LOVE FIRST…LOVE MOST

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

It was the worst Monday Moaning of my life (at least at that time).

I felt sorry for myself.

[Just for the record, Monday Moaning is usually self-focused.]

I was so down. Monday Moaning down in the depths of the sea down. Rock bottom down.

Down in the dumps. Down and out. Down for good. Down for the count. Down the drain. Down and done.

Talking to myself and feeling low. Sometimes I’d like to quit. Nothing ever seems to fit.

My thoughts piled up the negatives. [That is another prevalent trait of Monday Moaning.]

Surely, you have been to this place.

Disliked. Dismay. Disgust. Discouragement. Despair. Depression.

Pity Party. Blame Game. Excuses. Conflicts. Complaints. Questions.

I sat in my office and cried. 

My only word for God was “Why?”

I desired to lead a church to express love for others in an inclusive manner regardless of racial, social, or cultural differences. I underestimated the history behind that challenge.

“All conflict is caused by unmet or unrealistic expectations” (James 4:1). *[Keep this one on file for a future Monday Moaning.]

Anonymous hate letters included various fonts and four-lettered words. The local chapter of the KKK felt the need to send their greetings. There was a handful of late-night calls with death threats to my wife and children. No kidding. No exaggeration.

Lies, accusations, and rumors swept through the membership list like a wildfire.

A woman screamed at me in Walmart that I ruined her life. One man literally tried to run me over at the supermarket with a shopping cart. Another man chose the church parking lot to yell his expletive version of “I hate you!”

None of that was as frightening as the bullet that crashed through our patio glass door near where my toddler son was playing. (I think they were shooting at the dog).

One Sunday as I stood in the pulpit to teach God’s Word, more than half of the congregation rose to their feet in a mass protest exodus. The city paper even notified me of plans to publish an expose on why so many people were leaving our church.

I felt like the statue for the pigeons at the county courthouse.

There you have it in a nutshell.

I sat in my upstairs office alone and unhappy. There was a pity party going on, just no cake. I stared at the ceiling. I buried my head into my hands. My cries were muffled.

My thoughts were in a tussle for ‘king of the mountain.’ Fear and Anxiety dominated one side of the mental mountain, while Anger and Criticism were tag-team partners for the other side.

I shouted out to no one there.

“Why is this happening to me? Why? Why?”

It seems easier to shout that question to ourselves or to others as if God does not hear us.

God does not always tell us why certain bad things happen. He just promises He will turn it all out for our good.

However, in this case, God did answer my inquiry for some reason this particular Monday Moaning.

His words were audible to my heart. What did God sound like? This time His voice sounded like my lawyer friend in a closing argument to a befuddled jury.

“You told Me you wanted to be more like Jesus. Well, Jesus loved His enemies, so I gave you some real enemies. These people hate you; so, learn to love them.”

I had forgotten the most important thing in life. Love God and Love Others.

That seems to be an even bigger problem on Monday Moaning.

I was running in circles chasing the wind in the wrong direction, spiritually disoriented. I failed to pay attention to the directions in my #1 Textbook.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (#1 Textbook).

How? Imitate God’s love.

“God showed His great love for us while we were still enemies, when Christ died on the cross to bring us side by side with God” (Romans 5:8).

To make enemies into friends requires forgiveness, which is the hardest, but greatest, demonstration of God’s love.

How do we love our enemies first and most? It starts with forgiveness. All forgiveness comes from the heart of God, which should cascade through us to others.

God lives in us to lead us to others He intends to love and forgive through us. “Forgive others in the same manner God has forgiven you” (#1 Textbook).

As I sat in my study bemoaning my misfortune inflicted by the hatred of enemies, I needed to be reminded of the most important thing in life. We love God by loving others, especially enemies.

It is an amazing thing when you pay attention to your purpose in life. It affects mood and motivation. It sharpens focus and strengthens faith.

This I call to mind (pay attention) and therefore I have hope (#1 Textbook).

From that moment on, my attitude changed; so did my actions.

I had not lost; I was about to win.

Love forgives first and forgives most. It eliminates the offense from the recycle setting in one’s mind and it releases the offender from any and all retribution. Clean record. No grudges. No bitterness.

Forgiveness treats enemies as if they never hurt you or hated you, even when they still do.

What? That’s impossible!

Why would we want to let the other person off the hook without the hate of revenge and the hurt of retribution? We don’t. God does!

At some point in life, every one of us will be given the opportunity to love those who have offended us. They might criticize, gossip, slander. Those who hurt us might even hate us. At their worst, they still need forgiveness.

Just like you and I need forgiveness, we need to forgive others.

That unforgiven person might be a spouse, parent, family member, enemy, or even yourself. Scripture told us thousands of years ago what science has recently discovered. Unforgiveness and bitterness decrease bone density and joy capacity.

Right now is a great time to turn the page and start a new chapter in your life.

Do you need to hear God’s voice? Listen. “LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (#1 Textbook).

LOVE FORGIVES FIRST before the enemy ever says he or she is sorry…even if they say they are NOT sorry. Love is the first to set aside every difference and all divisions.

LOVE FORGIVES MOST by being unilateral, all-inclusive, undeserved, unconditional, and unlimited in its scope. Forgiveness is Free. Full. Forever.

Forgive first. Forgive most. You will be healthier and happier.

Oh, happy day
Oh, happy day
When Jesus washed
Oh, when He washed
When Jesus washed
He washed my sins away
Oh, happy day

He taught me how
To watch and fight and pray
Watch and pray
And live rejoicing every day
Every day

Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day)
Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day)
When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed)
Oh, when He washed (When Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed)
He washed my sins away (Oh, happy day)
Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day)

Oh, Happy Day! (Edwin Hawkins)

WINSDAY WISDOM 211 STUCK IN SPIRO MUD…AGAIN

Have you ever felt stuck emotionally? Spiritually Stuck? You are not alone.

It has some similarities to getting your car stuck in the mud. That can be a very frustrating experience. Even embarrassing. Trust me.

I love the sounds of a rainy day. Lots of rain can soften the ground. That is not a good time to drive a car through the mud. There is always a danger of getting stuck.

Stuck. Immoveable. Difficult to dislodge. Not going anywhere.

Long before my stuck on the beach sand fiasco, my car got stuck in the mud three times in two weeks!

I know what you want to ask me. Are you an idiot? Already heard that one. I was a teenager, so the answer is a given.

The first incident was at our house. Lots of rain for days. I planned to go out with friends that evening. Two visitor vehicles were parked behind my car in the driveway.

I was not patient. I was a teenager. I did not ask for help. I was a teenager. I decided to back up across the wet yard to get to the main road. I was a teenager.

The car quickly bogged down. I tried to extricate it from the mud. My spinning tires only sunk the wheels lower into the wet ruts. The noise alerted those inside.

My dad and uncle stepped out into the rain to check on me. Uncle Derwin was “aghast.” After a few questions regarding why I did not ask for someone to move the other vehicles or ask for help, my dad and uncle began the process of freeing my car from the mud pit.

They were covered in mud, head and clothes soaked from the rain. Both worked hard. Thankfully, Uncle Derwin lessened the tension with his sarcastic humor. Otherwise, I would have been grounded and my car would have stayed in the mud until the following day.

Only now do I fully appreciate the parental challenges of helping a teenager through a series of unnecessary crises.

Two days later amidst more rain, I backed my car out of the driveway next to the highway. I pulled along the shoulder, probably a little too close to the drainage ditch.

Our house abutted the main highway through our little town. A large grass-covered drainage ditch separated our front yard from the road.

As I slowly accelerated to move across the muddy shoulder, my car just slid sideways into the ditch. Of course, I made matters worse by trying to drive the car out of the ditch. The tires dug in deep.

Dad came to the rescue again. I do not remember him even asking how this happened. He just shook his head and told me to get out of the car. He took over the operation as he began to rock the car forward and back to get some traction.

Now this was embarrassing. I was a teenager. My car is stuck in a ditch in front of our house. Every passerby in town saw it and reported it to the Spiro Graphic, as well as the Bulldog High School rumor mill.

My best friend drove by and stopped on the shoulder. Mike had the newest and best car in town. A bright red Torino coupe, sports edition. Black leather roof with black interior. He was rightly proud of it. I was proud to be his friend and ride in the sweet machine with the modern 8-track stereo. It was the cutting-edge of music technology. (Google it.)

As I was explaining my situation to my laughing friend, Dad got the car moving…in reverse. The stuck car gained traction and speed as it began to climb the side of the ditch. Dad was coming out fast.

Mike’s eyes widened in fear. My look was even more desperate. I panicked. My car was about to crash into the back of Mike’s car. I did not think Dad noticed the arrival of the red automobile parked on the shoulder. Collision imminent.

We both yelled and jumped up against the back bumper of Mike’s car to cushion the impact. Mike valued his car. I valued our friendship. I was taking one for the team. Just not sure how that was going to be a buffer for the collision.

The ditched car raced backwards to the highway shoulder and Dad slammed on the breaks. There was a bumper…two sets of legs…and another bumper. No spaces.

Dad had seen Mike’s car. Our jumping in between the cars frightened him a bit. I think Dad called us ‘idiots.’ Only later did I realize how close I came to the end of any future participation in sports. Both legs would have been crushed. Mike would have become Dr. Ironsides.

Mike sped off without saying goodbye.

What was I thinking? I was a teenager.

It takes a few more years before guy teenagers realize they even have a mind. One of the primary reasons for a girl to marry a guy is so he can have someone to think for him.

God just made it that way. The first Adam said it long before Jerry Macguire’s girlfriend said it in the movie. “You complete me.”

The third incident happened the following weekend. It was more damaging and more embarrassing. I was still a teenager. An experienced stuck-in-the-mud teenager.

I agreed to babysit my two ‘overly competitive brothers’ while my parents went out to eat with friends in the nearby city of Ft. Smith. I say I agreed, but I doubt I had a choice. My parents said they would be back in time for me to meet my friends in Ft. Smith for a movie.

The time kept ticking away. Perhaps the raging storm might have delayed them. No excuse.

I was not patient. I was a teenager who needed to get to the movie.

As a dad and grandfather, I am quick to teach that “Patience is waiting with a smile.”

I doubt that I was smiling at the rainy conditions, or my brothers’ attempts to destroy the house beyond recognition.

My brothers were doing their typically annoying things. Bill wrestling Joe into a takedown hold. Only escape, “Say you are a big baby.” After much effort and energy were exerted, Joe would finally relent.

Bill: “Say you are a big baby.”  Joe: “Ok. YOU are a big baby!”

The next sounds were wails of more torture. It was always a classic contest of two strong wills. The comedic youngest brother, Joe, refused to give up, while Bill laid the groundwork for his post-graduate thesis, “The Art of Taking Agitation and Aggravation to a Higher Level.” The university awarded him a doctorate.

I stood at the door staring at the headlights passing by our house. I was anxious and probably a little angry. Finally, the family car pulled into our driveway,

I ran through the wet grass to hop into my car. It would have been nice to run to my parent’s car with an umbrella for Mom. I was a teenager. As we passed in the yard, Mom asked if the boys were okay. I yelled that one was a big baby and the other was in a headlock.

The rain was pounding hard. My heart was pounding harder. I was in a hurry. As I exited our town, I accelerated down the straightaway. My car hydroplaned.

Hydroplane–to slide uncontrollably along the wet surface of the road. The tires lose traction. The car slides on a thin layer of water. Car surfing. It is dangerous.

I lost all control of the car. I was just along for the ride. I began to slide off the road.

MY CAR ROLLED INTO THE CITY LAKE.

That’s correct. The city lake. My car swerved off the highway, down the incline, through the weeds, and into the edge of the water. My car was partially submerged and stuck in the city lake.

I was so confused I could not even draw a blank. Fortunately, my rescue did not require a lifeboat. I waded through waist-deep water and rain-soaked weeds. My shoes sank into the muddy turf. I waved down a passing car.

Embarrassing? This was much more of an attention getter than my previous highway blunder. There were not a lot of really important things that happened in our town. This spectacle was better than the double feature at the drive-in.

I think the whole city showed up…in the pouring rain. I can still see them lined up along the highway, soaked, pointing at the lake.

There is something to be said about a time when there were no camera-equipped iPhones. The only social media we knew was the town gossip shared at the beauty parlor or barber shop.

Someone called Dad who had to call a wrecker service. The wheels were in the water and the A-frame was broken.

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again. —Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain (The Cascades or Ricky Nelson’s version)

Just let me be alone. How many times do I have to say, “I don’t know what happened. I was driving east, and my car went south. Next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the lake.“

My driving reputation took another hit. I was the talk-of-the-town, until our Barney Fife deputy backed his patrol car through the window of Jack Briley’s coffee shop.

For years, I had to drive by our city lake…even after I was no longer a teenager.

Getting stuck is not a thrill. Driving into a lake is not a life highlight. It can be stressful and exasperating. I hope you have not been there.

More likely than not, you can identify with the times when I felt trapped in a spiritual rut. Have you been there?

The world-wide evangelist, Billy Graham, stated, “It is not uncommon to go through a dry spell—a period of time when you are just trying to make it through the day and don’t have the energy, mental capacity, or interest in spiritual things that matter.”

The dictionary definition of an emotional rut is “something which has become dull, dry, or unproductive, but difficult to change.” If you are in a spiritual rut right now, you do not need a description; you know the feeling.

Life stuck in circumstances. Thoughts stuck on repeat. Spinning your spiritual wheels and going nowhere fast. Digging deeper ruts of discouragement. Sinking into apathy and despair.

Perhaps you are no longer living in the beautiful technicolor of life. You are stuck in the dull black and white version. Your spiritual life feels routinely blah. It often appears hopeless of recovery. Do not settle for spiritual mediocrity.

Find hope in the truth that God pursues you all the days of your life, even when you are not running after Him (#1 Textbook). God pursues you as if you are the only sheep in His flock (#1 Textbook).

God desires to deepen His loving relationship with you. Spiritual ruts are not a deterrent to Him. Even if this is not your first time stuck in some spiritual mud.

Spiritual stagnation can be as detrimental to your emotional well-being as spiritual drifting. This is not just a teenager thing. The most spiritual among us battle sliding into a spiritual rut. Biblical heroes of faith struggled.

Feelings can be as fickle as a teenager’s reasoning. You might need to get out of your “Autopilot” setting. It might help to actually ‘take a walk’ or ‘laugh’ a little.

Our Heavenly Father encourages us to “walk in love.” Walking is a simple action, but often complex in nature. Walking implies (1) Purpose, (2) Direction, and (3) Progress.

Go for a little spiritual progress today. Take a baby step. Read something from the #1 Textbook. Even if you do not “feel” like it. One suggestion is read Psalm 27 and preach to yourself the final verses. It will do your heart good.

Read Psalm 42. “Do not be discouraged. Hope in God.” When you are spiritually stuck, you need Hope. Keep praying that last verse.

Another suggestion is Psalm 19. God speaks to us through:

(1) the Skies (vs. 1-6)

(2) the Scriptures (vs. 7-11)

(3) our Soul (vs. 12-14).

God’s creation is a musical rhapsody preaching to us, both day and night, about the greatness and goodness of God. The cosmic music melody surrounds us whether we are sailing the smooth seas or stuck in the mud. It draws your mind and heart out of the spiritual rut of self-centeredness.

Go calm your soul with a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Lose yourself in the awesome magnitude and magnificence of the stars.

Look at the skies again and go look at the Scriptures again.

God’s Word is personal. It claims to be able to “revive the soul” and make the foolish-like-a teenager into a “wise person.” It can transform our lives in any situation, from mountain-top highs to spiritual ruts. God’s Word connects you to Hope. Give it a try.

Ask the Lord for help. Get out of the driver’s seat. Your Heavenly Father knows how to drive through your circumstances. Listen to God. Talk to God. You will start moving again, even if it starts slowly.

And before you get to moving on down the road, let me pass on another driving tip from my dad after another rescue mission for a stranded teenage son who ran out of gas.

“It costs the same to fill up the top half of the gas tank as the bottom half.”

Now that is some real WINSDAY WISDOM!

WINSDAY WISDOM 212

LOVE is the giving up of oneself as a sacrifice for the true good of someone else.

There is a spiritual danger that we become so familiar with the churchy words that we treat the cross as some history lesson or religious relic or holiday. The cross means much more than just salvation from hell and the hope of heaven. That is wonderful, but it is much more. The cross of Christ is the very power of God to change everything in your life.

When Christ died on the cross for sinners, he not only stood in my place, doing what I never could do (which is forgive my sin), but he also showed me and empowered me to execute/put to death my self-centered life to live a new Christ-centered life.

Jesus lives in me to lead me to others He intends to love first and love most through me.

The description of the most significant death in human history  is expressed in essentially brief words:  “There they crucified Him.” 

“At the place called Golgotha (the Skull), There they crucified Him.” (John 19:18)

The historical event is based on eyewitness testimony that was thoroughly researched by people like doctor Luke who interviewed eyewitnesses. Matthew, Mark, and John had some degree of personal witness to the event. The entire account is inspired by the God Himself who hung on that cross. 

At best, the description of it is restrained, even in its brutality, a restraint that is both purposeful and perfect.  It is given to us in a very simplistic manner, not to invoke sympathy, but to help us to understand the certainty of our faith.

The death of Jesus was real but unusual, much like His life. There was a strange coalition of haters who desired Jesus’ death. But Jesus was not a helpless victim; He was not overwhelmed by evil men or cruel circumstances. His own words described this excruciating death as a necessity. “I willingly lay down My life.” 

The gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection give us historical facts of what happened, but what does it mean?  What does it matter to our lives? 

The gospel accounts present the revelation of Jesus’ divine identity and mission. His name is Jesus, which means, “God saves.”  His teaching climaxed with the question to his followers. “Who do you say that I am?” 

When they answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus responded, “God revealed that to you.” He began to explain to them it was a divine necessity for Him to go to Jerusalem, where He would be betrayed and condemned by the religious leaders and then handed over to the ungodly rulers. He prophesied He would be mocked, scourged, beaten, and then killed, murdered by execution, but rise again to life three days later.

Jesus explained His death would change everything.

Jesus went face to face with hell, our hell, so that we might go face to face with heaven. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus looked at the anguish, agony, alienation and aloneness of what it meant to drink the cup of God’s wrath against our sin and our wickedness. Jesus drank the cup and drained it so that we might be able to forever drink only from the cup of God’s blessings and still never be able to drain it. 

The soldiers spit on Him as they blindfolded Him and hit Him with their fists. Jesus was scourged, whipped. The pieces of the strands of the whip had sharp objects to dig into the skin and literally rip flesh and internal organs.

The early church leaders said the Romans stripped Jesus and tied Him to a column with His back exposed. Six specialists who were professionals at inflicting pain, scourged Him. The first two took long rods of thorns and cut His back, tearing away the flesh. They continued until they were tired. The next two used whips made with long ropes, beating Jesus until they tired. Two more torture specialists used something like chains to whip Jesus. Then there was another round of beating, ripping out the flesh.

Nobody knows how many stripes, wounds, or amount of skin was torn away. Some disciples estimated several hundred times. One follower described it in the thousands and one early church leader said five thousand. To hit God once is incredible.

God’s Word just says Jesus was scourged. He took it without a word because He preferred to have His flesh ripped off than lose your soul to hell.  

Jesus was left profusely bleeding, badly bruised, so lacerated, so cut up that He no longer looked like a man.

When Pilate said, “Behold, the Man!” he really did not understand what he was saying. This is THE Man. THE Man who perfectly showed how God planned for every man to live…loving God with all his heart and loving others as himself.

The Roman soldiers dishonored Jesus with a mock coronation, They placed a faded out scarlet robe on His back, and pushed a crown of thorns down on His head. They presented Him with a reed for a scepter before taking turns pounding the thorns deeper into his skull.

Each one of the six hundred guard detail bowed down in mock adoration with the greeting, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They rose to their feet and spit in His face. Six hundred.

The innocent Jesus was treated like a condemned criminal deserved to be treated. The guard escort led him and two condemned terrorists through the streets to a hill outside of the city of Jerusalem.

The hill’s Hebrew name was Golgotha.  In Latin, it was called Calvary. 

The word excruciating is the same root word for the word crucifixion. The painful torture was beyond human comprehension. They offered Jesus a medicated anesthetic which He refused. He would go through this clear-minded and feel all the pain due us. He was the Innocent One being treated as if He were a criminal, as if He had lived your life or mine. 

They crucified Jesus.

The Almighty God was treated as if He were powerless.

The Romans had perfected this torture. They regularly used it as an open example against insurrectionists. They made a public spectacle of executing terrorists. Crucifixions were not rare during that time. It had become so commonplace that people might gawk as they walked by, much like driving by a serious wreck where drivers slow down to see something as they continue on their way.  

However, the only individual who ever suffered this way and this much was the only one who never deserved it. Jesus suffered hell for all of us.

They stripped Jesus naked as part of the humiliation and public shame. The soldiers laid Him down on His back along the cross beam where they would drive a five or seven inch stake or nail into the wrist and then into the other wrist. Strapped to that crossbar, they would place it on the upright post and drop Him into place. They would cross His legs and drive another stake or two stakes in just above the ankles…so that He would literally be hanging by those two stakes on the wrists, with nothing to fall down upon except that stake between His ankles. 

The first recorded words of Jesus on the cross were, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.” 

This was a ghastly, horrible death. The body was forced into unnatural positions to contribute to the intensified, increased pain. The arteries would swell, causing the head to throb. The muscles would ache and cramp. There would be a burning thirst in the throat walls that became intolerable. 

As the arms fatigued, the muscles knotted up. The lacerated flesh rubbed up against the splinters of the rough wood. Crucifixion was not designed to be a quick death; it was to be an agonizing torture. It was all designed to inflict the greatest amount of humiliation and pain possible. 

Crucifixion was considered the cruelest, most painful, most degrading form of punishment ever conceived by humans.

The most excruciating aspect was the struggle to breathe. The person on the cross desperately needed to breathe but did not have the strength necessary to gain a brief breath. When you cannot breathe, the pressure goes to crush your lungs. You fight to strain for the strength to gasp for air.  Every breath was based on the worth of the effort to delay the inevitable.

But breathing to survive is a natural instinct. The body, by its very nature, struggles. Even in drowning or waterboarding, one struggles for one more breath. Fluids gather around the sac of the heart as the compressed heart struggles to pump the thickening blood.  With every pressured filled gasp for oxygen and every painful exhale, the body gets weaker, and the pain becomes greater.

I do not want to make more of the physical suffering than what the Bible does, because that was not the main point of this most important humanly unbearable event in history.

God chose not to emphasize the physical torture. The execution of the innocent Jesus is simply but powerfully stated, “And they crucified Him.” 

But who is this Him? They crucified Him like He had no power whatsoever…and yet He was the Almighty God.  They crucified Him like He was a nobody when He was the King of kings who could have crucified them all with just one word to His majestic angelic army.

Why did Jesus’ heart burst on the cross? Why did He suffer beyond human comprehension that day? 

Before the glorious resurrection, there was an agonizing crucifixion. Why?

Someone had to pay for our sins. “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8).

For God so loved the world that He gave His only beloved Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).

GOD TREATED HIS PERFECT LOVING SON JESUS ON THE CROSS AS IF HE HAD LIVED YOUR SINFUL SELFISH LIFE IN ORDER THAT GOD MIGHT TREAT YOU FOREVER AS IF YOU HAD LIVED JESUS’ PERFECT LOVING LIFE.

There’s a spiritual reality behind the historical fact that they crucified Jesus. There was a great divine transaction…Your death is His. His life is yours. 

Here is the application. Jesus’ death on the cross is the most significant death in all human history. It is the pivotal point of life, both earthly and eternally. This Volunteer Substitute on the cross is the only Person who can change YOU.

All the problems you have in life, all the broken relationships or difficult relationships you have in life, are solved by going to the cross again and again and seeing the love of God shed for you in dying in your place, treating you as if you had lived Jesus’ life, and taking that love and using it to love others first and love them most.

It is a new love for your spouse, your family, the needy, the poor, the neighborhood, the nations. 

Every relationship, every problem, every difficulty you have is resolved by YOU BEING CHANGED. The only place to be changed is at the cross. 

If this story is so familiar that it does not affect you, then this account was wasted. It is not information or entertainment. It is a life-changing message.

The preacher, Charles Spurgeon said, “Jesus looked down at the people he was dying for, some cringing like cowards, some snarling like dogs, all clueless and blind to what He was doing. And in the greatest act of human history, He stayed on the cross.”      

JESUS STAYED ON THE CROSS.

The passersby and the people watching had no clue what Jesus was doing and, still, He stayed on the cross. Has that changed your life? Is it still changing your life for the better?

TESTIMONY: I was a little boy who heard this story, I guess, all my life. Somewhere, someday I began to understand that Jesus died in my place for my sinful selfishness. 

There was a series of church services at our church. I remember telling my mom and dad, “Next Sunday, I am going to tell the preacher I want to give my life to Jesus.” 

My parents asked me a couple of questions:  Did I think I was a sinner who needed a Savior?  Did I know that Jesus died for my sins? Did I know who Jesus is and what He did?  

I knew the information; I needed the reality. I will always be grateful that my parents said this: “You do not have to wait until Sunday to give your life to Jesus.”  That Tuesday night, I knelt down with my parents beside a little ugly, green, torn, vinyl footstool, and I thanked Jesus for being my Savior and my God.

These many years later, I am still sipping from the cup of God’s blessings with gratitude and hope. I know that there is a whole lot more sin in my life than what I knew at that age as a little boy. I do not love Jesus any less. I have all the reason to love Him more.

To anybody who does not personally know Jesus, you can ask Jesus to be your God and your Savior—right now, right where you are. It will change everything, inside you. The weight of your sin will be forever removed, and God will make you spiritually alive.

Jesus will come to live inside of you so that He might lead you to others He intends to love first and most through you.

Jesus proved He was our Savior who refused to save Himself.

Jesus also set for us a great example of how we are to live life. We will probably not be physically tortured but when we get hurt, it can feel like emotional torture.

There will be some days in your life that you are hurt beyond your ability to bear. What are you supposed to do? Follow Jesus. You don’t complain to God and you don’t quit; you never quit on God. 

In this life, there will be people who will taunt and make fun of you. There will people who snip at you and snap at you and scream at you, and stomp on you. Jesus gave us an example to follow. You do not revile in return and you never act unkind. 

When you are treated unfairly and unjustly, you do not retaliate. You do not try to defend yourself. 

Jesus gave us an example on the cross…When your faith is tested, you never stop trusting God, even if you do not see or sense God being with you and for you.

Jesus gave us an example. But that is not why He stayed on the cross. 

That subject captivated the old prophets. The greatest of minds cannot get their thoughts around the greatness and the glory of why Jesus stayed on the cross. It still calls the angels to explore and adore. The angels are a lot smarter than we are and have lived longer than we have, and yet they say this subject matter is inexhaustible and never boring!

The width, length, height, and depth of God’s great love is beyond our comprehension. That great love made Jesus stay on the cross to the finish line.

Jesus did not save Himself. He stayed on the cross to rescue us from the incomprehensible horrible punishment of God’s wrath which we deserved. Oh, the love of God!

Jesus would not save Himself because His love would not let Him. It was not a matter of the physical constraints or physical circumstances. It was a matter of love for His Heavenly Father in doing His Father’s will.

Save Himself or save us. Jesus chose you and me.

At the death of Jesus, the voice of the Roman centurion who supervised many crucifixions was heard to declare, “Truly this was the Son of God.”  Who died on the cross that day?  The Son of God.  Why did Jesus die on the cross?  Christ died for our sinful selfishness so we might be forever treated as if we had lived His perfect, loving life.

Jesus’ LOVE is the sacrifice of giving up Himself for the true good of you and me.

Does that matter to you?

BE SPIRITUALLY AWED BY A GOD WHO WOULD HANG ON A CROSS IN ORDER TO BRING YOU WITH HIM TO THE HIGHEST HEAVENLY PLACE OF HONOR, HAPPINESS AND HARMONY TO ENJOY LIMITLESS LOVE, INFINITE GOODNESS, AND INEXHAUSTIBLE JOY.

THAT WILL TAKE FOREVER AND BEYOND.

I hope we will both be more grateful today.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation
And takе me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Thеn I shall bow, in humble adoration
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

STUCK on the BEACH

It was Sunday afternoon. It caused a lot of Monday Moaning for a lot of people.

My family loves the Florida beach. This was one of our first visits. We were returning from morning church. My daughter and youngest son were with me in our gray van. I asked them if they would like for us to drive along the beach.

From our condo balcony, I had watched other cars driving along the wide, hard-packed sands. This would be fun and memorable.

I had visions of movie scenes where people enjoyed the wind, surf, and smells of the seaside as they drove along the beautiful beach. The ultimate scenic drive. Sand to the right. Ocean to the left. Dolphins jumping in the sea. Seagulls soaring overhead. Seabreeze blowing into your face.

I drove down the ramp access to the beach. I had not anticipated the unusually large crowd close to the beach entrance. This was a highly popular Sunday spot. Many more people than at church. They were packed closer together and acted happier.

That was not a deterrent since I was familiar with more desolate stretches just a short distance away. I had walked the beach several times, passing only a few dozen people scattered across the two-mile stretch.

As I turned onto the beach, I discovered (1) it was high tide, (2) the driving sand was soft, (3) there was only one driving lane shared by cars going both directions, and (4) the beachgoers were very close to the car path. They were so close one could high five the sunbathers while driving past them.

This was a mistake!

The high-tide ocean was at its closest distance from the dunes which made this time the smallest area of beach for the entire day. My biggest discovery was this was not a good time nor good conditions for a drive along the beach. In fact, it was absolutely the worst time, unless one were driving a four-wheel-drive jeep. I took it on in a large heavy van.

I was slugging through the soft sand until I found the one set of ruts which gave some traction to the few vehicles driving the beach. I was about 600 yards from the access road. I had not cleared the beach area filled with patrons’ chairs, towels, food, and drinks when a line of three jeeps closed in on my front bumper.

I am a nice guy who pulled over to allow the jeeps to pass. Big mistake to be nice at that point. Bigger mistake to move out of the ruts and into the soft sand dune. I came to a complete stop as my tires began to lose traction. That was the biggest mistake…at least up to this point of the story.

As I began to move back toward the ruts, my tires started spinning in the sand. The spinning tires only sank the vehicle deeper into the sand. The situation was deteriorating rapidly.

Biggest mistake plus one degree worse.

This was not going to work. I needed to get this van off the beach.

I watched as the sun-bathers popped up their heads to see the commotion. Someone would sit up, do a double take, and tap the person next to them. That dude would glance over at us, rise to his knees, and turn around yelling at the next person to gawk at the strange sight. Girls would pull down their sunglasses to look in disgust.

My kids informed me that everyone was staring and pointing at us. I acted surprised. Apparently, the Florida Welcome Center was closed this Sunday afternoon.

It was time to ‘exit stage right’ as quickly as possible. I turned the van toward the dunes so I could make a U-turn back into the ruts, headed to the safety of the paved road. There is a lesson in beginner physics taught to children. It is easier to gain momentum going downhill than up the slope. That is why skiers slalom down the mountainside, and rocks roll downhill. In fear of the water, I tried the latter.

This was a bigger mistake than the previously biggest mistake.

Now I was stuck. Really stuck. The tires were spinning. The wheels began to sink deeper into the soft terrain. It looked like a Sahara Desert haboob as the swirling winds and flying sand blocked out the horizon. (I just like the sound of that word–haboob. I never imagined I would share haboob in a public forum.).

It was raining sand.

The swirling sand had to land somewhere. Unbeknownst to me, it was spraying the beach crowd. Yep, I was throwing sand onto the people working on their tan lines and beers.

Can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine the outrage of the beach crowd? Can you imagine the fear of the gray van driver with the Louisiana car tag?

No, you cannot. It was much worse than you imagine. Try to envision it again. Still worse than that.

One would have thought Godzilla invaded the beach. The peaceful beach scene was now in terror mode.

Fists started knocking on my window and words my young kids did not need to hear filled the air. A mob had risen from their Sunday relaxation, shouting words of discouragement, and shaking sand out of their chairs, food, and swimsuits. Children building sandcastles were now crying in protest.

I do not recall anyone offering to help except for one guy who told me to throw away the keys and leave.

My kids were frightened. Kala was a young teenager without a driver’s license or any driving experience except bumper cars. Derek was a little kid ready to walk the beach to get away from the embarrassment.

I tried to stay calm. I had been a quarterback in front of a stadium packed crowd, a point guard shooting game-deciding pressure free throws, a future dad in the waiting room with a wife in emergency delivery.

People always say this is no time to panic. This was a time to panic. I just could not show it. I always taught our kids to stop, take a deep breath, and THINK.

No one in the history of mankind has ever calmed down because someone told them to calm down. My next plan proved that I was not as calm as I pretended. It probably proved that I was not thinking either.

I told Kala to get behind the steering wheel and drive, while I pushed the van towards the safety of the ruts. I planned to use my superhero strength to rock the sand-stuck van to freedom.

I crawled out of the van barefoot in my Sunday dress clothes. The sweltering sand was as burning hot as the sun. My first few steps had the familiar sound of sizzling fajitas. Apparently, my dancing feet were amusing to the scantily clad swimwear crowd.

A family philosopher once declared there was nothing as good for the soul as splashing ocean water on it. It’s pretty good for sand-burned feet as well.

The smell of the ocean breeze was prevalent. However, this beach paradise was far away from the peaceful rhythm of the sun-soaked waves on a secluded shoreline.

The sand glistened and the ocean waves roared as I barked instructions to my daughter. She looked so cute and so brave. I told her to hold on to the steering wheel and step on the gas pedal. Keep her eyes straight ahead.

I feared the van might begin to move too fast. I did not have to worry about that. It never budged an inch. No momentum. No movement at all, except for the sand and sweat running down the inside of my slacks.

Bigger than bigger than the biggest mistake.

I watched the sand fly into the angry crowd. Fortunately, it is very difficult to lynch someone on a beach. A few sand-covered beer cans buzzed by my head.

The van was too deep into the soft sand and too heavy to push. This was not going to work.

A couple of guys came to help, but quickly abandoned the rescue project. One told me to wait on a jeep to come by. There were some guys who had a tow chain.

I flagged them down. They offered to help…for twenty-five dollars. I was in no place to bargain.

They extricated my van from the seashore dilemma. They dragged me back into the ruts to the sarcastic applause of people with sand in their bathing suits.

Another lesson for the beach driver beginner. A large van might be able to slowly move through hardened sand. The momentum helps the traction. However, a stationary large van has an extremely difficult time gaining any acceleration without digging its own demise.

I was back in the driver’s seat. Kala was fighting tears while trying to encourage her troubled dad. I think Derek was halfway back to the condo.

We were stuck…again. I waited for the cool guys in the jeep to reappear. They came back by with another twenty-five dollars of beer in their cooler. Did I need another tow? Of course. Twenty-five more dollars!

This time, I bargained. Only if you tow my van all the way to the paved parking lot. My first good decision of the day. In the famous words of Scarlett O’Hara, “Let’s go home and I’ll think of some way to get back. After all, tomorrow is another day!”

I can only imagine the many Monday Moaning storytellers that next day talking about the idiot who ruined their weekend fun in the sun.

Good memories come in many packages. Thankfully, our family has a truckload of precious beach memories.

Here is a Monday Moaning thought. Your circumstances could always be worse. Get some perspective. Then get some eternal perspective.

Like my stuck on the beach moment, things felt pretty bad at the time. Lots of moments in life have felt that way.

If the beach stuff had been the worst thing that ever happened in my life, then I would have had a pretty good life.

Worse things have happened. I can honestly say, I have a lived a really good life. Fully blessed in every way.

God overcomes our big mistakes, our bigger mistakes, and our biggest mistakes.

“Count it all joy…Various trials will come and test your faith, but God uses them to produce growth in character and steadfastness” (James 1:2-4).

The word “character” comes from a Greek verb which describes cutting a groove or making a mark on something. Character is what marks your life. It defines who you are.

CHARACTER MATTERS!

You are not born with it. It is built into your life, much like the building of a house. The bricks are made up of faith, hope, and love. Trustworthiness, honesty, truthfulness, respect, responsibility become building blocks.

There are many life irritants worse than sand in your bathing suit. Most of us have something that rubs us the wrong way almost every day. We have daily interactions with irritating individuals, the sand in our shorts.

Remember that an oyster covers its shell-invader with layers of some altering substance until the irritating visitor becomes a beautiful, valuable pearl. Loving first and most covers the annoying people in your life. It might take some time, but it is far better than allowing their constant irritation to ruin your life.

God uses circumstances and other people to build character into your life. The building materials are pressed together by the various trials that you experience. Your mistakes only add more color.

Godly character loves first and loves most. Go for it! You might be sitting on the beach someday, enjoying the surf and sun, when some idiot drives onto the shoreline, sending sand into your face and swimwear.

Remember. It could be worse. You could be the driver.

WINSDAY WISDOM 210

Some of our grandkids are into Marvel movies. Guardians of the Galaxy featured an adventurer who must unite four misfits against a cosmic threat to destroy this whole galaxy. The crew found a higher purpose for their lives and saved the galaxy.

The sequels describe these superheroes as “without a plan, but they get the job done.”

That would describe my role as a grandparent.

Grandkids are the best. I will not use this format to make you gag over my prideful exuberance. Just substitute your kids and grandkids into this fable.

We recently had the joy of having our grandkids around for a while. That does not happen enough. It is fun, entertaining, enjoyable, and tiring. This old gray mare??? (I did not think I should use the more appropriate ‘Old gray stud’) just ain’t what it used to be.

I would not trade the precious and memorable moments for anything.

This Winsday Wisdom is devoted to Babe and Bubba as Guardians of the Grandkids. I usually do not have a plan, but I am very good at improvisation that somehow saves the day and keeps the time fun.

Our living area serves as a game room, performance arts stage, gymnasium, wrestling mat, track meet, sports complex, construction site, grandkids’ clothing drop-off center, movie theatre, a gathering place for coloring or reading, and command center for the snack bar to stay open.

It has occasionally served as a medical staging area to stop the bleeding before the trip to Urgent Care for stitches.

Somehow, Babe keeps everything neat, operational, and loving. Since the front of the fireplace serves as the main stage for performers and winners, it has been essential that I clear the area of Babe’s decorative pottery displays before the coming storm.

This protects the kids and the pottery and the blame Bubba for not being a good Guardian. Before the young company arrives, I move the decorative pieces to a safer area in the corner of the piano room. That space is sometimes used as a doll house or staging area for the next air raid.

The décor is usually protected unless one of our wild rock and rolling Jerry Lee Lewis imitators gets on the piano. Then Great Balls of Fire with a Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On.

Chantilly Lace and a pretty face
And a ponytail hangin’ down
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk
Make the world go ’round

Ain’t nothing in the world like big-eyed grandkids

To make me act so funny, make me spend my money…

Last week, I forgot to move the large red plate and its stand located just left of the fireplace. I noticed a granddaughter leaning up against it as she looked at the family pictures on the shelf behind. At the same time, a bouncing ball and two diving bodies landed near it.

Calling 911 Rescue. I leaped to my feet and quickly salvaged the plate from imminent destruction. It was placed in the safety of the far corner in the adjacent room. It survived the visit just as it had for the previous ten years as each grandchild had his/her opportunities to take it down.

The Guardians of the Galaxy could not have accomplished a better rescue operation. I do feel like a Superhero at times.

After the families were gone and the tears were brushed away, we rested. At least I did until I realized Vicki was cleaning the house. It was time for the Guardian of the Grandmother to step into action.

I pulled out the vacuum cleaner and plugged it in. Vicki said not to do that now. It can wait.

I wanted to help and get everything done so we could both rest and reflect on the good pictures from the time with the grandkids. This was my chance to show how to love first and most. It is not just flowers and candy. Sometimes, it looks like pushing a vacuum cleaner. I did a good job.

As I was putting the vacuum cleaner away, I noticed the large pottery plate. It had survived another Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. This was a good time to get it back to its proper place.

We have a “family truism” that has been passed on to our kids and grandkids:

WHEN WE DISOBEY, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN OR SOMEONE GETS HURT.

There is a reason this saying has survived for subsequent generations. The list is long.

This day, another accident was added to the list.

As I carried the large pottery plate and its stand back to the living area, I bumped a bookcase in the entry way. The impetus started a chain reaction.

Impetus. What a strange word. A powerful force which sets something in motion.

In unstoppable slow motion, the plate fell forward and crashed onto the hardwood floor.

Not even a superhero could stop the cosmic damage that exploded my galaxy.

I watched the explosion of ceramic pottery bouncing off the wood floor. It went down in one piece and returned upward in several fragments.

In a nanosecond, I did what my grandkids failed to do in ten years.

Breaking something creates a plethora of thoughts and emotions.

I felt like WKRP radio newsman, Les Nessman, as he reported on the ill-fated turkey drop promotion, “Oh, my goodness! Oh, the humanity! Not since the Hindenburg tragedy has there been anything like this.”

In one of the all-time comedic moments in television history, live turkeys were dropped from a helicopter onto the mall parking lot as part of a disastrous radio station promotion. (Google it on YouTube.)

The pottery plate disaster was equally traumatic, but less funny…for me.

The loud crash echoed through the house.

I could not even use the excuse of the befuddled WKRP boss man, Mr.  Carlson, “Honestly, I thought turkeys could fly.”

This plate did not fly. It plummeted to the floor like a dive bomber on a kamikaze mission. I wished I could fly away. It took every ounce of my manhood not to run for the hills.

When we disobey, accidents happen.

I must disobey a lot. My home was not insured for “Mayhem like this.”

There was no hiding this disaster. There was no way it could be blamed on the grandkids. Trust me. I tried to think of some ways. The grandkids have a bigger storehouse of grace than I do.

The other three matching set pieces stood in motionless mourning for their fallen leader. They were playing Taylor Swift’s song, We are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Never, ever, ever, ever.

My mind was more into the Beatles. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now I need a place to hide away…

I wish I knew Kintsugi, the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold. It carries the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. I could only hope that someone close to me would continue to embrace my flaws and imperfections.

I Googled kintsugi. The search suggested I try hari-kari.

I scrambled for a broom and dustpan…and a remote hiding place. Maybe the dog could take the fall for this mishap. She stood there watching with pitiful eyes and wagging her tail. She offered her doghouse for an asylum.

I did not break the law or break the internet. I did not even break the rules. But I felt worse than if I had.

Babe was gracious. Above Bed, Bath, and Beyond gracious. I lived to tell this tale.

She assumed I was carrying the plate and stand with two hands. I can honestly say I never thought of that.

I recently read the quote:

NO AMOUNT OF REGRET CAN CHANGE THE PAST. NO AMOUNT OF ANXIETY CHANGES THE FUTURE. BUT ANY AMOUNT OF GRATITUDE CHANGES THE PRESENT. (Mark and Angel Chernoff)

I wish it were as easy to drop one’s worries, stress, disappointments, and regrets as it was to drop that pottery plate. The longer you hold them, the heavier they get.

I am grateful for Babe’s grace. She showed me the love first and love most of forgiveness. “It is just a thing.” People are more important than things.

I have too many flaws to be perfect, but far too many blessings to be ungrateful. Every day, I become more and more a Guardian of Gratitude. God’s grace covers my past regrets and future anxieties. Most importantly, God has a plan to rescue and bless me today.

“God uses broken clouds to produce rain, broken ground to produce crops, broken grain to produce bread, and broken bread to produce strength” (Vance Havner).

“God does not break things so He can fix them; He fixes broken things so He can use them” to bless other people (Bob Goff).

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:7-9).

Your life does not have to end up in shattered pieces. God turns those broken pieces into masterpieces. God heals broken hearts, broken dreams, and broken lives. You do not have a broken future.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

God’s grace overflows in your life. I hope you see and sense it. Undeserved forgiveness and unearned goodness. I hope you express your gratitude for it.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

God’s grace is both Pardon and Power.

Pardon from all our selfish “disobedient accidents.”

Power to Love First and Love Most in every relationship.

You are a Guardian of God’s Love. You do not have to become a super-hero. But why not go for it?

You have been infused with the impetus of love. Let it flow!

I love being a Guardian of the Grandkids. I also imagine myself as superhero Guardian of their Grandmother Babe. I am just not very great at it…yet. But I never quit trying!

My tombstone will carry the inscription, “Here lies the Guardian of the Grandkids and their Babe…He meant well.”

WINSDAY WISDOM Session 209

Sometimes you feel as if you are emotionally hanging on by one thin thread unraveling in your hands. Thankfully, God has a firm grip on the other end, and He will never let you go.

Sometimes our relationships can leave us hanging on. The Supremes had a classic hit song titled, You Keep Me Hangin’ On.

Why do you keep a-coming around
Playing with my heart?
Why don’t you get out of my life
And let me make a new start?
Let me get over you
The way you’ve gotten over me, hey

You just keep me hangin’ on (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
Now you don’t really want me
You just keep me hangin’ on

More often than not, it is customer service that keeps us hanging on…and on…and on.

We have all experienced it. We have all been frustrated by it. We might need to correct a false charge or file a complaint or get some information about our account. It should be a quick Q&A. But it starts with an automated response designed to make you jump through hoops until your exasperation level exceeds its emotional limits.

I am certain you have stories to top my latest encounter. Airlines, internet service, cell phone issues, and insurance lead the list. My account is just intended as a mutual bonding experience between us. Just nod and say, “Been there.”

My recent visit to the doctor resulted in the receptionist informing me that my secondary health insurance was inactive. That was shocking news to me. I came home and called my insurance company.

I received the traditional automated recording requesting my identification and purpose for calling. [Please note that I know most of the hacks to get to a real person. Keep punching zero because screaming at the cell phone does not work. My best method is to drive my SUV through the front doors of the office complex and request some personal attention.]

First comes the automated option, For English, continue. Para español, oprime dos. That is followed by the announcement that this call might be recorded. Oh, please do. Next comes the admonition to hang up and call 911 if this is a life-threatening medical emergency. The customer service office hours are detailed, which are usually closed when I have time to call for assistance.

The automated voice continues with a notice that due to Covid, high call volume, or March Madness, the wait time will be longer than normal. {Note that the initial recording does not respond to sarcastic questions such as, “Do you mean longer than the normal eighteen-hour call-waiting period?”]

Then comes the suggestion that it might be faster and more convenient to log on to their website. Of course, you will need to sign up, log in, insert your username and password. Former passwords are not allowed. You must use a password that conforms to their demand that the password be nine letters long and not easily identifiable. It must include one capital letter, one special character (I tried to declare my brother Bill as a special ed character, but that did not work), no repeated numbers, and no numbers that I might ever remember.

That password was weak, medium, “This is a bunch of bunk” is unacceptable.

I will need to insert all my personal info: name, address, phone, email, marital status, health condition, and payment preference. That will get me a code sent to my email to verify that I am who I am. If I can access the site with my new code, it will ask me to prove that I am not a robot by selecting the picture squares with a crosswalk or bus or blue whale.

A correct response allows me to scroll for information that tells me I need to contact the main customer service department by phone. Please call this 800 number that I was previously on so I can hear the five-minute introduction once again.

Back to the glad to have me as a customer service menu. Finally, I am connected to the customer service call center located somewhere on the other side of the universe. Speed is not considered an important factor.

There is another recording. “Please listen carefully as our menu has changed.” How sad is it that the company expects me to complain so often that I have the menu memorized!

If you need insurance, say or dial 1. If you need a list of doctors and hospitals under this plan, say or dial 2. If you are about to curse, say or dial 3.” Then you must listen to options 4, 5, 6, and 7. “If you wish to speak to a live customer representative, say or dial 8.” Hooray! The jackpot. It would be easier to win the lottery.

Please hang on at the end of this call for a brief survey.

A real voice? No, a recording that I am now customer eight in the queue. Thirty-five minutes later, I am now next in line.

Finally…Thank you for waiting. Your call is important to us.” More music. I am not as stupid as I act. If this call were important to the company, they would have expedited a personal conversation.

This recording by a professional spokesperson played by a machine was made years ago by someone who has zero interest in my existence or current situation. There is no possible way that the originators of this message are sorry I have to wait.

And what does the company expect from these countless irritations and aggravations?

My anger level has been recalibrated. I am about to make another innocent person feel as miserable as I do.

A glimmer of hope. It sounds like a human voice. “Are you still hanging on?”

“Please do not hang up, someone will be with you shortly.“

Why did I teach my grandkids that patience was ‘waiting with a smile’?

To expedite your service, please say or type in your name. Rex Blankenship. Did you say Rex Blankenship? Say or Press 1 for ‘Yes.’ Say or Press 2 for ‘No.’

What is your date of birth? I did not get that. Could you repeat that? Now confirm that with a ‘Yes.”  [Note: There are many more questions, but you know the drill. Every answer is repeated and must be confirmed.]

Before you talk to the customer representative, be sure to have your drivers license, insurance card, and case number available. If you do not have those ready, please keep hanging on until you do…or call back later.

Really??? Are you kidding me? I just want to talk to a real person! Customer service technology does not take note of my body language, facial expressions, or comedic sarcasm. At this point, wouldn’t you just like to hear the non-person automated system reply, “You do not have to shout!”

Shazam! It happens! A live voice comes on the line. ‘This is Bura????somebody. Thank you for your patience. Who am I talking to?”

Of course, I can barely understand the foreign accent or their name. I am not prejudiced of people from other countries. I admire their willingness to work and to learn to be conversant in a new language. I am just saying that it can make the customer experience challenging.

What is your name? Rex. Can you spell that? First of all, I imagine my name appears on your computer screen along with all the other personal information your insurance company has about me. If you listen, you can hear my voice get louder and more emphatic.

R-E-X. Did you say R-E-S? No, R as in Radio, E as in Echo. X as in X-ray. Did you say R-E-X-A?

This is not going to go well.

Several times, I had to ask him to repeat his questions which I could not understand. Every time, he asked me to repeat my answer and spell it out.

It got worse when I responded that I lived in Broken Arrow. I had to spell it out several times. He asked me if I were Indian. When I said the city was in Oklahoma, he asked how to spell that. Then the coup-de-gras was when he asked if Oklahoma was in the United States. No lie!

I know you don’t really care about my detailed description at this point, so just put me on hold and play some music. Check back in a few moments for any progress in this tale.

He kept me hanging on! I will condense this interaction to a frenzy of frustration. Eventually, he passed me to another agent who spoke better English but was even more confusing.

I was never notified of the cancellation or any opportunity to be reinstated. When I asked why I was deactivated, I was placed on hold. She returned to tell me that another department made the decision, and she would transfer this call to them.

I was Number Four in the queue. More music. More suggestions to use the online connection.

Why was my insurance canceled? She actually asked me if I had tried to Google the answer.

She asked if I made any payments. I replied, “Don’t you have a record of my payments? I am looking at my bank statements and I have a record of them.”

Her response? “Do you mind hanging on while I check that?”

I would have felt more hopeful if I were hanging on a tight rope over Niagara Falls while visitors pelted me with snowballs.

The Tier Two representative asked me if she could help me with anything else today. What? You were unable to help me with the issue I contacted you about.

I think she noticed the sarcasm in my voice.

The kind lady customer representative remarked that she did not know the reason, but could connect me with the Resolutions Department. That is not the same as the Accounting Department.

I chose my words carefully. I placed safeguards on the tone of my voice. I wanted to sing the Supremes’ song.

You say although we broke up
You still wanna be just friends
But how can we still be friends
When seeing you only breaks my heart again?
And there ain’t nothing I can do about it

Whoa-whoa-whoa
Set me free, why don’t you, baby?
Whoa-whoa-whoa
Get out my life, why don’t you, baby? (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
Set me free, why don’t you, baby?
Get out my life, why don’t you, baby? 

You just keep me hangin’ on!

Hanging on. It can be frustrating. Usually, it is because we are hopeful, if only slightly hopeful. I know you can identify with frustrating customer service.

What about your own emotional hanging on or that of someone you know? There can be lingering effects from fear, grief, anxiety, or worry. It might be triggered by devastating news, stressful circumstances, unexpected loss. You feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained.

You might even feel spiritually disconnected or relationally detached. Your spiritual vision is impaired; your thinking is clouded. Sadness becomes your constant companion. You cannot just “snap out of it” and feel better. Something is wrong.

You feel trapped in a prison of extreme loneliness where you imagine no one cares while you battle fear that someone might check on you. You feel judged, condemned. Feelings of helplessness and uselessness and worthlessness weigh you down with self-imposed guilt. You begin to emotionally shut down, too weak to even lift your eyes toward the horizon of hope. Just hanging on by a thin thread.

Sometimes all you can do is sit in the darkness of your hurt and cry. Sometimes your prayers feel frozen in time and space. In the midst of that discouragement, the God of hope sits down beside you in the darkness, takes your hand, and holds you through the night. You are not judged; you are loved.

Even when you do not see God, feel God, hear God, sense God, God is still there, with much love and understanding, with no condemnation.

God never promised that life would be easy and carefree, but God does promise that he will never abandon us. Weeping may tarry through the night, but joy comes in the morning (#1 Textbook).

Lift up the eyes of your soul. Hope is on the horizon.

Today is a good time to review your God. Replenish your faith. You are still covered. God will never let you go or cancel His steadfast love.

And you never have to listen to an automated recording when you need to talk to God. Open the #1 Textbook any time of any day or night. Just start reading and then start talking. God has heard you while your mind was still forming its thoughts into understandable words.

God knows and cares. His customer service is highly rated. God always loves first and loves most. His love is always free and forever!

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Is your March Madness tournament bracket already busted? Are you deep into Monday Moaning?

The Basketball Shot Heard Around the World

It was Monday Moaning night.

A three-pointer at the buzzer! It was as dramatic as it sounds! Instant ESPN Top Ten!

The fans were on their feet. It was the last minute of the third game of the season when Kyle introduced himself to the Tulsa Hurricane fans in his first college basketball game.

With fifteen seconds left in the game, Kyle stole the ball and instinctively passed it to Travis streaking to the goal. The missed lay-up was rebounded by the opponent’s defender who threw it towards mid-court. Kyle intercepted it.

In one continuous motion, Kyle stole the ball, took one dribble, and launched his shot toward the basket just as the buzzer sounded.

It was just like in the movies as everything seemed to move into slow motion. Kyle’s release was beautiful as the ball rotated off his follow through. It was everything he had dreamed about…

Nothing but the swish of the net!

Kyle jumped up and down. Teammates slapped him on the back and his family was delirious with joy.

Kyle’s buzzer-beating shot made the victory margin forty-seven points. That is correct. It was a blowout win. The fans on their feet continued to make their way to the exits.

That first three-pointer was not the only highlight of Kyle’s on-court contribution to his first successful Hurricane season. His team won the conference championship and made a post-season advance to the March Madness Sweet Sixteen.

Make the most of your time! That mantra flooded Kyle’s mind and fueled his motivation. Make the most of your time…on the basketball court and in life.

It became a life lesson to be shared with others. Always do your best. Never quit. Make your time count.

Every weekend in March finds half the college basketball teams and their coaches and fans in Monday Moaning, wondering about what might have been.

Are your Monday Moanings about what might have been? What might have been never existed and it never will.

Do you make the most of your time? Could you do better this next time? Will you do better?

Carpe Diem! That is the Latin phrase for “Seize the Day!” (Literally, “pluck the day when it is ripe”).

It was used by the Roman poet, Horace, in the first century BC times and then became a popular English expression generated by Lord Byron in his 1800’s Letters. The idiom was the title of the American poem by Robert Frost in the last century.

Be happy today. Look for opportunities in life and make the most of them.

This Monday Moaning moment is not about seizing opportunities for selfish purposes or pleasures. It is not an exhortation to seek riches, rewards, promotions, or earthly applause.

This Monday Moaning reminder is about one purpose for one day. Love First and Love Most.

I hope you are far ahead in your Love first and love most totals. Like the sweet sound of the basketball swishing through the net, it is still exciting to do it again and again.

If you are behind or in a bind, make your time count. The calendar slows for no one. This is as far back as you can get, and still come out a winner. Take the next shot. Love First. Love Most.

I once challenged some young coaches to finish strong in life, noting that none of us knows how much time we have left in this earthly life. I acknowledged that I was pretty sure I was in the fourth quarter.

My dad stood up to close our session with prayer. His opening remark was, “If Rex is in the fourth quarter, then I am in overtime.”

My dad made the most of his time, throughout the game of life and into overtime. Dad went to heaven a winner, encouraging all of us to take our love to a higher level.

Why has my game been extended into overtime? So, I could encourage you this Monday Moaning.

This is your moment to contribute to God’s team. There is a heavenly purpose for why God placed you around that person. This is your time to shine.

Our family has a saying: If you have just one minute left to live, hope that it is the last minute of a close basketball game. It will feel as if it lasts forever.

That’s right. Clock stoppage for foul shots, timeouts, TV commercials, injuries, substitutions, coaching strategy, referee discussions, replays, clock resets. There might even be overtime.

Here is a Monday Moaning verse directly from the words of Jesus about seizing the day.

“Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34).

Jesus preceded this encouragement with counsel not to worry about the less important things of life. God will take care of us just as He does the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields. We are of far more value. Live for God’s purpose.

This Monday Moaning is not a call to reflect on all our missed opportunities. Those times are gone.

Monday Moaning is not about past regrets or future worries. It is about today.

Start every Monday Moaning with a reminder to make loving God by loving others the primary focus of your life.

This is the week to seize your God-given opportunities to Love First and Love Most. The clock is ticking down. Make the most of your time.

Every relationship matters. Every moment matters. Every opportunity matters.

Seize the Day! Prepare your heart and mind to see the opportunity. Then seize the moment!

For all of us, it is the right time to love first and love most.

Right now, this Monday Moaning, take the shot!

Always do your best. Never quit. Make your time count.

The ball is tipped
And there you are
You’re running for your life
You’re a shooting star
And all the years
No one knows
Just how hard you worked
But now it shows…
(in) One Shining Moment, it’s all on the line
One Shining Moment, there frozen in time

And when it’s done
Win or lose
You always did your best
Cuz inside you knew…
(that) One Shining Moment, you reached for the sky
One Shining Moment, you knew
One Shining Moment, you were willing to try
One Shining Moment, you knew
One Shining Moment….

—One Shining Moment, David Barrett

No one sings it like Luther Vandross

Years ago, I watched a high school player run the wrong way in a football game. It was both wild and weird. Funny and sad. An instant classic. If a similar event happened this year, the video would go viral and secure its spot in the ESPN Top Ten highlights. The home team was playing their archrival for the conference championship. Their offense had driven down to the twenty-yard line when everything went bonkers.

The quarterback scrambled to his left until a defensive player spun him around and stripped the football from his grasp. The loose ball sailed toward the middle of the line of scrimmage.

A sophomore guard, starting his first game of the season because of a teammate’s injury, whiffed on his block attempt and fell to the turf. As he stood upright, the football hit him right in the stomach, just a few yards away from a victorious touchdown and instant stardom.

All lineman dream of one opportunity to tote the rock, to rumble with the old pigskin, to win one for the Gipper.

Unfortunately, this bumbling and befuddled lineman was facing the wrong direction. Unfazed by the pressure-packed moment, he started running for the goal line eighty yards away. This is where things got WEIRD!

The next few minutes felt like forever in slow motion. The new center of attention ducked and dodged some players engaged in gridiron combat along the line of scrimmage. His nifty sidesteps freed him from the congestion as he quickly veered toward the sideline. This was his one shining moment!

As the wrong-way prodigy raced down the field, the chase was on. Players from both teams frantically followed in hot pursuit, most as confused as this wrong way runner. Two opposing defenders, who should have pushed the galloping runner onward to their goal line, attempted to tackle him. He stiff-armed one of them, while a teammate, who should have stopped him, made a tremendous block to free him from the opponent’s desperate grasp. Not even Superman could stop this powerful locomotive.

His formidable gluteus maximus muscles stormed down the sidelines. Blasts of air plummeted through his face mask. He went airborne over another diving defender.

Football fanatics recalled similar gridiron runners. Sweetness. The Galloping Ghost. The Bus. Crazy Legs. Night Train. The Kansas Comet. Prime Time.

The absence of instinctive moves and lack of outstanding peripheral vision did not deter this ballcarrier. They only sped him on his way in the wrong direction, reminiscent of other legendary names. Doofus. Nincompoop. Riegels. Marshall. Corrigan. My younger brother.

Roy Riegels infamously executed a sixty-five yards wrong way run in the Rose Bowl championship, often cited as the worst blunder in college football history.

Minnesota Viking, Jim Marshall, accomplished the feat in the NFL. He picked up a fumble and rumbled sixty-six yards to the wrong endzone, where he celebrated by spiking the football.

“Wrong Way” Corrigan was the pilot who flew his plane west out of New York headed to Los Angeles, but somehow landed in Dublin, Ireland.

My brother? Well, he shot the basketball at the wrong goal in a high school game. However, our family shame was somewhat overshadowed when an opposing player blocked the layup. You might have to pause and envision that for a moment. Brother tried to score two points for the wrong team and a wrong-team player went to great effort to not let that happen. Dumb and Dumber.

Back to the football game. Doofus and Nincompoop were still running the wrong way down the football field in anticipation of glory.

As our hero roared past the bench area, the coaches were yelling, waving, and shouting, “NO! NO! NO!”

The cheerleaders turned around to see him dashing for the end zone and started jumping up and down, screaming, “GO! GO! GO!”

Never underestimate the powerful influence of a cheerleader’s exhortation. This young lineman pranced his way across the wrong goal line. He began to dance, holding the football high like a trophy. His first hint of wrongdoing should have been the celebratory hugs from the guys wearing different colored jerseys. In the most-watched event of his athletic career, he scored for the opposing team.

However, that is not the end of this wrong-way jaunt story. The extremely bizarre events were about to soar into new heights of the paranormal.

The awkward celebration was interrupted when an equally confused member of the rival team tackled him in the end zone. The baffled referee ran toward the pile of players with both arms straight to the sky and signaled “TOUCHDOWN,” when in fact it was a safety scored for the opposing team.

Suddenly, befuddlement and bewilderment became teammates with pandemonium and mayhem. In that moment of confusion, everyone jumped up and down, some players in jubilation, some in disgust, the coaches throwing down clipboards and headsets in anguish. The cheerleaders leaped and hugged in celebration and then…unbelievably…the band struck up the school fight song!

Both school bands filled the air with competing fight songs.

It was sheer chaos! Some fans stood in shock; others halfheartedly clapped out of loyalty to the rousing music. As my beloved uncle often said, “I was aghast!”

This was the Twilight Zone, Fifth Dimension, or some Matrix Nightmare. I stared at the outlandish scene, wondering, “What’s the matter with me? Am I crazy?”

THE GUY RAN THE WRONG WAY!

Right direction in life is more important than perfection. Which direction in life are you running? Do you remember the most important thing in life, to love God and love others? Or are you wrapped up in yourself as you run toward the opposite goal line of self-centeredness?

Right direction is a key element to living for the most important thing in life.

There is a way which seems right to people, but the wrong way is destruction (#1 Textbook). Unfortunately, we live in a society which cheers wildly for those headed down the wrong path to destruction. It seems and feels right at the time. Popularity and fun applaud every step. Even the so-called experts get it wrong.

My mother often lectured her sons, “Just because everyone else is running to jump off the cliff does not mean that you should. At least, stop and think.”

Do not listen to this world’s counsel on how to run your life. The band might even strike up the school song to celebrate chasing the wind in the wrong direction. However, when the dust clears and the rules of the game are enforced, this wrong-way runner ends up with the nothingness of vanity.

Running the wrong direction in life is an undertaking of vanity that is completely and clearly proven to be foolish, futile, and a failure, resulting in major disappointment. 

Check your spiritual direction today. Winning in life is like winning a sports championship. You do not have to do everything correctly to succeed, but right direction matters immensely.

I was reminded about the ultimate importance of direction in life when I stood on the upper level of a large Oklahoma City mall watching my three-year-old son leaning his face into the railing overlooking the food court below. It was a safe place to be, much safer than taking him into the nearby store where my wife and daughter were shopping.

I wondered what he was thinking as he stared at all the people ordering, eating, and talking about the various things which make up the stories of our lives. I did not speculate on his thoughts exceptionally long, because he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Follow Jesus! Follow Jesus! No turning back!”

I imagine some people choked on their sandwiches or strained their necks in search of the source of the bold declaration. It remains the best sermon I ever heard, brief and to the point.

Allow me to be brief and to the point.

DIRECTION MATTERS. FOLLOW JESUS.

Get out the #1 Textbook and watch how Jesus loves people. Listen to Jesus’ words. Follow Him in that same direction.

If you are just loving others like everyone else in this self-centered culture does, then you are still headed in the wrong direction. Our culture is going in the wrong direction. Just because everyone else is running to jump off the cliff does not mean that you should. At least, stop and think.

That is all I ask. Do not become enamored with the cheers of the crowd or infatuated with our culture’s long lines. Stop and think! Check your spiritual bearings to see if you are following Jesus. If not, it only takes one breath and one step to turn in the right direction.

Love First. Love Most. How you love God and others is about direction, not perfection.

“Follow Jesus. No turning back.” (#1 Textbook)

LOVE FOLLOWS JESUS FIRST. LOVE FOLLOWS JESUS MOST.

It all begins with right direction.

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Come Monday, it’ll be all right, Come Monday, I’ll be holding you tight. I spent four lonely days in a brown LA haze and I just want you back by my side.

Come Monday, it’ll be all right.

–Come Monday (Jimmy Buffett).

We have all experienced the soul-crushing revelation of the beginning of another tough week. This will probably not be the last or the worst Monday Moaning. A person experiences 4000 Monday Moanings over an average lifetime.

Some Mondays can be dreadful. Others can be hopeful. Most lie somewhere in between. A few Mondays can be brutal. Some can leave a bitter taste in your mouth as if you started the week sucking lemons.

This Monday moaning finds me reflecting on a vivid sad memory. I let my dad down. My dad is my hero. I am sure there were many times I let my dad down, but he never showed it. This one day was very different.

I let my dad down, literally. It was unfortunate and unforgettable.

Let me set this up.

I am one of three brothers. Our mom often stated, “Your dad thinks you boys are perfect, but I know better. I birthed you.”

The next minutes would be filled with Mom’s critique and instructions for better choices or better grammar in life’s daily grind.

Dad certainly did not think we were perfect. He just acted as if we were. Dad was our coach in life. At some point, he discreetly and imperceptibly changed into our cheerleader. I imagine the load caused Dad’s heart to weaken.

Dad’s perspective of his heart-health and his sons’ perfection was put to the test one day. The memory helps me moan with the worst of the Monday crowd.

I am not sure where I picked up this trait. My mother was not a moaner. She was a coal-miner’s daughter and proud of it. Things could always be worse. So, you do not complain. You just find a way to make things better.

Dad grew up with three brothers under the care and direction of a single, uneducated mom. They were all abandoned by their alcoholic father.

I do not remember Dad moaning…except at the ineptitude of a football official or a basketball referee. I still believe Dad was surprised to find some of them in heaven.

Dad was not a complainer. He most definitely was not a quitter. Whether it was sports, math, or life, Dad studied the situation and found a solution.

I am not sure when I became a Monday Moaner. I always liked to sleep late. I was not born until two minutes past noon. That DNA stayed with me. My prime time is late, late night.

I think my Monday moaning began when my brothers joined the family. Until then, I was king of the court. The family revolved around me. Sharing can be overrated.

But I share some of this blame with my brother, Bill.

When Dad was diagnosed with heart failure, he was assigned home hospice. That soon became unsatisfactory to Dad. He finally relented to allowing his sons to help him get up each morning and get into bed for the night.

Helen would fix his requested breakfast: Gravy. That’s right…gravy. Every meal. She would ask him if he wanted some biscuits. “No. just gravy.” Maybe some eggs? “No, just gravy.”

Dad’s health (increased weight, increased energy, great attitude) during this severe medical prognosis amazed and confounded his cardiologist. Dad survived and thrived on that diet for almost two years.

Apparently new research is needed regarding the healthy-heart benefit of gravy and milkshakes! I have been advocating that for years!

Dad’s weakened condition made it very difficult for him to walk. One of Dad’s former players sent his coach a top-of-the-line wheelchair. It greatly helped Dad maneuver around the house.

Dad needed to be transported to the cardiologist. Bill and I helped Dad to the car. We lifted the wheelchair to carry Dad down the stairs of the porch. I picked up the front of the wheelchair while Bill raised it off the porch by the rear handles.

Something went wrong. Terribly wrong. The wheelchair went limp and began to fold up.

We did not know that the modern wheelchairs fold up when lifted. When you lift the wheelchair, it folds into a slender, easy-to-carry item. This allows for quick and easy storage in the back of the transport vehicle. Very clever invention.

In this situation, Dad was still in the wheelchair. We lifted. The chair folded. Dad was squeezed like a bubble about to explode. There was a brief moment of fear that flashed across Dad’s face. He was falling and squeezed at the same time.

We panicked because we were unaware of why the wheelchair was collapsing. We frantically searched for a release button which Bill had inadvertently pushed.

We did our best to protect Dad from falling out onto the steps. When we set the occupant in the folded wheelchair on the ground, the wheelchair remained limp. We could not get it to reset into a steady chair.

As the wheelchair sides caved in to swallow Dad, he slowly sunk to the ground. We tried to let him down gently. His legs and arms were pressed together across his body.

I never heard my dad curse, but this had to be his biggest temptation for bad language. His ‘perfect’ sons let him down, literally. There he was, sitting on the ground, squeezed inside a folded wheelchair.

Bill apologized. I apologized for Bill.

Dad gave that faint smile and told us thanks for the ride.

Dad NEVER used a wheelchair again. NEVER!!!

We gave away the wheelchair to our rehab missionary.

Circumstances did not define or defeat our dad. If anything, the challenge strengthened his resolve.

Circumstances do not have to be perfect for you to get through this Monday Moaning. Perhaps someone let you down physically, emotionally, or relationally.

Attitude is a choice. A bad attitude is not the result of bad people or bad events. It comes from a bad choice in how you react to those bad people or bad circumstances.

Nothing can hinder or stop you from choosing to count your blessings rather than your bitterness. Nothing can squeeze happiness out of your life.

Monday Moaning circumstances can define you, defeat you, or strengthen you. It is your choice.

Here is a go-to verse from God’s Word, Isaiah 41:10: Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be worried, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you and I will not drop you. 

1 Peter 5:10 reminds us that after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace will pick you up, set you firmly on your feet, and make you stronger than ever.

People will let you down, but the Lord will never let you down.

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah —Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen

WINSDAY WISDOM Session 208

Our four-year-old granddaughter, Madisyn, said to my wife, “Babe, I love you.”

Vicki asked, “How much do you love me? To a thousand?”

Madi responded with arms outstretched, “No, to infinity and beyond!”

The “infinity, and beyond” phrase originated as a quote in the 1990s animated movie Toy Story. Regardless of the source, it is a powerful and dramatic expression of love or happiness.

How happy are you? What is your largest happiness number? To infinity and beyond?

Are you happy? Why? Why not?

What if your happiness could be described as “to infinity and beyond??

Our search for some Winsday Wisdom about happiness can be found right at the beginning of the #1 Textbook. It reveals things to us about before the beginning and beyond infinity.

God created us as the everlasting expression of His great immeasurable LOVE in order that we might experience the endless inexhaustible ever-increasing enjoyment of His GOODNESS.

God’s revelation of human history is the story of God’s goodness to us.

The Book of Genesis begins with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…”

Only God is infinite, limitless, beyond boundaries, beyond measure, beyond comprehension. The Lord God, the maker of heaven and earth, repeatedly describes Himself as infinite in power, dominion, and understanding. God is almighty, present-everywhere, knowing-everything (#1Textbook).

The Creator God describes Himself with three metaphorical names in the last verses of the #1 Textbook. “I am the Alpha and the Omega…I am the First and the Last…I am the Beginning and the End.”

The Lord is eternal in existence, nature, and being…from all eternity past to all eternity future. In the beginning of earthly time, God created the heavens and the earth.

The purpose of everything that God created was to display His goodness to mankind. Then God created man to be the expression and enjoyment of His goodness. 

In Genesis, Chapter 2, God created man out of the dust and breathed life into him and placed man in a perfect paradise to enjoy the goodness of God. God related to mankind, one-to-one, face-to-face, and introduced Himself as (1) our LORD GOD, (2) our LIFE-GIVER, and (3) our LOVING PARTNER. 

LORD- -That’s the way God still introduces Himself to us. He’s the Lord. He’s supreme. He’s sovereign, He’s the Creator, He’s the controller of everything, He is first and foremost. He is before everything else and above everything else. He is the Lord.

LIFE-GIVER– God introduced Himself to the first man and to us that He’s also the Life-Giver. He built man as His own handiwork and breathed His life into man.

God is the One who is all the goodness, possesses all the goodness, and can do all the goodness. He wants us, who are nothing and were nothing and have nothing and can do nothing, to be the beneficiary of all His goodness. “For we are God’s masterpeice, created to enjoy and do good” (#1 Textbook).

LOVING PARTNER– Then God introduced Himself as our Loving Partner—that we would be in union with Him—that the one God, the Lord, who created everything, would be in union with man who was nothing. The One who owned everything, the One who could do everything would be in union with the one who owned nothing and could do nothing apart from God. 

God chose to be our Loving Partner for the purpose of giving all that He is and all that He has to mankind so that we might learn to live and love like God.

The Creator God offers us a loving partnership in which the only responsibility for any man or woman is to stay a partner. Nothing else is expected of us except what God has given us to maintain the essence of the partnership: Faith, Hope, and Love.

• God gives us FAITH. The God who has created everything for the expression and the enjoyment of His goodness is forever faithful and true. He promises never to forsake us. Trust the Lord God to stay your Loving Partner.
• God gives us HOPE. God creates and orchestrates all things for our ultimate enjoyment of His immeasurable goodness. God has connected His sovereign Lordship to our everlasting goodness. Live in Hope, the confident expectation of experiencing all the good God has promised…somehow…someway…sometime.
• God gives us LOVE. We can love God and others with the same great love God shows us. Imitate God and walk in love as His loving partner.

The Genesis account teaches us “what” and “how” God does us good. The only “why” is hidden in God’s great love. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us while we were still dead in our transgressions, made us alive with Christ” (#1 Textbook).

God promised to do us good with all His heart, all His soul, all His mind, and all His strength. Even when everything looks dark, God is working for our good in the midst of that darkness. When things look confusing and chaotic, God is still working for our good. Even when we are asleep, God continues to work for our good.

Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life, for in Your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever.

Every new breath is a new opportunity for a new beginning to walk in life and happiness and goodness, not to dwell on past failure.  The 23^rd Psalm ends, “Surely the Lord’s goodness and mercy pursue me and follow me all the days of my life.” 

That’s reality. Whenever your mind races away with imaginary thoughts that you are not happy or not blessed, something real is going on. God is chasing you down like a hunting dog after its prey. God is pursuing you with greater goodness.

God is our LORD. No one and No thing can delay or stop Him from doing you endless good.

God is our LIFE-GIVER. His gift of endless goodness is as eternal as His gift of life.

God is our LOVING PARTNER. He is forever faithful and true in life, death, and beyond into the eternity of endless goodness.

Here is some Winsday Wisdom. You do not have to try harder to find happiness. Just be more thankful as you enjoy the unearned and undeserved, endless goodness of God.  

Like the waves of the ocean incessantly crashing on the shore, one upon another, so shall the waves of God’s endless goodness come in this life until they sweep you into the next life where it will take endless ages for God to show you His immeasurable, inexhaustible, infinite goodness.

If you focus on your circumstances or unfulfilled wishes, then you will drown in unhappiness. Why not look for God’s happiness headed your way? Check in at the Lost and Found desk.

The waves of God’s happiness will roll into your life in endless succession, everlasting, ever-increasing. 

That is right. Everlasting and ever-increasing in goodness. Everlasting and ever-increasing in your capacity to enjoy. 

The God of extravagant goodness. The God of immeasurable goodness. The God of generous goodness. The God of inexhaustible goodness. The God of endless goodness. 

Every moment and every breath of eternity will be new and fresh with greater enjoyment of more of His goodness. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (no matter how much or how long) are not worth comparing with the glory of God’s goodness that is to be revealed to us (#1 Textbook).

EVER-INCREASING HAPPINESS TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

In a future session, we will consider how we minimize and miss this great happiness in our daily lives. How and why do we seem to lose happiness?

Until then, be thankful the Heavenly Hound of Goodness chased you down and caught you.

Let me conclude with this Winsday Wisdom encouragement:

God created you as the everlasting expression of His great immeasurable LOVE in order that you might experience the endless inexhaustible ever-increasing enjoyment of His GOODNESS…“to infinity and beyond.”

Surely, God’s goodness and mercy pursue you all the days of your life, and you will live in the endless enjoyment of that everlasting, ever-increasing goodness forever and ever.

Enjoy some happiness today.

I love you and God loves you…to infinity and beyond!