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A Father’s Love

This weekend we celebrate Fathers. The men who have influenced our lives and shared their strengths, wisdom and love.

For a moment I want you to take a moment to pray for those men who wanted to be fathers but never were; those who were fathers but the life of their child was cut short; men who have regrets and wished they had been better fathers and are now estranged from their child.

We all know some of these men and although they may not admit it, they are feeling the hurt of this weekend when there will be so many camping trips, bar-b-ques and cards of loving sentiment that they won’t enjoy.

Take this time to encourage them, invite them to be a part of your family and lift them up in prayer.

Our heavenly Father is the perfect example to us all.

He has kids who have walked away from their relationship with Him. He had a Son who was brutally murdered. He has a goodly number of kids who only call or come to visit when they need something. His heart longs to hear the words “Father, I just called to tell you I love you”!

“I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace and love with faith to all the brothers and sisters there. 24 God’s grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love that never ends.” Ephesians 6:23-24 ERV

There are those who may also wish they had a loving father but never did. Your heavenly Father has not left you out. You are precious and dear to Him.

“God, who lives in his holy palace, is a father to orphans, and he takes care of widows.” Psalm 68:5 ERV

Let the Father’s love bring you joy and then share it with those around you.

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Count Your Blessings

Welcome 2021! A new day. A new year.

None of us know what the year will bring but we can all know the One who has designed each day. I encourage you to start each morning by writing down a couple blessings from the day before.

Start a blessing journal and count your blessings.

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” Psalm 139:17-18 NLT

Take a minute and read those verses again.

The quantity of God’s thoughts about us are so vast that they cannot be numbered! We are always in His thoughts and on His heart. I know I shared those verses with you a few days ago but since that time I have been so mindful of those words, “I can’t even count them”.

If our heavenly Father had a blessing journal our names would be recorded there. Maybe it would say something like this “Betty thanked me for the sunrise”, “Lon marvelled at My sunset”. “I love those kids of mine, they mean all the world to me”. I just know He must think these thoughts and so many more. More than we can count.

If He’s always thinking about us shouldn’t we be focused on Him as well? Maybe the first entry in our 2021 Blessing Journal should be God has precious thoughts about me, so many thoughts that they can’t be numbered. After that add one or two other things that bless you.

When we write things down it has a way of establishing them in our memory. It’s also helpful, on those days that have been particularly hard , to go back and reread them. This is a way to encourage ourselves. These are daily reminders of God’s love and provision.

The last week while we’ve been camping I have taken hundreds of pictures. Once I get home I will upload them to my computer and when I edit them I will relive the moment I took them. The beauty, the solitude, the peace and the gratitude.

That’s how it is with the word pictures we paint. They allow us to relive the moment.

I pray that your 2021 will be your most amazing year yet. Wake each day knowing that God Almighty loves you and has a wonderful day planned for you specifically. You are always in His thoughts.

As you count your blessings it will be a Happy New Year!

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Looking For Love

Yesterday our family plans for Thanksgiving changed dramatically! We learned that some of those we hold dear won’t be able to come. Many of you are just like us and are finding that your Thanksgiving table will have empty chairs and your homes will have fewer loved ones sleeping under your roofs.

It’s so disappointing.

With that news centered in my heart I came to my chair and prayed for our family and those of you that will be missing loved ones this year. I felt the Lord’s love wrap around me and His peace settle in. I am content in His presence.

“I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. 18 I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. 19 I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.” Ephesians 3:16-19 NLV

The photo for this morning’s blog was taken about eight years ago at our home in Montana. It was a particularly hard day for me. I was dealing with loneliness and my heart was aching. Dave was gone and it was up to me to check the fences to make sure none of them had gone down because of the previous night’s snow.

As I walked along the road I was telling the Lord of my hurt and disappointment. With tears in my eyes I looked up and saw this obvious expression of God’s love. There, twisted into the barbed wire fence, was a heart with the snow glistening like diamonds behind it. It was just for me – a sign of my Father’s love and presence.

That morning I found an expression of love in a pasture fence. I’m wondering what I will find today.

The Apostle Paul prayed that we would have strong hearts and that we would know the depth of our Father’s love. Just when I think I couldn’t experience any greater depth of His love I find that it goes even deeper.

Since God is love and there is no beginning or end to Him, there is also no beginning or end to His love. He loves us – of that I am certain!

May I encourage you today to Look for Love. You will find it. It will be coming from the Father’s heart.

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Mending Fences

A number of years ago, I had the privilege to preach the funeral of a dear friend. This old cowboy had lived a good life but not always a godly life. In fact, it wasn’t until a couple years before he died that I had the opportunity to lead him to Jesus. How special it was to know that God’s love had touched this man’s life and that he accepted Jesus as his Savior.

Dave and I made the trip from Montana to Nebraska for the celebration of his life. I remember asking him just a few days before he died if he was ready to see Jesus and he responded with a resounding “Yes, I just didn’t think it would be this soon.”

When we arrived, we stopped at the mortuary to meet his family. His favorite saddle was positioned at the end of the casket and tied to the saddle was a pair of fencin’ pliers. It made me wonder, how many times he must have used those as he rode fence and checked on the cattle.

How many times have I needed a pair of spiritual fencin’ pliers? How many times have I needed to have the lines around me pulled tight and secured once again to a strong post? How many times have I tried to grab a loose strand of wire with my hands and been stuck on the barbs?

“These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he says something, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. So these two things are a great help to us who have come to God for safety. They encourage us to hold on to the hope that is ours. 19 This hope is like an anchor for us. It is strong and sure and keeps us safe.” Hebrews 6:18-19

To me, hope is like a pair of fencin’ pliers. A good fence keeps out predators, the fence provides safety. We need to hold tightly to the hope that God gives us in His Word. The hope that His Word brings keeps us secure and safe.

One thing I remarked on at Derald’s funeral was that there was no need for mending fences in heaven. The work is done. All pastures are safe, nothing harmful will break through. Those of us that remain here are the ones who have the responsibility to watch for downed fences and broken wires. We can help keep others safe by sharing God’s word and our faith in His promises.

God can’t lie. Trust His Word, He will keep us safe and sure.

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Mi Top 10

Parece que cada industria o ámbito de la vida tiene un Top 10. Top 10: restaurantes, lugares de vacaciones, canciones, películas, jugadores, empleados, coches, etc. Esta mañana me gustaría hablarles sobre las principales distracciones.

Cuando me despierto TEMPRANO en la mañana  tengo varias opciones. 1) Puedo luchar para volver a dormir 2) Puedo preocuparme por cualquier cosa y todo 3) Puedo orar por todo y/o 4) Puedo alabar a Dios y descansar en él.

Honestamente, paso por varios de estos pasos cada mañana cuando me encuentro despierto temprano, muy temprano. Esta mañana eran las 2:30. Así que me detuve y oré y  dije”  Señor, realmente me gustaría volver a dormir”. Luego me acosté allí otros 30 minutos, pero  no vino el sueño.

Las cosas empezaron a llenar mi mente y así comencé a orar. Oren por mis hijos, mi familia, amigos, nuestra nación, mi vecindario, salud, finanzas, la condición del mundo. Escuché a un pastor decir una vez que cuando encuentras “distracciones” inundando tu mente mientras tratas de rezar debes moverlos a la parte superior de la lista, orar sobre ellos, sacarlos de tu mente, de tu corazón y en las manos de Dios.

Y cuando hice eso, inmediatamente sentí una canción que me vino a la mente. Una canción escrita por Hillsong, Mighty to Save

“Salvador, puede mover las montañas
Mi Dios es poderoso para salvar.
Es poderoso para salvar.
Para siempre, autor de Salvación
Se levantó y conquistó la tumba.
Jesús conquistó la tumba.”

Mi Dios es poderoso para salvar – ¡piensa en eso! Tendemos a pintar la salvación con un pincel estrictamente espiritual, pero esa no es la forma en que Dios lo ve.

Su propósito y plan desde el principio era tener un pueblo que estuviera en relación con El. ¡Amistad! ¡Filiación! Y proporcionó a “Su” pueblo todo el tiempo – le dio a Noé un arca; Abraham hijo; Isaac una esposa; José se reunió con su familia; Moisés liberando; Josué una nueva tierra; David un convenio; Isaías una profecía; Jesús un propósito; Pedro un mensaje; y Pablo una revelación de la gracia de Dios.

Hemos recibido la salvación por nuestro espíritu, nuestras almas y nuestros cuerpos. ¡Es poderoso para salvar!

“El Señor vuestro Dios está en medio de  vosotros, un Poderoso, un Salvador [quien salva]! Se regocijará por vosotros con gozo; Descansará [en silencio] y en Su amor se callará y no hará mención [de los pecados del pasado, ni siquiera los recordará]; Se exultará sobre ti con el canto. Sofonías 3:17 AMP

Al llevar nuestras mejores distracciones al Señor y dejarlas en Sus manos,  descubriremos que tenemos más espacio para alabanza y acción de gracias.

“Da todas tus preocupaciones y preocupaciones a Dios, porque él se preocupa por ti.” I Pedro 5:7 NLT

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Tough Times

Determination — Perserverance — Strength
All three are needed to get through the tough times and come out victorious.

Noah preached the whole time he was building the ark and didn’t have one convert but he kept building and he kept preaching.

Abraham was promised a natural born son and he had to wait 25 years to see the promise fulfilled.

Joseph was sold as a slave, spent time in prison, was forgotten before he made it to pharoah’s palace.

Moses led a nation of grumbling and complaining people for 40 years in the desert and they never made it to the Promised Land. That should have been about a 3-4 week trip.

Jesus preached, died, rose again providing that He was the Messiah and still many did not believe.

Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, nearly drown and held in prison and still he kept preaching.

God, the Father, isn’t willing that any should perish and has offered salvation to all. He hasn’t given up!

Each of the men above had been given a promise by God which gave them courage and determination to continue. They encouraged themselves with God’s word and used it to fight discouragement. They found that God was more than enough!

“There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.” 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. 20 He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God.” Romans 4:18-20 ERV (emphasis is mine)

” But the Lord said, ‘My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. 10 Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong.” II Corinthians 12:9-10 ERV (emphasis is mine)

“Love the Lord, all you godly ones! For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,  but he harshly punishes the arrogant. 24 So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!” Psalm 31:23-24 NLT

I pray that we become like these men and we continue to hope. When we are weak we truly are strong because we go forward in a strength that only God can give. He is more than enough!

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The Very Best

Have we ever told our kids, a friend, our spouse or even encouraged ourselves to “do our best”? I know we have. Each time we do something we should be doing our best – even if it’s washing the dishes, cleaning house, working in the garden, washing the car or playing some sort of sport. It goes without saying, we should be doing our jobs to the best of our ability.

And what about God? Do we think He does anything less than His best? I found myself praying that this morning, “Father, do your best.” When I pray for my kids, grandkids, great granddaughter, my friends and relatives, I don’t always know the details of what they need and so this morning I was just praying that the Father would do His best in their lives today.

I hope that’s ok with everyone.

Some need healing, some financial blessing, some need joy, others need rest, some need encouragement while others need a project (to feel helpful). Some need to be free from bitterness, others free from guilt. Some just need a hug and to hear I love you.

So again my prayer is “Father, do your best”. And then I was reminded of these verses – it’s the Father doing His best!

“Now, if you will be careful to obey the Lord your God and follow all his commands that I tell you today, the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations on earth. 2 If you will obey the Lord your God, all these blessings will come to you and be yours:

3 “He will bless you in the city and in the field. 4 He will bless you and give you many children. He will bless your land and give you good crops. He will bless your animals and let them have many babies. He will bless you with calves and lambs. 5 He will bless your baskets and pans and fill them with food. 6 He will bless you at all times in everything you do. 7 “The Lord will help you defeat your enemies who come to fight against you. Your enemies will come against you one way, but they will run away from you seven different ways! 8 “The Lord will bless you and fill your barns. He will bless everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 If you follow the Lord your God and obey his commands, he will do what he promised. The Lord will make you his own special people. 10 Then all the people in that land will see that you are called to be the Lord’s people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 “And the Lord will give you many good things. He will give you many children. He will give your cows many calves. He will give you a good harvest in the land that the Lord promised your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open his storehouse where he keeps his rich blessings. He will send rain at the right time for your land. He will bless everything you do. You will have money to lend to many nations. And you will not need to borrow anything from them. 13 The Lord will make you be like the head, not the tail. You will be on top, not on the bottom. This will happen if you listen to the commands of the Lord your God that I tell you today. You must carefully obey these commands.” Deuteronomy 28:1-14 ERV

Our heavenly Father never does anything less than His best. He can’t. He is excellent in all His ways!

Thank you Father for blessing my friends with Your best today!

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Don’t Judge

This morning I am recycling a post I put on Facebook about 4 or 5 years back. So many principles from the Bible need to be retaught from time to time. I hope you will find this to be a good refresher.

Ever feel like people judge you wrongly? They misunderstand or misconstrue a situtation or action and immediately jump to the wrong conclusion and you are branded, judged and even convicted.

Ever done that to someone? Ya, that’s the harder question to answer honestly. We have so many reasons or excuses for our actions. But when we judge others we are much less lenient.

” Jesus said: Don’t judge others and God won’t judge you. Don’t be hard on others, and God won’t be hard on you. Forgive others, and God will forgive you. 38 If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated.” Luke 6:37-38 ERV

These are the words of Jesus. There are no exceptions like it’s ok to judge people who cut you off in traffic, are rude to you in the grocery store, don’t share your same political view, or who are just antagonistic. NO EXCEPTIONS!

If we judge, we will be judged and we all know that is not a pleasant situation to be in. There’s only one judge who rules justly and we are not HIM.

“Treat others just as you want to be treated. 32 If you love only someone who loves you, will God praise you for that? Even sinners love people who love them. 33 If you are kind only to someone who is kind to you, will God be pleased with you for that? Even sinners are kind to people who are kind to them. 34 If you lend money only to someone you think will pay you back, will God be pleased with you for that? Even sinners lend to sinners because they think they will get it all back.

35 But love your enemies and be good to them. Lend without expecting to be paid back. Then you will get a great reward, and you will be the true children of God in heaven. He is good even to people who are unthankful and cruel. 36 Have pity on others, just as your Father has pity on you.” Luke 6:31-36 CEV

I’m working on making this my daily goal in the upcoming year. I want to be more like the Father so I need to be less judgmental. There’s no room in His life for it and so there should be none in mine! He doesn’t keep track of my faults and I shouldn’t keep track of others faults.

Make 2020 a judgement free year. Happy New Year.

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“With” Is Better

Where are you going today? Doing anything special? I always find that even the mundane is more fun when I have someone along to share it with. Yesterday, Dave and I had lots of errands to run and we enjoyed it more because we were “with” each other.

We are never alone even in the dullest or most difficult moments. We have a promise that God is with us. That’s what His name means:

“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].” Isaiah 7:14 AMP

Immanuel, God with us!

God came to walk with Adam in the cool of the day; then He came and walked and talked with Abraham and Moses, David and Daniel, Enoch and Elijah, you and me. God loves being with His people. It’s only fitting that one of His names should mean God with us. That was His goal – to have relationship with us, to walk and talk with us, friend to friend, Father to child.

Do you recall the first time your child didn’t want you around? I remember hearing our toddlers say “I do this”. It was cute but then when they were in their teens, they got too big to need my presence or it wasn’t cool to have their folks hanging out with them. It hurt. I can only imagine how much it must hurt the Father when we exclude Him from our activities, not wanting Him around, taking the attitude “I’ve got this”.

He’ll let us try to handle things, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail but He’s always there. He never leaves us alone – that’s who He is, that’s what He does.

“God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.” Hebrews 13:5b ERV

Friends may come and go; relationships change. Death may separate us from the ones we love. But the Lord will be with us forever and when we have Him, He takes care of the rest.

What’s on your list of things to do today?

Take Him along. Lunch with a friend, bring the extra guest. Need some down time, the two of you can sit quietly together, after all He IS Immanuel! He’ll be excited you’ve included Him in your plans.

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Good News!

This morning I found that our youngest daughter had put pictures of our newest granddaughter on Facebook. It was such a striking example of the love we parents have for our children. From the moment they are conceived they change our lives. SO MUCH JOY! She’s perfect!

It’s also an example of what happens in heaven when one person is “born again”!

New birth in Christ – old things are passed away and all things become new! A new member of the family – everyone’s excited. Cameras, spiritually, are capturing the moment and the announcement goes out – a new child has joined the family. Party time of a heavenly degree!

“Jesus said, “In the same way God’s angels are happy when even one person turns to him.” Luke 15:10 CEV

The story that Jesus told right before this was of a woman who had lost a coin and she searched and swept every corner of her house until she found it. She lost something valuable and she was determined to find it. She wasn’t willing to just let things alone or wait for it to turn up someday. She sought it out with a unfailing determination. Everything else had to be put on hold until she was successful in her search.

That’s the way it is with God the Father. He is on a relentless search, looking for all who will accept Him. He isn’t willing that “any should perish but that all should come to repentance”. For God so loved the world that He gave Jesus to die so that “whosoever”, anyone and everyone, should not perish. He made this great sacrifice when we were at our worst, “God demonstrated His love for us while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”.

Oh the wonderful experience of the new birth – it wasn’t without pain or suffering, Jesus died a painful death; but for us, the new child, it means life eternal with a Father who gives freely His unconditional love and forgiveness. No wonder the angels are rejoicing!!

“But God, the One Who saves, showed how kind He was and how He loved us 5 by saving us from the punishment of sin. It was not because we worked to be right with God. It was because of His loving-kindness that He washed our sins away. At the same time He gave us new life when the Holy Spirit came into our lives. 6 God gave the Holy Spirit to fill our lives through Jesus Christ, the One Who saves. 7 Because of this, we are made right with God by His loving-favor. Now we can have life that lasts forever as He has promised.” Titus 3:4-7 NLV

Take time today to think of where you were when you accepted Christ and His free gift of new life! The Father took your picture and has kept it on His mantle; He’s added others to it as you’ve grown and experienced wonderful achievements in this new life. He’s pointing to you and saying “yes, that’s my son, my daughter – I love them!”

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