peace

The Fire Within

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“If you Abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7

What is God’s will for my Life? Thankfully, there is an answer. If we are seeking God’s will for our lives than we are surely praying what David prayed in Psalm 40:8, where he said, “My God, I want to do what you want.” The answer to this burning question is actually found in John 15:7. Jesus said, “If you Abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” In other words, draw near to Him and

Jesus Will Show You The Answer

Abide in Jesus. He made you! He formed you in your mother’s womb for a purpose. Are you going to believe for one minute that He did all that planning to create someone as special and unique as you but failed to plan your future? When you abide in Christ, God will place within you a burning passion that you should not ignore. You will be amazed at just how God blesses you for His glory when you simply abide.

Forever

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the House of the Lord Forever” Psalm 23:6

It was a warm spring evening as I drove my girlfriend of just twelve weeks to dinner. Yet this was no ordinary dinner and I had an extraordinary case of nervous energy. As we headed to a little crab shack near the pacific ocean I had one eye on the evening sky and another on my watch. I knew the exact time when the sun would disappear into the sea and we had just enough time for dinner if we were sat immediately and didn’t dally too long over menu selections. My girlfriend could tell that I was nervous, but it wasn’t until later when we sat together on the sand and I pulled out the ring as the sun was setting that she figured out why.  

Forevers Are Worth Waiting For

Over the past 38 years my wife Gretchen and I have talked about our engagement day often. So many have asked how did we know that we were God’s plan for each other. I’m not sure how to explain the times we spent in prayer, both together and alone. How I had never once questioned God leading me to Gretchen. How I knew God had a plan. For me it’s all about living out the promise given in Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” “Surely” is an unambiguous, definitive word beholding a promise of goodness and mercy that SHALL (another unambiguous promise) be with us if we trust God and follow His will. Then we get to that powerful word Forever. I viewed my marriage as a marriage extending beyond this lifetime. Jesus said, store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven. As I sat on the sand that day I remember thinking, Lord, what can Gretchen and I do in this lifetime for You that will extend beyond to a thousand lifetimes. Who will we touch, who will we serve, and as a result who will we see standing next to your throne in heaven because we walked this earth together living out your will. Contrary to what your life circumstances may lead you to believe, it’s never too late to start your “forever” journey. Whether you have five minutes or fifty years left on this earth, Simply say yes to God and His promises for your life. God will bless you and use you for His Glory!  

Show Ego To The Door

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the work of their own hands” Acts 7:41

Charlton Heston walked through the door and all I could see was Moses! I found the fortitude to say hello and he was humble and gracious as we made small talk while walking toward his back stage dressing room. It’s so interesting to meet someone you grew up watching on film and find them just as you imagined they would be. For dozens of years in my youth, before the advent of cable television, one of the big three networks would annually broadcast “The Ten Commandments.” No matter how many times I had seen it, there was something about Charlton Heston’s voice as Moses as he carried God’s Ten Commandments down from the mountain top. In the film, about that same time, as humans usually do, the people had become restless in their waiting for Moses to arrive and made for themselves a golden calf to worship. Every time I watched the film my reaction was the same, “how stupid can you folks be? God just delivered you from 400 years of bondage in Egypt, performed enough miracles to last your memory a lifetime and yet you are still going to build a golden calf to worship? It took me many years before I began to realize what Acts 7:41 was trying to convey, for

Celebrating The Work Of My Own Hands Was Something I Did Often.

Accomplishments and accolades were music to my ears. Surely I must be living the “American Dream” and doing it right. Perhaps I could do all things. Yet I soon found that kind of life empty and void of meaning. Rejoicing in the work of my own hands made me no different than those who built that golden calf thousands of years ago. It’s about this time that someone out there will say, “but aren’t we supposed to work hard and do our best?” and this is where I will say to you unequivocally YES! The point is, for whose glory are we working, ours or the Lord’s? Paul did not say “I can do all things”, he said “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” So yes, be an overachiever! But recognize that God deserves ALL the credit. He made you, formed you, wove your DNA together and made you brilliant at what you do! Show your ego to the door and give God all the glory. If you begin to practice this in your daily life hold onto your seatbelt because you will soon see the work of your hands being transformed into a miraculous work as God works through you more and more each day.          

Solitude

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“And when He (Jesus) had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23

You awake in the morning and life hits you before your feet touch the ground. Your mind is already hard at work solving the problems of your day. There are jobs to do, loved ones to care for, homes to clean or mend, email to answer, and social media clamoring for your attention. Time waits for no one, and as the closing musical number in the film “Hairspray” so aptly says, “the world keeps spinning round and round”. So we ask ourselves,

Where’s The Peace that Jesus Promised?

We seem to have found it right here in Matthew 14:23, in a verse that does not speak of miraculous healings, or waters parting, but of an even more profound truth that we all need to live by. “When Jesus had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” Think about it for a minute. Jesus is son of the living God. If anyone in history ever had a direct hotline to God it was Jesus. He could have stood in the middle of the crowds and busied himself from morning till night tending to the tremendous needs of the world around him, and yet he slipped away in solitude to pray, to spend time with His Heavenly Father in prayer. If Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, found it necessary to spend time alone with God, what more motivation do you need? Get off the world wide treadmill for a little while each day to go off for some alone time with God. I promise you, the world will get along just fine without you for twenty or thirty minutes each day. Go spend some time with your Heavenly Father! 

I’m All In

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Jesus answered them, “do you now believe?” John 16:31

The question Jesus asks is a loaded one. In the previous verses the disciples have just said that they believe He, Jesus, is the son of God. Yet Jesus asks them the question in our verse today as a challenge to them. Do you really believe? He asks this question because of what He is about to reveal. In the next verse Jesus says, “The hour is coming…that you will be scattered, each to his own and will leave Me…” Jesus is revealing to them that tough times are on the horizon. Times when it would be easy for doubt to overpower faith. Times that will make them question exactly how far they are willing to go in praise and worship to God. In other words,

When the Chips Are Down, Do you still believe?

It’s easy to believe when times are good. We tend to think that God must surely be smiling on me in those times because we have so few cares. Yet when the tough times hit we question God. ‘Why’ becomes our favorite word. We ask what we’ve done wrong in life to incur His wrath, or lack of blessing. Yet in those times your faith needs to grow beyond what you thought possible. Because, when you are able to say, Yes Lord I believe, even when the chips are down, you will truly understand what it means to take up your cross and follow Him. Believe in Jesus when life drives you into the ground, then watch in awe and wonder as He lifts you up!  

Wow = Walk On Water

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“So Jesus said, ‘come’.  And when Peter had come down out of the boat he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” Matthew 14:29

When I was a kid we used to play a game called ‘walking on the water’ at the local public swimming pool. Imagine a pack of eight year old boys and girls lining up at least twenty feet from the waters edge then running as fast as they could toward the pool. When we hit the edge of the water we’d try to keep our legs churning as hard as we could to see if we could actually walk, or in this case run, across the surface of that swimming pool and try to get to the other side. With enough momentum sometimes we’d actually make it to the half way mark before slipping below the surface. I remember on one particular day one of the adults was sitting in a poolside lounge chair and yelling at us, saying, “it’ll take a miracle for you get to the other side!” In reality it wouldn’t have taken a miracle, just

Jesus Saying “Come”.  

It’s time to get out of whatever fear filled boat you’re clinging to in life and start walking by faith. You have God given gifts, you have God given talents, and you have a Savior named Jesus who is cheering you on! A savior who says, “Take up your bed and walk” in Matthew 9. Who says “You are the light of the world” in Matthew 5. Who says “do not worry” in Matthew 6:31-34. Who says, “Ask and it shall be given unto you” in Matthew 7:7. A Savior says to you in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed you can say to your mountain move and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you!” Dump your doubts and say “WOW, I can do this!   

Sowing Seeds

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

Jesus said, “Behold a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root withered away. And some fell on thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them out. but others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some a hundred fold, some sixty some thirty.” Matthew 13:3-7

A few years ago I had backyard that was a barren of swath of dirt. I’d been staring at it for months wondering what to do about it. I had been hoping sod might have been an option but funds were tight, which was why nothing had been done. Then one weekend I’d stared at the dirt long enough. I purchased a few dollars worth of seed, pulled out my rake and my hoe and my shovel and got to work preparing the soil. Near the end of the day as I looked back at my neatly raked yard filled with seed just beneath the surface, I understood the parable of the sower in a new way.

Is Anything At All Going To Grow?

Some of that soil was a bit rocky. I did my best to clean it up, but did I get it all? Some of that soil was a bit hard and had not been turned in a long time. Would the seed take? Those weeds I pulled, did I get them at the root or are they going to rise up and take over the grass? Our lives are not all that different. Through the years I’ve confronted many questions: Will I keep the faith when things are rocky and not going my way? Can I break those habits because my hard-headedness prevents it? How do I manage all of these daily distractions that act as weeds attempting to choke out my faith? And yet there is that final example that Jesus gave. The one where the seed falls on “good soil producing a hundred fold”. Where does that show up in our lives, you might ask? Ahh, there is golden answer. It shows up in your life in the form of what the Bible calls the fruit of the Spirit; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness and Self Control. When you feel any of these coming forth in your life, you are the good soil that our Heavenly Father is sowing into.

Patience Is Elusive

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Now, may the God of Patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus.” Romans 15:5

A great little story by an unknown author came to me a few days ago about an impatient Monk. No matter what he tried, this monk simply lacked patience. The more he tried, the more impatient he became with people so he decided that he must get away altogether and learn to be patient. As a result this Monk literally built for himself a cabin deep in the woods, far away from civilization. Some years later a man was traveling in those same woods and ran into the Monk and his little cabin. The traveler was amazed to find anyone living so far away from the rest of the world, so he asked the Monk why he was there all by himself. The monk replied, “This was the only way for me to learn patience.” The traveler said, “Well, how long have you been here?” The monk replied, “Seven years”. Seven years!” the stunned traveler said, “I’m confused. If there has been no one around to bother you for seven years, how will you know when you have learned to be patient?” Annoyed, the monk replied, “Get away from me, I have no time for you.” I had a good laugh at reading this story because

We Are Indeed An Impatient People

I can attest to my own impatience at just about anything or any place that requires waiting. We all have things in life that strain our patience. That’s where our scripture today becomes so compelling. God, the very definition of patience, is asking us to take on this same character trait. Just think how patient God is with you and I in our lives. If you are anything like me, remembering God’s patience toward us might just help you demonstrate a little more patience toward others. 

Home Depot

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 3:11

The rain had stopped and the sun broke through the clouds revealing a glorious valley in the hills above Ensenada Mexico. As part of a team of twelve, we pulled a trailer packed with lumber from the aptly named Home Depot onto a small vacant lot. Yet, it was not the glorious view that caught my eye, but a six year old little girl who clung to her mother’s leg. I’m sure she had been told that her family was receiving a small loft house that day to replace the shanty of stick and tarp they called home. But the sight of the trailer filled with prefabricated walls, floor and ceiling, let alone the crew of volunteers there to erect it, was a bit overwhelming. I’m sure it was hard for this little girl to believe that

A New Home Was Just A Few Hours Away 

Over the next few hours I watched as this little 6 year old was pulled out of her shell by the love of the volunteers. A paintbrush was soon in her hand, along with paint on every stitch of her clothing. Her smile was now from ear to ear and would not fade. By the time the peanut butter sandwiches made an appearance, there was no shy left in her. These volunteers were now family, right down to the massive hug each one received from her as the keys of the new home were handed to her father. As we drove away, I could not help but wonder how different that little 6 year olds life was now going to be. She had witnessed the love of strangers coming in the name of the Lord to put a roof over her head, and then walk away asking nothing in return. My friends, there is very real Christ centered love power in 1 John 3:11. When you give without expecting anything in return, lives change in an instant, not the least of which will be your own.  

Authority

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Psalm 31:5 & Luke 23:46

Living a life of faith goes well beyond feelings, it’s about declarations. So often when Jesus spoke at critical times during His time on earth He would quote scripture, for scripture is God’s word and the foundation upon which we build our faith. In His final breaths on the Cross, Jesus, in Luke 23:46, was quoting Psalm 31:5, which says, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit” In these few words Jesus verbally declared that

God Alone Is The Final Authority.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, God is the final word. He formed us, He created us and all that we see, and if this were not enough He loves us beyond our comprehension, which He demonstrated in the life of His son Jesus. The same Jesus who on the cross taught us one more valuable lesson, that is the importance of verbally declaring God’s authority. Don’t just think it, speak it! David made such a declaration, which Jesus repeated. Today we can make this same choice and speak God’s authority over us. Such humble surrender to the God of all creation will open a world to you that you never thought possible. In this quiet time with God, give Him the final authority over every breath you take. “Whatever you have for me today, Lord, I am yours.”