Happy 30th Anniversary, Marty!

I thank God for you, Marty!  I thank God for all the moments we have shared in this life, and there have been so many.  We have been blessed to walk together since we were 14 and 15 years old, and we are still walking together.  Our first date was back in October 1988.  We started calling it official in February 1989.  We were married on August 14, 1992, and we are celebrating our 30th August 14th together!  Wow!  I am thankful for our children, whom God has blessed us to love and to raise together.  I am thankful for you.  You love me deeply and unconditionally.  We are not perfect people, because there are no perfect people.  However, in this life, you are perfectly matched to me by God's great design, and I am so very thankful!  Happy 30th anniversary, Marty!  I love you so very much, and, the Lord willing, I look forward to loving you even more in our future!

 

Love One Another

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  Those three words are powerful.  Those three words are repeated many times in the Bible.  Those three words are what we need desperately today...in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, and in our world!

John uses the phrase, "LOVE ONE ANOTHER," many times in his gospel and in his letters.  In 1 John 3:11, he says, "For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should LOVE ONE ANOTHER."  What kind of love is this?  John explains in 1 John 3:16, by saying, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."  This is not superficial love; this is unconditional, everlasting, sacrificial love!  It is the love of Jesus.  In 1 John 3:1, John exclaims, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!"  As children of God, we have the love of God in us!  He lavished us with His love!  It should be overflowing in our words and in our actions toward one another.   He says again in 1 John 4:7, "Dear friends, let us LOVE ONE ANOTHER, for love comes from God."  He says in verse 8, "God is love."  And he says again in 1 John 4:11, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to LOVE ONE ANOTHER."

How can we be found guilty of this?  I know that sounds contradictory, but if you were taken to court and a judge had to convict you of LOVING ONE ANOTHER, would there be enough evidence to convict?  Would the words you have spoken to others and would the actions you have taken toward others lead a judge to convict you of LOVING ONE ANOTHER?  That is what I have been thinking about a lot this week.  Am I living God's Word out loud?  Are these three words that I see and hear in John's gospel and letters, "LOVE ONE ANOTHER," a part of my life...in my home, in my school, in my workplace, in my world?  What can I do to be found guilty of LOVING ONE ANOTHER?  I can do what John says in 1 John 4:13-16, when he says, "This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."  I can LOVE ONE ANOTHER because God is in me, and God is love.  I can know love and rely on God's love as I speak to others and as I serve others.  It's not my love; it's God's love in me, and it is the love I desperately need and the love our world desperately needs!  

Lord, help me today to be a vessel of Your great love...to my home, to my school, to my workplace, to my community, and to my world.  Help me walk in the knowledge and the experience of Your love.  Help me to rely on Your love all day long.  Amen!

Making Progress

As I continue to train for my first marathon, I remind myself each and every morning of one thing: "I AM MAKING PROGRESS!"  Some mornings I wake up, and I am ready to run.  Other mornings I wake up, and I do not want to get up, much less run.  However, I have a PLAN; I have a PURPOSE; and I have a PASSION.  And I am learning each and every day that PROGRESS comes with my PLAN, with my PURPOSE, and with my PASSION.  And that helps me move forward each day.  I am looking forward to November 6th, 2022, my marathon day!

Marathon training gives me a lot of time to think.  Yesterday, I thought about Joshua while I was running.  I specifically thought about the call Joshua had on his life by God.  God said to Joshua in 1:8-9, "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  God gave Joshua a plan, a purpose, and a passion.  Joshua accepted it.  He embraced the call of God on his life.  Joshua believed the promises that God made to him and to the people of Israel.  By obeying God and faithfully walking with God, Joshua experienced many successes.  Was Joshua perfect?  No.  Were there times when Joshua stumbled, even failed?  Yes.  However, the book of Joshua shows us that Joshua continued to move forward each and every day with God, and he experienced progress.  He had a plan.  He had a purpose.  He had a passion.  By the grace of God and with the presence of God, Joshua lived a prosperous and successful life.

I don't know where you are right now in your walk with God.  I don't even know if you are walking with God.  I do believe what we see in the book of Joshua is true PROGRESS, progress that comes with a plan, a purpose, and a passion that is God-given.  Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord wherever you do, and He will establish your plans."  Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  True progress and true success can be found in knowing who you are in Jesus and embracing the plan, the purpose, and the passion God has given you.  True progress and true success can be experienced in believing God's promise to you and then living that promise out loud!  I encourage you to pray, and I encourage you to be strong and courageous.  The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!  Now, get out there and keep MAKING PROGRESS!

Be Grateful, Be Patient

 

Recently, I began training for a marathon.  This is one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced.  It is difficult in every area of my life: physically, mentally, and yes, spiritually.  I have been using the Nike Run Club app on my phone to prepare for the marathon that I will run in November, Lord willing.  And I must say, I love the coaching that I have at my fingertips with the Nike Run Club app.  One of my favorite coaches is Coach Chris Bennett.  This morning I ran what is called the "Grateful 5K."  As I was running this morning, Coach Bennett reminded me to be GRATEFUL during my run...for so many people and so many things in my life.  He said, "One of the best ways to run and one of the most enjoyable ways to run is running GRATEFULLY."  Coach Bennett said, "The only way to cross the finish line is to step up to the starting line and go!"  And then Coach Bennett said something that I have been thinking about all morning: "Be PATIENT!  Be PATIENT with your run and with yourself."  He even went so far as to say, "This is not just about the running; this is also about living."

I love those two words from my workout this morning: GRATEFUL and PATIENT. God's Word has something to say to us about being GRATEFUL and being PATIENT.  In 2 Peter 3:9, Peters says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead, He is PATIENT with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."  I thank God for His patience.  I thank God for His patience with me.  And if God is patient with me, should I be patient, as well?  Proverbs 14:29 says, "Whoever is PATIENT has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."  Jonah 2:9 says, "But I, with shouts of GRATEFUL praise, will sacrifice to you.  What I have vowed I will make good.  I will say, 'Salvation comes from the Lord.'"  

I don't know about you, but I am GRATEFUL today!  I thank God for His love, His mercy, and His grace in my life!  I thank God for all the blessings of life, especially my family and friends!  I thank God for being PATIENT with me, and I thank God for helping me be PATIENT.  As Coach Bennett reminded me this morning during my run, I am learning how to be PATIENT with my run (journey) and with myself.  And I am learning to be patient with others.  And my prayer for myself and my prayer for you this today is simple: "Lord, helps us be GRATEFUL...help us live GRATEFULLY!  Lord, helps us be PATIENT...helps us live PATIENTLY!  Amen!"

Forgiving Each Other

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 1 John 1:8-9, which says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  Two truths I have come to understand from this passage are that I am a sinner and that God forgives me when I confess my sins.  I realize that I am a sinner before Almighty God.  As a sinner, I am broken from the inside out.  As a sinner, I need help; I need help that only God can give.  I come to God humbly confessing my sinfulness, and I embrace the forgiveness He gives; I embrace the cleansing that God gives.  He rescues me and restores me!  Forgiveness is what I need more than anything else!

Another passage in the Bible that I have come to appreciate, even though I sometimes struggle with it, is Ephesians 4:32, which says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  I'm sure you are like me.  It's not hard to be kind and compassionate to people who are kind and compassionate to me.  It's not too hard to forgive those close to me who ask me to forgive them when they have wronged me.  However, it is difficult sometimes to be kind to people, to be compassionate to people...people who are just mean to me or people who just don't like me or agree with me...and on and on and on.  It is also very difficult to forgive people like that.  But I keep going back to 1 John 1:8-9.  I am a sinner.  What does that mean?  That means at some point, I rejected and rebelled against God and against God's Word.  At some point I was an enemy of God because of my sinfulness.  In my own way of thinking, I certainly didn't do anything to earn or to deserve God's forgiveness and the cleansing He gave me.  As a matter of fact, Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 4:32.  The forgiveness I have from God is made possible "in Christ."  Paul says that we should be kind to others, be compassionate toward others, and that we should forgive others, "JUST AS IN CHRIST GOD FORGAVE YOU."  We should be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to others not because they earn it or deserve it, but because God forgave us in Christ.  We should be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to others in Christ because it models God and it glorifies God in this world.  

I don't know about you, but I need forgiveness in my life...from God and from those who I have wronged.  I need to be forgiving, as well.  I need to give forgiveness to others just as I received forgiveness from God.  As Christ followers, FORGIVING EACH OTHER is not just a good thing; it is the right thing!  It's not only what I need or you need; it's what our broken world needs.  We all need forgiveness, and we all need to give forgiveness.  I'm praying today and each day moving forward that I will be a vessel of God's forgiveness.  I'm praying today and each day moving forward that you will be a vessel of God's forgiveness.  May we be known in this world by the love of God.  May we be known for being kind and compassionate to each other.  May we be known for forgiving each other.  Amen!