Inspirations

  53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.   Luke 23:53 It’s Friday.   Not just any Friday, but Good Friday.   The day on which we acknowledge the crucifixion of our Lord.   Today, I had the privilege of attending a Good Friday Service at a local church.   It consisted of scripture reading depicting different parts of the crucifixion interspersed with prayers and a song intermixed tying them all together.   They finished with them laying him in the borrowed tomb.   As I left, I turned to my daughter who had accompanied me and said “They left him in the grave.   It doesn’t feel right.”      As I said that, I was stopped short.   All week as I have thought about the crucifixion, I have been thinking of those who loved Jesus and how they must have felt.    They had watched the soldiers taunt, spit on, beat and fina...

  He lets me lie down in green pastures    Psalm 23:2     Yesterday, was “Tax Day”.    The day by which all good and noble Americans are required to render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar.   In my state, it is also the day on which you will remove your studded tires from your vehicle and drive regular tires.      So, I stopped at the tire store to have the tires changed.    It was quite a wait because many of us were doing the same thing.     Finally, about an hour later, good thing I had my phone, the tires were on, and I was ready to go.     As I was collecting my things, the lady at the counter said, “You’ll need new studded tires for the next winter.”   I was a little agitated right about then.   I had just bought new summer tires. Now I need to prepare to buy studded tires for the winter.   Give me a break!     She explained that the belts...

  Let   us   not  become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do  not  give up.   Galatians 6:9  Sometimes I hear things, and I hear them so often that I really don’t give them much thought.   It’s not that I don’t hear or believe them, I just don’t think about it.    Then I get a visual of that thought, and suddenly, my perspective shifts.    This happened to me twice within the last two weeks, with the same thought.   What was the thought?    Don’t quit.   Sounds funny, because we hear it all the time.   So, we skip over it as we read or listen.   Afterall, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before, right?   However, last week a friend posted a video of a long grueling and exhausting hike that she had made.   She had about a mile or two left to hike.   As I watched, the thought came to me, what if she had quit, turned around and said, “This ...

  On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away.   On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road.  It was no big deal.  We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home.    Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat.  Yikes!  I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire.  A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped.   As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer.  He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire.  My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is.  I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.”   I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him.  Within...

       Thinking back upon this year, it has been a year of ups and downs.  Most years are that way.  There were tears shed, and many laughs. While I couldn’t have predicted some of the things that happened this year, none of us can.  One thing I do know is that God was good and faithful, he always is.  As we look forward to the beginning of a new year, we can face it with confidence, joy, and peace because we know that whatever happens this year God is already there, and nothing that will happen this year can surprise him.   We can be sure that the year will bring both blessings and trials.  In fact, we can be sure that the year will bring both.  So, as we waltz into the new year, lets let God lead.   He knows the year ahead and the curves it will take, and he loves us more than anyone else.   We can trust him with each new year and each new day.

As I was washing my coffee mug, I thought of the quote, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”  If you want to help others, you need to take time to recharge.   As I was thinking, I was reminded that you get out of the mug exactly what you put into the mug.  If I put coffee in the mug, guess what I will get out of the mug.   That’s right, coffee.   If I put dirt in the mug, I shouldn’t expect to find water.  It struck a chord with me that I need to be careful what I allow in my mug (life).   I will certainly get out of my life exactly what I put into it.  I can’t fill my life with negative thoughts, improper, sexually explicit movies, course jokes, anger, and the like and expect to get patience, love, joy, and peace.   It just won’t happen.   If I fill my life with the things of the world, my life will look like the world.  If I want my life to look like Christ, I need to let Christ fill my life, and fill ...

                    We all know the story; Jesus has just fed more than five thousand people.   He sends the disciples ahead of him across the lake while he talked to his father.    While the disciples are in a boat in the middle of the lake, a wind violent comes up and the boat is taking a beating.   The disciples are fighting the wind and waves and suddenly, there is Jesus walking to them on the water.   Jesus speaks to the terrified disciples.    Impulsive Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water to Jesus.    While on the water, Peter suddenly has a reality check and remembers that people can’t walk on water.   Looking around at the wind and waves, he starts to sink.   Jesus reaches out and lifts him out of the water.   Then Jesus, says, “ You of little faith,” , “why did you doubt?”      ...

    And let us  run  with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1   When I read this verse, I am always reminded of a track and how each person is to  “stay in their lane”.    I have always thought of it as individual and personal.    Each of us  is responsible to do what God has set before us to do.   However, the other day I was  walking on a trail that was new to me.    This trail was longer, and there was paint on  some of the trees indicating the path.   Other paths intersected and they were different  colors.   As I was walking, I enjoyed looking for the color on the trees to let me know I  was still on the right path.    My mind came again to this verse and settled on the  words  marked out for us.    I was reminded that God is the one that marks out the way  that we should go.   As I journey through life, I can know I a...

  Lately, I’ve been praying that God would open doors for me to share my faith.    Sometimes this is hard for me.   I often feel inadequate, and I am afraid of  saying  the wrong thing.   Often, I miss opportunities to share my faith because I  am not ready to share my faith when the opportunity arises.   Last week I was  working in receiving when a vendor showed up.   I asked how he was doing, and  he said, “I’ve been better.”      I asked what was wrong and he replied, “Every  store I’ve been to, has had a problem checking in using the bar codes.   My first  thought was, well honey I don’t have time for that.”   Then, I bowed my head and  said a quick prayer asking God to let the bar code work.   He looked at me like I  had slipped a cog or something.    He handed me the invoice with the barcode  on  it. At this point, I was thinking, “I am going to look li...

  Love             I have been thinking about the phrase “God is love.”    It’s a phrase that almost anyone Christian or non-Christian is familiar.   Anyone and everyone can quote it.  We all understand that God is love.  I think that most of us would believe it to be true as well.  Right now, most of you are probably thinking, “Of course God is love”, that’s what he is and does and you would not be wrong.           Then my thoughts went in another direction.  Is it enough that God is love?  Initially, it must be enough.  God is always enough.  Yet, love is nothing if it is not reciprocal.  For the love of God to be effective, we must love him as well.  We need to return his love.            So, I guess my question to you is, do you love God?  Are you going to retur...

  Yesterday, my children and I went walking on a bike trail.    The weather was perfect.   Sunny, warm but not hot.   As we were walking, we started to talk about creation.   Creation itself always amazes me.     Can you imagine watching creation unfold at the word of the Almighty?   It would be   the most glorious and lovely thing to see.      As we were talking, I asked,  “What do you think would have happed if  God had created people first?”     They stopped  gave me a questioning look then my daughter said, “I suppose that we would have starved because there was no food.”     And we all had a laugh creating  other scenarios for what might  have happened if creation had happened in any other way.      Yet, the   fact is that creation itself demonstrates that God is a God of order.   Each day of creation built on   what ...

                                   As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the    road.  Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride.  As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping.  I could have and should have but I didn't. Why?  I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid.  It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into  overdrive.  Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting.  Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy.  As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid.  Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know.   As I was driving away from a misse...

“ Ask  and it will be given to you;  seek  and you will find;  knock  and the door will be opened to you.   Matthew 7:7      The second command after asking is to seek, what we hope to find.  It sounds funny, but we usually only search for what we hope to locate.   In my life, I have looked for many things.  I have looked for combs, socks, or shoes.  For most of these kinds of things, I half-heartedly look for them.  I look but not well because, honestly, they aren't that important.  Other things keys, a phone, or a debit card, I will diligently hunt for it until I am sure they either cannot be found or I have them in my possession again.   If I lose a sock I may look for a short time, but I will not spend hours trying to find it.   It's just not that important.  If, on the other hand, I can't locate my wallet, I assure you, I will leave no stone unturned in my search.  I w...

  “ Ask  and it will be given to you;  seek  and you will find;  knock  and the door will be opened to you.   Matthew 7:7           This is a familiar verse, one that I've heard many times.   It seems pretty straightforward.  We are given three commands.  The first command is to ask. It does not say "tell", or "demand" but ask.  I (personal opinion here) doubt we can or should use a demanding tone with the God of the universe. We should never presume to tell God what to do.  We can, however, ask.  I believe (again personal opinion) that God likes us to ask even though he knows what we want.  As a parent, I loved having my children ask for things they wanted.  It made me happy to know that they felt secure enough to be vulnerable and ask for what they wanted.   The opposite is also true.  There were times when my children were younger that they did not ask for...

  In the same way, let your  light  shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16 When I was growing up, we lived some distance from town.    At that time, most people did not have outside lights,  so at night, the drive to town was almost total darkness.   Since the area where I grew up had lots of hills,  there was nothing more enjoyable than cresting a hill  and seeing little spots of light spread out in the inky blackness before us.   It was comforting to look out the car window and see all those lights.   Today, I still enjoy coming over the top of a hill at night  and seeing the lights of a city in the distance. God says that we are lights in a dark world.   We are to shine so that the world can see.   We are to bring comfort and joy as people pass through this life.

For God so loved  the world that he gave  his one and only Son,  that whoever believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 Love is perhaps one of the most commonly misunderstood words in the English language. We think we know what love means, but, to be honest, we seldom understand it completely. Ask people to define love, and you're likely to get different answers from each one. To many, love is a warm fuzzy feeling that comes and goes. So we love as long as we feel like it, or as long there is something in it for us. People say I "fell" in love as though it was a hole to fall in; something that we have no control over. Truth is this definition makes lovely romantic stories and movies, but if we use that definition of love, we find a very changeable, unstable love. However, when God defined love, He left the divine, heaven, to become human. He was God with human limitations. He chose to live among people who...

I love Christmas!!!  Let me say it again, “I love Christmas.”  Sometimes, even now as an adult, it’s hard for me to wait until Christmas.   There is so much excitement in the air.  It’s almost impossible to wait to give those we love that one-of-a-kind gift. We can’t wait to see the joy in their eyes and on their face when they open the gift and see what you picked up for them.  In fact, for some waiting is so difficult that they give the gift early because the anticipation is so great that they do not have the self-discipline to wait.  It’s also challenging to wait for those gifts that you know others chose for you with love.  Little Children awaken at the crack of dawn in anticipation of those treasures that they know are waiting for them under the tree.  Way back in Genesis, God promised to send a savior who would bridge the gap between Him and man that sin had created.  God, however, d...

Babies are full of hope and there are few things more peaceful than a tiny innocent baby.   It all seems so natural to them.  They also bring so much joy to those around them.  In fact, the joy they bring often cancels out the stress and weariness that comes with a newborn.  The joy of this world is temporary.  When we think of the joy that Jesus brought at Christmas, it is eternal.   When God gave us joy, it came in the form of a baby in a manger.  Jesus did not give joy like this world gives. It does not depend on the circumstances of this world.     It is joy in the anticipation of what is to come when we believe God.   At Christmas time and throughout the year, our joy does not depend on whether we get what we want at any given moment, or whether we do all the things we want.  So this year if Christmas is different, people are missing, you can not afford all the gifts you would like, you can not do all the th...

  Peace  I leave with you; my  peace  I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.                 Christmas is a time of love and joy and peace and hope.   Yet often this is when these things are most elusive.  Peace is hard to find the bills are mounting and we are expected to buy presents. Peace hides when the holidays came and people are missing they've gone on to their final home leaving an empty spot. Peace is slippery when it is Christmas and relationships are strained and there is baggage. We can look at everyone's expectations  and our own and as we try to please people and create the perfect Christmas or capture the illusions of Christmas past and somewhere along the way, we lose our peace and buy into everything that the world says about Christmas. We forget that Jesus came to give us peace. Jesus is our peace, all y...

Let the  peace  of Christ rule in your hearts. Colossians 3:15 When we think of peace, the first thing that comes to mind is the absence of strife. It's hard to find peace in our world today. We talk of peace; nations want it; Everyone wants it. Most of us are looking for something that will bring just a little peace. There are so many things in our day that can cause us stress and worry. Our health, or finances. Relationships at work; with parents, with spouses with siblings. they all can rob us of our peace. This is true, particularly at Christmas. Just when we should be celebrating The Prince of Peace we find our own peace gone.  As we travel back to that very first Christmas, we see a scene that could very easily steal peace. First,  an angel appears to Mary, and informs her that she will have a baby. The problem is that she was not married. Yikes!! This was scandalous! However, Mary finds peace and says. "Ok,...