Chuck Locklear
fascinating characters, impactful books and messages
Electricity and Faith
Make a battery from pennies. . . impossible. As Queen of Science, Lizzy always amazed students with how easy it was to make electricity.
You learn more from your failures than from your successes.
Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical potential energy, which can be used to power a circuit. In this experiment, the battery will power an LED light. The more cells or stacks there are, the higher the voltage of the battery and the brighter the light. The difference between a 1.5-volt battery and a 9-volt battery is how many cells they have inside.
Material List
- Salt
- Water
- Red LED
- 6 pennies
- 6 zinc washers
- ¼ cup of vinegar
- Construction paper
Instructions
In a bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of salt into ¼ cup of vinegar. You need this mixture to clean the pennies. Soak the pennies for 5 minutes, then wipe them off.
Trace pennies on construction paper and cut out 6 paper discs.
Soak the paper disks for 5 min in a mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of salt. This mixture serves as the electrolyte for our experiment. The paper discs must be saturated with the mixture.
To assemble the battery, stack the items in this order: coin, paper, washer, coin, paper, washer, and so on. Each coin and washer combination makes one cell. After a quick Internet search, I found 100 zinc washers for $5 and 100 LED lights for $7.
Hold the LED light’s long wire to the penny side of the stack, and the short wire to the zinc side of the stack.
Dim the room lights and watch the LED light up!
Making Electricity
In 1800, Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic, invented the voltaic pile, an early electric battery. His battery became an effective device for storing electricity. Because of his faith and determination, Volta accomplished what many thought was impossible.
“…through the special mercy of God I have never, as far as I know, wavered in my faith… In this faith I recognize a pure gift of God, a supernatural grace…”
Alessandro Volta
Don’t lose faith. Yes, it can be difficult to keep going when we face obstacles. However, every successful person knows that you learn more from your failures than from your successes. Make learning and growing your priority.
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Also, see Growth Mindset.
Entitled
Many complain about the “entitled” attitude of young people today. Interestingly, this is what we taught them. However, parents, if you want God’s favor for your children, teach them to be “poor in spirit.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3
Shocking Words
This statement was meant to be shocking. Jesus began his longest recorded sermon with eight blessings, known as The Beatitudes. He spoke these words early in his ministry to a large crowd, seated on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
“Fortunate are the poor.” That is crazy.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” was a radical message. In the experiences of his audience, the opposite was true; blessed are the wealthy. In Jesus’ day, “blessed” was a common way of describing a person who was wealthy. The link between being blessed and wealthy was assumed. To be blessed was the same as being fortunate.
Entitled and Blessed
Today, this text is so common that it has lost much of its shock value. We look right past it. When have you ever heard a sermon on the first Beatitude? It is also difficult for us to fully understand because we have been blessed with a prosperous middleclass in America. We are fortunate. We have what we need and more. Americans are blessed with food, clothes, shoes, shelter. We can go to the doctor when we are sick. Beggars standing on the side of the road are the exception, not the rule. But, in the time of the Romans, there was no middleclass. There was rich and poor. The rich had everything and the poor had nothing.
In Luke 6:20, it simply says “blessed are the poor,” but I think Matthew got it correct with the focus on “Poor in spirit.” I don’t think that Jesus is saying that being poor is a ticket into heaven. No, the poor are not to be envied. God does not want you to be poor. He wants you to prosper and to give you hope and a future.
Changed Attitude
Jesus was emphasizing the importance of our attitude. Think for a moment of the attitude of the wealthy: arrogant, self-righteous, having an exaggerated sense of their importance and abilities. An entitled attitude is opposite of what Jesus desires in his followers.
Teach them to easily say “I’m sorry” and to quickly forgive
To me, it seems that Jesus was encouraging believers to develop the “humble and contrite spirit” spoken about in Isaiah.
If we are humble in our spirit or attitude, easily say “I’m sorry” and quick to forgive, we can enjoy the favor of God. Isn’t this the attitude we want for our children anyway? Changing the entitled attitude won’t stop the complainers, but it will result in God’s favor.
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit…”
Isaiah 66:2.
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Also, see Brain Development.
Needy People
Do you know any needy people?
Seeing With Our Eyes
We learn in Matthew, “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” Jesus did not just pass by this sinner. He looked Matthew in the eye… and saw a man that needed help. Later we learn that when the Pharisees saw this, they asked, “Why does your teacher eat and with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard their question and answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Jesus then said something interesting, “Go and learn what this means.”
I think Jesus was saying his lesson was not just intended for health care professionals. His lesson applies to other needs as well, even to housing. It is not those with fine houses that need our help, but it is the homeless that need our help. It is not those in church that need our help, but those in our community, in our neighborhood… Jesus, then, confirmed this message with this final statement on the subject, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Chicken Dinners
On Sundays, our church gives out boxed chicken dinners. This gives us the opportunity to share the Gospel and meet people in our community. It is a reminder to look deeper and see the humanity of that needy person that God has put in our path.
If you don’t see a needy person in your path, you aren’t looking hard enough. Needy people are everywhere. If you are needy, maybe, like Matthew, you can help others. Practice looking people in the eye. Look beyond the surface and see their need. Then, begin loving as Jesus loved you and let the healing begin.
Also, see Open the Eyes of My Heart.
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Choose!
A man came to a fork in the road. He wanted to go right but there was a large sign that read, “Road Closed. Do Not Enter.” The man decided to go around the sign, confident it would save him time. After a few miles of successful navigation, he felt good about his gift of discernment. His proud smile was quickly replaced by a frown when the road led to a washed-out bridge. He turned his car around and returned to the main road. When he arrived at the original warning sign, he read in large letters on the back of the sign, “Welcome back, stupid!”
Crossroads
This story is a picture of our lives at an intersection, crossroad, or fork in the road. People are often trying to decide between two decisions, two directions, or two destinations. The truth is that life is full of choices. Our life is the sum total of the choices we make. Many choices we make daily and routinely have some effect on our lives; but there are pivotal moments when we face choices with profound impact.
As humans, we spend most of our lives in the middle of a problem, between a rock and a hard place, in the middle of a mess, or between this choice or that one. It is not always easy to know the “right decision” for the problems we face. The good news is our God is the God of new beginnings and great endings, but also God in the middle…with us. We can learn from the challenge presented by Elijah, the prophet of God.
Showdown
The setting is Mt. Carmel, where Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a showdown to determine whose god was the one true god. They set up an altar and whichever god answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice was the god to follow.
The prophets of Baal called, screamed, pleaded, jumped, and cut themselves, but no fire. Elijah taunted them; maybe your god is busy, away on a journey or maybe sleeping? When it was Elijah’s turn, he had them drench the altar with four barrels of water.
Elijah prayed, Lord God, let it be known this day that thou art God and that I am thy servant. Hear me, O Lord, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that their hearts may turn back to you. Then the fire of the Lord fell, consumed the sacrifice and dried up the water. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is the God; The Lord, he is the God.”
Big Questions
Perhaps, like us, the people were struggling with life’s “big” questions: “Is there a God?” “What is the meaning of life?” “Is there really life after death?” They were having a difficult time deciding, so Elijah challenged them with a critical question, “How long are you going to sit on the fence?”
If you are the parent of a teenager, know that adolescences is a time of struggling with life’s big questions. You cannot answer these questions for your child. Your struggle is to support them and trust the Holy Spirit to guide them along the way. It is also a good idea to remember that adolescence is a period of “temporary insanity.” Pray them through it and help them to the other side.
We all serve someone. It is an individual choice, but Elijah’s challenge is just as true today, “If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him.” The good news, our God is the God of new beginnings and great endings, but also God in the middle… at life’s crossroads.
“Elijah challenged the people: ‘How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!’” —1 Kings 18:21, MSG
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
See sermon by William Farina, In the Middle… Choose a Path. Also, see Victorious Living.
Stand Up
We humans spend most of our lives “in the middle,” the dash between the dates on a grave stone, in the middle of a problem, between a rock and a hard place, in the middle of a mess, or between here or there, this and that. Most often, we are not at the beginning or end of something, but we are in the middle of something. God is the God of new beginnings and great endings, but, lucky for us, he is also God in the middle. When we find ourselves in the middle, if we will stand up, then God will show up.
Mighty Men
The book of Samuel provides the account of one of my favorite people in the bible, someone not well known, a man called Shammah, one of King David’s “Mighty Men.” The Mighty Men were highly trained and trusted captains. They would be similar to today’s “special operations” forces.
“Next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded in a troop at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.”
(2 Samuel 23:11-12)
If you find yourself, “In the middle. . . take a stand!” Can anyone relate to this idea of being in the middle? Is there anybody in the middle of a crowded lentil field? What we need to answer is when we are in the middle of a crowded lentil field, what does it mean to take a stand? Just what does that look like in our lives.
An Atheist
Let me illustrate with this story. An atheist lived next door to an older Christian woman. Every day he could hear her praying and praising God for all of the things he had done. One day the old woman fell on hard times and she had no food in her house. The atheist overheard her praying to God to please send her some food. So, off the atheist went to the grocery store, thinking he was gonna fix the old gal once and for all. He bought bags of groceries and after placing them on her porch, he rang her bell. Then, he hid in the bushes. When the old woman came out of her house, she saw the bags of groceries and started giving thanks to the Lord for sending her the food.
At that point, the happy atheist jumped from the bushes and shouted, “AH-HA! The Lord didn’t send you those groceries! It was me who put them there. Without a pause, the old woman shot back, “Praise you, dear Lord. Not only did you send the groceries, but you made the devil pay for them.”
When we are in the middle of a crowded lentil field. . . take a stand. Like the woman in this story, keep on praying, keep on praising, and keep on trusting God!
Full of Beans
Shammah’s assignment was to defend a small but strategic field “full of beans.” The lentil field represents our life; our family, anything or anyone important to us; our body & health; and our job & finances, which includes our time, abilities, resources, and ministry. The lentils provide an analogy for where we are right now and all that God has entrusted to us as stewards. And, like Shammah, we are to defend the lentil field God has given us.
For a skilled soldier like Shammah, this likely must have seemed an unimportant assignment. Sometimes, we look at our life and where we are and think it is insignificant in the big scheme of things. However, remember Shammah’s commander David was insignificantly tending his father’s sheep in a field when Samuel found him and anointed him King of Israel. God knows where we are and sees us in our “field.” I have learned this important principal; victories are won in the lentil fields of life. Victories are won on the backside of the mountain, out of the spotlight, in the prayer closet. They are also won in your home, workplace, and even in church.
Don’t minimize where you are today and never minimize the power of the Holy Spirit in your life; who still wins victories. God has assigned each of us, his “Mighty Men” and women a “lentil field.” God has a plan and we learn valuable lessons in the middle of the lentil fields of life. Shammah’s attitude and approach must be our attitude and approach. We must say, “It may only be a little lentil field, but it’s my lentil field. I’m going to stand strong and it is up to God to fight and win the victory!”
Piling On
How many know that the stuff of life seems to happen in bunches and bulk? How many know the enemy has a way of piling in, piling up, and piling on? However, how many know our God is bigger, our God is greater, and our God is stronger! There are many references in the bible to reinforce this message:
- “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
- “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God raises up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).
- “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
- “Greater is he that is in you than the enemy that is in this world” (1 John 4:4).
The name Shammah means “present or there.” One of God’s covenant names is Jehovah Shammah, which means “present or there.” So, when we are in the middle of a crowded lentil field, know that the Lord is present, the Lord is there, the Lord is in the middle with us. Shammah stood up and was present in the lentil field, and Jehovah Shammah showed up and was there with him. That’s how victories are won; we stand up and God shows up!
© 2019 William Farina All rights reserved
Also, see Victorious Living.
Self Control
When my kids were young, I forced them to attend the annual Lumbee Homecoming. This is held July fourth, in North Carolina, meaning it is hot. I love the pow-wow, the dancing, and drumming, but my kids could stand about fifteen minutes of this in the 100 degree plus weather. So, the reward that I promised was a trip to Myrtle Beach. They loved this. It would include time on the beach, swimming in the pool, rides at Broadway on the Beach, and Dinner Shows, like Medieval Times. One year, we learned a lesson about self-control.
Danger At the Beach
My sister decided to go ahead of us and take my son with her. Liz and I would follow in the van not far behind. When Liz and I were pulling up to the hotel, there was a great deal of commotion, with fire trucks, police, and EMTs lining the hotel driveway. Of course, Liz immediately thought that our young son was in danger. I erroneously said, “It is a large hotel with thousands of guests.” The chance that he was involved was remote. I was wrong.
When we got to our room, indeed, he and Edna were right in the middle of what turned out to be a violent domestic fight, which had spilled out into the hallway, right in front of them. When we got there, the blood was still fresh on the carpet. No, it was not a husband beating up his wife. The fight had been between two men. . . and it was violent.
He Made Me Do It
“But, he made me do it.” As a high school principal, I heard this statement or a version of it many times. My response was always, “We can’t control what others do or say, but we can control how we respond.” “But, I was angry.” We all get angry, we have to decide ahead of time how we are going to react when we get angry.
People we love and care about will do and say things that make us angry. We can respond by yelling, throwing things, and, as with the case of the two men, we can throw punches. Or, we can remove ourselves from the situation until we calm down and then return to work out a resolution.
Moses provides an example how not to respond. Moses is a notable person from the old testament. God used him to bring God’s people out from the land of slavery. There are so many miracles that God performed through Moses, most especially using his staff. However, at one critical moment, Moses disobeyed God and struck the rock, twice, when he was told to “speak” to it. Importantly, even this faithful servant of God did not escape punishment.
Why did Moses do it? The most reasonable answer is that he was angry. The Bible says many things about anger and it always advises us to keep it in check. Anger can destroy good things that we have built.
We All Get Angry
One could say Moses’ anger was justified. It was due to the complaints and the disobedience of the people he was leading. But, God expects everyone to learn how to control their anger, because of what it can cause. Anger caused Moses to disobey God.
Before someone can make a move or do anything, he or she must have decided or thought of it in their mind. Before we get angry, we need to decide ahead of time how we will respond.
We all get angry. “He made me do it,” is not a good excuse. What is important is how we respond to anger. Self-control is a Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians and evidence that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it alone. Therefore, let us say this prayer from King David:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51: 10-11
Also, see Look For the Good.
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Why Algebra?
Humans use only a small amount of our available brain potential. In other words, there is lots of room for growth. I have often been surprised that this seems to be news to many of the students that I have counseled over the years. Students will often say, “I can’t learn algebra.” Sometimes, students will even get angry when I try to convince them otherwise. These students are exhibiting what educators know as a “fixed” mindset.
Growth or fixed Mindset
A person’s belief or mindset about intelligence, ability, and talent can have a profound impact on his or her future. But, is our mindset important to God? As parents and teachers, we know that the answer to this question is “Yes.” However, I do understand that your students may not trust you on this one. Maybe, they will be impressed by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He provides the foundation for why education is important in Proverbs 4:13.
The Power of Math
Algebra instruction is life, because it grows stronger minds. However, it can be an abstract concept. Lizzy spent the last five years of her career as a science teacher for 600 elementary school students. So, to provide some relevance to algebra, try this lesson that Lizzy did with hundreds of students each year. . . and with our own grandkids. So, I know this works for both teachers and parents.
The Learning Target is “build and launch a rocket.” Students will show success by building a rocket that launches into the air, but also by measuring the height their rocket reaches using trigonometry. I hear you saying, “If they can’t do algebra how can they do trigonometry?” It is simple! You write out the formula and walk them through the calculation. I know this can work, because Lizzy did it with a room full of kindergarteners. They are amazed and gain a new awareness of the power of math.
“Aha” Moments
The lesson can be done on the cheap with a film canister “rocket,” using cold tablets and water, or with plastic bottle rockets, using vinegar and baking soda. However, it is much more fun to build and launch solid-fuel rockets that can be purchased at the local hobby shop for about $8. These rockets can fly easily over 200 feet into the air.
Oh, you also need an inclinometer to measure the angle. We used the Estes Altitrack, which is specifically designed for model rocketry. It costs about $20. But, if you’re in a pinch, you can make your own inclinometer with a protractor, a piece of string, a washer, and a straw. (See How to Measure Model Rocket Altitude.)
It works best if you have students work with a learning partner. Not only does this allow them to share the tasks, but they can also share the “aha” moments they experienced while planning, building, and launching their rockets.
Calculating Height
Select a nice day with not too much wind. Pick a launch site and measure a safe distance away for the partners to measure the angle of the rocket at the top of its travel. For this example, we’ll use 100 feet, which will represent one side of a right triangle. The height represents adjacent side. Let’s suppose the partner measures an angle of 56 degrees.
To find the height, use a calculator and the formula: 100 x tan(56) = x. We are using 100 feet as the safe distance and an angle of 56 degrees. With everything entered into the calculator, we discover that our “x” is 148. Indeed, our rocket reached a height of 148 feet. Substitute your own safe distance and angle to calculate your rocket’s height.
You can put this formula into an Excel file and display it on a whiteboard to calculate distance traveled for multiple rockets. The results and implications can make for a lively discussion. The students might even discover that Algebra is life.
“Take hold of instruction, do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.”
Proverbs 4:13
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Also, see Finding Wisdom & Brain Development.
Pursue Joy
It may be an odd way to talk about joy, but let me begin with the oft quoted quip of John Lennon. He once said: “Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” Indeed, that’s the cloud that has hung over the church ever since Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud. Yes, Jesus has left the likes of thick and ordinary people to be his witnesses. And Lord, over the ages, we confess that we have made some pretty devastating mistakes: the crusades; anti-Semitism; antagonism toward science; justifications for slavery and white supremacy; attitudes of privilege deaf to Jesus’ urging us to community and compassion.
Finding Joyfulness
Today, the Apostle Paul invites us to pursue joy. Well, literally he said, “Make my joy complete … by being of the same mind, having the same love … that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:1-2). Wow, that is a beautiful passage! I can see that Paul would be happy to have a church unified in love imitating Jesus. But, I don’t think that it would be misreading him to say that he elevates joyfulness as a pursuit that is more than just an emotional expression. I’d say he wants us to pursue joy! I’ll go even farther and say that joyfulness was Paul’s measure for how the church lives out its witness to the world.
I love the Acts of the Apostles, but you may not have thought of it as a place to find joyfulness. Acts is a treasure trove of stories demonstrating joy time and again. Joy is in their witness. It’s in their community. It’s in the way they walk! In Acts we read stories that tell of joy, not by explaining it, but Acts demonstrates. There are stories of miracle and wonder, but more compellingly, there are stories where joy bubbles and overflows. In Acts, we find that joy is in our jobs and this frees us from an attitude of servitude. We find that joy can connect us to one another. Joy can strengthen our resilience and be a companion as we encounter deep sorrow in life. And so, we will find ourselves enchanted by strange but compelling stories in Acts.
Joy Marked Their Way
Acts starts with the story of Jesus’ ascension. The disciples were joyful at Jesus’ ascension? (Acts 1:6-12) Intriguingly, Luke writes about Jesus’ ascension both in his Gospel and at the beginning of the Book of Acts. One should notice that he tells the story with a slight difference. As the Gospel ends, Luke describes the disciples seeing Jesus “carried up into heaven.” At this point, they “return to Jerusalem with great joy.” In Acts, no such joy is mentioned. New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright captures the gap between the two tellings of the same event. “Why would they be so joyful if Jesus has been taken away from them? Ought they not to be sorrowful? Might not his departure signal the start of danger, of fear, of the loss of a sense of direction? What is this ‘joy’ that they now have? And what is the reason for it?”.Yes, Luke uses the word joy, but Acts demonstrates it.
Before it was church and before they were called Christians, early believers were defined as belonging to “The Way” (Acts 9:1-2). That they were called “the Way” signified something more than a road or a path. It signified movement, a participation in the Spirit of God that wasn’t so much following any longer, but heading out. Yet, whether the “sent one” walked with others or alone, joy marked the Way taken.
Their journey invites us to a question: Is this joyfulness still accessible today? These travelers on the Way didn’t understand Jesus’ resurrection as just a miracle of a dead person becoming alive again. For these disciples, the resurrection gifted them with a joy. Joy that would show as courage and imagination to see the world not just as it is – full of injustice and cruelty, privilege and tyranny – but as it could be transformed. Author Mary Clark Moschella says about them that “God’s gift of joy, experienced as deep awareness and aliveness, became for them a calling to compassion that would light and create pathways towards human flourishing.”
Human Flourishing
The term human flourishing is intriguing. Today, we live in a secular age that became that way through a slow set of changes that have sometimes blazed and sometimes meandered over the last 500 years. But, I want to change your thinking about this phrase secular age. Don’t look at it as a subtraction equation which writes God out of the script. Rather, see a change in priorities. 500 years ago, society saw its primary goal as entering communion with God.
Today, we have moved away from communion with God as the primary purpose to that of being attentive to human flourishing. That flourishing came about by and brought innovations like democracy, science, strides in human health and well-being, and the personal freedoms that give us unique and individual identity and worth. Those things are not in themselves bad. Look at it this way. God came down from the divine heavenly throne before which the saints cast their golden crowns. He moved into our neighborhoods, into ordinary lives and our human concerns. Maybe this was all a way for us to regain what the 2ndcentury church father Irenaeus sought: that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive.” Now that is a goal our neighbors could buy into.
John Lennon Missed Joyfulness
Maybe John Lennon missed that lesson on joyfulness when he learned in Sunday School days about Jesus’ disciples so “thick and ordinary.” Certainly, we have “twisted” their truth. The church “ruining” so much of our history… and yet, deep down I find myself longing to live with joy, to “make it full,” as Paul exhorts us. I wonder if there is a joy that is at once a way of having communion with God and a means toward human flourishing. This is my desire. I pray that is your desire as well.
© 2019 David Milam All rights reserved
Also, see Gratitude Grows Joy.
Advice from a Grandmother
Lizzy and I had a dear friend, who lost her battle with cancer late last month. But, she was ready. Deb was a teacher who had taught with Lizzy for many years. At Deb’s funeral, she left this letter to her grandkids. Listen as she give “advice from a Grandmother.”
The best advice anyone ever gave me was to believe in God, our heavenly father!
I always went to Sunday school and church. I thought I was being a good listener. We read about the life of Jesus, his death, and resurrection.
However, I recently discovered that I had missed out on something very important. Jesus needed my help. He needs me to be his hands and feet on earth. When I find myself in the position to help someone, I need to feel happy and blessed, because God is using me to answer the prayer of another person.
I am doing much better in this area, but I now know that I still need to help and love others more. I went to Israel to work at a camp where some children believed in Jesus and some did not. My job was to help them get along and love one another, instead of hating.
I have worked feeding the homeless and giving them clean socks and underwear. That is what Jesus would do if he lived here on earth.
When I was teaching, we collected money to help drill a well in Africa. The children there only had dirty water that made them sick.
We also had a diaper drive. Some parents can’t afford diapers for their babies and they might be in the same one for several days. This makes them very sick. I think your mommy gave me diapers for this cause.
I know you have also acted as the hands and feet of Jesus. You gave mittens to children at Christmas. You brought cookies to firemen. And, you sang songs for older people. They so enjoyed your sweet smile‘s and angelic voices. Even opening a heavy door for another person is treating them with respect and love. Giving a birthday treat to another person makes them feel extremely special too. Jesus smiles down upon you with even the smallest act of kindness.
I came across this idea I really liked. I think I could use it to make some really good intentional decisions. Perhaps you would like to join me? The idea is to decorate a box and put it somewhere you can easily find it. Then, whenever you do even the tiniest thing to help or love on someone, you write that down on a piece of paper, date it, and then put it in the box. Keep adding these acts of kindness until Christmas. Then open the box and take turns reading how you helped Jesus, by being his hands and feet, on earth. New Year’s Day would be a good time to talk about other things you could do during the new year.
As your grandmother, I am so glad that you started going to Sunday school. You will be able to talk about Jesus with other children. Everyone on earth needs to know that God loves us and made many sacrifices so we could live in heaven with him one day.
I am going to continue looking for ways to love and help people as I continue to learn more about Jesus. I pray that you will do the same.
This is Deb’s prayer for her grandchildren. This letter speaks to the heart of a grandmother. Deb’s “advice from a grandmother” prioritizes what is important to God. I knew Deb, and I watched as she grew in faith. Her experiences taught her what was important to our heavenly father. We all need to heed her words
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
—1 John 4:11
Also, see Love the Mother of Your Children.
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Faith and Love
Faith produces love and love produces more faith.
Have Faith, Show Love
We can’t fix all of the problems in the world. No one can do it all, but we can all do something. Our faith in Jesus should produce love for others. Even if you just make an impact on one person, you are serving Jesus. Think about what I just said. Let me state it a different way. If you are not helping anyone, you are not serving Jesus. We were put on this earth to be like Jesus…to serve. It’s that simple. If you change one life and that person impacts others, the ripple effect starts.
Faith produces love and love produces more faith.
So, if you are overwhelmed with the task of helping so many in need, start by doing something for one person. Don’t wait. Remember as you serve, you are serving Jesus, not for the credit or reward, but because you want to be a child of the most-high God.
Pull the Trigger
Don’t let your hang-ups keep you from pulling the trigger. When I say, “pulling the trigger” I mean doing what God is prompting you to do. You know I have never actually heard God speak to me literally, but I regularly hear God speak to me in my spirit, prompting me to do or say something. It is often something that I don’t want to do or say or something I am fearful of doing, but I have learned to stop and ask two important questions.
First, does this action or these words align with scripture? Second, will something positive result from my actions or words? If the answer to both questions is “yes,” then I pull the trigger or put actions into motion to make it happen. The difficult part is overcoming the fear. However, I realize I have a choice. I can be a person full of fear or a person full of faith.
Whatever the outcome, I want to be a person full of faith. I’ve been the person full of fear. It is not healthy and it is not fun. Come good or bad, we can choose to be a person full of faith. Whether we are waiting to hear about the results of a medical test or potential layouts at work, we can choose fear or faith. Whether we are waiting on the results of budget cuts or the results of exams at school, we can choose fear or faith.
What Ifs
When we wake up and are faced with the “what ifs,” we need to pray to not be afraid. Do you know that “Do not fear” is written in the Bible 365 times? That is one “Do not fear” for every day of the year…a daily reminder from God to live each day without fear. Never let fear keep you from pulling the trigger. Not making a decision is a decision.
Start today! Pray: “Jesus, how can I serve someone…today?” As we put faith into action, God will grow the love we have for others.
“But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
1 Thessalonians 5:8
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Also, see Unconditional Love.
