:: To Worship Him ::

 

 

   Jesus told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”  (John 14:27)  This must have brought amazement to the disciples.  How could the peace of Jesus actually belong to them?  In the time that they had been with Jesus they had been awe-struck and speechless many times at the wonderful peace that belonged to Jesus.  He seemed to never be afraid.  He was never ruffled, edgy, but in every circumstance, He was calm.  There was a time when He became angry with spiritual anger, but He still walked in peace. 

 

   Jesus added, “Not as the world giveth give I unto you.”  Jesus displayed peace with His Father, peace in the face of temptations, peace in times of rejection and mockery.  He had peace in the midst of storms.  He had peace in everything that satan threw at Him.  Jesus also knew that His disciples must also operate in that peace.  Jesus knew that they were right on the threshold of the greatest trials that they would experience.  He knew that He would be leaving them and that they would be left to a world that was not happy about their presence.  He promised them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to guide them and see them through.  At that point they had no concept of who or what the Holy Spirit was.  They would not understand the promise of the Holy Spirit until Pentecost, when He actually came upon them. 

 

   Jesus is also telling us, just as He told His disciples, “You won’t be able to endure any of what’s coming without my peace inside you.  Get it now, before things get worse.”  If Jesus is in our hearts, then we can have that peace.  Ask Jesus for His peace today.  He has promised to anchor our souls in every storm.  In the days that we live, we never know when the next storm will roll in.

 

 

 

   “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”  (Psalm 12:1-6) 

 

   What else can you add to the above?  This passage has been such a comfort to me so, so many times.  In light of the tragic event that took place on one of great college campuses yesterday, it came to me this morning to wonder how many of those precious students that were at their appointed place in their school schedule quoted this passage when all the gun fire was threatening their lives.  Such tragedy! 

 

   Mary Sutherland wrote in one of her books that while waiting for the red light to change, she noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of her.  “Just when I though I was winning the rat race, along came faster rats!”  In her account, “My thoughts immediately drifted to the absurd schedule through which I had hurried myself that day.  It was a schedule without margins or boundaries, every moment assigned to something or someone.  My stress level grew with every task.  My head pounded and my stomach churned.  I couldn’t wait to get home, change into my comfort clothes and escape to a quiet, peaceful place.”

 

   Well, is there such a place?  Blacksburg certainly seemed like a quiet, peaceful place for one to send their babies off to higher learning.  I suppose any place where the backdrop is not the Cross, the Blood of Jesus, the Secret Place of the Most High, the Eternal Eternity of Salvation, we are in danger.  When our trust and faith are upon the eternal, then and only then can we walk through:  Walk through death, calamity and anything that evil would hurl at us.  I prefer Goodness and Mercy following me, don’t you?  If the Lord is truly my Shepherd, then I shall never, never want.  That is my promise.  In my prayers for the children, family and friends of those involved at Virginia Tech, I pray that their lives are back-dropped by the mercies of God.

 

 

    “Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!”  (2 Corinthians 4:17) 

 

  We have had constant coverage of the ugly and unprofessional words spoken about the Rutger’s Girls Basketball team by an unprofessional radio talk show host.  I really despise the spirit that causes one to say such degrading things.  Those kids deserve better.  They have been diligent and untiring in their dedication to the sport, and they have my admiration and accolades. 

 

   There was an account about the great football coach, Vince Lombardi.  He was one of the greatest coaches and motivators who ever coached.  He gained fame and notoriety from coaching the winning NFL professional football team, the Green Bay Packers.  He was also known for being a tough disciplinarian.  He demanded victory, and usually got it.  He related his philosophy to life by saying:

 

   “The many hurts seem a small price to pay for having won, and there’s no reason at all, which is adequate, for having lost.  To the winner, there is 100% elation, 100% laughter, 100% fun…And it is a game, I think, that is a great deal like life in that it demands a man’s personal commitment to be toward excellence, and be toward victory…It must be pursued with all of one’s might…and I want to say that the quality of any man’s life has got to be a full measure of that man’s personal commitment to excellence and to victory regardless of what field he may be in.”  Amazing as it seems, Coach Lombardi could demand, and get, total, fanatical commitment from a group of adult and educated men, commitment to a simple game as moving a leather bag full of air up and down a grassy field.

 

   Today commitment is hard to come by.  Especially in our youth.  My hats are off to those kids, or any kids that will pay the price to excel in something positive.  The Word of God says, “Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will ever know what it really means to live.”  I pray that this Rutgers team as well as other athletes will carry over that spirit of winning into their spiritual life.  The saying that Winning isn’t everything doesn’t fly at all in the spiritual realm.  Either we are in or we are out.  May our commitment be to the Lord and for His glory! 

 

 

 

   “Thine eyes did see my substance, being yet unformed; and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there was none of them.”  (Psalm 139:16)

 

   This is a strange verse.  I believe the word ‘unformed’ also means not yet ‘perfect.’  I believe it is a comfort verse for one who thinks they have to be perfect to achieve anything.  Makes me wonder how anyone could do anything if they waited until they were perfect.  What if the Lord only gave salvation to the perfect saintly person?  None of us would ever taste heaven, would we?  I stress that with my students.  You can tell right off the ones who hesitate to play because they want perfection.  The job I have as a teacher is to stress work and a goal of near perfection, but along the way they must enjoy the ride.  As a teacher I want them to be the best that they can be without the pressure of having to be perfect. 

 

   I have students that would never play in front of another person.  How sad!  They can be great students, work hard, but their tie-up is in their mind-set.  If we wait until we’re perfect before we move out and share our talents, we won’t ever get that far.  God knows that we have a long way to go before we are perfect yet He accepts us.  Needy as we are, He is willing to accept us anyway.  He takes us the way we are.  Warts and all!

 

   We must learn to ease-up, be the best we can, and live abundantly in the joy and acceptance of the Lord.

 

 

 

   “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.”  (Psalm 144:4) 

 

   There are many precious things that we can pass on to bless others.  Certainly monetary gifts, our prayers, and things done for others.  We rarely consider one of the most important gifts and that is, our time.  We know that we have so many hours in the day and there never seems to be enough time to get everything done, yet we rarely consider our time as precious and valuable.   Yes, but when is our time the most valuable?

 

   In Luke 6:38, “Give to other people, and you will receive.  You will be given much.  It will be poured into your hands–more than you can hold.  You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap.  The way you give to other people is the way God will give to you.” 

 

   Yesterday I was blessed with having lunch and quality time spent with one of my daughters, my husband, and two of my four grandchildren.  We sat at this restaurant and not only had a delicious meal but wonderful fellowship.  I felt so good because I realized the value of the moment.  As the Word says, our time is fleeting and we have to capture and treasure the moments when we can.  The daily question is; How do we routinely invest our time?  And where do we invest it?  It seems that most everything can be reclaimed except our time.  That is the reason that we must begin each day asking God to give us the ability of ‘knowing the time’ and the ability to use it most wisely.  Since time passes so quickly, it is so easy to slip from our hands.  Our prayer should be, ‘to be given the wisdom to use the time given to us to the very best, right, good and profitable way.’  We want out time to be of eternal value.  We want our time to be of the greatest value for God’s glory!