My assignment was clear: completely renovate our outdated bathroom during my Christmas vacation. Its décor was left over from the 1990’s. The flooring had yellowed. The walls needed fresh paint. Nails had popped through the drywall and in general it was looking old and tired. It was time to, “Forget the former….” (Isaiah 43:18) The materials were purchased and the work began. The floor would be covered with a new material, the walls would receive a wainscoting and the paint would be an updated color. “See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:19) The change was incredible and when finished my wife exclaimed, “It’s a complete transformation!”
And then I thought about another verse in Isaiah 43 that says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgression, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” The old was gone and the new had come. Transformation is the process that you and I participate with Holy Spirit in everyday of our lives. Transformation is a visible picture of redemptions work in our hearts, working its way outward to effect our speech and even our outward appearance. I pray that transformation is an ongoing, continual process for you in 2017 as the former is forgotten.
Weariness. This morning Mary and I prayed together about “a spirit of weariness.” We felt it at different times throughout the year of 2016. There were multiple illnesses we were battling. There were major concerns in our family with aging parents. There were emotional and spiritual attacks that seemed to come out of nowhere. Of course the elections were within themselves a whole new level of campaign weariness and continually planting seeds that did not appear to take root. It’s a bit hard to describe or put our finger on any one thing, but all together they spelled: W E A R I N E S S.
Press on. 2017 is a whole new opportunity. No matter what is at the root of your weariness, do not give up!
Listening to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast about the Golden Rule was intriguing to me. The “expert” went on and on about this “rule” as it crossed cultures and religions and apparently she even gives speeches on the subject. But, the truly interesting part was that during the time I was listening to the segment, I never heard the Author mentioned, credited or cited: Jesus. Matthew 7:12 records it, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
I had spent the last two summers living at the beach in Delaware and found a girlfriend from New Jersey. Somewhere in our second summer together I discovered that she was not just another girl, but in my mind, THE girl. There was this one big, glaring issue however: she kept trying to “witness” to me and according to her I needed to “be saved.” I had no idea how to answer her questions about the second coming of Christ or exactly what salvation even meant. “Being saved” was something most of us teenage guys just weren’t looking for. My tactic became asking her her thoughts of those impossible questions and then simply agreeing. It worked in part.
Jesus was the Perfect Christmas gift that December of 1971. I did bow my knee. I prayed that prayer at the end of the little tract and Christmas with Christ took on a whole new meaning. Has Christmas come into your heart?
Those of us who fly tens of thousands of miles a year barely endure the whole experience. We’ve lost our youthful vigor when it comes to flying. It has become something we tolerate rather than embrace with excitement.
can see everything…it’s getting smaller down there…I love flying!”
Breakthrough . . . after twenty-five years of praying.
We started writing about, training counselors and actually mentoring couples in pre- and postmarital counseling in 1989. Our primary goal as stated in our book, Called Together, Asks the Difficult Questions that all Couples Must Answer Before and After They say “I Do,” was to better prepare couples before marriage and follow-up with them after marriage using this book as a resource in the hands of trained counselors. The ultimate goal of accomplishing this was to have an effect upon the divorce rate of our day. We longed for, worked toward and prayed to see it lowered.
A CEO was once asked what made him so successful. He replied, “Good decisions.” “How, then, do you make good decisions?” was the follow-up question. His reply was given in one word, “Experience.” “And how do you get experience?” was the final question. The CEO provided a two-word response, “Bad decisions.”
I read once that bad decisions are often the result of insufficient knowledge. How about you, what are you learning from your bad decisions?
Our marriage either promotes security or insecurity. Most marriage partners are looking for security from their spouse because it’s a need we all pursue. When security is present in a marriage relationship, you will also find honor, trust, love and respect. Where there is insecurity, most likely honor and trust are missing or at the least, threatened.
When we honor and respect someone we view him or her as better than ourselves in order to serve them without expectation. Immaturity expects a return, i.e., “I do this; therefore, you do that.” But when we choose to honor and respect someone because we are married to him or her and we love him or her, security will grow within our relationship. As security grows, intimacy grows and as intimacy grows so will a healthy sex life.
Let’s use what has happened in our nation to mature, to pursue loving others and to ask God for His change to take place in every one of our lives. Jesus is the reconciler, it’s what He does and He uses us to help bring reconciliation. Remember who paid the highest price, and proclaim His love to this nation. Reach out to the hurting all around you and share about the One who longs to heal their hurts, disappointments and fears.
Steve Prokopchak 