Example Entries
Self Losing | Stephen Willis
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear… Isaiah 58:8
Acts 20:35b …..remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Confession is good for the soul. So let me confess: I hate losing. My wife often declares that she wasn’t even competitive until she met me. You wouldn’t be able to tell each time a board game comes out of our hallway closet because I become enemy number one. I guess competitive spirit can be contagious (yes, I’m smiling).
Why do most of us hate to lose so much? I think much of it is rooted in our self-focus. But I am discovering that a life that is centered on me will lead at best to emptiness and at worst to destruction. E. Stanley Jones states, “Self-occupation produces ill health. We must have interests outside of ourselves.”* Could it be that some people experience poor mental health (which can also impact them physically) because they have yet to learn that “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35)? A life well-lived must consider others. A mind and life that is only concerned with feeding our selfish cravings often caves in on itself.
As people who are overcoming the fall and the flesh, we can’t be reminded enough that Jesus broke into our darkness for us and not for himself. As a servant Jesus had no servants, yet they called him Master, “he had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. He had no wife yet he’s the Bridegroom. He had no medicines, Yet they called him healer. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified him, he was buried in a tomb, yet he lives today and forever.” Yes, the One who majored in self-losing is the One we magnify and praise! All Glory to Jesus!
Prayer: Abba, Father. Help me to learn that when I lose my life for the sake of your Kingdom, that I will find my true self in you. Yes, Lord! Help me to lose myself in you. Fill me afresh with your Holy Spirit that I might have power to model a life that represents Jesus.
*Growing Spiritually E. Stanley Jones p. 255
Heaven Promised | Kerry W. Willis
2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV - “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
My Dad and I did lots of talking on the phone over the years. Especially when I became a pastor and moved away from our little, coastal, island home, I was ever thankful for a way of staying in regular touch with my Dad's voice.
On Tuesday, August 19, 2014, in the late afternoon, I was looking towards the end of the second day of my sabbatical season when Dad and I had the blessing of catching up with one another on the phone. Dad had just come through a seven-month season of trusting God with cancer and chemotherapy. All of the most recent, post-cancer reports were the best we could expect — “all-clear.” Yet, over the more recent few days, seemingly out of nowhere another "something" showed up to challenge Dad's health again. His left elbow and arm were really causing him pain and making his after chemo days even more full of fatigue than they already were.
As I listened to my Dad share, his tenderness was inspirational to my eternal soul, as always. After about a half-hour of conversation, the topic turned to Heaven. We discussed how we would all be together someday soon, in the nonstop, realized presence of Jesus, and enjoying a reunion with our loved ones who have gone on ahead of us.
Finally, Dad said he had made his mother — my Granny Margery — a promise on her death-bed. His promise was that he would see her one day again in our Forever Home. Instantly, these words just came out of my mouth as my tears began to flow: “Daddy, if you get to Heaven before I do, please promise me you will come with Jesus to meet me when I make my arrival.” He promised he would.
Prayer: Abba Father, my Dad went to be in Your Forever Presence on November 17, 2014. I hold onto these words of hope… “Heaven Promised!” Amen.