Tis the season to be thankful! Here we go again, that special time of year when we’re supposed to be grateful for everything we have in our lives. This is when we gather with some of our friends and family members, we haven’t seen in years and probably will never see again.  This is the time we pretend to laugh at Uncle Ned’s corny jokes, endure Aunt Edna’s latest surgery story, yell at each other over who should be in the White House and deal with little screaming brats we call our nephews and nieces. Oh and this is the time when mom brings out the cheesy Christmas records sung by famous dead guys and we still haven’t even finished Thanksgiving yet. Does it sound like I’m bitter? Maybe just a little because if you’re anything like me, I have more in my life to complain about right now than I do about being thankful. I know, I know what the Bible says but sometimes I don’t feel like “rejoicing always”, or being “thankful continually” or singing corny worship songs about “counting my blessings and naming them one by one”. To be honest, life just flat out sucks right now. So why should I be thankful? Why should I be grateful? What’s the point? Do you ever get this way? Listen, we can pretend or we can be real. Have you ever felt this way? Are you going through hardships in your life that it’s just difficult right now to be grateful? Maybe it’s a death in the family, a broken relationship, financial struggles, and you’re just barely getting by. Let’s face it, life is not easy, yet we sing hymns in church like this one, “Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.” I’m sorry but that’s a bunch of crap. Everyday with Jesus is not always sweeter than the day before, in fact it’s hard and sometimes it’s painful and it hurts. So, what to do when you’re going through this holiday season faced with circumstances not worth being thankful for? The answer is simple. Be thankful that God doesn’t expect you to be thankful. But wait a minute, you might say doesn’t the Bible command us to be “thankful continually” and to “rejoice always”? Yes, it does. Well, then you might ask me what the darn hill are you smoking? But my answer is still the same. Be thankful that YOU don’t have to be thankful!!!! You see too many times we read the Bible and we see these commands and we think it’s for us to obey them. Actually, these commands are a reminder to us that we can’t obey them. In fact, it’s a reminder for us that we are a fallen people in dire need of a Savior. A Savior who can obey the commands, one who was without sin and one who can live inside us and empower us to live this life the way it was intended. Praise Jesus! That’s something to be thankful for. You see, the same passage about “rejoicing always” is found in Philippians. When Paul wrote it, he was in prison for not committing a crime but just sharing Jesus. He had every right to complain and be bitter but he had to learn contentment. It didn’t happen overnight and that’s good news for us who are still in the process of learning ourselves. Paul had to learn and what he learned was so valuable that he couldn’t keep it a secret. What is The secret? It’s not a book recommended by The Oprah Winfrey Book Club. No, thank God for that, this is so much better. “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me!”. That’s it! Thanks be to God, that even though my circumstances are not worth thanking God for, I can thank Him that it’s not up to me to be thankful. I can thank Him that He will transform my bitter heart to a thankful one. I can thank Him that He will give me the strength to be content no matter what. Feeling low this holiday? That’s okay, just thank Him you don’t have to be thankful and give Him your heart. Watch the great surgeon replace your bitterness with a heart of joy. You won’t be disappointed. So when Uncle Ned starts showing you scars from his glory days, and your bratty niece loses your cell phone again, just smile and tell yourself, “thank you God, I don’t have to be thankful!”. And that my friends is definitely something to be thankful for. Oh by the way, Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!!!!

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:13

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Proverbs 12:15

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

When I was 18 years old, just a young freshman in college, I will never forget what an eventful year it was for me. I learned a lot that year, college books were expensive, darks didn’t wash well with whites, Ramen noodles and Mountain Dew were a great combination for breakfast, college girls were way cuter than high school but still an enigma, Friday morning classes were meant to be avoided, and I learned how it felt to be a woman in child birth. You see, my first year of college found me sick in bed with the flu for days. I had this excruciating pain in my lower right side and it wouldn’t go away. Turned out my appendix had ruptured and I was rushed to the emergency room. I later was told by a female friend who had hers taken out, that the pain was similar to that of being in labor. It was a moment in my life I will never forget. I could’ve died that year had it not been for two wonderful girls in my dorm, my two angels, who periodically checked up on me, fed me soup, took my temperature and finally encouraged me and actually demanded me to go to the campus doctor. At first I didn’t want to see the doctor, I thought I’d be tough, man up and make it through but my friends knew better and with some tough love , told me what I didn’t want to hear but I realized they were right, something was definitely wrong and if I didn’t listen to them and go, it wasn’t going to end well. I learned a lot that year and it wasn’t just knowing what it feels like to birth a child. I learned that sometimes I don’t know it all and sometimes I’ve got to let go of my own foolishness and pride and instead of doing things my way, actually listen to wisdom when it calls out and learn to heed the warning signs. I wish I got that lesson right all the time but unfortunately I still don’t at times and I’ve had to suffer consequences because of it, especially when it comes to relationships. Why do I think I can do things on my own strength and fail to listen to the advice of others or God when all along I’m self sabotaging myself and hurting the ones I love? God help me, God help us all to learn to humble ourselves, trust you, and listen to Godly advice before it’s too late. Help us to heed the warning signs before the poison seeps too deep we find ourselves once again on the operating table of life, when all along it was never supposed to be that way.

Old photographs, I love looking at them. They have a story to tell. I could stare at them all day and not get bored. I love looking at family albums too. My mom has stacks of photo albums in storage somewhere in her closet. Every once and awhile I like to get those out and I reminisce. It makes me laugh when I see the outfits my family and I used to wear, the hair do’s, the silly moments, how ridiculous I looked in my clothes that I thought were so cool. I was so awkward looking, I think they did a television show based on my life called “Freaks and Geeks” cause that’s what I was. My ears stuck out like t.v. antennas, my feet and hands were so big they outgrew the rest of my scrawny body.  I had pimples all over my face, I was so quirky that I looked like a circus clown and the only thing I was missing was the red bow tie. But sometimes I like to go through a very special photo album. This one I store in the closet of my memory. It has all the photographs of my life, from when I was born till now. I’m flipping through the pages as I speak. You know what I noticed? God likes to photobomb my pictures. Not familiar with that term? Photobomb is when you are posing for a picture and someone unexpectedly gets behind you and gives you bunny ears. Yup, that’s my God. He’s literally in all my photos. Let me show you what I mean. Here’s a photo of me when I was eight years old. There we are eating ice cream together, celebrating me being born again. I think we were eating Heavenly Hash ice cream that day and there He is, giving me bunny ears. I’ve got such a big smile on my face, I didn’t even notice. I was so happy knowing I was going to be safe with Him forever. Oh look here, I love this photo too. This one is me at twelve years old now. I got a pair shorts in my hand, on my way to face my intimidating Coach Largent to tell him my gym shorts are too big. I was so afraid to face that man about my situation but wait a second, there’s God, holding my hand and walking me to school. He was there for me that day and taught me that I didn’t have to be afraid but I could trust Him. Look, He’s wearing gym shorts too. Oh, and here is me getting teased at school for my big ears. Do you see Him? There He is, standing in between the bullies and myself. He protected me that day from getting beat up, my great defender. There’s me on stage, acting in my first role in a high school musical. You got to look closely though for God, cause He’s standing backstage, giving me the spotlight. He always did that and I never deserved it. Here’s another one of me at 17 years of age. I was sitting on the front porch of my house in Alabama, calling a college administrator. I was interested in attending the school but the lady on the other end of the phone ridiculed me for not knowing my social security number by heart. That’s the photo of me just getting off the phone, tears coming down, feeling like a stupid, hopeless idiot. But there He is, my God, my Daddy, putting His hand on my shoulder and whispering in my ear, “I love you son, you’re more than just a number to me”.  I love this one, me and God, lying on the golf course late at night, looking at the stars, talking about girls, making plans about the future. Just talking about myself mostly but there He is, never bored, listening intently, beaming from ear to ear. This is the mountain I climbed, there we are enjoying the view, that there is the valley where I fell and that’s Him picking me up again, always by my side. Here’s my wedding day, He’s doing the “Funky Chicken”. He’s quite a dancer. This one’s the birth of my kids, He’s the one guiding the doctor’s hands oh so lovingly. Here’s another one. This was a hard day for me. I’m in the mediation room waiting for my lawyer to finalize the marriage. You see me? I’m the guy wearing the scarlet letter “D” on my chest, but you can’t see it, because He’s covering it with His nailed scarred hands as he holds me in His loving arms. Wow, look at all these old photographs, there’s so much more I could share. He’s been with me in every single one. They say a picture speaks a thousand words and that is so true, my photo album is a novel. It speaks volumes of His faithfulness, His unconditional love and His plans to bless me.  And I still don’t know what I’ve done to deserve all that? How about yourself? Have you gotten a chance to flip through your photo album lately? Are you feeling heart broken, need a break from your pain? Feeling hopeless? Why not go into your memory closet and just go through some old photographs. I guarantee it, you’ll notice He was always there, giving you bunny ears and blowing you kisses. As for me, my story is unfinished.  I still have more room in my photo album, more relationships to develop, new experiences to share, new adventures to post. Who knows what will unfold for me but I know one thing for sure, my Daddy will continue to carry me on top of His shoulders like He always has. All that He has done for me, His faithfulness and love, I can’t hold it in. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well and that’s the story I will always tell.

Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Psalm 24
Of David. A psalm.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

I began reading this Psalm and stopped after the first sentence of the first verse. I didn’t even finish the rest of it. I just marveled at how profound that statement is. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”.  I asked myself is it true that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”?  Of course it is. That is truth. But then I asked myself do I really believe it? Do I really live like “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”?  It seems I live my life more in forgetfulness of that truth. I live more in worry and let fear dominate my life, that I limit the God given potential that I have. If “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”, then why do I let the slightest problem that comes across my path impact my joy? If Bill Gates was my dad I don’t think I would have to ever worry about money again.  Think about it, Almighty God is our daddy and He owns the world. But why do we so easily forget? If you’re like me and you feel that your life doesn’t reflect the power of this truth, then perhaps we should renew our minds.  How about when faced with difficulties we should make this statement our war cry? We should confess out loud to our circumstances, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”.  When we find our hearts are crushed and broken to pieces by the betrayal of someone we truly love,  “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When we look at our checking account and see our finances dwindling and we don’t know how we’re going to make it to survive, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When our closest friends turn their backs on us when we really need them the most, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When we see our country falling apart and our political party did not win enough of the votes, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When others spread lies about us and falsely accuse us of wrongs we have never committed, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”.  When the cancer comes back and rears it’s ugly head and the doctors have no answers, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When you’ve prayed a thousand times for God to remove the “thorn in the flesh” that’s been plaguing you for years but it still won’t go away, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. When you watch your dreams and everything you’ve worked hard for get dashed upon the rocks, when your job is suddenly taken away and life gets flipped upside down, when you lose the life of your only child, when darkness surrounds you and light is a distant friend, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”. And when Satan attacks you and reminds you of your past, just quickly remind him of his future. Pick up your sling and grab your stone oh mighty warrior of Christ, for you are not alone. He that is in you is greater than He that is of this world. No matter what may come against us, let’s face those giants and  declare with a bold and triumphant shout, “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT”!!!

Matthew 20:16 He must increase; I must decrease.”

Luke 9:48 For He who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Let’s face it, no one wants to be the second man. No one likes to feel second to anyone. No one endorses the runner who wins silver, no one gets their picture on a Wheaty Box, or a mega shoe deal for second place, no visits to the White House for the team that loses the Super Bowl. No woman loves it when her man puts her second on the priority list of things to do in a day. No guy wants to be strung along in the back pocket by the girl of his dreams, just in case her first choice falls through. No one wants to be that guy or girl. No one. I’ve experienced it before, many times, that’s me, I am the second man. How about you? Have you ever been there? Are you there now? Did you know that Jesus actually wants us to embrace the position of being the second man? We are taught in this world that winning is everything and coming first is what counts. But Jesus flips the worlds values upside down. The disciples argued in front of Jesus about who is going to be greatest in the kingdom. They had forgotten all that Jesus had taught in the previous verses, that to truly save your life, you must deny yourself, you must lose it! To be great in His kingdom you must become least. Maybe the next time we find ourselves losing the promotion we wanted so badly to our coworker, we pray blessings for him or her and throw them a party, what if we put our pride second and forgive the person that so hurt us, what if we put our busy agenda second and actually take the time to serve someone who needs to know God loves them, what if that person is our enemy? What if we do as John the Baptist said, “I must decrease He must increase”. The Bible compares this life to a race but for us to win this prize, we must come second, He must come first. This way of life is not easy because it’s so contrary to the worlds values but soon when we cross the finish line and see Jesus face to face, He will remind us that we were always His number one and suddenly second place won’t seem so bad after all. So the next time you’re feeling low for coming up short, just tell your pride to get back in the coffin where it belongs, and declare to it, “Jesus first, I am the second man. “

CYRANO: Ah no! young blade! That was a trifle short!
You might have said at least a hundred things
By varying the tone. . .like this, suppose,. . .
Aggressive: ‘Sir, if I had such a nose I’d amputate it!’
Friendly: ‘When you sup It must annoy you, dipping in your cup;
You need a drinking-bowl of special shape!’
Descriptive: ”Tis a rock!. . .a peak!. . .a cape! —
A cape, forsooth! ‘Tis a peninsular!’ 

Ah, the famous nose scene from Cyrano De Bergerac, a classic play and one of my favorites. It’s actually one of my dream roles that I would love to perform if I ever act again in the theater. The play was written by Edmund Rostand in 1897. It’s premise is about a soldier, a dashing officer of the guard and a romantic poet, who secretly falls in love with his distant cousin Roxanne, but there’s a couple of obstacles. One is his big nose that he feels hinders him from telling Roxanne his true feelings and the other is that Roxanne falls in love with one of his cadets, Christian and asks Cyrano to protect him for her. Christian, the handsome cadet loves Roxanne too but is inept when it comes to talking to women he likes. He asks Cyrano for help. Cyrano disappointed of course, agrees to write love letters to Roxanne on behalf of Christian not because of Christian but because he loves Roxanne so much that he’d do anything to see that she was happy. There’s a wonderful balcony scene where Cyrano is coaching Christian in trying to woo Roxanne. Christian of course tries to speak on his own and fumbles with his words. Roxanne is about to leave in disgust and return to her bedroom but Cyrano prevents her.  He puts on Christian’s hat and begins to whisper sweet words of love to her in the darkness. Roxanne, thinking it’s Christian, is smitten and totally won over by his words. When Cyrano is finished, Christian climbs up on the balcony and he is the one who gets to feel her embrace, he is the one who gets to kiss her lips. Cyrano is torn to want Roxanne for himself, but he lets her go into the arms of the man whom she loves. All Cyrano can do is watch from the distance. Roxanne and Christian soon marry but are separated when Cyrano and his cadets are sent to the front lines of battle. Cyrano, continues to pose as Christian and writes to Roxanne everyday of his love for her.  He even sacrifices himself to cross through enemy lines just to mail her the love letters. Cyrano tries to protect Christian but Christian eventually dies on the battlefield. Years after the battle, Cyrano visits Roxanne regularly to give her the news of the day. She has never remarried and lives in a convent still mourning the death of Christian. However, one day while on his way to visit Roxanne, an enemy of his, swings a log in his direction and Cyrano gets a serious blow to the head injuring him. He tries to cover up his injury and finally makes it to the convent looking all pale and tired. He asks Roxanne if he could read Christian’s last letter he wrote to her before he died. Roxanne gives it to him and he begins to read it to her. Suddenly, the candle goes out and they are now in darkness but Cyrano knows the letter by heart and continues to recite the letter to her. It is at this point she realizes that he was the one all along who wrote the letters and she declares her love for him. He then breathes his last and dies in her arms. Wow, what a moving story of a man who instead of using his gifts and his talents for himself, he uses it for a noble cause, he uses the poetic genius of his words and sacrifices his very life for the life of His love. He gives up his dreams, his wants, his needs, for another, a selfless love. Isn’t that also just like our God?! We are His prized possession, we are His bride, He loves us so much even when we can’t see it, even when we choose to fall in love with the things of this world over Him. He still gives up everything, the throne of heaven, for a manger in a stable, a crown of jewels for a crown of thorns and still we look to others to fulfill us. Still we fill our hearts with a cheap imitation of love that the world gives and we come up empty every single time. Yet still He pursues us, He writes us everyday His love letters, words written in His blood, letters that we sometimes take for granted collecting dust on our coffee tables.   What is it going to take for us to have our eyes opened in the dark, to see for the first time that He is our only true love? When will we stop mourning after the loss of our “Christian” and open our eyes to see that Jesus the “Cyrano” of our soul has been visiting us all along? When will we truly discover that nothing will ever satisfy or come close to the love He has for us? A love that is pure, a love that is selfless. My prayer for us is that we don’t realize this at the end of the third act, we discover it now. We realize it before the curtain falls. My prayer is that we would invite Him up on the balcony for a passionate embrace and a holy kiss. My prayer is that we would once again rediscover that Jesus is all we ever needed for our lonely hearts. Do you hear that? Every night He calls out from the darkness below the balcony of our hearts. Will we sleep through the night or will we rise to meet Him under the pale moonlight? It’s our choice. He is a perfect gentleman and He will never force us but He will always be there every night just waiting for you and me to wake up from our tired and dull chambers.  Wake up from our slumber Bride of Christ! Jesus, our  lover is here, we will not be disappointed. He will whisper to our longing souls some of the most beautiful love sonnets ever spoken. He will quench the thirst of our lonely hearts. He will wipe away all our tears. Quiet, be still now, do you hear Him calling?  Listen as He woos us with these words, “You Are my Beloved and you will always be my Beloved.”

Song of Solomon 8:6

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” 

Song of Solomon 8:3

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” 

Have you ever had your computer get hacked? Has this happened to you? You click on a link in your email from a friend of yours, only to find it was a virus you just downloaded to your computer? Then crash, instead of “you got mail”, “you got hacked!”? If it hasn’t happened to you yet, don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to experience it. Hackers are everywhere roaming online for someone to prey upon and if you’re not careful, you could be their next victim. I was a victim recently. I was catfished. A term that originated over the years since online dating and Facebook became popular. It’s basically a term used to describe a person who poses as someone else to hack into your personal information. A friend of mine told me of a free dating site he was using and so I signed up for it too. After signing up, I immediately received a response from a woman who liked my picture. That should’ve been a clue but I fell for the bait. We started texting and for awhile it seemed promising. I asked her if she wanted to meet up, she said yes and we made plans. But on the night of our date, I got to the restaurant we agreed to, and she never showed up. I texted her too through the dating app but nothing, no response. It wasn’t until I texted her, that I was going home, she finally responded with a lame excuse. So I got a weird feeling and I looked her up on Facebook and when I looked closely at her pictures, I noticed they subtly looked like different people. She also had no friends and I thought that was odd. Long story short, I decided to report on it and sure enough found out that my account was hacked. Thank God she or he did not get any personal information from me. I discovered for the first time, the online world can be a scary place and people aren’t always who they say they are. Next time I venture to do anything like this again in the future, I will be more alert about this kind of scamming and watch for the signs. Also, I’m going to stick to the main dating sites, not these free hookup apps. I can’t believe that there are actual nut cases that get their kicks off of preying on people that are sincerely looking for companionship. I think it’s sick and twisted. But this experience got me thinking about how the devil prowls around this planet looking to devour the vulnerable. He’s like a hacker on the internet looking to prey upon our weaknesses. He poses as an angel of light, a Match.com friend looking for love but in reality, all he wants is to hack into our account and steal our personal information and use that to destroy our lives. As believers we need to be alert to the devil’s schemes. Just like we give up our personal computers to be controlled by an anti-virus software to protect us, we need to give up our deep desires and needs to the Lord’s control. We trust our personal information to a third party software company, we need to turn over our personal lives to Jesus and put our trust in Him. This is what Paul means when he says to put on the full armor of God. Essentially what he is saying is to put on Jesus Christ fully. Don’t hold anything back, give Him control of everything, stop trying to meet your needs your way. When our personal lives are fully under His control we are fully protected.  If He’s not fully in control, then our needs and desires will be given over easily to someone else and that’s when the enemy can hack into our lives and destroy us. And unlike computers, we can’t be easily replaced. Remember, God has our best interest in hand, His plans are to prosper us, not to harm us. He loves us and His love is real, not some scammer out to hurt us. He wants to friend you on your Facebook. If you haven’t added Him yet, why not? He loves everything about your profile, He knows more about you than you know about you. So why not give Him everything? Give Him your loneliness, give Him your relationships, give Him your dreams, give Him your unfulfilled needs, give Him your whole heart, leave nothing back and trust Him. We can’t put on the full armor of God if we are still wearing the armor of our own. Remember, He promises to fully protect us if we will only fully give up our control and trust Him! Stand firm in Him! It’s time for the enemy’s profile to be permanently blocked. His hacker days are over. It’s so much better God’s way, Hallelujah! Praise Jesus Christ, the great defender of my heart!!!

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Ephesians 6:11
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”

I was reading this once and the Lord opened my eyes to see something I had never noticed before.  I love how in verse 3, it starts out, “He restores my soul” and then right after that,  David says he “leads me in paths of righteousness”.  Then he goes into the part about God leading us through the valley of the shadow of death! Wow! Do you see it? This is the part God revealed to me.   He restores my soul by leading me through the valley of the shadow of death!  Yes!!!!! Sometimes,  He will lead us in paths that lead to green pastures and peaceful streams.   I definitely can see how that can refresh our souls but what if trials we go through and difficulties we face are meant by our Savior to do the very same thing? I believe they are. I heard a pastor once say problems refresh us! What if we changed our mindsets from “Lord,  get me out of this!”,  to “Lord thank you that you are restoring my soul!”.  God has a bigger picture we can’t see it yet but there is a purpose in the valley, and one of those purposes is to refresh us! The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall never want! He restores our soul. 

There she was, Stacy Fabian, the pastor’s daughter, the most beautiful girl my nine year old eyes had ever beheld. The adults were having church and us big kids were out in the lobby unsupervised and there I was in the same room with her. Wow, I couldn’t believe it, how could a guy like me get so lucky? For the next hour or so, I never felt so alive. I knew I needed to act fast or I’d lose her attention, so I did what any nine year old boy would do when he was with the girl of his dreams. I picked up a live roach from the floor and introduced her to my new friend Harvey and then I threw it at her. She ducked out of the way, screamed and giggled while running away from me. But I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily. Harvey had friends too. So I picked up another one and I began chasing her around the lobby trying to get a good shot at her. One finally landed in her beautiful blonde hair. Just when I thought I had gone too far, she totally proved her love for me too. This marvelous creature standing before me, pulled the roach out of her goldillocks and flung it right back at me. I was hooked and my heart started singing, and dancing like Gene Kelly in “Singing in the Rain”, splashing around in puddles. This amazing euphoria, this feeling, this was real love people! Okay, well at least I thought it was, but give me a break, I was nine years old. For the first time, I actually wanted the church service to go longer, let the time go by, I didn’t care, I was in the moment. Unfortunately the service ended sooner than expected and just like that, the moment was gone. On the way home that night I was love sick and all I could think about was Stacey and me. My heart longed to be with her again. I think I even had a dream that night we got married and lived happily ever after on a farm where we raised roaches. Anyway, Stacy and I were not meant to be but I’ve encountered many more people throughout my life, whom I wanted nothing but to spend time with them, to just be in their presence. People who just gave me real joy and happiness when I was with them. People whom I enjoyed their company so much I could spend all day with them, and read a phone book together  and never get bored. Have you ever experienced relationships like that, whether male or female, romantic or just as friends? I think we all have had one or two in our lifetime. And this led me to think about our relationship with God. Do we get as passionate about our God as we do sometimes with other people? I was recently meditating on a Bible verse, “in your presence is the fullness of joy”. The Psalmist is talking about how just spending time in God’s presence fills him with all gladness and joy. And I got to wondering, do I come away with the fullness of gladness when I spend time with God? Do I lose my sense of time and get caught up in the moment of just enjoying God to the fullest? I do that with my human relationships, why not with God? And sadly, I have to admit, most of my time with God can be routine and dry. It seems like I go through a ritual of checking the boxes. Check box #1 : Read my 10 minute devotional.  Check box #2: say my 10 minute prayer. Check box #3: Read two chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New. Check, check , check, and then, after all the boxes are checked, I’m out the door ready to live my day, and praying occasionally before my meals. Does this sound like you too? I don’t know about you but I want to experience more of Him in my life. I want to hunger and thirst for God and get excited to meet with Him and enjoy His presence. If you’re like me, I’m sure you do too. If you’re feeling a little stale, let’s think outside of our little check boxes. Let’s figure out what things refresh us and let’s do them with God. Is it kayaking, sitting near a lake, going for a walk, painting, fishing, playing music? Whatever, you enjoy, just spend time alone with your Maker and enjoy it with Him. Maybe a cabin retreat for a weekend just you and Him, no phone, no Facebook, just a Bible and a notepad. Whatever you think of, remember this is a relationship not a religious thing. Just talk to Him normal like, no need for ritualistic “Our Father thou art in heaven”, prayers. Just talk to Him with reverence but as a friend, sing to Him a love song as you would to someone you’re madly in love with and wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, acknowledge Him with thankfulness and don’t forget to listen. So what are you waiting for? Make it fun, get creative with your Creator today.  May He fill you my friend with the fullness of His joy, so when the rains of life pour, you’ll be splashing in rain puddles with God,  lost in the moment, just “Singing In the Rain”.

Psalm 16:11
“in your presence there is fullness of joy;”

Psalm 42
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

My first job ever, I worked for a greenhouse growing flowers and various plants. I worked during the hot summer days for eight hours on my knees in the dirt picking weeds. I helped set up sprinklers and even did some planting but what I remember the most was how hot it would get under the sun. All I could think about was taking my first break so I could get some water. I would bring with me a gallon of frozen water in one of those plastic milk jugs, so by the time it was break time, that frozen block of ice would transform quickly into a nice cold refreshment of water. Once our boss made us work a little bit longer without a break. All I kept thinking in that moment was I’m going to pass out, I’m not going to make it. I would look over to where our cars were parked. It was quite a distance and somewhere over there was my water jug calling out my name.   I could barely see it but there it was lying on top of the trunk of my car melting in the sun. I started to wonder is this how people feel when they’re stranded in the desert sun? I was so thirsty I expected to see mirages of swimming pools or cascading waterfalls.  All I wanted was to quench my thirst but under the circumstances, I was not able to fulfill that need that I wanted so desperately.  In Psalm 42, we read the Psalmist was so desperate in wanting his needs to be fulfilled, he compared himself to a deer panting for water in a dry land. Here the Psalmist is lamenting the fact that He is lacking in spiritual refreshment and even dealing with some circumstances that are causing him great grief. Instead of drinking from the living wells of His God, he is having to drink the water of his tears. He longs for being in God’s presence in Jerusalem again with God’s people so he can be refreshed once again. But for whatever reason God is not allowing that, He is not providing for him. He is faced with doubts, “where is your God”, “why am I downcast?”, he even feels distant from God. In verse 6, he mentions being in “the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.”. There was a considerable distance between being where he was in his physical location to being in Jerusalem where the tabernacle was, and so he longed for this, his heart ached for home.  How about us? Do we ever find ourselves drinking the water of our tears because the true source of our sustenance is taking too long to deliver us? Do we find ourselves spiritually dry, struggling with doubt, feeling God is distant, all is lost, hopeless? The Psalmist here was in that very position but what we can learn from him, was that even though he knew his needs were not being met, he made sure he did one thing, he remembered. He reminded himself of the times that God was there for him to meet his needs. Throughout the Psalm he says, “These things I remember as I pour out my soul:”,”therefore I will remember you”. The Psalmist knew that even though he was in a dry spell, God had refreshed him many times in the past and because of this , he could find a renewed hope to keep trusting in His God throughout his difficulties. When spiritually dry, we who are believers should remind ourselves that God is sufficient for all our needs too. This remembrance will encourage us to continue to trust Him while we go through our temporarily distressing periods. Thirsty? Remember, He’s got the Gatorade, hold fast, put your trust in Him, break time is coming. 

Psalm 42:11
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.