Here’s something I wrote a while back.
Enjoy,
Lee
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Praying For Others
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Joining the heart of God
with the needs of man
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
Praying For Others
On Building Legacies…
©Lee Wise All rights reserved
We forge legacies one step at a time.
In and out of life’s muddier moments,
During days we call “sunshine days,”
And times when the beauty of sunlight
seems more of a dream than any shred of reality.
We make choices,
Share stories,
Enjoy laughter among friends,
Know the meaning of success,
And tolerate failure the best we can.
Traversing through these many, varied
and ever-changing mini seconds of our lives…
We call out to Jesus.
We cry out for strength, wisdom, health,
mercy, and grace to make it over the long haul.
We desire to leave legacies.
Good legacies.
Legacies of love, trust,
surrender, gratitude,
and faithfulness.
Why?
Because in serving the God of all grace,
we know that in the end only two things
really matter…
Really.
Loving God
And loving the people He created.
“Our loving Father… make us strong.
Strong in time until time ends for us.
In the timeless name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.”
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© Lee Wise All rights reserved. You may freely distribute
this article. However, the copyright box in Signature One
must be used when you do so (See Signature Boxes page)
On Being A Father
On Being A Father
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
Having a child make make me a father,
but only by having a good heart
will I ever be the father I should be.
On Matters Of The Heart
I trust you will enjoy this article even though it is
a bit longer than normal.
Lee
On Matters Of The Heart
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
Joining the song of many authors sharing their insights in
the fields of personal success and self development, I trust
we would sing in unison a chorus entitled…
“Matters of the Heart Matter Most.”
Another tune creatively shared and expanded upon by many
would reflect the closely related theme revolving around the
passionate plea to “follow your heart” should you seek the
true meaning of success and the experiential knowledge of a
fulfilled life.
And to this I *might* stand in agreement but *only* with the
following modification in place:
Matters of heart do matter most but only when the heart
strives to be…
Motivated by love,
Rooted in the highest values of life,
Held in check by integrity,
And kept in balance by grace
because it understands the meaning of
being forgiven as much as it does
the practice of being forgiving.
I hear of dissatisfaction in the supermarket while standing
in line, see heartache in the the lives of people because of
broken trust, and watch “in your face” reality TV pit one
person against another…
Demanding their rights,
Doing whatever it takes to obtain larger sums of money,
And proclaiming their independent strength as if the King of
Kongs suddenly found his or her way into the body, mind and
soul of the latest contestant.
I witness the fallout when people “follow their heart” to
someone other than the one they pledged to cherish should
life prove to be more downsized than upscale on the street
where together they now live.
And yet those left behind often inherit a legacy of grasping
on to what left over emotional and physical strength they
realize only to realize that the struggle to understand and
maintain a sense of inner peace and confidence will most
likely be a life-long battlefield on which they must fight
and for which they never enlisted.
A pessimist I am not, and my glass does not remain in a
continual state of being half empty instead of half full.
I listen to the pleasant sounds of birds outside my house
entertaining me with their songs of joy and encouragement,
Hear and enjoy the laughter of my grandchildren, rejoice
over and over at the joy in the eyes of my wife,
And sing way, way too loud and off key within the
closed-windows-while-the-song-blares-LOUD in my oriental
Lincoln (1995 Suzuki).
In brief, I do love and appreciate…
Life,
Many people,
The family entrusted to my care,
The neighborhood where I live,
My church where I worship,
And my country.
But my heart experiences a measure of sadness and
frustration as I witness the on-going promotion of a “follow
your heart” and “I am the greatest” set of philosophies
that…
* Flaunt false pride instead of respectful humility,
* Personal dominance over personal concern for others,
* The pleasure of self-indulgence over the pain of self-control,
* And striving to win what matters least at the expense of all
that matters most.
And what does matter most in my opinion? You read my answer
at the beginning of this article.
My answer is: “the cultivation of a good heart.” A heart…
Motivated by love,
Rooted in the highest values of life,
Held in check by integrity,
And kept in balance by grace
because it understands the meaning of
being forgiven as much as it does
the practice of being forgiving.
This cultivation of a good heart knows little of a street
named “Without Struggle,” and even less of one bearing the
title “More Convenient Than Not.”
Many times what which holds the most value also contains the
seeds of that which demands the most effort.
And so it is with the determination to preserve, protect and
nurture a good heart.
I imagine you to be one of the many precious individuals who
places a high price tag on such an effort, and to you I
stand in applause while encouraging you to stay in the game.
And yet we both hold these truths to be self evident:
We won’t win every play on the field.
Nor will we give a sterling performance during each act of
the play.
But we remain convinced of the inherent value of taking our
best shot at maintaining and passing on to several
generations beyond our own the enduring legacy of a good
heart.
The best to you my friend: the very, very best.
Lee
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© Lee Wise All rights reserved. You may freely distribute
this article. However, the copyright box in Signature Two
must be used when you do so (See Signature Boxes page)
Manning on the Love Of Christ
Turning to Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning last night I read this quote slowly more than once:
“Contemplate the incomparable love of Jesus as he suffocates to death. ‘There is no greater love than this…’ (John 15:13). For a few minutes stay face to face with the dying Jesus and hear him whisper, ‘I’m dying… to be with you.’” (Italics mine).
I thought today about creating a short piece on the ministry of pain in the life of a Christ follower. I’m very grateful for the privilege of being in a place where I can peruse writings from others that draw call us to review and acknowledge the reality of Christ’s love for us — as in this quote from Brennan. Others are not so fortunate.
A simple prayer...
May, Oh Lord, you give to me the grace to see you — and to sense — the reality of what Brennan calls us to bring to mind about our Savior in this short quote. Lord, I don’t like staying for a few minutes next to the dying Jesus — it is painful to think of Him there — but I cannot escape the reality of His love during those moments and all of the “right nows” of my world. Father, I need that sense.
Dear Jesus, thank you. Oh thank you from the depths of my inner being … thank you. As I know more of your love may I give more of the same back to you in return. Thanks for being there… and for being here.
In your name, Amen.”
On Loving Jesus
I posted a few thoughts on another forum in response
to a question that revolved around how do we show
love for Jesus in our everyday worlds.
My answer is below. Enjoy.
I would agree that one very tangible aspect has to do
with being obedient.
However, I might add that love for Jesus manifests itself in
a variety of ways. Love expresses itself so many ways in a
quality, growing relationship.
Therefore, I would include such things as the following in
my ever changing definition of what loving Jesus means in
practice:
Turning to him as opposed to away from Him in difficult
times,
Relating to him by bringing him into my everyday life by
conversing with him throughout the day,
Expressing joy to him for the simple reality of his
presence,
Dedicating my responses to him in the good times, the not-
so-good times, and in the simply awful times,
Reflecting gratefulness to him for so many, many things that
he gives me,
Sharing with him my deepest joys, sorrows and everything
else that lies somewhere between those to deep seated
emotions;
Trusting him when trusting falls far, far beyond easy on
the “things that are easy to do scale,”
Releasing to him all of the unanswered questions that
find themselves appearing on the emotional screen of my
inner being throughout the varied stages of my journey on
earth with him,
And worshiping him through everything that was just
mentioned — and more that could be mentioned — because, in
essence, I reflect love to him by determining to live with
him and for him…
During every time and season of life:
The beautiful ones,
The ones marked by the ugliness of pain in all its forms,
And everything else in between.
Listening With My Heart
Listening With My Heart
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
Telling less than I feel
for the purpose of
learning more than I know
Hard Work
Hard Work
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
The foundation of any relationship
that accepts life for what it is
and love for what it takes.
