Mid-Week Message - The Frustrations of Life

"Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return.  Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.  They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.  You, too, must be patient.  Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near."  James 5:7-8 (NLT)  

Some days it seems as if nothing goes right.  Maybe the alarm clock fails to go off.  Maybe the car doesn't start.  Whatever can go wrong seems to go wrong.  Have you experienced days like that?  Of course you have.  We all do from time to time.  It makes life seem tedious and we find ourselves asking if there is anything to really look forward to or if everyday will be the same.  

Irritations and frustrations abound in this world.  We each have numerous demands made on our time and energies and sometimes we just want to hide for awhile.  There used to be a commercial for a popular bubble bath where a woman closes her bathroom door behind her and says, "Calgon, take me away!"  We eagerly await weekends and vacations so that we can get away from the feeling that every single moment is spoken for.  We want to rest our bodies and silence the constant reminders in our heads of things that have to be done.  We long for a time of peace.  

Patience can be difficult to achieve.  We become so agitated inside that we may just want to scream for everyone to leave us alone.  It doesn't seem like we will ever reach the stage when we can look back and enjoy a job well done because our to-do lists are long and constantly getting longer.  

Today's verse urges us to be patient but it also gives us guidance about where our focus should be.  All of the earthly tasks set before us are temporary.  What is urgent today will be history tomorrow.  It is our tendency to place more importance on earthly matters that fade away than we do on those that are eternal.  Jesus will come again.  Scripture has promised us that.  There will come a day where the only thing that will matter is our relationship with Him.  I wonder how it would change our outlook on life if we kept that as our utmost thought.  

There was a book entitled Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, written by Richard Carlson, that was published in 1997.  The point the book makes is that we let so many things cause stress that really are insignificant.  In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus tells us what is most important. "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  

What we choose to focus on has great influence over how stressed, frustrated and irritated we feel.  If we can look at the tasks before us as momentary challenges that will soon pass, and keep our eyes and minds on the Lord's promises and our eternal future in Heaven with Him, then we will not be as likely to find ourselves wanting to run away and hide.  Rather, we will want to share the Good News with those around us, and, as farmer's waiting for the rain for their crops, develop divine patience knowing that at any time we could hear the glorious hallelujahs of Christ's return.  God bless.   

Mid-Week Message - Becoming Like Him

 "Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory]."  1 John 3:2 (AMP)

In 1976 there was a nationwide campaign sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ.  Billboards went up with only the words "I FOUND IT" and stayed up for sometime before the campaign blossomed.  Students in churches, youth groups and student led Bible studies in schools participated in this time to introduce non-believers to the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.  As a participant, I attended prayer gatherings to ask God's blessing on our efforts and made phone calls to other students who had expressed an interest in finding out what had been found.

As part of the campaign, those taking part wore pins with the letters PBPGINFWMY which stood for "Please be patient.  God is not finished with me yet." The pins prompted questions which opened the door for discussion about Jesus.  They also reminded each of us that none of us were perfect and that we needed to keep our attitudes in check so as not to appear that we were better than anyone we spoke to.  We simply had found the answer and accepted the love of the Lord personally.

One day I was sitting in a parking lot of a shopping center in which one store was being renovated for a new business.  All of the former façade had been taken down and the building was back to a concrete shell.  All traces of the former inhabitant had been erased and the outside had become a blank slate, ready to be associated with something brand new.  As I pondered what I was seeing, it occurred to me that we as Christians are going through the same process.  

We were created with free will and to me that says that God wants for us to choose Him of our own volition.  He could have pre-programmed us to automatically turn to Him, but instead He gave us the option of choosing whatever we wanted in this life.  Although evidence of a Divine Creator is everywhere we turn, many do opt to reject it and select a path that leads to a false god or no god at all.  Those of us that do turn to Him are being transformed into the image of His Son Jesus and one day we will be like Him.  

We are on the path to meet our Savior.  Our time on this planet will end eventually. While we are here, we are to share the Good News and love those around us.  However we are still sinners and need to remain humble as we encounter others who have made different choices.  Never are we to act haughty about being Christians but we are to share His love and how He can change lives from our hearts being honest about our own stories and the difference He has made in our lives. I am blessed to be His child.  I assure you though that I have to make the choice each and every day to follow Him.  So, please be patient with me.  God is not finished with me yet, but one day, when I meet Him, when WE meet Him face to face, we shall be like Him.  Praise the Lord!

Mid-Week Message - Daily Frustrations

"Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return.  Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.  They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.  You, too, must be patient.  Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near."  James 5:7-8 (NLT)  

Some days it seems as if nothing goes right.  Maybe the alarm clock fails to go off.  Maybe the car doesn't start.  Whatever can go wrong seems to go wrong.  Have you experienced days like that?  Of course you have.  We all do from time to time.  It makes life seem tedious and we find ourselves asking if there is anything to really look forward to or if everyday will be the same.  

Irritations and frustrations abound in this world.  We each have numerous demands made on our time and energies and sometimes we just want to hide for awhile.  There used to be a commercial for a popular bubble bath where a woman closes her bathroom door behind her and says, "Calgon, take me away!"  We eagerly await weekends and vacations so that we can get away from the feeling that every single moment is spoken for.  We want to rest our bodies and silence the constant reminders in our heads of things that have to be done.  We long for a time of peace.  

Patience can be difficult to achieve.  We become so agitated inside that we may just want to scream for everyone to leave us alone.  It doesn't seem like we will ever reach the stage when we can look back and enjoy a job well done because our to-do lists are long and constantly getting longer.  

Today's verse urges us to be patient but it also gives us guidance about where our focus should be.  All of the earthly tasks set before us are temporary.  What is urgent today will be history tomorrow.  It is our tendency to place more importance on earthly matters that fade away than we do on those that are eternal.  Jesus will come again.  Scripture has promised us that.  There will come a day where the only thing that will matter is our relationship with Him.  I wonder how it would change our outlook on life if we kept that as our utmost thought.  

There was a book entitled Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, written by Richard Carlson, that was published in 1997.  The point the book makes is that we let so many things cause stress that really are insignificant.  In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus tells us what is most important. "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  

What we choose to focus on has great influence over how stressed, frustrated and irritated we feel.  If we can look at the tasks before us as momentary challenges that will soon pass, and keep our eyes and minds on the Lord's promises and our eternal future in Heaven with Him, then we will not be as likely to find ourselves wanting to run away and hide.  Rather, we will want to share the Good News with those around us, and, as farmer's waiting for the rain for their crops, develop divine patience knowing that at any time we could hear the glorious hallelujahs of Christ's return.  God bless.