Happy Mother's Day - 2020!

Genesis 2:22 says, "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man."  Genesis 2:24 goes on to say, "This is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."  God created the man and the woman in His image, and He breathed the breath of life into them.  He blessed them and told them to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.  God's plans and purposes for this world are beautiful and wonderful!

This Sunday, May 10, 2020, we are celebrating "Mother's Day."  As children, we are thankful.  We are thankful to God for life that He has formed.  As the Psalmist says in Psalm 139:13-14, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  I thank God for the breath of life that is in me.  I thank God for knitting me together in my mother's womb, for creating my inmost being.  On this "Mother's Day," I thank God for my mother, Pat, who carried me and brought me into this world.  I thank God for my late mother-in-law, Trudy.  And I thank God for the mother of my children, Marty.  God has blessed my life with these women who have shown me kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and so much more!  I praise God today for His beautiful and wonderful plans and purposes for this world.  And I praise God today by honoring mothers.  Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Birthday, Francie!

On May 5, 1998, God blessed us with Francie Caroline Thomas!  Francie, we thank God for you!  You have been, you are, and you always will be a blessing to our family.  We have enjoyed watching you grow...from that little girl who loved Tinker Bell to that little girl who could make a really good mean face to that young lady who loves NYC as much as her dad to that young lady who is incredible talented and artistic...and so much more!  Your mom and I pray for you each day, and we cannot wait to see what God has in store for your future.  Just remember to always trust Him in everything and glorify Him with your life.  Hold tight to this verse from the Bible, and you will do fine: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4:23

We sure do love you, and we hope you have a great 22nd birthday!

A Passionate Overflow

Over the past few weeks, I've been digging into many of the Psalms.  This morning I am reading Psalm 84.  What an amazing and heart-tugging Psalm!!!  The first two verses set the tone of the entire Psalm.  Psalm 84:1-2 says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!  My soul YEARNS, even FAINTS, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh CRY OUT for the living God."  The psalmist goes on to say in Psalm 84:10, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of MY GOD than dwell in the tents of the wicked."

I don't know about you, but I want my life to be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW of glory for God and to God!  Thanks be to Jesus, I am a child of God.  I am in a personal and intimate relationship with God, and because of His presence in my heart, I can never be the same!  His love has changed and is changing me from the inside out.  I don't want my relationship with God to be a DAILY HABIT; I want it to be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW.  Daily habit is about what I am doing; it is about me making changes in me.  Passionate overflow is about what God has done, is doing, and will do; it is about God making changes in me.  Daily habit is about routine, and though routine can be good, it can also become more about my efforts than about God's love and amazing grace.  Daily habit can limit the opportunities in my life, whereas passionate overflow can lead to unlimited possibilities in my life.  Speaking of daily habit, Demas was a co-laborer with Paul.  We find a striking comment about Demas in 2 Timothy 4.  Listen to what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:9-12 about Demas and other co-laborers in the gospel: "Do your best to come to me quickly; FOR DEMAS, BECAUSE HE LOVED THIS WORLD, HAS DESERTED ME and has gone to Thessalonica.  Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.  Only Luke is with me.  Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry."  Several of Paul's co-laborers were separated from him in ministry because of their specific calling and assignments.  However, Demas was separated from Paul and from ministry BECAUSE HE LOVED THIS WORLD.  Demas didn't just get separated from Paul; he DESERTED Paul.  It seems to me that his work was more about his daily habits than a passionate overflow of glory for God and to God.  When you look at Paul, you can see that this was once a problem he encountered.  Before his "Demascus road experience," Saul had a daily habit of knowing and keeping the law.  However, when Jesus met him on that road to Damascus and changed him from the inside out, Paul's life became a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW!  God poured Himself into Paul, and God pours Himself into us as believers.  Our hearts and lives can then become an overflow of God's transforming love and amazing grace and awesome mercy!  We can live and love and be vessels of glory for God and to God!

I thank God for Jesus!  I thank God for His overwhelming presence in my life!  Like the psalmist in Psalm 84 says, "My soul YEARNS, even FAINTS, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh CRY OUT for the living God."  Father, may my life be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW of glory for You and to You.  Amen.

Wednesday in the Word - 4.15.2020

Wednesday in the Word - 4.8.2020