Shalom, welcome to October 5^th


><//>--------------------Thought for the Day

Do I have any hard feelings about other church members or for other believers? Am I critical of the way a church member thinks or acts? Do I feel that another church is operating in the wrong way and do I broadcast it? Or do I realize that all church members, no matter what their limitations, have something to offer, some good, however little, that they can do for Christ in spite of their handicaps? Do I believe that there is a place for all kinds of churches in the Lord, provided they are following the Lord’s teachings, and that they can be effective even if I do not agree with their procedures?

Am I tolerant of believers and their churches?


><//>--------------------Meditation for the Day

No Chance Meeting

All your movements, your goings and comings, controlled by Me.  Every visit, all blessed by Me, Every walk arranged by Me.  Blessings on all you do, on every interview.

   Every meeting not a chance meeting, but planned by Me. All blessed.

   Not only now, in the hour of your difficulty, but from this time forth and for evermore.

   Led by the Spirit, a proof of Sonship. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God,” and if children then heirs – heirs of God.

   What a heritage! Heirs – no prospects of being disinherited. “Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ: if so be that you suffer with Him that you may be also glorified together.”

   So your suffering has its purpose. It is a proof of Sonship. It leads to perfection of character (the being glorified), and to Union with Me, God, too. Think of, and dwell upon, the rapture of this.


><//>--------------------Prayer for the Day

Father, we pray that Your Holy Spirit may lead us. We pray that the Lord will preserve our goings and our comings. Amen.


A Disciple's Reflections:  Who is Following Who

"Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!'" Mark 11:8-10

Beloved, take a look at something that may inspire each of us to great heights and greater intimacy with the Lord.

I'm not quite sure that I know how I would define "maturity", but I know I would include something about the ability to live life as it really is rather than being stuck in frustration of wanting life to be the way I want life to be. As they say in the Twelve Step recovery movement, maturity would include the ability to "live life on life's terms", and since the Lord is actually Life then that would be on the Lord's terms.

Actually, this is a matter of submission.  Submission unto God's providential hand.

Christian maturity would also then include the ability to accept Jesus on Jesus' terms rather than being stuck in the frustration of wanting Jesus to be who we want Jesus to be.  We are called to follow the Lord, yet so many of us expect the Lord to follow us.

How many of us have anger toward the Lord for not blessing our lives based on our own plans?  We often forget who is God.  It is God's plans for us that we should be seeking, is it not? I find this is true on every level of our lives.  He wishes to guide us spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and He will use our lives' experiences to do just that.

We must each individually decide whether we will live to satisfy our desires and our feelings, or seek the will of God and live for that.

A big crowd gathered that sultry afternoon to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem for Passover week. Decorating the road with cloaks and branches was their version of a ticker tape parade. There was excitement in the air, the shouts of people eager to catch a glance of Jesus on his colt. In all of that, they were absolutely clueless as to who Jesus really was.

The crowd expected Jesus to be the new King David. Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem was not unlike David's dancing return as he led the recaptured Ark of the Covenant back into the holy city. The crowd hoped that Jesus would rally the troops, cast out the Romans, inaugurate a new earthly kingdom and, in classic New Deal language, put a chicken in every pot. But it wasn't going to happen.

Jesus wasn't going to overpower anyone... although he had the power to do so at his fingertips (a lesson a fig tree was soon to learn.) His coming kingdom would not be limited to the descendants of Abraham but would include everyone. The peace, love and joy that he was bringing TO people would not happen unless it was to come THROUGH people. They were right to sing "Hosanna" and give him an arrival fit for a king; they just didn't realize yet that soon they would judge Jesus unfit to be king.

It is the dance of our life, isn't it? We always want God to do what we want God to do, how we want God to do it, when we want it done. Little do we realize how such desires are so deeply rooted in our self-centeredness.

If we desire to be "caught up" in that fateful day of what we call the Rapture, then we better commit in our hearts with God to have the selfishness and self-centered removed root and branch.  I have a personal saying that helps me discern the spirit within a person.  It goes like this, "Where selfishness and self-centeredness is, the spirit is not."

I beg all my brothers and sisters, who are saved, to be sure our lamps are filled with oil that we would not be left behind and miss the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.  The choice in this matter is ours.

I think of this each time I see a "God Bless America" sign these days; every time I see this I silently pray "God bless every human being on the face of this planet." God will never be our private nationalist idol anymore than God would be that for the crowd that day in Jerusalem. His kingdom is not of this world. Thank God for that!

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, you accept and love us as we are, forgiving and forgetting the sin, which divides us from you. We pray for the grace to also accept you as you are rather than limiting you to our selfish images of how we would want you to be. We welcome you today and thank you for the grace that allows us to see you as king of our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen.


Nothing Can Separate Us...

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
– Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

The love of God! President Bush used these profound and encouraging verses a few days after the attacks on New York and Washington D.C. And I believe them to be the most appropriate set of verses that could have been chosen. The truth is that even though we lost thousands of lives, numerous buildings, and four commercial jet planes, we did not, nor never will lose our connection to God's love. It is God's love that has provided the power to strengthen and comfort the many who mourn and grieve in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. 

The verses could be paraphrased this way, "For I am persuaded that neither Osama Bin Laden nor Saddam Hussein, nor any terrorists nor the countries who harbor them, nor any government nor demonic power, nor any attack on September 11, 2001 nor in the future, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Though the past and future attacks on America are unexplainable and deeply saddening, let us thank God for His love and His many blessings that He continues to supply to us all. We are told to give thanks in everything, even in the midst of intense trials and tribulations. And even if we cannot understand the acts and actions of other human beings, we can be thankful for the many multitude good and decent acts and actions of others (the rescue workers, those who donate blood, and the works of many political and community leaders, etc., etc., etc.). Most importantly, we should give thanks for God's love and mercy, which He continues to freely give us, each and every day. 

Today, our hope is that we will do two things every day from now on...

1) let us thank God everyday for everything, and 
2) let NOTHING separate us from the love of God!

"...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
– 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

Your Comments

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Please have a blessed day, be hopeful, be encouraged, and know you are not alone.

“God Calling” compiled by A. J. Russell.
“"Twenty-Four Hours A Day"” Hazelton – adapted.
Kerry Nelson writes We Follow Him.
Greg Candelaria writes Nothing Can Separate Us.
Barry Gray writes A Disciple’s Reflections.