65 at 65!

by Dale, posted in Christian Living, Hiking, Joy, Love, Marriage, Ministry, Parenting, Pastoring, Salvation, Uncategorized

Today marks a milestone in my life…..my 65th birthday!!

And we all say, “Where did the time go?” I mean, wasn’t it just yesterday I walked to kindergarten, graduated from high school, got married, had children, preached my first sermon, got my driver’s license, etc.?

Looking back over these years, the following and much more comes to mind.

  1. How wonderful to say that I have been a child a God for 60 years! What a blessed day it was as a five year old that by grace through the faith that God me, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior! (John 1:12; 3:16; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:5; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 5:11-13).
  2. There is no greater adventure or satisfaction in life than following Christ, living the Christ-life! (Philippians 1:21)
  3. God was, is and will always be good, and His ways are perfect! (Psalm 145:9; Romans 8:28-29; Psalm 18:30)
  4. Marriage is the greatest grace gift from God after salvation! Denise is my wife, friend, companion, cheerleader, confidant, prayer warrior, sweetheart, co-laborer, sister-in-Christ, and the one God for me!! Praising the Lord today for 42 ½ years!! (Proverbs 18:22; 31:28-31; Ephesians 5:22-33)
  5. Being the father of three daughters brings great joy, increased, intentional, desperate prayer, and an overflowing heart of gratitude! Richly blessed beyond measure!!
  6. One of the most precious sounds on the planet is hearing one of your 7 year old grandsons look at you and say, “Hey Papaw! I love you!”
  7. One of the greatest doctrines in the Word of God is the doctrine of adoption! ((John 1:12-13; Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:4-5)
  8. Nothing compares to watching the Holy Spirit convict a lost soul of their sinful, Christ-rejecting condition, and then see that dear one repent and turn to Christ for eternal salvation no matter their age!!
  9. The Word of God transforms lives!! (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  10. Discipleship can be hard and messy, but oh so rewarding!! Every believer should be surrendered to this ministry, the Great Commission! (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:2)
  11. A life of prayer is the abiding life in Christ! (John 15:1-17)
  12. The fact that Jesus did nothing of His own initiative but only what He saw the Father doing or what the Father taught Him is one of the most humbling statements in all of scripture! (John 5:19; 8:28; Luke 22:42)
  13. You don’t know everything you think you do. The older you become the more you realize you need wisdom and understanding from God, from His Word. (Proverbs 3:7)
  14. Every need I had or will have ever have is already met by the grace of God. That status began at salvation and will continue throughout eternity! (2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 2:4-10)
  15. I will never understand how or be able to explain, but oh how marvelous to know that at the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself, and our Heavenly Father comes to indwell us!! (John 14:16-18, 20, 23)
  16. I can’t live the Christian life. Jesus didn’t live the Christian life. He is the Christian life! Christ lives in me and lives His life out of me! The Christian life is one of constant surrender to the One Who dwells in me! (John 15:1-6; Galatians 2:20)
  17. Living in grace and by grace removes you from being critical, grumpy, and gloomy! (Proverbs 4:18; Luke 6:27-28; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 5:5-7)
  18. Great joy and contentment dwells in the heart one who forgives and sets others free! (Ephesians 4:32)
  19. Great harm, hardness of heart, and bitterness of soul comes to the one who carries offenses and refuses to forgive! Always be quick and ready to forgive!
  20. Stuff collects dust and most likely ends up in a yard sale, a Goodwill store or a trash dump. (Ecclesiastes 3:6b; Matthew 6:19-21, 33)
  21. Enjoy the journey! (Psalm 16:11; Proverbs 4:18)
  22. The most important moment of life after salvation is standing before Christ at the Bema! (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
  23. The older I got, the wiser my dad got! I am richly blessed to have had such a wonderful, loving, God-honoring dad and mom! (Proverbs 20:29; 23:22)
  24. Take risks! We cannot control anything! Walk by faith! (Hebrews 11)
  25. It’s not who and what we are but Who and what Christ is! (Colossians 1:18)
  26. Never stop dating your spouse after marriage. Hold hands. Kiss. Do special things together. Look each other in eye! Don’t let the flame die down! Be romantic! (Proverbs 5:15-19)
  27. Keep your heart tender, fresh, and flexible in the Spirit! (Galatians 5:16)
  28. Walk daily in the Word; live your life in and through the Word! (Psalm 119:105)
  29. Don’t act 65 when you are 35! When you’re 65, go ahead and have fun like a 25! (Psalm 92:12-15)
  30. Love people! (John 3:16; 13:35)
  31. Be content with change. Nothing ever stays the same except the Lord and His Word! (Malachi 3:6)
  32. Memorize the Word when you are young. (Psalm 119:9-11)
  33. Don’t get stuck in a rut! (Romans 12:12; 15:13; Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
  34. Everything doesn’t rise and fall on leadership. Everything rises and falls on God. (Isaiah 45:7-9; Colossians 1:16–17)
  35. Ministry is exalting Christ, making Him the preeminent One, the issue. I am not!! (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:18)
  36. Never stop laughing! (Proverbs 17:22)
  37. Don’t take yourself too seriously! (James 4:10)
  38. Don’t be concerned about what people think of you! At my age, you realize they weren’t thinking about you anyway! (1 Peter 5:6b-7)
  39. Trials become the deep place of instruction from the hand of God as well as intimately knowing God (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Matthew 11:28-30)
  40. Realize no one owes you anything, and you don’t deserve anything. (James 1:17)
  41. Live in the reality that Christ is all we need! In Him we are complete! (Colossians 2:10)
  42. Morning hours meeting with God in prayer and His Word is the sweetest time of the day! (Mark 1:35)
  43. Keep singing, keep whistling, keep humming! I’m so glad God created music!(Nehemiah 8:10; Psalms 5:11; 9:2; 59:16)
  44. Exercise! Run, hike, walk, bike, etc. Steward your body for the glory of God! (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 9:27)
  45. Live with the imminent return of Christ having immediate effects upon your life! (John 14:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
  46. Learn to rest physically, mentally and spiritually. (Matthew 11:28-30)
  47. Build godly friendships that will last for years! They are a rich treasure! (Proverbs 17:17; 27:17)
  48. Be soul conscious! (Matthew 9:36-38)
  49. Enjoy each season of life, not always wishing to go back to the past (“the good ol’ days”) nor always wishing for next new thing (except the return of Christ). Live in the moment! (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
  50. Always take the next step in wisdom and guard your heart. (Proverbs 4:23; James 3:17)
  51. Take to heart the words of missionary C.T. Studd, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)
  52. Fear of man, fear of death, fear of making the wrong decision, fear of failure, fear of (fill-in-the-blank) will keep you in bondage and never set you free! (2 Timothy 1:7)
  53. Sunrises are more than worth getting up for! Sunsets are great, too!! No one can paint a picture like our God!! (Psalm 57:8)
  54. Coffee is a wonderful blessing to enjoy! (1 Timothy 6:17; James 1:17)
  55. Debt can rob you of the joy of giving! (Romans 13:8)
  56. There is no greater family on the planet than the family of God, the body of Christ! What an honor and privilege it has been to shepherd the flock of God!! (Ephesians 2:20-22; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Peter 5:2)
  57. “God loves to surprise us!” (Andy Bonikowsky) (Jeremiah 33:3)
  58. Clemson Tigers football, Kentucky basketball . . . nothing else needs to be said!!
  59. Hard to beat sledding down a hill in the snow wearing four pair of corduroy pants, heavy coat, covered with snow and your hands freezing-to-death! Even better when huddled together with your cousins riding on a car hood or refrigerator door down that hill!! (Psalm 147:16)
  60. A day on the Appalachian Trail is always a good day, and the best is when you are sitting on the edge of McAfee Knob or navigating through the snow with your hiking buddy!! (Hebrews 11:3)
  61. Life has been made better because of the Andy Griffith Show!! (“Well, if it ain’t daddy long legs!” “If there’s anything that upsets me, it’s having people say I’m sensitive.” “Boy, giraffes are selfish.”)
  62. There is no way to repay my dad for taking me to camp at The Wilds in 1971. That was a week that has continued to influence my life and the life of my family as well as hundreds of others over the years!! (Wish I could go down backwards, head first one more time on the giant slide! I still need to ride the Zip!!)
  63. “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the One Who saved my by His grace . . . !!” (Titus 2:13) ”Come, Jesus, come!”
  64. “All my life You have been faithful, all my life You have been so, so good . . . I will sing of the goodness of God!” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
  65. But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)

65 at 65! That’s just for starters! To God is all glory, and one day i will be with Him in Glory! Thank You, Lord, for all your blessings to me!! Quite frankly, “I’ve just started living!”

(Shoowee! I’m tired just reading over all these. Think I’ll go get another cup of coffee and rest awhile!! I mean, after all, it’s my birfday!!)

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