Global Peace

Global Peace

"Whatever you have learned or
received or heard from me,
or seen in me—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you."
(Philippians 4:9)

            There are almost 300 million people in America and billions worldwide. As individuals we are not statistically significant overall. We all know that statistics can be manipulated and are often misrepresented. Within our Christian faith, each of us is significant to God. In many of Paul’s letters he advised that "God will be with you". I will add; personally, up front and close.
            As statistically insignificant as the mathematicians make us, God gives us meaning, power and faith. We are the Power of one. As Christians, we can impact the world one individual at a time through our faith. When we demonstrate that we are at peace, we infect those around us. When we demonstrate good Christian ethics, we lead others to follow us. When we are at peace, others want to join us.

            We have an opportunity through our faith to be at the top of a living pyramid scheme. One of peace and love! Each day we are at peace through our faith we will positively affect our environment. Our challenge as people of faith is to work our peace and show our love so others will join us.

Thought for Today: It is challenging but exciting to think that we can affect others with our positive actions. This week let us consider others and by example, share our hope a regarding our future.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we see and hear ugliness in the world daily. The mid-east is in turmoil, many streets are not safe and there are many negative financial issues within our institutions. Our world is un-godly in many ways! We pray for understanding of your role and that we may help resolve issues through our Christian faith. We pray for peace on earth.
Amen

Hope II

Hope II

“God, fill them with hope, joy and peace

that may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

(Romans 15-13)

There must be some lucky guy out there married to a woman named Hope. Isn’t that a great thought; awakening every morning with hope; drinking morning coffee with hope; never being too far from thinking about hope. I like that analogy and the reality is we can be all those things because the Lord is always with us and through Him hope abounds.

            Last night I sat down to write my message, and nothing was happening. There was nothing there to inspire hope but plenty to pray about. My concerns are locked in my own confusion:

1.      Democracy in the US is broken and full of hate! We are deadlocked.

2.      Democracy in the UK (June’s home) is the same, Brexit.

3.      Violence worldwide!

4.      Income gap, health care costs, climate change, fires in Ca. ...

ENOUGH of that negativity, that is not my style, but I am torn and confused by worldly events.

So, I re-publish this today because as bad as things seem we can never give up. As Christians we always have hope through prayer and Jesus Christ.

            The book of Proverbs is full of hope and direction, Proverbs 23 vs. 18. “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Thought for Today: Let us contribute to making today be a day of hope and light!

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, today we give thanks for our everlasting hope and joy available to us through Jesus. Through our faith, we commit to contribute to making the world a better, more loving and peaceful place.

Amen

Harvest!

Harvest

^“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,

not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,

 having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

(2 Corinthians 9 vs 6-8)

Since retirement and downsizing in 2006, June and I have not had the benefit of gardens like we had at our home. We spent long hours tending them and always had a bountiful harvest. We do not miss that very much because we have other harvests.

As apartment dwellers, we have forty to fifty days a year to fill that used to be spent gardening. Those days are spent together sowing seeds in our relationship, spending time with others; helping where we did not have time in the past. The result is we reap a closer relationship together and with others.

We feel blessed with this different harvest. You see the analogy of reaping crops used by Paul in his message in Corinth is still valid today. We need to sow seeds every day in relationships, our minds and with each other so that we may reap the harvest of love and friendship.

Thought for the Week: This week, let us take a quick look at our calendar and see where we can sow seeds for our future; our worldly future as well seeds for the Lord because He is our real future.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord, we seem to live in a world of hate and anger. This week we pray that we may sow seeds of love that will temper negativity and help spread love in our world.

Have a Great Thursday!

Thank you for visiting today!

Autumn; Fall: Indian Summer!

Indian Summer

"This is the day
that the Lord has made,
Let us rejoice and be glad in it"
(Psalm 118:24)

            In Minnesota we are experiencing a wonderful Autumn. An "Indian Summer" as it is called. Our first heavy frost was followed by a freeze and now we have warm temperatures. Certainly, this is a gift to us by God. It is something that we all appreciate and offer our thanks.
            During this time, the crab grass has died; there is color in the leaves; the lawn does not need to be mowed as often; the evenings are cool; the garden does not need weeding.
            There are many blessings about "Indian Summer" and they are easily recognized. In our daily lives there are also many blessings, but we often do not see and acknowledge them. We try to control our lives and often do not turn enough over to God. The more we allow Him to take over, the more blessed our lives become.
            The Psalmist says "...But may all who seek you, rejoice and be glad in you..." As we give thanks for good weather, we need also to give thanks and recognize God's roll in our daily lives.

Thought for Today: The fall season is upon us. The busy holidays are approaching us all too swiftly. This week we can relax and enjoy the dwell in activities between the end of Summer and the holidays. Let us enjoy by allowing God's will into our daily lives. Let Go and let God and appreciate the things he will do for us.

Prayer: Father, we pray specifically for those in the World that need food, shelter and a quality of life. In our country there are too many people out of work or threatened by unemployment. In many countries the Holy season approaches many desperate people. We pray for them and that somehow the prosperous peoples of the world can find a way to do your will. We pray that we may find a way to contribute.
Amen

Eisenhower

Eisenhower

“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant

—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

(2 Corinthians 3 vs. 6)

            We are in some way the light, ministers of the gospel or promoters of the Holy Spirit. That is a part of the covenant we make when we join the Christian church. That is awesome responsibility and I for one certainly don’t feel like a spirit promoter every day.

            Those of you that know me are aware of my propensity for relaxing through exercise. It is a daily piece of my live and pursuing it often shows my selfish streak. In my late twenties I made a covenant with myself to be as good as I could be. I wanted to be a good dad and husband and believed that fitness was a piece of the equation.

            Later in life, June and I decided together that fitness was more than physical; i.e. it was spirit, mind and body! OOPS- that decision meant three times as much work. We agreed that we would work on the spirit and mind together, but she had no interest in joining with me on my swims, bike rides and runs. (She was always a bit smarter.)

            Our 34^th president Dwight David Eisenhower was a strong believer in this. He did his morning exercises and whenever possible he kept his calendar open for an after-lunch nap. When at the Whitehouse he would spend time chipping and putting before his afternoon meetings. His colleagues considered him eccentric and selfish. He felt he needed a scheduled break to be the best he could be for himself and his country.

            We all need to be the best we can be, for ourselves, our families and to serve the Lord. Be a bit selfish so that you can help.

Thought for Today: Today let’s do something for ourselves that will help our spirit, mind and body.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father today we pray that we can keep our covenant to made to you, we pray that we are shining your light as bright as we can. We pray that we are the light of the world so others may see find you through us.

Amen

This is the Day!

This is the Day

^” This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

(Psalm 118v 24)

            There are 365 days every year. Our goal and challenge is to enjoy them all. We can not allow our finances; boss or other outside influences to steal the pleasure from any day. God put us here to be happy and we need to do that for Him.

OK, let’s get real, some days are just a drag, things go terribly wrong, God rains on our parade, our back goes out again etc. When negative things get in the way, we have hard choices to make. We can choose to have a bad day or chose to trust our faith and give thanks for what went right. Some days it seems that the only thing to give thanks for is that it is over. Well, that’s enough to make it a good day.

We all have problems and challenges that will take longer than one day to resolve. Many issues seem unsolvable. We need to remember two very important things. When we live one day at a time, we simplify our solutions. If we do not get it today, we can work on it tomorrow. When we believe an issue is unsolvable, we need to remember that the Lord is with us and He can change the rules. We need to pray and turn unsolvable issues over to the Lord.

Allowing God to be with us every day guarantees that we will have a good day.

Thought for the Day: This will be a great week for all of us. We will walk through the challenges and bless the Lord for the experiences and lessons that we learn one day at a time.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord and father, we are often confused by our world. There are problems that we want to fix NOW and cannot. This week we give thanks for the many things that go well and the blessings that we have. We give thanks and pray that we may contribute to your plan in a cheerful and blessed way.