Take this step to be like Jesus

I’ve heard that a person’s character is defined by who they are when no one else is around.

I’m not 100% sure about that definition…instead, what we do with our time when no one else is around is how we develop our character.

When no one is looking, the choices we make will shape us.  Even the passive choice to “do nothing” has a sculpting effect.  Think of our time as spending cash.  How we spend it – either wasting or investing it – will shape who we are.

Paul knew this quite well, which is why he told Timothy:

1 Timothy 4:7-10
But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths.  Rather train yourself in godliness, for,

the training of the body has a limited benefit,
but godliness is beneficial in every way,
since it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.  In fact, we labor and strive for this, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, especially of those who believe.

We understand that musicians practice for hours when no one is looking so when it comes time to perform, they do it perfectly.  We get it that basketball players shoot 100s of free throws a week so they’re ready when they’re fouled late in a game and have to step up to the line.

Training happens when no one is looking – it’s intentional work.  Now, earlier in his letter to Timothy, Paul equated godliness with being like Jesus.  But I think we Christians don’t see how important it is for us to labor and strive to be like Jesus.  So, let’s take an intentional step in that direction and see what God does with our time investment.

Jesus was intimately connected to the Scriptures.  On a regular basis, Jesus would quote or reference God’s Word.  Here’s just a couple of ideas to put some of God’s Word directly into your life:

·        Use a verse as a password – every time you log in to an account, say the verse.  “John3:16” or “Psalm100:1” fulfills most password requirements to have a capital letter, lower case letter, number, and special character.  Perhaps your password at work is a reminder of being faithful or diligent, like Colossians3:23 or Proverbs22:29.  Maybe the password for your online bank account is about being wise with money, like Proverbs21:17 or 2Corinthians9:6. [Edit: My info-security friends will want me to tell you to mix it up a bit instead of just using a book of the Bible. Maybe add in a key word or first word from the verse to help you remember, like John3:16For or SkilledPrvb22:29]
·        Have a verse for when you start your car, a “key” verse you need to know.  Proverbs3:5 and Ephesians2:8 would be good choices.
·        Have a verse to repeat whenever you wash your hands.  I learned 1 John 4:7-8 in a tune when I was a kid.  The tune is burned into my memory, so I can “sing” those verses at any time.  As often as I need to wash my hands, I’m reminding myself multiple times per day that loving others is important, and God is the one who loved us first.

It’s ok to pull out your phone to look up the verse so you say it correctly.  And…you don’t have to implement all of these suggestions.  The point is to find one thing in your day that you do repeatedly, and attach a verse to it.  Actively invest your time.  God guarantees that this kind of training will be beneficial both in the present life and also for the life to come.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The best reason for training

Who is the fastest man on the planet?

Depending on which Olympic sport you preferred to watch this past summer, you probably answered Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps.  Both men are incredible athletes and physical specimens that have pushed the limit of what the human body is capable of accomplishing.

Hours upon hours of training went into shaping and sculpting their bodies to bring them into top physical form so they could compete at the highest level.  They gave up many things so they would be physically and mentally prepared to win.

Now some Christian preachers and teachers might be tempted to knock these men for putting all their effort into “the here and now” as opposed to “eternal things”.  But have they really wasted their lives?  Paul gave us the answer in his letter to Timothy when he was warning his protégé about the dangers of false teaching:

1 Timothy 4:7-9
But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths.  Rather train yourself in godliness, for,

the training of the body has a limited benefit,
but godliness is beneficial in every way,
since it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.

We’ve come to the third trustworthy saying Paul had for his protégé.  Each one of the pithy statements made a specific point that Timothy needed to remember and accept.

In this saying, Paul wants Timothy to keep in mind the ultimate end of where he spends his efforts during this lifetime.  I find it interesting that Paul doesn’t say that training of the body has “no benefit”; instead, he says it has a limited benefit.  There is a short-term profit to taking care of ourselves; we can make our 80ish years on earth a lot harder –  or a lot easier – depending on the amount of effort we’re willing to spend on training of the body.

I fully expect that how well we took care of our physical bodies to be a stewardship issue with God.  In fact, there are many verses that point out that God made our bodies and that we are responsible for what we do with them (see Psalm 100:3 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). 

However, physical training isn’t the only training we need – and it’s not the most important training we can have, either.  The most beneficial training we can put ourselves through has benefits that go beyond our current circumstances.  Even if I take my physical training to the max and become the next fastest man on the planet…age and/or injury will catch up with me, and I will only hold that title for a short time. 

Our spiritual growth here in the present life on earth carries over into the life to come.  That’s not just a “double benefit”, either.  Paul comparing our 80ish years to an eternity of years.  Realistically, there is no comparison when we’re talking about our return on investment for how we invest in training.

So, has Bolt and Phelps wasted their lives on physical training?  That’s hard to answer from my vantage point.  The answer to that question would boil down to two things – What is their motivation for all their hard work?, and What are they going to do with the platform their hard work created?

I can’t answer those questions for our current living versions of the fastest man on the planet.  However, do I need to be able to answer those questions for my own life.  When God asks me about stewardship of everything He gave me in this life, will I be able to say that I trained for the life to come?

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

Rooted and growing

I love word pictures.

Similes and metaphors have the incredible ability to communicate broad concepts in simple images.  We come across one of the most famous Biblical examples when we read about the psalmist’s desire for God:

Psalm 42:1
As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God.

The imagery is so strong that I honestly think he could have stopped the psalm right there.  We clearly understand the level of desire he is trying to communicate.  Later on, the psalmist also uses a metaphor to demonstrate how much he relies on God:

Psalm 42:9
I will say to God, my rock…

This comparison grabs our attention as well.  By referring to God as “my rock”, all the associated ideas of strength, stability, and reliability are understood.

This is why we need to pay attention to any word pictures that we come across when reading Scripture.  When we pause to consider what the imagery represents, we will get a fuller understanding of what the author is trying to communicate – and better understanding always leads to better application.

As Paul was encouraging the believers in Colossae to develop and mature in their relationship with God, he used two powerful metaphors.  The first one equated our relationship with Jesus to our walk, which carries the idea of us traveling together with Christ.  Take a look at these verses and find the second word picture.  It gives us the characteristics of how our walk should go.

Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Just in case the Colossian believers were wondering what their walk in Him should look like, Paul jumps to an agricultural metaphor to explain.  Clear images come to mind when he says that the path of our lives should be rooted and built up in Him.  This word picture makes it easy for us to take the concept of a tree driving roots deep into the ground for both stability and nutrients and associate it with the need for us to drive our own spiritual roots deep into Christ.

From the moment life bursts forth from an acorn, we have an oak tree.  It is weak and susceptible to damage from a variety of sources – weather, disease, other creatures, etc.  Its only hope of protecting itself is to establish roots.  Strong roots make a strong tree.  Weak roots make a weak tree.  As the oak tree’s roots find good soil and water, the tree can be built up and develop.

This metaphor is easily applicable to our lives.  From the moment we receive Jesus, we are a Christian.  But we are also weak and susceptible to damage from a variety of sources – life’s circumstances, poor teachings, other people, etc.  Our only hope of protecting ourselves is to establish roots.  As we are rooted and built up in Him, we can grow, develop, and be established in what we believe.

Pausing to consider this metaphor also gives us a chance to ask the question:

Am I making sure I’m rooted in Jesus?  What steps am I actively taking so I can walk in Him, and walk with Him?

Think about this today.  This word picture, and its implications, are worth meditating over.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Receiving personal instruction

In one of my year-long college courses, I was fortunate enough that the professor who taught the class had also written the text book.  This might not seem like a big deal from the outside looking in, but it made a huge difference in how we learned from him.  We knew that what he taught us in the morning was going to be reiterated in the same style and with the same emphasis as we read the text in the evening. 

Prof could easily explain how the different sections fit together and even cross-referenced chapters as we were being taught.  He knew the exact layout and intention of each part of the text because he was the one who had put it all together.  There was never any conflict between the teaching and the text – they were from the same man.  Not only was the text well-written for the subject matter, but the class became almost like a personal tutoring session with the author.

We get the same dynamic as we go through the Scriptures.  Although it took hundreds of years and many different authors to complete the text, God superintended the process such that it all hangs together as one, and communicates truth directly from the Creator of Everything to each of us individually.

The author of Psalm 119 did more than just acknowledged this reality of Scripture – he enjoyed it thoroughly.  Take a look through this section and note the role God’s Word plays in the author’s relationship with God.

Psalm 119:97-104
How I love Your teaching!  It is my meditation all day long.
Your command makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers because Your decrees are my meditation.
I understand more than the elders because I obey Your precepts.
I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow Your word.
I have not turned from Your judgments, for You Yourself have instructed me.
How sweet Your word is to my taste – sweeter than honey to my mouth.
I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.

The psalmist doesn’t distinguish between communicating with God and reading the Scriptures, they are interactions with the same person.  The psalmist gives the reason why he follows what God has taught him when he says for You Yourself have instructed me.  He trusted God’s teaching because it was coming from God Himself.  Nothing was second-hand, there was no need for an interpreter or any guess-work.

And just look at the results of this personal instruction from the Lord – success over enemies, gaining insight and wisdom, the ability to avoid every evil path, gaining understanding, and he can also recognize every false way.  The psalmist has become fully mature because his instruction has been taken directly from the Lord.

The Lord will mature and develop us as well.  He’s ready to give each of us personal, one-on-one instruction.  The teacher and the text are from the same person.  As much as the teaching or writing of others can sometimes help, there is nothing like direct communication and instruction from the Author of Life.  He knows how it all works and why it all works.  

We have an open invitation to be instructed by God Himself.  Will you accept the invitation and meet Him in the Scriptures?

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

Biblical meditation

It seems that almost everyone has a plan for how you can “get ahead” in life.  Advertisements, commercials, books, blogs…every information vehicle we know of…has some message on how to improve your diet, your shape, your love life, your education, your career, and on and on and on.

Nearly every one of their “secrets to improvement” focuses in on something that we need to start (or stop) doing.  With enough changes to our behavior, they tell us, we can achieve whatever goal we set out to accomplish.  While behaviors do have to change if we desire a different outcome than where we are currently at, the change in behavior won’t occur unless something deeper changes first.

What we think about throughout the day will determine our actions throughout the day.  If I toy with lustful thoughts, then lustful actions will eventually follow.  If I’m focusing my spare moments on devising ways to enhance my skill set or mulling over new concepts to develop my education, then I will end up being more effective in those endeavors.  For better or worse, the things we think about will be what looms largest and develops the fastest in our lives.

This process is what the Bible refers to as our meditation.  Biblical meditation isn’t a bunch of mental gymnastics aimed at emptying our minds, rather it is the intentional consideration of truth found in the Scriptures.  The author of Psalm 119 recognized the importance of meditating on God’s Word.  Read through this section and identify what benefits he found:

Psalm 119:97-104
How I love Your teaching!  It is my meditation all day long.
Your command makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers because Your decrees are my meditation.
I understand more than the elders because I obey Your precepts.
I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow Your word.
I have not turned from Your judgments, for You Yourself have instructed me.
How sweet Your word is to my taste – sweeter than honey to my mouth.
I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.

Wiser than my enemies, more insight than all my teachers, understanding more than the elders…these impressive benefits are not boasts, rather they are factual statements.  The psalmist could identify the benefits he had received, but kept his ego in check as he recognized where those benefits had come from.  He surpassed those around him only because he was focusing his thoughts continually on God’s command, decrees, and precepts.  God’s revealed Word was the material that he was filling his mind with.

It’s also important to note how much time the author allowed God’s teaching to percolate in his mind before he reaped the benefits.  My favorite crockpot recipe takes 7 hours on a low heat setting before it is fully ready to meet my body’s need for fuel and my desire for good tasting food.  Cranking up the heat to try to speed up the cooking process doesn’t make for a good meal, either.  Similarly, we see that the psalmist allowed God’s word to be his meditation all day long, and likely for many days over, in order to reap the long-term benefits in his life.

So we have to ask ourselves, What’s simmering in the back of our minds?  When we have moments while we wait our turn at the doctor’s office, at a stoplight, or as we wait for others…what are we thinking about?  The default for most of us is to bury our face in our phones or just let our minds wander to whatever random subject crowds in.  If we would use those moments to keep our meditation going on God’s command, decrees, and precepts, then we’re sure to see the same benefits and improvements the author of Psalm 119 did.

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

Is God good?

I just stared at him blankly.  No one had ever asked me that question before.

I had just finished sharing a brief version of my life story, my journey with God up to that point in my life.  I had talked about being raised the church, accepting Christ as my savior at eight years old, and listed off the major difficulties I had either caused or someone else had caused me to live through.  I had also discussed how I saw God at work in those situations and in me during those times…and then the leader of the small men’s group asked me a follow up question.

Ken, it’s great that you recognize how and when God has worked in your life.  But I need to ask you…Is God good?

My mind swirled with this question as the other guys in the group stared back at me, waiting for my answer.  I stammered an answer that God is God, and what He does is what He wants to do.  The group leader wouldn’t let me off that easy, though.  He pressed in again:

Ken, I didn’t ask if God was in charge.  I asked you if He is good.  Do you believe that God is good?

Although he didn’t bring up this specific passage, the group leader was asking if I viewed God the same way that the author of Psalm 119 did.  Look for yourself to find how the author viewed the goodness of God:

Psalm 119:65-72
Lord, You have treated Your servant well, just as You promised.
Teach me good judgment and discernment, for I rely on Your commands.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.
You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.
The arrogant have smeared me with lies, but I obey Your precepts with all my heart.
Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in Your instruction.
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn Your statutes.
Instruction from Your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

The benefit of hindsight allows the psalmist to say that God had treated Your servant well, just as You promised.  Even though the author went astray and subsequently was afflicted and humbled by his errors, he was able to recognize God’s purposeful movements in his life.

Not only did he acknowledge to God that You are good, and You do what is good, his next response is the proof of his understanding – teach me Your statutes.  When we truly believe that God is good and that He has promised us good, we are drawn to Him and we want to learn from Him.  We naturally lean into those whom we believe are for us and on our side.

That’s what the men’s leader was trying to get me, and the rest of the group, to understand.  When we are able to tell God You are good, and You do what is good – that is when we are ready to lean into God and let Him speak into our lives.

So I’ll put the question to you – Is God good?

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

The aftermath of affliction

Time has a funny way of changing our perspective on things, doesn’t it?

The most important topics to us in our teens are no big deal in our thirties – and just a flash of a memory in our fifties.  We also see how time changes our perspective in raising our children, while we’re doing our daily parenting, it seems to go on forever…but then when they become adults, the entire process seems to have happened just in a blink of an eye.

Time also changes our perspective when it comes to learning life lessons.  Sometimes we learn from others’ words or example, other times we must learn the hard way, on our own.  It’s typically later on, when we have the benefit of hindsight that we are able to see clearly what we did wrong, why we had the trouble we caused, and what God was doing for us during that time in our lives.

In this section of Psalm 119, the author speaks from a perspective with the benefit of hindsight.  What has he learned from his past afflictions?

Psalm 119:65-72
Lord, You have treated Your servant well, just as You promised.
Teach me good judgment and discernment, for I rely on Your commands.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.
You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.
The arrogant have smeared me with lies, but I obey Your precepts with all my heart.
Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in Your instruction.
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn Your statutes.
Instruction from Your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

“It was good for me to be afflicted” isn’t something we typically say when we’re in the middle of a mess.  The author also takes responsibility for the trouble when he says, “before I was afflicted I went astray”.  The rest of the text suggests that if he hadn’t strayed from God’s commands and statutes, then he wouldn’t have dealt with the affliction.

The Hebrew word for afflicted means to be humbled, humiliated, or oppressed.  When left to our own devices, we stubbornly take paths contrary to the one God lays out in His Scriptures.  We create situations that eventually come back to bite us, and that is when affliction comes.  Sometimes the consequence of our humbling and humiliation is temporary…sometimes, though, the consequences echo throughout the rest of our lives.

But why would God allow for us to experience such hard, painful, life-altering consequences?  We often charge God with not really loving us because we see ourselves (or others) dealing with very difficult afflictions.  However, it is the benefit of hindsight that gives us a glimpse of our lives from God’s perspective.  Look again at what the author said about being afflicted:

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn Your statues.
Instruction from Your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

If the lesson learned as a result of his affliction is better than large amounts of riches, then the lesson learned would also trump any lasting consequences from dealing with his self-inflicted troubles.  What was his lesson learned?

The superior value of God’s instruction in his life.

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

The good old days

The “good old days”. 

They always sound rather ideal, don’t they?  Or at the very least, better than now?

Times were simpler.  People were better.  Life was easier.  And we didn’t know how good we had it.

At least, that’s how our over-romanticized memories go.

A small scratch on the surface of any “golden age” reveals that the gold coloring is merely an overlay.  What lies underneath looks all too familiar.  In any time period, we find greed and lust, selfishness and hoarding, exploitation and lying, jealousy and promiscuity.  The human condition has not changed - we have the same struggles as our relatives did thousands of years ago.  The only difference is that now we have more technology…which we use to hide, or in some cases magnify, our sinfulness.

Read through this section of Psalm 119.  There are particular pitfalls that the author wants to avoid.  Find them, and see if they resonate with you also.

Psalm 119:33-40
Teach me, Lord, the meaning of Your statutes, and I will always keep them.
Help me understand Your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.
Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it.
Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to material gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in Your ways.
Confirm what You said to Your servant, for it produces reverence for You.
Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, Your judgments are good.
How I long for Your precepts!  Give me life through Your righteousness.

The dangers which the psalmist wanted to avoid are found in the center of this section.  He asked God to Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to material gain and Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless.  The psalmist didn’t think material gain and worthless sights were just minor distractions, either.  He viewed them as being complete opposites of both the vision and goal that the Lord had for his life.

Even 1000 years later, Jesus said to those who would listen:

Matthew 6:24
No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot be slaves of God and of money.

Luke 12:15
He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

When we see these same sin struggles in the world around us, it does us no good to lament about how previous times were better.  We’re simply fooling ourselves if we think down that path.  A thousand years for before Jesus came, the psalmist had the best response – asking God to turn my heart to Your decrees and turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless.

That can be our prayer, too.  Focusing on God’s ways, as He has revealed them in the Scriptures, will bring about the quality and depth of life we desire…which is much better than trying to console ourselves with over-romanticized memories of years past.

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

God's part and God's path

Sometimes, our relationship with God feels very one-sided, like it’s all on us to figure out what God desires in our lives.

We go through the motions of life, doing what we would claim is our “best”, and we figure that if lightning doesn’t strike, we must be doing alright in God’s eyes.  We generally want to make good choices, we’d like to have more than a friendly bond with God; but when it comes to actually developing these skills…most of us think we’ll eventually figure it out as we go through life’s circumstances.

The author of Psalm 119 wanted those same things, but he also knew the best way to pursue them.

As much as the psalmist wanted to the do the right thing, and make the wise choices…as much as he desired a relationship with the One whose judgments and decisions are always good…as much as he wanted to enjoy the quality of life that comes only from knowing the Lord intimately…

The psalmist knew one thing for sure, one thing that he understood at a deeper level…deeper than his desires – he recognized that he can’t have that direction, that relationship, that life…unless the Lord shows him how.

As you read this section of Psalm 119, look for the psalmist’s dependency on God.  What does he need God to do?  What is God’s part in this relationship?

Psalm 119:33-40
Teach me, Lord, the meaning of Your statutes, and I will always keep them.
Help me understand Your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.
Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it.
Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to material gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in Your ways.
Confirm what You said to Your servant, for it produces reverence for You.
Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, Your judgments are good.
How I long for Your precepts!  Give me life through Your righteousness.

The psalmist is open and bare before the Lord.  There is no false bravado here, and he makes no attempt to hide his deficiencies.  The psalmist knows that he cannot live the life that God made him for unless God tells him how it’s done. 

The beauty of it all is that after honestly recognizing this, and admitting it to the Lord, he is willing to do whatever the Lord asks, to walk in whatever path the Lord directs him to follow. 

How often do we admit our weakness to the Lord?  Sure we might ask for a little “help” with one struggle or another…almost as if we believe that we’ll probably make it there eventually on our own, but it sure would be nice if God gave us a little boost right now…you know, if he could just speed up this maturity process a little bit, we’d appreciate it.

Instead, we should follow the psalmist’s example of admitting that we are completely helpless unless God shows us His path.  In each verse of this section, the psalmist recognized the necessity of God’s active intervention into his life.  Until we admit our inability to figure out God’s ways on our own, we won’t be able to completely follow the path He has laid out for us in His Scriptures.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Choosing our path

When God says something, it’s best that we pay attention.  Sometimes, ideas or commands are even repeated a second time for emphasis.  However, when we read the same phrase five times in eight verses…we need to stop and take a closer look.

One of the overarching themes of the Bible, especially found in the wisdom literature of Psalms and Proverbs, is looking at the course of the individual’s life.  Our path in life depends greatly on the choices we make – which job we take, where we go to school, which church to attend, where we live, and a multitude of other options available to us help plot a course that affects whom we meet, which friends we make, the spouse we marry, our relationship with God, and on and on.

Sometimes it feels like we’re simply being carried along a particular path, either by being passive or due to the consequences of our choices.  However, being passive is still a choice, and the Bible is clear that our choice of action (or in-action) brings either good or bad consequences to our lives.

The author of Psalm 119 was very concerned with the course his life was on.  Although two instances of the word are translated slightly different based upon context, he mentions the way or path he sees a total of five times.  However, the psalmist’s mile markers didn’t consist of friends, spouse, or even career.  When you read the text below, look for the way that he wanted avoid and the way he desired to pursue:

Psalm 119:25-32
My life is down in the dust; give me life through Your word.
I told You about my [way of] life, and You listened to me; teach me Your statutes.
Help me understand the meaning [and way] of Your precepts so that I can meditate on Your wonders.
I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your word.
Keep me from the way of deceit, and graciously give me Your instruction.
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me.
I cling to Your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame.
I pursue the way of Your commands, for You broaden my understanding.

When the author talks to God about his way of life up until this time, God actively listens to all of it.  However, as the psalmist looks into the future, he can see the paths ahead are different from each other.  The distinguishing feature isn’t particular life moments or events; rather the differing paths are identified by how well they line up with God and His characteristics.

The author recognizes that he must choose between the way of deceit and the way of truth.  He even asks for help from God – to be kept away from deceitfulness and to be kept within the boundaries of God’s instruction and commands.

The same choice of paths is in front of us each day.  I pray that we choose wisely, all the while asking God for the understanding, strength, and grace that comes from walking in the way of the Lord.

Keep Pressing,
Ken