Monday, March 26, 2018

The Look

The look

A few years ago I had cataract surgery done on both eyes and I asked for the Kryptonian package because sight like Superman would have been pretty darn cool.  But we need another way of looking at people.  The word of the day is Compassion.  You need the compassion package for your eyes.  

In Matthew 9:35-38 it says this.  "Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.  And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.'"

  See it says Jesus looked on the people with compassion and sometimes that's incredibly hard for us to do.  There's an old saying of if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem.  I see three things here we need to do.  
1. Pray.  2.  Pray for more compassion in in interacting with people.  3.  Be willing to help with the harvest.  

Galatians 6:9-10 "So let's not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone-- especially to those in the family of faith."  

So I had most of this blog done on Tuesday afternoon and I've been praying asking God to let me see people with compassionate eyes.  So on Wednesday Marion sent me this post on Facebook advertising that Sonic was marking down medium slushes to seventy-nine cents so we planned to go the next night. We got a personal lesson in treating others with compassion when we went to Sonic.  We ordered our food and drinks by roughly 10:50.  Somewhere between us ordering and it being brought to us there was a big mixup that we still don't understand fully.  They thought we were at a different stall for food and that possibly we had left but we were still waiting.  This server Gabby saw us and came and asked us if we were waiting on an order.  Then she comes back to tell us they had closed and asked how we planned to pay.  We could've been mad.  The manager and cooks could have been mad.  No one ever got upset.  Because of the goof up we didn't get our food till 11:40 pm after they had closed mind you.  Gabby got a $5.00 tip from us.  Marion and I both were saying it was a situation that could have gone worse in so many number of ways.    Then that night I started praying for Gabby and the managers and cooks at Sonic asking God to help them have a better night and fix their eyes on Him.  So Friday I was driving to work and it hit me that God had helped both of us to be more compassionate and it was answered prayer.  




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Sunday, March 18, 2018

Purpose:Operation Perspective Shift

A prayer of David.
1Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer;
answer me, for I need your help.
2Protect me, for I am devoted to you.
Save me, for I serve you and trust you.
You are my God.
3Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for I am calling on you constantly.
4Give me happiness, O Lord,
for I give myself to you.
5O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
6Listen closely to my prayer, O LORD;
hear my urgent cry.
7I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble,
and you will answer me.
8No pagan god is like you, O Lord.
None can do what you do!
9All the nations you made
will come and bow before you, Lord;
they will praise your holy name.
10For you are great and perform wonderful deeds.
You alone are God.
11Teach me your ways, O LORD,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
12With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
13for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.a
14O God, insolent people rise up against me;
a violent gang is trying to kill me.
You mean nothing to them.
15But you, O Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
16Look down and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant;
save me, the son of your servant.
17Send me a sign of your favor.
Then those who hate me will be put to shame,
for you, O LORD, help and comfort me.

I did this once a long time ago where I posted simply a chapter and said nothing and I had asked my friend Chris Godoy before doing so and he asked what my purpose was.  My purpose with doing this is to let God's word speak for itself as this is a chapter that can help anyone regardless of their situation because the reader's attention is shifted off of them and back to God.  See when your focus is shifted back to God it is then back on your foundation the Rock of Christ Jesus.  Matthew 7:24-27  "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.  But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.  When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash."  

" Though the winds may blow 
And though the floods may grow 
I shall not be moved, 'cause I am on the Rock "












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Sunday, March 11, 2018

The Point of it.

The point of it

Not too long back there was a man on the show 60 Minutes named Andy Rooney who would ask the question "Do you ever wonder.....". Monday night I wasn't really wondering per se but then there was the answer.  Anyone own a comforter for the bed.  Yeah I have a few blanket type things.  I even own a Wonder Woman snuggie.  Quit laughing it was a gift from a friend.  We as Christians have a comforter nothing like a blanket which is the Holy Spirit who is part of the trinity.  In John 14:16 he is referred to as the Advocate, Comforter, Encourager or Counselor.  But that brings us to the question of Do you ever wonder.  Why would God want to comfort his children?  Yes he is Holy and loving but there is more to it than that.  All your hurts, loss and pain God can use those.  Do you ever interact with people and remember God helping you get through something and then suddenly your own struggles become ways to connect to that other person?  That was God's plan.  You may not connect it till later but God can use your hurt to help others if you let him.  See 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 blew my mind Monday night and you need to read this.  

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.  Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation!  For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you.  Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.  We are confident that as you share in our sufferings you will also share in the comfort God gives us."  

About a month ago Pastor Micah said "God doesn't waste a hurt."  He really doesn't because you will find someone who has been hurt and share your experience and connect and build up that person.  

I want to relay something very personal about God's people comforting others.  It's been about two weeks since my dog Mara was put to sleep.  She had been falling a lot and her legs simply would not hold her anymore and my parents took her to the vet for us.  That in itself was a comfort because Marion and I knew we couldn't watch her be put to sleep we would have been a mess.  I posted her obituary on Facebook after it happened.  Many people were trying to comfort Marion and I.  I got to pour my heart out to my friend David.  But the Sunday after is what meant a lot to us.  We had so many people coming up to us hugging us and telling us they were so sad right along with us.  Some of them like Cathy had lost a pet recently.  The one person who God really used with me was John.  He is a bear of a man but in reality a teddy bear.  He walked over wrapped me up in a hug and said "Don't even say anything you know what this is for."  It was like getting a hug from Andre the Giant.  But there were many more people online and in person who understood our grief.  12 years with any dog is a long time.  God in his perfect timing sent people to comfort us when we needed it.  God sees every hurt we ever go through.  How do I know that because of what King David said in Psalm 56:8.  "You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book."  That's why we can sing songs like What a friend we have in Jesus and Friend of a wounded heart.  

Trouble and sorrows aren't always the bad thing we think they are because God is using those things to teach us and ready us to comfort someone else.  James 1:2-4 shows that to be true.  "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete needing nothing."  

There are those who say "God will never give me more than I can handle." Or "God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers."  This is incorrect.  God brings you to things to have you stop and decide are you going to trust him or are you going to handle things in your own pride.  We need comfort from God when we're hurt and sometimes we're too stupid to turn to him or let those he sends to us to be comforted and we push them away.  I had to let people close and that included the bear hug from John.  That included letting people close when I was hurting.  Do I miss Mara yes I do but I had family and friends that God put in my path to support me.  It was the comfort I needed.  
















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Sunday, March 4, 2018

Goal worthy

Goal worthy

Some people go crazy creating goals for themselves.  I mean some college students listen to these professors and come up with 5-10 year life plans and it may work for them doesn't always.  I have small and large goals.  I as a writer have a goal each week to bring you all a Bible study blog.  With that is a longer goal see I want it to be God's word and very little of mine.  I also have a goal that started out small and became large.  Been working on two fictional stories for almost two years.  And one day I will finish them.  But enough about that see I want to introduce you to a long range goal and maybe a guy in the Bible you've never really seen before.  Years ago I was given a Story Bible it's now known as the Action Bible.  It's essentially the Bible in the form of a comic book.  For the parents and grandparents get this thing for kids it will foster a love for reading and God's word.  See that's where I first met Joash.  In second Kings 11 this priest Jehoida and the temple guards overthrew the Queen of Judah and put Joash on the throne at age seven.  This was depicted in my Story Bible and I still see that 80's comic book art style in my head years later when I read about that event.  I bring Joash to your attention because he is part of a long range goal we should all have. The book of Second Kings can read like the opening of the Clint Eastwood classic The Good The Bad and The Ugly.  Just a real who's who of rulers.  

Second Kings 12:1-2 shows us the long range goal we all need.  "Joash began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu's reign in Israel.  He reigned in Jerusalem forty years.  His mother was Zibah from Beersheba.  All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight because Jehoida the priest instructed him."  Do you want a good long range goal for your life?  There it is people Do what is pleasing in the Lord's sight.  
Psalm 63:1 "O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water."  
As Christians we should always strive to live a life pleasing to God and pursue him with our whole being.  I don't know about you but I would like to be like Jacob.  See check out Hebrews 11:21.  "It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff."  I want my last act to be in worship and pleasing to God.  

"So many voices telling me which way to go.  So many choices from those who think they know.  There's a way that seems right to a man.  But only brings him death.  I wanna go the way that leads to life till I draw my dying breath don't wanna be a man pleaser I wanna be a God Pleaser I just want to have the wisdom to discern the two apart."  



















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