There are lots of good things in life, but not many are as good as old friends. Not old as in worn out and ready for discard but old as in used, with a patina that only age can give. Kind of like a nice piece of furniture you have had and used your whole life...you know,.. that one you could never give up because it just fits you. That's the kind of friends I'm talking about.

We had a couple of old friends come visit for a few days last week. We have known each other for almost 60 years. He and I were in the same nursery at church as infants and our wives have known each other since their early teen days.

We have been through a lot together, on both sides. Mistakes have been made, some poor decisions, family issues have gotten in the way at times, and there have been times when we would shake our heads wondering what the others were doing. Yet, through the years, even with over a thousand miles separating us, we have found that our friendship is precious and of incredible value.

I hope you have a friend in your life that you can share with. Someone who you can share your darkest moments and not feel like you will be discarded. We have those moments, all of us, and it is really nice to know that there is someone who will still love you, offer support, or just not reject you. They may shake their heads, give you the evil eye, or smack you, but you know that they still love you. There is a hug just around the corner.

It doesn't hurt if your friend is your favorite fishing buddy either.

Blessings on you friends! Blessings.

I wrote something out for today but decided that it wsa too personal.  Not for me but for the others that were part of the story.  Sometimes the intimacy of a small gourp of people is sacred and should stay that way.  With Myspace, Facebook, Blogs and a host of other social networking places it is too easy to 'spill the beans' unintentionally.

I will say that I have some friends that are really going through a rough time with some really big family issues and need constant prayer.  It will not be an easy road to travel.  There will be some twists and turns that even Hollywood could not envision but the one constant that everyone will be able to count on is that "the Lord cares for you and will walk with you through your darkest moments."  This is a promise.  Hold it tight to your chest and rely on it.  Blessings on you.

‘Conversion means a turning, moving round a corner. It can be a sharp, sudden, hairpin bend, as was Paul’s on the road to Damascus, or it can be a gentle, open curve, in which we change our direction only gradually. It is the Holy Spirit who does the work of sanctification, pulling us round the bend. ‘ **

Is it fair to say that some of us are pulled kicking and screaming all along the way?  How about you?  I know that for me, there is a lot of that, kicking and screaming.  Why can’t I just go…calmly following…in a gentle curve…headed always towards the goal?  Why must my road rival those of the Swiss Alps with so many twists, turns, and double backs along its path?  There are lots of ups and downs too.  Not much in the way of a flat level ride here.

It has taken 60 years for me to reach the place where I am tired of the all the twists and turns.  BUT, am I ready to give in, give up the struggle?  Now there is a question.  Am I really ready to give in to the Lord’s leading in my life or am I going to struggle with Him for control?  The funny thing is that I am happy with the direction He leads me, I just don’t like being told what I can and cannot do; thus the twists and turns. In some cases there are complete double backs and complete circles always going up or down in a spiral.

I think I am ready.  I think I am ready to allow Him to take control and lead and me to become a follower.  I am ready to stop struggling so much and see if following is easier and less stressful for me.

‘Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Lord, you tell me, as you told Simon Peter, to ‘Put out into the deep water.’ You are ready to surprise me with the depths I can find in myself, with the work you can do through me. Save me from complacency, from settling for a routine existence. Open me to recognizing your hand in my daily encounters.’  **

**   http://sacredspace.ie/ 

‘What is stirring in me as I pray? Am I consoled, troubled, left cold? I imagine Jesus himself standing or sitting at my side, and share my feelings with him’.    

This quote is from one of my favorite websites – Sacred Space – it is part of today’s prayer.   What struck me so much today was the ‘Am I left cold?’

Some days that is exactly how I feel after spending time in prayer.  It’s like my prayers for the moment have fallen, deflated, to the floor. My heart feels heavy and there does not seem to be as much joy in my life as there should be. 

This dear Irish monk continues by suggesting envisioning Jesus standing or sitting at my side.  Once I do that, it is hard not to cut quickly to what really is bothering me and stop dancing around.  Why do I feel the need to clutter up my prayers with all this non-essential stuff? 

My wife often complains that I don’t talk, that I use too few words, even grunts and groans to communicate with her.  She, on the other hand, sometimes has difficulty in stopping.  Sometimes it is rapid fire, staccato bursts that seem to go on much longer than what I want to listen to.  How different we are.  At the same time, she can be incredibly concise and pointed in her words.

Lord, help me to share what I really feel – with you!  Help me to be guarded and considerate with my words when others are present.  Bless me today, Lord, for I truly need it.

“Paid in full”, that’s what he said, “Paid in full’.  I still can’t believe it.  I still don’t really understand what it means; I’m not sure I ever did or ever will understand.  Paid in full.  What a statement, what a complete understatement!

Here are three simple words that hold so much power, so much freedom.  They almost seem to be random yet they are not. They are very deliberate.   They are purposefully connected to communicate a closing event, the finishing touch, the last mighty transaction that completes the purchase of a lifetime. It’s the end and the beginning, the end of the old and the start of the new, an incredible transition point.

And what a purchase it is.  As purchases go, this is the best there is.  There is none better, none greater, none more magnificent.  Truly amazing, and interestingly, it was not something I did, but rather something someone did for me.

 

After thinking about this, I soon realized that the offer had been there all along.  In fact, in order for the deal to be completed all I had to do was just simply ask.  The offer, no, the gift that made payment possible had already been offered and delivered.  That part was done years ago.  I just didn’t understand.

He said that all I had to do was simply ask and he would make it so.  Ask?  Ask what?  My son-in-law has a saying, “you get 100% of what you don’t ask for.” OK?   

Perhaps you are like me, in that, I have a hard time asking for help.  I want to do it myself, I want to be self-sufficient and not require someone else’s help.  I may get mad and difficult to be around while I’m working through a tough project and I may break things in the process of finding a way to solve the problem at hand, but I want to do it.  I want to do it my way.  It is all about me.  I don’t want help.

Paid in full was never something I would have been able to accomplish.  I would never have been able to repay this debt.  But still, ask for help?    Huh?

The funny thing was that when it was all over there was this “duh” moment of realization.  The fog lifted, the clouds blew away, the sky cleared and it was like I…well…like I understood it really was just that simple.  The same is true for you too.

There is a book that has stood the ravages of time and still, two thousand years after it was written is still the number one bestselling book of all time.  It out sells every other book ever printed.  It is a long book and has a lot of chapters, a lot of different stories that are wonderfully woven together to tell an amazing story.  It is the story of a question, a statement, a request for help, an answer and a payment that is beyond anything you can imagine.  And the payment has already been made in your name.  All you have to do is ask.  How’s that!

This book, The Holy Bible, says in the book of John, chapter 3 and verse 16, that all you have to do is ask and it (eternal life) will be given to you.  This is possible because Jesus, the Christ, has already paid the price for your sins.  Just like he did for me, and he has done it for you too.  All you have to do is ask him to forgive your sins and it will be so done.  It is simple, and yet terrifying all at the same time asking that your sins be forgiven.  I think the hardest part is admitting that I needed help, admitting that something was wrong that I couldn’t fix – that I needed help.  Yet, the fix was – is – so easy and so complete.  Jesus, the Christ, is standing at your hearts door, offering His help to your problem, and all you have to do is ask Him to come into your heart.  It truly is that simple.  Just ask Him for help. 

Jesus, please come into my heart and forgive my sins.   Jesus, thank you.  Jesus, I love you.  Amen. 

So, what fires your passion?  What are you passionate about? 

I was asked this question recently and I had to take some time to think about my answer.  It is not an easy question to answer for me.  There are many things I care deeply about.  Many things can get me really riled up.   But passion?  What am I passionate about?

I did a word search on the internet and found that passion is a very complicated word.  Wikipedia, Websters and a host of other sources seem to all agree – the word originates with the writings of the life of Christ and it’s first English use is in the description of the dramatic time for Christ between the night in the Garden (weeping blood) and the crucifixion.   As I take a look at what Christ was enduring during those long hours alone – I cannot even begin to imagine or understand what that was like – the word seems to take on a whole new meaning.

What am I passionate about?  Wow.  I really am not sure what there is in my life that reaches this level.   So, where does that leave me?

I have a friend who is passionate to the point of being annoying some times.  He is a really outspoken Christian, devoted husband and father and he loves politics.  What a combination.  He is a mentor as well as an incredible friend.  He is someone you can count on if in need and you will find him praying about all that is going on around him.  Always!

He is passionate (in my estimation) about many things.  Mostly he is passionate about those things that have eternal value.  Humm.   

OK, so what am I passionate about?  No, let me reword that sentence.  What should I be passionate about?  Yes, I like that much better.  It is safer and it does not seem to demand quite the same negative response.  But, I am ducking the real issue, aren’t I.  What am I passionate about?

Injustice can get me worked up into frenzy really quickly.  I can become almost white hot in an instance when I sense an injustice is being handed out to me or those around me.  There are others too, but why is the condition of the souls around me not at the top of the list?  Why am I not passionate about the fact that I believe, if you do not believe that Jesus is the Christ and that He came and gave His life for you so you might live in eternity with Him?  Have I become so sensitized by the world that Christ’s love does not ignite a real passion in me any longer? 

I think I need to think a lot more about this.  I am beginning to think that this may be one of the paramount questions I will need to answer in my life or rather for my life.  Perhaps even, this might be THE question St. Peter will be asking about when he greets me at those pearly gates.

God is so good.  We had a wonderful time on vacation - trials and blessings.  I certainly would not have chosen to go through some of the challanges He allowed us to encounter but when all is told it was a wonderful time with family and some new friends.
The Rocky Mountains are gorgous and magnificent.  You could see God's work everywhere.  This was no accident of nature.  It was purposfully created and layed out for our enjoyment.  It is a testiment to His power and grace.  Oh what magesty.  What a throne room!
He is a wonderful God who cares about you and about me.