Category: Salvation

Posted on

Now THAT’S Love

Love is in the air, especially this week, right? I find it fitting that my first shift as a Bradenton Booster Club Spring Training Volunteer lands on Valentine’s Day. If you know me, you are aware that I LOVE the Pittsburgh Pirates…even when they don’t deserve it! In a twist of fate that only God could have orchestrated, I was able to connect with a Booster Club member from back home and he invited me to get involved. I am very excited to be an official member of the club and part of the Pirate family. As my daughter often says, “I’m living my best life!”

Another thing I’ve gotten involved with during my time in FL is the Women’s Bible Study at the church we’ve been attending down here. We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit. One of the characteristics of that fruit is LOVE. We learned about different types of love last week, one of which is agape. It is described well in a familiar passage often read at weddings—1 Corinthians 13.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”     

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT      

I can’t speak for you, but those four verses point out how terribly short I fall from demonstrating agape love. There’s a reason—only God is capable of that kind of love! The Holy Spirit working in me and through me is the only reason that I ever get it right. I guess that’s why it’s called the “Fruit of the Spirit”—the source of our “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” is God in the form of the Holy Spirit living inside each of his children.

Agape at its best is in another familiar Bible verse:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NLT

Now THAT’S love! God went to the greatest of lengths to give us the privilege and honor of being part of His family. I certainly don’t deserve such love. That’s called grace!

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.”

1 John 5:1 NLT

As excited as I am about the opportunity to be part of the Pittsburgh Pirates family, it pales in comparison to being a child of God and part of His family. The Pirates sacrificed next to nothing to invite me into their family; however, God made the ultimate sacrifice—His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. He doesn’t discriminate—the invitation is there for ALL of us. Have you accepted it? If you haven’t and you’re reading this, it’s not too late. Come, be part of the family. You won’t regret it!

Posted on

YOUR Room is Ready

I’ve been telling many of my friends and family, “YOUR Room is ready” for months now. Here I sit, writing in the car as my husband and I make our way south to FL to spend the winter with our daughter and escape the cold of Western PA. Hillary will be there for the next three years pursuing her doctorate degree in OT and needed housing so buying a townhouse was a win-win decision. There are three bedrooms in our townhouse. I affectionately refer to the third one as YOUR. You see, the hardest part of this whole snowbird thing is that we’re leaving a whole bunch of special people behind in PA. I miss them already! Though I’m looking forward to this new chapter, it’s somewhat bittersweet.

The passing of a loved one can also be a bittersweet experience, at least if that person is a follower of Jesus. While the heartache is real and painful, we rejoice that they are no longer in pain and suffering. It brings us comfort to know that they have reached their eternal home.

When my beloved 16-year-old nephew went to his heavenly home in 2007, the following scripture passage was read at his funeral & memorial service:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”                                                                                                                   John 14:1-4 NIV

In the midst of deep grief, these words were comforting. Unlike our townhouse in FL, there are many rooms in God’s house. There WILL be room at this inn for all who believe. Your reservation was made the day you turned your life over to Jesus. And guess what? YOUR room will be ready! He will come for you and take you there at just the right time. He said so!

You may be familiar with these words from the chorus of the popular hymn When We All Get to Heaven:            (Sing it if you wish!) 

When we all get to heaven

What a day of rejoicing that will be

When we all see Jesus

We’ll sing and shout the victory…

If you are mourning the loss of a loved one, I pray you will find peace and comfort in knowing that one day, in His perfect time, you will be reunited. It will indeed be a day of rejoicing!

Until then, YOUR room is ready in FL (reservations required)!

Posted on

No Trade

In modern day professional sports, it is rare that a player remains with the same team his entire career. Players often get traded or released by their team based on their performance, or lack thereof. One trade in particular really broke my heart this past winter. My favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, traded away the face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, in a cost cutting move in late January. Coincidentally, it was the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs. Ouch—-a painful couple of days for Pittsburgh sports fans. It’s not like January isn’t already hard enough in Western PA!

I had grown quite fond of Cutch since he was called up in 2009. Not only did he put the team on his back and make baseball relevant again in Pittsburgh, but he also gave back to the community. His smile and enthusiasm for the game endeared him to the city of Pittsburgh. Trades can be hard…on everyone. I don’t think Cutch wanted to go any more than Pirate fans wanted to see him go. Management decided the time had come to part with Cutch. Why? I’m sure there were several factors—-a soon-to-be-expiring contract, age, recent decline in performance, cost of new contract, etc. Before ownership consulted with me, they just went ahead and traded Cutch. The nerve!! There is no professional athlete immune from the possibility of being traded away at a moment’s notice. Nothing like having the rug pulled out from under you!

While processing this over the past few months, I’ve found great comfort in knowing that I am on a team that will never ever trade me. And if you aren’t already on that same team, you certainly can be. The beauty of this team is that the choice to be on it is yours. You don’t have to stand around waiting to see if you are good enough to be chosen. Your name has already been called.

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,”

2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

The truth is, we can’t earn our way onto God’s Kingdom team with our performance. We have been saved purely by grace through Jesus. What an indescribable gift!

The Ultimate Gift, Jesus, made this gift of salvation possible. Our choice is simply to receive it and join the team. The Coach will take it from there! No worries—you’ll be on the team for eternity. And there’s not even a bench, so there’s no chance you’ll have to sit on the sidelines and watch!

 

Posted on

A Fresh Start

One of my favorite days of the year is Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The reason—-it’s a fresh start for my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. While suffering through 20 years of consecutive losing seasons from 1993-2012, there has been great need for the fresh start that comes with the beginning of a new season. Expectations are low for 2018 after management traded away the face of the franchise and the ace of the pitching staff within a few short days back in January. As a result, fresh start takes on a whole new meaning this season. And I’m not all that happy about it! However, when the Bucs won 8 of their first 10 games to start this season, I have to admit it was hard to contain my excitement. In spite of the offseason upheaval, I remain a loyal fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I stuck by them through 20 losing seasons, so I guess there’s no need to jump ship now.

Coming off a powerful Holy Week culminating in a magnificent celebration of Easter, I am reminded of a fresh start that easily trumps Opening Day of MLB. Sin separates ALL of us from God. Jesus went to the cross to pay the cost for our sins—-past, present and future. He gave His very own life to reconcile us with our Heavenly Father. That kind of love is beyond my comprehension. But death did not have the last word. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter. God raised Jesus from the dead and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

Ephesians 2:18 NLT

Jesus bridged the gap between us and God. He makes the ultimate fresh start possible. Are you in need of a fresh start? Jesus is offering you one. His blood has wiped your slate clean.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

One of my favorite places to go, besides PNC Park, is The Meadows. They happen to sell my favorite frozen custard. Due to a fire, our local Meadows was closed for over a year. It was a LONG year! They recently reopened and now use Meadows 2.0 in some of their advertisements. Meadows 2.0 is to be a new and improved version of the original one that was damaged by fire. When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you become enter your first name here 2.0—a new and improved version of your former self. Being a Christ-follower is the best decision I’ve ever made and you won’t regret it either!

Western PA is finally getting teased with some warmer, more spring-like, weather starting today. That makes Polly 2.0 crave some Meadows 2.0, while cheering on the Bucs of course!