Good morning!

Light…
 
Have you ever been in a place so dark, that you could not see anything at all? Where you could only hear your breathing and noises around you? Or you could touch surfaces but not see them?
 
Has your life ever been this dark? How did this make you feel?
 
I have been in that dark place where no light was shining – my fear was palatable, it paralyzed my life, it lead to bad decisions, selfish behavior, self-loathing. In those times, I couldn’t believe God loved me or that he created me – in His image or that he gifted me and had a purpose for me and my life while in this world.
 
And then there came a moment in my life when the Light started leaking in – not because of my effort to seek His Light – but because He loves me and He called me. And then suddenly one day, I felt the full Light of Christ shine into my life, leaving me praising God for all He has done and filling me with gratitude for each moment, each day, each relationship (with each of you and all others) and thankful for the work He calls me to do.
 
Are you seeing the Light of Christ in your daily life?
 
Scripture has a significant number of references to light – not all relate to light and darkness as I am presenting here. However, there is an overwhelming number that point to the fact that being a believer and follower of Christ places us in His Light and removes us from darkness:
 

• John 1:3-10 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”
• John 3:18-20 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
• John 8:12 ‘When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”’
• 2 Samuel 22:29 “You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light”
• Psalm 4:6 ‘Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us.’
• Psalm 13:3-4 ‘Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”’
• Psalm 18:28 “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”
• Psalm 19:8 “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”
• Psalm 27 “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
• Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
• Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (See also Luke 11:33-36)
• Luke 8:16-17 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

 
If you get a chance, go back and read the entire book of Acts. It is full of stories of the Light of the World pushing back the darkness. Acts is the story of how the Good News of the gospel, how the Light spread throughout the world and eventually reaching us today.

​Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we enter this weekend is that when we look up we see You, the Light in those around us and that we shine Your Light back to others as we live centered in You, Jesus Christ! That in that in Your perfect Light, we have gratitude even in these difficult times. Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

My need to be praying is pretty constant these days. A steady stream of prayer request from brothers and sisters in Christ. And just many personal and family needs for prayer have been on my heart. I think this might not be unusual for any of us – and maybe intensified during this current season.
 
This is something I have written about before and thought might be worth your while to see again bolstering your desire to invest time in prayer.
 
These last few months have brought many prayer requests my way. At times the number and frequency of these requests sometimes feels a little overwhelming. But then God starts working on my mind, heart and attitude about these requests.

• James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

• Matthew 18:19-20

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

• 1 Thessalonians 1:2

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
 
Just for the word prayer, there are 154 references in the ESV translation for that word. And there are so many variations – suffice it to say prayer is a foundation in our relationship with Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
 
Our faith is nourished in prayer (a week or two ago I said faith was rooted in action – so you could say prayer is an expression of faith as a verb) – of course not just general prayer directed to someone or something – or thoughts and vibes sent your way - but prayer directed to our God in the name of His Son our Savior.
 
God desires for us to reach out to him prayer – to praise Him, to express gratitude and thanks in all things, to lift each other up, to edify and build up each other, to pour out grief and pain, to seek Him, His wisdom and discernment, to bring our pain and agony to Him, to open our hands in surrender to Him, to reach out for His forgiveness of our sins and for those who have sinned against us, to stay connected to Him by praying often.
 
So this brings me back to my comment above about being overwhelmed by the number of prayer requests I have been receiving. Through His Word and presence as I prayed to Him, my heart has changed, my mind renewed and my attitude adjusted. A friend had a prayer request a couple of weeks ago and as I read that prayer request and settled in to lift up his mother in prayer, God put on my heart the following:

• To be asked to lift someone up or a situation up in prayer before God, is first and foremost a blessing given by God the Father to me. God is asking me into a deeper and holy relationship with Him every time I get to stand, sit, kneel or lay prone before Him in prayer. Personal time with Him that will not only send up the prayer request I offer up for someone else but will also draw me closer to Him, who opened the door for us to have a deep and loving relationship with Him, first through the death and resurrection of Jesus and then also by bringing a prayer request to me that I might be blessed in spending time with Him.

 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us this weekend is that …we learn to cherish the blessing given to us in each and every moment of prayer time; that in the time we spend with the Father we are brought closer to Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!


Do you have a life list? Recently, I had a chance to uncover a list I made several years ago and it spurred me on to revisit this idea of what are my core values. 

Before I spend more time on my life list, I would like to frame my thinking about this by some thoughts around the Bible. The Bible represents God's story - it is not my story except as He has created you and me.  So when we first look at scripture we should try to understand what God is sharing about Himself, what does He want us to know - and only then might we look further to understand how He wants to be in relationship with us (as an individual and as a community of believers)
 
Here is the list I made back a few years ago. How does this apply to my daily life and maybe to yours?…
 
My Life List:

1. Time spent with Jesus –
   1. every morning;
   2. every evening;
   3. everyday
2. Best effort in all the work I do (God ask us to glorify Him in all that we do - 1 Corinthians 10:31)
3. Be a Philippians 2:1-8 person – live in service to others:
   1. Wife / family
   2. Neighbors
   3. Friends
   4. Strangers
   5. Enemies – or those very different from me
4. Turn to Christ in all circumstances
5. By generous – God has provided all I have – hold it with open hands – both time, talent and money
6. Walk in Christ in all interactions with others…

 
I believe this quote by John Maxwell gets to how core values apply to daily living - “Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.” – this applies to individuals as well as organizations and communities of believers…and I think this speaks to understanding how we live in Christ.
 
When I wrote this list I later shared it in a devotional just a few weeks later - I shared the following – it was a piece on what are your (and my) core values fueled by a friend who lives life framed this way – this list above in some sense is the start of a set of core values to live my life by. I think this whole idea of life lists or core values is important and applies to drawing near to God so I am re-sharing these thoughts as well:

• I sense/hear Jesus Christ calling out to me to pause and take the time to walk through this exercise as a way to draw near to Him in my daily walk with Him (see James 4:8, Hebrews 4:16; 7:19, 25; 10:1, 22, 25; 11:16). The word “anchor” comes to mind – Jesus Christ is our anchor. He has provided us the way to connect ourselves to Him as our anchor, through Him, now children of God, the veil has been torn open (Matthew 27:51). When we accept the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ offered to us, we are casting off the chains of the anchor of the world – and in our acceptance of the gift, in the surrender of our lives to Christ, we are chaining ourselves to the One sure anchor in life.

 

• Knowing our core values as anchored (Hebrews 6:19) in our faith in Jesus Christ is like building our house on the rock and not the sand (Matthew 7:23-25).

 
I am glad that the Holy Spirit resurfaced the life list I had produced in the past moving it back to the forefront for me. I pray that I keep this piece of meditating in Him out front. And that this represents and authentically describes my heart and soul in Jesus Christ. And that it aligns with God's heart for my life and yours.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that each of us finds a way in this year to keep you, Jesus Christ centered in our lives, that we see the framework You have provided for us to live in You, for Your glory! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

Almost 10 years ago now, as I was saying my prayers, my granddaughter Hadley came skipping into the room. She was smiling and full of joy – she had just gotten home from preschool (she was in an evening version of preschool at that time). The joy of a child.
 
Two words popped into my head – one I have used already - J - joy – and the other is faithfulness.
 
The question here is can we find joy in God’s faithfulness? Do we see His faithfulness? Is our love for others imbued with faithfulness of our Lord’s love for each of us? Is our love for Jesus Christ filled with the desire to be faithful to His call on our lives (knowing we are human and fall short)? Do we feel God’s unending and faithful love for us as children of God?
 
If our answers are positive to those questions, we should feel joy, child like joy!
 
I have a personal experience related to God’s faithfulness – I will never forget that moment when Christ broke fully into my life and my life changed. Since God has been ever present and ever faithful. At times the joy I feel in the knowledge of God’s work I my life brims over.
 
Here are some pieces of scripture that speak to God’s faithfulness (there are over 60 references to His faithfulness – many in the Psalms) which we can take joy and hope from:
 
Lamentations 3:21-24
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
 
Psalms 36:5-9
“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
 
Psalms 86:15
“But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
 
Psalms 89 – This one Psalm has at least seven references to God’s faithfulness
 
We talk often about God’s goodness, sharing sometimes – “God is good – always!”. We can trust that God is faithful. If you consider faithfulness a part of goodness, God is good, count on it. If God is good, take joy that he is ever present in your life and always faithful!
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we can treasure Your faithfulness, especially in our salvation through You, Jesus Christ, and that truth will bring joy everyday in our living for Him.
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

Several years ago, on a Monday night as I was praying, these words came into my mind: “Love has a hard edge – that edge is God’s truth”

I was praying about relationships and living in this world with others, especially those who are not believers. For me I think the words I found myself mulling over relate to today’s attribute of God. Good. Our brokenness and humanness drives us to quantify and qualify words like love and good as being one hundred percent warm and fuzzy, soft edges with no sharp distinctions.

But what did Jesus Christ share about God’s character when it comes to His goodness?

For example love’s hard edge includes this idea – sin is still sin even when I love the person who is sinning - that is God’s truth. God is good and loves us and shares with us through Jesus (several times in the gospels) to go and sin no more – Jesus shares the hard edge of love. Your sins are forgiven (love), go and sin no more (love’s hard edge).

This seems to me to be a key part of our idea that God is good. He loves us in truth – His truth. There are really no blurred lines.

Questions that come to mind in addition to the thoughts above are - How often do I use that expression – God is good? What do I mean when I share this expression? What am I trying to communicate about God when I say this? How has God been good in my life – even when it didn’t seem like it?

• Good

Some definitions of this word:

• that which is morally right; righteousness (God is the only one holy, morally right and righteous)
• having the qualities required for a particular role (there is only one God)
• benefit or advantage to someone or something (God’s goodness is available and of benefit to - think everyone and everything)

The idea of Good being an attribute of God could be applied as a qualifier to many of His other attributes – for example God being accessible – this is goodness of God; God being faithful – this is goodness of God; God is generous – this is goodness of God. You see how God is Good is reflected in so many of His other attributes.

Psalm 25:6-9 “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”

Comments: When we pray, it seems like we ought to acknowledge God’s Goodness on a regular basis. Thanking our Lord for His goodness seems to be the kind of gratitude that glorifies our Lord – whether we thank God privately or publicly. Here the writer of this Psalm is calls out this attribute of God directly. Of course God already knows he understands this but God also appreciates vocal and written proclamation of who He is…

Psalm 145:6-9 “They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Comments: God’s goodness is encapsulated in these expressions – awesome works, great deeds, abundant goodness. Then to underscore God goodness, the Psalmist shares something we come to understand (most of the time) as a believer – that God loves us all shared here as “the Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all he has made”. This warms me to the core because it speaks to the breadth and depth of God’s goodness.

1 Timothy 4:4-5 “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
Comments: As I read these verses, my mind goes to what it must have been like before the fall. At that time it would have been clear that Everything God created IS GOOD! I think sometimes in this fallen world it is easy to miss the Goodness of God in the gifts we receive in life and we forget sometimes to receive God’s blessings – God’s goodness with prayer and thanksgiving that is founded or sourced from God’s own word.

Other references on God’s goodness for you to contemplate:

• Psalm 100:5
• Nahum 1:7
• Romans 1:19-20

Do a little research on the web or in your Bible. There is lot on this topic of God’s goodness.

Here I go back to the thought I started with: “Love has a hard edge – that edge is God’s truth”. I would contend that God’s Goodness might be embodied in this thought - love with a hard edge has dimension and depth and in the case of God’s goodness was, is and will always be expressed through eternity.

My prayer for each of us as we enter this weekend is that we celebrate the Goodness of God in all the ways it shows up in our lives, sharing back to God in prayer our gratitude for all His goodness including the goodness and hard edged love we experience in receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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

Patrick

Good morning!

Seems we can focus on this topic a lot - a challenge for you to consider God’s Word around worry and anxiousness; seeking to be perfect. I think it is probably okay to spend frequent time on this area as living in a challenging world generates a lot of situations that can stimulate worry. Recently for me this includes worry and anxiety over health concerns. That said God shares the following with us:

• Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (See also Luke 12:22)
• Matthew 6:27 “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (See also Luke 12:25)
• Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
• 1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
• Philippians 4:5-7 “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 
I had read a book by Shauna Niequist called “Present Over Perfect” a few years ago now.
 
As her book delves into the topic of perfection and worry, many of us probably worry about how perfectly we are serving Christ, how perfect we are as a Christian, how perfect we look on Facebook. Rather than focusing on our relationships – first with Jesus and then with those around us.
 
All of this would suggest that we do worry and that part of what we worry about is whether we have done enough – have we served enough for Christ. From scripture we know that is not how it works – anxiety, worrying and striving for perfection is not what earns us salvation. That comes through saying yes in our hearts to the gift that God put in front of us in His Son Jesus Christ, yes to a daily relationship with Jesus – yes to the fact He did all the work – all the “Perfect” work on our behalf.
 
In our striving to be perfect we often times lose ourselves, make bad decisions that impact our health, our relationships, the quality of our work and the quality of our relationship with God. Christ falls from the center and we replace Him with some ideal of what perfect is and we chase that. Of course, in doing so, we have a created an idol, a false little “g” god.
 
All of that drives us to sicken ourselves, to worry, to be anxious in our living. The scripture above from Matthew has Jesus sharing with his disciples that worrying does nothing for us – the life and days that God planned for us does not change. In 1 Peter we hear that God wants us to set worry in front of Him. And in Philippians, as we go to Jesus in prayer, we receive the peace of God which will protect our hearts and minds. God is so good to us when we turn to Him.
 
Why, because he cares, which is another way of saying that He loves us!
 
With the above as a backdrop, something Shauna shared towards the end of her book struck me, so I share it here – maybe it will resonate with you as well:

• “…but this is the promise I make to my God: I will never again be so careless, so cavalier with the body and soul you’ve given me.
• They are the only things in all the world that have been entrusted entirely to me, and I stewarded them poorly, worshiping for a time at the altars of productivity, capability, busyness and distraction. This body and soul will become again what God intended them to be: living sacrifices, offered only to Him. I will spend my life on meaning, on connection, on love, on freedom. I will not waste one more day trapped in comparison, competition, proving, and earning. That’s the currency of a culture that has nothing to offer me. [my comments here…chasing things of this world generates worry and anxiety]…
• It is not too strong to say that on this summer morning, sitting at a fire pit on a peninsula on Lake Geneva, I’m offering myself and my whole life, once again, to Jesus, and in that, I’m leaving behind both my tangle with achievement and workaholism and my neglect of my body and my spirit. I’m offering to Jesus a body, a mind, a spirit, a life, a voice, a table.
• Here is the distinction: it is for Him… It is for Jesus. More important it is with Jesus.”

 
I hope and pray this morning that this gives you something to reflect on as you consider your relationship with Jesus – putting away the idea of perfection – worrying, anxiety and earning – and accepting the idea that – just giving ourselves to Jesus starts with being “present” with Him – abiding in Him, doing our life with Him.
 
Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we can set aside the constant worry and anxiety, the constant striving for acceptance and instead just invite Your presence into all we do. Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

Digging through old sermon notes. I was moved a few years ago by a sermon on the verses shared below. The sermon was powerful and so well done, I probably should just stay away from any commentary on this. But it was so good and so many things hit home for me. Here are the verses covered – most of you are familiar with Hebrews 11:1. All the verses of course are important to what God shares here in His word. After the verses I share some of my thoughts on the richness of what God shares with us in this part of scripture.
 
Hebrews 10:35-11:3
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,
 
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
 
And,
 
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
 
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
 
(v11:1) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
 
V11:1 may be considered the essence of Christian faith – faith is filled with conviction and the belief in promises (assurance). How do you define faith? Many of us might define it as blind, unknowing, uncertain…but this piece of Hebrews suggest otherwise.
 
Some nuggets from the sermon. What is faith, what is Christian faith:

• Faith is - when it doesn’t go your way, knowing God is still with you
• Faith – is for something hoped for, but not yet seen – the something hoped for are the promises of God – promises that God has given us for our future –
  • That I will be made perfect in Christ (Hebrews 10:14)
  • I will have eternal life and be raised up on the last day (Ephesians 2:5-7 John 3:14-16 Romans 6:22-23)
  • I have a living hope – promised resurrection (1 Peter 1:3 John 11:24-26 Romans 6:5 Revelation 20:6)
  • I have salvation (Acts 4:11-13 Romans 1:16 Ephesians 1:13-14)
  • I am made a child of God (made like Him) (Romans 8:13-15 Galatians 3:25-27)
  • I will live in the new heaven, new earth (2 Peter 3:12-14 Revelation 21:1-3)
  • I have treasures stored in heaven (Matthew 6:18-20)
  • And many more…
• Faith is confidence in the future promises of God – because of the God who promises.
• Faith is future certainty because of Devine integrity

 
None of this might make any sense if you do not believe in God, the God of the Bible, the character of God that is shared with us. If I cannot trust God, if I do not believe in God’s integrity, how would I ever have faith…at least how would I ever have faith in the promises of God?
 
However, if I trust God (something I need to work on daily), all of God’s promises are true. If all of God’s promises are true, faith is not something uncertain at all.
 
Some implications of all of this as presented in the sermon and worth reading, worth considering (my comments included):

• Faith is based on facts. This is absolutely true in if you believe in the integrity of God, truth of His Word, the truth of His character.
• Faith in God is strengthen by the Word of God. The more I get to know God by studying the Bible, the more likely my faith in God will become deeper.
• Faith is not confidence in what God has not promised. Do not put words in God’s mouth. All of the promises above are spiritual and eternal promises. We often want to extend God’s promises to material things, to how life should be…these kinds of promises – the prosperity gospel – really are not part of God’s promises. Often we get mad when we or those close to us get sick or have troubles…God does not promise a perfect life – in fact Christ promised trouble in this world if we follow him. It doesn’t mean we do not pray for healing, health or a smooth path.
• Faith is confidence in what God said. So get to know what God has said. I love this implication – it points to the need to spend time with God, in prayer and most importantly in His Word.
• As Christians we have lots of evidence that should support our Christian faith –
  • Creation
  • Israel – a nation God established and is still here
  • Christ

 
I will leave you with this.
 
1 Corinthians 15:13-15

• If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

 
Do you believe this? Any of the discussion above about faith – none of it matters if Christ was not resurrected.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we enter this weekend is that each of us praise God for knowing the truth of the Gospel – You, Jesus Christ, came for our salvation, suffered on our behalf, took our sins – past, present and future, to the Cross, died, conquered death and rose on the 3rd day and now sits at the right hand of God the Father! That each of us carries this faith. Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick




​

Good morning!

I was reading an article and a guy was quoted as saying, when asked why he was doing something, that he was “paying off his debt of grace” – at first when I read this expression it was like a tuning fork going off within me – it resonated with me as a thought worth exploring within scripture…the guy was referring to the gift of grace we have received through Jesus Christ, being justified and made righteous by the blood of our Savior.
 
Then I sat on this for a few days. I am no longer resonating with it as much as I did when I wrote this. A lot has changed since I first read the phrase on that Monday.

Maybe that changed my perspective. This is because the expression suggests somehow we could pay the debt Christ paid with His life, that we somehow earn our way to an eternal relationship with God.
 
Of course, it is true that faith without works is dead faith. But those works are fruits of the love we have for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Works born of the heart overflowing with the joy we receive as we accept the gift of mercy and grace.
 
This leads me to where this week a few years ago became surreal for me.
 
Tuesday of that week came.
 
An email from a cousin. My aunt, Sister Rosemary, had suddenly passed away earlier that day. Rosemary was my Mom’s sister, the 7th of the 11 siblings to pass away. She, as many of my Mom’s siblings, was special to me. I wear a cross daily, a gift three years ago from Rosemary because as she shared with me that she recognized Jesus Christ working in my life. I wear it daily, as a reminder two things – that my life is surrendered to Jesus Christ – my rebellion is over – and – that Jesus Christ did the work…I pray these words in some form back to Jesus every morning. In gratitude. Sister Rosemary gave her life to Christ when she entered the Convent. She understood the surrender to Christ part – and I am sure she understood there is no human effort that could ever pay off “our debt of grace”. Rosemary was a fighter. She survived (I am sure she would not have used the words “I won”) cancer twice. But she surely would have given God all the credit – for both times it looked like there was no hope. I would not be wearing this cross daily if God had not brought her though. There was no pride here, no I worked hard so God healed me with Rosemary. There was just this quiet and beautiful gratitude offered to God for His work in her life, including the work of providing the means (in and through Jesus Christ) of how we come back into right relationships with Him –God’s gift of mercy and grace.
 
As I wrote this originally, it was lent, leading up to Easter. I found this rambling set of thoughts most appropriate. Because any celebration of lent ultimately leads to the Cross and then the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – proof of God’s mercy and grace.
 
Tuesday of that week was a heavy day.
 
Later that day, a friend Andy came by. Andy and I had a friend who we served with on the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) leadership team. I knew Tom for the last five years, Andy longer. Tom was an elder in his church. His small BSF groups always had some of the highest attendance. He lived his faith in Jesus Christ daily. Tom knew deeply of God’s mercy and grace. Tuesday he dropped dead of a heart attack.
 
It did not end there. Paul, another friend, lost an aunt on that Tuesday. And another friend, Katie, lost a grandmother on that Tuesday. I not sure of where the aunt or grandmother stood with Christ. I pray they knew Him well.
 
Tuesday of that week was a good day.
 
A day for joy in this way. Rosemary, I am pretty certain, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Tom Chamberlain came face to face with Christ as well. A good day. Joy in the sorrow.
 
Some passages on God’s mercy and grace for you to reflect on if you so choose. After a week like that one, after a day like Tuesday several years ago, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to remember this gift through these verses:

• John 1:16-17
• Romans 3:23-25
• Romans 5:1-3
• 1 Corinthians 1:3-5
• Ephesians 1:3-11
• Ephesians 2:1-10
• Ephesians 4:1-7
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
• 2 Timothy 1:8-10
• Hebrews 2:9-10

 
I am sure I am missing some scripture that is worthwhile to ponder but if this stirs you in some way, I recommend you spend some time in God’s Word, letting Him speak to you.

All of this should remind us - there is no debt to pay off for the mercy and grace we have received, when Jesus called us to himself. Jesus paid in full, did all the work... Our response should be to let the Holy Spirit generate fruit of the love demonstrated to each us, love immense beyond our comprehension.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is all over the place – that each of us knows the truth of God that He has numbered our days and wisely use the days we are given to glorify God in all we do – that we share the seeds of the Gospel so God can bring others His mercy and grace through you, Jesus Christ – and finally, in our losses of family or friends who we know are in Christ, that in addition to the mourning we experience, we find the joy that comes with knowing they are HOME... Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick 

Good morning!

Measuring up.
 
How often do you get caught in the trap of whether you have jumped high enough or run fast enough or worked long enough or…<fill in the blank>?
 
Even today, in our work places and daily lives, we measure performance.
 
Does this leave you exhausted? Is this how your relationship with Jesus Christ looks? Pursuit of His love through performance to meet some sort of bar of perfection?
 
I know I have been and probably still will be guilty of that at times. God shares His truth about us and His love for us and gives us the right perspective in this passage below from Romans.
 

• Romans 3:21-26
• Righteousness Through Faith
• 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

 
Not one of us will measure up to the perfection that God requires of us – sounds bad right – but God knows that about us – so He provides the solution for us – the perfect sacrifice of atonement for us – Jesus Christ – and not just for Jews, but for us Gentiles as well. We become justified and right(eous) before God because of the blood of Christ – through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
 
So no striving on our part to get salvation will bring us that – only faith in Christ, through which we receive God’s grace and mercy; we receive a repaired relationship with God. Even our faith is a work of God, as shared in the Gospel of John, God draws us to Christ (see John 6:44). God is calling out for us to return home to Him.
 
It is not that we shouldn’t work or measure that work or set goals. In James, we see that true faith leads to an outpouring of God’s love from us as fruit. Fruit is a result of faith.
 
However, the motivation for the work we do in the name of Jesus Christ should flow from the joy of knowing we received salvation by His hand alone and the desire to praise and glorify God.
 
Setting goals and measure helps us focus work, but it shouldn’t take over how we value ourselves – leaving us tired, frustrated or depressed. For if we truly get up every day to do our work, where ever that is, and we are focused on celebrating the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, then we can rest in our title given from above – “children of God”. And know we perfect before God – through Jesus and His work.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is we find peace in God’s truth about each of us as His children and we put behind us trying to strive for His approval – for He has given us that approval – through the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us let Your perfection reign in our lives! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick