LOVE FIRST…LOVE MOST

WINSDAY WISDOM 231

Do you love me? What a question!

The answer to that question carries a lot of commitment and responsibility in a relationship. In some cases, the question can also generate a lot of anxiety.

In my younger, single days, that question rattled my nerves. It always marked the moment I began to back away from a good relationship. It was the sign that started me on a long walk back to Solitaryville.  

In later years, I enjoyed the scene with Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine in the movie, Terms of Endearment. It was not funny to any female, but I could identify with the sentiment.

In the movie, Nicholson’s character is a former astronaut bachelor about to leave on a plane. Shirley’s character was his next-door neighbor who had just told him she loved him,

Shirley: Do you have any reaction to my telling you I love you?

Jack: I was just inches from a clean getaway.

Shirley: Well, you’re stuck, so face it.

Jack: Well, I don’t know what else to say except my stock answer.

Shirley: Which is?

Jack: I love you too, kid.

There came a time I told my future wife that I loved her. She just stood there in shock. After an awkward pause, I asked if she had anything she wanted to say. She responded, “I love you too, kid.” (Funny girl!)

Well, I can always fall back on the Contours’ hit single revived in the classic movie Dirty Dancing…Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)?

Tell me, (Tell me), Tell me
Do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now that I can dance! (Watch me now, hey!)

Do you love me? That becomes an even more important issue when asked by Jesus.

When Jesus asked that question of Peter, I imagine Peter thought he was headed to Solitaryville or worse. Peter knew he had a chance to fulfill his pledge of dying loyalty to Jesus, but he blew it. He caved in big time. Spiritual failure.

Have you ever felt that way? I have. Some of you might be sitting on the sidelines because of your failures. You might go through the practice motions, but you have benched yourself. How can you say you love Jesus? How could Jesus still love you?

Do YOU love ME?

Jesus followed the question with a simple statement we can all understand. “Follow Me. Trace my likeness into your life…Love others the way I love you” (John 21).

Do YOU Love ME? When Jesus asks that question, it becomes the most important question you will ever be asked.

The question is about a Person (Jesus) and the question is Personal to YOU. Not one of us is exempt from this question. It is not only the most important thing in life, but it also determines your life’s earthly impact and your eternal destination.

Let’s begin with some context for this question from the #1 Textbook. Jesus was crucified and risen, now preparing early morning breakfast on the shoreline for the disciples fishing about one hundred yards away on the lake.

Jesus had just voluntarily laid down his life for them. However, those dear friends of Jesus had bailed and failed to love Him at the very moment His love was demonstrated for them.

One disciple, Peter, had previously promised he would remain loyal to death even if all the others turned away. While Jesus laid down His life for Peter and the others, Peter denied three times any affiliation with Jesus and cursed at the suggestion he loved Him. All of that was done in the sight and hearing of Jesus.

Peter was excited and overjoyed at seeing the living Jesus. He swam to shore, embraced Jesus, and ate some breakfast with Him. As they sat around the fire, surely, there were thoughts of the stinging similarity with another fire where he warmed himself a few days earlier and denied any love for Jesus. When faced with a question about devotion to Jesus, Peter declared, “I do not even know the man.”

Peter’s mind must have been racing and his heart pounding. Then Jesus looked right into the eyes of Peter and asked, “Do you love me?”

Do YOU love ME?

I invite you to place yourself into that scene. Be there. Feel the atmosphere. Breakfast and laughter. Joy and apprehension. This Jesus had proven He could read the minds and hearts of His followers (John 16:30). Jesus knew what they were thinking and saying without any audible sounds. Likewise, He knows your actions and words from this past week. He knows your thoughts right now.

Here, around this shoreline campfire, is the one Person who loves you and the others to the utmost. He has always loved you first and most. Now, Jesus serves you breakfast with His nail-scarred hands.

What was Peter thinking and feeling? What are you thinking and feeling right now with the eyes of the Lord locked on you?

I imagine Peter’s thoughts were jumbled in his mind. His heart raced. His palms were sweating. His stomach churned. His eyes moistened. Maybe, his lips were quivering as He wondered what Jesus really thought of him.

Their eyes meet again, and Jesus breaks the silence with an unforgettable question followed by a loving command. Three times.

Do YOU love ME?

In the original Greek translation of their conversation, Jesus and Peter use different words for “love.” I think that coincides with the varied spectrum of definitions we use in our culture when saying the word, “love.”

This is my paraphrase of the conversation.

Jesus says, “Do you love Me with this unconditional, unlimited, unfailing, unending kind of love I have for you?”

Peter responds, “Well, I really like you a lot, like a friend.”

Jesus repeats His question, “Do you love Me with this giving up yourself for the other person kind of love?”

Peter’s second reply echoes his first, “I really like you.”

For the third question, Jesus changes the verb to Peter’s definition of love. “Do you like Me as much as you say?”

Peter responds, “Lord, you know what my heart feels…You know the truth. How can I say I love you the way You love me? You know I cannot say that after what I have done.”

Yes, Jesus knew what was in Peter’s heart. He knows the truth of what is in my heart and in your heart right now.

We know that the most important thing in life is to love God with all your heart and to love others as yourself. We know that the way to love like Jesus is to give up yourself for the good of the other person. We know that true love will always love first and love most.

And we know, we fall far short of the Lord’s definition of true love. We fail to show what we say. But whatever we say or do or believe or define as love, the real definition of love is defined and demonstrated by Jesus. That is the divine standard. That is the only measurement of genuine love.

Many poets, authors, songwriters, lovers, and playboys have added their descriptions of love. A movie and song declared Love is a Many-Splendored Thing. Micky and Sylvia sang Love is Strange. The tragic Harvard Love Story ends with the famous line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.” The ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, was a little more skeptical when he declared, “Love is a serious mental disease.”

Shakespeare wrote, “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.” That is closer to the truth. Genuine love does not alter with the changing circumstances; it is fixed and unchanging. It does not ebb and flow like the tides nor does it increase or decrease like the winds.

But all romantic and philosophical expressions pale in comparison to Jesus’ definition.

The #1 Textbook describes a true love that suffers long, lasts forever, and never fails. The book of Jesus’ love strongly declares that without His kind of love, we are nothing.

Whatever its definition, we know love is “patient and kind and longsuffering and full of mercy and forgiving” (1 Corinthians 13).

“Here is how we know and understand the love of God, because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). “God demonstrated His own love for us, in while we were still sinful enemies, Jesus Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The true definition of love is a Person. That Person is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Love personified. The love of Jesus never alters, never changes, never lessens, never ends, never fails, no matter who is the recipient and no matter what circumstances are involved. Jesus always loves first and most.

Jesus asks you again, “Do YOU love ME?

What is your answer based on Jesus’ definition and demonstration of love? Do you just love the idea of going to heaven in much the same way you choose a vacation destination. You prefer heaven to hell. Do you like the atmosphere of a church in the same manner you choose a restaurant. It meets your needs and preferences. That is not love.

Do YOU love JESUS? Is He first and foremost in your heart? Is He before and above everyone and everything else?

Do YOU love ME? I state again that this is a very personal question.

Jesus had renamed the disciple as Peter, the rock. He now addresses the three-time denier as Simon (the shaky one), how he was known before he followed Jesus.

The question is about a personal restoration of your relationship to Jesus, just as it was for Simon Peter. Yes, the Lord knows how much or how little you love Him. What is His response to Simon’s failure and our shortcomings?

“Go love others the way I have loved you.“

Jesus LIVES in you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.

Yes, this is personal. Love is about a Person, and it is to be directed to other persons.

Jesus did not tell Simon to repent for all his denials and failures. He did not tell Simon to have a pity party or take a backrow seat. Jesus told Peter to go show others the love of Jesus that transformed his life.

You cannot love others like some Simon character, the person you used to be. What was true for Peter, is true for you and me. The only way to love others is to become the person the Lord has made you.

“This is my commandment, that you love others just as I have loved you” (John 15:12). “We know what real love is from Christ’s example in dying for us. So, we also ought to lay down our lives for others” (1 John 3:16).

There it is. Do YOU love ME? Then trace Jesus’ likeness into your life. “Be imitators of God and walk in love just as Jesus Christ has loved us by giving Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1-2). Imitate Jesus. Be a mime. Become a tracing tablet. Be a personal demonstration of Christ’s love.

Showing love is not about comparison to anyone else. When Peter looked back at John, he asked, “But what about him?” Jesus replied, “What does that have to do with you? Nothing.”

Loving first and most has nothing to do with who the other person is or how they act. It is never altered by what he/she says or does not say, nor by what he/she does or does not do.

Jesus’ question and command is personal. It is solely about YOU taking your love for God and love for others to a higher level. Love is about delight, not duty. It is about personal devotion, not people comparisons.

This question is about YOU. Do YOU love Jesus? Will you lay down your life for others?

YOU WILL NEVER TRULY LOVE GOD AND OTHERS UNTIL YOU ACT LIKE THE PERSON GOD MADE YOU TO BECOME.

I close this time of reflection with a quote from J.C. Ryle, an old preacher now in heaven.

“OF ALL THE THINGS THAT WILL SURPRISE US WHEN WE AWAKE IN HEAVEN, I BELIEVE WE WILL BE MOST SURPRISED THAT WE DID NOT LOVE JESUS CHRIST MORE BEFORE WE DIED.”

Jesus meets you today where He met the heart of Peter on that resurrection morning…back at the beginning. Back where this relationship all started. For Simon Peter, it began beside the lake after a successful fishing trip.

It is the loving Lord coming to where you are and saying again, “I love you to the utmost. My love for YOU is unconditional, unlimited, unfailing, unending. It is longsuffering and everlasting.”

Do YOU love ME?

It is one simple, yet life-changing question with one simple and equally life-changing command. “Go love others as I have loved you.”

JESUS IS THE GOD OF ANOTHER CHANCE…and another and another as needed. Go love Jesus and others more today than yesterday and even more tomorrow.

“At the heart of the Christian story, it is a relationship with Jesus. It is a love affair. It is not a course in systematic theology.” (Alistair Begg)

AT THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN STORY, IT IS A LOVE AFFAIR WITH JESUS.

There is coming a moment when we will all wish we had loved Jesus and others more.

Let’s take our love to a higher level today. Keep reminding yourself why you love Jesus!

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day! — Glorious Day (Casting Crowns lyrics)

Winsday Wisdom 229

I was recently reminded of the wonderful benefits of calling God. It began with one of several calls to AT&T customer service.

Regrettably and ashamedly, I have been a long, long-time customer of AT&T. I might have been born that way. I have remained a miniscule part of their empire’s vast bankroll out of a false sense of loyalty or a reluctance to change my ways or just financial stupidity.

Please do not send me information on better options. Best network. Best phones. Best coverage. Best plans. Best price. I can read and I can do math. I am just strange about these things and, therefore, not very well-off financially.

For years, I have experienced overcharges, hidden charges, and extra charges. Over those years, I have spent more time with AT&T customer service than with some of my grandkids.

Anyway, last month’s charges were the straw that broke this camel’s back. The time came where I could identify with the Steve Martin character in the remake production of the movie, Father of the Bride. Faced with the enormity of additional charges for his daughter’s upcoming wedding, George Stanley Banks went bonkers in a supermarket, deciding to tear open a package of hotdog buns, and pay for only the number he needed.

Movie script:

George Banks is in the supermarket tearing open two hotdog bun packages saying, “Mellowing out is not in the cards.”

Supermarket stock boy: Excuse me sir, what are you doing?

George: I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I wanna buy eight hotdogs, and eight hotdog buns to go with them. But nobody sells eight hotdog buns; they only sell twelve. I end up paying for buns I don’t need. So, I am removing the superfluous buns!

Stock boy: Sir, you’ll still have to pay for all twelve buns. They’re not marked individually.

George: Yeah. And do ya wanna know why?! Because some big-shot over at the wiener company got together with some big-shot over at the bun company and decided to rip off the American public! Because they think the American public is a bunch of trusting nitwits who will pay for things they don’t need rather than make a stink.

Supermarket Assistant Manager: Get me security!

George: Well, they’re not ripping off this nitwit anymore because I’m not paying for one more thing I don’t need. George Banks is saying NO!

Stock boy: Who’s George Banks?

George: ME!

Assistant Manager: Why don’t we just calm down now, sir?

George: I’ll tell you why WE don’t calm down because you are not excited. It takes two people for a WE to calm down, doesn’t it?

Assistant Manager: If you do not pipe down and pay for those buns, I am going to call the police.

George: Right! (as he marches away with his shopping cart)

Next scene: George is sitting in a police cell. “That was the low point.”

I had reached that same frustration level. This was my do-or-die moment with AT&T. A jail cell without a phone might be a relief from the stressful agitation.

Admittedly, the customer agents did not take the confrontation any more seriously than the clerk questioning George. The supervisor asked me to confirm what was on her computer screen: “What is your name?” …  “What is your problem? … “You still have to pay.”

Through an extended time with a customer agent, the overcharge was corrected, and I was offered a new phone plan which drastically reduced my monthly bill. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

The next month I was billed the previous overcharged amount. That was corrected through another lengthy conversation with a customer agent and his supervisor. I have to admit that AT&T never flinched at the possibility of losing a few crumbs from their oversized cookie jar. They just got tired of staying on the phone for so long.

A few days later, AT&T automatically withdrew payment from my checking account for the previous excessive bill. Another call and another supervisor with a short bypass to the legal department to report possible fraud led to this tired, frustrated, but satisfied George Banks enjoying his eight hotdog buns ripped out of the twelve-bun phone plan.

I do not recommend AT&T or my attitude. I do have some important thoughts regarding our needy conversations with God.

1. God never refuses to answer our calls.
2. God never places us on hold.
3. God never hangs up on us.
4. God never disconnects the call.
5. God never hits the Mute button.
6. God never needs to transfer the call to a supervisor.
7. God never deletes our messages.
8. God never blocks our calls.
9. God never gets frustrated with a frustrated caller.
10. God never charges us for the everlasting redemption plan already fully paid by Jesus.

While I am talking about phone calls, I am going to share a story which might not seem funny to anyone except me. I admit I have a strange and somewhat warped sense of humor.

A friend told me of a Bible conference he attended where an old preacher shared a stirring missionary message about Paul hearing the Macedonian call. “Come over and help us” (Acts 16).

A young college student, stirred by the message, and, perhaps, a little caught up in the moment, was assigned the closing prayer. He waxed on for a long time. “Lord, we hear the call from Nigeria. They need our help. Lord, we hear the call from Sudan. They need our help. Lord, we hear the call from Turkmenistan. They need our help. Lord, we hear the call to help…(many countries were named).”

Sometime during the student’s prolonged prayer, the old preacher stepped to the microphone and interrupted the prayer with these words, “My Lord, what a phone bill! It’s time to hang up. Amen. Everyone is dismissed.”

I have been in a few extended church prayer times where I was privately asking God to disconnect the call. Okay, forgive me, Lord.

Did you realize that God calls us?

Adam and Eve heard the voice of God calling them and tried to hide from Him. They acted as if they were not at home. Moses heard God’s call from a bush extension. He replied, “Who are you?” Samuel heard God repeatedly calling his name and number until Samuel answered, “Yes, Lord, I’m listening.”

God always calls first and most. God calls us to live with purpose and love. When God calls, He calls ordinary people who feel inadequate for His higher love challenge.

God calls to have a relationship with you. He calls to say, “I love you. Follow Me.”

Jesus LIVES inside of you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.

The divine call plan is 24/7 with a lifetime guarantee. No hidden charges. No additional fees or taxes. No wait times. No long distance costs. No places without coverage. No over the limit fees. Jesus paid it all, once and for all.

“God gives Himself and all He has to those who call for Him” (Romans 10:12).

Calling God is easy and beneficial. Whether it is a 911 emergency call or just a call to chat, God always listens, always cares, always helps, always saves.

God promised, “I will Never, Never, Never, Never, no matter whatever happens, I will Never turn loose of you or hang up on you. Never!” (Hebrews 13:5). (The Greek superlative uses five negative particles to emphasize the strongest possible negative that there is no possible way under any circumstances that God will disconnect from us.)

Whatever you choose to do with your cell phone call plan, this Winsday Wisdom encourages you to be God-centered and God-saturated.

I HOPE THE NEXT TIME YOU PICK UP YOUR CELL PHONE, YOU WILL THINK ABOUT JESUS.

Whether Smartphone or Speed dial, use your calls to Love First and Love Most. Everything else is a distraction from the most important thing in life.

Thank you, Lord, that You never disconnect any of my calls for help.

OK, Mr. Banks. WE need to calm down!

WINSDAY WISDOM 227

I want to introduce this session with a few examples about being convinced or not convinced.

In college, I was convinced I could squeeze my way through a Humanities test by describing the portrait of the artistic sculpture as archaic because of its poorly developed eyes. The professor reminded me that it was a famous bust of the classical poet, Homer. My instructor wrote across my test book in large red ink letters, “Homer was blind!”

My mom, the detective English teacher, was convinced she had broken a high school drug ring. The subsequent investigation confirmed the students were sharing Tik Tak breath mints. Mom also told me not to sneak some of the fudge she made for my Uncle Curt or there would be no Christmas. To her regret, I was not convinced. Christmas came anyway. Maybe not for my uncle.

My best friend suggested a new eight-track player for my car would be awesome. With absolutely no regret, I was convinced until eight-track became replaced with cassette players which were terminated by CD players whose demise came about by Sirius radio, Alexis, and Apple Music cell phones. Does anyone want a classic Four Seasons or Neil Diamond eight-track?

I dated a girl who was convinced that the sun and the moon were the same thing. Dated. Past tense.

My college roommate told me to buy stock in Amazon and Microsoft. To my regret, I was not convinced.

I know a man who was convinced he would not die. That did not work out well for him.

And what about that person who is convinced he/she is always right about politics, religion, cooking, music, or sports? I wish there were a way to convince them to take a hike in the Sahara.

Definition of Convinced: to be completely certain about something; evidence for belief; to accept something as true.

We live and love based on things for which we are convinced to be true.

WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH AND SOUR IN YOUR LIFE, WHAT ARE YOU CONVINCED ABOUT? Are you convinced this world is against you? Are you convinced you got the short end of the stick? Are you convinced of anything?

THE #1 TEXTBOOK TELLS US ABOUT THE UNFAILING STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD ALWAYS WORKING FOR OUR GREATEST GOOD. THEN IT ASKS A HOPE-REVEALING QUESTION:

WHAT SHALL WE SAY IN RESPONSE TO THESE THINGS? (Romans 8:31).

I would be most interested to hear what you will say in light of your life’s story. As for me, I join with the apostle Paul in exclaiming, “For I am convinced that nothing can separate us (you and me) from the love of God. Absolutely nothing“ (Romans 8:38-39).

For I am convinced and absolutely persuaded not by arguments or explanations or calculations or education or indoctrination but convinced by God, by who God is, by what God says, by what God has done, by what God has promised.

Standing outside with binoculars turned toward the sky, my four-year-old grandson, Cooper, stared at the varied cloud formations and made a very important observation. “It sure looks like Jesus is up to something!”

As I look back over my life, I see that Jesus has been up to something every day. I stand in amazement as I see how all the dots in my life are connected by those big divine conjunctions: And God…But God.

What shall we say in response to these things?

For most of us, our days of childlike wonder and youthful joy have been scarred by suffering, chilled by circumstances, and distorted by spiritually impaired vision. My prayer is that this Winsday Wisdom might become your spiritual binoculars by which you gain a new perspective into the darkened clouds surrounding your life.

I pray you will see the reality of hope that Jesus is always up to something good in our lives. Sometimes we just do not see the goodness—or feel it.

Real faith struggles with doubts and questions. Like hope, it ebbs and flows through highs and lows, but the source of our faith and hope never wavers, never shakes, never weakens, and never lessens.

Our God is unchangeable, immoveable, unconquerable, and unquestionable in His wisdom, rightness, and goodness toward us. Despair is not the end of hope; emotional darkness is where hope shines the brightest.

What shall we say in response to these things?

There is hope. It is not the stuff of wishful thinking or fantasy dreams. Hope is grounded in truth. That truth is revealed in God’s Word. It is real and relevant and reliable. It is supremely sufficient for your suffering and circumstances. It is like looking through spiritual binoculars of hope.

Hope: the confident expectation of experiencing all the future goodness God has promised you…somehow…someway…sometime.

Because of the future dynamic of hope, we have to learn to fight for that confidence in God during the present sufferings. We all struggle with the external forces of changing circumstances and the internal pressure of emotional stress. Even though God has promised us future good beyond our imaginations, there are times it feels as if God has forgotten us and it looks as if God’s love is absent from the scene.

There comes a time in all our lives when we cannot see and do not feel any hope; we need an outside voice to speak to us of truthful things blurred by our tears and numbed by our despair. If we are honest, we have all been there.

What do you do when it seems as though God has failed to come through for you?

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1).

What shall we say in response to these things?

In those moments when the sights and sounds of hope become distant memories, I can declare with the utmost confidence and unclouded hope, “It sure looks like Jesus is up to something!” I see it with the binoculars of faith. I observe it on the horizon. I study it in the clouds of witnesses. I shout it like a four-year-old full of hope and confident expectation of future good.

I am convinced because I know God better than ever before. I know God is supreme and sovereign. I know God is first and foremost in all my circumstances. He is before all things and above all things. God is the ultimate reality and unsurpassed value of all things earthly and eternal. God is forever faithful and trustworthy.

I am convinced in God and by God as I see how He works things together in my life for good. God did not leave me alone in my journey. He never abandoned me or left me without help and hope for both my earthly and eternal benefit. I am absolutely persuaded God will get me safely home.

As I look back on the road I’ve traveled,

I see so many times He carried me through;

And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my life,

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

—“My Redeemer Is Faithful and True,” Stephen Curtis Chapman

I have experienced the good. I have tasted God’s kindness.

Therefore, I embrace all things in my life from adversity to prosperity because I better understand God’s purpose to use all those things to work together to make me live and love like Jesus. I am imperfect now with the hope of becoming the exact representation in the future.

I am convinced that God is for me. In His Son Jesus, He has given me all He is and all He has. Jesus stepped in as my substitute on the cross to be treated as if He had lived my sinful, self-centered life so I might never be condemned.

Others may try to judge me, but there is no condemnation from my God. His Word convinces me of that glorious thought.

No condemnation!

I want to cry! I want to shout! I want to join hands with you and dance! No condemnation!

I am convinced of my adoption by God in which I am fully and forever treated as if I had lived and loved like His perfect Son Jesus. Why? God considers me His loved child.

MY ACCEPTANCE IS UNDESERVED AND UNEARNED, BUT BY GRACE, IT IS UNCONDITIONAL AND UNENDING.

Do you think I am convinced of God’s unfailing love? I am convinced that nothing can tear me away from God’s embrace. Not life or death. Not space or time. Not anyone or anything. Not the supernatural, not even my own wrong decisions and actions.

No separation from God’s love! How can I keep from singing as I stand amazed in His presence?

When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see.

It will be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me

O how marvelous!

O how wonderful!

Is my Savior’s love for me!

—“I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” Charles H. Gabriel

For I am convinced that nothing can separate me from God’s love; therefore, I have hope. I am absolutely convinced I will experience all the goodness God has promised me in this life and the endless ages to come.

I will live and love in that hope, suffer in that hope, and die in that hope. And when I awake in the eternal reality of that hope, I will shout with joy and be lost in wonder at the wisdom of love as I run into the arms of the God who caused all things to work together for my good.

I continue to preach to myself with the same confidence spoken by Job in the midst of his greatest suffering, “Though God slays me, yet I will hope in Him.”

I am absolutely convinced that I will still experience all the future goodness God has promised me…somehow…someway…sometime.

I am convinced! Are you? Come on, sing with me!

 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

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!

Winsday Wisdom 228

Smells can remind us of particular people and places.

It happened again last Sunday in church. As we sang an old hymn (which has become far too rare), I could smell my grandmother. She was not there, only a pleasant memory of the times I stood beside her in church as a six-year-old boy and sang this hymn: When We All Get to Heaven.

When we all get to Heaven                                                                                                 

What a day of rejoicing that will be!                                                                                     

When we all see Jesus,                                                                                                            

We’ll sing and shout the victory.

I closed my eyes as I softly sang the words. I was back next to my grandmother. Her smell was distinct, some strange concoction of her love of onions mixed with an old lady’s perfume. But it was her aroma of love for Jesus and love for me that filled my head with sweet memories and my eyes with tears.

She is now singing in heaven with my dad and her four boys. She probably had the quartet singing while she played her organ. All in heaven, happily singing Beulah Land or Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. I could see it with eyes of faith. I could smell it with the nose of love’s memories.

Certain smells can ignite nostalgic memories. Other scents can evoke association with specific experiences.

I imagine you have moments like that, where the fragrance of a beloved person or special place wafts into your memory. You sense them there with you again. Your body momentarily transports to a wonderful time and place associated with that odor.

Music can have that same effect. Songs can take our mind and heart back to people and places. I will save that for another Winsday.

This is about distinctive smells and what they do to our mind and heart. Favorite smells. Fragrant smells of a special person. Recognizable aromas. Even hideous odors can resurrect dead memories.

One time on a family road trip late at night, the smell of smoke from burning leaves drifted into our car. My wife remarked that was her favorite smell.

About thirty minutes later, our air was interrupted with another outside odor. Our younger son prematurely spoke up that this was his favorite smell. Then we all quickly recognized the stink from a skunk. It takes a while for that smell to evaporate. The story associated with that trip has never dissipated.

My grandkids will remember the smell of Babe’s fresh baked cookies.

I love the scent of clean sheets. The smell of the ocean breeze.

I remember the aroma of loved ones. Family scents of a spouse and each child.

We often associate smells with people and places.

The pleasant smells of a newborn baby. Burning wood in the fireplace. Scented candle. Beautiful flowers. Freshly brewed coffee. Pleasant perfume or cologne. Fresh air after it rains. Baked bread. Cool mountain breeze. Freshly cut Christmas tree. New car. Popcorn. A whiff of cinnamon rolls in the oven.

The stinky smells of a baby’s diaper. The sweat from a sports’ locker room. Sour milk. Filthy rags. Burned toast. A skunk. Sewage. Stinky feet.

Onions, garlic, eggs, bacon, bonfires, lavender or citrus potpourri, marijuana, or cigarette smoke are pleasant or odious depending on the nostrils of the smeller.

Scientific research claims that vanilla is the most universally preferred odor. Fresh peaches were also high on the list. Preferences turn out to be based more on personal likes than cultural influence.

A specific scent linked to a pleasant memory of a loved one can boost your mood. In some circumstances, it might elicit a few tears from their absence.

Sometimes the sweet aroma lingers. Sometimes the stinky stench stays for a while.

Some people go through life always smelling the roses. Others always smell a rat. Sport competitors often smell blood as they sense the opponents’ vulnerability.

God’s #1 Textbook has a lot to say about how we smell as we go through life. The fragrance of Jesus in us is a sweet aroma to others (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Jesus LIVES in us to LEAD us to others He intends to LOVE through us.

When we Love First and Love Most, we leave behind the pleasant aroma of Christ’s love. We are the fragrance of Jesus wherever we go.

The most important part is how we smell to God. We can become a sweet-smelling fragrance of love to God and others (Philippians 4:18) or stink things up to the highest heaven (Jonah 1:2).

For whatever reason, sometimes we really stink up a relationship.

How do you smell to God and others this week?

Keep loving first and most. Love covers a multitude of stink (1 Peter 4:8).

Our love is a Jesus-like fragrance rising up to God (2 Corinthians 2:15). The previous verse describes us as surrendered to God, led by Jesus, and purposefully living to love others first and most with the same love Jesus shows us.

What aroma are you spreading around and leaving behind? What fragrance will remind your loved ones of your presence?

You probably share the same thought I have. I need to do better.

However, the key to that is the word surrendered. When Jesus takes control of us, He cleans up the stink, changes the sheet coverings, and uses us for His sweet-smelling purpose. Then Jesus loves through us.

It is God who is at work in you, giving you the desire and the power to live and love like Jesus (Philippians 2:13).

Therefore, WALK IN LOVE JUST AS CHRIST LOVED US, and GAVE HIMSELF UP for us as a FRAGRANT offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).

This love is a sweet aroma-filled “walk” through life. Walking implies purpose, direction, action, and progress.

What is your part in this heavenly fragrance? GIVE YOURSELF UP. Give yourself up to God. Give yourself up for the good of others.

That is the aroma of love that lasts. It will last beyond your lifetime. Someday in the future, a song or smell will remind a person of you…and heaven.

Then we can join not only in the pleasing fragrance of Jesus’ love, but also the chorus singing, “When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be…”

Rejoicing to be with those we so dearly miss now. To be with those who will follow the path strewn with our sweet aroma of Christ’s love.

I cannot say it enough to myself and to those of you who might listen.

Jesus LIVES in us to LEAD us to others He intends to LOVE through us.

Smell the sweet aroma of Christ’s love. Take it with you wherever you go. Give yourself up to love someone else first and most!

There is no sweeter smell on earth or in heaven!

WINSDAY WISDOM 226

My twelve-year-old grandson, Cooper, recently went on a three-day middle school “bonding trip.” The hiking and camping also included all kinds of fun things to do for the students to get to know one another better. The group participated in games, rock climbing, zip lines, and a ropes course.

Cooper was very excited. His youngest sister, six-year-old Madisyn, was not. Madi teared up as she hugged her big brother good-bye.

She became so sad when Cooper left school with his backpack. Madi went to her first-grade teacher to inform her of the reason for her tears. The teacher gave Madi a hug and a stuffed animal to hold.

Madi returned to the teacher’s desk a short time later. She told the teacher she was still sad. “I think I need to talk to the school counselor.”

She is in the first grade. My life experiences of talking to the school counselor were always connected to accountability for some wrong action.

I feel quite certain the counselor was compassionate and very entertained by the talkative Madi.

Do you ever feel like Madi, needing to talk to someone about your feelings?

Maybe you are feeling sadness, grief, loneliness, depression, anger, or anxiety. You might be seeking advice, sympathy, or encouragement. Some people seek counsel for legal, medical, financial, marital, or spiritual concerns.

The definition of counselor is someone who gives advice. You might be surprised that there are over one hundred specific references to “counsel” in the Bible.

More importantly, the entire #1 Textbook is profitable for counseling. Its author is referred to as the Wonderful Counselor. His Words advise us what to do and what not to do in all situations. It also includes what to do when we did what we were not supposed to do.

My mother was that kind of counselor.

My mother loved to debate – particularly with her brothers and sister (The Floyds – as they were affectionately known around our home). She loved to get in discussions on tough subjects with her three boys, her best friends, or students.

She saw these discussions (which sometimes seemed like arguments) were great teaching tools. MOM WOULD OFTEN ARGUE ABOUT A POINT SHE DIDN’T REALLY BELIEVE.

She wanted her students and particularly her sons “to think.”

“Don’t settle for the pat answers or buy into a system of thinking – think for yourself” she would say. She pushed us to think and argue beyond the simplistic. (Borrowed from the writings of my younger brother, Joe)

None of her sons really know how well we learned her lessons, but we are all immensely thankful for her attempts.

God’s #1 Textbook teaches all of us HOW TO THINK RIGHT ABOUT LIFE.

I believe most people LIVE A LIFETIME WITHOUT EVER THINKING that the GOD who created, redeemed, and adopted them into His family might have PROVIDED COUNSEL FOR HOW TO LIVE A SPIRITUALLY PURPOSEFUL AND PROFITABLE LIFE.

They ask others for counsel, but never listen to the Lord’s counsel about life and love. They never think about God’s counsel.

You do not have to do what everyone else does. That is not just counsel from my mom. That is counsel from God. This culture’s counsel is wrong. God teaches you to think differently and walk a different path.

God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). God has numbered all my steps (Job 31:4).

“I know the good plans I have for you.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Do you really think God intends to keep His plans secret?

None of us need to go through life guessing about God’s plans. Many of us have memorized the well-known verses from Proverbs 3:5-6. Yet, we fail to honor them when we need counsel. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and never lean on your own decisions. Lean on God and He will always point you in the right direction.”

I find it strange that many church leaders will quote and tag those verses, but not use their counsel in real life stuff.

Years ago, I was invited to attend a Church Growth Conference in Houston sponsored by the denomination’s experts on that subject. I had been offered to pastor a new church in the Houston suburbs.  

The conference was enlightening. The four well-prepared motivational leaders shared all the important geographical information, marketing research, and social surveys. They talked at length about their church marketing strategy which included purpose, values, communication, age-group involvement, resources, and evaluation techniques.

The leaders presented specific examples from some secular companies. They even had a back-up strategy to guarantee the new church would grow and thrive.

I raised my hand to ask a question, “If you are recommending a church follow the growth strategy of the Pepsi company, then why would you need to seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel and leadership?”

I guess I listened to my mom about learning to think for yourself by reliance on the #1Textbook.

The response was dead silence. I kid you not. Almost ninety seconds of awkward quiet. Finally, with no acknowledgement of my question, the speaker went on to her next point about marketing.

She remarked that their studies revealed there was a real market for “ME” churches. The surveyed people were seeking a “What about ME” church.

Since that time, many seeker -friendly churches have grown up and thrived. I was not asked to pastor one because of my last question.

In question time, I was reluctantly called upon again. “Did you ever consider that when a person begins to follow Jesus that he/she becomes less of a “ME” person and begins a journey to becoming a person more concerned about “LOVING OTHERS”? I don’t think the Bible would ever describe a true church as filled with “ME” people.

They cut off my microphone as I quoted, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me as I live the life of faith in the One who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

For those of you who might listen, Jesus LIVES in us to LEAD us to others He intends to LOVE through us. To love them first and to love them most.

God’s #1 Textbook is full of training in wisdom about purpose, values, strategies, and decision-making. It is far superior to the Pepsi Co Super Bowl marketing strategy and even supersedes Coca-Cola, in case that is your soft drink preference.

God’s Word specializes in preparing you for greater happiness and usefulness in loving others first and most.

If you need help, talk to the One who declares Himself to be your Wonderful Counselor.

Do you know you do not even have to ask for permission to talk to the Wonderful Counselor? I hope Madi and each one of us learn that lesson well. The Counselor’s door and heart are always open. He already knows your situation. He never turns you away. There is no difficulty beyond his expertise.

The Lord directs our steps (Psalm 37:23). I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch your progress (Psalm 32:8).

God cares and God understands and God counsels. His counsel is wonderful and perfect. It is also all-sufficient.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever (Psalm 33:11).

God’s Word is the only mirror for your soul which can unscramble your mixed-up thoughts. God’s #1 Textbook is absolutely sufficient for every decision you will make in life.

Lord, teach us to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90.12).

The next time you have those feelings, just whisper, “I think I need to go talk to the Counselor.”

Well, I am going to sign out of this session in full agreement with the Psalmist (Psalm 73:23-25). I hope you will join me in that same endeavor.

God loves me and always holds my hand. God will keep on guiding me (and Madi and you) all my life with His wisdom and counsel, and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven! Whom have I in heaven but my Wonderful Counselor? And I desire no one on earth as much as Him!

LOVE YOU!

Another football season has begun. That means thrills for many and groans from others. This is the account of my first college football experience which includes a WInsday WIsdom spiritual application for all of us.

A capacity crowd filled the football stadium as my university team battled a Top Twenty opponent. The game was not going well, at least not for our offense. While that unit struggled, the defense competed valiantly to keep our team within fourteen points, aided by a blocked punt for our only score.

Four minutes remained in the game when our team received possession of the football, eighty yards from paydirt. Surprisingly, our offensive coordinator told me to go into the game as the new quarterback.

Why would I be described as the new quarterback and why might that be surprising? Glad you asked.

I was a new quarterback for the team because this was my first year on the varsity squad and new because I was the fifth string quarterback, behind the starter who quit the team three weeks earlier, behind the second stringer who broke his ankle the prior week, and behind the third and fourth quarterbacks who had been embarrassingly ineffective throughout this game.

This was a new quarterback experience for me as well. Not because of the game pressure, but because of my lack of a tightknit relationship with my head coach. We barely knew one another. His job demanded greater involvement with alumni public relations than player development. Dressed in his fedora and overcoat, his demeanor always appeared aloof and authoritative. I was a fifth string newcomer raised to respect authority, even from a distance. To my own detriment, I kept my distance.

I grew up a coach’s kid. My dad was my high school coach. Of course, we were close on and off the field. He was my hero, a future Hall of Fame coach. Our hearts competed with the same fervor; our minds thought of the same strategy and play calls.

We were side by side in the locker room, on the sidelines, at church, at home. Every night, he told me he loved me. He always believed in me while my college coach had no confidence in his new quarterback.

I used the word surprised because when the offensive coordinator relayed the call for me to go into the game. it was totally unexpected, by me and everyone else who knew anything about college football. Suddenly, I had to take off my headset, find my helmet, then quickly add some eye black so I would not look like a scared fifteen-year-old.

Surprised would also describe my head coach. Actually, he appeared shocked that I was standing beside him waiting for instructions. He glanced at me, then looked away and quickly returned to staring at me as if I were waiting for his postgame food order. Stunned, maybe even traumatized, that I asked what play to call, he reached for his hat and thought about throwing it to the ground. Have we come to this?

My surprised coach offered these fiery words of encouragement as he pushed me onto the playing surface for my first college gridiron experience, “Oh (expletive)! Go on in. You can’t possibly do any worse.”

Surprised would also describe the players huddled on the field who barely knew me. I had never taken a snap with the first team offense in a game or practice. I was known as the scout team quarterback who practiced on a different field against our first team defense. The senior starters had never shared the same dining table or the same huddle with me.

As I entered the huddle for my first collegiate participation, the captain of the team raised up, backed out of the huddle, stretched both arms out wide, and greeted my arrival with a screamed expletive. “Who the (blank) is this?”

I simply shrugged my shoulders and blurted out, “Surprise!” 

Excited? Yes! Was I nervous? Of course not! I stepped into the huddle, called out the formation, the play, and the snap count. As our team moved into position, I surveyed the defense, seemingly scattered all over the field. Some were growling like dogs after new meat. Some were bent over in laughter.

I did not see my first pass launched on the big stage because I was quickly buried under an avalanche of big, mean, defensive linemen. The wide receiver came back to the huddle and muttered that the pass was too high. He went on to say the football landed in the second row of the stadium. I thought that was excessive commentary.

I had clear view of the second pass hitting a player right in the numbers on his chest, but he dropped it. The fans of both teams cheered, gasped, and moaned, all in one breath. It turned out to be a blessing. “Bad Hands Greene.” who could not hold onto the ball, was wearing a different colored jersey than my team. It should have been an interception, the pick six variety. Instead, my mother’s favorite quarterback lived to try again on third down.

Is uncontrollable shaking of one’s body any indication of nervousness? What about stammering so badly the captain had to translate the next play-call to the rest of the players? Yes, my confidence had been somewhat rattled by seeing our team managers packing up the equipment and our coaches throwing their headsets on the ground in disgust. The home fans began a mass exit from the stadium with thoughts of a lobster roll and brewski dancing in their heads.

As the legendary Yogi Berra so poignantly stated, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!”   

Our football game was still in progress. My third pass was a completion to our tight end along the right sidelines for a first down. The next pass found the halfback in the flat. He evaded a defender and advanced the ball to midfield.

Cheers, some genuine and some sarcastic, erupted from the remaining fans. Players were excited. Our captain shouted expletive-laced encouragement. Coaches repositioned their headsets. This was what I was created to do.

The subsequent play was a pass completion to our wide receiver running deep across the middle of the field until he was tackled at the twenty-yard line. There was still time to score, maybe even tie the game.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The opposing team called timeout. I imagine our brief success shocked their coaches. Who was this new guy hurling spirals down the field, marching his team toward the endzone? They definitely did not have a scouting report on this new quarterback.

If they paused to read info on this new quarterback in the game program, they would be surprised. They were chasing the wind. There was nothing about me in the publication. No picture. No bio. Nada. My name and number were buried somewhere in the team roster.

The next few minutes would become surreal and memorable, even more so than the previous ones. As the opponent sought to regain composure and reestablish their dominance, I did what every quarterback should do in any and every situation. Look cool. I think the current generation of players call it #swag, baller or dripped out. It is all about style. Look cool.

Look cool jogging onto the field for pregame warmups. Look cool in the huddle calling the play. Look cool standing in the pocket to throw a pass while the defense swarms around you. Look cool in success or adversity. Look cool especially during time-outs like this one, because the television camera might be on you.

I knew how to do “cool.” I was definitely dripped out. I practiced this since I was a kid. I had studied the great ones and imitated their movements until I perfected the look. I might not read directions for how to use Great Stuff, but I had quarterback cool stuck all over me.

I slowly unbuckled my chinstrap. I did the walk, the quarterback walk. All the great ones walk the same way. Brady. Namath. Montana. Aikman. Manning. Rodgers. Mahomes.

The cool quarterback walk. Head down, but eyes up. Helmet slightly lifted so the facemask is above the eyes. Shoulders slightly slouched forward. Shuffle toward the sidelines to talk with the coach. It should resemble more of a stroll than a walk. Not too fast, not too slow. Just chill, as if there are no concerns in the world.

With many hours in front of a mirror, I had it all down perfectly. Except, there was a concern. As I turned and looked at the sidelines, I could not find the coach. The whole scene was reminiscent of a Where’s Waldo puzzle.

Where was the coach? I could see a hundred excited crimson-clad teammates moving around. I saw hundreds of special guests with their sideline passes crowding the areas on both sides of the bench. I saw trainers, doctors, cheerleaders, and security personnel. No coach.

I immediately went into “cool protection” so I would not look like some spooked dog searching for his owner. That would not look cool.

I made a quick decision. I decided I would stroll directly down the twenty-yard line until I arrived at the sidelines and then turn right towards midfield. Surely, I would encounter the head coach somewhere along that path.

My head was steady, but my eyes kept moving as they scanned the masses along the way. It crossed my mind I might not recognize the coach since we were not extremely familiar with one another in this type of setting. As I crossed the forty-yard marker, an arm reached out and grabbed me from behind. It happened! I walked right past the coach! Video replays captured his stunned look as the new quarterback passed by oblivious to his presence and instructions.

Wow! Just a little embarrassing. And he thought I could not do any worse? I proved him wrong.

Later that night, I recounted the events of the game with my friends as I described the emotions of my first experience as a collegiate quarterback.

Suddenly, the irony and sadness hit me like a ton of bricks. The difference between the casual relationship with my college coach and the side-by-side one with my high school coaching dad mirrored my present spiritual condition.

In my prep years, I made the decision to stay side by side with God. No more running in circles chasing the wind. No more failures of searching for fleeting happiness in the imaginary world of not. No more free-falling. However, in college, I had become extremely casual toward God and my #1 Textbook.

I had not run a wheel off…yet; but I had drifted into the imaginary world of not, where I was NOT HAPPY with the coach and NOT HAPPY with my life and NOT HAPPY with my school and NOT HAPPY with others around me.

The sideline search turned out to be a much-needed spiritual wake-up call. I played in the game and the newspapers learned my name, but I forgot to love God and love others, first and most. That is the most important thing in life whether you are the star player in your world or the fifth-string flunky in someone else’s universe.

Where are you…really? Spiritually and emotionally? Are you side by side with God? Or are you on a casual spiritual jog through this life?

Do you need a spiritual wake-up alarm to check your direction, alignment, and progress?

This is no time to be casual about loving God and loving others. The #1 Textbook is the only reliable spiritual compass. It is relevant to every circumstance in your life. It is wisdom for every decision and every relationship. You can even look cool while reading it.

Stay side by side with God so you can Love others First and Most.

WINSDAY WISDOM 225

Seventeen. Do you remember? For some of us, it was a very long time ago. Life was simple yet becoming more complex. We were a blend of naivety and guilt. We were no longer kids and not yet as grown up as we might hope to become.

Frank Sinatra sang reflectively, “When I was seventeen, it was a very good year.” Diana Ross and The Supremes could get you dancing to their harmonious sounds, “He’s Seventeen and he loves me.” But it was Paul McCartney and John Lennon who sang on my radio the Beatles’ hit, I Saw Her Standing There.

She was just seventeen, and you know what I mean                                                           

And the way she looked was way beyond compare                                                                 

So how could I dance with another?                                                                                       

Oh, when I saw her standing there.

Some years went by, but I was not too old to rock to ABBA’s upbeat Dancing Queen.

You were the dancing queen,                                                                                             

Young and sweet, only seventeen.

For you, the younger set (the rest of you), Avril Lavigne’s 17 nostalgically recalls:

Those days are long gone,                                                                                                       

But when I hear that song                                                                                                            

It takes me back.

Janis Ian won a Grammy for the saddest, feeling unloved At Seventeen, song of all.

I learned the truth at seventeen                                                                                              

That love was meant for beauty queens.

Well, this Winsday is about the sadness, not the singing, that comes with being seventeen.

Did you have some sad moments at seventeen? I imagine everyone did. I am certain your sad seventeen experiences were worse than mine. Some might have been tragic. I’m sorry.

Sadness is relative. My worst seventeen moments were losing the football playoff game in the fall following the spring playoff loss in basketball. A blocked punt interrupted our undefeated pigskin season. I cried. No, I sobbed uncontrollably for twenty minutes. The sadness remained for four days until our first basketball game.

As to the previous season’s basketball loss, I just teared up. It was sad at seventeen. it did not help to hear a hometown businessman say to my dad, the basketball coach, in my presence, “If Rex had made that free throw, you still might have won the game.” (Ouch! Thank you very much for that observation.)

At seventeen, a girl broke my heart for about the tenth time (It was the same girl). Appropriately, that was about the time the Beatles released their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

The last episode of the four-year-long TV series, The Fugitive, made Tuesday nights less enjoyable. The Graduate movie did not make me aspire to the sad, meaningless future of Dustin Hoffman’s character. Even the iconic closing scene of true love rescued was haunted by the slow guitar acoustics of The Sound of Silence.

Hello darkness, my old friend.

I’ve come to talk to you again

With the sound of silence (Paul Simon & Garfunkel)

I did not escape on a bus with a pretty girl, but I ran out of gas twice in two weeks. Thus, the famous dad quote, “Son, it costs the same to fill up the top half as it does the bottom of the tank.” The sound in the background was my mom’s opinion. It was not the sound of silence.

Sadness is relative.

Obviously, I did not have a rough seventeenth year. I know of others whose trauma involved family divorce, car wrecks, death of loved ones, paralysis, and other life-changing events. For them, seventeen was a horrible year. For others, it might be remembered as one of the best years. Whatever seventeen was like, it can never be redone. Hopefully, you have grown stronger over the years.

Recently, I posted about the trauma and hope of Joseph, recorded in the last chapters of Genesis (Genesis 37-50). My thoughts keep returning to his story that highlights the steadfast love, great wisdom, and providential purpose of God to use his life to love others (even his enemies) first and most.

Maybe you can benefit from the lessons of sadness at seventeen or whatever year sits at the top of your crying mountain.

For Joseph, the tragedy burst into sadness at seventeen on the day his brothers threw him into a deep pit and sold him into slavery, headed for a foreign land.

The eleventh of twelve sons, Joseph was his father’s favorite. That made him the object of his brothers’ hatred. At the age of seventeen, his father sent him to check on the welfare of his brothers who were shepherding the family’s sheep. Jacob, the father, had not been a very good role model for his sons. He was a liar, cheat, and thief. The great “trickster” even wrestled with God.

How does God forgive, change, and use a man like that? God gave”the deceiver” Jacob the new name, Israel, “the prince who struggled with God.” The lying and fearful Abraham would be called “the friend of God” and the adulterous, murdering, David, “a man after God’s own heart.” Surely, there is hope for us.

Joseph left his father’s hug and home with no thoughts that he would never see them again. This little errand would have a twenty-year hiatus of no hope for a reunion.

Joseph left home in search for his brothers and their flocks. They were not where he expected. He inquired of a man who said they had moved on to Dothan. He walked and wandered in search of them, filled with thoughts of his dreams.

He had no idea what was about to occur that would lead to the fulfillment of his dreams. Sometimes that journey begins with sadness. In Joseph’s case, sadness at seventeen.

When Joseph found his brothers, they were not happy to see him. The brothers saw him at a distance, headed their way dressed in that unique multi-colored coat given to him by their father. This was not the cool Fonz arriving on his motorcycle in a black leather jacket. And it was definitely not Happy Days for Joseph.

The brothers shrugged and sarcastically said, “Here comes the dreamer.” They did not greet this seventeen-year-old with hugs or high-fives or even cold shoulders. Instead, the brothers planned to “kill him” and lie about it to their father. They could blame it on an accident or wild animal attack.

They hated Joseph. You might have had some haters at seventeen. I did. Others who are jealous of you, maybe for no good reason. Perhaps, some group gossiped about you or ostracized you. Were there people who said bad things about you or wished bad things would happen to you?

I am not trying to stir up bad memories. There is a point to revisiting sad times, even if they were not from your seventeenth year.

Rejection hurts at any age, but that sadness at seventeen can have long-lasting effects. It did for Joseph.

Upon his arrival, his brothers tore off his beautiful coat, tied up Joesph, and threw him into a deep pit to let him die a slow death in the sound of silence. There was no food, no water, no way out. He was abandoned to die of dehydration, starvation, or wild beast attack.

That is reason for some legitimate big-time seventeen sadness. There would be no phone call to a father for help. His mother had died years ago. There was no friend to call or Lean On.

Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain

We all have sorrow

We all need somebody to lean on. (Lean on Me by Bill Withers)

His brother, Reuben, who was no angel when Joseph was seventeen, hoped to secretly rescue him. That did not prevent the sadness Joseph felt as he sat in that darkened pit. He was hated and abused, misjudged and mistreated. He was alone with no help on the horizon.

The brothers piled on the sadness at seventeen. The ones who had just acted to get rid of their younger brother forever, sat down to enjoy the food Jospeh delivered as if nothing sad had happened.

Joseph was seventeen and felt his life and dreams were shattered. Have you been in a similar pit and time?

Can you see what Joseph could not see at seventeen? It’s probably similar to what you could not see at seventeen.  God was “working all things out for your good” (Romans 8:28). How can that be? Isn’t that what we ask in our sadness?

At that moment, some traveling Midianites passed by on their way to Egypt. Why them? Why now? Why does brother Judah suggest they make “a few shekels” of profit by selling the younger brother they wanted dead?

This is right out of the movie scripts for A Fistful of Dollars or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. What can they gain out of their jealousy, hatred, and bad deeds? Here is the opportunity to sell Joseph for twenty shekels of silver and send him away forever.

Two shekels apiece. No one loved first or loved most. Why? Selfishness. Love was not as valued as two silver coins. Joseph’s sadness was off the charts. The brothers saw he was distressed as he pleaded for his life and then begged them not to send him away into slavery.

Joseph cried. Bound and broken. Joseph cried more. No family and no home. Joseph cried some more. Bitter pills and shattered dreams. Cry me a bucket, Joseph. No one cares.

Where was God when Joseph was seventeen? God was orchestrating all the people and circumstances to get seventeen-year-old Joseph to where he needed to be to impact this world for good.

Joseph involuntarily left everything he knew and loved, bound for a life he never dreamed so that he would be where he would live the life of his dreams. Sadness at Seventeen, do you know what I mean?

There is no jealousy, no hatred, no rejection, no deep pit, no transfer to another place that can stop the blessings God has in store for you. Nothing and no one can hinder, hold back, or sidetrack God’s plans. Every sadness, no matter what year in life, guides us to future blessings and happiness and, ultimately, where there will never be sadness again.

How did Joseph get through his seventeen sadness? He never forgot it. He learned to trust God and accept it as part of the process of growing up.

“God turned into good what others meant for evil… my good and the good of many others. God brought me to the place I am today” (Genesis 50:20).

GOD ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE (even at seventeen), WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, HOW AND WHEN TO GET YOU TO YOUR PLACE OF GREATER HAPPINESS AND USEFULNESS. ALWAYS.

It just happened Joseph was born a dreamer. It just happened he ended up in the pit, the prison, and the palace. It just happened…Or did it?

“You do not have to worry like the other seventeen-year-olds and the rest of the self-centered world. There is no bird left without food, and there is no sparrow that falls to the ground without God watching over it. There is no flower in the field not beautifully clothed. You are of far more value than all these. Do not live in the sadness of seventeen or worry about tomorrow. Live one day at a time. God will take care of you…Always and Forever” (Matthew 6).

Joseph trusted God when his life was in the pits, in prison, and in the palace. You can too.

Maybe you are going through some Seventeen Sadness at another age right now. Trust God for what you cannot see at the moment.

You fearful saints, fresh courage take                                                                                 

The clouds you so much dread                                                                                                 

Are big with mercy, and soon shall break                                              

In blessings on your head                                                                                                         

(Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper)

Can you sing with the Psalmist? “I would have despaired and given up in this life, except I believed I would still see the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 27:13).

I had some moments of sadness at seventeen and more in the passing years…”But surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

Sadness at Seventeen. An eternity of happiness and love awaiting me.

“The center of God’s will may be for us the very eye of the storm” (Alistair Begg).

All your heartaches and hopes are orchestrated by God into the beautiful symphony of your blessed life. God means it all for good.

Come on Dancing Queen or Saturday Night Fever Guy. So what, that you are no longer seventeen?

Dance with the One who loves you first and most. How can you dance with another?

WINSDAY WISDOM 225

Legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano spoke to the ESPY audience about courage as he was dying with cancer. “To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think — spend some time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that’s a heck of a day.”

My goal for Winsday Wisdom is to encourage those three emotions as we learn to Love First and Love Most. Football season is starting again, so here is a brief video to help you laugh, think, and maybe cry.

Play the video.

WINSDAY WISDOM 224

Are you ever frustrated and worried that your performance must reach some perfect standard to feel good about yourself or to receive the approval of others? I recently experienced the frustrations of walking a dog in a direction where she did not want to go. It was a struggle pulling on the leash with a constant stream of commands to “Stop! Come back! Don’t do that!”

Do you live your life like someone tied to the leash of someone’s expectations? Maybe your spiritual performance suffers from a leash of commands to “do this” and “don’t do that.” That only sets you up for numerous and epic performance treadmill falls.

God walks with us with love, not a leash. Your spiritual life is about a relationship, not performance. It is about direction, not perfection.

God says, I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).

Jerry Bridges wrote in his book, Transforming Grace, “My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we’ve performed well—whatever “well” is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works rather than grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the “sweat” of our own performance.“

Are you still “sweating it out” on the performance treadmill? I urge you to take a moment and consider a question worthy of your contemplation.

Who can separate you from the everlasting love of God? Let’s think about that.

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

There is no better description of this beautiful breathtaking horizon than the all-encompassing, biggest, most powerful, and most feared “performance separators” in this list, all eclipsed and conquered by God’s love for you.

1. Death. This is the big one. Death is final. It cuts you off from this earthly journey. However, the same ship responsible for the departure from all you have known carries you to the arrival dock where all your hopes are reality. Death can never separate you from God’s love.

• Life. There are many separators in life. Gender, race, religion, nationality, age. Health and wealth or the lack thereof are bitter dividers. Critics and complainers can feel like monster scissors cutting you into tiny pieces. War tears nations and families apart. But God never takes a break from your life’s journey. He never glances away or forgets a need. There is nothing in life which can separate you from God’s love.

• Angels and demons. These are the most powerful “unseen” things operating in both the physical and spiritual realms. They are more powerful than you but not more powerful than God’s love from which they can never separate you.

• Time. Things present or future might fill your mind with fear, worry, and anxiety. Time will eventually unveil “seen” troubles and “unforeseen” problems. God’s love for you is everlasting. It has no time constraints. Nothing from eternity past to eternity future can ever separate you from God’s timeless love.

• Spiritual powers. The enemy uses supernatural powers to execute his well-designed and proven effective plans to chain many to a lifelong journey on the performance treadmill. These powers breed doubts and raise questions, but they are powerless against the almighty truths of God’s Word. All the enemy can really do is to use those supernatural powers to get you to embrace the lie that “God is not good enough to you.”

That was the lie presented to Adam and Eve. That was the issue in Job’s story. That was Naomi’s bitterness and Ruth’s dilemma. That was Jeremiah’s lament. But God is good enough. Infinitely, incomparably, incredibly, inconceivably good enough! Oh, what a God! God accepts you unconditionally and loves you endlessly. God wants you to know and live your life based on the truth that nothing, not even something supernatural can ever separate you from His steadfast love.

• Space. Height and depth are effective separators. Some things can be placed too high out of your reach or buried so low you cannot dig them up, but they are not too high or too deep for God. God’s love swallows up space faster than the speed of light. The highest heaven, the widest distance, and the lowest depth are not beyond the circumference of God’s love. God’s love for you is higher, wider, deeper, and bigger than anyplace you will be in life and eternity. There is no space empty of God’s love for you.

• Anything else in all of creation. Just in case someone thinks God might have forgotten something or somewhere or sometime, God throws this into the mix. God is not ignorant or unacquainted with anything that exists. He created it all. If the astronomers discover another galaxy or gravitational waves rippling through the fabric of space-time or even another universe somewhere, God created it. God told us He created all of it for our good, so none of it will ever separate us from the goodness of God’s love.

Oh yeah, what about yourself? What if you decide you want a separation? The last time I checked, you and I still fall under the category of created things and no created thing will ever separate us from the love of Christ. That includes all the bad people and bad things. It encompasses all your decisions, both right and wrong.

Sometimes you might struggle with doubts. Doubting is not a sin; it’s a place on the road of faith where you are faced with a decision whether to believe this world’s lie about your circumstances and how you are not good enough or you embrace the truth of God’s Word regarding God’s unconditional love and acceptance that is always more than good enough.

It is essential that we learn to think right. The only way to think right is to saturate our minds with Scriptural truths. If we peel away the layers of the onion, at the root of insecurity and feelings of worthlessness we would find Satan attempting to convince us that we are unworthy with thoughts that our sins are too great, and others appear more righteous. And then the struggle begins. We spiral down mentally and emotionally. To salvage ourselves “we begin to do better.” We return to the performance treadmill. It’s time to get off.

You are greatly and marvelously loved. Why? Because God’s love is good enough.

God’s love for you is unconditional, unchanging, unfailing, and unlimited. God’s love does not change according to your proximity to perfection. If you do well, God does not love you more and if you do poorly, God never loves you less.

God loves you based on who He is. Have you been controlled all your life by what other people think about you or what they expect from you or how they respond to you? There is a solution to that. You can be controlled by the love of Someone who loves you unconditionally, with an unchanging, unlimited, longsuffering, long-lasting love regardless of your performance. God promised to love you forever even when He already knew the worst about you. Each of us needs to learn that. Preach to yourself. Sing it to your soul.

Nothing can separate you from that love. Nothing. That’s it. That is all that needs to be said, all that needs to be known. This truth changes how you live and how you love. It changes how you look at other people and how you treat them.

You are unconditionally accepted. No one has God’s right to judge you, and nothing has the power to make God stop loving you. No one. Nothing. Not even you with all your self-doubts and low esteem. Place your hope in God, not in “doing your best” or “trying harder.”

God has rescued many persons exhausted from the never-ending exercise of trying to be good enough to please everyone. Cut the puppet strings. Trash the comparison checklists. Shake off the self-doubts. Get off the performance treadmill.

Do not marginalize the perfection and sufficiency of God’s love for you. You are fully and unconditionally loved and accepted because of one magnificent reason. GOD’S LOVE IS MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH. I pray this glorious truth will rise up from the deepest part of your heart to fill your life with hope. When you are not good enough, God’s love for you is still more than good enough.

Put away the measuring tape for you and your children. Performance competition breeds envy, disappointment, and discontentment. Comparison shopping will rob you of joy. If necessary, stay away from social media and its “thoughtless, insensitive comments.”

The things that worry and discourage you today will not matter in twenty years. Most will not matter tomorrow.

God alone determines your identity and value. Do not be enslaved to the whims of others’ opinions. Your importance does not depend upon how many “Likes” your Facebook picture attracts or how many follow or unfollow your Tweets. Do not diminish the significance of God’s love by climbing back on your performance treadmill or crawling back into your suffocating hole of solitary silence.

There is no greater love! God loves you to the max; He will never love you less!

Enjoy being loved by a great love that cannot be separated by life, death, time, space, unseen things, spiritual powers, or any other created thing.

When it comes to any performance test, God is more than good enough!

I hear you. You are welcome. Let’s go love someone first and most!

WINSDAY WISDOM 223

What should you do if you feel you are never good enough? Do you get back on that performance treadmill and turn up the speed or do you just discount its value in a garage sale and quit life altogether?

[This Winsday is primarily directed to women, but it is also very helpful to men who run on that performance treadmill or live with a wife or daughter who does.]

Do you feel as if you never perform to the level of others’ expectations? Do you feel as if you cannot forgive yourself for where you have faltered, fallen, or failed?

Many of us have been controlled all our lives by what other people think about us or what others expect from us or how others respond to us. Do you feel that way? Do you struggle with feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, insignificance, worthlessness, or inability to forgive yourself?

Do you sense the pressure to perform to some social standard or media ideal, seeing yourself as some society- made puppet in the hands of string-masters being compelled to perform to please different audiences? Do you battle with feelings of fear that your worth is attached to your “performance” measuring up to others’ expectations?

The young and not so young fret over Facebook likes and social media comments. While many are posting their latest “selfie”, some feel left out, overlooked, and unwanted. They become plagued with stress and anxiety over what others might think about their child’s birthday party or daughter’s wedding, their size or hairstyle, their fashion choices or career decision regarding what is best for their family. We all long to feel accepted, valued, and loved for who we are and not what we accomplish or do not accomplish.

Women can feel insecure living in a disposable world of paper plates, plastic bottles, fast food utensils, disposable diapers, discarded marriages, and throwaway fetuses. The landscape is covered with things and people that are no longer wanted, just used, and tossed aside, so someone can get something new.

Behind the pleasantries and canned answers at church or work lies the hidden pain of insecurity. Some laugh the loudest in a crowd and then go home and cry themselves to sleep. The self-doubting performer will smile the brightest in public and then race home to stare at the blank walls, gripped in a deadly silence of perceived disapproval. Or they just exist—part of the wounded society searching in self-help books to shake the self-appointed title of “total failure.”

Many people struggle to embrace God’s unconditional acceptance which is not based on their performance level. They become entangled in a vicious cycle, sometimes starting as a young child or teenager, trying to please others while feeling or being made to feel that they never match up. They often battle low self-esteem, insecurity, and even despair when God’s Word promises freedom from trying to please others.

There will always be someone close to you whose mission in life seems to be pointing out your flaws and faults. They act like the mother-in-law, Marie, on the Everybody Loves Raymond sit-com. They are judgmental and intrusive. They might even start the conversation with praise; however, they just have to mention that one wrong note, that one missed spot, or that one better way to cook. They envision themselves as experts on everything regarding weight loss and flower beds and raising children.

Ouch! They just have a way of calling attention to imperfections in your parenting skills or worse, in your children. Your heart races, your throat constricts, and your stomach churns. You want to strangle them or at least scream at them to get a life! (Ooops! This is a Love First and Most post.)

Instead, you go home and cry. Your tears run down your cheeks like unlovely rivers of imperfection. Some days you cannot even do the mad or sad thing right. Whatever they say or however they communicate their opinions, they only remind you of what you already fear, not being good enough.

What should you do if you feel you are never good enough?

God says you do not have to be perfect to be loved. God loves and accepts you just as you are. He assures you that nothing can ever separate you from His love (Romans 8:35-39). God prefers you running into His arms of love, not plodding along on some performance treadmill.

Does that sound strange to you? Unbelievable? Unconditional love and acceptance might go against the way you were raised. That concept certainly counters our cultural expectations.                   

BUT GOD leaps to the limits of language to express His unlimited love for you even when you fall and fail. Here is the good news.

ON THE CROSS, GOD PLACED ALL YOUR PERFORMANCE TREADMILL SHORTCOMINGS AND FAILURES ON JESUS. They are now buried in the depths of the sea, never to return.

GOD PLACED THE PERFECT AND EVERLASTING PERFORMANCE OF JESUS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. No one in heaven will ever condemn. For any other opinions (including your own), send them to the cross for an explanation.

You may not see that right now. You might not feel that way or think that or hear that from others; but it is true. You need to listen to the right voice, the only one whose opinion matters.

Since God is for you, who can be against you? Who condemns you? Certainly not God. What can separate you from the love of Christ? Absolutely nothing (Romans 8:33-35).

Perfection or comparison to others has never been the right standard. Just be the best version of yourself, even if that is a lifelong process.

You were never supposed to be like everyone else. You are not a puppet on a string performing for the culture and times you live in. God made you unique. God designed you specifically to fit into your family and into the lives of those linked by the circumstances.

What pleases God? Faith (Hebrews 11:6). When you do not feel good enough, trust God’s love to be good enough for you.

When others walk away, love stays. When others quit, love goes on. When others complain, love accepts. When others come to the end of their giving, love has just begun. Love does what it does not have to do.

Love fills up life with divine conjunctions and new horizons. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He has loved us…made us alive in Christ. He saved us (Ephesians 2:4). This gift was not deserved and certainly not earned by some performance treadmill test. It was solely the result of God’s grace.

When the skies of your life darken and the mood ring dims, it is vital to remember the truth. Take refuge under the shelter of its wings. You will find no performance treadmill anywhere around.

There are no measurements to match or tests to pass or comparisons to supersede. United to Jesus Christ, you are fully and forever accepted. Period. Done. Never to be changed. You will never need to ask, “How much is enough?” God’s love for you will always be good enough.

Do not marginalize the perfection and sufficiency of God’s love for you. You are fully and unconditionally loved and accepted because of one magnificent reason.

GOD’S LOVE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH!

Spend some time in the arms of the One who loves you first and most. God will keep on loving you without judging your performance.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU STUMBLE ON THE PERFORMANCE TREADMILL, GOD WILL NEVER LOVE YOU LESS!

Preach that to yourself and share with someone you love who is still struggling on the performance treadmill.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU STUMBLE ON THE PERFORMANCE TREADMILL, GOD WILL NEVER LOVE YOU LESS!

The Lord delights in those who place their hope in His unfailing love (Psalm 147:11).

I pray the Lord will help all of us to hope in His unfailing love and to love others struggling on the performance treadmill with that same kind of non-critical, unfailing love.

MORE TO COME…