Important

Time with your family is never wasted time.  Today is a good day to think about the important things of life and it is not about stuff.  Most of us are over stuffed, caught in the trap of little things.  Looking at old photos, I am shocked at how fast time chases us down the road, often blurring the important moments of life.  Take time today to think about what is really important to you.  Don’t sell your soul for the temporary.  Give yourself to the eternal values of life--love, forgiveness, joy, peace, friendship.  Don’t let the world squeeze you into its miserable mold of emptiness.  Open your heart to the heart of God, feel His love, receive His forgiveness and know that at the end of the road He will welcome you home.  Jfs

1Co 2:9 But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

PS  So who goes to heaven--people who love God.  Loving God always finds expression in the way we live our lives.  Mt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God Time

I wonder if one of our problems is that we choose to live on man time rather than God time.  I confess, in my life much of my stress comes from living on man time.  Man time is living by a Timex or a Rolex whatever the cost they can have the same effect on our lives, controlling our every move.  God time is not about the hour or the day it is about doing the right thing at the right time.  One thing I have learned about time is that I can accomplish more at the right time than I can in a long time at the wrong time. I have learned in my sermon preparation that I can accomplish much more in a short time on His time than I can in a long time on my time. So when He calls I listen, I will leave a TV program I am enjoying to work on His time.  Reading the Gospels it is obvious that Jesus lived on the Father’s time and that didn’t always go well with His friends.  He didn’t make it to Lazarus’ funeral but in that case and every case, Fathers timing was better.  In our world everywhere we look we see the time, reminding us that we have to be somewhere or do something, and sad to say many lives are controlled by a $12.95 Wal-Mart watch. Well I am in rebellion, I choose to live by Father’s time because I am sure I have enough time to do everything He wants me to do and then some for myself. It is a struggle but it can be done.  To all my friends take a deep breath and make a choice to live by the Heavenly clock and not by the one at the bank. Jfs

(Luke 10:38-42) And as they went, it happened that He entered into a certain village. And a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she came to Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.  (MKJV)

PS  Maybe we need to rethink the real meaning of “wasting time.”

Weight

There are weights measured in pounds, 20,30, etc, and we lift them with little thought, but there are weights measured only by sad faces and troubled minds, weights picked up along life’s journey, some of our choosing and some put on us by others.  Airplanes can crash because they are overloaded, and people can too.  Truth is, we were not made for heavy loads we break under the stress.  Jesus answer for the heavy load problem is an invitation to all of us.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Mt 11:28-30.

 Yoked to Jesus, now that is weight I can live with.  jfs

Bad Deal

Live by your feelings, what you can see and feel and you will be living for the temporary.  Live by faith in Jesus Christ and you will be living for the eternal.  It is the battle we all face, getting pushed around by the circumstances of life.  What we just heard impacts our day, what we feel keeps us from taking care of what is important.  The world of pain and disappointment screams at us for attention.  Feelings always want to be in the driver’s seat plotting the miserable course of living for the temporary.  Faith says, “Give HIM control,” look beyond the moment, trust the ONE who raised from the dead, the one who has an eternal plan for your life.  Trust the One who will direct your life from a motive of love.  Put your faith in the Creator not the created. This life is temporary, it will end.  The life He offers is eternal.  Sacrificing the eternal for the temporary is a rotten deal.  Jfs

2Co 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

(NKJV)

Love and Holiness

Love and Holiness are two words that get kicked around a lot these days.  Volumes have been written about love.  Holiness often gets swept under the religious rug as something unattainable. If you define love the way Hollywood does these two words aren’t even related.  The confusion is perpetuated when love is defined by two people shacking up in a one night stand in a cheap motel, and the same word used for the kind and gracious acts of Mother Teresa giving her life for the poor and dying of India.  And then there is Holiness defined by the way someone dresses or as a title, “Your Holiness” it is enough to confuse anyone.  I mean no disrespect to those who are thinkers who seek to help us understand the Love and Holiness of God, but much of what they write is just recycled thought from the liberal professors they studied under.  It is true, God is Love, but it is also true that God is holy and the two cannot be separated.  With God they are always compatible.  We can express our opinion but love and holiness are not what we say they are, they are part of the essential nature and character of God and that never changes.  The Scripture says, that Jesus is the exact representation of God, because He is God.  Jesus said, “He that has seen me has seen the Father,”  so Jesus best defines love and holiness with His life.  Anything He ever said or did was always compatible with love and holiness.  When he took the whip into the temple, turned over the money changers tables and cleaned out the place he did not cease to be love or holy.  When he spoke painful truth to the Scribes and Pharisees he did not lay aside His love and Holiness.  We need to stop trying to make God who we want Him to be, stop trying to make His love accommodate our sin and stop thinking that holiness is something you can put on. The way Jesus defines love and holiness they can only be found IN HIM.  Where do you get your definitions?  It is too important not to think about.  Jfs

Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Heb 1:3 who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, having made purification of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,