It was the same month, the same conference, the same hotel, here I am again. It was April of 2011 that I received a phone call from my dad. I remember standing in a hallway of the hotel talking with him, almost with a sense of knowing he was calling me to let me know his life was running out, like he knew that he only had months.
It is really sobering to be here again, to be in the same place at the same time of the year. Even these past few weeks I have wished to talk to him, to have him praying for me, and just to even know that he had already been praying for me.
I am grateful for the memories of my father, even the difficult ones of his last months on this earth. I believe memories are God’s way of reminding us that His love for us is eternal. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, His love continues, it never misses, it is always. He reminds us, we can look back at many things and many moments and see His pursuit and desire for us. We can remember His constant care and blessings through people, situations, and through pain, we have great memories. Memories that will last this lifetime and take us into His eternal arms, and for me, to be joined once again with my dad.
I miss him, but I have great memories of his love for me, just like my Heavenly Father.
Thanks for the memories…
I was reminded today of how special my family is to me. We know Christ as our Savior, a relationship passed down to us from my abuelita who prayed and read her Bible daily and passed it on to her family. We love each other, a love that God has blessed and protected. We like being around each other, we always enjoy the time we have together, we laugh, we cry, and we are thankful for those special moments.
We are not perfect, and there are times we struggle with life, but when we stop to think about how to move on, we always call on the family. We are always amazed at how God uses our family to draw us closer to Him, deeper in our walk with Him. There are also times that we see ourselves in each other, an action, a gesture, a smile, something that reminds us of each other. A reminder of God’s hand on our lives through our family. I am so glad my daughters have their mothers looks, but I also see myself in many ways through my girls, good and bad.
God has great intentions for the family, mostly to remind us of His incredible love for us as children of God, heirs to God, joint-heirs to Christ. A family is a gift from God, a place in life, a home, a comfort, and today, a rare gift.
Take some time to spend with your family, don’t miss those precious God moments of being with family. They won’t last forever, but the moments we do have, remember, we are family… and that is special.
As I prepare to preach this coming Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Christ is still so amazing to me. Amazing because I see the resurrection happen on a daily basis. The old is gone, the new has come. Christ came to die, and we will die. This earthly body will be no more, like a leaf falling from a tree. This past weekend I raked up many dead leaves, and then looked up in the tree only to see new leaves, new growth, new life.
I also planted seeds this past weekend. I buried the seed that had fallen dead and would be nothing more than a seed if not buried. Buried to be raised, and scriptures says, buried in brokenness, but raised in glory, buried in weakness, but raised in strength. I understand that my physical body will one day be done, I will be buried, but thank God I will not remain there. The gift of God is eternal life.
Just as He died and was buried, He came out of the grave to give us life and to take on a new life. I see it every day, especially as we have come into this season of spring. Everything is blooming, everything is changing, things are growing, the dead grass is turning green, trees are budding, new life is springing forward.
He is not dead, He Has Risen! Look around it is amazing!
Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. (Martin Luther)
People from all over the world come to the City, many people, and many languages. There were lights, shopping, Broadway shows, great food, and the City never stops. As I had a chance to walk along side, bump into, sit with, and talk to people, I was reminded of God’s incredible love for His creation. Many of the people walking through the streets were walking aimlessly, maybe they were headed to jobs, to family, to their homes, to meet up with others, but many were probably living their lives without purpose, and without meaning. You could see it, they were so consumed by the lights, the spectacle, the money, the distractions of life, that they has lost their real identity.
I understand that you can lose your identity anywhere, in the country, on a farm, as a truck driver constantly on the road, as a housewife, sometimes we just get lost. But in spite of how lost we get in this life, God, the Creator of all things, is still madly in love with us and pursues after us daily, on the bus, on the train, at our jobs, and on the streets as we are walking down the middle of Times Square.
He pursues after us to bring significance and to fill the longing we each have in our souls. A longing for something beyond ourselves, a deeper satisfaction than any lights and activities of any city. God has installed this longing in everyone of us, and the only true way to satisfy that longing is come to a realization that you were created and designed to bring glory to our Creator, not glory to the creation.
I am guilty…many times I am amazed at the creation, New York City was amazing! Then God reminds me that He sent His one and only Son to bring us life and significance.
It was a great trip to the New York, it was bright, it was fast, it was exciting, it was a reminder that God is pursue after His creation, you.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
He knows the plans! I am sure glad He does, because there have been many times that I have wondered and worried about the plans. There have also been many times that I have planned and thought about what I should do, and how I should react. Then time and time again, I would begin to worry about tomorrow, sometimes even today. How am I going to do this, how am I going to lead my family, how am I going to hold on? I have plans, I have dreams, and I have hope for the future. It was only when I bow my head and pray, that God once again reminds me, “I know that plans I have for you.”
His plans have always been to prosper me. He has put incredible people in my life to lead and guide and direct me, men and women of faith, who are committed to following God. He has provided others to come along side of me, to pray, to help, to give, and to care for me. He has blessed me in many ways, a great family, a wonderful childhood, good health. I would say that He has prospered me way beyond what I deserve. He has not harmed me; in fact there have been times in my life that I have done the harm, but God has been faithful, He knows the plans for me.
He has plans to give me hope, and He knows there are many days that I need hope, encouragement, and contentment. I also hope that He will continue to lead my steps. I hope for tomorrow, I hope for others, my hope is in Him. He knows the plans!
Plans for my future! He knows the places I will go, and people who will come into my life. He knows the ways He will use me, the lives that I will have a chance to impact. He knows the grandchildren that I will hold. He knows my future, He knows the days ahead of me, and in spite of my lack of faith, He knows the wonderful future I have…He declares, “I know the plans I have for you!”
I am so grateful for how God has used me. In spite of my anxiousness at times, He has remained faithful, and I have grown. I am just so glad He knows the plans.
“Don’t be anxious about anything.” Honestly I am anxious about a lot of things! Everyday is a new challenge and a new issue that comes my way and I become anxious. I really do believe I grew up that way. I had wonderful parents, a great home, a good childhood experience, plus I even grew up in the church. Why should I be anxious?
Could it be that I just have too much on my plate, or maybe my job is very demanding, or maybe I need some rest and relaxation? I have a wonderful home and wife, a great job, God has blessed me in many ways, blessed with two beautiful daughters and perfect son-in-law. Why would I be anxious?
The word “anxious” means worried, uneasy, nervous, uncertain, troubled, and antsy. Maybe it is because I am not perfect, still functioning with this old nature, not complete. Could it be that God is redeeming me daily from sin and brokenness, that He is still working on me. I am flawed, I am sinful, and I am anxious. I do realize He died and rose again that I may have a new life, and I do experience that through Him, but I also know that I am in need of Savior.
The rest of that scripture says, in every situation, “pray”, that is the secret, let God know that you are broken, weak, and anxious. He knows, and He still loves you.
I am still very glad that His Word reminds, don’t be anxious…
I know it means “laugh out loud”but for me it means “loyal, obedient, and loving.” Last night I sat up all night with my dog Hunny, and I watched the life ebb out of her. She was a great dog, very loyal, Golden Retrievers are like that, so obedient, she was always listening for us, and so loving, it didn’t matter what kind of day you had or how you treated her, she was going to love you. I am always amazed how God uses things in our life to draw us near to Him, He used Hunny. He used her to teach me about how God wants me to be loyal and faithful, and how He wants me to follow and be obedient, and that His love is unconditional, and always.
Like God wants to give us…she gave us great joy, happiness, and she always made us laugh. I guess “LOL” is right in this situation! Lord thank you for using Hunny to help me “laugh out loud”, and to draw me into your love.
Valentines Day has come and gone, but daily I reminded of the gifts of love from God. My girls, they are a gift and a blessing in my life. I don’t see them everyday so every time they are home or I am around them I realize that they are a gift of love from God.
I love giving gifts, it is a way of expressing my love to my wife and my girls. It brings joy to them, but it also brings joy and satisfaction to me. Think about the many gifts you have received in your life, then think about the treasured ones, like your family and friends. They are truly gifts that bring difference to our lives, they bring moments of seeing God’s love for us. It is amazing how we feel when we are loved, when we are together, when we realize how special they are in our lives.
I celebrate a day of love every day, a day to be thankful for the gifts of love God that has given to me, my girls. They are God’s way of saying to me “I love you”.
It seems like the older I get, the more I don’t enjoy leaving my home, I don’t want to be “on the road again”! My job still requires that I do a lot of traveling, so after awhile the road gets old. I do enjoy going to new places and seeing new sights but after a day or so, I am ready for my home and my family. Maybe we were created with a passion for home, and of family?
My dad in last dads kept saying that he was ready to go home, and we thought he meant his house, his home here on earth, but he was talking about another home. He lived a long life, and had traveled many miles throughout his lifetime. He finally reached a place where he was tired of being on the road, tired of this life, and ready to be home. The home and house that God had been preparing for him.
Right now I am still traveling, I’m on the road again, but one day, one day I will be home. Home with my heavenly Father, and home with my family, my dad.
To renovate is to refurbish, a makeover, to rebuild, reconstruct, and my favorite, it is a facelift. So my wife and I recently decided to do some minor renovations to our home. The only problem is that there is no such thing as minor renovations! When they renovate, everything is turned upside down, moved around, out of place, and unsettling. “What a mess!” “Maybe we shouldn’t have done this?” “Maybe we should have just kept it the same way?”
But we know when they finish, it will be a transformation, it will be better, newer, restored. Wait? Isn’t that what God wants to do in our lives? To renovate, to take out the old and reconstruct us into a new person. There may be some changing, and definitely things will be out of place, but God is doing a new work in our lives. He doesn’t want us to stay the same. It will be unsettling, and we will struggle with the battle of the old nature, but God has wonderful plans for us, plans to prosper and be rebuilt into the image He created us to be, His Image, a facelift, or, a life-lift.
So don’t stop the renovation process, it will be messy, but just wait, we will be restored, and we will be a new creation.
God is our help 