Momentary

This morning I started with signing this hymn, Day by Day, And with Each Passing Moment. This hymn was written by Lina Sandell Berg after the tragic death of her father, a Lutheran pastor, who fell off a ship in Sweden in 1832.  Berg went on to write many more hymns that encouraged Swedish Christians and others, like me, to remember each day is a passing moment in light of eternity spent in heaven worshipping my heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.

The Spirit laid on my heart these verses from 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

Day by day, And with Each Passing Moment

Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in eve'ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Goals

What are your goals for 2015?  As I reflect this week and yesterday on goals for this year, there a number of things I hope to accomplish, change in my life, and become more like Jesus Christ.  These verses focus on "a goal" that fuels the fire for what I want to be.

Live to Please the Lord.  "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are home in the body or away from it" (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Love with Integrity. "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Timothy 1:5). 

Finish Well.  "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"  (Philippians 3:14).

Love God.  Love Neighbor.  Jesus replied:  "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of you mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.  All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40). 

For these verses to be a reality in my life in 2015, I daily need God's abundant grace to guide and sustain me for apart from Him I can do nothing (John 15:1-5). So as we embark on new year, I am excited to see what God will do in and through me for His glory.    

The Dawning of Indestructible Joy

I-n-d-e-s-t-r-u-c-t-i-b-l-e  J-o-y -- That is Awesome!  How can we get it?  The title of this post comes from the advent book, The Dawning of Indestructible Joy, written by John Piper and published this year by Crossway.  Each day in December Piper focuses on a concise, chewable nugget of gospel truth related to the coming birth of Jesus Christ.  The book has been a blessing for me during the month of December as I prepare my heart for Christmas and celebrate Jesus' birth who is the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). 

In one of the daily readings, I was reminded that advent means "coming." You see, Jesus came on a rescue mission to save you and me from our sins. "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10).  Our sins deserve God's wrath and eternal punishment that is to come.  Check out these verses in Romans 2:4-11; Romans 5:8.

Here is the good news. God loves you.  His Son, Jesus, came not only to live, but to die on a cross for you and for me. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

I am thankful for advent and "the coming" of a Savior who became to save you and me from our sins.  With this we have much hope, purpose to live for His glory, and joy that is indestructible.  "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-10).  

Do you have indestructible joy? 

November Notes

October Recap in November

Thanksgiving: Grace

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
  I once was lost, but now am found;
 was blind, but now I see.”  As I reflect on another year I am thankful for God’s grace in my life.  It is amazing.  Why? I thank God for saving me from my sins.  “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:9-10)  I see each day more sin in my life from what I think, say, and do.  I know I need the forgiveness of my sin that only comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ – “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b).  I am thankful for saving grace!

I am a new creation in Christ, but daily battle indwelling sin (Romans 7:14-20).  More times than not I live for self rather than loving God and others (Matthew 22:37-40).  Praise the Lord that when I sin there is forgiveness of my sins!  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).  Thankful for God’s sanctifying grace!

Again this year I’ve faced challenges at work, challenges with people, physical trials, and walked through challenging times with others.  One thing remains reliable, constant, and ever abundant – God’s grace!  “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  Grateful for God’s sustaining grace!

Lord, thank you for your grace that  saved me, is necessary and abundant in the process of sanctification (being more like your son, Jesus Christ), and is available each day to rely on, know, and live out for your glory and the good of others.

September Summary

Wow -- what a month!  Travels to Washington, D.C. for an annual conference with a visit the Philadelphia Int'l Produce Terminal Market then to Newark, DE to visit Produce Marketing Association's headquarters, and Lancaster County to visit a Four Seasons Produce and my former employer Conestoga Wood Specialities.  Knoxville, TN for a University of Tennessee vs. Alabama football the month has gone by quickly.

These pics capture my visit.

Inside the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. It's a state of the art facility.  A forty degree temperature is maintained throughout the building so that fruit and vegetables stay fresh and tasty.

Procacci Brothers is off the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market.  They're one of the largest tomato shippers in the United States. Mr. Joe Procacci, CEO, in his late 80's and still going strong, is in the center of the picture.  His son, J.M. Procacci, COO, is on the far left and Mike Maxwell, President, is on the far right.  My boss, Jim Carr, is to the right of Joe Procacci, and my colleague, Frank Sanchez, is behind me.