Ends and Beginnings

 One year is drawing to an end.  Another year is beginning.  So often we focus on either one or the other aspects of this.  Either we focus on the year we had (we typically do this when it was a good year) or we focus on the year to come (because we are so eager to get out of the year we just had).  We either look backward or forward.  I have found something interesting as I have taken up the habit of walking and now been walking regularly for a few years now.  I am not sure how well it applies, but I guess I will leave that for the reader to decide.  

When walking, you cannot look too far ahead, and you cannot look backward.  Both options are a recipe for disaster.  If you are looking too far down the sidewalk or the road you will miss what is right in front of you.  This often leads to tripping.  If you are not watching the ground you are walking on you tend to trip.  Sometimes it is the edge of a sidewalk block that is slightly raised.  Sometimes it is subtle curve or change in the pavement that trips you up, but if you do not see it, you will trip.  

When walking you cannot look behind you either.  Every time I look behind I wind up steering myself off to the side that I am looking toward.  So if I look over my left shoulder at something behind me, I tend to start walking to the left.  I cannot walk in a straight line without looking at where I am going.  But again, this does not mean I just have to look forward all the time.  In fact, the best place for me to look for safety (especially now that it is winter) is directly in front of me, where my feet will step next.   

It is almost like we are not supposed to worry about what is to come too much, and not fret over what we have left behind too much.  Biblical balance seems to have gratitude for the past and leave the future to God, but to fix our behaviors on what is happening now.  To behave in this moment in the way God has called us to behave.  To think and say in this moment what I am supposed to think and say.  To leave the rest to God!

Christ is Coming!

 Today we lit the first advent candle as part of our worship service.  The preparation of our hearts and minds as we approach the Christmas celebration is critically important.  I think that we do not take the time to prepare and because we do not take time to prepare, we forget.  After all, what we tend to remember we tend to prepare for.  We do not remember the quick trip to the grocery store for a loaf of bread for more than a day or two.  We do not remember the weekly trip to the grocery store much more than a week or two.  But we might remember the trip to the grocery store that we did to prepare for our 3 week vacation.  Or the trip to the grocery store to prepare for the holidays.  Because it is in the preparation for something that memory is created.  I remember the proposal I gave to my wife because I prepared for it.  I could not tell you what our fourth date was.  We just enjoyed it, there was no preparation for it. 

When it comes to Christmas, we so often simply let it happen to us.  We do not prepare.  We do not consider what the Bible says about the narrative.  And so to remind us today to prepare, let me simply state that the whole story of Scripture is focused in on the story of the coming of Christ to earth.  The OT looks forward to it and the NT looks back on it.  The life of Christ is the central theme of the gospel.  What He did for us in His life and death and resurrection is the central work for all who believe.  We NEED Jesus.  And so remind yourselves this year to prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ more than you prepare to celebrate with your families.  Make the celebration with your families center on the work of Christ and not just your own personal traditions.  Prepare to celebrate Christmas by preparing to remember that it is all about Jesus.

God is Sovereign

 I have noticed a trend as I have observed the people of God in my role as pastor.  The trend is this - when things go our way we are quick to thank God for His sovereignty, but when things do not go our way, we are very hesitant to mention the sovereignty of God.  For instance.  We in the US had an election recently.  Those who voted for Trump were quick to praise God for His sovereignty over all things.  I would imagine that those that did not (in our neck of the woods a minority) are not in this moment praising God for His sovereignty.  In my own life I notice that when test results came back good I was quick to praise God but when they came back poorly, or even inconclusively, I was much slower to praise God.  I wonder what this reveals about us.  Perhaps it is that we really think we are in charge and we are telling God what He can use His power to do.  When He does what we want - we praise.  When He does that which we did not want - we withhold our praise.  This says much more about us than it does about God.

The Scriptures are clear.  God is in control of all things.  He does all things for His own good pleasure, glory, and will.  And we are here to recognize the benefit for us in all that He does.  No matter our perspective on it - God is good.  We need to praise Him without regard for how we feel about what He has done.  May God help us to praise Him in all things, at all times and for all the things He has done.

An absence of disputable matters

 I was reminded recently that sometimes we place way too much emphasis on any one particular area - an area that is not clearly defined in the Bible - and we demand that all those around us comply.  Some examples of this (and I will probably get in trouble for some of these) are:

King James only, or any Bible translation only discussion

Music discussions

End times discussions

Church carpet color discussions

What programs a church should have discussions

etc.

Now for each of these categories (and all those like it) there are people who come down on different sides and there is no clear direction in the Bible that answers all of the questions on the various sides.  Of course the Bible speaks in principles to all of the discussions, but it does not clearly define right and wrong.  But try telling that to the people on the various sides of the debates.  Take the "wrong" side (depending on who you are talking to) and it is like you are questioning the virgin birth or substitutionary atonement (both of which the Bible DOES speak clearly on).  It is as if in our own minds there are not actually any disputable matters.  

We should be reminded that if we are dogmatic in everything to the same degree then realistically we have made ourselves the standard of judgment and not the Word of God.  And any time that happens we are in grave danger.  May God help us to hold to the Truth of His Word and give us the grace to allow others to hold different views in the areas where God allows different views and may He give us the wisdom to know what goes where!

Authority and Obedience

 There are a lot of things that can be said, have been said, and are being said about the world in which we live.  There are a lot of ways to consider and look at how people are thinking and what ideas are important for the church in the midst of a world like ours.  I think sometimes it is good to get back to the basics.  There are two concepts that are really two sides of the same concept that are critical for us to understand.  

The first side of the coin is authority.  God has authority over our lives.  He has this authority for a number of reasons.  He created us - therefore He has the right to do with us as He pleases.  His character - his goodness and grace and justice and holiness and the all the rest earn Him our respect and confirm His authority.  He demands it - He calls us to recognize who He is and acknowledge Him as the one in charge.  God is our authority. 

The second side of the coin is obedience.  This is the demanded response of the creation to the authority of God.  Creation is to obey God.  God's character demands our obedience.  His law demands our obedience.  We obey God because we recognize that God is the authority and we are to follow Him.  

The trouble in our world is that we have made ourselves the authority.  This totally upends the plan and purposes of God in our lives.  We were made to obey, not to be in charge.  And so when we do what we want to do we are missing the point of what we were created for.  We need to bring back these two concepts in our every day lives.  We need to recognize the authority of God and we need to obey this God who created us.

Patience

 I must confess that I am not very good at patience.  I do not really know anyone who is.  Some are of course better than others - people who are more patient in certain areas, but I think most people I have met have at least one area where we want things now.  One of the most common areas where people find it hard to have patience with is when something goes wrong with our health and we have to wait for test results.  A friend of mine recently went through this.  A test on Friday and then no results until the middle of the following week.  I recently went through this multiple times during a summer fight with cancer and chemo.  And waiting under stress is a terrible feeling.  

And yet patience is more than a virtue, it is a fruit of the Spirit of God.  So as we grow in Christ, God is going to cultivate this quality in us.  And unfortunately the only way it seems to grow in patience is to have it tested.  Not a fun experience.  But when it is being tested, we have the ability to properly focus and praise God for the fact that He is growing us into the likeness of His Son!  And so take heart and have patience.  God is at work in you for your good and His glory!

Priorities

 This morning I preached on Haggai chapter 1.  Haggai is a book that actually has a great story and an even better end to chapter 1 - the people obey God and God promises His presence with them because they align their priorities to what they should be - obedience to God.

I wonder if we will take a moment to align our priorities in the same way.  God calls us to seek first His kingdom.  He calls us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.  He calls for us to obey over and over and over again.  And yet we so often forget to align ourselves with His will for our lives and instead look to align His plan with our will.  We want to tell God what He ought to do and what He ought to expect of us.  We have no business or ability to address God in this way.  We ought to recognize that we are completely and totally dependent upon Him and that any obedience offered is one directional - vertical and starting from our place on earth in humility and moving upward to the God who created us.  

In other words, we need to consider how well we are obeying God.  Look at your life and ask how much of it is lived in obedience to the commands of God.  If you see a part that is out of line, align it and prioritize obedience of God as top priority!

Idols

 I think that far too often our money and time reveal who and what is really God to us.  I think that this could be demonstrated through a number of different idols.  If my idol is myself, my time and money will all go to all of the things that I want.  If my idol is my happiness I will spend my time and money on the things that make me happy.  If my idol is my car, I will spend my time and money on my car.  If my idol is the approval of other I will spend my time and my money on seeking the approval of others.  If my idol is status. . . well you get the idea.

I think that we often think about things backward.  So often we think about idols and assume that since we do not have any little figurines in our homes we do not have to worry about it.  The reality is that we need to think a lot more about how we spend our resources, and what they reveal about our priorities and what things we really think are the most important.  

So what are your idols?

A long journey

 Sometimes you plan on a long trip.  Many special vacations are like that.  You sit down and decide what you want to do and you make a plan and you set aside the money to be able to pay for the things that you are going to need and you plan a decision to go.  Most of the long journeys that I have been on are this kind of journey.  Of course there is fun in spontaneity, but it does not usually seem like spontaneous trips last as long as these kind of well planned out journeys.  In some respects in order for the journey to be long, it almost has to be planned out.  

And then there are the kinds of long journeys that you don't plan on.  These kinds of journeys are not the fun vacation kind, but the slow life-changing events that happen in your life and you really have no control over them at all.  Cancer happens.  And goes on and on.  Pain happens.  And drags itself out and lasts.  Death happens to someone you love and the grief carries and continues.  These kinds of journeys are never fun in the same sense as a vacation.  They hurt.  And they last.  And it calls for a special kind of response that the Bible refers to as "endurance."  We are to endure.  When we go through this kind of long and painful journey we are to endure.  Paul tells it to Timothy - "Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."  (2 Tim. 2:3-4, NASB)  Or the author of Hebrews reminds us that, "It is for discipline that you endure. . ."  (Hebrews 12:7, NASB).  This kind of endurance is not something that most of us want to develop or even would ask for, and yet it is so critical for our growth and maturity in Christ.  It is something that God calls us to do and something that Christ exemplified for us.  So in the midst of your long journey (the kind that is not a vacation at all) today, endure hardship with me for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Something to Consider

 Have you ever stopped to consider the question, "How do I know if I am really a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ?"  I think that many of us have stopped at one time or another to ask ourselves that question.  Sometimes it comes from a place of personal doubt.  Sometimes it comes from a realization that we can never actually earn the grace of God.  Sometimes it might be from some other place or thought that comes up.  But the Bible is fairly clear on the issue - there are a few key signs that you can look for.

1.  Do you love God?  Some authors (thinking here of Piper and before him Edwards) would call these affections.  At the end of the day do you have a desire to please God?  Do you love him enough to set self aside, or do you really love yourself?   If you love God this is a sign that you are genuinely redeemed!

2. Do you love the Word of God?  Throughout the psalms (for a great example see Psalm 119) there is a call to love the law of God.  Do you demonstrate this love through obedience?  The call to obey what God says is from start to finish something that God calls us to.  We are over and over and over again called to listen to God and to do what He has told us to do.  Do you love what God says?  If so, you can take heart that God has placed this love into your heart by His Spirit through faith.

3. Do you love the people of God?  The New Testament is full of the things that we are to do for one another.  We are to love one another, serve one another, prefer one another, and the list goes on.  This is another sign that we are genuinely redeemed.  It is the stated condition for people knowing that we are disciples of Christ - we are to love one another!

So ask yourself these three questions and take heart - be it from a place of doubt, or a theological concern or any other place and praise God that He has given us ways to be confident in our salvation!

It is August

 It is August.  That realization comes at a different pace for different people.  For those who teach, it means that the time is rapidly approaching when students will be back in the classroom and they are likely starting to get into their own space and decorate and begin to work on lesson plans.  For those who are students, it means that the summer is almost over and there is a lot of squeezing as much as possible into each day.  For those who are parents of students it is tracking down classroom supply lists and going to the store to buy the seemingly endless supplies that will have to be replaced - some of them within the first week of school because they are lost by the students who have more important things to think about - like sharing all the end of summer stories with their friends.

For some it is a beginning, for some it is an end.  For me it is both.  It is the end of a summer of not being able to do much of anything for reasons I will not go into.  It is the beginning of a season when hopefully I will be able to resume normal activity.  And this got me thinking that this is how life is with many things.  There are beginnings and ends and sometimes it simply depends on the perspective of the person looking.  

What I am looking forward to most of all is the beginning of something that has no end.  The celebration of life eternal in the presence of our Savior for all eternity.  It is something that we cannot even fathom.  But when that final end happens and there is the ultimate beginning, there will be no more beginnings and ends because there will be no more time.  No more starts and false starts.  No more struggle through or with time.  No more waiting.  No more because time will be no more.  Praise be to God for that glorious coming day.  It is worth the wait.

The need for speed

 I caught myself in something this morning.  I saw a headline in one of my news feeds that was something that I had already read in another news source and I got annoyed.  "Don't they know this is already old news", I thought to myself.  After all, my time is precious and I need something new this morning, not something old news.  I recognized in myself a trend that is present in my life in other areas as well.  I get annoyed if there are two or more cars in a drive thru that is supposed to make my life quicker and easier.  I get near angry if I am waiting in a line and it does not move as quickly as I think it should.  Time seems to be a priority to me.  But I am not worried in these moments about using my time for the glory of God, I am instead annoyed that "my time" is not being respected or used as well as it should be.  I am inherently selfish and demanding that the rest of the world operate on my schedule as if there are not other souls that God has plans for on any given day or that everyone should focus on ME!

How do we battle this kind of daily focus on ourselves?  I am reminded of Romans 12:3 (NASB) - "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."

Do not think of yourself more highly of himself than he ought to think.  What a challenge.  What a reminder.  And he gives the positive statement of how to think - as to have sound judgment - a judgment based on the faith that God gives instead of something internal to us.  

May God help me (and by extension all of us) to think of myself rightly!

Summer Fun and the Glory of God

 I think that sometimes we often create false dichotomies in our mind and spirit.  For instance, we feel guilty if we take the time to relax and have some summer fun because we should have spent that time doing something for the kingdom of God.  If we stop and read a book it better be a Christian book.  If we listen to music it better be worship music.  If we do anything it ought to be for the Kingdom of God.  There have even been books written that encourage this kind of thinking.  We should give all we have up for God - including all of our time and energy.  

The more that I think on this the more I have come to the conclusion that it is NOT BIBLICAL.  Let me make a few points and encourage you to go out this summer and have some fun doing things that you enjoy for the glory of God!

1.  Creation was made for our good and benefit and enjoyment.  We could eat of and enjoy all of the fruit in the garden and rest was built into the equation!  

2.  Rest was built into the 10 commandments.  Rest was built into the law.  Rest was built into every part of Israel's corporate life.  And yes this rest is to be a rest focused on God, but God still allowed the Israelites to do things that they enjoyed.  The issue seems to be balance. 

3. Jesus rested and took time to get away from everyone.  

4. We are supposed to enjoy the life that God has given us - and there is no condemnation for having time to be able to recover and recuperate.  

And this is so very important - go out and get some rest and have some fun and enjoy the good creation that God has given.  

Independence Day

 From the time that we are very little we value our independence.  "I can do it myself" is a common refrain among those who are little and those who are older as well.  We never really grow out of the "I can do it myself" phase.  Even as adults we do not like to ask others for help or worse, to receive help that we have asked for.  We want to do it ourselves.  The trouble is that independence is not what we make it out to be.  And there is no better example than this the July 4 and what it symbolizes.

I wonder if the soldiers fighting the revolution thought that they could do it by themselves.  Of course they were fighting for the right to self-govern, but even that was created with system of checks and balances that allowed no one branch, or one person to have control.  Each citizen (although at that time poorly defined) was a part of a much larger process.  In this way independence was a civic responsibility - working together for the common good of all.  

Of course in our "modern" society of terribly uncritical individualism, we redefine independence to mean that we should each be in charge of our own lives.  Nothing could be further from the truth, especially for those of us who claim the name of Christ.  Because of Christ even our own identities are not really our own because we have been bought with the price of His blood.  Our independence is an independence from our sin nature and instead an enslavement of sort to the righteousness of Christ.  And we are independent together - for the Word of God calls us to serve each other as we have been served by Christ.  

So as we think about this July 4, perhaps we should reconsider the meaning of independence and how we can truly should Christ through the freedom that we have in Him!

God is good

 Sometimes we say things that we do not mean.  Sometimes we say things that we might think we mean but do not really think about.  I think that this is fairly common in the every day theology of most people who are believers.  We say things, but we do not really think about what they actually mean.  Today's title is one example of that.  Of course we have said that God is good.  But have we ever really examined or stopped to think about what that actually means.

God is good.  It is a statement of fact and it is in the present tense.  That means that in this moment we are saying that God is good.  Right now.  No matter what is happening.  The power just went out.  God is good.  The power came back on.  God is good.  I was given health.  God is good.  I got sick.  God is good.  The statement is not a reflection on our circumstances, but on the character of God.  Think about that.  How often do we say it as though it is totally dependent on what is happening around us?   I get a check in the mail - God is good.  I get a bill in the mail - . . . . . . .(silence).  Does God cease to be good because something unpleasant is presently happening in my life?   No of course not.  God is good.  

I think that it would do us well to cement ourselves in the center of the character of God.  It might help us be more steady during the waves that come our way and anchor us to something solid - the character and nature of our good God.

Memorial Day

 Tomorrow is Memorial Day.  The words themselves express the purpose - to serve as a day to remember.  To remember the sacrifice of those who have gone and served and died for the sake of their country.  And so we will remember.  Many of us will choose to remember by a unique blend of celebrating the start of summer and totally abandoning ourselves to doing whatever we want.  A unique freedom that we have because of the sacrifice of others.  I will choose to remember my grandfather.  He served in WW2 and was captured as a POW.  He was forced to participate in the Bataan Death March.  I am glad to say that he did not die during the war and so I can be grateful that he married my grandmother when he returned home to find that his former wife had remarried because he was a POW MIA and considered to be dead.  I am here today because of him.  His sacrifice of his family and so much more meant that I could live.

This reminds me of another who came and died in my place.  He sacrificed and was the sacrifice that made it possible for me to live.  And I am told to remember that.  On a regular basis. We celebrate communion each month and do it in remembrance.  So this weekend eat your hotdogs or hamburgers or both and go to the parade.  But remember the sacrifice of the One who gave His life for you. 

Graduation

 I went to my first graduation party of the season last weekend.  It is always a good time to celebrate with students their accomplishments and the things that they have worked so hard to accomplish.  In some ways a graduation is an end, and in some ways a graduation is a beginning.  And then I got to thinking about other things that share in that they are both an end and a beginning.  Becoming a parent is in some ways an end, and in many ways a beginning.  Retirement is an end and a beginning.  And so is death.  In fact, in the grace of God, very few things are completely an end.  Even death.  After death is the beginning of something far bigger, something eternal.  The question at this graduation will be not about your accomplishments, but about what you have decided about Jesus - is He your Savior and Lord, or have you rejected both His salvation and Lordship.  The former leads to a beginning of eternal bliss - the latter leads to a beginning of eternal loss.  Choose carefully!  It is a far more important choice than where you want to go to college!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 I have always wondered at the expression.  It usually has a certain truth to it, but I have a black thumb, so no matter how much it rains I cannot seem to grow anything.  My daughter however was not cursed with this trait and so we have tulips now blooming in our back yard on the cusp between April and May.  My point in this is not so much about gardening habits as it is the transitory nature of our existence.  Time marches on.  Regardless of how much it rains or how many flowers will grow, May will always follow the 30 days of April.  And here it is on April 30 with this month about to die and a new month about to begin.  Ends and beginnings.  Our calendar dictates that we face this cycle over and over and over again.  Past months are gone and new months are coming.  Time keeps going.  

Of course, time is not just marching aimlessly.  For those of us this side of the curse, time is marching toward our death and is a continually reminder that this tent in which we live is temporary.  Time is also marching us toward the timeless - eternity.  And each tick of the clock is a reminder of our own mortality and the shortness of the time we have to consider our eternity.  I wonder, have you considered your own eternity?  There are only two options - eternity in the presence of God (Heaven) or eternity apart from the presence of God (Hell).  And there is only one way to secure the presence of God - through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Will you consider Him and His Word this day?  

Ideas

 Ideas are an important part of life.  But how we view ideas may reflect our understanding of our world.  For instance, if you think that your ideas should be the basis for how you live, you are suggesting that you are in charge of your own life.  If you think that your ideas carry power instead of looking at the ideas of others you may be overly focused on yourself.  How we view ideas can have a lot of impact.  Perhaps the most critical thing we need to understand is that when it comes to ideas we ought to be highly suspicious of our own and instead surrender them, along with our thoughts and attitudes, to the revealed will of God.  Our ideas are not something independent but something that God demands we give to Him.  So take your ideas and give them to God and see what God has to say about them!

The danger of Easter

 When we think of the upcoming holiday, we do not often think of danger.  Obviously it is one of the most critical events on the Christian calendar - the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  It is the motivation for our life eternal - the reason that we worship.  Obviously it is a critical moment - so where is the danger?  The danger is a danger present in all of the days we celebrate as important - a disconnect between what is celebrated and the how we celebrate.  

Allow me to demonstrate.  We are celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.  And so we put out candy and eggs for our children to find and fill their baskets with goodies.  I am not saying that Easter baskets are intrinsically bad.  But they have little to nothing to do with the Savior.  So what do our kids look forward to?  Is is the candy - or the meaning of the resurrection?

Allow me to demonstrate.  We are celebrating the pivotal moment in history when Jesus rose from the dead.  And so we gather together as a family and have a meal.  Again the meal is not bad in itself, but is it just another opportunity to get together or are we focusing our attention on Jesus?

And therein lies the danger.  We can take these moments of worship and focus them on us and what we want and what we like to do and make them moments about us instead of moments about what they are really about.  So as you celebrate in whatever ways you are used to celebrating, would you take a moment to stop and consider the danger and take some intentional time to explain what and why we are celebrating to each other, to our kids?  

The B I B L E, yes that's the book for me

 I am so thankful for the Word of God.  I wonder if you have taken time recently to think about all that the Word of God means to you.  I thought I would take a moment and just share a few things that I am thankful for.

1. The Word of God is truth.  This is so helpful in a time of uncertainty - to know that there is something true, something certain, and something absolute.  

2. The Word of God is a mirror.  It shows me what needs to change in my own life.  And combined with number 3, is like a surgical tool.

3. The Word of God is a sharp sword.  It determines and cuts through the lies I tell myself and can fix what is wrong when I am willing to listen.  

4. The Word of God is life to me.  It brings good to me, and health, and well-being, and a right way of looking at the world, it is indeed life.  

5. The Word of God is filling.  It is a bread that continues to feed me so long as I am willing to continue to partake of it.  It is filling but also sweeter than honey.  It is tasty and delicious.  

And these are just a few of the great things about God's Word that make it so worth my time and energy!

Love does not require reminders

 I find Valentine's Day fascinating as a holiday.  A day set aside to help people remember to remember their loved ones through the materialistic purchase of items - candy if you sort of like someone, chocolate if you like them, jewelry if you really like them, and of course a Lexus or better if your love is true.  Of course our culture would measure love by the gifts received.  But I wonder why the church so often falls prey to the same lies of the culture.  If love is defined by what God says love is, I don't think God needs a reminder - a special day - to do something loving for us.  Love is constant.  Love is perpetual.  Love is a state of being more than it is any one particular action.  Our actions are motivated by the love that we have.  And if that love is true, than we do not need Feb. 14 to show our love because as our God has shown us love we will show love - always.  

I think that fundamentally the problem is that what we think of as love is not really love.  Love is not a feeling of what have you done for me lately - love is patient.  Love is not a brief action that costs me very little - love is kind.  Love is not measured by what I have failed to do - love keeps no record of wrongs.  You get the idea.  Biblically defined love is almost antithetical to the Feb 14 idea of love.  

So when you say you love your spouse this month, which love are you referencing?

Help Me

 Psalm 109:26 says, "Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to your lovingkindness." (NASB)

Two simple words to start the verse - help me.  I wonder how often we are willing to speak these two simple words.  We have a hard time speaking them to one another.  We do not like to ask for help.  We can offer help, we can reject help when others offer it, but it seems like in our culture the one thing that we cannot do is ask for help.  

The trouble is that we all actually need help.  We never were designed to do this life alone.  We were designed to do it in relationship, in community, in connection to both God and others.  Think about what life would be like if we followed through on our rugged individualism.  No support when we are grieving, not joy shared when we are joyous. A cursory glance at our life shows that we do not know all we need for life.  I may know a lot, but I do not know how to fix my own dishwasher, or repair a car.  My sump pump died recently and I am grateful for a friend who was able to fix it.  I could not do it alone.  

So why do we try.  Why are we not more quick to offer the words "help me" to God and to others around us?  Help us.

Let it be resolved

 Every time January 1 rolls around the mass of humanity seems to encourage us to make resolutions for the new year.  I heard on the radio yesterday that nearly 90 percent of these resolutions have been given up on by the first day of Spring.  Think of it - in just over 2.5 months 90 percent of us have failed.  This seems the opposite of resolve.  

I wonder if we fail so frequently because of the fact that we are pretending to be resolved, or if it might have more to do with the fact that we are stating our resolve over things that were never intended to be a matter of resolve.  Did God really create  us to resolve ourselves to a better diet?  More exercise?  Less dessert?  Did He create us so that we would properly manage our work load?  Better order our earthly priorities?  

If God truly created us to bring honor and glory to Him, than perhaps our resolve ought to be focused on Him as well.  I am not suggesting that the only valid goals for the new year have to do with Bible reading and prayer - we too often focus these on our own sense of accomplishment and not the glory of God anyway.  I am suggesting that we take whatever we do and resolve that it will be for the glory of God.  That we place ourselves in submission to His will.  That we search the Scriptures and ask His Spirit to reveal to us what it is that He would have us do.  That we would resolve to make ourselves diminish so that His glory could grow in our lives.  

Resolved - 2024 I will live for the glory of God in all aspects of my life.  Of course, I will fail this resolution too.  I will likely fail in some aspect of my life before the end of this day.  But resolve is not measured in how many times we fail, but how many times we try again.  Soli Deo Gloria.