Fighting Cancer Is For The Lord

5th Sunday after Epiphany: Isaiah 40:28-31 KJV; I have no ability to fight cancer. I wait on the Lord and his gifts to those who do know how to fight cancer. And, I trust that in the end I will be lifted up with wings as eagles.

One Master

“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matt 6:24 NRSV)

You cannot serve God and wealth or anything else. As Christians, there is no priority greater than serving the One who created us. There is to be no greater priority that loving the one who loves us so much that He willingly gave His Son to die for us.

When my sons were young they, as most young children, would often tell me that they loved me with their whole hearts or more than anyone else. My response would be that if they did not love God more than me then they did not love me enough. Some might say that my response was cruel. But, the truth is if we do not love God more than anyone or anything else then we do not have the genuine ability to love or serve anyone else as much as we would think we do.  

Wealth cannot save us. We cannot save us. Only Christ saves; therefore, we love the and serve the one who first loved us. We serve because Christ first served us by dying on the cross for us. God is best served when we serve others according to the great love God has for us and we for Him. We can do this only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Child-like Humility

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

                        Matthew 18:1-5 NRSV

I have often wondered what exactly did Jesus mean when he said that we must be humble like a child? A lot of the definitions for humility, according to my understanding, don't seem to fit. But, yet they do.

Humility includes the ability to put the needs of others before yourself. From what I have observed, children often put their own needs before the needs of others. It begins when they are babies crying to be held; crying to have their needs met. But; then again, that crying alone tells us that these children are really dependent on others. They cannot fulfill their own needs. Likewise; to be like little children, we must also recognize that we cannot fulfill our own needs, either. We depend on God who is the creator of all that was and is and will be. We depend on Him to supply our daily bread; to supply us even with the breath of life. We depend on Jesus the Christ for our salvation. And, we depend on the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see that we need God, the Father; God, the Son; and God the Holy Spirit if we ever plan to live life in the Kingdom of God.  We cannot get there on our own. We are dependent upon God. 

In humility, we come before Him and worship the one true God, acknowledging that we can do or be nothing worthwhile without Him. We need Him every hour! We need him every minute; every second, of every day!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Wise Choices

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

James 1:6-8

Today, I am very pleased with the choices my granddaughter has made. She is enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program, with the hope that will enhance her future life here in this world. She hasn't always listened to my advice so I am relieved that she is making wise choices on her own.

James wrote that we are to ask God for wisdom. For years, I have been asking Him for her. Lately, I have been asking Him to help her listen and follow in the direction He would have her go. I did not doubt that He would answer that prayer. I am just so very thankful that she made this wise choice sooner than later.

May God grant us His wisdom as well as the ability to act upon it.

God's Peace - Pr. J