A Love That Is Guaranteed
Not many things can be counted on in this life but there is one thing that is for sure. That this short journey with me to learn this amazing promise for your life.
Welcome to this new day that brings with it new opportunities! It’s Monday and I am so glad to have this time with you to encourage your joy!
Have you ever found yourself thinking about the reason Jesus came and what He was really saying to us? I personally do not believe that Jesus came to say, "Why can't you be like me so the Father will love you?"
If Jesus had said that He would have made the Father’s love for us conditional with an unattainable standard applied.
Many years ago I was someone who thought that way and I was often discouraged as a result because I knew how much I wasn’t like Jesus. Thankfully the Holy Spirit revealed the truth of the good news to me.
I believe Jesus came because we were nothing like Him and even on our best days we still miss the mark. Thankfully we are told in,
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Think about it, God loved us even when we were not aware of Him and living in rebellion to Him.
Jesus gives us a righteousness we could never earn. A righteousness the Father would approve of and welcome. God’s own righteousness. The Bible says that God cannot deny Himself and since it is His Own Righteousness we now possess in Christ, He will not deny us.
The law of Moses was never a way of being made truly righteous before God. It revealed righteousness very clearly and as a result condemned us. That’s why when it was in force regular sacrifices were required due to the fact that no one fulfilled its demands. If the standard of holiness it required could have been attained there would have been no need for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins over and over again.
The righteousness God was desiring from before the foundation of the world is the righteousness we now possess in Christ. It was the solution His Son Jesus would provide. You see it was God’s plan all along that at the right time we would be made righteous by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
We do not add anything to Jesus to have relationship with the Father and maintain it. Jesus completed the work at the cross, He rose from the dead proving He was authorized by God and then He ascended on high to sprinkle His own blood on the real mercy seat of heaven forever cleansing our sin. This means we are a people of great hope, promise and everlasting life! Jesus finished the work!
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus sweetest name I know! Go in the boldness this offers and share how you have a love that is guaranteed. Let them know that they too can know this love!
Friend Friday with Special Guest Jeremiah Johnson
In this episode I interview my good friend Jeremiah Johnson who shares of his experience with the love of God.
Jeremiah will encourage you in a major way! Enjoy and be richly blessed!
Greatly Loved
You are so greatly loved it would blow your mind to know just how deeply it goes.
At eleven years of age I lost my dad to suicide. It rocked my world in a major way that took me some time to recover from. I dealt with intense fear of loss for a long time after that. It was so bad it often interfered with my mom being able to go out of the house. I would panic that if she left she might get killed and I was terrified of losing her too. It was a prison, a torment. It took a while to overcome it to a level of being able function more normally but it wasn’t till I cam to know Jesus that it was truly broken in my life.
Loos is painful no doubt. I had my share of it too in 2020 like many others. I presided over too many services of loved ones of friends and my own family. But through it all one thing stayed consistent. By the grace of God and the friendship of the Holy Spirit I was keenly aware of the constant presence of god and the love He was showering upon me and the family during those difficult times. It was in such abundance I was able to offer continual encouragement to those around while handling tough situations of my own.
When the Scripture says that in my weakness Jesus is made strong it is not speaking tongue in cheek.
I felt so strengthened by Him in the midst of my loss it seemed scandalous. His love is that way. It comes through the fog of our hardships and pain sometimes in the most scandalous of ways keeping us strengthened with His joy so that others looking on wonder how we are able to have such. But this is the beauty of relationship with Him that is real, raw and sometimes ugly on our part. He takes our ashes and gives us His beauty. Oh how He loves us! His love is not conditional and my friend today He loves you just as much as he has any other day and always will. Be encouraged today no matter what you may be facing and know that you are greatly loved.
Very Well Known
Someone knows you better than you know yourself and in this case that is a good thing.
Sometimes when you read things certain phrases jump out at you. Such is the case when I read a certain passage in Scripture. It’s found in,
Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
To really benefit from something powerfully spoken you sometimes need to pause with it and chew on it just a bit to get all the nourishment it’s trying to give to your soul.
Such is this passage. I marvel that there has never been even one sparrow at any given time that was forgotten by God. He has cared for each and every one of them and knows when they fall. That is attention on a whole other level.
But it doesn’t stop there. You see something even more important to capture is stated. God watches me so carefully that even the hairs on my head are numbered by Him. I must confess I am keeping His subtraction skills well tuned. But the beauty of this statement is that it ascribes an amazing value to me and to you.
You see we are of more value than the sparrows. So if God gives incredible attention to detail with sparrows and has never forgotten even one I find it difficult to believe He would ever forget me or you. There is a love and compassion that runs really deep with God and it was put on display at the cross of Jesus. Be encouraged today in knowing you are very well known by God and take time to get to know Him better by the grace that yours in Christ Jesus. I promise it will never be a waste of your time. Have a great day enjoying His love and attention in your life.
Some Things Just Are
Some things just are and that is a good thing in this case!
You know it’s interesting that even when it is cloudy somehow we know that the sun still rose and is shining above them. We simply trust that sun will rise each and every day and shine brightly with all of its glory. We even know that when night falls it is simply because the sun is shining on the other side of the world but we are certain it is still shining.
I know of no one that struggles with this reality because it is a known fact and it proves that some things just are. It says in the Bible in,
Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other;
God is always going to be who He has always been and is now. He never changes and He never has need to think He should. He is perfect in all of His ways. His wisdom supersedes all other wisdom known to man.
This great and mighty God, all powerful, all knowing, all wise, is Father to all who have come to faith in Christ Jesus! That means my friend that by your belonging to Jesus you are in relationship with the God who alone is God and although He is very great and mighty He has chosen to love you and be for you and to help you. Today whatever you may face you need to say to yourself, I belong to a very great God, a great big God, an all powerful God who loves me!
Tomorrow we will look at just how much He keeps His loving eyes on us to care for us and bring us into all He has for us. You will succeed when you turn to Him in faith and full assurance of His love. You’ll know there is nothing that can separate you from His love and that my friend is a very secure, shameless and powerful place to be. Have a great day and show someone the love of Jesus!
No More Shame
I share of my own battle with this and how to be free from it.
When I was a boy in elementary school I was an honor student. But the day came as I got a little older and distracted by sports and other fun things outdoor related that I slacked ever so slightly in my effort and actually got a C in one subject on my report card. I was embarrassed without anyone saying anything at all. But the principal thought it merited public attention. I was sitting in class when the loud speaker for announcements came on and to my surprise he read my report card to the whole school and then ended by saying I hope Tim will bring that C back up on the next report card. I was devastated and the kids, although shocked themselves, did not waste that opportunity to get at me.
When I came home I told my parents and my dad was furious. The next day I was in class and the speaker came on again. I was nervous wondering if I would be targeted again. I was, only this time the principle was making an apology and acknowledging the his actions were way out of line. I learned later that my dad had paid him a visit and was even in his office while he was making the announcement. Talk about taking the ammo away from the kids who just one day before were really laying into me. All of a sudden my shame turned to victory. I knew my dad had my back.
I share that to say there is an enemy out there who uses shame to imprison people in their soul. But if you give your shame to Jesus and make the confession that the blood of Jesus took care of it, that you belong to Jesus and you do not let yourself get all caught up in caring about what this world thinks, you will walk in a victory most never realize. You see God as your Father has your back and He is not shaming you to get you to perform for Him. He is loving you to set you free so you can be who He say you are and live in the abundance of life Jesus died to give to you. So tell shame to take a hike and embrace the love of God for you and smile through the momentary embarrassment of whatever it was that sought to shame you in the first place. Learn, grow and go be a blessing on the heels of whatever that was knowing your sins have been paid for past, present and future in Jesus. I promise you’ll have a much better day as a result.
Friend Friday with Tricia Gunn
In this episode I interview Tricia Gunn with Parresia Ministries in Alabama. Tricia is a very gifted teacher and encourager so you will not want to miss this.
Powerful Support
It’s amazing how courageous we can be when we know we have powerful back up. Discover just how great a back up you have.
Never Abandoned
It is empowering to know you’re never alone and especially to know you never will be.
Welcome to this new day that brings with it new opportunities! It’s Wednesday and I am so glad to have this time with you to encourage your joy!
Earlier this week my lovely wife Sheila and I got took some time to ourselves to go up into the mountains in my new birthday truck and enjoy some fresh spring sunshine and mountain air.
There’s a point where you cross over into the National Park and your phone can no longer get service. There are no towers available to use so no one can reach you. It is nice to unplug and just enjoy the sights and sounds of nature together without interruption.
You know while there is a possibility of disconnecting from technology and other sources of disruption and distraction, there is no way I am ever disconnected from the Holy Spirit. It is possible to less aware of His presence and availability but he is definitely with me regardless of how I feel or think in a given moment.
If you belong to Christ and have received the Holy Spirit too He is with you always as well. He will never leave you nor will He ever forsake you. You will never be abandoned. He is ever with you because His presence with you is based on the obedience of Jesus, not your obedience. That is comforting to know because even the well behaved blow it from time to time and need to know that when they do they haven’t scared or run off the Holy Spirit.
Oh the wonder of His grace and the steadfastness of His love! Be encouraged, the Holy Spirit is just as available to you today as He has ever been. Paul told the Galatians He is known, received and active based on faith not our works. So rest in Jesus and let your faith bring you to the place of sensing Him afresh today! He wants to work through you to bless others.
What If
One persons right perspective affected the course of history for all humanity in the most positive of ways. Your positive perspective can have a major impact as well.
Welcome to this new day that brings with it new opportunities! It’s Tuesday and I am so glad to have this time with you to encourage your joy!
I know it isn’t Christmas time but I need to bring to our attention something I feel is very important and encouraging to think about. Luke 1:28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
Now that verse seems okay until you unpack the context Mary was living in. She was a young Jewish girl living in Nazareth under very difficult circumstances and being oppressed by the Roman Government at the time. In most cases many would argue she was anything but blessed and highly favored when you looked at the conditions in which she had to live her life.
So “what if” what if she had compared herself with others she knew of that lived at a much higher level of comfort and prosperity than she did and determined her perspective would be shaped by these comparisons?
Thankfully Mary chose to believe the angel despite the hardships she was under and accepted the invitation to become the mother of Jesus. The measure of our happiness is not to be determined by the things we possess or the level of living we can accrue in this life. It is best if it is determined by the blessing of life we have received in Christ Jesus. That’s the foundation of all lasting joy.
So I encourage you today to never allow your perspective to be colored by your surroundings or circumstances. Such things are never permanent anyway. Let your perspective be determined by His love for you today and always! Go and have a richly blessed day because you too are now favored and blessed in Jesus Christ.
A New Perspective
Perspective is powerful and having the right one is very important. You’ll be encouraged on how to establish good perspectives.
Welcome to this new day that brings with it new opportunities! It’s Monday and I am so glad to have this time with you to encourage your joy!
On this particular Monday I awakened to the realization that just yesterday I celebrated my 58th birthday. I am amazed at how time flies when you’re having fun. I don’t feel 58 years old but of course I am not sure what 58 should feel like. I do know that I am loved greatly by a faithful God who is now my Father, and devoted wife who is the greatest prize any man could wish for, and by children and grand children who make this life most enjoyable and this particular man very proud. Enough about me, what do you think about my hair? Just kidding of course.
Perspective is a powerful thing. A perspective sets the tone for the day. The amazing thing is I get to choose my perspective each and every day. I have found that I really need to steward my perspective because it affects how I view myself and others and it can skew the way I interact with them.
I am blessed! I’ve been immersed in the good news of Jesus that makes the subject of His obedience something worth understanding more completely. It has had a very positive affect on my perspective. Affects like, I know that I am loved, forgiven, and fully righteous and I know that God accepts me but even more than that, God actually likes me and is for me, not against me. These are powerful thoughts to wake up with each morning. They set me in a mood to encourage others. I no longer view Monday as a day of back to the grind, or bummer it’s Monday! Every day is a new opportunity when you know the good news of Jesus Christ.
So I just want you to know that you too are loved, accepted, forgiven and liked. In Jesus all the promises of God are yes and amen and today holds a new opportunity for you to see things from a better perspective where you live a favored life because of Jesus Christ. Enjoy this day and live like someone who is truly blessed!
Complete in Him
When I was young I had fast cars with chrome wheels and thought that was something special. During those years I would put a lot of time and energy into making sure my car was clean, polished and making a good presentation going down the road. Rust was never welcomed on a chrome wheel. I never once hoped rust would come along and improve on the appearance and performance of my car. I put all the work in already to make it what I wanted it to be and it was pleasing to me and I did not want anyone or anything to come along and spoil what I had done.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
That is an amazing bit of factual and true information. The part of it that stands out to me is where it says, “you are complete in Him.”
By being placed in Christ His obedience becomes my obedience. It is the guarantee of my unhindered fellowship with God the Father. Jesus did everything that was needed for me to be able to have an unbroken relationship with God.
That thought makes the old song make much better sense, “Jesus paid it all.” He paid it all and I cannot do anything to improve on that. If I try to it is like putting rust on a beautifully polished chrome wheel. I am already what I am meant to be in Christ. I need to just identify with that more and more so it can come forth in the expression of my life. Jesus really did everything needed to complete you and me. We get to rest in Him. So today rejoice in the rest His completed work in you brings. Enjoy Him and the freedom that is yours in Him. This is your beautiful day to live in His joy.
No Problem Too Big
You have a source greater than all your problems. A source that gives you an abundance to empower you to be able to encourage others even when you are struggling. Join me to find out more!
When I was a child in elementary school I thought it was a major privilege to get to use a microscope during science class. We would put something on a slide add another slide on top of it, put it under the microscope and voila! Once focused we could see things that were before invisible to the naked eye. It was fascinating and exciting!
A microscope used in that context is a good thing, but trying to put yourself under a microscope is not a good thing. Negatively focussing on a problem does not bring improvement. It is not a solution. A solution to a problem always requires the right source.
There is a right source to every problem faced in life. Every problem you will ever face whether big or small needs this source. That source is Jesus and He is never too little or too much, nor is He too early or too late.
Jesus is the answer! His kingdom is powerful and it brings with it righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. You can have joy in the midst of struggle and you can have peace in the midst of pain no matter how big the problem is that created it. Big problems need a big God and you have a big God who is on your side!
God is so big that when things seem to be going wrong all around you threatening your safety and well-being, you still have more than enough life and hope to generously encourage others. You just need to see your source is all. Your source is greater than all other sources!
Jesus said, John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Go in that life today and let the river of the Spirit of the Living God flow out of you to others. Remember there’s no problem too big for the God who loves you and cares for you.
At the Peak
Discover a righteousness s pure and perfect it has no equal and can be yours free.
Over the years I have discovered that small gas engines last longer and perform better with 100% gasoline in them. In fact, ethanol based fuel shortens their life and causes issues. Ethanol will burn but it crystalizes in certain areas of the engine. I only use 100% gas in all my vehicles as well.
I also like creamy French dressing with baby carrots as a snack. I’ve tried the generic brands of a French dressing but they just weren’t the same as the Kraft brand I like so much. To me Kraft Creamy French is the real French dressing.
When you come to Christ you do not receive a generic brand of righteousness in small quantity. When you come to Christ in faith God imputes His very own righteousness to you in full measure.
Anytime a person by grace through faith is born again they are given the highest level, full measure righteousness there is. An untainted, 100 proof, not watered down original source righteousness.
A righteousness so powerful it needs nothing added to it for it to do it's job. You will never become more righteous than you were at the start or that you are right now, or that you will be when Jesus returns or you go to be with Him.
You’re maxed out on righteousness at this very moment. You’re at the peak of it so enjoy the fruit of it. It bears the fruit of wide open, full on fellowship with God! Go and enjoy knowing Jesus today and share the blessing of it with someone else. In Jesus there is an overflow of life to offer to others.
Loving Relationship
Explore the power of a loving relationship
My wife Sheila and I have four grown children and our twin girls are the oldest. They met and married great young men who love them and they have established their families. As twins they enjoy being close and as a result we have the wonderful blessing and luxury of having them live across from us on a Culdesac. We are all next door neighbors. The men they married would be referred to as being our son in laws. But we have such great relationship with them we do not think of them in that way. They are our son in loves. They are just as much family as the rest of our children.
It’s amazing what loving real close relationship can do. It changes the way we perceive those we are in close relationship with and how they perceive us. It changes the way we interact with one another and how we value each other and contribute to each others lives. Close cherished relationship alters our investment of time and effort. Close cherished relationships enhance our lives in ways that transcend other types of relationships. It can be difficult to inconvenience love in a close relationship. There will still be some boundaries and respect for them. But love in a close relationship will lead someone to spend themselves for the other.
Jesus did not come to give you an average relationship with Father, Himself or the Holy Spirit. He came to purchase a close cherished relationship. He came to establish something of greatest value in life. That is why it cost Him his life. Jesus spent Himself for you. Jesus came to bring many sons to glory and introduce those sons to their rightful loving Father. Your rightful loving Father has plenty of time for you and will happily spend it with you if you will allow Him to. His is an everlasting love. He is not mad at you and rejecting you He is desiring to fellowship with you by grace through faith in Jesus. Today offers a new opportunity for you to let the Father saturate you in His love. Enjoy Him today and always!
Friend Friday with Special Guest Aidyn Howe
Get ready to smile. This young lady is delightful!
Free to Be
An encouragement to be who you were created to be.
Growing up I was fairly athletic and excelled mostly in baseball although I did play football some and toyed a little with basketball. I was small in comparison to many of my friends though. This led me to compare myself with them and at times not even try something if I was convinced I would likely fail by comparison to the way they could do it. This was a real thief in my life growing up in my early years and would manifest from time to time in my later years. The struggle was very real to me.
My mom would try to help me through my challenges with her praises of my achievements and always believing the very best of me. But it was never enough to truly break the cycle. Fact is, there will never be enough praise from others that will break such a cycle. It cannot be satisfied by others praising you.
My comparing led to all sorts of complications in my life. It led me into poor decisions, wrong behaviors to compensate for it and to quite a few over reactions to situations that got me into trouble. I don’t know if you can identify with this or not but I was at times controlled by this stronghold in my thinking. It was a secret battle being waged on the front lines of my imagination holding me back from really being able to take advantage of great opportunities. Instead it led me to settle for lesser things. Come to think of it, that’s the best way to describe the fruit of it. I was living a life of settling for lesser things out of fear of failure due to comparisons rooted in insecurity.
It would not be until I became born again that I began to get set free from the grip of that stronghold. By discovering the truth concerning Jesus and what He said and thought about me I was set free to be the me He said I was. By His grace I was set free to do what He said I could do. I became empowered to try things, to step out and do things that before would have been unavailable to me due to the grip of that stronghold. The more I discover His love for me the more free I become to step out into the things He has set aside for me to do. The more I can enter into who He says I am in Christ. I am loved and so are you! So I encourage you to step out in His love for you today and be the blessing he has empowered you to be.
Fully Set Free
There is a freedom so complete that it is like winning the lottery!
Maybe you’ve heard of this true story before but even so I will tell it again. There once was an elephant who had spent its life tethered with a rope around its foot. The rope set limits on how far the elephant could go. It was about 30 ft. Since that was all the elephant had ever known, as far as the elephant knew it was really living. One day the owner of the elephant needed some money and decided to sell it. A kind and gracious man came and bought it desiring that the elephant be free so he took it to a beautiful wide open space where it could roam as far as it wished. The man removed the rope from its foot but the elephant would not go past the distance it had learned for so long in its life.
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
It is possible to come to Jesus but attempt to remain under the law for knowing how to live. This is not the way of the New Covenant though and it is very limiting. Jesus came to set us free from the law. He came to break condemnation off of our lives and establish us in the very righteousness of God so we might live by faith in Him. The just shall live by faith.
Paul said it this way in,
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Your rope my friend has been removed in Christ and before are open fields of grace in which to adventure with Him! I pray that today you will venture out with Him in faith into those open fields and make discoveries of just how wonderful it is to be His and be free in Him!
Part of the Family
It is good to know that you belong and even better to belong to the most important family in all of history
There is power in what I believe and say regarding my belief and experience with God in Christ. So I’d like to share my confession with you today.
Through the cross Jesus rescued me from being an enemy to God by allowing me to be identified with Him in His death signifying my old life was dead and gone. My past is no longer able to haunt me or condemn because of Jesus.
Jesus then allowed me to become identified with Him in His resurrection signifying that I had been given new life in Him. Everything became brand new that day that I came to life in Christ.
In giving me new life Jesus declared me righteous with a righteousness that wasn't my own and I did not earn. He gave me the very righteousness of God to forever settle the matter of who I am now and my place in the family of God. God is now my Father and I have a relationship with Him thanks to Jesus.
Because of this I can stand confident of His love, confident of His forgiveness, confident of my acceptance, confident of the Father's love and know that I am a new man with a righteous, everlasting love identity in Him. I am a son now! God is for me so who can be against me!
I am not a foster child or orphan hoping to earn my place in His family. I am loved, accepted, affirmed and empowered by His Spirit living within me. All glory and honor belongs to the Lamb who was slain! All praise to Jesus! He is my Savior and Lord!
If you’ve put your trust n Him this is your testimony as well! So my encouragement to you is to live loved today and always!