Don't forget the little things

Rule 101.1 is:  Don't forget the little things!As dads (grandpas, mentors, coaches = legacy dads) we have a great responsibility which is our mission field, that is, our family.  If God has given us this treasured gift (called our family) then we have been given the mantle to raise them in the Faith, to make our faith real and to love no matter the cost.  We are to train them up and like arrows, make them effective in their faith.  If we miss this great responsibility then everything else in our life is for nothing.   This is not to say that other stuff that we do for the Kingdom doesn't have eternal consequences, but it is to say that God gave us this responsibility and that is of the utmost importance (so don't miss it).

Lance and Gary (home with the Lord now) and I flew out to California to meet and to dream and to plan on where we were going in life and what ministry (ministries) might lie ahead for us in the future.  We talked about a lot and shared life and our stories together.  It was a great weekend and I am eternally grateful for that time.  The one takeaway (of many) that I noted from that weekend was not to miss the little things.  Seriously, as men (and women reading this) we are going to blow it (many times).  We are going to get angry, tired, frustrated and overall exhausted as parents and as legacy parents to boot.  The point of the takeaway was not to miss the little things that will matter most (and be remembered most).  Don't miss the teachable moments!

All this to say, is one afternoon this past month, I had noticed that my middle child (one of my daughters) had made a note holder on her door for family and friends to write her notes on these 3x5" index cards.  Being curious, I took a note card from her door and wrote her a note that was true and sincere to my heart and love for her.  I wasn't looking for anything in return, but I wanted to let her know what was on my heart and my mind.

I am not sure whether she wrote back the next day or what, but here is what she wrote back to me (picture to the right).  This was important to her, she

affirmed that in the note.  She really connected to my note and that made her heart flow toward her dad and my heart.  This allowed a conversation (actually) many conversations about her life and mine and our faith.   This was a very little thing in the magnitude of my day and it didn't take all but 2 minutes for me to write and reflect.

The little things in life mean so much.  I love when I hear people talk about loved ones (especially the ones that are no longer on this earth), for the most part they don't talk about the shortcomings or the mistakes, rather, they talk about the silliest and most heartfelt moments that they can remember and mattered most to them - the little things.

In all that you do, live in such a way with your kids, grandchildren and mentees that your faith is real.  Your faith is humble and your walk is real.  Live in a way that trusts in the Lord and not on yourself.

In all that you do, seek God first, and lean on his direction and not yours.

And remember don't forget the little things and the teaching moments in life!

Blessings,

Dante

Selfishness

"Selfishness is being concerned, sometimes excessively or exclusively, for oneself or one's own advantage, pleasure, or welfare, regardless of others. Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness; and has also been contrasted (as by C. S. Lewis) with self-centeredness." - GoogleWhether you turn on the television, radio, computer or drive around your city and look at the ads around your area on thing is for certain, this world is hell bent on all of us pleasing ourselves and telling us how we deserve to get what we want.  In most secular of situations we see the demand and popularity spillover on the pleasure of self and how we need to take care of ourselves over the so many other people and things in our life.  Here is a list (to name just a few):

• You deserve a break today - McDonald's
• I will what I want - Under Armour (actually this was a good commercial about overcoming negative people)
• Mastercard “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard” 1997
• L’oreal “Because you’re worth it”
• Burger King "Have it your way."
• "What happens here, stays here."  - ad for Las Vegas

Selfishness is something that we are not immune to.  It begins at a very early age with our kids:  "that's mine", "you can't have it", "give it to me, I don't want to share" and so it goes throughout our lives.  These are raw emotions that none of us can escape because it is inherent in all of us.  Look at the divorce rate in America (in the world).  How does this process begin?  How about in business?  How about in life?

We live in a world that is opposite of God's will for our lives.  That is not to say that there is no good anywhere in the world, because there is.  What I am saying is what the Bible says to us, Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  As a Christian, we have to understand that the moment we take a stand for God's truth and his justice and his mercy, then the enemy will take a stand against us.  The very essence of the family is what Satan and his army want to destroy because that is counter to God's desire for us to be fruitful and to multiply.  

When we have Kingdom eyes and Kingdom wisdom and discernment then our approach to our daily lives should start with the following:

• God is in control
• What is God's will for my life today?
• God loves me so much (He sent His Son to die for me)
• How can I serve God today?
• Where do I go to make disciples?
• Not my will, but His will be done
• Love my neighbor as myself

Altruistic means  unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others.  God's love overcomes everything.  When you encounter this love it transform you.  God's love, put into practice looks like this:

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Instructions for Christian Households

Ephesians 5:²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. ²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing^[a] her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[b] 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Let's take this conversation a different way.  If you are reading this blog and you ask yourself, "Self, do I know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior" knowing that if you do, then you know that you have been forgiven much and have been forgiven such a debt that no matter what we try to do in life, we could never earn back for ourselves nor could we ever repay.  Knowing this, then, we have been called by God to forgive others (and in some cases to forgive ourselves of past, present and future sins).  This does not give us a free pass to continue to live in unrepentant lives, because also commands us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  We are called to a life of submission and obedience and to love as God loves us.  To forgive as God has forgiven us!

Therefore, knowing this, who in our lives do we need to start forgiving:

• Ourselves?
• Our Spouse?
• Our children?
• Our boss(es) or work situations?
• Someone who has hurt me in the past?
• Someone who has hurt my loved one in the past?
• ___________ (fill in your blank)

When we hold back forgiveness, we put ourselves in a prison.  We put ourselves in a box of bitterness and we withhold God's best for our lives.  How about instead of trying it our way (being selfish - be honest, when we are living and doing our lives in a way that is anti-biblical, then we are being completely selfish) we try God's way.  Let go and Let God.  Let go of what is holding you back, let go of what is keeping you selfish, let go of what is holding God's best for you and let God move in your life.

Do not jump in front of his working (don't be selfish again once you let go).  Put true accountability in your life and join a men's group (or if you are a woman reading this join a women's group) and/or find a mentor who will walk with you and share God's truth with you and who will be relational with you. Someone who will tell you the truth instead of what you want to hear.  But the someone who will love you through thick and thin!

You may be saying, "I can't", "this will be too hard", "there is no way that God can take this dead thing in my life and make it alive and vibrant"?  Really?  Do we serve a God who is dead?  Of course not!!!  Do we serve a God who takes dead things and makes them live?  Of course we do!!!  God the Father loves us so much that He gave us His only Son to die for us.  The Son (Jesus Christ) loves us so much that He gave His Spirit for each one of us that knows Jesus as Savior and the Spirit loves us so much that He cries out for us to God and Jesus even when we don't know what do say, He says Abba (Father).

If you are being selfish in your life, your marriage or your circumstance - stop!  Confess!  Repent!  And turn toward God to lead you - let go and let God!  If you are being stubborn and unforgiving then stop!  Forgive! Repent of this and turn toward God's plans for you - not to harm you!  Let go and let God!

Blessings,

Dante

My Prayers may be hindered? Say wha???

1 Peter 3:7New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

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Some reflections that should make you (a legacy dad) reflect

• "you mean, if I disrespect my wife, God won't answer my prayers?"
• "you mean, if I am not considerate with my wife, God won't answer my prayers?"
• "you mean, some actions that I take that do not honor God's will for my life, my hinder my prayers?"

If there is something in your life right now (if you are a legacy dad, or for that matter a legacy mom, who is reading this entry) then change that behavior right now!  Ask God to forgive you for doing it your way and not His way and submit to His will for your life.

If there is a root of bitterness in your life or your spouses life, confess that to God (don't condemn the spouse and say that you are righteous and you are holy and tell them how to live) Change the way that you react, you disrespect and you life and follow God's ways:  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control - these are the fruit of the Spirit and let God and let go of self promotion.

If you are, however, doing these things that God calls us to do, then bless you my brother (and my sister).  For God so loves you!

Happy Friday!

Blessings,

Dante

Healthy ways to a healthy marriage

Genesis 2:  NIV 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.Ephesians 5:22-33 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Mark 10:6-9 NIV  6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

Have you ever mentored an engaged couple and/or a single person who tells you what they want in a spouse and what they are looking for and how things are going to be?  The expectations are the funnest things to watch because there is excitement and there are dreams and some are even good enough to have shared values and goals to help each other along the way.  My favorite part in marriage mentoring is when we get to go over his expectations and her expectations.  There are times when these expectations are not equally yoked - Controversy?  What to do?  How to solve it? How to walk through with them from our own experiences to what God has planned for them.

One thing that my pastors like to say (and I truly believe) are that when a man and a woman come together into Holy matrimony, you have to realize that there are two sinners with their own baggage that they are bringing to "until death do us part".  That being said, we have to align ourselves with God's purpose for our lives and what he desires for us in marriage between one man and one woman.

My wife and I have been married for over 14 years now and it is my belief that we are and have grown stronger.  Do we always get it right?  Of course not!  Do we exemplify the perfect marriage? No way!  So how do I say what I am saying and tell you that I have a great marriage:

Ways to build a healthy and vibrant marriage:

• Be humble
• (if you are single, purse holiness and avoid sexual immorality)
• Die to self and serve the other
• Treat your spouse with the utmost respect
• Do not talk down to your spouse or talk bad about them to others
• Protect your spouse and your marriage
• Stay connected in community (both intimately, physically and emotionally with your spouse)
• Stay connected to church community (to hold you both accountable)
• Set healthy boundaries (flee temptation and loose individuals that are not God-centered)
• Stay rooted in the word of God (read the Bible daily)
• Pray often (and more often)
• Pursue your spouse (date them, study them, love them, accept them for who God made them to be)
• Treat them and life as a gift (not as a burden)
• In all that you do, pursue God to have a Christ-centered, Holy Spirit filled marriage!!!

If you are in a place where you are just getting married, please study this.  If you are newly weds, then stay focused on this.  If you are like my wife and I, please re-visit this and commit it to your daily lives.  If you marriage is not any of this, then start with prayer, repentance (if you are the man, own it!  You are the spiritual leader and your wife is supposed to follow you - don't blame her - take some responsibility and plead for God's guidance in your marriage).

If you marriage is dead, then pray that God will bring it back to life. Lean on God and not on your own knowledge (where has that knowledge gotten you this far in your marriage?) and ask for the Holy Spirit to change in you a new heart to love your wife and to see her as God sees her - a treasure.

In all that you do, draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to you.

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In case you are wondering on ways to destroy your marriage and the intimacy that God has planned for both you and your wife, then this would be the list that can easily achieve that:

• Be abusive to your spouse (both mentally, verbally and physically)
• Withhold love
• Treat your spouse often and openly with contempt and disrespect
• Often compare them to others and put them down constantly
• Serve yourself and not your spouse
• Have no boundaries (with the internet, social media, television, movies, or other individuals)
• Do not read the Bible
• Do not pray often
• Do not read Proverbs (or even Proverbs 6) because if you do these things on this list and read God's word, then you realize the person that does these things instead of ways to build your marriage is considered a fool!

If you have any to add to either lists, then please email me at dante@legacydad.comBlessings,

Dante

Ashley Madison, Porn and no limits

If you Google "400 church leaders to resign after Ashley Madison hack" you will find a lot of websites this headline.  It is from an interview with Ed Stetzer in Christianity today.  I think what surprises me most is the idea and reactions of the world when Christians are caught.  Even within the church there is this gasp of the fear of being caught.  These notions are foolish because if we are truly focused on the One who is over all can see, hear and do, then we should be trembling in our boots and beds and on our computer screens knowing that this One is the same that can create and destroy.  The One who can save or reject on whether He calls us to know His Son.There is this false sense of security in the privacy of one's own space.  Albeit a computer, a laptop, a smart device or television, we think we are immune from the world finding out.  When instead, we should be in complete fear and dismay in knowing that the God of this Universe and the Creator can see, hear, will and do whatever He pleases.  He breathes us into life and knows when He has appointed our time of death.

The mere fact that God is over all (including those that do not know Him or claim that He is not real) is scaringly sober.  How is it that we fear public opinion but we do not fear God when it comes to our sin.  Woe be it to a Christian who sins an does not repent of that sin.  Even more so, woe be it to the lost who sin and does not know God's son to save them.  Now if you are a professing, transformed and born-again Christian, I do not want you to take away that you can lose your salvation, rather, I do not want you to die with unrepentant sin in your life and meet our Creator.  I would much rather desire that both you and I repent when we sin (and we do sin) and share these sins with our brothers (who we should let have a voice and power of accountability in our life) so that we can turn from this sin and put it to death.

God calls us to be pure and holy.  He calls us righteous (those that confess His Son Jesus Christ).  We are adopted and called sons of the most Holy God.  Therefore, as disciples of Christ, we have a burden of discipleship.  This is not a burden that is beyond our ability, because God knows how wretched we can be, so he sent a Helper (The Holy Spirit) who dwells within the saved.

Job 7:17-21New International Version (NIV)

17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,  that you give them so much attention, 18 that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? 19 Will you never look away from me,  or let me alone even for an instant? 20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?[a] 21 Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

Read Psalms 38

Galatians 6New International Version (NIV)

Doing Good to All

6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

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When we approach the throne room of God in repentance (when we sin and if you are like me that is A LOT!) be humble.  Be low in spirit.  Be honest and open and transparent.  Be fearful (you are approaching the Holy of Holy.  Be a friend (spend more time in prayer and word with Him).  Be honest.  Be emotional.  Do not be proud or arrogant and in all that you do, "15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him - Colossians 3:15-18.

To the One who sees and knows and does it all - be fearful and be humble.

Confess your sins to Him and study Him and His will for your life and you will find God's best for you in whatever He desires for you.

Blessings,Dante

Of love!

^{1 Corinthians 13:13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

John 15:13 (NIV)

¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends

As of disciple and as a legacy dad we have to set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  We have to set our minds on things above.  We have to put to death that which is of earth and its desires.

To understand true love we have to study God's word and build relationships with the Trinity.  God the father wants our praise and honor and glory for him.  His Son wants a relationship with us because he wants more than just a fan because he died for us and rose again to save us.  And he loves us so much that he gave us his Spirit to guide us and direct us in heavenly ways.

To understand love we can try to get a glimpse of it when we serve and love others without expectant wants in return.  We can watch children laugh and play.  We can have children of our own to begin to understand just how much God loves us.  I believe in my heart that is why God gives us children to begin to understand this love.

He wants us to understand that love has no record of wrongs.  That is, to say, that when Jesus died on the cross he took all of our broken record and nailed them to that cross.  What that means for each and every one of us who are born again is that we are forgiven of past sins, of present sins and of sins to come.  God gives us His Spirit to guide us and to lead us on our pathway of sanctification.  He calls us to be holy and to pursue His righteousness.  When we sin, we are called to forgive our brothers and to confess our sins to one another.

This is the road map to unconditional love.

When we love our neighbors as our-self we are putting the 2nd greatest commandment to practice.  To love our neighbor as ourselves.  We are called to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and then to love our neighbor.

Who is our neighbor:

• Our family
• Our wives
• Our kids
• Our literal neighbors
• The lost
• The saved (our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus)

If you cannot forgive and you cannot love like this then we are called to examine ourselves to see if we are in the Faith.  To see if we are called to be his chosen.

What fruit are you bearing?  Is the peace of Christ and his love evident in your life?  If not, how then can we justify scripture in our lives?  We cannot.

Forgive as we have been forgiven.

Love as we have been loved.  For love has no greater friend then one who lays down his life for us (Jesus did this for you and me).  Now tell me how we cannot do that for our wives?  For our kids?  For our neighbors, communities and churches.

In all that you do seek first the Kingdom, love like we are loved and move to his wants and desires for our lives.

Of all that we do never forget Love.

Blessings,

Dante

Of hope...

Mark 5:21-43New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Overhearing^[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

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Hope can be a funny thing.  Hope can be a last resort.  Hope can be all sorts of things for different people.  The one common theme in Hope is for the looking forward of something.  Have you ever gone to a funeral?  There is a great likelihood that you have if you have been reading this blog for quite some time.  Funerals can be very sad or in some cases (where there is Hope) can be a celebration and a mourning.  The mourning, is common in all funerals, in that we miss the loved ones that have left this earthly realm and have moved on to another.  It is common for us to mourn that which we once had have and now no longer do.  There are some funerals, however, where there is no hope and more like a statement of "if", that is, "if" there is an afterlife, "then" maybe this person will be in Heaven.  And then there are funerals where you go to and there is mourning, but there is also a celebration because you and I, who profess the Lord Jesus as Savior and have repented of our sins and our transformed into His new creation, have this hope.  For those of us that have the Lord, as Savior, no longer have to say goodbye to our loved ones.  Rather, we should be saying:  See you later!

Hope can be seen throughout history.  In war, in peace and even in movies we see the thread of hope intertwined in all of these events.  Hope is looking forward to.  Hope, as Christians, comes with a promise:

• It is all about Jesus
• The Word was with God and the Word is God
• Jesus was raised from the dead and now sits on the throne at the right hand of God
• Jesus will return
• We have the Holy Spirit in each of us who are saved

Faith without works is dead.  Without hope what is there to look forward to?

I am not sure about you, or where have come from, but I am sure in the Bible.  I am sure in my salvation.  I am sure that Jesus will return and I have faith and hope in my future with Him.

What about your hope?

Blessings,

Dante

Of Faith...

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s FaithMark 7: 24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Luke 7 (NIV)

The Faith of the Centurion

Luke 7: 7 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Often I imagine myself in a situation where I am being watched by a cloud of witnesses and Angels and the Lord all watching me and during a trial or tribulation I say or do something that would please them for my faith.  Often I find myself falling short of this reality and either being too distracted, too tired, too frustrated or the like, wondering just how many times that I have missed these opportunities of faith?

I realize that when I rely on myself in the course of my day, then I am liking setting myself up to fail.  However, when I find myself in the word, reading Scripture daily and praying regularly, more often than not, the Holy Spirit guides more toward these opportunities.  I think the big question here is am I allowing myself the time for the Spirit to guide me?  Am I available?  Am I trusting God for His leading?

When I read the Old and New testament I am continually amazed how God uses ordinary men, women and even children to do extraordinary things through His will.  That blows me away that God decides to use us to build His Kingdom.  To be a part of that and to be available for that is an amazing thing.  When I mentor, when I coach and when God puts me in leadership, I am truly humbled that He gives me the ability to do this, but even more so to be even more blessed by what I get back in return.

When we serve we should expect:

• To be blessed
• To be needed
• To be used for God's glory
• To be his light (more Christ-like)

When we serve we should not expect:

• To be exhausted
• To have a bad attitude
• To not have the time (We are called to be stewards of His time, talent and treasure)

As a men's ministry leader I find myself walking with various men of all ages ranging from my son to high school all the way up to men that are in the 60's and 70's.  When I find myself walking with men and being asked by them to mentor them I often ask them to mentor me.  Sometimes you will find that when you mentor, the mentee is regularly mentoring you even more so by their walk and truth and humility toward Scripture - it is a beautiful thing.  The one thing that I like to challenge these men with is that if they want me to walk with them then they have to be in the Word regularly and have to be in prayer as well.  The reason that I request this is because if they aren't listening to God's word then there is nothing possibly in my life that would or could bring them to the truth.  They have to be rooted in the word!

When you walk in God's truth and His light you will often find yourself living a life of faith!

Blessings,Dante