Th th th that’s all, folks!

Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The end times. The last days. The final countdown. History’s end game. No matter how you slice it, nobody has the knife nor the knowledge to predict it. 

When evils prevail faster and more frequent, the talk is always about the end of the world. 

Truth is, it’s ALWAYS been the end times and that’s how we should always be living. 

No predictions or prognostications have ever been correct, yet people still try. It’s a total waste of time and a total miss of the actual point. 

Get right or get left. 

There’s no time like the present. Be found on the right side of history while there’s still some history left. 

I believe in all seriousness that the Lord laughs at our preoccupations with the unknowable and conversely, our utter disregard for what’s been clearly revealed.

This phenomenon, once again, is man’s desire to be like God: Omniscient. We are a shamefully misdirected species, self-righteous, and woefully futile. 

Be patient and stand firm is the instruction we don’t heed. 

Patience is knowing He will return at His appointed time. Standing firm is to be unwavering in our call. 

The time of the Lord’s coming is no game to be won. It will happen with or without you.

Meanwhile, our marching orders are clear:

Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” — Matthew 3:8 (NIV)

Repentance is far more than a guilty feeling or a whispered apology to God. 

It’s a turning point, an inner shift so real on the inside that it shows up on the outside. 

John the Baptist preached a repentance that would bear fruit that proved it.

Repentance always grows something. 

It reshapes choices, softens harsh words, and redirects our steps. 

It clears out the undergrowth of selfishness and plants new habits of obedience, humility, and love. 

You can see it the way you can see a healthy tree in the fruit it naturally produces.

God doesn’t demand perfection, but He does invite transformation. 

When our hearts turn toward Him, our lives begin to look like it. 

And that visible change is the visible evidence that grace has taken root.

Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be so deeply loved is a yearning within all of us. 

Enduring and devoted, such love makes us thrive and grow. 

It’s as basic a need as is steady rainfall to an orchard. 

And yet it escapes notice of so many who fail to believe it exists for them. 

Thriving is difficult and painful that some spend life suspicious without ever receiving what is so freely given. 

Jesus is love central. 

His love is a hundred fold stronger and deeper than any experience with another here on earth. 

Imagine your life being so treasured, so wanted, so cherished, so coveted by the very source of love that you feel completed, secured, and treasured. 

In such a hateful world, such love is the contrast we desperately seek and need and can freely choose in a relationship with Jesus, love central.

Sending the demons inhabiting the crazed and possessed Gerasene man into a herd of 2,000 grazing pigs was an incredible demonstration of Jesus’ power and authority. 

But the REAL story is in the pigherder’s response. 

The healing of a demon possessed man and the expulsion of his demons into the nearby herd was, not surprisingly, overshadowed by shepherds complaints of having lost their means of income in the process. 

In short, thanks but no thanks. 

The crazed lunatic in their midst was now miraculously healed and in his right mind, but at the price of their livelihood. 

“Go away! Leave our community!” they cried at Jesus, completely disregarding the rarity of the miracles performed before them. 

It’s an illustration of man’s misplaced priorities. 

Even today, few of us would sanction Jesus to heal someone we disdain at such great personal cost and consequence. 

All the while, missing the importance of the event and the truth that if Jesus could perform such a miracle, he could also replace their livelihood without lifting a finger. 

The Healing of the Demoniac.” (Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39; Matthew 8:28–34).

Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Abraham’s faith in and fear of God was at the very least unprecedented and at the very most a foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice of His own son Jesus.

Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him.

Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

‘Faith in and fear of’ is a radical center of passage for every believer.

Following God is all or nothing if it’s anything at all.

A half-hearted, lukewarm commitment is no option, yet it still remains the central struggle for most of us these days.

As the world declines and the end approaches, each of us will face our own Mt. Moriah challenge.

God wants a whole heart, mind, and soul that produces obedience.

‘Faith in and fear of’ is given of your own volition and God’s blessings will follow.

Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Earnestly pray for your own Mt. Moriah summit.

A trial is God’s pop quiz to see how we are doing in the school of faith.

“And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after comes judgment; so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, and to those who wait for him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” – Hebrews 9:27‑28 (ESV)

We live between two monumental events history: the first coming of Jesus and the reality that He will come again.

It’s not a question of if He rises or if He returns — the Scriptures testify that He has risen, and that He will return.

We’re just waiting for the when.

The world-changing truth is this: Jesus lived. He died. He rose again.

The first coming is done. He conquered death. He sits at the right hand of the Father. Because of that, our faith isn’t in wishful thinking but anchored in history, reality, and resurrection power.

Hebrews 9:28 affirms He will appear a second time. “He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him” (Revelation 1:7) and “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command…” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
This is not speculation or a metaphorical hope, it’s promised, certain, and unavoidable.

It’s not a matter of if He returns, but when.

It compels our hope, motivates our holiness, and shapes our mission, steadies your heart, stirs your soul, and fuels your life.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is an active presence in our lives and in this world.

Like stakes placed to mark a path, He provides nodal events and experiences to assure us He sees us along our journey.

8 billion people and He sees you, hears you, and makes the presence of his guidance real and evident to YOU.

When you seek Him, call him by the name given him by Hagar “The God who sees me” acknowledging the preexisting personal relationship which came the day you made your decision to follow.

Let your eyes meet God in every prayer.

“Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The “situation” Paul speaks of in the preceding verses is that little box we call marital status. 

I’ve been divorced over 25 years. It’s so long ago I now just check single. 

Celibate the last 15 of those years, it too is rarely a consideration anymore. 

Both of these “situations” are what I believe I’ve been assigned and called to. 

“Living as a believer” is Paul’s lesson here.  For me, that means not pining for a partner nor struggling with sexuality. 

Without those distractions, I’ve discovered an entire menu of faith expressions wide open for me to explore that more than trying to fill those voids of intimacy. 

Living as a believer within whatever your circumstance should be no special revelation to any of us. It’s as basic a call as the first day you came to know Jesus. 

The unique difference lies not simply in believing in your call, but in your decision to behave upon it. 

Single and celibate for me has come at a high price few desire to pay with so many years still ahead of them. 

But now, with those years behind me, I can attest the sacrifices are entirely worth it. 

Intimacy as a Christian is so much more than partners and pleasures.

So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Thanksgiving.
Where family gathers around the table for a lovely meal and an argument.

The holidays reconnect us with friends and relatives of all persuasions.
While we are different, we share an inescapable bond of blood and treasured experiences you can never unfriend even if you try.

Not every different choice, perspective or point of view is worthy of a fight.
You’re better than that.

Give thanks for the table set before you and for the provision of people around it you can call family and friends in a world where so many are alone and without.

We are all invited guests at the Lord’s feast.
Be exceedingly grateful for what you share, not disturbed with what you don’t.

Anger and argument can’t peacefully coexist within hearts that are truly thankful.

Christmas scares me.

Not the holiday itself but that with each successive year, despite its ever earlier encroachment, it takes me progressively greater effort to summon the holiday spirit or conjure up a bright seasonal emotion which for decades seemed effortless.

Before Halloween has always been unreasonably out of the question, but before Thanksgiving they say, is now expected if you’re to enjoy the full magical value of the season even though half the country is still well over 75 degrees.

It’s a little scary when it takes this much work to be merry.

So I went to WalMart.

If anything says Christmas three months in advance, it’s WalMart, where eventually I found myself shopping retail for the best buy on holiday goods soon to be marked down.

Then I turned on the radio station.

As if I wasn’t snapping into the season quick enough, 24/7 carols sang their tunes, but then I questioned whether a song alone could or even should make such an instrumental shift in my attitude.

Over time, I tried several other near misses, disappointing myself at every turn. Baking, decorating, bad sweaters, none were capable of the transitional trick.

I once talked with my Mom about it and she shared with me some memories of earlier Christmastimes when the magic didn’t seem so difficult to come by.

I called my kids and chatted about it some and we laughed a little at remembering their first Santa Claus moments. But if I recall, it wasn’t until my son who was away at school at the time, said he was coming home for the holidays.

That was when I felt the change, much like that Grinch moment where in a heartbeat, he had encountered an obvious truth.
Christmas isn’t created by things and stuff and trappings. It’s inside people.

It’s our special stories, our humored histories and the secret gift searches we Google in talks with one another as the weather begins to change to hot chocolate and we all grow just a little bit closer.

Then suddenly one morning, that little something tips the scales just enough to conjure up the Spirit we sought all along.

And for the first time of the season, and certainly not the last, we utter our very first “Merry Christmas” to a stranger, and indeed, it had arrived.