What Are The True Riches?

Luke 16:10-15; The true riches are found in the Kingdom of God.

The One Sacrifice Of Love

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

                                                                  (Heb 10:5-10 KJV)

Yes, of course, we strive to do God's will. We strive not because it will save us but because we love him who was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son to save us from the consequences of our sins. That is the only sacrifice that is needed for the cleansing of our sins.

In Christ we have been made whole. In Christ we have been forgiven.  

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Do Good; Live In Peace

Psalm 37:1-11

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

+++

Do not fret! Do not be angry or jealous of those who appear to have more or be happier than you are! The Lord will provide for you. Those who live life focusing on the good gifts of God will delight in an abundance of peace.

So much time is spent feeling sorry for oneself; for lamenting their perceived trials and troubles. There are real troubles in this world and then there are also those that are contrived in one's head. That is not to say that we should not strive to help those in real trouble. But, sometimes it might be good to recognize that others have much more serious problems than our own.

When Jesus died he gave it all for us. He gave his life for us and then he rose from the dead to reign in the Kingdom that we hope for. That old addage that says it is better to give than to receive is not wrong. He gave it all! What would we be willing to give? 

It does not do any good to complain about our lives. Take a look at the world around you and consider what you might do, following in the footsteps of Jesus, to do good for others. If and when you do this you will find that your own perceived troubles will begin to disappear. You will not have time to fret about your life. Those things that once bothered you will mean very little to you.

Do not fret! Trust in the Lord! He will provide for you.

God's Peace - Judy

The Goal

 

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 NIV)

So much time and energy is wasted striving after things of this world. Of course, we all need to work for basic necessities. St. Paul had written to the Thessalonians, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (2 Thess 3:10) But, often our focus is so centered on "stuff" that we forget that we are to focus on the Kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. We think that our worship and service can be relegated to one hour per week and the rest of the week is to strive after and, yes, even worship and glorify "stuff" of the world. We lift up powerful people and even sports heroes and musicians and other such celebrities. We envy and strive to be like those who have earned much in this world; after all, they have done so much for themselves and look how happy they aren't! In this world it is a sign of success to have earned much "stuff."

But, the "stuff" that you've been striving after will not save you. "Stuff" will only drag you down. It will require your focus and energy to obtain and maintain. "Stuff" will not save you. The world will not save you. You cannot save yourselves by your own power and might. Only Jesus saves. Put, aside those things which have puffed up your ego and set a new course. Strive for the goal: life in Jesus' presence, in his Kingdom. Press on and take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of for us. Set aside egos and desires of this world. Set aside your confidence in your own flesh to earn anything worthwhile. Spending your life accumulating stuff is a waste of time and energy. Trust Jesus and live life in him!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Live In Love

 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. " (John 15:9-13 NIV)

Love can be pretty tough. There are ups and downs in any relationship. A lot of the downs come when we are called to give more of ourselves than we're prepared to give. We balk at the idea of sacrificing too much for the sake of others.

But, Jesus did not hesitate. He knew he was heading to a tortuous death for our sakes. His love is so great for humankind; for you and for me, that he was willing to endure anything for the sake of his love for us.

Does not a love like that deserve to be returned at least to the degree that it is humanly possible? Jesus asked us (no, commands us) to remain in his love for us. We are to live in his love; both loving him and others as he loves others. He promises that as we live in his love our joy will be complete.

May God bless you with the knowledge of his love for you and for all people. May he give you the strength, the courage, and the wisdom to strive to love even as he loves.

God's Peace - Pr. J 

The Journey

Rocky Pass

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. (Isaiah 35:8 NIV)

Life has its' ups and downs. It can be a wonderful journey or not and sometimes it depends on what day or month or year it is. It also depends on which way we choose to go. Will we choose the Way that Jesus has provided for us or will we choose the way that only the unwise would go? The journey on the Way of Holiness; the Way of Jesus, is the Way to life. Any other way leads to destruction.

May God grant that we should all strive to follow in His Way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

War or Peace?

Whoever of you loves life
   and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good;

   seek peace and pursue it. 

                      (Psalm 34:12-14 NIV)

I have been seeing and hearing a lot of fear and war mongering again coming through the various media outlets. Some of it makes me so ill I must either shut it off or block it. I cannot for the life of me understand why so many people desire to stir up strife rather than make peace. There are those who seem to strive to enter into war much more than they strive for peace and they absolutely will not support those who do desire peace. At least it appears so. Maybe they don't understand how damaging their disrespect toward others can actually be for the whole world. Maybe they don't care and that is their goal.

The Lord desires that we live reconciled to him and one another. Reconciled means living in peace. Yet, there are so many who prefer to bully and disrespect those who seek peace and pursue it. This is done with so much disrespect that it can do nothing but make more enemies. Do we really want to live the rest of our days at war with our neighbors; at war with other countries? 

This country, I have heard is the land of second chances. Well; if it is, then maybe we ought to quit digging up skeletons from the past unless maybe the purpose to dig them up is to forgive and move on. Holding these long held grudges does no one any good; not those we wish to disrespect and bring down and surely not ourselves.

It is time to forgive and be reconciled to God and our neighbors remembering that our neighbors are not just the people who live next door; but, all around the world. It would really be nice if everyone would support the efforts of those who are advancing peace and not war.

God's Peace - Pr. J

How Many Times?

   Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.   But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
   Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
   He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
   After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
   Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Matt 26:69-75 NIV)

How many times have we denied Jesus? Peter denies him verbally three times. How many times have we denied him by our silence or by our supporting the statements of someone who does verbally deny him? How many times have we denied him as we put something or someone or even ourselves before Jesus? I know we probably don't mean to. But, we do it without even considering Jesus as we strive to not offend others. 

Just wondering... How many times?

God's Peace - Pr. J

His Home Is With You

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." Matt 14:23 NIV

It would be good, indeed, if we could obey every one of Jesus' teachings. This can be most difficult as he teaches us to love our Father in heaven above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. He teaches us to turn the other cheek. Human nature takes over and sometimes (no, often) our egos take over. We all fall short of following his teachings. We know this and daily go to him, asking our Father's forgiveness, being renewed by his promise of love and faithfulness, even in our feeble attempts to obey his teaching to love even as he loves us.

Because he loves us so much that he was willing to die for us; we love to listen to his teachings and strive to follow them even as we are reassured that the Lord is with us to guide and help us. If he was for us at Calvary, he is for us even now.

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

2 Tim 2:11, 13

He is faithful! Thanks be to God for He has come to make his home with us and is with us now and always, even to the end of the age!

God's Peace - Pr. J