Time Continues to March Forward
As I sit here in the quiet of the afternoon. Father, I would ask once again for Your guidance in where my thoughts will lead me. May it be down paths of Your design. Amen.
Romans 8:19-25 (<<click here to read the passage)
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. v23
This year was a big mile-marker for me. I’ve officially ridden this old globe for 60 rotations around the sun! Age, my own and others around me, occupies a fair amount of my thoughts.
This week one of my cousin’s sons forwarded a picture of my extended family from an event at my uncle’s church several years ago. I was able to get a rough idea of when the picture was taken in that I could tell that my son was around two years old at the time. It was a little less than half of my lifetime ago. At the time, my parents would have both been a little younger than I am now. My grandmother would have been a little past ninety.
Since then, all of our lives have changed significantly. My uncle and my grandmother have both passed on to their eternal reward. My parents are now edging closer to 90. Just the hair alone in the picture has changed. There is far more of it that is white. And on the other hand, some have far less hair than pictured there. Though many wish they could slow time down, it continues to march forward, regardless of our hopes and wishes.
My mom posted a meme today that read, “As you get older you will understand more and more that it’s not about what you look like or what you own, it’s all about the person you’ve become.”
A portion of verse 23 reads,
…we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. NLT
I’ve mentioned before that my grandmother and a highly respected pastor of mine, toward the end of their lives, both wanted to know why the Lord had not called them home. Both were confined to their beds and felt that their lives weren’t worth much at that point. They both longed for their bodies to be released from sin and suffering – for what is suffering but the end result of our sin?
I don’t know when my time will come but there are things that wear on me, even at my age.
The older we get, the more we can understand what the Apostle Paul had to say at the end of verse 23,
We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
I know the groanings I have now are just the beginning, but what is next, thanks be to God, is most definitely not the end either! Amen!
Mar 12th, 2023, Sun, 5:06 pm
Pigs Do Fly!
Well, this is a change of pace! I usually write later in the day but the work of Your hands, Father, has got my mind a-whirling and I must get it down before it slips away!
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A couple of years ago I made an amazing discovery – pigs do fly! Well, they’re not actually pigs but they sure eat like them! We have a very healthy population of American goldfinches in our area. In the winter the males are a bit more drab, but as spring approaches they turn a bright yellow. I used to feed them Nyjer (thistle) seed, but one year I ran out, and ever since then they will only eat black oil sunflower seed. They won’t even touch the Nyjer feeder. But boy, they can put away the sunflower seed!
I got a two-pound feeder for my birthday, and it’s easily half-eaten in a couple of days. My schedule was too full yesterday to fill it up when it was half empty, and when I looked out this morning, it was totally – not just almost – totally empty! I tell you those piggies fly in and out all day long!
Who can blame them? They have access to all the food they can ingest and all they have to do is to fly up, perch in front of the opening, and go at it!
We can have all we could ever want of God, as well, but many won’t have anything to do with Him. Others just nibble a little here and there – never enough to satisfy our innate hunger and thirst for such things.
Here are a couple of appetizers from God’s word.
“Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied. Matthew 5:6 AMP
…Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 NIV
Take delight in the Lord,
….and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
….Trust him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:4-5 NLT
God will give us all we could ever ask of Him. All we have to do is to go and sit before Him and go at it! He welcomes us with open arms! As the old hymn goes, “He will fill your heart today to overflowing”!
Oh, to be a finch in the Kingdom of God!
Mar 9th, 2023, Thurs, 9:36 pm
Suffering
Father, this really is a day like many others, but I am appreciating it, nonetheless. Contented in You and with life in general whatever it may hold with You by my side all along the way.
Romans 8:18 (<<click here to read the passage)
God likes to work out “coincidental” happenings! This past week’s sermon, though based on another Scripture passage, deals with this same topic – suffering.
Verse 18 from the New Living Translation,
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
And now from the Amplified Bible,
For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!
Sunday’s sermon was entitled, THE CROSS OF SUFFERING…SEE THROUGH IT (<<click to watch it). Just like today’s passage from verse 18, it stresses the fact that, yes, we will suffer in this life, at some point and in some way. No one is exempt. Regardless of our social status, income, age, gender, race, or country of origin, suffering is undeniably – and unavoidably – a part of life. But for the most part, it is not the totality of our lives.
And we know Jesus has gone ahead of us. He has blazed the path before us and understands our journey…understands our struggles…understands our failings. We can rejoice in the fact that He said,
“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3 AMP
Just remember, though we may feel we’re getting more than our fair share of suffering, we must see through it, for it is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
Also, we must never forget that Jesus “for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross”. Hebrews 12:2 AMP
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
….praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
….but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
….but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:4-5 NIV
Mar 6th, 2023, Mon, 1:09 pm
Your “Fortune” for the Day
Father, thank You most of all for Your direction and filling in sharing Your word today. Please bless the words that were spoken. May they take root in every heart. Amen.
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On my way home from Columbus this evening, I stopped for a bite of supper at a little Chinese restaurant. After a tasty meal (I enjoy having Kung Pao Chicken on occasion) I opened my Fortune Cookie and here is what it said,
“Everyone needs to be loved, especially those (who) do not deserve it.”
How apropos – especially for a pastor at the end of a Sunday, no less!
I don’t know how this came about to be written on a “fortune” but don’t you think it reflects God’s heart? We know that it surely does but the other, very important, question that we must answer for ourselves is does it reflect our heart?
For some time now, in my public prayers, I have been drawn to include a reference to Mark 12:28-34. After an open debate with some religious leaders, one of them, realizing that Jesus had answered well…asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. NLT
Well, isn’t that interesting? Not all the religious teachers of Jesus’ day were old bags of wind who were full of themselves! Here is one (and I’m sure there were others) whom Jesus Himself admired as not being far from the Kingdom of God.
That being said, there’s yet another question that we must answer for ourselves, how far are we from the Kingdom of God?
Basically, this religious scholar was saying all the many important things they did in obeying the Law set before them, were nothing if they (and we, mind you!) didn’t love God with the entirety of their being, and loved others as they loved themselves.
The note in the Amplified Bible rings true, as well.
The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another. (emphasis mine)
From a simple, coincidental (I think not!) fortune to a reality of our life in Christ! May we live it – and not just say or think it! – every day!
Feb 26th, 2023, Sun, 8:16 pm
Share Your Best Seed
It has been a full day, Father, and I realized that I had yet to sit down with You! I would ask for Your blessings on our time together. Amen.
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In my downtime today, this little story popped up on Facebook.
There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best-grown corn. A newspaper reporter interviewed him one year and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
Shouldn’t this be how we live our lives as followers of Christ?
It has never been God’s intention that we keep His love to ourselves. Some may have the mindset that others are too entrenched in the evils of this world to benefit from His love – and that is far, far from being true! – but I think many of us are just afraid to let our light shine too brightly for fear of repercussion.
I know of a gentleman who has had to patronize a local eatery recently due to family circumstances. He has felt great joy in his opportunities to interact with a young employee at the establishment. He has not preached at her. He has not led her in a Bible study. He has just freely strived to let Christ shine through his words and actions.
He is simply sharing the best “seed” he has! Inevitably, God will bless the sharing of His seed.
I love the passage of Scripture from Luke 6:38. Though it is often applied with our own “prosperity” in mind, it actually is smack-dab in the middle of a lesson from Jesus addressing forgiveness and not judging others. I think it is readily applicable here as well.
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.” AMP
Oh, Lord Jesus, may we all eagerly spread the seed of Your love to a world desperate to benefit from its fruit! Amen!
Feb 23rd, 2023, Thurs, 7:18 pm