The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

I have several really, really wonderful verses for us to consider today.

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Romans 12:10-11).

“Imagine what it would be like if everyone applied this model in our business,” Lucas said over Sunday lunch with his family. “I’m about ready to rename my Human Resource department to Human Referee department. The folks there are spending more and more time keeping people out of each other’s hair as time goes on,” he said. Suddenly his little nearly six-year-old granddaughter spun around in her seat and asked, “Why do Grandpa’s friends like to play with each other’s hair, Mommy? You told me to keep my hands to myself when I played with Mikey’s hair. You said he didn’t like it.” Everyone laughed. No one laughed harder than Grandpa Lucas who managed to finally say to his sweet little granddaughter, “Honey! Your mommy is right. Mikey didn’t like it, and neither do my friends.”

Out of the mouth of babes! How will you show such love and honor to others today?

For today: How will Romans 12:10-12 play out in your life today beyond not playing with the hair of others?

Several times today I have been told by dear people, “I surely need the Lord’s wisdom, don’t I?” To which I answered, “Yes, you and I and all the Lord’s children need His wisdom. Thankfully He never tires of us asking Him. He never gets annoyed with our frequent coming and asking for His wisdom and direction. He never becomes tired of us.” How wonderful is that? Here’s the wonderful verse I want to share with you today.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

There are things that come into our lives and we turn to the Lord and cry out to Him for wisdom. Daily we are met with circumstances that compel us to seek guidance and understanding from our great God. Some of the things that come across our path are of little worth or make little difference. For instance, did you know that today is National No Homework Day? Today is also International No Diet Day. Well, perhaps you will need to have wisdom about not dieting as you abandon homework! But seriously,  don’t try to figure things out on your own. Trust in the Lord and seek His wisdom. You’ll be glad that you did.

For today: Do you lack wisdom? Ask God! He delights in giving it to His children, and He never, never is frustrated by our asking Him.

“I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds” (Psalm 57:9-10).

I grew up in a little community in Western New York. There were no video games, no smart phones, no texting, no facetime, none of these things. We played outside together. Sometimes after playing for a bit, we did become bored. I will admit it. But I can remember lying flat on our backs and simply gazing up into the sky. We’d watch the clouds and try to figure out what their shapes reminded us of. Those clouds seemed so far away, that sky so very immense.

What a grand way to describe God’s mercy and His truth. Don’t think for a moment that God’s mercy will run low nor His truth soon be in short supply. Picture lying on your back and staring up into the heavens and see the mercy and truth of our awesome God.

If you know Christ as your Savior, there’s no sweeter encouragement for me to share with you than this: No matter where you go, God’s mercy and His truth surrounds you today.

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Let’s head to the Old Testament today! Think of what King David wrote.

“I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning” (Psalm 59:16).

David is being hotly pursued by wicked King Saul who wanted him dead. No one could have been any more loyal to Saul than was David. But the fruits of anger grew from the root of bitter jealousy in King Saul’s heart.

I have witnessed the fruits of jealousy and anger in my lifetime experience of working with people. It is a terrible thing. This is not my focus for today, however. My focus reminds us of David’s response to God’s protection and blessing. There is nothing worse than being up in the night as either sickness, pain, or tragedy robs us of sleep. As the morning’s first light dawns and the darkness of the night abates, hope and encouragement springs. David sings of God’s mercy in the morning. What a wonderful blessing. Someone should write a book and entitle it “Mercy in the Morning!”

How will this affect you today? I am thankful for God’s mercy. It is the morning light that dispels darkness.

“Who are kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5).

One of the saddest conversations in many ways that I remember having was with a person who believed that he had to trust Christ for salvation but that he also needed to keep himself saved. He lived daily in fear of “losing his salvation.”

My conversation was gracious but probing. I asked him, “Does that mean that every single time you sin, you lose your salvation?” His response was, “No, of course not.” So I asked a little further, “Then how many times do you sin before you lose your salvation?” He had no answer. So I asked, “If you sinned three times, would you lose your salvation?” The person told me, “I don’t think it is the amount of times, it is the type of sins.” I said, “Oh, I understand now. So if you lie, do you lose your salvation? Or if you have a lustful thought, do you lose your salvation? Or is it…” and I paused. I probed a little further, “Instead of me listing off sins, would you just show me from the Bible what sins make you lose your salvation?” Of course he could not turn to a passage. I was thrilled to share just the opposite from the Word of God. Aren’t you glad that we are KEPT by the power of God! It wasn’t that I wanted to win some kind of argument. I wanted him to understand the joy and security of Christ’s gift of salvation.

Join me in thinking often of this today: Not by my strength or ability but by the mighty power of God are we kept by God.