The After-Oakdale Chronicles

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

TODAY IS…

the day God wants you to take all He wants to give.

“’Test Me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”  Malachi 3:10b NIV

The Bible is rich with references to the gifts that God wishes to share with us.

It is truly ironic that so many of us work so hard in this life for things which have relatively little meaning or importance and ignore the wealth awaiting us if we are only willing to do as instructed by God, which is nothing, really, compared to what we do each day for our employers.

What are some of the treasures that await us when the floodgates of heaven open? A joyful heart; contentment that is hard to conceptualize; new friends in Christ who add immeasurable value to our lives, and countless others. Many priceless gifts have already been given to us and we simply fail to recognize them, appreciate their significance, or thank God daily for them.

At the top of this list would be Jesus Christ.

God has already given us the greatest gift we could ever ask for or expect to receive – the gift of redemption and restoration through the sacrifice of His son. If that isn’t enough, God added the gift of eternal life. And not just any life. No, this gift of eternal life will be the perfect life that is the reward for accepting the gift of sacrifice given by Jesus.

The more gifts we accept from God, the more He wants to give us, and all of His gifts to us should fill us with a burning desire to share our gifts with others.

As the floodgates of heaven open and we are overwhelmed with blessings, we will find it necessary to share them with others simply to make room for more.

Some of us find the concept of sharing God’s gifts in order to receive still more a difficult one to understand. But when we remember the masses that Jesus fed, it is easy to believe that no matter how much God gives us, He will always have more to give.

So accept all of the love, joy, goodness, kindness and peace that God wants to give you. Accept the gift of salvation His loving hands hold out to us all.

And as fast as God gives His gifts to you, pass them on to others and allow Him to give you still more.

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

TODAY IS…

a good day to think about the spiritual side of retirement.

“They shall bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing.”  Psalm 92:14 NKJV

Doctors say that staying mentally and physically active is good for our health and is particularly important when we reach retirement age.

For too many of us, our work consumes so much of our time and energy that when it is time to retire, we feel useless and unneeded; lost in ourselves; unable to function. For while we may have planned financially for our retirement, many of us have neglected to plan spiritually for our retirement.

This is truly something that must be done because it will give new breath to older lives as our time, wisdom, patience and spiritual maturity all come together to work for good as we work for God. Not only will we be refreshed, recharged, renewed and restored, the positive impact we can have on others our age, our communities, our churches, and on our children and grandchildren will enhance our remaining time on this earth.

A spiritual plan for retirement may not add years to our lives (although it is quite possible that it could), but it will certainly add life to those years.

“When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, ‘You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.’” (Joshua 13:1 NLT).

At the time God said this, Joshua was between 85 and 100 years old! God wasn’t done with him and if we make ourselves available to Him, there will be plenty of work for us to do as well. With people being people, sin being sin, and the devil being the devil, we need not worry about whether or not there will be work for us when we retire.

The only question will be, “Have we spiritually prepared to do the work?”

The answer, of course, will be “Yes!” if we start today building ourselves spiritually.

And how do we do that?

It’s quite simple really: Get involved, be involved and stay involved in the spiritual health and growth of yourself, your family, your friends and your church. Start making “deposits” into your spiritual “bank” today and when your time comes to retire, you’ll be able to make “withdrawals” and use them to do God’s work.

Your regular investments will pay off in your ability to make a positive difference in the lives of those around you and your golden years will prove to be rewarding in ways you had never dreamed.

Retirement should only mean that now we are ready to go to work full time – for God.

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

TODAY IS…

the day to see what we believe.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  Psalm 27:13 NIV

When Jesus returns to earth, everyone will be able to see Him. It won’t matter whether we believe or not. When He comes for the final judgment of the world, all of us will know who He is and why He is here.

“’Look, He is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.’” (Revelation 1:7a NIV).

But why wait?

St. Augustine said, “Faith is believing what we do not see and the reward for this kind of faith is to see what we believe.”

We must all learn to “see” with our hearts, through the “eyes” of our faith. We must all grow in our love for God and each other until all that is before us is the beauty that God created and the glory of the gift of His love.

God is everywhere we look.

He is in every breath that we take.

He is in the sun that warms us, gives us light and helps things grow.

He is in the stars that are revealed to us when it is dark, that enable us to be awed at the vastness of all that He created.

And it is, “By faith we understand the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible.” (Hebrews 11:3 NIV).

Our faith will let us see God in everyone we meet.

It will help us look beyond the pain of the world we live in to the promise of the world to come.

Faith is the knowledge that every new day is a gift from God and is full of opportunities to praise Him, to worship Him, to glorify His name and to serve Him.

We could do none of these things without faith, and the reward for that faith is the opening of our hearts that will let us face each new day in this life with the knowledge that when we open our eyes, God will be everywhere we look.

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

TODAY IS…

a wonderful day to love your enemies.

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Luke 6:27-28 NASB

Not everything that God expects of us comes easily.

Sometimes, as in the case of loving our enemies, or those who have wronged us, the expectation is met with something less than enthusiasm. In fact, we often have a desire to do the exact opposite.

Jonah was that way.

God wanted to use him to warn the people of Nineveh that their wickedness had not escaped God’s notice and appropriate punishment was headed their way if they did not change. Jonah so hated them that, instead of departing Jerusalem and heading east toward Nineveh as God wanted, he boarded a ship that was headed to the west.

“But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3a NLT).

This did not please God, of course, and He set upon the ship a deadly storm that threatened the lives of all on board. Jonah was discovered to be the cause of the storm and was thrown overboard. While the seas became calm once again for those on the ship, Jonah’s troubles were far from over.

God had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah, whereupon Jonah had three days and three nights to reflect upon his insistence to disobey God’s wishes. When the fish spit him out onto the beach, Jonah decided the best thing to do would be to go to Nineveh and warn them as God had wanted.

After Jonah warned the city, the inhabitants changed their ways and God decided not to destroy them. This angered Jonah. He could not understand why God would want to save the 120,000 people who lived lives that displeased Him. Jonah could not take joy in his part in saving them, so convinced he was of his own righteousness and the fact that they deserved destruction for their evil ways.

How could God not deliver the punishment Jonah felt they deserved?

God will punish but He is first, and foremost, a merciful God and He expects us to be merciful as well. It is easy to love those who return our love. It is much more difficult to be generous with our compassion and our kindness toward those who have wronged us or who exhibit hate toward others.

The instructions of Jesus leave no room for equivocation or misinterpretation.

“You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:36 NLT).

Jesus asks of us nothing more than to follow His example.

The right thing for us to do is not always the easiest, but if it is the Lord’s wish, it most definitely should be ours as well.

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