The After-Oakdale Chronicles

a terrific day to realize that the blessings come before the battle.

“Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.”  Mark 1:12 NASB

Have you ever noticed how sometimes we will have days where we feel exceptionally close to God?

On those days, it seems as if we are blessed more than usual. Even though we know that He is always with us, some days we feel so close that we are certain that all of His attention is focused on us. We feel that we are full of the Holy Spirit to the point of overflowing. Our day ends with us thanking God with more emphasis than normal, and we go to sleep.

During the night, things begin to change.

We toss and we turn. We have disturbing dreams and we wake up in the morning feeling disconcerted and ill at ease. Perhaps this unsettled feeling continues for the remainder of the day. Our mood is not anywhere near as upbeat as the day before. We feel like we are under attack by the forces of darkness and we ask God to help us fend off the attack. Our minds somehow identify our buoyant feelings of yesterday as being the target of Satan’s attack of our sleep and today.

But is this the case?

If we think about it for a moment, we remember that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before He went out into the desert and was tempted by Satan for 40 days. He was blessed before He went into battle so that He could more readily resist temptation and win the battle.

God knows when we are headed for battle and is there to strengthen us beforehand.

Peter and John prayed for God’s blessing to help them battle doubt as they preached the Word of God.

“And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the Word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31 NASB).

Whenever we know we are going to have to face difficulties, it is reassuring to know that all we have to do is turn to God and seek His blessing beforehand. Our “battles” may be small, like asking for a raise, or speaking in public. Others may loom large before us. Perhaps we have an addiction that needs to be confronted. The situations that can come before us in which God’s blessing will come in handy are numerous and quite varied, but each battle is better fought with God’s blessing.

There will be times that the Lord Himself will see what we cannot. We will experience a closeness that we weren’t expecting. We can bask in the glow of God’s benevolence and then carry the blessing with us as we face any attack Satan may mount.

And after we have won the battle, we must remember to thank God for the blessing He gave us before the battle..

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

the perfect day to take back what has been stolen from us.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”  Romans 16:20a NIV

Every single one of us has had something stolen from us by Satan.

No one has escaped except for Christ. We have all given in to temptation and each one of us has sinned, and every time we have sinned, we have allowed Satan to take something else from us.

We have been his willing victims.

He has stolen dignity from some of us. From others, he has stolen decency.

He has stolen our faithfulness to our spouses and our faith in God.

He has stolen our truthfulness, and he has stolen our integrity.

We have let him slip away in the darkness with our morality, and we have let him get away unnoticed with our kindness.

He has pocketed our happiness, and smashed the windows to our souls, removed everything decent on display there, and left the space empty.

He has cheated us out of our love for ourselves, leaving us unable to love anyone else.

He has conned us out of our certainty, leaving us with our doubts.

When we weren’t looking he walked away with our compassion, and left disdain in its place.

While he distracted us with self-indulgence, he swiped our desire to help others and replaced it with selfishness.

He has stolen our tolerance while trying to convince us that hostility and impatience were better suited to our personalities.

He has stolen our sight, making it impossible to see the pain of others and he has taught us to lie, cheat, and steal while we have hungrily pursued the education.

More than likely, what Satan has stolen from you is somewhere on this list. If not, it needs to be added, because everyone has lost something. Some of us have lost more than one thing, and perhaps more than a few of us (the author included) have lost it all.

He will try to prevent you from calculating your exact losses. He will try to cloud your judgment, distract you, or take something else from you. He pretends to be the best friend you ever had, but he is – in reality – the biggest danger you have ever faced.

He will suck everything good out of you until there is nothing left but your last breath and then he will take that as well.

But the Good News is that today is not going to be like yesterday.

Today we are going to take it all back.

God has been waiting for today for a very long time, and He is glad that it is here. We must reach out and ask God to take our hand and tell Him we want everything Satan has stolen from us.

Today is the perfect day to take it all back, and God is the Perfect One to help us all get it.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

a great day to teach what you don’t know.

“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”  Philippians 4:9 NASB

How can we possibly teach what we don’t know?

Teaching another person about Christ is one of the greatest things that we can do while on this earth. Unfortunately, so many of us think that our knowledge is too limited to be of much use to another person.

We have read about the importance of memorizing scripture, but we can’t seem to memorize easily. Perhaps that holds us back.

We have only been living in the Word of God for a short time. Perhaps that holds us back.

The truth is, if we wait until we become the perfect teacher, we will never teach.

While the Bible itself can be somewhat overwhelming to us at first, the willingness to explore it makes us a student. The joy in helping someone else explore it makes us a teacher, even if we cannot quote chapter and verse.

If we know that the answer to any question that we can ask about how to live our life can be found in the Bible, we can be a teacher.

If we trust God to help us help another person find the truth that they seek, we can be a teacher.

If we don’t mind saying, “You know, I’m not sure, but let’s see what we can find together,” you have demonstrated the qualifications to teach what you do not know.

The simple reality is that if God were to depend on “certified scholars and theologians” to spread His message, it would never have spread very far. Teaching others about the salvation that Christ offers each one of us is something that comes from our hearts, and not from a diploma or a degree.

The study of the Holy Bible is a life-long personal commitment. It is not a two year or a four year degree. It is a daily program for problem solving. It is a treasure chest that can be reached into without looking with the knowledge that whatever we grab will be valuable beyond measure.

We are better teachers than we allow ourselves to believe.

Our knowledge is first hand, heartfelt, and deeply personal. Teaching about Christ helps us to learn about ourselves. Seeing the changes we help instill in another brings about remarkable changes within ourselves. We teach by being an example for others to follow and we discover that not only are we good at it, but our desire to teach still more people grows.

You know more than you think, and today is a great day to teach what you think you don’t know.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

the day to trust God in our suffering.

“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”  1 Peter 4:19 NASB

God does not want us to suffer.

God is not a sadist. He does not take pleasure in our pain, but at the same time, He wants us to use our pain to learn, to grow, and to become more trusting of Him.

He wants us to trust Him in our suffering.

Many people use the suffering of innocent children as “proof” that God is less than benevolent and loving. These same people point to atrocities around the world and claim that He can stop them and put an end to all pain and suffering.

God wants us to trust Him.

He wants us to work together to end pain and suffering. He wants us to learn from the mistakes we have been taught in the Bible. He wants us to follow a very simple code of conduct as His children that will put an end to much of the pain and suffering in the world but we refuse.

It is always easy to point a finger at God and blame Him for our mistakes, our shortcomings, and the bad choices we make.

Each and every day people come to the realization that much of the suffering they have endured was brought on by themselves. How much pain, sorrow, and suffering do we bring upon ourselves and others because we drink too much? Because we take drugs? Because we are unfaithful to our spouses? Because we give in to the temptation of Satan who loves nothing more than to have us bring pain, loss, and suffering into our own lives? Because we gave in to temptation instead of asking God for help?

It is always easier to blame God than it is to accept responsibility.

While we cannot escape it all, much of our personal suffering can be avoided if we trust and rely on God.

It is always easier to turn away because we feel abandoned, than it is to step closer because we trust.

God allowed Jesus to suffer horribly at the hands of men who were cruel. He did not make those individuals torment, torture, and kill His Son. Did He allow it? Yes, He did. But Jesus trusted the Father and knew that his suffering would open the way for death to be conquered. His death made it possible for us all to have eternal life in God’s Kingdom.

We can pray for those who suffer at the hands of others. We can trust in God who sees those who cause the suffering and we can trust in God who welcomes home those who have been harmed by others.

The power of evil on earth can only be broken by the power of trust in God.

Pray for those who suffer at the hands of others and trust God who will always do the right thing.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

the ideal day for reminding ourselves of our own imperfections.

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”  Titus 3:3 NIV

Our efforts to follow Christ have borne fruit and we feel good about the progress we have made in our lives. We are thankful to God for His patience, compassion, and understanding. We are also grateful for those individuals He has blessed us with who have helped us in our struggle with our former selves as we have broken the bonds that once held us captive to lives of sin.

We are refreshed, renewed, and restored. We have accepted Christ and received our free gift of salvation. We can look comfortably in the mirror and be pleased with the image looking back at us. We can feel clean and know that we emit a glow of contentment when we walk among others.

The journey to this point has not always been an easy one. There have been rough spots in the road and we have stumbled, perhaps repeatedly, but each time that happened we knew to look to the Lord for a steady hand and an abundance of love and forgiveness.

No matter what we have come face to face with, God has never left our side.

What a wonderful feeling we have and how blessed we are that we have learned that using our freedom to do the right things is what makes us truly free. It is suddenly so wonderful to be alive!

“Praise God!” we say, “Praise God!”

And we mean it, and we do love Him, but then we do something that is very human, very easy to do, and very wrong: we judge someone else and look down upon him or her for what they do, say, or believe. This is very common.

In no way does that make it right.

It is simply another obstacle in the path that we must walk if we are to be righteous in the eyes of God. We must overcome this obstacle, so what must we do? We must remind ourselves that not only are we not better than the one we are looking down on, but we must also remind ourselves we once were that person and without God’s steady influence in our daily lives, we could be that person once again.

We must avoid, at all costs, the “holier than thou” position that so many seem to take.

Instead of looking down on other sinners, we must embrace them and encourage them. We must be a beacon of light for them and to do this we may have to share with them how we came into possession of that light. We must not be afraid to show others, or to remind ourselves, that we are not perfect, but with God’s help we are better every day.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

a superb day to notice that we are noticed.

“O Lord, what are human beings that You should notice them, mere mortals that You should think about them?”  Psalm 144:3 NLT

Who are we that God should care what happens to us?

Let’s face it, in today’s world there are so many human beings inhabiting the earth, why should the Lord take notice of “me”? For that matter, how can He take notice of me with all that is going on around this vast planet?

Sometimes it seems as if people think God is so busy that He doesn’t notice what they do. It is almost as if some of us begin to believe He doesn’t care about us, so an attitude is adopted that, “If He doesn’t care how I act, why should I?”

And yet, the Bible is quite clear on that very subject.

God does notice each and every one of us and He does care. In fact, Jesus told His disciples that God would know if even one tiny sparrow fell from the sky.

“So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31 NIV).

Since God makes it clear that we are valuable to Him, should we not then act as if we understand that? Perhaps we think that God is only aware of us when we pray. Who among us acts badly while talking with God? Is that not when we are on our best behavior?

“Oh Lord, thank You! Oh, Lord forgive me! Oh Lord help me!”

We seem to have no problems remembering to be good, to be repentant, to be humble, and to behave while God is in the forefront of our thoughts, but what about after? We fail to realize that even though we may get caught up in the swirl of life around us and forget about the Lord He never forgets about us.

We should all strive every day to understand that God notices everything we do. Nothing escapes His attention and any doubts or feelings of insignificance should be erased from our minds immediately.

Besides, if we are living our lives in the right way, then we are in constant communication with God, so we can rest assured that we do not escape His notice.

No matter our reason, if we are feeling as if God is too busy to notice “me,” we must alter our way of thinking. If we pretend He doesn’t notice we do things we shouldn’t, we are wrong. If we feel we are too insignificant and small for Him to notice, we are wrong. We are important to the One who gave us life. What we do is important to Him as well.

Use the gift of this day to sit up and take notice that nothing escapes the notice of God.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

an excellent day to seek common ground.

“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone doing everything I can to save some.”  1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT

The Apostle Paul not only ministered to people that he met in his travels, he spent a lot of time teaching them to minister to others.

He said, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” (1 Corinthians 9:12 NIV).

Someone wrote, “Salvation doesn’t enroll you in a club for the religious elite. It enlists you into the Army of the Lord.”

Part of our responsibility as members of this army is to help enlist others as well. In order to accomplish this, we must do many things, just as Paul taught. One important thing to remember is to never present a know-it-all attitude. Another is to be friendly and easy to approach.

Still another is to establish common ground with the person we are talking with or helping.

For instance, if we are volunteering at a place that provides meals for those who are hungry, we would not want to show up expensively dressed or displaying expensive jewelry. We wouldn’t want to distract anyone from what we are attempting to do, nor would we want to create the impression that we are better than they are.

If we are speaking with someone on the subject of sin, we would not want to create the impression that we have never sinned. Nor would we want to give someone the idea that we are free from the struggles of temptation.

It would be difficult for most people to identify with someone like that.

If we want to bring someone closer to God, we must walk with them and show them we do understand their perspective and we do appreciate their circumstances.

As the Son of God, Jesus was capable of exhibiting awesome power. Although He did perform some wondrous miracles, His humility was an extremely important part of who He was. He tried to show that He was just like us in many ways. He loved the people He came to save and He never failed to connect with common, everyday people.

No matter what situation we find ourselves in, it is always desirable to seek common ground with those around us. It is the surest way to helping others understand what we are trying to share with them, and while we will not be able to save them all, we will certainly be able to save some.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a good day to understand that a person’s wealth is not a sign of God’s approval.

“Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see Your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies.”  Psalm 10:5 NLT

The majority of the entire world’s wealth is possessed by a very small percentage of its inhabitants.

Most of us work hard to make ends meet and do the best we can to support our families. Many others have much less and often have little or nothing to eat and live in conditions which most of us would find difficult to imagine, let alone to actually endure.

There are probably those who are extremely wealthy who will point to their success as a sign of God’s approval but we all know that material success had nothing to do with it. Jesus Himself spoke on the subject.

“And Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 19:23 NASB).

As if He wasn’t sure that His statement was clear enough, Jesus added emphasis by saying, “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24 NASB).

Jesus was not implying that wealthy people could not get into heaven when they died or that they were not welcome there. What He was trying to teach His disciples was that their wealth was no guarantee of entrance into the Kingdom of God and could also be a hindrance, for far too often those who are materially well off somehow seem to give all of the credit to themselves and do not feel the need to thank God or include Him in their lives.

This is a mistake in judgment that, uncorrected, will have tragic eternal consequences.

Does God automatically punish the wealthy?

Of course not.

There are many people of substantial means whose lives have been given to God. They have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, and they are grateful for all they have. They do their part to share with others and to give back to God for all He has given them.

Most important, they give the glory to God for all they have, and all they do is done in His name.

The same thing applies to those who are poor or of modest means. Again, our financial status is not what determines our worth in God’s eyes. It is what God finds in our hearts, not in our bank accounts that matters and those who are financially barren can be just as barren in their faith. They can also be full of love for the Lord and a willingness to serve Him by serving those around them.

Simple lives lived in service to God and to others are very valuable to the Lord. When we learn to measure our success by how we demonstrate our love for God and for those around us, we will have learned the true secret for the kind of success that will gain us entrance to the Kingdom of God.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

an excellent day to seek common ground.

“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone doing everything I can to save some.”  1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT

The Apostle Paul not only ministered to people that he met in his travels, he spent a lot of time teaching them to minister to others.

He said, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” (1 Corinthians 9:12 NIV).

Someone wrote, “Salvation doesn’t enroll you in a club for the religious elite. It enlists you into the Army of the Lord.”

Part of our responsibility as members of this army is to help enlist others as well. In order to accomplish this, we must do many things, just as Paul taught. One important thing to remember is to never present a know-it-all attitude. Another is to be friendly and easy to approach.

Still another is to establish common ground with the person we are talking with or helping.

For instance, if we are volunteering at a place that provides meals for those who are hungry, we would not want to show up expensively dressed or displaying expensive jewelry. We wouldn’t want to distract anyone from what we are attempting to do, nor would we want to create the impression that we are better than they are.

If we are speaking with someone on the subject of sin, we would not want to create the impression that we have never sinned. Nor would we want to give someone the idea that we are free from the struggles of temptation.

It would be difficult for most people to identify with someone like that.

If we want to bring someone closer to God, we must walk with them and show them we do understand their perspective and we do appreciate their circumstances.

As the Son of God, Jesus was capable of exhibiting awesome power. Although He did perform some wondrous miracles, His humility was an extremely important part of who He was. He tried to show that He was just like us in many ways. He loved the people He came to save and He never failed to connect with common, everyday people.

No matter what situation we find ourselves in, it is always desirable to seek common ground with those around us. It is the surest way to helping others understand what we are trying to share with them, and while we will not be able to save them all, we will certainly be able to save some.

*******

Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a wonderful day to think about the power of our words.

“Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”  Proverbs 15:4 NLT

There once was a popular commercial for a well-known pain reliever that had as its catch phrase, “Sure you have a headache, but don’t take it out on the kids!”

Setting aside the fact that it was probably the kids who gave us the headache in the first place, let’s look at the very profound truth in that statement.

Far too often in our lives, the pressures and problems of daily life mount up and are sometimes released with unfortunate consequences. Like a volcano that finally succumbs to the pressures within, it all becomes too much and is finally released in an explosive and destructive way.

There is not much that we can do about a volcano except get out of the way, but we can do something about our sudden explosive outbursts that usually do far more harm than good. More than likely we reserve our “eruptions” until we can release them upon someone we love, and very often the recipient of our outburst is guilty only of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Often, the sources of our pressure come from outside the home, but it doesn’t get released until we are there. This is not only unfair, it is damaging to relationships, it creates more problems than it solves, it hurts feelings, and, in most instances, it is totally preventable.

Is it worth the effort to prevent outbursts that wound those we love? Of course it is, but how many of us still lash out and inadvertently hurt those we love the most?

What can we do?

First of all, we need to keep those who are closest to us always in the forefront of our minds. We must thank God daily for our spouses, our children, and our friends. We must express our love to all of them on a daily basis and make sure we are constantly aware of how important they are to us. This will help to give us pause before we explode verbally with hurtful words that leave us unable to undo the damage those words have done.

We also need to turn to God when things first start to build up inside. We must look to Him for the strength to deal with our problems. We must ask Him ahead of time to assist us in controlling our tongues, for we never want to lash out at anyone in anger, least of all those we love.

Preparing for problems before we have them is like keeping a bottle of aspirin in your medicine cabinet. Sure – you’re going to get a headache.

But before you take it out on the kids, reach for God – the original pain reliever.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a great day to accept the honor of spreading the Good News.

“By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News.”  Ephesians 3:7 NLT

The Apostle Paul proved himself to be a very effective communicator. He humbly accepted the honor of being selected by God to share the Gospel of Christ.

“That’s all well and good,” most of us say, “But I am not an apostle. I’m not even a good public speaker!”

Nervous? Don’t be. When God places someone in front of you who needs to hear about Christ, He will also place the words in your heart that will find their way out of your mouth.

God is not in the habit of putting us in a situation that we are not prepared to handle. We may think that we are not knowledgeable enough to be a messenger for Christ, but if we have studied the Bible and listened to our church leaders; if we have opened our eyes, our minds, and our hearts; if we have truly accepted the gift of salvation, we will amaze ourselves at the depth of our knowledge and the height of our willingness and ability to share with others that which brings us so much joy.

There are many people who have not accepted Christ as their savior primarily because they haven’t really heard what they need to hear. We may assume that everyone knows enough about Christ to make up their minds to follow Him, but is it wise to do that?

Believers know that salvation lies with Christ, “…for, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13 NIV).

But if our “assumption” that ‘everyone’ knows this is incorrect, “How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14 NIV).

Living a life that reflects the peace, joy, kindness, compassion, and contentment that comes from our relationship with the Lord may be all the catalyst that is needed to prompt someone we know to ask a question. We do not need to stand on street corners threatening fire and brimstone for all who pass by to hear, but if we show ourselves as examples of the changes that can take place when someone opens their heart to God, opportunities will present themselves to us and we will find ourselves in conversations that we may have not thought ourselves capable of carrying on. Trusting God to show us how to accept the honor of spreading the Good News will help us be comfortable doing so.

We all need to know these main points:

We have all sinned against God.

The penalty for sin is death.

God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to live the perfect, obedient life God requires of us all.

Jesus died on the cross in our place, for our sin.

On the third day, Jesus defeated death, rose bodily from the grave and now reigns in heaven, offering forgiveness, righteousness, resurrection, and eternal blessedness in God’s presence to everyone who repents of sin and trusts solely in Him for salvation.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6 ESV

Good News was meant to be shared.

Trust God to help you know how, and when, to share it with others.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson