You are Blessed

 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

(Luke 10:21) 

     Yes, my brothers and sisters, our Father has hidden the understanding of the things he wants you to know; such as love, compassion, forgiveness, his glory; from the so-called wise and learned...except those he desires to know.  The  things or matters of our Father are the matters of the spirit.  If you understand love, compassion, forgiveness you are closer to the kingdom of heaven than you know.  You are truly blessed.  For some, the understanding of non-material, non-physical things is difficult, but, if they show love, compassion, forgiveness, they are truly closer to the kingdom of heaven than they know.  

     

 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

(Luke 10:16) 

     In this verse from chapter 10 of Luke, the Lord tells us that someone sent by him should be listened to.  Do not have fear, for, if you have faith and therefore believe, you shall listen and give praise to him who sent them, our Lord God.  They will not waste time on those who do not listen. 

     “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’  But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,  ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 

(Luke 10:8-12)

     If you understand with a deep feeling of love and satisfaction in your spirit, take heart for our Father has purposely revealed these things to you for a reason.  Pray and ask for guidance.  Pray with faith and love.  Pray as though you are talking to your father, for is our God not Father of all.  Lift up your spirit to the Lord for he has truly blessed you.  If you have taken the time to read this, if not already, soon, you will understand the kingdom of God is near at hand.  As you see in the next three  verses, you truly are blessed above many prophets and kings.

 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.  For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

(Luke 10:22-24)

and AMEN

 

Just a Little Time

     My wife and I were visiting the shopping mall some time back.  We observed two women, each with a baby stroller with an infant inside, waiting for the elevator to the first level.  Most likely, two friends out for a day of shopping together, two friends talking and laughing together, two friends sharing time together.

     Anyway, we wished that was the case.  Instead, the scene was two friends standing there for several minutes without saying a word or looking at one another.  The two stood staring at their IPhones.  We joined them in the elevator and for quite a distance through the first level.  There was no conversation, not even a glance at each other or their children…just the IPhone.

     What a shame.  We worship a phone.  We sleep with it.  We give it so much of our everyday life.  Such a waste.

     What if we gave just a third of that time to the worship and serving of our loving creator, our Lord?  He certainly gave 32 years of time out of his busy schedule of creating to spend in human form with us and die for us.  Don’t we owe him something…if not everything?  He doesn’t ask but a pittance of our time, but, rarely, do we give even that small piece of our oh-so-precious time.  

     The next time we stare at that IPhone, turn it off, and give our Lord that time.  Perhaps, stare skyward at night and look at the beautiful heavens he created just for us.  I suppose you could look out your window early one morning and see the awe inspiring sunrise like the one I was so privileged to see this fine morning. You can still use your IPhone.  Maybe, just a little less - huh.

Sweep the leaves o' wind,

Warm this Earth o' yellow hot sun,

Moisten the ground under our feet o' soft rain,

We thank you for this Heaven on Earth O' Lord,

Open their eyes, as you paint the skies O' Lord,

And - give back the breath this took away.

The Call of Jeremiah

The Call of Jeremiah

11/17/13

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

(Jeremiah 1:4-10 NIV)

     How wondrous is our Father and his band of misfits. 
     People lean toward listening to, honoring, and obeying people bejeweled and garlanded with worldly signs of power.  Therefore, God’s chosen are subjected to mockery and ridicule. 
     Our Father consistently chooses the least among us transforming them into wondrous instruments for his divinely important tasks.  He builds them up with strength and courage, and gives them divine confidence by his holy commission.   They stand and persevere in those tasks, for no person can stand against God's will, God's commission, God's anointment.
     Yes, a group of worldly misfits are we who have faith in and serve our Father.  Even today, there are those in leadership positions within our churches who look with contempt and judge with worldly tenets people of low status.  The Pharisees are still with us in every church.  We must strive to see each creation of God as his potential divine instrument to carry out his will.  Seek the true heart within each living person, not the outward appearance.
     If you think you are insignificant in the eyes of God, think again.  Our Father's most loved son was born to people of seemingly little means.  Moses was born among the least of worldly means then made high and mighty, but, before God gave Moses his commission, he made him least again.  You see this pattern throughout the Bible...and life.
     The common thread here is faith in God.  When you have faith in him who is, was, and forever shall be, you will bless with his faith in you for the assigned task.  He will put his words in your mouth as he did Jeremiah. 
     Jesus teaches last is first in our Father's eyes and in his kingdom.  You who believe yourselves to be least must have faith.  Our Father has an important task for you, for how can any task from our Father, our God, be unimportant.  He will put the words in your mouth, the strength in your body, the courage to carry you through. 
     I am incompetent and sorely lacking to be writing about my most holy God, but he gives me such beautiful thoughts and words.  He gives me courage and lifts me up, enabling me to put myself out there for his glory.  He gives me faith as my spiritual gift.  Anything I ask for he gives.  I am least, but am first for I have the love of God as my treasure.  He assigns me tasks that make my legs tremble at times, but he is always right there with me putting his words in my mouth.  I do it for his glory, not mine. 
     You will know what he wants from you.  You must pray...you must have faith that he will give you all the tools you need to build yourself as his tool, his instrument of his will.  He loves you...unconditionally, but...have faith...the faith Jesus talked about in Matthew.

“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

(Matthew 17:20 NIV) 

Who...Me?

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

(Matthew 7:1-5 NIV)

     I sat down next to my wife in Sunday school class, my favorite time in church, after passing out lessons for the teacher. 
     The lesson that day was about Judgment of others.  I love our Lord’s words on this subject in Matthew 7.  It speaks to a fault I have long worked on correcting.  Evidently, others in the class needed work in that area, too.  I truly believe, if one can apply this practice in their everyday life, leaving judgment to our Father can be an incredibly powerful tool in the conversion of others, as well as uplifting to fellow Christians. 
     After class, we stood in groups talking.  Either, I missed something in the message or the others did.  Judgment to the right of me, judgment to the left of me, into the valley of judgment we charged.  I derided them mentally.  I was superior due to understanding the message and recognizing the others had heard the message, but, alas, in a brief period of time had forgotten.  In point of fact, I think they had simply refused to practice what our Lord specifically said not to do.  I rode my high horse hard that day.  
     Monday morning at work, perhaps five minutes, I begin my judgment of others with a colleague.  How self righteous, how haughty, how full of myself!  I realized what I was doing almost immediately.  The act was already performed.  I should have left for the doctor’s office to get the plank removed from my eye. 
     I have a long journey to the point that I am not judgmental.  I suppose recognizing your fault is the first step.  I pray for redemption from this horrible malady.  Our Lord wants to help us.  I know I cannot do it alone.  Whenever, I ask him for that help, his face takes on a stern, yet loving, expression.  He puts his arm around me and shakes his head slowly.  Surely, I am a strain on his patience many, many times. 
     The great part of the story is this: he still loves me without condition, and I love him without condition with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind.  Amen
     Just another day in the life of a Christian, struggling to fit into his new self.

RICHES

Which man is richer?

The man that has every material thing money can buy

Palaces, cars, yachts

Yet, love is a word only for possessions, not people

Or the man that has a family

Living in a tiny home, old car

New clothes a rarity, used the norm

Yet, love overflowing, hugs and kisses by the barrel

And Faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is supreme

Both are rich

One materially, the other Spiritually

One leaves his riches upon death

To be fought over and cause family division

One takes his riches into eternal life

Yet, at the same time, leaves his riches

To grow and be shared by many

Here is the way of our Father

The materially rich man may have his worldly riches

And know and love our Father, practice his teachings

And gain riches of both material and Spiritual

Taking the Spiritual with him and leaving the material on this earth

But, in reality, he will have much less of the material riches in life

For, with the Spiritual,

One gives freely without question

One moment, please

If the Spiritually rich man does not share the love and forgiveness he is given

He is no better than the materially rich one that gives not

For Love and Forgiveness were given freely by our Lord and must be shared to be realized

The riches and joy are in the giving not the hoarding