Verse of the Day - Philippians 1:20

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ~ Philippians 1:20 (NIV)

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Yesterday, as I drove to the beach, I heard a song on the radio that just had me weeping. It was Mark Schultz' song, entitled, "Letters from War", with well-wishes from loving civilians interspersed in the midst of the song.

Below is a you-tube link of the original song and the lyrics. I hope you will pray for the men and women who, this very day, are in a land far away, being courageous in the face of mortal odds. Only by God's grace can they stand, amen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvbBwsMTgI

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She walked to the mailbox
On that bright summer's day
Found a letter from her son
In a war, far away
He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he'd made
Said, " I'd been thinking 'bout dad
And the life that he had -- that's why, I'm here today"
And then in the end, he said, "You are what I'm fighting for"
It was the first of his letters from war

She started writing...
You're good and you're brave
What a father that you'll be someday
Make it home, make it safe
She wrote every night as she prayed

Late in December
A day she'll not forget
Oh, her tears stained the paper
With every word that she read
It said, "I was up on a hill, I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out and bombs were exploding
That's when I saw him, he came back for me
And though he was captured a man set me free
And that man was your son, he asked me to write to you
I told him, I would, Oh, I swore..."
It was the last of the letters from war

And she prayed he was living, kept on believing
And wrote every night just to say...
You are good and you're brave
What a father that you'll be someday
Make it home, make it safe
Still she kept writing each day

Then two years later
Autumn leaves, all around
A car pulled in the driveway
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand
He said, "Mom, I'm followin' orders
From all of your letters and I've come home again"
He ran in to hold her, dropped all his bags on the floor
Holdin' all of her letters from war

Bring him home...
Bring him home...
Bring him home.
© WORD MUSIC, LLC; LOLA MAX MUSIC

Have a happy 4th of July, and thank God for our independence!

Love,
Joelene

Verse of the Day - Galatians 6:2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ~ Galatians 6:2 (NKJV)

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I was talking yesterday to a friend about burden-bearing, and how the body of Christ is meant to function in a way so that our needs are met through corporate ministering to each other. And I encouraged her to open up and share the needs in her life with some new believers she's met, so that they can participate in her life and know the joy of following the Lord by being servants.

And then she said, "But I think pride gets in the way...sometimes, I'm embarrassed to share..."

She's right, and we need to lay aside our pride when it comes to sharing with other believers the things that are going on in our lives. But I wonder . . . is it possible that the church itself has spawned this pitfall of pride? Has the stern criticism of the pious created an environment that tells others they need to look as good as, act as good as, talk as good as "them" in order to be accepted, and that to be any less than "them" is grounds for condemnation and judgment?

How can we bear one another's burdens if those burdens aren't revealed? Yet, how can a person in need reveal those burdens if they feel unworthy of acceptance in the midst of those burdens? It's almost a Catch-22...

My pastor likes to say, "God loves us who we are, where we are, how we are . . . but He loves us too much to leave us as we are." I know Christ's prayer is that His followers would model the unconditional love He has for humanity, so that they can fulfill His law . . . the law of love, bearing one another's burdens and building people up to know God, so that they can love Him and live for Him. That is my prayer, too.

Love,
Joelene