Month: August 2016

Recently, a discount superstore in our neighborhood unveiled an automated self-serve car wash. Having used many self-serve car washes, I was skeptical of the likelihood the car would be sufficiently cleaned, particularly the wheel rims. But this car wash made me a believer. It is more than twice as long as any other self-serve car wash I had previously used and the cleaning and drying were impressive, including the wheel rims! But what makes this experience so inviting is riding through the car wash while sitting in the enclosed car. The complexity of the washing system and the length of the ride takes the experience to another level, far greater than any other car wash.

 

I remember with great fondness the rare times I was allowed to sit in a car going through a car wash when I was a child. I am unsure why I am so fascinated by sitting in a car going through a carwash.  One reason, for sure, is I enjoy seeing the layers of dirt and grime vigorously scrubbed away from an insider’s perspective.

 

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Titus 3:5 (ESV)

 

Everytime I come before God and confess my sins and repent, He is faithful and just to forgive me. The cleansing, the regeneration and renewal is immediate and ongoing. The layers of sin, the layers of dirt, are washed away and the finished product is sanctification. Like sitting through a carwash, I can witness for myself how God cleanses me. But unlike the carwash, it is a mystery how He does it. I only know that it is done because of the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of His mercy and grace, I can stand before my Lord, my sins wiped clean and I am as white as snow.

 

And I am eternally grateful for His sacrifice for me as He has washed and continues to wash me clean of my sins.

 

Amen!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

My daughter recently underwent oral surgery to remove several impacted molars. After the successful surgery, she was instructed to place an ice pack on her cheeks for twenty minutes on then twenty minutes off throughout the first day. Although this treatment may seem counterintuitive, it is based upon the pathophysiology of basic wound repair. The body is attempting to repair the damaged tissue which is inflamed. Cold reduces the inflammation by limiting blood flow to the area, thereby reducing the pain and swelling, and allowing the repair to commence. This makes sense. But removing the cold for twenty minutes would increase blood flow and allow the pain to reappear. Why will creating more pain help with the healing? While stopping the cold ice pack will temporarily increase the pain and inflammation, it is also facilitating the clearance of toxins and damaged tissue, repaired during the time of cold treatment, by increasing blood flow to the area.  For healing to efficiently take place, it requires a treatment, alternating between pain and comfort.

 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:2-5 (ESV)

 

When God heals me, His methods may also seem counterintuitive. I expect peace and comfort, a spiritual cooling treatment to reduce the pain. While He has certainly done this in my life, some times the pain is accompanied with more trials, temporarily increasing the pain and suffering I experience. Can I take joy in this? I should because He is using this temporary increase in pain and trials to create a permanent healing.

 

When trials come your way, take comfort that God is using them to bring you to completion and perfection, in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

I am very proud of my wife. She is my best friend, a caring mother, and an excellent professional. She is a pediatric dentist and very adept with the fine motor movements of her hands. This comes as no surprise to me since my father was also a dentist. I always marveled at the steadiness of his hands when he needed to create or repair something. Mechanical repairs were never a problem as he deftly tinkered with most intricate of devices with the skill of a master craftsman.

 

These indelible memories of my father have colored my expectations about dentists. Whenever something breaks down and is need of repair in our home, I casually exclaim to my wife, “Babe, can you fix this? You’re a dentist, you’re good with your hands!” To no surprise, she is often able to repair things with the same skill that my father possessed. Rarely, however, there are some devices that she cannot repair, and I invariably become frustrated.

 

And this is the problem, I place unrealistic expectations upon my wife. Instead of a thankful attitude for her willingness to assist me, I focus open her inability to fix the problem.

 

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word…

Ephesians 5:25-26 (ESV)

 

My expectations need to be grounded in Jesus Christ. I should love and support my wife with the same love and affection that Jesus Christ has for me and His church.

 

My wife is a dentist and she is very good with her hands. I need to continue to praise and support her for the things she is able to do, focusing upon her strengths. I must sacrifice my all for her rather than expecting her to make a sacrifice for me.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

Within a few months after I met my wife, I knew I was madly in love with her. I implicitly trusted her with so many intimate thoughts and secrets of my life. But the time had come in our relationship when I had to trust her with something far more personal. She needed to examine my teeth!

 

My father was a dentist and up to that point in time, no other dentists had ever examined my teeth. The fear of dentists is a lament of many people. I have no concept of this. My father had steady hands and a gentle touch. He had tender way of injecting Novocaine so that I barely flinched. So, with great trepidation, I allowed my wife to examine my teeth. A myriad of thoughts raced through my mind as I reclined in her examination room. What if her hand is heavy? What if she hurts me? What kind of pediatric dentist would she be if she can’t even be gentle with an adult?

 

To my relief, the examination went very smoothly. In fact, it was even pleasurable! To this day, she continues to examine my teeth, evermore endearing her to me.

 

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

Ephesians 5:28-30 (ESV)

 

My expectations about my wife prejudiced my feelings about her. God reminds me that my expectations are not His. He expects me to nourish and cherish my wife as I would my own body. And when I do this, Jesus Christ is honored. False expectations lead to fear and anxiety. God’s expectations lead to peace and comfort.

 

And it is very pleasurable!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

In the movie, Forrest Gump, Lt. Dan, played by Gary Sinise, cynically asks Forrest, played by Tom Hanks, “Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?”

 

Startled by the question, Forrest replies, “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir!”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFxNhrPyyhI

 

Forrest’s reply was honest, but his is the response of many people in this world, but for different reasons. He thought that everyone knew where Jesus was. The irony, of course, is most people don’t or worse, think they do, and don’t care.

 

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Luke 19:10 (ESV)

 

God understands this, after all, He created all of us. He knows there is nothing in us that would compel  us to seek Him. Thus, He took the initiative to find us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. What kind of God would do this? He is a God who loves us with such a perfect love that He would forsake His very life to save ours. All we need to do is confess and repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

 

Did you know that Jesus is seeking you? Have you found Jesus yet?

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

I have known my wife for twenty years and married for nineteen of those years. She has blessed me in countless ways. Yet, we still have our disagreements. Conflict is inevitable in any relationship and ours is no different. God has created us with differences, but for an important purpose. As I reflect upon our differences, I have realized that many of our disagreements derive from our differences in approaches and outlook. I like to think of myself as a forest, big picture person. She is a tree, detailed person.

 

Recently, she and I both attended a meeting with a business partner of our family. We were able to preview the proposal the evening before.  Our differences in outlook were never better displayed. While I thought the overall proposal was good, my wife teased out critical details that sweetened the deal for us. Her acumen and astute powers of observation were obvious to everyone in attendance. As I declared at the meeting, “I see the forest but my wife picks out the individual trees that are diseased and not doing well. She makes the forest better!”

 

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Ephesians 5:28 (ESV)

 

When I stop to reflect and meditate upon God’s design for husband and wife, His reason for marriage stands firm. God has created us with differences to complement and complete one another, not to divide and isolate. So often when conflict arises in our relationship, I lapse into my old habits of trying to change her to match my outlook rather than take the time to rejoice in the differences and accept God’s leading. My wife and I are one body as we are both part of the body of Jesus Christ.

 

My wife makes the forest better and she makes me a better person to serve and honor God and care for our marriage.

 

Praise God for His love and mercy for blessing me with my wife!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

It was 1998, the internet was all the buzz, and I wanted in. I had been toying with the idea of creating a website that would enable patients to understand their pathology report. Thus, The Doctor’s Doctor website was born. (www.thedoctorsdoctor.com)

 

It became very popular, garnering over 60 million page views and 6 million unique viewers a year at its peak. I received emails from patients and physicians from all over the world. I was interviewed by several pathology trade publications and had articles and citations in the local newspaper and the Wall Street Journal.  I witnessed, firsthand, the immense power and reach of the internet.

 

Creating that website changed me. I used to think that the actions of one person would only rarely make a difference to this world. It was only reserved for very special people, those who come around once in a lifetime. But given the right tools, everyone now has the potential to reach the world.

 

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:19 (ESV)

 

Over two thousand years ago, before social media or even the printing press, the words and life of one Man, forever changed the world. Jesus Christ came into this world, born to poor parents, growing up in a region viewed with contempt, and training as a carpenter. He did not attend any prestigious school or center of learning. But He did have the right tools. He studied, lived, and obeyed God’s Word. He lived a perfect life of submission to God the Father and paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the Cross and being resurrected.

 

Can one person make a difference in this world? Jesus Christ did and continues to do so, if we accept His invitation to confess and repent of our sins and acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior.

 

Creating the website changed me. The Doctor’s Doctor did reach many people. But Jesus Christ is the Great Physician who takes away the sins of the world! And He can change you!

 

Amen!

 

Love and trust the Lord, seek His will in your life.

I have taken many personality surveys, intended to help me understand my abilities and interests. In the secular world, these abilities might be dubbed aptitudes. In the Christian world, the term gifts has often been used. For many years, I have viewed these abilities as gifts from God, the Holy Spirit, who uses these gifts to empower His Church. And this is correct. But what I failed to realize is that even love is a gift.

 

Perhaps this not as startling a revelation to some as it is to me. Most of us believe we all have an inherent ability to love. It is easy to love a great performance, a splendidly prepared meal, or an act of kindness from a friend or family member. But is it as easy to love someone whom you have loved, but now has hurt you? It is easy to love someone who hates you and wants to kill you because of your race, gender, or religion? Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. The only way we can truly do this is by God changing our hearts.

 

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV)

 

I cannot take love for granted. I must pursue love with the same fervor that I use the gifts that God has given me. Love needs to be continually sought, rekindled, and refreshed. It must be pursued because love is a gift.

 

The only way I can do this is by confessing and repenting of my sins and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. True love is a gift from God. Only when we acknowledge this can we truly begin to love the way God intended us to love one another.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

These last few months have witnessed the horrific murders of police officers in several different cities of the United States. Understandably, the police officers have expressed their concerns to their superiors and to each other. While some have brought up the subject of quitting, the vast majority are committed to remaining within the police force. As one officer stated to a news reporter, “You don’t choose this job, it chooses you!”

 

This poignant statement underscores the commitment and dedication of the brave men and women who daily place their lives on the line for our protection. It also reminds me that many view their job as a calling. My relationship with Jesus Christ is no different.

 

…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…

Ephesians 1:4-5 (ESV)

 

Everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior was chosen by God before this world even existed. The corollary to this is that there will be some who have not nor will not ever accept Jesus as their Savior. But God did not prevent them from accepting Him, for God does not want any to perish but for all to come to repentance and eternal life through Jesus Christ. God loves us but also leaves the decision to us to accept His gift of salvation.

 

Like our police officers who view their jobs as a calling, our life in Jesus Christ is a calling from God. God has chosen us so that we may share the Good News with others.

 

Our police officers need our prayers and support. But what is truly needed in this world is for our hearts to change, to turn and repent of our sins and place our trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The madness and horrors of these last few months are because of the darkness of sin in our hearts. And only Jesus can bring light and peace to fill the gap that separates us from God.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

He had it all. The wealthiest kingdom in the world. A nation at peace with its neighbors. A magnificent temple and palace. And if that was not enough, his father was considered one of the wisest men who ever lived.

 

This was Rehoboam, son of King Solomon.

 

In the book of Proverbs which is usually attributed to Solomon, he wrote to his son…

 

Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Proverbs 22:20-21 (ESV)

 

Yes indeed. All this sage advice from the man whom the Holy Spirit directed to write this very important book of the Bible! And he needed it because in the first days of his reign, after his father passed away, Rehoboam was faced with a decision that needed his immediate attention. But Rehoboam had nothing to fear! Solomon had prepared him, right?

 

Rehoboam spurned the advice of his father. He ignored the advice of his father’s advisors. And he followed the “sage” advice of the young men that grew up with him. The result? Civil war and the Kingdom of Israel was torn in two, never to be reunited.

 

It is easy for me to look back over thousands of years of history and shake my head at the incredible ignorance of Rehoboam. But am I any different? The entire Bible is before me, not just the thirty one proverbs that Solomon wrote. Do I read it, absorb it, and meditate upon the Words, or is it simply a daily exercise, as routine as putting on my shoes?

 

My salvation is secure in Jesus Christ because He is my Lord and Savior. Do I acknowledge my blessings by seeking to read God’s Word in thanksgiving? Do I read the Bible seeking the true answers to life that are the opposite of the world’s?

 

With Jesus Christ, I have it all! Do you?

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.