How He Went Back Home

 Jesus' resurrection and appearances to His followers removed any doubt that He was, in truth, their long-awaited Messiah! Their Immanuel!

He apparently only appeared to His believers and followers -- not to Herod, or Pilate, or His outspoken belligerent critics in the religious circle.

He only stayed around 40 days before He left them and ascended to His place of honor and glory --He went back home! Certainly His best day!

Here's how Luke describes it in Acts 1:9-11 -- As the disciples watched in wonder -- 

"He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.'"

As I write this I am looking at the sky -- some lovely morning pinkish clouds and billowing white displays of morning beauty -- I am looking for Jesus! You probably are, too. This would be a perfect day for Him to come back and call us up to be with Him!

Yes, Maranatha!  Our Lord Jesus!

(I guess we'd better get busy - there's lots to do yet!)

Where Is Jesus Right Now?

God gives us some information that brings us great joy! Jesus, our resurrected, glorious Savior, is in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. Right now!

1 Peter 3:22 -- "Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand -- with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to Him." 

And Mark 16:19, "After the Lord had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven, and He sat at the right hand of God."

Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9-11 describe His bodily ascent into heaven - while the disciples gazed in wonder.

There are many other references to Jesus' presence in heaven, "seated at the right hand of God."

Acts 7:55 describes Stephen's vision of Christ in heaven as he is being stoned to death -- this one is a little different: Christ is "standing," not "seated," at God's right hand. 

(Maybe He is standing because, as Stephen is dying, Christ is getting ready to receive him into His glory and kingdom - personally greeting him, welcoming him  --- honoring him for his sacrifice.  ?)

Anyway, Jesus is in an actual place called heaven, a place of glory, surrounded by angelic hosts.

He is honored and glorified at God's right hand!

Our Savior, the tortured, mocked and crucified One, is now receiving cosmic glory. (We can only imagine!)

What joy we have! Our crucified Savior is now bring worshipped and adored -- and will be forever. 

And someday we will be there, too!

The World is Out Of Sync! John Piper

Yes, the world is out of sync with God, but we aren't!

Words from John Piper --

"My feelings are not God.

God is God.

My feelings do not define truth. God's Word is truth.

My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes -- many times -- my feelings are out of sync with the truth.

When that happens -- and it happens every day, in some measure -- I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but, rather, I plead with God: 'Purify my perceptions of Your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.'"

[My prayer, too -- maybe yours?]

God's Math

When God wants to multiply, Satan wants to divide! 

When God wants to add, Satan wants to subtract!

When God wants whole people, Satan wants fractions!

We see it throughout the history of the early church.

In Acts 2:46-47 we read about the early believers: "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (And we know on one day that was 3,000!)

God was multiplying their numbers -- adding every day!

But Satan brought division into the church to subtract from their ministry. Paul warns the Romans to be on the "watch for those who cause divisions and put obstacles" in their way.

And to those in Corinth, he urges "have no division," but be "perfectly united in mind and thought" (1 Corinthians 1:10).

And in our personal lives, God wants to give us more of His blessings. Satan wants us to take less.

Peter tell us to "make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection, and to mutual affection love" (2 Peter 1:5).

God always wants to give us more. He wants us to be more. Satan wants to diminish us.

When God multiplies, Satan divides.

Wouldn't you rather be in God's math class?

Embrace Life and Please God!

 

1 Peter 3:8-12 from The Message. 

I really like the way these verses are expressed in the paraphrase, The Message: 

"Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you - no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead - bless. That's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing as well as get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day  fill up  with good, here's what you do:  say nothing evil nor hurtful; snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace for all you're worth.

God looks on all this with approval."

And so that is how we embrace life and please God!

What a wonderful God  we have - He makes all He wants so clear and simple. He doesn't  play games - no 'hide and seek' and no scary threats - He just  loves us  and wants us  to love each other!

Old Songs and New Songs

                                    

                                     Old Songs and New Songs 

        Thinking  about a song that was popular some years ago -- the first lines were "I'd rather be blue, thinking of You, I'd rather be blue over you, than be happy with somebody new."

I think it was originally sung by Fanny Brice and then later by Barbra Streisand when she played Fanny in a couple of movies.

Anyway, look at those words -  Aren't they foolish? Who would rather be sad than be happy?

We would say to that person, one who had been abandoned by the one they loved (not through death, but just by being left for somebody else)..."Hey, I'm sorry you lost him...but it's time to move on...go back to living - get over it...it's time for a new relationship...." Things like that......

Here's an even better idea: move on to something better, or Someone better. Someone you can always count on. Someone who will never leave you. 

Make your most serious relationship Jesus - the only One we can count on forever.

He is and always will be there for us.

Here's a different and new song we can sing:

"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You. You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love You, Lord.

Now my heart's desire to to know You more. To be found in You and known as Yours...You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness..and I love you, Lord...so I'll live with you and ever die. And I love You, Lord."

I sure like this song better than Fanny Brice's, don't you?

How to Get Ready for Church

I get my hair done on Saturday and make certain my clothes are ready, preparing to go to church Sunday. But I don't seem to be  as concerned about preparing spiritually to join my church family in worship of our Creator God of the Universe! 

I fix my hair, but not my heart! I clean my clothes, but not my soul! How silly is that! 

Before there can be honest, true worship, there must be honest, true hearts.

Max Lucado talks about preparing our hearts for worship through cleansing our hearts of sin as we prepare to come before our holy, sinless God, and it begins with confession:

"Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field.

Before the farmer sows the seed he works the acreage, removing the rocks and pulling the stumps. He knows that seed grows better if the land is prepared.

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. 'There is a rock of greed over here, Father, and I can't budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence - its roots are long and deep. And may I show You some dry soil, too crusty for seed?'

God's seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleansed.

Confession invites the Father to work the soil of the soul, digging and pulling, preparing the heart to produce fruit."

                          So now we can get ready for church!

For This I Have Jesus!

 I have a new wrist band. I can wear it 24/7! The message works all of the time: "For This I Have Jesus".

If I win the lottery -- if I get cancer -- good news -- bad news -- For This I Have Jesus!

This wrist band is a reminder to me that God is with me no matter what. The question is: Do I let God shine through me in my most difficult times?

Do you?

That's the time people see that He is truly Lord of your life, not just in the good times, but also in the hard and difficult times.

As God works in us through our hardships, we display His perseverance and His character developing in us.

Charles Stanley wrote, "Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives."

Sometimes we don't see, or understand, how He is working. But we can always trust that He is working for our good.

As the song says:

"God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, when you can't trace His hand, trust His heart."

We can always trust His heart! Always! 

For this we have Jesus!

Armies - Seen and Unseen

Remember Elisha and his servant? They were in Dothan and an angry king wanted to destroy them. 

"Elisha's servant got up early, and when he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, 'O my master, what can we do?' 

Elisha said, 'Don't be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us.'

Then Elisha prayed, 'LORD, open my servant's eyes and let him see.'

The LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (2 Kings 6:15-16).

An army of horses and chariots of fire -- a celestial army!

Too often we focus on the wrong army! 

We need to change our focus --

"Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" John wrote in 1 John 4:4.

Jesus, who lives in us, is stronger than our enemy!

Stronger than all our enemies' armies-- seen and unseen!

We  just need to adjust our vision --take another look! And maybe pray for friends who are facing great calamity -- pray as Elisha did, that the LORD would open their eyes and let them see!

Remind everyone around us that God can correct our vision! He can open our eyes to see things previously unseen!

Re-Quotable Quotes for Today

 "God only wants for us what we would want for ourselves, if we were smart enough to want it." - Adrian Rogers

"If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me!"-- John Wooden

  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). Max Lucado says about this verse: "The key is this: meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You don't have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today!"

  "Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while others are not responsible for what they themselves are doing today?"  -- Thomas Sowell

Be Reconciled to God

 

                                                           Be Reconciled to God!

He told us to do it, and He did all the work!

 Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: 'We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God'" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Then he said, "For He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

So that's how God Himself arranged for us to be reconciled to Him! He took the punishment His holiness required, paid our debt  for us - and gave us His favor! All we do is thank Him and praise Him!

Father, You have done it all. You  my took my sin and paid the penalty. You tore open the veil that kept me from You. You allow me to come to You --  I  can approach You ANYTIME!

You will never let go of me! How could I forget that? Forgive me, Father, for forgetting that sometimes. You are standing right here beside me -- eager to be my  Friend and Helper. You will never let go of me. How could I forget that?

Forgive me, Father, for letting distractions cloud my thinking. My greatest joy in life is knowing and loving You. All else is 'trivial pursuit.'

Hold me close today and help me remember how much You love me, my abba Father. 

Amen.

Amen.

God Doesn't LIke Shortcuts!

 

                                 God Doesn't Like Shortcuts!

I'm reading Exodus 13 this morning. Moses has won his challenge to Pharaoh, the plagues are over, the first Passover has been celebrated and God Is leading His people home -- to the land He determined to be their homeland and had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Then in verse 17 we read: God did not lead them through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the promised land. Instead, God led them along a route through the Red Sea wilderness.

Why not take the short, direct route? For one reason, He didn't feel the people were ready to do battle with the powerful Philistines. But God could have easily solved that issue.

The bigger reason was that He wanted to show His people something very important at the Red Sea. The way He directed them led them to a fearful, no-way-out corner that trapped them between the mountains on one side  and the Red Sea on the other. And they could watch the Egyptian army chasing after them with their chariots and horses, intent on bringing them back to Egypt! Where could they run?

But God had a way out - a miraculous event that changed their history forever!

And they were eye-witnesses!

He told Moses to raise his staff - and the Red Sea parted and let the people safely pass over. And they could even watch the Egyptian army being destroyed!

If they had taken the shorter, direct route, look at what they would have missed!

Obvious lessons in how He could then, and always, care for them in miraculous ways!

Our lives are like that. Often God doesn't lead us the quickest, most direct route to our spiritual destinations because He is showing us His power and teaching us about His ways as we go along........ lessons we need to learn...and that takes, in my case, a lot of time! 

And He doesn't take short cuts for that!

Looking Back with Awe

 Remember how empty and lonely life was before God reached out and claimed us as His children? And how joyous life became as we began to  understand and believe how much He does truly love us?

 It is still a great mystery -- and think about John 17:24, when  Jesus prays for His followers, and tells them that God loves them as He loves Jesus Himself!

Doesn't seem possible, but He does not lie!

After all, He loves us so much He would rather die than live without us! And so He did.

These words from Pastor Scotty Smith:

"To know Jesus through the riches of the gospel as the One to whom I belong, is one glorious thing. But to believe that He actually desires me is quite another breathtaking thing. To be desired is to be wanted, pursued, enjoyed, known and accepted, nourished, thought about, cherished. All of these are promised in the gospel. Only in the gospel can they be realized in part; only in heaven are they realized in full."

Isaiah speaks God's words --  Listen to what He says: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine" (43:1)

He wants us. He calls us by our name (No 'hey you, over there!') But in tenderness and love He seeks us to come to Him. The Good Shepherd who calls His sheep by name!

Think about this picture -- of a loving parent, cradling his child and whispering: "The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Today's challenge -- take that picture with you everywhere you go today.

What Makes Angels Celebrate? (Part 2)

 So what do the angels know that we don't know that makes them celebrate with such exuberance when a sinner repents?

Back to Max Lucado --

"They know what heaven holds. They've seen the table, and they have heard the music, and they can't wait to see your face when you arrive.

When you arrive and enter the party something wonderful will happen. A final transformation will occur. You will be just like Jesus. Drink deeply from 1 John 3:2: 'We have not yet been shown what we will be like in the future. But we know when we see Him we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.'

Of all the blessings of heaven, one of the greatest will be you! You will be God's magnum opus, His work of art. The angels will gasp. God's work will be completed. At last you will have a heart like His.

You will love with perfect love.

You will worship with a radiant face.

You will hear each word God speaks.

Your heart will be pure, your words like jewels, your thoughts will be like treasures.

You will be just like Jesus. (And so will all the people around you!)

You will, at long last, have a heart like His.

There is another reason for the celebration. Part of the excitement is from our arrival. The other part is from our deliverance. Jesus rejoices that we are headed to heaven, but He equally rejoices that we are saved from hell.

One phrase summarizes the horror of hell: 'God is not there.'"

---From Just Like Jesus

What Makes Angels Celebrate?

In Luke 15 we read Jesus' parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. 

The point is clear -- all of heaven rejoices when the lost is found. 

At the end of each one Jesus describes a party, a celebration. The shepherd throws a party for the lost-now-found sheep. The housewife throws a party for the lost-now-found coin, and the father throws a party in honor of his lost-now-found son.

The shepherd, when he finds his sheep, happily puts it on his shoulder and goes home. The housewife tells her friends, "Be happy with me for I have found the coin I lost." And the father of the prodigal tells his other son, "Be happy. He was lost but now is found."

Jesus speaks about the great rejoicing in heaven when the lost is found!

Max Lucado comments on this -

"We don't always share such enthusiasm, do we? When you hear of a soul saved, do you drop everything and celebrate? Do we call out a band, cut the cake, and throw a party?

When a soul is saved, the heart of Jesus becomes the night sky on the fourth of July, radiant with explosions of cheer. 

Can the same be said about us? Perhaps this is an area where our hearts need some attention.

Why do Jesus and His angels rejoice over one repenting sinner? Can they see something we can't? Do they know something we don't?"

(Will continue in my next writing...in the meantime, think about your own heart...do you respond like Jesus and His angels? Why or why not?)

A Perfect Prayer

                                         

                                              A Perfect Prayer

The Book of Daniel (in the Old Testament) has some profound prayers.

I am thinking especially of His prayer in chapter 2. 

Daniel had been given the king's malicious command to not only interpret the king's dream but also to remind the king what the dream was about! A humanly- impossible task!

If Daniel failed then he and the others would be killed.

So Daniel prays for God to reveal the dream and its meaning to him. 

He begins his prayer of thanks for God's answer with grand proclamations of worship and praise: "Praise be to the Name of God forever and ever, wisdom and power are His..." he starts.

It is a short prayer.

As he ends he thanks God for answering: "You have made known to me what we asked of You. You have made known to us the dream of the king."

We learn from this that we should be specific in our requests, and then specific in what we are thanking Him for!

Asking Him to bless generally ('bless everybody in the world' we might say) is sometimes appropriate but maybe just a lazy approach when communicating with our loving Father!

Let's be like Daniel and tell our Father exactly what we want from Him and what we are thanking Him for! 

Wouldn't our earthly father prefer that?

While You are Seeking Me, I WIll be Found!

                       

                        He promises - If we seek Him we will find Him!

I'm still thinking about how our God is delighted when we seek Him -- how He wants to be found by us!

Some years ago when we were in Israel we went out to the wilderness above the Dead Sea. It was desolate and bleak. We stood on a cliff and looked around the barren landscape. It was breathtaking and somewhat frightening.

Then a woman in our group stepped closer to edge of the chasm and began singing.

Her voice echoed throughout the deep canyons around us.

I can still hear her singing in my God-given miracle of memory. I will never forget the experience. It was more beautiful that any operatic aria I have ever heard...cool and refreshing as a glacial fountain.

I especially remember these words: 

"Ho, everyone who is thirsty in spirit! 

Ho, everyone who is weary and sad!

Come to the fountain, there's fullness in Jesus; 

All that you're longing for -- come and be glad!

'I will pour water on him who is thirsty; 

I will pour floods upon the dry ground.

Open your heart for the gift I am bringing --

 while you are seeking Me I will be found!'"

In our barren lives He daily brings showers of mercy. He is the Fountain that goes on forever and never runs dry. How blessed we are!

Isaiah 55:6 -- Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He Is near.

Jeremiah 29:13 -- You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7 -- Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

[Note: The author of this wonderful hymn is Lucy Jane Rider Meyer. She was born in 1849 and planned to be a medical missionary for the Methodist church with her husband. He died in 1875, before they were married. She decided to go on to  medical school and remained in the US. She also attended the Moody Theological Seminary for Women.  The hymn, written 1884, is in public domain.]

Still Amazed by Grace - John Newton

                             Remembering John Newton....

The following is written on the grave marker for John Newton, redeemed and forgiven atheist slave trader, the author of Amazing Grace and other hymns, and active participant and leader in the abolitionist movement of the 1700's.

He was born in 1725 and died in 1807 -- roughly an English contemporary of George Washington.


His epitaph:

John Newton, a clerk,
once an infidel and libertine,
a servant of slaves in Africa,
was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and
appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.

* * * * * * * *

Some of his remembered quotes:

I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I want to be; I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.

God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzles, not storms.

If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw to Him, we may be sure we will get none by keeping away from Him.

This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.

Near death, he said,

Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

 

His most famous quote:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.

[He also wrote the great hymn, Glorious things of Thee are Spoken, Zion City of our God! Today we sing those stirring words to a familiar tune by Franz Joseph Haydn.

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds is another hymn by John Newton:

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

in a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and

Drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole

And calms the troubled breast

'Tis manna to the hungry soul

And to the weary, rest.

Dear name -- the rock on which I build

My shield and hiding place

My never-ending treasure,

Filled with boundless stores of grace.

Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend,

My prophet, priest and King

My Lord, my life, my way, my end

Accept the praise I bring!

Imagine the miracle: a confirmed atheist; cruel, self-serving slave trader; transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit - writing the gentle, loving words above.

 A transformed life is the greatest miracle of all! - restored and pardoned, as the words appear on his grave stone.

The Scientist and the Theologian

Where did the scientist find the theologian? 

What's the end of the story?

Robert Jastrow's nightmare:

Robert Jastrow was a famous and highly influential astronomer and physicist. He was the founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He was a self-described and proclaimed agnostic, and sometimes atheist. He died in 2008. But before he died he wrote this:

    "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He had scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the highest rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."

What's To Come?

An observation from Eric Metaxas --

"Conversion to faith in God is one of the great mysteries.

The signs of conversion are difficult to pinpoint, but one of them is this:

Many of those who have experienced it seems, now and again, to have a curious, distracted look, as though they have glimpsed something so beautiful they can never forget it, as though they've glimpsed the 'thing behind all things.'

And they have, and now they are turned toward it forever, toward that glorious faraway country that is their true home."

    -- From Everything You Always wanted to Know About God

[Part of that distracted look we display, for most of us, includes a longing, a yearning, a deep eagerness to get all "this" behind us and see Jesus face to face, and be with Him forever! YES, the best is truly yet to come and we know that! How can we help but display that?]

 

Feeling Out of Place?

               Are You Feeling Out of Place?

Great comments from Donald Grey Barnhouse:

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, writing on Revelation, wrote this:

There are four things out of place in the universe.

The church is out of place. She ought to be in heaven.

Israel is out of place. She should be in the land that has been sworn to her and possess every part of it.


The devil is out of place. He ought to be in the lake of fire, but he's still roaming free.

And Christ is out of place. He should be through with intercession and seated on His throne, reigning, instead of upon His Father's throne interceding.

So here in the vision (Revelation) we begin to see all of these things that are out of place being put in their rightful place.

The church is in heaven.

Israel is about to be given back her kingdom and her land and salvation.

The devil is going to be bound and cast into the lake of fire.

And Christ is about to reign.

And those in heaven know this. And so in verse 8 of Chapter 5, we read "after He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb."

And that initiates immense worship--extreme worship.

And everything is put back the way it is supposed to be!

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

The Promise of "Remember No More"

What does 'Remember no More' mean?

From Jerry Bridges --

"To remember no more is God's way of expressing absolute forgiveness.

In Hebrews 8:12 (which quotes Jeremiah 31:34) God says, 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'

And again in Hebrews 10:17-18, He says, 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'

Psalm 130:3-4 states the same in a somewhat different way -- "If You, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O LORD, who should stand? But with You there is forgiveness."

It is a rhetorical question -- God does not keep a record, instead, He forgives."

     __ From The Gospel for Real Life

If God did keep a record in His memory, we'd all be in trouble. The really good news is that He doesn't! All our sins -- past,  present, and future are paid for by Jesus --paid in full -- no balance left due -- forever!

And Jesus tells us we should also forgive each other, 'just as God in Christ has forgiven us' (Ephesians 4:32)

....and that raises the bar pretty high!

Working For God or With God?

 

Here's what Max Lucado says about it --

   "It's a wonderful day indeed when we stop working for God and begin working with God.

For years I viewed God as a compassionate CEO and my role as a loyal sales representative. He had His office and I had my territory. I could contact Him as much as I wanted. He was always just a phone or fax away. He encouraged me and supported me. 

Then I read 2 Corinthians 6:1 -- We are 'God's fellow workers.'

Fellow workers? Co-laborers?  God and I working together?

Imagine the paradigm shift this truth creates. Rather than report to God, we work with God. Rather than checking in with Him and then leave, we check in with Him and then follow. 

We are always in the presence of God. We never leave church. There is never a non-sacred moment. 

His presence never diminishes. Our awareness of His presence may falter, but the reality of His presence never changes." 

   From Just Like Jesus, Chapter 5, by Max Lucado

Each day, not "What do I have on my schedule today?"

But, "God, what we are doing today?"

That's because we are working with God now, not for God!

Somebody is Listening!

This morning I am reading Acts 16 - an amazing record of the strength and courage of the early Christians. 

Paul and Silas are in Philippi, have made contact with Timothy, and soon Luke will be joining them.

Paul and Silas preach the gospel and meet great hostility from the citizens, who drag them to the magistrates. They are beaten severally, imprisoned, and placed in the painful stocks.

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them" (Acts 16:25).

Lots happening in this chapter. This morning I am intrigued with the phrase, "and the other prisoners were listening."

Paul and Silas, bloody and in great pain, were singing and praising God!

The other prisoners noticed! Probably shocked! Reminds me that people notice how we deal with hardship. Does God shine through us in our difficult times? That's when others see He is truly Lord of our life, not just in the good times -- but all the time!

These prisoners also witnessed the salvation of the jailor who asked, "What must I do to be saved?" Maybe some of them, then, or later, also responded...some of them probably joined that growing group of believers in Philippi and eagerly read Paul's letter to the Philippians later when he wrote to them, encouraging them to always express joy in all circumstances!

They had seen Paul himself, weak from loss of blood, and in great pain, keep praising God, and they could relate everything that happened that night. They were witnesses to what it means to always be joyful -- no matter what!

Let's remember today that, no matter what we are going through, others are watching and listening!