Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Eating Crow and Humble Pie

Nobody wants to eat crow and humble pie (colloquial expressions for admitting you were wrong). From experience, I’ll tell you that crow tastes better with salt on it. Believers can wrongfully and pridefully think we know everything about running our lives. The Bible defines that as being a self-confident fool. We are not qualified to run anything on our own. “He leads the humble in what is right, and the humble He teaches His way” (Psalm 25:9). I don’t want to disqualify myself from receiving any teaching from my heavenly Father. I need His wise guidance and teaching in my life. In the words of Alan Simpson, “Those who travel the high road of humility are not troubled by heavy traffic.”

“The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged” (Psalm 69:32 NLT). My late husband and I used to sing a gospel song entitled, “I Can’t Even Walk Without You Holding My Hand.” The lyrics speak for themselves: “I thought I had done a lot on my own, I thought I could get by, oh, so all alone. I thought of myself as a mighty big man. But I can’t even walk without You holding my hand.”

It’s my job to humble myself. “I humble myself [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt me [He will lift me up and make my life significant]” (James 4:10 AMP). If I don’t make the effort to humble myself, God will do it for me, and I don’t want that! So, “I humble myself under the mighty hand of God, and in His good time He will lift me up” (1 Peter 5:6 TLB).

I refuse to get too big for my britches because I want and need God’s schooling in my life everyday. “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2 NLT). Down on our knees is where we learn to stand. That’s where we confess that we can’t even walk without God holding our hand.

When King Solomon was totally devoted and dependent on God, he was the wisest man who ever lived. But before he lived out his earthly life, he forfeited his wisdom for a big bunch of women who turned his heart away from God. You’d think Solomon would’ve had enough wisdom not to get too full of himself. But he did. We must often evaluate ourselves honestly and prayerfully. “And because of God’s gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you” (Romans 12:3 GNT). Scriptures indicate that Solomon humbled himself before he died, but he sure was miserable when he penned the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Christ followers are commanded to trust God for direction. “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones” (Proverbs 3:7-8 NKJV). We are to practice humility, rejecting prideful self-reliance, and have reverential fear and awe of God. Don’t make the mistake of relying on your personal insight instead of asking for God’s guidance and wisdom.

There’s a lot of songs I’d be pleased to have sung at my funeral. But I sure wouldn’t want “I Did It My Way.” At the end of my life, I want to humbly say, “I did it His way.”

The Key: It’s better to humble yourself. If you have to eat crow, just add salt.

Last week, I wrote about Jesus’ command for us to evangelize (“fish for”) others, and yes, we know this simple act can cause heart palpitations and a feeling of failure…not exactly the way we choose to spend our days.  We picture going door-to-door in our dress clothes, hoping we will say something that prompts the homeowner to invite us in and join our church.  But that’s not the example Jesus laid out for us in Scripture.

So, how do we go about obeying this fishing challenge?  Keep Believing Ministries posted an article written by Ray Pritchard in which he offers some very do-able advice.  He calls it the BLT of evangelism, B standing for “Build Relationships with Non-Christians.” Evangelism begins simply by making friends with non-Christians.

Specifically, this means starting with the people you already know—family members, friends, neighbors you meet while on your evening walk, other parents you meet at your child’s T-ball game or your co-workers at the office.

Unless we are hermits, chances are we rub shoulders with someone every day.  Those are the people God has placed in our lives.  He puts them there so that we can lead them to Heaven…no insignificant matter, unless we opt to treat it as one.

Pritchard gave a few suggestions for ways to build bridges with non-Christians. (Notice that none of them involve dressing in our Sunday best and going door-to-door.)

1. Ask them for advice or help.  Perhaps you need to borrow a ladder or get advice on your lawn.

2. Invite your neighbor or co-worker over for dinner. Hospitality breaks down barriers and builds new friendships.

3. Sit out on your front porch once a week and greet people who walk by. Or simply make it a point to go over and talk to your neighbors.

4. Be sensitive to their needs. If you know an elderly person, offer to mow their lawn or shovel their driveway.

5. Take an interest in their interests. If they like to fish, talk about fishing. If they like to cook, talk about cooking.  Better yet, talk about cooking fish.  (I made that one up.)

6. Help sponsor a “Neighborhood Garage Sale” this summer.

7. Be available when people hurt by looking for opportunities to tangibly express love during times of sickness, death, marital problems or financial troubles.

8. Offer to take care of your neighbor’s kids for an evening.

The article continued by suggesting we say nothing religious the first time we are together.  I would add, “unless the Holy Spirit nudges us to do so.” Look at the list above.  Is there one thing you can do this week to start building a relationship?

This past week at the Shead Family Festival, I ran into a young gal who has a reputation for spreading the gospel.  Someone once said that within at least two minutes of a conversation with her, she will mention Jesus.  They were right, only she did it in the sweetest way: she spoke of meeting my granddaughter and how it was obvious I had prayed for her because she radiated the love of the Lord.  So simple.  Evangelism should not be hard, so why do we make it so?

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Happy Heart

When I was a youngster attending Vacation Bible School in the summer I liked singing with my friends, “If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it…”

It’s been said that Christ followers are to watch and see where God is already at work and then join Him. I would suggest that He can also prompt you to do something new as a “solo” ministry. Either way, we shouldn’t hesitate or procrastinate to obey and work in the kingdom of God. You’re bound to find joy in the journey as God provides you with everything you need in order to accomplish what He’s calling you to do. “And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 AMP). If you, as a believer, do not believe that to be true, you should probably hang up your apron and turn in your key.

Please, don’t argue with God like Moses did when God was trying to give him a most-important assignment. Moses even said, “Please, Lord, send someone else” (Exodus 4:13 CSB). Oh my stars, I don’t blame God for getting angry with Moses! This conversation was getting out-of-hand. When God calls the unqualified and inexperienced to do a job, He will qualify us with ways and means that far surpass anything we could ever do on our own. It’s kinda’ comparable to the movie scene when a New York City thug threatens Crocodile Dundee with a knife. Dundee grins and says, “That’s not a knife, (as he unsheathes his own and holds it up) THAT’S a knife!” In our own eyes, we think we’ve got great ideas, but what we need are God ideas. “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:7 NLT).

We can be choosy about our peanut butter, but not the assignment/ministry that God calls us to do. It pleases Him when we wholeheartedly accept it and do it with a happy heart. We should say, “Here I am, Lord – sign me up!” We need to keep our eyes and ears open and listen with our heart to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NLT). Stay sensitive to the quiet, all-important leading of God. And don’t scrutinize how other believers are ministering and become envious or jealous. We should thank God that He is the Master Creator of variety. God needs all of us to aggressively obey and happily accomplish what He’s designed us to do.

Jesus prayerfully chose a unique bunch to be His twelve disciples. They were common men, but they became uncommon men in about three years. When Paul and Silas were preaching in Thessalonica, the Jews were jealous and declared them troublemakers. “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also” (Acts 17:6 ESV). These two guys were simply obeying God’s call, but it brought out the worst in the Jewish authorities. The devil doesn’t like it when we say, “Yes” to God. But who cares! Mr. Lucifer is just going to have to get over it and learn to read upside down.

The Lord called to young Samuel four times. The young lad finally responded, “Speak, your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9 NLT). Let’s be like Samuel so that when God speaks we’ll listen and obey…and be happy! “Happy are the people whose strength is in You” (Psalm 84:5 CSB). God provides everything we need in order to do what He’s called us to do. And that should make us happy!

 The Key: Believers who listen, obey, and minister to others will have a happy heart.

Jesus told his followers to be “fishers of men.”  I have known several serious fishermen, including one who is a professional.  He has learned the secrets of winning derbies by reeling in “the big one.”  Another friend recently posted pictures after landing an enormous bass, a fish he snared at the same place where my husband fishes and catches something akin to a pet goldfish.

Thankfully, Jesus was not saying that we had to be great fisher-people to fish for people. We do, however, need to demonstrate some of the skills employed by successful anglers, and as I write this list, I see where I fall short.

For one, we need to put in the effort, knowing that some days we might throw out our line multiple times but catch nothing.  Still, we have to try.  Sitting in our rowboats, staring at the water, praying for a 30-pound bass to jump into our vessels while telling others that we are “fishing” makes us look rather pathetic.  To truly excel in this skill, we need to do our homework.

The same applies for what Jesus meant. Fishing for men requires us to know what the Gospel says about salvation and be willing to share that knowledge by being sensitive to our listener.  Expecting people to show up at our door and ask to hear what they need to do to be saved just ain’t gonna happen.

Fishermen also need to know what bait to use.  Different seas and locations require research to know what the fish want. Bobbers or feathered lures or worms or cheese will likely have different results. If I were to share the Gospel with a farmer, my best approach would be to use agricultural terms like “sowing” and “reaping.”  Discussing what I know best (baseball or teaching) might cause my listeners to yawn or find an excuse to exit hastily to work their field.

Unfortunately, most of us might be good at talking about fishing, but Jesus never said, “Follow me and talk about evangelizing.”  We read Christian books (maybe even the Bible), attend conferences, listen to Podcasts and skim articles like this one.  We end up with a tackle box full of information and maybe even a few predictable questions (“If you were to die today, where would you end up?”).  Simply discussing what we know is not enough.  We are to act on what we know.

So, why is it so difficult to fish for people? Most Christians know they should evangelize but don’t know where to begin or how.  Researcher George Barna has discovered that nine out of ten people who attempt to explain what they believe to other people come away from those experiences feeling as if they failed. No wonder we don’t do much evangelism. It’s not fun to do something that makes us feel like a failure 90% of the time.

In Mark 16:15, Jesus commands us to “Go and preach the gospel to every creature.” No Christian can wriggle off the evangelism hook. We are to spread the good news about Jesus Christ by seeking opportunities wherever we go, and the best part of all is that we don’t have to seek only that 30-pound large-mouth bass.  Sometimes, a tiny little goldfish might be the biggest win of all.

Keys to the Kingdom
By Carolyn Tucker
Unpickled Beets

Several days before my family gathered in to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, I’d sent out a group text and asked what food item(s) were desired for our meal. Hands down, the answer was “pickled beets and cottage cheese.” Welp, that’s easy enough. I’ve used Betty Crocker’s simple recipe for years. As we began to set the food on the table, the usual sneaky taste-testing began. I wasn’t even in the kitchen when I heard my daughter yell, “Mom, you forgot the vinegar!” I came in, ate a beet and calmly said, “Yep, you’re right.” Well, to my daughter and son, this was a disaster so they began to quickly troubleshoot how it fix it. We decided to put the unpickled beets and juice in a plastic zipper bag, add some vinegar, and shake it around. It worked! I realized an interesting fact — before tasting the beets, they looked perfectly pickled and delicious. They weren’t.

You might say these pickled beets were hypocrites – they weren’t what they were supposed to be. There’s no way my family was going to eat these things in the shape they were in. A remedy had to be found – they had to be salvaged. Likewise, God carefully watched mankind and knew we had to be rescued, saved, and restored. There was no way we could fix ourselves so He sent His Son Jesus, the one and only remedy.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8 NKJV). Just like tasting those unpickled beets, we have to get up close and personal to find out for ourselves if the Lord is who He says He is. Since believers are God’s children, designed to emulate their heavenly Father, we need to do a taste test on ourselves and evaluate whether we’re who we proclaim to be. We “taste ourselves” in the mirror of His Word, which means we read it, believe it, and do it.

If we evaluate ourselves and don’t pass the taste test, don’t throw the beets out the back door! Remember, there is a Remedy Redeemer when we need to be restored. Penned by John the beloved, we find the recipe for living the beautiful life God designed for us: “God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with
each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:5-9 NLT).

Mariam and Aaron loved pickled beets so much that they weren’t willing to dispose of them. They worked together and devised a plan that rescued the hypocrite beets from the garbage disposer. The above scriptures assure us that God loves, values, and cherishes every person on the face of the earth. God’s love and mercy is unfailing and eternal and all the ingredients we need to live in the light are at our disposal. Reading and following the recipe (God’s Word) will cause believers in Christ to experience a satisfying,
fulfilling, and abundant life without condemnation. The flavor of living an obedient life that’s genuinely surrendered to Christ is delectable!

The Key: Do a taste test on yourself and see if you’re an unpickled beet posing as a pickled beet. If you need to, fix it.

The road from anger to bitterness is not a difficult one.  The journey appears smooth and easily traveled, yet what awaits us around the bend is a cavernous pit.  A U-turn is necessary before we ever get to that end, yet some people never make that choice.

Bitterness is deadly.  It causes us to weep when others rejoice and rejoice when others weep.  It will rob us of our ability to recognize and reveal God, as it renders us powerless to love others.  The roots of bitterness squeeze life from our hearts, as this sin shows up as anger, pride, sarcasm and hostility.  Others recognize it in us, but few of us recognize it in ourselves.

At the root of bitterness are three lies about God:

1.  He does not understand my problem, so I feel isolated.                          2.  He has left me to deal with this alone, so I feel forsaken.                        3.  He cannot do anything to help me, so I feel hopeless.

These are lies from the enemy.  God will never leave nor forsake us (Acts 17:28).  He knows the plan He has for us (Ps. 139:13-14), and He can do anything (Luke 1:37).

This year, as a high school teacher, I have watched several students act out bitterness.  They share their stories, and I get it.  A father rapes his young daughter and then commits suicide when he is found out.  A stepdad molests his son, my student, and the son has to miss class to relive the incident in court.  Children are forced to move in with aunts or grandparents who let them know they are an obligation, not a blessing.  Yesterday, a male student showed me a video of a former student who chose to fight another teen “because that way I don’t cut myself.”

Those are the ones I can write about.  Others have shared secrets so dark, they want no one to know their stories.

I have to wonder if I wouldn’t be equally as tormented.  These teenagers “act out” their bitterness by failing their classes or becoming defensive with the least bit of constructive criticism.  Their mood swings are painful to watch.  I overhear them tell their friends about the teachers who hate them (basically, anyone who holds them accountable). The girls sleep around.  “Will anyone make me feel valued?” Not even lessons learned in their church youth group penetrate their wounded souls.

Bitter people often do not choose to move past this destructive behavior.  If this describes you, you need to know that it’s never what you can do; it’s what God can do through you.  If you find yourself on the road to bitterness, there are a few things He wants you to do:

1.  Admit it and confess it (1 John 1:9).

2.  Ask God to show you how bitterness damages you (Prov. 16:2).

3.  Stop rehearsing your bitterness with others (Mt. 15:11).

4.  Stay in harmony with godly people (Prov. 11:14).

5.  Read the Bible (Mt. 13:18-23).

6.  Look ahead, not behind (Phil. 3:13-14).

7.  Study winners who chose contentment over bitterness (Gen. 50:20).

8.  Remember, winning over bitterness takes time (Romans 8:25-30).

God offers the path that destroys the root of bitterness; if you choose not to accept it,  it will destroy you.

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Size of the Fight

My favorite dog breed is the Boston Terrier; I’ve owned four of these adorable spunky dogs off and on since I was a kid. Because they wear a tuxedo every day, they’re the best-dressed canine! Bostons are a small breed, but I’m convinced they see themselves as 300 pounds of muscle with powerful steel jaws. When I was in grade school, my Boston and Dad’s bird dog got into a raging fight. For some reason the crawl-space door was open and both dogs got under the house and went at it. The dogs were as mad as hornets and they meant business! I didn’t want either one of them to get hurt, so I crawled under the house, separated the dogs, and promptly ended their ferocious fight. When Dad got home, I told him about the dog fight and my efforts to stop it. He rightly scolded me, telling me to never do that again! He said, “When dogs are fighting, they’re mad and will bite anyone and anything that gets in their way.”

Living in the country can sure add extra spice to your life! In the early years of our marriage, my husband found a huge bull snake and killed it. Our Boston Terrier was quite excited and latched onto one end of the dead snake. Jimmy grabbed the other end and swung the snake around with the little dog’s steel jaws firmly holding onto the snake. This sounds unbelievably bizarre, but I have a photo to prove it. The Boston is little on the outside, but thinks like a bulldozer on the inside.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was absolutely right when he said, “What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” This statement can be applied to Christ followers too. When life gets tough do we have the tenacity of a little Boston Terrier to hold on for dear life? We have the answer herein: “I will fight on for God, holding tightly to the eternal life which God has given me, and which I have confessed with such a ringing confession before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12 TLB).

If you’ve got the determination and perseverance, God will provide the strength and stamina to accomplish what you’ve made up your mind to do. Making the right decision is always the first step. We used to sing the chorus, “I have decided to follow Jesus….” After that life-altering decision comes the followup of being steadfast and unmovable. Any pip-squeak on the outside can start something, but it takes a tough-and-firm inside to stick with it and blow through the finish line with flying colors at the end of your life.

As believers, it wouldn’t hurt us to adopt this well-known motto: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” John Thomas, a 1950s football coach, spoke those inspirational words to his team to inspire rock-solid resilience and action. Apostle Peter also shares great encouragement to believers in overcoming life’s hurdles: “Take a decisive stand against him [the devil] and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, Who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you up. And He has all the power needed to do this –forever! Amen” (1 Peter 5:9-11 TPT).

The Key: How big is the size of your fight?

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)

How can two people accumulate so much junk? Dave and I are packing to move from the lake area into town.  This move, probably because we are tired of paying per-pound for things we never will use, we are trying really, really hard to declutter.  For some reason, I look at Dave’s things with clearer eyes than I do my own.

“Honey, you don’t need those old baseball folders.  And when was the last time you wore those polyester pants or needed those rusted tweezers or those tireless bikes?”  Dave is equally as helpful.  “Patty, didn’t you wear that outfit on our honeymoon?  How many hair products do you actually need?  Aren’t three spatulas enough?”

And then we both defend whatever it is our spouse thinks we should throw away.  This is ridiculous.  We have no problem moving, leaving behind years of sweet, family memories, but we can’t part with unnecessary junk.  Change is a natural part of life.  We can embrace it, or we can fight it.  The choice is ours.  Just like the eagle’s.

The eagle has the longest life-span among birds. It can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age, the eagle has to make a hard decision. In its 40s, the eagle’s long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey, its food. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent, and its old and heavy wings, covered with feathers that have grown thick over the years, become stuck to its chest, making it difficult to fly.

The eagle is then left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days. This requires the eagle to fly to a mountain top and sit on its nest. There the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until the beak falls off. The eagle will then wait for a new beak to grow back and use the new beak to pluck out its talons. When the new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking out all of the old feathers. After five months, the eagle takes a famous flight of rebirth and lives 30 more years.

Change is sometimes needed to survive. Read the Bible.  Every story includes choices people had, either to follow God or not.  What is God asking of you?  How is He working to increase your faith by making a change in your life?  The answer is simple. He is preparing your steps to move out of your comfort zone, to get rid of useless material junk, to eliminate destructive habits and to focus on what is truly important.

When Dave and I began to concentrate on what we really need, we found a certain satisfaction in not holding onto what was familiar. Joshua 3 illustrates how God works in these decisions. The Israelites were close to the Promised Land, but the Jordan River stood in their way.  God asked them to take one step into the water.  He would do nothing until the Israelites obeyed.  The lesson is one for us all.

Don’t wait until you believe it all.  Don’t wait until you can see it all.  Don’t wait until you understand it all.

Take the first step.  God will meet you there…even if it involves rusty tweezers and multiple spatulas.