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Category: Devotional

Beautiful Dandy Kid Lions

Sunday afternoon we went on a picnic with some family friends we haven’t seen in awhile. Their dad wandered off at one point and returned with a GIANT dandy lion for his daughter. I have never seen one so big! Here is a ‘very dramatic’ girl holding the bundle of seedlings. (taken with my iPhone by the way, and edited in iPhoto) As I had fun do doing some effects to this picture, I couldn’t help thinking how much the dandy lion and my little friend have in common. Both are full of tons of potential that won’t truly be discovered until they are set free to go wherever the Lord blows them. Once blown way, this beautiful puff of seeds will soon give life to many others once it finds its place and begins to grow, though right now, there is no way to know where those plants will be. Likewise, this beautiful girl will also someday produce fruit in ways and places that only God knows right now. I know mom and dad aren’t eager for the day she is ‘grown up’ (neither am I!) but it is comforting to know that when that time comes, wherever God…

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Walking, Bumps, and Holding Hands

As Luke is learning to walk there are many lessons I am learning about my own “walk” with my heavenly Father. And one of those lessons literally hit home yesterday. But before I get to that, here are some snapshots of Luke’s journey in learning to walk, many illustrate my own journey in the Walk of faith. (Note click on any image for a larger view) In the beginning, Luke could not walk at all. Even to stand, he needed his father to hold him. I remember as a very young boy how much I loved being close to my dad, and close to God. The outdoors was always my favorite place with both of them, and how Luke points toward the outside almost every time I pick him up. Then there was the day he stood all by himself for the first time! The delight on his face was amazing as he stood and clapped for himself. I told him, “Luke, you have taken your first step into a larger world… and I mean that quite literally!” My first taste of walking alone was when I headed off to Bible college. For the first time I was truly making…

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It’s Not What You Do That Counts

You’ve heard it said, “It’s the thought that counts.” Well, we all know that’s a lame excuse for when we fail to do what we should, but what about the thought that what you do doesn’t count either? When it comes to our walk with Christ, what we do doesn’t count either! My “mentor” Oswald Chambers (OC) writes today, “We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him.” In life you will discover that it is far easier to work for Jesus than to abide with Him. “…that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, bu only to the cause He started.” (OC) This forces me to ask as I look at my “to do” list, how many of my tasks is Jesus asking me to do? How many are a result of my ideas instead of His? OC gives a warning that I can personally relate to, “If I am devoted to the cause only, I will soon be exhausted and come to…

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Dying is Easy

Dying is easy! What would you die for? Your country? Your Family? Your Savior? YES! And some are given that opportunity to show the “greatest love” by giving up their life for those they love. But we ALL are asked by our Lord to “lay down our life.” Now that’s something different altogether! As Oswald Chambers writes, “Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him.” And there is a task that is do much harder to do! You can only die for someone once! But to lay down your life is a daily, even moment by moment, sacrifice that is far more difficult, for after it is done, you must do it yet again and again. “It is far easier to die than to lay down the life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling.” A life lived with our own desires and dreams set down is a life that truly pleases our Lord, because it is so exceedingly difficult! THAT is the sacrifice. Our life is not worth as much as our LIVING. “If I am a friend of Jesus, I have to deliberately and…

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Time Flies When You Are Serving God

Saturday, May 12th, was one of those days that makes you feel old… but so happy too. It was a day of seeing another of my K.C. Krew kids getting married! The last time you’ll see “Cheek” after Krista’s name!Krista and Karl Today…. Karl and Krista in 1998! Cool Krista! (wearing a costume for Kids Church) Krista getting married, and that’s Sara’s dad doing the ceremony! This was a very encouraging day for me. You minister and invest in so many kids in your life, and you don’t always get to see what God does with their lives. Some you never even get to say good bye to, let alone, get to see them again years later. It was so nice to get caught up on what they are doing and how much they have grown up! Krista’s little sister Erin, Gwen, (me), Laura and Amy Joy. And YES, I have old pictures of all of them: (hope they still love me after this!) Erin back then! And Amy Joy too! I’ve got special stories with each of these girls, and it was fun to tell them over again at the wedding. Laura, second from the right, graduated from Moody…

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