Thanksgiving

Here we are again. This year went by so fast. They say the older you get, the faster time goes by. It's starting to move by pretty quick for me these days.

This is the time of year we are supposed to stand back and kind of take stock. To look back and think of things for which we are thankful.

Here are a few of mine:

Wise and loving Father, Great and Mighty King, thank you:

for my salvation. I am secure in You forever.

for my wife. She has taught me how to trust again.

for my friends. It is good to be surrounded by people who make you feel loved.

for the children I have been privileged to watch grow into adults. We don't have children, so it is nice to have friends and family who do. We can worry about them, cheer for them, feel disappointed for them, pray for them and be very proud of them, as if they were our own.

for my dogs. It's good to feel like a rock star when I get home. :)

for the trials. I have learned from them, and have come to a deeper understanding of You through them.

for a job that I enjoy.

for the times that I can look back on and understand that it could ONLY have been Your hand moving. I am overwhelmed with emotion and a sense of awe when I look back.

for the sun sets and sun rises. So much beauty, such a work of art that You have created for us to enjoy, and cause us to burst into praises of You.

Thank you is not enough. But words are so clumsy. Thank you for the forms of art you have created within us that we might give it back to You with a thankful heart.

1 Chronicles 16:8, 16:34
Psalm 9:1, 28:7
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Overwhelming Redemption

God is so amazing. The expression of His love for us in Christ Jesus is almost too much to handle. It is impossible to wrap my brain around it.

I am a lot of things to a lot of people. The thing that I see myself as the most is a disappointment. I let people down. That's what I've always been best at. That's how I see it, anyway.

The one I think I have disappointed the most is God. I fall flat on my face every day. I deny Him with my actions. I honor Him with my lips, but often, my heart is far from Him (Matt. 15:7-9 & Isaiah 29:13-14). But it's not just me. It's all of us. We have all fallen short (Romans 3:23).

There is one person in the bible that I love to read about. Simon Peter. His story is so wonderful. His is the story that makes God's grace so real for me. Peter is the one who helps me accept that God does love me and that God's mercy's really are new every morning.

Jesus had several conversations with His hard headed disciple Peter. There is one conversation that Peter would never forget. A memory that haunted Peter, yet one that he treasured.(Luke 22:31-32 & Matthew 26:31-34)
In my own words:
Jesus: "Peter, Satan wants to break you. I have prayed that you will be able to handle it and be even stronger when it's all said and done."
Peter: "I'm ready to take whatever comes. I'm following you no matter what no matter where."
Jesus: "Before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times."
Peter: "Never happen."

Peter did deny that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75). I can see in my mind's eye. That moment. That horrible moment. That eternal moment when time stood still. That moment after the third denial and the rooster crowing and our Sovereign Lord turning and looking right at Peter. That moment when their eyes locked, and they were the only two men on the planet. That moment....oh, that eternal agonizing moment. Defining. That is what I would call a moment like that.

But wait, there's more...

Jesus took up His life again (John 10:17-18) and when the women came to find the stone rolled away, an angel greeted them. He said to go tell the disciples and Peter. (Mark 16:1-7) Wow! ...and Peter. That is significant. That is something to chew on for a while. It is, for me, pregnant with meaning.

And then when two of the guys were leaving Jerusalem, they had an encounter with Jesus, and according to them, Jesus had appeared to Simon Peter. (Luke 24:34) I would love to know what was said in that conversation.

Oh, man! The gospels present us with such a wonderful picture of redemption in Simon Peter. We are forgiven! (Romans 3:24-25) Forgiven and clean before our God! (Romans 8:1)

Sorry to ramble so. It is just overwhelming to think about. I have failed so many times. I find it so hard to forgive myself for my failures. When I read about Peter, I am strengthened. I can once again take hold of the hope that is held out by our Great King. I can encourage others with this very story.

Standing Firm

I was hit with a thought today while I was discussing some of the news of the day with some co-workers over lunch.

We were talking about the current political climate. I don't mind saying that I am very much a conservative where politics are concerned. But I am a Christian first and foremost.

I began thinking that the United States may soon become a country where Christianity is not welcome. Christian views and literature are already banned from most public schools and government facilities. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all surprised by this. Jesus said that the world would hate those of us who follow Him, because they hate Him. (John 15:18-21)

I have always told my wife that if the United States ever turned against Israel, we were going to move to Israel. The thought I was hit with today at lunch was that if our government in the United States does turn against Israel, we have an obligation to stay here. A duty to set aside our pride and political views for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, that is where our true citizenship is.

We should stay and endure whatever we must endure for the sake of Christ Jesus, for the furthering of His Kingdom. Because of what the bible teaches about shining our light so that the ones who are groping in the darkness can see the hope that Jesus holds out. Because of what suffering accomplishes in us. (Romans 5:3-5)

There is a selfish reason that I had as well. When everything is said and done, and we are in Heaven, standing in abject awe of our King, we will hear the words from His mouth. "Well done" Wow!

There are some promises that He made as well. There will be an award ceremony.
Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17,2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21, and best of all 21:7. Take a few minutes and check those out. Very exciting!

God is AWESOME!

Forward This

Every once in a while, I'll get an email that tells a story that will really tug on my heart strings.

At the end of the story, there is a series of what I call 'Christian Cliches'. Then the phrase the irritates me more than almost anything else. (You've probably already guessed) "If you love God, you will forward this email." Or some variation thereof.

Before you forward that email, please stop and think for a second. King Jesus gave us a little bit different litmus test for whether we love Him or not. In John 14:15, He said that if we loved Him, we would obey His commands.

Before King Jesus made that statement, He issued a new commandment. In John 13:34-35, He commanded that we love one another as He has loved us, and that by our love for one another, people would know that we were His followers.

King Jesus said that the whole law and the prophets were tied to one thing; that we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:36-40)

I don't think forwarding an email will prove anything to God. I think all it proves is that there are some unrepentant pharisees out there who try to make us feel guilty for not making their email famous.

Matthew 11:29

The book of Job is such a beautiful and powerful work. God used the life of Job
to teach a lesson. He shows us that He is the mighty God, that He is sovereign (Isaiah 45:9-12) and that He is merciful (Jeremiah 32:37-41), and that He will restore His children (Job 42:10-17).

We see in the life of Job that God allows us to develop a deeply intimate
relationship with Him by trusting Him in all circumstances, especially in the adverse
circumstances. It's easier to trust Him when everything is going well, but when things take an ugly turn, trust isn't such a safe and simple word anymore. It becomes a complicated and terrifying concept.

It is my opinion that God calls on us to humble ourselves all through the bible so
that we will be able to trust Him more. When our circumstances get tough and
everything seems be falling apart, it is then that pride can become easily measured. Pride insists that there has got to be some way to fix whatever is wrong. Pride explains why it is silly to just trust God to provide the way out and why you have to do it yourself. Pride slowly drains away hope in an unending struggle to find the answer (Proverbs 16:18, Jeremiah 17:5-6).

Humility understands that circumstances are not in our control, and never were.
Trusting in the Lord is the ONLY way to stop the out of control downward spiral that we see in our lives from time to time. When we learn to trust in Him completely, what
seemed like absolute chaos and hopelessness before is now excitement and hope.

When we learn to trust in Him completely, we can relax and know that He is in complete control (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Once we reach the point where we can humble ourselves enough to trust Him
completely, we have also come to the point where the Holy Spirit has something to work with. We can begin to grow in our relationship with Him and begin to learn the deeper things of God. We can say that before, we heard of Him, but now our eyes have seen Him.

GOD is AWESOME!!

Beyond All Reason

Sometimes when I think about what Jesus gave for us, it is overwhelming. When I think of why He gave His life for us, speaking for myself, it is simply mind blowing.
John 3:16 is a small verse in the bible, but has enormous meaning. It speaks volumes about God’s love for us. I have trouble thinking about God’s love for me sometimes. God loves me?!? How!!
The Messianic prophecies are pregnant with the very emotions of God. The depth of His love for us is amazing to me. Isaiah 53 says a lot about what Jesus went through for us.
It’s mind boggling! Again and again I slap Him in the face with my actions, again and again I betray Him with my conversations, again and again I stab at His heart with my thoughts. Over and over again, the sin in my life runs ramped! But He loves me. How can I be expected to understand?
I can only believe Him and accept His amazing gift of salvation. His love for me, for you, for all of us is, without a doubt....beyond all reason.

A Beautiful Person

Just a quick note about the person I married.

I don't know if she would want this story told or not, but I'm gonna.

My wife Cheryl came home and told me this story:

In the lady's room where she works, there is a spider web in one corner of the room. Every day, when she went in there, she would notice this spider tending to it's egg sack. She noticed this every day for several days.
One day, she walked in and saw the empty web and untended eggs. She looked down and saw the spider on the floor, dead.
She said that she felt so sad about that. She worried about the baby spiders. She said that she just wanted to weep for the poor spider that had worked so hard to protect the babies she would never see.

Her story moved me. I know it may sound silly to some. But it only reminded me of why I love her so much. My wife is a beautiful person inside and outside. She has such a loving and caring heart. She has a unique gift to feel pain for others. She genuinely mourns the loss with others, and has real compassion.....even for a dead spider.

I have been blessed to actually marry my soul mate.

I love you, Cheryl.