CIAM Radio

Listen to today's Laugh Again with Phil Callaway, "Confessions of a Hypochondriac." Enjoy!

Perspective is a wonderful thing. It helps us when we look at the familiar and with fresh perspective see something we’ve never noticed before. It changes our thoughts and our behaviour.

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Jabez emerges in the midst of epitaphs on tombstones as the Spirit of God is pleased to hover over his life a bit longer than any other mentioned in this context. Because God singles out Jabez, we are wise to pause and learn the truth of the story. By doing so, many who feel their lives are marked by obscurity and insignificance can gain fresh courage to excel.

From the Series: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives: Rediscovering Some Old Testament Characters

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As a mom of 3 sons, Molly DeFrank knows firsthand how boys struggle to find their purpose and identity in a “toxic masculinity” culture. Molly offers hope and confidence — encouraging moms to keep planting seeds of the Gospel and remind their boys that they belong, they can be brave and tender, be creative, and even have fun! Intentional moms of young boys can help mold them into godly young men, and model how to struggle and grow in a daily walk with Jesus.

"I don't wanna go." When our boys were little, that was sometimes what they'd tell me when we were out in the woods where it was totally dark and a little scary. Well, not for me. I mean for them, of course. But I would reach for their hand and their little hand would instinctively reach up my way when we hit a dark stretch, and they'd grab on tight. Now the strangest thing happened. Once they had their father's hand, their feet started moving. They could go where they otherwise would never think about going as long as they had my hand.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hand That Keeps You Safe."

At the other end of life's spectrum from little boys was where my wife's grandfather was. He was 94. He was unable to remember very much, including my wife - his granddaughter. She called him one day and she said, "Hi, Granddad." She, of course, told him her name, and she said, "I love you." He wasn't very happy about it. He said, "I don't know who this is." Some strange woman was calling and saying she loved him! What is this? Well, she reminded her Granddad of his only son and that she was his daughter. "I don't know you." Finally she just said, "Well, Granddad, remember this. Jesus loves you." To which he replied, "Now Him I know!" Isn't that interesting? After 94 years, not much that he could remember, but there was one person whose love and whose presence he was still aware of - Jesus.

Listen, that's not a religion. That's a relationship so real that it's there for you through every conceivable stage of life. For my wife, it was real when she used to walk that dark stretch of road from her house to the school bus as a little girl. They lived way back in the woods, and that last stretch was beyond where she could see Mommy, or the neighbor, or anyone. Knowing those trees could be hiding the bears and the mountain lions that she knew were in their area, she would just start to sing, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me."

This Jesus - this Savior - is literally the hand you never outgrow. The hand that is there for you as my hand was there for my boys in those dark and uncertain places. Here's our word for today from the Word of God. It's the familiar words of the 23rd Psalm. They're a description of a personal relationship with God that I hope you have, or if you don't, that you'll begin it.

These are the words my own father wanted me to read to him the day he was going into that heart surgery from which he would never recover. Here are the words, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want...Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me."

This deep, personal, unloseable relationship with Jesus Christ is what I pray you will begin. It's the relationship your heart has always been hungry for. This is the Savior who'll be with you through the turbulence of being a teenager, the pressures of parenting, the lonely moments of being single, the darkness of depression, the struggle of disease, or divorce, or disaster, or facing death.

The hand of Jesus I think maybe is reaching out to you right now. If you look closely you'll see nail prints in that hand. They're there because of the price He paid to tear down the wall between you and God. His brutal death on the cross was to pay the death penalty for your sins and mine. Now He waits to forgive you; to be the one constant in your life and in your eternity no matter what changes.

Don't you want to grab that hand of Jesus to be your own personal Savior, your lifetime friend? Tell Him today, "Jesus, I give my life to the One who gave His life for me. I've been running it. You run it from now on. Jesus, I'm Yours."

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Read: Proverbs 15:23; 25:11-13

“Whoa!” Lachlan yelled as his remote control jeep crashed. He picked it up and saw that a piece had fallen off.

Lachlan tried to fix the jeep—but it was no use. “Parker, can you fix this?” he asked his older brother.

“You’re always breaking things!” said Parker. But he held out his hand. “All right, give it to me.” In no time at all, the jeep was as good as new.

“Thanks, Parker,” said Lachlan. “I sure wish I could fix something myself.” Lachlan often knew in his head how to fix things, but the information seemed to get lost between his head and his hands.

Lachlan put the jeep back on the floor and raced it into his bedroom. He plopped down on his bed. I can’t fix anything, he thought. Last week when the chain flew off my bike, Parker had to fix it. When my bird feeder fell apart, Dad fixed it. I wish there was something I could fix.

Lachlan did the one thing that always helped him when he was struggling. He talked to God. “Jesus,” Lachlan prayed, “I know you’re able to fix anything. You fixed people who couldn’t see or walk, and you fixed me by taking away my sin. Please show me something I can help fix. Amen.”

Later that evening, Lachlan went to the kitchen where Mom was making dinner. Instead of smiling as she usually did, she looked sad. He heard her sigh, and Lachlan wondered what was wrong. “What’s the matter, Mom?” he asked.

“Oh, Lachlan,” said Mom, “it’s nothing for you to worry about. I’ve just had a difficult day, that’s all.”

Lachlan wrapped his arms around his mom and gave her a big hug. “Don’t be sad, Mom,” he said. “I love you. You’re the best mom a kid could have!”

Mom wiped tears from her eyes and began to smile. “Thank you, honey,” she said. “You’ve just made me the happiest mom in the whole world.” Lachlan smiled too. Jesus had answered his prayer and helped him fix something—his mom’s sad heart.

–Steven R. Smith

How about you? Do you ever feel like you can’t help anyone? One of the very best things you can do is encourage others. If you know Jesus, He has given you the ability to help discouraged people by showing them His love. He can use you to help bring healing to tough situations. Share His love with those who are hurting through kind words and a helpful heart.

Today's Key Verse: Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 (NKJV)

Today's Key Thought: Encourage someone today

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Todd invited his younger brother Alex, a recent college graduate, to come live with him in the house he’d built. He wanted to help his sibling gain some financial footing by allowing him to live rent-free for a while. After six months, Todd asked Alex to begin paying rent. Years later, Alex made an offer on his own home. When the offer was accepted, Todd surprised him by telling him that he’d deposited Alex’s rent payments in a savings account over the years and that the substantial sum of money was now his! Alex wept as he received the lavish gift.

In Leviticus 25, God gave Moses commands for the Israelites that included allowing those in need “to live with you” (v. 35 nlt). This command was part of God enacting “a jubilee year”—when debts were forgiven, those in poverty were helped, and the enslaved were freed (vv. 23-55). He declared that He’d lovingly led His people “out of the land of Egypt to give [them] the land of Canaan and to be [their] God” (v. 38). He’d provided a new homeland, and now they were to imitate Him by showing love and opening their homes to others.

The apostle John would later write, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). By Jesus’ sacrifice we can receive the fullness of that lavish love (v. 16). And as He helps us, we can lavish it on others.