THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Lord, this week we prepare for family gatherings, football games, fall activities, rake a few of the billions of leaves that are beginning to fall. Maybe we grumble about the leaves or taking our lives in our hands hanging Christmas lights, but we look forward to these holiday traditions. We also pause in our busyness to count our blessings. And our blessings are countless. I had to record a few and keep a running list throughout the year.

Lord, I am thankful for:

My precious wife Joy, my beautiful daughters Jan and Diana, their fantastic husbands Craig and Bryan, and their perfect children Lyndel/Brendon/Denver, Cassidy/Jay/Hunter, Kennedy, Hayden, Greyson.
Our annoying Manchester Terrier Lucy
Safe, warm home that withstands the sometime violent winds and storms out here on the prairie.
Wonderfully loving and kind neighbors who look out for one another.
Our kids all live in the area
An infant clasping our finger
Insurance plans that are easy to understand
GPS in cars so we don’t have to unfold cumbersome maps to find a location
Easy to clean cookware
Smell of bacon on a campfire
Finding a parking spot close to the entry
Aggie football games that take us high and low
A picture of a little one’s artistic talents prominently posted on the refrigerator
The excitement of our little ones anticipating Santa’s coming
Midnight mass and Christmas celebration
Sandwiches of leftover turkey
No more political ads
Naps in our comfortable recliner
Reruns of Matlock and I Love Lucy
Cell phones that take pictures, text, and internet access

Lord, thank you for more blessings we can count. Your love, mercy, and kindness never cease. Amen, Jesus.

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Chatting with Jesus
Thursday, November 21, 2024

Lord, how many times have we asked, “Where did the time go?” Just yesterday, our folks brought us home from the hospital to the “oohs and ahhs” of curious siblings and loving grandparents. Adoring aunts and uncles remarked how we resembled our mom or dad. Overnight, we’ve hopefully grown into responsible adults and entered various occupations. Before long, we began families of our own and continue this endless life cycle.

Facing his twilight years, the psalmist took an in-depth survey of his life, weighing the consequences of his choices. Most were sound decisions that benefitted him, his family, and his sphere of influence. Other choices? He probably shook his head, wondering what went through his mind to make such boneheaded decisions.

Lord, we’re thankful the psalmist shared his wisdom about aging, since all generations experience the same reckoning with their mortality.

“O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do. Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me” (Psalm 71:17-18 NLT)

Many changed their outlook about life after approaching eternity’s doorway. They embraced their second chance when you said, Not yet, that you had more work for them to do. Lord, for me personally, since my near-fatal bout with COVID in 2021, I consider every day is a gift from you.

Your earthly brother, James, could not have been clearer when addressing life’s briefness.

“Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (James 4:14 NLT).

Thank you, Lord, for life. May our lives honor you with all we do. Amen, Jesus

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 Chatting with Jesus

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Lord, most folks shake their heads and grumble about what your Word instructs us to do when facing life’s trials. Your teaching is unreasonable and goes against our nature. Some argue people in ancient times didn’t have problems like we have today. News cycles 24/7 remind us how dangerous a world we inhabit. Our woes greatly overshadow the banishments, persecutions, tortures, imprisonments, and deaths the first-century believers might have faced.

Lord, you are not buying that line of thinking, are you.

If your earthly brother James were with us today, I don’t think he would buy that reasoning either. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he wrote this truth that still applies today:

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:2-4 NLT).

Lord, if I told you I’ve always followed this teaching, you would roll your eyes, spitting out your drink. Because I’ve failed countless times to keep this godly principle, you keep giving me opportunity after opportunity until I get it right. This principle applies to believers only. Non-believers dismiss this precept of being joyful in trials as ridiculous.

Here is the key for Christ followers to keep this command: Your Holy Spirit living within us, opens our spiritual eyes to see you working in our trials, increasing our faith that you have a higher purpose in this trial, and making us a better representative of you in our world. That truth makes me joyful.

Amen, Jesus.

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Chatting with Jesus
Friday, November 15, 2024

Lord, most folks have heard the old saying, “it’s a shame youth is wasted on the young.” Some credit George Benard Shaw or Oscar Wilde for that quote. How many seniors have stated that if they could do life over again, they would do things differently, especially in their youth. I have. Someone said we have enough fountains of youth, what we need are fountains of “Smart!”

When I was younger, I didn’t fully understand what “youth” meant or appreciate its fleeting. In my mind, my vigor and exuberance for life would last forever. In my naivety, I believe people above the age of forty to be relics of an ancient civilization. That elderly age existed in another universe. Then I turned forty and met reality. I couldn’t believe last summer when I stepped out of bed, I saw my eighth decade just over the horizon. Perhaps King Solomon had the same epiphany and wrote of the joys of youth.

King Solomon had the correct perspective of youth long before Shaw, Wilde, or Jimmy, existed. Recording his godly wisdom for posterity, the wise sage clearly stated:

“Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do” (Ecclesiastes 11:9 NLT).

Sadly, because of that ugly apple/snake incident in the Garden of Eden, our bodies deteriorate as we age. Our mind and spirit, however, can remain young and sharp. The Apostle Paul knew this truth well when he penned, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV).

Thank you, Lord, for keeping us young at heart.

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Chatting with Jesus
Monday, November 11, 2024

Lord, we owe them much gratitude. From the humble origins of our great Republic, millions have put their lives on hold to answer the call to serve our country. Some joined the ranks of the military willingly, while others might have been drafted. But they answered when called.

I think of my family. In1944, my Dad, barely 19, served as a WWII era Marine. He remained stateside, for which I am grateful. Otherwise, I might not be here had he fought the Empire of Japan, island hopping in the Pacific. My uncle, just a fresh 18-year-old, deployed to Fortress Europe as the Allies were mopping up the Nazis, defeating Hitler. Once the bloodshed ceased, these boys, now hastily transformed into fighting machines, returned and started new lives and families.

But I must humbly and prayerfully acknowledge the sacrifices of the thousands of brave men and women who paid the ultimate price during those horrific war years. The machines of war that ended their lives ended generations that will never be born. We mourn the doctors, teachers, phenomenal moms and dads who will never be with us. Maybe the cure for cancer perished when that brave soul was cut down by enemy fire. Possibly the vaccine formula for COVID went down in a B17 over Germany. Did the godly influence on a child who would one day proclaim the gospel to a divided country go down with the crew of the USS Indianapolis? We will never know.

But peace is fleeting. Young folks again answered the call of freedom. Korea, Viet Nam, Serbia, Kosovo, the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, sub-Sahara Africa, wherever people are oppressed, men and women answered the call of freedom.

To all the Veterans, a sincere thank you. You deserve the best. May God richly bless each one. Amen, Jesus.

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