Please Him

8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

As Christians, being persecuted is obviously much different today then it was in the Bible. They were mocked, beaten, and murdered (many times very brutally as to make an example of them). So I am sure, they were especially ready to go be with Jesus. They also, made it clear that they were not out to please man, but to please God.

But, still we need to be prepared for death. After all it is the thing that lingers in the back of our minds as to how and when it might come. Its definite. The fact is is though, we are ‘away” from home now. So the goal should be to please Him. I would like to remind you that pleasing Him is not something we can earn. We do not get to check off a list of things so that at the end of the day we can look at the list and say, yep did this this and this….God should be pleased. No, His grace is sufficient for us. He sent His only son to die on a cross so that the law would be fulfilled.

So how do we please Him? By living with the power of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what I mean, when I am connected to the vine, I am bearing fruit. I can only bear fruit because of Him and His spirit. So, pleasing Him is letting the spirit abide in us so that we have these characteristics:

• Belief
• A repentant heart
• Love
• A servant heart
• Joy
• A yearning to spread the gospel
• Faith
• Forgiveness

I am sure as you read this list you can think of a few characteristics yourself to add. Thats great. What if as men in the trenches, we decided to live our lives with the Holy Spirit guiding our every step? Don’t you think our world would be different? I do, and I think God would be pleased.

with love, dlp

M.I.T.T.

Psalm 23 breakdown

I love this passage of scripture and the simple 1 word beauty of what each verse means.

Thank you Lord for your presence, promises and power! May we all be transformed and live for your glory!

Seeking Humility and Wisdom

Proverbs 11:2
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.

Pastors, it is your day!

The interesting thing about life is that failure is a great teacher. We have all failed, but it was a waste of time if we didn’t learn from that failure. It is also a waste of time if we don’t teach others from our failures.

Additionally, we need to learn to listen to those more experienced than we are to learn from their failures. We don’t know everything and pretending to know everything is a recipe for disaster.

Seek wisdom and be willing to learn. Seek to help others so that they may learn, as well.

Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

A Reminder of Sorts

Romans 13:1
Submission to Governing Authorities
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

In no way is this a political post. I have no desire to offend anyone, I just want to address the unrest that I have seen or heard about due to recent legislation.

Remember that all of our government officials have been established by God. We will all be on both sides of various issues as we continue on our journey of life.

In my lifetime, it seems that half of the people have been happy with the elections or the policies or the decisions and half weren’t happy. No matter which side we may fall on, keep the above scripture in mind.

Make it a great day in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

He is Good

I heard a a great quote off the radio the other night while I was walking through my house. “Satan always understates the goodness of God and always overstates the judgment of God.” I am pretty sure it was Dr. David Jeremiah.

Have you ever had those false feelings or lies creep into your mind? For me it usual feels like a question…can God really exist? Did He really create all of this? Does He really love us? Did He really send His Son to die on a cross for us?

On the judgement side its…well, God is just going to be upset and punishment me…surely God does not love me, my sin is too great.

I hope you get the picture. I hope and pray that we all understand the enemy is a liar and master manipulator who will use every scheme to draw you further from the Father.

Stand firm. When you have doubt put it into prayer and admit it to God, its ok, He wants you to come to Him with everything. Our God us good, He loves us, He wants the best for us.

Psalm 34:8 ESV — Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

with love, dlp

M.I.T.T.

Thank you Lord for Juneteenth

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth

Thank you Lord for this now being a Federal holiday. Lord you are holy, righteous, sovereign, true, compassionate, merciful and faithful. May evil slavery be gone in our world and may all who were impacted feel your grace, love and comfort and the true freedom of knowing you Lord. We know that sin and evil were defeated on the cross but they won’t be eradicated until you return Lord Jesus.

Lord help us understand what true freedom looks like:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/freedom-bible-verses/

Father’s Day

Pastors, you might have a few new faces today … use your talents to show them the love of our Heavenly Father.

I have had the pleasure in my life of knowing a lot of men who are also great dads. I was fortunate to get to work with several men who are great dads. Personally, I was extremely fortunate, to be raised by a great man, who is a great dad. Additionally, I had two grandfathers who were very loving and caring for me, as well.

Conversely, I have known way too many young people who have poor relationships with their fathers. That is one of the hardest things to observe, because every child truly wants the love and approval of the father. So many of my former players are already much better dance than they ever had themselves.

Let’s do some internal inspection and make sure which side of that equation we’re on. if we’re on the wrong side, let’s make the necessary changes and become a great father. If we’re on the correct side of that equation, keep up the good work.

Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

Harvest Time

Galatians 6:7
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

I received this verse in a text today and thought that it was a good reminder for all of us. with it being harvest time here in western Kansas, I thought that the timing fit as well.

Additionally, let’s make sure that we are staying safe during harvest. There will be more traffic than normal on the roads and highways with the trucks and then the custom harvester crews.

Keep the seeds that we’re planting and caring for growing accordingly. Nurture relationships with people regardless of how we feel about them.

Be the example.

I hope today was a great day in the trenches and I hope you were exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

Family Friday 6/17:

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a pastor that is helping me process some major difficulties I am going through at the moment.

He encouraged me to choose a scripture per day to focus on.

Today, I was reading a devotional by Sarah Young and came across 2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

I know our troubles don’t seem light and momentary at times. In the grand scheme of things, we have to remember:

1. Nothing is new under the sun. Someone has experienced this before.

2. If we remain in Christ, there is a much greater reward waiting on us.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan