A few of God's gifts today...

    Well, it's been quite a while since I've written--in fact, over four months--so clearly not exactly killing it on the consistency quotient. But I'm going with the wisdom of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson who once wrote that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..." 

    In all seriousness, this has been a clear example of how challenging it can be to start back doing something you should and want to be doing...but inertia takes over. And before you know it, that important priority gets buried by countless seemingly urgent priorities. But important things are rarely deemed urgent while urgent things are typically not important, at least in the long run. So here's the bottom line: since I can't come up with even one decent excuse for my laziness and inconsistency, how about we thank the Lord that His mercies are new every morning...afternoon..evening...week...month...year. And let's begin again.

    Thank you Lord for Your grace. 

    And for fresh starts. 

    And for being our good, good Father.  

    And for Jesus. Paul put it perfectly in 2 Cor.9:15, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" What a treasure we have in our Savior and Redeemer!  

    And on this day, Father, thank You for Your innumerable gifts in our lives. Thank You especially for the life of JoAnna McMillan who went home to be with You on this day several years ago. I think of her and miss her every single day. But what a treasure and gift she was and is to all of us. The very best of mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, friends. Her infectious joy, her indomitable love, her hilarious sense of humor, her abounding concern and compassion for others. her never-failing wisdom and common sense, her living-life-to-the-full attitude...I could go on and on. But the point is--in JoAnna, God gave us an enormous gift. And boy, did He do a good job in making her!  I'm so thankful she was and is my friend and that I will one day get to see her again. 

    Thank You Lord for friends and family on earth and in heaven above. They are truly some of Your choicest gifts to us. 

    Today, a couple more simple things to thank God for--a hot shower after a chilly, windy, soaking wet day of watching our son and his team play golf. Hot water: have you thought about it recently?  You can turn on a faucet and steaming hot water comes pouring out. How many places in our world lack water, this most basic and important of needs. Yet we have an abundance of it. And we even have hot water. What an extravagant gift that we can enjoy on a daily basis. Let's don't let the seeming ordinariness of the gift blind us to how truly extraordinary it is.  

    Thank You also, Father, for the fellow believers You put on our paths to encourage us along the way. We are not alone. We are not running this race of faith alone. God has His people everywhere!  Don't forget that. When was the last time you thanked God for the gift of running into a brother or sister in Christ when you were feeling down or worried? I think those kinds of encounters almost fall into the category of "angels unawares." Oh my, how thankful I am for such friends and for all the ways and times God brings us together. Thank You, Father for the gift of Your people wherever they may be. Might we, too, be Your agents of encouragement to those You put in our paths today. 

    Just a few of the gifts I'm specifically thanking the Lord for today. How about you? Might we open our eyes to His unending goodness and grace in our lives and take the time to thank Him and give Him glory.

    To God be the glory.  

A bit of goodness, beauty, and truth

 A friend sent me a hilarious text yesterday with the meme "I'd like to cancel my subscription to 2021. I've experienced the free 7-day trial and I'm not interested."  Yep, that about says it all, doesn't it?! Surely none of us assumed 2020 would pass and the dawn of a new year would bring all happiness and light, but good night, the start to this new year has been (to put it charitably) a doozie. And. yes, a do--over would be nice. 

But since that isn't happening, can I just add a bit of goodness, beauty, and truth to the conversation? Yes, I know there's more than plenty to bemoan, to worry about, and to lament. And we all do. But can I remind us all that there's also so much for which to be thankful.  So much to savor and enjoy. So much to simply appreciate with wonder and joy. 

Can I share a few things that have not changed one iota with all the craziness swirling around us?  The sun rose yet again for the dawn of another brand new day this morning. Thank You Lord for a new dawn that a promises us that no matter how tough yesterday was, no matter how badly we botched it, we get to begin again. You have given us a fresh new start.  

And with those first rays of God's glorious sun breaking through the darkness, we're reminded of the Truth: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.'" (Lam.3:21-24). 

Those words, by the way, were not penned in the midst of a happy, prosperous time in Israel's history. No, just the opposite. They were written by the prophet Jeremiah after his nation had been decimated by her enemies. Their beloved capital of Jerusalem had fallen and been completely destroyed by the Babylonians, and the vanquished Israelites thrown into exile.  In the midst of such bleakness, Jeremiah calls to mind, he remembers, who his God is and what He has done. He recalls the good and beautiful Truth that God's love, faithfulness and mercy will never ever cease. Despite how their circumstances looked or felt, Almighty God had not abandoned His people.  He was still on His throne.  He would still somehow someway use even this all for ultimate good and His glory...and so Jeremiah--and we--choose to hope in Him.  

How about some more examples of goodness, beauty and truth?  The flash of brilliant red of the cardinal at our bird feeder. The hawk soaring overhead and shrilly crying out praises to its Maker.  The sound of our children's voices on the phone. FaceTime with our granddaughter (joy!). Laughter with friends...and the priceless gift of friends. My brothers and sisters--undeserved gifts in my life. Fat snowflakes floating down to the earth (but not sticking--thank goodness!) Hot tea. Chocolate (duh).

A few more: Reading God's Word in the predawn darkness and knowing that the Lord of the universe is right there with me, speaking, listening, loving, equipping, forgiving. Books--veritable treasure troves of goodness, beauty, and truth. Reading about and being inspired by the faithful life of Elisabeth Elliot...reminding us that God will enable us to be faithful all the way to the finish line. The dear women in our Bible study and the joy of getting to study God's Word together in community. Dinner with friends or family. Trees sparkling with lights even in the "bleak mid-winter." Music and singing. Grace. Truly amazing grace.

Yes, 2021, you might not yet be all you were cracked up to be, but you're still stuffed and overflowing with God's goodness, beauty, and truth! Because His steadfast love never ceases, His mercies never come to an end and are new every single morning, and great--infinitely and eternally great--is His faithfulness. 

So how about we place our hope in the One who will never fail us or forsake us?  Yeah sure, that absolutely does not mean we won't be trudging through plenty more hard, sorrowful, perplexing stuff. But it does mean the Lord God Almighty is with us and for us all the way. In our trudging and in our dancing. In our crying and in our laughing. And He will get us through to the other side. Not somehow but triumphantly. Because I've read the end of the story...and it's good, indescribably good, beautiful, and true. 

To God be the glory. 

For the New Year

  Woohoo--welcome 2021!  Happy New Year to everyone!  Just a couple of thoughts to begin this new year that the Lord has given us: 

First, a verse for the year just past--"Thus far the Lord has helped us." (I Sam.7:12). 

Yes, 2020 was quite a year full of challenges and hardships...but thus far has our infinitely good God carried us, strengthened us, loved us. If you're reading this, then you made it through all the muck and mess, all the sorrows and separation, all the difficulties and division of this past year. Whether you feel like you sailed through or just barely staggered through, God has chosen to allow you still to be here on planet earth.  He is still with you and for you.  He still wants to use you in this brand new year to encourage others, to share His love with a hurting world, to experience and enjoy His presence, to worship Him with all your heart, to bring Him glory with your actions and attitudes every single day. 

There are no throw-away moments in God's economy for He infuses each one of them with Himself. This day, this moment matters...so don't fritter it away in fretting and distraction. Instead, by faith and by His grace, live each of these irreplaceable moments to His glory. 

And all God's promises are just as real, true, and certain as the very first moment He spoke them into being in His Word. So let's stop worrying, dreading, doubting and instead start worshipping, depending, and acting on His promises. That begins by daily reading His Word and hearing His voice speaking directly to you. "So faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ."  Rom.10:17. How about hearing a little (or a lot) less twitter, instagram, cable news, and netflicks and a lot more of the supernatural, mind and life transforming Word of God?

Secondly, a verse for the new year of 2021: "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:13-14)

Maybe you really blew it in 2020. Maybe on this second day of 2021 you've already fallen short on your highfalutin' goals for the new year. Can I tell you something? We all, all, all have sinned and fallen far short of the glory of God. (Rom.3:23) Welcome to the club of procrastinators, perfectionists, failures, and sinners. Just in case you never heard, the definition of a saint is someone who has "fallen down and gotten up...fallen down and gotten up...fallen down and gotten up...all the way to heaven." 

We've all messed up...and for this we have Jesus. His grace is ever and always sufficient. Hand Him your sins, your inadequacies, your bad habits, your weaknesses, your addictions. Instead of dwelling on all that's behind us--that we absolutely cannot change--let's take Paul's advice and "press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." 

Yes, let's be quick to confess and repent--which means stopping, turning around, and going in the other direction.  Our Abba Father is waiting to embrace us in His forgiving love and restore us by His grace. But then, it's time to stop dwelling on the past and ask our Heavenly Daddy to fill us again. To renew and revive us again so that we can get busy doing whatever He's called us to do on this day. Today--the only today that we will ever have. Our Lord will enable us to press on...but we've got to choose to forget what is behind and by His grace and for His glory, start straining forward to whatever He has for us ahead. 

We may not know the future (boy, has 2020 shown us that), but here's what we do know: God Almighty wins. He reigns. And He's promised that we are seated with Him in the heavenly places and will reign with Him in glory forever. So I'd say, ultimately, no matter what surprises this new year holds, He's got it; He's got us, and we will be more than okay. 

Thank You, Lord, for Your amazing faithfulness to us and bringing us through all the challenges of this past year. Thank You for Your ever-sustaining grace. Thank You for Jesus, our Savior, whose death on the cross saved us from our sin and whose resurrection assures us of abundant, eternal life. And now, please help us--for every day that You give us breath--to press on and to live by Your grace and for Your glory. And to You be all the glory forever and ever. 

Advent: Covid & Jesus' coming

 Happy, happy, happy Advent!  

Oh my, if I've ever been excited about entering into the wondrous season of Advent, it is this year. Today. Right now. On this first Sunday in Advent. Bring. It. On. Thank You Lord for coming and thank You for Advent!

Advent gives us the gift of considering and contemplating the coming of Jesus. We have a whole, wonderful season of about four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to think about, to ponder, to thank, and to worship God for the coming of Jesus to our beautiful but broken planet. And not only do we remember Jesus' first coming, but we anticipate with joyful hope His second coming. Advent allows us daily to pause and to quiet our weary hearts and simply gaze at the Savior in wonder and adoration for coming to Bethlehem in great humility--all in order to save us--and for the certain promise of coming again one day in unimaginable glory. What can we say, but praise You, Jesus, for coming! And come Lord Jesus, come!

Today, we light the candle of Hope on the Advent wreath.  How our world needs hope right now...and we have it in infinite, astounding abundance in Jesus. He brings hope. He fills us with hope. And He is Hope incarnate. "May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope." (Rom.15:13). Thank You, Jesus, that You are our Hope. 

But here's one simple thought today for what Jesus' coming means to us in 2020. Here we are stuck in the midst of a terrible global pandemic. Covid has sickened countless people across the world, has killed multiple thousands, has spread fear and terror, has shut down nations, kept families separated, and destroyed economies. What havoc this incredibly contagious virus has wreaked on our world. 

What if, however, you lived on some distant pristine, perfect, sinless, disease-less planet. But you learned that your child had been chosen to leave your ideal and glorious planet to parachute down into the midst of the heaviest concentration of Covid disease and contagion on planet earth. Your child had been chosen to make the sacrifice of his or her life in order to bring the life-saving cure to Covid--and to all this broken world's ills. You would lose your child; your child would relinquish all the happiness and perfection and joy of your perfect planet; and your child would give his or her life for people on a distant planet, even though those people could not begin to understand or appreciate the staggering sacrifice being made on their behalf.  

Which of us as parents would agree to that?  I'll admit it: I certainly wouldn't. I'm betting neither would you.

But that's not what God did. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) And the Son willingly, joyfully came. He relinquished all the power and glory due Him, all the endless joy and wonder of heaven in order to come down to our sin-sick planet. All to sacrifice His life for you, for me. All to die for our sins and, in exchange, give us His righteousness.  He died to give us the cure for sin. He died that we might be made well spiritually and eternally.

We cannot ever begin to imagine the depths to which Christ descended from heaven to earth in order to save us...but what we can do is worship and thank Him for coming. For making the ultimate sacrifice--His death on a cross--to provide the ultimate cure--forgiveness and salvation for all who believe--to defeat the ultimate enemy of mankind--sin and death--to bestow the ultimate gift--eternal life and His glorious presence with us forever. 

So today, on this first Sunday in Advent, will you simply pause to worship the King who came? Praise the One who left infinite glory, perfection, and wonder to put on flesh and move into our Covid, sin-ravaged neighborhood. He came...He cured...He conquered...and He's coming again. All out of HIs infinite love. Thank You, Jesus.

To You be all the glory forever and ever.

Joyful noises, Exclamation points, and Entering our days with praise!

 "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever; and His faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100

Oh my, how I love Psalm 100!  First of all, did you notice how many exclamation points there are? I counted six--in just five verses.  Now that psalmist is speaking my language, since I'm one of those folks that loves her some exclamation points.  After all, isn't God's extravagant goodness, abounding love, and astounding faithfulness infinitely worthy of such happy enthusiasm and joyful emphasis?! (gotta add one more!) 

In addition to exclamation points (which, after all, would NOT have been the psalmist's primary focus), just a couple more thoughts about this wonderful psalm. First, we're to make a "joyful noise."  Aren't you thankful that God doesn't tell us to produce a "perfectly sounding and in-tune song?"  Nope, it's a noise. We can all do that. And a joyful noise. I'm thinking of all the noises that bring God glory and reflect His joy--a baby's giggle, a sweet conversation with a dear friend, a moment of happy laughter, a breeze rustling and blowing through the trees, a bird's chorus, a beloved hymn or praise song (that we belt out without worrying how we sound), a still moment of peace in the predawn darkness, a contented sigh as we settle into bed with a great book, a word of encouragement, a loved one's voice, a quiet rustle of the turning of pages in God's Word, a whispered "I love you" or "Please forgive me"...and on and on. Today, what joyful noise to the Lord can you make?  Sing it, speak it, share it--with the Lord but also with someone else. Your joyful noise might be just the vitamin of encouragement that person desperately needs to hear. 

Secondly, what peace and security it gives us when we remember that we are God's people. He made us; we belong to Him; we live in His pasture; we are His sheep.  We are not out there on our own. We are His, and He's got us. He is the Good Good Shepherd, and He will always and forever tenderly and faithfully care for, love, forgive, encourage, strengthen, and guide His sheep. Which means we can stop worrying. Instead, we can recall and rest in His perfect provision, wisdom, and love.  Or as James Bryant Smith puts it, "God always gets the last word. So stop worrying. Instead, entrust your life to the good, beautiful, and true God who reigns in the strong and unshakeable Kingdom." 

Third, we're to "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise." How are we entering our days each morning?  Are we entering our day with stress, worry, and cluttered hearts or with thanksgiving and praise to our good, beautiful, and true God?  Are we entering our day with hearts burdened by our busyness and self-preoccupation or with hearts buoyed and focused upon our glorious God and His steadfast love and faithfulness? It makes all the difference in the world when we enter with thanksgiving and praise. 

Father, we ask that You would flood our hearts and minds with You, Your Word, Your amazing grace, and Your astounding greatness. You are worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving. You have given us so, so much, but we pray that You would give us one thing more--grateful, thankful hearts. 

To God be the glory.

Cultivating the habit

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart:  I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." (Ps.9:1-2)

Did you happen to notice that little word "will?"  I will give thanks. I will recount all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in You. I will sing praise to Your name.  In case we needed reminding--gratitude and thanksgiving are an act of our wills. We must choose to be grateful as opposed to grumbling. We must choose to see--to purposely open our eyes to look for and notice--God's wonderful deeds in our lives. We must choose to engage in the act of singing praises to our Lord. 

Thankfulness does not happen by default. Not ever. We must choose by an act of our will to see, to savor, to sing, to give thanks, to remember, to recite God's gifts and goodness in our lives and in this world. 

Here's how Jon Bloom explains it: "Cultivating gratitude is not easy. We all need help, and thank God help is available. but there is no thankfulness hack--no four easy steps to a grateful heart. It's as hard as habit-building. We begin to train our heart-eyes to look for God's grace--in all circumstances. This looking becomes habitual. And habits are being built by doing them every day. We get incrementally better at them as the days gradually accumulate to months, and months to years. They become more and more a part of us over time."  

Yep, it's as simple (and sometimes challenging) as that--cultivating a habit of gratitude. Asking God to show us and to help us to be relentlessly thankful people. Then we choose to open up our eyes and look around--because God's goodness and glory are, quite literally, everywhere.  And we give Him thanks. Daily. Habitually. Even when it's hard. Because there is always, always, always something for which we can give thanks. 

How about you start training your heart-eyes to look for God's grace...and then thank Him. Maybe even share your gratitude with someone else, because we all need encouragement. As Ann Voskamp always says, "Only speak words that make souls stronger."  Gratitude not only strengthens, but it's also contagious. (And the opposite is true--complaining always weakens, and sadly, it's just as contagious). 

It's never too late to begin cultivating this beautiful habit of thankfulness. So how about today? Not only will you be giving God glory, but you just might be strengthening some weary souls around you who desperately need it. 

To God be the glory.

Start counting!

Exactly one week until one of my favorite days of the year--Thanksgiving! Why Thanksgiving in particular?  Well for a number of reasons. First, of course, is the joy of being with family and cousins and friends. Second, our children come home! That's just pure happiness in my book!  Third, because while we enjoy the fellowship of those we love, we are EATING!  Come on--that's an unbeatable combination: laughing and talking and sharing with wonderful people you love while devouring delicious food you savor! No wonder one of the great joys in heaven will be the marriage supper of the Lamb!  Yes sir, that will be one unimaginably glorious time!

Fourth, the weather and the beauty all around us this time of year--cool but not yet cold, colorful fall leaves, sidewalks blanketed with those falling leaves, pumpkins galore. Fifth, pilgrims, pilgrims, pilgrims. Thank the Lord for the pilgrims and their courage, perseverance, and love for God. 

I really could go on and on with my list, but here's the best and greatest reason to love Thanksgiving--because it encourages and reminds us to be grateful!  Duh, you're thinking. But seriously, don't we all need to prompted? As Jennifer Rothschild says, "As your gratefulness grows, so will your capacity to perceive blessings, even when they're shrouded in hardship." 

Choosing thankfulness is just that: a choice. Let's face it, most of us are not naturally grateful people. But over and over again, God commands us to be thankful. To rejoice. To give Him thanks and praise. Just one of countless examples: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thess.5:16-17) Notice any exceptions there?  Nope.  Doesn't say, "give thanks most of the time" or "give thanks periodically" or "give thanks except, obviously, when there's a pandemic going on!" 

Over the next week, how about we remind each other to cultivate the habit of gratitude? Starting today. Starting now. Will you write down five things for which you're grateful--a blue sky, a phone call from a friend, a good book, a warm fire, a pumpkin spice anything. Whatever--ask God to help you see and savor His extravagant goodness in your life, in this world.  

Covid and elections and division and isolation have not cancelled God's goodness and glory!  So how about we stop complaining and fretting and worrying and start counting...counting His myriad gifts and goodness painted all over your life and over this world. 

Lord willing, I'm hoping to give us all a very short reminder each day over the next week--to rejoice always and to give thanks in all circumstances. But for now, how about you stop reading and start writing. Thank You, Father, for....

The list will be endless, because our God is so good, so great, so glorious, but let's simply begin to start counting.

To God be the glory.