invest

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Dana

img_1034Thirteen-year-old John and I went to visit our friends, the Bendicksons, in Iowa the first weekend of our Spring Break. What I love to witness in the Bendickson family is the way they invest in people. Their Heartshot Ministry uses archery as the means to connect with children, teenagers, and adults. Many that become involved with Heartshot take the opportunity to give to the community by serving the widows in the area.

While in Iowa, I noticed how Troy loved John. From archery to guns to four-wheelers to simple conversations, Troy took the time to invest in a young man – doing things teenage boys like to do. I also noticed how John did the same thing with their six-year-old twin boys Ollie and Archer. Every time I turned around they were wrestling or running or playing – things that little boys like to do.

God loves to witness such living and, of course, He teaches us by example. The Father loved us so much He gave His most precious possession so that we could be forgiven and saved. Why would He invest in those who did not deserve it? Because He loves us.

The wonderful plan of God is to give us the supernatural life of His Son through the power of resurrection. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly be united with Him in His resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5)

God gives us His Spirit as Living Water (see John 7:37-39). He continually invests Himself into His children. Praise God for His wonderful ways.

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:4-10

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falling

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Dana

img_5004Every 21st of the month, until his first March birthday, Emma sent a few pictures of baby Wilkes, showing his growth. Kinsey has followed the same path, sending monthly pictures of Owen on the 26th of each month, anticipating a big birthday in June.

img_5028 A few days ago, between the first picture and the last, the baby took a tumble. Thankfully, Jordan’s strong hands saved the day.

“The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” (Psalm 145:14)

What would we do without the Father who rescues His children? What hope would the wandering sheep have if there were no Good Shepherd to search and save?

Of course, God does not encourage us to wander. I remember as a boy walking off the trail on a Fall day to get a better look at a river. Before I knew it, my feet had slipped and I was sliding down a steep slope into the cold Chickamauga.

God gives His children encouragement to walk boldly in the Spirit, but to avoid sin. “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love… So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:13,16)

Let’s give thanks to the One who can keep us from falling.

“But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

“Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 17-25

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party

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Dana

partyWilkes turned two this week and Saturday we had a party. All three of our grandchildren had a blast! Of course, Wilkes was the center of attention, but nine-month old Owen seemed to enjoy himself too. And though we couldn’t see her, I think Wilkes’ little sister also had a grand time.

Toddlers, babies, and children still in the womb have a great perspective on life: “If I have everything I need – nourishment, proper rest, love – I am happy. Why worry if my parents are taking care of me?”

Jesus wanted to convey this simple message to those He encountered on earth. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds in the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)

Jesus also spoke what parents and grandparents feel about protecting their little ones. “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in Me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

macyOn the day of the party, Emma had a 3-D ultrasound. Here’s Macy a few weeks from a birthday. His works are wonderful…

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:13-14

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compel

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Dana

I read recently of a man named Myo Zaw who lives in an Asian country. He was an alcoholic who abused his wife and children and shamed his community until he met Jesus and became a changed man. At first people thought he had gone crazy because all Myo Zaw wanted to talk about was the love of God that saved him. But Myo Zaw knew he was not crazy; he was redeemed.

Myo Zaw felt that he needed to take the story of Jesus to others, so over the course of three years he walked to more than a hundred communities telling “how a sinner like me was found by God.” His wife supported him and committed to pray, telling him: “if your life can change by Christ, there is no one who cannot be changed by Christ.”

Eventually Myo Zaw and all his family moved to a place very hostile to Christianity. Though persecuted at first, the family trusted Christ to let His love be known. After fourteen years, the people of the village seem to now understand that there is a God who loves at all cost. Myo Zaw said of his new community: “My love has become deeper for them. I care for them more. That’s why I don’t want to go back to my hometown. That is why I would like to sacrifice my whole life for them.”

God loving us results in us loving others. “For Christ’s love compels us…,” Paul wrote as he shared the desire for all to be reconciled to God. Myo Zaw must have thought: “If God forgave me of all my wrongs and if He has changed me into a kinder husband and father who does not get drunk and violent, then he can do this for others. If Jesus loves me, He loves everyone!”

The better we know God, the more we know love. The closer we follow Christ, the more we love like Jesus. The more we yield to the Spirit, the more we live in love.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” Ephesians 1:17

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the full measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19

“We love because He first loved us.” I John 4:19

Myo Zaw story from GFA World magazine, K. P. Yohannan editor, March 2017 issue, pp 9-11

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maturity

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Dana

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?” (I Corinthians 3:1-3)

img_0872Kinsey’s husband Jordan went to a conference in Philadelphia last week so she and Owen got to come visit. While Susan and Kinsey ran an errand Saturday morning, I was asked to feed the baby… who only has two teeth. No bacon and eggs for Owen… only gooey baby food and milk.

Though Paul told his brothers and sisters in Corinth that they were the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, he said it was clear they were not living by the Spirit. Though they should have been mature, they were ‘mere infants.’ Paul called them ‘worldly’ because they could not get along.

What are signs of maturity in Christ? What is the difference between the ‘worldly’ Christian and the Christian who lives by the Spirit? Since ‘God is love’ and the Gospel is centered in the Father sacrificing His Son for the salvation of the world, I would propose that the most mature are those whose lives are most consumed with the love of God. The most mature are those who love like Jesus loves.

I asked Kinsey to share anything that had been on her heart at church Sunday. In her younger days, our oldest daughter was a pretty good math student, so I was not surprised as she shared in a logical, forthright manner words from John. Perhaps this is a path to maturity.

How do I know if I really love Jesus? “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me.” (John 14:21)

What are His commands? “And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.” (I John 3:23)

How do I love? “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (I John 3:18) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

How did Jesus love? “He began to wash His disciples’ feet…” (John 13:5) “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (I John 3:16)

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13

“Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: we know it by the Spirit He gave us.” I John 3:24

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