Getting away with Murder

 

January 29

 It’s true!  I killed a man. A nice man some people thought. I knew differently. He appeared to be the ideal family man.

I knew differently.

" He walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelry, drinking parties and abominable idolatry." (1 Peter 4:3)

 

This man needed to be destroyed. I killed him. And I got away with murder. I killed my old self.  I'm a new person. Alleluia! There is a second chance God. Praise the Lord. Now I really know differently.

 

 “ I say to you, unless one is born again, he can not see the kingdom of God."
(John 3:3)

Ice Storm

January 27

 

Everything is glare ice," creek, crack crash.  Branches are snapping off the trees like brittle spaghetti. It is still raining so

I retreat from the yard and stand under the overhang. There is a large crack and thud. A huge branch falls from the elm and is imbedded into the ground where I had been standing. I stare in disbelief.

Some would say 'thank your lucky stars.’ That is how I felt once, but now I say luck and stars has nothing to do with it.

 

“The very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  (Matthew 10:30-31)

God's Love is unlimited but...

January 23

 

Dr. Jerry Kirk, a  preacher from Cincinnati  said, "God's love for us is unlimited but our ability to receive that love is limited because our receiving mechanisms have been damaged by the world around us.” He asked Dora, twice a widow, what made her upbeat. "Every cardinal I see, I hear Jesus say; 'I love you'.”

 The notion of damaged receptors speaks to me. The solution shared by Dora and Jerry has changed how I look at all birds, not just Cardinals. How are your receptors?

 

"Consider the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap… yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26)

Are you a Neighborly Water Tower?

 

January 22

 

Driving the rugged arid parts of Arizona and Colorado, I notice a single pile of rocks up on top of a mesa. I learn that these are called "water towers." These rocks tell travelers below that from this point you can see water.

Those Native Americans and pioneers who erected these water towers were truly being neighborly, pointing the way to survival. The water towers are no longer needed but stand as monuments of brotherly love. I need to be a water tower to my neighbors.

 

 " You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 23:39)

The Holy Spirit Takes Over

 

January 20

 

The report is not coming together. I can’t find my notes. I pace. I slam draws. My wife softly urges prayer and sleep. At five I am at my desk. My mind is going a mile a minute. I’m recalling missing details. By seven my bible class prays for God's hand over me. By ten I make my presentation.

 The Spirit takes over the meeting. For every question raised an answer is given.

The hour ends with applause. Go God. 

 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

Old Car Important Teaching

January 19

 

Normally when my car is unlocked the trunk is unlocked but now the car is unlocked and I can’t get the trunk open even with a key. The garage owner tries several times-no go. “Take it to a locksmith,” he says.This morning I notice a lone key on the house rack. I try it. The trunk opens. 

For most of my life I was trying the wrong keys to open the meaning of my life. Then I found the one key that stands alone. Who holds the key to your life?

 “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:6)

You are where you choose to be.

January 17

 

     “He is 18, on drugs, is unemployed and has been arrested for stealing. She is 17, pregnant by him and drinks heavily. Both are school drop outs.”

 

The speaker, a minister, lecturer, and author, is addressing a men’s retreat. He asks, "You are the parish priest and this couple comes before you, wanting get married. What do you tell them?

 

After the laughter fades, he says “That couple was my wife and I twenty three years ago.” His point is  we are in life exactly where we have chosen to be.

 

Life is a result of the choices we make. We can choose to believe or not. It is our choice.

 

“He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already…” (John 3:1)

My Image or God's?

 

January 16

 

Genesis says God created man in His image. My wife asks, “Do we see God in our image rather than seeing ourselves in His image?"

 

  I'm sure my perspective is seeing God in my image. That means God has feelings, emotions, thoughts and memories. OK so far. However, holding God in my image would also mean God has limits. That's not good. That is not God.

 

So how do we see ourselves created in His image?  It begins with belief! God created us in His image. 

 

 Isaiah. knew in whose image he was created.

 "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

(Isaiah 40:31)

Adultery and Jesus

January 15

 This is a night that stretches me to the breaking point.  I am nodding off when I read:

"Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul." (Proverbs 6:32)

Wham! I lost my soul long ago. I'm doomed.

 

I read Luke 7. Jesus is eating at a Pharisee's house and an adulterous woman, washes His feet and dries them with her hair. The Pharisee is indignant. Jesus exposes his hypocrisy. Then he says to the woman "Your sins are forgiven."

In one reading I am convicted of the devastating severity of my sins against God. In the next reading I experience the wonders of His amazing grace

 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Who is you neighbor?

 

January 15

 The publisher came into the city room yelling "whose old Plymouth is that out front?" It was my second day as a student intern at the Westerly (RI) Sun. He escorted me downstairs to remove my car.

 

 Later, Abe, the city editor, lead me to the rear of the building. “You park there,” he said; pointing to a large paved area behind the Jewish temple. “ If anybody says anything tell them Abe sent you." Abe was like my neighbor that day.

A lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan and asks; "so which do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? "

 The lawyer says, "He who showed mercy on him.”

 

"Then Jesus says, 'Go and do likewise." (Luke 10: 36-37)

Late Night Traffic Ticket

 

January 14

 

 "Let me see your license please? You didn't stop for the traffic light back there."

 

"I was going right on red, no one was coming."

 "You didn't come to a complete stop," he corrected.

I'm going to have to give you a citation."

 

When the Trooper returned he explained I could appeal the ticket, pay the fine or eliminate the points by attending driver improvement classes.

 Driving home my wife broke the silence. "Are you going to pay the fine or go to driver improvement classes?" The way she said those last words did it

 I took a deep breath and said; "Lord take away these ugly feelings." He did!

I paid the fine.

 "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus." (Romans 15:5.)

Hold on to Learning

 

January 12

 

My sister, fresh from graduate school, began teaching in the high school where I was a senior. I was enrolled in her journalism class. She called each student by his or her last name except for me and a boy named Fred Darling.

One day she walked into the classroom just as I was throwing a pear at another student. She took one look at me and said sternly, "Get out!"

 I reported to the assistant principle. Without looking up he asked, “Why are you here?”

“My sister threw me out of her class.”  He stopped writing immediately.

 

I was given two weeks detention and I was grounded at home. I gained new respect for all my teachers, including family ones and a greater appreciation for learning.

 

"Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her for she is your life."
(Proverbs 4:13)

What is you rut?

 

January 11

 

One night, when I was a boy, my mother told me a simple story. A little frog landed in the middle of a deep tire track in a muddy road. Jump as he might he couldn’t get out. The other frogs headed back to the pond for the night. Splash- little frog was back. .

"How did you get out,” the others demanded?

 "I just jumped out," said the exuberant little frog, “you see a truck was coming.”

 

Deborah Deford writes in The Simpler Life, "We get into a rut and all of life takes on the color and texture of old mud. But staying in a rut is a choice.”

I was in a worldly rut for years. Then I saw the truck coming and made the choice to jump free.

 

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

A Dog's Lesson for Living

January 10

 

One weekend my sister and I took our dog Dusty to a park. Suddenly head down and nose to the ground that hound followed a trail down an incline. We watched from the top of the hill. A rabbit appeared and hopped up on a large flat rock. Dusty sniffed right by that rock and continued down the hill. When he was a safe distance away, the rabbit darted away.

 

 There have been days and even years when I have been so focused on living my life that I haven't looked around me. Like Dusty, I was too busy with what I was doing at the time to look up and see the prize. I need to stop sniffing out what I seek and pay attention to what God has planned  for my life.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Who do you trust?

 January 9

A winter storm is howling at BWI Airport in Baltimore. My flight to Tampa is delayed as crews plow the runways.

 

Finally it is our turn to take-off. While I pray the plane roars down that snowy runway and up into the swirling storm clouds. The aircraft shutters and shakes for until we climb above the storm. It is a smooth flight to Tampa.

 

When I entered that plane I had totally given up control and put my life in the hands of that pilot.

So why struggle giving the controls of my life to the Lord? Why can't I trust God to pilot my life’s journey? After all, who has had more experience?

 

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

(Proverbs 3:5)

Convicted and Lesson Learned

 

January 7

 He said his name is Bill Young and he was looking for work and needed some money for breakfast.

I handed him a couple of dollars and mentioned softly that he might have a better chance of getting a job if he didn't have alcohol on his breath.

 I asked him if he knew Jesus. He took a small Bible from his sack. He turned to Luke 16-19," you read it," he said. handing me his Bible. It is about the rich man and poor Lazarus eating crumbs.

 “ The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor next to Abraham."  I stopped. "Read the next line," he urged. “The rich man also died, was buried and went to hell and was suffering terribly."

I stood convicted of my arrogance and smugness.

 "Judge not that you be not judged. (Matthew 7:1)

Why I Finally Quit Smoking

January 6

 

January 6, 2013

 

At age 14 I started smoking. I felt dizzy and was sick to my stomach but I continued to smoke.

At 30 the Government warned tobacco could be harmful to your health.  I continued to smoke.

My dad finally quit when his doctor said he had emphysema. I continued to smoke. After some chest pains, I switched to a pipe and decaffeinated coffee. I continued to smoke.

 One night my son Rob, then seven, asked, " Dad can you get heart disease from smoking a pipe?"

 I hadn't heeded the other warnings, but when God sent my son, I heard the message. I quit! For good at age 40.

Come to think of it, God sent His only son with an important message for all of us. Hear him!

 

“I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John12:47)

John Glenn Looking Back at US

 January 4

It is a full moon and a pleasant night to walk around the neighborhood. I muse how the ancients viewed this same moon, fearing it and even worshiping it.

 

John Glenn, the first American to orbit our planet and have a moon’s-eye- view of earth, takes another trip 36 years later. Now 77, Glenn catches the world’s attention on his "flag lap" around earth. Walter Cronkite is back to report the event and the Australians light up their country for Glenn, as they did in 1962.

 

From space Glenn says, " Looking at the Earth from this vantage point, looking at this kind of creation and to not believe in God, to me, is impossible."

 

Right on.

 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Leaving Home for What?

 

January 3

 

On a walk around my neighborhood, I notice a small boy pulling a little red wagon with a suitcase in it. He starts down the street. As I near the house a man comes out, looks in the direction of the boy.

 

"Leaving home are we," I ask? The man nods.

 

That boy is testing his boundaries but what he really wants to know is that his parents still love him.

 

As a child of God, I have walked away from my heavenly Father. I didn’t get far and I desperately wanted to know that God still loves me.

 

God tells us all the time that He loves us. We just have to pay attention and listen.

 

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1 NLT)

Flight Delayed...Canceled

 

January 2

My flight from Hartford to Sarasota is canceled.

 I call Joy and she says "Look around and see who you can help. Go do the Lord's work."

As I hang up the phone I spot a man in a wheelchair looking at his ticket. I wheel him to the next gate. The agent sees us a waves us forward.
The agent redoes Harold's ticket (we are on a first name basis now. He turns to me.

 "Oh I'm not on his flight," I tell him, “I ‘m going to Florida but my flight to Charlotte was canceled." More clicking on the computer.

 "I can get you to Tampa. Will that help?"

Tampa is only an hour away. I arrive home in time for dinner.

"Lord when did I see you a stranger and take you in? Surely I say to you when you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to Me." (Matthew 25:38-40

Best way to start a year

January 1

 

It isn’t a typical start to a New Year.

 

My wife Joy wants to let God orchestrate this New Year. At Christmas Joy asked that we give Jesus something on His birthday. We realized that meant giving something of ourselves. Lord, I thought, give me the opportunity to share this idea with others.

 

The day after Christmas the associate pastor of our church called saying,” I was praying for someone to talk on New Years resolutions and how they differ once you become a believer…and your name kept coming to mind.”

 

What a way to begin a year, in His will.

 “In all your ways acknowledge Him.

And He shall direct your paths.”
(Proverbs 3:6)