I don't think any of us realize that each day God has asked us to follow and to do for God, as we are each sent by God to go out into a world where it seems that everyone and everything wants a piece of us.

One of my favorite scriptures is from Ephesians when we are reminded that we are God's workmanship, created by God, to do God's will. (Ephesians 2:10) We act as if we have to choose how, where, and with whom to live.

Our reliance on God while allowing Christ to live in and through us, is not meant to be difficult.

Over the past few days I have watched as junior high aged youth have gotten to know each other at camp.  It's been a long time since I was their age, but I can sure remember the struggles.  I was always small for my age, and I wasn't all that great at sports.  I did like to read, and I wore glasses.  Yes, I was one of THOSE kids!  I have to laugh, at camp I have discovered I love THOSE kids the most.  Sit down and talk to them and for the most part they have a lot of things already figured out.

One of the girls shared that she likes watching it all.  "It's almost like a reality television show, but it's really live."

She gets it.  In reality, we all get it.  It's living out our lives in a world that expects us to live a certain way.  She, on the other hand, can already tell you about the person she hopes to become, and what it's going to take to get there.

I really like talking to youth this age about their faith.  It's still the faith of a child with a dose of reality!

​I can see why Jesus needs to remind us that like Jesus, we have been sent into the world to live, act, and do certain things.  In order for us to be the living Christ in the world, it is up to us to invite Christ to have that chance to live within us.

There are many ways to do that, and there is no certain way that works for everyone, but there is this, we are all on a mission, and it begins with God sending us.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, help me to remember that my life is a gift, created by You, to follow Your will.  Help me when the world seems to want all of me.  Amen.

Ecclesiastes opens with these words, "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven."

Have you ever looked back at your life and asked yourself, "Why did this happen?"

I don't feel like it's something that any of us has not experienced. A relationship ends. A job comes to a close. Another month of the calendar is torn from the wall. We are filled with Ecclesiastical moments.

I remember a few years ago when I suddenly found myself without a job, without a home, and unsure as to what my next step would be.

As I sat in the office of a dear friend, she reminded me of this verse in scripture and said, "Okay, so this chapter of your life is over. It was specific for a time and purpose and now it is complete."

I must have looked lost, but then she said, "But don't worry, and don't think that your life is over. You have a new chapter that hasn't begun to be written."

I know I felt relieved, but also overwhelmed at the same time. For me it meant I would have to rely on God to lead, for me to follow, but most of all, be willing to step out and start creating the new chapter.

I wonder if the tree of the field feels sad when winter begins to approach and it must watch as the leaves change color and fall to the ground, exposing itself to the harsh reality of winter? Then in the spring, feeling the warmth of the sun, stirring something from deep within, that brings forth buds and a burst of life that once again creates shade and new limbs that the birds of the field may rest upon.

Each day is an unwritten page in the chapter of life. If you have experienced loss, or simply can't imagine another day like yesterday, then perhaps a new chapter is in order.

I'm grateful for the words my friend shared. It really helped me to know that God was not done, and that better things were definitely awaiting. 

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, for each season of my life, for every chapter that is written, may it begin and end with thanks to You.  Thank You for each letter, syllable, and paragraph that it may contain.  Amen.

One thing about being at camp with a group of twelve to fourteen year old youth is that they can relate to you joy and sorrow within the same sentence.  There is something about laughing through tears, and crying while smiling.  

While Jesus is excited to be gathering to eat with the Disciples in the text from Luke, there is an underlying presence of pain and sorrow.

We may not have experienced real betrayal like Christ, for many of us we know what it means to sometimes lose hope, end relationships, and experience loss.

I love stories and movies that bring us to polarized emotions within moments.  The hero finds her love, only to discover she is dying.  The person who has traveled around the world to meet someone, discovers that they just left a week ago.  Jesus' moments of healing and teaching are going well, and the crowds continue to grow, only to realize that someone has betrayed the group and there is so much about to change.

This week our youth are reflecting their own life stories.  While they can look in the mirror and see changes daily, it is looking within that sometimes is harder.

For any of us, each day is an opportunity to begin anew.  It's an opportunity to look at where we are, and take the first step to being who God wants us to be.  Through both joy and sorrow, our lives are important, and our ability to experience all of these things makes life worth living.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear God, while I know that there will be easy and difficult days in my life, I really hope that I will be with through all.  Thank You for each moment.  Amen.

I have often wondered why some changes can be so challenging. There have only been a few times in my life when I simply felt like I didn't have enough strength to pray on my own behalf. In those times I rely upon my favorite story in Luke of the paralyzed man being lowered through the ceiling, and Jesus telling him that because of the faith of his friends, "take up your mat and walk."
I have been blessed with friends who understand the importance and power of prayer, not to mention, family that has been present, praying, and positive.

One of the things that I have hoped to share with the youth I am working with this week is that each day is a new opportunity.  Some days are more challenging than others.  That's just part of what life is all about.

But our ability to make it through those days involves more than just flexibility.  Sometimes it takes starting over again.  Sometimes asking for help.  AND, sometimes, there is simply failure.  What we gain from all of these experiences helps us to be the living presence of Christ in the world for others.

Oh, don't get me wrong.  I still get anxious, worry, even a bit negative at times.  It's in these moments when I realize that my need for Christ in my life becomes even greater.

Hoping that what ever may challenge you this day, you remain firmly in the God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, while I know that change is something that I can't avoid in the world today, please help me to find ways to adapt and be flexible when needed, and to stand firm when needed.  Amen.

This is by far one of my favorite verses in scripture. It reminds me that no matter how chaotic the world may become, the peace of Christ shall be with me always.

Peace, for me, is the emotion I identify with faith.

Sometimes I wonder if we consider peace to be an adjective to describe our faith, or as the manifestation of how God is present and watching over us.

It seems that these days require disturbance, anxiety, or uncertainty. It seems as if there are demands on us that then begin to characterize our life. It brings about anything but peace.  Sometimes I long to hear the words, "I've got a peaceful, easy feeling," playing again on the radio.  

But Christ reminds us that peace is an important factor in our faith. It is the very thing he proclaims is left for us.

How different would our life be if we proclaimed peace instead of spending all our time seeking answers?

How different would our life be if we practiced peace, rather than trying to find a new way to get even?

Or how different would our life be if we simply allowed that peace of Christ to move us to extend it to others?

​May the peace of Christ, along with the understanding of just how that peace can make your faith visible to others, while calming your life, fill you today and always while remaining in God's grip!

Dear Lord, while I am aware it's the beginning of a new week, with new challenges, and new opportunities, may I have peace in all things.  Thank you, Amen.

It has been nearly twenty years since I first sat beside this lake.  A lot has changed in those years.  Several of the people who had originally been part of the initial purchase of this property and the early planners have since died.  For me, this place has become a place where a great cloud of witnesses meet the next generation.

Have you ever encountered a place where you sense there is something more to it?  

My great grandmother's house was that way for many years.  When sitting around her dining table I would think of those who sat there before me, and the discussions they must have had.  Of wars, the depression, children being born, and family members dying.  It was a sacred center for our family.

I think that this lake also has that presence for me.  I remember sitting one morning, hearing a friend share that he just felt like God was calling him into a new kind of ministry, and that he wasn't sure how he would explain it to his friends and family.  I remember assuring him that it would be okay, and that God would bless his effort.

I remember praying with a very young person at one of my first junior camps along this lake as she lifted words of concern when she revealed that her mom was sick with cancer and she was afraid.

Even I have looked to heaven next to this lake, and asked God for clarity and direction a time or two.

I am looking forward to spending the next week here, along the water's edge, and what God will open next.

While I know not everyone can make it to join me along this lake, I do hope that you will go to the place where you are able to be with God.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, the Psalmist reminds that You will lead us beside still waters, and to meadows where green grass covers the land.  But even among concrete alleys and steel structures, You are very real and present.  May I find a place today where I not only sense Your presence, but that it becomes a place of sacred encounters.  Amen.

Our personal lives are the only reality "show" we should ever be concerned about.  Every time we turn around there is a new housewife, some new family, or some new headline that has been turned into a new sitcom based on the life of someone else. 

I guess we use these examples to compare our own lives to others, or to sit back and either express gratitude, or jealousy that our lives don't emulate this or that situation. 

"Confess your own sins, not that of your neighbor," was a common theme I grew up with. 

What is it about the pain, or troubles of others, that seem to make for good entertainment?

When we discover a family "secret" through the open story line, or even worse, not only does it make for office water fountain fodder, it's expected to be headline material. 

Growing up we didn't talk about some of the things we see as daily episodes that EVERYONE now talks about. We decided that many of these things would have been deemed embarrassing, or something that a family would deal with privately. You wouldn't hope to "sell your secrets."  That was something that people with poor taste would do. 

Our words, and our actions, are now sound bytes or video moments that can appear anywhere. That's why what we say is so important. God still stirs us to speak out for justice and prompts us from the heart to practice kindness and carry out actions based on love. Our incentives to live out our lives should never be based on an incentive for fame through someone else's pain. 

Never should we exploit others for personal gain, or to destroy the integrity of others. 

Our words and actions have consequences. God has created the perfect scenario for the perfect reality (not a show), but life. 

You were skillfully created to love your neighbor, not to sell them out. 

Just some personal thoughts. Affirm the reality that God exists in your life by living out that reality in your words and actions.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, let my life be Yours.  Thank you for giving me the words to share, and the ability to act on them.  Amen.

​I took this photo several years ago now.  It always reminds me that no matter how great or small you may be, we all leave our mark somewhere on the earth. 

When the Divine encountered the dust of the earth, humanity sprung forth. It was a mark that each of us are the result of. It was and is the mark of love. 

Hope and faith were gained next with each step that we take. 

When we take our last steps here, drawing in our last breath and finally releasing the Divine that lives within us and we return to our Creator, what we leave here will say much to others about who we were.

Love is eternal.  Love comes from God and returns to God.  

The love with which we lived our lives is the life of God within us, and is the mark we shall leave behind that others will see. 

It is the divine, indestructible core of our being.  This  love not only will remain but will also bear fruit from generation to generation.

"Don't let your heart be troubled.  The love of God that dwells in my heart will come to you and offer you consolation and comfort."  

Each step in our life is important,  but each step taken in love will last through eternity.

​Stay in God's grip!

Dear Lord, may each step I take bring love to each moment.  Amen.

Each morning as I prepare to write I take time to read and pray about what to share.  Over the years I have discovered that words are important.  Without words, our actions lose meaning.  And without meaning, our ability to truly live our lives becomes nearly impossible.

Words can offer perspective, insight, understanding and vision.  Our words can bring consolation, comfort, encouragement and hope.  Words can take away fear, isolation, shame, and guilt.  Our words can reconcile, unite, forgive, and heal.  Our words can bring peace and joy, inner freedom deep gratitude.

Our words can be be the greatest act of love.  That is because when our words become flesh in our own lives and the lives of others, we can change the world.

Scripture reminds us Jesus was the word made flesh.  In him speaking and acting were one.  Thus our words help others to see the living Christ in the world.  

Hoping that your day is filled with words of hope, faith and love for the world to know and see.  Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, help me to chose words that help others see the living Christ in the world.  Amen.

Have you ever thought that your life is the presence of the resurrected Christ in the world?  Although the life of Christ, shared through scripture, tells of what Christ did while walking among us for just over three decades, the real story is the one that Christ is living today as the resurrected Christ.

We can point to a timeline and have an understanding of when Christ was born to Mary, when Christ lived, and even died upon the cross, but what we often forget is that Christ rose from the dead.  That is the existence that we should understand the most, because that is the time we are living now!

Like many of us, I look forward to the day when we all may know Christ in the way that the Disciples knew him.  Being able to see his face and to hear his voice with perfect clarity. But until that promise occurs, we are that presence for the world.

It's not always easy being the living example of Christ.  In a world where "fact checkers" follow around people to listen and prove what the people are saying is true, how is it that those who live by faith, not by sight, can help to support the fact that Christ exists?

I would hope that our lives would become the facts.  Lived out in faith, hope and love.  All of which are supported by our actions.  For each of us, that is how others may see and know that Christ lives!

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, while others may need to see You in order to believe, may I live my life so that others may know that You are real!  Amen.

Eighteen years ago today I was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  With my parents, grandparents and friends surrounding me, I entered into a covenant with God.  

I will say that it has been filled with more joyous moments than sad.  Sometimes difficult, never regretting.  

The times that have been most difficult is when someone has shared that their current life experience has been filled with moments of doubt.

Our ability to have faith through difficult times seems to be our greatest strength.  Being able to point to a time, or reflect on a moment, when there was no other reason than it being God, are the times that we as believers can find great comfort.

But what of those who have "seen" and still find it difficult to believe.  The Psalmist strives to remind us that for any of us there are questions.  When will I see you Lord?  Why are there times that I hunger so greatly for your presence?

All our very real, and remind us that for any of us, there are times when we long for God's presence, and seem to be unsure.

What I have learned in my years in ministry is this, hold on, watch and listen!  God is real and present.  God is not one to abandon.  It's not that God is not present, it is simply that we are not looking in the right place.

The greatest hope I have for any of us is this, God is very real, and very present.  ALWAYS!

Hoping that you discover God's presence within each moment!  Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, help me in my times when I struggle to find you.  Amen.

What does it mean to be the living Christ in the world today?

It's something that I have been asking myself lately.  While I recognize we are all made in the image of God, our ability to mirror the actions of Christ can lead to some interesting displays.

At the table we pray that God will bless our food, and we lift others in prayer.  While at church we seek to find ways to be in communion with one another.  We even announce "in Jesus' name" as we close in prayer.  But what does it really mean to emulate the presence of Christ?

Years ago wrist bands and banners asked us "What Would Jesus Do?"  For some it was a reminder that we should stop and ponder a holy response to situations in the world.  While I recognize that Jesus was part human, Jesus was also very much the Divine.  Sometimes I think that our dust tends to pollute the filter of the Divine!  

While the Spirit of God tries to move within and among us, we tend to fill our lives with so many different things that it becomes difficult for the Spirit to move, or to be seen.  The living presence of Christ is within each of us.  In some faith traditions it becomes necessary to announce, or to publicly deny self in order to demonstrate that presence.

The Spirit entered us the moment that God decided to fill us with the God's breath.  But for all of us, at times we just simply experience bad breath!

I don't mean to make light of something that holds a special meaning to many.  Committing ourselves to being that living presence of God means that each day we must attempt to allow that presence to be known.  

It means beginning each day, taking time to invite the living Christ to make an appearance, and allowing the presence of God to live fully within us.

Hoping that today we may each find a way to be the living presence of Christ in the world while remaining in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, may I be the living presence of Christ in the world today.  I know that already I have filled my mind with things to do, getting ready to go and start a new week, while worrying about a number of things.  Somewhere in all of this, may I turn all of this over to YOU.  May Your presence dwell and abide within me, no matter what may come my way today.  Amen.

Dear Lord, thank you for loving me unconditionally.  Amen.

So often we talk of God's timing, and those infamous words, "God's plan."  Our ability to define time by hands on a clock often creates anxiety that can sometimes be overwhelming.  This morning I'm sharing my own excitement and anticipation.  Our daughter-in-law is scheduled to head to the hospital to give birth to our second grandchild.  

​This has been a series of ups and downs, and I don't think anyone is more ready to have this little girl than she is!  

Birth and death are both anticipatory moments in our lives that we all experience.  The rest, known as "life" is filled with times that are entirely ours.  From an early age we discover the importance of lessons, of learning, how to love and so much more.  We learn of hope, and strength, sadness and pain.  The span of our life, no matter how long or short, can create a countless number of experiences.  All of which make us who we are.

We are reminded to sing a new song to the Lord with each new day.

We can, you know?  Just as flowers find ways to bloom anew each day, we can also discover new ways of expressing ourselves.

While we pray that each day brings us closer to God and one another, there is always within, some form of anticipation.  

I guess that is why I strive to discover joy in each new day, because even God is exploring ways of expression so that we take note of God's presence in our lives.  Even God anticipates our voices and hopes that at some point today, we will reach out, and sing a song of thankfulness for God's presence.

While I wait in anticipation for the birth of my granddaughter, I am singing a new song.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, today I realize you are caring for my family in a very special way.  I thank you for giving me a song in my heart.  Amen!

Thank God it's Friday!

I didn't even have to type that out, because you saw the title of today's blog, "TGIF"

In our daily life there are all kinds of sayings that we have that convey a message that we all understand.  "LOL" and "OMG" have become common responses to texts, and hashtags have grouped our posts in some interesting ways.

We are told that we shall sing "Alleluia" to God even after the final great "Amen."  

Our ability to praise God and to understand who God is for each of us takes on many meanings.  "LOL" has replaced the great "G" "O" "D" in our every day life.

Think about it.  When we share experiences with one another, how often do we talk about what God has done?  

I recently was with friends who were standing in line to eat something.  We literally stood, waiting to hear back via a text to find out what a person wanted.  I asked, "Does anyone ever really call and talk to people any more?  That's what the phone was originally designed to do!"

They all looked at me, and someone finally succumbed to dialing the number and asking, but it served as a reminder to me that if we aren't taking the time to talk to one another, our ability to talk to God has become non-existent.

God needs to hear from us more than once a week when "TGIF" rolls around.  Like my friends waiting on the text, God is waiting to hear from us!  

In today's Psalm, the writer shares that we are to praise the Lord from everywhere, from all things, and all times!

Praising God begins with two simple words, "Thank you."

Hoping that your "TGIF" is followed by praise MTWThFSaSu!

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Dear Lord, each day I am thankful.  What an amazing God you are!  Amen!