But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:3, 4 NASB)

Our standard is higher than any opinion that we have of ourselves or what the highest human court can say about us or judge against us.  To the contrary no matter how faithful or sin free we think we are or how wonderful other people think we are at church or in ministry, it is all moot...our ultimate standard is The Lord God Almighty.  Jesus is our standard.  Don't judge yourself in a negative way or vainly edify yourself.  Let that be the Lords work and continue your work in The Lord  in humility. 

The world around us pushes and pulls...it postures and pokes at us.  We are not of this way.  We are of the way of The Lord.  

Let my opinions and judgements be laid aside and let me be led by you Lord. Amen. 

A Little Girl's Cry (Romans 8:26)

A Little Girl's Cry (Romans 8:26) It's been some time since I have posted on my sister's blog. Life has it's pushes and pulls, but ultimately we need to continue to seek God's devine will for our days and even our hours. Posting on this blog has been a blessing to me,but other priorities have caused me to not post. However, it's been clear for a few months that God has wanted me to post this story I heard recently from a friend of mine. My friend Jim, a mature Christian in his 50's, told me of a unique circumstance he was in. One day in December he was in a drug store waiting in line for the register. A couple people up from him in line was a little girl about 3 years old and her mother. The little girl was in quite an emotional spiral, sitting on the ground stubborn like, very distraught and crying out of control. The mother, while being watched by everyone around her, tried to console her daughter, but to no availe. She was being patient, amongst the on-lookers and the embarrassing emotional display of her daughter. Jim, being one of the on-lookers, looked closer at the mother and realized she was the wife of Pete, a friend of his. While he didn't know Pete's wife, he had seen her before and recognized her. A thought rang into Jim's mind to call his friend Pete. He felt God was telling him to call, even though they hadn't seen each other for some time. So, in that register line, while watching the distraught little girl and the consoling mother, Jim reached for his cell phone and called Pete. The phone rang......"Hello" a voice came on the other line....Jim said "Pete?"..... The voice said "Jim?".....Jim said while continuing to watch the crying little girl...."Pete, how ya doing?" .....Pete said in a distraught, highly emotional tone, "why did you call me?"....Jim said," is everything OK?".....Pete replyed with a fluttering voice obviously accompanied by tears....."Jim, I have a gun in my hand and I am about to blow my brains out". Jim immediately talked him down, never said anything to the mother and drove over to see Pete. He got Pete immediate help. Jim had learned that Pete and his wife had been having issues and they were recently separated. A life was saved that day. Was it the little Girl's cry?; Was it Jim and his obedience to the Lord to call Pete? I can tell you that if God asked me to make that call I may have told God, "I'll wait till I get to the car, it'll be more private there." But if I did that I might have gotten voice mail! The Holy Spirit was working that day at the Drug Store, thru that little girl seemingly amplifying the pain of her father, pleading in moanings that are incomprehensible to those around her to "help my Daddy!!!!!" The Holy Spirit worked that day through my friend Jim's obedience to God. The Holy Spirit saved Pete that day, and that little girl has her father! "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;" (Romans 8:26 NASB)

A Dream

I had a vivid dream lastnight that I was with Peggy. Her and I were just talking about old times. I was telling her that I know our lives are busy with kids and stuff, but it would be nice just to chat, like old times. Well her and I went outside. It was seemingly like our backyard when we grew up on Siesta Avenue in Thousand Oaks, CA. We went out to the old picnic table that we had and we sat on one of the benches.....just to talk. Nobody else around but me and my older sister.

I guess in the adult years, that is what I missed even when Peggy was around. Those times we could just talk and discuss life and even our spiritual relationship with God. Eventhough we had those talks, there were always things to attend to and places to go. The dream showed me that I miss my sister and one day we will be able to have those times...on the other side... in heaven.... when we can have a deep talk about life and loved ones and our relationship with the Lord. I was moved to tears today thinking about the dream, but I was greatful for it.

I miss you Peg.

Happy Birthday Peggy!!!

Two years ago I was up in Oxnard seeing my sister Peggy. Larry threw a birthday party for her. It was great to see Peggy and was a great day to celebrate her! I have a picture of her from that day, I see often at my office. Sometimes it seems long ago, other times it seems like yesterday. But the nice thing is I remember the celebration of Peggy on her birthday well! It is a great memory of her at home with her family.

Attached is a photo of a day I do not remember. This is a photo Peggy gave me several years ago on my birthday. She dubbed it as a "Haeussler Classic" photo. You see, my brother Jeff (on left), me (in the middle) and Peggy (on the right) were going to Kenny Geigle's birthday party across the street. Notice the similes, or lack there of are directly proportionate to the size of gift we were bringing to the party. Needless to say I was ticked.... and Jeff was ecstatic! Peggy was happy.

Happy Birthday Peggy !!!!

The Will of the Father

Hi everyone. I am still here and have had a bit of a shift of schedule since the first of the year. I use to prepare my blog posts during the early morning hours and my quiet times have shifted focus through the Lord's promptings. Plus the Haeussler house has had a rigorous schedule with the kids in every imaginable activity. (Speaking of busy...here is a shot of my oldest daughter, Aimee, at a volleyball tournament in Arizona.) But in any event, I still have a heart for our trek through John. I am getting to know Jesus and who He is like never before. It is a slow trek through John, but I have been blessed by it. He is in charge and I'll follow Him. I look forward to continuing to post as He leads.

We left off in John 6 and we'll take a look at verses 35 to 40 and give particular focus to verse 38 " For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Who sent Me."

Every so often I go on business trips, as many do. I go on the trips for a specific business purpose. A few weeks ago I just returned from a trip to our project in Branson, Missouri. There is alot to do and see in Branson...water skiing, fishing, shopping, restraurants, a theme park, shows...etc. If I went for myself, I would do a lot of those things. But I went on this trip to be in a meeting, meet people working at our project, interviewed people, strategized with staff and inspected the property. Without my focus on the reason why I was there, my trip to our project in Branson would be futile and my company would have wasted money on the trip.

Jesus knows the purpose of His visit to earth....to do the will of the Father. He know if He doesn't follow that will, many will never see the point of His visit.

Jesus was here to show us how to live. A life filled with purpose and focus is one that will accomplish much. If your purpose is to do the will of Jesus, you will be part of one of the most focused and productive purposes for life...ever! Jesus has done the will of the Father. He was here on earth only 30 plus years, with only 3 years in public ministry. His focus on the Father's will has caused us to still be wanting to know what He did over 2,000 years later. What an impact! Jesus and His purpose needs to be at the core of my life, if I want it to have and impact as well.

Dear Jesus, Le me fold into your purpose of doing the will of the Father. I want my life to have an impact. Let me hear from you what my next steps need to be today. Amen.

Follow God with No Conditions

In John 6: 30 to 34, Jesus still interfaces with the mass of people following Him. Many of them are still missing the message Jesus is conveying. "Lord, give us this bread always."

This crowd further challenges Jesus. It was not enough that He fed thousands with "five loaves and two fish." It was not enough when He turned water into wine. It was not enough when He did all the miraculous healings. They wanted more of a sign. They didn't want to yield or submit to Jesus, they wanted Jesus to submit to them! This had to be offensive to Jesus. But He continued to minister to them.

Have you ever wondered if you should take a step of faith and then for confirmation you put a requirement on God. "God I will share my faith with that person over there, if they speak to me first." or " God I will change my life and have focused times with You, but You need to open the doors for me."

Sometimes we all put requirements on God to do things for us, so that we can draw close to Him. This action is similar to the intentions of the crowd talking to Jesus. They were telling Him what to do and challenging Him and placing contingencies on their faith in Him.

We are fee to put requests to God. But we also should not require God to do it. Don't hang a carrot out there for God. "I will do this, if you do that...God." Put your requests out there to God, and be thankful if He does or doesn't comply with your requests.

"Dear Lord, I have many needs and wants, but bless me and withhold from me as you see fit, sot that I may draw closer to you and stay focused on your will for my life. Amen."

That Was Easy!! (John 6:28 and 29)

All is well here in the Haeussler House in San Diego. We are busy on all fronts, work; school, church and sports. Things are non-stop and we are really feeling blessed by all the activities. This is my excuse for not posting in the last month. My goal is to post by the 10th, 20th and 30th of every month, but it doesn't always happen.

In any event, we will continue our trek through John and now taking a look at John Chapter 6 verse 28 and 29, with focus on v. 28..."What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"

As Jesus addressed the hungry crowd, they wanted to know more about the works of God. Their mindset was very works based. They felt you had to do things to get close to God. They had to follow the Mosaic Law, atone for their sins by sacrificing animals at the temple and so on. But Jesus showed that He is the savior for all mankind. Because man has fallen. Living a life in perfect compliance with the Mosaic Law is possible for someone who is born into sin. Jesus says it is easy, the works of God, "that you believe Him who He sent." It is simple as that, you believe in Jesus as your personal Savior and you will be saved. Jesus sustains us and provides us the spiritual bread so that we may continue to live.

Jesus was sent by God to save man from their rebellious ways. Jesus gave many indications that He was who he said He was. He performed healings, miracles and showed profound knowledge of God's word. This was not enough to convince the whole crowd that Jesus was to be followed. Many choose not to follow Jesus, no matter how much is proven to them. But the fact remains that being right with God through Jesus Christ is as simple as an acknowledgement that He is God's son and that He is our Savior. It's simple but man often times makes it complicated with classes, forms to fill out, interviews to do and works. As they say at Staples..."press the easy button!". It is easy and all we really need is Jesus!!

Dear Jesus, Thank you for being my savior and making it simple, in this very complex world.