Exuberance!

As my wife and I were walking around our little community yesterday afternoon, I was simply smitten by the gorgeous views everywhere that my eyes seemed to settle upon!  I know that I have mentioned this before, but I feel so blessed to live where we reside at this time.  And as you may recollect, it was His doing that got us here in the first place!

When we moved back to California after three years in Oklahoma where I attended Bible School, we temporarily moved in with my folks while I got settled in my new job as a supervisor with a traveling merchandising team for The Home Depot in multiple stores in the Bay Area around San Francisco.  The plan was to stay with them for a few months and then find a home to rent.  Well, it’s kind of a long story but when the time table was unexpectedly moved up, we went to the Lord for assistance.

In one of our early jaunts near the location of my folk’s home, we drove through the small, planned community were we now live.  Both my wife and I liked the neighborhood and mentioned how we’d love to live there.  When the outside pressure arose to move quicker than we had originally planned, I mentioned to our oldest daughter who was living in Stockton, California at the time about the place we liked.  Later that night she went on Craig’s List found a place for rent in the aforementioned community, emailed the owners and called me back.  The next day (Friday) I got a call from the owner, met with him at the house later that afternoon and received the approval call two days later!  And on top of that, all the finances also came together so we could begin moving within a week!

With everything going on with my wife’s health and the constant pressures involved with her care, our daily walks amongst the tall pines, towering redwoods, green lawns, beautiful lake and even the crabby goose who likes to go after our dog! (until she turns on him!!!), bring an instant peace and serenity to my being!  As we sat at one of the benches around the lake yesterday, I found myself contentedly staring at the trees swaying in the gentle afternoon breeze and commented to my wife that I am so happy that we did not allow the pressure from a few miss informed folks to dissuade us from staying here.

Earlier today I read from Ephesians 4:13 where it was talking about the fivefold ministry gifts and their responsibilities to the body of Christ, saying: “…until we measure up to Christ, who is our standard.” (God’s Word ©)  After copying the verse into my notes, I began to consider the foundation that Christ used as His standard.  After mentally reviewing the context of chapters three and four that I had been reading, I realized that the foundation of Christ’s standard is love and grace!  Then I heard the little voice inside me say, “it is always best to err on the side of grace.”

Love and grace, love and grace!  Those are the unshakeable pillars of the standard that we are to attain to and on which we are measured.  Love will always put you on the same page with those you attempt to reach out to!  In my experience above, love would have trusted in the Lord for our decision to move where we did and get all the information before making a judgment against us.  Love will always prove out on the side of truth when you are patient and trusting in Him!

Love is an exuberant action that causes you to let go of your own preconceived ideas and will hook you up to God’s standard.  It is kind of like our dog’s exuberance toward my wife this morning.  Piper was very quiet and not real receptive to my boisterous singing this morning so I immediately toned it down and gently ministered the Word to her as I attempted to get her up.  In the midst of all this the dog came trotting into the room wagging her tail so hard that her whole body was contorting with its movements.  It was almost as if she had a huge smile on her face and couldn’t contain her exuberance at seeing us first thing in the morning!  She took one look at me kneeling at my wife’s side and wanted in on the action.  She proceeded to jump on the bed, clumsily straddled my wife’s prone body and vivaciously began licking her face!

At that moment she was a visual symbol of Christ’s exuberant love toward my wife!  As the dog has gotten older she usually doesn’t just jump into action first thing in the morning.  She usually will stay her distance for a few moments and then roll over on her back and bark before coming up to us.  Today’s actions were as if she put aside her own thoughts and/or routine and immediately jumped in to spread the love that was needed at the moment!

Mandie decided to err on the side of grace, to put aside self and do what she thought was best for Piper (and what she knew Piper enjoyed!)  Love always puts other’s needs first, no matter what you may think they really need!  Mandie’s exuberance was exactly what my wife needed to get her going today!  God’s love always gets one going!  Try to share some of His love with someone today.  And while I wouldn’t suggest jumping on top of them and licking their face, a simple smile or an encouraging word just might do the trick!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Extreme Sports - searchlights

Our local Sonoma County Fair starts next week.  It is always a big deal to the county residents and this year should be no different.  Besides the normal array of carnival rides and booths, the fair boasts horse racing, displays of items made by local craftsmen, the main pavilion packed with all kinds of products from miracle cooking wares to hot tubs, endless selections of deliciously fattening foods, a large agricultural area complete with horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, goats and 4H’ers, a rodeo, destruction derby, monster trucks and motorcycle races.  Also on tap is a variety of free and by ticket entertainment including country singers, magicians, Extreme Air Dogs and this year they are even bringing in a Disney TV star for the kids and youth.

As a youngster I was enthralled by the large searchlights that were always lined up at the main entrance to the fair that would light up the evening sky pointing the way to the action at the fairgrounds during the fair’s two week run.  They seemed extremely huge and brighter than anything I had ever seen!

This morning as I reviewed the scripture we’ve been looking at for the last few days from 2 Corinthians 5:14 where Paul stated that “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes…”  (The Message) I compared those extreme searchlights at our fair to Christ’s extreme love. Both of them capture the attention of those who see them.  In John 8:12 Jesus said that “I am the light of the world” (God’s World ©) and throughout His earth walk He demonstrated that light in the darkness of the lives in those with whom He interacted.  Then in Matthew 5:14-15 He declared that we too were lights for the world to see and encouraged us to be as a light set on a lampstand that is visible for others to observe.

So the obvious question then to me, is how did Jesus and are we, as His representatives in His absence, to display this light?  I firmly believe that Jesus’ extreme love was the searchlight that brightly lit up the horizons of people’s lives.  Think about what He did when He walked the earth.  He healed the sick, met people’s deepest needs, forgave those with faults, interacted with the undesirables in the cities He visited, and otherwise loved on everyone!  The only ones He really ever argued with were the religious leaders who refused to accept His new teaching and actions of love and grace.

His actions of extreme love is what set Him apart from anyone else.  Once again, He didn’t just talk a good story, He acted upon what He taught and followed through to the ultimate sacrifice of exchanging His life for the punishment we rightfully deserved!  In the book of Acts we see where the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel even talked about this.  When the Apostles were brought up before the Jewish Council he reminded the leadership about two other individuals who had gathered a following based on their teachings and had died and their movement along with them. 

Of Jesus and His Apostles he said: “If the plan they put into action is of human origin, it will fail.  However if it is from God, you won’t be able to stop them…” (Acts 5:33 – 40 God’s Word ©).  Well it is obvious that after over 2000 years, it is clearly of God!  In the New Testament we see where the people of the time were regularly amazed at what they saw in the lives of Jesus and His followers.  And I firmly believe that it was more their daily attitude and gentle actions of His extreme love in their deepest times of desperation, than in the miracles they performed through the power and faith in His Word.

Yes I believe in miracles, but I also believe that it is the extreme love of God as actively demonstrated through you and me that is the most powerful and lasting foundation that gives us and others the strength and joy to successfully live our daily lives in this world.  That extreme loves starts and is fueled by each of us having the experiential knowledge of His love for us individually and then is spread through us to our hurting and needy communities!

So go out this weekend and be a searchlight of His extreme love everywhere you go!  Be bright, be extreme, be crazily different to the way the world normally reacts to the stresses of the day and glow for Him!  Have a fantastic weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What EXTREME LOVE am I expecting to DEMONSTRATE today?”

Exterme Sports - part two

I read an article about extreme sports where it stated that they “differ from traditional sports due to the higher number of inherently uncontrollable variables.”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sport)  This also describes why God’s extreme love can be compared to it.  I think most of us would like to be in control of the various situations of life, but there are times when the response of extreme love forces us to let go of the reigns of control.  A response of this level of love may mean that we have to humble ourselves, let go of what we think is best and let God be God!

Acts 18:5 tells of a time when Paul was “pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews (in Corinth) that Jesus was Christ.” (KJV)  John Gill in his “Exposition of the Entire Bible” defines this verse by describing how Paul was “moved and stirred up to preach the Gospel more frequently and more powerfully… and being filled with zeal for their welfare, he continued preaching Christ unto them.”  This, I sense, is the key to successfully operate in His extreme love.

If you’ll recall, our verse from 2 Corinthians 5:14 which I related to yesterday, mentioned Paul’s comment of how “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. (for) His love has the first and last word in everything we do.”  The previous verse describes some of the extreme things he did among the people he preached to.  In it he confesses, “If I acted crazy I did it for God.  If I acted over serious, I did it for you.” (The Message)  In Acts 26:24 we find where King Festus went so far as to call Paul crazy for the things he did and preached when Paul stood in his court!

There is a line in the movie “Red” where a Russian KGB agent confides to the retired CIA operative Frank Moses saying: “One does crazy things for love!”  I guess that is true for acting in God’s extreme love as well.  But the difference here is that we do it for the other’s welfare, not just for ourselves!  Jesus did everything He did for us.  He put aside everything He had, became like us and went as far as to die for us!

Through the years I’ve come to see how that many times the advice that people give to others is based on what they think is best for the individual.  Their advice is based on their experience without any real knowledge or consideration of the other’s experience and background.  As I thought on this earlier this morning, I suddenly recalled back during the second year of our marriage when my wife and I had accepted the responsibility of managing the apartment complex we lived in.

We had rented one of the apartments to some friends who had three children.  The wife was actually a few years younger than my twenty three year old Piper and continuously badgered her about having children.  Well, needless to say, we were young, highly involved as the Youth Ministers in the growing Youth Department at our church and not ready to have kids.  In fact, now this may sound a little selfish… but after some discussion about starting a family early on in our marriage, I honestly told Piper that I wasn’t ready to share her with kids yet!  We both agreed that God would show us when the time was right, and He did about three years later.  At that time we both knew it and it was perfect timing for us as everything seemed to fall into place along with a well-paying new job for me with great medical benefits that covered just about everything!

Once again… God had a timeline that was right for us, but our young friend thought that she knew what was best for us and kept perusing her way of thinking with my wife.  After months of lovingly putting up with it, my wife (in her special caring but confident and stern manner) informed our friend that we were following God’s plan for us and that the conversation on that subject was over!

God’s extreme love begins by us realizing that it is not all about us, but that our zeal needs to be toward those we are called to minister to.  It means that we need to listen closely to the Spirit’s leadings, put aside what we think, and do whatever crazy things He tells us to do!  Many times it just requires us to shut up and listen to those we are reaching out to…  Have a great day!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What CRAZY things am I expecting today?”

Extreme Sports - part one

The biggest lesson that I have probably learned over the last four years through this journey with my wife around the issues of her health, has to be the extreme love of God!  It is a subject that I just can’t seem to get away from.  I have instantly been brought to tears when individuals have demonstrated this love to my wife and I and devastated when those from whom I expected it, did not.  Some of the most precious times of my life have been those late night/early morning rendezvous alone with God at the bottom of the stairs in our hallway.  At those times when I have found myself in the lowest reaches of hope, He meets me, places His loving arms around me and comforts and encourages me.

If not for the “exceedingly abundantly above all” of His Word, (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV) I would have given up long ago!  The repeated personal experiences of His extreme love that are demonstrated through the unlimited possibilities of God over the impossibilities of man (Mark 10:27) have fortified me with the strength of faith to continue on in the face of what medical science calls a lost cause.  This extreme love has given me the ability to keep a smile on my face, an encouraging word in my mouth, and joy in my heart when some around me have lost hope.  It is kind of funny – or maybe sad… that I have gotten more support with my stand of faith from some non-believers than I have from some Christians!  Our faith in what He says about my wife’s health has caused me to make certain decisions and/or act in certain ways that have been questioned by a few close to us.

The Apostle Paul also did many things that seemed outlandish to some of those he ministered to.  The explanation for his actions are stated in 2 Corinthians 5:14.  I like the way the Message Bible puts it.  Paul said, “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes.  His love has the first and the last word in everything we do.”  Other translations say that Christ’s love controls, rules, overmasters, moves or compels us.  In the original Greek the word for all these terms means to “hold together, to press on every side, to hold fast.” (Strong’s and Thayer’s)

In other words, the love of God was so extreme in the life of Paul that it pressed in on him from every side and forced him to do what he did!  Webster’s definition of “compel” is “to drive with force or irresistibility.”  Paul is saying that the extreme love of God was so compelling in him that he could not resist it!

As I meditated on this today, I thought about the current popularity of Extreme Sports.  In some respects I am always amazed at what would drive people to risk their lives to do some of the extreme activities that they participate in.  It is almost like they are driven to go beyond the natural laws of nature or in other cases, against the accepted laws of self-preservation!  But now… maybe I have a greater understanding of that irresistible tugging inside of them.

It is the same thing that the Apostle Paul felt and that YOU and I should be feeling and acting upon when it comes to demonstrating the extreme love and grace of God to those around us.  I have vividly come to see and experience the fact that God’s love is very much an action word!  And I’ve also come to understand that unless an individual actively knows through personal experience the extreme love that God has for them, that they will talk a good story but lack in corresponding physical actions toward others.

We’ll discuss all this a little further in the next couple of posts, but for now, I would encourage you to think about your views, understanding and personal experiences of the extreme love of God.  Is this extreme love a driving force in your life?  Has this love moved you to act in extreme ways toward others?  I have to tell you, that the events of the last four years have totally rearranged my way of thinking and acting.  In fact, I am finding myself to be more of a “driven” man than ever before!  His extreme love as demonstrated in the truth and faithfulness of the possibilities of His Word drives me to believe and act in accordance to what He says about my wife’s and my future, not the worlds viewpoint.  How about you?  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What EXTREMES am I expecting today?”

Delicious Jams and Jellies

I went into our bedroom this morning around 8:45 with the intent of getting my wife up and ready for the day, only to find her eyes shut and a peaceful look resting upon her countenance. I stood there for a short time gazing upon her and thinking about all the fun times that we have had together over the years and expectantly wondering what good things the Lord has in store for her in the years ahead.  In times when despair would try and creep over me I am reminded of the “rhema” word that the Lord gave to us concerning my wife as found in Psalm 118:17 stating that she shall not die but live “and tell what the Lord has done.” (God’s Word ©)   

After a few moments I thought I heard something and realized that Piper was humming a song!  This brought an instant smile to my face and I proceeded to open the blinds a little and gently sing the “Good Morning” song from the old musical “Singing in The Rain” where Debbie Reynolds is singing to Gene Kelly and Donald O’Conner saying:

♫ Good mornin’, good mornin’!

It’s great to stay up late,

Good mornin’, good mornin’ to you! ♪

This is something that I do just about every morning when I get her up.  Since I understand how sensitive she is to the emotions of those around her, I always strive to set a joyous and humorous tone first thing each day!  I’ll change the lyrics to fit the mood and/or to get her to laugh and smile.  Then I’ll also sing some of the children’s songs we wrote over the years for our own kids and for those to whom we ministered to at church.  They are pretty simple songs and she wrote many of them.  They have easy uncomplicated lyrics like:

♫ “Praise, praise, praise,

  Praise the Lord.

  Praise, praise, praise,

  Praise the Lord,

  Praise, praise, praise,

  I will praise the Lord.

  Praise – the – Lord!” ♪

It is always rewarding to see the recognition come into her eyes when the songs are being sung!  Following the song fest I’ll continue to establish the direction of the day by reading a dozen or so personalized scriptures from our ever growing list of healing verses that we read from multiple times daily.  I like to remind her that this is God’s viewpoint on what is going on with her!

The second verse I read to her today was based on Psalm 41:2 from the KJV, and I proclaimed it to her as from the Lord speaking to her saying: “I am preserving you and keeping you alive.”

Piper was smiling as I went through my morning antics and I was in a great mood and instantly started laughing when I finished that verse as I thought of and recited the lines from the first National Treasure movie (I guess I was movie-minded this morning!) where Riley is trying to prove to Ben at the Library of Congress building in Washington D.C., that it is impossible to steal the Declaration of Independence.  After listening to Riley for a while, Ben calmly hands a book over to Riley and says with an “I know it all smile”: “The preservation room.  Enjoy!  Go ahead.  Do you know what the preservation room is for”?  To which Riley, looking a little befuddled replies: “Delicious jams and jellies?”

I had to laugh as I was on a roll with my one-liners and frolic of the moment and leaned over close to Piper and said to her with my own mischievous grin: “You are my delicious jam and jelly!”  But then I got serious and stated without another thought: “Actually, Jesus is our delicious jam and jelly!”

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.” (God’s Word ©)  He is good and should be as pleasing and delectable to us as delicious jams and jellies spread on warm toast are to us!  The taste of His love and His peace and His joy and His nearness to us in times of trouble as well as when things are moving along without a glitch is definitely a sweet delight to our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Have you taken the time to taste and see that the Lord is good in your life today?  When you open up your refrigerator door and glance upon the jar of sweet strawberry preserves sitting in the rack do you think about Jesus?  Maybe it is time to take out your bible which is His container of sweet words that brings nothing but taste tantalizing delights into your life, and spoon out a large heaping helping for yourself to enjoy.  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What Delicious Jams and Jellies am I expecting today?”

Strength!

It always took great inner strength and resolve for me to put on my secular job game face and head off to work on Mondays.  Let me explain… As I have mentioned before, I have been blessed to serve as a Youth Minister and Assistant Pastor in five different churches over the last 35 plus years.  Due to the small size of all the churches except for the very first one, my position was always part-time.  This meant that I had to work a secular job as well.  Once we started our family we felt the leading for my wife to stay at home so that she could fulfill her God given desire to Home School our four kids.  Therefore there were many times over the years where I held down three jobs at once.

Since my heart and soul and greatest energy output was always in the ministry, our weekends were almost always jam-packed with activities.  Often these activities culminated in special children’s or youth services, large drama or musical productions or all church events that occurred on Sunday’s. 

So not only would I find myself physically spent come Monday mornings, it would also be an emotional and mental shock to switch gears from dwelling on the spiritual aspects of people’s lives and the interactions of the church family to the seemingly less important world of production schedules and financial goals.

I thought about all this as I read about the strength that it takes for us to walk in the love of Christ on a daily basis, 24/7.  In Ephesians 3:16-18 Paul prays that God would grant us “to be strengthened with might by his Spirit” so that we “may be able to comprehend” (KJV) what the Message Bible refers to as “the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” 

It is interesting to me that the word translated “comprehend” might make the reader think that Paul was praying for our understanding of God’s love for us.  But a deeper look at the original Greek goes beyond that idea.  That word actually means “to take eagerly, to take possession of” or “to lay hold of as make one’s own.” (Thayer’s Greek Definitions)  Paul is telling us that it is not easy to take possession of the love God has for each of us personally and to live within its structure of grace all the time.

He is declaring that it takes a level of strength that only the Holy Spirit can give for us to not yield to what people, experiences and life in general may say about us, even when our own thoughts are in agreement with them!  God simply loves us with a love that goes “far beyond any (natural) knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19 God’s Word ©)  Christ’s love is “supereminant over” (Strong’s) what anyone or anything outside of God and His Word say about us!

Wow!  Think on that before you head off to work each day this week!  Not only will that truth put a skip in your step, but it will put a confidence in every decision and action that you are involved with!  Just remember to move in His strength and not your own, for His is without end.  Have a terrific week.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Happy Anniversary!

Just a few months shy of 43 years ago on a Friday evening in mid-September of 1970, I was standing on the crowded floor of our high school cafeteria.  The occasion was the first dance of the new school year and I had arranged to meet a young lady there named Piper Canevari, whom I had just begun to spend time with in-between classes at school.  She was actually a little late and I made up the time by dancing with a mutual friend of ours.  After the song had played we stood together and were talking when another friend came up and mentioned that Piper had just arrived.  So I excused myself and told my partner that I’d best go find her and turned to walk away.

When I looked up it was suddenly like everything went into slow motion!  The crowd seemed to miraculously separate and through the middle of them she slowly approached me dressed in her cute plaid shorts/skirt outfit with a long sleeve white sweater, long brown hair, a splash of freckles and a mischievous smile that could melt my heart in an instant!  At that moment everyone else in the room faded away… and it has been that way ever since!

Five years later on July 12, 1975 we were married and today we celebrate our 38th anniversary!  It would be hard for me to even know where to start in sharing all the wonderful things that have occurred over the years of our relationship together.  Four great kids, 2 grandkids, 35 years of active Christian ministry, the starting of two churches in our home town, and an entire life of adventure together!

I remember sharing with my brother in law at a dinner honoring our 25^th anniversary, when he asked for the secret of our long relationship.  Without too much thought, I stated that we always put God first and that we have always been a team.  Ephesians 3:17 talks about sinking our roots into the good ground of God’s agape love as the strong foundation for life.  This probably best describes how we decided to live our life together from the very beginning.  Not only has it been the foundation for our marriage but it is the message we lived before and taught to our kids as well as to those we ministered to in the various churches we served in through the years.

I think the greatest gift that my wife gave me was showing me what it meant to have Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, Lord and best friend.  I can remember us spending literal hours on the phone talking about the things of God, but even more importantly, it was the way she lived her daily life that gave me an overwhelming hunger to have what she had!

From the early days as seniors in high school we seemed to be a natural fit together!  It was like we were a team just waiting to be organized as a force to live life in the years ahead.  You know… in all the years I can only remember one time where I made a derogatory comment about my wife to someone at work.  But it bothered me so much that I couldn’t wait until I got home so that I could apologize to her!

Through the years we have always sought to seek and follow God’s counsel and direction first before the natural wisdom and direction of man.  And while it hasn’t always been popular with other family members or according to conventional wisdom, it has almost always ended in a favorable manner.  Over and over again during the last 43 years, God has shown Himself faithful as we have followed and trusted Him.

There have been some bumps in the road along the way, even now as we face my wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.  But we haven’t come this far to change our minds and move away from the solid foundation of God’s loving Word.  Psalm 119:160 declares that “All you say can be trusted.” (CEV)  Further on in that same Psalm, David wrote that “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (KJV)  We also settled on that truth at the very beginning of our relationship and will continue to stand firm on His truth!

I am fully expecting to make at least 60 years with Piper as my loving, caring, exuberant and healthy bride.  And as they keep saying at my daughter and her husband’s church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, “The best is yet to come!”  Remember too, that God is no respecter of persons, and what He is doing for us, He will do the same for you!  Don’t give up.  Become settled with His Word that has been settled in heaven since before the beginning of time!  Have a great weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD THINGS am I expecting today?”