Myron Speaks

As new years roar into our lives, I wish you the beauty and silence of life that only comes from the Father in Heaven. I pray that you will laugh in the face of the World’s evil and anger, confident in the love of the Father in Heaven. I wish that you will throw away the worry and anxiety that robs time and productivity from your life, knowing that these things are not from the Father in Heaven. I wish you freedom from 24/7 news that persuades our minds that all is lost and evil, when we are told that our Father in Heaven holds the ultimate victory. I implore you to take the step of socialization with one another through the tactile impact of touch, of time, of breath, of eye contact, of priority, of encouragement, of truth that comes from commitment to one another. I wish you a year devoid of doubt, rooted in the knowledge of hope that only comes from the Father in Heaven. I wish you life in its fullest. Life that comes from true and total relationship with the Father.

“I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” Philippians 1:9-11

I Wish You Love

“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

I Wish You Peace.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Romans 16:20

I Wish You Joy

“When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:6-7

I Wish You Contentment

“She offers you long life in her right hand,
    and riches and honor in her left.
She will guide you down delightful paths;
    all her ways are satisfying.
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
    happy are those who hold her tightly.” Proverbs 3:16-18

I Wish You Boldness

“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
    but the godly are as bold as lions.” Proverbs 28:1

I Wish You Priority

“Seek the Kingdom of God^[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.“”Seek the Kingdom of God^[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33

I Wish You a Mustard Seed

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

I Wish You an Eagle

“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

I Wish You a New Song

“He has given me a new song to sing,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
    They will put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

You’ve got this!

“Do you hear what hear? A child, a child, crying in the night.”

There it is again. Do you hear that? I’m telling you there is something different about that cry in the darkness that I am hearing. There. Again. Listen. A baby is crying. A cry like I have never heard before. Why is this cry making me so anxious? Excited? Hopeful? Why am I hearing this? Do you guys hear this over the sheep?

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Luke 2:8-15 (NLT)

Christmas. The day, time, Season when God could no longer bear the anguish of His children being left in silence. 400 years of quiet from Malachi’s warnings and promises to John the Baptist preparing the way in the wilderness. Jesus, the Christ, Immanuel (God With Us), born in a manger because, well he was God’s son and God always delivers His promises in ways that none of us expect.

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Malachi 3:1 (NLT)

Now 800 years after Isaiah foretold Jesus’ coming and the events surrounding his birth with complete clarity and accuracy, including 400 years of silence with evil permeating every area, the culture and dare I say it, “religion” of the World, including God’s chosen children (the Israelite’s), a baby arrives The baby has come.

The truth of Christmas:

• Hope to the hopeless.
• Joy for the joyless.
• Love to the loveless.
• He who makes the least first and delivers a new Covenant for all people.
• The promise of eternity with the Maker of all things if we simply, trust and believe the reason for this Season.
• Jesus.

I have to believe that the shepherds who had an angel appear before them with the news of Jesus birth, followed by a Heavenly host of angels worshiping as had never been seen before, then the incredible realization of all that was said to them, all that had been foretold, all the hope of the World, lay in front of them, were never the same. I imagine them running to everyone they knew. Quietly, secretly, impatiently saying “He is here.” Hope is here. The King. The King of all Kings. God’s Son. The baby. He has been born. Here. In Bethlehem. And then, the cynicism of the culture of the day said, “yeah right, there’s no way that God will come through a human. (He did, her name was Mary.) There’s no way He will first be revealed to a bunch of unclean shepherds. (He did, on that quiet hillside to the least who followed the great career track of so many in the Bible, including David.) I believe they were told, “God is too magnificent for what you are describing and we will define how His return will happen. This isn’t it!”

Twenty eight generations after God chose a shepherd boy to slay a giant, literally and metaphorically. Twenty eight generations after God used a flawed man whose heart was closest to God. Twenty eight generations after victory, loss, gain, retreat, sinfulness that compounded in unimaginable ways, Jesus, the Savior of the World, has come. 1000 years between King David and King Jesus. 1000 years and the World was in disarray and desperation. All was lost. All was gained.

In this Season of reminded hope and corrupted focus, rest assured that Jesus birth was and is the single greatest event in human history, second only to his resurrection from the grave 33 years later. In a time that markets “Season’s Greetings” over Christ(mas) and Worldly efforts to drown out the unquenchable flow of Living Water that comes from the birth, human life, death and eternal life of Jesus, know without question that the significance of the Christ, has never been more relevant than it is today.

“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

John 4:10 (NLT)

The beautiful message of Christmas is this. Our God never changes. His love is never ending. His son ever giving. Hope always present. Christmas is the affirmation that we are created in the image of God and worthy of His son’s sacrifice to bring us back into relationship with the Father. Christmas confirms that you matter to the God of all things.

Know, know without question that

“For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,^[a] Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)

Merry Christmas

“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,”

Luke 1:76-78 (NLT)

There is purpose for each of us in Christmas. Zachariah had served a lifetime as a faithful priest with Elizabeth his wife. They had surrendered their dreams of children and considered that their purpose and impact was complete. God knew differently because God’s plan was in place before time began. Just like yours.

Can you imagine, you’re an older couple moving into retirement, living out your last years and then Gabriel, the Angel of the Lord shows up and confirms that your lifetime dream of a child is happening. I love how Zachariah, a man of God for a lifetime, doubted to the point of laughing out loud, essentially mocking God’s plan then wham!, his voice is gone. His job was to speak, counsel, console, teach, lead…all through his voice now gone.

 “Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

Luke 1:18-20

Choose the joy of expectation this Christmas. Accept the anointing of God’s plans for your life. This broken World and the evil one who prowls wants to destroy the God-given dreams that lay within each of us. To crush hope. To marginalize your impact in this life. Say ‘no’ to the lies that really are on the margins of our life unless we allow them into life’s main, narrow road of impact. Elizabeth had certainly surrendered hope of a child and her husband laughed in the face of God’s emissary.

Then Elizabeth chose joy, expectation, acceptance at what Gabriel told her. Elizabeth chose the joy and hope that the Christ coming represented after 400 years of quiet. She chose to accept what could not be understood or explained. She chose to live expectantly. Humbly. Gratefully. She chose to accept that she was God’s vessel, created for this incredible, seminal moment in human history that explained the years and decades of desperation and sadness of being childless, all erased in a single moment. The single moment that the Legion’s in Heaven were anticipating and waiting to be released. Hope. Life. Connection. A new covenant. A direct pathway to God Almighty. Her son, would tell this news to the World. Accepting his role in the Christmas story. And he would be martyred for his blessed appointing.

“A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Luke 1:39-45

In this Christmas Season of significance, it is easy to feel insignificant. Can we agree that Elizabeth was tired of attending baby showers and Bat Mitzvah’s, celebrating her friends and likely her friends grandchildren’s events of significance? Elizabeth likely mourned that her counsel was not sought for mothering tips and she and Zachariah’s home bitterly quiet as families all around them celebrated holidays, with the sounds of children’s voices filling the air. There is little doubt that Elizabeth questioned her purpose for existence, but God didn’t! The plan was in place and God knew the heart of His faithful, and sad, daughter. And He rewarded her faithfulness.

If you’re struggling this Christmas Season, know that God sees your struggle. He knows your heart. He hears your prayers. He is awaiting the time when you are ready to walk into the calling on your life. “And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12 NLT) Listen carefully and expectantly for the gentle whisper of God’s anointing of significance on your life. Allow Him to define your significance. And you are significant to the only One who matters.

So this Christmas as things are loud and too many of us shout accolades about all we have done, all the impossible achievements that our kids and families have apparently accomplished as conveyed through the ‘updates’ about life, choose joy. Choose expectation. Choose the only affirmation that matters…our Father’s from Heaven who affirms our significance every Christmas by the gift of His son. He gave the most significant gift because of your immeasurable value to Him and His limitless love for you.

Choose Christmas

I wrote this off the cuff this weekend to encourage an incredible friend of mine. A true brother in Christ. A warrior in life. For someone reason, I feel someone else needs to hear this. To know this. To recognize and accept this. To acknowledge that you are remarkable in the eyes of the Creator of all things and the truth is this: He is all that matters. Shalom.

“God has placed so clearly on my heart the need for only him. The need to deny the “what ifs” and replace them with the “he decrees” truths.

We so desperately seek the acceptance of the equally broken, to the extent we will alter the personality and unique person that God has created us to be. We buy in to the lies of materialism and want because that’s what is acceptable and expected.

We are the vessels of the God whose Son came and denied all of the accepted conventions of the day. Why should today be different? We are chosen to stand out from the mob with lives that deny convention rather than align with convention. We are his and He is ours. That is all that matters.

A heartbreaking truth is that oftentimes our most loved ones cannot walk with us. They are not where we are…yet. It is a very difficult reality that we are often not walking-in step with those closest to us. Our journeys are individual, yet our choice of destination the same. Heaven or Hell. We each choose ultimately.

I am believing with all certainty that every doubt, every regret, every desire to ‘do over’ are the variables of Satan’s destructive equation designed to create life’s of desperation and discontent. How egotistical to think that simple things happening in our simple lives happen without God’s knowing and allowing. We allow our children to try things that are destined to fail and oftentimes cause temporal pain. Why? Because in this is where the learning, the developing, the character building, to ‘next’ occurs. Why would we assume differently of the Maker of all things?

I encourage you to stay the course. Surrender the mourning. Accept the joy of truth of direction delivered through a life of experience…including success and failure.

You’re having your greatest impact now. Your actions are being seen and acknowledged; possibly being acknowledged with anger, contempt and resentment, but being acknowledged. We all must pave our path. How we choose to do this determines the joy and impact that lies in future. Isn’t it interesting that the word ‘lies’ can denote brokenness and desperation or anticipation and expectation. Our choice.”

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJ

Job Prologue: “There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.” Job 1:1-5

For each of us the question becomes will our epilogue reflect and epic log of events or an epic slog of impact? We live in a time of 280 character communication, 21 second visual stimulation and assignment as an ‘influencer’ based upon the size of our social media audience. As I am increasingly blessed to meet and teach men, one of the recurring question’s for discussion is, are we living a life of impact? Do we awake each morning, look in the mirror and accept the truth that we are who God says we are? Is there impact in our purpose and lasting influence through our actions?

“The ultimate measure of a man (or woman) is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Strength to Love, 1963 (Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

It is easy to read the greatest history, living and character development book ever written, aka The Bible, and get lost in the magnificence of the events that occurred and that are promised. This greatest of all books, provides hope, promise, life, love, expectation, and purpose. The Bible promises salvation and eternity to those who trust in the Lord. (Romans 6:23) It is a consistent, never changing, never “influenced,” always true resource for life and living. (Psalm 119:105) It is quite simply the testament to life example, love assurance, hope creating, joy defining and eternity offering bridge to the Source, the one and only God. The one and only Truth. The one and only lasting Love. The One and Only. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

As I fall deeper and deeper in love with God’s word and the teachings and assurances that it provides, I am convinced beyond convinced that the great examples of faith written about throughout this book of 66 books, would tell us that many of the moments of their lives seemed at the time, of little meaning and lesser impact. Frankly at times, their situation sucked from their perspective. I am convinced that Paul felt that he was being wasted as he unjustly sat in a prison, shackled, limited and only able to write to the Church. I am certain that he did not recognize in those moments, hours, days, months, years that his writings of encouragement, of correction, of guidance would someday make up two-thirds of the New Testament, be included in the greatest book of all times and introduce millions upon millions to Jesus Christ and relationship with the Father. I am convinced however, that as Paul sat in those conditions, he counted it all joy because of what he knew to be truth. Paul was a Pharisee and highly educated, holding the equivalent of two graduate degrees. He knew scripture better than most, understood and had a zeal for the laws of God and yielded to God on that road to Damascus that caused his life of significant purpose, to be come a life of significance in ways that God had planned and were rejected by the leading religious men of the day. The Way became Saul to Paul’s way to Christianity as we know it today.

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NASB)

We live in a time and a culture that says ‘be significant, while doing nothing of significance.’ We are told to expect to be warm and comfortable without cutting wood for the fire. Conditioned to have impact without responsibility. To live life without living the life we were created to live. Quite frankly, Satan has created a culture that says “your significant,” while underlyingly eroding our belief in self, in others and most importantly, our belief and faith in the Creator of all things. God the Father never stops believing in you.

So the question for each of us is how will our epilogue read? At the beginning of this post I pasted the Prologue to Job and what an amazing statement it is. A blameless man, who stayed away from evil, believed in and feared God, attained wealth and status and petitioned God on the behalf of his children, concerned foremost about their relationship with the Father Creator of all things. Job’s priorities were in order.

Job’s epilogue reads better than his prologue. He passed the test. He was faithful to God in prosperity and adversity. And the greatest lesson in Job;s Epilogue and example for our lives, God proved faithful to Job.

I encourage you my brother or sister to seek and accept the plans that God has for you and the purposes that you are created to contribute to this broken World. Our significance is not defined by social media followers or career title but by the words that frame the epilogue and prologue of our lives. Lives surrendered to and living for our Savior.

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

John 3:30 (NLT)

I readily admit that I am a crier and an emotional man of Irish decent. When our family joins in the very seldom event of watching a movie in either a theater or family room setting, my kids will place me on watch to see when I will certainly cry during an emotional theme or scene. I was blessed with a mother and father who taught me that it was okay to cry and that men did in fact, cry. One of the limitless and beautiful gifts given to us by our Father in Heaven. He sees and hears our tears in every form. Joy, I hear you. Sadness, I hear you. Desperation, I hear you. Loneliness, I hear you. Need, thanksgiving, drought, plenty, health, sickness, whatever our situation, He hears us and loves us.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14 NIV

I am sure the YouTube video that I have attached to this post has likely been seen by most everyone reading these thoughts. That’s okay. We all need to be reminded of the blessings that are uniquely ours. When I met Christopher through this video and heard the song he was compelled to so sweetly and purely sing, I sat in awe of him, with overwhelming envy that as a blind, autistic child he could sing to our Father in Heaven in a more pure and clearly seeing way than I ever could or can. You see, my vision has robbed my sight of the miraculous glory of my Father in Heaven because I have exposed my eyes to the ugly things that are not of him. To envy. To greed. To desire. To comparison. To the temporal things of this World that simply do not matter in the Kingdom called Heaven and to the Creator of all things wonderful, I Am That I Am.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

So, my encouragement to you today is that God clearly sees you through His vision of immeasurable love and forgiveness. I encourage you to seek the Father’s face as He sees yours, devoid of the ugliness of human weakness and Worldly brokenness. Seek and see Him simply, sweetly, meekly, vulnerably with a desire to know Him and Him to know you as only He can and will allow you. Today, don’t take for granted the beauty of the Fall colors and the spectacular death that is occurring throughout nature to bring God’s glory through color into the lens of our eyes. Ponder on the irony that in nature’s seasonal death, beauty abounds and new life is taking root. Apply this concept to your own life and lay the death and decay of eyes that have seen too much ugliness, ears that have heard too much sadness, hearts that have been robbed from too much anger and betrayal and lay them all at His feet and plead for eyes, ears and heart that see, smell and beat in the pure form that Christopher’s do.

“For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.” Matthew 13:15 NIV

Take a bold step today by saying, Father, I choose You and all the beauty, life, joy, purpose and impact that You created me for. Father, forgive me for looking down on your beautifully gifted son, Christopher and those blessed like him, and cause me to watch, learn and seek the simply beautiful life that they have with You. You are marvelously created by the Creator of all things for purposes to great to understand in human terms, but supernaturally given because He loves you that much. Peace, love and joy.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 NIV

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Isaiah 46:4

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain.

As I started to write this post, I wanted to make it all about me. About my life and lessons learned. About failures that led to a different kind of success. About me, me, me. Can I tell you, that you and I are created for a purpose that exceeds “me” and is about “we” and “thee.” Thankfully, my Dad in Heaven has gifted me with the appointment to help men and young men find their purpose in this life based upon who He says they are.

Let me state that after salvation, accepting who God says you are is the most freeing event that will occur in your life. I have been so blessed through Fight Club Men (www.fightclubmen.org) to meet with men collectively and individually and the universal ‘ball and chain’ that I find, is their lack of recognizing, accepting and walking into who God says they are and the very specific and 100% unique purpose that He has for their lives. He has a beautifully unique purpose for your life. Just like your DNA, His purpose for you is unlike any other’s.

“God, if this is all there is, I want out!” Ten words that I audibly cried out in January 2004 as I sat intending to kill myself, in yet another too large house, with too many lies, too many awards hung on the wall, too many clothes, cars, toys and the all-too familiar silence of loneliness and emptiness. The result of a life lived pursuing everything the World defined as “success.” I will never forget and for eternity will be grateful for the beautiful and audible eleven words that the Holy Spirit rescued me by saying, “this is not the plan that I have for your life.”

“What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

So how does God define you? Let me encourage you to recognize that He gifts us with a job and career to care for our families and those in our paths, but these do not define us. Our heart, our actions, our priorities, our joy, our faith to follow Him in every season defines who we are. Our surrender to His plan and purpose for our lives, fulfills us and causes our cup to runneth over.

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalm 23:5

1 John 5:4 “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” tells us specifically who we are. We are new creations, created for impact and leading through our faith and the example that Jesus provided us. Companies list their employees on the liability side of their Balance Sheet. An accounting ‘principle.’ Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator and author, believed that “employees are assets not liabilities” and should be listed as assets. God’s greatest asset in this World is you and me. Our greatest asset is the Father who created us and who abides within us through the Spirit. God lists you as an “asset” in His Balance Sheet – the only identity that truly matters.

What if today and every day for the rest of your life, you look in the mirror first thing in the morning and say, “God made me for impact. For purpose. For unrestrained joy and expectation. For the desperate person in whose path I will cross today.” Would this small affirmation change the trajectory of your day? Of your life? Do it! This is specifically how and why God created you and me. Not for ourselves. Not for selfish ambitions and fleeting happiness tied up in meaningless materialistic things that become the clutter of our lives. He created us for purpose greater than ourselves.

I have been blessed beyond blessed to meet and walk alongside hundreds of men over the past three years, since God appointed me to encourage men to walk in the light of truth and the freedom of transparency. I marvel as I see the joy that emerges when men reject the trap of the World’s definition of who they are and trust in the truth of how God defines them and reveals His purpose for their life. I have the privilege to teach and share life with men who are emerging from temporary seasons of drug, alcohol, pornography and other addictions and I stand in awe at the Savior’s amazing healing and replacing of emptiness with expectation and purpose. I learn much more than I teach and I am blessed infinitely more than I bless. The truth is this: God does not define us as the World does. Because He loves us beyond our ability to comprehend, He allows us to walk paths of brokenness, for us to use these life experiences as hope and understanding for the people He will place in our path. He knows exactly how marvelous you are and so desires for you to accept the magnificence of who you are to Him.

Today and every day, you matter. Life is made up of millions of seemingly insignificant experiences, woven together for impact. For love, joy, peace, understanding – purpose. Today, walk freely and confidently into the purpose of your existence. You are carried and covered by the undefeated Omnipotent Creator of you.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter Drucker

I found this note that The Holy Spirit had me write as we camped in July. Megan had taken Benton to football practice and the girls were riding around the campground, free of the cares of the World and the ‘be careful’ noise of parents, leaving me to sacred alone time (that Megan West Mullins cannot understand), reading, praying, listening…peace.

We had taken a 30” industrial fan with us to combat the hot 95+ degree July days, counting on this breeze to make things more bearable. As I sat there in my favorite place, the mountains of East TN, I enjoying the breeze from the fan, I marveled that the slightest breeze would overcome the wind of this powerful fan.

Then, Dad spoke to me.

“Myron, do you dare to limit me by comparing the wind generated by man made fans to the winds that I breathe from my lungs?

Remember in July ‘22 when, on a hot afternoon you blew wind from a fan to cool you and marveled that even with the size and force of that fan, it was no match for the breeze blowing the smoke from the fire, above the fan wind, to return to you through the fan.

Don’t allow the brevity and noise of this World to even begin to cause you to think that I, God, am humbled or beaten, with any loss of my unlimited and never reducing power. I am, that I am. I am as great today as I was the day that I created the Heavens and the Earth. I am eternal. I am eternity. I am the great, I am. My mercy and love knows no bounds. My forgiveness is limitless.

Never question my power and control because of the human fads that fade and the lies of the Evil One hidden in the veil of acceptance and choice.

The is only two choices: Me, or eternity apart from Me. Never-ending love and joy or the complete absence of all hope.”

I sat amazed at the power of this Voice, revealing to me the truth at how I limit God by asking and expecting small things so I don’t ‘bother’ Him with the enormous things, so important and needed by every human being. This caused me to face the mirror of who I am and ask, ‘do I truly believe in the amazing and unlimited power of Jesus’ blood and resurrection? Of God’s omnipotence. That nothing, absolutely nothing is too large or significant for Him…nor anything too insignificant. Do I really believe that God wants to be in a whole life relationship with me?’ I do!

Although I limit and I fail, God knows the truth of my heart and my all-encompassing desire to grow closer to Him and take another step towards righteousness in and only through Him. He is my Dad and He calls me “son.” There is no greater assurance and validation. He wants no less than a complete life-relationship with you.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)

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“Fred always considered it a life-altering relationship, a “liberating friendship.” By the time he was a senior, he was president of the student council and editor of the yearbook, “largely because I had somebody who believed in me and wasn’t afraid to say so.”

The above except is from the book by Tim Madigan, “I’m Proud of You,” chronicling his friendship with Fred Rogers, that began through his role as a newspaper reporter and evolved into a deep, loving friendship of mentor and student and men sharpening one another in life.

As I sat enjoying a too-seldom breakfast with my friend and brother-in-Christ, Adam, he was sitting patiently listening to my diatribe about the state of the economy, politics, traffic, etc., he slowly slid a book across the Nick & J’s booth with the title “I’m Proud of You.”

About 11 years ago God gifted me with a friend who could not have been more different than me with one key exception, a uniquely bizarre and awesome sense of humor, with the ability to find laughter and ‘lightness’ in most situations. A brother in Christ who was not a type-A personality like me, but a bother in Christ. A friend who over the coming years would teach me about humbleness, humility, care, love, genuine friendship, concern, hunger for Christ and righteousness, A brother from another mother, with completely different yet completing personality traits who would slowly, patiently, lovingly deliver in me a desire to change, to really change, to genuinely love, care, invest, surrender my time and energy to our Father in Heaven and to the wonderful people God would bring through my path. An extraordinary introvert who gifted me with his time and his endless friendship.

“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” Proverbs 27:9

So, during this morning breakfast and through all the busyness of life, my friend Adam slid this book across the table to me. He said that “I thought of you when I read this book.” The emotion of the moment went back to a breakfast we had had months before (maybe years before) when I had commented to Adam that my father had never told me that he was proud of me. (Something that is incredibly important for every father to say with conviction to his daughters and sons.) As I read the book title, I again started to tell Adam that my father had never said these words to me and with eyes of love and care, Adam said, “I know and want you to know that I am proud of you.”

My gratitude to Adam was and is his amazing ability to listen, genuinely listen to the words being spoken by those who need ears that hear. What a gift. A gift confirmed by the gift of a book that addresses the very void in life that was cautiously and confidentially shared through the safety of being okay to be vulnerable and transparent with my friend. As an aside, my father is one of my best friends and an amazing man who loves me without condition and affirms his pride in me through decades of prayer as I wandered and never-ceasing encouragement to me as a son, a husband, a father and most importantly, a brother in Christ.

Affirming words are the never ending food for our soul. We are affirmed through scripture: “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” 1 John 3:1.

The opening paragraph in this post were the words of Fred Rogers discussing his lifelong friend, Jim Stumbaugh, who as a star athlete, honor student and president of his class, became friends with Fred due to an injury suffered while playing football and Fred bringing his schoolwork to him at the hospital. Jim affirmed in Fred who God created Fred to be all along. The result was a man confident in who he was and literally millions of children who found hope, love and joy through a gentle, skinny, meek man made bold and purposeful by the affirmations of a friend to become an exceptional leader with a servants heart.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

My hope and prayer for you is that God brings your “Fred Rogers” into your life. Adam is mine and is a priceless gift that cannot be adequately described. My prayer is that what you don’t immediately see, God will reveal in marvelous and profoundly empowering ways to the benefit of all destined for your path.

Adam, my friend and brother, I love you. You sharpen me in the gentlest of ways.

“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17

“God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.” Acts 19:11 NLT

Paul is the man who held the coats of those who killed Stephen, the first known Christian martyr and then tormented and zealously attacked the Church and its members, sending many to jail and others fleeing for their lives.

Think you have done things in your past that God cannot or will not forgive? Take heart, be joyful, live expectantly that we serve a God of forgiveness and future. Our God provides a large windshield for us to see our future and only a small rear-view mirror to remind us of our life experience as we drive into the plans and purpose of our lives. Accept that your past was only a training ground for your future.

Today, boldly accept and enter into the uniquely yours plans that God has created you to deliver to this World. Recognize the power of Jesus blood and resurrection. Accept the power of the Holy Spirit and your anointing as God’s chosen son or daughter. Cause evil, sickness and desperation to flee because of whose you are. Trust that you have the same power within you for righteousness that Paul was given by our Father as described in this verse.

Nothing you have done disqualifies you from relationship with God. Everything you have experienced has prepared you for the life purpose before you. You’ve got this.