Hold That Thought!

It would seem that I am not the only one to whom Papa God has been speaking to concerning our walking in His love!  Yesterday one of the Pastors was sharing how he was watching an interview recently when one of the individuals on the program commented with great sarcasm, “Oh, for the love of Christ!”  What was interesting to me though, was the way the Pastor responded to it.  He said that instead of getting upset like he normally would, he simply began to think about the love of Christ and what it really means to you and me!

He commented that it was a line of thought that he just could not shake, but found himself continually meditating on throughout the days that followed.  One of his points throughout the ensuing sermon that really caught my attention was the fact that Christ’s love isn’t about what we deserve, but about what we’ve been given, and he kept coming back to Jesus’ reasoning for why He came to the earth in the first place declaring: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)

That good word brought back to mind many of the points that I’ve been learning about and sharing in my last few blog posts.  I kept thinking about how Christian love is a living, breathing, action-filled combination of His Love + His Grace.  It is Love that is empowered by His Grace… thus… it is not something that any of us deserve, but what He has given to us… and expects us to do the same toward others!  It is a lifestyle of our words and actions that are filtered through His grace before we say or do anything!

The Pastor gave the example of a time he was walking downtown and he observed a man standing on the sidewalk sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The only problem though, was that in his presentation he was condemning everyone who walked by with his fear-filled and angry words.  It finally got to the point where he got into a physical altercation with another individual who didn’t take too kindly to his discouraging and rather threatening words!

That example reminded me of the many individuals I have known over the years who “tell it like it is!”  Then after they offend someone they shrug it off saying: “Well, that’s just who I am… and there’s nothing I can do about it!”  I’ve been on the other end of some of those “tell it like it is” comments, especially when going through the trauma of my wife’s situation and I can honestly say that I don’t believe that those words were part of a lifestyle of words and actions that are filtered through God’s love and grace.

I believe that God in His great love for each of us, has given us the power and wisdom of His grace to stop and think (and pray) for a moment BEFORE we open our mouths!  That split second pause could be the difference between offense/hurt or blessing to the one we are in conversation with.  I firmly believe (as I have witnessed many times in my own response to others in both sacred ministry and secular management) that God’s Love + Grace causes us to hold our tongues! 

I once had a manager give me the nick name of “The Lawyer” while in the midst of high tension meetings with the personnel department concerning the outcome of an employee’s work related indiscretions.  I may not have the quickest come-back in the world, but I always endeavor to think and pray through my thoughts and options.  As much as possible, I want my words to be God’s words of love and grace… and not my opinionated ramblings!

So… is this lifestyle easy? NO!  Does it ever end? NO!  Does it get easier?  I believe it does!  But like I said last week… it takes W-O-R-K… and an ever-increasing, personal and intimate knowledge of Christ’s love for you and me! (See: Ephesians 3:19)  Is it worth the effort? YES!

When is the best time to start this lifestyle? RIGHT NOW!

So… give it a go and be the blessing you are called to be to those you come in contact with on a daily basis!  Have a great new week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Whose LOVE and GRACE am I expecting to emulate today?

The SHALL's of Life...

I just can’t seem to shake the thought of the “extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love” (Ephesian 3:18 The Message)… which is probably a good thing… wouldn’t you agree?  I kept finding myself talking about it to my wife yesterday and woke up this morning with it fresh on my mind!

I mean just think about it… A love that according to a modern definition of the word “extravagant,” exceeds the bounds of natural reason.  It is a type of love that goes far beyond what we deserve to receive and as per the world’s standards, is much more than is necessary or wise.  Come on now, doesn’t that do something to you?  That’s the kind of love that Jesus has for you and me.  It is also the kind of love that we can walk in as well, as we allow His grace to empower us and thereby overcome whatever it is in us at any given time that might make us think that the potential receiver of that kind of love isn’t worthy of it!

I will admit that I have had to ask for God’s grace in order to forgive and love people who have done some awful things toward my wife and I in her time of need.  I couldn’t make it, if it had not been for His grace to help me over the total surprise, frustration and anger of the incidents.  But that is what the “extravagant dimensions” of His love is all about! 

But... this “extravagance” doesn’t just fall out of the sky onto us!  We have to diligently seek it out, believe it is for us and then step out in faith and use it!  I was reading from Mark 11:22-24 yesterday and again this morning and was amazed to see how many times the word “SHALL” is used.  If you recall, this portion of scriptures tells of a time when Jesus was teaching His disciples to “say unto this mountain, be thou removed and cast into the sea; and SHALL not doubt in his heart, but SHALL believe that those things which he saith SHALL come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23 KJV)

In the previous verse, Jesus literally labelled this kind of faith-filled action as “the faith of God.” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible)  Or as another translation I once read described it as: “The God kind of faith.”  When you think about it… this was the way that God created the world in the first place… by speaking out His will into the “void and darkness” (Genesis 1:1-31 KJV) and it came to be!  You see, Papa God wanted something to happen so He had to take some action.

In Mark 11:22-24 we find the word “SHALL” used six times.  According to Dictionary.com “SHALL” is an action word.  It is a verb used in the present singular first person that gives a command for someone to “plan to, intend to, expect to, must do, or are obliged to do.”  In other words, in these verses Jesus is telling us over and over again, that in order to walk in and/or receive the blessings of God and His Word, there are certain actions that we have to take!

It doesn’t just happen… we have to acknowledge the truth of God’s Word by working it!  Back in the 1980’s I served under an older Pastor who told me that ministry is spelled “W-O-R-K!”  Which to me meant that I had to put feet to my visions, plans and great ministry goals.  Planning is great, but there comes a time when you’ve got to step out and DO the steps of the plan in order to see the fruition of whatever it is that you are attempting to do!

The same can be said about walking in the “extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.”  You just can’t read about it and talk about it… You’ve got to step out (usually in some degree of faith) and apply it with those you interact with on a daily basis.  The Apostle of Love instructs us in I John 1:18 by saying: “Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.” (God’s Word ©)  Once again, next to observing and working with the painful changes that have been occurring in my wife due to the effects of Alzheimer’s, dealing with people’s empty words and lack of actions has been one of the toughest battles that I have had to deal with over the last 10 years of this journey.

So what SHALL it be for you?  Will it be empty words (that lead to an empty heart) or actions that open up the door to “the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love” (and a swelling heart filled with the fullness of God)?  What steps (or SHALLS) will you commence to do today toward those individuals who are part of your lives?

Have a great weekend!  It looks like our weather should be great out here.  I’m hoping to mow the lawns and get the fencing around my raised bed vegetable garden.  Let me know your thoughts on “the extravagant dimensions of Christ love” working in and through you… and then keep asking yourself… “What actions am I expecting to take in order to spread ‘the extravagant dimensions of Christ love,’ today?”

A New Dimension...

I have many things that I enjoy looking at every morning.  When I pull back the curtains in the dining room I like to glance over the back yard and check out any recent work that I have done in the yard and then let my eyes linger over the beautiful trees, shrubs and vines that line two sides of our property.   

Just before I go back into the bedroom to help Piper up for the day, I take pleasure in opening the blinds on the two living room windows.  As I slowly move my sight across our large front yard and then up and around the surrounding properties, it never fails to amaze me how wonderful our country neighborhood is and how blessed we are to have found this particular home.

Then when I enter into our bedroom and quietly begin to sing worship songs to my sweet wife, I always pause after opening the bedroom window that looks over the side of our home toward the forested commons area and take in the stunning green lawn, tall pines, the forest ground covering and multitude of birds fluttering from tree to tree.  The sights and sounds around our property contain some of the most comforting and peaceful views that one can imagine!  The largeness of nature that surrounds us is better to me than anything one can take to refresh, relax or medicate ones being!

And just as I take a daily peek into the beauty of God’s creation around me each morning, I also look at certain breath-taking portions of scripture each and every morning as a sort of quick refreshment and pick-me-up!  One of those heavenly stimulants is Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21.  Over the last few days I have found myself hard-pressed to get passed verse eighteen as accented in The Message Bible where it vividly talks of “being able to take in… the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love”

Now I understand that The Message Bible is not a word for word translation from the original Greek, but a paraphrase that seeks to bring the message of the Gospel to the reader through the use of modern language and currently used popular idioms.  But from my life experience, I would have to say that the author, Eugene Peterson, nailed this one!

Over the forty seven years of my wife’s and my close relationship, we have continuously seen and personally experienced the overwhelming love of our Savior that I can only characterize as being within a totally different and greater dimension than anything the world has to offer.  It is one that can only be accurately termed as “Extravagant!”

On a hunch I looked up the word “extravagant” in the dictionary and discovered that it literally means: “wandering beyond limits.”  It is also described as being: “Irregular, wild and not within the ordinary limits of truth or predictability or other usual bounds.” (1828 Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com)  Now, that’s the kind of Godly, agape love that I have witnessed over and over again in our lives as well as in the lives of many other Christian men and women and boys and girls that I have known and/or ministered to over my 64 years of life.  And yes… it is not like the kind of love you see acted out on TV, or in the movies or in the lives of many folks living in our cities. 

It is that unique Godly love that is empowered by His grace.  It is the kind of love that is undeserved and unlimited!  It is the kind of love that goes WAY beyond any natural measure or understanding!  And it is the unmeasurable, unlimited and unending love that Papa God has for you and me!

As I meditated on this over the last few days, I realized that Piper and I began to expect this type of extravagant love in our lives very early in our relationship.  But please understand, that this expectation is not driven by selfishness or a give-me, give-me attitude.  It is based on an awesome, humble and amazing understanding of how much God loves each of us.  That as we are obedient to Him and His ways and allow His Word to abide in us, and us in Him, that like any good father, He wants to love us beyond measure… and His measure… well… its EXTRAVAGANT!

I also realized that once you have this expectation of the extravagant dimensions of Papa God’s love that you’ll begin to think and then flow within that dimension.  The difficult part of this expectation though, is that it is almost impossible to explain your actions (based on this personal understanding and expectation of God’s extravagant love) to people who do not yet have this personal expectation of God’s agape love.

With this expectation one does not consider “how” when called to do or believe for something from the Lord, but “how big.”  It is not a question of how ‘we’ are going to afford and/or do this, it is a question of how big is our faith ‘in God and His agape love’ concerning our fulfilling of what He is calling us to do and/or dream for.  The focus is on His unlimited abilities and not on our personal limitations!  This expectation is one that has us believing in Him as we “wander beyond limits,” are seen as doing things that are “irregular” to the normal way of doing things, and begin to step out into areas that are normally understood as “not within the limits of truth or predictability or other usual bounds.”

Living your life and daily decisions with this expectation will most likely cause some folks around you to think you’re a little… shall we say different!  But you know… My wife and I have come to accept and actually be proud of that description… because as Christians… we are supposed to be different than the rest of the world… wouldn’t you agree?

So what about you?  How EXTRAVAGANT do you want your relationship with Papa God to be?  How much of His EXTRAVAGANT love do you want to experience on a daily basis?  The rest of Ephesians 3:18 in The Message Bible says that in order to experience this kind of love, we have to “reach out,” “test,” “plumb” and “rise” up into its “breadth,” “length,” “depths” and “heights.”   In other words… we have to take specific actions in order to step into this new exciting and unlimited dimension!

Is that something you might want to do?  My answer continues to be a resounding “YES!”

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What new and different dimension of God’s EXTRAVAGANT love am I expecting to enter into… today?”

Bugs, Sweat and Bites!

I got a little surprise this morning when I looked at the date on my computer and realized that it was May 1^st!  For some reason I had it in my mind that it was tomorrow.  I am not sure why, but I’ve always tended to see May as the official beginning of spring.  So even though spring actually began over a month ago, to me… it starts today!  Happy spring everyone… hum… it just started to pour outside… what’s wrong with this picture?

We sent the month of April off with a flurry of gardening activities over the weekend.  On Saturday I dug a two foot square hole in the far back of our yard, exactly 20 feet from the pear tree we put in last summer.  Then first thing on Sunday morning I immersed the bare root Santa Rosa Plum tree I bought online from Stark Brothers Nursery in a bucket of water in order to hydrate the roots for five to six hours.  

The Santa Rosa Plum doesn’t seem to be available at local nurseries, so I had to resort to the online store that now holds many of the original patents from its original owner, Luther Burbank.  It seems that Luther Burbank and the Stark brothers began an association around 1914 when he became interested in a new variety of apple that the Starks were developing that came to be known as the ‘Golden Delicious.’  “Just before his passing in 1926, Burbank selected the Stark Brothers to carry on his important work with more than 750 varieties.” (https://www.starkbros.com/about)  And as the name implies, the Santa Rosa Plum was developed by Burbank at his farm in my home town of Santa Rosa California.  So it will be nice to have a visible memory of the place we grew up in!

But back to the weekend’s activities… After running into town to get the pooch some dog food, we came home and I planted the tree, put up a fence around it to keep the night time visitors away and staked it up!

This morning as I opened the curtains in the dining room and excitedly looked out over the backyard, I began to think of all the similarities between the planting of that tree and our Christian walk of faith.  Now granted, we are blessed with a sandy loam type of soil and so the digging of the hole wasn’t all that difficult except for the temperature that was pushing 100 degrees, the bugs that seem to come out of nowhere as I began to perspire and the rocks that I hit a few inches before the two foot depth mark.  So needless to say it took a bit of effort to get the hole prepared!

Sunday turned out to be a little cooler with a bit of a breeze, but the bugs seemed to have multiplied over night!  It took a little over an hour to get the tree in, the fence up (next time I’ll purchase new chicken wire instead of trying to untangle the old stuff I had on hand), staked and the ground water and fertilized!  And even though the pesky little thought kept sneaking up in my mind saying I needed to stop and finish it tomorrow, I persevered through and finished the job!

Looking upon my completed work this morning reminded me of all the sweat, annoyances, distractions and hard work it took to get the tree properly set in the ground and protected with the fencing, and it made me feel good that I saw the job through!  It also brought to mind the stories that Jesus told His followers about the contrasts between the man who built his house on the rocks verses the one who quickly built his on the sand (See Matthew 7:24-27), and the other parable concerning the sower and the results of his efforts in direct proportion to type of soil on which the seed fell (See Mark 4:1-9).

In both stories we see that the man who endeavored to pursue his job with great effort, diligence, focus, wisdom and determination was rewarded.  And as with the fellow who took the easy way out and built his home on the sand… well…“the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:27 KJV) 

Like with my gardening efforts over the weekend, it takes time and lots of effort (in my case lots of sticky, bug biting sweat!), but the rewards are worth all the efforts!  My ultimate plan is to eventually have four fruit trees across the backyard, and I know that it is going to take some work to get them in… and then to take care of them throughout the year.  But not only am I committed to the tasks ahead, I also enjoy doing the work it takes to have healthy, productive trees in the yard!

The same can be said for my wife’s and my Christian walk.  We committed to the effort to grow and bear fruit for the kingdom of God before we were married!  And yeah, it has taken a lot of dedication and work along with some setbacks, annoying distractions and bugs (or in this case people… oophs… do I need to say more!) and regular times in the Word and in prayer, but the results have been wonderful!  Would I do it again if I had the chance?  Without a moment’s hesitation!

So there ya go!  Think about it next time you hit a roadblock in your faith, trip and almost fall (like I did a few times yesterday!) and/or get bitten by those annoying bugs that seem to stick to your arms and buzz your eyes and ears… as you “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 KJV)

Have a great week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to do when the bugs of life buzz around me?”

Expanding Your Horizons

The most encouraging segment that we watched on the PBS channel’s shows about North Carolina’s history, unique attractions, people and destinations was a story about a local man who was suddenly diagnosed with an eye disease.  He looked to be in his mid-thirties when he received the news that he would gradually lose his sight.  The report tells of the personal and emotional trials and tribulations that he went through as his sight was taken away.  But yet it documented such a determination that I have not seen in many people.

At one point he finally decided that he was not going to let his lack of sight deter him from living a full life, doing the things he enjoyed.  So he began to walk around the house, in the neighborhood and then around his town… without any aid but his white walking stick.  But wait!  The best of the story is yet to come.  Eventually he began to journey away from the paved sidewalks and streets of town and hike on the nature trails and paths in the woods around his hometown.

As his confidence grew he made the bold determination to hike the 2180+ mile Appalachian Trail that traverses from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.  During the program they interviewed his parents who openly expressed their concerns commenting that they thought that he’d lost his mind along with his sight!  But that didn’t stop him… and in the early spring the year he planted himself… alone… at the beginning camp in Georgia and began to ask the various groups as they came through if he could join in with them.

Well… he kept up his determination even though the first 24 groups rejected his plea.  But on the 25th he hit the jackpot and began his journey with the assistance of a young man who agreed to hike with him.  Then some two months later and the assistance of others along the way, he successfully hiked the entire trail!  I am not too sure that I would have had the guts, confidence and determination to do that!  What about you?

One of the things that really struck a chord with me, was something this gentleman said about the sudden changes in his life at the end of the interview.  He said that he finally understood that in his new situation, that somethings would never be the same again and that he learned to just get over it and find new things that he could do that would bring joy, comfort and meaning to his life!  I think that is a good word to all of us when making the decision to expand the boundaries of our comfort zones or not…

One of the points I read in the commentary as I have been studying I Timothy is something that Paul was basically trying to convey to the young Timothy saying, “If you are God’s servant, called by the Spirit, obeying His will, then you can stay with it and finish the walk.”* (See: I Timothy 1:12)  But Paul didn’t stop there, he also gave some practical advice declaring “It is not enough to proclaim the faith with our lips, we must practice the faith in our lives.”*  In other words, he was encouraging Timothy to not only believe, but to also step out and act on those beliefs!  Just like the blind gentleman I told you about.

I’ve discovered time and time again, that the hardest part of stepping out of my comfort zone is that first step.  After that, it tends to get easier with each step forward that I take… many times in total faith as I haven’t walked that path before!  I am not sure what hurts me the most in our situation… when those who refuse to take that first step end up negatively affecting my wife, or the negative affect I see festering in their own lives.  Sometimes our refusal to step up and beyond our comfort zone affects a lot more than just those immediately involved in the situation!

But on the other hand… Our courage in stepping out can have an immensely positive and encouraging effect on others like how I felt after viewing that story about the blind man’s courage to go beyond what he could not see (literally and emotionally!).  What helps me the most when faced with difficult steps in our current journey, is the knowledge that since God has called me to do what I am doing for my wife, that He has also equipped and enabled me to succeed… no matter how difficult or unusual the task or situation may be.

So… what do you think?  What will your next move be when faced with a situation that’s new to you?  Do you step up and out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons… or stay put?  Remember… keep in mind how your decisions will affect those around you.  Have a great weekend, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What actions am I expecting to take when the limits of my comfort zone are being expanded?”

*Be Faithful, Warren Wiersbe, Study on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, chapter one

Stepping Out of the Zone...

I’ve mentioned many times that I have always been what many would consider to be a “dreamer.”  Dictionary.com defines a dreamer from two extremes saying on one hand that a dreamer is “a person who lives in a world of fantasy; one who is impractical and unrealistic.”  Then on the other side of the coin states that a dreamer is “a person whose ideas or projects are considered audacious or highly speculative; a visionary.”

I have come to learn that people who do not understand dreamers will automatically lean toward the first definition listed above.  Through the years I have been called naïve, told I was living in “La, La, Land,” am irresponsible and by a few, that I am just plain stupid!  But to those who have an understanding and appreciation of the inner workings of us dreamers, both my wife and I have been congratulated for our faith and confidence over some of the things we stepped out to do (even when they didn’t turn out as well as we had hoped), have received much prayer and encouragement and emotional support and at times even emulated as examples to follow.  So you can see that the reactions are quite polar!

But I have also learned that being a dreamer entails much responsibility, lots of faith and patience, planning, persistence and the ability to smile when others openly criticize you… for being you!  I imagine that it must be difficult for a non-dreamer to understand what’s going on in the mind and spirit of a dreamer!

I recently purchased a new bibliography on the life and times of the well-known American frontiersman Daniel Boone after seeing a two part segment on one of the North Carolina history programs on our local PBS TV channel.  It turns out that Daniel Boone spent 21 years of his life right here in our new home state after coming here at the age of eighteen with his parents and many siblings (There were 10 or 11 kids in the family!).  So with the new book, I decided to revive the tradition that we started during our first winter in our home, of spending a little time each afternoon in our cozy study reading from an historical book.

After reading the introduction, the preface and looking of the multipage chronology of events in the life of our frontier hero, I turned to my wife with a smile, a laugh and a yearning in my heart and declared: “Like I’ve said before Honey, if we had lived back then I can almost guarantee that we would have had a covered wagon and would have been continually moving west every few years along with all the other pioneers as the country grew.”

I talked to our oldest daughter last week about a similar subject when she came over to spend the afternoon with us.  I explained how I would get bored and restless with all the secular jobs that I had held over the years after I had been working there for a while.  Looking back, it seemed to flow on a five year cycle.  I’d start the position with a bang, work hard and then find myself after a few years no longer looking forward to another day on the job!  In the discussion above, it would be like the farmer who is standing in the field he had finally cleared and tended for a few years and looks out across the horizon and begins to dream about the new lands, exciting adventures and challenges with all the other possibilities that loomed over the next mountain range!

But with those new adventures and challenges comes the reality of facing new things that you have never encountered before.  And while that can be exciting it also means that you are going to have to deal with the difficulties of stepping out of your comfort zone again!  The reality of this normal and sometimes daily event in each of our lives has really come to the forefront of my understanding during this long and difficult journey with my wife’s health.

Over the years I have continually been forced to step out of my personal comfort zone in the preservation of my wife’s life.  I was thinking yesterday about all the difficult phone calls, office visits, benefits research and more meetings, disease research and questioning and the hours of prayer in which I have endeavored to inquire for my wife’s needs.  Then on top of all that there is having to deal with other people’s reactions and/or responses to my wife’s situation… some outstanding in their reaching out to her and others who cannot seem to step beyond the confines of their own comfort zones.

One thing that impressed me in the two part documentary about Daniel Boone’s adventures in North Carolina that we watched on TV, was the outstanding strength and abilities of Boone’s wife Rebekah that he had met and married while in our state.  It seems that she was one of the main foundations of his life that enabled him to accomplish the things that are written in the history books.  She must have been a remarkable woman when you consider all that she did in raising ten children, caring for and defending the homestead while Daniel was on a long hunt (sometimes as long as two years at a time) and supporting and encouraging her husband through the ups and down of his remarkable life.

I would imagine that she was continually faced with situations while living on the wilderness borders of our young country that forced her to step beyond the securities of her comfort zone!  And from what I have seen on the TV documentary and read so far in the book, she did it with exemplary ease!

I got that same feeling of exemplary conduct with the writings of the Apostle Paul to his son-in-the-ministry Timothy.  In I Timothy 1:18-19 Paul encourages his protégé to take the calling as Pastor in the pagan city of Ephesus that had been prophesized over him and personally charged by Paul to accomplish with zeal by “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck…” (KJV)

Like Daniel and Rebecca Boone, Timothy and in some respects myself (although I’m not sure I can put myself on the same line as these strong historical characters!), I challenge each of my readers to take an honest look at how you handle that place that I am sure you have come to in your lives… when you are faced with new situations that you may not be familiar with… or be comfortable in pursuing.  How do you face that fear that tries to crop up and encourage you to simply turn around and go back to where you were before?  Do you swallow hard and set your confidence on the strength of God… or do you retreat and choose not to deal with the situation?

This is a tough one… but it is a decision that we have to make continually!  As a dreamer, it is a decision that I have had to face MANY times in my life… and I admit that it doesn’t necessarily get any easier… EXCEPT... that I always have the memory of the last success when I stepped out of my comfort zone in the faith and good conscience of the Lord and His Word that carries me through the initial tough times of any new move!

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to do today when faced with something that challenges the borders of my comfort zone?”

Love + Grace = _____________

This weekend seemed to be a series of revelations to me!  It started on Saturday morning when I continued to forge-on in my new study of I Timothy using one of the “Be” commentaries written by Warren Wiersbe as my initial guide.  It continued that evening as I watched one of three programs on the local PBS channel that I’ve been enjoying that cover things to do in North Carolina, historical sites and unique business endeavors in the Tar Heel State.  Then on Sunday there was the story of a gentleman who had recently become blind and the way he has faced his fears.  This was portrayed on the PBS show that works together with the “Our State” magazine that gives detailed monthly looks into many of the unique attributes of our new home.

And just before we went to bed last night, I flipped on one of the ministries we’ve supported for years and ended up staying up a little later than I had originally wanted to.  We did this in order to listen to and catch the significance of a prophecy that was given in 1974 that seems to relate to our current government’s administration, in line with God’s plan for America!

So, to say the least, it was a very enlightening weekend!  As I read from I Timothy 1:12-17 on Saturday morning my interest was piqued as I read verse fourteen where Paul, concerning his unique salvation experience, states that “the grace our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.” KJV)  The Message Bible says that “Grace mixed with faith and love poured over and into me…”  While the 1889 Darby translation declares “The grace of our Lord surpassingly over-abounded with faith and love…”

The thought of love mixing with grace and mercy caught my attention.  And as I meditated on that idea my eyes glanced over to a couple of defining statements made by the author of the commentary.  Reverend Wiersbe wrote that “God in His mercy did not give Paul what he did deserve; instead, God in His grace gave Paul what he did not deserve.  Grace and mercy are God’s love in action.”

Then a few lines down he continued his point that “It is not God’s love alone that saves us, for God loves the whole world (John 3:16).  It is by grace that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9) because God is rich in mercy and grace” (Ephesians 2:7).  I am not totally sure why, but that last line hit me like a brick and my mind was overwhelmed with understanding!

Throughout this journey that my sweet wife and I have been on with the deterioration of her health, I have often wondered how people who we know love us, have responded in some of the most difficult ways that either of us have ever experienced.  As I read this explanation I suddenly understood that the Godly agape love that Paul is talking about is a combination of LOVE and GRACE!   What we’ve been seeing is love without grace!  Then I also saw that love without grace is like the natural love that we see abounding in the world in which we live.

Through the years of ministry and secular management in three different corporations, I have often times shook my head in disbelief as I’ve witnessed couples fighting and/or getting divorced over things that I, in our experience, would consider having a simple solution.  But now I understand that the one quality that was missing in their relationships was grace!   

I have known for the forty seven years of our relationship, which includes five years of dating that began in High School, that I ALWAYS have an “ear of grace” with my wife!  I know without a doubt that I can tell her anything, including the just plain dumb or stupid things I’ve done over the years, and receive grace in the form of a warm hug, compassion, forgiveness (if necessary), and just the perfect words of encouragement without any trace of judgment or criticism.

I’ve discovered that love and grace go together hand in glove.  That grace enables or empowers our love walk and gives us the strength and ability to walk out the activity of love toward others… as well as to ourselves!  Love without grace is powerless to act in certain situations.  This kind of love results in but empty or meaningless words when real action is required.

LOVE plus GRACE = God’s Agape love.

We’ll continue on this theme for a few more blog posts… which just might include an example by one of America’s most well-known pioneer, woodsman and frontiersman Daniel Boone!  But in the meantime, I would encourage you to think about the combination of LOVE and GRACE that is working in your life!  How enabled is your love walk today?

Have a great week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Am I expecting my activities to be filled with God’s GRACE today?”