Something Everyone Can Afford
Father, I come before You this evening and humbly ask to have You pull me up into Your lap. I’m not overwhelmed with anxiety regarding school starting back this coming Tuesday, but it is starting to nibble at the edges of my mind. I know I will find peace in Your arms and that You are with me always! Thank You, Father.
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Recently a pastor friend of mine shared a post of a friend of hers and I thought it was very inspirational. I was given permission by the author to share it. He asked to remain anonymous, so I am honoring his wishes.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were in a community in which we used to live and drove by our old house. This is the house we lived in before moving to where we live now. We rented it from Mr. and Mrs. Herron, a kind, elderly couple who lived across the street.
Mr. and Mrs. Herron bought this house because the neighborhood was getting less safe, and they wanted to rent it to someone they knew and trusted. We all attended the same church, and when they approached us about living there, we were excited! This house was a palace compared to our tiny apartment.
So, we moved in and developed a caring relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Herron. We looked out for them and they looked out for us.
Meanwhile, my job wasn’t going so well. I had taken a job as an insurance salesman for a large company in another state, writing pre-need contracts for funeral homes in our area. The leads the company provided dried up, and eventually so did my paychecks.
So, we were living on my wife’s small salary as a secretary for a local doctor. The bills were piling up – a student loan, a car payment hospital bills from two surgeries my wife had had, rent. Our debt was overtaking us like a tidal wave.
Just as we were losing hope, an old acquaintance of mine asked me to come home and become his partner at the local funeral home. I needed a stable job with a stable future. So, I accepted his offer.
Before we left our house, Mr. Herron came over to say goodbye. And he handed me a check. It was a check for all the rent we paid over the two years we lived in the house. He said we needed that money to start our new life. We were so overwhelmed that we could barely speak. It is one of the kindest gestures ever made to me and my wife.
We are all tenants on God’s earth. And we are all drowning in debt because of our sin. But God offers to pay our debt and give us a fresh start.
The Bible says this:
Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt… But God forgave us of that debt. He took [that debt] away and nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 ERV
Jesus paid our debts…with His life. To give us a fresh start. To give us a stable future. It is the kindest gesture ever made to mankind. And if you accept His loving gesture, all you’ll owe Him is a debt of gratitude. And that’s something everyone can afford.
Sept 6th, 2020, Sun, 8:31 pm
Humble Yourself
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread? Psalm 25:1 AMP
Father, You are all I need!
Luke 14:7-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
Pondering on humility is a difficult thing. Trying to come up with some pensive life experience has been unproductive in the, almost hour now, that I have sat here. I have looked at things, I have looked up things, but with scant results.
I wouldn’t say that I am not humble but to think that I am humble, smacks of pride, and a lack of humility. So, I will move on…but maybe not so fast.
In looking up Biblical definitions, I came across one on the Doug Britton Books website. It said,
Godly humility is being comfortable with who you are in the Lord and therefore putting others first. The picture of humility in the Bible is one of a strong person who loves others, not someone who is a wimp.
Sitting here contemplating examples of humility, someone special to me comes to mind. She would be absolutely mortified to think I would associate her with being a model of humility. But as I read through the above definition, she fits it to a T!
At this point in life, she has a couple of years under her belt. But in all her years she has lived out her love for her Lord. She is as close as one can get to Him and her life reflects it. She is diligent in maintaining her relationship with Him, but she would not hesitate to say, “I am His and He is mine.”
In pretty much every aspect of her life, and many of those have been spent in ministry, she has always been about putting others before herself. Other’s needs are addressed before her own. If there was only one piece of pie in the tin, she’d make sure that you took it. She doesn’t take pride in it, it’s just the way she is.
She is a strong daughter of Christ who loves others with all her heart.
In today’s passage, the poor Pharisees with whom Jesus was dining were so far down into the pit of pride that he gave them a couple of baby steps to take to start moving them in the right direction.
He suggested instead of being humiliated by being asked to step down from an honored seat, that if they would sit at the least honored seat, then they may very well be asked to move up.
Jesus works with us all, right where we’re at! Even the notorious Pharisees were loved by Jesus and He at least got them thinking. You’ve got to start somewhere!
Jesus concludes His directive on humility by saying,
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted.” v11 AMP
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote,
Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose]. James 4:10 AMP
Don’t be like the Pharisees, instead be like the godly lady I spoke of earlier. Amen.
Sept 3rd, 2020, Thurs, 7:10 pm
Loving as We Should
As we are readying ourselves for what this new school year may be, Father, it was so nice to get away with my favorite girl for the day! Thank You for keeping us safe and giving us a wonderful day of just being together away from all the craziness heading our way – at least for a little while!
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There is a topic on which I have written numerous times, and that is my role as a husband. You would think after 34 years I would have it down pat, but nope, nowhere close! I think I have come a long way, but I sure have a long way to go!
The Apostle Paul admonishes husbands in Ephesians 5:25-30. Here is verse 25,
Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her… AMP
I pray about my relationship often and when I really focus on my prayers and seek the Lord’s direction, I know I do better. But it is so easy to slip back into the clueless void that many men live in.
Example #1: Karen does a wonderful job of preparing our meals. I should play a bigger part, but my brain far too often steers me to sit at the laptop working on church stuff or to even just lay on the couch reading. Most times I don’t even think about it, though I have to admit that there are times where it crosses my mind to help but it’s a fleeting thought that easily gets shuffled to the bottom of the deck!
It’s not that I should take over but setting the table does not require an advanced degree in Home Economics! I do help her on occasion by doing what I can – grabbing ingredients for the meal from the pantry or the fridge (and putting them back where I found them!), setting the table, carrying the food and drinks to the table, helping clear the table when we are done, etc. Just talking with her as she does her thing would be an act of love!
Example #2: Sometimes we are both guilty of this, but I by far am the more guilty. I am addicted to my phone/tablet! One or the other seems to be permanently attached to my hand! Recently I have been trying to make a point of leaving it to charge while we eat. Often at the end of a long day, we will be in the living room and both of us have our faces in our phones.
Yeah, it has some entertainment value, but what is more important watching full-grown men drop a bowling ball off a dam trying to get it to hit a trampoline far, far below them…or loving my wife. And loving my wife means giving her attention – not just hearing her but listening to her! It means doing things that show her I love and cherish her. She loves to have her back scratched! She likes to have her shoulders massaged – and those things need to be done with no strings attached! No paybacks should be expected!
I inserted the quote from Ephesians specifically from the Amplified Bible because it fills out Paul’s directive, giving us no excuse as to what we men should be doing.
Love is not just a note we jot down on a birthday or anniversary card or a word that comes out of our mouths on occasion. It is an action word! Loving our wives means seeking the highest good for her. We’re not necessarily talking monetary value here. She deserves, first and foremost, the best of us that we can give her!
Our unselfish love should show itself in how we treat her, how we think about her, where we place her on our list of priorities. Oh, now I might be stepping on some toes. Is my wife more important than my downtime activities? …than the things that I feel are necessary to let off steam?
Men, we are called to love our wives as Christ also loved the church. And how did He do that? He gave Himself up for her…
The New Living Translation puts it like this, He gave up his life for her. Paul goes on to say we should love our wives in the same way we love ourselves.
Do you love golf? Love your wife more. Do you love reading? Love your wife more. Do you love work? Please…love your wife more. You love your phone, and your friends, and your free time? Please, please…love your wife more.
Lord Jesus, help us to, first of all, lift up our wives in prayer – they need it. And may we sacrifice ourselves on Your altar, giving up our selfish desires and giving ourselves over to loving our wives as we should. Amen.
Sept 2nd, 2020, Tue, 8:34 pm
Transplant Needed
It has been a day of diligence, Father, but much was accomplished in getting ready for the beginning of the school year. Thank You, for the progress I made.
Luke 14:1-6 (<<click here to read the passage)
Did you ever hear the story about the pastor who was invited to have dinner with one of his church families? There were several older children in the home and the mother had laid out a wonderful spread of delicious foods. The main course was broiled pork chops and they were out of this world! Things were wrapping up and there just happened to be one pork chop left on the platter. The pastor was eyeing it but was hesitant to take it. All of a sudden the lights when out and the room went dark! Out of the darkness, there arose a blood-curdling scream and then the lights popped back on. There sat the pastor in excruciating pain with his hand over the pork chop and a half dozen forks protruding from his hand!
Now the pastor wasn’t deliberately set up for this situation, but he definitely became the victim of the circumstances!
In today’s passage, Jesus was invited to a leading Pharisee’s home for a meal. And their goal was nefarious! The Amplified Bible states,
“…they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him].” v1
First of all, to me, that just sounds nasty! They really didn’t care who He was. They had no intention of learning anything from Him. The just wanted to get rid of Him…so they set Him up.
Strategically placed right “in front of Him was a man who had dropsy (extreme swelling).” v2 AMP
Today this poor man may have been diagnosed with edema (retention of fluid). Many people struggle with it. This condition usually occurs in your feet, legs, or ankles. However, it can also occur in your hands, your face, or any other part of the body.
It can be attributed to heart failure, kidney disease, liver issues, such as cirrhosis, thyroid disorders – to name just a few serious illnesses with which an individual could be dealing.
That’s serious stuff! But that was of no concern to the “religious” leadership. That poor man was just a tool to be used to meet the desired end.
Of course, Jesus knew what they were up to. So, He flat out asked them,
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” v3
The rats that they were, were caught in their own trap. What were they to say? They wanted to yell, “No!” but they knew Jesus’ take on it so “they kept silent.”
Jesus not thwarted in the least, “took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way.” v4
Then Jesus turned to those ne’er-do-wells and said, and the New Living Translation puts it so well,
“Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” v5
It is easy to wonder how their vision could have become so skewed! The purveyors of the Law were totally out of touch with the Law. Sure, they could rattle off all kinds of questions and answers, but it was all in their heads, and very little, if any, had trickled down to their hearts.
Deuteronomy 9:10 tells us that the core of the Law, the Ten Commandments, were given to Moses on “two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” AMP The problem was our hearts became stone. That was not God’s intent.
Eventually, through the words of Ezekiel the prophet, God said,
“I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26b NLT
Lord Jesus, we need a heart transplant! Write Your words on our hearts so that we may not just know them but that we may live them! Amen!
Sept 1st, 2020, Tues, 7:28 pm
Love Doesn’t Hesitate
Your love for me is unfathomable, Father. To even begin to take in a snippet of it overwhelms me! May I rest in Your arms, basking in the wonder of it all! Amen!
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Does love ever give you pause? Do you ever ask yourself why you love? Or maybe why you should continue loving?
As I sit here in my ponderings, it came to me that one of the few people on earth who could possibly love without a single ounce of hesitation would be a mom – especially a new mom.
In earlier years I interacted with many young women, some still in school (as their pastor or a father of a classmate) and a few, that come to mind, were just out of high school (with whom I worked at Kohl’s). In the last year or so, these women have become mothers. I am friends with them on Facebook and have followed their discourses prior to birth and now afterward.
I’m not excluding new dads, but we would all have to admit that there is a most sacred connection between a mom and her child. Many, as they share, are in awe of it all! They simply cannot fathom the beauty, the perfection that they hold so gently in their arms.
Now for many even as their children grow, the awe remains…not all mind you, but many. Yet as the years advance, life happens, and…that love can wane. Things are said. Things are done. And what is left in the aftermath is changed.
Does love ever give you pause? Do you ever ask yourself why you love? Or maybe why you should continue loving?
A mother’s love can remain immovable. But I would think, though it may never be spoken, and though it may be quickly shut out of mind and heart, thoughts streak across those hearts and minds on rare occasions.
But I will say this, I do know of Someone for whom love never gives pause. He never asks himself why He loves. The farthest thing from His mind is why He should continue loving.
I want this next sentence to stand alone. This is the one that impacted me so strongly this morning.
God’s love doesn’t hesitate
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus shared the story of the lost son, better known as the prodigal. I’m sure it will come up again when I get to this passage in a few weeks (it’s only a couple of chapters away!) but there’s one line I want to point out.
And while [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. v20 NLT
…he ran to his son…
He didn’t have to think about it. He didn’t pause. The father was looking for his son – he saw him coming! He didn’t hesitate. He ran!
I don’t know who is reading this today, but someone out there needs to hear this loud and clear, God loves you. He always has…
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us…” Ephesians 1:4 NLT
…and He always will!
“I have loved you…with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
I love a line from a song by a newer Contemporary Christian group, Sidewalk Prophets. It says,
Wherever you are, whatever you did
It’s a page in your book, but it isn’t the end
(If you’d like to listen to the whole song, here’s the link: Prodigal)
Though we may find ourselves in the midst of overwhelming storms, cling to this irrevocable truth – God loves you!
Aug 31st, 2020, Mon, 8:06 pm