Thought for the day...

October 8, 2019
Verse of the Day
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV

 

The best part of heaven
By Linda Buxa
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43).

My kids and I often talk about heaven. It started with my girls when they were toddlers. When little girls in princess costumes hear that there are streets of gold and lots of gems, well, heaven sounds pretty great. As they got a little older, their idea of perfection involved wondering if they could eat all kinds of candy and not get sick. Other times they’d have a rough day at school and just wanted to be in heaven. (We get that, right? Imperfect relationships on earth are hard!) My son is fascinated by thinking about sports in heaven. My daughter loves to declare which people she hopes will be in the rooms next to her. Adults do this too. The first thing people say after Grandpa dies is that he gets to see Grandma now.

All of our conjuring glosses over the best part. In heaven we will be physically reunited with Jesus—the transfigured Jesus who Peter, James, and John got to see on earth while he talked with Moses and Elijah. He is the Lord of the universe, sitting at the right hand of God and interceding for us.

So we keep talking to the kids about heaven, but our conversations will start with celebrating that we get to be with Jesus, God’s Son. Because, ultimately, no matter what the other side benefits are, the best part of heaven is that we’ll be with Jesus in paradise.

 

October 9, 2019
Verse of the Day
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Acts 3:19 NIV

 

Safe in God’s hands
By Linda Buxa
We live in a near-constant state of panic for kids’ safety. Some schools have banned kids from playing tag, and all balls have to be made of foam. Others won’t let kids walk home from school until they are in middle school. It seems we no longer let our children play, take risks, or explore life without adequate adult supervision.

It’s almost as if we believe that to be a good parent you must always be in control, manage every situation for your children, and never allow them to feel pain or adversity. Really, though, this makes us slaves to fear, which means we have forgotten God’s promises. We forget that he knows the plans he has for our children, that he is the one who carries lambs in his arms, that he loves them more than we do.

True, God’s love isn’t some magic bubble; it doesn’t make children emergency-room-visit proof. They will get stitches, break bones, and get sick. They will have their hearts broken.

That’s when we remind ourselves that God’s love gives us the right to go to him with our fears—and leave them with him. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-8

 

October 10, 2019
Verse of the Day
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalms 30:5 NIV

 

October 11, 2019
Verse of the Day
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
1 Peter 1:14-15 NIV

 

Too much? Too little?
By Pastor Mark Jeske
Everybody would like to strike it rich. From the gold fevers of the mid-1800s to today’s sophisticated investors like arbitrageurs of Wall Street, from the tulip investors in Holland in 1637 to Carlo Ponzi in the 1920s to real estate speculators in 2006, people have dreamt and grasped and cheated and prayed for wealth.

Not Agur, son of Jakeh, author of the marvelous 30th chapter of Proverbs. In fact, he prayed to God to keep him not only from poverty (understandable) but also from becoming wealthy. Seriously! “I ask of you, LORD . . . give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:7-9).

Wise words. Agur realized that desperate people sometimes throw away their morals to survive. He feared that kind of desperation. But he was also insightful enough to know that money has a terribly corrupting power that is potentially just as destructive of your morals. In practical terms, he was inviting God to send some investment and business setbacks periodically so that he would not accumulate so much money that it would go to his head. He wanted both to love God and need God.

What is your personal financial level right now? Are you struggling and broke? risking idolatry with significant financial resources? Or like a spiritual Goldilocks, right in the Agur sweet spot?

 

October 12, 2019
Verse of the Day
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14 NIV

 

October 13, 2019
Verse of the Day
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV

 

Parable of Love
Hosea’s Radical Feelings for an Unfaithful Wife
As Israel was disintegrating, a word from God came to Hosea. Suffering people needed to hear a softer tone, and Hosea brought a hope-filled message of grace and forgiveness.

Most prophets focused on the audience and all the things they had done wrong. In contrast, Hosea shined the spotlight on God. How must God feel when his chosen people reject him and go panting after false gods?

As if words are too weak to convey his passion, God asked the brave Hosea to act out a living parable. Hosea married a loose woman named Gomer, who, true to form, quickly ran away and committed adultery. Only by living out this drama could Hosea understand, and then express, something of how God felt concerning Israel’s rebuff of his affections.

Poor Hosea lived a soap opera – like existence. Gomer sank so low as to sell herself into slavery, but Hosea purchased her back, forgave her and reclaimed her as his wife. The pattern hopelessly repeated itself. Gomer bore three children — but was Hosea really their father? According to the law, he should have turned his adulterous wife out on the street or have had her tried in court. What Hosea did — and what God did — was unprecedented.

Broken Heart, Broken Covenant
Hosea’s radical love for Gomer symbolizes God’s undying love for his people. Though Israel had dragged God’s name through the mud, still God welcomed her back. The book of Hosea, in fact, represents the first time God’s covenant with Israel has been described in terms of marriage. It shows that God longs for his people with the tenderness and hunger of a lover toward his bride.

In the covenant, Israel agreed to love and obey God, no matter what — “till death do us part.” But by Hosea’s time that flame of love had died. God’s heart was breaking. Yet God promised them another chance with a new covenant at a future time: “ ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me “my husband”; you will no longer call me “my master” ’ ” (Hos 2:16).

Life Questions
Hosea describes various stages in Israel’s relationship to God: courtship, engagement, honeymoon, unfaithfulness, separation. What stage are you in with God?

Taken from NIV Essentials Study Bible

 

Like the hymn. Great is Thy Faithfulness. The lyrics of that song is what I thought of when I read this parableT.Jeff.
Great question. For me the more I read his word the more I understand his love mercy and faithfulness.
So glad Jesus has provided a way to have a personal relationship with God. Great parable brother

 

Amen.

 

October 14, 2019
Verse of the Day
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8 NIV

 

Stripping away pretense
By Jason Nelson
That tearing sound you hear is God stripping away pretense. He allows only so many layers to build up before he rips them off our politics, our piety, and our personas like grimy old bandages. It hurts when God strips away pretense because we have to look at our own delusions and rev up our consciences to leave the gravitational force of groupthink. God strips away pretense so we can be wise and recognize that the truth is staring back at us. “Wisdom is directly in front of an understanding person, but the eyes of a fool are looking around all over the world” (Proverbs 17:24 GW).

Pretenders double down on lies. Fallacies become a twisted orthodoxy reinforced with predictable rhetoric and sketchy logic. But God’s Word clears things up for us, and its truth is as plain as the nose on our face. We can stop pretending and trust his wisdom.

God gives us the wisdom to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Where two or three are gathered in his name, he is in the midst of them. Where more than two or three are gathered for some other reason, there is going to be some pretending going on. It is not our responsibility to unmask every pretender. It is our duty to recognize pretense in our own lives and confess it before God. And it is our calling to be honest brokers of the light and truth that will never fade away.