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Psalm 90:12  Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

The older I get, the more I think about dying. I don’t mean that to be morbid. A lot of folks don’t like to think about or discuss death and dying. But it is a reality. And the longer I live, the more of my friends and family members are taken away by it. Just recently I got word that a pastor friend of mine and his wife went for a ride on his motorcycle on a pretty day. A car hit them and killed them both. Death comes.

I know that they were prepared for death, just as I am. In spite of any apprehension I might feel, I know that my life is safe in the loving arms of my heavenly Father, both now and forever. He sent me the guarantee that I will be with Him. Jesus went through all of the agony and suffering that my sin deserves, and then conquered death to insure my place in His kingdom. So my thoughts on death are not a concern for myself. Rather, I have thought about those who will remain in this life after me.

Any death involves the pain and heartache of separation from loved ones. This never goes away completely on this side of heaven, but it does ease with the passage of time. Is there anything you can do before your death to help your family and friends? Actually, there is!

First and foremost, make sure that they know of the trust and confidence you have in Jesus Christ. Your faith is your personal guarantee of eternal life. Not only will this comfort your survivors, but it may encourage them to have the same faith and confidence if they do not yet have it.

Another thing is to be sure that you have prepared a will. If you die without a will, the state may be the one who determines where your possessions will go, and their decisions might be very different from your own desires. It also gives you one more opportunity to support ministries that share the good news of Jesus.

Something Cheryl and I have done to help our children is make the arrangements with a funeral home so they will not have to do so. This might be a kind and loving thing you can do for your family as well.

Death is inevitable for us all, unless Jesus returns first. It is the result of sin. Yet in contemplating our mortality, we are also given the chance to rejoice in the deliverance from death that we have through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

They were at the family supper table. Mary was recounting an exasperating experience she had on the way home from work that day. “This woman got on the bus at 55^th,” she said, “and squeezed into a small space right beside me. There she sat, half on top of me, with her bundles poking me in the face. I had to keep dodging most of the time so that her bundles didn’t knock my hat off!”

Her little brother spoke up: “Why didn’t you tell her that she was half on your seat and that she should get up?”

“It wasn’t worthwhile,” replied Mary. “We had such a little way to go together.”

Wouldn’t that be a great attitude for more of us to have? In a time when social media gives everyone the ability to complain about any and everything instantly, it would be nice if more people would just say, “It wasn’t worthwhile; we had such a little way to go together.”

We all suffer injustices every day. Unkindness, ingratitude, lack of understanding from others. Would it be easier to cope with these things if you remember, “It wasn’t worthwhile; we had such a little way to go together.”

he thought expressed in Mary’s phrase also makes it more urgent for us show patience and kindness and reasonableness to those who are making life’s journey hand in hand with us. We have such a little way to go together.

There is little time for us to show the love of Christ to our neighbors. We must declare the goodness of the one who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Share the love of Him who first loved us before it is too late.

It’s not the end of the world! Ever had someone tell you that? I think that phrase has a way of putting things in perspective. Bad hair day? It’s not the end of the world. Miss your bus to school or your ride to work? It’s not the end of the world. Break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend? It’s not the end of the world. Lose your job? It’s not the end of the world. Your house burns down and you lose everything you own? Even that is not the end of the world.

A little over thirty years ago in October a tornado or straight line winds (not sure which one) hit our home in Sherman, doing extensive damage. Thankfully, our young children were spending the night with their grandmother, so it was just Cheryl and I at home. We were not injured, but there was a lot of clean up and repairs that needed doing after that. Three years ago, a similar storm roared through the Bells area where we now live. This time, our home was spared, but our barn and our pontoon boat were casualties. While not something we wanted or were hoping for, it was certainly not the end of the world!

There are some serious issues in our world today and plenty of “chicken littles” running around screaming “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!” Politics, pandemics, illegal immigrants, unemployment, shortage of consumer goods. What should be the Christian response? Should we simply proclaim, “It’s not the end of the world?”

While we need to keep things in proper perspective, we should also remember that Jesus tells us the end of the world is coming, and none of us one knows when that will be.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back–whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: `Watch!’ ” (Mark 13:32-37)

We are told to be alert, on guard, always ready for it. So many times we say to each other, “It’s not the end of the world.” What about when it is? What about when the Last Day does come? You need to be alert and prepared, but that preparation does not come through storing up treasures on earth or seeking immortality through science and technology.

The preparation you need comes from knowing who Jesus is. He is the one who came to us as the son of a human mother to redeem us who were under the guilty verdict of the Law. He is the one who has made you sons and daughters of God. Suffering and dying on the cross at Golgotha, Jesus Christ has freed you from the verdict of death. He ended the power of death over you. Even when the end of the world comes for you, you know that it is not the end, because He has opened the gates to eternal life to all who by the Spirit’s power bend the knee to Him as Savior and Lord. So you can stand before your judge with confidence, knowing the price for sin has been paid and you have forgiveness.

More thoughts on this tomorrow.

What we have here is a failure to communicate! That line from an old movie is a reality in our lives. Just because we live in an age of instant communication does not mean that we do so clearly. Consider the following signs that were posted.

• On the door of a restroom: “Toilet out of order. Please use floor below.”
• At the entrance of a public building: “For anyone who has children and doesn’t know it, there is a day care center on the first floor.”
• The sign on the front door of a shop said, “We can repair anything.”  And then this note was added, “Please knock hard on the door – the bell doesn’t work.”

Those examples of poor communication made me smile. However, the failure to communicate is not always comical. It can cause everything from hurt feelings to putting one’s soul in peril!

We should make every effort to communicate clearly, kindly and well.  I think accurate communication was part of what Jesus was encouraging in His Sermon on the Mount when He said, do to others what you would have them do to you. (Matthew 7:12)

God wants to communicate with His creation. He wants to do so clearly, kindly and well. That is why He has given us His Word, and even more importantly, His Word made flesh. Just to be sure we understood His message, He came down here to do so face to face.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

We know God best because of Jesus. He showed the love of God in everything He did, whether it was healing a blind man, confronting a woman with her sins, welcoming children to come to Him, or offering His life as payment for the sins of everyone.

If you want to know the heart of God, look at Jesus. He will communicate to you everything God wants to tell you about Himself, and what God wants for you.

Five years ago at this time I was leading our congregation through the book “Red Letter Challenge” by Zach Zehnder. In many Bibles, the words of Jesus are written in red. This 40 day challenge was to read and think about the words Jesus said and then actually put them into practice! A brilliantly simple idea: Listen to Jesus and do what He says.

Day 8 of the challenge encourages you to “Worship the Lord your God” (Luke 4:8). It noted that worship is more than what takes place in church buildings on Sundays and Wednesdays. It is a way of life. But can you truly worship at all times? After we read that devotion, my wife prayed that we might avoid the distractions in our lives that keep us from worshipping God.

Right after that, I drove to the hospital to visit one of our members. She was there unexpectedly as a result of an infection and dehydration. Talk about a distraction! Do you think she felt like praising God?

We have seen the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As I think about all those people dealing with the aftermath of those storms, I wonder if they feel like praising God right now with the distraction of destroyed homes and loved ones who were killed.

Every day we all have plenty of stuff that distracts us, whether it is traffic or job related or family issues or car troubles. Those things can take our focus away from the wonderful news we have in our lives: God loved us enough to send His Son to take our place in punishment, pay for our sins, and give all who believe in Him the guarantee of forgiveness and life everlasting. That  is the reason we have to thank and praise and worship our God.

One of the suggestions in the devotion for remembering to praise God was to listen to Christian Music. I do that quite a bit, especially while driving down the road. I listen to stations on the radio, but I also have playlists on my phone and computer. These remind me to worship and praise and thank God no matter what. And while music in the background is a good thing, it is also good to have some time when you listen to music with distractions! A couple of songs that I turn to in trying times are: “I Will Praise You in This Storm” by Casting Crowns and the old hymn based on Psalm 46: “Be Still, My Soul.”

Scripture that encourages us to worship God at all times:

Psalm 34:1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May your life be one of constant worship!

The followers of Jesus Christ should know and be assured that they have forgiveness for all their sins and the certainty of life everlasting because of what Jesus did for us. He promised that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. That is a comforting assurance, and one that I cling to in my life.

Knowing what I have for Jesus’ sake is what motivates me to want to help others. Knowing that I don’t have to earn my forgiveness and salvation frees me to live a life of service that responds to the grace of God that has been shown to me.

In Matthew 25, Jesus is describing the final judgment, where some are declared righteous and some are not. It is an example of “by their fruits you will know them.” Speaking to those judged righteous for Jesus’ sake, the Lord lists the kinds of things they did in their lives.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” (Matthew 25:34–36, NIV84)

This attitude and mindset is what drives Christians around to world to live lives that serve others. It is also the impetus behind an organization in out nation called Family Promise. Family Promise has chapters all over the United States that are working to help homeless families with children under the age of 18. The goal is to get these families established in a way that they can support themselves and be independent. By providing temporary housing and a program leading to self-sufficiency, this program is having a tremendous impact on families. We have a chapter in our county and my congregation is actively involved in it.

Homelessness continues to be a problem all around us. Are you looking for a way you can help those who need someone to encourage them and offer a helping hand up? Take a look at familypromise.org.

Although I served Grace Lutheran Church in Denison, Texas for over 32 years before I retired, we lived in Sherman, Texas for most of that time. Those two towns have the longest standing High School football rivalry in Texas. It dates back to 1901, with there being some years they played each other more than once. Back in 1949, someone donated a Battle Ax to be used as the trophy for the team that won this game. This year marked the 126^th Battle of the Ax game between Sherman and Denison. Denison had won for the last 11 years, but Sherman took back the Ax in this year’s contest. By the way, Sherman also had an 11 game win streak at one point, and has won the game more times than Denison overall.

I attended many of these games over the years, but it has been a few years since I have gone to one. I still hear about them before and after the game. Whenever I hear people talking about this football battle, I am reminded that every day of our lives is a battle.

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.

While Christ has won the victory over sin and death for us through His life and death and resurrection, we still have to struggle with sin and its consequences here on earth. It is our daily battle. Evil is a present reality. But we don’t face it alone.

The weekend many churches will celebrate Reformation Sunday. A hymn that will be sung by many in celebration of the Reformation is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  It contains the line, “but for us fights the valiant one whom God himself elected.” He is still with us, by our side, every step of the way. He strengthens us, picks us up when we falter, encourages us to press on, and FIGHTS FOR US!

While we still have our daily battles, we keep it in perspective when we remember that the ultimate battle was won for us by Jesus. And He is still with us.

Cheryl and I have three daughters. All three of them have been married now for quite some time. I was being nostalgic and thinking about their weddings. Each time I was in the fortunate and somewhat unique position of being both the father of the bride and the officiating minister. There was a point in all three of those services where I got choked up, but God enabled me to recover and make it through the rest of the service each time.

I love my family deeply, and the emotions I display reflect that love. I have rejoiced with them, laughed with them and shed tears with them. Through it all I am aware of overwhelming blessing God has shown to our family in our lives together.

The love that I feel for my children, deep though it may be, is but a poor reflection of the love that our heavenly Father has for all those He created. There is a song by a man named Stuart Townend entitled How Deep the Father’s Love for Us that does a good job of describing that love

How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure
That he should give his only son, to make a wretch his treasure
How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turned his face away
As wounds which mar the chosen one, bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything: no gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ; his death and resurrection
Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart: his wounds have paid my ransom

I thank God that He has allowed me to be a father. I thank my Father in heaven even more for the love He has shown to me.