Faith, Love & Hope

Every strong building has an even stronger foundation. The foundation is what absolutely everything else rests upon, so when I started meditating on 1 Thessalonians 1:3, it quickly became obvious to me that this is a very foundational principle.

In this scripture, the Apostle Paul is telling the Church that he remembers their "work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope" in our Lord. I’d like to break that down a little bit so you have a platform upon which to meditate while you’re sitting at your workstation:

• Our faith toward God is the foundation of all we do. In order to receive and walk in everything He promised to us, we have to trust Him, and you can’t trust someone unless you believe what they tell you. Reading the word increases our faith because when we are familiar with His promises, we learn to trust Him; when we trust Him, our faith is increased.
  
  
• Our love is the process for our interactions between each other. The very foundation of Christianity is God’s love for us. The scripture we see at all the football games (John 3:16) tells us that “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son…”. His love is so very great and He expects the same from us. His love is unconditional and He expects our love to be unconditional. In other words, love your coworkers even if you have “issues” with them. You didn’t do anything to deserve the love God bestowed upon you, so your love should reflect the same grace toward loving a coworker or two.
  
  
• Endurance of your hope is what faith is really all about. You don’t have to “hope for” something you already have, so our endurance comes when we are waiting for the manifestation of the object hoped for. Which brings us to the scripture that says that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, endure until you see your hope manifested!

Hope this brief foundation helps you build a great day.

Learn This Now & Walk In It

Life in America has changed. It’s not the same “happy days” environment we once lived in where children were safe in school, where Moms took care of a household, where Dad’s came home and played with the kids, and where almost everyone you knew went to Church on Sundays and had big family dinners in the afternoon.

Twenty-first Century America is different. Police patrol the schools but no one is safe in spite of their presence. Most Moms work outside the home and don’t have time to do the little things that once made a house a home. Most Dads are locked into the corporate trap of 40 hours of pay for 60 hours of work and are too tired to play with the kids when they finally get home. And how many of your neighbors actually show up at Church anymore? It’s just not politically correct any more.

So what do we do? Can we complain and hope this rampant apathy will go away? Nope. It will never go away. It will only get worse. America has lost a generation of Christians thanks, in part to the methodical elimination of Belief and Faith in God from our classrooms.

The Church has to rise up again. We must remember who we are in Christ Jesus and do what it takes to get our own lives and our own families back on the right path…the Highway to Holiness. Belief in God isn’t everything; obedience is. Talking about being a Christian is just stupid. Start acting like one!

Learn This Now &Walk In It

Life in America has changed. It’s not the same “happy days” environment we once lived in where children were safe in school, where Moms took care of a household, where Dad’s came home and played with the kids, and where almost everyone you knew went to Church on Sundays and had big family dinners in the afternoon.

Twenty-first Century America is different. Police patrol the schools but no one is safe in spite of their presence. Most Moms work outside the home and don’t have time to do the little things that once made a house a home. Most Dads are locked into the corporate trap of 40 hours of pay for 60 hours of work and are too tired to play with the kids when they finally get home. And how many of your neighbors actually show up at Church anymore? It’s just not politically correct any more.

So what do we do? Can we complain and hope this rampant apathy will go away? Nope. It will never go away. It will only get worse. America has lost a generation of Christians thanks, in part to the methodical elimination of Belief and Faith in God from our classrooms.

The Church has to rise up again. We must remember who we are in Christ Jesus and do what it takes to get our own lives and our own families back on the right path…the Highway to Holiness. Belief in God isn’t everything; obedience is. Talking about being a Christian is just stupid. Start acting like one!

Around In Circles

Every now and again the Lord will lead you in a direction you didn’t expect, but after it was over, you looked at it again and realized it was totally orchestrated by Him and should have been totally expected.

I have a dear friend. We met in fourth grade and were best friends until sixth grade when she moved up north and I moved to California. We used to sit in the woods adjacent to our elementary school’s playground and eat wild blueberries and talk about the things of God. I really enjoyed talking about Jesus when I was much younger. But because of my family’s “religious” affiliation, a personal relationship with Him was greatly discouraged. So when my friend moved away, there was no one left to talk to. Fast forward 15 or so years. We met again when by long distance I introduced her to her husband. She still lived up north, I again lived in Florida. We lost touch. Fast forward 30 years. A death in her family brought her back to Florida and we renewed our friendship as though the years did not exist.

It’s amazing how God blesses us by allowing us to renew friendships. He truly is the Repairer of the Breach. He can do the same for any relationship you have, whether it’s a breach between family or friends. Trust Him to lead you to do the right thing. You know Joshua 1:7 tells us not to turn from the Word, either to the right or to the left, but to follow the Word as it directs.

I can’t begin to stress how, if you will follow the simple command in Joshua 1:8 to meditate on the Word day and night, that your footsteps will be ordered and He will put you on a path to restore the breaches in your life.