Every day it seems that I’m reminded just how precious and fleeing this life is. Every day I see that nothing beyond today is guaranteed.

The old saying goes that every day is a gift– that’s why it’s called the present.

Cherish the people you love. That means spending more time with them than on your smart phone or on your electronic device. That means picking up the phone and actually calling them like in the olden days. That means physically going to see them in person and having face-to-face conversations.

Oh, and one more thing. Every chance you get, be sure to say the words “I love you.” Don’t assume that people know. Don’t imply it or infer it. Say the actual words.

In the end above any amount of money or fame or possessions or prestige, what will matter are those you love and those who love you back.

I read something amazing about Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. Specifically, it was about how Marilyn Monroe was an advocate for Ella Fitzgerald at a time when it would have been much easier to simply look the other way.

Here’s the story:

During the ‘50s, one of the most popular venues was Mocambo in Hollywood. Frank Sinatra made his Los Angeles debut at Mocambo in 1943, and it was frequented by the likes of Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Lana Turner.

Fitzgerald was not allowed to play at Mocambo because of her race. Then, one of her biggest fans made a telephone call that quite possibly changed the path of her career for good. Here, she tells the story of how Marilyn Monroe changed her life:

“I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt … she personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him – and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status – that the press would go wild.

“The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it.”

I firmly believe that every single one of us could use an advocate like that. Someone who will stand up for us and fight for us. Someone who will see us when others look past us and ignore us. Someone who will come to our aid.

In 1 John 2:1, we read “You are my little children, so I am writing these things to help you avoid sin. If, however, any believer does sin, we have a high-powered defense lawyer—Jesus the Anointed, the righteous—arguing on our behalf before the Father”

Did you catch that? We have an advocate in Jesus. We have a Great High Priest who never ceases to intercede on our behalf. If God in Jesus is for us, who can possibly ever be against us?

Remember that the next time you feel invisible or defeated or lost. Jesus is on your side.

I do so love me some biscuits.

I also love that God truly works all things together for good, and in the end, we get something better than anything we could ever have dreamed of.

Today was my church’s Serving Saturday. A number of us met up at the church building and either went to two locations to serve or stayed around the campus to do some upkeep and maintenance.

It may not sound like much, but those little touches make a big difference when someone comes to Ave South for the first time. Plus it frees up the ministry staff to spend time on actual ministry instead of building upkeep.

My day consisted of spreading out mulch in front of the building and wading through a mini-jungle in back to clear out litter and debris.

My reward was lunch at Holler and Dash with some ice cream from Jeni’s thrown in.

You may not be in a position currently to make a major impact on your world, but you can always do little things that add up to something great. Jesus said that as you are faithful in small ways, you will be rewarded with greater responsibilities and bigger avenues to serve. But you start small.

I’m a good kind of tired and my feet are a good kind of sore. It was a good Saturday.

I’m pooped. Officially and technically and in every other sense of the word, I’m super pooped.

But it’s a good kind of tired.

It’s not like that period when I didn’t have a job and felt exhausted from stressing out about not having a job.

It’s the kind where I put in a week’s worth of work and accomplished everything I wanted to get done.

It’s a good feeling when what used to seem overwhelming and scary now seems quite manageable. All it takes to accomplish a big task is to break it down into bite-site portions. Kind of like that book about eating a 747. You eat it one part a time (if you’re into that sort of thing, which I’m not).

Being unemployed will make you much more appreciative of having a job. Well, at least for me it does. I’m more and more convinced that you can worship at a desk in front of a computer from 9 to 5 as well as you can in a church building. Your praise can be as much doing your job well as it can singing songs about God to God.

In fact, people don’t care what your singing ability is if you don’t live the words you sing. They don’t care how fervent your church worship is if you don’t live out that same faith the other 167 hours of the week.

So at 10:33 pm on a Friday, I’m calling it a night. I know I’ll sleep good tonight.

In case you’ve lost track by now, today’s Thursday. You may be slightly disappointed to learn that it is not in fact Friday, or a tad elated to realize that it’s not Wednesday.

In case you’re one of those who have had a week of four straight Mondays, here’s a little something to pick up your day.

Think of it as a guide to networking (but not really):

Let me add my own preface. If you don’t know anything about Amy Carmichael, I suggest you look her up. A good place to start would be Elisabeth Elliot’s biography called A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael.

She was a missionary in India for 53 years, rescuing girls from temple prostitution. In essence, she fought against sex trafficking before such a term even existed.

Let her words sink in deep:

“Let us end on a very simple note: Let us listen to simple words; our Lord speak simply: ‘Trust Me, My child,’ He says. ‘Trust Me with a humbler heart and a fuller abandon to My will than ever thou didst before. Trust Me to pour My love through thee, as minute succeeds minute. And if thou shouldst be conscious of anything hindering that flow, do not hurt My love by going away from Me in discouragement, for nothing can hurt so much as that. Draw all the closer to Me; come, flee unto Me to hide thee, even from thyself. Tell Me about the trouble. Trust Me to turn My hand upon thee and thoroughly to remove the boulder that has choked they river-bed, and take away all the sand that has silted up the channel. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. I will perfect that which concerneth thee. Fear thou not, O child of My love; fear not.’

And now…to gather all in one page:

Beloved, let us love.

Lord, what is love?

Love is that which inspired My life, and led Me to My Cross, and held Me on My Cross. Love is that which will make it thy joy to lay down thy life for thy brethren.

Lord, evermore give me this love.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after love, for they shall be filled” (Amy Carmichael).

It’s gonna be a cold one tomorrow. I don’t mean cold as in cold for Tennessee but not necessarily Minnesota or Michigan. I’m talking cold, period. Plus there’s that whole humidity/wet cold that makes the chilliness seem even chillier, if that were even possible.

I’m disappointed that there’s not even a hint of the possibility of snow. In my mind, if it gets below 20 degrees outside, it needs to snow or what’s the freakin’ point? Then it’s just super cold and everyone is sad.

So when does this hibernation thing start? I am super into that. This spell of wintry weather has me feeling like I could nap for days. Either that or Netflix and chill for days.

I love having a job, but I’m definitely not a fan of waking up in the dark. That’s one of the very few drawbacks about winter and fall. It seems unnatural to wake up before the sun is up.

So once again, when does that hibernation thing start and where do I sign up?

“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

I’m fairly certain that I won’t ever write any play or sonnet that comes close to anything Shakespeare ever wrote. But by that power of the Spirit of the living Christ, I can live the life that Jesus lived.

The question is “Why don’t I?”

Why do I rely so much on my own meager and feeble strength when I can tap into God’s unlimited power, the very same that raised Jesus from the dead.

I honestly don’t have a good answer to that. But I believe that today I am becoming a little more like Jesus than I was yesterday. And I’m not quite who I will be tomorrow.

And that’s a good start.

I think that at the end of our lives, what will really and truly matter will be the number of people who will know Jesus because of us. I’m not saying that me or anyone else can save anyone. I’m not even saying that we ourselves will be the ones to single-handedly win someone over to heaven.

I am saying that if we are faithful to this gospel that saved us, if we proclaim it with both our lives and our lips, it will not return void. God will honor a faithful witness.

That’s something I want to do better. I want to be able to have gospel conversations with people— not the kind where I beat people over the head with a Bible or scream hellfire and damnation at them, but where I speak of what Jesus has done for me and invite them to know this God who can save anybody at any time anywhere no matter what.

As I heard in today’s sermon, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. No one is promised the next breath. If you’re reading these words and don’t have the assurance that you belong to Jesus, don’t go to bed without reading these words:

https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/salvation-through-christ-a-matter-of-faith