Lots of little ones — and some not such little ones — will be gathering and eating lots of candy today…and dressing up in funny costumes!

Oh! God has the something far more yummy than candy — He has given us His unfailing Love, His omnipresent Spirit and His eternal, living and active Word! And these are absolutely delicious!

Taste and see that the LORD is good! Psalm 34:8

And as for dressing up, why don’t we, as God’s children, choose to dress ourselves in the clothing that our Mighty God has provided for us by the power of His Spirit!!??

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

…since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9

Holy Lord, we all need to have You continually fill us — each and every one of us — with the knowledge of Your will. We need You to open us up fully — open our minds, our hearts, our ears, our thinking, our perceiving, our speaking, our acting — to receive and obediently live out all the spiritual wisdom and understanding that You desire to pour into us…and by which You empower us to live in an ever-increasing Jesus-like way.

Holy Lord, let us each be tender and merciful towards our brothers and sisters in Jesus when we see an area in which growth is needed…and let us be persistent in prayer and loving correction (if that’s Your call on us!) for each of Your children to grow in the knowledge of Your will, wisdom and understanding! And Holy Lord, correct me…teach me…keep me growing more fully in the knowledge of Your will. Help me to always seek Your heart, Your mind, Your Way so that I will grow in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…so that I will grow continually in the love, grace and truth of Jesus Christ!

Let us each never stop praying for others…for ourselves…that we may always keep growing in Jesus! Amen and amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15

As followers of Jesus we are to be sure that we don’t pay back wrong for wrong. That is mercy. That is grace. That is the way the Lord Jesus did it…and does it still! And we are even called to help our brothers and sisters to choose this way of mercy and grace…this way of Jesus.

But we are not only told to be sure that we do not act in any vengeful, self-seeking-justification kind of ways, we are also to go well beyond that. We are to always try to be kind. That demands that we develop a mind-set that chooses to think and listen…a mind-set that chooses to not respond too quickly from our own initial (ticked-off) gut reaction…whenever we are in an the midst of a tense or frustrating circumstance with another person. A mind-set that is completely set on allowing God to lead and direct our thoughts, words and actions. A mind-set that is conformed to the mind of Christ.

We are to always try to be kind. Always. This is not just the absence of doing something wrong as payback. This is a proactive, intentional, unselfish choice to be kind. Always. To always try to be kind to those within our most intimate circles…and to everyone else.

Our God is the God of no loop-holes. In Jesus and through His loving, merciful, compassionate power…we are to always try to be kind to everyone.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Really? Be joyful always? Pray continually? Give thanks in all circumstances? This is God’s will for me in Christ Jesus?? Really??

YES! Easy??? No. But absolutely possible. Because God never asks us to do anything for which He will not equip us! And God never asks us to do anything that is not for our very best and to accomplish His very highest purpose for each of us: To conform us to the likeness of His Son our Lord Jesus!

Are things frustrating? Overwhelming? Sad? Frightening? Of course they are. We’re living in a broken—frustrating, overwhelming, sad, frightening—world. But! That is NOT the end of the story…nor should it be the foundation of our focus!

Jesus Christ has died and is risen! His Spirit and His Word are with us at every moment! And Jesus Christ is the King of all Eternity—and He will return to rule with power and majesty forever and ever! 

Now that should give us more than enough reason to be joyful always!!

So! Why don’t we lighten up a little bit! Let’s focus—and keep—our eyes on our Lord Jesus and His eternal, joy-giving perspective! And let’s do that with continual prayer and with great thanksgiving!! This is, after all, God’s will for us in Christ Jesus! 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people

 and distinguish right from wrong. 1 Kings 3:9

Not many of us are necessarily governing anybody…or are we???

Who is affected by your decisions? Your actions? Your words? Are you — am I — ruling with a discerning heart? With wisdom? With justice? With grace and truth combined in the balanced perspective of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Are we seeking God to give us His discerning heart so that it is absolutely, tangibly, experientially evident in all we do? Are we asking God for what He considers right and wrong? Are we listening to–reading God’s Word so we will have God’s righteous, true perspective on what is right or wrong…appropriate or inappropriate…self-serving or self-sacrificing…loving encouragement or hateful judgment…

God wants to give us as His children His very best! And God is the Sovereign LORD who is the righteous King and the God of grace who forgives the sinner. What about you and me? Will we ask our Abba for a discerning heart as we interact with those who are affected by our decisions of right and wrong? Will we ask our Abba for a discerning heart as we interact with those who have affected us by their decisions of right and wrong?

Will we ask our Holy God for His governing heart?

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

My soul finds rest in God alone…Psalm 62:1

My soul — my mind, my whole body — truly finds my true rest only in God.

Everything is put into perspective — all circumstances…all relationships…all responsibilities…all deadlines — only in my God. God’s love, God’s grace and truth, God’s peace and God’s eternal perspective quiet my soul, and give me rest, even in the midst of my busiest or most frustrating or saddest times.

I just have to let God give me that rest. I have to choose to turn from my rushing or my worries or my very limited perspective and STOP! STOP at the feet of my Abba. STOP and REST in the arms of my Abba. And there, I breathe much more deeply, I think much more clearly and I live much more fully!

Thanks be to God for His resting place! Thank You, God, for the loving ones — my precious ones — that You have put in my life to always remind me to rest my soul in You! (And do it now!)

May each of us allow our Abba to give our souls, minds and bodies His restoring and refreshing love as we STOP at His feet and REST in His arms.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of the darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 5-7

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ — the all-surpassing power of God’s love through the conquering of sin and death, shame and crippling bondage of every sort – that we, His followers, preach.

It is this all-surpassing power of God’s eternal unlimited love and His outrageous, unthinkable sacrifice of Jesus in order to bring us to Himself — that puts me on my knees (literally and figuratively) in awe of God. In awe of God’s intimate, sovereign love. His love that changes everything. His love that has changed me. It is this all-surpassing power of God’s love that has brought my life from darkness into the light that shines in the face of my Jesus.

And God has chosen to place His all-surpassing power — the knowledge of His grace and truth and love given through Jesus Christ – in me…a frail, flawed and finite vessel. God’s eternal treasure has been placed in me… In ALL  of His Children.

Amazing. Incredible. And I am one very humbled and thankful little clay jar.

May God lead me — lead each of us as His faithful children and servants — to allow His all-surpassing power and love to shine through each of us…and to truly make a difference in everything we do…with every person…in every circumstance…each and every day.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.

Psalm 35:28

God is righteous. God is good. God is loving and present…sovereign and intimate. God is holy and faithful. And there is so much to say about the One who has given me life.

There is so much to say about the One who has saved my life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is so much to say about the One who has transformed my life and completely turned my life around by His love! So much to say…with so much thankfulness!

May God quiet my tongue (or shut it down completely!) whenever anger or self-pity, judgment or selfishness come from my tongue — or typing fingers.

May God, instead, direct and use my tongue — and my typing fingers (in emails, devotionals, text messages and books too!) to speak more and more of God’s righteousness and God’s love! May God direct and use my words and my writing to remind myself and others of God’s goodness and sovereignty and His gift of life — now and eternal – in Jesus our Lord!  

What a far better use of my energy and my words that would be! What a far greater blessing for anyone listening to (or reading anything from) me!

May we each choose to speak of God’s blessings, of God’s grace and truth and of God’s love ever more clearly, frequently and thankfully!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 15:13

I know there is heartache in our world, in our lives and in each one of us personally — to some extent. That is what comes from the truth that we are living in a broken and imperfect world – that is what comes from living as a broken and imperfect person.

But God is with us. God loves us. God has conquered brokenness and imperfection. God has conquered sin and death. And God did it through His love! God did it through His Beautiful, Holy, Whole and Perfect Son Jesus Christ our Lord!

SO, LIGHTEN UP!!!

We have much to be happy about! We have much to give thanks for! We have much to be joyful about…much to sing and dance about! So, let’s allow that happiness…that thankfulness…that joy…(and even some singing and dancing!) to show through in our lives! To shine through on our faces!  This will lift much of our own heartache…and some of the world’s too!

SO, LIGHTEN UP!!!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve

…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

Decisions! Decisions! We make hundreds of them each day — some of which we are not even necessarily all that conscious of when making. Others are about the minutia of life — that we often make too big in our own minds. Some of our decisions will be highly significant for our life and the course of our life here on earth as we decide about our relationships with others…who to trust…who to date…who to marry…where to live…what school to attend…what course of study to take…what job to take…chemo or radiation or both…home-health care or assisted living or nursing home…

However, there is no choice — there is no decision — that any one of us will make that will more significantly impact our life and the course of our life — for all eternity — than to make the decision to serve, follow and love God as the LORD of our lives.

When that ultimate — eternal – decision is truly made in our minds and in our hearts, we will have an eternal balancing point and strong foundation from which to make all of our other daily-day decisions — whether they are semi-unconscious ones or about the minutia of life or highly significant decisions for our life here on earth.

May serving…following…loving our LORD always be the first decision each one of us makes in everything we think, say and do!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane