Fret Not.

Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of workers of iniquity. Psalm 37:1

Last week, Portuguese police recaptured a convict who escaped from prison in 1993. He had served 2 years of a 10-year sentence. He had lived in caves in the mountains outside Lisbon for 16 years. He was thin, heavily bearded and had spent the majority of the time with little to no human contact. Those who worried about his escape could have rested easy; his self-imposed exile was a greater punishment than he had been given. Christians must trust that any gains realized by those who cheat, steal and take shortcuts, will not last.

Psalm 37 assures the righteous that in spite of how it looks God ultimately will punish the wicked and reward the righteous. Although there are those who prosper by scheming, the believer is instructed to trust in the Lord and do good. The psalmist invites us to feed on His faithfulness and to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our hearts. In this prolonged recession we can be tempted to take short cuts. When confronted with diminishing resources and mounting debt, we may feel that compromise is necessary or even unavoidable. It is during these times we must hold on to the words of Psalm 37 even more tightly. Commit your way to the Lord, David writes, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. When we take matters into our own hands, we risk cheating ourselves of God’s blessings and his mercy.

My prayer for you today is that you work with what you have and trust in the Lord to hold you up.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Follow Me.

Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Some years ago I was driving late at night returning from Cornell on my way back to Syracuse. My wife and her friend were asleep in the car and the fog was so thick on Interstate 81 in the rolling hills and valleys of Upstate New York that visibility was near zero. Even with my fog lights on, I literally could not see more than two feet in front of me. I gripped the steering wheel like it was a rope and I was hanging over a cliff trying to keep from falling. As I drove slowly through the quiet of the night I kept my eyes on the white lines right in front of the car to the left, knowing that as long as I followed the lines I would still be on the road heading in the right direction. As Christians, we only have one way to make sure we are on the proper path, moving in the right direction and that is Jesus.

The fourth chapter of Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He rebukes temptation saying “you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” He begins to speak to crowds telling them that they must repent and once reaching Galilee, he begins to recruit his Disciples by asking them to follow Him. In this life, like a heavy fog, we will never be able to peer more than a half a second into the future. We must have some way to navigate. Jesus is the way the truth and the light. He is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. He is the only hope of our salvation.

My prayer for us today is that God orders our steps and that we follow Him.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Flash Point.

At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:20


Flash point is a term used in chemistry to describe the minimum temperature at which ignition can occur. The term is also used to describe the point at which significant action occurs. That is, the point at which something begins to happen. As Christians we must always remember nothing happens until we do something.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were at work when Jesus called them to follow him. Peter and Andrew were casting their nets into the sea while James and John were working with their father, Zebedee, mending nets. I believe it is significant that Jesus chose men who were at work. Jesus chose men who were largely responsible for the rapid spread of the Gospel. He chose them and things began to happen. We live in communities in need of workers. We are in desperate need of men and women willing to reach the flash point and begin to live for God.

My prayer for you today is that you realize the harvest is plentiful but the laborers few and make yourself available to work for the kingdom.


Deacon Larry Woodard

Stretch Out.

But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:16

The Institutional Radio Choir had a popular song when I was a kid. The first line of the song is “When trouble comes, storm begins to rise, hold on and learn to stretch out” The song goes on to encourage the listener to keep on fasting, keep on praying because the race isn’t given to the swift or the strong but to those who endure until the end. As a child I loved the song because the music was so fast it was almost frenetic and it seemed that the choir could barely keep up and the tune was catchy . After I would hear it, it would play in my head for most of the day. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I began to understand the concept of “stretching out”. As Christians, the ability to stretch out through faith is a fundamental component of our relationship with God.

God told Moses to stretch his hand out over the sea and divide it in two. He told Moses that the people would walk, with the sea on either side of them, on dry land. This obviously seriously defied logic. They were being pursued by the King of Egypt and his army…even if the sea parted, the sea bed would not have enough time to dry! Stretching out, however, requires commitment. Even the act of reaching out over the sea, required an action that implied trust. When problems confront us we need to operate with the same type of commitment. After we have fervently prayed and read the word of the Lord and meditated on the scriptures listening for Guidance from the Holy Spirit; we need to stretch out in faith and continue confident that God will act on our behalf.

My prayer for you today is that you would lean into your problems as you have faith that God will take you through them, on dry ground, to the other side.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Look Up.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

There is a joke about a Sunday School teacher filling in for the regular teacher. She was struggling to open a combination lock that held the craft supplies needed for the morning’s lesson. She had been told the combination but had forgotten. Finally, she went to the pastor’s study to ask for help. The pastor came into the room and began to turn the dial. After the first two numbers he paused for a moment and looked serenely heavenward while his lips moved silently. Suddenly, he looked down, turned to the last number and opened the lock. The teacher was amazed at the pastor’s faith and told him so. “It’s really nothing,” replied the pastor. “The number is on a piece of tape on the ceiling.” Our answers are not on the ceiling, as Christians, we know our help comes from the Lord.

In Psalm 40, David describes his situation as in extreme peril. He was in a “desolate pit”, a “miry bog”. The implication is that the situation was so bad every time he tried to get out he slipped or was pulled back in. Many of us know this situation well. In the midst of our trouble we see no way out. And many times, in addition to our trouble, we have an active audience of those who seemingly take pleasure in our trouble. David waits patiently. God hears his cry and sets his feet upon a rock, making his steps secure. David understands that God’s mercy is unmerited and is thankful and quick to tell all those who will listen about the goodness of the Lord. In your time of trouble, look up. When God delivers you, be truly thankful.

My prayer for you today is that God hears your cry, sees you waiting patiently and comes quickly to deliver you.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Remember Me.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Luke 23:42

Many times disaster strikes in an instant. One moment everything is okay and the next, you are caught up in a whirlwind of chaos. Christians need to always be prepared to have a spiritual response to adversity.

Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One chose to mock him, the other asked to be remembered when Jesus went to his kingdom. That thief was given the gift of salvation. Lord, remember me! It is a simple, but effective prayer. It acknowledges the sovereignty of God. It exhibits faith. It is a plea for salvation. Christians would do well to remember this prayer now and in your time of great need.

My prayer for you today is that you practice your spiritual first aid drill from time to time so it will be there for you when you need it most.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Close Call.

and he threw the spear, thinking, "I will nail David to the wall." But David jumped out of his way twice. 1 Samuel 18:11

On November 16th, 2007 an eastbound Midwest Airlines plane and a westbound United Express plane, flying 25,000 feet over Indiana came within seconds of a midair collision. The planes were flying at a combined speed of more than 700 m.p.h. (about 12 miles every minute). On the ground, the air traffic controller, a 26-year veteran, in a rush to get home during a shift change had mistakenly removed the electronic identification tag of one of the planes from his screen. A cockpit safety device alerted one of the pilots who was able to avoid the collision at the last minute saving the lives of the hundreds on board. As Christians, we need to always be aware of the grace of God that grants us unmerited favor and preserves us to do His will.

Reading the life of David backwards is a fascinating exercise. Here is this King, who found God’s favor and accomplished so much during his lifetime and left so much to inspire comfort and direct us. As we continue the story however, we see that David escapes extinction many times before he even gets started. As a boy, he battles a lion and a bear in the defense of his family’s sheep (1 Sam 17:34-36). He fights and kills the giant Goliath (1 Sam 17:49). When we get near the beginning of the story, we see the prophet Samuel recognizing David as the successor to King Saul and anointing him with oil. It is then we understand that the hand of God protected David for His purpose throughout his life. As Christians, when we live committed to God’s purpose for our lives, God keeps us. As David wrote in Psalm 121:6, “The sun shall not smite the by day, nor the moon by night” and in the final verse of the same Psalm: “The Lord will watch over your coming and going, forever and ever”

My prayer for you today is that you recognize that the safest place in the world is within God’s will for you. Seek to serve Him.

Deacon Larry Woodard