"But there's a better way"
Archives
June 5
Sometimes I invite myself to a private “pity party,”
where I play a game of thinking everyone else is more talented than I.
But then I remember that there is a better way to think!
“I praise you [Lord] because I am fearfully and wonderfully made . . .
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came
to be.” (Psalm 139:14, 16)
Life’s confusing. I
ask a lot of questions but things mean different things to different people.
But there’s a better way than asking people!
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding. then . .
.wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”
Proverbs2:1-2, 9-10.
My children want me to move, but I love my home here.
I want to be reasonable and listen to them, but I get confused.
Then I remember that there’s a better way than trying to
figure things out for myself! “Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all
your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.”
(Proverbs 3:11)
The paper is full of unpleasant and even horrible happenings. Sometimes I don’t even want to read it because I get discouraged and depressed by all the bad news! But then I remember that there’s a better way than thinking about the bad things around me. “ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17)
I would really like to be wise,
not
necessarily smart, but wise. Maybe
I should read the books written by the scholars of the world!
But there’s not enough time. Maybe
there’s a better way! “The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have
good understanding. To him belongs
eternal praise.” (Psalm 111:10)
It was one thing for Solomon to tell God that he would like
to be wise. But would God, who knows
my limitations, bother to give wisdom to someone like me?
I guess I’ll just “muddle along as I am.”
But there’s a better way! “If
any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
(James 1:5)
I’m not very good at
memorizing. Besides, we read from
the Bible every Sunday. Isn’t that
enough? What is the point of
memorizing it? I guess some people
just like to show how much they know about the Bible.
That’s the way I think! But
there’s a better way and reason for memorizing scripture.
“Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
(Psalm 119:111)
This whole idea of wisdom is a
little much for me to accept. Most
of us are just ordinary, not very wise, and why should we have all a whole lot
of wisdom just to live every day? But
Paul says there’s a better way for understanding the importance
of wisdom. “I keep
asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you
the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him [God] better.”
(Ephesians 1:17)
I keep hearing about these small
groups, “holistic groups based on scripture.”
I just don’t see how anyone can really enjoy studying the Bible!
I use my common sense in knowing what God is like and what he wants of
me. But there’s a better way
of thinking! “Oh, the depth of the
riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unreachable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! . . . For from him
and through him and to him are all things. To
him be the glory forever!” (Romans
11:33, 36)
August 7
Life gets so confusing! Smart people speak
convincingly about the problems of the world--and there are lots and lots of
problems--and their ideas don't sound too bad. It's tempting to go
along with the crowd. Then we hear the Lord say, "But
there's a better way!" "See to it that no one takes you
captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human
tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
Colossians 2:8 NIV
August 14
People do such bad things to each other. Should I take comfort just because I haven’t done some of those awful things? God says there’s a better way to think. I must remember “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23) Since that means me too, I must be careful how I judge others!
August 21
If we all have sinned and God hates sin, I guess that means that He is disgusted
with me! That’s discouraging until
I remember that with God there’s
a better way. Paul tells me
that “God demonstrates his own
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8) What a
relief!
August 28
My thinking gets all skewed sometimes. I wonder if God is sorry that He made the world in the first place. We have really messed things up! What comfort it is to realize that there’s a better way to think! How grateful I am that God “sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) If He thinks it is worth saving, I’d better be doing my part to help!
September 4
When I work in the yard and get sweaty and dirty, I can come in and scrub away
the dirt. I wish that I could do
that with the bad things in my life that God calls sin, but scrub as I may it
doesn’t go away! Then God reminds
me that there’s a better way, when He takes away
the dirty sin. “If
we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (I John 1:8-9)
September 11
Do you ever wonder if you have really done all that you must do to be a
child of God? I used to wonder that
until God showed me that there’s a better way than always being afraid I have
overlooked something. I can just
believe Him when He says, “If you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)
September 18
There
is a trap that I often fall into! I
begin to believe that I must do something to earn this wonderful salvation that
God has given me. But God won’t
let me think like that for long. He
reminds me that there’s a better way,
for I can never earn His forgiveness and salvation!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should
boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
September 25
God is so good and so pure and so holy.
I used to be afraid of Him until He taught me that there’s
a better way! Now I’m not afraid because
I know that He meant it when he said “
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into
this grace in which we stand.” (Romans 5:1-2a)
October 2
All around us there are people who work hard every day to earn “brownie points” with their bosses! Promotions and raises depend on brownie points earned, and they know that! But there’s a better way to think if God is your boss! We don’t get promoted by our good work but instead by what He has done! “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 of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
October 9
We sing, “My sin, my sin, oh the glorious thought; my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul.” How wonderful to know that there’s a better way than any I could imagine to know peace with God, and He has made it possible! “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man[woman] to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (Psalm 32:1-2)
October 16
Sometimes
I know that God is not pleased with me. I
have done something wrong, and I know it. I’ve
spoken unkindly, or not trusted Him to take care of us, or tried to do something
without asking His help. He shows me
there’s a better way,
and I feel his hand of discipline. But
it’s all right because he has also shown me that this is the way a good father
teaches his child. “He
who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” (Proverbs 13:1)
October 23
“Thy
rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm
23:4b)
I memorized this chapter in the Bible ages ago, but I hardly thought
about this portion of the fourth verse until now.
How can a rod (used for punishment) and a staff (used to push or pull
sheep into line) be a comfort? Suddenly
I think I know! It’s because God
knows there’s a better way,
and he gently uses his rod and staff in discipline to keep me walking on
the
right
path!
October 30
Our granddaughter put a wet tea set on
an antique dresser. It left a circle
that will not go away, and she cried and cried at what she had done.
I wanted to punish her, for I had told her to be careful with her tea set
if she moved away from the table I had fixed for her to play.
But her tears reminded me that there’s a better
way than harsh discipline, so I held her as she cried, remembering that
“As one whom his mother comforts, so I comfort you,” says the Lord.
(Isaiah 66:13)
November 6
Commiserating with someone who is suffering may seem good. Doesn’t “misery love company? God says that there’s a better way! He has comforted us in our grief, fear, and even guilt. Now He wants us to comfort others in the same way. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (II Corinthians 1:3-4)
November 13
As Thanksgiving approaches, the natural response seems to be to have hearts
softened and grateful for family, for friends, for life itself.
That's good! But for God's
people there's a better way!
They remember the church and the marvel of the work here, and cry
out in prayer, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity!" Psalm
133:1
November 20
The turkey is in the oven. A hint of the cinnamon from the apple pie still lingers and blends with the other cooking fragrances. The house smells so good! Our hearts feel grateful for the many material blessings that we enjoy. But there's a better way! The greatest things to be thankful for do not come from the oven! "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!" That's the real Thanksgiving message for those of us who believe! Romans 5:1
November 27
The sounds of Christmas fill the air! Christmas music makes us walk a little lighter! Somehow, everything seems a little special at this time of the year. We make lists of things to do and gifts to buy. But there's a better way! God is about to enter history in the form of a baby, and He says, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:1
We love Christmas—remembering that wonderful family with their newborn baby Jesus, so tiny and innocent. But there's a better way! Isaiah reminds us that we must see Him "high and lifted up [as] His train fills the temple" while "the angels cry, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.'" (Isaiah 6:1,3) The baby grew up and became our risen Lord! Hallelujah!
December 11
If at Christmas we only think of Jesus as a baby, we will stay as children in our faith! There's a better way! Isaiah 9:6 says, “For a child will be born to us, a son will given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus Christ was not just an ordinary baby! Hallelujah!
December 18
Just like the
shepherds, we are sometimes afraid when God comes too close.
We don’t know how to greet Him, how to receive Him.
We are inclined to play like Adam, to run and hide!
But there’s a better way! Luke
tells us that the angels told the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I
bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people; for today in the
city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
(Luke 2:
December 25
What made the little baby in the manger so different? Was he not like all little Jewish babies? The Bible tells us there’s a better way to think of Him, to understand just who He is. “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:8) Our baby Jesus was and is God in the flesh! Emanuel—God with us! Hallelujah!
January 1, 2006
We celebrate Christmas because we believe what we have read and been taught.
God was really born to us in the form of a baby on that first Christmas,
and we know that his life, death, and resurrection changed our lives.
With joy, we celebrate His birth each year.
But that’s history! Now
there’s a better way to think about Him, as we anticipate His second coming!
“The Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet
of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we- - - shall be caught up together . . . in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
(I Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Christmas is over, but He’s coming back!
Hallelujah!
January 8, 2006
We certainly are a people who like to talk! When we get together, we talk about the weather, about the Bucs, about our grandchildren! And that conversation is good. But God says, “There’s a better way!” He wants us to “Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people.” (Psalm 96:3)
January 15, 2006
The Henrys and the Woosters, our missionaries in
January 22, 2006
Sometimes we want to say things to others about Christ, and we have difficulty finding the words. How can we say joy? How can we say hope? How can we say peace? But there’s a better way! The Bible says “You . . . are a letter from Christ, . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (II Corinthians 3:18)
January 29, 2006
Open hearts, open doors, open minds!
Great motto! I guess that
means that "It's okay to believe anything as long as we believe
something!" Right?
Everyone has a right to his own ideas and my responsibility is to accept
whatever they think. Right?
God says there's a better way! "See
to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather
than on Christ." (Colossians
2:8)