Fall Creek Christian Church

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal rock." Isaiah 26:3-4 As my yet to know how to swim granddaughter tip toes to the edge of the pool, her mom says, "Jump sweetheart, I've got you!" She gleefully complies completely confident that mom does indeed "got her." It's a simple childlike trust in one who has proven to be faithful again and again. We do get concerned however, that her fearlessness may embolden her to jump when no one is present to catch her.  Isaiah, in our passage for the day, had a few passionate comments to make about trust. Trust and peace go together. Specifically, placing trust in the Lord will produce the wonderful fruit of peace. He is quick to add that this trust is produced in the life of a person who has their minds fixed on the Lord. He occupies their thoughts. He is continuously in view. He is ever stable....

"In that day, the wolf and the lamb will lie down together; the leopard and the goat will be at peace. Calves and yearlings will be safe among lions, and a little child will lead them all." Isaiah 11:6 I was looking into the face of my new granddaughter the other day and ended up lost in thought. Someday, I'll be able to have a conversation with her. Someday, I'll get to make up crazy stuff to tell her. Someday, I'll spoil her and then send her home. Someday, I'll cheer when she takes her first steps, rides a bike by herself, and walks across the stage to receive her diploma.  There is an inevitability to "someday." It shows up when we least expect it. As a prophet, Isaiah was well acquainted with someday. God revealed to him what was to come and many things, like our verse for the day, that are still yet to come. Isaiah's someday conversations were meant to, among other things, encourage the discouraged, discipline the u...

"A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body ..." Proverbs 14:30 I have a built-in stress gauge. From what I understand, I'm not the only one. Mine is located just under my right shoulder blade. Without me even being aware of it, stress starts to creep in and wreak havoc. It can only go on for so long before my stress gauge goes off. The pain alerts me that a life timeout is needed which begins with a long walk and talk with Jesus. Solomon, the one who wrote our verse for the day, was no dummy. He was described as the wisest guy ever. Either observationally, or through direct revelation, he knew the mind and body were interconnected. When good or bad hits one side of the connection, the other has a corresponding response. Here, a heart and mind at peace produce a body in good health. Maybe your stress gauge is in the red zone these days. Headaches, blood pressure rising, panic attacks and the like are built-in alarms that when heeded can direct ...

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30 The night dragged on and on as the clock seemed to move in slow motion. I couldn't sleep, inconsolably restless over a disturbing series of events. There was an unsettling absence of a clear path. I was surrounded by a thick fog of confusion, hurt, and unanswered questions. I was looking for some serious divine intervention. Thankfully, it came. As Jesus spoke to the crowd gathered in our verses for the day, they were also lacking in the peace department. They were restless and Jesus knew it. It was a restlessness that went far deeper than one too many cups of coffee. It was soul deep. Big questions haunted them. Patterns of failure stalked them. Jesus' antidote was not a pill, a program, or a parad...

“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7 I used to be very confused when people told me about panic attacks. I'm ashamed to admit this thought to you, but I used to think that panic attacks were for the weak. I've since learned that they are a common experience for people who are well ... in a word, human. My first bout with them caught me totally by surprise and I honestly had no idea what was happening. I couldn't catch my breath or stop my heart from racing wildly. My prayer life went to a whole new level that day.  In our verses for today, Paul dealt head on with the "life muzzler" of worry. His instruction? Pray more. Ask more. Thank more. Worry loves a vacuum, an idle heart and mind. Paul told us to...

"But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."  James 1:6-8 There's a crucial moment in fishing when a person has one foot in the boat and one foot still on the dock. Any poorly calculated movements during that time can result in some fairly unpleasant outcomes. I've watched people perform the splits who really aren't able to perform the splits. Yikes! I've seen others tumble into the boat to avoid the inevitable splash. Others well ... just get wet. None of these are desirable outcomes. In our verses for the day, James speaks to this one-foot-in phenomenon as it relates to a relationship with God. To put it mildly, it's bad. He uses words like "blown...

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."  I John 3:1-2 "Passport!", barked the immigration officer.  Startled by his unconcealed disdain, I fumbled around for my critical piece of identification.   There have only been two occasions in my life where I have found myself in need of a passport.  It was quite obvious to me that failure to have one would have been bad, really bad.  Countries seem to be quite particular these days as to who they are willing to allow to traipse around their countryside.  Bottom line: they want to and need to know who you are. John, as he was contemplating his word of challenge and e...

"Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death.  But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace."  Romans 8:5-6 On too many occasions, I've regretfully said to myself, "That wasn't a very good idea at all."  I get even more agonizingly puzzled when I realize that at one point in time I thought it was!  It's terribly discouraging to be the poster boy for the slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."  Maybe you can relate..?? Thankfully, Paul, who wrote the verses for today, gives us some insight into our mind problems.  He tells us that the quality of our thoughts hinges on who is sitting behind the wheel.  If that part of us which is oriented against God is driving, look out!  However, if God the Holy Spirit is driving, buckle up, sit back an...

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11 NASB) Ever wanted to become more disciplined? I think we all have. We do well for 3 or 4 days, then we completely fall off on our commitments--and our last state is worse than the first. The key to being disciplined in your relationship with God, and your war against sin, is found in this verse. You have to let discipline break you down. It makes you sorrowful. You have to give up your old life and its negativity in exchange for something brand new. When you come out on the other side, you realize why you've put yourself through all the discipline and sorrow. Out of the discipline comes this peaceful fruit of righteousness. This is something that money can't buy. We sleep better. We are happier. We feel less pressure. We become more like Jesus, because he was the epitome of discipline. S...

“But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives." Genesis 45:5 As I walked away from one more difficult conversation, I began to really get discouraged and frustrated. "What is this all about?", I asked myself and God. My character was being attacked and my integrity questioned. I was confused and hurt and absolutely clueless as to what to do about it. The tunnel of perceived chaos is one, in which, God is powerfully at work. I couldn't see it at the time, but God was doing something in my life that required that tunnel. In our verse for the day, we find Joseph discovering this same truth in his life. He was, after 13 years of grief, able to see that his brother's mistreatment of him was actually the vehicle, in which, God carried him to fulfill his destiny. If not today, pain from mistreatment or pain from circumstances is headed your way. Someone is or will soon...

"And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." James 3:18 Growing up, our family was rarely without a garden. It would vary in size and variety of vegetables, but that we would have one was rarely in question. We kids were all "invited" to help with the planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting of the gardens over the years. I remember very distinctly digging in the dirt, planting the seeds, and covering them back up. I really enjoyed it. I kept quiet about that fact though, because I didn't want to get "invited" to help too often. Given that we were planting many different kinds of plants, we liked to mark the rows with a stick, to which, we would attach the empty seed packets. It was a test of my childish patience to watch the plants begin to break through the soil and take the form of the picture on the package. Eventually, however, we would enjoy a wonderful harvest. The Bible speaks often ...

"Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. But those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do." Psalm 73:25-28 Not too long ago, I had the privilege of sharing a cup of coffee and some riveting conversation with one of our WWII heroes. As a Marine, he fought in the Pacific theater from one island to the other in brutal, close contact, jungle warfare. In one fight, his position was being overrun with all, except him, being killed. He stood firing his machine gun into the charging enemy waiting for his turn to die. At the very last moment, he was rescued by another nearby unit who had flanked the charging enemy and killed them before their bullets or their bay...

"...Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right." Ecclesiastes 8:5b I knew what I needed to do. My nagging conscience and the constant turmoil in my heart was simply not going to go away until I made things right. The man in the gas station had taken a look out the window with his binoculars to look at the pump that I had just finished using and told me it said, "such and such." I gave him the money, got in my car and pulled away. Curious, due to the oddity of the experience, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the pump said, "such and such .05". Yikes, I thought. He missed the nickel. Running a little bit late already, I kept on going. However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that 5 cents out of my head. It stalked me like the beating heart in Edgar Allan Poe's story. Needless to say, the guy working at the gas station when I returned to slap that nickel down on the counter was more than a little b...