Finally, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Your worldview is the outlook on which you hang all you are, all you believe, and all you do.

Not surprisingly then, your worldview is where change and redemption begin.

Seeing all people as God’s children is difficult when they aren’t like-minded as you. Sympathy, love, compassion, and humility are suddenly in short order as you’re tempted to lash out as if you are owed more of their agreement and understanding than they can muster at the moment.

Your own spiritual journey began with a different worldview than you hold today, but the empathy of angels saved you from that path and its destination.

Be patient with the struggles of others now living by contrary worldly principles but clearly seeking something with more staying power.
That was once you.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Be alert, sober, aware and sensitive to those on this journey but a little out of step.

Most of all, love them through it like it’s a matter of life and death.

Because it is.

For no immediately apparent reason except for having some free time on my hands, I did a weird thing.

I inventoried all the stuff I’ve allowed into my mind over these many years.

Far from complete, it included thoughts, ideas, considerations of evil and good, the unspeakably secret, imaginations and images, and the themes, worries, hopes, dreams and beliefs I’ve allowed to consume so much nogginmatter, complete with smiles, sweat, tears and all.

I do this weird thing every so often.

I find it an efficient method of pride and ego reduction at times when I may be inclined to think a little more of myself than I ought.

A real humility builder.

The list is long. Really long. And while it contains a pleasant number of recollections of experiences good, noble and clean, the dirt, filth and sewage was clearly overpopulating

As a man thinks, so his heart shall be. Proverbs 23:7. Your thoughts shape who you are, and who you may yet become.

Fortunately, most of my head rubbish is from years long past and are long since forgiven. But with an occasional flushing, changing the way you think about the world and your experience in it can mold a new perspective for your future and for your future of influencing those around you.

Weird? Without a doubt.

But I find it’s worth the effort to take a complete inventory once in a while to purge, renew, and redirect the trajectory of my mind.

Where your mind is, there your heart will be also.—a slightly abridged version of Matthew 6:21

And finding your ♥️ is what life is truly all about.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine yourself a serial killer. 

By every moral fiber of humanity, you’re a ruthless POS. 

Our rule of law sentences you to death, preferably a slow and agonizing one. 

That’s justice. 

But how much sin does God propose to forgive? What types of sin constitute an exception to his forgiveness rule?

Justice and forgiveness aren’t mutually excluding conditions. 

Whether your type of sin stacks bodies in a shallow grave or accumulates lies about shady financial transactions, human nature is accursed. 

All fall short, albeit some more than others, but God makes no such distinctions.

He died for the ungodly. Sinners powerless to change their deviances despite how we conveniently rank them to help ourselves feel better about our own depravity. 

While we are still sinners, mired deep in the muck of our terrible thoughts and deeds, Christ died for us. 

For these are what you once were. —1 Cor 6:11

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Like a thousand piece puzzle with one piece missing. 

The image is clear but the single empty space leaves our hours of effort unfulfilled.

It’s the God piece. 

The most sought after, the greatest in value, the prize, the golden ticket that completes the picture and brings it to life.

We search high and low, under and above as if it’s been hidden, withheld, lost. 

The God piece is never missing, but found imprinted upon our heart from the very moment we were conceived. 

He promises if we seek it 

we will find it.

Picked up with courage and faith, snapped into position, it powers a life picture designed just for us from the beginning of the world. 

Clearly seen and understood, no excuses, and complete. 

The God piece is

God’s peace. 

“I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul considered his obligation to preach from a position of indebtedness. 

Having received the gospel and the gift, he owed the sharing of it all as a repayment of sorts for what it has given him.

Instead of considering the sharing of your faith an imposition on those who may hear it, what if you offered it as a gift in return for what you, yourself, have received?

Switch up your purpose

and save a life meant for eternity. 

Without faith it’s impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Normally, we don’t engage in conversations with an empty chair. 

But those who pray do so daily, some to scurrilous glances of onlookers. 

The supernatural exists. 

By definition it’s “beyond the scope of the natural world” and each prayer you offer is an acknowledgement that indeed, the supernatural exists, the chair is occupied, and that occupant attends to our voices. 

In practice, faith is belief beyond this visible, tangible existence and into the realm of the divine. 

It presumes a loving, caring being seated on a throne befitting his majesty and hanging on our every word. 

The chair is never empty.

Contrary to rules of the natural world, prayer expects no dialogue in return to verify the chair is occupied. 

Prayer transcends the natural and is heard and understood in all its content by the only heart, mind, and being capable of it.

So pull up a chair and tell your private story to the only one who hears, listens, and replies in ways, languages, and real world experiences that are supernatural. 

The chair is never empty.

“‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭26‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul’s entirely unanticipated first-hand encounter with Jesus resulted in a devotional flip-flop on the spot. 

Once a man literally after God’s faithful people he instantly switched to a man after God’s own heart. 

What a difference a day makes. 

If you’ve ever prayed for a visible sign of God’s presence—your own road to Damascus moment—take a number.

Signs are everywhere and they occur largely unreported on social media.

Western culture is so bountiful in blessings that much of what may be called  signs or miracles elsewhere are obscured and just taken for granted here. 

God still speaks, shows up, and rescues his chosen and it’s up to us to credit his movement in our lives beyond each blessing. 

Focusing less on his show and considerably more on his mission is the most purposeful takeaway here. 

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

At one time or another, we all have experienced that “Aha!” moment when everything comes together, makes sense, and a convincing argument comes to life birthing an undeniable shift and purpose in our way of thinking and feeling.

Like the instant a little child first comprehends something only adults have always known, that’s when we start growing up.

Confidence and assurance are acquired psychic elements necessary for healthy growth and maturity at any age or stage.

Faith is nothing we can touch, taste, or see, yet the reasoning behind its emergence inescapably pierces both mind and heart.

Faith is inherently future-focused.

It requires awareness and conviction of a supernatural world around us and within us, on our team working for us 24/7.

Ironically, faith is borne from reason not an abandonment of it. Faith and reason coexist.

It comes from a hearing that awakens our soul to something more and bigger than ourselves.

All these arguments and examples aren’t understood by those without awakened spirits.

It becomes a bullseye on our back and a daily target of the ruler of this world.

But faith is a changemaker from the inside out.

Keep the faith.
Keep hope alive.
It won’t be long.

Faith asks a lot from us
but promises infinitely more in return.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have a friend who devotes her entire existence to promoting the best in others.

As she comes to know you, she discerns and amplifies things about you that make you a better person and you never take notice it was her friendship at the helm of your voyage.

Encouragement is her gift.

She pays full attention to the details of your conversations and remembers important parts of them as if they were her own.

And at just the right times and places, she shows up like an angel unexpectedly dispensing love where it hurts most of all.

Though it may seem like a miracle it’s not.

She’s merely obedient to the instruction she receives about how we should live our lives with faith in action.

She always leaves you wanting more.

She sees the Day approaching with a creative strategy to recruit for God’s kingdom and at the very least, to demonstrate her unique brand of love that sows seeds deep into the soils and souls of others.

The woman is on a mission that shows up as a life like illustration of this passage of scripture.

I live a sedate life.

Alone for years with just my dog and rarely a visitor or knock at the door, I enjoy the quiet.

But here on my visit with Florida family and on every Sunday back home in Vegas, I get to taste crazy.

Something both of my daughters’ families have fostered is freedom and encouragement for my grandkids to live loud with life itself as their amplifier.

To enjoy childhood as the once in a lifetime experience it is, they fill their homes with noises of experience that make home a safe place for unencumbered self expression.

And this quiet old man loves it!

Learning and creativity flourishes in noisy play and with parents who know its enduring value.

Kids grow prouder, more capable, more confident, and expressive when they have households that allow them hang loose and just be kids.

I’ll soon go back home to my quiet and my dog and my docile way of life. And while I enjoy the quiet, the most memorable family moments I take home are almost always the loud ones I recall and recollect with smiles and chuckles amid my otherwise peaceful existence.

Thanks for all these wonderful memories, kids. And cheers to all the other parents patient enough to wait for their own quiet once again.