THE SOUTH WIND Many years ago, I began to listen to the music of a terrific artist named Joanie Madden. Her music appealed to my Irish ancestry, and I have enjoyed it ever since. She plays an amazing Irish whistle (her group, Cherish the Ladies, has performed a couple of times at the Myrna). Inspired, I bought an Irish whistle and tried my hand at playing. Finding that I wasn’t cut out for that, I decided to write lyrics for one of the songs she recorded. Below are those lyrics. I pray that they are meaningful to you. I encourage you to look up the accompanying music rather than simply reading the lyrics. Go to YouTube or Apple Music. In the search field, type Joanie Madden The South Wind. Then read, or better yet sing, the lyrics along with the music. I have not titled the lyrics, and would love to get your input on what to call this Christian version of The Sound Wind! Verse 1 Feel the sweep of the canyon’s expanse See the glint on the waves, how they dance Stand in awe of the peaks cold and grand Be amazed by the works of His hand CHORUS I will praise You for all that You have done in my life I’ll praise You each day I have breath You have saved me, my Lord, from the dark night of sin My heart will forever be Yours Verse 2 You have flooded Your grace over me My response: not to do, but to be In the warmth and the glow of Your peace It is done – all my striving can cease CHORUS Verse 3 Now I see by the light of Your love How forgiveness is wrought from above I’m now free to let go of the pain Run to You, where Your loss is my gain CHORUS Following are some verses that support the lyrics. Psalm 95:1-5 O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 46:10 Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 69:29 But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. Psalm 116:6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Titus 3:4,5 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, PART 3 This is our third and final week taking an encouraging look at Joshua chapter 1. The man that Joshua was succeeding in leadership was arguably one of the most influential men who has ever lived. Moses, at age 80, had been called to be the instrument God used to release His chosen people, Israel, from captivity after four hundred years in Egypt. God gave Moses the Law, His set of rules designed to set His people apart from the surrounding nations, and Moses had disseminated it to the people. Forty years later, a new generation of Israelites had grown up. Moses led them to the doorstep of the land God had promised to Abraham hundreds of years before. And then he died. Unquestionably, he was a tough act to follow! But that was exactly what Joshua was called to do; step in and fill that void and lead the people to their inheritance. And that’s what the book of Joshua is all about – Joshua doing just that – fulfilling his God-given destiny as God’s leader. But if we’re interpreting Joshua 1 correctly, it appears that Joshua didn’t boldly and confidently step up from his former role as Number One Assistant into his new role as Top Dog. God tells Joshua three times in just a few verses to “Be strong and courageous.” In the Bible, for God to repeat a phrase indicates that it’s very important. Repeating it twice is pretty much unprecedented in the Bible. But God didn’t just repeat it twice. He used Moses to tell Joshua the same thing two more times, in Deuteronomy 31:7 and 23. And later in Joshua 1, the Israelites encouraged Joshua yet again with the same statement! So Joshua heard “Be strong and courageous” six times in a short span! God really wanted to get this encouragement across to Joshua. My guess is that Joshua needed it badly. We’ve been examining the three reasons God gave Joshua so that he could be strong and courageous. Because all three apply to us, too. We often find ourselves in a position of weakness or timidity, or both. Any number of circumstances can cause our strength and courage to wither: major life-change, such as a physical move or a job change; simple fatigue, illness or ministry burnout; a hostile work or home environment, where persecution or ridicule are the norm; fear of what people think of us, or people-pleasing; perfectionism; strife and problems in our families; guilt and shame from past sins; and unconfessed sin. Add your own strength-and-courage-sapper if I’ve left it out. God first told Joshua he could be strong and courageous because he had God’s promises (Joshua 1:2-6). We have God’s promises, too. They’re scattered all throughout the Bible. A second reason for strength and courage, which we discussed last week, is the fact that Joshua had (and we have) God’s power (Joshua 1:7,8). It’s in the form of His Word, available to us absolutely anytime and anywhere, even on our phones! The third reason, and perhaps the most impactful of the three, and our subject for today, is that Joshua had God’s presence with him. Little 5-year old Johnny was spending time in the kitchen with his mother as she made supper. She asked him to go into their deep pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he refused again. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once, he had an idea. He said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?" Joshua 1:5 says, “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” That promise of God’s presence was specifically for Joshua. But we are included in God’s similar promise in verse 9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Do not tremble or be dismayed. That’s a phrase not found in any of the other five similar statements. Any time you hear the phrase, “Be strong and courageous,” you pretty much know the reason for the statement is that the recipient is feeling just the opposite; they’re feeling weak and timid and therefore need this encouragement. But in this case, God is saying (to us), “I know you’re feeling weak and timid right now. But beyond that, I know that you’re frightened. Don’t be. I’m right here next to you and I always will be.” Having God’s promises (Reason #1) and His power (Reason #2) are both wonderful. There is nothing better to strengthen our weakness and bring courage to our timidity. But Reason #3! God’s very presence with us! I think if we truly grasped what God is saying to us in that verse; if we really understood the magnitude of this reality, we would be stunned, and then absolutely fearless. I confess that my mind can’t comprehend the idea that the One who created this vast universe and every atom within it, the One who holds all life together without effort, the One in control of every interaction of every one of the eight-plus billion people on earth, the One who instigates and monitors the billions of chemical reactions taking place every second in every one of the thirty or forty trillion cells in each human body, that One lives within me! And He will never leave me. Our God, the God we love and serve, though almighty Creator, is a personal and present God. When I’m jubilant at a victory; when I’ve pleased Him with my thoughts, attitudes or actions, He’s there, rejoicing and celebrating with me, His hand up for a high-five. When I deny or betray him by my thoughts, attitudes or actions; when I’m despondent over my failure, He’s still there, ready to hear my confession, with strong, warm arms to wrap around me. When the grief of loss - the loss of loved ones or the loss of the self I used to be - threatens to overwhelm me, He’s there. He knows grief and suffering. And He offers an understanding shoulder for my tears as well as a perfect Word of encouragement if I will listen for it. If we think of the comprehension of God as the volume meter on the old stereo, my anemic perspective doesn’t come close to even moving the needle. My understanding God and His ways would be like a bacterium understanding quantum mechanics, only with that gap multiplied by a trillion or so. To say that God is beyond our comprehension is the understatement of the millennium. But the glorious truth is that He loves you so much He promises to come to live within you, to take away your fears and doubts and infuse you with strength and courage. And someday He will take you home and you will live with Him, worshiping, serving and enjoying Him forever. We have, like Joshua had long ago, God’s promises to us, His power for us and His presence with us. Knowing that, we have every reason to put away our weakness (He is our strength!) and our timidity and fear (He is our courage!) and live each day to bring Him all the glory.

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, PART 2 Last week we took an initial look at Joshua 1. Moses, the hero of the Exodus and the man who had been used by God to personally hold the nation together through forty years of wilderness wandering, was dead. It is interesting to note that at this point in the history of Israel, only three men in the entire nation were over sixty years old, and two of them were Moses and Joshua! And with the death of Moses, there were only two remaining (if you’re interested in how I can say that no one else was over sixty, and if you’re interested in who the third man was, look up Numbers 14:26-30). Israel’s senior ministry was hurting for men and women who qualified by age! Over three weeks, we are looking at the reasons God gave to Joshua to encourage him to be strong and courageous, encouragement we can appropriate, too. They are: 1) God's promises to us. 2) God's power for us. 3) God's presence with us. The first reason, last week’s topic, was that Joshua had God’s promise that he would lead Israel to victory. “Every place on which your foot treads, I have given you (Joshua 1:3).” We are also in possession of God’s promises, though they are not for land and victory over our enemies. We looked at several promises from the Bible that encourage to us to be strong and courageous when we are feeling weak and unsure of ourselves. These promises included the facts that God will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5,6), nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35), He provides all our needs (Matthew 6:25 and Philippians 4:19), He is preparing eternity in heaven for us (John 14:1-3), He works all things in our lives together for our good (Romans 8:28), He has removed our sin from us (Psalm 103:12) and our work for God here on earth is never in vain (I Corinthians 15:58). This week we shift to the second reason Joshua could at that time, and we can today, be strong and courageous; that is, God’s power for us. In Joshua 1:7,8, God says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” After reading that, you might be thinking, “I didn’t see any mention of power!” God’s power comes through his Word. The Word is described as “the law” in verse 7 and “this Book of the Law” in verse 8. At that time, God’s Word consisted of just the first five books of the Bible – what is sometimes referred to as the Pentateuch, or the Torah to the Jews. Today, of course, God’s Word to us is much more extensive. We have 34 more books of the Old Testament as well as all of the New Testament. God gives the promise of power to Joshua in verses 7 and 8. Let me paraphrase, “If you do not turn away from My Word; if you are careful to do according to all that is written in it, then you will prosper and have success.” Just as the power Joshua needed to be strong and courageous came from God’s Word, so our power to overcome our tendency toward weakness and timidity, and to “prosper and have success” comes from our meditation on and resulting obedience to God’s Word, the Bible. But didn’t we see last week that God’s promise to the people of Israel was unconditional? There seems to be a condition in this promise. What is God doing? Changing the rules midstream? Well yes, there is a condition here. But God is not changing the rules. God promised Israel the land unconditionally, but success and prosperity depended upon their adherence to God’s Word. Think of it this way. Two brothers each receive separate parcels of land as an inheritance. One brother decides to go and build a ranch on his property and live there. He invests in the land, improves it and moves in to enjoy his inheritance. The other brother never touches his land. Both brothers own their land, but only one occupies his land. The people of Israel were promised the land unconditionally. But making it fruitful and enjoying it would only happen on the condition that they followed God’s Word. The same is true for us today. Eternal life is the inheritance of every believer in Jesus. That is unconditional. Our inheritance is secure. However, occupying the land – translated today as living a useful, God- glorifying, victorious, significant Christian life, is conditional. It is dependent upon our meditation on and obedience to the principles of the Word of God. How is your attitude toward the Word? Do you pull it out just occasionally, or is your reading, study and meditation a daily discipline? Can your relationship with it be described as that with a dear, familiar and much-loved old friend you love to spend time with, or is it more like a distant relative you invite in for an awkward minute or two on occasion? Is it just a book of facts and information to you, or do you realize and revel in the fact that it holds the keys to a rewarding life? Several hundred years ago, a man was imprisoned and given only a Bible as a companion. As far as anyone knows, he never found faith in Jesus, but when he died in prison more than thirty years later, they found the following statements inscribed on the walls of his cell: “Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible. Esther 8:9 is the longest verse of the Bible. The longest name in the Bible is Mahershalalhashbaz, found in Isaiah 8:3, Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except j. The longest sentence in the Bible is in Luke 3:23-38. Cats are never mentioned in the Bible, but dogs are mentioned forty-one times.” The man had become an expert on facts about the Bible, but it made no impact on his life! I hope that’s not you. In a strong Bible-teaching church like Hannaford, it’s easy to know a lot about the Bible. But the question that matters is, does it change your life? Are you appropriating the power source God has given you? The first verses of the first Psalm say great things about the man who “delights in God’s Word, who meditates on it day and night.” Verse 3 says, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” I like that picture of fruitfulness, growth and success! And all I have to do is cultivate a loving, delighted relationship with the words of the One who created me and gave His life for me? That sounds like the best deal ever! Make the Word of God your constant companion. Read it, memorize it, meditate on it, let it germinate within you and then grow out of you, performing its transforming work in your thoughts, attitudes and behavior. Let it come out your mouth when you speak and out of your hands when you work and out of your feet when you move. To be continued...

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, PART 1 Moses was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.* The nation of Israel was on the doorstep of the Promised Land and the man who had led them there was gone. Joshua was being called to fill some of the biggest sandals ever. If there has ever been someone who needed encouragement, it was Joshua. And God gave him just that. He told Joshua three times, “Be strong and courageous,” in Joshua chapter 1 alone. Maybe you need the encouragement to be strong and courageous today. Maybe in your walk with the Lord, you feel about as far removed from strong and courageous as is possible. Maybe you’re feeling sick and weak and timid today. Maybe you feel weak and timid because you’re being criticized when you feel you’re doing the best job you can. Maybe as a man, you feel weak and timid because you struggle with being the spiritual leader in your home. You’ve failed so many times that you’re afraid it’s weakening the integrity of your family. Maybe as a woman, you feel weak and timid because you’re having difficulty respecting your husband as you know you should and you have many regrets over some of the words you’ve spoken. Or your husband is gone and you feel completely alone sometimes. Maybe you feel weak and timid because you look back over your life and see so much you should have done differently to impact the world for Christ. Or you feel there isn’t much for you to do to be productive in the church body anymore. Maybe you feel weak and timid because of mistakes you’ve made that have caused great pain in your life and in the lives of others. Or maybe injustice or violence has been done to you that seems to have debilitated you and crippled you spiritually so that you don’t think you’ll ever recover. There is hope today for the weak and timid among us. God told Joshua to “Be strong and courageous,” three times in Joshua 1. And each time, He gave him a different reason for doing so. They are that Joshua, though he may not have known it, was in possession of three incredible gifts: 1) God's promises 2) God's power 3) God's presence Today we will look just at God’s promises. Joshua 1:3-5 is basically a reiteration of God’s unconditional promise to Abraham in Genesis 15, a passage Pastor John preached on a couple of months ago. Genesis 15:5-7,18: “And He took him [Abraham] outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, ‘I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.… To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.’” You’ll notice that I removed quite a bit from the middle of the above passage. That missing portion describes the process of ratifying the covenant. It was a one-sided covenant because God had caused Abraham to sleep through it! So this was not an “if you do this, I’ll do that,” conditional kind of covenant. No, it was unconditional. God was saying, “No matter what, this is My promise to you.” And that promise comes up again here in Joshua 1:3-5: “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” God told Joshua to be strong and courageous because of the unconditional promise He had made initially to Abraham and then repeated many times to Moses and the people of Israel. How could this possibly apply to us? Sure, Joshua was encouraged to be strong and courageous because of God’s promise to give the land to the people. But God hasn’t promised me a land to call my own, or that He’ll conquer all my enemies or solve all my problems. What good is this story for me? God hasn’t promised me anything specific like that! Well, hang on just a minute. I believe He has. Let’s begin with Hebrews 13:5,6: “’I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” Is that not just about the most comforting promise you’ve ever read? Even when we look around and everyone we know and love is gone, even when we’re being treated unfairly, God hasn’t left us. We’re not really alone - ever! And how about Romans 8:35? “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The implied answer is a resounding, “No, none of these!” We will never be cast adrift. Take a look at these two verses: Matthew 6:25 and Philippians 4:19. I’m going to combine them here: “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” We never have to fear that our needs will not be met. God promises to take care of us. Now to John 14. In the first three verses, Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also (:1-3).” Here we see that not only is Jesus preparing us a place in heaven, but He’s coming back one day to take us there to be with Him! We don’t have to be discouraged or defeated in this world; it’s not our home. It has no hold on us. One day we’ll leave it and spend eternity with our heavenly Father. That thought gives me strength and courage to meet head-on the challenges of living a godly life here. We all know Romans 8:28, but it’s not a cliché by any means. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” One of the greatest promises in all of Scripture. But wait, there’s more! Psalm 103:12 is a huge promise for all of us. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” The mistakes of our past, confessed and forgiven, should be irrelevant to the way we live our lives today. Unfortunately, that’s not usually the case, is it? We carry the load of guilt and shame around on our backs. Drop that weight and give your sin and its consequences to God. He hasn’t stopped loving you. My son Evan loved video games as a teen. Especially shooting games. I played a few times with him. At first I struggled to simply keep level my field of view. Then I struggled with both aiming and firing my weapon. As a result, while he was chalking up hundreds of kills, I was a casualty time and time again. He thought this was the most fun ever, by the way. But the great thing was, every time I got killed, the game put me back together, stood me back on my feet, put a new weapon in my hands and let me start again! That’s the way it is with God’s grace, too. We crash and burn every day. But if we come to Him with a contrite heart, God is faithful to put us back on our feet and let us begin fresh. There’s a reason the Psalmist used the directions east and west rather than north and south. North and south have endpoints – you can stop going north or south. East and west go on forever. And that’s how far God has removed our sin from us! I Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” Your service to God is not a waste of time. You may feel neglected, ignored and ineffective, but God doesn’t miss anything. He’s aware of your service. What an encouragement for the Christian laborer to gather new strength and courage to continue the fight! So although God has not promised us a physical land to enter like He did Joshua, there are many promises in the Bible that we can take to the bank. I challenge you to look up some more yourself this week. We can gather strength and courage from them, even as Joshua did. To be continued... *If that opening sounds vaguely familiar, it’s a slightly modified version of the first line of A Christmas Carol , by Charles Dickens.

RESOLUTION One of my favorite pieces of classical music is Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. We listen mostly to Christian music around our house, but there’s a special place in my heart for classical. I grew up in a house where, if the radio was on, it was tuned to the classical music station. When we traveled, it was a classical eight-track tape in the car. And when I was small, I often rode my stick horse around the house accompanied by the Boston Pops (there were permanent scratches on some of our records as a result of my violent galloping next to the stereo console). Back to Barber’s Adagio for Strings. I bring it up as an example of the topic of this devotional – resolution. The dictionary’s general definition of “resolution” is “the act of solving or ending a problem or difficulty.” However, like many words, several sub-definitions exist. Some of the headings for the definitions of the word are: Literature – as in the resolution of conflict in the plot of a story Optics – as in a high-resolution image Character – as in the resolution of pioneer women Government – as in voting on a resolution And there is another: Music - the progression of harmony as a whole from a dissonance to a consonance. Adagio for Strings is a study in tension and resolution. For the first several minutes of the piece, it’s as if the music is trying to find resolution, but can’t quite achieve it. Two separate musical themes vie for your attention. They are content to weave back and forth, trading the melody line, but there is constant tension between them. Over and over they reach out for resolution, but the notes just miss each other and the dissonance remains. Then, at about the five-minute mark, the tension begins to grow in intensity until, at about the six-and-a-half minute mark, the dissonance reaches a crescendo in one long note. And my brain cries, “Enough!” And then the note beautifully resolves into an amazing progression of chords. And the dissonance disappears. And the composer spends the rest of the piece bringing the listener back down again to enjoy a quiet single melody line as the piece ends. I’m sure there are technical music terms to describe all that, but I don’t know them. Our ears love to hear musical dissonance resolve. The dissonance produces tension in us. It feels wrong; it feels like all is not right in our world. And when the blessed resolution occurs, we are able to relax and the negative pressure we’ve been feeling melts away into peace. The same thing happens with our spirits. When I have a conflict with Erin, or anyone else, it produces tension in me. It feels wrong; it feels like all is not right in my world. And when the blessed resolution occurs, I am able to relax and the negative pressure I’ve been feeling melts away into peace. Unless you live in a cave by yourself in the mountains, conflict in your life is inevitable. Some view conflict as a problem to be solved. I think as Christians we should look at it more as a challenging opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and grace. Paul summarizes our mandate in Romans 12: 18: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” But it is often impossible to avoid conflict. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul encourages a couple of feuding women to “live in harmony in the Lord,” a sentiment we can all apply to our lives (4:2). Earlier in the same letter, Paul asks the Philippians to make his “joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (2:2-4).” Let’s take a look at that passage and see what it teaches us about conflict resolution. Two sets of four phrases each, make up these verses. Here is the first foursome: “Being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” Each of those four phrases describes two Christians who are moving together in the same direction; walking the trail hand in hand, with a common goal in sight. When in conflict with another Believer, it is crucial to remember that, as much as we might disagree on an issue, we are walking together; we’re on the same team, and our common goal is to glorify God! Is the personal conflict worth jeopardizing that? The next foursome is split into two pairs, a “don’t” and then a corresponding “do,” then another “don’t” and yet another answering “do.” Here’s the “don’t” of the first pair: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.” Most people, even Christians, have a pretty healthy opinion of themselves. Hopefully, now that we’re getting a bit older, our opinion of ourselves is becoming significantly more realistic after spending a lifetime with a front-row seat to the effects of our own destructive pride! I am reminded of Romans 12:16, where Paul commands, “Be of the same mind toward one another (we just heard that in Philippians!); do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” And the corresponding “do:” “But with humility of mind let each of you regard the other as more important than himself.” Ah, humility, that elusive creature. Can you imagine how many conflicts would die stillborn if we would just put away our pride and exercise humility? How many times have you and I created dissonance in the music of our lives and the lives of others because we thought far too highly of ourselves? Looking outward rather than inward is basic to the effective Christian life and absolutely necessary to the process of conflict resolution. Let’s move on to the second pair of the foursome. Here’s the negative: “Do not look out merely for your own personal interests.” Selfishness goes hand in hand with pride when it comes to producing conflict in our relationships. “Of course my needs, not his, are the most important ones in this relationship.” Conflict. “She did not fulfill my expectations.” Tension. “It’s not my problem if that bothers him.” Dissonance. “It may be important to you, but I don’t care.” Discord. And the final positive: “But also [look out for] the interests of others.” The website enduringword.com put it this way: “As we put away our selfish ambitions, our conceit, and our tendencies to be high-minded and self-absorbed, we will naturally have a greater concern for the interests and needs of others.” We can’t very well walk in their shoes, but we can try to see through their eyes to better understand their perspective. Of course there is more to conflict resolution than humility and selflessness. We haven’t even touched on grace, mercy, forgiveness or love. But these two attitudes are a very practical place to begin. I encourage you, when the dissonance in your relationship with that person begins to grow, like the dissonance grows in Barber’s Adagio, exercise humility and selflessness, and you’re very much more likely to experience resolution; peace and harmony and glory to God. For a much deeper dive into conflict resolution, read The Path of a Peacemaker by Ken Sande, the founder of Peacemaker Ministries in Billings. The organization is dedicated to walking folks through the process of reconciliation, relying on Scriptural principles every step of the way.

CONSIDER IT ALL JOY Our Connect group has been studying what is, in my opinion, one of the most practical books in the Bible, the letter from James. If you have never done so, I encourage you to read the entire letter, in one sitting if possible. But brace yourself, because James pulls no punches. If there’s something in your life that is not the way God says it should be, James is going to let you have it, right between the eyes! I always think of James as kind of like that on-fire Christian – you know, the one you avoid at fellowship time because you know he’s going to ask you 1) whether you are reading your Bible consistently and 2) what God is teaching you right now. In chapter 1, James jumps right into the meat of his letter by urging the recipients, the Jews scattered by persecution, to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (verses 2-4).” We’ve all lived long enough to know that if you are not currently experiencing a trial, then either you are just coming out of one, or one is coming down the pike very soon. That’s not pessimistic thinking, it’s reality in this broken world. Chuck Swindoll says that often, the music of life is played in a minor key. Our perspective on the hardships and difficulties of life is directly influenced by how we view God. The world uses adversity and suffering as an excuse to reject God’s very existence. “I’d believe in God if there weren’t so much suffering in the world.” Or, “If there is a God, where was he when my fill in the blank with a family member got cancer and died?” But the Christian is to consider those hard, painful things “pure joy”. Why? Because hard times are fun and we just love and look forward to them? Of course not. No one enjoys difficulty and painful circumstances. No, the reason we’re to consider our sufferings “joy” is because we have God’s assurance of what it should produce in us –Perseverance. Endurance. Determination. Persistence. Stamina. Fortitude. Grit. Tenacity. Yes, I used the “thesaurus” function in Word! But perseverance is not the end product, as attractive a descriptor as it is. God doesn’t want to simply produce Christians with stick-to-it-iveness, who bear up under trials. No, that is just the intermediate goal. The final goal is growth; it is Christian maturity. We all like to think we’re mature, especially the older we get. But it’s certainly not a given. We’ve all met older folks whose outlook on life is about as deep as the kiddie wading pool in the park. It’s sometimes jarring when we encounter such a shallow perspective. We naturally assume by their gray hair (or the lack of hair), that the heart has gained some vigor and intensity. And occasionally, it’s not true. I would suggest that such a person has either not experienced much heartbreak and deep pain, or that they have not allowed that pain to change them. Maturity develops as we bear up under suffering and hard things and pain, and put our trust in God through it all. A.W. Tozer famously said, “It is doubtful God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” So are we to go looking for painful experiences, so as to increase our Christian maturity? We would speculate about the sanity of a person who held that view. No, it doesn’t require searching out; “trials of many kinds” naturally come to us. And unfortunately, as much as we would like to join the world sometimes in blaming God for those trials, we can’t lay the responsibility on Him. He created mankind with free will. Without free will, love, the basis of God’s economy, could not exist. But with free will arrived sin. And that sin caused the fall from perfection of both mankind and creation. The final result is all the pain, suffering and hardship we experience from the time we can recognize it until the day we die. So, yes, we want to: 1) persevere through the struggles and 2) come out the other side as more mature Christians. The first step is relatively easy. No, I didn’t say “easy.” I said “relatively easy,” as in comparison to step number two. When I was in the middle of some very painful and very public trials, I was asked, “How are you making it through this?” I have no recollection of how I responded then, but now, looking back, I think, “What is the alternative?” You’ve been there, too, I know. How in the world did you survive that devastating disaster? that catastrophic calamity? that awful tragedy? that horrifying event? I can tell you. You woke up every morning (assuming that you slept the night before), you asked God to give you the strength to survive until lunch, you put your feet on the floor, and you did what you had to do. We either persevere or we check out, ending up curled in the fetal position, sucking our thumb. So yes, we’re going to get through the painful things, but how to come out the other side with enhanced godly perspective, deepened godly understanding and more passionate love for God and for others? That is the question. The challenge is to come out the other side of the pain a more mature Christian. The answer lies in staying very close to God. It’s His work to do in our lives. Where else can we find our comfort and power and the love we need to make it through? Who else can we turn to who knows our situation better? Who else will listen to our cries and always respond perfectly? Who else can offer us the exact balance we need between compassion and tough love, to move onward and upward? And instead of viewing the trial as God being uncaring and callous, understand that it is almost certainly His way of making us more like Jesus. Because isn’t that the goal of our lives? Christlikeness? Steven Curtis Chapman, one of my favorite Christian artists, wrote a song back in 2001 called Bring It On . In it, he sings, “Now, I don't want to sound like some hero, 'cause it's God alone that my hope is in. But I'm not gonna run from the very things that would drive me closer to Him, so bring it on.” He knew that often the hardest things in our lives work to make us more like Christ – more mature! We cling to Him, we pray to Him, we hope in Him, we listen to His Word, we continue to love Him and others. If we do those things even through the pain, we end up looking a bit more like Jesus.  For further encouragement, read II Corinthians 4:16-18

AGING  It has been said many times and in many different ways, “Growing older is not for the faint of heart. When I was young I was skeptical. I’m quickly becoming a believer. Now I realize that, at age 62, I’m younger than most who are reading or listening to this devotional. But the indicators of age are definitely encroaching upon me. If you know my wife Erin, you know that she is very soft-spoken. However, I find myself asking her to repeat herself far more often than I did when we were first married, about fifteen years ago. I had my hearing tested not long after we were married and was told that I had lost a bit more than 10%. I have not been back since. I don’t want to know how much that number has increased! And speaking of hearing, I was talking the other day to an older gentleman who had recently purchased a new hearing aid. He was telling me how terrific it was, and how he hadn’t heard this well in years, and how it was definitely worth the price he had paid. I said, “What kind is it?” He responded, “I think it’s about 4:00.” Also, like several of you men, I’ve had some unpleasantness with my prostate. I’ll not elaborate. If you’re one of those men, you understand. And I could go on, regaling you with stories of hair loss, vision deterioration, crepey skin, neuropathy, back pain (remember the days when you could sleep for twelve straight hours?), memory issues, decreased energy and creaky joints. My son recently called me out for making “old man noises” when I sat down next to him. I hadn’t even heard myself doing it. You know probably better than I do that this is a time of increasing vulnerability and dependence, limitation and isolation. Pastor and writer Stuart Briscoe called aging a time of “diminishing.” It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Lest I begin to discourage both of us with all this talk of diminishing, let’s not forget the upside! Hopefully we make wiser decisions than we used to and are a bit more stable emotionally. We tend to focus more on the things that matter, like relationships and meaningful experiences. We’ve learned to manage our expectations and let go of some of the relational stresses that used to weigh us down. And on the more concrete side of things, most of us have the house to ourselves, the stress of full-time employment is gone, and we have a lot more free time than we used to have. And of course, many of us have grandchildren (and even great grandchildren) to love on. The Bible has quite a bit to say about aging. Even though we’re getting older, we’re still called to follow closely after God. Proverbs 16:31 says, “A gray head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness.” Righteousness is not just a young person’s game. Right living - following God’s commands in our thoughts, words and actions - never gets old. Getting older doesn’t mean we dry up, either. Psalm 92:14 uses the imagery of fruit trees, encouraging us who are getting on in years to keep on producing spiritual fruit. “The righteous…will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green.” I pray that you are still very green (I know that you are full of sap), and that you are still yielding fruit. At the mention of fruit, my mind immediately jumps to Galatians 5:22,23, where Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” How is your fruit production lately? I’ve heard some older folks say, “Now that I’m X years old, I’m all done with ministry. I’ve passed the baton on to the younger generation. Let them do the work now.” I’m afraid the Psalmist doesn’t allow that attitude. If you’re discouraged about ministry, ask God to open up an opportunity for you (See my emails dated May 1st and May 8th where I mention a “helps” ministry, if you need an idea of where to plug in. And more opportunities for ministry with the seniors are just over the horizon). In II Corinthians 4:16 Paul writes, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” I’m not sure I care for the word “decaying” that the NASB uses, but other versions are no better. The NIV says “wasting away,” the KJV uses the word “perishing,” and the Living Bible paraphrases it “dying.” I don’t really think Paul was specifically talking about old age here. I think he was referring to the physical deterioration every adult faces all throughout his or her life. I had a college roommate who often said, “We all started dying the day we were born.” Not very uplifting, and pretty atypical language for a twenty-something young man (my roommate was very…eh…unique), but it’s true. Paul knew it, too, and used it to encourage, not discourage the Corinthians. Here’s the Snyder Paraphrase of II Corinthians 4:16: “We may be losing our physical faculties little by little throughout our lives, but God continues to watch over our spiritual life until the day we go to meet Him.” And that’s something to rejoice about! My parents began their slow decline into dementia and eventually death about fifteen years ago. I wish I had found Isaiah 46:4 then. It would have encouraged me in my moments of despondency as I watched them fade away. I’m now about fifteen years younger than the age they were then, and the verse encourages me now regarding my own life. “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” What encouraging words! He made us and has carried us along every day of our lives (which is mentioned in the verse just prior to this verse). And He will continue to carry us even as we age. And he will deliver us! God doesn’t say what He delivers us from, but I’ll bet I could get a few “amens” if I said many of us need to be delivered from discouragement. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re dealing with loneliness or grief or chronic pain or isolation or the loss of your independence or fear. So be encouraged today. God has not left you alone. He loves you and He is, even now, carrying you in His all-powerful and everlasting arms. Rest there. Our son is former army; he owns several guns, one of which is an AR-15 that he built himself; he works armed security at a gated nuclear site and lifts weights for an hour every day as part of his job (needless to say, we don’t wrestle anymore like we did when he was ten). I recently watched him one evening tenderly carry, one at time, his two sons, ages three and one, off to their beds. He’s a big, powerful guy and yet the gentleness and love he showed to Cody and Tyler was a great picture of how God, so big that He’s present everywhere and so powerful that He has no rival, carries us gently and tenderly. Remember how close your face was to your small child when you carried him or her to bed? That’s how close God’s face is to you. Talk to him. Pour out your grief and fear. And rest in His arms. Only the strong live this long, but it’s important to remember that God is still, and always will be, carrying us like a small child when we are too weak and frightened to find the way ourselves.

DAVID AND GOLIATH, PART TWO They moved toward each other, the Philistine army following some distance behind Goliath, eager for the long-awaited victory sure to be theirs. No one followed behind David; he was completely alone, or so it appeared. As they neared each other, the size difference became more obvious. When they were close enough to communicate, the giant saw his opponent and began to threaten the boy, mock Israel and blaspheme their god. The boy looked this mountain of a man up and down. He noted the armor; he saw the javelin, sword and spear; he couldn’t help but realize that he had no earthly chance of defeating such a warrior. But that didn’t faze him in the slightest, because it wasn’t an earthly chance he needed. His victory would come directly from heaven. His voice rang out across the valley so both sides could hear him: “You come to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” (I Samuel 17:45-47) Pretty big talk from such a relatively little guy. But Goliath felt the sting of it and rose to the challenge. He moved forward to swat this little fly and end the game. David ran across the relatively flat valley floor – yes, ran – to meet him, and when Goliath was in range, David took from his ammunition pouch a smooth, round stone, one that he had picked right out of the streambed of Nahal HeEla that very afternoon. And he let fly. A few months ago I thought it would be kind of fun to learn to sling, so I went on a website that sells them and found that swinging a sling in a circle a bunch of times around your head is not necessary for effectiveness. In fact, one twirl is all that is necessary. It’s an extremely quick process. If David had started zinging that thing around his head repeatedly, Goliath would probably have at least raised his shield for a moment. But he had no warning at all. David had that stone placed in the pouch and in the air in probably less than three seconds. And slung stones fly amazingly fast. Videos on that slinging website I mentioned showed incredible speed and accuracy, easily lethal. So Goliath never saw it coming. That stone hit him square in his massive forehead and killed him. He fell like a redwood. It’s interesting that I Samuel 17:50 says the stone killed him. But then verse 51 says David, having no sword, ran up to Goliath’s inert body, took his sword and cut off his head, killing him with it. The only man in the Bible to be killed twice! I say that tongue-in-cheek, because I find this description of events, as gory as it is, to be both inspiring and humorous, and I’m willing to give the writer of I Samuel a pass and not question him as to why he says both the stone and the sword killed Goliath separately! Goliath was dead in the middle of the valley floor. Cries of alarm and shock rose from the south. Shouts of incredulity which then turned to fierce victory rose from the north, and it only took a moment for the army of Israel to come streaming across the valley, attack and route the discombobulated Philistines. I hope you’ve enjoyed this dive into the history of Israel and David. But there is a takeaway. I’ve always wondered how David could be so confident that God would save the day. Would you or I have volunteered? He was essentially betting his life on the belief that God would step in and win this battle. I think part of the reason for his limitless confidence lies in what happened in I Samuel 16 when David was anointed the next king of Israel by Samuel. That was an ironclad guarantee of life. We are not guaranteed tomorrow; David was guaranteed the crown. And he used that guarantee to bring glory to God by killing Goliath. But what about us? We are to live by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7) in a world with no guarantees. The world in which we live is a dangerous place. Our families, our reputations, our homes, our livelihoods, our retirement years, our health, our very lives, can be damaged or even destroyed in short order by circumstances beyond our control. The giants we face don’t wear armor or wield a sword. Our giants are fear, false accusations, grief, betrayal, declining health, loss of income, unfair or even illegal business practices, deceit, violence, anxiety and depression, disease, greed, fractured families, addictions, ungodly attitudes and selfishness. Add your own giant to the list if I’ve neglected it. But we have guarantees, too, just like David did. These guarantees don’t promise us the kingdom of Israel or even continued life here on earth, but they do promise us peace of mind, the presence of our Father in our lives as we square up against our giants, joy, victory over sin and, in the end, eternal life in glory with God. Pretty iron-clad if you ask me! How about some promises to ponder: The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God “will never desert you, nor will He forsake you (13:5).” Some of the last words Jesus spoke were, “I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).” I Peter 2:9 says that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” The writer of Hebrews encourages us again in 4:16, telling us, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” and in 13:6, “We can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Peter again: “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (I Peter 5:7).” And don’t forget Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Against the ultimate giant, death, we know that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21),” …and I Corinthians 15:53-57: “ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our ultimate victory, whatever we face here on earth, was bought by the blood of Jesus on the cross. “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).” And finally, Jesus told us, in John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” So be encouraged today. You possess the same power that David did; the awesome, unstoppable power of almighty God. Face up against those giants in your life with confidence, trusting God’s promises to see you through.

DAVID AND GOLIATH, PART ONE It was hot overlooking the flat, treeless Valley of Elah. Approximately two and half miles long and just under half a mile wide at its widest, the valley ran east/west. The stream, Nahal HeEla, ran only during the rainy season, so right now the streambed was dry. The Israelite army, commanded by King Saul, was camped in the hills on the northern side of the valley. The Philistine army was camped in the southern hills, at approximately the same elevation. In other words, the armies, a mile apart, looked each other dead in the eye about two hundred feet above the valley floor. The men of the army of Israel milled about aimlessly. It was almost time. Tension built. Tempers flared over minor issues. Work ceased all through the camp. No one began a task, no matter how small, because in just a few moments they would be interrupted. And the soldiers of Israel were not disappointed. Brazen trumpets blared across the valley to the south. The soldiers left what they were supposed to be doing and filed partway down the slope to a point just above the valley floor. A large portion of the Philistine army was marching north across the valley toward them. Most stopped halfway across, but two continued on to within a long bowshot of the watching Jewish army. One of the two men was absolutely enormous, between nine and ten feet tall. Rumor had it that his armor weighed over one hundred and twenty pounds and that on his massive spear, the head alone weighed a cool fifteen pounds. His name was Goliath. He shouted to the watching Israelite army, “Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you’re all committed to Saul, aren’t you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you’ll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!” (I Samuel 17:8-10 The Message) This was not the first time the giant had issued the challenge. He’d been at it every day for almost six weeks. But the entire army of Israelites still melted away in fear, back up the hill to their camp. And the giant laughed in derision. Where was the king of Israel in all this? You remember, Saul, the man who was both the most handsome and tallest man in Israel (I Samuel 9:2)? I looked briefly online, and most scholars believe the average height of men in those days was probably around five foot six. But I Samuel 9:2 says Saul was head and shoulders taller than anyone in Israel, not just the average man. I’m just guessing, but I would think some of the tallest men in Israel would have been around six feet tall. Again, I’m speculating, but I believe that would put Saul at maybe six ten or more. You included Saul in a mass of Israelite men and you would see his head and shoulders sticking up. He literally stood out in a crowd! Almost seven feet tall is a far cry from nine foot nine inches, but Saul, as warrior king of Israel, seems like the natural choice to fight Goliath. And this single combat was apparently not an unusual thing in the ancient world at that time. I Samuel 17:4 says that Goliath was “a champion.” You don’t get that moniker simply by being the biggest guy around. It’s clear that he’d done this sort of thing before and come out on top. But why would any king, backed by an army, even consider such a thing? Have you ever wondered why Saul let this go on forty days? Saul had three choices: 1) fight Goliath alone, 2) attack with his army or 3) withdraw altogether. It had to be terribly demoralizing to his men to hear Goliath’s taunts every day. Why continue this daily circus? Saul lacked the integrity and courage to pursue any of the three choices. God had rejected him (I Samuel 15:26), the kingdom had been torn from him (I Samuel 15:28) and most importantly, the Holy Spirit had left him (I Samuel 16:14). He was a shell of a leader at this point and would be for the rest of his life. He knew full-well that fighting Goliath alone would cost him his life. Goliath was huge and experienced, and besides, Samuel had told Saul that God already had a replacement king waiting in the wings (I Samuel 15:28). And, of course, asking God for help was out of the question. Saul was not walking with God. It would be a short and bitter battle and his entire army would watch him humiliated and destroyed. Saul was very proud and I’m sure would not want to leave that kind of legacy. Attacking was also out of the question. God specifically mentions Saul in I Samuel 17:11, when describing the reaction of the Israelite army to Goliath’s taunts: “Saul and all Israel…were dismayed and greatly afraid.” I doubt the idea of attacking the Philistines ever entered Saul’s mind. He was terrified. And withdrawing wouldn’t solve anything. The Philistine army would simply advance farther and farther into Israel until either Saul surrendered or took a stand and fought them somewhere else. So Saul was caught between two rocks and a hard place. He wouldn’t fight Goliath himself, attacking with his army wasn’t an option and retreating would solve nothing. And then a teenager showed up who believed God would save the day. David certainly had no idea what was in store for him when he got up that morning. He could not have known that he was going to be transformed from “lunch delivery boy” to “champion of God” and “giant-slayer,” all before supper. It was probably after noon by now and the heat was intensifying in the Valley of Elah. Several hundred yards from the southern verge of the valley stood a giant, nearly ten feet tall. Beside him, dwarfed, was his armor bearer, of normal height. Filling the valley behind him, was the Philistine army. Facing Goliath, having just made his way down the slope toward the northern verge of the valley, now standing out on the valley floor about a quarter of a mile from the giant, was a teenage boy. No Israelite soldiers followed him. The giant “had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze [about 125 pounds]. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron [about 15 pounds].” I Samuel 17:5-7 (NASB). The teenager wore no armor; only the simple clothes he had put on before he left home that morning. He carried only a shepherd’s sling, composed of two cords, each about 24 inches in length, with a thong in the middle. The sling was used to defend his father’s sheep from predators, though this teenager was known to use his bare hands on occasion! He was no pushover, but also no match for the huge, seasoned warrior across the valley. The boy, however, was special. Yes, he had been secretly anointed the next king of Israel. That was special, but not special enough to win this battle. The title “King” didn’t provide courage or bring victory. After all, the current king of Israel was cowering in his tent a safe distance from the battle line. No, what made this teenager special was his unwavering belief that YHWH would win the day and he was glad to simply be the weapon He would use to accomplish that victory. To be continued...