Lydell and Lydell Attorneys at Law

JD Lydell

It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence.

(Oswald Chambers, from "Baffled to Fight Better")

My post from April 2021:
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For those who don’t know what happened to me this last weekend, Sunday morning, April 18th, I woke up at 5:05 AM from a dead sleep with this baby elephant sitting on my chest. At least that’s what it felt like. I sat up, and immediately knew all was not well. I woke Kerri up to tell her she had to take me to the hospital since I thought I was having a heart attack! At first Kerri thought I was waking her up because I was having a seizure but she quickly realized what I was saying After a quick prayer we were on the road very quickly to Auburn Faith Hospital 5 minutes away from our house. After the ER staff assessed me they confirmed I was indeed having a heart attack and needed to be transported to Sutter Roseville for the Cath Lab. That ride was about 15 minutes with lights and sirens, but it felt like it took FOREVER.

After arriving in Roseville I was whisked into the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, which looked like something out of NASA. They were waiting for me and ready to get started. They gave me a shot to “relax” me so my memory of that part is a little hazy. What I learned later is my heart attack was due to a 100% blockage of the “LAD” Artery (left anterior descending artery) and it has a special name the docs call it, the “Widowmaker,” as it has a very high fatality rate. The fact that we got to the hospital ASAP was key to my survival. The docs opened up the blockage and put in a stent to keep my artery open. While recovering I felt like I had been kicked in the chest by a horse. After a day in the ICU and another day in the Cardiac Telemetry unit I was discharged home.

So those are the basic facts of what happened. I’ve been ruminating for the past few days over what all this means, and what God wants me to learn from THIS experience. I think I could summarize all that came to me in the following: All we do, and all we have (including the number of our days on this planet) are in God’s hands.

Going back to the morning of my attack, in the ambulance at one point the pain was very intense and it felt like I wasn’t going to make it. For the second time in my life I was face to face with death. But surprisingly I had an overwhelming sense of peace and calm. I wasn’t panicked, scared or worried. My life was completely in God’s hands and I knew that my future, as well as that of my family was safe. I distinctly remember praying that if this was indeed my time to make it quick. I didn’t want myself or my family to have any unnecessary suffering. Don’t get me wrong - I wanted to live, yet I knew that being called home was a great alternative for me! In the days after my brother reminded me of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi while imprisoned for his faith, facing a Roman trial and possible death. Paul wrote the following honest discussion about his dilemma:

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again." (Philippians 1:21-26)

Paul chose to rejoice no matter what the outcome. He was so sure of who Christ was that he was convinced that whether he lived or died either way was good. All this because Christ was the absolute center of Paul’s life, and the very standard he measured all against.
With the benefit of hindsight we can see just how God was getting us ready for this. During 2020 we, like many of you, experienced a rough year, and for much of the time the focus was on politics and world events, while we waited to see what would happen in the fall elections. Following the Inauguration Kerri and I embarked into a deep time of study in the word, with a specific focus on what God says about the last days. We made it a priority to make sure we had our daily devotions and prayer together to start our day and not let anything get in the way of them. It feels like we were apprehended by God, and looking back we can see that God was strengthening our faith in Him and making sure we were grounded in Him and His Word to be watching world events through a biblical perspective. What we didn’t know was how He was also getting us ready for this event.

The day before my heart attack, Kerri and I were working around the yard together and she stopped and said “I feel like something big is about to happen.” We had no idea how true that would turn out to be.

I also realized looking back how quickly things progressed that morning. If you’re not prepared for a life threatening event, you may not have time to get right with God, or negotiate with him on what you’ll do if He’ll rescue you, etc. If you have the time, your mind will be full of emotion just dealing with the stress of whatever is happening. It’s not the time to try to set things straight. It’s much better to have your salvation secure before you’re caught in a life or death situation.

If you’re reading this right now and you’re not sure where you’re going to when your time on this planet comes to an end, I urge you to stop and make the decision to give your life to Christ. Did you know we are eternal beings, and will live eternally?

Choosing Jesus will settle where you will spend that eternity.

Your salvation was paid for in blood – the blood of a perfect, righteous man-God, Jesus Christ, who came to earth for one purpose: To save mankind from sin, Satan, death and eternal separation from God eternal condemnation for sin. You can make that choice now. In fact, you are a prayer away from your salvation; the Bible says, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10). With regard to Romans 10:9-10, if you have heeded the salvation call and you are ready to receive salvation, then say this prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I believe you came to die on the cross for my sins and was resurrected on the third day. I repent of my sins and ask for your forgiveness. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Amen"

Congratulations! You are a born-again Christian now! Well done for sincerely accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Taking the decision to believe and become a follower of Jesus is your best decision ever; for you will never regret taking such a decision. The next step is to get into a good bible believing church and learn more of what God’s Word says for you and your life. If you have questions or want to talk please reach out to me! "

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, (Col 3:23)

Much of what I do as an attorney is in my office, behind my desk. If I'm not reading something, I'm responding, meeting with a client, talking to someone on the phone or by email. Of course there are the moments in court, but unlike the TV lawyers I don't get to work on just one case at a time, but we juggle a caseload to provide clients with a service, one that most can't do for themselves, or are unable to deal with the sometimes complex and overwhelming court system.

When I'm not meeting with a client, for the most part I'm working alone at my desk. It can be easy in those moments to get focused on the task at hand and forget that at the end of the day I'm really working for the Lord, and all that I do should be directed towards pleasing Him. How would he have viewed my conversation with opposing counsel? My email to someone? Are my words peppered with grace, love and respect? Am I conscious that as I work for Him, He will oversee and direct my efforts towards His ends? As I go to court, I always ask for His guidance and protection so that my words and actions are directed by and submitted to Him.

The Biblical Illustrator says the following: "There must be a full surrender of the whole being to Christ. “No man can serve two masters.” “He that is not with Me is against Me.” Alas! How many act as though they had made a bargain with Christ; that part of their nature should be given to Him, and part retained for the world and self. In certain circumstances they seem devout and earnest believers, in others frivolous and worldly Such a course is dishonoring to Christ, and injurious to their own souls."

I cannot act as if He is my Master when it's convenient. He is ALWAYS my Lord and Savior and my Master no matter what I am attending to.

How can you start to be conscious through your workdays (and non-workdays!) of who you are really working for?

God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common–sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him?

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me.

(Oswald Chambers, from "The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book")

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be.

The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set.

God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them.

(Oswald Chambers, from "Biblical Psychology")

The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance.

(Oswald Chambers, from "Notes on Isaiah")

In a world that seems to be ever changing (and not for the better!) it is comforting to have our hope in the One who will never change.

Today is 316 Day! Post, tweet and share John 3:16 on all your social media platforms and let the whole world know, Jesus saves!

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.

(Oswald Chambers, from "The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed")

"Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love."

John Stott

In these uncertain times there is One that is constant, who will never change and can bring stability to our thinking, and give us peace in our thinking when the world looks chaotic.

"On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand."

Edward Mote, 1863 (Scriptural basis: Heb. 13:8, Matt 7:24, Psalm 18:2)

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Who doesn't like new things? Marketers try to get our eye with the latest and greatest thing to convince us that we need it. But we don't need to always be looking for something new to buy. Instead what about looking for something new to try?

When is the last time you looked for a new experience, or a new way to try something? Or even a new way to think? That is where most of us need to have a new thing in our lives, as we have the same old thoughts over and over again. If we're honest, lots of the thoughts that recur inside out head are not uplifting thoughts, but a replay of the prior meeting, conversation, hour, day, week or life and examining where we have fallen short. Or to be more accurate where we feel we have fallen short.

What is it about the human experience that only reinforces when we didn't do something right?

How about taking control? Take time right now to list two things you are grateful for. It doesn't need to be a long list. If you do that to start off every day, it will focus your mind on what is good in your life that you can be grateful for, and it's a much better way to start the day.

Then find a verse that says what you want to think about today. You can even use the same verse for a few days, it's ok. You're trying to create a new thing, and your old thing didn't get created in a day, so why do we think that a simple verse and a short prayer will change everything? It can, but the reality is change is hard. Change is intentional. Change can take time, especially when it involves a commitment to develop a new thoughts.

It all starts now. Make the commitment to create new things starting with new thoughts.

I'm sure Kerri Lydell has no idea what this is like...

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

In the early years of my law practice I was in court on a weekly basis, sometimes daily. There were some days I took for granted what I got to do for a living when I walked into court, which was seeking justice for a client. Justice can come in many different forms. For some clients it was financial compensation, and in my later years when I moved into different areas of the law it meant asking for protection or for their rights to be protected/enforced.

Often times our court systems can seem tricky or hard to navigate, and there are many times I realized how hard it is for someone to navigate it on their own. The forms, the language, all of it can be overwhelming.

I am glad we don't need to have someone prepare the way for us, and that we can go straight to our Heavenly Father. Or to be more precise, I'm glad someone already made an appearance before the Judge, and not only plead guilty but accepted the sentence on our behalf. So even when the world tried to tell me I'm Guilty, all I need to do is agree that I'm a sinner, but that the price has already been paid, the sentence served.

We don't need to pretend we're innocent as we are not. We are all guilty. The difference is some of us are still pleading not guilty and thinking we can beat the charge.

"For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone." (Romans 14:7)

Much of the Christian life is centered in our relationship with God and Christ, as that is the cornerstone of our salvation that we accept Christ into our hearts. We're not saved by belief in another human or their works (or our own, for that matter!). I see a twofold concept at work here. We don't live for ourselves alone in the sense that we have to live for God and his purposes, but at the same time we need to realize that from beginning to end our life is connected to other lives. It the "no man is an island" concept when it comes to others.

When we see our lives as living for God, and not for ourselves it's the concept that we are living for Someone outside of our self. That was not the view of this verse that spoke to me this morning. I saw the side of this verse that God wants us to be aware of others around us, and that we are living for more than ourselves. When it comes to being aware of the lives around us that we are connected to Christians should be grace oriented. We need to live with the understanding that what we have, we have from the Lord. I know that it is very easy for judgmental thoughts to come into my mind easily when I look at others around me. That is the part of our human nature and thought life we need to put to death daily. it is so easy to think the very best about ourselves, and at the same time see ulterior motives in all those around us, rather than thinking the best of them first. But striving towards that should be our goal.

Believe the best, and try to inspire those around us to be the best they can be.

Those around us may be in need of encouragement, inspiration or a kind word.
Displaying the grace of God to another may be just what their soul is thirsting for.

God—Revealed

Long ago, God spoke to His people through a series of prophets who delivered His perspective on current events and foretold the future.

- Isaiah was an educated man.
- Amos was a farmer.
- Jonah was a reluctant messenger who ended up with quite a fish-tale.
- God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, to Balaam through a talking donkey, and to Job through a whirlwind.

But then, He chose to speak to us through His Son, who more completely revealed His Father’s nature to us. We hear people say there are many gods and many paths to God, but they are mistaken. There is one triune, Almighty God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s love for us is so great that He not only revealed Himself to us, He sent His Son to live among us and die for us, and then sent the Holy Spirit to guide us. He is the only God worthy of our adoration, praise, and loving service.

God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. Let’s be attentive to His voice and have a willingness to obey!

From a daily devotional by Allen Jackson
Senior Pastor, World Outreach Church

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

I think it was Theodore Roosevelt who said, “The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” I'm sure that's why there are so many books about how to succeed in life. As we grow up, we learn the words success and failure and somewhere along the line we also are taught what these words mean, either by experience or by someone telling us we're likely to be one or the other. Unfortunately so many people are told they are a failure or they won't amount to anything, or words to that effect. Those words go deep into our souls and take root, placing limits on what we can become, eventually turning into limiting beliefs that we carry around wherever we go like a millstone tied around our neck. It not only limits what we can do, but it slows our progress. The reality is we will all encounter failure at some point in life, even when we think we have the best plans.

Then we read verses like the one above and think that God will give us the desires of our heart while ignoring the first part of the verse. When David wrote this particular Psalm, he was an old man (Psalm 37:25) so he was writing from the perspective of looking back on his life. If anyone knew about success and failure it was King David.

Think about what it must have been like to have been to be anointed king as a teenager, and then spend YEARS running from the current King Saul who wanted to kill him. Even when he spared Saul's life, he watched Saul return to the throne while he lived in a cave. David had many times to reflect on the unfairness of life and I'm sure feeling like a failure at times.

But David knew that when he delighted in the Lord, meaning to put his heart right with God and seek after what God wanted for him and his life that the desires of his heart would be aligned with God and his purpose for his life. Even when David met with success he would later encounter failures. What we learn from his life is that he didn't let those failures define him.

Our outlook on life should consist of dreaming and hoping for a better future, plan for good things, but also to not be stopped or thrown by failures, nor to be lulled by success. While success is certainly a better realm to desire to live in, there are pitfalls from thinking that we're arrived and don't need to do anything to maintain that success or to forget to be thankful for it.

Success and failure aren't permanent.

A grateful heart is, and will sustain us in times of failure, and will keep a proper perspective in times of success.

Two Great Quotes from Charles H. Spurgeon

"I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes – that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens – that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence – the fall of . . . leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche."

"What is fate? Fate is this – Whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says, Whatever God ordains, must be; but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some great end. Fate does not say that. . . . There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man."

Have you ever thought about all the Bible characters who experienced loss and how their stories changed when they trusted God to intervene on their behalf?

- JOSEPH was sold into slavery by his own brothers … then, God changed his life completely and made him a powerful leader.
- RUTH lost her husband and home … then, God provided her with a new husband, and together they would become the great-grandparents of King David.
- JOB was a wealthy man who lost everything … then, God blessed him with more than he had lost.
- The DISCIPLES thought they had lost their teacher and friend, their Messiah … then, God raised Him from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with them after He went back to Heaven.

Whatever loss you have experienced, know that God has not forgotten you. If you will ask Him, He will take what seems like a hopeless situation and fill you with hope for the future.

From a daily devotional by Allen Jackson
Senior Pastor, World Outreach Church