Articles by Mike Barres at Heartlight

Thankful for Simple Things

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

It was twenty degrees outside, blowing ice, and dark. My wife and I were going out hunting. I know -- what a great wife! We had our spots already set. She went to the pallet in the tree and I went to my spot on top of the hill. It was sooooooo cold. From my vantage point on top of the hill I could see if anyone was moving below. At about nine o'clock I noticed some men coming out of the woods, but I didn't see my wife. We had decided to stay out in the woods until eleven o'clock. We met at the truck. It had not warmed up very much and we were soooooooo cold. I was so proud of my wife for sticking it out. She had outlasted those men who came out early. Then she told me something that made me even more proud of her. The pallet was covered with ice. She sat on that ice, which melted. That made her even colder.

We started up the truck and sat there with it running while the heater warmed up. Then we pulled out our lunch. It was just a couple of sandwiches, but with the extreme cold, I'm sure we had burned a lot of calories. Then it happened. The heater got really warm, and we had eaten one sandwich each. I noticed my wife started getting teary-eyed. I asked her what was wrong. Nothing was wrong, she just commented on how wonderful it was sitting in the warm truck eating what tasted like the best sandwich she had ever eaten. She was so happy about it, that it brought tears to her eyes.

Isn't that something -- heat and a little food. We were very thankful in those moments. We really should be thankful for normal things more often. Too often we are only thankful when something extraordinary happens.

First of all we should maintain an attitude of gratitude and be thankful. The Bible tells us to. The apostle Paul challenges us this way: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV). Years earlier, the psalmist had told us: "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name" (Psalm 100:4); and we should, "come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms" (Psalm 95:2).

We should be thankful that so many of our "normal things" are luxuries to many others in the world. Simple "normal things" like food and heat are not "normal" to many. We should give thanks for these as part of God's richest blessings!

Let's not wait until something super fantastic happens to be thankful. Let's be thankful for normal things.

Oh, by the way, before you get upset or worried about us hunting -- once again the animals were safe. We didn't get anything.

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Real Perseverance

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When many of us think of perseverance, we think of things like saying "Praise the Lord anyway!" when we are having a bad day. Some of us might think about the need to persevere when people make fun of us for being a Christian. Recently, however, I read an email about "real perseverance." This email was from Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.com). This is what it said.

A Sudanese Christian boy has his knees and feet nailed to a board and he is left to die. When rescued he says he forgives the man who did this because Jesus was also nailed and forgave him. A Vietnamese pastor is sentenced to two years in prison. When he is offered an early release, he declines stating that he has a group of new Believers in the prison he has to disciple. A Colombian missionary is kidnapped and told she only has two hours to live. She tells her captors that if she only has two hours to live, she wants to spend it telling them about Jesus.

When I compare myself to these people, I don’t really know much about perseverance.

In my quiet time recently, I came across a challenging verse:

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God (2 Timothy 1:8 NKJV).

To many of us that sounds almost contradictory. If we are suffering, we might think that God is not paying attention in our time of need. This verse, however, describes suffering "according to the power of God."

In a Bible study we are doing at our church, we focused recently upon a verse Paul sent to the believers in Colossae:

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church (Colossians 1:24).

Talk about perseverance! Paul was able to rejoice in sufferings.

Some of us are already persevering through sufferings. Others of us need to ask the Lord to help us develop this for the tough times that may be ahead. All of us should pray for our brothers and sisters who are persevering through severe trials and persecutions for the Lord.

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Does the Dog Need To Be Petted

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

My wife is a dog lover. If I got hugged and kissed as much as her dog, I'd be a lot happier. Just kidding, but isn't it interesting to see a dog looking up at you with those big eyes, just begging to be petted? When we pet the dog, which gets more out of it, us or the dog?

More and more nursing homes, treatment centers, hospitals, and therapy programs use dogs. They find that it helps the patient to pet the dog. They call it pet therapy. Folks appear to be happier, manage their illness better, and some even get well faster who are in these pet therapy programs.

Giving and receiving love is a basic need our Creator built into us. Some psychologists say that we need several hugs a day. They say it lowers our blood pressure. As Christians, we know that sharing love is not an option, but a response to how we've been loved. The apostle John reminded his flock:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV).

God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die on the cross for us. Remember one of the most famous statements in Scripture:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

In the Bible they gave blessings to those in their family or to those stepping into leadership. Part of that blessing involved laying hands on someone. Today, parents can bless their children by giving them hugs and pats on the back -- lay their hands of blessing on them. How important is this? Jesus blessed children in this way!

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them (Mark 10:13-16).

We all need love, and we must remember that we reap what we sow. If we give love, we'll get love. If you think about it, if you know someone who is really loving and giving, they are also loved by a lot of other people. We all need hugs, hand shakes, and pats on the back; so let's give these things, too. We will be blessed by sharing our blessing with others.

So, does the dog need to be petted or do we need to pet the dog?

I think the answer is, "Yes!"

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Don't Let Failure Be Final

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0600

You are going to think I’m making this up, but it is a true story. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she had quite a bit of "morning sickness." One morning she was sick and asked if I could make her pancakes. I don’t cook. I reminded her of that. She said that cooking pancakes was really simple. She told me that she already had the batter made in the refrigerator. She told me to just turn on the stove, spray the pan with that cooking spray stuff, and flip the pancakes with the plastic spatula thing. I agreed to give it a try.

Next thing you know, smoke was filling our little apartment. The smoke alarm was going off. I turned on the stove vent and opened a window. She called out from the bedroom, "Is everything ok?" I told her that it was ok, I had just turned up the heat a little too high.

I brought in the pancakes for her to eat. They were a bit burnt. She said that she would eat them anyway. After she ate them she asked about the cheese that I had put in the pancakes. She noticed orange specs in the pancakes. I told her that I didn’t put in any cheese. We thought about it and realized that I had turned the stove up so high that I had melted parts of the orange plastic spatula in to the pancakes.

Needless to say, she never asked me to cook again. She is a really good cook. I choose to let her function in her gifting.

This morning, she had to leave the house early. She told me, "There is some pancake batter made, if you want to make some pancakes." I said, "Do you remember what happened the last time I tried to cook pancakes?" We both had a laugh. Just to give you some perspective, my pancake burning incident was 28 years ago, and by the way, our daughter turned out just fine, in spite of the plastic while pregnant diet.

My wife left and I went to the kitchen. I thought, "I can do this." So I got out the pan and the spray and a plastic spatula. I heated up the stove and poured out the batter. I’m happy to report that the pancakes turned out really well, even though I did leave them unattended for a few minutes while I went and checked my email in another room.

Sometimes we mess up in life and are afraid to try again. It may be a task, or it may be a job, or relationships. Failure is not final. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Look Up!

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

I was out hiking. It was very cold. The ground was frozen. As the sun was shining on the frozen ground, it began to melt. Leaves were everywhere. This combination of frost, water and leaves made that walk very slippery. I had a couple of energetic dogs on a leash that were a bit hard to manage. The terrain where we were hiking was very mountainous.

As you add up all of these factors, you can imagine that I lost my footing numerous times. I would slip, and a couple times fell. This made me focus intently on where I was walking. There might be a branch or a rock under the leaves that would make me trip. Walking along the face of a hill, the leaves made it slippery. I would have to look intently at the ground to try to get sure footing. Remember, I also had two energetic dogs on a leash, pulling me in different directions at the same time.

Next thing you know I am on the ground, my head hurts and my arm hurts. I had been focusing so much on the ground that I failed to see the low branch that hit my head. I immediately fell backwards and hurt my arm trying to brace my fall. I let go of the dogs and had to call to my friends to get them. As I got up, I had to bend my glasses back in to shape. I had a pretty good knot on my head and was embarrassed. My focus had been downward. I needed to "look up."

Sometimes we focus on our problems so much that we take our eyes off of God. He can help us through our difficult times. He can give us strength. He can comfort us and give us direction.

If all we do is look down, we are bound to stumble and fall. We can’t live by our own strength. The great prophet reminded God's people to look to Him, not others:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1 NKJV).

Spending time with the Lord on a daily basis can really help us. God cries to us, "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up" (Psalm 5:3).

In your time of need, "look up!"

I will lift up my eyes to the hills -- from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber (Psalm 121:1-3).

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Flexible Trees

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

We have built a home on some property that is densely wooded. The trees are mature trees and most of them are very tall. When the wind blows, you can see and hear the trees sway. Watching these trees through the changing seasons has reminded me of a few truths.

The Lord built a lot of flexibility in to those trees. The reason that they don't break is because they are flexible. We must be flexible with the storms and changes of life, too. Our ability to survive is because of Jesus, who gives us strength to face any circumstance. Listen to how Paul described his ability to be flexible:

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12-13 NKJV).

I also noticed that during the winter, after most of the leaves have fallen off, there are a few trees that still have growth on them. These trees are affected by the wind the most. We may naively think that if we are mature Christians, with growth, that storms won't come our way. The devil may well attack mature Christians, because they are a threat to him. The good news is that we will overcome him. John reassured early Christians, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4 NKJV).

One of the reasons that these trees don't topple over is that they have deep roots. We must have deep roots in God's Word to be able to withstand the storms of life. Remember how Jesus used the Word of God to overcome the temptation that the devil brought His way (Matthew 4:1-11).

Another reason that the trees don't topple over is that their root systems are intertwined with the roots of other trees. Our fellowship with other Christians will strengthen us. The Holy Spirit challenges us with these words:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Let's be sure that we are standing solidly on the Rock, who is Jesus Christ, so that we can withstand the storms of life. Jesus said:

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Do You See What I See?

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

I have a wooden plaque on my desk. It has thin pieces of wood placed on it. If you look at the spaces between the pieces of wood carefully and creatively, you can see the name, "Jesus." Some people can see it. Others can't quite make it out.

In the Christmas song "Do You Hear What I Hear?" there is a line that says, "Do you see what I see?" I often think about Simeon and Anna who saw the baby Jesus at the temple (Luke 2:22-40). They saw Jesus and recognized Him as the Messiah. There must have been many other people at the Temple that day who didn't see anything other than a poor couple and their young baby. Simeon and Anna, however, saw Jesus for who He really is!

Recently a young man asked me, "Why was it that some of the people of Jesus' day didn't recognize that he was the Messiah?" Some were too familiar with him, knowing Him as Joseph and Mary's son (Mark 6:1-5). Others expected the Messiah to be a political leader, but Jesus wasn't who they expected. Sometimes people don't see because they aren't looking or because they are just too busy or because they don't want to see.

The Lord wants to show us things, but some of us aren't seeing them. We have to want to see. We have to ask the Lord to help us. Like the song has us pray, "Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you ..."

Remember these words and promises of Jesus?

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).

Do you desire to see what God is doing, or are you too busy to seek, ask, and knock?

Do you want to see what His will is for your life, or would you rather just keep doing what you want to do?

Just like some of the people of Jesus' day, some of us are too casual about recognizing Jesus and what He is doing. We're not seeking, asking, and knocking. Remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah as he speaks for God: "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

In this season fresh after Christmas and as we begin the New Year, I want to be like Simeon and Anna, who saw Jesus. I want to see Him and know what He is doing. I want to follow His will for my life. So join me in seeking and searching after Him with all of my heart!

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Falling Leaves

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600

I am looking out of my window this morning watching leaves fall to the ground. It is raining leaves. These leaves have died. Some see this process as a useless nuisance. People often go through a lot of work and trouble to rake up these leaves, and then bag them up, burn them, or discard them. These falling leaves, however, have a natural function. They are a natural fertilizer -- that's why they end up in mulch piles. We may be interrupting God's process of recycling because of our own desire for a clean, neat looking, leaf-free lawn. I fear we often look at death in a similar way.

We recently watched the movie "End of the Spear" at our church. The story is about the five missionaries who were killed in Ecuador years ago trying to share the Gospel of Jesus with native tribesmen. At the time, their deaths could have been seen as a senseless waste of human life. The rest of the story, however, proved to be an amazing example of God using their deaths for His purposes.

The natives who killed the missionaries said that they saw angelic beings at the time of their deaths. Later on, some of the women related to the men who were killed, went back to try to reach the natives. This courageous and loving act yielded much fruit for the Kingdom of God. After many years, many of the natives have become Christians. The Bible has been translated into their language. And because of the selfless sacrifice of the slain missionaries, their loved ones were able to communicate the Gospel in a way that these tribesmen could understand. Another result was that a cycle of violence among themselves, the killing with spears, was stopped.

We usually look at death as something to be avoided at all costs. This is natural and normal. Death is part of our fallen world and is an enemy Jesus will ultimately destroy (1 Corinthians 15:26). There are times, however, that God is doing something powerful through death that we don't understand. The way Stephen died, being stoned to death, was a powerful witness to Saul (Acts 7:57-60; 1 Timothy 1:12-17). I have seen Christians die in such a way that brought God a great deal of glory. These individuals showed great courage and love to those around them. Some have even, like Stephen, been blessed with a glimpse of heaven and spoken about it as they have gone to be with the Lord.

There are seasons to our year and a time for leaves to fall. There is also a time for death. As the wise man put it long ago:

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted ...
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NKJV).

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Praise the Lord Anyway

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Have you ever heard the saying, "Praise the Lord, anyway?" There are many disturbing surprises in life that make that saying really important. We recently had a well drilled. They had to go down 900 feet. The expense was much higher than we expected and the water volume was much lower than we had hoped for. We did our best to "Praise the Lord anyway."

My Mom came to see us from out of state. She is 84. She realized after the first day that she forgot her pain medication. She has a really bad back and usually has a lot of pain to deal with. We tried to get her medicine, but after many attempts, since we were in a different state, we realized we couldn't. She did her best to "Praise the Lord anyway."

The last two nights Mom was staying with us, she didn't sleep much. On the way to the airport, she was in considerable pain, and was lying down in our back seat. If you listened closely, you could hear her singing. "Ah Lord God Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power. Ah Lord God Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for Thee, nothing is too difficult for Thee. Great and mighty God, great in counsel and mighty in deed, mighty in deed. Nothing, nothing absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for Thee." She was doing her best to "Praise the Lord, anyway."

That night she called at about 10:30 pm. She wanted me to know how much she enjoyed being with us, and how much she enjoyed the trip. For an 84 year old woman who has severe back pain, uses a walker, and had been traveling all day, to say that, she was "Praising the Lord, anyway."

I have heard that John and Charles Wesley were traveling by boat across the Atlantic when a terrible storm came upon them. They were amazed as a group of Moravian believers gathered together and began to worship. This group was "Praising the Lord, anyway."

Life throws us a lot of curve balls, but we can "Praise the Lord, anyway." As the apostle Paul reminds a group of young Christians in Thessalonica, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.

Spiritually Muddled

mbarres@dnet.net (Mike Barres) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Have you ever wrestled with a thought, question or a decision and weren't sure what to do? Of course you have. Most of us find ourselves in this situation occasionally. However, was your question an issue of confusion or of will? Was it a real question about what to do or did it just seem like your thinking was muddled because you didn't want to do what you knew was right?

Oswald Chambers, in "My Utmost for His Highest," had something to say about that. In his September 14 devotion, "Imagination verses Inspiration", he talks about "Spiritual Muddle." Sanders said:

You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it clear. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will think yourself into cotton wool. If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter, bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ with regard to it and everything will become as clear as daylight.

Many times when our thinking is muddy and we think we need clarification, more thinking is not really what we need. Often we wrestle with simply obeying what we know is the right thing to do. Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, knew what he was supposed to do, but was wrestling with saying yes to it (Mark 14:32-42). He did say yes -- "not what I will, but what You will" -- and His direction became clear. He went to the Cross and died for you and me in accordance to the Father's will.

Not too long ago, I was talking to a man in a big city. He was not a Christian. The conversation got very complicated about what he believed and didn't believe. He also talked about some questions he had. I felt like the Lord gave me a question to ask him. I said, "Are you sure you aren't just making this complicated so that you won't have to act on what you know is true?" He got very, very quiet.

There are times that we sincerely need direction. As God's children, we can ask for wisdom if we aren't sure what would be best to do in a certain situation. God promises to bless us with His wisdom:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5 NKJV).

Other times, however, we are simply suffering from what Sanders called "spiritual muddle" or "muddle thinking." In those times, we need to simply say, "Yes!" to God and obey.

Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.