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Dear Friends,

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

Christian pastor and author Max Lucado, in his book Grace for the Moment defined faith as “a conviction that He can and a hope that He will.” Now I have never had a problem believing that God can; it’s that “hope that He will” part can be a challenge. Recently I was working on a project that involved rewriting a 98 page training manual. The project carried over several days so I was careful to save my work regularly.

As I was finishing up on the third day of the project, I saved my work and closed my word processing program. About an hour later I decided to edit the document. When I tried to open it, I discovered that I had somehow saved something else over it by accident. All of my work was gone. When Bonnie heard my loud, “Oh NO!” She entered my office to see me sitting dejected with my head in my hands. “I think we should pray, she said.

“Right now I don’t feel very much like praying,” I responded; nevertheless, she took my hand and we prayed. After she left the room, I tried everything I could think of to retrieve the lost file, but it was hopeless.

Bonnie had to run an errand, so she left me in my despair. She had only been gone for about twenty minutes when my phone rang. It was Bonnie. “It’s in ‘the Cloud’, she exclaimed.”

I had already checked that option, so I thanked her for her suggestion and decided to pull up the original notes for the project to start all over. Three days of work gone!

But, when I started to read, I discovered that instead of the old document that I was expecting and dreading to see, I was reading the document I thought was lost. As we read in Hebrews, “faith… gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” The answer to my dilemma was not in “the Cloud”; I have faith it was beyond the clouds. Thanks be to God.

 

Verse for the week: Psalm 36:5
“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.^” John 1:45

The Special Hiding Place “If only I could see the Lord,” I heard a skeptic say, “Or hear his voice or feel his touch, My doubts would melt away. Like Thomas, I would call him Lord, If I could see his scars. Until I do, I’ll doubt He’s true, My faith is in the stars.” But then I heard a soft voice say, “Look in – not up, my friend. The stars you trust were specks of dust Until I put them there. My Word gave life to everything; My life gave life to all. My light dispels the darkest night And frees man from the fall. And though you never see the wind Or hear the dark of night, You’ll feel my awesome presence When you step into my light. Child, if you want to feel my scars And see me face-to-face. You’ll need to find me in your heart My special hiding place.”

Verse for the week: Psalm 32:7 “For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Painting Our Self portrait
God gives us all a canvas; we paint it as we choose.
It isn’t paint by numbers, nor paint it wrong, “you lose.”
We’re free to choose our pallet – the thickness of our strokes;
Sweeping strands of color, or spots from careless pokes.
And when we feel we’re failing and cast our paints aside,
There waits the Master Artist who wants to be our guide.
He’ll take our feeble efforts, if we will just release,
And guided by his steady hand, we’ll paint His masterpiece.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

The Greek word that is translated masterpiece “poiēma” is where we get the English word poem. As we read this Scripture we are reminded that “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may have had this in mind as he wrote the final stanza of his epic Poem “A Psalm of Life.”

“Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Happy New Year!

More often than not, New Year’s resolutions seem to set up a series of “would have”, “could have”, and “should haves.” We would have read more books had we not watched so much T.V. We could have lost twenty pounds, if we didn’t like ice cream so much, and we definitely should have prayed more … With this truth he mind, we offer an important rule for life:

Our Rule for Life – we’ve only one: we’ll never say, “I should have done.” What’s done is done, that coin is spent. Have faith in God – reflect – repent. Accept the things you cannot change and change the things you must. Why worry now? It happened then; in God’s grace you can trust.

Too many people go through life oppressed by their regrets. They carry guilt from long ago – for sins that God forgets. “As far as East is from the West,” that’s where our guilt should be. Lord, help me leave my past behind, and find my hope in Thee.

In Matthew 5:14-15 (NLT) we read, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

As we begin a New Year, we are trusting God to direct our steps, leading us to live lives that are lights in a dark world. Echoing the words of Saint Paul in Romans 15:13, we pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

New Year Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Civility seems to be disappearing in America.

Recently I found myself behind two ladies in the checkout line at a Walmart. The checker was scanning their large collection of purchases when one of the women stopped her to question the price of an item. The checker pulled out a pocket calculator and verified the price. She started to ring up the next item when the woman once again insisted that the clerk verify the price. Glancing at the melting carton of ice cream in my cart, I became extremely impatient and was prepared to say something snarky. Instead, I turned in disgust and found another line.

There was a time when people were kinder and more considerate of others. There was a time, we are told, when people could disagree without being disagreeable, when opinions could be discussed without the tone becoming disgusting, and when ideas could be debated on their merits, rather than on their conformity to a particular ideology.

Some might attribute the increase in incivility to politics; others might blame the press, while cultural, ethnic, racial or religious differences would be cited by others. The Apostle Paul would lay the blame on EGO.

Paul wrote, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:2-3 (NIV)

Incivility is, for the most part, a by-product of ego, which manifests itself in judgmentalism, selfishness, and impatience. When I think back to the incident at Walmart, I am forced to question whether I would have been as judgmental, impatient, and yes, selfish had the ladies in line been people I knew from church or my neighborhood – probably not.

Not to let myself off the hook, but to put the Walmart episode into perspective, the price checking wasn’t the only thing that triggered my ire. While lady #1 was having the clerk check prices, lady #2 was taking her cart and gathering additional items based on how the price check came out. Not exactly civil behavior.

Nevertheless, I am forced to wonder how often am “I” am less than civil? How often do I edge God out by thinking of myself first? When will I finally internalize the truth that I am a child of a loving God, a God who – as we read in Romans 2:11 does not show favoritism? When will I make it my lifestyle to do unto others as I would have them do unto me?

We can’t change the pattern of the world, but we can change the pattern of our lives. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The time is always right to do the right thing.”

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

Verse for the Week: Romans 12:18 (AMP) “ If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ