No bones about it

Isaiah 66:14 (ESV)

You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

    your bones shall flourish like the grass;

and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,

    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Bones—they’re what separate us from the jellyfish. Well . . . bones, intelligence, souls, and a few other things. But the point is that bones are hugely important. You were actually born with 300 bones in your body, but as adults we have only 206. What happened? Did you lose some? No, but some of them did grow together. For example, when babies are born, the bones in their skull are still separate. They’re connected only by tough membranes called fontanelles—these create the “soft spot” on a baby’s head. Over time, the bones grow together and become solid. In the adult body of 206 bones—more than half of them are in your hands and feet. The femur (thighbone) is the longest, while the stapes (which is in your middle ear) is the smallest.

Bones do many things for your body. For example, bones keep you standing tall. They make up your skeleton and give your body its shape. Bones provide a frame for your muscles so you can move, and they protect your soft tissues and organs. They also store minerals your body needs—like calcium. And bone marrow—the stuff inside your bones—is actually a factory for your blood cells. So, yes, the bones of your skeleton are pretty important, but they aren’t the only bones you have.

You also need to have healthy “bones of faith.” You keep these bones healthy by praying to God, praising Him, studying His Word, and being with His people. The bones of faith are some of the most important bones you need to shape your life. They help keep you moving in the right direction as you follow God’s will. They protect the soft insides of your heart and soul. And they store up the power of God in your spirit, so it’s there when you need it. If you keep your bones of faith healthy, these bones will keep you standing tall when temptations and tough times come. Make no bones about it—these bones of faith are hugely important!

Dear Lord, show us how to keep our “bones of faith” strong—so we can always stand tall for You! In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Faster than the speed of light.

Psalm 33:6 (ESV)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

Have you ever wished you’d been there to see God create the world? I mean, how amazing would it have been to see how He did it all?

It would’ve been breathtaking and overwhelming. Why? Because when God said, “Let there be light!” there wasn’t just the flick of a universal light switch. Oh no! This was more like a light explosion that would have been way more than your eyes could handle.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 33:6 that the heavens were made by the word of God. He breathed out the universe and everything in it. So when God said He wanted light—that light came flying out of His mouth at 186,000 miles per second! That’s how fast light travels, so we call it the “speed of light.” God’s light streaked across the heavens, chased back the darkness, and lit up the entire universe in a blaze of brilliant glory.

Only one object can move faster than the speed of light—and that’s the speed of God. When you call out to God in prayer, He’s instantly right there to listen—and He starts working on His answer right away. The thing is, though, God may not give you that answer right away. Sometimes He asks you to wait for it, and sometimes He might not give the answer you want. But you can trust that God will always give you the exact, right answer—at just the right moment and in just the right way. He’s always working faster than the speed of light!

Dear Lord, we can’t even begin to imagine how fast light really is. And to know that You hear our prayers even faster than that is amazing to us. Thank You, Lord, for rushing to listen to us! In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Hold it together

Romans 1:20  (ESV)

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Have you ever seen workers build a brick building? They don’t just stack the bricks on top of each other. They need some sort of glue to hold all those bricks together. The glue for bricks is called mortar.

In the same way, your body is made up of 37.2 trillion little bricks called cells. And like a building, those cells need some sort of glue to hold them all together. The glue for cells is called laminin.

Laminin holds your body together.Why is that important? Because it’s another reminder that we are God’s own creation. You see, God left His fingerprints all throughout His creation. The Bible tells us that even though we can’t see the invisible qualities of God—like His awesome power and His holiness—we can see His creation and know He is real. Jesus was with God at creation, and “in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. . . . In him all things hold together”.

Laminin is a picture of what Jesus tells us in His Word—He is the glue that holds our bodies, our souls, and everything—together. So when you’re feeling overwhelmed and having the absolute worst day ever, think about laminin—and remember that Jesus holds you—and all things—together.

Dear Lord, when we start to worry about all the things happening in our life and around us, help us to stop and remember You are Lord of all—and You hold everything, together including us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Sound of silence

Luke 5:16 (ESV)

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Did you know that you could be right next to someone in space, shouting at the top of your lungs, and that person wouldn’t hear a thing? That’s not because those space helmets get in the way. It’s because voices travel as sound waves, and sound waves need something to travel on—like the atmosphere on Earth. Since there’s no atmosphere in space, sound waves have nothing to travel on. So astronauts have to talk to each other using a different kind of wave: radio waves, which don’t need atmosphere to carry them.

But God doesn’t need sound waves or even radio waves to hear us. That’s because prayers carry our voices to God. So if the God who created the entire universe is ready to listen to whatever we have to say—why don’t we pray more?

At least part of the answer is that we get distracted and busy. The busyness of school, job, church, sports, family, friends, and a zillion other things gets in the way. Then there’s texting and video games and TV shows and movies and computer work. On average, we spend almost eight hours a day staring at some sort of screen, like a TV, computer, or phone—that’s almost sixty hours every week!

In the middle of all of these fun, cool, and exciting things, God calls us to “be still” and pray to Him. Praying is when we praise God for who He is, thank Him for all He’s given us, and ask Him for what we need.

Try it today. Find a special place where you can be alone with God. In a treehouse, in a corner of your room, in your chicken coop or even in a bubble bath. Be still, talk to God, and listen for Him to answer. And, remember, God usually speaks with a still, small voice—so be sure to listen closely.

Dear Lord, thank You for wanting to spend time with us. Thank You for always listening to us and answering our prayers. In the Name of Jesus.

Perfect mistakes

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

There was a carpenter building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpahe had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was really upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. "It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this."

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at the man’s small church in Chicago.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses wedged between two blankets.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking Him! Perhaps it is something we ought to try more often, "Thank you, God, for not allowing my car to start this morning." He may have been saving your life from a car accident. "Lord Jesus, thank you for letting me lose my glasses; I'm sure they'll be put to good use or there is a lesson to be learned."

Always look for the "perfect mistakes."

Dear Lord, help us to look at the good in things. Help us to learn the lessons we can learn from the things that happen to us in life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Thank you all that gave for our freedom.

John 15:13 (ESV)

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Imagine taking a walk from New York City to Chicago. That’s about an 800-mile trek, and it would take about two weeks of non-stop walking to complete it – a lot longer if you stopped to rest.

Now, imagine that all throughout your walk there were a continuous line of people standing shoulder to shoulder, one after another through the streets of New York City, into the back roads of New Jersey, over each rolling hill in Pennsylvania – people as far as the eye can see. It continues through Ohio and Indiana into Illinois. Finally, you arrive in Chicago after having walked past 1,321,612 people.

That’s a LOT of people. It also happens to be the same number of people who have died in combat while serving this country.

It’s sobering to think of all those faces. Each face has a story – a soldier whose life was cut down in its prime and likely left behind a spouse or a child or both. Most (625,000) died during the bloody, gruesome close quarter combat of the Civil War. Another 405,399 died in World War II, and 116,516 died in World War I. There have been many different wars, and they’ve stretched across many different eras, but one thing has remained constant: The amazing courage and willingness of the American soldier to lay down his or her own life for the cause of liberty.

It’s hard to put into words just how incredible a sacrifice that is. Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Think about that for a second – no greater love. If you have lost a loved one in battle, you can rest a little easier knowing the life was not lost in vain. They may have left it all on the battle field, but these men and women have given the greatest gift a human can possibly give – their life – so we may live.

From the tattered, starving patriots who met their end battling the British during the American Revolution to the highly trained modern day soldiers who succumbed to barbaric terrorists in the Middle East, each and every fallen American soldier will forever share this incredible distinction and hold a special place of honor among all people who have benefited from their service.

Today ion this Memorial Day let’s honor the fallen with hearts of gratitude and a spirit of awe, for they gave us the gift to which there is none greater. There’s no possible way to repay them or their families – but each and every one of us can do the next best thing: Dedicate our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to preserving the freedom so many died to keep alive.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the many that have given their all so that we may enjoy our freedoms. We pray for the families that have lost their loved ones. We pray for their comfort. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Dinner with your enemies

Luke 5:27-32 (ESV)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

If you decided to have dinner with a loan shark, how would your friends and family react?

In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were viewed in the same way our present-day society disdains businesses that prey on the poor. Tax collectors were Jews who were taking advantage of their own people by collecting Rome’s taxes plus a surcharge to line their own pockets (Luke 19:8). They were considered outsiders—enemies on the same level as the Romans.

Levi was a tax collector. And yet Jesus sought him with one purpose in mind: to join his table.

“Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him” (Luke 5:27). Jesus wanted this man—this enemy of the people—to be saved. By accepting the invitation, Levi became one of Jesus’ disciples. You know him as Matthew, who wrote the first Gospel of the New Testament.

Before we came to Christ, each of us was an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10). But God loved us so much that He not only wanted to make us friends—He also wanted to make us family (Eph. 1:5). Look around you for those who’ve never known or have become estranged from their Creator, especially those who’ve been vilified as enemies. Look at their potential in Jesus and invite them to come home.

Do you know any “enemies” that need to hear about Jesus through you?

Ask God to give you the courage to reach out to someone that society has rejected.

Dear Lord, help us to love our enemies. Help us to reach out to someone today that needs Your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.