Wise Men

We all know the story of the three wise men (kings) who traveled many miles to find the child who had been foretold (prophesied). These men risked much to be in the presence of this future king. They each brought gifts of great value with which to honor the child, and worshiped in his presence.

Many books, signs, cards and T-shirts still proclaim the message that “Wise Men Still Seek Him”. I passed such a sign recently and I asked myself – do they really?

Then I thought – do wise men seek God, or does a man become wise by seeking God? Honestly, they both may be accurate. The question for us is – do we honestly seek Him? Do we, as men, truly desire His company? Do we long to be in His presence? Do we really want to know what He has to say to us – or are we secretly afraid of what we might hear?

Our enemy would have us believe one or more of the following lies that:

God is mad at me because of sinful things in my past.

God is too busy to fool with the mundane things going on in my life.

God is going to tell me to do something I really don’t want to do – aka – He is going to really mess up my plans.

Whichever lie it is – it is still a lie. God is the most loving, patient, forgiving, caring, kind Father we could ever encounter. There is absolutely no reason to shy away from Him or fear Him. The Bible actually tells us that, because of what Christ has already done, we can come “boldly before God’s throne” to avail ourselves of His love, grace and help in our time of need.

Think about what is keeping you from bounding out of bed everyday eager to encounter the most gracious, giving and loving Person you could ever know. You were created by Him, and He deeply desires for you to live life with Him. He wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. He love you. Heck – He even likes you.

Christmas reminds us that wise men seek God, and that God is eager to be found. Let’s reject the lies and seek Him like never before. I am convinced that we will be blown away by what we find.

Merry Christmas,

Huz

A Father’s Love

Today, I wanted to approach Father’s Day a touch differently.

One of the greatest joys of my life is being a father. My soul soars when I talk about, think about and/or get to spend any time at all with my sons. I am the proudest dad on the planet. Today though – I can’t help but think about my heavenly Father. If you’re like me, it may be hard to think of a heavenly Father without seeing him through the lens of our earthly one. My earthly dad was a nice man, but not much of a father. He was not abusive or tyrannical, he just wasn’t around. He was absent. Divorced mom when I was in elementary school, moved away and, until later in his life, was mainly a voice on the phone a couple of times a year.

He said he loved me, but I guess I looked at his actions (or lack of them) and concluded that his love for me (and my brother) must not have meant too much to him. Then I met my heavenly Father. His Word said He loved me too. What was I to think? “Okay, sure – I’ve heard that before”. But this time it was different. This Father kept pursuing me, and showing me how much He loved me – just as I am.

He told me through those I loved. He spoke to me through family, friends, roommates, pastors – and then through my wife and children. He showed me in His Word and through talking with Him in the quiet moments of my days. I will share two stories that He used to pierce my doubting heart, and make His point in such as way that I will never question it again:

The prodigal son – You know the story from Luke 15, and I thought I did too. I had read it and heard it preached many times. One day God made me stop and ponder the response of the father in the story. He saw his son returning “from a long way off”, which means he was waiting and watching for him. He ran down the road to his son. He didn’t wait for his boy to come to him with his tail tucked between his legs.

Instead of scolding him, or expecting an apology, or waiting for explanations – he hugged him and kissed him repeatedly and I am sure tearfully. His heart was overwhelmed with love for his wayward son. He took him home, put his finest robe on his pig-smelling shoulders, gave him his family ring and threw him a lavish party. And this is a story Jesus told to illustrate in some small way how God views us, and how very much He loves us.

Well, I finally “got it”. I finally changed the pronoun from “us”, or “them” and replaced it with “me”. He loves “me”. He did all that for “me”. Even though I will never deserve it – He loves “me” that much. I have been overwhelmed ever since.

The other story God has used in my life to help me “see” His love, and overwhelm me with a “knowing” of His love for me is the amazing story of the Team Hoyt. If you have never seen this (or even if you have), please take a minute this Father’s Day to see an amazing representation of how much God loves you and is doing everything He can to demonstrate that love to you every single day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRvsO8m_KI

Whether you are a father or not, use this day to remind yourself of how very much your heavenly Father loves you, and remember that you don’t have to tap dance (perform) for Him. He loves you completely and unconditionally. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more than He already does.

Enjoy this Father’s Day guys – and let the Father’s love embrace you with fresh hope, life and joy.

Huz

Treasure

It’s so hard at Christmas time not to get a little lusty. I would really like to upgrade from an iPhone 3 to a 4.0. My laptop is getting old and Apple is having a really good sale on MacBooks. And don’t you know the Bowl games would look so much better on a bigger, high-def television.

It’s not that I’m materialistic or greedy – it would just be nice sometime to be able to just go out and buy that “thing” I really want, no matter what it costs. If I’m honest, I must confess that even though I truly feel content with what I have, there is a secret place inside my soul that would be severely challenged if I won the lottery or inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My mind understands, and my spirit agrees, that I can’t take anything from this world with me when I check out. Everything I own will pass on to someone else. They also understand that the Bible says not to love the world or the things in the world, and not to store up for myself treasures that will rust and rot – but to store up treasure in heaven. I know these things, and truly want to do them – but my flesh still snarls when I see a young punk driving a $60k BMW or Range Rover. Oh well….

The older I get the more I realize that things truly do not satisfy, and that what truly matters for eternity are your walk with God and your interaction with, and influence on, other people. Almost every week I get a sad sort of feeling come over me that wishes that I had understood these things much earlier in my life.

The Bible talks about where my treasure is, my heart will be also. My heart will follow what I hold valuable.

If I see my daily walk with Christ as truly valuable – I won’t have any problem making time to spend with Him. If I place my wife’s needs above my own, and “give myself up for her” as commanded by the Lord – I will eagerly seek to sacrifice my desires on her behalf. At the end of the day, I will invest my time and resources in those things that I see as most valuable.

What is most valuable to me? I really have to take some time to give myself an honest answer. The simple answer can be found by looking over my calendar and my checkbook. These will tell what/who gets my time and money. This is where I am investing myself.

Christmas and New Year’s is a great time to reflect. Assess what happened last year, and plan/dream about the next. What will be different next year? How will my marriage be different? What will make our relationship better? What is God calling me to do with 2011?

Over the Holidays let’s take some deliberate, alone time to determine where our treasure/heart really is.

The Lord will guide you always (Isa. 58:11),

Huz

It’s Her Fault

The words date back to the Garden of Eden.

 “That woman you gave me – she gave me the fruit from the tree and I ate it.” (Gen. 3:12)

Ever since, husbands have blamed their wives (and God) for many of their problems. “If she would just….”, “When she….”, etc., etc. It seems almost like an automatic response to why our situation is the way it is. Men find it very easy to blame “Eve” for screwing things up.

Have you ever blamed your wife for your situation, your feelings, your hardship or your consequences? Obviously, she isn’t perfect and both husband and wife share responsibility – but here is a sentence I want us all to ponder:

My wife doesn’t cause me to be the way I am – she reveals the way I am.

If your response to your wife is unloving, is she to blame? Are you justified because of her words or actions? Or, is God using her to reveal to you where your own heart is? Was Adam correct when he said Eve gave him the fruit? Yes. Was he also correct when he said that she was responsible (and therefore to blame) for making him eat it?

Adam knew what God told him about the fruit. He was responsible for his choice, and his action – not Eve.

We know what God tells us to do too: “love your wife as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for her” – “live with your wife in an understanding way” – “let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth…” – etc.

Sometimes your wife will make you so upset you just want to spit (or worse). Sometimes she just rubs you the wrong way; doesn’t meet your expectations; doesn’t treat you with respect; or just drives you batty. In these times I want to encourage you (and me) to look past her and ask God what He is trying to reveal to you about the current condition of your heart. How is your intimacy level with Him in those moments? Are you walking in the Spirit or in the flesh?

The Holiday season can be one of added stress and busyness. It is easy to get emotionally frayed and to become slack about walking deliberately with Jesus every single day – which together can lead to some additional tension in the marriage.

Remember – “I am responsible for my response”.

No matter how your mother-in-law treats you, or your selfish sister acts, or the kids don’t respond to your heart-felt gifts – or your wife speaks to you – you are responsible for your response. Is there something in your heart that God is revealing that needs to be dealt with (selfishness, pride, anger, resentment, unforgiveness, etc.)?

Let’s allow the Prince of Peace to rule and reign in our heart this Season, and respond to those around us as He would. This season is, by the way, all about Him.

Live through us Lord.

Huz

35 Years

My wonderful wife and I just celebrated 35 years together. We should probably celebrate more years together since we dated for several years before getting married – but 35 will do.

As I pondered what to write on my anniversary card, I couldn’t help but reflect on how great God has been to me, and to us, for all these years. Our marriage, like most of yours, has been riddled with hard times and tough things. But God is faithful. Always. He cannot be anything but faithful – it is His nature, His character. In spite of all of my sin and shortcomings, He has been the one constant, and the Rock on which we have always landed.

We made a commitment early in our marriage – that divorce would never be an option. We didn’t know it then, but we were actually just agreeing with God’s view of marriage. In His eyes, and in His heart, marriage is a covenant. It is not a contract that can be broken for non-performance by one of the parties. He is a covenant-keeping God, and our marriage is to reflect that to the world. So we told ourselves, and we told each other, that we were in this together. Through thick and thin, better or worse, etc., etc., we were going to face life together.

Life is hard. We didn’t really know that at the time we said “I do”, but it is hard – dang hard. Things don’t typically turn out the way we expect, or dream of, but it is still our life. Another marriage lesson learned has been just that – giving my expectations to Jesus. I want the life He wants for me. He loves me with a perfect father’s love and He knows exactly what I need to be completely fulfilled in this life. If He wants me to have it – then I want it. If He doesn’t, then I don’t need it.

He loves me and always does what is in my best interest. Sometimes I don’t know why – but I trust Him.

He brought the love of my life into my life over 35 years ago, and looking back it is very plain to see His loving hand in the  whole story. Proverbs 31 reminds me – 

The Lord has created for me a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies. I can trust her, and she has greatly enriched my life. She brings me good, not harm, every day of her life. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

Her children stand and bless her. I too praise her, saying “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

Any of you who know her, know I’m not making this up – she is amazing. She is truly the only woman I have ever known who has no enemies, or even anyone who doesn’t like her. She is a treasure. The logical question you ask is – how did she end up with me? And I once again have to go back to God. I thank Him every day.

We have made it through these years by the amazing grace of God, and look forward to what He has in store along the road ahead. Thank you God for your faithfulness, and for your wonderful gift to me, and to my children and their children’s children.

Huz

One Day a Year ?

Valentine’s day is a great day. I am all for V-Day, but I must protest that many of us huzbands make a big deal over how special our wife is on this one, special day – but what about the other 364?

Are we guilty of buying a card or some flowers on this special day and living for our selves the other days? Surely not. Tell me it isn’t so.

I hope you have an awesome day with your wife tomorrow. I hope you will seriously consider how often you give her the “special treatment” the rest of the year. She deserves it. She needs to know how special she is – often. And, God will bless you for it.

Happy Valentine’s day guys!

Huz