Sacrificial, Committed Love is the Rule.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Her grandparents were born in Sweden. She had the typical Scandinavian look - Long blond hair, blue eyes, long slender legs, soft blemish-free skin, high cheek bones. She was gorgeous - she was beautiful.

In fact, a professional international photographer in her hometown thought she was so pretty that he used a photograph of her to advertise his business.

But that was not her real beauty. She was raised by some wonderful Christian parents and had become a Christian at an early age. Integrity, honesty and sweetness were just a few of her characteristics. In fact, at her engagement party, her sister, who knew her better than anyone, said that she had never heard her tell a lie. All of her friends said the same thing about her: She was the sweetest girl they knew. She would never speak a harsh word about anyone. Everyone loved to be around her.

A young man she met in her freshman year started dating her and fell in love with her - both her exterior photographic beauty and the wonderful godly character of her inward beauty. She fell in love with him and they spent every free moment they could with each other over the next four years. They were committed to each other and they believed in waiting long before the True Love Waits Campaign ever existed.

One week after they graduated from college, they got married. They loved each other's company. They would walk together, exercise together, go on bike rides together, chaperon youth trips together - go to movies, watch TV, eat pizza, travel - all the things any normal couple would love to do together. They were so much in love.

She taught school for a year and then became a bookkeeper for a surgical supply company. One day while she was working, for no apparent reason she lost her balance and fell on the floor. She was later able to get up and went to see a doctor that night. He set her up to see a Neurologist. The following day, it happened again. For no apparent reason, she lost her balance and fell. This time, though, she couldn't get up. She had lost all feeling in her legs. They wouldn't move. Her husband had to come to the office and picked her up in his arms and carried her to the hospital. After six days in the hospital, the doctor gave this beautiful, active young lady the dreadful news. She had Multiple Sclerosis and she would continue to deteriorate.

This young couple, who had now been married only 18 months - who loved to go everywhere together and do everything together - would now face some new challenges. All their future plans would change, everyday life would change. They would change.

For the next 20 years, this young lady did deteriorate. She had to take steroids (not the kind athletes use), but anti-inflammatory steroids. Her bones became brittle, breaking easily. Her face became puffy and bloated and she could not even put on make-up. Her body was a mess. She went from a walker, to a scooter, to a wheelchair. She could no longer feed herself, write her name, or control her own bodily functions. She now had to have someone stay with her 24 hours a day.

Folks, if that couple had not had the kind of committed love that's based first on a personal relationship and a commitment to Jesus Christ, and second on a love that's based on a commitment to each other, the marriage never would have lasted. In fact, most of the marriages where a spouse has MS, the other spouse leaves them. The other spouse won't stay committed to the constant care and the continual physical, psychological and mental changes that continue to occur.

Hear me carefully, folks, those two people are not heroes. They are not super saints or super Christians. They will be the first to tell you that they are not super Christians. Those two people are normal, ordinary people, empowered by the Love of God and a love for each other, doing what the world considers beyond normal and extraordinary. I know that for a fact. Because that woman, that beautiful young lady who will never walk again, who can't even feed herself, is Lynda Langerfeld - my wife. She's not a hero - I'm certainly not a hero. We're just children of God, doing what the children of God are supposed to do. Doing what His children are called to do. Doing what God expects of every man and every woman who make a vow before God on their wedding day.

Several years ago, there was a film sweeping the nation by storm, about the disaster surrounding the maiden voyage of the Titanic. There is a beautiful story painted about a man who goes down with the ship out of a love for his wife. In the world's eyes, he's a hero. In God's eyes, he's an ordinary man making an extraordinary sacrifice that every Christian who's committed to his spouse ought to make.

Sacrificial, Committed Love is the rule, not the exception. We're not super-saints, we're not heroes when we're being faithful and committed to our mates. We're just doing what God has called every husband and every wife to do since the beginning of time.

Dear Lord, thank You for example of love. We pray that we follow your example and love our spouse as you showed us to love.  Also help us those around us so they see Your love through us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Are You Ready?

Luke 12:39-40 (NIV)

39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

In October 2003, a string of Southern California wildfires eventually claimed two-dozen lives. The flames moved at a speed faster than people could flee. Responding to complaints that some residents did not receive enough warning, Sgt. Conrad Grayson said, "We're begging people to leave, and they don't take us seriously. They want to pack some clothes, or fight it in the backyard with a garden hose. They don't seem to understand that this is unlike any fire we've seen. If people don't move fast, they're going to become charcoal briquettes."

In rural East San Diego County, the fast-moving Cedar fire, sparked by a lost hunter, surprised fire officials by how fast it spread. Jon Smalldridge was in East San Diego County, and was warned by his dog. He soon began to frantically warn his neighbors, only to have some disregard him or respond too casually.

He told of those who tried to save their televisions and computers before escaping. "They looked like they were packing for a trip. The ones who listened to me and left the area, lived. The ones who didn't, died."

The Lord is not slow, but patient, wanting everyone to be saved. But at the end of His patience, He will come again.

Dear Lord, we thank You that You are return is soon.  We pray that we would work diligently to help others be prepared. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What are Your Priorities?

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot air balloon.

As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft. As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily.

Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food. Better to be high and hungry than drown on a full belly! Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises.

Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not. The "necessities" they once thought they couldn't live without were the very weights that almost cost them their lives.

Every day and in every way, keep Jesus Christ first in your life. He is the Savior of your soul!

Dear Lord, thank the You that You are all that we need throughout eternity. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Lesson From an Albatross

Exodus 20:4 (NIV)

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

In 1991, the Japanese government sought a way to attract endangered albatrosses to the small Izu islands to breed and reproduce. The Yamashina Institute of Ornithology came up with the idea of placing some 100 wooden albatross decoys in the water to help attract the birds to the islands that are some 375 miles south of Tokyo.

The project for the most part worked well and the endangered birds have landed on the islands and breeding has increased.

But for Deko, a 5-year-old albatross, the experiment went awry. For two years he has been trying to woo what he believes to be the love of his life. He's built her fancy nests, fought off rival suitors, and spent countless days standing faithfully by her side. But his one-and-only is a man-made decoy -- and despite the blank stare and wooden personality, he didn't catch on.

Institute researcher Fumio Sato worries that Deko's infatuation with the decoy is keeping him from meeting a mate. "He seems to have no desire to date real birds," Sato observed.

The lesson we can learn from the albatross is too often people begin loving and idolizing things instead of having a relationship with the real God.

Dear Lord, thank You that you want to have a relationship with us. We pray that we would seek to know You more every day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Created Fathers

Malachi 4:6 (NIV)

He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

In Sunday school today I had some of the leaders share some of their special memories of their father. It was a blessed time as we shared with the young people the good times and the bad. Our prayer was that each of them would see that God had given them each a gift, whether it is a biological father or someone special that has stepped I as a father to them.

As I was reading the other day I came across the following story from one of Erma Bombeck posts.

When the good Lord was creating Fathers he started with a tall frame. And a female angel nearby said, "What kind of Father is that? If you're going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put Fathers up so high? He won't be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping." And God smiled and said, "Yes, but if I make him child-size, who would children have to look up to?"

And when God made a Father's hands, they were large and sinewy. And the angel shook her head sadly and said, "Do you know what you're doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can't manage diaper pins, small buttons, and rubber bands on pony tails or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats." And God smiled and said, "I know, but they're large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day...yet small enough to cup a child's face in his hands."

And then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders. And the angel nearly had a heart attack. "Boy, this is the end of the week, all right," she clucked. "Do you realize you just made a Father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?" And God smiled and said, "A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle, and hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus."

God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. "That's not fair. Do you honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?" And God smiled and said, "They'll work. You'll see. They'll support a small child who wants to ride a horse, or scare off mice at the summer cabin, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill."

God worked throughout the night, giving the Father few words, but a firm authoritative voice; eyes that saw everything, but remained calm and tolerant. Finally, almost as an afterthought, he added tears. Then he turned to the angel and said, "Now, are you satisfied that he can love as much as a Mother?" The angel shuteth up.

Dear Lord, we thank You for our fathers. We pray that You will strengthen them and give them the wisdom they need as they strive to be the men you want them to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Are Your Priorities Straight?

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot air balloon.

As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft. As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily.

Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food. Better to be high and hungry than drown on a full belly! Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises.

Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not. The "necessities" they once thought they couldn't live without were the very weights that almost cost them their lives.

Every day and in every way, keep Jesus Christ first in your life. He is the Savior of your soul!

Dear Lord, thank the You that You are all that we need throughout eternity. Give us someone today to share that great news with today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Are We Living a Life of Complacency ?

Colossians 1:4-5 (NIV)

4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel

If you have ever visited Watkins Glen State Park in New York State, you were likely astounded by the sheer beauty surrounding you. Everything, from the gorge itself, to the plant life, to the numerous waterfalls, to the plentiful pools, speaks of unsurpassed splendor. Geologists call the park a "hanging valley". I think it should be called the "Hanging Gardens" of New York State.

The numerous pools, created by rock and sand tumbling through the fast moving waters, look so inviting. What better place could there be to refresh yourself and enjoy summer to the fullest! Warning signs forbid visitors from even contemplating such a thing, however. Hidden dangers have cost the lives of more than one person who chose to ignore the warning. The strong undertow can quickly turn your "safe haven" into a pool of death.

Ironically, a railroad trestle spanning the top of Watkins Glen until 1935, was washed out by an unforeseen flood. It would seem that the warnings are warranted! That this "idealistic" garden is far from being safe after all!

Nevertheless, on a hot summer's day, I can just imagine myself relaxing in one of those pools. Though the consequences could be lethal, they sure do look inviting!

But then, don't we routinely tend to relax in surroundings that seem "idealistic" but are really lethal?

As believers, we tend to take comfort in the fact that we attend church regularly, we get involved with church activities, and we receive the reassurance that we are doing well. But are we really? Are we really heading for heaven, or have we lost our true purpose? Has a strong undertow caught us off guard and driven us away from our real hope?

If we are heading heavenward, why do we tend to concentrate most of our attention on our puny, temporal existence? If we believe we are saved, why don't we talk more about our Savior? More about Heaven itself? If we pretend to be Christians, why are we not consumed with spending time with our Lord? Why don't we put our energies into planning our soon arrival in heaven?

Is it possible we have lost our hope?

So many of us go through life's ups and downs, getting excited by the most mundane things, but becoming indifferent to talk about Spiritual things. Have we lost our excitement at the prospect of spending eternity with our Maker? Have we somehow wondered off the path?

Richard Wurmbrandt was persecuted in Romanian prisons for years because of his faith. When he was finally released, he found shelter in the Western World. His first remarks about North America were far from being flattering: "You don't have communism here, you have something far worse. You have materialism!"

Have we been lulled to sleep by the comforts of our material world? Is this possibly why divorce rates, even among Christians, are on the rise? Is this why so many lead defeated lives, even though Jesus has set us free?

Is Jesus still our focus? Is He still the only One who can excite us to the core? Is He the One we still long to spend time with? Has something come between us? Have we been towed away from our Loved One by the deadly undercurrents of our materialistic world? Is it any wonder that depression has invaded our ranks? Have we completely lost our focus?

Don't relax in an environment that is filled with dangers! Complacency is deadly! Our home is in heaven! Let's head that way!

Dear Lord, help us not lose our focus and get complacent with the world around us. Protect us from the dangers that this world had to offer. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.