Family

Thanksgiving, It’s a Holiday to Remind Us

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

The very first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621. It began as a harvest festival thanking God for their bountiful harvest of crops. It’s been celebrated nationally since 1789 after a proclamation by George Washington. And, it has been a ‘federal holiday’ every year since 1863 when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”. Don’t you love that! I fear that sometimes we take for granted the fact that our great nation was founded on Biblical principles.

I wrote a blog awhile back titled, The ‘Magic’ Words. You know, the magic words “Please”, and “Thank You”. They really are words that have power, words that show gratitude, words that could, and should, pull us out of any attitude of ‘entitlement’ that might be lingering. We’re conditioned by our flesh to just automatically look at ‘what we don’t have’ rather than seeing what we do have. And, anytime we’re in that mode, true happiness is just another elusive dream that, seemingly, cannot be attained.

So, I think Thanksgiving should be, (among other things like food, family and fellowship), first and foremost a time to stop and just think and reflect on all that we do have. If you’re having a hard time thinking of some of those things…here’s a little list to help you get going.

I’m thankful that God exists; that He’s ‘real’…and that He’s a Father, Who ‘handpicked’ me to be His son! I’m thankful that He really, really loves me, in spite of all my shortcomings! I’m thankful for His grace…and that He’s already judged me to be righteous which is obviously not based on my conduct and behavior. I’m thankful for His amazing ability to rescue me no matter how serious, or impossible my situation might look. I’m thankful to the Lord for my family!

I bet the Lord appreciates it when we say thanks, whether we ‘say’ it in our words or our actions. I think Thanksgiving is a good time to remind ourselves of all that we have to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Maybe you’ll have some extra time the next few days for ‘binge reading’! Check out these ‘holiday blogs’, and pass ’em along to anyone you think’ll be interested!

“Freedom’s Just Another Word” …… But It’s a Whole Lot More Than That!

Room at the Inn?

Thanksgiving ’15 – One That’ll Stand Out For Us From Now On!

Labor Day Out on the ‘Ol ‘Lazy J’

Definitely Our Most Memorable New Year’s Day!

You Matter! You Really Do!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter! We’ve been bombarded with so much of that in this last year that it eventually gets on a person’s nerves. And while I fundamentally agree with all three statements I totally disagree with any kind of violent expression to get the point across. It does absolutely nothing but fuel the racial tension that has been purposely escalated by the current administration and perpetrated by the false idea that black people in America are routinely treated with disregard. That’s just my opinion and you don’t have to agree.

But the truth of the matter remains. We all have a profound, deep seated and inherent sense that we matter. It’s a very legitimate thing and it was put there in our basic makeup by the Lord, Himself, when He created mankind. We ‘want’ to matter! We want our lives to count; We want to make a difference. It’s “built in”! But, life inevitably gets in the way. Busyness, misfires, failures, unexpected calamities, bad decisions, heartbreaks……they all figure in. And if we’re not careful….the fact that we really do matter, somehow, gets lost in the shuffle.

But, you do matter! You matter to your people; your family, your friends, the people who you love and who love you, the people who trust you, the people who depend on you, the people who believe in you, the people who have invested in you, the people who’ve been there for you and the ones you’ve been there for. You matter to the people you’ll ‘touch’ through the fulfilling of your destiny. I’m telling the truth…You Matter!

You mattered enough to Jesus for Him to lay down His life for you!

You matter…..and you’ll always matter!

Try these:

Have a Nice Day, Lord!

Are You ‘Led’, or Are You ‘Driven’?

Resistance Training

*If you find these helpful, “Share” ’em, and pass ’em along to people you think might be interested.

Thanks!

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I Don’t Know How He Does It!

/ Andy R Taylor / 1 Comment

I’ve been seeing Him do it consistently for over thirty years now! My guess is that He’s been doing it since time began! It’s amazing to me how the Lord can inevitably, flawlessly and decisively, cause good things to happen …right in the midst of what we might think are terrible circumstances. It started for me in 1984 in what I thought was the worst time of my life. At a time when I couldn’t see my way out the Lord miraculously came through. And, I certainly didn’t know it at the time but it has turned out to be, undoubtedly, the best time of my life. It wasn’t the funnest….if you know what I mean….but it was definitely the best. Because it was there, at that point, that the Lord rescued me. It was there that my relationship with Him began. A relationship, by the way, that I didn’t even know you could….or should have.

I really think the Lord just loves to do this kind of thing. He loves His kids, there’s no question about that! And He loves the opportunity to bless us at anytime, really. But, it appears that maybe He loves to bless us when we think and feel that there’s nothing good that can come in our circumstances. I have a dozen or more stories, and have heard at least a hundred others from people I know, of how the Lord did some amazing things in the midst of life’s greatest tragedies. In fact, if you think about it, the very worst thing that has ever happened in the context of time (without question), was when Jesus died on the cross. But for you and me….it turned out to be the very best thing that could’ve possibly ever happened!

Maybe you’re in the middle of one of those crises in your life right now. I can almost guarantee that the Lord has something very good for you in the near future!

It’s just routine for Him!

Tell me your story.

Try these, too:

What If It’s Not to ‘Break’ You,….but to ‘Make’ You?

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Walkin’ the Floor

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Maybe He Saved More Than Your Life!

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I just returned from a fantastic week of trout fishing in Montana. It’s the second year I’ve been invited there by my great friend, Ty Bean. It has been, these two years, an incredible time to unwind, relax, replenish and meet up with a few old, and some new friends. I had a great time….all except when I fell into the river! Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime. But, until then suffice it to say that the Big Horn, …in October, is waaaay too chilly to go into…on purpose!

We were picked up at the airport in Billings by a sharp young man named Tyler. There were five of us in the Suburban for the hour and a half trip to the lodge. I was riding ‘shotgun’ with Tyler and he began to ask me about my life. Now I sure don’t mind telling ‘my story’ but I have absolutely no agenda to try to force my way into telling it. But I was glad to answer Tyler’s questions and tell him how the Lord rescued me 32 years ago. When I finished he said, “That’s a great story!” I said, “Well, I take no credit for it, it’s just the story of how God saved my life.”

At almost that precise time I received a text. My screen-saver on my phone now ( I change it periodically with a pic of one or more of our 9 Grandkids!) is a pic of Knox and Timber, our two ‘newest’ grand babies. He (the Lord) immediately took me to that time in 1984 when my marriage was over with no hope of repair, and just about every other problem you could imagine. At that point in my life I only had two sons, Clint and Cade. And, the Lord showed me all that I now have…..that I wouldn’t have had, had He not answered my desperate prayer of, “God, if You’re out there, you gotta help me!”

My mind went immediately to Cole, his wife Kelly and their 3 precious little kids, Calli, Maverick and Knox. Then to Clay, his wife Chelsea and precious little Timber. Then to Cord, our little boy in heaven. *(Something for us to really look forward to!!) Then to Cameron, our little girl who has been the ‘icing on the cake’ after four boys! I was broken beyond words right there in the Suburban. It wasn’t tears of sadness but tears of overwhelming joy and gratefulness toward the Father.  None of these, who are now such a huge a part of our lives, and a huge part of why our lives are so rich today……,  would’ve been here. I can’t imagine life without them!!

God did the impossible….and fixed the un-fixable!! 

And, maybe…..just maybe…..He saved more than your life!!

**Here’s that pic on my phone!! The two newest little Taylors’, Timber & Knox!

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“God, If You’re Out There, You Gotta Help Me!”

It’s A Different Kind of Love!

If He Can Fix My Life…..I Know He Can Fix Yours!

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People Just Love to Talk

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

I was listening to a Delbert McClinton song the other day titled,  People Just Love to Talk. (click on highlighted links to watch/read) Anybody that knows me well, knows that I really like Delbert McClinton. He’s a Ft. Worth guy whose music doesn’t really fit perfectly with any genre. It’s not country, although it does kinda have a certain country flair. It’s not rock, but again, there’s some similarity. But most of his songs have a nice bluesy edge to them. You oughta check him out. You might find you really like him.

But the song got me to thinkin’; It’s really true you know, people do just love to talk. And a lot of the time that talk is not very wholesome or edifying. I gotta say right here that I’ve been guilty of it myself on numerous occasions….and I’m trying to do better. Gossip…., or talebearing as the Bible calls it, is so easy to get dragged into. I mean, you don’t even have to try and before you know it you find yourself ‘piling on’ (with your words) someone that definitely doesn’t need it.

The Lord gave me what I’d call a pretty profound revelation some years back. There’s a powerful Biblical principle that says, “If two of you agree on anything and ask it in My (Jesus talking) Name, I’ll do it”. Another one, “If one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand to flight”. Now, that’s pretty amazing math if you stop and think about it! There’s more…but you get the idea. Well, what the Lord showed me was that we are doing the exact same thing….but in a negative way when we agree with someone’s railing on another person, or when we add our own words to the criticism thrown out there! That’s pretty serious, I think! And, it’s just more evidence of how important our words really are.

The Bible talks about how powerful our words are….in a negative sense, “see how great a forest a little fire kindles”. It’s true….people just love to talk……but you and I don’t have to throw fuel on the fire!

…might want to check these out, too!

Don’t Tie the Ends Up!

You Got to Me Too Late!

Talk About a ‘Fixer-Upper’!2016WordpressSignatureSM

Accepted or Valued? There’s a Vast Difference!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

One of the hard things in life occurs when we don’t feel accepted. And, I imagine just about everyone of us has experienced it more than a few times. It just doesn’t feel good to be on the outside…especially when the ‘in’ group is our family or friends and people we care about. Because of our insecurities (and most of us have ’em) it’s possible to have that feeling pretty often. But, many times that feeling is just something that’s perceived on our part and not really legitimate,….or even intended on the other party’s part. But we can still experience the blunt pain of it anyway. Being accepted on the other hand has a very positive feel to it. 

There’s plenty of talk around the church these days about acceptance. I hear some people, from time to time, kind of ‘braggingly’, alluding to the fact that they accept everyone, as it’s supposed to be some real badge of nobility. It’s not rare to hear someone say, “Yep, we accept bikers, poor folks, alcoholics, drug addicts, ex-cons, those that are all ‘tatted’ up, gays, lesbians….”, and the list could go on and on. I wanna say, (but I don’t!) “Well, ain’t that what we’re supposed to do anyway?!” I don’t have much tolerance for bragging about something that oughta be commonplace, and a ‘no-brainer’,  for the church!

But, just deciding to accept someone….I don’t think is enough! I mean, from the position of not being accepted to being accepted, that’s a big thing, no question. It’s huge!! But, just accepting someone has the feel that we’re just kinda ‘tolerating’ them ’til they change to be like us. (which in most cases they really don’t care to do….and, seriously,…..who could blame ’em!) 

But, something really supernatural happens when we go beyond just ‘accepting’ them to actually ‘valuing’ them!! Valuing someone is going to the next level. It amounts to seeing someone through the eyes of the Lord. When we can do that and then show it through our attitude….and actions with them….amazing things are apt to happen!

I’m glad the Lord didn’t just accept me! I’m really glad that He’s not just ‘tolerating’ me! I can tell by my interaction with Him, and how good He’s been to me, that He’s gone way beyond that…and that He’s put a huge amount of value on me. (….incredibly undeserving on my part, I might add!) 

Oh, and those people that you ‘accept’…..they can feel whether you actually value them or not. And, if you don’t….enjoy their presence now ’cause more than likely they won’t be there long!

Check these out: (click on the highlighted link to read)

FOMO

“Obviously, I’m God’s Favorite!”

The Thing About Unconditional Love

“It’s Not Your Job to Fix Them!”

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You Can Only Do What You Can Only Do!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

I was having a conversation with a good friend a few weeks back. He was lamenting, so to speak, about some decisions he’d made 10 years or so ago that really affected some people in a negative way; people who he cared about and were important to him. He’s very sincere about doing the right thing; he’s determined to do things that are right and just. He used the best judgment he had to  make his deliberations and his decision. But the decision left the other party feeling hurt and betrayed and my friend has been carrying the weight of this for several years now.

I’d be surprised if  most of  us didn’t have some situations in our past that ended up like that. Situations, that if we were to have the chance for a do-over, we’d definitely take a different course of action. But, here’s the thing;  It’s a fact of life; You can only do what you can only do! We’re faced with all kinds of dilemmas in the normal course of our lives. And, if we’re trying to do the right thing we can only do what we know to be the best thing at that particular time. As we grow in the Lord, we grow in grace….(if we’re not growing in grace….we really aren’t growing in the Lord!) and as we grow in grace we have a deeper, more profound….and actually simpler way of handling our relationship dilemmas, and decisions. We become much more understanding with people, ….as well as, much more patient and forgiving. It’s a natural progression for anyone who’s really trying to follow the leadership of the Lord.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that when the heart is correct the Lord, somehow, has a way of causing good to come from it.….even though we might feel like we mishandled a situation at the time. It seems that He nearly always honors a ‘clean’ heart. Oh, and on the good side, if you can look back and see some of those things that you know you’d handle different today….it’s just good, solid evidence that you’re growing, progressing and maturing!

So, don’t fight your head or beat yourself up too much about those things…..You can only do, what you can only do!

If you have any such incidents that you’d definitely do different today, tell me about  it.

Check these out, too:

If God Has Your Heart, He Can Get Your Feet Where They Belong!

Redirecting!

“I Keep A Close Watch On This Heart Of Mine”

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Your Heart – The Control Room of Your Life

/ Andy R Taylor / Leave a comment

Your heart; arguably the most important organ in your body. If it’s not working, and working correctly, nothing else works very good either. But as long as it’s beating like it’s supposed to everything else has a good chance to be working, as well. It makes sense to have some kind of regular checkup to make sure your heart is performing like it should.

The Bible often refers to our ‘heart’ in verses that are extremely important. But it’s not that beating ‘muscle’ that lies there inside your chest it’s talking about. It’s more accurately referring to the deepest, most ‘real’ part of you,…. your spirit. For it’s there that the Spirit of God dwells….and rules the really important things in your life. (but only if you allow it!) It’s your heart that ‘governs’ your mind. I mean, your mind can come up with all kinds of scenarios….but it’s your heart that decides if you should entertain those things, ….and if you should act on them or not! It’s like a compass that can quickly detect if, or when, you might be off a degree or two. And, just like having a regular checkup on your heart, it would serve you well to make sure this ‘heart’ is as good as it should be!

When we’re born again it’s like having a ‘heart transplant’. There’s some real supernatural things that take place at that point and a good deal of it happened in our spirit. Our spirit is instantaneously transformed. Our perspective changes on just about everything. We begin to notice our ability to see things like the Lord sees them. And, as we continue our walk of faith and our deepening relationship with Him….our entire life takes on a whole new dimension. We begin to fulfill the incredible destiny that He’s purposed for us.

It all started with Him…and His relentless desire to have you as His own. He’s given us His own Spirit….Who’s entered our heart, the ‘control room’ of our life!

You’ll like this one, too:

Workin’ it Out

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Lives Matter!

/ Andy R Taylor / 6 Comments

This is  “Re-Post” from May 27, 2015. In light of recent events it seemed relevant to post it again.

Lots of conflict on the news lately. It seems that racial tension is nearly as high as it was in the ’60’s. I remember that. I actually thought we had made some major strides in overcoming that in the last few decades but it doesn’t take too many like Al Sharpton egging it on to get everyone stirred up again. In my opinion he’s used up way more than his fifteen minutes of fame!

The cry from communities like we’ve seen in Baltimore and Ferguson, MO is that “Black Lives Matter”. I could not agree more! It’s kind of a ‘no brainer’, huh? I saw a sign in a yard in a nearby town that says that “Police Lives Matter”. Agree again! The truth is, and only an idiot would argue otherwise, that all lives matter!  I’m discouraged that in the greatest nation on the planet we’re even having this discussion. I don’t doubt that in many areas there are some strong prejudices and biases against minorities. I’m a country boy and I haven’t had to deal with that  much, so I don’t consider myself an expert in the least. I just know it doesn’t work….it doesn’t work for anyone! It’s the classic ‘lose-lose’ situation!

I think we’ve gotta stop making it a ‘white’ issue, or a ‘black’ issue and make it a human being issue! “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” still works! I agree that it’s a deeper and more complex discussion and that there’s at least dozen or more points to be considered. But let’s not make it any more complicated than it already is. 

If there’s anything positive going to happen, you and I should at least do our part. A good start is deciding that “Lives Matter”….. all of them! And anytime we see racial prejudices in our little world, we should step in, if possible, and be the voice of reason, righteousness and reconciliation. We should take the position of ‘peacemakers’ and see what happens. I know the Lord’ll bless the effort.

I doubt that many of my regular blog readers are racist…..hopefully none! So, in that sense….I’m preaching to the choir. But if you were to “Share” this post it might just hit someone that could make a huge difference. In the meantime, let’s all decide that “Lives Matter”!!

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Have a Nice Day, Lord!

/ Andy R Taylor / 2 Comments

It’s been a real adventure raising 5 kids. We had Clint, our first, only a year into our marriage..and the parental learning process began. Parenting is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you’ll do in your life. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it even though there’s been plenty of things to work through with each of them. I will say, looking back, that the years of raising kids goes by incredibly fast.

We have thousands of great memories from those years. One of those memories is when we started praying before meals. We’d often take turns and let the kids if they were willing, pray a lot of the time. I’ll never forget how one of our boys, who was about three at the time, often prayed. I’d help him get started and then he’d take it from there. He had just a little lisp at the time and his prayer would go something like this: “God, Bleth Mom and Dad, Bleth my brotherth, bleth MeMaw and Papaw….and uh…..have a nithe day, God!” It was about the sweetest prayer you’ve ever heard. I can’t help but think the Lord, Himself, loved the prayer and especially the part where He was told to, “Have a nithe day.” He probably doesn’t hear that too often.

I was thinking about that recently and I made a little Top-10 list of the things that should help the Father to have a ‘nithe’ day: 

  1. Get to know Him….No, I mean, really get to know Him! *He wants to be relational with you. Interact, and relate to Him as Father!
  2. Receive His ‘gift’! *Salvation is free……Receive it!
  3. Find your place/Discover your destiny! *You’ve been gifted so you can be a functional contributor to the Body of Christ. Get in the process of finding out how you’re gifted!
  4. Gravitate into your ‘sonship’! *He has handpicked you to be His son/daughter. Make the most of it….and keep it simple!
  5. Be ‘who’ you are! *There’s no one like you. Don’t try to be anyone else!
  6. Use your faith! *Learn to be led by the Holy Spirit!
  7. Get along! *Be a peacemaker! Dad’s love it when their kids get along!
  8. Get back up! *Everybody gets knocked down….not everybody gets back up!
  9. Be a ‘learner’! *It’s a lifetime endeavor. Make every day a day to learn!
  10. Be ‘free’! Jesus died for us to be free; free from sin…free from the Law! Enjoy your freedom!

Don’t forget…..He’s already extremely proud of you and He wants to see you succeed in every area of your life! And, maybe sometime in your prayer time, you can even tell Him to “Have a nithe day”!

You might like these, too:

Good Ground Grows Good Weeds, Too!

What If It’s Not to ‘Break’ You,….but to ‘Make’ You?