Stay Awake

Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;

      stay awake and you will have food to              spare.

                                    (Prov 20:13 NIV)

I slept for about ten hours last night. But, that does not mean I slept in. I was still at my desk before 7 a.m.. I am one of those people who tend to live to work rather than work to live so it is easy to get up; get a cup of coffee and begin the work day. Pull me away from work and I end up feeling very lost. That is probably not the best thing; but, that is who I am. 

I grew up in a family; in a community, with a very strong work ethic. No one ever questioned if one would put their everything into the work they had to do or just do enough to ensure they kept getting a paycheck and not get fired. If there was work before you; you just did it. You went to sleep early enough so that you could get up and get done what needed to get done. My parents often reminded us when my sisters and I were young that "the early bird catches the worm."

When my granddaughter was still in school, she liked to sleep in. Getting up at 9 a.m. on days off was early for her. She missed out on a lot of things that she may have enjoyed by sleeping her days away. She is now almost twenty years of age. She works an early morning shift and has to be up no later than 4:45. She has learned that if she wants to eat and do what she likes; work comes first. It pleases me that she is able to get moving so early and enjoy the work that she does. 

Jesus too had a habit of waking very early. Scripture tells us of times that he would rise early and go off to pray. The quiet early morning hours bring opportunity to be refreshed by God's word and by His presence. Wake up and spend intentional time with the Lord so that you may be strengthened to go about the day doing His will.

“Wake up, sleeper,

     rise from the dead,
     and Christ will shine on you.” 

                                           (Eph 5:14)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Live Thankful Lives In Christ

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Col 2:6-7 NIV

God has blessed the people of the United States as well as many other countries with many opportunities to serve Him and to serve others all around the globe. He has given us opportunities to grow in the Body of Christ. Our government has set aside a day to recognize that and to give thanks to God for all of His blessings. Today is not "turkey day." It is a day of thanksgiving for all the blessings that we have received. Let us remember that. Today is meant to remember and give glory and thanksgiving to the God who created us and then, after we fell through our own sinful natures, recreated us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

May God strengthen our faith so that we may more fully live our lives in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J

We Shall Never Stop Praying

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Col 1:9-14 NIV

Paul's letter to the Colossians includes a reminder that the people of Colossia are being lifted up in prayer that they might share in the inheritance of God's holy people in the kingdom of light; in the kingdom of God. 

That is our mission. It is our hope that all people should come to know our Lord, Jesus the Christ, and live in that Kingdom even now. By his blood, we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness so let us live in the Kingdom of the Son, even now. For those who know him, we are called to be witnesses to those who know him not. We are called to pray for all who live in the darkness so that they too might live in his marvelous Kingdom of light.

Let us never stop praying for all who live in darkness that they might enter into the marvelous Kingdom of light through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J