I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have a dream from which I wake with certainty that the race I’d been running has ended and that I’ve won.

The track hadn’t led me in directions I’d expected nor traverse exotic and beautiful stops along the way.

It didn’t begin as I’d hoped nor included all I’d wanted, but when it was over, I recognized the destination and it was better than I’d ever imagined.

Never knowing the route ahead, which had always been a source of fear and anxiety, turned out to be the most sensible of all the unknown paths I could have taken.

There was no checkered flag to notify those who’d always shared hopes for me, there were no spectators.

No floral wreaths or expensive champagne, as there was no winner’s circle in which to stand.

All my work was over.

I’d woken up to find it had been no dream at all.

While all along I’d been asleep, I was finally fully lucid and awakened for the very first and the very last time in my life.

I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

From politics to toilet tissue, ads sell anything and everything they think you want to know about their product with little regard for the truth.

And honestly, politics and toilet paper are the same genre. 

You want the truth? 

You can’t handle the truth.

Preach, correct, rebuke, and encourage is what believers desperately need, but given the option, they all too often take it and reject it in the same heartbeat. 

Long haul Christians clearly understand the price that comes with their faith, subjugate their own desires, and opt for the road less traveled. 

They have trained themselves to recognize truth from lies, good from evil, and right from wrong. 

Particularly in these later days, these people are the least popular leaders bearing the least popular message in the most consequential human era. 

The road is narrow.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”. 

 Matthew 17:13-14 NIV

Today’s choices are more weighty than ever for yourself and your family. 

Who do you allow in your inner circle to teach and advise? 

Choose wisely.

I am Jesus Christ

and I approve this message.

Coincidences happen every day for those who believe in them.

You pull over with a flat tire and seconds later there’s a massive pileup at the next intersection.

You find a $50 rebate check and an unexpected $50 invoice on the same trip to the mailbox.

The difference lies in your perspective.

Is it just chance or might some other force be at work on your behalf?

The simple minded view them as mere chance with no room for divine explanation.

The former provides no opportunity to change the outlook on your day ahead while the latter gifts you hope and optimism that perhaps you’re not so alone in this world, and a better than even chance to begin your day with a distinct possibility that there’s more to this life than meets the eye.

What might be pure chance, might also be providential.

We may never know, but one perspective sends you on your way having gained nothing, yet with the other, you gain everything, including an optimism for the next coincidence to cross your path.

Ascribe your next coincidence to providence and you’ll have nothing to lose, and just maybe, everything to gain.

Coincidences happen every day for those who believe in them.

You pull over with a flat tire and seconds later there’s a massive pileup at the next intersection.

You find a $50 rebate check and an unexpected $50 invoice on the same trip to the mailbox.

The difference lies in your perspective.

Is it just chance or might some other force be at work on your behalf?

The simple minded view them as mere chance with no room for divine explanation.

The former provides no opportunity to change the outlook on your day ahead while the latter gifts you hope and optimism that perhaps you’re not so alone in this world, and a better than even chance to begin your day with a distinct possibility that there’s more to this life than meets the eye.

What might be pure chance, might also be providential.

We may never know, but one perspective sends you on your way having gained nothing, yet with the other, you gain everything, including an optimism for the next coincidence to cross your path.

Ascribe your next coincidence to providence and you’ll have nothing to lose, and just maybe, everything to gain.

Everyone who wants to live a truly godly life in Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The chasm continues to widen.

If it seems the more you practice good, evil enjoys a grander heyday, you’re right.

The enemy is determined to thwart our plans at every turn and tries to convince us to come to the dark side where victory seems all but certain.

Living a godly life is messy, full of unanticipated reactions and decisions how to stay on track.

Consider the temptation of Jesus when Satan made numerous promises to recruit Him for his team.

Jesus responded with truths from the word of God forcing Satan to retreat for a future opportunity.

When you’re persecuted yet know the nature of the battle you’re fighting and know and use the armaments at your disposal, your victory will be experienced more in the process than in the outcome.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but our weapons are superior to any intimidating Death Star.

Know and use the Word of God and stand on His promises.

Despite what seems to be the outcome, your victory is the promise embedded in the process.

Use the Force, the Word of God.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Whew! That’s an impressive list, especially if you’re into current events.

But Paul can be dramatic.

Lately anything that can point to these being the last days often does so, and with remarkable accuracy.

All his listed traits are alive, thriving, and highly contagious these days.

None are external events but internal ones, observable in those around us and oftentimes also within us. A list like that allows no escape for any of us.

But an escape was provided by Jesus’ death and resurrection and your choice to accept His forgiveness as an unmerited gift.

As a young boy prone to misbehavior, I fully expected no presents for me under the Christmas tree, but there they were, unearned, undeserved, yet provided to me despite what I’d done.

It always blew me away that dad, mom and Santa all loved me so much that they’d still spent time and money on a terrible kid like me.

I learned early on that the love doesn’t go away because of what I’ve done.

It stays because of whose I am.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Soldiers are a different breed altogether.

Trained to heed only the one voice of authority and rank, they remain singleminded in purpose and action, not distraction.

The civilian world is quite the opposite.

Are you soldier or civilian?

On the day you willingly enlisted in the army of God, you sacrificed civilian rights in pursuit of higher purpose. All else was rendered distraction from your calling to serve a new Commanding Officer.

So, are you a soldier or still a civilian?

The military minded exist in service of the defense and protection of a nation against those who would eagerly silence, kill, and tear down tenets on which a nation is founded.

It’s a war out there.
Good versus evil.

You may already be enlisted but if you can’t even pass basic training after this long, move aside.

God seeks soldiers who would gladly risk life and limb for their King and kingdom.

There is no higher calling.

If you desire the armor of God,
become the soldier you were called to be..

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭18‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sharing your faith and reasons for your belief in Jesus can seem a lonely act. 

Rejection, ridicule, and repeated reasonings for their continued disinterest and dissent can easily frustrate the best of intentions. 

But you are not alone. 

Through the centuries, well-intentioned believers like you, obedient to the call and able to separate a harvest from a hearing, have continued their mission. 

Since His death, over 117 billion people in history thank you for making an eternal difference in their lives. 

You are not alone. 

Heaven is a busy place; a harvest of angels once lost but now found because you and countless others like you were not afraid and were not silent when it mattered most. 

We have many people in this city who need to stand with you and show the world that you are not alone.

If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Abandonment of the elderly is widespread in our nation yet nearly unheard of in so many others.

The fact there even exists scriptural instruction on the topic confirms the problem is nothing new.

Years of helping seniors to thrive and survive has often left this senior citizens warm heart cold and bitter.

Families deliver mom, dad or grandma like a package on the doorstep of assisted living then race home never to be seen nor heard from again.

If you’ve followed me any length of time you’ve read my stories where I was their only ‘family’ present for Thanksgivings, birthdays, and funerals.

I’ve tracked down distant family members more times than I care to enumerate the unanswered emails and disconnected phone numbers of kin who should have been there.

I’m proud to work with a team who sincerely cares and goes the extra mile for a cohort so close to my heart yet so far from those whose hearts should.

If you’re a follower of Christ and have yet neglected to fulfill this clear command, Lord have mercy on you at the hour of His return.

Likewise, like so much of the rest of the world, if you have learned the value of our elders and have sacrificed some things of your own present life to demonstrate it, riches and rewards await you.

Sorry for the rant, but I hope when you’re old, feeble, or infirmed, you get back what you have given when the trumpet sounds.

The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It must be a wonderful experience to see your entire household follow suit in your faith. 

I lost a lot of family respect early on which otherwise might have had them follow my lead. 

But that was then and this is now. 

Certainly, a strong father can do much in leading his family to Christ, but despite personal history, it is always Christ who does the real calling. 

Thank God. 

That reality has helped to take me off the hook but my prayers and hopes are still alive and intact. 

The jailer in this story very likely was also a pre-conversion nightmare like I had been, yet God blessed him with the desire of his heart. 

Like Jonah, on our own we are all the worst possible evangelist.  

But thanks be to God that in this journey we are never on our own.  

I pray God’s will be done in my household and in yours.