Harvest!

Harvest

^“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,

not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,

 having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

(2 Corinthians 9 vs 6-8)

This is the tenth season that June and I have not had the benefit of the large gardens that we had at our home before we down sized. We worked very hard evenings and weekends to  create a bountiful harvest to have and share. We do not miss that very much but we do have ten pots on our deck and we have other harvests.

Since we “downsized” and became non-landowners, we have had 40 -45 days each summer to fill that use to be spent gardening. Many of those days are spent together, often at our favorite arboretum, sowing seeds in our relationship. Other days are taken up by spending time with friends that we did not have time for in the past. As a result, we reap a closer relationship with each other and the friends..

You see the analogy of reaping crops used by Paul in his message in Corinth is still valid today. We need to sow seeds every day in relationships, our minds and with each other so that we may reap the harvest of love and friendship.

Thought for the Day: For today let us take a quick look at our calendar and see where we can sow seeds for our future. Look for the opportunity to sow seeds selfishly for our worldly future as well seeds for the Lord. He is our real future

Prayer for Today: Today is the day you have made for us. Unfortunately the roads have bumps and there are unknown troubles out there awaiting us. Today we pray that your presence will guide us through the tough moments and that we may accomplish our goals in Your name. Amen

Be Selfish

Eisenhower (or Be Selfish!)

“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant

—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

(2 Corinthians 3 vs. 6)

            We are in some way the light, ministers of the gospel or promoters of the Holy Spirit. That is a part of the covenant we make when we join the Christian church. That is an awesome responsibility and I for one certainly don’t feel like a spirit promoter every day.

            Those of you that know me are aware of my propensity for relaxing through exercise. It is a daily piece of my live and pursuing it often shows my selfish streak. In my late twenties I made a covenant with myself to be as good as I could be. I wanted to be a good dad and husband and believed that fitness was a piece of the equation.

            Later in life, June and I decided together that fitness was more than physical; i.e. it was spirit, mind and body! OOPS- that decision meant three times as much work. We agreed that we would work on the spirit and mind together but she had no interest in joining with me on my swims, bike rides and runs. (She was always a bit smarter.)

            Our 34^th president Dwight David Eisenhower was a strong believer in this. He did his morning exercises and whenever possible he kept his calendar open for an after lunch nap. When at the Whitehouse he would spend time chipping and putting before his afternoon meetings. His colleagues considered him eccentric and selfish. He felt he needed a scheduled break to be the best he could be for himself and his country.

            We all need to be the best we can be, for ourselves, our families and to serve the Lord. Be a bit selfish so that you can help.

Thought for Today: Today let’s do something for ourselves that will help our spirit, mind and body.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father today we pray that we can keep our covenant to made to you, we pray that we are shining your light as bright as we can. We pray that we are the light of the world so others may see find you through us.

Amen 

Grand Advice!

This post is in honor of my mom who passed one year ago at age 98! Along with the advice in the devotion she also said, "growing old is not for sissies!" At age 77 I can attest that she was correct!

Grand Advice

“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,

but humility comes before honor.”

(Proverbs 18:12)

            My mom used to use some interesting terms and expressions when describing humanity. One of her favorites was “fool hardy” when someone did something out of line. Another was that “It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Somehow, when we are proud in the context of today’s text, we are not paying attention. When we kid ourselves with false pride, it helps us grow to have an appreciation for the realities of life.

            We are often overconfident. It seems that the younger we are the more likely we are to suffer from “cockiness”. Somehow that is God’s way of teaching us. We constantly have to monitor our pride and confidence. The elders of society have knowledge and experience but are not always correct. Technology and society are changing faster than fifty years ago. Therefore many of the rules of life have changed.

In our spiritual lives, the rules have not and will not change. We need to take inventory of our pride and be real. The ethics, love and traditions taught to us by Christ will endure regardless of technology changes and cash flows. We need to hold up our values to serve the Lord in an ever changing world.

Thought for Today: Every day is the first day of the rest of our lives. The mistakes and experiences of our past are nothing more than learning experiences and enable us to move forward with confidence. Today let us focus on being humble and dealing with the realities of our individual worlds. 

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, today we give thanks for the lessons we have learned and the great loves that we have. Through all that Jesus taught us and what we learned from the past, thank you for putting it before us.

Amen

Don't Fake IT !

Don't Fake IT

“Woe to you …you hypocrites!

 … on the outside you appear to people as righteous

 but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

(Matthew 23v27)

            One of my favorite themes is been being true to our faith by being open and honest. It is something that we all desire, but it also comes with some social consequences. There are way too many people in the world that have a different reality than Christians.

            In America and throughout most of the world, life is competitive. It is as if the resources are limited. As Christians, we are taught that the world has an abundance supplied by God and I believe that is true. But there is a major distribution problem in the world.

            Dealing with the wealth of Western civilization and how it relates to Christianity is scary. Recently when talking about a stewardship campaign at our church it was mentioned that if all Christians would tithe we would not need the government to run social programs. That would be “way cool”.

            Each of us needs to be as good as we can be to contribute to the positive factor in society.  We need to take the social risks to reach our real rewards.

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.

 He will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from God his Savior.”

(Psalm 24v4,5)

Thought for Today: We will have to make a choice this week; to be straight and true or hold back a bit. We need to make the tough choices that improve the world around us. We need to keep a pure heart.

Prayer for Today: Dear heavenly Father, we give thanks for the many blessings and opportunities you bring to us. This week we pray for the chance to demonstrate our faith to others; to help. We pray to be able to do your will here on earth.

Amen

God is with Us!

God is with Us

"Now Moses was a very humble man,
more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth"
(Numbers 12:3)

         Like Moses, we are not always enthusiastic about what God wants. We are a humble lot, conservative and considerate of others views and feelings. Almost to a fault. We are humble before God.
        However, in our lives we are often asked to perform tasks that require an assertive posture. Many of us are leaders in the community, at work and at church. We are often leaders that require strength while still being humble. That is being a good leader.

   God's response to Moses was "...I will be with you." and he will be with us always.
        When you are feeling hesitant and inferior, God says, "I will be with you."

        When you are wondering if you can make it another day with the job stress, He says, "I will be with you."

        When you're faced with a tough decision and wondering what to do, He says, "I will be with you."

        When you are experiencing great joy, God is with you.

        You may be a bit reluctant, as was Moses, but we need to remember that as we go through life, God is with us always.

Thought for Today: Today we need to remember that we are not alone. Through our faith we have help meeting our obligations. Let us take control of situations in a humble manner and allow ourselves to be led through the tasks ahead.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father we thank you for being with us. We are often confused in a world of activity. Often when things go well, we feel that we controlled the situation. We pray that we can recognize and celebrate your involvement in our everyday lives and have the forethought to give you thanks through our actions and prayers.
Amen 

Success

Success

“I saw that wisdom is better than folly

Just as light is better than darkness."

(Ecclesiastes 2:13)

            In our democratic society, we are pressed into a competitive market place for our goods and services. That is supposed to be what makes America great. Success is often a matter of having more "stuff". We are building 5, 6 and 7,000 square foot houses, owning bigger boats, luxury cars abound etc. All this is very good for the economy, but is it good for our souls?

Aristotle Onassis definition of success was to "... keep climbing higher and higher-just for the thrill."

Barbra Streisand said, “success for me is having ten honeydew melons and eating only the best part of each."

            Because you are reading this today, I pray that your definition is more closely better represented by Dr. Gary Rossberg's perspective:

    “Success is not just a matter of money, power and ego, but also issues of the heart; like compassion, bravery, generosity and love. It is an issue of character, not performance. ...of being the person God wanted you to be, not how much salary you can pull down. ...".

            If we sit in our homes surrounded by our "stuff" and still feel underachieved; if we sit on the couch next to our spouse and still feel lonely; we need to go back to the simple things we learned growing up and search our faith for the definition of success. We will find that Rossberg is very close to the answer.

Thought for Today:  Today let us look at our calendars and try to evaluate where our efforts are taking us. Let us review our goals and our interactions with others. Let us fit our lives into Rossberg's perspective rather than the more material views of success.

Prayer for Today: Dear heavenly Father, our world has changed. Terror seems to be taking over well beyond faith and love. Somehow we pray for an answer to how it all fits Your plan. We pray for your guidance and somehow for the ability to keep the power of your light above the darkness that seems to be closing

around us. Amen.

BUSYness!

 BUSYness

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure  ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”

(2 Timothy 4: 6 & 7)

            Those of you that have been Good News buddies for a while know that I relate closely with the many race analogies used by Paul in his letters. They are meaningful today because I have a sense that the events around the world have thrown us in to a high state of BUSYness. (Spell-check hates that word but I like it!). In Paul’s message above he is not talking about a marathon, a work week, getting to the children’s activities; it has nothing to do with our BUSYness. It has to do with keeping our faith peaked during the process of life.

            This was triggered today because retired old Bob is too busy with fun stuff, teaching swimming, helping others in need, increasing my exercise program and generally being Bob. For the second day in a row I woke up before the sun with activities and obligations pushing my spirituality from the forefront. I can tell when that happens because I am not at peace during the day and I generally start reading the newspaper with my coffee; back to my old ways.

                        The following is the story of a friend with the right idea!   A good friend that has five children and one was in a weekend tournament. The dreaded event occurred; he made it to the championship game on Sunday morning- OOPs there goes the Lord into the back seat. NO, that is not the story! The game was 40 miles away, it was a Minnesota winter day with freezing rain (June and I had trouble going three miles to church.). My friend got is family up very early, left several hours early and attended services in the tournament city before the game. They took the time to recharge their spiritual batteries when they could. That’s a story worth telling and a family with great priorities.

Thought for the Day: In a counter to Paul's message about the race, I also read the following from the 23^rd Psalm: “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul”. Take a prayer break today and every day.

Prayer for Today: Dear father, today we pray for personal peace.