March | 2014 | Take Your Faith With You

Often when we think of giving, because we live in a material world our thoughts lead us to the monetary value of things we can give. Or we believe the more costly the gift the more the person or people will know how important they are to me. We easily fall into this trap because we see it happening around us and we see it advertised on TV and in events everywhere.

My personal favorite line from a jewelry store commercial…”Let her know how much you care by buying this diamond crusted, gold covered….” Non-essential material things do not show a person how much you care for them. You want to know the best gift you can give to someone you truly care about? The one thing in every relationship that only you can give to any other person and typically it is worth way more than you give it credit for…what is that greatest gift?

Time.

God knows how special Time is…every day you get up is the gift of Time from him.

Your time is the one gift only you can give to others…stop and think for a moment who you have been giving your Time to in the last few days and weeks. Maybe it is exactly the people you should be spending Time with or maybe you are now thinking of somebody that you have been missing and know you need to spend some time with…no matter which it is, don’t forget that the One who provided you this ability to give time to others also would like some time with you. When I woke this morning I could hear the following hymn from my childhood playing in my mind as a message from me to God…

Here I Am Lord — Music & Lyrics by Dan Schutte

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have born my peoples pain.
I have wept for love of them, They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them,
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide,
Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them,
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

With whom will you spend your greatest gift today?

Peace.

From time to time I come across an image or a scene of nature and it automatically can be associated to life…not sure why this happens or how my train of thought gets there sometimes but wanted to share a recent one.

In the picture above, that is a picnic table under several feet of snow on a deck. This amount of snow can come over many days from several different storms or as it has happened this winter it can fall all in one or two consecutive days! It will be several weeks or a few months before this table will once again be free of piles of snow. With the gradual warming in temperature (we hope) and the longer days of spring not far off it will eventually melt away…if we go out and give a hand it will happen much faster. Either way the snow will be gone at some point and we will be able to sit out at that table in our swimsuits eating ice cream in the warm afternoon air…hard to imagine looking at the picture but nonetheless true.

In our lives we can get buried under problems, worries and fears. They can come down on us over many days or very quickly. Depending on our attitude, these problems, worries and fears can take several weeks or months or even years to melt away…if we chose to be bitter and angry and “cold-hearted” that definitely will make the melting take longer. If we try to be positive and we are willing to accept help from those qualified to help us in our lives the problems will melt away sooner and we will once again be able to enjoy the blessings in life.

No matter how you look at them both situations need a center piece…

One needs the sun and the other needs The Son!

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15

Peace to you.