Real Pearls

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. 

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" 

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face. 

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma." 

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace. 

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. 

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny , "Do you love me?" 

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you." 

"Then give me your pearls." 
"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection , the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite." 

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss. 

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny 's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?" 

"Daddy, you know I love you." 

"Then give me your pearls." 
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll.. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper." 

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." 

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. 

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style. 

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. 
"What is it, Jenny ? What's the matter?" 

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you." 

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny ... 

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures. 

God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place. 

Don't Hang Yourself... Hang Around

³ Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

⁴ Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What [is that] to us? see thou [to that].

⁵ And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

-Matthew 27:3-5

Consider for a moment the similarity between Peter and Judas.  Peter denied Christ, Judas betrayed him, but both of them were guilty of basically the same offense.  Peter did it to avoid embarrassment and possible persecution, and Judas did it for money.  Both men did despicable wrong against their Savior.

Now consider what makes them so different from each other.  When Judas saw that he had made a horrible mistake, he committed suicide.  The End.  Peter, on the other hand, had a talk with Jesus about it and received forgiveness, restored fellowship with the Lord, and the chance to preach at Pentecost.

There comes a time in every young person's life when you feel like you've really blown it.  At some point after you mess up, you ask yourself, "What was I thinking?!"  No doubt both Peter and Judas thought the same thing.  Now you have two options.  You can go out and ruin the rest of your life (Judas) or you can hang on long enough to get it straightened out with the Lord (Peter).

If you've had a "Peter moment," hang on a second!  Jesus is there for you, ready to help you out of that sin.  Just be humble enough to repent, submit and move on with life.  Even though Peter's denial must have hurt Jesus deeply, He looked past Peter's faults and saw Pentecost.  When we screw up, He doesn't say, "Look what you did!"  He says, "Serve Me!"

Judas didn't have to hang himself.  He could have talked it out with the Lord like Peter did in John 21.  Just think, we could have a book of Judas!  He could have lived the dream that Peter did!  But no... 

When the time comes that you feel like you've made the biggest mistake of your life, do what Peter did. Repent, submit, obey, press on, and move on.  You don't have to live a defeated Christian life just because of one mess up.  God has a future planned out for you.  Get back up, get it straight and keep on serving the Lord!

Isaiah 43

One of the most beautiful chapters I've ever read is Isaiah 43.  It is an invitation to renew fellowship with God, a reminder of His protection, and a picture of our relationship with Him.  Grab your Bible or click here to read it online.  It was a blessing to me, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Heavenly Persuasions

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are unseen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

-II Corinthians 4:17-18

What keeps us going when nothing else does?  Heavenly persuasions!  God tells us here that the hurt and rejection we feel in life is light affliction.  Imagine how heavier it would feel if you carried the burden all by yourself.  God is the One carrying you through, and He keeps you going when the going gets rough.

All pain is temporary.  The Bible expresses it as "but for a moment" (verse 17).  Although suffering seems to last forever, it doesn't.  To a child, a bee sting is traumatizing because he's never been stung before; we as adults know from experience that the pain will pass, therefore we calmly dress it with baking soda and wait it out.  Every trial we face terrifies us because it is uncharted waters, but we must remember that each one is only temporary.

Remember, for every cross there is a crown.  Any affliction we might face "worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (verse 17).  In other words, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus!  What a good deal: our affliction is actually relatively light; it won't last forever; and by enduring with patience, we lay up treasures that will last forever!

Quote: Finding God

"Finding God does not mean building a house in a land of no storms, but building a house that no storm can destroy."
IFBKJV.com Quotes and Quips

Psalm 4:5

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.
Psalm 4:5

Have you ever had to give up something you wanted very badly, for the sake of another or for the greater good?  I was thrust into this my freshman year of college, and I was not happy about it.  I had something very dear to my heart taken from me, a little at a time at first, and finally altogether...for an entire summer.  I knew this happening was God's will, but it didn't make the sacrifice any easier.  Near the end of the summer, I stumbled across Psalm 4:5, and it totally changed my perspective.

Unless you're a new reader, you've probably figured out what scenario I'm talking about.  The sacrifice I was called upon to make was Tim.  After our school asked him to be on GloryBound, he traveled every couple of weekends to churches in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas.  Soon enough the real test came, and he traveled the entire East Coast with GloryBound.  That summer was one of the hardest times in my entire life.

We are all asked to make difficult sacrifices.  Why does God always ask us to sacrifice our most precious possessions?  Abraham must have thought the same thing.  Perhaps it is to bring us to the realization that those things we call "ours" aren't really ours to begin with -- they are God's.  Perhaps it is to teach us to rely on God for joy and strength, instead of leaning on the spirituality of another.  Whatever the case may be, God assures us in Psalm 4 that even though offering sacrifices of righteousness is never easy, it's always worth it.

At a youth conference I heard a simple quote, "Brag on God, do what's right, and things will get better."  Even if you are in the middle of a painful circumstance, you have the capability to honor God in your speech and actions.  It is a sacrifice, but God calls it righteousness (Psalm 4:5).  That's motivation enough for me to at least try to do obey Him in the middle of a trial. 

The second part of the verse instructs us to put our trust in the Lord, which isn't exactly easy when the ground is crumbling underneath your feet.  It's so easy to try and put matters into our own hands, but is that a realistic aspiration?  Even if you could control your situation, there's nothing you can do that God can't do better!  Psalm 118:8 says blatantly, "It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."  The greatest part about it all is, it's worth the sacrifice!  Here's how it works:

Offer sacrifices of righteousness + put your trust in the Lord = Thou hast put GLADNESS in my heart!

That's right, someday all those tears are going to come back as joy (Psalm 126:2, 5-6).  Sacrificing his beloved son was not what Abraham bargained for, but was certainly worth it.  Abraham experienced first-hand how God provides for us and he even got Issac back, unharmed!  Oftentimes God asks us to sacrifice in order to give us something better.  Tim was more prepared for the ministry at the end of the summer than he was at the beginning.  He learned countless lessons during the summer he couldn't have at home, and to me, that's worth it.

If you see yourself approaching a difficult time or find yourself smack dab in the middle of a storm, you might discover that you must make a few sacrifices.  Understand that God has everything under perfect control, and that you can rest in Him while you wait on Him.  Things will get better, and it will be worth it.

Quote: Overcoming

"The world is full of suffering. It is also full of the overcoming of it. We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world."  -Helen Keller

For more inspiring tidbits, visit IFBKJV.com Quotes and Quips

Change the Teabag!

My college and career director, who now pastors Southwest Baptist Church, taught me a simple lesson I've never been able to forget.  "If you don't like the flavor of the tea, change the tea bag!"

Our lives are like a teabag, and it is easy to hide what "flavor" we are while nothing is bothering us.  However, when things around us get hot, whatever is in the tea bag comes out.  This can be good or bad!  What are you like in a cup of hot water?  Do you react to circumstances in a way that pleases God?

If not, it's time to change the teabag!  God wants you to have victory over whatever sin comes seeping out when things start getting tough.  He will help you if you are willing to be changed.  Sometimes it's hard to let go of "pet" sins like lashing out or having a bad attitude, because we think it feels good to express ourselves this way.  I've been there, and trust me, it feels so much better to know you are pleasing the Lord!

A few weeks before Tim came home from traveling with GloryBound, he told me he wanted to spend a weekend with his family and take them to a game out of town.  Although my gut reaction was to be disappointed that he couldn't be with me 24 hours, I held back and said that was fine.  After a few minutes, I thought to myself, "What are you thinking, you selfish brat?  He's got to have some time with his family, too!"  I fixed my attitude and decided to be happy for him, and that was so much more fun than wallowing in self-pity.  Even better, the next time he called he invited me to come be with his family for a whole day of that weekend!

You have the ability to choose how you react to life's lemons.  Rolling your eyes and sighing doesn't have to be "just the way you are."  Pray about it and be willing let God change what's in your heart.  With time, you will build a new habit of letting out a very nice flavor.

Give It to God

 ...lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 
-Hebrews 12:15b-17


If you've ever heard a sermon on this passage, you're probably familiar with the phrase, "Give it to God."  It's hard to grasp this when you've been hurt.  It's easy to let mean thoughts enter your mind, which eventually turn into bitterness.  Anyone who has dealt with bitterness will tell you that it will destroy you.  Habitually thinking evil of someone who did you harm is natural, but destructive.  The right thing to do is to give it to God, but how do you do that when you've been so hurt?

When I had to deal with bitterness in my own life, I got sick of people telling me, "Just let it go!"  I wanted to grab their necks and scream, "I can't let it go!  It's not that simple!"  If you have experienced the same frustration, it's absolutely true that it's not that simple.  Deep-rooted bitterness won't go away by sheer will-power; there must be an outside agent working to remove it.  This knowledge is the first step to uprooting hard feelings against someone.  You must be willing to allow God to do a work in your heart.  You must first want to change, or it's not going to happen.

In my own battle against bitterness, I had to come to the realization that in trying to take revenge on the offender, I was hurting only myself.  Thinking bad thoughts about the one to blame wasn't accomplishing anything!  What was I going to do, use the force to play mind tricks on them that would make them feel terrible?  When this hit me, I was more than happy to let God handle the situation.  You must face the reality that God can handle the situation a lot better than you.  All of those vengeful thoughts about wishing the wrongdoer would (you fill in the blank) -- God can do that, you can't!

After I truly gave my bitter situation over to God, I found a place of repentance for harboring wrong thoughts and trying to take control of a circumstance only God could fix.  In the passage at the top of the post, Esau shed many tears over losing his birthright, but bitterness was still alive and well in his heart.  How sad it would be if the story of your painful condition ended like Esau's: She found no place of repentance, though she sought it carefully with tears.  You CAN have victory over bitterness, but first you must take the responsibility of revenge off of yourself and give it to God.  He is always fair and will handle it way better than you ever could.

I Have Found the Enemy

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.   If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
 
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
 
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
 
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
 
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
 
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
 
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
 
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
 
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 
Romans 7: 15-25

What you are about to read is the most anti-humanistic post you will ever read in your life!  It has been wisely said, "If God wanted to destroy you, all He would have to do is give you over to your own wicked heart."  Have you ever been bitter, jealous, selfish, or proud?  All of us have, and thinking back to those times reminds us that we are depraved sinners in need of help outside of ourselves.  If all we look to for hope is ourselves, we will find a very shallow well indeed.  In fact, the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, according to Jeremiah 17:9.


When the Heartland staff asked Tim to consider GloryBound, I developed a very selfish attitude and a nasty bitterness.  As far as I was concerned, my summer was ruined and my precious time with Tim was cut in half.  As I mourned in self-pity, I became more and more discouraged, and soon I found myself in deep depression.  As you can see, left to myself, I had no hope.  God was not welcome in the picture and consequently I began sliding down the slippery slope of self destruction.  However, as soon as I trusted God with these circumstances that were beyond my control, my attitude changed.  Consequently, the quality of my summer has changed.

"I have found the enemy.  It is me."  It took me my whole freshman year to come to grips with this unflattering reality.  If you struggle with anger or bitterness toward a situation, let me remind you of something:  Satan doesn't have to do anything to destroy you if he sees you're already destroying yourself.  We destroy ourselves with bad attitudes, because when we develop them, we chip away at our trust in God.  Remember playing the block-stacking game, Jenga?  Every time we give into a fleeting selfish thought we are taking away from our trust in God.  Essentially, we are telling God, "I don't trust You.  I want to run my own life."  After we start removing blocks, it is only a matter of time until our spiritual lives are in ruins.

It is a solemn thought, I know.  On the other hand, nothing can compare to the joy and peace of accepting God's leading hand in our lives.  When I finally let go of all my anger and jealousy, it was like a burden had been lifted off of my back.  No, I wouldn't have chosen what I was going through, but I still had joy.  If you are on the slippery slope of misery, get off!  Life doesn't have to be that way!   He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings (Psalm 40:2).

I challenge you to find a quiet place and set aside at least an hour to get serious with God about your attitude.  Don't to the following step until you spend that time with God.  Then, change the way you think.  Next time you automatically think negatively about your less-than-perfect situation, push pause and replace it with Scripture, a catchphrase, a song, or a prayer.  It's not the power of positive thinking, it's training your mind to trust God.  If you can, day by day, gain victory over the way you think, you will have won a battle against your greatest enemy.

Ways to Correct Your Thoughts

After reading "I Have Found the Enemy," consider some of the following ways to think correctly about a situation that would normally cause a negative reaction from you.  Remember, without spending time with God first in prayer and His Word, any attempt we make at improving ourselves will not last.

Thoughts from the Bible

Isaiah 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Genesis 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Philippians 3:13-14  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 3:11a  He hath made every thing beautiful in his time...

Philippians 4:11-13  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.   I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 Thoughts from the Wise

"Don't pity the petty.  Don't hate the great."   -Bro. Sam Davison

"You may feel lonely at times, but you're never alone."   -Bro. Dave Hardy

"Don't give up what you want the most for what you want at the moment."   -Bro. Jason Gaddis

"Watch your thoughts, they become your words.  Watch your words, they become your actions.  Watch your actions, they become your habits.  Watch your habits, they become your character."   -unknown

The Answer to "Why?"

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

II Corinthians 1:3,4

Some simple questions just don't have simple answers.  "Why?" is one of those questions.  Many a sermon has been devoted to this one word everyone at some point has asked God, and basically all of those sermons come to the same conclusion: we don't know why, but God does and we must simply trust Him.

Although this is 100% true, there is another dimension to the answer to Why? that I stumbled across just today.  It is found in II Corinthians 1:3,4.  Trusting God to work on the supernatural, infinite level is one side of the coin, but there is something you can do on your limited, finite side!

I. "The God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation"  We have no capability to provide ourselves with lasting comfort.  David said, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4b).  David found his comfort in the leading hand of God in his life, and so did Paul.  If the Lord has led you to this valley, He will surely being you through it.  It would be totally against the nature of your Heavenly Father to drag you into a dark valley and leave you.  In fact, that's completely impossible.  So when you begin to ask "Why?" turn to the Word of God for comfort and you will not be disappointed.

II.  "That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."  Here lies the reason why you go through what you go through:  So you can be a blessing to someone else who will soon go through the same thing!  After you plug into the power source that keeps you going through tough times, show others how to find that same power source!  Comfort them with the same strength and grace that you have found in Christ.

That's the whole purpose of this blog!  I have been at the end of my rope, and I have experienced the God of all comfort lifting me up when I had no more strength left.  I have discovered that His grace really is sufficient, and is made perfect in weakness.  Come to find out, the command "Be strong" is followed quickly by "in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 2:1) and that means I can rely on His strength to make it through any hardship.

I have asked "Why?" and although God doesn't always give me the answer I want right away, He has given me an answer.  Instead of allowing yourself to become impatient, bitter, and angry, concentrate on what you can learn from your circumstances.  When you come across someone who is struggling just like you did, you will be prepared to share your source of strength with them.

A Tale of Two Frances'

Put on your thinking cap and imagine this silly scenario: There are two 18 year-old girls named Frances with exactly the name height, hair color, personality, and mannerisms. In fact, they're clones. During this particular day, a stream of unlikeable happenings floods both of them, but one Frances ends up still joyful at the end of the day, and the other Frances becomes utterly miserable.

The first Frances begins her day by brushing her teeth. About halfway through, she realizes that her toothbrush was wet before she began brushing. Come to find out, her sister had accidentally used it before her. Although her gut reaction was to get annoyed, she shrugged and laughed it off. Next, Frances burnt her own toast by accident. The first thing that came to her mind was, "Well, it is Monday," but she decided she just wasn't going to let it bother her. On her way to work a reckless driver cut in front of her and gave Francis a dirty look. "How rude!" Frances thought to herself. A machine gun on the hood of her car would've been really nice right about then, but she stopped her anger and whispered to herself, "No... you have to choose your battles and this is definitely not one of them." She arrived at work safely and the rest of the day went fabulous.

The second Frances brushed her teeth and realized that her sister had been using her toothbrush... again. Annoyed, she went over to her sister's room and, as nicely as she could, asked her to be more careful next time. When Frances burned her toast, she took her sister's toothbrush and swept the blackened bread with the bristles and put it in the bathroom. "That'll teach her," she thought in revenge. A crazy driver cut in front of Francis on the way to work, and in quick reflex Francis layed on the horn and got on her new enemy's bumper. She followed her by two inches for about a mile, when suddenly the rude driver slammed on her breaks, sending Frances' car hard into her back end. Furious, Frances unbuckled, stormed out of the car and started yelling at the original troublemaker. The other woman got out of her car and started cussing Frances out for following so close. Frances pulled back and punched the woman in the nose, sending her bleeding onto the asphalt. The other woman got up and started beating Frances! In a few minutes, police came and broke up the fight. Now Frances must face trial and possibly jail and a fine for damage to another vehicle, harassment and physical assault.

Need I say more?

Our reactions, not our circumstances, define us. These two girls went through the exact same things, but what made the difference was the way they responded to each undesirable happening. Frances #1 made it through the day with a smile on her face, but it wasn't because her day went well, it's because she decided she wasn't going to let petty stuff bother her. Frances #2 is awaiting court now, not because her circumctances were any worse than her clone's, but because she acted on impuse.

I've learned the hard way: if I act impulsively, I have a plethera of "Peter moments." I say things without thinking and without even meaning what I'm saying, I do things I would never do if my whole day had gone well, and I think thoughts like, "I hate my life," "Why me?" and "I would rather die than go through this."

Make it a habit to stop and think when someone ticks you off or life just isn't going the merry way you planned. Is your gut reaction to lash out or get defensive? Stop. Is it instint to think the worst about the sitation? Think, "If I give into this, Satan will have gotten me with this trick again." Like Paul with the snake in the fire, learn to shake it off. Decide that whatever ill betide, you just won't let it bother you!