JOY!!

One of my all time favorite verses is Ps. 51:10-12 which has this line tucked into the middle of it, "Restore onto me the JOY of my salvation." I share that with you because I've begun to look at that prayer request in a little different light these days. I have always simply thought of it as a request of me to God to remind me of that moment I first encountered and embraced Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord. (I had encountered Him plenty of times, but never embraced Him; and embracing Him makes all the difference!) But lately, I'm coming around to seeing it as more of a request of me to God to help me live in the present and to see the world and people as He does. Maybe this popular song lyric says it best, 'Open the eyes of my heart, that I may see You'.
When we in South Carolina, Carole took a walk with some folks that are dear friends to our sister-in-law, Kelly. Carole came away from that experience overwhelmed by the way in which Kelly's friends embraced the simple pleasures of life and their surroundings. She told me over and over how much joy they found in the things of life we normally overlook. They truly were living in the present, and loving it. Now, since AIDS is a ever present reality for them, I found this to be quite remarkable. But as I thought more about it, and prayed about it as I sat in the deer stand watching corn, I began to entertain the thought that so much of how we live this life in the everyday really comes down to the choices we make.
Way too often, my circumstances dictate my moods and thoughts and attitudes of my heart. When in truth it doesn't have to. I can choose to live in the now and in the JOY that God has already promised me for the moments in which I find myself. So much of how this life effects us all is really our choice. Love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control that the Scriptures refers to as the Fruit of the Spirit is readily available to each of us; but we MUST choose to embrace it and live it in every moment of this life today. And the moment we choose to do that, God's Spirit jumps into action and fills us up with it until it's running over and effecting everyone around us! Now, to me, that's learning to live the prayer, restore me unto the JOY of my salvation!

PJ

Shades of Grey

Last week I was in South Carolina visiting a brother-in-law and his wife, and taking a break. He loves to hunt, so we went almost every morning and evening. Now hunting in SC, according to my wife, is more like fishing than hunting. You go before dawn, climb up into a deer stand, and wait for the deer to appear on the pile of corn you put out about 70 yards away, so you can slaughter them while they eat. Unfortunately, we were unable to entice any deer to come to our corn pile. But it was a great opportunity for me to sit quietly before God and listen to what He may have to say to me.
What I discovered is that there is a period of time every morning, just as the the first rays of light are beginning to overcome the darkness of night, and every evening when the last ray of light is fading into night that the world around you is actually grey. Color seems to fade into nothingness and all around was just the shade of grey.
At first I was amazed when I realized this simple truth; but then I became quite sad. It saddened me because so many people live their life in that shade of grey. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12. So many folks have heard about Jesus, even believe Jesus is who he says he is; but have never embraced his love, and chosen to walk in his light. Darkness is always right there around them, with the light of Christ just beginning to shine into them, be it ever so dim; and their world is the shade of grey. Then there are others, who have indeed embraced His light and love, and for a while it drove darkness totally away. But then circumstance and choice, which we all must deal with, has beaten back the light of life and darkness once more encroaches on their soul; and they too live in that shade of grey.
I write this as one who is looking outward and watching and hearing from God. In truth, I write this as one who knows, because it is more about my own journey of life then anyone else. I existed in the grey, knowing about Christ, but not really knowing Christ. Then one miraculous day I met Him face-to-face, and his light flooded my soul and heart. Then came that time of grey again because of circumstances and choices I made to get through the moment. That is what God chose to reveal to me as I watched day fade to night and grey envelope the pile of corn. It is no place to live, those shades of grey, when light and love are only a decision away.
PJ

What are we waiting for?

I started to read a book titled 'In A Pit With a Lion On A Snowy Day' by Mark Batterson. Mark raises some pretty interesting questions, like: Who in there right mind would chase a lion into a pit; especially on a snowy day when the footing would be less than desirable? The answer of course is found in the Bible in 2 Chronicles 11, beginning at verse 22. Take the time to read it, it won't take too long. But then ask yourself, 'Why?' And 'Would I chase after the lion, or flee for my life?' Because Mark raise another great question in his book. Maybe it is better stated he makes a really great observation I will ponder the entire time I am on vacation. Here it goes: "Is anybody else tired of reactive Christianity that is more known for what it's against than what it's for?" I AM!! I AM!! I AM!!
We think that being holy and godly is obtained by abstaining from. What if we're all wrong it's really accomplished by multiplication! You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right in the current system. Jesus never ran away from wrong or hid out in the church from anything. He went straight at it! And I think that's what we're missing in life! We're called to be lion chasers, to live proactive, take God-size risk for Him EVERY TIME He presents us with a God-ordained opportunity, to live on the edge of a snowy pit; and sometimes jump right in and take on the lion. Now gnaw on that for a while!

PJ

'PJ, Where Are You?'

Hey everyone, I'm still around! I have been playing the part of the 'traveling man', and I'm not done yet. On Thursday Carole and I take off for SC and a much needed rest. So, it's 'on the road again' for me.
I've really had quite the last couple of weeks. I've been challenged by God in several areas of my life to take our relationship to a deeper level. Which really thrills me when I think that the God of all creation wants me to know Him better. That He wants to hang out with me is totally mind boggling and sort of scary all at the same time. He wants to change the way I preach and open my eyes to His world even more. He asked me to return to my 1st love, which causes me to weep even as I write it. Not that he asked, but that He had to; because He is to be my 1st love, and that meant I had drifted from that truth, and that hurts. He has again and again and again said this to me in last 2 weeks. 'Love God, love others, live it out!' I have it written on my desk in front of my computer screen, so even as I write it to you now, it's before me. Because my friends, I never ever want to hear Him tell me to return to my 1st love again.
PJ

Confident

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing all the symptoms of a heart attack. The pain was so intense that the next day I decided to get it checked out. (Yes, the next day. Never was known for my smarts.) I went through the blood work, a cat scan for blood clots, and a nuclear stress test; all came back fine. So then they wanted me to have an ultra sound of my heart. Kind of cool to lay there and watch & listen to your heart beat. I could even see the valve flaps opening and closing. The technician kept trying to see it from different angles, so we started to chat. I finally asked him what he really saw. He told me everything looked really good, in fact he said, "your heart appears to be really confident." Made me smile. You see, I know the pain was real and I have a few more things to test to see if we can figure out what happened; but in the mean time, I can say without reservation, I have a confident heart! Which I really already knew. Not because of anything physically, but because of Christ Jesus Who took up residence there 29 years ago. I can only hope and pray, you can say the same.
PJ

You jJust Never Know

At my weekly Bible study in the retirement center, one of the ladies asked for prayer for her son who is dealing with clogged arteries and in need of surgery. I asked her if that was a condition that she or her husband had to deal with. She said quite emphatically that not on her side of the family, but her husband had heart issues. 'In fact', she said, 'he had everything wrong, you name it and he had surgery for it.' I started to laugh to myself, but she caught me and asked what. I told her, not to get me wrong because sometimes I have a weird sense of humor, but I doubted that he ever had a mastectomy. She laughed and said as a matter of fact he did. he developed a lump and had to have part of breast muscle removed. You just never know, do you?

I will be gone for a while, not sure I'll be all that missed, but I'll check back in when I get back in a couple of weeks. Take care everyone and God bless.
PJ

It All Goes Back In The Box

I started reading a new book by John Ortberg titled 'When The Game Is Over, It All Goes Back In To The Box', that got me thinking again about how one lives their life and what is truly important. You see I say again because as Epictetus wrote, "This is our predicament. Over and over again, we lose sight of what is important and what isn't."

Last week-end my family gathered where my folks live and celebrated the fact that this year they will celebrate 80 years of life and 60 years of love. Over 90 family members came together for this event, and to honor their life accomplishment. As we gathered and celebrated what became very clear to me was what really mattered after 60 years of marriage was that they still loved each other as much as when they first said 'I do.' That they stayed together and kept loving each other was what mattered most.

You see, you can gather all that this world has to offer. Money, property, pleasures, power, health, accomplishments, compliments, security, whatever you can imagine; but in the end, when it is all over, the only thing that will last is your love - your love for God and others. The only things that will last forever is God, your relationships, your soul, and your deeds of love. That's it! Everything else goes back in the box! I wrote a a few months ago that this life is but a dash, and we are to live it wisely. If you really want to be wealthy and leave a legacy that matters - learn to love! Love God and love others; never forgetting you make a living by what you get and a life by what you give. Give love and be rich toward God.

PJ