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...
She looked at me as I sat staring out the window. “Are you okay” she asked? “I am weary”. I cry sometimes uncontrollably, as the burden and weight of that weariness sets in. I want so badly for everyone to truly understand the heart of Jesus. Sadly, so many that call themselves Christians do...
He started with forty, and ended with three. Forty days… alone… tempted… fighting… satan in his face each step of the way. Each day was a battle and each step grew harder and harder. He wondered if his father had forsaken him. After the forty days he came out of the desert having dealt...
One Friday… this Friday… as he hung in unthinkable pain he looked down, then lifted his voice to his Abba. “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”. Growing up I always believed that he was talking about his crucifixion. He was forgiving them for his torture, his humiliation, his pain. Through...
I could stay wrapped in your arms forever!
Do you ever feel so close to our Savior that it feels like he is wrapping you in love? There are days, after deep prayer, that I feel so close to him that everything else seems to fade away. I can feel his presence… I can...
When she saw the name “Jesus” her excitement overwhelmed… she stop me to say so. I had on a HJD shirt and she made an effort to share her excitement. It was one of the most refreshing things I have experienced in a long while. No pretense. No apprehension about my lifestyle. No worry...
God doesn’t just love. God IS love. In the greek, God is described as AGAPE love. The highest form. In 1st Corinthians 13:3, Paul gives a definition of agape love. So the question asked of me was: “if God is love then can I put God in place of love when reading that verse”. ...
I find myself in most situations looking to others for lessons. Observing, pondering, looking to behavior in an effort to see God. To see Christ. As I watched from across the restaurant, she walked up with no acknowledgement from him. Kids in tow, but still no pause to smile or look in her direction....
Here I am closing my eyes again. Trying so hard, not to see, all the things that I see. Closing my eyes to the things, that are not as I think they should be. Then here I am opening my eyes again and I see you. The love in your eyes, is the thing,...
Imagination. It has always fascinated me. I spend my days inside my imagination. In everything I do, I imagine it in my mind. I picture it in my inner being. When building something, or creating things, my imagination has always served me. I use my imagination as I deal with others. I imagine Christ...
Our ability to love is never at rest, and so therefore can never be complete. We were in Denver for a long weekend. Sixteenth street, with its’ homeless, moves my heart in the way of Christ. He simply had several five gallon buckets and a discarded skillet or two. With two drumsticks, the sound...
How does a man find his own heart? We look in the mirror and we see our reflection looking back. We see pictures of the shell that God granted us. That shell, we spend so much time on, simply doesn’t matter. Our mission… our goal… is to find our heart. When God, with Christ,...
He came into our office looking for a job. Fourteen years ago he stole, and it seems he will never be forgiven. When they brought me his record I said “give him a chance… Jesus would.” They brought him to my office and you would have thought I gave him a million dollars. I...
We never know when it will happen. We try to orchestrate it, but it must come naturally. It happens to me more, as I live deeper in the spirit. I have a better understanding what it is… when it comes into being. When unmatched beauty brings tears. When being in the presence of God...
When she asked me about Happy Jesus Day tears filled my eyes and a lump formed in my throat. As she placed her hand on my arm she said “I didn’t mean to upset you”. I explained the burden that weighs on me. The burden that comes with this mission. A mission that others...
Cowboy hat. Boots with holes. Large belt buckle, made him look like a skinny cowboy. He was on the corner, near the supermarket I always visit. Weather had already turned cold so he was shivering with his cardboard sign. As I rolled down my window to bless him with twenty dollars, I asked about...
The day was like any other… but on this day I had to spend a lot of time behind the windshield. As always I listened to God music. However, this day it all came together in my mind. In a place in my soul… that only God can reach. I felt a peace that...
I woke early this morning. Made my way to my chair, where each morning I study and pray for an hour, to get my day started. This morning I am focused on admiring the tree… the presents… and to ponder this holy day of our Saviors’ birth. For some today is about presents. For...
He was a baby just like any other. Born with pain. Born with blood. Born naked and new to the world. Ten fingers. Ten Toes. Two feet. Two hands. Two eyes. Feet that would walk mile after mile, to teach his fathers love. Feet that would one day hold up the sin of world,...
Mary… This time of year my thoughts can’t help but turn to her. I think of how young… how innocent she was. I think of how brave she must have been. How much she must have been in love with God. I wonder? If God ask me to do something as questionable as he...
One hundred and eighty three times Jesus was asked a question. He only directly answered three. What if Jesus’ message was hidden and most everyone is missing it? What if his message was for all religions… all people… and we are so caught up in what we want to believe, we are missing the...
As my wife and I got our room assignment I was surprised when I saw the number. Thirty six floors is a long way up! As I stand at the window, looking over Denver, I see many highways full of cars. Each with people in them. I look down and thousands of people are...
I have baptized many in my life. When I baptized our son, at thirteen, I was told by the man directing baptism to make sure I got all of him under the water. He then proceeded to tell me that if I didn’t, he wouldn’t be saved! YOUR JOKING! At thirteen I was baptized...
Breakfast on a ship is one of my favorite times. I arose early to beat the crowd. I found a seat that faced the window, which afforded me a chance to see the ocean moving past. It was peaceful, and a good time to observe my surroundings. She came past my table many times. ...
Many years ago I tried to play golf. My dad and father-in-law were avid golfers, so I tried. Turns out, it is not for me. There is one term in golf I used a lot. Mulligan! It’s a golf term for a do over. Jesus life and death produced for us a new genesis. ...
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. 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 other 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, they 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 visioned 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 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
