He is Risen! Are you?

He is Risen! Are you? Have you truly embraced life in the living body of Christ?

This morning my computer went into permanent lockdown. Yes, it died. It will not be resurrected. But, it is not the end.

There is life beyond what we know and have been living. There is always a new day; a new opportunity to rise up and live life. Jesus showed us that by dying for us and then rising from the dead. Because he lives so shall all who believe in him.

God has a good plan! Rise up and live his plan for you,

Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Living In Darkness

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

                                                                                       (John 3:19-21 KJV)

I understand that there is this place called the dark web. I don't know where it's at. I have never searched for it. Because of my limited computer skills, I probably could not find it if I tried. In that place you can purchase things like illegal weapons, stolen credit cards, drugs, to name just a few things. It is a place of such darkness that I have no inclination to go there. Yet, many do. I also understand that many legitimate things are there as well. But, mostly not. The legitimate things might make it sound like it is not such a bad place, after all. The legitimate things are used to justify what is darkness.

The dark web is not the only place where the good helps to legitimize the darkness of our hearts. Humankind likes to cover what is dark within it with some outward appearances of goodness. Mostly these outward appearances are lies. Lies are used so that the light of truth cannot shine on the real intents.

This morning, I started to read the news online. I could not. There are so many contradictory stories out there about everything, it is quite apparent that some  (who knows? maybe all?) of them are covering up something. It seems impossible to actually read or watch real news. Everything seems to be so editorialized it causes me to wonder what darkness is being hidden under what is being offered as the truth. And, when public figures or the media are caught in the lies, it seems as though they delve deeper into the darkness by adding more lies to the lies to try to justify the deceptions. They refuse to allow the truth to be brought into the light. Rather the lies are covered up with more lies from the dark side.

It is not so different in our personal lives. We like to pretend that the lies about who we really are or what we do are truth. We like to pretend that darkness is light. But, it is not. Darkness will destroy a person, a community, a country, even the world.

We all fall prey to hiding in the darkness from time to time. We are all sinners. However, the Christian knows better and tries to avoid it. We know that in order to follow Jesus we have to come out into the light. We cannot retreat into the darkness in order to hide our sins. We want them forgiven not hidden.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Tax Time!

“...Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Matt 22:21

 

It is tax season, again! Tax season spans over one fourth of the year. Then, there are those property taxes due as well and don't forget the quarterly estimated taxes, either. It does not bother me to pay taxes. I am just not thrilled with the filing of them. I procrastinate. I finally ordered the TurboTax program that I need to file mine since I can't find it on the shelf locally. The company sent me the wrong one. I sent it back and waiting for them to sent me the right one. I know I could just download the program from TurboTax; but, I prefer to have my own program on a disc. If my computer crashes, which it tends to do during tax season, it is easier if I don't have to remember the passwords to get to the online program. I don't mind paying the taxes (too much). I just dislike having to file them.

 

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees if it was lawful to pay taxes to an emperor. This was a trick question. He was being asked if maybe giving tithes to someone other than God could be considered as idolatry. On the other hand if he said no, he would be denying the authority of the emperor to rule in this world. They were confounding the two kingdoms. Jesus responded by asking who's face was on the coin that the they paid this tax with. They brought forth a coin with Caesar's face. Then pay to Caesar what is Caesar's he told them.

 

We may find discomfort in parting with our savings to pay the taxes the government requests. But, do not worry. You are a child of the Kingdom of God. God will provide.

God's Peace - Pr. J 

Do You Want To Walk In The Jungle?

Do You Want To Walk In The Jungle

With Me?

Do you want to walk through the jungle with me? Those are the words to one of the songs on Up To Ten's website featuring Boowa and Kwala. It's a wonderful children's site with happy learning songs and games thanks to the characters Boowa and Kwala. When my eldest granddaughter was first learning to navigate a computer it was one of her and my favorite sites. It was a safe site; a wonderful place to learn.

Children need to learn how to navigate safely through the jungle of both the real physical world and the world wide web. Both can be dangerous places. It can be a jungle out there and personally, there are times when I think it would be safer to be navigating a jungle filled with alligators and creepy lizards, snakes, and bears. So I do offer to take young people in my family for walks in the woods now and then when I think it's time for them to get away from the other jungles for awhile.

The children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for decades. They faced a lot of hardships and obstacles before they made it through to the promised land. But, God was with them along the way to guide them. He was the light that showed them the way.

We live in a pretty dark and shadowy world. We live in the shadows because the world refuses to stay in the light; to follow in the way, that God has provided to guide us to the promised land. The journey through the jungle would be a whole lot less intimidating if we would but remember that God is there with us and for us.

Thank you Lord, that even as we journey through the wilderness and the darkest of jungles; even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with us.

God's Peace - Pr. J