A letter to my LORD Jesus and to my Father in Heaven

LORD when I stand and behold your creation my heart is uplifted as on wings of an eagle. Love is truth and truth is love. Your love sustains me, comforts me, gives me great joy. You are my creator, my king, my LORD, giver of my life, my heart cannot beat without you. You have made known to me my true Father, he loved me so much that he gave you, his only begotten son, as a sacrifice for me. Your great love for me was made known to me through your laying down of your life for me, so that I could be called your beloved friend. And now your Father is my Father and I am his beloved son forever, without end. I can love you LORD, because you loved me first.

I can love you Father, because of your great love for me first. My joy is immeasurable, the peace I know beyond all understanding, I find my rest in you. You have given me your heart, your light, your love so that I might give the same to others through you. You have been patient and longsuffering with me, I will never forget that and I will remember Father, to be patient and longsuffering with all others. You speak to me in the quiet moments of my life, your words are loving and comforting and they give me strength and guidance and purpose. You hold my hand when I need it and you wrap your loving arms around me and pull me in closer to you. You have rescued me and given me everything you have without hesitation. You have made me righteous and holy by your never ending mercy and grace. You promised to give me a pure heart, not encumbered by the world and those things not of you, and you have done so!

Thank you Father, let me honor you throughout all eternity, I love you. Thank you LORD, let me be worthy to be called your beloved friend forever. I love you. Father give me the strength, your strength, to endure all things, LORD, forgive me when I fall, help me to keep your commands. And then surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of my Father and of my LORD forever!

Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

Intimate Personal Relationship with Jesus

How can we have a close, intimate, personal relationship with Jesus? It is based on love in order to be close and intimate and personal. And to love someone means putting them before yourself by your action, not your words alone, denying yourself to attend to their need such as you would for your husband or wife or your friend. And then their love for you grows and you become loved by them.
Jesus said in Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself (love is not self seeking in 1 Corinthians 13) and take up his cross and follow me."
It is not enough to just know his word, we must also do his word. It requires action, not of our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. For it is not possible until we have become "born again", new spiritual beings, to be capable of obeying and doing what he asks us to do.
Jesus said in John 14:15-21 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
How does this happen? After we have been born again as we continue to seek him, to pray to him (talk to him), to read his word, to listen to him, he transforms us, he changes us to be more like him because he is now in us, and we always have the Holy Spirit with us as our counselor.
2 Corinthians 3:14-18 says; But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord— who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
The proof that he loves us and by his actions shows us that love is entirely another subject.

Butterfly House Revisited

Every year my wife Linda and I look forward to what we call our annual DATE DAY at the Minnesota state fair. It is a time of rebonding and intimacy for us beyond the walls of work and home duties that re-energizes our marriage in almost a miraculous way. We have spent time there every year for seventeen years walking, holding hands, eating, looking, with no particular plan or agenda in mind. We go where the wind takes us there. It was the coldest and windiest year we have ever experienced. We brought warm clothing and so were prepared, but I refused to wear jeans and chose to wear shorts in spite of the cold. It gave us the opportunity to keep each other warm which is always fun!

This year we visited the DNR for a demonstration from the raptor center on the bald eagle, sponsored by the Bird Of Prey Conservancy who rescues birds of prey that are injured, (what an amazing bird up close!) visited the agriculture building to view both the bonsai exhibit and the orchid display, (I highly recommend this, beautiful!) voted for the best artist painting in the art exhibit, listened to some incredible blues music with a great sax player, and sampled different odd but tasty foods in the interim. And we always ride the sky tram where you sit in a little open cage and travel from north to south or vise versa about 80 feet in the air. We also talked to a man who was wearing a U.S. Open Tennis backpack, by me asking if he was a tennis player. Not realizing that the backpack gave him away, he said why yes I am, do I know you, have we played? He and I had a great discussion about tennis, a real enjoyable conversation for both of us!
For any of you who read my blog you know that the Butterfly House at the State Fair holds a special spiritual significance for my wife Linda and I. This year as we entered the butterfly house my spirit leaped with eager anticipation. The first thing Linda and I noticed was the great number of children there. Also that there did not seem to be the same concentration of butterflys there as last year. Some children were walking around in wide eyed wonderment with several butterflys resting on them, but some children were waiting with eager anticipation, you could almost hear them thinking, will a butterfly land on me? When a butterfly lands on anyone, that is the goal there, they are in their glory! WOW! A butterfly chose me to land on and now I am in my glory. If you could see the look on the childrens faces when that happens, how careful they are not to disturb the butterfly lest he fly away again, and the absolute look of glory on their faces. It makes you understand what Jesus was talking about when he said in Matthew 18:2-4 He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." So, you can stand and move around in the butterfly house or you can sit on a bench and wait for the butterfly to land on you. Linda and I sat on the bench, and soon we had but one butterfly between us. But we were in our glory! We had a butterfly with us, the whole goal of the visit was fullfilled in that we were in our glory. Or was it? A little boy came in and sat next to us, eagerly waiting, looking around, not with a smile on his face because he was not in his glory yet, he did not have an opportunity to be in his glory because there just were not enough butterflys to go around, after a minute or so his anticipation almost turned to dissapointment, will I have a chance to be in my glory with a butterfly? Of course, Linda and I looked at each other and we carefully handed the boy our butterfly, he looked in amazement and said, "For me?" we said yes, this is for you. He got a big smile on his face and said thank you! Now he was in his glory, we had given up our own glory so that he could be in his glory. I am here to tell you that there is no greater feeling of joy than giving up your own glory to experience anothers joy when they are in their glory.
The King James version of Jeremiah 9:24 says this; "But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD."
When you deny yourself for the sake of someone else out of loving kindness there really is no greater experience than that. Where does that loving kindness come from? It comes from Jesus himself because he lives in our heart and he loved us first, now we are able to love all others and place them above ourselves, to give away what we have been given. Loving kindness. He offers forgiveness to the sinner, he offers his unfathomable mercy and his ever flowing grace to anyone who will repent of their sins and call on him. By Jesus sacrifice on the cross where he gave his life for us, and then rose again so that we too might be "born again" become alive with him and called righteous not by our own effort, but because Jesus paid our debt in full for the sin in our lives.
Ephesians 2:1-9 says; Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in theunseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Is your heart longing for something more? If so then I would say your loving Father in Heaven is calling you. Answer him, and you too can thank and praise him for rescuing you, and experience his loving kindness, mercy, and grace overflowing in your own life. You too can have great joy and love and peace beyond all understanding in your life. And once you have it, don't forget to give it away! You will find it keeps coming back to you in greater measure than before!

The Captive Tree Frog

Little did I realize the significance a little tree frog would have in my life today when my son called and said that he had captured a white tree frog. "What are you doing right now, he said"? I said why? He said I have captured a very unusual tree frog, he is white. Immediately I said, bring him down, (to our aquatic plant nursery where we work) he said I'll be right down. As we marvelled at the little white tree
frog he said do you want him? I said yes. He said what will you do with him, I said I will release him at our house, there are other tree frogs there and he will like it there. When I arrived home I released him in our flower garden in the front of the house. Then it occured to me to get my camera and take some pictures of him. He was still where I had left him when I arrived back with camera in hand. He allowed
me to get very close for the picture, funny, but he had jagged stripes on his body when I looked at the photos, he was not just white. Earlier in the day I had been speaking to my church group leader for our mens Tuesday night group, he asked me if I knew a man who had a business in town and I asked him why? He said well he has had a return of his cancer and some of the church leaders are going to his house to pray for him. I asked if he was a believer in Jesus Christ and he said no, I have had many conversations with him and he is mad at God I think. All day long I could not stop thinking about that man. I had no intention of going to my group that night as there was much work to do, and I settled into the routine. Now when the Holy Spirit
wants you to do something I have learned he is persistent until you respond. The Holy Spirit was prompting me to go to this mans house and pray for him. I told my wife I need to go to a house of a man who has cancer and pray for him. She said do you know how to get there? I said no, not really but the Holy Spirit will guide me there. I drove up and down in that rural area not seeing anything, I asked the
Holy Spirit to help. There was a lady sitting on her porch and I asked her do you know where this man lives. She said yes, he lives in that house right across from us. As I pulled into the house I did not know what to expect, but when the Holy Spirit leads you just follow. I was greeted at the door by the mans wife, she took me into the living room where I met him. I noticed that I was very thirsty and so asked for a glass of water, of course the first thing I thought of was

John 4: 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." 11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" 13Jesus answered, "Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

I let the Holy Spirit lead me in conversation with this man and his wife, giving my testimony of rebellion and God's grace in my life and my Lord's timing is always impeccable because just as I finished the rest of the group arrived to pray for this man. After we finished, the rest of the group left and I was able to speak to this man and his wife a little longer. I told him that Jesus loved him very much and wanted him to be well and that I had had no intentions of going to his house that evening but the Lord had put it on my heart. His wife recognized that as a sign from the Lord that he would be healed. During the group prayer for him the Lord called to my mind the passage of his word that is found in

(Psalm 30:2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.)

He was telling this man to cry out to him that he might heal him, that he should seek the living water that leads to life.
So what does this little tree frog have to do with anything? Just as the little tree frog was held captive by my son, he made many futile attempts to get free. He could not get free from being held captive until he was set free.

John 8: 31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.) So, the little white tree frog, (Isaiah 1: 18 "Come now, lets settle this,"says the Lord."Though your sins are like scarlet,I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool."

with the jagged stripes,

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.

and now the little tree frog has been set free! Just as we are set free when we give our life to Jesus, we are no longer held captive to sin which the bible tells us leads to death, now we receive living water that leads to life, cancer is the result of a fallen world, unbelief concerning Jesus is a result of rebellion brought on by believing the lies that Satan would have us believe,

Ephesians 6: 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

What does all of this mean to you, the reader? Do you want peace in your life, do you want to be set free from your captivity, do you want the living water that leads to never being thirsty again? Then cry out to him, Jesus, who is the living water,

Romans 10: 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Are you like the captive tree frog, just trying to get free? Once he was released he sat there in peace because he no longer had to escape but was right where he belonged, come to Jesus who will give you the life everlasting, where you belong. And peace beyond understanding! And if your wondering about the man who had cancer,

Hebrews 11: 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.)

Jesus said this;

(Luke 17: 11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

and Jesus said this;

Luke 8: 40Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45"Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." 46But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." 47Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

As for me, I think of this song;

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Matthew 17:
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

I always wondered what this meaning was? The name Peter means rock, on which the law was written in Moses time, the name James means replacement or substitute, the name John means God's grace.
So the law was replaced or substituted by God's grace!
Peter, spoke saying I will put up three shelters; one for Moses, the law, which would be replaced by grace (for now we are no longer under the law but under grace),
one for Elijah (John the Baptist whose water baptism would be replaced by Jesus (John the Baptist whom Jesus referred to as Elijah baptized with water; John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.))
and one for JESUS who is the grace of God. God the FATHER said; This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (When they looked up, they saw no one except JESUS.)(His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light)(we are made clean and washed by the blood, whiter than snow, we become the light that shines in the darkness, we are transfigured like JESUS))
The law,(Moses)and the prophet,(Elijah)disappears, only Jesus who is grace remains, By his resurrection, he is the one who remains! The law and the prophets that could not save us were replaced by the Son, JESUS, who is always with us, that God the FATHER said; This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" Jesus knew that this would have fulfilled meaning when Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." Why? Because then grace reigns, the love and mercy of God the FATHER and JESUS the son of the FATHER, is completed for us, we are no longer under the law nor need to live by the law to be saved, we are not only washed by water only to become unclean again but we are saved by the resurrection of Jesus who is always with us, and saved by grace because of the mercy and love he has for us by taking our punishment upon himself, so we are clean and righteous forevermore. (baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT and with fire) So we look to no man, but to the SON OF GOD only, JESUS, listen to him only.

Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them". Then, what does this mean? It means that when we become born again of the spirit of God, when we become new spirit creatures, we are given the HOLY SPIRIT as a guide and counselor during our lifelong sanctification process, JESUS lives in us as the power to overcome sin, we crucify the flesh daily that we might live by the spirit which gives us life, and frees us from sin. the law shows us our sin, the grace and mercy of JESUS when we believe in him gives us the power to overcome it.

Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord JESUS, and you will be saved",
Once we believe, we are born again, once we are born again and justified (we are made righteous in God's eyes by the blood of JESUS shed for us and our sins), we then begin the lifelong process of sanctification, we become more and more like JESUS because he lives in us, his HOLY SPIRIT guides us, and we overcome sin by his power in us. We do not overcome sin by our own power, but by his power alone! So we look to no man, but to the SON OF GOD only, JESUS, listen to him only.