Happy Anniversary!

On a personal note

Today Bev and I celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. She is the best thing that ever happened to me, my best friend, my partner.  We were just kids when we married - 19 and 20 years of age – but from the first we gave ourselves to Him first, and that has been the key to the endurance of our love. We know firsthand the truth that "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor." (Ecclesiastes 4:9, KJV) "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12, KJV)  In these four decades we have pursued vocational ministry together in four congregations.  We have great kids.  We have created a ton memories about the faithfulness of God and the power of love.

It’s not all been sweetness and light. (Is any marriage ever that?) We sailed through some rough waters over these years. Bev endured a head-strong young husband in those early years! As newly-weds, we trekked across the country, she without complaint, in pursuit of my dreams of changing the world. Our Wyoming chapter, as we call it, is one of our treasured shared experiences!  I waded through a few years when Bev struggled with the stresses of being 'Mommy' to four energetic kids. Like many young husbands, I overflowed with compassion and empathy. (Not!) All four of our children were teenagers at the same time. To those who are parents, need I say more? Our innate styles of parenting were so different, we spent as much feuding with each other as we did guiding our kids, or so it seemed at the time. But, today we are friends with them all and proud of the people they have become. As we entered the second decade of our marriage we saw some dreams die and I found myself fighting with depression. Bev stood alongside of me through it all, and was my most faithful advocate before the Lord.

When she had completed the Mom chapter and became an outstanding first grade teacher, I was so proud of her. 

I would not be who I am today with her. She would say the same of herself. We have become Jerry/Bev- neither just Jerry or just Bev. Both of us are stronger together than we could possibly be apart.  39 years together and so very thankful for the faithful care of the One who has led us all this way! I confess that sometimes I wonder what lies ahead in this thing called – life! Through it all, we have loved and laughed as our love grew mature. Yet, still it sparkles with the same kind of passion and excitement we felt as two kids. Happy Anniversary, Bev – I love you!

______________________________

"Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." (Proverbs 31:10-12, NLT)

"She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise." (Proverbs 31:25-31, NLT)

Wherever He leads ...

Wherever He leads

The beat-up little trailer sat at the end of a dirt lane, surrounded by old lawn furniture. It wasn’t, by any stretch, a place that promised a new member for the congregation. But, a man was dying and had called for a pastor to come, so I was there.  I knocked on the door which bore the ominous sign, “Come in here and I will kill you.”  The tiny room was mostly filled with an obviously very sick man in a bed. When I introduced myself, he began to cry and we talked about his spiritual journey, one that started with godly training but went off course along the way.  Our conversation was touched by the Spirit of God and that decrepit trailer became a holy sanctuary for a few moments, where God did what He alone can do- brought one of His children back home!   And, it all started with a phone call and a response.

Are you waiting for some big break in life before you get on with doing whatever it is that God wants you to do?  Are you telling Him that you will start to serve Him when the kids are grown, when you don’t work so much overtime, when you are able to move to another place, get more education … ?  The Scripture demands that we "make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV)  The youth pastor at our church is working on a paper for a seminary class on the topic of the work of the Holy Spirit.  Eric made this observation. “Ask a Christian the role of the Holy Spirit and you'll receive answers about how He "Comforts" "Teaches" "Sanctifies" "Convicts of Sin" "Empowers" "Gifts" all of which are true answers. It may not be the first answer we would think of, but reading Acts, there are instances when the Holy Spirit interrupts (Acts 10:44-46, Acts 11:14-16). A person has an agenda, and the Holy Spirit gets in the way-- always for good reason. I wonder if I am open to the Holy Spirit's interruptions in my daily life or am I too set on my own ways,  my ideas, my agendas, my meetings, and my obligations? May I be open to His workings in my daily life and submit to His interruptions instead of insisting on my own way.”

Most of God’s work will not be accomplished with big crowds, notable results, or culture shifts. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven (God’s work and rule) is like a mustard seed. "It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:32, NLT)  He also said the Spirit works like yeast. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” (Matthew 13:33, NLT)  The Spirit is persistent and permeating, working in us, through us if we will submit to His leading, listening intently, setting aside our preconceptions of where and how we must serve.

Young Mom, are you looking for opportunities to serve the Lord and failing to see the one sitting in that high chair in your kitchen?

Old man, are you waiting for a place to use your ‘gifts,’ and missing the moments to care and share that you have with your next-door neighbor?

Do you pray for a pulpit without realizing that every Christian’s life preaches a powerful sermon every day?

There is a phrase in the middle of Acts 11, which tells the story about Peter’s call to the Gentiles.  He was praying intently when God gave him a dream that made little sense.  Animals considered ritually unclean by Jews were presented to him for dinner! He refused to eat them, and God told him, “do what I say!”  Shortly thereafter, some men came knocking on his door inviting him to come and tell the Jesus story to a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He obeyed, taking the opportunity presented, and the entire household was converted.  In the middle of his report to the church leaders he told them - "And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting." (Acts 11:12, KJV)

Where and to whom is the Spirit leading you today? Do not be so sure you know until you have listened intently for His voice.

_________________

I Will Follow

All Your ways are good,

All Your ways are sure.

I will trust in You alone.

Higher than my sight,

High above my life,

I will trust in You alone.

Where You go, I'll go.

Where You stay, I'll stay.

When You move, I'll move.

I will follow You.

Whom You love, I'll love.

How You serve, I'll serve.

If this life I lose,

I will follow You.

Yeah, I will follow You, yeah.

Light into the world,

Light into my life,

I will live for You alone.

You're the One I seek,

Knowing I will find,

All I need in You alone.

In You alone.

Chris Tomlin | Jason Ingram | Reuben Morgan

© 2010 SHOUT! Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Ask ... for the right things!

Ask ... for the right things!

I love to listen to little children pray, especially those who have been taught a simple faith from infancy. They ask God for everything. As much as I admire that child-like faith, I do not want to pray childish prayers. The Bible says that “ the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. When you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong. You want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4: 2-3 (NLT)   

We short-circuit prayer’s power when we pray ‘me, myself, and I’ prayers that are only about our comfort.  When you pray today, what will you ask of God? Will you only speak with God about small and trivial matters?

Before you stop reading, I’ll hasten to add – He really does care about you and your needs.  But, to turn prayer into a shopping list for blessings is to miss out on the joy of becoming God’s partner to change your world!  In your prayer, I hope you will boldly intercede on behalf of the needs of others, working with God to bring His power to bear on life and people around you.

In Mark 10, we meet Bartimaeus.  “When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (10:47) He believed Jesus could help him and he believed he needed to make his need known. In his desperation, he set aside propriety and social position. Blind beggars were used to calling out to those passing by for help, but they also were used to being ignored. Bartimaeus was not going to be ignored and so he shouted for Jesus' attention. His 'prayer' irritated people who were standing nearby and they told him to shut up, but he wouldn't! He shouted even louder. Jesus stopped and asked that the yelling beggar be  brought to him.
 
Jesus' question to the blind man seems to be almost cruel. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked. (10:51)  But, Jesus was urging the blind man to go deeper, to understand what he really wanted Him to do. "Do you want some money? Do you want someone to care for you? What do you want?"   Bart says, "I WANT TO SEE!" The prayer is direct, focused, and begs an answer. It is a prayer full of faith, too. Jesus healed him on the spot.

When you pray, for yourself and for others, are your prayers fuzzy general appeals or direct, clear requests?  Go beyond, “Lord, bless Sam today.”  We get lazy in prayer, don’t we?  We slip into unfocused prayers that string together lots of 'hallelujahs' and 'thank you, Jesus' phrases but say little of meaning.  Such prayers reflect little of the passion God wants to see in us. Ask God for specifics for your brother.  Does your friend struggle with addiction?  Pray against the strategies of the Evil One. Pray that he will find people to stand with him to hold him accountable. Pray that God will let him touch the bottom of desperation and that the Spirit will shine the light of hope into that pit.  Yes, that kind of specific prayer is what God desires from us.

Pray for the rule of Christ to come to  this troubled planet.  Pray for the deception of money, sex, and power to be exposed. Pray for humble servants to be protected. Pray for ministries that work to advance the Kingdom to be properly funded, for their leadership to be resourced with wisdom and protected from temptation. Yes, those are focused prayers worthy of the Almighty Father who hears them!

If we are convinced that Jesus Christ is One with the solutions to our problems, then we need to ask Him boldly and clearly, for what we need and/or want. It is His place as Lord and Master to say, "yes" or to say "no." It is our place to ask. More than a few of us are blind today -- not physical blindness, but blind to the true state of our heart, blind to the needs of the world around us, and even blind when it comes to 'seeing' God's plans for our lives. We need to get desperate and cry out, yes... SHOUT, even.... "Lord, have mercy on me! I want to see!"
 
Pray that God will help you to see the dreams He has for you, for the courage to see the become reality, and for the power to stay the course with Him. “And all God’s people said, … Amen.”

"I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-16, NIV)

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Be Thou My Vision (Slane)

Be Thou my vision

O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me

Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought

By day or by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom

Be Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee

And Thou with me Lord

Thou my great Father

I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling

And I with Thee one

Be Thou my shield

And my sword for the fight

Be Thou my dignity

Be Thou my might

Thou my soul's shelter

And Thou my high tow'r

Raise Thou me heav'nward

O pow'r of my pow'r

High King of heaven

When vict'ry is won

May I reach heaven's joys

O bright heaven's Sun

Heart of my own heart

Whatever befall

Still be my vision

O Ruler of all

Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne

© Words: Public Domain

When I fail and fall

When I fail and fall

Did you notice I said “when,” not “if?”  Scripture says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23, NIV)  Great heroes of the Bible fail!  Abraham, the father of the faithful, lied about Sarah’s identity to save his own skin. David, the man who loved God wholeheartedly, saw Bathsheba, another man’s wife, and chose adultery and proxy murder. Peter swore he did not know Jesus when he felt threatened.  Later on, he compromised his Christian conviction about God’s acceptance of all people and exercised prejudice against the Gentile believers.

My theme today is not to provide an excuse for indulging our sinful natures. I write to encourage renewal and hope. The lie persists both inside of us and in the Christian church that failure makes us unacceptable to God, unworthy of His service.  Jesus’ interaction with Peter on the shore of Galilee says otherwise.  Peter was so demoralized by his denial of the Lord that he went back to fishing.  One morning, after a night of fruitless effort, the resurrected Lord came to the beach.  He did not berate Peter.  He restored him – with confrontation, confession, and commission! "After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep." (John 21:15-17, NLT)   Three denials, three affirmations!

When we fail and fall, God offers forgiveness and restoration. His grace is free, but it is not cheap. He will not sweep our sins under the rug, allowing us to just forget about them.  He wants us to learn, to grow, to become stronger. The Lord sent Nathan to confront David.  After rousing the king’s anger over an injustice, the prophet pointed at the king and said, “You are that man!”  The powerful prayer of repentance that David prayed is recorded for us in the 51^st Psalm.  He found forgiveness, but the consequences of his sin rippled through his extended family for the next 40 years.

The greater test of a Christian is not that he lives a flawless life but that he chooses to receive God’s grace and press on to become whole again.  Paul might have spent his life after meeting Christ in seclusion, full of regret for his persecution of the Church. Instead, he accepted the forgiveness of the Lord and help of Barnabas and gave us half of our New Testament by the inspiration of the Spirit! I wonder if he was remembering who he had been before Christ’s love when he wrote the great text that declares that ‘there is no condemnation for those who in Christ?  Here is how The Message puts it:  "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2, The Message) "Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life." (Romans 8:6, The Message)  "If God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about." (Romans 8:8-9, The Message)

Have you failed? Does some sin haunt you, fill you with regret, make you feel shame?  I am sorry, and I know how you feel.  But, I will not leave you there, letting you soak in self-pity.  
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18, NIV)

"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." (Psalm 51:2-3, NIV)

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9, NKJV)

Kneel, listen, confess, turn, stand, go!

________________

Jesus, what a Friend for sinners;

Jesus, Lover of my soul.

Friends may fail me, foes assail me,

He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus, what a Strength in weakness;

Let me hide myself in Him.

Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,

He my Strength, my vict'ry wins.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Hallelujah, what a Friend!

Saving, helping, keeping, loving;

He is with me to the end.

John Wilbur Chapman | Rowland Hugh Prichard

© Words: Public Domain