“BE SURE OF THIS: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus – Matthew 28:20 NLT

It was my youngest daughters birthday and at the last minute she called to invite my wife and I to join her family for dinner. The place she was selected was a Japanese Steakhouse. You know… the one with the Hibachi grill? Even as we got out of the car to meet them I heard it… “Yes Coast.. BIG Fire…WHOOSH! But don’t worry, it won’t hurt you!” Their son, Coast, is almost 2!

I was the father of little kids and knew the drill. So I immediately chimed in… “First we CHOP CHOP!” Then we WHOOSH WHOOSH! Then we EAT EAT! Then we say YUM YUMMMMMMM!” By the time we hit the door he was saying it along with me and adding the hand gestures we had created together. As the flashy event got closer… we all built up the event in anticipation that he was anticipating it WITH us…. It didn’t work!

WHOOOOOOOOSH happened!!!! And he immediately he closed his eyes and started to whimper. He TRIED to be tough. But the event was just too much for his little heart. My wife leaned in close and he leaned in closer, putting his head on her chest… “no no no no no,” was all he could say. WE knew Coast would be alright… but HE didn’t! Ever been there?

The promise in today’s Bible verse is repeated several times in both the Old AND New Testaments. There are 365 ‘Fear NOT’s’ in the Bible.. seemingly one for each day of the year. And why? Because our Creator KNOWS we WILL BE VERY much AFRAID… VERY often! He wants to reassure us that His promise is rock solid. That through every WHOOSH, SLAM, CRASH and BAM… He WILL be RIGHT THERE WITH us. All we need to do is lean in!

There will come a day when Coast will SHINE in the light of the flash. One day he will anticipate and laugh at the WHOOSH! But until then…those who love him will keep telling him… “it will be O.K, we are here with you! Don’t be afraid!” But I can’t help thinking… as adults… do WE really pay attention to the voice of our Savior at the WHOOSHES in our lives? Do WE LEAN into Him for comfort and encouragement in our fears and tears? He wants us to!

God loves you and me SO much that He sent His Son. And His Son loves you and me SO much that He ACCEPTED the assignment. Facing and enduring the sorrows and pain that it would take to win our hearts, you and I have the choice to ‘lean in and trust,’ or ‘fear and flee.’ My initial reaction at the WHOOSH shows Him the inclination of my heart. Today He is encouraging us to Trust Him… will we? Because ‘WHOOSH is COMIN!’

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?” Jesus – Matthew 7:3

This morning I was on my way to the coffee pot to pour my wife and I a cup…. He-Brews! After filling her cup, I heard her holler ‘OUCH!’ Turning around, I saw her lying on the floor holding her ankle. “What happened?” I asked.. silence. Drawing closer with concern I asked, “are you alright?” Before my very eyes her painfully contorted face turned into a devilish grin as she said.. “April Fools!” I am married to the devil!

Normally I like April 1^st. As is the birthday of my youngest daughter. We laugh now as we tell the story about her birth. Being our fourth child, all who were delivered naturally, my wife was ready to push when the nurse hollered…”STOP!” It had just been discovered she was breech! That means ‘about to come our butt first!’ After 20 minutes of no joke, pant-blows, no drugs and prayer, my wife delivered her that way… BACKWARDS!  I do think it affected her brain though! I see it every April 1^st.  This morning my wife suggested we call and sing “We wish you a Merry Christmas to my daughter!” We did!

I do not like April Fools Day for the same reason I never liked the Three Stooges or Slapstick comedy. Laughing at someone else’s misfortune or pain just isn’t in me. Inflicting pain or confusion on purpose… confuses me. Having experienced so much of it in my life, I don’t get the joke. Neither did Jesus.

Teachers of the Law during Jesus Day were folks who felt it their obligation to point out the bad things in peoples lives. Jesus came and pointed out that those who THOUGHT they were better, were actually WORSE. Foolish judgment had a way of biting the judge because they really did NOT see the error of their ways. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22. I cringe at the thought in my own life!

The basic principle of The Christian Life is VERY simple… but EXTREMELY difficult. To become a Christian one must FIRST admit that they are a sinner deserving of God’s wrath! And while that sounds like a joke to the world, it is a deadly serious transaction. Once we admit our failure, we then ask and receive God’s Mercy and Grace. From then on, we are to commit to doing HIS thing and NOT our own! NOT an easy task.

In all of the Gospels, I do not see anywhere where Jesus told a joke or laughed. While that doesn’t mean He didn’t, we can be sure it was not a dominant part of His personality. Though allowing loud mouthed Peter to step out on the stormy waves may qualify, that one seems more of an inside joke! Peter’s inflated ego needed a little deflating after all! Christianity is VERY serious and I am pretty sure that Jesus would be playing April Fools jokes on us today. Too much confusion, which the Bible says God is NOT the author of!

I had to pause in this writing this because my wife hollered that her car would not start. When I got to the garage.. well… you know! She just laughed all the way out! I’ll be glad when this day is over!

“Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

Getting up yesterday morning I put on some comfortable clothes and spent time with God. Having 2 appointments, I changed into nicer clothes. Upon arriving home I got comfortable again. Picking up on my spring yard work, I changed into work duds, then later bathed and changed again into better clothes to go out to get fast-food place with my wife. Arriving home, I changed back to relax. How many times did I change my clothes??? According to God’s standards, the answer HE would expect should be…ZERO!

I know I drive my wife nuts with my clothes. I usually just drop the previous ones over a quilt rack, or on the floor bedside my bed, and go. I save the ‘putting away’ until another time… sometimes a day or 2 later! But I THINK I have Biblical precedent and a great defense! God says to “PUT OFF” the OLD man… then to “PUT ON” the NEW. Preoccupation with the old flesh is a NO NO! He seems to be saying…DROP IT! Focus on God to maintain the NEW is hard enough without playing with the OLD!

My wife has more of an appearance issue than I do. She very much dislikes the idea that someone would see me in my dirty, ripped up work clothes. Because of my vocation, she asks the question, “what would people THINK of you if they saw you dressed like that?” She has a point, I guess. Apparently my Master has the same issue! The verse today clearly tells me what He thinks about ‘the dirty old man’ within. The Flesh is NOT something to be dressed up. His demand is to do with it ‘currently’ what Jesus did with it on the cross ‘ultimately’…kill it off!

I was CREATED to BE LIKE my CREATOR. Not some dirty fallen bum. He clearly says that following any selfish, fleshly desire simply fuels the fires of my own corruption. He calls me to ‘PUT OFF’ the old and to ‘re-mind’ my thinking to HIS. I was made for fellowship and relationship with HIM. His clothes are righteousness and holiness. When I am dressed up in the proper attire, my whole world changes. And that is the point!

It is said that you can dress up a pig… but that a dressed up is still a pig! God has NO plans for my flesh. MY way is NOT His way… and there is NO way I am getting anywhere NEAR the Palace looking like a bum! But the choice is mine! He will never MAKE me change if I do not WANT to change. I suppose one of the best things I can to is to ask myself each day, “what am I dressed for?” Though I do not know if my wife will buy the excuse for the pile old clothes on the floor!

“the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.” 2 Peter 2:9-10

I have found myself repeatedly looking heavenward and calling out… “HUH??!” If repeated episodes of rats, moles, invasive trees and plants were not enough, now I am forced to deal with sewage! Sometimes it takes MANY times before I come to the realization that THIS time… it’s time! God is calling me to learn something about myself and he is using icky stuff to open my eyes.

Vacating a house from a property does not actually vacate the property. One of the BIG things that has to be dealt with is the part that is rarely seen and ALWAYS taken for granted. If the house is on a septic tank, which rarely is ever considered, that tank has to be dealt with. In my case, to GET to the tank meant digging up dirt and tree roots to expose the nasty thing. But it has to be done and apparently NOW is the time.

I have learned, and been reminded again, that a ‘follower’ of Christ NEVER actually fully ARRIVES! For 51 years, God has been working on me… calling, reminding, pressing and fixing. When I think I finally have overcome something with His direction and help, He takes His invasive eye to my soul and points to something ELSE I usually never even have noticed before! He is an irritating God because He NEVER seems to get tired of pointing out ‘the nasty stuff!’ I’d LOVE for Him to take an occasional vacation… but He is relentless!

‘The Flesh,’ also called the sinful nature, has a mind of its own. I am quite comfortable with him because I have lived with him for a VERY long time. Like rats, it wants to dominate my soul. Like tree roots, it surrounds and suffocates my spirit. Like moles and septic tanks, it does its dirty work underground, displaying the mounds of upheaval and the smell of corruption. And it is NOT OK.

Part of this kind of process is not new to me. As I find myself in situations I do not like, my quiet time with God takes on a life from above. I find that things I read from Bible passage I read this morning winds up the theme of the Christian radio program I listen to this afternoon. Over and over, day in and day out… I finally realize He is trying to reach me to teach me.

I know I will never fully arrive as a perfect image of His Son. But I also know that He does not allow that as an excuse for vacating my premises. I am His.. He is mine. And apparently He has work to do. I may be dense sometimes, but I am not stupid. He doesn’t seem to mind the icky stuff and has plans for me TODAY. I can either join Him or fight Him. Since I have already learned that fighting Him is a lost cause, I guess it’s time to clean some of this this stuff up!

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25

Yesterday was going SO well. I had lots to do, one of which was to cut some trees around a house that had gotten out of hand. Since it was at a different location, I loaded up my truck with tools I would need and headed off. After a few hours labor and the joy of a job finally done, I threw my chainsaw in the back of my truck, shut the tailgate and headed home. Once home, I went to reverse the process to unload…only to discover my tailgate was down and my chainsaw was gone!

Doing what anyone would do, I quickly backtracked my way, but I KNEW it would be useless. Anyone who found the saw, case and what all was inside, would have hit pay-dirt. It took a lot of time, shopping and money to gather all that stuff together… now it was gone and in someone else’s hands. My wife couldn’t appreciate my mood, since it was just a tool. While I love that she has that attitude, I was not quick to jump on board. It was like part of ME was in that saw. And while it wasn’t my wallet… it felt like it!

I have had several chainsaws over the years. But a good chainsaw isn’t cheap and a cheap chainsaw isn’t good. Far too many times I had tried to fire up a saw that had been setting, only to give up and put it away. A couple years ago I decided to remedy that problem. So I did research, shopped, bought a good one (on sale) and (over time) added the accessories. It has never let me down. But I had not foreseen THIS happening

A saw is an impersonal object. It didn’t see a chance at freedom and leap from the truck on its own. It never once complained that it didn’t like me, its owner. There was no free will that complained of too much or too little use. It was mine and it did what I expected of it WHEN required. Now it will do the bidding of someone else with NO sense of sorrow or loss. It is a THING! Jesus is GREAT at using THINGS to teach eternal lessons to living SOULS.

Every human being is born under the ownership of God. Being made in His image, we were created for the purpose of living with, and serving HIM in continual fellowship and love. But for love and service to really WORK, God’s creation HAD to have free will. Unfortunately, with so many choices, the decision to WORK WITH our creator took a back seat to doing our own thing. We CHOOSE lostness!

The Lenten season shows us the work, time and cost that Jesus willingly paid to get you and me back into right relationship with Him. We didn’t know the cost to Himself, nor did we ask Him to rescue us. His love was enough. When He finds me in my dark place, (He is ALWAYS searching) He extends His hand and bids me to come home. But the choice is always mine.

If I have THIS much sorrow over a lost saw… imagine the sorrow God has over a lost SON? I am SO glad I am His son and not a saw! You?

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

I have never, not once in 31 years, EVER seen anyone sleeping on the street in my neighborhood. But last week, while walking the streets of New Orleans, this was a common sight. With no real preparation or response, the only reaction I could muster was shock! The only real question I could ask was, “how could someone fall that far?” Interestingly, being only one half of the surreal encounter, I was the ONLY one asking the question!

It generally started in the morning as we walked. There always seemed to be some kind of food in their hands. After being awake and having eaten whatever, the street dwellers would start the begging. Cardboard placards read things like, “homeless – TIPS appreciated” or “anything will help,” were attempts to garner money from people who felt sorry for their plot. But there was no mistaking where that money would ultimately go.

I received a kind of societal explanation as to what was REALLY going on down in the French Quarter when our Uber Driver made an attempt to answer my question… “WHY do the authorities ALLOW this kind of behavior in a town that makes most of it money from tourism?” He said, “to get rid of them there has to be rules. When people come to Bourbon street, they do NOT WANT rules. This is the result!”

That last sentence may have been heard in my mind, but it was not setting well in my spirit. It took some time to think and to marry the ‘cause and effect’ of what he said. Then Romans 1:28 came to mind… “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.” I was seeing the principle before my very eyes.

All across this great nation there are programs and ministries from both churches and municipalities to try to help relieve the suffering of these lost ones. Sadly, most show very poor or lasting results. I have read that only about 5% of alcoholics or drug addicts ever make it to sobriety. Almost NONE make with without turning to God for the hand up!

This uncomfortable subject is best pushed back into my own psyche because it is just too painful to consider. And yet, the principle is a law unto itself. When I ALLOW a lie of evil into my heart, that seed WILL sprout… even if I don’t want it to. Sadly, the bigger that evil grows, the more GOOD stuff the decision maker will have to throw out to make room. Eventually, nothing good remains.

I have wrestled with the notion that “God causes and controls everything” to the point of exhaustion. I have learned through Scripture that bad choices bring bad consequences. Reaping what I sow is a universal principle that starts in the heart and ends with destruction. God is asking me today just how much I am willing to LOSE in order to GAIN HIM! It is a valid question, since what comes tomorrow, WILL be the fruit of what is planted today. How do YOU see it?

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40

It had been 15 years since my wife and I had visited New Orleans. Having had a busy few months, and with Spring Break giving her a week off from her Teaching duties, we made the mutual decision to get away for some alone time… together. Tickets were purchased in advance and the hotel room was secured. Now all that was left to do was follow the plan…. sort of!

We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon, dropped our bags in the room and headed out to the streets of the French Quarter. For us, there is only one priority when we first arrive… I wanted some oysters. My wife didn’t… but she happily went with me! When we got to the Oyster bar, I ordered a dozen while she ordered some shrimp! Once we stepped out on the street again, the first spoken words became a prophetic utterance that would mark our entire time together… “What do you want to do now?”

New Orleans is known for partying and cutting loose. Drinking, carousing and ungodly behavior are pretty much the norm there. Which is interesting, since my wife and I aren’t into any of that stuff! We DO like visiting different places, and New Orleans IS a different kind of place! The history, shops, food and locations are VERY unique and offer lots of choices. Being married for as long as we have, I think the place is a perfect test for how strong our relationship really is. In retrospect… it turned out to be 4 days of mutual compromise and edification. Let me try to explain.

There are about 30 streets in the French Quarter that interconnect together like a checkerboard. At every corner, there is a decision to make… right, left or straight. On every street there are dozens of shops on either side. On the streets that have no shops, there are houses, condos and apartments that ALL look different. It is fun for us to just look at what people do.. or DON’T do… to make their place stand out. Choices abound and every corner is a choice! There are 2 of us! Get the picture?

I cannot explain how much enjoyment we had with each other. When I wanted to see something, she went with me. When she wanted to see something, I went with her. No arguments, no battles. Just mutually moving together in the same direction… because we LOVE each other, THAT is what WE LOVE to do. Her interests piqued my own, as I learned more about her likes and dislikes and she about mine. We came home stronger and more in love because of our mutual experience.

The verse today is kind of like our trip to New Orleans. “Let US examine OUR ways,” is a call to a unique people in covenant together. “And test them.” That means to put them to trial to see if they are still good, strong and heading in a Godly, mutual direction. “And let us return to the Lord,” is the defining thread that holds us all together on the same path. Even in THIS typically ungodly world.

Looking back on our trip, I can say it was VERY successful. If it WAS a test, we didn’t really know it. Because we were in the journey together, going away proved just how close we are. My journey with Jesus Christ is exactly the same. The longer I walk with Him, the sweeter I find He really is. How about you?

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” John 8:31

Surface profession of faith seems an easy road. In Christ’s ministry, some followed the crowd in public, amazed at miracles, and enthralled by His teaching. But Jesus knew a surface response did not necessarily indicate a heart change. 

He proclaimed to these surface followers that by faith in God they could be set free. Offended, they protested that they did not need to be set free, that they were enslaved to no one. The Savior explained that slavery to sin robs one of yielding lordship to God. The fruit of yielding obedience to the Lord includes personal freedom under His reign. But it requires one to count the cost, then take up the cross to follow Christ.

The first test Christ gave these professed disciples is still the first test of discipleship, obedience. Spiritual maturity comes as obedience is practiced. Profession alone is not enough. What is your next step of obedience to your loving Lord?