By Joe Widick
Elaine and I have had one of those very good weeks! We had the opportunity to have our daughter-in-law and our newest grandchild Josie spend the week with us, while Lane was with part of his youth group at Impact. It has been a real joy to see Josie when I come home in the evening and hold her right before she goes to bed. One forgets how small a little baby is. As she spent time with us this week, I could not help but reflect on so many wonderful memories of our children while they were growing up. All of us have those memories that no one will ever be able to take from us. God is good! One of the things that I remember our children liked were the little series of books entitled “Where’s Waldo?” Maybe you recall those popular children’s boos from the 1980s. That little guy Waldo in the red-and white-striped shirt and hat loved to hide in the pages amid a busy blur of images that made it nearly impossible to find him. Sometimes you could stare at a page for a long time and never find him. Then other times he would seemingly just appear.
Are you thankful that finding Jesus is a lot easier than finding Waldo. Jesus doesn’t play hide and seek. Jesus said; “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). It is exciting to know that you can find Him at the door of your heart—the core of your existence—waiting to come in. He doesn’t just want to meet you at “church,” or to be kept at bay on the outer edges of your life. Rather, He longs to be in the center of your dreams, deliberations and desires. He wants a real relationship with you. I truly believe that that is something each of us really wants, someone that we can have a true and lasting relationship with. Jesus becomes that someone special who wants to be invited into our life.
I guess there needs to be a word of caution. As wonderful as it is that Jesus wants to come into our lives, there is something that becomes a little unsettling. Your heart, like mine is no doubt harboring a few things that He will want to deal with. But there is nothing that is more valuable than intimacy with Him. Welcome Jesus in and He will clear out the clutter until the air is fragrant and fresh with the purity, power, and pleasure of His presence.
Grand babies, are truly wonderful. My newest one has caused me to reflect back to a very special time when Elaine and I had children running around the house all the time. I hope Josie will create many memories for her parents, just as your grandchildren do for your children.
Prayer Thought: Thank you for blessing us with the opportunity to remember.
By Joe Widick
Each morning that I get up out of bed, I realize that I am getting older. This is especially true after I have worked out in the yard the previous day. I just don’t seem to rebound as quickly as I once did. Like most others, the older we get the shorter life seems. Victor Hugo, the famous author of Les Miserables and Hunchback of Notre Dame once said, Short as life is, we still make it shorter by the careless waste of time.” Does his statement ring true in your life and mine? I can only answer for myself and I am afraid that at times, I find myself not accomplishing all I want to simply because of waste time.
There’s no sadder example of wasted time than a life dominated by fretting. Take, for example, an American woman whose dream of riding a train through the English countryside came true. After boarding the train she kept fretting about the windows and the temperature. Then she started fussing about the seating arrangement. After that she grew concerned about her luggage and wanted to rearrange it. To her shock, she suddenly reached her journey’s end. The train came to a complete halt. With deep regret she said to the person meeting her at the station, “If I’d known it was going to arrive so soon, I wouldn’t have wasted my time fretting so much.”
It is so easy to get sidetracked by problems that won’t matter at life’s end. It may be difficult neighbors that have a party when you are wanting relax and enjoy the quietness of the evening. It may be a tight budget that causes you to do without some “necessity” in life. Maybe it is the aging process that is slowing you down, causing you not to be able to do some of the things that you once enjoyed doing. Or could it be that you know someone who has been blessed in life with wealth and has all that he “wants” and you are not able to keep up with his lifestyle? Long ago Moses acknowledged the brevity of life and prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). I wonder which lifestyle is more pleasing to God? Is it a lifestyle that frets about things that in the end really do not matter, or is a spirit much like Moses, who asked for guidance in doing what was right with his life.
Instead of fretting, feed on god’s word and apply it to yourself. Strive to grow in God’s wisdom every day. Stay focused on eternal values. Make it your goal to greet your waiting Savior one day with a heart of wisdom, rather than a heart of care. Remember that worry casts a big shadow behind a small thing.
Prayer Thought: Help me to be thankful for this day and everyday that You give me!
By Joe Widick
The Carnegie Foundation discovered that to be successful on the job, relational skills are far more important than knowledge. The research went as far as to say that only fifteen percent of a person’s success is determined by job knowledge and technical skills. Eighty-five percent is determined by an individual’s attitude and ability to relate to other people. In other words, it is all about building relationships. Let me tell you about one who is a master at building relationships. His name is Desil Besias. Desil is from Haiti, went to Baxter in Honduras and is current part of a three member team in Cartagena, Colombia. Last summer he spent time here, staying with Pat and Catherine Agee. He taught the high school class while he was here and then spoke on a Sunday night. His theme in both sessions here was about making friends, building relationships, Friendship evangelism. Desil not only teaches the importance of this, he practices it. Desil has been in Cartagena since April 2008. His latest email tells of the fact that they (team of three) have eighty active contacts that are participating in a seven session Bible study course. He goes on and tells that he is personally studying with forty different people each week. He follows that by saying that he loves what he is doing. He is planting and watering the seed and we pray that God will give a tremendous harvest.
The scripture commands us to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32). In fact, it tells us to love our “neighbor” as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). We all know and understand that a neighbor is not only someone who lives near us or works next to us, but anyone we meet on life’s journey—especially those in need. So having an attitude of courtesy, care and concern for others is a basic spiritual principle. It is also the most important guideline for congenial and happy relationships. If these thoughts are true, then think of the spirit that Desil must show each and every day as he looks for more and more people who are outside the body of Christ. I would encourage each of us to consider how we can begin building relationships with our neighbors, co-workers, friends or other acquaintances. We know it works, because that is the guidelines of the Bible. We see it working in a faraway city in Colombia, where there is only a handful of Christians. If we truly love God, it stands that we will love our neighbor. Let each of us determine to model more and more that Christ like spirit of neighborly love.
Prayer Thought: Be with Desil each day as he works to share the gospel with others.
By Joe Widick
Have you ever driven down one of the southern highways enjoying the scenery only to have it interrupted by an old car is someone’s front yard? The car had evidently been sitting in the same place since it stopped running. It seems to be rusting away, has no value, not pretty to look at. There are others who can look at that same car and visualize what it would look like once it is restored. They can see the beauty of the structure, the former color shinning through. They can visualize getting behind the wheel once it is restored and driving it through town, renewing memories of those who see it. Interesting! How one person sees a clunker and another sees a restored beauty.
Recently, I have been visiting the jail, talking with some of the inmates, trying to offer some type of encouragement and doing a little teaching. It has been rewarding. One particular man that I talked with recently had grown very discouraged. It seems as though the legal process had come to a complete stop and he felt as though he was being forgotten. As I left the jail the other day, I asked myself what went wrong in his life. What steps did he take that led him to being put in jail in Wilson County? Where did it all begin? Was there neglect in his home growing up? Was he abused, mistreated in some way, or simply overlooked in his family. Did his parents spend any time with him? As he began making bad choices, did anyone offer guidance to help him? Later I talked with this man’s cell mate and through our conversation; I found that this one who was growing so discouraged could sing. On my next visit, I talked to him about this gift. I wish that you could have seen his face light up! There was something there that he enjoyed doing. Beneath that orange jumpsuit and behind those walls was someone who loved to sing. We have begun talking about Jesus. It is interesting when you look at the life Jesus lived that you can see a man who specializes in castoffs. He is waiting to transform anyone who will trust Him—even this young man who feels so all alone. Jesus will take him “as is.” If he will believe, if he will trust, Jesus can begin to restore this young man to the abundant life He has promised. Paul told the Corinthians “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). Remember Salvation is not simply turning over a new leaf, but receiving a new life.
Prayer Thought: Be with those who teach Your word to the lost.
