Discipleship - Dene's Blog

I Choose...

11/13/2025 0 Comments

As we brought four-year-old Silas home with us for Vacation Bible School one summer, he squirmed a bit in his booster seat, eying the long crowded highway ahead of us and the “boring” scenery of rolling green pastureland in Florida horse farm country.

“How long will it be?” he asked, the perennial question of travelers.

“It will be awhile,” I said, “but if you were to fall asleep, the trip would be over in a flash. Suddenly you would wake up and we’re there!”

He lifted an eyebrow and gave me a skeptical look. “But I don’t like naps,” he firmly stated, with his little arms crossed.

“Well,” I said with one of those what-do-you-do sighs, “that’s your choice. Either a long wait or a nap.”

He thought a minute and finally, categorically stated with a firm nod on each word “I choose a long wait.”

Five minutes later he was asleep. He never has been able to stay awake in a car, something I hope will change by the time he turns 16 and starts driving.

I couldn’t help wondering how many of us look at the choices set before us and stubbornly make the wrong one. God tells us how dangerous the world is. He warns against deception and trickery. He tells us our salvation is our own responsibility so be careful who you follow. Yet even when we look at the choices side by side, we seem so drawn to the wrong ones. They are immediate. They are tangible. They are pleasant. The idea of something far superior in the future seems to be pie in the sky. “A bird in the hand…” the old saying goes, and we fall for it nearly every time.

It would be so much easier if God made the choice for us, if he made the sleep overwhelm us involuntarily so the trip would be over in an instant, but where is the glory in a creature who cannot choose?

The idea that God did not give us a choice is, of course, a fairly common theological doctrine. Yet it limits God in ability and creativity. It makes Him a respecter of persons. It makes Him unsympathetic and unapproachable, a tyrant who makes arbitrary decisions, playing with the eternal souls of people as if they were plastic action figures. That is not the God of the Bible. There are too many heart-rending pleas for us to return. There are too many passages giving options to people in all sorts of situations, including whether or not they will serve Him, for that to be true.

He gave me a choice; he gave you a choice. Make the right one.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed, Deut 30:19.

Dene Ward

Lessons from the Street 1

10/31/2025 0 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

Some of you know that I served the state of Florida as a Felony Probation Officer for 7 years. Much of the training was similar to that of a police officer. However, we were Certified LEO's; our arrest powers were limited and usually involved back-up by a Sworn LEO. Since we did not go into places to enforce new law violations but to contact our probationers, we had a measure of safety when entering bad neighborhoods. Neighbors were more helpful than to cops, since they knew the probationer could get in serious trouble if we did not locate him. Over the years, I developed a number of safety rules that on reflection (and under the gun because Dene had major RIGHT hand surgery) I thought these also matched some of the warnings in the N.T. and can serve as practical ways to keep our walk "as he walked" (1 Jn 1:6).

Some Christians go into the world as unprepared as a friend who answered my question with, "I carry my gun when I think I might need it." I replied, "If I thought I would need it, I wouldn't go there." Actually, there is no place of absolute safety for a Christian, not even in church. "Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8). At all times we must be armed and ready to defend, not our worthless lives, but our eternal souls.

The "whole armor of God" is pretty much useless to a Christian who is too weak spiritually to hold up the shield or wield the sword. I practiced daily, handling and aiming, or shooting my gun so that I would be confident I could hit the criminal and not the bystander. Sadly, some on membership directories are not exercising much even during church services. Hosea said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hos 4:6). The Holy Spirit said, "You have need again that someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God" (Heb 5:12). By being audience rather than workers, they had retrogressed to babes. We must be, "Fullgrown men, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil."

Many members(?) know more exercises for maintaining their bodies than they do to build up their souls. I benefitted from firearm instructors who reproved me for incorrect techniques and sometimes even got a bit loud. Members fuss because they were offended or, "He didn't do it the right way.' Or, "His manner and tone of voice upset me." Notice, the truth of what was said is never questioned. Spiritual exercise must be done correctly or you will miss the target. Such is not hard, in fact, it is boringly simple, "Adding on your part all diligence in your faith supply virtue; and in virtue knowledge; and in knowledge self-control; and in self-control patience; and in patience godliness; and in godliness brotherly kindness; and in brotherly kindness love." Physical exercise done sporadically just makes you sore and is no benefit. "All diligence." I knew my life might (and did) depend on my skill so I practiced regularly. Peter knew that our souls depend on these exercises, "For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." And we know unfruitful branches are cut off and burned (Jn 15). He who fails to diligently follow this exercise routine just as well have never been baptized, "For he that lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins." He who follows this inspired exercise plan for strengthening the soul, "shall never stumble: but shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2Pet 1:5-11).

Unfortunately, those who read these devotionals are those who routinely exercise their spiritual being. The ones who truly need these reminders seldom bother. Perhaps, you could share this to someone you love who needs to hear it.

"And exercise yourself unto godliness: for bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come" (1Tim 4:7-8).

Keith Ward

A Thirty Second Devo

10/30/2025 0 Comments

I would like to buy about three dollars' worth of gospel, please. Not too much—just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted. I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust. I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture. I want ecstasy, not repentance; I want transcendence, not transformation. I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races—especially if they smell. I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged. I would like about three dollars' worth of gospel, please.

SOURCE: Carson, D. A.. Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians . Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition

Persistence

9/16/2025 0 Comments

There was once an English woman who took her driving test test forty times before she finally passed it. Don't instantly think, "How dumb can you be?" and pat yourself on the back for doing far better than that. Instead, ask yourself if you have the determination and persistence to do the same.

How easily do we give up? How many times do we have to fail before we say, “It isn’t worth it?” If we’re talking about overcoming a sin, I hope we have the endurance of Mrs. Hargrave. If we’re talking about praying, I hope we ask again and again. If we’re talking about having a relationship with God, I hope persistence is our middle name.

Remember the Syrophenician woman whose little girl was ill with a demon (Matt 15:22ff)? The first time she approached Jesus he never even acknowledged her. The second time he insulted her. Yet still she kept coming and soon her great faith was rewarded.

Remember the parable of the widow who pestered a judge to death until he finally gave her what she wanted (Luke 18:1ff)? Just to get her off his back he relented. Jesus’ point is if it works with an unrighteous man, surely it will work with a Holy Father.

Remember Paul’s admonition to the Galatians? They seemed to be wondering if all their labor was worth it. Paul reminded them of the law of reaping and sowing. Sooner or later, he said, you will benefit from the good works you do. Do not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Waiting for God’s timetable may well be the most difficult thing He has asked us to do, and the greatest test of our endurance. Don’t give up.

The church at Ephesus may have had many faults, but the Lord does say to them, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary, Rev 2:3. Can He say that about us? Or have we given up, whining about the pressures of temptation, not just bent but completely broken from the trials, deciding that being a disciple of Jesus’ simply isn’t worth the bother?

What if He had decided you weren’t worth it? What if he had told God that the cost was too high, that you weren’t worth the trouble, the pain, the anguish of taking on a human form and dying a hideous death after the spiritual torture of taking on every person’s sin throughout all history? What would you say to him if you knew he had been about to quit? How hard would you have begged him not to?

Surely you have more grit, more tenacity, and more determination for spiritual things than a 62 year old grandmother had for a driver’s license. Surely you won’t give up now.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted, Hebrews 12:3.

Dene Ward

The Light Fixture

8/7/2025 0 Comments

We had people coming for lunch and Keith was helping me clean the house, particularly the heavier work. As he walked past the dining table he happened to look at the fixture there, six of those candle-flame shaped bulbs surrounded by twelve rectangular glass plates etched with flowers. “Looks a little dusty,” he said, and proceeded to clean them one at a time.
            After he finished he turned on the light and I nearly grabbed my sunglasses. I had not known the fixture was so dirty. Those glass plates didn’t look that bad, hanging up above my head. Boy, was I wrong. The thing sparkles like it hasn’t in years.   Since I use that table for most of my Bible studies, maybe I won’t have so many headaches now.
            It’s not like I didn’t know it was there. Certainly I understood the fixture could become dirty. I have lived here for thirty years now and I know how much dust settles. On the other hand, it is far above my head. Like the top of the refrigerator, I never notice how dirty it has become. I simply take the light for granted—after all, I can still see.
            Have you ever picked up something written by a skeptic or talked to one about the scriptures? How they see the Bible will amaze you. “What?” I have thought many times. “Where did they come up with that?   How did they get that out of that passage?” It isn’t just the ignorant taking bits and pieces out of context. It is their way of thinking that skews their viewpoint. Of course a “free-thinking, free-loving intellectual” will see the morality of a Christian as a prison. It takes a man who understands the integrity of temperance to see that other lifestyle as enslavement to self-indulgence. “I will not be mastered by anything,” Paul says, and we who practice that understand the true liberty found in Christ.
            So how do we clean off the dust and see the light? Peter, in speaking about the prophecies of Christ, makes a powerful point when he calls the word of God a light to which “you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place” 1 Pet 1:19. We live in the country. The first comment most of our city-dwelling visitors make after an overnight is, “It sure is dark out here.” We have learned to see in the starlight, but after hearing them bump around in the night so often, we now lay a small penlight on the bedside table in the guest room. The dark can be dangerous—anyone can trip and fall.
            The Word does for us what that light does for our guests. It opens our minds to the Truth; it helps us see things as they really are, not as the Prince of Darkness would have us think. It shows us first and foremost our leader and his example. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus said (John 8:12). “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
            But having the advantage of that light places obligations on us.
            For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord; and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light, Eph 5:8-13.
            You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do [men] light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shines to all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven, Matt 5:14-16.
            Do all things without murmurings and questionings: that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life…Phil 2:14-16a.
            Look at your light this morning. Is it dimmed with the dust and film of everyday life? It is easy to take for granted the life we live in the Lord, to be satisfied with our lack of “big, bad sins.” We may not be associating with the “unfruitful works of darkness,” but are we “reproving them?” We may not be doing wrong, but are we doing right? We may not forget to study our Bibles, but are we “holding forth the word?”
            Maybe it’s time to do a little cleaning. I wonder if your neighbors will need their sunglasses when you do.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father…Matt 13:43.

Dene Ward

Walking the Dog

8/1/2025 0 Comments

Judah seems to enjoy his visits our here in the country as much, or maybe more than his big brother. Like Silas, as soon as his feet hit the cool green grass, he fell in love with going barefoot and ran all over the place. Since he usually ran me into the ground, I decided that first morning that he could handle walking Chloe with me. I would have to slow our pace for him, but I was sure his active little legs could handle the distance.
            The boys and I started out ahead and then I called Chloe to follow. Usually she is out front waiting for me, prancing impatiently, but Chloe is not your average dog. She is a bit of an oxymoron—a scaredy-cat of a dog. She is positive that everything on two feet is out to get her. She is not afraid of us, nor of Lucas, but no one else can get near her. Not even, as it turns out, a twenty-month old toddler.
            But that didn’t keep the toddler from trying. As soon as he saw Chloe, Judah left the path along the fence and headed through the field toward her. As soon as Chloe saw Judah, she took off running. He sped up and I held my breath as he plowed through vines, briars, blackberries and stinging nettles. I took off after him, sure that his soft baby skin would be scratched, torn, and bloody. He single-mindedly waded on through, leaving a trail of bent and broken greenery behind, until finally I caught up and scooped him into my arms. With his mind still on his goal, he pointed toward Chloe and said, “Dog. Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuhf!”
            I checked him over and he was fine, not a mark on him, no blood, no rashes, no stickers poking out of tender little fingers or toes. So I put him down, this time on the garden path, and called Chloe to resume our walk--and it started all over again. Judah chased, Chloe ran, and I followed. This was not going to work.   Finally I got the garden wagon, put Judah in it, and Chloe followed behind at what she deemed a safe distance--about thirty feet. But every time Judah’s head swiveled to her and his little finger pointed, she veered from the path and dropped back another foot or two, until reassured that the dangerous little predator wouldn’t come swooping in and nab her unexpectedly.
            We had gone out that morning to walk Chloe. Judah certainly didn’t have the goal in mind when we went for that walk. That’s why he couldn’t stay on the path. I realized not long afterward, though, that he did have a goal in mind. It was just not the same goal as mine. I wanted to walk the dog. He wanted to experience the dog.
            I think too many times we live our lives aimlessly. We just let it happen, and then wonder why things went south. We have no plan for improvement, no strategy for overcoming—we don’t even notice the temptation coming! I found dozens of verses using the words aim, goal, and purpose. I found others listing the things we should be looking for or to or toward. Do you really think God has no purpose for you?
            I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psa 57:2.
            The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Prov 16:4.
            If God has a purpose for the evil people in the world, then certainly He has one for His children. So if He has a purpose for us, shouldn’t we be acting with purpose? We are familiar with the concept of “purposing” our contributions, but why do you assemble where you do? To be entertained? Because this group is loving and makes me feel good? Because I like the singing? I know a lot of people who assemble with those goals in mind. How about these instead: I assemble here to serve others, even if they don’t serve me; I am here to learn and be admonished, even if they do step on my toes; I am here to participate in those acts we are to do as an “assembly” even if I don’t particularly care for the method used in getting that done. Do you see? When I have this sort of purpose, it stops being all about ME.
            Why do you work for a living? Do you know the reason Paul gives? “So you may have something to share with anyone in need.” Eph 4:28. Is that why you work? I bet it’s not why your neighbor works. And here we get to the point. Judah and I did not share goals that morning, so we did not share paths either. Are you sharing your neighbor’s path, or are you on a better one? You ought to be.
            The world may look at how you live and shake its head. There you go trudging through tall grass, sharp thorns, and clinging vines when the path they are taking is so much easier. Paul had given up the goal of status among the Jewish leaders, along with potential wealth and fame. “But whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ,” he said. His goal in life had changed and so his path had as well. I am sure his former colleagues and teachers looked with disbelief on the things he left behind and the causes he took up. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:7,13,14, just like that little toddler pressed on that morning.
            What is your goal? You should have one every day, not just on Sundays, although that would be a good start for a lot of people. Maybe the first thing you should do is look around and see who is on the same path you are. That might give you pause to consider.

He exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, Acts 11:23.

Dene Ward

Insomnia

7/29/2025 0 Comments

            The car hummed along the highway as we carried our two grandsons to our home while mommy and daddy were away for a few days. They slept away most of the two plus hour trip, waking in time to see the unfamiliar countryside sweep past on the last road “over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house.”
            They played the rest of the afternoon away, digging in the sand, chasing bubbles, and swinging on the old oak tree (the same one Daddy fell out of and broke his arm). Dinner came only after a bath for those two dirty-faced, dirty-footed little fellows, a tub full of bubbles and cups and pitchers to pour over each other. After their favorite mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and applesauce, it wasn’t long until their eyes were drooping and they were ready for bed. “The tired-er the better,” we thought, especially for that first night.
            They fell asleep quickly, twenty-month-old Judah in the “Pack and Play” and four year-old Silas by his own choice next to his little brother on the twin-sized airbed. We listened through the rest of the evening, but never heard a peep.
            However, at 4:52 a.m. I sensed something by my bed and woke to a small figure standing there in the starlight filtering through the curtains. Dark in the country is not like dark in the city. We have no streetlights—unless you live entirely too close to an uprooted city slicker who thinks he needs one, and we don’t. We have no concrete to reflect the moonlight either. When it’s dark, it’s dark, and if you are not used to navigating by God’s natural night lights, you think you woke up in a tomb.
            “Silas,” I whispered, “what’s wrong?”
            “All this dark is keeping me awake,” he said quite seriously, and even though I was sleepily thinking, “All this dark is supposed to keep you asleep!” I knew exactly what he meant. Even though we had left a nightlight right by his bedroom door, it was far darker than he was used to, and when he woke it troubled him.
            By then Granddad had wakened as well, and he took him back to bed and lay with him until he was once again snoring his soft little boy snores, not much more than five minutes afterward. He slept another three hours with no problem at all.
            I thought sometime later that week that this little boy had it right. The dark should be keeping us awake.
            Even the Old Testament faithful understood the concept of walking in the light. O house of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of Jehovah, Isa 2:5. It seemed natural, then, for the Son to claim to be the light as well. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life, John 8:12. And so, as children of God, we, too, are lights. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of night or of darkness, 1 Thes 5:5.
            Unfortunately, the light has come into the world and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil, John 3:19. As “children of light” we should be opposite the world. We should not love the darkness; we should hate it.
            This will come more naturally if we mature to the point that we don’t just walk in the light and not walk in the darkness. Look at Eph 5:8: for at one time you were darkness, but now are light in the Lord. Do you see that? Light isn’t just something you walk in, it is something you become. Just as at one time you didn’t just walk in the darkness, you were darkness. We have completely changed our essence. No wonder we are supposed to hate the dark. No wonder the mere presence of it in the world, among our neighbors, our friends and even our family, should be keeping us awake at night.
            All this dark is keeping me awake Lord, should be a lament on every Christian’s tongue. Not only that, we should be actively trying to rid the world of that very darkness. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Yes, rather, reprove them, Eph 5:11.
            If the darkness in the world isn’t enough to keep a “child of light” awake, perhaps he has become something else.

Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon you. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isa 60:1-3.

Dene Ward

Road Trip

7/28/2025 0 Comments

Most families have just returned from a road trip of some variety this past summer. You may not realize it, but this is a fairly recent development. We seem to think that the Declaration of Independence lists our inalienable rights as “life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and a several thousand dollar family vacation every year.” When I was growing up we might have gone on two or three “vacations” total. The rest of the time we visited family, and that involved nothing but visiting—the adults talking and the children playing together. Anywhere we might have done while we were there was a free day trip—no admission fees—and lunch was usually a picnic we packed ourselves.
            If it hadn’t been for discovering tent camping, my boys would not have had vacations either. In those days you could pitch a tent in a state park for $7.00 a night, and cook your own meals over the campfire instead of eating out. We also did our share of family visiting. Although you hate to view your family as a “free motel,” it was the only way we could see them at least once a year.
            I like to think of this life as a road trip. Too many people consider it the destination and that will skew your perspective in a bad way. If you think this life is supposed to be the good part, you will sooner or later be severely disappointed.
            As we go along the road a lot of things happen. We will be faced with decisions that are not easy to make, and which may turn out badly. Sometimes we are too easy on ourselves, making excuses and rationalizing. But other times we are entirely too hard on ourselves. If you look back on a decision you made years ago, and find yourself wishing you had done things differently, that doesn’t necessarily mean you were wrong then. Sometimes it simply means you were without experience, a little naïve, a lot ignorant.
            Let’s put it this way. I live almost an hour north of Gainesville, Florida. If I leave for Atlanta at 8 AM, it’s no shame if I am not even to Macon by 10 AM. On the other hand, if I leave at 5 AM and haven’t even made Macon yet, something is wrong. I’ve been dawdling over gas pumps, stopping for snacks too many times, or wandering through tourist traps that have nothing to do with the trip itself. The question, then, is not where you are on the road, but when you left in the first place. You can’t expect yourself to know what to do in every situation of life when you haven’t even experienced much life. The decision you make today may be completely different than the one you made in the same situation twenty years ago, but twenty years ago if you did the best you could do with what you knew, you did well.
            And what are we doing on our road trip? Are we wasting too much time at tourist traps? Life is full of distractions, things not necessarily wrong, but which may not help us on the trip at all, or may even do harm by skewing our perspective. It really isn’t important where you live and what kind of car you drive in this life. If you think it is, you’ve forgotten where you’re headed—the here and now has become your goal instead.
            If you want to keep your mind on the goal, ignore the billboards life puts out for you and spend time with your atlas. Nothing helps me get through a long trip more than watching the towns go by and following them with my finger on the map. Every time I check the mileage we are a little further on, and soon, sooner than you might think, the destination is in sight. That’s why you started this trip in the first place—not for the World’s Largest Flea Market, or the Gigantic Book Sale, or even the Only Locally Owned Canning Facility and Orchard (with free samples).
            Watch the road, use the map, avoid the tourist traps. Make the best decisions you can at every intersection. This is the only road trip you get. Don’t mess it up.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

Dene Ward

Lowering Your Expectations--NOT

6/20/2025 0 Comments

I am getting tired of this. Too many times lately I have heard that we should not worry about the examples left to us in God’s word—we can’t do it anyway. It’s just a bunch of idealism. We should be content with what we can do so our self-esteem won’t suffer; so we won’t have to deal with guilt; so we won’t push ourselves beyond our limits. We should stop looking to Biblical role models and just be ourselves.
            Maybe it’s the generation I came from. Maybe it’s the family work ethic I grew up with. I can just hear my grandmothers both saying, “If you have time to whine, you have time to do a little more work.”
            Those women just did what had to be done, when it had to be done, how it had to be done, and never expected praise for it. They never suffered a lack of self-esteem either. They were both happy women, content with their lots in life despite the real sweat they sweated and the long hours they kept, both in the home and in the workplace. One grandmother, widowed from her 40s, was still walking to work in her 70s. In Florida. Even in the summer. If you had told them they were strong women, they would have laughed in your face.
            I am tired of having Biblical examples held up as impossible. I am tired of hearing how we should just ignore them and not worry about being like them, because we can’t anyway. God has always given His people examples to follow. Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Abraham, Samuel, and David were always held up for the Israelites to emulate throughout the chronicles, the psalms and the prophets. What? Should He have given them a reprobate to imitate?
            The Hebrew writer gives us a whole list of people to model ourselves after. And guess what? Not a one of them was perfect—yet they all did at least one amazing act of faith, something we probably think we “just can’t do.” Shall we ignore them because, after all, God would not want us to experience a feeling of failure?
            Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Cor 11:1 to follow his example. Yes, it was a specific example the context of which begins in chapter 8, but still—can we imitate Paul at all? Or shall we claim disability and dispense with his advice? “After all, we’re not Paul…”
            I am tired of having women who began in the depths of sin held up as the example to follow as if they had never changed. Jesus told the adulterous woman in John 8, “Go thy way and sin no more.” Wasn’t that an impossible task? But I bet that forgiven woman tried to accomplish it a whole lot harder than we do and succeeded far better for the trying.
            If we are asking too much of people to strive for the ideal, then how could Peter have ever written: 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, 1 Pet 2:21. How could Paul have said we are to be “conformed to the image of His son,” Rom 8:29; and “walk in love as Christ loved us” Eph 5:2; and “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ” Phil 2:5? How could John have dared write “If we abide in him we should walk as he walked” 1 John 2:6?
            Certainly following Christ’s example perfectly is a difficult task. But tell me, how can you ever become better if the goal you have set before yourself is easily attainable? If I wanted to become a long distance runner, surely my goal should be something more than running down to the mailbox and back—even my mailbox which is nearly half a mile away. Surely if it is frustrating to model ourselves after a high example, we should avoid using the Lord as one. That is what follows from the logic I have been hearing lately: the only thing that will come from me trying to be like my Lord is self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness, so I shouldn’t even try.
            God must think otherwise. He places high expectations in front of us, and He expects us to use them as goals, not ignore them because they are impossible. Do you know why? Because He gives us the tools to reach them.
            1 Pet 4:11—We serve by the “strength which God supplies,” not what we supply.
            Eph 3:20—His power “works in us;” His power, not ours.
            2 Tim 3:17—He equips us “for every good work;” not just the ones we find easy.
            God does expect a lot from us. Here is the key: stop picking at it like a sore. Just do what is set before you every day, that much and no more. If you have time to sit down and cry about it, you’re wasting one of the few precious commodities you can control, and that for only the moment. Remember where your power comes from, and do not doubt it for an instant.
            Will it be easy? No—maybe that is another one of our problems. We expect God to make it comfortable. We expect it to be fun. We expect it to never hurt. We think if we have to sweat it isn’t fair. God never promised any of that. He did promise all the help we could possibly need.
            Here is where you find your sense of self-worth: not in what you alone can do, but in recognizing that with a loving Father’s help, you can do more than you ever dreamed possible.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work, 2 Corinthians 9:8.

Dene Ward

My Sincere Compliments

5/29/2025 0 Comments

“I enjoyed my dinner.” Did your parents teach you to say that to the hostess every time you went to another home for a meal? Mine did, and I am sure that the hostess knew that’s why I said it. Some things are done just to be polite, like asking, “How are you?” Everyone knows it is a greeting not a question to be answered. It’s semantics, and part of our culture.
            But there are other times when the compliment is sincere. Keith learned early on when someone was saying, “Good lesson,” to be polite, and when it was really meant, and the latter were precious to him.
            If we can know these things, why do we think God won’t? Why do we think we can go through the motions without going through the e-motions?
            There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it, Job 35:12-13. If the only time God hears from me is when I cannot fend for myself, why would He come to my aid then? If I expect help, I must offer something myself—like love, devotion, worship, and obedience. That’s why it is called a covenant—both parties agree to give something.
            They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants, Hos 10:4. Undoubtedly, the covenant Israel made with God fit this condemnation. Instead of loving God “with all their hearts,” they did what they thought necessary to get along with Him, imagining that outward rituals mattered more than sincere hearts. It has never been so with God, and never will be.
            You cannot give God ritual obedience and think you have offered sincere worship. You cannot follow the Law to the letter and leave undone its weightier matters Matt 23:23. Israel tried it and God said, I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them… Amos 5:21,22. Jesus echoed that comment when he said, Go and learn what this means—I desire mercy and not sacrifice… Matt 9:13.
            God has always required sincerity and truth; He has always wanted those who obey from the heart Rom 6:17. He has always sought a people who will be His in more than name only. God knows when, “I enjoyed my dinner,” comes from a thankful heart and when it is just a courtesy.
            When you pray tonight, will He recognize your words as sincere compliments, or just more formulaic nonsense meant only to salve a hypocritical conscience?” He knows the difference.

This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul, Deut 26:16.

Dene Ward