Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
His Kingdom – the spiritual dominion of which our Lord Jesus rules over is what we are to pursue. All the understanding and lifestyle.
Being righteous is to walk in right standing and relationship with Him on a continual basis. We are justified through faith and now we pursue our relationship with Him.
All the things we so want or need will automatically come to us when put these first things first.
Prayer: Almighty God, I do choose Your kingdom and Your ways. Teach me Your ways and Your Kingdom and I will follow them with all my heart. I know You will add all which I need and desire, putting everything in its place. I comfort myself in You today and yield completely to Your full control. I bless Your Holy name and thank You for Your goodness. Amen.
I bet you’ve been wondering what would land here on Q day. Here ya go:
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” -Isaiah 30:15
The sad part is that the verse continues with the Lord adding, “But you would have none of it.”
May we choose to return to Him, resting in quietness and confidence. When we are weak, He is strong. As we draw near to Him, He promises to draw closer to us as well. -James 4:8
A couple of friends talked over the events of the last few days as they walked along. Sadness was written across their faces as they admitted, “We had hoped…”
Hoped, past tense.
As in, we used to hope, but not anymore.
Have you been there? Have you gone through something so hard that your soul is crushed beyond repair? Someone you love has suddenly been taken… and way too soon. The spouse you trusted tossed you aside like an old shoe. Something you planned and even dared to dream about died, leaving you…
Hopeless.
That’s the feeling of the friends who traveled down the road together. Having witnessed the horrible death of the Person they had closely followed, their hopes were just as dead.
Where do we go from here? How will we ever recover? Is all we’ve believed in been wrong?
A few miles later, they realized they were in the very presence of the risen Lord!
That first Easter morning changed everything.
The powerful Son of God stepped from the grave to prove the hopeless wrong. Since death cannot defeat Him, how could anything else? What could separate us from the love of God?
Our fears?
Our loss?
Our worries?
Things changed in an instant! The moment He was raised from the dead, hope was forever restored! Do we dare to trust Him?
“O death where is thy victory?! O grave where is thy sting?”
Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!
All creation shouts with joy on Easter Sunday morning! Our Creator lives, and reigns with power over any circumstance that brings suffering to His beloved ones. With the strong arms of a Shepherd, He reaches out to pull us close to His heart as He gently leads us home. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love as we walk in the presence of the risen Lord!
Praise His sweet holy Name! Our conquering King lives!
And there is hope!
You can read about the friends traveling to Emmaus when Jesus suddenly appeared and walked with them in Luke 24:13-34. Romans 8:1 helps us understand that we are no longer condemned by God when we trust His Son as our sacrifice for sin. There’s more about His great love for you personally in Romans 8:23-39.
Call out to Him. He’s waiting for the time when you and He can walk the broken road of life together. This wonderful God of all creation longs to adopt you as His very own. What a “Blessed Hope!”
Pomp and Circumstance—It’s a tune many of us will be familiar with in the coming weeks. We have some young friends graduating from colleges and high schools; some even within the same family. My husband also has a graduation as he continues to further his education as a lifelong learner.
Although I graduated from UNCC quite some time ago, other ladies I know well have discussed how nice it would be to have taken college classes much later in life rather than fresh out of high school. Our brains were still developing. We understand so much more now and can think more abstractly, critically, and with wisdom. But, the last time I checked, they don’t hand out diplomas or cords for maturity gained over the years, and only seldom does one receive a degree for life experiences.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were graduation celebrations for hitting new levels of maturity and experience in life? There are practical things like learning how to be responsible with a budget, maintaining a first apartment, having a better handle on time management, and home and car ownership responsibilities. As we grow in a family, there is maturity in self-sacrifice as a parent or simply preferring others over oneself. We learn how much one can do with so little sleep.
Then, there are more important things that some learn and master better than others—learning to avoid gossip (giving or receiving), not worrying what others think of you (people-pleasing), replacing FOMO (fear of missing out) with JOMO (joy of missing out), replacing comparisons with contentment, and becoming comfortable in your own skin.
Though there may not be new certifications, distinctions, diplomas, and celebrations for these significant, life-altering milestones in the lives of Christians, there is something better – sanctification. The word is sometimes as hard to say as the process is to endure, but the rewards are sweet. How often can you look back at your life and say, “Wow, I’m further in that area than I was 6 months or a year ago!”? If our ultimate aim as Christians is transforming into the likeness of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 3:18), shouldn’t we be able to look back and see significant change at various stages of life? I’m not speaking of compromise or the all-too-popular deconstruction that has arisen in recent years. Rather, the results of life-long sanctification are so profound that they can even astound us. In Colossians 3:10, Paul speaks of a new self that is being renewed daily in this process that we gradually journey through.
While God the Father graciously transforms us thanks to the sanctifying gift of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, the fruit of the Holy Spirit shines through our lives (love, joy, peace, etc.). We submit to the work of God in our lives as we allow Him to shake off the things that cling to us. It is a process. It can be painful at times but also beautiful and comforting. But, when we look back, we should see evidence of growing and graduating from one victory to the next.
As you sit in the crowds this season to view the slow processionals accompanied by the familiar graduation march, take a moment to reflect on areas of life where you, too, have graduated. Glory to God, and hats off to you!
Ashlie Miller celebrates her husband’s recent Master of Arts in Theological Studies. You may send regards or comments to mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
It is a busy time for gardeners. It’s time to get the vegetable garden ready for a new season of growing. That means pulling the weeds, running the tiller through the beds, and getting everything planted. A gardener also has to go to garden centers and find all the plants and seeds. It is an exciting and hopeful time. It is a wonderful time of the year!
We also need to trim the bushes and get our annual flowers planted. There is more weeding to do in the flower beds. Have I told you that I do not like weeding? It’s my least favorite gardening task, but I have to admit I like the way things look when all the weeds are cleaned out and fresh mulch is applied. I am glad for the longer days and the opportunity to work outside in the yard.
My gardening excitement this year has been tempered. Several weeks ago, I was working outside and I took a tumble, landing on my back. I lay there for a minute. Getting up was not easy. A massage therapist I went to once taught me some back stretching exercises in which I slowly engaged. It has been a very s-l-o-w but gradual recovery. I saw a new massage therapist who shared her gift with me and helped to ease the pain and move me closer to recovery.
While there is no good time to have pain, I have explained to several people that this is a terrible time to be struggling with back pain. There is so much work that needs to be done outside, but I am limited on what I can do. I have recovered enough that I can handle carrying groceries and light items. I can drag heavier things, but still I have to be careful doing that, too. No matter how careful I am, by the evening my back is sore, which makes me tired and weary.
Because of the pain, I have had to approach my vegetable garden differently this year. I normally run the tiller through my raised vegetable beds. I till in the leaves and some new soil, preparing a great place for my new vegetables to grow. I couldn’t run the tiller this spring because of my back. This year I pulled the leaves back and mixed in some bags of soil and then planted my seeds and transplants. I am leaving the leaves around what I planted in hopes they will help keep the weeds down. I have heard of this idea; it’s called no till gardening. I haven’t tried it before, but necessity led to experimentation.
It’s challenging when we are forced into changes. I want to garden as I always have, but pain forced me to make some changes. I do believe that God is still in the healing business today. I have experienced healing and seen too many healings of others to believe otherwise. But I also firmly believe that God will lead us through things because He wants to teach us more about Himself. He wants me to know that His grace is sufficient for me. He wants me to know that He will always be with me.
Some may wonder why God didn’t protect me, but I argue that God did protect me from something far greater that the enemy wanted to do to me. God did something miraculous a few days after my fall. He gave me a supernatural peace. I struggle to maintain my peace at times in life, but I have felt His presence as I have struggled to recover. He has helped me to do some things…slowly. I have also had to humble myself and ask for some help, which I am very bad at doing. These are important lessons that I have been learning.
The bottom line for me is this: I believe that God is actively involved in our lives but sometimes we have to look a little harder to find Him. I want to encourage you as you are going through your struggles…and I know we all have them…to look closer and see God in the middle of them. He is the God who will see you through your struggles. He loves you, but He wants you to learn more about who He is for you in the midst of your struggles. He cares for you. He will see you through to the other side. He is faithful. He is the Master Gardener who wants to produce fruit in your life. Let Him work the soil in your life and produce a harvest for His Kingdom.
An internet server in the Charlotte area airs a commercial touting the advantages it offers consumers. After the usual hype with an attractive person talking, the over voice says (to paraphrase), “It’s time to get what you deserve.” My hardback dictionary states that “deserve” means “to be worth of” or “merit.” That first meaning has two connotations: to gain something positive, such as an award; or to receive a negative response to a particular action. Thus, a studious student may be awarded with academic accolades while a spiteful person may be ill-treated by another person. So in general, we use “deserve” to denote being awarded for hard work, courage, or other such positive acts.
Now, I know that language changes over the course of years because of our usage of it. In fact, several academics will argue that it must change in order for us to communicate effectively. Thus, the verb “quote” is now used to designate the noun “quotation”, and the longer form seems to have suffered a slow death. But my favorite new grammar usage, used by even the best of written sources, is “went missing.” A sentence such as, “The toddler went missing over the weekend” is as common as the sin of lying. I do not know why writers use two words when one, such as “disappeared”, would suffice, but “went missing” is here to stay. Furthermore, the verb “went” is a transitive which means that if it has a direct object, that object must be a noun or pronoun. However, that may be too complex, so let us just suggest we all use one simple word for the awkward phrase “went missing” because “missing” is not a place but a modifier.
It is no surprise that a television commercial maligns our language since its purpose is to communicate to the consumer. But I think we are headed down that “slippery slope” of misunderstanding each other if we continue on the path we are following. For example, I am old enough to remember the flap over a popular cigarette advertisement that stated, “… taste good like a cigarette should.” Our world has survived that confusion between like and as, but I wonder at what price.
Not too many years ago, I was teaching 12th grade English in a school in Woodstock, VA. The position was provisional for that spring semester, but would become full time the following fall, so I applied for the full-time position. During the interview, the principal asked me why I was requiring my classes to read Macbeth in the original and not in a translation. Shocked by her ignorance, I answered that we read Shakespeare for many reasons, but especially for the language. More recently when I shared with a friend one more article by an English teacher arguing that there was no need to teach Shakespeare, he responded, “Soon Shakespeare may be offered as a way to satisfy a foreign language requirement.”
Language matters and if we shift too much in its use, we will create confusion instead of clarity. To defend incorrect usage by, “Well, you know what I meant,” is a lazy excuse. As a reader and/or listener, all I know is what I read and/or hear. Anything else is a guess and if you don’t want my attention to go missing, then be precise. We both deserve it.
Shields Couple Cycle the Southern Border, Part One
Nothing is more fun for me than talking running and long-distance cycling. Dave Shields is an excellent runner, then when he added the Appalachian Trail and a ride across America to our discussions and I got interested fast.
Patty, age 61, and Dave Shields, 62, are both retired but busy. Patty likes gardening, pickleball and aerobic activities. They both participate in local 5Ks on the SRR calendar. It was at one of their first SRR races upon moving to Salisbury in 2018, the Santa 5K/Bigfoot reunion near Millbridge, that Dave discovered Rowan Helping Ministries. He volunteers there as an interviewer at the Crisis Assistance Network, does life coaching, and is on the Facilities Committee.
Dave had a dream at age 30 to complete his own endurance triple crown which included completing the Ironman Triathlon, hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, and riding a bike across the USA. Once their kids were grown up, and at age 50, he completed the Ironman in Lake Placid. At age 60, in 2023, he hiked from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine to complete the Appalachian Trail. Patty joined Dave on various hikes during each 500-mile segment of the 2200-mile-long trail. During their first joint hike together in Georgia, and feeling a bit tired, Dave told Patty he didn’t think he’d wait until age 70 to ride across the USA by bike. Patty replied, “If you do it at an earlier age, I’ll join you.” They thought they’d ride in 2024, but Dave needed more time to recover from his four month long Appalachian trail hike after the White Mountains gave him some knee tendinitis.
For their cross-country ride, Dave and Patty chose to ride with a planned tour group because Dave didn’t want to manage the logistics like he did on the AT hike. They liked the idea of safety in numbers while riding on the roads with a group.
Dave said, “The southern border trip was our default choice. Originally, we had signed on with a tour company planning to ride from Los Angeles to Boston, starting in May. The tour was canceled in late December 2024 due to a lack of participants, and we scrambled to find another tour. After a frantic internet search, we found the San Diego to St. Augustine tour. Interestingly, it also almost didn’t happen due to a limited number of participants. The tour company, Timberline Adventures out of Boulder, Colorado, changed the tour from its usual normal of camping to a hotel tour. We are incredibly grateful that they chose to run the tour.”
Both Dave and Patty are relatively fit. The biggest preparation is mental, knowing they would be biking 3000 miles over 43 days of riding, an average of 70 miles per day through elements out of their control including hills, heat, wind and chasing dogs. They spent hours pedaling a bike in the basement mainly to get their rearends adjusted to endless hours on a bike seat. Dave, having completed several endurance activities, coached Patty on the mental adjustments needed for success which included focusing on the current ride and current day while keeping a sustainable pace over the length of the tour.
The couple reported fantastic scenery! The bicycles allowed them to travel the country at a pace where they could appreciate all they were seeing. The deserts of the Southwest, the greening of the landscape through Texas Hill country, the Bayou of Louisiana, and the lush greenery of Florida offered them quite the contrast as they rolled along near the border. Seeing the massive border wall had them marveling at the engineering feat.
Part 2 comes next week. The couple are back home now.
Our next race locally is the Main Street Challenge 5K, Fun Run and Tot Trot in China Grove this coming Friday evening, May 9th. The Town of China Grove now owns the race after taking over from the South Rowan YMCA. It is high quality event on the fastest 5K course in North Carolina based on the 14 minutes and 6 second state record finishing time of Donnie Cowart in 2023.
For more information on other upcoming events, go to www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
“Pray without ceasing.” When our daughters were little, this was the first Scripture we taught them. Seems so long ago. I remember our middle daughter clapping and cheering when it was her time to say it. She must’ve been about four. Eventually they also learned the verses before and after. It sounds like this: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The New Living Translation says, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in every circumstance.” Honestly I don’t always feel like doing things that way. In fact, I’m not terribly pleasant at times. Perhaps I should “Pray without ceasing.” Maybe the thankfulness is less about my circumstances, and more about the Lord Who is in change of them. Now THAT I can be glad about.
First posted March 1, 2012
What is your default setting? Where do you go when nothing is making sense? Do you have a “happy place” that re-boots your psyche? Christianeze would say, “Run to Jesus.” So how do you do that when the bills pile up, and the pain is great, and prayers go unanswered?
A good friend of mine who struggles with depression will watch a funny movie. Another friend finds great solace in his deer stand. He can sit there in the cold, frosty morning and watch the forest for hours. David will take a long ride on his motorcycle through the quiet countryside. Me? Take me to the beach. Give me a day watching the waves and suddenly I’m good for another couple months.
The sweetest story is recorded in the last chapter of John. Seven guys were together after witnessing the horrible death of their friend. And even though they had seen Him alive, and had the realization that God had raised Him from the dead, their future was very uncertain. Unmet expectations, fear of the unknown and the lingering question of “What now?” made way for hurt and doubt.
Peter reveals his default setting with “I’m going fishing.”
His friends joined him. But after fishing all night their nets were as empty as their souls. With dawn breaking a stranger called out to them the ageless question.
“Catching anything?”
“We’ve got nothing,” was their reply.
“Throw your net on the other side,” came the familiar suggestion.
With nets suddenly full, memories of provision and care filled their weary souls. Once they hauled in the bounty, they made their way to the shore where Jesus was waiting. And He had a hot breakfast ready for them. Can He get any sweeter?
A HOT BREAKFAST!
Here is the Lord of glory, Who has just conquered death, Who understands their fear and emptiness, cooking breakfast on the sea shore for His weary friends.
He’s kind like that. It wasn’t enough to call out a greeting; or fill their boat with fish; or even just appear to them again in order to let them know everything would be okay. Nope. He cooked breakfast.
That is a picture of our Savior: Grace heaped upon grace.
Just when we cannot take another thing, He sends what we need to fill our empty souls.
Hold on my friend. He will be calling to you shortly. Don’t feel bad if you have to look to Him and reply, “I’ve got nothing.” He already knows.
And He’s cooking up something special that will be just what you need.
Bill Johnson teaches us how to grow in the midst of trials and difficulties. We all have them. What do we do? Listen to what Bill Johnson has to share on the topic.
