Posted on August 18, 2008 at 7:42pm.
I had the experience of being judged this past weekend by someone who didn’t even know me. I didn’t like the way it felt. They passed judgement on the basis of an external fact without any consideration of who I am or what is in my heart. In all honesty the initial hurt has given way to anger. Why do we do this to one another? Every time I stop and think about it I steam a little more. But it has also left me thinking about how many times I have been guilty of the same thing, probably way too often. How thankful I am that God doesn’t evaluate me on the basis of externals. Lord, my prayer is that I would see others the way you do.
Posted on August 15, 2008 at 6:53am.
I was encougaged this morning by an event that happened four years ago that I knew nothing about until today - talk about amazing. My encouragement came all because someone used words to convey appreciation about how God used me to impact their life. My hearing about it did nothing to change the event or the reality of what happened in this person’s life - it simpley brought me great joy. Paul tells the Thessalonian believers this simple truth: “Therefore encourage each other with these words.” He was talking about the reality of Jesus’ return but the application is valid. Encouraging each other about Christ’s return wouldn’t change the reality of the event but it would do something for their soul. Your words today, either written or verbal, can make a difference in someone else’s life. It is one of the most overlooked gifts you can give another person.
Posted on August 14, 2008 at 9:04am.
I found myself today reflecting on the awesome reality of what I have in Christ. There are some days and today is one of those that I find it hard to wrap my mind around all the blessings that are mine because of Jesus. My reading this morning came from Romans 8:1-3 - what a great passage.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do… God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”
Wow! Talk about the pressure being removed, it doesn’t get any better than that. The world talks all the time about self-made people. In the eyes of God there is no such thing and I for one am very grateful.
Posted on August 13, 2008 at 8:49am.
Maybe it is because of our study in Revelation, maybe it is because of recent events around the world or maybe it is a combination of both - but a lot of folks have been asking me about when I think Christ will return. In fact it seems like Christians have always had a fascination with the subject. I guess it is only natural since one of our great hopes is Jesus’ return, in all of his glory. The interesting thing is we tend to obsess over the wrong thing. We worry about timing and Jesus told us to worry about how we live. Speaking about end time events and his own return Jesus said: “No one knows about the day or hour not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” I wonder which part of “no one” all those folks who speculate and predict don’t understand? He went on to say: “Be on guard! Be alert!” We need to demonstrate that we believe he is returning by paying close attention to how we live our day by day lives. (Scripture passages Mark 13:32,33)
Posted on August 12, 2008 at 8:41am.
As we are winding down the summer and our look at the Book of Revelation I was reminded again of the story of the janitor and the seminary students. He let them play basketball in the gym in exchange for being able to read their Bible while they played. When they found out he was reading Revelation and then added that he understood it, they were shocked. His simple answer is really right on target and profound. He said, “It means that Jesus is gonna win” - I couldn’t say it any better.
