MY FAVORITE LIFE VERSE--PART II

My favorite life verse is Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

Follow the key words in this verse. They speak of God's never failing grace and mercy that pulls us up and out of the miry clay. 

NOW---Today, this moment, immediately 

the

GOD---The Almighty Lord over all

of

HOPE--Our expectation, aspiration, dream, that which is desired, the substance of faith

FILL---to occupy, squeeze into, to top out 

YOU---not someone else, personal, the one God is addressing, look in a mirror 

with

ALL---every bit of, complete, each and every part

JOY--great pleasure and happiness, euphoria, jubilation

and

PEACE---restfulness, tranquility, calm

that you may

ABOUND in hope---proliferate, numerous, like growing on trees

through the

POWER---dominance, influence, authority, authority

of the

HOLY SPIRIT---The One Who Is Beside Us

***

So you may ask, "How have you made it these last months with such trial and tragedy and how are you going forward with life?"

My answer, "Read the verse above again. It works!"

MY FAVORITE LIFE VERSE

I am a life-long reader and student of the Bible. I learned to read the Bible listening to my parents read the Bible each morning before I went to school as a child. We read the Bible and prayed every morning regardless of whether we were running late and would miss the school bus or not. Nothing kept us from reading the Bible. That produced a life-long habit that I still follow. I read the Bible for me so God can speak to me and my life. Then, I read and study the Bible to minister to others. 

My parents still read the Bible together every morning. I visit them all along and we read the Bible and pray first thing after breakfast.

All of the Bible is full of blessing, truth, and life. It is the guide for our day and the light for our path. It is our corrector and instructor and our liberator. God's word is truth to set and keep us free.

I love to preach and teach God's Word. That is my calling and my highest fulfillment in my profession. I love many aspects of ministry and serving as a pastor, but preaching and teaching God's Word is the top of the list.

So, what is my favorite life verse? 

It is Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy in believing , that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

Every word in that verse is powerful. Tomorrow I will write a few thoughts on a couple of the key words from Romans 15:13. 

Hope you will meet me here tomorrow. I will not post on the weekends on this blog. My posts will be from Monday through Friday and will include some videos and pictures in the near future.

I GOT SAVED

I was only five and a half, but something wasn't right inside me. There was something missing and incomplete and I didn't know what it was. 

I was crying and my mom looked me over as I had come running into the house from playing. She was checking to see where I was hurting, but I told her I had not hurt myself.

Then, my godly, spiritual mother sensed something happening far deeper in me. I don't know how she knew what was going on in a little guy like me, but she did. 

She asked me, "Do you want to ask Jesus to come into your heart?"

Quickly and with tears I said, "Yes."

Slowly and ever sweetly, my mother prayed with me and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I felt a change inside me. Something happened in my that I feel even today. Jesus came into my heart and life. I felt saved, clean, and at peace. 

Can five year olds get saved?

I did.

WHAT IS IN YOUR NAME?

Years ago I stood at the counter of an auto parts store to pay for a part I needed for a repair 0n my car. I was visiting in Alabama with my parents when they lived in Anniston and Dad was going to help me with the repair. He had told me which parts store to go to and the part I needed so I was there to get it.

After standing at the checkout register for a moment, I realized I didn't have cash and this was long before credit cards. Does that tell you how long ago that was? All I had was an out of state check, and back then there was no way for them to immediately check to see if the check was any good.

(The picture at the left is of my father and brother, Max. Max and I share the same birthday. He is the handsome one in that picture. I am his "big brother".)

I told the parts guys my problem and he asked to look at my check. After a moment or so, he asked me, "Do you know  Oscar Dykes?"

I said, "Yes, he is my father."

"Yes I will take your check," the guy said. "If Oscar Dykes is your your father then this check is good."

I was an adult when that happened, but that is moment that I realized what was in my name. My father had a good name. People trusted him, and this auto parts man knew that if I was Oscar Dykes' son then I could be trusted too. I was proud that Oscar Dykes was my dad. That made me want to be trustworthy too and keep the family name good. I was thankful also that because Oscar Dykes was my father that the man was willing to take an out of state check.

That is how people should feel about us when they find out who our Father is. If God is our Father, then as His children we should act in a manner that glorifies Him. We should do everything possible to live up to the family name as Christians.

Who we are and our "name" has consequences either good or bad. A good name is to be treasured as Solomon wrote. We should always strive to live in a manner that our actions, which become the sum total of the worth of our name, shine as a light on a hill. Our names will either be a good or bad witnesses.

What is in your name? 

MY FIRST POST

Today is the first post of my new blog called Plea.  

For those new to my story, I have just completed journaling for fourteen months at the blog, christianlovestories.blopspot.com,  created by my wife Kristy, who passed July 21, 2008 from a GBM brain tumor. We wrote together for many years, and now my blog writing journey officially begins as a solo. 

I have not written or posted in almost a week. It has been a withdrawal process filled with some tears and hurt as transition continues in my life. Some have told me that these last days without me entering a post felt like they were going through some kind of withdrawal as reading Kristy's blog was a part of their daily routine. 

Hopefully, following this blog will become a part of your new routine. 

What will I write? Glad you cared to ask.

 

I will write about happenings in my life and the passions of my heart. This will be a personal plea to the higher good in life. 

Now some are expecting romance and lots of it. I will write romance, but this new blog is going to be romance plus an appeal to the higher good in all aspects of life. It is going to include thoughts on success and failure and what works in life and what doesn't work. My thoughts will focused but will often sound like ramblings too. 

It is time for me to laugh and laugh hard. I have cried buckets of tears these last months. There is a place and time for tears but there is a time to laugh too. 

I will laugh. You need to laugh too.

Now this blog needs lots of work and development. Do you like my picture? I took this picture of myself on top of the Acosta Bridge in downtown Jacksonville. This picture will change and even maybe the name of this blog will change too. I haven't had time to spend on it lately as I needed a break. 

***

I am working on a book to tell the story of Kristy's journey to heaven and how God brought Wanda into my life. Pray for God's direction in this project. I believe it is an incredible story of God's amazing faithfulness and love to help us through the very tough, hard places in life.

God is good. 

I heard that from someone special to me.