Wise Choices

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 KJV)

Life is short. Humans make a lot of mistakes. We can make a lot of wrong choices. Some of those mistakes can be avoided by doing what is right. Some of those mistakes have major consequences.

God help us to make better choices in this new year. Help us to choose wisely who or what we will follow. Help us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the light! Help us to live life in his light! Amen. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Buildings Fall While The Word Endures

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 

                                                                              (Mark 13:1-2 KJV)

One of the biggest mistakes that I've witnessed in house or mission churches is the rush to have a "real" church building.  Too often it costs the mission too much. As the congregation struggles to pay for the building and all of the regular costs and upkeep the mission of the church suffers.  

The mission of the church is as Jesus told the disciples:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.                                                                            (Matt 28:19-20)

Buildings are temporary. The building that you worship in one day will be gone. 

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Pet 1:25)

God's Peace - Pr. J

A Good Name

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. (Prov 22:1 KJV)

It is terribly easy to destroy your own reputation. All it takes is one misstep and the gossip will take over. We all make mistakes. We all sin. To do so knowingly and willingly in order to have great riches or an ill-gotten reputation is folly, indeed! Yes, there is a generation (more that one generation) that thinks being popular, by any means, is something to be proud of. Unfortunately, this ill-gotten reputation actually harms one's future prospects. Opportunities will be closed to those who cannot be trusted.

We all make mistakes. We all sin. Stuff happens to us and by us that shouldn't happen; that does not contribute to our peace or our reputations. 

But, there is hope. In Christ our sins are forgiven. In baptism our sins are washed away and we can begin each day anew. By faith in Jesus, we bear a good name. That name is Jesus. Let us live each day rejoicing for all that has been done for us in his good name.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Wisdom and Knowledge

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Rom 11:33 NIV)

Knowledge and wisdom are certainly worthy riches. It would be so nice to be able to have both without having to gain them the hard way. Unfortunately, as humans, we don't like to learn too much from the mistakes of others. We have to gain wisdom and knowledge with a lot of study, with a lot of work; and, with a lot of very hard lessons.

We really cannot have all the wisdom and knowledge of God. We cannot know everything. We are not God. But, He is willing to advise and lead and show us the way that He would have us go if we would only ask and listen to Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Our Father Will Direct Our Ways

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. John 48:17

God indeed will direct us in the way that we should go. If only we would listen to Him! 

When I left home at a very early age my father cried. That was not the path he would have chosen for me. Young people often follow in ways that their parents would not choose for them. Sometimes, it turns out for the good; sometimes it doesn't. Parents are human and they make mistakes, too. They do not always know what is best for their children. But, most of them do want their children's lives to turn out well; for their children to live in peace and in safety and even prosperity. The intentions of most parents are good; but, not always.

We have a Father in heaven who actually does know what is best for us. He directs us in the way that we should go. Listen to Him! Follow in the way that He directs you to go so that all may be well with your soul.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Calm The Sea

The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” Jonah 1:11

I listened to the book of Jonah dramatized on You-Tube after my evening prayers last night. It is a fascinating story. What, indeed, shall we do when we feel as though the storm we are going through is about to take us down? Shall we attempt to make a bargain with God to save us? Shall we attempt to find the guilty party; the person or persons, that may have offended God and make a scapegoat of them? Shall we offer up a sacrifice to God? That is exactly what the men on the ship with Jonah did. They threw him overboard to drown in the depths of the sea. Only, he did not drown. He got another chance. He lived to continue on the mission that God had sent him on in the first place.

When the sea gets stormy and when times get rough, we don't get to make scapegoats of others. Because the truth is that we are all guilty. We all make mistakes. We all sin. We all, at times, by our actions or our inactions, put others in harm's way.

Justifying our own sins by blaming others will not erase our sins. We cannot and will not be able to appease or bargain with God by making someone else the scapegoat. The Good News is that the only sacrifice for our sins that is required has already been made by Jesus on the cross. With him and in him, we have died; and, have been born again. We have been given another chance and even another to live as a child of God; to go forth and continue in the mission God has called us to.

Let us go forth and proclaim the Good News that our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus the Christ. Let us proclaim that, through him, we are reconciled to God our Father for time eternal.

God's Peace - Pr. J