Books authored by Dr. James Dyet. Purchase on JamesDyet.com

Thursday, May 1, 2008

May Day! May Day!

May Day! May Day!

A distress call might have been in order today in our part of Colorado. Although yesterday was a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day, this morning brought three inches of snow and freezing temperatures. Our neighbors who had their sprinkler systems turned on may encounter frozen pipes. Life in Colorado is never boring.

Sometimes it’s hard to accept change, not just changes in the weather but also many other kinds of changes. As life progresses, so do aches, pains, and the inability to perform yard work. After I mowed the grass and fertilized the front lawn last week, my back muscles tightened up and my legs felt rubbery. Perhaps the stress of two lower back surgeries has contributed to this condition, but I would be in worse shape if I hadn’t had the surgeries. I’m guessing the aging process is another contributor. At any rate, I’m not looking forward to trimming shrubs and clearing away the debris. I may not like a May 1 snowstorm, but the snow didn’t accumulate on the sidewalk or driveway. I don’t have to shovel the lawns!

God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). That truth is comforting. We may rely on Him to remain loving, gracious, merciful, kind, available, compassionate, all wise and omnipotent. Nothing thwarts His purposes. No one overturns His truth.

Penrose, the community in which I am serving as an interim pastor, has invited churches and other organizations to commemorate its centennial by doing something special. One church plans to make a quilt. If you wish to suggest a project our church can undertake, please let me know. We want to show community spirit and provide a good witness.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Luminaries

Jesus told His followers to let their light shine in such a way that others would see their good works and glorify God (Matt. 5:16). But how can we beam the light into a dark culture? Getting irate and storming the citadels of darkness won’t accomplish the task. Heat and aggression are not valid substitutes for light and truth. As Jesus’ followers, we must draw others from the darkness by showing how much better it is to live in the light. Love, kindness, mercy, and unconditional friendship produce extremely high-wattage illumination. We will rescue more imperiled souls by shining a bright light than by sounding a blaring horn. Talk is cheap if it isn’t backed up by good deeds.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Be Grateful

Gratitude is an attitude. It cannot be forced on anyone, nor does it spring naturally from affluence. It grows in the heart as we contemplate God’s goodness and sense how much we owe to His grace. We can be grateful even if our money runs out, our health gives out, and our friends duck out. The apostle Paul had barely two shekels to rub together, he seemed to suffer poor health, and many of his friends deserted him, but he counseled us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18).

Jesus lived a simple life. He was born in a stable and was cradled in a feeding trough. He owned no property, walked almost everywhere, had only one item of clothing when He died, and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Yet, throughout His life, He demonstrated a grateful attitude. Before miraculously dividing five bread rolls and two tiny fish and feeding 5,000 hungry people with them, He gave thanks (John 6:11). After 70 disciples returned from a preaching tour, Jesus again gave thanks (Luke 10:17-21). He gave thanks for answered prayer at the raising of Lazarus (John 11:41, and later gave thanks when He ate the Passover meal with His disciples (Matt. 26:27).

Even when our circumstances seem bleak, we can maintain a grateful attitude by focusing our thoughts on God’s favor. As we remember His past blessings to us and count our present ones, we realize how kind He is. Our troubles seem as small as a molehill when we lay them against the mountain of blessings God has piled into our lives. King David encountered numerous struggles as hardships. Yet he wrote: “Your love is ever before me” (Psalm 26:3). His attention was riveted not on his troubles but on the Lord’s favor. So he would praise the Lord and tell of all His wonderful deeds (v. 7).

The author of the following poem understood that trials dim as we focus on God’s blessings.

“When you have truly thanked your God
For every blessing sent,
But little time will then remain
For murmur or lament.”

—From The Master’s Plan for You by Jim Dyet. ©2002, The Amy Foundation, Lansing, Michigan