is an underlying awareness that God does not operate according to our rules. When Jesus enters a situation, He will not settle for a consultant’s fee and a favorable recommendation. He is God and the wind and waters obey Him. He will use whatever means He chooses: other people, personal pain, unnatural circumstances or surprising solutions, so that He may be glorified.

The question is, do we want a life of coping and handling or do we want to be transformed to the image of God (Romans 12:1)? All that is required is to be willing—like the disciples—to call out to Him, get out of His way and watch Him work.

Nancy Shirah

Asleep In The Boat: Day 1

Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied. “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!”                                                                                     

Matthew 8:23-27

This familiar story—like all Scripture—is simple but not easy. Jesus and the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a body of water known, even to this day, for sudden, dangerous storms. Jesus, exhausted after an intense day of ministry to large crowds, falls asleep as the boat sails from one side of the lake to the other. A storm comes up without warning and threatens to capsize the boat. The disciples make their way to where Jesus is still sleeping, awaken Him and ask Him to do something before they are all drowned. Jesus rebukes the storm and instantly the winds and waves are stilled. The disciples, eyewitnesses to every moment of this drama, turn to each other and ask, “What kind of man is this?”

There was not one moment in the life of our Lord when He was not purposefully revealing the Father. In allowing a dangerous storm to almost overcome them, Jesus displayed His divinity through His mastery over nature. Calming a raging storm with a word is something only God could do; a point clearly missed by the disciples.

This week we are going to extract that snapshot moment when the winds were howling and the waves were pounding against a little storm-tossed boat and we are going to expand it to cover times in our own lives when we, like the disciples, call out to a Jesus who seems unaware of our situation or indifferent to our cries for help. Perhaps in so doing we will come to understand that what can seem to be God’s unresponsiveness is only His perfect timing. His purpose is not to deliver us from but deliver us through the storm, safe on the other side. In so doing, He matures our faith and He glorifies Himself.

Nancy Shirah