“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21 NIV)
Today we celebrate Christ the King, the King of this kingdom that is within.
Peace
Jim
I made it to the Dr. yesterday. Sinus infection. That is about three of those this year.
It doesn’t seem possible that Thanksgiving is this coming week. As we think about our blessings, think about what God has given us, and start thinking with the basics in mind.
Peace
Jim
Staying in another day. Yesterday was about the worst ever. I have a Dr. appointment today so maybe he can pedal something that will put me back on track.
So as I watch the sun come up this morning I think about how today is a new day with new possibilities. Other than patience, what might I learn from the week past, and the day yet to come. I’ll spend a little time thinking about that and let you know if I come up with anything.
Peace
Jim
Sorry for the late post but I did a few things this morning and then back home to the chair and more pills. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! There. That felt good, now I’ll stop complaining.
I watched an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies a little while ago. They just don’t make good comedy shows like they used to.
It sort of seems to me that sometimes the reason that us people get down and out is a lack of passion in our life.
Passion is needed in everything we undertake. Passion is needed in our marriages, passion is needed in how we deal with our children, passion is needed in our friendships, passion is needed in our worship, passion is needed in what we do for a living…on and on I could go. Without passion we seem only to be going through the motions of whatever we’re doing at the time. That’s sad.
The interesting thing about passion is that it has to be real. We can’t fake passion very well. And the way that passion is real is through a relationship with Jesus. Talk about passion, Jesus showed passion in everything he did. I thought I’d seen passion in prayer but then I think about Jesus sweating drops of blood as he prayed. I thought I’d seen passion but then Jesus put hands on untouchable people (and he didn’t run off to get hand sanitizer afterward). I thought I’d seen passion but Jesus looked at his enemies and prayed for their forgiveness.
Real passion is evident, its like humility, if we have to tell somebody we have it…then we don’t. And like humility, we learn that from our Lord. Without Jesus as our example we begin to follow our own interpretations and history shows that our interpretations often get distorted. We simply have to keep an eye on Jesus.
Peace
Jim
I was spending some time studying this morning. I stayed home because I’m still aching and running a low temp. Don’t need to be around anybody and I don’t feel like being around anybody either. So here I sit at home with the dog (she doesn’t care how I feel as long as she can sit beside me).
As I was studying I read Psalm 42:1 where the Psalmist says, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.”
So I went to YouTube and searched for the song As The Deer. I listened to a lot of not so good versions and then I listened to the instrumental versions. I was struck with the lack of passion that people sang and played. There were two or three pretty good ones but not really what I was looking for. And then I found this one of a guy playing As The Deer on the piano. And I listened to two or three times. Click on it below and listen. The quality is not very good because it seems to be a video camera in some public place, but notice the passion with which the young man plays.
Since the words are soooo good, listen to the link below to the same song.
Peace
Jim
Fun
Fun is something that lightens our spirits, makes time go by quickly, takes our mind off of our troubles or worries, makes us want to come back for more…fun can cause our hearts to race, and fun can even make our heart-rate slow down. Fun is experienced through a variety of circumstances or venues that offer something that people enjoy.
That said, do we have fun at church? It seems to me that part of the problem many of us have is that we don’t look for the fun at church. And fun is all around us on any given Sunday.
Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and he asked them, “What has happened to all your joy?” (Galatians 4:15 NIV) The people had stopped having fun and it caught Paul’s attention, and Paul wrote to clear up some things with hopes that their fun would return.
Have fun at church. Laugh together, cry together, praise and worship together. Jesus set us free to have fun without worry about our eternal soul. That’s something to have fun about.
Peace
Jim
Sometimes I think the reason we lose joy is that we forget what it is that gives us our joy. The hymn Joy To The World is not just a Christmas song. Joy to the world the Lord is come let earth receive her king…
The earth received her king at Christmas time, and we the church, spend a lot of time and effort to show the world what that King looks like. That sounds like a life in general song to me…
Peace
Jim
Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and asked them a question:
“What has happened to all your joy?”
The people were being deceived by those who tried to tell them that there was more to accepting God’s favor than what Jesus did for them on the cross. The result was that people were losing their joy. They allowed something to come between them and Jesus.
What make us lose our joy in living a Christian life? It sort of seems to me that when I allow something to come between me and Jesus my joy slips ever so softly and quietly away. I hate it when that happens.
Keep a check on your joy. If it’s not what it used to be look to Jesus to rediscover it.
Peace
Jim
As I was rushing around this morning trying to focus on some tasks at hand I was reminded once again that in all of our (my) rushing don’t forget to look for Jesus.
I met Jesus in three different people this morning before 9:00 a.m. And luckily I noticed. Sometimes I don’t notice until after the fact when there is nothing I can do about it but ask God’s forgiveness for not noticing. It feels much better to be able to offer thanks instead of repentance.
So as I think about being thankful I am reminded to thank God for allowing us opportunities to be his hands and feet in our world.
Peace
Jim
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