Called to Serve--Anyone, Anywhere

             "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (I Corinthians 4:1)
 
In church this morning, we were treated to a special speaker. Our friend and neighbor John Gray shared his work with us as a Gideon. For anyone not familiar with the Gideons, all one needs to do is check the nightstand at the next hotel where a Gideon Bible will be found. Over two billion of these Bibles (including millions of New Testaments distributed throughout the world at schools, events, and within the military) are available to anyone, anywhere at no cost.

And the Gideons? Just regular guys with regular families...called to serve and answering that call to be "stewards of the mysteries of God".

We are all called--but do we answer? Who are the daily servants of Christ? How is one a steward of the mysteries of God?

Just look around...these good folks are everywhere.

And you're probably one of them, too.

Every time we do something for our family, our neighbors, or our friends--no matter how small the deed--and do it in stewardship to God, as a servant of Christ, we are putting into practice the call. No matter what the deed, we are following the instruction of our Lord and increasing the Kingdom of God on earth.

Peace be with you.

In the Garden

"I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses"

--from In the Garden by Austin Miles

 

 

I know of few things in this world that put me more in communion with the Lord than being in my gardens. In the summertime, I like to go out early in the morning just after sunrise. There's always a wonderful quietness at that time of day; the world is just waking up, with the birdsong of a few early-risers like me. As I walk through the grass, my shoes always get as wet as standing in a rain. But, you know, that's a good thing--that same dew gives life to all the flowers, the bushes, the trees, and the plants growing in the vegetable garden. When there's a healthy dew on the roses, the roses grow well.

 

There is a blessed stillness in the early morning hours in the garden. All my thoughts and meditations for the day are as fresh as the air I breathe. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). It is the perfect time to hear the voice of God in my prayers. Working in the life-giving soil puts me so very close to our Lord. He gives us all good things.

 

"And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other can ever know."

 

There in the garden I share my every thought, concern, and joy with the Lord. I know I am His own and blessed with His perfect love. To be a child of God is the greatest joy we'll ever know.

 

Peace be with you.

 





This is My Command

It's been far too long since I've written on this blog. Spring arrived and with it all the wonderful things that my favorite time of year brings, namely tending to gardens. So now, on this rainy late June evening, sections of the garden are freshly planted with some late summer veggies, while the rest grows on with its towering celery and sunflowers, its many herbs, late lettuce, peppers, and a plethora of tomato vines bearing green promises of scrumptious red tomatoes to come in the next few weeks.

In the midst of all this joyous time outside among the veggies, the flowers, the fruit trees and bushes and brambles, the world took some turns. For those of us who hold our Christian beliefs near and dear, it's a time of pause.

Our world, with the whoosh of a pen, became quite different. And, to give us greater pause, those of us who hold our tightly to our precious Christian beliefs became less liked and tolerated. We are living in a time when we are shamed by our friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and even family for not being tolerant, yet we are not tolerated. We are aware that, with the bang of the gavel of a judge, we immediately became hard-hearted and, according to many, we just don't get it.

We get it. We've been told this would happen. It's okay. We're in good hands.  "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).

Are we hard-hearted and hateful because we don't join in hardy agreement with ideas that contradict tenets from our Bible? I don't think so. Please take a moment and read the following passages:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. This is my command: Love one another" (John 15:9-13, 17).

So, you see, we love all--it is commanded of us by our Savior and we obey. We may not agree with what our brothers and sisters on this blessed Earth choose to believe, but we love all, nonetheless.

We pray all will know this love. Blessings.



 

Shedding a Layer

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).


Today was one of those first glorious days of late winter. After church, I actually took my coat off before heading into a restaurant for lunch with my mom. I always feel a particular sense of freedom--shedding that layer that clearly defines a time of the year that is certainly far from my favorite. I feel lighter, in both weight and spirit. Released from the feeling of being "bounded" by a bulky coat, hat, and/or gloves is such a feeling of liberation. I step more lively, and I just feel better in general.

When we think about it, God allows us to "take our coats off" and enjoy the lightness of a new spirit in His love. Most of the time we walk around in those moth-eaten old coats of despair, short-sightedness, and frustration with ourselves as well as with others. We don't like those ratty old "coats" of living lives that are less than Christ-centered, yet we continue to keep the buttons done up, the collar pulled up around our ears. We're not comfortable, yet we are familiar with the feeling of being encumbered by our being tethered by our everyday habits.

As more and more coat shedding days present themselves in the near future, let's keep in mind that just as we can free ourselves from the yoke of the heavy old coat, we can free ourselves permanently from the yoke of our sins through the love and sacrifice of Christ our Savior.

Peace be with you.

God's Love Knows No Season

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” ~Genesis 18:22

 

 

This time of year is a tough one for most of us. It takes a pretty hard-core winter lover to still be tolerating mid-February weather without feeling just a little cabin fever or just plain grumpy and impatient for warmer days--or at least not so frigid days.

 

 

On these days that seem to last forever (wonder why the summer days, although longer in their daylight hours actually seem shorter than these long, cold days?), we can look to the beautiful verse from Genesis: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".

 

 

We're in the depths of the deepfreeze at the present, but we know that seedtime warmth will be here--we thank God for his beautiful world, no matter what the season.

 

 

Peace be with you.

Our Ultimate Valentine

"For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him. Yes the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:15,17).

What is the ideal Valentine, we ponder...someone who thinks of us always, has our best interest in mind, loves us unconditionally, is always there for us. To find someone like this is the ultimate hope of most everyone who walks this Earth.

Isn't it odd that we can't always see and always know that we already have someone who has loved us unconditionally since we came into existence?  Our Lord is surely intently watching us--all He asks in return is that we live good lives. It's a sometimes difficult thing to do, but certainly not impossible...our Lord never asks us to do the impossible.  We are safe with him.  He saves us from all of our  troubles.  We all have periods in our lives when the road seems rough, but if we believe--truly believe--we will be sheltered by his ultimate love. Granted, our life's story may not always play out as we have formulated it, but surrounded by His love, it will be the way it should be--because of living in His light.

Happy Valentine's Day to all ...and even though you may not have someone showering you with cards, candy, and flowers at the moment, know full well that you are loved today and every day more than you'll ever realize . We have been chosen to be loved.  

Looking to the Mustard Seed

"He replied, 'Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'" (Matthew 17:20).

 It's that time of year when I start getting the  itch to begin gardening. Of course, all gardening that I do is within the confines of looking over seed catalogs, beginning the purchase of seed, and planting a few items that need early germination time to put into the early spring garden. Nothing too major league here, but still a great deal of fun.

 As I was putting some tiny seeds into their germination pods earlier this week, I started thinking about the parable of the mustard seed. That drew me to go upstairs to the kitchen and examine the mustard seeds in my spice cabinet.  How tiny they are! And yet...if we only have faith in our Lord of that size, we will be able to achieve great things in His name.

 It just doesn't seem that it should be that difficult, but wow is it.  Every morning I wake up, I know that today will be a day that my faith will be at least as big as that tiny little seed; alas, by the end of the day, I've not achieved that very  reasonable goal our Lord asks of us.  So, I pray at night that the next day will be more successful.

 I guess just having the faith that someday I'll have the faith the size of a mustard seed is a good start. God is good to us that way...He gives us hope anew each day to get just a little closer to heaven.

 Peace be with you.