“You may not do something big, but by doing something, you may make a big difference.”
What do a cloth maker, a small time farmer, three governmental administrators, and a mom who made her son’s lunch have in common?
They each made a decision to live by faith; and thereby, changed the world.
Rahab was a prostitute who believed what she heard about the LORD, saw her life changed, entire family saved, and ended up being in Joseph’s, Jesus’ stepdad, family tree.
Gideon was a fearful farmer who believed what the LORD told him, which led to an entire nation rising up to defeat those who had enslaved them.
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Daniel’s buddies, trusted their LORD to take care of them no matter if their boss “fired” them or not. Their stand for truth became another witness of many that led their boss, a king of kings, to faith in the LORD.
And, an unnamed mom made an unnamed son, who wanted to hear Jesus, a lunch that was used by Jesus to feed 5,000 that would be one of Jesus’ many proofs of being God.
What can you do in times like ours – national tension, CoVid19, racial, political, and economic divides – to make a difference? Do what Rahab, Gideon, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah and a boy and his mom did – listen and follow the LORD. Seriously.
It’s a lie that neither you nor I can do anything about what is going on around us!
We believe God lives inside us, right? We say we love Jesus, right? Then allow Him to change you, empower you and stand up for truth through you – no matter where that might be.
If the six degrees of separation theory is true, then changing society can begin with you. Listen to Jesus. Do what He says. And though the world may never know your name, it will feel the effects of a life changed by Jesus – yours.
In Christ, you are not impotent. With the Spirit’s power, one person can make a difference!

“The key to life is to enjoy Jesus between who you are and who you are becoming.”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like change. And what’s worse, I really don’t like how long it takes once I begin the process either.
I had an “episode” this past weekend where I shouted, “I don’t like my life! I sure wish I had another one.”
What I should have said was, “Jesus, change me already!” The struggle to shed the old thinking and replace it with the truths that sets one free is hard, really hard, which makes wanting to change that much more difficult.
Yet the truth I must let sink into my soul is that God calls me holy right now while at the same time He says He is making me holy (Hebrews 10:14). Go figure, right?
The application of this truth, though, is that I need to relax as I struggle forward. I need to enjoy my Savior in the moment.
How about you, are you enjoying your moments with Jesus while He inputs His character into your life?
It’s not easy. No positive change ever is, but by faith let’s choose to enjoy the moment with Jesus believing He will finish the job He started in us.

“Anything of spiritual significance that happens in your life will be a result of God’s activity in you.” Henry T. Blackaby
I had a long drive ahead of me. I put the destination into my app and it spit back the fastest route. As I was making the decision, something happened. God showed up.
I sensed my Father wanted me to take another route, less direct, but a little more enjoyable than the one presented by my app.
I said, “Okay Lord.” And off I went. Little did I know that by going the route He picked out allowed me to connect with some friends that I didn’t know would be there!
God’s fingerprints were all over that decision and conversation. You should have seen the smile on my face.
I wouldn’t have had that pleasurable encounter but for two things. First, I needed to believe that my God wanted to be involved in such a decision as to which route I would take.
And because He does, it merges into the second point. I needed to listen and be willing to follow if He so chose to speak. And, in this case, He did.
This is your God. He wants to be involved in the everyday things that you do, like eating and drinking (1 Cor. 10:31).
How much of your God you experience is up to you. Put another way, how bad do you need God in your life? If you don’t, you won’t be open to Him getting involved.
Yes, I could have made the decision to get where I was going without His input and would have arrived at my destination in a timely manner.
But…, I would have missed out on that wonderful connection with my friends and that smile put on my face from an awesome God who cares about me enough to put it there.
Today, let your Dad be involved in your life. Who knows, He just may put a smile on your face as well.

“Make the most of every opportunity to grow.”
I don’t know if you know this or not, but God loves to blow stuff up – mainly our boxes of who He is and what He can do.
We only know what we know when we know it. And in some cases, until what we know is blown up, we can’t make loving choices to follow Jesus.
We make decisions every day – good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. And we make them based on information already stored in our brains.
Biblically, bad decisions are based on one of two things. Either it’s choosing to act on the lies stored in our head (Jn. 8:32-33); or it’s our lack of faith in Jesus once the truth enters our brains (Matt. 14:27-31).
To get us off either starting point, God has to explode our way of thinking and/or our tiny faith. What’s His usual methodology? Suffering or challenges.
Romans 5:1-5 states that we are to rejoice in sufferings because it brings about character change. Hebrews 12:4-11 shows that we are to endure hardship as discipline because it produces righteousness and peace.
Many believers, maybe even you, are going stir crazy or are having a difficult time because of or with the CoVid-19 situation.
Maybe God is using it to blow up your boxes about Who He is – the source of truths you need to flush out the lies in your thinking.
Maybe He is using this situation to blow up your boxes about what He can do – be trusted to give you strength to act on the truths you already know.
You can stay rigid in your thinking or let the Spirit change it. You can keep repeating the same bad decisions or let the Spirit increase your faith.
Don’t let this momentous opportunity go to waste. Maybe God is blowing up some of your boxes!

“Lord, help my thoughts get beyond the struggles of life; and focus on You.”
Spoiler alert. The next few sentences may make you feel unsafe. Please stop reading if you’re having a bad day; but quite frankly, you’d only prove the point.
Jesus said, watch it, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” Ouch. Sounds like bubble wrap popping!
He wasn’t done. He went on to say, “Rejoice and be glad” in the midst of the character attacks because you follow Him. He said do this because your reward is in heaven. (Read Matthew 5:11-12.)
Oh no! I’m actually to have the kind of faith that finds joy in the midst of suffering, even unjust suffering? Yup, and it involves taking a risk, which has become a dirty word in the Christian, let alone the secular world.
Risk means going to the store to pick up items for those who need them, hoping not to get hit by another driver, which happened to me. Risk means going to work as a pastor hoping to get paid, only to lose your house because you didn’t, which also happened to me.
Scripture doesn’t promise a risk-free safe zone type of existence. In fact, Hebrews 11:6 states that if we choose to please God we must take the risk that He actually rewards those who earnestly seek Him, which can cause unjust suffering.
Our walks with Jesus are not wrapped in plastic bubbles filled with air. Jesus said His followers would listen to and follow Him. There is simply no way of doing that without getting out of the “safe offensive-free zones.”
In the midst of life’s struggles, let’s do what a good friend of mine told to her grandchildren, “Go dig up some joy!”
People will want the Jesus we love and serve when despite the struggles, despite what others say or do to us, we have a smile on our faces put there by faith.
Be a risk taker. Go find some joy today. You will when you look to Jesus – the author and perfecter of risk takers like you.