Chess is a strategy game that has been around for 1,500 years or so. It has been used to teach and demonstrate everything from military strategy to social etiquette. In a game of chess there are over 9 million variations after just 3 moves each. 288 billion different possible positions after just 4 moves each. In a complete game there are more possible positions than there are electrons in the observable universe. Chess is a game with vast options but one goal. God’s plan is big and mysterious and awesome, and has one goal.

God’s love is perfect! It is unending, everlasting, and completely sufficient! It cannot be diminished or stopped.

Klayton went to a Royals game with a friend who had some really fancy tickets. He sent me a text that said “Denny Matthews is in the same room with me.” He watched batting practice so close to home plate that he thought players might walk up and talk to him. It’s funny how easy it is to be star struck when we get access that we normally don’t have available to us. How amazing is our access to God through the Holy Spirit?!

We are all debtors. We all owe something to someone. You might owe dollars and cents to a bank. Maybe you owe a favor to your neighbor who helped with your last home improvement project. Or maybe you owe your parents for the foundation they provided you in life. We owe something different in all of our relationships. It is clear that we owe everything to God!

What kinds of events do you consider to be life changing? Maybe for some of us a move to a new state or country would be life changing. For others maybe a new relationship or getting married

would change our lives. I’ve heard people say winning the lottery or landing that big promotion would bring life changing money into their lives. All of these pale in comparison to beginning a relationship with Jesus and having the Holy Spirit make His home in our lives.

When you think of July 4th you think of freedom, the start of a new nation and fireworks! As powerful, brilliant, and dangerous as our celebratory fireworks can be, they pale in comparison to God’s “fireworks.”

It’s fresh salsa time! Your gardens should be producing all kinds of fruit by now! If

your tomato plants don’t have any tomatoes... well something has probably gone wrong. What fruit is present in your life?

Have you ever been at the zoo or an amusement park and watched a dad in a young family make their way around the venue? He has a kid on his shoulders and one hanging off his leg as he pushes a

stroller filled with souvenirs... His burden is heavy and light all at the same time!

On the golf course it is called a “mulligan.” When you were kid you just called out “do over!” and tried whatever it was you were doing again. As we get older it seems

more difficult to start over, but that is exactly the offer Jesus makes!

Life is made up of the choices we make. Sometimes when we have to make a choice, the options are very similar. Other times our choices couldn’t be more different. Choosing a life pursuing God or a life ignoring Him are as wide apart as two choices can be.