Grandeur

This picture of the Alps reminds me of the ones Walter Hewitt showed me in 1980. Walter and his wife Lillian had taken what seemed like thousands of similar pictures. I still remember the wonder in his voice as he described the surroundings; those pictures were amazing! I went home that night feeling a little overwhelmed by all I had seen and Walter’s excitement made me realize once again how small we as human beings are and how great the works of the Almighty. However, not everyone believes in God and many are in violent opposition to him. Think for a moment about this passage from the book of first Corinthians:

1Co 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
1Co 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1Co 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1Co 1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
1Co 1:29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

English Standard Version

If you examine the best of your attributes, someone else is always better. If you work around those who possess true genius, you will feel stupid, but, just by being around them you WILL become smarter, guaranteed! Now, if this is true from an Earthly perspective, consider the spiritual implications. If you learn to appreciate the true grandeur God has placed in the world around us, then how much more will you grow as you begin to understand something of the nature of God. Now, that is a high mountaintop indeed, something worthy of the climb and that will give joy in each step along the way!

Wonder

Someone is having a bad day and from the looks of the monument in the background, I think he was just hit with a big dose of reality and the wonderment that exists in childhood has been somewhat tarnished. This wonder is the stuff of imagination that enables us to soar above the doldrums of everyday life and greet every new day with excitement and expectation. Our dreams may or may not have foundation in reality, but they do make living worth while. When a dream dies, it is a sad thing, but usually something better takes its place. God does this for us in ways we really can not begin to comprehend because he knows us better than we know ourselves. Consider the following passage from the book of Psalms:

Psa 139:1 Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
Psa 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psa 139:3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Psa 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
Psa 139:5 You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
Psa 139:6 This knowledge is beyond me. It's lofty. I can't attain it.
Psa 139:7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
Psa 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night;"
Psa 139:12 even the darkness doesn't hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
Psa 139:13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb.
Psa 139:14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
Psa 139:15 My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

The World English Bible

The boy may be crying now, but once he stops, I hope he can dream once again, and let his spirit be uplifted by the complex simplicity of the glory of life, which unfolds into wonder. As I understand it, a life worth living begins by searching for the creator of all things and ends with finding all things in him; now, that is truly wonderful!

Fear

I don’t think it would be a good idea to get this dog any more angry than he already is. Maybe someone gave him the wrong dog food or did not put his water dish out or one of a thousand things, but make no mistake, this dog means business. Even though he is small, he is a fearful sight indeed! We often associate fear with negative things, but it can have positive aspects as well. Fear can prevent you from doing something very dangerous or perhaps even stupid. It can give you strength in time of danger and cause you to reconsider your actions. Fear can be good! Fearing the WRONG THINGS leads to phobias and fearing the RIGHT THINGS might just save your life. Jesus spoke about fear; listen to what he told his disciples:

Mat 10:16 "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Mat 10:17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,
Mat 10:18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
Mat 10:20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Mat 10:21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,
Mat 10:22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Mat 10:23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Mat 10:24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
Mat 10:26 "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Mat 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
Mat 10:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
Mat 10:33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Mat 10:36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Mat 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

English Standard Version


The worst men can do is to kill you, but God can “destroy both soul and body in hell”. This sounds just a little bit more severe than dying, doesn’t it? The irony of this life is that if you lose it for God, then you keep it forever; you just have to love God more and fear men less. God cares about us enough to warn us and so I think it would be a pretty good idea if we perked up our ears. Oh, yes and watch out for nasty little dogs too!

Relationship

Go ahead; follow the directions on the picture! The rings move depending upon the relationship of your eyes to the graphic, and yes, it is weird. To me, it brings up an interesting point; that is, our relationship towards something affects how we perceive it. As a teen, if someone wanted to talk to me about the Bible, I might reply with something like: Don't talk to me about that religion junk, its all the same and I just don't want to hear it. Well, the truth is, I probably would have used words that I don't use anymore and with an attitude that would scare you. The good news is, I haven't talked like that in decades and Lord willing, never will again. How could I be like that as a teen and what changed me? Well, take a look at the following passage from the book of Corinthians and you just might have a clue:

2Co 4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
2Co 4:2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
2Co 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.
2Co 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Co 4:5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

English Standard Version

The answer is: I was just too wrapped up in myself to care about anybody or anything that didn't conform to what I wanted, when and how I wanted it. Once I was willing to stop the egocentric nonsense, my life changed. Then it changed again and again and kept on changing until this very day. When I step back and view my life as a whole, I can see that the change began when I changed my attitude about God and his relationship to me. Make no mistake, I am not perfect, but I do think about things from a different perspective and that perspective is based on a relationship with God through Jesus. Step back and consider your own relationship to God and I think you will see what I mean.

Genuine beauty

This is Farah Fawcett Majors, then and now. Time and illness have changed her appearance to be sure; but I can't help but wonder if she feels the same inside now as she did on the picture on the left. I posted this picture for one reason; namely for the married men out there who remember their spouse as she was when they married her. Age doesn't have to destroy beauty, because true beauty is found in the inner spiritual nature of a person. Consider this passage from the book of first Peter:

1Pe 3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives--
1Pe 3:2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
1Pe 3:3 Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing--
1Pe 3:4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.
1Pe 3:5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands,
1Pe 3:6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
1Pe 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

English Standard Version

Genuine beauty does not age because it is love personified; a love that goes beyond outward appearances and seeks the ultimate good of others at its own expense. This involves understanding, consideration, concern and a thousand other things I could never put into words, but I think you get the idea. Often it means submitting to the will of the other, but I assure you it is worth it. One more thing, if you show genuine love to those who have genuine beauty, both become stronger and just grow and grow and grow, to the point where you can't even imagine life without your loved one; and that is beautiful!

Reality hurts!

I don't know who placed this ad, but they certainly have a different way of attracting a mate. I think its a young man, because of the context, but today you never know. Perhaps "he" is hoping that anyone who reads this will think that he is just being hard on himself, but what if he is really, really and I do mean really, UGLY? Is there hope, or is he just wasting his time? For that matter, if we are to be really honest with ourselves, we can find a lot of things wrong with us! Most of the time we just don't like to think about it. Sin is like that; we can't see our own shortcoming because we really don't WANT TO LOOK; but when it comes to others, well, that's a different story. Think about this and then read the following passage from the book of John:



Joh 8:1 Jesus went to the mount of Olives:
Joh 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them.
Joh 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery: and when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4 They say to him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? Joh 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
Joh 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he raised himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Joh 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Joh 8:10 When Jesus had raised himself, and saw none but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those thy accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
Joh 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The Webster Bible



I really would like to know what Jesus wrote on the ground, but we only have his words. When faced with his words, their own sin was just too much for them to think about, and all of them backed off. The woman was left alone with Jesus. He didn't condemn her, but told her to change. Reality hurts, but when you come to grips with your situation, then the thing to do is just to do something about it. The man who placed the ad may have realized that although society may consider him UGLY, perhaps someone responding to his ad might just be willing to look a little deeper. One thing is for sure, I wouldn't throw a stone at him; why? because I am fat, NOT STUPID!

KISS

No, this isn't mine. Even though the forecast sounds somewhat stupid, yet its correct. It does make you think a minute, though. Sometimes stating the obvious simply, puts things into perspective. The other day I met a new friend whose name is Akim. I had seen him many times before, but never did know his name. When I told him about Akim's razor he was surprised and now, so am I, for it seems I was mispronouncing it; it should be Occam's Razor. Basically it means The simplest answer is usually the correct answer. From Wikipedia I learned: "The origins of what has come to be known as Occam's razor are traceable to the works of earlier philosophers such as Alhazen (965-1039),[4] Maimonides (1138-1204), John Duns Scotus (1265–1308), Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274), and even Aristotle (384–322 BC) (Charlesworth 1956). " If you are acquainted with the writing of any these people, it soon will strike you as a little ironic that so much brain power was devoted to the law of simplicity. Today, we simply use the term KISS (keep it simple stupid) to refer to the same thing. All this leads me to the Bible book of 1 Corinthians:

1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also ye have received, and in which ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached to you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that he was seen by above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain to this present, but some have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that he was seen by James; then by all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1Co 15:11 Therefore whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
1Co 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ is not raised, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 And indeed we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified concerning God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not, if in truth the dead rise not.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ raised from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power.

The Webster Bible

Christ had died, was buried and rose again and will do the same for all who obey him; simple, direct and true. Yet, people have tried to create all sorts of theories to bypass the simple truth of this passage. Do a little investigation, I think you will find the evidence is overwhelming for the historical truth about Jesus of Nazareth. When you realize the truth, perhaps you will see the KISS principle in a new light: Keep it simple sinner. Perhaps there is a lot you can learn a lot from a rock after all?