Back to the Future 2

Okay… let’s have an honest show of hands here.  How many of you will boldly come out of the closet today and declare to everyone that you were a secret fan of the “A-Team” TV series that first aired back in the mid-eighties?  Come on now!  You may be a member of my generation who watched the show when it originally aired or one of the faithful who have watched it throughout the years since then through the marvels of TV reruns!  My wife and I did… as have our four kids and we are proud of it!

The leader of the team Col. John “Hannibal” Smith was known for his unorthodox plans and enjoyed exclaiming: “I love it when a plan comes together!”  The writers of the big screen movie a few years back that was based on the popular TV series, used that phrase to jump start the movie as the opening fast action scene came to a conclusion.

I had one of those “I love it when a plan comes together” moments this morning!  I pray each evening and before I get my wife up each day that she will have an easy and peaceful “get-up, go and do” day… and that’s exactly what happened today!  When I first went into the room she was resting comfortably and opened her eyes and followed my movements as I got her sweater and slippers ready.  I can’t say that she smiled right away but she was obviously aware of my activities as I sang a short good morning ditty to her (making up the song as I went along!), prayed and then read from our 100+ healing scripture list.

Everything was going well as I got her up and helped her into her sweater.  Today I had a sweater that was given to her that has various colors of wool knit into its pattern.  As I assisted her I reminded her of Joseph’s “coat of many colors” that symbolized all of his special God given gifting’s and talents and then reminded her of all the special talents and gifts that the Lord has endowed her with.  I like to take every opportunity that I can to remind her of who she is!

Once the sweater was in place I knelt down and began to put her slippers on.  Suddenly and without any warning she simply slipped off the bed!  I immediately reached out with my left hand to hold her up but since I was not well supported on one knee, I began to fall along with her.  For some reason it just seemed a bit funny to me and I related my humor to Piper.  In the midst of falling over I was able to shift my left leg under her like a bench and thereby hold her up until I could shift around, stand up and lift her back to a safe distance on the edge of the bed. 

Once I got her stabilized I looked up at her and she had a huge smile on her face!  That made me laugh and I retorted “You liked that didn’t you?  You thought that was fun didn’t you!”  Well, she just kept smiling and gave me that old glint of mischievousness in her left eye that I hadn’t seen for a while!  I have to tell you… THAT MADE MY DAY!  My daily prayer that she would have an easy “get-up, go and do” day was fulfilled at that very moment!  That’s when I sat back and look up to heaven and thought “Lord, thank you.  I love it when a plan (or prayer in this case) comes together!”

And speaking about plans concerning yours and my futures… One of my cousins reminded me of the words of the prophet in Jeremiah 29:11 yesterday as a comment to our blog post.  In reference to some incorrect suggestions and prophesies that were given to the people, Jeremiah reminded them of the true counsel of the Lord saying: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an EXPECTED end.” (KJV)  The God’s Word © Version gives us a modern translation that may be a little closer to the meaning of the original Greek by stating it as, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.  They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a FUTURE and a hope (once again, better translated EXPECTATION)”

As I studied this earlier today, I thought back of all the “words from the Lord” that have been given to me and my wife over the years of our Christian experience.  One of my earliest recollections was of a man that for a short time attended that little fellowship at the motel with us about the time that the A-Team was on TV.  He had called me and urgently informed me that he had a “special word” from the Lord and would be right over to our house.  When he got there we went for a walk in the neighborhood and he proceeded to tell me that “the Lord had told him to tell me” that I would die if we continued assisting the Pastor and his wife in their ministry. 

Well, that obviously upset me and at the same time did not sit right with me.  I didn’t really have any opportunity to discuss it with the individual as he jumped into his car and drove off as soon as we returned to my home!  But through a lengthy discussion with our Pastor, I received one of my first in-depth lessons in discerning prophecies.  In the last few years I have received multiple “words from the Lord” from others concerning different aspects of my care for my wife.  As with that first purported prophecy years back, many of these “words” did not sit right with me.  But this time I knew to immediately reference what was being told to me in alignment with what the Bible says.

When we look back to the previous verses Jeremiah was referencing to in verse eleven, we will see that he was commenting on the Lord’s instructions where He laid out a caution saying: “Don’t let the prophets and mediums who are among you trick you.  Don’t even listen to your dreams.  These people are prophesying lies to you in my name.  I didn’t send them, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:8-9 God’s word ©)

I don’t understand this to be an across the board dismissal of the prophet’s ministry or of words that people hear from the Lord.  I do believe it to be a lesson in checking out everything you hear from anyone including yourself, to see if it aligns itself with the truth as written in the Word of God.  I always admire pastors and Christian speakers or writers that encourage those listening to them to not just take what they say for granted but to check it out in their Bibles for themselves!

In our experience, we have received some “words from the Lord” that were right on the mark and others that had absolutely no truth or bearing on our situation.  If I’ve learned one thing over the years, I have learned that the bottom line is that I am responsible for what I allow into my mind and spirit.  Over these past six years I’ve especially come to realize that if it doesn’t agree with God’s plans for our future as lined out in His Word, that I quickly let it pass right past me!  No matter how much natural sense the instructions, suggestions or words of wisdom seems to make… if it doesn’t agree with God’s plans in His written Word, then it make absolutely NO sense for me (or you) to follow!

After all, His plans are for peace and not disaster.  They are plans that give us a good future and His expected end.  That’s the plan I definitely want to see come together for me… HOW ABOUT YOU?  Have a great day!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s PLANS am I expecting to believe today?”

Back To The Future!

We took a break from the movie we were watching last night so that I could do the dishes and get my wife’s evening meds prepared for her.  I put the movie on pause and then flipped on something else for Piper to watch while I was in the kitchen.  One of the reasons I choose this particular apartment was for the open layout of the living area.  When I stand in the kitchen I can see the adjoining dining area, the living room and out onto the patio. 

As I brought an armful of dishes to the kitchen, a commercial on the TV reminded me of a particular experience when my wife and I were dating.  After I related the event to her I suddenly realized and voiced aloud with a tad of despondency, that because of the situation with my wife’s health, “I can’t see our future right now, but I do know our past.”  I imagine that is why almost everything I see reminds me of some fun activity that Piper and I have enjoyed in our past forty five years together. 

But immediately following my comment I heard a familiar voice inside of me say: “But I do… and so do you… because it’s in my Word!”  At that point I felt like slapping myself up side the head at the truth of those words and of His Words that we have been confessing steadily for over three years now concerning Jesus’ provision for Piper’s healing. (See 1 Peter 2:24 for an example!)  We may not see it in manifestation right now, but if His Word says it is true than that is good enough for us!  It’s really that simple!  Wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) you agree?

Having all that in mind this morning, I understood Ephesians 2:10 with a whole new respect and excitement.  Here Paul exclaims “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God had prepared long ago to be our way of life.” (God’s Word ©)  That promise clearly tells me that Papa God knows our future… and that it is good!  We also understand from scriptures like John 10:10 and Acts 10:38 that the enemy of our souls will do everything in his power to try and upset his plans for us, but thank God for promises like Romans 8:37 where we learn that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him (Christ) who loved us.” (KJV)

I Thessalonians 1:3 gives us something to test and see how we are doing in our journey to His planned future for us.  Paul gave his thumbs up on how the people in that church were doing when he observed “In the presence of our God and Father, we never forget that your faith is active, your love is working hard and your confidence (better translated ‘expectations’) in our Lord Jesus Christ is enduring.”  If those three Christian/Godly traits are active in your life than I believe that you are well on your way toward a good and satisfying future!

Like I said earlier, I’ve also discovered that many times those actions have to be faith based actions because we can’t always see how it’s all going to work out with our physical eyes or natural understanding.  But that makes perfect sense as we understand that contrary to the world’s way, Papa God is a faith God who is pleased and moved by our actions of faith!

Another interesting tidbit that puts this together with what I’ve been sharing for the last week is when you look at the literal meaning of the word “enduring” in I Thessalonians 1:3.  The King James Version translates the statement as “patience of hope” which in the Greek is defined as “CHEERFUL endurance or constancy or continuation.” 

Over the last six years my wife and I have learned that this one definition is a tried and true shortcut in determining if someone is in active faith, is working overtime in Godly love and is patiently expectant of God’s best for themselves and/or hooked up with us in our stand of faith for Piper’s total and complete recovery.  It becomes pretty obvious when cheerfulness is replaced with depression, fear, and a definite sense of hopelessness!  It becomes rapidly apparent when you can see fear turn out the lights of Godly cheerfulness in their eyes and countenance!

So what will it be for you?  Are you CHEERFULLY EXPECTANT of God’s best… which is found in His Word… working for you?  Does the expectation of His future for you drive you to be active in your faith and working overtime in His love?  I think that Paul would say that it should!  Have a CHEERFUL day today.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s FUTURE am I CHEERFULLY expecting to get back to today?”

1-2-3-4!

I guess that you could say that I have always had a flare for the dramatic.  My mother often times told the story of when I sang a solo back in Kindergarten for our class graduation exercises.  For the final song, I stepped forward from the line of students on the stage in the auditorium at the old St Rose Parochial School and began to sing: ♪“Now all have done their very best…”♫  Then when it came time for the rest of the class to join in, I suppose I wasn’t satisfied with their efforts so I turned around and waved my arm to encourage them to sing with more volume and passion!

I always have enjoyed getting audiences excited about what was going on in front of them, be it a youth meeting, at Children Church or during a Sunday service with the adult congregation.  Over the years you could say I learned how to work a crowd… which I feel is a necessary trait when leading youth or children’s groups!  I even got fairly good at taking disturbances or interruptions and turning them around into something that acted to pull the group more intently into what we were doing at the moment.

This morning, for whatever reason, I was reminded of the Rock Opera we performed in our Junior College years at my future wife-to-be’s church.  I had written the story and penned the actor’s lines along with the theme song and then selected ten popular tunes to go along with and emphasize the point of the relevance of Jesus in our 1970’s culture.  We had carefully planned the presentation of the first song in order to capture the attention of the audience and then keep them involved throughout the program.

When it was time to start, we turned down the lights in the beautiful theater like setting of that Baptist Church, waited for a moment of silence and then with ascending volume I went to the mike and counted off “1-2-3-4” leading the band into the rock-n-roll based theme song complete with electric guitars, bass, piano and drums.  I guess it worked as we were asked to repeat the first showing the next weekend so people could invite their friends… and best of all, we filled the front of the auditorium after the altar call at the end of each show! 

In some respects it was a ground-breaking event at that somewhat conservative church.  When we were asked by the Pastor to play the theme song during the Sunday service previous to the first weekend performance, we actually had a few people walk out of the service because they felt it was atrocious that we actually had drums during church!  It would seem that we’ve come quite a ways since then.

Earlier this weekend as I read what I thought was probably the last time from the end of Luke chapter fifteen, I was surprised by some more revelations on the end of Jesus’ story about the Prodigal Son.  In Luke 15:32 the King James Version tells us that the Father of the two boys explained to his eldest son when the younger brother returned after riotous living that “It was meet that we should make merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.”

It was the word “meet” that caught my attention.  It was also this word that caused me not to study originally from the King James Version!  It is one of those old English words that has a totally different meaning into today’s times.  But it was one of those “1-2-3-4-Bam!” moments that instantly drew me closer to what I believe the Lord was trying to teach His listeners that day.  Robert’s Word Pictures says that “It expressed a necessity in the father’s heart.”  Thayer’s Greek Definitions explained its usage as a “necessity in reference to what is required to attain some end.  A necessity established by the counsel and desire of God.”

It is easy for us to celebrate when non-believers accept Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, but how about all the times throughout our daily lives when we or those around us find God’s way in the midst of all the confusing advice or suggestions we have to shift through that come to us from all kinds of differing directions?  Or when we or they find out that God’s way is better than our own… and we decide to go with it?  And how about the epiphany moment when we see the need to open up an area in our lives that we knowingly or un-knowingly had closed off to God!  Then of course there are those very special times when God miraculously answers our prayers.

According to this verse, those are times where it is NECESSARY to celebrate and be happy!  And the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that if we are walking in faith, then we shouldn’t be waiting until we see the manifestation of what we are believing for, but start being happy about it as soon as we go to the Lord with our requests!  Jesus established this process in Mark 11:24 when He told His disciples: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, WHEN YOU PRAY, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (KJV)

Hummmm… “1-2-3-4-Bam!” There it is!  I think the Lord was telling all of us that He expects to see a lot more smiling, happy Christians out there in the worlds we live in across the globe!  Sure we all have rough times.  I had one of the roughest weeks last week since my wife and I started dealing with the attack on her health… and yeah I was tempted… very tempted to get upset and be depressed at what seemed to be the backward progression of things, but every time I felt like that, I couldn’t help but to finally give in and smile and be happy as I heard that little voice inside of me reminding me of the truth and finality of God’s promises in His Word and the comfort of knowing that He will NEVER neglect or abandon us! (See Joshua 1:5)

Knowing and trusting that His Word will always prevail should be enough to give us the “1-2-3-4-Bam!” shake of God’s reality and force us to smile and be happy… in and through any and all situations we face!  What do you think? 

Now I didn’t say it would be easy.  But it does get a little easier every time we yield to Him!  Have a great week.  Stay in tune and in trust to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s Word am I expecting to trust and therefore give me the ability to make me happy today?”

The Decision is Yours!

I have a large variety of artists and music styles on my radio station shuffle in my Pandora online music account.  Besides enjoying the wide range of expression between individuals and bands, their vocal and instrumental talents, their Christian beliefs and their traditions of worship, it helps me to gain a better understanding of the heart of the worshippers and their differing relationships with Papa God.  It one sense it keeps me humble in the understanding that the way of my personal Christian walk is not the only way!

This morning I heard a simple Christian balled sung by the country great George Jones.  His guitar picking and the soulful twang of his voice touched my heart as he sang of Jesus as the "Rose of Sharon" and the One who was always there for him.  As I thought about it, I realized that many of the well known country western vocal stars of the last century had sung songs of honor unto the Lord.  Sure, many of these same individuals battled personal demons in life, but they also hung unto a relationship with God deep within them.  When I hear them sing a simple balled like the George Jones song this morning or an old hymn, I can’t help but hear the connection and the heart felt cry in their hearts to Papa God.

I am so glad that it is not yours or my job to judge these individuals or anyone else for that matter when their life style or choices do not match ours.  As I read from the end of Jesus’ story of the prodigal son earlier today, I witnessed the total opposite response to the return of the younger brother between the father and the older son who had stayed home.  

The older son was upset and judgmental toward his brother’s actions and told his Dad exactly what he thought about the whole situation.  Upon hearing his older son I can just picture the older statesman sighing and putting an arm around the shoulders of the boy as he explained, “My child, you’re always with me.  Everything I have is yours.  But we have something to celebrate, something to be HAPPY about.  The brother of yours was dead but had come back to life.  He was lost but has been found.” (Luke 15:31-32 God’s Word ©)

These two men saw the same set of events from two different perspectives.  While one was quick to criticize because his younger brother did not make the same choices he had, the other was HAPPY and ready to celebrate because of the lessons learned by his younger son.  Besides many other things, this showed me that true and consistent HAPPINESS is an attitude of the heart and is a matter of decision.

I am sure that the Dad had many sleepless nights as he prayed over his younger son who had left the safety and comfort of his home to chase the wild things in life.  But it is also pretty evident that the Father had an underlying and unshakeable trust in God to watch over the rebellious son and help the boy to learn the physical and spiritual lessons that would bring him back to his senses.  I believe it was that trust in the Lord that gave the Father the ability and confidence to choose to be HAPPY even when things were strained.

He was EXPECTANT of God’s best for his younger son, even when things were looking pretty much out of control.  When he saw his son in the distance walking home with his head down, his clothes dirty and tattered, and an unsteady gait most likely due to a broken and contrite spirit, unhealthy living and a lack of proper nutrition, it was easy for the Dad to rejoice and want to celebrate with the best of foods and break out the formal china!

I had two or three opportunities to choose between being HAPPY and EXPECTANT of God’s best or to complain and want to throw in the towel yesterday, last night and this morning.  We had spent the afternoon with our older daughter yesterday and had a wonderful time.  Piper had been fairly weak after I washed her hair earlier in the day but became very responsive and alert when Jamie came over.  Things were going great after our daughter left and we went out for a quick walk… until I opened up the mail when we returned home.  There was an article sent by a relative about some new potential positive research on the prevention and early detection of Alzheimer’s.

I had actually read of some similar research a few years back and at first it was comforting for me to see that our relative was taking an active interest in Piper’s health needs.  As I read through the article though, I realized that the very small sampling of individuals in the test were all at the stage of the disease that Piper had been at between 2006 and 2007.  In reality, the information had no relevance to the advanced stage of Piper’s situation.  Piper would not even be physically able to accomplish the highly supervised and very structured steps of this natural health process… and very visably hasn’t been for several years.  That realization was very hard for me to swallow. 

It served to try and open up old wounds and sadly made me see again how totally out of touch and distant that these close relatives continue to be toward Piper’s needs.  I had a very real decision to make as I prepared dinner.  I could let go of any self-control and get pretty frustrated and upset or choose, once more, to trust God to work His change in the hearts of the relatives 3000 miles away on the other side of the country.  Well, it took a little while but I finally decided to yield to God and things actually went pretty easy for the rest of the night.

Then to add to that experience, I had to get up around 2:30 this morning to attend to some of Piper’s physical needs.  At that point in our dark bedroom I had a choice to make.  I could allow myself to get bothered by the disturbance of my sleep or be HAPPY and rejoice while I let the joy of the Lord strengthen me and my resolve to just get going and get the job done.  And thank God, that’s exactly what I decided to do and before I knew it, I was back in bed and quickly returned to a deep sleep!

But it wasn’t over yet folks!  I had to face some similar needs when I got my wife up for the day and most times when she has some difficulties getting up it aggravates the shakes and jolts of the Myoclonus, lends itself to greater weakness and she tends to hang onto me which all makes it tough to get her dressed and ready for breakfast.  Once again I had a decision to make.  I could have chosen to get upset which would have only added to the problems and Piper’s response to me, or to take a pause, breathe in deeply and pray for God’s assistance.  So, I wisely chose the latter of the two decisions and we made it through the process with Piper only sliding off the bed into my arms once in the process!

So… if my understanding is correct… you and I have a decision to make each and every day.  Will we choose to trust in the Lord and be HAPPY no matter what we face throughout the day, or allow the natural unfolding of things direct the way we feel and respond?  Well, you’ve seen some examples of my daily struggles and the decisions I have made.  Will you do the same?  The fun part comes when you make the decision of trust and are HAPPY and then get to see the look on the faces of those around you when you don’t freak out!  Who says that God doesn’t have a sense of humor!

Have a HAPPY weekend!  Stay in tune to the truth and surety of God’s Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s decisions am I expecting to make today?”

Love, Truth and HAPPINESS...

When I arose from bed this morning it had been raining pretty steadily for a few hours.  The room was darker than normal and I was a bit out of sync thinking that it was earlier than it actually was!  When I concluded my morning study time about an hour later and went back into the bedroom to help my wife up for the day, it was still fairly dark in the room.  After I opened up the blinds to let what little light there was outside into the bedroom, I turned toward the bed and observed a big black fluffy tail extending from under the bed. 

It seemed that our Australian Shepherd had gone back under the bed after I had let her out, in order to catch a few more Zzz’s before breakfast!  She was completely hidden under the bed except for her tail.  Then as I knelt down at my wife’s side so as to gently arouse her for the day, the dog’s tail began to wag!  It was kind of a funny sight and brought an instant smile and a bit of HAPPINESS to my soul.  Even though I could not make eye contact with the pooch, she was letting me know that she knew I was there and was HAPPY with the situation!

Piper on the other hand, was in cruise control and snoozed throughout my confession of our healing scriptures over her and didn’t acknowledge my presence until I physically swung her legs over the side of the bed!  Then I was rewarded with a smile… and a big yawn!  All in all it was a HAPPY beginning to what looked to be a cool and wet weather day!

I was HAPPY to begin with though, when I entered the bedroom.  I had been studying in the Bible from 1 Corinthians 13:6 where Paul declared in his treatise about the God kind of love that “(Love) isn’t HAPPY when injustice is done, but is HAPPY with the truth.” (God’s Word ©)  When I first read that I immediately caught a connection between being HAPPY and knowing the truth.  The Greek description for the word “truth” in this verse is defined by “Thayer’s Greek Definitions” as “What is true in any matter under consideration.”

Well, as far as I am concerned, that points directly to what Jesus called the truth in His prayer to the Father in the garden just previous to His crucifixion.  John 17:17 records His prayer as “Sanctify them (Believers like you and me) by the truth.  YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.” (KJV)  Another interesting point is that the words translated HAPPY or REJOICETH in the King James Version of I Corinthians 13:6 is actually two different words in the original language.  The first use is the common Greek use of HAPPY meaning “cheer, to be well, to thrive.”  The second takes an additional twist as it is defined as “to rejoice with, to take part in another’s joy.” (Both definitions from Thayer’s)

So while the first use is an independent expression, the second is predicated by another source, in this case… the truth of God’s Word!  Weymouth’s 1912 New Testament, otherwise known as “The New Testament in Modern Speech” might say it the best when it declared: “She (love) finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, BUT JOYFULLY SIDES WITH THE TRUTH.”

So if you put this thought all together, you clearly see the Apostle connecting the dots between acting in Godly love, HAPPINESS and the truth of God’s Word.  You could therefore come to the conclusion that if your thoughts, actions and words are siding with the truth of God’s Word then you are HAPPY and thereby able to do what I Corinthians 13:7 states about love while KNOWING and EXPECTING the unfailing nature of Godly love as defined in verse eight in every situation of your life!

Hummmm… sounds like the perfect antidote for consistent and unshakeable HAPPINESS for our lives!  If you and I are so focused and so sold on the truth of God’s Word in, through and for every situation in our lives, then we should be in a constant state of satisfied HAPPINESS… RIGHT?  Makes sense to me!  Sure, we all face the occasional tough times, but that doesn’t mean that we have to let it shake the core of HAPPINESS that the ROCK of the truth of God’s Word provides for our lives.  That to me just helps me to have a greater understanding of the nature of Papa God… and of His love for you and me!  Wouldn’t you agree?

Have a wonderfully HAPPY day in the midst of everything you face today!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s truth am I expecting to set my faith on today?”

True HAPPINESS!

Our dog has an interesting habit, at particular times, where she’ll stand in the middle of the room with her back toward us and bark a single bark.  Then she’ll turn and look back at us with what looks like a sassy smile on her face!  She normally does this after someone has played with her for a few moments or many times after eating her breakfast.  When Mandie performed her little act for my wife and I this morning, I asked  Piper why she thought the dog did this.  Then I answered my own question by declaring that I thought she was trying to get our attention to let us know that she was HAPPY!

Laughter, smiles and joy have always had a big part to play in our marriage as well as in our family.  With that in mind, I think the Lord made sure that Piper picked out a dog from the shelter on that Memorial Day weekend eleven years ago that was HAPPY and content and would fit right in with the zany exploits of our family’s daily life!

And speaking of HAPPY… My continued study on being HAPPY pointed me to the ministry today.  As I looked up the scriptures that discuss HAPPINESS in the New Testament, I observed that Jesus and the Apostles many times related people’s being HAPPY with the effects of the message of the Good News upon their lives.  In Luke 13:17 Jesus compares the difference between those who believed and those who did not. 

After He received flak from the religious leaders of the day for healing a women on the Sabbath and explained His actions, it is recorded: “As he (Jesus) said this, everyone who opposed him felt ashamed.  But the entire crowd was HAPPY about the miraculous things he was doing.” (God’s Word ©)  I think it is interesting to note that those who did not believe Jesus responded to the miracles that accompanied the preaching of the Word with anger, fear and embarrassment, while those who accepted His words and actions as the Good News from heaven were reported as being HAPPY!

Every ministry role I have held in the local church during the past forty years have always been part-time pay positions.  Which means that I always also had to have a secular job or two in order to support my family.  Many times throughout the seasons of the year, the needs of the ministry demanded full time hours to best meet the requirements of any special programs or activities that we were leading at the church. 

Those times, needless to say, tended to put a strain on me and my wife and kids.  But I can honestly say that all the extra effort, the long hours of preparation at night or during the day during lunch and breaks at my secular jobs and on weekends, was all worth EVERY minute of it when I would hear the laughter and see the smiling faces of the kids as they participated in the special activities, sang songs or gave my wife and I a hug as they left for the day.

In our years of youth work, the moments when the young adults would forget about their friends standing next to them and lift up their hands in unabashed humility and worship unto the Lord would immediately melt away any tiredness and immerse my being in the joy and glory of the Lord.  I always enjoyed planning and putting on special retreats for the youth.  Those times camping in the woods and experiencing everyday life closely with our youth was like heaven on earth to me.  The one-on-one conversations, the ministry at the end of the evening services, the laughter as well as the tears, made all the long hours of preparation and the push to complete everything in every responsibility I held with the church, my family and at the secular jobs, well worth it!

At those special times I would find myself VERY HAPPY and blessed in knowing and seeing that our ministry students were also blessed and VERY HAPPY – some of them for the first time in their rough young lives!  As a leader and participant in the ministry of the Good News of Jesus Christ, I can fully understand the 70 disciple’s joy as it was noted that “The 70 disciples came back very HAPPY.  They said, ‘Lord, even demons obey us when we use the power and authority of your name…’” (Luke 10:17 God’s Word ©)

Have you experienced the HAPPINESS of ministering the joy, the truth and most importantly, the love inherent in the message of the Good News?  For me it is one of the greatest “highs” ever to be experienced.  There is nothing like seeing others become HAPPY by the transformation of their lives as they are saved, blessed and healed by a personal touch of the Lord through you and me!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting to make truly HAPPY today?”

Sticky Fingers!

Have I ever mentioned the fact that I hate having sticky fingers?  This morning as I was helping my wife with breakfast, I skewed a tiny wedge of pancake smothered in syrup and gave it to her.  In the process though, I proceeded to get sticky syrup all over the handle of the fork and you guessed it… all over my fingers!  I was not a happy camper.  So I grabbed a paper napkin and tried to wipe it off but only succeeded in tearing it up and leaving bits of paper stuck to my hand!  I finally got up and went to the sink so as to wash my fingers and the fork.

That exercise in the proper use and care of breakfast utensils got me to thinking about my study on being HAPPY and lessons learned over the last six years.  It reminded me of how I had to eventually go to the sink in my heart and wash off some of the sticky ways and patterns of my past in order to glide like Teflon into our future.  In Psalm 119:24 David exclaims: “Indeed, your written instructions make me HAPPY.  They are my best friends.”  (God’s Word ©)

I’ve told before of the three things that the Lord told my wife and I to do when we returned to our hometown after our stay in Oklahoma.  One of those instructions was to reconnect with our network of family and friends.  When I heard this I just assumed that we would go back and easily slide right back into a similar routine that we had before we left.  But boy… was I ever mistaken!  As I’ve also mentioned before, upon our return we discovered that just about EVERYTHING was or was soon to be different!  It took me a few years to totally figure things out, but I finally realized that we could not stick to our past if we were going to ably jump in the fray and win the fight for my wife’s health.

This morning I thought back to one of the scriptures we looked at last week in Romans 1:16 where Paul declares: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation…” (KJV)  And it dawned on me that I am not ashamed of the gospel, but I sure have found myself being ashamed at the way some Christians represent the gospel by their words and actions.  That thought can most accurately describe some of the eye-opening lessons I learned with many of the adverse comments and actions that came from folks we loved and trusted and expected support from.

Looking back now, I can see that the Lord was trying to tell us that when push comes to shove, that His Word is the only thing that we as Christians can really depend on.  Kind of like David’s comment that God’s Words are his best friends!  No wonder he declared that the Word made him HAPPY.  When some of our family deserted us, we quickly understood the truth behind the words spoken in Proverbs 18:24 where it is explained that “… a loving friend can stick closer than family.” (God’s Word ©)

I guess that this is the kind of Godly love where stickiness is a good thing!  That sticky is one of those things that makes us HAPPY!  So if I’ve got this right… sticking with God’s Word is one of His ways for us to be truly HAPPY.  If His Word is our best friend, then it is one of the first places we should go in good times as well as in the bad.

It is one of the many lessons we learned in this particular part of the journey of our lives.  It is the kind of HAPPY that isn’t dependent on your circumstances, neither on what you see nor on how you feel.  For us it has been the “power of God” for our physical, spiritual and emotional salvation, even when things seem to get worse instead of better.  So I guess that if I have to get sticky… I’d best get stuck on the best friendship of His Word so that I can experience real HAPPINESS… How about you?

Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting to get STUCK on today?”