The Happiest Season

The Happiest Season

“Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi.

On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;

others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

(Mark 8 vs 27-29)

            It is a great time of the year when we look forward to celebrating Christ’s birth. We are blessed because we believe and are warmed by His presence in our everyday lives. Amongst the daily stresses that our society places on us we have a God given relief.

            I find it interesting that 30 plus years after his birth he was asking who they believed he was. My thoughts are that the Christmas story would be enough. But then, nothing in this world is ever easy; not then and certainly not now.

            So what is Christmas really about? Gifts, material giving and a recharging of our spiritual batteries. It is a great time of the year, the happiest time of the year. We need to enjoy the season while we recharge our batteries, reinforce our beliefs and prepare for the New Year ahead.

             Katharine McPhee said in her song:

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight”

Blessings to you all for a great season of Joy!

Thought for Today: The Christmas season is not all joys. We will encounter stress, financial hardships, bad weather and all the events of winter life. They are all blessings that are part of our lives. We need to keep Christ as our focus and our stresses will be overcome.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father we give thanks for Christmas and all the festivities. We give thanks that “our troubles will be out of sight” through prayer.

Amen

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

"As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so live in him, rooted and built up in
him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving".
(Colossians 2:6-7)

            June and I are especially thankful for a family running event we started in 1990, now called the Turkey Day 5K and put on by Lifetime Fitness. Each year we are tearfully proud when 10,000 plus runners, walkers, pets and wheel chair participants enjoy their Thanksgiving morning in downtown Minneapolis.(…and Chicago, Boise, Miami and Phoenix) As an aside, but probably more important, will be the contributions of food and hard cash that will be received by the Second Harvest food shelf. We both feel blessed that the Lord gave us the inspiration start this event and placed people in our path who have made it special.

             Thanksgiving is the traditional start of what we call the holiday season. While giving thanks we must be aware and focus on the good rewarding parts of our lives; on the positive.

I like the way H. Norman Wright put it, "Thanksgiving is not to be limited to only the times when we are aware of blessings. Let us give thanks even when we have a problem to solve, when there are difficulties to be met.  At these times, we give thanks to God for unconditional love and goodness, for unlimited wisdom and abundance. When we give thanks continually, we are rejuvenated- spirit, mind and body."

Let us hold those thoughts and be thankful for all of our blessings.

Thought for Today: Let us focus on giving thanks to God for the love we have for each other and the support we both give and receive.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, this week we give you thanks for our friends, our families and our troubles. Yes, we give you thanks for our financial crises, our family stress and the ripples in our personal seas of tranquility. Through our troubles we learn to pray and appreciate the many blessings that seem greater when compared with the ripples of life. We give you thanks for our lives, your love and your Grace.
Amen
 

The Dalai Lama- Worry?

The Dalai Lama

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

(Matthew 6 vs. 27)

           

            June and I have been blessed with the ability to enjoy our lives; both the pitfalls and the pleasures. We strongly believe that somehow the Lord has been involved in our lives and lead us to enjoy the simple pleasures. We both believe that the ability to put the events of our life into perspective is our greatest blessing through our faith.

            Several weeks ago a “Good News buddy” forwarded this to me. I believe that this is not describing a person of faith but is right on for those that have not developed a spiritual lifestyle.

            The Dalai Lama when asked about what surprised him most about humanity answered “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives like he is never going to die and he dies having never really lived.”

           

Thought for Today: Who in our circle of friends resembles the Dalai Lama’s description? It could be family, neighbor, friend or even someone in our church. Today let’s think about that and find a way to share our faith with them.

Prayer for Today:  Dear Lord, today let us pray for those who have not included Christ in their lives; those who are spiritually weak, worried about physical rather than Godly issues. We pray for them and ask you for a way to help, a way to share and a way to contribute to their spiritual growth.

           

Global Peace

Global Peace

"Whatever you have learned or
received or heard from me,
or seen in me—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you."
(Philippians 4:8 & 9) 

           

One hundred years ago today World War one ended with the signing on an Armistice. It was referred to the war to end all wars. I am sure that we all wish they were correct! If we could vote for peace there would probably not be any Red or Blue States…at least I hope peace would carry all fifty states. In a way, each of us does have a vote!      

 There are over 300 million people in America and billions worldwide. As individuals we are not statistically significant overall. But we all know that statistics can be manipulated and are often misrepresented. Certainly within our Christian faith, each of us is significant to God. In many of Paul’s letters he advised that "God will be with you". I will add; personally, up front and close.
            As statistically insignificant as the mathematicians make us, God gives us meaning, power and faith. We are the power of one. As Christians, we can impact the world one individual at a time through our faith. When we demonstrate that we are at peace, we infect those around us. When we demonstrate good Christian ethics, we lead others to follow us. When we are at peace, others want to join us.

            We all know of pyramid schemes and chain letters. We have an opportunity through our faith to be at the top of a living chain. Each day we are at peace through our faith we will positively affect our environment. Our challenge as people of faith is to work our peace so others will join us.

Thought for Today: It is challenging but exciting to think that we can affect others with our positive actions. This week let us lead others by example, share our hope regarding our future.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we see and hear ugliness in the world on a daily basis. The mid-east is in turmoil, many of our streets are not safe and there are too many negative financial issues within our institutions. It is hard to understand where you are when we are bombarded daily with these issues. We pray for understanding of your role and that we may participate in an overall solution.
Amen

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)

Since 2006 June and I have not had the benefit of the gardens that we had at our home before we down sized. We worked very hard evenings and weekends and always had a bountiful harvest to have and share. We do not miss that very much. We have other harvests.

This year we had our fiftieth wedding anniversary. In honor of that June and I wrote her life story. The process took us back into WW2, the 50s and of course our life together starting in the 60s. We came to realize that our life as seniors consists of harvesting the crops of the many seeds we unknowingly sowed in those early years combined with taking the time sowing seeds for the future that we may or may not get to reap.

Our crops today are not fruit and veggies but closeness with each other, good friends and family. We guess that our forty or so days spent in the garden now is spent sowing in a different more God given way.  As a result, we reap a closer relationship with each other and with many other people. 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 the Day: Heavenly father, we are bear the end of the crop harvest here in the northland. The holiday celebrations are pending. Today we pray that the seeds of love and friendship sowed in the past will generate love and peace in the future! 

Positive Attitude

Positive Attitude

“I know that there is nothing better than for men

Than to be happy and do good while they live.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:12)

It is interesting to think about what makes us happy, excited and pleased with our lives. Each of us is different, but I suspect that in Paul’s letters he had certain things in mind. I doubt they were what we consider life experiences.

Recently on the golf course, on the very first tee I was very nervous because my game has been suffering all summer. It was in England and I wanted to do well. My drive went long and straight stopped exactly where I wanted it and my approach held the green less than 20 feet from the hole. Yes, I was happy, but that is not what Paul meant by “do good”.

Last week while talking with a friend, Dave, about a sporting event that we both were interested in we were joined by Don who’s dad has recently passed away at age 101. The subject changed as Don processed some of his grief. We were silent (you know that is not my normal style) and let him talk for 20 minutes. We heard about being a volunteer fireman for 60 years, early days on a farm in Windom Minnesota, hunting trips with dad etc.; Don was in his glory telling us these stories and both Dave and I Listened intently. We were helping in a silent way.

Paul was a teacher with a mission. We have been given the task of carrying on his mission in our faith. The Lord has not given many of us the ability to be preachers or to talk the talk every day. We are not all Evangelists. However, if we are Christians we are all ministers of the gospel. Knowing that, how do we preach the word? We preach every day through our actions and the example we set in our daily lives.

We need to be “…be happy and do good…” every moment we can.

Thought for Today: Today we will be tested and some things will not all go well. We need to find a way through our faith to be an example to those around us; an example of good living and happiness.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly father, today we pray that we may help your cause. We pray for the opportunity to help. Amen

winning

Winning

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so

that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

            Who in our lives are the winners? Some say the one with the most toys wins. That materialistic one liner that gives me goose bumps. However, in our society today, we tend to pursue things instead of happiness and peace. So who are the real winners and how do they win?  

            God placed us here to be his stewards with our first priority to be sharing the gifts we received from Him with others. That seems to be a very tall order. However, we always feel great when we have reached out and helped a friend or stranger.  This reward is explained in Paul’s message to the Romans, 2 vs. 6 “God will give to each person according to what he has done.”                           

God gives us resources in many different forms. We have money that we earn and knowledge that we have learned. We graciously share these things with our families and children and that make us feel good. We also reach out beyond our own family units and share. We share at work, in Church, through volunteer activities and in too many ways to list. We share and sow the seeds that God has given us to plant, and we are real winners when we reach out and share our gifts.

Thought for the Today: Let us look for an opportunity to help someone; perhaps someone who is sick, someone hurting or someone lonely. Let us see if we can share a bit of ourselves to make someone else feel better.

Prayer for Today:  Heavenly Father, today we pray for an opportunity to help and share with someone, an opportunity to demonstrate your Grace through our actions.

Amen.