Category: Daily Post

Last night my Mountaineers, after leading for almost all of the first 38 minutes of the game, decided to blow a 12 point lead in the last 2 minutes of the game and lose to Kansas in overtime.

Man!

I was thinking about that game this morning and what I could learn from it to apply to my life and I started thinking about these words which seem to be something to think about today.

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭16:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬
And well, I know the Mountaineers will bounce back.  Sometimes your win and sometimes things just don’t go your way.  Either way, stay strong and stay courageous.

Saw this yesterday and thought it was good to share.   I am always impressed by the knowledge or foresight of Mr. Tozer.

"The more I learn about the sin in my own heart, the more I want to know God's grace." AW Tozer #tozer

— A W Tozer (@TozerAW) February 6, 2017

I totally agree with him on this thought!

but I would also say that the more I know about God’s grace, the more I want to give it.

I woke up from a great nap on the couch on Sunday afternoon and spent a few moments just staring out the back windows while I decided on my next course of action for the day.  As I stared out the window thinking about tomato gardens and listening to the sound of a chainsaw off in the distance, I noticed a single cardinal up in the tree.

This fascinated me enough that I moved from the couch to the window to study him further.  I have always loved seeing a cardinal on a winter’s day.  It may because it’s my mother’s favorite bird, so it tends to remind me of her. Or it may be that the hint of the bright red in the drab empty brown tree is so refreshing on a winter’s day.   Of course the only thing better than that is a cardinal on a snow covered winter’s day!

As I watched him hop from branch to branch I wondered what was on his mind.  Was he thinking about tomato gardens?  Was he thinking about work tomorrow, or relationships?  Did he care who won the Super Bowl?  Was he worried about bills or family?  What was going on in the little quarter ounce brain of his?

Then I remembered these words of the Christ

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:26-27 ESV

Are we not of more value?

This morning on the way to the office I was thinking about the storms of life and how crazy and hard they can be sometimes.  I was thinking even more about my tendency to overthink and over analyze everything as it goes on.  Even my friend Randy was reminding me yesterday to take things day by day. 

So this morning when thinking about storms I was reminded of these words spoken by Jesus in the middle of a crazy storm on a little boat.  
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Of course the real story was an example for our lives.  

Why are we so afraid? Do we still have no faith?

I mentioned in my last post about how my mind was circling back to Monday’s post.  The same goes for the Lavished post from Tuesday.   I find myself a little overwhelmed this week when I think about the great love that the Father has for us.

Recently, I wrote about one of my favorite hymns ( my favorite being maybe In Christ Alone, or Give Me Jesus, or Come Thou Fount or maybe something else!) Anyway, this week this one is back in the front of my mind.  ‘How Deep the Fathers Love’ has the feel of an old hymn, yet it’s only just over 20 years old.  It feels like I have sung this song before the Lord’s Supper for longer than that.  It’s one of those hymns that is so full of deep thoughts and theology.  Its lyrics contain such a deep yearning, and apparently, it speaks to me, because I also wrote about it here.

And so today, I think about the words of that hymn and drop my heart in the words of Paul to the Ephesians, (where I have been before).

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesian 2:4-8

The last part of that – so that no one may boast, wow!  What can any man boast in?  How we can even imagine the grace we have been given to cover our missteps.  The hymn covers this so nicely and ultimately ties it up with this humble finale which provides a foundation for hope and restoration that must be built on top of brokenness and understanding of our position.

Why should I gain from his reward? I can not give an answer.

This I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom.

And I am so glad that they have!  May my day be lived in a way that somehow honors that gift!