Renewal

How are you renewed to face each day? Is it a good night’s sleep? Is it by looking forward to something good happening today? Is it because of a positive attitude? Or, do you have a more powerful source that renews you?

We have all experienced the drudgery of this world. There are numerous worries that can weigh us down. Most recently, the news of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has many people concerned. Some are cancelling travel. Some are hording necessities. Some are deciding to no longer go out in public unless it is absolutely necessary. For some, fear has frozen them. Certainly, we should all carefully take care of our health and be respectful of others.

There are others who seem to be at peace. These people seem to have no worries at all. We may wonder how they can go through life with no worries. Yet, are we sure they have no worries? Or, are they relying on a greater power?

Paul tells the Roman church in Romans 12:2 to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This transformation is not something we can do on our own. We must rely on God to transform our thoughts. It is through the knowledge of what God has done and knowing His promises that our minds can be transformed.

Do we reach out to God and ask Him to transform us? Or, do we simply ask Him to bless what we want and our current plans? We, too often, refuse to be transformed. We want things to stay the way they are. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, the only constant is change. The world changes every day. We change every day. Each day we have new experiences. Each new experience will change us, even if only in the minutest way.

If we are changing every day and the world around us is changing every day, why not ask God to transform us each day? Don’t we believe we would be better off if the Creator of all things was the one directing our change? God knows every particle of us, each tiny piece of our DNA. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He can make the best changes in us.

I suggest we start asking God each day to transform us, to build us up, to make the changes in us that He knows is best. We just might find that we become someone others admire. We just might find that we come to respect ourselves. We just might find that we become the person God wants us to be and the person we want to be, even if we don’t know it beforehand.

I pray each of us will ask God to transform us from the inside out each day. I pray that we release our desires to take on God’s desires. I pray we periodically step back and review the changes God has made in us. Ask God to transform you. Ask God to renew you. Ask God to create you anew. Trust Him to make the right changes. Trust the Creator of all things.

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a pure heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Love or Love?

Do you love? Do you know which kind of love it is? Do you recognize the type of love you have? Do you know there are different types of love? Can you define the different types of love? Once you know the different types, will you make the effort to recognize them?

We hear people saying they love this or that quite a lot. We hear people saying they love someone multiple times a day. We see it in TV shows, in movies, in commercials, and on social media. We may also hear people say they love God. But what kind of love is the love they are referring to?

Our English word love is quite ambiguous. There are multiple meanings for the same word. That makes it difficult at times to determine the meaning the person intends. In fact, because we’ve grown up with different meanings for the word, we often don’t even recognize ourselves which meaning we intend.

In the New Testament, written in Greek, there are two different basic words used for the word love. There are derivations of those two words used depending on whether it is used as a noun or a verb. Using the two different words made it easier for both the writer and in some cases the speaker to get their specific meaning across.

When we look at John 21:15-17, we see Jesus ask Peter if he loved Him 3 times. What we don’t see in our English translation is Jesus used one word the first two times He asked the question, yet Peter answered with a different word all three times. Jesus finally gave in and used the same word as Peter the third time He asked the question.

You see, Jesus used the word with the meaning of a committed, deep love that could never be broken. Peter used the word that meant emotional or friendship type love. In other words, Peter used the word for love that could go away or could be lost. Jesus used the word that meant love could never be lost, could never disappear, would always be committed, no matter what.

We see the word for love used in today’s Scripture that means being committed for eternity, no matter what. It is a deep love that goes far beyond the affectionate, friendship love that can be fleeting. It goes to the very core of our being and changes us. It is the type of committed love parents have for their children. It’s the type of love that makes marriages last for 75 years. It’s the type of love that God has for us and He expects us to have for Him and each other.

I pray we all develop the committed deep love for one another. I pray we all grow to love God with a love that lasts for eternity. I pray each of us allow this type of love to change our lives. Love with commitment. Learn to love as God loves. Allow God to make changes to your being. God loves you no matter what.

1 john 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God Fulfills Needs

What do you need? Are you in need of something today? Do you need some material object? Are you in need of emotional support? Do you need spiritual renewal? Are you emotionally, spiritually, and physically drained?

Our lives go in cycles. We have times of emotional highs and lows. We experience times of feeling as though we are on top of the mountain and times where we feel like we are trudging through the lowest, muddiest ditches. We experience times of boundless energy and days when we can barely drag ourselves out of bed.

In our humanness, we experience a wide variety of emotions, physical abilities and frailties, and spiritual ups and downs. Can we or should we try to eliminate these? No, but we can seek to limit their negative affect on us. How can we do that?

God is the answer. That may sound a bit flip or cliché. Yet God, our Creator, can provide us with what we need in all situations. He is not a genie in a bottle that we can reach out to only when we need or want Him. He is someone who wants a continual relationship with us. He wants us to be in conversation with Him every day and at all times.

Let’s think about that for just a moment. Don’t we build relationships with our family, friends, co-workers, and classmates? The stronger these relationships, the more we can count on these people to be there for us when we need them. Doesn’t it make sense to do the same in order to expect the same from God?

God has the power to meet all our needs. Sure, even if we haven’t built a solid relationship with Him, He can still fulfill our needs. In fact, He often does. Yet we miss out on the best He can provide when we don’t work on our relationship with Him. We miss seeing how He is working in our lives. We miss growing in our understanding of Him. All this leads to a lack of trust in God, because we haven’t recognized His work in our lives.

Much like we work on our relationships with other people in our lives, we are to work on our relationship with God. When we do, we see just how big God is, just how awesome He is, and we begin to rely on Him more. We depend on Him to provide for our needs.

I pray we all work on our relationship with God. I pray each of us recognize His awesome power. I pray we see God as our all-powerful Creator and lean on Him for everything we need. Come to know God for who He is. Build your relationship with Him. Trust God to fulfill your needs. He won’t disappoint.

Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

Chosen By God

Do you know you are chosen? Are you aware that God chose you before He created a single thing? Do you know that you are called to be holy and blameless in the sight of God? Do you know that in Christ all this has happened?

The world we live in wants to put blame on us for just about anything. Sure, there are times we are to blame for having made a bad decision or doing something that isn’t good. But we also see other people putting blame on us for things that we didn’t do and perhaps were completely unaware of.

There are times when we put blame on ourselves, even when we shouldn’t. We’ve been conditioned to believe someone is to blame. When there is no obvious person to blame, we will often blame ourselves. If we don’t blame ourselves, we look for someone else to blame.

We have forgotten two key components to this life. First, not everything can be blamed on ourselves or others. Sometimes, there simply isn’t a reason to blame someone. Sometimes, there is no one to blame, it simply is what it is.

Second, we are chosen by God. This isn’t something we should use to look upon ourselves as better than someone else. In fact, every one of us has been chosen. Yet some of us don’t recognize it and won’t answer the call. God wants each one of us to be part of His family.

We are to answer His call to be adopted into His family. Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our adoption. Surely we understand there is a cost. It costs us to adopt someone into our family here on this earth. It is no different to be adopted into God’s family.

The good news is that Christ paid the price for us. When he paid that price and when we answer God’s call to be adopted, we become holy and blameless. No, it doesn’t mean we become perfect immediately, never making another mistake. It does mean that God sees us in Christ, meaning He sees us as perfect. Jesus has filtered all our wrongdoings out of the picture.

As we continue to mature in our walk with Jesus, we will grow and become more like Him. When we learn more about the price He paid and our love and respect for Him grows, our natural reaction is to try to emulate Him in all we do. We also find peace in knowing, without a doubt, that He loves us and has made us holy and blameless.

I pray each of us will come to realize that we are holy and blameless. I pray each of us answers the call to be adopted into God’s family. I pray we all mature in our walk with Jesus, becoming more like Him each day. Know that God chose you before creation. Answer His call. Be adopted by Him. Mature in Christ. Know that God loves you.

Ephesians 1:4-6 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Life Isn’t Fair

Do you ever feel mistreated? Do you feel like the whole world is against you? Do you have a boss who seems to play favorites and you are not one of them? Are you in a situation right now where it feels like some form of authority figure is denying you what you believe you deserve?

We can say in no uncertain terms that this world is not fair. There are people in this world that take advantage of loopholes. We run across people who violate the law. We may have a boss who bends the rules to fit her or his own desires. We hear of people who take what they want with violence.

Jesus has experienced this as well. Don’t think so? Sure, we’ve heard that Jesus laid down His life for us willingly. Yet, we should not forget that it was taken violently by people who were used their authority to get their way, even if it meant breaking the law. Jesus was going up against people whose behavior was one of, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

When we are put in situations that are unfair, we can rest assured that Jesus understands. He knew that was going to happen when He told His followers to turn the other cheek and to go the extra mile. He knew ahead of time that we would face unfair circumstances.

Does this mean that we are to simply lay down and take it? Perhaps. I know, that’s a hard answer. It is situationally dependent. There will be situations when we can stand up for our rights, for what is right. There will also be situations when we just have to take it and trust that God will make it right in the end.

We can go through those tough situations when we trust God. We have the best example of all in Jesus. No, it’s not easy. Yet, we can do so in full confidence that God will take care of it. He has promised He will. It just may be at some point down the road that He does.

I pray we all trust God in those tough situations. I pray we turn over those unfair situations to God and ask Him to provide us the guidance we need. I pray we all listen for His guidance and follow it. Life isn’t fair. Trust God. Follow Jesus’ example. Listen for God’s guidance. Follow Him.

John 18:22-23 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

Grow Closer To God

Do you ever fast, other than prior to a medical procedure? Do you fast for spiritual reasons? Do you think that fasting only includes food? Are you willing to fast to become closer with God? Are you willing to fast to make your life better?

As we go through life, we sometimes must have various medical procedures performed to improve our lives. It may be a surgery, or it may be a wellness procedure to check on our health. Some of these procedures require us to fast beforehand. They may even require us to fast for up to 24 hours. We often will grumble about fasting, yet we will go through with it because we know it’s for our physical health.

If we are committed to fasting for our physical health, why won’t we fast for our spiritual health? In today’s Scripture, Jesus is being asked why His disciples weren’t fasting. His answer is sometimes taken in the wrong context, meaning people will use it to argue fasting is no longer required. Their reasoning is, Jesus is alive and with us. I don’t believe this was Jesus’ intent.

Jesus was with the disciples, physically, at the time of His explanation. If we reach into our memory banks, we remember that Jesus, Himself, fasted just prior to Satan tempting Him. No, I believe Jesus’ intent was that the disciples did not need to fast until He had gone through the crucifixion and resurrection.

So let’s bring this back to us, here in the present day and the question I posed to start the second paragraph. Why are we unwilling to fast for our spiritual health? I believe there are several reasons for it. First, we aren’t as committed to our spiritual health as we should be. Second, we haven’t put forth the effort and don’t have the experience of fasting for spiritual health. Third, we don’t really teach people how to fast, though we might mention it from time-to-time. Fourth, in our lack of experience and understanding, we don’t fully trust that we will be better following the fasting.

Having fasted on a few different occasions to seek God’s direction or simply to disciple myself to rely on God, I can attest to its benefits. I have gone through fasts ranging from 12 to 48 hours, specifically for spiritual reasons. Can it be tough? Yes. Yet seeking to be closer to God is more than worth it. Jesus did the same.

In this time of lent, many people will give up something. Unfortunately, some give up things out of rote behavior, not fully understanding, and not really for spiritual well-being. We can fast from many different things, including food. I would suggest, in today’s society, that fasting from social media for a couple days would be very healthy, providing you use the time to seek God.

I pray we all determine to fast to improve our spiritual health. I pray we all seek to grow closer to God. I pray each of us spend our fasting time in prayer and reading God’s Word. After all, eternity depends on it. Seek God in prayer and meditation. Read God’s Word to gain understanding. Trust that God is there. Fast to gain dependence on Him.

Matthew 9:14-15 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

Praise Be To God

What is your reaction when something great happens in your life? How do you react to bad situations? What is your general attitude each and every day? Do you have an attitude of praise? Do you praise God in good times, bad times, and everywhere in between?

We may hear someone occasionally praise God. We certainly will if we are in church. Yet how often do we hear people outside of the church building praising God? Do we hear it in the workplace? Almost certainly not. We have become so worried about offending someone if we mention God that we dare not praise Him at work.

Do we hear people praise God in our schools? Again, almost certainly not. Again, we have become afraid of offending someone by mentioning God that we don’t mention Him in our schools either.

However, I have seen a growing trend, even if it is small and slow in its growth. I have heard it with my own ears and said it with my own mouth in, of all places, the checkout line in a store. It could be the grocery store, a home supply store, or a large department store. The trend is that some folks will say, “God bless you” or “have a blessed day.” I like this trend.

We are to praise God in all situations. That may be in conversation in the checkout line. Perhaps it’s something as simple as the clerk making a statement and we say we are thankful that God blessed us enough to purchase whatever it is we our buying.

You see, praising God isn’t only raising your hands and shouting praises to God. It can be that. But it can also be giving thanks for His blessings. It can be acknowledging Him in places that we may not normally think about. It can be a simple, “Praise the Lord” when you nearly miss being in an accident. We are to praise God in all situations for His many provisions, His loving care, His mighty power, His wisdom, and His sheer awesomeness.I pray that we all recognize and acknowledge God’s awesomeness. I pray we see His awesome wonder and can do nothing but praise Him. I pray each of us learn to praise Him in all situations. Look to God. Praise His name. Give thanks for His blessings. Praise Him in all situations, any place.

Psalm 113:1-3

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, you his servants;

praise the name of the Lord.

Let the name of the Lord be praised,

both now and forevermore.

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,

the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Love Through Actions

How do you love? Who do you love? What form of love do you experience? What form of love do you exhibit? Do you realize there are different forms of love? Many in this world do not realize nor recognize the different forms of love.

The two most common forms of love in the New Testament are the Greek words phileo and agapao. Phileomeans to have affection to another. We might think of this as a person being in love with someone else. It is also used to refer to the relationship among friends or to love things.

Agapao is a verb. Yes, that means action is to take place. It is used to describe the Father’s love for Jesus, Jesus’ love for us, our love for God, and our love for other people. It is demonstrated through our actions to serve others. It is often described as unconditional, which means we love the person, even if we don’t like their actions.

We often see young people fall in love. This is the affectionate love. They will decide to get married and will live off of affection for a while. But if their love doesn’t transition to action love, their marriage won’t last. I suppose this is why Jesus uses the verb for love more than He uses affectionate love.

Jesus uses agapao love anytime He is speaking about loving God, loving Him, or loving others. Why is this important? He is telling us that we cannot simply say we love someone and do nothing. That would not be following His commands. That would be following other emotions, rather than following Jesus.

This brings up an important point and reminds me of a song from several years ago by Reba. The song is titled “The Greatest Man I Never Knew.” In the song, Reba describes her Dad. He rarely, if ever, says “I love you.” Yet she knew her Dad loved her more than words could say by the actions he took to support her.

God does that for us as well. Sure, He has told us He loves us in His Word—His Word being Jesus Christ, who tells us explicitly that He loves us. Yet, we don’t hear God speak to us on a daily basis and often forget that He loves us. To see that He loves us, we simply need to look at all the things He has done and is doing for us.

I pray we all respond to the command to love others with actions. I pray each of us will show our love for God through our actions. I pray we love as Jesus loved. Show others you love them, don’t just say it. Show God you love Him, don’t just say it. Be a loving person through your actions and your words.

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Blessed By God

Have you felt God’s arms around you? Do you feel like a child of God? Are you feeling blessed by God today? Will you run and jump into God’s open arms with joy and happiness? Are you willing to accept His blessings for you?

We see too much falseness in the world today. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the workplace, in our community, or in our churches. People put on façade’s and pretend everything is alright, even when they don’t feel that way. They want everyone around them to think they have it all together.

As we grow older, becoming adults, then seniors, we become more cynical. We start viewing life as a continuous set of challenges, setbacks, and occasional victories. We forget there is more to life than work. We stop seeing God as our Father, Brother, and Guide. We stop seeing the blessings He provides for us.

God blesses us every day. It’s become passé in some Christian circles to state that God blessed us by waking us each day. We hear of people thanking God for blessing them with a meal and roll our eyes. Our very demeanor, our haughtiness, betrays our internal thoughts and our feelings of being better than another.

Through all of this, God continues to bless us. He blesses us as His children. He takes on the bully (Satan) and defends us. He has defeated death and blesses us with eternal life in His presence. He has granted us His kingdom, both here on this earth and in heaven. I know, those things all sound grand and far away.

God also blesses us every day. He provides us with skills for jobs, knowledge to improve our skills, wisdom to make good decisions, and strength to carry us through tough times. He loves us and has blessed us with the ability to love others. He gave us the perfect example of who He is by coming into His creation in the person of Jesus Christ. God continues to reveal Himself to us by living in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. I’m sure each of us can write down a long list of blessings if we were to take time to do so.

I pray each of us take a little time to recognize the blessings we have received from God. I pray we all run to God’s open arms as a child to his/her parent and accept His wonderful blessings. I pray we see His kingdom every day. Live as a child of God. Accept God’s blessings. Trust that He will continue to bless you.

Mark 10:14-16 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

God Is Love

Do you know God is love? Do you believe God is love? Do you believe that God loves you? Do you believe He will lift you up? Do understand that God loves you more than anyone can, other than God Himself?

We often hear that God is love. We hear that He loves us more than we can possibly understand. We have likely heard that His love for us was expressed in the sacrificing of His Son for us. All of this is true. Yet, how can we know God truly loves us?

This is a tough question for many of us. We have our doubts. Things go wrong and we question God’s love for us. A loved one passes away and we question how a loving God can allow that to happen. We lose a job and we ask why God allowed it. We get an injury just before a big game, meaning we can’t play in it, and wonder how God is at work in it.

There are many things in this world that God does not create. However, He does work all things to the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). God, because He loves us, can and will use our choices and the choices of those around us to make us better than we were before.

Personally, I’m ecstatic to know that God loves me. Why wouldn’t I be? Knowing that God loves me gives me the comfort of knowing that He is working on my behalf, even when I don’t fully see what He is doing.

Think of it this way. As a parent, don’t we do good for our children? Do our children always fully understand what we are doing? Suppose our child points something out to us at the store and asks that we buy it for them. Depending on our plan, we may very well say “No” at that moment. Why? It could be the child is asking for a toy that they are not old enough to fully operate. We may decide to keep it in our mind to give it to the child when they are ready.

God loves us enough to give us the most important and best things. He gives us peace, comfort, and joy. He gives freely from His love for us. Yes, He sent His Son to be a perfect sacrifice for us. But He sends gifts our way every day out of His love for us.

I pray each of us rest easy knowing God loves us. I pray each of us experience His love every day. I pray we all can feel His loving arms around us. I pray we can understand a little more each day the enormity of God’s love for us. Find rest in God’s love for you. Experience His love each day. Be comforted by God’s loving hands.

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.