Short but Sweet—April 30th

Well, I am heading out of town for almost two weeks on business starting tomorrow, May 1. I am planning to use my evenings in the hotel room to organize my thoughts and start writing my story. I have a lot of ideas floating around and have had a hard time focusing to get those thoughts organized so I can write.

I have discovered that I am not able to go very far when I just sit a write unless I have a plan, better known as an outline! This is what I am hoping to get created, at least, during my time away.

Please pray that I can focus long enough to get some good things accomplished!

Good bye for now!

Anniversaries—April 24, 2007

In about 3 plus more years I will be married to my beautiful wife for 20 years! It does not seem like it has been that long!

At their fiftieth wedding anniversary my wife's grandmother stated that, "We've been married FOREVER…It just seems longer!" What a hoot! I still get a chuckle out of that comment!

Well, yesterday marked a five year anniversary, one that is not so fun, the passing of Grady Paul Larson.

He was five years old when the Lord took him and I have to admit I am envious of him! He is living THE life right now with no more tears or pain! I am so grateful to Jesus for what He has done for us and though I miss Grady so much, I am so very glad he is in Heaven with Jesus right now and forevermore!

I take the day (April 23^rd) off to be with my wife so she does not have to spend the time alone but the day does not affect me as much. In fact, as I go through the year there are days that his memories blow into my mind so strongly that tears flow but there is usually no rhyme or reason for the memories.

As I watch my other two children grow I often wonder what Grady would have been like now, had he survived. He would have been ten years old and…I just can't seem to imagine how he would be because as I see my other children grow they have changed from how I would have pictured them at this age when they were younger and all I can see in my mind's eye is how Grady was at five years old. This is one thing that makes me sad because I would love to see him right now.

The loss of a loved one is never easy, whether it is a parent or a child, and it is by the grace of God alone, that Grady keeps touching lives.

A kind man and friend started a softball tournament the year before Grady died and the money he raised was used to fund our Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World in Florida. It was a great family time! Since then the tournament has had a name change and is called The "Grady Paul Larson Softball Tournament". We hold this event every year and we even have a website. If you are interested in seeing Grady's picture and to learn more about this legacy of his go to www.gplfoundation.org. Not only do we raise funds for the Make-A-Wish group but we have been using this tournament to reach out and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others through special guest speakers. Last year we were blessed to have Major League Baseball pitching great, Cal Eldred speak and he shared a wonderful testimony of how God has changed his life and used him to further the kingdom of God.

 

Good bye for now!

 

Dinner With Jesus – April 19, 2007

What if you had a chance to sit down to a meal at a nice restaurant with Jesus Christ? You could ask him anything you wanted and look him straight in the eyes as you chatted with Him.

This is the scenario in the movie "The Perfect Stranger". To alleviate any confusion this is NOT the recently released R rated movie "Perfect Stranger".

The story is about a troubled suburban wife whose husband is the CEO of a major cooperation and she is a lawyer in a powerful law firm.

Their relationship has not had the attention it should have and the strain is telling. To top it all off, the neighbors have been pestering her to come to some of their church events. This night her husband has made plans to attend a ball game which leaves her alone for Friday night. This does not make her at all happy!

At work that morning she receives a mysterious invitation to meet with Jesus Christ for supper. She assumes that this is her husband teasing her and gets excited that he has changed his mind.

At the restaurant that night, she discovers a stranger at the table where she expected to meet her husband and is taken aback.

She decides to leave but Jesus talks her into staying for dinner.

Once she relaxes she is able to question Jesus on many different subjects and He is actually quite clever with His answers.

How does the evening end? You will need to see the movie because I won't spoil it for you! J

However, what really touched me was the fact that the whole scene was so personal and I thought about the fact that Jesus wants to have this kind of intimate relationship with all of us! I could not help but to shed tears. Yes, the man was an actor but it was the concept that really touched me. God has gone to great lengths to establish a personal relationship with all of us here on earth and there is nothing He would not do to bring each one of us into His kingdom, except force us. His love compels but He will not force us, we need to make that decision ourselves. He will help us change if we decide to turn to Him but He will never force us.

The most notable passages of scripture to me are the ones where there are intimate moments with God. This could be thinking about a walk in the garden with Him before the fall or Nicodemus around the fire with Jesus that night of John 3:16.

My most intimate moments with God come when I am alone and walking.

I don't know why I feel closest to Him during those moments but I have had some of the sweetest fellowship with Him on these walks. It is not always euphoric but these moments are the greatest and I am humbled and excited about the times with which He blesses me!

Introducing: Nilkus—April 12, 2007

OK (DEEP Breath) This is a part of a story I started a long time ago and have been playing with in my mind but I have not sat down to work out the details of where I want this story to go. This part is not necessarily the start of the whole but it was an exercise in character development. I have done little to no editing and if you have comments I would gladly hear them.

The beginning of this whole story has evolved (YES I said EVOLVED, changed in many ways from the original thought!)and it is the basis for the way I named this blog as I have done. I have been too lazy to take real time to sit down and shape this story in which I have so many pieces! I will share more of it later. I would appreciate any comments.

Nilkus awoke with a start, squinting as he glanced around the room, eyes blood shot from lack of sleep.

Where am I he thought as his mind struggled against the confusion that dominated his sleep deprived mind.

Sun light streamed in through high windows and the candles which had, only a few hours ago, lit his small study which served as his home away from home, had gone out.

Memory crashed in on him as a wave against the rocky shore.

Ahh yes! It looks as if I've done it again! He chastened himself as once again he had neglected the fundamentals of life. When was the last time he had eaten, or bathed for that matter?

He stood and stretched his diminutive body as bones creaked and a groan slipped from his mouth.

I must stop doing this, I'm much too old to be sleeping at my work bench. This is the third time this week!

He smoothed back his long, thin, white hair and hobbled over to the water basin against the far wall splashing his face. After splashing water on his face he sat back down and surveyed his work from the previous night.

"Let me see," he mumbled as he leafed through the stacks of meticulous notes, looking first at one and then another and yet again at one lying on the bench in front of him.

"Hmmm…," setting the papers down he closed his eyes and stroked his white beard thoughtfully.

The answer had to be there, it had to be. He had not spent his entire life searching for these scrolls only to find that they did not contain the answers he sought!

Think Nilkus, think!

A sudden thought came to him. Scrounging around the piles of scrolls he discovered the one he was looking for near the bottom. Of course it would be the last scroll that I touched, he thought ruefully, but oh well, if it has what I am looking for I will have the answer I seek! Well, at least the start of the answer anyway.

Carefully unrolling the precious scroll he started scanning for the same symbols he had seen at Norgoth in the ruined temple. The symbols had importance because of their position in regards to the black sun that the ancient Norgoths worshiped. The symbol was the shape of an oblong diamond with no discernable lid but appeared to contain some sort of liquid. The liquid seemed to be associated with learning or understanding.

Nilkus felt a chill run up his spine like a serpent on a stone. He chuckled with delight when he realized that this was what he had been searching for all of his life!

The implications of what his studies had concluded were beyond his wildest dreams!

He had never turned away anything that added to his collection of knowledge. He had adventured where most would have been terrified to go and not thought a moment about it because he focused on the end result, more knowledge.

He had always been inquisitive and curious about his world. His parents, being scholars, had encouraged his pursuit of the riches of the mind and had let him into the library at an age when the Keepers frowned on young ones being in the same building as the delicate writings.

But he had learned a respect for-no a reverence for-the wealth that those dusty old scrolls contained. He had always loved mind games and searching out mysteries. He hadn't had many friends because while the other kids would play he would be in the library soaking in the words and symbols he found within.

And now that he was past his prime he thought back through the years of his life with no regrets. Not too many people found a passion for something early in life and let that same passion carry them through to their last breath. He was happy but never, ever content, there was always more to learn.

His passion had demanded a price though, and that was isolation. There were very few who could relate to him and so he found that more and more he was alone. That did nag at him on an occasion but for the most part he could shake it off with a few hours in his study.

There was one exception, Sola Swan.

Sola had been a soldier, indeed a Blade Master for the King for twenty years before he realized his true love was to learn.

One day shortly after his departure from the military he wandered into the library looking for records on the Horseshoe Mountains. Nilkus was there pouring over a scroll containing the potion for memory enhancement when he ran into Sola.

"Excuse me, sir," Sola said to the old gentleman seated at the table next to his.

"Sir?"

"Well, what do you want," Nilkus asked with just a hint of irritation in his voice as he looked up to see a tall muscular man standing over him.

"My father is an adventurer and has just come back from the Horseshoe Mountains with tales of a strange four legged creature roaming about in the foothills. I had to find some reference to these creatures that I might pass on to him or utilize myself should I decide to study the beast further, but I am having little success locating any information on the Horseshoe Mountains let alone anything about its inhabitants."

Nilkus stared at this hulking human for a moment measuring him. He wanted nothing to do with this fellow in yet there was something about him...

With a sigh he motioned for the young man to be seated.

"What is your name young man," Nilkus asked having gained a measure of self-control.

"Sola Swan, sir, at your service," said the young man with a great deal too much cheerfulness.

"Sola Swan…Sola Swa…wait, are you in anyway attached to an Adden Swan?"

"Yes sir, he is my father."

"Well, Well," exclaimed the old scholar, rubbing his hands together, "I do know Adden Swan. He has been most valuable to me as he has brought me many fine items for me to study," the old man said with a far off look in his eyes, "I have learned much from his travels! Have you ever gone with him?"

"No. When I was younger my mother would not allow it and I have only now been relieved of my military duties. I have really not had a desire to go with him but my heart is to learn, to be a scholar," Sola said with passion in his voice.

Nilkus sat back and looked at the ex-soldier for a time, studying his face. There is something about this young man, something truthful and genuine.

Nilkus cleared his throat, "Young man," he began, "how would you like to become my apprentice? I am getting on in years and I don't want to loose what I have spent an entire lifetime collecting, treasure beyond imagination: knowledge!"

"I accept sir," Sola said grinning from ear to ear.

That was now twenty years gone by. Not only had Sola proven to be a wonderful student, but a good friend.

Now with this new discovery Nilkus could not wait to get to Sola and explain his findings!

 

 

Gifts Given—April 11, 2007

This is how Webster's online dictionary defines a GIFT:

2: something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation

I don't know anyone, at least within my web of relationships anyway, who does not like getting gifts. A gift can bring a certain amount of happiness and even touch someone's heart.

As military personnel they warned us that the Japanese like to give gifts and if you give a gift in return they feel obligated to give a better gift and so on. They call this a gift war. If you find yourself in a gift war the way out is to stop giving gifts. Fore warned was fore armed and, though I had a great time trading hats and decks of cards, etc. the gift giving with my host was benign. In the end he gave to me a beautiful geisha doll that is in my house to this day. It was a special gift to me and I will never forget my two week stent in Japan.

The thing about gifts is that they are useless to the one the gift is given to unless they accept the gift.

Every year my wife's grandfather gives each of us cash instead of gifts in the traditional sense. What good would it do me if I did not reach out and accept the money that was given to me? It is not given because it is owed to me nor is it given because I deserve it but out the goodness of granddad's heart, something voluntarily transferred by one person to another WITHOUT compensation. J

In a similar way God offers each one of us a gift. It costs us nothing and is voluntarily transferred from Him to us WITHOUT compensation. In fact, there is no way we could ever deserve this gift even if we are good.

God's word says clearly that all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. We cannot do enough good things to earn what God has set for us as a standard to enter heaven. Perfection is His standard and His word also says that there has never been, no one currently, nor will there ever be anyone who can meet His ridged requirements for entering His presence.

One notable exception: Jesus God's own Son. He came to this earth, faced the same temptations as we do but without sin, a spotless lamb who then voluntarily laid down His life freely so that He could meet the righteous requirements of God's standard. Without this gift we cannot hope to spend eternity with God in Heaven. If you believe you need to do good things to please God and thus get into Heaven here are some questions for you to ponder: How many good things do you have to do? What is the standard? How do you know when you get there? Does one bad thing you do nullify the good things you have done? How far would you fall into the "hole" if you did one bad thing? God's word says that if you trust Him and accept his free gift through faith in Jesus you do not have to worry about doing things to please Him because Jesus did all the work for us as a perfect sacrifice.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says this quite succinctly:

"8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do".

These good works spoken of here are not to win God's favor but an expression of thanksgiving for what God has done for us. What a great gift! It costs us nothing but it cost God everything.

Think about these words today and if you find you need peace and freedom from the things this world offers as freedom accept God's gift and you will begin a journey that leads to peace and contentment even in this world.

 

Good bye for now!

‘Thinking’ Thoughts—April 10, 2007

I have been doing a lot of thinking about leadership the past couple of years and in fact had applied for several new management positions within our company as the we went through a reorganization. This reorg was not to down size but to add people, position us for the growth anticipated. We are currently adding forty plus new positions. That is a great praise! The Lord has blessed this company.

Anyway, in the process of trying to grow myself I have been reading leadership books and getting involved with whatever activity I can to improve my skills as a leader.

The books I have been reading come primarily from author John Maxwell. He brings a godly perspective while he delivers principles to help us to grow in our leadership abilities.

One thing that seems to haunt my thoughts is vision. Maxwell says that without vision a leader is really just going in circles. Vision is what drives a leader.

I want to establish a life vision. I want this to be based on what God has gifted me to do, what His will is for my life, how I can encourage people in their walks. If they are believers, encourage them to continue to fight the good fight and if they are not believers turn their thoughts to God and what He can do through Jesus in their lives.

Two ways I would like to do this:

1. Writing. By using mediums such as this blog and other future outlets for writing I hope to get people to think. I have discovered that people don't tend to like to like to make decisions under the gun so with the written word people are able to read and reread and make decisions after taking time to ponder the ideas presented.
2. Walking. One thing that really energizes me is to take a brother in Christ on a walk and just talk over the things of God. I could do that all day! Especially if there are mountains! In Iowa that is a luxury we do not have, but there are some wonderful places to walk. I enjoy building relationships. I am always excited to meet someone new. This in spite of the fact that I am an introvert. Crowds or parties wear me to the bone and I could do without them but one on one time is a great source of energy for me.

 

Anyway, this blog, though not seen by many, is a way for me to throw out ideas for people to muse over, food for thought if you will. I don't claim any special wisdom just taking from my life experiences and what I have learned from God's word, the ultimate source of wisdom, and putting them out for people to see and think about.

I really believe that God has given us minds to use as part of our being created in His image. We have creativity, wills, understanding, and emotions, all characteristics found throughout scripture of God.

Created in the image of God. We have come so far by using our minds and I am amazed at what we, as the human race, have been able to accomplish just in my lifetime…some forty plus years.

I have to admit with sorrow that not all of these accomplishments are to God's glory and some are to try and remove glory from Him but no matter how man twists the knife, the bottom line is that it is because of God's gifts to us that we are able to accomplish the things we do.

Each day has become exciting to me because I don't know what God has planned for each day! Extreme sports participants have nothing on the adrenaline rush I get each day wondering what God will do with this brand new day! So cool! It may not always be to my liking when the day reveals God's plan but I know that the worst of circumstances that come into my life God will use for His glory and my edification. What a great God we serve! Sovereign over all!

 

Well, this is 'so long' for now. Have a God filled day and may He bless you in ways you would never expect!

 

Good-Bye!

The Day After—April 9, 2007

Oh Lord our God so loving and caring

You came to die our sins fully bearing

 

You paid the price so we could live

There was nothing more You could give

 

Without Your help we all would be lost

We will never be able to know the cost

 

But the grave was no end for You Oh God

Death could not keep you under the sod

 

Rising again You removed death's sting

Now in our hearts great joy and gladness ring.

 

Holy Week is now over and usually this means that my thoughts of Easter are put away until next year like the Easter baskets and pastel colors of the season. It is so easy for me to take for granted what God has so richly lavished on us. Ephesians chapter 1 is a wonderful outline for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. I believe that we are still unable to fully comprehend what He REALLY has done for us, but it gives us a taste of what we have in Christ.

This year is different. Easter is gone but the Holy Spirit will not leave me alone to move on…and I am so excited about that!

This past week has presented many new and unusual challenges spiritually.

I have almost fully come out of a dark funk that God has used to draw me closer to Him, I had a minor run-in with an atheist, and briefly slipped back into that funk. But God…But God has taught me to trust Him and to bring all things before His throne of grace and through the painful lessons learned I have been able, this very night, to praise God with a full heart!

I am no poet but I have been reading A. W. Tozer's "Knowledge of The Holy" (HIGHLY recommended by the way!) and there a number of poems directed at the heart of God that have stirred me and as I was on my walk tonight, praying and meditating on God's word these words came to me. If you write poetry or even have some knowledge of it I apologize but I just needed to get the words out! Form was not so important to me but I would not turn a deaf ear to any constructive criticisms either! LOL!

God has taken the events of Matthew 26-28 and opened my eyes to see so many wonderful treasures stored in those few brief passages. Not hidden but you won't find them unless you seek. If you knock it will be opened to you. God wants us to seek Him out. He is always there for us and will not forsake us but He wants us to seek after Him. He can and will be found but we need to put forth the effort. Just as in a friendship or marriage we don't just sit around hoping that the relationship will grow and get better. No indeed, we need to put forth effort and sometimes it is hard and sometimes it takes us away from what we really would like to be doing. The reward is peace beyond understanding, transcending what we can comprehend. Joy unspeakable! But it is not easy! It takes work.

When I find myself distracted and drawn away by this world, doing things I want to do or things I think will bring peace, I soon find out that I am stuck in a hole that only my God can get me out of. He sometimes uses His word and sometimes other people to help; or maybe a combination of these items but He always is waiting for us to turn back to Him and what He offers: true peace, true happiness, true joy. Isn't this what we are all seeking to some degree? God offers it to us free of charge.

 

OK I am done for now. I have a bunch more to write but I think that I could actually spread this out over a few blog sessions instead of trying to cram my whole heart into one blog!

 

Good bye for now! Fight the good fight and turn to God for ALL things! He cares and is waiting for you.

 

 

 

 

 

An Oxymoron? – April 6, 2007

Today is Good Friday. When I think about this sometimes it feels like an oxymoron. We call it 'good' but Jesus, the Perfect one died this day, the innocent for the guilty. How can that be good? We look on in disdain if that sort of thing happens in our world today but back then they could not even get two people to agree on what He had done to deserve death. It all came about because of the jealousy of the religious leaders of the day.

This was all part of God's master plan, however. Without Jesus going to the cross we would still be lost in our sins and our deaths would, indeed, be the end, ceaseless torment and eternal separation from the God who created us.

There is good news and that good news is that Jesus did not stay in the grave, three days later He rose from the dead proving He is God and creating the bridge we so desperately needed to get to Heaven and avoiding the fate we were destined for, hell.

From this it is clear to me that we are indeed doing this day a disservice by calling it "Good Friday", it is much more than that, we should be calling it "Very Good Friday"!

For those of us who have placed our trust in Christ we also see a clear picture of our future. When our mortal bodies die and we are buried we will not stay there! We will be resurrected into glory with brand new bodies someday and live with God for the rest of eternity!

Praise the Lord! I cannot even comprehend what wonders we will see and what life will be like living daily in His very presence with no distractions, no sorrow, no sin; just plain and simple worship, free and unhindered. What a blessed day that will be when our faith becomes sight and we are finally released from all that ties us down here on this planet. Wow! It is not saying much but I can think of nothing else to say.

 

Good bye for now! Have a blessed Easter and meditate on what God has done for us, all of us!

A Test of Courage—April 5, 2007

On the night Jesus was betrayed He took His disciples with Him to Gethsemane and asked them to pray with Him. He was burdened and He needed prayer, needed His friends to stand with Him in this hour of great need.

He left the majority at a certain spot and took His three closest friends with Him a ways farther. He then left them there to "watch and pray" and He went farther still.

There was no fanfare, no formal preparation, He just fell down at the Father's feet and prayed, fervently prayed. He prayed with such intensity that He was actually sweating blood.

It is my belief that Jesus did not want to die. He knew what lay ahead of Him and baulked. He could have laid this burden aside and bypassed all the agony He faced. After all, He was perfect and truly did not deserve to die. We were the ones who deserved death. Not just physical death but also the second death, spiritual death, separation forever from the God who created us. He would have had perfect right to do this…But He did not.

Three times He sought release from this destination and three times He showed us true character and courage by telling the Father, "Not MY will but YOUR will be done…" (Emphasis mine). I don't think there were ever more courageous words spoken. Jesus had a mission from His Father and He courageously pushed past the temptation to call on the protection He alone deserves. Twelve legions of angels! Who could take Him with that wall of warriors surrounding Him? He did not avail Himself of that protection. He laid aside His rights so that we the helpless ones, could have the doors of salvation opened to us. A mission and courage. Courage and a mission.

There is no greater love than one lay down his life for his friends…

Jesus, perfect God, perfect man, WILLINGLY laid His life down for us, we who truly deserved to be put to death.

Courage is not the absence of fear but the determination to move forward in spite of the fear.

With just the slightest observation we can see an example that blows our socks off. We are not often, in this country, called on to lay down our life in the name a great cause. Jesus did not have a good cause. He came to pay the price for ungrateful rebels who not only could not conceive of who He was but also, with no evidence at all, asked that a murderous rebel be released and He be crucified. I can't say that I would not have been one of these ungrateful ones and, indeed, I find myself ungrateful even knowing all of this. Hindsight is 20/20 but it does not mean we learn from it. God, however, looked at us in pity and love and felt we were a good cause and He paid the price we deserved to pay.

Thank God He loved us so much that he sent His one and only Son to suffer and die so that we could live with Him in paradise forever.

There is a lot to think about in this one particular passage of scripture.

 

 

Atheistic Wonderings – April 4, 2007

This is a little off the beaten path from what I had intended but I thought I would throw it out here today because it is weighing heavily on my heart.

I have never had this happen to me before and when things like this happen they cause me to think and I have been thinking today.

I have a little phrase in the signature of my email that says, "Soli Deo Gloria": All glory to God, translated.

I have had several emails asking what it means and sometimes I have had encouragement back from the people who see the words but I have never had a negative response until today.

Today I was dealing, via email, with a customer who wrote back in a polite manner and told me that this could be an offensive phrase to Catholics and, since this person was atheist, offensive in other ways as well.

I took some time to analyze this whole "encounter" and sent it to a pastor friend of mine to see what he would say.

He indicated that I should not worry about it as this person was not someone I deal with regularly and this person is also not my supervisor nor, might I add, coming from a majority view point.

What can I say here? I took it to the Lord in prayer and here is what I have concluded:

An atheist is one who does not believe in 'deity'. In other words, from my perspective they believe that there is nothing out there of the 'higher power' sort. This then tells me that if they are offended by religious leanings then they are offended by nothing. If they don't believe in a god or God then why are they offended about my belief and my adoption of a little phrase to encourage others? I can tell you that I am not offended by 'nothing' so I find it odd that an atheist would be offended by what they themselves would consider nothing. It makes me say 'hmmm'.

The best thing I can think of right now is to pray for the atheists in our lives. We are not equipped to change the heart of another but God, through the Holy Spirit can change their hearts and has changed hearts in some instances.

 

 

Good bye for now.

Catch-22—April 3, 2007

As I have been thinking about this most holy of weeks, Easter week, I have been drawn to a short passage, John 3:16-17.

John 3:16 is probably the most familiar verse from God's word.

In fact, we can at times take this familiar verse somewhat for granted.

It is the most concise verse on God's love, but sometimes we take this verse and make it a kind of theology in and of itself. That theology is that God is love and being love could never allow us harm or ill will. Pain and suffering would be unthinkable! God is love! Remember?

This is true, God is love but it is only a part of the story.

God is perfect and holy and in His holiness He can't tolerate sin; sin of any kind. A "white" lie violates His holiness as much as murder or rape! Is this hard to grasp? It does not always make sense to us but the more we get to know God the more He helps us to understand His holiness and we can then gain a better grasp of this truth. Sin is sin. Period. God does not differentiate and no one will escape His judgments. They are right and true and He has all the evidence to convict, He has the right to convict. "He who makes the rules, rules", and God rules!

Now the scale tips, the God we thought of as love we now fear as the God of judgment. We need to walk on egg shells and be careful to do things that please Him or else, WHAM! We are goo, a stain on the highway of life! Lightening and the whole shootin' match! Hellfire and brimstone await those who step out of line!

This is also a partial truth. To get a clearer picture we need to step back and see what God's word says in whole and stop taking pieces that tickle our ears or support what we believe we know about God.

God is love AND God is justice. He loves us but He can't set aside our sins because that would violate His character. What can we do with this catch-22?

Enter Jesus. Emmanuel, God with us.

Jesus willing set aside His rights as God to live among us as man and He, though tempted in every way that you and I are, was without sin, a spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice.

Through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection three days later the quandary of love vs. justice has been resolved and we are now presented with a gift a choice if you will: eternal life. Did you catch what I said, Gift? It is entirely free, but…Yes but! There is one thing that has to happen…You need to accept the gift. It's there waiting for you with your name on it but you must take it. How do you take it? By faith. By believing that Jesus was who He said He was, God, and that He did what He said He did, died to pay the price for the sins you and I have committed.

In other words, God loved us so much that He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy His holiness and righteous requirements that you and I could never ever pay in our own power. What will YOU do with this knowledge? It is possible to transfer your trust to Jesus on your death bed with your final breath but consider this: When are you going to die? Will you have the luxury of a death bed or will you be stuck down this very hour by a car or heart attack? You don't know? Then NOW is the time to turn to God and accept His awesome gift that He is waiting for you to take. It is free but you must believe.

I will be praying for you.