Do you comprehend the breadth and depth of God’s love for you? (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Sometimes you just need to be still to allow His great love to sink in and find rest for your soul.
If you simply accept “His indescribable gift”, He will begin to change you from the inside out through His Holy Spirit living inside you. (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Do you have assurance of His love for YOU?
It is a great blessing to live near the ocean, where I can take soul-refreshing walks along a beautiful beach. As I walk, I talk with the Lord about what is weighing on my mind and I pray and thank Him for everything, regardless of my feelings.
Throughout the storms over the past couple of years and time of uncertainty, I sense that the Lord has been encouraging me to pray more often and to encourage those who haven’t put their trust and faith in God to seek, and find, a closer relationship with Him. He also regularly encourages me to pray for the many and widely varying needs of others.
I have also been sharing verses recently that couple prayer with thanksgiving. The Bible tells us that prayers coupled with thankfulness are especially pleasing to God. They help us to meet the purpose of our creation – His glorification.
I also sense that good things are on the horizon. We need to keep praying, but we also need to remember that, as Oswald Chambers phrases it, “the biggest answers to our prayers are in the realm of the unseen.”
What are some of the things that God would like to hear you thank Him for today?
As I reflect on the men and women who have served our country on this Memorial Day, I think of them as heroes. To me, a hero is someone willing to sacrifice his or her life for a noble cause to the benefit of their fellow men and women.
Jesus is the ultimate example of a hero. He is my hero because of His willful surrender to an agonizing death to provide a path for my salvation, an abundant life and ultimately the enjoyment of eternal life with Him.
I see coaching as an opportunity to follow Jesus’ example of servanthood by ministering to others who are hurting and in need of help along life’s difficult path. While I will not be called on to give up my life, I am lifted spiritually when my ministry calls for an element of sacrifice in order to meet a need of others. When we put the needs of others ahead of our own, not only do we find fulfillment, but God meets our own needs.
How is the Lord calling you to serve others?
When my son first told me that he wanted to start training at a boxing club with a friend of his from school, I wasn’t sure what to think. Although I was used to him risking injury playing football for several years, boxing seemed a little extreme. Now after watching him train (in the old-fashioned Olympic style), I am seeing all of the benefits he is reaping from his hard work: discipline, determination and endurance, to name just a few.
The Apostle Paul’s message likened the strengthening of a believer’s faith to the conditioning necessary for a successful fight. We need preparation, discipline and determination if we’re going to fight the good fight of faith.
Every day brings the opportunity and challenge for strengthening our faith muscles and then, stepping into the ring and fighting a good fight.
Do you have a conditioning program? A coach can help!
When it comes to relationships, the best tip that I can give you is to make Jesus your best friend! This is the key to life!
We all want and need loving, friendly and warm relationships. But if you’re putting your relationship with your spouse, child, family member, friend or any significant other before your relationship with Him, then you are missing out.
If you are concerned or troubled about your relationship with someone important to you, stop and think first about your relationship with Jesus. How does your relationship with Him compare with the relationship that concerns you? Although your relationship with Jesus is paramount, comparing it with the one you’re concerned about will likely help your understanding of whether He wants you to heal or strengthen that relationship, or perhaps allow Him to orchestrate removing it, especially if it has become an idol in your life.
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear” when we don’t take our troubles to the Lord in prayer. He wants to know everything that is bothering us. Everything!
Is being God’s friend your greatest desire?
Looking to Jesus’ sacrificial love, we see what true love looks like.
If we desire to have fulfilling, meaningful relationships with others, then we need look no further than His demonstration to us.
True love has a cost. Jesus chose to love us regardless of the great cost of our sin.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
(1 John 3:16)
Are you willing to take on the sacrificial mindset of Christ in expressing your love for others?
To end this week, I am going to share another picture from the Easter service that I attended with my son. It was a special service, not only because it was Easter, but because it was in the church that I attended growing up. I always enjoy services there when we are in Maryland visiting my parents and family.
I was touched by this trio of young men playing their instruments, singing and praising the Lord. One reason it was so inspiring is because my son plays the trumpet, and I was so glad for him to see these talented young men providing such a wonderful example to him. He whispered to me during one of the songs that the trumpet player was “really good”!
It’s difficult to watch my son struggling with his faith and appearing to turn away from the Lord at times. There is nothing I want more for him than to know how much God loves him and how wonderful and freeing it is to accept that love and follow Him.
As I watched these boys play their instruments and listened to their music, I felt great hope and peace. The words rang true. My help comes from Him. He gives me peace in the storm.
Is there a person or situation in your life that the Lord is calling you to place into His hands? He desires for you to be at peace, even in the storms. Can you trust Him?
Such a wonderful way to begin the week, reflecting on the message of Easter!
As we heard in church yesterday, the promise of Easter is not just that death was defeated once, but that death has been defeated for all time! Nothing in this life can destroy those of us who put our trust in the Lord for what He did for us on the cross.
Death does not have the last word! Jesus swallowed up death in victory!
He was willing to suffer agonizing pain and go into the grave to lead us out of it.
Is there any love so relentless as His?
Easter is coming!
I am excited! My son and I are heading to Maryland to spend Easter with my parents and family. We will also attend a Good Friday service at my childhood church.
Taking time to contemplate Jesus’ suffering allows us a healthier perspective on our own times of suffering.
When Jesus hung on the cross, it was an act of love for us. By shedding His blood, He provides us a path to forgiveness, redemption and restoration.
Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection give us an opportunity to enter into an eternal relationship with Him.
Our brokenness can be healed!
“Resurrection Day!” – What a day to celebrate! Is any event more worthy of celebration?
Is there any person more worthy of celebrating than Jesus?
Through Christ’s suffering we have victory. Victory in Jesus, our Savior!
In these days leading up to Resurrection Day (aka Easter), we reflect on the pain Jesus endured and the blood he shed on our account. We honor the Lamb who was slain for us, and we remember that it is through His sacrifice that we are healed.
Having victory over our suffering can be better understood through the suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf. In our suffering, we can identify with Jesus and have fellowship with him. Our suffering can be healed if we look to Him. The cross turns our brokenness into healing.
Though it is difficult when in the darkness of suffering, if we focus on, and remember, the purpose in His suffering, there are great rewards. Our trials test the strength and genuineness of our faith and result in praise, glory and honor when Christ is revealed. This is a cause for celebration! Because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we are born again to a living hope and a beautiful inheritance kept in heaven for us that will last forever (1 Peter 1:3-9).
As sung in the hymn “The Old Rugged Cross”, one day we will exchange all of our suffering for a crown.
Are you giving thanks for suffering – His and your’s?