Well, I had page 165 all written out and decided I didn’t like the tone of it for a public post so I deleted it and will try to write a condensed version.  It took some time, but the morning helped me gain a peace about where God has me and the things He has me doing.  One of the first tasks I did this morning at work was to unload the maintenance supplies from my truck.  As I unloaded my truck, I noticed there was something on the old soccer goal frame at the end of the back field.  After taking the supplies into the building, I grabbed my high-zoom camera and was able to capture a few photos of a hawk perched on the goal frame with an intense gaze on the lawn below it.  He didn’t stay long, so I soon went back in and finished putting away the supplies where they belonged.  

After taking care of a few maintenance issues, I spent much of my workday doing some more writing in the next devotional journal I am working on.  The topic is on living free, and one of the devotions I wrote today was about living free to praise God.  There are many things that the enemy will attempt to use in his efforts to distract us from a life spent in praise and worship of God.  When we are in Christ, God frees us from the bondage that makes us feel unable or unworthy to live a life of praise.  Gazing intently into God’s perfect law ought to remind us of how much we ought to praise God and how much we have to praise Him for.  Even in the midst of trouble and turmoil, God promises to never leave us nor forsake us — if that isn’t reason enough to praise God regardless of the circumstances of life, I don’t know what is.  God used my writing today to remind me that while I am free to praise Him, doing do has to be my choice.

As the workday came to a close, I went out and got some lunch before heading home.  After resting a bit, I went outside to clean up the front yard from a small tree that blew down yesterday.  The heat and humidity were both high enough that I didn’t stay out long before heading back inside to the comfort of air conditioning.  After dinner, some storms started moving through the area which brought a slight relief to the high temperatures.  Today’s photo was taken from my porch as a light rain fell on the roses.  As I was photographing the “raindrops on roses”, a hummingbird stopped by for a quick visit and I was able to capture a couple photos of it also.  Just as God sends forth the refreshing rains which bring coolness and life to the plants, He brings forth refreshment through His Spirit which brings coolness and life to my soul.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Much of the time God teaches me lessons that He wants me to share not just the application, but the lesson plan too, so others can learn from the details as well.
• Other times, it seems like His lessons are more personal and I need to be careful to find ways to share the application without sharing the details.
• Wisdom is seeking God completely to know how to handle each lesson.
• We all need reminders at times that either brings us back to the path that God wants us on, or confirms we are still on that path.
• A proper understanding and application of God’s perfect law ought to free us to live a life of praise.
• If praise seems difficult, we need to spend more time sitting in the presence of God in prayer and His Word.
• God’s Word and His presence ought to be a refreshing rain in our life.
• Even if all else fails, God never will.

Page 164 lived up to its advertised billing as another hot and humid day.  I still find myself awake early most days, so I figure if I’m up I may as well get started on my workday.  My morning walk-through at work included a few small maintenance tasks before turning my attention to finishing up a supply order I began yesterday.  There were still complications with the ordering process but after a lengthy phone call with customer service, I was finally able to confirm the order at a thirty-three percent savings compared to what it would have cost without going through their “pro customer” registration process.

As I finished up that task, the remainder of my book order for the North American Christian Convention arrived.  The UPS guy said that today’s shipment was a little over 300 pounds — that’s a lot of books!  In preparation for the convention, I had ordered an average of 100 copies of each of the eight books I have written and published.  Usually I had ordered copies of one title at a time which made it nice as the entire box was all the same.  By placing an order that contained all eight titles, the shipping department decided to be as efficient as possible — at least for them — and pack as many books as they could in a box, regardless of how many titles that made the box contain.  So, the next part of my morning was spent checking the boxes and confirming I had what I ordered.  

By late morning, the books were all inventoried and accounted for so it was time to go pick up some of the maintenance and janitorial supplies that I get locally.  Susan decided she wanted to go with me, so we made it a Daddy/Daughter trip to pick up trash bags and some cleaning supplies with a lunch break thrown in between stops.  Lunch was hot dogs at Sam’s Club, which was Susan’s choice.  As we went in, there was the sound of thunder off in the distance.  After we had eaten and picked up the few things we needed there, the sound of a very close and very loud peal of thunder.  As the sound echoed through the building, the lights all went out and the sound of the thunder was soon replaced by the sound of multiple security alarms on items throughout the building.  We managed to check out with our items due to back up power supplies on the registers and headed outside into the rain.  

After a couple more stops, we made it home and I started going through the photos from the final day of our recent vacation.  As I worked on the photos, I also fired up the pellet grill to get dinner started.  Today’s photo is one from the last full day of our recent vacation.  I found it interesting as three different types of birds were perched upon various parts of the same light pole.  It made me think of John’s view of the throne of God as He wrote in Revelation about seeing an uncountable multitude that came from every tribe, nation, people, and language.  If every time we gather to worship with others and everyone around us looks just like us, it becomes far too easy to start thinking that is what heaven will look like.  When you consider the amount of conflict over worship styles that arises within church congregations filled with people who are very similar to each other, you may begin to wonder how such a vastly diverse group of people could ever worship together.  I think it’s really rather simple — when our worship focuses entirely on the one we worship and what He wants rather than on how we want to worship, there quickly becomes no room for conflict.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• It is pretty difficult to finish what you never begin, so if you want to finish early it is best to start early.
• Sometimes it is tempting to give up when things become difficult.  Instead of giving up, it is better to find the right help so that you can reap the rewards of completion.
• Efficiency on the part of someone else at their job may not lead to efficiency for you at yours.
• It is always good to consider how your actions will affect those who have to deal with your results.
• Sometimes putting more work into something at the beginning will result in greater efficiency later.
• I am very thankful to be involved in a work/ministry where I can take my daughter with me as I accomplish part of my job.
• When we rely on our own power, it is always good to have a back-up plan.
• When worship is focused on God and what He wants (our entire heart, mind, soul, and strength), great diversity will worship in harmony.
• When worship becomes about us and what we like, we ought to expect conflict.
• With John’s glimpse into the throne room of heaven describing a very diverse crowd, we would do well to practice worshiping God with people who don’t look and speak exactly like we do.

There is often a running joke about fishermen telling the story of “the one that got away”.  In some ways, page 163 feels like the day that got away.  As I look back, it was a rather productive day even though it felt like it was melting away as it took place.  I began the workday going through the building before settling into my office to spend time with God putting together the prayer guide for next week.  As I spent time in the Word, my mind seemed to settle on the work of God’s Spirit.  That led to a morning study of a few of the things the Bible says about the work of God’s Spirit in our lives and in the world.  This gift that God has given us is an incredible thing.  To think that God humbled Himself and came to the earth as a baby in the person of Jesus is an amazing thought.  To know that He chose to dwell among us in order to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, ought to just overwhelm our mind.  But to realize He went a step further and didn’t just dwell among us as Jesus walked the earth, He now dwells within us by the presence of His Spirit!  Amazing and incredible barely begin to describe such a gift.

As I worked on the prayer guide I had several interruptions that were all pleasant — the arrival of the first box of books I expect this week for the NACC, ministry conversations, a visit from good friends, and some encouraging messages.  I suppose that is why it felt like the day got away from me — God’s plans were being accomplished, but my plan was taking a back seat.  But the prayer guide was finished by the end of the morning, God had blessed me in the process, and I was able to turn my attention to some maintenance details throughout the afternoon.  But even in that, what I thought should be simple and not take much time, turned into a process that I hadn’t anticipated but should make the ordering of some of the supplies I use much easier in the future.  When that project was finished — at least the part that I could do today — I looked at the clock and realized the day had indeed slipped away and I was already a couple hours beyond what would normally be considered a full workday.  But that’s okay, because a lot was accomplished both today and in preparation for future days.  

With the workday finished, it was way too late to get lunch so I made my way home and started through another day’s worth of vacation photos as I fired up the pellet grill to get dinner started while I worked on the pictures.  Today’s photo is one of those in the batch I worked on and is from an early morning walk along the beach.  The tide was out and the gulls were standing in the shallow pools of water left behind by the receding tide.  It made me think of the words in James about gazing intently into the perfect law of God’s Word and then doing what it says.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Sometimes “the one that got away” didn’t really get away, it just didn’t look like what you expected it to.
• When I am open to what God wants me to learn, I always come away with something beneficial to me when I spent time with God in prayer and His Word.
• If I study God’s Word looking to justify my own thoughts and ideas, I either come up empty or find myself twisting scripture to make it say what I want.
• God’s Spirit is the real presence of God dwelling within those who have united themselves with Christ.
• God’s Spirit is at work in the life of every believer but we are warned not to “quench the Spirit” which, to me, means it is possible to keep His work from being evident in our life.
• Many times interruptions are only interruptions because we let them be.  Often God wants to use what we call interruptions to teach and encourage us.
• While today’s work may be more complicated than planned, it is worth it when it makes future tasks take less time.
• We would do well to take every opportunity possible to gaze intently into God’s perfect law, doing what we see so that Christ is reflected in us.

Page 162 was a Sunday and I began my worship early as I headed to the church building to clean bathrooms, floors, and glass doors before the start of the morning worship gatherings.  I suppose to some that first sentence sounds odd, but what we do ought to be a part of our worship just as much as gathering to sing, hear a sermon, or meet around the  Lord’s Table.  But I not only worship through my work, I also worship through prayer and song as I clean.  The offering that God wants most from each of us, is us — our whole self with nothing held back.  

After cleaning in the building and prepping it for the morning, I went home to clean myself and make sure I was ready for the morning.  In our morning worship gathering, David brought a message from a series he is preaching from the first half of the book of Acts.  Today’s sermon about the name of Jesus was based around Acts 3 and 4.  Names have meaning, and based on a variety of factors each of us have a name that carries a certain amount of power and authority with it.  But any power and authority that we may have, or any person that we know may have, it all pales in comparison to the complete power and authority that resides in the name of Jesus.  Acts 3 & 4 contain the account of the healing of a lame man and the subsequent explanation and defense that Peter and John give the authorities that this act was done through the name of Jesus.  The following are the three things we considered this morning about the name of Jesus.

• The name of Jesus carries authority.  While my name carries limited authority in limited situation, the name of Jesus carries absolute authority in all situations.  We’re not talking about a magic charm or secret password, but the authority that comes with doing what the Name wants.  In the text we looked at this morning, the authority was over the physical body of a lame man.  Whatever had caused the man to be lame for his entire life, was no match to holding that man captive when the will of Jesus was to set Him free.  The Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess — that’s complete authority.
• The name of Jesus brings us into association with Him.  There is something significant about carrying a family name.  My having the name Lemler brings me into association with others who carry the same name — whether I want that association or not.  I understand that for many children who are adopted after years of not knowing where they belong, having the name of their adoptive family given to them can bring about a great sense of belonging.  The Bible teaches that salvation is found in no other name but the name of Jesus.  Carrying the name of Jesus is more than just agreeing to be a Christian, it is about coming into association with Him and being identified as one of His because of the name we now claim.
• The name of Jesus gives us an assurance that nothing else can.  Most of us know people who seem to live and act like they are above the law.  People who are in the right family and presume an assurance that nothing bad can happen to them because of the name they carry.  We’ve also seen “big names” discover than any assurance that counts on their name isn’t always a guarantee as they are found guilty of wrongdoing and go to prison.  When we put our hope and trust in the name of Jesus, we need not worry about a misplaced assurance.  The Bible teaches that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is given to us through Christ Jesus.  When God says that neither life nor death, or anything else, can separate us from His love, there is no greater assurance that we could want or have. 

After the worship gathering we went to lunch and then the afternoon was spent relaxing and going through another day’s photos from our recent family vacation.  The problem with taking so many photos is that it takes a long time to go through them, but I’m nearing the end of them.  As early evening arrived, we headed to the river to enjoy a nice family walk and take a few photos.  Today’s photo is of a duck as he makes his way up the small falls on the river raceway.  As I watched him swim toward that, I anticipated that his plan was to overcome the obstacle before him and reach the next level of water.  It wasn’t without effort, but his desire was rewarded through his effort.  Sometimes we can see where we want to be but as we look, the obstacle is just as visible as the destination.  The question that often determines the result, is which of the two do we keep our eye on — the obstacle or the destination.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Worship is not limited to specific times, places, and activities.
• Jesus said that true worship is done in spirit and in truth.  Those things ought to identify who we are at all times.
• Worship gatherings, church services, the fellowship of the saints, or whatever else you want to call a regular gathering of a group of Christians, are just as valuable as worshiping God in the midst of your every day life — this isn’t an either/or issue.
• All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus.  
• The name of Jesus carries that authority over all creation.
• Praying in the name of Jesus isn’t a secret password, but rather it contains authority when our prayers are aligned with the character and purpose of the name of Jesus.
• Jesus was very clear that no one comes to the Father except through Him.  That means that it is the name of Jesus that brings us into a right relationship with God.
• I have the assurance of a most powerful name behind me when Satan tries to accuse me before the Father.  
• What we fix our eyes upon is probably what we will attain to.

Page 161 finished out the week with a day of rest — or at least a day that included less work than an average weekday does.  I woke up at my usual early morning hour and thought about doing some writing, but I decided the day’s theme was rest so I went back to sleep.  When I did finally get up, I headed downstairs to check messages and see what news my social media accounts would bring my way.  

Susan was still sleeping with no interest of waking up, so I went through another day’s photos from our recent vacation.  I don’t know if I stand crooked, hold my head at an angle, or just hold the camera in some position other then level, but I find that most of my photos need straightened just a little bit to make them look more like they should.  I checked on Susan throughout the morning, thinking that perhaps we would resume our summer Saturday morning zoo trips, but she needed the rest even more than I did and had no interest in waking up.  So, I did a little prep for my niece’s wedding that I’ll officiate in a few weeks and sent some suggested assignments to her. 🙂

By the time morning was nearly gone, Susan decided to get up so I helped her get her breakfast around and then I fired up the pellet grill to make lunch.  Most of us had ribeye steak, but MJ wanted a hamburger so I put one of those on the grill as well.  After lunch I sat on the front porch for a while trying to photograph some hummingbirds.  I eventually caught one at the feeder and then found one that was more interested in what it could get from the pine tree.  By late afternoon, we decided a family outing was in order so we headed to Bonneyville Mill Park to shoot some photos.  Today’s photo is from the park with a view of one of the barns and the windmill.  While windmills are making a comeback in some areas to generate electricity, it wasn’t all that long ago that nearly every farm had one in order to harness the power of the wind to pump water from the well under its base.  

After our visit to the park, we stopped at The Chief in Goshen for some wonderful ice cream and then picked up a few items from Sam’s Club on our way home.  All in all, while I did get a few tasks done that may be considered work, it was a rather restful day.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Planning a day of rest is different than actually having one, but it is not likely you will have one unless you plan for it.
• Rest will usually require that you say no to some good things.
• Knowing that you need to make small corrections is a good thing.  Knowing what to do so those corrections are not necessary is even better.
• For me, rest doesn’t always mean that I don’t do anything; but it does mean that I guard myself from becoming too involved in tasks larger than anticipated.
• Sometimes what you are looking for isn’t where you are looking.  Being aware of your surroundings help you to see things that “tunnel vision” keeps you from noticing.
• Not all ideas are bad just because they are old.  Sometimes they just need some updating and re-purposing to make the concept useful in today’s culture.
• A good day of rest doesn’t cure all discouragement, but if the rest is spent with God it goes a long way toward restoring a right spirit.

Page 160 ended up being focused almost entirely on writing.  I began the workday with a quick trip through the building to just look and listen for anything that may be out of place or needing attention.  With everything appearing as it should, I turned my attention to further work in the devotional book I am writing.  My plan was to spend a good part of the morning writing, take a break for lunch, and then do some cleaning and prep to get the building ready for Sunday.  It sounded like a good plan, but it didn’t exactly turn out that way.

There are times when I settle in with God and get into a writing zone such that it becomes difficult to even come up for air.  Today was one of those days.  It has been a while since I have maintained such a focus on writing, but I think the topic of living free also contributes to finding myself in that zone.  One of the daily topics I wrote about today was living free to live by the Spirit.  When we are baptized into Christ, God says that He forgives our sins and gives us the gift of His Spirit.  In that moment we are set free, but it is supposed to be a freedom to live by the Spirit whom God has placed within us and not a freedom to simply do whatever we want.  It is God’s Word, His perfect law, that gives us freedom as we live by the power of His Spirit.  We know it is God’s Spirit within us that we are living by because we can test that Spirit against the very Word of God as revealed to us through Scripture and the life of Jesus.  

By late afternoon, I did finally come up for air from my writing and decided to just do an initial cleaning and prep of the building and then come back to work early Sunday morning to finish it.  With a tired mind and a work day on the calendar for tomorrow, I decided I needed rest and since I wasn’t sure what all the work day will entail, it seemed wise to do the final cleaning after they are done.  It was well past lunch time and too close to dinner time, so I went home to relax and went through another day’s photos from our recent vacation.  After dinner I went outside to try to photograph the hummingbirds that stop by but they weren’t willing to stay put long enough for a decent photo.  Instead, I shot some photos of the flowers around the yard and today’s photo is of a trio of buds on one of the rose bushes.  It reminded me that we all start somewhere and are designed by God to grow from something small to something that produces much fruit and beauty.  Each to these buds contain the potential to have the full beauty of a rose blossom as it grows and reveals what God has already placed within it.  When we live by the Spirit, we too have the potential for the full beauty of maturity in Christ as we grow and reveal that which God has already placed within us.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Plans are great.  Flexibility and listening to reasons to either keep or change those plans can be even better.
• Some things are difficult to begin but even harder to stop once you get going.
• When I am in a mode of listening and writing, I find that I’m most productive if I just keep going.
• “If the Son has set you free, then you shall be free indeed” is a great truth, but it has the greatest usefulness when we understand both what we’ve been set free from and what we’ve been set free to.
• God’s Word tells us to test the spirits so that when we live by the spirit, it is His Spirit we are living by.
• God’s Spirit within us fills us with great potential that is only released as we grow in Christ.
• Our growth ought to be about revealing that which is within us, not about making our self known.

Page 159 was another beautiful day with a sunny sky and pleasant temperatures.  It actually started out rather cool for a summer morning, so after doing my morning walk-through I spent much of the morning working on my next devotional book project.  Some of the daily topics I wrote pages for today in the “Living Free” theme were living free from captivity, living free to be generous, and living free by God’s pardon and proclamation.  As I thought about how God helps us to live with freedom in the presence of our enemies, through gazing into His perfect law, God’s pardon and proclamation really stood out to me today.  

As a child of God who has had our sins washed away by the blood of Jesus, we are able to live free because of the full pardon that God has issued.  This is more than just an overlooking of our transgressions against God.  God’s pardon means that our slate is wiped clean.  Our records are expunged of any wrongdoing and God views us through the holiness of His Son.  But this isn’t a secret pardon that is known only by God and the individual.  No, God proclaims our pardon and makes known to the world that all who would come to Him will find forgiveness and hope.  Satan himself can surround us in a spiritual battle yet we are still able to live free because God has proclaimed our pardon.  The accusations of our enemies have no barbs with which to stick with us because God has made it known, even to our enemies, that He is leading the captives free.

As the outside temperature warmed up, I took a break from my writing to go out and enjoy the sunshine as I took care of some work on the church property.  With school out for the summer, now is the time to spray some weed killer in a variety of areas while I don’t have to worry about children getting into the sprayed areas.  This provides a longer term solution to what otherwise becomes a regular task of keeping the weeds and grass from causing an unsightly appearance in a variety of areas.  When I went out to mix up the spray, one of the deacons was working at patching some sidewalk areas where the concrete had broken up from the winter freeze and thaw cycles.  God has indeed blessed me with a few servants in the church who are willing to do what they can when they notice things that need done and I am very thankful for them.

After roaming the property and using up all of the spray mix that I had, it was time to call it a day and head home.  At home, I warmed up a late lunch and then spent some time relaxing as I went through another day’s photos from our recent vacation.  The main thing I do as I go through these photos is straighten them so the line of the horizon runs level.  I work hard to try and take photos with the camera held level to the horizon, but I still find I am often paying attention to the subject of the photo and not to the positioning of it.  Sometimes we all need a regular time when we can realign our life to the straight edge of God’s Word.  Often it is our preoccupation with our daily tasks that keeps us from paying complete attention to the alignment that we ought to be living in.  Reestablishing a proper standard on a regular basis will keep us from straying too far from the line we ought to measure ourselves against — the standard of Jesus.

Today’s photo is one I took this morning as I was in my office writing.  The trees and underbrush have leafed out so fully that I rarely see the wildlife outside my window during this time of year.  While they didn’t stay out in the open long, today I had a pair of cardinals stop by for a visit.  It is always nice to see them even when I know they continue to be present because I hear their songs throughout the day.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Being free isn’t always the same as living free.  God not only wants us to be free, He wants us to live free.
• God has not kept our pardon a secret.  He proclaims to us, and to our enemies, that we have been set free and raised up with a clean record in His sight.
• It is not our place, in fact it is quite wrong, to keep a person in bondage whom God has proclaimed to be free.
• It is important to consider the welfare of others as we go about our daily tasks.
• Good servants of the Lord serve because it is their nature, not because they have to.
• It is easy to get off center even just a little as we live life.  God’s perfect law exists to give us a standard to return to when we find our self not fully aligned with God’s will.
• Even if you can’t be seen, you ought to praise God in a way that others know of His presence.

Page 158 was a productive day even if I never made it to doing what I had planned for the day.  I started the workday with a walk-through of the building which is becoming my summer-time norm.  While I don’t expect to find anything out of the ordinary, it is better to do the daily walk-through and not find anything than to eventually discover a problem that I wished I had found earlier.  After going through the building and taking out some trash, I turned my attention to catching up on my mail and correspondence.  

My plan was to spend a good part of the day outside finishing up the weed spraying that I began yesterday.  There was still a lot of area to cover so I brought my larger sprayer from home in order to make the job take up less time.  As I finished up my morning tasks in the office, Susan went into a fairly extensive seizure so I spent some time helping her through it.  As she began the process of coming out of the seizure and letting the brain wiring reconnect, I changed up my plans so I could stay in the office with her while she rested.  Instead of working outside, I pulled up the file for the next 31-day devotional journal that I began writing last year and settled in to resume the writing process.  It has been a while since I have spent much time with this style of writing, but once I settled in with God and began the process, I soon found myself in what I call the “writing groove”.  This next book is titled, “Living Free”, and will focus each day on something the Bible says we are, or can be, free from.  Today some of the daily topics I wrote about were living free from anguish, free from burdens, and free to be content among others.  The original concept for this book comes from the instruction in James to “gaze into the perfect law of God’s Word which gives freedom.”  

I found myself writing well into the afternoon as I stayed in that “zone”, but eventually I came up for air and decided it was time to call it a day and get some lunch.  After lunch I went home and relaxed for a while before heading to the river with my family to enjoy a nice walk in the cool evening air.  Today’s photo is of a patch of daisies growing along the bank of the river.  They were beautiful to see and brought an element of brightness and joy to the riverfront.  I suppose there are some who would consider these the “he loves me, he loves me not” daisy, but I prefer to see them simply as reminders that God indeed loves me.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Plans are often best written in pencil when you allow God to direct your day.
• It is better to pay attention to the possibility of potential problems than to miss real issues that can become big problems the longer they go unnoticed.
• Caring for a person who has special needs isn’t a chore when it is someone you love, but it does require a great deal of patience and flexibility.
• It is easier for me to change what I’m going to do than it is for Susan to get through a seizure.
• People are always more important than plans.
• God’s law is meant to give us freedom, not to enslave us.
• If we’re using God’s Word to enslave ourselves or others, we’re using it wrong.
• Gazing intently into the perfect law which gives freedom will accomplish its purpose only if we put into practice that which we see.
• There is no need to pull daisy petals to determine if God loves you . . . He does!