July 1, 2016
“When I am weak then I am strong…” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
In these eight words the Apostle Paul gives us a strength formula. When you are having a serious operation, instead of counting to 10 as the anesthesiologist administers the medicine that knocks you out, I suggest you say these eight words: When I am weak then I am strong. While most of us are ‘control freaks,’ after experiencing the full effects of anesthesia we give up all control. But, as believers when we give up all control, we will find underneath the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27) This makes us stronger than we have ever been.
Paul, quoting Isaiah, writes the key to spiritual strength is that God gives strength to the weary and power to the weak. One translation reads that God’s strength looks good on weak people. The key to spiritual strength is therefore not found in our strength but in our weakness. These eight words are therefore the formula for strength. They will give you great spiritual strength in your time of absolute weakness. Discover with the Apostle Paul that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, not in trying to make ourselves strong. We find our greatest strength in the Everlasting Arms that are there underneath us.
Prove what Isaiah and Paul teach us. The everlasting arms are there and they give us more strength than we have ever known as healthy active people. The next time you experience weakness on any level of life remember to pray these eight words: “When I am weak then I am strong.”
You will soon find yourself saying, “I’m not but He is; I can’t, but He can;” and then, “I didn’t but He did” when you let God perfect His strength in your weakness.
Dick Woodward, 26 February 2014
Editor’s Note: After fixing up this blog post for today, the Blog-Posting Elf just realized that this was the last blog Papa wrote before he went to rest in the Everlasting Arms of God on March 8, 2014. As all who knew him attest, Dick Woodward exhibited God’s strength in his weakness in extraordinary ways through countless days of weakness and suffering that was especially challenging as he wrote these words. As he would say, “I didn’t, but God did” in and through him… even to his last breath.
2 Comments | 
Uncategorized | Tagged: 4 Spiritual Secrets, Everlasting Arms of God, faith, finding God's strength, following Jesus, spiritual strength, the Apostle Paul, Trusting God | 
Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
June 28, 2016
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
When I was in a very difficult situation, the prayer of Saint Francis had great meaning for me. I memorized it and prayed it every night for several months. I know you are very familiar with it but in case you don’t have a copy there, here it is:
“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console: to be understood, as to understand: to be loved as to love: for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
Dick Woodward (email, 05 March 2005)
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, faith & suffering, Following Jesus Christ, God's peace, John 14:27, peace, prayer, Saint Francis of Assisi, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
June 14, 2016
“So do not throw away your faith; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised… For he that is righteous shall live by faith.” (Hebrews 10:35-38)
As the author of the book of Hebrews continues giving doubting disciples reasons why they should not throw away their faith, he says they should keep the faith because they need faith for living. Authentic disciples know they are saved by faith, but the disciples to whom he was writing had forgotten that they are also called to live by faith.
He quotes the key verse of Habakkuk’s prophecy written to suffering people. When we are suffering we need reminders that God has given us the faith to persevere and do the will of God in our crisis – until we receive what God has given us, the faith to believe will ultimately happen according to His promises.
I have observed a direct correlation between spiritual growth and suffering. The Greek word translated “persevere” in these verses is a quality God grows in those who are living by faith while they are suffering, according to the Apostle Paul (Romans 5: 3-5). Other authors of the New Testament agree with Paul.
The immediate response of many authentic disciples when they find themselves in a difficult situation is: “Lord, get me out of here!” When that doesn’t happen they are sometimes tempted to throw away their faith. The message conveyed by these verses is “Don’t throw away your faith. You need your faith to live through your crisis.”
Is this a message you need to hear today?
Dick Woodward, 03 December 2010
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, faith and suffering, Faith in Crisis, Hebrews 10:35-38, living by faith, suffering, Trusting God, walking by faith | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
June 10, 2016
“Thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is our Father and the source of all mercy and comfort. For He gives us comfort in our trials…” (2Corinthians 1:3-4, J. B. Phillips)
Suffering can drive us to God in such a way that we make this great discovery: God is there and God can comfort us.
There is supernatural quality of comfort that can be found in simply knowing God. God does not want us to go through life and never discover that God is there for us and will comfort us. When you undergo a life-threatening surgery and you, completely alone, are being placed under the bright lights, remember that God is the ultimate source of the greatest comfort you can possibly experience in this lifetime.
As a pastor, I have frequently heard believers say that God met them in a supernatural and intimate way while they were going through a medical crisis. Two weeks ago a man for whom I’ve been praying for twenty years wrote from another part of the country to say he has now come to faith. God gave him that absolute assurance while he was undergoing a critical life-threatening surgery.
Many of us have known people we loved very much who are depressed and oppressed. They are nearly always alone and their pain is so intensely private they do not want any of the caring people in their lives to be with them.
Others believe their suffering is so personal they must place themselves in a self-imposed solitary confinement. If that happens to you, I challenge you to make this great discovery: God is there, and God can comfort you!
Father of all mercy and comfort, make me know personally that You are the source of all comfort. Comfort me in my pain, and when I feel alone and depressed, may I discover that You are there, You are real, and You can comfort me. I pray in Christ name, Amen.
Dick Woodward, from 30 Biblical Reasons Why God’s People Suffer
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2 Corinthians 1:3, comfort, faith, faith and suffering, Faith in Crisis, finding comfort in God, knowing god, prayer, prayer for comfort, suffering, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
June 4, 2016
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption … What counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6: 7, 8, 15)
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Galatians. The first part of this passage is often preached to unbelievers, but Paul was addressing professing believers. As believers this is a spiritual law of our lives in Christ. Every day we can sow spiritual seeds in the garden of our life, or we can sow seeds of our flesh in that garden. William Barclay, a professor of Bible at Edinburgh University for forty years, wrote that when the Bible refers to our flesh it means “human nature unaided by God.” According to Paul, human nature unaided by God is a seed that produces corruption.
We have the option to sow spiritual seeds in our lives every day. Paul writes that these spiritual seeds produce a continuous creation. David prayed “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me.” (Psalm 51:10) In the New Testament the apostles refer to being born again as a miracle of creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God…” (2 Corinthians 5:17, 18)
This means we have two awesome options before us every day: creation or corruption. We can sow spiritual seeds in the garden of our lives which continue the act of creation God is miraculously performing in us, or we can sow seeds that produce corruption.
What seeds are you sowing in the garden of your life every day?
Dick Woodward, 15 February 2011
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: creation, faith, following Jesus, Galatians 6, gardens, Psalm 51, seeds of faith, spiritual food, Trusting God, William Barclay | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
May 6, 2016
“…but you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.” (Matthew 6:33, J. B. Phillips)
The message of the entire Bible can be summed up in two words: “God First.” That is not easy. In fact, that is impossible without the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). This concept is not complicated, but we complicate it because we do not want to put God first. However, over and over again in the Scripture the bottom-line truth in a Psalm, in the life of a Bible character, in a parable, a metaphor, and a teaching of Jesus will come down to this simple concept: “God First.”
I was blessed with a godly mother. She often said to me: “If Jesus Christ is anything to you, then Jesus Christ is everything to you. Because until Jesus Christ is everything to you, Dick, He isn’t really anything to you.” As I have carefully studied the values of Jesus Christ, I have realized that my mother had the support of the Lord when she brought my profession of faith to a verdict the way she did.
Matthew 6:33 is the conclusion of a study Jesus gave regarding values. He taught that our heart is where our treasures are. He challenged us with questions like: “Where is your heart? What are your treasures? What is your life? What is your body?” and “Who is your master?”
Think of a target with a bulls-eye surrounded by ten or twelve circles. According to Jesus, the bulls-eye of our priority target should be that our first value is God. We are to put Him first. If we do that we have the promise of Jesus that God will bless us with everything we need.
Are you putting God first?
Dick Woodward, 09 November 2010
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: eternal values, faith, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, Matthew 6:33, Mothers Day, Spiritual Discernment, spiritual values, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
April 8, 2016
“Delight yourselves in the Lord; yes, find your joy in him at all times.” (Philippians 4:4)
“While pain and suffering are inevitable, misery is optional.” Those were the words of Tim Hansel, a man who lived every day with excruciating pain (in his book You Gotta Keep Dancin’.) How could misery be optional for someone in agonizing pain? And how do we explain Apostle Paul mentioning joy seventeen times in the short letter he wrote from prison to his favorite church?
Paul explains that for those who are experiencing a relationship with the risen, living Christ there is a peace and joy that is not controlled by circumstances. What Paul experienced could be called, “peace that doesn’t make good sense” and “joy that doesn’t make good sense.” According to Paul, the foundation of that peace and joy is the Lord Jesus Himself. He therefore prescribed that we are to delight ourselves in the Lord and then find our peace and joy in Him at all times.
What is the foundation for your peace and joy? If your foundation is the relationship with a loved one, do you realize there is no relationship with people here in this life that cannot be removed? If that foundation is your health, your youth or your athleticism, many thousands of people, who had those foundations before age, an illness, or an injury destroyed them, will join me in warning you that they are very fragile foundations for the peace and happiness Paul is prescribing.
In the Gospel of John 17:3 we’re told: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Jesus identified and declared the right foundation for us as knowing God and Jesus Christ Whom God sent into this world.
What is the foundation for your peace? your joy?
Dick Woodward, 23 June 2009
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Tim Hansel, who was a great inspiration to Dick Woodward, check out this blog written at Dick’s request by Clark Morledge over at Veracity.com. Click here to read it: Joy: Tim Hansel
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, joy, joy of Jesus, pain and suffering, peace of Christ, Philippians 4:4, spiritual endurance, Tim Hansel, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
March 18, 2016
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)
A word we use often in this life is, “Why?” And the word I think we will use most in the next is, “Oh!” The Providence of God is like a Hebrew word: we have to read it backwards. By the Providence of God I mean that God is in charge and the events of our lives have meaning. Sometimes it is as if we are on the inside of a woven basket. All the threads that come up on the inside of the basket represent the way we see the things that happen to us, which seem to have no meaning and pattern at all. If we could just get out of that basket, on the outside we would see beautifully woven patterns.
Job is the biblical example of a man who tried to sort out, by looking inside the basket, what appeared to be the tragic meaninglessness of his life. It was not until he looked up and saw all his tragic circumstances from God’s perspective that he was moved from asking, “Why?” to exclaiming, “Oh!” (Job 35: 1-7; 40-42)
In Psalm 11:3 the Psalmist asked a question: “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” The NIV version of the Bible has a footnote that suggests this alternate reading: “When the foundations of your life are breaking up, what is the Righteous One doing?”
My wife and I have made that question a knee jerk reaction to the events of our lives as they happen. As a result, although we’re not on the other side yet we are already saying, “Oh!”
Will you confront the challenges you encounter daily with that same question?
Dick Woodward, 25 August 2012
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Divine Providence, faith, faith in adversity, faith in suffering, Faithfulness, God's faithfulness, Psalm 11:3, suffering of Job, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
February 26, 2016
“… Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:9)
When the children of Israel complained and griped about Moses, God showed how He felt about the gripers. He sent snakes to bite them. (Some pastors may wish they could do the same.) Then God in His mercy directed Moses to erect a pole at the center of the camp with a bronze serpent on top of it. The good news was proclaimed: if any of the snake-bitten gripers would get to the center of the camp and look at the bronze serpent they would be healed of their snakebites.
Some of them said that defied all the laws of medical science and they died of their snakebites. Others said it didn’t make sense but it was the only hope they had. With help they somehow got to the center of the camp and looked at the bronze serpent on the pole. When they looked, they were healed and lived!
This story takes on much greater meaning when Jesus makes His most dogmatic declaration: He is God’s only Son, God’s only Solution and God’s only Savior (John 3:1-21). As He told a Rabbi named Nicodemus about Moses lifting that serpent in the wilderness, it is a picture of something in the future. If we will look to Jesus on His cross with faith we will be healed of our sin problem.
Jesus made it simple. Just look and live. When you want to solve problems that demand a supernatural solution, look and live. Have you ever done that? Why not do it now?
Dick Woodward, 10 December 2013
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Following Jesus Christ, Jesus, Moses, Old Testament, Spiritual Discernment, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
January 22, 2016
“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matthew 14:30)
The Apostle Peter is the only man besides Jesus Christ who ever walked on water. Yet millions only remember that he took his eyes off the Lord and would have drowned if the Lord had not saved him.
We read that Peter’s magnificent faith was flawed. He saw the wind. Since we cannot see wind this actually means that when he saw what the wind was doing, he lost sight of what Jesus was doing and became afraid. The remarkable thing here is that when he kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on water!
It was not until he was beginning to sink that Peter cried out this prayer: “Lord, save me!” Two thousand years later, this remains a go-to prayer for us through the many storms of life. Jesus taught that our prayers should not be long and we should never think we will generate grace with God by our many words. If Peter had prayed a longer prayer, additional words would have been glub, glub glub (as he sunk under water!) When Jesus caught Peter by the hand He gave him the nickname, “Little Faith.” (I believe our Lord was smiling when He did.) He literally asked Peter: “Why did you think twice?”
While very ill the past two weeks many people have been recruited to pray for me. Yesterday it occurred to me that I had not prayed for myself. I then fervently pleaded this prayer that the Lord always answers: Lord, save me!
In your spiritual walk, don’t think twice and don’t be a “Little Faith.” Instead, learn to plead this prayer…and soon you will find your way through the stormy waves of life walking on water.
Dick Woodward, 28 January 2014
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: courage, faith, intercessory prayer, Jesus Christ, Matthew 14:30, prayer, The Apostle Peter, Trusting God, walking on water | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
