As the aged King David prepared his son Solomon to take up the throne—as servant of God and King of Israel—David had strong and wise counsel for his son.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.

If you seek Him, He will be found by you;

but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

1 Chronicles 28:9

David’s counsel to Solomon is counsel that we, too, as children of God should embrace fully as we live out the details of our daily-day lives…and during our times of great joy and peace…and during our times of great turmoil and sadness.

God knows us full well. And our LORD wants our hearts and minds to be wholeheartedly and willingly devoted to Him—actively seeking Him—in all that we do and think. Our blessing, and God’s promise to us, is that “He will be found”  by us!

Our God has promised that we will find and know our LORD, His loving, intimate presence with us and His strong and holy leading of us—all the days of our lives.

Through our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, we, as children of the King of kings, have been invited “to approach the throne of grace with confidence…” –Hebrews 4:16.

Is there anything stopping you from serving and seeking the LORD—and approaching His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind? 

Ask the LORD to take away any and all obstacles that you have put up in your own life that stop you from serving and seeking the LORD—and approaching His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind.

Ask the LORD to take away any and all obstacles of hurt, bitterness and resentment that may have grown out of experiences with other people or from disappointing and difficult circumstances.

Let nothing rule over you except the love and leadership of the LORD our God!

There is joy and freedom, peace and purpose as we serve and seek the LORD—and approach His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane 

Today is going to be a very special, very meaningful day for me. I get to go back, for the first time, to minister to—and with—the Counselors and Staff at the Christian camp where I first accepted Jesus as my Savior. I’ll be doing, first, a session on Leading a Child to Christ in the afternoon and, then, in the evening I’ll be speaking at the Counselor and Staff Commissioning Service.

Thank You, my ABBA, for this humbling and beautiful privilege!

Forty-two years ago when I was seven (yes, that currently makes me forty-nine for all you math whizzes in blog-cyberspace—FIFTY in December!), my parents sent me and all four of my siblings (all of us born within five years from oldest to youngest!) to a camp for one week. They needed a break. I don’t think it really mattered much to my parents what camp would take us.

But! It mattered very much to our God.

For just one short week back in 1967 I attended Ontario Bible Camp in Oswego, NY. And through the faithful servant hearts of the OBC staff, and especially through the Camp Chaplain’s clear, powerful and loving sharing of God’s grace and truth through God’s Word, Jesus became my Savior. Oh! What a difference a moment…a day…a week—orchestrated by the loving heart of our God—can make in a life!

For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus entered my life with His passionate love for me and His eternal salvation. I knew, then, that no matter what the hands of others would do to me, I was still held in God’s perfect, loving, strong, good hands.

Thank you, ALL of you, who have served over the years at OBC—or in any form of ministry, formal or informal—to share with others the grace and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, His salvation, His transformation and His outrageous, unfailing love!

Your seemingly small act of service in the Name of Jesus, the Name that is above ALL names—ABOVE the names of abuse, incest, rape, fear, brokenness, hate, anger, my own sins, the evil I have done and the evil done to me—has made ALL the difference in my life! For all eternity!

Before I left OBC I was given a Bible.  And it was—and is—only through God’s intervening love, God’s living and active Word and God’s intimately present Spirit that my life has been completely healed and transformed—from a broken, abused child to a mighty woman-child of our Sovereign God!

Yes, today is going to be a special, very meaningful day for me at OBC! Thank you, JESUS! It is All from you and it is ALL for you!

May we ALL seek to let Jesus use us to touch at least one life for Him! Oh! What a difference a moment…a day…a week—orchestrated by the loving heart of our God—can make in a life! Amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Have you ever started something—maybe a new job, a new course of study, a new career, a new hobby, a new relationship, a new move out of your old neighborhood…or out of your old comfort zone—and then hit some kind of challenge, confusion, distraction or frustration?

You’re left wondering:  So then, WHAT happens? WHAT should I do?

In order to live out our faith in Jesus Christ—whether it is a fairly new faith for us OR we have been on this faith journey with Jesus for a long time—God gives us all the same clear, full answer to the question: So then, WHAT??

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,

continue to live in Him,

rooted and built up in Him,

strengthened in the faith as you were taught,

and overflowing with thankfulness!

Colossians 2:6-7

No matter WHAT challenge, confusion, distraction or frustration we may face in our faith journey with Jesus—our Loving, Living, Fully Present, Powerful Lord lets us know exactly WHAT we need to do—and provides everything for us to be able to do it…now and for all the times yet to come! 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

I’m in New York City this morning. For me personally, I love this city…because God loves this city…or rather, God loves every single person in this city…just as God loves every single person in the world!

For me whenever I’m here I am so powerfully aware of how very different we people are…how many different sizes, shapes and shades of skin we people come in, how many different countries, cultures, socio-economic and language groups we people come from, how many different perspectives and preferences we people have.

Here in NYC, I am sharply aware of so many different people with so many differences. Yet, the Word and Spirit of God confirm to me even more sharply that God loves every single person passionately and fully…and that our Lord Jesus Christ has been fully offered so that each and every person may know the salvation and intimate love of our Heavenly Father!

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son

that whoever believes in him

shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

May we as messengers of this powerful truth of God reach out to all others around us—no matter how similar or different to us they may be—with the saving, transforming love of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here;

HE HAS RISEN!

Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee:

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’ ”

Then they remembered His words.

Luke 24:1-8

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

This Truth changes everything! This Truth changes all who believe!

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

Jesus has conquered the power of sin.

Jesus laid down His pure life to purify us by His own blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And through this act of ultimate love, Jesus bore the full punishment of condemnation and separation from our LORD so that we who trust in Jesus as our Messiah-our Savior may approach our Heavenly Father as His holy, dearly loved children! 

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

Jesus has conquered the power of death.

Our Lord Jesus could not be bound by the cords of death! He is the Lord of Life—with all power and authority to eternally conquer death and to grant eternal life to all who believe!

Jesus Himself assured us of this great hope, this great victory over death:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me

has eternal life and will not be condemned;

he has crossed over from death to life.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come

 when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God

and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself,

so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

And He has given to Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.”

John 5:24-27

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

And Jesus desires each one of us to hear and believe His Words of Grace and Truth:

I died for your sins. I alone could do this. I Am GOD. You are forgiven. You are free of all blame and all shame. I bore it all for your freedom!

I have eternal life to give you. I alone could do this. I Am GOD. You need never fear death again. I swallowed it up in full victory. Death cannot hold my children—you who believe in me. I have already rescued you from death and brought you into the promised eternal life with Me!

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

You have a choice to make. We all have a choice to make about Jesus.

Believe the message of Jesus and receive the salvation and eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ alone.

HOW? Ask Jesus, even now, to be your Savior. Let God know that you believe that Jesus is His Son who died for your sins and rose from the dead to give you eternal life.

God loves you so much. Your Heavenly Father wants you to hear and believe; God wants you to be set free from the power of sin and the judgment of death.

God wants you to know the total forgivess that Jesus alone offers and the hope and joy of eternal life with the Soverereign and Holy God of all creation!

Believe. And thank God for hearing your confession of faith in Jesus as your Savior. Tell someone about your decision to trust in Jesus for your forgiveness and eternal life!

Welcome Home, precious one, Welcome Home!

 JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

There is a series of commercials that list the price of all kinds of things, e.g.:

Cruise for 2: $2300; Snorkeling Excursion: $150; Rental Snorkel Gear for the Excursion: $75…then, the punch line: Pictures of each other in Snorkel Gear: Priceless!

It seems that it is always about the Relationship Factor—no matter what the commercial is about—that the word Priceless is unltimately used.

And that is true of our God’s love. Not only is it PRICELESS, God’s love is also available to all people…no matter what our station in life may be…or what state any of our other circumstances and relationships may be in at the time.

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:7

God’s love is unfailing when so much around us and within us fails. And that is Priceless!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

This is the day the LORD has made let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

For the last five days Tim and I were in Florida with Mom and Dad Mack at Grandma’s Grove RV park where they live from early fall to early summer in a community made up almost entirely of retired, senior citizen,  snow birds.

Our normal pace slowed down considerably as we entered intimately into Mom and Dad’s world. Most of our time was spent enjoying each other as we sat and talked together, shared meals, snacks and tea together (okay, mostly strong coffee for me).

We met up with a number of their friends for their traditional Friday Fried-Fish Dinner (Tim and I chose the broiled version) at a local restaurant where they all knew the owner, chef and waitresses by name. On Saturday, after helping Mom and Dad out with chores that our younger (though still AARP card-carrying) bodies could more easily do, we joined up with their more intimate group of friends for their Saturday Game Night. 

On Sunday we worshipped together at their local church enjoying the music, the message from God’s Word and the caring community that surrounds them…and takes the time to share in each others’ joys and each others’ heart-breaks. After the service Mom, Dad, Tim and I traveled a little over an hour so that we could visit with three of our teenage nephews (their grandsons!) over lunch and ice-cream. 

Nothing that we did was out of the ordinary during those five days. But what we did was so important for our bodies and souls and our relationships with those we love so very much.

We slowed down to fully embrace this precious time with Mom and Dad…and they did with us. All of us took time to recognize the gift of each moment we had been given by our God to share with each other. We took time to give thanks for the day…for the days…that the LORD had made for us. And we rejoiced. And were glad in it…in every single one of them!!! 

And today I am rejoicing with and for Mom and Dad Mack as they celebrate 58 years of marriage—which have been made up of approximately 21,184 days, leap year days included—all given to them by the LORD! 

None of us really know how many days the LORD will give to us or to those we love. So, I pray that today we each will choose to be thankful and choose to love on someone a little better, a little more fully in this day…for this is the day the LORD has made!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

There is no fear in courageous people…There is no fear in mentally healthy people…There is no fear in people who have an easy life…There is no fear in anybody else as much as there is in me…No! No! No!

 There is no fear in LOVE.

But perfect love drives out fear,

because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

GOD IS LOVE.

 1 John 4:8, 16

There is no fear in love.

Perfect love drives out fear.

Fear is concerned about punishment.

I’m not perfected in God’s love if I fear.

God is love.

Five powerful, clear statements in just two Scripture verses in the same chapter of God’s Word. Five powerful, clear statements that as a believer in Jesus—with the belief that God speaks His truth, His living and active Word to me through the Bible—I have to contend with on a personal basis.

Do I truly believe that no matter what has happened in my life, may be happening right now or is yet to happen that I do not have to fear? At all?

Do I believe that God, who is love, truly loves me and is truly in control of all of my circumstances? And since God is in control, I don’t have to fear even when I am not in control? Do I really believe this?

And what about my own sins? Do I believe in God, who is love, to have full mercy on me no matter what I have done? Do I believe that God will not punish me because Jesus has taken the full punishment for my sins? Yes, there may be earthly consequences, and even embarrassing, humiliating circumstances I may experience because of the sin choices I have made. But! Do I really believe that no matter what I may experience—even if it feels like punishment (because I hate to be embarrassed or humiliated!)—that in God’s perfect love there is no room for fear?

And if I am fearing, will I face the truth that it is really because I am not letting God be God?

Human fear is often still an attempt to control the situation. We play out the scenarios that we see coming at us. We won’t trust that God sees what we cannot. And we too often forget that God loves us…that God is love…and that God’s perfect love will drive out our fears. If we will let God be God!

Our human fear may also move us to try to keep our circumstances hidden and covered. We’re afraid of people finding out that we are frail, flawed and finite. We’re afraid that they may turn their backs on us, reject, ridicule us or make our life a living hell filled with shame. I’m not saying that other frail, flawed and finite people won’t do that to us.  All of those things have been done to me at one time or another.

But! God never changed His love for me. God never changed His view of me. God calls each of us to be real and not fearful of being found out! God calls each of us to humble ourselves so that His perfect love may drive out the fear of humiliation that may unjustly and cruelly come from others.

We are to be conformed to the image of Christ. Not consumed with preserving our own image.

May God’s perfect love drive out all fear in each of us so that we may be fuller, freer vessels of our Living, Loving, Holy Lord Jesus Christ! Amen and Amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

There is nothing weak about love. There is nothing frail, flawed or finite about love.  

There is nothing weak about our God. There are no frailities or flaws in our all powerful Eternal God.

God cannot fail. God will not fail. Neither will God’s love.

We each must decide if we really believe this. As an individual, we each need to answer: Do I really believe that God’s love will never fail me? That God’s love really is BIG enough to heal all of my wounds? That God’s love is BIG enough to strenghten me in every way and in every circumstance I need to be strengthened? That God’s love is BIG enough to forgive me and transform me?

If our answer is, “Yes, I do believe this,” then, you and I must answer this question: What am I going to do about it?  How will I think differently, speak differently, act differently if I truly believe that God’s love will never fail?

God’s love does indeed have the final word over all of our human brokenness, failure, sin, shame  and suffering. And that word through Jesus is: Victory!

Love never fails.   I Corinthians 13:8

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Love intentionally chooses to hope even when our circumstances seem hopeless. Love intentionally perseveres through our most difficult, confusing, drudgery-filled, and painful times of life.

Why? How? Because of Who the source of our love, hope and perseverence is!

Our God is the God of hope. There is nothing that God’s love cannot transform and work out for our good according to His eternal purposes.

Our God is strong enough to walk us through the darkest, loneliest, most confusing days of our lives. God’s love is mighty enough to carry us when we’re not sure we can take another step. 

God’s love lifts our spirits with His hope and strengthens us to persevere victoriously in ways we never could have imagined.

Love always hopes, Love always perseveres. I Corinthians 13:7

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane