He Loves Us

Galatians 2:20

Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.                                              (Psalm 144:3-4 KJV)

We are most blessed! Why, indeed, would the Lord care for us? We strut about like we are the center of the universe and nothing and no one else matters.

Yet, we matter to the Lord. His love and concern for us is so great that he was willing to die for us.

We fail to recognize that our lives are like fleeting shadows upon the earth. We are here one day and gone the next. Only the most prominent of men will be remembered centuries from now. In the end; by ourselves, we are of little consequence to the world. But, in Christ and with Christ we have hope for ourselves and for others.

Our lives in this world might be like fleeting shadows; but, all who abide in Christ receive eternal life with him. We are most blessed! The Lord, indeed, cares for us. He loves us enough to die that we might live.

God's Peace - Pr. J

He Cares

Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

                                                                      Psalm 144:3-4 KJV

We are most blessed! Why, indeed, would the Lord care for us? We strut about like we are the center of the universe and nothing and nobody else matters.

Yet, we all matter to the Lord. His love and concern for us is so great that he was willing to die for us.

We fail to recognize that our lives are like fleeting shadows upon the earth. We are here one day and gone the next. Only the most prominent of men and women will be remembered centuries from now. In the end; by ourselves, we are of little consequence to the world. But, in Christ and with Christ we have hope for ourselves and for others.

Our lives in this world may be like fleeting shadows; but, all who abide in Christ receive eternal life with him. We are most blessed! The Lord, indeed, cares for us. He cares enough to die that we might live.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Love Not Riches

Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.  (Eccl 5:10 - 15 NIV) 

Is everything as meaningless as Solomon would imply? Why all the years of toil, if it is to be gone in a second? Even if you have something to leave your offspring, how long will it last them? Do they have the skills to be good stewards of what is left them? Do they follow in the way that they should go so that all that they say and thing and do will glorify God? Will their inheritance be wasted away on trivial stuff - fleeting moments of pleasure rather than those things that will bring real joy (that is glorifying God)? Will they appreciate all the years that you spent earning and saving it for them?

This toiling after riches is meaningless.

That is not to say that work is evil. We should work if we expect to eat. But, it becomes very bothersome, even a burden, when one works only to amass riches. Amassing riches will not bring you the happiness that you think it will. Without genuine love; love as of God, there is no joy; there is no peace.

Jesus told this story to a crowd who followed to listen to Him: 

   “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
   "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
   “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
   “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."
                                                                                                                             Luke 12:17-21

Brothers and sisters, do not let your life go by without knowing the joy; the happiness, of genuine love. Do not allow the love of money to make your life utterly meaningless. Live life! Work hard at what you do; but, love hard as well. Love the Lord your God will all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 22:37-39) Happiness is a bi-product of love. While you are yet making your journey through this world focus not on amassing wealth or power to the exploitation of others, but on living life abundantly loving one another so that God may be glorified.

And... may the peace and joy that is found in being in relationship with God, our Father and with one another, through His Son, Jesus the Christ, be with you always.  Pr. J

Like Fleeting Shadows

Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,    mere mortals that you think of them?
They are like a breath;
    their days are like a fleeting shadow
Psalm 144:3-4 NIV

We are most blessed! Why, indeed, would the Lord care for us? We strut about like we are the center of the universe and nothing and no one else matters. Yet, we all matter to the Lord. His love and concern for us is so great that he was willing to die for us.

We fail to recognize that our lives are like fleeting shadows upon the earth. We are here one day and gone the next. Only the most prominent of men will be remembered centuries from now. In the end; by ourselves, we are of little consequence to the world. But, in Christ and with Christ we have hope for ourselves and for others.

Our lives in this world might be like fleeting shadows; but, all who abide in Christ receive eternal life with him. We are most blessed! The Lord, indeed, cares for us; enough to die that we might live.

May God help us to always remember that we are like a fleeting shadow. Tomorrow may be too late to love your neighbor; it may be too late to love and honor our Father in heaven.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Real Beauty Is Found Within

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Prov 31:30 NIV

One of my favorite songs as a child was "If You Want To Be Happy" sung by Jimmy Soul. My mother would sometimes sing it to me. I sang this song to my sons on way more than one occasion when they were teens:

"If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So from my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you."

Okay, I was a little crass. My sons did not really appreciate this song. They didn't appreciate my singing at all! But, having brought them up to know Christ, I wanted them to look deeper than the skin as they attempted to form lasting relationships. It doesn't matter what one looks like on the outside. One really cannot judge a book by its cover. Beauty comes packaged in all shapes and sizes. It shines through much better when the package doesn't have a lot of glitter and glitz covering it.

The fact is that is that God doesn't make ugly. God makes us all beautiful. We are all unique. But, it is wise to find a partner in life that doesn't put his or her looks before their love of the Lord. You will avoid a lot of unnecessary heartache if you look beyond the surface. You may be young and marrying a Christian may not be all that important to you today; but, when you are old and have grown wiser you may find that it would have been much wiser to marry one who knows the Lord and will share your love for Him because your love for Him will grow with time. 

From birth to death our looks will change. Some will stay perpetually young and beautiful according to the eyes of the world thanks to money and good cosmetic surgeons. Actors, actresses, and many politicians depend on this youthful look to further careers. But, because one looks youthful doesn't mean that are honest or have integrity or have any virtues. Youthful beauty does not equate with honesty and trustworthiness or faithfulness. Doesn't mean it can't. It is just wiser to get the real person buried underneath the mask.

Jimmy Soul's song was a pretty silly song. Jimmy started out his life praising the Lord as a young preacher and gospel singer and ended up in prison and dying of a drug related heart attack at age 45. One can never know which path we or anyone else will take through life. It is helpful, for the sake of our eternal lives to find friends and a partner to share our lives with who will fear and praise the Lord.

May we all look past what is on the outside and look a bit deeper for the true beauty as we discern between what is truly good and what is not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

P.S. One of the most beautiful women I have recently met is 100 years old. She has had no cosmetic surgery to make her look eternally young. She is eternally young for she has eternal life in Christ. The Spirit of Christ is with her and it is just awesome to be in their presence.