The Greener Grass

So often we’re tempted to play the comparison game. Someone is always smarter, stronger, or better looking than we are. Or maybe they know exactly the right thing to say at exactly the right time. Maybe blessing after blessing keeps getting heaped upon them, leaving you thinking, what am I doing wrong, God? If we aren’t careful, we can wind up feeling like the grass is always greener on the other side.

It’s so easy to get swept into a dizzying tornado of wishing to be how God made someone else rather than how He made us. Instead of fostering friendships, we get jealous. Protective. We somehow feel like our own worth is diminished by another’s value.

But when God instituted the body of Christ – the collective group of His children – He gave us reason to celebrate our differences. The Holy Spirit gifts each of us with distinct spiritual gifts so we can build each other up. He makes it clear through correlating believers to the various parts of a physical body that each of us brings to the table something unique. “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him” (I Corinthians 12:17-18). Our God-given gifts make us each individually vital members of the body of Christ.

Just as we are vital individually, we are vital collectively. If we aren’t participating in the body of Christ, we are denying it a necessary cog in its wheel and it won’t turn properly. “But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary” (I Corinthians 12:20-22). In other words, we need each other and are incomplete when one of our members is missing.

At some point in life, we have all struggled with comparing ourselves to other people. Instead of begrudging other people’s strengths and blessings, let’s celebrate God at work in them and encourage them. “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (I Thessalonians 5:11).

God, in His sovereignty, has given us various gifts, talents, strengths, and callings. Embrace your own, “that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power” (II Thessalonians 1:11). God’s calling is of no small consequence. We are the vessels He uses to accomplish His glory.

If your neighbor’s grass is green, encourage him to keep it up, and invite him over to pick the fruit from your thriving apple tree. By God’s grace, we all have something to give.

“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous : not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” I Peter 3:8-9

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

New Life

I stood in line at the Social Security Administration, waiting…waiting…waiting, with the required documents to officially change my name. After all the wedding bell bliss, the reality of transition had set in. I was in a season of change. Happy change, but change nevertheless. I now had a husband, a new home, a new dog, a new schedule, a new set of responsibilities, and even a new name. I quickly began to understand that having a new name presented some hurdles with my bank account, driver’s license, and passport, just to name a few.

I thought I would keep my old Social Security card for sentimental reasons, or even as an added record of my existence just in case something happened to the new one. When the government worker at the window told me they were going to destroy the old card, I was taken aback.

Then I realized: I can’t legally have two identities in the United States. I needed to pick one. I had to allow my old identity as Miss Jessie Sartain to be “destroyed” so I could have a new one as Mrs. Jessie Chamberlain. My new name reflects my new identity as the wife of J.D. Chamberlain. I had to leave my old identity behind.

As I drove away from the Social Security office, I couldn’t help but recognize how similarly my new identity as a married woman parallels our new identity in Christ after the Holy Spirit indwells us. We leave our old life behind, and begin a new one in Christ. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” No longer was I a single person, but was now joined with another for the duration of my life.

After the Holy Spirit indwelled me, I couldn’t hang onto the old version of myself. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). The Holy Spirit began His renewing work in me. Again, no longer was I alone, but irrevocably indwelled by the Spirit to guide and to teach me. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

Now that the Holy Spirit is transforming me day by day, I’m no longer enslaved to sin. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Christ has freed me and given me a new life. That is reason to celebrate!

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

The Passing of Time

Aaaand it’s Monday again. An entire week of our usual routines and responsibilities looms out in front of us, casting a shadow over this sunshiny summer day. Time to start wishing that it was Friday already, right? Then the beautiful freedom of the weekend could smile on us.

As a teenager, I used to tell my mom that I just wanted to skip to the part where my life started, the part of life when I had already graduated college, found a job, and gotten married. Mom’s response was always, “Jessie, look around. You’re breathing and active; life has already begun.”

In time, her wise words sank in. God had me when and where I was for a reason. If I kept wishing it away, I was going to miss my own life. There were lessons to be learned, character to be built, and people to pour into. Not to mention fun to be had, friendship to enjoy, and memories to be made.

If I had continued down that same path, when I finally graduated, employed, and married, I’d be wishing for babies. When I had babies, I’d be wishing for them to be potty-trained. After they were potty-trained, I’d be wishing they could drive themselves instead of having me chauffeur them around. And on and on the cycle revolves.

Each life stage has its own set of struggles and joys. I don’t want to be so caught up with the blessings the future might hold, so fixated on events in the past, or looking forward to heaven so much that I ruin my present. Life circumstances are ever in flux; this fact simply isn’t a recipe for contentment. Instead, I’ve found that true contentment can only be found in Christ.

As God said through Paul, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

God has me here – at this stage in life, at this job, around these people – for a reason. That thought is comforting and brings contentment in and of itself. I’m not here by accident. I’m here to do God’s will, to be a witness for Him by the way I act and by the way I treat those around me. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

I don’t want to miss any opportunity to serve God in this way. But if I’m discontent, then I’m distracted from God’s purpose for me. My days are numbered (Job 14:5), so I don’t want time to pass me by. If, while in the Garden of Gethsemane contemplating His impending cruxifixion, Christ can pray, “…nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42), then surely, by God’s grace, I can be content with my own lot in life without wishing even a day away.

What about you? Is time passing you by as you wish your own week away, or are you finding contentment in your purpose in Christ in the here and now?

I Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Rough Waters

The early morning air rushed past me. I shivered with glee as I cut outside the boat’s wake, my single ski skimming effortlessly through the smooth water. The evergreens emerging from the rocky banks reflected on the lake’s surface like a mirror. No one else was in sight. All I could hear was the low hum of the boat’s motor and my own laugh as I jumped the wake back to the other side.

Every summer, my family made the four-hour trek to Lake Shasta in Northern California for a week of houseboating and waterskiing. Our beautiful ski boat was older than I, but my dad kept it purring like a kitten. I first learned how to double ski the summer before I turned five. It took me three days of trying before I got up, but I finally did and loved every minute of it. A couple of years later, Dad decided it was time for me to learn how to single ski. Once again, it took some effort, but I learned.

Ideally, I would ski when the water lay unbroken and still. However, times inevitably came when the wind kicked up or other boats made the water choppy. During those times, if I didn’t heed Dad’s advice to bend my knees and keep my elbows straight, I would trip and face-plant. The more I faced the rough water, the more confident I grew in following Dad’s wisdom and in honing my skills as a waterskier.

I may not enjoy skiing across the enormous wakes left by wakeboard boats, but I know that doing so tests me as an athlete. There isn’t any reason to be ashamed or embarrassed as I struggle to keep my balance because I know it will only increase my skill. The same truth can be applied spiritually.

Romans 5:3-5 says, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Trials will come, but by the powerful love and grace of God and the following of His Word we will make it through and our faith will be made stronger on the other side.

Likewise, James 1:2-5 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

The more we face rough waters, the more we can “hone” our spiritual skills of faith, hope, and love (I Corinthians 13:13), “that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Colossians 1:10). If we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, we won’t sink into the waves like Peter walking across the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:25-33). Then we can grow from spiritual babies to spiritual maturity.

When rough waters come, bend your knees and keep your elbows straight. Remember Who is in control of the winds and the waves.

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

The Good Guy

This summer many unfortunate events have transpired throughout the world, resulting in fear, protests, and lives forever changed. Social media has erupted, everyone desperate to share their own opinions and feelings and stand up for what they believed to be true. Never before had I felt unsafe.

Until now.

As I have watched these events unfold, I found myself shaken and uncertain. The worst part was not knowing who the good guys or bad guys were. Everything seemed upside-down. Who could I trust in this great big wide world? When I turned to the Bible for answers, I found them.

Psalm 118:8, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
Psalm 146:3, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”
Isaiah 51:12, “I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass.”

These verses reminded me that I shouldn’t put my trust in man. We live in a fallen world, a world where everyone is capable of making bad judgment calls, including myself. When dark days are upon me, the Bible says I can turn to God, the ultimate “Good Guy,” for comfort. Situations may change, but God is my solid, unchanging Rock (Malachi 3:6; Psalm 18:2). I can trust Him, without any hesitation or doubt, to work all things together for His glory and for my good (Romans 8:28).

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” God’s Word is full of truth and promises I can focus on to encourage me and remind me to stay strong in Him.

Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the Son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?”

Psalm 33:4, “For the Word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth.”

Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”

In all the uncertainty in this world, I take comfort in the fact that in the Bible, God reveals Himself to be the true “Good Guy.” Search for your own verses to hold onto when you’re discouraged by the world.

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Yuletide Cheer

Flip-flops, sunglasses, and sunscreen – yup, it’s clearly time for some Yuletide cheer! The countdown is on: only five more months until Christmas! And what better time to think about the birth of our Lord without the distractions of gingerbread houses, snowball fights, and wrapping presents than in the middle of summer?

Really, think about it with me: God created the world and everything in it, including man, who He specially fashioned after His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). Then man broke his extraordinary relationship with God by sinning against Him (Genesis 3:6). The consequence? Death, both physically and spiritually (Genesis 3:19). In His inexhaustible grace, God promised to send a Savior who would mend the relationship between man and God by being the flawless sacrifice for man’s sins and overturning death itself (Isaiah 53:4-6). In God’s perfect timing, Jesus was born (Luke 2:7).

Jesus was born. Did you catch that? Jesus, the Son of God, God Himself, was born a human for the very purpose of dying. Hebrews 9:26 says, “…but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The very thought sobers me. Why on earth would the God of the universe abase Himself by becoming human in the first place, let alone to die a horrific death for our sakes? He tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus was born so that we, as recipients of God’s love, might live life everlasting with Him. Jesus had a magnificent impact on this world as He taught, challenged, and healed during His lifetime, an impact that has greatly multiplied over the centuries. What a wonderful reason to rejoice and celebrate!

Philippians 2:6-11 says, “…Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Take part in our Yuletide Cheer celebrating Jesus’ birth

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff

Lemonade Stands

It’s the middle of summer now – can you believe how time has flown? School’s been out for weeks, the sun is out, and the heat is on. Kids are starting to go stir crazy, and they’re taking their parents down with them. As I drive, I see more and more kids sitting at lemonade stands in their front yards – a great antidote to under-stimulated children and parents who are at the end of their ropes.

Lemonade stands sure have changed since I was a kid. Back then I would pick the lemons from my grandma’s tree, twist them by hand on the juicer, and go through the painstakingly sour process of figuring out the right lemon juice-to-water-to-sugar ratio. Now, kids have traded the real deal for powdered lemonade – a backwards move in my opinion. BUT they’ve added homemade cookies and cupcakes to up the ante. Kids are such entrepreneurs nowadays; it’s rare that I walk away from a lemonade stand for under $5. How sweet the taste of lemonade to quench one’s thirst on a hot summer’s afternoon!

In John 4, Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water from Jacob’s well. He said, “…Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).

As we just read, Jesus began this conversation with the woman by talking about ordinary water, H2O, which requires continual consumption to live. Then He claimed to be able to give her a different kind of water that eternally quenches thirst: salvation. The analogy He used is so true, isn’t it? Like the Samaritan woman, whether we know it or not, we all crave something of significance, of necessity, to our very souls. Often we learn the hard way that the satisfaction we want can’t be found in the things of this world, and wind up feeling empty and broken. But like Jesus communicated to the woman, the fulfillment found in His gift of salvation is the only lasting, meaningful satisfaction available to us, one that fills us with hope and joy.

I marvel at Jesus’ ability to turn normal conversation into one of spiritual significance so He could witness to the Samaritan woman about Himself. Christ, as God incarnate, gave us a great example of how we can implement His “Great Commission” of teaching others about Him (Matthew 28:18-20). Let’s not neglect this approach by letting it fall by the wayside, but try to make it a part of our daily lives to the glory of God.

God also has this to say about thirst:

Psalm 42:1-2 “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 63:1 “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is…”

John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

Are you thirsting after the things of this world? Or, even better than the sweet taste of lemonade on a summer afternoon, is your thirst being quenched by Christ, the giver of eternal life?
Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”

Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff