Calling All Husbands!
This a post from the end of 2015 but I wanted to reshare it, especially with Father’s Day this Sunday. Yesterday, Karen and I celebrated Anniversary 32!
You have greatly blessed me, Father. It would be very difficult to make a list of my blessings without missing something, I am sure. But one of my most cherished blessings is Karen. 35 years ago You orchestrated our coming together. And though we have been through good times and bad You have been with us. With Your holding us so close to You, You’ve held us close to each other. Thank You so much for answered prayers. I have never been a perfect companion but You continue to work on me and I still ask of You that I will continue to strive to be th
e husband she deserves. Help me, each day, to see her through Your eyes, to love her with Your heart, to enfold her with Your arms. Help us to be the couple You have called us to be – to impact our world with the Good News of which we are so blessed to be a part. Thank You, Father.
And, Father, at this moment I would pray for husbands that I know in particular. Some men have been husbands for many years, help them to cherish the time they have remaining. Help them to continue to give themselves over to You so they will be able to sacrificially love their wives no matter what life throws at them, illness, disease, loss of mental faculties. Help them to “be strong through the grace that God gives [them] in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1 For sometimes we have to be strong for her and for ourselves.
Then I would pray for those husbands going through the transitions of life – changes in body, changes into “empty-nester” mode. Every stage of life has its challenges – we can remain victorious when we remain in You!
Then lastly this morning Father I would pray for young husbands. I know so many who are still basically newlyweds. New lives together, new additions to be loved as well. Father may You be with these young men – sojourners on a new great adventure! Give them strength, give them fortitude. Early on may they find that dependence upon You will change everything for the best. The sooner they grasp that truth the better.
Father, help us all to give ourselves over to You so that You can use us to touch the lives of those around us. In and through You, we can change the world!
Oct 31st, Sat, 8:41 am
More than Just Acquaintances
It was a long, full day, Father. It is late (for me) but I want to take time to sit with You for a while. Bless our time together. Amen.
Matthew 17:1-13 (<<click the green)
An interesting thing about this passage, known as the Transfiguration, is that Jesus met with Moses and Elijah. There are lots of important things happening here but one thing that stands out to me is that the Creator of everything that is glorified before three chosen disciples and meets with two men. Not angels… Not any other heavenly beings… But two men!
Yes, they were glorified, as well, but they were two men. They were representative of the eras in which they had served – Moses, the receiver of the Law (the old covenant) and author of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and Elijah, a representative of the prophets who foretold of the coming Messiah.
They were definitely great men but no so more than we can be. They were obedient – though not always willingly (Moses especially needed convincing!) – but they followed God’s directive and fulfilled God’s will while living on this earth.
Moses and Elijah, both, had a relationship with Jesus. They weren’t just acquaintances or associates who met over the water cooler. They had an intimate relationship with their Lord and Savior! Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross didn’t just meet the need of his contemporaries and those that followed – his blood covers all believers from the beginning of time to the end of it.
And, Lord Jesus, we have that kind of relationship, too! All of us can! Not one single person is exempt! If we willing accept Your free gift of salvation we, too, can have a deep, intimate relationship with the Creator of all that is!
Thank You, Lord, for loving me! Thank You for giving all You gave to save me! Draw me closer every day to Your side! Amen!
June 13th, 2018, Wed, 10:09 pm
Beneficiary of the Details
As I sit here gazing out my window, Father, I am in awe of all You have done! Some may ask why? My eyes behold the grass of our lawn, neatly trimmed, the cattails in the drainage ditch across the road, the field, with its crop of soybeans just coming out of the ground, a line of trees thick and green, and a sky of gray, dense with clouds. Green, brown and gray – no vibrant colors, no obvious wildlife, no flowing streams…just a relatively mundane scene but, Father, Your hand is behind it all!
We can have some influence on it but ultimately You are in charge. We can plant, we can trim but in the end, You cause the plants to grow and multiply. We can make educated guesses as to what the weather might be – and sometimes we get it right – but can we remove a single cloud from the sky?
You are my Creator, the Creator of everything I see! Nothing exists beyond Your will. Every intricate piece of this world was designed by You. Nothing is mundane to You. You are a God of complexity and I am the beneficiary of the details! Praise Your Holy Name, oh my God!
June 12th, 2018, Tues, 6:52 am
Off the Hook?
I am so grateful for another good night’s rest, Father. Your blessings are all around me and I readily give forth my praise!
Matthew 16:27 (<<click the green)
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done. AMP
When time is no more we will stand before Christ – every person who has ever been brought into existence since time began will be there. Verse 27 here makes it very clear that “He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done.”
My study Bible* puts it very clearly,
“Although (Christ’s) judgment is already working in our lives, there is a future, final judgment when Christ returns and everyone’s life will be reviewed and evaluated. This will not be confined to unbelievers; Christians, too, will face judgment. Their eternal destiny is secure, but Jesus will look at how they handled gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities in order to determine their heavenly rewards.”
Just because we have accepted Jesus as our Savior doesn’t mean we’re off the hook. Just because He has extended an invitation to give us rest, he’s not saying we can spiritually take it easy for the rest of our lives. The invitation of rest involves a shared yoke where we can learn from Him. (Matthew 11:28-30)
We are to be growing and learning and doing! We are to be becoming more like our Savior each day – reading His word and listening to what He has to say to us and then acting upon His direction. He is there all along the way. The world is dying to know Him – literally! – and we the hands and feet to get the word out! Burden our hearts, Lord Jesus, and may we be doers and not just listeners! (James 1:22) Amen.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
June 11th, 2018, Mon, 6:13 am
Am I Forfeiting My Soul?
A day of variety it has been, Father. Thank You for Your direction and the infilling of Your love throughout. Where would I be without You?
Matthew 16:24-28 (<<click the green)
For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? vs 25, 26 AMP
So many dream of wealth, fame, and success but when those things are acquired are they really any better off? In the last few days, two people of note in popular culture have made the choice to end their own lives. I am in no place to pass judgment on where they will spend eternity – only God can do that. I do not know either of them personally. In fact, I had to look them both up to see who they were.
Both had experienced wealth, fame and success – in abundance even. But in the end, did it make any difference? Apparently not. It grieves me to realize that even though there were people around them who loved them and would have done anything for them, it simply wasn’t enough.
What about me? In comparison to the rest of the world, I would probably be considered a person of wealth. More than just a couple of people know who I am, and those individuals come from a variety of areas in the entirety of my life. So I may have a modicum of fame. I have also had my share of success. It is by no means flamboyant but what I have done I feel I have done fairly well – at least that has been my goal. But if I add that all up, are those components worth all that much? Not really.
One thing of value that I have done is to accept a gift. I could not pay for it. I could not earn it. It was freely offered to me and I accepted it. The picture for today’s post was my closing PowerPoint slide for my services today. It says it all.
Lord Jesus, I choose to lose my life for Your sake so that I will find it – that is, so I will find life with You for all eternity – nothing else matters. Amen.
June 10th, 2018, Sun, 8:47 pm