Early in the week of Thanksgiving (2011) my attention became focused on Ephesians 5:20; “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” All things?… nothing excluded? I choked. How can I thank God for disease, mental illness, murder, rape, or any sinful act? I can be thankful in regards to Romans 8:28; knowing that God will cause all to work together for my good, but to be specifically grateful for ‘all things’ is a problem for me. If I say, “Thank You for all things.”, it would be nothing more than lip service to God and I don’t believe he would appreciate it. Later on in the week I heard thankfulness defined as an expression that comes from a spirit of gratitude within one‘s heart. “Ok, my Lord, no more lip service, I need knowledge and wisdom that will enable me to speak from my heart honestly to You and to others.”

       As I began to study, I found that Paul used ‘all things’ in 80 verses of his epistles. One of the verses I noted is Php 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” If I must thank Him for ‘all things’ then I can do ‘all things’ as well, right? Nonsense!

       In my opinion, the ‘all things’ Paul said we should give thanks for are the things that are consistently in harmony with all that he taught. Paul taught repentance, the pursuit of holiness, honesty, and faithfulness. He encouraged good works. As he proclaimed the message of mercy and grace, he demanded and expected Christians to demonstrate a Christlike discipline in their Christian walk. Moreover, I find from the Greek that; “… for all things unto God…” may be understood to mean “regarding all things Godly”. By no means am I a Greek scholar and God forbid that I should ever distort or twist the scripture to mean what I want it to mean. You be the judge.

We are much like David if sometimes
we have done things we would like to hide.
But how many of us are like the David
who sought God’s heart far and wide?

And we may be like Job as sometimes
in pain and agony we have cried.
But how many are as determined as he
no matter how they are tried?

Like Elijah, we may sometimes sit alone
under depression’s heavy veil.
But how many are as bold as he when he
confronted the prophets of Baal?

Perhaps we are like Thomas as upon
our common sense we would rely.
But how many would follow the Lord
even if it meant they were to die?

And who has never failed like Peter
when overcome with cowardly fear?
But how many then repent and hold
the Lord even more precious and dear?

Like Mary Magdalene, we may be
forgiven of many a sinful thing.
But how many will worship and love
as she did; the Lord, our Savior and King?

Richard L. Grimes

(ã 2000 Of Faith Professed , RLG)

The Monarch begins its life as a caterpillar, deriving its sustenance from a diet of milkweed. The milkweed not only provides nourishment, but also protection. The ingested milkweed causes its body fluids to become noxious tasting and toxic to its natural enemy, the bird. Birds simply will not eat them. When the caterpillar goes through its metamorphosis, the taste and toxicity of the milkweed remains and the Monarch retains milkweed in its diet. Should an unwary bird attack a Monarch they will become educated very quickly and will immediately release it and become programmed to avoid the Monarch in the future.

       Another butterfly, the Viceroy, is also avoided by birds. Naturalist tell us the Viceroy is perfectly edible, but their striking similarity to the Monarch causes the birds to avoid them as well.

       This time of the year in early fall the Monarch senses a call. When you are out and about watch and you will notice occasional flecks of orange and black against the backdrop of the sky. As you first notice the Monarch he may seem to be aimless in his flight. But continued observation will reveal his direction of flight to be southwest toward home. No Viceroys are to be observed making this trip. Though their mimicking ways have given them a measure of security and protection they do not sense the call to come home. Soon the Monarchs will all be gone. The Viceroy will be left behind to face winter’s cold killing blast. You see, in the final analysis, it what’s on the inside that counts. Are you a Monarch? Will you sense the call… the call to come home?

Sometimes we can wound others so deep that it nearly paralyzes them. Why is it as the body of Christ, we are designed to build each other up, but instead we so often tear each other down? Our words whether we realize it or not carry so much weight. Our tongue can imprison others or set them free. Our words can spawn creativity and joy, or cripple and destroy.

Maybe you have been critical of someone recently. Know that God is full of grace, and even though He has every right to be critical of you, He isn’t. He whispers loving, encouraging words into your ear and cheers you on. We (the body of Christ) are called to be His “workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10) created in Christ Jesus in order to build up the body in unity. 

Maybe you have been the victim of someone’s criticism. May you come to realize that it’s not their approval you truly seek, but God’s. Our identity is not found in what we do or don’t do, how we look or how we are perceived, or by what anyone says about us. The only voice we need to listen to is the voice that calls us His beloved child. Our identity is wrapped in Christ. There is no separating the two.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, either angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:38-39

When we find our identity in Christ, we realize that He, through the power of the Holy Spirit is the only one who is capable of admonishing us without hurting us. Lord, may we search for and find our identity in You. May we realize that it is by grace that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:5). And may we seek to restore each other in a spirit of gentleness, grace, and love.

It seems as though my days of seeing peaceful sunrises are a bit of a rarity now that I have two young, beautiful girls in my life (Lucy & Lily). Before having kids, living in Nashville, I used to greet each day with the sunrise. It was my time of peace, rest, and focus to start the day.  God revealed himself in such a real, dynamic way through the stillness of the morning. He didn’t need loud clanging of cymbals or a grand production to get my attention. He need only speak to me through the silence of the dawn. One particular morning as the sun shone extremely bright through our living room window, the Holy Spirit spoke to me a simple, yet very powerful phrase: “As sure as the sun rises, I am faithful.” He went on to reveal that we do not always see the sun rise, but that does not mean it did not rise. I am reminded of that phrase today sitting inside my office as it pours down rain.

Recently, events in the life of my family have been interesting to say the least. In the last 3 months, both of our cars broke down, I developed an infection in my leg, I had to take a week of IV antibiotics, I had some other tests done, and we had our second child. During this time, Candice and I have been exhausted. There have been many uncertainties about health, finances, and more. But the resounding truth in the midst of all the circumstances is that Christ Is Faithful. He is reminding me daily of His faithfulness. He’s making finances appear where there are no finances. He’s bringing aid, when we are weak. He brings wisdom, when we have none.

Maybe you are going through some downpours in your life right now. If you are facing troubles or trials, know that God is faithful and able. Maybe life seems to be one series of chaos after another. Know that He has not abandoned you. Maybe you didn’t catch the sunrise this morning; that does not mean it didn’t rise. God is here, with you, all around. He is greater than the sum of your mistakes, and He delights in being close with you. The scriptures are full of verses referring to how God takes delight in us. Zephaniah 3:17 & Psalm 147:11 to name a few.

“Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear” –Hosea 6:3

Do you ever find yourself living for others in the wrong way? I know I do from time to time. Small compromise by small compromise, I find myself making choices I wouldn’t normally make. It may be as simple as walking on eggshells around someone who is quick to erupt at you when you tell them the truth. Or maybe it’s as big as finding your whole identity in how others perceive you. Whatever your situation is, people pleasing can be a very dangerous business. And if you’re not careful, you may find yourself living to please everyone and actually pleasing no one including yourself. If we live as anything other than a living sacrifice to our God, then we find ourselves in the endless pursuit of peace and joy. And I mean endless, because it is just that, an endless pursuit that is never satisfied.

For Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:13

I believe this passage has a lot to say to us about our lives. If we look to anything this world has to offer for satisfaction, we may find temporary gratification, but we will again become thirsty. This kind of thirst leads us to unquenchable desires. However, if we find our purpose and meaning in the Author of Life, we will indeed find complete satisfaction. There is a paradox, however, in finding this meaningful kind of life.  Jesus describes it like this:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” – Matthew 16:24-25

In this paradox we see that a living sacrifice to our Creator actually creates within us true worship (Romans 12:1). And if we believe that our purpose in life is to bring God glory, then offering ourselves to Him in true worship is the most sensible, satisfying way to live. Some might dare to call that kind of living, eternal life.

It seems that one of the struggles that I have is to find out what it means to have one life and one God.  One life meaning that no matter where I am I want to be the same person.  One God meaning I want to keep God as my only god and not be distracted by making things more important than they should.

I have had the great experience of having a Christian family and parents that tried to model having one life and one God.  My church and my parents started by giving me rules that served as guidelines that I could live by.  Early on they were helpful, but as I got older and as culture changed those "guidelines" became more of a burden to keep.   It started in small things, like what time to be out at night.  Then it moved to what music should I listen to?  Can I watch an "R" rated movie? Speeding?  Can I, should I go to a Christian concert in a back of a bar?  As I became a pastor, the questions moved to what should or could apastor do?

On the flip side, to have One God was a place that I really thought I could really do a better job with.  After all, I only believe there is only One true God.   I found that I sang the songs and prayed the prayers to One God everyday!  So I was good on this.  Until one day my cousin backed into my 69' Buick Skylark that I just painted, or the time my friend sold "my car". I sold it to him for cheap to help them out and he sold it for a profit.  I love technology and love gadgets and sometimes I get carried away.  I never wanted to make those more important, but little by little I just did.  All of a sudden having One God was a little harder to do than I thought.  Luckily, God has a way of reminding me when I don't keep Him as my One God.  Truthfully, some times are harder than others to lay those "other gods" down.

 I wish I could say that I have it all figured out.  What I have figure out, though, is that I cannot be worried about what others think of me or what others think I should do.  Instead I am reminded what Matthew 5:13-16 says:

Salt and Light

 ¹³"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

 ^14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

         - Matthew 5:13-16  - The Message

The truth is that I am still working out what it means to be a follower of Christ in a changing world.  Yes, I have figured out what I should and shouldn't do in some areas for now.... but there are places that God is still showing me.   I don't want people to think that I have it figured out, but I do want the world to know that I want to be the same person everywhere I go.  The Steve you see at church is the same at home and at the ball game and at the Apple Store and at the auto show.  I want bring out the "God Colors" in my world.