Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX

Doesn’t this picture remind you of the song that says “somewhere down the road”.  A quite peaceful scene that should remind us all of God’s creation and how beautiful it is. Thanks to my son in law Dr. Jeremy Parzen for furnishing the picture on a recent trip to Italy. 

From Psalm 37….37:7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

This Psalm says a lot. This particular scripture tell us that no matter what is going on around us we are to be patient while waiting for God to intercede for us.  There may be people doing evil things around you but have faith, be strong against temptation, wait patiently and listen for God’s word to come to you.  It will and you will know He is there and willing to lead you out of that place.  Take time to listen, meditate, pray and read His word.  God is here with us now and will show us the way he would have us walk and not the way the world would have us go. 

Remember to keep God in your life at all times and in all ways…He is to be first before everything and will make everything better.  Have a blessed, wonderful day and remember this is a day that the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it,   Randy

137:9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

Wow what a cruel bunch of people those Jews were back then!!!!  Well not really.  They were devastated by their capture and the Babylonians were moving them from their homeland into a foreign land that was far away from everything they knew and loved.  Yes they were bitter but wouldn’t you be if you were conquered by foreign armies and had seen your homes destroyed; seen the people you loved massacred and all of your possessions taken from you. 

Plenty of reason to be bitter and if you read the Psalm from the beginning you hear that there is no joy in their hearts as they remember all that had been done to them.  Perhaps even they had seen their very own little ones dashed against the rocks.   When I read this scripture I don’t read that they are wanting to do the dashing but that they are being realistic and perhaps prophesying that sooner or later the Babylonian nation will suffer the kind of defeat they have suffered and will see the atrocities visited on them that Israel has suffered.  A cruel world back then and a cruel world we live in now.   

Violence begets violence so seeking God and knowing the love Jesus Christ has for this world is the right way.  Christ does not condone war, hatred, prejudice, murder and mayhem.  He teaches us to love our neighbor and to love them because we first love our God.  Love your neighbor.  That is really a very simple and easy rule to follow.  Practice it and it will get easier.

Randy

My son-in-law, Jeremy Parzen, sent me this picture he took while working in Italy.  A beautiful sunrise scene that has a beautiful promise in it.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
91:1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

91:2 will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”

91:3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;

91:4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

91:5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

91:14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.

91:15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.

91:16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

Do you see what verse 14 says, “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name”.  A wonderful promise from God that says no matter what “trouble” we are faced with He will be with us.  There are many ways to show our love for God and I believe the most important is that we love our neighbor.  When we reach out to the world through our wealth and our time we are giving back to God and showing the world how important He is to us.  Take the time to look at the Missions and other charities your church supports, pray for God to lead you into a giving relationship with that Mission and become active in the work of that Mission.

Work with the children in your Church.  God wants us to show our love for Him by raising our children with the values He has given us.  Jesus always welcomed the children and gave them special attention.  Teaching Sunday School is a good way for the children and yourself to learn more about God the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit that we worship. 

Have a blessed day and week,

Remember to spend time with a devotional, the Upper Room link is to the right under blog roll,

Randy

Integrity.  What is it?  Most of us have an understanding one way or the other.  Basically most of us understand it as honesty.  I ran across an article in my Leadership Bible that had this to say about integrity:

Matthew 23:1-39

Jesus called the Pharisees “hyprocrites”, six times in this sermon (vv. 13,15,23,25,27,29).

          His language reveals his displeasure. Notice that each verse that includes the word hypocrite begins with the words: “Woe to you.” In this passage Jesus chided the Pharisees for saying one thing and doing another.

Integrity-the direct opposite quality of hypocrisy-is the quality that people want most to see in a Christian and a Christian leader. The Pharisees didn’t live up to the standard that Jesus was teaching. When we talk about integrity today, we generally use other, closely related terms such as ethics and morality. But a clear understanding of the concept of integrity requires clear thinking about all three words.  Each has a distinct meaning. When properly used, they bring clarity to a crucial but often misunderstood essential principal for all Christians whether we are in leadership positions or not.  It is important to remember that those in leadership positions understand this concept: 

Ethics refers to a defined standard of right and wrong; good and evil. “lt’s what the Pharisees said they believed was right.

Morality is a lived standard of right and wrong, good and evil. It’s what the Pharisees actually did.

Integrity means “sound, complete, integrated.” To the extent that a person’s ethic and morality are integrated, that person has integrity. To the extent that a person’s ethics and morality are not integrated, that person lacks integrity.

Lets look at this another way. If John tells you he will lie, cheat and steal from you, he has a low ethic. If he does business that way, he also has a low morality. John is unethical and immoral, but he has integrity-twisted as it may be-because the moral- ity is consistent with the ethic. If John claims to cheat and steal but doesn’t cheat and steal, he is moral in practice but lacks integrity, because his morality doesn’t match the ethic. Think about that a bit.

You can have a high or low ethic. You can be moral or immoral. Your choice.  But if you want to have integrity, you must choose your ethic and live to match it. Anyone who wants to lead at least owes it to prospective followers to let them know what they are getting into.

The Bible teaches a high and holy ethic. A person who claims to be a Christian and to live by Biblical standards makes an ethical statement. He or she has committed to a certain morality. For that person to have integrity, then, he or she must live by the Biblical ethic. Jesus makes it unequivocally clear that the worst choice is the hypocritical one.

Read Matthew 23:1-36 and allow Jesus’ words to echo in your brain until you are convinced of his displeasure with those who say but fail to do. This is serious business.

 Think of this ascending dove from St. Peter’s in Rome as a prayer going up for each of you.

1 Timothy 2:1-7
2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,

2:2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

2:3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

Ever wondered why your Pastor prays for the President, Congress and every one else in a leadership position.  There it is right there in 1 Timothy Chapter 2.  As Pastors we pray for the people in leadership that God will touch them with His Spirit and that they will be lead by that Spirit in a way that brings honor and glory to our God alone.  That may not be evident in the decisions that are made but there is evidence that our prayers are working.  Look at the turmoil within the two main parties.  People are scrambling to change their direction and looking for the right way to go.   I pray for change because I know that the God I believe in will bring peace if people will just listen to Him.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if people would just think of others and act in accordance with what Jesus Christ teaches?   What a wonderful world this would be if the first thought was always how can this help mankind…instead of how much money will this make me out on the marketplace.  Our Lord and Savior tells us that we cannot serve two masters.  Power can be our master,  money can be our master, the flesh can be our master or the one who rules the universe can be our Master and take us into a world where we love our neighbors and help them in their need.  

Too many of our leaders today are thinking of themselves and their own personal agendas instead of what is the best for those they are supposed to be serving.   Pray for them all and encourage your Pastor to pray for them too.

You can make a difference.  Have a blessed day,

Randy

Look what God put in my back yard.  Okay I stuck the cutting in the ground and watered but God made it grow.  We plant and do all we can to help but it is God who makes it grow.  Same way with our witness.  We plant seeds and God makes them grow.

1 Timothy 1:12-17 

Paul is soooooo grateful.  He is grateful to God for finally hitting him over the head with the old proverbial 2 x 4.  He knows he was a sinner and he knows he is forgiven.  You see Paul was the guy that wanted to persecute the followers of Jesus.  He was the guy that loved his job and took his responsibility very seriously.  Hunting down those of “the way” was the most important thing he could possibly be doing.  He probably found prestige in his ability to relentlessly pursue and hunt down innocent peaceful people.  But the other thing he found was that those innocent peaceful people were people filled with the Holy Spirit and were no doubt witnessing to Paul about Jesus and His love for each of us. 

You see it is no stretch of my imagination to see Paul gathering up Christians and having them beaten, tortured or worse.  But it had to weigh on him and soften his heart somewhere in those deep recesses.  Then on that road to Damascus, wham, Jesus winds up with that 2 x 4 and smacks him hard enough to knock him off his horse and temporarily blind him.  Jesus knew when Paul was ready to see the light.  He knows when you and I are ready and he is waiting for us to soften our hearts with His Spirit and others witness to us of Him in their lives.

What a great scene it is when a Paul gets knocked of his horse by Jesus Christ.  But remember Jesus needs us to be His witness, we soften them up and when the time is right Jesus finishes them off.  He saves each of us the same way, with His Love.  Live in His Spirit so the world will see who He is to you.  That’s our business and it is our life work. Be kind, be at peace and be at witnessing.

Have a blessed day/night and weekend,

 Randy