The other day I was thumbing through an old fitness magazine when stumbled upon an article on a new workout routine. I had read the article before but for whatever reason I hadn’t given it too much thought. Perhaps I was content with the routines I was doing and didn’t see any need to change, but this time it jumped off the page at me and I thought, “This is exactly what I need.”

When it comes to God’s word, it often works in a similar way. We can read the same passage over and over again, but just when we need it, it jumps off the page like we’ve never seen it before. Or we can read a very familiar passage, say John 3:16, and all of a sudden it speaks to our heart in ways we’ve never considered before.

This shouldn’t surprise us since Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

In the days to come, spend some time with some familiar passages and as you read them, invite the Holy Spirit to apply them in your life in a fresh new way. If you do, I can promise you that God will meet you and speak to you in a powerful way.

                                                                    God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                                                         Mark

During the forest fires in Southern Oregon in early August smoke was filling the valley and it was hard to even be outside. At that time it seemed logical to pray for a drenching rain to sweep through the area to clear the air and to help with the fires.

For days I prayed fervently for such a rain to come upon us without ever imagining that God would answer my prayer while we were driving on I-5 in the area where the fires were located. The rain was indeed drenching, just like I had prayed; it was like driving through the final rinse in a car wash, only it went on and on and on.

As I was driving and giving God thanks for the rain that was so desperately needed my wife Patsy began praying another prayer, “Lord, we can’t see where we’re going, please keep us safe.” And I am happy to say that God answered that prayer too.

For me, this was a great reminder that while we pray we don’t always know the future and we need to stay alert and we need to be open to adjusting our prayers as the Holy Spirit leads and circumstances change, but most of all, we need to keep praying.

                                       God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                             Mark

I absolutely love spending time with our 20-month-old grandson Jack. It’s amazing to watch as he learns something new every day and along the way he has taught me some things too.

One day when Jack and I were walking around the outside of the house, when we came to the back door of the garage he wanted to go in. The door was locked and I didn’t have a key with me so I told him we had no way to get in. He immediately said, with all confidence, “Knock.”

Jack knows that every time he knocks on a door it opens for him, so it only made sense to him that if we knocked the door would open for us. Of course, what Jack hasn’t learned yet is that the reason the door opens is because of who is on the other side.

In Matthew 7:7and 8, Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock; saying that those who ask receive, those who seek find and to him who knocks the door is opened. We receive, find and have the door opened not just because we ask, seek and knock, but because of whom we are asking, from whom we are seeking and who is on the other side of the door.

Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock, but when we do we need to allow him to give, reveal and open as He chooses. When we do, in His love, Jesus will always give us what is best, reveal what we need to know and lead us to the place where He wants us to be.   

                                                                                        Asking, Seeking and Knocking,  

                                                                                                                       Mark

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