PROGRESS REPORT

This past Sunday, the pastor of our new church presented everyone with what he called a spiritual progress report. It is that time of year when students are bringing home progress reports from schools, and I suppose he thought it appropriate to include this spiritual report card into the mix. It seems like the years have been full of trials in the Lance home, things that seem to be beyond human control, any choice we might have made, or as a result of other people's decisions. How does one handle continuous testing? What can a person say that will come close to comfort? A God who is supposed to control all things, can intervene IF he wants to, but chooses not to do so, or waits until the very last minute, during which time misery takes place...what does a person say? Sometimes the pat answers do not suffice...like: "Just trust God, He does love you," or "God works all things together for good," or "It's a time to see God work in miraculous ways," or "God is preparing you for eternity," or I love this one, "It must mean that there is sin in your life that you have not dealt with or confessed." When the testing times seem to run together with not much of a break in between, and you are left looking up to the sky and asking "WHY?", it's time to hand over a progress report and ask the person to evaluate themselves and give themselves a grade. I HATE PROGRESS REPORTS! But, sometimes they are necessary. Here is what was given this past Sunday.

PROGRESS REPORT: SELF-EVALUATION

1. The Test of Perseverance James 1:2-12
2. The Test of Blame James 1:13-18
3. The Test of Response to the Word James 1:19-27
4. The Test of Impartial Love James 2:1-13
5. The Test of Righteous Works James 2:14-26
6. The Test of the Tongue James 3:1-12
7. The Test of Humble Wisdom James 3:13-18
8. The Test of Worldly Indulgence James 4:1-12
9. The Test of Dependence James 4:13-17
10. The Test of Patient Endurance James 5:1-11
11. The Test of Truthfulness James 5:12
12. The Test of Prayerfulness James 5:13-18
13. The Test of True Compassion James 5:19-20

Some of you, after taking this progress report and reading these verses to find out what they mean, may fail miserably, some of you may ace them all at this point in your life; wherever you are in your spiritual progress report, one thing stands true, God's grace continues to abound. I may ask myself, "Is this really true?" But, if I am honest about all that has been good in life, from somewhere and some place goodness has and is extended. The goodness does not come from me; if I had my way and could be anything I wanted to be, I could be a real terror. But, compassion for others, a desire for the best in others comes from somewhere deep inside of me...that has to be goodness, but not goodness that I muster up myself, it definitely has to originate from another source. I have to believe that the other source must be God, and so my conviction that God is real is confirmed. Thus, what He says in His word is also confirmed. Sometimes, it is only by a thread that we hang on to what we know in our minds to be true. And so, the prayer was prayed as a congregational prayer, and perhaps if this prayer is prayed every day, the progress report will continue to improve over my life time. When we all reach heaven, we will all be in chorus together saying..."It's only by the grace of God we are here together," and hopefully God will be looking at us saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I love that part in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, when the little boy calls the radio show, the dad gets on the phone, the show's host asks the dad what he plans on doing, and the response is that he will wake up each day, he will breathe, and place one foot in front of the other (something like that). Eventually, his hurt and pain disappears and his world is completely changed. Perhaps, some experience nothing but good in this life, while others put one foot in front of the other their whole lives, but one day, hopefully, that hurt and pain will disappear completely. I suppose that is the hope referred to by the authors of God's words.

PRAYER

"Heavenly Father...I submit myself to You. I ask You to drive Satan far away from me. And I come humbly into Your presence. I confess to You that I am a sinner. Please, God, wash my hands of my sin, and purify my heart and my deceitful mind. I am grieved by how awful my sin makes me feel. I'm broken-hearted by it. My pain is so real it brings tears to my eyes. I'm trading my proud laughter into gloom. I am completely humble before You, God, and I ask You to lift me up and restore my joy."

Maybe you are the person struggling, hanging on by a thread. This Thanksgiving you can be thankful for the grace God has bestowed upon you in many ways. Sometimes the little things don't mean much, like three meals a day, but in reality they are still God's grace shown for which we can be thankful. Perhaps you are full of joy and it's easy for you to find things for which to be thankful. Let that joy overflow and be humbled by all the joy that has been bestowed upon you. Remember those days, for they may be needed as reminders in days to come.