It never ceases to amaze me how much God loves us and all of the ways, both big and small, that He reveals His love to us. Let me share one such experience I had recently.

Our daughter and her family had been on vacation and she accidently left her rings in their last motel room. She called the motel and they secured the rings and shipped them overnight to our house. The problem was someone had to sign for the package which meant that someone had to be home.

Not knowing when UPS would come, that morning I went into the church office but after a time decided it was time to take some work home and wait for the package. As I was turning into our neighborhood a UPS truck turned in right after me. Of course I began to wonder, is that truck headed to our house? That truck followed me all of the way to our driveway and I was barely out of my vehicle before receiving the package. The driver thought it was amazing timing; I told him it was definitely a “God thing.”

When I called our daughter to tell the package had arrived she was very relieved to know that her rings were now safely at our house. After talking to her I got to thinking about how amazing God’s timing was. If I had tarried while leaving the church I would have missed the delivery. If I had hit one more red light on the way home I would have missed the delivery.

God knew how much it meant to our daughter to have her rings back and He perfectly orchestrated the timing of my decision to head home and the arrival of the UPS truck to set our daughter’s mind at ease.

What a great reminder that there is nothing too big for God to handle and there is nothing too small for Him to care about. What is weighing on your heart today? Give it to Jesus and wait and watch to see how He acts to meet your need.

God’s Grace and Peace,

                    Mark

Recently I’ve been reading a book entitled “Greater” by Steven Furtick. It will soon be placed in the church library. Furtick’s premise is that “Most of us aren’t in danger of ruining our lives. We’re in danger of wasting them.” Using events from the life of Elisha the prophet Furtick shares how we can quit being satisfied with good enough and discover the greater things that God has for us. By Furtick’s definition, greater is, “The life-altering understanding that God is ready to accomplish a greatness in your life that is entirely out of human reach – beyond anything you see in yourself on your best day, but exactly what God has seen in you all along.”

Those greater things God wants to do in us aren’t necessarily just the big or public things, it can be as simple as being the best spouse, parent, or whatever else, God created and called us to be. And those greater things won’t happen if we spend our time lamenting over what we don’t have or what we can’t do, the greater things of God only happen as we seek God and His plan for our lives, as we grab hold of Him and never let go. 

It’s my hope and prayer that all of us at Medford Friends, individually and corporately, will seek and experience the greater that God has for us so that we may be and do all that He has in mind for us.

                                                                           God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                                                               Mark

Before leaving on our recent trip to Mexico we switched to an international plan for our cell phones so we could be reached if needed. This plan would cost us $1.00 per minute for phone calls but was less expensive than renting a phone there.

Our cell service was rather spotty but one time when I was experiencing good reception I noticed that I had seven voice mails. Thinking that someone was trying to get in contact with us I called my voice mail and listened to my messages. All seven were from before we left on our trip and although I had previously listened to them, I had not cleared them, so I spent time and a few dollars listening to old messages.

That got me to thinking about how often we allow the residue of old sins, hurts and fears, messages of our old life, still grab attention in our lives. And every time we listen to them it costs us time, energy, maybe resources and certainly it can cost us peace. In John 8:36 Jesus said, “So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

When Jesus comes into our hearts, forgives our sin, heals our hurts and takes away our fear we are set free, but too often it seems like we continue to listen to those old messages and allow them to consume our time, energy, resources and peace. When those messages beckon us, instead of answering, let’s claim the freedom that Jesus purchased for us and then go forward in our lives as we seek what Jesus is saying and doing in our lives today!

                                                                           In His Grace, 

                                                                                        Mark

A few weeks back the footrest springs on my recliner broke and over the next couple of days I spent quite a bit of time trying to locate where I could find replacements. After what I thought was an exhaustive search online, using every combination of search terms I could think of, I finally found a place where I could buy a set a springs that were just a little longer than what I needed, so I purchased them hoping they would work.

Before installing the new springs I did an online search on how to install them and wouldn’t you know, in addition to having installation pictures, one of the recommended sites specialized in selling the exact springs I needed for my chair!

This experience brought to mind Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Jesus has the answer for everything in our lives and He invites us to come to Him, to be part of the process of discerning and following His will. Does that mean that all of our prayers will be answered the first time? Second? Third?  No, because prayer and seeking Jesus’ will is a relationship and a process and as we persevere, seeking His face, Jesus opens our eyes to new understanding, He points us in the direction of His will, and our prayers change to reflect what He is saying to us.

No matter what needs we may have in our lives Jesus holds the answer and we can find His answer as we stay in the process of asking, seeking and knocking, as we seek His face and live our lives fully surrendered to Him.

                                                                  God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                                                       Mark