Why am I here Lord

"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands." (Psalm 138:8 ESV)

Do you ever find yourself asking God why you are here? What's your purpose? I know on many occasions I have looked up tomthe heavens and asked these questions. But we all have a plan laid out for us, we just need to be patient while God reveals this plan in His time. We must remember that God's time is different than our time.

This reminds me of my all time favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life. I can surely relate to George Bailey and when I start to think that I don't matter I pray and God always inserts the thought of George Bailey into my mind.  I know He wants me to think about the people I've touched in my life. At the time I thought the encounters were inconsequential. But what would have happened had I not had that encounter?

My Dad turns 77 today. I am one of six children and my dad sacrificed so much for us all and still does. I pray that God continues to bless him because the lives he touches are a little better because of those encounters. Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Showing the love of Christ

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:12-14 ESV)

In reading this passage this morning during my devotion it made me stop and think. What does it mean that my members are instruments for righteousness? I may be off here but I believe that God is referring to my actions when He uses the term members, things I do with my hands and feet, the way I walk, talk,  and treat others. Do you see this the same?

Think about this. Do you have faith that Jesus Christ is your Savior? What led you to that faith? It was the Holy Spirit workng through others and the Word. Now think about the people you care about, a sibling, a parent, a friend or colleague. Don't you want them to know that they too are under God's grace? Will they see the love of Christ if you constantly succumb to the temptations of the devil? Will not they better se the love by your actions?

I think the answer is clear. I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone say "they say they are Christian but look at what they do ". What good is talking about Christ's love if we are not going to strive to act like Christ? Our actions are stronger than our words. What we do tells others more about Christ than what we say.

The family went white water rafting Tuesday with the church youth group and I am sure that the guides saw Christ in our group,  not because we took our Bibles and read to them. Not because they knew we were from St. Paul's Lutheran Church. But instead because of how we acted, how we treated them and others. That is how we can help to grow God's Kingdom while here on earth.

I pray that all of us this day will think before we act today. Will what I do show the love of Christ? We are human and sinful by nature so the answer will not always be yes. But let us all strive to have more yes answers than no.

May God bless you.

Being thankful

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." (Colossians 4:2 ESV)

For thosenthat have kids, especially tweens and teens, how often do you think or say "you kids aren't thankful for anything that you have". Sometimes this is said in anger, or out of frustration.  In this time of instant gratification it seems to become more of a common theme.

But are you being a good example for your kids? When do you pray? Do you pray once a day, twice a day? Do you oray as a family? Do you only ask God for things or do you take the time to thank Him?

God promises to provide our daily bread. Take time to thank Him for that. Take time to pray as a family, as a couple, showing thankfulness for being provided the necessities. But also show thankfulness for what God has given you in a spouse, in your family.

Lead your family by example, show them that prayer, along with worship and reading the Word, is how we stay close in our relationship with God.

Enjoying God's creation

Well, it took an extra day to recover from the white water rafting, but oh what a blast we had as we enjoyed everything God has given us. I was in awe as I enjoyed the trip down the river,  looking around at the intricate detail of the rock formations. In May we went to Cedar Point and enjoyed man-made roller coasters. Yesterday we enjoyed a natural roller coaster provided by God.

The other enjoyable part of the day was around just letting go and having faith in God to get us safely down the river. Not only that, but I personally let go of some of my fears around letting the kids be independent. The 4 kids with 2 of their friends were in one boat and my wife and I were in another. What test of my faith that was to let go of that fear,  handing to God as He instructs. We got to lunch and there were the kids. We got to the end of the day, and the kids were there. God fulfills His promises.

The day ended with a reminder of that promise and all of God's promises ; a beautiful rainbow right in front of us on the drive home!

By the way and for the record, the kids stayed in the boat while I was tossed out.

Gone white water rafting

Will be back tomorrow.

When God answers "Not now"

"And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." (Luke 18:1 ESV)

In todays society it is all about instant gratification. No one wants to wait for anything. We used to take film out to be developed,  then their became 1 hour photo processing and now you can see your picture immediately right there on the camera. And so it is with prayer. We want an answer right now. After all, if I have a question I can go to the internet and find the answer immediately.

I look at comments for PrayerSteward and read as people want to track prayers that God answers, as if we are going to hold that againt Him on judgement day. In Luke 18, Jesus reminds us that we should not give up, we should be patient and remember that that prayers are always answered if asked through Jesus. We just don't always like the answer.  It could be yes, no, or not now. We have problems with the latter two.

What do we teach our kids when we answer yes all the time, to all requests? Certainly not the message Jesus shares above. We continue to play into the ways of this world. When will we wake up and realize that instant gratification here on earth does nothing for us in our eternal life?

God bless you as you start your week.

Rejecting the unreliable

"He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God." (Psalm 62:6-7 ESV)

My family and I were flipping through the Netflix instant queue on the Wii last night and the kids started expressing their thoughts on what they wanted to watch. Picking movies is always challenging in my house and sometimes leads to arguments. So I listened to God (finally my wife might add) and said I would make the decision on what to watch.

As I flipped through one title caught my eye. "What If? "

The description was of a man that gets a chance to look back at what could have been after making a bad decision to follow the temptations of this world. I made my decision. Wow, what a good decision it was. We all enjoyed the movie. Good, family entertainment with a message of God's grace. It doesn't get better than that, not today. The bonus was we got to see John Ratzenberg as an angel. He's been one of my favorite people since the days of Cliff Claven on Cheers and it was good to see him in a movie like this.

The movie reminded me that no matter what is in my past, God loves and forgives me. No one, no government, no earthly pleasure will ever supersede that fact. Their  is also a terrific point in the movie where the importance of marriage and the commitment that is made between husband and wife is emphasized. That was important as today my niece, Stephanie,  gets married to Andrew. Please pray with me that Stephanie and Andrew will always remeber God's promises and the covenant they are making with God today. Pray for strength and faith to handle all the challenges and opportunities in front of them as they start their lives together.

Also, please pray for the people of Norway in this time of great sorrow.

God bless you on this Saturday.

The comfort of knowing

'This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life." ( Psalm 119:50 ESV)

Can you imagine how Mary Magdalene felt when Jesus appeared to her at the tomb? The initial fear and confusion turns to an incredible sense of peace as she realizes who stands before her.

Have you ever walked out of church thinking to yourself "Wow, that is exactly what I needed to hear "? I believe that is exactly what Mary Magdalene felt when she heard Jesus say her name. She was distraught over not knowing where they had taken His body. We get distraught over the events and the culture of this world. It is not merely enough to struggle on our own. We need the Truth, the Word, to help us have that same feeling of peace that Mary felt. How do we know God's love for us unless we hear his voice?

I mentioned coming out of church and that's an important statement. God instructs us to worship with other believers. I know I have many times read a passage in the Bible and not thought twice about it's meaning. But to have that same passage put into real life meaning makes a difference. We need to hear the Word on a regular basis and understand how a passage is related to the rest of the Word. And yes, many times we just need to hear the Word from the pulpit where we aren't distracted and it can sink in.

When God speaks to us at that moment, we feel that no one else exists, that it's just me and God, and He is calling my name and letting me know His promise is the truth.

The way He works in our lives

First, it's good to be back writing this blog again. It is amazing how God puts experiences in our lives in order to advance His kingdom. And believe me when I say that God has allowed some incredible challenges to unfold in my life over the past few months. From parenting challenges to work challenges and even a short stint in the hospital, they have pushed me to continually lean on the strength of my faith.

In my morning devotion, it included the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers (Genesis 50:15-21). After reading this, and being reminded of what Joseph endured yet was still able to forgive, I thought back to my recent challenges and also looked at how much I relied on God to get me through. He has not let go. It does remind me constantly about living by the simple  statement His will be done, not my will be done.

Oh, and a side note, the fun things my brothers did to me growing up, like stealing from my Easter basket, are nothing compared to what Joseph's brothers did to him.