John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

Friendship

Friendship is gradual nearness

Through Facebook updates and Twitter tweets

Through pen and paper and petite packages

Through intelligent interactions and acts of affection

Friendship is gradual nearness

Friend of man, friend of God

Friend of animal, friend of nature

Friend by choice, friend by accident

Friendship is gradual nearness

Distant but trusting

Failing but forgiving

Silent but knowing

Honest but loving

Friendship is gradual nearness

A Day Of Boasting 2

A year ago tomorrow I created my own holiday,  A Day of Boasting, inspired by this quote from the prophet Jeremiah:

This is what the Lord says: Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me…(Jeremiah 9:23-24)

God convicted me that it was time to quit my futile pursuit of wisdom, power, fame, or riches.  Instead, He wanted me to get to know Him personally; not just the idea of Him.

So, for the past year He has been knocking down my idols.  The more I seek Him, the more He reveals Himself to me.  The more He reveals, the bigger He seems.  The bigger He seems, the more I trust Him.  The more I trust Him, the more He reveals.

The greatest discovery of this past year was that He loves me without condition or limit.  He has forgiven me completely.  I don’t have to perform for Him to earn this.  He loves me as much as He loves His Son, Jesus.  Can’t get much more love than that!

Most days, as I drive to and from work, I find myself tearing up as I bask in His affection and approval.  I don’t deserve it, but I crave it.  I don’t listen to the radio much anymore.  I want to hear from Him instead.  He fills me with peace and love and joy the more I spend time with Him.

It’s changed my marriage and my fathering.  When your heart is filled with the love of God, it overflows into your relationships.  You care less about you and more about others.  The desire to be comfortable becomes less of a god, and the desire to comfort becomes a mission.

I’m just scratching the surface.  I do not yet know how much my Father in heaven loves me.  I can’t fathom it.  I do not yet know how much He delights in me.  When I do wrong, I’m tempted to take my eyes off of Christ and place them on my failings.  This leads to discouragement and a tendency to do it again.  Instead, I’m learning to gaze at Christ and see myself through His eyes.  He sees me as forgiven.

This coming year?  My goal is to stay in His presence daily and listen.  The more I know Him, the less I have to say.

I hope that sharing my journey will help you find courage to lay down your idols, too.  Look to Jesus.  Find forgiveness.  Find love, joy and peace.  Find acceptance.  Find life!

What is your story?  What do you boast about?

1 John – What God Did For Us

In my last post I wrote down a list of things the Apostle John had to say about God in his first letter.

In this post I want to catalog the things he wrote about those who believe in that God, particularly about Jesus.

• The believer has fellowship with the Father and the Son, who is Jesus.
• The believer has fellowship with other believers.
• This fellowship provides great joy for the believer.
• The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
• The Father forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
• The believer still sins, but when he does, Jesus the Righteous stands as our Advocate before the Father.
• Our sins weigh us down with a debt only payable by death.
• The Father accepts the death of Jesus as sufficient payment for our sins and the sins of the whole world.  He marks our account as paid in full.
• When we also accept Jesus’ death in our place, He gives us a new life, born of God, which extends on even after death.
• This new life is evidenced by the fact that the believer loves Him and that overflows into love for other believers.
• The believer is gradually transformed into the likeness of Christ, walking in the same way He walked.
• The believer’s sins are completely forgiven for the glory of Christ.
• The believer knows the Father personally.
• The believer has finally overcome Satan.
• The believer has strength that comes from the Spirit who has taken up permanent residence in his heart.
• The believer discovers that this world is temporary, and his love for it decreases.
• Instead, the believer realizes that he is in this world for a reason, and he wants to do everything God has prepared him to do.
• The Spirit of God remains in the believer and keeps him faithful.
• The Spirit of God trains the believer’s mind to think His thoughts, understand His ways, and know the truth about Jesus.
• The Spirit of God teaches the believer everything he needs to know; His teaching is complete and sufficient.
• The believer will not shrink from Christ in shame when He returns; he has no fear of standing before God on the Day of Judgment.
• The Father loves the believer enough to adopt him as His own child.  This adoption has already taken place.
• When Christ returns the believer will complete the transformation into His likeness.
• That hope has a purifying effect on the believer.
• Sin loses it’s appeal to the believer.
• He is no longer a slave to sin.  That was his old nature.
• He can’t help wanting to do what is right.  This desire grows.  It’s in his new nature.
• The believer finds himself with a natural affection for his fellow believers.
• The believer loses his ability to hate.
• His love for fellow believers grows to the point where he’s willing to give up his own rights for the good of his brothers–even his own life–just as Christ did.
• Showing love to other believers–caring for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs–becomes a frequent and natural occurrence.
• Sometimes the believer doubts about his relationship with the Father, perhaps due to sin.  God already knows and is not surprised.  The believer is to trust God’s love instead of his own thoughts concerning himself.
• The believer can be confident that God hears his prayers, and that He will give everything he asks according to His will.
• The Spirit inside the believer helps the believer determine the difference between false teaching and truth.
• The Spirit inside the believer is more powerful than any spiritual opposition he may face, including Satan.
• The Spirit uses the Scriptures to strengthen the believer against such opposition.
• The Father loves the believer to the point that it overflows into love for others.
• He remains in the believer, convincing him that His love is perfect, and giving him the ability to share that love with others.
• The Spirit gives the believer a continued faith in Jesus as the Son of God, Savior of the world.
• The believer finds that obeying the commandment to love God and love his brothers is a natural delight rather than a burdensome chore.
• The believer will be tempted to place his affections on the things of this world so that they consume his thoughts, his time, and his money.
• Instead, he must keep his focus and delight on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

ALL of that because Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  Now we know why it’s called Good News!