Finding Joy

With all the negative news and talk about guns, I thought it was important to think about the Joy in our lives!

 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy"
(Exodus 20:11). 

            In our present society obligations are building and if you are paying attention you can feel the stress that comes along with it; at work, home and in the kids schools. Often I talk about being the best you can be and refer to the YMCA logo, Spirit, Mind and Body. That is tough when we are busy.

            We need rest physically and mentally. There is rhythm to the seventh day of rest that is a good balance of work and rest. Many people put themselves out trying their own plan. God is saying that once a week we need to take a break. He is saying there is more to life than work. He is also urging us to follow his pattern. Spiritually we need this time to refocus our lives. God wants us to spend one day looking to him and thanking him for being liberated. Listen to what the Lord said to Isaiah:  

    "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
... then you will find your joy in the Lord."

            My retirement part time career is in retail and on Sunday mornings the store opens when the church bells are ringing. Oh that’s the day the sales start too! There are always 20 to 50 people lined up at the door not listening to the church bells! Many of them are Sunday regulars. Yes, I am there every other Sunday after our chapel communion at Spirit of Hope, my church.  A retail store on Sunday morning is truly an un-godly place.

            We need to keep our whole selves in order to be good people; the parents our children need, the employee our companies want and to be the best friend or spouse we can be. That means in SPIRIT, MIND and BODY. When we do that we will find joy in our lives. That is really our life long goal.

Thought for Today:  Take some time to meditate and pray for rest and peace in our lives. Take some time to recharge your spiritual batteries. Take some time to find the Joy.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, today we pray for people who just can't take time to rest and meditate. May they somehow grow to find joy in the Lord.

Amen

 

Meek or Humble?

"Now Moses was a very humble man,

more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth"

 (Numbers 12:3). 

            Is there a meek person in your life? What do you think or the person who is meek or humble, at work, in the family or at church? Would you like to avoid him? We tend to equate humble or meek with being a wimp! In the case of Moses, he was not passive. He took on an Egyptian overseer, stood up to Pharaoh and hiked the desert for forty years. It is hard to see him as a wimp.

        Humble doesn't mean what we think. It is being humble before God. It is a choice. Deliberately harnessing your strength and tempering it to use in a controlled way. Humble is not weak. It is believing and obeying God when you don't particularly want to; when it is not the path of least resistance.

        Moses was not always enthusiastic about what God wanted. He did not feel capable when God called him to lead the people out of bondage. He didn't exactly say, "right on". It was more like, "Me, you have got to be kidding. Try someone else." (see Exodus 4:10-13).

             God's response... "I will be with you."

            When you are feeling hesitant and inferior, God says, "I will be with you." 

            When you are wondering if you can make it another day with the job stress, he

says, "I will be with you."

            When you're faced with a tough decision and wondering what to do, he says, "I will

be with you."

        Like Moses, you may be a bit reluctant. But he obeyed God. Moses believed

him, did what he said and said what he was told. We can too when we humble ourselves. 

Thought for Today: Let’s be humble before the Lord today! 

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, today we pray that we can do your will in our everyday actions. We pray for the guidance and humility to accomplish that.

Amen

Punxsutawney Phil

Six more weeks of Winter here in Minnesota would be a blessing! We could have twelve!

We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”

and that “There is no God but one.”

For even if there are so-called gods,

whether in heaven or on earth…

…for us there is but one God,

(1 Corinthians 8 vs. 4 & 5) 

            On Groundhog day every year in Pennsylvania they forecast the end of winter. This year Phil’s shadow was seen and it was declared that winter will end in six weeks. Well, you see Phil is never wrong because somewhere in the world in six weeks it will be warm; probably not here at my home in Minnesota.

            Phil is a character, not even a legend. He is no Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed or Ichabod Crane. He is just a ground hog being disturbed for a group of people in Pennsylvania to have fun. Frankly he is not a very good idol!

            I would love to see them open Phil’s den next year and have Jesus step out in a white robe, the sun beating down on him in a heavenly glow, and have the crowd speechless. Imagine Jesus saying something like, “Sorry folks but even I refuse to do a long range forecast. There will be more bad weather here in the north country but do not fear for the Lord will be with you.” He would then give is his blessing and arise toward the heavens. 

            Bless you all and may we have an early Spring! 

Thought for Today: The Lord blesses us and keeps us 365 days a year. 

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father, we pray for those in the north that deal with fire and ice. May they take the time to appreciate the seasons and the beauty of it all.

           

 

At Peace

‘You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.”

(Isaiah 26 vs. 30) 

            Perfect Peace. Is that something we dream about? It is not in my case. Most of my dreams seem to be about troubles, potential troubles and past experiences. I often wonder what negative and scary dreams mean. Am I being punished? Is my faith weak? Are there unwholesome thoughts imbedded in my subconscious? Or simply was it too darn much sugar in that hot fudge Sunday I ate after dinner! It could be all of the above.

            It seems that I have come close to mastering peace in my awake hours. On the golf course the water ball and the fourth putt don’t seem important any more. The red lights and traffic jams do not even seem to bother me when I am driving. When I am awake, my focus on positive feelings and having a great day are at the forefront. Life is good, darn good.

            Recently in the comics there was a cartoon regarding the patience that we develop as we grow older. It mentioned how things that bothered us in our youth don’t seem as important as they once were. I like to think we seniors have matured and have put things in perspective. The punch line in the cartoon was “maybe we just don’t give a darn anymore.” I assure you that is not the case.

            One of Webster’s definitions of “steadfast” is ‘extremely steady and loyal.” The prophet Isaiah is telling us that a strong faith rewards us with peace in our hearts. If you are reading this I suspect that you are blessed with and have a strong faith and are at peace. 

Thought for Today: Today let’s be steadfast and positive in our search for peace. 

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, today we pray for a positive attitude as we deal with our activities. We pray that we may contribute to the peace of those around us in your name.

Amen

           

“Peace I leave with you;

my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

(John 14 vs. 27) 

            Peace is something that all of the world’s religions teach and somehow we humans manage to mess it up. In our Christian sense if we could ask the old question “What would Jesus do?” we would not go to war. Hymns like Onward Christian soldiers and The Battle Hymn of the Republic would not have been written. That is the reality of our world.

            June and I are considered world travelers. Two years ago we did a western Mediterranean trip that was wonderful and probably our final. You see, every country and city, but one, that we visited has had riots and revolution since we were there; the one exception was Monte Carlo. When travelling, we feel the  need to understand what they are saying on the evening news to feel safe. In most countries we could not find English speaking news. We see no need to travel again to non-English speaking countries.

            The fact of life is that peace is something that needs to be from within because bad things happen to good people everywhere; down the street, in the home as well as when travelling. We need to bring our faith and our prayers with us. We need to publically practice our Christian principles. Maybe June and I are coping out by limiting our travel. We are not sure.

            As believers we need to contribute to the other side of the scale. There are three important contributions we are taught to make daily. First we need to pray for our enemies, the bad guys; crooks, burglars, terrorists and the whole lot. Pray that they can find a better way through the Lord. Second we need to pray for our safety and happiness. We need to run our lives confidently and without fear. Third we need to give thanks for the opportunities given us to contribute.

            We live in a world of differences. We need to live and set the example for others and ask WWJD!

Thought for Today: For today let us exercise the freedom afforded to us through Christ. Let us not be critical of others and demonstrate our love as we do our daily activities. 

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, today we simply pray for a lasting peace.

MLK Day

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me,

But it can keep me from lynching me,

And I think that’s pretty important.

Martin Luther King

            There are many quotes from the great Martin Luther King and when I researched them I picked the one above because I had not heard it before. It does not make a great philosophical statement, there is not a spiritual or social justice meaning; it is a simple truth. Living and having the right to pursue freedom always needs to be protected.

            Other quotes by MLK have deeper meaning, spiritually and are more often used. Below are the one that seems to be in the media:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.
"Strength To Love," Martin Luther King, Jr. 

One that I personally like is: 

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. 

And as Christians we need to demonstrate that we have the faith, we need to take the first step. 

Thought for the Day: This is the day the Lord has made and He made it for all humankind. We need to remember and promote equality, always. 

Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, today we do not pray for forgiveness of the past discrimination and separatist social acts of our forefathers. We need to accept them and move forward. Today we pray for the guidance and will to contribute to peace and acceptance through Jesus love.

Ethical Business Wins

  " This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
 And if we know that he hears us
—whatever we ask—
we know that we have what we asked of him.
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin;
the one who was born of God keeps him safe,
and the evil one cannot harm him."
(1 John: 4-14;17,18NIV)

        In business and life, aggressive and opportunistic behavior is fairly common. Our economies are generally cash driven, sales is often "let the buyer beware". It our more modern economy it seems that service has become a lesser part of the equation.

        We are a society of checks and balances and our scale seems to be tipped on the negative or "evil" side. Keep the faith as we proceed, I believe that God plays a role here and we will tip the scale back to more Godly behaviors.

        Often in my younger days as a salesman, my youthful enthusiasm, lack of confidence and immediate financial needs generated behaviors that may have not been as professional as they would be today. Perhaps that is not the whole truth. I was trained to use all the tools of the opportunistic salesman. Win the negotiation. Guess what folks, they do not work over the long haul. In fact, over the 30 years of sales, my experience has proven, without a doubt, that open and honest sales and business men out perform the sharks and slippery every time. Good ethics and Godly behaviors generate good rewards. The term "win-win" should be in the bible but I couldn't find the right passage.

        In my mind, faith and values need to be practiced in business. Sales is service the customer; integrity is don't cook the books; buying is get a fair deal; everybody can win, but only when there is confidence and a Godly presence.

Thought for the Week: This week let us ask a simple question as we go about our week. where is God in all of this?

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, ruler of all, we seem to be in a downward spiral. There is fraud, scandal, anger and war in abundance. Evil seems to abound and there seems to be no end to it. Please help us focus and demonstrate that your ways are the correct ways. Help us maintain the confidence and maturity to overcome the evil around us.
Amen