DayBreaks for 3/29/24 – More Beautiful Than I Ever Imagined

From Things Unseen, by Mark Buchanan: “William M. Dyke became blind when he was ten.  When he was in his early twenties and attending graduate school in England, he met the daughter of a British admiral, and they fell in love and decided to marry.  But before he agreed to give his daughter’s hand in marriage, the admiral insisted that William submit to what was at that time a risky surgery to restore his sight.  William agreed, but he also had a condition: he did not want the gauze removed from his eyes until the moment he met his bride at the altar.  He wanted her face to be the first that he beheld on their wedding day.”   “The surgery took place.  The wedding day was set.  William’s father led his son to the front of the church, and the bride’s father led her down the aisle.  As she came, William’s father stood behind his son and unwound the gauze from his eyes.  No one knew if the surgery had been successful.  When William’s bride stood before him, the last strand of gauze was pulled away, and he was face-to-face with his bride.  He stood there speechless, and everyone waited, breathless.  And then he spoke: ‘You are more beautiful than I ever imagined.”   “One day that will happen to us, only the roles will be reversed.  ‘Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror,’ Paul says, ‘then we shall see face to face.  Now I know (Him) in part, then I shall know (Him) fully, even as I am fully known’ (1 Cor. 13:12).  One day, the Bride of Christ, near blind now, will stand before her Risen Bridegroom at the Wedding Feast, and the veil will be removed, the scales will fall away, and we will see Him face-to-face and know Him even as we are fully known.”   “And he will be more beautiful than we ever imagined.”   There is a song that takes my heart and puts it in my throat every time I sing it, called “I Can Only Imagine”, by Bart Millard.  It goes like this: “I can only imagine What it will be like When I walk By Your side.   I can only imagine What my eyes will see When Your face Is before me, I can only imagine.   Chorus: “Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel Will I dance for you, Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall, Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.   “I can only imagine When that day comes And I find myself Standing in the Son   “I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever, Forever worship You… I can only imagine.”   Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!   PRAYER: Lord, how we long to see you face-to-face in our heavenly home! I long to see You in Your glory and for faith to become sight! In Jesus’ name, Amen.   Copyright 2024 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for the Week of 8/22/22 – Not My Shame

From the DayBreaks archive: I took my wife out for lunch yesterday and as we were sitting there at Boudin bakery (we love their sourdough bread bowls), I was watching people come in and out.  People come in such a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.  And as I watched them, I was struck (for about the millionth time in my life) by the fact that they all carry around their own consciousness all day long and no one else can see it.  They carry concerns and joys, pains and relief, despair and hope, love and hate – to name just a few emotions and thoughts. 

Not one of us can see inside their heads or hearts to know what is going on there.  And, if they hide what is there, we cannot tell.  There may be some who have studied human behavior and could make an educated guess based on little tell-tale signs, but for the most part, we’re clueless about what is going on with others.

Maybe we need close friends with whom we can be vulnerable…yet safe.  Someone that we can share what’s happening between our ears and the beats of our hearts.  We need fellow humans who can help us navigate the rapids and falls of life’s river that flows inexorably onward toward a common end. 

More than that, though, we need One who knows ALL about us.  One who will judge us by our hearts and not our shortcomings – just as He did with David long ago. 

There is a song by Fernando Ortega (possibly my favorite Christian musician) called Shame that has these words in it (excerpted):

Though I am weak
Sometimes weary
In times of trial
I hide my face
In the balance
Judge me wholly
Please don’t judge me
By my shame

I have tried to
Live life humbly
Not a coward
Not in vain
When my weakness
Overcomes me
Remember me
Not my shame
Not my shame

I am weak
Sometimes weary
Sometimes small
I hide away
When my hours
Are all accounted
Please don’t bind me
To my shame.

What a blessing it is to know that Christ has borne our shame, that He knows our innermost hearts, hears the unspoken words and thoughts that zing around inside our craniums…and loves us the same!

PRAYER: Lord, we can consume ourselves with our thoughts of failure, guilt and shame!  Remind us when we do that You have lifted that off us past, present and future because you are our closest friend! In Your name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for 12/09/21 – One Day

Today I am flying to the west coast where I’ve been invited to officiate at the funeral of one of my very best friends. This post from the DayBreaks archive seemed especially appropriate:

“And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more!
Bless the lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I worship your holy name.” 10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman

These are the words to the last verse and chorus of Matt Redman’s song, 10,000 Reasons. I don’t know if there has been a song in my entire lifetime that has touched me as deeply and as often as this song has over the past two years.

We’ve all been through tough times the past two years. It hasn’t been easy. There were plenty of times when the darkness seemed to be settled in forever and it seemed that things were not going to work out. But, as always seems to be the case, they did and have.

But as I listened to this song again twice today, I was moved by the image of the moment of death and of waking up singing an unending song of praise for “…ten thousand years and then forever more.”

Perhaps you already start each of your days with praise (I have this song on my cell phone as my wake-up alarm, by the way!) Praise is a great way to start the day, isn’t it? But you know, you just know before your first foot hits the floor that it won’t be long until the first issue of the day arises. Until the first complaint leaves your mouth. Until the first bad attitude creeps in. Before the first unkind word is spoken. Before the cares, worries and problems of your day start to take control and the praise fades into a muffled, barely audible background at best.

Now, for even just a few moments, I want you to think about something else. I want you to picture what it will be like some day to wake up and not have a single issue with which to contend. To not have a single complaint leave your lips – or even any reason to complain. To spend an unending day and never have or experience from others a bad attitude. To never hear an unkind word. To never have a relationship problem. To never fail, to never again have a self-image issue.

We think of the great promises of The Revelation: that death and dying will be no more, nor will there be any more tears. But how often do we think about all the myriad hundreds and thousands of little things that niggle and nag at us as we pass from our unconscious sleep until we fall into unconscious sleep again? Not only no death, but not a single ache. Not only no death, but no fear of death or cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer’s. Never to have a problem….period. Never to have a want that is unsatisfied. Never to long for something newer or better – for there will be no such thing as “better” than what we’ll have on that eternal day. We will live in an eternal “best”. One day.

It’s coming.

PRAYER:  How I long for that “one day”, Lord! For that day of unending songs of praise, for that day that will last 10,000 years and then…forevermore! Thank you for the hope, the assurance, of that one day! Maranatha, Lord Jesus! In Your name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 11/08/21 – Let the Chorus Rise

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… – Luke 1:46-47 (NIV)

It is a song of rejoicing, this torrent of words that flows from the heart and lips of Mary after she arrives at the home of her cousin, Elizabeth.

At first glance, one might wonder why Mary would rejoice at all. She was a pregnant, unwed Jewish girl in a time and place where such a condition brought the type of shame that our culture can’t even imagine. She had come to stay with Elizabeth for three months during the middle of her pregnancy. Why? I don’t really know, but I would imagine that it might have had something to do with being away from her own village where people knew her and would castigate her visually and verbally for being “with child” but unmarried. At least in Elizabeth’s home, she had walls to protect her from anyone’s prying eyes. As a stranger, she would probably pass unnoticed by most, or they would assume she was married and just staying with a relative for a while before the birth of the baby. 

I know if I’d been in her shoes (or sandals), I would have sought out a place where I could have hidden for a while. Sure, eventually she would have to return home to the stares and recriminations again, but at least she found some measure of peace for three months.

But what is amazing is the words that escape from her overflowing heart. Note the reasons she gives for this outpouring of praise:

God has taken notice of her (and not in the way her human neighbors had):

He is holy (and yet He has shown her, a sinful mortal, favor).

He shows mercy (when all around her were judging and throwing thunderbolts in her direction).

He is strong and has done great deeds (though she is weak and unable to defend herself).

He exalts the lowly and humbles the mighty (it was not to Caesar’s wife that the Messiah was entrusted).

He gives the poor good things (what greater gift than to bear the Savior of the world?).

He has helped His people and is merciful toward them (unlike those who turned their backs on Mary).

He has made great promises and will keep them (unlike those who should love but turn away when embarrassed by our failures).

Perhaps right now you need the reminders from Mary’s song. You face unknown outcomes in the days, weeks and years ahead. And that is really true of all of us, isn’t it? But this much is clear and in this I find great comfort and peace: all the things for which Mary praised God are still true today and will be true tomorrow and the day after…and forever.

My heart today can sing the same song: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”  Join the chorus, too, will you?

PRAYER: You are our Lord, our God, our Savior, Redeemer and Friend!  There is nothing for us to fear or dread!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for Easter, 4/4/21: An Easter Hallelujah

Happy Easter/Resurrection Sunday!

Be blessed, for he has risen!:

DayBreaks for 3/22/21 – A Reminder for When Death Walks the Land

This thing called 2020 was a challenging year. We could mention elections and politics, but I want to focus more on the COVID pandemic. As of 3/21/21, 547,453 citizens of the United States have died. World-wide the number is 2,708,531, though it is probably higher as some deaths certainly have been unreported.

I have a former co-worker who lost both of his grandparents in less than a week. High school friends have succumbed to it. While the news may hyperbolize saying it was the worst year in history, it was not. Still, it was sad.

We should not be surprised, though, that death walks the face of this earth. It always has, but it will not always. But for now, it is real, it’s painful and it can be a frightening reality to contemplate. For those of us who are older, we can hear the echoes of the Grim Reapers footsteps from behind us getting closer and closer and we may even begin to wonder, “Is this the day?” when we have a sudden pain in the chest or a severe headache.

It is in times like this that we need reminders that death is an enemy that has already been defeated. It has been shown to be powerless in the grand scheme of things. We need to cling to the reality that we will celebrate in just a couple weeks: Jesus broke the shackles of death and that has huge implications for us, too.

One of the songs I listened to yesterday as I was walking the dog has long been one of my favorites. Its title is “Ain’t No Grave” and it is sung by Molly Skaggs (yes, she is Ricky Skaggs’ daughter). There are some great lyrics that we would do well to remember:

Oh, there was a battle, a war between death and life. And there on a tree the Lamb of God was crucified. And He went on down to hell, He took back every key – He rose us as a lion and He set all the captives free!”

Part of the bridge in the song says simply, “If you walked out of the grave I’m walking too.”

This is the reminder we need to hear when death stalks the land, us, or those we love. It’s the reminder we need to hear each day of our life but especially on those days when the Reaper’s footsteps get a bit too close for comfort.

Jesus did walk out of the grave and that simple fact guarantees that I will, too.

You can watch and listen to Molly sing this song here.

If you have lost a loved one to COVID or anything else and your heart is breaking, take a listen and be uplifted!

PRAYER: Comfort your people, O Lord, with the certainty that death is neither the end nor will it have the last word! In Jesus’ name, Amen. Copyright 2021, Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 11/16/20 – When Friends Go Home

http://getwallpapers.com/collection/funeral-background-pictures

Yesterday (Sunday) we received word that a friend of ours that we’d traveled to Israel with has gone home to the Lord. She was a wonderful woman, full of faith and joy. She leaves behind a husband and family faced with the great paradox of grieving her passing but knowing her earthly struggle is over and she’s fully experiencing the joy of seeing Jesus face to face and being held tightly in his arms.

This DayBreaks will be a bit different as I’m not going to say much. Instead, I’m going to share a song that I listened to for the first time withing a handful of minutes of learning of her passing from this life. It’s from the group Pentatonix and is titled Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone. Even if you are not a Pentatonix fan, I hope you’ll take time to click on that link (YouTube) and give it a listen.

Why am I sharing this? Because as I listened to it, especially when they broken into the phrase “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, my God my Savior has ransomed me, and like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace”. I started to cry thinking about our friend and how those words had been literally fulfilled for her. There was a joy that filled my heart for her. Her struggle with cancer is behind her. Her earthly frailties and temptations and struggles are over. Before her is only peace, joy, wonder and eternal delight.

Some day that will be true for all His children who have trusted in Jesus. It will be true for me. And that’s not bad at all.

I hope you are blessed with the song today.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for the amazing grace that saved wretches like us, for breaking the chains of mortality and sin and for setting us free forevermore! Glory to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.Copyright 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 7/14/20 – Crushing Snakes

Genesis 3:15 (NIV) – And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Crushing and killing snakes is not something to take lightly. I detest rattlesnakes – always have – but it my hatred for them grew exponentially a number of years back when one bit both of our dogs the same morning. I killed that snake 1000 times in my anger. But this passage is certainly speaking of the work of Jesus and the ultimate retribution on Satan for the serpent’s work in the garden.

If you’re at all like me, you are ready to stand up and cheer vociferously when Jesus crushes Satan’s head. Can you imagine a new world without murder, greed, abuse, injustice and the like? Won’t that be wonderful!!!!

So, how will the head of the serpent be crushed? I think that there is a “now – but not yet” aspect to it. The ultimate demise of Satan is decreed and shall come to pass, but there’s a part of it that I believe happens now. Here’s what I mean:

Every time that a believer denies temptation and chooses obedience instead, it’s a tiny wound on the head of the serpent. Every time we do an act of kindness, right a wrong, choose justice and love over injustice and indifference, we inflict wounds on the head of the serpent. Certainly, as humans, we cannot crush the head of the serpent. But as Christ lives within the believer, whenever we choose God’s ways over Satan’s ways, we are participating in the crushing the head of the serpent.

Let’s go out today and crush a few snakes and look forward with excitement and anticipation to the day when the final blow will be inflicted by the One who was foretold long ago.

PRAYER: Lord, let us not be fearful of Satan, for you are far greater than he. Let us slay snakes today in your name and for your glory through our acts of obedience and love.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Crushing Snakes, a song by Crowder featuring Taya.

Copyright by 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 3/13/20 – WHAT is Jesus to You?

The title of this DayBreaks may seem strange. More often than not we would ask, “Who is Jesus?” In fact, Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was, and then he asked who they thought he was and Peter gave his outstanding confession of Jesus as the Son of God.

While it is vitally important to understand who Jesus is, it is also instructive to consider what  he is. The answer may vary from person to person depending on where Jesus has met them in their lives and in their need, but I love the way that Zach Williams puts it in his song, Chain Breaker. Here’s what he has to say in the chorus of the song:

“If you’ve got pain
He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost
He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains
He’s a chain breaker.”

As with most of us, we scurry about life taking things for granted and we don’t think often enough about what others have done for us. What is Jesus to you? Take a moment now to think about what Jesus is to you and what he has done for you. Has he met you in your pain? Has he found you when you were wandering in a world of sin and despair and led you out? What has he freed your from? Once you’ve thought about it, pause for a while and give him the thanks and praise he deserves for all he’s done for you.

Link to Chain Breaker on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TtqFg4dzyI

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you for the pain in my life you’ve taken, the shame and guilt you’ve lifted and how you found me when I was lost. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Link to YouTube video with coronavirus (COVID-19) facts, symptoms and prevention tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AITtaAAAdYc

Copyright by 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>

 

DayBreaks for 1/28/19 – Neon Promises

DayBreaks for 01/28/2019: Neon Promises

Have you ever really noticed how many neon signs there are in your town? Have you paid attention to what they claim and what they try to sell you?

I recently was listening to an old rock song by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band called Fire Inside. It contains these lyrics:

There’s a hard moon risin’ on the streets tonight

There’s a reckless feeling in your heart as you head out tonight,

Through the concrete canyons to the midtown light

Where the latest neon promises are burning bright…

I had never paid close attention to the lyrics before, but for some reason, the concept of neon promises struck a chord in my thoughts and spurred this DayBreaks. If you’ve been to any big (and sometimes small cities), you’ve probably seen neon signs promoting things like these: “All you can eat! $5.95!”  “Girls! Girls! Girls!” “Paradise!” “Fresh pies!” “B-B-Q!” “Cocktails and Dreams!” “Beer on tap – happy hour – $1!”

Satan is no idiot. He knows how attracted we are to beautiful, shiny, colorful and bright things. And he knows how those things draw us with promises of dreams about to be realized, hopes fulfilled, pleasures and freedom to do as your heart pleases without consequence or regret.

But, in reality, all they are is empty neon promises. They shine bright for a while but they are empty, filled with nothing more than the hot gasses contained in glowing glass tubes.

I thought about how the promises of God offer things so different than neon promises: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  “I will remember your sins no more.” “I have come that you may have life and life overflowing.” “Come to me and I will give you rest.”

Does the different between those promises strike you as much as it does me? God’s promises relate to the deepest desires of my heart and soul rather than simply the desires of the flesh. Even if you eat all the food you want for $5.95, you’ll be hungry again tomorrow, but Jesus gives us the bread that makes it so that our souls will never again hunger.

I’ve had enough of neon promises that can’t fulfill. I hope you have, too, and that we will all recognize them for what they are: just tubes filled with glowing gas.

PRAYER: Father, than you for your promises which are real, deep and eternal. Keep us from falling prey to the neon promises of this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright by 2019 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>