The importance of "daily" bread

Let me be transparent with you: one of the tendencies that I battle against is the temptation to look too far ahead in the future.  I can tell you from personal experience, if you do this, you will inevitably get weighed down with anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.  The reason for this, of course, is because the future is unknown.  The future is filled with question marks.  Can you relate with me on this one?  What is the remedy for this?  Jesus gives us the answer.

In Luke 11, the disciples present Jesus with this request: “Lord, teach us to pray” (verse 2).  He proceeds to give them a sample prayer that has been come to be known as “The Lord’s Prayer.”  In verse 3 He says, “Give us day by day our daily bread” (verse 3).  In Matthew 6, Jesus slips in the same model prayer in His Sermon on the Mount discourse.  There He says, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).  I prefer that rendering as that’s how I’ve said it in prayer over the years.

Of course, when Jesus says “bread” He means more than just food.  That’s certainly included.  But it’s anything related to the necessities of life; such as physical strength, protection in a lethal world, spiritual reinforcement from the Lord, and financial provision.  I can’t overemphasize how important this “daily bread” notion is for me, specifically since my dad passed away, although not exclusively.  I’ve found that it is vital to focus on living life in daily increments.  I often say that it's “one day at a time."  Thank God He set life up in this way.  Otherwise, I’m not sure we would be able to function.  I know I couldn’t.

I have a caution at this point.  Living in one day increments does not mean that you don’t plan.  If there’s a blizzard forecasted, you have to plan accordingly.  If you are a student and you have an important test later on in the week, make sure you study, and get plenty of sleep the night before the big event.  “One day at a time” doesn’t mean that you allow yourself to get blindsided because you are so focused on living in the day.  Obviously you have to plan.

I liken this to a football team’s schedule.  I don’t know about you but I can’t imagine Coach Bill Belichick (or Dan Quinn or whatever coach you wish to insert) saying to the media, “I know we have the Texans coming up on Sunday, but honestly, I’m really thinking about how we have that big game next week against the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.  And there’s that divisional game on the road after that.”  No matter how important those games may be their mantra is always to take it “one game at a time.”  In the same way, you can’t live tomorrow yet, you have to live today.  Jesus put it this way: “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)

Kevin

Super Bowl 51

It’s become a tradition that I enjoy in this blog to annually make my prediction as to which team I think will win the Super Bowl.  This year it’s the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons.  This is a difficult prediction because these two teams look to be very evenly matched from everything that I’ve gathered.  Both teams don’t beat themselves.  For example, they each were among the best in the NFL in least amount of turnovers.  The Falcons offense is great, but that Patriot offense is very good too; and don’t underestimate either of those defenses, either.  It’s very intriguing to ponder.

 

Initially, when I thought about this match-up, I gave the advantage to the Patriots, because of their experience.  Certainly experience can equate to a victory (last year’s Super Bowl is proof of that).  But a newcomer to the Super Bowl doesn’t necessarily mean that they will lose.  Recently, the Seattle Seahawks beat the veteran Denver Broncos.  A few years before that game, the New Orleans Saints beat the veteran Indianapolis Colts.

“So who are you picking, Kevin?”  You may be asking.  I’m going to pick the Atlanta Falcons.  I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the Patriots win.  But, all year long, the Falcons have had to play the “us against the world” game.  No one – from everything that I’ve seen anyway – is giving the Falcons a chance to win Super Bowl 51.  There have been numerous times when the underdog proves everyone wrong.  I think it will be a close game between two evenly matched teams; it will go down to the wire.  The team that forces the other team to make that critical mistake late in the game will win.  I think that team will be the Falcons.

Kevin

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore

The content for this blog is a little overdue, but I’ve been dealing with a sickness, and then a secondary flu virus.  Anyway, as you may have seen from the title, I wanted to say a few words regarding Mary Tyler Moore; she passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80.

 

Even though I didn’t know Mary personally, her work had an impact on my life.  To begin, she was absolutely fantastic as Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke show.”  This show is iconic.  I still watch it to this day.  I love seeing the devotion that Rob and Laura Petrie had for each other.  Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore shared a special chemistry.  I thought about recounting some of my favorite episodes, but I don’t know how; every episode is so good in its own unique way.  However, I would be remiss if I didn’t emphasize Laura’s crying.  It was a comedic, exaggerated kind of crying; it always makes me smile, even in thinking about it now.  To make something that simple so memorable is a tribute to Mary.

The second part of Mary Tyler Moore’s impact on me is, of course, “The Mary Tyler Moore show."  I’m getting emotional as I think about watching this show with both my mom and my dad.  We would often say that Mary was so good because when she was playing Mary Richards you didn’t think of Laura Petrie (the only exception to this for me was whenever Mary Richards cried).  To be able to pull this feat off is the sign of a good actress.

I was watching a documentary on “The Mary Tyler Moore show” recently in honor of Moore.  They pointed out that Mary Richards rarely lost her temper, but she still voiced her opinion in a quiet, matter-of-fact, way to get her point across; she would say something like, “I don’t think what you just did was very nice.”  Moore said in the documentary that this was an extension of her personality.  I love this tactic.  If only more people followed that same method.

Like “The Dick Van Dyke” show, I could go on and on about “The Mary Tyler Moore show” but let me just wrap it up here by saying that Mary left an enduring legacy.  I will continue to treasure these two series.  I want to wish my condolences to her family and friends.  I know something about loss.  You are never really prepared for a loved one to pass away.  It’s very tough.  Perhaps it will be a small comfort to know that millions of fans are grieving along with you.

Kevin                

My first blog for 2017

Happy New Year, reader!  For the initial blog of 2017, I want to share with you that Joshua 1 has gripped me of late.  The beginning verses of this chapter read, “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide, “Moses my servant is dead.  Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites” (verses 1-2).

 

You see the context.  The children of Israel are on the brink of entering the Promised Land, but their leader, Moses, had passed away.  So now the baton was about to be passed.  A new leader was going to take on the monumental task of leading the Israelites.  Joshua was going to face the task of being Moses’ successor.  Joshua probably felt an immense weight, pressure, and stress.  I say this because of the words that God communicated to Joshua.  Check out these words:

“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous…Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7, 9; italics mine).

God instructed Joshua to “be strong and courageous” multiple times.  God was using repetitious dialogue to emphasize a point.  Yes, Joshua was indeed going to take on a tremendous responsibility, but he needed to face this with courage.  Why?  Because God Himself was going to always be with him.  If you read through the rest of the book of Joshua, you will find that Joshua was successful in the role God called him to do, but it was God who kept His promise; He did some amazing feats throughout Joshua’s time of leadership.

Here’s the thing: you and I are not Joshua.  We are not called to do what Joshua did.  But perhaps God is calling us to do something that we feel inept and inadequate to do.  It would do us a lot of good to hear the word of the Lord: “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  What a word for us as we begin 2017!

Kevin

The final blog of 2016

I want to wrap up my 2016 blogs by speaking about something that, until recently, I didn’t really know; I had a vague inkling but I couldn’t articulate it before now.  That would be this: whenever you are in a storm of life, there is a propensity to focus on the pain, heartache, and agony you find yourself in.  I think this is natural and understandable.  But the danger of this mindset is that it effectively blinds you to all of the good gifts that God has graced you with.

My eyes were opened to this notion through the words of Ravi Zacharias.  Ravi speaks about this in his fantastic book “The Grand Weaver” (a book that I would highly recommend to you, by the way; just the introduction is worth the price of the book).  He puts it this way:

“More and more when something terrible happens, we declare “That’s life!” – as though disappointment and heartache declare the sum total of this existence.  We miss the roses and see only the thorns.  We take for granted the warmth of the sun and get depressed by the frequency of the rain or the snow.  We ignore the sounds of life in a nursery because we are preoccupied with the sounds of sirens responding to an emergency.”

I deeply resonated with those words.  Because of the acute pain of my dad passing away 17 months ago, and the aftermath of this event that still affects me to this day, I have a tendency to be "preoccupied with the sounds of sirens" as Ravi Zacharias put it.  Like it or not, I know pain.  But, the truth is, there are also delights, enjoyments, and blessings in my life.  Ravi's words presented me with this challenge: don’t let the suffering of life desensitize and numb me to the gifts of life.  I grant you that this perspective is a difficult one to balance, but it’s one of the things I’m going to focus on cultivating.

In the spirit of contemplating the good things in my life, I wanted to conclude by thanking you for taking the time to read my thoughts.  I painstakingly pour my heart and soul into these blogs.  It’s such a blessing to know that you are reading this content.  Thank you so much!  If it is the Lord’s will, I’ll share with you again in 2017.  Until then, as my dad used to say, “God bless!  Keep your hand in His hand, and keep on keeping on.”

Kevin

Even in heartache, "I have a hope"

I want to highlight a phrase from my dad’s prayer that I shared last time.  He said, “This is the hardest season for many people, because of their circumstances.”  He’s right.  Speaking for myself, this time of year is tough because it reminds me afresh that my dad is no longer with us.  While I’m certainly glad that Dad gets to enjoy eternal bliss in Heaven, he is missed here.  The grief continues.

I am now acutely aware of instances of loss.  Because of the news, social media, or simple word of mouth, I hear about events of loss seemingly every day.  For some, this is their first Christmas without their parent, spouse, child, sibling, best friend, or grandparent.  You can’t see it, but these people are essentially walking around with a hole in their heart.

And then, of course, there is the pain, heartache, and anguish that many are feeling that may not involve a loved one passing away, but suffering is still an inescapable fact of their life, nevertheless.  Some are dealing with deteriorating health, job loss, slander, escalating family conflict, or broken dreams.  Furthermore, to quote from my dad’s prayer again, there’s also the “lonely, and the brokenhearted.”  For so many, this is not a time of fun and games.

    

However, there is hope.  I was recently listening to a Christmas CD by the group Selah.  In a song entitled simply “Joy”, the group says to God, “You gave us reason to see past the pain of today; we celebrate.”  That reason is Jesus Christ.  A line came to my mind from a song that I sang years ago at a church: “I have a hope, and my hope has a Name.”  It’s true!  No matter what the suffering, Jesus is the reason to celebrate this season.

This Christmas, despite the pain and heartache, I celebrate Jesus Christ.  I celebrate how Jesus was born to die on a cross for my sin and your sin.  I celebrate how Jesus obtained salvation, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God.  As one Christmas song puts it, “Hark! The herald angel sing, glory to the newborn King…God and sinners reconciled.”  There is no greater gift than to remember afresh that, because of Jesus, I have a right relationship with God.

I know this blog is longer than usual, but I cannot end without expressing one last thought.  Someone may assume that because Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity (this is true), all of humanity is therefore in a right relationship with God (this is false).  No, Jesus’ offer of reconciliation with God is available for anyone and everyone, but you have to take it, as you would take any gift.  John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  If you’ve never taken this important step, please do it today; what better time to do so than this Christmas season?

Kevin 

Christmas prayer

Just as I did at Thanksgiving, I want to share a prayer that my dad gave on the radio.  It is a tremendous blessing to have this prayer in my possession (this particular prayer blew me away, so get ready).  It is also a blessing to be able to share it with you.  The legacy of my dad’s life, as I see it, is his faith in God.  May these words inspire us to live a life of faith and trust in the God of the universe, as he did.  By the way, this content was originally delivered back in 2005.

 

“Father in Heaven, we bow at Your feet and give You honor, praise, and adoration.  Today, as we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, we bless Your name and give You praise, as You are the reason for this season.

Just as the shepherds were thrilled at the Christ child’s arrival, we cannot help but long for the time when Jesus will come again and You’ll receive us unto Yourself, where we’ll worship and serve You, eternally.

Today, Father, as You are aware, many people are hurting.  We know that this is the hardest season for many people, because of their circumstances.  Lord, we pray that You will be the lifter of their heads, help them to somehow see beyond their circumstances and rejoice in You today.  Comfort, heal, and bring forgiveness where it’s needed, Father.  

God, we thank You for embracing the widow or widower today, the lonely, and the heartbroken, and for making Your presence real to them, in the midst of a trying time.

We pray for families that are gathering together.  Even in the midst of celebrating Christmas, trouble and tension may come to the forefront.  Please help them to be at peace.  Help them to rejoice in the differences of the way in which You made people and families; to embrace those differences, and not let them be a stumbling block.  Help people to hold their peace and to put a guard at their lips, as You have instructed in Your Word.

God, again, we rejoice in the birth of Jesus.  Thank You that He came to Earth as a baby, to be our sacrifice, and that through Him we might have eternal life.  We worship and celebrate the birth of Your Son.

It’s in the strong, precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray, amen.”