Recipe For Lasting Love

Tomorrow my bride and I celebrate our 15^th wedding anniversary…AMEN! I have said it before and I will say it again: My wife is my hero! It was not always so…and as I was sitting back reflecting on who we were, where we have been, and where we are now, I started to think…

What does it take to have, or create, or maintain the kind of love that will sustain a marriage or a relationship? Is there a special recipe that some people know about that others don’t? I think there is.

The key is not the amount of, or type of love that is used that keeps a relationship together. Nor is not how much you are willing to do for each other. These help, and are key…but not what keeps it together.

Anyone bake? Try mixing any amount or variety of “dry” ingredients together and what happens? You have a big bowl of stuff that won’t stick together…and is pretty much completely useless. There needs to be what chefs call a “binding agent”…something added to it that brings it all together…usually some liquid.

Love, affection, feelings, serving each other, making the other a priority – these are the dry ingredients. What makes it stick? One thing: Commitment. I have done more weddings than I can remember, and I say this each time: “Love will not sustain your commitment…BUT, commitment can and will sustain your love.”

I LOVE my bride. Besides how hot she is (any guys who noticed I kind of have a problem with that), and I love how she truly completes me. But that is not what has gotten us through those times when it seemed like we could not get along at all…

So what did? We are committed. Our model for commitment is not the world’s model, it’s Jesus. The binding ingredient that holds everything together in our life and in our marriage = Jesus Christ. Our commitment to each other is based first on Christ’s commitment to us – not what we have done or not done for each other lately. Jesus went all the way to the cross opening His arms and hanging on it until death so we could have a relationship with God…now that’s commitment.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 (NIV) This is how my bride and I love each other…just as He loved us- committed.

I love you Gina…thanks for saying yes when I asked you to be my bride.

Serving Our Savior,

Pastor Pat

Obedient or Obligated?

An obligation is defined as a person or thing to which one is bound morally or legally. That just sounds crummy. Being obligated to do something sounds forced to me. Now it may be forced because of a choice we made – like a purchase, but it seems to have a negative connotation around it. To me the word “obligation” screams HAVE TO!

You can ask me for just about anything and I will try to do it or help you get it if possible, but “TELL” me to do something, and something weird happens. Even if I want to help or assist, I feel as though I am being obligated by someone else to do something, and I must decline – completely and maybe even loudly…that’s the truth…ok, I feel better.

What about obedience? To obey means to comply with or follow. That definition implies a choice. That is the difference – obeying is a choice, and obligation is a mandate (have-to). Children need to obey their parents; it is for their own good. Parents have a child’s best interest at heart, right?

It is no different with our Heavenly Father, and if you think God’s commands are there to keep you from having fun, and are obligations you have to follow, you are wrong. God’s command’s are for us, and as for me I have never followed one and wished I had done it some other way…not once. I more often chose not to follow them and then at some point ended up with a problem…anyone else there with me?

So what to do? Looking for His will? Go to His Word:

“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” 1 John 5:3-4 (NLT)

Choose to obey and not feel obligated…and choose to try and obey them all, they are a package deal.

Serving Our Savior,
Pastor Pat

What Do You Depend On?

What do you turn to when things go wrong? Do you depend on you most? Do you depend on things you have most? Things will not always go as we hope or plan for.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NIV)

If you depend on you or your stuff, then how many resources do you really have? If you are anything like me you probably run out of resources really quickly. Then what?

We are experiencing a time in history when our entire financial system seems to be in some sort of trouble. Retirement plans have vanished, property values have dropped, and unemployment is at an all time high. So what do you do?

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:20 NIV)

We will fail...and our stuff will go away. God is eternal, perfect, and has a plan for us to follow. He even provides the instructions in case we get hung up or distracted along the way. It is a pretty good read too...get into the Word, and let it get into you.

Depend on Him...

Serving our Savior,
Pastor Pat

It's None of your Business...

What concerns you? I am asking you to consider what around you gives you concern? Outside of the obvious health, family, employment, and income, what bothers you enough to get concerned about it, what?

Consider these statements:

I don't know why they don't talk to anyone...
I don't like the way they talk to me...
I wish they were not so loud...
I can't believe they bought a new car...
I wish they would park their cars in their garage...
I wish they would keep their landscape nicer...
It would be nice if I could afford to remodel every year...

Ever said or thought things like this? We all have at some point looked out into out visible world and wished that something or someone were different. That is a natural thing to do, but it is not a Christian thing. What?? Throwing out the Christian card? Yep!

What would happen if you considered your neighbor first? What struggles they might have:
Maybe they don't talk because they don't feel welcome...
Maybe they talk harsh because they just received horrible family news...
Maybe they are loud unknowingly because no one let them know...
Maybe that is the first new car they ever bought and have been saving for years...
Maybe their garage is full of stuff they need and have no room for cars...
Maybe they are so tight with their finances gardening is the last thing on their list...
Maybe there was a problem and remodeling was a necessary thing...

What if? What if we stopped considering how things affect us first, and were to consider our neighbor first...? Even if their reason for whatever bugs you does not meet your standards...what if?

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?" (Luke 6:41 NLT)

Well, would that change things? Would it? It does for me...it changes everything. It takes a whole load off of me from wondering why someone is doing something that affects me, to wondering what might be going on in their lives. It takes me from the place of "They owe me..." to the place of "I wonder how I can pray for them..."

That changes everything.
Jesus told us what matters most - love. And most importantly showing it. When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus responded with two - Love God and Love others. And He was very specific as to the how about both, but the about others is a really tough one:

"A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:39 NLT)

Do others really deserve to be loved like I do? If you're like me that question is always a tough one...an impossible one to say the least. But we are not the least, we are children of the Living God, the Creator of the universe and author of life. So maybe, just maybe, He knows a way that will lighten our load, set us free, and bring us peace...peace beyond our own understanding...

So waddaya think? Worth a shot isn't it? In these trying times are you wondering where God is? Why He is not more visible when we need Him the most? Maybe God is closer than you think...join us as we take a look at a book in the Bible (Esther) where God is not even mentioned but obviously apparent, and how maybe we are facing the same situation today.


Serving our Savior,
Pastor Pat

It's Not Fair!!!

OK, it’s not. End of thought.

“He(Jesus) was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah 53:9 (NIV)

Serving Our Savior,
Pastor Pat