MEMORIES OF MY FATHER!

 

Sunday, June 21, 2026

A Fathers’ Day Classic

 

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER!

 

Eph 6:1-4

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

 

          June is not only the month in which we find Father’s Day, it is the month in which my own father was both born and died. Dad was born on June 26, 1917, and died on June 21, 2001, just five days short of his 84^th birthday. I miss him.

 

It is a terrible thing to be “fatherless” even when you are fully grown with children and grandchildren of your own. There is a place deep inside where the memory of Dad still dwells. I can go there and review a photo album of memories. I can see how he dressed, how he walked and talked and even how he responded to troubling situations. I can see how he responded to the needs of those less fortunate while at the same time being disgusted at those who simply would not do for themselves. I can choose from the best of his character, sorting out the best of his nature and comparing it with my own. Every now and then I can see huge parts of him in the mirror. Sometimes I turn and stare, half expecting him to speak to me. 

 

          Since the commandment is to honor my father, I wonder how I might do that today. I can’t take him to dinner or go fishing with him. He never was one for receiving gifts. I think the best way to honor my father is to assemble a list of his best qualities and emulate them. Next, I think I should assemble a list of his worst qualities and forgive them and reject them.

 

Dear Lord, since my father is closer to you than me today, would you please give him a hug for me? Thanks!

 

BORN AGAIN

 

Saturday, June 20, 2026

 

BORN AGAIN

 

John 3:1-5

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

 

          The condition of Nicodemus is sad indeed. He was not one of the more sinful sinners but was a cultured and educated man. Educated in the best schools, he was knowledgeable in the arts as well as skilled in social graces. His name, Nicodemus, is a combination of the verb Nikao which means “to win” and the word demos or “people.” He was a winner with the people, but he was not converted. He was not born again.

 

          Nicodemus was not disrespectful when addressing Jesus. We live in a world where disrespect is the common attitude of man. Nicodemus addressed Jesus respectfully, noted his miraculous accomplishments, and was about to pose a few questions for clarification when Jesus challenged him with a simple fact. “Except a man is born again he can’t see the kingdom of God.”

 

          Try to imagine what Nicodemus was thinking. He had the best education, shopped the best clothier, lived in the best neighborhood, was active in his church and his community. He was a winner with the people, but he was a loser with God. Despite his education, he was not equipped to discuss the new birth with its designer. He was ignorant of the most important things.

 

1 Cor 2:14

14 But the natural [unsaved or unconverted] man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [understood].

 

 

Although Jesus explained spiritual reality to Nicodemus that night, it is only after Jesus' death that we see proof that he actually did become His disciple (John 19:39). Nicodemus clearly points out that the wisdom of men falls painfully short of the kingdom of God. Only by total reliance upon the work of Christ can we hope to attain it. We likewise must be "born again" (John 3:3). (from New Testament Sermon Starters © 2001, Spiros Zodhiates.)

 

Dear Lord, let me not trust in the wisdom of this world. Let me not become blinded by the acclaim of men. Let me see with spiritual eyes and hear with the heart. AMEN

 

ABUNDANT LIFE!

 

Friday, June 19, 2026

 

ABUNDANT LIFE!

 

John 10:10

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 

Eph 3:20-21

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 

The English language is sometimes incapable of describing the bounty of God. The word abundantly which is used in these two verses has so many shades of meaning. In one case it means “violently” like the rushing of water in a waterfall. Generally, we understand the word to mean “much more than enough!”

 

More than enough – IN QUANTITY!

 

As it relates to LIFE, Jesus brings more than enough. We not only have existence, which might be described by sitting in an empty room, but we have abundant life, which is like a child bouncing off the walls in play! Life is colorful and eventful. It is abundant. It overflows.

 

As it relates to STUFF, God provides much more than we personally need. Can you see the bare basics of the following verse? “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim 6:8). Most of us have much more than the basics of food and clothing. Some of us rent storage containers to hold the stuff we have long ago forgotten that we own. We have stuff in abundance.

 

More than enough – IN QUALITY!

 

God does not give his children junk! That which He gives is superior in quality to anything the world or the Devil might have to offer. When Jesus turned common water into wine at the wedding feast the common water became uncommon wine. Here is what the wedding guests said about it.

 

John 2:10

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

 

God gives us the good stuff. This is what the prodigal realized as his reasoning returned to him in the pig pen.

 

Luke 15:17-20

17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

 

He had life while he was away from the Father; in fact, he thought he was “living it up.” But the one who had lived like a prince in the world longed to return to become a servant in his father’s house. Why? Because in the world there was scant supply and want while in the father’s house there was abundant life!

 

Dear Father! Two things I pray for today. I pray that I may understand how very much I have. Next, I want to be a channel of blessing for others. AMEN