“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Colossians 3:8-10
(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while driving through northern Colorado)
The Lord said while speaking to Joshua…
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:6-9
(This photo was taken in October of 2014 while driving the north shore of Maui)
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Psalm 32:8
(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while driving through Colorado)
The bible is full of wisdom and knowledge. God has provided this for us to help us in this fallen world. He knows we will face trails, temptations and suffering during our time on earth and he even has experienced it through the life of his Son. One way to stay focused on the Word of God is to choose a verse or verses that keep you aligned with God in all areas of your life. It can be different verses at different times of life, the important thing to remember is the source and the peace and comfort you get when you remind yourself of that verse. Here are the verses I have been holding onto most recently…
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
(This photo is one of my favorites, it was taken by my daughter in May of 2014 at a lake place in central Minnesota)
We need to be careful not to underestimate the power of evil and darkness in this world. We should read the Word of God daily to help us keep God in the center of our lives.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:10-15
(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Falls Park in South Dakota)
In all of our busy lives we typically spend time focusing our energy and effort on what we believe is important. The question then becomes what is important to you and your life?
There are many things that can be on this list and I have found the most peace, joy and contentment in the world comes when I put “follower and believer in Christ” first on that list. The world will not make this easy for you to do but we were never promised easy that was lost as soon as the fruit was eaten from the tree that was off limits. We are promised something and that something is only offered by God…
We are promised his Presence, Forgiveness, Mercy, his Grace, his unconditional Love, an answer to Prayers, comfort when were are stressed and so many more gracious gifts. If only we will choose to put him first in our daily life and spend time reading his Word will learn about and be reminded of all that he offers us. What comes first can make all the difference for everything else in our lives.
May his Peace be with you!
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
What time does it start? What time does it end? Is it time to go? What time are we meeting them? How long will it last? Do you know what time it is? We are constantly focused on Time…In the beginning God only spoke of two times, day and night and it was good.
When we came into this world as infants we didn’t wait to be born until a certain time…we weren’t regulated by the numbers on a clock for anything in life, as a parent of two I believe I can say no infant cares about the time on the clock. During life the world begins to impose its will of Time on us. “We are trying to get him on a normal sleep schedule”…”He should be walking by now”… as we grow we start to have a ‘schedule’ or ‘routine’ to follow. The human race has been very specific about when everything should happen in your life. Then as we age into the late stages of life the details of Time and the pressure of the schedule begin to fade away slowly until we are on our last few breaths and once again we are not concerned about what Time it is…
So when we are physically closest to God at birth and death we seem to have very little need to be so stressed about Time, then why do we choose to let the world dictate what Time we should be there and when we need to be here? Don’t get me wrong I don’t expect the world to live in chaos, completely unstructured. Take a moment to think about our world though, every new thing created by humans is designed to save you time! Why? What are we saving it for…to fit more stuff into a schedule that is already overflowing with commitments and promises we can barely keep up with now?
When is it time to slow down? When will we choose to be present in life and not focused on what’s next? I always love a huge snowstorm…why? Because the world gets really quite…and several ‘activities’ on the schedule get cancelled. Then you get to sit and just spend time with whomever you are with at the time and the world finally seems peaceful if only for a moment.
The Bible has plenty to say about Time…you can find great information in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. One of my favorite verses in this book is this…
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’…”
Ecclesiastes 12:1
This verse is one of the reasons I want to spend so much time working with the youth in our church…the earlier in life we have a firm foundation of faith the more “Time” we have to live out God’s plan for our life.
Peace.
The following is taken from my Devotional bible and was written by a man named Bob Benson. I share it because it is an excellent summary regarding the presence of God in our lives. Also, because Bob Benson who was one of the Christian world’s leading publishing executives and the author of six books, he succumbed to cancer in March of…..1986. Yet here I am in August of 2013 and his words still provide a blessing to me this day…maybe they will to you to. Well done Bob Benson…Well done.
When life caves in, you do not need reasons, you need comfort. You do not need some answers; you need someone. And Jesus does not come to us with an explanation; he comes to us with his presence.
We are always seeking the reason. We want to know why. Like Job, we finally want God to tell us just what is going on….
But God does not reveal his plan, he reveals himself. He comes to us as warmth when we are cold, fellowship when we are alone, strength when we are weak, peace when we are troubled, courage when we are afraid, songs when we are sad, and bread when we are hungry.
He is with us on our journeys. He is there when we are home. He sits with us at our table. He knows about funerals and weddings and commencements and hospitals and jails and unemployment and labor and laughter and rest and tears. He knows because he is with us. He comes to us again and again.
– Bob Benson
Peace to you today.
Living in the Present. What does that mean? I think it begins with making sure you are “present” in whatever you are doing.
To me, being “present” means focused attention. The world is filled with distractions and when we choose to allow those distractions to take our attention away from everything else by trying to change the past or worrying too much about the future we end up missing what is right in front of us…..the beauty of creation, a child smiling and laughing or a child who needs help, a friend who encourages us or a stranger who we should pray for. We should stop replaying what happened yesterday or what might occur tomorrow in our minds and live today to the fullest.
So how do we get there?
Answer….The Word of God.
I have struggled for many years concerned about what I should have said in a previous conversation or worrying about how I would handle things in a future interaction. I would beat myself up for not doing something or worry constantly about what was to come…..as if I really was the one in control of such things.
Then during a difficult time in our life financially, about 3-4 years ago, I was really down about the way things were going and when I thought they were just about to drop off a cliff completely…we were saved by the Grace of God. My wife and I had completed all the paperwork to file for bankruptcy and left it with a lawyer…..we thought this was our only option…we thought we might lose our home we really didn’t know how things would turn out…meanwhile I had been looking for work. One promising position was progressing well and they needed to complete the background check……if that report showed a bankruptcy I would not get the job….a few days had passed since we left the attorney’s office. I figured I would call the lawyer to see if by chance he had not yet filed the papers, I figured there was no chance….and then God stepped in…..I called and asked “have you filed our papers with the court?”, he responded… “No not yet”……..oh my goodness, I couldn’t believe it. I immediately put a stop to the process and I got the job and we have been working our way to the best financial position we have ever been in. After that phone call and seeing the grace of God in our life, I decided I needed to start dedicating some time every morning to devotions and the Bible…..my reasoning, if I have time to read the newspaper I better have time to spend with God every day.
This was something I needed to commit to priority wise so I bought a Billy Graham devotional book and put it with my devotional bible I received from my parents 16 years prior and I began reading and praying for a few minutes every day I could. This time has become something I look forward to each day…it sets my mind and thoughts up with an encouraging perspective, mindful of how God wants us to think and act and the more I stay focused on that the more peace and contentment I find in life.
For me, the hardest part and the biggest obstacle in becoming a man of faith has been ME! Once I confess to God that I am only human, I am a sinner and I trust him because as it says in the gospel of John 3:16….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. After reading so many different parts of the Bible about God’s grace, God’s love and God’s mercy I am so thankful for all that he has done for me that I have to do my best to live for Him.
Peace.
Take Your Faith With You 