“Keep on asking,
and you will receive what you ask for.
Keep on seeking,
and you will find.
Keep on knocking,
and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks,
receives.
Everyone who seeks,
finds.
And to everyone who knocks,
the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
This is Jesus speaking toward the end of what we call The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew, chapter 5 - 7.
For some time now, I've come to believe the operative words in those 2 verses are "keep on".
Often quit looks good to us, but instead of quitting we need to continue moving ahead.
Someone I know who can be a real truth teller once said that we can never get out of a valley in our lives by sitting down - we have to keep moving forward to walk out of the valley.
I believe that Jesus seems to say here we need to keep our hope intact, to keep pursuing whatever it is we feel directed & compelled to explore.
And this is particularly hard to do when none of our life makes any sense, when obeying & following seems futile, & life only gets harder.
But in verse 8 Jesus gives the kicker - if we keep on, the thing(s) we are pursuing, or working toward, or looking for, all of these things will materialize.
That's hard to believe when we're in the middle of a situation, but easy to believe when we're on the other side, when we've come through a challenge, direction, or desire.
(I hope this is making sense - at this hour sometimes I wonder if I make sense at all! ;-) LOL)
So when you see the comment, "keep on..." in my social media, or in a text, or in a blog, I thinking of these words of Jesus & the encouragement He gave us 2000+ years ago when He spoke them.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Monday, May 14, 2018
5 things
Be on guard.
Stand true to what you believe.
Be courageous.
Be strong.
And everything you do must be done with love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Paul wrote these closing remarks 2000 yrs ago in his first letter to the followers of Jesus living in Corinth.
Corinth was a tough city to live in back then.
(What city wasn't, back then?!)
But what Paul wrote back then applies to us today.
I think we have the first 4 things down.
It's that fifth one that trips us up.
We seem to be good at coming on strong (especially us evangelicals with strong white privilege).
But we seem to be short on the loving part.
Sometimes we use the "stand for what you believe" part as an excuse to be judgmental, insensitive, inappropriate, downright rude, while consigning people to future in hell.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of that seems to be our job.
Isn't it the job of the God Holy Spirit to convict?
Isn't it the job of God the Father to judge?
Isn't it the job of God the Son to redeem?
And isn't our job to love - a facet of being a follower of Jesus that seems to be in significantly short supply these days?
And correct me again if I'm wrong, but how many of us would be followers of Jesus today if those who influenced us to follow Him had used a brick bat of condemnation on us?
Weren't most of us wooed & won into believing in Him & following Him by people who reached out to us through the love of God channeling through them?
Yes, these folks led us to see the futility of the direction & arch our thinking & lives was taking us.
But all of it was done in a why & with a spirit of love for us as individuals, not as heathens needing a spiritual kick in the butt - or elsewhere!
The people who showed me the way were more like...
"hey, look, here's the deal...
here's what you're missing...
here's the life being offered you...
here's Someone who simply wants to love you & be in relationship with you."
And the Holy Spirit reeled me in with that simple, loving presentation.
And I've seen Him do it thousands of times to others.
Yes, be on guard...
& stand true...
& be courageous...
& strong.
But most of all, & strongest & most courageous of all, be loving & caring about the person with whom you're connecting, allowing God to channel His love through you.
Stand true to what you believe.
Be courageous.
Be strong.
And everything you do must be done with love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Paul wrote these closing remarks 2000 yrs ago in his first letter to the followers of Jesus living in Corinth.
Corinth was a tough city to live in back then.
(What city wasn't, back then?!)
But what Paul wrote back then applies to us today.
I think we have the first 4 things down.
It's that fifth one that trips us up.
We seem to be good at coming on strong (especially us evangelicals with strong white privilege).
But we seem to be short on the loving part.
Sometimes we use the "stand for what you believe" part as an excuse to be judgmental, insensitive, inappropriate, downright rude, while consigning people to future in hell.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of that seems to be our job.
Isn't it the job of the God Holy Spirit to convict?
Isn't it the job of God the Father to judge?
Isn't it the job of God the Son to redeem?
And isn't our job to love - a facet of being a follower of Jesus that seems to be in significantly short supply these days?
And correct me again if I'm wrong, but how many of us would be followers of Jesus today if those who influenced us to follow Him had used a brick bat of condemnation on us?
Weren't most of us wooed & won into believing in Him & following Him by people who reached out to us through the love of God channeling through them?
Yes, these folks led us to see the futility of the direction & arch our thinking & lives was taking us.
But all of it was done in a why & with a spirit of love for us as individuals, not as heathens needing a spiritual kick in the butt - or elsewhere!
The people who showed me the way were more like...
"hey, look, here's the deal...
here's what you're missing...
here's the life being offered you...
here's Someone who simply wants to love you & be in relationship with you."
And the Holy Spirit reeled me in with that simple, loving presentation.
And I've seen Him do it thousands of times to others.
Yes, be on guard...
& stand true...
& be courageous...
& strong.
But most of all, & strongest & most courageous of all, be loving & caring about the person with whom you're connecting, allowing God to channel His love through you.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
9 incredible words
...nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
1 Corinthians 15:58b (NLT, 1st ed.)
...NOTHING you do for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do for the Lord is EVER useless.
...nothing YOU do for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do FOR the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you DO for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do for THE LORD is ever useless.
...nothing you do for the Lord is ever USELESS.
...nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
1 Corinthians 15:58b (NLT, 1st ed.)
...NOTHING you do for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do for the Lord is EVER useless.
...nothing YOU do for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do FOR the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you DO for the Lord is ever useless.
...nothing you do for THE LORD is ever useless.
...nothing you do for the Lord is ever USELESS.
...nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
help source
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k47xB8eoT5g&start_radio=1&list=RDMMk47xB8eoT5g
Psalm 121
1 I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The LORD himself watches over you!
The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Psalm 121
1 I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The LORD himself watches over you!
The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
Friday, May 11, 2018
real love
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless.
But love will last forever!
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete,
but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless.
But love will last forever!
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete,
but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
sowing, not reaping
Mark 4
1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
3 "Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.
4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died.
7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
9 Then he said, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secret* of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
'When they see what I do,
they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
and be forgiven.'"
13 Then Jesus said to them, "If you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?
14 The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.
15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.
16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
I've wondered if this parable is prophetic of Lynn & my time here in Blairsville.
But we will only be sowers, not reapers.
1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
3 "Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.
4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died.
7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
9 Then he said, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secret* of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
'When they see what I do,
they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
and be forgiven.'"
13 Then Jesus said to them, "If you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?
14 The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.
15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.
16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
I've wondered if this parable is prophetic of Lynn & my time here in Blairsville.
But we will only be sowers, not reapers.
hold on
Give your burdens to the Lord,
& He will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip & fall.
Psalm 55:22
Then Jesus said,
Come
to me,
all you who are weary
& carry heavy burdens,
& I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Don't be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord is the one who goes before you.
He will be with you.
He will neither fail you
or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:8
Don't throw away this confident trust in the Lord,
no matter what happens.
Remember the great reward it brings you!
Patient endurance is what you need now,
so you will continue to do God's will.
The n you will receive all that He has promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36
So take a new grip with your tired hands
& stand firm on your shaky legs.
Mark out a straight path for your fett
so that those who are weak & lame will not fall
but become strong.
Hebrews 12:12-13
Then Jesus said,
Come
to me,
all you who are weary
& carry heavy burdens,
& I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Don't be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord is the one who goes before you.
He will be with you.
He will neither fail you
or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:8
Don't throw away this confident trust in the Lord,
no matter what happens.
Remember the great reward it brings you!
Patient endurance is what you need now,
so you will continue to do God's will.
The n you will receive all that He has promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36
So take a new grip with your tired hands
& stand firm on your shaky legs.
Mark out a straight path for your fett
so that those who are weak & lame will not fall
but become strong.
Hebrews 12:12-13
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)