My Valentine

Yesterday was a day when I spent some extra time thinking about my wife and marriage that and the gift that Lord has bestowed upon me with each. It may be the most obvious physical evidence of the grace of God in my life.

I know my sin, I know my heart, I know that at my best, my thoughts and deeds clothe me in filthy rags or leave me walking about with "my old self" strapped to my back as a rotting corpse, contaminating all that am and all that I do. In God's sight, there is no hiding my inadequacy or any of my faults and failings.

Yet He, in His mercy and grace, has given to me a wife who has taken my breath away with her beauty since the first time I saw her, who serves me with her whole life, who loves me unconditionally, who strives for a deeper relationship with the Lord so she can become a better wife and mother, and who has given up many of the activities that yield the praise of man in order to serve in the way she feels the Lord has called and her husband has requested she serve.

A very good friend of mine, who knows me well, says to me often, “you married UP my friend”. I’m not sure if there is a better way to describe the way the Lord has given me so much more than I deserve. My friend, by the way, freely admits to having “married UP” as well.

The incredible thing about His gift is that, in an eternal sense, it is unnecessary. His call on my life would be the same if He gave me the wife I deserve rather than the gift He chose to give me. What it does for me though is give me a physical reminder of His grace and mercy that, in the spiritual realm, has given me forgiveness and salvation and an eternal home with Him.
Today, as I prepare to learn and worship with my church family at South Side Baptist church, I know I will be thinking about how thankful I am that my God gives me more than I deserve, and because of the perfect gift of His son Jesus Christ, I am clothed in His righteousness rather than in the rotting corpse that I seem to want to clothe myself with so often. Praise be to God!

Amazing Grace

Lately, I have been thinking about how blessed I am in my life. Since Thanksgiving I have been especially thankful that I have enough food and that I have people in my life who enjoy preparing it for me to eat. My mother-in-law, wife, and sisters-in-law all contributed to our Thanksgiving meals and they were delicious! Since then I have been especially aware of the effort that my wife makes to ensure that we have good food that is good for us. My daughter prepared her first roast yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed it last night, and so there is another person in my home who is beginning to prepare meals for me to enjoy (my son has found enjoyment in preparing a variety of breakfasts and also in preparing steaks for supper for quite a while). In the midst of my thoughts of food and physical blessings, I read and have since re-read a passage in Romans.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8

My Lord and Savior laid down His life for me so that I would be reconciled to God the Father. As I look at my sinful life, I hold tightly to His word that "while we were sinners, Christ died for us", even as I strive to live a life worthy of the calling to which I have been called.

Thank you God for all my physical blessings and relational blessings, and thank you for your son Jesus Christ and His willingness to be the atoning sacrifice for my sin.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. For those of you who may know me, I will add that it is NOT because of the feasting.

I love this holiday because it gives me an excuse to think about all the things I am thankful for. I have been thinking over the past week or two about many things for which I am thankful to my God in Heaven. On several occasions I have started to write about my Dad, my Mom, my wife, my daughter, my son, my mother-in-law, my extended family including those on my wife's side of the family, my church home, several men in my church who inspire me, encourage me, support me, and pray for me, and numerous other things including my health, job, material possessions, etc. I think that these people and things are so important to who I am that I will devote some time to writing about them. But for today I have another thought of thankfulness.

I have so many things to be thankful for and at times I feel overwhelmed with the way God has blessed me in this life. I know that some of His greatest blessings do not include any of the things I mentioned previously, and do include struggles, suffering, pain, and humility. When I read James 1:2-3 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness", I first think that I would like to be joy filled without the need to face trials. I find it difficult to pray for trials in my life, but I do want to be steadfast in my faith. Can I be steadfast in my faith without testing? Can I experience deep relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ without sharing in His suffering? Can I truly empathize with the passion the Lord calls me to with people who are suffering if I have never suffered?

I struggle with these thoughts and with what I am asking for when I ask the Lord to strengthen my faith, deepen my love for Him, draw me close and shelter me beneath the shadow of His wing. When I pray those things am I not praying that the Lord will give me trials that will lead me to Him, help me to identify in the suffering of my Lord and Savior, and seek Him for shelter and as a refuge?

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the faithfulness of my God. I am thankful that He has clothed me with Christ so that when I stand before Him he doesn't see the blackness of my heart and the guilt that the enemy tries to make me claim, but He sees the Lamb that was slain, the Holy One of God, His one and only Son. Because of the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty God of the universe sees me as His son; holy and blameless in His sight and washed with the blood of the Savior. Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

We sing a song at church sometimes that touches my heart. It is a song where in one verse I thank Him and praise Him when the sun is shining down and all is as it should be, and in another I thank Him and praise Him when I walk in the desert place, thought there is pain in the offering. My God is faithful and He will receive my praise and my worship whether I feel as if I am on the mountain top or mired in the deepest valley. My God reigns and He is worthy of my praise, my devotion, my adoration, my worship, my faithfulness, and, while I sit with my family and eat from the abundance He has provided, my thanks.

Thank You to My Band of Brothers

As expected, Nathaniel had a fantastic trip to the San Juan river. He has been sharing stories of fishing, camping, building fires, and great time spent worshipping, eating, and laughing. As much as I expected that he would have a great time and the reason for it would be the men of South Side and the love they shared with him, I underestimated the impact it would have on him.

Nathaniel is already bearing fruit from his time spent with Godly men. I have already seen in him a confidence that comes from knowing that he is accepted and loved by men whom he admires and respects. He learned things about fishing, about fire-making, about setting up and breaking down camp, about dealing with disappointment and joy, and about living as a Christian man in the midst of a world that rejects much of what God has given.

A sincere "thank you" to Russ, Andrew, Clay, Dwayne, Thomas, Kevin, Russell, Tim, Richard, and the rest of the men who modeled the love of Christ to my son.