Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. – Romans 12:11-12

In his lifetime Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting. Today he’s known for his passion and artistic genius. And he’s remembered as a lonely soul. In a letter to his beloved brother, Theo, Vincent wrote:

‘Our inward thoughts, do they ever show outwardly? There may be a great fire in our soul, and no one ever comes to warm himself at it; the passers-by see only a little bit of smoke coming through the chimney and pass on their way. Now, look you, what must be done? Must one tend that inward fire, have salt in oneself, wait patiently yet with how much impatience for the hour when somebody will come and sit down near it, to stay there maybe?’

What great fire has God impressed upon your soul? Do passers-by see more than just a little bit of smoke? Are you tending the fire?

Van Gogh expressed his passion in his art. Look for the best expression of your passion that will honor and glorify God.

The passions are the winds that fill the ship’s sails. Sometimes they submerge the ship, but without them, the ship could not sail.- Voltaire

Blessings,

Chaplain Dunbar

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. – Romans 5:3-5

In 1741 George Frederic Handel wrote Messiah, one of the finest and most inspiring musical scores ever composed. In the time leading up to his greatest accomplishment, Handel’s health and fortunes had reached a low ebb. A stroke had left the right side of his body paralyzed: and he worked under the threat of imprisonment on account of crushing financial debt.

I can’t help but wonder whether Handel would’ve chosen the tenuous life of a composer had he known ahead of time the suffering he’d endure. If not, the world would’ve missed the blessing of this timeless and beautiful composition of praise.

Like Handel, we don’t know what our future holds. But we can be confident that God does, and that He uses every hardship to mold our character and accomplish a plan that remains perfect despite our inability to comprehend it. I pray that today you persevere in that certain hope. And you find trust that you are always in God’s hands.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. – John Quincy Adams

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:18, esv).

The world is a cold place, and life on this earth can lend itself naturally to miserable attitudes. There will always be enough injustice and irritation to keep us in the wilderness if we choose to murmur, complain, criticize, covet, doubt, and rebel.

“The very same circumstance in life can feel like the Promised Land or the wilderness—depending on your attitude.”

On the flip side, though, life also offers plenty of people and situations to generate thankfulness, love, faith, submission, and contentment—attitudes that cause life to flow with the “milk and honey” of God’s blessing and abiding presence. The choice is truly ours.

Of course, some of our choices are limited. At different times, we reach forks in the road of life where we cannot control much. Sometimes we can’t control where we work, where we live, who the authorities in our lives are, and how they treat us. The only thing we can control is our attitude.

You choose your attitude. Sometimes it is the only thing you can choose—and it dwarfs your circumstances. The very same circumstance in life can feel like the Promised Land or the wilderness—depending on your perspective.

God’s Word teaches us some clear truths about the power of our attitudes.

First, the attitude reveals the true person. “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,” Jesus said (Matthew 15:18a). Your attitude reveals who you truly are. You can get your external behavior in order but still be a mess inside. God isn’t interested in soldiers that just look the part; He wants His followers to be the part, for real. When God looks at you, He sees through to your heart, because that’s where the true person resides. His goal is not a makeover but real heart transformation—changed attitudes.

Second, the attitude predicts the future. “For as [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, nkjv). Attitudes are patterns of thinking formed over a long period of time. You can’t think in critical, negative, faultfinding, complaining ways without becoming that person. In spiritual terms, you are what you think! God is fired up about this, because how you think foretells who you become.

Third, the attitude is primarily vertical. Most sin has a horizontal dimension. Stealing and lying, for example, affect personal relationships, though those choices are against God as well. But attitudes are clearly vertical—implicit accusations against and rejections of God and His provision. God considers our attitudes to be directed at Him, which is why He takes them so seriously.

So what are you choosing? Are you following your feelings or deferring to a default attitude based on your circumstances? Negative, critical attitudes make life feel like a wilderness—desolate, dry, barren, hard, and joyless. In contrast, positive, grateful, God-honoring attitudes make life feel like the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. The choice is yours. Check your attitude.

Prayer
Lord, forgive me for what often comes out of my mouth, flowing from ingratitude and selfishness in my heart. Please forgive me for the rebellion against You that is ultimately revealed by these murmuring, complaining, faultfinding attitudes. Father, You have given me new life. I pray that You would fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and empower me to see the choices before me through Your eyes. Thank You for saving me, giving me breath, and guarding my steps. Thank You for Your provision, for new mercies every morning, and for the love You continually lavish on my life. Help me to never stop thanking You, and grant that my attitudes would increasingly shine with Your goodness and grace. In Jesus’ matchless name I pray, amen.

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

With the thanksgiving holiday in the rearview mirror and Christmas stress on the horizon, I wanted to pause once again to remind you that what we celebrated on thanksgiving can last all year.

Sometimes, in the rush of everyday living, we simply don’t stop long enough to pause and thank our Creator for the countless blessings He has bestowed upon us.

When we slow down and express our gratitude to the One who made us, we enrich our own lives and the lives of those around us. Thanksgiving should become a habit, a regular part of our daily routines. God has blessed us beyond measure, and we owe Him everything, including our eternal praise.

As Christians, we are called to give thanks in all the things. Not just the good things, not just some things but ALL things. Are you a thankful person? Do you appreciate the gifts that God has given you? And, do you demonstrate your gratitude by being a faithful steward of the gifts and talents that you have received from your Creator? You most certainly should be thankful. After all, when you stop to think about it, God has given you more blessings than you can count. So the question of the day is this: will you thank your Heavenly Father . . . or will you spend your time and energy doing other things?

I hope you will join me today in giving thanks to God for all that we have. No matter what we must go through today, we are blessed!

We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world along with the hope of our eternal country. – C. S. Lewis

Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference. – Thomas Merton

It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thanksgiving with the mouth stirs up thankfulness in the heart. – John Piper

Blessings,

Chaplain Dunbar

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water” (John 4:7–11, esv)?

For anyone who is serious about becoming more like Jesus, this exchange between Him and the woman at the well in Sychar is a conversation to study.

“The Lord wants to draw your focus beyond the immediate to the eternal.”

Jesus’ opening line, “Give me a drink,” may read rather abruptly, but the woman’s reply reveals that His tone was a genuine request rather than an order. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”

Her response could have been taken by Jesus as a personal affront. But He was not put off. When she asked, in effect, “Why are You talking to me?” His answer took the conversation to a whole new level: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus was basically saying, “You hesitate to give Me water I deserve; but I am not going to hesitate to give you living water you don’t deserve.” What an awesome way of expressing what He might also say to each of us: “You hold back your life from Me, when I am freely offering you eternal life.”

The Samaritan woman didn’t have this insight—she did not realize what He was telling her. She lacked the knowledge of two things: the gift of God and the identity of the One with whom she spoke. Her focus was on the impossibility of drawing water from a deep well without a bucket. She revealed she was stuck in the physical realm. Jesus wanted to give her a spiritual reality, but she couldn’t think beyond her immediate circumstances.

How often have we been stuck on what’s going on around us when the Lord is trying to take us into a spiritual reality? How often do we limit God to the ways and means we can see rather than remembering who He is? It’s so easy to have our attention focused on earth and glance at heaven, instead of fixing our eyes on the final prize and leaving the world to our peripheral vision. This woman shows us how we often miss the spiritual point.

How often do you do the same thing? How carefully are you listening and watching for God’s efforts to speak into your life? You’re in the middle of a busy, hectic day, going a thousand miles an hour—and God is trying to get your attention, trying to take you to the mat with the full weight of who He is.

God has something better for you. He wants to draw your focus beyond the immediate and obvious to the eternal and less-than-apparent. If your soul is thirsty, if you’re not hearing from the Lord or seeing Him at work, but you want to, maybe it’s time to slow down and pay attention.

Pray
Heavenly Father, I want my eyes to be more open and my heart more tuned to hear Your voice. Help me listen for Your true and eternal Word among the lies and distractions that surround me. Keep me aware that the life You have for me goes beyond my physical senses, and You invite me to fix my mind on things in heaven, not on things on earth. Thank You for drawing me into Your presence. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

“[Gratitude] turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie

May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. – Psalm 119:76

Right before Thanksgiving, an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said, ‘Your mother and I are divorcing, 45 years of misery is enough. But I’m sick of talking about this, so please call your sister and tell her the news.’

The son called his sister in Chicago and she immediately called her father. ‘You’re not getting divorced!’ she said, ‘We’ll be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing.’

The old man hung up the phone and turned with a wry smile to his wife. ‘They’re coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own fares!’

If you’re a parent, you can appreciate the humor of this story. Yet I must say I’m glad we never have to worry about God using deception to get us to spend time with him. Instead, he demonstrates his great love through his Son, Jesus.

To think of God’s unfailing love for us is a reason to be thankful.

During this season of food, football, and family remember to stop and to say thank you. Remember to thank God for life, for health, and for family.

Remember to say Thank you!

It is in spending oneself that one becomes rich and it is in being thankful that a life is lived well. – Sarah Bernhardt

Have a Happy Thanksgiving,

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Part 3 of 5.

Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name . . . Psalm 30:4

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season 7 simple ways

•Journal.

•Tell Stories.

•Serve… together as a family. Collect canned goods, rake leaves for your neighbors, volunteer in a soup kitchen, or invite an outsider (maybe a college student, a single person from church, or someone who is new to the area) to celebrate Thanksgiving with you. Ask your kids to think of someone from their school whom they might like to bless with a basketful of goodies. Start a “giving jar” where you put spare change or extra dollars with the goal of giving to someone in need. Ask your kids if they have any ideas regarding service. Get creative. The possibilities are endless.

•Create. Have your kids make creative place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of just cards with names, have them write, ‘I’m thankful for Grandma.’ Or be even more specific, ‘I’m thankful for Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.’ ‘I’m thankful for Dad’s funny stories.’ ‘I’m thankful for trips to the fire station with Uncle Joe.’ This will cultivate a thankful heart in your children and bless the people who are sharing the meal with you. (Even if you’re not hosting Thanksgiving dinner, volunteer to bring place cards even if you don’t normally use them).

•Personal: Take a moment today to do a gratitude list. Write down 10 things you are grateful for today. Try doing it every day to remember that you are blessed with so many things.

Tomorrow, part 4.

Blessings,

Ch Dunbar

A grateful heart is one that finds the countless blessings of God in the seemingly mundane everyday life.

For the next few days, learn how to Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 2 of 5.

1.Journal.
2.Tell Stories. Share the story of Pastor Martin Rinkart with your family.

In 1636 the Thirty Years’ War was raging. Death, disease, and economic collapse enveloped Europe in a fog of terror. One German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year, an average of fifteen people daily! Yet under the shadow of death and amidst a crucible of chaos, Rinkart penned this beautiful table grace for his children:

Now thank we all our God

With heart and hands and voices

Who wondrous things had done

In whom His world rejoices.

Who, from our mother’s arms

Hath led us on our way

With countless gifts of love

And still is ours today.

Talk about this with your family. Was this man in denial? Out of touch? Hardly. Rinkart was a person of audacious faith. He knew thanksgiving flows from love of God, not outward circumstance. Share this story and sing the table grace he wrote for his children.

Remember you can be thankful no matter what the circumstance you are going through.

Blessings,

Tomorrow, part 3.

Rob Dunbar, Chaplain, Maj, TN ANG

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. – Henry Clay

Every year as I approach thanksgiving I try to take a few moments to reflect on all the things I am thankful for. I was taught a number of years ago to do certain things to cultivate a thankful heart. So, for the next few days, I wanted to share ways and activities that may teach you and your family how to cultivate a Heart of Gratitude Within Your Home this Thanksgiving Season—7 simple ways

Part 1 of 5.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

Thanksgiving is too wonderful a holiday to let slip by without some intentional, active gratitude. But unless we’re deliberate, that’s exactly what will happen. Already busy lives seem to be compounded this time of year, right? By the time Thanksgiving Day arrives, we can be so emotionally and physically tired from all the prep or travel that the actual “giving thanks” gets lost.

But the Christian heart is a heart of gratitude. And to the extent that we express gratitude, we reflect the heart of our Savior and brother, Jesus Christ. God’s word implores us:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100).

We were made to worship and enjoy the triune God who has set his love upon us and lavished us with good gifts. Yet where or how do we begin this journey into the very heart of Christ? Here are some thoughts to assist you in cultivating a thankful spirit within your family this season!

1.Journal. In the beginning of November or a few weeks prior to Thanksgiving Day, place a journal on your kitchen counter (or a highly trafficked area) or attach a paper to your refrigerator. At the top of the page you can write or print, I’m thankful for… Then encourage your family to fill out the journal as things come to mind during this season. Include anything and everything that comes to mind from the simple pleasures of life, I’m thankful for hot coffee! To the profound, I’m thankful that God’s mercies are new every morning. Have the thankful person be sure to include his or her name next to the line of gratitude. Tell little ones who cannot write to simply share with someone in your home who can record it for him/her. On Thanksgiving Day, select a person to read the list or pass it around the table giving each person a chance to read.

Tomorrow, part 2.

Blessings,

Chaplain Dunbar

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV).

When you’re overwhelmed by a problem that isn’t going to get better in a couple days or even weeks, you might begin to falter. The pressure to falter is great—to slip down, go under, give in, lose the battle—and at times we would falter without an exceedingly great and precious promise from God. You need something larger and stronger than your problems. Serious days call for a serious promise: God is always watching; I will not falter.

God is watching, and He wants you to succeed at the Christian life. Considering His great love for you, do you honestly think He would let you go through more than you can handle? No. He won’t let the waters drown you. He will keep the fires from burning you (Isaiah 43:1–2). He won’t allow the temptation to become so strong it knocks you off your feet.

“God actively controls the severity of everything we face.”

In the original Greek of the New Testament, there is just one word for “temptation” and “trial.” It’s used interchangeably, based on the intent of the passage. A trial refers to an adversity allowed by God to transform your character. A temptation is a solicitation to do evil, which could never originate with God (see James 1:13).

In 1 Corinthians 10:13, both meanings are in view. God won’t allow a temptation or a trial into your life that you won’t be able to handle. Neither one will overtake your life or last forever. “God is faithful.”

Every trial and temptation you face is “common to man.” You might feel as if nobody has ever gone through what you’re going through, but that’s false. The enemy tries to paint your difficulties as unique in order to make you falter. Don’t fall for that! In the past, many people have gone through a trial just like yours, and more will in the future. You don’t get singled out for a customized set of temptations. You’re probably getting about average. God will not allow you to be tried beyond your ability to withstand.

He’s watching closely. God actively controls the severity of everything we face. He says, “This far—no further. That’s all. That’s My daughter; I know what she can handle.” God protects His own. He will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able to handle.

You might argue, “I’m already being tried beyond what I can bear!” But the truth is that God knows you better than you know yourself. You’re not going to lose it. You will survive. You don’t know what you are capable of in God’s strength. You will get through this. The trial won’t last forever.

When the time comes that you really can’t take it anymore, 1 Corinthians 10:13 promises, “He will also provide the way of escape.” With practice you can learn to recognize exit ramps when you see them. “The way of escape” might look like . . .
•An instant end to the trial. When God moves, the mountains get leveled, the floods get lowered, and the sun suddenly breaks through. In my experience, trials end as quickly as they start.
•Encouragement to endure. Out of the blue, God may send another Christian to encourage you and remind you that you’re not alone.
•Wisdom and direction. God may show you a new angle on the problem. So many trials in life hinge for the good on one, simple, God-given piece of wisdom.
•Strength to persevere. There may be days when you don’t think you can face that difficult circumstance or person one more time. God may energize you for a new season of faithfulness.
•A friend to share the burden. Sometimes God dispels the darkness through the comforting assurance of friendship. The way of escape may be someone who has walked the same road before.
•A few days of relief. Sometimes God gives an oasis in the middle of the desert to replenish your reserves. Perhaps those tough circumstances will return for a season, but that temporary relief enables you to endure.

Of course, the variety of exit ramps is as endless as God’s creativity, but you can be confident He won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He doesn’t promise you eight options, or six, or even three—but you will find at least one exit ramp. When you see it, take it. Sometimes He gives us extra strength to endure our trials, but whether you’re enduring or exiting, you will not falter; God is always watching.

Blessings,

Chaplain Rob Dunbar