“There is a twilight zone in our hearts that we ourselves cannot see. Even when we know quite a lot about ourselves-our gifts and weaknesses, our ambitions and aspirations, our motives and our drives-large parts of ourselves remain in the shadow of consciousness. This is a very good thing. We will always remain partially hidden to ourselves. Other people, especially those who love us, can often see our twilight zones better than we ourselves can. The way we are seen and understood by others is different from the way we see and understand ourselves. We will never fully know the significance of our presence in the lives of our friends. That’s a grace, a grace that calls us not only to humility, but to a deep trust in those who love us. It is the twilight zones of our hearts where true friendships are born” (Henri J.M. Nouwen).

If we are followers of Jesus, we need to be in community. A pastor I know once said that the first person you lie to is yourself, so you need other people who will lovingly tell you the whole truth, not just the parts that you want to hear or that make you feel good about yourself.

The old saying is true. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. Heck, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. The most dangerous place for a believer to be is in isolation. Whether from shame or pride, the tendency is to withdraw from others when life gets tough, but that’s exactly when we need others the most.

We need others to both encourage us and to hold us accountable. What we don’t need is an echo chamber where people always agree with us and our viewpoints and choices and never is heard a discouraging word. We need to have people who will call us out when we’re being less than honest with ourselves and others. We need to hear the hard, painful truths if we really want to mature and grow and not stagnate.

Besides, in community we better reflect the visible image of God to the world. While you or I may show an aspect of who God is, together, we show more of what God is really like, the way the many cuts and facets show off the beauty of a diamond or the different color panes show off a stained glass window.

We need each other as much as we need God.

I’m about to seriously date myself, but I was listening to a CD in my 1997 Jeep Cherokee today. Not streaming. Not playing an MP3. It was an actual, honest to goodness compact disc with music on it.

This one had a hidden track on it. That’s where after the last song listed on the album plays, then you get a few minutes of silence. Then you get another song. Only in this case it was just silence.

Life is like that CD with a hidden track. Sometimes you have to wait for the good things. You may not know what’s coming, but you wait. You can skip ahead, but you might miss out.

Typically, a hidden track will have about 4-5 minutes of silence. That can seem like an eternity if it’s your first time, but patience has its rewards. Your reward for waiting is an extra song.

In life, sometimes you have to wait for God’s promises. You don’t often know what those will be or when those will be, but many times you have the option of waiting or moving on and missing out. I’ve found it’s always better to wait than to regret.

You’ll never be sorry you waited.

This was too good not to share:

“When Billy Graham was 92 years-old, he was struggling with Parkinson’s disease. In January, a month before his 93rd birthday, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham to a luncheon in his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because of his struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, ‘We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.’ So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the podium, looked at the crowd, and said:

‘I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train, when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets.

It wasn’t there.He looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.

‘The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car,he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

‘The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.’

Having said that Billy Graham continued, ‘See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this:

‘I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.’ May your troubles be less, your blessings more, and may nothing but happiness, come through your door. ‘Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.’

May each of us have lived our lives so that when our ticket is punched we don’t have to worry about where we are going.” (April Joy Burton Hooker).

I saw tonight where Lisa Marie Presley passed away at the age of 54. She is the only child of Elvis Presley, who passed way in 1977 at the young age of 42. I believe she had a son, Benjamin, who died at age 27.

So much sadness and loss for one family.

I’m not about to speculate about how or why so much tragedy befalls one family over another. I’m not about to try to explain why a good God and evil can coexist. I’m not sure if I could.

I do know that God is close to the broken-hearted. I believe that God weeps with those who weep. I look at Jesus standing in front of Lazarus’ tomb, knowing that he was about to make a dead man rise up and walk out in his grave clothes, yet still He weeps.

I’ve heard it said that it’s a beautiful but a broken world. Sin has marred the original design, and nothing works like it should. People grow old, get sick, and die. Some live to a ripe old age. Others die young. Too often, parents have to bury their children instead of the other way around.

But God is close to the broken-hearted and saves those crushed in spirit (see Psalm 34:18). God knows the loss of an only child. He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, knowing full well what we would do to Him.

I truly think that in the story of Job, the absolute best way his friends helped was when they sat with him in silence and grieved with him. In that moment, they didn’t try to explain the whys or to rationalize the pain. They didn’t offer platitudes. They sat in the dust with Job and wept with him.

Maybe that’s the best way we can be there for those who are grieving loss. Just be close to those who are broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. Then maybe they can see more of God in the grieving.

I am not a morning person. I used to be a night owl, but not so much anymore. I saw something on social media that fits me perfectly — I’m not a morning person or a night owl but more of a permanently exhausted pigeon.

I have nothing against actual morning people. They can wake up at 4 am fully alive and ready to go. They can go on their early morning runs and do their workouts before they go into the office. They can be cheerful and chipper all they want. Just don’t come to me and expect a full conversation before I’ve had my first cup of coffee, because it won’t happen.

Lately, I think there needs to be a day in between work days for me to recover from the previous work day. I need a day to catch up on all my streaming shows, to read all my books, to drink all that coffee to get ready for the next day.

There’s a verse in the Bible that speaks about morning people: “One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be considered a curse to him” (Proverbs 27:14, NASB).

That may be my new favorite Bible verse.

If you see me early in the morning without my gigantic Death Star cup of coffee in hand, please be kind. You can speak to me, but hold off on any serious conversations that require thought until after that first morning coffee. Please and thank you.

I started on a new devotional on January 1, as is my usual custom. This time, it’s not exactly a devotional. It’s more of a book of liturgies.

There are liturgies for just about everything you can think of from cleaning the house to preparing a meal to going to work. There’s even one for your first cup of coffee in the morning.

It’s a good way of reminding me that worship isn’t just one hour a week on Sundays. It’s not just a few selected songs that we sing during these services. True worship is declaring the worth of God, and that involves every aspect of our lives from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed.

In that sense, every moment lived in an attitude of worship really does become holy. We can worship just as well in the way we fold clothes and vacuum floors as we can at 9:30 on a Sunday.

Here’s the link if you’re interested in purchasing the book (or just finding out more about it):

https://a.co/d/iWABVNi

This one speaks for itself:

I get why so many are drawn to those Hallmark movies.

Are they cheesy? Yes.

Do they pretty much all have the same basic plot? Yes.

Do they all have basically the same actors? Yes.

But do they all have happy endings? Absolutely yes.

And that’s why they’re so popular. People want something that’s designed to make them feel good and that’s guaranteed to have a happily ever after ending.

There’s too much sadness in the world. There are too many stories in real life that don’t end well. There are too many tragedies playing out in real time to the point where we don’t want to turn on the news or pull up a website like CNN or FoxNews.

But I saw an episode of All Creatures Great and Small where everything turned out right in the end and I was reminded of the power of a happy ending.

It’s what we secretly crave in our deepest heart of hearts. It’s what most of us want to see in our books and movies and other forms of media.

I get that sometimes people want sad because they want catharsis, but 99% of the time we want to walk away happy, not depressed or sad or angry or morose.

If you want the ultimate happy ending, all you have to do is turn to the last page in the Bible and read these words:

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Revelation 22:17-21, ESV).

That’s the ultimate happy ending because it’s a true happy ending. It’s the final happy ending of happy endings. It’s the guaranteed outcome for all those who have put their hope in Jesus.

It’s the end of the last page of the greatest story ever told. Or as C. S. Lewis said in his book The Last Battle, “[b}ut for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” 

“Take your human feelings, multiply them exponentially into infinity, and you will have a hint of the love of God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. With a strong affirmation of our goodness and a gentle understanding of our weakness, God is loving us – you and me – this very moment, just as we are and not as we should be. There is nothing any of us can do to increase his love for us and nothing we can do to diminish it” (Brennan Manning).

Ultimately, love is not a feeling. Love is a choice. Love is an act of the will. Love is God so loving the world that He gave His one and only Son. Love is not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for us.

Love is Jesus stretched out on a cross of torture, put there not by the Jews or the Romans or our sins but by His own choice to lay down His life for us in our place. Jesus Himself said that no one takes His life from Him but He lays down His own life of His own accord.

Love is God loving us when we were unloveable sinners and strangers from God and enemies to God. God loving us makes us lovable and capable of truly loving others. Love is when we lay down our lives for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

That’s love.

What is the way of Jesus? What are those who follow Him called to be and to do?

The answer is simple. Repent and forgive.

Self-righteous finger pointing has no place in the Kingdom of God. Neither does condemning those who sin differently than I do. While we are called to speak in love against people when their actions don’t match their faith, neither you nor I get the right to judge their motives or intentions. Neither you nor I get to decide

Jesus never said, “You make sure everyone else is living right.”�

What He said was, “You live right,” or better yet, “You repent. You seek to serve the least of these. You be holy.”

The Kingdom of God isn’t about a political party or platform. It’s not an ideology, either left or right, conservative or liberal.

It’s about the God’s love breaking into the world, one heart at a time.

You might say to Jesus, “But what about these people over there not doing right? What about those people flaunting their freedoms over and above any responsibility?”

Jesus says to you, “But what about you? You repent. You make peace and live in peace with others as much as it’s in your power to do so.

At the end of the day, the question to you and me will be how well we loved. How well we served and ministered to the least of them. How well we made visible the invisible grace of God.

Jesus also said to forgive.

That becomes possible when you and I understand that the kind of inhumanity and evil we’re capable of apart from the grace of God. Also, we need to embrace the fact that those we deem our enemies are still created in the image of God and loved by God.

When we grasp how much we’re forgiven by God, we can in turn forgive others.

“One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: ‘Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?’ Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them (Matthew 22:35-39, The Message).'”