“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine yourself a serial killer. 

By every moral fiber of humanity, you’re a ruthless POS. 

Our rule of law sentences you to death, preferably a slow and agonizing one. 

That’s justice. 

But how much sin does God propose to forgive? What types of sin constitute an exception to his forgiveness rule?

Justice and forgiveness aren’t mutually excluding conditions. 

Whether your type of sin stacks bodies in a shallow grave or accumulates lies about shady financial transactions, human nature is accursed. 

All fall short, albeit some more than others, but God makes no such distinctions.

He died for the ungodly. Sinners powerless to change their deviances despite how we conveniently rank them to help ourselves feel better about our own depravity. 

While we are still sinners, mired deep in the muck of our terrible thoughts and deeds, Christ died for us. 

For these are what you once were. —1 Cor 6:11

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Like a thousand piece puzzle with one piece missing. 

The image is clear but the single empty space leaves our hours of effort unfulfilled.

It’s the God piece. 

The most sought after, the greatest in value, the prize, the golden ticket that completes the picture and brings it to life.

We search high and low, under and above as if it’s been hidden, withheld, lost. 

The God piece is never missing, but found imprinted upon our heart from the very moment we were conceived. 

He promises if we seek it 

we will find it.

Picked up with courage and faith, snapped into position, it powers a life picture designed just for us from the beginning of the world. 

Clearly seen and understood, no excuses, and complete. 

The God piece is

God’s peace. 

“I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul considered his obligation to preach from a position of indebtedness. 

Having received the gospel and the gift, he owed the sharing of it all as a repayment of sorts for what it has given him.

Instead of considering the sharing of your faith an imposition on those who may hear it, what if you offered it as a gift in return for what you, yourself, have received?

Switch up your purpose

and save a life meant for eternity. 

Without faith it’s impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Normally, we don’t engage in conversations with an empty chair. 

But those who pray do so daily, some to scurrilous glances of onlookers. 

The supernatural exists. 

By definition it’s “beyond the scope of the natural world” and each prayer you offer is an acknowledgement that indeed, the supernatural exists, the chair is occupied, and that occupant attends to our voices. 

In practice, faith is belief beyond this visible, tangible existence and into the realm of the divine. 

It presumes a loving, caring being seated on a throne befitting his majesty and hanging on our every word. 

The chair is never empty.

Contrary to rules of the natural world, prayer expects no dialogue in return to verify the chair is occupied. 

Prayer transcends the natural and is heard and understood in all its content by the only heart, mind, and being capable of it.

So pull up a chair and tell your private story to the only one who hears, listens, and replies in ways, languages, and real world experiences that are supernatural. 

The chair is never empty.

“‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭26‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul’s entirely unanticipated first-hand encounter with Jesus resulted in a devotional flip-flop on the spot. 

Once a man literally after God’s faithful people he instantly switched to a man after God’s own heart. 

What a difference a day makes. 

If you’ve ever prayed for a visible sign of God’s presence—your own road to Damascus moment—take a number.

Signs are everywhere and they occur largely unreported on social media.

Western culture is so bountiful in blessings that much of what may be called  signs or miracles elsewhere are obscured and just taken for granted here. 

God still speaks, shows up, and rescues his chosen and it’s up to us to credit his movement in our lives beyond each blessing. 

Focusing less on his show and considerably more on his mission is the most purposeful takeaway here. 

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

At one time or another, we all have experienced that “Aha!” moment when everything comes together, makes sense, and a convincing argument comes to life birthing an undeniable shift and purpose in our way of thinking and feeling.

Like the instant a little child first comprehends something only adults have always known, that’s when we start growing up.

Confidence and assurance are acquired psychic elements necessary for healthy growth and maturity at any age or stage.

Faith is nothing we can touch, taste, or see, yet the reasoning behind its emergence inescapably pierces both mind and heart.

Faith is inherently future-focused.

It requires awareness and conviction of a supernatural world around us and within us, on our team working for us 24/7.

Ironically, faith is borne from reason not an abandonment of it. Faith and reason coexist.

It comes from a hearing that awakens our soul to something more and bigger than ourselves.

All these arguments and examples aren’t understood by those without awakened spirits.

It becomes a bullseye on our back and a daily target of the ruler of this world.

But faith is a changemaker from the inside out.

Keep the faith.
Keep hope alive.
It won’t be long.

Faith asks a lot from us
but promises infinitely more in return.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have a friend who devotes her entire existence to promoting the best in others.

As she comes to know you, she discerns and amplifies things about you that make you a better person and you never take notice it was her friendship at the helm of your voyage.

Encouragement is her gift.

She pays full attention to the details of your conversations and remembers important parts of them as if they were her own.

And at just the right times and places, she shows up like an angel unexpectedly dispensing love where it hurts most of all.

Though it may seem like a miracle it’s not.

She’s merely obedient to the instruction she receives about how we should live our lives with faith in action.

She always leaves you wanting more.

She sees the Day approaching with a creative strategy to recruit for God’s kingdom and at the very least, to demonstrate her unique brand of love that sows seeds deep into the soils and souls of others.

The woman is on a mission that shows up as a life like illustration of this passage of scripture.

I live a sedate life.

Alone for years with just my dog and rarely a visitor or knock at the door, I enjoy the quiet.

But here on my visit with Florida family and on every Sunday back home in Vegas, I get to taste crazy.

Something both of my daughters’ families have fostered is freedom and encouragement for my grandkids to live loud with life itself as their amplifier.

To enjoy childhood as the once in a lifetime experience it is, they fill their homes with noises of experience that make home a safe place for unencumbered self expression.

And this quiet old man loves it!

Learning and creativity flourishes in noisy play and with parents who know its enduring value.

Kids grow prouder, more capable, more confident, and expressive when they have households that allow them hang loose and just be kids.

I’ll soon go back home to my quiet and my dog and my docile way of life. And while I enjoy the quiet, the most memorable family moments I take home are almost always the loud ones I recall and recollect with smiles and chuckles amid my otherwise peaceful existence.

Thanks for all these wonderful memories, kids. And cheers to all the other parents patient enough to wait for their own quiet once again.

The young man was seated in the sun on the curb outside when he asked “Could I wash your windows for 50 cents?”

In a hurry to get my bottle of iced tea for lunch, I said “No, thanks” and walked in the store.

The length of the line was consuming my valuable time until I noticed the disabled woman at the front of the line was 35 cents short.

The cashier asked “Well, do you have the 35 cents lady or not?”

Six handfuls of coins reached out in sync—everyone in line wanted to help. Not to move the line along faster, we all genuinely wanted to help.

Humbled and embarrassed by our communal act of kindness before him, the clerk declined our offers, took the loss and closed the register, allowing the woman in the scooter to get along.

“Next.”

We waited in silence for our turn at transacting and eventually, my four iced teas came to precisely $4. Change from the $5 bill, I kept the dollar in hand as I exited the store thinking how just minutes before, I’d turned down a 50 cent window wash from a man who wanted to work for it, and gladly forked over four dimes for someone who couldn’t.

It was one of those serendipity moments that cost me nothing but a cold iced tea and a buck to a guy who needed it a lot more than me.

I think everyone learned a lesson at lunchtime today.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have a dream from which I wake with certainty that the race I’d been running has ended and that I’ve won.

The track hadn’t led me in directions I’d expected nor traverse exotic and beautiful stops along the way.

It didn’t begin as I’d hoped nor included all I’d wanted, but when it was over, I recognized the destination and it was better than I’d ever imagined.

Never knowing the route ahead, which had always been a source of fear and anxiety, turned out to be the most sensible of all the unknown paths I could have taken.

There was no checkered flag to notify those who’d always shared hopes for me, there were no spectators.

No floral wreaths or expensive champagne, as there was no winner’s circle in which to stand.

All my work was over.

I’d woken up to find it had been no dream at all.

While all along I’d been asleep, I was finally fully lucid and awakened for the very first and the very last time in my life.