Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.
 
Mark Twain described normal life, “A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle for bread…the burden of pain, care, misery grows heavier year by year.”
 
Burdens of making a living, Burdens of anxiety because there is never enough to be secure, Burdens of sickness & death, Burdens of the boredom of the constant search for amusement, Burdens of the futility of it all in the face of death; these and more will obscure and mute the joys of life.
 
“Come unto me;” not, “believe my teaching” or “attend church,” but, “COME UNTO ME.” Many who call themselves Christians and do many good works fail to find the promised rest because they never answered the unreserved commitment, “COME!” One who believes and even teaches the exact truth may yet fail to place himself absolutely and only in Jesus’ hands.
 
Rest does not mean things in life suddenly start working out or health problems respond to prayer.  Rest means there is a relationship so pure and good that these things no longer matter.  We have a goal and a meaning to life while the world has nothing.  We have a hope for something more than life while they have darkness. 
 
If your life seems futile; if it feels like you can barely keep up with all the things and with all the problems, it may mean you should re-commit and, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.”  
 
“Come” is not a “one and done” invitation.  Paul still wrote to long time faithful Christians, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God." (Eph 4:17-19 sel.)
 
Despite all his accolades, Mark Twain died in the futility he described.  Why should you?
 
The mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory: WHOM we proclaim (Col 1:26-27).
 
Keith Ward
 

I have been clipping and redeeming coupons since we got married.  I have a file box and a system.  I search ads faithfully and use them to plan both my shopping trip and my meals.  And I don’t fall into the coupon traps—if I don’t need it or won’t use it, or did not want to try it anyway, I don’t buy it.  We got by for 50% less than most families with teenage boys.
              I seldom have one of those shopping trips you hear about, where the woman buys $100 worth of groceries for $2.98, primarily because I do not buy a lot of processed, prepared foods.  I have a garden; I bake from scratch.  My grocery bill rarely includes anything but staples, meat, paper goods, and the few produce items we do not grow, like onions, potatoes, and garlic.  You don’t find many coupons for those things, but occasionally I make a “coupon coup.”  There was the jar of mustard, regularly $1.29, on sale for 99 cents.  A 50 cent coupon brought it down to 49 cents.  There was the week Publix actually put their bakery’s key lime pie on sale for $4.50.  I had a $2.50 coupon PLUS they gave away a free loaf of French bread with every pie.  So for $2.00 I got a key lime pie (regular $7.49) and a loaf of French bread (regular $1.99).  I couldn’t have made a key lime pie alone for any less than $4.00, and theirs is nearly as good.
            Then I raided the drug store, the popular hang-out for those who are aging.  Keith needed glucosamine chondroitin.  $30.00 a bottle.  It was buy one get one, plus I had a $3.00 coupon.  We needed vitamins, regular $6.00 a bottle.  They were buy one get one, plus I had a $2.00 coupon.  They also had my favorite shampoo on sale, one I hardly ever get to buy because it is usually $4.29 a bottle.  They had it for $3.00, plus I had a coupon for $2.00 off 2, plus, for buying two, they automatically gave me another $1.00 off anything in the store at the check-out, effectively making the price $1.50 a bottle.  Finally we needed some low dose aspirins--$4.69 a bottle.  I had a $4.00 coupon, making that 69 cents.  Are you keeping track?  I bought $86.29 worth of items for $38.19.  Don’t tell me the time I spend clipping and sorting isn’t worth it.      
            Redeeming coupons brings to mind another sort of redemption.  I am always thrilled when I get a high quality item for a low price.  I would never pay full price for a crushed box of crackers or a dented can of tomato paste; nor would I for wilted produce—maybe half price for overripe bananas because they still have some use.  But top dollar?  Forget it.
            I am so glad God was not as stingy as I am!  He redeemed me, paying full price not for dented cans, crushed boxes, or even overripe bananas.  He got the culls, the totally useless, rotten, spoiled produce; he paid top dollar for something no one else would have even considered buying. 
          I think, when you have “been good” all your life, perhaps “raised in the church,” as we are prone to say, it is hard to realize our worthlessness, and really appreciate what has been done for us.  An old song goes, “Alas and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die; would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?”  I noticed that in one of the newer hymnals that last line has been changed to “such a one as I.”  Unh-unh.  We need to get the “worm” back in there, because that is how low we were—totally worthless and disgusting--when Jesus redeemed us, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold…but with precious blood, as a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ, 1 Pet 1:18,19.  Truly the Lord is gracious.  In fact, we got the real bargain—precious grace for irregular, damaged merchandise!
 
For while we were weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, maybe for a good man someone would dare to die.  But God commends his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Rom 5:6-8     
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer, Laurie Moyer

Dear One,
Have you ever noticed the three different kinds of people described in Acts 17 who heard the Gospel message? There were those in Thessalonica, who wanted only traditional ideas. There were the Athenians at the end of the chapter who wanted to hear all new things. Sandwiched in the middle were the Bereans, who were more concerned with whether or not the things preached were true. I know your heart well enough to know that you are a truth-seeker, and I applaud you for it. It is too easy for those in your age group to feel the pull toward the Athenian perspective. I do not say that all open-minded young people are sensationalists, but new ideas and approaches do have a built-in level of excitement. May I caution you not to let those aspects overpower your perception of their core worth.

It has always been the case that younger generations have a certain amount of impatience with, if not downright disdain for, a traditionalist approach to their life. In many ways this is a natural outgrowth of making up your own mind about things, and as such is healthy. It would be naïve to think our parents did not feel a bit of this themselves at this age, and so they will understand our independence. However, if an idea is absolutely new and never thought of before our day, we really should view it with some skepticism. Even the Ecclesiastes writer said there is nothing new under the sun, and that was thousands of years ago. He was right. The older you get you will see more of this. In terms of Biblical interpretation, we know that truly new doctrine will never be the correct view. Fee and Stuart cleverly phrased it as “a text can never mean what it never meant.” The Bible means what it was always intended to mean. Perhaps we rediscover what we had overlooked in what it says, but it would be the height of arrogance to insist no one else has ever seen what we realize today. Truth is truth and stands the test of time. It is not invalidated by the fact that others have taught it for years or that we have not discovered its significance.

Can we take this caution in principle and apply it to modern conventional wisdom? We are in an age of new discoveries of scientific truth, but often the recommendations we see in our digital communities are not so much based in verifiable fact as what seems to make sense to us in some logical way. College students are justly warned against a dependence on internet research in their search for truth because anyone can write anything online and have an audience for it. There is no clinical verification process and all you need is an assertion of fact or an argument that sounds logical to have a following. One example is in the area of medical recommendations. I simply do not have the expertise to speak definitively on the value of one “all natural” cure above another. What makes sense to me could involve a dangerous over-sight of other factors, and I need to recognize my own limitations in this area.

The business of selling snake oil has been popular and lucrative for ages. I am sad to say it is alive today and preys on the desperation we feel to fix our every ailment. I do not advise that young people try to be skeptical of everything they hear, just to be cautious. Even within academically accepted circles we see confident assertions of contradictory information. Not too long ago butter, nuts, meat, and coffee were all considered to be bad for you. Medical research today says the opposite is the case, with certain clarifications.  I believe this illustrates the fact that there are many more factors involved in what makes something better or worse for us than we usually calculate into these decisions. God has made us far more complicated than any of us know and we need to suspend some of our certainty and hubris and give place to the possibility that what we “know” today may not be as certain as we think it.

Children have the upper hand on us. They know they are in the process of learning. They are accustomed to being guided by another who has more information and their quest for those answers can be relentless.  Do not let that go to your head. You are the child. Your Father in Heaven is the one with the answers, but He does not need to say, “I don’t know, daughter.” He may say, “It is too much for you right now. Just trust me.” That is an answer we can be content with and one our children sometimes need to be willing to accept in return.
your loving friend,
Laurie Moyer

“There is a way that seems right to man, but the ends are the ways of death.” Psalm 14:12

Laurie writes for her husband Doy's blog, Searching Daily.  You can fins this and many other great articles there (including Doy's!).

I have written more than once about society's demeaning of men in the entertainment industry—all fathers on sitcoms are buffoons who need to be rescued by their wives and children every week.  Go watch a few reruns of Tim the Tool Man Taylor on "Home Improvement" and tell me I am wrong.  But things have gotten even worse in the past decade.
            To prove the point, the BBC ran several experiments showing viewers violence against both men and women.  The violence against women was roundly condemned while the violence against men produced very little response and even some laughter.  On two British television shows, "The Talk" and "Jeremy Kyle Show", the audiences laughed about a woman emasculating a man and about another man being forced to jump off a three story balcony after an abusive partner locked him out.  Amazon sells tee shirts saying, "Boys are stupid.  Throw rocks at them."  (They really do—I found one.)  Then there is the hashtag "KillAllMen" which generated all sorts of misandrous comments like "Men are trash," "Being a man makes you an automatic failure," and "Go kill yourself and increase the male suicide rate."* A recent conversation with some of my Christian women friends certainly did not go this far, but a certain amount of disrespect for the male gender was evident nonetheless.
            In our culture it has become increasingly difficult to be a man.  A man must constantly watch every word he says and every action he does, walking on those proverbial egg shells, while the women around him can insult, tease, or even "bash" him, and somehow, no one cares.  So what am I to do for my poor husband?  How can I be the friend he needs and a haven to come home to?  How can I make his life easier?
            1.  First, don't be so sensitive.  He might need a lesson in why women don't appreciate male humor, but as a Christian who is supposed to love the man, maybe I need a lesson in being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Eph 4:32), and letting love cover a multitude of sins (1 Pet 4:8).  Maybe I can be as strong a woman as I claim to be and not get my feelings hurt by every other word he says, leaving him wondering what he did wrong.
            2.  Second, realize that "different" doesn't always mean "wrong."  My husband has taken over a lot of the household chores since he retired.  He says that since he is underfoot, causing more mess and taking more of my time, that he should help out more.  He doesn't always do it my way.  More than once I have had to remind myself that just because he doesn't put the pots in the cabinet the way I do doesn't mean he is stupid or ignorant or even wrong.  There is no valid reason to constantly criticize someone who gets a job done just because it isn't the way we would do it.  Insisting on my way instead of compromising is not a sign of strength—it's a sign of stubborn arrogance.
            3.  I am sure you have heard the old joke:  If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman to hear, is he still wrong?  I know some women who seem to think they have been put on this earth to correct men—from interrupting the stories they tell to correct even minor discrepancies to stopping every other word in a simple conversation to correct them or their grammar or their—anything and everything.  Is it really that important?  And are you absolutely sure that what you remember happening is the way it really happened?  We have kept a journal for 45 years.  When I go back to some of those first ones, I am stunned by how wrongly I remember things.
            4.  Be careful how you speak to or about him in front of people.  I have been horribly embarrassed by having a wife scold her husband like a child in front of me, and mortified for a husband when a wife told, not a funny story, but a humiliating story about him.  And these were Christian women!  Why do we do these things?  To make ourselves look better than he in the eyes of others?  What we really do is make ourselves another example of what not to do as a loving, supportive wife. 
            5.  Tell him how much you appreciate him. Our culture is doing its best to make our men feel useless, or even evil in some sort of generic way.  Haven't you heard of "toxic masculinity?"  For some women that is accomplished simply by his being male.  Don't fall in step with such ungodly behavior in the name of promoting women's equality.  Feminism in our culture is more about putting men down than raising women up.  Right now the only one who can make him feel like the man God meant him to be may be you. 
 
The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life (Prov 31:11-12).
 
Dene Ward
*All this information is reported in the blog counsellorinleeds.co.uk, written by Phil Mitchell, December 31, 2020 post, "Stop Saying Kill All Men."
 

I have just spent an inordinate amount of time on the telephone with a person I have never met in my life.  I let her tell me what to do and I obeyed instantly.  I believed everything she said.  I trusted every decision she made for me.  And this is not the first time I have done this.  I have made it a habit in the past twenty years.
            I have decided that you need to have a bent for technology in order to get along in the world now.  Gone are the days when you can go out, buy something, take it home, plug it in, and it works.  Everything has to be set up, programmed, deprogrammed, downloaded, uploaded, or in-loaded.  I obviously do not have the mind for it.  When my computer asks me a question, I cannot even comprehend the words much less know the right answer.  Which is why we have a contract with Geek Squad.
            Geek Squad was originally an independent company founded on June 16, 1994 by "Chief Inspector" Robert Stephens to offer computer-related services for its clients. It later merged with Best Buy, retaining Stephens as the primary corporate leadership for the subsidiary.  Evidently there are people out there who have a talent for these things and don't need companies like Geek Squad.  We are neither of us one of them. 
            They have saved our bacon more than once.  Those techs on the phone are amazing.  They can understand my poorly phrased, obviously ignorant questions.  They can tell me exactly what my computer screen looks like, what to click on, and what will pop up next.  They can find their way through twenty different steps I never even knew existed, and magically make my computer do what it’s supposed to do.  It has happened over and over for years now.  That’s why I go to them as soon as I have a problem, and do exactly what they tell me to do, no questions asked. 
            We have never carried on personal conversations.  I have no idea what their qualifications are.  I have never taken a regular computer class from them. All I can see are results--when I need help, they always have an answer and it always works.  And so I even listened to them the time one said, “Ma’am, you need a new computer.”  We went out and bought a new computer.
            I wonder if we can’t learn something about evangelism from all this.  Maybe it isn’t about your qualifications as a Bible scholar.  Maybe it isn’t about people wanting to sit down and study with you on a regular basis, at least not at first.  Maybe it isn’t about you being able to come up with Bible verses for every occasion.  Maybe it isn’t even about the fact that every Sunday they see you load up the family and head off to church.  Maybe the thing that matters is your life.  Maybe because they see that you can handle whatever situation you find yourself in with grace and endurance, they know you have something they don’t have.  Maybe because they see your marriage last for years and years in spite of the trials of life, they know that the two of you have more than just a commitment to each other, but to something larger.  Maybe because they see that your children have turned out to be good solid citizens, they realize that what you believe as a family has lasting value.
            Because they see all that, they will come to you for advice.  They will ask how you do it.  And when they do, then you can talk about those scriptures in the Bible.  Then you can discuss the eternal purpose of God from the foundation of the earth.  They don’t want what you have to sell until they see the results in you. 
            Do you want to save souls?  Show them how it’s done.  If you cannot "work out your own salvation", why should they listen to you?
 
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…Phil 1:27
 
Dene Ward

On June 15, 1215, on the banks of the Thames River at Runnymede, England, King John of England was forced by a bunch of rebellious barons to sign the Magna Carta.  Although it was annulled by Pope Innocent III two months later, it set the foundation for the future English legal system and influenced our founding fathers in the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Precisely because of the Magna Carta we have freedom from unlawful search and seizure, the right to a speedy trial, the right to a jury trial, the writ of habeas corpus, and protection against the loss of life, liberty, and property without due process of law, among other things.  For a "failed" document, it certainly accomplished a lot.
            However, as we often point out, while we should be grateful for our rights under law, claiming our rights at the expense of souls is wrong, not right.  For instance…      
            When Covid began its ugly reign, we had a problem.  Wearing a mask was everyone's handy-dandy solution.  Not in this house.  When one of you is deaf and needs to read lips, it simply won't work.  And then there is the issue of claustrophobia I have had my whole life.  Warm stale air equals suffocation to my mind.  HOWEVER…
            When we go out, when we buy groceries, when we have a doctor appointment, when we assemble with the saints, if we are asked to wear a mask, we do.  Some people think that makes us "sheep."  Why would we act this way?  It's simple if you read your New Testament.
            When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!  (1Cor 6:1-8).
            No, masks have nothing to do with suing one another—at least that I have heard of yet.  (But give it time.)  The passage is not really about that.  The prohibition against making lawsuits against a brother is just one specific example of ceding my rights because the mission of the church and its reputation in the community around it is more important than anyone's rights!  It is the Lord's church and the mission He gave that body of believers that matter.  Notice what Paul says:  "Why not rather suffer wrong?"  When I demand my rights about anything that hurts the cause of Christ, I have forgotten not only who I serve, but the very definition of being a disciple—following in your Master's footsteps.  What if he had claimed his rights as Creator instead of climbing up on that cross?  Where would we be then?  He suffered wrong, and was defrauded, to save us.
            Paul goes on to say in that passage above, that when I claim my rights regardless of the consequences, I am actually defrauding my brethren because of how I have made them look to the outsiders around us.  I am the one who has wronged them.
            When I do wear a mask, I am being the follower of the Suffering Servant, who, by the way, was called the Lamb of God.  If voluntarily wearing a mask makes me one of His lambs, I am happy to be called a "sheep."
 
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. (Matt 10:24-25).
 
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  (1Pet 2:21-24).
 
​To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.  (Luke 6:29).
 
Dene Ward
 

Keith called me outside one Saturday.  I was in the middle of something important and was a little irritated. It is hard enough to do things these days when I have to lean so close, squint so hard, and put up with the resulting headaches trying to see what I am doing.  Then he wants to interrupt me, and I will just have to start all over again.  But I sighed, a louder one than was called for, and dutifully went outside.
            The afternoon sun was waning, for which I was grateful.  No matter how dim the day I have to reach for sunglasses nearly all the time now.  He took me to a shaded spot on the west side of the field and pointed.  Then I saw it, or them as it turned out, probably a hundred dragonflies darting here and there all over the place. 
            He felt bad for me because I could not see them all the time.  In fact, I would not have known what they were had he not told me, but I think my vision of them was the best.  He saw them in the shade as well, when they once again became ugly black bugs, but I only saw them as they came out of the shadows, the sun striking their wings and lighting them up like tiny golden light bulbs.  Then they would disappear, but more would appear in their place, over and over, darting here and there in movements no one could possibly predict.  I think my view was much more magical than his, and therefore far more delightful.  We stood there watching them for several minutes.  I probably could have stood their longer since I had the better view, a view he would never have because he could see so well.
            No matter what we may be going through in this life, God always prepares good things for us, but we will never see them if we always stay inside ourselves, commiserating with ourselves, rewinding over and over the tape of all our troubles till we can recite them from memory to anyone who asks, and even some who don’t.  There is a silver lining somewhere if we just search, and in the searching who knows what treasures we might find? Besides, it will keep us too busy to complain so much.
            Go out there today and look for those silver linings—or the golden dragonflies, or whatever God has specially prepared to help you through this day.  You will find them, but only if you have a mind to.
 
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  Psalm 23:5,6.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

In Exodus 15, 16, & 17 we see the Children of Israel acting in a way that seems unbelievable.  Having just seen God free them from slavery by sending ten plagues upon Egypt, being led by God in a pillar of cloud/fire, and being saved from the Egyptian army by passing through the Red Sea on dry ground, they then spend the next two months complaining every time something doesn't go just right.  

In 15:22-27 they camp at Marah after a three day march and cannot drink the water because it is bitter.  At this point all it says the people did was grumble a bit and ask what they were supposed to drink.  Moses prays and God miraculously sweetens the water.  God doesn't seem perturbed here because after sweetening the water He offers them a sort of preliminary covenant saying if they obey Him He will allow none of the diseases of Egypt to afflict them.  So far they've only been a bit grumpy in a nasty situation.  Understandable.

Then comes chapter 16.  Here, exactly (and only) one month after they were freed from Egypt the people begin murmuring because they don't have enough food.  vs 3 “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Essentially they are saying that instead of freeing us and leading us to a Promised Land as His chosen people, we wish God had just killed us while we were slaves.  They are complaining about their salvation because they are hungry!  Moses warns them that they are complaining against God, not himself and Aaron.  God makes a show of His glory to let them know He has heard their grumbling, then feeds them with manna from heaven (literally).  

Chapter 17 really tops it off.  In verses 1-7 the people again become angry because they don't have enough water.  This time their complaint goes beyond an understandable grumbling during a tough situation.  They accuse Moses of trying to kill them all in the wilderness.  They are so clamorous that Moses fears he is about to be stoned.  They even begin to question God's concern:  "Is the LORD among us or not?" (vs 7).  Again, God displays His glory to scare them straight and then provides the needed water.  

What makes chapter 17 so dumbfounding is that twice in the previous month-and-a-half they had been lacking and God had provided and yet, when they found themselves in need again, they didn't remember God's previous care.  They complained even more vehemently than ever.  Instead of reveling in God's salvation, they are complaining about it (16:3).  WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE??!!!!!

Yet, how often do we do the same thing?  We accept God's blessings all our lives with hardly an acknowledgment, but the first time that something bad happens we wail, "How could God do this to ME?"  We forget the abundance of food we over-eat, the homes with indoor plumbing, electricity and air-conditioning, the closets full of clothes and the nice vacations.  Instead we whine about how God is mistreating us because of one trial we have to make it through.  Worse, how often do we join in with the Israelites who asked "Is the LORD among us or not?" by declaring, "I just can't believe in a God who would let this happen."?  

It is easy to read Exodus and see how foolish the Israelites were in their complaints.  It is easy to cluck at them and wonder at their little faith when seeing such wondrous workings of God, but then, I'm not thirsty as I read these passages.  I'm not listening to my children crying from hunger.  Not to justify their lack of faith, but instead to again ask the question "Do I do any better when in the same situation?"  Is my faith really stronger?  Or am I self-righteously self-assured as I drop pearls of wisdom on my suffering friends only to cry out louder than any of them when my time for testing comes?  If I don't have faith in God when suffering, then I don't have faith in God.  Instead I am like the faithless Israelites who spent their lives whining and ultimately died in the wilderness far from the Promised Land.  

Finally, remember that God isn't a sadist.  The point of trials is to make us stronger, not just to let us suffer. 

Heb. 12:5-11  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. . . he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
 
Lucas Ward

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ (2Cor 11:3).
            I am afraid that too many of us think the verse above cannot possibly apply to us.  We would never be tricked like that, we think.  Paul, speaking earlier in the epistle, states that he is not "ignorant of Satan's devices" (2:11).  Unfortunately, despite our self-confidence, we often fall for his bait, hook, line, and sinker.  Let me give you an example.
            Many years ago, a young woman shared with me that her neighbor, who was a Wiccan, had invited her over for a meal.  She had gone in order to get to know her better, and to learn about her beliefs with a desire to reach her, if possible.  Fish, it seems, was on the menu, and her hostess had laid out the fish, stroked it with both hands, and then thanked the fish for giving its life to sustain hers.  "Isn't that beautiful?" the young woman asked me, "and oh, so spiritual."  As usual, finding the right thing to say did not occur when I needed it.  In fact, it took a few years, but now I might wonder aloud why thanking God for our meals is less spiritual than thanking the fish or the cow or the pig or the chicken?  Because that is who we are supposed to thank—God is the one who gave us those things.  Warning of a coming heresy that would forbid certain foods, Paul tells us that our meals, even that same fish, God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving (1Tim 4:3-4), thanksgiving to God, that is.
            It is not my intent to list the belief system of Wicca, but the Mother Goddess, nature, fertility, seasons, and the cycle of life are essential elements.  That should immediately make a Christian's ears tingle.  Of those sorts of beliefs Paul says,  …they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Rom 1:25).  The neighbor's actions were a perfect example of worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.  Although it will be presented as an almost hyper-spirituality, Paul says it is a lie. Yet that is how paganism, which is what Wicca is, has made deep inroads into our culture, even among Christians who should know better, who should be able to see past this false spirituality. 
           Wiccans are known to be peaceful, even harmless.  But folks, they are deadly to our souls.  Certainly, be friendly to your neighbors and strive to be an example and teacher of your faith as you serve their needs.  But keep your eyes open and don't be taken in.  Satan is not so stupid as to make them look like evil personified.  He is simply reeling out a bait that looks delicious.
 
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds (2Cor 11:13-15).
 
Dene Ward

I found a verse the other day that intrigued me--for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, Rom 14:17.  While the meaning is obvious—in the context of eating meats sacrificed to idols, Paul is telling them that being in the kingdom is a matter of the inner man not the outer man—I still wondered why those three things were chosen among the many traits describing Christians.
            Before much longer I found Romans 5:1-3.  Those three things are not three separate items, as if they can be chosen one without the other, they are a chain reaction.  I am justified (made righteous), and as a result have peace with God, and that creates joy in my life. 
            Keep reading down to verse 5 in Romans 5, then add 12:12 and 15:13 to the mix and you see that joy is inextricably bound with hope.  The Greeks did not use “hope” the way we use it, a wish for something that could go either way, but as a confident assurance or, as Keith likes to say, “a vision of a certain future.”  Along with the apostle John in 1 John 5:13, I should be able to say, “I know I am saved; I know I have been forgiven; I know I have a relationship with God; I know I am going to Heaven.”  Is there anything that should inspire any greater joy?
            Being joyful does not mean we may not face sad times; it does not mean we must not ever grieve in a trial.  What it does mean is that we will bounce back from those times because joy is the foundation for our lives.  If, instead, I come through a trial with an attitude only toward myself, what I have endured, and what I believe others should be doing for me because of it, my joy has turned into bitterness.  In fact, I have not successfully endured that trial at all. Whenever I allow something to smother my joy, in at least that much I have allowed that thing to be more important to me than my relationship with God. 
            This is easier said than done.  I used to wonder how to have this joy that everyone kept telling me I was supposed to have.  God does not leave us without direction.  Col 1:9-14 gives us several techniques for having joy.  Be filled with the knowledge of Him; walk worthily of the Lord; bear fruit in every good work; give thanks for our salvation.  Do you know what that boils down to?  Focus on the good things and stay busy serving others. 
            Joy is like a glow-in-the-dark toy.  The more I focus on what God has done for me and what he expects me to do for others, the longer I sit in the light and the stronger my glow will be.  But if I sit too long in the shadow of sadness and grief, focusing too long on myself, my joy will begin to fade until eventually it is gone altogether.    
            If you find yourself alone in the dark today, it’s time to come back into the light before your joy disappears, along with the hope that reinforces it.  This is a choice you make, one that has nothing to do with what happens today or what anyone does to you, but with the path you choose to take regardless.              
 
That the proof of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:  whom not having seen you love; on whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:7-9.
 
Dene Ward