Category: Devotions

Have you ever been outside and consciously closed your eyes, tilted your face towards the sun and taken in a deep breath? Then with the soft warmth of the sun’s rays shining on your face exhaled with a feeling of refreshed optimism in the gracious goodness of God? It is like God is shining His face down on you filling you and your life with His light, love, holiness, purity and presence renewing your faith in Him.

That’s my goal for each day. To walk in the light of His love, having been forgiven, reborn and redeemed by Jesus to live an abundant life of freedom and blessings in Him. I just have to remember to look up to the Son, put my focus on Him and receive the refreshing breaths of His life moment by moment.

So today, I decided to take a walk in hopes of regaining that fresh faith, renewed focus and catching my breath by filling my mind with the goodness and blessings of God all around.

Here are some pictures I took along the way. I hope they encourage you as the sights did me. :)

Happy Easter everyone! The big day is here when we remember and celebrate that Jesus is risen, He is a live and He has won the ultimate victory. He has conquered everything and all that remains is for us to willingly given Him our hearts and receive His free gift of complete forgiveness, forever redemption and eternal salvation.

If you know what I’m talking about then you know there is nothing sweeter, more joyous and soothingly satisfying than His gift of eternal life. If you don’t know what it’s about [and even if you do ], check out the verse with the artwork above [John 3:16]. It sums it all up pretty well.

And if you are wondering why Jesus did such a thing for you, me and every person earth, just put all the words of this verse together and see that it clearly spells out one word: LOVE. His love for each and every person is so great He gave up His very life on the cross for you and for me.

#GODISLOVE, #JESUSISRISEN, #JESUSISALIVE,

#GODLOVESYOU, #GODWILLFIGHTFORYOU,

#HAPPYEASTER

So, at about 3:30 pm yesterday I had visions of writing a LIFE LINK BLOG post about bowling my second “clean” game [a game with all strikes and/or spares] or even a new high score with my dynamic bowler that attaches to my wheelchair [see video for it in action]. However, as you can see from the score sheet neither one materialized. So what’s the story?

Well, the real story is frame number 5 with the small number 7 circled. You see just before that frame, I had made 4 spares in a row. I was focused, feeling good and thinking this could be my second “clean” game or even my first 200 game.  However, as I’m about to line-up for the 5th frame throw, Leanne says there is a young man in a wheelchair who has been watching and wants to talk to me. “Right now?” were the first words out of my mouth [actually the word “REALLY?” was going through my mind]. I almost told Leanne to tell him to wait. Fortunately, I did not do that but instead I took a few minutes to talk with him about my bowler and the way it works. Unfortunately, I still had it in my mind that this had ruined my concentration and in turn let my bad attitude replace my focus on bowling. What happened? I threw a 4, 7, 10 split. Not only a split but one of the tougher ones to convert.

At this point, some of you may be saying “yeah, you never should have gotten out of your groove to talk to the kid”. Others may be saying “you did the right thing: people are first”.

So what happened next, made things real interesting as well as made me think.  I MADE THE SPLIT! One of the harder shots in bowling that I had never done before, I did. Wow, was I excited. I made the split and my streak stayed alive. :)

Now you are probably saying but you did not finish with a clean game or new high score so what’s the point. The point is this: at the moment I made the difficult split, [especially for someone using a dynamic bowler that cannot even get a ball speed above 7 mph], I felt like God was saying: “I got your back”.

You see when we do the right thing sometimes it may appear to cost us but this is actually never true in God’s economy of blessings. You see God promises when we seek Him and His Kingdom all we need will be added to us and that blessing follow obedience. Now I’m not trying to say this principle means we can all be 300 bowlers but I am saying some pretty cool things happen when you follow God.

No, I did not bowl my second “clean” game or break my personal best score but I did do something amazing that I never had done before all the while honoring God by valuing people before things.

Well, the big day is almost here. The day we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to any person and yet to all persons. The day when God sent His only son, Jesus fully human and yet fully divine. The day when God showed us how much He loves each person by giving His best. The ultimate gift that ultimately gives all of us who have strayed away from God’s path and even turned our backs on Him a second chance. The opportunity for what we each need the most: forgiveness, redemption, restoration and rebirth. Not only abundant life here on earth but eternal life with Him in heaven.

We at Access-Life hope that everyone reading these words not only knows this truth but has chosen to received this greatest of gifts ever given: Jesus. He is a true friend, a faithful provider, a fierce protector and the only Savior. We pray that as we all sing Away in a Manger, Come Let Us Adore Him and even Silent Night that we will be refreshed by the breath of the Holy Spirit, renewed in our sense of holiness by Jesus’ light and  encourage by God gracious love. A matchless love that came in the form of a baby given for you, for me and the whole world. May we not only experience this supreme joy in the coming days but all year long as we realize Emmanuel has come and is with us.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, JOY TO THE WORLD, PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TOWARDS MAN FOR THE LORD HAS COME! REJOICE. :)

Thanksgiving is almost here! The time we set a side to thank God for the many ways He has blessed us. The time we remember that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17. The time “we praise God from whom all blessings flow…”

But aren’t these blessings poured out on us everyday and not just one day of the year? So why do we only celebrate this great truth just once a year? I honestly don’t know. I do know I take God and His goodness for granted and am rarely in awe of how much He loves and cares for me. So while I’m sure I’ll still take these inspiring things for granted again in the future, TODAY I will try to purposefully have an attitude of gratitude that carriers over to the next day, and the next day and so on by finding something new each day for which to be thankful.

Here at Access-Life, Inc., Leanne and I are so thankful for each of you who have prayed, served and/or given to the ministry over the years. TEN YEARS IN FACT! This is a long time and while the journey may seem steep at times, we truly are thankful for Jesus who has saved us, strengthens us and helps us accomplish all He asks. It is is also so encouraging to have the help and support of all of you raising the ministry higher to go onward and upward – all in Jesus name.

AGAIN THANK YOU AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING.  :)