Blessed

I keep my hair short - in fact I shave my head every two weeks - mainly because I am going bald at a very rapid rate. 

I joke about my "baldness" and my kids often poke fun of my lack of hair. For me "bald" is inevitable and "balding" is my reality. 

Yet tonight, as I spent time shaving my head I felt the hair being cut and I watched the hair fall to the ground and I became aware that I do have hair. 

Strangely enough - as I continued shaving my head - I began to ponder. Why do I so often focus on my lack of hair instead of celebrating the hair that I still have left? The answer, perhaps, is because I do not have as much hair as  once did. Or, maybe it is because I do not have as much hair as others do. 

Often this same mindset creeps into our lives as we consider our wealth, our possessions, and all of our blessings. If left unchecked we let our mind - and our heart - focus on all the things that we don't have - or no longer have - instead of celebrating all the blessings that we have been given today. 

This evening - as the freshly trimmed hairs on my healthy head hit the cotton sheets around the soft pillow on my comfortable bed in the cool, secure home that I live in with my wonderful family - I will be sure to thank God for the blessings He has given me today. 

Our Family Gives Thanks

Tonight, as we sat down for our evening prayer, we stated what we were most thankful for this Thanksgiving;

Bennett is most thankful for God and for Jesus

Zion is most thankful that he is alive, for God, for our family, for his Kindle.

Addison is most thankful for family, me, house, food

Kim is most thankful for our family, for our health, for God, and for the freedom that we enjoy.

I am most thankful for God's blessings (including our health and wealth), for Jesus' love, and for our family members (and that we can be together).

Life Perspective

In Luke 6: 20-26 Jesus gives us a new - or different - perspective for how we are to live our lives on earth.

Looking at his disciples, he said: 

“Blessed are you who are poor,  for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.  

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

We are blessed when we are poor, and pitied when we are rich.

We are blessed when we are hungry, and pitied when we are well fed.

We are blessed when we weep, and pitied when we laugh.

We are blessed when we are hated, and pitied when we are admired.

This should open our eyes to the way we live today - perhaps we are a bit too selfish or spoiled in what we expect or what we think we deserve. Likewise, this should open our eyes to how we react to the way God answers our every need - being poor, hungry, and hated is an opportunity for us to express joy and store up for ourselves more treasure in our eternal home. 

Journey of Faithfulness: Belief

Luke 1:26-45

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[c] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

To be used and blessed by God we must be available to Him.

 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

To be used and blessed by God we must believe that he will do what He says He will do. 

Blessed with Provisions

Yesterday I was speaking with a friend about wealth in America and poverty around the world. He seemed to be of the school of thought that we do enough for the needs of those outside our country and that we need to care more for our own before we concern ourselves with the needs of those living over seas.

I asked Him what he felt our response as Christians should be. I asked him where Scripture states that we should care for our own before we care for the needs of others. After some discussion, he pointed me to Genesis and the account of Joseph, how God blessed Joseph with a gift to bless Egypt during a time of famine.

I read this account and I thought that my friend might have had a good point. But then I kept reading.

Genesis 42:1-2 reads:

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

When the top 4% of the world are living on 75 times more wealth than the bottom 96% of the world is, don't you think their statements echo that of Jacob's?

I imagine they say something like:

I have heard that there is wealth in America. Let us go there and get some for ourselves, so that we may live and not die. 

As Christians, we must believe that God is in control of all things at all times in all ways. As Christians, we must believe that God loves all people at all times in all ways. Which brings us to the question, why does God allow famine, droughts, and plagues that lead to poverty?

The answer is that God provided us a Joseph!

God has provided us with a man (or a woman), or several, to see visions, to dream dreams, and to plan ahead. And, God has provided them with the means to do so.

The issue, then, is not that God allows these things to happen and that He fails to provide. The issue is that when God provides for the needs of His people, those of us who receive His provisions sit on them, we waste His blessings or we absorb His blessings for ourselves.

You see, God has blessed the nation of America, He has poured His favor upon us. And, as Christians living in America, we have made the wrong assumption that God intends for us to sit on, to waste, or to absorb His blessings. God does not intend for us to do this, but rather, He intends for us to share His blessings and to bless others.

Perhaps this is the test. And, if it is, we are failing terribly!

With this in mind, read the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30. Pay attention to what happens to the lazy servant.



Blessed are...

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is risen!” (Luke 16:6, NIV) To me, these are some of the most powerful words recorded in the Bible. These words tell us that we serve a God that was crucified for our imperfections, our sins, that He died this horrible death so that we did not have to and that He conquered death. He lives, even today, He lives! We serve a living God! Think about that for a moment…..then take a couple minutes thanking Him for all that He has been through for you.

As believers, Easter is one of the most joyous holidays because, through it, we get to celebrate everything that sets our faith and our Savior apart from this world. Now that the Easter holiday is through I encourage you to stay focused on Christ, on everything that He has done and everything that He continues to do in, through, and around you.

After Jesus’ resurrection he appeared to many people before his ascension into heaven. The other day I was reading about Jesus’ appearance to Thomas, one of His disciples (John 20:24-31). One verse caught me more so than the others that morning, verse 29. Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.” Was Jesus talking about us in this verse? Was Jesus saying that we are to be blessed, to be happy, to be envied because we have not seen Him and yet we have believed? I have read this passage in the past and for some time now I have believed that Jesus was, in fact, speaking about you and I. But more recently I was reminded of Jesus’ healing of the man who was born blind (John 9). Later, when this man was questioned by the Pharisees, he replies “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)

Whatever your view on this passage is, whether Jesus was speaking about you and I, because we have not seen Jesus in the physical sense or not. The truth is, it doesn’t matter! For if you have seen Jesus in the Spiritual sense, you have been blessed immeasurably. Your challenge, then, is to evaluate the relationship you have with The Creator of the heavens and the earth, to come to know Him for who He is in, around, and through you! And then, live this blessing out and share it with everyone around you, today, tomorrow, and forever.