RESOLVED!

 RESOLVED!  "Resolved" means "to already deal with; to already reach a firm decision."  This morning I had a planned 90-minute run.  When I got up, I didn't FEEL like running.  My feet were sore; my hip was sore.  Drizzling rain was falling from the sky, and the wind was brutal!  My circumstances were out of my control, and they were not very good circumstances for me.  RESOLVED!  Last night, I looked in my journal.  At the top of the page, I had written the word "RESOLVED!"  I looked down at the week of February 26 through March 4, and I had one more run to complete: a 90-minute run.  

This morning, I hit the road.  I knew that I could not control the weather.  I knew that I could not control the minor pains in my feet and my hip.  However, I could control my mind...my attitude...my effort!  I prayed a lot.  I worshiped a lot.  For most of my run this morning, the wind never stopped. Most of the time it was pushing against my body, but a few times I turned and used the wind to my advantage.  Even more amazing was what happened around the 80-minute mark.  All of a sudden the clouds gave way to some beautiful, bright, and warn sunshine.  The wind calmed down, almost to a standstill for my last 10 minutes or so.  Just as I was thanking God during the difficult circumstances, I began thanking God during the better circumstances.  I continued to worship.

This was about my running.  This was also not about my running.  God shows me so many truths in His Word, and He shows me so many truths out here in the world.  He speaks to me in the running and with the running.  Today was just as much spiritual for me as it was physical.  I love what Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel RESOLVED not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked for permission not to deflie himself this way."  In other words, Daniel had already made up his mind; Daniel had already dealt with his decision; Daniel had already reached a firm decision.  He was going to honor God and glorify God no matter the circumstances.  And we, in fact, see him do that throughout the book of Daniel.  Paul says in Colossians 3:17, "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."  I needed those words today.  I needed these truths today.  And I will need these words and truths each day that God gives me on this earth.  Yes, today was about my running, and yes, today was not about my running.  I thank God for what He shows me.  I thank God for the opportunities He gives me, for the starting lines, for the finish lines, and for all the in-betweens!

God Is Love

 

"And so we KNOW and RELY on the love God has for us.  GOD IS LOVE.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." - 1 John 4:16

Our first date was actually in October of 1988.  However, I asked Marty Hill to the Start Baptist Church Student Ministry "Valentine's Banquet," which was held on February 14, 1989.  That night began this incredible journey for us.  We were married on August 14, 1992, and God has truly blessed us all along the way.  LOVE.  Love is not just a word that describes God.  Actually, God is the One who defines love.  In 1 John 4, John says in verse 8, "God is love."  He says it again in verse 16, "God is love."  And John tells us in verse 16 something very important.  He says, And so we KNOW and RELY on the love God has for us."  I can tell you that I don't deserve God's love, and I certainly have not earned it.  God's love for me is based on who He is and what He has done.  And I am so thankful for that truth!  I can also tell you that I don't deserve or haven't earned the love my wife shows me and gives me either.  I believe she KNOWS and RELIES on the love God has for her, and she is a funnel of God's love to me.  And I, too, KNOW and RELY on the love God has for me so that I can be a funnel of His love to her.  John says in 1 John 4:7, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."  I am so thankful for my wife, for our children, for all of our family, our church, and our friends who show love and give love!  However, I am reminded in God's Word that true love comes from God because GOD IS LOVE.  It is the love of God that I treasure.  It is the love of God that allows me to love and to be loved.  I am thankful most for my Father, who first loved me and so love me that "He sent his one and only Son into the world that I might live through him" (1 John 4:9).  I am thankful to be this "jar of clay" containing this valuable "treasure" (2 Corinthians 4:7) that can be poured out in all of my earthly relationships.

Help me today, Father, to love you and to love others.  Help me not just to KNOW Your love but to RELY on Your love in all of my relationships.  Thank You, Father, for loving me and making me a vessel of Your love.  Amen!

Always At His Work!

In John 5, the religious leaders were persecuting Jesus because He was "doing these things on the Sabbath."  Jesus made it clear that He was on a mission, not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).  Jesus made it clear to the religious leaders of His day that He came to do the Father's work and that His Father was always working.  Jesus says in John 5:17, "My Father is ALWAYS AT HIS WORK to this very day, and I too am working."  I love this passage of Scripture, and it helps me in every area of my life.  I know that God is ALWAYS AT HIS WORK in my life, and it is always for His good purposes.  It does not mean that I will always feel good when He is working or that I will always understand when He is working.  It does not mean that I will even see His work at all times.  However, I know the truth of His Word, and His truth directs my feelings and my sight.  I know that God's purposes are always good, always right, and always eternal.  He has set eternity in my heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  Romans 8:28 tells me an important truth, as well, that I need to cling to and exercise in this life: "And we know that in all things GOD WORKS for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."  Don't you love that?!?!  GOD WORKS!!!

I don't know what you are struggling with today in your life.  Maybe you are struggling with feelings of abandonment or worthlessness or hopelessness.  Maybe you are struggling at home, at school, at work, or at church.  Know this truth: God loves you, and God is ALWAYS AT HIS WORK in your life...and it is for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose!  Cling to this truth in your life today!  Exercise this truth in your life today!

Know Him Better

What if we prayed for one another like Paul prayed for the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:15-23?  I have actually been praying for my church family this way.  I have even been praying for myself this way.  Now I am asking my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me this way.  There are three words that stand out to me in this passage: KNOW HIM BETTER.  Beginning in verse 16, Paul says, "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."  He goes on to say in verse 17, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may KNOW HIM BETTER."  Paul's prayer for the Ephesians was that the Spirit would fill their hearts and their minds.  His prayer was for the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened and that they would know the hope of God and the power of God that was theirs in Jesus!  Paul was not satisfied in his relationship with God.  He wanted to KNOW HIM BETTER.  Paul was not satisfied for his brothers and sisters in Christ.  He wanted them to KNOW HIM BETTER.  Paul relied on the Spirit of God to stir them, to fill them, and to enlighten them.  What a powerful prayer!  I am praying like that to begin this new year - 2023!  I am praying for all believers, including myself, to KNOW HIM BETTER!  And I am asking my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me like this!  May God continue to reveal Himself to us...through His Word, through His Spirit, through His creation!  Amen!

 

The Light of All Mankind

 

This morning while I was in the deer stand, I had a great view of the eastern sky.  It was amazing!  The sun was coming up and peeking through the treetops and the clouds.  Light was shining through the sky and across the water on the ground.  I couldn't help but think about the Scriptures. Genesis 1:3-5 says, "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.'"  God spoke a few words, and He shared His light upon the earth, and it was good!  John tell us in his letter, 1 John 1:5, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: GOD IS LIGHT; in him there is no darkness at all."  Think about these truths for just a moment.  God is light, and He shares His light with us.  It is His presence with us!  John 1:1-5 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was THE LIGHT OF ALL MANKIND.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

As we celebrate Christmas, let's celebrate Jesus.  There is no Christmas without Jesus.  Jesus is the Light of the world; He is THE LIGHT OF ALL MANKIND!  Jesus came to us; He is God's presence with us; He is Immanuel - God with us!  Jesus is not just "a" light; He is "THE" light!  Jesus came to live a perfect life, to die a sacrificial death, and to rise up out of the grave; He came to defeat sin and death once and for all!  He is our life and our light!  Thank God for Jesus!  Thank God for Christmas, the start of something new (Isaiah 43:19) and the eternal life that Jesus gives us (John 10:27-28)!  Merry Christmas everyone!!!