Our Most Important Freedom

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

Well Father, tonight begins the start of a 3-day holiday weekend in observance of Independence Day here in the United States.  Over these next few days, we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence which declared this country’s freedom from the control of the Kingdom of Great Britain.  Thinking about the freedoms we enjoy on the drive into work this morning, it dawned on me that while celebrating our liberties this weekend, we should also be giving thanks for our most important freedom of all…

The freedom from sin You gave us through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Your Word clearly shows us that although we are all besieged with sinful natures, if we confess and repent of our sins, and turn to You through Christ, we can be freed from the bondage that sin tries to hold us in.

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” – 1 John 3:4-6 (NIV)

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” – Romans 6:17-18 (NIV)

We have so many freedoms in this country that we should all be truly thankful for Father.  And as I contemplate and celebrate those things which set our nation apart, I’ll also be giving thanks and praise for the greatest gift of freedom ever given; the freedom Jesus paid for on the Cross.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Meditations Monday: Light of the World

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Monday Father!

Once again Lord, we come to the beginning of another work-week.  It was a harried but enjoyable weekend, with much time spent in the company of family and good friends.  Any lack of sleep incurred was more than balanced by the joy of being surrounded by those I love.  As I’ve said many times before Father, I am truly Blessed and I thank You.

Today’s Meditations Monday Scripture selection comes from the Gospel of Matthew.  As You know, I’ve been praying quite a bit as of late on new ways to reach out and share Your Love with others, and on expanding this ministry to serve those in need more extensively.  It seemed appropriate therefore, to focus my thoughts and prayers today on one of Jesus’ most fundamental teachings:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

Such a significant directive You’ve placed on us Lord!  The Light of Your Holy Spirit isn’t for private consumption, to be hidden and contained in silence waiting for others to notice it.  Instead, as followers of Christ we’re led to make our joy manifest through actions that glorify Your Presence in us.  Service to Your Children is worship in practice, and brings our Walk closer to You in the process.

Heavenly Father, we give You thanks and praise for Your unwavering commitment to Your Children each day.  Please fill us with Your Spirit, and embolden us to go forth and share Your Light with others.  Strip away from us our selfish natures, and lead us to reach out in love and mercy to those in need.  Make us beacons of Your Influence, and guide us to endeavors that best glorify Your Holy Name.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Turn Weakness Into Strength

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

First off Father, I want to thank You for a wonderful three-day weekend.  As we discussed in my post on Friday, this Memorial Day weekend was especially emotional and special for us as we celebrated the fact that it’s been 10 years this month since Jonathan’s last chemotherapy treatment.  To mark this milestone, we held a fairly large BBQ at the house (50+ people) on Sunday afternoon, attended by many of those whom have been involved with, or touched by Jonathan’s journey.  It was a joyous event, and Your Presence was felt in abundance.

Yet while we celebrated the life You’ve continued to Grace us with Father, my thoughts and prayers were very much splintered.  Last week I was made aware of several other families fighting that dark battle that we had come through those 10 years back.  While my heart was full with the amazing Blessing of Jonathan’s remission, at the same time it ached, confronted by the news that others were now living with that fear and uncertainty.  Therefore Lord, it seemed appropriate to start this week’s conversations with a prayer of healing for those going through this turmoil.  I wasn’t able to locate a definitive source for this prayer, but it says beautifully what I’ve been praying for:

Dear Lord of Mercy and Father of Comfort,

You are the One I turn to for help in moments of weakness and times of need. I ask You to be with Your servant in this illness. Psalm 107:20 says that You send out Your Word and heal. So then, please send Your healing Word to Your servant. In the name of Jesus, drive out all infirmity and sickness from his body.

Dear Lord, I ask You to turn this weakness into strength, suffering into compassion, sorrow into joy, and pain into comfort for others. May Your servant trust in Your goodness and hope in Your faithfulness, even in the middle of this suffering. Let him be filled with patience and joy in Your presence as he waits for Your healing touch.

Please restore Your servant to full health, dear Father. Remove all fear and doubt from his heart by the power of Your Holy Spirit, and may You, Lord, be glorified through his life.

As You heal and renew Your servant, Lord, may he bless and praise You.

All of this I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Christ is Risen!

Dear Lord; Good morning Father, and Happy Easter!

My heart is light today Father; filled with the power of what this day of celebration represents!

Following a dreary, rainy Good Friday (which seemed somewhat appropriate weather to me), the weather broke late yesterday; almost as if the light were yearning for the coming dawn.  Today I awoke to a beautiful sunlit morning, as if the world itself is rejoicing on this Day of Resurrection!

Brought up in a Lutheran Church, I’ve been hearing the following phrase whispered through my heart quite a bit the last few days:

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

Such a simple, yet in my opinion powerful statement of Faith this is Lord.  We can never hope in this life to comprehend the magnitude of the Gifts Christ brought to us, but my heart stretches and my spirit grows each time I contemplate these wondrous events.

This morning Father, I read the story of Jesus’ Resurrection from the Gospel of Matthew to Jonathan and Aidan.  Over the last week, I’ve been talking with them about the significance and importance of what this celebration represents, and although they’re still young in their walk with You, I see Your Light in their eyes more and more each day.  Please continue to bring Your Love and Guidance to their hearts, that they may grow in Your Kingdom and more fully appreciate the Blessings You bring to us all.

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”” – Matthew 28:1-7 (NIV)

Heavenly Father, we rejoice at the wonder of Christ’s Resurrection on this sunny Easter Morning, and for the Salvation and Hope that act of Love signifies.  I pray that our hearts will all be filled with Your Glory, and for Your Will to guide us along the path Jesus laid for us.

Christ is Risen!

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Stretching Our Spirits

Dear Lord; Good evening Father!

You know Father, throughout the years I’ve been in business I’ve had an amazingly diverse group of clients.  In most cases, we have an excellent rapport with our customers; they know we’ll do what’s necessary to satisfy their IT needs, and that even when things don’t go exactly as planned we’re in their corner and will make sure things are taken care of.  We work diligently on their behalf, and the great majority of them appreciate what we do for them.

And then there are those clients…

I’ve decided Lord, that there are some folks that no matter what you do, you simply can’t please.  Being that I pride myself on solving problems for people and maintaining an upbeat, moral and ethical relationship with them, that tiny contingent of customers causes me the bulk of my upset.  Driving back from a job site this afternoon, I was playing back an interaction with one of those clients in my head, getting more and more frustrated that our efforts kept getting twisted and maligned and that no matter what we did for them, it was never enough, or appreciated.

“Pray for them.” I heard drift across my thoughts…

Ouch… You certainly know how to make me stop and think Father.  In focusing on my frustrations, I allowed myself to forget Your teachings:

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)

I’ve come to the conclusion Lord, that one of Your intentions for prayer is to allow You to “stretch” our spirits in directions our earthly selves would likely not have taken.  I think it’s quite probable that those people I was allowing to poison my spirit desperately need Your Presence, and therefore deserve my prayers.

Thank You for the reminder and the lesson Father.  I’ll be working on this more diligently going forward.

Amen.

~Phather Phil