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I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about pain. Pain hurts!

For the last several months I’ve been dealing with almost constant neck pain. X-rays show significant degenerative arthritic changes of my cervical spine and I think I aggravated the underlying problem with all the lifting I did during our move.

I’ve been seeing a chiropractor, which helps some. I’m also doing stretching and strengthening exercises, will be starting PT soon, and my PCP gave me a referral to physiatry. In other words, I’m doing everything I can to mitigate the pain.

Richard Rohr, in his article “Transforming Pain” stated, “If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it—usually to those closest to us: our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, and, invariably, the most vulnerable, our children.”

We see the truth of these words played out in our world everyday, in broken homes, shattered lives, abusive relationships, and wounded hearts. On the world stage we see it most dramatically in the wars and conflicts between nations or people groups.

Whatever the setting, whether in private homes or armed conflict, the root cause is pain, the pain of poverty, disrespect, alienation, and despair. When this pain is allowed to settle in one’s soul it leads only to more pain, both for ourselves and those around us.

Just as I cannot fully eliminate the pain in my neck, so personal, family, and societal pain is tenacious. The secret is not necessarily to stop the pain, but to transform it into something positive, to use it to help us grow. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3, 4).

Pain can cause terrible harm, especially if we transmit our pain to others. However, if we let God transform our pain and use it to help us grow, not only are we changed, but our corner of the world changes too. Transformed pain makes us more sensitive to the pain of others and the effect can be contagious.

No one really enjoys pain, but 2 Corinthians 4:17 promises “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Whatever kind of pain you are dealing with today, whether physical, emotional, or something else, give it to God and let Him transform it into something good – a thing called Hope.

Today, October 14, 2023, a total solar eclipse will be visible from Oregon to Texas. As the moon crosses in front of the sun, the skies will darken as the sun’s light is partially blocked, leaving just a “ring of fire”. It will be a spectacular event, one people will travel hundreds of miles to see.

For most of us, a solar eclipse is an easily explainable, though still amazing, scientific event, but for our ancestors this was not the case. For them solar eclipses generated not wonder, but fear.

Ancient myths often featured a beast or an angry god trying to destroy the Sun. The Chippewa shot flaming arrows into the sky in an attempt to rekindle the Sun. Peruvian natives did the same thing, but they were trying to drive away the beast that was eating the Sun. For Indonesians an eclipse was caused by the god Rahu swallowing the sun. This didn’t work, because the sun burned his tongue, so he spit it out.

We laugh at the foolishness of these traditions, but we too tremble when the unexpected comes our way. We may not fear a solar eclipse, but we do fear the unknown. We often are overcome with worry and despair when the unexpected happens or things don’t go as we had planned. When the light of God’s presence is momentarily blocked by unforeseen circumstances, we stumble in the darkness, trembling in fear about what will happen next.

It doesn’t need to be this way, however. God has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). In an eclipse, the sun temporarily blocks our view of the sun, but the sun is still there. In the same way, God is still, even when troubles and worries momentarily block our view of Him

So, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NIV). Don’t be afraid of the dark, because, even there, God sees you, for “darkness and the light are both alike to [Him].” (Psalm 139:12 NKJV).

The sun will come up tomorrow, of that you can be sure. You can also be certain of this – your Heavenly Father will never leave you, even on your darkest day. You may not be able to see Him, but He is still there. Grasp His hand by faith and he will guide you safely through the darkness back into His marvelous Light.

My morning walks are becoming more colorful as we move farther into autumn. The trees, which in the summer were a fairly uniform green, are changing before my eyes, their inner beauty coming out. Each is unique. Some are orange, others yellow or red, still others a mixture of purple or pink.

The amazing thing is those colors were there all the time, hidden away. It took a change in the seasons, a blast of cold air, to bring out their inner beauty. The leaves actually had to die, before they could be transformed.

The Bible says your beauty, “should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4 NIV). Each of us is unique, created by God with specially designed attributes which He has given us to bless others and bring beauty into the world around us.

However, for these gifts to have the impact they were intended for, a transformation must take place. The Bible says, “we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This transformation is not an easy one. God, in His mercy, sends trials our way to speed the process. Paul warned of this in 1 Corinthians 5:12. He said, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

Just as the leaves must endure the cold and even die for their beauty to be revealed, so we must endure hardship and fiery trials, even dying to self, if we are to be transformed into the image of Christ, so His beauty can shine through us.

Today, as you enjoy the beauty of the autumn leaves, ask God to work a transformation in your life too. This will mean facing some difficulties and hardships along the way, but in the end it will be worth it all, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Autumn is a time for change. Ask God to change you too, that others may see His beauty through you.

Stand Up!

Yesterday we were babysitting our grandson when he crawled across the floor, grabbed a hold of my pant leg and pulled himself up and stood. I was thrilled, not only that he stood, but because he chose to come to his grandpa, instead of grandma (she was so jealous! I loved it!).

He was apparently quite proud of himself, because he got a big grin on his face and yelled, “Eh!” This apparently means “Look what I did!” Well, actually, he says, “Eh!” for almost anything. Whatever he means by it, we just love hearing his voice.

As happy as we were to see our grandson reach this milestone, the joy we felt pales in comparison to how God feels when one of His lost children takes their stand for Him. The Bible says, “there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Luke 15:7 NLT).

Like the prodigal’s father, your Heavenly Father is watching for you, ready to run to you with His arms open wide, to welcome you home. “He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17).

No matter how far you’ve fallen, it’s not too deep for God to reach. Today, look up to the Father from the depths of your sin and despair. Humble yourself before Him, grab hold of His outstretched hand, “and he will lift you up in honor” and help you stand. (James 4:10).

Haven’t you crawled around in the dust of your past mistakes for long enough? Like our grandson, choose to take a stand! Just as He did to Joshua long ago God is calling you to “Stand up!” (Joshua 7:10). Don’t just sit there! Stand up! Stand up for Jesus today!

What do you fear? Losing your job? Apologizing to that person you’ve wronged? Taking a chance on a new relationship? Having enough money for retirement?

Maybe it’s not a “what”, but a “who” that’s got you shaking in your boots. Your boss? Maybe your spouse? The guy at work who’s always making your life miserable. That bill collector who won’t leave you alone?

Whoever or whatever you fear, that fear can be paralyzing, keeping you from reaching your full potential. The problem is your fear is misplaced.

The Bible says there is only One whom we should fear. Deuteronomy 13:4 (NLT): “Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.”

When we fear the Lord we don’t need to fear anything or anyone else, because God is on the side of those who fear Him. Psalm 25:14 says, “The Lord is a friend to those who fear Him and Psalm 115:13 adds, “He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly.”

Good things come from fearing God. Ecclesiastes 8:12 assures us “those who fear God will be better off.” If you fear and obey God “you will enjoy a long life” (Deuteronomy 6:2). Our Heavenly Father provides for and “gives food to those who fear him.” (Psalm 111:5).His “delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 147:11).

Those who fear the Lord can count on Him to “show them the path they should choose.” (Psalm 25:12). God will be “your helper and your shield.” (Psalm 115:11). He provides security for those who fear Him and “he will be a refuge for their children.” (Proverbs 14:26). The Lord watches over those who fear him…” (Psalm 33:18) and “surrounds and defends” them (Psalm 34:7).

There are many things we can fear in this life, but only One whom we should fear – the God who gave His Son to die for you and me. If we fear Him, then there is nothing and no one else we need to be afraid of.

The choice is yours. Whom do you fear?

Children can be a challenge sometimes. Our granddaughter has days when she’s just got an “attitude.” She doesn’t want to take a nap or pick up her toys and tells us, “No!” When she does this Nana will say to her, “Don’t give me that attitude, young lady!”

Most of the time, however, she’s laughing, eager to please, sharing her toys with her cousin. On those days, when she leaves to go home, we say to each other, “She had a good attitude today.”

Zig Ziglar says, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” If we have a negative, self-seeking attitude we’re not going to get far in life. But if we are positive, caring about others, and putting their needs first, we can make a real difference in the world for good.

The Bible tells us, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Philippians 2:5 NLT). What was Jesus’ attitude? He “gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.” (vs. 7).

In the eyes of the universe you can’t get much lower than a human being. Afterall, we are the one planet that rebelled against God and our behavior has been pretty disgusting since. Yet, Jesus loved us so much He became one of us, so that we might be saved.

When you truly accept Jesus as your Savior and give Him full control in your life, He changes your whole attitude towards others. Where once you were selfish, arrogant, quick to get angry, critical, you now are kind, compassionate, and “humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves”, not looking “out only for your own interests, but [taking] an interest in others too.” (vs 3). In other words you “have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

I’m not saying you will be like this all the time. Just like our granddaughter’s attitude can change from day-to-day, if we take our eyes off Jesus, we can easily slip back into our old sour attitude. But, as we spend more and more time with Jesus we will become more and more like Him, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (vs. 13).

James 4:10 tells us to “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” Or as Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude…will determine your altitude.” Ask God to give you the mind of Christ today and “humble yourselves before the Lord.” If you do, He will someday lift you up to heights you’ve never dreamed of, to a seat with Him on His throne (Revelation 4:2). And you can’t get any higher than that! But it all starts with attitude.

Saturday evening our church had its Fall Harvest Festival. There was music and singing, popcorn and cotton candy, and all different flavors of soup and bread served under a tent in the church’s backyard. We had ponies for the kids to ride and goats for them to pet. One lady dressed as a bee and her husband wore a beekeeper’s costume and chased her with a bee smoker. There were prizes for the best costumes and games for young and old.

The weather was a little bit crisp, so they built a big bonfire. The flames were nice and hot and I kept changing positions, so I would toast evenly. The fire started out really well, with flames reaching toward the sky, but they hadn’t set aside wood for later, so it soon burned down to a bed of coals. No matter how they fanned the flames, they couldn’t keep it going without more fuel.

The same thing can happen to us as Christians. We start our walk with Christ filled with enthusiasm, ready to set the world on fire, but soon the everyday cares of life beat us down till our faith is only kept alive by dying embers. Without a steady supply of fuel, the fire in our souls is in danger of going out.

Paul recognized this danger, which is why he advised Timothy to “remain faithful to the things you have been taught.” (2 Timothy 3:14 NLT). From childhood Timothy had been taught the holy Scriptures and Paul encouraged him to remember those lessons and keep building on them by continued study. He reminded Timothy “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.:” (vs. 16).

Paul knew if Timothy didn’t keep the fire fueled, by regular study of God’s Word, he could never “fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave [him].” (2 Timothy 1:6). Paul knew Timothy needed to keep studying, keep learning, keep feeding the fire if he was to be an effective worker for God.

The same is true for you and I. We need to daily study God’s Word, daily feeding the fire if we are to burn brightly for Jesus. We can’t fan into flames the spiritual gifts God has given us, if there’s no fuel for the fire.

Don’t let the fire of your faith go out today. Open God’s Word right now and feed the fire!

We attended the College Place Spanish SDA Church again yesterday and really enjoyed it (especially the potluck afterwards!). Just a wonderful group of people, friendly and giving. The one problem for me was everything was in Spanish! Can you imagine?

Rishana and Mom assured me the sermon was excellent, but I’ll have to take their word for it, because the only thing I really understood was the one sentence the pastor said in English (and I already forgot that).

You might wonder why I went, if I couldn’t understand what’s being said. There are two reasons. First, it’s where Ana and Rishana wanted to be and wherever they want to be, is where I want to be too. Secondly, I’ll never get to know Spanish if I don’t let myself hear it and what better place to hear it than in church? The more I’m exposed to it, the more I’ll understand. At least that’s the plan.

Sometimes when I’m trying to understand God’s Word and His plan for my life, I feel like He’s speaking to me in Spanish (Maybe He is, because Ana claims it is the language of Heaven). I only understand a word here and there and sometimes walk away more confused than when I started to study.

But I’m not going to quit studying my Bible just because it sometimes is hard to understand. Why? For the same two reasons I’m going to keep going to the Spanish Church. First and foremost, I want to be wherever God is and there’s no better place to find Him than in His Word. Secondly, the more time I spend reading my Bible and listening to His voice, the more I am going to understand.

Learning a new language is hard. Heaven’s language is no exception, but don’t give up. Let your prayer be, “Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” (Psalm 119:34). If you ask Him to God will “tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3). He will “fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives…” (Colossians 1:9).

So, don’t give up. Keep studying and praying and soon you’ll be speaking the language of heaven like a native! Imagine the amazing things you’re going to learn then!

When we bought our home it came with a koi pond. Now that may sound romantic to some, but it is actually an eyesore. It is filled with algae, the fish weren’t anything special, and there’s this huge rock covered mound beside it, where the artificial waterfall spills into the pond. Quite frankly, it’s ugly! We decided it would be too much work to be worth the effort, so we gave away the fish and now we’re tearing down the mound and filling in the pond.

The last couple of days Andrew and I have been loading the rocks from the mound into our pickup and hauling them to a friend’s house. He’s building a retaining wall with them. Some of the boulders are pretty big and heavy. My back’s feeling it, but we’re making good progress..

When I first looked at that pile of boulders, it seemed a little overwhelming, but we’re just taking them one-by-one and the pile’s getting steadily smaller. I’m so glad for Andrew’s help. It would have been a lot harder on my own.

Life’s a lot like that mound of boulders. Some of our problems seem too big for us to handle (and they are!). We’ll never be able to move them ourselves, but we don’t need to, because God is more than willing to help. He promises, “call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” (Psalm 50:15 NIV).

No matter how heavy your problems or how insurmountable the difficulties you are facing, “all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27). The Bible says “God moves mountains without anyone knowing it and turns them over when he is angry.” (Job 9:5 NCV).

If God can move mountains, those boulders blocking your path should be no problem for Him. Don’t try to move them on your own. You’ll just hurt your back. Instead, “call on [Him] in the day of trouble.” He promises if we call on Him, He will answer. (Psalm 91:15). Don’t wait a moment longer. Ask Him for His help today.

We’ve always had chickens. Ana says they remind her of her home in Puerto Rico. She loves those birds. I like them too, but I also think they’re dumb! You build them a nice coop and they sleep outside. You try to gather them in at night and they run away. You’re just trying to keep them safe, but they squawk like they were being murdered.

We’re a lot like chickens sometimes. God tells us to do this or don’t do that, because He loves us and wants the best for us, but we act like He’s persecuting us. He’s looking out for us, but we act like He’s trying to take away our freedom.

This must be incredibly frustrating to God. He loves us so much and longs to bless us with a long life here and an eternity with Him in Heaven. It must make Him shake His head how we choose so easily to give all that up to chase after the temporary things of earth.

You can hear God’s bewilderment in Jesus’ words, as he stood looking over Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion. With longing in his voice, Jesus cried out, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Luke 13:34 NIV).

God wants so much more for us than the silly things we settle for. He still longs to gather you and I in “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” He wants to keep us safe, to protect and guide us.

Don’t be a chicken! Don’t run away when He calls. Let’s not exchange an eternity with Jesus for a few moments of guilty pleasure and “freedom” here. It’s just not worth it. Soon Jesus will gather His flock safely home. Choose right now to be ready when He calls.