Burunche’s Blog

In many African languages, there are phrases for “your fathers” or “my fathers.” Yesterday a friend came to help us at the house. When I was asking him about his kiosk he had just opened, he said, “Oh, yes, my father helped me.” I had to ask to find out whether this was his biological father or one of his father’s brothers. You see, the idea is that children will honor their biological fathers but also honor their uncles as additional fathers. It is also expected that these fathers will help whenever they can. “Fathers” have helped their “children” get educated, get started in a trade or a business, and in so many other ways.

For many in Saboba and Damongo and even in Kumasi, Bob Young is considered one of their fathers. Over the years, Bob has welcomed a steady stream of young people into our home where he has helped feed them, educate them, clothe them, and encourage them. Even today, Bob still gets phone calls and messages from these children who are now adults with families.

Bob is the one who makes the family phone calls to our kids in America, to his cousins and to his remaining brother. For those of you who are sad because you haven’t been able to have elaborate celebrations for birthdays, etc., welcome to our world. Over the years, we have missed countless such celebrations as we have continued to work at the AG Hospital in Saboba. Not once has Bob complained about our being unable to be with family at all of these special times. We miss our families terribly and must settle for phone calls and prayers and messages on Facebook.

Being married to a surgeon is a really tough proposition. Until the last few months, I was on call on a regular basis and even now I am still on back – up. This means that I can be called at any moment, and that in turn means that Bob might be wakened up at any time. My commitments to my patients have meant that we could not take the in – country vacations that other missionaries have enjoyed. Not once has Bob complained.

Bob is the spiritual head and high priest of our household. We pray together. We worship together. But in the final analysis, if a decision has to be made, we pray about it and Bob has the final say.

This Father’s Day I wish to praise God for giving me Bob Young as a husband. Bob, I love you! Let us go forward together with Jesus!

Galatians 4:3 – 7 “So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.”

I have terrible news for you! All of us were born into slavery and there wasn’t a thing we could do about it! You see, all of us were born with a sinful nature. No matter how much we might try to boost ourselves up, we would always sin!

“Oh,”but you say, “I don’t sin. I always speak the truth. I am always loving. I am always kind. I am always patient. I am always honest.” Hmm. And what happens if you are driving and someone ahead of you is driving very slowly and occupying the road so that you cannot possibly pass them? What happens if you are at work and a lazy co – worker dumps his or her work on you for the tenth time this week? What happens if your spouse has one annoying habit and he or she repeats that same action over and over? What happens if a friend shows you a new possession and asks for your opinion? Nope! The Apostle Paul was right.

Romans 7:18 – 20 says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Each and every one of us is a slave to sin. During the time of Paul, there was one way that a slave could become free. If someone paid the price for that slave, then the slave could be freed. And if a wealthy man was willing to not only pay the price to redeem the slave but also would go through the adoption process, then that slave would be regarded as a child of the rich man, with all the rights and privileges that a natural – born son or daughter would receive.

Here is the good news, the best news we can possibly have. Even though we are all sinners, God has made a way through His Son Jesus Christ for us to be redeemed from our slavery to sin and to become children of God. How can this happen?

Nothing we can ever do is good enough for us to earn our way into heaven. But Jesus laid down his life as a blood sacrifice so that those of us who would accept that sacrifice and confess our sins and believe in Jesus would have eternal life.

In the last few months, businesses have failed. People have seen those things in which they have trusted crumble into nothingness. But God gives us everlasting promises that are faithful and true. So the choice is up to us: do we continue as slaves to sin, or do we acknowledge that we are sinners and ask for Jesus to help us? Do we accept Jesus’ sacrifice and turn away from worshiping ourselves?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that nothing I have done, am doing, or will do, is enough for me to earn my way into heaven. Please forgive my sins. Thank you for loving me and for dying for me. I accept your sacrifice for my sins. Please cleanse me and help me to follow you all the days of my life. Amen.

Galatians 5:13 – 15 “For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out, or you will be consumed by each other.”

Today there are many protesting and demanding various freedoms. The question is “freedom from what?” or “freedom to do what?” Only small children assume that they can always get their way, no matter what the adults think. Becoming an adult includes learning that many freedoms have limitations. I might wish the freedom to park my car in the middle of the highway, but if I do, others will not be able to use the highway properly. I am likely to wind up with a crumpled vehicle and several lawsuits!

Freedom of speech is a critically important freedom; yet, there are those who wish to silence anyone who does not agree with them. Destroying monuments because they were erected by someone from a different time with whose beliefs you do not agree is senseless. Far better to leave those monuments and to point them out as examples of why change had to come. In rural America, there is a saying, “After all, everybody is good for something, even if they just serve as a bad example.”

John Donne observed so many years ago, “no man is an island.” Even if we are isolated due to COVID – 19, we still wish to express our feelings and opinions. Destroying books and movies because we do not like the viewpoints expressed accomplishes nothing and leaves us with a diminished world view.

When God created the human race, He gave us free will. We are free to choose good or evil, to choose darkness or light. We can choose to love or to hate. We can choose to accept God or to reject Him, and God will honor those choices. But in choosing to reject God, we are choosing to reject all that will make our lives good and meaningful and positive. The speed of darkness is the speed of light. Either the light is going to come into our lives and become brighter and brighter, or darkness will enter and eventually engulf us.

How can we best exercise our freedom? Galatians 5 has the answer: serve one another in love. The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In life, what goes around, comes around. The measure you give out is the measure you receive. If you act violently, others will oppose you violently. If you are selfish, do not expect that others will be gracious and generous to you. What goes around, comes around.

Yes, we all have the freedom to choose the paths we will follow. But with those choices come consequences. There is no choice that does not carry with it some result. If we choose to be people of peace, then others may be encouraged to respond in peace. If we act in love, we encourage others to do the same. But make no mistake! If you insist on violence and destruction, others will respond in the same spirit. And Galatians 5:15 must serve as a warning: “But if you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out, or you will be consumed by each other.”

PRAYER: Father God, today we thank you for the freedom to choose! Please help us to make wise choices so that our lives will be fruitful. Help us to serve others in love, even when they are attacking us and insulting us. And help us to be people of peace, so that others around us will catch the vision and become people of peace as well. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”

 NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! Jesus left his listeners scratching their heads in amazement and confusion whenever he taught! When Jesus gave the teachings for what we call the “Sermon on the Mount,” he was at the beginning of his ministry. For many of Jesus’ listeners, this was the first time they were hearing him. And the ideas Jesus was putting forth were radical.

Human nature hasn’t changed since Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Cain killed Abel because he was offended that Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to God while his was not. The spirit of offense is alive and well and creating havoc today, even among Christians.

What is Jesus saying here? Do you have to become a doormat to be a Christian? Far from it! One of the big problems the church in America is facing right now is that rather than standing for righteousness as American culture has deteriorated, churches have settled for programs and leadership conferences and other events and exercises. In the process, we have failed to address problems of poverty and discrimination. When situation ethics began to be taught in colleges in the 1960’s, the church turned a blind eye, perhaps hoping that it would go away. (Situation ethics embraces the idea that there are no moral absolutes but that each situation must be judged on its own merits. But if you have no standards because you have no moral absolutes, how can you evaluate anything?) Christians have refused to take unpopular stands on a number of moral issues and we are seeing the results.

For many Christians in the West today, our problem is not that we are being persecuted for righteousness ’ sake but that we have tried to avoid persecution and controversy whenever possible. There’s an old country song that says “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” At the same time, 2 Timothy 2:23 – 26 tells us “But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.”

So how do we strike a balance? First, we must recognize that the Bible clearly lays out standards of right and wrong. We cannot claim to sympathize with one group if we are physically attacking another group. Second, we must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” We must be careful not to ally ourselves with those who merely wish to manipulate us, lest we find ourselves being included with those preaching violence and destruction. Third, we need to look at our situations and see what God might already have built into them. Whom do you know who needs help or prayer? Do you have means to help or do you know someone else who can help? Fourth, we need to value the people who are trying to bring peace. Slogans and inflammatory rhetoric simply encourage people to become more violent, rather than less. Fifth and most important, we need to pray earnestly and then to listen to the Holy Spirit. God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace. If God has brought you into a particular situation, then He has something prepared for you to do, even if it is as simple as sitting and listening to another’s pain. We must be careful that in our desire to help and to heal, we do not begin to criticize other Christians who view situations differently. Ask God to help you to see those around you with His eyes.

PRAYER: Father God, we confess that we have not stood for righteousness and that we have avoided criticism and insults whenever possible. Lord, help us to be your hands and feet. Let our hearts break with the things that break your Heart. And guide us so that we will be kind to everyone and forebearing. In the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus spoke these words to a crowd of several thousand people, and many of those people must have wondered what on earth he was talking about! When Jesus was giving this teaching, the Romans ruled Israel. There were advantages to being part of the Roman Empire; the roads were better, new cities were built, and the Romans brought in strong administration. But the Romans also imposed heavy taxes and sternly enforced the payment of those taxes. As far as the Jews were concerned, every Roman soldier who strode down the street served as a constant reminder that they were second class citizens in their own country. There is nothing new about colonialism; it’s been around for thousands of years.

Even the Jews themselves had many social distinctions. There were the working class fellows, the carpenters, the fishermen, and the farmers.There were the tradesmen, who generally felt themselves to be a cut above men who worked with their hands. There were the religious scholars who felt that they were definitely in a higher class. And then there were those who had sold out to the Roman regime and become tax collectors. The tax collectors were wealthy, but their fellow citizens hated them.

As if these distinctions weren’t enough, there was also the constant tension between Jews and Samaritans. When most of the Jews were carried off into Babylon, the remainder fled to Egypt. The Babylonians brought in poor people from other lands to settle in Israel so that the land would remain fertile and productive. These people brought their own gods with them, but also began serving the God of Israelas well. As far as the Jews were concerned, the Samaritans were a mongrel people who were pagans with a thin veneer of Judaism. To the Jews, there was little difference between a Samaritan and a dog, and they might even have favored a dog over a Samaritan. And yet, it’s possible that there were even a few Samaritans hanging around at the back of the crowd, waiting to hear what this strange teacher had to say.

When Jesus began telling this huge crowd of people that they were to love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them, this teaching was revolutionary. It’s likely that while Jesus was speaking, each individual in that crowd was envisioning the people they most hated or feared or looked down upon. One fisherman might be thinking, “You want me to forgive Isaac? That no – good loafer who spoiled my best net without so much as a word of apology?” And one of the ladies might have thought, ”Humph! Forgive Mariam? After what she was saying about me the last time I fetched water from the village well? Well! I know what I’m going to do about Mariam and her lies!” And if there were any Roman soldiers standing back and watching to make sure that everything remained peaceful, it’s likely that many of those sitting close to the soldiers were looking at them out of the corners of their eyes. “Well, there’s Claudius! The last time he sauntered down the street, he picked up some of my oranges and never even paid for them! And now you want me to forgive him?”

But Jesus never bothered saying what people wanted to hear. Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of God and what men and women should do to become part of that kingdom. And even today “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” is still one of the foundational teachings about the Kingdom of God and also one of the hardest things to actually do. Frankly, none of us can forgive and pray for our enemies on our own; it takes the grace of God. But praise God, He will give us that grace if we ask.

PRAYER: Father God, please give us your grace so that we can love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We can’t possibly do this on our own. Help us to truly become citizens of your heavenly kingdom. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 1”Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.”

I have known some really great teachers in my life, but one of the best ones I ever knew was my mother. Even before Mom completed her B.A. so that she could teach high school English, she was already teaching her kids all sorts of things. Mom was a tool user; she could use carpentry tools and do simple electrical repairs. Mom could hang wall paper, and in those days, that’s what most of our houses had. Try hanging wall paper sometime and you will gain new admiration for anybody who is good at it!

Mom gave impromptu biology lessons while cutting up chickens for the freezer. My first lesson in how tendons worked came from Mom. Mom was an organic gardener before it was trendy, and we learned a great deal about ways and means of protecting the vegetables without using lots of pesticides.

When Mom began teaching high school, she would bring home stories about some of her most challenging students. I have written elsewhere that Mom literally bullied many of the underachievers into excellence and encouraged others so that they completed high school and went on for further training rather than becoming high school drop-outs. Years later, I met one of Mom’s former students who still raved about how inspiring Mom was as a teacher. Mom taught in a small town high school in rural Illinois where she probably worked with 150 students during the course of a year. But Mom’s influence with those kids was enormous, and later on, they returned to thank her and to honor her.

Psalm 1 describes a person whose life is always green and flourishing. Notice, those verses say nothing about the person’s income or social standing. In the end, those things count for very little.

When computers first came into widespread use, there was a saying “GIGO,” “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” That saying still holds true, not only for computers, but also for our minds. If we meditate on God’s word day and night, it will refresh our spirits and we will continue to be fruitful throughout our lives. But if we insist on meditating on bitterness, self – pity, envy, hatred, resentment, and continually dwell on these things, we will find ourselves becoming depressed and increasingly angry with everything and everyone around us.

Today we have a choice. What scenes are we going to play on the movie screens in our minds? We can choose to turn towards God or away from Him. But in turning away, we will be slowly dying inside.

PRAYER: Father God, today help us to focus on you and not on the things that cause us to become bitter and hateful. Help us to realize that you do love us and that you want us to have abundant lives. Give us a hunger for your Word, so that we will become fruitful and remain so all of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

John 13:1 “It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end. The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him.”

All the disciples knew that Judas had been a problem for years! Why Jesus had been willing to trust Judas with the money box was more than any of the other disciples could imagine! It was an open secret that Judas would “appropriate” amounts of money for his own use, although where the money was going was more than anybody could say. The word on the street was that only today someone had seen Judas heading off to meet with the priests, and that couldn’t mean anything good! Everybody knew that the Sanhedrin was already nervous at Jesus’s teachings and his popularity. It wouldn’t surprise any of the disciples if Judas was really cooking up something dreadful…..And yet…

And yet, that night Jesus invited all of the disciples, including Judas, to share the Passover meal with him. Wouldn’t you know it, nobody remembered to arrange for a servant to do the obnoxious tasks such as washing the dirt and grime of Jerusalem off the disciples’ feet. And none of the disicples were ready to tackle that job! Why, whoever was stupid enough to pick up that towel and that basin was automatically indicating that they felt they were less than the other disciples. James and John’s mother had already been trying to manipulate Jesus into promising that her sons were going to be his number one and number two men in his new kingdom. Nope! Somebody else could pick up that towel, thank you very much!

And so all the disciples entered the room and sat down, acutely conscious of everybody else’s smelly feet. WHEW! What a way to begin a celebration! They could scarcely concentrate on the smell of the food because of the smell of their own feet. And then Jesus did the unthinkable! Jesus got up and in a familiar gesture, wrapped the towel around his waste, took the basin and began washing all of the disciple’s feet, starting with Peter. And over the protests of Peter and everyone else, Jesus went around the room and washed all of the disciples’ feet, including those of Judas Iscariot.

Was Jesus so stupid that he had no idea what Judas was planning? Far from it! Jesus was acutely aware that Judas had already done a deal with the priests and the Sanhedrin and that sometime in the next few hours, soldiers would be coming to arrest him. So WHY, WHY,WHY did Jesus wash Judas’ feet?

I believe that when Jesus washed Judas’ feet, he was fulfilling the prophecies about the Messiah as Suffering Servant. Jesus came as both the Son of God and the Son of Man, and Jesus knew where he was about to go. Jesus was about to leave this world and return to his Heavenly Father. Jesus’ time was growing desperately short, and there were still many things he needed to teach the disciples. Chief among these lessons was the call to servanthood leadership. No lectures would have been sufficient, but to their dying days, none of the disciples would ever forget the touch of Jesus’s hands on their feet as he tenderly and lovingly washed them. So many times leter in their lives they would long for just one second of that touch! John 13:14 “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.“

But Jesus also had a special reason for washing Judas’ feet. I believe that in washing Judas’ feet, Jesus was giving Judas one last chance to repent. Really, everybody in Jerusalem knew who Jesus was and where the disciples and he hung out. The soldiers could have taken Jesus in at any time, and they didn’t need Judas to identify Jesus. Perhaps the priests wanted to make use of Judas so that they could distance themselves further from the horror of the act they were about to commit. “Look, even one of his own disciples was willing to bring a complaint against him. What could we do? We had to investigate.” No, amazing as it might seem, even as Jesus was washing Judas’ feet, I believe that Jesus was silently begging his Father to change Judas’ heart. But Judas had already hardened his heart and left the gathering as soon as Jesus handed him the tell – tale piece of bread that indicated that Jesus knew of Judas’ desire to betray him.

Today we have witnessed various acts of contrition by different groups throughout America. There are arguments about the validity of these acts when the people who are carrying them out are not the people who perpetrated the injustice in the first place. There are even questions about whether or not the people to whom apologies have been rendered were worthy of the apologies. And these are good questions.

But consider this: none of us can earn our way into heaven. Had Jesus not lived a sinless life and died, shedding his blood for us, none of us would have any chance of measuring up at all. If Jesus died for all of us, and we know that we are unworthy, what are we then to do if we are to be imitaters of Jesus?

One writer in the Olive Tree Blog put it well when he said, “I am to serve, love, and do for others like Jesus did for me.  I am to put down my own needs, my own pride, and serve others, even those who will betray me.  Even those who will turn their backs on me.  I am to love and serve as our Lord and Teacher Jesus Christ loved and served me.”

PRAYER: Father, please help us to be like Jesus. Help us to forgive and serve, whether or not those we serve are worthy. And Father, direct us so that we will serve the people you most want us to go to. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…”

Today it is fashionable to reject the country of America, using the actions of a minority of its citizens as an excuse. This type of thinking carries with it a presumption that somewhere in the world there must/should be a perfect country and that America does not measure up.

Any large group of people will present a mixed picture. Some people will be very good; others will be very bad. Some people will be people of faith; others will try to deny the existence of God. Some people will discriminate on the basis of skin color, education, financial standing, or some other bias, while others make no such distinctions. Even the very people who are being most critical about America are a varied lot as well.

There is no doubt that injustices have been done in America. Those injustices do not negate the fact that the American Constitution has stood for more than 230 years and has served as a model for many other countries around the world. The people who wrote that Constitution were human and had failings, not unlike people who are now attacking that same Constitution. Some of those who wrote the Constitution owned slaves. Some of those who are attacking the Constitution may be wearing garments produced by workers whose wages and working conditions are so poor that they are virtually slaves. Even the lithium used in long – life batteries in cell phones and computers may be the result of child slave labor in the mines that produced it.

 Throughout American history, there were those who worked for social justice and those who opposed it. There were those who did all that they could to end slavery, even to the point of endangering their own lives and the lives of their families, to smuggle slaves to freedom. There were those who approved institutionalized oppression of women and minorities and those who worked to end that oppression. The list of comparisons is endless. Bottom Line: There is no perfect country and if there were one, none of us would qualify to enter.

What we all need now is a large dose of humility. One great example is the prophet Daniel. Daniel and three of his friends were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and carried away to Babylon, where they became slaves. God allowed the Babylonians to capture Israel because they had left worshiping the one true living God to worship demons. Daniel was not part of that decision; he was an innocent victim of it. Daniel knew that he would never see his homeland again. Perhaps Daniel’s family members were killed before his very eyes before he was dragged away in chains to Babylon. If ever someone suffered injustice, that person was Daniel; yet, hear what Daniel chose to do.

Daniel 9: 1 “In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes,a a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans — 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”

Daniel realized that his people were to be in bondage for seventy years and that the time was approaching for that seventy years to complete. Daniel could have merely sat back, telling himself that God was in control and that there was nothing he, Daniel, could do about it. But Daniel chose a different way entirely! The entire ninth chapter of Daniel tells how Daniel prayed and fasted on behalf of his people, confessing their sins. (Incidentally, by this point, Daniel was elderly, having served a succession of rulers as an advisor. Daniel didn’t allow his age to hinder him either.)

Daniel 9:7 – 8 “To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.”

Even though Daniel was faithfully worshiping God and praying facing Jerusalem five times a day, he still felt compelled to intercede on behalf of himself and his countryment. Daniel made no excuses but made a comprehensive list of all the ways in which Israel had failed to follow the Lord. Daniel not only confessed those sins but also OWNED THEM because he was a descendant of those who had committed those sins. Daniel could have excused himself by saying truthfully that he had always worshiped God and that he had never bowed to an idol. Having confessed the sins of his people, Daniel went on to beg God for forgiveness, for mercy, and for the fulfillment of the prophecies given to Jeremiah. The prophecy referred to here is recorded in Jeremiah 29 in which God promises that the capitivity of Israel in Babylon will last seventy years.

[Jeremiah 29:10 “For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivityc and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”]

Today, we should thank God for the nation of America with all of its flaws and shortcomings. We ourselves are human with many flaws and shortcomings; however, we expect others to overlook our failings and to give us credit for our good points. Let us be gentle with our history, realizing that there are huge parts of it about which we might be ignorant, good things as well as bad. And let us above all else thank God that He has not rejected us but has made a way for us to be with Him through redemption by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for America! Bless this country! Guide our leaders into the ways of truth. Lord, we confess that we have turned a blind eye to the needs of many of our fellow Americans. Forgive us, Lord! Father, we ask that you send your Light and your Truth into America. Show us the areas that need to change, but allow that change to come peacefully and not in destruction. Please help all of us to forgive those who have prepetrated injustices but also help us to move forward to embrace a future in which each citizen will have equal access. Lord, we bind up every spirit of destruction and we ask for your Holy Spirit to enter every place where hatred and violence are building walls. We thank you and praise you and bless you. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 25:12 “Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him. “

Today many of us are confused. We want to help those who are oppressed but we are not sure how to begin. Some of us are reeling from the loss of jobs or damage to our communities. Each day seems to bring new and conflicting information about COVID – 19. “Wearing a mask helps.” “Wearing a mask only helps if you are sick.” “Wearing a mask doesn’t really help at all.” “Take this supplement/treatment for protection.” “No! That supplement doesn’t work.”

Many of us are fed up with news sources and social media. Where can we get reliable guidance? The only Source we can truly count on is the One who made us in the first place, the One True Living God. God is the Source of all wisdom and knowledge and the Source of all peace and tranquility. Apart from God, all other answers are temporary and ultimately meaningless.

Psalm 121 says:I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

2My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

3He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

4Behold, the Protector of Israel will not slumber or sleep.

5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.

6The sun will not strike you by day nor the moon by night.

7The LORD will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul.

8The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

“But,” you say, “I am not sure that I even believe in this God you are talking about.” Fair enough. SO, pray to Him anyway. Ask God to make Himself real to you and to show Himself to you. God is a good Father; He does not play charades with His children. What do you have to lose? Only your misery, your uncertainty, and your inner turmoil. Let’s pray.

Dear God, some of us are not certain that You are even here. Please show those who are searching but doubting that You are real and that you have power over every part of their lives. Guide those who are looking for direction. Give peace to those who need peace. Grant wisdom to those who need wisdom. And let them all know you as their loving Heavenly Father. In the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 11:6 “And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.”

There are many evil spirits in the world, and the spirit of offense is one of the most subtle. Being offended feels so good, so RIGHT!

“After all, those people who hurt me REALLY don’t understand anything; if they did, they would think the same way that I do. Obviously, they must be lesser human beings if they are that dense.”

It is no accident that suddenly all kinds of offended people are coming out of the woodwork. Resentments that have been cherished for years are being dumped on all and sundry, sometimes with disastrous results.

It is a well – known fact that Coca Cola contains so much acid that you can use it to clean the terminals on your car battery. For years, dentists have warned us about the dangers to our teeth from carbonated beverages. But Coca Cola still sells millions of bottles each day. Cherishing hurts and resentments is similar to collecting as much acid as possible; the more you collect, the more it hurts you and damages you inside.

What is the answer? How does one become un – offendable? Only by the grace of God can we change. We must start by forgiving people, even when we feel they do not deserve it. (One good question: How many times have we hurt others without realizing it? Don’t we want to be forgiven?)

1 Corinthians 13:5 – 6 says that “Love(God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self – seeking ; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it[it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rehjoices when right and truth prevail.”

Notice the mention of a SUFFERED WRONG. We are not asked to lie to ourselves. Sometimes people are asked to “forgive and forget,” and when they cannot forget, they fear that they have failed to forgive.

C.S. Lewis had a very rocky relationship with his father and struggled many times to forgive him. Finally Lewis decided that he would consciously forgive his father; he would not forget the hurts, but also he would not rehearse them. Each time Lewis was tempted to remember something hurtful his father had done, he would forgive that hurt. After some time, Lewis realized that while he could remember his father’s actions, the memories were no longer painful and he felt reconciled to his father.

Today, search your heart. Are you judging others? Are you allowing yourself to take offense at every little thing that is said to you with which you do not agree? Ask God to deliver you from the spirit of offense. And the next time Satan tries to remind you how much you have been hurt, tell him that God has taken care of it.

PRAYER: Father God, help us forgive! Without your Grace, we can do nothing. We thank you that you are merciful and that you graciously forgive us repeatedly. We confess that we are sinners and that it is only because Jesus sacrificed His life for us on Calvary that we can be forgiven. Thank you for the cross! Thank you for redemption! And thank you for eternal life. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.