new day

Today life looks different than it did yesterday or the week or month before.  This is an important message that we would all do well not to forget.  When something transpires in our lives that is bad, we are tempted to think this has ruined our lives.  This will now define my life forever!  Yet as the Bible reminds us in Lamentations:

3:22 It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Today where I am located the sun is shining again.  When the storms come, we wonder if the sun will ever show itself again?  He is the Lord of mountain tops and valleys!  He is the Lord of hard times and the Lord of vacation days!  He is the Lord when I am under the weather and the Lord when I am enjoying the weather.  He is the Lord for the disappointed and the Lord of the delighted.

What to do when you are need to gain a new perspective?

1  Remember to seek the Lord.  He is the one we must turn to and seek Him and His face

2  Remember nothing you are going through lasts forever!

3  Continue to live by faith!

4  Focus on others!

When we are going through something in our lives, it becomes all consuming to us.  It is natural to think and focus on the problem.  This past week I have gained perspective by being involved in a couple of things that are not about me.  I promised the pastor of our church in Madison Indiana that I would hold a revival for him and I would find the singers and that it would not cost his church. Through the generosity of Olivet Nazarene University, Dr. and Mrs. Kenyon were able to come and assist with the music.  For the weekend I focused on the Madison church and Pastor and Mrs. Wayne Edwards.  I believe I received more from the meetings than the people did.  Upon my arrival in Indianapolis last night Susanne and I immediately left for the airport.  We arrived in San Diego at 3:00AM EST.  She is participating in a healthcare chaplains conference.  So I am doing what she has done most of her adult life, following her spouse across the country.  This time I have carried her luggage.  I am so proud of her.  She sensed the call of God on her life to be a chaplain in 2003.  Since then she has received a local and district license and has been ordained.  She graduated from the Course of Study for ministerial studies in the Church of the Nazarene.  In May she will graduate with a Masters of  Ministry degree from Olivet Nazarene, 38 years after receiving her first degree from Olivet in Elementary Education. She is a full-time chaplain at Ezkenazi Hospital in Indianapolis  She has been a faithful spouse, terrific mother and marvelous pastors spouse and friend to all.  She has been so supportive and indispensable to my ministry, that it has been a privilege to carry her bags to this conference and to spend time listening to the things she is learning at this conference.  How many times has she listened to me as I have described new things I discovered? I thankful for her and her ministry.  By focussing on her call and how God is using her and her ministry has helped me to put the focus on things positive and productive.

The best thing you could do today is focus on someone and something else and realize God is doing wonderful things all around us, even in our own families

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