Author: Jacquelin Stoner

Jacqui is a writer, teacher, life coach, and an encourager. She walks alongside of individuals who need help navigating to the better place God has envisioned for their lives. She has discovered that God is central to genuine lasting life change.

THE TRUTHTELLER’S DESK

So many emotions swirled around in my head. The neighbors heard me as I ran my electric sander on the back porch by the hour.

I check out when triggered. Often, I bury myself in work. This past Election Day triggered me. So many emotions swirled around in my head. The neighbors heard me as I ran my electric sander on the back porch by the hour. I worked non-stop refinishing a piece of furniture. Usually, I spend at least an entire week on a project like that. That was not the case this time as I sanded and prayed by the hour.

SEASON OF LOSS

Physical work helps me not to think about all I have lost the past few years. The pain can be agonizing. I’ve lost friends because I dare to believe in the sanctity of life; lost friends who have developed a very short fuse (so I avoid them) due to the upheaval in our country. And there are those who think I’m a moron for still believing God’s Word is true. You get the point. It’s been a season of loss.

POPULARITY IS NOT GOD’S GAME PLAN

This hurts. I value relationships and people and of course I like it when people think well of me. Apparently being popular was never God’s game plan for me.

THE ROCK AND THE HARD PLACE

It’s hard because I’m caught between a Rock and a hard place. God is the Rock and relationships can be the hard place. How can I be a truth teller when no matter how gently I speak the words, someone gets upset with what God says?

GOD HEARS MY WORKING PRAYERS

On the other hand, I know I will explode if I disobey God and keep silent when He asks me to speak or obey Him in behavior. And so I go to my back porch, and work by the hour, and pray by the minute.

My work resulted in a lovely desk. God hears my working prayers.

But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his Word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it! (Jeremiah 20:9)

Listen to the story of Lee Strobel

BORN ON PLANET PLUTO, AND OTHER LIES

My son had convinced his entire class he was born on Pluto

“Do you know that Noah has the entire class convinced he was born on the planet Pluto?” An aspiring 2nd grader and accomplished liar, my youngest son told this whopper regarding his birth to his classmates. His teacher told me Noah’s “origin story.” I despaired about Noah, wondering if his future would be as a conman. Was Noah so self-deceived that he would swear on a stack of Bibles he was born on Pluto?

SELF DECEPTION IS A CANCER

The power of self-deception is horrible. For example, the individual who swears to you they don’t have a drug problem, but you can see the needle tracks all over their arms. Self-deception reigns throughout society. I remember standing in a church parking lot listening to a family screaming at each other (with the car windows up) and then they exited their car. They proceeded to walk toward the church, wishing me a lovely day with smiles pasted on their faces. Minutes before, I heard the horrible names they called each other. Self-deception is a cancer and the Temple leaders in this Gospel account are full of it in John 8:33-58.

SLAVES TO SIN

Earlier in this confrontation, the Temple leaders declared their holy parentage, descendants of Abraham. Yet Jesus says they are slaves to sin. Doesn’t a slave desire more than anything to be made free? However, they do not want freedom offered by Christ, they just want life to continue with the prestige of being in charge of their religious community. They think they have the inside track with God. They are so self-deceived they cannot see the truth standing before them.

LIES FROM HELL

“Who do you make yourself out to be?” the men scream at Jesus. Picture a brilliant sunset in the background while the Jews angrily surround Jesus. They accuse the Creator of Heaven and earth, the Creator of the sunset, of being demon possessed. Out of their mouths fly lies from the pit of hell.

HE CALLS A SPADE A SPADE

No one likes to be stripped and exposed. We would rather tell lies about ourselves than admit how sinful, broken, and needy we are. Yet, Jesus calls a spade a spade. He doesn’t mince words. To His accusers He says, “Yet you do not know Him [God] but I know Him fully.”  

THE “I AM”

The Teacher ties up this confrontation by offering a beautiful present. He is Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” Jesus tells the mob He is the “I Am.” These are the same words that God used to describe Himself when He met Moses at the burning bush. (Exodus 3:1-15). Jesus is God.

RIPPING OFF THE BAND-AID OF RELIGION

This so infuriates His accusers, that they pick up stones to murder the Christ. They think that by silencing the “problem,” there would be no problem. But we know the rest of the story. The One who they murdered rose from the dead and millions and millions have come to know Him. Jesus has ripped off the band-aid of religion and uncovered the layers of self-deceit.

DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE?

By letting His truth change you, then you can be made truly free. Do you want to be free? Then begin living letting The Word radically change your life. Hebrews 4:12-14 says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

Let Jesus expose the Truth. Don’t be self-deceived.

Click to listen to Megan Donahue’s story of being set free to the Truth

AN INVITATION FOR WOMEN TO PRAY

Stop complaining and start praying

This is your invitation to pray this coming Monday night at 6:30. Whether you attend in person or pray elsewhere with friends, below is a prayer guide which may be helpful. 

For those of you who can attend in person, we are meeting at Grace Community Church, Willow Street, PA. The entrance to use is the Christian Education Wing entrance (back left hand side of the church – you will see my red Kia parked near the door). Go through the doors, take elevator to the 2nd floor and we will be meeting in the 2nd floor lobby area. If we need more room, we will migrate elsewhere in the church building.

PRAYING FOR THE NATION

THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THE JOY OF CHRIST

Praying for unbelievers to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

    Praying for a national spiritual awakening. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Ask God to send revival to America’s churches beginning with GCC, and cry out to God and ask Him to awaken people across the nation to their sin and their need for salvation in Christ.

    UNITY IN THE GLOBAL CHURCH

     Praying for the unity of the Church. John 17:20-23 : “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Ask God for a fresh work of love, humility, and gentleness to invade and consume His people and His churches in our nation.

    FAMILIES

    Praying for families. Joshua 24:15: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Ask God’s forgiveness for the ways our nation has not honored God’s plan for marriage, sexuality, and family life.  Pray for the sanctity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Pray that children will be raised in healthy homes where they will be nurtured in Christ.

    SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

    Praying for the sanctity of life beginning at conception. Psalm 139:13-16: “For you formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed body; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 82:3-4 “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Ask for forgiveness on behalf of our nation for the millions of children who are aborted.  Seek God for a culture of life to be established in our families, schools, churches, and governing bodies.

    THOSE WHO SERVE

    Praying for law enforcement and military. Romans 13:1-5 : “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.

    Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.”

    Pray for safety, protection, and wisdom for our law enforcement officers and our military.  Included praying for their families.  Ask for the salvation of these men and women.  Pray for a change of heart, that American citizens would honor those who are called to protect and serve in these ways.

    LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEADERS

    Praying for local and national government leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-2: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Pray that our leaders at every level of government would humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from sin.  Ask God to use these leaders to be part of the healing of our nation.  Commit the upcoming presidential election to the Lord and ask that His will would be done.  Pray for a safe and peaceful election day and the days thereafter.

    GODLY ATTITUDE REGARDING ALL

    Praying that we will be vigilant in prayer and maintain a godly attitude regardless of the results of the elections. I Peter 2:13-17: Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good. For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king [or president].

    WHO DO YOU TRUST?

    When I worry, it’s because I know that God’s ruling the world, but I’m afraid he’s not going to get it right.

    Have you read the headlines lately? It is so easy to get caught up in speculation and worse case scenarios. That’s exactly the road the Israelites were traveling during the end of Samuel’s life. As Tim Keller writes, the Israelites “saw the news but not the Savior”.  

    TOUGH TIMES FOR A NATION

    I Samuel 8:1-22 tells us about a difficult time for a nation. They trusted Samuel, but he was coming to the end of being their leader, their priest, their pastor. His sons were moral failures and could not be trusted to take up the reigns. We read that the elders of Israel look around, review their conditions, and after observing the surrounding nations, they come up with their own solution. Their actions demonstrate they believe God is unreliable regarding leadership, so it is up to them to find an earthly king to rule them and protect them. They forget that God still rules the world, no matter what fears we possess.

    WHAT IF GOD DOESN’T “GET IT RIGHT”?

    Tim Keller wrote: “When I worry, it’s because I know that God’s ruling the world, but I’m afraid he’s not going to get it right. Worry is always a deep sense in the human heart that we know better than God how life ought to go and that we should be ruling the world instead of God.” And so, the Jewish leaders assume it was time to step in and “lend God a hand”. They demand of Samuel, “Give us a king to judge and rule over us.”

    REJECTING GOD’S BEST

    Samuel is extremely distressed in the chain of events. God tells Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.” Wow! That should have stopped the Israelites in their tracks, but it didn’t. “They have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. So now listen to their voice; only solemnly warn them and tell them the ways of the king who will reign over them.”

    GOD GAVE THEM WHAT THEY WANTED

    Samuel gives them what they ask for. David Guzik writes: “Because Israel demanded a king for bad and carnally minded reasons, God will give them a bad and carnally minded king. In itself, the desire to have a king was not bad. God knew one day Israel would have a king. 400 years before this God gave instructions to Israel about their future king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). A king was in God’s plan for Israel. Yet, the reason Israel wanted a king was wrong. To be ‘like all the nations’ is no reason at all.”

    KING #1

    Because of their lack of trust. Israel ends up with King #1: Saul, who is tall, handsome and impressive. Saul is also a coward, selfish, a liar, and mentally unstable. If the Israelites had just waited on God, they would have received David as King #1, the man who followed after God’s own heart. But, they demanded, and demanded, and God gave them what they asked for.

    A HOLY NATION

    God’s goal for Israel was “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6) 

    SETTLING FOR LESS

    The Israelites settled for much less than God’s wonderful plan because they just wanted to look like every else. Is your heart’s desire to just be like everyone else? Are you asking God with bended knee, willing to wait for Him and for what glorifies Him, no matter how He accomplishes that goal? The Israelites in their haste ignored God and received exactly what their miniscule hearts asked for: an inept and miniscule king because they saw the news but not the Savior.

    Click to read Tim Keller’s “The disciplines of distress”

    HE NEVER SLUMBERS

    Maybe, God had my phone die for one purpose – to write this blog.

    Suddenly it died. It wasn’t a slow excruciating death. One moment it was there and the next, it wasn’t. Of course, I immediately went to Google to look up all possible solutions. One You Tube contributor suggested placing it in a Ziploc bag for an hour. Yup, I tried it. However, what is dead is dead.

    By the way, hopefully you already realized I’m not referring to my husband. He definitely would not fit into a Ziploc bag. The dead item is my cell phone. Right now, I’m looking at it across the room and it still remains one of the departed.

    A great deal of my life is played out on my phone: messages to doctors, appointment reminders, phone calls from people in crisis, and even the constantly changing code to allow me access to a publishing site I use weekly. You name it; I need my phone. I can’t even get into Costco without my phone’s bar code. Only God knows where the original plastic membership card resides.

    That afternoon, after all the drama of the previous night, I said to my husband Bill (the one who still is not in a Ziploc bag), “I can’t understand why I’m still so upset about my phone. Yes, it’s a pain I won’t have a replacement until sometime next week, but after all, a phone is just a phone.”

    The day before the phone’s demise, I read, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].” (Psalm 121:1-4)

    God was not slumbering or sleeping when my phone died. He also decided not to resurrect it when I was still working on it at 1 AM the following night. Maybe, God had my phone die for one purpose – to write this blog. Can I trust God with all those obligations, worries, and imaginations of everything that might go wrong due to my black screen?

    What has you so upset lately? Maybe it’s major or minor, but it is taking up a lot of your head and heart space. It’s got your goat, and you are having a hard time letting go of it. I hear you!  Tenacity is one of my strongest traits and I lost hours of sleep due to that dead object sitting on my table.

    In times like this, I love to repeat this prayer of the Puritans: “May I always feel my need of You. Let your restored joy be my strength.” (Valley of Vision, page 107) I definitely felt my need of God the night when the phone crashed. The need still existed as I tried to toggle together communications with others minus my phone. Presently I am still struggling as I am trying to publish online the church’s devotional (minus the Authenticator Code which only comes via my phone). However, God is not slumbering nor sleeping. “My helps comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”

    Does your God slumber and sleep? You do not have to wake Him up, but you do need to run to Him. You don’t even need a working phone to do so!

    Listen to the story of Lee Strobel

    NEWS FLASH: GOVERNMENT CANNOT SAVE

    I wish November 4th would come and go.

    I wish November 4th would come and go. Millions of dollars are being spent daily on advertising. Take a drive down the road and view the hundreds of political lawn signs. Often neighbors have their signs positioned to show off their candidates. Tempers flash at a moment’s notice. This has not been a pleasant season.

    ANOTHER TIME OF UPHEAVAL

    Serious conflict is nothing new. Historically, people can be extremely nasty. “A man’s enemies are the men (members) of his own household.” (Micah 7:6) The prophet Micah made this observation over 700 years before the birth of Christ. They did not have lawn signs advertising politicians in Micah’s time, but it was a period of extreme upheaval and political unrest.

    WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST?

    What does God want us to do with all the nasty media posts, the advertisements, or neighbors fighting neighbors? He asks us to make a decision: “Who are you going to trust during this season?”

    GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SAVIOR

    I realize that government is not the savior of the world. Hopefully it is not a shock to you, but trusting the mortal powers that be, no matter where you lean politically, is futile. Leadership is made up of both wise and unwise people. It runs the spectrum. Some individuals are kind; some are nasty. Many people in government have a moral compass; many people in government lack a moral compass. It is a fallen world, and we are brilliant at displaying how fallen we are.

    I WILL WAIT WITH CONFIDENT EXPECTATION

    The prophet Micah writes from a time of disarray in both his country and government (there is nothing new under the sun). What did he do? He made a conscious decision: “But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch; I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)

    NO GOVERNMENT CAN MAKE A NEW HEART

    No matter where you reside in the world; whether under the most oppressive corrupt regime or someplace that presently does not seem so bad, don’t put your faith in government to change the hearts of people. Rules and regulations made by government cannot change what is going on inside of individuals.  Only Jesus can make a new heart which is both forgiven and changed.

    WHO IS THE SAVIOR?

    “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7) Who is the Savior? Definitely not government.

    Recently remote mountainous areas of North Carolina were destroyed by Hurricane Helene. Who appeared first with boots on the ground? It was neighbor taking care of neighbor. It was non-profit organizations like Samaritan’s Purse. The neighbors and the volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse served freely and with compassion. “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” Governments can’t save. Neither can any political candidate. Only Christ can.

    Listen to: “Don’t settle for a small worldview with Michael Craven”.

    THE DAY THEY BOUNCED MY MOM

    Then he added the catch to the job offer:  I would have to tell my mom she could no longer be in the church choir.

    I was 16 years old and had been a regular in playing the pipe organ at our local church.  I distinctly remember the phone call I received from the head of the Elder Board.  He dangled before me the carrot of becoming the paid church organist and then he added the catch:  I would have to tell my mom she could no longer be in the church choir. 

    NOT A DEAL GENERATED IN HEAVEN

    This was definitely not a deal generated in heaven.  My mom was fairly scary and there was large conflict in the choir, so the predicament they placed me in was born of the fears of adult men in leadership.  These were professing believers who thought that by their own wits they could solve their dilemma.  They did what came naturally and it definitely was not from the heart of the Holy Spirit.

    A TEMPORARY FIX, BUT NOT A HOLY SOLUTION

    That’s exactly what James 4 talks about; professing believers resorting to ungodly means to achieve their desires.  Schemes and behaviors cooked up by people who are not bringing their problem before the Throne of God.  They didn’t realize that natural means aren’t effective weapons in spiritual warfare; they may give a temporary fix, but are not a holy solution.

    THE MEANS DOESN’T JUSTIFY THE ENDS

    James 4:1-12 uses some sharp words to describe the behaviors of his reading audience.  If you read the Amplified Version, he uses terms such as: “hedonistic desires, jealousy, coveting, lust, murder, envy, unanswered prayer, selfishness, flirting with the world, pride, slander, and judging each other”.  It sounds like a bad soap opera where individuals are doing whatever they want in order to get whatever they want.  That’s what happens when God followers resort to their own devices.

    LET GOD WORK HIS WILL IN YOU

    Maybe you have your own church conflict story?  If you do, then what is the solution so that you don’t resort to the identical behavior that sent you into a tailspin?  I love the paraphrase from The Message for James 4:7-10 “So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”

    HIGH FIVES IN HEAVEN

    How would your world change if the next time you wanted something, you laid it all out before the feet of God and examined it through God’s eyes?  What would happen if you prayed, “God, no matter how hard it is, I want to obey You.  Please give me the courage and strength to behave in an honorable way before You so that the angels are giving high fives in heaven.” 

    I don’t think you would be pressuring a 16-year-old girl with a scheme to bounce her mom off the church choir.  “The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” No bouncing allowed!

    Listen to the story of Toni McFadden

    WHO’S THAT KNOCKING AT THE DOOR?

    Who is knocking at your door? Is it that trickster, the one who has deeply hurt you?

    Post WWII, Corrie ten Boom decided to go on a speaking tour of Germany, to win to Christ the hearts of her former enemies. She remembered, “It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower door in the processing center at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, My sister Betsie’s pain-blanched face.… My sister’s death.”

    HOW DOES JOSEPH DEAL WITH HIS HATEFUL BROTHERS?

    In Genesis 42:1-43:10, can you imagine the same type of shock when Joseph recognizes a group of men appearing at the palace door? He instantly remembered the brothers who despised teenaged Joseph with such a revulsion and enmity that they sold him into slavery. With crocodile tears told their father that a wild animal killed their brother. More than twenty years have passed. How does Joseph deal with the men he had known as brothers, now bowing before him, begging to buy food?

    Joseph is the last person on earth the brothers expected to see, especially in Pharaoh’s Court. The aristocracy before them spoke with great authority and appeared Egyptian. This man is Pharoah’s right-hand man.

    EVERYTHING HAS COME FULL CIRCLE

    Did angry vengeful thoughts first swirl around in Joseph’s brain when he recognized them? “Joseph recognized his brothers; they did not recognize him. Then he (Joseph) remembered his dreams about them.” The God of the Universe reminds Joseph that everything has come full circle. The dreams he was given years ago in which God placed him over his brothers, are being fulfilled.

    HAVE THE BROTHER’S CHANGED?

    How does Joseph respond? Certainly, he is entitled to revenge. He wonders if the brothers have changed. Do they regret their murderous plot to get rid of Joseph? In their minds, Joseph “is no more”. Joseph uses an interpreter, so they assume he doesn’t speak their language. Then Joseph hears them say, “Surely, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”

    Joseph knows his brothers as tricksters. After all their father’s name is often interpreted as “someone who seizes or circumvents”. Joseph gives his brothers a run for their money to reveal where their hearts stand. In the process, he makes possible his heart’s desire: to see his younger brother Benjamin and father, Jacob. Dad has never recovered from the loss of Joseph. Jacob laments, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

    Joseph maneuvers the situation in a series of tests: the silver in their saddle bags and Simeon being held hostage in Egypt. God provides the answers regarding the former tricksters at the palace door.

    FORGIVENESS IS POSSIBLE, EVEN WHEN COUNTERINTUITIVE

    What lesson do we learn from this? Forgiveness is possible even when it is counterintuitive. Joseph responded in wise trusting obedience to God when confronted with the deepest hurts of his past. Corrie Ten Boom remembers, “Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.” Who is knocking at your door? Is it that trickster, the one who has deeply hurt you? Or is it much worse, Corrie’s guard from Ravensbruck? How are you going to respond to God’s call for wisdom and forgiveness?

    Click to hear the story of Dana St. John

    DO NOT ISOLATE!

    As an elementary school student, I remember the bane of impetigo, a contagious skin infection forming pustules and yellow crusty sores often appearing on the mouth.  When a classmate entered the room with the telltale sores, they were immediately sent home and couldn’t return until their skin had cleared up.  To be isolated isn’t a whole lot of fun when you are a little kid, especially when your mouth is a crusty mess.

    LIVING IN COMMUNITY CAN BE CHALLENGING

    Human beings of any age are social creatures, created to live and to participate in life together and not to live in isolation.  That’s why Medical News Today reports that “people who live in solitary confinement are more likely to develop anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and psychosis. It effects physical health, increasing a person’s risk for a range of conditions, including fractures, vision loss, and chronic pain.”  Yet many people insist on living in isolation because living in community, especially Christian community, can be challenging.  It means making oneself vulnerable to others and making sacrifices. 

    GOD’S DESIGN FOR COMMUNITY

    That is the underlying theme in James 5:13-20: God’s design for community living for His children. James mentions that communities contain suffering, rejoicing, illness, confession, and caring. This is costly. If the one strays from the ninety-nine, the individual is to be lovingly pursued for reconciliation. Remember those nature films where the lions pursue their next meal by separating that lone animal from the herd?  That’s what Satan wants for believers, to separate us from other believers so we are vulnerable to attack.

    THE COST OF COMMUNITY

    As a believer, I know it can take a great deal of effort to commit to community living.  “If we love each other, we will not stand in judgment on each other, or speak evil against each other. We will not bite or devour each other (as if we were wild beasts). And we will not provoke or envy or lie to each other. Positively, if we love each other, we will be kind and compassionate to each other, forbear and forgive each other, submit to each other and build each other up, practice hospitality to each other ungrudgingly, encourage each other, admonish and comfort each other, pray for each other and bear each other’s burdens.” (from “The Living Church”, by John Stott).  If more of us purposely lived this way, wouldn’t the local community of believers be wondrous?

    THE OPPORTUNITY OF COMMUNITY

    How about considering Christian community as an opportunity (I love that word: “OPPORTUNITY”), to live out life as God has designed?  In my own life I have found community in my life group called “The Tribe”.  The participants are women who I can weep with, laugh with, praise God with, pray with, be real with, and who will hold me accountable if I start “straying off the reservation”.  They care for me and I care for them.  They are James 5:13-20. 

    DESIGNED FOR COMMUNITY

    So, have you pushed back at the Christian ideal of community, maybe due to painful experiences from the past or you have considered isolation a way to protect yourself?  God designed us to rejoice with others, weep with others and sing with others. We walk with others through trials, pray for others and admit our sins to others. True believers aim to help draw that wandering sheep home.  This is what God has planned for you, not to live in isolation, but to live in COMMUNITY.

    A HEART OF SACRIFICE

    At Solomon’s dedication of the 1st Temple in Jerusalem, they sacrificed “so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded.” Can you imagine the sounds, the smells, and the confusion getting that many animals in one place?

    There is a much more substantial sacrifice in Scripture. We have the Cross. Can you imagine the taunts, curses and screams coming from the crowd and also from the depths of hell? Displayed before all is the spectacle of our Savior nailed, naked & bloody, between two thieves.

    SACRIFICE CAN BE OUT OF ONE’S COMFORT LEVEL

    Offering oneself as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God is not viewed by the world as a glorious thing. It can seem chaotic, exhausting, embarrassing, confusing, and out of one’s comfort level.

    Once I taught a class at a church and it was the first time I ever taught this particular subject. I felt awkward; well out of my comfort level. I kept asking God why He laid it on my heart for two years to teach on this subject. You can tell by the 2-year remark that I am sometimes not the fastest one to obey God’s voice.

    TAKING THE SACRIFICIAL PLUNGE

    However, I took the plunge. I researched, came up with a class description, advertised, consulted with others, and did everything I knew to prepare. The rest was entirely up to God’s doing. The first session was a little rocky. I was nervous. The second session went a little better. However, God had yet to answer one main prayer. Every time I teach, I ask that God to begin drawing friendship connections between the students. I could not see this happening in this particular group.

    SHOWING UP IS SACRIFICE

    The third session almost didn’t happen. I received quite a few texts from people who could not attend. As I was driving to GCC I conversed with God: “I’m going to show up and it might be a really short time I’m out of the house because I don’t think anyone is coming.” I obeyed and showed up. The miracle is that this session, the floodgates opened. People who I had not even thought of showed up for class. The answered prayer was that afterwards a few of the individuals stayed over an hour getting to not only know each other better, but also to encourage each other.

    HIS GOOD AND PERFECT WILL

    If I had gone along with my parameters of what the class would look like, who would be attending, how they would interact with each other, that class never would have arrived at that glorious session. God had to renew my mind regarding the class. I had to let Him run it according to His good and perfect will. That’s the point of Romans 12:1-2.

    ALLOWING GOD TO DO HIS BEST

    So, what is holding you back? Are you afraid of being embarrassed? Confused? Getting out of your comfort zone? Are you arguing with God about offering “your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God”? Remember, this sacrifice is what makes God happiest, for this is your true and proper worship. Not until we offer God everything do we allow Him to do His best.

    Click to hear the testimony of Virginia Prodan