Twenty seven years ago today my beautiful wife and I were married. It was a wonderful day, and a great party with friends and family. Every day since, we have faced the many joys and adventures of life, and the handful of sorrows and struggles together. Our love for each other holds us together, and as 1 John 4:19 tells us, “We love because Christ first loved us.”

I believe that God brought us together, and that our faith has strengthen our love for each other. I also believe our love for each other strengthens our faith. We have been incredibly blessed with wonderful children, loving extended families, many friends and a wonderful Church family. I pray that everyone could have the same.

Solomon wrote in in Proverbs 4:18, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.” I am incredibly blessed to have a beautiful, confident, caring, faithful Christian wife!

Happy Anniversary Liz!

Dear Lord, Help us remember that we can love because you first loved us, and this love is what truly holds us together. How thankful and grateful Liz and I are that you have given us each other. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is easy to wonder sometimes why God made salvation so seemingly complicated, sending his son to earth as a human, having him live so humbly and ultimately be killed. Wouldn’t be easier if God just showed himself to everyone and told everyone, “do what I say, or you are going to die and suffer in hell forever?”

We don’t know all the reasons God arranged things the way he did, but we know that we have the free will God gave us, and we can make our own decisions and act how we choose, right or wrong.

In Hebrews 2, Paul is explaining how Jesus was truly man when he was on earth, in verse 18 Paul writes, “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.”

One reason that Jesus came and lived on earth as a “regular” human, is to show us that he experienced the temptation and testing that all humans do. When we pray for relief from our temptations and fears, release from problems, achievement of our desires, or protection of our loved ones, Jesus knows what we feel because he experienced the same thing when he was human. He can empathize with us.

Dear Lord, how beautiful are the intricacies of your plan. Having been like us, truly human, you know what it is like, and we can pray to you knowing you empathize with us. Help us keep this in mind to give us strength to endure our trials and temptations, and the knowledge that as human you endured more than we will be called to endure. As a result of you we can have Salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

How do we define life? It can be defined in many ways, our physical life, beating heart and active brain waves; our consciousness and awareness of ourselves and our existence; but more individually, our lives and our relationships, our interests and activities, our strengths and weaknesses, our skills and talents.

Jesus says in Matthew 10:39 “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

I think Jesus is referring to the entire variety of life definitions. If we surrender to God, those things that make up our life, he will give us, as He describes in John 10:10, “an abundant life,” not only in our eternal life, but in our life on earth, as well.

Dear Lord, thank you for the promise of eternal life most of all, but also thank you for the promise of an abundant life on earth, abounding in peace, hope, and joy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

When we read some of the stories in the Old Testament, it sometimes sounds like our modern day reality shows, and soap operas. There are stories of good people who are tempted and fell away, people who do terrible things but then repent and are blessed, people who have tragedies but stay firm in their faith in God, and many other examples that have similarities to some of our modern day situations.

Paul brings this up to the people in the church at Corinth, and in 1 Corinthians 10:6 he writes, “These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, and not be idolaters, as some of them were.”

The many stories in the Old Testament are opportunities for us to learn how to follow God. There are many examples of how God blessed his people when they followed his will, and disciplined them when they went astray.

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Dear Lord, You provide us a clear path in the Bible, help us prioritize time to read your word, and put it into practice in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the challenges I have occasionally, and you may as well, is praying for something, but worrying that God may not answer my prayer the way I would like. For instance, traveling and the flight is delayed, I pray that I don’t miss my connecting flight because I would miss an important family event and disappoint my family.

Another example we have all encountered, we, a friend or family member have a unusual ailment and go see the doctor. We pray that it is routine simple issue, but we fear God’s plan may allow it to be serious.

In Daniel 3 there is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were young Jewish men during the time the Jews were captive in Babylon. There was a law during that time that required everyone to bow down and worship a statue the King had designated. Because of their obedience to God, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down and worship the statue. As a result, they were to be thrown into the furnace. When accused by the King, they replied in verse 17,18, “If we are thrown into the flaming furnace, our God is able to deliver us; and he will deliver us out of your hand, Your Majesty. But if he doesn’t, please understand, sir, that even then we will never under any circumstance serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have erected.”

The key here is their comment, even “if He doesn’t” they will remain obedient. This is how we need to think when we pray. Even if God doesn’t answer our prayer the way we want, we will trust him. I am praying that traffic will not make me late, but even if I am, I trust that God has a reason. I am praying that I do well on this test, but even if I don’t, I am trusting God.

Dear Lord, How wonderful it is to know that you have control of all things that affect us, so that even if the things we pray for are not your plan, we can still trust in your love for us. Help us pray with confidence for what we desire but pray that your will be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.