“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:13-14
(This photo was taken in March of 2013 at the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio in Las Vegas)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 139: 23-24
(This photo was taken in the early morning hours in October 2014 on Maui)
The tongue is a powerful muscle. May our words work to lift others up…not knock them down.
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 15:1
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29
(This photo was taken during the winter of 2013 in northern Wisconsin)
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:29-32
We see and hear so much negativity, hopelessness and violence in this world every day. Sometimes I think the media forgets about all the good people and positive things that happen each day. I am not saying we should ignore talking about the bad things…we just need some balance in the distribution of information. I have read a quote in a few different places recently that speaks to the attitude of kindness we all need to remember…
“Every person you encounter every day is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.”
I understand that to say, don’t be so quick to judge another person without knowing all the facts and do not trust any form of media to provide all the information necessary to be informed about an event or issue. I have stated in the past the Bible is a great instruction manual for life and here are a few encouraging verses…
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
May we all find peace and a positive outlook today.
It is Thursday of Mission trip week and we are living full throttle for Christ! The message for today can be summed up quite simply…do whatever you can, whenever you can, wherever you are. Your act of service or kindness does matter, even if you don’t have direct interaction with the receiver of your action. We should strive to include acts of service and kindness in our lives daily. If you don’t feel like this is part of your life right now, start small. Change one thing in your routine that is not about you. Start out once a week or whatever you can do.
My service group spent 4 hours today loading a 53′ semi trailer full of medical supplies including beds for transit that will be sent overseas for people with little or no medical facilities so they can get the medical attention they need. The organization that coordinates this effort is run by 20 full-time staff and 15,000 volunteers. The vast majority of the volunteers will never encounter the individuals who benefit from the supplies being available but that doesn’t lessen the impact of their work…it is still necessary. This activity was not on our schedule this week originally but we were asked to do this instead of our planned event after a different group was unable to make it and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of the week.
Whatever you are able to do for others is important and it does make a difference…believe it and do something whenever you can…wherever you are.
Peace.
It does not surprise me that this is the last thing listed in the Galatians 5:22-23 writing about the Fruit of the Spirit…why? Because as with all aspects of faith it all comes back to us…our attitude, our perspective and most of all our choices. We are blessed with free will, free to choose how we will act in this world.
Free to choose Love or hate
Free to choose Joy or sadness
Free to choose Peace or fighting
Free to choose Patience or hurriedness
Free to choose Kindness or be mean
Free to choose Goodness or cruelty
Free to choose Faithfulness or distraction
Free to choose Gentleness or be unbalanced
Free to choose to use the Fruits of the Spirit using Self-Control
Our guide for all of this is Jesus. God sent him so that reconciliation with God is always available. He loves us and wants us to choose to love him. Self-Control is not easy, I know from experience and I struggle with it as much as anyone.
Getting better at Self-Control is a choice in itself…it is choosing to live a healthy life style. Start by doing devotions in the morning and/or at night every day. Make those 5-10 minutes a priority and be quiet and calm with the Word every day. Given time it will help…then look at how you are physically caring for yourself…be sure you are eating regularly, getting rest and sleep and take a walk for exercise. When you feel things are out of control stop and pray. All of this is possible for anyone; it does not take a large financial investment just commitment. I know how the world we live in will try to distract and dissuade you from continuing…don’t quit. Even when you fall down and feel like you are failing, God is still right there saying “I understand, my own Son experienced frustration and temptation in the world. You are forgiven.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Galatians 5:22-26
I pray we all we seek to live using the Fruits of the Spirit in all we do every day.
Take a look at the picture above one more time…choose to see what is on the other side through that opening…
May God’s Peace be with you
This is something we are sure we know it when we see it…Kindness. It feels like the right thing to do, expressing it may not give the result or ending to something we expected or were planning. Often in this world it shows up as something unique and different because it happens so rarely. In fact, when acts of kindness randomly happen they end up going ‘viral’ as they say. It gives me joy to know that Kindness is still something people recognize and they just have to be confident when they make the choice to be Kind it will be worth it.
A recent example is a high school runner who had performed well in an earlier race and was expected to do well in a longer race at an important state meet…nearing the end, as she ran, she passed a younger less experienced runner who had just collapsed and instead of continuing to run past her she stopped to help the competitor to her feet and carried her to the finish line even ensuring the competitor finished ahead of her…Kindness. Helping others get to the finish line with us.
God wants us to do just that…help others to get to know him. Share what we have learned about faith and a relationship with God. Show others the light that shines within us before the Day of Judgment because we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
The day of the coming of the Lord will happen and right now God in his Kindness is patiently waiting for everyone to turn to him before that time…
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:8-9
Share some Kindness with someone today, it may be the only light that shines in their life this day.
Tomorrow I will discuss Goodness.
Peace.
As we have continued serving this week we have been exploring several themes and bible verses related to our work. Today I find myself thinking about Luke 10 verse 2 in my original MT post that states…
“He told them, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
When an individual works to help another that is good and both the giver and the receiver feel good about things. When more than one person gets involved in helping others the increase in value is exponential. The world can be a difficult place and many people have to get involved in serving others in order for long term or sustainable change to occur. This is not to say that one to one ministry is not good it is good and often needed but in order to move from charity which is good and helpful for the short term to justice which is investing in long term change many “workers” are needed.
I know we have made a difference in the lives of many people both directly and indirectly and I hope and pray that we can bring this momentum back to our home city and find a way to invest in long term help for people in our community…after all that is exactly what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do.
Peace.
Take Your Faith With You 