Grace! So misunderstood. So foreign by our standards. A gift that we cannot comprehended. No strings… no agenda… no effort to earn… simply free. Grace cannot be understood by any record of merits and demerits. It cannot be held to patterns of buying, losing, earning, achieving, or manipulating, which is where most of us...
Our lives are connected to choices… and the consequences of those choices. Good are bad we are the choices we make. We choose how we act. We choose how we treat others. We choose to be happy or sad. We can even choose if we see the cup as half empty, or half full. ...
I have watched her for forty years as she moves thru the day. Beautiful… heart of gold… and a love for God. I am so blessed! I look at pictures of my children and grandkids. All healthy… all good and loving people. I am so blessed! I behold the land that we have been...
The line from the movie was:
“Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.” As that hit me, my heart pondered, and the movie fell away. When your faith becomes strong, you began to see Jesus in everyplace and everyone. During Jesus last moments, the lessons he gave us were some of the most important. That is...
For four thousand years the Jewish population and Israel have been persecuted. God made his son Jewish. Why? He could have chosen any race of people. Any ethnicity or any group. If you study the words of Paul you find a glimpse into why God chose the Jewish people, and that of Israel. By...
“It’s easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.” Is that speaking of money? Is that speaking of those that seek material riches? Could Jesus have been talking of power? Of religious elite? Was he talking about those that think their...
How can we presume to make someone or something soiled that God has created. Peter was told by Jesus to eat of what he considered to be unclean. “How can you worry about what you consider unclean when God has already made it clean and purified it”. Don’t we do that with people? Through...
Sometimes it feels like God directs me to places to reveal his message. He puts people in front of me to lead me to his heart. We had gone to our normal Friday breakfast spot but alias they were to busy. We ended up at Starbucks in downtown Fort Worth. I noticed them outside. ...
It happens daily. I notice it when I wear my HJD shirts. People look at me and form a pre-conceived idea when they see the name Jesus. Many tell me they like my shirt. Those inquires are great. The ones I worry about… the ones that keep me up at night… are the ones...
It has always been there. A yearning. A desire to learn and a desire to go further. As a teenager when others were listening to rock music, I was listening to motivational speakers. I wanted to know more and understand everything. More than anything I have always had a longing for a understanding of...
He was young and appeared to be homeless. As I came from the market I could hear the conversation. The young man had a look of despair and appeared to be cornered by an older gentleman. Young and homeless, but Gods child all the same. He was being preached at by a gentleman who...
The drought here in Texas has been relentless. Day after day of one hundred plus temps, and no rain in sight. Then it happened. Dark clouds… heavy wind… thunder… lighting… then glorious rain. Only for a few minutes, but water from heaven none the less. Over the next couple of days out of that...
They call us their adopted grandparents! What an honor! This group of amazing young people, who shine a bright light on the future of our planet. Mere children in my older eyes, but young adults with a future that shines like the sun on this hot August day. A group of young people, with...
Ego is what holds us back from seeking more knowledge. As he sat in my office all he could say was “I am a proud man. I am worthy of respect. I certainly don’t need anyone telling me how to live or what I can say”. What I observed was a child of God...
I could not help but overhear her discussion. She was sitting right next to me. She turned in my direction and seeing I was a minister moved forward with her conversation, which was now directed to me. As she told me her story my first thought was “Why would you want to live that...
I stood in AWE! I stood with wonderment and tears, beholding Gods’ mighty hand. Standing at the foot of a four hundred foot waterfall, the power is overwhelming. Then my eyes turn to the Mendenhall Glacier. Ice that is thousands of years old, in a valley that was shaped by Gods hand. Thinking to...
We could all be better teachers. Being a good teacher is more than what is in a book. It’s a lifestyle that leaves an indelible impression on those around us. Jesus constantly looked for teachable people—people who would look beyond appearances and not make snap judgments. He warmed to those who asked honest...
Happy Jesus DayDo you live with the Jesus Principle?
When God put this thought in my head I had to ask: What Does He Mean? I believe with my heart it is a way of life that looks to Christ in everything… for guidance in every situation. When faced with conflict. When faced with temptation. ...
Our egos are the part of our hearts, that not only separates us from God but from each other. I have watched as people I love, allow a relationship that has the potential to be a gift, erode like the dirt of a nearby creek. They allow erosion to happen, before speaking from the...
Take a moment…
Close your eyes…
Relax your spirit…
Can you hear him? Can you feel his presence? Can you hear his whisper? Come with me! Daily he whispers. Come with me! He wants to show us pure joy that can’t be found without him. He wants to show us a peace that can’t...
Hatred means there is a deficit of understanding. Daily I see so much hatred. Hatred for groups that live a life that is different. Those that may have been born in the wrong body. Those that may have been born with different preferences. Those that have been born with different skin, different beliefs or...
As I ride thru the Pacific side of Mexico I am reminded of how truly blessed I am. We had stopped at the oldest brick making operation in Mexico. As we entered I expected to see machinery. I was amazed to see none of that. Instead I saw men, using mud, and manure to...
It started on a Wednesday and got bigger the following Tuesday. Betrayal. Deceit. Selfishness. All in an effort to get ahead. I never thought they would leave my side. These people I love. Some people I have poured my heart and resources into. Friends and those I love being hateful… devious… in an effort...
Friday… is the day that we reserve for each other. Friday is the day when we let the cares of the week scatter like leaves in the wind, and we devote our time to each other. Her question was very simple: “Do You Love Me?”. My beautiful wife while sitting at a red light,...
Do you ever have a week… or two… or five… where you wonder what went wrong? Did the moon and stars forget to orbit? Was there a shift in the balance of nature that caused everything to go haywire? My last two months I have felt as though satan is punching me in the...
Father today, use me, until you can’t use me any longer. All I have to give, is my life in service to you. I lift up my hands and I praise you… again and again. I feel so weak, and so inadequate to be your child. I struggle daily to understand the path… the...
Day to day I see people, who call themselves Christ followers, doing everything but reflecting the heart of Jesus. As my day progresses I think: Everything I do… everything I say… the way I conduct business… the way I treat others… is a direct reflection on the one I follow. When I wear the...
As his children… born in his image… we have in our DNA the ability to love and respect everyone around us. Regardless of our differing views, differing beliefs or differing lifestyles, respect and love should always go hand in hand. Certain situations deserve, in fact demand, ultimate respect. As I stood in the Lincoln...
We have come to believe that the “rules” in scripture are for God. The rules have to be followed in order to please God, to create salvation. Wars and certainly arguments among Christians seem to breakout daily, based on different interpretations of the rules. Could it be that the rules we find in scripture...
The light of Christ that shone from her, illuminated the room. We had a rather trying day. Airport mishaps and hotel mistakes. As we checked into yet another hotel, she greeted us with open arms. Her smile was contagious, and her first words to us were “I’ve been waiting for you”. She offered us...
As I read the account of a slave market my tears flowed in abundance. Men and women were forced to stand on a block of wood… naked… as buyers examined. As buyers threw insults and as they yelled out prices they would pay. In my mind I could see it… I could feel the pain… the humiliation. I then pictured myself on that block. Naked and afraid and wondering “why me”? I pictured myself full of sin… full of selfishness and ashamed of who I was. I could hear the small amounts that satan and his demons would pay for me. One who worships God but falls so short. One who loves God but is so full of sin… so full of selfishness. Then I heard his voice! Above the noise. Above the insults. Above the humiliation. Jesus… standing at the back of the crowd yelling “I will buy him”. Don’t care what he has done, who he is or what he looks like. I want him. Name your price and it is yours. I love him that much. He then walked up to where I was standing. With outstretched hands and love in his voice said “let’s go home”. Slavery was and still is a horrific thing, that in the name of Jesus we need to eliminate. We are all slaves to sin. Thank goodness Jesus is willing to pay the price for our freedom.
In John 8:34 thru 38 Jesus says “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.
Lorna and I had been to Memphis Tennessee on our annual anniversary trip. As many of you may know I am a huge Dr. King fan and so I like to visit places that are significant in his life. The Civil Rights museum in Memphis is the very place where he was assassinated. As we entered the museum the first room was how it all began. The accounting of slaves being taken from Africa, and brought here to be sold as if they were cattle or some such livestock. Men and women forced to stand in front of a crowd of people, naked… afraid… and humiliated. They stood there, alone, as men hurled out insults as well as bargaining for the price they would pay. The young men, with muscles were given the highest premium. Not only for the work they could do but because they would be good breeding stock. The young women were valued based on the way they looked naked, and if they would be good breeding stock, for the men that were being bought. These men and women. Made in God’s image. Given his spirit at their creation, were sold with no regard to their soul and the value they had to our God. Many times this was done in the name of God, by people who called themselves Christians.
As I stood there reading these accounts. As I took in the details and envisioned that market place in my mind, the tears flowed. My crying was uncontrollable as I felt their pain. As I felt their humiliation. As I had compassion on these men and women who are children of God. Men and women who are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Are we not all brothers and sisters? Formed in the mind of God. Given his DNA at our conception. Does he not, with a single breath, give each of us life all in the same way? Are not you and I, and your neighbor, and your enemy, and these slaves of long ago, all related thru our heavenly father?
Malachi 2:10 – Don’t we all come from one Father? Aren’t we all created by the same God? So why can’t we get along? Why do we desecrate the covenant of our ancestors that binds us together?
John 1:3 – Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.
Genesis 1:26 – God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Luke 6:35 – “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind”.
Colossians 1:15 – We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.
I could keep going verse, after verse, after verse, that simply says we were all made in his image and given life for a purpose. So why do we hate as we do?
We live in a dualistic world where we find it necessary to feed our egos by choosing sides. I want to be right, so you have to be wrong. We feed hatred from that. We feed a feeling of superiority from that. I see it everyday as so many compete with each other over race. Over religion. Over politics. Over our standing in the community. Over who’s right and who’s wrong like anyone knows that but God. We place ourselves on such a pedestal as to think we can judge others based on our ideas as if our ideas are right and others ideas are wrong.
Why can’t we simply see each other, equally in the eyes of our God. Trust me when I tell you that your sin, my sin, is the same, not worse and not better than the very man that brings destruction to this world. Because we are all related by our Heavenly Father can’t we simply be the human family instead of the human race?
You may say “Wake up Perry! We can’t all sat around the campfire singing Kumbaya”
But is that not what will happen in the presence of our Savior and our God?
As I saw myself standing on that block of wood. Naked… ashamed… and wondering why me I thought of how my Savior sees me. He looks past the dirt. He looks past the ugliness. He looks straight into my soul and he sees himself. He sees the love that was given to me, the day he made me, and breathed life into my spirit. He paid a great price to take me away from a life of slavery.
Romans 8:38-39 – So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture
So the next time you find yourself thinking bad thoughts of someone that may be different than you. Next time you find hatred in your heart because of differences in religion, politics, race, or simply because their life is different than yours. Stop and look at them the way Jesus would. From a place of his love that can be found in your heart… because he put it there!
In His Love, Perry D. Hoover
Footnote; Slavery is still being practiced today right here in our country. Young girls and boys are being sold as subjects of sex and perversion. If you can, please give of your blessings in an effort to stop it. https://love146.org