Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Growing up as a country girl, I learned that when I opened a gate and walked through, I needed to immediately close the gate. Most farm animals are basically just waiting patiently to make a jailbreak. You might think they’re just minding their own business, chewing their cud, scratching on the side of the barn, or grazing, but they’re actually scoping out the joint. Several years ago, one of us didn’t chain the gate properly and our horses escaped. They didn’t go far, but they went far enough. They moseyed down the lane, looked both ways and crossed the highway, then went calling on the neighbor horses. Gates are extremely important to the owners of sneaky, conniving farm animals. When given half a chance, they’ll bust out of jail every time.

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks candidly about two different gates. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT). Everyone has been given the right to make their own choices, aka free will. Jesus knows mankind’s  tendency and He solemnly declared that few would choose the narrow gate that leads to an abundant life here and eternal life in heaven. When individuals choose the wide gate, they’re forfeiting Jesus’ gift of eternal life and taking Broadway Street to Hell.

In certain situations, I‘ve been known to say, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” This colloquialism means there’s multiple ways to accomplish a task or achieve the same end. (For cat lovers, this saying is referring to skinning a catfish.) For example, you  can skin a catfish either before or after you fillet it.

Some individuals say, “There’s more than one way to get to heaven.” Nope. Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me“ (John 14:6 NLT). There are two gates to choose from when entering either the Highway to Heaven or the Highway to Hell. The battle between right (Good Gate) and wrong (Evil Gate) has been going on since the Garden of Eden.

While standing at the Narrow and Wide Gates deciding which one to enter, it would be good to sit down and count the cost of choosing poorly. Jesus paid the entry fee for everyone to enter the Narrow Gate. The difficult way of this gate is definitely the road less traveled, but it’s certainly worth it. Jesus spoke encouraging words to His disciples, and the same message is for Christ followers today: “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in Me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in Me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33 TPT).

After wisely choosing the narrow gate, life continues to be full of daily choices. We can choose to walk in holiness or selfishness, wisdom or folly, integrity or deceitfulness, love or hatred. The Holy Spirit lives inside believers to help us make right decisions. So we must learn to listen to Him so we won‘t make foolish choices.

The Key: When you come to the end of your journey, you won’t be sorry you chose the narrow

She graduated from seminary with a Master of Theology degree and became a well-known, Christian speaker.  I met Lucinda about twenty years ago when she welcomed me into her home and church where her husband pastored.  Sixteen years before that, while speaking at a ladies’ retreat, Lucinda was asked to pray for the pastor’s wife who was in the hospital, dying of cancer.  When she met the frail woman, Lucinda asked how she could pray specifically for her needs.

“Pray for my husband to meet and marry a follower of Jesus who will be a good mother to my two children, especially Justin, our six-year-old, special needs son.”  Lucinda’s heart broke for this precious woman who died a few days later.  She continued to pray as the woman had directed.

Two years later, my friend was at a Christian event when she was introduced to a young pastor.  Within a few months, they began dating, and Lucinda met his children, one, an eight-year-old, autistic boy. God had orchestrated a meeting between Lucinda and this man, the husband of the dying woman Lucinda had prayed for.  Little did she know, she would become that man’s wife and mother of his children.

As a guest in Lucinda’s home, I met her son, Justin, who had just returned with a gold medal from the Special Olympics’ tennis competition.  Following dinner, Justin announced that it was his turn to wash the dishes.  I asked if I could dry.  “Probably not,” he said.  “You probably won’t do it right.”  I cracked up, but Lucinda lovingly told him that his criticism was not warranted and he should give me a chance.  Which he did.  I immediately learned that Justin had a very specific way to handle dish-drying.  I never knew that that task could be so ardeous.

Lucinda died a few months ago, an unexpected cancer diagnosis that came just as she was finishing her book 52 Blessings for Women.  Her devotional is for women who are “weary and wandering, disheartened and discouraged, stressed and searching” (basically, every woman I know). Little did she know, she would be asked to endure the very thing other women were enduring in hopes her words would be a blessing to them.

A few weeks ago, Janet, an author and close friend of Lucinda, asked fellow writers to help spread the message of Lucinda’s soon-to-be-published book.  Would we be willing to read it and share its message with others?  I signed on, and yesterday, my friend’s devotional was delivered to my home.  The last sentence of her introduction is the perfect picture of Lucinda’s life.  “Lucinda was always the first to offer an encouraging word, and it was her mission to communicate God’s faithfulness, extend His grace, and encourage others to trust him fully.”

And now, through her death, she is able to do just that as she wrote for us all to be a blessing to others…not in a fake sort of way, but to truly lean into the hearts of those we encounter, to encourage them to be an encouragement as a tangible way to show love and compassion.

Although Lucinda never got to see the fruits of her newest writing labors on earth, I’m sure she is seeing them through eternal eyes.  Thank you, Lucinda, for inspiring so many of us to do better.

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Do It Now

When my kids were young and I would give them instructions to perform a chore, they had a tendency to just keep playing. They weren’t ignoring me or being rebellious, they were simply waiting a few more minutes before they acted. Well, my dad was a World War II Army staff sergeant, and I seem to possess some of those same qualities. I explained to Mariam and Aaron that I expected them to get up and move as soon as I finished the instructions. It was for their good and my sanity that they learned prompt obedience. The result of this old-school upbringing caused them to revere God, be respectful of authority, and also cultivated a seed of excellence for their future careers. Plus it kept me out of the insane asylum.

I cannot treat God like a child and try to order Him around. In truth, I’m His child and He’s my Father. Life will never go well if I try to reverse those divinely-established roles. Believers are supposed to go to the Father with our needs and then patiently trust Him. “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT). God hears, cares, and acts with well-timed help, coming just when we need it.

While we’re waiting on God’s help, our job is to keep “steady on” in patience. Galatians 6:9 NKJV states, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” I used to think that meant, “Don’t get burned out while doing good.” But I believe it also means, “Don’t give up on God while you wait.“ We’re “doing good” when we wait on God with a courageous faith-filled attitude. So don’t be deceived or disheartened — keep on trusting and persevering.   

When God’s answer is taking longer than we expected, it’s a good idea to take inventory of what’s inside us. He could actually be waiting on us to totally surrender the “thing” that’s stressing us so He can take it and do what only He can do. God won’t do anything with our messes, stresses, and sorrows until we relinquish our hold on them. We can’t receive a gift until the individual releases it into our hand. We can’t receive the peace of God that passes understanding until we release the entirety of the care to Him — it’s like a Divine trade. Honesty and a broken heart are two things God will not ignore.

We live life one hour at a time as we focus forward and wait for answers to our humble requests for help. Patience is a virtue but perseverance is a choice. Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church to encourage them to hold fast to their faith, knowing that God would act on their behalf. “Now may the Lord move your hearts into a greater understanding of God’s pure love for you and into Christ’s steadfast endurance” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 TPT). Don’t stop believin’ that your breakthrough is just about ready to knock on your door. Don’t get stuck in the middle of going through a trial. Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Paul and Winston would surely have been good friends had they lived at the same time.

If you’re waiting on God to send help, you’re in good company. In Psalm 23, King David reminds us that God will restore our soul.

The Key: Your help is on the way. Never, never, never give up on God.

Recently, my granddaughter Britney was married to Gage, a young man she met when visiting Fort Scott last year.  Britney is from the Las Vegas area but has been finishing up her paramedic credentials in Utah.  The wedding was held at my son and his wife’s ranch.  Britney had three flower girls and Gage had three ring bearer attendants, each gender with two two-year-olds and one four-year-old. You get where I’m going.

The guests were to sit on stained boards that rested atop hay bales, bales that would be delivered the morning of the wedding.  For spacing purposes, the boards were placed on the ground.  To the rug-rats, these boards were perfect gymnastics balance beans for jumping over.  Or on.  Or around.

We all watched, astonished, as they giggled, chased each other down the aisle, attempted to vault over the wooden boards and tackled each other.  Things weren’t much better for the “let’s try that again” attempt…you know, after each parent—most in the bridal party– took their child aside and bribed them with everything but a live pony.

We expected the worst.  Preparations for this wedding had taken months. Both sets of parents and family members had worked to make everything perfect, and Britney’s mother had spent most of September in Fort Scott, away from her family, to work with Gage’s parents on the smallest of details.  And now, six little ones were going to cause havoc.

On the wedding day, these kiddies, now dressed alike with hair slicked or curled, shocked us all when they walked slowly down the aisle in single file, taking their “jobs” seriously.  Flower petals were methodically dropped to the ground, and this time, the chief ring bearer actually handed off the case with the wedding rings in it instead of practicing his quarterback pass with it. No one escaped and ran towards the pond, and they even sat quietly with their assigned adult during the ceremony.  Surely they were A.I. imposters, switched out for some well-behaved youngsters.

Both the wedding and the reception were lovely, months of planning paying off.  The Bible uses a metaphor of a wedding in which our time of “planning” for it also will pay off.  In Ephesians 5, we read that Jesus Christ has sacrificially chosen the church to be his bride, and just as in Bible times there was a betrothal period in which the bride and groom were separated until the wedding, so it is with us and Christ.  We faithfully wait with great anticipation for his return when we will be united with him.  Sometimes we act foolishly, immaturely, selfishly, childishly.  Other times, we face the importance of what we are doing and take our future wedding seriously.

The “details” of our waiting makes a difference.  Should we fail to take our decision to allow Christ in our lives with the seriousness it deserves and continue to act in whatever way we choose, there will be no wedding.  We must ask ourselves what matters most and behave accordingly because at that point, not even a pony will be enough.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

The Original Sunscreen

I have several vintage commercials from my teenage years still floating around in my head: “I’d walk a mile for a Camel.“ Wendy’s: “Where’s the beef?” Virginia Slims: “You’ve come a long way, Baby!” “How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?” And one of my favorites was the Coppertone suntan commercial with the dog tugging on the little girl’s  swimsuit bottom. The selling point was to show what a great tan she had in comparison to her pale bare derriere. Times have certainly changed over the years; now there’s more focus on sunscreen rather than suntan lotion.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites wandered in the desert wilderness for 40 years. That’s a long time to be in the sun. “The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud…” (Exodus 13:21 NLT). The desert had no roads, tracks, or signs. And the Israelites had no maps, landmarks, or guides. But God’s cloud went before them to lead the way at just the right pace and stopped to rest at just the right place. God continues to know the future and will always guide us safely through its trackless ways.

For 40 years, the pillar of cloud was much more than a GPS for Jews. God loved them,  had mercy on them, and provided His own unique brand of sunscreen. “He spread a cloud for a covering…” (Psalm 105:39 MEV). This cloud sheltered them from the blazing sun and extreme heat. The Bible contains the historical record of the first supernatural sunscreen. “God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you — shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke” (Psalm 121:5-6 MSG). Without God’s miraculous intervention, wandering around in the desert sun would have turned all of the nearly 3 million Israelites into fried strips of bacon.

Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, “My dear fellow believers, you need to understand that all of our Jewish ancestors who walked through a wilderness long ago were under the glory cloud…” (1 Corinthians 10:1 TPT). The Israelites witnessed a variety of constant-standing miracles. After 40 years, their clothes didn’t wear out and neither did their sandals. Even when they complained about pitching their tents, whined and disobeyed for 40 years, the cloud didn’t depart but continued to guide and protect them. God was with the Israelites every day and every night, and He continues to be with all believers today. Paul said, “Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!” (2 Corinthians 12:9 AMP).

It was God, not Moses, who actually brought the Israelites out of Egypt. “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory…” (Exodus 13:17 NLT). The day the mobile Tabernacle was pitched,  the pillar of cloud covered it. But from evening until morning the cloud looked like a pillar of fire. This was the usual supernatural pattern for 40 years — a glory cloud by day and a fiery cloud by night. The glory/fiery cloud was the visible divine presence and protection of God. “Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses” (Numbers 9:22-23 NLT). God never calls believers to do something that He won’t help us accomplish.

The Key: God is awesome! Day or night, He supplies all of our needs.

Criticizing our country for its moral decline is easy.  Tragically, there are worse.  Lauryn is the daughter of a Christian writer who recently asked that we add her to our prayer list.  I ask the same for you, my readers.  Lauryn traveled to Uganda with her law school to do plea bargains in a Ugandan prison. Her law school and university affiliated with that school have made it one of their ministries to free those wrongly incarcerated.

While in Uganda for ten days, Lauryn was able to identify two victims of human trafficking, plead down their cases to the judge and send them home the very next day to their families.  One girl was 18 years old, and the other had three children at home.  That happened a few months ago.

Recently, Lauryn returned to East Africa to help in the fight against child sacrifice.  As hard as it is to believe, that demonic practice was not even illegal until last year.  The law team learned that witchdoctors and witches (both genders can claim to be either) make money off of this practice.  A businessman or politician will pay these witches for a “blessing” for the business or election and will be told that that requires the sacrifice of one child.  Or the arm or leg of a child.  Many times, the child will die from the trauma.

Lauryn asked her mother to reach out to her prayer groups for prayer.  She knows that she is not just fighting against the people who participate in this heinous act but also the forces of darkness. We fellow authors were asked to pray alongside this mother, using Ephesians 6 as our guide:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.                                                                                                            

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.             

Lauryn visited some of the survivors of this horrible ritual and was able to hug and hold these children “who now live with a permanent disability” but are safe thanks to local ministries that are working to rescue these children.  Unfortunately, there are many children there who have no place to go, no parents to protect them, no home in which to shelter, and with 50% of the Uganda population under the age of 15, there is no shortage of children to sacrifice.

Lauryn’s mother asked for specific prayers, that the government will step up and not be bribed to look the other way and that the Lord will supernaturally intervene to save these children.  I would add that we also pray for the team of brave lawyers who have placed their lives on the line to stop this horrendous evil.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

You Get One Chance

As a fun way to spend an afternoon together, I met three of my girlfriends at a movie theatre out of town. Before I left, I made sure I had the correct name of the cinema and directions. When I pulled into the parking lot, the theatre had a different name from the one I’d been given. So I thought perhaps there were two cinemas close together, and I began slowly driving around the area. I decided to return and that’s when I saw the girls getting out of their car. I found out that when the theatre changed its name, a new sign had never been installed. Strike one. When Charlene began to place her order at the snack bar, she sweetly asked,  “Do you have Dr. Pepper?” “No.” “Do you have Mr. Pib?” “No.” Do you have Diet Coke?” “No.” “Do you have lemonade?” Finally, the concession worker answered in a toneless voice, “We have Diet Pepsi.” Strike two.

The attendant then told us to “go right and then right” to find our movie room. Come to find out, those directions were exactly backwards. Strike three. When we finally found the right room, we discovered an older couple sitting in two of our four seats. They refused to move over, so we just sat in the row in front of them. Strike four. In the middle of all these confusing, amusing, ridiculous, and annoying fiascos, I leaned over to Charlene and said, “If this were a church, I’d never come back.” We both chuckled.

Feeling confused, awkward, and ignored are three big strikes when a guest visits a  church. Charlene’s husband is a pastor and, many years ago, I distinctly remember Dennis saying, “You get one chance to make a good first impression.“ This is a sobering absolute truth, especially for the family of God. Generally speaking, the Church is not in the business of trying to impress people, but it is a Body of Believers who should go out of their way to make guests feel welcomed and valued on their first visit. We get one chance to do this right.

My wild experience at the movie theatre caused me to seriously evaluate my personal response to everybody (not just guests) in the House of the Lord. Not everyone feels as elated as King David did when he wrote, “I was glad when they said to me, ’Let us go into the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1 NKJV). Some people enter the church building carrying burdens, experiencing emotional pain, sorrow, heartbreak, loneliness, etc. But the good news is that they made the right decision to come to church. I want to be better at reading faces and responding to people appropriately.

The apostle Paul wrote a powerful letter to the church of Ephesus. Since a church is made up of individuals, we all have to stand up, “own it” and say “ouch” or “amen.” Paul’s letter didn’t beat around the bush and is intended to ground, shape, and challenge believers. He writes: “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT). He continues, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them“ (Ephesians 4:23,29 NLT).

The Key: I’ve got my work cut out for me. Does anybody want to get on the bandwagon with me?

Keys to the Kingdom

As I looked out my kitchen window one morning, I spotted that familiar lone dove that’s been around since 2021. Like me, I think she’s a female. Then I watched a small bird beat a worm to death before he ate it. (Silly me, I always thought worms were eaten alive.) Nature was happily doing its thing. Next, I spotted a hawk on the ground with a baby rabbit in its talons. I was not pleased with this nature scene. I thought, “How dare you snatch one of my furry little animals without my permission! You’re on my property and you do that! How rude!”

I then wondered how many times I do things that aren’t pleasing to God? How many times do I just do “whatever” without asking Him first?  God doesn’t care what color of nail polish I choose, but He does care about my life-changer choices. It’s safe to say Christ-followers make too many decisions without consulting God. We treat too many big decisions like they’re nail polish choices — and that will always come back to bite us.

In the Old Testament, Joshua and his leaders made a pact with some foreigners without asking God about it. I’ve always thought this scripture intentionally sends a relevant message to believers today. “When the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves.” When the Gibeonite ambassadors arrived at the Israelite camp, they told Joshua and the men, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.” They lied through their teeth and the Israelites believed them. “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath” (see Joshua 9:1-14 NLT). Because God was omitted from their decision, this pact came back to bite them. God knew these ambassadors actually lived nearby instead of in a distant land, but no one consulted Him in order to make the right decision.

All throughout the Bible, God tells His children to “obey My voice.” He repeats Himself over and over and over, hoping we’ll get it. Believers need to keep His words in the forefront of our heart. Listening and obeying His voice is for our own good because we’re too much of a ding-a-ling to properly orchestrate our lives on our own. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’” (Jeremiah 7:23 NASB). As a good Father, He wants His children to have an abundant life, but there are certain conditions. He will absolutely do His part if we will hold up our end of the deal.

“I hear the words of the Lord and act upon them [obeying them] like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25 AMP). When life tries to beat the tar out of us, maybe it’s because we didn’t ask God for His advice.

The Key: Let’s learn to do life in God’s rhythm and wisdom.