What Should I Do Starting Today?

If I'm going to have a blog to share what I'm pondering about, I really should post to it more often. So one of the things I should do starting today is to take time to write down what I'm thinking about. Doing so may help me determine what's important for me to do and then do it.

In some respects I've had a difficult year. A heart attack and colon cancer along with months in the hospital took up much of my time, thoughts, and emotions. When I was in the hospital I didn't even get to see or spend much time with my wife, which was hard on both of us since we are still very much in love after ten years of marriage.

 I have regained some of my strength. I don't have to be on my ventilator all the time. Some days are better than others in that regard.

For many years I enjoyed earning money as an independent AVON representative. But that involved going around town in my wheelchair to deliver catalogs and then the orders when they came in. Doing that is out of the question any more. Sales had slowed down considerably even before I got sick, so I'd already decided to forgo selling AVON the way I had been, since the cost of catalogs and other supplies would likely exceed the revenue from sales.

Blogging is something I can do almost any day, regardless of the weather. I have other blogs, and I can post to them as well. I might even be able to place ads and earn a bit from them.

OK, I guess I'll hit the publish button and go read my wife's blog since she just let me know her post today is ready.

Going to Check My Vision Today

Today I'll be going to have my eyesight checked to see if  I need new glasses.

Right now I have two sets of eyeglasses. One for distance and another for reading.

Since I don't drive a car I can usually get by without the distance glasses. I'm able to see well enough as to not drive my electric wheelchair into walls, people, or off curbs as long as I pay attention to what I'm doing.

I can read large print well enough, but small print is a problem. Many years ago I could read the tiny print of a Bible that was small enough to fit into my shirt pocket. Now, if I don't have my reading glasses on the Bible has to have large print in order for me to read it comfortably.

When I don't have my reading glasses on, I sometimes make mistakes when I'm attempting to read something. Since I can't clearly make out individual letters I can think that a given word is another word of similar length with similar letters. That certainly be confusing when trying to understand what has been written.

I want to understand what I read. So I'd better be sure I can actually see the letters and words that are on the page. That's why I'm having my vision checked out today.

Speaking of understanding what I read, I'd also better be sure I understand the meaning of  what I read, especially when I read the Bible.

If I don't correctly understand the directions for getting to get to a destination, such at the eye doctor's office or a historic site my wife and I want to visit in Boston, I may never get to where I want to go.

If I want to get to where God wants me to go I had best be sure I'm understanding the directions He has for me in Scripture. If I don't have that understanding then my "vision" of what is important in life by God's standards may be distorted and I might not even know it.

Today's trip to the eye doctor will be good to check my eyesight vision today. Doing some Bible reading and studying today (and every day) will be good for my spiritual vision.

Are We Ashamed of the Gospel?

Rom 1:16  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (NIV)

Are we willing to talk about just about anything with our friends and relatives except the gospel? Even if we acknowledge that we are Christians, do we go beyond just saying that to actually sharing what the gospel actually is? Or are we ashamed of the gospel?

We certainly should be ashamed of anything sinful in our lives. But we should never be ashamed of the gospel. After all, the gospel is the good news about who Jesus is and what He has done.

Apart from Jesus there is no salvation. There is no other means by which anyone can be saved from the consequences of sin. Nobody can save himself or herself. We've all done things "our way" rather than God's way. We all act as though we know better than God about how we should live.

We all are in desperate need of the good news that Jesus is God incarnate and the only perfect sinless sacrifice that is acceptable to pay for our sins of action and attitude, including the attitude that our self-determined "goodness" is good enough for a totally holy God.

Anyone who does not come to believe the good news about who Jesus is and what He has done will have an eternity to regret his rejection of Jesus.

We who by God's grace have come to faith in Jesus and the good news about Jesus, should long for others to come to believe and embrace the gospel, too.

We can't force anyone to believe in Jesus and His atoning death and resurrection. But we shouldn't hide the glorious news about Jesus by our failure to talk about Him to others.

Let's pray for one another to never act as though we are ashamed of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Who Wants To Be Holy?

1Pe 1:15-16  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."  NIV

What does the Bible mean by "holy"? Well, going back to the original languages we find the concepts of pure and also devoted. After that it also developed to convey being separated.

Such meanings show why "holy" is a very suitable word to have associated with God.

We certainly don't understand everything about God, but there are some things we should be able to understand. Since it is not reasonable to think that the universe came from absolutely nothing, then a Creator must have created it.

Therefore God is responsible for our having a universe, and all the matter and energy in it. God is therefore responsible for our existing, and being able to be aware of ourselves, one another, and what is all around us.

I believe God should be appreciated for Creation and for us being part of that Creation.

Furthermore, since we are also able to understand that there is right and wrong, and that there should be consequences for deliberately doing wrong to others, then either that notion came from absolutely nothing and should be totally disregarded by all, or the Creator of the universe also determined that some things are right, and whatever is not what He determined is right is therefore false, or evil.

That Creator, that God, deserves our respect as well as our thanksgiving. Even more than respect, that God deserves our obedience to whatever He makes us to understand about what He wants from us.

The Bible declares that God is holy. In part that means He is pure. So when it came time to express thanksgiving and worship to God, it was essential that whatever was used in that worship also be pure.

When the objects being made for the innermost areas of the tabernacle and Temple were made, they had to be made from pure gold, or covered in pure gold.

When a sacrifice was made before God, the animal had to be free from disease or injury. God is pure, and what is offered to Him must be pure.

In time a sacrifice was made that was far more pure than any spotless lamb or other animal. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the perfectly pure sacrifice to atone for our sins.

At that that time the curtain before the Holy of Holies in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. Soon thereafter God allowed all the gold instruments of worship and even the priesthood to be removed. Holy objects set apart for use in worshiping God were no longer needed. Even a special separated priesthood was no longer needed for proper worship of God.

But holiness is still needed. God is still holy. We can only come to God with the finished pure sacrifice of Jesus who died on our behalf for our sins. And we can only come to God as the Holy Spirit of God, living in us, enables us to come.

God created us. God provides us with what we need physically. God gives us His Holy Spirit to make His dwelling place, His home, in us.

He does not then ask us, "who wants to be holy?"

He simply tells us. Be holy because I am holy.

To be sure, we need Him to enable us to heed that command. But are we listening?

God is holy. God wants us to be holy. He wants us to be pure. He wants us to be devoted...totally devoted to Him...in all that we do.

What Has Jesus Done For Me Lately?

Col 1:17  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. NIV

Col 1:17  Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together. NIrV® Copyright © 1996, 1998 by Biblica

The NIV and NIrV both say the same thing. The "He" in each is referring to Jesus, the Son of God, which is shown in the verses that lead up to verse 17.

Notice that in the NIV it does not say He was before all things, it says He is before all things. It is written that way because Jesus made it clear that He has always existed, even before anything was ever created.

In John 8:58-59, when Jesus said that "before Abraham was, I am." the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill Him because they knew that He was declaring Himself to be God. They weren't able to kill Him at that time because it wasn't yet time for Christ to be put to death for our sins.

The NIrV® translation makes it abundantly clear that Jesus was already here before anything was created. Since He is the Creator then of course He was there. Indeed He is before all things.

Christ not only created everything that was created, He also holds all things together. He is that powerful.

It seems to me that I should be thankful that Christ holds everything together. What if He didn't hold air together? Or water? Where would I be, then?

We owe a lot to Jesus. I want to be ever mindful of being thankful to Him for salvation and for everything that He sustains that make it possible for us all to live and breathe.

Let's think about Him even more than we already have thought about Him. After all, His holding everything together is doing a lot more than we could ever do for ourselves. Thank You, Lord Jesus.

Sometimes We Get Upset

Eph 4:26-27  "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,  and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV)

Yesterday my wife and I were somewhat upset with one another. After we were in bed and the lights were out we continued to discuss the matter that was upsetting us. We talked and talked some more. We finally agreed that we couldn't add anything more to the conversation without looking for more information, which have to wait until the next day when we would be able to go online and try to look things up.

There have been times when we stayed awake much longer trying to resolve an issue. But sometimes a resolution seems impossible without additional information that might not be available in the middle of the night. My wife and I are disabled so we can't get up and use our computes at midnight. Or, if an issue needs one or more phone calls to help resolve, most people don't appreciate getting calls in the middle of the night.

So when there are issues that cannot be fully resolved by the end of the day, we still need seek God's help to lay down anger and acknowledge that we still love one another even if our feeling about each other are not all that great at the moment. That's what my wife and I had to do last night so that we could get some sleep.

Today things were somewhat better at times, and other times were even worse. I am, after all, a man and do not always express myself in the best of ways, so I can unintentionally make matters more difficult. But knew we needed more information to help us understand one another. So...we looked.

Of course in due course it was my wife who found the information that helped resolve one issue. And when I followed up on a suggestion of hers to make a phone call to somebody in church, I learned some things that are very hopeful and helpful.

I have a great wife. I don't always understand her or her point of view, which can result in disagreements and varying degrees of being upset, but if we seek to cling to God and pray for His intervention in us to make of this marriage what will glorify Him, then we can get through difficult moments, hours, or even days.

I do have a great wife who help me be a more godly man. But even better than that, we both have a great Lord who can see to it that we can become the married couple and members of His Body, the Church, that He wants us to be.

Because we're imperfect we'll most likely be upset with one another again from time to time. But God can use those times to humble us and teach us things He wants to learn.

So we must not give up. And we must not let our anger or being upset with one another provide a foothold for the devil to harm what God wants to do in our marriage or friendships or in our church.

Deb and I have a wonderful marriage that feels wonderful 99% of the time. We need God to maintain and sustain and build our marriage according to His plans during the 99% of the time it seems wonderful to us, and perhaps even more so during the 1% of the time it doesn't feel so wonderful to us.

Do pray for us, that God be glorified in our lives and in our marriage. We'll pray for you that God be gloried in your marriages and in your lives.

Don't Be Deceived

Col 2:2-4  My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.   NIV

Fine sounding arguments deceive many people every day.

Without the correct information, and a proper understanding of that information, anyone can be deceived.

Many people have opinions about Christ. The opinions they have may be casual or strong. They might even think Jesus Christ doesn't even warrant a second thought.

People can feel quite comfortable in what they think about Christ even though they've never take even a few hours to check out what the Bible says about Him. After all, they've heard other people say those stories about Him are fiction. Nobody could have really done those things.

Heal a man born blind? Bring dead persons back to life? Multiply bread and  fish? Walk on water? Resurrect from the dead with a body that could never die again?

There are fine-sounding arguments that Jesus was just an ordinary man and what is written about Him in the Bible is untrue. But before you accept those arguments, ask yourself why Christ's followers were persecuted, tortured and put to death rather than deny what they testified about Jesus and His resurrection.

They weren't put to death simply for a noble cause. They were put to death because they were totally convinced about what they had seen and heard and no fine sounding argument was going to get them to deny what they knew was true.

You need to know who Jesus really is. What you do for the rest of your natural and spiritual life is connected with your relationship with Christ. Don't take this matter lightly. Don't risk being deceived by arguments that may sound quite harmless but in reality may be quite deadly to for all eternity.