Reminder to Take a Letter

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
2nd Corinthians 3:5-6 NKJV

I have a hard time reading contracts. All the legalese drives me to distraction. To me, it's a perfect illustration of our text for today regarding the letter kills... I'm sure glad I don't do it on a full-time basis. I'm not saying contracts aren't important - they are for many reasons, but sometimes contracts - or contract disputes - kill a "guaranteed" project. The client has the work they need done, and you are qualified and trained to do that work, and they want you to do the work, and you want to do their work. Sounds like a perfect solution...unless you can't agree on the contract terms - all the what ifs and contingencies, etc...

The legal eagles on both sides will argue the letter of the law, the literal letter - an S or not an S - sometimes to the death. But once in awhile, there's a champion who can come in and breathe life back into the contract, based on the compatibility of needs with the ability to meet those needs - the spirit of it, if you will - and the champion convinces the two parts to drop the letter of the law (or at least provide a little grace for it.)

What's in one letter that would make that much difference? Well, I'll show you just a few sample pairings.

Change - Chance; Aspirins - Aspiring: Wise - Vise;

And if you leave a letter out, it can be devastating.

Life - Lie;

And satan is banking on it. his lies are subtle. he knows the Word well enough to mess with it. Do you know it well enough to counter his lies with the life that's in the Word? Hey, take a letter.

Prayer:

Father,
           Teach us to walk in Your Spirit so that we don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Help us to know when to fight to the death of something and when to pray for life to be breathed back on it. But Father, may it always be Your breath that brings it to life, and not our own. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

It's a Loving Thing

Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary is a letter from a long-lost friend.

Proverbs 25:25 The Message

It's amazing to me how an unexpected text, note or card will lift the spirit of the one who receives it! In this day and age, it's better than a present on most days.  There's something about holding the mail piece in your hand - the proof that someone was thinking about you and took the time to write it out and get it mailed. Maybe even prayed for you while doing it. It's a loving thing. And we delight in receiving and reading them.

This verse always gets my attention when I read it. Somehow, I never thought about letter-writing per se in biblical times... and yet, the New Testament is comprised of those letters. Long, newsy letters, hand-scribed, deliberate, prayed over, and intentionally sent. Very definitely, a loving thing. We should delight in reading them.

Prayer:

Father,

           Birth in us a fresh and new desire for Your Word. Help us also to follow Your example of writing to testify of Your greatness and Your faithfulness. Open our ears to hear Your instructions of who needs a reminder of Your love. We want to do the loving thing. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - Good All Over Again

My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

1^st Peter 5:12b&c NLT

Letter writing is fast becoming a lost art. We live in the frenetic world of e-mail, texting and instant messages. Instantaneous communication in the briefest form. Why, even verbal communication has been greatly affected. 

When I get home, the first thing I do is go to the mailbox to see what’s come in. First priority is ALWAYS anything addressed by hand... which doesn't happen often, but it’s always the first thing I look for. Anything else is just stuff. 

A few years back, my sister had been going through old boxes at her house. In one, she found a letter addressed to my eldest brother, Ron, while he was in boot camp (I won’t tell you how long ago) and since I was stopping back by there on my way home from Missouri, I took it to him.  It turns out it was a letter from one of my other brothers who was 15 years old at the time of the writing. Ron had been gone 3 weeks and Joe had written him multiple pages, front and back, and it was a real treat to watch Ron read it and share the news as we marveled at the length of the letter written all those years ago. It was sweet and the love was tangible.

I thought about it a lot while driving back home on that trip. I have letters that I've kept for years and it made me want to pull them out and read them again, knowing they would be good all over again. They mean that much to me because the writer went ‘the extra mile’ to take the time to sit and write. Every time I think about it, it makes me want to sit down and write a letter to someone.

I was reminded of all the letters in the Bible written to the different churches. Think about this - they TRULY went the extra mile because they didn't have a pony express or the post office, either. I know they didn't have cyberspace and airwaves to send their missives, so they had to write it out, but I’m SO glad they did! Aren't you?

Doesn't it make you want to pull out the Word and read the letters yet another time? You know they'll be good all over again.

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for Your written Word. Give us a fresh anointing to understand it and to share it with those in need of a good word. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

Good All Over Again (Reprint)

My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

1^st Peter 5:12b&c NLT

Letter writing is fast becoming a lost art. We live in the frenetic world of e-mail, texting and instant messages. Instantaneous communication in the briefest form. Even verbal communication has been greatly affected. When I get home, the first thing I do is go to the mailbox to see what’s come in. First priority is ALWAYS anything addressed by hand – which doesn't happen often, but it’s always the first thing I look for. Anything else is just stuff. 

A few years back, my sister had been going through old boxes at her house. In one, she found a letter addressed to my eldest brother, Ron, while he was in boot camp (I won’t tell you how long ago) and since I was stopping back by there on my way home from Missouri, I took it to him.  It turns out it was a letter from one of my other brothers who was 15 years old at the time of the writing. Ron had been gone 3 weeks and Joe had written him multiple pages, front and back, and it was a real treat to watch Ron read it and share the news as we marveled at the length of the letter written all those years ago. It was sweet and the love was tangible.

I thought about it a lot while driving back home on that trip. I have letters that I've kept for years and it made me want to pull them all out and read them again. They would be good all over again. They mean that much to me because the writer went ‘the extra mile’ to take the time to sit and write. Every time I think about it, it makes me want to sit down and write a letter to someone.

I was reminded about all the letters in the Bible. Think about this - they TRULY went the extra mile because they didn't have the pony express or the post office, either. I know they didn't have cyberspace or airwaves to send their missives, so they had to write it out, and I’m SO glad they did! Aren't you?

Doesn't it make you want to pull out the Word and read the letters again - like Titus and Timothy and James and Jude? They'll be good all over again.

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for Your written Word. Give us a fresh anointing to understand it and to share it with those in need of a good word. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

* Good All Over Again

My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

1^st Peter 5:12b&c NLT

Letter writing is fast becoming a lost art. We live in the frenetic world of e-mail, texting and instant messages. Instantaneous communication in the briefest form. Why, even verbal communication has been greatly affected. When I get home, the first thing I do is go to the mailbox to see what’s come in. First priority is ALWAYS anything addressed by hand – which doesn't happen often, but it’s always the first thing I look for. Anything else is just stuff. 

A few years back, my sister had been going through old boxes at her house. In one, she found a letter addressed to my eldest brother, Ron, while he was in boot camp (I won’t tell you how long ago) and since I was stopping back by there on my way home from Missouri, I took it to him.  It turns out it was a letter from one of my other brothers who was 15 years old at the time of the writing. Ron had been gone 3 weeks and Joe had written him multiple pages, front and back, and it was a real treat to watch Ron read it and share the news as we marveled at the length of the letter written all those years ago. It was sweet and the love was tangible.

I thought about it a lot while driving back home on that trip. I have letters that I've kept for years and it made me want to pull them all out and read them again. They would be good all over again. They mean that much to me because the writer went ‘the extra mile’ to take the time to sit and write. Every time I think about it, it makes me want to sit down and write a letter to someone.

I was reminded about all the letters in the Bible. Think about this - they TRULY went the extra mile because they didn't have the pony express or the post office, either. I know they didn't have cyberspace and airwaves to send their missives, so they had to write it out, but I’m SO glad they did! Aren't you?

Doesn't it make you want to pull out the Word and read the letters again? They'll be good all over again.

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for Your written Word. Give us a fresh anointing to understand it and to share it with those in need of a good word. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen