Good morning!

Next week the season of Lent starts for many.  This time of year, regardless of whether your Christian denomination celebrates Lent or not, is a worthy time to consider the journey Jesus took to the Cross for us as we prepare our hearts for Resurrection Sunday in April this year.

Consider these passages - 
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Psalm 62:7, “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.”
 
For me, this is reflective time of year. I look forward to lent, at least for the last five or ten years. This morning, as is often the case during this time of year, I turn off the radio. The radio, even when being on KTIS, represents in some ways the noise of life. Turning off the radio provides me quiet time, reflection time, really most important time with God, with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Prayer time.
 
I fill this time with thoughts of two journeys – one a subset of the other – the first journey is that of Jesus Christ and His three year ministry starting with His 40 days in the desert and temptation by Satan. The second journey starts in my reflection with Jesus sitting down with the apostles for the last supper – so many little things shine the light of God’s beauty (and complexity) when considered.
 
During His ministry and during the last day before He was crucified, we see many of these moments of light, all bringing a taste of God’s love to us – which we should embrace. Have you experienced those moments at this time of year? As you reflect on how much God loves us, is there anything that stands out for you personally? The verses above key into some of the qualities of God’s love that the apostles experienced during the long journey and during that last day before Christ was crucified…

• Father of compassion
• God of all comfort
• With us in all our troubles
• Our salvation is provided through Jesus Christ
• Our mighty rock
• Our refuge

All of this was present through Jesus Christ during His time on earth and especially when he spent that last day with the apostles – compassion and comfort, washing of their feet, with them as they struggled to understand what Jesus was sharing with them about His need to be obedient to the Father and lay down His life for them – they were troubled - His promise to them of a Helper, Advocate, the Holy Spirit – providing them a foundation, a rock, a refuge.
 
So today, for each of us, through Jesus Christ, and the presence in us of the Holy Spirit, we have the same assurances from God and the same love from God. And because of this, we have been prepared to share God’s love in the work we do – to pour out the same love we receive from God to others. As shared in 2 Corinthians 1:4b “…, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
 
We learn to comfort others in their troubles as God comforts us in our trouble. We learn to love as God loves us so we can share that love with others.

​What journey has Jesus Christ walked with you on and what is He teaching you so that you might be a light to others?
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us going into this weekend is that each of us can find time to reflect on all the beauty that God provides during this special time of year. Because despite the painfulness of this part of the Good News, God through You, Jesus Christ and the Holy spirit, shares in His love in amazing ways and we can see those ways if we just pause, take time to reflect. Amen!

If you are reading this, go, pick up a Bible and read some of the journey of Jesus Christ – God’s love will shine.

Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning,

This post comes from one I wrote several years ago. God has made us image bearers and relational beings reflecting His nature, as the triune God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, we struggle in this area because we live in our sin, broken since the fall in the Garden of Eden. We struggle because of things like pride and selfishness. 

So given that fact what can lead us to reflect more accurately God's intention for relationships?

Humility as the foundation for true Christ-centered relationships
Philippians 2:1-8
Imitating Christ’s Humility
1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
 
Humility – definition - the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people: the quality or state of being humble. This word popped into my head during prayer recently – as it often does. I went to my handy note-pad to write it down. It has been on my heart in a few ways over the last few weeks.
 
I think we all appreciate hearing kind words of encouragement, pats on the back for a job well done – all of this is good for a person’s mood and mind set; providing a sense of being seen and loved both by those around us and by Christ.
 
However, for me there is danger – using that input to stoke my ego, using that information to take credit, taking those kind words and using them to put myself above others.

Satan loves for us to fall into that trap. Taking the God given gift of positive encouragement and support and gratitude; the gift often shared in love to support one another, Satan turns it into selfishness, if we let him.
 
That is why I have come to love the word humble in all its forms. Remembering my relationship with God through Jesus Christ, that we have been called to share the good news and to serve others, putting others first and myself second – that is being humble – using those gifts I received from God – those given in His creation of me and those given through the life He has given me to live – to do His will.

When this is my mindset, when I step back from the brink of selfishness and remember who God made me (us) to be, there is warmth of His love to be had in having humility in our hearts for that makes us true servants.
 
HUMILITY THEN LEADS TO RELATIONSHIPS THAT HOLD VALUE – IN SOME SENSE “HOLY RELATIONSHIPS”, LIKE THE ONE WE HAVE WITH JESUS CHRIST AND GOD THE FATHER.
 
Relationships - It is pretty clear that relationships are nearly more important than anything else in our lives. It starts with the most important relationship we have – with God, specifically through Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, through which our relationship with the Father has been saved – for eternity.

We are called often in scripture to take this understanding into our relationships that are a part of this world – with our families, friends, those we encounter, even our enemies. Philippians 2:1-8 frames it so well – value each other above yourselves – have the same way of thinking about relationships with each other as Christ did…
 
This kind of thinking should become normal for us, especially for someone who has received the free gift of salvation through the work of Jesus Christ. We have heard God's call, which means we are responding - and that response is effective in relationship building when it is a humble response.
 
God blessed me and you in our hearing of His call (for those who have heard Him and responded). His hand is the hand that created each connection, each relationship that led where God has placed you now and each relationship formed in this place has now become a part of the fabric of this season of your/our lives.
 
Humility laid the foundation for these holy relationships in Christ.
 
We are richer in our lives and in our lives in Christ, because God felt it was important that, for a little while, our lives connect to those we currently have relationships with – even if it isn’t often, or is seemingly insignificant when we do interact with those around us.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us today is that we know the truth of God’s desire for us to be humble in service and that we are able to share the warmth of that truth that has been created in our hearts with others, in this current season of relationships You have provided to each reader. I am grateful to be connected (even if it is only slightly) to each reader of this blog. And finally – is that we remember always – relationships built in humility with each other and with other people can truly reflect the You, the Light of Christ. Amen!

Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

I was reading a devotional recently. It spoke to the idea of worship. Is worship only what we do in church on Sundays?

If we spend a little time in scripture we will discover that worshiping God is something we do as we live our life out. When we spend Sunday at church leaving only to forget God and His presence in our lives through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have lost or at least have only a dim understanding of what kind of relationship God purchased for us through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

When are hearts start aligning with God, His heart and His will, we start to wake up everyday and walk more closely in a worshipful way with God.

Here are some verses that reflect the idea of our worship being a daily, or even a every moment activity:

1. ​1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." It seems here Paul is sharing that anything we do should be worshipful of God, pointing to Him and His glory.
2. Psalm 37:5 - "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." We get a sense from the psalmist here that committing our work and days to God is a way we show our surrender, obedience and trust to God. For me this indicates a way that we worship Him.
3. Colossians 3:17 - "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Here Paul is clear in his letter that what we do daily needs to be done in and for the name of Jesus. This indeed would be worship.
4. Colossians 3:23-24 - "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." Paul continues in this same letter making clear that Jesus Christ and His work in our lives should be the motivation and reason for our work...in His name. Our living is in service to Lord Jesus.
5. Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Jesus speaks here pointing that how we live day to day, our work, can be light that points others to Him. Then in our work and daily living we are worshiping.
6. Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Paul shares that in Christ Jesus we have been purposed with work, outside of Sunday worship. This work, when we do it as God intended, glorifies God.
7. James 1:22, 25 - "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." James points to the fact that living for Christ through His word leads to God's blessing now and in eternity. The idea of listening to a sermon on Sunday that opens God's word for us, but then we walk out of church and are not doers seems to fall short of worshiping God. 

You get the idea here that God wants us to worship Him in every moment of our lives. It is a hard thing to do in our brokenness even as we belong to Christ and have been reborn. However, we know that in that Jesus Christ this is true (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We know that it is the work of Jesus Christ that brings us salvation. Let us be motivated by that fact to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus in all that we do everyday!

Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we remember that we can worship You in all that we do - keep our eyes, hearts and minds on You at all times. All glory, honor, praise and worship belong to You! Amen!

Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

nGood morning!

If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ already, you may have seen God's hand move directly and indirectly in your life.

For those who do not know Jesus here is a small sampling of God's Word showing how God is intimately tied to each one of us (yes all of us) as image bearers - His creation.

These excerpts of scripture show some of the mysteries of how God works.. 

1. Psalm 139:14 - “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” - How God made us – unique and wonderful, equipped as He needs us (whether we know this or not). This is true whether you know Jesus or not because all people are image bearers (Genesis 1:26).
2. Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” - If we trust God, he will somehow show us the path forward, give us the understanding we need, His understanding, not ours. In following Jesus, we may question at times the path that we are on and where God's hand has us but we can trust that God has us where He needs us.
3. 1 Corinthians 12:24 - “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.” - Uniquely gifted through the Holy Spirit. This really applies to those who are followers of Jesus as we are told that we will be marked with Holy Spirit when we profess and proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. However, we know that all people as image bears of God, have been made on purpose with talents, abilities and purpose by God. In Genesis 1:26-28 God commands man and woman to use those gifts to have dominion and fill the earth - using the gifts He gave them.

Each of us gifted by God (whether we know it or not), if a believer, attempting to trust and follow the path of Jesus Christ and trusting God - and if not a believer, those of us who know Him now, know that God is seeking to get your attention, asking you to trust His path. In all of this, God's hand has provided us gifts - both for the unbeliever in how He created you and additionally for the believer, a helper in the Holy Spirit.
 
You have to love that right?!

Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we remember to look for Your hand in our life. Let our hearts be filled by the love this represents that you are pouring out into us (yes for those who do not believe as well). All glory, honor and praise belong to You! Amen!

Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick