Romans 12:3a – “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,…”

I have been blessed beyond measure, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. Both my parents were strong Christians, and both sets of grandparents were believers as well. I grew up in a solid home that was built on the foundation of Christ, and at the age of three my mother led me to the Lord. Growing up, I was fortunate to have wonderful pastors, teachers, and youth leaders that poured into me and allowed me to question and explore the truth about Christianity. And even after a period of walking away from my faith, God drew me back and allowed me to build an even deeper relationship with him.

I give you all this background because even though I have been very privileged, that doesn’t mean that I always get things right. To be perfectly honest, I get things wrong most of the time. Having been a Christian most of my life, I often take things for granted…things that should never be taken for granted like God’s grace, mercy, and love. His forgiveness is something I’ve had since I was a child and so the weightiness of what He did for me sometimes fades in magnitude. Over time, I begin to see myself “more highly” than I ought with the mindset that I have somehow attained these things on my own.

When I read the Bible, a lot of times I tend to identify with the wrong person in the story. In the parable of the prodigal son, I have always sided with the older brother. For some reason it took me a long time to realize that Jesus was talking to the Pharisees when He told this parable. They had seen Him with tax collectors and sinners and began grumbling about the company He was keeping. This parable was Jesus’s response to them. The older brother is a mirror image of the Pharisees. The brother has served his father faithfully but with the wrong motives. The Pharisees have kept the letter of the law but have done so out of pride rather than submission to God.

Jesus ends the parable with the father speaking to the older brother. “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15:31,32) And that’s where Jesus leaves it. It is then up to the Pharisees to decide how they react to the “younger brother” (the sinners and tax collectors).

This was (and is) such a huge point of conviction for me. How many times had I looked down on someone or felt that I was worthier because I have always “been with Him.” I have been blessed to have not known a time without Christ, and yet I have sometimes turned that into pride rather than being cognizant that I had absolutely nothing to do with the grace He’s bestowed on me.

My attitude should not be one of pride but should be like Philippians 2:5-8: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Matthew 26:20-30 (NIV)

The Last Supper

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

1 John 4:16b – “God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in him.”

On January 1, 2018 I lost my dear Aunt Jill – wife of my mother’s brother and a second mother to me. I was fortunate to live just up the street from my Aunt Jill and her family during my girlhood years. It was with her passing that I was able to truly look back and focus on her life and what made her so very special – not just to me – but to many individuals, including Mark and our children.

When I think of Aunt Jill and why I believe her life was “well lived”, the word that first comes to my mind is “Love”. Aunt Jill loved deeply and without reservation. She showered our family with sticky buns, cookies and other goodies on a regular basis. She was a master seamstress and sewed clothes for me and for her own family as well. When you received a hug from Aunt Jill, you were in her grip for a good ten seconds….going nowhere, to be sure…..and got a smack on the bottom (a love pat, she called them) just for good measure! J Her love extended outward to friends and to her church family as well, where she was known and recognized for her culinary skills and her giving and caring ways. On a mission assignment from the Mennonite Church, my aunt and uncle served at The International Guest House in Washington D.C., taking on the responsibility of host and hostess to many individuals from all over the world. Mark and I were able to see them “in action” as they showed hospitality and the love of Christ to many people.

As Aunt Jill aged and succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease, she still recognized her position – her calling – in life when one day, across the kitchen table from my uncle, she stated, “I just want to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord”.

I will never forget my Aunt Jill. She leaves a lasting mark on my heart and on my life. So what about me? What about us? What mark are we leaving? How will I, how will we, be remembered? As Pastor Todd has recently challenged us to “reflect” Christ and His character, the word that has continued to come to me is LOVE. Love more, love deeply, love daily, love others, love recklessly. Love as Jesus loves.

On God’s Love:

Every Tuesday evening for the past three years, my son, Gage, has a guitar lesson. During the winter months, better known as “Tax Season” in our house, it is my job to take Gage to his lessons.

Last March as I was sitting in a room with a few dozen amplifiers, listening to my son “rock out” to some 70’s or 80’s classic rock. I saw a ten dollar bill lying on the floor. Now, I never had any intention of keeping that money for myself. It was not mine, and someone could have come back looking for it. Before picking it up, I looked across the room and stared straight into a security camera. What if someone looking at the monitors saw me pick up that ten dollar bill? What if I HAD wanted to pick it up and keep it? Someone could have seen me! I thought then, that if there were more security cameras, perhaps people would be less likely to commit crimes or harm others. If there were security cameras strategically placed, perhaps even hidden so people didn’t know where they were, they would be too afraid to make the bad decisions and commit the crimes that we all too often read about or hear about on the news.

And then, like a ton of bricks, I was hit with a realization. We DO have a security camera so to speak; eyes that are always watching, ears that are always listening. Our Heavenly Father. He knows all and sees all and hears all. Isn’t being “caught” by the Lord a far bigger deal than being caught on a video camera, or store security monitor or even by a police officer? It certainly should be.

I picked up the $10 bill and gave it to the people behind the counter at the music store. I don’t know if anyone ever came back looking for it or not, and it doesn’t matter. I did what I hope and pray God would have wanted me to do with it, as I pray that I always do in any situation.

What do you like to do? Do you like to sing, paint, cook, garden, exercise or read? What’s your passion? I’ve heard Pastor Josh preach about our “gifts” and how we should use them. I’ve heard famous people like NBA star Kobe Bryant and musician Jason DeRulo both say how finding one’s passion has been vital to their successes and enjoyment in life.

Me personally, my passion is people. I enjoy having fun and seeing people around me having fun! I love to see people smile. I even told my mother at an early age that I thought the reason I was put on Earth was to make people smile.

So what is your passion? Whatever it is, I encourage you to use your passion in a way to help serve the Lord. Use the gifts that you have been blessed with to make a difference in your world. We have all been given one life here on Earth and God wants us not to watch life pass us by, but to be an active part in making a difference for His Kingdom!

If you like to cook, help make meals for those who can’t. If you like to clean, join Nehemiah’s Mission to help neighbors. Whatever you like to do, there is a place for you to get involved in your church’s community to help make a difference.

Life is short. Get involved! Don’t just wait for opportunities to come to you – go out and seek them. I encourage you to participate in Men’s and Women’s ministry activities, join a Bible study or start one of your own. Let’s all make a difference for God’s kingdom and you’ll be surprised how much fun you have doing it!

In Matthew 5:12-13, we are reminded that “You are the salt of the earth, but if that salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again. If it’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

One Wednesday night at Pulse, I was open for what God wanted to do through me, with no restrictions. I felt God tell me to kneel before a large wooden cross that was in the Pulse room at the time. So I did. God gave me a vision. This vision was of a cross in my back yard. This was a fairly large cross, maybe 7 feet tall. I knew that God wanted me to build this cross. I am fairly talented at wood working, but I normally don’t finish projects that I start. But I had God’s help with this project.

When I started on the project a day or two later, I didn’t know what to make it out of. But I knew that God would provide what I needed. We had old cedar logs lying beside our house. When I saw them, I knew that was what God wanted me to make the cross out of. So I went out to my driveway and plugged up an old radio and tuned it to 90.7, a Christian radio station. I went beside our house and picked the two logs that God told me too. I build the cross with a draw knife, a knife used to remove shaving from wood, a pocket knife, a sawzall and cheap thin rope. I started by removing branches and with the sawzall.

About half way though doing this God told me to stop and worship Him. So right in the middle of my driveway I worshipped Him with hands held high. During this time He told me to make it bigger, so the piece that was the vertical piece became the horizontal piece and a bigger log became the vertical piece. This was now a big cross. I continued to work and about an hour later I was wondering why I was doing this. Then I stood it up, all put together, and I understood. It was not my cross that I made; it was His cross that I got the privilege of making. I took the cross out back with my brother’s help. I dug a hole 6 to 8 inches deep and put the cross in the ground. Now 6 to 8 inches is not enough dirt to hold a 7 foot cross in the ground for the three years that it has (even through a wind storm that tore my neighbor’s patio roof off and threw it across the road.) There is one force that is keeping that cross there and that is the power of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior.