The After-Oakdale Chronicles

TODAY IS…

an excellent day to stand on the side of good.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Romans 12:21 NASB

Let’s face it, there are many of us who have come to Christ after spending many years in conflict, believing that standing with evil was where we were happy, where we were comfortable, and where we had fun.

We offered many different reasons for not believing that we are, indeed, children of God and that He placed us in this world He created, a world for which there are simply no adequate words with which to describe its majesty, wonder and beauty. Many of us lived our lives believing that “life just happens” and that while alive we could say, do, and think anything we liked.

It was easy to rationalize, justify, and excuse our behavior. It was not difficult to refuse to accept that the reason for our being created in the first place was to love one another, care for this world He created and for one another, and to worship God and use the time given us in this life to prepare for the everlasting life promised to us.

Many of us found it remarkably easy to accept the message of the evil one, who was telling us that we were foolish to believe a loving and benevolent God. After all, where is He when children die of starvation around the world? Where is He when human monsters roam the earth preying upon the weak, the young, and the elderly? Where is He when loved ones of ours die in accidents or when our children succumb to cancer or some other disease that He could have prevented?

Fortunately, at some point, we discovered, deep within – right where God placed it upon our birth – the ability to see the truth. We discovered the ability to deny the constant pressure placed upon us all to continue listening to the lies that would keep us from enjoying our time on earth and using it in the manner our Creator desired.

We discovered the salvation that was offered to us all when Jesus Christ fulfilled the promises of long, long ago. We experienced the joy; the sense of relief; the feeling of belonging to something beautiful, glorious, and uplifting.

We became part of a family. God’s family. And from that point forward, we have accepted the responsibility that comes with being a member of that family.

And the responsibility is this: We must conquer evil by doing good.

We must love others in the same way that Jesus Christ demonstrated His love for us. We must cast off the evil that speaks to us daily telling us to judge this person or hate that person. As Christians, we must remember that each one of us was forgiven when we asked for forgiveness no matter how solidly we had stood with evil before we accepted the glory of living in the goodness that is God.

Therefore, we must forgive others and welcome them into the family.

This is difficult for some of us, because we tend to think another person’s offenses are worse than ours. In addition, we sometimes question another person’s sincerity when they say they are tired of listening to the evil one and wish to now open their heart and their mind to God.

But we must resist the temptation to think like that.

There is no fence to straddle between good and evil. A wall separates them. If we allow even a little evil to occupy our hearts, then we are standing on the wrong side of that wall and we need to quickly step around it and stand firmly on the side of good.

Use the gift of this day to take a good look at which side of the wall you are standing on, and if you find you’re not standing where you should be, that’s OK.

Because today is an excellent day to change sides.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the ideal day to thank God for His gift of resilience.

“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven!’”  Matthew 18:22 NIV

That answer was given by Jesus to Peter when he asked Jesus how often he should forgive someone.

Jesus could only answer one way because He knew that the capacity of God’s forgiveness knew no limits. But this limitless forgiveness of the wrongs that we do to each other, to ourselves and to God is just part of the resilience that He equips each of us with at birth.

While all of us succumb to earthly temptations in varying degrees throughout our lives, God has placed within us a tremendous capability to bounce back. This resilience that God gives us is also helpful in times of tragedy, sorrow and misfortune, but to utilize this resilience in its most effective way, we must look to God for the spark that will ignite it.

God insists that we all worship Him and love one another. With the temptations and dangers that humanity creates and surrounds us with, He knows how difficult it can be for us sometimes. But just as we encourage our children to get up when they fall, God encourages us to do the same.

The path of righteousness often seems narrower than we would like and it can be quite easy to veer off it just by looking away for a moment. Thanks to the gift of resilience that comes from the gracious goodness that is the Father, we can get right back on it and continue to move forward. This is not a board game where we are penalized and have to start over or lose a turn.

The resilience that God has filled us with is useful in other aspects of our lives as well, not just when we sin, give in to temptation or wander off the Lord’s path.

When tragedy enters our life through the death of a loved one; when we lose a job and are not sure what we are going to do; when we experience lethargy or depression – in any situation where we may falter, God’s forgiveness, God’s strength and God’s love are there in the gift of resilience to help us bounce back time and time again.

How many times?

Seventy times seven, and then some. God doesn’t count and neither should we. Each of us should thank Him for His gracious gift of resilience and remind others that they have the gift as well.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a good day to bear in mind that not everything is good for you.

“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’ – but not everything is good for you. You say ‘I am allowed to do anything’ – but not everything is beneficial.”  1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT

We all need guidelines for decision-making and Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is filled with sage advice on questions to consider when making decisions that may be sensitive or affect another person, particularly a Christian who is new to the faith.

Strengthening the faith of another believer should always play an important role in decisions we make. Paul sets the example when he writes, “I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33b NLT).

Paul gives instruction for introducing others to the Good News throughout his letter. He stresses the need for making the other person or persons feel accepted; making them feel equal; and exercising caution and sensitivity in our attitude toward others in order that we don’t come across as thinking we know everything.

Paul also stressed that while we have freedom in Christ, we should never place our freedom above that of another. This is a critical aspect of maturing as Christians. Far too often in today’s world, people living in a free society mistakenly think that their rights and freedoms come before those of anyone else. While we have the right to do as we please, exercising that right should never harm another person or deny them their rights.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to consider the effects of our actions on others.

Our responsibility to others should be the most important thing to us – more important than our own freedom. God’s glory is the most important thing of all and everything we do should reflect that.

We need not become overly sensitive to what others may think, but it is a part of good Christian action to consider the feelings of others, especially those new to the faith.

Many of us can remember our nervousness as new Christians.

There is a lot to absorb; a lot to learn; a lot to reflect on that can be almost overwhelming at first. It is our responsibility to listen, to support and to encourage new believers and doing so requires patience and consideration.

Doing something that is your legal right to do is wrong if it creates a problem for another person. This is just another way of reminding all of us to look out for others.

It is what God expects of us, so it should be what we expect of ourselves.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

an ideal day for God to tell you a secret.

“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3 NASB

God knows what we are going to say before we say it, what we are going to do before we do it, what we are going to think before we think it.

Well then, He certainly must know when we are about to say, think or do something that we shouldn’t or that will get us in trouble or cause us to harm ourselves or others, right?

Then why doesn’t He step in and prevent all the negative things from occurring in our lives? At the very least, why doesn’t He tell us what to do to prevent all of the negative things from occurring?

Actually, He will do both, but not without our asking.

And after we have asked comes the hard part: we have to listen to Him, and then we must obey Him. This is where the problem comes in for many of us. Far too often we develop a sense of entitlement and we simply expect things of God because we think we are leading the lives of good Christians. Because of that, God should step in and solve all of our problems and prevent us from doing harm to ourselves and others.

We become complacent and fail to recognize our duty to ask of God what we seek. This is our acknowledgement of need. When we admit to God that we cannot do things without His help, then we humble ourselves before Him. Like the proverbial proud male driver who is lost and will not stop and ask for directions, far too many of God’s children think that this thing we call life is easy and that we can negotiate our own way through it without Him.

To a certain degree, this is true. We can get through life without God. The question is, without God, where will we wind up at the end of this life?

There is also the quality of the journey through life to consider. While many of us may take the gifts and abilities given to us at birth and build a comfortable life for ourselves with many wondrous things around us to amuse ourselves and our friends, if we do not ask God how to use what He has given us for His glory, our lives will be empty, unfulfilling, and lead us to disappointment in the end.

The tragedy is that we won’t even know it until it is too late.

Avoiding tragedy is simple: ask God to light your way, point out the pitfalls blocking your path and show you how to make the most of the life and the talents He has given you and He will reveal “…remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” (Jeremiah 33:3 NLT).

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the perfect day to live for God.

“Your approval means nothing to Me…” John 5:41 NLT

After the Jewish leaders became upset with Jesus over their claims that He had violated the Sabbath rules, He inflamed them further by chastising them. They were enraged. After all, they were the Jewish leaders. Ordinary people feared them and did not dare talk back to them or tell them they were wrong.

But Jesus Christ was no ordinary man.

He was sent here by God to do the will of God. He was not sent here to win the approval of men – even the leaders of the Jewish people. Jesus was sent here to do the work of God and it was only God’s approval that He was concerned with.

And so it is with each one of us as we go through our daily lives. If we have the approval of everyone around us, but we don’t have the approval of God, then we are missing the point of being a Christian.

As society moves toward increased permissiveness and decreased morality, it becomes difficult for us to remember sometimes that just because something is legal or accepted by society doesn’t mean it meets with God’s approval. We can try to justify certain behaviors and actions all we want, but when we are honest with ourselves, we can always be sure of what God will or will not approve. If we are walking consciously on the path that God will illuminate for each one of His children who asks, it is easy to discern when we have the approval of the only One who should matter.

An interesting point to remember is this: it is possible to have the approval of ordinary men, even those in the highest of public positions, and still not have the approval of God. At the same time, if we have the approval of God, then our behavior should garner the approval of any person on earth.

One sure way to gain universal acceptance is to live a life that has God’s approval. No one can ever fault an individual who treats everyone with kindness. No one can ever find fault with someone who demonstrates genuine compassion and concern for his or her brothers and sisters.

Read the Word of God, follow its simple concepts, pray to God for His guidance and ask Him to illuminate the path you should walk and you will be on your way to having His approval.

And God’s approval is all you need.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

an excellent day to run and not grow weary.

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

It is impossible to make it from one end of this earthly life to the other without times when we feel alone, abused, abandoned, tired or uncertain. God is the only One who never tires and whose strength is never diminished.

It is important to remember to turn toward God when we feel the weakest and are the most susceptible to the temptations and negative influences of the world. At times, this may be particularly difficult to do, especially in those instances where we may allow the notion that God has forgotten about us to creep into our minds. Sometimes it takes effort – but we must make the effort – to remind ourselves that God’s love is powerful and always present.

“How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God!” (Psalm 36:7a NIV).

The key word there is “unfailing.” God’s love never fails us, it never waivers, and it never drifts away from us for even a moment. It is only our own human weakness and insecurity that causes us to feel helpless at times and those feelings of helplessness may cause us to lose sight of the love of the Lord if we are not careful.

We only need to reach out to be replenished and reassured for, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” (Isaiah 40:29 NLT).

It is when we are anxious that we must relax; it is when we feel the slightest bit of doubt that we must trust; and it is when we are the most tired that we must look to the Lord for the strength to, “mount up with wings like eagles.”

Many of the crushing pressures that we feel upon us are placed there by ourselves.

We have a tendency to drift from God and put ourselves in a position where we think we can go it alone. We place our hopes and our dreams on things of the earth that have little or no consequence when compared to the everlasting life with God that awaits us.

When this happens, we begin to slow down; to drag; to feel the burdens we have placed upon ourselves.

Now is the time to ask God to relieve us of our burdens; to recharge us with His love; and to send us forward for His purpose with new strength.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a wonderful day to see what is written on your heart.

“I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart.”  Psalm 40:8 NLT

Jesus made it abundantly clear on many occasions that He was put on this earth notto do as He wanted, but as God wanted. Indeed, He called doing the work of God the very source of His nourishment. “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.’” (John 4:34 NIV).

Jesus knew what He had to do and He knew how to go about doing it, for all He needed to know was written in His heart. Those instructions are written on ours as well and all we need do is open our hearts and examine what was placed there by God before we were born.

How do we go about examining something that is locked within our bodies? By unlocking it, of course, and the key is the Holy Bible.

By reading the Word of God and by paying special attention to the life and the death of Jesus Christ, we will reveal what is secreted at the very core of each one of us. We will discover our humanity and we will come to know the power that God has placed within us.

By following the examples of Christ as they are revealed in the Bible, we will discover a hunger that can only be satisfied by service to the One who gave us life on this earth and sent His only son to die in order to give us everlasting life when we have completed our own assignments here.

Daily examination of the Bible will keep us spiritually nourished and will reveal to us what was written on our own hearts before we ever existed.

Read carefully what is written there and enthusiastically heed the message to serve God by serving those around you. When you make God’s will your will, you demonstrate comprehension of what is written.

When you comprehend what is written in the Bible, you will discover what is written on your heart.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the perfect day to thank God for His patience.

“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant and patient God is with you?”  Romans 2:4a NLT

Each one of us should thank God each day for His tolerant patience.

He is the perfect Father as He keeps watch over us as if we were small children learning to walk and talk. In many ways we are, but fortunately for us the lessons He wants us to learn are taught with a patience that is far beyond our ability to comprehend.

It is important that we do not mistake God’s kindness, tolerance and forgiveness for weakness or approval of our behavior when we do things we know we shouldn’t.

The lessons of the Holy Bible are quite simple when we think about it, for the main themes of love, kindness, and looking out for one another are repeated time and time again. Our obligation to praise God and worship Him for all that we have should be something we do eagerly and with enthusiasm, so if there is anything complicated or burdensome about our relationship with God, it is more likely centered on a lack of understanding of God’s ability – and willingness – to wait for us to learn the lessons He wants us to learn.

We may have a tendency now and then to think that something we do is acceptable in God’s eyes because He waits so patiently for us to learn that it is not.

When our actions are acceptable to God, we will know it. The absence of any kind of guilt is one way and the absence of any need to justify our actions will be another.

God is patient, but He is not blind. He is tolerant and forgiving but He cannot be fooled.

Be thankful that He is the way He is and pay close attention to the gentle (and, sometimes, not so gentle) signs He will give as He helps you learn the lessons He is trying to teach.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a good day to learn from past mistakes.

“The Israelites had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua, son of Nun.”  Nehemiah 8:17b NLT

When we make God an important part of our day, we demonstrate a desire to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us.

The Old Testament shows us repeatedly how the Israelites would drift away from the way God instructed them to live until their behavior was so far removed from what God wanted that He would become angry and punish them. As humans are apt to do, they would then ask for another chance and God, being the pillar of love, compassion and forgiveness that He is, would always provide the opportunity they sought to correct their behavior.

Things would go along well for a while, but eventually the pattern would repeat itself. People would cut corners in their lives and devote less time to prayer, meditation and worship and inevitably behavior that was not of the Lord’s liking would slowly return.

How much simpler their lives would have been if expressing their love of God was the last corner they cut in their lives instead of the first.

And so it is today with many of us. Our lives become too focused on what we need in this life that we forget that the purpose of this life is to ready us for an eternal life with God.

Prayer, meditation and worship should be as automatic to us each day as breathing. The Word of God is as important to our spiritual health as the food we eat is to our physical health. When we have properly learned from the mistakes of those who have gone before us, we are as hungry for the Word of God as we are for any food we can think of.

Of all the things that can be adjusted in our schedules; of all of the things we do that consume the minutes that make up the hours of our days, asking for His guidance, His wisdom and His strength should be the most important to us.

Learn from the lessons taught in the Holy Bible.

Make God an unchangeable, unshakeable and non-negotiable part of each day of your life.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

an ideal day to “Go and sin no more.”

“She said, ‘No man, Lord.’ And Jesus said unto her, ‘Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.’”  John 8:11 KJV

The gift of forgiveness is not a license to do whatever we wish.

It is an act of love for which we should be grateful and it should have an impact upon us that creates change within us. As long as we are of this earth, we can never be perfect, but our conscious goal each day should be to, “sin no more.”

When the woman who had been caught in an act of adultery was brought to Jesus in the temple, He knew that the religious teachers were trying to trap Him. When He agreed that according to the Law of Moses she should be stoned, He said simply, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” (John 8:7b NLT).

When He looked around and discovered that all her accusers had slipped away, Jesus told the woman to go. He did not condemn her, but He did not condone her sin.

He forgave her and sent her on her way with a clear admonition to sin no more.

It is important that we all come to terms with this admonition. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God gave us the gift of forgiveness and it certainly must be God’s intention that we ask for forgiveness when we have allowed ourselves to succumb to the temptations that surround us in our daily lives. Once we have asked for forgiveness, we must ask the Lord to provide us with the strength to “sin no more.”

We must endeavor to seek a change within our hearts that will strengthen our love for God, for ourselves and for those around us and will ultimately cause us to ask God for strength to resist a particular temptation before the need arises to ask for forgiveness.

Being sin-free just may be beyond our human reach, but there is a saying that goes, “If you aim for the stars, you just might hit the moon.”

So set your sights on a sin-free life. If you live to “sin no more,” God will certainly not be disappointed with the result.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson