As a young man, I was living out my day to day life without care or consolation. Just me.  I found my significance in my own mind and in the pleasures that I frequently hunted for.  I couldn’t let myself have moments of quiet, because when the quiet came, I would hear pain.  Eventually, the sound of that pain became so deafening that I had to search for what the sound was and how to silence it.  It shook my very soul. 

I searched throughout my world to find the source of the sound, only to find that many people heard the same cries. Those cries drove other men and women to do the most horrible and detestable things, with even some ending their own lives to get away from the madness that the pain brought with it.  Without answers, I sought further into the farthest reaches of my world.  Then, I came to a hill which had a cross made of wood, poised at the crest. 

The cross was large and the wooden beams strong, apparently to hold some significant weight. However, all I saw upon it was a simple man.  I noticed a sign on the cross that said the name ‘Jesus.’  Dressed in his own blood, it was from this man that I heard the screams overwhelming of pain, even though he barely made a sound.  I approached him and asked why he was there, to which he uttered but a single word, “Love.”  The man had been beaten and made raw by whips. I saw nails affixing him to the wooden beams and I could not help but to think of the pain that this man endured. I tried to get him down myself, but it was as if the weight of a thousand worlds had pinned him there.  I yelled, “Please, what must I do to help you?  I cannot bear your cry!” 

The man said that he had placed himself upon that cross because of sin. He said he wanted that sin to be his, even though it belonged to every person on earth.  So I begged him, “I am sorry. Please sir, tell me, what must I do?”  He replied, “Go forth and tell everyone you meet that there is a man on the cross.”  He then explained to me that it would take the strength of love alone to get him down from that cross.  Not just from me, but from every man, women, and child.  And until everyone lifted him up with one love from a unified heart, there he would drape across those wooden beams, holding those sins as his own. 

Now, Jesus asks you as well to go forth with a message that there is a man on a cross. It is a message of the need for love amongst all people, always keeping that cross in mind. The cross and pain that we cannot bear on our own.  

  
DH

“Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

During our prayers the other night, my youngest daughter asked me what the word amen was. I explained that it meant, “indeed” or “yes, so be it.”  She then asked why we said it at the end of a prayer, to which I replied, “It kind of closes the prayer.”  She responded with, “Well, I talk to Jesus all of the time, so I guess I shouldn’t say that.”

She made so much sense with her youthful way of looking at it. The Bible said that we should continually pray.  That doesn’t mean that all we should hit our knees begging God for things all day.  Quite the contrary.  Prayers don’t have to be asking for things all the time.  In fact, the Bible says that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we do.  Prayers should be more about giving thanks to the one that made all of our blessings possible.

We should thank God with everything we do. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”  Those are great words to live by.  All of our actions should be with the intent of honoring God.  We should have Christ in mind before we do anything in our lives.  As Christians, the Holy Spirit is living in us and through us in everything we do.  We can’t separate Him from us, not even for a little while.  You are never alone and nothing you do is done in private.  When you sin, you sin with God watching you do it.  Conversely, when you do good deeds, God sees those too and what God sees in private He shall reward you for openly.  Each action from us is another prayer getting sent up to Him. Our prayers never truly end, so take care to make them grateful and not spiteful.

I heard the old saying again today about God giving us two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak. Our prayers should be more listening rather than asking, but it’s OK to ask for things.  Yes, God knows what we need even before we do, but it’s still respectful to ask.  I know my children need food and clothes, but it’s nice to hear a please now and then.  My kids mess up occasionally and of course I forgive them, but it’s showing their maturity and responsibility when they say that they are sorry.

Another thing is that out of a healthy fear and awe for the Lord, we normally pray looking down at our hands or the floor. That’s OK, but whenever my kids come up to me with their head down, I know they did something wrong.  Try it sometime.  Go up to your spouse or parents and tell them you love them, but look down at the ground while doing it or even kneel at the same time.  See what reaction you get.  What I’m trying to say is that God is our Father and He loves us very much.  When we praise Him, look up.  Why shouldn’t we sing, shout, or raise our hands for joy?  We have a lot to praise Him for.  God’s face shining upon us shows His favor and caring for us.  Why shouldn’t we show God our face as well?

Just as written in the Psalms, “Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (141:2)   Our prayers are like offerings to God, showing Him that we keep Him and His Word on our minds and in our hearts.  So next time you say your prayers, don’t say “Amen” with the thought that the prayer has ended.  Say “Amen” with passion, thereby accentuating every word that was said.  We should pray without ceasing, remembering all the day long that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, cares for us, and who wants us to be with Him forever.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

I’m deeply troubled by what I read and hear in the news these days.  Violence, disease, wars, and all the makings of a real life horror film.  It has become a world that exemplifies the fallen nature the Bible says it has.  Our country and our world is on the absolute brink of destruction, which begs the question, “So what’s next?”

No matter what you see in the news, remember that God wants nothing but love and happiness for us. You and I were made for good things, not this mess that we’ve created for each other.  Rest assured that this mess will not go on forever.  These circumstances are signs of a very unfortunate age where evil seems to get the upper hand.  The enemy’s job is to steal, kill, and destroy, and Satan is very good at his job.  However, don’t think that this is the end of times.  With each passing day, the end of this era is closer and closer.  But just as Jesus Himself said, “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6)

There is a natural ebb and flow that God built into our world. Dark times and bright times.  Times of sadness and times of joy.  These days of suffering are horrible, but they will soon be followed by gladness. Our future lies in the hope of a tomorrow that does not see darkness.  No matter what happens in this fallen and twisted world, know that the sickness of evil will see its end in due time.  God has written that these circumstances will come to an end, either by the emergence of prosperous times or by Jesus Christ’s return.

When the hatred and insanity of this world seems to overwhelm your mind, rest your heart and soul in the Holy Word of God. Know that these times shall pass.  Take heart and stay strong in the Lord.  Continue to pursue love with all you have and all you are.  Your perseverance will not be in vain.  Your reward shall be eternal in Heaven.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

God’s blessings to you.

DH

When my dad passed away, I inherited a big tool box of his that he had for many years. There was one hammer in particular that he had gotten from his dad. It was a good, sturdy hammer.  One day, the head on it kept trying to swivel and come loose. I tried to fix it and it would work again for a while, but then it would start turning and loosening again. Eventually, I had to stop using that hammer, because it couldn’t be used effectively as the tool it was meant to be. I had to start using a different hammer for the job that I needed to accomplish.

Let that be a lesson for our walk with Jesus. We can be excellent tools in the Master’s hands, but through our sin and our poor choices that turn us away from God, we keep ourselves from being the tools God really needs us to be. We are either instruments of good or bad. Blessings or destruction. It all depends on what we want in and for this life. If we focus our time and efforts into just building ourselves up here and now, we are falling drastically short of what God had in mind. We are to be building up each other and ourselves for that home not made with hands, eternal in Heaven.

Beloved, here is your choice. The time is now to choose whom you will serve. As spoken in Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.”

How about you?

DH

Today marks the 12th wedding anniversary with my wife, Monica. It is just amazing how far we’ve come in those 12 years. Starting off as crazy kids in love, not having a real clue about how to get where we were going, but knowing that there’s no one else we’d rather go there with. 

Starting out, we were both in law enforcement. I was a police officer and she was a dispatcher. Both of us were in high stress jobs, but we never really brought it home with us. Occasionally we did, but it was nice to be able to speak to the person we loved about our day and our problems. We understood each other. We got each other on a different level than other people can get us. And thank God, we still do. When you love somebody, really love them, then there is that unspoken connection that you just have. It is a love straight from above.  

I wanted to take this time to not only say thank you to the love of my life for these past 12 years, but also take time to thank our Lord who made it all possible. He did it all, from the vast expanse of the universe to the tiniest speck of an atom, but like the Bible says, “The greatest of these is love.” And if you don’t know or haven’t heard it in a while, GOD LOVES YOU!  

I think everyone at one time or another wonders why we’re here and why we were made. Let me tell you the secret that really isn’t a secret. God was always there, but He wanted someone to love. He made us so that we could know Him, love Him, and serve Him so we could be happy with Him in Heaven for all of eternity. How awesome is that?! The God that created everything wants to know and love you and to be known and loved by you. We are capable of love because He first loved us.  

Even if you have never known the love of a parent or spouse, you can come to God right now and know Him. You can know His mind and His heart’s desires through Jesus Christ. Jesus showed us the way to live in accordance with God’s wishes, and all it takes is one word, love. Love God, love each other, and love yourself.  

I love my wife. I love my children. All of this is made possible by the God Most High through Jesus Christ. Get to know Him today. I know my wife and I only wish I would have known her longer. I’m sorry I missed out on those wasted years before her. Don’t you dare miss out on knowing Jesus. Don’t you dare miss out on love. 

God’s blessings to you.
DH

“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:7

My dad passed away about 8 months ago. I had the privilege of being the minister at his funeral.  He had full military honors, since he had been a US Army Captain.  It was a very touching experience being able to send him off to glory in such a wonderful and solemn way.  After the proceedings, my sister was tasked with handling the will and all that came with it.  As his children, we all got a small portion of what our dad had after his almost 83 years here on earth.  It wasn’t much, but it was meaningful.

That got me thinking about our Heavenly Father and what He has in store for us. The Bible says that if we are believers in Christ, we have been adopted into His eternal family.  As God’s children, we are heirs to His glory.  The book of Ephesians says that we have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing.  That’s very reassuring, especially in today’s world of pain and uncertainty.  We can know that God is not only willing to help us, but has accepted us as His own to be partakers of all of His goodness.

God’s goodness knows no bounds. We as worldly and fallen people still know how to give good things to those we love.  We sin and have evil in our hearts, but we would still give our children a cool glass of water if they asked for it.  Granted, there are those times that people didn’t have a good relationship with their own fathers or mothers.  If you are one of those people, rest assured that God is not that way.  He is the father that you should have had.  When the world gives you suffering, God gives you relief.  When your earthly circumstances are a mess, God is there to pick up the pieces.  When you have no hope and everyone has turned their backs on you, God will always be there with His arms outstretched to accept you into His peace. He promises you an undying love that is not affected by the ways of the world.

The one and only stipulation to this adoption is that we believe in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. There is one way only to the Father and that is through His only begotten Son, Jesus.  When we accept Him and His payment for our sins, we are then taken into God’s family.  We shake off the stain of that sin and accept His grace and His Holy Spirit into us; and it is the Spirit Himself that testifies that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:16)   Jesus Christ paid for that adoption.  He paid the cost of our eternal salvation and entry into Heaven.  It’s all available, as long as we receive Jesus into our hearts and lives.

My dad’s will amounted to promises that we would receive since we were his children. That is much like the Bible, which sums up all of the promises of God our Heavenly Father.  It’s amazing that the King of Kings promises us an inheritance beyond compare.  We are children of the Most High and through Him receive a crown that never tarnishes, riches that never depreciate, and a kingdom with no end.  This world is passing away quickly, but we place our faith in that which is eternal.  That faith will be rewarded when God’s will is done.

Consider the New Testament of the Bible to be God’s ‘last will and testament.’ And just as with any other will, the promises of the Bible was only in effect after death. That death was Jesus on the cross.  Jesus died, was buried, then raised from the dead in order to fully execute God’s will.  Because of Jesus, our inheritance is now available.  Christ’s glory becomes our glory.  When Jesus received His crown, we received ours as well.

Please, if you have not done so, accept Christ into your heart and be born again into God’s family. He has offered us eternal life and an inheritance that is beyond compare.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

In the Bible, the book of Luke chapter 5 shows Jesus telling Peter to take his boat out and cast the nets into deep water.  Peter complains a bit, saying that they’ve tried all night and hadn’t caught a single fish, but agrees to it declaring, “I will do as you say.”  When Peter does what is asked of him, the fishing net caught such a large amount of fish that Peter called for some of his partners to come over.  They all had so many fish that they were able to fill both boats, almost overflowing them both.

There are a few points to be taken from this story.  The first one is that no matter what the circumstances look like, trust in what God says.  Peter and others had been fishing all day with no luck. Their chances for success that day looked dim, but that didn’t stop the goodness of Jesus Christ.  Your situation may look dark, you may think there is no way possible, and you may have tried as hard as you could with no result.  Realize that God is bigger than your problems.  He is the God of power and plenty.  This is the same God who empowered David to defeat a giant with a sling and a stone.  He’s the same God who led Joshua to tear down the walls of Jericho.  He’s the same God who even now offers us victory over death through the cross of Jesus Christ.  There is nothing our Heavenly Father can’t do and that also includes helping you with your problems.  Focus more on God rather than on your circumstances.

The second point is that when you follow the Word of God, you will be blessed in ways you don’t realize and in amounts you can’t yet comprehend.  Peter did what Jesus told him to do and he was blessed with more fish than he had ever caught before.  Peter could have given up and disregarded Jesus, but he followed Christ’s directions and got the catch of a lifetime.

Lastly, Peter did something that is worthy of a special note. The nets were overflowing with fish, so much so that the nets were breaking.  At that point, Peter could have let the excess fish loose and think that it was enough. Instead, Peter called his friends over to share in the blessing. Together, they worked hard on the nets and hauled in enough fish to almost sink both of their boats.  We need to actively pursue this principle in our own lives.  Whenever we experience God’s favor and blessings, we must not forget to include those around us.  Don’t just take the money and run, so to speak.  Invest those blessings in others as well.  It’s easier to give blessings such as money or even your time when you realize that those blessings are God’s to begin with. It all comes from Him. Through our blessings, we need to become a blessing to others.

If you follow Jesus, no matter what the situation may look like, God’s blessings and abundance will soon follow you in amazing ways.  May those blessings be upon you and your families forevermore.

DH

“The mother of Jesus said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” – John 2:5

The wedding feast at Cana was the site of Jesus’ first recorded miracle. Jesus and His disciples were invited to a wedding, where His mother Mary was helping in the kitchen.  They ran out of wine for the feast, so Jesus told the servants to bring 6 water pots to Him.  Jesus then changed the water into wine, and not just any wine, but the best of the best.  The book of John says that Jesus performed this first sign and thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. This started His earthly ministry.

This beginning miracle was significant in many ways, but it remains relevant for us in today’s world. Jesus didn’t tell the servants to go out of try to find some wine quickly.  He also didn’t just make wine appear out of thin air, although He could have.  Instead, Jesus asked the servants to bring the most simple of items, clay pots of water.  Jesus then took the simple and made it into something amazing.

Jesus is looking to do that with us as well. When we accept Christ and His finished work on the cross, our souls are brought from death to life.  But that doesn’t mean that our physical lives are drastically changed.  That’s exactly what God wants.  There’s an old saying of “Get in where you fit in.”  You are made by the Creator of the Universe to fill a specific void.  You are a missing piece to someone’s puzzle and have certain traits and skills that can benefit them.  God made you to be you.  Simple, straightforward, you.  Realize that somebody needs you and what you have to offer.  What you take for granted is exactly what someone else is praying for.  You are a blessing waiting to happen.

Like the water in the earthen vessels, Jesus is just looking for the plain and simple you. No false fronts, no trying to make yourself into what you think is best, Jesus just wants you.  If you try to make yourself into something you are not, it is like telling God, “You messed up and don’t know what you’re doing. Now I’ve got to make me right.”  The fact is that nobody sees the big picture like God does.  We have a very limited view of things and can’t see what’s coming up next.  God sees it all and knows what we need better than we do.  We see the natural, but God sees the supernatural.

One thing to note is that those clay pots didn’t have anything else in there but water. No fillers, just water.  Our problem is that we try to add things to our lives to make them more “flavorful”, but what ends up happening is we focus more on the filler materials than on God.  We add so many fillers to ourselves until that’s all there is.  It’s too easy to make something you are passionate about into your idol, if you focus on that day and night to the detriment of everything else.  The bible says in everything you do, let it be done for the glory of God.  If you can’t dedicate what you are doing to God’s glory, you are wasting your time with it.  It’s nothing but a filler material just taking away your time and focus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, told the rest of the servants to, “Do whatever He tells you.” Those words ring true.  Jesus will be knocking on the door to your heart and pushing you into a specific direction.  Don’t wait for the time that you feel ready or good enough to fulfil your destiny.  When Jesus says you are ready, there’s nothing that can hold you back.  In the servants’ minds, the water pots were not ready to be drank.  The pots were for Jewish ceremonial washing and not necessarily for drinking, but Jesus said that they were ready.  He changed the water into wine; the average into the remarkable.  Jesus is looking to do the same with you and your life.

You may think you are just plain Jane, but Jesus Christ says you are so much more than that. He sees you not for what you are, but what you can become.  It’s time for you to see yourself as God sees you, not as the ordinary, but the extraordinary.

God’s blessings to you.

DH