The Way I Respond

 

On may way to lunch today, I listened to my "2021 Worship" playlist.  I was able to listen to a couple of songs before I reached my destination.  I listened to "RATTLE!" by Elevation Worship and "House of the Lord" by Phil Wickham.  And yes, I did get loud in my truck singing to my Jesus!  Before I got out of my truck, I thanked God for His presence in my life.  I asked Him to use me for His glory in any way possible.

After I sat down, the waitress told me the kitchen was a little slow, and she asked me to be patient with them.  I told her not to worry about a thing.  After I ordered, it took a little while to get my sweet tea.  It took even longer to get my appetizer.  I heard some grumbling around me, and, no, it was not stomachs grumbling for food; rather, the grumbling I heard came from the mouths of people because they were frustrated with their service.  And I do understand, it was taking a lot longer than it should have taken for us to get our drinks and our food.  However, my waitress was just as nice as she could be, and I had already decided in my heart that I was going to treat her with respect and be patient with her.  

A couple entered after me and sat at the table next to me.  As you might guess, they received their food before I did.  I have to be honest with you and say that I was not happy about that.  I was curious how they could receive their food so quickly, but just then my food came out of the kitchen and was placed on my table.  As you might guess again, there was a piece of my food missing from my plate.  As the waitress came out, she asked if everything was fine.  I politely showed her my plate and told her that one of my items was missing.  She apologized and corrected the problem.  

I thank God for the praise and worship session I experienced in my truck on the way to lunch today.  There is no way that I would have been patient and respectful had I not been focused on the Lord, had I not prayed and asked Him to use me for His glory.  I thank God for enabling and empowering me to live Colossians 4:5-6 out loud today.  Paul says, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."  Did I have a right to upset about the service? Maybe so.  Did I have a right to grumble and complain about the service?  Maybe so.  Just because I may or may not have had the right to do those things doesn't mean that I had to do those things.  I made a choice in how I responded to my circumstances.  The way I respond to my circumstances not only impacts me, but it also impacts those around me.  Another couple on the other side of me must have been watching and listening.  They told me that I showed great patience and was very polite.  I told them that I had prayed about honoring God before I ever walked in and that God gave me the opportunity.  

I wish I could say that this is the way I have always responded or that this is the way that I always will respond.  I have blown it in the past by being selfish and disrespectful.  I am thankful for God's grace to me and for second chances.  I am thankful that God has shown me in His Word that the way I respond really does matter...in the big things, in the small things...in all things!  Do what you have to do today to be God's funnel of grace, mercy, and love to others.  Have a praise and worship session in your truck, in your house, at your desk, or wherever you are.  Pray for it.  And be ready, because God will give you the opportunity!  Make the most of it!

Happy 17th Birthday, Katie!

 

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." - Jeremiah 17:7

Katie, we love you and are very proud of you!  We hope that you have a great day today, your 17th birthday!  It has been a joy watching you grow up.  You make us laugh so much, and laughter is something we all need desperately.  Keep on being the person who God created you to be, and remember to trust in Lord always and put your confidence in Him.  May you not only be blessed, but may you also be a blessing!

Good? Not even close!

According to Merriam-Webster, "pressure" is "the application of force to something by something else in direct contact with it."  "Squeeze," according to Merriam-Webster, is "to exert pressure on or compression against another object."  As I think about these words, "pressure" and "squeeze," I can't help but think about one of my favorite commercials by Minute Made.  In one of their commercials, they use this incredible line: "Put good in; get good out."  The commercials shows an orange being squeezed with that amazing juice flowing into a glass.  This is making me thirsty for some Minute Maid orange juice just thinking about it!

I am convinced that we are feeling much pressure in our world today; we are being squeezed by the circumstances of life.  If you look at social media, read the news, or watch much television, you probably see and hear much of the same that I see and hear.  People are being as mean and rude to one another as ever before.  I had a conversation recently with someone, and we didn't agree with each other's opinions.  However, we were not rude; we did not raise our voices.  We just chose to disagree in a pleasantly.  One thing I said was this: "I am not perfect, but neither are you.  I am not always right, but neither are you.  I am not always wrong, but neither are you."  With that being said, we both agreed on this one thing: We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  Romans 3:10 says, "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one.'"  Romans 3:11-18 goes on to say, "There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.  Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.  There is no fear of God before their eyes."  I am convinced that many of us, if not all of us, think we are good.  GOOD?  NOT EVEN CLOSE!  The Bible tells us the truth about ourselves apart from God.  "There is no one righteous, not even one."  "There is no one who does good, not even one."  

The pressure we are feeling and the squeeze that is being put on us reveals what is truly inside of our hearts.  Apart from God - His love, grace, and mercy - we are doomed because we are sinful!  If Romans 3:10-18 was all the truth that we had, it would be a tragedy with only death and destruction in the end.  However, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can repent of our sin and be forgiven.  By God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we can "put off" the old clothes (the old self) and "put on" the new clothes (the new self).  As God's children in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and freed from the penalty and the bondage of sin!  We don't stand before God in our own righteousness because we don't have righteousness in and of ourselves.  We stand before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  The Minute Maid commercial says, "Put good in; get good out."  If we want to truly be good to one another, we need the only One who is good - Jesus.  If we want to truly love God and love one another, we need the One who is love - Jesus.  In a world that is full of darkness, hate, and pure evil, we need light, love, and goodness.  As Christ followers, we have that light, love, and goodness in us by way of the Holy Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ!  That is something to celebrate, but that is also something to live out loud!  We are children of God, but we are also ambassadors of God in this world. 

Lord, help me be a vessel of Your light, love, and goodness to others.  Even in disagreement, help me treat others with kindness and respect and love.  Help me each and every day to show others Your heart and Your ways by denying myself and taking up the cross and following You.  Lord, I desperately need You.  I trust You, and I trust Your Word to me.  I rely on Your love and Your Spirit within me. Greater are You in me than he who is in the world.  May Your kingdom come.  May Your will be done.  Amen.

Happy 29th Anniversary, Marty!

 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." - Psalm 107:1

God has been so good to me.  When I was 13 years old, I repented of my sin and asked Jesus Christ to save me.  God's love, grace, and mercy has overwhelmed me over and over again throughout my life.  Back in 1989, God allowed me to cross paths with Marty Ann Hill, and we've been on the same path ever since then.  On August 14th, 1992, she became Marty Ann Hill Thomas, and it has been an incredible journey ever since.  

Happy 29th Anniversary, Marty!  I love you so much!  You show me the love of God in so many ways, and I am truly thankful for you.  Each and every day that I wake up, I thank God for you!  My prayer is that God gives us many more years together and many more days for me to wake up and give thanks to God for you!

We Are God's Handiwork

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Ephesians 2:1-10.  While we were dead in our sins, God reached down and made us alive in Jesus!  Only God could save us, and He did save us through the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus!  That is good news for you and for me.  That is good news that we should be overwhelmed by each and every day that we live.  God, who is rich in mercy and full of grace, loves us so much that He would send His one and only Son to live for us and die for us.  Paul goes on to tell us in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.  For WE ARE GOD'S HANDIWORK, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

I've been thinking about this passage of Scripture a lot lately, especially the words, "WE ARE GOD'S HANDIWORK."  My wife and I love our children; we thank God for our children.  However, there are many times that we forget a very simple truth: Our children are GOD'S HANDIWORK.  Think about this truth with me for just a moment.  If we are not careful, we can very easily begin to idolize our children and their accomplishments.  If we are not careful, we can very easily begin to use their lives and their accomplishments to glorify ourselves.  This is dangerous for parents, and this is dangerous for children.  Several years ago I wrote down a statement on a little piece of paper.  I found it this morning on my desk, and this is what I wrote: "We are not God's trophies that sin on shelves collecting rust and dust.  WE ARE GOD'S HANDIWORK, created to display His grace and express His kindness in a world that desperately needs to see Him and know Him intimately."  Neither I, my wife, nor my children are trophies.  We don't simply belong to each other; more importantly, we belong to God.  Trophies are inanimate objects; they don't have life; they don't have spirit.  Trophies lack movement and power.  God created us in His image, and He breathed life into us.  God created us for intimate relationship with Him, and He created us in Jesus to do good works that glorify Him.  

Parents, let's remember that the children God has blessed us with belong to Him.  Our children are GOD'S HANDIWORK and not our own.  Our children are created to glorify God and not ourselves or themselves.  And everyone, let's remember that all of us are GOD'S HANDIWORK.  We all belong to Him, and everything we say and do should be for His glory and not our own.  God loves us.  God loves us so much that He has saved us from our sins so that we might have life - full and eternal!  Never forget that WE ARE GOD'S HANDIWORK!