Promise Less Deliver More

Someone introduced me to a business principle recently that I had not heard before—“Promise less and deliver more.”  As I understand it, operating with this motto keeps the public from being constantly disappointed.  As you are well aware our lives are inundated with magazine articles and television commercials advertising programs that do not produce.  It is no wonder people feel like they are forever being cheated or scammed. How refreshing it is when you experience getting more than you expected. This happened to me just a few days ago.  My wife and I pulled into Arby’s to get the daily special, a couple of Beef and Cheddar sandwiches.  We placed our order and proceeded in line.  While on the way I thought “man I love their curly fries I wish I had ordered some.” To my surprise when we reached the window to pay the employee handed us our order and said, “I’m sorry you had to wait longer than usual, I’ve included a large order of fries for your inconvenience.”  Arby’s was only responsible to deliver what the sign had posted but this worker decided to deliver more.  The truth is I didn’t feel like we had to wait any longer than normal.  However, I drove away pulling those battered munchies out of the bag thinking, “what a blessing!” When it comes to God, He refuses to be restricted by the same guidelines as the business world, that’s why His motto is “Promise more and deliver more!” Isn’t that what Paul stated in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”  Isn’t he saying that God does what He promises and much more? This sounds to me like a good reason to give thanks! What do you think?         

A Reason to be Thankful

The fictional story is told that during the time the church was being persecuted in Rome, a Christian was thrown to the lions.  As he waited to be eaten, he knelt down and prayed.  Looking up he was surprised to see the lion also kneeling in prayer.  Seeing the look of bewilderment on the Christian’s face, the lion said to him, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m giving thanks.” I guess you could say that being thankful is often a matter of perspective. That’s certainly true for me. On some occasions I feel it more than others.  This past week was one of those times when I felt more thankful than usual.  First, while washing dishes I dropped my cell phone in the water. That was a dumb mistake on my part, but I was thankful it was insured.  Just a quick call and an overnight shipment put me right back in business. Then I was at the Lexus dealership getting some service done when another dumb thing occurred.  Upon being notified that the work was completed I headed to get in my car. Right at the time I started to open the door my phone rang. Since my hands were full I laid my newly purchased iPad on top of the car with the thought “I do not want to forget that.” Becoming engrossed in the conversation I jumped in started the engine and headed up the highway.  After travelling only a short distance I was startled with the sounds of a thud.  I thought “what was that?” Then I looked over to the passenger’s seat and realized “IT” was missing. Stopping the car immediately I looked down the highway expecting to find a pile technological mess. There was nothing in the road so my attention was drawn to the top of the car and there the iPad was safe and sound.  The wind had blown the magnetic flap open that covers the screen allowing it to make the loud noise. Needless to say I was overwhelmed with thanks. However, blessings like these are minimal in comparison to those we should really be thankful for.  Gadgets can be replaced, but things like our families, our health, our salvation, cannot.  During this season let us remember to “bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits” for we have so many reasons to be thankful.

Ready for Anything

R.T. Kendall in his book “God meant it for Good” tells a story about the great D.L. Moody. He was seated on a platform when he heard the man preaching make this statement: “The world has yet to see what God can do with one man who is utterly committed to Him.” Mr. Moody said in his heart, “I propose to be that person.”  Kendall continues, “We might think anybody who would want to be used of God like that would get the applause of the angels—that everything would start going right.  Within days his church burned down, and his own house burned down.  It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God.” Commitment never comes without its opportunities. While we think being sold out equal’s unlimited favor we forget that it says to God “I’m ready for anything.” With the door left wide open God responds by saying, “I have a little trial for you.” And how we answer that call determines whether we can be trusted or not. Joseph had the attitude and received the call.  It started with a dream and ended up with a dungeon.  However, throughout the whole process God was giving this young dreamer the chance of a lifetime. If he could pass the test he would move to the throne. If you have any question as to how it all turned out just cite the closing chapters of Genesis. Stamped within the pages you will find one success story after another. Joseph’s calling card if he had one would have read, “Trial accepted—Test completed—Ready for anything.”  The question that remains to be answered is “Are we ready?”      

What Are You Capable Of?

What are you capable of? Questions like this make us nervous and a bit uncomfortable.  Given the history of humanity, in the negative sense we all know that apart from the sustaining grace of God man is capable of almost any sin. However, from the positive that same grace empowers us to exceed all of our expectations of greatness. Parker Palmer, a Quaker and author writes “Everything in the universe has a nature, which means limits as well as potential.”  The problem is most of us find it easy to define our limits but difficult to discover our potential. That’s why we need God’s assistance. John Ortberg says, “One of the competencies of artistry and craftsmanship is knowing how to discern the nature of the material you are working with.  Great sculptors spend much time studying a piece of marble before they ever take a chisel to it; they describe what they do not so much as imposing a shape on the marble as in releasing what it has always contained.  Skilled potters know that as they knead and press clay, it presses back, telling them what it can and cannot become.”  He goes on to say amateurs lack this discernment, seeing every lump of clay as a potential ashtray. In contrast, the consolation for Christians is held in the truth that God knows what that clay is really destined for. Given the chance and the time God will reveal to each of us what we are really capable of.   

The Power of Possibility Thinking

In John chapter five we are told that Jesus comes upon a man that has been paralyzed for thirty eight years. He asks him a question, “Do you want to be made well?” His reply, “Sir I have no one to put me in the pool.  Every time the water is troubled, I make my way down but someone steps in front of me and I get cheated out of my miracle. Jesus then says to the man “Take up your bed and walk.” This was a totally different approach to his problem.  He was being faced with a proposition, “I need you to forget about your past, push beyond the problems and entertain the possibility of what can happen in your life if you follow my procedure.”  He was being asked to do some possibility thinking. Robert Schuller in his book, “Peace of Mind through Possibility Thinking” says: “A possibility thinker is a person who, when faced with a mountain does not quit. He keeps on striving until he climbs over, finds a pass through, tunnels underneath, or simply stays, and turns his mountain into a gold mine with God’s help.  A possibility thinker looks for all the possibilities in every situation instead of impossibilities.” This kind of thinking is reflected in the gentleman I read about recently who was panning for gold and found a large diamond worth $3,000 dollars. Dan Fagnan's friends thought he was "a fruit loop" for panning for gold near his home in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, but the amateur prospector kept on.  He found the expensive jewel in a wet pile of sand and rocks excavated from 120 feet below the surface. A close friend was digging a well and invited him to sift through the piles of debris. Dan could have said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Yet he saw something no one else could see--potential success. Maybe you are like the paralytic who faced one disappointment after another. Maybe all you see before you is a pile of rubbish. Why not take another look in the midst of those circumstances; through the power of possibility thinking you might just uncover a miracle.         

 

Fear Interrupts Our Walk

What would you guess is the most common command in Scripture? It is not for us to be more loving or less prideful or to be sexually pure.  The single command that occurs more often than any other is the two words—FEAR NOT. Why does God command us not to fear?  Fear is the number one reason people fail to get out of the boat and the one reason they as Peter stop in the middle of their walk on the water.  Fear will sink us faster than anything else.  Trust and fear are battling for our heart all the time.  Eventually one will win out. That’s why we must always monitor the source of our fear. This emotional feeling can be good. On the one hand it is an internal warning cry that danger is nearby and we had better take action and remove ourselves from harm’s way. On the other hand it can stifle our trust causing us to live lives of spiritual boredom. No wonder God repeated the command. His will is that we walk in daring faith which is just as contagious. Let me give you an example. This past June Brody our five year old grandson and his sisters came to stay with us for a week. While here we went to the neighbor’s pool for a swim.  I kept telling him not to go in the deep part of the pool.  I said, “Son you can’t swim and I might not be able to get to you if you go under.”  He replied, “Papaw I can swim.” I said “No you can’t” and repeated this several times while we were swimming. He continued to answer by saying, “Papaw I can swim.” The next week we took the entire family, (thirteen of us) to Hilton Head for vacation.  One evening I came out on the porch and saw Brody diving in the deep part of the pool swimming to the side and making his way back out.  When he got out with goggles pulled down over his ears and water dripping off his entire body he said, “Papaw I told you I could swim.”  Indeed he could.  Although I had tried to dampen his spirit, he stepped into the water without the emotional instability that paralyzes so many of us.  In him I saw the epitome of the words “fear not.” God must be pleased when we obey His command and He sees the same spirit in us.

 

Running Late?

Life is filled with strange events and I had one of those on Sunday. After the morning services we made our way to lunch and then quickly returned home. This gave us just a few minutes to rest before driving to the church for a scheduled 5:00 o’clock meeting. I thought “a short nap would be just the thing to provide that extra boost of energy before reporting back for duty.” Once awake, I began to pray for the evening service. Phyllis asked, “Are you ready to go?”  My reply was, “I’m getting there.”  The meeting was at the forefront of my mind. It was not forgotten, but for some weird reason I surmised my departure time would get me to the church twenty minutes early so there was no need to rush.  Once again, my wife asked, “Are you not leaving you’re going to be late.”  It was only at that moment that it registered with me. Through a miscalculation of the time it dawned on me that I was not going to arrive early but was actually going to be ten minutes late. Panic hit. How could this happen? How could I have made such a mistake?  Needless to say it was embarrassing to enter a room filled with new members and offer my confession. This experience reminded me of the passage in 1 Chronicles that states there were men of Issachar “that had understanding of the times to know what Israel should do.”  It seems as if we are now seeing our nation mesmerized by politics and moral instability to the point that it has lost all sense of time.  Those given to serious spiritual intuition know that the meeting scheduled by the Father with the Son is imminent.  Yet, we see people running to and fro feeling no sense of emergency. It is quite apparent that they have miscalculated the time without realization that they are running late. To save embarrassment it is my prayer that we as a nation, church and people will regain our spiritual equilibrium. I pray we will regain the insight of the sons of Issachar and understand where we are and what needs to be done that we may show up on time.