Tag Archives: Living well

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Thanksgiving Part 3

Thankful for Our Circumstances

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Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Most people are fairly comfortable being thankful for God’s provisions and for the people in their lives.  While we may not feel that our circumstances are quite as perfect as those depicted in Norm Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want”, we can generally muster a fairly strong attitude of thankfulness.  Certainly when we feel that things are going relatively well, we are filled with thankfulness, but what about when the times are tough.  Thanksgiving of 1992 I woke up in the hospital after having an ERCP the previous day.  I was in pain and groggy; I barely remember celebrating the holiday, let alone being thankful. 

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Rest, Respite and Repose

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By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.  Genesis 2:2-4

It is clear in scripture that we are to live our lives to the fullest in service to our Lord and fellow man.  It is how we fulfill our responsibilities as good ambassadors, stewards and children of God.  We are called to run with endurance as one striving to win the prize.  Yet God also understands how He designed us and that part of living well is rest, respite and repose.  In one sense these are all synonyms as reflected by the definitions of rest that I have found.  However, they each carry a slightly different connotation.

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Faithful Service

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As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10

We are a soccer family.  My wife was a soccer manager in college; our daughters started playing in elementary school and continue to play, our younger daughter met her husband through soccer; and our grandsons have recently started playing.  Christine and Corey love to play defense on the soccer field.  Their motto is: “forwards win games; defensive players win championships”.   The point is that the players in the background preventing the other team from scoring are as important as those scoring the goals.  It takes the whole team…not just the ones in the limelight.  It’s like that in the church body as well.

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Dying With Dignity

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For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.   Romans 8:5-9

When I was in college, I took a chapel class that discussed controversial social issues.  Two of those were suicide and euthanasia.   Since my time in college and in the context of chronic illness, both of these choices have been gaining acceptance in our culture.  The basic premise in their justification is that the person dying is ending their life with greater dignity and grace.   To be sure, the aging process and health concerns such as dementia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, cancer, etc. often bring on many indignities before finally ending life.  However, to take matters into our own hands rather than relying on God’s timing is willful and contrary to God’s precepts.  Rather than providing dignified death, it is either giving up or a defiant act in that it denies God’s goodness, wisdom, love and purposes.  A death that is truly dignified is much more graceful and determined than suicide or euthanasia.

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Altered Plans

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The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

This week, my family and I are visiting my mother-in-law and other family members in New England.  With seven people the dates and travel plans had to be carefully coordinated around work, new jobs, the school calendar, etc.  The activities are more loosely planned, but planned to some extent prior to arrival.  My older grandson and I drove up first and spent a day at the beach as planned.  That evening, we met my wife at the airport.  The plan for the following day was for the three of us to return to the beach for a day of sun and fun.  We got up early and left for the beach, found a spot, and proceded to the water.  After a short time our grandson got cold and decided that he wanted to climb on the rocks.  My wife went with him while I went back to our blanket and chairs.  A few minutes later my grandson came to me with a somber look and said “Grammy needs you.  She’s hurt.” 

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Pure Delight

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“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:8

Sunday morning I was reading Psalm 40 and verse eight jumped out at me.  It says:  “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  I had to ask myself if doing God’s will was truly my delight or if I have allowed distractions to keep me from true joy.  Not only that, but the word delight has been on my mind since then.  It’s not a word that I hear a lot these days.  When I looked up the definition, the definitions of both the verb and the known had a modifier.  It doesn’t mean to please or pleasure, but it said “to please greatly” or “great pleasure”.  Merriam-Webster adds that an archaic definition is “the power of affording pleasure”.

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Green With Envy

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“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”  James 3:14-16

For the first few years of our marriage, my wife and I lived on Lookout Mountain.  I loved the view that the mountain provided and the drive off of it was always beautiful.  When storms rolled in, they might be above you, below you or surrounding you.  The occasional snow storm added winter beauty, but ice storms made the mountain sparkle.  My absolute favorite was the fog.  I have never figured out the attraction, but I always loved it when the fog rolled in.  Since we “lived in the clouds” it was rather frequent.  However, one of the down sides of living there was the way it hampered contentment. 

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Looking Beyond Our Own Interests

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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:3-4

I love our church body, our pastors and staff.  There is a genuine desire to faithfully teach the word of God and to encourage godly living.   That said, I do find holiday services to be a bit frustrating.  As a Christian, I come to church to meet God through worship and instruction and feel short changed when a significant portion of the service is spent on special numbers by the choir, solos, and dramatic performances.  I prefer to interact with God rather be entertained.  This past Sunday I was really struggling with this as we celebrated Easter.  Thankfully, God did not allow me to wallow long before He started to convict me to look at the broader picture. 

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Savior And Lord

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Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  Colossians 3:23-24

Ever since I was a child, I have hated conflict of any kind.  Even though I know that it is not real, conflict in a movie or TV drama can cause me to pace or stress eat.  Even a useful debate causes stress.  That does not mean that I do not engage when I perceive the need, but even when I am firm in my conviction, I do not enjoy the process.  However, there are two conflicts in which I engage on a daily basis.  The first battlefield is my health.  While I do my best to appease my health issues and mitigate my symptoms, there are times when they interfere with my life on some level or severely hamper my ability to function for a period of time.  When I find I can’t win the battle, I am forced to retreat and let the symptoms run their course allowing Christ’s grace to be sufficient.  As godly as that may sound it’s not easily achieved because the other war that I’m fighting is my nature to sin. 

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Where is Your Focus?

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“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Colossians 3:1-3

In high school, I was a member of the Speech Club.  After a few competitions, one realized that it was much easier to evoke fear, anger and sorrow than happiness.   Consequently, with a bit of skill and practice it was fairly easy to do well with darker prose and drama.  However, anyone choosing comedy had to really work to get the judges attention quickly and employ good timing to score well.  This is true in life also.  Because of our sinful nature, our tendency is toward fear, anger and sorrow rather than joy.  As a result, we tend to focus on our problems and losses rather than what God is accomplishing through them and looking to Him for sustaining grace.  Further, we often get so caught up in daily life that we neglect our relationship with God.  That’s why Paul encourages the Colossians, the Romans and the Philippians to focus on “the things above” rather than our earthly circumstances.

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