There will be a day...

Our Daily Bread
A song says "there will be a day with no pain, no more suffering".  Yes, we all look forward to that!  We all know folks that are in pain and suffering needlessly.  We also see it on the news every night!

In a broader sense, the devotional spoke to me in a slightly different way -- "Jesus is worthy of the very best of our love and devotion".  I never thought about how what should mean to me.  First, in the context of the devotional, if we love someone, we want to see them as often as we can.  We can even "long" to see them.  An expression in the South is "I was hungry to see him".  ;-)  Like the devotional says, we should long to see Christ's coming.  Second, Christ should be the primary thoughts of our minds and hearts.  When we love someone, that person is usually on our minds and hearts a LOT!  ;-)  Do we put Christ first in our minds and hearts?  Do we think about him above all others?

Lord, I look forward to your coming.  Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Teaching Tuesday
If we take the 10,000 foot overview of being a child of God, it is really very simple.  There is one page in the instruction book with two sentences:

Love the Lord God with all you heart, mind and soul
Love others as you love yourself.

Pretty simple stuff, right?  NOT!  As God is moving in my life and prompting me to grow, I realized that I pretty much suck at both of these things!  So much for simple!

I find that I am putting some things in front of God in my life.  It is human nature.  I am trying to turn things over to God.  There is one area that has been particularly difficult for me.  I am doing better than any other time in my life, but still not where I want to be.  Please know that I am not expecting perfection of myself.  I am only human.  Relying on the Holy Spirit makes it easier to put aside my human thoughts and desires.  I have to admit that I "wrestle" with God at times over some of these things.  I can see what God is doing or what I think God is doing.  I cannot be certain.  That is the blessing and the distraction of the Christian life -- trying to be sure what you are perceiving is from God's plan and not your own!  I am really good at planning, so I know I can make all of these stuff happen on my own!  NOT!  hehehe

Second, I still struggle with loving others as myself.  I find myself being WAY too hard on folks I love and on other people in general.  I guess it comes from being too had on myself.  A class at church taught me to say to myself each day "Duane, you are a beloved child of God in whom he is well pleased".  I then have to say that about each person I am mad at or disappointed with!  It makes you take a whole different outlook on yourself and other folks.  God doesn't make junk.  He sure didn't call me to be his child so I can be grumpy all the time (even though I have some Grumpy tshirts as a joke on myself!).

If you turn  yourself over to God, he will help you with these things.  Prayer and Bible study help move your growth along.  Praise God!

Other Stuff
I had a busy evening after work.  I went to the gym.  Emptied the dishwasher.  Put all the clean laundry away.  Made my bed. Wrote some emails.  Got my stuff ready for today.  I sort of fell in bed for my prayers and then to sleep.  Whew!

I am working on my Fall schedule.  I plan to sing with the Columbus Gay Mens Chorus.  I plan to sing with the church choir.  I plan to take the Disciple 1 class at church.  Should be a fun Fall.  The month of September will be very busy.

Hang in there, my friends!  I will be upbeat and steady.  That is what I do...