Simple Profound Love

I heard these words today as I attended the Men's IGNITE conference in Layton, Utah. They were words spoken to a man who was in desperate need of a word from His heavenly Daddy. He'd gone away for a weekend in search of solitude, but more importantly a profound sense of a personal word of God to Him. Instead, what He heard the Lord speak was so basic and simple that he felt tempted to dismiss it, or put his own spin on it. Thankfully he did not, and as he began to share it with others he realized it was a simple AND profound message which the Lord wants many to hear. For some it comes as a much needed reminder of how God truly feels about and cares for us. For others it may be the most revolutionary idea they've never before heard, but always needed to receive.

These words truly ministered to me today and I pray they do you as well.

I love you ____(insert your name here).

My plans are good.

Stay close to me.

~Vince D'Acchioli

Chasing Trust

I love my dog. His name is Chase and he's a half-yellow lab, half pit bull, mix who's as energetic and loving as any dog I've ever seen. Although I would never trade him for any other four footed beast some of his habits can really gnaw on me. One of these is his unbending propensity to search out every last stray stick, or simply low hanging branch, in the back yard and upon finding the softest thickest part of the lawn to lay down and proceed to shred them to pieces. After he's through I've got the perfect place for yet another fire pit (okay, so perhaps I'm exaggerating a little, but not much).

Somehow though, this tale wagging friend of mine taught me a very valuable lesson while in the midst of one of his lumber consuming tirades. You see I had been struggling off and on for at least weeks with trusting God to accomplish something He'd spoken to me. I never questioned the content of His direction to me, or even the reasons, simply the timing. As it turns out the timing isn't that simple after all. I'd felt fairly certain about the time frame I thought things would be worked out in. Yet, the date on the calendar has steadily approached with no sign of the change I've been awaiting. All along I've heard the Lord whispering to me to remain patient and to continue trusting Him.

Still the effort to "help God out" with the details has seemed truly necessary at times. Of course it really wasn't, but hadn't I patiently waited the prescribed time already? I mean really, I've watched those calendar pages change a few too many times already. So clearly it's time for action. The more focused I became on the specific time frame of this thing being accomplished the more my peace and joy were stripped from me just like the shreds of bark in Chase's teeth. I really do think it was about the time I saw him doing this one afternoon and it was as if God whispered to me, "You haven't really been trusting me at all, have you? The more anxious you've become the more you've allowed yourself to be chewed on and your peace is devoured. No, you need to be like one of those trees back there. They're firmly rooted and their branches extend covering nearly your entire yard. But they didn't start that way did they. It took time. Trust me."

I don't know about you but I don't want to live in a way that finds me constantly chasing the ideal of trust. I would much rather live in trust of Him who is utterly and completely trustworthy.

Have you been living day to day with peace, or is anxiety more prevalent? Would you prefer to be like the sticks in my backyard sought by my dog, or would you rather by like the trees firmly rooted and flourishing? Truly trusting Jesus, daily and with everything, can alone bring you the peace your soul needs.

Waiting at the Bus Stop

Do you ever feel as though a particular situation in life has you waiting at a bus stop? You know the route you need to take to make it where you're going, as well as the bus number. You may have even had the route verified by a veteran of the city bus system, a seasoned bus-riding pro if you will. Maybe you've even gone straight to the source and gotten your route mapped out from the Real Bus Authority at the downtown office. Yet, still you find yourself sitting there waiting for the bus to arrive.

While it's true that the bus you're waiting for operates on a very specific schedule, it just may have had to take a construction detour, gotten a flat tire, or any number of other possibilities which only causes the delay you are now forced to deal with. Well, this bus stop is exactly where I seem to find myself today. I know where it is I need to go and perhaps even how to get there and I think I know when my bus is supposed to arrive. The problem is that as the scheduled arrival time seems to be approaching I still don't recognize any sign of my bus...And, well, you see, my bus stop is near the end of a long road which means I ought to be able to see it coming from a ways away. Yet, still I wait.

The waiting wouldn't be quite so bad if that old bus riding veteran were waiting with me. I'm sure he'd be able to provide some reassurance about the bus, or maybe he knows why it so long in coming. Unfortunately though, he seems to have caught an earlier bus this time around and so I must wait alone...or at least it seems. Of course I know the Great Bus Driver above is near enough to see me and hear me, but I sometimes struggle to do the same.


...At least that's how it feels right now.

Should we live united?

A particular commercial has been frequenting my television of late. The message is one which I think appeals to many people and calls them to "live united". It draws upon that part of every person that truly wants to help others. However, the simple phrase repeatedly employed caused me to pause and think about how united I really should be with others. To be fair I have no problem with the motivation in mind for the owner of the ad. I simply think that unity is one of those ideals that requires caution.


As a Christian believer I definitely would not want to unite with a group of people who hated Jesus. The question here is not whether I should love them, of course I should. Instead should I be so joined with them that I think, believe, and even live as they do? Obviously, to do so would cause me to abandon what I believe and who I live for. However, to be united with others for the wrong sort of cause would call for this very decision.


Oftentimes the values of a group of people are not perfectly clear. While they may seem to embrace worthy ideals there can be very hurtful motives behind them. It is therefore of tremendous importance to truly know who and what it is you are uniting with.

If it's your desire to follow Christ, as it is mine, then let me encourage you to exercise great caution with what you choose to embrace. Ultimately, if it does not bring Jesus honor then the question of unity should be no question at all.

The Love of the Father

Every now and then I hear a song on the radio that somehow says exactly the message that is somewhere inside me. It's not necessarily one that's been carefully prepared for any particular person, but it dwells there just the same. Though I may not always be actively thinking of it, the thoughts and feelings remain. They rest there like an underground aquafur waiting only to be drawn out by some thirsty hands by way of a well and the working of a pump. This seems to be happening to me lately nearly every time I hear the song "Finally Home", by Mercy Me. I've now heard it enough times so that the first few strums have barely struck the guitar before I feel as though I'm the one primed. Then, as the first several lyrics land upon my ears I'm quickly reminded of a desire I believe God has placed deep within me.

The song begins, "I’m gonna wrap my arms around my daddy’s neck and tell him that i’ve missed him and tell him all about the man that i became and hope that it pleased him." As I heard this the other day I was struck by the depth of this message and surprised by how it affected me. I began to think of how greatly I long to stare into the face of my Heavenly Daddy and indeed do the very things the song spoke of. The song continued to play and draw out the reason for this longing. Having been made in the image of God and being called by Him as his son (thanks to Jesus) this longing is something which He's placed within me, and I believe all of His believers, to ever draw us toward Him. However, I realized there was more behind this longing for me. Much of it has to do, I think, with the desire I've had since I was a small boy to please my dad and to be close to him, however never really being able to achieve this. We both have blame to share for this failure and I love him dearly, yet somehow my unfullfilled longing as a little boy remains. I thank God that He has throughout His word shown me many times over that He desires to fulfill every desire deposited in me by His hand. So, I've learned to look to Him as my true Father in Heaven, the One I am really made to glorify, to bring honor to...to please.

Still, the song played on while these things were going through my mind and then others also entered my thoughts. I considered the fact that many people, even believers, have a terribly challenging time relating to God as a loving and caring father. For them it may not be so simple a matter of not having the relationship with their dads which they desired and needed. Instead, they may have been terribly hurt, abused, or even betrayed by the very person who is supposed to be their greatest earthly source of strength, defense, provision, and shelter. How in the world is such a person supposed to then be able to look upon God as a father? For to do so evokes feelings of great pain and conjures images which should never have to be etched in one's memory to begin with. For them, the idea of a Heavenly Father is a truly terrible thought inflicting a new wound every time it's considered. Even if they know and believe the truth in God's word about Him feelings of Him being the opposite may seem inescapable.

If any of you reading this feel that such a description could be yours may I offer that such pain and brutal memories are not lost upon the Lord. He too is deeply wounded by the things you've had to endure and indeed wants to bring you healing. I would not attempt to try and offer any explanation or reason for the pain which you've walked with for so long. The best I can personally offer is my own experience to you. Somehow, God overcome the hurt and pain that had gripped my own life and revealed Himself to me as the loving and caring Father He had always been, but which I had not before recognized.

Dear Friends, in spite of the hurt and pain which you may have known God wants you to know how desperately in love with you He really is. While others have inflicted wounds within you, even broken sacred trusts, He never will. He truly wants to embrace you as His own, and offer you His strength and defense, His provision and shelter. His desire for you is so great that He even gave His own life to prove it.

As this entry ends let me encourage you to consider these words of Moses to the Israelites as words meant for you...

The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you as he did in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way until you reached this place. ~ Deuteronomy 1:29b-31

Too Focused?...On Me?

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24

I have often considered, meditated upon, and even quoted verses such as these wanting them to be true of me. In some ways there may be indications of such selflessness and true Christ-centered and focused living in me, but not to the extent that I could speak these words of Paul as though my own. All too often I can find myself sitting beside, or standing near, a person who may be in need of Jesus. Who isn’t? Then, the Lord whispers to me to at least pause from whatever I’m doing. When this happens I know what’s about to come next.

“Tell them, such and such”.
“Are you sure you don’t just want me to pray for them Lord? Because that I can do, no problem.”

Then, before I know it the moment is gone. This happened, I fear, just yesterday evening. I was waiting at the airport for my flight arrive and reading an excellent book about God’s desire for the Jewish people when the Lord told me to put it down for a moment and being praying for the person seated next to me. So, I figured that was easy enough, and began to do just that. I was expecting the Lord to then give me some further direction, but it never happened. I prayed for about a minute and then figured it was time to read again, it is a really good book after all. Oh, I did pause again later to chat with him about the boarding delays of our flights, but I knew it was not the conversation we were supposed to have.

It’s situations like this that occur more often than I’d like to admit which cause me to realize I am still far too me-focused. I worry too much about having exactly the right words or what the other person may think of me. I suppose the same thing could be true of the person who doesn’t have such inhibition but may instead be somewhat impressed by their own words. However, that’s not usually my challenge. No, I’m typically too conscious of how I might be perceived and before I know it another opportunity to glorify Jesus and help another person consider Him is gone. Clearly, I cannot proclaim Paul’s words as my own, but one day I hope to, or at least be able to say something similar and it be true of me.

Oh lord, forgive me for being so concerned with me. It seems the destruction of selfish tendencies is an ever continuing challenge. I truly want to be a man given over to Your plans and purposes so that You could somehow be honored by the way I live and speak. All too often it seems I fall short of this goal, but I continue on toward it anyway. I pray that You would continue to shape me, day by day. May You be glorified in me Jesus. Amen.

The Hard Reality of Change

This I have observed in my very near to be 30 years of life, change is inevitable. Some changes we may hope for and expectantly await upon for many years. We look forward to them and upon their arrival we can be quite eager to embrace them. They may come in the form of the fulfillment of long awaited desires, the holding of a longed for loved one, or the freeing from an unwanted sickness or burden. Oh how we can be lifted from many nights, or even years, of searching on our knees for answers to our longings when the season of hoped for change arrives.

However, some changes we do not look forward to. We would more readily run from them rather than to them. To reject them would make infinitely more sense to us than to hold our arms open to them. Still, while we may never offer to hold them close we often are not given the opportunity to resist them either. Instead of being freed from a burden or sickness perhaps it seems more likely that one has fallen upon us. Instead of the embrace of a loved one there may be the bitterest of distance. Or, instead of the fulfillment of our desires perhaps we might hear the sound of a suddenly closed door.

It's likely that both kinds of change resonate within us. We have experienced them both, and have had enough taste of the latter that we quickly recognize we do not want to endure such kinds of transitions. Yet, the reality is that we likely will. The question for those of us navigating this harsh terrain both now and in those undesired seasons to come is how. How will we traverse the road that seems forced upon us? Or, better yet, with whom will we travel?

Sometimes it can seem that no one could understand the pain of our experiences or the difficulty we face. We may suffer from confusion or even resentment as we struggle to understand why our struggle has come and why it persists. This seems to be especially true when the change is one that feels as though it will alter your whole life. I have felt this, and at times even in the season I currently live. When I do I question what the Lord has in store, why His goodness may seem so long in coming, or why I am even made to endure the challenge at all. It's not been my intent to be irreverent toward Him, simply an honest wondering and an attempt to understand what He is working for me.

As I read my Bible this morning I was confronted with two very difficult changes felt by two individuals with two very different responses. I saw how Moses struggled to understand how God could call him to lead his people out of captivity and yet his efforts to do so only resulted in making conditions for them worse. I also saw Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he suffered with the reality that He soon would give His life for all mankind and He knew it would be brutal to His body as well as His soul. Moses painfully questioned how God could allow his people to suffer more after he had done what the Lord directed him to do. Jesus, desired not to endure his pain and suffering but willingly offered to do just what God the Father had ordained. In both circumstances God was eventually and supremely glorified. Most of us can more closely relate to the response of Moses. However, only in Jesus do we have someone who has known our every challenge, and through His cross not only relates to the very pain we feel day to day or year to year, but also wants to lead us through it.

While there may be those that we can look to for support and encouragement in our challenging times, especially through change Jesus is truly the only one with the ability to lead us through. May we then look to Him, and if we must wait upon Him to move the mountain before us let us wait upon Him indeed for it is that very mountain He longs to move for you and I.

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

Luke 22:42