His Only Son!

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Easter comes once a year – even if we should celebrate Easter every Sunday or even every day. Yet – we don’t have to limit our joy to that one day – do we? If your family is like mine – when we gather for Easter – for the family gathering – we usually end up talking about life and the blessings of that life. It is always a touching time – and watching our family age before our eyes – year after year. It brings a nostalgic note too. Listening to what the girls have shared over the years and now what the grandchildren will share has been and is a blessing. We are always thankful for the way God touches our lives and the joy we feel being together.

I’m the crier in the family (one daughter is starting to show my emotions as well). An example of my inability to hold back my tears can be seen in most any family gathering. I remember at a special birthday for my wife in recent years – as others were sharing – I tried to share my heart and the tears flowed. Tears will flow for most any reason from my eyes. I will shed tears when I watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the 200^th time – and even while watching certain episodes of The Andy Griffith Show – tears will flow.

Easter – 4th of July – Birthdays – Thanksgiving – Christmas – are all family time for our family – and we will gather once again – the Lord willing. Holidays and special days are especially hard for me now that mom and dad have gone to be with Jesus – along with my father & mother-in-law. Our parents loved the holidays and family times. We must keep making them special for ur children and grands.

Why Do We Follow Jesus?

Matthew 4:20

At once they left their nets and followed him.

Why do we do what we do in life? Often our answer would include our learning or life’s experiences. We follow a certain team – often because a parent did or our friends do or because we went to a game and a player was nice to us. We all have our own experiences. I have a friend who is a lifelong Yankees’ fan and if you asked him – he would tell you of his life’s experiences.

Why do we drive a certain make or model of vehicle? Again – it is often from our learned behavior (our parents were Ford people) or personal experience (I’ve always had a Honda and they never failed me). Same used to be why we used certain gas (my parents always used Shell gas – so I do).

We do a lot in life because of some learned behavior or some personal experience. We tend to be creatures of habit. Do we have a favorite restaurant? Do we tend to watch certain TV shows – even the same ones over and over (did someone say The Andy Griffith Show)?

The Importance of Seeing Clearly

Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Seeing clearly is important. I’m finding that – the older I get – the more light I need to see. For instance – I used to be able to see things in the dark – now I need some – maybe even a lot of light – in order to see. Like my iPad – it gets the brightness turned up to max when I preach without my glasses or even with them these days – it really helps. Light helps us see things.

Seeing clearly is important. My wife did some remodeling of our home and one of the things she did was – she had us install new LED lights throughout the house. With less wattage used – the brightness has improved – and we can see better. We had to return some bulbs because the same wattage was too much in some rooms. Speaking of seeing clearly – two new mirrors and better lighting in the master bathroom shows way too many wrinkles on my face – just saying! I was wondering why we had a picture of my father in the bathroom when looking into the mirror.

Loving God

Luke 14:26

If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. NLT

This is a hard passage to understand. In the NIV it reads this way: Luke 14:26 – If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. Either reading is tough.

I have a wife and three daughters and I never imagined I could love anyone more than these four – that was until my seven grandchildren came along. I have a game I play with one granddaughter. I tell her I love her. She tells me she loves me. I say I love her more. She says she loves me 100 times more. I say I love her 1000 times more. And we keep going until she says something like – I love you infinity times more and I say – you win. We hug and laugh.

We’re a tight family – and we miss our parents greatly (yesterday was the six anniversary of my wife’s father’s passing). Family is very important to us. Yet here is the Bible – even the words of Jesus Himself – telling us that our love for family needs to be so much less than our love for Him – that it is almost like we hate them in comparison.

Lent 2021 – Our Advocate

1 John 2:1

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

One of my favorite shows – and I don’t watch a lot of TV other than sports – news – and some old shows – is Blue Bloods. Aside from the lead actor and one of my favorites – Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan – I appreciate the work that Bridget Moynahan does as Erin Reagan. I like police shows and courtroom shows (I grew up watching Raymond Burr on Perry Mason).

Court scenes are often very moving. The tension between the prosecution and the defense is often very subtle and at times very upfront. On a recent show Erin’s ex-husband was the defense while Erin represented the state – the prosecution. It was interesting watching the two lawyers and the judge interact.

Having someone to speak up for you in court is so important. At times that will be your lawyer – your advocate. At times that might be a witness – a friend or someone who observed what really happened. Having an advocate in court is important. An advocate is defined online on the Merriam-Webster website as – one who pleads the cause of another; specifically: one who pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.