Debbie All New, Not All New Debbie

Spring Crocus 1 by jtuhtan from freeimages.com

In my newsfeed today something was said about God making all things new. That reminded me of the phrase I’ve heard and shared before, “He is making all things new, not making all new things.” I’ve heard that from a few sources but always in reference to Revelation and the new heaven and new earth, to creation.

I got a new take on that today.  It also applies to us, to human beings, as His beloved creation. He makes US new.  

Just as He isn’t going to destroy the earth and start over, He isn’t going to destroy His people and start over.

He almost did once. In Numbers 14 God is so fed up with Israel’s whining and lack of faith, after all He has done for them and saved them from, that He tells Moses He will wipe them all out and start a brand new nation through Moses. Thankfully, Moses talks God out of it (did you know we can change God’s mind? How cool is that?).

That’s the only time I can recall Him saying He is going to do that. Everything else I can recall has to do with renewing, redeeming, restoring. There is always a remnant of some sort -- some section of the nation of Israel, some section of creation, some section of US -- that He reserves.

He doesn’t ever say, “Okay, that’s it. I am SO DONE with Debbie. She has gone too far and is too far gone for Me to help. She has sinned too much and too often. This time I. HAVE. HAD. ENOUGH. I give up. I’m throwing her away, destroying her, and starting over with a brand new Debbie.”  

Thank You, God!

What He does say is that He will never leave us, never forsake us (Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, Deut 31:6). He will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20).  David asks where he can flee from God’s presence and the answer is that he can’t (Psalm 139). His very name, Emmanuel, means WITH. God WITH us (Matt 1:23).

God said all of those things, made all of those promises, thousands of years ago and guess what? He’s still here with us.

Being as I screw up a lot and sin even more than a lot, I’m beyond grateful. 

The Prodigal Brothers: Judas and Peter

Judas and Peter were with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. Both witnessed the same miracles and learned the same teaching. Both helped feed the five-thousand, watched Jesus calm the storm, and marveled at His countless healings.

Both betrayed Him, AFTER Jesus Himself told them they would.

Yet one is searing in hell and the other is seated in heaven.

How could that have happened?

Everyone believed that when Messiah came He would free Israel from the shackles of Roman rule. But three years later, when Jesus had yet to talk about even forming an army, many gave up on Him. Judas wasn’t one of them. 

Perhaps Judas thought that by handing Jesus over to His enemies it would force Jesus to go ahead and declare war on Rome. We don’t know, but one thing is certain—it didn’t go the way Judas thought it would. When he realized it he was overcome with sorrow.

Peter, on the other hand, declared his fierce loyalty to Jesus no matter what the status of His Kingdom, even to the point of death. But just a few hours after this bold statement, Peter denied even knowing Him at all.  When Peter realized what he had done, he too was overcome with sorrow.

Judas’ and Peter’s stories share similarities with the parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15). 

The older brother was angry with their father for not behaving in the way he thought he should. Jesus didn’t behave the way Judas thought He should.

The older brother betrayed his father as much as the younger did.  Didn’t the older brother know his father’s heart at all?  Surely both brothers knew their father loved them deeply and was a compassionate man.  Surely both had seen their father’s good, even extravagant, treatment of his servants.  Yet one believed in his father’s love and generosity while the other wouldn’t.

While Judas was sorrowful, we don’t know that he was repentant, although Jesus did forgive him. Perhaps Judas didn’t trust Jesus’ heart in the same way the older brother didn’t trust his father’s heart. 

Peter, like the younger son, repented and gave Jesus a chance to forgive him.  Perhaps Peter felt, as the younger son did, that even if Jesus didn’t reinstate him as an Apostle, at least he could still be a follower.

Is repentance what made all the difference between where Judas and Peter are today?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that even our worst betrayal doesn’t have to be the end of our story. There is forgiveness.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

Lessons from the Red-Winged Blackbird

God and I have a special thing with red-winged blackbirds.  I love their bold markings and coloring, and I feel the slightest bit like a real bird watcher when I can point them out to my sons and other captive audience-type people.  I even downloaded an app so I could learn to recognize their calls, as well as the calls of other local birds.

God seems especially fond of speaking to me through them at Oil Belt Christian Camp’s Ladies’ Day weekends, where I am on the planning team.   One year, as I was driving to the camp to help with the prep, I was freaking out.  I was teaching a workshop and performing a skit and helping with decorations.  I’d spread myself a little thin.  As I turned down one of the country roads to reach the camp, there was a field of corn stubble on my left.  Perched on top of one of the corn stalks was a red-winged blackbird.  I drove very slowly down the road, and I watched as he flew a little way, landed on another stalk, waited for me to catch up, flew a bit more, landed on a stalk, waited for me again, all the way to the end of the field.  I felt like God was telling me He was there with me, that I should give my anxiety to Him and it would all work out fine (which it did).

A couple of years later I was heading up to camp, only this time I was feeling good about the skit and purposed to worship during the entire drive.  I saw one blackbird, then another, then two more.  I laughed and told God that now He was just showing off.  I spotted two more for a total of six red-winged blackbirds.  I was feeling loved on by God, and Ladies’ Day went very well that year. 

On the way home from that weekend I noticed a break in the clouds in the shape of a heart.  I remembered something John Eldredge had said about God loving on him by giving him hearts of all kinds—rocks, clouds, even animal poop.  I wanted to see the heart shape for as long as I could, so I would glance up and then quickly back to the mostly-deserted highway.  As the clouds were changing and the break disappearing, I looked back at the road in time to see a red-winged blackbird swoop down in front of my car!  OH NO!  I was just sure I hit him.  I felt TERRIBLE!  I had destroyed my special gift from God!  However, when I got home my car didn’t show any evidence that I had actually hit him.  I do hope God spared the bird from my distractedness.  

This year at Ladies’ Day my friend and fellow planner Mary rode to camp with me, and so instead of watching for blackbirds on the drive up, I gabbed with her.  I didn’t see any birds the whole work day or that evening.  The next day, I was the last gal on the planning team to leave the dorm.  As I approached the outside door I silently lamented that I hadn’t seen any red-winged blackbirds this time.  I had taken about three steps out of the door when it happened.  I didn’t see a red-winged blackbird, but I heard its call.  I smiled, praised God, and knew that the day was going to be wonderful.  God was at Ladies’ Day, working behind the scenes.

God has used these beautiful birds, and the simplicity of our encounters, to teach me some valuable truths.  The first year, He used the blackbird to show that He is always with me as well as ahead of me.  He is leading me, inviting me, and if I fall too far behind He will wait on me so we can continue together.

The next year He showed me that He is an extravagant God who loves to lavish gifts on His beloveds.  He also reminded me that, as Jesus healed each person in a different way, He speaks to each of His beloveds in a different way, intimately, to the farthest reaches of our hearts.  The way He speaks to John Eldredge is not the way He speaks to me, and it won’t be the way He speaks to you. 

This year He showed me that even though I may not see Him, I can and do hear Him.  This is opening all new doors for me, and is a process I am enjoying pursuing.  

I love that as our relationship continues to grow, I continue to experience Him in new ways. I can hardly wait until next year's Ladies' Day to discover all He has for me through the red-winged blackbird.  

It's ALL About Love

Fill in the blank of this famous song:

They will know we are Christians by our ____________.

A) WWJD Bracelets    B) Picket Signs    C) Politics    D) Love

I REALLY hope you know the correct answer is D) Love.  Unfortunately, many Christians show everything BUT love.

Why is this?  What happened to love, to OUR love?  How was it replaced with malice, envy, selfishness, pride, and self-righteousness?  Aren’t we, above all things, supposed to show God’s love to the world?  So why don’t we?   

Here’s what I’ve discovered:

Jesus replied, “‘LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘LOVE your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39)*   LOVE God.  Not obey, not serve, not worship, although those are important, but first and foremost we must LOVE God.

“A new command I give you: LOVE one another.  As I have loved you, so YOU MUST LOVE one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” (John 13:34-35)  Jesus loves us and He loves them, therefore we must love.  Not scold, not judge, not disrespect, not shun, not diminish, not vilify.  Not even serve or tolerate or encourage, although those are important.  Love others.  Just do it.  Period.  It’s not a suggestion, not an option.  It’s a command.  

Paul goes so far as to say: “Do everything in love.^” (1 Cor 16:14)  Not some things, not convenient things, not important things, but EVERY thing.

We are designed to love, to give love and receive love, to love God, to love our fellow man.  We are motivated by love, changed by love, healed by love.  Yet we often don't live it.  

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if we don’t love, if we are not consciously making an effort to speak in love, to think in love, to listen in love, to obey in love, to BE love--first, foremost and above all--then don’t even bother.  We will do more harm than good.  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I am ONLY A RESOUNDING GONG or a CLANGING CYMBAL.   If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE I AM NOTHING.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.” (1 Cor 13:1-3)  Without love, we are nothing.  Not even very little.  We are nothing without love.

What does love look like?  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  (Matthew 25:35,36)  Love looks like kindness, caring, nurturing, providing.  It looks like and is sacrifice.  Food costs money.  Nurturing and caring cost vulnerability and compassion.  Providing costs convenience and comfort.  Love costs time and often pain. Is this what our lives, our DAILY lives, look like? 

Whom are we to love?  I tell you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES and pray for those who persecute you. (Matt 5:44)  It’s easy to love those who love us.  We must love beyond the easy and expected to the difficult and unexpected.  We must love the unlovable.  Period.

Here’s the kicker:  Love is impossible.  It’s impossible because we cannot love enemies and persecutors on our own.  Oh, sure, we can mostly love our spouse and kids pretty well, maybe our families and our friends, but real love, perfect love, true love, is beyond our human capabilities.  Only God can fill our hearts with his love, and He longs to.  I WILL GIVE you a NEW HEART and put a new spirit in you; I WILL REMOVE from you your heart of stone and give you A HEART OF FLESH. (Ezekiel 36:26) 

How do we know if we are living God’s love?  Here’s the Gold Standard Checklist.  Insert your name in the blank:  __________ is patient.  __________ is kind.  _________ does not envy.  __________ does not boast.  __________ is not proud.  __________ does not dishonor others.  __________ is not self-seeking.  __________ is not easily angered.  __________ keeps no record of wrongs.  __________ does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  __________ always protects.  __________ always trusts.  __________ always hopes.  __________ always perseveres.  __________ never fails.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) 

Ah.  I hear a few Ouches.  I felt some, too.  We all have areas needing improvement.  God can improve us, heal us, help us to love as He loves.  We must let Him. 

My friends, this is a call to arms—to open arms.  To tender hearts.  Now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.   Don’t lie to each other…  Put on your new nature… you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you... Above all, CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH LOVE, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:8-14)

Above all, love each other deeply, because LOVE COVERS OVER a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)  Love not only covers our sins, but theirs as well.  It is the most powerful force in the Universe. 

And if we love as God loves?  What then?  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)  That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

So yes, they will know we are Christians by our love: Our love for the unlovable.  Our love for the sandpaper people we all are (anyone ever rub you the wrong way?).  Our love for the poor, the rich, the victim, the perpetrator, the politically-opposite, the hostile, the abused, the abuser, the friend, the enemy.  Not with our love but with HIS Love, which He will generously give if we but ASK, RECEIVE and then CHOOSE TO GIVE.

It’s a win-win all the way around.  LOVE, my friends.  LOVE.    

*All emphases mine

Come Be a Fool

In the world of literature, there is the character of the Fool.  Think of Uncle Billy from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” C3PO in “Star Wars,” Timon and Pumbaa in “The Lion King.”  These second-banana sidekicks tend to be the comic relief, the ones who cause the Heroic Central Characters to roll their eyes and shake their heads, tolerating their friend who is not “all there.”

Christians tend to look like Fools, at least to the world.  After all, we are the ones who believe in things the world believes aren’t really there, things like Heaven and Hell, angels and demons, a Spirit that lives in our hearts.  We are the ones who, like Paul, hear Jesus’ voice while the world hears only thunder.

 

We appear foolish to the world because we have faith: faith in the existence of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit; faith that God will work all things for our good (Romans 8:28);  that he has plans to help us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11); that he loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). 

Faith, as Hebrews 11:1 says, is being…certain of what we do not see.

To the world, it looks foolish to believe in things we cannot see, but it looks downright crazy to believe that these things are MORE true, MORE real, than those we can see.  Yet that is exactly what God calls us to believe.  His ways are higher.  His love is real love.  His truth is THE truth.  We need to believe what He says over what we see, hear and feel.

This level of crazy, of faith, is what Jesus exemplified.  After all, when you start teaching about loving your enemies, treasure in Heaven and being born a second time, you’re going to see some eyes roll.  My friends, if the people of the world are not rolling their eyes at us, we are doing something wrong. 

How many eye rolls, and worse, do we think Noah got while he built the ark?   Can we imagine what the people of Jericho were shouting at the Israelites as they walked around the city?  How crazy did Gideon seem with his little band of 300 weaponless men going up against an army of 135,000 soldiers?  Even Jesus Himself was thought to be a lunatic by his own family.

But we have the Bible, and we know the rest of the story.  Noah, the Israelites, Gideon, and Jesus were not crazy.  They simply knew something no one else did.  Or rather, Someone no one else did.  They counted His promises to be truer than their circumstances, and God honored their faith. 

Literarily speaking, by the end of their stories, they had become the Heroic Central Character as well as the Fool. 

Perhaps one day, if we live out our crazy faith, our stories will show that we also are both the Hero and the Fool.  

A Gift for All People -- Max Lucado

This is not my content and I do not claim it to be.  This is THE BEST explanation of God's plan for salvation I have seen.  Previously you could access this story online.  I wish everyone could read it, and so I am posting it here.  If you've never read Max Lucado, ANY of his books will feed your soul and draw you closer to God.  PLEASE do yourself a favor and BUY HIS BOOKS!  (Or his videos, or his children's materials, or...you get the idea)


from Max Lucado's book The Gift For All People (It also appears in his book He Did This For You.)


The Privilege--God's Invitation to You

I can remember, as a seven-year old, going to my grandparents’ house for a week.  Mom and Dad bought a ticket, gave me some spending money, put me on a Greyhound bus, and told me not to talk to strangers or get off the bus until I saw my grandma out the window.  They made it very clear to me that my destiny was Ralls, Texas. 

God has done the same for you.  He has placed you on a journey.  He has a destiny for your life (and you’ll be glad to know it’s not Ralls, Texas).

“For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:9, NRSV).

According to the Bible, God’s destiny for your life is salvation.  Your intended destination is heaven.  God has done exactly what my parents did.  He has purchased your passage.  He has equipped you for the journey.  God loves you so much that he wants you to be with him forever. 

The choice, however, is up to you.  Even though he stands at the door with ticket paid and pocket money for the trip…many choose to go in directions other than the one God intends.  That is the problem.

Our Problem: Sin (We’re On the Wrong Bus)

When my parents gave me the ticket and told me which bus to board, I believed them and did what they said.  I trusted them.  I knew they loved me, and I knew they knew more than I did…so I got on board. 

Becoming a Christian is getting on board with Christ.  Jesus stands at the door of the bus and says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV).  Unfortunately, not all accept his invitation.  I know I didn’t the first time he invited.  I spent some time on the wrong bus.

There are many buses, each of them promising to take you to happiness.  There is the bus of pleasure, possessions, power, passion.  I saw a bus called party and got on board.  It was full of people laughing and carousing; they seemed to be enjoying a nonstop party.  It was quite some time before I learned they had to be loud to cover up all the pain inside. 

The word for getting on the wrong bus is sin.  Sin is when we say, I’ll go my way instead of God’s way.  Right in the middle the word sin is the word I.   Sin is when we say, I’ll do what I want, no matter what God says.  Only God can fulfill our needs.  Sin is the act of going to everyone but God for what only God can give.  Am I the only one who has spent time on the wrong bus?  No.  Some buses are more violent than others.  Some rides are more lengthy than others but:

“All of us like sheep have gone astray, ecah of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6, NASB)

“If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves, and refusing to accept the truth” (1 John 1:8, TLB)

“We’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else” (Romans 3:20, MSG)

To board the wrong bus is a serious mistake.  Sin breaks our relationship with God.  We were intended to journey with him.  But when we are on a different bus headed the wrong direction, we feel far from God.  This is why life can seem so cruddy.  We aren’t fulfilling our destiny. 

Sin not only breaks our relationship with God, it also hampers our relationship with others.  Can you imagine taking a long trip to the wrong place with a bus-load of people?  With time, everyone gets cranky.  Nobody likes the trip.  The journey is miserable.

We try to cope with the problems by therapy or recreation or prescriptions.  But nothing helps.  The Bible says:

“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (Proverbs 16:25, NLT).

You see, the end result of sin is death…spiritual death.  “The wages of sin,” Paul writes, “is death…” (Romans 6:23, NIV)  Spend a life on the wrong bus headed in the wrong direction, and you’ll end up in the wrong place.  You’ll end up in hell.  His plan for you is heaven.  Your destiny is heaven.  He’ll do anything to get you to heaven, with one exception.  There is one thing he won’t do.  He won’t force you.  The decision is yours.  But he has done everything else.  Let me show you what I mean.

The Solution: Grace (Go To the Right Bus)

If the problem is sin and all have sinned, what can you do?  Well, you can go to church, but that won’t make you a Christian.  Just like going to a rodeo doesn’t make you a cowboy, going to church doesn’t make you a Christian.  You could work really hard to please God.  You could do a lot of good stuff, give away a lot of things…the only problem with that is that you don’t know how many good things you have to do.  Or you could compare yourself with others: “I may be bad, but at least I’m better than Hitler.”  The problem with comparisons is that other people aren’t the standard: God is!

So what are you going to do?  If you aren’t saved by going to church or doing good works or by comparing yourself to others, how are you saved?  The answer is simple: Go to the right bus.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). 

Note what God did” “…He gave his only Son.”  This is how he dealt with your sin.  Imagine it this way.  Suppose you are found guilty of a crime.  You are in a courtroom in front of the judge, and he sentences you to death for your crime.  His sentence is just.  You are guilty, and the punishment for your crime is death.  But suppose that the judge is your father.  He knows the law; he knows that your crime demands a death.  But he knows love; he knows that he loves you too much to let you die.  So in a wonderful act of love, he stands and removes his robes and stands by your side and says, “I’m going to die in your place.”

That is what God did for you.  The wages of sin is death.  Heaven’s justice demands a death for your sin.  Heaven’s love, however, can’t bear to see you die.  So here is what God did.  He stood and removed his heavenly robes.  He came to earth to tell us that he would die for us.  He would be our Savior.  And that is what he did.

“God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins…God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God” (2 Corinthians 5:19,21, MSG)

The Response: Trust (Getting on the Right Bus)

What does God want you to do?  He wants you to get on his bus.  How is this done?  Three simple steps: admit, agree, accept.

1. Admit that God has not been first place in your life, and ask him to forgive your sins.

“If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” (1 John 1:9, NLT).

2.Agree that Jesus died to pay for your sins and that he rose from the dead and is alive today.

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NIV)

“Salvation is found in no one else (Jesus), for there is no other name by which we must be saved: (Acts 4:12, NIV)

3. Accept God’s free gift of salvation.  Don’t try to earn it.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9, NIV).

“To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God.  All they needed to do was to trust him to save them.  All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth…but from the will of God” (John 1:12,13, TLB).

Jesus says, “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…” (Revelation 3:20, NIV).

With all of my heart, I urge you to accept God’s destiny for your life.  I urge you to get on board with Christ.  According to the Bible, “Jesus is the only One who can save people.  His name is the only power in the world that has been given to save people.  We must be saved through him” (Acts 4:12, NCV).

Would you let him save you?  This is the most important decision you will ever make.  Why don’t you give your heart to him right now?  Admit your need.  Agree with his work.  Accept his gift.  Go to God in prayer and tell him, I am a sinner in need of grace.  I believe that Jesus died for me on the cross.  I accept your offer of salvation.  It’s a simple prayer with eternal results.

Your Response

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God.  I want him to be the Lord of my life.

___________________________________________

Signed

___________________________________________

Date

Once you’ve placed your faith in Christ, I urge you to take three steps.  You find them easy to remember.  Just think of these three words.  They each start with a “b”:

Baptism demonstrates and celebrates our decision to follow Jesus.  The water of baptism symbolizes God’s grace.  Just as water cleanses the body, so grace cleanses the soul.  Jesus said, “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16, NCV).  When the apostle Paul became a believer, he was asked this question: “Now, why wait any longer?  Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, trusting in him to save you” (Acts 22:16, NCV).  Paul responded by being baptized immediately.  You can, too.

Bible reading brings us face to face with God.  God reveals himself to us through his word by the Holy Spirit.  “Let the teaching of Christ live in you richly” (Colossians 3:16, NCV)

Belonging to a church reinforces your faith.  A Christian without a church is like a baseball player without a team or a soldier without an army.  You aren’t strong enough to survive alone.  “You should not stay away from church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other.” (Hebrews 10:25, NCV)

These three steps—baptism, Bible reading and belonging to a church—are essential steps in your faith. 

I pray that you’ll accept this great gift of salvation.  Believe me, this is not only the most important decision you’ll ever make, it’s also the greatest decision you’ll ever make.  There’s no higher treasure than God’s gift of salvation.

Dogs, Teeth and Power over the Darkness

As a child growing up in the Chicago suburbs, our fenced-in backyard ended at the alley.

One day we were in the backyard playing baseball.  My sister, Lorie, was batting.  She nailed the ball, sending it past our garage and across the alley.   It landed in the yard of some people with whom we didn't have many social interactions.  These neighbors didn't have children, so we didn't have much occasion to talk to them.  They did, however, have a short-haired medium-sized black dog that slept on the back porch.  It did occasionally look up when we walked by, but most of the time it slept.

The rule was that if you hit the ball out of the yard, you were responsible for getting it.  After weighing all of the options, the consensus was that Lorie needed to climb over the chain link fence, sneak in and get the ball, trying not to wake the dog.

She gingerly slunk over the fence and then tiptoed carefully towards the middle of the yard.  We watched in silence.  The dog continued to sleep.  She found the ball and picked it up.  Everything was okay.  Then she stepped on a stick and it cracked.

"BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!"  The dog raced after Lorie, snarling and growling, a horrendous grimace on his face.  Lorie took off at a dead run for the fence, the rest of us shouting.  She made it to the fence, literally flipping over, and landed on her back on the pavement.  It seemed the dog was mere inches away from tearing off her foot.  We gathered her up and  hurried into our own backyard.  Lorie was a little bruised from the fall, but most of the damage was from the terror of being chased by the terrifying dog.

Later that afternoon our mother went to the neighbors to explain what happened.  The woman of the house replied, "Oh, it's no trouble for them to come in and get their ball anytime.  That dog couldn't have hurt her.  He doesn't have any teeth."

That was thirty years ago and we still laugh about it.

I have been facing some pain and uncertainty with my health recently.  I know that at least part of it is a spiritual attack.  Fear of the Unknown Future has been wrapping his icy fingers around my heart and mind, causing panic and confusion and anxiety.  I know that Jesus promises that if we resist the devil he will flee (James 4:7), but sometimes it is so difficult simply to stand our ground, much less war against him.  It's especially difficult because what he says feels true, and directly feeds my own fear:  "You will be in pain for the rest of your life.  It will only get worse.  There isn't anything they can do to help you.  Get used to it. Give in and give up."

I asked God to help me, and He reminded me of the Toothless Dog story.  I had to laugh yet again, this time with great relief and peace.  You see, just like the black dog, our enemy the devil doesn't have any teeth.  We are God's children, protected by His grace, and He gives us power over the the darkness, the fear, the anxiety.  Oh, the devil sure puts on a show, racing towards us at breakneck speed to attack, snarling and barking accusations, growling out lies.  But, when it comes right down to it, he cannot hurt us.

The enemy has no teeth.

Now whenever those icy fingers try to close around my heart, I send the Toothless Wonder home to his own hellish backyard, and I remind myself of God's promises to me of healing.  So far, so good.  Fear of the Unknown Future is on its way to becoming merely a memory, just like the formerly terrifying dog.