Putting God First - Appreciation

As I was preparing my heart before going to the radio station last night, I opened my Bible to look for my favorite passage I like to read before giving my testimony or public speaking. This was an AM radio talk show and I've never done anything like that before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Before I found the passage I was interested in, I came across this other passage. It was highlighted in my old worn Bible with pages that are barely bond in with the others anymore. The leather cover on this Bible is frayed on all sides from use. It is like an old friend, comfortable and full of memories. I don't use it as much as I once had because it is so fragile now. But every once in a while I like to pick it up and read from it because I know that I have many things highlighted in it and many notes written in the margins. Next to this particular passage I had scribbled “WOW! How beautiful this is!!!!”

2 Corinthians 3:2-3
The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

Did that move you in any way? If not then I suggest saying a quick prayer and reading it one more time. This time slowly soaking in each sentence as if it was written to you from someone who taught you about Christ.

You are a living letter that God is using for others to read about who He is and about how much He loves them. Wow!

October is Pastor appreciation month. I have had the privilege of being taught by some of the finest Pastors over the years. Even now, I feel blessed to be in a church with Pastors who take their calling seriously and invest their time in my life and the lives of others. They are doing a "good work".

There are others in my life who have done a "good work" as well. These women love the Lord and it shows. That love pours out of them and flows on to everyone they have contact with. I remember a woman who invested time in meeting with me and teaching me from God's word things I somehow missed as a child. I remember another woman who mentored me as I began to search for what God wanted me to do with my life. Then there is this one dear woman, a "Timothy" to me as she is younger than I am, yet much wiser than almost anyone else I know. I remember my mom one time when we were going through a family crisis sitting us all down and saying something like, "You kids need to understand what my priorities are. First it is to God, then to your father, then to you kids." I did not understand this then, but now I understand in full.

As I type these memories my mind is flooded with so many more. God has been good to me. Surrounding me with men and women who have helped me grow in my wisdom of the Lord. Using them to carve His love story on the tablet of my heart.

So I close this post and dedicate it with GREAT appreciation to all the "pastors" in my life! May God bless them above and beyond how they have blessed me.

AMEN