BE A REVOLUTIONARY - FOR GOD'S GLORY

Yes, serve and give quietly and humbly my brothers and sisters.

Yes, live modestly so that you may be able to give more to those in need.

Yes, spread the "Good News" at every opportunity.

Yes, be a living-loving example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, keep in mind this my brothers and sisters:

our Lord Jesus Christ was and is a revolutionary in voice and action to those who live in darkness.

With that in mind, never be afraid to speak up bravely for the oppressed and downtrodden

calling out from the darkness of ignorance and irrationality.

Draw your courage from the presence of God in your life.

If you do these things for His glory, anyone and anything standing against you -

stands against God.

And no person nor thing can long persist when in opposition to the one-true-living God, 

our loving God.

With all the confidence and surety that comes from walking in the company of God,

stand with a loving firmness against man's neglect and rejection of his fellow man -

 in their time of need.

Our Lord revealed to us that in his eyes last is first and first is last; 

oh so very revolutionary by itself.

The key is to be a loving revolutionary for love is indeed the most powerful of weapons.

But do it all for His glory - not ours.

SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST LUCKY

   I am trying to eradicate the words luck and lucky from my vocabulary. God does not toss a coin to see who gets anointed with the good and who gets whacked with the bad of life. As you know, our Lord told us the rain falls on the good as well as the unrepentant. You can bring all the apples to our blessed Teacher that you want, but more than likely, the closer you get to mirroring Him in action and thought the heavier the burden you'll be asked to carry. There is no luck - there is only God. I would suggest that whiners and complainers might want to work on their suffer-in-silence characteristics.  

     Prior to the American Civil War, circa 1856, a lucky black-slave in the deep south was in the process of being beaten mercilessly by his master's overseer. He was guilty of stealing leftover scraps of food from the plantation owner's kitchen to supplement his family's meager daily allotment, it was assumed. Each time the knots on the end of the leather attached to the whip found its target against the man's back, it tore large and deep chunks of flesh and forced the man's lungs to let out an involuntary "humph." Added to that ghastly sound, each time the whip made the tortuous connection, the man yelled out a very labored, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for choosing me to carry this tiny load. Thank you, Jesus.

     Remarkably and unknown to the sadist overseer and plantation owner, even though the slave's family could surely have used an increase in their daily starvation-level food-allowance, the food was actually going toward feeding a poor white-trash tenant farmer and his family. The farmer had contracted small pox and was unable to work his small subsistence-level acreage of land worn out by the plantation owner's non-rotation of cotton crops. That's all that is known from a mention in a diary of unknown authorship found after the war.

     I don't know what real sacrifice or service is. It is embarrassing at times when I realize just how safe, secure, and pampered I live. But I do know what persecution is. And I am not persecuted.   

     Jesus tricked us all. If you love, and that love should include even your enemies, then you cannot resist serving those whom you love especially when they are suffering. And that suffering isn't necessarily related to hunger. What was it our Lord Jesus said? Something about man doesn't live by bread alone. What a sly fox is our loving Lord. I'm not a lucky person and thankful that God does not randomly answer my prayers.

Praise his holy name

WHAT ARE CHRISTIANS ABOUT?

     When certain political and other influential people complain about Christianity being under attack in this country while they complain about the bothersome poor and their sucking the life out of our society, let's revisit what Christianity is all about.

     If we Christians in this country are going to yell, "persecution", then let's do something worth being persecuted for - speak up for and come to the aid of the poor and rejected within our society. Our faith was never meant to be fair-weather or humdrum. 

HOPE

I have hope for and am excited about the future of mankind because my Lord Jesus had that attitude when he saved rotten me.

 It's tough to exude the confidence of hope developed through 

a solid faith if we do not have that same hope for our own lives. 

My hope is with God and my prayer is that I become daily capable of carrying heavier loads for my God.

I'M A CHRISTIAN

I'm a Christian!

We shouldn't have to tell people we are a Christian. It should be obvious by the way we live our lives and our actions. In other words, we should be living an active faith. So many recognized Jesus as the Messiah while he walked upon this earth, but too many others did not for they did not know God. While they stood with heads tilted back toward the sky, a carpenter, our Messiah, walked up behind them and they knew him not for they were looking in the wrong direction and believing God cared about fashion and worldly titles. So take this into account when you model yourself on what you believe are Christian examples Love God, your Father, with all your heart and soul just as he loves us and learn to serve as he served and serves.

If you are too good to serve anytime to anyone, then you are not good enough.

2016, THE NEXT BEST YEAR TO SERVE

     I failed miserably as a walking-talking and living example of Jesus Christ in 2015. I brought this up to him in my prayers. His answer came back like this while sporting that trademark loving smile of his, "So quit whining, get up, and do better in 2016. When did I ever promise it would be easy and when was I not right here beside you? You'll never be finished till I tell you, you are finished, and with me, you will never be finished. Have you not read what is written about this? Learn from your mistakes and go forward from there. What if Paul spent his time in prison feeling sorry for himself? What is done is done, and you are forgiven. Go and serve."

     Indeed, my Lord.

WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS SEASON HORRIBLE?

     If your Christmas season has contained or been overrun with bad events, stay positive by finding a blessing within the event(s). God often hides his greatest blessings within horrific events. Don't judge a book by its cover or a person by his clothing or looks. Look inside to find the beautiful gift hidden within. How often I have made the mistake of seeing only the bad in an event or person to have it or them turn out to be a tremendous blessing. Let's be positive to follow the example of our Lord Jesus.

     Who in ancient times would have thought torturing and then nailing our Lord to a cross would turn out to be the greatest life-changing event, the gift through faith to live forgiven and know personally our God, that mankind has ever witnessed?

     Tragedy, turmoil...? You cannot examine an unwrapped gift. Give it time to be unwrapped and examine it more closely before you jump to conclusions. In the interim, you may need to ask God for a stronger back - a gift every Christian could put to good use.