What Would Your Letter Say?

Hi all!  It feels good to have the opportunity to write again.  Lots of things have been going on that have left me unable to post for a while, but with a small bit of free time, I felt that today would be a good day to begin again.  I have recently begun to question many things about my life.  No, I am not having a mid-life crisis.  That would be kind of sad to think that I would only live to see 60.  But more so, If I could have a one on one conversation with God, what would He say about me.  How would He feel about the way I am living and the things that I am doing.  While reading through my bible, I came across an interesting set of scripture.

Romans 1:7-10
"to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you."

 Wouldn't it be cool to get a letter from one of the Apostles?  Or even better, from God?  The book of Romans is nothing more than a letter that Paul wrote to the church at Rome.  We know that this letter was intended for the church(body of believers) because it is addressed to those called as saints.  In the same fashion as he does with all of his letters, Paul includes a message of grace to those in which he writes.  But the next part is what struck me.  He made sure to let them know that he was thanking God for them!  WOW!  Now there is a way to make a believer feel good.  But why?  Because their faith was being proclaimed throughout the whole world.  At this point in time, Paul was in Corinth which is around 1000 miles away.  And he was getting news of the faith of that church and its spread.  The people were sharing the Gospel and maturing in their faith.  And this gave Paul a since of pride, even though He, at this point, had never been to Rome.

What would your letter say?  Would you be praised for your faith, and all of the good things that you are doing?  What would it say?

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all!

Thoughts of Living Every Day

I am one excited individual.  This week marks the two year birthday of this blog!  Writing these devotions has been a great blessing to me.  I have seen more clearly how God can move in my life.  I have had the opportunity to expound on the things that I have learned through my experiences.  But in thinking of something to write for this week as a good 2nd birthday for this blog I was a little puzzled.  Maybe this could be from my not being able to post as often as I would like because of circumstances being what they are.  But, every time that I find myself in a struggle, God is always there.  So, today, I will begin a new commitment.  I will try to do the same for those that I see in my life.  How? Here is a list of things I will try to do everyday in my life.  Why everyday?  Because life is too short and we are none guaranteed tomorrow.

1.  I am going to pray a little more.

I have been guilty a lot of wallowing in my troubles, and not praising for the good times.  I guess that is just one area in my life that I struggle to deal with.  I get so caught up with life that sometimes God takes a backseat to what I want, and what I feel I need.  So, starting today, I am going to make it a point to pray more each and everyday.  To try never to place God in the backseat of my life, but in the driver seat.

Psalm 71:1-3
"In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed.  In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me.  Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress."

I will trust in Him more every day.  Because I know that nothing in this world matters more than the will of the One who causes my every breath.

2.  I am going to seek to be more forgiving.

Oh my at the things that I have done wrong in my life.  If it were not for grace and the forgiveness of God, I would have no hope in this life.  I admit that I sin everyday, and I need His forgiveness.  However, sometimes I find it hard to be forgiving to others.

Matthew 6:14-15
^" For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."

What right do I have not to forgive someone for a wrong that has been done to me.  Begging God to forgive me, yet not returning that favor to my fellow man is kind of hypocritical.  God loves that person just as much as He loves me.  And God will forgive that person, if they are truly saved, and so should I.  We are not going to get along with everyone we come across, and we will not always agree.  But we all are children of God, and we have a witness to display to the lost.  They have a chance to view God's forgiveness when they see it in us.

3.  I am going to do more to help those in need.

Sometimes I feel so ashamed for the attitudes that I carry.  God has blessed me above and beyond what I deserve.  And sometimes I fail to see that there are others around me that have less than me.  And sometimes I fear to reach out because I worry about what I want, not what they need.

Matthew 25:34-40
"Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’"

I may not have much to offer, but anytime that I am able to help those in need around me, I will try.

Again these are areas in my life that I commit to do better.  What about you?  Are there areas in your life that you feel are in need of a big tune up?  If so, why not join me in a commitment to do better this year.


Thanks for reading, and I pray that God will bless you all this week.

Band Aid to a Broken Heart

I am blessed beyond what I shall ever deserve. I have a beautiful family, a wonderful church, a job doing something that I love, and the list could go on forever. However, today I want to focus on just one of the many blessings I have in my life, my daughter Lauren. I am devoting this week's post to her and her 1st birthday Friday. She is a band aid on a broken heart.

Back in 2008 when our oldest daughter, Morgan, was born, we were not sure if we wanted to be done having children. Along with our son, Keith, two children were a blessing in and of themselves. Our family was growing, but was it time to stop? My wife and I pondered and prayed about this for a long time. Finally we decided that one more might be a good finish if the Lord was willing to grant us that. I remember the day that my wife found out that she was expecting our third child. We were so happy and excited about the newest member of our family. We even went as far as to pick out names that very night.

Then, a few days later, a tragedy occurred. My wife was in the process of a miscarriage. It was the first time she had lost a child. There are no words to describe the pain that my wife and I felt. We were so happy about another child, that we had not entertained the thought of losing one. We were devastated. My wife and I prayed for comfort and peace. Was this a test of our faith? A couple of verses came to mind.

Romans 8:28
" And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:37-39
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So we made it up in our minds that we would glorify God no matter the circumstances. We gave our sorrows over to Him, and trusted in Him that He would see us through.

Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

We cast our cares upon the Lord about our suffering and the question as to was our family complete. And several months later, we had what we believed to be an answer to prayer. Jenny was expecting again. We were so elated at the thought, however, more cautious after what happened with the last pregnancy. Still, it was hard to suppress the excitement. Was this to be our reward for being faithful to God through a great tragedy? Then the news came. We lost this child too. Our hearts were broken. Our spirit was greatly weakened by this next loss. Was it meant for us to even have another child? Why was this happening again? The depression was so much greater this time. Two miscarriages within one year. My wife blamed herself, and I prayed for forgiveness thinking this may be some form of discipline from the Lord. But we still prayed. We gave this to the Lord as well. Every time that we faced this loss again, we prayed for comfort from our Lord.

Psalm 73:28
"But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works."

I was amazed at the chance that these situations gave us to witness to others. Many that I come into contact with were amazed at how at peace we were. They were amazed that we were not angry at God and turn away from our faith. Did we want to try again? Were we afraid of what would happen if we lost another one? What would we do? Around Christmas of 2010, my wife began to be sick. Not sure of what was going on I took her to the doctor. She was pregnant. This one was unplanned. We were not trying to get pregnant again. But, here it was. Fear struck us when some of the tests performed were not so good. We were at the point of extreme despair. We cried all night that night while we waited for the last test results to come in. I remember the chills I felt when the phone rang.

In May, my beautiful daughter Lauren was born. Words cannot describe what this blessing has been to us. Our hearts were broken at the loss of two babies that we will never see on this earth. But, God provided us with a band aid for our broken hearts in the angel that was born almost a year ago today. Not a day goes by that I do not praise God for blessing me beyond what I deserve. Was this a reward for our faithfulness through our time of suffering? I don't know. It sure feels like it though. Watching her grow has been a heart warming experience. Her first tooth, watching her crawl, her first steps on her own, and the first time she called me Da Da, burn in my mind.

I will do everything in my power to be the best Dad I can be to Lauren. I will never forget what she is to my wife and I. And I will never forget to give God the glory, honor and praise for sending her to us.

Lauren, for all that you are now at this age, for all that I hope you to become, know that your Daddy will love and cherish you always.

Happy Birthday.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all this week!

Aftermath of Christmas

WOW!!!! We had an amazing Chirstmas this year! We spent a lot of time with good family. There was more food than I could eat, but I tried anyway. There were presents galore, and the laughter and squeals of happy children was a constant reverberation everywhere we went. This truly was a wonderful holiday. But the question that I have is, what's next? One thing that I have noticed throughout the years, is that the day after Christmas mainly consists of children trying to play with all of their gifts. They even are adament that they bring their toys and gifts with them everywhere they go. And they seem to forget about all of the other things that they had before Christmas. This brought me to an interesting thought. What happened after Christ's birth?

Matthew 2:1-12

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’” Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way."

Christ was worshiped. Wise men from the east knew who this child was. I believe that they got their information from the prophet Daniel. While in captivity under the Babylonians, he rose to be a high ranking official as an interpreter of dreams. He probably told the magi hundreds of years before what to look for. The gifts brought were represenative of Christ's life, death, and Royalty. They recognized who He was and traveled a long way to worship.

Luke 2:20

"The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them."

So what should we be doing now? We should rejoice in His coming. We should offer praise and honor to Him for coming. Because His coming meant that we would have a way to obtain forgiveness for our sins, and gain eternal life in heaven with Him. We should also spread the Gospel. We know that He came. We know that He died. We should be sharing this wonderful gift with all that we come into contact with.

Now, I am not one for making new years resolutions. But, being it is directly after Christmas. I feel that I need to do just as the wise men and shephards did this new year. I am going to strive harder to give glory and praise to God for all that He has done and will do for me, and share this wonderful gift that has been given to me.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all!

Praise!

I will always give praise to the One who is Holy, and above all things. I took my wife to the doctor yesterday to get a report on the state of her pregnancy. According to the doctor everything is looking more reassuring. It seems that the pain and contractions are coming from the baby laying in a funny position. The painful and regular contractions seem to be her body's way to try to turn the baby. However, be it she is my daughter, she is very stubborn and wants to stay like she is. I would like to thank all of you that have been praying vigilantly for my wife in this time. It amazes me that as worthless as I am, God still loves me and still cares for me and my family. There is great comfort in that thought. That no matter what, no matter the mistakes that we make, if we are His, He will always be there for us. Even when we tend not to be there for Him. This makes me think of the 23rd Psalm. I know most people think about this Psalm around a time of death. In contrast, I think of it as a way of life.
¹The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
³He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

I know that I have nothing to fear in this life, because I am a child of the King. He will provide all that I need. Even in the face of danger, pain, and death I know that He is there. Nothing in this world can do anything to me unless He allows. And if He allows, it is for my betterment to help me grow. As you go through this week, try reading the 23rd Psalm everyday and look for how God is providing for you and looking out for you everyday. Just as what is described in the Psalm of David. And I hope that His goodness and lovingkindness will follow you all of the days of your lives, and when the time comes, you will be rejoicing with me in Heaven forever.

Thanks and God bless you all this week!

Tough Times

Regretfully I am a little late on this week's post. Circumstances being as they are, have made it somewhat difficult to keep updated. I first of all would like you all to pray for my wife Jenny. She is 28 weeks pregnant and trying to go into labor. The doctors have done what they can to stop the labor and she is on bed rest. Whatever the circumstances may be, the sad thing is some of the comments that I have endured. Many people that spend any time around me know where I stand on God. I am not ashamed of what I believe, nor will I fear the ridicule that comes. My strength comes from the Lord. I have always told people that God has provided for us, and I will not lose hope. I am amazed at the thought of people actually looking for me to break. But I say this to you, My God is faithful. No matter the circumstances, nor the outcome, I will not cease to praise the Lord. King David said it well in Psalm 3:1-6. "O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, God will not deliver him. But you are a shield around me, O LORD; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side." I have always believed that a person's actions are the best witness of what one truly believes. It is one thing to say what you believe, but it is an entirely different thing to act on what you say. Even though there are those around us that doubt us and are waiting to see us fall, we must be vigilant in our trust and faith in the Lord. And maybe, just maybe, some of the ones that wait for us to fall, will truly see a miracle in the way that God is faithful to us, and want to know God as well.

Thanks and God Bless you all this week.