Encourage one another

May I introduce my sweet friend, Virginia? I've known her name for a long time, but have gotten to know her over the past year. We meet together weekly for fellowship, reading and prayer.

I cannot begin to tell you the ways that she has blessed me with her words of encouragement and her prayers. I have learned to pray more meaningful prayers because she models it for me. Her heart is so full of love for Jesus!

One of the consequences of being single is that you don't have anyone to say "how was your day, Dear?" Virginia fills that gap for me. Every week she is eager to hear about my week past and the week ahead. Often she challenges me in regards to my physical care of myself. (It's nice to have someone who will do that.) She encourages me in my work and reminds me that I should learn to ask for help when I am clearly too busy.

Together we area able to share our joy and sorrows, laughter and tears. There is great joy in seeing a smile on the face of this precious woman of God. 

I thank God for bringing us together during this season of our lives. In His great wisdom, He knew that we would be good for each other.

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up..."

~1 Thessalonians 5:11

A leap of joy

I love this picture! How wonderful to leap into the strong arms of the one you love and know that he loves you, too. To know that you are in the arms of one who will always love you, always protect you, always provide for you.

I look at this picture and think how wonderful it will be to leap into the arms of my Savior someday. Know that He has been my everything and that I can express my great joy in this way.

Striving for perfection...

I've been reading and reflecting on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This morning's reading included this passage from Matthew 5:43-48:

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

There are a number of scriptures where we are admonished to be perfect; my question became "what does this passage teach me about the perfection of Our Father and how I should be perfect?" After re-reading the passage and giving it some thought, here is my conclusion:

Jesus is talking about loving people, even it they don't love you back. Our Father in heaven sends sunshine and rain on everyone one, regardless of whether people acknowledge Him as the source and thank Him for the gift. In fact, he does so even when people are evil and persecute Him! He shows no partiality when it comes to love. Even when they strike out at him and crucify Him, Jesus cries out from the cross: "forgive them for they know not what they do."  Jesus is our model of perfect love.

So I strive for perfection when it comes to love. In my own strength, this is an impossible task... but with God, all things are possible. 

Come Holy Spirit and love through me in ways that I cannot love on my own. Help me to love those who have hurt or disappointed me. Help me love those who cannot or will not love me back. Help me to love as you love. Help me to be perfect.

Be reconciled

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift." ~Matthew 5:23-24

 I'll confess that I've always read this passage and thought about people who have wronged me... But it says if someone "has something against you" -- It's not if I have something against my brother... as a believer, I am to forgive... what I believe is being addressed here is if I have in someway offended or hurt someone else. 

Today I'm headed to my HS Reunion, as well as visiting with some family. My prayer is this:

Lord, please bring to mind anything I need to apologize for and help me to reconcile the relationship... and, as you work in and through me, to reconcile others to yourself.

My Public Defender

Today I was thinking about the Public Defender who has been assigned to the Colorado Theater Massacre suspect. How difficult it must be to be required to defend someone who is without a doubt guilty of some crime!

As I thought about this, the thought came to mind: This is who Jesus is for us. He is our Public Defender speaking on our behalf and when we have been declared "guilty", still we are set free because He has already paid the price.

Thanks be to God!

Giving in each season of life

On Mondays I meet with an elderly friend. We usually read a book together, but most importantly we share fellowship and pray for one another. I look forward to my weekly visits where I find encouragement and often am challenged to think more deeply about matters of faith.

My friend is a retired missionary and accomplished pianist. She has traveled the world sharing her gift of music. Now, playing the piano is a challenge and often she struggles to call to mind things that she taught for over 50 years. For example, today she commented that I was speaking "allegro" (a musical term for "fast.") I asked her the word for "slow" and it took her longer than she thought it should to finally remember "adagio". It is moments like this that my friend says "I have nothing more to give." She feels useless as she sees the gift she's shared for so many years fading away.

 It is not unusual for people to begin to feel this way as they age, but this feeling is not unique to the elderly. We all have gifts that God has given us and talents that we've gained through training and hard work. These gifts and talents can become our identity and our foundation can be shaken when something hinders us from giving in the way we have in the past.

I remind my friend that we all go through seasons in life where the way we give needs to take on a new form. It is important that we focus on how God would choose to work through us today, rather than mourning over the fact that we can't give in the way we did yesterday. As long as we are on this earth, we can trust that God has a perfect plan for how He would like to work in and through us to bring honor to His Name and to draw others unto Himself.

We must remember that our identity is in who we are not what we do. We are God's children and, as such, we are of great value to Him. In each and every season of our lives, He has a plan and a purpose for us. We must learn to listen to the Holy Spirit's leading as He reveals the new way we can give of ourselves for His service today.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

 ~ Proverbs 19:21

The purist of motives

There is a blog called "Single Dad Laughing" that I sometimes read. Spiritually, Dan identifies himself as an agnostic [he was raised in the Mormon Church]. There are times, like today, when I read his blog and pray that he will make a connection between his experiences and the Amazing God that I know.

Today's SDL blog challenged me to think about my faith and how it is represented in the world. I'm going to share a few paragraphs and you can read the entire blog here. Just to give you a little background, Dan recently went hiking with some friends and ended up in a crisis that required a Search and Rescue Team to come to his aid [His 5 part blog about his experience can also be found in his blog page... in this particular blog he is sharing his decision to begin training to become a Search and Rescue Team member.]

 Here are Dan's thoughts as the response team comes to his aid:

"...never did any of them ask how I got into that situation. They only asked themselves how they were going to get me out. They worked as a team and a brotherhood to get me the immediate medical care I needed, and nobody complained about any task they were given, no matter how big or how small. Nobody complained of the timing. Nobody complained of lost wages or time. Nobody complained about my inexperience or my stupidity.

As humans, I think we tend to look at others who are in trouble (whatever the trouble may be) and base our willingness to help on our own judgments of what got them into that situation. If the path that led them to where they are was one of stupidity, laziness, lack of education, or addiction, we often refuse our services.

I don’t know what I was expecting at the top of that mountain. I think I was expecting to have to explain myself and why my situation really did warrant help. I think I was expecting to have to explain how none of it was really my fault and how I was the victim of unknown forces. I think I was expecting to deal with Search and Rescue the same way people deal with others every single day… Fearful of judgmental response.

What I got instead was a glimpse at real love for one’s fellow man. It has been a long time since I’ve seen such a cooperative effort done from the purist of motives."

As I read this, I couldn't help but wonder... Has Dan, who is representative of a number of people, rejected Christ because those who claim to serve Him are doing so with a "judgmental response"? Did one too many people proclaim Jesus' name and then spout forth their own personal criteria to determine whether the individual's situation warranted help?

There are many people in the world today who are waiting for help from a Search and Rescue Team. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)... He wants us to help him with this mission. People are hurt, lost, thirsty... and we Christians are equipped to come to their aid. The question is, are we willing? and will we come to another person's aid with pure motives and without judgement? It may be that a life is depending upon it.