WORDS

1 Thessalonians 4:18  says, "Therefore comfort one another with these words."

What kind of words does it take to comfort you?  Oh the power of words, choose them carefully, once spoken they can never be erased. Their power can last a lifetime, they can become an emotional prison, a fence keeping us from freedom, barbed wire of the soul entangleing us in lies spoken without thought.  Words can lift, give hope, encourage and give us a reason to hold on.  Your tongue has great power, use it for good. jfs

 "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit."  1 Peter 3:10

His Perspective

We are all confronted with situations over which we have no control.  They can be frustrating and painful.  I am living with such at the present.  My heart is troubled because I care.  I have a life investment, but at this time I can do nothing about the situation but watch and pray.  My prayer is, Lord help me see this the way you see it.  Lord, I can accept your view.  I join with you embracing your plan in this situation.  At this time I am not sure what His plan is but whatever it is that is where I take my stand.  Jesus used a powerful word as He prayed in the garden, “nevertheless” and it separates  our plan from His plan.  It is alright to have our plans as long as we keep “nevertheless” on the table.  Our hearts living the “nevertheless” may take us down an unexpected path but in the end it will lead home.  The “nevertheless” prayer prayed from our hearts is always heard by our Father. Jfs

Mr 14:36 And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."

Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Defining Love

The love of God expresses itself through sacrifice and opens the door to redemption.  The love Hollywood portrays expresses itself in selfishness and ends in pain and separation.  God’s love is always compatible with His Holiness. Jfs

(1 John 4:7-8) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  (NKJV)

A Page of Life

Our lives are like books, some are short and some are long.  Each day is a page in the book.  Our story is written one day at a time.  The book tells our life’s story and we write it with our choices and the consequences of those choices.  When we give our lives to Christ it becomes His story.  Our lives become light and salt influencing the world for our King and His kingdom.  A page can be a short story written in one day, a story of His Grace and mercy protecting us from the evil one.  A page can be a definition of Love, defined by the way we treat each other.  Everyday our lives write one page at a time, the big question is, will it be about His Story or our story.  For me today is page 26,856.  I pray it is a page worth reading. Jfs

Ps 90:12 ¶ So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Two Views

Yesterday I stood with Mary by the bedside of her dying sister.  The scene was not easy, the struggle for breath, the distorted face and the helpless feelings of the moment leaves an ugly memory.  This was the earthly view, the human view, the what you see, and hear view.  It is the earthly view that we are all too familiar with and it is not pretty.  There is another view seen only by faith and assured by His Word.  It is the spiritual view, the view God sees and it is as real as the one we see.  In the story of Steven, the first Christian martyr, there are two views. One as ugly as it gets, an innocent man being stoned to death, not something you could forget.  Read the story for yourself and you will see that there are two views, the earthly view and the Kingdom view, both real, one temporary the other eternal.  In the ugly situation of Steven he saw the other view.  He saw Jesus and Jesus saw him and for Steven the earthly view was nothing more than a “momentary trouble.”   We earthlings must always remember there are two scenes.  As Christians we are assured of life after death, guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus.  The death scene does not have the final say.  Jesus said, “Because I live you shall live also.”  It is the resurrection scene that has the final word. 

As I write this, word has come that Rhoda has left us.  Life has pulled the curtain on the earthly scene but Heaven has opened the curtain on the eternal one.  Let us, “look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” jfs

Light of the world

A Lesson From The Garden

Plants need sunlight. Fruit does not grow in the dark. The night does not produce grapes. Little trees in the deep forest reach for the sunlight. The truth is, our lives depend upon sunlight and our spiritual lives depend upon SON light. John 8:12 ¶ Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Darkness hides the truth and some choose to live in the darkness rather than face the truth. His light exposes us and reveals the ugly stuff which holds us captive. The scripture says, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 Never forget this truth; the pain of facing the truth is better than the bondage of lies. jfs

A Father's Message

To Mark, Megan and John, 
I am thinking about what it means to be a father and hoping that my failures will never plot the course of your journey.  I am your father but I am also a child who had a father.  I was thinking about the lessons I learned from my father and how they have impacted my life.  I learned to never give up and that anything can be fixed.  He taught me to live life looking forward to the future.  He always had plans--he built his last house at seventy. He was generous and quick to forgive.  Oh, I remember some of his weaknesses, but his strengths still encourages me today.  We are all flawed but life is not about our flaws, it is about our hearts, our willingness to keep going when others drop out, about knowing when to rest or as my dad said, “put your oars in the boat and drift awhile.”  In so many ways he lives on in me and you.  He was a man worth following.  He never asked anyone to follow him but he could have said with Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”  I am very proud of all three of you.  You have honored me in so many ways and for that I am thankful.  I pray that when I go home you will know that every day of your life your dad is looking for you and that the good memories blur the bad ones.  I love you.  dad