Today a lot of people in this world will wake up to hugs and chocolates and big red hearts. There will be flowers on the table and a very special card and maybe an invitation to go out for the evening…

There’s nothing wrong with setting aside a day to celebrate the very special person God has placed in your life. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to say, “I love you, and I’m thinking of you.” In fact, that should be an everyday thing – but it’s not.

Why is it that most of the people that wake up today would consider divorce tomorrow on certain terms? Why does their love become hatred when when they see the others person’s unlovely side?

Today I’m thinking of the perfect, pure, unfailing love of Jesus. His is a love vast as the ocean, mightier than the hugest, strongest mountain; His is a love that will not vanish should I betray Him for a lesser affection; a love that will not become cold and dead because I chose to do my own will; a love that does not show itself only on good terms or in favorable circumstances. His is a love that is unconditional and everyday; constant and perfect. His love is not based on what I can feel or see or touch. It is by faith. It is by promise. It is by covenant.

Why is it that most people who will wake up today view love as a hug or a kiss or an affectionate string of words? Why is it that their love only shows on days when the sun is shining?

My God is a God of sacrificial love; love that is not just based on emotions. Sometimes love can be tears and pain and a choice. It can be going against the cries of my flesh and being made willing to receive the sufficient strength of Christ.

Love is a beautiful thing. God’s love is in sunflowers and rainbows and wind whipping through tall grassy fields. It’s in the rain and the thunder, and the rays of the sun. It’s in the voices of little children praying before bed, and in the silence of a quiet black night. But His love is more than that. It does not always come across like a hug or a kiss or a diamond ring. It is so much bigger, so much vaster, so much deeper.

His love is beyond comparison. It is outside my imagination. I cannot fathom the depth of it.

He gives me things no man could ever give me – peace, joy, hope, faith, strength…

He shed His blood for me. He shed tears for me. He came to rescue me. He gave His life for me.

Because He loves, I love. I am what His love has made me to be.

He loves a husband through a wife; He loves a father through a daughter; He loves a little boy through a Mama; He loves a family through each individual member, and then makes them a whole.

His love is beautiful. It can come wrapped in a box tied up with a bow; it can be written in a card on the table; it can be displayed in special time spent together. But it’s not about the gift, or the card, or the time, as much as it is about the heart. It is about true love. Constant love. Unfailing love. The pure, priceless love of Christ at work in the lives of His children.

Today I am thinking about my Abba Father, and how very much I love Him.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19

Life has its challenges. We are called to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. He does not promise that the road will be smooth, or the path easy, but that where we tread, He will be there with us; and if we cast our burdens upon Him, He will sustain us. He will not suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22) It’s His promise.

I’m sure we’ve all figured out by now that life is not always a glorious mountaintop experience. Rather, much of what we see from day to day is a slow weary trudge through the valley. We are called to love unlovely people; to view our enemies as God’s agents for our own good; to stand and fight when our flesh cries out in weakness – to just give up! Freedom doesn’t always feel like a butterfly. Forgiveness doesn’t undo what already happened. Love is not just a beautiful feeling toward another person. No, rather, in fact, these three are often at first the result of a fierce inner battle; a struggle to say no to the bondage of sin, and choosing to follow Christ. It can mean clenched teeth and tears. It is only by the complete grace of God! And this begins when I realize how great the love of God is for me, despite all that I  did (and still do) to Him. Then I will experience the joy of the Lord in life!

Today I saw a man, a servant of God, a child of the King of Kings. He said yes to God. He devoted time to study the Word. He opened his mouth in obedience, and shared the Word of the Lord with hungry people in our little congregation. And because he was just an ordinary man that loved his Lord, the words that came from his mouth were oh so extraordinary.

One of the first things he said was this: Don’t let Satan have a foothold in your life!

God knew I needed this. Because it’s been one of those in-the-valley weeks. It’s been long and exhausting and at times just plain hard. You know what I mean. You have those days too. Thank God for a loving family, and His precious Word, and His amazing grace!

The ordinary man that serves an extraordinary God said more. He went through Psalm 86, meditating on each verse, expounding to us with wonderful insights that the Lord showed him this week. I wanted to share a few of those verses with you, because they were a blessing to me.

(verse one) I must be poor and needy to be helped. I must be desperate, and dependent on God alone, not my own strength.

(verse four) I need to give my mind, will, and emotions over to the complete control of God. This is when Satan will not have a foothold in my life. This is when I will experience the complete JOY of the Lord!

(verse seven) I don’t usually recognize God’s goodness until I am “at the bottom”. I walk through the “good” times never realizing where I would be, or what it would be like without God’s goodness. God allows troubles often simply because He wants me to call out. When I do, He will always answer. And no can be an answer too.

(verse eight) Nothing compares to the Lord. Anything I love more than Him is a god. And yet nothing will satisfy, fulfill, complete, or perfect – except for Jesus Christ.

(verse eleven) Am I teachable? Am I yielded to Him? Is my heart sitting on a fence seeking after many different things, or am I undivided? If I ask, He will change my heart that I might fear His name.

(verse twelve) I need to praise the Lord with ALL of my heart, not just in my words.

(verse thirteen) He has raised me up from a shapeless hunk of clay out of the mire; He has molded me. By His great love and compassion, He has delivered me from the grave. He has made me what I am, and who I am.

(verse fifteen) The Lord is kind, stable, faithful, trustworthy. He is the one unchanging constant in the midst of all life’s inconsistencies.

(verse sixteen) He gives mercy. He gives strength. He saves. I must realize that it is His strength and not my own. He wants the glory due unto His name.

Don’t let Satan get a foothold in your life. The King of Kings has created us for so much more. He has made us to be more than conquerors, in Christ Jesus! And it begins with meditating on, and applying His Word to our lives.

The other day I was putting compost in the 5 holes in our front yard, where I hope to plant fruit trees this year. While I was out, I noticed that Sarah’s beehive was as busy as can be in the middle of the 60 degree day, and there was a pile of dead bees at the entrance of mine. The first thought that hit me was, “Great! Another dead beehive!” You see, I lost another one earlier last fall. As I continued to work, I was thinking about what I was going to do, and the Lord brought the words of Solomon to mind from Proverbs 27:1-2 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.”

I was immediately reminded of times in the past few months when I had done both of these things; of all the plans that I had made to get VSH queens, split my hive, get tons of honey, get even more money, and even help coach one of our friends on how to start and successfully keep their beehive. It was a humbling thought that this may be directly related to all the “great plans” I had in store for myself. The Lord has some reason for allowing this to happen, and it should not surprise me that this would happen. Maybe I need more character training. Maybe He wants to build my patience. I began to see this as the perfect opportunity to look for reasons why the Lord may have allowed this to happen. Now, I am starting from scratch (along with my dad, whose bee hive also died last winter.) with those words from Solomon deeply engraved in my mind. Also, fresh on my mind is the Scripture, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away…” (Job 1:21b) I think that the Lord needs to bring us tests like this. If not controlled properly, we may find ourselves becoming angry about the situation. I found myself giving in to this when I first saw my dead hive. But, the Lord also wants us to think about benefits that come from a situation. Lets see; what could possibly be “good” about a dead hive? For one, it will give me a little more time until spring. Secondly, it may cause me to do some more study and research, and less planning on making money. See, the benefits are good ones. We just have to learn how to look at it that way.

I want everyone to learn from this experience – not just bee-keepers. Everyone needs to know that, at some point, there will be a consequence of “boasting of tomorrow”. Learn to give thanks to God for the things that He gives us today. Not tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, if He gives us those same things again, we can thank Him again. You see, we can never praise God too much, however, we are always in danger of praising ourselves too much. Be a learner, and praise God!

Let us remember with joy and grateful hearts the true meaning behind CHRISTmas!!! Jesus is the reason for the season!!!

He came not to a throne, but to a manger.

He lived not as a king, but as a servant.

He chose not a kingdom, but a cross.

He gave not just a little, but everything.

- Holley Gerth

Merry Christmas from the Stelzl Family!!!

“A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world’s perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded. Few things we can do in this world are so well worth doing as the making of a beautiful and happy home. He who does this builds a sanctuary for God and opens a fountain of blessing for men. Far more than we know, do the strength and beauty of our lives depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home, into the world’s strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong–inspired for noble and victorious living. The children who are brought up in a true home go out trained and equipped for life’s battles and tasks, carrying in their hearts a secret of strength which will make them brave and loyal to God, and will keep them pure in the world’s severest temptations.”

“When we think of the importance of evenings at home it certainly seems worthwhile to plan to save as many as possible of them from outside demands for the sacred work within. It were better that we should neglect some social attraction, or miss some political meeting, or be absent from some lodge or society, than that we should neglect the culture of our own homes and let our children slip away from us forever.”

“To make a home godless and prayer-less is to send our children out to meet all the worlds evil without either the shelter of covenant love to cover them in the storm or the strength of holy principle in their hearts to make them able to endure.”

“It is impossible to estimate full influence of the reading of the word in a home day after day and year after year. It filters into the hearts of the young. It is absorbed into their souls. It colors all their thoughts. It is wrought into the very fibre of their minds. It imbues them with its own spirit. It’s holy teachings become the principles of their lives, which rule their conduct and shape all their actions.”

- By J.R. Miller

Today is the final day of our ThanksLiving Treasure box! The topic is provision, and a very fitting one as we so often and easily overlook the blessings of the Lord upon our everyday lives. The pilgrims rejoiced when spring arrived, and they were able to finish raising the necessary buildings for their settlement. They were surprised by an unexpected visit from a friendly Indian, which in turn led to them meeting another Indian, Squanto. Through Squanto’s help and advice, the Pilgrims learned to grow healthy gardens, hunt, fish, and a number of other useful things they would need to know to survive in this new place. Again, they were blessed by the Lord’s abundant provision to their needs, and thus they set aside a special time of giving thanks to God! Thanksgiving was a time for them to gather with family and friends, and to worship the Lord – with grateful hearts.

Family Insights ~

God as provided us with a beautiful home that truly lends itself to ministry and hospitality; He has faithfully provided us with food and other blessings each day; God has provided for our spiritual needs, even giving us men and women in history that we can look back at who inspire us toward faith, courage, and a closer walk with God; God has given us a large family – and we love each other! God has provided wonderful godly friends for us to fellowship with ; God gives us wise and godly authorities through which He works to counsel us and lead us in the proper path – our parents, church leaders, etc. God has provided us with a godly church, where we can sing and worship in a way that is pleasing to Him – with people that love Him! God provides hope, joy, comfort, peace, in Himself – because He is the ever faithful and true friend, the One that will never leave us or forsake us; He provides for ALL our needs, and far above and beyond!

“And my God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory.” – Philippians 4:19

Today’s topic is Salvation! As the pilgrims endured a season of sickness, suffering, and death, one of the young men who served as a ship’s officer observed them – a man who had been unkind to them, often sneering at them and cursing them. When a wave of sickness swept through the colony, many of the ship’s crew became ill as well, including this man. Through the Christ-like love and forgiveness he received from these men and women of God, his heart was softened, and his life changed. In the midst of their sorrows, this gave the Pilgrims hope. They gave thanks to God, the giver of salvation.

Today we considered this question: “Why and how am I thankful for God’s gift of salvation?”

Family Insights~

I a grateful that my wife and children know Christ; we have opportunities to share the gospel with those around us; We have had the privilege of watching the Lord work in many hearts, drawing them to Himself; God is merciful and does not give us what we deserve; I am free from sin and have freedom to tell others about God’s love and grace; I can ask God for forgiveness and also have an intimate personal relationship with Him; God has blessed me so I can grow up in a godly home and environment; I am grateful for the eternal rewards that are stored up in heaven for us; I am a new creation in Christ! I have the ability to say no to sin and choose to walk in freedom – in Christ! I can be joyful in all things, even the more difficult trials throughout life – by the grace of God.

Praise God for His unfailing love, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace! That we could be redeemed, rescued, forgiven, and loved by the King of Kings is a glorious thought! He has not only purchased our freedom, but empowered us with His Spirit, given us a purpose worth living and dying for, and made us His adopted children. Let’s thank Him today for the gift of Salvation!

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth…” – Romans 1:16

GeorgeWashington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be: that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grand unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. 

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789.

[George Washington]

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil of which thanks naturally grows. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”

[Henry Ward Beecher]

“We tend to take all the gifts and pleasures and happiness and the joy without saying much to God. We take our health and strength, our food and clothing and our loved ones, all for granted; but the moment anything goes wrong we start grumbling and complaining and we say ‘Why should God do this to me, why should this happen to me?’ How slow we are to thank and swift to grumble.”
[Martyn Lloyd-Jones]

Give thanks! What does it cost us to choose to be grateful? And yet what joy is robbed from us when we instead murmur and complain! We are blessed far above and beyond what we deserve, and someone somewhere does not have as much in some area where we think we lack.  Today is a day to remember all that the Lord has bestowed upon us so graciously, out of His mercy and compassionate love. We possess freedom to worship God in our land; we are granted another day of living and health; we have purpose, and something worth living and dying for; we are the adopted children of God, and are empowered to walk in the freedom of His truth; we are protected from evil and from danger; we have food on our table and a place to live – not  everyone does! The list is endless – try coming up with just 5 new things each day, and you will find throughout the year that so many blessings – the huge and the seemingly insignificant – are too often and easily overlooked. How hard it would be to do without the smallest things we possess, that God has so graciously chosen to grant us! Give thanks – not only because it is Thanksgiving, but because it is another day, filled with the blessings of the Lord. We ought to make EVERY DAY a day of thanksgiving.

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” – Ephesians 5:20

Today’s topic is health! The pilgrims faced a deadly winter as they hurried to build their new colony. Without proper tools, much human strength was required to raise the necessary buildings. With each passing day, they became more and more weak, exhausted, and sick. Throughout the winter, 47 would die from sickness – almost half the colony! Yet, they continued to trust the Lord, finding comfort in the knowledge that their loved ones had gone to be with the Lord.

Today we asked the question, “During the past years, how has the Lord blessed my health?”

Family Insights ~

God provides natural vitamins and medicines to cure our sickness; God has given me health so I can travel to visit my family (Grandma’s insight); He has given us a wealth of health knowledge and physical healing as a family, through various doctors, research, and special diets; He kept me from getting sick last winter; God has protected me from getting sick often, so I can focus on my responsibilities more diligently; God has healed me from many headaches, and given me some understanding as to what has caused them; He protected us from our house mold problem, by providing an ozone machine to use for a time, free of charge!

Be grateful today – not only for the gift of another day to live life – but for the ability to walk, talk, travel, and do special things together as a family. The gift of health is a blessing from the Lord!

“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord…” – Jeremiah 30:17a

Today’s topic is Freedom! The pilgrims finally reached America. A last, they were free to worship the Lord without compromise!  God has given us freedom in so many areas, and He delights when we praise His name and bless Him – from a grateful heart!

I’m grateful for freedom to… sing aloud to the Lord; Praise God and worship Him in public; Share the gospel with others who are lost without going to jail; Pray in public places; Freedom in Christ over sin and bondage; Home school; To own multiple copies of the Bible in our language; To raise up our children in the way of the Lord; to attend gatherings that are centered around Christian principles; To attend a church of our own choice and live according to our standards and convictions; To be outside during school hours (as they were trying to pass a law against this in one state); To own our own business and be entrepreneurs! Freedom from the law of sin and death – victory in Christ Jesus!

Give thanks to the Lord today, for the freedom He has given us! Our freedom was bought with a price. Men and women risked their lives and gave their lives so that we might speak the name of Christ and worship Him publicly. Jesus Christ shed His blood and gave His life, so that we might have victory over the darkness of sin and bondage. Praise the Lord!

“As free (men), and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” – 1 Peter 2:16