The After-Oakdale Chronicles

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

TODAY IS…

the ideal day to think about the power of one.

“For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”  Romans 5:19 NASB

There is certainly no questioning the awesome power of God.

At the same time, God wants us to know that individuals can be extremely powerful and wield great influence over others on this earth. He is aware that this influence can be a positive one or a negative one. The Bible stresses the importance of being a positive influence and that is what we should all strive for in our time in this world.

Unfortunately, many good people underestimate the power of one, so let’s take a look at just how powerful “one” can be.

One man’s disobedience brought condemnation down on the entire world. Adam’s sin paved the way for all of the hate, anger, dishonesty, sexual immorality, separation from God and death that mankind has experienced since.

Fortunately, God also gave us Jesus Christ and through Christ’s obedience we have love, joy, peace, compassion, a restored relationship with God and eternal life.

Although none of us can claim the distinction of being the first human being created by God or the Son of God given to the world to save it from itself, each one of us has the ability to demonstrate to the rest of the world our desire to make a difference.

That difference may not be as extreme or affect every living being on the planet, as in the case of Adam or Jesus Christ, but we can still show those around us that we can – and do – have a positive Christian impact and they can too.

If we reach out in fellowship to others and encourage them to do the same, we will prove just how powerful “one” can be.

When Adam sinned, he brought sin into the world. Its impact is evident throughout the world on a daily basis. Our duty as Christians is to simply do our part to eliminate it, to deny it the fertile soil of darkness it needs to grow, and to spread the Word of God to others so that they, too, can experience the power of one.

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

TODAY IS…

the perfect day to work on a home worthy of God.

“But who can really build Him a worthy home?”  2 Chronicles 2:6a NLT

As we all know, God cannot be contained within any dwelling of any size.

Solomon acknowledged this fact but humbly accepted the task of doing his best to build a place of worship. Ninety feet long, thirty feet wide and thirty feet high, the gold used just to overlay the interior of the temple weighed “600 talents”, which calculates out to 46,000 pounds.

But does God require such a place?

What good is a fine temple overlaid with gold if the quality of the faith, the reverence and love of those who go there to worship is not equal to its value? At the same time, if the spirit of worship is vibrant and the love of God is obvious through the worshipers’ love of their fellow man, does it matter if the place of worship is a barn or a backyard or a storefront in a strip mall?

If the home built for God is lined with gold but inhabited by individuals more concerned with the value of their building than the value of the hearts in the building, then of what value is the building itself to God? Is it really a worthy place in which to ask Him to bless those who worship there?

If the walls were made of wood and the hearts of those who worshiped there used the gold to feed the hungry and house the homeless, would God not consider this to be a worthy place to call home?

Comfortable, welcoming, and functional are words that do not translate to expensive, flashy or ostentatious. Money spent on unnecessary adornments or luxuries is money not spent to do the work of God here on earth.

Do not judge a place of worship by its appearance or by the quality of the cars in the parking lot on Sunday. Find out about the work its members perform in God’s name and the prudent and effective use of the funds that are raised.

We wouldn’t want to donate $100 to a charity that spent $99 on administrative costs would we? So why would we spend money given to do God’s work on gold to impress God when God really cares less about what is on the walls than what is in our hearts.

The foundation of a home worthy of God begins in a person’s heart. A close relationship with God will help us learn how to build on that foundation and produce a home that is truly worthy of God.

Today is a gift from God. Use it to build such a place.

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

TODAY IS…

a day for thinking about the reasons for God’s silence.

“For God watches how people live; He sees everything they do.”  Job 34:21 NLT

Far too often we have a habit of exhibiting impatience with God.

We think we are doing the right thing in the right way. We worship God regularly in a spirit of joy and fellowship with other Christians. We read the Bible daily and meditate on its message. We pray for forgiveness for our transgressions and we thank God for all He does. We ask for His help and His guidance. We plead for His mercy and His blessing.

Yes, we do all the right things in the right way and… God is silent.

Sometimes we feel as if we are standing alone, left to fend for ourselves. Our weaknesses as human beings allow our minds to conjure up images of abandonment. We may allow ourselves to become jealous, thinking that He loves others more than He loves us and is giving them more of His time. We ask repeatedly for answers and are met with silence.

What are we doing wrong?

Perhaps we are not doing anything wrong at all. Quite possibly, we are doing everything right and God is pleased with us and is simply taking care of another person’s crisis or emergency.

God never abandons us, so we must get that idea out of our heads immediately. God is with us always and He is constantly watching us and listening to our prayers.

He could also be answering us and the clutter of our own insecurities is preventing us from hearing Him.

Sometimes we need to do two things that do not come very easily to some of us: We must be still, and we must be patient. In today’s world, things happen faster and faster than ever before. We want what we want and we want it now.

But we can all take this advice from David, who wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1 NIV).

And we must always remind ourselves of the words from Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know I am God.”

God sees us and God hears us. If we wait quietly and patiently, we just might find that He is trying to speak to us.

And if we don’t hear Him right away?

Just wait a little longer. God is there and He will speak when He is ready. Our responsibility is to make sure we are listening. Be still, and be patient.

Sometimes the silence isn’t silence at all.

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

the ideal day to expect the unexpected.

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush.”  Exodus 3:2a NKJV

When our faith is strong we know to expect wonderful things from God. This is completely in keeping with what the Bible teaches us.

“They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty – and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.” (Psalm 145:5 NIV).

But the Bible also demonstrates the ability of God to surprise us in how He makes Himself and His will known to us. Therefore, we should always be prepared and expect the unexpected from Him.

It seems reasonable to imagine that Moses was surprised on the mountain when confronted by the burning bush that was not destroyed by the flames. It is just as reasonable to imagine that Moses was even more surprised when the voice of God came from within the flames. Fortunately for the people of Israel, Moses listened and obeyed in spite of the unexpected method that God chose to inform him of his destiny.

When God called to Samuel while he was sleeping in the tabernacle, he assumed it was Eli calling out to him.

“Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.” (1 Samuel 3:7 NLT).

Although it surprised Samuel that it was God speaking to him, he did not question the reason once Eli, in his wisdom, told him who it was calling him and how to respond.

There was also Paul who prayed to be able to visit Rome in order to help the Romans grow spiritually. God did answer Paul’s prayers and he finally arrived in Rome, but it was as a prisoner. Even that didn’t happen until Paul had been shipwrecked and bitten by a poisonous snake, among other things.

Paul’s trip to Rome did happen, although certainly not in the manner that he had expected.

For hundreds of years, those who believed in God looked forward to the Messiah that God had promised. When it was revealed to the world that Jesus of Nazareth was the one who had been sent to save all of mankind, many were disappointed. That unassuming, kind, gentle son of a carpenter was certainly not what they were expecting from the creator of heaven and earth.

It is not for us to always know, nor is it for us to question, the reasons and methods of God. It is only for us to have complete faith that everything He does has a purpose.

God shows Himself through unexpected means, to unexpected people, answers prayers in unexpected ways and gave the world an unexpected savior.

Perhaps it is a wise thing, where almighty God is concerned, to always expect the unexpected.

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