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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Mark 13: 1-8 When? Where? Inquiring Minds ...Jesus makes a prediction of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, as well as, gives a warning to his
Disciples about false prophets attempting to deceive them and lead them astray. The entire caution is warning against knowing
when the end of time (Apocalypse) will occur as well as what signs will be seen to know it is near. When? Is it going to happen?
What sign should we notice? Jesus has already answered this before with the simple message that Only God knows. I add should
God decide there is any need for such activities.
One layman claims that the Bible itself
says that when everyone has received the Good News then this would occur. Personally, I trust that God is, has been, and will
be in charge. This leaves me to struggle with a daily routine of being obedient to God while being the very best that I can
be in any circumstance. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be a little better at being a Christian than I am today. Last night I noticed
one of our Young Men had posted on Facebook these two thoughts: "Live today and plan for tomorrow". Absolutely hitting
the nail on the head by understanding that we don't waste our time trying to worry about something we're never going
to control anyway.
Last, let me say that should you encounter anyone making end-time predictions,
then you should instantly know that they are clueless. Wasting your time with them is probably never going to profit you much
if any. Honestly, they have been deceived and are attempting to be deceptive all though they truly believe they have it figured
out. Read for yourself. Jesus claims only God knows and we know God simply needs us to Love God and Love Others. So now live
today to the best of your abilities under the circumstances and plan to do even better tomorrow. Amen? Amen.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Show Time Mark 12:38-44 Jesus is teaching at the Synagogue about the Scribes who think way to much of themselves. Those who like
to be seen, heard and respected. All at the same time, I might add. Being hung up on yourself is not the teachings
of Jesus. Nor does it sound like anything God might ever be calling us to be. So we are warned against this haughty
tendency to make others think way too much of us. Sounds fairly simple and easy, yet we all know that we tend to want
to stand up with the big dogs, rather than tend to those within our midst who need us to help them stand up at all.
James clearly explains our responsibilities in caring for the Widows and Orphans. Here today we see Mark explaining
how Jesus has pointed out the comparison between the Scribes who have devoured the Widow’s houses, and the Widow who
shows up making a contribution of all she had left to live on. Her offering to God simply implies that she completely
trust God to supply her daily needs. Oh yeah we pray that prayer about daily bread, but rarely do we ever come close
to even understanding what we’ve repeated. Believe me – some folks do know and it is our responsibility
to share our wealth.
We don’t need to SHOW OUT to impress our peers. God already knows what we got.
So why keep fooling around? Let the SHOW begin. Let us show God how thankful we really are by the way we meet
the needs of the needy around us. Perhaps I should say: let us continue to show out our gratefulness. As the current
Pastor and leader of this Local Faith Community, I am extremely proud of the continuing efforts to meet the needs of others.
Never, not once does it ever seem like anyone is showing out, showing off, or expecting any special praise for doing the best
we can do at touching the life of others through the sharing of our blessings. TO GOD BE THE GLORY – Amen.
1:43 pm est
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Mark 12:28-34 Greatest Of AllOh Yes, what is the greatest of all the commandments questioned the Pharisees as they tried to trap Jesus
into saying something to hold against him. In tremendous Rabbi style he taught them and brought them closer to the Kingdom
of God. While they could not agree with him, neither could they refute what he was saying.
As the greatest of all the rules/laws he showed them what a SIMPLETON does. By bringing all the laws into the gesture of
commanding everyone to LOVE GOD with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Next he requires that everyone is to LOVE YOUR
NEIGHBOR as one loves themselves. Yes, he understood this is not a simple task, rather a simple way to sum up a lot of rules.
I knew a young lady (little girl) once who claimed she did not like rules. Although she couldn't yet pronounce
her "R" letter words, so she called them WULES. Jennifer is right, we don't like all the rules, yet understand
why we have them. Jesus figured it out. When we can love God with our whole self and everything we have is used to promote
the Kingdom of God's love - then loving others becomes somewhat easier. I did not say easy, but easier. There merely are
some folks who don't even love themselves, so how could others possibly love them. I pray that God can, because sometimes
I just cannot. Enough said about falling short of God's glory.
Love God with all you
have and hopefully God will continue to understand and help us to love others. Amen? Amen.
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