Easter

Easter on April Fool’s Day?

            I do not remember Easter falling on April first but I assume it must have. So we have a holy week mixed with a bit of tomfoolery! I can live with that! On Friday at bible study the Pastor asked each of us to tell what Easter meant to us. My answer was simple. Two weeks ago my message was entitled “New Beginnings” and I used Brian Wren’s words from his hymn of that same name. For my answer I read these verses and stated that every day was a new Beginning and that was what Easter meant to me!

"This is a day of new beginnings.
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone."

"Christ is alive and goes before us,
to show and share what love can do,
this is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new."
(This is a day of New Beginnings; Vs 1 & 4;
Words: Brian Wren, 1978; Methodist Hymnal No. 383)

            This morning the local weather man commented that his forecast was not an April fool’s joke. He then proceeded to forecast a 36 hour snow event starting on Easter Monday! No, he was not joking!

Below is my April first devotional from Spinach!

Boldness

"Almighty God, may they be filled with the Holy Spirit

 and speak the Word of God with boldness..."

-- Acts 4:31 

                April fool’s day is a day of practical jokes, misleading emails and general tomfoolery! Ok, so let’s skip reading our devotional, forget the Holy Spirit and our Lord so that we may participate. That will not work because we cannot hide from the God we all believe in.

            Today the comics in the newspaper will have Fool’s Day jokes, the news and sports programs will be full of them and there will be a few bogus press releases to get your attention. If I was to write a press release for today it would be “Bob shoots par at St. Andrews!” or “… donates a million towards the church mortgage.”

People would recognize immediately that these were jokes and some would know they were my fantasies.

            Today like all days I hope this devotional puts you on track to recognize the Holy Spirit in your life and the role it plays for you. While others are playing the jokes, we need to be sure that we are bold in our faith.

Blessings to you all and enjoy the start of April.

Thought for Today: For today we will be bold in our faith and remember that it is ok to be a joker also!

Prayer for Today: Father, we give thanks for all that we are and have. We thank you for having the freedom to enjoy a good joke, a great laugh and the faith to know the real truth. We thank you for being with us and meeting our needs.

Amen

Character

Character

“Now all has been heard;
   here is the conclusion of the matter:
… keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind.”

(Ecclesiastes 12 vs. 13)

            What a wonderful world it would be! We are all aware of the rules and will have a chance to break them daily, weekly etc. Temptation is always around and I frankly succumb to it too often. I guess each morning I need to pray “Dear Lord, for today I pray to be perfect.” No coveting, jealousies, anger, aggressiveness toward others (that must mean complete stops at the stop signs!). Ok, when I am done writing this I will try again!

            There are only ten rules to obey for a great life and a great world. Most of us try, many of us fail. That’s why we go to church on Sunday and pray daily. Somehow we end the day wishing we were better- that we were perfect.

            Each day we strive for perfection; that is we try to build character. We attend church and pray and that generates spiritual growth. Building character is slightly different, but parallels it. The closer we are to the spirit, the easier it is to have that perfect character we all desire.

            Persistence is the word, perfection is the goal. Pray daily, obey the commandments daily and life will be good. Never give up being the best you can be.

Thoughts for Today: For today let us be aware of the commandments in all of our activities. 

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father today we give thanks for our wonderful lives and the hope we have for the future through our belief in Jesus. For today we pray for the strength and judgment to be obedient and of the highest character.

Amen

New Beginnings! 40 years later!

Today is a great day in the life of my family- The following is the story!

New Beginnings

"This is a day of new beginnings.
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone."

"Christ is alive and goes before us,
to show and share what love can do,
this is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new."
(This is a day of New Beginnings; Vs 1 & 4;
Words: Brian Wren, 1978; Methodist Hymnal No. 383)

            Those of you that have known me long enough understand that on March 21, 1978 my family and I started a true "New Beginning". That was the year of treatment for alcohol abuse and the adoption of the slogan "This is the first day of the rest of your life". They supported me as did my friends and business associates. Each year I am reminded that through faith and friendship there is a good life. I thank all of you that have been my friends and associates since then.

            The story of recovery is repeated in our society every day with the grace of God ever present in the process. Often as Christians we see a need and get a chance to help. One of the beauties of being Christian is the act of helping.

Thought for Today: Today we will be out in the world interacting with friends and business associates. We may see a need to help. Many people will back away. Let us recognize needs in others and step forward with God's support and offer the Christian assistance that is needed.

Prayer for Today: This week the serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Blessings to you and your family!
Bob 

Letting Go

Letting Go

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you

may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you".

(Colossians 3:13)

            Recently I was talking to a group of 60ish guys about a pending class reunion. The subject broke down to the many things we did in our youth that we would not consider doing today. The events we talked about were items on our conscience, things we were not proud of doing.  They were the acts of youth and part of growing up. Each helped develop the person that we are today. None of the events made us a bad person, however, at the time there were people (neighbors, school authorities, mom/dad, friends etc.) that did not appreciate our behavior. These discretions and memories are perseverance finishing its work “…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

At a bible study this week we talked about letting go of past discretions. Others forgave us long ago and somehow as adults we seem to hold on to past errors.  As we work through our faults, we learn that life goes on. God eventually works his miracles in our lives. When we lack the wisdom he comes through for us.
 
Thought for Today: When we are very busy, it is difficult to feel God’s presence in our lives. Today, let us all try to take time to understand and appreciate His contributions. 

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we thank you today because we are not what we were. We have sinned along the way and are grateful of the Grace and forgiveness we receive through Christ.

Amen

Endurance and Life

Endurance and Life

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial,

because when he has stood the test,

he will receive the crown of life that God

as promised to those who love him."

(James 1:12 NIV)

                   In our seemingly endless search for tranquility, we always seem to "want what we want, when we want it". Waiting seems like an impossible task. We seem to want our victories to come via the easy route. That is rarely a reality of life. Life is not a sprint; it is an endurance event, a marathon.

           

Many of you know of my amateur career as an endurance athlete, a Triathlete, swim, bike and run. Just to get to the starting line in a race takes hours of practice, mostly alone; sometimes in pain; often in bad weather conditions. However, in most races there are over thousands participants! That's correct, thousands. This is generally true of most endurance events. What for? Why do people do that?

           

 Let me summarize the feelings that occur during a typical Triathlon. There is anticipation and excitement standing on the beach   during the national anthem. There is generally a feeling of spirituality during the blessing. In all my races, there was a period of fear at some time during the swim. Boredom, pain, doubt and an entire array of other feelings occur during the bike ride and run. Then comes good time; the approach to the finish line.

 The finish line of an endurance event generally has a crowd of 10,000 to 50,000 spectators. Enthusiasm and positive energy seem to radiate out of the crowd to be absorbed by the competitors. Most of my fellow racers agree that the feeling of finishing, the pride, and the accomplishment and of course, just being done, is very special. Many of us have never crossed the finish line without tears of joy in our eyes.

 As a grandfather and senior citizen, I can look back over the years and see the parallels between racing and life. Life is full of challenges, fears and excitement. Consider what James said in his twelfth verse:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and

complete, not lacking anything."

(James 1 vs 2)

Let's remember to live our lives as Christians, be patient, meet our challenges and look forward to receiving our "crown of life".

Thought for Today: We are all living through trying times. There is too much to do, too much work, not enough playtimes. However, we have God and through Him we have our Christian friends. This week, let's look toward the future knowing that patience and perserverance will bring us tranquility and happiness.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly father, as Christians we are not perfect. We seem to want immediate gratification throughout our lives. Today we pray for patience to discover your will, the courage to implement it and the knowledge to recognize your presence in our lives.
Amen

Letting Go!

Let God Lead

"Precious Lord, take my hand
lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
through the storm, through the night,
lead me on to the light,
take my hand precious Lord,
lead me home."
(Thomas A. Dorsey, 1932 UMC Hymnal 474)

        God works in many ways when we allow Him to help us. Yes, he is always there, but not always present in our minds. We have a way of being self-centered, focusing on business issues, personal problems etc... We want to be in control. We can deal with it ourselves.

        Many years ago, June came home with a big orange refrigerator magnet that had the message "Let go and let God" written across it. She did it because we were, and still are, control freaks. Often we get into the "control mode" when we cannot help or do anything about the problem. Trying to control things beyond our sphere of influence made us "tired...weak...and worn".

        It is easy to become frustrated when things are beyond our control. It is normal to try to control. It is better to recognize our place and let God take our hand, lead us home.

Thought for Today:  Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. We do not have to function the same way as we did yesterday. Let's us take a look at God's influence in our decisions. Let's let some of it go and allow Him to help us.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we thank you for our many blessings and the many wonderful things that we enjoy. We are concerned about others in our society that have less; some without food, housing or a job. We are concerned about the many people that are afraid they will lose their jobs and their security. There seems to be a growing acceptance that this is OK here on earth, as long as it is the other guy. Today we pray for our society in general. We pray that somehow everyone can be at peace, that everyone may find enough, that all children have food and that our riches are shared as You would have us share them.
 Amen

Don't Give Up

“Then Jesus told his disciples…that they should always pray and not give up”.
    (Luke 18:1)

  

            With my son in the music business, we have seen a lot of young people try to live their dreams of fame. To some it comes fast and they go from teenager to a star. One we worked with twenty years ago was a young man named Johnny Lang who made it big singing the blues at age sixteen. Several others that we worked with in the mid ninety’s are still enjoying the pursuit of their dream. They are known regionally as local club acts and make a good living. Their day may or may not make the big time.

Barry Manilow used to play piano for an up and coming singer, Bette Midler, in the bars of New York and write jingles for advertising agencies. We have all heard them; State Farm is there, I am stuck on Band Aid because Band Aid is stuck on me, All across the nation it’s the Pepsi generation, You deserve a break today at…. He applied himself, developed his skills and then his God given talents prevailed.

           

While writing this a Good News friend emailed me to tell me how he and his family are doing. We fought the battles of live together for ten years or so in New England back in the 60’s. He found his way to California, June and I are in Minnesota. Here is a quote from his text, “Jesus had it all planned, all I had to do was show up when he summoned me.  It's sweet.”

June and I were talking tonight at dinner after having had our first great grandson in the pool this afternoon and I commented on what a blessed life we have. She reminded me that we have had fifty years of blessings!

All of our lives need to start someplace. We often do not control our destiny and just need to keep on plugging. Joel Osteen uses the term “…keep on keeping on.” I like “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Jesus said “…always pray and not give up”.

Thought for Today: Today let us focus on what we want to be when we grow up. Not because we are young but because we have a future. Our lives are always changing; we always need to have our faith in hand. Through our faith we can always find ways to grow, to solve issues and be better.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father we are learning that life is an endurance event, not a sprint. Today I pray for stamina, guidance and the patience to keep at it until you deliver me to your place.

Amen